The Wrath of Ahuizotl

by MariusIoannesP

Chapter 03: Research with Twilight

There it was. Twilight’s kingdom. The magnificent lavender crystal citadel stood close to the edge of Ponyville. It was the place Princess Twilight Sparkle now made her home. A lavender castle for a lavender alicorn princess. It was the very place Rainbow Dash and Daring Do were now headed towards.

“Well, that’s new,” Daring said nonchalantly as she first spied the castle.

“Yeah,” Rainbow said, “but you have to admit, it’s pretty cool. You should have seen my friend Rarity when she first got a good look at it.”

“Which one was she again?” Daring asked.

“The white Unicorn,” Rainbow answered. “She totally flipped when she saw it. Wait a minute. You said ‘new’. Have you been to Ponyville before, Daring?”

“I may have passed through once a long time ago on my way to another adventure. I wasn’t here long and nothing particularly notable happened.”

“Okay,” Rainbow continued to the stairs at the front of Twilight’s castle. Once they both reached the front gates, Rainbow knocked upon the door. After a moment, one of the doors slowly opened. In the doorway stood Spike. He seemed lost in thought for a moment.

“Oh, right. State the nature of your business,” Spike said, beaming with pride.

“What?” Rainbow replied in confusion.

Spike sighed. “Tell me why you’re here,” he restated with less enthusiasm.

“We’re here to see Twilight, Spike,” Rainbow answered.

Spike turned from the door and bellowed into the castle “Hear ye, hear ye, I, Spike the Dragon, majordomo of the Castle of Friendship, domain of Her Royal Highness the Princess of Friendship Twilight Sparkle, am proud to welcome…”

“Spike, just tell me who’s at the door!” Twilight cried with a hint of exasperation from somewhere deep within the castle.

Spike huffed once more in annoyance. “It’s Rainbow Dash and Daring Do!” he bellowed. He came to a sudden realization. “Wait a minute! Daring Do!” Spike turned around and looked Daring up and down. “Oh my gosh! You’re real! And you’re here!”

“But you knew she was real,” Rainbow said. “We told you all about that.”

“Yeah, I knew she was real like you said, but I never met her and now she’s here.”

“Just bring them to the library, Spike,” Twilight said from within the castle.

Spike took a moment to compose himself. “Okay guys. It’s this way.”

Spike turned and led Daring and Rainbow into the castle’s foyer, and then onwards towards the castle library.

“So what was that whole routine at the door about?” Rainbow asked Spike as they walked.

“Last time Rarity was here, she was telling me all about royal court etiquette and all that stuff,” Spike explained. “I looked through some of the books that came from Canterlot, and I found one all about royal court etiquette. I’ve been trying it out, but Twilight doesn’t seem to like it. She wants to keep things simple.”

“No offense, but if your princess doesn’t like it, why do you bother to keep it up?” Daring asked.

“I just think that at least Rarity might be pretty impressed with me if I learn all this etiquette stuff.” A slight smile crossed Spike’s face at the thought of his beloved. They could almost see the little hearts bubbling off his head.

Daring wasn’t quite sure what to make of that, but Rainbow nudged her gently with her wing and then beckoned Daring to move in closer.

Rainbow whispered, “Spike has a HUGE crush on Rarity.”

“I see now. That’s actually kind of adorable,” she whispered back.

They arrived at the door to the castle library. Spike threw open the library’s double doors and ushered Rainbow and Daring into the library before he left to conduct business elsewhere.

Not too far away, at one of the library’s many tables sat Twilight Sparkle. She was poring over the contents of a collection of manila envelopes. Once she heard hooves approaching her, Twilight looked up to see Rainbow and Daring Do.

“Oh, hi guys,” Twilight said as she turned to face her company. Before she could continue Daring Do dropped in a low bow, surprising everypony around her.

“Your Highness, it is a pleasure to once more make your acquaintance,” Daring said as she bowed. She straightened up again to face Twilight.

Twilight smiled and forced a laugh. “That’s okay. I don’t adhere to many of the ‘proper princess protocols,’ so to speak. You don’t have to bow or call me ‘Your Highness’ or ‘Princess’ or ‘Princess Twilight’ or ‘Ma’am’ or ‘Mistress’ or ‘Your Worship’ or ‘Your Eminence’...”

“I think she gets it, Twi,” Rainbow said.

Daring nodded. “I just figured I’d make up for not even giving you the time of day the first time we met. Even though you did technically break into my house.”

“Hey, your house was broken into before we got there!” Rainbow said with a laugh.

Rainbow turned to Twilight. “Anyway, Daring has requested that I join her on her latest adventure!” Rainbow clapped her hooves together with barely contained excitement. “Isn’t that exciting?!”

“It is really exciting,” Twilight responded. “I wish you guys the best of luck on your adventure.”

Rainbow waved her hoof dismissively. “Pfft. We don’t need luck.” Rainbow pointed at herself. “We have me! Well, we were hoping to ask you for a little help on getting started. You’re not too busy, are you?”

“Well, Princess Celestia sent me these files to look over.” Twilight cocked her head towards the table. “Apparently, a number of the faculty members of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns have been plagued by nightmares.”

“Nightmares, huh?” Daring asked.

I’ll have to remember that, Daring noted to herself.

“Uh-huh,” Twilight continued. “I think it has something with the upcoming lunar eclipse in a couple of days. The moon moving into our planet’s shadow might be empowering any residual dark energy that might still be present since Nightmare Moon was there.”

“So, you’re pretty much done,” Rainbow stated.

“Well, it’s my prevailing theory,” Twilight explained further, “but I can always take a little break to help you guys out. What do you need?”

“The Journal of the Two Sisters,” Daring answered. “Dash here thinks it may hold some clues to the final resting place of the Blue Moon Medallion.”

Twilight gasped. “The Blue Moon Medallion! Princess Luna’s long-lost magically-imbued necklace. Forged at the request of Princess Platinum as Princess Luna’s cute-ceañera gift. It was set with a rare blue diamond that was said to have fallen from the night sky as a shooting star. It is said that Luna loved the medallion so much that some of her magic was imbued in it, and so any pony who wears it has access to a piece of Princess Luna’s magic. It’s been lost ever since Luna became Nightmare Moon.”

Daring replied, “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

“I don’t know how much the Princesses’ journal will help though,” Twilight added sadly. Twilight walked over to a bookshelf and removed the journal from the shelf with her magic. She trotted over to a nearby table and placed the now-opened book upon it.

Rainbow and Daring joined Twilight at her side and looked at the book. “I’ve read this journal cover-to-cover,” Twilight explained. “Now, the Blue Moon Medallion isn’t mentioned until the Princesses write about their cute-ceañera, starting here.” Twilight pointed to the passage in question in the journal. She then flipped through the pages with her magic.

“It gets mentioned a few times after that. Luna mostly saved it for special occasions. But in the months before Luna became Nightmare Moon, her journal entries became much more erratic and nonsensical.” Twilight pointed to a passage as an example. “These pages just say ‘All work and no praise makes Luna a dull pony.’”

Twilight continued, “Luna’s final passages mention nothing about the Medallion. It’s like the Nightmare made her forget how much she loved it.”

“Maybe there’s something in one of Celestia’s sections that might help us find it,” Rainbow suggested.

“Not much though,” Twilight replied. She then turned to one of Celestia’s sections of the journal. “Here’s the last place where she mentions it a few days before Luna became Nightmare Moon.” Twilight cleared her throat and began to read the passage aloud.

I fear Luna’s melancholy is only growing worse. I spotted our young friend Snowdrop in the hallway nearly in tears today. She had been trying to cheer up Luna when Luna snapped at her. She told her, “Only one pony appreciating my nights is just as bad as no pony appreciating my nights.” This is bad. I fear the worst. Luna has all but forgotten her Medallion. It was a gift of another dear friend of ours, Princess Platinum, the last bit we have left of her. I fear this darkness in Luna’s heart may drive her to destroy the Medallion. I cannot let that happen. I cannot lose another bit of our friends again! It pains me to do this, but I must hide it and protect it. Somewhere Luna will never find it.

Twilight looked up from the journal. “And that’s it. After she banished Nightmare Moon, Celestia pretty much stopped keeping the journal. That’s probably why she left it in the Castle of the Two Sisters. She never mentioned anything about where she hid it.”

“So we got nothing,” Rainbow said.

Daring though sat in thought. She was used to working alone, so she rarely shared her thoughts. She shrugged. “I was at least hoping the journal would point us in the direction of the Dual Stronghold.”

“The Dual Stronghold!” Rainbow exclaimed.

Daring turned to Rainbow. “According to some legends, Celestia hid the Blue Moon Medallion in some place called the Dual Stronghold. As of yet, I’ve been unable to determine where that is.”

“But I know where it is!” Rainbow responded.

“What?” Daring asked. “How could you know that?”

“A while ago,” Rainbow began, “this evil Zebra named Braze stole this Half-Gilded Horseshoe from our friend Zecora to open this Spirit Circle. The Spirit Circle was next to this place called the Dual Stronghold, which I figured out was actually the Castle of the Two Sisters in the Everfree Forest!”

Daring just looked back at Rainbow in shock. “Dash, you’re a genius!”

But her shock was not just because Rainbow had figured out what the Dual Stronghold was.

They know Zecora, Daring thought.

“Wait,” Twilight asked, “isn’t there a Half-Gilded Horseshoe mentioned in Daring Do and the Forbidden City of the Clouds? It was part of the Halo of Cirrostrata.”

Daring thought for a moment as to whether she should answer Twilight’s question. The whole point of bringing Rainbow Dash into this adventure was so that she could learn to trust ponies more. Daring’s relationship with Zecora was a rather personal one. One she was not inclined to share at the moment.

“Wouldn’t you agree that the most important thing now is seeing if the Blue Moon Medallion is still at the Castle of the Two Sisters?” Daring stated.

“Yeah,” Rainbow said, “let’s get moving, Daring.” She turned to Twilight. “Thanks for your help, Twilight.”

“Hold on, Rainbow,” Twilight said. “I’m not going to let you do this alone.”

“I won’t be alone. I’ll be with Daring,” Rainbow replied.

“We both know very well how Daring’s adventures can go,” Twilight responded. “I wouldn’t be a good friend if I let you just walk into that kind of danger.”

Rainbow thought about it for a moment, tapping her chin. Twilight does have a point. Rainbow nodded in agreement.

Daring though rubbed her forelegs. “No offense, Twilight, but I was hoping to keep the potential for collateral damage low on this adventure.”

“Daring, I’m the alicorn Princess of Friendship,” Twilight said. “My friends and I have saved Equestria from Nightmare Moon, Discord, Tirek, the Pony of Shadows, and the Storm King. We helped Princess Cadance and my brother Shining Armor defeat Queen Chrysalis and the Changelings. We saved the Crystal Empire from King Sombra. We reformed Discord. We wielded the Elements of Harmony, and when they had to be returned to the Tree of Harmony from whence they came, we received the Rainbow Power. We freed the village of Our Town from Starlight Glimmer, and I was able to reform her and make her my friend and student. We marched into Tartarus itself to save Equestria’s magic. Whatever it is you will face, we can handle it.”

“Speaking of Starlight,” Rainbow began, “where is she?”

“Oh right,” Twilight answered. “She’s in Las Pegasus with Trixie helping her set up a new magic show. It’s funny. We kind of just forget her when she’s not around.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow added. She spoke once more to Daring. “Anyway, we’ve already helped you defeat Ahuizotl when he got Rings of Scorcherro and Pinkie helped us out in Somnambula.”

Daring shrugged. “I guess it might help making this a team effort.”

“It’s settled then,” Twilight stated. “Rainbow Dash, you let the other girls know, and we’ll meet by Fluttershy’s cottage tomorrow morning.”

“This is so exciting!” Rainbow said, then gasped. “I could wear that Daring Do costume Rarity made me!” Rainbow turned to Daring. “We’ll look like twins! We’ll be like the Daring Sisters!”

Daring’s right eye twitched. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Anyway,” Rainbow said, “you’ll need a place to spend the night.” She gasped again. “You can stay at my place! We can have a slumber party!”

“That’s okay,” Daring answered, shaking her head. “I don’t want to impose or anything. I can always bed down in the local inn or something.”

“There’s plenty of room here at the castle,” Twilight stated. “You can stay here if you’d like.”

“Well, I can’t deny a princess can I?” Daring said with a smile.

“Oh, this is going to be so awesome!” Rainbow said with the enthusiasm of a filly on Hearth’s Warming Eve.

“I’ll catch you guys tomorrow then. I can’t hardly wait.” Rainbow took off into the air and then dashed out of the room.

“Well, I’ll have Spike prepare a room for you,” Twilight said to Daring. Twilight cocked her head towards the door. “Let’s go see him about that.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Daring replied. Daring then proceeded to follow Twilight out of the castle library.