“Repeat, Sergeant,” Luna demanded, frowning at the Nightwatch Festral.
“Your Darkness... We are sure that nothing else has disappeared from the territory of the Sweet Apple,” the guard reported somewhat perplexedly. “Only fertilizers that did not contain magical minerals. The local owners know their goods in every way, so we can be sure...”
“What an absurdity,” the alicorn muttered. Then she, giving her muzzle an expression of slight sarcasm, looked at her sister:
“Deprived of initiative, then? Here, Tia, sign...”
The sister, who was ahead of her in acquaintance with the consequences that the stranger placed around him with a generous paw, only sighed. Morning, as they say, did not work out...
Princess Luna was in Ponyville by three in the morning. She did not have especially sublime romantic feelings for the town, unlike Tia, whom Ponyville probably saw as a welcome island of silence and freedom from the bureaucracy that she managed to get through in a thousand years of sole rule. But Luna were nice to the locals, from not the most pleasant page in the history of Equestria, they built a noisy and cheerful celebration. A princess who rarely made it out of Canterlot would love to take part in Nightmare Night this fall as well. She would not have done this in a suspicious attempt to somehow make amends for the fact that the incarnated Nightmare, in anger at her sister, completely forgot about her subjects, and even more so, Luna had no problems with reincarnating into this sinister hypostasis to the delight of adults and foals. Undoubtedly, the feeling of wrongdoing at times tingled the soul of the Luna...
Sweeping away the nightmares allowed herself to turn into horror; for a thousand years, ponies went to bed, unable to count on the support of the one that protected their night's peace. Many were carefree and light in their thoughts, like Pinkie Pie, but someone allowed far-fetched problems to accumulate, settling down with a heavy burden for the whole day and taking possession of the ponies' minds, making them less happy. But still... Luna decided that it was not worth adding her own bitterness to communication with other ponies, including in their dreams. As well as using the old-fashioned Canterlot voice everywhere, of course. It was quite possible to contain gloomy thoughts already in their own dreams, where they were not able to disturb anyone except the Lady of Darkness...
Yes, Luna sympathize with the inhabitants of Ponyville. Naturally, she was worried when something went wrong with Twilight Sparkle's experiment that her sister, instantly sending all the courtiers, deigned to raise her regal croup above the throne and personally go there, taking with her almost a third of the Day Guard. On this, perhaps, one could finish: all six guardians of the Elements of Harmony and the embodiment of the Day Luminary, gathered in one place, this is not a force that can be neglected. Luna thought that whatever the problem was, she was unlikely to cause more inconvenience to the throne than Tirek had in her time. Sighing, Luna went deep into the documents, with which she was helped by Raven, her sister's well-trained assistant... And then, like a bolt from the blue, which was caused by a mischievous Pegasus, news came about the return of the Crystal Empire that afternoon. Perhaps Luna even sinned against the truth when she met her sister in Ponyville and expressed her claim to her; if she had stayed in the palace, she would have been surrounded by commotion and worries no less than Celestia was probably busy at that time. All the ponies around suddenly began to expect some decisions from her, almost revelations, so that the younger diarch was somewhat confused. She understood these ponies, responsible for the affairs of the state, who suddenly discovered for themselves that another ancient threat emerged from the succession of centuries, and it was not in a single person, but in the whole country. What happened to the people of the crystal ponies? Will not, like the return of Nightmare, turn out to be true, and these ancient beliefs? What if in a couple of days the northern lands shudder from the march of thousands of hooves bound with black iron, guided by the cold will of Sombra hypnotic abilities? Luna calmed the hottest heads, took up decrees on strengthening the border outposts, well, how much easier it was when she and her sister were responsible only for themselves, engaging in a fight with this sorcerer!
Luna said the following when meeting Tia, frowning sternly and almost switching to a Canterlot voice: “So, when something interesting is outlined by fate, our sister will deign to immediately run to the villagers to visit and leave Our Highness alone with a pile of statutes, to which, not otherwise, Discord himself put his paw!” Luna snorted furiously, flaring her nostrils. “And only when the affairs of the crown have turned into disaster, she will deign to call us for help!”
Celestia's guards who were accompanying her were subdued at once, swallowing almost audibly. They obviously didn't smile at being caught between a rock and a hard place in the face of a scuffle between the royal sisters... Celestia, even though she was taller than her sister, looked at her somehow from under her brows and pressed her ears:
“I just didn't want to disturb my little sister in vain at first...” Celestia made such a sad face that it would be impossible to be angry with her. Although for a thousand years the Luna had not forgotten these little tricks of the elder and the ways in which it was possible to fight them, she did not see the point in continuing the performance. Drowning in the bottomlessly touching eyes of Celestia, unable to maintain the mask of pomp and restrained anger, Luna laughed loudly and a second later she was echoed by the snow-white alicorn.
“You’ll spoil me completely, Tia.” Luna lamented, laughing. “I hope nothing serious happened in addition to the events of the day while I got here?”
“No, fortunately. The night is bright and full of peace with your efforts, sister.” Celestia smiled in response. “Our little subjects are no more burdened with the cares of the days to come than they are on any of your refined nights.”
"I know." Luna replied with dignity as she walked past Tia to the town hall. Ahead of the question, she added: “In the vicinity of Ponyville, I do not experience foreign and somehow prominent dreams, sister. But this is natural... I do not think that a foreigner would so easily lie down to rest in a new place for him. Many creatures may not sleep for several days before they hit the ground with fatigue.”
“You're right, Lulu.” Celestia nodded in response to the greeting from the Nightwatch squad that silently followed their mistress. At the request of her sister, Luna took them with her, so that the batpony, convinced couch potatoes, who got out of Canterlot only to accompany Lady Night, ended up in Ponyville before the fall holidays. Having extensive experience in fighting the creatures of chaos, with which it would be difficult to cope with ordinary magicians, their presence with the affairs of the crown was never required here... : they were lazy, therefore good-natured and practically did not intersect with ponies - too arrogant received a bunch of sparks in the nose from local wizards and left grumbling. But since Tia in her letter asserted that a “man” thrown from another dimension, according to all the laws of nature, should have died from his wounds, then this should have attracted the attention of the bailiffs of the Luna. The same arachnidus electric spiders that once dwelt in the very depths of the phestral caves quickly healed any of their injuries and happily absorbed directed energy, ignoring magic, but the night ponies got the hang of them. True, none of Equus's monsters, in addition, knew how to mimic with considerable skill...
After thinking, Luna asked: "Sure this "human" ability to disguise is not the first thing we should care about?”
“Of course. Although his abilities can cause significant harm, if used covertly, surreptitiously, it will be very easy to reveal him in the guise of a pony,” Celestia answered somehow completely nonchalantly. “What is easier - just use any spell with a binding on a suspiciously behaving pony and see if he ignores it. Another question - do we need to provoke him with this?”
“Again, this is your eternal expectation from others of exceptional prudence and in general all the best... Sister, are you suggesting to just wait?” Luna raised her eyebrows. “But what? That one morning on the doorstep of the town hall you will find a basket with flowers, fruits and a note in the spirit of “Sorry, I almost stuck my rotorcraft into your city, you want to talk about it”? By the way, where is the dessert you promised?”
Not letting her sister interrupt her, the night princess demandedly looked at Celestia and shook her head, “And in general, why such confidence that this is a male creature from another world? I only hear about "him" instead of "it", even in the report that you sent me...”
“He arrived in our dimension in a war machine, Luna.” Celestia replied with a note of justified concern. However, her voice immediately gurgled its trademark serenity, which so amused the youngest in childhood and caused jokes from her side about the preachers. “And I understand that in a world without magic, war is the lot of males, as they are physically stronger. The stranger showed all the signs of a highly evolved organism, in no way related to the same insects. If the patterns of the difference between the sexes there are at least to some extent similar to ours, then our friend is a stallion. And that's not counting the secondary signs... few mare would agree to walk with such a crow's nest on her head, right? Again, his isolation, independence and unwillingness to make contact...”
“Extremely situational analogies, cultural differences can easily turn them upside down.” Luna snorted, shaking her ethereal mane. “I’m afraid to even imagine how their culture differs from ours, if it doesn’t have magic as such.”
“Perhaps.” Celestia didn’t argue. “Although they might have had factors that matched the influence of magic. Be that as it may, my dear sister, now I see no reason to prioritize the discovery of the creature and its capture. He has already shown himself to be a reasonable, sane creature, albeit by our standards and overly cautious. We only need to keep him in sight, if a stranger dares to appear in our eyes... I have information that he may try to do something with his car, and if everything really goes like this, then we will try to establish contact, but not hold back by his strength. The guards have already been informed of the measures of protection in case of... trouble. If a completely exceptional case occurs, and the humanwill show aggression.”
“Okay, for my two questions you answered. But what about the promised fruit?” Luna pouted, secretly anticipating how Tia would get out, explaining to the younger, accustomed to autocratic rules, that all merchants now see the seventh dream, and it is at least impolite to wake them up. As well as "in the name of the crown" independently carry out their reserves.
Celestia, unfortunately, did not live up to expectations, saying with a bit of malice in her voice. “And the most exquisite fruits and sweets are waiting for you, sister, in the hall on the table. They were kindly provided to us by Madame Mayor... she has been keeping a supply in stasis since the last Night of Nightmares in order to appease the formidable celestial on occasion.”
“Who gave her this idea, I wonder...” Grumbled Luna. Going up to the terrace of the town hall, she looked around the town square with the statue of the earth pony, the collective image of the founders of the town. “I understand why, in this situation, there is a Night Watch, but I still cannot accept your so optimistic attitude.”
“My thoughts are not overshadowed by the movement towards the denouement of all this action, for Human chose to retreat, and not to break through to his car, acting by force. The experience of thestrals will be useful to us, Luna, not in an attempt to track him down.” Stopping in the doorway, said the day princess. “But in the same exceptional case of conflict. Your guards will help ward off the blow from our little ponies, if the humanrealizes that he will no longer be able to hide and there is nowhere to retreat. No matter how skillful he was at wielding his own body, his blood contained several simple compounds, and this is a great success, because a few hours earlier we knew almost nothing about the alien. As soon as I compose the flow matrix for the spell to search for these unique traces, we will no longer need to worry that the stranger lurked in plain sight...”
In turn, casting a glance at the square through which the three of her guards were walking, Tia squeezed her regal body inside and already from the building of the town hall added. “However, what are we all about a human? First, we need to decide what to do with the return of the Crystal Empire...”
Luna looked skeptically after the snow-white rump that disappeared behind the door leaf obligingly opened by a soldier. Of course, in her thoughts she gave free rein to imagination and artistic exaggeration, after all, the opening of the town hall, the meeting place for many ponies, was not an example higher and wider so that Celestia could easily enter the building... Strictly speaking, and with the doors of ordinary houses near the eldest carcass sisters had no problems. But Celestia will be forced to go on a diet, this is herself Luna has promised firmly. How many traditions through the efforts of the throne lost in this thousand and one years, the face (and especially the sides) of the crown had to be watched.
Ponies of most colors, of course, were ready to idolize alicorns for the mere fact of their existence, but if Selly had to roll into the throne room on a cart and allocate guardsmen to push her through the Canterlot arches... no, the inhabitants of Equestria would not understand this. Luna barely stifled a laugh, impressed by the painting in her head. Nothing... the coming of a man is a great reason for a sister to take the lead and run for once, stretch her wings. If Luna understood her sister, it was that she was very good at finding performers for a particular cause who were exactly suitable for this business. Based on the tasks that the humanset for the Equestrians, and the concept of an alien invasion in general, Celestia could well leave the stranger to herself, having detached... yes, the same Twilight Sparkle in the Crystal Empire. A young sorceress with a huge store of knowledge, a fresh look at the problem, openness and sufficient impartiality to the new and the unknown...
Celestia would definitely not want to go to the Empire if there was a possibility of repeating their mistake with the Luna, a mistake that remained unresolved, together with the usurper imprisoned a whole people of ponies in oblivion... Luna sighed barely audibly. She could help Twilight by going with her, crystal magic was a guest from the past, like Night Lady herself, and was disposed to understand the Luna, as well as her knowledge of the dark arts. Luna did not think that it seemed desirable to her to honor the northern lands with her presence, but if Tia considered that Twilight's help of the night diarch was necessary, she would not refuse her sister.
“She has been cracking pastries for so many years, and at least she hasnt gotten herself a little sore at all,” Luna voiced the belated thought, smiling mockingly. Noticing how her guardsmen were eloquently exchanging glances, the alicorn sternly warned them: “You didn't hear that. Disperse, set up a patrol schedule in accordance with the already existing one from the Day Guard. In which case, beyond the scope, act in excess of the instructions. Under my responsibility.” Luna clearly indicated her right in her voice.
“Of course, your Darkness,” the commander saluted her. Batponies, activating their amulets that were built into the cuirasses, unfolded their wings with a rustle and scattered in all directions. Some of them froze in the shadows of the Ponyville rooftops upside down, dimly twinkling narrowed eyes through the slits of the helmets. The lieutenant went somewhere in the direction of the market, because there, next to the otherworldly car, was the main post with the officers of the Day... Luna once again looked over the panorama of the night town, so unusually flooded by the guards of Canterlot. It would be difficult to imagine, if she did not have genuine memories of this, that once this collection of cozy houses, the residence of many good ponies was nothing more than a land of free wind and fertile lands. She remembered the nights on these hills, with a telescope and an armillary sphere, when she and Tia lived among the Everfree at the Sisters' Castle. From there, together with the court magicians, for many years they poured into Equestria a stream of scientific knowledge, artistic innovations, Tia's simple worldly wisdom and her organizational skills.
Princess Luna breathed in the air deeply, crystal clear, pleasantly stroking the fur and filled with the coolness of the night. He, this extraordinary air, was a part of the night, the elements of the Luna, when everything around becomes motionless, like a painting on an artist's canvas, at the same time remaining breathing and alive. Ponyville, a thousand years later, organically blended into these night colors, succumbing to a touching pacification; here the midnight breeze whispered in the foliage of the garden trees and crickets chirped in the well-groomed grass. And yet here, among the Ponyville and their dreams, no longer feeling like a stranger, a capital nobleman, striving to get away to the castle as soon as possible away from prying eyes...
Luna now felt some kind of discomfort. A slight feeling of anxiety devoured the princess - as if this night's peace were ethereal, could easily be disturbed, like life-affirming scenery in a theater creeping apart at the seams, ripped open by harsh reality. It was as if something surrounded Ponyville, hiding in the shadows, inevitably clutching the ring. As if an alien, alien life from other worlds watched the ponies, greedy and anticipating, endlessly envious and greedy.
Defeat, a quiet voice, on the verge of consciousness, reached the mind of the Luna, another, but from a new one. Isn't that what you're afraid of, Luna princess? Do you think that your nightmare can be translated into real life?
“Your time has not come yet,” Luna said dryly, turning around and entering the town hall. “And I feel that today, in general, the time for rest will come very soon.”
Sun guards under the roof of the town hall bowed her inside. Twilight Sparkle would probably be in the tenth heaven with happiness if her adored mentor got a night in the library, but her sister settled down in the city center. Madame Mayor, after all, needs to be aware of the business that the crown is about to arrange among the ponies, for which it has taken responsibility... The earth pony was there, in the hall at the large table on which Shining Armor spread out the cards, showing something to his subordinates.
Luna had not seen this mare, in charge of the city since the last Nightmare Night celebration and was amazed at how serious and collected the mayor looked without clown clothes. For some reason, she reminded Luna of a squat mining machine, ready to cut a deep trench in the solid basalt of bureaucracy. The gray-haired mane, dyed for solidity, was styled, in spite of the late hour, flawlessly; the eyes looked out from under the glasses at Celestia attentively, if not tensely, with a note of doomed fatigue, not at all enthusiastically inquiring, as was usually the case when Tia condescended to visiting simple ponies. Although coffee must have been at fault here; if Shining and the other guards were ready for a sleepless night thanks to vigor spells, the mayor, judging by the smell, kept herself on her feet the old fashioned way...
The ensuing meeting, with the presentation of arguments and excerpts from the scouts' report, took about an hour. Although the conclusions were quite predictable, Luna found this conversation useful. Her sister never considered herself an infallible ideal; The princess of the Night has seen more than once how she succumbs to a load of doubts, how she is distracted from the true state of affairs by the wrong direction of judgments - albeit very infrequently - and forcing her to make mistakes that are not complex in their essence, but simple. The Canterlot wedding is the best example in this millennium...
Luna could only give praise to heaven that the elder sister did not ossify her brains for a long one-man rule, ignoring the vision of others with donkey stubbornness, but very conscientiously checked her ideas about the world with new events, times and opinions... If not, it would be very bad for the Luna after exile to find herself not in her native land, albeit with forgotten traditions, but in such a version of Equestria. Sombra's empire would not have come out of my sister, but still little pleasant.
It was decided to send Cadence to the northern borders in the company of her husband, since the crystal ponies were once known for their love magic. And the help of the keepers of the elements of Harmony would definitely not hurt them. Six ponies are unlikely to object that in the midst of an outworld invasion, they are sent they are far away... If the alicorn sisters get down to business personally, then you don't have to worry about the relatives and friends left in Ponyville, for the princesses will resolve everything in the best possible way. Everyone should have done what he was good at... Good old Tia, diplomat and organizer of what to look for, Luna chuckled to herself as her sister gave her last instructions to Shining Armor. Celestia decided to send them on the morning train through Canterlot, and there, reunited with their intended niece, the ponies were to bypass the northern borders and meet with the scouts from the vanguard. And if Twilight, with the help of friends, stirred up the stagnant magic of the Empire and awakened it to life, coped with this difficult task, and Tia had no doubt that the unicorn would find a solution, then she would take another big step towards penetrating all the magic of Equus and becoming alicorn.
Celestia intended to keep Luna with herself and the princess of the Night perfectly understood that this was due to her qualities and a tendency to explore new horizons of thought, and not then at all, so that the younger one would not accidentally fall into something deadly. Only this time among the dark crystals of Sombra, and not the darkness of your own soul... It's nice when you are kept in sight, not to control, but because they are appreciated, Luna thought proudly when her sister clarified her position and gently declined her offer to go with Twilight. Despite her fears, the phenomenon of "man" in the pony world was indeed interesting to the Luna, after her return, tirelessly discovering new features of Equestria, which has changed significantly over the years. How will the creature react to the new world, which has never lived among ponies, does not have the slightest idea of how to behave in their society?
If this foreign military man burst into Ponyville and, in a commanding voice, began to demand a meeting with the local authorities or, waving his stab weapon, scared the pony with his "stand-fear", the Luna would certainly condemn him, but could not help but understand... What stars shine over his homeland, if there is no one to draw a pattern with them in the night sky, and how is the course of the luminaries there? Can everyone like him demonstrate control of their own body at a level that many transfigurators cannot? Absorbed in new questions, Luna, in thought, did not even notice how her sister took something from the street, opening the window. The Princess of the Night only had time to notice how someone's yellow skin and a tail of shades of pink flashed, felt a breath of wind and some sibilant sound. Perhaps it was one of Tia's informants?
Celestia unrolled a scroll similar to the ones delivered to her in a less extravagant manner and quickly scanned it with her eyes. “A report has come in,” she finally said. There was no anxiety in the elder's voice, but she was definitely worried. “I’ve just been informed that a man was seen entering the city limits about an hour and a half ago. Came out from the side of the forest, but not to the crash site; moved from house to house parallel to Stirrup street, disguising himself as a street setting. Unfortunately, even before the Night Watch arrived, his trail was lost.”
“Shall I raise additional units, Your Grace?” Shining immediately decided. “You don’t think it is insolence, but why was this report not delivered immediately, immediately after the discovery of the creature?”
“The pony herself didn’t want to be noticed, given Human’s disguise and long-term espionage abilities,” Celestia replied somewhat absently, levitating the scroll toward the Luna. “Taking into account that he again did not undertake aggressive actions and did not collide with the guards, Agent Drops continued to observe in the hope of finding his trail again... But, I am afraid, Human lurked somewhere in Ponyville. And until it starts to move, it will not be easy to find it.”
Luna quickly read the report while Celestia outlined the situation for Armor and Madame Mayor. The scroll even had a magical imprint of the image, which was captured by Celestia's informant. Heavens see... Luna had seen enough at one time and much more frightening pony-like silhouettes, even created them herself, while still in her and her sister's old castle, enchanting outstanding examples of armor... But the sight of a "man" moving on all fours really seemed gloomy. Like a skeleton of a pony of distorted proportions with a severed skull crawled along the street, pressing into the ground and knees high on its bony, spider-like legs.
“He's adapting,” Luna concluded grimly. “Changed his internal structure to be like us. It seems like it took him a while - not like a changeling that immediately flips over and gets into a fight.”
Celestia nodded, telekinesis raising a delicate cup of tea to her lips and sipping gently from it.
“Poor fellow,” she sighed, looking at the scroll again with some regret. “He was completely emaciated, and he could not find pasture here. I hope he gets enough blit is wise to ask us for help.”
Unthinkable, Luna rolled her eyes. It was said in plain text that a stranger who was in danger of being threatened was hiding somewhere nearby, and Tia was worried that he had nothing to eat here! Who is talking about what, and my sister is about satisfying not her own royal, but other people's appetites!
Madame Mayor blinked nervously several times, then looked at the Luna with hidden hope. “Your Darkness, are you saying that the alien can now take the pony's place? Become one of us? Can you prevent this?”
“We can. But there is somehow little sense in his actions,” Shining Armor considered it necessary to intervene, frowning at the map and marking on it with question marks the places where a human could go after losing a trace of this very "agent Drops". “The ponies are asleep now, and any civilian on the street will certainly attract the attention of the guards. This means that he will not be able to walk in the form of a pony in the open. He will not be able to pretend to be a Guardsman, since the triplets use the usual magic resistance check...”
“He might not know and get caught,” Luna suggested.
“Then we would already know about it,” the captain shook his head towards the window. With a thoughtful look, the unicorn walked around the table, after which he put the helmet that had been removed back on his head:
“He saw our magical abilities. No matter how new and frightening they may be for a stranger, he got some idea of magic, and therefore fears us. Judging by the picture,” the husband of Cadence this time pointed with a nod of his head at the scroll, “in this state, the stranger is larger than ordinary ponies, so the choice for replacement is narrowed. Most of the inhabitants of Ponyville will not suit him, although he can easily try on the skin of almost any of the guards. For the reasons already mentioned, however, he will not do this. But what does he need then? A flying machine? Why didn't he try to infiltrate her, bypassing the posts, if she was still on the outskirts of the city?”
“Yes, you're right, Captain,” Celestia agreed easily. “Whatever a human needs, this is clearly not just an attempt to study us better through implementation. If a human wanted this, he would at least wait for the day when the ponies on the streets will become larger and it will be easier to get lost...”
“Are you going to stop the residents of Ponyville from leaving their homes?” Luna asked bluntly. Intellectually, she understood that to disperse everyone to their homes, to keep the ponies behind the bars in fear of the changing appearance of a stranger was not an option. As creatures deeply social, it is unlikely that ponies could withstand such isolation for a long time, and the benefits of it were seen as questionable. Celestia confirmed her sister's thoughts with a sad smile.
“I'm afraid we have no better option than to watch and be prepared for trouble, sister. A human in houses may well take on the appearance of their inhabitants... On the contrary, on the street he will be exposed even faster. Ponyville is a small town, everyone here is familiar with everyone, and neighbors will quickly notice that the changeling is behaving somehow differently, for example, changing his usual daily routine. I think a humanunderstands this... he does not need the appearance of a recluse pony, silently - because our language is not familiar to him - drinking tea alone and not calling friends to the gatherings.”
“Well, if so, I'll take your word for it. Who am I to question the position of an expert in tea ceremonies on every opportunity, just to appear inaccessible to the secretaries?” Luna smirked without malice, levitating a juicy grapefruit toward her.
“Lulu!” Celestia exclaimed loudly and resentfully enough that Madame Mayor backed away, fearing Sunshine’s anger. “I am amazed and upset by such unworthy behavior of my younger sister! Is that how you contribute to raising the authority of the crown by spreading these daring and implausible rumors about us?”
“I don’t know,” Luna pointed out her tongue. “The information is taken from open sources and is publicly available, remember the newspaper of those foals.”
“Shame you,” Tia pouted incredibly, then turned to Shining, who was struggling to contain his laughter, and declared in an emphatically official tone:
“Captain, the order remains the same. Do not engage in open combat, use defensive tactics and bundles of flows. Beat with crippling and lethal spells only in the event of a direct, unprovoked human attack. Inform the guards that they should treat the alien as... well, as an enemy saboteur with valuable information. If you take it, then carefully and with honor.”
“Everything is very clear to me, Your Grace,” Shining Armor replied, and, summoning an adjutant, went out into the night-shrouded square. He still had to leave instructions to his deputies before heading north.
“Did you mean it when you wrote that the creature is likely to be a military one? The local analogue of the Guards?” Luna asked quietly, looking after the captain.
“Yes, sister,” there was that hesitation in her voice again, concern about the fate of the little ponies. “Thinking of a human as an ordinary resident of that is measured on my part it was... it was not quite right. Although this does not impose corrections on our reaction to a human.”
“Can you explain?”
“Of course,” after exchanging a couple of common phrases with the mayor of Ponyville, Celestia let her go with a nod (the official bowed and walked to the exit from the hall, desperately trying not to yawn in the presence of royal persons). Then she condescended to her attention to the Luna:
“I hoped that a sentient being would seek peace, not war, and eventually make contact, because I was used to communicating with at least reasonable ones of their own kind,” Celestia smiled, gesturing to her sister to sit opposite. A decorative kettle from the service of the local administration hung in the air. “Do you have sugar in your tea or a bite?”
“Tia, it's time to learn over so many years...” Luna moaned painfully, but she took the cup into her telekinetic grip. She drank with pleasure - something, and Tia learned to handle tea accessories and tea leaves at a level comparable to the divine.
“I don’t know,” Celestia returned Luna's phrase in the sweetest voice. “When I see my little sister so preoccupied with important matters, my heart squeezes and overflows with an immeasurable desire to take care of her, to courteous, at least to offer a tea...”
“Tia!”
“Alright, alright, we will not remember that case,” the elder giggled, happily catching a piece of sugar with her lips, which Luna had thrown at her. “Perhaps, due to his innate abilities, a human would not have made contact - if his culture praised the cult of strength, male pride, independence... and this does not fit at all with his cautious approach, largely devoid of initiative. But what if you consider it a vocation in military affairs? Moreover, he should not be considered an ordinary guard, but someone closer to the leadership, officers, for I doubt that such a machine in their dimension devoid of magic can be supplied to everyone in a row, just as the need for such a supply is also doubtful. Such a soldier is unlikely to try to solve all his problems by brute force, head-on... What do you think, Lulu, what will such a disciplined and balanced soldier do, having fought off his platoon, having lost all contact with the higher authorities?”
“He will try at all costs to avoid contact with the enemy, establish communication with the command and request instructions, ideally - immediately go to his own,” Luna answered without hesitation. Even without knowledge of the military history of the Dark Years, she could have assumed something similar; this is how any intelligent being surrounded by an enemy would act. Realizing that the situation described by her sister was exactly like what happened during that day in Ponyville, Luna blinked:
“So this is it...”
“Indeed, Lulu,” Celestia modestly closed her eyes, tilting her head and sipping her favorite seagulls in an artistic gesture. “A soldier who has lost his own will try to send a request to his superiors for further action, and will enter into battle sooner only if he cannot be avoided - no matter how strong this individual may see himself. While you were getting to Ponyville, I checked the car again... there is definitely some kind of communication based on conventional radio waves.”
“Radio? How are regular music broadcasts” Luna was surprised. “But these… radio waves are so easy to intercept, what guards would want to use that instead of the exchange elixirs?”
“I feel, sister, otherworldly people as soon as they did not sophisticated in order to compensate for the lack of magic,” the princess of the Day shook her hoof diplomatically. “One smart filly from my agents offered to take the car to Canterlot, but I don't think that's the best idea for tonight… tonight. Now we know what the human guard needs - and we know where we can meet him. We actually have two options. Either let him do this, make sure that he is stuck here seriously and for a long time, and "their" will not be able to pull him out in any way... Or to catch a humanagainst his will and hope that our measures are enough, and no one will suffer. It is not hard to guess which method seems more preferable to me.”
“You are our incorrigible pacifist,” Luna grumbled, barely holding back her smile, and striving to break through the preoccupied face on her face. “Sometimes it seems to me that Tirek pulled all the hostility out of you in addition to magic, but he never returned it.”
“Was there any actions on the part of a human that would be worth showing hostility?” Celestia remarked reasonably. “Unlike Tirek and other power-hungry monsters, he invaded the measured course of the life of our subjects not of his own free will, and only caused destruction accompanying the fall.”
“But still, what if he is actually a follower of Chaos?” Luna narrowed her eyes, chewing with gusto the peel of a banana. “Who wants to see the world on fire, and is humble only now, until he is familiar with the state of affairs?”
“This is very unlikely, Your Darkness!” came to the hearing of the sisters of someone gladly a groaning voice, accompanied by the sound of shutters opening. Celestia perceptibly shuddered - it was clearly a surprise to her that a man (was it he?) So suddenly decided to make contact. As for Luna, she jumped up from the pouf and blurted out, pointing a horn with an already twisted cutting spell at the window opening: ”Who dares to disturb our Highnesses?!”
In a fit of feelings, the princess of the Night inadvertently switched to the Canterlot voice, so that the pony thrusting through the window was literally swept out.
“Luna!” Celestia exclaimed reproachfully, rushing to help her subject. The Luna was forced to send the galloping guards and Madame Mayor, who rushed headlong to the aid of the princesses. When the commotion subsided a little, Luna took a closer look at the nocturnal visitor, whom Tia dragged through the window through the window by telekinesis, smoothed her puffed mane and sat down at the table, pushing a cup of chamomile broth closer to her. The mint-colored unicorn, bulging eyes, chattered her teeth and held her hardcover notebook tightly to her. Princess Luna felt familiar pricks of conscience, very similar to the feelings of a year ago, when a dark human showed up in the royal house and began to scare the courtiers, who had long been accustomed to the serene nature of Celestia.
“I'm sorry, little pony,” Luna said as gently as possible. “But tell me what brought you to the town hall in the middle of the night?”
“A-all right, Your Darkness,” the unicorn squeezed out of herself, sniffing at the contents of the cup and perking up noticeably. Her golden eyes shot towards the window opening, and the pony began to frequent, without taking her hooves off the notebook:
“I beg your pardon for interrupting you, princesses! I just saw how my friend Bon-Bon almost climbed through your window! She said during the day that she saw a real person, so I thought...”
This is no good, Luna frowned. Although Equestria has long passed the Middle Ages, something completely Tia dismissed her subjects, since her confidants so easily reveal to friends the details of the affairs of the state. Although... if you think about it, this "Bon-Bon" really had nothing to blame. And so all of Ponyville already knew that thanks to Twilight, something mysterious and, perhaps, unfriendly-minded had emerged from another world. From what the city gossipers would call him, nothing would have changed... Suddenly the Luna realized that “man” is only a modern form of the Old Equi dialect “sublime” - and this gave a new meaning to the designation of being. Luna had already opened her mouth to ask the unicorn again about the reasons for her visit, but the mint pony was ahead of the princess.
“Bon-Bon always said that my fascination with science fiction is, of course, good, but she is completely uninteresting!” she responded with inspiration. “But how I felt - one day Bon-Bon will also be interested in the idea of the existence of humans! After all, you came here for the sake of looking for him and pouring into our society, Your Grace, right?!”
“You're right about something, my little pony. We will take care of the person, so you shouldn't worry that he will somehow harm the people of Ponyville,” Celestia smiled warmly. “You're Lyra, aren't you? Bon Bon told me about you.”
“Lyra Heartstrings, Your Grace. I'm a musician,” the unicorn bowed politely, breaking into a smile; The news that the Princess of the Sun herself knew her definitely delighted Lyra. However, she immediately shook her head and, remembering Luna's statement, fervently began to express her thoughts:
“Princesses, a human simply cannot be aggressive and somehow harm us! Bon-Bon spent the whole night trying to find him, but he, it seems, did not want to catch our eye! What is not the best confirmation of his peacefulness?” Lyra carefully took into her own field of telekinesis the bun that Celestia offered her, and, biting once or twice, continued a little thoughtfully:
“True, I did not expect such a determination to get involved in the business from her, Bonnie is still a friendly pastry chef, and not a hound in the care of Canterlot... Oh, I didn’t want to, sorry! Well, the alien, which is strange, is much less sociable than I and my associates imagined...”
Luna glanced eloquently at Celestia, who puffed out her cheeks at the mention of the secret guard, barely holding back a laugh from the mint pony's inadvertent shrewdness. But there were times when, for much less words, thrown in the crowd carelessly, the pony would have had a long and unpleasant conversation with the fearsome Sun Goddess... Having settled back on her pouf, Luna began to leisurely cut an apple into slices and in between times asked:
“Much number of like-minded ponies do you have, Lyra?”
“No, what are you, princess! But in this regard, a couple of penpals are enough for me,” pony replied carelessly, washing down the bun and looking at Celestia with a grateful glance. “Your tea is impeccable, Your Grace!”
“Thank you for your kind words,” the princess of the Day nodded gravely. “But all the same, Lyra, why exactly did you seek a meeting with us? For the sake of this, only you decided not go to sleep? I assure you,” warm sparks of joy danced in Tia's eyes as she circled them around the town hall, “we don't keep people in prison here. And we are not going to hide our guest from the ponies, if we consider him worthy of the citizens of Ponyville.”
“I thought that you have found out more about a human during this day than a modest musician can, Your Highnesses,” Lyra replied in a conspiratorial tone. “I wanted to know if a human really corresponds to my theories, so as not to hit his face in the mud when he meets, how to prepare for it! Perhaps, if between us there was a lack of pony mania, we could somehow help the alien with adaptation to Equestrian society and win him over!”
“It depends on what theories you and your friends put forward,” Luna grinned, putting another apple slice into her mouth. “Did your company consider it true, for example, the statement that without magic a humancan restore himself, being torn to pieces? Or that he is capable, in theory, quite tolerably of taking the form of a pony?”
“What? What are you talking about, princess?” surprised Heartstrings, putting her ears up.
“Luna, come on without such shocking details right off the bat, okay?” Tia shook her head, looking reproachfully at her sister.
“No, no, I will be extremely grateful to you if you share your knowledge about him!” learningly opened her eyes to the royal sisters. “Then I ask to be ready when I find myself in the thick of things! Do not blame the simple pony for her curiosity, Your Highnesses!”
“What are these events?” Luna decided to play it safe.
“I don't know! But something wonderful will surely happen! New friends are always good, but here you have an opportunity to make such an unusual friend!” Lyra said dreamily, moreover, pronouncing every word so carefully, as if she was not sure that the princesses would understand her. “Maybe he, with his otherworldly approach, would help us cope with the retaliation of the changelings! Although, since you say that he himself is to some extent a changeling, I'm not sure about that... But we could learn so many interesting things that are probably contained in people culture! Their books, mag-o-films, music, favorite foods! Maybe persuade him to give him a couple of massage sessions with his paws... hands!” Heartstrings' cheeks suddenly turned pink from a blush, and the pony lowered her head, hiding her eyes under a light green mane with white strands. Luna arched an eyebrow skeptically and looked at her sister. In her eyes, mischievous sunbeams still glittered - the words of the unicorn clearly intrigued Tia.
“Your optimism is commendable, my little pony,” pouring tea for herself and the new companion, Celestia remarked, smiling. “May I know what your conclusions are based on? And yes, "people"?
“That's what we could call their species! "Those who multiply," Actually blossomed thanks to the interest of the monarch's personage Lyra. “If I'm right, then without magic, their homeworld should have a lot more inhabitants than ours! Let me show you...” she tore off a notebook from her fluffy chest and opened it. “Anthropology. Secret. Exclusive property... ” Luna did not have time to see the cover further, because was on the table, but there was probably the name of the unicorn.
Well, that's it, there were two cheerful persons, Luna grumbled in her head, quietly trying to push the plate of pastries away from her sister.
However, despite the suspicion that Celestia was only then going to listen to Lyra in order to get a reason to continue drinking tea, Tia watched the calculations very carefully, not out of politeness and unwillingness to offend "her little pony." To Luna's surprise, the unicorn's notebook was indeed flooded with information, many of which might, ahem... be trustworthy. Something was flavored with evolutionary magibiology (even considering that in the view of Heart Strings, people were not able to wield magic).
For example, a description of how ungulates exist next to people as a domesticated satellite species, like the same cows, and therefore to ordinary pony people will react, having got to know them better, with exceptional friendliness, bordering on the desire to take care of the "pet".
Frankly speaking, the Luna did not manage to understand why "people" are obliged to be a peaceful race of researchers, philosophers and scientists, unlike her sister, which inserted many of her own remarks into the filly's reasoning. The idea that, due to the lack of magic, based on mere chance, the sex ratio should be approximately equal, and completely delighted Tia with its simplicity and brevity.
Although, according to Luna, it looked more like the embodiment of pony fantasies Heart Strings... Human did not even dare to announce himself, so until dawn the sisters passed the time, listening to the chirping of the unicorn, which, as they say, fluffed its tail with might and main from the attention of royalty.
When Lyra warmly said goodbye to the princesses and received Celestia's assurance that she would definitely be called if there was a need for dialogue with a person, Luna stood up and in a completely different stretched in a aristocratic manner. Her ears moved back and forth several times, cutting air. What if some of Heart Strings ideas are indeed true? Individuals with a penchant for science, like Twilight, are actually rare. For the most part they are creepy individualists, self-centered and instead of trusting relationships they prefer to build on the basis of tiye stationery. Fears about the existence of a whole civilization of highbrow creatures, without any witchcraft creating tools of murder, were difficult to discard...
Wonder if it was not about a representative of another world, but about a simplified version of Nightmare, which also hid in the shadows for the time being, Tia would have reacted to situations as careless? Hay! How much was incomprehensible in all this incident... Luna straightened a lock of her starry mane with telekinesis. She suddenly found herself thinking of a humanas of herself, the same guest from a world where the intelligent behaved differently than they are now; which could, without realizing it, harm with her usual behavior.
As if reading her thoughts, Celestia looked at her sister with open malice. “People must have a strange society,” she said as the guard closed the heavy door of the town hall behind Lyra. “Who would have thought that our guest had so much in common with you, Lulu?”
"Much less than you think, sister," Luna snorted. The dark princess went to the window, which Tia had securely closed, and looked across the terrace at the night light. Her ability to feel the call of this silver essence, to touch her with her soul and thoughts has never failed, and this certainly means that she must soon enter a new day.
“Why is this? But what about, based on the conclusions of Miss Heartstrings, pride, a willingness to go to the end, adherence to other people's ideas and ideals, but, moreover, kindness and responsiveness, evolved empathy? Finally,” Celestia retorted in an unctuous voice, “your martial art, worthy of the masters of measuring the eternal battle? Remember how you were going to start a war with the hippogryphs just because you didn't like their ruling house's birthday present?”
“Tia!” instantly jumped up the princess of the Night, throwing a cautious glance at the day guards. They may have seemed imperturbable idols, but the opportunity to scratch with tongues outside of the service was probably not neglected. Only the ponies are accustomed to her demeanor, so rumors will spread again... “What are you inventing, there was no such thing!”
“Really, I messed up. Probably, forgetfulness begins to approach with age!” Celestia's sincere laughter sounded in the hall, only intensifying as the indignant and confused expression on the little sister's face disappeared, replaced by a smile. “I think you’re at a loss as to how Lyra’s visit can benefit us?”
“Did the concepts of this Heartstrings give you any suspicions already, sister?”
“Yes. I got a couple of ideas about human psychology, about how he thinks... and to whom he can turn as an interlocutor in the first place, finding himself in our world. To tell the truth, before Lyra's words, I did not think about it, I will need to somehow thank her on behalf of the crown,” Celestia got up, carefully levitating the elements of the service back onto the tray, and walked to the exit. “But more on that later... Will you keep me company, Lulu?” Celestia looked at her hopefully. “It's been a long time since we lit the dawn together and did not celebrate the sunsets, not even for too long... Maybe it is worth reviving at least this tradition?”
“Why not?” Luna did not resist, still under the influence of Tia's simple, but very infectious sense of humor. “Since we are here together, and tonight I postponed my watch...”
The guards opened the doors for them, and the sisters went out into the square. Passing the well-groomed flower beds, the princesses stood close to each other and turned their gaze to the sky, where the night was decorated with the efforts of the Luna. There was not a single cloud on the anthracite canvas; only occasionally colored trails of meteors, these eternal travelers, lined the starry pattern with orange and silver stripes. Turning each to their heavenly body, the sisters combined their movement into a single, perfectly synchronized mechanism. Focus of their will, a powerful, without exaggeration, stunning ritual, once available only to a collection of the strongest magicians of Equestria.
As if connected to its antipode by a single orbit, the moon rushed to the horizon at the same time as the sun appeared from over the edge of the earth. An embodied idyll, the peace of the night gradually gave way to the bustle of a warm summer day, like a pacifying calm on the sea gives way to a storm that rolls over wave after wave. The Luna breathed in the morning air with pleasure. She really liked this moment of the turning point of universal numbness, when all living things awaken from sleep, so that again, step by step, approach the realization of their best dreams that the inhabitants of Equestria could afford in their dreams.
There was a rustle in the bushes, the first timid chirping of birds. Few sleepy ponies that got up from at dawn, by virtue of their craft or habit, they got out of the houses in order to ask the guards about the past night. Insects stirred in the grass, an oriole flew from a tree at the other end of the square, swaying a branch. A bell rang on a newsboy's cart, and a dog barked from somewhere on the side of a farm in the hills. The solar disk grew brighter and brighter, rising higher, sending out its magic in all directions. The month, patronizing all creatures of the night and sheltering them from the sultry rays, dissolved in the lightened sky, and the sun came to replace it, invisibly saturating the daytime creatures with strength and energy.
“Moments like this are worth living forever, isn't it, dear sister?” Celestia rubbed her fluffy cheek against Luna's neck, smiling with a touch of captivating sadness.
"Yes, Tia," Luna whispered, indulging in many memories at once. “That's for sure.”
In half an hour with little, according to Tia's plan, it was possible to send messengers to the keepers of the elements of Harmony, ask for Twilight's help and give the filly time to get ready... However, fifteen minutes later, when the daylight finally took its place in the sky, and the sisters watched changing the guard and responding to the greetings of the so far few ponies, the plans had to be urgently revised.
Ponyville is in the grip of primordial chaos.
Human made a very impressive statement about himself. He attacked the city in accordance with all the rules of guerrilla warfare: with the launching of guards on false tracks, panic and beating sentries in dark corners. And he chose the only right hour for this: some minutes before the change of posts in the market area, when the guardsmen were relaxed after a quietly spent night, they were not sleeping yet, but they already saw the end of the watch. And so to such a pair of guards crept (completely openly) the most amazing and absurd sight in the world - the first lieutenant of Luna, Brave Noctus, drunk, as they used to say low-class ponies, to the horseshoes on ears. The smell of fermented cider, he spread around him very powerful, did not even try to fly, and his hooves were written out with such monograms and horse moves that gave the impression that this body did not belong to festral!
Luna thought irritably, not to spoil the person's face with a beam of directed energy when they met. Killing him will not kill him, but from the impudence of replacing her guardsmen and making them drunkards, it may heal. Although he shouldn't care; in the "emaciated" state, his muzzle was all of dubious attractiveness... On this bare skull and bones, covered with some self-transformed armor, Human put on a very skillful mask, if he stood motionless, he could not be distinguished from the guard at the post. But, obviously, he did not know how the muscles of the ponies work, how their facial expressions and manner of speech are manifested... Pretending to be in an inadequate state was an extravagant, but it worked very well: the day guards simply fell into prostration, for something like this had never happened to the servants of the law. Moreover, the stallion above their rank, stammering and hiccupping, demanded "in the name of the Princess of Luna" to deal with the barrier, because "something is needed there." When the guards timidly tried to object and point out that Noctus was unlikely to be able to give adequate orders, the pseudo-pony set in motion heavy stinging weapons: perhaps the most beloved phrase by all soldiers, “under my responsibility,” which at once removes all this responsibility from the performers, especially pronounced by the commander's shout, which does not tolerate objections. Not wanting to tempt fate any longer, the guards removed the barrier, and Human climbed inside the rotorcraft, muttering something under someone else's nose...
No, no pony would have become afraid of the festrals, which were once associated with the enmity between the Mother of the Night and her sister - for a millennium isolation, the Batponies did not become embittered or more warlike than they could have been. So, getting to know the festrals better, the ponies recognized them as a trustworthy tribe, albeit those still eccentric. However, who knows what to expect from a hefty bat pony, apples fermented sucking? Luna wanted to be angry with this couple from the Day Watch, but she knew intellectually that she had to be lenient with them. Man, he is a cunning manticore son! If the stranger had perfectly played the role of Noctus, calmly and without unnecessary shaking of the air, having given an order that did not correspond to the previously received information, the guards would have suspected him of a changeling and instantly twisted... well, at least they tried to do it. But what Human did was so atypical and full of shameless arrogance that it turned out to be like the truth. The guards were confused by the absurdity of the situation, and even cheated the commander of the Night Guards with a diagnostic spell.
True, almost immediately suspicions began to stir in their heads that this was all for a reason... One guard contacted the main post, while his partner resolutely blocked the path of the festral, which he pulled out on his back from the bowels of the car some rumpled iron container ner, but what's the point? The main obstacle for humans, the protective sphere, has been removed; he could achieve his goal by simply overloading the screen with a physical effect, for the alien clearly had enough strength for this, but the noise would inevitably attract the attention of the patrols. And so Human got a head start, for another ten seconds passed before it became clear that the true Noctus had not thought of leaving his post anywhere. The stranger did not try to come to an agreement with the angry unicorns.
Tia generally asserted later that although the human not show himself in the form of a pony as a "silent recluse", he could not learn the language right away, being at least three times unique. Although he easily changed his appearance, perhaps focusing on some creatures from his world, with all the resemblance worthy of a transfiguration of the highest category, it was only an imitation of a pony, applied to someone else's skeleton. His speech was exactly the same imitation, which is interesting, without any accent. He repeated entire sentences like a mockingbird would, with only his vocal chords! The human definitely read emotions well and, on an intuitive level, figured out which combination of sounds carries the meaning he needed, observing the guards during the night. But as soon as the situation went beyond the planned framework, the person's knowledge was not enough, so he growled like a wild beast, expressing disapproval and threat in the simplest way. At that moment, a trio of pegasus from the main post rushed to the rescue, and the stranger attacked. From his movements, this stiffness of facial expressions and drunken awkwardness, parodying a pony, instantly disappeared - only the smell of alcohol remained in place, for Human, who probably just climbed into the pharmacy and poured a bottle of apple alcohol on himself.
False Noctus rose on his hind legs, straightening and demonstrating his impressive, albeit diminished due to starvation, growth. The festral's gray hide and armor faded into red flashes, giving way to a cluster of armor plates and a skeleton as sharp in appearance as a broken doll. Lumpy bundles of muscle wrapped around bones and joints, forcing the eerie structure to move with incredible speed. Human had long narrow legs-stilts and a large chest, where most of his disguise had slipped under the axis of the spine. There was a screeching sound as the claws on its forelegs parted to the sides, throwing off imitation hooves. A quiet rumbling followed as Human aimed at the guards with his one real eye. Noctus's mouth suddenly parted in a nightmarish grin, hiding his lower jaw somewhere in the depths of his skull. The long, pony-shaped neck curved, throwing the skull forward, and Celestia's guards suddenly realized that they were looking in the face of a monster that hadn't been seen in Equestria for centuries.
Tartarus would have taken him, Luna thought anxiously as an hour later she watched the memories of a guard who did not need hospitalization. Human has succeeded in thrilling and disgusting even the one who has dealt with the most sophisticated of nightmares. I would hate to be near this creature without a barrier if it wanted to really get angry!
Human really turned out to be extremely dangerous in close combat. At a distance, with him, perhaps, no problems would have arisen, but with direct contact... Remembering Celestia's orders, the unicorns first of all attended to the setting of shields, but where there! Even before the currents were swirled, Human rushed forward, raising his leg to strike. One of the guards flew into the chest with a flat stilt, as if with an oar, throwing him away and knocking out his breath, and hitting the other two times on the head with his fist, causing a concussion. Human escaped the flyer of the Day diving at him with a spear by jumping into the air, making a strange pirouette there in a red flash with an instant change in trajectory and grabbing the Pegasus by the base of the wing. Fortunately for the guard, the only desire for such a menacing-looking creature was again to avoid a serious skirmish, and therefore the pegasus escaped with only a throw to the ground and a serious dislocation. When other pegasuses began to surround him, when the real festrals flew out to cut Human, he grabbed the iron box and rushed into the city, at the same time using his distraction maneuver. Immediately in different places of Ponyville, clouds of crimson suspension began to swell with chomping...
Naturally, the guards decided that it was some kind of dangerous magical composition, and rushed to save the local residents, disperse the fog with incineration spells (they did not think to react to the angry-looking Pegasus "clouds"), to provide assistance to the victims. Celestia and Luna did not stand aside, teleporting jumps from hearth to hearth and pulling out individual ponies, together with Shining Armor covering the affected areas with domes. From the point of view of the youngest, it was a spectacular transformation from a good monarch, the soul of the company, into a true ruler.
Tia instantly became decisive, collected and acting unwaveringly, just like in the good old days. The Ponyville residents did not help the cause, frankly panicking, rushing between houses, trying to call their relatives and friends in the clouds of reddish rubbish. Not realizing sleepily what was the matter, residents jumped out the windows, tried to grab some belongings with them, called for help from firefighters, a weather brigade and doctors. Domestic animals ran through the streets, the bell in the tower was buzzing alarmingly, the guards were abruptly cursing, the air was bursting from the screeching of frightened filly... No one was bored. When the commotion subsided a little (thanks to Luna, who barked in a Canterlot voice "PONY, QUIET!" counting the victims in the stampede: the composition was harmless. It did not affect the ponies at all, and apart from the effect of an ominous look of fog, in fact, it did not give anything!
Human did not waste even a minute from the new head start that the panic in the city gave him. Walking on foot with the speed of a good trotter, he moved straight to the Sugar Corner, sometimes, in an effort to achieve this goal, he began to jump on the roofs and push off the walls, spoiling the cladding. It's amazing how controllable this seemingly unstable two-legged canter was. Sharply pushing off with narrow legs-bones, he threw them back, bending his knees again, sliding on the ground and moving from a shallow run to a series of jumps, in his viscous grace, spreading in the air. Knocking out the window with his body and turning the oven along the way, Human flew through the kitchen, frightening to death the twins and the Cakes, who were forced to abandon their morning baking. Ignoring the cries of the pony and Mr. Cake that he was bravely going to chase Human away with a broom, the stranger broke into the warehouse and began to shop there... until she went downstairs to see what kind of funny bustle in the city had risen without her, Pinkie Pie - she was just sleeping before the "extraordinary daytime super pajama party."
Do we need to describe what happened next? What is, after all, a perfectly adaptable battle monster against one angry filly... A real pink tornado flew into the stranger, who apparently decided to throw a party on his own in honor of his arrival in Ponyville. Human tried to dismiss Pinky as if he were an annoying fly, but she instantly jumped away, rolled her favorite cannon from behind the curtains and treated the intruder with a good charge of cotton candy. Swearing in his own language and trying to somehow clean off the sweet lumps from the bone mask, Human retreated, taking with him several cylinders of helium and punching another hole in the wall of the pastry shop. Pinky, in her party frenzy, drove Human all the way to apple orchards, launching firecrackers and raspberry jam pies at him, after which, considering her duty fulfilled, she finally drew attention to the panic that seized the streets of the town. After thinking a little more, the filly happily joined in the panic, scampering around Ponyville screaming “It looks like a bubblegum default has fallen on us! Save your supplies!" and inviting others to engage in a pie shootout, since the human has escaped.
Pinky was now sitting surrounded by her friends, who had already packed up their belongings for a trip to the Crystal Empire, and boasted that she would certainly receive a medal from the princesses "For the defense of Ponyville against otherworldly invaders." She did this, undoubtedly, only in order to laugh good-naturedly at the expression on the face of Rainbow Dash, which again missed everything and will miss it, because the pegasus could not leave the request of the princesses without attention. Luna was just listening to the report of her guardsman, according to which Human did not run away, but jumped on the way to a farm next to the city, where he expropriated bags of fertilizers... based on magnesium and many other minerals.
Celestia stood by, and all the bitterness of the ancient peoples of Equestria was reflected in her amethyst eyes. The main destruction, rather minor, Ponyville suffered because of the ponies themselves, who did not know what to do and where they were attacked from, but the stranger encroached on the sacred, favorite institution of Tia! It's also good that the alien destroyed one load-bearing wall, so that the building only slightly sloped... If the Sugar Corner collapsed, Luna was not sure that her sister would not declare war on the human dimension without some prefaces. But the confectionery, of course, will be repaired at the expense of the treasury - they will also close up other traces in the idyllic picture that Ponyville made yesterday, without overturned counters, knocked out shutters and trampled morning newspapers. Their little subjects with Celestia will recover from the shock, will again safely go out into the streets and have fun... Tia, again, will find peace of mind as soon as the last brick is installed in its proper groove, and Cakes house will regain its original appearance.
Laughter, and this incident worried both Celestia and her sister much more seriously. Luna closed her eyes, listening to her alicorn feelings and echoes of intuition. Human did not have magic, but his innate powers definitely allowed him to bypass the limitations of living flesh in some way. Illumination came when Celestia managed to isolate the first complete traces of a person, which was this crimson suspension, once enclosed in organic capsules on several streets of Ponyville. Having rummaged in their own vast memory and arranged a short study, the sisters made a disappointing verdict - it was a microscopic organism that had little in common with the usual bacteria. Representing an inert structure, like some kind of pollen, it possessed a complex structure, uniquely created to separate and capture vital molecules, genitals, and integrate them into its own structure. And it's good that it didn't interact with the life of Equestria in any way!
Luna believed that the stranger knew about the harmlessness of his microscopic assistants to ponies, and sprayed them solely for the sake of distracting attention - after all, in any other case, Celestia would not have given him a trigger. In addition, from the wreckage of the car, he preferred to take, as Tia predicted, not a sting weapon, including its manual version that remained in the cabin of the rotorcraft, but a section from its broken dashboard. Like any sane sane, a human was primarily interested in information and its application, and for this he took a means of communication. However, if this intermediate life form was indeed responsible for the alien's almost magical abilities, creating weapons and menacing forms from his body... Luna did not want to think about what effect the red mist might have on a pony if he was adapted to them. It must have been a terrible sight. These thoughts further inflamed in Luna the desire to seize a humanas soon as possible, no longer exposing ordinary ponies to the blow, and with a passion to find out what he is capable of, until the alien showed his true essence, like Nightmare once did. The closed eyelids of Luna trembled finely.
Dark princess... Well, do you really think that I will be so easy for you? in the darkness, a skull appeared in front of her with only one right eye socket, grinning with its upper teeth in a malevolent grin. You will not be able to track me down, for you are always in the role of catch-up. You know that only one who takes the initiative can be called a monster? I don't need to look for a reason to expose your little ponies to harm. I do not seek praise and adoration as you grapple with the consequences of my coming here. You will always try to save everyone and protect everyone, and therefore you will lose, sooner or later. I do not need companions, because in the world of eternal war and eternal pain, only the right of the strong is respected. And who is strong? Strong is me.
Get lost, Tantabas! Luna hissed in her head. Human's skull swayed from side to side, as if expressing disapproval. In his single eye with a vertical pupil, the echo of the very essence that Luna had imagined in the night air of Ponyville froze. A long tongue protruded from the gap of the wet throat, not covered by the lower jaw, wetting flat teeth with small fangs with saliva. A bony paw stuck out of the darkness, clawing at the alicorn.
Do you really think you can drive me out of this world like you once did your dark self? Do you imagine that your experience will be worth something against me? You deign to amuse me, co-ruler of Equestria, the skull laughed disgustingly, croaking like a crow and splashing saliva. The claws on the narrow paw clenched, crunching their own flesh. You've met Nightmare Luna yourself! Are you still afraid to admit what's going to happen? I'm not going anywhere from you, Princess Luna. Once I came to another world, I forever turn it into my hunting grounds, as you wanted to turn Equestria into the abode of eternal night. A Titanide who has forgotten her own strength, did you think that someone else would not have the courage to go all the way?
A shiver ran through Luna's body. It took a significant mental effort to dispel the illusion created by her own imagination.
Tantabas in the form of a man turned around, putting his paws behind his back, and disappeared among the shadows, coughing and grumbling harshly:"We'll talk more, dark princess. In the meantime, go to your so-called "friends" who have defeated you twice."
Luna opened her eyes, feeling her ears tremble and a bead of sweat trickling down the satin fur of her forehead. She stood silently, with a tense and, clearly, an air unworthy of a princess and looked around uncertainly, but everything around was calm. The weather was good, the summer sun warmed up the skin pleasantly, the ponies around were no more noisy than everyday. Luna, slightly alarmed, checked the nooks and crannies of her own mind, but the servant, woven from the magic of shadows, dozed peacefully, waiting for his ruler to fall asleep and express the need for him.
Of course, he couldn't just show up in the afternoon against my will, the princess gasped. With a wave of her hoof, Luna dismissed the worried guardian of the Day, who was trying to foist either her or Celestia with a full list of victims due to the panic mood of the pony, but did not seek royal attention (from each for its own reason). Luna's gaze moved quickly between the lines, looking for some other possible traces of the presence of an alien that the guards might not have noticed. Anger seized her! Not only did the stranger come in a very shameless way to the town, inhabited to the tips of their tails by devoted pony, two regal sisters, he still had doubts and even some intangible fear in the soul of the Luna!
The princess managed to promise herself that even in case of a successful outcome, she would demand something from a humanas a satisfaction, but then Celestia sighed again, harder than before: “What a pity...” Said Celestia, sadly examining the building of the Sugar Corner, which has lost its former gloss and chocolate-cream appearance. The bravest ponies were now picking up broken boards, preparing to make the bakery look more or less marketable, but the scattered sweets, flour dust and the stove thrown out of the house definitely left a scar on Tia's heart... more precisely, Tia's stomach.
“Yes, it's a pity,” Luna snorted, humorously trying to suppress the irritation that caused the person's actions. “It’s a pity that I didn’t see your expression at that moment. I would give a lot for the reaction to the damage done to the holy of holies of Your Highness in this nice town... Not half a kingdom, but a lot.”
“Lulu!” Celestia whined plaintively. “It’s not good to laugh at your sister’s weaknesses!”
“These are not your weaknesses, but your strengnesses!” Luna retorted with a laugh. “You would use this favorite tactic of yours in interracial diplomacy - I could ruin any unfriendly people with their tea parties with ambassadors, and Harmony would come two hundred and fifty years earlier!”
“But I really wanted to try Cake's signature caramel truffles...”
“Here we go back to Canterlot, and if you don’t go on a diet, I’ll go back to Nightmare, seize power and cancel heavy breakfasts with the first decree, because morning will never come again!” Luna whispered terribly in her sister's ear. She shuddered and staggered away.
“Luna, you will not dare!!!” Tia was horrified, although her eyes sparkled with joy.
“…no, Sweetie Belle, you will obey your mom and dad and stay at home if the guards so demand!” instructed her sister Rarity. On the part of the fashionista, some preparations were still going on, and at a time when her friends had collected saddlebags a long time ago, she tried to equip as many things as possible with her, clearly under the impression of a man's attack on Ponyville. There were warm clothes, insect spray, cotton candy packs (which Pinky probably advised her) and heaven knows that... Spike, who was standing nearby, gazed at the swollen bales with the dispassion of a truly doomed. Rarity took a deep breath and concluded in an unchallengeable tone as she packed her last bag: “No Crusaders adventures yet, do you hear? But what if this terrible alien catches you on the street, while no one sees, and eats you?!”
“Oka-a-ay... Take care of yourself, ponies!” little unicorn, sighing, hugged her sister goodbye, waved her hoof and, under the supervision of the guard, which she delicately demanded from Celestia, Rarity went home.
“If anything, Macy will pick you up and Scootaloo at the station!” shouted after the nighting pony, immediately provoking this fashion designer and getting involved in an argument about the "subtleties of sisterhood."
Looking sideways at her sister, Luna saw the disorder on her face - real, not mischievous. Celestia definitely didn't like the fact that the peaceful town was occupied by guards, so he should have sent guards to the foals. She followed Sweetie Belle with a thoughtful look, then turned to the Princess of the Night.
“Alright, Luna, this is not the right hour for fun... Got something worth your attention?”
“I think I understood where Human stayed all this time before the attack,” Luna wrinkled her forehead, reading a piece of paper that came from Madame Mayor, who on the other side of the city was following the restoration work. “Literally under our noses!”
“How's that?” Tia was seriously interested.
“Your Grace, do I understand correctly that you took the sculpture from the fountain for restoration? I remember that during the last visit you said what you wanted… ” Princess of the Night began to read aloud, but then she simply handed the scroll to Celestia. “Everything is crossed out there, and at the end there is a note that they found the Prancing Pony in the fountain itself, melted into pieces. Human prepared the withdrawal with the help of his paint bombs... Then, while the guards were looking in the other direction, he separated the statue from the pedestal and hid it piece by piece in the water. The guards used only their checked flasks, at night no one approached the reservoir...” Muttered Luna, recalling her arrival in Ponyville. “Tia, he replaced the statue, created a cover like a stone and stood there until the morning, listening, looking and remembering everything around! "Under my responsibility" These are my words, the human only reproduced them in the voice of Brave Noctus!”
“And this is you in vain, Luna,” sister could not help but insert a note of censure into her speech. “It's good that the festrals flew up later than my guards, otherwise, if they were more aggressive, they could to suffer much more seriously.”
“Tia, Human has already voluntarily tried on a stone coat, he is no stranger to it,” the dark alicorn grinned. “Just don't tell me that after today you will again object to the strengthening of measures! Your soldiers rely too much on magic, and since a human ignores its indirect action, you cannot give him...”
"I will, Luna," Celestia interrupted quietly but firmly, carefully examining the paper from the local office. “This creature is civilized – Human ifestations of his abilities are strictly metered and controlled by him. Controlled by his mind. Human saw what our guards are capable of... for him magic is no less alien and frightening than these red "carriers" are for us. Given his own skills, a human could effectively defend his life, dealing with the guards one by one and even hiding behind their comrades. But he does not want to aggravate the conflict, only to become as ready as possible to meet with us... Do you really want to raise all the free pegasus on the wing and comb the surroundings, throwing all around with shock spells at the slightest movement? I don't think a human would be happy with this approach.”
“Swirl's Beard, Tia, of course I had no intention of turning Ponyville into a warzone!” Luna was indignant, stamping her hoof in elegant silver vestments. “But we just can't polish the horns just sitting there! Now the human is restrained, but won't it get worse?”
“And yet the statistics still speak in his favor, sister,” Celestia reminded gently. “We can show him hooliganism, violation of public order, damage to private and public property... well, and theft for a ridiculous amount. His maximum is an attack on the members of the Night and Day guards while on duty, and he could easily kill the guardsmen, or at least inflict damage that cannot be healed in a couple of days, but human spared them. Ordinary Might, he deliberately aimed at the back of his head in order to deprive him of consciousness, and not cripple him - one blow was not enough, and only the second, stronger one, provided him with a concussion. He was afraid that he would kill the guard with the first blow, Luna! The use of its "carriers", which are tightly linked to the biochemistry of that dimension, can not be considered at all: a human should be perfectly aware of our incompatibility, only having studied the nature of Equestria, which in the Everfold is represented in all its manifestations. Do you really believe that a foreigner would start such ceremonies if he considered us enemies with whom there is no negligible probability of negotiations? Yes griffin mercenaries a couple of thousand years ago, just sorting through the bar, and then Cloudsdale inflicted more damage, remember! Now it’s easy to surprise a pony, but if he were a subject of another power, an elite flyer that invaded our airspace and mischievous, I would simply demand a large fine and put Human out. But, since I am responsible for the fact that Twilight summoned a sentient being from another world, I myself put him in such an unenviable position...” Celestia stroked the Luna on the shoulder, having long ago replaced with this gesture the affectionate spanking that she once asked the younger mane. “Your suspicion, Lulu, rests solely on the stranger's unfamiliarity with magic and our very limited power over him. But I believe that there were those in his world for whom he was ready to ride a dangerous car, that the magic of friendship was familiar to him... even if it took some other, less material forms.”
“I confess that sometimes you can be very convincing, Tia, even if it is not about cakes,” the princess of the Night sighed. Could she not have known how exceptionally beautiful and kind Celestia saw the world, no matter how hardships around her tried to convince her otherwise, including her own sister, to force the Equestrian mistress to become someone else? Celestia meekly raised her eyes to the bright summer sky.
“I prefer not to hear the end of your phrase...”
“Of course... I just ask you not to forget that if your words are correct, we are dealing with a conscientious bearer of chaos, capable of adhering to some rules. Believe me, how long hesitated to plunge into your own madness and openly oppose you... these are the hardest to stop. Their fuse can smolder for a very long time. If he does go against Equestria, then...”
Noticing that Celestia fixed her eyes at one point, thinking hard about something, Luna hurried to explain:
“Hey, I didn't mean that you are even older compared to me!”
"I know," giggled the princess of the Day. “You just sound exactly like Agent Drops, only she hit the specifics and described it from the point of view of catching monsters. Maybe it's worth reforming the agency and taking it under your leadership? But you should definitely introduce Agent Drops, Lulu, you would get along!”
Luna barely refrained from arguing and beginning to explain to her sister why the Chaos monster, according to Starswirl's Bestiary, would come out of a man so-so (at the same time, as she did not want axis to admit this, calming your own nerves). It's for the best, Tia just approached Twilight Sparkle and her friends, starting to give the last instructions that could be useful to them in the Crystal Empire. Luna stood at a distance, looking around the town, and thought: how will the ponies see it when the magic of the empire is finally released, and the multicolored composition will bring them back? Will a lanky figure walk the streets of Ponyville, answering greetings with a smile and quietly longing for his lost homeland in the evenings? Or will it make a difference that the ponies will begin to quietly discuss for another month or two the extremely angry two-legged that flew a fleeting grain of sand in their lives and was struck by the celestial sisters, the longtime defenders of Equestria? More than a thousand years of battles and spending more peaceful days were on the side of the Luna, but now - only one morning, and she would rather go with Twilight for fear of disrupting Tia's action, which she conceived in Ponyville.
Shining Armor, already in his marching armor, listened to Celestia, then nodded and called to the others. “Well, ladies and Sir Spike, let's go? The train will leave soon, so we better take our seats.”
Taking most of the luggage with magic, for which the dragon was infinitely grateful, the captain of the guard bowed to the princesses and trotted towards the station, “Twily, are you coming?”
“Princess Celestia, I...” looked sadly at the unicorn's mentor. “I understand you, but I still don't think that entrusting me with the fate of an entire country is the best way out. Especially after… well…” Twilight glanced sideways at Sugar Corner. It certainly bothered her that the stranger she'd summoned from inside Equus was even less friendly than the sorceress could have guessed.
Luna frowned: young Sparkle did not hurt to acquire more confidence in her own rather considerable powers, if her sister considered her worthy of mastering the highest magical form.
But Tia resolved the difficulty immediately, as always gently: “You can do it, my dear student,” the princess of the Day firmly promised. “And I, in turn, promise that when you return, Ponyville will be as comfortable and safe as you remember and love. Luna and I will take care of that.”
The unicorn, her face brightened, nodded and looked at her friends much more resolutely. Those did not remain in debt:
“Stop blowing up snot, Twi!” That blue pegasus flew up to her. “Let's help, if anything, no crystals will interfere with me! Only, Your Highnesses,” Rainbow looked at the princesses with an imploring glance,” if anything interesting is outlined, please, do not start before our arrival! I really want to see what the arrival of the two-legged will result in! And today it didn’t work out to him... We’ll go back, and he won’t get rid of me so easily!”
“Let the alien still go for a walk, Rainbow Dash? So that he will continue to disturb the peace of our city?!” Rarity was indignant. “Well, I don’t want this!”
“This is what I think: princesses will figure out what to do without your advice, girls,” Applejack grinned, and the yellow pegasus with a cautious nod of her head expressed solidarity with her. “Happy everyone to stay here,” the earth pony waved her hoof to a couple of familiar ponies nearby and, arranging saddlebags on her back more comfortably, slowly galloped after Shining Armor.
“Come on girls! Long partings are extra tears, but we don't need this at all! Your Highnesses, adius!” Pinkie Pie went to overtake so briskly, as if the farmer was really going to arrange a race with her to the station.
“Goodbye Princess Celestia, Princess Luna!” Twilight said goodbye in turn, levitating small bags with Rarity. “I promise that I will do my best to solve this problem!”
Luna saw a smile of quiet pride slip across her sister's lips. Twilight Sparkle and her friends were really good, not devoid of pony charm. The Princess of the Night grew up and lived in a completely different era, where the aristocracy and powerful magicians were treated much more reverently, if not with apprehension; but she was willing to admit that sometimes Canterlot, with its endless vaulted halls and crowds of ponies constantly interceding for something, would get on Luna's nerves, as if squeezing her with all this mass of stuffy stone. Here, in Ponyville, the atmosphere was completely different. Twilight Sparkle, an indigenous inhabitant of Canterlot (and its libraries), also changed their views on life, simultaneously breaking the curse that took possession of the soul of the Luna. Simple ponies, simple, sincere relationships... Loyal to her comrades-in-arms and the inhabitants of Ponyville, Twilight was immediately inspired when she realized that through the efforts of the princesses, everything would be fine with her friends. Celestia definitely made the right choice when she sent her pupil here and Luna fully approved of her decision now... It didn't mean that she could not pin Tia, who was always so pedantic about everything related to teaching young talents.
“How much do you think your best student is about keeps in the Empire, before realizing that it has failed,” the lady of shadows innocently asked, looking after the friendly company that she was ready to hide behind the next house, “and run away from there in tears?”
“I'll bet for a week,” Celestia said, still thoughtfully, and stopped short... “Luna!!!”
“What? You got caught, not me!” the dark princess laughed, already dodging herself, only not from the pillow and lumps of sugar, but poking her long horn in the side. “Hey! Stop, just stop!”
The scuffle of the regal sisters ended before it really began, as a polite cough echoed behind them. Luna, which had not yet been left by memories of daydreams that was occupied by a stranger, with difficulty overcame the urge to turn into a fighting stance. Celestia, however, probably expected to see Agent Drops or someone like her, for the guard would have called himself openly and had a clearly distinguishable aura and Tia's surprise could not be hidden, because a zebra was located behind the sisters. Her eyes, not covered by the bangs familiar to many ponies, looked at the Equestrian monarchs calmly and directly. An image familiar from the last Night of Nightmares flashed in the memory of Luna, then the inhabitant of the southern plains dressed in the attire of a witch and let down her mane instead of the skillfully placed mohawk.
Unlike her sister, which the zebra remembered exclusively as accompanying her little admirers, Celestia definitely knew her more closely. Smiling benevolently, the princess asked: “Greetings, Zecora. Have you been brought to Ponyville by the antics of our guest from another dimension?”
“No, Your Grace, I managed to avoid the trouble,” zebra made a low bow, not expected from the side of the pony, but a xnixen. “Having recognized a human, I cannot call him a misfortune double.”
“Did you meet him in the wilds of the Everfree?” Tia asked worriedly. “I hope he hasn't caused you any problems yet? I didn't think we would need to raid the forest, but if you have an idea of where the human might have stayed...”
Curiosity began to wake up in the Luna: what other discoveries will this new meeting bring, completely unexpected? Zebra raised its hoof warningly: “Recharge only, you won't find him thereat. There is no need to worry: your human is on the path neat.”
“What do you mean?” the sunny princess was surprised.
The zebra's story was weird because of her versification, but it conveyed the point pretty well. After listening to Zecora, Luna was not sure whether to be indignant with her or be glad that Celestia had found another like-minded human the part of the alien who believed that "everything is going well and will end well." However, the princess of the Night was also filled with a little bit of respect: an alchemist from distant lands dared to look into the folds of knowledge, where most of the magicians tried not to go into the magic of the past and the future without a harsh necessity! Luna still remembered how Starswirl had forced her and Tia to write on the board a thousand times, "I will never try to distort the equation of time again, each one!"
From Zecora's words, it turned out that her potion was not able to scale the timeline, even in the sense that the leap evolved by their mentor did, which shaped the future, taking into account the knowledge about him. All that the potion did was mark the key points of chrono-existence, forks, because of which the story could go in two ways, so different that it would be reflected in the fate of the whole reality. The composition, according to Zecora, was still imperfect, and a creature with only an alicorn stream width could jump over entire generations when used. But it turned out to be enough for the forest sorceress to see such a splitting point in the next day or three. Based on the rich experience of divination of her tribe, the zebra was convinced that all decisions that the royal sisters would make would be much less critical for pony society than her meeting with a man in a swamp.
In fact, Zecora showed courage (which the outsider probably appreciated, realizing that she was not going to inform the authorities about him) and unobtrusively invited him to Ponyville, pointing out exactly where the helium, so much needed by the person, could be found. Who knows how many lives could be cut off if the alien treated the ponies as something more hostile and rushed through the streets in search of chemicals, destroying everything in its path?
After all, as the zebra assured Celestia, the second path after the fork was much darker, for "this stranger is quick and evasive at the meeting, his flesh and bone became stronger than termite". Luna had no recollection of the last time a pony's safety was compromised simply because there was no suitable food for the guests of Equestria... although, according to Tia's notes, something similar happened to the delegation of yaks before they retired to their enclave. As expected, Celestia did not reproach the zebra for temporarily hiding information, but thanked her and made her promise to send a sample of the potion to the court alchemist when it was ready. Luna just sighed. She wanted to question the sorceress with much more passion, but the knowledge e of the orders that Celestia established made her pull herself up.
“You trust too much intuition of your subje...” Luna began with a note of displeasure, but the senior diarch interrupted her:
“Zekora is a famous potions master from the south, sister. Although she does not have the qualifications of our metropolitan institutions, I am aware of her skills and I know that you can trust her. If Zecora says that a human invasion of Ponyville will do more good than if we kept him away from here, so be it.”
“Perhaps,” Luna replied slowly. “But if you see such a picture, then the explanation of this zebra may not be enough for ordinary ponies, even if you already repeat her words. The inhabitants of Ponyville are agitated, dear sister, and some are terrified. If we let the alien continue to rush around the city, like a minotaur stung in the triceps, ruining houses and demolishing everything in its path, the ponies will begin to grumble, no matter how much they love the throne. They will have neither the opportunity nor the desire to leave their homes, they will stop seeing their friends and relatives, they will begin to worry about their safety...”
“Luna,” Celestia proclaimed almost solemnly, “I promise to give you and your guards full carte blanche in case the human still shows up in Ponyville in the same obnoxious manner.”
“Really?” the princess of the Night did not believe.
“Of course! Only a human will not do this anymore. To openly confront the guards when he has already mishandled and got hold of everything he needs is not the most expected of his actions, which we have to follow in the next couple of days.”
“I should have guessed there was a catch in your favor…” Luna moaned.
“Now a human will only search for information about the world he has entered. You noticed that his copy of Noctus's Brave did not bear the cutiemark, even though it was not very noticeable under the armor, right?”
Luna nodded in confusion, recalling the reports from the guards and the personal observation of one of them, which he entrusted to the sovereign of thoughts. The alicorn was puzzled by this detail: the alien exactly reproduced the appearance of the lieutenant, only examining him from all sides, but he could not make even a rough drawing, tracing paper from the greatest aspiration of the soul of all ponies. The same changelings easily forged someone else's matrix, otherwise special spells were not required to calculate them... There were no runes on the "true" appearance of a human - both his initial version and the exhausted one and his armor was uniformly basalt in color. Then, immediately after Human's attack, Luna put these facts aside in order to think carefully about him at her leisure, but now she did not understand how this relates to Tia's words.
“When he openly showed himself... When a human was so close, changing himself, I managed to feel him,” muttered Celestia, “almost as I once saw Tirek in my dreams. Empty vessel. Vacant place. Uncertainty. Something that borrows someone else's without having its own.”
“So it's not as ignored by magic as we initially thought?” Luna frowned. “Or are they purely mental emanations, like those of other reasonable ones?”
“A stranger should not be familiar with magic in the usual sense for us,” Tia responded thoughtfully. “But he clearly has some similar concept. Keep me posted, Lulu!” the elder sister looked at her pleadingly. “More precisely, it will be possible to say if you manage to establish mental contact with the creature. If a human can really feel the magic of our world, as I was able to detect this entertaining analogy, but, moreover, I am not able to reflect it on myself, as the magic does not leave traces on us before we know our true path, well... If so, thanks Lyra's reflections, I understand who a human can turn to for this knowledge in the first place.”
“Wait, sister,” Luna hurried. “You don’t think that... Are you really going to allow him to do this? Some kind of analogue of Tirek from the world without magic?!”
“As I said, the statistics are in his favor, sister. And I definitely don't think that there will be any complications with a civilized being. Reasonable, capable of limiting their inclinations, as a rule, seek to do the right thing. And if we direct his heart and mind to the necessary conclusion... You will see, in a day or two we will be good friends with the person, and such a wonderful event will not leave any pony indifferent. Especially miss Heartstrings, of course. I don’t know about you,” Celestia stretched gracefully, spreading her wings, “but this morning bustle has pretty tired me. Expressing solidarity with our thrifty future acquaintances, I will say that nothing pushes the boundaries of knowledge like a good breakfast. We will not bother the Cakes, they will have to be repaired at the expense of the crown, but I know an excellent place where are served the most exquisite...”
“Tia, damn it, you are an unfortunate glutton! We’ll go back to Canterlot and I'll personally take care of your figure!” Luna howled in an almost Canterlot voice through her sister's malicious laugh. “I'm serious!!!”