Spike awoke to the familiar thumping sound of a dozen books crashing to the floor. “Spiiiiiike! Get down here!” The groggy dragon rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked over the balcony as Princess Twilight Sparkle sprinted this way and that around her library, books flying in and out of her view. The crash had been from a stack of books she’d tumbled into as part of her mad dash and they were now all strewn on the floor. Spike walked downstairs and into the main hall and started to reorganize the literary wasteland in Twilight’s wake.
“Isn’t it kind of early for panic-research?” Spike yawned and looked over Twilight’s concerned face. “What happened? Did Fluttershy turn into a bat again?”
“I don’t know what happened Spike, that’s the problem! Just five minutes ago some sort of magical energy enveloped Canterlot and it felt...strange.”
“You could feel magic all the way from Canterlot? That’s amazing Twilight!” Spike put on an impressed smile and hoped it changed the subject for a minute to allow Twilight to catch two breaths. When she became so hyper-focused she sometimes ended up obsessed and when she got obsessed...well the less said about the want-it-need-it incident the better. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to deter her.
“I didn’t just feel it, I saw it! One second I feel a weird magical energy and then suddenly all of Canterlot was enveloped in this green orb! I’m looking through old spell books, trying to identify it.”
Spike stacked some more discarded books and glanced at the titles. “Magical Fields for Dummies, Area of Effect Spells and You….A Brief History of King Sombra? Why did you pull out this one?”
“It was worth a try. The magic felt similar to some of Sombra’s traps. I don’t know Spike, it wasn’t regular magic and I haven’t been able to find anything in these books to narrow it down.” Twilight pulled her wings in close and scrunched her forehead in frustration.
Spike moved closer and put a hand on her right foreleg. “You might be overreacting. I mean, have you asked Princess Celestia if anything is the matter?”
“No I...of course!” Twilight brightened up. “I got so distracted by the fact I didn’t recognize the magic I didn’t even think to contact her. Spike, take a letter.” Twilight moved the three books still hovering in her view away and found Spike was already writing, quill in hand.
“...and wanted to see if you have any information concerning this strange magic and if you require any assistance, sincerely Twilight Sparkle.” He presented the letter for her to look over, with a slight grin. “This isn’t the first panicked letter to Celestia you’ve had me write.”
Twilight glanced over the letter. “It looks good. You know my writing style well. Just don’t start writing fake letters. I think that would count as treason.” She gave him a playful grin.
“I wouldn't ever do something like that, Twilight. What do you take me for?” He took the letter and sent it directly to Celestia in a rush of green flames. “Now, do you promise to calm down and wait for a reply?”
“Alright, if she gets back in touch with us in the next ten minutes. Maybe I’m overreacting, but you never know what kind of danger could be lurking around.”
“I mean sure there was that time those black vines attacked, and the changeling attack, and when Discord was released...but it’s not like Canterlot and Celestia are under siege every weaaaahhahhhhhhhhhgggg” Spike stopped mid sentence and burped, a parchment forming. “See, we already have a response. Let’s look it over.”
Twilight quickly unfurled the scroll and read the message back out loud. “My dear Twilight. Everything is fine. You have nothing to worry about. I will come to the center of Ponyville in two hours and will explain everything. Sincerely Princess Celestia.”
“See, everything is fine.” Spike reassured her. Twilight raised one eyebrow and frowned.
“I suppose. But something feels odd about the letter. It doesn’t sound like Celestia, even though it's her hornwriting. And why the big wait to explain what’s happening instead of telling me in the letter?”
“She’s probably busy and has meetings to finish.” Spike shrugged. “We’ll find out soon enough. So put down the books and let’s get the news straight from the Princess’ mouth in a couple hours.”
“Okay, I’ll put down the books, but I still have a strange feeling. I’m going to make sure I have a little backup when Celestia shows up. Spike, man the fort till I’m back.” Twilight vanished with a blomph of magic, off to rally her friends. Spike gathered up the books, hoping things didn’t get too crazy before Celestia arrived to straighten everything out.
Twilight hadn’t returned after an hour and forty five minutes, so Spike decided to head towards the town square himself. He expected to run into Twilight and the rest of the elements of harmony, though the elements had been gone for some time. Once he arrived at the square, however, he found not just Twilight and company but almost the entire town encircling the square, chattering curiously.
Spike had to squeeze his way through the crowd, muttering a dozen pardons as he bumped into various ponies zigzagging through the crowd and and finally stumbled out to at the opening where Twilight stood with a look of apprehension. “Just how much backup did you think you needed Twilight?”
She sighed and looked over the group. “I wasn’t planning on this, but someone overheard me talking to Pinkie Pie and word got out and everyone wants to come see about this mysterious magic Celestia is coming to explain.” Spike could see how this would all play out already. Princess Celestia would come with a very boring explanation and the whole town will shuffle away disappointed and distrustful of the next time Twilight was worked up about something. No doubt a real threat would show up later that evening and her attempts to rouse the town would come to naught and she would learn an important lesson in not freaking out unless it was over a clear and present danger.
It could be even worse if her friends got in on the lesson too. They were all trotting around the large circle, Pinkie bouncing around with an obvious look of excitement and anticipation. Rainbow Dash was doing slow flying circles around the crowd to keep lookout for the Princess’ approach. Spike looked over at Twilight, hoping this didn’t go as bad as he worried. He knew Twilight was starting to feel apprehensive about what she was supposed to do as a princess. It was possible that was why she was seeing danger around the corner with this magic, but having the town see her as a chicken little would repress any progress she made figuring out what kind of princess she was supposed to be.
Spike’s thoughts were interrupted as Rainbow Dash’s excited cry came out from above “I see her coming!” The crowd erupted in cheers that didn’t let up as the small dot in the distance turned into Celestia’s familiar chariot. Spike at least hoped the magic had some interesting explanation. “Hey!” Rainbow called down at the group, trying to yell through the crowd's voice. “The Princess is with some lemurs.”
“What did Rainbow say?” Spike looked at Twilight.
“She said the Princess is near.” Twilight nodded with a smile.
“Noooo I said the Princess is with lemursss!” Rainbow’s voice continued to get muffled by the cheers of the crowd. As the chariot came into close view, however, everyone noticed that along with Princess Celestia’s team of pegasus ponies, there were three odd creatures riding along with Celestia in the chariot.
The cheering started to subside and be replaced with whispers of curiosity as Celestia’s chariot made a landing and everyone saw the oddly dressed creatures. The three of them disembarked first with a strange hop and dance motion as they walked. As the Princess descended from her chariot, the whole of Ponyville gave a bow except Twilight and her friends.
The six of them grouped together, looking over the strange display. Applejack gave the three creatures an odd look “What are those lil’ dancing fellers with Celestia?”
“I think they’re...lemurs?” Twilight bit her lip, trying to make sense of their presence.
“That’s what I said. The Princess is with lemurs!” Dash protested.
“How do you know about lemurs?” Twilight looked curiously.
“Duh, Daring Do and the Mangos of Terror? It’s in the short story anthology!”
Twilight sighed. “Alright alright. They're lemurs. But what are they doing with Princess Celestia here?” Twilight started to walk towards the Princess and the three lemurs who were looking this way and that in wonder at the town. Twilight took a few steps towards Celestia with her friends in tow. Spike followed along behind them curiously.
“Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia had a smile on her face as she walked up closer herself. “It’s wonderful to see you today.”
“You too, Princess Celestia...ah...I hope your ride was uneventful.” Spike could notice the tension in Twilight’s voice. Part of her wanted to ask immedietly about the magic field and the lemurs but also didn’t want to seem impolite.
“Oh it was a wonderful trip. I spent the time telling Prince Lemma all about Ponyville.”
“Yes, most interesting, most wonderful.” One of the lemurs hopped closer, his red silk cape fluttering behind him. He adjusted a little golden crown and smiled at Twilight. “You have such a wonderful town here, Princess.”
“Prince Lemma is the Lemurian ambassador!” Celestia stated happily.
“Charmed.” Twilight frowned. “You also said you were going to tell me about that magic field.”
“I did? Oh yes. Prince Lemma said I needed to show you.” Celestia looked back at the chariot and hoisted a huge emerald into the air, floating it back towards them both.
“Lemma said….Princess Celestia is everything alright? Something feels wrong.” Twilight’s expression darkened, but Celestia didn’t seem to notice the mood of her faithful student.
“Everything is fine. Now, this is very important.” Without another word, Celestia’s horn glowed brightly with dark green speckles, summoning the power of alicorn magic. In response the floating green gem began to glow.
“Did Celestia always have green eyes?” Pinkie Pie blurted out. Before anyone could react, deep green light burst from the gem. Expanding out in a sphere, all the ponies nearby gasped as the field passed through them. Soon the entirety of Ponyville was surrounded in the green magical field, and then just as quickly, the light receded back into the gem.
“There, isn’t that just amazing?” Celestia smiled happily.
“Yes, it is amazing!” Twilight replied back with the same joyous tone. Everyone else smiled in unison.
The lemur that had been called Lemma hopped in a little circle. “Now yes, Celestia, explain to everyone why we’re here.”
Celestia nodded and looked out at the crowd. “Everyone, I’m happy to announce that Lemuria has offered to share their wisdom with everyone in Equestria. They have much to teach us. I have been discussing the terms of their diplomatic mission and am happy to report a thousand lemur delegates will soon arrive to provide Equestria their knowledge. One hundred delegates are already here. Fifty are coming to Ponyville while the others are keeping charge of Canterlot. For now, everypony please return to your homes and businesses. Lemur delegates will speak with you if they feel it is necessary. The ambassador Lemma and I are going to speak with Mayor Mare and see what the Lemurian delegation can offer Ponyville. I hope everyone else is as excited as I am about this opportunity for us all.”
The crowd all cheered happily and then spread out, going to their homes. Celestia, the lemurs and her chariot all headed for the mayor’s office building. Soon only a solitary figure stood where practically all of Ponyville had been before. Spike stood in place with a look of total confusion. “What the heck just happened?”