It was a beautiful fall morning in the Light Kingdom, with the sun just starting to rise. Despite being too much early for anyone to be awaken, there was already one pony walking around the halls, something he used to do every morning: Golden Paladin. The General of Peace used to do that to make sure the kingdom was safe.
In fact, he was doing that all the time, not daring to make any unnecessary breaks, especially after Star stopped needing him. However, lately, he had been more attentive than he used to… and all that started after Gleaming Shield had told him about the prophecy Quita Moz had about him. He had told her to tell him he would have an important role in a near event, that a decision of his would change everything and would make him feel he had fulfilled his duty as General of Peace.
That came to worry him a little bit. What event would that be that would cause such big change? And how would he ever feel that he had fulfilled his duty as General of Peace? Could that mean something would happen to him? Or could it be that he would just reach his full potential? All those questions were still echoing in his head, still wondering what Quita Moz’s prophecy meant.
He was so into his thoughts that he passed by Star Knight, who was walking besides Timber, without even noticing.
“Hello, Golden” Star said.
Caught by surprise, Golden Paladin turned around to him, saying:
“Oh, Prince Star Knight, you startled me.”
“I startled you?” Star Knight asked, in disbelief. “Are you okay, Golden?”
“I am, it’s just…” Golden started. “I think I have been working too hard in my patrols.”
“That never seemed to be an issue with you” Star noted.
Wanting to change the subject as fast as he could, Golden Paladin commented:
“Shouldn’t you be getting ready to go to school, young prince? If you don’t worry, you will be late for the reception.”
“I am to go to school, but it’s just to drop off Dusk and the girls” Star replied. “Have you forgotten that I have already graduated.”
“Oh, yeah, because you… advanced a year in you… studies…” Golden said, distracted.
“Okay, you really are not okay… what is worrying, because you almost never get like that…” Star said.
“You don’t need to worry about me, young prince” Golden Paladin told. “Trust me, I’ve been around for a very long time and I can handle my own problems.”
“Are you sure about that?” Star asked, still uncertain.
“Sure… but now I think you should hurry, unless you want your brother and sisters to miss the reception” Golden replied, starting to move away.
“Okay, we can talk… later” the alicorn prince told, as he saw the General of Peace moving away.
“I’ve never seen Golden Paladin that tense before… and that’s saying a lot” Kurama commented to Star.
“Me neither…” he replied. “Whatever is keeping his mind that distracted must not be good…”
“Don’t be so melodramatic, you don’t even know if what’s keeping him distracted is bad or not” Kurama replied.
“To keep someone as focused as Golden like that it must not be good, trust me” Star replied.
“You do know I know him for much longer than you, right?” Kurama asked.
“Yeah, I know that…” Star replied, as he resumed walking, with Timber following him.
Golden Paladin kept on walking. After his brief talk with Star, he realized he would need to stop worrying so much with the prophecy. If Star was able to pick up he was strange, then it was quite possible that the same could happen with others and the last thing he needed was to worry everyone with something that could not even be that dangerous. After all, it was his duty to keep the peace. Taking a deep breath, he tried to put all the worries regarding Quita Moz’s prophecy at the back of his mind for the moment… at least while he came to do his job.
After some time, he was overseeing the training of the guards with Blue, but it would appear that the General of Peace was having a hard time to keep himself completely focused, both mentally and emotionally, as he came to get tougher on the guards, something that Blue came to notice.
“Okay, I know you’re not going to like this, but I need to ask you, Golden” Blue said, as they walked out of the training grounds. “Are you okay?”
“Why do you ask that?” Golden Paladin asked.
“You normally are a lot more patient with the guards during training, but this time…” Blue started.
“My job is to keep the Light Kingdom safe and, to do that, we need to have strong and well-trained guards” Golden Paladin interrupted. “It’s not my fault guards have a tendency to get lazy with lasting peace.”
“Yes, but how can they get in shape if you get them all tired up?” Blue asked. “They are just normal ponies, after all.”
But Golden Paladin just ignored him and hasted his pace, heading towards his room and closing the door.
“But what’s up with him?” Blue asked. “I’ve never seen him like that.”
“That’s because you’ve not been around for the same amount of time as we have” a voice said.
Blue turned around and saw none other than Heartbeat.
“Trust me, it takes a lot to have Golden to act out like this. I think the last time something like this happened was a year before the fall, when he…” she started saying, but then stopping herself from continuing. “It’s not important… What you can be sure about is that I can make him feel better. After all that’s my job, right…”
Having said that, she used her speed to move away quickly.
“Okay, I don’t know if I should be relieved or afraid…” Blue commented. “I think it’s for the best to tell Twilight what’s going on… That way we can be prepared for whatever Heartbeat has planned to help Golden.”
Golden Paladin was passing around his room, with his thoughts traveling at high speed inside his mind. The more he tried to keep it cool, the more he came to think about the prophecy, the more obsessed he got with it. He needed to know more about it. Maybe if he visited Quita Moz personally he would come to know more about the vision he got.
“You look worried” a voice commented. “Can I help you with that?”
Golden Paladin turned and saw Heartbeat.
“How did you…?” he asked, confused of how Heartbeat got inside his room. “I used powerful defensive spells to stop anyone to enter my room without my permission.”
“Seriously?” Heartbeat asked. “You know me for like… ever and you still doubt of my invading skills?”
“What do you want, Heartbeat?” Golden Paladin sighed.
“Just to reassure you that, if you want anypony to talk to, I am your pony” Heartbeat said. “Or maybe to confide any possible secrets you may have…”
That caused Golden Paladin to start laughing, much to Heartbeat’s confusion.
“Thank you, Heartbeat, I really needed that…” Golden Paladin said, while recovering from his laughing.
“I don’t understand what’s so funny” Heartbeat said, with a slightly upset face. “I was not being funny.”
“Really?” Golden Paladin asked. “Sorry, Heartbeat, it’s just… How should I put it…? You’re not exactly the kind of pony that can keep a secret.”
That caused Heartbeat to gasp in her own dramatic way and then replied:
“Take that back, Golden Paladin! Have you forgotten how I kept your crush for Princess Aurora a secret?”
“Sure, you kept it so well that you told the others about it when they started to pressure you” Golden Paladin said.
“Hey, in my defense, Mirror Coat was the one that told me to tell them” Heartbeat replied.
“Right after you practically gave it away” Golden Paladin said.
“How do you…?” Heartbeat said. “Mirror Coat… What a tattletale! Okay, but despite that, I can keep a secret quite well. I mean, I did kept a secret with Mirror Coat for a millennium. I mean, that is mighty impressive for someone you claim that is unable to keep a secret, right?”
What Heartbeat just said really intrigued Golden Paladin who asked her:
“Wait, you and Mirror Coat have a secret? An actual secret? You two?”
Realizing what she has just done, Heartbeat got mortified and said:
“Oh boy… I… need to go… Bye!”
And she hasted to go to the mirror in Golden Paladin, the one he used to access the Mirrored Library, and passed through it.
Even more curious about what that was about, Golden Paladin advanced towards his mirror and crossed into the Mirrored Library. Stealthily, Golden Paladin approached the center of the library, right where the Observer and the Tree of Crisis, seeing Heartbeat with Mirror Coat, with the former looking nervous, while the latter was calmer and writing something on a book.
“I almost told him everything! I can’t believe how bad I am in keeping secrets…” Heartbeat said.
“You always had issues with impulse control, that’s why you can’t hold a secret for long” Mirror Coat replied, while writing.
“Oh, but I’ve kept our secret for a millennium” Heartbeat replied. “What do you have to say about that?”
“Didn’t you spend most of that time petrified?” Mirror Coat asked back. “And then you spent the two decades after that with no memory, right?”
“Oh, shut up!” Heartbeat exclaimed. “It’s easier for you to say that when you spend most of your time in this library organizing books.”
Mirror Coat closed the book he was reading and then let it fly away, while making the quill disappear, and replied:
“Even if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t just spill the beans whenever I was in an impulse.”
“Spill the beans…” Heartbeat said. “What a strange sentence… Why does it has to be beans, why not another thing… Why not corn, for example?”
“You’re missing the point” Mirror Coat told. “You need to be careful, otherwise you may end up telling the wrong thing, just like you did now.”
“Sure, I will try to become as indifferent and boring like you…” Heartbeat ironized. “You know, it’s not that easy to know something like. After all, we’re talking about…”
But before she could say anything else, Mirror Coat hasted to put his hoof on her mouth and said:
“Wait, something is not right…”
Golden Paladin hold his breath. Most probably Mirror Coat had felt his presence in the library, trying to spy on them. He tried to retreat quietly, but when he turned around, he found himself crossing a mirror that led him to appear right next to Mirror Coat and Heartbeat.
“I knew it was you” Mirror Coat said.
“I can’t believe you followed me!” Heartbeat exclaimed. “That’s outrageous!”
“You’re the one to talk, having in consideration you’re the one that acts out behind our backs” Golden Paladin replied. “Besides, you two are the ones that are keeping secrets. And having in consideration the secrecy, it must be a very big one.”
“We’re entitled to have secrets” Mirror Coat said.
“A secret between you two must not be good news” Golden Paladin said. “You two are always the most secretive of us all and I don’t know if that’s good or not.”
There was a pause and then Mirror Coat took a deep breath, before continuing:
“Golden, I have the most respect for you. You are our leader, but just because you lead the Generals of Order, it doesn’t entitle you to meddle in our own responsibilities. We all keep secrets from one another because that’s how we are able to keep this reality and all the others working. Do you expect me to tell you all the secrets of my library? There’s a reason why some of the information here is sealed, because information is dangerous when in the wrong hooves. The same thing goes for Heartbeat… or any of us, including you. You also have secrets, right?”
That question caused Golden to wonder if Mirror Coat knew about Quita Moz’s prophecy about him. That also caused him to think more and conclude that Mirror Coat was partly right about he just said.
“Fine… You can have your little secrets… It’s just… I’ve been so stressed lately and… I started getting…”
“Paranoid?” Mirror Coat asked. “Yeah, we noticed. You always get like that when you start getting too much worried about something wrong happening.”
“I call it golden freak out” Heartbeat said, causing the other two Generals to look at her. “Yeah, I noticed how bad the timing was when I said it…”
“The thing is… you don’t need to get so worried” Mirror Coat said to Golden Paladin. “I mean, it’s not like we’re going to have an emergency at this precise moment…”
“Ah, Mirror Coat…” Heartbeat said, pointing.
They looked to where she was pointing and that was the Tree of Crisis, where one of its orbs was glowing.
“Okay, that’s not exactly the best proof of what I was just saying…” Mirror Coat said, as he, Heartbeat and Golden Paladin approached it.
“It’s in the Enchanted Forest…” Golden Paladin noted. “But where…?”
“We better wait for the ones that were chosen for the task” Mirror Coat told.
“Who are right here” a voice replied.
They looked and saw Star and Bramble approaching.
“We came as soon we got called” the former replied. “So… where’s this new mission?”