//------------------------------//
// Searching for Answers 
// Story: Tales of Flutterbreeze: A Dark Plot in Canterlot 
// by Flutterbreeze 
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	Meanwhile, odd things had been happening in the town of Canterlot below the castle. Reports of strange sightings the night before would have been enough to send the citizens into a frenzy once the rumors passed around. Bad luck seemed to occur all over, a huge crash at the derpy track, bridges collapsing, spontaneously combusting hedge mazes, but what really put everypony into an uproar was that Princess Celestia had apparently shut herself into the castle after raising the sun that morning, seeing and admitting nopony. It didn’t take long for the townsfolk to make a connection between things, and soon conspiracy theorists and doomneighers galloped rampantly through the streets.
It was well into the afternoon when Flutterbreeze finally awoke. While having “breakfast”, he became aware of what was going on by the chatter of the castle staff. Celestia hadn’t been seen by anypony in the castle since that morning, even though she had apparently not left. 
Returning to his room, he opened a large wardrobe. It contained several fancy suits and, to his surprise, a new mailpony uniform. ‘Well that was fast.’ He put it on, having decided to investigate the situation while delivering the mail in town.
He left the castle through the main gates, to be sure the guards would recognize him later. The town’s chaos could already be heard, quite a distance below. Inside the town, the din was far worse. Casually floating down the streets, he was largely ignored by the panic-stricken ponies. It wasn’t a happy scene, but there was a bit of humor in watching upper-class stallions cry like little fillies, and it didn’t appear that anyone was actually getting hurt. 
The commotion suddenly stopped when Princess Celestia suddenly appeared in the town square. “Citizens of Canterlot, please calm yourselves!” she said. “There is a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything that is going on!” She then said quietly said to herself, “Now I just need an explanation...” She flew off towards the castle without another word, leaving everypony in the dark about what was going on or where she had been. Still, her mere presence seemed to calm the worst of their fears, and the town’s riotous nature returned to one of suspicion and gossip.
Flutterbreeze was becoming frustrated over the lack of answers. ‘Ugh, not only is there no sign of... whatever was here last night, but everypony in this town has gone completely insane. What in Equestria is going on! Where is the action? Where’s the conflict between me and the minions? Where is the long monologue from the mysterious villain?’ 
A letter in hoof now caught his eye. ‘From Twilight Sparkle, to her family...’ He remembered the letter he was carrying from Ponyville to the princess. ‘Perhaps she has some answers, even if she doesn’t want to admit it.’ 
It is true that in the work of a mailpony, there is often a great temptation of curiosity. Especially if one knew the origins of the letter being sent, but Flutterbreeze never liked snooping into people’s mail unless it was important to the mission at... hoof. Still, looking at the addresses of letters usually revealed a lot. For instance, a letter from Rarity to Hoity Toity showed her connections to Canterlot’s vibrant fashion industry. 
It was almost sunset, and with all the mail delivered and still no answers, Flutterbreeze started back to the castle, flying up a ways to the road that wound it way up the mountain. ‘Hmm, and eerie lack of travelers on the road, sun is setting, I wonder if...’ He paused, for in the bushes ahead at the side of the road he could see a pair of red eyes watching him, one slightly smaller than the other. ‘Bingo...’
Suddenly a form lunged out at him. Before he could react, he was thrown off the cliff-side. “You foooooooooooooooooooooo- oh wait!” Flutterbreeze extended his wings and started gliding through the air, circling around to where he had fallen from. He finally caught a first glimpse of what had attacked him. 
A serpentine form sat atop the cliff. It had sharp talons on each limb, and a pair of feathered wings. It was multi-colored,  and had a black circle around one swollen eye. ‘That’s my guy.’ It hissed at Flutterbreeze and leaped down from the cliff, flying at him, and readying its claws. 
Flutterbreeze reached into his mailbag. Without a pile of letters on top, he easily found what he wanted without looking. He pulled out two metal spheres and held one in each hoof. He then tapped them together and tossed them out in front of him. A bolt of lightning shot out between them, just as the flying serpent was in the middle. Stunned, it started falling to the ground once again, some of its feathers smoking.
“Oh no, you aren’t getting away this time!” Flutterbreeze chased after him, trying to streamline himself to fall faster. He was beginning to catch up when from the trees below came a hoard of flying serpents. Flutterbreeze shot back upwards as fast as he could, thinking ‘buck buck buck buck buck buck buck...’ to himself. 
The creatures retrieved their falling comrade and chased Flutterbreeze for a distance, but retreated once it became obvious they wouldn’t catch him before he got back to the castle, for they didn’t want a direct confrontation with the guards. ‘Curses, that’s the second time he’s gotten away from me... and it shall be the last.’
As he entered the castle once more, he found Princess Luna waiting in the courtyard, who had just returned from raising the moon. He gave a quick bow as she greeted him.
“Agent Flutterbreeze, we have news about the foe behind this dire scheme... and it appears you do as well?”
“I... think I ran into what was causing Canterlot’s misfortunes today.”
“Verily, wilt thou always arrive at the castle looking like this?”
Flutterbreeze inspected himself. Once again his uniform was torn and lightly stained, this time down the middle, by what were obvious claw strikes. “Not again. I lose too many good uniforms this way. I’m beginning to get the feeling they don’t like me very much.”
The princess giggled, causing him to smile bashfully. “Tis no matter, we shall have a new one made for you again.” she said, her face becoming serious now as she looked into a nearby fountain. “But anyways, I have convinced my sister to tell me wither she hath been this day. She showed me the entrance to one of the castle’s many secret passageways, this one leading to a place deep underground where our foe doth reside. This powerful enemy is  a being named Xolotl. Apparently, he seeks revenge upon my dear sister after she broke a pact made with him 500 years ago, which she doth emphatically deny. We believe her, of course, but negotiations between them obviously have not been fruitful. It is up to us now, it seems, to stop him, as my sister refuses to use force against him. Tomorrow, after the other operative arrives, we shall confront him.” Her cheerful tone returned as she looked at him again, “But for now, go patch yourself up and get some rest.”
“I haven’t thanked you yet for your hospitality, Princess Luna”
“Hospital-ity indeed for you.”
They laughed, returning inside and enjoying the moment of good spirits, before the next day’s trials would begin.