Looking For Luna

by CapriciousCapricorn

Chapter 9: The Signs

Cadance trotted quietly among the ruins. Several days had passed since the ‘incident,’ but whatever magical disturbance had created the flux of magical power, it was long gone. She had wanted to deliver her report to Celestia personally, but the magical abnormality had to take precedence. Thus, she had sent one of the soldiers in their company, Vermillion Crusade, in her place. While it was essential, the princess was still dissatisfied with her choice.

The ponies around her respected her as a princess but didn’t seem to trust her judgment. Everything she asked of them was questioned and often greeted with hesitant looks before they performed the task she asked of them. When Vermillion spoke, the soldiers always seemed to freeze before scrambling. Cadance had hoped that if perhaps she had sent Vermillion to Canterlot with the report, she might be able to use the opportunity to gain a bit more respect from the soldiers.
It had backfired, as the anomalies were volatile and sporadic, appearing and disappearing without warning. Even with her teleportation spell, Cadance couldn’t quite keep up with the magical spikes that seemed to inexplicably fizzle. The only one pony who could have traced them, Cadance had sent away on a menial errand.

“Cadance?” a familiar voice called out to her as she drew near the former castle’s throne room. She turned to see Shining Armor and two of the guard trotting her way. As they reached the end of their hall, Shining Armor nodded to the two guards accompanying them and they dipped their heads before heading back towards the camp. “Did you detect more of those magical anomalies?”

“No,” She replied. “The anomalies seem to have just vanished. It’s concerning - there was something familiar about that magic.”

“Princess Luna’s?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“No, it doesn’t belong to Auntie Luna. I’ve come across this magic somewhere before, but I don’t know how to describe it…”
“So is that what’s been bothering you?” Shining Armor asked.

“What do you mean?” she replied curtly, stopping.

“Cadance… I know you.” he walked in front of her now, turning around to face her. “I’ve been with you for some time, not to mention the fact we went to school together.” When she dipped her head a bit, he gently pressed his forehead against hers.

“Talk to me.”

“Shining Armor, I feel like a fool. I know Celestia has entrusted us with the task of tracking down Luna, but I’m inexperienced and I feel like they don’t respect me. I’m at least 90% sure that Vermillion Crusade hates me, and this anomaly is still unexplained. We have no idea what Luna has done or where she might be headed-” Shining Armor gently silenced her,
placing a hoof on her head. He stared deep into her eyes, until they slowly started moving in opposite directions. Cadance pulled back with a laugh.

“What was that?” she asked, a small smile on her lips

“A little trick for relieving a pony that’s doing a bit too much thinking. I used to do it a lot when Twilight started thinking a bit too hard about Celestia’s assignments.” He replied with a small smile of his own. “I know it seems hard now, but I don’t think Celestia would have given you this task if she didn’t think you were capable of fulfilling it.” The two ponies started walking again, venturing deeper into the ruins. “As for Vermillion Crusade. I’m sure she doesn’t hate you… she can just be a bit slow to warm up to other ponies. I would trust her with my life.”

“So she’s your right hoof mare?” Cadance asked, a twinge of jealousy stirring inside her.

“Not exactly,” Shining Armor replied. They had reached the ruined library of the two sisters. He took a seat at one of the old tables, while Cadance started pulling musty books that looked like they might have something about dark magic.

“Oh?” She levitated two books in front of Shining Armor. He flipped through the pages, scanning for any relevant information

“She’s more like… my back right hoof?”

“Why’s that?”

“You shake a pony’s hoof with your forelegs, but you use your back legs whenever you wanna give something a real good kick.” Cadance laughed, and Shining Armor smiled ruefully. It was nice to see his marefriend smile.

After gathering several more books, the pink Alicorn sat beside her coltfriend. The two spent several hours going over the texts, silently enjoying each other’s company.

⊰ ★ ⊱ ❈ ⊰ ★ ⊱ ❈ ⊰ ★ ⊱

“The wilds are truly my home,” Vermillion Crusade thought to herself. She sighed in contentment, listening to the whisper of the wind and the tranquil sound of a babbling brook. Such sounds were rarely heard in the clean and proper city of Canterlot, unless one was willing to pay. Bits were practically disposable among the upper echelons of the society ponies. Enchanted forever fountains and instant gardens were becoming quite the rage. For Vermillion, however, the magic was a pale imitation to nature's true beauty. She stopped to take a drink from the river.

At first she had been offended that rather than utilize her abilities to locate and suppress the anomaly, she was being sent as a courier for the report. It felt demeaning, at least the way Cadance had asked her. Vermillion Crusade was taking a bit longer to return to her base camp. Time was of the essence but with her emotions so… unsettled, she would be of little use to the team. You should know better than to let your emotions get out of hand, her grandmother’s old words rang in her head. It had been hard since Princess Cadance had been placed in charge of the search for Princess Luna. While she had tried to get along with the Alicorn of Love, she found she had less than adoration for the tri-color maned mare.

She wasn’t powerful or great like Celestia; Cadance was… delicate, careless, and inexperienced at best. Just thinking of her gave the earth pony a migraine. In response, the feathered earrings she wore seemed to shudder violently in response. Vermillion paused to take a deep breath. She was a skilled magic tracker, the only one at the disposal of her highness, Celestia. Vermillion had tracked down dozens of magical creatures and deviant magic wielders. Her powers, however, were reactive to her emotions, and when not in check, they tended to muddle her ability to track anything.

After she had spoken to Celestia, her magic had gone a bit haywire. The enchanted earrings she wore to guide her during her hunts were vibrating so violently that at times she thought they might break. Even after she had left the capital they had continued to shake. Vermillion kicked at the water. “Why her?” she asked herself. “Would I be more forgiving if she wasn’t with him?” She had already been rejected politely by her captain several moons ago, but that hadn’t made it sting any less. Seeing him with her, a dainty princess that required protection, was almost unbearable at times. Admitting this to herself seemed to make the earrings grow still.

Vermillion sighed. This was hard… perhaps she should withdraw from the royal guard. Let this become somepony else's problem. As she gazed into the river, her eye met her reflection with shame. As she considered turning back now and speaking with Celestia, her earrings swung. They pointed forward, and she swung her head to make sure they weren’t detecting something in error.

“Of all the times-” she growled. Her earrings spun for a moment, swinging in all directions before slowing to a stop, pointing the way forward. Cautiously, the earth pony walked into the river - it was shallow enough at this point - several yards from the small rapids that caused it to merge with the river leading to the Celestial Sea. She waded forward, the cool water lapping at her hooves as nothing on the opposite shore caught her eye. Her earrings started to drop as she approached, telling her that she was near a valuable clue.

Vermillion was practically ensnared in a nearby blackberry bush when her earrings finally started to drop. Following their reflection in the water, her eyes happened upon a low hanging branch.
Wrapped around its slender limbs were three strands of sapphire blue hair.

⊰ ★ ⊱ ❈ ⊰ ★ ⊱ ❈ ⊰ ★ ⊱

The moon was high in the sky when Vermillion finally returned to the camp. Cadance was helping clear away the remnants of dinner when she heard a commotion at the edge of the camp closest towards the woods. Several soldiers were yelling, seeming rather excited over something, as Cadance approached she could see that Vermillion Crusade had returned. The vermillion earth pony looked haggard, as if she had been chased back to the camp. She was still heavily panting when Shining Armor reached over her.

“Vermillion?! Are you alright?” The white stallion looked into the woods searchingly and the other guards looked about as if they anticipated timber wolves to burst out from the brush at any second.

“I’m. Fine,” she said in between gasps. “I. have. Urgent. News.” She resisted the urge to request water. The guards respected her for her fighting strength and… unique abilities, so letting them see her like this was killing her on the inside.

“I’ll get Cadance,” the captain said quickly, turning to look for the princess. For a moment an unpleasant expression flashed across Vermillion Crusade’s face, but it was missed by the captain. Several guards caught it, but said nothing. They decided they liked their jobs and that getting involved in matters above their pay grade would be unwise. Shining Armor didn’t have to look long, as Cadance had almost already reached them. He nodded his head and the two mares trotted after him.

When they had gotten far enough into the ruins, Shining Armor passed a flask of water to his weary comrade. “Take a moment to recover, Vermillion. We may need to make use of your skills momentarily.” Cadance produced a small jar with several scraps of parchment in them. The alicorn gently set the jar down on the table and took a step back, while Vermillion raised a single eyebrow.

“As you may recall, the anomaly overwhelmed the lower courtyard and ancient throne room of the castle. After you left, it started inducing madness, hallucinations, and almost total darkness.” Vermillion nodded her head, not quite ready to speak. “We thought that if left it unchecked, it would spread to Ponyville and potentially make its way across Equestria. However, shortly thereafter, as quickly as the anomaly appeared... it disappeared. We had several leads on it, but as soon as we had them pinned, they just seemed to vanish.”

“Explain to me the significance of this jar, it appears to be scraps of paper.” Vermillion wasn’t wrong. The text appeared to be of some old Ponish language, but what little appeared to be scrawled didn’t look threatening or wasn’t recognized as part of any ancient incantation that the earth pony could recognize. The papers themselves lacked a presence or any aura, and none of her equipment was responding to it. As she gave the jar a light kick with her hoof, Shining armor lunged forward.

“Vermillion, wait-” The captain of the guard was much too slow. With the violent jostle, the scraps of paper were stirred and immediately consumed by a purple and blue fire. Ancient garbled old Ponish could be heard from the small jar, though the jar fortunately kept most of it muffled. Vermillion Crusade’s earrings quivered and the small broach holding her cloak in place began to burn. As quickly as the energy appeared, it vanished. The screaming stopped as if it were being cut off, the energy vanished without warning, and the jar grew very still.

“I apologize, I should have warned you it was so volatile,” Cadance began apologizing quickly. Sweat began to form on Vermillion’s brow, a thousand thoughts racing through her mind, the look on her face was of pure horror - no - dismay. Vermillion stumbled backwards, trying to get away from the jar. Cadance exchanged a glance with Shining Armor.

“You know what this is, don’t you.” Shining Armor spoke in a low, serious voice. Since training with Vermillion Crusade, he could only recall one other time she had looked so terrified, and that moment had paled in comparison to the expression she was showing him now. Vermillion didn’t reply right away. Instead she was mumbling something incoherently.

“Vermillion, please. If you know anything about what this is, please tell us. I don’t understand what this magic is, but I do know that if we work together, we can overcome it.” Cadance spoke in a reassuring tone. She hoped it would calm the earth pony down, but it had no effect. Vermillion didn’t even look in the princess’s direction.

“I can’t.”

“You can’t or you won’t?” Shining armor asked.

“I can not speak about this topic by royal decree.”

“What decree?” Cadance asked in reply. While studying under Celestia, she had thoroughly studied a majority of Equestria’s history. Not one decree she could recall had involved anything about the information restrictions.

“By Decree 54,” Vermillion looked agitated. She turned her back on the captain of the guard and the princess of love. She had begun to walk towards the door when the sound of excited yells reached their ears. Without hesitation, the three of them raced back towards the camp.

Had the anomalies reappeared?
Were they under attack?
How many might be injured?

As the three ponies reached the camp, well prepared for a fight, they found celebration. The guards were bumping chests and stomping their hooves in excitement. Cadance and Vermillion were both still a bit stunned when Shining Armor spoke.

“What’s going on here?”

“SIR!” an excited white stallion yelled before raising a hoof in salute. “We’ve just received a courier, sir! It would appear that hair that looks like it belongs to Princess Luna has been found near Baltimare. The hair was discovered seven days ago, but the courier had difficulty acquiring safe passage to Canterlot. Celestia has sent word that we should move our base camp as soon as Lady Vermillion confirms the findings.” Vermillion felt slightly numb as she stepped forward. Again her mind raced through a thousand different thoughts, but not one stopped the sickening knot from forming in her stomach.

She held her hoof out as the courier placed a jar containing several strands of hair upon it. Her face grew pale as her thoughts began to slow and a painful thought came to mind.

“Oh for the sake of Celestia,” she swore. “Get me a courier. No, make it a courier and the two fastest ponies here.” The vermillion mare shook with rage. Signs she had overlooked in her emotional state seemed to be slapping her in the face.

“Vermillion?” Cadance asked. “What’s going on? Can you confirm that the hairs belong to Luna?” In no way was the princess being patronizing, but her calm demeanor and soft voice only made the tracker more agitated. Three ponies stepped forward as Vermillion asked.

“Run. Do not stop until Celestia receives this message. Tell it to her in person and pass this task off to nopony else. Am I understood?” The three ponies before her nodded quickly “Three crows take flight, they beckon to midnight. Go. Now.” At her sharp command, the ponies ran, the sound of their hooves striking the earth continuing to echo for some time. The camp had become unusually quiet. All eyes were on the agitated Vermillion.

“Vermillion, what’s going on?” The captain didn’t know what the message his tracker had sent but he recognized the term ‘crow’ and it seemed many of the other guards had as well. ‘Crow’ hadn’t been used in sometime, and by none of the company present. It was only used in reference to dark magics. “Vermillion?” Shining Armor repeated a bit more firmly.

“The hair belongs to Princess Luna,” Vermillion confirmed. Cadance frowned, staring at the earth pony intently.

“I see, then we need to move the camp at once.” Shining Armor turned, preparing to deliver orders.

“Shining, wait. It… it doesn’t make sense,” Cadance interrupted.

“What do you mean?”

“Luna was still… indisposed when Baltimare was founded. She wouldn’t know of its existence, and there was nothing out there before that would draw anypony out that way.”

“She’s… she’s right,” Vermillion said slowly. “Not only does it not make sense. It’s impossible for her to be there. If we go there, we will be playing into her hooves.” Shining Armor frowned.

“What do you mean by impossible?” Cadance asked uncertainly. The statement was bold coming from anypony, but Vermillion said it with such certainty. It was unlikely, but Vermillion said nothing she couldn’t provide evidence for. What isn’t she telling us? Cadance wondered to herself.

“I can’t explain now, not with the decree in place. If we go now, we will be playing right into her hooves, going exactly where she wants us to.” Before anypony could react, a painfully loud cracking sound echoed around the clearing. The ground trembled and a massive wave of force raced towards them. Cadance spread her wings and let loose a crystalline barrier, barely sparing them from being thrown to ground. The wave was powerful and Cadance’s barrier cracked beneath its force, but it held. The wave passed quickly, leaving the ponies in a stunned silence.

“Is everypony alright?” the pink mare asked as she lowered their magical protection. Ponies mumbled quick confirmations, Shining Armor moved from soldier to soldier, confirming that they were really alright. Only vermillion remained silent.

“Vermillion,” Shining Armor called cautiously as he trotted toward her, “are you alright?” The mare had her back turned towards the other ponies, her head tilted towards the sky, and she seemed to be bathed in an unnaturally bright light. “What’s wrong?” Shining Armor walked over and placed a hoof on her withers.

“That.” a single hoof was pointed towards the sky, some ponies followed her hoof and others followed her gaze. It mattered not because they were all drawn towards the same terribly beautiful sight.

Comments

[ZodiacalComet]

Maybe Trixie shattered the Tears of the Moon?
Who was Vermillion? Why does she have a decree that forbids her to provide that information? Maybe it has to do with why is impossible for Luna to be in Baltimare?
I'll be in my corner waiting for the next chapter.

---

For Vermillion, however, the magic was a pale imitation to nature's true beauty.

I never thought about it in that way

“Why her?” she asked herself. “Would I be more forgiving if she wasn’t with him?” She had already been rejected politely by her captain several moons ago, but that hadn’t made it sting any less.

Oh...

[RainbowSparkle3]

In guessing it's something to do with the tears of the moon?

[rikithemonk]

Ok, I rather like this story. It is well written and quite imaginative. My only complaint is that I feel the Author may be making Luna a bit too dumb for her age. By most head cannons Luna is not only hundreds of years old by the time of her banishment, she is also the more militaristic of the two sisters. I understand that newly freed after 1000 years, she is off balance, and confused. Im taking that into account, so I am not too critical of it so far. Once she gets her legs under her again, she needs to start showing smarts, cunning, and guile, or its not a portrayl of Luna. Hell, just being a 40 year old, cheese-wiz guzzling shut in, even I would be booking it out of Equestria, heading some place like Multicursal, a small city state even further from Equestria than even Minotaura is.

This very minor complaint aside, I am looking forward to seeing where this talented author is taking us.

The Monk

[Anon E Moose]

Ok, I feel like I must have missed a chapter or 2 because this one was just confusing. What anomalies? What giant madness effect?

[Doolally Loop]

What were the anomalies? Left over bits of Nightmare Moon? Also I assume Trixie must have shattered the tear if there is anything going on, as Luna seems too weak to do much and I imagine she doesn't want to draw attention to herself.
Anyway, another brilliant chapter and I look forward to more!

[Doolally Loop]

8614246
Assuming what ever is going on in the sky is because of the tear and the anomalies are also because of the tear, wouldn't they have already noticed what is going on in the sky if the anomalies and the sky are because of the same thing?

[Doolally Loop]

8616001
I think at least one of the two is because of Trixie.

[Kiyre]

I like this, I really do. You do a great job of keeping things suspense-filled, and I look forward to where you're going to take this story next. Keep up the great work!

[CapriciousCapricorn]

8348994
Hello! I know it's been awhile since you posted this comment, but I wanted to say that I really appreciated this comment when I first started this story. I hope since then that this story has something you've been able to enjoy and hope the beginning of the year is treating you well!