Bronze Star was intrigued by Twilight Sparkle's testimony. It was strangely vague and notably ominous at the same time. If he heard this from anypony else, he probably would have dismissed it as needless anxiety or a fib. However, he and Twilight Sparkle had been friends ever since Celestia had taken in the latter to be her apprentice. She may have been compulsive, but she was not one to invent stories or spread rumors without mitigating evidence. If she had a feeling something unusual would happen, he had to believe it. "What are you basing this theory on, Twilight?"
Twilight Sparkle spent the next several minutes recounting her activities from the past few hours. It all started very early that morning in the garden of the castle. She had been there by herself reading a book about the history of Equestria. Specifically, the part about when and how the country's ruling body had gone from a biarchy to a monarchy. She was very familiar with this story; she had heard it many times before. But what really stood out to her this time was the mention of a set of objects known as the "Elements of Harmony," which had been used to imprison Nightmare Moon in the moon itself. That compelled her to do a little research, which in turn led to her discovery that the Elements of Harmony were used to quell the fabled notorious Mare in the Moon. Twilight quickly became convinced that the Mare in the Moon and Nightmare Moon were the same mare, and that on the one-thousandth anniversary of banishment – which happened to be the one-thousandth anniversary of the Summer Sun Celebration – she would return to Equestria and subjugate the population to eternal darkness.
This was why Twilight had appeared so bothered during the meeting in the throne room. She was even more bothered right now. Despite her best efforts to convince Celestia of the legitimacy of her hypothesis, the lavender mare had failed to get the Princess to hear her out. Because of this, Twilight taken it upon herself to investigate the matter further.
"If it turns out I'm right, then Nightmare Moon will be free by tomorrow at sunrise," she wrapped up her explanation, "I have until then to find proof that will either confirm or deny my suspicions. I'm actually hoping that I'm wrong about this, but I'm not going to just wait around to find out."
"Won't you be a little too busy, seeing as how my mother's put you in charge of overseeing the preparations of the ceremony?" Bronze Star pointed out.
"I'm very good at multitasking, Bronze… er, 'Gold,'" Twilight brusquely responded, "I once studied for four exams in one night, and I took them all the following day. I managed to get perfect scores on all of them. With that in mind, I'm quite confident I can accomplish Celestia's assignment and my own objectives at the same time."
"What about the Princess' memo, Twilight?" Spike interjected.
"What memo?" Bronze Star enquired.
"Just before we left, Princess Celestia sent me a personal note," Twilight Sparkle apprised him, "It appears to be her attempt to 'discourage' me from pursuing anything more on Nightmare Moon. She believes I'm wasting my time."
"So do I," Spike commented, "Maybe it would do you some good if I repeated it for you, Twi."
Twilight Sparkle rested her head on her front hooves on the side of the chariot and muttered in exasperation "Fine, Spike. Go ahead."
At that, Spike took out a scroll and unrolled it. He cleared his throat and blithely read aloud "'My dear Twilight, there is more to a young pony's life than studying, so I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location: Ponyville. And, I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends!'"
Spike was trying to sound sanguine, but his optimism was not having a profound effect on Twilight Sparkle. She merely rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance.
By the time Spike was finished reading this message, Bronze Star happened to look up. Ponyville was directly in his line of sight. It must have been in Bellerophon's as well; for he announced to the stallions pulling the chariot "This settlement does not have a designated landing platform. We'll make our touchdown in the town square."
The two members of the Royal Guard acknowledged this statement and redirected their flight path towards the center of the town. As he continued flying alongside the chariot, Bellerophon told the other members of the committee "You'll each find your individual assignments in your knapsacks. As soon as we're on the ground, we'll go our separate ways."
Bronze Star and SIG Sauer nodded their heads in compliance. Twilight Sparkle listened to him, but she did not physically respond. She was still sulking a bit. Spike soon noticed this and stated "Look on the bright side, Twilight. The Princess arranged for you to stay in a library. Doesn't that make you happy?"
Twilight then raised herself up, brightened up a little, and said "Yes, yes it does. You know why? Because I'm right! I'll check on the preparations as fast as I can, then get to the library to find some proof of Nightmare Moon's return."
Spike appeared to be somewhat bothered by how firm Twilight seemed to be in this declaration. He asked tentatively "Then... when will you make friends, like the Princess said?"
Twilight Sparkle discreetly answered him with "She said to check on preparations. I am her student, and I'll do my royal duty, but the fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends."
SIG Sauer had been listening in on their conversation. He smirked and told the female Unicorn "Twilight, this may sound strange coming from me, but you worry too much. While I did say that anything could happen during the Summer Sun Celebration, I find it unlikely that we'd be faced with an ancient demon who wants to permanently extinguish daylight. If this town is in any danger, I'm certain we'd be able to handle the threats."
"SIG's right; there's no need to get worked up just yet," Bronze Star concurred. He was trying to sound reassuring. Obviously, his piece of advice was not what Twilight wanted to hear, if the expression on her face was any indication. After a few seconds of silence, he stated "Tell you what; once I'm done with all my tasks, I'll swing by the library and lend you a hoof on your research. But if we turn up with nothing, will you agree to let the matter go?"
"I suppose that's acceptable," Twilight thought aloud, "However, if we actually do find something that confirms my theory, will you help me bring the evidence to your mother?"
"Sure," Bronze Star guaranteed her, "Until then, let's just worry about what we're supposed to do."
By now, the two members of the Royal Guard had landed on the ground. Bellerophon set down next to the chariot and waited for his colleagues to disembark. Once Bronze Star, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and SIG Sauer were out of the vehicle, the two white Pegasus stallions raised up on their hind legs and whinnied. Twilight Sparkle stepped up to them and said appreciatively "Thank you, sirs."
They both huffed in gratitude and proudly stood up straight. Twilight Sparkle, Bronze Star, SIG Sauer, and Spike turned their attention to Bellerophon. The large palomino Pegasus informed them "Now's the part where we split up. You all have your… instructions."
SIG Sauer went to the back of the chariot and removed his knapsack from the trunk, along with Twilight's and Bronze's. He tossed the bags to their respective owners, and then he opened up his own and removed a document labeled "Safety Examiner's Agenda." He declared "Looks like I'm off to the barracks. I have to gather whatever security forces this place has and use them to secure the perimeter around the town."
Bronze Star opened up his knapsack next and extracted a folder labeled "Envoy's Roster." He looked over the papers inside and proclaimed "I'm heading to the embassy. Once I'm settled in, I'll be meeting with some of the department heads on the City Council. I'll be debriefing them on the most recent events in Canterlot, and they'll be filling me in on the most recent events here."
Twilight Sparkle used her magic to open up her knapsack and Spike took out an article with the title "Official Overseer's Checklist." He studied it for a few moments, and then he informed the lavender Unicorn "We'll be all over the town, Twilight. Our first stop is at a farm on one of its borders."
"I'll be in Town hall, discussing the situation and the specifics of the ceremony with the mayor and the rest of the City Council," Bellerophon notified his colleagues, "We'll have a lot to debate about, so our appointment may last several hours. Even if it doesn't, I'll be staying at Town Hall until tomorrow at sunrise. The rest of you can come to me at any time if you encounter any obstacles or setbacks."
The four ponies acquired their baggage from the back of the chariot. Bellerophon was the first to depart. He rose back into the air and flew off to the north towards the town hall.
When he had all his materials, SIG Sauer approached the two guards and ordered them "Both of you, come with me. Since this town does not have a large security force, we could use some reinforcements. Having a couple members of the Royal Guard around could make a huge difference."
The two stallions consented to SIG Sauer's directive, as he had authority over them. They moved the chariot off to an alleyway where it would not be in anypony's way. Then they detached themselves from it and went with SIG Sauer to the west towards the barracks.
Bronze Star was now left alone with Twilight Sparkle and Spike. After a short period of silence, he stated "Well, I shouldn't keep the City Council waiting. I guess I'll see you guys at the library."
"Okay," Twilight approved. With that, Bronze Star took his knapsack and suitcase, and he trotted to the east towards the embassy.
When he was about a block away, he looked over his shoulder and noticed that Twilight and Spike were still in the town square. However, they were not alone. A light pink mare with a poofy pink mane had approached them. At first, it appeared as though she was talking to the Unicorn and the dragon. But without any warning, she jumped ten feet into the air and zipped away from the scene. Twilight and Spike watched her leave in stunned silence, and then they simply headed to the south towards the aforementioned farm.
Bronze simply chuckled and uttered under his breath "Looks like she's already making friends."
…
The walk to the embassy was not long, but Bronze Star enjoyed it. There were ponies walking through all the streets, and none of them paid him any mind. He was grateful for that; this was the first time he had been in public without anypony gawking over him. This compelled him to believe that he had a reasonable chance of living a civilian life in this town.
When he reached the embassy, he wasted no time in getting settled into his room. It only took him about fifteen minutes to unpack. However, he spent another ten minutes finding a secure hiding spot for the two folders he had extracted from the filing cabinet in his quarters back home. Ultimately, he chose to place them in the medicine cupboard in the washroom. He would work on a better hiding spot later. For now, he had more pressing matters to attend to.
The ambassador's room was located on the second floor of the embassy. After he hid those folders, Bronze Star headed downstairs to the seminar room. The City Council was already assembled there. This was not the entire Council; just the members whose departments contributed to the government on both the local and federal levels. They had been talking amongst themselves about various subjects, but when Bronze Star entered the room, they quieted down out of respect.
The Council was seated at a rectangular table. There were six chairs on the long sides and one on the short sides. There were twelve department heads in total; each one of them occupied one of the chairs on the long ends. The names of their respective departments were imprinted on the fronts and backs of their chairs. The two chairs on the short ends were empty. The chair furthest away from Bronze Star had "Mayor" as its label. Bronze Star knew that this chair would remain empty for the duration of the meeting, seeing as how the mayor was currently speaking with the rest of the Council and Bellerophon at Town Hall. The chair closest to him was labeled "Ambassador." He calmly approached this chair and sat down in it.
"Good day, Mr. Ambassador," greeted the mare in the "Economic Development" chair.
"You may simply refer to me as 'Gold Streak,' ma'am," he informed her, "On that note, I would like to know how I should address each of you."
The twelve mares and stallions all gave Bronze Star their names and positions. Most of their titles were self-explanatory, such as "Finance," "Housing & Buildings," "Public Safety," "Environmental Protection," "Land Use," and "Transportation." After formal introductions were exchanged, they proceeded to debate with their new ambassador on official business.
Bronze Star expected this meeting to last about an hour or two. It probably would have, had this not been the eve of the Summer Sun Celebration. Because of this, there were a lot more subjects that needed to be covered in more explicit detail. Half of the time, Bronze Star was informing the department heads of everything that had been going on in Canterlot which pertained to their fields. The other half of the time, they apprised him of everything that had happened in Ponyville which deserved the notice of the central government. Many complex questions were swapped; most of them received adequate answers, and the rest were currently indeterminate.
Altogether, about five hours elapsed from when the meeting began and when it ended. One would think that Bronze Star would be relieved once it was over. Quite the contrary, he vocally stated that he looked forward to speaking with the Council again. As ambassador to Ponyville, he was required to meet with them once a week to conduct a barter of information. After working out a proper date and time, the thirteen ponies departed from the seminar room.
Bronze Star led the Council members to the main entrance of the building. He held the door open for them and bid each one of the mares and stallions good day as they left. Once they were all gone, Bronze Star prepared to close the door behind them. However, just before he shut it, he noticed two more ponies were standing just outside the front gate, and one of them was SIG Sauer.
Rather than stay inside the embassy, the disguised prince decided to leave it and rendezvous with his friends. He swiftly shut the door behind him and approached the front gate. The pine green Unicorn quickly spotted the gold stallion and waved at him with his right front hoof.
When he passed through the front gate, Bronze Star saw that the person in SIG Sauer's company was a female Earth Pony. She had a red coat, a lilac mane, grey irises, and a law-enforcement badge for a cutie mark.
"Good evening, SIG," Bronze Star casually greeted his trainer, "Who's your friend?"
"Sir, I would like you to meet Noble Edict, the chief of security in Ponyville," the Unicorn introduced his companion, "Noble, this is Gold Streak, the town's newly-appointed ambassador."
"Ah, pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. Ambassador," the mare remarked, holding out her right front hoof to Bronze Star.
The gold stallion took her hoof in his and shook it vigorously, saying "The pleasure is all mine, ma'am."
After the hoof-shake, Bronze Star asked the two of them "So, is the town secure?"
"Yes, absolutely secure," SIG Sauer replied, "Or at least, as secure as it could be, considering the limited amount of resources at our disposal."
Noble Edict chuckled and stated "Sir, I understand that our security efficiency is not up to the standards of Canterlot Castle, but it is more than sufficient to accomplish what needs to be done here. My people know how to do their jobs."
"I'm not questioning your staff's competency, Noble," SIG Sauer candidly assured her, "I am merely taking into account the concerns of one of our colleagues. She's fairly certain the apocalypse will soon be upon us, or something like that. As a result, she's worried that everypony in Equestria is in imminent danger."
Noble Edict raised an eyebrow in perplexity and commented "The apocalypse, huh? Well, I'm not sure we're equipped to deal with that."
"He's exaggerating," Bronze Star assured her, "However, he's not lying about our colleague's anxiety. Come; trot with us. We'll tell you the full story."
The three ponies then left the embassy and headed towards the library. On the way there, SIG Sauer and Bronze Star explained that Twilight Sparkle had learned about a possible connection between the legend of the Mare in the Moon and the historical significance of Nightmare Moon. By the time they reached the library, they had told her everything.
When they were finished, Noble Edict merely shrugged in amazement and commented "This is all quite fascinating. I don't know how much of it is real. For the sake of daylight, let's hope none of it is."
"You don't seem that convinced that it's a hoax, Miss Edict," Bronze Star observed.
"Well, the other day… I saw something," Noble Edict informed him, "Something that may be connected to this whole 'Nightmare Moon' affair."
"What was it?" inquired SIG Sauer.
"It may be best if we wait until I met your associate to disclose that information," Noble Edict suggested.
"Fair enough," Bronze Star coincided. As the three ponies approached the front door, SIG Sauer remarked "Between you and me, I'm actually quite glad that Twilight's staying here."
"I hear you," Bronze Star frankly stated, "After sitting in a board room having a prolonged conversation with twelve members of the City Council, it'll be a relief to have some peace and quiet for a while."
With that, he opened the door to the library and stepped inside. Immediately, his ears were overwhelmed by the collective sounds of scores of voices talking over each other. The reason for that was quickly made clear: the library was not empty. In fact, there were dozens of ponies all around the front room. Some were socializing, some were eating, and some were playing games. It was as if there was a huge party going on.
Noble Edict and SIG Sauer entered after Bronze Star, and the latter cheekily noted "Apparently, we'll have to wait a little longer, sir."
"Evidently," Bronze Star muttered in disappointment, "Oh well; let's see if we can find Twilight and Spike in this mob."
The two stallions and the mare moved through the crowd of ponies. After about a minute of aimlessly searching, they spotted Spike at the far end of the room, talking to five young mares. The first was an orange Earth Pony with a blonde mane, green eyes, a brown cowgirl hat, and three apples for a cutie mark. The second was a cyan Pegasus with a rainbow mane, magenta eyes, and a cloud with a lightning bolt for a cutie mark. The third was a white Unicorn with a purple mane, blue eyes, and three diamonds for a cutie mark. The fourth was a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane, teal eyes, and three butterflies for a cutie mark. The fifth was a pink Earth Pony with a pink mane, light blue eyes, and three balloons for a cutie mark. Bronze Star recognized the last mare as the pony he had seen talking to Twilight earlier.
He slowly approached the group and said to the dragon "Hey, Spike. Getting to know the townsfolk?"
"You could say that, Gold," Spike drily commented, "Where have you been? I've been waiting for you to arrive for over an hour."
"Sorry; the meeting at the embassy lasted a little longer than I thought it would," Bronze Star informed him. He gazed around the room and inquired "Where's Twilight?"
"Upstairs, doing some research," answered the dragon, pointing at a door over his shoulder, "But she asked not to be disturbed. It might be best to just let her be for now."
"I gotta say, that filly seemed a mite… shall we say, standoffish," the orange mare remarked openly.
"Oh, don't mind her," said Bronze Star, "She's just a little bashful around new faces."
"Oh… okay, we can understand that," the yellow mare timidly pronounced, avoiding eye contact with the gold stallion.
At that moment, the pink mare turned to Bronze Star and SIG Sauer. Her eyes dilated in surprise, as if they had appeared out of thin air. SIG Sauer enquired in apprehension "Are you alright?"
Immediately after this, the pink mare jumped into the air and gasped in surprise. Then she dropped to the ground and spoke in a very fast pace: "Oh my gosh, hi there! I have no idea who you are! But that's good; that means I don't know you! And if I don't know you, that means I have a chance to make a new friend. I love making new friends. It's like the best thing ever, don't you think? What's your name? My name's Pinkie Pie. What's yours? I so very happy to get to meet you; you and I are going to be such great pals. I cannot wait to get to know you better. We'll-"
The cyan mare quickly stepped up to the pink mare and placed her front hoof over her mouth.
"Control yourself, Pinkie," the cyan mare urged her friend.
The pink mare slowly nodded her head and eased down.
"We'd like to apologize for her eccentric behavior," the white mare told Bronze Star and SIG Sauer. "She tends to become overexcited very easily."
"But we can assure ya, she means well," the orange mare stated, placing her hoof on the pink mare's shoulders. She then stepped forward, tilted her hat towards the stallions, and proclaimed "My name's Applejack, by the way."
The white mare stepped forward, twirled her mane once, and stated "And you may call me Rarity."
"I'm Flut…Fluttershy," the yellow mare whispered softly, hiding her face behind her mane.
The cyan mare lifted herself into the air and proudly declared "You may have heard of me before. I'm the one and only Rainbow Dash!"
"Sorry, doesn't ring a bell," SIG Sauer wittily professed, at which Rainbow Dash glowered in irritation.
"And I'm Pinkie Pie!" the pink mare yelled giddily.
"We know," Bronze Star bluntly retorted. He gestured to the pine green stallion and announced "This is SIG Sauer, and I'm Gold Streak."
At that remark, all five mares – including Fluttershy – bore an expression of fascination.
"Really?" stated Rainbow Dash, "So you're our new ambassador?"
"That's correct," Bronze Star confirmed.
"Oh, that's just… lovely," Fluttershy happily avowed.
"It's not just lovely!" Pinkie Pie shouted energetically, bouncing up and down "It's unbelievably amazing! Now he's both our friend and a pony in high places!"
"Umm… I suppose you could say that," Bronze Star remarked, trying to sound humble.
"Well then, on behalf of the entire town, we'd like to officially welcome you to Ponyville, sugar cube!" Applejack merrily broadcasted.
"We hope you enjoy your stay here, darling," Rarity declared, "Celestia knows we certainly will."
Bronze Star smiled widely and commented "You have no idea how thrilled I am to hear you say that."
He had meant this like he said it. He was unequivocally elated to see that these mares were so warm and receptive. He had been in Ponyville for less than six hours, and he had already made substantial progress in integrating himself into their society.
He wondered if there were more ponies in town like these mares. Before long, he would discover that there were not. In fact, these five ponies were quite different from everypony else in Equestria. There was something about them that made them profoundly unique and special. But Bronze Star did not know of it yet. Neither did they.