Tale of Two Dragons

by Kind of Brony

Chapter 31

Bright Sight rolled his eyes as his partner grumbled once again. “Give the girl some patience. She had just woken up before you ordered her back to sleep again. I'm honestly surprised she managed it as fast as she did.”

“The lieutenant has narcolepsy. She should be out like a light in ten seconds flat when ordered to,” Spinel countered.

Rolling his eyes, Bright returned to polishing his helmet. “I don’t see why you’re so agitated. Do you have a problem with her majesty’s student?”

“What I have a problem with is civvies getting too big for their horseshoes,” the mare began, snapping a violent bite out of her ration bar. “This isn’t some fanciful adventure where they can just fart rainbows and suddenly all the world’s problems are fixed, and yet here they are, putting themselves in danger. It’s irresponsible is what it is, they should’ve just stayed home and let us handle the hostage situation.”

Bright’s jaw clenched minutely at this, but he released the tension with a puff onto the surface of his helm, buffing it to a shine. It was a shared, but unspoken sentiment amongst both citizens and the guards themselves recently that Equestria’s finest had been less than integral in protecting the kingdom as of late, what with the bulk of the threats being on cosmic scales. It was not surprising then that when situations where the guards could prove their worth, many of them developed a one-sided rivalry with the Elements of Harmony.

“Perhaps that’s true,” he finally said, setting the helm aside to reach for his chest piece, “but there’s nothing for it. They’re out here now and we’ll just have to do our best to keep them out of trouble. And since they intend to conduct their own investigation without us, that just means we’ll have to resolve things before they can get themselves hurt. Simple as that.”

“Since when is anything simple with those mares?” Spinel questioned with a raised brow. “You’ve heard the stories, I’m sure, of what the Elements get up to when they aren’t saving the world from crazed gods and warlocks. I’m half convinced they’re crazier than the villains they go up against. I mean, a Want It, Need It spell on a whole town? Going out and picking a fight with a hydra? One of them was even a super model for all of a week before dropping off the map. How’s that even happen!?”

“Who knows, but that doesn’t change our mission objective,” Bright responded. “We’ll just have to stay on our hooves.”

Before the night guard could say anything, her lieutenant awoke with a snort, sapphire eyes fluttering open. “Captain,” she said immediately, “sorry for the delay, her Majesty was in the middle of dealing with a nightmare, but contact was successfully made.”

“Good, did she have anything to say about the new developments?” Spinel asked with an air of authority.

“While she still wishes to discuss the matter with Princess Celestia, she’s willing to leave it up to our discretion until further notice and predicts her sister will agree.”

Spinel hummed. “Good. So then, what do you think, Captain Sight?”

Setting his armor aside, the stallion shuts his eyes and thought for a moment. “Lore Finder believed that, if Zariba’s subordinate was talking about them going to the gryphon kingdom and that it tied into their motivation for capturing Amethyst Thistle, then it must have something to do with this Bahamut’s Hoard Amethyst had plans to track down,” he finally said, laying the facts out. “So we have direction at least. Heaven’s Break is where Lore and Amethyst believed the hoard would be, so that’s where we will go.”

“We’ll have to make good time then,” added Spinel. “Not only do we have a lot of catching up to do, but for the safety of the Elements, we should try to resolve things before they end up getting themselves killed.”

Bright nodded in agreement. It was easily doable once he went over the logistics in his head. The waybread they had brought along for the trip was, while bland, extremely nutritious both in ingredients and the potent magic that went into its baking. As a result, the several crates they had packed away would allow them to travel without having to make supply stops and close the gap between them and their suspects rapidly.

The Solar Guard was grateful to his princess for granting them such a boon. Waybread was very expensive to make due to needing a baker of the highest caliber who also happened to be a very skilled mage, a combination of attributes that was hard to find in a pony. Only one such pony was employed at the castle and they probably had several weeks of his work stored in their caravan.

“We should set out at first light to cover as much ground as possible.” Bright said.

“Probably the worst thing a Night Guard can hear, but I guess it can’t be helped,” Spinel replied, standing up with a sigh. “We’re nocturnal, after all. Oh well, come on Dream Dust. Let’s try to get some shuteye… Dream?”

Said mare was already fast asleep once more, a light snoring emanating from her slightly parted lips. “… One of these days she’s going to fall asleep in the middle of a battle, I swear.” Slinging the blissfully unconscious mare between her wings, the night captain bid farewell to her diurnal counterpart and flew off.

Bright Sight, for his part, was more than glad for the silence and looking forward to sleep after the day he had. Not only was it long, but emotionally draining as well. The terrified gaze of Two-bit would hopefully not haunt his dreams or else he’d have to call on Princess Luna’s aid that night.

---

Twilight tossed and turned, trying to get comfortable on the couch their host had so generously allowed them to sleep on for the night. The sleepy mumble this got from Pinkie lying opposite of her had the unicorn freeze in an unsatisfying position however, and she sighed. Just because she couldn’t sleep didn’t mean she had to ruin it for her friend.

Shifting her eyes about the room, dark save for the moonlight shining in through the windows, Twilight spotted her other friend sprawled across the carpet on her belly, using Prose’s latest manuscript as a pillow. The sight actually made Twilight a bit envious, both of how easily Rainbow Dash had found peace in the strange home, and of how she got to start reading the next Daring Do novel before any other fan in Equestria.

After they had gotten over the initial shock of Lore Finder’s appearance and learned she was in fact not the intrepid and fictional Daring Do, they were able to get about a minute into a new conversation before Prose Worthy entered the room. Dash learning that the stallion was the author of her favorite series derailed things for the next ten minutes with her fangirling until Prose offered to show his admirer his writing desk and the latest DD installment set there.

When somepony knocked at the door, forestalling Twilight’s questions even further, the unicorn was about ready to pull her disheveled mane out, but managed to restrain herself when she learned it was the royal guard. It was strange to see any of its members out of uniform besides Shining Armor, but she was glad for their presence, and especially their information.

It had taken some time to catch Twilight and her friends up on everything known so far of Amethyst and Spike’s situation, and by the time all was said and done, it was too late to set out. The knowledge made Twilight stir crazy.

In truth, part of her still rebelled against the idea, that a respected archeologist and scholar could be capable of the heinous accusations Lore Finder had leveled against him. Twilight had even heard of the zebra hybrid before, not in detail, but the name was a hard one to forget after coming across it.

He had publications in Canterlot’s royal library for crying out loud, so how could he be the one behind Spike’s disappearance? With another sigh, Twilight rolled onto her belly and tried to force herself to sleep. It wouldn’t do to hold up the group by being exhausted after how insistent she’d been about not wasting time. They had already decided their next step before lights out, and that was taking the first train of many to Caracara. There were a frustratingly large number of way stations on the way and the path was far from a straight line, but Twilight knew that no matter how talented she and her friends were, they’d not have any easy time of hoofing it across the wastes, even if it could save them a day or two.

Zariba Arbez… I’ll find you, and you better hope my baby brother is unharmed when I do, or else… Clenching her eyes shut, a tear was forced free and soaked into the fabric below. Twilight finally gave up on obtaining sleep unassisted and got up, being as quiet as she could as she made her way to her host’s kitchen. Hopefully the couple wouldn’t mind if their guest raided their tea stash.

---

Lore Finder awoke to the sound of somepony rustling about in her kitchen and dragged herself out of bed. Seeing as her husband was fast asleep still, she already had a good idea of who it was and so opted out of grabbing the baseball bat from its spot leaning against her nightstand.

“Twilight Sparkle, shouldn’t you be asleep?” the pegasus asked as she entered the room, eyes squinting a moment against the light. She wasn’t surprised to see the unicorn fiddling with her stovetop, trying to heat a teapot. With how tightly wound the mare had been, Lore Finder was more surprised it had taken her this long to wake somepony else up with her restlessness.

“Oh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to disturb you,” she began, but halted as Lore held up a hoof for silence. Without a word, she approached the unicorn and gently moved her aside before turning the stove on proper to begin boiling the water.

“It’s no trouble; I’m used to staying up well into the night most days. Research, you know,” Lore explained.

“I certainly do,” Twilight responded with a small smile. “There were times I’d have stayed up all night if it weren’t for Spike…”

At the mention of the name, the unicorn fell silent, leaving Lore to rummage through a cupboard. “I think Prose has some chamomile in here somewhere, maybe some lavender too. Hard to say since I’m usually drinking coffee this time of night.”

Pushing aside two tins of her favorite dark roast ground, Lore finder spots several small containers and places them on the counter. “You want any milk with this? I think we have a little left in the fridge.”

“How do you do it?” Twilight asked suddenly, eyes downcast.

“Make tea? Well, I’m certainly no expert, that’s my husband’s thing, but I think I understand the basics-”

“How can you stay so calm when Amethyst is out there in danger? She’s your… best friend, right?”

“… She’s like a sister to me.” Lore said, opening a drawer and rummaging around for the infusers. “We may butt heads more often than not and she can drive me up the walls on a good day, but I love her. She’s family.”

“Then how?”

“Because it’s all I can do.” The teapot just started to whistle before Lore Finder pulled it from the heat, silencing it before it woke anypony else. “I’m not Daring Do despite looking like her. I can’t go soaring into the great unknown to rescue my friend, no matter how much I wish I could.” She looked to her wings with a frown. “Doubt these could even carry me a city block anymore, I’m such a shut-in.”

With a sigh, she returned to her work, filling the two mesh balls with dried leaves before dropping them into a couple of mugs to be poured over with hot water. “Every time Amy goes out there, I worry, but I trust in her. I believe she’ll win the day, come back, and pass out on my couch until I’m done making a celebratory dinner.”

“Even this time?”

“Even this time,” The pegasus confirmed, moving over to the table, a mug on each wing and followed by Twilight. “I’ll admit though to being a bit more worried than usual until today. Knowing there are guards out looking for her, and even you and your friends, it’s put me at ease. I’m usually the one setting the course she takes when she goes off on one of her hunts, so for her to just disappear like she did… It was frightening.”

Twilight tried to smile, but failed and tried to hide it behind her mug as she took a sip. Lore saw however and reached over the table to place a hoof on Twilght’s as she set her cup down. “You know, Daring Do may look like me, but her talents are all Amy’s. All those daring escapes, those heroic feats, Amy could do it all and then some, so when I tell you that Spike is in safe hooves, you can believe I’m telling the truth. Amy won’t let anything happen to her or your brother.”

The smile came much easier as Twilight blinked a few times before whispering a quiet, “Thanks.”

“It’s what friends are for,” Lore responded, followed up by a large yawn. “Phew, this stuff works better than I remember. I don’t know about you, but I think I need to get back into bed.”

Quickly finishing her own drink, Twilight nodded in agreement. “Yes, it is late and I need to get up early. Thanks for the tea, and the talk. I think I’ll be able to sleep much better now.”

“That’s good to hear. Goodnight, Twilight Sparkle.” And with that, the mares parted ways, ready to prepare themselves for the days ahead.

Author's Note:

Thanks to Bemmo for editing like always.
Hope you all don’t mind too much the short chapter. Hopefully the next will be longer, but first I must finish a chapter of my other story right quick.
P.S.
Is anyone else not seeing the indents of new paragraphs on this? They don’t show up for me.

Comments

[djthomp]

It's been a while, good to see the Twilight side of the story again.

[More Dakka]

Zariba Arbez… I’ll find you, and you better hope my baby brother is unharmed when I do, or else…

I almost feel sorry for him... almost.

[GMZ_Casper]

It is nice to see Twilight and associates again. I feel sorry for poor Twilight, feeling so helpless like this. And I can’t wait to see that creep face when he realize who Spike really is, as well as when he finally confront Twilight.

C&Cs will be PM. As for the indents, I’m not seeing them. At least, I don’t think so.