//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Citizen/Soldier // Story: Beacon in the Shadows // by Dee Bee Doo-wop Cooper //------------------------------// Beacon in the Shadows or Cheerilee's a Paladin Chapter One: Citizen/Soldier By Digitdaemon A/N: From this point on, bonus points for every spotted song reference. ~~~~~ Cheerilee awoke to the sound of breaking glass. Sitting up in her modestly-sized bed, she was able to make out the grey and yellow pegasus that was sprawled across the carpet of her bedroom floor. “Sorry, Cheerilee. I have a urgent message for you. Also, your window is...was very clean and I kind of thought it was open.” Cheerilee got out of her bed and walked over to where the mailmare was now sitting. “It’s alright, Derpy. Thank you for bringing this.” “You’re very welcome. Also, I know a good place to get windows, I do a lot of business with them.” Cheerilee suppressed the urge to groan. She could definitely imagine the amount of glass that the grey pegasus had broken. “It’s okay, I’ll just ask Twilight to fix it for me. She is pretty good at cleaning these things up; heavens know how many times she’s made this kind of a mess.” Derpy rubbed her chin thoughtfully, “You know, thats not a bad idea. Maybe I should ask her to fix my windows.” “She probably would be happy to. I figured that after the third time you crashed through my window, it was getting too expensive to replace the glass every time.” “Yep,” was the response Cheerilee received from the wall-eyed pegasus. One eye was now tracking a fly that had come in through the broken window, the other was admiring the Mareitis Colt Escher print on the wall. “Well, anyways...I need to go to work... and you should probably go...to work,” Cheerilee said to her friend with an awkward smile. “Yep, Goodbye.” Derpy walked down the hall saying goodbye to Berry Punch on the way out. To Cheerilee’s severe annoyance, her sisters response was, “I hope Cheerilee didn’t keep you up too late.” Cheerilee stuffed the message Derpy had given her into her saddlebag and put the light-purple bags on her back. On her way down the stairs she was greeted by Berry Punch, who was holding the most vital part of her morning. She looked at the mug in Berry Punch’s outstretched hoof, still too asleep to actual show care for anything. “Coffee?” “Coffee.” Cheerilee took the mug from her sister, drank all of the dark brown liquid in one go and returned the mug to Berry Punch. “Feel better?” Cheerilee’s eyes slowly changed, the gloom in them cleared, and once again they matched the expectations set by their bright green color. She stood up straight, no longer looking hunchbacked and depressed. The most important change though, was that her voice had returned to it’s normally almost musically cheerful tone. “Definitely! Thank you.” “Well, somepony’s got to take care of you, Cheer. Face it, you’d be a train wreck without me.” Cheerilee was about to come back with a witty rebuttal, but stopped when she realized that for once her older sister was being sincere. Cheerilee closed the distance to Berry Punch and gave her a warm hug. “Thanks, sis.” “No problem. You should probably get going now, though.” Cheerilee ended the hug and glanced at the clock. “Seven thirty!” Cheerilee raced down the stairs, out the door, and down the street towards the school house. Berry Punch finished her pilgrimage up the stairs and arrived at her sisters bedroom. “I guess I’ll have to add a trip to the library to today’s to-do list.” ~~~~~ Cheerilee arrived at school late. Luckily, late for her meant she had less time to grade papers before the day began. Her students wouldn’t arrive for another forty-five minutes. She walked into the the one room schoolhouse, the walls of which were almost bare due to the short time school had been in session for, and scanned it for anything out of place. Her desk was covered in papers, as if they had been thrown about, the desks were out of place, some even overturned, and pens, pencils, crayons, and rulers were scattered across the floor. Ah, just as I left it. Cheerilee walked over to her desk at the front of the room and began to tidy up her things. Within minutes the cluttered mess of papers had been reduced to three neat stacks. Pulling out the papers from her saddlebag, she, for the first time that morning, noticed the letter Derpy Hooves had delivered to her. It was a perfectly rolled scroll with the Equestrian Royal Guard’s purple seal holding it closed. Cursing herself for ignoring it earlier, Cheerilee opened up the letter and began to read. Dear Cheerilee, As captain of the Royal Guard, it is my duty to inform you of a possible threat to Equestria’s safety. Last night, a strong spell was used to temporarily gain control of the Moon. This incident almost cost Princess Luna her life. Luckily Princess Celestia was able to break the spell by eclipsing the Sun. We have made great strides in making sure that the Princess’s connections to the Sun and Moon have been safeguarded. However, stay vigilant. Celestia has asked for you to see her at your earliest convenience. Shining Armor, Captain of the Equestrian Royal Guard Cheerilee stared at the scroll for a minute, trying to process the information on it. Princess Luna almost died?! She slowly put the scroll down on her mahogany desk , and sat back in her chair, still in a daze from the shocking news. Cheerilee had seen trouble before, she lived in Ponyville for pony sake. But somepony trying to kill one of the Princesses. That she had never experienced before. Cheerilee was shaken out of her stupor by the opening of the schoolhouse door, which heralded the arrival of a certain yellow coated filly. “Hello, Miss Cheerilee!” Cheerilee quickly steeled herself, and adopted her legendary cheerful guise.“Hello there, Applebloom. What can I do for you.” “Well, mah sister started workin’ early this mornin. She found this big, juicy, golden delicious apple, and told me I should give it to yah.” Applebloom finished by pulling a nice ripe apple out of her bag and placing it on Cheerilee’s desk. “Thank you very much. Tell your sister I said thank you, too.” Applebloom walked to her desk and sat down in preparation for class to begin, and the bell rang a minute later. Cheerilee took one last look at her desk, and prepared to face another day of teaching. I hate apples. ~~~~ Six long, productive, and knowledge-filled hours later, Cheerilee’s class filed carefully out of the room. Missing recess for leaving a mess in the classroom yesterday had ensured that they exited with more care and order. Cheerilee picked up her belongings, including the letter, took one last look at the beige walls, upon which now hung an art project the children had done today, and walked outside herself. Locking the door was automatic, her mind lost in thought. She had to make a trip to Canterlot, but the Canterlot Express wouldn’t leave till tomorrow at ten. So that meant she would be able to relax with her friends tonight; It was Friday after all, and that meant girls‘ night out. She would have to make an extra effort to enjoy tonight. Cheerilee let out a sigh, It may be the last opportunity I will get to do so for a while. She had already arrived at her house by the time she had dragged her way out of her thoughts. It wasn’t the first time she had not remembered her trip home due to preoccupation. Hopefully she hadn’t ended up ignoring the mayor all the way home...again. The entry way led into a small hallway that ended in a flight of stairs. On the right was the door to the modest kitchen and dining room, and on the left was a door to the living room and a door to a seldom used office. Cheerilee walked down the hall and into the living room and deposited her bag on the coffee table. She then laid down on the couch. If she was going to be out late “relaxing”, she would need a bit of sleep to hold her over. ~~~~~ Cheerilee was standing on a plain white surface. There were craters every few feet or so, and in the sky hung a large, blue, and green orb. She took a look around at her change of scenery, Cheerilee had only dreamt of the Moon twice, and both times- “Welcome, How art thou Cheerilee?” Luna’s voice interrupted Cheerilee’s thoughts. Cheerilee turned around and walked up to where her royal visitor was sitting. “I’m doing fine. I think It would be more appropriate for me to ask you, though.” Luna scowled at the comment, to her it implied weakness. She warmed up, though, when she saw that the expression on her guests face was not one of pity or jest, but of concern. “I appreciate your concern. We are doing much better, thank you.” Her voice wavered, “thou would not be able to understand the pain that I felt last night, and it is not something we would wish upon even our worst enemies.” A tear fell from the Princess’s eye after she finished speaking, and more rested on her lids. Cheerilee had always been taught to address royalty with professionality and restraint, but watching the Princess in front of her on the verge of tears she knew that Luna did not need a subject, but a friend. Cheerilee walked up to the dark-blue alicorn and gripped her in a tight hug. Luna was surprised at first, but accepted the hug. When Cheerilee broke the embrace Luna carefully dried her eyes with her hoof and a small sniffle. “Thank you. There are not many ponies we know that would be brave enough to do that,” Luna said, giving a small, but gracious smile. Cheerilee returned the smile, “Well, I wasn’t going to let a friend cry herself out all alone, whether or not she was royalty.” “Then, thank you...friend. But look at us, I call you up to discuss security, but end up with a grief counseling instead. We wanted to warn thee. The energies that were left on the moon from whatever happened, contained traces of a mind control spell. The ponies we are after may be adding to their ranks forcibly.” “So I shouldn’t trust anypony?” “Oh, heavens no. Anypony under such a spell as the one we detected would show obvious signs of being controlled. Just keep watch for unexplained disappearances.” “Alright, I’ll keep that in mind. Anything else?” “We would like to inform our sister when you could visit. When do you plan to arrive?” “I was going to take the morning train tomorrow, does that work for you?” Luna looked up in concentration, as if going through a calendar pinned up in the stars, “Yes! That will work perfect for us.” Cheerilee had only needed a second to recover from the Princess’s exclamation, much faster than the first time they had met, for sure. “Great, I’ll see you then.” “Good. Sleep well, my little pony, and thank you again.” Cheerilee fell into a comfortable blankness, one that was warm and soothed her mind of its troubles; peaceful and unending. ~~~~~ Cheerilee “Cheerilee.” “Cheerilee Veranda Punch!” Cheerilee’s lids creeped open and the image of her sister’s face filled her sleepy eyes. Berry Punch scowled at her, “You know, if you don’t hurry up, we are going to be late.” Cheerilee blinked a few more times and then jumped off the couch in excitement, “Friday!” She grabbed her bag and slung it over her back. “Okay, I’m ready.” “You know, if you wear that bag much longer, I think it might actually become attached.” “I thought we were in a hurry?” The two sister walked out of their house and began their journey to the Ponyville Pub Bar and Grill, chatting about their days on the way there. The Ponyville Pub Bar and Grill was a nice little restaurant on the far side of town. It featured a wide array of food, and arguably more important, a wide variety of alcoholic beverages. Regardless, it was a favorite of many Ponyville residents. Lyra and Bon Bon had already been there when they arrived.They were not, however, the last to arrive. That would be Derpy Hooves, who had been busy scolding her eldest daughter, Sparkler, about her use of household objects for magic training. “Sorry for being late guys,” the pegasus said with a dopey grin. Lyra shifted slightly on the bench to make room for the newcomer. “No problem, Berry and Cheer just got here, anyways.” The Grey mare sat down and they immediately dived into a passionate discussion on the state of each of their lives. ~~~~~ “So then I turned to Sparkler and said, If you tear up another couch that way, we are moving to Cloudsdale. You should have seen the look on her face.” Derpy fell into a fit of laughter, and the rest of the table soon joined in. Cheerilee, after recovering, got up from the table and placed her portion of the bits on the table. “Sorry to leave so early, but I need to catch the early train to Canterlot and still need to pack.” Berry Punch got up from the table and deposited her bits as well. As she walked over to where her sister was standing she said, “I better go with her, wouldn’t want her to forget something like her saddlebag.” Then, as if to prove her point, Berry Punch pulled Cheerilee’s Bag out from under the table and placed on her sister’s back. The table once again fell into a fit of laughter, and the occupants were only able to wave as the pair left. ~~~~~ The two shared a companionable silence as they walked home; one that was shattered by the sound of breaking glass and a filly’s scream. Cheerilee took of run and turned the corner of the street, coming face to face with a pitch black alleyway. The Royal Solar Seal appeared upon the teachers shoulder and her eyes lit up like lanterns. They bathed the alleyway in light, revealing the form of a cowering light-green pegasus filly and standing above her, a dark-grey pegasus colt wearing a black cloak with silver designs. Attached to his wings were blades that were tinted red and in his mouth was a long, wicked blade. Berry Punch caught up to her sister and stared in shock as the assailant looked up from his prey at the two onlookers. “Berry, get the guards.” Berry Punch ran off down the street. Cheerilee stepped lightly towards the cloaked pony. She could see the evil aura that flowed from him, though something seemed a bit off. “You shouldn’t be here, pony.” The pegasus said after spitting out his dagger, a grin forming on his mouth. “You know what they say about walking alone at night.” Despite the colts veiled threat, Cheerilee met his gaze with a glare that would have given a hardened criminal pause. “Oh well. Besides, more fun for me tonight, right?” The assassin dashed at Cheerilee with blinding speed, striking out with the blades in his wings. His attack did not hit pony flesh, instead it was met with a blinding flash and fell upon a silver shield held in the fuchsia mare’s left hoof. Cheerilee stood unharmed; her body was now covered in runes, out of which grew shining silver plates. In full armor, Cheerilee made a motion with her right hoof and drew out of the air a majestic sword of the same design as her shield. The blade seemed to shimmer as if it wasn’t actually solid, but instead a flowing, liquid steel. The grey colt retreated several steps. He wasn’t stupid, he knew that one-on-one combat with a knight was suicide. There was a reason he had clung to the shadows, preferring to use surprise as his strength. With one more glance out of his crimson eyes he leaped into the sky and flew into the clouds. Cheerilee ran to where the filly had curled up and sat down next to her. “It’s okay now, he’s gone, he can’t hurt you.” Cheerilee said as she stroked the filly’s mane. It appeared that the only injuries that she had sustained were a few cuts from where she had jumped through the window, and some bruises from landing. The light-green pegasus looked up at her protector and let out a shudder. The runes appeared once more and this time, the silver plates vanished inside them, and they too, vanished. “He...he...I want my mommy...” Fresh tears fell from her face. Cheerilee lifted the filly into her lap and held her close. She knew that it would calm her down and help her to feel safe. Cheerilee said in a quiet, soft voice,“It’s okay, everything’s going to be okay. What is your name, sweetie?” The filly’s crying lessened and she looked up at the schoolteacher, “Symphony.” “Symphony? That's a beautiful name. Listen, I’m not going to let anything else happen to you tonight, okay.? Do you trust me?” Symphony nodded slowly before burying her head in Cheerilee’s coat and starting to cry anew. Cheerilee hugged the filly close as she felt the first few drops of a light summer shower fall on her head. By the time the royal guard arrived, Symphony was sound asleep, protected from the elements in Cheerilee’s firm embrace.