“Are you certain?” Princess Celestia asked her younger sister, taking a sip of her early morning tea.
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both sat together in their private dining room, having a nice, quiet breakfast and dinner, together. It was fairly common for the two siblings to meet and have a shared meal. This was a good way for the two sisters to actually spend time together. Their differing schedules made it a bit troublesome otherwise. Tonight’s topic of conversation between the solar and lunar sisters was about the communication spell that had been attempted earlier on in the day.
“I am,” Luna replied, daintily eating at her Griffon style salad, a spicy dish that she had developed a fondness for since her return. “The device worked exactly as it should. Nothing went wrong.”
“How odd,” Celestia murmured in between nibbles on her blueberry muffin. “Twilight was absolutely certain that something had failed, especially since they never made the full contact like she was expecting. But I’ll take your word for it, sister.” Celestia smiled at Luna. “After all, you were always one for detail. The night sky is but one reminder of that.”
Luna nodded, returning the smile. It didn’t last long, however, as she bit down on a particularly spicy pepper. Celestia couldn’t help but let out a chuckle as Luna chugged down her entire ice cold glass of milk in almost a single gulp.
“I’ll never understand your fondness for spicy foods, Luna.” Celestia said with a smile and shake of her head.
“It... It’s an acquired taste, I will admit.” Luna replied as she refilled her glass before resuming her dinner, “But one cannot pass up the feeling of eating fire. Without the actual burning, of course.”
“To each their own, I suppose,” Celestia sighed. Having to deal with a giant ball of fire on a daily basis had dulled Celestia to wanting to deal with anything fire related.
“However,” Luna began after catching her breath, “Twilight may have been mistaken about the Elements.”
“Oh?” Celestia asked, curious as to her sisters train of thought.
“Perhaps… perhaps there was nothing for Twilight and her friends to actually contact?” Luna finally voiced a concern that had plagued her since the beginning. A part of her wasn’t sure if the elements were sentient at all. Even with Twilight’s evidence, that little voice, that little pony in the back of her mind refused to be quiet about it.
“I had also considered that possibility,” Celestia agreed.
Luna raised an eyebrow in confusion. “If you had the same concern, why didn’t you bring it to Twilight’s attention?”
Celestia shook her head. “I suppose for more or less the same reason you might. Curiosity, really.”
Luna paused for a moment before she continued. “That’s not the only reason, is it?” Luna pressed her sister. She always knew when Celestia was hiding something.
Celestia’s face went blank, then her eyes took on a faraway look as she casted herself into her memories. She sighed and looked back at Luna, a mix of sadness and concern etched onto her features. “There are many things you missed, Luna, during your… ‘absence’.” Celestia visibly cringed at the word. “Our thoughts about just what exactly the Elements of Harmony are changed during all those lonely years. I have a very hard time accepting the idea that the Elements are just a part of the Tree of Harmony. Something else has been working through them, somehow. For a thousand years, I’ve watched it play out the long game, and even helped things along when it came to freeing you. Then you have all these little coincidences and other small things. I’ll admit, a small part of me wishes to know just where this plan will go, and the other part is rather… leary. I honestly don’t even know if there is a “plan” necessarily.”
Luna was quiet for a minute, digesting this new information. She had spent the first year of her return trying to catch up on everything she had missed during her exile. Luna still had no idea how Celestia had managed to endure such loneliness, when her own allowed the darkness to enter her heart, changing her into Nightmare Moon. To say the past thousand years had been awful for the two of them would have been an understatement.
Luna shoved those thoughts aside when another concern entered her mind. “Celestia? You… you haven’t told her about the Tree of Harmony, have you?”
“No,” Celestia took another sip of her tea.. “I still don’t believe she needs to know about that. Not yet, anyway. If I had told her, she may have wanted to conduct the experiment on the tree itself.” Celestia looked up from her tea, a concerned look on her face. “Can you imagine what that would have done to its energy reserves? Or the rest of the Everfree itself?”
Luna shook her head. “The forest has already grown so much in their absence. I almost wish we could just simply return the Elements back to their home, with the Tree.”
“Lulu, you know as well as I do what happened the last time we tried that,” Celestia’s tone became serious, using Luna’s old foalhood nickname.
“Sombra,” Luna shuttered at the memories of the Dark King. “We still defeated him, without the Elements.”
“We underestimated him,” Celestia had lost any of her usual cheer, taking on a serious tone. “His hatred alone was enough for him to charge his magic to an unfathomable level, even beyond our own. It was his…” Celestia hesitated, feeling all that remorse from over a thousand years ago coming back. “That poison that weakened us further, causing us to lose the Crystal Empire, and even the start of… start of your fall.”
Celestia took a deep breath, calming herself before continuing. She still held a twinge of sadness in her voice. “If we had the Elements when we first faced him, all of that could have been avoided. It is far, far too risky to return them now. That tree has stood for well over a thousand years, not to mention the Everfree Forest and its growth seems to have calmed ever since Twilight and her friends rediscovered them. I don’t think we’ll need to resort to that anytime soon.”
“But it’s still a possibility, sister. You know this.”
Celestia nodded, but said nothing. For several moments, neither pony said anything, the only sound in the room the quiet chewing of their respective meals. Before either sister said another word, Luna hopped down from her chair and made her way over to the Solar Diarch. She wrapped her forelegs around her elder sister in a tight embrace, an embrace that Celestia more than happily reciprocated.
“Tia... you’re scared, aren’t you?” Luna rubbed her sister’s back, trying to console her.
“Why… why shouldn’t I be?” Celestia sniffled, letting let her normal decorum of composure completely go in the embrace. Even now, when it was just the two of them, the elder sister still had trouble letting herself go, even a little bit. Luna felt a tear fall onto her shoulder. “I… I just couldn’t bear to lose you again. Not Twilight, not anypony, really. I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could find a way to protect everypony. But only if I could speak to them, and learn how they function. We still know so little about them, Luna. Maybe after that, I could return them to the tree and protect my kingdom with something else. Now, we don’t even know if that spell truly worked or not.”
“We can always try again.” Luna pulled away from her sister and held her shoulders, giving her the warmest smile she could. “You don’t have to do it alone anymore, sister. I’ll make sure to look through Twilight’s notes tomorrow night. If anything truly went wrong, we’ll be able to find it.”
Celestia sniffled, giving a small smile and nodding. “You’re right,” she giggled a bit realizing how set in her ways she had truly become. “Thank you, Luna. I can never thank Twilight and her friends enough for saving you. For bringing you back.” Celestia closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out, reasserting her composure.
“I’m glad I can finally help you for a change,” Luna smiled as she retook her seat.
It was several moments more of pleasant, silent, eating before Luna spoke again. “By the way dearest sister of mine,” Luna smirked, looking up as Celestia returned to her tea. “I’ve heard some very interesting rumors regarding you. Knowing you as well as I do, I believe that at least one is true.”
“Oh?” Celestia raised an eyebrow in curiosity. She had been alive for a very long time, and had heard practically everything that could be said about somepony a dozen times over. Especially when it came to herself. “Which one might that be?”
Luna couldn’t hide the smirk on her face. “Tia… just how many ponies have you been with since my absence?”
Celestia nearly choked on her tea.
Later that night, Luna was trotting through the still silent hallways of Canterlot Castle. It was still at least an hour before dawn, but she still had a few duties left to attend to before Celestia’s sun rose for the new day. While the halls of the castle were quiet, they were far from empty. Even this late, the Canterlot Guard patrolled the halls, streets, and even skies in search of anyone who might bring trouble to the slumbering ponies of Canterlot. Mostly pegasi, with the usual mixing of unicorns and earth ponies, and even a few of the bat winged variety of pegasi, thestrals.
Luna had been surprised when she discovered that her sister had kept such good relations with the Thestral Colonies after her banishment. While most ponies no longer remembered the bat winged cousins of the pegasi, the small tribe had flourished in her long absence. They remained loyal to the throne, even despite Luna’s evil transformation. Her return had even been met with joyous celebration from them.
Soon, Luna found herself back in the chamber of the Trans-Planar communication spell. The massive construct still idly spun in the vaulted room, its formerly etched and enchanted surface now completely bare of any markings of any sort. It gave off a slight hum as it spun, giving it even more of an ominous aura. Luna ran an idle hoof over one of the slabs as it passed by her. It still somewhat amazed her at just how smooth the surface felt. Almost as if it had never even been engraved or cut. Usually, if magic was used to repair a structure, there would be a visible sign of this, such as some sort of a rough spot or patch that remained afterward. However, these slabs were actually smoother than they were when they were first set up.
She mused at just how difficult it had been to even obtain this much obsidian to begin with. This particular black stone was volcanic in nature, and the only still active volcanoes were in the Dragon lands. She even had suggested using Spike as a means of negotiating with the dragons, but Twilight would have none of it. Eventually, Luna herself ended up retrieving the necessary components for the device. Really, it was such a shame that all her hard work basically went to waste. The more Luna thought about it, the more she understood Twilight’s frustration.
Luna reached out with her mind and magic, and felt all the different sleeping ponies around her in Canterlot. All but one was fast asleep as the sun began its ascent. She could feel the familiar bubbly energy of Pinkie Pie, already wide awake. Soon, the others would be awake as well, and Twilight would surely wish to resume her work. Luna had a feeling that her friends would have none of that, considering Twilight had basically been working nonstop the entire past month.
At that moment, Luna noticed something strange. Something pinged her senses as she looked over each element bearer. There was another presence, a spark of unfamiliar magic, close to each of them.
“Commander Shade,” Luna called out to the darkness surrounding her.
One of Luna’s hidden Night Guard emerged from the rafters up above her. He gently lighted down the floor, behind the princess, not making a single sound. “Yes, my princess?”
Luna almost smiled. “Quiet as always,” she said to herself as she turned to face the Thestral. “Commander, anything to report?”
“Nothing, my liege.” Shade replied, shifting slightly.
That actually surprised Luna. She raised an eyebrow in confusion at the leader of her guard. “Are you certain?”
Shade didn’t even hesitate. “Indeed. The majority of the Night Guard have already returned to the roost for the day. The night passed without incident.”
“How about Twilight Sparkle and her friends, and the elements being kept with them?”
“They are… safe.” Shade replied with a slight hesitation in his voice.
“Something troubles you Shade.” Luna said, with concern in her voice. Since her return, she had made sure to get closer to her guard, thanks to a suggestion from her sister. Speaking to normal citizens was hard enough, so attempting to breach protocol and become friends with her guard was a somewhat alien, almost ridiculous concept to Luna. Despite that, she couldn’t deny the results. Getting to know her guardsmen helped her better recognize what kind of duties to assign them, or what they truly meant by some of their actions and words.
Shade nodded uneasily. “That pink mare, she somehow knew we were watching her. I don’t know how, but she even managed to get several of us into her party. How can a simple earth pony mare know of our presence so easily?”
Luna merely smiled and shook her head. “It really isn’t surprising. I only met Pinkie Pie recently. She never ceases to amaze me with her abilities. Try not to worry about her.” Luna turned around and started heading to her quarters for the day, Shade following close behind.
“Are your guards still well?” Luna noticed a few of the early morning Day Guard filtering out into their respective post for the day.
Shade nodded. “They’ve been doing well since the changeling invasion. Trust me when I say we shall never allow any other shapeshifter inside of Canterlot.”
Luna smiled. “Now that you know what to search for, I would most certainly hope that would be the case..” Luna trailed off and stopped dead in her tracks as she felt that odd twinge of magic around the element bearers flare up again. “What the…” Luna mumbled to herself as she turned, looking back to where two bearers were sleeping.
“My Princess?” Shade asked in confusion.
“Commander, gather the Night Guard, and work with the Day Guard. We may have a serious problem on our hooves,” Luna’s face hardened into a battle hardened glare.
“Changelings?” Shade’s fur stood up at the prospect of a little payback.
“I doubt it, but the Elements may be in danger. Move it, commander!” Luna called back, dashing toward where the two closest Bearers were now sleeping. Those two had barely any guard presence compared to the others. The others were safe, but these two were practically out in the open. Also, anypony, or anything that was confident enough for a direct attack like this probably wouldn’t let a guard presence stop them anyway.
On the edge of her senses, Luna noticed a few of her Night Guard already flying in from the outer walls, speeding towards the same destination as her. One of them pulled up alongside her, flying at near full speed just to keep up with the surprisingly quick Princess of the Night.
“What is it, guardsman?” Luna didn’t even turn to acknowledge him, still moving at a full gallop. She would be flying, but her wingspan prevented that in this particular part of the castle.
“We have intruders, my princess.” The guard replied, somewhat out of breath. They both continued moving at a breakneck pace through the halls.
Luna nodded in acknowledgment. She had not forgotten her failure after the changeling invasion of Canterlot. Since then, Luna had significantly strengthened her own guard, and greatly increased the number of patrols at night. She would be damned to Tartarus if she let any other threat just waltz into Canterlot. Next time she would put up a proper fight, instead of sleeping through it. (Come to think of it, she probably shouldn’t have soundproofed her room as well as she had.)
“Why haven’t any of the other guards responded yet?” Luna shouted in minor annoyance, making a sharp turn down another hallway.
“We are, but they have an unusually powerful magic with them. One already disappeared with Miss Pie. Another one is already engaged with several Day and Night guardsponies.” Luna could already hear the sound of shouting and combat echoing through the halls.
“How did they breach the perimeter?” Luna asked of her guard. They were getting much closer to the commotion.
“Unknown, they just literally appeared out of thin air, right next to each bearer! When one of my squadmates confronted them, one lashed out and started attacking us. I had to fall back, the attacking one managed to knock out the rest of my squadmates with ease.”
“Did they use a teleport spell? Illusion spell?” Luna wasn’t really concerned about the fact her guard had retreated. They needed the information, not to mention her guard were skilled at hit and run tactics, not brute force.
“Again, unknown. However, I met up with another scout on the way to you. He informed me that Miss Pie was still in castle somewhere, along with the intruder who appeared to have taken her. We’re keeping our distance from that one, especially considering how powerful of a unicorn he was. The other intruder is an earth pony.”
“Where exactly did they take Pinkie Pie?”
“It was… right here actually.” The guard flared his wings and stopped dead in front of the door to the kitchens.
Luna also skidded to a stop, staring at the door leading to the main kitchen of the castle. She reached out with her senses, her mind probing the room beyond. She expected to feel Pinkie Pie and one other unknown presence, but she felt two inside. The two foreign presences did not feel like ponies at all. They felt like two magical constructs, almost like two mobile spells. Golems, possibly?
“Are you sure you only saw two intruders?” Luna had expanded her senses, finding a third presence back in the nearby ballroom.
“I am, your highness.”
“Then things might be more serious than previously thought.” Luna started charging up a powerful stunning spell to knock out the two intruders in the room beyond. They’d never even see it coming.
“My Princess?”
“We seem to have more than two powerful intruders in Canterlot.” Luna replied as she moved up to the wall next to the kitchen’s entrance. She heard the sound of clattering pots and pans. Was Pinkie defending herself against her kidnappers? Luna almost laughed, knowing just how much trouble that mare could be, especially for someone who didn’t know her very well.
“Should I follow you in, Princess Luna?” The guard took up the same position on the opposite side of the door.
“No. We don’t know just how strong this unicorn is. If he can teleport several ponies that easily, I should face him alone. I’ll be able to handle anything they throw at me.” Luna narrowed her gaze at the door. “Now, I need you to go regroup with the others. Find Commander Shade. Help him organize a thorough search of the castle. Tell him I sent you. Make sure we have no more uninvited ‘guests’.”
With a quick salute, the guard darted back into the rapidly fading shadows. Even in the early light of day, Luna was proud of her Night Guard for their stealth.
Luna turned her attention back to the door, not quite sure what to expect. It wasn’t like she couldn’t handle whatever was on the other side of that door, she just preferred to actually have a good idea of what she was going up against before facing it head on. Most likely, these intruders had access to some form of unknown, powerful magic. Why else would they risk such an attack as this? It was dangerous, and more or less suicidal for them. She had to be ready for anything.
“Oh my gosh, you’re right! This is going to be the most amazing thing ever!” An excited voice blared out through the door. A voice Luna instantly recognized.
“Pinkie Pie?” Luna asked. That didn’t sound like a pony in trouble, much less a pony who was foalnapped.
“It’ll be even better once Princess Luna stops moping at the door, and decides to join us in here!” Another voice called out, this one a mare. “We know you’re out there Luna! No need to hide from us!”
Luna’s stood there in shock, her eyes wide with surprise. Unlike her ill-fated entrance to Ponyville recently, she had been attempting to be as quiet as possible. She was even masking her own aura to ensure nopony with any kind of magical scrying ability could spot her. Just who, or what, were these ponies? Luna hesitated for a moment, then slowly trotted into the kitchen, keeping her stun spell at the ready, should she still need to use it.
Luna stepped into the kitchen, finding it covered in cake batter and other random baking ingredients. Despite the fact the place looked like a bomb filled with cake batter had went off, several trays of freshly, perfectly made cupcakes and plates of other various baked goods sat on various countertops inside.
“Just what is going on in here? Pinkie?” Luna had a bewildered look on her face.
“We’re making cupcakes!” Pinkie cheered, bouncing up to Luna, perfectly balancing a plate full of various sugary treats on her head.
“Oh no no no, you are not, I repeat, not giving Luna a sugar filled death trap under my watch!” A light blue coated pegasus with a braided purple mane dashed over and snatched up the plate before Luna could really decide if she wanted any or not. “If you two had actually taken my advice and added in the correct amount of sugar, then maybe you wouldn’t risk killing something that’s nearly immortal.”
“But, I put this much sugar in my food all the time! Nothing bad’s ever happened to me!” Pinkie complained. “Well, there was that one time where I-”
“Well, you are a special case, dear.” The pegasus hovered past Pinkie, putting the plate back on a nearby table. She was wearing a pink frilly apron with a heart emblazoned upon it. “You have her helping you.” The mare gestured over to a nearby unicorn mare with a batter covered spoon.
This particular unicorn had a brilliant yellow coat. Her mane was as fluffy as Pinkie’s, but was an almost sky blue color. Something about the mare was making it uncomfortable for Luna to look at her for too long. It might have had something to do with the alarming rate at which the unicorn was creating baked goods, and that she was actually consuming them at a rate that would put even Pinkie Pie to shame.
The unicorn realized the pegasus was talking to her. “Mrffrmrf mrfmrmfmr fmrmrmfmrm,” was her mumbled reply as she continued to create more snacks and stuff herself silly.
Luna had no words at just how absurd this entire morning had been. These were the intruders? A Pinkie Pie like unicorn and some random pegasus mare? Regardless though, they had broken into the castle somehow, bypassed every single security measure and patrol that was in place, and taken Pinkie Pie with them.
Even though their behavior was strange and seemingly benign, Luna still could not let them be. It didn’t help matters that another one was apparently taking on her and her sister’s castle guard single hoofedly. If these two were involved with the third, more violent troublemaker, they were most likely more dangerous than what they appeared.
However, at the same time, Luna knew it was better to speak to ponies first before assuming anything. Her nearly disastrous visit to Ponyville during her first Nightmare Night had certainly reinforced that. With her guard still up, and the spell charged, Luna stepped in between Pinkie Pie and the other two ponies.
“Who are you ponies, and why did you foalnap Pinkie Pie?” Luna kept her voice flat, and a neutral expression so as not to cause anyone to do anything rash.
“To throw a party, of course!” The yellow mare chirped up with a smile, stopping her massing eating binge only long enough to reply. Luna’s eye twitched.
“THEN WHY-” Luna took a deep breath, attempting to calm herself down. She remembered that using the Royal Canterlot Voice in a small room never ended well. “If all of you are going to throw a party, then why are you attacking us?” Luna asked through grit teeth, trying to keep her rage from boiling over. To make matters worse, Luna felt the third presence getting closer, and heard the shouts of several guards echoing through the halls, getting closer to the kitchen.
The blue pegasus mare cocked her head slightly to the side, looking at Luna in confusion. “What are you- Oh.” She let out a sigh of disappointment, then fluttered into the air, bringing her hooves up to her face. “Great, we just got here, and he’s already picking a fight with the guard.”
“So then, that third pony IS with you,” Luna had already put two and two together, but had to be absolutely sure. She was about to take them into custody, but her curiosity stopped her.
Luna kept an eye on both, but watched as the unicorn placed a rather large, pony sized cake behind the hovering pegasus. The yellow mare made a shushing motion at Luna, arranging the cake just so. She had no idea how the unicorn had even made such a large confection without her noticing. To say this mare was just like Pinkie Pie would have been an understatement.
“Unfortunately, yes, he is. It seems not only do I have to keep this one in line...” the pegasus gestured to the unicorn who had just hopped over to Pinkie with a large tray of cupcakes hovering in front of her, and a large smile on her face. “I now also have to deal with Loyalty starting his own personal little war. Great way to make a first impression, yes?”
“And we’re off!” Cheered the yellow unicorn as she grabbed Pinkie, and the tray of cupcakes before charging up her horn.
“Wheee! I love this part!” Pinkie squealed in joy as the two disappeared in a bright flash of a teleportation spell.
Luna was about to respond to the pegasus when she felt a presence rapidly approaching object from behind her. It was a good thing she had kept her extra senses and magic on full alert, or she wouldn’t have noticed the large white stallion with a tri-colored blue mane careening through the door right at her. Luna sidestepped just in time, the pony barely missing the side of her head.
Luna realized, as the stallion passed her by, that this was Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle’s older brother, and Captain of the Day Guard. Luna watched as the pegasus mare failed to react nearly as quickly as she had. The two collided, both crashing into the cake in a heap.
Luna blinked, a bit confused at what had just happened. “Captain, are you alright?” she asked, approaching the cake covered ponies.
Shining quickly disentangled himself from the messy confection, attempting to clean all the cake off of himself and his armor with his magic. “Ugh, I’ve been better.”
“I swear to harmony, when I get my hooves on Laughter, I’m going to kill her,” the pegasus grumbled as she tried to extricate herself from the large cake.
“Oh, here, let me help you.” Shining used his magic to help free the pegasus from her cake prison and remove most of the baked good and frosting from her wings. “I’m truly sorry ma’am, I didn’t mean to plow into you like that. You’re not hurt, are you?”
“Thank you, Captain, and no, I’m fine.” the pegasus replied, happy to finally have her wings free of cake and icing.
“You are welcome, ma’am.” Shining replied with an uneasy smile. He turned to Princess Luna and gave a quick salute. Luna had to admit, it looked really odd (if not rather hilarious) considering how he still had cake all over him.
“Status report, Captain?” Luna asked him, still eyeing the pegasus with some suspicion.
“I can’t really say,” he sighed, scratching the back of his head. “Some pony started attacking us. He was much stronger than what we expected, but we got him under control… well, until he tossed me through the door.” Shining had a sheepish smile on his face.
“Oh, well, I’m sure he meant no permanent harm,” the pegasus replied as she began to trot out of the kitchen. “He’s just been quite a bit upset at the current state of the castle guard, is all. Something about them not being real soldiers or the like. I’m sure he’ll calm down soon enough. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go find that crazy unicorn before she kills somebody with a sugar overdose from those things that only look like cupcakes.”
Shining Armor looked at the retreating pegasus in confusion before turning to Luna. “I, huh? Who was that?”
Luna sighed. “It’s a long story, Captain.” She shook her head. “However, I would suggest you follow after her. I do believe she is connected in some way to the pony who bucked you through the door just a moment ago.”
Shining grimaced at that. He nodded, then wordlessly turned and took off at a brisk pace, following the strange pegasus.
A few minutes later, Luna trotted out of the large disaster area that was the main kitchen. As soon as she stepped outside, her eyes widened. She saw a pile of several guards desperately trying to hold something down. Even worse, Rainbow Dash was sprawled out on the floor nearby, out cold, presumably thanks to whoever the guards were trying to subdue at the moment.
Luna saw Applejack eyeing the pile of guard ponies cautiously, all the while trying to fashion a rope out of some nearby curtains. She realized that Applejack wasn’t wearing her Element of Harmony, nor was Rainbow Dash. This troubled her more a bit more than she liked to admit. However, with this madpony finally contained, and Shining Armor pursuing the other two, Luna was confident they would recover the elements soon.
“Good morning Applejack.” Luna said as she walked around the guards towards Applejack, keeping an eye on them in case the subdued pony somehow managed to jump out. “Do you happen to know where your element is?”
“Mornin’,” came Applejack’s reply. “Ah can’t really say that ah know where they went yer Highness. They were gone when we woke up this mornin’. Dash thinks this guy,” She motioned towards the pile of guards “might have took em’. Do you know anythin’ about this, Princess?”
Luna sighed. “Applejack, I’m afraid I do not. I haven’t had a morning this crazy since...” She trailed off, frustration evident in her voice.
“Ah think we should get Twi and the others up. Something just ain’t right about all this, Luna.”
Before Luna could reply, a new voice popped up. “Luna?” A red maned earth pony stallion with a white coat poked his head out of the pile of guard ponies. A big smile split his face, and before Luna could even blink, he jumped up, flinging guards in every direction like toys. Two guards who had held on tried (and failed) to hold him back as he happily trotted up to Luna, dragging the two of them across the floor. He ignored them hanging off of him, and trotted up to Luna, snapping a salute. “Reporting for duty, Princess Luna.”
Luna and Applejack stared at him in confusion. “Um, Princess, ah think one of the guard must’ve hit him in the head a bit too hard.”
“On the contrary, Miss Applejack. I am in complete control of my faculties,” the stallion replied, not breaking his rigid stance in front of them, not even despite the two guard ponies still trying to drag him down. The rest of the guard whom he had flung off were still all out cold.
Luna’s left eye twitched. “Then why did you attack them!?” Luna growled. She barely kept herself from shouting with the full force of the Royal Canterlot Voice. It was almost as if these ponies could do whatever they wished, with no regard for any kind of rules or laws.
The stallion smiled. “Why, to teach them a lesson, of course. Surely you remember just how poor their performance during the invasion was? I aim to show them that being in an extended time of peace is no excuse for failing at your primary duty. If it requires me to beat them senseless until they understand, then so be it!”
Applejack glared at him. “Then why in all things cinnamon swirl did you attack Rainbow Dash?” She gestured to the still unconscious rainbow maned pegasus.
“Self-defense. I did warn her.” He shrugged. “She just refused to back down. Seemed a bit hard-headed and stubborn to me, really. She should wake up soon.”
Luna closed her eyes and took a deep breath in, then let it out. After calming herself, she opened her eyes, turned to look the strange stallion right in the eye, and put on her most authoritative appearance. “No matter your reasons, you still invaded the castle. Our castle! On top of that, you harmed countless Day and Night Guardsponies! Not to mention knocked out the bearer of the Element of Loyalty!” She let out an annoyed huff. “These are some serious crimes, and I will have to punish you accordingly.” She paused for a moment. “Now, If you will reveal to us the locations of your compatriots, we just may be a bit lenient towards you.”
“Understood ma’am.” He snapped another salute. “My first recommendation is to check each of Twilight Sparkle’s friends. My compatriots should be near each one of them. Though, one of us seems to still be absent, and I saw Generosity fly off. So I could be mistaken on their locations… I wish I could be more helpful your highness, but that is essentially all I know of the current situation.”
Luna and Applejack were even more confused. “You do realize that by telling us this, your compatriots will also be punished in the same manner as you, yes?” Luna asked of the stallion.
“Of course, if that is what the Princess wishes, then that is what she will have,” he replied with the utmost confidence.
“Well, alrighty then.” Applejack couldn’t even begin to believe or understand this strange stallion.
Luna noticed that most of the guards had recovered from being thrown across the hall. She motioned to the two who were holding still onto him. They finally let him go, only to put hoofcuffs on him. “For the time being, I’m leaving you with Applejack and Rainbow Dash here. I want you to listen to them, and help them in apprehending your comrades. Understood?”
“Yes ma’am,” he replied, with an attempt at a salute. Thanks to the hoofcuffs however, this salute was considerably more awkward.
Luna turned to Applejack. “Applejack, you’re in charge here. I’m going to go to Twilight Sparkle and the others. Wait for us here.”
“Will do, Princess.” Applejack nodded, then trotted over to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow was finally showing signs of waking up. Her wings twitching errantly, and her hooves trying to find purchase to right herself on the polished castle floor. Applejack helped hoist her friend unsteadily to her hooves. Applejack then looked over at the stallion, as Rainbow Dash shook her head to clear the stars in her eyes. “C’mon sugarcube, you need to help me get little miss sleepy head here up ta speed.”
“Yes ma’am.” The strange stallion followed after her, with four wary guards trailing after him.
Satisfied that the situation was finally somewhat under control, Luna made her way to the guest quarters. She wasn’t really sure why this strange stallion was fully willing to cooperate, or if he was just playing them for fools. Absolutely everything about this situation was just outright insane. Discord would have relished in all this. Could he have been responsible for this? She quickly discarded the notion. The Spirit of Chaos was still safely trapped as a statue. He also would have caused a great deal more trouble than this. Next to Discord, these strange ponies were amateurs.
Luna also recalled that the ponies had referred to each other by name a few times. Laughter and Generosity came to mind, and she also remembered that pegasus had referred to the troublemaker as Loyalty. She wondered if these were these code names they had given to each other, or even if these ponies were actually the Elements of Harmony.
She actually let out a chuckle at the notion. Even if Twilight’s spell had worked, they would have contacted the Tree of Harmony itself, not each individual element. After all, were the elements just not part of the tree?
Honestly, she was starting to doubt that idea. Maybe it was possible that each element had it’s own consciousness? She really didn’t know what to think about that possibility. She filed that idea in the back of her mind to revisit later, alongside the other problems from this morning. She already felt a twinge of a headache coming on, and had a feeling it was going to be a seriously long day. It didn’t help at all that she still needed to wake up Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle.
After a few minutes, Luna finally made to her first destination, Rarity’s suite. She rapped her hoof on the door three times in rapid succession. “Rarity! I need to speak to you. It’s urgent!” Luna yelled through the door, just shy of the Royal Canterlot Voice. She didn’t want to blow the door off the hinges, after all.
A few seconds passed, then Luna heard movement from inside, along with some very unladylike words. Apparently, Rarity was not a morning pony. Luna actually felt a little bad for waking the poor mare up this early, but other matters were more important right now.
“I swear to Celestia AND Luna, this had better be important.” Rarity complained. Luna barely heard her from through the door.
Eventually, Rarity opened the door. Her normally perfect mane and tail were both a total disaster. Luna actually was taken aback by the poor fashionista's appearance.
Rarity lifted her sleeping mask to see who dared to interrupt her beauty sleep. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw Princess Luna standing there. The unicorn opened and closed her mouth several times in shock, like a fish would.
“P-Princess Luna? What’s going on? Is something wrong?” Rarity stammered out in shock.
Luna held back a smirk at Rarity’s appearance, and kept an annoyed look on her face. “Rarity, I need you to go meet the others in front of the main kitchen. We have a bit of a situation on our hooves. I’ll explain once everyone is there. Please hurry.”
“Oh, okay, your majesty. Um, do you care if I at least take a moment to make myself more presentable?” She said desperately trying to excuse herself back into her room.
Luna smirked at that. “Yes, that’s fine. Please be quick about it, though. I’m going to get Fluttershy and Twilight. The others should already be there.”
“Of course, I’ll be there shortly.” Rarity gave Luna a quick bow and hastily shut the door. She was obviously embarrassed at being seen in such a state.
Luna paid it no mind and turned to leave. She had to wake up Fluttershy next.
Fluttershy’s room was just a bit further down the hallway. Thankfully, none of the insanity that had been plaguing her all morning managed to show itself in this part of the castle. All was quiet for the time being.
As she approached Fluttershy’s door, she tried to ignore the fact that her headache was starting to get worse. Again, she rapped on the door hard, three times. “Fluttershy! I need to speak with you for a moment! It’s urgent!”
After waiting a solid minute, Luna got no response, nor did she even hear any movement inside. “Fluttershy?” she called out again. Still no response. Luna started to fear the worst. No, she wasn’t going to wait around this time.
Luna reached out into the room with her magic, but only sensed one presence within, most likely Fluttershy. She seemed to still be in bed. Maybe she didn’t hear her yelling? Or pounding on the door even? Luna doubted that. Something was wrong.
In one swift motion, Luna charged up her stun spell again and then threw the door open, expecting the worst. She quickly glanced around with her spell at the ready, daring anything to come at her. What she saw, however, was a bit of a relief.
The bed was empty, actually. Somepony had recently been in it, as it was still unkempt. After sweeping her vision and senses around the room one last time, she noticed that the bed was actually shaking. Upon closer inspection, she noticed a familiar pink tail sticking out from underneath it.
Luna realized that she must have scared poor Fluttershy. She slowly walked up to the shaking furniture and peeked underneath. Sure enough, she found Fluttershy laying there, curled up into a ball, shaking, her face buried in her forelegs.
“Dearest Fluttershy,” Luna said in her calmest voice. “It’s only me, Luna. I’m sorry if I scared you. Are you alright?”
Fluttershy peeked out from her hooves upon hearing the familiar voice, and instantly relaxed. Her expression changed from fear to a shy smile. “Oh my, it’s only you Princess Luna. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hide like this. I’m just startled easily is all.” Luna extended her hoof out, and Fluttershy gladly accepted it. She pulled herself out from under the bed, dusting herself off as she did so.
“It’s quite alright Fluttershy, think nothing of it. However, I do need you to go to the castle kitchen, and wait for me there. It’s been a very… eventful morning. Everypony else should be there shortly.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “Oh my, did somepony get hurt? Is everything okay? Did the castle critters break into the halls again? Oh my, I knew I would scare them more if I came back. I’m sorry Luna, I didn’t mean to...”
Luna cut off the slowly hyperventilating pegasus with a gentle hoof to the shoulder. “No, nothing of the sort. Though I’m trying to keep something serious from happening. Do you remember how to get to the main kitchen? I can have a guard escort you there, if you’d like.”
“Oh, no, that won’t be necessary Luna. I can make it on my own. Thank you.” Fluttershy gracefully bowed to Luna as she passed and left to meet up with the others.
Luna sighed and closed her eyes for a minute, trying to will away the headache she was getting. She had only one more pony left to awaken. Twilight Sparkle. Unfortunately, her room was resting in the other end of the guest quarters of the castle. Even with her rather fast hoof speed it would take a good deal of time to reach her. It would be much quicker to teleport over for this one.
Luna kept her eyes closed and charged up a quick teleport spell. She winked out of existence from Fluttershy’s room and reappeared in front of Twilight’s room. The guard didn’t even flinch when she appeared in a bright flash in front of him. He gave the princess a quick salute as she charged into the room. She didn’t even acknowledge him. Her patience was wearing thin, and the headache wasn’t helping matters any. She had no more time for formalities.
“Twilight Sparkle!” Princess Luna nearly shouted, barging her way into the room and cutting off Twilight mid sentence. “Your assistance is require imme...” Luna stopped dead in her tracks as she took in the scene before her. Twilight was astride another pony on the bed.
Luna was more than a little confused now. She groaned internally at just how absurd things were getting. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to get any sleep today.
It didn’t help that her headache just kept getting worse.