//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: King: The Beginning // by DanishDash //------------------------------// It was early morning, the fog had settled nicely around the small farming town of Greenworth. Only a few rays of the sun cut through the thick mist, letting the patrol of Solar Guard see the dirt road without much trouble. The silence was heavy, only broken by the hoof steps of the soldiers as they marched towards the town. About a week ago, the local garrison in the region received a letter from the town, telling about some unknown illness that had taken hold of the villagers. Though since then, no more news had arrived, making the garrison commander send out the patrol. Soon enough the silhouettes of the buildings could be seen through the mist, growing larger and larger as they approached. It was quiet, and as the dramatic saying went, too quiet. The streets that opened up before them was empty, no signs of cleaning, travel, the stalls of the small market laid barren and there was no sign of life what so ever. The sergeant looked around, confused just as the rest of his squad. "Search the area, look for any sign of life." The soldiers gave a confirmation and started to walk around the buildings, holding their spears at the ready in case something attacked them. Though nothing happened, and as they gathered again the sergeant let out a sigh. "Check the houses, somepony must be here, they can't all have vanished." The search went on, this time however they moved from door to door and knocked, calling out to anypony who might be home. Finally a door opened very slowly before one of the soldiers could even knock. "Sir!" The sudden call made the sergeant and some of the other soldiers come over, and what they saw, shocked them beyond belief. Standing in the doorway was an earth pony who looked, deflated, sick, without any energy or even will to live. Was this the sickness? "Medic!" They all got a hold of the poor pony and carried him out to an outdoor table as their unicorn medic came running. She looked over the stallion and almost let out a gasp before her magic started to examine him. "Sir, this pony.. Has been drained.." The sergeant looked confused. "Drained? Drained of what?" "His.. Magic, sir.." "What?" He looked to the stallion who looked dazed and weak. "How many in your village is like this, how did this happen?" Before he could answer any questions, the stallion passed out. "Search every building, and send a dispatch to the garrison commander, he must be informed of this, so too does the princesses!" "Yes sir!" ~~***~~ The mood and conversation was pleasant in the royal garden, Celestia had invited some mares over to chat. Common theme among them was they were all mothers and one was expecting, so this was just as much to chat and congratulate Fleur De Lis on her pregnancy. Other than Celestia, present at the table was Twilight Velvet, Twilight Sparkle's mother, who could talk about the magic aspect of having two foals. Stormy Flare, the mother of Spitfire, who could talk at length about her daughter's flying experience. Rainbow Dash's mom, Windy Whistles, had also been invited, but unfortunately she had come down with a case of feather flu and had to decline. Celestia took a sip of her tea while Stormy Flare took a moment to enjoy one of the cream cakes. "So did you manage to save the vase?" Twilight Velvet asked, taking a sip of her own tea. "I'm afraid not." Celestia replied before levitating the cup down to the table. "He managed to make it vanish and pop it into existence, though it broke when it hit the floor." She giggled a little. "His magic is growing." Twilight Velvet giggled along with the princess and nodded. "Shining was more controlled and well behaved with his magic. Twilight on the other hand, well, she had a thing with fire. Lot's of fire.." "I thought that was just an exaggeration from Cadence?" Celestia exclaimed, a little startled. "No, not at all princess. I would keep the fire brigade on standby if he has started to use magic already." Twilight Velvet said with a small calm smile, which kind unnerved Fleur a bit, like it was normal for a small filly to set fire to everything. "Don't worry dear." She continued. "I'm sure your little one will be more controlled." "I certainly hope so.." Fleur agreed, taking a bit of a nervous sip of her tea. "Velvet, you're scaring the poor girl." Stormy Flare said, jumping into the conversation again. "Magic is one thing, you should try flying." She let out a small sigh as she remembered her little Spitfire flying around their home. "I had to put a leash on her, but then she started to get trapped and tangled. Flyers are quite a mess that age." Celestia let out a small sigh, but not an annoyed one, just as a sign she understood what was to come. Spero had managed to fly, but it was very little. He was strong too, and that being added with his earth pony side had made him a big colt, not out of the ordinary, but he was a bit bigger than the average. The muscles thankfully carried into his Pegasus side as well, so his wings were wide and strong, enough to carry him when he got the hang of it, which by the looks of it could be any day now. "On another note." Celestia continued. "Fleur, tell us, have you decided on a name for your foal yet?" Fleur blushed slightly, rubbing her slightly bigger stomach with a gentle hoof. "We were thinking, if it's a colt, we call him Claud, if it's a filly, I would like her to be named Allouetee." "Allouetee, that's a beautiful name." Velvet smiled and looked to her. "At least it will give Spero some more foals to play with." "Yes indeed." Celestia smiled. "The nursery has been good for him, most of our staff's foals is there during their shifts, and so far he has been doing well. Though more close friends would be good, if you don't mind Fleur." "Of course not, your majesty." Fleur smiled. "A play date would be fun." The mares giggled and took some sips of their tea. Fleur was of course not naive to what it could mean, some nobles might see it as a potential marriage set up if she were to give birth to a filly. It was a rather old fashioned way to establish alliances between families, and though the practice had been outlawed, she knew in certain circles it still happened. She was happy both her and her husband were above such things and would never use their foal for political gain. Fancy Pants had always been a noble and kind stallion, and when she used the word noble about her husband, it was not some simple title to his family bloodline, instead she meant it in his character. He liked fashion and the finer things in life, but he was never afraid to do some hard work or help his fellow pony, noble or otherwise. He was also never afraid to speak to a pony like an equal, even to the simple worker, the gardener, anypony he came in contact with he always treated with respects. His noble heart and character was the thing she fell in love with, not his noble bloodline or long family history. ~~***~~ Swift Strike stood beside Luna in a small private study, before her was a large red book, not one you would normally read in a library. "Before you is a record, one out of 198 journals, gathered by our services, detailing every single member the royal court. Their heights, weights, mane color, cutie mark, eye color, their daily movements. From the valets, to the cook apprentices and dishwashers." Luna nodded, carefully turning the pages, looking at the level of detail that had been put it. "You have certainly been busy during these few months." Swift Strike inclined his head, as if to say thank you. This was not really illegal, they had to know who came and went in the palace, for security reasons of course, but she knew Swift Strike would use this in order to keep taps on potential threats and have an easier time spying on the ponies close to the prince. She turned to the last page, the part of the record that somehow had a lot of details, and then somehow not a lot. The name was not used, powerful protective magic had been cast on these journals, but still they knew it might not be enough, which was why these books could only be read in the most secure of rooms. It was the file about Discord. Luna had not been a fan of giving Discord a second chance, but she trusted her sister, trusted Twilight and her friends, so she had let it go, but she still wanted to be sure they had some way to protect the prince from him if needed. She and Swift both knew Discord was impossible to spy on, so there was just written what they knew, who he was, how he looked, some of his habits, tricks and his daily activities with Fluttershy. Luna truly hoped they would never have the need to use these books more than necessary, but she refused to be so naive to trust the nobles fully and neither was Celestia, but she was now a mother, she had stepped back some, taken more time for her son, which was understandable. It meant however, she would not be on the top of her game, she would not be able to spot every single plot or clue to what the nobles were doing. Luna wanted to make sure they were being fully informed, they would have a shield and sword, and that would be Swift Strike. "You've done well.." Luna said and closed the book, satisfied with what she had seen of his progress. Swift Strike had not only created a life guard, but also a service of informers and spies, lot of ex Lunar Guards who was used to work in the dark and being unseen. "Anything of note so far." Swift nodded. "Yes, my intelligence services have heard certain whispers about a group of nobles plotting something.. It is nothing new, but they spoke of some sort of secret society, but so far the existence has not been confirmed." Luna was not shocked, in fact it was hardly news, such clubs had existed for a long time, but the fact Swift Strike's agents had managed to even uncover some clues to their existence spoke of a level of skill she could only be impressed with. "As you said captain, nothing new." "Do you wish me to act?" She thought for a moment, but then shook her head. "No, continue your investigations, but do not interfere. If you find them, they will be a good insight into what they are doing, arresting them would mean closing off a waterfall of information." Swift Strike smirked. "Keep your friends closer, and your enemies closer." Luna returned the smirk and nodded. "Indeed." She let out a small tired sigh and stood up. "If there is nothing else captain, I would like to retire for the day, the night was long and I wish to be ready for my nightly duties." Swift Strike bowed. "Yes your majesty." He kept his head low as Luna walked to the door. Before she exited however, she stopped and glanced back at him. "You've done well, captain. Please continue to do so, I wish for my sister to be able to relax and enjoy her time with her son.." Her voice grew soft, he could not see her expression, but he could tell by her voice that she was sad, frowning even. "It's the least that I owe her.." That last part came as a whisper, but she quickly recovered and looked forward again. "Carry on captain." "Yes princess." ~~***~~ Celestia looked up at her sun. "Oh, it seems we are running out of time.." She said with a hint of disappointment. Day court would begin soon enough and she needed to perform her royal duties. Looking to the others, she smiled and waved a hoof before any of them could even ask it. "Please, continue, finish your tea and have a pleasant morning, ladies. Though, if you will forgive me for leaving you though." All the mares, well except for Fleur, stood up to bow their heads to Celestia before she left. She had commanded Fleur not to bow to her, not while she was pregnant. They all thanked her for the tea and for the invitation, and with a final nod from her, she left them. She however did not manage to get far, before she was even a few meters away she noticed her assistant, Raven Inkwell, hurrying toward her, careful not to loose her glasses. "Your majesty. I'm so glad to see you coming this way.." She said relieved as she walked beside her, holding a clipboard in her magic. "Take a deep breath, miss Inkwell." Celestia chuckled a bit amused. "How's my son?" Inkwell couldn't help but smile a little. "Oh, he is just fine princess, last I checked in with him in the nursery he was napping along with the other foals." Celestia nodded, satisfied and happy to hear her little sun was comfortable there with the other young colts and fillies. "So, what is my first appointment of the day?" Inkwell checked the clipboard. "Well, i'm afraid we need to start with a cabinet meeting, your ministers were all very insistent we moved the meeting to ten." "That is to be expected. Probably about the new defense budget and the royal pension." Celestia said, knowing her ministers were dutiful and hard working. She was happy they had an eye for details, but that didn't mean some meetings couldn't get boring and drag on. "What else?" "Well, we have day court, oh! And the graduation of the a new flying squad." Inkwell smiled. Celestia shared her smile, happy to see young ponies who hard worked had finally reaching their big day of recognition. She always enjoyed meeting them, congratulating them personally. She always made sure to make the speech a bit personal to the graduating class, she never wanted to be the kind of princess who simply gave the same type of speech to all the events she went to. She was about to answer when a Solar Guard glided down, folding his wings just before he landed. He instantly bowed before her. "Your majesty!" Celestia stood up a bit straighter, this was clearly something important and she could tell the soldier had been flying fast, hard, and for some time. "Rise, please." He stood straight, saluting her once before he moved his right hoof into his saddlebag. "Urgent dispatch for you princess." The soldier hardly got it up before Celestia snatched it up in her magic and unfolded the letter. Her eyes scanned the paper, then read it once again, then again, her eyes growing wider each time she read it. She looked to him, a serious expression on her face. "Please, go to the barracks, get food, water and some rest, you've earned it." Without waiting for a reply, Celestia started to walk again, this time faster than before. "What is the matter princess?" Inkwell asked, struggling a little to keep up with Celestia. "Have someone wake my sister, call niece and her husband and the ministers to meet me in the throne room, and cancel court." Once again, she didn't wait for a reply, instead she spread her wings and took off towards her tower, if this report was true then her kingdom was in great danger, not to mention her son..