//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: A Varied Reception // Story: The Powers of Harmony // by CyborgSamurai //------------------------------// Chapter 4: A Varied Reception The Next Morning- The first train from Canterlot arrived at the Ponyville station at seven a.m. The doors opened, and a group of thirteen stallions with large identical suitcases walked out in single file. Twelve of them were complete solid colors from nose to tail, and the thirteenth was the traditional white and blue of the Royal Guard. They didn't move in any kind of formation, but a scrutinizing eye would notice that their actions were slightly more ordered and clipped than a normal pony’s. They all scanned the deserted train station, taking in the quiet scene. Blair was the last to get off the train. His coat, mane and tail were messy, and he blinked like an owl in the natural light as he stifled a yawn. “So this is Ponyville,” he said with a curled lip. “I hadn't expected it to be so... rural.” “Probably isn't even a Moonbucks here,” Piro muttered, who was just in front of him. He looked around with clear, alert eyes, and his long mane and tail were neatly groomed. “And here I was hoping I could get some more coffee before going to our station.” Blair eyed him darkly. “Damn you. Just had to go and mention coffee, didn't you?” Piro chuckled. “Not my fault you didn't get up early enough to make the run with the rest of us.” “Never were good with mornings, were you Blair?” The voice came from a green unicorn who was fiddling with his suitcase. “Makes me wonder how you got through Basic.” Blair took a few steps away and scratched his horn. “You'd be surprised what you're able to do when you don't have a choice, Ace.” “Orders are orders, Blair,” said a stern voice at the front of the group. “If the Bearers lived in the bowels of Tartarus, that’s where we’d go, and we’d like it.” Blair looked at the speaker and withheld a snort. Vigil was such a stickler for protocol that he was even still wearing the Illusion spell that made all the Royal Guards look the same. “Oh, lighten up. We're supposed to be acting like civilians.” “Seriously,” said the tallest of their group, a lanky indigo Earth Pony with a straight mane and tail. “Keep that attitude up and you’ll blow our cover.” “Keep that attitude up, Ras, and I’ll buck you all the way back to Canterlot,” Vigil shot back. There was an assortment of snickering from the group. Blair raised his chin, addressing all of them. “You know your assignments. Introduce yourselves and then assume your stations. One of you from each pair will meet me at the library one week from today to share briefings. Dismissed.” The group of ponies split into groups of two and went their separate directions, leaving Blair alone with Ace and Piro. He gave a sidelong glance to his companions. “Shall we?” The loud blaring of Twilight’s alarm clock pierced the sweet silence of the early morning. She muttered a curse as she put her blankets over her head. Eyes still closed, she reached for the snooze, but to no avail. Puzzled, she cracked open an eye. The clock was missing, but the noise still persisted. She swiveled her ears. Where is it… Twilight sat up with a groan, and found the clock sitting on a shelf across the room. Still unwilling to abandon her bed’s warm embrace, she tried using telekinesis. The clock didn’t move, but she heard a gentle hum and felt something warm on her head. She reached up to discover a metal cone on her horn. Twilight fumbled with the silver sheath in a bleary stupor. It was firmly stuck. Why am I wearing my Suppressor? I haven't sleepcasted in years. Urgh, stupid junior size! She tried to remove it with her magic. Nothing happened. Forgetting that the device was the cause, she simply tried harder. The sheath vibrated and gave off a loud thrumming like a tuning fork. Twilight concentrated as hard as she could, locating her magical font and immersing herself in its depths. Power. NOW. Her font built up in a tremendous surge like a geyser. The Suppressor became enveloped in a brilliant light, and the humming escalated into a piercing, high-pitched whine. It finally exploded with a metallic bang, the glowing shards briefly illuminating the room before disintegrating into dust. Twilight grabbed the alarm clock in her magenta aura, filling the room with its luminance. She brought the still-ringing bane of her slumber before her, horn ablaze, eyes glittering with sleep-deprived fury. “Be gone.” Twilight opened her window and flung the alarm clock as hard as she could. It sailed far, far out of sight, the accursed noise fading along with it. She stared at the horizon for a time. It was still dark and hazy. The barest hints of a grey dawn were just poking at the edges of the sky. Why did I set the alarm in the first place? I never do, let alone for this early. She found herself not caring as sleep began to reclaim her. She collapsed back onto her pillow and fled from the waking world. Blair, Piro, and Ace walked out of the train station. The streets were quiet and dark, but the lights in most houses were on. Vague shadows could be seen flitting and moving about inside. The sun appeared, raising up a few inches in the sky before disappearing behind the thick clouds, filling the world with a pale gray. Ace shielded his eyes. “Looks like it's going to be overcast.” “We're going to be indoors all day,” Piro reminded him. “Does it really matter what the weather will be like?” “Not all day,” Ace defended. He parted his jagged mane to the left, and pulled out a scroll and a quill with an oddly graceful motion. “We'll probably need to run out to get things for the house.” “Like what? Were you thinking of decorating? Perhaps a little feng shui?” Piro jeeringly enunciated the last two words. “Don't forget what we're here to do.” “I was thinking more along the lines of food,” Ace said, his eyes glued to the parchment. The quill moved back and forth in his green aura. “Although, we should probably get something to do in our spare time so we don't look conspicuous. It's going to seem odd enough that we don't have jobs.” “That's easily explained,” Blair said over his shoulder. “Many ponies work from home, or even live above where they work. You can just say that you're a painter that takes commissions from Canterlot or something.” Ace lowered the parchment and raised an eyebrow. “That's actually a pretty good idea.” Piro let out an exasperated sigh. “I can't believe you're just now thinking of this. What were you going to say to ponies when they asked you why you moved here?” “I guess I didn't plan out every single detail like you,” Ace snapped as he tossed his mane. “That must be another reason why you're so much better than the rest of us.” Piro gave him an unsettling half-smirk. An odd noise suddenly reached their ears. It came from far away, getting progressively louder. Blair stopped. He twitched his ears in response to the commotion. “Do you hear that?” Piro halted as well. He stood stock still, trying to identify it. “It sounds like… ringing?” Ace pointed to the sky, in the direction they were walking. “What is that?” Blair squinted and saw a small dot in the air. It was rapidly approaching them, moving at a great speed. As it did, the noise became louder and louder. It was strangely familiar. His eyes went wide as it hurtled straight towards them. “Is that a—“ Twilight's alarm clock hit him square on the head. Knock, knock, knock. Twilight returned to awareness for the second time, confused and disgruntled. She rolled over in bed and squeezed her eyes shut. Mmh, who would be coming to the library at this hour? I wasn't expecting— The memories from yesterday finally emerged from the fog. Her eyes snapped open as she yelped and tried to bolt to the door. Instead, she got tangled in the sheets and fell out of bed with a thud. Twilight found herself imprisoned in a blanket cocoon. No, no, no, no, no! And after everything I did to make sure I'd be up in time! How do some ponies do this every day?! She struggled and kicked at the blankets, which made their embrace all the tighter. Knock, knock, knock. To hay with it! Twilight ceased her efforts and closed her eyes. She formed an image of downstairs. There was a loud crack and a flash as she teleported to the center of the library. Now free of her covers, she ran to the mirror to assess her condition. Bedhead. Eye circles. Matted coat. The pink streak in her tail and mane looked like a zigzag. Twilight groaned. This is NOT a good way to make a first impression, I look like I've been mugged by my pillow! Twilight glanced to the bathroom, then to the window by the door where she could see three silhouettes outside. No time to freshen up. I can't meet these ponies like this! There must be something I can do! Twilight bit her lip as an idea struck her. It's my only choice. Ugh, this much magic so early in the morning... I hope I don't have to maintain it for long. She ran over to a particular bookshelf. Blair, Piro and Ace stood outside the library. Blair gingerly adjusted the ice pack on his head and was rewarded with a stinging pain. A beautiful lump had formed where the alarm clock had struck him. “It really doesn't look that bad,” Ace lied. “You look like you have two horns,” Piro said, his eyes dancing. He ignored both of them and knocked loudly again. A mare’s voice called from inside. “Just a minute!” There was a brief magenta flash from the windows of the library. The three of them exchanged confused looks. A moment later, the door was opened by a demure, well-groomed lavender unicorn. “Hello!” Twilight said with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, which were shifting back and forth. “You must be the ‘guests’ my brother told me about!” Blair nodded and gave a formal bow. “May we come in, Miss Sparkle?” “Of course!” She stepped back to admit them. As they entered, Twilight's eyes slid up to the ice pack on Blair's head. “Um… are you all right?” He tried to laugh nonchalantly, but another twinge of pain caused him to wince. “Don’t worry about it. I was assaulted on our way here.” Twilight's eyes widened. “Are you serious? What happened? Do you know who it was?” Ace suppressed a snicker. “He was hit by a small, fast-moving projectile. We don’t know who it was, but we assume that they must really, really hate alarm clocks.” The trio of stallions mistook Twilight’s jaw dropping as disbelief that such a thing would happen. “We seem to be forgetting our manners. I am Blair, of Her Majesty's Royal Guard.” He gestured to the other two. “These are my comrades and your guards, Accern and Pirosco.” “Everyone calls me Ace,” he said quickly, offering a hoof. “I prefer Piro,” he said with a slight nod. Twilight shook Ace's hoof. Her eyes then darted between the three stallions before returning to Blair. “Um, you're the only one who's going to be staying here, right? Because I don't have enough room for all three of you.” “There's a nearby vacant house that's within surveying distance of here,” Piro replied. He pulled out a picture of a large, familiar house Twilight knew to be down the road. “Ace and I will be staying there, along with some of the other guards.” So that's who bought Vinyl's old place. “Ah, well, that's good to hear.” Blair was standing by the Fantasy section, looking around the library. “Do you have a preferred place that I stay?” Yeah, back in Canterlot. Twilight motioned to the back of the library by the kitchen door. “Over here.” Piro cleared his throat. “Ace and I will be going.” Blair looked back and nodded. “Don't hesitate to let me know about anything.” They took their luggage and walked out the door, leaving Twilight alone with her new roommate.   She led Blair to the ‘guest room.’ It was actually the kitchen pantry, but she and Spike didn’t keep a lot of food on hoof. “I'm sorry it isn't much,” Twilight said as she opened the door. Blair looked in and saw that a bed had been fit into the small room. He also noticed that the bed had been covered in bright flowery patterns, along with a slipcover. Pictures of spring meadows adorned the walls. “Did you decorate this?” Blair asked incredulously. Twilight rolled her eyes. “That would be the work of my friend Rarity. She was the one who gave me the bed, but then she realized that it would be in a separate room, so she wanted to decorate, and then accessorize...” Blair raised an eyebrow at the accommodations. It was cramped, but it did have a homey touch that he hadn't seen in a room in years. He turned to Twilight. “This will do nicely.” “Okay good,” Twilight said. She was unsure on what to do next. “So, do you need anything? Have you eaten?” Blair laughed. “You don’t need to treat me like a guest. I’m here to protect you, and I’m quite capable of taking care of myself.” He looked her over with a critical eye. “You seem like you're an early riser. Do you normally start your day around this time?” “O-Oh… no no no,” Twilight stammered. “I was only up this early to be ready for you. I normally get up around ten or eleven.” Blair slumped as if a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders. “Thank Celestia. I can't stand getting up early.” He closed his eyes as the lump on his head gave a nasty throb. “So if I were to lay down for a bit to rest my head, you wouldn’t object?” “Um… are you sure?” Twilight said as she moved a step closer to examine the injury. “That may not be the best idea if you've been hit on the head. I mean, I'm not a doctor but I've read a few books on medicine, and I know that if you have a concussion you shouldn't—” “Piro is a medic.” Blair gestured at the ice pack. “He examined me when I was hit. I don't have a concussion, just a nasty headache.” Twilight saw the opportunity. “Oh! No problem, then. I wasn't planning on going anywhere today. Go ahead and lay down, I'll be around when you wake up.” She didn’t wait for his reply and retreated to her loft, the soft click of the pantry door reaching her ears as she got to the top. Twilight shimmered as she released the Illusion spell, heaving a sigh of relief. She hovered at the top of the stairs, shifting her weight from side to side. On the one hoof, I accidentally clobbered the poor guy. On the other, I can go back to bed. Is it wrong to not feel bad about this? As she wrestled with her thoughts, she glanced over at Spike. He was still asleep in his little basket, somehow completely unfazed by the morning's events. How in the-I didn't think he was such a deep sleeper. She took a closer look at him, stopping as something caught her eye. Bright orange plugs were stuffed in both his ears. Clever boy. Twilight smiled as she fixed her blankets and went back to bed. “You’re late!” Rainbow Dash snapped. “I’ve been waiting here for ten minutes!” She hovered in midair with her hooves on her hips above her luxurious cloud home, staring at the two pegasi that had just flown up to meet her. One of them was a pale red stallion with large wings and a clipped mane and tail. He narrowed his eyes at the rude geeting. “We just got into the train station ten minutes ago. We got here as quick as we could.” “It took you that long to get here from the train station?” Rainbow facehoofed. “Oh, for crying out… I can get there in less than half a minute!” “What?” said the other stallion. He was a slightly darker shade of blue than she was, his wings were angular, and his mane and tail had a slight curl to them. “No way. You’d have to have, like, at least twelve wingpower to pull that off!” She did a quick somersault and puffed out her chest. “Twelve point-nine last time I clocked in.” She eyed them both with renewed ire. “But I can’t maintain that if I have to hover around, waiting for a couple of slowpokes instead of doing my morning workout!” The two guards were taken aback at her ferocity. The puce pegasus flattened his ears. “We didn’t know the best way here because we’re unfamiliar with the area.” He looked down at her. “Now that we do, I’m sure that we can make the trip as fast as you can, if not faster.” Rainbow’s jaw dropped at the claim. She burst out laughing, falling backwards out of the air and landing on the roof of her house. The boastful guard turned even redder as he glared at Rainbow. “I fail to see what's so funny.” “F-Faster than me!” she managed. “Esra, I think she’s the real deal,” the turquoise stallion whispered to his partner. “She doesn’t have an ounce of fat on her, and she’s got wings like a falcon. If she’s got more than twelve wingpower, she can fly circles around the both of us.” “I’ll believe it when I see it, Tastar.” Esra continued to look down at Rainbow Dash. “Oh, really?” Tastar challenged. He elbowed his partner. "You wanna put a little money on it?” Esra raised an eyebrow. “How much?” “Twenty bits says we can’t keep up with her during her workout.” He made a derisive snort. “You’re the only one that’s even come close to besting me in physical ability. This isn’t even a bet. You’re on.” They shook hooves as Rainbow ceased her laughter and jumped back into the air. “Okay, that was pretty funny, so I’ll at least admit you’ve got a sense of humor.” She gave them an amused grin. “So, what’re your names?” “I’m Tastar,” the turquoise stallion said, gesturing to himself. “The arrogant one is Esra.” Esra huffed and looked away. “Hmm.” Rainbow flew forward, stopping just inches away from the two stallions and circled around them, staring at their bodies with a trained eye. “Uh… Miss Rainbow Dash?” Tastar asked, unnerved by her closeness and gaze. He could feel the soft downdrafts of her wings as her feathers briefly tickled his side. “What’re you doing?” Red one’s got good muscle definition, especially in the legs. Obviously he’s got power and stamina, but I doubt he can maneuver very well with those big wings. Probably can’t sprint for long, either. Ugh, has he ever heard of preening? He's gonna be slow with all those feathers out of place. Blue guy looks weak. Wait... ah, he’s got dense muscles like me. Cool, I’ll bet he can sprint. Probably has good stamina and power, too. Too bad his wings aren’t as well developed. It’s probably a military thing… Rainbow hovered back a ways, giving the two their space. “I can tell you two don’t spend much time doing flight training. That’ll have to change if you plan to protect me. Otherwise, I guess you’ll do.” Tastar laughed as he realized they had just been given an examination. “Do you mind then if we join you in your workout?” “More like I demand it,” she said flatly. “You can’t be my guards if you can’t even match my pace.” “You said you were in a hurry.” Esra made a slicing motion with a forehoof. “Are we going to start or not?” “Oh, we’re gonna start all right,” Rainbow said with a cocky smirk as she landed on the roof again. She flared out her wings and crouched like a cat. “I hope you’re ready, boys. Catch me if you can!” She took off in a burst of color, generating a massive blast of wind that knocked both Esra and Tastar off balance, leaving them struggling to maintain their altitude and stability. Rainbow’s laughter echoed on the wind as they looked to see that she was already nothing but a prismatic dot off in the distance. Esra’s jaw dropped. “I’ll be expecting those bits by the end of the day,” Tastar said with a chuckle as he landed. He imitated Rainbow, going into a crouch. He took off in a lesser, but still impressive, burst of speed. Esra shook his head. “You haven’t won the bet yet.” He descended to the roof and lowered his stance. He shot forward as he flapped his wings, leaving a blast of wind in his wake that rivaled his partner’s. Rainbow careened through the sky, deciding not to fully push herself yet to see if the guards could keep up. She looked back to see the two of them beginning to give chase. She shook her head. They’re just taking off NOW? Horseapples, this is really gonna slow me down. Looks like I’m gonna have to work with them to get them in better shape. She heaved a sigh as she looked off in the distance towards the shining parapets of Canterlot. It’s not for forever. As soon as Luna’s better, we can prove to her and Celestia that we can take care of ourselves. Across town, Ras and Vigil were walking towards a bakery that looked to be made of gingerbread. The two had walked in silence since they’d left the train station, and the atmosphere was tense. “So,” Ras began, “I noticed you specifically volunteered to guard the Bearer of Laughter. Why's that?” “Personal reasons,” Vigil replied simply. “Such as?” “They’re personal because I don’t want to talk about them,” Vigil snapped. “And I’ll thank you not to be so nosy.” “I’m just trying to make conversation,” Ras said. “You want a conversation? Fine. Let’s talk about possible entry points that we need to secure.” They approached Pinkie’s house next door to Sugarcube Corner. Vigil looked up at it with a critical eye. “I can see three from here alone.” Ras tried to find the flaws in the building that Vigil saw. As he did, a flash of movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned, but saw nothing but a few passersby walking to and fro. Vigil noticed his action. “Did you see something?” “I thought I—no, it was nothing.” Ras returned his attention to the house beside the bakery. "I see the entry points, too. Hmm, and two others over here...” A pair of blue eyes watched the stallions from across the street as they continued their inspection. A pink hoof reached out from a pile of haybales, grabbing an apple from a nearby basket. It retreated to its owner with a rustle, shortly followed by a soft munching. New ponies sighted. Bait has been set. Awaiting further action. “...and this left window pane looks loose,” Ras said, tapping it lightly. “Probably could pop it right out without a sound.” Vigil nodded. “We should introduce ourselves so we can check the inside, too.” “I suppose we should.” Ras walked over to the door. “Although it looks like she's not up y—” at his touch, the door swung ajar. The two of them rushed into the house. As they did, their observer gave a satisfied smirk. Hook, line and sinker. Operation ‘Stealth Party’ is go. Ras and Vigil ran inside. The room was pitch black, and they were unable to see anything beyond the entranceway. Their focus on trying to identify signs of a struggle prevented them from noticing a pink blur that zipped in behind them. As the two fully entered, the door closed behind them with a slam, leaving them in total darkness. Vigil stopped. “What was—” The lights turned on to reveal the room completely decorated with bright streamers, colorful banners, and balloons. Party games and favors were littered all around. Cakes, donuts, fritters, pies, cupcakes, and eclairs were all heaped on a small table, covered in plastic wrap. “What in Celestia’s name is this?” Vigil demanded. Ras shook his head. “I have no idea.” “Hello, Guardsponies!” Both of them turned to see Pinkie standing in the far corner, waving with an innocent smile. A massive cannon with a shiny red button stood beside her. Vigil’s eyes went wide. “Is that a—” “WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!” Pinkie smashed the button. A small stream of confetti jettisoned out from the chimney of Pinkie’s house, gently fluttering to the ground. The accompanying, muted explosion caused a few nearby pedestrians to stop momentarily, but they continued on their business a few seconds later after shaking their heads in knowing amusement. Meanwhile, two pegasi stood outside a quaint country cottage on the outskirts of town, at a loss for what to do. A quick peek in the windows had revealed that its resident was nowhere to be found. One of the pegasi, a canary yellow stallion with a wiry build and scraggly mane, was pacing back and forth as he muttered to himself. “No signs of forced entry, lights aren’t on, door's locked, and we don’t know when she was home last. We've no clue as to her current location, and we don’t even know where we should even start looking.” He swished his tail and looked at his partner. “Some guards we are.” His partner, a short violet stallion with thin wings, spoke in a faint tenor as he looked off into the distance. “I wouldn’t say that, Megnii. Just because you can’t see something right away doesn’t mean it isn’t there.” Megnii rolled his eyes. “Something we can’t see isn’t going to help us find the Bearer of Kindness, Spesci.” “I said, ‘can’t see right away.’ If you actually open your eyes and take a look around, you’ll find that there’s always something that you can use to locate somepony.” Spesci pointed to something some thirty yards away. He spread his wings and flew over to the spot he had indicated, hovering a few feet off the ground. “Like these tracks, for instance.” Megnii’s eyes widened. He zoomed over to Spesci. As he approached, a set of gouges in the soft earth became visible. They were unmistakably hoofprints leading away from the cottage. He hadn’t seen them at all from where he'd been standing before. “They’re small, definitely made by a mare.” Spesci compared the imprint to his own, which was about a third larger. “They’re deep, though... the physical description we got on her said she’s about normal height and thin, even for a pegasus. If these are her tracks, she was carrying something heavy, which would explain why she wasn’t flying.” “I didn’t know you could track,” Megnii said quietly. Spesci laughed. “You can do a lot of things when you pay attention to your surroundings.” He slowly flew forward, inspecting the tracks as they went onward. They went straight northeast towards the tree line. “Looks like she went into the Everfree.” Megnii flew up in the air to get a better view of the forest. It stretched out to the east as far as his eyes could see. “That might be a problem,” he said with a low whistle. “So might this,” Spesci called from down below. He had flown ahead several yards. Megnii flew down to see what he had found. Spesci’s face was grim as he pointed to a second, much larger set of prints that met up with the first. “These are bear tracks.” Megnii went pale as he examined the area, beginning to pace again in midair. “There’s no sign of a struggle. Did she take to the air? But you said she was carrying something, which was why she wasn’t flying in the first place, and there’s nothing around here. Maybe she turned and ran? But you didn’t say anything about tracks leading back…” “This doesn’t make any sense,” Spesci said. He furrowed his eyebrows and stared at the prints. “The mare’s tracks don’t show any signs of hesitation. She even started moving faster in the same direction once she met up with the beast. But what’s even weirder is that instead of the two sets of tracks merging, they move alongside each other.” He shook his head as he looked at the two sets of tracks, perfectly in tandem as they stretched towards the forest. “It’s like she was running side by side with the bear.” “Running side by side?” Megnii repeated. “Why would—“ A loud, deep, feral noise reached their ears from the Everfree. It instilled in them a cold sense of dread that they fought to control. Even for ponies that had never heard it before, it was unmistakably recognizable as a bear’s roar. The two guards ran into the forest. Spesci was in front, his dark suspicions being confirmed as the tracks continued unerringly in the direction they'd heard the sound. Ancient oaks, maples, ash, and cypress trees whizzed by as they followed the trail through the eerie wood. Not a single sound reached their ears as they ran, save for the ones they made themselves. It was as if the entire forest was holding its breath. After a few minutes, Megnii spoke up. “Do you think that we’re clo—” A second, earsplitting roar shattered the silence. Megnii leaped into the air, his wings snapping open as he cleared the canopy. He ascended almost fifty feet before getting a stranglehold on his instincts. With great reluctance, he descended and resumed running alongside his partner with a nervous laugh. “Yeah,” Spesci deadpanned. “We’re close.” They continued through the underbrush a while longer before Spesci signaled Megnii to stop. Before them was a clearing beside a river a few feet away, where a large, dark cave carved out of an overhang stood ominously before them. Both sets of tracks led straight into the cave. Megnii peered out at the clearing from the brush, unable to see anything inside the dark recess. He was about to say something when his mouth was covered by a violet hoof. Spesci shook his head. He subtly gestured towards the cave, making a tiptoeing motion with his hooves. The guards abandoned their cover, putting as little weight into their steps as they could. Megnii’s heart was beating like a drum. Part of him wondered if that noise alone would give them away. Spesci was crouched, moving with as much as stealth as possible, but his entire body was shaking like a leaf in the wind. As they approached, Megnii noticed that there was a bend in the cave, continuing on to the right and preventing them from seeing deeper in. “You’re doing great!” a voice echoed from within. Both of the stallions stopped dead. “Just one more! One! Two! Three! PUSH!” An earthshattering, agonizing roar blasted forth from the cave. The guards dropped to the ground, eyes shut, teeth gritted, and hooves stuffed in their ears. The roar died out and was replaced by a high pitched mewling. “It’s a girl!” the voice said happily. “That’s three cubs! I’m so happy for you two!” A wave of nausea hit Megnii as he opened his eyes. The world spun around him as he unsteadily got to his hooves, trying to stop his stomach from doing somersaults. He glanced over at Spesci, who was swaying back and forth as his eyes did loop-de-loops in their sockets. “I’ll be right back, I need some air,” the voice said. The two guards heard the clip-clopping of hooves on stone. Megnii and Spesci wordlessly agreed to wait for the owner of the voice to come to them. Both of them paled as they were confronted by Fluttershy. Her coat and mane were splattered with chunks of gore, and her mane and tail were stained a deep crimson that left a dripping trail of ichor in her wake. The guards were reminded of the ancient folktales of the walking dead. The nausea they were both trying to keep down surged forth, and they forcibly emptied their stomachs. Fluttershy squeaked upon seeing the two guards. “Goodness, are you both all right? What happened to you?” Spesci said something she couldn’t hear. “Oops, one second.” She tilted her head and shook it. A small earplug fell out of her ear. She did the same for the other. “Sorry, what did you say?” “Are you… Fluttershy?” Spesci managed. “Y-Yes.” She tried to walk closer to them, but they both scrambled away and dove into the brush. She seemed to remember something. “Oh, you’re the guards that were supposed to come this morning, aren’t you?” Megnii poked his head out from behind a maple tree. “Megnii and Spesci at your ser—“ his cheeks bulged as he looked at her. He put a hoof to his mouth and disappeared. “Miss Fluttershy,” Spesci called over the faint retching noise, “are you injured?” Fluttershy scratched her cheek. “No, why are you—” she gasped as she brought her hoof away seeing that it was a deep sanguine. She turned and looked at herself. “Oh my... That would explain your… um… excuse me.” Fluttershy bolted to the river and prepared to jump in. Right before she did, though, she turned back and yelled into the brush. “Whatever you do, don’t go in the cave!” The early risers of Ponyville took no notice to the lights of Carousel Boutique, even at such a young hour. Rarity sat at her kitchen table across from two unicorns, who were drinking the tea she had set out for them. She took in their actions with an approving eye. At least they have proper manners. Excellent posture, eyes downcast, they stirred their tea without clinking their spoons, and I haven’t heard a single slurp. They even poured out the milk first. It’s not often you meet military ponies who have knowledge of traditional Canterlot tea etiquette… or anypony outside of nobility, for that matter. One of the guards, a dark orange stallion with a long, flowing mane, set down his cup and smiled. “You humble us with your hospitality, Lady Rarity,” he began smoothly. “It has been some time since either Grovi or I have had the pleasure of enjoying proper tea.” Rarity tittered. “Think nothing of it, Elo. First impressions are rather important, after all.” “Too true,” he replied. “And if I might be so bold, my first impressions of you are that you're a mare of expensive taste who values fashion and beauty. Am I wrong?” “Well, this is a dress boutique,” Rarity said, showing the slightest hint of pride. “As the proprietor, I'd think it odd if I didn't.” Both of the guards laughed. “Point to the fashionista,” Elo said. “And if I were to continue to judge a book by its cover, I would also say that you enjoy being a hostess, although I’d wager you normally don't entertain this early in the morning.” “Correct on both counts.” She looked out the window at the clouds where she guessed the sun was. “However, a Lady always does what's necessary to provide for anypony they call ‘friend’ without complaint.” She gave a sidelong glance at the two. “Or in this case, ‘protectors.’” Elo bowed. “You have our word that Grovi and I will do everything in our power to keep you safe.” Grovi nodded, but remained silent. His mane and tail were styled in the fashion of a noble, his horn was sharpened, and his hooves were beautifully polished. His face was a stoic mask, but when Rarity wasn’t looking, his lips kept parting in unmistakable disbelief. Rarity found herself very much liking the two guards. I was half-afraid I'd be stuck with a pair of boorish louts, not these polite gentleponies! She lowered her gaze as she felt a surge of guilt. I should've had more faith in the Princesses. Of course they wouldn’t trust just anypony with our safety. Rarity gave them a warm smile. “In that case, I believe my first impressions are correct, as well.” A small box hovered over to the table in her blue aura. “And to commemorate our first meeting, I have a gift for each of you.” Elo raised his eyebrows. “You needn’t have gone through any trouble on our part—“ “But I already have,” Rarity interrupted matter-of-factly. “I may not be a military mare, but in times like this, I do understand that items of practicality hold more importance than those of vanity.” She opened the box to reveal four blue earrings: Two of them were for designed for males, and the other two were for a female. They were all set with a tiny, shining blue sapphire. The guards stared quizzically at the adornments. “Forgive me,” Elo said, “but I fail to see how jewelry serves any kind of practical purpose.” “You'd be correct,” Rarity agreed, “but these earrings are magical. You see, my special talent may be finding beauty in the mundane, but I also have a knack for a certain spell that can locate gemstones. I was helping my friend Twilight last night when I came up with this idea, and she showed me a way to modify the spell so that it locates specific gemstones from farther distances away.” She levitated the male earrings up, and gave one to each of the guards. “I enchanted the sapphires in these earrings. If you wear them, I'll be able to find you with but a thought, and can go to you if I'm in trouble.” Elo stared agape at her. “That's, well....” “Brilliant?” Grovi offered as he took one of the earrings. “‘Astounding’ was the word I was going to use, but that works as well.” Elo accepted the other and put it in his left ear. “You are very clever, my Lady.” Rarity blushed at the compliment. “I merely had the idea. Twilight was the one who showed me how to do it.” “Nonetheless, this will be a great asset for you,” Elo said appreciatively. “You're to be commended for your creativity.” He nodded at the set of female earrings. “Now you have me curious: what do those do?” “That set is for me, but whether they do anything is up to the two of you.” Rarity picked up the earrings. “They aren't enchanted right now, because—” she paused for a moment and looked up at the ceiling. “Twilight explained it as ‘the spell becomes attuned', I believe.” Grovi’s eyes lit up.. “Divination spells are bound to the caster and the target. You mean to have each of us put the Scrying spell on one of your earrings so we can locate you, as well.” “That sounds like what Twilight was saying,” Rarity agreed. She looked back down at the two of them. “I'm not the most accomplished caster, but I've always been good with Divination spells. This one in particular, I've always thought to be quite easy. For some reason, though, other unicorns have a problem with it.” Rarity took both of the earrings and placed them on the table. “If you're willing, I can show you how to cast the spell, but it will depend on if you're able to do it.” Grovi exchanged a knowing glance with Elo. “She reminds you of certain somepony, doesn’t she?” Elo silenced him with a pointed look, then turned back to Rarity.  “By your leave, we'd be honored to have you teach us.” “Fabulous,” Rarity said with a clap of her hooves. “I'm sure you’ll both catch onto it in no time.” Applejack sighed as she stood in front of the barn, hitched up to a cart full of farming tools. She'd been up for a few hours taking care of the chickens, and was just about to head out to the fields when her 'guests' had arrived. She eyed the pair of guards, addressing the first one who'd introduced himself. “It's mighty nice to meet ya, Mr. Norric. Now, if'n you don't mind me gettin' straight to the point, I gotta be askin' something. My understanding is that both of ya are just gonna sit back and watch me to make sure I don't get foalnapped or nothin', right?” “That's correct,” Norric replied. “Our orders are to not interfere with your daily activities unless in an emergency.” She sized up the stallion. He was a head shorter than her, with a coat darker than a moonless night. He's well built like most military folk. A bit on the short side, but there’s something about him that tells me he’s no stranger to hard work. I can use him, at least. She glanced over at his companion, a solid Earth Pony the color of dirt with his mane in a buzz cut. He'd been silent thus far, looking around the farm with interest. Not so sure about this one, though. “I'm appreciative of that and all,” Applejack said. “But like I was sayin' to Twilight, trying to keep a low profile out here is gonna be a bit of a problem. I dunno how much you know about farmin', with ya’ll being from Canterlot and such. But lemme tell you: Nothin's more suspicious than two able-bodied stallions like yourselves bein' out on a farm and not doing a thing. So, if you wanna do your jobs protectin' me, I'm afraid I gotta put'cha to work.” The brown stallion chuckled. “I told you, Norric.” Norric's expression was unreadable. He gestured to his companion. “Strauss had mentioned that possibility on our way here, although I'd thought of an alternative.” “Best way to hide is to blend in,” Strauss said in a deep bass. “Only way to do that out here is to be a farmhand. Bad idea to try and hide in apple trees on an apple farm. We'll damage the crops.” Applejack quickly changed her mind. Got a good head, this one. I think I'll put him with Mac... ah, shoot I can't; they gotta be watchin' me. Well, dependin' on how quick they take to the labor, we might get done early, and then we can go help him out. ”I'd rather you didn’t go climbin' trees this close to Applebuck Season,” she said to Norric. “It'd be a mite difficult for you to get up in 'em, anyways.” He seemed to grudgingly see the point in that. “Farmhands it is, then.” “The three of us’ll start up in the north field,” she continued. “This time of year all we’re doin’ is maintenance on the trees and checkin’ to see which ones might need to be harvested early. Comin’ about a month’s time is Applebuck Season, and that’s when we really get into the thick of it.” She picked her brain as she tried to remember the specifics for the north field. “I can show the both o’ya how to Applebuck on a few early bloomers I was gonna get today.” “What kind of maintenance do you do on the trees?” Norric asked. Applejack motioned at the cart behind her. It was filled with a large barrel of water, shears, pails, shovels, hoofaxes, and a large lumpy sack of other assorted items. “Prunin’ dead branches, keepin’ the soil moist if we haven’t had enough rain, checkin’ for rot ‘n disease on the bark, that sorta thing.” She raised a hoof to her chin. “Although I’ll be doing that last one, seein’ as ya don’t know what to look for.” “Fair enough,” Norric said with a nod. “When do we start?” “Right now.” Applejack walked forward. As she passed by, expecting them to follow, she noticed the suitcases that each of them had. “Oh, right. There is one other thing.” She stopped and looked over at the farmhouse. “I know ya’ll don’t mean to interfere with me or my family, but the bottom line is there ain’t no other place for either of you to stay other than the house.” Applejack was silent before returning her attention to Norric and Strauss. Her eyes were hollow, and her voice was melancholy. “Fortunately, we got a room to spare.”