The Amulet of Shades

by Sparkle Cola

Chapter Fourteen: All That Glimmers

As the gates of Canterlot Castle loomed larger, wind whipping through her mane, Rainbow Dash prepared to pull off a wing flare, the typical aerodynamic braking maneuver most pegasi used in order to drop airspeed quickly in preparation to make their controlled descent to land. 

…at least, she would have done that had she been like most other pegasi. 

Instead, she banked hard, feathering the chordline of her wings to salvage speed for a more dramatic landing maneuver. Most pegasi preferred their landings to be gentle and straightforward. Most ponies didn’t like the sensation of pulling so many G’s. 

Rainbow Dash? 

She thrived on it. 

“Ho there! Captain Dash!” 

***Proximity alert! Abort current maneuver*** 

Rainbow flared her wings widely and pulled up, slamming on the air brakes. It seemed the Canterlot air traffic pattern was unexpectedly full. She shook her head, turning her braking maneuver into a 180 spin to locate the pony that had hailed her. So much for making an appropriate entrance as is expected of the Captain of the Wonderbolts. 

The unexpected reaction also made her wing twinge, pulling on the same nagging strain that had been aching since a mishap during a show three months ago over Las Pegasus. Her team physical therapist diagnosed it as a supracoracoideus strain. Rainbow just called it a major pain in her flank. 

Or wing, rather. 

A Lunar Guard was flagging her down, going by the color of his armor. A quick upward scan confirmed it: bat wings, gleaming fangs, and slitted-pupil eyes.

“Yeah? Who’s askin’?”

“What, don’t you remember me?” The hovering guard folded his forelegs, swapping out his smile for a menacing frown. “Think all bat ponies look the same, is that it Captain?”

“Um, yeah?” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “I mean, you’re wearing the bucking standard issue armor all castle guardsponies wear, so of course you all look the same, uh....” Her eyes darted to his rank insignia. “...Lieutenant.”

The stallion looked chagrined for a moment before yanking off his helmet. His deep indigo and violet mane reverted to his original color: a rather muted maroon. Shaking his mane to get it settled about his ears just so, he gave what he was probably sure was a mare-smiting smile. 

“That better? Let’s try this again. Hi, Captain Dash. Remember me?”

Rainbow folded her forelegs. “Am I supposed to?”

“Well, if you want to square up an old debt. We were playing poker that night and when you—”

Rainbow’s scratchy voice cut across him. “Echo? Echo Striker?”

Echo tapped his hoof on his nose, his grin growing crooked. “There ya go! I knew you’d—”

“That was over seven months ago!” Rainbow objected. “After the Spring Equinox Festival. What, do I owe you some bits or something?

“Eh.” Echo waved a hoof. “Actually, it was only forty bits. We can call it even if—”

“Now I remember.” Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn’t stop hitting on me!”

Echo’s eyes widened. “Me? Uh…”

“Yeah, you! It’s why I still owe you the forty bits. “You kept giving me some guano about my mane dye-job and offering to buy me some paint thinner.” Rainbow ended her sentence with a snort.

“I thought the colors were fake!”

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed further. Echo chuckled, shrinking back slightly, if such a thing could be done mid hover. But the moment passed, his embarrassment quickly replaced with the crooked grin from earlier. “Anyway, as I was saying… instead of squaring up our debts, how about you join me for drinks at the Salty Sultan for a date and we’ll call it even?”

Grumbling under her breath, Rainbow allowed herself to sink down towards the cobblestone street below. “Actually, I just broke away from training the new recruits at Flight Camp to answer a summons from the Princesses. It seemed rather urgent, so...”

“Absolutely! That’s why I’m here, Captain Dash.” Echo gave a theatrical bow while dropping altitude with her. “It’s my duty to escort you to the Forward Briefing Room. If you’ll follow me—”

“—Ugh, I hate that room. That’s the one always used by the Equestrian Press! And why of all ponies are you the one that’s supposed to escort me?!”

Echo grinned lazily. “I pulled a few strings to get that spot on the duty roster. So! After you?”

“And let you stare at my flank the whole way there? You’re my armed escort, so start escorting!” She pointed a hoof to the street below. Echo hesitated before shrugging and veering off to glide below. Rainbow eventually followed, suppressing the temptation to buck him in the back of his fool head. 

Canterlot Castle glistened in the setting afternoon sun, the golden hues and soaring turrets beginning to blush in the waning light. Around the castle grounds and gardens, the district crawled with activity. To either side of the iconic front gates, food carts and vendor’s tents sat end to end along the palisade, stretching to the outer reaches of the complex. Rainbow’s stomach grumbled, the scents of many different flavors and feasts beckoning below. She had skipped a meal to fly straight to Canterlot, and her pegasus metabolism was not her friend at the moment. 

Echo came to a landing and turned, waiting for Rainbow before she touched down a few moments later. “The briefing room is just inside the main gates and off to the left.”

Rainbow motioned with a hoof, indicating for him to lead on. As they passed into the main hall, she blinked. That was…what, the eighth Lunar Guard that crossed her vision? “Say, why are there so many of your guys up now? Don’t you like… change guard at 6 PM?” 

“When the Princesses hold a summit together, whether for policy or for concerns on national security, the guards combine their activities. It’s kind of symbolic, don’t you think?”

“Meh… Do you know what’s going on?”

“Maybe it’s another drill... I dunno. I haven’t heard anything about it.” 

Rainbow gave him a sidelong glance. “How many drills actually involve a summons for the Elements of Harmony?” Echo frowned as he chewed on that. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Ya wanna escort me a little faster?”

They rounded the corner and increased their pace as the door came into view, two guards standing their post to either side. As they came to a stop, Rainbow voiced a nagging thought. “So, am I the first of the Elements to arrive?”

“What? Oh. Not really.” 

“Horseapples. Who’s here already?

Echo exchanged a few words with one of the guards before they stood aside. “All I know is you’re number three. We’re still waiting for the rest—sorry, I know you like coming in first. Maybe the message was delayed until after you finished filing your reports?”

“Buck the reports.” Rainbow grunted. “Came as fast as I could without making a scene…or a rainboom.” She gave a sigh as she pushed the door. “Hope AJ isn’t there waiting to rub it in.”

“Hey there, pardner!” Applejack mugged over her shoulder. “Nice of ya to show up!”

“Yeah, yeah…” Rainbow turned to Echo, his fangs and eyes gleaming as he watched. “Shut up. And thanks for escorting me or whatever.” She closed the door in his smug face, adding a comment under her breath. “Echo Strike out.” 

“And you shut up.” Rainbow glared at AJ. “Princess Celestia probably told you to come yesterday because she knew you would wait until you had finished your chores.”  

Applejack’s smirk vanished. “And what’s wrong with chores? The way I see it, somepony has to pull their weight around here so that other ponies can go play, racing and doing tricks or whatever.”

“Excuse me? That’s my bucking job—and the Wonderbolts are an essential branch of the military, thank you very much!” Rainbow shot back. 

“Essentially unnecessary.” Applejack rolled her eyes. “When’s the last time you lot actually had to stand guard at the wall? Hold the line?” 

Rainbow marched up and poked Applejack in the chest. “We may not do the fighting on the front lines or the guarding, but we serve a critical role in the morale of the whole country! Is that a concept with too much finesse for ya?”

“Morale, eh?” Applejack pushed back at Rainbow—chest to chest, muzzle to muzzle. “I dunno. If you think ‘bout it, an endless supply of sweet, ripe apples probably has a better impact on the nation’s morale than a handful of pegasi in flight suits doing ridiculous stunts. Don’t fill any bellies, neither.”

“Ridiculous?” Rainbow roared. “Let me show you ridiculous!”

Rainbow could not show AJ something more ridiculous.

An explosion of flavor—sweet, creamy, fluffy flavor— saturated Rainbow’s taste buds. Applejack had suffered a similar fate, but while Rainbow’s senses screamed ‘raspberry creme!’  in rapturous joy, Applejack seemed to be nomming on a cupcake of the apple spice variety. In a precipitous predicament, a pony had popped up to plant a puffy pastry precisely in the palates of her pals.

“You two are always so funny!” Pinkie hugged one arm around each of her friends. “Acting as if you don’t like each other when you haven’t even seen each other for a couple weeks!” Brought back to reality from their temporary sugar-induced bliss, Applejack and Rainbow started jabbing at each other from either side of Pinkie’s fuzzy chest. Pinkie’s hold only tightened. 

“Seriously, girls?” In a rapid turnabout, Pinkie’s hold reversed, pushing them both away by a few paces. By now, the timbre of her voice had changed. “Do I need to set up a pie fight for just the two of you? It worked for Ponyville!”

After a tick, Rainbow stopped flailing and backed up just a step. That last comment from Pinkie triggered a thought…

…which was interrupted by a second thought. Why didn’t she just simply duck out of the way of Pinkie’s hoof and tackle her stubbornest friend instead of flailing from where she was? Never mind. First thought was more important.  

“Wait, seriously Pinks?”  Rainbow hovered up a smidge, putting her forehooves on her hips and glaring at Pinkie. “That fiasco two days ago was because of you? I thought it was just a pie competition gone out of control!”

Applejack sat back and started chuckling as well. “Heh. That’s how she suckered me into it.” She hoofed Pinkie in the shoulder. “I wasn’t going to participate at all until Pinkie insulted my family pride. Suggested Granny’s pies might not stand up to her own. Meanwhile the whole thing was a sham to set-up the greatest pie fight that Ponyville had ever known.”

Pinkie stifled a giggle, her cheeks coloring a little as she rubbed her sore shoulder. “Yeah… but I did apologize for that dig at Granny.”

“And I still say it was deceitful,” Applejack muttered. “Especially the part about you riggin’ the ballot box to make the results an out and out tie.”

Rainbow looked from Pinkie’s abashed smile to Applejack’s rueful one and blinked. The pink one had leveled up since she had seen her last. The insanity of that impromptu pie fight had spread out to include her as well, improbably teaming her up with Rarity and Spike. Only Twilight held herself out, shaking her head in disbelief. 

It was fun, though. Last she heard, they were still finding pockets of left-over pie goo. 

“Pranking the entire town in one go.” Rainbow shook her head. “Nice one, Pinks.”

Pinkie shrugged. “I try.” 

AJ nudged Pinkie with an elbow. “Except it weren’t no prank. She did it for therapy.”

Rainbow blinked. “‘Therapy?’”

Pinkie sat back on her haunches and took a deep breath to exposit the missing details. “Well, every year after the last fall harvest, before Winter Ramp-up, the ponies of Ponyville get all frowny-faced. Remember Golden Harvest’s tantrum at Barnyard Bargains last year?”

“...We all remember her tantrum at Barnyard Bargains last year.” Applejack huffed. 

“Well, everypony’s mood improves once the first snow hits, you know? After I saw Cloudsdale’s weather schedule, I… Well, I took matters into my own hooves. Y’know, try to liven up everypony’s day a little.”    

“Too awesome.” Rainbow chortled. “Pinkie?”

“Yeah, Dashie?”

“Never change. But don’t take matters into your own hooves too often. I don’t think Equestria can handle it.”

“No promises!” Pinkie giggled, before turning back to the large buffet table. The castle attendants were standing ready to serve, but they each seemed to be stifling a smile. Rainbow and Applejack eyed the buffet, then looked at each other, the former speaking up first. 

“So, do we dig in, or wait for Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity?” 

“Augh! That time I was sure we had it!” Starlight Glimmer went on muttering to herself as Spike waited for the smoke to clear within the reinforced blast chamber. 

“Glim, how was that explosion any different than the last eleven?” Spike looked over the residue: one more amethyst, wasted away into ash and smoke. “I knew I shouldn’t have given up my snacks!”

Starlight looked up and gave Spike an apologetic look. “Sorry, Spike. It’s just that Twilight doesn’t keep that many high quality gems around. Your snack stash was the next logical choice.”

Spike sighed, lifting the transparent cover off of the blast chamber and waving a claw to disperse the fumes. Besides the remaining dust of his once juicy amethyst, all that remained were mana scorch marks. “I was gonna snack on that one during our next game of Ogres and Oubliettes! That was the best amethyst I had!” 

“I know, Spike, I know...” Starlight cooed. “And I’m sorry.” She rubbed her chin with a hoof for a few seconds, looking at Spike thoughtfully. “How many more gems do you have?”

“Ohhh, no.” Spike held both claws up. “I’m done with your extermination order against my gem pile. Get your own gems!”

“Ah c’mon Spike!”

Spike only folded his arms and glared back, his bright green eyes glittering with a blink of his nictitating membrane. Starlight only gazed back, but after a few seconds she looked down. “You’re right, of course. I think I owe you a few gems.”

Spike gave a single nod as he watched Starlight turn inward for a moment, still stroking her chin with a hoof. “We’ve tried adjusting the intensity of the beam. We’ve tried the whole gambit of mana frequencies. And then when the frequency started to match, the gem would fracture...”

“Fracture?” Spike muttered. He kept an ear fin angled at Starlight while she continued to think out loud. Keeping his claws busy, he began to pick up the detritus of their days-worth of experiments. Not for the first time he wondered how she talked him into assisting her for the entire day. She had even gone as far as notifying his part-time employer, Applejack, that he would be needed for an essential project at the castle. Really—why was he so essential? So she could have somedragon to bounce ideas off of? Why couldn’t he be tasked instead with spending the whole day helping Rarity?

“I’ve got it!” Glimmer blurted, clopping a hoof against the floor. Spike looked up from the notes and papers he was trying to stuff back into a notebook. “Maybe the problem isn’t with our mana stream—it’s the gems!”

Spike inflicted Starlight with a sharp, raised eyebrow. “Really? First you burn up some of the best gems from my hoard. Now you insult them?”

Starlight didn’t hear him, still looking at her hooves. “Yeah. That has to be it! The gems must’ve been flawed somehow.”

Spike growled. It wasn’t his gems’ fault for exploding if Starlight insisted on bombarding them with a magnified beam of pure magic! “There’s nothing wrong with my gems!”

Startled, Glimmer looked up. “Oh! No no no, of course there isn’t anything wrong, Spike!” 

The air around Starlight suddenly imploded to fill the void where she once stood, a second pop sounding as she appeared next to his arm, gently stroking a hoof along his bicep. “Your gems are perfectly fine! Perfectly marvelous if all one wanted to do is eat them. But to imprint an active magical effect on them? There’s just one mare we need to talk to for answers to that question.”

Folding his arms in front of him, Spike’s tail snapped to the side as he looked down at the cagey mare. “And who might that be? Twilight? Princess Luna? Maybe Dr. Whooves?”

“C’mon, Spike.” Starlight trotted for the door. “We’re gonna pay Maud a visit.”

Spike rolled his eyes and returned to the clutter. “You go have fun. I’ve still got a mess to clean up.”

“What?” Starlight snorted “That’s what the castle staff is for! Why do you insist on taking their work?”

Spike didn’t grace that with a response, starting to sweep the floor around the Twilight’s resonance coil with a pan and broom.

“Ugh!” Starlight punctuated her grunt by stomping her hoof. A small cloud of dust kicked up and swelled as magic spread out in a shimmering field from her hoof and slid along the floor. Spike blinked, the dust wafting through the air in Starlight’s cyan aura until it directed itself into a bin. “I’d really like to get this figured out before Twilight gets back. She’ll be so surprised! Besides, have you ever snacked on any of Maud’s prized specimens?”

“She doesn’t care about crystal. She’s more interested in things like gneiss…” 

“Nice what?”

Spike rolled his eyes. “Gneiss as in the metamorphic rock, not nice as in pleasant. Though If you ask me, it tastes like dirt.”

“Metamorphic—uh, oh yeah, that kind of gneiss, heh heh. She is indeed—interested, I mean.” Starlight went on nodding her head before she suddenly shook it. “In rocks! Ugh, anyway, that means you have to come! If she’s more interested in rocks than crystals, I’m sure she’d part with whatever gem suits your fancy!”

Spike pressed his lips together and swallowed, turning slightly so Starlight wouldn’t notice him starting to salivate. Seriously, that mare was too smart for her own good sometimes. But another nagging thought bubbled its way to the surface. Starlight was the principal for the School of Friendship—normally she was between evaluating teacher performance and  prepping for the coming term at this time of year. He knew she had her motivations about discovering new applications for magic science, but why was she pushing so hard to include him? Was she actually inclined toward him? Could that be why she was in his personal space so much? 

No, that’s ridiculous, Spike. You’re just letting some dragon greed or whatever cloud your judgement. You love Rarity. Starlight couldn’t actually— 

A sudden pop broke that train of thought as Starlight suddenly appeared right in front of him. “Come onnnn! You know, gems?” She reared up on her hooves, planting them on his pectorals while her gaze bored into his. “Dark… hard… shining… faceted… crystalline gems?” Her eyes shone. “Crunchy mouthwatering rubies?”

“Eh... Ah...” Spike turned away from her eyes, breaking the spell and letting her forehooves clop back down on the floor. “Emeralds are my favorite, actually… And how would you know anything about how they taste?” 

Starlight just gave him the Big, Blinking, Tragic Eyes Attack. His will save had a -4 modifier versus those kind of mental effects from cute mares. “Okay, okay! I’ll come!”

Starlight’s grin expanded until it looked like the top half of her head might lose cohesion with the bottom. “That’s what I like to hear! We’re going to solve this riddle yet! And I have some idea about emeralds because I tried licking one once. Hot.”

“What—”

“C’mon, you gem-powered reptile!”

Hard-packed clay textured with loose gravel crunched underhoof as Spike made his way through the cavern. For some reason, Starlight had not lit her horn. His dragon eyesight spotted the gems embedded in the dark walls with perfect clarity, but as for Starlight? She kept veering off course and bumping into his thigh. Spike rolled his eyes. Starlight was a smart mare; she could use her own light source at any time. 

“You okay there, Starlight? You can light your own horn, you know.”

“Oh, I know. But this is kind of... nice.”

“Nice in that you can’t see where you are going, or nice in that you keep running into my leg?” Spike looked down at her. He thought he caught a glimpse of her wincing before her face returned to its flat expression. What was the deal with this mare? “Or gneiss as in that rock formation over there—” He pointed, but then paused. “Wait, you can’t see it.” 

“Oh, hah hah…” Starlight replied, before she gave a little gasp. “Oh look, Spike! Light! Maud’s Grotto should be just up ahead!” She trotted forward at a faster pace, following the new source of light. 

“Um, what about me being your guide?”

Starlight ignored him, the sound of cascading water growing steadily louder as she continued to outpace him. Eventually they came to the cave opening—as enchanting as Spike remembered it. A gently hued lavender pavilion tent was anchored in place over a raised table of rock, overlooking various pools and rock formations down below. Maud, who was reclining on a Chesterfield and turning a page in a book held in her hooves, noticed their approach. Before Maud set the book down, Spike caught a glimpse of the cover: Stand-up Comedy Abroad: How to Entertain More than just Ponies! 

Maud sat up and slid off of the Chesterfield, straightening her smock before regarding them with what appeared to be a politely disinterested expression. However, Spike had known Maud long enough to pick up on the subtle cues she tended to give when excited. In this instance, her eyebrows were turned up just a fraction of an inch. 

“Hey Maud!” Starlight chirped. “How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been well.” She turned her neutral expression towards Spike as he caught up to Starlight under the canopy roof of the pavilion. Maud’s eyes widened just slightly, and she blinked. “Hi, Spike. Nice to see you again.” Her head cocked slightly to the side. “You’ve gotten big.”

“Have I?” Spike grinned at Maud’s blunt observation. “I hadn’t noticed.” Maud huffed in amusement as Spike turned to Starlight and folded his arms in mock annoyance. “Why am I always the last to know? What else are you not telling me?”

Starlight blinked at Spike’s totally serious question before punching him in the shoulder. “You doofus.” Smiling impishly, she turned back to Maud. “But he’s my doofus for the day. Anyway, Spike and I have a question, and I think you might be the best pony for the job.”

“I don’t think I’m the most experienced to advise you in matters of love.”

Starlight’s cheeks colored just a bit, a breathy laugh escaping her toothy grin. “Oh, that isn’t it at all! No no no no! Heh heh… love. Psh! We’re here to ask about rocks!”

Maud looked back to Spike for a second, before shrugging and looking back to Starlight. “Okay. What do you want to know?”

Starlight opened her mouth but then hesitated, looking around at the various chairs and tables in Maud’s pavilion. “Actually… I have a lot of questions. Could we sit for a bit?”

Maud had been looking at her pet rock for some time. “Nopony ever believed me when I talked about combining magic with rocks.” After a moment she peered up at Starlight through her bangs.

“I thought you were messing with me! You were talking about ruling all of Equestria with the right type of stone, what was I supposed to think?”

One corner of Maud’s mouth twitched upwards. “Maybe I was messing with you. Just a little. After all, I am known as somepony with a rather biting and sarcastic wit.”

Spike tried not to smile. It was so hard to tell when Maud was being serious. Looking over to Starlight, he found her biting her lip. Maud got up and trotted over to a pair of massive cisterns beyond the edge of the pavilion. The top of each cistern was level with the pavilion floor, and were filled with sand and a few large crystals of indigo, lavender, and pink resting on top. Maud lifted one out and carried it back to her seat. “This crystal is magic.”

Spike’s eyes widened. He looked over to Starlight again, who was now leaning forward in her seat. “Really?” she squeaked. Starlight lifted the orthorhombic structure in her magic. “What does it do?”

“It drinks water.”

“...?”

“I found this while travelling Equestria for my rock dissertation. I was exploring a desert south of Las Ungulates when I came across a rather very powerful thaumic leyline. Many crystals were growing near the leyline’s outlet, and seemed to be interacting with the magic there.” Maud ran a hoof down the side of the crystal. “Somehow, these crystals took on the properties of their surrounding environment.”

“Properties?” Starlight sounded breathless. “What sort of properties?”

“Osmosis. The climate of this grotto is normally above 80% humidity, as you would find most limestone formation caves. Unfortunately, high humidity wreaks havoc on some of my experiments, not to mention my mane, so I placed several of these around the borders of my pavilion to absorb the extra moisture in the air.”

Spike lifted a finger. “Um, what about the cave? If you dry out the humidity, wouldn’t that interrupt ongoing cave formations?”

“Very good, Spike.” Maud gave a little smile. “A drake after my own heart.” Starlight gave a huff. “That is why I placed crystals like those over there.” She pointed a hoof at some deep green crystals, placed at regular intervals along some of the nearby flowstone formations. “Those crystals do the opposite.”

“Well.” Starlight broke in. “As fascinating as your humidifying and dehumidifying crystals are, you should try locking them all in a little box to see who would win.”

Maud blinked. 

“But unfortunately it doesn’t prove any of me and Spike’s theories.”

“Maybe not,” Maud said. “But it does suggest an affinity. I don’t see why crystals couldn’t interact more strongly to a direct beam of mana.” 

“Then why do my gems keep exploding?” Spike protested. “Starlight Gem-slayer Glimmer has taken a sizable bite out of my collection.” 

Starlight made a sound in the back of her throat, her cheeks coloring slightly. “It wasn’t that many!” She waited for a reply, but Spike just folded his arms. “Okay, okay! I said I’d replace them! With interest—how does that sound?”

“Interest, eh?” Spike rubbed his hands together for a moment. “Nothing lower than 49%.”

“What?” Starlight yelled. 

Spike snickered, laughing into a claw before pointing at her. “Gotcha.” 

“Geeze. Such a dragon…”

“I have a good idea why they are exploding,” interrupted Maud.

For the fourth or fifth time, Starlight and Spike sat up and leaned over the edge of their seats. Without further preamble, Maud slipped out of her seat again and walked over to a chest positioned at the foot of her bed. After rummaging around in it for a few seconds, her derriere shifting back and forth under her smock, she came out with a small box on one hoof. Returning to the table, she opened it and fished out a rather expensive looking loupe, with multiple lenses that could be swiveled into place in front of the main objective lens. Maud held it up for Starlight to hold in her magic, and then retrieved one of her water-drinking crystals from one of the cisterns nearby. Taking the loupe back from Starlight, she activated an overhead lamp and began studying the crystal through the lens. After a moment, she paused before swinging down two additional magnifying lenses from their hinges. 

“Here.” She left a hoof on the crystal and passed the loupe back to Starlight. “If you look closely, this crystal has no major flaws. The largest that I can determine is only about 200 micrometers wide. I’m willing to bet that if you examined Spike’s gems, their flaws would be significantly larger.”

“All you mares keep dissing on my jewels,” Spike grumbled. Starlight and Maud both stared at him, startled, before they started breaking into snickers. Spike sat back and rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Continue.”

“If you’ll follow me to the entry, we can look for some good candidates for your experiments. I have a couple of spare loupes.”

“How about a few candidates for my snack stash?”

“Well, thank you for waiting for me, Darlings!”

“Oh think nothing of it,” Fluttershy said. “We couldn’t very well leave for the castle if your train arrived only a few minutes later.”

“Absolutely.” Discord chuckled, reaching an arm around the yellow pegasus and pulling her close. “Besides, if we went on ahead, who would be left to switch up your color swatches or blindfold all of your needles!”

“Don’t you lay a claw on my... what, blindfold? Why would you—?” Rarity stopped, shaking her head to clear it before looking from Fluttershy to Twilight. “Putting aside the chaos that this one is ever-so-lovingly threatening my business with… didn’t Flutters break it off with him? For good?”

“Hmph. I’m right here, you know.”

The train behind Rarity gave three blasts of it’s whistle before all of the cabin doors began to close, each accompanied by a metallic bang. Twilight waited until the noise died down again, leaving the four of them to awkwardly stare at each other for a few moments. “Well… I know we just discussed this over tea two days ago, but something happened.” Twilight smiled, looking back over to the happy couple. “Why don’t you ask Discord about his key?”

“His key?” Rarity peered over the rims of her blue-tinted tortoiseshell glasses to glare at the draconequus for a moment. “I’m not seeing any key. Only a look of—don’t you touch that!” Discord had plucked Rarity’s prized ushanka hat from atop her coiffed mane, leaving a few strands of mane startled and standing up at weird angles. 

“But I can’t help it!” he pressed his mis-matched claws to his face, nuzzling the fox-brown hat with his muzzle. “It’s just so cute and fuzzy!”

Rarity gave him a withering look before he finally relented and plopped it back down on her head. Before she could scold Discord for snatching a lady’s hat, Twilight drew her attention with a pointing hoof. “Look there, Rarity.”

Around Fluttershy’s graceful neck was a simple, unassuming key. Its color was somewhere between Fluttershy’s coat color and Rarity’s own off-white,  hung by a delicate chain. 

“A key?” Rarity sneered. “How… romantic.”

Fluttershy lifted a hoof and pawed at the key with a delicate touch. “It is a rather precious gift, Rarity.”

“Oh? How so?” Rarity looked again, her experienced eyes appraising the bauble—no rare metals, no jewels, not even a novel design. Such a thing couldn’t be worth more than a couple of bits. She turned to Discord. Maybe she wasn’t showing much generosity, but Fluttershy’s relationship with him had been anything but smooth over the past couple of years. She was hoping Flutters had finally broken it off for good, but now, somehow they had come to some sort of new understanding?

“And how is this key precious, hm? It looks like nothing more than a toy you could pull out of a box of Wonderbolt Crunch.” Rarity’s voice dripped with a tinge of venom. Uncouth of her? Yes, but somepony needed to stick up for Fluttershy.  “Isn’t Fluttershy worth just a little more than a trinket?” 

“Rarity.” 

Startled by Fluttershy’s piercingly quiet tone, Rarity’s head snapped back to her friend. One look at Fluttershy’s reproachful gaze left her feeling cold and empty. “I… I’m sorry, Darling…” She sat down on the well-used train station floor, heaving a deep, cleansing sigh. She began again, her voice subdued. “I should very much like to hear about this most special key.”

“Thank you, Rarity.” Fluttershy gave a pleasant smile before pointing a wing at Canterlot Castle, several blocks distant. “But why don’t we do that while we make our way to the meeting?”

“Agreed.” Rarity stood back up and began to make for the outside street. “A train station is hardly a place to discuss such matters.” She was brought up short, her muzzle scrunching as a colorful paper carton was held under her nose, wafting distinctly of carnival fare. Her eyes followed the paper carton and the mis-matched arm that held it back up to the taller draconequus.

He swallowed what he was chewing and grinned. “Popcorn?”

“You’re right, of course.” Rarity capitulated. “It was a grand and noble sacrifice that he made.”

Fluttershy smiled sadly, stroking the key for a second. “I wasn’t comfortable with Discord’s choice, but I understand why he did it. The nature of his powers make it difficult for him to keep them in check, especially if he grows worried about me…” She looked back into his face. “...or lonely.”

“Ugh.” Discord plopped a hand over his eyes. “Don’t make me sound so needy, Flutters.”

She giggled. “Oh, of course not. You are a big, strong, independent draconequus, after all. Just as chaotic as ever.”

Discord sighed. “Your snark is improving every day, dear. Anyway, that’s the whole story. I never realized just how controlling I was being until Cadence erhm... illuminated me, I guess you could say. So I sealed off a good portion of my powers and gave them to Flutters for safekeeping. She gets to keep my powers in check, and I get to keep… her.”

“And there you go!” Twilight grinned. “You have to admit that’s kind of romantic, right Rarity?” 

“I…” Rarity squinted, frowning at the approaching castle for a moment. “It’s not romantic at all! It’s… desperate! It’s drastic! Permanent, even!”

“It’s perfect.” Fluttershy cooed, fluttering up and nuzzling Discord’s nose as he blushed. 

Twilight merely chuckled under her breath. “Meanwhile, while those two were figuring out their relationship problems, Discord missed the single most cathartic and chaotic event in Ponyville since…” she furrowed her brow, scratching behind an ear for a second. “...well, at least since last Wednesday, anyway. It was a pie fight to end all pie fights.”

Discord’s eyes became large and watery. “Pie fight? Without me?!” He flipped upside down and arched his back, leaning over backward to hang a teabag from Twilight’s horn. “I think you need to spill the tea.”

The Lunar Doorguard snapped to attention, holding his salute while a Solar Doorguard pushed the doors open, taking his position just inside and bringing a hoof up to his muzzle. “Princesses and honored guests!” He began. Twilight could tell he loved his job very much. The eyes of Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and the rest of the Elements of Harmony were on them as they smiled on seeing their friends. 

“Announcing: Princess Twilight Sparkle and Elements of Generosity and Kindness!” The guard returned to a position of perfect attention, snapping off a proud salute again as the group made their way past him, each thanking him in turn. Fluttershy was the last to enter the room, but the guard’s eyes widened as she made her way past. Discord, who had downsized himself to the current stature of a mole rat, was hitching a ride on the back of Fluttershy’s mane and giving the Solar Guard a jocular wave. 

“—And also announcing Discord, The Interlocking Banana Comb of Chaos!” The guard stopped, horrified before vigorously shaking his head. “That is NOT what I intended to say! I meant to say hairpin! That is… Barrette! Scrunchy! Urgh!” The poor guard clopped a hoof to his throat, his armor suddenly clattering against the wall behind him as he reared back in panic. He was probably hoping he could get his words back under control if he beat his vocal cords into submission. 

Fluttershy reached a hoof up to her mane, bopping Discord on the head. “Be nice, Disky!”

“Nice? But that was perfect!” Discord chortled. He leaped off the back of Fluttershy’s mane and gave a bow, now that all eyes were on him, filling out as he did so until he was back to his usual size. “My apologies, ponies of the court!”

Celestia’s smile never wavered as she strolled over from the dessert table where she had been talking with a bouncing Pinkie Pie. “This is an informal gathering, Discord. If you want to address the court, you’ll have to go several doors further in until you reach the throne room.”  She bowed down, nuzzling Twilight’s ear before greeting Rarity and Fluttershy respectively. “Why don’t you four get something to eat? The briefing will begin shortly.” She turned and walked up to a podium that wasn’t standing there a minute ago. Castle staff were busy retreating as a few dignitaries came out from a side door, some of them in uniform. As the dignitaries took positions to either side of the podium, Luna stepped forward to address the assembly, waiting a minute for some unseen cue.  

“Welcome, friends. Thank you for coming so promptly to our call.” Her horn flared, magically reducing the light in the room while Celestia came up alongside her and also lit her horn. After a moment, several images were projected in front of her. 

“We’ll get straight to the point,” Celestia began. “There might be a developing situation in Eastern Equestria, and I want it contained before it begins to spin out of control,” Celestia began. Luna gave an almost imperceptible snort, before Celestia backed up to amend her statement. “We want it contained before it begins to spin out of control.” An image of the Manehattan Library illuminated the room, but after a moment, the view changed, zooming quickly in through the front doors, whisking past desks and library patrons until stopping in front of a mare sitting at a desk. Other than books piled all over the top, a name plaque was displayed off to one side, emblazoned in gold filigree, reading: Moonlight Sigil, Assistant Head Librarian. 

“Two days ago, some time around noon in Manehattan, this librarian was magically attacked. We do not know the motivation, nor can we determine the weapon or spell. We also do not have accurate information on the current whereabouts of the ponies believed responsible.” Celestia stepped to the side as she went on, her horn’s light flickering as new images were displayed. “However, some of our best agents are on the case.” 

Two ponies were displayed side by side; to the left a unicorn with a wild raspberry-colored mane style stood proudly in a smart overcoat that could’ve been designed by Rarity. On the other side, facing him with a cocky smirk, a turquoise-blue pegasus was standing with a windblown mane. Twilight was unsurprised to find that she recognized the two from their altercation the previous night in front of the Fillydelphia police station. Rainbow Dash gave a hushed ‘all right!’ while at the same time, Luna snorted in disdain. 

The noise drew Celestia’s attention for a moment. “Something you wish to add, Rainbow?”

“Only that you’ve got my favorite cousin on the case!” Rainbow gushed. “Go get ‘em, Cirrus!” At that, Rainbow had drawn Luna’s gaze, her expression quite blank. 

“Not to be disrespectful,” Twilight chimed in, “but I hope those two can demonstrate a better ability to work together in harmony than what was displayed last night. They were about ready to tear each other’s heads off before I stepped in to intervene.” 

“Indeed?” Celestia’s smile revealed nothing. Princess Luna was now staring at the back of her sister’s head. Her expression remained blank. “Luna and I will have to review their latest report.” Without anything further on the subject, Celestia changed the images that were on display. 

The new image displayed a powder blue earth pony mare with a mischievous smile and a dark teal mane. “The mare you see here, Meadow Lark, is a cousin of Coco Pommel, whom you have met before.” 

Rarity murmured something under her breath. 

“Now, before you think the worst of Ms. Lark, our theory is that she might be under some kind of control by the prime suspect.” The image swapped out, replaced with a slightly blurred image of a pony galloping away from a few police officers. The picture had been taken from a vantage point above and had been zoomed in a great deal. It was grainy at best. The mare was obviously a unicorn, but her cutie mark was obscured by the cloak she was wearing. The mare had a charcoal gray mane, tipped with a yellow fringe. 

“This is the best picture we have of the subject. This pony was spotted around the Manehattan Library at the time of the attack, evaded the Manehattan Police with a rather impressive teleportation range, and has now been spotted in the vicinity of more recent events being reported in Fillydelphia. 

Rainbow Dash’s voice piped up again. “So you want us to scout around and look for the yellow mare? And what the heck happened in Fillydelphia?”

“I’ll let Colonel Cocoa fill you in on Fillydelphia,” Celestia replied. “But for now, it is being left to our agents. I have a different task for you and your friends—a task that only the Elements of Harmony can do.” 

“That’s more like it!” Rainbow crowed, flapping into the air. “Whose face do we get to kick in? Nopony attacks innocent librarians of Equestria and gets away with it—just ask Tirek! Right Twilight?” 

“Uh…”

Luna picked up where Celestia left off, saving Twilight from having to answer. “We need your abilities with Moonlight Sigil, now under sedation in a wing of the Canterlot Hospital.” Luna let that sink in for a moment. When Rainbow’s hooves met the floor, she continued. “My sister and I have tried our deepest magics to heal the mare, and we have failed. Now we hear there are more ponies, including two custodians of the Fillydelphia Convention Center, and a psychologist from the Manehatten Medical Center, all under the same magical effect. They’re all being transported here as we speak.”  

“That’s… that’s awful!” Fluttershy murmured. 

“Indeed, Kindness. But that isn’t the worst,” Luna intoned. She looked across the assembled ponies, and gathered herself with a breath. “I went into Moonlight’s mind. What I found there has me deeply concerned.”

“What is it?” Twilight asked. “What did you find?” 

The Lunar princess looked to her sister for a moment before returning her gaze to Twilight, her eyes mirroring a strange intensity. “We found something ancient… and familiar.”