Within the barrier, one could almost think everything was normal... if not for the fact that everything had a pink hue to it from the shield and the slight feeling of worry from the ponies. That feeling, though, wasn’t very strong. It was obvious they trusted their princesses to keep them safe.
That made sense, though. I mean, she was a super powerful alicorn that could throw the sun around. She had to be a bad ass in a fight, right? Heck, after four seasons, I’m sure she kicked her fair share of ass in the show. Especially when the changelings attacked.
Man, I really wish I had at least finished season two.
Anyway, soon enough we arrived at the castle. The guard presence was higher here, too, but not as high as at the barrier.
As we finally entered the palace, we were greeted by quite the welcoming committee. Not only was Celestia waiting to greet up, but so, too, was Luna, Abes, and Shining Armor.
“Welcome back to Canterlot, Empress Ember, Emperor Luke,” Celestia said, that twinkle in her eye told me she had been looking forward to greeting us like that.
“Yes, we have been looking forward to opening diplomatic ties with the newest empire,” Luna added, doing a good job of hiding her tiredness.
“We’ve been looking forward to it, too,” Ember said. “Plus, I’m kind of curious about what a ‘wedding’ actually is. Luke tried to explain it, but it just sounds weird to me. Why have some big ceremony to be mates? Just find somewhere secluded and get to banging.”
Even the ever unflappable Celestia blushed a little at that as she tried to explain, “There is a bit more to it than that. Think of it as going a step beyond mere mates. It is an oath of loyalty to one another, to love, cherish, and protect each other.”
Ember raised a brow at that. “You need a ceremony for that?”
“The ceremony is more of a celebration of the oath than a requirement for it,” Luna clarified.
“Huh...” Ember said before nudging me in the side with an elbow. “Why couldn’t you explain it like that?”
“I don’t have over a thousand years of experience in talking to folks?” I ventured.
“Fair enough,” Ember shrugged.
I gave Shining a deadpan look. “This is what you’re signing up for.”
He chuckled. “I look forward to it.”
“So, when’s the mad scientist you call your sister and her cronies supposed to arrive, anyway?” I asked. “Or are they already here, and they’re just too good to say, hello?”
Shining chuckled. “Nah, they haven’t gotten here yet. I’m not actually sure when they will, either. Twillie hasn’t gotten back to me, yet.”
That was unlike her. “When did you send the invitation?”
“It was... um... It... was...” His eyes shot wide. “Oh no.”
He suddenly turned and ran off repeating, “Crud, crud, crud!”
We watched the stallion run down the hall until he turned a corner.
“So, I take it the reception will be moved to the infirmary?” I said with a smirk.
Celestia shook her head. “Let’s hope it’s not ICU.”
After that amusing welcome, we all went our separate ways. Ember went with Celestia to talk trade agreements, while Smolder went to the infirmary to see how Garble was recovering.
While they did that, Abes and I walked around the palace grounds. He said he had something he wanted to talk to me about.
“So... ‘Emperor’ Luke?” Abes said with a snortle. “Man, I never thought one of us would ever become royalty.”
“Like you?” I returned. “Or did you forget that I’m not the only one here to bed a princess?”
“Yeah, well... We aren’t going to be announcing our relationship any time soon,” Abes said, clearly upset even without my aura sense. “Remember, we’re still seen as animals. Intelligent animals, but still animals. Luna can’t be seen debasing herself with a beast.”
“Hey, that’s just because you can’t communicate with anyone, yet,” I reminded. “Once Lyra and Vinyl figure out that translator device, you’ll be good.”
He sighed. “Here’s to hoping. Anyway, that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“I figured as much,” I said. “I was just waiting for you to get to the point.”
Abes took a breath before speaking. “I will, but I need to see something, first.”
He gestured toward a path around the mountain. I hadn’t even realized we had left the palace grounds. At the end of that path was what looked like a mine entrance.
“Am I being put to work?” I said in jest.
“No, just something I want to test. Come on, follow me,” he said, cryptically.
I looked around as we approached. It was obvious this mine hadn’t been used in a very, very long time. I had to wonder what they mined here and why it was abandoned.
“Come on,” Abes said, walking through the threshold, into the mine.
I sighed, following after. The tunnel was just like any other mine shaft. It was cramped, even I had to hunch, as short as I was. Even ponies would have had trouble standing up straight, unicorns especially.
Regardless, the tunnel didn’t go very far. After maybe a hundred feet the tunnel suddenly opened up into a large, crystal lined chamber.
“Holy... this place is amazing,” I whispered to myself.
My eyes darted from crystal to crystal. Most looked like quartz, but there were a few other types. Of course, I wasn’t a geologist, but I could see light purple, and a couple pale green ones, too.
“Come on, it’s a little deeper,” Abes said.
I walked in deeper until I was suddenly hit with a strange sense of vertigo. “Whoa.” I stumbled and fell to my knees. It felt like the time Ember grabbed one of my head thingies, only without the pain.
“Hey, you okay?” Abes asked.
“I’m not sure. It’s like I was hit by a flashbang, but to my aura sense,” I explained.
Abes looked around at the various crystals, humming in thought. “That might have just confirmed one of my theories. Here, climb on.”
He offered his back to me. He was probably slightly larger than me, though that would only really be noticeable if I were on all fours or if he was upright, but my bones made me quite a bit heavier.
“Can you even carry me?” I asked. “I’m not light.”
He thought about it. “Put a paw around me, then.”
I did so and he led me out of the mine. By the time we came back out into the light I had recovered.
“What was that?” I asked.
“I didn’t think that would happen so early,” Abes said. “It didn’t mess with me until I went a lot further.”
“You knew that would happen?” I asked, a little irritated.
“I didn’t know, and I figured if it happened it would have been further in,” Abes explained. “Those crystals give off energy of some kind, and I think they interact with us the same way type energy does. I didn’t feel anything until I got deeper and came across some pale blue ones.”
“So, why even go down there in the first place?” I asked.
Abes was silent for a moment. I could feel his uncertainty as he debated with himself. “I’m going to tell you something, but you need to swear to listen to everything I say before you do anything.”
I gave him a suspicious look. “It’s something I’m not going to like.”
“No, it isn’t, but it’s something that has to happen,” Abes said.
“This is about ‘preserving the timeline’, isn’t it?” I said, irritated.
“I know you disagree with it but this time it has to happen just as it did in the show,” Abes said.
“Oh, and where were you in the show? Where were any pokemon? Why can’t you get that this isn’t the show. That timeline doesn’t apply here.” I said, trying to be patient.
“Because this time, if it doesn’t, Cadence will likely die,” he said.
“Explain,” I demanded.
“The changeling queen has replaced her and imprisoned her in those mines,” he said, pointing to the shaft behind us. “Those mines are a maze spanning hundreds of miles. Not only that, but if it happens as it did in the show, she’s being kept in a sealed off chamber. Searching for her, even with hundreds of us, would take weeks. She would be dead by then. If things progress as they did in the show, though, Twilight will be sent down there and together they’ll find a way out.”
He took a deep breath and sat down heavily. “I took you down there in the hopes that the crystals wouldn’t affect you like they did me. Then, if things didn’t go as they were supposed to, you could find her.”
“But I can’t,” I said, my anger withering away.
“Which means Cadence’s only hope is that things go exactly as it did in the show,” Abes said, solemnly.
I tried to think of some other way. My first thought was to organize a search party, claiming some foals wandered in. Then I realized that if the changeling queen was here others would have been replaced as well. Any search party would probably be infiltrated by them and they would ensure she wasn’t found.
My second thought was to just out her, but how? If those that know her don’t think anything is wrong why would they believe someone that barely knows her?
I growled. “Fine, I guess we’ll have to let things progress like the show, but once it’s past that, I’m squishing that bug.”
“Actually, I was hoping you would stay in the city,” Abes said.
“Why?” I asked, a little irritated.
“Because we’re sure we can keep things in the palace on track, and if not we can help there,” Abes explained. “However, the city will need protecting, and you, Ember, and Smolder can do more good there.”
“You just don’t want me interrupting your timeline,” I said with a flat look.
“Yes and no,” Abes said. “Look, I agree with you that preserving the timeline is probably doomed, but we have contingencies.”
I shook my head. I didn’t want to argue about this. “Fine. So, if their queen is Cadence, I’ll probably be able to tell. Changelings are a void of aura to me.”
“That makes sense,” Abes said. “Aura is tied to emotions and they feed on emotions. That means they likely feed on aura, so they’d absorb it.”
“Which would explain why I can’t sense them,” I continued his train of thought. “They have aura, like every living thing, but since they absorb it, they don’t radiate it for me to sense.”
“That means you have to stay away from Cadence,” Abes said. “You said you encountered one here in disguise. That means they probably know about your aura sense and that you can’t sense them. It would be suspicious if you were near Cadence and pretended you didn’t notice.”
I nodded. “Yeah. If I do run into her, I’ll improvise something. If she’s as clever as one would think a shapeshifter would be she would already have an explanation as to why I can’t sense her.”
“Most likely,” Abes said before yawning. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I'm going to bed. It’s late for me, and I have to go to Ponyville. I want to be there when Twilight gets her invitation.”
“Alright. I’ll see you this evening, then,” I said.
“Remember, let things happen as they do, for now,” Abes reminded.
I grunted. “I will, but I want to know exactly how the episode plays out. The moment it starts going differently, I’m stepping in.”
“Only if it goes differently enough that things can’t play out,” Abes said.
I reluctantly nodded and Abes melted into the shadows and shot away.
I was let into the meeting room that Ember and Celestia were talking in. Blueblood was already there, too.
“Ah, there he is,” the prince said as I came in. “I hope you enjoyed catching up with your friend.”
“I did. So, what did I miss?” I asked.
“We were discussing the trade and acquisition of building materials and skilled workers,” Celestia said.
“A few ponies that know how to do stuff are going to teach some dragons how to do it,” Ember continued. “That way we won’t be a bunch of useless idiots anymore.”
“And what are you getting out of it?” I asked. “I apologize if that sounds rude, but we don’t exactly have much to trade, as of yet.”
Celestia smiled. “It isn’t rude at all. Think of this as an investment for the future. We help you now and when you are a self sufficient nation with a working economy of your own we shall have yet another ally with whom to trade. A small investment now for long term gains.”
“Now that Luke’s here, he had an idea that I think might help us dragons become less jerky,” Ember said.
“Oh? Something you would need our help with, I take it,” Celestia asked.
I smirked. “Tell me, have you ever heard of something called a ‘foreign exchange program’?”