//------------------------------// // chapter 11 part 3 // Story: Field trip... // by More Dakka //------------------------------// Just outside Appleloosa – present time Princess Luna was nervous… Her silver necklace felt unusually heavy on her neck and chaffed cruelly at her fur, her metal shoes felt harsh, only adding kindling to the burning ache in her hooves, and her usually feather-like crown suddenly felt like a lead weight perched upon her head. She couldn’t help but shift awkwardly against the seat of her royal chariot as the cold winds rushed passed her ears. She’d been perched atop that seat for what was beginning to feel like the wrong side of eternity and the longer she spend there, the more she began to regret every millimeter of polished silver and black obsidian that had been crafted into an eloquent design at her whim. The intricate designs that were once the height of her pride seemed to come alive in the midst of her worry, poking at her with gleeful abandon every time the cold, rigid frame drove her to shift her weight. Luna scowled. She remembered the day she first showed her older sister her new chariot. Instead of being enamoured by her finer taste, Celestia had fixed her with that same arrogant deadpan stare and made and off hoof remark about it being wise to put considerations beyond ‘mere’ aesthetics. Luna scoffed, that was funny coming from the pony that represented the sun… and had a strange fascination with polished marble. But truth was, Luna was starting to regret not heeding her word and made a mental note to rectify it when she next got the chance… without her sister knowing, of course. Speaking of her sister; Luna heard her words pass over her mind once again, words telling her to be calm, to wait; Words almost pleasant enough to heed. But pleasant words did little to quell the dark red flames that lingered in front of her mind’s eye. With a tired breath, she tried to cast her weary eyes across the horizon, hoping the delicate scenery of her kingdom’s rolling countryside would soothe her aching mind through soaking in the rolling green hills which almost sang under her sister’s radiant sunlight. They almost looked like they were burning. Luna shook her head violently and cast her eyes up to the clouds, glowing in the warmth of the sun. In all honesty, she preferred moonlight. The soft hues of her moon always bathed everything they touched in gentle silvery glow that almost made the very ground sparkle like the stars themselves. Sunlight, on the other hoof, just made her eyes hurt. But, in the moment, she couldn’t even dwell on how much the daylight aggravated her eyes, because as she stared blankly at the distant horizon, even the light of her sister’s sun had warped and twisted into the dull red glow of flames, flames which flickered and danced before an apparition she had only ever seen stalking ponies in their darkest nightmares. She wanted to dismiss… it as just that- a nightmare. But that dark vision hadn’t peeled with the same tone she knew in all mere dreams. What she saw was a memory. And that simple fact unnerved Luna to her very core. With her sister at her side, and the old pony guard behind them, she had driven the horrors of this world into the very depths of Tartarus, and she almost felt excited for the chance to do so again. But sadly, the longer she had spent feed from her prison, the more Luna began to conclude that the Alicorn who shared her sister’s name shared that name and nothing more. She was nothing like the pony she knew a thousand years ago. And during the first week, she even began to ponder if there was an imposter sat in her place… But no, the Alicorn she called her sister was indeed her sister truly; but she was also a mare that had succumbed to a millennium of tedium and monotony, and the weight of it had worn her down like a stone that found itself caught in the path of the tides. The ponies that now called themselves her ‘guard’ were even worse. They were nothing but arrant foals in costume. All stallions too, which gave Luna a clue for their true service to her sister… They were nothing but something to ogle while she sat upon her throne, drowning in the morning tide of parchment and quills. Luna closed her eyes and shook her head; and her crown seemed to sit a little heavier upon it. She’d hoped that the disaster at the wedding would have shown her sister that her guard were nothing but incompetent fools. But no… the sister she remembered never listened and it seems the last thousand years had done little to alter that trait. However, unlike then, Luna wasn’t still recovering from her return. And unlike the wedding, Luna knew she could do something this time... And that was the thought that finally smothered the flames plaguing her mind’s eye, and her true eyes filled with a sudden purpose and turned sharply to her captain. The purpose faulted slightly when they caught sight of the pony. The mare who sat at her side held the same uncomfortable air one would find on a young foal that had been forced to wear an itchy costume. Luna scowled again. The mare was nothing like the true wyvern ponies of flesh she remembered. Just like all the others’, this mare lacked the edge that earned the wyvern ponies the position within her guard in the first place. The Night Guard had been forged under Luna’s orders to push back all that dwelled within darkness, to purge it of all that ponies feared in the hopes that her subjects would finally leave their homes and walk amongst the beauty of her night, instead of huddling around their lanterns, paying for the daylight once more. But sadly, those ponies were long gone now, and what she was left with was nothing but impotent foals pretending to be something they weren’t…. But Luna did not think of herself as a foal. She had what was at hoof and would have to make the best of it… Luna turned to the pony at her side, “Sun Dime?” she spoke, and her frown grew deeper as the words left her lips. Even the taste of her commander’s name was a reminder of just how unfit she was to bear the title of Night Guard. That opinion was only enforced when the mare flinched at the sound of her own name’s call. Luna licked her lips before she spoke, gauging the mare through the corner of her eye “I trust you have briefed the guards on how to combat the creature?” she asked simply, making a point to use her softer speaking voice. She felt her opinion of the mare dropped even more when she saw a nervous twitch under her armour. “Umm… actually Princess… Princess Celestia has ordered that Shining armour is to have full command of this operation” Luna felt a flicker of rage, “What?!” she yelled “Neither Shining Armor nor my sister has any notion on what they are dealing with. I, on the other hoof, do…” Sun Dime gulped. But as she glared at the mare, she couldn’t help note that, to the mare’s credit, her voice cracked only slightly as she worked to cover her with her best cold glare. “B-but it is the daylight hours your highness.” Sun Dime began with a tone that sounded almost rehearsed “And so, this operation falls under the jurisdiction of the Day Guard.” Luna felt her cold glare fall away as her captain’s voice grew even stronger “Princess Celestia has ordered captain Shining Armor to take no pre-emptive action. She hopes peaceful communication between the… ‘Visitor’ can be achieved before it can reach any pony settlement. Forceful containment is option B, and only then if there is no other choice.” Luna blinked and her tongue rolled angrily in her mouth, ‘She’s doing it again.’ She seethed. ‘I am an equal ruler, yet she assumes to treat me like a foal.’ She narrowed her eyes at her guard captain, but this time she felt a pang of satisfaction as the mare gave a flinch under her gaze, “Tell the drivers to bring my chariot closer to my sister’s. We must discuss this at once.” The mare didn’t even seem to want to argue and responded quickly, “Y-yes princess” … Soon enough, Luna’s chariot was locked in parallel flight with that of her sister’s, and as the wheels arrived parallel the princess of the night felt the warmth of satisfaction at the look of surprise that flashed over the face of her sister and her captain. “Luna?” Celestia asked with a tone that seeped with that same surprise, but almost sounded warning “I thought we agreed for the sake of our guard’s nerves we would keep our chariots separate.” Luna felt her ear twitch at the tone and she couldn’t help but feel her lips curl back a little as she gave her response, “and I thought we agreed I would not be left out of the loop. So why have you denied me and my guard any involvement in this?” Her eyes narrowed even more as she bore down on her sister but much to her annoyance, Celestia’s calm expression didn’t change. “You have been adamant that your guard are unsuitable for their position,” Celestia stated slowly “a less… blunt version of your words are they’re simply not ready.” Luna’s ear twitched again…Always that same condescending tone… “Yet your orders were for ‘containment and communication’. Am I missing something? And when did this discussion even happen, When you “dropped into the library just to say hi to your student I assume. Do you not trust my judgement?” “Of course I do,” Celestia said and Luna could almost swear caught a flicker of hurt in her voice, but she dismissed it, “remember this whole parade was launched because of your words…” But Luna didn’t dismiss the mirth the seemed to seep into her sister’s voice “in fact I seem to remember a lot of them and I remember them being very loud and interrupting my sleep” Luna scoffed. The joke didn’t do anything but make her more annoyed and her voice took on a cold deadpan tone, “Yet you still do as you will regardless of my word.” “Not quite” Celestia said curtly, “I do what I do out of experience, I do not wish to touch on a tender subject but remember, sister. I’ve had 1000 years more of it and it has provided me with many harsh lessons. Lessons I just do not wish for you to learn the hard way as I did. In truth, it hurts that you do not trust me.” Luna met her sisters hurt gaze with a harsh one, “I trust you to stop treating me like a foal, sister” she said curtly, and the glare only hardened as the white mare just smirked back at her. “That’s always been up to you, Lulu.” Celestia’s eyes softened as she spoke “But it has been a long time since I’ve had to consult another before acting. I too am still adjusting, sister.” She smiled “So, allow me now to share with you one of those lessons. In my time I have learned nothing in life is free, and sometimes you may look back and find the price you paid is much higher than what you expected.” Luna reeled back a little as her sister straightened herself and looked down at her from the ridge of her muzzle “We could act swiftly on this matter, and make this day safe…But what of tomorrow? What will the price be if we are wrong and act with haste? I trust you remember our discussion in our chambers?” “I do” Luna lamented and looked on as Celestia smiled again. “I love you, sister; please understand that. If I ever seem to leave you from the loop it is nothing against you. I do it not with even a hint of malice or without purpose. It is simply me acting on my experience. We must think of our little ponies before ourselves; that is the price of the crown, and one other lesson I’ve learned.” Luna’s mind calmed, but not completely. Her sister’s words did take the anger out but only after one point was recognised, one point that lead to a question. “So, my return also came with a cost to you?” Luna couldn’t help but ask the question, and to her surprise Celestia’s face turned grave. “Oh yes…” Celestia said with a serious tone, “The war I must fight every evening just to get into the bathroom before bed. Not to mention having to share my best cake chef,” Celestia placed a hoof to her head in an overly dramatic pose, “but even though they are truly horrible prices to pay… I will gladly endure such hardships if it means my beloved sister is with me once again.” Luna just glared at her older sister as very un-princess like huff of air escaped her muzzle, but soon enough a sly grin pulled at her mouth. “A thousand years of unabated Cake… I thought it was just my imagination, sister. But that explains why your flank seems to be larger than I remembered it.” She smiled. Three…two… one… Luna nearly clapped her hooves together when her sister’s devious expression ‘popped’ and Celestia replied with a serious tone. “That’s low…” “No its wide, Tia, look” Luna said and pointed to her sisters flank “I don’t believe the sun isn’t in-fact an oval, but your cutie mark would have me believe otherwise.” Celestia opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the sound of Shining Armour doing his best to cover his mouth his hoof, lest it allow a laugh to escape. Luna smirked as her sister’s glare was turned from her guard and towards her. “Ok.” Celestia said with finality “My sister’s humor’ just found its way to the list.” Luna couldn’t help but shoot her sister a victorious grin “And my sister’s humor is the price I must pay to be back, so we suffer together, Tia.” Luna kept smiling as her sister narrowed her eyes ever so slightly, and she knew it was a promise this wasn’t over, so of course Luna felt the urge to push that little step further. “OH look, a distraction!” Shining armor’s voice broke through their sisterly antics and both princesses sight flicked to him. “Err I mean, we have arrived you’re highness.” Shining Armor corrected, after shrinking under their eyes and the two Alicorns looked over the rim of the chariot and found the town in the distance, growing larger with each second. With one last flick of her eyes over to Shining Armor, Luna smiled to herself. But as the town grew larger the pleasant feeling gave way to the memory of why they she were here and once again the beauty of the horizon gave way to those same glowing red flames. ... Even before her chariots wheel touched the ground, a creeping feeling travelled up Celestia’s spine. It was the cold, gnawing feeling that something was... wrong. Gone was the cheerful buzz that almost seemed to fill the very air of her kingdom. And the only thing that greeted her presence was a strange, almost smothering silence. While she would never admit it out loud, the truth was Celestia had grown accustomed to an extravagant and overly lavish greeting whenever she left the castle, even if she had often stressed lack of need for such things. But now she was actually seeing what that was like, the lack of welcome felt empty, along with the speech she’d spent the trip working on. Casting a curious eye towards her captain, the solar princess hoped for some insight, but all she found in Shining Armor’s face was a reflection of her confused expression. That reflection lasted only a moment before it gave way to the glint training had bestowed and Shining Armor nodded to his fellow guard and the armored ponies spread out towards the buildings and began knocking on their doors. … Unlike her sister, Princess Luna was used to such a ‘welcome’- or lack thereof, and when her chariot touched down to yet another instance of silence and stillness she wasn’t surprised. But if she had to be truthful, the lost look on her sister’s face gave her a deep swell of satisfaction. If it was any other day she would have trotted right up to her sister and started gloating- but today wasn’t any of those days, and a single glance on her sister’s face rooted her hooves to the floor as a single thought branched through both of their minds. They were too late… At that moment worry began to boil over and a guard returned with one of the townsponies following suit. Both of whom bowing to her sister… “My little pony” Celestia said attempting to hold her usual, calm tone “Can you tell me what has happened here?” “Sure thing, princess” the pony said with pride in his voice- and a much weaker bow then Luna was expecting “there was a tad bit ah trouble this morning, but it wasn’t nothing us settler ponies couldn’t handle.” “Your town has a sheriff, if I remember correctly. Where is he?” Celestia asked and the stallion gave a curt nod. “He took some ponies with em to try and run the monsters down.” Luna didn’t care how nonchalantly it had been said, the second the word had been spoken, she could only think one thing and the thought all but roared triumphantly in her head. Ha, I told her! She she turned to her sister with a triumphant smile. “I tol..” “How long ago was this?” Celestia cut in, seemingly ignoring her younger sister. “Not too long princess.” The stallion replied and Celestia nodded and turned to the pony besides her. “Shining Armor, please spread out your guard. Send a pegasus in the direction the sheriff ran and see if he can bring them back. And gather the town’s ponies, but keep them separate. Interview them individually and gather their eye-witness reports. I need to know what happened here...” “Yes, princess” … One very long hour later, a worn down pony guard was trudging towards Shining Armor, his muddied hooves spread in a tired, but confident, gait. “Corporal,” The Captain greeted him with a nod “the princess is waiting, do you have the report?” “ight ere ir” the pony said, his words slightly muffled by the scrolls held in his mouth. With a pink glow the guard felt the scroll lift from his mouth, and he couldn’t help but wonder why they always had to carry that thing in there in the first place. But as he ignored the taste of the parchment rolling across his tongue the guard couldn’t help feel a little pride wash over him as his commander’s eyes looked over his hard work… Then he saw the look the captain was wearing… “Funny…” Shining Armor said in a deadpan tone as he moved the scroll from his eyes and held his hoof expectantly, only to find the corporal looking back at him with a confused expression. After a moment the pony mustered the courage to let a weak cough into his hoof. “Sorry sir but there is no joke. I did the interviews myself… the stories are a little shaky but most of the ponies here are under the conjecture that a ‘monster’ walked into town, tried to give an apple to a filly, then started burning things with laser eyes…” The corporal half lidded his eyes expecting a bad reaction, but all his commander offered was a nod…, a very slow, very dangerous nod and the guard could feel sweat move under his helmet. The pony felt a bead of sweat run down the back of his neck. “So… you’re saying…you want me…” Shining Armor said in a tone laced with the same dangerous calm “to stand in front of princess Celestia, and say…” he snatched the witness reports away and flipped through one randomly “’it flew right over me and blasted a cart with its laser vision..? The guard flinched as the captain’s tone grew sharper “Oh and here’s my personal favorite! How could you ponies not know about your own conspiracy… you guard types do it all the time, set some monster loose on some poor unsuspecting town a’ good ponies and jump in and play the hero. Well we just beat ya’ to it this time.” The Corporal wanted to say something- ‘It’s the private’s fault’ came to mind, but the harsh eyes trying to glare a hole through him stopped any words from reaching past his tong. Fortunately for the corporal, luck must have been on his side that day because the captain gave a tired sigh and rubbed his helmet’s rim with a hoof. “Are there any better witnesses?” The guard reeled, ‘Think fast, think fast’ “Err… one stallion did talk about a mare that was helping the sheriff. She works in the saloon, and this mare didn’t follow him when he chased the… monsters, off…. sir” The guard heard his captain mutter ‘Probably the one pony not sucking on the stuff’ “Thank you…” Shining Armor said more to the sky then the guard, “Ok, find that mare. The princesses will want to speak with her.” The guard gave a salute, and let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, “Yes sir” … Sweet Peach was nervous… No, scratch that, Sweet beach was a complete, stuttering wreck… And as she sat in a bare dark room and fidgeted on a rickety wooden chair, one she swore was made to give her as many splinters as possible; Peach couldn’t help but ponder on how well her day had been going not just a few hours ago. It started out well enough. There she was just minding her own business, trying to keep her boss happy. Then, out of nowhere Ol’ Salt came sauntering in. Then the next thing she knew she was chasing after some weird critters with the sheriff. And now here she was sat in a dark room, waiting for the princess of all ponies to chew her out… … She had just been getting back to cleaning the glasses, just like her boss wanted, when out of the blue one of the royal guards came bursting through the door, demanding for her. She didn’t know why she was wanted, but she made sure she acted like a true peach would… She broke down and started sobbing… But, how was she supposed to know they weren’t there because she forgot to take out the trash last week? It was an honest mistake… She let out a sigh and gripped the seat of her chair with her hooves and let a soothing mantra pass through her head. ‘It’s ok, it’s ok.‘the princess Just wants ta talk with ya, everything will be fine, it’s probably just a mistake and when it’s sorted I can git back ta work…’ … …on second thought her boss was mighty angry that she left, so she thought she’s actually a mite better off here for the time being. The door opened suddenly with a loud creak, and the light seeping through the crack robbed Peach of her sight for just a moment. When the world faded back to her she saw a pony had walked through and peaches eyes snapped on it with… curiosity of all things. ‘Ya’ know I never have seen the princess up close ‘afore.’ Peach thought ‘heard she’s a’ mightn’t bigger dan’ normal ponies, the huge wings, long horn… And the blue coat… Peach blinked ‘Wait, that aint’ right…’ Peach blinked again, but strangely the obvious trick of her eyes refused to give way to what she expected… ‘But the princess is aposed’ to be white. Why the only blue Alicorn is…’ When the revelation clicked, Sweet Peach started hyperventilating. She’d take her boss at his most angry any day. Worse still the pony in front of her looked like she could sense her fear, and the evil, sinister mare, Nightmare Moon… rolled her eyes? “Remain calm…please,” the dark princess said with a tired, almost rehearsed tone “We are not here to bring eternal night, eat thine soul, drink thine blood, or steal your socks, or any such nonsense.” “That’s good” Peach squeaked out between pants, but the princess only rolled her eyes again. “Your princess is merely here to ask you some questions as to what transpired in thine town today.” “Err…” was all Peach could say. The glare returned “The monster, we wish to know of the monster…” “What mons…” the door interrupted peach again as a royal guard donned with purple armor walked into the room, followed by the Alicorn she was expecting and six other ponies she wasn't. Her eyes scanned the newcomers as they all shuffled amongst each other in the uncomfortably small room. Strangely, when the pony’s eyes met with hers, they all offered her a warm, friendly smile, and the orange one even tipped her hat in greeting. The white alicorn caught her eye again as she seemed immune to the awkwardness of the cramped room, and when their eyes met, the Alicorn smiled gently. A moment later she noticed the princess frowning slightly as her great pink eyes broke from hers and wandered over the other Alicorn, but her gentle expression snapped back an instant later. “Hello my little pony” Peach heard her voice ; spoken as soft as silk “Please don’t be alarmed, you are not here because you have done anything wrong” the Alicorn eyed the pony in armor “I’d hoped my guard would have explained it to you before asking you to come here.” “My apologies too, miss” the purple armored guard said and Sweet Peach just smiled gently while she swallowed her heart back into her chest where it belonged. The sun princess motioned for her attention again before speaking, “As I said, we only wish to know what happened today. We were told you were with the sheriff when a strange… ‘Visitor’ came to the town. Is this true?” Peach blinked. “Err, yes princess.” She stuttered. The Alicorn nodded and smiled “Can you tell us what happened?” she asked. Peach nodded. A moment passed as Sweet peach just looked on dumbly, then the princess coughed politely into her hoof, and Peach felt her mind rush to catch up to her. “Oh sorry,” she said and tried to gather her thoughts “Well, I was just cleaning up around the Salt block then old pony Salt just jumped in through the door. We were closed at the time, but he kept peeking back outside but kept ducking down and when I went to look myself he stopped me. Said I had no need to be heading outside just now. Peach felt her fear fall away as she told her story, and her words grew stronger ‘Well, I thought he was just pulling mah’ leg so I told him to git, but he said the sheriff was going round telling ponies to stay indoors, but he said he couldn’t say why. I went looking for the sheriff, tah give him an earful, but when I got there he said he had asked him to go indoors- just not in the salt block. When I asked him why he just pointed away from the town and that’s when I saw them mahself.” “Them? As in more than one?” the darker princess butted in. Peach nodded. “Dats right princess, two non-ponies. Ah never seen much like em neither. One of em’ was tall, nearly as tall as you princess, and had a longish black mane. It was covered in clothes like those fancy stuck ups wear in Canterlot” Peach saw the princess raise an eyebrow at that, and squeaked out a quiet reflexive ‘sorry’ before coughing into her hoof again. “It also had a large bag ‘cross its shoulder and a sword on its waist.” The Alicorns eyebrow rose a little higher, but this time Peach continued unabated “It had this really painful lookin’ scar over its eye. Didn’t look all too friendly at all. The fella, least I think it was a fella, kept looking around like a hawk- had the eyes of one to boot.” “And they were trying to intimidate every pony?” Celestia asked but Peach shook her head “No, well not as I could see them trying to anyways, princess. They both seemed to be really annoyed at something’. That there was clear as spring water. But ‘part from that, they looked really down, almost jaded like. Can’t blame em much though, seeing as every pony kept on staring at em and kept their distance. Not that I can much blame them either.” “Tell us about the other one …” The darker Alicorn demanded suddenly, making Peach flinch again. “W-Well, it was a tad shorter… and a might scrawnier too, though the fact the other were taller made it look the opposite at first glance. It had clothes on it just like the taller one, but different colors. Its mane seemed to be longer too and it covered its face real good. Fact it kept its head down all the time it was in town… didn’t look round at nothing not even when it passed the new town statue.” Peach said that part with a little hurt in her voice “I mean even the other’un at least gave it a glance… an like e’ should, we worked real hard on it.” Celestia gave a warm smile, “Yes, we passed it on the way here; I must say your work payed off.” Then she gave the darker alicorn a look Peach couldn’t place. Peach smiled at the princess and gave a cheerful.“Thank ye kindly” The darker princess shook her head and stepped forward, “What did they do when they were in town?” she asked, though a little less demanding this time. Peach flinched under her eyes, rubbing her forehead nervously with a hoof “J-Just like I said, they did nothin’ but wander round town as every pony stared at em - they looked really lost and nervous ‘bout something but I got the impression they were out looking for something too coz they kept near the market place… And that’s where the trouble started. ” “Trouble?” both princesses asked at the same time. “W-Well… the tall one was lookin round some carts for something like I said, then little Sweet Apple started givin them the big eyes, like she does with everypony else.” The darker princess frowned, “I’m afraid I don’t understand.” “Oh, w-well the filly always dawdles near a food stand, using her big cute eyes to get ponies to chuck her an apple or summing when they buy for themselves. I dun swear those eyes need a warning label. An’, I guess not even… whatever it was could withstand those eyes of hers because not after two seconds it picked up an apple off the stand and gave it to her.” Peach saw the solar princess smile, “That was kind…” Peach shared the smile, for only a moment. “Yea it was I reckon, shame Sour Apple didn’t see it the same way. He’s shooed her off many times before and the ‘fella’ kinda passed it to her without payin first.” “Ah” Celestia said simply, and Peach nodded again. “Yup, old Sour Apple seemed plenty angry at em, and the two critters kept talking between themselves while looking mighty confused.” “What did they say?” Peach heard more than a tweak of curiosity hidden behind all the normally completely calm voice. “Don’t rightly know, sorry” She admitted with another nervous shake of her head “Ah never heard much like it before. They seemed to talk just fine between themselves but it all just sounded like gibberish to me. “What happened next?” the darker princess interrupted again, “W-well, the shorter one seemed to have a load a sense round it, coz it took out this small bag filled with these.” She said and placed a small rectangle shining gold on the table. It lifted at the edges with slight patterns carved in the corner. “It went and gave a ‘hoof’ full of those to Sour Apple.” “But that didn’t resolve the issue…” Celestia stated more than asked, and the mare shook her head “Not by a margin. Strange thing about living on the edge out here is we settler ponies have a lot more non ponies visiting, and a lot aren’t the friendliest sort, they think we ponies are a slow lot so they try and trick us with fake gold. It gotten to the point most settler ponies won’t accept gold if it don’t have the royal seal on it. Magic duplications and all” “Yes, I remember having to deal with a lot of unhappy ponies in the past when a unicorn first created the duplication spell. That’s why I made the magical seal.” She remembered having to change to whole thing into ‘in the princesses we trust when her sister returned… another headache, but one she was happy to suffer. Sweet Peach nodded,, oblivious to the thought and continued, “Well, old Sour Apple must have thought the critter was trying to pull a fast one on him like a lot have done before, tryin’ to strong-hoof him.” “He didn’t do anything foolish I trust?” the sun princess asked with a tone that put Peach on edge and the mare sucked in a lung of air through clenched teeth, “He… kind’a… threw the gold bits back at the critters face.” The expression on princesses’ white furred face turned sour. “Not the most ideal action.” “No, I can’t rightly say it was” Peach agreed “and the other critter didn’t seem to like it much either, coz it went right for those swords of his.” And?” Peach flinched as the orange earth pony butted in, the mare almost clearing the table in a leap, and Sweet Peach had to swallow her heart yet again. “W-w-well it just stood there, but it didn’t look all too happy though like I said. But I take it Sour Apple thought the critter was trying to frighten him into taking bad bits, I mean if I had a bit myself for every time he’s complained about a non-pony who tried giving him bad bits I’d have enough to never work again. But he did something mighty rash, and threw a hoof-ful of sand in the critters face when it was talking with the other then reached for his pitchfork, probl’y to scare him into paying rightly.” Both princesses’ eyes widened “Next thing I hear is the smaller one shouts something, then there’s this huge crash, and we all darn nearly choked on the dust… when It cleared old sour apple was darn near on the other side of town, as if he had been thrown… and last I saw the two critters was them running out of town with the sheriff chasing after em.” Peach let the words fall away and watched as the princess absorbed them. “Is that all?” The white Alicorn asked. Peach nodded “Thank you, my little pony. Please go about the rest of your day” Celestia spoke and Peach caught a sly smile “And if your employer has any further grievances, ask him to speak with a nearby guard.” “Thank ye kindly” Peach said with one last bow before leaving the table and she walked towards the door. … Princess Luna watched with an empathetic eye as the mare left through the door, followed sharply by the element of honesty but she didn’t pay it much mind. Instead, her attention turned to her sister. She was stood there with reverence, as usual, but Luna could tell the gears in her sister’s head were turning. “Pray-tell, where has the Element of Honesty gone?” Luna couldn’t help but ask, if only to break the silence and the Element of Loyalty turned to her. “The hospital... I think, just before she left, AJ said something about checking on Sour Apple.” The pegasus said with an almost uninterested tone. Luna let her eye sweep over the mare, without moving her head. “Err…Princess.” the Pegasus added after wilting under her gaze, “Don’t worry, I can get there in ten seconds flat.” Luna let her eyes linger on the Pegasus for another moment, but soon turned them back to her sister’s with a thoughtful expression “It seems we have learned much” Celestia stated simply. Luna nodded. “Indeed, I shall ready the guard and…” “And tell them to wait for the moment.” Celestia interrupted “From what we have learned acting now would only further complicate matters. There appears to be a language barrier present and any confrontation with our guard would most likely invite hostility, as the two visitors may assume we are in search for retribution... And that is something we cannot correct while that language barrier remains a problem.” “Err princess” the element of loyalty said while she floated past Luna’s muzzle “Why not just get Twilight to use that horn of hers?- one translation spell and we’re good.” “Because” the unicorn in question cut in “I’d have to know the language myself, that’s how translation spells work. And seeing as this species hasn’t been encountered before in all known record, I doubt the language has been written down for me to learn even if I did have the time.” There was another pause as every pony in the room looked on in thought, and while it happened, Luna couldn’t help but try, and fail, to read her sister’s face. But it didn’t matter because, in her own mind, a plan was formulating, one formed around a spell that she knew like the back of her hoof. With one last nod towards her sister, Luna walked from the room, a few seconds later she saw the element of loyalty shoot past and down the hall before she let her eyes drift over to the guard. “Ok- we will be moving out again in about ten minutes” Luna heard Shining Armor command “I need a group of you here to help with town stability and we will be aiding with the pony who was hurt. Also, the princess has asked for a guard to find a filly called ‘Sweet Apple’ and check on a few things… But be friendly, she wants to stress that part.” The Captain’s eyes flicked to a random stallion in the ranks “Thank you for volunteering. As for the rest of you, the princess has declared this is reactionary only, it is likely these creatures may be hostile but they will most likely assume we are hostile and act as such- and guess what, it is our job to be the first to go and say hello. This is where we earn out bits colts and fillies. Keep your helmets on and heads down and remember, if any pony engages without orders I will have your hind legs on a platter.” The guards saluted as Shining’s gaze turned to the nearest pony. “Private, I want you to scout up there and try and get a visual. Meet with the chariots when and if you do and direct us down. All right you know what you have to do, Dismissed.” … Zuko had to give those strange creatures one thing- they were nothing if not persistent, and as he leaned up against a large boulder, heaving for lost breath, he couldn’t help but let the events of the past hour swirl through his mind. When he and Toph had set off running a group of the creatures had given chase, thundering after them both with an abandon that seemed reckless even to him- and when that abandon had continued long after the sight of the town had been left behind any hope Zuko held of them simply turning away had been lost to the same place every other hope he had dared to hold that day had gone. But it was that moment when Zuko realized something…, those… things weren’t merely trying to chase them away; they were trying to run them down, and the longer this chase went on, the more likely it seemed that they were going to do just that. And who knows… if it wasn’t for the lead creature tripping over some strange rock- sending himself and the others flat on their faces- they may have done just that... The sight of their pursuers’ collapsing into a heap had made Zuko pause for just a moment, just long enough to feel the simmering pot of anger bubble within him again… It would have been so easy for him to just turn around and send every ounce of that anger and frustration at them, and some dark space in his head was still whispering for him to do it. Luckily something else in there was louder. Something that sounded all too familiar…. Zuko still didn’t have any words for that moment. The only time he could place anything like that happening before was in his uncle’s tea shop in Ba-Sing-Se. But that was a product of delirium born of fever… With a sigh, Zuko let a moment pass without pondering and took the opportunity to scrape at the sweat clinging to his brow. But that moment was fleeting and he found himself pulled right back into his thoughts. The sun, the strange… ‘Hiccups’ with his Fire-bending, and those… creatures were bad enough, but that… He put a hand back to his face, letting the weight of it rest over his eyes, almost as if he was hoping that it would help block out the memory. ‘I’m just tired, that’s all.’ He decided, and droned the thought almost numbly as his own mind knew it was weakly trying to convince itself. But it was all his mind could offer as an excuse…well, that or he was finally cracking up… He shook the latter off. He really didn’t need to add that to his list of problems right now. So, for the moment at least, he settled on the short term out of just needed to find some shade and think. The moment- and the memory, passed along with the burning in his chest and Zuko took in a deep, calming breath. Zuko let his hand drift over his eyes, “I think- they gave up.” he croaked, before letting out a sharp cough as he waited for Toph to give some type of acknowledgement. And when he got was silence, for a brief second, a stab of panic hit him and he yanked his eyes up to make sure Toph was actually there. The panic dissolved when he found her, facing away from him, her arms crossed. But despite her facing away, the sound of sharp ragged breath caught his ears so he waited for her panting to die down- and grew concerned when she still didn’t answer. Zuko stared for a silent moment, and his better judgment began to groan under its weight. He signed, “What’s wrong?” “What’s wrong?” Toph snapped, shot up back to her feet and spun around on a heel “One of them hit me with a Pie… A PIE!” she raked her fingers through her hair and flicked them at Zuko, “And you made us run away!” Not expecting the outburst, Zuko could only look on dumbly as the congealing pie crust mingled with his sweat before flaking from his brow. But his mind returned to him as Toph’s fingers moved to her hair again and he sucked in a sharp breath “I wasn’t the one who buried that… whatever it was, under a boulder!” he snapped, and ducked to avoid another glob of airborne pastry. “I was saving your stupid butt!” Toph spat in return and threw another handful “and I wasn’t the one who was pointing my swords at it the first place!” Zuko felt his breath seethe “I was trying to help you!” he shot back; making the girl pause for the shortest moment, before she threw up her hands and let out a sharp scoff. “Well, thanks…” The air grew quiet again as Toph slumped against the bolder, sinking all the way down until her shoulders were lying flat on the cracked ground, her head propped up against the stone. And with a sting of contention, she let one last gruff sigh and raked her fingers through her fringe. With a sigh of his own, Zuko followed suit and slumped against the bolder, but a nervous eye kept him sat upright as it flicked erratically back towards the horizon, as if it feared that a simple blink of an eye would be enough time for them to appear where they weren’t. As his eyes numbed to the scenery, and he could no longer see the oversized irises, or obesely bright colours of quadrupedal phantoms hiding behind every rock and cloud the last hour events threatened to drift through his mind again, only to be pushed aside by a single, more pressing issue. What was he going to do now? He really was at a loss for that one, and when he was able to pull a tired eye from the horizon his hand found its way to them and rubbed impotently at the ache pushing ever deeper behind them. “So… what are we going to do now?” Zuko’s eyes shot back open, and for just a second he almost thought the voice belonged to someone new, but instead he found Toph sitting with one hand moved from her ear, waiting for his answer. Zuko sighed again. “I don’t know...” he said simply, letting out a similarly defeated sigh. “So, you’re just giving up?” Toph asked in a sniping tone and Zuko felt the twinge behind his eyes dig a little deeper. “I didn’t say that…” he pushed through gritted teeth, his voice taking on a hiss like that of a viper daring someone to take just one step closer. He just needed some time to think, this whole mess was insane, and he…. Zuko was jolted from of his thoughts as the bag was shoved into his lap, the force of it making his head jar back and meet the rock he was leaning against and the dull throb behind his eyes sparked like a bolt of lightning… “Well then- come on” Toph’s voice cut through the pain, but only adding to it “get your butt up and get moving!” The pain spiked again and in its aftermath, and without even realising what was happening, Zuko saw a flash of red and sprung back to his feet, shoving the bag back into the girl’s grasp- almost snatching her balance from her. “And go where!?” Zuko all but yelled into her face. “You don’t get it! The comet is coming today -and we!” It was here when he realized what was happening, but at this point he didn’t care “-Are stuck who knows where! The only town we even know about is filled with those things and even if we do live long enough to find another one it could just be filled with more of them, or worse!” With one last futile yell, Zuko let the building anger out with a wave of his hand, and fell back against the bolder as a nearby cactus was burned to a crisp. He slumped down against the stone as the ash fell around his shoulders and littered the dry earth around them, leaving behind faint marks that Zuko stared at with a defeated expression… That was until a rock bounced painfully off his head… Zuko eyes shot up again and after he peered through the painful sheen over his vision he once again found Toph stood in front of him with her arms crossed, the same matching snarl squatting on her face. Her lips curled back and she let out another snort as her head turned to the side “Oh yea, typical…” she spoke slowly “Aang gets the stubborn Zuko, the Zuko who chases him all over the world… and what do I get?” Unlike before, her tone wasn’t angry, just disappointed and despite the sting of annoyance it brought, Zuko just sat there and watched as the girl gave a deep sigh of her own and let herself slump against the bolder as her hands cupped over the side of her head. And just like that, Zuko felt his anger abandon him… Zuko would never claim to be the best at reading people, in-fact he’d probably be the loudest voice to claim the opposite. But in that moment, even he could not miss the sigh Toph let out, or the overhanging tone that it carried… It wasn’t a tone that carried any emotion he could place. But there was something heavier underlined within, and more importantly, it wasn’t the first time Zuko had heard it… It was the exact same sigh his uncle had used back in Ba-Sing-Se… Zuko let out a sigh of his own and just sat there, letting his gaze hang over the dry, dusty cracks in the ground beneath him. He really couldn’t think of anything else to do. Well… there was that one thing he could do- one thing he could say, but he shook the thought off the second it entered his head. He wasn’t that desperate just yet… His eyes gave one more reflexive glance up towards the horizon before shifting to everything but the one thing they needed too, but finally, when he couldn’t avoid it anymore they settled on Toph. She was just sitting there, as still as the stone she was leaning on, her hands were cupped around her head but a gap between the fingers gave Zuko the tiniest glimpse of wet as it trickled between them. He thought he was just seeing things but when a wall of rock shot up between them he was given more of a clue. With a familiar defeated sigh, Zuko shook his head and rubbed his eyes with his palm, “There is something…” he said with a tone he almost hoped she couldn’t hear. And with his fingers almost crushing the bridge of his nose, Zuko reached for the small animal skin bag at his side. He couldn’t believe he was resorting to this... But out of everything that had already happened today why not make madness complete? So he reached into the bag and pulled out the book and held it out to her. Another long moment passed as he held up the book, waiting for her response. Instead he just found a dull ache spread up his arm. He looked up to question why she had no reaction, only to find those milky white eyes staring off into nowhere. “Oh right…. Sorry” he said as he slapped his face with his palm “…. I found these scrolls near that fountain along with this book.” “And?” came her short and only reply, it was curse but it almost sounded pleading. Even imaginary, that tone coming from Toph made Zuko really uncomfortable. “And, a lot of the scrolls don’t make any sense but this book, it’s a diary.” He said in a slow monotone. Toph twitched. “So… you were up all-night reading some girl’s diary…” And just like that normal Toph was back, and by the tone of her voice Zuko didn’t know if he was about join in with weak laughter or have to throw up an arm in an attempt to keep his teeth. “Only because it’s important right now…” he responded, matter of fact. Toph, still seated against the large rock crossed her arms once again and clicked her tongue. “Ok Zuko- I’ll bite.” She said slowly, warningly. “Well,” Zuko stalled while choosing his next words very carefully, “it looks like we weren’t the first to find that fountain” As soon as he said it he saw her twitch. Ok, Zuko thought, he had her attention at least, so his tone shifted a little and gained a little more confidence. “An air bender went in and kept this journal.” He said holding it up… more for his own sake really. “Did she say why she went in?” Toph asked, Zuko stuttered… “Err…From what she wrote, she was tricked by some of her temple’s masters.” “What!?” Toph asked sharply. “Why would they do that?” “I don’t know” Zuko responded, growing a little defensive “maybe they wanted her out of the way. Look, it doesn’t matter why she went it but she did.” he opened the tome and ideally flicked through its pages. “Most of its too old to read but some parts can be made out.” He stopped on the page he was looking for. “But this…” he said pointing at the smudged picture- again more out of habit and his own benefit “is something she talks about a lot, and it’s what’s so important.” “Want to share why that is?” Toph deadpanned once again turning away to stare blindly at nothing. Zuko almost shouted at her to look at the stupid book, but then- as per usual, his brain caught up with the rest of him just before he did something stupid. So he swallowed the insult he was about to yell and rubbed his forehead again. “She kept drawing the same thing over and over… She wasn’t much of an artist but the same thing was on one of the scrolls… it’s how she got back” “She got back?” Toph asked with a small pang of hope rising in her voice, it was something that edged Zuko on. “From what the book said, I just thought she was crazy.” He admitted with a little humour in his tone “She kept writing about weird creatures that-” Toph interrupted him with a sharp snort. “You really should sit around the campfire more often Zuko” she said coyly “Aang’s bumped shoulders with some pretty weird stuff….” She interrupted again but this time Zuko couldn’t get annoyed because of the rising hope in her voice. It was almost infectious. “Yea, well, when we get back we’re going to have one to share.” He said with a smirk- one he couldn’t help wearing. “I call telling it” she blurted and Zuko just rolled his eyes. Good moment’s aside, he just wanted to get on with this so he took a long breath, “Well she got back, and that picture shows how she did it. The same one was on one of the scrolls. I was hoping to find something about it in one of the towns, or at least find out where we were or get a name of somewhere we can…. But that probably will be harder now.” He finished with a tired murmur. “Why?” she asked with genuine confusion. Zuko flinched, not expecting her to hear him, but quickly recovered, “Could you make out anything those things were saying?” was all Zuko said with a deadpan, and slightly more acidic tone than he intended, but it got the point across because when he said it, Toph stopped dead. Zuko took the silence as an opening to continue, “Even if we do find a town that has what we need, and we don’t get run out of it by more weird things. I probably won’t be able to read it or ask any of them either.” “So, just learn to read it then.” she said as if he was an idiot for not thinking of it himself, and Zuko couldn’t help but feel his teeth grind together. “Sure, I’ll just learn to read and write a whole new language before the comet comes today…” he said, and while he racked his brain on just how he would do that, Toph stretched her arms above her head and twisted around towards the bag and chucked it into Zuko’s arms. “So that all we got to do? Let’s get going.” “All I’ve got to do,” Zuko deadpanned as he fixed the bag on his shoulder. He stopped…“but I think we better watch out for more of those things.” That killed Toph’s pace and she sharply twisted her head slightly so he could almost look down her left ear. “You think they’ll be coming after us?” Zuko shook his head and rubbed his tongue along the roof of his mouth, “They chased us this far.” He said though a dry cough, Toph stood still in thought for a moment but gave a dismissive shrug. “Well, it would feel weird if something wasn’t chasing us.” Despite wanting to say something to the contrary, Zuko kept his mouth shut; he didn’t want to break what little momentary reprieve he’d managed to build. So with the same light tone he just added “Yea, but at least those things can’t fly, ri...” Zuko flinched, rubbing his arm with a snarl as Toph shook her head. “OW! What was that for!?” Toph shook her head again, “It’s bad enough when Sokka begs the universe to deck him” she said with complete seriousness “we don’t need you doing it for him. Not now.” “What?” Zuko asked, still rubbing his arm “So just because I say ‘oh at least they can’t fly’, they’re just going to grow wings?” “I’m saying; don’t make it so easy for the universe to screw you over, or I’ll have to do it first.” Zuko cast a long glare at the girl for a longer moment, then he let himself give silent scoff as he shifted the bag’s strap and made sure his sword was still there, despite everything, he almost felt a little ember of hope glowing in him again. “So… which way are we going?” And it sure was nice while it lasted… With yet another sigh, Zuko’s tired eyes were pulled back to the horizon and he felt the sun glare down on his back. But as he looked on a sudden, distant flash of light pierced his vision and made him pull them away in pain. He narrowed his good eye and distant blobs hanging in the air began to morph and take shape…and when he did, his eyes, shot open and he near enough dived behind the bolder “Get down” he hissed, and pulled Toph behind as well. “Argh! Zuko what is it?” the girl demanded, as she tried to keep her balance Zuko was too busy to answer; his eyes were peering around the bolder, locked on one of the… creatures. Unlike the ones in the town, this one was stark white and topped with golden armour. But what really caught his eye was the small, flapping pair of wings that held it in the air, defiant of all logic and reason. Zuko stared dumbly at the universe’s blatant affront to his sanity until the creature’s eyes span around and met his. They moved too fast for him to duck behind the rock. The oversized orbs widened as they met his and a second later, it shot off in the direction of the town. Leaving Zuko’s panicked gaze to linger behind it… Only to find it flying back towards a large group of them…. “Zuko! Tell me what’s wrong,” Toph snapped, with the same panic in her voice. With a sense of finality, Zuko did his best to swallow the lump in his throat and speak. But what he said only came out as a whisper… “I don’t think you hit me hard enough….” … ...