Chapter 8: In The Clouds - Part 1

whistling

It was like clockwork for Specialist Swift Wildshadow. The stallion was a recognizable member of the Canterlot Castle Royal Guard, especially since his first major assignment over two years ago. The young Swift was assigned to be the personal head guard for a new unique creature.

And it was an…exciting experience, to say the least. Swift got to know and learn about the new human being, a 25-year-old man by the name of Alexander Walkerson, from a place called Earth. The human creature’s species hadn’t been documented all too well in the Equestrian history books, so he opened many eyes to his kind.

It was a massive boost to Swift’s morale and self-esteem, seeing as just 4 months earlier, he had gone through one of the most horrible experiences in his life. It was a mission that still haunted him to this day, but the events Swift engaged in alongside the human were different.

‘Way different.’

Swift shook his head as he clocked in for work. The stallion’s schedule had remained the same, with him needing to be at the human’s door from 5:00 am until 9:00 am. After that…he would serve on patrol throughout the castle until mid-afternoon. At that point, Swift would again guard Alex’s door from 4:00 pm until 8:00 pm.

Finally, the Canterlot Lunar Guard would take over as he clocked out for the day, and...that was it. Before that ‘eventful day,’ nearly a month prior, Swift would usually escort Mr. Alex to the spacious dining room for breakfast, accompany him for his studies and training, and then escort him to dinnertime.

During those brief interactions of walking beside the bipedal creature, Swift got to know Alexander more. The information his mind had gathered and stored was far more than any other creature in Equestria could ever hope to know.

Well, other than ‘The Crown of Canterlot’ and the daughter of Queen Novo, Princess Skystar. But that was because they had the pleasure of knowing Alex since he arrived…and because Alex was dating the hippogriff princess.

It was unbelievable when Swift had heard about the relationship. “You courted Princess Skystar?!” the flashback of Swift’s exclaimed shock echoed through his mind. “Alex! You actually courted her?! Congratulations, dude, I’m so happy for you!” It was practically front-page news in Canterlot after word got out.

It also angered Skystar’s mother, the queen of the hippogriffs. Queen Novo’s and Mr. Alex’s first interaction after the fact was extremely tense in the tower room, seeing how oblivious the human was to the ordeal.

When they found the princess of the hippogriffs snuggled up against him, there were feathers strewn about the mattress and even one in between his ear. It smelled of romance, but that would have to wait for a half-an-hour to address. Alex said he didn’t know Skystar had snuck into his room through the open window, but Queen Novo wasn’t buying any of it.

The hippogriff queen practically told the human off while ushering her daughter, Skystar, out of the room. Meanwhile, Swift stayed behind with Alex as ‘The Crown’ departed, wondering how the human would react to all this information. More specifically, the message about ‘having a feather from a mare on you means you both are together.’

As for that memory of Swift helping Alex clean up, the human was chill about everything. That was until he began making his bed. Alex tore off the blankets and pillows, huffing in frustration as he stared down a bed stricken with lush, golden feathers.

“What the hell is going on?” the voice of Alex called out to Swift as he cleaned up the bed. “Trying to get some fucking sleep after a long day, and this is how it starts? Swift, why don’t you ever check my room when you get here? So shit like 8 creatures in my bedroom at 8:30 am can be prevented.”

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As I made my way over to the third Canterlot Castle tower entrance, I exhaled as I opened the door with the set of keys. I left the lock alone as I trotted up the tall staircase. And as I made my way up the stairs, I felt uneasy.

After learning that my first assigned creature was to be executed in two hours yesterday, the news shocked me and became…unbelievable. At first, I thought it was a joke, one of those ‘haha, just kidding, gotcha’ kind-of jokes. But, as the days crept closer and closer to today, it became more apparent that it would happen.

Alex had a lot of secrets. Some that he couldn’t outright tell others without him, as the human put it, ‘exposing who he really was underneath his exterior shell.’ From what I had learned and gathered, Alex described his mentality of that as a ‘chip on the shoulder.’

Of course, I still didn’t understand why it was called that in the first place, but how Alex used that mentality intrigued me. The way the human would train until he was out of breath, studied until his mind tuckered out, or even something as fun as hoof-wrestling…erm, ‘arm-wrestling,’ in Alex’s case.

The human being took ‘everything’ seriously. Even in the Equestrian Games last year, Alex participated and gave his all in the one event he could join. The human ran with spirit, took everything in great strides, and achieved a gold medal. After that event, I gained a lot of respect for the human creature for one simple reason….

Alex was…‘authentic.’

But the thought of the human creature being gone forever was something I couldn’t wrap my mind around. Such a bizarre thing, I contemplated internally. Commander Shifting told me not to question it, but…I get that weird feeling that something is amiss here. Why? What did he ‘actually’ do wrong? I don’t understand….

The trip up the staircase ended as I faced down the wooden door at the end of the corridor. My legs had gotten used to the feeling, especially after doing this routine for the past two or so years.

“Focus on the shift first, Swift,” I muttered. “Then, you can ask your burning questions before the....”

I ground myself to a halt as I approached the door and sighed. Today was definitely unlike any other day. Every day for the past three weeks, a pair of Night Guard pon-er, thestrals, would be awaiting me to show up.

Today, nopony was here. The only other sound I heard was that of a low hum!

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A flash of light with a loud pop! came from behind me. As I lethargically rolled my eyes, I continued to stare ahead at the door. “You are sooo lazy, Caroline,” I sarcastically stated.

“Hey, at least it beats walking up all those stairs,” the mare behind me replied.

“Yeah, but that’s good cardio you are missing out on to start your day, rook,” I playfully shot back. I grinned as Caroline came into view on my right side, definitely not checking her out.

Caroline was a fairly average-sized mare, her mane tied up underneath her helmet. Her silky smooth lavender coat was well-groomed and in check most of the time, but she was still a novice when it came to being a guardpony. There were some things I would need to remind her of during our shared post-hours, and her sassy attitude didn’t help during our conversations.

“Mhhmm, maybe,” she replied before slyly looking at me. “Then again, I can just teleport and get up here faster than you.” She stuck her tongue out at me playfully as I smirked.

“Well, let’s get off-topic for one moment,” I relented as I pointed at the door. “It sounds like it’s coming from inside. Do you hear the same thing I am hearing?”

“What do you mean by that?” Caroline asked as she took a few steps forward. The mare put her ear up to the door, her eyes widening in surprise.

“Sounds like…humming?” I asked. The mare shook her head.

“No,” Caroline said blankly. “It sounds like…the wind.”

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“What?” I asked with concern and shock. “That can’t be right….” I approached the door and motioned for her to move. After the guardpony moved, I put my ear up to the door.

fwoo!

Sure enough, a soft howling sound entered my eardrums. It oddly did sound like a gentle breeze, and the fact it was coming from inside Alex’s room made me even more concerned.

I really didn’t want to disturb the human creature I had gotten to know, especially after our talks had stalled. Alex wasn’t responding to my questions anymore, almost like he was…ignoring me. My heart hurt a bit after he stopped responding to me this week, but politely entering and checking to ensure the human was okay wouldn’t hurt anycreature…right?

pook-pook! “Alex?” I called out, knocking on the door twice. After awaiting an answer for nearly a quarter of a minute, I shook my head in confusion. Alex would have woken up by this most of the time, I thought thoroughly. He’d be groaning from being bothered, but…nothing.

“Impossible,” I silently said aloud. Caroline came back into view and reached for the door handle, my reflexes catching her hoof roughly.

“Swif-”

“Not you, Caroline,” I whispered. “Allow me…just in case.” I nodded reassuringly, the mare retracting her hoof with a shake of her head. Then, after taking a deep breath, I reached for the handle and opened the door slowly, daring not to make a sound.

gasp! “No,” I breathed out, nearly faltering in place. My face turned to utter shock upon the site of a large hole in the wall where the window was. The other problem made its way through my brain waves quickly: Alex, the human being that was also a prisoner, was gone.

As Caroline entered the room behind me, her hoof came up to her mouth as she silently inhaled. I looked at her before immediately reacting, turning around and bolting for the staircase. One thought left my mouth in panic as I stumbled down the stairs, setting my destination for the throne room.

“Oh, for Celestia’s sake…he did it,” I thought aloud. “Alex actually did it….”

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“That about does it for tonight, Luna,” I said. I nudged my fiance in the shoulder, abruptly waking her up.

“Yes, absolutely!” Luna exclaimed. When she finally wiped her eyes and saw nopony before her, she looked at me with a disapproving look. I held a hoof over my mouth, chuckling at her expression. “It’s very rude to wake thy marefriend up without her permission,” Luna pouted.

“Not my fault you dozed off,” I sarcastically replied.

“But tonight was undeniably boring! I don’t know why I even bothered holding Night Court.” Luna proceeded to stand up, shaking her frame to wake up. “I mean, seriously. Only a couple of nobles with actual problems and maybe a few citizens, but that’s it! No genuine concerns,” she said with a bit of frustration.

“Well,” I sweetly purred, “why don’t we call it a day early and go somewhere more private?~” Luna began to profusely blush as I walked up to her. “I could always tell the Royal Guard to not have anycreature disturb us for the next two hours.”

“Nohohoo, stop i-i-it. You have duties to carry out, remember?” Luna stammered, attempting to push me backward. I stayed put and leaned in.

“Oh, those can surely wait,” I softly replied, tenderly kissing Luna. As I pulled away from her, I nearly choked in laughter as her face displayed enough blush to make a tomato jealous.

“Oh my goodness, Shifting. Stooop,” she cried out before smiling back. As Luna looked into my eyes affectionately, we both jumped in surprise as a loud slam! caught our attention. We put up our guard immediately, turning toward the throne room doors.

A single pony…guardpony, galloped toward us, the stallion shouting as he became recognizable.

“Commander Shifting!” the guard cried.

“What is the nature of thy outburst?!” Luna shouted from behind me. The guard scrambled on the carpeting, coming to a stop a body length away from me.

“A-A-Apologies, Y-Your Highness,” the guard stammered before removing his helmet.

“Wait…Specialist Swift Wildshadow?” I asked, my eyes narrowing in suspicion. “Why are you down here? You should be at your post guardi-”

“Th-That’s the problem, Commander,” the earth pony said as his ears flattened. “A-A-Alex….”

“Come on, Swift! Alex, what?” I asked impatiently. The guard flinched as his gaze sank to look at the floor.

“Alex…i-is gone….”

gasp! “WHAT?!” I shouted at the terrified guardpony. I stared at him in disbelief as Swift didn’t say a word. Finally, I turned my head around and looked at Luna, her mouth opened in utter horror. “Luna…did I hear that correctly?”

“H-He’s gone, sir,” Swift timidly said, catching my attention again. The stallion was about to break down into tears as he looked at me. “I-I…WE heard something coming from his r-room, so I de-decided to investigate. A-And as I opened the door, there wa-was a hole in the wall.”

My blood froze immediately. “Oh no,” I quietly said. “Alex…he freed himself….”

“Sh-Shifting?” Luna stammered, slowly walking up to my right side. Her horrified stare met mine as I remained motionless, a million thoughts swirling through my mind. “Shifting?”

shudder! “S-Sound the alarm, Luna,” I adamantly stated before taking a deep breath. My breathing was shaky as I relayed the specific code we had assigned for this exact scenario.

“Code Triple Amber.”

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It was around 5:11am when I finally decided to wake up. It had been a busy and chaotic set of days, and yesterday did not help with finding out how Alex had almost met his fate early.

I began funneling my magic through my horn as I concentrated on the flaming ball. I knew where it was and gently pushed it into the sky. The beautiful rays of light poured through the window shades, eliciting a soft yawn! from a certain hippogriff.

“Morning already…?” the voice of Nacreous whispered. I hummed as I pushed the covers off my body, nearly yelping in surprise as Nacreous’s talons wrapped around my waist. I was flipped around, facing the big hippogriff who buried his head in my chest.

“Not yet,” Nacreous lazily sighed. I looked at him as he squeezed his arms around me, making the hug even warmer. sigh “Five more minutes….”

“Nacreous, we have to get up,” I replied before yawning. A blush crept to my face as the hippogriff peeked from his hiding spot, his gaze meeting mine momentarily.

“You’re tired too,” Nacreous replied, returning his head and resting it comfortably on my chest floof. yawn! “Five more minutes….”

sigh “Fine, but only five minutes.” That statement earned an approving nod from my special hippogriff, allowing me to relax back into the bed.

“Thank you, Sunspots,” Nacreous cooed as a smile crept onto his face. I blushed as he relaxed his grip on my barrel, stroking his poofy feathers with my free hoof.

“No problem, my special hippogriff,” I conceded. “You’re right. We do have a little time to-”

mmwWOOOWwmm!!

Brrr! Brrr! Brrr!

gasp! “Code Triple Amber,” Nacreous whispered, immediately shooting up from the bed. His head turned to look at mine as my eyebrows raised. “Code Triple Amber.”

“Mmm, which one was that again?” I murmured while remaining relaxed.

“Alex has escaped,” Nacreous softly answered. My eyes opened as I brought myself up. I scrambled from the bed and looked at the hippogriff, my head shaking in denial.

“You have got to be kidding me,” I seethed. I began to charge my horn to teleport to the tower, Nacreous sprinting toward me. As soon as the hippogriff grabbed my hoof, I expended the spell.

zap!

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“Okay, Luna,” I hesitatingly said, trying to remain calm. gulp! “Let’s assess the situation before Celestia and Nacreou-”

poof!

Just as I had jinxed it, two creatures suddenly appeared near the bedside where the human should have been this morning. I gulped in fright as Nacreous stumbled away from the alicorn.

“Wh-Who sounded…ooh,” Nacreous stuttered before realizing what had transpired. I didn’t say everything as everycreature’s eyes fell upon the wall beside the window. And by the wall, I mean lack thereof because there was no wall anymore.

Princess Celestia’s wings flared as she walked over to the pile of rubble remaining from the opening. She ground her hoof into it, a dust cloud spreading away from the impact.

“Sister?” Luna peacefully began to say. “Now, let’s not do anythin-”

Luna stopped mid-sentence as Celestia shot a death glare in her direction. I looked at Luna in worry before noting the hoofsteps echoing inside the room. Before I knew it, the solar princess had approached me. I looked up and nearly screamed, her eyes staring me down with fury.

shudder! “P-Princess Celestia?” I shuddered. Celestia’s expression remained furious as she put her hoof up. I immediately recoiled, the alicorn taking a deep breath before breathing out.

sigh “I only want one question answered, Commander Shifting Sands,” Celestia fully addressed me. I attempted to stand up straighter, awaiting the question. “Answer truthfully. Where is Alexander Walkerson?”

My eyes blinked once as my brain tried to process the request. Only then did my mind realize we didn’t know where Alex was, causing me to hesitate in my reply.

“Uhmm-”

“It’s a simple question,” Celestia unnervingly muttered. “Last I remembered, the human was put back in this room last night. So I’m going to ask this one final time….” ahem! “Where is Alex?

gulp! “Gone.” My reply was short, my muscles bracing themselves as I fell backward.

slam!

Every other creature in the room jumped in fright as the eldest alicorn slammed her hoof into the poorly created tiling of the room scape. One name rang out into the morning sky, setting the day’s tone off as Celestia yelled in bitter anger.

“ALEX!!”

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As the sirens continued to blare out the warning code for the situation, all members of the Canterlot Royal Guard and Royal Army were called upon. Everypony was needed in order to search the landscape for the escaped human being, something I still couldn’t believe.

The city districts of Canterlot were placed on total lockdown, with the citizens advised not to panic and alert anycreature of potential sightings. The human was easy to pick out in a crowd, seeing as Alex was the only one of his species left, but with a region as vast as Equestria….

My mind fell silent as I flew high in the morning sky. I implored Nacreous, Luna, and Shifting to stay on the ground while I surveyed the land from above. Nacreous nearly came along in protest, but after some reassurance, he joined the other two to search the castle grounds for Alex.

There’s no way he could have gotten far, I thought, continuing to scan the vast horizon. He has to be in neighboring areas and couldn’t have disappeared without a trace. It’s impossible.

Yet, the thought kept clawing at the back of my mind. By mishandling this situation, I painfully thought, we are only making things worse for ourselves and our allies. We could potentially be entering an era of technological advancements or unbelievable strides in our evolving world….

grr! “Alex. Just had to do it,” I growled under my breath. “Had to escape. One stupid human, Celestia. One human who is smarter than most creatures in Equestria and one with so much power at his disposal. A creature who broke laws on so many occasions…THAT GUY!!”

I took another deep breath before exhaling to calm my nerves. My breathing was shaky as my eyes continued to scan the ground, and my wings flapped to maintain my flying mobility.

He was always, ALWAYS, excused for it because of his beliefs! My mind raged with thoughts as I huffed in frustration. And now, he was going to get away with it again!

“Escaping without judgment because ‘I did what I believed was the right thing to do,’” I remembered. huff! “That line helped Alex every time...and we allowed it to happen.” I looked at the sun and felt my energy starting to dip, making me descend toward the world a bit.

sigh “Faust…please,” I bitterly pleaded. “Help us…help all involved get through this.”

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`“Can you just listen to my side, please?”

sigh “Yes, but please…don’t lie to me, okay?”

“When have I ever lied?” Alex revolted. “I don’t lie because ‘Mama didn’t raise no liar in her household!’” My shoulders sagged as the human looked at me from his place in the room.

“Alex, sit down,” I adamantly reiterated. The human scoffed before returning to the chair before me. I put down the quill in my magical grip and levied the paper toward the human. “Alexander, that’s the report I got from the ponice.”

“Tch! Yeah, I’ve seen it already,” Alex brushed off. I looked at him in confusion at how he was acting, but he decided to get his question in first. “Can I finally tell you MY SIDE?!”

“You are going to be required to, but I need you to calm down, Alex,” I softly said. “I want to know your side because there are always two sides to a coin. But I also will ask you to do it without yelling at me. Understood?” The human creature sitting adjacent to me didn’t say anything, silently nodding as he brought his head back.

“Okay then,” I motioned. “Let me hear your side of this incident. What happened?”

“I got it, Celestia,” Alex said as he raised his hand. The human took a deep breath before exhaling, his hands shaking over the edge of the desk. The traces of cuts and bruises along his knuckles were tell-tale signs, but they were just that.

“This is what happened,” Alex began retelling. “I was walking down the street from the pub. The band I’m in, ‘The X-Perience,’ just finished our fourth gig in 3 days. Needless to say, I’ve been doing a lot, and I finally got some time to relax.” Alex flipped his head and looked away for a second, his eyes closing as he shook his head.

“I should’ve stayed at HQ,” Alex bitterly told me, daring not to look into my eyes. “I can’t believe what I did either….”

“What did you do, Alex?” I asked again, my tone shifting to annoyance. Alex turned his head and looked at me. My violet eyes stared into his turquoise eyes, the stalemate broken up by the sounds of Nacreous entering and closing the door.

“I have the medical repo-oh, is this a bad time?” Nacreous asked timidly. I shook my head.

“No, please. Come join us, Nacreous,” I beckoned. While my special hippogriff joined me on my side of the desk, the human chuckled as his cheeks brightened.

“Saved by the bell,” Alex muttered.

“Continue.” My voice was defiant, Nacreous not saying anything as he handed the document over. Alex shifted back in his chair and folded his arms.

“So, I heard what I thought was an argument,” Alex began to confess. “I looked toward the noise of it and then dissected the situation.” His eyes blinked as he scratched at his hands.

“It was a pegasus stallion trying to get with a pegasus mare,” Alex relayed. “I looked at them and began to eavesdrop, hoping the conversation didn’t go off the rails. Unfortunately…it did. The guy got more aggressive, trying to intimidate the poor lady, and she shoved him away.”

I cocked an eyebrow as Alex paused. sigh “That’s when he threatened her,” Alex said softly, straightening himself in the chair. “God forbid what I was thinking. He threw her to the ground, stepped her over, and threatened her to come home with him. I had seen enough, and because nocreature in the vicinity was getting involved…I stepped in.”

“What did you say?” I inquired, shifting my gaze slightly to Nacreous and nodding.

huff! “You two are a match made in heaven, you know that?” Alex’s words caught me off-guard for a second, but he clarified instantly by pointing at us. I brushed it off and smiled at Nacreous.

“That we are, but do not deviate from this,” I warned. “Final warning, okay?”`

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`“Alright. I yelled, ‘Leave her alone!’” Alex confidently reenacted. The human got up and walked over to another chair across the room. “Wait, what am I doing? Nacreous, may I borrow you? Promise I won’t do what I did to the other guy.”

“Better,” Nacreous responded cheekily. “Celestia and I have a date later tonight once we get this paperwork filed and delivered to the district attorneys.”

“Okay,” Alex said. He stood a good ways away from Nacreous and then covered that distance in four steps. “‘Leave her alone!’” Alex angrily yells. “And then he goes, ‘Who are you?’ And then I say, ‘I’m her guardian angel, so you best get on home.’ The stallion scoffs because he probably hasn’t heard of a guardian angel.”

“I’ll ask what that is later on,” I acknowledged.

“The stallion stretches his wings out and glares at me,” Alex retold. “If Nacreous is the pegasus, open your wings.” Nacreous did that, spreading his wings out and trying to look intimidating. “Perfect. So he says, ‘Buck off. This ain’t your business, pal.’ And then I go, ‘It is my business, bitch. Don’t try to intimidate me!’ This worked a little too well. It got the mare out of harm’s way as she fled the scene. But, the stallion approached me.”

My eyebrows went up as he turned to Nacreous. “The pegasus jumped in the air, flapped his wings once, and landed a punch to my jaw,” Alex said. “That corresponds with the dental record. I f-fall to the ground, clutching my jaw as he laughs. ‘Seriously? One punch sends you down? Pathetic.’ I get mad and stand back up, to which he kicks me in my stomach with both legs.”

Nacreous backed up as I moved away from him. “Now, I’m a good 12 feet away from him, so about two of me,” Alex demonstrates. “The guy rushes me again since I stayed up, and I…wait.”

“Wait?” I asked in confusion.

“I-I stood there and waited for him to come to me,” Alex corrected. “As soon as he is within three feet of me, or half my height, I spin around quickly and kick my right foot out, roundhouse style. My foot connects to his left side. He goes tumbling to the ground, and I turn to face him. Guy gets up, holds his stomach for a second to catch his breath, and I taunt him with, ‘One kick? Seriously?’”

I exhaled with a shake of my head, suppressing the chuckle from coming out. Alexander noticed me trying and shrugged.

“Worked too well, I guess,” Alex shrugged. “Because he flies up and tries landing another punch to my jaw. Only this time, I caught his hoof with my right hand and countered-punched with the left. I think I connected with his muzzle because my left hand stung after the impact. Stallion sprawls out on the ground before me, and…Nacreous, I need to borrow you again.”

sigh “Here we go,” Nacreous sighed. I felt like I knew what was coming next as Alex motioned for Nacreous to lie on his back.

“God, this is weird because I know you,” Alex laughed softly. chuckle “Okay, this is what I did. He’s on his back. I drop to my knees and lean over him. He looks at me with a pained expression, and I stare back. I say, ‘Had enough?’ The stallion responded with this…he shook his head and mouthed, ‘No.’”

Nacreous held his guard up, but Alex pinned his claws to his stomach. “‘Fine! You ask, you shall receive!’ I yell at him. That’s when I wind up my right arm and lay a haymaker on him.” Alex described it as he showed the repeated motion. “Punch after punch after punch. Pow!Pow! I think I got him 6 times before I stopped because a bunch of ponies were gathering around us.”

Alex got up and came back to the chair. “My knuckles were soaked in blood,” Alex admitted. “I started to walk away as some ponies began following me, getting back to HQ before the ponice showed up. And then, y’all found out what happened, and here we are today.”

“Why?” I asked with my hoof. Nacreous got up and walked back to my side, a puzzled expression on his face. “Why, though? There’s no motive. There’s nothing for you to gain, Alex.”

“Because it was the right thing to do, Celestia. And no other pony was attempting to save that mare from this guy,” Alex snapped. “I chose to do what I did because, morally, it is the right thing to do. To stand up for others who need your help. And I don’t feel ashamed for doing it.”

Alex sat back in the chair and folded his arms. I brought my head back and looked at the ceiling. Nacreous leaned in and kissed me, making me blush again as Alex stood up.

“I’m going to leave now since you two have your own ‘personal lives’ to get to,” Alex quickly mentioned as he departed. “I’ll be in my tower room if you need anything else from me. Peace!”

After the human closed the door behind him, I sighed heavily and buried my head onto the desk. Nacreous patted my back with his claw and shook his head as he looked over the report.

“I take it the paperwork isn’t going to be as easy as you thought?” Nacreous asked with a smile.

groan! “No,” I exhaled. “Alex just made it worse by what he described. But…he should be fine. No jail time, but he will get community service hours to do. Alex already has Swift to watch and guard him, so this shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Just…paperwork then?”

grumble! “Yes. Paperwork….”`

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“Where art thou, Alexander?” I whispered to myself, trotting alongside my Commander, Shifting Sands, and the hippogriff, Emperor Nacreous Thunderwing. “You couldn’t have gone that far.”

“Luna, it’ll be okay,” Shifting commented. “We’ll locate him, trap him, and get Alex back before anything else happens.”

“And how sure can you be of this, Commander?” Nacreous jutted in. “Remember what we are dealing with here. This is Alexander Walkerson, the only human creature left in Equestria.”

“Exactly!” Shifting exclaimed. “And, mind you, he is shackled at the wrists. Alex has only one means of escape, and that is on foot. We'll find him eventually if we cover as much ground as possible.”

“Finding Alex ‘eventually’ won’t cut it,” Nacreous argued. “As far as we have heard, nocreature has reported seeing him, nor is anypony sheltering the human. And the more we dawdle here in the castle, the farther Alex could get away from us.”

“B-But he’s….” Shifting attempted to counter. sigh “He’s tall! Taller than us by a countryside mile! The Canterlot Royal Army is spreading out as fast as their hooves can take them, and the Royal Guard is searching every nook and cranny. How can he hide from anycreature now?”

“Hmmm. ’Tis truly a predicament we find ourselves in,” I disappointingly hummed. “Alex can hurt himself if he doesn’t…d-doesn’t….”

My lips began to tremble as the thoughts of Alex dying reentered my inner mind. There’s no way he could’ve survived that fall, I began to believe. Once he made contact with the ground…splat!

“Luna, it’s gonna be okay,” Shifting reassured, nuzzling his head against my neck. A smile came to my face as the bad thoughts washed themselves away, my focus returning back to Shifting. “There. Better?”

“Much better,” I replied, earning a hum of approval from Emperor Nacreous.

“We shouldn’t worry too much,” Nacreous chirped. “We’ll get more information of his whereabouts soon enough. In the meantime, we should plan out our next moves carefully.”

I stared with a confused look, as did my Commander beside me. “Plan ‘our’ moves?” Shifting asked. “We already have planned out our next moves. We locked down the castle and all of Canterlot fully and alerted the Crystal Empire to the issue at hoof. The guard and army are searching high and low for-”

“Aaand?” Nacreous replied, his talon circling. “What about Ponyville?” Commander Shifting’s eyes widened in surprise, his ears falling flat. “You didn’t think that far ahead, did you?”

“N-No….” Shifting’s admission left me with a bad feeling in my stomach, but an idea suddenly came to my mind.

gasp! “Oh no,” I exhaled quietly, my jaw dropping before turning to the two immortal creatures beside me. “Princess Twilight. Wher-”

sigh “That would make the most sense,” Nacreous said with a look of concern. “Twilight knows Alexander the most and would probably be our best lead. If she is sheltering the human….”

groan! “That wouldn’t be a good look,” Commander Shifting grumbled. “But, then…that raises another question. How did Alex get THAT far in such little time?” I pondered the thought, only for Nacreous to summon two chess pieces in his right claw.

“Let me sum this up in an analogy Alex once taught me,” Nacreous began retelling. “I learned that, in Alex’s mind, he’s always ahead of the curve. Now you may wonder, ‘Well, how far ahead is he then?’ Any guesses?”

“Two or three?” I replied inquisitively. Shifting shook his head and looked back at Nacreous.

“Nope. Alex is usually 8 or more steps ahead,” the hippogriff emperor replied, eliciting a sharp inhale from me. “Winning at chess requires you to outsmart your opponent…duh. But there are so many different combinations of moves you can do within a 5-turn span. And, since your opponent can counter those moves with a move of their own, which may or may not have been in your planned moves, it becomes trickier to predict how the game will turn out.”

Nacreous then showed the pawn piece. “Pretend this is Alex,” Nacreous sternly said. “He is the least threatening piece right now. The queen, however, is. The queen piece may take that pawn, and nothing will become of it. But…with careful maneuvering and tactical planning, that pawn can get to the other end of the board and turn into the queen. Now, he has become the threat.”

I took all of this in as Shifting retrieved a transmitter device. “So, should I send the order to-”

“Commander, if you want to outsmart Alex, you have to think like him,” Nacreous concluded. “Ponyville and the surrounding areas need to be locked down, and we should start to consider shutting down the northern hemisphere of Equestria as well.” Nacreous motioned for Shifting to give him the device, which the stallion humbly obliged.

“Allow me,” Emperor Nacreous replied as he pressed the button. “ATTENTION!! All Canterlot Royal Army personnel and Royal Guards!” the hippogriff barked into the transmitter. “Make sure to lockdown Ponyville and the surrounding areas immediately, and begin preparations for a total shutdown of Equestria’s borders! Thank you!”

ding! The device ringed, the green lighting signifying the message had been sent to everypony. Nacreous tossed the device back to Commander Shifting as I exhaled in relief.

“There,” Nacreous confidently replied. sigh “That will definitely help us out a lot now….”

“Uhmm, excuse me, Your Highness?”

========================================<>========================================

All three of us turned around to notice a particular member of the Royal Guard standing a few lengths away from us. To my surprise, it was Specialist Swift Wildshadow, the one we had tasked with guarding Alex from his arrival to Equestria.

“Princess Luna?” the nervous stallion asked. gulp! “Y-You asked if any information could be given to help find him?”

“Yes, Specialist Swift. That we did ask for,” I replied with suspicion. “Do you have any insight you want to share with us?”

“Uhmm, I-I, uh, had a thought c-cross my mind….” Swift said even quieter. Nacreous raised his eyebrows before Commander Shifting stepped forward toward the nervous stallion. It appeared as if Swift was hiding something, but may have been too afraid to say it, so Commander Shifting patted him on the back to ease the younger Swift.

“Take your time, Specialist Swift,” Shifting said calmly. sigh “Take a deep breath, relax. It’s okay….”

Swift did as instructed and relaxed his shoulders. The stallion’s legs were no longer shaking as Swift stood up straighter and more confidently. I nodded to Nacreous, who smiled in return and approached the pair.

“Very well. What information do you have that you would like to present to us?” Nacreous asked quickly. “What is this thought that has crossed your mind?”

“It…came to my attention that there was possibly another city that he may have fled to, your majesty,” Swift replied, bowing his head in respect. Nacreous nodded as Swift continued, his eyes meeting my gaze. “I believe there is one place he could have fled to.”

“What does thou mean by that, Specialist Swift?” I inquired. “There’s no other city nearby that he could’ve gotten to immediately without being seen or caught. And, unless it is that one secret village under the mountain, where could he have possibly ended up?”

“There IS one, Your Highness,” Swift responded emphatically. “I re-remember…because he told me about it.”

“WHAT?!” Commander Shifting shouted in surprise. Nacreous’s jaw dropped for a second before he shook his head. Swift retracted himself as Shifting approached the stallion quickly. “Alex told you?!”

“Unbelievably…yes,” Swift admitted, his shoulders sagging. “I didn’t think of it until ten minutes ago, which made me search for at least one of you….”

“Now I’m confused,” Nacreous admitted after checking his ears. “Let me make sure I understood that correctly. Alex, the human you were tasked with guarding, and who has been labeled as a convicted felon recently…‘told’ you where he would be going…?”

“‘If he ever got out of this place.’ Yes, he did,” Swift replied. “It was impossible to comprehend, but it makes so much sense now that I think about it.”

“Specialist Swift!” I shouted, my ears not believing the conversation we were having. “This information could have bee-”

“Wait, wait!” Commander Shifting ushered me to relax. As he turned his head to the guardpony, Shifting cleared his throat before asking Swift a single question. “Where?”

gulp! “Cloudsdale…sir.”

My mind felt like it had exploded from the idea of Alex escaping to the mobile city. The mere mention of Cloudsdale made me dismiss it, my sense of denial kicking in. “Th-Th-That’s….”

“I-Impossible!” Shifting finished my senten-

“HOW?!”

Commander Shifting and I turned to look at Emperor Nacreous, his wings flaring in response. After a few tense seconds, his head tilted down as he closed his eyes, retracting his wings and tucking them back in. A talon came up to his chin.

“How could Alex have gotten to Cloudsdale, though?” Nacreous pondered before shaking his head. “Specialist Swift, I see that as impossible. Simply put, Alex’s species can’t fly.”

“B-But what if he had help?” Swift said before his eyes widened. “W-Wait….” The stallion slowly backed up, and my suspicion signals began ringing an alarm bell in my head.

“Swift?” I asked slowly. My eyebrows leveled downward as I glared at the stallion guard. “Do you know something that nopony knows about?” Specialist Swift’s eyes met mine, but his expression didn’t express shame or guilt.

The pony’s eyes reflected…enlightenment.

“Did Alex ever…‘give up his watch’ to anycreature?” Swift uttered.

It felt like the world had stopped. Everything that had happened up to this point felt like it was blown up, nothing over the past three to four weeks having mattered anymore. My heart rate increased as the slow realization of just how Alex ‘may have escaped’ came to fruition. The ludicrous idea seemed reasonable as I slowly faced the other two immortal figures beside me.

Commander Shifting said nothing as he stared back at me. His mouth closed as he gulped, only to turn and face the hippogriff emperor.

Nacreous summed it up best. The hippogriff looked outward and to the west, drawing our attention to a significantly large cloud structure moving away from us. His beak opened, one word finally escaping and out into the air.

“Oh.”

Author's Note

Here we go. The beginning of the adventure! Alex has got his work cut out for him, eh?

I'd like to thank everyone who's liked this story so far. It's encouraging to see. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, there's more to come here in Cloudsdale, that's for sure.

See you all next weekend! -Harpy

Edit: I revised this chapter on June 26th, 2023. To me, the story feels much better. Last year, my writing style hadn't been as developed. I was still new to this. Now, with a lot of time on my hands, I've gotten more practice and can safely say we are doing great. These revisions help with contextual clarifications and fixing the tone it gave off. Hope you all can understand and will like the changes.