“My love…love….love,” the echo kept ringing into the ears of the pony that was cuddling the pillow the same size as Princess Celestia that can be bought in Canterlot’s, ‘Ms. Marekorium’s Phenomenon Emporium’ .
“Ungh, my head,” Cloud said as she finally awoke from her unfulfilled dream. Sitting up from her bed, she took in her surroundings, “nightstand, lamp, note…wait,” Cloud reached over to the parchment hanging on her lamp.
The sultry voice of the author flooded Cloud’s head as she began to read, “Dusk Strider carried you back to Canterlot when you were stuck on snooze mode. She asked us to bring you and your stuff back to your house before she left to meet with the Royal Aviation Committee. Your items are down stairs, next to the door. Just stay put, Dusk should be back soon; with love, Vesper and Calyx.”
Cloud set the note beside the alarm clock on the nightstand before getting herself out of bed. She took a look at her clock to see how long she had actually been asleep. With disbelief, she trotted to her window to see which cosmic titan took over the sky; she opened her curtains to see it had been a full moon, “Had I really been asleep that long? I hope I wasn’t too much trouble,” she grimaced at the thought of her friend having to have carried her such a long way.
She closed the curtains and walked to the downstairs living room to find her items; as said in the note, the bags had been together near the door. Cloud, remembering the cider her friend had graciously given her, took the bottles out and made her way to the refrigerator. When she finished organizing the bottom shelf with her private reserve, she checked to see her options for dinner, “tomatoes, carrots, milk, and a left over cake slice from one of Pinkie Pie’s parties. I really need to do some shopping tomorrow during my break,” she said aloud while making a mental note. With a sigh, she pulled out the milk and left over cake and set them on the counter
As she reached into the top cabinet to get a cup, a knock thundered from the door. Seeing as it was very late into the night and not having any pony come to mind as who would visit at such an hour, her first response was to let out an ‘eep’ and hide under the table. After a few more knocks, Cloud managed to pull herself out from the table and tentatively made her way to the door.
She spoke before opening to make sure it wasn’t some creature of the Everfree Forest looking to use her as a substitute for sugar; not because she thought she was sweet, but because she thought that’s what monsters just did. “Who...who, is it?” she asked as she put her ear to the door.
With a soft and fearful tone, the supposed monster past the door spoke, “it’s Flut…,” the voice trailed off into an incomprehensible whisper.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that,” Cloud said as she pressed her ear closer to the door.
“Flutter…,” the voice then trailed off again before going off into a whimper.
“Flutter…Fluttershy, is that you?” Cloud asked, placing her hoof on the door handle.
The voice answered with a light ‘mhm’ before disappearing again.
Cloud quickly opened the door to see a panicked yellow mare hiding behind their pink mane, most likely thinking that something was about to jump out of the dark if nopony had answered the door. She began to speak to see why her cousin had visited at such a late hour, “Fluttershy come in; what brings you here at such an hour? I would have thought you were sleeping already at this time.”
Fluttershy answered while making her way into the house and onto the couch, “After the wedding reception, I went back home. When I got home, I looked out the window and I saw two guards with something on their backs make their way to your house. I just wanted to make sure you and Dusk were alright.” She was now looking about the house to see where the other occupant had been. Having not succeeded, “Where is Dusk?” she asked as she gave Cloud a quizzical look.
Cloud joined Fluttershy on the couch after closing the door and gave a mild frown before answering, “She went to the Royal Aviation Committee to tell them that their new ship had crashed on the way to Trottingham. I was meant to go with her, but I dosed off after we took a break. She probably asked the two guards you saw to take me and our stuff back home. We’re alright though, I don’t think we can say the same for the passengers though,” she finished with a small smile at the thought of what could be happening to the posh ponies now.
Fluttershy took it a different way and asked with concerned haste, “Oh my goodness, what happened? Was anypony hurt?” she was now raising her hooves just over her jaw, ready to hide her face from the answer.
Cloud, now realizing her folly, answered quickly, “Oh, no, no, no, no…They’re fine; I just meant who they were left with. Nopony was actually hurt from the crash...don’t worry.” She finished with a reassuring smile.
Now calmed down, Fluttershy wondered what Cloud had meant, “Well, ok, but who were they left with?”
Cloud answered, retaining her smile, “Captain Bullhorn; he said he would be teaching them how to survive and get them in touch with nature.”
Fluttershy, joining Cloud in a smile and with a giggle, “Ok, I’m glad you and Dusk are alright. Would you like me to stay with you until Dusk came back?”
“No, it’s alright; I don’t want to burden you from your pets and friends back at your house. I was about to have a quick dinner and head to bed to read a little. How about I walk you back to your house? It’s still dark out and I know how much trouble it took you to get here.”
“You really don’t have to,” Fluttershy said before she looked back out the window. Noticing how dark it actually was, she turned and gave Cloud an uneasy smile.
Taking a look out the window herself, Cloud looked back to her courageous cousin and gave her a comforting smile back, “I’ll get the lamp, let me just put the milk and cake back before it gets bad,” now making her way to the kitchen to tidy up.
Fluttershy gave a quick nod before standing up to walk about the living room as she waited.
After cleaning up the kitchen and fetching the lamp that had been under her bed, Cloud took the keys from her saddle bag. Showing that she was ready to Fluttershy, who was finished flipping through pages of a rather steamy romance novel, they made their way out. After stepping past the door to the dark starry night, Cloud locked the door, and the two made their way to the edge of the Everfree Forest where Fluttershy’s home settled.
After a few minutes of walking, Cloud decided to cut the silence that had surrounded the two, “So, how was the wedding?”
“It was lovely; the bird choir did exceptionally well, I beat up a bunch of changelings, and the cake was exquisite,” answered Fluttershy as she kept her pace next to Cloud.
“That’s nice; how was the recep…wait, what?”
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“…and you are sure that it wasn’t a U.B.O?” asked a very authoritative voice from a bench in a high position above the recipient of unusual questions.
“As stated before, no, it wasn’t a U.B.O,” answered the mare that was now looking towards the mysterious ponies in black suits and black shades from behind her podium.
For the past hour, the booming voice and Dusk Strider had been having a conversation over the matter of what had happened on the air-ship. The questions started out basic, but when the mysterious ponies had shown, the questions quickly changed. They ranged from whether she had believed in U.B.O’s, to if a U.B.O had been responsible for the crash.
Feeling as if whatever they had been looking for wasn’t there, the strange ponies left the room after giving a nod in the direction of the black void where the authoritative voice had been emanating from. The only features that managed to pierce the vast emptiness were six red dots; which most likely belonged to the administrators heading the project on board the ship. All were directed at the podium where the pony in question stood.
After a few minutes of mumbling from the bench; an imposing voice, different from the first, began to speak, “After much deliberation, we have come to the conclusion that the crash was indeed an accident and could not have been prevented in any way.” Before the voice continued, lights had dissolved the darkness that encompassed all but the podium and door leading to the main lobby. After readjusting her eyes, Dusk caught sight of the two stallions and one mare sitting behind their microphones that had been questioning her most of the night she had been back.
The ponies had begun taking off what could have been presumed as flashlights with rubber bands attached to them; the unicorn stallion in the red blazer began speaking, but with less volume and a child-like tone, “Ah, well, that was fun while it lasted. Thank you, Ms. Strider, for indulging us in our test for these new night vision goggles we have been testing. These will be greatly helpful for any of the crewponies on night duty. Wish we were able to field test it along with the slow-fall crash systems we had installed on the ship you were on.”
The earth pony stallion in the blue blazer continued after his partner had finished, with a more Trottingham accent, “Yes, quite unfortunate that was. Sorry for the hour of questioning we put you through before you were able to get any rest, but we thought it would be better for you to handle this now so you may have plenty of rest later.”
The pegasi mare in the gold blazer began her part of the discussion with a more stern and business type voice than her childish cohorts, “We will be sending a rescue air-ship to the area you described to pick up the survivors, and recover any items from the project. If we have any further questions, we will contact you via letter. Thank you for your cooperation.” With that, the three administrators turned to converse with each other about what they would have for dinner, not even noticing the plum mare exiting the room.
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As Dusk left the Royal Aviation Conference Hall, she turned to her left and right to look for an open diner or bakery to fill her empty belly before she proceeded to the next item on her list. With no establishment in sight, she decided to just look for one on the way to Canterlot Castle.
During her walk, she couldn’t help but feel that she was being followed. With every corner she took, she turned to her back to see if her suspicions had been true but came up empty every time. After a few more failed attempts, she decided to concentrate back on her walk to the castle.
While she focused on her walk and ever-so-angry stomach, a mysterious pony in black followed her every step, eluding her view.
With the castle in sight, Dusk let out a sigh of relief, but after hearing a noise behind her, she slowly turned to see what it could have been. As she was midway through her turn, everything had turned black, and a yelp had taken the place of where she once stood.
Moments after the sound, an unremarkable being had decided to check if the source of the noise had still been there. After looking for a few minutes, the being had left the scene with a gruff grunt before going back into the shadows that it had come from.
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“Thank you again for the salad, cousin,” Cloud said as she stood outside of her kin’s home.
“It was no problem; cake isn’t really an idea choice for dinner after what you’ve been through. Thank you for walking me home; are you sure you will be ok walking back on your own?” Fluttershy asked from within her home as she gave Cloud a concerned look.
“I’ll be alright; I’ll come and visit you after my shift tomorrow,” Cloud paused before looking to the sky. Seeing how low the moon was on the horizon, she continued, “actually, later today.”
“Well ok, have a safe walk, I’ll see you tonight.” Fluttershy finished by giving Cloud a hug, and then closed the door.
With her task complete, Cloud walked through the star lit path once again to return to her humble home. As she walked back, the overwhelming silence unnerved her senses. She couldn’t help but feel as if she was being followed; which was a paranoid feeling she got whenever she was walking alone but unfortunately though this time, she was.
After a few minutes of walking, she turned the corner into an ominous alleyway next to Sugarcube Corner that she had used before as a shortcut home. Usually this would actually make her feel better, but seeing as the moon and stars light had no access into this particular alleyway, it hadn’t.
When she neared the end of the tight spaced path, a light relief spread across her heart…which was crushed when she heard a sound come from behind her. When she turned to look, a dark silhouette towered her; before she could even comprehend what type of scream would echo through the alley, her vision went black and then she was gone.
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At Canterlot Castle, two ponies were helping clean the aftermath of the notorious Pinkie Pie and her extravagant Wedding Reception. One was setting up the chairs and tables to put away while the other was getting the banisters and streamers down from the trees.
“Vesper, after you’re done up there, can you help me get these into the rec storage?” asked Calyx as he tried for a third time to lift the folded chairs and tables all at once before failing.
“You know, you would be done already if you weren’t trying to get me alone in that storage room with you,” Vesper jokingly said as she grabbed the last of the decorations.
Calyx replied, dumbfounded, “what? Me? No, no, no, no, no…” now absentmindedly hiding one side of his face, thinking that would hide his whole blushing demeanor.
Looking back at Calyx, Vesper floated down next to him and pressed her advantage, “Oh, is my little Caily Waily blushing?” she pressed herself closer to him , “red is a ‘very’ becoming color on you.”
Hardly speaking equine at all, Calyx still made the attempt, “I habba dabba...mappoo bandaLOOOOOOO.” Being incomprehensible to himself anymore, he just stood as solid as Discord, and as red as the protective spell that failed to keep their, now gone, wedding crashers out.
Letting out a powerful laugh, Vesper rolled on her back, “Oh goodness, you’re just too easy,” she quickly stood up, trying to help loosen her partner up by nudging him, “come on Calyx, want to smooch?” With that, more laughter ensued from the conniving Pegasus.
Feeling a mixture of anger and embarrassment, Calyx jostled himself out of his statuesque figure and levitated what tables and chairs he could before making his way to the storage room.
Vesper, feeling guilty for playing on her friend’s feelings, grabbed what chairs she could and made her way after him. As she stood in front of the storage room door, she sensed something amiss. When she opened the door and stepped into the room, she placed the chairs against the wall with the others. She began to scan the large labyrinth of chairs, tables, and other items meant for festivities and events. Not satisfied with what she saw, she made her way deeper, calling out into the room, “Calyx? Where are you? I’m sorry for messing with you,” there was no response. After walking a few steps deeper, she had heard a loud crash, “Calyx, is that you? Are you ok?” she asked as she came closer and closer to the cause of the noise. When she felt as if the source of the sound had been around the corner, the lights went out but she still made the turn. Suddenly, there was another crash, followed by a voice, “Who the hay is that? Calyx, is it you?” Vesper threw a wild punch into something rather hard in front of her.
A loud mumble replied, and then a bright, light green glow appeared. Vesper responded to what she saw from under the glow with a loud scream and another punch. It had been a lime colored pony with a blindfold and a gag in their mouth.
“Calyx, is that you? What happened to you? Did you do this to yourself?” asked Vesper as she composed herself and tried to get her friend out from his predicament.
With the blindfold now off, two black shadows shrouded Calyx’s eyes. When he looked to see his rescuer, his heart leapt to joy…and soon crashed harder than ever when he saw what was behind her, or rather, who was behind her.
When Vesper saw the fear in her friend’s eyes, she followed his gaze and matched his fear when she saw what he had seen. “Thanks a lot, Cal---” before she could finish her sentence, darkness had reclaimed the room and silence joined.
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“TIAAAAAAAAAAA, I AM BORED, AND WE HAVE NO MORE CAKE, WHAT ARE WE TO DO? SHALL I ALERT THE GUARD OF THESE CRIMES?” asked a booming voice within the upper chambers of Canterlot Castle.
“Luna, why are you in my room? Aren’t you supposed to be meeting Dusk Strider tonight?” asked Celestia as she came out of her bathroom.
“Your bed is more comfortable than mine and she has not come in yet, she is most likely still at the Royal Aviation Club. Are ‘you’ not supposedly meeting with Cloud Treader?” asked Luna in a devious tone.
“I was, but a report from two guards said that she was asleep from her journey with Dusk Strider, so I thought I would just talk to her while she was here on duty. Did you just call the Royal Aviation Committee a club?” asked Celestia as she made her way to the bed.
“Yes, a captain of your aerial guard called it that when he told me about the project that came from them. He was rather loud, so I thought that is what they had been called,” Luna lifted her head to give an innocent look.
“Right, well, go and get ready; your holding court tonight remember? Just because there was a wedding today doesn’t mean court was postponed tonight,” said Celestia as she lay on her bed next to Luna.
“Actually it does; the subjects that had been at the celebration had been the same ponies that were meant to show while I held court. They requested we reschedule,” Luna stretched herself across the bed, “so I have all night to wait for Dusk…on your bed. So huzz…ahh,” finished and feeling victorious, she gave Celestia a wide grin.
“Fine, just please do not bother me while I read,” Celestia said as she pulled a lengthy novel from her nightstand.
Looking at the book her sister had brought out, a thought had crossed Luna’s mind, “Is that not the same novel you recommended to Cloud Treader when she asked you all of those questions of romance?”
Pausing from finding the page she had been last on, Celestia answered, “Yes, what of it, sister?” now continuing her read as she had found where she had left off.
“I was just wondering, is that story not too…unbecoming for a pony like…wait a moment”, Luna’s eyes widened at the realization of what Celestia had been planning.
“What is it, dear sister?” Celestia slowly turned her head towards Luna as she finished the last word of the sentence she was on.
“You are not planning on---.”
A crash from the door resonated out, followed by a voice, “PRINCESS’ WE HAVE REPORTS OF MISSING PONIES.”
Luna flipped off the cloud soft bed in surprise and with a yelp.
Celestia, turning from her humorous sight of her sister falling, laid her eyes on the rattled guard, “Calm yourself good pony; we already know of the reports of missing ponies, and are doing everything we can to find them,” seeing that the guard pony had more info, she continued, “but if there is more, then do tell.”
Luna, lifting herself from her fall and leaning on the side of the bed, she spoke in a hazy tone, “yes, please, do continue.”
The auburn coated unicorn was still catching her breath, after a few minutes had passed, she continued, “We have one report of Dusk Strider being outside of Canterlot Castle before what looked like a teleportation spelled being used only just an hour ago. Another report came from a ‘Pinkamena Diane Pie’ from Ponyville; she had been awoken by her ‘pinkie sense’ that brought her to a window overlooking an alley where Cloud Treader was standing in. As soon as she had blinked though, Cloud was gone. That report had been given by her personally as I was making my way here to report in about Dusk. We have asked her not to tell any other pony of what she saw until it has been resolved. She then went into a small chant and made something called a ‘Pinkie Pie Promise’.”
Luna interjected, “How exactly did she manage to run all the way from Ponyville to here in such a short amount of time?”
The guard then continued, “Ms. Pie wanted to be very clear that she did not run here. She had actually hopped, which she says is much quicker than running.”
Luna nodded, and then turned to her sister with a confused look.
Celestia gave her sister a reassuring smile before turning back to the guard, “Was there any other news or reports?”
The guard pondered for a bit, but shook her head. Before bowing and returning to her duty, a second guard had popped up next to her, “Princess’, we have just found two different types of guards armor in the recreation storage room. We have also just found out that Vesper and Calyx are missing.”
Celestia, with a feeling of worriment and a tone to match, “They have disappeared from castle grounds then?” The second guard nodded his head.
Celestia gave a quick inspection of the two guards before continuing, “Thank you for reporting these occurrences to us. Please place the castle and the rest of Canterlot on alert. Until all missing ponies are found, Canterlot will be under curfew. Now please leave Luna and me to confer over this ordeal.”
The two guards bowed and closed the door before leaving to carry out their new orders.
Celestia turned to her sister who was now wearing a worried look, “This could not be a coincidence, could it? The two ponies we were going to ask to look into this matter get themselves into the matter at hand.”
“What will we do sister? Shall we call upon the bearers of the Elements of Harmony?” Luna asked as she looked into her sisters eyes.
“No, they have done too much already; having to fight the ‘Queen of the Changelings’ and her kin, and prepare the wedding. No, this is why we have Dusk Strider and Cloud Treader, so we can have somepony we trust to help us with other problems of Canterlot and Equestria.”
Now sitting next to her sister on the bed, Luna spoke, “We also have those two for more personal assistance,” she was now tapping on the book that sat on Celestia’s lap.
Celestia responded with a light facehoof, “I only recommended it to Cloud because I wanted her to express herself more, that is all. It is like how Twilight Sparkle’s friend, Fluttershy, had learned to be more aggressive from that Minotaur; remember reading the letter about that?”
Luna gave a light giggle, “Ok Tia, whatever it is you say.”
Celestia, realizing she wouldn’t be able to get any reading done tonight, put her book away back into the nightstand. She had then pulled out two items from her drawer and handed one to Luna.
Luna, looking down upon the item in her hoof; knowing what it had meant, she gave a grin of excitement and began, “It has been long since we have last took matters into our own hooves.”
Celestia, lifting her black spectacles up to the light, “It has; I will be honest, I am a bit nervous. After what had happened when I confronted the Queen of Changelings, I feel out of practice. A second chance would not hurt though, well, not as much as the first.”
After putting on her shades, Luna struck a goofy heroic pose upon her sister’s bed, “LET US SAVE OUR PERSONAL GUARDS AND LOYAL SUBJECTS; ROYAL PRINCESS SISTER CHAMPIONS, YAY!”
A guards pony on the garden grounds had heard the noise, but gave a shrug and carried on.
Standing on the side of her bed, Celestia put her pair of shades on, “Those three fillies from Ponyville really rubbed off on you, didn’t they? You can call Dusk and Cloud your friends; you don’t have to be embarrassed about it.”
Luna slumped down, but quickly rose herself back up into a newer heroic pose, “LET US SAVE OUR PERSONAL FRIENDS AND LOYAL SUBJECTS; ROYAL SISTER CHAMPIONS, YAY!”
A passing burglar had heard the yell and thought he had been caught; he dropped all of his stolen items and ran off.
Examining Luna, with a hoof rubbing her chin, Celestia gave her analysis, “Better; but try leaving the ‘personal’ part out.”
Slumping down once again, Luna jumped off of her sister’s bed while striking one more heroic pose in midair, “LET US SAVE OUR FRIENDS AND LOYAL SUBJECTS; ROYAL SISTERS CHAMPIONS, YAY!” now landing near the window.
“Ok, let’s go before somepony sees us,” Celestia was now making her way to the window alongside Luna.
“Wait, should we not leave a note?” Luna asked as she tilted her head down to view Celestia past her shades.
After a short moment of contemplation, Celestia willed her quill and parchment towards her, and hastily wrote upon it. “There, that should be good enough; we should be back before I have to lift the sun up,” she left the parchment on her bed before making her way out the window; Luna soon followed after.
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During their flight over a large body of water, a question had popped into Luna’s head, “How are we meant to find our two friends and subjects, dear sister?”
With a few moments of thought, Celestia answered, “Remember the earing I gave Cloud as a gift?”
Taking a moment to remember, Luna nodded.
Celestia continued, “And do you remember the hoofkerchief around Dusk’s neck? The one Cloud had made her.”
“The one you thought would be a great gift for Cloud to make for Dusk’s birthday; yes.”
“Well, I enchanted those two items; just something to keep track of them while they were out. If my guess is right, they would have been taken to where the other ponies that were reported missing are.”
Shocked by what she had heard, Luna asked, “Why would you do such a thing, sister?”
Celestia kept quiet for a moment, and then shifted her view to Luna who had been to her side, keeping her pace and direction; with a solemn tone, she spoke, “They are our personal guards and friends, both of them to both of us. Not just Dusk to you and Cloud to me, both matter to us both. They have treated us like normal ponies; like equals, ever since they began their guard’s duty. They do not fear us like the rest of our guards and subjects. I will not allow any harm come to them, even if it means I had to go through their privacy. I protect all of our friends as if they were our own family; just as I do with Twilight Sparkle and her companions,” she faced her sight back in front of her.
Luna flew closer to her sister’s side before responding, “I understand, sister; Dusk Strider was one of the first friends I had made when I was released from Night Mare Moon. She didn’t run or cower when I still used the Royal Canterlot Voice. She never feared me or asked any questions about the past that would have made me feel insulted. She had also kept me company in the castle while I read the letters your student and her friends had sent to you, even when her shift was over. It was her and two other ponies that had managed to convince me to go to Ponyville to celebrate ‘Nightmare Night’.”
After taking in the information, a question had popped into her mind, Celestia asked with a thoughtful tone, “Who were the other ponies that managed to convince you?”
Luna answered with a smile, “There was you of course, and a guard I believe was named ‘Vesper’. She had this very well made costume on; I think you would have appreciated it.”
Celestia’s curiosity took the best of her and she asked another question, “Oh, what was the costume of?”
Luna retained her smile and answered, “It was of you.”
Confused by the answer, Celestia prodded for more details, “What made her stand out? Most mares…and a few stallions, dress as me for Nightmare Night.”
“Most mares don’t dress up as you and wear wayward dresses,” Luna said as she let out a laugh.
Celestia shoved Luna, causing her to lose balance, “How in Equestria did that convince you to go to Ponyville for Nightmare Night?”
“I was curious to see if there were other ponies dressed as you wearing different types of dress,” said Luna as she regained her stability.
“Well…at least it got you out of the castle,” Celestia gave a caring smile, “Look, an island. The energy is getting stronger.”
“Huzzah, here we come Dusk, Cloud, and other loyal subjects!!” now diving in with Celestia following after her.
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