//------------------------------// // Kindness and Noble Presentations // Story: Ebon Wings // by Lanielan //------------------------------// “No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” -Charles Dickens “There, there, child. Don’t worry, for your mother is in the best of care.” Luna stroked the mane of the colt, who wept into her chest, making a literal river of tears. Ever since she had passed out in the castle courtyard, Luna has been trying to calm as many of her subjects as she could through dreams. Most of the dreams were nightmares that belonged to foals, such as this one, who worried that their parents or other family members were dead or hurt from the object's impact. Many were from adults who worried about their loved ones. A few were nobles who panicked about damage to their estates. Comforting them was all she could do while her body rested. This colt showed no signs of stopping.  Luna began to stroke his mane while humming a tune, one she learned in her youth.  After a few minutes, the colt finally began to calm down and looked up at Luna with eyes full of uncertainty. The colt sniffed and scrubbed at his eyes. “Are you sure mommy is going to be all right?” he asked, pushing the words out between sharp hiccups. Smiling, Luna looked down, “Yes, child. You have my word that your mother will be alright.” The child still seemed afraid, but Luna could feel the dream become less oppressive, and see some color return to the landscape, a sign that the young colt hugging her barrel was starting to calm down. Luna continued to comfort the child by humming her tune, while he got the last of his sniffles and hiccups out of his system. The poor foal is only four years of age. I must ensure that nothing happens to his mother. I hope that my body recovers soon, ‘tis torture being unable to physically aid my subjects when they most need it. Soon enough the colt’s dream faded into nothing as he fell into the deep, dreamless sleep of total exhaustion. Luna sat in the astral plane for a moment, looking around at the realm that stretched before her. This was her ethereal kingdom, a realm of thought and magic: filled with the brightest hopes, darkest secrets, and fleeting fancies that her subjects held within. Today it was a blackened realm, full of nightmares from what happened last night. Taking a deep breath, Luna waited for one dream in particular to appear. After a few minutes, a sphere of grey appeared in front of her, almost like the dream knew it was wanted. Entering the dream as one would walk through a door, she emerged into a hallway in the castle, where a grey pegasus with a platinum mane was laying down on the bench. Upon her arrival, he sat up and bowed to her. “Princess Luna, how may I serve?” Luna smiled down on her liaison to the waking world, a lucid dreamer named Cloudy Head. Whenever Luna was patrolling the astral world, she had him waiting on standby, in case any orders needed to be delivered quickly while she needed to remain. There was never a guarantee that the pony she needed to talk to was asleep; there were also times when she either couldn’t wake up her body from sheer exhaustion, or she couldn't risk something in the astral plane getting out of hand. “We require that you look for the family of Razorwind and ensure that they are given the best care that can be allotted. Also, add them to the list.” “Of course, princess. By your leave then.” The dream blinked out of existence as quickly as it appeared. Luna sighed.  This list she had Cloudy keeping was the families that she would personally investigate as soon as she physically could; it had grown to well over fifty. Looking around, she began to walk towards the next dream, but noticed a strange shift in the plane. Blinking, she focused her powers to locate whence came the disturbance. Locating it easily enough, she began to head towards it. This must be a terrible nightmare for it to send a ripple like that out into the plane. Whatever this pony's fears are, they run deep in their mind. Luna found the nightmare, a blotch of darkness in the realm that seemed to, oddly enough, absorb light from around it. Taking a deep breath, Luna walked into the dream. Immediately she felt a ton of bricks crushing her from all angles. Using her magic, she willed the offending stones away, only to have more rubble fall down from above. She continued to clear away rubble for a few minutes, until it finally stopped with some support beams and tiles from the the roof. Luna furrowed her brow as she cast her gaze about the landscape of the dream.  It was a dour one, piles of debris stretching in all directions as far as the eye could see. Some were made of stone, some collapsed houses, others from piles of trees, one made of sand, but the only consistency was that they were all in piles of ridiculous proportions. The pile she just emerged from were the remains of a brick house. This pony either is still buried, or has taphophobia. Regardless, this dream feels...strangely real. Best find the pony quickly. Casting her senses out again, she looked for the pony who made the dream, only to find nothing. She blinked, and concentrated harder on finding him, but still came up with nothing. Stomping her hoof, she started removing one of the rubble piles. A loud boom rumbled behind her. Whipping around, she saw a new pile of debris appearing as the one she was clearing away disappeared. Luna sighed in exasperation. “Hello! Is anypony out there? Thy Princess of the Night has come to give you aid, but you must help me help you.” Luna began to hear whispers coming from everywhere, and nowhere. “Will never find me.” “Will never be fr--.” “Will never be abl- to walk ag---.” “Will never see t-- li--- -f -ay.” “Will never fix th- ----d.” As more and more whispers piled on top of each other, Luna had difficulty differentiating between them. They kept coming, each starting with “will never.” Usually helping a pony overcome their fears was a simple task: Luna found the route of the problem after exploring her subject’s dreams, then changed the dreams to help the pony confront their fear head-on. This worked most of the time, because she could take her time and gently nudge their subconscious to affect their dreams. However, this dreamer’s mind was so warped and distressed from fear, that she couldn’t get any meaningful read on them. The voices kept on going, more and more making themselves known. Fear of death, of loneliness, of unfulfilled purpose, of unfinished business, of what lies beyond the veil; all happening at once, and stemming from the fact that this pony was having a nightmare about dying alone under a pile of rubble, undiscovered and forgotten. Luna couldn’t take anymore of these voices, or their maddening whispers. She reared back and slammed her hooves down on the ground, causing the whole dream to shatter like glass, ending the voices and the piles. Luna took a deep breath to calm her nerves back on the astral plane. “Thanks for doing that.” Eyes wide, Luna whipped around to see a small prismatic blob hovering before her. She tried to say something, but her voice didn’t work. The blob waited for a few moments, then turned and began to float away. Getting over her shock, Luna followed it through the astral plane. “Wait, what are you doing?” The blob stopped and seemed to turn and face her, it was difficult to really tell, before answering. “Well, since you knocked me out of my little panic attack, I figured that I would just take a look around. You also seemed like you weren’t going to talk to me.” “But how art thou able to manifest in this realm? Usually somepony needs my assistance to travel through this world.” “I was taught by a shaman a long time ago. So then, there aren’t that many who can dream-walk I take it?” “No, only myself and three others have the power to manifest in this realm. What was the name of the shaman who taught you and from what tribe does he hail from?” “He was...he was...wait.........I can’t....remember? That is…not.....crap!” With that the blob disappeared, leaving behind a startled and confused Luna amid a sea of dreams. What was that? Who was that? This doesn’t make any sense, no other being on Equus has the power to manifest in the astral plane apart from those I know. The Zebrican shamans have ways to separate their minds and bodies, but that isn’t the same as manifesting. Why is it that I didn’t meet this being before? I’ve walked this plane ever since my return without sensing another. Unless… Luna woke up on her bed, heart beating through her chest. Taking a few deep breaths to calm down, she cast a spell to locate Celestia. As soon as she finished casting the spell, a wave of dizziness came over Luna, and she had to lie down for a few moments. Deciding against using too much magic until she fully recovered, Luna threw open her door. Outside, Cloudy Head and some of the guards were having a discussion. As soon as Luna emerged from her chambers the discussion suddenly ceased, with surprised looks on their faces. Luna, putting on her best neutral face, was the first to speak. “Cloudy Head, hath thou any imperatives that require our immediate attention?” Cloudy put a hoof to his chin, face scrunched up in thought. “Well, no, Your Highness. Nothing of any immediate concern, just a report from a team in the mountain looking for whatever crashed last night, but are you sure that you should be up already?” “Our health is satisfactory for the time being.” Luna waved a hoof, dismissing any argument that Cloudy might have. “We must meet with our sister, posthaste. Await here for our return Cloudy; we shall discuss this report with her after I find her.” Cloudy bowed as Luna trotted away at a brisk pace  By the position of the sun through the windows, Luna determined it to be around ten A.M. No wonder Cloudy was concerned, only six hours of sleep is hardly enough time to recover from magical exhaustion. I shall endeavour to rest more later, the situation permitting. Tia, how didst thou do this on your own for a thousand years? Luna could see the three unmistakable forms of Celestia, Discord, and Twilight walking down the hall away from her, having a conversation that she was too far away to hear. Luna took another deep breath to clear her head, and called out to the trio. “Sister, we would like to have a word with you.” Celestia’s ears straightened and turned to Luna as soon as she spoke. Three sets of eyes turned to look at her with varying levels of concern. Celestia met her halfway down the hall, with a slight grimace on her face. Giving Luna a once over, Celestia’s tail twitched every time her eyes darted over her younger sister. “Luna are you alright? Is something wrong? Do you need something? Should you even be out of bed so soon? Have you seen the do—?” Luna put a hoof up to her sister’s lips. “Sister, while we appreciate you concern, our health is acceptable for the time being. We have something urgent we must discuss with you.” Glancing over to Twilight, and Discord, she then whispered in Celestia’s ear. “Something has developed on the astral plane.” Celestia’s eyes widened hearing her sister’s words. Quickly glancing back to the others, Celestia bit her lip for a moment. Looking back at Luna, she she asked, “Are you positive?” Luna nodded. Sighing, Celestia walked back to Twilight with a regretful look. “I am so sorry Twilight, but would it be possible for you to handle the begining of the meeting on your own? Luna and I must discuss something of great importance. I am so sorry, my old student, I wouldn’t if—” Twilight wrapped a wing around Celestia’s side with a smile. “Don’t worry, I understand. Matters of state and security take precedence over keeping an eye on me. Besides, it will make a better impression on the nobles if I show I can stand on my own. You have nothing to worry about at the meeting, I can handle it.” Celestia’s smile rivaled the sun in its brilliance at that moment and she hugged Twilight with her wings as a small tear fell from her eye. “You’ve grown so much, dear Twilight. I know you will be a magnificent princess. Very well then, I leave knowing that the nobles are in capable hooves,” Celestia then looked at Spike carrying a fair amount of notes and cards with a smile. “And capable claws.” Celestia then used one of her wings to drag Spike into the hug as well. Spike happily reciprocated the hug. It was all very touching until they heard a shutter click. Looking over, they saw Discord with a tissue and an instant camera already printing out a photo. Sniffiling, he blew his nose with a hankee. “How truly beautiful, a teacher and her student, and little assitant sharing a heartwarming moment. Now this is a Kodak moment, wouldn’t you agree, Luna?” Luna raised an eyebrow at Discord as he waved the picture in the air. The hug ended with some annoyance at his antics. Spike excused himself, going ahead to the meeting room to prepare Twilight’s notes and cards. Celestia cleared her throat after he left, and turned to face Discord with a glare. “Now Discord, I’m sure I don’t have to remind you of the importance of doing a thorough job with your task.” The photo folded itself into an origami soldier, which gave Celestia a prompt salute. Discord then stood at attention and stared straight ahead while the photo began marching on his head. Celestia’s glare turned into a scowl, “Discord this is serious. I’m giving you a chance to redeem yourself with the Tirek incident.” Discord winced after being reminded of that piece of his recent history. He dropped the stance, and the photo unfolded back to normal. “Alright Celestia, I get it. I know I made a mistake, and it was a big one. Despite my demeanor, I am actually happy that you’re willing to trust me again. Don’t worry, not a pebble will be unaccounted for when I get back with my report.” With that, Celestia nodded to Discord, smiled once more at Twilight, and walked back with Luna before they both teleported away. Discord sighed as he snapped his fingers to conjure a photo album titled ‘Sunbutt.’ He put the photo in, and closed the album which promptly vanished. “Well, all that just happened. Wonder what's gotten into her.” Twilight looked over at him somberly. “I’m sure it was something important. It always is, being a princess.” Discord raised an eyebrow at Twilight’s tone. “What is the matter with you now?” Twilight sighed, “I just miss the times we could enjoy each other’s company like before. Ever since I was sent to Ponyville, I’ve seen less and less of Celestia for recreational reasons, and more for political ones. Even after I became a princess, we still barely see each other outside of political events. I guess I just miss her more than I thought I would’ve since I made all of my new friends.” Discord scratched the back of his head, eyebrows raised, mind racing to think of something to say to such a confession while glancing around the hall. “Well...I wouldn’t really worry about it too much, Twilight. It is the day after something almost played dominoes with Canterlot, so there are sure to be a lot of problems. I mean I’m here, right?” Twilight giggled at the joke, a small smile on her face. “I know, and I know it is selfish of me to be like this right now, I just can’t help it sometimes. Celestia taught me almost everything I know. It’s hard when you seem to drift apart from ponies.” Discord put an arm around Twilight’s neck, with his trademark grin. “I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Celestia has always been a workaholic, even back before I was sealed in stone the first time. You’ll think of something to get her to relax for a bit. If you can’t, then I’m sure I could just make her work so hard she has to take a break.” They both laughed at that joke. Seeing Twilight’s mood improved, Discord stood up and dusted off his knees. Twilight looked up, with a bright smile. “When did you get so good at comforting ponies?” Discord returned the smile. “Give me some credit; Fluttershy is my best friend. I’ve picked on a thing or two. Besides, you’re my second best friend, and what would she say if I let you be sad?” Spike came running back around the corner. “Twilight, the notes are all set up, and most of the nobles are in the room already, according to this checklist you gave me.” The list Spike pulled out was only missing a few check marks next to the names of Canterlot’s elite. Smiling at Spike, Twilight did a few deep breaths like Cadence had taught her while going over some of the key points she had researched. After about a minute of this, Twilight opened her eyes with a steely glint of resolve in them. “Alright then, I’m ready to meet the nobles. Now Discord, I’m sure you won’t slack off or anything like that with that task Celestia gave you, right?” Discord gasped, covered his mouth with his paw, and held his claw over his heart. Every motion caused one of the three primary colors on paintings in the hall to switch to a different one, ending where red should be yellow. “Moi? Twilight, how can you even suggest that I would ever do anything like that? I’m reformed now, remember? Now we really should get going, the longer we spend here talking, the longer we’ll keep our favorite sun princess waiting.” With that, Discord put on a pair of Aviators, put his hands in his trench coat pockets, and started walking down the hall with a jeff cap on. Spike only gave a confused look before he asked a question that the universe demanded be asked. “Why would you put on sunglasses, and a hat, when you’re going underground?” Discord paused, looking over his shoulder and pulling the rim of the shades down to look at Spike. “Why you ask? You, a baby dragon, ask the Being of Chaos the reason behind his actions?” “Uhh...yes?” “Good answer! The reason is because it looks cool.” “... But no one is around to see you except me and Twi.” “Ah, silly little dragon,” Discord chuckled while shaking his head and adjusting his shades, “being cool isn't about who sees you, it’s all about the image. Well, I have a busy day ahead of me, so I must be going now. Toodles.” With a snap of his fingers, Discord vanished. Oddly enough, it was without his trademark flash of light when he usually teleports. On an unrelated note, camera flashes in Canterlot that day stopped working, ruining the lighting of many reporters pictures and the insurance claims photos being taken. This would lead to many a late night for insurance bureaucrats and reporters, along with Photo Finish needing to reschedule an entire session with Sapphire Shores, causing both of their schedules to be thrown entirely off. One camera store in Canterlot amassed a small fortune in this time, being the only one still open. Twilight, ignorant of all of this, simply sighed. “Discord’s antics aside, I do have to wonder what has Luna so worked up.” Twilight started walking down the hallway, using a spell to right all of the colors in the paintings. Spike walked next to her, scratching his chin in thought. “Whatever it is, it must be something big for both Luna and Celestia to have to work on it.  Anyways, how are you feeling about the meeting Twi? Are you sure you can do this?” Stopping in front of the doors were the meeting was soon to take place, Twilight took another deep breath. “Yes, I am Spike. Celestia entrusted me to this, and I know I can do it.” “Wow, you’re taking this pretty well. Better than the last time the princess had you do a test anyways.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yes Spike, I know I overreacted to the test in the Crystal Empire, but now I am a Princess of Equestria. I need to start making a public image, and meeting with the extended noble families. I’ve read up on them, the relevant laws, and I’m excellent with Q&As. This is going to be easy.” With that, a magenta glow enveloped the doors, and Twilight entered the room inside. Okay, so maybe I wasn’t one-hundred percent prepared for this. Twilight had researched many different things since she was brought to Canterlot via the guard chariot early in the morning. Legends, prophecies, dark magic rituals, and a slew of other topics trying to figure out exactly what the object from last night could have been. The plan was for Celestia to handle the nobles’ more immediate concerns, while Twilight would answer their questions regarding the actual event as best she could. Luckily for all parties involved, Twilight had read a fair amount of tax laws and other legal documents in her time as Celestia’s student, more so when she became a princess. With all that in mind, Twilight walked into the room expecting a simple Q&A session with the nobles. She walked in, double-checked to see her notes were organized the way she liked them out of habit. Spike stood near the side of the room near the refreshments and snacks. Twilight looked out over the crowd to see the Canterlot elite, seated at immaculate white cloth covered tables. She quickly went through some mental notes of all those present. Alright, so according to Celestia, the nobles are mostly made up of one of three groups. The oldest group consists of descendants of knights and famous ponies in history and hold a fair amount of sway in the military. The second consist of elected officials from the various districts of the country, responsible for the day to day running of society. Hey, I can see the mayor of Ponyville! Focus, Twilight. Lastly are the industrial ponies. They hold the most sway over the economy and manufacturing aspects of the kingdom. Hey, that’s Fancy Pants...focus. Now all you have to do is explain the situation as best you can and answer any questions. Easy as reciting Star Swirl’s early theories of Summoning Magic. Checking the clock to see that the meeting had officially begun, Twilight took a deep breath and glanced over her notes one last time before officially starting. “Attention, everypony. May I have your attention please? I would like to thank all of you for coming to this meeting on such short notice. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I shall be the one facilitating this meeting. As we all know, at about 2:15 A.M. this morning, an object crashed into the main support pillar of Canterlot and then the Canterhorn Mountain. Before we go any further, I want to assure everypony present here that the city is no longer in any danger of falling, and that Celestia herself has reinforced the support system so this won’t happen again. Any questions so far?” A single unicorn raised his hoof near the back. “Yes, in the back?” Let’s see, older stallion, grey coat and mane, with the Equestrian coat of arms as a cutie mark. That would make him Sir Blason. What they say about his moustache is true, it really is the most fantastic in all of Canterlot, even from this far away… focus Twilight. Sir Blason spoke in a voice that belied his aged appearance and commanded respect from those that heard it. “Yes, pardon my asking, but where is Celestia? I was lead to believe that she would be at this meeting as well.” “You have been informed correctly, Sir Blason. Princess Celestia is currently investigating something that came up suddenly with Princess Luna. If they are able to resolve it quickly, then Princess Celestia will join us. However, you will find I am more than capable of running this function.” The old stallion nodded once and sat back down. Looking around and seeing no other questions, Twilight began her findings on the strange object from last night. A question would crop up every so often, which she would promptly answer concisely, even the questions about how this event might affect some obscure tax laws and insurance claims. Most of the nobles looked at Twilight in a new light by the time she was done with her presentation. They always knew that Celestia’s prodigy was intelligent, but they had also heard of her legendary panic attacks. The mare today, however, was cool, collected, and on top of everything that they could ask. “That concludes my findings on what hit us this morning. Just as a quick recap, Discord was not behind it, Tirek did not break free again, and despite it coming from the north, we have no reason to believe that Yak-Yakistan or the Crystal Empire is behind this either. Any questions before we leave?” One pony, a golden coated unicorn with a dark red mane and a picture of a sunrise as his cutie mark, raised his hoof and stood to ask before Twilight acknowledged him. “Yes, I have a question. I’ve noticed that while you told us everything the object wasn’t; you never told what it was. Do you actually know?” I was hoping this question wouldn’t get asked. Well time to bite the arrow. “Unfortunately...no. Despite researching about every known prophecy of falling stars, celestial creatures, and cosmic disasters, none of them coincide with what happened last night. It wasn’t a star or anything like that, otherwise Luna would have simply stopped it. No matter where I looked, this event is like nothing that has happened before in recorded history.” The other pony smiled slightly at that answer. “Ah, I see. That seems like a bit of a waste of time for us all to just say ‘We don’t know what happened, but don’t worry.’” Okay, who is this stallion? Twilight checked the seating chart in front of her quickly to see the name New Dawn. She had never heard of him before, which meant he either was discovered as some noble’s lost child, or he had a very good friend with quite a bit of power. His name was on the list, so Twilight thought little of it at the moment. Looking back up, she thought a moment for an appropriate response. “No sir, that is not what this is intended to be at all. In fact, we have a better idea of what this object is now than we did before.” The stallion frowned slightly at that. “How do you figure that, princess?” “Well, often times one can find out the facts by ruling out false information. Since we know that this event is something that wasn’t predicted by any prophet, it wasn’t a new weapon being tested as a declaration of war, and it wasn’t a cosmic being, we are now closer that you might think to understanding what happened.” New Dawn raised his eyebrow at the explanation. “So what is it then?” “My personal best guess is that some unicorn somewhere attempted a very powerful spell that backfired somehow. We will know for certain once we have recovered whatever it is from the ruins of the old city in the mountain.” “Ah, so you still don’t actually know what it is?” Why must this stallion make this such an issue? “Considering nopony knows what it is, no I don’t.” Twilight hated admitting it, but there was no point in lying about it. The unicorn had regained his smile, though it came off more as a smirk to Twilight. “Hmm, I see. Would Princess Celestia have known, I wonder?” From the back of the room a familiar voice boomed out. “YOU WILL GIVE THE PRINCESS THE RESPECT SHE DESERVES, YOU LITTLE COLT! I’ve had enough of your wasting of time. Unless you have an ACTUAL question, then sit down, and be SILENT!” Every ear in the room was flat from the volume of Blason’s command. New Dawn glared at the old stallion for a moment, but he did take his seat again. Blason nodded to Twilight and took his seat again as well. Coughing once, Twilight looked around. “So are there any other questions?” Nopony raised their hoof. “Well then, on that note, I hereby officially conclude this meeting.” Most of the nobles got up and began filing out of the room, while a few lingered a bit longer. New Dawn was exchanging a few hushed words with Blason, after which New Dawn left, while Twilight observed from the corner of her eye while gathering her notes. That New Dawn is going to be one to watch out for. I’ll have to ask Rarity to try to find out who he is. Why did he have to ruin the very end of the meeting? It was going so well up to that point. The room had now emptied with the exception of Twilight, Spike, Sir Blason, Fancy Pants, and the mayor of Ponyville, Ivory Scrolls. The remaining ponies all approached Twilight and bowed respectfully. “Hello again Fancy Pants, Ms. Scrolls, and it is nice to finally meet you formally Sir Blason Chevalier.” The three bowed to Twilight, with Blason speaking up first. “A true pleasure to finally meet you as well, Princess. Apologies for the outburst at the end there, I just can’t stand little arrogant colts who think they own the whole damn kingdom. Pardon my language.” Twilight waved a hoof while smiling. “No need to worry about such things while we’re not in an official function. My friend Rainbow Dash has quite the mouth on her as well when she gets upset.” Blason smiled widely at that. “That is good. I have read a great deal of your exploits, and I was hoping to meet with you when this whole disaster is resolved.” Yes, my first private meeting with a noble house, and with the Chevalier house no less! This meeting didn’t end as badly as I thought it did. Twilight never let her demure smile change like Celestia had taught her. “I would like that very much. I will contact you once it has all been resolved.” “Excellent. By your leave then, Princess Twilight.” Blason turned and spoke a few polite words with Fancy Pants. He then turned and smiled at Ivory, and kissed her hoof. Sir Blason then introduced himself to Ivory, with the hope that they could meet outside of politics next time. Ivory Scrolls blushed bright red, and stuttered out a response before Sir Blason turned and left the room. Once he left, Twilight turned her attention to the others with a smile. “So, how are you two? Did you enjoy the presentation?” Fancy was the first to respond, as Ivory was still looking out the door. “I’m doing well, thank you. I did rather enjoy the meeting more than I thought I would. You made everything so riveting, especially with your dialogue at the end. Wouldn’t you agree, Ms. Scrolls?” Ivory was startled out of her little daze, quickly looking between Twilight and Fancy. “Oh, ah, yes, quite right. Of course, I don’t usually attend such events, but being the mayor of the town where a princess lives brings some new perks and responsibilities. Oh, not to say I mind, Princess Twilight, I just meant—” “Relax, mayor. I understand, trust me. I just hope your both doing well with all that has been happening recently.” After a few minutes of exchanging small talk, Twilight waved goodbye as the last two ponies walked out. Gathering her notes, she turned to Spike who had cleared the snack table of food and drink. She had just started scolding Spike when Celestia and Luna walked into the meeting room. Celestia smiled at the scene, remembering a time when she was scolding a younger Twilight for trying to read a book she had “acquired” from the forbidden section of the castle’s library. Luna noticed her sister going down memory lane, and walked forward. “Greetings, Twilight Sparkle and Spike. We do apologize for interrupting, but we must speak with thee.” Jumping slightly at the interruption, Twilight turned around to properly greet Luna and Celestia. “Oh, Princess Luna. I’m sorry, I didn’t notice you coming in. Hello to you as well, Princess Celestia. Have you two resolved whatever it was that you had to discu—Luna, you are aware that there is a spider in your mane, right?” Luna nodded while the spider crawled onto her shoulder. “Indeed Twilight, it is one of the reasons that we wish to speak with you immediately.” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Uh, I suppose I could help, but Fluttershy is the one you really want to talk to about any animals. I’m not even sure what kind of spider this little guy is.” “Hey I’m not a guy. I’m a female, like you. Can’t you tell by how big I am?” Upon hearing the high pitched voice, Twilight’s eyes went wide as she stared at the spider. Spike was equally dumbfounded, looking at the spider with a mix of amazement and fear. They both looked back and forth between the spider and Luna. Celestia chuckled at the reaction while the spider crawled back to Luna’s mane. “This little spider is named Rachel. She has very valuable information regarding the object that landed this morning. We would like to discuss what she has to share with you and anypony else you feel should be brought in on this.” Twilight rubbed her chin for a moment before grabbing a piece of paper from her notes. After quickly committing the note to memory, she cast a spell to rearrange the ink on the page to a list of books before handing it off to Spike. “Spike, while the princesses and I discuss...whatever this is, I need you to go grab these books for me from the library. After that, go find AJ and Fluttershy and tell them to meet me in my quarters in the castle at the request of the princesses.Then see if you can help around the city, OK?” Saluting smartly, Spike ran off down the hall, while the three Alicorns, plus one, vanished in a distinct lack of light.