• Published 17th Dec 2011
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In Duty's Name - Cloudhammer



A Royal Guard pegasus gets more than he bargained for on his last deployment

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03 - Questions and Answers

Chapter 3 – Questions and Answers

Twilight blinked blearily and rubbed her eyes with her hooves, clearing her vision before looking out the window again. Sure enough, the specks in the distance were real, and it looked like a few of them were drawing closer. Shaking her head, she rolled out of bed and stretched. Looking around, she saw Spike’s bed was empty and the light in the stairwell was lit.

“Spike! SPIIIIKE!” She shouted as she levitated a brush to comb her bed-mane into some semblance of order.

The purple dragon, downstairs in the kitchen making breakfast, looked up towards the ceiling in exasperation. “Couldn’t she just come down and talk normally, instead of shouting at me all the time?” he muttered before shouting back. “What’s up Twi?”

“Did we get a letter from the Princess this morning?” came the shouted reply, the sound of hoofsteps on the stair indicating that she was finished straightening up.

“No, unless she decided to send one through some other means.” He replied sarcastically.

“Very funny Spike” Twilight laughed as she nosed open the door to the kitchen, her stomach growling as the smell of breakfast hit her nose. “That smells delicious.”

Spike smiled proudly at the compliment. “Thanks, it’s my world famous haycakes, with some fresh carrots on the side!”

Laughing at her assistant’s exaggeration of his admittedly good skill at cooking; her face grew somber as she remembered what she saw out her bedroom window. “But seriously Spike, I saw what looked like a bunch of chariots leaving Canterlot in a hurry, it looked like a couple were coming this way. What if the Princess is going on a tour of Equestria? Ohmygosh, Ponyville’s closest to Canterlot, what if she comes here first! The library’s not clean; the town’s in no way presentable either!” She started to hyperventilate, before trying to bolt for the door. Spike reached it first and slammed it closed a second ahead of her.

Shaking his head with another sigh, Spike looked up at Twilight, who comically stuck to the door for a few seconds before falling flat on her back. He bent over her head, green eyes staring into her purple ones intently. “Look Twilight, if it was something really important, I’m sure Princess Celestia would have sent a letter, and even if it is and she didn’t, there’s no point to getting all worked up over it. I’m sure we’ll find out what’s going on sooner or later.”

Taking a few deep breaths, Twilight smiled before rolling over and getting back to her hooves. “Thanks Spike, I guess I did overreact a bit.” The dragon snorted before walking back to the stool. “Okay, I guess I overreacted a lot. But it still worries me, I’ve never seen that many chariots leave Canterlot at once before.”

Spike shrugged. “Well, like I said, we’ll find out sooner or later what’s going on. Now, eat some haycakes before you try to fly off the handle again. We don’t want what happened when Celestia sent you those two tickets to the Gala last year to happen again, remember?”

Twilight laughed, her stomach growling its displeasure at not being fed yet. “Definitely not.” Further conversation was interrupted by the two digging into their breakfast with gusto. A few minutes went by before a frantic knocking drew an irritated sigh from the unicorn, who got to her hooves and walked to the door, opening it with a flicker of magic to reveal a cyan pegasus fluttering anxiously back and forth in front of the door. “What is it Rainbow?”

“Twilight, you’re not gonna believe this, but there’s Royal Guard chariots flying by, one looks like it’s heading for Cloudsdale, and two are coming this way!” Twilight pushed past Rainbow and looked up, sure enough there were two chariots coming almost directly at them. One was a two-pony chariot carrying two unicorns, drawn by two armored pegasi. The other was a much larger chariot, one that Twilight usually saw carrying the Princess, but it was empty, and pulled by 4 pegasi. The two-pony chariot was turning, angling to land in front of the town hall, while the larger one was diving, pulling up sharply before landing, rolling to a stop directly in front of them. The pegasi unhitched themselves, conferring briefly before one leaped into the air and sped off towards the Everfree Forest. One watched them leave, before turning his flinty, blue-eyed gaze onto Twilight, who instinctively took a half step back. The Royal Guards had always unnerved her during her studies in Canterlot, their ability to stand perfectly still for hours before abruptly leaping into motion being particularly terrifying to a young filly. The pegasus stretched his wings before folding them against his sides with a sharp precision. “Twilight Sparkle?” His voice was firm, razor-edged, and sounded as if its owner was used to having its commands obeyed without hesitation.

“Y-Yes, what c-can I do for you g-gentlecolts?” she stammered out.

“I’m Captain Cloudhammer. Princess Celestia has dispatched us to bring you and the other Bearers of Elements of Harmony to Canterlot immediately. Where can we find the other Bearers?” He took a few steps toward her, his steel-hard gaze boring into her.

“U-Ummm…” She tried to get her mouth working, but it felt like all the nerves that took her thoughts from her brain to her mouth had decided to pack up and take a vacation.

“We don’t have time to waste, where are the other Bearers?” the captain’s eyes narrowed in annoyance, before Twilight’s vision was obscured by a cyan mass as Rainbow Dash interposed herself between the two.

“Now wait just one minute! Nopony gets away with scaring one of my friends! Now back off!” Rainbow’s eyes were burning with anger, and her wings flared in challenge. The captain looked at her, taking in her stance, before turning his gaze back to where Twilight was behind her.

“Miss Sparkle, time is of the esse…” He never got to finish as Rainbow moved again, her wings fluttering in her anger as she continued to berate the captain. “Hold on! I ain’t finished with you yet! You may think you’re all important because you get to wear that fancy gold armor, but without it you’re just like any other pegasus.” Cloudhammer’s left eye twitched, and his head turned very slightly towards Rainbow. Rainbow continued, not even noticing the slight flaring of the captain’s wings or the other two pegasi taking a step back. “You know what I think? I think you’re just a coward and a bully who likes picking on ponies just because they…” She was cut off as she suddenly found herself nose to nose with the captain, the ice blue orbs smoldering with a barely suppressed rage. “Are you quite done, Miss Dash? You are perfectly entitled to whatever opinion you want to have of the Guards, but you will not insult them so in my presence, do I make myself clear? Now, I’m not a fan of repeating myself Miss Sparkle; we need the other Bearers of the Elements.”

Rainbow felt her wings snap in against her side. She had always thought the Royal Guards were just stiff-backed ponies who got trained to stand in one place without moving for hours and to show no emotion at all. The pony glaring at her from the end of her nose was something else entirely, his posture and expression telling her that if she continued, he’d take her down in far less than ten seconds. Finally breaking the eye contact, Rainbow took a few steps back and sat down, staring at the dirt.

Twilight, mouth agape, tried to process the blur of activity she’d just seen. Like Rainbow, she had never seen a guardpony show any emotion other than a stern glare or forced politeness, and seeing one displaying anger derailed her normally organized thought process. She suddenly realized he had addressed her, and shook her head to clear her thoughts. “Rarity would be over at Carousel Boutique, Pinkie Pie is probably at Sugarcube Corner right now, Fluttershy would be at her cottage and Applejack is out at her farm.”

Nodding once, Cloudhammer turned to the two pegasi standing at attention behind him. “Second Lieutenant Breeze, bring Rarity and Pinkie Pie here. Dawn, Fluttershy and Applejack are all yours.” The two nodded in unison and took off, heading off towards different parts of town. Idly looking back at Rainbow, he asked in his usual deadpan tone, “Are you going to behave yourself now Miss Dash?”

Rainbow could think of a few things she’d rather do, but she’d totally underestimated the pegasus. The memory of the look in his eyes was sufficient to deter her from trying any of her ideas. “Ugh, fine, whatever.”

“Thank you, and I apologize for my outburst, it was unprofessional and will not happen again. But I advise that you start learning to control that temper. It’ll get you in more trouble than you can deal with.”

Twilight, watching the whole exchange, coughed to remind everypony that she was still there. “Well, if we’re all done with that, why are you here Captain? Did something happen to the Princess? Why hasn’t she…?” Cloudhammer cut her off with a gesture.

“Everything will be explained once we’ve assembled everypony and return to Canterlot. Those are my orders ma’am.”

Twilight wanted to press further, but thought better of it, and instead tried to remember the steps she had read in that book on defusing hostile situations with authority figures. “Well, while we wait, can I get you anything to eat? Spike and I were eating breakfast and I’m sure he won’t mind making a few extra haycakes.”

Her smile immediately faded as Cloudhammer shook his head sharply. “I appreciate the offer Miss Sparkle, but there simply is no time.” His ear flicked and his head turned in time to see a white unicorn with a deep purple mane and tail trot around the corner, a half-packed set of saddlebags on her back, while a pink earth pony bounced excitedly along, talking nonstop to the armored pegasus overhead, who had obviously settled into the thousand-hoof stare to tune her out.

The white unicorn trotted up to Twilight and with a huff levitated her bags off her back and began repacking them. “Twilight, you simply will not believe the rudeness of our ‘guests’. Not only did he refuse to knock on my kitchen door, but he would not let me finish selecting an appropriate array of dresses for whatever situation they may be dragging us into, and on that note, he refused to even tell me why it was so important for me to leave. Thank Celestia Sweetie Belle is staying with our parents.” She took a deep breath to continue ranting, but was interrupted by Pinkie Pie, who zipped over from her very one-sided conversation with Soft Breeze, who sagged in relief at the newfound quiet.

“OOH! Twilight, you’re not gonna believe what happened this morning! Well, you might since there’s another pegasus here like that one, but we’re all gonna get to go visit Celestia and Luna in Canterlot! Maybe I’ll be able to throw Luna a Sorry-For-Making-You-Sad-On-Nightmare-Night party!!! What kind of decorations would that need though? Definitely some streamers…” The pink pony seemed to be inexhaustible, continuing to speak long after any other pony would have run out of air.

Cloudhammer leaned over to Soft Breeze and whispered, “Any trouble with those two?”

Soft Breeze looked over with a shell-shocked expression, “She doesn’t stop talking, sir. And for that matter, she kept disappearing and reappearing in places she had no business being, like on top of roofs. ROOFS sir! It’s like she didn’t even cross the space in between.”

Cloudhammer narrowed his eyes, certain that Breeze was just exaggerating, only for the two pegasi to be pushed aside as Pinkie Pie suddenly stood up between them. “So, what were you two whispering about? Because if you’re trying to throw Princess Luna a surprise party too, we oughta plan it together, dontcha think? That way it’ll be super duper fun and…”

Cloudhammer cut her off with a hoof. “Miss Pie, there will not be a party for Princess Luna. Our orders are simply to collect all the ponies Princess Celestia asked for and to return them to Canterlot as soon as possible.”

Pinkie Pie’s eyes narrowed and her smile seemed to disappear into a harsh frown, her expression now one completely at odds with the bubbling personality that had been present only a second earlier. Cloudhammer was actually unnerved slightly by the sight, taking a half-step back before realizing it and stopping himself. The two ponies glared at each other for a few seconds more, everypony else present holding their breath, Pinkie’s friends because they remembered what happened the last time she got like this; Soft Breeze because the last time he’d seen Cloudhammer get like this was when a recruit from his class had insulted the Captain’s wife. Neither group wanted to see their respective memory play out again.

Cloudhammer stared his best instructor’s stare into the eyes of the pony in front of him, but she seemed to take it and deliver a stare just as effective back. The tension became an almost tangible force before suddenly Pinkie’s eyes sprang back to their usual shine and a huge smile broke out on her face. “Okie dokey lokey!” And she promptly zipped back over to her friends, starting to babble again at Twilight about getting her help with any last-minute decorations in case they did end up throwing a party for Luna. He sighed, and felt a single bead of sweat drip off his muzzle onto the dirt. The mare might be young, but he hadn’t seen a stare that intense since his training instructor Captain Stormhoof, who to this day he still remembered with a twinge of trepidation. His train of thought was broken by the sound of two pairs of wings and a set of hooves as Singing Dawn rounded the corner, escorting a pale yellow pegasus with a pink mane and an orange earth pony with a corn yellow mane and a cowpony hat set firmly on her head.

“Excellent work Dawn, once First Lieutenant Spark returns we’ll be able to depart. Miss Sparkle, I ask that you fetch the dragon Spike, Celestia asked that he come as well.”

Twilight was getting more and more confused by the second, but turned and trotted to the library door, starting to draw a breath to shout for her assistant, before a thought struck her and she looked to the right of the door to see Spike standing there, a sheepish look on his face. “And just what are you doing here?”

Spike stepped away from the wall, claws scraping against each other as he tried to think of a good reason for eavesdropping. “Well, I, that is, um… I was just taking… notes! That’s it! Notes, so that in case you needed to remember anything going on later!” The baby dragon smiled proudly at his own excuse, right before he felt the familiar tingle of Twilight’s magic pick him up and drop him on her back.

“So if you were taking notes, how come you don’t have a quill or parchment with you?” Spike’s smile suddenly fell as he realized the flaw in his plan. The assembled friends all started laughing as Spike’s face turned a bright scarlet. Cloudhammer snorted and turned his head to check the main street, seeing Willow Spark making his way towards them, a black and white figure beside him with a number of gold hoops on her foreleg, more around her neck, and one more in each ear, as well as a small bag slung over her back. As they drew closer, the excited conversation of the mares quieted and Twilight trotted up to the pair. “Hello Zecora, what are you doing here?”

“Twilight my dear, it is good to see you. But from what this pegasus has told me, something strange is going on that needs attending to.”

Cloudhammer tilted his head slightly, confused by the zebra’s odd method of speaking, before trotting forward to interrupt. “Now that everypony is present, we must return to Canterlot at once. If you all would please board the chariot, we’ll be leaving momentarily.” Rainbow Dash looked ready to protest, but a hard glare from Cloudhammer reminded her of what he’d done to her earlier, and with a sullen look she complied as well. Once Cloudhammer was certain everypony was secure, he and the other Guards hitched themselves back into the chariot and took off, angling upwards to gain some altitude before leveling off and heading towards Canterlot. While Cloudhammer and the others remained silent and focused on getting to the city as quickly as possible, the mares, dragon and zebra in the chariot kept up a constant stream of dialogue.

“So Twilight, do ya’ll know what these here guard ponies want with all of us?” Applejack asked, her frustration and concern evident.

“Unfortunately not, I tried to ask the Captain in charge, but all he’d tell me was that we’d be told everything once we arrive in Canterlot. I can only assume it’s something important, since this morning I saw a lot of chariots departing Canterlot in all directions.” Twilight replied, the worry written plain as day across her face.

Fluttershy was trying to pay attention to what her friend was saying, though she seemed more interested in hiding below the edge of the chariot next to Zecora, her face beginning to show a greenish tinge at the speed at which they were traveling. Zecora turned to look at the pony, concern clear on her face. “Fluttershy my gentle pony, I think I have just the thing for that airsick tummy.” With that, she turned her head, pulling a small pouch from her bag and extracting a small pill from it. Fluttershy gingerly took it, sniffed at it once before popping it into her mouth and swallowing it. Her face immediately scrunched up in a grimace at the awful taste of the medicine, but within moments the green had faded from her face and she smiled up at the zebra. “Thank you. That feels much better.” Zecora smiled back. “Not a problem my dear, though I am surprised that you would get airsick up here.” Fluttershy hid her head in embarrassment behind her mane. “Well, it’s just that I don’t normally fly this fast, and the rocking of the chariot isn’t helping either.” She admitted quietly.

“All I know is that Cloudhammer guy is a real jerk. Somepony needs to teach him a lesson.” Rainbow muttered, still smarting over being so effortlessly being stared down by the other pegasus.

“Now Rainbow my dear, just because somepony comes across as abrasive, does not mean that you need to be as well. Do remember that the good Captain is a member of the Equestrian Royal Guard, I’ve heard rumors from the times I’ve been in Canterlot that the training to advance from First Lieutenant to Captain is particularly tough.” Rarity assured, fussing with her hair as the wind kept trying to blow it in every direction at once.

“Aww, he didn’t seem so bad!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “I bet he’d be really good at a staring contest. Do you think he’d join in if I asked him?” And without waiting for a reply, she tried to push her way to the front of the chariot to ask, but was held back by Applejack.

“Settle down there Sally, ah reckon we’ll just have to wait and see what’s goin on when we get there, right Twi?”

“I suppose so…” Twilight said as she turned her worried gaze towards Canterlot, the city spires growing steadily larger.

Celestia paced back and forth, glancing out the window every few minutes to see if she could see Cloudhammer returning with Twilight, her friends and Zecora. Her normally benign expression was twisted into one of concern, which by itself showed how much the current crisis bothered her. She had just gotten out of a meeting with the representatives of the major cities from around Equestria, all of whom were demanding information on how she and her sister intended to solve the crisis swiftly. She had explained that she had the some of the brightest minds from the School for Gifted Unicorns working with them to devise a solution. The representatives had seemed wary of her solution, but had accepted it based on her authority and because frankly, what other option was there? Celestia had always guided Equestria through all the years that the representatives could remember, so what reason would there be to consider this crisis any different from the others?

Afterwards, Celestia had ordered the throne room closed so she could clear her head before the Bearers arrived. Although, the other reason she needed some time to herself was that she was still trying to figure out the way to resolve the situation. Despite every spell she had cast to try to identify the source of the disturbance, not one had uncovered anything. The latest report from Bastion in the Archives had turned up absolutely nothing either. It was as if the effect had appeared entirely at random and disappeared as randomly. She had even tested for a possible connection to Discord, but the area lacked even the smallest trace of the draconequus’ particular blend of magic. She was starting to wonder if there truly was no precedent for the effect. And once that thought entered her head, she felt a twinge of real fear run up her spine, something she hadn’t felt since Discord had broken free of his stone prison.

Looking out the window again, she sighed in relief as the sight of Cloudhammer’s chariot banked from behind a cloud and arrowed in, making sure that it approached from an angle so as to ensure as few ponies as possible would see its approach. She smiled with pride at the realization that Cloudhammer had thought ahead enough to try to avoid causing any more panic than would be necessary. She turned to start making her way back towards her throne when abruptly a strange feeling came over her. Stopping in place, she cast out her magic, the aura sweeping over the floor of the throne room, when she felt it. About twenty hooves in front of the throne, her magic suddenly withered and vanished. She carefully made her way towards it, only to leap back as the area suddenly expanded, spreading outwards at an alarming rate. Celestia cast out a barrier spell, only to watch in shock as the expanding effect hit the spell and went right through it, the magic fraying and vanishing almost instantly. She looked to the window, preparing to leap through it to make her escape, when she suddenly froze. Her mind raced as she thought of the palace staff who would be going about their business just outside the throne room. They wouldn’t have any warning or know what hit them. She could not, would not let harm come to them because of her own fear. She turned back to the effect, furrowing her eyebrows in concentration as her horn began to glow. As the effect continued to come closer, devouring her sensing spell as it came, Celestia drew as much power as she had in her into her horn, the glow becoming painfully bright. She reached out, using her mystical link with the sun to augment her own power with its fire, causing the glow to become tinged by flickers of spectral flame, and her eyes to burn a brilliant white. Inside her mind, a thunderstorm of raw magical energy swirled, desperately trying to find a means of escape. Lowering her head, Celestia opened the floodgates and let all the power come out at once, a blinding column of light as thick as a tree trunk striking the edge of the field like a thunderbolt. For a moment, the two held each other perfectly, and then the field began to recede, a hoof, then two, then two more until it stopped at twenty-five hooves across. Suddenly the raw energy surging out of her ran out, leaving the throne room silent and Celestia on the verge of collapse from exerting that much effort all at once. She looked up, a grim smile on her face, expecting to see the field gone or still shrinking, and felt a surge of true terror, an emotion she hadn’t felt since Discord returned from his stone prison as the field sluggishly began to expand again. “No, that’s impossible.” She tried to stagger back from it but fell flat onto her haunches. She closed her eyes, waiting for the field to wash over her. When a minute had gone by, she opened her eyes to see that the tattered remnants of her sensing spell showed the field had stopped expanding at thirty hooves across.

She managed to get to her hooves and started pondering this new revelation. If the fields could be overwhelmed by an enormous surge of magic, then perhaps there could be a way to safeguard Equestria. But if even her sun-augmented magic on its own wasn’t enough, that meant they would need her strength, Luna’s, and perhaps even the Elements in order to make it work. But that would only work if they were at the location of each field, if more than one showed up, they’d something to amplify and channel the spell’s power. “Some sort of amplifier…” She muttered to herself. “Wait… some kind of resonance booster.” Shutting her eyes again, she cast her mind back through her memories, to when she and several unicorns from the School had been undergoing a restoration effort on some of the oldest records in the Archives. Bastion Yorsets had been working on a series of scrolls pertaining to ancient pre-Equestrian ponies, and had found something interesting. She allowed herself to relive the memory as if it were happening in front of her closed eyes.

“Princess! You won’t believe what I’ve found!” Bastion’s familiar bellow cut through the dim light in the storage room.

Celestia looked up from the scrolls she was in the middle of carefully cleaning. “What is it Bastion my dear?”

Hurrying over, a damaged scroll in his magic’s gentle grasp, Bastion came up in front of her and sat down; taking a deep breath before turning the scroll so she could see. “It’s a record from nearly 500 years before you and your sister came to rule, of a time when a terrible plague was ravaging the land. A pony could fall ill, be healed from a spell, then the next day fall ill again from his neighbor, because apparently the disease changed so rapidly that healing spells couldn’t keep up. Eventually, the number of victims became so great that the unicorns were on the verge of giving up. Then, a mysterious black and white traveler from the west came.” She peered closer and recognized the crude drawing as being similar to the zebra that Twilight Sparkle had written to her about some time ago, Zecora she believed the name was. Bastion continued speaking, “It appears that this zebra had heard of the ponies’ plight, and offered her knowledge of her people’s ritual lines to channel power to combine with the unicorn’s healing magic and amplify it, allowing their spell to cure all the disease at once with an overload of power. The project took many weeks to complete, but when it was cast, it was said the glow from the lines was bright enough to turn night into day across the land. When the spell finally burned itself out, the unicorns were overjoyed to see that no trace of the plague remained. The traveler lived for a time in Equestria, teaching a few unicorns what she could, before returning to her homeland.”

Celestia smiled. “That is quite the account Bastion, is there anything in the records on the structure of these ritual lines?” At this, the unicorn’s smile fell.

“I’m afraid not Princess, there was apparently a rough sketch of the lines on the rest of the scroll, but as you can see, I’m afraid time has taken its toll.”

“I see, what a shame. Well, continue on then Bastion, an excellent find.” Celestia smiled warmly at the unicorn, who practically beamed as he trotted off. The memory swirled into a formless mass, joining the countless others in the alicorn’s mind. Celestia opened her eyes again, seeing that the field had not increased in size. She began thinking furiously, not noticing the sound of the rear door behind the throne opening. Her train of thought broke as she saw a familiar purple shape coming out from behind the throne…

Once the chariot had landed, Cloudhammer and the other pegasi unhitched themselves. Cloudhammer conferred briefly with them, and they took off again, flying towards a squat, square-edged building at the back of the castle. Turning towards the passengers, he trotted towards them as they started to get off.

Twilight was the first one off. “Captain, why did we land back here? Shouldn’t we have landed much closer to the throne room?”

“Perhaps, but given the situation I felt that it would be more prudent to avoid giving anypony more cause for alarm. This way we can use the Guard passages to reach the throne room without incident. If you all will please follow me.” With that, Cloudhammer turned and made his way to the tall wall that was the back of the palace. Trotting up to a seemingly blank section of wall, he reached out with a hoof and pushed. Rainbow Dash was about to utter a protest of the futility of trying to push down the wall when suddenly a door sized part swung open silently. The passage it revealed was dimly lit, going into the depths of the palace.

Looking over his shoulder, Cloudhammer gave a wry smile. “Would you like me to send you an invitation? It’s best to not keep Celestia waiting.” With that, he trotted into the darkness and vanished.

Twilight looked nervously at the others, trying to smile bravely, but it was obviously forced. “Well, you heard him. Best get moving.” She trotted into the passage after him.

As she entered, the rest of the group slowly made their way in. The passage floor was well worn from countless hooves, the walls surprisingly far enough apart for them to make their way though in single file without feeling crowded, despite the narrow doorway. Without warning, the door suddenly swung closed, leaving the group to travel in near-total darkness for an agonizing few minutes before suddenly another door in front of them swung open, revealing a main passage of the castle. Blinking their eyes at the sudden return of light, they realized that there was a small door in front of them emblazoned with the seal of the Princesses. Cloudhammer made his way over to it and pulled it open with his teeth, motioning with a hoof for them to go in. As they passed through the door, they realized that they were in the throne room, just on the opposite side they were used to entering. The back of the impressive throne stood before them, and as the group came out from behind it, they saw Celestia sitting on her haunches near the throne room’s main entrances, what looked like sweat on her coat, and an exhausted expression coloring her features.

Twilight and Cloudhammer froze, each of them trying to process the sight in front of them, before starting to gallop across the room towards her. Twilight found her voice first and shouted “Princess! Are you alright, what happened…” They both skidded to a halt as Celestia snapped her head up and shouted with a note of actual fear in her voice.

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE, CAPTAIN, STAY WHERE YOU ARE!” The princess’ eyes were wide open, the expression of fear on her face so out of place that they would have stopped even if Celestia hadn’t said anything at all.

“Princess, what’s wrong?” This came from both Cloudhammer and Twilight’s voice at almost precisely the same time, the two glancing at each other for a second before their eyes returned to the alicorn.

“Cloudhammer, I need you to walk behind me, follow the wall to the main doors. Tell the guards that the doors are not to be opened until I say otherwise.” Celestia said in an authoritative tone, one the girls had rarely heard before.

Cloudhammer looked confused for a moment before a sudden dawn of comprehension swept over him. “It happened again, didn’t it?” Giving the spot on the floor Celestia had been looking at a long glare, he skirted his way along the walls until he had reached the main door. Pushing it open, he exchanged brief words with an unseen guard before the door swung shut. Turning back to Celestia, he nodded once and she allowed herself to relax slightly. “How big is it?”

“Thirty hooves across, the center point is about twenty hooves in front of the base of the throne.” Celestia followed Cloudhammer as they followed the wall back to where the group waited anxiously, Twilight managing to hold herself back until the princess finally nodded that it was ok, before lunging forward to press herself against the alicorn’s legs.

“Princess, what in the world is going on? I saw the chariots leaving Canterlot, and then Captain Cloudhammer here showed up and rounded us up and brought us all here, but won’t tell us anything and I was so worried and…” Twilight’s rambling was forestalled by a warm smile and nuzzle from the much taller alicorn.

“I think, given the fact that it’s still here, that your questions will be best answered by casting a detection spell towards the area in front of the throne.” Celestia said quietly, looking more tired than anypony present could recall. Twilight frowned, but her horn lit as an invisible wave of magic flowed out toward the spot on the floor. She abruptly yelped and leaped back as her horn stopped glowing. She stood there, panting for a few moments before falling onto her haunches with a thud.

At this, Applejack hurried over, peering intently into her friend’s eyes. “Twilight, ya’ll ok? Ya look like ya seen some kind of ghost.”

Twilight took a few more seconds to get herself calmed down, nodded reassuringly to Applejack, and looked up at Celestia. “What in the world was that? My magic just… just…”

Celestia nodded at her chain of logic. “Just ceased to exist once it crossed the threshold.” The alicorn turned her head to include the rest of the group. “Last evening, a strange phenomenon appeared in the streets of Canterlot. A unicorn who accidentally entered its area of effect lost the ability to cast magic, and even his own inner source of magic began to drain out. Twilight, Rarity, you in particular should realize how serious that makes it. However, it appears that things are far more serious than I had previously thought. Despite the best efforts of Bastion Yorsets from the School for Gifted Unicorns and Captain Flare of the Unicorn Guards, as well as every identifying spell I could think of, the nature and source of the phenomenon remains unknown. Furthermore, it’s not just the unicorn who was affected by this, but the actual stones and earth within the affected area began to lose their ambient magic. This is especially worrisome to me, since it implies that all ponies could be affected by this, with pegasi losing their ability to fly and earth ponies losing their connection with the land and growing things.” The group’s faces all began to show their realizations of just how dire the situation was.

For a few agonizing moments nopony spoke, until Zecora raised her head and took a step forward. “Forgive me for asking Princess Celestia, but surely you have some plan in mind to help save Equestria?”

Celestia smiled a bit and nodded. “Indeed so. In the oldest section of the Archives, where records from well before the reign of my sister and I can be found, there was a partial account of a vast and terrible plague that resisted all attempts to cure it by the unicorns of the time. However, as they were on the verge of giving up, a traveler from the west appeared who nopony had ever seen before. This traveler, whose coat was a strange combination of black and white, offered her experience in ritual lines to help the beleaguered ponies, and together with the unicorns forged a massive array of lines that channeled and supercharged the unicorn’s powers to eradicate the disease in one instant.” The group looked up as they started to realize what Celestia was getting at. “Therefore, Zecora, I would ask if you have any knowledge of these ritual lines or, failing that, if you would consider escorting the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony to your homeland to find a zebra who does.”

As one, everypony’s eyes turned to the zebra, only to see that she seemed conflicted, and even the slightest bit sad. Finally, she lifted her gaze to meet Celestia’s. “Knowledge of these lines was sadly not taught to me, and my homeland I had sworn to never again see. But if the situation is as grave as you describe, then I shall forsake my oath and show the Bearers to my birth tribe.” The resignation and bitterness in her voice was palpable, and Celestia felt a pang of regret for asking so much of the zebra in so short a time.

“I thank you Zecora, and extend my deepest apologies for asking this of you. But if these phenomenon continue spreading, the safety of all Equestria’s citizens is at risk, and that is something I cannot allow.”

Twilight, who had been tapping a hoof against her chin in thought, suddenly asked, “But Princess, how would these ritual lines help? If the phenomenon prevents all magic, then the ritual lines would meet with the same result.”

Celestia smiled at her student softly. “I believe that if we can use these ritual lines to trace out a boundary to encompass all the locations that have been affected by these… anti-magic fields, then we can channel the power of the Elements of Harmony, the combined power of the most powerful unicorns from the School, and the power of my sister and I to overload the fields with so much power that even they cannot cancel them out. I know it’s a risky plan, but unfortunately no other viable option presents itself. However, I cannot in good faith order you to go…” Her voice dried up as all 6 Bearers took a step forward at the same time, their faces resolute.

“You can count on us Princess.” Twilight said.

“Shoot, I couldn’t leave good ponies in harm’s way and be able to look at mahself in the mirror.” Applejack stated.

“Why, without magic I would never be able to finish all my beautiful designs!” Rarity exclaimed.

“Parties without magic aren’t any fun at all!” Pinkie Pie giggled.

“I’m not about to leave Equestria hanging when it needs help!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Um… I couldn’t stand to see other ponies get hurt, so I guess I’ll go too… that is, if it’s ok… I mean, I know it’s ok, so I’ll definitely go too.” Fluttershy stammered out.

“I’m going where Twilight goes. Besides, without me how’d she be able to send you letters? We all know what happened the last time she didn’t send you one.” Spike quipped, with an annoyed glare from Twilight.

Celestia had to look away for a moment, her eyes trying to tear up at the selfless determination of the ponies assembled in front of her. Once her rebellious eyes were under control, she turned back to the group. “Thank you my little ponies, I have every confidence in your ability to…” She was interrupted by a very gentle cough. Turning her head, her magenta eyes were met by a pair of turquoise orbs. “Zecora?”

“Forgive my interruption Celestia, but my homeland is not like Equestria. Many perils and beasts lurk there, and may be too dangerous for a group of mares.”

“Hmmm, I suppose assembling a team of unicorns and pegasi to act as an escort wouldn’t be too out of the question…” The alicorn mused, before turning her head as a snort of dismissal was heard. Cloudhammer took a few steps forward.

“Princess, may I have a word?” Cloudhammer walked a few feet away, stopping next to one of the windows. Celestia followed him, coming up next to him as he gestured for her to lower her head. “If I may speak frankly, trying to pull even a two pony team from the unicorn and pegasus guards will adversely affect the deployments Flare and I devised. The Guard simply does not have the numbers that we did in the past” Raising a hoof as Celestia’s eyebrow lifted, he continued, “While I understand that as overt threats to Equestria diminished, the funding that used to provide for the Guard had to be used elsewhere, we cannot spare more than at most one or two ponies to provide escort service.”

Celestia tilted her head, beginning to get an idea of what her captain was proposing, but wanting to hear it from his own mouth. “Then what would you suggest?”

“Allow me to accompany the Bearers as their escort. It will add a more official weight for when dealing with the any of the zebra leadership, not to mention the lack of information on the threats the Bearers may face during the journey. I can protect them from pretty much anything short of a dragon.”

“Are you sure you’re up to this? Perhaps a younger captain would serve…” Celestia wanted to simultaneously smile and tear up as Cloudhammer cut her off. She sincerely hoped that he would prove to be up to the burden that he was suggesting be placed on his shoulders.

“I’ll be honest Celestia, you and I both know that while the other captains have the requisite skills, they don’t have the same scope of experience that I do. If you want somepony else to go that’s your choice, but I know I’m up to the task.” He winked slyly. “Don’t worry yourself; this warhorse intends to put a few more years’ worth of service in before he hands over the reins to somepony else.”

Celestia kept her impassive face for a few more moments before sighing in resignation, turning a small smile towards her friend. “Very well Captain, consider your request granted. I expect you to act with the decorum and professionalism the Royal Guard stands for during this diplomatic mission.”

“Of course Princess… and thank you.” Cloudhammer bowed low enough for his chin to scrape the floor. The two then made their way back to the others, who had been whispering fervently.

Celestia tapped a hoof lightly on the floor, drawing everypony’s attention to her. “I have decided that given the importance of this mission, as well as the unknown perils that will face you all, Captain Cloudhammer of the Pegasus Royal Guard shall accompany you as an escort. He will also act as a direct representative of the throne in our absence. I expect you all to grant him the respect due his position.” The assembled mares all nodded seriously as Celestia leaned in close, a conspiratorial smirk on her face. “But don’t let him get too serious, he sometimes takes his duty so seriously.” She half whispered, and Cloudhammer rolled his eyes. “Now, I extend the hospitality of the palace to you all for the night, as half the day is already gone. I think Twilight’s old room from her days at the School would be more than capable of holding you all comfortably. I shall send Cloudhammer to wake you at dawn, so I recommend you all get a good night’s rest. Cloudhammer, I’d like you to go home as well, I’m sure Morning Sun would like to see some of her husband before you depart” The group all smiled and bowed, and Celestia escorted them towards the rear door, smiling as they all left before letting the door close behind them. Once she was certain she was alone, her smile faded as she looked back to the area of non-magic, watching as it slowly shrank in diameter until it was as if it never existed. “I hope that this isn’t mistake. It just can’t be… I couldn’t forgive myself if I allowed it to happen again.”