//------------------------------// // A story and a stomach // Story: Gong Yi Tem Ponies // by TrombonePlayingPony //------------------------------// It was about a week later after my usual bout of training and construction work that I took a peek at the list Twilight made for me. Twilight’s handwriting was about everything you would expect from a scientist: scribbles that are barely legible. List of objectives given by the multidimensional aliens 1: There is no way I am adopting Nightmare Moon! Even if she is a filly! 2: Research chaos 3: Talk to Applejack about ‘cat pony’? 4: Otherwise be wary of other aliens unless they are named ‘Gilgamesh’ or ‘Auric’. It took me awhile to decipher the list but I managed. You’d think a girl who lives in a library would have better handwriting. Or is it hoof writing? Wait, Twilight doesn’t even use her hoof. So… magic writing? I shook my head. Something to ask later. Right now I should focus. I pondered over the list while humming to myself. Well, the first part is beyond anyone’s control as far as I can tell. The last is more of an ongoing “don’t be stupid”. Two sounds like it could prove interesting but since Katnappe is the more immediate threat, I guess three wins. With my plan set out, I headed to Sweet Apple Acres on foot, content to just walk instead of fly around. *     *     * The first pony I recognized as I walked into town was Twilight seemingly heading to Rarity’s place. Well, actually the first pony I had seen was Pinkie Pie, but all she did was zoom by me saying something about needing a trombone for a pair of sprites? Pinkie antics aside, I noticed Twilight had my ruby with her, being carried by a tennis ball with eyes and wings. Alright, que demonios did Twilight do with my Wu? “Oh hey Allan.” Twilight greeted. “Check out this new animal Fluttershy found. Isn’t he the cutest?” The tennis ball chirped before flying circles around my head. Around its fifth pass or so I grabbed one of its wings, letting me take my ruby back. “Oh, and can I study a new Wu? I might be onto something but I’ll need to see some others.” “Maybe later Twilight. Call me paranoid, or as Master Gongniu would call it ‘Tiger Instinct’, but I have a feeling I’ll need them today.” I glanced at the thing I was still holding by a wing, the other buzzing frantically. “So what’s with this thing?” “Allan!” Suddenly my hand glowed a bright purple, forcing my fingers apart. The tennis ball flew back to Twilight and snuggled itself into her mane. “Don’t hurt the little guy! He was just trying to give you back the ruby.” As far as I could tell, I had done no damage to the thing. “Uh… I’m sorry?” Twilight humphed. “Well you should be. Now I’ve got to get to Rarity’s. She’s making outfits for everyone to wear for Celestia’s visit.” “Celestia’s visiting? Why haven’t I heard of this?” “Because you’ve been spending all your time training. Honestly Allan, didn’t Gongniu tell you that seeing your friends was a good thing for you?” “Well ya. I just have a lot of responsibilities, you know? Defend Equestria from darkness and all that.” Twilight sighed. “I know. I just wish you would come down and see everyone more. It’s like you’re in your own little world up on that hill.” “Isn’t that the idea though? I deal with the Shen Gong Wu craziness so you don’t have to. It’s why Celestia hasn’t made any proclamations about this stuff. At least, I think that’s why she hasn’t said anything. Could be that or she knows it would be mass panic followed by a media storm.” “Oh, that reminds me. Here.” She teleported next to her a rolled up scroll with a sun seal on it. “This came in from Celestia a few days ago.” She floated it over to me. “A few days? Why didn’t I get this sooner?” Twilight gave me a glare. “Oh… right.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I have to get going. Make sure you go by Rarity’s later today. Everything needs to be perfect for the princess’ visit.” I watched her trot off before continuing down the road toward Applejack’s place. Everything needs to be perfect? Has she forgotten this is Ponyville? I shrugged off Twilight’s princess anxiety before opening up the scroll. Maldita Sae. With hand-hoof-magic-whatever writing like this, I can’t help but wonder how it is Twilight’s ended up so bad. Dear Allan, As you might have heard, I will be arriving in a few days. Aren’t they supposed to stamp “time sensitive information” on these kinds of things? I do hope that Twilight and the other members of Ponyville don’t go too overboard with preparations. I know how Twilight can sometimes get better than almost anyone. I snickered at the irony before continuing. Anyway, when I do visit, I was hoping I could see you for a moment. There is something I wish to give you that I believe may help you in your mission. Regards, Celestia I gave the signature a second glance. So does this mean I know both princesses on a “no title” basis? I gave the page one last look over before shoving it in my pocket. And what’s this about giving me something? She had no idea what the Shen Gong Wu were or what kind of magic they had so I doubt it is along those lines. My thoughts were interrupted as I heard the telltale sound of air whistling around a speeding object coming right at me. I quickly ducked, a rainbow blur just barely missing me as it went by. Soon after there was a loud crash as Rainbow Dash ran right into a couple of tables and chairs outside of a nearby restaurant. I couldn’t help but laugh as she tried desperately to untangle herself before heading over and helping her. Once she was free and everything was back where it should be, the chairs and tables having somehow survived without a scratch, Rainbow Dash gave me a small glare. “No fair! How did you dodge me so quickly when you didn’t even see me?” “You might not be able to tell, but a pony going at a hundred miles an hour does make some noise.” “Ya, well you still have a lot of catching up to do!” I tilted my head. “Catching up? In what?” “You don’t remember? We started to rough house but Twilight got in the way. And I’m willing to count this as a win for you, so you have one. Applejack and I tussle all the time and we keep track of who’s winning. Right now, I’ve got 63 wins to her 65.” She grumbled something after that I couldn't hear but I doubt any of it was nice. “So… wait. Now I’m a part of this war you have with Applejack?!” “You sure are! That is, unless you don’t think you are up for it.” She gave me a grin that screamed “just try to mess with me.” I’m not really the show-off-y type, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to wipe the smirk off Rainbow’s face every once in awhile. I shot back a smirk. “Alright, you’re on.” Rainbow jumped into the air with a cheer. “This is going to be awesome! Anyway, just so you know, there is one rule. You can’t start a fight with someone if they are busy with something. So if you’re training or Applejack is apple bucking or something like that.” I nodded. “Well that’s good. As fun as this sounds, I don’t think Master Gongniu would appreciate the interruption.” “Yep. Anyway, whatcha up to?” “I was heading to Applejack’s. Apparently she might know something about the crazy cat pony I fought when I went to get the Golden Tiger Claws with Kat and Ben.” “You mean the other humans Twilight mentioned? Why did you bring them and not me?!” I rose an eyebrow. “You want to come with me to get Shen Gong Wu?” “Well duh! You get to go around fighting bad guys and saving the world. That stuff is way cooler than sitting around here!” “But… didn’t you and the others save the world from Nightmare Moon?” “Well ya, and that was pretty awesome, but we don’t have our elements anymore. The princess took them with her to Canterlot to lock them up.” Wait, I thought only these six could use the elements. Why lock them up if no one else has the power to let loose rainbow cannons? I shrugged. “Alright, if you really want and depending if you’re around at the time, I’ll bring you along.” “Woo hoo!” Rainbow sped around me for about two seconds, nearly throwing me off balance as she cheered. “This is going to be awesome! When is the next one gonna show up?” “No idea. There isn’t really a pattern to it. The last two were revealed over two days while all the others were rather spread out.” She slouched at the news. “Really?” She groaned. “Wish we could find them without them being revealed.” “You and me both. Anyway, I should get going. See ya Rainbow.” I waved as I headed back down the road, Rainbow taking off a few seconds later. Wasn’t long before I got to the edge of town and the long walk to Sweet Apple Acres began. *     *     * When I finally made it, the only pony around that I could see was Granny Smith asleep in her rocking chair. With nowhere else to turn to, I walked up to the front door. Before I could knock though I noticed a sound, or rather a distinct lack of one. “You’ve got sharp ears there, don’t ya sonny?” I turned to see that Granny Smith was now fully awake, her lack of snoring being what I had noticed. “Well don’t just stand there an’ gawk boy! Tell ol’ Granny Smith whatcha here for.” I guess she could be a light sleeper, but for some reason my instinct is saying something else. I shook off the strange feeling I had before speaking. “Oh. I was just looking for Applejack. A friend of mine said that asking her about some pony dressed as a cat would be a good idea.” I swear I could hear the sound of a record scratch as Granny Smith seemed to freeze. “Now, I’m pretty old so my hearing ain’t what it used to be, but did you just say a ‘pony dressed like a cat’?” “Uh… ya. Why?” She looked over the porch, her stare distant as she seemed to ignore my question. “So, she’s back at it again. Here I thought she had gotten too old for that game.” “Too old? The mare I fought must have been at least in her early twenties. She certainly acted like what one would expect of the usual spoiled brat of that age.” “That’s her to the T boy, though how she turned back time itself I haven’t a clue.” “Well, there is a Shen Gong Wu that reverses aging.” For a moment I saw Granny Smith consider the possibilities of such a thing. I really hope she isn’t thinking what I think she’s thinking. I opened my mouth to tell her “no way” before she shook her head. “You’ve got nuttin’ to worry from me boy. I’m content with living my life like this, though the least I can do is tell you who you’re really tusslin’ with. You’ll want to take the load off though. This tale is a mite bit long.” I sat down against the wall of the house. “Now, where to begin about Katnappe…” *     *     * Katnappe, the cat burglar. Course, she was the only one who took the idea a bit literally. She was one of the best thieves to have ever appeared in Equestria. No one knew who she really was or how she managed what she did but for years the name Katnappe was a stain on good businesses and police reports. That is, until they called on me. See, little do many ponies know is that I worked as an apple farmer for only the later parts of my life. Prior to that, I was a member of the Royal Guard’s investigative unit. We were the ones that were called in when the case ran cold, and Katnappe’s might as well have been frozen solid. Three other investigators tried to catch her and fail, passing the case along to me. At first I hadn’t a care for it. I, among others, had deemed the case unsolvable. Katnappe left too little evidence, her targets were scattered and had no real pattern, and her motivations seemed to be no more than playing a game. All I wanted was to do my time with it and pass it on. Wasn’t until I found a lead on where she got her magically modified cats that I started taking things seriously. Turns out she had a unicorn who specialized in animals. The crook told me everything he knew about Katnappe, including her next target and when. So I set a trap. Readied the guard. I myself waited by her prize as the clock ticked down slowly. Lucky us, she appeared. Even more lucky, we managed to catch her. Turns out I wasn’t as lucky as I thought. Katnappe was family. My own cousin. Goldie Delicious. Course it all made sense. She was always more of a city girl, though none of us faulted her for that. On top of that, she had a thing for cats. Loved the little terrors. But to think that she would go so far as to steal… She was sent to jail of course. Doesn’t take a genius to tell that. Locked away for fifty years, till she was too old for the game. After that, she took up a home out in the woods and filled her time caring for her cats and holding onto Apple Family heirlooms. Katnappe’s case was my last. After seeing my own cousin betray me so, I quit, deciding that a farming life was what I needed. Closer to my family, you know? It was a way of assuring me something like that didn’t happen again. The princess was kind enough to give me this land after my work in the guard. *     *     * “... and that about does it. Katnappe is something that’s haunted me my entire life, so much so that I’ve seen Applejack take on some of my overbearing attitudes toward family. I wish I could let it go but…” she sighed. “Wow…” was all I really had to say. I mean, I knew crazy cat lady was good, but a master thief?! And on top of that, Granny Smith was apparently in the guard?!?! My head was spinning just trying to put together everything I had just heard when something landed on it. I glanced up to see a similar set of bug eyes looking down at me, only these were on the body of a blue tennis ball instead of a yellow one. “Now where in the world did that varmit come from?!” Granny Smith practically shrieked upon seeing the bug. I rose an eyebrow at her. “Well that’s not the reaction I was expecting. I mean, it is kind of cute I guess, but these things seem to be more Twilight’s thing.” “There’s more of them?! Boy, don’t you know what you’re dealing wit there?!” My confused face must have been enough of an answer. “That there’s a parasprite! Those nasty critters will eat any food they can get their hands on! Worse is they multiply faster than rabbits!!” I glanced up at the apparent terror. Wait… if Twilight had one, and she got it from Fluttershy who also had one, and there’s one here… mierda! “Uh, Granny Smith? How long have I been here?” “Somethin to an hour. Why?” “Cause the last time I saw one of these was over an hour ago in the center of Ponyville.” Granny Smith’s pupils went to pinpricks before she leapt out of her chair. “Run for the hills!” She cried as she moved at a snail’s pace toward the door. I glanced up at the bug one last time before quickly grabbing it with one hand and tossing it up in the air before giving it a good kick to send it flying. Well that’s one down. I took to the sky on the kite, Ponyville visible in the distance with a swarm covering it. And about a million to go. *     *     * Meanwhile, the swarm that had descended upon Ponyville had already been struck by Twilight’s magic, changing their appetite for food with an appetite for… well, everything else. One group of parasprites in particular had begun eating the very soil as they created tiny tunnels. As one particular parasprite joyfully devoured chunk after chunk of dirt, it soon found its progress stopped by something golden and shiny. The parasprite looked at its reflection in the object with awe before quickly clearing the dirt around his new prize. The object had two bulbous spheres to it, connected in the center by a small rod. It seemed to glow with an unnatural light, only putting the parasprite more in awe. And making him more hungry. The parasprite stretched its mouth as wide as it could go before slowly swallowing the object bit by bit until the whole thing rested in his stomach. It licked its lips in satisfaction before beginning to feel a strange tingle as its body glowed with the same unnatural light the object had. Suddenly the small cave it had made in the earth was too small, or rather he was too big. In an effort to free itself from its small confines, the parasprite dug for the surface, devouring larger and larger amounts of dirt as its body grew and changed. *     *     * As I flew in to Ponyville, the scene was mass panic and for good reason. Seems these particular parasprites were more interested in eating anything that wasn’t food despite what Granny had said. “Allan!” I looked down to see Twilight and the others, minus Pinkie for some reason, fighting off parasprites left and right. I landed next to them before drawing the Sword of the Storms, using it to deflect as many as possible. “Someone want to tell me why these things are eating everything but food?” “Um… it was Twilight.” Fluttershy spoke up. “She cast a spell trying to make the parasprites think food tastes bad, but then they started eating everything else.” “I didn’t mean to!” Twilight yelled at she swung at another batch of parasprites with a magically made fly swatter. “I could have sworn this would work!” I just rolled my eyes before sending another batch of the pests skyward. “We’ll talk about magical screw ups later. For now, we really need to deal with-” Suddenly a roar was let out that would have rivaled Godzilla. Everyone turned in the direction of the sound, except for Fluttershy who had found a new hiding place behind my legs. Good thing she’s so adorable. A low buzzing was heard as a giant parasprite lunged over a nearby house and bit into it, eating everything except the flooring of the first floor. The ponies inside looked up at the monstrosity before running in terror as they should. This new megasprite had double the eyes and wings of its friends, and even more of an appetite. We watched as it swallowed the house before opening its maw and a stream of parasprites came rocketing toward us. Thankfully I was able to react much faster than the ponies around me. I leapt in front of the group before spinning the sword like a propeller, creating a tornado of winds that sent the beam of parasprites in all other directions. The megasprite seemed to take notice of my defiance as it began making its way toward me. I leapt back into the air, getting above the megasprite so that its attention would be drawn away from the town. It took the bait rather easily, though it was certainly eager to snap it jaws at me as I flew left and right to avoid it. How is this thing so fast?! Before I could turn to give it a thrashing, it spewed another wave of parasprites at me. I cut the beam of pests in two with the sword, diverting the flow to either side. With the parasprites out of the way, the big guy was now close enough to chomp down on me and I didn’t have enough time to move. You know, I really thought my death would be to a weapon, not a parasito. Suddenly the maws of the beast pulled back as it screeched in pain. I could hear a tomboyish voice call out above the screech. “My friends aren’t lunch!” Rainbow Dash pushed the megasprite back before launching off its head and spinning around it, distracting it as it tried to snap at her rainbow trail.  I flew above the beast before pulling out the Eye of Dashi and firing at will. The lightning bolts struck true but only left small burns on the massive creature. “Rainbow! Get clear!” I watched her fly off a bit, though she hung around close enough to help again as I put away all my Wu. I dove toward the beast, gaining as much speed as I could for my followup. Let’s see how it likes the- “Two Ton Tunic!” The shirt formed itself around my torso before expanding into a huge piece of armor. I slammed into the creature, taking it to the ground as a massive amount of dust was kicked up by the resulting crash. The armor changed back to a shirt and I leapt out of the cloud, watching it for any signs of movement. “Allan, you get it?” Rainbow called from above. I watched for any signs for a few more moments before turning and giving her a thumbs up. “Yep. Looks like its-” Suddenly the beast roared as the dust cloud was blasted apart by a beat of its wings. I looked up just in time to see a stone it had kicked up hit me right in the head. Next thing I knew everything went black. *     *     * Rainbow Dash watched in horror as the megasprite burst from the cloud and swallowed Allan whole. It chirps of joy, much deeper than its tiny companions, echoed across the town as he licked his lips. Rainbow’s expression quickly went from one of horror to rage as she sped toward the beast and slammed it right in one of its eyes. “Spit him out right now!” She screamed as the beast only roared in response before taking a snap at her. She was the fastest pegasus in Equestria though and wasn’t about to be caught so easily off guard. By the time the creature’s teeth had snapped shut, she was already kicking out another eye. This continued on and on as she sped around the beast, her rainbow trail seeming to create a sort of cage for it. “Ha! You’re not going to hit me you overgrown-” Her cockiness ended up being her downfall though. As she was so focused on the megasprite, she failed to notice two other parasprites holding a plank of wood between them. She crashed into this muzzle first, sending her careening down next to her friends as they continued to try and fight the infestation. Applejack noticed Rainbow’s crash and quickly ran over. “Rainbow! You alright there?” Rainbow pushed herself out of the groove in the earth she had created before shaking the dirt out of her mane. “Forget about me! That thing just ate Allan!” She threw a hoof at the megasprite, who was now distracting itself with another house to munch on. Applejack looked at the beast with shock before turning it into a glare, steam blowing from her nostrils. “Why I’m about to-” A trumpet played out over the chaos as Pinkie Pie came over the hill, covered in a pile of instruments that she played a nice polka tune on. She marched her way through town, the other five ponies looking at her with varying degrees of confusion before noticing the parasprites following behind her in rhythm with the music. Even the megasprite got in on the fun, bobbing up and down in the air as he followed the one pony band. As Pinkie began leading the parasprites away from Ponyville, Twilight put her dropped jaw back into place before panicking. “Pinkie! She doesn’t know that big one has Allan!” She ran off after Pinkie, the rest of them soon following not long after. *     *     * I was woken up by… polka music of all things? “Ugh, why did it have to be polka music?” I groaned as I pushed myself off the slimy ground. “And where the hell am-” I glanced up, finding myself on a small piece of saliva-covered house in a moist, fleshy cave filled with green goop. I quickly brought a hand to my nose. Meirda it stinks in here! I noticed my platform was quickly shrinking in what I had found out was acid before leaping onto a nearby statue. Wait, acid, flesh walls, the ruins of Ponyville floating about… “Dios mio, I got eaten, didn’t I?” I asked the bubbling acid, it’s only response to sputter a bit more. Before I could begin to figure a way out that wasn’t the natural way, a golden glow caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. “Que es-” I held a hand against the glow, allowing me to see the a golden object imbedded in a piece of flesh in the center of the stomach. That looks like a Shen Gong Wu! I leapt onto another piece of debris in the Wu’s direction before the stomach began to shake a bit. The acid began to be kicked up in waves as the flesh the Wu was in bulged. The top of the Wu opened and a small swarm of parasprites came out. “Are you kidding me?!” I reached back to pull out the sword… only to find nothing in my hand after. “Huh?” I ran a hand along my back to find my scroll was missing! I glanced down at the acid with a worried expression. Please don’t tell me. I shook my head before looking at the oncoming swarm, taking up a fighting stance. I’ll find it later. Right now I’ve got to keep alive! *     *     * Back in Ponyville, a wall-eyed pegasus was flying around the wreckage of Ponyville, and doing it upside down nonetheless. As she did this, she saw something glowing above her on the ground. A quick crash of a landing later and she found it to be a shiny metal tube. Curious as to what it was, she picked it up, deciding she would ask Twilight later since she seemed to know so much. *     *     * “Light!” I spoke out loud before jumping into the swarm, a white after image behind me as I spun about with foot and hand. A few parasprites managed to latch themselves to my robes, gnawing through the fabric. I landed on another piece of debris before ripping each one off. “Ustedes pedazos de mierda! How Twilight ever thought you little demonios were cute is beyond me!” The half of the swarm I didn’t swat away quickly turned to follow me as I leapt toward the Wu, careful not to slip on any of the saliva covered debris. Every few jumps I would turn and swat a few of the closely approaching pests, doing my best to keep them at bay. As soon as I landed on the small fleshy island, I grabbed the Wu and flipped over it, tearing the bottom half of it from the creature’s stomach lining. The effect was instantaneous as the parasprites that had been created suddenly withered into dust. The entire stomach began to shake as the stomach acid swirled beneath me. “Uh oh. This is going to be a bumpy ride!” *     *     * Outside, the ponies had finally caught up to the parading Pinkie. Twilight gasped for air as she spoke. “Pinkie… you need… to wait… Allan… got eaten by-” All the ponies turned to look as the megasprite suddenly didn’t look too happy. A gurgling sound could be heard from the beast before its cheeks began to puff out. Next were his eyes, and then his legs, soon his entire body looked like a balloon that was ready to- *KERSPLAT* … burst. “IT’S IN MY HAIR!!!” Rarity screeched as they were all covered in blueish green bug gunk. The remainder of the group just looked at where the megasprite had once been in shock, a large pile of the goo being all that remained in its place. Before anyone else could get out a word, the goo pile began to tremble before a rather gross looking Allan pulled himself out holding what looked like a Shen Gong Wu in his hands. As he stepped out of the remains of the megasprite, he muttered various curses only Twilight could really understand before saying “Note to self: Do not explode giant bugs from within.” That was all Fluttershy needed to hear before she fainted. Meanwhile, Applejack and Rainbow Dash ran over to Allen just happy to see him alive. Twilight just stood there, not sure what she should be feeling at the moment as her face seemed to shift between various expressions. Meanwhile, Pinkie continued to lead the parasprites away before taking an experimental lick of the gunk that now adorned her fur, hoping to have found a new flavor of frosting. Long story short, she did not. *     *     * After I pulled myself from a pile of goo that smelled worse than sticking your face in a cat’s litter box, I was quickly greeted by two ponies, one of them tackling me in a hug at breakneck speed. “Allan! You’re not bug food!” Rainbow yelled out happily from her spot on top of my stomach. “Si.” I grunted. “Though would you mind getting off? I’m still not feeling so great after all of that.” Before she could reply, Applejack pushed her and offered me a hoof up. “I swear Rainbow. A guy just barely makes it out of the stomach of a beast alive and the first thing you do is hurt the feller.” “Hey! I didn’t mean to hurt him! I just really thought he was… well, you know.” “What, dead?” I spoke up, getting to my feet. “Nah. Takes more than pests to take care of me. Even if they are little pieces of…” I let what I said trail off as I took an experimental sniff of my clothes, finding them to be just as gross as expected. “Dios mio! I need a shower. By the way, anyone seen my scroll?” “Hey Twilight!” I heard a voice call out as a grey pegasus suddenly swooped in and landed in the pile of gunk I had just pulled myself out of. Her head popped out holding the scroll’s strap in her mouth. “I found this thing and I was wondering if you knew what it was.” As she spoke, one of her eyes slowly went off center, giving her a goofy stare. “Oh, that would be mine senorita.” I said with a wave of my hand. She turned and smiled at me before dropping the scroll at my feet. “Than here you go mister! And my name is Ditzy Doo, not sen yor eeta.” I chuckled at her before picking up the scroll and returning it to my back, a sense of safety coming back along with it. Good to have you back, amigo. I heard a snickering coming from behind and turned to find Celestia of all ponies to be the source. The other ponies quickly bowed while I just stood there dumbfounded. Twilight, naturally, began to freak out. “Princess! This is just a… uh… a cake we were making for you?” She said with no certainty. Celestia managed to calm her case of the giggles down enough to speak. “It’s fine Twilight. We were going to have to reschedule my visit anyways. It seems there’s an infestation of some kind of creatures in Fillydelphia. I just came by to quickly give Allan what I promised.” “Give me something?” I drew a blank for a moment. “Oh, right. The letter. Sorry princess. It’s been one of those days.” “I can tell. And do just call me Celestia please.” She leaned in close to whisper. “I’ve been trying to get Twilight to call me that for years with no luck.” I nodded. “Anyway, I have here for you a badge. With it, you are officially a member of the royal guard.” She pulled out a small box from under her wing and handed it to me. Inside was a normal looking police badge, only instead of sporting a star or something in the middle of the shield it was a picture that was half sun, half moon. Before I could ask any questions, Celestia turned back toward her carriage. “I’ll send you a letter with more details later on. Just know for now that badge is a sign of your position as a defender of Equestria.” I just stood there dumbfounded before closing the box back up and putting it under my arm. Within the minute the princess was gone, supposedly to deal with an infestation of ‘creatures’. Rainbow looked back and forth between me and the box a few times before asking “So… what just happened?” I could only shrug in response.