Chapter 1
Twilight woke up at eight in the morning, as was part of her daily routine. She then turned to look at the bed in front of her, the bed that had been unused for at least two weeks. That's when Twilight felt a stab of misery seep through the bright morning. It had been a week since Spike was scheduled to return, and she hadn't received any information regarding the young Drake. Before she could think of anything she heard her cellphone ring, and upon grabbing it from the wooden nightstand she answered. "Hello?" she asked, still not fully awake.
"Rise and Shine sleeping beauty!" came the loud voice of Shield Heart, and judging from his voice he was over yesterday's letter. "we've got stuff to do!"
"Really? Like what?" she asked.
"Well, Cadence is leaving today." he said in a condescending voice. "I guess that's something if you care for her. Then there's also training in the afternoon, in case you want to join us."
Twilight's brain kicked into gear at the sound of the first bit of news. "What?" she exclaimed.
"Yup, her vacation's over and she's gonna return to Canterlot today. Her train leaves at noon, so you've still got time in case you want to take a hot bath. I'd do that if you can. They say it's great for bad mornings. Actually," she heard the incontestable sound of sniffing. "I think I should take one and see if it actually works. Anyways, see you later!" and he hung up.
Twilight put the phone down and stared at the window. Another loss, and so soon. She shook her head. "No, Cadence is just going back with Shining. And I'm sure Spike is already on his way here." she said to herself as she walked over to her closet. But then the maternal part of her brain began nagging: What if he's in trouble? And as ridiculous as it was, and it had to be, she just couldn't shake it off.
What if Spike was in danger? What if he was alone in the wilderness and she was just sitting here like a lazy woman? What if Princess Celestia was secretly testing her to see if she had any initiative? What if... and she then froze. She was starting to lose it, and she knew she needed help. But what if she was overthinking it? What if Spike was just taking some time off? What if Spike had actually abandoned her... and she then snapped back to reality. She couldn't keep speculating, but she was going to need answers, answers that could only come from the Princess of Day herself. And to do that she had to look presentable.
She slipped off her pajamas and entered the tub of hot water. And to her surprise, Shield was right. The hot water seemed to melt her fears away, letting her think clearly of a solution to her problem. She knew Spike was supposed to return a week ago, he was supposed to have been sent off on a royal mission with the Drake Tribes. But he was only to deliver a message and stay a while, not enough for a week but these missions always assumed more time was needed. But now he had taken even longer than permitted and Twilight wasn't getting any information on new developments.
She began mulling over how she should address the Princess, she could just ask outright but she thought it would be better to apply some finesse. Or it would be just easier to just ask, save her the trouble of preparing an entire speech just for one question. Maybe she could just use the mirror to scry her teacher and ask the question, right now there wouldn't be any major events so the Princess should have the time. But you never knew with royalty, things could always change in a second.
She ended her bath and dried herself, combing her hair and dressing in the usual manner. She brushed her hair and took a deep breath before standing in front of the mirror she had next to her desk. Grabbing her wand she waved it while saying: "Mirror Mirror on the wall, show me the Princess in the Hall." a small raspberry bolt erupted from her wand and hit the mirror. The bolt dissolved, causing the mirror to create ripples from the center.
A couple of rather uncomfortable seconds passed and the mirror stopped reflecting Twilight and showed Princess Luna in her usual midnight blue dress. The Princess was rubbing her tired eyes as she looked at the librarian. "Good morning Twilight Sparkle, how may I be of assistance?" she asked, trying her best to look awake and alert.
"Princess Luna, I wasn't expecting to see you." said the young woman as she looked at the Princess of Night. "Is this a bad time?"
"Of course not Twilight, it is just that my dear sister has decided to leave me in charge of the castle while she sleeps in. Is there anything that you need?" asked the Princess with a yawn. "Night Blade, has my sister been awoken?"
"Yes milady, her highness is bathing as we speak." said a male voice from outside the field of view. "Would you like me to tell the kitchen to prepare some dinner?"
"Please do, tell them toast and jam will suffice." she paused for a moment. "Oh, and could you be kind enough to bring me a cup of chamomile tea? I am certain my sister will delay herself yet again. I swear that she does this on purpose. Last week she had me wake up two hours before my shift."
"Yes milady, right away." said the voice as its footsteps left.
"I'm terribly sorry about that, but I have been incredibly busy with all the preparations going on. can I help you with anything?" asked Luna as she tried to look as gentle as her sister.
"Oh, no. I wouldn't want to bother." said the librarian. " I just wanted to ask Princess Celestia something, but I wouldn't want to be a bother."
"It is no problem, please: speak your mind." the princess said eagerly.
"I just wanted to know about Spike, I'm worried about him. But don't worry, I'll try to contact Princess Celestia later.."
"I can tell you of his fate." replied Luna coldly.
"You know what happened to Spike?" asked a surprised Twilight. Last time she checked, Celestia was the one calling the shots.
"Of course, seeing as though I am overseeing all matters of national security I should know of the fate of Spike." she replied as she made herself comfortable. "But I am surprised that Shield failed to inform you about his latest assignment."
"What does he have to do with Spike? Spike is with the Drake Tribes, right?"
"Initially, yes he was sent to confabulate with the Tribe Leaders until some, complications, arrived." replied the princess with a sigh.
"What sort complication? Did the leaders disagree with something?"
"No, I fear it was much worse." Luna's expression had now turned somber. "They suffered an attack by a renegade wyvern, one that managed to kidnap Spike and a group of dignitaries." as she mentioned this Twilight's face suddenly lost color and her legs began to lose strength. "Twilight, listen to me. I know that this weighs heavily on you, but you must stand strong. Shield Heart is already assembling a rescue team as I speak. In two weeks time he will rescue Spike and the dignitaries."
Even though the words were meant for comfort the azure-haired librarian felt hopeless. her emotions began to win over her logic and her legs gave away. "Why wasn't I told of this sooner?"
"I am sorry for breaking it up like this, but the truth is that we only found out yesterday. Had it not been for Spike we would still be questioning his whereabouts."
"What?"
"Yesterday we received a transmission from Spike's communicator beacon, and he only had enough time to report his situation. Twilight, do you want help?"
"Why do we have to wait for two weeks? Don't you have his location? And why do you need Shield?"
The princess raised a hand to calm Twilight. "We are having trouble pinpointing their location, the dragon is smart and it manages to slip away just as we reach it. We suspect that it is looking for a place to rest for the time being, but some of the employees back in the NSA believe that there is more to this creature. We are still working on it, but we will catch it eventually." she sighed. "What makes matters worse is the fact that Shield is still under suspension and therefore powerless to act, and he knows how to fight this monster."
"But aren't there any other options? Something we can do? Why do we even need Shield?"
"Because he alone knows the Jägers and how they operate, that and also the fact that the damned Jägers only work with Shield."
"What are you talking about?"
"The Jägers are our special Monster-Hunting Division, mostly stationed in Cloudsdale, Tall Tale and Vanhooover due to the usual amount of monsters that live in that area. And since Shield has been with them on various missions, they have requested that Shield be put in the mission or else they refuse to go. They say it isn't so dangerous right now, so they're being picky about it."
"So why can't you just put Shield in the mission if he's so important?"
"Because of the cursed politics that plague us, the Codex Arbites clearly states that no agent that has been suspended may partake in any operation that has been issued by The Royal Crown lest the Noble houses vote to permit an exception."
"So? Why haven't the nobles voted yet?"
"They have, out of the three Great families and the eighteen Ancillary Families these were the results: Two Great Families and three Ancillary Families voted for the exception." said the Princess with a disappointed look. "Shield is a notorious individual among the Canterlot Nobility."
"So you're saying that the only thing that stands between Spike and his rescue mission is Shield's friendship with the only group capable of pulling off a rescue mission?!" asked Twilight incredulously.
"That is correct." Luna responded as she covered her eyes with her left hand.
"And the nobles refuse to grant Shield the permission to take on the mission to rescue Equestrian diplomats just out of spite?"added the librarian incredulously.
The princess merely nodded in agreement.
Twilight unleashed a short, but loud, grunt of anger. She had to think really hard about the logic behind this. Diplomats were among the most important people in the social hierarchy, so it would make sense to send a rescue team as soon as possible. She had to admit that part of the blame belonged to these jägers, but if they knew how to do their job and their only demand was to have Shield it would make sense to accept their demands. After all, no one else will do it.
"Believe me when I say that I share your ire, these nobles have become a burden over the thousand years I was way." Luna said. "I am sorry, but that is about as much as I can do for you at the moment. If you want more information, I suggest you have a talk with Shield Heart. He is the one who could reveal more light on this matter."
"But..." Twilight blurted out. "can't you do anything at all? You're one of the Princesses that rules Equestria! There must be some sort of override you could use!"
"I am afraid that there is nothing we can do. The Codex clearly indicates that the only override belongs to the nobles, and it does as much as possible to exclude us. It is obvious that my sister never believed that there was going to be a need to ignore certain rules when they would only endanger our subjects."
"So that's it? You're powerless to stop this?"
"Unless we want to impose our rule and appear as tyrants," sighed Luna "we are powerless." At that moment, Twilight's skin lost a shade of color. She knew that Celestia would do everything in her power to avoid imposing her rule, and if the librarian asked for this favor it would probably be rejected with good reason. "I suggest you speak with Shield heart. At this point he is the only one who can do anything. He's been put in charge of assembling the team, although such a task appears to be bootless from my perspective."
"Wouldn't assembling a team be a priority?" questioned Twilight.
"He has done similar operations in the past, so there is no doubt that he already had a team assembled even before we delivered the mission." replied the princess. "I hope my words have served to quell your troubles."
"Thank you for your time princess, I'll see what I can do to help Spike. If you happen to learn about anything..."
"You need not worry about it. If there is any new development I shall inform you immediately." the princess added with a thin smile. She sighed with relief as she stood up and cracked her neck. "Now if you will excuse me, I must go and scold my sister." and with a snap of Luna's fingers the image was distorted.
Twilight grabbed a chair and sat on it, her mind racing to formulate a plan for the day. She had thought that Spike was having a vacation, and he just forgot to tell her. But having been kidnapped by a dragon? The idea had never crossed her mind, but now that she had heard it it made sense. There was a reason behind Shield asking her Spike's name, because he had read the letter and probably didn't want her to interfere.
And so she came up with a plan. If Shield didn't want her to interfere, then it was his bad luck. "Shield is going to tell me what's going on, and I don't care what he has to say against it!" She boldly declared as she stormed out the library door and headed for the Commissioner's home.