Deciding it would be fastest to split up, Twilight suggested that she, Princess Celestia, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash check the park and the Canterlot Royal Gardens. The others quickly agreed, if only because Rainbow Dash was becoming harder and harder to manage while stuck indoors.
After searching the hospital for several minutes, Rarity thought to ask the receptionist if they used any ‘therapy pets’ in the hospital, asking for directions when the clerk nodded an affirmative. While Rarity might have secretly revelled in the praise her friends lavished upon her for her idea, she accepted it with as much grace as she could, tittering, “Oh, it was nothing. If I know anypony, it’s Fluttershy. And, of course, there’s no guarantee that she will be there. It was just a hunch.”
Pinkie Pie, bouncing along as she rambled, “But hunches are the best things in the world when you’re trying to find somepony you know but you don’t know where they went to because they didn’t tell you or anything and they just don’t seem to be anywhere and everypony starts to get worried and then they look everywhere but can’t find that somepony so then-”
“Fluttershy, there you are, Darling!” Rarity interrupted smoothly as they entered the small animal ward in the hospital.
Fluttershy jumped in shock, emitting a soft ‘eep’ as her wings clamped to her side, her feathers vibrating. “O-oh, hi Rarity,” she said softly, struggling to calm herself again. “I was just, um, talking to the animals, thanking them for all the hard work they do trying to cheer up the sick ponies here.”
Fluttershy scuffed the floor with her hoof, gently, slightly embarrassed as Rarity hugged her tightly. “It’s alright, we were just wondering where you had wandered off to, since you never came back. Now, if I understand things correctly, we’re heading to the castle next?” Rarity asked Princess Luna, who had just walked into the room.
“Veeri-” Luna started to answer, before coughing into her hoof, attempting to cover her mistake. “That is, yes, that seems to be the plan. When thou art ready, please follow us outside, so that we can make our way to the castle.”
“Oh, um, alright, I guess,” Fluttershy agreed meekly, starting to follow them out of the ward. Turning to the animals, she encouraged them warmly, granting them a smile as she left the room hoping they knew how proud she was of them.
Once she left the room, however, she found an unexpected surprise waiting for her.
.o.O.o.
“You-you guise ish too slow!” Milly complained from her sister’s back, pouting furiously. It has all started out so brilliantly, her plan... She had the element of surprise, nopony chasing her quickly enough... She was even going to get to escape to Pony Joe’s scot free, where she knew she could use her irresistible charm and cuteness to get a free donut! But then her sissy and Mr. Moonstone had to show up out of nowhere, using a, a thingy to stop her!
Rubbing her still-tender head, Milly grumbled, “Whai you hurted my head? My head didn’t do anyfing!”
“I said sorry...” Moonstone apologized again, staring at the ground as they trotted through the park at a sedate pace.
“Don’t be,” Starlight said, grinning slightly. “Milly knows better than to just go running off on her own, because she could get hurt, and that’s what happened! Of course, we never thought she’d get hurt because somepony put up a shield, but still.”
“Yous is both Meanie Heads,” Milly mumbled, holding onto her sister tighter.
“No, you just weren’t being considerate,” Starlight replied sternly, doing her best to ignore the obvious stares from passersby directed at her encased wing. “Moonstone can’t run as fast as you with a cast on his leg. It’s not nice to run off without your friends when you’re supposed to be having fun together. You were being selfish and reckless, Milly.”
Starlight and Moonstone trotted at a sedate pace for a moment longer before Milky Way whimpered from Starlight’s back, giving her pause. “I-I’m sorry,” she mumbled softly, burying her face in Starlight’s mane, trying to hold back tears. “I-I just wanted to goes to the park, so that Sissy could give me the rest of my Griffin-back ride...”
Starlight sighed heavily, slowing to a stop as she stepped off the path and onto the grass, laying down gently to let a misty-eyed Milky Way stumble off. Pulling her younger sister to herself, Starlight started the arduous task of informing Milky Way of the realities of the situation. “Milly, I... I can’t give you the rest of the ride for awhile,” she started to explain, her eyes avoiding her younger sister’s innocent gaze.
“Huh? But whai not?” the filly asked, her eyes bright with curiosity. “I-I was a good filly!” she protested earnestly, leaning forward. “Y-you can even ask Loony! W-whai I no can has anover ride?”
Starlight’s eyes misted slightly as she motioned to her broken wing, murmuring gently, “Milly, I can’t fly anymore. I got hurt when I took you flying last, so now I have to let it rest. If I tried to fly, it would make it hurt even worse, and maybe even make it so I’d never fly again...”
The foal tried to hold back the waterworks, but the seal to the dam had a leak, several stray tears escaping. “B-but you’re not allowed to get hurted! I-I told you you’re not allowed last week! You-you can’t get hurt, you’re my sissy! Sissies don’t get hurted!” she yelled, small rivulets slowly being created on her face as the tears began to fall.
“Y-you can’t be hurt,” she pleaded, clinging to some small glimmer of hope that her sister was just trying to play a mean prank on her. “I-if yous be hurted, then... then it’s all my fault,” she wailed, throwing herself in her sister’s embrace. Her body was shaking as she started to sob. Her tiny voice becoming hoarse, she whimpered, “Please dun hate me, Sissy. I didn’t mean to get you hurted, I promises!”
“I was so scareded,” Milly whimpered, clutching her sister as if she might just disappear. “Y-you and Moony were taken away from me, an-an nopony would talk to me to tells me whut happeneded to you, and they didn’t tell me nothing, and I though, I thought that you, that you were... were...”
Starlight also started to cry softly, hugging her sister tightly to herself. She rested her head on Milky Way’s body gently as she started murmuring comfort to the sobbing, heart-broken filly. “Milly, it was not your fault, alright? You-you didn’t do anything wrong, nothing at all,” she shushed, slowly stroking the foal’s mane to calm her down. “If I had been paying closer attention to flying, then... But I’m fine, alright? I’m not going anywhere.”
“P-promise?” the foal whispered, barely audible as she fought her cracking voice.
Pulling back a little, Starlight licked her sister’s face gently, trying to cheer her back up. “I promise, Milly. I’m not going anywhere without your permission, alright? We still have a movie night to make up, remember?”
Starlight waited a moment for Milky Way to respond excitedly, but strangely enough, she remained where she was, laying down in Starlight’s embrace. “Milly?”
Starlight and Moonstone shared a confused look before Moonstone yawned widely, not bothering to look ashamed when Starlight just stared at him. “What? It was a long night.” he muttered, rubbing at his eyes tiredly.
Starlight rolled her eyes, discreetly hiding a yawn of her own as she put an ear to her sister’s chest, counting to herself. Trying to keep her composure, she murmured, “She’s asleep... Must have fallen asleep because of the-the sun,” she yawned quietly, trying to keep her eyes open.
Her eyes shot open briefly when she felt Moonstone settle down on the other side of her, curling up neatly, though making sure to avoid jarring her already-injured wing. “Wh-what do you think you’re-”
“Just taking Milly’s lead,” Moonstone mumbled, already falling asleep as he felt the autumn breeze rustle his mane, the sun beating down on his coat. “Wouldn’t be fair to do something without her. Don’t worry, I put a shield up,” he said slowly, his weariness starting to overwhelm him. “L-Lex, go ‘n find Luna ‘n tell ‘er where we are,” he ordered as he finally fell unconscious, snoring lightly as he laid against Starlight, oblivious to her discomfort. After a minute, though, once she saw that there were no other ponies to pay them any heed, she allowed herself to also drift off to sleep, one last yawn escaping her mouth as she let her body start to recover from the previous evening’s injury.
.o.O.o.
“Fluttershy?! Oh my goodness, how you’ve grown!” Serene Breeze gasped as the butter-colored pegasus entered the hallway. “You were such an awkward little filly, but just look at you!”
Fluttershy squeaked, jumping slightly as she hid behind Rarity, peeking out to the side slightly, before relaxing a little bit. “M-Mrs. Breeze?”
“You know her, Darling?” Rarity asked, looking back and forth between the two pegasi.
“Oh, umm, yes,” Fluttershy admitted meekly, slowly pulling away from Rarity. “She and my mother were, um, very good friends.”
Serene Breeze fluttered her wings slightly, trying to hide the grin that was growing. “I’m flattered that you remember me, Fluttershy. You hardly ever talked to me whenever we visited. Such a shy little thing...”
Fluttershy squeaked, hiding behind her mane as she blushed, embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Dear, it’s not my intention to make fun of you,” Serene apologized. She blushed slightly herself, though her tone shifted to that of a mother as she chided Fluttershy. “Come on, stop hiding, you’re a fully grown mare now! Now get over here so I can get a good look at you.”
“Y-yes ma’am,” Fluttershy mumbled, slowly trotting from behind Rarity, where she had been hiding.
“Thank you, dear,” Serene commented, watching Fluttershy closely, not wanting to believe what she saw. “Oh dear...”
“W-what’s wrong, Mrs. Breeze?” Fluttershy asked nervously, looking herself over in worry.
“I’m old,” Breeze sighed heavily, head drooping slightly.
“W-what?!” Fluttershy gasped, her eyes growing wide. Rarity blinked, jaw gaping slightly, before she regained her composure, trying to look at Serene more carefully, wondering how old she really was. “How can you say that? You’re only... Umm...” Fluttershy’s voice died out as she tried to do the math.
“Age doesn’t matter, Fluttershy,” Serene sighed again, a slight smile tugging at her lips. “It’s more about perspective, and it’s just... As exciting as it is to see my friend’s little filly all grown up, a beautiful mare, it makes me feel old.”
“Oh don’t be a silly filly, Breeze, you’re not a day over gorgeous,” Digit interrupted cheekily, smiling warmly at his startled wife. I guess she wasn’t paying attention to where she was trotting. Time to seize the initiative! Following up his heart-felt comment to his wife, he quickly gave her a peck on the cheek.
Ignoring the slight blush playing across her muzzle, Serene pouted, complaining, “You missed...”
“I did? I could have sworn...” Digit Pi murmured in thought, before smiling once more. “My apologies, Miss, I suppose I mistook you for my wife. Have you seen her? She’s about your age, height, drop-dead gorgeous, and has a body that won’t quit, if you know what I-”
Serene, though blushing wildly, glared at her husband as her hoof occupied Digit’s open muzzle. “Dear,” she said, her calm, icy tone striking fear into Digit’s heart. “Finish that sentence, and your new bed will be the couch for a year. Understand?”
Digit Pi, while loving to tease and have fun, knew when not to push it, after having been married for as many years as he had. Wide-eyed, he did what every stallion who wished to live did when confronted by an irate mare: become manikin stallion and nod mutely. He did not want to leave his fate up to chance with his tongue, which had already gotten him into enough trouble.
Serene continued to glare at him for a moment more, before she was satisfied that he was well cowed. Ruffling her feathers primly, she resettled them, before starting to trot towards the waiting room, where she saw the rest of Fluttershy’s friends. “Come along, Fluttershy, we shouldn’t keep your friends waiting, right?”
“O-oh, um... Right.”
Fluttershy followed after Digit Pi, who was following his wife, head bowed, keeping behind and to the side of her. Rarity strove to contain her blush as she quickly chased after Fluttershy, wondering, Did he... Was he about to suggest what I think he was? How scandalous!
.o.O.o.
“Good, we do not like to be kept waiting for long,” Princess Luna stated, smiling as Rarity caught back up. “Now, let us be going to the castle. We have little to do and much time to do it in!”
Luna paused a moment, before striving not to blush as she quickly corrected herself. “Err, strike that, reverse it, thank you, moving on!”
Luna turned around, about to start walking again, when she nearly tripped over Galexia. “Gah! Trip me not, little one, lest you incur undue damage to yourself!”
Galexia, obviously, was unimpressed with the night princess’ declaration, deciding to hop onto Luna’s muzzle, forcing her eyes to cross as Galexia chittered her message to Luna. Once completed, the ferret ran up Luna’s head to her mane, settling herself in it proudly, before laying down to nap.
Everypony turned to Luna expectantly, waiting to hear what she had to say. Luna frowned, before leaving the Hospital without a word, causing the other ponies to rush after her moments later, wondering what she was told. Worried for her daughters, Serene decided to fly, catching up more quickly to Luna, asking as she flapped her wings, “Princess Luna, with all due respect, what’s going on? Are my daughters alright?!”
“Hmm? Oh, yes,” Luna acknowledged absently, clearly distracted. “From what I could understand, they decided to take a nap in the park, and sent Galexia ahead to let us know so we could go collect them. While quite rude to be kept waiting like this, at least he thought to let us know. Still, we should have known that he wouldst not know proper etiquette. We shall have to educate him at a later date.”
“Erm, with all due respect, your highness, but I believe that’s our job,” Digit Pi interjected, trying his best to sound firm, while also respectful. “We promised him we’d teach him about those sorts of things in exchange for his teaching Milly magic. We uh, haven’t exactly had the chance to start lessons, what with the birthday party yesterday, and then th-”
“We were not made aware of Moonstone’s new intentions,” Luna mused, a frown upon her face. “We had expected him to remain as a guest with us at the palace.”
“Really? He’s, umm, special?” Fluttershy asked timidly, curious.
“That was something that we... I, was hoping to ascertain. I am most curious as to find out where his supposed curse originated, and what he has had to endure to push his magic to such dangerous limits.”
“D-dangerous? In what way, Princess Luna? Are you saying our daughters aren’t safe with him?!” Digit Pi asked quickly, trying not to sound too worried.
“Hmm...” Luna became lost in thought, considering it carefully for a moment, before answering slowly, “Well... Honestly... I am not sure. I will need to talk to him about his travels in private, to see how mentally stable he is, and if he has any dangerous tendencies.”
“You’re doing a bang up job on setting us at ease with our daughters being alone with Moonstone, Your Highness. Anything else you want to tell us that we should know about?” Serene asked, trying to balance sarcasm with respect.
Princess Luna walked in silence for a moment, thinking, before saying slowly, “We... cannot divulge much information freely, as it is not ours to give. All I can say is that he’s travelled a very long way to get here, and has had to face much adversity along the way.”
“I can add that while he has fairly strong magic, he... doesn’t know much about cities, or how ponies talk, or behave,” Digit Pi added, frowning slightly. “I mean, he thought he would get thrown out of town if he gave any compliments to a mare because of some experience in another country.”
He paused as the mares all fell silent for a moment, before Luna asked, “Art thou jesting us, Sir Digit?”
Shaking his head, the stallion had to hold back a chuckle as he answered. “I’m dead serious. That’s what Moonstone told me, anyways. He thought he was going to get thrown out of town if he called Starlight, or any other mare for that matter, beautiful, or something like that.”
“Well, he didn’t let that stop him from being romantic,” Rarity commented idly, her eyes on the path as she trotted around a small pool of ice cream that had fallen from some poor pony’s cone.
“Oh? Do tell,” Serene Breeze requested silkily, her voice practically purring as she sauntered closer to Rarity, listening carefully as they walked along.
.o.O.o.
“I don’t know, guys, I’d think that Fluttershy would have told us if she was going all the way to the park, wouldn’t she?” Pinkie asked cheerfully, bouncing alongside Princess Celestia.
“Ah don’t know, sugarcube, if she thought it would be bothering or interruptin’ us she mighta just left without tellin’ us,” Applejack commented.
“Well, I’ll admit that it’s not likely to be the very first place she would be, but that’s the point of splitting up,” Twilight explained, looking carefully in the bushes for a sign of their friend. “It increases the odds of finding her, and considering how things went at the gala last year, the park seemed more likely. Besides, I’m sure that Princess Luna will let us know if they find Fluttershy before us. Right, Princess Celestia?”
The Elder Princess smiled at her student, nodding. “Yes, I’m fairly sure she’d let us know. Luna is usually-”
“Hey Princess, I found this totally weird magic ball thing up ahead!” Rainbow Dash interrupted as she came to a halt in front of the group. “I don’t know if it has anything to do with Fluttershy, but there were royal guards there and everything!”
Princess Celestia frowned briefly, before nodding. “Right then, let’s make this brief. We still have a missing Element to find, after all.”
Following the rainbow contour trail in the air, they were led to the site in question by Rainbow Dash, who was too restless to wait for them. When they turned around a particularly large tree surrounded by bushes, they saw what Rainbow Dash had been talking about. In the middle of a small, clearing, surrounded by guards, was a black half-sphere that came up from the ground.
“Captain Armor, report please,” Celestia ordered as she walked into the clearing.
“Princess!” Shining Armor saluted, turning swiftly to the princess. “Several reports came in primarily from our pegasi citizens about a dangerous black sphere that was growing dangerously, and worried it might be an explosive magical crea-”
“Like a bomb?! Cool!” Rainbow Dash darted forward, slipping past the guards to poke at the black sphere.
“Dash, get back! We have to analyze this safely!” Twilight lectured, pulling Dash back with her magic. Just as fast as she dragged Dash back, however, she rushed up to it herself, eyes practically glowing as she got out a parchment and quill to start scribbling down notes about the sphere.
“What am I, mashed alfalfa?” Armor lamented, looking at the sister who had so clearly snubbed his existance.
“Later! I’ve got science to do!” Twilight declared absently over her shoulder, touching the barrier gently with her magic. “That’s odd... Princess Celestia, if there was a bomb here, then why would somepony put up a barrier around the bomb? Is there some way for a shield to amplify an explosion?”
“There shouldn’t be, why?” Princess Celestia asked, trotting closer to her student.
“Because this is just a shield. Albeit a shield of a type I’ve never seen before, but from what I can tell so far, it’s meant to keep things out, not to let something out, like an explosion. What I can’t figure out, though, it who would want a shield that wouldn’t let anything in that’s that small. If it’s protecting something, why didn’t they just use a warehouse, or something else?”
“Because whatever it’s protecting must be far too valuable for a warehouse,” Shining Armor answered, frowning at his younger sister for a moment. “I would have been able to tell you, if you had waited just a moment to say hi, that it’s a class five shield. Only Princess Celestia, Luna, or somepony very good with shield spells, like I am, could take it down.”
“Then why haven’t you taken it down already?” Applejack asked, confused. “If it’s protecting something, then ah would have thought-”
“Because we wanted to wait for Princess Celestia to arrive, Miss Applejack. It’s much more draining to remove a shield than to erect one, so we wanted to make sure we would have magical backup if I became too drained in removing the shield to see what it was protecting. This is a popular spot in the park for pegasi especially, so it’s possible that whoever put this shield here knew that they would tell the guard, who would come to investigate, that I would have to remove the spell, and then be able to do... something, while I would be incapacitated.”
“Ain’t that bein’ just a tad paranoid?” Applejack asked, trying not to be too disrespectful.
Smiling sardonically, he deadpanned, “Miss Applejack, it’s my job to be paranoid. It’s how we prevent crimes the most easily. With your permission, your highness?” Shining Armor looked to Celestia, preparing his magic.
“Certainly, but everypony, please stay alert. Twilight, if you would step back? I don’t you getting hurt.”
“Of course, Princess!” Twilight readily agreed with her mentor, quickly backing away as her brother charged his spell.
Applejack had to grasp her hat as Armor charged his spell, before releasing the magic in a sharp, concentrated burst, hitting and shattering the shield into pieces, the black shield slowly disappearing into nothingness, revealing-
“Pinkie Pie, what are you doing in there?!” Dash yelled, upset.
“How did she- but she- but that’s-” Shining Armor sputtered, trying to make sense of how the pink earth pony had been inside the shield before it was broken, not noticing the three ponies behind her.
“Well duh! I was listening to you guys talk, and you were all like ‘this is a shield, but we don’t know what’s behind it’, so I was like ‘Hey, I wonder what’s in there’, so then I was like ‘I’m going to find out’, and then I did, but when I did I realized that-”
“H-how-” Shining tried to protest weakly, leaning against a tree to regain his strength.
“Just drop it, BBBFF,” Twilight deadpanned, facehoofing. “It’s Pinkie Pie. You’re not going to figure it out, and even if you could, you wouldn’t want to know, as I’m convinced that understanding Pinkie Pie would lead to-”
“A PARTY!” Pinkie Pie continued to ramble happily, an almost crazy grin on her muzzle. “I mean, who knew that there were three brand new ponies hiding under it, taking a nap, and since they’re new ponies I don’t know, or rather two that I don’t know and one that I got to play with for, like, only a few minutes, but anyways that means I get to throw an awesome party, and now I’m going to need more than I usually do, because you can’t have a regular party when there’s more than one new pony, or else it’ll seem really boring, so Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Pony isn’t going to be enough, and the only answer I can think of to solve this particular dilemma is a Pinata, but I don’t even know where to start looking for a pinata in a place like Canterlot, since they don’t know how to party right, an-”
“We does too know to party!” Milky Way protested weakly from the ground, waking up. “Yous- yous is some sort of a- a weirdo! Yous gots to have cookies, an popcorns, an games, an-an pizza! It’s not a good party wivout pizza! Or mobies!”
While most of the ponies in the clearing were confused as to what a hyperactive filly was doing in the shield, Twilight just facehoofed again, while Princess Celestia shook her head, sighing, “I should have known...”
Pinkie Pie, however, was already chatting away happily with the little filly about what the perfect party was, why one item was better to have at a party, while Milly did her best to argue her own points. While everypony was still recovering, Starlight groaned, stirring as she started to wake up. Feeling Moonstone shift against her, she turned her head, blearily opening her eyes for just a moment. “Note to self, next lesson is teaching Moonstone about personal space and all that entails,” she mumbled to herself, closing her eyes once more, hoping to get some more rest. Sadly, fate had other, more sadistic plans in mind for her.
“Well well, what have we here?” Princess Celestia grinned widely, trotting around Pinkie Pie and Milly to see Moonstone still propping up Starlight’s cast with his body.
Starlight snapped her eyes open as she realized that she was no longer alone. She jerked her head up, noticing that she was surrounded by not only the royal guards, but Princess Celestia herself. I am so screwed... Okay, Star, calm down, calm down... It could always be worse, right? Yeah, it could! My parents could arrive, and then I-
“What is going on, Sister?” Princess Luna asked as she entered the clearing, looking around curiously. “The guard told Us that We were needed. Something about a bomb?”
... Yep, I’m screwed... Starlight realized, her heart dropping as her temperature rose, her face starting to darken in a particularly brilliant crimson hue.
As Celestia turned towards her sister with an almost-malicious grin, Moonstone woke, Galexia having reached him, waking him up by running around on his body. “Why nothing, dear sister. We have just found Moonstone here breaking the Public Code, Article 9, paragraph 3, sub-section 5.”
“What? Thou art lying! Galexia informed us that Moonstone had put a shield up, with would satisfy sub-section 5 with article 2!” Luna shot back, swift to defend the stallion who had wanted an audience with her.
“But he doesn’t have a permit to set up any form of permanent residence, so that contradicts-”
“A shield is not permanent, so that negates such an accusation of it being perm-”
“But it caused a public disturbance, which-”
“Gah! Would you both shut up?!” Both princesses paused as they turned to look at Moonstone, who was trying to stand up without straining his mending leg further. “Thank you! Now can you tell me who destroyed my shield?”
“Sounds like somepony needs an attitude check,” Rainbow Dash muttered, crossing her forelegs.
~Ring ring! Ring ring!~ Rarity whistled, imitating a phone before picking it up with a clicking sound effect from Applejack. “Hello darling, this is Miss Rarity... Oh yes, she’s right here, actually. Just a moment.”
She turned to Rainbow Dash, smiling sweetly as she announced, “Rainbow Dash? There’s a Mrs. Kettle on the line; something about having called one of her friends black, I think?”
Dash’s jaw hung open for a second as the vaguely veiled insult dawned on her, but right as she was about to start arguing, Pinkie Pie interrupted. “Oh, I get it! Dashie was talking about how Moony needs an attitude check, when Dashie herself has attitude problems!”
She giggled for just a second before frowning at Rarity, pouting. “That might be a little funny, Rarity, but that was kinda mean.”
Rarity sobered a little, sighing, “Yes, I... I suppose you’re right... I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash.”
“Ah am too,” Applejack blushed, rubbing the back of her head. “Ah shouldn’t have encouraged her. Can ya forgive us?”
Rainbow huffed, turning her head away, before muttering, “Yeah, yeah, whatever... Wait, what are they talking about anymore?” she asked, pointing to Moonstone, who was, apparently, being berated by Milly and Starlight, with Princess Luna listening intently.
“... And that’s why some words are bad,” Starlight concluded, striving to maintain a calm demeanor.
Moonstone just sat there with a puzzled expression, blinking every few seconds or so. Starlight’s grin started to fade, asking, “W-what, did I-”
“How in Tartarus am I supposed to kn-”
Moonstone’s inquiry was interrupted by the swift hoof of justice and righteousness, also known as Milly, whacking him on the back of his head, hissing, “Bad word! Dun say the bad words or yous gets sended to bed wivout dinners! Or mobies!” she explained, starting to get worked up, her eyes growing ever wider in horror as she listed the punishments. “Or-or even poppycorns! You dun wanna miss the poppycorns! Dat’s the worstest thing eber! So stop bein’ a potty mouf!”
Moonstone, who had been staring at the ground, shaking slightly, finally exploded, raging, “Well how the hell am I supposed to know what words are bad if I’m not allowed to say any of them?! That’s not fair!”
Confused, Twilight turned to her friends, asking quietly, “How does he not know what-”
Rarity interrupted, whispering as quietly as she could, “From what Princess Luna told us, long story short, is that he’s an orphan who’s had to travel from town to town his whole life, so he doesn’t know much about what it means to be civilized.”
“Wait a sec there, Rares, you’re sayin’ that Moonstone don’t have any family at all? Not even any siblings or grandparents or nothin?” Applejack asked, glancing at the stallion in question.
“Sadly, yes,” Serene answered, looking to her husband to provide more details.
“I don’t actually know all that much more than you all do,” Digit Pi admitted, trying to think. “I mean, all I have are more examples of what he doesn’t know. I don’t actually know that much more about his past than you do. For instance, he clearly doesn’t understand marriage completely, or it’s just an idea he knows only the bare bones about, because he said he had to run away from an angry mob for calling a mare that was already engaged beautiful. Why he was run out of town instead of just got roughed up a little from her coltfriend, I don’t know. Maybe she was also a noble or something and he didn’t-”
“Fine! Whatever! Just tell me who broke my shield!” Moonstone said on the other side of the clearing, giving up on trying to understand how some words were ‘bad’.
“I did,” Shining Armor answered, having recovered his strength.
Moonstone blinked, frowning at the guard for several moments, before turning to Princess Luna, confused. “Umm, Princess Luna? What’s with this guy? How did he get into the guards if he’s stupid enough to challenge somepony to a duel when guards aren’t allowed to duel?”
Luna barely kept from snorting in laughter as the rest of the clearing fell silent, stunned at the audacity of the strange, white stallion. Shining Armor blinked, opening his mouth, before closing it, looking to Princess Celestia for an answer. The solar princess, however, wasn’t paying attention to her captain, as she was about to start lecturing Moonstone. Twilight, however, didn’t give her the chance. “What?! Hey, nopony speaks that way about my BBBFF! Take that back! I’ll challenge you to a duel myself!”
“You can’t,” Princess Celestia interrupted, slightly startled at Twilight’s reaction, reminding herself of just how closely-knit Twilight’s family was.
“Huh?”
“Why not?” Moonstone asked at the same time as Twilight, both unicorns turning to Celestia. “I can tell she’s a very accomplished mage, maybe even as strong as me, bu-”
“As strong?! As if!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, swift to defend her friend. “She’s taken care of an Ursa Minor no problem, all by herself! She’s-”
“Wait, there’s Minor’s? I thought there were only Majors like the one I helped take care of!” Moonstone exclaimed, looking back and forth between the two ponies.
“What? No way, you couldn’t have beaten an Ursa MAJOR! How big was it?!” Rainbow Dash challenged, flying in Moonstone’s face.
“Umm, about... Several of Starlight’s house?” he guessed, scratching his head.
Twilight blinked, then deadpanned, “That was an Ursa Minor. Ursa Minors are baby Ursa Majors.”
Moonstone gaped, his mouth hanging open for a moment, before facehoofing. “Well, that would explain how that stupid plan actually worked, then,” he muttered, shaking his head.
“Stupid plan?”
“Yeah... A friend and I were travelling when we encountered a village that said it was suffering from an angry Ursa Major, so we came up with a plan to lure it away from the village by cooking large... somethings, don’t know what they were called, and placed them apart enough to make the line go from the town to the forest.”
“That’s... actually not that different from what I did, actually,” Twilight admitted. “But I knew it was a Minor from the research I had done earlier, so I already knew what to do. I just played it a simple song to make it tired, and then gave it some milk, and it went right to sleep, easily enough for us to get it back to its cave.”
“Oh... Well, that’s... Wait a second, you can’t change what we’re talking about like that! That’s cheating!” Moonstone argued. “You still haven’t told me why I can’t duel you!”
“Because,” Princess Celestia answered, her harsh tone betraying her feelings. “Twilight has no accolades that you can take from her, that’s why!”
“What?! How?” Moonstone asked heatedly, totally lost. “I know she’s at least as strong as me, unless somepony is messing up her aura, so how can... she... have...”
Moonstone fell silent from Princess Celestia’s gaze, understanding the mute message that she wasn’t going to tolerate his actions for much longer if he didn’t try harder to be more respectful and civil. “Her accolades are many, yes, but they cannot be won because they were earned, not fought for.”
“I have accolades?” Twilight questioned, tilting her head to the side. “Like what?”
“Element of Magic, for starters,” Celestia answered, smiling at her student. “The Faithful Student, naturally-”
“Wait, that’s a title? I thought it was just a compliment!” Twilight fretted, starting to worry that she had more work to do if she was going to live up to the titles she had earned and not been made aware.
“It is a great honor, Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Luna added, continuing what Celestia had said. “There is only ever one Faithful student in a generation, and not every generation has one. We used to have a student as well, though now we are so far behind the times that We are not sure we could take on an Apprentice or not, or if that is even possible.”
“Why wouldn’t it be possible?” Moonstone asked, beating Twilight by just a second.
“Because Rune Magiks were outlawed by Celes after Our, umm... Shall We say... temper tantrum,” Luna admitted, embarrassed.
“Rune Magic?”
“Wait, Equestria doesn’t have Rune Magic? Wow, and here I thought city ponies were more advanced in everything!” Moonstone exclaimed, shocked.
“What is Rune Magic?!” Twilight asked again, trying to figure out how Moonstone knew something she didn’t.
“It’s fairly straightforward, Twilight Sparkle. It is special magic that is created by a rune imbedded in enchanted metal to create an effect that would last indefinitely by feeding off of the owner’s own magical field,” Princess Luna explained, sitting down on the grass. “With different runes come different augments, such as increased strength, stamina, or even Ether regeneration.”
Twilight’s eyes grew large as she started thinking of the possibilities. “B-but... But why would you want that outlawed, Princess Celestia?! Think of all the-”
“-Things that could grow wrong, should the wrong ponies use those runes for evil,” Celestia interrupted softly. “Imagine if a unicorn used that knowledge to create a virtual army with enchanted armour that would help them take over Equestria? Yes, they could be used for good, but it was too easy for anypony to have access to them.”
“Indeed,” Luna agreed, blushing. “If We had not imbued our armour so thoroughly, We would not have lasted so long against Our sister, and thus caused more damage and pain. However, We would like to ask you reconsider, sister, annulling those magiks. We understand that certain tasks, such as farmers, could take great advantage of rune-enhanced equipment to grant them endurance for the long, summer days, or to keep equipment from breaking.”
“Wait wait wait,” Dash interrupted, hovering right in front of Princess Celestia. “Are you telling me that there’s ways for me to become even faster?! You have to let me try! Please! I’ll do, like, anything! I’ve been trying for awhile now to get this double sonic rainboom thing to work, but I can’t get nearly enough speed to do more than barely feel the resistance for the-”
“Easy there, Dashie,” Applejack admonished, yanking the pegasus back to the ground and out of Celestia’s face. “You’re gonna get all of the guards nervous.”
“Guards?” Dash looked around, noting that they had all left, save for Shining Armor. “Umm, they all left, like, forever ago, AJ.”
“If there’s nothing else, Your Highness, I-”
“There is something else, Captain Armor,” Princess Celestia interrupted, smiling. “We have some special guests arriving, and I’m sure they’d appreciate an escort.”
Twilight’s face fell, realizing that she wouldn’t get to spend time with her BBBFF, before her brother interrupted her thoughts. “It wouldn’t happen to be the Elements, would it, Princess?”
“What?! Oh come on, we don’t need a-”
Rainbow Dash was silenced as Applejack once again bit Rainbow’s tail and pulled her down, only for Rarity to place her hoof over Dash’s mouth as she hissed, “Quiet! We know our way around, but it’s an excuse for Celestia to let Twilight spend time with her brother without making it look like she’s showing favoritism to him or giving him time off.”
Dash blinked several times, processing the information, before nodding begrudgingly.
“Wait, Elements?” Moonstone asked, looking back at Twilight. “Does everypony have an Element or something?”
“The Elements of Harmony,” Luna explained, waving a hoof at Twilight and her friends. “Surely thou hast-”
“Them?” Moonstone questioned, looking at them curiously. “But only two of them are unicorns. How can they-”
“And what’s wrong with being an Earth Pony?!” Applejack exclaimed, insulted.
“Or a pegasus?!” Rainbow Dash added, pawing at the ground.
Moonstone gaped for a moment, before saying softly, “But if they don’t have magic, then how... That makes no sense!”
“How? Moonstone, all ponies have magic,” Starlight deadpanned, her eyes narrowing at the unicorn that had inadvertently insulted her. “How do you think Pegasi fly, or Earth Ponies grow plants?”
“... They don’t just flap their wings like a bird does?”
As everypony gaped at him, Twilight and Applejack turned to Rarity, saying, “Okay, I believe you. There’s no way he couldn’t not know that otherwise. All foals are taught that in school far too early for him to not know. Heck, I knew that before Magic Kindergarten!”
“Yeah, ‘cause you’re an egghead,” Rainbow Dash snickered, teasing Twilight.
“Says the mare who broke into the Library in the middle of the night to get at the new release of Daring Do’s latest book!” Twilight shot back, shutting up the laughing pegasus in a heartbeat.
“You what?! Dashie, ah can not believe you would-”
“Oh stuff it, AJ,” Dash muttered, turning away as she blushed. “I-I was just practicing some moves in the middle of the night and crashed into Twi’s house, so I figured while I was there, I might as well grab it!”
“Decked out in entirely black clothes?” Twilight asked, giggling.
“I... well it... I regret nothing!” Dash exclaimed, her blush darkening. “I still found out before you that Ahuizotl-”
“Nothing! You will say nothing about that book, Rainbow Dash, or I’ll tell all of Equestria you’re an egghead!” Twilight shouted, cutting Dash off before she could start spoiling the new book.
Rainbow Dash gaped at her friend, shocked that she would make such a claim, saying slowly, “You wouldn’t dare...”
Twilight was interrupted, however, as Moonstone stated innocently, “Her head isn’t shaped like an egg!”
“It’s an idiom,” Starlight explained, rolling her eyes. “It means that there’s a second meaning to the words that those outside of a particular culture wouldn’t understand it.”
Moonstone just blinked, not really comprehending it, when Princess Celestia interrupted everypony. “Where’s Pinkie Pie?”
As everypony started looking around, Digit Pi gasped, exclaiming, “Where’s Milly?!”
.o.O.o.