> The Cost of Duty
>  by PingSquirrel
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1:  The Funeral
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

        
        “It's nearly two hundred and twenty years since the first defeat of Nightmare Moon and a new peace came to Equestria in its wake. But, it was a peace that lacked harmony. With the harsh hoof of law over her little ponies, she held her land in control but wasn’t loved for it.  There was no doubt that the discontent of the land was fed by the paranoia she had because of the betrayal by her sister a mere two centuries before.  If I were to search here, I would have to be careful.”
                        ~ Excerpt from The Journal of the Unknown, Entry 1, Paragraph 1 ~


* * *



        It was a grey day. The hazy grey skies above the forest above matched the barren farmers’ fields and bleak trees, and the cool air of the late autumn day.  Winter was coming and soon, and not even the pegasi couldn’t hold that fact back much longer.  For the ponies of Farrier’s Creek, the stark bleakness of the day was a perfect compliment for their hearts. An empty, grey world to match empty, grey hearts. Two nights ago, the local baron, Wind Shear, that cared for the hamlet and all that surrounded it, had died and was going to be sorely missed by all that knew him.  For years, he had acted in fairness and sound judgement for the distant Princess Celestia, and now, he was gone.  Out of respect, every stallion, mare and foal of the town had joined in a somber procession for one last walk to carry the old pegasus to his final resting place.  They all were lead by three ponies.

        First, there was a elderly stallion in long white robes that dragged through the dust and grass of that hoofpath. At one time, his black pelt would of been a striking difference against the robes, but now, time has turned it to a mottled silver. Good Word was the local minister for the Church of Faust, and the life had made him soft and portly, but as loved by the local ponies as his passed friend. They had known each other since Word first took his place in the tiny country church nearly half a century ago, and it was only fitting for him to lay his dear friend to rest.  Just behind him was a lanky, pale green pegasus that held his head high as he marched.  He was soft as well, but it wasn’t the stability that came with a devout life that made him so.  Instead, it was the relentless pursuit of nobility that made him eschew any and all physical labour out of fear that other nobles might look at him with scorn for him.  He knew he deserved better.  After all, he was the new baron of Farrier’s Creek by right of succession, and they all had to know that Copper Crown was ready to carry out the commands the Princess. Finally, beside Copper Crown was a small, stocky, forest-green filly with a dark cloak over her body.  She was an earth pony, that was just moving into proper marehood, and was barely able to contain her tears for her dearly-loved grandpa as they made the march.  She steeled her nerves and emotions every time they began to overtake her, and resumed them when she so much as glanced back at the casket.

        “For Celestia's sake,” her father chided her in a harsh whisper. “You're nearly fourteen years old, Celerity.  We nobles have to show strength and resolve in front of the commoners, no matter the circumstance.  Now, walk tall.”

        After she wiped her nose with a hoof, the tomboy lifted her head to look at her father.  He looked strange to her with her grandfather's simple crown upon his brow, but he was still her father. “Yes Father,” she answered in the strongest voice she could muster, but she still was grappling with the fact that her grandpa was gone.  With only a few strides down that path, she resumed her mute state.  Being lost in cheerless thought was not the same as strength, but Copper was happy enough with the silence from his daughter.

        There was little new to see down this path, up the small hill and through the steel gates of the cemetery.  Every pony from the town comes down this path eventually, whether to carry another pony, or to be carried by their family and friends.  The markers of those passed were all in neat rows, with the dates and names to help the living remember those that came before them. Celerity’s mother was here already, and not among the commoners as she was born, but with nobles. Celerity never had a chance to meet her mother as when she came into the world, her mother left it, but she had heard so much from her grandpa and she must of been a wonderful mare. Her father was truly fortunate to have known her, but he never spoke of her with his daughter.

 Between her mother, and her grandfather was a freshly dug plot for one more, and it was here that the ponies began to take places so they may witness the final rites when they happened.  Trailing them all was the wagon that bore the casket.  Not a single voice dared break the silence and the whole world seemed to still around the gathering.  The grey clouds were nailed in place, ensuring not a single ray of the sun may pierce through them to warm the cool earth.  The only sound beyond the shuffling of hooves on the ground was a distantly singing lark.  Finally, Good Word moved beside the casket and all eyes shifted to him expectantly to begin.

“Faust bless all us gathered here today to mourn and show respect for the departed,” the minister opened in a well rehearsed fashion with a hoof lifted to the sky.

“Faust bless us all,” came the well practiced response from the townsponies.  

There was a pause while Good Word looked over the congregation once more, and then he took a long breath.  “When I first came here, I was a young stallion.  A strapping colt fresh out of the seminary,” he said with a forced effort to hide his own wounded heart, “But even with all that energy that I had in my youth, I wouldn't have accomplished half of what I did without help.  My dearest, and oldest friend gave me everything I needed, and more.  We built the church together.  We built the faith of the community together.  We were there to help each other in the darkest of times, and to share the joy of the happiest of times.  I’m sure many of you feel the same about him.”   As he talked, his eyes surveyed back and forth and lingered over Celerity at the mention of brighter days.  

“He was kinder than his history would have him.  He was a fine soldier in his younger days, and fought the gryphons and minotaurs with all the courage and valour he had.  For his strength, he was rewarded with duty to represent Princess Celestia to us, and even though his strength was with steel, his heart was nothing but gold.  A true treasure that we all shared.”  The elderly minister paused and caught his breath so he wouldn’t lose his composure, but for Celerity, it was too much.  She wept openly, and her father would not stop her this time.

“He worked the earth with us.  He moved the clouds for us.  He shared our good years with humility, and hungered with us in our darker years.   We were his little ponies, and he made sure we had all we could.  It’s all we can do to make sure his spirit has all we can give for its return to Faust.  We pray.”


O’ Faust,


Thy written words bring the world to life


We beseech the, 


See us with the strength to love you as Thou deservest


Guide us to love each other as Thou desires


Aid us to be as we were written by Thee


Free from wickedness and sin


Until Thy story ends


        Everypony present knew the words and spoke them except one.  While some were trying hard to reign in their sorrow, for Celerity, it was too much; she gave in to bawling though every word and not a soul could blame her justly for doing so.  Even so, a light kick was given to her rear leg and her bleary eyes lifted to see her father through the wavy filter of tears once more.  He simply frowned at her and shook his head with a harsh disapproval, though he would not speak more of her lack of dignity here.

        “S-Sorry,” she stammered with a herculean effort to catch her breath long enough to speak.  It was all she could say before she retreated into the smallest bundle that the dark robe would allow for her so she might hide her failure to control herself from the town and the world. Maybe, Faust too might forgive her for her disrespect. 

“Let us all give time in silence to remember him, and to send our farewells for his journey,” the minister mercifully continued, so Celerity might feel the attention slide off of her and back to her grandfather.          

The silence was unbroken by anypony. 

~Grandpa?  Why did you have to go?  Does Faust need you so much that she had to take you from us?  From me?  You had so much to teach me, and I had so much left to show you too!  I love you so much!~  thought the little mare as her hoof dug a trench in the ground.  Her thoughts drifted from memory to memory with her grandfather.   All the times he took care of her while her father was away to visit other nobles by recounting old war stories way past her bedtime.  She would listen with rapt attention as he retold how he stopped three charging minotaurs at Broken Bit Pass until it was way past her bedtime, but that wouldn’t end the retelling.

Then there was the Hearth’s Warming Eve where she woke up before even Celestia’s sun, and ended up cooking breakfast with him for the two servants of the house.  Her father never forgave either of them for doing that, but neither of them cared. It became a tradition for them.  She  smiled through her sadness for an instant, while she thought of her father’s face when the event repeated itself the following year.  He was so mad, and grandpa just waved him off.

Then, there was the training sessions.  At first, she begged her grandpa to show her the cool moves he knew with his hoof-blade, and before long, she was practicing under him at the age of six.  She was so bad at it at first, she’d do anything to be spend time with him.  Father didn’t approve in the least, but grandpa was an old soldier, wanting to share with her all he could offer and Crown was out of town to visit another neighboring barony to play politics more often than not.  But more than his lessons, she would miss the pony himself.  

        Cooper Crown stood beside her, and with a empty gaze that was locked onto the horizon without any emotion crossing them for the briefest of instants.  If he could feel them, nopony could tell and he was not about to reveal them to anypony, least he appear weak in their eyes.  As such, he was first to see the flicker of gold in the sky approaching from the north at an incredible rate and his eyes narrowed to try and make it out.  “It can’t be,” he mouthed to himself as he considered the only thing that would make sense for the approaching speck to be.  His wings flared slightly out of his growing nervousness as the gold flicker took shape as a the Royal chariot.  He spoke again, and this time everypony heard it over the otherwise total silence.  “She’s coming here?!” 

        Eyes turned to him in anger because he was interrupting, but he didn’t let an accusation be said.  Instead, he lifted a hoof to point to the sky and towards the flying object. “The Princess comes!  Bow for her!”  Copper Crown commanded sharply to everypony present.  For him the funeral was forgotten and all he could think of was how he was totally unprepared for the Royal visit from Celestia herself!  How could he ever save face for meeting her empty-hoofed was his only clear thought now, but there was no scheme he could hatch to help him now.  Humility would have to do in lieu of anything better to offer her.

        The townsponies did bow until their noses were on the ground out of respect for the One True Sovereign of Equestria.  The Sun Incarnate.  Faust’s Most Loved Daughter.  For all the names that Princess Celestia had, few outside of her capital of Canterlot knew what she looked like.  True, bits had her visage imprinted on them, but they never could live up to the Alicorn of Light’s beauty and power.  The only pony that had actually ever seen the Princess first-hoof in Ferrier’s Creek was awaiting his burial, and it just seemed surreal that Celestia would even arrive in such a small, backwater town.  Yet, the chariot landed gracefully just outside of the cemetery and the two royal guards pulling it unharnessed themselves quickly.  Though they all feared being caught, there were a few ponies that watched the approach and Celerity was among them.  The rest had their noses to the dirt.  

The Princess truly was a stern, and powerful sight as she strode towards the gathered ponies in the silence.  Her every motion was calculated and deliberate as she scanned over every pony present with an eye that seemed to pierce right to the soul, and any that dared to look back would be rewarded with an unreadable expression from the Solar Princess.  She was armoured in every way possible from the world, and she walked with the sense of invulnerability that her cocoon of steel and platinum gave her.  With her rainbow mane wound up in a tight, controlled braid, she wore a shining helm of steel and platinum that was equal parts crown and armour over her head, with her horn guarded with yet more steel.  Her barding was the same polished steel and platinum from tip to tail, hiding her bright white hide entirely.  The Princess radiated power that matched how she towered over her subjects, and the idea of her needing armour was absurd, but she wore it well, and not only that, three guards walked with her as if she could be threatened at any moment. The twin grey pegasi in the standard golden armour of the Royal Guard were slightly behind her, with their lances at the ready ready to end any hostile intentions that they might detect, but it was clear the Unicorn beside her was a cut above even the Royal Guard.  He had a hide nearly as white as hers, but his mane was a deep red, that bordered on black.  If he was armed, it would have to be under the blue cloak he wore, but he moved as confidently and gracefully as the royalty he escorted.  Celerity was quick to conclude that he was a Dawn Guard, for the golden sun clasp of his cloak was the same as her grandfathers.  

        A slight jab prodded Celerity in the side, and she instantly looked down.  She was staring at the Princess, and her guards, and she knew that her father just reminded her that she wasn’t supposed to that in his very direct way.  Her eyes turned to the ground, and could see armoured hooves walk by and to the casket.  There were hushed whispers back and forth from the group, then Celestia turned to face the townsponies.

        “Our loyal subjects, rise!” boomed a voice over them, and there was no doubt in anypony’s head that they just received a royal command that they must act on.  They all rose to their hooves as quickly as they could to look upon their ruler with respect and awe that she deserved and commanded.  Celerity was no exception to this, and she stood silently as the rest.  “Who would be the local baron?”

        Copper nearly fell over himself to step forward, and bow deeply once more to his monarch. “Your Highness,” he grovelled to her total lack of reaction, “I, Copper Crown, your most humble servant, am greatly honoured that you grace us with your presence.  I wish I was better prepared for such a-”

        “That is enough,” the Princess stated, cutting Copper short as if she had heard all that the stallion could offer her in only a few seconds, leaving him stunned and standing in the no-pony’s land between the crowd and the Royal entourage.  Celerity nearly gasped as she had never seen her father shut down so completely, but she was simply terrified by presence of the monarch to make much noise.  The Princess then turned all of her attention away from the stallion, and to the minister, who looked dumbfounded before some of his manners returned to him.  “I wish to say some words for the departed.  That is, if I am not interrupting.”  She wasn’t using the Royal Voice anymore, but her tone was no less demanding.

“Of course you may, Your Highness,” Good Word answered with as much dignity as he could manage given the circumstances.

Celestia didn’t truly need the permission, but it felt right to ask to her.   She walked to the casket, and stared at that simple wooden box but her expression remained entirely inscrutable for all.  Her voice tempered down further to a normal, softer tone like one that a mother might use with her child when she spoke again.  “I have known many ponies in my time, and will know many more before the final sunset,” she started as her hoof laid on the wooden box that held Shear, “Some do so little with they have.  They squander their time among the living, waste their opportunities, and pass into the night eternal without making a mark on the world.  I feel sad for them, not because they passed, but because they will be forgotten.  Then, there are stallions like Wind Shear.  He started without anything beyond himself, and yet, despite all odds and the adversity in his way, he accomplished the impossible and even greater things.  The world could be a much better place if all ponies acted with half the determination he did.  I will remember him as he deserves.  We should all remember him.”  Her eyes closed and she let her stone visage soften as she drew a long breath.  For a brief moment, she looked as sad and hurt as the rest of the ponies gathered, but her station would not allow remain that way for long.  “Rest well, my dear soldier.”  Her eyes opened up once more and her poise returned to her so she could address the crowd once again. 

        “We have travelled far.  We desire the most worthy place that can be offered, so We might rest,” she declared in that rumbling voice once more to assert her complete and total dominion over all those gathered, and that command snapped Copper Crown back into action. 

“My home is your home, Your Highness.  Let us serve you, and show you to your accommodations,” said the gangly green stallion as he bowed deep once more to his monarch, then turned his head slightly to demand his daughter’s attention.  “Celerity!  Come!”

        Celerity didn’t know what to make of the interruption to the service until now, but to hear her father call her made her heart twist.  She wanted to stay!  This was her last chance to say goodbye to her grandfather, and he was going to pull her away to serve a princess she had never met before in her life.  She gritted her teeth and was about to speak her mind, when her father cleared his throat and gave her an expectant glare that forced her to swallow her emotions.  “Y-yes, father,” she finally replied as she moved to Crown’s side and she stood ready as she could be, though she continually glanced back towards her grandpa.

        “Excellent, Baron Copper Crown,” the Princess stated as her and her guards began to walk, and Crown was more than happy to lead the way.  He was already sure that this moment would be one that would forever be a triumphant moment for him as long as he could ensure that nothing went wrong with the sudden Royal visit.  As such, he was walking with the pride that comes with total confidence of success with the four other ponies following close behind.

The path away from the cemetery was no better than the path to it.  The blanket of grey clouds and the cool wind still made for a dismal day that few ponies could enjoy.  For the princess, it was just another one of these sorts of days in another tiny town, listening to a minor noble talk about how great his lands are, and how pleased he was to serve her.  In short, this local baron was distressingly cliche for her.  She had seen and heard this more than a hundred times and thus, she was rendered entirely bored and indifferent to the world as they walked, and, as such, she missed how Celerity was looking constantly at her with scorn in her eyes.

“You’d do well not to look at the Princess like that,” whispered the cloaked guard into the green filly’s ear.  It wasn’t a harsh tone he took with her, but it was demanding. “She is deserving of your respect.”

        Celerity’s eyes went wide with the realisation that her rudeness was noticed, and she turned to look at the stallion.  “He was my Grandpa!” she harshly whispered back at the soldier, ”How could she take me from his funeral?”

        He cast a glance at the armored Princess and like her, Celerity couldn’t fathom what he was thinking until he nodded knowingly.  “You must forgive her, but one of her greatest flaws is that she doesn’t relate to mortals well,” he explained understandingly with a quick wave of his hoof without even breaking his stride.  “She might rule over us, but she isn’t one of us.  She respects the pony being buried here, but she doesn’t let herself share the attachments and emotions that bind us.”

While that explanation was clearly correct, as shown by the cited behavior, Celerity didn’t like it and certainly didn’t feel like forgiving her anytime soon.  Instead, she merely huffed an angry response and pulled her own dark robe tighter around her.  “How’d you know about it anyways?” she muttered.

“Dawn Guards all have a clasp that we wear as a badge of station.  It’s enchanted to alert every other pony wearing one when one of us is injured or dispatched,” he replied in an effort to make conversation.  “It’s too expensive for every soldier, but we are hardly common soldiers.”

She merely shrugged and went back to her silence. 

        The walk was going to be a long one, and while the minor noble was clearly trying to get the attention of the Solar Monarch, the white unicorn moved closer to the filly. “So, you would be the granddaughter of the legendary Captain Wind Shear?  I’m sorry for your loss.” 

        She turned her head just enough to look back at him through the corner of her eye.  “Yeah.  Thanks.  I guess that means something,” she replied sadly, “Did you know him?”

        “Only by his reputation.  He was the leader of the Dawn Guards before my time, but we all still learn from him indirectly.  He taught my predecessor to lead and fight, and I was taught, in turn by him.  I’m Captain Vocem Gloria, the current leader of the Dawn Guards.” 

        Celerity had never met a pony other than her grandfather who could claim to be in the small circle of elite warriors under the direct command of Princess Celestia, but she didn’t imagine they would look like Vocem.  He wasn’t built like a warrior.   He was spindly with overly long legs and a narrow body under his blue coat.  Even his horn was thin and sharp, as it poked through the shortly cut main.  If he’d had glasses, he would look much more suitable tending a library.  In short, he was nothing that Celerity expected.

        “Sure.  Well, I’m Celerity,” the green filly replied doubtingly, “My grandpa sorta told me a lot about you guys.  You’re all supposed to be “Celestia’s eyes in the dark, her hooves beyond her reach, and her will in lawless lands”.  I guess that means you go and do stuff like punish lunar heretics and spy on the gryphons.”

        He quirked an eyebrow at that.  “That is all correct, Honorable Celerity,” he said, using the honorary for her minor station as the daughter of a baron, “We do all those things and more.  Did Wind Shear give away all of our secrets to you?”

        “Nah.  I just really liked his stories,” she replied quickly and she came close to cracking a smile.  Just having a pony that understood what grandpa was nice.  Her dad didn’t seem to care that much about him as much as the barony that would pass to him.  In fact, most of the ponies of Ferrier’s Creek were focused on the fact that Copper Crown would hold the office, for better or worse. 

        “His stories have a certain dramatic flair to them, and to think that they were real events, performed by a pony that was flesh and blood only makes them better,” he replied,  “Though a pony might think he was the Silver Ghost if you took his reputation literally.”

        “Yeah, he was good, but I don’t think anypony could take on the Queen of Dragons.” she said. “I just hope to be half as good as him one day.”

        Once again, his eyebrow peeked up and he leaned in to ask, “He was teaching you more than stories, wasn’t he?”

        Celerity opened her mouth to answer, but stopped herself to check how far away her father was from them.  He was too far to hear a whisper, so she was safe to speak. “Yeah, ever since I turned six.  He got me a wood hoofblade, and we cleared out a bit of forest for a ring.  We even have a couple of training dummies out there!”

        He watched the filly talk with growing excitement and there was no missing how her eyes lit right up with youthful enthusiasm.  It was that energy that made him curious.   “You know, there are those in Canterlot that would of paid thousands of bits to have Wind Shear teach them, even for a single lesson, Honorable Celerity.  But, most of those that could afford such a price didn’t deserve an instant of his time.  If he taught you, you are truly fortunate."

“I could show you, you know. It’s not that far from here to the circle,” she replied quickly with a quick jerk of her head in the direction they would have to go.  It was straight towards the surrounding forest.  If she couldn’t see her grandpa laid to rest, she wanted to remember him with what he taught her.

The stallion didn’t need a second invite.  True, his charge was going to the manor house, but she had two Royal guards already and he really didn’t care to hear the dull ramblings of Copper Crown, especially when he could see the personal student of a legend in action.  He walked quicker, and closed the difference to step between the minor and supreme rulers, much to the Princess’s lack of reaction, and the New Baron’s annoyance.  “Princess Celestia.  This young mare has offered to show me about the town.  For security’s sake, I‘d like to take her up on this.  Of course, the two Royal guards will stay with you,” he stated to the monarch, and she gave a single nod back approving the request.  With that, he dropped back to the filly.  “Shall we, Honorable Celerity?”

“Yeah.  Yeah!  It’s going to be great to show off for somepony other than Spellbound!  But, you really don’t have to call me ‘honorable’.  I’m just Celerity,” she answered as she made a quick turn towards the woods, and Vocem nodded and followed in the quick pace that Celerity set for him.

True to her words, the circle wasn’t far from where they were and soon, the emerged into the clearing.  The earth was worn bare of grass in that ring of small stones, and a pair of crude training dummies stood on opposite sides. One was to represent a four-hoofed opponent like another pony, while the other stood on two feet like a minotaur.  It was more than he expected from the little green mare, but promising too.  Already, she was opening a small box and getting her training blade ready for a demonstration.

“Grandpa said we had to keep our stuff out here, because dad really doesn’t like it,” she replied as she worked the straps into place on her foreleg.  The wood blade rested along her leg like a massive curved spur that reached her shoulder, and every bit of its weighted length had marks, dents, and scratches that told of heavy use.  At its base, it had a pivoting latch that allowed its user to flick it out and lock it against the hoof.  “He says, it’s not a proper thing for a mare to do, but what does he know?  I like it.”  

Vocem stepped to the side, just outside of the ring and watched the filly toss her robe off in preparation, and revealed that she was a blank flank, which was an oddity at her age, but he had seen stranger, so he dismissed it.  Her lime-green mane and tail were both cut short and braided, so it couldn’t get in the way of her as she took her position in the middle of the circle and began by snapping the armed hoof back and forth, making the hinge between the straps and the wood blade shift to lock in at its full extension under the hoof.  This left her poised on three hooves and low to the ground as if she was emulating a hunting cat.  She took one long breath, focused her thoughts, and began the drill.

        She opened her eyes and envisioned attacks from all sides from imagined foes, and went into motion to meet each blow with her blade, or to dodge, then counter with her own strike before she whirled to meet the next opponent.  She made no wasted motions, nor did she ever hesitate about her next motion, as she lashed out with her blade, and the drill made her move around the circle quickly in the brawl in her mind.  Then, she gave one last flurry that even Vocem’s trained eye had trouble following and screamed as she ran the last of her imagined opponent through.  Then, it was done and another pair of snaps had the blade tucked against her side again, and she stood on all fours again and panting.  The exhaustion from the routine would not stop her from grinning proudly.  “H-How did I do?  That one is my favourite because it has me spinning so much.  It’s fun!”

Vocem stood there, trying to keep his mouth from gaping in shock, as it wouldn’t be becoming of a pony of his position act as such, but he just saw a filly run through the Ninth Hoofblade Drill like a master.  It was a drill that most disciples of the weapon would never attempt simply because the motions were simply beyond them.  For the few that could do it, even less of them had the confidence and speed with which she possessed.  This was simply not what he expected to see when he came to this town, but he wouldn’t say he was disappointed.  Utterly amazed would be more accurate.  He took in what just happened and finally answered after some thought, “Very impressive.  You did drop your blade low in the ninth movement.  That would have left your right side very open to a quick thrust.”

“Grandpa told me that, too,” she said before she misted right up with the wash of memories that came over her.  “He’s never going to be able to say that to me again.  I’m going to miss him so much.”  In direct contrast to the strength shown in her performance, she began to cry with her free hoof covering her eyes.  The soldier was used to being with others of his kind, and so, this outpouring of emotions left him without much response, but to stand there didn’t seem right either.  So, he moved to hold her.  It was far too awkward on his behalf to call it a proper hug.

“You can remember him by continuing your lessons.  A pony as skilled as you are simply needs to practice.  I suggest getting a mirror out here if you can afford one,” he said, trying to offer practical advice to Celerity, hoping to get her thoughts would clear again.  

“I’m going to.  I have to,” she answered through her sniffling while she nuzzled up to his side.  It was enough for her to cling to the stranger for comfort that her father didn’t seem willing to give her.  “I’m going to keep everything he taught me.”

Time passed for the pair, and Vocem started to wonder if the filly would ever calm herself down, when he heard the sound of approaching hooves from down the path.  Not wanting to alarm the filly, his horn took on the familiar red glow and he reached with his mind to his sides where he kept his weapons of choice.  He did doubt that they were truly at risk, but there was no sense in being lax.

“Are you here, Celerity?” called a young male voice, followed by a mauve unicorn colt stepping into the clearing.   He was clearly not the most nimble of ponies, as he nearly tripped twice as he entered the clearing, but that might be due to the oversized set of saddlebags he had on.  “Ah!  There you are.  And, who’s he?”  The colt couldn’t hide his nervousness about the strange pony’s presence.

Celerity did her best to clear her eyes and wipe her nose, before she left his side to meet her friend. “Didn’t expect to see you here, Spellbound,” she replied as she tried to sound much more upbeat than she felt.  “Uh, this is Vocem Gloria.  He’s a Dawn Guard like my grandpa was.”

A formal bow was offered to the colt by Vocem, and it was returned. “Well met, Spellbound.  I take it that you two are friends, then.”

 “Yeah.  He’s like my best friend around here,” Celerity affirmed before her friend answered, even as she was helping get the saddlebags off of him.  Under them was his cutie mark of an open, thick book.

“Technically, I think I’m your only friend around here,” he added and he gave a short-lived grin at her. “Not your fault.  We’re the only foals our age around here.”  Celerity just gave him a little poke with the un-spurred hoof in retaliation and his tone changed.  “How are you doing?  I haven’t seen you for the last few days.  Are you feeling alright?”

        “Yeah. I guess.”  She didn’t sound too sure about that, but her mood lightened quickly when she made a gesture to Vocum, and switched subjects. “I showed him some my moves.  He said I was pretty good.”

        “Of course you are.  With the amount of time you put into it, you have to be,” replied Spellbound.

        “Well, I would never say that Celerity is ‘pretty good’,” Vocem stated as he stepped into the conversation. “She is simply amazing with the weapon.  It is a shame that she’s both an earth pony and a mare.”

        Both of the young ponies looked towards the soldier in confusion.  “Why’s that?” Celerity asked with her brow furrowed as she stepped forward.

        “Talent such as yours is rare, but the Dawn Guard is formed entirely of stallions that are either unicorns such as myself, or pegasi,” he explained with a hapless shrug and to his surprise, neither of them seemed upset.

        “Oh.  Yeah.  That,” Celerity answered without a hint of disappointment or distress, “I knew that.  Grandpa told me a bunch of times about that silly rule.  He just said, if I really wanted follow his hoofprints, I had to be so good, you couldn’t ignore me.  Seems dumb to me.”

        “I heard that, too.  Can you tell us why, Mister Vocem?” Spellbound asked as he lit up his own aura to pull a heavy book from his saddlebag and set it down before him.  

        He was relieved that he didn’t just crush the filly’s dreams, and surprised to have such a scholarly question posed to him, but this was much more to Vocem’s strengths.  “The reason why stems to the reason we were formed as an organization,” Vocem explained.  “About two hundred years ago, there were two princesses: Our beloved Celestia, and her sister, Luna.  Differences arose between them, and they ended up going to war against each other, ending with Celestia banishing her sister.  Though Princess Celestia triumphed in the end, her armies were mostly earth ponies who clashed with the Nightmare’s armies of pegasi and unicorns.  The losses were near total as they couldn’t cope with the aerial and magically driven attacks.

“The population of earth ponies is still recovering, even after all this time.  To avoid such a loss of life again, earth ponies were barred from military service.  To help speed the recovery of the earth ponies, mares are barred as well.”

        As Vocem went on with his small lecture, the smaller unicorn has his book open and was quickly making notes on the subject.  Celerity looked more concerned with the legitimacy of the explanation though.   “Couldn’t they resist the spells?” she asked seriously, “Magic is only an expression of willpower, and if your will is greater than the caster, you shouldn’t be affected by it.”

        “Your grandfather told you that, didn’t he?” the soldier asked, but he knew the answer already.  “It’s true.  An unicorn expresses their magic outwardly, letting them extend their will to the world about them, a pegasus expresses their magic through their wings, and they fly simply by willing it so, and an earth pony has their magic turned inward, giving them endurance and strength.  But, when a unicorn turns their magic directly on another pony, it becomes a contest of wills.  Most don’t realise this, and do not actively resist a spell.”

        “Yeah. I know that.  Grandpa had Spellbound cast spells on me all the time, so I can practice fighting it.  It’s not that hard.  So, why couldn’t they do it?” Celerity countered.

        The question made Vocem feel more like he was talking to a fresh cadet rather than a young mare.  “Well, while a pony can resist a spell directly on them, you can’t resist my magic, while its used like this.”  With that, his horn lit up and drew forth a pair of razor rings from under his robe and they both whirled around him in a dangerous dance with him at the very epicentre.  He went from a unassuming unicorn, to a deadly dervish of steel before his small audience.  Celerity was entirely entranced by the display, and even was flinching her bladed hoof as if she was parrying the strikes, while Spellbound was much more interested in the auras that Vocem was generating.  The soldier’s display was a much shorter than Celebrity's, but it was no less impressive.

        When the two rings settled back into their place at his sides, he flicked his mane and adjusted the heavy blue robe that hid them so they would be out of sight again.  “That is why you must always be wary of magic in combat, Celerity.  A unicorn could always affect the world around you.”  

        The filly was still staring with her eyes wide, then turned to his friend, who was now frantically taking notes in his book, and even the shove of a hoof against his shoulder didn’t stop him.  “Why can’t you do that, Spellbound?  I would love to spar against that!”

        “I saw how he did it, but I’ll need time to practice and study to get that controlled.  Sorry,” he admitted to his friend as the quill went back to its little case.

        The soldier chuckled at the pair’s ambition then looked around the circle. “All I can recommend to you both, is practice often and improve,” he replied.  “This is a very good place for the both of you to work in.  But we should go to meet up with the Princess, after you show me around the town, as I said you would.”

        Celerity groaned, but Spellbound packed his bag right back up.  “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions about how you did that as we go then?” he asked the soldier, “I would like to know more about the techniques you used.  They looked very advanced to me.”

        “Of course you may, young one.  I’d be glad to help you.”

        Celerity went to stow her blade, and when she came back, Spellbound and Vocem were already embroiled in a very scientific discussion filled with magical jargon.  She couldn’t make heads or tails of anything they were saying so she left them to it, and Vocem was ever the patient teacher, explaining everything from magic theory, to the history behind the theories as they walked through the small town.  The tour of the town quickly became forgotten to the lessons being given, which was alright for the three of them.  Spellbound and Celerity certainly didn’t need the tour, and Vocem was far more interested in the two, and their eagerness to learn.  Besides, the town was typical with a small mill, a smaller church, a mail station for the couriers to rest in, and a central town square for gatherings.  It was really nothing that needed explanation beyond the barest of hoofwaves.  And so, the tour came to end with the arrival back at the Baron’s Manor.  It was clearly the most impressive building in the town, but for Vocem Gloria, that didn’t mean much.  It was a simple, two-story brick building.

        “Here we are, Mister Gloria,” Celerity finally announced, trying not to look relieved to be at the end of the boring lecture, but Spellbound was quite the opposite and distraught that his lesson came to an end so quickly.  He even whined and pinned his ears back.

        “Oh good, I found this a very enjoyable excursion,” he said with a smile.  “When I came here, the last thing I expected was to have a weapon’s demonstration, and a discussion on magic theory.  With foals, no less.  Come Spellbound, I am sure we can continue inside.”

        Spellbound looked to the house then shook his head.  “Her dad doesn’t like me very much.  I’m not allowed inside there.”  Celerity gave a helpless shrug.

        “Last time he snuck inside, dad nearly had him banished from the barony,” she added with a healthy dose of bitterness in her voice.  She didn’t like the house rule, and this one was one she never really understood.

        “Ah.  A shame,” he replied to the revelation, but he respected the local baron’s ruling enough not to challenge it., “But, if I might ask before we part, how did you learn so much?  It’s unusual to run across a somepony as learned as you and you’re so young.” 

“My father is the pegasus that runs the the courier station here, so, to help him out, he taught me to read so I can sort pakages,” Spellbound explained, “And since he’s away so much to deliver, he brings me new books to keep me out of trouble.”

“And, you spend as much time reading as I do training,” added Celerity.

“Yeah.  I do.”

“Keep up with your studies and practices.  Both of you,” said Vocem, “You both are already remarkable ponies, and you both have so much room and time to grow.”

        “Of course!  I am going to go now, and get everything you told me written down right now,” he said, “See you tomorrow Celerity, and if you need to talk, you know where to find me.”  The young unicorn gave one last wave and then departed for his own home.

        The remaining pair stepped inside the manor, and into the front room.  It was nicely decorated, with wooden furniture adorning the room.  It was very much what was expected for a minor noble’s home with fine furnishings with one exception, that Vocem’s eyes were quick to focus on.  Right above the fireplace, resting on a small stand was an ornate hoofblade of highly-polished steel.   Runes of power lined the leading edge, and woven into the straps were runes of protection.  There was not so much as a scratch in the weapon to marr the deadly beauty. “Is that what I think it is?” Vocem asked as he approached the weapon with the same respect he would show the princess..

        “It’s my grandpa’s, so it’s kind of special to us, but he didn’t talk too much about it,” Celerity answered much more casually. “It’s been there forever.”

        “This is the ‘Piercing Ray’,” he said as he lifted a hoof towards the weapon, then glanced at Celerity. “It’s more than just a hoofblade.  It could be said, it is the hoofblade that all others could be measured against.”

“What do you mean?  Grandpa really never said much about it,”  She just thought making such a big deal of it was weird of him, but now that it was brought up, she was very curious indeed.

“Every Dawn Guard captain is gifted with a weapon that Celestia herself blesses and empowers.  This blade will never dull, and to break it, you would have to use another weapon of the same caliber against it, like my razors,” he explained to the filly, “But most important of all, it is said these weapons, when wielded by a worthy pony, could strike down an immortal.  They were made so her soldiers would never be helpless before the likes of the Nightmare, or Queen Chrysalis.   It is simply priceless.  I suppose he didn’t speak about it, because he didn’t want others to know of its value or deadliness.”

“Wow!  But wait, wouldn’t Celestia be worried about those things?  They sound dangerous,” she asked as she finally realised what was in her home.

“Celestia has no need to fear her own magic.  Even the Ray would only be a normal, but high-quality blade to her,” he answered.  “If you truly wished to harm her, permanently, you’d have to find another immortal that is opposed to her to empower a weapon.”

“Do you think I can be worthy of it?”  The question sounded so very innocent, but there was a considerable weight behind it.

The soldier reflected on that for moment.  “I have no doubt that you will have the skill to do so, but the real requirement to the blade would be your heart.  You must have clear, and focused purpose and pure intentions to fuel it,” he finally answered.   “But, that is not to say that you do not have potential.  Think of it as something to work towards.”
        
Celerity smiled slightly at that.  “I can do it.” 

Vocem chuckled.  She had such bravado for a young filly, and he wished he could take her from this place to continue her training, but there were no provisions for that.  Instead, he would have to make a note of both her and Spellbound and hope they really did continue to improve themselves until they met again.  “I hope so, Honourable Celerity.  But now, I must get back to my duties.  Shall we find your father and the Princess?”

She knew that was true, as much she’d rather talk more about her grandpa and blade work.   “Yeah.  They’ll likely be in the study.  I’ll show you where that is, come on.”  With that, they both left to tend to their duties.                                                

> Chapter 2: Discussion in the Circle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Interesting.  I think the criteria I set for myself might work now, but this is only the first glance at a possible subject.  Who knows?  Maybe my luck has turned, and I got a winner on my first try.  All I can do is sit and wait to see.”
                        ~ Excerpt from The Journal of the Unknown, Entry 3, Paragraph 2~


 ***


        The evening was an hectic blur that couldn’t end soon enough for Celerity.  Under her father’s direct commands, she spent the entirety of it tending the Princess’s never-ending series of whims, whether real or imagined by him.  The pace of her work was a mixed blessing for her; while she didn’t have time to dwell on the sadness of the day, any time she took a moment to approach Vocem again, her father was quick to send her on another task.

Her reward for her vigilance was a rare privilege that few ponies ever got to see.  When the time came, Princess Celestia arose from her seat in the Study and silenced the room, leaving Copper Crown in mid sentence yet again, and Celerity balancing a bottle of wine on her head.  She wordlessly turned to the west, and without the slightest bit of strain or effort, her horn lit up.  Even behind the grey clouds that still hung in the sky, you could see the day’s last glow slip beyond the horizon and vanish entirely.  Celerity wanted to applaud  the incredible feat of magic, but she knew better than to break the Princess’s concentration.  She turned to the east and her horn lit up again, but this time, there was no grace in how she wielded her magic.  While the sun totally capitulated to her will, the moon fought with her. The Immortal Solar Alicorn tensed, and even groaned under the strain of the spell, and lost every pretense of being a perfect, royal being.  By the time the moon was set in the sky behind that grey blanket, she was panting and sweating as if she was a common field worker coming in from a night of toil.

        Celerity opened her mouth to ask if it was always like that, but her father cut her off to have her draw a bath for the princess.  Perhaps it was the wise move to not let the curious filly ask that, because the princess was exhausted after the mammoth effort and in no mood to entertain idle chatter anymore.  With that one last task to do, Celerity too shared in the princess’s exhaustion and slipped off to her own bed for a dreamless slumber.  When she woke the next morning, she made every effort to rush through her morning routine with a quick brushing of her mane and tail, and fresh cloak so she might look proper.  For her effort, she was disappointed to find that the Princess and, more importantly, Vocem had already departed for Canterlot again even earlier in the morning.  It did make sense, since the princess had to rise before the sun.  Her father was in the front hall to greet her instead.  He was there, sipping his imported tea from the gryphon lands, and looking very much pleased of himself.

        “You had me worried yesterday, Celerity, with your endless whimpering and crying.  You could have made everypony in town think you were weak.  Then, you snuck off to galavant with the princess’s help, rather than serve her,” he said with a sly smirk on his face, that was only hidden when he dipped his head to take another sip of that tea he enjoyed so much.  He still was looking quite pleased of himself.  “But, you did well in the end.  Very well!  I have wonderful news to tell you.”

        The idea of good news was fully and heartily welcomed by Celerity.  After a week such as this one, she was craving some good news.  “What would that be, father?” she asked as she sat down on the floor in front of him.  It must of been good news, because he didn’t even so much as frown about how she sat so ‘commonly’ as he would put it.

        “I could scarcely believe this myself, but the princess apparently has a nephew coming of age within two years from now.  A blessed Duke, can you imagine!  And, to make things better, Celestia promised you a chance to present yourself to him as a potential bride!  Isn’t that just marvelous?”  As Copper Crown spoke, his voice grew in tempo and excitement, until he sounded like an old mare sharing a particularly juicy bit of gossip at the end. 

        The news meant nothing to Celerity and the question hung in the air, leaving only the crackling of the fireplace the only source of sound in the room.  She knew that her father worried about her position in life, and, if she could win the Duke’s affections, this would ensure a good life for her, but she had no desire to present herself to this stranger.  She felt hollow when she answered, “That is wonderful news, father.”

        He didn’t seem to mind the lack of enthusiasm.  “I’d be stunned too, if I were in your position.  Don’t worry, it is two long years from now.  You’ll grow into a proper mare by then, and then, win his affections.  Think of it, Celerity.   You'd be 'Duchess Celerity'!  My, that has a ring to it, doesn't it?”

        The title carried much more weight and meaning for her father than herself, but she could see that his was dearly important to the stallion.  The offer should have meant much, much more to her and she knew it, but, it wasn’t what she wanted.  After all the time spent with her grandfather, training and listening to his stories of glory and adventure, she wanted to be like him.  “That sounds wonderful, father,” she said as she hid her apathy behind a fake smile.  

        The ruse worked and Copper Crown had an oblivious smile on his face.  “Now, go on and have your day, Celerity.  I’ve  neighbors to write, but we will talk more about this later.  It might be two years away, but we have plans to make for you.  I’m so excited!”  When he said neighbors, he referred to the nobles in the surrounding areas.  He would be the envy of them all when he told them of the news of the royal visit, and the opportunity that his daughter had now.

        Celerity bowed slightly, and left her father’s presence, feeling conflicted because she knew she wished to make her father proud of her, she never understood his relentless quest for power and prestige amongst the other nobles.  It was her grandfather’s approval that she really craved, even if she’d never hear him again.  As she walked away, she quietly gave voice to the one clear thought that she had. “I don’t want to be a duchess.  I want to be like grandpa.”  She did know one thing that would help her clear her mind, though it was likely what she would have done anyways since she had the day to herself.  

After a whirl through the kitchen, past the two house servants that were making her father’s breakfast, she left the house with some bread in her saddlebags and plans to go to the circle again.  It would have been what her grandfather would of wanted her to do, and she intended fully to live up to his wishes.  She felt lucky that she had so much free time to pursue that goal.  Many of the other younger ponies around the town had to help their parents with the crops and the work around the small town, but that was the nature of things.  At least Spellbound will be able to join her after he had completed his chores.

When she arrived, the day was still cool, but at least the sun was no longer behind the grey, and the faint breeze of wind would be welcomed when she began her exercises in earnest.  Now that she was there, she only needed a moment to prepare herself, and the filly took her place in the center to begin the motions she had been taught over the years.  At times, as the day progressed, she could almost imagine her grandpa standing over her, telling her in his gruff way the next motion she was to take, where she erred and where she performed flawlessly, but when she turned to where he would stand, she found she was alone again.  She only stopped when she was so tired to continue, or hungry, but when the need was addressed, she returned to her practice.

Finally, in the early afternoon, a voice interrupted her, while she was in the midst of a routine, bringing it to a complete halt.  She turned to see Spellbound at the edge of the circle, with his standard, overpacked saddle bags on his back.  “I said, how long have you been here today?” he asked as he opened his bag with magic and retrieved a canteen for his friend.

A couple of clicks from the training blade later, and she clasped the canteen between her hooves.  He had cooled it, too. “Since this morning,” she said, between the greedy and quick gulps of minted and chilled water.  “Just wanted to be out here today.”

        He took back the canteen into his aura and turned it over; there wasn’t a drop left for him.  It was to be expected from his friend when she was in such a mood, and he just chuckled and shook his head.  She was really putting in an effort today. “I can see that.  Anypony can smell your sweat from the town, and that is just a little exaggeration, Celerity.”

        “I’m not that bad!” she protested, but she turned her nose to her side and inhaled.  Her own scent made her wince, and she blushed in embarrassment. “Or, maybe I am.  Sorry.”

        “No need to apologize.  Just, do Equestria a favour and have a bath sometime today,” Spellbound replied as he pulled a thinner looking book from his backpack and opened it to the marked page.  As usual, he was setting himself up to sit with his friend to watch and chat with her while she was going through her motions.  “Are you feeling any better?”

        She mulled that thought for a moment. “No.  Not really,” she said, looking right at the empty spot where her grandpa should have been.  The grass was still worn down where his hooves would dig in, and scrap as he lectured her on why you did certain things in combat.  “But, I think I feel like it can get better, you know?  Like, there’s a future out there for me.”

        “I’m here for you.  I know what it’s like being left alone, and your dad isn’t going to be any help,” said Spellbound without hiding his distaste for her father.  He completed his reassurance to his friend with a firm hug around her mid.  “But, wew, maybe I won’t be this close until after you clean up.”

         The brief laugh was welcomed by Celerity.  “Fine, I’ll dunk myself in the creek on the way home.  You made your point.”  She tapped the top of his horn quickly before he could even react, making him wince back and his hovering book drop from the air to the ground.  “I suppose I am going to have to learn to be a ‘proper mare’, after all.”

        “I know you, and if there is one pony in this town that won’t ever make a proper mare, it’s you, Celerity,” he said, as he rubbed the base of his horn and the aura lit up again to reclaim his dropped book.

        “No, seriously!  My father just told me this morning,” she said with a quickly growing frustration in her voice,  “Apparently, there’s this Duke in Canterlot that is going to be looking to take a wife in a couple of years.  And, my reward for being so good last night is that I get to go, and show myself off to him.”

        Spellbound stared for a moment, “Really?  You’re going to offer yourself for marriage?”

        “I don’t know.  Father seems to think so!” she snapped back, “Grandpa would’ve told them to go and buck a sandbag.  But, he’s gone and before the week was out, father already is trying to marry me off!”

        The language made Spellbound’s ears pin back to his head, but he didn’t know what to think about what he was being told.  This news was coming out of the blue, and left him speechless.

She went back to the mid of the circle, but this time, she posed like how a regal mare should with her head was held high, and her nose higher.  Her back and legs were rigid  a her tail was slightly lifted up as she began a very awkward walk around the circle.  It didn’t suit the tomboy in the least.  “Oh, servant-colt?  I do believe I am parched, and would love some more water,” she said in her most formal accent before the act broke entirely down, and angrily stamped her hoof on the ground out of frustration.  “Can you imagine me like that all the time?  It’s just stupid!”

        While the colt didn’t mind seeing his friend move like that (And, he knew much better to ever mention that to her), he did understand her feelings on the issue.  “It’s a great opportunity for you, Celerity,” he tried and was given an immediate glare by her.  He defensively lifted a hoof between him and her before he continued and explained himself.  “Seriously, you’re going to have to marry eventually.  Why not try for the highest station available?”
        
        Celerity didn’t say a word, but continued that glower at her friend, while her hoof flicked out the training blade and then she made a threatening step towards him.  Sensing the approaching danger, Spellbound retrieved the second canteen from his bag and waggled it between himself and her as a tempting peace offering.  The magic to chill it was done quickly and the blade was snapped back to the resting position, letting him know that the offer was acceptable and he wouldn’t have to suffer her wrath.  “You know, I was planning to keep that for myself,” he pointed out.

        “Tough.  You should’ve thought harder about what you were going to say there,” she retorted with a playful nudge on his side before she drank down the tribute that she was given.  “But, I guess you’re right.  I just don’t...”  She trailed off and sat heavily down.

        “You don’t what?” he asked, settling in beside her.

        “It’s not fair.  Why couldn’t I be like you?  I could be a unicorn and a colt, grow up and get in the Dawn Guard, no sweat,” she muttered, shaking her head. “I don’t want to be just dad’s bargaining chip, so he can make nice with the other nobles.  I want to be like grandpa, and actually do stuff.  Big stuff!  Important, exciting stuff!”

        “You’re not just his bargaining chip.  He just wants the best for you.  I might not like him, but he really does want you to have the best.”

        A quiet moment passed between the pair, with the breeze whistling through the trees, and the birds chirping away with their songs.  When it was like this, you could hear the burbling of the creek, making the place resonate with peace.  It was a good moment to just let emotions drain out.  It didn’t even end as her breathing got sharper and erratic.  She sniffled once and her hoof swiped under her nose, but she didn’t want to cry.  Spellbound inched closer and gave her  a chaste nuzzling on the side of her neck to try and remind her that he was there to help her. 

        “It’s two years away,” he said, “Maybe he’ll get promised to somepony else by the princess in that time?”

        Instantly, Celerity began crying and laughing at the same time. “You’re an idiot,” she gasped as she shoved against him playfully.  One more loud sniffle and rub of her nose cleared the the tears from her eyes.  The moment was ruined, but at least she wasn’t falling into self-pity anymore, and she got back to her hooves. “But, you’re right when you say I got two years.  I got a plan!”

        To see Celerity’s mood lighten was a relief for Spellbound.  “And, what is it?” he asked as he stood and took his place on the side of the circle, expecting to see her go back to her routines. 

She flicked out her training blade and aimed the point directly at the point of her friend’s horn.  The fact he stood outside of it meant nothing to her. “I just have to get recruited in two years, and all the problems are solved!  Vocem even said I could be good enough, ” she declared with finality, “I can’t marry if I am off fighting gryphons, and heretics, right?” 

“Oh, is that all?  You just have to break the tradition and law, or trick literally everypony, and get into the most exclusive and strictest military group in Equestria,” he said dryly back to his friend, “Without a hitch.  In two years.”  His own aura lit up again and a stick lifted from the ground to cross with the blade as if to challenge his friend to a duel.  

        With a deft combination of a swipe of her blade and a spinning set of steps, Celerity flicked aside, then snapped the stick the stick in two, and and closed in with Spellbound to have the blade rest against the side of his neck.  If it was a real blade, it would’ve been quite the threatening posture.  “You make it sound like it’ll be hard!” she said back with no lack of bravado on her part.

        “Oh, I’m not making it sound like it’s hard. It WILL be hard,” he said as he gave a firm thrust back with his magic, lifting the green filly from the ground and away from him.  He was dismayed to see that Celerity grounded herself before she was more than a couple steps away.  “You’re getting too quick at resisting spells.”

        She just grinned at him and before he could react, his legs were out from under him thanks to a hooking from her blade, spilling him right to the ground on his back, and leaving him looking right at the training blade pointed right at the base of his horn.  She was grinning ear to ear now with a hoof on the mid of his stomach to pin him down.  “I’m going to do it.  You’ll see.”
        
        He put his hooves up if surrendering, but the glow of his magic didn’t fade at all.  “If it was anypony else talking, I’d say they’re crazy,”  he replied, looking directly into his friend’s eyes.  “But, I know you’re already entirely crazy to start.”

“You’re not going to lift me, Spellbound.  Not at all,” she taunted, “And, I’m not going to give up on this plan.  It’s going to work!”  Then, she whinnied in the most undignified manner and jumped off of him, with her mane soaked with freezing cold water.  A third canteen hovered over where her head was, and Spellbound was laughing so hard, he couldn’t get back up.

        “You should have seen your face!” he cackled with his hooves kicking the air above him in his uncontrolled mirth, “And, at least you don’t smell so bad anymore!”

        “Since when did you have a third canteen?” the still shocked Celerity demanded of the mauve unicorn.  The water had matted her short mane right down to her head, and the breeze was ensuring that the water wasn’t going to warm anytime soon.

        “Since you started drinking the other two!” he gasped back with the barest semblance of control coming back to him, and he rolled over to his hooves again.  “Seriously, there’s fish that have started a petition to keep you from draining the creek.”

        She walked right back to him and stood over him before he got up entirely. “You want water, then?  Then, have some!”  She then shook herself like a dog, sending the water everywhere, and Spellbound was no exception. He didn’t even use his magic to shield himself in the least, but rather, he cast it over his book to protect that instead. 

        “Celerity!  Stop!” he pleaded, though he wasn’t upset at all.  In fact, the two foals shared in a genuine laugh while engaging in the playful struggle.  In the end, they both smelled faintly of mint, and wound up laying beside each other in the small clearing.  

        “Spellbound?” the filly eventually asked.

        “Yeah?” he answered, glancing over.

        “Do you think I can really do it?”

        A bird chirped and a cloud drifted across the sun, darkening the world in the time that Spellbound took while he carefully considered the question.

        “I think you can.  But, it’s going to be hard.”  

        “That’s all I needed to hear from you.”

        The colt smiled, and tipped his head. “Glad to be of service,” he said replied, before he stood back up, and shook to get some of the dust off of his coat.  Celerity did the same, then returned to the center of the ring.  “Do you want dinner at my place today?”

        “Your dad’s out of town again, isn’t he?” she said, then slowly worked several motions of a hoof, before doing it quickly.  It wasn’t unusual for her to talk as she practiced.

        “Yeah.  Three weeks this time.  He’s going all the way to gryphon lands this time to get some of those teas and spices.  Your dad pays through the nose for those,” he said as he settled in to read.  His book, despite the scuffle that happened around it, was entirely untouched.

        “He has the money, and if that means you get books, it’s all good,” she said right back, speeding up the steps again, and this time she was a blur of motions.   She returned to the first position and repeated it and Spellbound watched it happen.

        “So, you in for dinner, then?” he asked again, flipping the page that he was on.

        She stopped herself mid motion and answered, “Well, I think Father wanted to speak to me later today, so I don’t think I can.”  As soon as she was done speaking, she resumed the maneuver again.

        It was a disappointment, but Spellbound expected it. “It’s okay.  I got my new book to keep me company.  More turnip and onion stew for me,” he said, with an exaggerated licking and smacking of his lips.

        With the most cursory of glances her friend and his book, she asked, “What are you reading, anyways?  It’s not your normal super thick book.” 

        The chance to show off how much he knew wasn’t lost on Spellbound and he quickly answered, “Oh!  It’s the latest journal of magical research out of Canterlot.  Dad got it for me when he saw it had an paper by Starswirl on magic batteries and how to expand their capacity using a crystal to act as a refractive lattice to pre-”  

        “And, I’m bored and lost,” Celerity cut in, then there was a loud snap of the training blade as she struck the pony-shaped training dummy at the end of the practiced step.

        “Oh, and I suppose what you’re doing is so much more interesting,” sniped back Spellbound without losing his place in his book.

        “Well, yeah.  If I do this motion right in a fight, I dodge under a lance thrust, and come up, inside his guard, where I take his head,” she answered with the same energy her friend showed when talking about his interest.

        He rolled his eyes, “Well, I guess it looks pretty neat, but when will it ever come up?  I mean, really?”

        She returned the same expression right back to him. “Of course, it might come up. You have to be ready for anything that might happen in combat,” she snapped right back, “When will you need to know about magic battery thingies?”

        They both stared at each other, then finally Spellbound chuckled and gave his head a shake. “Probably never, but I think its quite neat,” he admitted, ”If I am understanding this right, Starswirl might have a way to contain nearly infinite energy in one crystal, if it’s cut precisely enough, with exactly the right enchantments on every facet.  Doesn’t that sound interesting, at least?”

        “Well, I guess it might sounds neat,” Celerity reluctantly agreed, but she was unsure where Spellbound was taking that point.

        “And, how about your spear, dodge thing you were doing back there?” he continued.

“I’ve to get in a fight first to see how good it really is, but I guess, if I need to do it, I’d look good doing it,” she answered back honestly.  “But, I got to know this sort of thing if I’m ever going to be in the Dawn Guards.  It’d be really important then.”

        “There we go,” he replied, “If you’re planning to use it, it’s interesting.”

        She resumed her own practice, with no effort to hide the strain and effort she put into the movements. “Why?  What are you planning to do with what’s in that book?  Build your own magical stuff?”

        “Well, yes!  I’ve been thinking a lot about what I am going to do, and I think, one of these days, I’m going to go with my dad to Canterlot to see if I can actually get a job in one of the academies there,” he answered.

        “Did Vocem put ideas in your head, too?” Celerity said, turning to walk over to to Spellbound once more.

        “It’s not a bad idea.  It’s better than staying here and being a package sorter all my life,” he sighed, then looked down. “My dad isn’t going to be around forever, you know.  He says he’s going to be, but that’s just not true.  If there’s no pegasus here to run the courier station then, I’d be out of a job, and I don’t even have farmland to fall back on.”

        “You’re sounding way too old right now, but I think it’s a good plan.  You’re so smart, you’ll wow the Canterlot crowd in no time, and get in the royal court, I’d bet!” she said right back, right before she started to take off her hoofblade.  It was a bit of a process and used her mouth more than anything else, so something was up.

        “What are you doing?” he asked, noticing her disarming herself, and that alone was enough to make him close his book pre-emptively for any danger that the filly was about to bring.

“Playing,” was her one word answer to the unicorn before she casually tossed the wooden blade away into it’s box, and the lid fell shut with the disturbance.  

“Oh, no you don’t!” he said defiantly as his aura gripped around his book, but it was to no avail.  The filly ran straight towards him at a full gallop and, without ever breaking her stride, she scooped the book in her mouth and tore it from his magical grasp.  By the time he realised what had happened, she was already bolting towards the town at a dead run through the woods.

“Celerity!  You sneaky goat!” called Spellbound after the filly, and he began his pursuit at a full run.  He might not be able to catch her, but he took after, intending full well to try as hard as he can, leaving only the sounds of hooves beating the ground and laughter in the circle behind them.

> Chapter 3: The Party
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Here I am, waiting again.  It was to be expected, but at least it is entertaining.  After that visit with the soldier, these foals threw themselves into their interests, with no desire short of being the best at what they do.  It’s really quite inspiring to watch unfold.”
                        ~ Excerpt from The Journal of the Unknown, Entry 9, Paragraph 1~


***


One year, Eight Months later

        “Honestly, Celerity, this wouldn’t be half as hard as you are making this out to be if you’d just stop squirming for at least two seconds and let me work,” Quick Stitch complained.  He had been the tailor that passed through Ferrier’s Creek for years to work on the clothing of the better off, but the one client that the pale blue unicorn hated most was Celerity.  She cared nothing of his craft and had no sense of style and no matter what he made for the young mare, she’d end up destroying it.

        The sound of stitches ripping came out from the corner where Celerity was changing into his latest creation and he sighed in pain.  He had wanted to design for royalty that understood elegance and beauty.  Even a rich merchant that understood and enjoyed the finer things in life.  Anything but this stout, muscle-bound mare that looked more like a tiny stallion, rather than a small mare. “It ripped again,” she duly said, as she held up the remains of the torn dress and saddle.  Once again, he made it too narrow around her midsection, and she, rather than warn him, tried to just pull it on anyways.  The light fabric didn’t even stand a chance against her.

        “Are you doing this on purpose?” he said, biting his tongue so he wouldn’t swear.  Her father paid well, making putting up with this mare worth it.  Barely.

        “You’re being paid material and time, so it’s no loss for you.  Just fix the stitch and get this over with,” she said right back.  Normally, she wasn’t this rude, but if there was one thing she hated, it was this exact sort of thing.  He scooped the clothing from the green mare and left with an exasperated sigh.

        Once she was sure he was gone, Celerity made it to the window and peeked through it. “Alright.  He’s gone again.  You there, Spellbound?” she whispered into the nearest bush and sure enough, the stallion poked his head out with a goofy grin.

        “Were you expecting anypony else?  You know, if you just let him work, he’d get done quicker,” he pointed out, as he stood on his rear hooves so he could lean partially through the window.  Celerity couldn’t possibly make that sort of stretch, but Spellbound had grown a lot more than she ever did.  While he grew taller and leaner, she just got thicker.  She probably had her training to blame for her complete and utter lack of a ladylike figure.

        She wrinkled her nose at him and shook his head. “And do this all at once?  It’s bad enough I had to grow out my mane for this stupid thing.  It keeps getting in my eyes,” she said, brushing back that lime mane of hers.  It could just barely reach her eyes, but it wasn’t that short spike that it was two years ago.

He just rolled his eyes at his friend, and smiled.  “Your dad just wants you to try.  I know you still don’t want to, but you’re running out of time.  So, maybe you should just go along with this at least a bit, just in case things don’t work out?”

“I really hate parties with dad’s friends,” she replied flatly, before she turned about, going to a mirror. “Ever since there was a chance I might get to be a duchess, they’ve been sucking up to me at every chance they get.  It just gets worse at these parties.”

        “I know,” Spellbound droned, having heard that before. “At least its the last time, eh?”  

        She sighed and smiled at the thought.  It would be the last time she’d have to hear their false platitudes from the other barons, but even better than that was she wouldn’t have to speak again to the inane and vapid daughters that they had.  “Yeah.”

        From the hall, there was the sounds of hooves on stone and Celerity gave Spellbound a hard shove back, sending him right back into the bush with a yelp.  “The party starts just after dark.  You’ll be able to slip in the servants’ door,” she instructed quickly.  After baring several of these dinner parties alone, she decided she will have a friend by her side this time, and made plans to sneak him in to join her. 

        She turned around to see Quick Stitch there with a pastel yellow dress, and with a sigh, she stepped up to accept her fate  She spent the next hour at his mercy, being fitted into that dress and being slathered in make-up in an effort to make that squamish face of hers look at least a little feminine.  Everything from creams, powders and dyes were applied to her and she hated every layer more than the last.  By the time that the unicorn was done with her, he was exhausted and she was entirely out of patience for him.

        “At last,” he sputtered as he looked at the results. It wasn’t his best work, but there was only so much he could do with a mare like her.  With one last focusing of his magic, he lifted the mirror and turned it towards Celerity.

        She looked at her reflection and huffed.  With so much on her face, she just looked fake, but it was a passable fake that might get her through the night.  “It’s alright,” she replied to the stallion, and he just scowled in annoyance, “The dress is tight, and I swear, this stuff is making me smell like I was in a flower garden explosion.”

That was about all the abuse he was prepared to take from her, and Quick just replied, “Let’s present you to your father, and then, we can both put this entirely behind us.” 

“That’s the best idea I heard from you all day,” she said back quickly, before she walked out the door in a hurry that didn’t give the unicorn time to criticize her and lack of finesse in how she moved.  Instead, she hurried along, making the unicorn nearly gallop to keep up to what she considered a leisurely pace to the main floor, where she saw her father still commanding the house servants to make some last minute changes to the how furniture was arranged around the manor.

Copper Crown’s ears perked and he turned to his daughter and the panting unicorn who staggered up beside her.  “Excellent, Celerity!  You look absolutely wonderful!  You outdid yourself this time, Stitch!  My filly looks like a lovely young mare, thanks to you.”

The tailor bowed to the baron with much relief and pride.  “Thank you.  I only aim to please, sir,” he replied.  All Celerity heard was a covert insult, but she brushed it off.  She was used to it and wasn’t about to let another little barb like that get to her.  She did huff in annoyance.

“Now, Celerity, why don’t you relax in the front room and greet the guests.  They’re all very eager to wish you luck on your upcoming trip,” Crown said to his daughter, “And, I’m sure your friends will be insanely jealous.” 

“My upcoming trip?” she asked with her brow furrowed with concern, “I’m not supposed to go for a few months yet.”

“I know the plan was to leave as soon as the fall harvest was done, but, if we can get you familiar with the court, and the Duke.  You need every advantage we can give you, and you’ll do best if he had time to know you,” her father said in his matter of fact way.  “We will be setting out in two weeks.”

“I don’t want any advantages,” she muttered under her breath.

“What was that?” he asked, but his daughter was already stomping off to the front room so she could wait as she was asked.  If she simply stood up front as she was asked, it would be simpler for all the ponies involved.

At least, there wasn’t time for her to grow bored before the guests started arriving, which was a relief for both her and her father.  She didn’t want to be bored, and her father didn’t want to her have the chance to ruin her dress by running off to another one of her ‘adventures’.  The first guest that arrived was an odd unicorn dressed in a heavy coat that was massive explosion of overly bright colours that totally drowned out his own grey-brown coat and mane.   She knew who he was by name, and yet knew little of the pony.  He was the sort that had the youthful exuberance of a pony that was barely beyond adulthood, and yet, acted with all the calculation of an old schemer.

         As soon as he stepped in the door, Copper crown stopped his relentless efforts to get ready for the gathering and straight into his social mode.  “Ah, Tipped Scales!  My friend!” he called as he quickly moved to the door with a house-servant who dutifully took that garish coat from the pony. “It’s been so long since I’ve last seen you.”

        “Indeed! It’s good to see you, too.  I’d never miss wishing your daughter luck before she left.”  Tipped Scales with a nod in her direction to address her.  Celerity didn’t need to be an experienced socialite to see that Tipped Scales was already angling for future considerations in his dealings with her.  Normally, the merchant pony would come in to conduct business with her father, but this time he was giving her his attention.  In fact, maybe he was giving her too much of it.  His grey eyes ran over her in a very quick and appraising sort of way, and she swore she felt the slithering path they left over her body.  The half smile he gave her afterwards just made her ears pin back out of revolt.  “My my, take a little dirt off the hooves and throw in a pretty frock, and you make a lovely mare, Honourable Celerity.  I’m sure the Duke will be smitten by you.”

        “It’s very kind of you to say that, sir,” she replied with the required bow to the merchant, but she never took her eyes off of him for an instant.  “Welcome to our home.”

        “Please!  The pleasure is mine,” Tipped replied as he stepped around her, but she didn’t miss how close he stepped while moving by her, but she bit her tongue.  The soon she could get away from the stallion, the better, but she couldn’t just leave, or she’d never hear the end of it from her father.

        With her best forced smile, but her skin was still prickling from how he had looked at her.  “How has your business been?” she asked entirely in a pro-forma way.  She really didn’t care one way or another.

        “It goes wonderfully, Honourable Celerity.  I’ve purchased the rights to several new trading routes to Zebrica and the Gryphon lands.  I even found all new wagons and carriages to run them.  It’s been a very profitable venture this summer,” he said as he gestured to a window and both Copper and Celerity could see a several of the new wagons parked up front with the crews milling around them and tending to them.  The trader’s personal carriage stood out the most because it was every bit as loud as his coat.

        “Well, yours is very unique,” Celerity said dryly.  It was about the nicest thing she could think to say about the stallion’s acquisition.

        “Isn’t it, though?  I think it’s a holdout about being jealous of other ponies and their colours when I was just a young colt.  And, it works.  There’s never a question about where to find me when I’m on the road,” he said.

        “Your ponies aren’t intending to join us at this party, are they?” Copper Crown asked in concern.

        The merchant looked shocked that the suggestion of bringing common ponies into the Baron’s home was an insult. “Would I ever do that to you and your home?  No, not at all.  They are just some employees I picked up to help me stay comfortable on the long trip back to Canterlot.”

        “Oh, thank Celestia.   They’d likely eat everything and get mud on everything,” he said as he looked over the motley crew.  “They look like nothing but brigands and drunks.”

        “They are, but they get the job done.  The secret is never pay them until they get you there, and carry very little cash on yourself.  They stay a lot more loyal when they are broke,” Tipped Scales replied with a chuckle.

        Just passed the crew a carriage pulled up, and a  pair of ponies stepped out of it.  They were obvious nobels thanks to the fineries that they wore.  “Seems more guests are coming.  Celerity.  Why don’t you stay at the door and greet them as they come in?  You’re the guest of honour after all, and I’m sure they all wish a chance to speak with you.”

        This was her chance to get away from her father’s friend, and she leapt at the chance. “Of course, Father.  You go and enjoy yourself with your friend, and leave the door to me,” she said with a nearly legitimate smile forced onto her face.

        “That sounds like a marvelous idea,” Tipped said quickly, “Come on, Crown. I brought some gifts for you sample like that fifty-year old cognac I picked up when I went to the east coast.  It’s like drinking silk.”

        The stallions left for the sitting room, talking to each other as they went, leaving Celerity at the door alone.  This was the first time she was trusted to this role, but if it meant getting away from that merchant, it was worth it.  With that goal in mind, she turned to the the door, and prepared herself to greet everypony that came through it with all the forced enthusiasm she could manage.


* ** * ** * ** *


        Two hours later and many tiresome encounters later, the flow of guests into the house had nearly stopped, so Celerity dared to slide away from the door.  By this time, the party was in full swing, with several families gathered in the house.  The sound of chatter and laughter of ponies filled the entire building, as they milled and socialised, while the small string quartet played to help them all relax.  Celerity didn’t really care to see any of the ponies now.  She was very tired of being congratulated by those that clearly only wanted favours down the road or feared retribution.  Only one mare was honest enough to be blunt and directly ask for an introduction to a pony in the upper court.  After so many phony smiles and false compliments from the guests, she took this blunt openness as refreshing and offered to do just that if the opportunity arose.

        The trek from the front hall, through the bustling gathering of ponies, and to the dining room was longer than she expected, but when she got there, she quickly gathered up all the food and drink she wanted.  Her father didn’t spare any expense for this party when it came to the drink and food, and he even got those fried honey and grain cakes that she loved so much.  It didn’t take long for Celerity to load a plate up full of them, and start wandering towards the kitchen where she thought she’d find her friend.  Knowing Spellbound, he slipped in as soon as Scales walked through the door, and had been waiting for her with the rest of the servants.  While her father didn’t like him, the house staff had no issues with him.

        “So, you’re going to try and be presentable enough for Duke Hightower?” sneered a young pegasus mare at Celerity before she got to the kitchen.  “You know you don’t stand a chance, right?”

        The dish in her mouth made it impossible for her to respond directly, but she hoped the eye-roll would speak for itself.  The powder blue pegasus was named Argenta and  was the daughter of one of neighboring nobles and was roughly the same age as Celerity.  For how many similarities they shared, they were nothing alike.  She knew all this because she was forced to ‘play’ with her several times as she grew while their parents visited, but they were simply too different to enjoy each others company.  It usually ended in Argenta insulting her for all her brutish ways.

        “Yeah, gagging yourself is probably the best idea you’ve had in years, Celerity.  That way, you won’t go on about dueling and stupid things like that,” she continued without an effort to hide any of her disdain for Celerity.

        Finally, Celerity found a flat surface to put the plate down on a close by table, and she turned to her antagonist.  “What do you want?”  

        “Nothing from you.  I’m just letting you know that you’re going to fail entirely, so you won’t feel too surprised when you get kicked back here,” she said smugly before flicking her mane back with a disgusting amount of smugness.

        A dozen different ideas ran through Celerity’s head on how to respond to this.  A particular favourite involved taking Argenta to the stream and holding her head under it until the bubbles stopped, but she suspected that would be frowned upon.  Instead, she went the more diplomatic route, and with a shrug, she replied, “Whatever.”

        The lack of reaction caught the snobbish mare off-guard, and Celerity took this as her chance to leave.  If only the one pony that she wanted to see didn’t find her at that moment.

        “Oh, there you are, Celerity!  You’re a hard mare to find,” Spellbound called out as he wormed his way through the crowd to his friend.  Since they last saw each other, he had slicked his mane back, and polished is horn and hooves to a mirror shine.  He even dressed for the occasion with his red coat and blue blue cravat that  were made to work with his own natural colours.  He looked like he belonged in this sort of crowd far more than Celerity.  When he finally worked his way through, he turned to Argenta and smiled wide. “And, who’s the lovely mare that is keeping you company?”

        Celerity put her hoof to her face and winced.  She knew what he was going to do already and she was powerless to stop it.

        “I’m the Honourable Argenta,” the noble mare replied, holding up her hoof and Spellbound wasted in no time in lifting it and placing a kiss to it. “I thought I knew all the local nobles, but evidently you been in hiding.”

        “I’m Spellbound.  By both your name and your eyes,” he replied, while Celerity choked on the incredible corniness of the line, and Spellbound dutifully ignored her.  “But, I’m not normally privy to these sorts of events, so it’s really no fault of yours that you haven’t the good fortune of meeting me before now.”

        “Yeah, he’s here to see me, so if you could move along,” Celerity interjected quickly to try and end this before it got wildly out of control.  She already saw what he was doing, and frankly, she found it embarrassing for the entirety of her gender to see him ‘in action’ because it did work.  

        “Why would anypony like him be here to see you?” snipped Argenta.  As far as she was concerned, there was simply no way for a handsome stallion like Spellbound would ever spend an instant with the walking social faux pas that was Celerity.

        The green earth pony was used to this sort of thing, and was about to answer honestly that he was simply a friend of hers, when Spellbound cut in.  He stepped up, and brushes his hoof on the lapel of his jacket. “Well, if you must know, I am Celerity’s private tutor in all matters of science, literature and history.”

        “You?  You don’t seem any older than us,” she pointed out without an effort to hide her suspicions at this point.  “I’m starting to think that she snuck you in so she would have somepony to make her look good.”

        He chuckled softly. “Very astute, but that doesn’t preclude me from being an expert in any field of study that catches my attention.  My current hobby is studying Gryphon literature, for example.”

        Celerity had to choke a laugh down.  She knew why he had the ‘sudden interest’ in that, and it wasn’t because it was any sort of scholarly pursuit on his part.  A shipment of books on the subject arrived instead of books on “glyphic” history.  There was simply no stopping his ranting about how incompetent the ponies that shipped his order were for two whole days.

The other mare quirked an eyebrow, and looked more incredulous than anything else.  “Gryphon literature?  I wasn’t aware the savages can even write.”

“Oh, quite the opposite, actually.  They have a very rich oral and written tradition, though getting them to share it with ponies is problematic.  But, I digress, would you like to hear a particular favourite poem of mine, Honourable Argenta?  For some reason, it came to mind in your presence,” he said.

        The mare nodded and leaned in with interest so she wouldn’t miss it over the din of the rest of the party.

        Spellbound  took a deep breath to help him prepare and when he spoke again, his voice was harsh, foreign, and had a quality not unlike a cat’s hiss.  Every syllable was insistent and sharp to the ear, and yet, something about the inflection made it clear that what he said wasn’t meant to be threatening.


“Esk salvil, an stek,


As av’i ensk savrika


Kel Skiva en av nisk”


        By the end, he was smiling rather wide, because he had coaxed the mare rather close to him. “Gryphonic is such a beautiful language, isn’t it?  You can really feel the intention of the words, even if you don’t know what they mean.”

        “What did you just say, Mister Spellbound?” Argenta said.  Celerity was much less curious about it; she had little interest in the specifics of her friend’s studies or his blatant flirting.

        Spellbound looked rather proud of himself, and addressed the interested party directly.  “Well, it was an haiku written about one hundred and fifteen years ago from the a local prince in the frozen north to his betrothed.  You have to keep in mind that gryphons have nearly forty different words for ‘hunt’ with varied connotations and denotations, so their poetry doesn’t always translate well, but if I were to take a run at it, it would go something like.” As he prepared his thoughts, he inched somewhat closer to the smitten mare.  


“In silence, you pounce


I am stricken in all ways,


The Huntress of my Heart”


        “It sounds a little over the top, even for the gryphons,” Celerity said, as she was clearly not moved by the poetry.  If anything, she was close to rolling her eyes in disdain for how hard he was trying to impress Argenta.  How could any self-respecting mare could ever fall for such a thing was beyond her.

Argenta was very much the opposite, with her cheeks bearing a red flush in them, and every time she made eye contact with the young stallion, it would only grow brighter and more pronounced.   “Do you know more?”

“Oh, of course I do. I’m also a published researcher in the Canterlot Journal of Arcana and Physical Sciences for my work on arcane battery theory,” he said proudly.

It was about then, Celerity decided to try and ground the stallion again. “Was that  for the experiment that burned your tail off or the one that nearly blew up your house?” she asked flatly.

Spellbound didn’t even miss a beat. “Well, when you have limited resources, and goals as lofty as mine, you have to take even the setbacks as successes too, in that you learn what doesn’t work.  And, I cannot be that far off the mark in my theories because Starswirl responded to my paper directly in the latest edition.  Just got the new journal today, though I shouldn’t brag too much.   I have much work to do, even if I have impressed a pony like him,” he replied in earnest to his friend.

“Alright.  I’m impressed that you got noticed, but please don’t try and explain it.  I really don’t think we would understand anything about it,” she admitted. 

“Actually, I was asking if you knew anymore of that poetry,” Argent interrupted and Celerity already saw where this was going.  Of course, she did appreciate the idea of having the obnoxious mare busy for the rest of evening, but that meant she couldn’t snark about the boring party with her friend.

“Of course, I know more, but my collection is at my home.  You can join me soon, but I do have to talk to my student first.  So, why don’t you go and get yourself a drink of wine, and we’ll meet on the dance floor, Honourable Argenta,” he suggested with his charming smile on his face. 

“That’s a wonderful suggestion.  I’ll hope to see you again soon,” she said, “Celerity. Mister Spellbound.”  She bowed to the both of them, though Celerity could help but notice that the bow to her was markedly shorter.  After that, she turned and took her leave, vanishing into the milling ponies in the room.

“Really?  Her?” Celerity asked with her brow furrowed with concern for her friend.  “She’s a total ass, and doesn’t even try to hide it.  And, with the poetry?  Are you just turning into a walking cliché or something?”

“Did you see that flank and wingspan?  How could I pass that up?” he pointed out, and even punctuated it with an approving hum.  It didn’t take him long to descend to a very casual tone with his friend.

She rolled her eyes.  “I guess.  She’s the wrong gender for me to care, and well, she’s a horrible brat.  At least tell me that was actually gryphonic you said back there, and you weren’t making things up.”

“You wound me!  How could you accuse me of deceit?” he said with his hoof over his heart.

“Because, I know you.  I swear, you’re getting worse,” she muttered and coupled her words with a disapproving shake of her head.

“Worse, or better?” he returned with a sly grin painted on his face, and Celerity couldn’t help but laugh.  “I did want to tell you that Starswirl really did respond to my paper, and wanted to expand on my experiments on magical refraction.”

“So, it was the one that set your tail on fire!” she giggled.

“Oh, shut up.  You’re never going to let me live that one down, are you?”

“Ask again in about, I don’t know, two hundred years?” It was nothing but good-natured teasing.

“I’ll make a note of it, but, until then, I’ll think I’ll continue to be excited by the letter that came with the journal,” he said, trying to bait his friend into asking directly.

“What did it say?” she huffed, as if the question was some great task.

“It was from Starswirl himself!  I can scarcely believe it, but it came with the Royal Court’s.  He wants to meet me and discuss my ideas in person!  It’s like a dream come true!” he said, with a great effort to keep from prancing in place.

        She hugged him, getting a few of the surrounding ponies to glance their way.  After all, it wasn’t proper, but she was far happier with him than worried about what they might think.  “Oh, I’m so happy for you!  Do you know when?” she asked quickly.

        “No details on that just yet, but he gave an address to keep up correspondence with him, and I fully intend to.  At least, until I can get the cash together to actually get to Canterlot.  I hope my dad won’t be too upset with me leaving when that happens, but it will give him an excuse to stop with the long distance flights and hire a younger pony.”

        “Maybe, if everything works out, we’ll both end up living in Canterlot,” she pointed out.  “It’d be nice to have somepony familiar in the city.”

        “You can get me a room in your villa to save a few bits, too.”

        “Not likely, Spellbound.  If I end up as a Duchess, and that’s a big ‘if’, I’m going to charge you rent, just for the pain of watching you flirt tonight,” she retorted, “And, if I end up in the Dawn Guard, I’ll be assigned living quarters.”

        “Damn.  I had to ask, at least,” he said.

        “And, I had to say no,” she replied, “Now, you run along to your ‘date’.”

        “Really?  We only just caught up.  I thought we could chat some more.”

        “Father still doesn’t like you very much, and I don’t want you getting in any sort of trouble if he catches you.  At least, if you’re with her, she’ll get revealed as a floozy,” Celerity replied, “And, besides, I’ve already talked to every other pony in here already; I’m pretty much burnt out on chatting.  You’ll see me at the circle tomorrow.  I promise.”

        “Well, if you say so.  Be warned though, it might be a late morning for me,” he said as he caught a glimpse of his mark through the crowd, and flashed her a bright smile, “Wish me luck.”

        “You’re a role model for all the aspiring marizers out there,” Celerity replied dryly, and with that, he made his way to Argenta, leaving Celerity alone in the crowd.  She was quick to find herself a secluded corner in the front room where she could be seen, but was out of the way so, no pony would come looking for her, nor would they feel like the had to interact with her.  With her honey-grain cakes at hoof, a comfortable pillow to lay on, and nopony coming to talk to her, her evening was looking better and better.


* ** * ** * ** *




Later that night...

        The moon was high in the sky in the perfectly clear night sky, and the party was slowly winding down with some leaving to their carriages and getting ferried home.  And slipping out with this slow trickle of ponies was Spellbound and his ‘date’.  Neither of them were walking a straight line, and they were giggling at the bad and bawdy jokes they passed between them while they walked for Spellbound’s home.  They didn’t escape the notice of a group of four ponies that were standing by one of Tipped Scales’ wagons.

        “Is that him, boss?” sniveled one voice from a spot, out of sight.

        “Wasn’t he supposed to be alone?” rumbled another voice.

        “Should we git ‘im now?” drawled a third.

        There was a pause for contemplation.  “We’ll wait until he’s alone, so keep an eye on him,” responded a calculated and calm voice.

        “Right, boss!” answered the first three.

        “And, remember; keep this simple.  We aren’t getting paid enough for complications.  Now, you two get going.  And you’re with me.”

        Two shadows began following the young pair, using the dark of the night as cover.  The boss already could count the cash they were about to earn once they had their mark, and the thought of those stacks of bits made him smile and chuckle.