Agents of Discord

by KittyrinnAiko

Chapter 77 A romantic idiot

Aerie and her Luna slowly winged their way over the Everfree. Aerie had her armor in a pack, her hammer strapped to a belt, and despite the forest’s reputation, the trip had been quiet. She was also sporting a brand new N-sid ring, the old one having disintegrated.

“Local Manticores are probably too full of changelings to bother with us,” Luna offered as Ponyville came into site.

“Ordinarily I’d say don’t jinks it, but you may be right. I haven't seen anything beyond ordinary birds.”

“Who are you!” demanded a pegasus in Equestrian armor as he swooped in to challenge the two. Behind him, there were a half dozen more who were being careful not to get in too close.

“You were saying?” Luna asked Aerie.

“I’m Aerie, this is my mom. I have a house here in Ponyville.”

“Ya, well what were you doing yesterday?!”

“Fighting changelings in Canterlot.”

“If you were in Canterlot, what are you doing out here?”

“I was grappling with a particularly big ling when the purge hit. That spell swept out some ponies too you know.”

“Lieutenant Bean, there were reports of ponies being carried off.” Offered one of the other guards.

“Hey, I know her, leave her alone!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she swooped down.

“Aerie, tell me Scootaloo is alright?” Dash asked as the patrol went back to their designated route.

“She’s in London, or did you forget?”

“Oh, right, the sleepover. A lot has happened in the past three days. Knowing those three they are going to be sorry they missed all the fun. Funny you arranging that trip to another world the moment the dome went up.”

“Fun? You can call what happened fun? Honestly.”

“Don’t you tell them we got caught? All they understand at their age is adventure. What a grand adventure it must be to battle changelings they’d think and wonder if they could get a cutie mark in it.”

“Fair enough, and you were out like a light and getting cocooned when I blasted through.” A long moment of silence happened as Dash looked at her with an odd look. And then she saw it, it was just a little thing but the vortex coming off a hidden horn was as plain as day to Dash as an Apple tree to Applejack.

“I was not out, and I saw you get knocked on your flank. Still, though, that was totally awesome.”

“Playing possum was it? Fair enough.”

“Just waiting for an opening. Thanks for the opening. Twilight, Cadance, and a ragtag team of fighters came bursting in shortly after you exited. What you did… that was the most amazing thing ever. I didn’t know there were any other… don’t worry I won’t say anything. I mean, you are hiding that horn for a reason.”

“Ah… you can see it?”

“Vapor trail off the tip every so often. I saw that horn and you using it and I’d recognize that hammer anywhere after having seen it. And you did what Celestia couldn't. Are you seriously that much more powerful?”

“Princess Celestia has ten times the amount of raw power that I have.”

“Then how come she was so easily overwhelmed?”

“She held back. At least that’s my understanding,” Luna offered. “Nightfall cut a huge scar into her heart, so to speak. She’s afraid of what could happen if she were to cut loose the way Aerie did. Aerie isn’t afraid to use everything she’s got. That’s why I’m with her. She’d used too much manna so they sent for me to give her a boost.”

“Mother’s touch. Like that connection Scootaloo has with Aurora,” Aerie added.

“Dash, she put so much of herself into that fight that she could have died.”

“Hey! Get down here, we need to talk!” Applejack shouted from down below. The three fliers looked at each other, shrugged, and then landed.

“Um… hi,” Aerie offered.

“Don’t you lie to me.”

“All I said was hi?”

“Where’s Apple Bloom?”

“In the other dimension. We discussed this.”

“Funny you should come up with the idea the moment that shield went up over Canterlot. Funny you should decide to tag along as Twilight’s official escort even though – news flash – no pony assigned her an escort.”

“Funny how I was the only one who would support Twilight when she said that that fake was a monster,” Aerie filled in. Her tone was dry and business-like.

“Ya, we kind of screwed up there,” Dash offered.

“You knew! Didn’t you?!”

“Fox pony. We are good at predicting things. That and I could tell. Her aura was all dark and wonky looking.”

“Oh no, you don’t get to cop out that easily. This happened somewhere else didn’t it? Didn’t it!?”

“Alright, supposing it did. I couldn't very well say anything without proof. I’d intended to go fetch the real Cadance with Twilight so that we could out that fake. Never occurred to me they’d get the drop on me.”

“And I moved the Night Wing so they’d be within striking distance when the attack started.” Luna offered. “Applejack, in my world, I’m not a Princess Luna lookalike, I am Princess Luna.” She reached up with a wing and shut off the N-sid ring. “There are advantages to being able to travel into different dimensions.”

“Mom, shut that off before some pony sees it,” Aerie protested.

“Ha, I knew it! This is so awesome!” Dash all but squealed.

“Seriously?” AJ asked as she looked the two over.

“So long as I’m here, there is something that we need to talk to you about before the fillies get back,” Aerie prompted.

“And that would be?”

“The crusaders have received invitations to attend Hogwarts. It’s a magic school.”

“A magic school? Apple Bloom doesn’t need to be learning magic. She’s an Earth pony, not no fancy unicorn.”

“Applejack, you use magic every day.”

“Ah do not!”

“Your new apple trees grow to full size in one season. When you buck a tree only the ripe apples fall out, and they all land in the bushels. How is that not using magic? It’s not unicorn magic, but it’s still magic.”

“Ah…”

“Now you’ve done it, you broke her.”

“I been using magic? Quit laughing Dash, it ain’t funny!”

“I’d say it’s sort of a subconscious type of magic,” Luna offered. “Deep down surely you must know you are doing it. You just never really thought about it. Kind of like how pegasi move clouds around and make dwelling out of them. After all, when was the last time you tried to do anything with a cloud?”

“Clouds just fall apart when I touch them, but I think I’m starting to understand. Still though, Granny would never approve. Heck, she thinks they are visiting Babs Seed in Manehatten. Will they even be safe there?”

“About as safe as living right next to the Everfree,” Aerie offered. “We still need to talk to Lofty and Holiday about Scootaloo, along with Sweetie’s parents. It’d be a wonderful opportunity for both of them. Look, it's not the best school, and if I thought they'd be in any serious danger I'd be the first to say no way, but like I said, it'd be a good opportunity.”

“But Scootaloo is just a pegasus,” Applejack scoffed.

“With a button horn.”

“A what?”

“A button horn, and don’t say anything to no pony,” Dash admonished.

“If she is allowed to exercise her magic that horn might start growing,” Luna pointed out.

“Scootaloo, our Scootaloo… an alicorn?” AJ asked like it was the most improbable thing she’d ever heard.

“In time. It is in the realm of possibilities.”

“Scootaloo?”

“And why not?” Dash asked in Scootaloo’s defense. “That filly is one awesome pony.”

“It takes time,” Aerie offered. “One doesn’t become a pony like Princess Celestia in an instant. The real tragedy is that foals like Scootaloo often get abandoned.”

“Like her parents didn’t?” AJ scoffed.

“The jury is still out on that one. Truth is, they weren’t supposed to be gone that long. Heck, if they’d have bothered to let someone know what they were doing, something might have been done about it a lot sooner.”

“Hang on… does that mean they didn’t go down to the Yackatan?”

“They went with a team that was going to Mount Aris. And, well…” Aerie looked around. “They weren’t supposed to be gone any longer than a couple weeks. At the most. Considering their usual behavior, no pony would have noticed.”

“Ya, and I’m still kicking myself for not noticing that Scootaloo didn’t even have a place to live.”

“Stop kicking yourself over it, and go kick Big Mack.”

AJ laughed. “Ha! Not like I haven't had words with him.”

“Anyway, there is an ‘off the books’ expedition being put together to try to find out what happened to them. No promises though.”

“I see. And that school?”

“That’s up to your family to decide. If they go they’ll be away most of the year.”

“You mean like you are.”

“Pretty much. I’m going to the same school.”

“And what good would it do her to go to that school? She’s an Apple farmer after all.”

“They have herbology classes. She could be the next Mage Meadowbrook. She was an earth pony after all.”

“She was?”

“Missed that did you? A pony that uses magic, must be a unicorn, don’t need to know about unicorns and their ilk, shutting off brain now.”

“Hey, that’s kind of uncalled for.”

“Is it. If you aren’t careful you could end up just like Granny.”

“Granny is barricaded in the house, has a washboard strapped to her chest and a colander on her head.”

“OK, ya got me. No way you’d end up barricading yourself like that.”

“We gave them lings what for, didn’t we AJ?” Dash offered.

“Ya, up until someone turned the lights out on me.”

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I want to go home and spend the rest of the day doing nothing,” Aerie said.

“Just one more thing,” AJ cut in before Aerie and Luna could go on their way. “Just exactly when were you planning on telling me about the school?”

“I only just found out myself. They are supposed to live in England to go to that school. Not just be visiting. Next thing we know there’ll be letters flying out of my house inviting half of Equestria.”

“Ha, that’d be a mess,” Dash stated and then laughed. “Just picture it, all of Ponyville getting invited because they think we all live in her house.”

“Nope, they can leave me out of it,” AJ stated with a tone of finality.

“You need to be here for Twilight anyway. Both of you.” Aerie gave that a moment to sink in. “You can forget about the elements. You are lucky if they will even work for you given the strain on your relationship right now. Fix your friendship because the six of you need each other.”

“Princess Luna told us to go home,” AJ stated.

“Did she now?” Luna asked. “I’d imagine she had a very good reason to do it.”

“We didn’t even track her down until late in the afternoon, and then some butler says we can’t come in,” Dash offered.

“He let Spike in though,” AJ added. “And then Spike says we can’t come in.”

“What’s Twilight like when she’s worn herself to a frazzle?” Aerie asked.

“Kind of snippy, if you ask me,” Dash offered.

“So if you all had busted in on her when she was trying to sleep?” Luna pressed.

“She’d have bit our ears off, no doubt about it,” AJ admitted. “Granny and Mac were worried sick about me and did much the same when ah got home.”

“And Twilight needs time to make peace with her family,” said Aerie.

Twilight, Bernard, and Sandra made their way through the streets of Canterlot. Lings were still being gathered up and carted away, and rubble cleaned up. In truth, more than a few buildings bore witness to the battle that had taken place in the sky above.

“This was all Aerie’s doing?” Twilight asked of no one in particular.

“Did you not see it miss?” Asked a nearby stallion. “A white alicorn came out of nowhere and battled with the Queen of the Changelings.”

“I saw. I was right behind her all the way up to the Hall of the Sun. They’d taken her by stealth and guile, but they not knowing what sort of pony they had were careless, and she woke up. I and others had been cocooned and I owe her more than I could ever repay.”

“She walks among us?”

“Indeed she does, but this day was won not by one mare but by many ponies. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m looking for my parents. Mr and Mrs Sparkle?”

“Ah, you are almost there. One more block to go, and by this time next week you won’t even know anything happened around here.”

“Yes, thank you,” Twilight replied and continued down the street.

“Twilight! Thank Celestia you are alright.” Twilight Velvet called as she ran to embrace her daughter. “I’ve been so worried about you.”

“Afraid I’ve been going nonstop.”

“Which is totally you. So who are these ponies you have with you?”

“My handlers. Princess Luna wanted them to come with me… Mom, I got cocooned.”

“Oh… Twilight.” Velvet embraced her again.

“Twilie!”

Twilight looked up to see her father and suddenly he was embracing both of them.

“Twilight, your brother is here,” Night Light Sparkle informed her.

“So who are your two friends?” Velvet asked.

“This is Sandra and Bernard. Sandra is from the Castle’s clinic, and Bernard has been assigned to me by Princess Luna as sort of a butler slash bodyguard. She wanted them looking after me until she was sure I’d be alright.”

“Twilight, what do you mean she wants to be sure you’ll be alright?” Velvet asked.

“Mom, I got cocooned. A day, maybe two… And they don’t exactly feed their captives. One of the ponies in our group got free. They freed us, and then we made a break for it.” Twilight found herself getting the life squeezed out of her once more. “Mom! Gasp-cough.”

“Mrs Sparkle, please…” Sandra prompted.

“My baby girl is not so delicate that a hug is going to kill her,” Velvet protested. But she did let go.

“At the time I’d no idea what was happening outside and could only think that if I can get Cadance, the real Cadance, to Princess Celestia she would have to admit that I was right and do something…”

“Oh, Twilight...”

“What matters is that you and everyone else is safe now,” Her father pointed out. “But tell me, who was that mysterious Alicorn?”

“In truth, she’s a fox pony. Princess Luna says she’s an Alicorn, but I don’t think it's the same for fox ponies. Anyway, she hides her horn with an enchantment, and I suspect that was the Changeling’s undoing. That specific pony I’m to understand is a curse breaker and for the lings to miss her horn was, for them, a fatal mistake. She spearheaded our drive. I saw the Night Wing overhead once we’d broken out into the open. No idea who thought to have them in place, but maybe Princess Celestia had moved them into place because of the threat status. - You said Shiny is here?”

“Working out his frustration by hauling away loads of rubbish. Afraid we are just tossing everything that can’t be repaired or reused over the escarpment. Come on, let’s see if we can’t find him.”

They found Shining Armor a short time later. He was pulling a dump cart, and he was sweaty and covered in dust.

“Twi… Twilight.” He dropped his head, his ear drooping telegraphing his shame.

“It’s alright, you are still my BBBFF,” Twilight offered. “I, um, I’d offer to hug you but I think I’ll take a dust check on that.”

“You mean rain check, don’t you?”

“No, I’d say dust is right,” his mother teased. “You are filthy.”

“So, how is Cadance?”

“You haven't been to see her?” he asked.

“After the two of you cast that spell I went to the infirmary to get something to clear my lungs. I ended up making the potion I needed myself and spent the rest of the day making potion for every pony that needed it. I woke up the next morning in my tower in the castle.”

“Twilight, I’ve been relieved of command.”

“I heard. It’s temporary. You take some time, pass your physical, and you’ll be back in charge.”

“And Cadance? How could I not see it?”

“As I said before being dismissed, she was doing something to you. You have nothing to be ashamed of, or to apologize for. It was your love, and her love, that made the two of you such sweet targets.”

“I don’t know where I stand with her right now. Was it even her I proposed to? Everything happened so fast.”

“My advice to you is to get your flank back up there and propose all over again if that’s what it takes.”

“I should shower…”

“No, get up there. Right now. In all your sweaty stinky dusty glory. Get up there, get down on your knee, and ask her.”

“You are right,” he stated as he raised his head and took a step forward.

“Leave the cart.”

“Right. Leave the cart.” He quickly unhitched himself, Gave Twilight a hug, and took off at a gallop.

“Well, now that I’m all dirty, what can I do?” Twilight asked and then laughed.

As for Shining Armor Sparkle, he continued following the streets that wound their way upwards to Canterlot Castle, Mares and even a few stallions swooning as he passed such was his beefy luster.

“Sir, you can’t?!” Like bowling pins the guards fell.

“Captain Armor, you can’t just barge your way in!” Shouted an officer. Attempts to stun him only met his force shield as he plowed his way through the guard. Indeed by the time he’d managed to get past the front doors into the grand foyer of the keep, he’d no less than a dozen members of the guard hanging off him.

And there she was. As cliche as possible, at the top of the grand stairs.

“Cadance!” Shining Armor called out in frantic desperation as the guard threatened to drag him down. “Will you marry me?”

“Of course, I’ll marry you. What are you doing, you silly colt?”

“I wasn’t sure if it was you I’d asked.”

“Could you be any more romantic? Yes, I’ll marry you.”

In the hall, gathered for a news conference photographers began taking pictures even as Shining Armor finally collapsed from the guards on top of him. She rushed to him, poked her nose into the pony pile, and kissed him.

And that’s all it took for him to stand up and shake off the guards.

Author's Note:

Merry Christmas everyone.

I'm posting this early as a Christmas bonus.

Comments

[ToMahkAros]

Noice! Merry Christmas!!!

[Theresa hall]

The shining armor part was cool.

[harts fire]

such a amazing chapter i love it.

[PonyofEntropy]

Awesome update!

[KittyrinnAiko]

I love the fact that I can read this over and over and still get a chuckle over Shinning Armor.