Lucario was surprised by how his battle with Rainbow Dash seemed to fly under the radar. Upon his return to the village, no one cast him any strange looks or asked any questions about the explosion. From what he could gather from the gossip among them, the ponies had definitely both seen and felt the explosion from their last attack. But after the first explosion in the Everfree Forest and the dragon attack, it seems like the villagers had now grown used to these kinds of events. The mayor wasn’t joking when she said that they weren’t strangers to situations like these, he thought to himself.
Rainbow had awakened from her nap late in the afternoon. Twilight had expected her to fly out and see if the other ponies had heard of their fight. Instead, Rainbow had stayed at the library for a few more hours, drinking tea and chatting with Twilight and Spike. “I don’t really care if they know or not,” she had told Twilight when she asked about it. “Sure, I wanted to prove my awesomeness to them as well, but I’m fine with just me and you guys knowing about it. I guess that I challenged him to prove it to myself more than anypony else.”
Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy had passed by the library as well do see how Rainbow was doing. They had all recognized the familiar rainbow-colored energy that had erupted from her Sonic Rainboom. Everyone but Pinkie was now sitting at the table, discussing the battle. Pinkie’s absence was because of a "Rainbow put up a great fight even though she lost!" party that she had to prepare.
“I have to say, sugarcube, I’m mighty impressed!” Applejack gave Rainbow a pat on the shoulder. “Managing to send Lucario flying like that with a Sonic Rainboom? That would’ve been a sight to behold. Um, no offence, partner…” she quickly added.
“None taken,” Lucario reassured her.
“I, for one, will never understand how that brain of yours work, darling.” Rarity said while shaking her head. “You saw Lucario beat up that dragon yesterday, and your first idea was to go and fight him? What if you got hurt, or if Lucario’s marvelous fur got damaged!”
“I’ll take the fact that my well-being is ranked the same as Lucario’s fur as a compliment,” Rainbow remarked while rolling her eyes.
“Seriously, we’re just worried about you. I can’t imagine what poor Fluttershy must feel about all this.”
“Oh, um… I actually think its fine,” the yellow pegasus responded, nearly making everyone around the table spit out their tea.
*cough, cough* "YOU are fine with it?! Darling, you’re the most gentle and kind pony in all of Ponyville! How can you possibly be fine with such things?!”
“Well, um, many animals fight a lot with each other when they’re young. It’s like a game to them. Maybe the same thing applies to when ponies and Pokémon fight sometimes.”
If you only knew, Lucario thought to himself.
“Also, Rainbow seems very happy about the whole thing, so it couldn’t have been that bad, right?” Fluttershy finished her explanation. Rarity looked at her speechlessly for a few seconds before sighing in defeat.
“I swear, sometimes it feels like I’m the only dignified lady here.”
“Oh yeah?” Rainbow suddenly said with a smug smile. “Tell me again who was going to rip a few teenage dragons to pieces for touching one of Spike’s cute headscales?”
A bright blush appeared on Rarity’s face. She opened her mouth to object, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Spike, can you get that?” Twilight said to the baby dragon. “…Spike?”
Spike hadn’t heard a word. He was too busy staring at Rarity in some sort of trance. “Ahh, my heroine…” he said dreamingly. Twilight gave herself a small facehoof and stepped up to open the door herself. She was greeted by a huge, red-coated stallion with a sprig of wheat in his mouth.
“Oh, Big McIntosh, how are you? Are you here looking for Applejack?”
“Eeyup,” The stallion simply replied.
“Oh gosh darn it! I’m sorry, Big Mac. I forgot that I was supposed to help you with the last chores this evening. I’ll be right with you.”
“I think that I’ll take my leave as well,” Lucario said. “I need to make one last patrol through the village before it gets too dark.”
“All right. See you guys tomorrow!” The others waved them goodbye as they left. On her way past the door, Applejack turned towards Lucario.
“I suppose you haven’t met my brother yet. Big Mac, this is Lucario, the village’s new guardian. Lucario, this is Big McIntosh.”
“Nice to meet you, Big McIntosh,” Lucario greeted the stallion. “I take it that you’re Applejack’s big brother?”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac answered with a smile.
“I see. Your family runs Sweet Apple Acres by the border of the village? You must be proud of your work.”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed. It seems like Applejack had already told Lucario a bit about their family business.
“Your family was one of the founders of Ponyville, you say? How many years ago was that?”
“Ee…” Big Mac got confused. Did he say that?
“Over 70 years ago, since your grandmother was young? I can’t imagine how proud she must be to see how her family’s work has paid off over the decades.”
“Hold on a minute! When did you learn so much about us?” Applejack suddenly asked, every bit as confused as her brother.
“He told me,” Lucario answered.
“When? I thought you guys hadn’t met each other before. Oh well, let’s just get back to the farm and finish up the work. Let’s go, Big Mac.”
“Eeyup,” the stallion quickly replied, following after his sister.
“Okay, I’ll keep an eye after those Flim Flam brothers for you if they return. Good night,” Lucario called to them as they left. He then began to make his way through the village. “So it isn’t just owls who speak like that? Good to know,” he said to himself.
Lucario finished his search through the village and the borders of the forest as the moon rose over the horizon. There had been no signs of any strange activities anywhere. How ironic that most problems seem to occur during the day, Lucario thought to himself. Not that he complained. It would let him sleep easier during the night without having to constantly keep an eye open for trouble.
He returned to the tree on the hill and laid down with his back resting on it. A few birds looked down at him from their nests, but paid him no further mind. After making one last check over the village with his Aura Sense, Lucario closed his eyes to sleep. Half an hour later, he was still unable to drift off. He was tired after the long day, especially considering his surprisingly tough battle with Rainbow. Yet it was like his mind was waiting for something, something to finish the day with. As he irritatingly opened his eyes and looked at the stars, he realized what it was.
I’m… waiting for her? he questioned himself in his head. It’s true that he had talked to Princess Luna for the past two nights, but that was just it. It had only been two nights, nothing more. Had he already grown that used to their talks during the evening? He briefly scanned through the memories of their conversations. The image of the dark blue pony smiling at him after thanking him last night got stuck in his mind. He shook it off and gave out a small sigh. It’s not like she would want to talk to me after our last meeting.
As he watched the night sky, he could finally feel himself falling asleep slowly. Like always, it calmed him down to just watch the stars and the moon like this. Just before he did so, a final thought crossed his mind.
Why does the sky look so different tonight…?
“I BROUGHT YOU A LETTER!”
Lucario was abruptly woken up from his slumber. As he opened his eyes, he saw a gray-coated pegasus with a pair of yellow crossed eyes mere inches away from his face. He barely resisted the reflex to jump up and accidently headbutt her in the face. Seeing him awake, she smiled and picked out a newspaper from her mailbag.
“Miss, that’s not a lett-“
“Have a good muffin!” the mare said cheerfully before flying off, leaving a confused Lucario behind. After spending a few minutes trying to make sense of her “Have a good muffin!”-line, he decided to let it go. Taking a look at the newspaper, he almost immediately noticed the article on the front page.
Lucario reread the article several times. Luna was sick? And it had happened on the night of their argument? No matter how many times Lucario tried, he couldn’t remember seeing any signs of sickness or fatigue on Luna’s face. He pondered if the sickness had spawned from her outburst, but decided against that thought. If anything, Luna had been worn out and tired after all that, but not enough to make her physically ill.
That must also be why the night sky looked different yesterday. Princess Celestia probably doesn’t put in as much effort and detail into it as her sister does, he theorized. It wasn’t until now that he realized what exactly had been different about the sky last night. The glow of the stars had been random, lacking any artistic detail Luna said that she made to them every night. Normal ponies wouldn’t notice anything, but he did due to Luna’s explanation coupled with his tendency to sleep outside.
A sudden glow of light suddenly sparked beside him, and Twilight materialized out of nowhere. Her expression had a mix of worry and determination on it. She briefly threw a quick look at the newspaper in his paws before speaking.
“Okay, you’ve read it too, then. Look, I know that you didn’t want to talk about what Luna said to you that night, and I promised myself not to push you for answers, but-”
“Don’t worry, Twilight. I understand,” Lucario assured the unicorn. “I will tell you everything that happened.”
Twilight looked up at him somewhat surprised. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Actually, Rainbow already knows. She was eavesdropping on us when we talked. I don’t think it is fair to keep it a secret from the rest of you girls anymore.”
Twilight seemed to calm down a lot from Lucario’s answer. She must’ve felt rather guilty for questioning him about it again. “Thank you, Lucario. Is it okay if I gather the rest of the girls too?”
“Sure. I’ll see you at the library.” Lucario nodded. Twilight nodded back before teleporting away.
It had taken a while before Lucario could begin telling his story. Part of it was because Pinkie Pie had mistaken the meet-up for Rainbow’s party, and thus decorated the entire library with confetti and balloons. Twilight was going to object to this, but Pinkie had also brought cakes for them to eat. Considering it still was rather early in the morning, she gave in and let everyone eat before Lucario got started. They didn’t have much of a chance breaking him out of his snack-eating trance anyway.
Once they were finished, Lucario told them everything that had happened during that night. Knowing that Twilight would want as much information as possible, he decided to go into detail. He told them what he and Luna had spoken of the first time they met (with the exception of their deal to keep their backstories secret) and every single line they uttered during the night after. He even told them how she smiled at him, causing Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy to give out a brief “Aww”.
“That’s when Twilight teleported next to me and asked me what had happened. I haven’t seen or heard of Luna ever since until today.” Lucario finished his story. Twilight scratched her chin in thought, thinking through everything he had told them.
“I see now why you didn’t want to tell us about it. I’m sorry Luna made you feel that way…”
“Well, I think she was just blaming him for no reason!” Applejack scoffed from the other side of the table. “Who cares if that dragon attacked just because he was angry at Lucario? He still flew off to kick its sorry rump without a second thought!”
“That’s what I told him!” Rainbow replied from her seat.
“She was just worried about us though, wasn’t she?” Fluttershy almost whispered from her side. “I think she was wrong too, but she had her reasons. I can’t be mad at her for that…”
“Darling, you can’t be mad at anypony whatsoever,” Rarity commented her friend. “Still, Lucario, please know that we bear no ill thought of you.”
“I know,” Lucario replied. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling at his friends’ support. “Thank you.”
“I just can’t understand what kind of sickness Luna is suffering from.” Twilight was still scratching her chin. “And why didn’t Princess Celestia send word after me?”
“You know the princess?” Lucario asked.
“Oh yeah, I haven’t told you that. I’m actually Princess Celestia’s personal student. I’ve studied under her ever since I was a small filly.” Twilight’s mood brightened somewhat at the memories. “I moved to Ponyville to continue my studies and learn about the magic of friendship.”
“Magic of wha-” Lucario tried to ask, but was interrupted by Rainbow.
“Good thing you did. It wouldn’t have been nearly as easy for me to deal with Nightmare Moon if you hadn’t.”
“We all stopped Nightmare Moon together, Rainbo-” Twilight realized something mid-sentence. “Now that I think about it, you don’t know who this Nightmare Moon is, right Lucario?”
“Does it have something to do with Luna?” Lucario asked.
“Yes. She used to be-”
“Then I don’t want to hear about it.”
Pretty much every jaw in the room except Pinkie’s dropped at Lucario’s statement. “W-What? Why not?!”
Lucario remembered his and Luna’s first meeting over the Everfree Forest.
“It’s part of a deal.”
Everypony raised their brows at this. Pinkie was again the only exception. Twilight sighed and decided to take this as another one of Lucario’s “I don’t want to talk about it” answers for the moment.
“Anyway, I’m still worried. I don’t want to see anything happen to Luna.”
“Me neither! If she’s sick, who is going to scare us at the next Nightmare Night? It’s less than a month away, you know?!” Pinkie exclaimed from her side.
“And I want to pay her back for that lightning scare she gave me last year. N-Not that it scared me or anything!” Rainbow quickly added to her response.
“Then it’s settled.” Twilight stood up and looked over her friends. She brought a hoof to the middle of the table, which her friends quickly placed their own hooves upon. Lucario stared at it for a moment before shrugging and placing his paw on the top.
“We’re going to Canterlot!”
About an hour later, the group was waiting patiently at the Friendship Express Station. Twilight had given her friends some time to pack some luggage, as she expected that curing Luna would take some time. She herself had brought a suitcase full of medical books and research notes with her. Fluttershy was carrying a pair of saddle-bags with some herbs she normally used for her animals. Applejack had filled her own saddle-bags with apples for all of them to snack on. Poor Rarity almost had a heart attack when she heard that she only had an hour to pack her things. By some miracle, she had settled with a suitcase almost three times the size of Twilight’s filled with clothes. Rainbow hadn’t bothered to pack anything at all. She said that she could just fly over to her house if she needed anything.
“Pinkie, haven’t you packed anything?” Twilight asked her pink friend. The party pony had seemingly not brought a single bag with her.
“Of course I have, Twilight! I could never leave home without my Party Cannon!” She suddenly brought out a huge light blue cannon out of nowhere. Simply giving her astonished friends her usual smile, she put it back into whatever space it had come from.
“Okay, we’re gonna solve that mystery once and for all!” Rainbow slapped her hooves together. “Lucario, you can see pretty much anything with that ability of yours, right? Where did she put it?” She turned towards Lucario, but found that he was busy looking towards Canterlot in the distance.
“…Hmm? Sorry Rainbow, I wasn’t listening.”
“Oh come on!” The pegasus yelled out in frustration. Ignoring her, Twilight walked up to Lucario.
“We’ll get there soon, don’t worry,” she reassured him.
“I know. That’s not the reason why I’m watching it,” he answered. Seeing the unicorn waiting for further explanation, he continued. “It… reminds me of Cameran Palace back in my world.”
Twilight remembered what Lucario had told her about his home back when they first met. “I see. Did you live at the palace? I remember that your mentor used to train you there at least.”
“Yes. Sir Aaron and I served directly under Lady Rin. He was her personal adviser, helping her with negotiations and keeping order in Rota. I was her agent, heading out to deal with any incidents or attacks that occurred around the country.”
“How was Lady Rin? It almost sounds like she was your world’s counterpart to Princess Celestia.”
“She wasn’t the queen of the sun or anything. But she was an incredibly kind woman. She always placed the well-being of the people above her own, almost to a fault. Sir Aaron constantly had to remind her to rest so that she wouldn’t overwork herself. But her passion for being a queen was greater than anything I’ve ever seen. She loved to just take strolls through the town, speaking with the citizens and even playing with the children. Other countries thought that the stories about her were just a farce to make her look better in the people’s eyes. But I could see the happiness in her eyes every time she was out there. Even now I can’t believe that I ever had the honor of serving under someone like her.”
Twilight listened as Lucario described Lady Rin to her. She could see his eyes almost glimmering as he spoke of her. Once he finished, Twilight was smiling as well.
“I think she fits the Princess Celesta counterpart role just fine. She sounds like a great Queen.”
For a moment Twilight could see the glimmer in Lucario’s eyes turn from happiness to sadness.
“Yeah… she was.”
“Come on, fellas! Eyes up! The train is here!” Applejack suddenly shouted behind them. They could see the train approach them from a distance. Twilight walked back to the rest of her friends and grabbed her suitcase. The train came to a halt and opened its doors, letting the passengers out. Once they had all left, the group stepped into one of the carts and took their seats inside. Twilight was just about to put away her luggage when she noticed that something was missing.
“Wait… where’s Lucario?”
“Oh, he said something about flying over there instead. Apparently he’s used to traveling that way,” Applejack replied. True enough, Twilight could see Lucario activating his Magnet Rise outside as the train started to move.
“He what?! Oh boy, this is the perfect chance to race him!” Rainbow said excitingly, preparing to fly out her window. Twilight’s magic stopped her in midair.
“Leave it for another day, Rainbow. The last thing we need the guards in Canterlot to see is a Sonic Rainboom flying towards them.”
The news of Princess Luna’s sickness had spread like wildfire among the citizens of Canterlot. But the reactions they expressed were different from the ones in Ponyville. Apart from Ponyville, where all the citizens were neighborly acquainted with each other, Canterlot was mostly populated by ponies of the higher class. Who they knew and spend time with was almost always solely based on family names and standards in order to improve their public image. As a result, the majority of them were only concerned for their own reputation and safety.
That was why the personnel at Canterlot’s train station weren’t surprised when nearly a third of the city’s population suddenly decided to take a “vacation” after today’s news. Hundreds of well-dressed upperclasscolts and mares had been terrified after hearing of the possibly contagious disease. Thus, all of them were now waiting for the incoming train. There was no chance that they would all fit on it, and the personnel knew that they had a long day of work and complaints ahead of them.
“Jet Set, darling, grab our luggage. I think the train is approaching,” a yellow-coated unicorn mare with a grey and white striped mane called to her husband.
“I would, dear Upper Crust, if I could possibly carry all your bags with a single spell,” the grey-coated stallion with a black mane answered. “I say, are you really in need of all this? Surely your aunt in Fillydelphia has more than enough clothes and accessories for you to borrow?”
“Borrow?! I swear, sometimes you can be so dense, my husband. Can’t you imagine the shame of walking around in another pony’s clothes, let alone in public?! Honestly, ever since you started to spend more time with Fancypants you have become so… sloppy with keeping your image.”
“To be frank, my dear, Fancypants and I talked a long time after that Garden Party with miss Rarity. I assure you that the things he had to say about keeping good relations with the lower party was extraordinarily interesting. Life changing in fact.”
“Now you’re beginning to scare me, darling. Just get a hold of our luggage before the train… wait a minute… what’s that yellow thing in the sky?”
“Now YOU are beginning to scare ME, Upper Crust. To think that you would forget about the sun. Are you sure that you’re-”
Jet Set closed his mouth upon looking up into the sky as well. The ponies gathering at the station could now see the strange, yellow-glowing creature flying above the incoming train. Noticing that it was heading towards them, they began to back away in a panic. Just as the train stopped in front of them, Lucario landed in the middle of the crowd. Deactivating his Magnet Rise, he only gave them a brief look before turning to the train doors. Twilight and the rest of her friends nervously stepped out, unsure of how to cope with all the attention.
“Well, that’s one way to make an appearance,” Rainbow said as she barely managed to drag Fluttershy out of her hiding place inside the train. The group then began to leave the station, the crowd making way for them as they walked past.
“We should head to the castle immediately,” Twilight said to her friends. “I’m sure that Princess Celestia will be happy to offer us food and a place to stay once she lets us in.”
“IF she lets us in, you mean?” Rainbow corrected her.
“Why wouldn’t she? It’s not like all of us will walk into Luna’s chambers or anything. I just want to hear about her symptoms so I can start looking through my books.”
“I’m not going to back away now or anything, darling, but what if Princess Celestia’s fears are true? What if the disease is contagious?” Rarity brought up a very valid point.
“If it truly comes down to that, I will stay until we’ve found a cure, no matter how long it takes.” A sudden though crossed Twilight’s mind and her expression grew worried. “Girls, I’m sorry. I brought you all here without thinking what a mess I was getting you into. If you want to go back to Ponyvi-” An apple was promptly shoved in her mouth by Applejack.
“Stop with all that silly talk, Twilight. We’re just as worried about Luna as you are. If there’s anything we can do to help her at all, you bet we’re going to stay and do it!”
It only took about 15 minutes before Canterlot Castle came into view. As the home for the princesses themselves, it was considered a huge honor to be given a chance to visit it. Even the highest standing ponies of the upper class were rarely invited to its grounds. Being Princess Celestia’s faithful student had its advantages though. Coupled with the fact that she pretty much grew up at the castle, there wasn’t much doubt on Twilight’s mind as she led her friends to the gates. She gave the guards a simple nod and was about to pass through before a pair of wings crossed in front of her.
“The castle is off-limits to all visitors. Turn back now or we will have to escort you off the premises,” the pegasus guard on the right commanded. Twilight wasn’t planning on backing down though.
“Come on, Nail Gale. It’s me, Twilight. Princess Celestia would surely let me in, right?”
The pegasus sighed, letting go of his usual royal guard behavior. “Twilight, I know that there can only be one reason for why you are here. You’ve read the news and want to help Princess Luna. But nopony is allowed entrance. I’m sorry, but I can’t let you in.”
“I’ll take care it from here, guards.” Nail Gale widened his eyes in surprise. The sound of flapping wings grew louder as the Princess of the Sun herself flew down towards them. As Twilight and her friends called out to her in recognition, Lucario remained silent and studied Celestia. She reminded him a lot of Luna, but was still in many ways her polar opposite. Her coat and mane fitted the day just as perfectly as Luna’s fitted the night. What he found to be the most interesting thing about her, however, was her eyes. Just like Luna’s eyes, there was a depth behind them that seemed to hide deep secrets. Maybe that’s to be expected after living for over a thousand years, he thought to himself.
Twilight ran up to Celestia and nuzzled her in greeting, a gesture Celestia somewhat reluctantly returned. “Princess, I’m sorry. We were so worried about Luna, and I heard that you’re turning away every doctor in-”
“It’s all right, Twilight. I understand,” Celestia reassured her student. Twilight looked up to her mentor and smiled, happy to see that the princess wasn’t angry at her. Celestia gave the rest of her friends a quick nod before turning towards Nail Gale.
“Guard, please escort Twilight and her friends away from the area. Have them stay the night at Shining Armor’s house.”
“W-What?!” Twilight could hardly believe her ears as Nail Gale nodded and began to push them back. “Princess, I know that you’re worried about us, but please! Let us help you!”
Celestia just shook her head. “I’m sorry, my little ponies. But this is something that I cannot risk involving you in. I will find a cure for Luna, I promise.”
“But Princess, I-” Whatever argument Twilight was going to use never crossed her lips. She found herself interrupted by Lucario as he lifted his paw to silence her.
“That’s enough, Twilight. We all know that the princess has her reasons. Let’s honor her request.”
Twilight stared at Lucario for a few seconds. Wasn’t he just as worried about Luna as the rest of them? She turned towards her friends for support, only to find defeated frowns on all of their faces. Finally giving up herself, she sighed and followed after Nail Gale as he led them back into the city. Before he left, Lucario turned around and briefly locked eyes with Celestia. He made sure to read as much as he could from them before she turned away and flew back to the castle.
Finally able to talk more casually now that he had left the presence of his fellow guards, Nail Gale began to ask questions about Lucario. To the group’s surprise, his battle with the dragon was hardly heard of in Canterlot. The upper class normally didn’t bother to read news from other small towns and villages like Ponyville. “I believe that you’re telling the truth,” Nail had reassured them. “You certainly look like the kind of guy to pull off something like that. But either Ponyville’s news doesn’t interest the ponies here, or you beat that dragon up so fast that nopony had a chance to notice.
“Probably the latter, I’d bet.” Rainbow smirked.
They eventually reached a house with two royal guards standing outside. Nail Gale knocked on the door, which was shortly opened by a white-coated stallion with a blue-striped mane.
“Oh, Nail Gale, you got the rest of the day off? What brings you… Twily?” He soon noticed Twilight smiling sheepishly behind Nail Gale. He nearly ran the poor pegasus guard over as he rushed out to hug her. “Twily, it’s so good to see you! Man, we hardly saw each other before the wedding, and now you come to visit me almost every month. Cadence will… Twily? Is something wrong?” He let go of his sister after seeing the sad frown on her face.
“It’s a long story. Can we come in?”
“Of course. Cadence and I will prepare something to eat for you.” He looked over the rest of Twilight’s friends, his eyes inevitably getting stuck on Lucario. “Whoa… new friend of yours?”
“That’s a LONGER story. Now come on, I can’t stand any more of Applejack’s apples!” Rainbow exclaimed impatiently.
“Oh, I’ll make sure to remember that during next cider season,” Applejack replied with an evil grin.
As the rest of the day passed, Shining and Cadence listened as Lucario first introduced himself. Once he had finished telling them how he had come to Equestria and about his new role as guardian, Twilight explained the reasons for their visit in Canterlot.
“I was so sure that Celestia would let us in. But she turned even us away,” she said somewhat hurt.
“Did you see how un-Celestia she was? She’s always happy and love to play pranks, but now she was even grumpier than Cranky,” Pinkie said disappointed.
“But why are you two staying here in Shining’s old house?” Twilight asked the couple. “Didn’t you decide to live in the castle after the wedding?”
“That’s exactly the problem, Twilight,” Cadence replied. “Celestia had us move here until Luna has recovered. She’s worried about us, being newlyweds and all.”
Lucario wasn’t focusing too much on the conversation. He was thinking through the situation repeatedly in his head. There was something wrong about all of this, that much was clear. So many things just didn’t make sense to him. He had never met Celestia personally before, but even he could tell that she was behaving strangely. What could possibly be so special about this sickness that only she would be able to find a cure for it? Furthermore, she didn’t seem to keep much of an eye on her increased security. He had seen several pegasus guards flying in and out of the castle’s windows and into the city. If the place was under quarantine, wouldn’t the guards need to stay inside at all times?
“It’s getting late. How about we leave the discussion for tomorrow and get a good night’s sleep. Sweetie, can you show everyone to the guest rooms?” Cadence asked Shining, but found that her husband seemed to be in deep thought. A nudge on the shoulder shook him out of it.
“Huh? Oh! Oh yeah, of course. Follow me; we have enough rooms for everypony,” he threw a quick glance at Lucario before walking up the stairs.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
As Celestia brought forth her second night in a row, everypony were now sleeping in their beds. At first, Twilight wanted to stay up and read through her books, but a few words from Cadence had convinced her to rest. It had taken some effort, but she had eventually managed to ignore Rainbow’s snoring from the other room and fall asleep herself.
A pair of red eyes suddenly opened in the dark of one of the rooms. Lucario hadn’t slept a wink. Unbeknown to the rest of his friends, he had simply laid with his Aura Sense activated, waiting for all of them to fall asleep. There was something he had to do, and he couldn’t risk involving any of them in it.
He got out of his bed and walked up to the window. Making sure that no one heard him moving about, he opened it quietly and leapt out, landing almost without a sound on the ground outside.
“I knew you were planning something like this.”
Lucario knew that he wasn’t the only one who had stayed awake during the evening. Shining Armor had left on some “guard duty” sometime before, but hadn’t returned before everyone fell asleep. Lucario had sensed him walk around the house and stop in the alley, as if he was waiting for someone. It eventually became clear to him as the hours passed who it exactly was.
“How did you know that I was going to sneak out the window?”
“The guards are still standing on watch by the front door. It would be next to impossible to get past them unnoticed, thus the window was your only choice. It’s just a small detail you learn after being a captain of the royal guard for a while.” His friendly smile was replaced by a frown as he came to the point of their conversation. “You aren’t seriously going to sneak into the castle, are you?”
“That was my plan, yes.”
“You got to be kidding me. Listen, Canterlot Castle was already the most well-guarded place in all of Equestria before Celestia increased security. There’s no way you’ll make it inside.”
“I will have a better chance now than during the day. Celestia should be asleep now, so this is my only chance of making it inside without her noticing. Besides, you are just as doubtful about this whole thing as I am, correct?”
Lucario seemed to have hit his mark, as Shining remained silent for a moment. “I guess you’ve noticed the guards flying in and out of the castle as well?” the captain eventually asked.
“Yeah. Seems like they’re rather unorganized without their captain.”
“Had the disease or curse been contagious, half of Canterlot would’ve been infected by now. Besides, Celesta is inside almost all the time, and there isn’t a trace of illness on her! I don’t understand why she insists on doing this.”
“That’s why I must get inside. Whatever the secret is, Luna is still in danger. Maybe tonight will be my only chance.”
Shining studied Lucario for a moment before sighing. “All right, we don’t have much time. I know of a few secret entrances into the castle. We can use one of them to-”
As he turned around to gesture towards the castle, Shining suddenly felt something hit him on the back of his neck. He struggled for a second before falling to the ground unconscious. Behind him, Lucario lowered his arm and looked at the knocked out unicorn.
“If something were to go wrong, I can’t let you be there to take the blame with me. I have my own ways of sneaking in, don’t worry. Now rest. I believe you have someone waiting for you.”
Using Psychic, he opened the window to Shining’s and Cadence’s room and levitated Shining inside. Landing softly next to his wife, Shining sighed in satisfaction as Cadence reflexively reached out to hug him in her sleep. Silently closing the window behind him, Lucario smiled lightly at the happy couple before disappearing into the night.
To be continued…