//------------------------------// // Aftermath. // Story: A Family Matter. // by Thait //------------------------------// 'thoughts' {Mental Speak} 000000 Ponyville Chaos. That was all Strong Heart could claim the situation had turned into. With the magic in their armor boosting their vision the flash from the weapon had blinded him and the rest of the arcanists for nearly four minutes. In that time Twilight Sparkle, who had recovered swiftly due to not boosting her vision, had rushed off after Trixie and her unknown accomplice. This had left Strong Heart to deal with Firelight's crystallized form, which was now being loaded onto a chariot for transport to Canterlot, and the remains of Bulwark's squad. When Meadow and Storm had checked in he had finally gotten the chance to learn that all of their squad except Striker had been killed, and Striker was injured so badly that even with spells he'd be down for weeks of healing and then weeks longer for physical therapy. This now left him trying to handle the angry ponies of Ponyville who were demanding to know why, and who, the Nova guard had been fighting inside the town. Strong Heart had left that in the capable hooves of Bright Eyes, who happened to be quite good at convincing others of what he wanted them to believe. Not that the situation was going to calm down anytime soon, not with Trixie's accomplices being local ponies who were now also missing, as well as the damage to the town. "Sir!" Strong Heart spun to face Meadow as the pony skidded to a stop before him. "Sir, we've done our best to try and track them and we're certain they entered the Everfree." Meadow steadied his breathing from his long gallop across town and waited for a response to the bad news from the Arcanist captain. "Damnit!" Strong Heart looked towards the old forest "Find Emerald Dawn and..." "That won't be necessary Captain." Both of the Nova guard spun to see a pegasus landing nearby. "Your orders are to remain in Ponyville and aid with the cleanup here." "Spitfire? What are you doing here? You have no command over the Nova guard." Strong Heart would have said more if Spitfire hadn't shoved a paper signed by General Cutter into his face. "Orders, directly from the top. You are to stay put and help out around town." Spitfire looked to Meadow. "The remains of your squad are now under Captain Strong Heart's command until you can be folded into a new unit." "Yes Ma'am." Meadow saluted before looking to Strong Heart for orders. "Keep everypony out of the damaged wing of the hospital until I've had a chance to look into it, and get Bright Eyes to meet up with the mayor and find out what needs to be done for cleanup of the Hospital and the surrounding area." Strong Heart looked to Spitfire as Meadow rushed away. "Inside, now." He waited till Spitfire entered the school to follow. Strong Heart glanced around the schoolhouse room for a moment before turning to look at the captain of the Wonderbolts. "What the hay is going on Spitfire? We can't allow Twilight Sparkle and her friends to go after Trixie and Pokey by themselves, it is too dangerous for them to be involved in this." "The element bearers have traveled the Everfree alone before, not to mention they have an ally within the forest." Spitfire sat near the front of the schoolroom. "If you were to enter right now there is a high chance you would encounter heavy resistance from the local flora and fauna, to the point of losing more ponies. General Cutter believes that our best chance to capture Pokey, Trixie, and Screw Loose is to allow the Element bearers to reach the zebra, Zecora, and get her aid in tracking down the Lulamoons while they attempt to lay low within the forest." "You entire plan relies on the hope that they get aid from Zecora?" Strong Heart couldn't help but feel confusion when Spitfire nodded. "I will admit that Zecora knows the forest far better than any other pony, and she is friends with Twilight and the others, but even if they do get her help to find Trixie how exactly would you know about it?" "All of the element bearers are tagged with a tracker package. After the changeling invasion it was believed that the element bearers needed some extra protection from possible attack and incapacitation." This explanation got a raised eyebrow from Strong Heart. "I'm surprised they agreed to have a track package put on them, there's a lot of intrusive spells in that group." He frowned at the look on her face. "They did agree, didn't they?" "The safety of the country relies on those ponies, they are Equestria's most powerful weapon and cannot be compromised under any circumstances." Spitfire could see Strong Heart's growing anger. "This was done as a security measure for the country." "When the heck did we start violating the very laws we are sworn to uphold simply because it makes things more secure!" Strong Heart stamped the floor with enough force to crack the boards. "The placement of those spells on a pony without said ponies approval is breaking over seventeen laws and while the punishments vary due to spell type used they are all severe. The princess would never...!" "The princess doesn't know." Spitfire interrupted the other pony. "Not all items cross her desk, or need her approval. This was a decision that was made in a joint meeting by the generals of all the armed branches." "Twilight's brother would not allow this, or did you keep him out of it as well?" Strong Heart let out a snort of anger when he saw her nod. "Of course he was left out, couldn't let somepony close to the situation speak on it." "We nearly lost Canterlot. One of the princesses, the element of magic, and the captain of the royal guard were all nearly incapacitated and out of the fight. If it hadn't been for miss Sparkle's strength we could have lost everything, as such these spells have been emplaced to allow the tracking of the element bearers in case of danger to them from an outside force. No matter what you might believe these spells are for their protection." Spitfire knew this was an uphill battle, she had known Strong Heart for some time and knew that he was not going to simply let it pass. Strong Heart grew silent for a moment before something Spitfire had said truly caught his attention. "A weapon? Is that how you see them? Is that how the generals see them? They are ponies like you and I Spitfire, they are not some spear you can fling at an enemy and hope that it will find it's mark." "No matter what you might think of them Strong Heart they are the one thing that has kept Equestria safe for the last few years. In fact even other countries are showing Equestria more respect since the six of them got together." Spitfire could tell this wasn't lessening Strong Heart's anger. "A weapon." Strong Heart had begun to pace before a thought caught his attention again. "But a weapon isn't very useful if some of its parts are missing. I seem to remember that one particular mare has been trying to become a Wonderbolt, Rainbow Dash I believe." Strong Heart looked sharply at the captain of the Wonderbolts. "Yes. If she was a normal pegasus she would already have been accepted onto the team as a reserve member and started training. As it is she won't be allowed to join, Soarin is a bit broken up about it but he'll be spending time with her after her rejection anyway." "Why would...? Oh I see, she's to uncontrollable. Twilight Sparkle is Celestia's personal student, Fluttershy is already living her dreams as a animal caretaker as well as being too timid to make a move that would be against any plans made. Applejack, like most of the Apple family, will spend her life taking care of her family farm and Rarity is already an established fashion designer and not likely to move her shop. That leaves only two ponies they can't be sure of, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. Two ponies that you have to keep a closer eye on than usual on the chance they decide to follow dreams away from the other element bearers." He sent Spitfire a disgusted look. "Pinkie Pie you have little to worry about since she is so devoted to her friends that even the thought of leaving them could send her into a depression, but Rainbow Dash has dreams and desires that don't mesh with the generals plans. That means you need somepony there to tie her to where she is, and what better way to do that than to have her settle down with the stallion she idolizes so much." "I'm impressed." Spitfire's smile vanished at a snort from Strong Heart. "Don't be, I've read the files on them all. With you calling them a weapon it wasn't difficult to figure out how the generals would look at them. But why tell me?" For just a second Strong Heart thought he saw the barest hint of something...off about the pegasus. He couldn't help but wonder if it had been his imagination or if he had truly seen a tiny flicker of a strange rainbow light within the eyes of the Wonderbolt. "You're a high ranking captain of the Nova guard Arcanist squads, your abilities and those of the ponies under your command are going to be needed in the coming days and you will need to know what's going on." Spitfire drew another piece of paper from the saddlebags she was wearing and set it on the desk. "This was sent for you from agent Spy Glass, it details the actions that are being taken by the Intelligence agency and where their operatives are so you don't get in their way." The pegasus headed for the door to the classroom. "Now if you will excuse me I need to organize the pegasi that will be heading out into the Everfree once we have the correct position." Strong Heart stared after the pegasus captain wondering, not for the first time in the last few months, why old instincts were shouting that something was very, very wrong. For some reason the statement about him needing to know what was going on had sounded almost...desperate, as if the pegasus was trying to justify to herself why she had told him. Glancing at the paper the mare had left he frowned and headed out of the school and towards the hospital. With the leaving of the arcanist captain no pony was left to notice the movement near the window as a small pony dropped to the ground and dashed to a bush nearby to pull out her scooter and hurry away to find her friends. Kicking rubble out of his way Strong Heart walked through the shattered and blackened remains of the Ponyville Hospitals mental ward. He had to admit that it was extremely quick thinking on somepony's part to douse the fires with clouds as fast as they could. But he also cursed the fact that the water had likely washed away a great amount of evidence. There were still a few mangled metal tables and gurneys within the remains of the hallway and as he pushed one aside his eye caught a shimmering glimmer of green partially buried within the floor. Wrenching the small shard free with his magic he summoned a small globe of light to get a better look at what turned out to be a shimmering shard of green crystal. "An emerald mine?" Strong Heart frowned as he used his magic to probe the small jewel shard and found a very distinctive mark to the remnant of magic left in it. "That's not possible." "Sir?" Storm's voice caused the arcanist captain to jump in surprise and nearly drop his find, instead he just leveled a glare at the scout. "Sorry sir, didn't mean to sneak up on you. I was just wondering what you were looking at." "An emerald mine, and not the cheap knockoff versions that you can pick up in Steel Horn. This is a true emerald mine, created and carried by the Obsidian Guard." Strong Heart turned the shard of emerald several different directions while trying to figure out how Pokey had gotten his hooves on it. "The obsidian guard don't sell their equipment to anypony, they even refused to sell to the griffons." Storm glanced around the blackened and shattered remains of the hallway. "Is that what happened here, emerald mines?" "Yes." Strong Heart put the small shard into a pouch within his armor. "The question is how they got it. The Gem Kingdom and the Lulamoon family do not get along." "Sir?" "Old history, There is little known about it beyond the fact that a pegasus of the Lulamoon family assassinated the Empress and then raided the royal library making off with a large amount of items." Strong Heart wasn't telling the entire truth, the Equestrian intelligence service knew for a fact that there were two pegasi who had been involved in that political catastrophe. The first was Whisperwind Lulamoon, she was the one who raided the library while her brother, a titan of a pony named Blockade, had assassinated the gem empress. Few outside the Intel agency knew that the assassination was actually both revenge for actions taken against Whisperwind and an attempt to procure information that the Gem Kingdom refused to allow the Lulamoons to see. Strong Heart shook his head and muttered a curse while trying to figure out what exactly to do about everything that had happened in the town, as well as the things he had learned from Spitfire. "This is why my parents told me to go into the salt mining business instead of the military." He remained quiet for a moment before looking to Storm. "I need you to find a local pegasus named Thunderlane, and tell Bright Eyes to get over here as well." It was nearly a half hour later but Bright Eyes showed up first. "You have no idea the stuff that's gonna be in tomorrow's paper, it isn't going to be pretty for us." Seeing the look on his captains face he snapped to attention. "Orders?" "I have a mission for you, it isn't going to be easy and possibly could end with us all in the dungeons." Seeing no hesitation in his subordinate he stepped closer. "I need you to head back to Canterlot, there's some things I need done there." "Aren't our orders to help out here in Ponyville sir?" The unicorn nodded to the destroyed walls around them. "I need you to carry a message to Princess Celestia for me, this needs to get done as quietly and quickly as possible. Avoid all guard patrols and especially other Nova guard units." Strong Heart levitated a small note he had composed while waiting. "This is not to fall into the hooves of anypony but Celestia or Luna, is that understood?" Seeing the nod from his subordinate he forged ahead. "Once that is done, if the princesses don't have need of you anymore I want you to speak to a bar owner by the name of Frosty, his business is right off of dock seventeen and there is almost always an old cargo airship docked nearby. When you talk to Frosty tell him you want to try a feather dasher, he should take you into the back. Once you're there I want you to ask him everything he knows or can find out about contingency plans involving the bearers of the Elements of Harmony." "Sir, are we making waves?" Bright Eyes knew his captain would understand the reference and which pony he was talking about. "Not yet, but don't rule it out." Strong Heart frowned "Something is wrong here, something I can't quite put my hoof on. Spitfire..." Strong Heart once again thought of the strange barely seen rainbow shimmer in the other ponies eyes. "Let's just say I don't trust her right now." clapping a hoof to his friends shoulder he pulled him close. "If things work out as I think they will then the princesses should have freed Firelight from the spell that hit her by the time you get there. Meet up with her and bring her along." Movement in the corner of his eye alerted him to the arrival of Thunderlane. "Get going, I have one other thing to do yet." He waited till Bright Eyes had headed out from the Hospital before turning to Thunderlane, who was staring around at the destruction around him. "Thunderlane." "Sir." The pegasus came to attention, even though he was simply a local volunteer recruit for the guard he still took his duty seriously. "I-I didn't know this would happen." "Not your fault, I have a mission for you if you're willing to accept it." Seeing the pegasus stand a little straighter and nod proudly Strong Heart almost changed his mind, but he knew that with this mission he needed one of the more reliable flyers of Ponyville. "I have a letter that needs to be delivered to the Crystal Empire, directly to the hooves of Shining Armor himself. This is of utmost importance, and by that I mean you cannot allow this message to fall into the hooves of anypony else." Seeing the slight hesitance in the other ponies stance he continued. "This mission should be easy in and easy out, no pony will know of it but you and all you have to do is get to the Crystal Empire and tell the ponies there that you need to speak with Shining Armor. But if you are followed and you can't escape I want you to destroy the letter rather than let it be captured, is that understood?" "Yes sir." Thunderlane took to the air and glanced back at the destroyed section of the Hospital thinking of the fact that he was working essentially as an informant for the guard. "Rainbow Dash is going to kill me." He turned and shot off northward. From a cloud far above the town orange eyes tracked the pegasus's departure from Ponyville before shifting to watch the much more stealthy barely seen departure of another pony, though this one wore Nova guard armor. For just a moment, a fleeting flicker of a second, something like triumph flared in a deep portion of her mind. Shaking her head a moment later Spitfire blinked in confusion before giving an irritated look to the destroyed hospital wing. "You always were too much of a bleeding heart for your work Strong Heart." Spitfire stood and leapt from the cloud to glide silently towards the nearest pegasi messengers, she needed to get orders out before things got too far out of control. 000000 EVERFREE FOREST Twilight moved carefully behind Pinkie as the party pony bounced through the Everfree as if they were out for a simple stroll in a normal forest instead of one of the more dangerous parts of Equestria. In truth Pinkie's carefree style and her strange Pinkie sense was exactly what they wanted from her, a pony who could lead them to Zecora's without running into anything of true danger in the middle of the night. When Twilight had chased after Trixie she had quickly found herself being led directly for the Everfree, which had necessitated a new plan at that point. She had rounded up her friends and they had made their way into the forest with the plan of reaching Zecora's and getting the Zebra's help in tracking down Trixie and her brother. While Twilight didn't doubt that the varied abilities of herself and her friends would have kept them safe within the forest if they decided to try and find Trixie the chances of finding the showmare and her brother were slim without help. Twilight again found herself thinking back to the image of Trixie barely able to stand in the schoolhouse entrance while being faced down by the Nova guard. It had taken a hefty amount of restraint to keep from blasting the Nova guard and simply pulling Trixie away from them. Looking over her shoulder for a moment she checked on Spike where he sat on her back watching the forest around them carefully. The pressure he was putting on her sides with his legs as well as the way he held himself told her how tense he was after seeing the Nova guard in Ponyville and being so close to them. "It's alright Spike, they won't follow us into the forest." The startled jump from the small dragon told her how worried he was. "You don't know that, they might follow us here." Spike's eyes darted as he looked to the deformed trees around them leading to another worried look from Twilight. "Why are you worried about them?" Applejack moved closer. "Ain't they members of the guard?" "They are not members of the royal guard!" Twilight realized a second later how harsh she sounded. "I'm sorry Applejack, it's just that Spike and I have had some...bad experiences with the Nova guard." Twilight's stared at the ground with her ears lowered in shame. "It's not your fault Twilight." Spike scooted forward on the unicorns back and reached forward to give her a hug. "You didn't do anything wrong." "It is my fault, I should never have agreed to it!" Even so Twilight felt her spirits rise at the show of support from Spike. "You're saying we can't trust 'em?" Applejack frowned looking worriedly to her friend. Twilight was known to overreact to quite a lot of things but Applejack and the rest of her friends had learned to trust that their friend had at least some reason for her beliefs. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. My brother often referred to them as a rogue element of the military." Seeing that it was going to require more explanation she started from the beginning. "As you know the Equestrian military is broken up into multiple sections, each under the command of their own general. The Airborne fall under the command of General Wind Shear, the Legions fall under the command of General Rock Slide, and the Arcanists fall under control of General Shimmer. Then there is the Royal guard which is headed not by a general but by the Captain of the royal guard who holds power equal to a general and has the ability to give orders to any of the other branches of the military. All but one." "The Nova guard." Spike glared out at the forest, the anger and hate he felt for the Nova guard seeping into his voice. Twilight sent another worried glance to her assistant before looking ahead again. "Yes. The Nova guard are headed by General Cutter, he is the only pony who seems to have no superior but the princesses. Shining said once that the Nova guard did as they pleased and asked for permission later. More than once he took complaints to Princess Celestia about the actions of the Nova guard only to be told that the Nova guard had particular duties that required them to act as they did. They were...are...allowed to requisition any equipment they believe is needed for the mission they are on, even local legion, airborne, or arcanist forces are to fall under their command when they are in the area. In fact that was the most low equipped Nova guard force I've ever seen." "What did they d..." Rainbow Dash's words stopped as she felt a hard tug on her tail causing her to look back at the blue glow that was pulling her back, looking to Rarity she saw the other pony shaking her head quickly. Trying to change the topic of what she was asking she settled on what had happened in Ponyville instead. "Uh-Did you find out what they were there for?" "The captain in charge of the action mentioned the Crystal Empire and that Trixie is wanted for something there." Twilight grew quiet for a moment, thinking of the guards actions. "I don't believe it, if she was wanted by the guard they would have simply sent a nearby legion squad or even asked one of the local guards to handle it." "No doubt the explosion at the hospital was their fault." Spike glared at a particular tree as if it was going to have Nova Guards jump out at any moment. "We don't know that Spike." Twilight looked to Rainbow Dash "Did you find anything out about what happened there?" "It was one heck of an explosion." The pegasus looked unsettled. "We got the clouds into position and dropped enough rain to put the fire out but they didn't let any of us close enough to really get a good look at what happened." "There were several guards there who were keeping ponies back." Rarity frowned "From your description of the others, those at the hospital must have been Nova guard as well." Before anymore could be said they began to hear muffled voices from ahead. Twilight gave a quick gesture for the others to be quiet as they moved carefully into the bushes nearby and peaked out into the small opening near the entrance to Zecora's tree. From there they could see Pokey standing in front of the tree talking to Time Turner while Derpy played with Dinky and Sparkler sat near a sky chariot reading a book. It took some heavy concentration but Twilight managed to mask enough of the glow from her horn to keep them from being spotted and yet allowed her to cast a spell that allowed them to hear what was being said. "...verything but one. We searched all over but the black journal with the dragon on it wasn't anywhere we could find." "Damn. That's one of more dangerous ones as well." Pokey looked at the night sky for a moment. "Well we can always retrieve it later, once we've had a chance to hide out for awhile and let the guard calm down." The blue pony was quiet for a moment before looking to Time Turner "If you would..." "No." Time Turner interrupted Pokey before he could say more. "I'm sorry but I simply can't get involved in this. I'm retired, I have a family now and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure they're safe." He looked to the ground for a moment. "I'm sorry Pokey, there was a time I would have thrown caution to the wind and ran headlong into this kind of trouble." He looked to his daughters and Twilight could hear a mixture of sadness and happiness in the stallions voice. "I've given all that up for them, please don't ask me to risk more than I already have." "I understand." Pokey smiled at where Dinky and Derpy were playing while Sparkler did her best to act like she wanted to read her book instead of join in. "Take care of them Time Turner. And if you ever need aid just send us a message, we'll send help as quickly as possible." "Don't worry about us, we'll be long gone and off towards the minotaur lands before the Nova guard even thinks about trying to do something about us. It's you that should be careful." Time Turner gestured at Zecora's home "I wouldn't stay here long, the Nova guard might be cowards when it comes to the forest but they will eventually get the guts to follow you." "I know, we're just holding up here until Beatrix is better and then we'll be heading out." Pokey glanced back through the open door for a moment and sighed. "This situation went about as bad as I expected it would when Beatrix decided to confront them." "Don't blame your sister too much for that." Time Turner grew quiet for a moment to stare up at the stars above before turning to his family. "In any case I believe that it's time we took our leave." Derpy carried Dinky to the sky chariot, setting her inside, and then moved to the front and began latching the harness closed. After Time Turner and Sparkler climbed into the back as well she checked the harness one more time and then took to the skies dragging the chariot behind her. Twilight and the others watched for a bit as the chariot vanished into the sky before looking back to Pokey as he turned and vanished back into Zecora's home. "What the hay are they doin here?" Applejack watched the home closely for a moment to see if anypony else might come out but there was no more movement that they could see. "Well it certainly makes finding them much easier." Rarity frowned as Rainbow Dash pushed her way forward. "She was watching us." Rainbow Dash's words got the others attention. "Who was watching us?" Fluttershy stepped closer to the other pegasus. "Derpy, the entire time she was playing with Dinky she kept looking directly this way." Rainbow Dash frowned "How the heck did she know we were here?" "It's coincidence, she couldn't have known." Rarity looked worriedly towards Zecora's tree. "That's fine but we gotta find out what they did to Zecora." Applejack had barely started to move from where she was when Rainbow Dash burst past her straight for the tree, bucking the door open she dashed inside. "Rainbow Dash!" Twilight and the others rushed into Zecora's home to the image of Rainbow Dash sitting on the floor looking somewhat abashed, Zecora looking at all of them in confusion, Pokey sitting nearby with his head in his hooves mumbling what sounded like 'what did I do to deserve this?', Screw Loose lying unconscious on Zecora's bed, and Trixie curled around a bucket near the bed groaning. "No harm has befallen me, of this you can see." Zecora turned to her cauldron and began to stir the mixture while Pokey ceased his mumbling and turned to the mares. Everypony stopped as weak laughter came from where Trixie was laying and she waved a hoof in Pokey's direction. "They followed, you owe Trixie twenty bits." Her voice was hoarse and seconds later she buried her head in the bucket and retched, followed in the end by staring into the bucket in confusion. "Trixie doesn't even remember eating carrots." "Is-is she okay?" Twilight watched as Trixie clutched her stomach and moaned in pain. "Don't worry, my sister will be fine." Pokey sent an irritated glare towards Trixie, who did her best to ignore him before letting out another moan of pain and curling up tighter. "Beatrix decided to use conflicting magics in her fight with the Nova guard, it didn't end well for her." "The great and powerful Trixie will not be stopped by minor conflicting magic." Trixie was interrupted by Zecora who approached with a cup of liquid from her cauldron. "Your magics were a jumble, it would do to be more humble." Zecora managed to get the unicorn to drink the potion and nodded as Trixie's somewhat green color began to fade. The zebra looked sadly at the mares faded colors before focusing on the blackness that coated the unicorns legs. "This I cannot cure, you succumbed to evils lure." "Trixie made a mistake but escaped before she was captured." The mare settled back to the floor while trying to ignore the looks sent her way at her statement. Twilight noticed the pile of books and chests that had been placed near one window, she knew now what Time Turner and Derpy had been doing during the attack. Frowning at the thought of anypony breaking into her library she turned to speak to Pokey only to be preempted by Rainbow Dash. "Okay what the hay is going on!" The pegasus landed in front of Pokey and glared at the larger unicorn. "Do you really want to know?" Pokey sat down near Zecora's cauldron while watching as Pinkie slipped around the edge of the room to stand near the bed Screw Loose was lying in. The pink mare looked sadly at the unconscious pony. "Is she okay?" Pinkie sounded uncharacteristically subdued, her voice carrying worry that Twilight and the others hadn't heard very often before today. "Doctor Stable gave her something to keep her knocked out for the trip." Pokey looked sadly at his mother only to suddenly have his vision blocked by an angry pink pony. "Why didn't you tell me! You promised!" She nearly knocked the unicorn over backwards as she leaned close. "I would have visited and she would have been gone and I tried to...always..." She didn't finish and Twilight and the others watched in surprise as Pokey hugged Pinkie as she started to cry. "We had to move quickly Pinkie, the guard was going to make a move and we didn't have much in the way of time. If everything had worked out right we would have gotten out of town without even engaging the Nova guard and you would have got my letter tomorrow telling you everything." Pokey tried to think of something to make Pinkie feel better. "I know you visited her nearly as much as I did, I want you to know that besides Beatrix and myself you were the only other pony that she responded well too." Pinkie sniffled and looked at Screw Loose. "Why are they after you?" Pinkie drew back to look at the pony that had helped her plan and set up enough parties that she had eventually gotten involved enough in his life to find out about his mother. Pokey grew quiet as he looked at the mares before him contemplating whether to speak truth to them or not, with a sigh he shook his head. "I'm sorry but this does not concern any of you, and it would be best if you didn't get yourselves involved. Not just for the safety of my sister and mother but for your own safety as well." "We're already involved Pokey." Twilight watched Pokey glance to Trixie who acknowledged his attention only with a simple ear flick in his direction. "Please tell us what's happening." Fluttershy added to Twilights words, Rarity appeared to simply be waiting while Applejack and Rainbow Dash were looking to both Pokey and Trixie with suspicion. Pokey grew quiet for a moment as he looked over the element bearers while trying to decide what to do. Getting them on his side would be extremely useful, but he was unsure if that was even possible. Not to mention his morals were voicing their disagreement with dragging any innocents into this situation. "I'm sorry, this is a family matter only." Seeing that this was likely only to get more arguments he continued. "Your families would be in danger if you became involved with us." "My parents can take care of themselves..." Rainbow Dash didn't get to finish whatever she had been going to say as Pokey's anger flared. "This isn't a game Dash! You saw what the Nova guard were willing to do back in Ponyville, and that's with being told to hold back and cause as little damage as possible, you have no idea the extent they will go to in efforts to capture mother and Beatrix! If you really want to know what the Nova Guard are capable of then ask your friend Gilda, she's a griffon and I doubt the griffons have forgotten." Pokey stopped his rant when Zecora stepped in front of him shaking her head. "You don't need to tell us what the guard is capable of Pokey, Spike and I already know." Twilight looked to Spike where he sat on a small stool nearby. "But the princess stopped..." "You think the princess cares about this? We're just a means to an end, as are all of you." Seeing several of them about to protest he bulled forward. "You're a weapon to them. Not ponies with dreams, ideas and futures, you're just a mobile weapons platform that can be deployed where the largest danger is." "That is not how the princess sees us! She..." Twilight was interrupted by the sound of the door being knocked open again and three excited voices entering in. "Applebloom! What in tarnation are you doing out here!" Applejack had stalked over to glare at her sister who launched into a long and complicated explanation that essentially boiled down to Scootaloo having something important to tell Rainbow Dash. Rarity simply sat shaking her head at Sweetie Bell who looked like she was unsure if her sisters reaction was good or bad. And Scootaloo, exhausted from using her scooter to pull her friends to Zecora's in their wagon was trying to get enough breath back to explain to Rainbow Dash what was so important that they had needed to travel into the Everfree in the dark. 000000 Canterlot "I've told you Tia you need not baby me, I can take care of myself." The princess of the night frowned at Celestia and expressed her desire to be allowed up and about. "And I would be perfectly happy to let you, when you are feeling better." The worry in Celestia's tone was the only thing that kept Luna in the bed she was in. {Honeyed words hiding the knife.} The whisper in her mind caused Luna to flinch slightly, thankfully Celestia was not looking her way when it happened. "I am capable of completing my duties, I need no arcane examination to find the cause of this..." She floundered at the end, unable to come up with a word to adequately describe her problem. "I will not allow that...thing to control you again Lulu. We may not have known before of its existence but we do now. I won't lose you again, never again." The last was spoken so softly that Luna almost didn't hear it. {He made us lost! Look! Look with eyes uncluttered, with mind wide open! See what he has wrought!} The Nightmares voice echoed through Luna's mind causing the night princess to shiver again as she tried to banish the angered ranting deeper in her mind. But it wouldn't leave, and she found her vision blurring slightly as she looked to her sister. It was in that instant that she saw...something, though she wasn't sure what to make of it. In the place of the regal sister with the aurora mane and tail she had seen since her return was the sister she remembered when she had been banished. Pure white coat, pink mane and tail, sun cutie mark and only a little larger than Luna herself, just as she remembered. But the alicorn stood with head bowed and eyes closed, and wrapping her form were rainbow colored chains that seemed to spread out in all directions before fading away several feet from her sides. The rainbow hue of the chains seemed to flow and ripple along their length in a dance of colors that was nearly mesmerizing. But her eyes were also drawn to six chains that were no longer rainbow colored but blackened and warped as if exposed to great heat and then stretched nearly to the breaking point. Shaking her head and blinking rapidly made the vision fade away and she found herself looking into the worried eyes of her sister. "Are you okay Lulu? Truly okay?" "I am...fine sister." Seeing the look she got in return she sighed. "Very well if it will make you feel better I shall allow this examination, though we both know that it will not show anything." The relief on her sisters face was not mirrored within Luna. 'What is it that I have seen?' The thought had barely entered her mind when the Nightmares voice answered. {You see the hidden truth.} 000000 Journal of Lulamoon 10,752 E.F. Month 6 Day 7 Arrived at the outpost today. I do have to admit that I'm impressed at the sheer size of the floating structure. If anypony had told me just a year ago that gravity manipulation spells could be enacted to keep something nearly the size of the royal palace floating in the sky I would have told them they were nuts. Yet I stand upon the woodwork crafted by thousands of beings and held aloft by the work of nearly fifty unicorns and Diamond Dog sages. Tomorrow I'll see if I can find an airship that is heading into the Land of Mists. While I know that this trip is likely to be extremely dangerous I have little hope of discovering anything of use in the lands that have already been so picked clean by the Explorers League. If I desire to make a name for myself, and my family, I will need to travel beyond the normal paths and ruins, I will have to travel into the unknown. The princesses are rumored to have come from the east when they arrived to fight the creature history calls Discord, and now I will backtrack that direction to find out where they came from. End Spell. Month 6 Day 15 It took me much longer to find a ship than I thought possible but I have finally gotten passage on a vessel called Ebon Horn that is captained by a hulking mountain of a minotaur that happens to have a penchant for hiring beings he thinks he can throw between himself and danger. My usual dislike for cowards has apparently been noticed and he has shown me some animosity, though his fear of my magic is enough to keep him from trying anything foolish. We have taken on multiple explorers and random adventurers who all wish to travel into the mists and see what is there for the taking. I do find it somewhat curious that so many are going upon this journey considering that very few vessels that enter the mists ever leave, and those that do leave invariably have suffered great damage from the dangers within. I have made friends with one of the mages hired to aid in guarding the ship against the dangers within the mists, his name is Emerald Star and he is a crystal pony rune caster. It took all of three minutes of conversation with him to realize that he is vastly out of his depth here, both in traveling and in magic. When I found that I, who can't even cast rune magic, know more about it than he does I quickly realized that he was on his first trip into the unknown as a Wanderer. While I consider the practice of the Wanderer to be outdated and counterproductive to creating powerful spell casters I have no say in the matter and thusly have let it languish instead of speaking on it. We leave for the mists in two hours, I suppose I'll get to put even my vaunted talent to the test here. End Spell. *Multiple pages missing.* Month 7 Day 5 Something is not right. We have entered and left the mists nearly twelve times since I took passage upon this ship. We have found the remains of six old outpost station buildings that had at one time been used by the kingdom that must have existed here before the mists. We have found nothing of interest in each of the buildings and each time the captain retires to his cabin more angry than the last. Like any vessel within the mists we have found ourselves under attack multiple times, but each time the ship has managed to get clear with little or no damage. Though I would normally attribute this to the skill of the crew I find I cannot do so. We follow winding and twisting paths through the mists, sometimes even coming in complete circles. Yet we continue to move forward while avoiding dangers the captain shouldn't possibly know the existence of, or be able to avoid. Something is going on here and I intend to find it out. The captain refuses to see me or any being within his private cabin but I believe it is time to find out the truth of this matter. End Spell Month 7 Day 9 I must say I am impressed, seldom have I met a creature I despise more than the captain of this ship. None dared challenge me as I made my way to the captain's cabin, Emerald Star actually joined me, and I simply blasted my way inside. I truly find it difficult to dictate to this journal right now, not only from what I saw but also due to having to spend time trying to care for the injured mare Star and I found within said cabin. She has not given us a name, if she even has one, and has simply acquiesced to every request without question. It took no spell work to see the mental damage caused by what is likely years of abuse, but spell work certainly showed what severe damage needed to be repaired. Through interrogation of the captain we have come to the understanding that this young mare is the reason that we have suffered so little damage on our trips. It took some time to understand it but when the mare had scooted for cover nearly a half minute before things started falling from the shelves I understood what she was. In truth I am surprised her kind even exists anymore due to the attempts to destroy all of them by the Terra Preta. While it was true the Terra Preta themselves had been exterminated by Terra Rossa under orders from the Chancellor of the time, the Terra Preta had been so thorough in their actions that nopony had believed any of the Terra Alta had survived. Yet one was now standing before me, and with her came the question of what I was to do. We were very close to the biggest find yet. All mapping placed us near the center of the mists, near where the ancient city was said to have once stood. If this is the case we could be the first to come across it in thousands of years. Yet to do anything but sit in place we need the mares abilities, whether that is to go back or to go forward. For the time being we will sit as I consider the choices. End Spell. Day 9 Marooned. I can hardly believe the bastards got the drop on us but they managed to do so. As such I find myself on a rock outcropping with Emerald Star, an aging griffon by the name of Gail, and three diamond dogs who are currently making a game out of trying to decide which of us they are going to have to eat first to survive. So much for Lulamoon the legendary spell caster, I seem to find myself in these kinds of situations far too often. Even so I suppose I will have to speak to our three canines to keep them from thinking that we are their next meal. After that it will be time to plan our next moves. End Spell *The rest of the journal appears to be blank though each page bears a tiny glowing rune near its upper right corner.* 000000 Pokey's Classified info. Pinkamena Diane Pie: Element of Laughter Birthplace: Unknown Education: Unknown Power Level: Unknown, I have dug as deep into the past on earth pony abilities as I can and the only thing I can dig up that even comes close to the abilities she has shown is a vague reference to some group called the Terra Alta. Translation from old records seems to be either High Land or High Earth. I suppose that could translate into High Land Pony or High Earth Pony but I have little real knowledge of this kind of history. There are limited references to the Terra Alta in some very old scrolls that translate into things like 'extermination' and 'danger to all ponies' that were written by a group called the Terra Preta, which seems to translate to Dark Earth, but this is all really old history Pokey, old on the order of Three Tribes old. Parents: Igneous Rock and Cloudy Quartz. Rock Farmers. Addendum to Parents: Completely normal. Not a thing weird about these two. Okay even I can't keep a straight face while trying to write that. No idea what they did but there is some very interesting links to the Obsidian Guard in the Gem Kingdom. The only thing I could find out was that old Igneous got himself a Diamond Star Medal for 'Bravery in the face of overwhelming odds'. That's about the only thing I was able to dig up without going up against the Guards internal service. Siblings: Marble, Limestone, and Maud Pie. Did a little digging and the three seem to exhibit the same abilities as their sister. Addendum to family: Something weird going on here Pokey. I'm writing this part nearly two months after the first and I've made a nice trek to the Golden Pillars, along with the Twins, and done some more digging into the ponies known as the Terra Alta. Nearly got thrown out just for asking about them but the Lulamoon name carries enough weight in the empire that I only got a few glares in the end. Even within the Pillars the info I've been able to turn up has been heavily limited, in some cases I even believe it's been censored. But I have learned enough to know that the diamond dogs don't have anything nice planned for the Pie family. I'm going to have to cut this short, the Twins came back and it seems our pursuers have decided to both follow us and make a move today. Don't worry, I got your last letter just fine and will begin work on the investigation as soon as I've mopped up our interlopers here.