//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Chasing Ghosts // Story: Return of the Ancient Mage // by Zoshe //------------------------------// Princess Luna felt groggy the following day as she pulled herself out of bed. This was the second day in a row she had gotten up much earlier than normal and all the excitement last night hadn't helped either. The enjoyable evening she had spent with her big sister had somehow ended with unscheduled thunderstorms starting up over Canterlot. Even after the pegasus she had been chasing slipped away in all the confusion, she still felt the need to go exploring the astral plane in hopes to learn something more. She was a bit more cautious when she approached the oaken door this time, but she needn't have bothered. The door was tightly bound with additional layers of protection and no amount of prodding would divulge any more of its secrets. Luna once again made her way to her sister's study. Like before, her sister Celestia was looking bright and cheerful as she tended to the more boring tasks of ruling a kingdom. "Oh!" Celestia said with surprise as she saw Luna enter. "Good afternoon, Luna. You're up early." Luna groaned as she sat down. A maid quickly rushed in to serve Luna a cup of coffee before she had a chance to say more. She considered the cup for a moment and took a long drink of the steaming beverage before starting. "Yesterday, as I'm sure you already know, was quite exhausting." "It was fun though, right?" Said Celestia, smiling. "I've always wondered what it would be like to go shopping with my little sister and now that I have, I can't wait for the next time." She set down whatever document she was working on and looked at her excitedly. "So... Don't keep me in suspense. How did it go with you and that young pegasus after I left?" How could her sister have the audacity to ask such a question?! "How did it go?" Luna's ire caused Celestia's smile to falter a bit. "How did it go?! Thou picked the absolute worst time to depart. Maybe if the prospective suitor had romance on the mind, thy absence would hath been justified. Hast thou not received a report upon the morn about the conflict that started after you left nor the storm that followed overhead?" Celestia's eyes went wide with shock as Luna continued describing the events that had transpired when Storm Chaser approached her. The only detail she left out was when he kissed her, her sister didn't need to know that and Luna was still confused about what he meant by emotional blackmail. "Your help would have been invaluable in apprehending him," she said at last. "I doubt he would have escaped with both of us there." Celestia's face narrowed with concern as she parsed her sister's account of what happened last night. She began to rummage through the stacks of paper on her desk, her worrying expression growing by the moment. "If what you say is true, I wish I had been there." Luna was incensed. She spread her wings as she puffed out her chest, "sister! Thou canst not believe that we would speak a falsehood on these matters." "Calm down, Luna. I believe you. It's just... Here. Take a look." Celestia held out a form she had eventually dug out from the bottom of her stack of papers. Luna took the parchment, still annoyed at her sister, believing that nothing she would read would calm her down right now. She quickly read through the sheet, seeing that it was a weather report regarding last night's storm and the efforts to clean it up afterwards. What caught her attention was who signed it. "Captain Spitfire?" Luna questioned. "It says nothing here about how the storm actually started." "And that worries me," Celestia's concerned look didn't go away. "That's the only paperwork I've gotten from her this morning. Even though she loves putting on a show and making things flashy, she's a bit of a stickler about following the rules and having her paperwork in order. That's what really got her the position she's in. She would never leave out details like the ones you mentioned, even if it makes her and her squad look bad." "Something is not right," Luna said as she turned towards the door. "Where are you going?" Celestia called after her. "I won't be able to sleep soundly without getting to the bottom of this. I'm hoping that Captain Spitfire might have some of the answers we seek," she said. "Ok, just be careful," said Celestia as she went back to looking through her desk. "I'll check with a few of my other sources, but I have no idea what we're dealing with." "I don't know what you expect me to say, your highness." Spitfire said as she looked over the paperwork that Princess Luna had presented her with. "Everything that happened was just as it was written in my report." "That cannot be though," Luna was feeling a bit distraught. "Surely thou remembers the conflict with Storm Chaser and the fate that befell Soarin." "Well I recognize the name Storm Chaser." Spitfire gave it some thought. "Our squad was running drills when we spotted him playing with the wind currents above the city. None of us had ever seen anything like what he was doing." "We remember you said something of that nature to him at, what was the place called again?" She tried to remember the name of the place her and sister had visited. "Ah yes, The Electric Pegasus." Spitfire looked at her strangely, "you were there last night?" Luna began to feel a chill run down her spine. Something about all of this didn't feel right. "We are sure of it. We saw Storm Chaser talking with all three of you before everything happened." "I'm pretty sure it was just me, Soarin, and Fleetfoot there last night." Spitfire was beginning to look uncomfortable with the direction of this conversation. "I mean, we invited Storm Chaser to join us, but he turned us down." "Art thee truly saying that thou retains no memory of the thorough trouncing that thee received last night?" Luna questioned. Spitfire looked doubly confused, but for a different reason, "forgive me your highness, but I didn't get any of that?" Luna took a deep breath to calm herself, realizing that she had fallen too much into the old dialect. "Do you not remember the fight where you got your flanks thoroughly kicked?" She thought she said that right. "I think I would've remembered losing a fight," she strained her memory as she tried to recall. "All I remember was that we had a night on the town, we drank a few drinks, danced poorly, and Soarin left early cause he wasn't feeling well. After that, we saw the unscheduled storm and worked with the weather teams to get it under control." Luna settled back into her seat before taking a few deep breaths. There's no way she dreamt this all up, is there? "Where is Soarin now?" She finally asked. "Probably still sleeping off a hangover. Why?" Said Spitfire. "We would like to ascertain his condition before we even consider dropping our inquiry," she said. "We remember his condition quite well, He was unconscious and drained of his magic." "Well he's got an apartment here in Canterlot," Spitfire got up from her desk. "I can take you there." "You don't have to trouble yourself. I'm sure you have other duties to attend to," said Luna. "Nothing's more important than making sure my friends and fellow Wonderbolts are ok," she snapped. "And nothing's going to stop me from making sure Soarin's ok after what you just told me." "Very well," said Luna stepping aside and letting the captain pass. "Lead on." They flew over the damp rooftops of the city. Here and there they could spot scattered branches and flooded lawns from last night's storm. No matter how she looked at it, it really did seem farfetched that all of this could've been caused by a single pegasus. Spitfire guided her to a landing beside an ordinary building in a suburban part of the city. The place wasn't particularly big and just had a simple blue door leading in and out of the unit. "Soarin lives here?" She looked at the place questioningly. "Can't Wonderbolts afford better accommodations?" "We can, but it can be a lot of hassle when we're on tour." Spitfire stepped up to the door and knocked. "Usually we just stay in the barracks. I think Soarin just needed some place to get away every once in a while." A few moments later, they heard the distinct sound of the door unlatching itself before swinging open. If Luna had ever doubted herself more than she did at that moment, she couldn't think of when it could be. For as the door swung open, standing there in front of them was Soarin himself. They must've caught him half asleep cause it took a moment for him to register who was in front of him. However, once he did notice, he quickly straightened up and gave a quick salute. "Princess Luna. Captain Spitfire." Soarin saluted them both even while having a confused look on his face. "Is there something wrong?" "At ease," said Spitfire. "I'm just here following a lead. May we come in?" Soaring relaxed a bit but then immediately cringed, "it's kinda messy in here." His eyes shot to Luna for a moment. "We wouldn't wish to intrude on your personal dwellings," Luna was feeling particularly disheartened at this point. Had she just dreamed everything from last night after all? "I'm afraid I must insist," Spitfire said while staying very professional. Soarin opened the door the rest of the way, "as long as you don't mind the mess." "We won't be staying long," Spitfire nodded as she let herself inside while Luna had to duck slightly to do the same. The space inside was mostly vacant. Luna had been led to believe that the so called 'bachelor pad' would be pretty cozy and comfortable, however this was missing any sort of furniture. All they found inside was a bunch of boxes and empty cartons of instant noodles strewn about. "It's kinda empty in here," Spitfire observed. "Yeah, you caught me at a bad time," Soarin rubbed the back of his head. "This is the last of the things I needed before the move. This is my last day here." "I see," she said as she looked back and forth through the mostly empty room. "Can I ask what you're looking for?" Soarin looked at her curiously. "I received a report that you had been injured recently," she said, skirting the truth slightly. "However nothing had been properly filed so I decided to check up on you myself." "Well as you can see, I'm perfectly fine," Soarin straightened up, only to immediately wince and hold his head. "Well, except for the hangover, but I kinda expected that after last night." Spitfire nodded, "I see. Sorry to bother you. Good luck with the rest of your move." She turned to leave and Luna made to follow. Spitfire made it a few steps before turning back to her second, "while we're out here, you wanna grab some pie. My treat?" She asked casually. Soarin shook his head, "nah. Movers will be here soon and I don't want to miss them." Both ponies were flying back in the direction of the castle. Luna was thoroughly annoyed with herself that despite what she remembered of the previous night, everything seemed to be fine. She was about to fly back in the direction of the castle when Spitfire cut off her path and hovered in front of her. "Back to my office," she said quietly and seriously. "And don't act like anything's wrong." Luna quietly followed the captain back to her office. The silence persisted until they were both inside and Spitfire finished closing and latching the door behind them. Once they were shut, Luna heard the pegasus let out a long tiring sigh. "We assume there's a reason you wished for us to return with you?" Luna wondered. She had been wondering the whole trip back. "I'm glad you brought this to my attention," the pegasus said. "I knew something was off, but I wasn't sure until I saw Soarin's apartment. I like to stay pretty involved with everypony in my squad and for the life of me, I can't remember when Soarin actually got an apartment." She moved towards the shelves and began rummaging around. "Is that a problem?" Luna asked. "It wouldn't be if it wasn't for the other thing," Spitfire said. "And what's that?" Luna looked on concerned. "Everypony's still a bit on edge after the changeling invasion that happened during the royal wedding, and even though it's been a while since that happened," she said. "It's made each of us pay a lot closer attention to each others personality quirks. Soarin, for example, would never give up the chance at free pie." Luna's eyes went wide with what she thought she was hearing. "What are you saying?" Spitfire finally located a black folder from the shelf and placed it on her desk before sitting down. "I don't know who or what that just was we just talked to. But it definitely wasn't Soarin."