Fellowship is Madness

by Imperator Chiashi Zane

Midsummer's Nightmare, Part 2

Kajiik stared up at the massive oak tree and frowned, “A tree. I don’t see why I have to sleep in a tree. I’m going to go back to the farm. At least they look like they’ll have extra room for us.”

The Guardspony pushed on the trunk, where a door was carved into the surface. It opened, “Kajiik, there’s a whole place inside the trunk. Inside, now.”
The Zebra stopped and turned around, following his guard into the tree. With a flick of his wrist, the enchanted fabric on his collar lit up, and showed the interior of the tree, and a bunch of moving bodies. He snapped a piece of chalk out of his saddle-bag and started scribbling on the floor, even as Iron Hoof stepped in front of him and his staff swept forward into a combat stance.

A pair of brilliant white wings flared out, “SURPRI…!” The shout was cut off by the dull thwack of wood on flesh as Iron Hoof lunged forward. He stepped back just as quickly, staring at the white Pegasus lying on the floor.

“Oh, Buck,” the lights had gone on just in time for the surprise. Just a moment too slow for Iron Hoof to stop. He had pulled his strike, so she would definitely, live, if a little bruised. She looked up from the floor, winced, and touched her hoof to her side where a bruise was already forming.

“Right…Don’t surprise a royal guard. Uh…Surprise,” she waved her hoof in the air.

Kajiik stepped forward, past his guard, “Sorry about that. Uh, I’ve had several threats on my life that started with a shout. You’re actually pretty lucky the lights turned on. Otherwise, I don’t think Iron Hoof would have stopped in time.”

She stood carefully, and looked at the bruise, “Thanks for the warning. Anyway, Welcome to Ponyville, sorry for the surprise, and here, have some cake.”
Kajiik scratched the chalk circle off the floor and stepped into the crowd, trusting his hauberk to protect him from any hidden blades. Of course, there weren’t any attempts on the way to the table, where he picked up a plate. A quick inscription in the frosting showed no poison, and he chewed on the slice before waving Iron Hoof over, “Come on, have some cake. It’s delicious.”

Iron hoof slid through the crowd, his heavy armor pushing ponies aside as he made a beeline for the table. Not having quite the same training, he simply picked up a slice and downed it, “Tasty. Now, why are you all in our home?”

“Party, silly. Didn’t you see the ‘Welcome To Ponyville’ sign over the food table?”

“Get out. We will discuss this breach of a secure area later,” he pointed his hoof at his visor, then at the white Pegasus, “I’m watching you…”

When she mimicked the motion, he barely suppressed a groan, and when she echoed, “I’m watching me too…” he had resist the urge to slam his head into the table, being still in his helmet.

“Out!”
__
The morning was beautiful. Cool weather, no clouds, and everypony was ready to see Princess Celestia step out from behind the curtain. The mayor, Mayor Mare, pulled back the curtain. Kajiik wasn’t looking, having seen the act numerous times over his studies under Celestia herself, but at the crowd’s collective gasp, he turned. Nopony was there. No Celestia. His hoof scratched at the dirt, carving a scrying spell into it as the sky darkened. A glance up at the moon overhead confirmed his suspicions, even before his the circle of dirt lit up like the surface of the sun. He kicked dirt over it, disrupting the flow of mana, and grabbed Iron Hoof, “She’s gone. My Scry showed me Sol itself.”

“So, you were right about that whole Nightmare Moon thing then?”

The Zebra looked at his bodyguard, “I wish I could say what I want to, but it just seems inappropriate to point at the sky and say ‘I told you so’, you know.”

“So how did it say to defeat Nightmare Moon?” Iron Hoof was already starting for the library, an unassuming building on the edge of the Town Hall, “Anything in there about how Celestia did it last time?”

Kajiik sped up as they got closer, “Something about the ‘Elements of Harmony’. Powerful gems that could banish Nightmare Moon, or kill her.”

“How do they work?”

“Well, I don’t actually know. I know they need an influx of harmonic magic, but I don’t know any musical spells, or anything like that. And I don’t think that Carillon will work either. I mean, if I was a Unicorn, I’d use it to bash her over the head, but I can’t levitate it.”

A loud cackle echoed across the field as they reached the library, and slipped inside. Moments later, four more ponies slipped into the library. Kajiik looked at them, “What are you doing in here?”

The purple Unicorn from the farm, Blueberry Jam, he recalled, shook her head at the door, “Library’s made of solid quarry stone from the Everfree Forest. It’s the sturdiest structure in town.”

“Ok. Sure. Just hide out here then, but be quiet. I can’t have Nightmare Moon knowing I’m here. She might try to stop me from stopping her.”

“Why would she care about a little Zebra stallion?”

Kajiik pressed a hoof to his face, then stared at the Thestral, “Because I’m the personal student of Princess Celestia. That makes me a default target.”

“Ok. Do you have a way to defeat Nightmare Moon?” the Thestral again.

“Yeah. I need to get the Elements of Harmony. They were last seen here…” he pointed on a map of the area, at an old castle in the middle of the Everfree Forest, “in the Castle of the Two Sisters. I need to go now, before this night lasts any longer.”

Before anypony could protest, he was out the door, galloping all out for the edge of the forest. Once inside, he would be safe from the prying eyes of the Nightmare. It was only once he was inside the forest that he realized he had been followed. Not by one, or even two ponies. All five of the ponies he had been in the library with were there.

“Go back. Protect your families. Iron, make sure everypony gets into the library. It’s safe there.”

A chorus of negatives echoed out from them, with the Weather Unicorn shaking her head, “I’m also the local forest guide. So, you ain’t going in there without me.”

Blueberry Jam joined in, “I might be a Farmer, but I know how to fight, if it comes to that.”

The Thestral giggled, “Tartarus, I was practically born to do this,” she flexed her talons, still a rather creepy action to him, “That monster won’t be able to beat us.”

“We can handle ourselves, and besides, if all else fails, we can give you the time to figure out how to make them work,” the Pegasus settled onto the dirt, and he noticed a pair of pink saddlebags full to bursting with who knows what.

His own Guard nodded. Not a word, but more message passed between them. Promises. Oaths. Swears. It was all punctuated with the resounding sound of the wrist-blades snapping open.

“Fine. Let’s go.