Heavenly Crusaders

Following her through the corridors and rooms to reach the chamber to inter their newly recovered brethren, they arrive as the room's crystals on the walls start lighting up when Twilight walks in and looks around at the vast chamber, seeing heavy stone lids resting on boards over holes carved into the floor. Looking towards the front of the room, she sees ones set on the floor with something carved out of the large stone cover and heads toward it. Seeing that there is a tower shield carved onto the cover with the front painted white and having the same red + with flared ends on it, she looks over to another one to see another white tower shield with the same symbol. Heading down the line, she finds that there are a few different versions of it and asks, "Why are there different types of shapes and colors on these covers? Do they signify a different group within the order?"

Wise Owl walks towards her, saying, "They do, dear. Even though they may have belonged to a different order where we came from originally, we all came here together. And thus, we are all family to each other through the order."

Looking around the room, True looks at Twilight, asking, "Hey Twilight, do you happen to know any cleaning spells?"

She looks around the room and nods, saying, "I do, but...I won't be able to handle this large of an area."

Smiling, he says, "Good, then we can cast it together with combined magic, meet me in the center of the room so I can show you how to do that if you don't know how."

Grinning, she follows where he is heading and makes her way there from the other side, asking, "Alright, tell me all about combining magic."

Chuckling, he looks at her and then goes into tutor mode, teaching her what he knows about the unusual technique. When he finishes, he asks, "Ready to give it a try, Twilight?"

After putting the tips of their horns together, they channel their magic together and manage to succeed on their first try. With that done, they then see Wise Owl head over to another room.

Following her in, True tells her that this is their preparation chamber for preparing remains for burial, pointing to a long bell, saying, "That is the Tolling Bell, it is enchanted with the ability to summon every member currently alive to the waiting area with the exception of those already here, teleporting them here within one to five minutes."

Once the bell is rung in a sequence of three tolls before a short pause, it rings three more times in the same pattern while True tells her about how the bell was made. While they wait for the others to arrive for the ceremony, Wise Owl notices how curious Twilight is about this place and walks up, saying, "I like how curious you are about this place and its magical curiosities, Twilight. Would you and your other two friends like to join the Celestial Crusaders?"

Thinking it over for a bit, she looks to her friends and sees them both nod yes. Turning back to her, she then smiles and says, "We all would like that very much, thank you for offering us the opportunity to join such an old, respectable order!"

She looks at the young mares, saying, "That is wonderful to hear, our order continues to survive with each new member we get. I'm sure that True would have liked to invite you to join, however, he isn't quite old enough to be given that privilege. We will have to have the ceremony after interring our fallen brethren."

Minutes pass as the members arrive, with the elder members taking charge and assigning tasks to others while the girls keep out of the way of their preparations. The tunics are cleaned and prepared along with the remains, where the tunics are then put on the pony they come from due to their cutie marks being sown inside the collar.

It takes twenty minutes before the ceremony begins as the eldest of them all reads a few words to them when the members all begin to sing out in a language that none of the three girls know.

True watches each of the recovered remains be placed in a line of empty tombs, then lids are then laid over each of them with the last being placed at the end of their chant. As the leader of the ceremony assigns a group to begin carving and painters to put the final touches to the covers once the carvers are finished, before they can start carving, True smiles as he hears him talk about new members joining them.

As he follows them to a large enough space, True moves to stand in line with the others as three elders call the three mares down the aisle. When they head down the aisle, he hears them state the purpose of their order and ask if they wish to become fellow sisters to the others within the order. A happy smile crosses his face at seeing all three of them learn their unique genuflect and state their wish to join the order, then stomps his forehooves with the others when they are handed their own pins to show that they are also members of their order.

When the members all make their way to a large, raised square, Twilight is shocked when she hears one of them call out a destination in Manehattan and vanishes in a flash before her very eyes, rushing over to True to ask him something. Skidding to a stop before him, she comes nose to nose with him and asks, "Please tell me what I just saw happen where that pony just vanished before my eyes in a flash, it looks a lot like Teleportation magic, which I learned by accident when I was being chased all over Ponyville for one of the golden tickets I received. Finding myself backed against a building with nowhere to go, I panicked and wanted to go to a safe place. I then felt a sudden surge of magic and poof, I was inside the Golden Oak Library."

Chuckling as most of the ponies continue to teleport back to where they came from, he says, "Don't be too shocked to learn that our order figured out teleportation first and shared it with you all several centuries ago, though the Teleportation Circle was discovered fifty years ago by one of our sisters." When he notices Twilight giving him her crazed, knowledge-hungry, he sighs and says, "Alright, how about we start helping you learn different languages so you can start to learn a few spells in a few books written in that language, books from my family's secret library?"

Her eyes shrink down a bit as she thinks over what he said until his final words hit her like a brick as her eyes sparkle in wild delight, saying, in a barely restrained voice, "I'd love that very much, when can we start?"

Looking into her glittering eyes full of desire, he chuckles and says, "Tomorrow, is that fine with y-"

Overjoyed, Twilight suddenly turns her head, closes her eyes, and locks lips with him, ignoring a couple whistles until her mind returns to the ground and feels something inside her mouth. Investigating it with her tongue, she slides it around the slippery object until she thinks, 'Hmm...it feels a little like my tongue, but different somehow.' When she feels a rush of air against her cheek, she wonders what is going on and opens her eyes to see that she is sharing a passionate kiss with her friend True, causing her to scream a thought in her mind, 'JUST WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING, KISSING MY FRIEND!?!'

True opens his eyes to see Twilight looking at him with various emotions warring across her face, yet, she still continues to kiss him. Needing to get her to organize her thoughts and emotions, he makes the first move and wraps his hoof around her neck before pushing his tongue a little further.

With his tongue pushing further into her mouth, Twilight growls mentally at the noise and begins chasing her thoughts down and driving them into place. Taking her a few moments, her mind is finally clear and she discovers that she...likes how he kisses.

Watching the two from a distance with Applejack, she walks forward and says, "Hey, umm...are either of you going to realize you need air, or can I get in on that action?"

Twilight blushes fiercely and jerks away, saying, "R-RAINBOW!"

Lying on the floor from her reaction, the pegasus says, "Hahahah, your reaction was hilarious, Twilight!"

Ignoring her, he looks at Twilight and asks, "Glad to see that you have regained control of your mind and emotions, I know that your brother would hunt me down if he found out I took your first kiss. So, let's just keep that between us for now, until we know where we stand with each other, alright?"

Nodding her head, she says, "Y-Yes, that would definitely be best because of how overprotective my brother is of me. To answer the question you were asking before my body rudely interrupted you, tomorrow would be great to begin teaching me all the languages you are able to speak and write."

With that settled, he nods and says, "Alright then, let me go get a few books to start teaching you Latin first, we will then move onto the others when you have a firm grip on that language. Just so you know, I will put a spell upon pages that contain dangerous spells for in and out of combat use. The spell will make the page look like words are rushing every which direction on it, please do not try to dispel it as I do not want to spend time on the moon or in Princess Celestia's dungeon for turning you into a dangerous weapon of war. Let me be your shield and sword when it counts, sister, for we reincarnations are forbidden from sharing our prior memories and experiences in life with others. Yes, there are a few more things that I am keeping from you, however, it is important that it remains that way due to what I remember from that spell I cast which melted the floor in Celestia's school."

Able to relax finally at realizing that the library is inside the Stronghold, she asks, "Do you think that you could try to put one of those Teleport Circles in your Cathedral somewhere, so there's a quicker way there?"

True thinks her question over seriously for a moment and nods, saying, "It is certainly worth giving some serious thought to, I will let you know my answer tomorrow when I see you. Do you want me to come over or are you going to visit me?"

Yawning, Applejack then says, "Think we can head back through that teleport-thingy, ah'm mighty tired and haven't had dinner yet?"

Hearing that he can decide, he tells her that he will come over and then turns to Applejack, saying, "Of course, think of a location where it is somewhat hidden wherever you want to go, for example...Barn Cellar at Sweet Apple Acres in Ponyville."

Nodding their heads, Applejack and Rainbow head to the circle to head home, with Applejack choosing to teleport to the farm's driveway and Rainbow choosing her home above Ponyville.

Twilight then turn to him, saying, "Alright then, let's go get those books and be on our way back."

Once he heads over to the library, he has to keep an eye on her since she acts like a foal in a candy store. When she moves towards a stack of combat spell books, he says, "Alright, I'm putting a leash on you Twilight, because the books you have your eyes on are spell books containing combat spells. Many of which, cause harm to one's opponent."

When she feels a magical tether wrap around her neck and pull her towards him, she grumbles, but follows it with an annoyed snort, "Forgive me for being curious, okay?"

With a smirk, he says, "I know you can't help it after finding out that this is where I've been getting my knowledge from, but remember what happens to the cat when they get curious."

Sticking her tongue out, she says, "Don't say that expression around Fluttershy, it'll make her cry."

After grabbing the books he needs, he puts them into his saddlebags and then makes his way back to his wagon, saying, "Oh, think that you could hand those books you collected from the fallen so that I can see what is in them?"

Handing the books over, she watches him pull a sconce to open the door and then makes her way over to the wagon, asking, "Before I forget, would you mind telling me what you all were singing?"

Backing in between the single tree, he hooks himself up to it and goes to pull the sconce to close it when he hears Twilight close the back gate, saying, "Sure, that is just Gregorian Chant. What makes it different is that words are chanted in a monophonic way..."

Twilight listens curiously while keeping the stacks of paper steady as he tells her more about it before telling her what was actually said, saying, "That is certainly different from how we bury those that have perished in some way, be it accident, age, or illness."

Nodding as he trots towards the exit, he pulls the sconce and says, "We definitely have our unique mannerisms compared to other ponies in Equestria." When they return to the outside world, he closes the door behind them and sees the time of day, saying, "Wow, today went by fast. I better get you home so that you can eat and then get to bed."

Sorting through the stacks, she nods, saying, "Thank you for being so considerate, I certainly do have a few things I need to tend to when I get back..." While she works on sorting them out into bundles and tying ribbons around them to keep them together, her mind absently starts puzzling out why her body felt the need to suddenly kiss him.

Traveling along at a canter, he looks around to see what she is doing and chuckles softly when he sees her focusing intensely on sorting out the stacks of paper, thinking, 'I'll just leave her to her sorting then, there's a long way yet until we get back to town.'

After returning to Ponyville, Twilight moves her stacks inside the tree and wishes him a good night, saying, "I look forward to learning Latin with you tomorrow."

When the lessons begin, days turn into weeks, then into months as winter ends on schedule for once thanks to Twilight's organizational skills. Spring proves to be quite annoying this year as True keeps taking Sun tea every day to avoid unexpected pregnancies, with a few mares coming by and snatching him away for some action. Once the mating season passes, they are sent to deal with a dragon that decided to nap in a mountain cave several miles away.

Weeks after the dragon encounter, weird things begin happening in Ponyville as True works to keep animals and other critters from eating the Cathedral. Huffing in annoyance at their persistence, he puts up a large barrier to keep everything away from it and goes to find the girls. Finding most of them at Applejack's, he wades through a pile of popcorn towards Applejack's and looks around at the oversized apples on the trees with rubber trunks. Shaking his head, he then says, "This is madness, no spell I know works to undo what's going on. Where's Twilight at?"

Heading over through the field, Twilight smiles and says, "Don't worry, everyone. For I have just learned a new spell that will fix all of this!"

Watching her with happiness in his eyes as she casts her spell, sending a beam to a group of affected plants and trees before a rainbow of colors races outward matching the colors of Twilight's body and her magic aura. When the brightness fades away, he goes through what he knows of what might have caused this, but comes up with nothing and looks to Twilight for any ideas.

As she looks around with a shocked look, she says, "I don't believe it...my failsafe spell FAILED!" Turning to Spike, then to True, she asks, "What will we do now?"

Rarity walks up with a raincoat and a hat on with an umbrella while Spike responds with giving up, saying, "Spike, I assure you that Twilight will think of something to do about this craziness."

Once she comes up with a plan of action, she has Rainbow gather the chocolate milk filled cotton candy clouds where Applejack then lassoes the group and bring them down to the ground. To finish things off, she whispers something into Fluttershy's ear, where she comments about hoping the animals stay away from the tied-down clouds.

Making his way over to Twilight as she comments about being able to do anything by working together when he sees Spike belch out a scroll from Princess Celestia, watching as she then picks it up and reads it.

Reading the letter quickly, she gasps and puts the letter away, saying, "Come on everyone, Princess Celestia wants to see us all in Canterlot right away! Get ready, I'm going to teleport us all there!"

Looking around, True asks, "Do you have enough magic to handle teleporting all eight of us, including you?"

Holding her head high, she nods, saying, "Definitely, I could take us all there and back and still have enough for one last trip."

Nodding his head in acceptance, he says, "Alright then, let's be on our way."

Casting her spell, Twilight takes them all to the castle's front doors and heads towards them as the guards start opening them, saying, "Come on, we must hurry!"

Upon seeing them all rush toward her, Celestia says, "Thank you, Twilight, and thank you all for coming so swiftly." When Twilight begins rambling off questions, she raises her hoof to stop her, saying, "Follow me."

Arriving in a part of the castle he hasn't been in, he looks around while following the girls and Celestia down the hall as she talks about what's going on. Hearing Discord's name being brought up and the culprit of what is going on causes an anger deep down to rise within him, causing him to huff out angrily as Rainbow comments happily about him being turned to stone, saying, "Should have realized it sooner that pest is the cause of all this madness."

Curious to hear more, Celestia stops and turns around, asking, "Your order had encountered Discord? What happened?"

Heading over to an image of him in a window mural, he snorts at the creature, saying, "Well, he certainly enjoyed himself by making Marbles flood into our sanctum, leaving those inside with no choice but to wade through a sea of marbles while he then enchanted every book to come alive and start flapping around. To stop the books and marbles, they had to act fast and sealed the air ducts and entrances. The sanctum was nearly lost to us when the entrances were sealed, as it took us twenty years to regain access to it and clean up after he had his 'fun' I won't tell you what went on inside during those twenty years as it was quite distressing for me to learn in the first place, but since he's returned...retribution for what he did will be assured."

As she sees wisps of black smoke rise from around True's hooves, she goes to address him and talk about what is bothering him when it vanishes. Setting it aside for now, she resumes her story, saying, "I believed that the spell we cast would be strong enough to keep him contained forever. However, as Princess Luna and I lost our connection to the Elements...the spell has broken."

When they stop at the end of the hall, he hears Princess Celestia call this Canterlot Tower where the elements are kept inside before she asks the girls to wield them again. Once the discussion ends, he watches her unlock it with her horn. A magical glow then spreads out from where she put her horn, engulfing the door as they then swing out wide to reveal a jeweled box. As the box is removed with her magic, he sees her open it to reveal that they are gone. Grumbling under his breath at thinking this is more of Discord's doing, he looks around, wondering, 'That menace can't be too far away if he is pulling a stunt like this, he enjoys doing things like this in person from what I've read in the books from previous encounters with him.'

Maniacal laughter echoes into the room from somewhere, saying, "Make sense hoh? What fun is there in making sense?"

Before having a chance to call out, he hears Celestia call him out and show himself. Looking around the room for where the pest is as his anger fills his body, slowly bubbling under the surface, he spots him in a mural when he flits over to another one, talking about how he was encased in stone. His anger reaches a boiling point at seeing the creature who had caused so much misery to their order when he mentions how he doesn't turn ponies into stone, shouting, "NO! YOU JUST FILL THEIR HOMES WITH MARBLES AND TRY TO STEAL THEIR WRITTEN KNOWLEDGE, CAUSING THEM TO SLIP AND STUMBLE AROUND UNTIL THEY BREAK THEIR NECKS!"

Looking at the black pony, he rolls his eyes and shrugs, saying, "Pff, why should I care if a few couldn't handle my pranks?"

True's anger transforms into hatred as he bellows, "YOU CONSIDER 100 DEATHS TO AMOUNT TO LESS THAN THE LIFE OF A SINGLE ANT IN A COLONY OF MILLIONS?! YOU ARE A VILE CRETIN, DISCORD, AND I WILL FIND A WAY TO MAKE YOU FEEL PAIN FOR BEING THE CAUSE OF THEIR DEATH!" Slowly, his hatred morphs into rage, causing his appearance to start to change colors.

Celestia then gasps as she watches the stallion's body begin to emit black smoke when his eyes glow bright green and emit purple smoke, shouting, "Stop, Dark Magic only tickles him!" but she watches as he screams in rage and casts a black beam at Discord, who only laughs when it hits him.

Discord collapses and rolls around in the small space, shouting, "AHAHAHAHAHAAH, STOP THAT! IT TICKLES!"

Growling as True glares at him, seeing how useless all magic is against him until an idea hits him. Dropping his connection to the dark magic, he digs deep within himself and closes his eyes, concentrating on his connection to the lord above. Discovering a new type of magic within him, he studies it for a moment to figure out what it is. Learning that it is holy magic he feels hidden within him, he taps into it. Without wasting a moment, he calls upon it and then fires off a short beam of azure fire at Discord's image in the mural.

When the fire hits him, he feels a light pinch, saying, "Hmph...congratulations, you pinched me."

With that not being enough, he searches for something more powerful when he recalls how he could combine magic and reaches for the hellfire spell while still holding onto his holy magic. While he continues to reach for it, he hears a strange whisper into his mind different from his demon wife's voice, telling him of what it will cost to be able to wield both at the same time. Determined to inflict pain more serious than a pathetic pinch, he then growls out loud, "If that is what it takes for this vile sinner to know pain...THEN SO BE IT!"

Hearing the animalistic roar coming from the stallion's mouth as his coat takes on a blackish red fiery glow causes Celestia to gasp and back away. She watches the silver hair on his body shine with a bright luminance before becoming silver flames as the azure hair does the same thing, but in azure flames. Seeing his eyes change to one pure white and the other blood red makes Celestia back further away until she watches different colored flames spiral up his horn, one reddish-black and the other azure.

Discord watches curiously as a swirling blue and reddish-black orb appear above his horn when he notices a ghostly aura surround the stallion's body, clapping gleefully at the sight, saying, "Oh what a show you are putting on for me! I can't wait to see what that is supposed to do."

Lillith watches from her sanctum, egging him on as Discord writhes in pain inside the window, saying, "Yeah, burn his mismatched ass, baby!" However, she notices that the combined magic is doing far more than causing him pain when she sees small pieces of him vanish, spotting that his strong silver aura that is slowly sputtering out. Shifting her senses over to her husband, she gasps in fright at seeing his very soul aura burning away with the spell. Desperate to stop him, she reaches out to Celestia's mind and screams, "THE FOOL IS BURNING AWAY HIS SOUL TO HARM DISCORD, SUNBUTT! YOU MUST RISK YOUR OWN BY INTERRUPTING HIS CONNECTION INSIDE HIS BODY BEFORE HE STARTS BLEEDING FROM HIS EYES, EARS, NOSE, AND MOUTH!"

Shocked at being screamed at, she reaches out and replies back, "HE'S DOING WHAT?! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT?"

Shaking her head with an exasperated sigh, she shouts, "IT WORKS BEST BETWEEN MUCOSAL CONTACT, SO JUST LOCK LIPS WITH HIM AND SEND YOURSELF INTO HIM WHILE KEEPING YOUR DAMN HEAD OUT OF HIS BEAM. DON'T ARGUE WITH ME ABOUT KISSING HIM YOU TWO-THOUSAND-YEAR OLD VIRGIN UNLESS YOU WANT TO WATCH HIM TURN TO DUST RIGHT BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES AND VANISH INTO THIN AIR!"

Scared at the thought of losing him, she rushes forth and drops to the floor while turning her head sideways and placing her lips onto his. She feels no way to extend herself yet and slips her tongue into his mouth, feeling it possible to connect to him when she hears Vale Lily tell her to fight against it with all she has.

As True pushes harder to harm Discord, oblivious to the fact that he is being kissed by the princess, he hears a voice whisper to his ear, "Don't do this, too many ponies will be hurt by your loss. Can you really sacrifice your own life just to make Discord scream in pain for a few moments if it means that your friends, Princess Celestia and her sister spend years crying over how they weren't able to lay your remains to rest with your brethren?" Her words then cause thoughts to stir in his mind, which grants a strange sensation to worm its way through his body and mind while working to weaken his connection to the hell magic he is using.

Twilight and the others watch either Discord, True, or Celestia in shock as she focuses solely on the sight of Princess Celestia kissing a much younger pony...with tongue when her eyes notice a golden aura seeping into his. Not understanding what is going on yet, she watches as his body stops glowing while sweat is drenching his face and neck.

Seconds pass by when Celestia finishes severing his connection, causing her to feel him jerk his head away to cry out briefly. Opening her eyes, she watches him stumble back a few steps with his eyes screwed shut before his back hoof slips first and causes him to fall to the floor rump first. When she gets back up onto her hooves shakily, her breathing is ragged at having to fight so hard to break the connection. Looking True over as his head hangs down, breathing heavily while his whole body shakes from the effort to keep standing. Taking a few steps forward, she then nuzzles her nose into his neck, saying gently, "Rest now, my precious little pony."

Barely keeping his upper body up, he gasps when he recognizes the voice and stammers, "O-Okay..." taking a few breaths to finish, he continues, "S-S-Sorry for failing, Y-Your M-Ma-jesty."

Once she hears him say that, she watches him simply collapse to the floor. Placing a wingtip before his nostrils, she feels him breathing regularly and lets out a sigh of relief as well as shedding a couple tears, saying, "Thank heavens that is finally over..."

Paying no heed to Discord's pained hisses, Twilight asks, "Uhm Celestia? What just happened? Is he going to be alright?"

Nodding her head, she turns to Twilight, saying, "What happened was that he was joining two opposing magics into a single attack at the cost of his soul's energy, so I had to make a connection to him in order for me to sever one of the magical links. He will be just fine, although it will take some time for him to recover from this ordeal. Unfortunately, he cannot assist you in his current state due to how prone to anger he is at the sight of Discord and his greatly weakened state. We will have to keep him here under observation until he is well enough to be returned to Ponyville under your care." Turning a baleful eye towards the gasping, furless Draconequus, she says, "No more games, Discord, what did you do with the elements?"

Snapping his fingers to cover himself in a yellow suit with pink polkadots, Discord sniffles painfully, saying, "This is no longer amusing to me, so I shall abide to your request in my own little way..."

By the time True wakes up, he learns of Discord's defeat a week later and then receives a big scolding from all three Alicorns for what he did. With no choice but to stay by one of their sides, he stays by Celestia's side during the day and then Luna's at night. When he is allowed to return to Ponyville a week later, he is accompanied by his new sitter/warden, Cadance, who is to never let him out of her sight. When he returns via train with Cadance in tow, Twilight is overjoyed at seeing her foal sitter again as the language lessons continue.

Fall nears its end after a few crazy incidents happened at least once a week, such as Spike falling victim to his greedy dragon instincts and Luna making her first public reappearance during Nightmare Night. However, the craziest was when Rainbow injured her wing and was stuck in the hospital for almost two weeks, resulting in discovering her passion for reading books about Daring Do when she was then released and tried to break in to take the book so she could finish it.

Having sent a letter a few weeks ago to Shining Armor after going over what he remembered from the spell he cast in Celestia's school, True Heart hears a knocking at the door to see Shining Armor at the door with a large box, saying, "Early Hearth's Warming Gift from a friend."

Hearing her fiance outside, Cadance rushes towards him and wraps her forehooves around his neck, saying, "It is so good to see you, Captain, how are things in Canterlot?"

Letting the two catch up a bit, he waits a bit before turning to Shining Armor and asking, "Did you bring the item requested, Shining Armor?"

Nodding as the guards keep watch dutifully, he says, "Yes, I have a special device for measuring ambient magic. May I ask what you are going to do with it?"

True nods and says, "Yes, I will be using it to figure out something that will forever change Equestria, but please wait here a moment while I get a few things ready for us all."

Cadance turns around to look at True, asking, "Where are we going this time, True?" When he doesn't answer and head further in, she follows him, saying, "Come on in Shiny, this is a community building except for the right wing." Seeing True grab his saddlebags from his room and then head over to the kitchen, she asks, "True, please answer me."

Grabbing a few things from the kitchen, he stuffs them all into a sack and then into his saddlebag, saying, "We are going on a flight to someplace cold in search of magical hotspots, I cannot say more due to security reasons involving the fate of Equestria. Apologies, Cadance, but I cannot tell you or the captain more than I have already." With everything needed, he starts trotting towards the door, saying, "Well, we better get a move on while the weather's still fair."

As he approaches the chariot, he loads the box into it and then moves to stand in front of the guards, saying softly so only they hear him, "I am operating for the benefit of the princesses and the whole of Equestria, I have one request to ask of you at this time. If you will hear me out, grant me your full focus. If you will grant my request, nod your head. If you refuse it, return to your previous pose."

Slowly, the two guards look at him intently and wait for him to state his request, hearing him say softly, "Do either of you know anything about an empire that vanished in the snowy lands north of Equestria? Blink once for yes, twice for no." Debating whether or not to answer, one guard signals the other by nodding subtly, then blink once together. Standing there stoically, they then hear him sigh in relief as he continues, "Okay, I was hoping that a few members of the Royal Guard knew. What I need from you is to take all three of us into the snowy north within fifteen miles of where it is rumored to be, so that I can use a device to figure out what is going on. Will I be able to count on you both?"

True sees the guards nod their heads and stand up straighter, saying, "I appreciate your aid in this matter, Celestia made sure you were trained well, though you all should cast your eyes around your surroundings more often to have a higher awareness of them."

Climbing into the chariot, the guards then take off for their destination as Shining Armor looks at True questioningly, asking, "I sure hope you have a way for us to stay warm in the cold northern lands, True, because we don't."

Nodding his head, he says, "Not to worry, I have a spell that will keep the temperature from getting to us, including the guards."

A couple hours pass as they finally reach their destination, with True making sure that his spell is still keeping them warm, saying, "Alright, I need to get the box and take it to a high place, then set it up and start taking readings."

Sticking together, they follow the stallion to a place he finds suitable, then watch as he sets it up and begins messing with a few things on it before he shows any interest in what it is showing him.

As he looks through the emerald, he spends twenty minutes watching the dial bounce lower and almost return to the same spot as before, saying with a tight smile, "Ah, ok. I see now, these numbers tell me everything I need to know." Taking it apart, he then sets it back in the box and closes it up tight, saying, "Alright, we can head back now."

After returning to the Celestial Cathedral, Shining Armor and the guards prepare to return as True steps in front of them, saying, "I don't mean to be a bother, but might you be able to grant me one more favor in regards to protecting Equestria's future?"

Looking at him once again, he gets close and whispers, "I need one of you to report to Princess Celestia right away that the magic in the NORTH LANDS is fast receding. One last thing I would request of you, is to be notified if it returns so that the soldiers lost in that battle may be recovered and given a proper burial." Surprised to hear the second request, they both nod their heads twice to follow through with them both.

Cadance looks at True quizzically, asking in an interrogating tone, "Just what are you up to, True?"

Smirking, he then looks at her cutie mark, saying into her ear, "Oh not much, just preparing a gift for when you two tie the knot. Speaking of which, have you told Celestia and Luna about it or even picked a date?"

Nodding while fighting back an overjoyed smile, she says in the same quiet tone, "I most certainly did just before being tasked to foalsit you and they both are over the moon at the news, the date which we chose is June 24th."

Before pulling away, he then says, "Well then, you better get started on what you want for your wedding, I hear they require a lot of planning."

With a smirk, she giggles and says, "Don't worry, I have that covered already, all I want is a simple wedding, nothing grand or overly extravagant."