//------------------------------//
// Disturbing the Peace 
// Story: A War 
// by Comma Typer 
//------------------------------//

Deep in the Everfree Forest at night, streaks of moonlight upon grassy patches.
Growth unchecked. Trees proliferated to a fault, their leaves and branches spreading and hanging with some drooping. Rocks with moss abundant, chirps and howls of different tunes, unimaginable smells, damp puddles and mud.
Then, the start of a short dirt path which ended only a few meters afterwards.
At the end, a hut made out of a hollowed tree. It was rather thick-barked, its trunk quite wide. The leaves sprouting out of the branches created ample shade while dangling from them were colorful jars and pots. Above the door hung a vibrant mask.
Derpy knocked the door, hovering over the wooden steps to the entrance. She glanced at her saddle bag, ready to give the package to whoever appeared.
The door opened.
A zebra stood there, wearing large golden earrings and golden rings stacked around her neck.
"Ah, a mailpony I do see! Have you brought the delivery?"
Derpy nodded and hoofed the package to her.
Zecora turned it around, checking the information written and stamped on it. "You've done well in your job. Now, go, for I must lodge."
"Thank you!"
The pegasus flew away in the mysterious forest, under those intangible beams of moonlight.
Zecora closed the door and walked farther inside her hut.
Carved out shelves of  ingredients and potions, more vibrant masks of varying lengths and designs, candles and lanterns lighting up the abode in their dull yellow glows. At the center were two things: a cauldron where, currently, a magical mix was brewing and bubbling with a stirrer inside, and a complicated bamboo-made contraption where powders and bowls of water were placed at various points all converging down to one glass tube.
Zecora opened the package.
Inside, wrapped in a bouquet, were four pink flowers with tiny petals. Tied to it was a letter with hasty hoofwriting.
Zecora picked the bouquet up and read the letter.
She smiled. "Just as I expected from Sunburst and his fellow mages. These few nochtanns must wait, though, until the morning ages."
Zecora hobbled her way to a small bed by the window.
She placed the flowers and the letter on the empty part of a shelf.
Lied down on her bed and slept.



Next evening, Zecora was trotting down the sidewalk of a small town. Though the houses were average enough, by the time she reached the busier area filled with shops and stores, she saw a short line of ponies going inside the tallest building in the area.
It was an old-style building, filled with architectural curves and flourishes, colored mostly in brown and white.
Zecora followed the ponies entering and went inside.
She felt a breeze of cool air.
The lights inside were a welcome sight to eyes used to the night. The main area held a small group of ponies including a few Crystals. They were all discussing, talking over a long table.
Guards were stationed at each and every door and at each and every wall that could be seen.
Sunburst turned around and saw her. "Ah, yes, Zecora! Glad to meet you once again—and, are you done?!" He eyed the glass tube tied to her saddle bag. "That fast?!"
Some of his colleagues rushed to inspect the tube without touching it, admiring it from a little distance.
Zecora nodded. "To clarify, I did not rush in the slightest; it was merely a case of timing, not of who's the brightest."
Sunburst coughed. "Right, right, absolutely right. Let's move on to the experimenting and see how effective it'll be...shall we?"
Coughed again.
"You seem gravely unwell," Zecora blurted out. "Have you a disease or a sickly spell?"
"N-No, it's fine!" Sunburst said, putting on a grin. "Just a bad cold."



It was an average room.
Sort of.
A table where many of the researchers and mages waited at, observing Sunburst and Zecora talking to each other with a cardboard cutout of a frowning Crystal soldier decked out in full armor. Around them were closed windows and shelves containing usual laboratory apparatus: test tubes, bunsen burners, graduated cylinders, funnels, and what not. Also on those shelves were spell books, magical flowers, and bright potions.
"So, as much as we would like to talk about your progress on that memory-retrieval spell," Sunburst said, placing a firm hoof on her shoulder—to which Zecora gave a surprised face—"I'm afraid we have to get back to what's actual, to reality, to the real world that we're living in the here and now and not tomorrow—yes, tomorrow is coming in a few hours, folks!"
Zecora pushed his hoof away from her shoulder. "I fear that you are not of sound mind tonight. You should go to rest before you worsen your plight."
"Oh, no, no, no, no!" Sunburst said, adjusting his glasses and cackling after. "You're just seeing, uh, my personality! We haven't spent much time with each other because...you know, you're in the Everfree Forest while I'm in Canterlot doing wizardly stuff—but, we're both doing it for Equestria, c-correct?!"
Zecora blinked. "I do not think this hour's personality is normal; your behavior—"
"Come on, guys!" Sunburst interrupted, turning round to his fellow mages at the table. "Let's experiment the experiment and test the...uh, experiment?"
They exchanged serious, nervous looks. Murmurs.
"Your behavior, right now, is beyond informal," Zecora said, eyeing him with a tough yet caring look. "I assume it is the lack of sleep which has made you mad in bounds and leaps."
A mare stood up from the table, having a tie and long and clean hair. "I agree with her, Sunburst. You should at least go to bed or, if Doctor Hickmane's still up, have an appointment with him immediately."
Sunburst opened his mouth but could not speak a word.
A stallion stood up, too. "I agree with both Zecora and Apple Polish. You are our leader precisely because you have a clear head. There are times when we wanted to tell you that you're just hurting yourself by staying up so late and that you're really slowing us down, but we were very fearful because—"
"OK!" Sunburst shouted, stomping his way toward the door. "I get it! But, as I've always said: No rest for the wizardly!"
Then, he closed the door and disappeared.
Everyone at the table looked back at Zecora and the cardboard cutout.
"With him out of the way," Apple Polish said, "let us see your project in action."
Several ponies held up their notepads and quills.
Zecora grabbed the glass tube, poured out a muddy and gel-like substance, and rubbed it over the cardboard face.
The whole cutout glowed bright.
Poof.
In its place, a cardboard cutout of a smiling pony.
"That is good," Apple Polish said, levitating her quill down, preserving a neutral face. "Now, let's test it on a live subject with our regular volunteer."
A stallion raised his hoof and walked out of the scientific crowd.
He was a chubby Earth pony. His thick yellow hair was his most prominent aspect—his mane, his beard, and his tail under control by ponytails. The apparel on this stallion was a green vest and a red bandanna across his forehead. Above all, his cutie mark were two cattails and a sun.
Zecora smiled and approached him. "The famed Cattail of Hayseed Swamp, descendant of Mage Meadowbrook! I've heard of your abilities and prowess, plus your stint as a cook." She capped that one off with a sly giggle.
Cattail laughed with her. "You're overdoin' it, Zecora. I always thought you were the one with abilities and prowess."
Apple Polish's horn glowed and so did those of the other unicorns there. "Yes, it's nice for the both of you to meet, but we're on a schedule and we can save the pleasantries for later."
Cattail nodded before being hit with the combined blast of their magical beams, glowing bright.
When that glow subsided, he had a different look: purple hair, thicker eyebrows, and a mustache, not to mention a darker yellow coat.
"The best that we can do is a highly-convincing illusory spell," Apple Polish explained to Zecora from afar. "That's about the same level as that of the Crystal unicorns."
Zecora thought for a few sceonds.
Poured a bit more of that substance to her hoof.
Spread it over the stallion's face.
A few more seconds.
The glow covered him.
Zecora, along with most of the other ponies there, covered their eyes.
When it disappeared, there was Cattail back to his normal self.
Gasps and gulps abounded among the mages there.
"Better than I expected!" Cattail said, offering a hoofshake to the zebra.
Zecora accepted the offer, shaking his hoof. "I sincerely wish to work more closely with you. Perhaps together, that counterspell will come through."
Cattail nodded.



Cattail walked down the dark hallway, lit up by few candles and lanterns on the walls. He passed by several doors, all of them closed.
Except one near the end; it was slightly open.
At the end of the hallway, a grand portrait of a bearded scientist and mage loomed, holding a spell book with his forehooves. The nameplate underneath the portrait read "Solvent Plank, Seven-time Winner of the Noma Prize in Physics".
Cattail walked to the painting and turned to the right, entering the room with the open door.
Sunburst at his desk, reading and writing and re-reading and re-writing and re-re-reading and re-re-writing on his desk by the candlelight.
Which he snuffed at the door's creak.
"Agh!" Sunburst tumbled out of his chair. "Who are you and who could you possibly be?! Are you the security guard? I'll give you candy and my baked goods—don't steal my baked goods!"
"What?" Cattail grabbed a candle on the table underneath the painting and lit it up, revealing his face. "No, it's me! Cattail!"
Sunburst squinted despite his glasses. "You? Surely, you're not an imposter!"
"I'm not a spy," Cattail said. "Remember me? We've been working side-by-side for months now!"
"Ah, yes, yes!" Sunburst said, re-lighting his candle by the desk and illuminating his face.
Cattail went further inside and closed the door, glowering at the wizard.
In the darkness, there was not much to discern, but what could be seen somewhat clearly was a messy bed, a stack of books, many jars of potions along with other magical liquids, and deteriorating scrolls emanating a musty stench.
"Last time I saw a clock tonight, it was two in the morning," Cattail said, taking on a thoughtful voice. "How many times did we tell you about this bad habit? Sleepin' late, drinkin' all kinds of caffeine to stay awake? There's always tomorrow."
"What if they k-kill Princess Celestia before tomorrow?!" Sunburst said. "There won't be a tomorrow! Who'll raise the sun? There's Princess Luna...but what if they knock her down, too?! Nopony will raise the sun and the moon—it'll be total chaos, the Crystal armies will march right in and capture Canterlot—"
Cattail grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Snap out of it, Sunburst!"
The wizard's eyes rolled about, whirling in his dizziness. He jolted his head about, regaining his bearings.
Cattail let him go. "I'm tellin' you right now: you better go to sleep. You're not the only one running the team. We're all important, even if you're the leader and maybe the smartest of them all. Maybe." Gave him a sharp look. "You have us on your side, and seein' you act like this...it makes us feel like you don't trust the very ponies hired to assist you."
"But, if all of us sleep, then there's no progress made!" Sunburst said. "Do you want to find that counterspell?"
"We all do, Sunburst, but—"
"Then, while everyone's asleep and resting on their nice beds, I'm sacrificing all my time and effort in finding the counterspell! You don't know how many times I've had to memorize so many lists, read so many books—and, I enjoy them!—but, I have to do this because it's my duty!"
"Chill out!" Cattail said, taking a step back. "You...you really need some rest."
He walked toward the hallway outside.
"Oh, and what are you gonna do?" Sunburst quipped. "Are you going to tell the others about it?"
"They already know about it," he replied, holding the door handle. "You're quite noisy."
Cattail closed the door.



The train rattled, rumbling a little, but that was not enough to rouse the passengers to a fit of unease. In fact, the calm landscape of green hills and craggy mountains gave most of the ponies inside the carriages something mild and slow to think about.
It was almost a week later, and the team of mages, scientists, and other experts were riding along, protected and escorted by a small unit of guards around their seats. Zecora, Cattail, and a trembling yet smiling Sunburst were to be found resting among their number.
Some seats ahead, two ponies were arguing—one a ribboned mare and the other a hatted stallion.
"I'm not taking a tour!" the mare continued, flailing her hooves about. "I'd rather watch from far away, on top of a hill with a pair of binoculars. It's pointless to get the experience when you're dead a minute later."
"Honey, it's alright!" the stallion replied, doing his best to maintain a semblance of cheer. "If we're dead...well, on second thought, let's not think about that."
"Even in death, I have to pay money!" she said. "Funerals are expensive."
"Then, so much the better you want to become a soldier," he said. "What with your fear of getting hit, you also get huge discounts on burial expenses when you really get hit."
"Who said I wanted to enlist? I only said I was interested in seeing our honorable and patriotic ponies fight for a noble cause! I always told Chocolate Gum that our guards need some additional training, but he didn't listen. He always thinks I'm so 'cruel' to those good ponies, but who's laughing now? He ends up being one of the best fighters on the West Coast—to think he was OK with lazy guards before the war—"
"Can you quiet down?" he interrupted, lowering his voice. "Don't you know there are guards—no, certified soldiers here?"
"Let them hear me!" she yelled. "They got what they got, and they'll get it coming! They've got to thank ponies like me for sending them off to the front with so many farewells! It's as if you've forgotten about the many letters I write to them! It's not like I keep it a secret."
Then, a yellow pegasus guard walked up to the couple.
The stallion gulped.
"Misses," the guard said, "please restrain yourself. You are disturbing the peace."
She nodded. "Why, yes."
The guard moved back to his post with the mages and experts.
"That's not fair!" the stallion yelled. "You treat me, your husband, like I mean nothing to you, then some random guard comes by and tells you to be quiet, and you obey him like your whole life depended on it!"
"Not really," she said. "I felt like punching him in the face."
He glanced with clattering teeth at the guard watching them. "But, you didn't do it because you would go to jail straight after?"
"No. I didn't do it because I love you."
He placed his hooves on his head, confused. "That doesn't make sense! Help me out here—how does that mean you love me?"
The guard walked back to the couple. "Mister and misses, please restrain yourselves."
She stood up and pointed at him. "I won't restrain myself because what I've done and what I'm doing is for your good!"
Under a potential attack, the guard gulped and opened his wings. "Misses, if you don't refrain from your course of action, I will—"
"You have the heart to refrain from hurting me!" the mare shot back at him, shoving her husband to the window and walking to the guard.
Almost everyone else looked upon this unfolding scene. Another guard came to his aid.
"Without ponies like me," she rambled on, thrashing her hooves about in an attempt to make gestures, "you would not be in such a distinguished position in society! Everyone gives you adoration and poems and paintings, but that's because of ponies like me!"
"Ma'am!" the guard said, raising his voice yet staying cool. "If you do not sit down and act civil, you give us no choice but to arrest you for disturbing the peace."
The mare looked at the formidable foes she had before her.
She resigned, sitting down on her chair.
The two guards left the couple who had then descended into a little squabble.
"Getting hectic each day, huh?" the other guard said, adopting a casual tone with him as they walked back to the group of ponies they were protecting. "Flash Sentry, I'm glad we've got ponies like you here and not there."
Flash Sentry nodded. "Yeah, Beta. I'm glad about that."
He did frown a little, though.
Looked out the window, seeing the rushing and blurring landscape.



A sign hung under the wooden canopy of the train station, reading: "Welcome to Cornhusker! Built during the Great Crystal War! Never taken!"
The first passengers out of the train was the team of research mages accompanied by their armored guards, walking inside the station, staying inside for a minute as papers were approved and identities were confirmed, walking outside and beholding the sight of vast cornfields with the occasional barn sprucing the town up.
Most of the town's buildings—its tiny apartments, its small stores, and its big warehouses—were another minute's walk away.
Flash Sentry, with his fellow guards, escorted the civilians on their way.
Felt a tap on his shoulders.
Turned around.
Saw another pegasus hovering almost behind him, this one wearing a bowtie. "There's someone who wants to see you back at the station. Looks like a lieutenant to me. He's talking about next month's batch of newbies and boot camp and...other things like that."
Flash Sentry, still walking and escorting, looked puzzled. "Why me?"
"Don't know. Probably because you're the only he recognizes—and, don't worry, I already sent one of our guards to take your place."
So, Flash Sentry followed the bowtied pegasus back to the station.