"Great job, everypony! We'll run through the introductory landing sequence one more time so that everypony has the timing down confidently!"
"I'm still not sure this is the best approach for Luna's grand reintroduction in Ponyville..."
"Nightmare Night is supposed to be scary, right? Besides, you can tell Aunt Lulu is enjoying herself up there..."
"Well, I mean the theatric element is up her alley..."
"Exactly! Now hurry up, we gotta make sure we're in the position Aunt Celly wants us in..."
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Princess Cadance, along with Captain Shining Armor following a step or two behind, moves to the end of a strip outlined in torchlights. It was dark in Canterlot, clouds in the sky positioned temporarily covering the moon. High above, the princess and her fiance could see Luna's carriage hovering, being pulled by some of the batpony members of the E.U.P. Guard.
"Hopefully this doesn't start a bunch of unfounded rumors in Canterlot..." Shining states quietly in his concern, looking out at the city with its lit up windows from his castle ground vantage point.
"The blowing winds will be considered as part of the normal weather for this time of year. Besides, she will only do this for real in Ponyville." Cadance reassuringly answers, adding a small smile when Shining looks at her.
Shining Armor continues to hold his skeptical look despite the smile, but his attention, as well as that of Cadance, is drawn toward the dramatically gusting wind. Normally such winds were caused by coordinated pegasi effort, but an alicorn like Luna could generate such winds on her own, and these winds started to blow aside the strategically positioned clouds. Out of the glare of the revealed moonlight, Luna's chariot screams down out of the sky, only stopping about 15 feet above the end of the outlined strip opposite where Shining and Cadance were watching.
The torches were used as a rough stand-in for the expected Ponyville crowd as well as an indication of the spacing needed for Princess Luna to operate safely. After an appropriate dramatic pause, the cloaked Luna leaps out of her stopped chariot, making a perfect four point landing on the ground below her. She dramatically throws her head back, the hood of the cloak falling back accompanied by a dramatic flash of lightning.
"Oooh, I'm getting a shiver down my spine." Princess Cadance whispers to her fiancé beside her at this point.
"Are you sure that's not the wind?" Shining Armor worriedly asks.
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Princess Luna pauses briefly, as if to savor the moment, while Shining Armor uses small bubbles of magic to snuff out some of the torches - a cue replacing the bowing crowds Luna expected to meet in Ponyville. Luna's cloak flutters in the wind, and as she starts down the outlined strip in Shining Armor and Cadance's direction it dissolves into bats. Once the cloak is gone, Luna opens her wings to full spread - doubtless to make herself seem even more majestic - and smiles in the direction of the torches standing in for the bowing Ponyville residents.
In the middle of the strip, Luna stops to give her speech, the force of the Royal Canterlot Voice enough to push against Shining Armor and Cadance standing nearby: "Citizens of Ponyville! We have graced your tiny village with our presence, so that you might behold the real Princess of the Night! A creature of nightmares no longer, but instead a pony who desires your love and admiration! Together we shall change this dreadful celebration into a bright and glorious feast!"
The speech ends with another dramatic thunderclap, and both Shining and Cadance look relieved that everything seems to have gone to plan. But Luna's eager smile still sits uneasy with Shining Armor, and the latter can't help but notice this when she approaches him.
"Pray tell, is there still something wrong with the execution?" Luna asks, looking at Shining with puzzlement.
"No, it's just that I still don't like how it ends with talking about feasting." Shining answers, trying not to let his innate awkwardness bubble to the surface as he does so. "I mean, there's more than one way for that line to be interpreted, and I fear the wrong interpretation will be chosen instead of the right one..."
"Shining, Aunt Celly and I have been over this before." Cadance states with annoyance. "The foal eating scary stories were just that - scary stories with no basis in reality. Everypony understands that. And even if they take it too seriously Twilight will surely be able to sort it out."
"That's another problem I have with this plan." Shining Armor responds with irritation. "I don't like the idea of trusting that Twily can fix everything if something goes wrong, especially not after the recent incident with the 'Want It, Need It' spell. And with all due respect, I don't care if Princess Celestia approved this idea or not, I still think it's going to go wrong!"
The only way Princess Cadance can respond is an awkward look at Luna's puzzlement at the reaction - it was only recognized in retrospect that Luna hadn't been deterred from her ill-fated dramatic approach to the visit because of Celestia's own intentions for testing Twilight; these intentions causing many headaches after the fact. At the moment thought, Captain Shining Armor just knitted his brows in frustration at what he felt were warnings that weren't being heeded.
"Now, if Your Highnesses will excuse me, I have to give the briefing to Lieutenant Captain Vesper..." Shining grumbles out, abruptly turning away and leaving the alicorns to their personal opinions.
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LATER, AFTER THE BRIEFING IS GIVEN...
"Yes, I absolutely agree that this 'UGA' is up to nothing good. Especially considering one of its leading members has suspected ties to the anti-pegasus rebellion that ended in 'Operation Hornpoint'." Shining Armor affirms to his subordinate, referencing Chancellor Neighsay.
"But sir, we've checked both the caverns and the city extensively. I refuse to believe that this 'Chiton', whoever he really is, can be a renegade from our kind helping them out." Lieutenant Captain Vesper replies, adding a shake of his head for emphasis.
"He could be a half-blood born outside the caves and recently moved to the city. And in any case, he needs to be held accountable for his reported actions, which have been to the hazard of the health and life of Equestrian citizens." Shining Armor pointedly adds on.
"Should we issue a warrant for his arrest?"
"As he has not been formally charged with a crime, that would have to be entirely on royal prerogative. And I don't expect that the 'UGA' with their obvious ulterior motives will simply give him over quietly. Their meetings should continue to be monitored, but warrants and police action will have to be decided entirely by the princesses. That is unavoidable, given I cannot trust any messages I send by post asking my younger sister for help will get through to her."
"Understood, sir. The night shift is ready and waiting to relieve the daytime crews."
"Get to it, then. And make sure the Lieutenants are triple-checking any suspicious activity and logging those reports correctly!"
"I will, sir. I promise."