With Canterlot under threat and a Royal Wedding scheduled to take place, Princess Luna returns from her journeys across Equestria to aid her sister with the defense of the city.
With Canterlot under threat and a Royal Wedding scheduled to take place, Princess Luna returns from her journeys across Equestria to aid her sister with the defense of the city. Seeing the Royal Guard stretched thin with the increased duties, Princess Luna calls upon the Knight of the Restored Moon once again. Can the forces of justice, virtue, and valor defend Canterlot, the Royal Pony Sisters, and a new bride-to-be from the hidden threat that lurks within the city?
Sassaflash was jolted awake by a sudden bump in the rails. Their train was racing towards Canterlot as fast as the engineer was willing to push it, causing each bump and dip in the rails to grow into harsh rises and falls. Anypony would be sore and irritable after going even a short distance along the blurring railroad, but they had been traveling for so long without sleep that Sassaflash could barely keep her eyes open anymore. Yet despite the rough conditions, Princess Luna was still pacing furiously up and down the aisle of their near empty, private car.
“Truly, is there no method through which we may be able to grant this infernal machine the ability to fly with greater haste?”
Sassaflash rubbed her eyes as she looked from the pacing princess out into the pitch black night outside. The canvas that so often shined as the pride of the Princess's work, now lay outside, barren and empty except for a few stars dotting the distant sky. Blinking a few times and straightening herself up a bit in her seat, Sassaflash sighed as she watched the impatient alicorn.
Across the aisle from Sassaflash, in stark contrast to the exhausted and frazzled princess who had not stopped fidgeting since the train began moving, sat a single earth pony. He was so calm and collected that Sassaflash almost believed her cousin was asleep, but as Princess Luna looked out the window in the direction of Canterlot again, Rocinante of La Manecha tilted his helmet back slightly and called out to the princess.
“Noble Grace, while your desires are indeed most reasonable, I have been assured by the conductor himself that, alas, there is no possible way to move the locomotive with any greater haste and arrive at Canterlot in due safety. Indeed, he seemed quite adamant that our current speed is far greater than what the railroad would typically allow.”
Luna looked back to the armored earth pony with a disgruntled look.
“We are well aware of the statement rendered by the conductor, Sir Knight!”
Princess Luna's eyes suddenly widened at her own outburst before she bit her lip and shook her head.
“We-I apologize, that was unseemly of me.”
Rocinante shook his head and rose from his seat, his light gray mane brushing the floor as he bowed and spoke.
“You should never feel the need to apologize to me, Royal Grace. I am at your disposal.”
“Nay, no Princess befitting of her title treats her subjects so begrudgingly. Thou art my own knight...”
Luna looked to Sassaflash, who also gave a polite bow.
“..and thy noble squire. Thou hast been my boon companions and hast taught me a great many things about our own kingdom in these past few months. T'will never be said of me that I would treat thee so.”
Another sudden bump in the rails caused the car's floor to strike Rocinante on the head from his bowed position. Even Princess Luna, in her panicked state, held back a chuckle as Rocinante straightened up and rubbed his head.
“There is no pony in all of the world who could fault you for your anxious words, Gracious Highness. After all, the news of an impending assault upon the capital city is truly enough to make any pony cringe in terror. But fear not Noble Grace! For now the initiative lies within our very hooves. Evil is unaware of what we know and the letter from Canterlot has already guaranteed that every last one of the city's stalwart defenders shall be on their guard!”
Princess Luna nodded and looked out the window towards Canterlot again.
“Surely my sister will have taken all due precautions for her own protection and the defense of the city, but if the foe is so audacious as to make a full scale assault, how can we not but consider what foul scheme they must have in mind such that they believe themselves able to confront the capital directly?”
Luna breathed a heavy sigh as she looked from the window to the floor.
“It has been so long since my sister hath seen combat that I fear she may not be as capable of defending her subjects as she believes herself to be. I worry for her Sir Knight. Even though she has proven herself the most powerful of us all, I cannot but fear for her safety.”
Rocinante bowed low again, this time mindful of the bouncing floor.
“That is why we ride for Canterlot, is it not? With all of the forces of justice, virtue, and valor concentrated in one place, what evil could possibly stand against us?”
Luna smiled as she sat down on the bench behind the Knight of the Restored Moon. Though Sir Rocinante had proven himself to always be a little on the overconfident side, she couldn't disagree with him. Between three alicorns and the Royal Guard, the city of Canterlot would be well protected.
Though she had only seen him fight once against an impossible opponent, Luna knew well that both Rocinante's and Sassaflash's indomitable spirits could bolster anypony against anything. Even now, the presence of her knight and his squire, her friends, were providing more comfort than an entire platoon of guards.
“Still, I shall be much relieved upon our arrival at Canterlot.”
Sassaflash got up slowly and took her turn at pacing the aisle to stretch her legs. If she had been more awake, she probably would have been more afraid of the situation before them, but they had been riding the same train at the same speed since Appleloosa. Spending two days trapped inside of a bouncing train car with a panicking princess had drained Sassaflash so much that she honestly couldn't work herself up anymore. Stretching and adjusting her wings, Sassaflash walked closer to her princess.
“You really care for Princess Celestia a lot, don't you?”
Princess Luna nodded with a sad look upon her face.
“Thou art correct, dear Sassa. For though many have seen us as rivals for the throne, she has always been my closest and dearest friend. Most ponies want to get close to us for their own ambitions, but she was truly the first pony who wanted to know me and not my position...”
Princess Luna sighed and then, with a smile, she leaned forward in her seat.
“When I was but a foal, so very long ago,
before I had the title with my name.
I had my horn and wings, but was all alone it seemed,
From other ponies, my young heart would refrain.
But there was one mare that I knew would,
do all that she could, for me.
My big sister, my friend, and mentor,
No matter where she would go I was always right behind her.
She taught me how to raise the moon.
We'd stay up until high noon.
We shared our laughs, we shared our throne,
I never knew how much it hurt us,
To be alone.
My big sister, my friend, and mentor,
No matter where she would go I was always right behind her.
And though I fought against her day,
she's shown that she would stay,
My big sister, best friend,
and mentor...
and mentor...”
As her words trailed off, Princess Luna looked back off towards Canterlot in the distance. As she closed her eyes and breathed a heavy sigh, Rocinante perched his forelegs on the back of his seat like a little foal and faced his princess.
“Truly such kin is rightfully held dear to your heart, Noble Grace. Take heart! We shall secure the capital and the Royal Crown such that the foe will rue the day they ever dared to dream themselves capable of challenging the Royal Heads of Equestria!”
Luna smiled as even the ever cautious Sassaflash nodded in agreement. But despite their eagerness to help their friend and princess, the knight and squire both yawned, causing Princess Luna to reach up to one of the overhead compartments and fetch the complementary blankets.
“I am truly in thy debt. I thank thee, both of thee. Rest now, for tomorrow we shall find ourselves in Canterlot and we shall make the preparations to ensure that the foalish foe regrets their decision to ever face the strength of virtue and valor.”
Although the train rocked and bounced violently along the tracks, the urge to sleep, combined with the blessing of the Princess, had caused Sassaflash to drift back into her dreams before the blanket could even settle down on top of her.
Rocinante however, looked somewhat disappointed, like a colt when told to go to bed.
“Highness, it would be most improper for me to leave the watch to...”
Rocinante's words broke for just a second to give way to a long yawn, giving Luna's magic enough time to tuck in her knight-errant.
“Hush now, Sir Knight. Thou shalt need thy rest for the morrow.”
Swiftly the long days caught up with him, and Rocinante, much like a young colt, soon found himself more tired than he realized. He gave another yawn, followed by another incomplete protest, and soon he was also fast asleep.
Luna couldn't help but smile as the two ponies slept on either side of her. With a quick touch of magic, it was easy to see that both of them were off in pleasant dreams, worlds away. She couldn't deny how much fun it would be to join them in their fantastical dreams, but the dream world was private, almost sacred, in the Princess's eyes. She wouldn't step into their worlds unless she felt she needed to, no matter how much fun they appeared to be having.
Instead, she removed the letter she had received from her sister from her belongings in the next compartment. After quietly unfolding the paper, she reviewed its contents once again. Even though she wasn't ready to go back and end her adventures with her knight-errant and squire, the feel of home that Celestia's words carried gave her a sense of warmth and belonging.
“Dearest Little Sister,
I hope this letter finds you in good health and spirits, though I have little concern
for you or your safety as I know your valiant Knight of the Restored Moon will take good
care of you...”
The small smiley face drawn under Rocinante's title further drove home Celestia's teasing. Yet still Luna smiled. Such joking and humor was a sure sign that her sister was doing well, even if the playful reminders about etiquette while traveling with “colt-friends” did get old after the second or third mentioning.
“...I do not want to alarm you, nor cause you to return prematurely from your travels...”
The one line at the top of the second page made the earlier warmth fade into colder business.
“...but there has been an issue at home. Intelligence reports indicate that an organized force may be plotting against Canterlot itself, with the intent to move in the near future. The size and nature of the scheme is difficult to pin down, but as this has surfaced around the same time as the wedding announcement of Princess Cadance and Captain Shining Armor, I can't help but fear that they may intend to either strike at Cadance or use her wedding as opportunity to hit the occupied guards. Either way, I have already taken a number of precautions and feel that security is tight enough to not worry about calling you back home. However, given your insistence after Discord's return...”
Luna smiled as she remembered giving her sister a piece of her mind for not telling her immediately that the seal on Discord had broken, but she soon returned to her grim expression and continued reading.
“...I wanted to write to you ahead of time so that you could be aware of the business as it occurs. I assure you I can handle whatever this little scheme might be, so I want you to enjoy the last of your vacation before you come back to the boring business of everyday rule.
Of course you are also invited to the wedding, but I realize that you don't know Cadance that well, so I understand if you decline. Either way Little Sister, take care of yourself and try not to have too much fun out there.
Love, Tia”
Princess Luna carefully refolded the letter and used her magic to quietly place it back amongst her belongings. It wasn't really the idea that somepony would consider attacking Canterlot that made Luna worry. It was that no pony would be so brash as to make such preparations unless they had some sort of plan or had some ace up their sleeve.
The rather loud snore from the sleeping knight-errant next to her shook Luna out of her thoughts and with a smile she reflected again on Sir Rocinante's words. She had her friends and tomorrow they would be at her sister's side. Together they would be more than a match for whatever “ace” their enemy might have.
The steam cloud had not even begun to dissipate when Rocinante leapt forward with a brash and hearty laugh onto the platform. It was a strange, if not humorous, ritual that Princess Luna had observed every time they took the train anywhere. With a smile on their faces, Luna and Sassaflash followed into the cloud and were met with the most unexpected sight.
There, on the platform still covered in the hot, billowing steam from the engine, stood Rocinante, staring back at the guards who were glaring at him. There were guards everywhere, on the platform, above on the rooftops, and in the many streets and alleyways around them, and many already had their spears pointed at the lance-wielding knight-errant.
Rocinante looked at his prospective opponents with a humored eye, as though he were prepared to fight them all, but Princess Luna immediately stepped up next to him, meeting the guards with a dignified, but clearly irritated air. Before she had even begun to speak, the guards were lowering their weapons and backing away with a bow.
“What is the meaning of this?! Wherefore dost thou ready thy weapons at a servant of thy Princess?”
After a moment of stunned silence, one of the lieutenants carefully stepped forward. While the officer carefully and nervously explained both his position and his troops increased presence to his Princess, Sassaflash carefully slid in behind Luna, next to her cousin.
“What... What happened?”
Rocinante, his chest still puffed out and his lance held high, smiled boldly as his eyes left the guards and went over to his trembling cousin.
“A most curious thing indeed, my dear Sassa. It would appear that these gentlecolts, well meaning as they have been, have mistaken me for the accursed foe. No doubt, they were not expecting reinforcements so quickly and in their surprise they sought to accost me. But never fear, dear Sassa, for though I may possess a strong desire for an opportunity to demonstrate my gallantry before my lady, I of course, also possess the self-restraint to prevent any unfortunate incidence. It would not do for me to subdue our allies in a mistaken conflict before the true battle against the forces of evil even began.”
Despite the strong aura of confidence radiating from the stallion next to her, Sassaflash's eyes took notice of the number of guards around them and fear quickly came back into her heart. But just as her knees began to knock, Princess Luna nodded towards the guard and then turned to her companions.
“T'would appear that Princess Celestia has truly prepared the city for battle, but still, my heart will not rest until I have spoken to her myself. Come, let us go unto the castle and see where we may be of assistance.”
Seeing the guards returning to their numerous posts, Sassaflash gulped and quickly slid next to her Princess. In stark contrast, her cousin, with what he considered to be a substantial moral victory over a squad of Royal Guards, placed his hoof to his chest in salute and half marched, half pranced, to Princess Luna's side.
To Sassaflash's surprise, the walk to the castle was uneventful. Ponies that would typically be out and about in the streets or mobbing around the Princess stayed inside, either for fear of the potential attack or by order of the guard. Even the police, who would typically object to a lance-wielding earth pony walking down their streets, kept their distance as Princess Luna led them towards their destination.
They had only just reached the courtyard of the castle when it suddenly dawned on Sassaflash how much things had changed. It felt like only yesterday that she, a regular and unassuming weather pony, was welcoming her cousin to Ponyville for the Summer Sun Celebration and now here she was in Canterlot, a squire to the Knight of the Restored Moon, escorting the actual Princess of the Moon herself.
It was a thought that made her paradoxically prideful and humble. How did they come so far, so fast? More importantly, where would they be in the future? Before she had only faced a runaway cumulonimbus cloud, now they had faced a horde of monsters, a sea serpent, a manticore, an alicorn, a charging army of buffalo, dragons, and even a draconequus. What would they face tomorrow? Just how much could two ponies, even if they were backed by a princess, truly take on?
Her muse was stopped as the great doors to the castle creaked open, revealing the splendor of the great hall where Princess Celestia was waiting.
“Little Sister! It's so good to see you again!”
Both Rocinante and Sassaflash stayed back while the two Princesses smiled and met each other with a quick embrace.
“T'is good to see thee as well Sister. We do hope thou hast been in good health?”
Princess Celestia nodded as the two began walking down the plush carpet and past the stained glass windows.
“Of course. And how about you? Have you been enjoying your time seeing the kingdom with your knight and squire?”
Celestia's playful grin went unnoticed by Luna as she nodded, but swiftly turned to look her sister directly in the eyes.
“Quite. Sister, about this threat...”
Almost instantly the light, playful atmosphere vanished and a dark, businesslike air took its place. Princess Celestia sighed and looked to her sister and companions with, what appeared to Sassaflash as, a look of regret.
“I have it already taken care of.”
Of course, Luna wasn't satisfied with the answer, but Celestia expected nothing less from her sister. Opening the door to a side room, Celestia led her sister through another door and down a small spiraling staircase into a cold dark room below. An enormous table with a model of Canterlot set in its center, dominated the interior of the room. Looking around with wide eyes, Sassaflash had no idea what any of this was, but it carried an almost tangible feel of a dark purpose that was foreign, not only to her, but to most ponies of the modern day.
Chairs could be heard scraping the cold stone floor as the two ponies who were waiting for them inside the war-room rose in the presence of the Princesses. Celestia nodded and motioned for everypony, including Sassaflash and her cousin, to sit at the table.
Much to Sassaflash's chagrin, there were no introductions as Princess Celestia began explaining how the city was divided into sections and which guard unit was over which section. With a careful look beside her, Sassaflash could see that either she was the only pony who didn't know the two ponies sitting across from her, or her cousin was remarkable at acting as though he did.
“The magic barrier is provided by none other than Captain Shining Armor.”
The armored pony across from Sassaflash nodded and rose as he took his cue to begin explaining the various magical properties of the field surrounding the city, finishing with a triumphal grin and a puffed out chest.
“With this combination of detection and repulsion, it is virtually impossible for anypony to get into Canterlot without us knowing about it.”
Princess Luna nodded in agreement. She was rather impressed by the Captain's knowledge of magical barriers, but since he was related to Twilight Sparkle, she couldn't say she was too surprised.
“Dost thou intend to keep all of the ponies of thy city inside of this quarantined sphere?”
Shining Armor shook his head and sat back down. His chair screeching slightly on the stone floor.
“No, Your Highness, we're able to check their identities as they come through the gates. It's a small concern, but we have enough guards on detail at the gates to minimize the risk from the one weak point in the defense.”
Everypony, except Rocinante nodded.
“Forgive me, kind sir, but your explanation has brought to mind a most peculiar legend that I had the privilege of reading not too long ago. Tell me, are you familiar with the tale of the 'Treasure of Whinniesor Castle'?”
Princess Luna's eyes darted from side to side as she recalled the old story while everypony else simply shook their head. When she finally remembered the outcome of the story she nearly gasped in surprise, to which Rocinante smiled proudly. Luna looked to her knight, and then everypony else at the table.
“In the legend of which Sir Rocinante doth speak, the Prince of Whinniesor Castle had received word that a master thief was coming to take all of his treasure. So he set about to seal his castle up, hiring guards from across the country, sealing off passages, and placing magical enchantments upon his home.”
Rocinante beamed with pride as though he had taught the story to the Princess himself.
“Indeed, Noble Grace, but his preparations were all in vain, were they not?”
Luna nodded before looking her sister directly in the eye.
“Indeed, Sir Knight, they were all in vain. For the very messenger that informed him of the evil bearing down upon him was none other than the master thief himself. The thief was able to learn all he needed about the castle's security because he had been inside of the defense from the very beginning.”
Both Shining Armor and Princess Celestia seemed slightly surprised, but the remaining pony that Sassaflash couldn't identify, a pink alicorn, stood up with wide, almost panicked, eyes.
“Th-That's preposterous! There's no way anypony could do something like that here! Isn't that right Dear?! Y-Your spell can tell if anypony is out of place?!”
Shining Armor said nothing as he stared at the model of the city, his eyes closed and his brow furrowed in contemplation. Even Princess Celestia seemed to be at a loss for words as she mentally reevaluated their situation, but her confidence soon returned as she pointed towards the model's gates.
“A single pony cannot overthrow the city. If there is an inside agent, then so long as we keep the entrances to to city secure, then they will not be able to let more agents in or get information out. Captain, would bolstering security at the gates ease your mind?”
Shining Armor was startled by his Princess's sudden question, but he quickly looked over the map and saluted.
“Yes, thank you, Your Highness. I'll double the guards at each entrance and increase the patrols.”
The tired looking captain smiled as he breathed a sigh of relief and looked towards the pink alicorn smiling at his side.
“Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing will ruin our big day.”
The two embraced, but Princess Celestia gently knocked on the table, bringing the attention back to her.
“I'm sorry, but there is one concern that my Sister's tale has given me about this situation. What if the goal of our enemy isn't the city, but Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?”
The other alicorn, who Sassaflash surmised was Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, stuttered as she looked back and forth between the Captain and the Princess.
“B-But why? Why would anypony target me? Surely Canterlot itself would be the bigger target.”
Princess Celestia's face looked unusually distraught as she closed her eyes and nodded.
“That's exactly why. Canterlot is a large city filled with guards, but you are only one pony, a powerful pony perhaps, but still vulnerable if caught alone. I want to have some my guards escort you as well.”
Luna eyed the various gates and entrances to the city and shook her head.
“Sister, while thy guards are plentiful in number, they are not infinite and their duties expand by the minute. Why pull trained guards from the side of the monarch or thy gates when I have a capable knight here who has already successfully escorted one princess across the land?”
Princess Cadance's mouth fell agape as she looked to Shining Armor for help, but Shining Armor agreed with the Princesses that his beloved needed a guard, even though he clearly seemed to choke on the idea of that guard being Rocinante.
“Just a single... knight? I can easily take a few guards off of the south gate-”
Princess Luna waved him off and shook her head. Truthfully, even she suspected that any number of guards would be able to fight off more than her one knight. But the guards of Canterlot tended to be strong-headed, silent, and determined to tackle whatever was in front of them by themselves. While Luna knew Rocinante was also strong-headed and would certainly attack whatever threatened the Princess by himself, she also knew that Rocinante was anything but silent. Luna had no doubt that if somepony attacked the Princess, Rocinante would make such a display that all of the guards within the city would know what was happening before battle could even begin.
“We sense thy hesitance, but remind thee, that this knight-errant hath successfully guarded thy Princess of the Night whilst we traveled the entirety of Equestria. Have no fear, for we assure thee that this knight is up to the task.”
Shining Armor's mouth fell open to object, but Rocinante rose and saluted with a broad grin that stretched across his face.
“Have no fear, Able Captain! I shall keep such an ever watchful eye over the Princess that no traitorous pony nor foul abomination of evil shall ever be able to draw near to Her Fair Highness without being confronted by the forces of justice, virtue, and valor!”
Princess Cadance forced a smile as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of her twitching face.
“But surely guards aren't necessary! I-I'm an alicorn! I'll be fine! Don't worry!”
“Are you alright Dear? You're looking pale”
Everypony turned their eyes on the sweating alicorn as her eyes darted from pony to pony.
“Y-Yes! I'm just a little... warm... that's all. I-I need some air.”
As she stepped towards the door leading out of the cold war-room, Rocinante and his cousin immediately rose and followed after her. Giving a sigh, Princess Cadance gave her escorts a pleading look.
“Please, I'm fine, I don't-”
“Fear not Fair Highness! For I shall give unto you all of the space required for your comfort, while keeping an ever watchful eye for the cowardly forces of evil! And should they prove to be so foalish as to approach, then they shall feel the full brunt of my lance! Though the foe may try to flee, not even the depths of the crystal caverns beneath us shall be far enough for them to escape my wrath!”
Cadance stopped in her tracks and looked back at her escort. Where there had once been distress and anger in her eyes, there was now a strange curiosity.
“The what caverns?”
Rocinante gave a courteous low bow.
“The crystal caverns beneath Canterlot, Fair Highness. Carved out by the unicorns of old, ages ago, they remain forgotten by most. Even I only know of them through the old legends.”
“Tell me more about these caverns. They sound.... fascinating.”
As Princess Cadance and her new escorts left the room, Shining Armor turned back to the Princesses across from him. His head was starting to throb again, but he rubbed his temples and tried to push it from his mind.
“Forgive me, Your Highness, but are you sure Rocinante is able to protect Cadance? I mean, a pony that has no formal martial training... I mean... I'm sure he has spirit...”
Shining Armor's words trailed off as he looked for the most tactful way to say that he thought Luna's Knight of the Restored Moon was little more than a court jester. It wasn't that he disliked the knight-errant, but a potentially insane pony with a busted up lance just couldn't be that effective, in any role.
Princess Luna however, seemed perfectly confident in her choice.
“While I do confess that I have but only borne witness to Sir Rocinante's combat abilities once, that single encounter gave full demonstration to both his tenacity and his indomitable spirit. Rest assured that Sir Rocinante shall be ever diligent and ever watchful. Regardless of his actual fighting strength, nothing shall slip by him and his swift squire will be ever ready to race for reinforcement. Together I have full faith that the two of them shall be able to keep thy fair bride-to-be safe.”
Shining Armor forced a smile as he looked back out of the, now closed, door in the direction of his love. He was still more than concerned about what might threaten her, but if anypony knew whether or not Rocinante could be trusted to protect her, it was Princess Luna.
Princess Cadance held in another sigh as the ever noisy knight and his squire followed after her. She had largely calmed down since the war-room, but if she was going to get anything done, she would have to find a way to get rid of her unusual guards. Unfortunately, they had been either too determined to hold to their post, or too oblivious to catch her subtle hints that they should go away.
As they rounded another flight of stairs on the way to her room, Princess Cadanced stopped and looked around. There had to be something that could distract him for just a few minutes for her to get away. Taking note of the restrooms to their left, Princess Cadance smiled. At last it felt as though luck was on her side.
“One moment, Sir Knight. I'll be back shortly.”
There was probably a window to vent out the room inside. She would just have to squeeze through and fly the rest of her way to her room. The Princesses might disapprove of her shaking her guards, but she could easily “convince” Shining Armor that there was no harm done.
Pushing the door open, she suddenly noticed that the knight was still right behind her.
“Umm... Sir Rose-in...aunty was it? You can't seriously mean to follow me in here.”
Rocinante seemed perplexed by her question. His eyebrows furrowed as he thought for a moment before suddenly he realized where exactly she was heading.
“Ah! Forgive me, Fair Highness, for I was so determined to hold fast to the charge that my Princess has given me that I failed to take note of where exactly you were going!”
Cadance forced a smile as she turned back towards the restroom.
“Yes, well I'm glad that's been settled. I'm afraid I'll have to be alone for just a moment-”
“Fear not Fair Highness! For though the rules of civility may prevent me from following you into this room, my noble and fearless squire, young Sassaflash, is not so bound! She shall provide the escort you need to carry on without fear!”
Cadance nearly banged her head on the wall in frustration as she gritted her teeth and let out what could only be described as a highly irritated growl. This reaction clearly confused both the knight and the squire as they both rushed to her side.
“Princess!”
“Fair Excellency! Are you alright?!”
The looks of genuine concern in the eyes of the two ponies now holding her up suddenly gave the surprised Cadance the villainous idea she had been looking for.
“Oh! Oh! My stomach! It hurts! It hurts! I think... I think I may have been poisoned! I need a doctor! If only somepony could go get a doctor!”
Rocinante and Sassaflash looked at each other with wide eyes before springing into action.
“Hold on Fair Highness! Sassa! Quick! Fly with all due haste to find the doctor!”
“Right!”
Spreading her wings, Sassaflash leapt into the air and flew as fast as she could down the hallway while Princess Cadance hid her subtle smile. One was gone and one was left.
“Oh! Rosen-aunty! I feel so sick!”
“Hold on Fair Highness! Help is coming with all due haste!”
Princess Cadance suddenly placed a hoof to her mouth and puffed her cheeks out. Spinning away from Rocinante, Cadance sped towards the restroom. But as she opened the door she noticed Rocinante was still right on her heels.
“You can't come in here! Don't follow me!”
Cadance wanted to slap herself for dropping her ruse in anger, but to her great surprise the knight only shouted back from the doorway.
“Of course! My apologies Fair Excellency! Fear not! I shall guard the door so that none may strike in your moment of weakness!”
Cadance rolled her eyes as she made her best gagging sound effect while looking for the window. To her joy, it was there, up high on the wall and already slightly opened for ventilation. All she had to do was squeeze out before the meddling squire could return with an actual doctor.
Sassaflash could feel her heart racing as she torn down the hallway. Her eyes darting down each hallway she passed with an increasing panic. They had gone through so many twists and turns in the castle since they arrived that she had been hopelessly lost before she had even started looking.
Landing for just a moment, Sassaflash ran in place as her head darted around. Why weren't there any guards now when she needed them? Picking a random hallway, Sassaflash raced at full speed down the marble lane on the off chance that she had gambled on the right hallway.
To her great shock, she in fact won her gamble. As she reached the passage at the end of the hall, she recognized the stairwell that led down to the war-room from before. A smile of relief almost managed to spread across her face as she threw open the door.
Cadance's plan was simple enough. She would no doubt get “in trouble” for shaking her guards and causing a scare like this, but Shining Armor was putty in her hooves and even Celestia had been lax around her. A dark grin flashed on her face. She would get a slap on the hoof and that would be that.
Finally prying the rusted windowsill all the way open, Cadance began to squeeze herself through. It was a tighter fit than she had expected and having to make all of the sickly noises she could think of to keep the knight outside convinced that she was poisoned was leaving her out of breath as she scrambled through the tiny opening.
As Cadance struggled to pull her left wing forward, she felt the window rise up a little bit more, allowing her wing to pass, but then fall down on her back with a screech. Coughing loudly, Cadance looked back toward the door through the window and breathed a sigh of relief. Evidently the knight was still holding his post outside. The smile swiftly returned to her face, but slowly began to fade as her right wing pushed against the window, at first with a little force, and then with a lot.
Shining Armor nearly trampled Sassaflash as he raced out the door in the direction of his beloved. Sassaflash spread her wings and flew off after him and the Princesses were both right behind her. Though she was supposed to be the one to lead them to Princess Cadenza, Sassaflash was more than relieved that Shining Armor apparently knew the route to her room and was unwilling to wait for her to lead the way.
What had been a series of long winding staircases and a labyrinth of hallways for Sassaflash, was only a few rooms upstairs for the Captain of the Royal Guard. Within moments Sassaflash eyed her cousin trotting in place nervously as he waited for help to arrive.
Cadance used her magic to grab hold of the window and began forcefully pushing it upward. The tired hinges made no sound as they bowed with the windowsill, but refused to give up their hold on the window itself.
Suddenly something white caught her eye further down the wall. Through the windows lining the wall, Cadance could see the squire had returned, not with a doctor, but with a whole entourage of all the ponies she wanted to see the least right now. Her game was up, she had lost. Now she had to try to get back into the bathroom before everypony found her like this.
Using her magic to push the window upwards and bracing her hind legs against the wall, Cadance pulled herself in with all the strength she could muster. With a sudden jolt, Cadance flew backwards into the room, bumping her head on the window and slamming hard onto the floor, just as Shining Armor threw open the door.
“Cadance!”
Shaking her head and quickly rising, Cadance was nearly toppled back onto the ground by her fiance's sudden embrace as he checked her vitals.
“Dear, I'm fine, really. It was just... umm... it was just indigestion.”
Shining Armor backed away from her slightly as one of his eyebrows raised. Behind him, the two Princesses walked in, their faces clearly showing their confusion. Cadance turned slightly red as she looked to the open windowsill and back to the ponies in front of her.
“I don't know how much they told you... but I was... well umm... with all the talk about me needing guards and breakfast never did sit quite right with me this morning and well I just I just.. I overreacted. Yes. I overreacted. Sorry about that.”
Princess Celestia looked incredulously at her before turning a raised eyebrow to her sister.
“I'm surprised that your knight wasn't able to tell the difference between indigestion and poison. Are you sure he's up for this?”
Luna frowned and tilted her head towards Cadance.
“As the young Princess said, talk of assassins and guards have led to this incident. T'is but a harmless false alarm.”
As Princess Celestia chided Luna about her knight panicking alongside the pony he was supposed to protect, Princess Cadance caught sight of something that made the corners of her mouth subtly rise. Princess Celestia, exhausted from checking and double checking various security measures alongside Princess Cadance's own nagging questions and wedding plans, was beginning to get irritable while Princess Luna, clearly nervous about the prospective attack and embarrassed that her guards had already failed in such an humiliating manner, was already on the defensive.
Though she had lost this little game, with a little careful planning, and maybe a little shape-shifting, she realized that she could take the very lance that was sent to protect her and use it to subvert the two biggest alicorn obstacles to her plan.
As they reached the top of the tower, Princess Cadance turned towards her escorts with her best, albeit forced, smile.
“Thank you, kind sir and lady. I believe I am safe from here.”
Though she had expected it, Cadance felt the corners of her mouth drop ever so slightly as Rocinante bowed low.
“I should think not Fair Highness! Our righteous duty is to see unto your safety from now until the threat has been resolved. Thus in order to meet this task to our utmost, we shall not leave you so alone and so vulnerable.”
“But... surely you can give me a little privacy...”
Her brows furrowing, she looked to Sassaflash for help, but the obedient squire followed her knight's lead and bowed low.
“We would n-never forgive ourselves if something happened to you, Your Highness.”
Suddenly Cadance sat down in front of the door while her eyes rapidly moistened, her lip began quavering, and before long the young Princess had completely broken down in front of them.
“I'm I'm sorry- I didn't- I didn't want anypony to see me like this! I'm just so- so tired and my special day is coming up and I don't know what I did to deserve all this! I just I just-”
It was hard not to break the act in front of the hilarious response that the knight and his squire each had. They both went pale and fumbled for words as their widened eyes darted between her and each other. In fact their responses were in such unison that Cadance could only assume that they must be related some how.
Finally Rocinante, struggling for words carefully approached her, his face red and his head held low as if he were trying to hide from anypony who might be witnessing.
“Are... Are you alright? Fair Highness?”
Cadance nodded as she sniffed and rubbed her eyes.
“I'm sorry... I just... I just need a moment...”
Peeking over her hoof, Cadance began to smile as the knight relented.
“Of, Of Course. Yes, fear not Young Highness! Sassaflash and I will make sure your room is perfectly safe and then wait outside for you while you recover from your most tiring day.”
Princess Cadance swiftly rose and followed after the knight and squire as they entered her room. It was a simple room, small and uncomplicated for a princess of her stature, but that had been the style Princess Cadance had preferred since she was a foal.
She had hoped that her guards would see the tiny room, realize no pony was here and be on their way, but immediately the two set about looking under the bed and behind dressers, like parents “looking” for monsters in a foal's bedroom.
As Sassaflash neared the closet, Princess Cadance swiftly cut her off.
“No need for that. I've... I've already checked there.”
Sassaflash tilted her head a bit as she tried to remember when the Princess could possibly have checked the closet in the short time that they had been there, but her cousin clapped his hooves and smiled.
“Excellent initiative, Young Excellency! It would then appear then that this room is secure for the time being and we may leave you to your private recovery. Please be careful, Fair Highness, and do not hesitate to call upon our aid at any time, for we are here to serve! Come Sassa! Let us give Her Fair Highness the time and room to recover from this exhausting day.”
Immediately the two bowed and exited the room with Princess Cadance following them out and quietly locking the door behind them. Placing an ear to the door, she stifled her giggles as best as she could as she listened to the two outside, blissfully unaware of everything that was going on.
Sliding away from the door, Queen Chrysalis calmly dropped her alicorn guise and walked over to the closet and opened the door. There, just as she had left her, was a pink alicorn, struggling uselessly against the tight cocoon that held held her silently in place. The real Princess Cadance narrowed her eyes in defiance as she stopped moving and looked up at her captor. Her lips moved as she spoke, revealing her gritted teeth, but the cocoon trapped all of her words inside with her.
Chrysalis smiled as she leaned against the vertical cocoon and checked her hoof for dirt.
“You wouldn't believe the day you've had. More guards everywhere and now there is even a duo just for you... It's a headache to deal with really. You should thank me for taking all of this on for you.”
Princess Cadance glared as Chrysalis chuckled and stepped away from the cocoon.
“Still, I would have thought Celestia would have been more confident in her security measures. Now that her little sister is here and poking around with her minions, I'm afraid you can't stay here any longer.”
Cadance's eyes widened as she saw Chrysalis's horn begin to glow.
“Oh don't worry. I just learned about the perfect spot for you, nice, dark, and covered in crystals. You like crystals don't you? You won't even need this anymore.”
Chrysalis tapped on the cocoon as her magic began surrounding it with a green flame.
“It's a ways down, but I've been assured that there are enough winding caverns down there that you'll hit a pocket eventually.”
As she began to sink into the floor through the burning cocoon, Cadance began struggling fiercely. But Chrysalis only smiled and waved as she continued to magically push her downward. As Cadance disappeared from her sight, the changeling queen turned to the mirror sitting on top of her dresser with a villainous smile.
A flash of green fire passed over her and Queen Chrysalis looked at her new reflection in the mirror. One problem was solved, the others shouldn't be too much more trouble.
“Do you think she's alright in there?”
Rocinante straightened his helmet as he looked at the door from over his shoulder. The room was remarkably quiet, which the knight-errant had taken as a good sign, at least as far as his mission was concerned.
“There is but only one entrance into the Princess's chamber and that entryway cannot be approached, except through us.”
Sassaflash sighed as she placed a hoof to her forehead and tried to ignore the possibility of a pegasus flying though a window or a unicorn simply teleporting past them.
“I'm not talking about the security, I'm talking about her emotion-”
Sassaflash's words were instantly frozen as she saw Princess Luna approaching them from the stairs. Sassaflash and Rocinante bowed low, but the Princess motioned them back up quickly.
“There you two are. I have discussed the matter at length with my sister and we have agreed that there really isn't a need to watch Princess Mi Amore Cadenza so closely.”
Rocinante and his cousin exchanged glances before looking back to the Princess.
“Are you certain, Noble Grace?”
Princess Luna's nostrils flared uncharacteristically as she narrowed her eyes on Rocinante.
“Are you disobeying me?”
Rocinante's eyes went wide as he stepped back in surprise.
“Perish the thought! Never would I even think of such rebellion, Gracious Highness. What would you have us do?”
Princess Luna suddenly smiled as she looked out the window towards the granary far below.
“Princess Celestia is worried about actual food poisonings. She wants you to guard the granary down there and make sure nopony goes in there that shouldn't.”
Rocinante and Sassaflash quickly bowed again.
“Your wish is our command, Noble Grace.”
As they began for the stairs, Sassaflash stopped and turned back towards the door. She meant to go back and inform Princess Cadenza that they were leaving, but she stopped as she saw Princess Luna walking happily into the room.
Seeing his squire spin on her hooves, Rocinante also turned around.
“My dear Sassa, is something amiss?”
Sassaflash tilted her head as she thought for a moment, but eventually shrugged her shoulders and resumed walking towards the stairs.
“I thought maybe we should let Princess Cadenza know that we were leaving, but I guess Princess Luna is going to take care of that.”
Rocinante nodded as he followed after his cousin.
“No doubt Her Gracious Highness will be able to apprise, console, and comfort Her Fair Highness of and in this most peculiar situation.”
As they rounded the first flight of stairs, Sassaflash looked back up towards the Princess's chamber.
“Did... Did Princess Luna seem a little... I dunno... edgy to you?”
Princess Celestia sighed as a pitying smile slowly came across her face. She was overjoyed that her sister was back and taking the situation seriously, but as Luna looked over the map again, Celestia couldn't help but worry that maybe her sister was on the verge of wearing herself out before the wedding could even begin.
“Please, stop worrying, Little Sister. Shining Armor and I have everything covered.”
Luna shook her head as she rubbed her tired eyes.
“Dear Sister, I know thou hast seen to many of the intricate details of thy security thyself, but I cannot but believe there is something that we have overlooked. If there is an insider-”
“Then three alicorns will be more than enough to deal with it. How long has it been since you've had a good night's, or rather day's, sleep?”
Celestia put a hoof on her sister's shoulder, but Luna shrugged the hoof off and shook her head again.
“Therein lies the very point that I have been concerned with since I received thy letter! Surely thy foes are aware of how much power lies within Royal House of Equestria itself! Therefore they must possess some form of twisted plan or design that, if not taken seriously, could pose a very real threat unto us all!”
Frustrated, Celestia began to walk away to leave her sister to her obsessed business, but as she began to walk away, Princess Celestia couldn't help but watch her frustration wash away from the comfort of having her sister back. Giving a slight sigh, Celestia turned back and hugged her sister.
“Luna, I understand why you are concerned, but look at you, look how tired you are. Nothing will come from staring at a map in your condition. Why don't you let me take the first watch? Then you can come and relieve me at nightfall.”
Looking up into her big sister's eyes, Luna nodded and returned the embrace before the two parted ways.
“Be careful, Tia.”
“I will Luna, I will. Now please, get some sleep.”
Celestia closed the door to the war-room behind them and began making her way towards the observation tower. She personally began to wonder if maybe Rocinante's fantasies had begun to rub off on her sister. While it was good to be cautious, Luna was borderline paranoid with her insistence that the “foes” had something waiting to overpower them.
As she reached the top balcony, Celestia observed the train carrying her star pupil and her friends into the station. She smiled at the idea of her favorite student getting to partake in her brother's wedding. She was so close to the Sparkle family now that it almost felt like a small family reunion to have all of them up at the castle again.
“All the more reason to do this right.”
Celestia was stopped, less by the words that slipped from her mouth and more by the sudden anxious feeling she felt in her heart. She had just finished telling herself that there was no real danger to Canterlot, but for some reason a hanging doubt remained. It was a small nagging feeling that maybe her sister was right, maybe she should take a second look at the defenses.
The telescope revealed nothing out of the ordinary and a sigh of relief slowly came out of the Princess. No, she had to draw a line somewhere. They already had every angle covered and too much security would ruin the wedding. Even if there were an agent hidden within the city, there was nothing they could reasonably do to find them.
So why did she still feel so uneasy?
As her guise went from the Princess of the Night to the Princess of Love, Chrysalis couldn't help but smile as she looked out the open window towards the courtyard below. There were guards everywhere, but not one pony suspected that they were guarding their own undoing. Her chest puffed out a bit as she surveyed the kingdom that would soon be hers.
Replacing Princess Cadance had not been nearly as hard as she had thought it would be. For most of her life, Cadance had downplayed her royal status and hid from the public spotlight. A very big convenience for a changeling who wanted to take her place. Not too many ponies were familiar enough with her to catch the subtle, but immediate changes in “Cadance's” character and now that she had managed to slip under Celestia's nose, all the other ponies followed her without question.
However, Celestia would still be a problem when it came time for the actual invasion. The ancient alicorn's power was legendary and it would take a tremendous amount of power to counter her. Each passing day the love siphoned off of Shining Armor made her stronger, but the question of whether or not it would be enough to hold Celestia until reinforcements arrived left her nervous. It was the only weak point in the plan, at least until Princess Luna showed up.
Even if she managed to gather enough power from Shining Armor by the day of the wedding to deal with Celestia, she certainly wouldn't have enough to deal with both Celestia and Luna. Something would have to be done about the Princess of the Night, but she was running out of time.
In the courtyard below, a purple unicorn could be seen marching towards Shining Armor's command post. Even from as high us as she was, Chrysalis could easily identify the unicorn from the stained glass windows in the lower hall, Twilight Sparkle. Rolling her eyes, Chrysalis double checked her disguise before walking out the door. Now she had the Elements of Harmony to deal with. Trotting down the stairs towards the parade grounds, Chrysalis forced a smile while her eyebrows furrowed. Unless she could unravel the cords beginning to wrap around her, she might find herself as the prisoner wandering the caverns below.
Princess Luna slowly walked down the passageway towards her old room. It felt like it had been ages since she had been in her own bed. While she had enjoyed her travels, the rather spartan conditions that her knight and squire camped with had left her with a fresh and sincere appreciation for the luxuries of the castle.
Just as the relaxing image of a bubble bath floated through her mind, Princess Luna passed Princess Cadance in the hallway without her escorts. Doing a double take, Luna swiftly turned on her hooves and caught up with the young Princess.
“Prithee young Princess, where art the guards that I hath given unto thee? Wherefore hast my knight left thy side?”
Princess Cadance's eyes went wide, as though she had just noticed the knight's absence, before she suddenly began looking all around frantically. The rapid change from calm to panic at first struck Luna as peculiar, but as another yawn slipped out of her mouth, she realized that the drastic alteration was probably more a result of her own tiredness than anything else.
“I don't know. I went into my room to get a quick nap, but when I woke up they were gone! I can't find them anywhere!”
The idea of her companions suddenly vanishing during this threatening time hit Princess Luna like a runaway train. Where was Rocinante? Where was Sassaflash? Did something happen to them while Princess Cadance was sleeping? Had the enemy taken them out while they were alone? Panic began to surge through the Princess's mind as she bit her lip and forced herself to remain calm, at least on the outside.
“They left no note? No sign of any kind with regards to their intent or departure?”
Cadance appeared to be lost in thought for a moment as she watched Luna carefully, but as Luna spoke to her, she snapped out of it.
“Nothing. I haven't found anything. You don't think something happened to them do you?”
Luna shook her head.
“Impossible. Surely they could not have been silenced so easily. Nay... Fear not, Young Princess. We shall get to the bottom of this, but first, we must find thee a suitable guard for the time being.”
A look of genuine concern found its way across Cadance's face as they began walking towards the parade grounds.
“Is your knight really that strong? No pony could take him down?”
Luna's eyes darted from place to place and she bit her lip again, but she gave no indication either way.
“Sir Rocinante doth indeed possess... a... unique skill set that would render this situation as both disconcerting and unbelievable.”
As Cadance guided the preoccupied Luna towards Shining Armor, she felt the tiniest glow radiating from inside Princess Luna. It was a glow that only a changeling could feel, a glow that suddenly sparked a new interest in both the Princess and her knight in the eyes of “Princess Cadance”.
“You... really care about him, don't you?”
Princess Luna's eyes didn't widen in embarrassed surprise like Cadance had wanted, but she did blush as the glow from within her pulsed ever so slightly.
“Both Sir Rocinante and Lady Sassaflash have been my boon companions since my return from the moon. They have stayed by my side at all times and championed any cause I placed before them. They are both indeed quite dear to me. But enough of this, we must find an escort for thee.”
Princess Cadance stopped as she motioned out the window towards Shining Armor, who was happily conversing with Twilight Sparkle just outside.
“There's Shining Armor. Surely he will protect me while you go search for your missing knight.”
Princess Luna nodded quickly before turning to go down a different path.
“Very well. Farewell young Cadance. I shall leave you in his protection.”
As Luna turned and swiftly trotted down the hall, Cadance analyzed the tiny glow that she had siphoned off of the Princess. It was very small, which could mean any number of things from close friendship and beyond, but regardless as to the nature of the glow, Luna suddenly appeared much more interesting. Even a tiny source of additional power before the battle was welcome in her eyes. Perhaps she should consider dealing with this suddenly interesting trio more in the future.
As a dark smile came across her face, Princess Cadance walked out the door to where Twilight was happily bouncing around her brother.
Waffle Skillet backed away from the lance held at the tip of his nose, but the knight-errant behind it followed after him.
“A likely story indeed, for when the nobility is under threat, who suspects the humble butler?”
Skillet took another step back until he felt his flank bump into the cold stone wall of the castle. Tears began to well up in his eyes as he looked to the pegasus next to the crazed knight for help.
Sassaflash couldn't help but feel a little pity for the poor earth pony shaking in front of them. Perhaps he was telling the truth. After all, they had been wrong about the identity of the Mysterious Mare Do Well, several times in fact.
“Cousin, maybe he's telling the truth? How can we know for certain?”
Rocinante cocked an eyebrow towards his cousin.
“What makes you doubt his obvious guilt, dear cousin? For does not his nervous shivering countenance bear witness to an ashamed conscience?”
Sassaflash looked again at their cornered opponent. He did shake and sweat as though he were terrified of some great guilt being laid bare, but that may have only been the result of the lance now resting on his nose.
“Maybe we should test him? Ask him something a spy wouldn't know?”
To everypony's relief, Rocinante nodded and turned back to the cornered servant.
“Very well then. A simple test should serve us well in this hour. Tell me, who is the chef that serves the Royal Court this day?”
Sassaflash rolled her eyes. It was a simple question that any spy would have been able to answer.
“A-Applejack! Applejack is in charge of the kitchen today!”
Immediately Sassaflash's mouth dropped open in disbelief. How could anypony get that wrong? But before she could say anything, Rocinante leaned forward with a triumphal grin on his face.
“Ha! Everypony knows that Lady Applejack of Ponyville resides in Ponyville! The astute steward of Sweet Apple Acres could not possibly be in the kitchens! Prepare yourself, spy!”
The shaking Waffle Skillet closed his eyes as he flattened himself against the wall. But before the knight-errant could strike, the ground suddenly shook fiercely as an angry alicorn princess forcefully landed in the middle of them.
Princess Luna was both relieved and outraged to see her Knight of the Restored Moon out here unharmed, but far away from the one pony he should have been protecting. Ignoring the servant who was quickly scurrying along behind her and back into the kitchens, Luna turned her gaze to the knight in front of her.
“Prithee tell me, wherefore dost I find thee here amongst ponies of no value to our opponent when over yonder lies young Cadance without her guard, open to attack and leaving all to fear for the safety of those who had been tasked with protecting her?!”
Though her eyes were narrowed in anger as she impatiently waited for an answer, she secretly hoped there was a legitimate reason for her knight's sudden change in location. While she had been racing throughout the castle, Princess Luna's mind had produced a large number of valid reasons for Rocinante and Sassaflash to disappear, but the confused ponies before her gave no such valid reason.
“Gracious Highness... did... did you not send us here?”
Luna was so stunned by the answer given to her that she nearly fell back on her haunches. Surely her closest friends would not lie to her. Was she truly so tired that she had misheard them?
Shaking her head in an attempt to further awaken herself, Luna took a deep breath as her eyes at last fell on Sassaflash. The poor mare was shaking so badly from the imposing presence of the Princess that her knees were knocking. Luna had not seen her so scared of her since they had started their journeys together. A remorseful sigh escaped her mouth as Luna sat down and carefully formed her words. It was both embarrassing and dispiriting for her to have scared one of her closest companions so much and she felt herself blushing slightly as she slowly and carefully put on a comforting smile.
“I am sorry. For t'was not my intention to cause thee such fright, dear Sassa.”
Sassaflash nodded and her knees went from wobbling fiercely to merely shaking. In contrast, her cousin still stood firm and resolute, perhaps confused, but evidently never shaken by Luna's outburst. The lack of fear of his Princess caused Luna's smile to grow from a facade meant to comfort her friends, into a true smile that comforted herself.
“But I do still seek the truth. For what reason art thou here, at a remote corner of the castle, instead of with they charge?”
Rocinante tilted his head slightly, his eyes filling with the same foal-like curiosity that Luna had seen in him at the Gala.
“Noble Grace, Do you not recall telling us that your sister, Princess Celestia, had requested that our strength be lent unto the guarding of the granary?”
Now Luna's eyes began to fill with curiosity. She racked her brain as she tried to remember her sister giving such a request, or even a command. She certainly didn't recall telling Rocinante or Sassaflash of any such change. Was her sister trying to move things around behind her back?
Just as she pushed the thought from her mind as impossible, Sassaflash leaned in towards the yawning princess.
“Are you alright, Princess? You look really tired.”
“My condition is of but a trivial concern-”
“H-Highness, your condition is never trivial. Please, let us take care of everything while you rest.”
Luna wasn't certain if Sassaflash's interruption or her concern stunned her more, but she smiled as she let her friends help her back up to all four hooves.
“I... I am grateful... indeed I doth find myself indebted again unto thee. I shall retire now and rest. Prithee, go forth and defend Princess Cadenza until my return. Though my sister, Princess Celestia, may have her concerns with regards to the safety of the grain, our chief concern should be for the safety of young Cadenza. I shall speak with my sister on the morrow about this matter. Until then, stay safe and remain vigilant.”
“Of course Highness.”
“As you command, Noble Grace!”
Luna thought her chest felt a bit lighter as she spread her wings and lifted off of the ground with a powerful push. Her friends were safe and back on task. But why would her sister order them to watch elsewhere without first consulting her? After all the teasing Celestia had given her about having a personal retainer, Luna thought it was more than strange that her sister would suddenly treat them like one of her own Royal Guard.
“Fair Highness! How excellent it is to find you in such high spirits during these dark and troublesome times!”
Princess Cadance's eyes went wide as she turned to face Rocinante and Sassaflash. Though for only a moment, her brow furrowed and her teeth clinched, but she swiftly regained her composure and trotted lightly towards her persistent escorts.
“Ah ha... Sir Knight! I thought you were guarding the granary?”
Rocinante and his squire swiftly bowed low as Princess Cadance drew nearer.
“Indeed, Fair Highness, but our lady, Gracious Princess Luna, requested that we return to your side, so as to prevent any unforeseen evil from approaching you.”
Princess Cadance sighed as she continued walking towards one of the castle's many towers, but stopped as she eyed her bridesmaids waiting for her at the tower's base.
The sudden stop caught Rocinante and Sassaflash by surprise and they walked right into the Princess from behind, knocking all three of them to the ground.
Gritting her teeth, Princess Cadance rose and forcefully pushed back the knight and his squire back with her hind leg before turning to face them.
“My bridesmaids are right over there. I'm sure they can take care of things. Why don't you go patrol the grounds?”
Rocinante shook his head vigorously before he bowed again.
“Fair Highness, how could we leave you and your fair maidens so defenseless?”
Cadance put a hoof over her face before looking back to her bridesmaids, who were now approaching them from the tower.
“My bridesmaids... are... they are my guards.”
Rocinante looked up from the ground, clearly confused.
“Your guards?”
Princess Cadance looked over her shoulder towards the bridesmaids again, before turning back to the knight-errant with a hushed voice.
“Don't tell anypony, but I hoof-picked picked these bridesmaids because they... they know martial arts. Each one of them is a master in... in... hoofkido.”
Rocinante thought for a moment before his eyes widened in surprise.
“Ah! Much akin to the famed shieldmares of the ancient pegasi tribe!”
Princess Cadance and Sassaflash both gave Rocinante a bewildered look before Cadance, still forcing her smile, continued.
“So... you don't need to be here. I've already got guards!”
Though Princess Cadance gave her best grin, it swiftly faded into a scowl as Rocinante shook his head.
“I am afraid that I cannot comply, Fair Highness. Her Noble Grace has commanded us, with the utmost vigor, that my squire and I expend all of our efforts unto your defense until tomorrow.”
As the bridesmaids arrived, Princess Cadance smiled again as she looked around nervously.
“Yes! That's... why... you'll be the first line of defense!”
“Of course Fair Highness, That is why-”
“You can patrol the outside of the tower.”
Princess Cadance smiled widely as she stepped back into the line of bridesmaids behind her.
“If anything gets past you, which I know it won't, my other guards will take care of it.”
Rocinante put a hoof to his mouth as his eyes darted back and forth, contemplating the Princess's words, but before he could reach any conclusion, Princess Cadance turned and began walking towards the tower.
“I'm sure a strong knight such as yourself can handle this, or should we call some of Luna's other guards to help you?”
Rocinante immediately dropped his hoof back to the ground and puffed up his chest, his eyes looking up unto the clouds as though he were posing for the statue depicting his inevitable victory.
“Fear not! Fair Highness! For a knight of virtue and valor shall be your defense! You may rest easy, for no evil will slip by my vigil and no wickedness shall escape my eye!”
Rocinante was clearly pleased with his response as he chuckled and brought his attention back down from the clouds, but by the time his eyes fell back down down to earth, Rocinante saw that Princess Cadance and her “guards” had already entered the tower.
“Princess Cadance” rubbed her temples as she sat down in the foyer of the tower. These ponies were certainly giving their best for “her” and finding harsh critiques for their efforts was getting harder and harder. Looking back at the closed doors, in the direction of the yellow pegasus and her choir, Chrysalis heaved a tired sigh, her remarks had left everypony busily preoccupied with the wedding, but her plan was far from over.
She had successfully left Twilight behind at the reception hall, and her bridesmaids had gone out the back door to be refitted for their new dresses, but the ever troublesome guards were still waiting for her out the front door. It was nice to be alone for a moment, but there wasn't any time to actually enjoy it, there was still far too much to be done.
Chrysalis closed her eyes as she thought about the knight outside. What was his relationship with Princess Luna? Could that be exploited or should she just use him to create friction between the two sisters?
Her guise changed in a flash of green fire as she rose from the floor. If she was going to find out what she could do, she would have to get more information first.
Sassaflash sighed as she looked up at the darkening skies. She had never realized how tiring it was to stand guard all day. Even her cousin, who was eagerly searching for a challenger like a little colt, was finally beginning to show some weakness as he yawned in between his continuous scans.
The sound of the large castle door closing behind them caused both Sassaflash and her cousin to jump. Spinning around, the were greeted with the most unexpected sight.
Princess Luna smiled warmly as she walked down the few steps from the door to where they were waiting.
“Ah my loyal knight and squire! I'm glad to see you are well!”
Sassaflash and her cousin swiftly bowed and welcomed their Princess. She looked notably better in Sassaflash's eyes. Evidently a short nap could do wonders for the Princess of the Night.
“How are you feeling, Your Highness?”
Luna nodded and stepped by them, gently brushing against Rocinante as she passed.
“I feel much better, thank you. Would you give us a moment alone?”
Sassaflash cocked an eyebrow toward the Princess, but quickly turned away. Something was wrong, but she couldn't quite place her hoof on it, so she figured it was probably her imagination.
As Sassaflash rounded the corner of the building, Chrysalis, with a dark smile on her face, began strolling off towards a secluded tree near the edge of the wall, brushing Rocinante gently with her tail as she walked next to him. It was a simple action that would have put any stallion in her hooves, yet as she turned to bat her eyes at the confused knight-errant, she couldn't make out what sort of feeling was dwelling in his heart.
There was a spark inside of him. It was small, like Luna's, but it was there.
Once they reached the tree, Chrysalis lowered her face to be level with Rocinante's. The knight didn't blush, or stammer, his eyes only filled with a bewildered curiosity as she used her horn to push his helmet out of the way and rest her forehead upon his.
“Noble Grace...”
“Please... call me Luna.”
“Noble Luna, are you quite certain you are feeling well?”
Chrysalis resisted the urge to frown as she kept her eyes locked into the knight's and onto the spark behind them. The spark didn't change even the slightest since she first came out of the tower. Was this pony truly so oblivious?
No, there was a spark, which meant there was something. This pony's heart wasn't moved easily and immediately Chrysalis knew she was dealing with the most irritating of love sources, an idealist.
Backing up and readjusting her mane, Chrysalis sat down across from the knight. Being flirtatious with him wouldn't work. She would have to be Luna to get to his heart, and that was a task that no changeling could perform without first studying their target closely. If Chrysalis wanted to siphon any power from this potential relationship, she would have to hope she could steal it from Luna.
“Perhaps my nap has left me in a dreamy state. I should go and fly around a bit so that I can wake up more.”
The knight bowed and stepped back.
“Of course, Noble Grace.”
“Oh, one other thing.”
“Yes? Gracious Highness?”
“I need you to strengthen the guard at the gate. I believe Princess Mi Amore Cadenza will be safe within the castle walls.”
Rocinante bowed again as Chrysalis spread her wings in preparation for flight.
“As you command, Noble Grace.”
Rocinante was never much for moving quietly, and the plodding of his hooves alerted Sassaflash that her cousin had returned from his meeting with the Princess. There was a lot on the young pony's mind as she turned to meet her cousin and his blank, contemplative stare into the ground implied to her that she was not the only pony confused by the situation.
“Was something wrong with Princess Luna?”
Rocinante, interrupted from his thoughts, looked up from the ground. Forcing a weak smile, he turned and looked over his shoulder in the direction the Princess and flown off in.
“Her Most Noble Highness did seem... out of character, but she has assured me that she was simply drowsy from her previous nap.”
Sassaflash gave her cousin a incredulous look.
“Being a little slow and clumsy would be fitting for somepony who just woke up, but Her Highness wasn't really acting sleepy she was acting... uh... Well you saw how she bumped into you.”
“That would be in accordance with the definition of clumsiness.”
Sassaflash frowned as she kicked the grass. She supposed it wasn't completely infeasible, but something about the whole situation made her uneasy.
“I don't know... she's just been acting really strange since we arrived in Canterlot. I mean... she was really edgy when she told us the guard the granary, and then she when she found us guarding it she got super mad, then she didn't even remember ordering us to do it? I don't know. That sounds really suspic... err... strange... to me.”
Rocinante slowly started walking towards the gate, but as Sassaflash followed, she noticed that his steps weren't as light as they usually were and his faced seemed almost melancholy as he looked up towards the moon.
“Hey... Are you alright over there?”
Seemingly snapped out of his trance, Rocinante looked around surprised for a moment before he realized the voice came from right next to him. With a weak, but growing smile Rocinante yawned and turned to his cousin.
“Of course. I was merely contemplating our Noble Princess's predicament and how best we might relieve the undue stress that has rested its most ignoble presence on Her Most Noble Grace.”
As he yawned again, Sassaflash reached out with a wing and playfully shook him.
“Careful now. I don't know what I'll do if you start acting all weird on me.”
Rocinante gave a light laugh as they reached the main gate in front of them.
“Fear not, dear Sassa. Tired as I may be, I have already thought of how best to... to...”
A slow and long yawn interrupted his train of thought and soon the knight-errant was leaning up against the gate with an overly relaxed expression. Sassaflash sighed as she sat down and fought off her own yawn.
The cool night air was invigorating as it left Princess Luna's nostrils in the form of a light fog. She felt the best she had in weeks as she turned her wings and banked left towards the magical sphere that surrounded the city,
In contrast, her sister looked to be almost as tired as she had been. Princess Celestia's posture had stooped as she pulled her tired eyes from the telescope. Taking a quick breath and popping her stiff shoulders, Celestia scanned the city so closely that she didn't even notice her sister's approach until Luna called out to her.
“Rest my sister! As always I will guard the night.”
Celestia smiled as Luna landed and went straight for the telescope perched over the city. Her sister's voice spoke volumes just through its regained regal tone. As Celestia began to walk inside the castle tower, she stopped to look back over her shoulder.
“Sleep well?”
Luna swung the telescope over the city below.
“Quite. I must thank thee, Sister. For now I can think with far greater clarity than before. Has the day gone well?”
Celestia chuckled quietly as she turned back towards the tower and to bed. She had wished Luna would be more relaxed after getting a good nap, but she knew better than to expect it.
“Quite. Luna?”
“Yes Sister?”
“...Be careful.”
Luna's smile warmed Celestia's heart. They were simple words that had very little literal bearing on their situation from the safety of the tall observation tower high above the great city below them. But they told Luna that she was taking her concerns seriously, which was exactly what Celestia had hoped to tell her little sister before she left her with the night.
“Tia?”
Celestia stopped suddenly before turning to face her sister. There was a strange tone in Luna's voice that chilled her warming heart like a cold breeze over a candle flame.
“What's wrong?”
Luna looked over the balcony to the city lights, her lip was bitten and immediately Celestia knew something was making her sister exceptionally anxious.
“Did...”
Luna stopped, gathered herself, and faced her sister with a sudden resolve.
“Didst thou order Sir Rocinante to guard the granary instead of Princess Cadenza?”
Celestia looked at her sister for a moment as she thought about the various orders she had given that day while Luna patiently waited for an answer. At last, Celestia shook her head.
“No... No I would have remembered giving such an order. Why? What happened?”
“I found Sir Rocinante and his squire defending the granary from the kitchen staff this afternoon instead of defending Princess Cadance. When I inquired about their task, they said their new orders had come from thee.”
Celestia began to frown as the implications of Luna's words began to fill her mind.
“What did Princess Cadenza say?”
“She was asleep in her room at the time the order was given. When she awoke, her guards were gone and she was left, stricken with fear and alone.”
“Do you think I gave the order, Little Sister?”
Luna broke eye contact with her, looking back down towards the city lights.
“Had the change in orders originated from the enemy, then surely they would have used such an opportune moment to strike the young Princess while she was not only undefended, but helpless as well. Yet she was untouched by the foe during this great moment of complete vulnerability.”
“Luna. I did not give any orders to them. They are your retainers.”
Luna's eyes slowly remade contact with Celestia's. Celestia could see the concern in her sister's eyes, but she wasn't certain how best to help.
“Are you certain Rocinante did not head towards the granary in order to get something to eat?”
Luna frowned as her eyes narrowed towards her sister.
“I am certain Sister.”
“Luna... I know you don't want to consider the possibility, but he isn't a trained-”
“Prithee, wherefore dost thou and thy great guard captain put so much doubt upon one who has proven himself so consistently to thee? Hast thou forgotten what he did for us the night of the Gala? Hast thou forgotten that upon thy recommendation, he stood before the unstoppable might of the draconequus Discord? Hast thou-”
Celestia's nostrils flared at the sudden accusation. The long day's toil of scrutinizing every angle of the castle grounds had caught up to her as she stamped the floor.
“Have you forgotten who he is? Luna he is not a real knight-errant, he is a pony of the gentry who has stepped into a world that is not his own, a world that never existed outside of old pony tales! You cannot expect him to act with the discipline of a guardspony just because he put on some ancient breastplate and parades around-”
“He IS the Knight of the Restored Moon, a title that was granted to him-”
“By you! Not by me! I played along with it because I knew he couldn't hurt anypony!”
Luna glared at her sister as tears began to well up in her eyes.
“I thought that thou had respect for my choice in champions. I see now that I was mistaken.”
Celestia felt tears beginning to well up in her own eyes as she turned and walked inside the tower. There would be no reasoning with her sister tonight. Despite her constant writing that she had wanted Luna to enjoy her time out in the country, in truth she had been eagerly counting down the days to Luna's return. Now her sister had not even been back for a full day and they were at each other's throats.
As Celestia flopped onto her bed she pressed her face into her pillow and screamed. What sort of cruel joke was this? Could she and her sister not share the kingdom without fighting? Could they not even enjoy a pure occasion such as a wedding without some sort of conflict?
Atop the balcony, Luna glared at the city below her when movement below caught her eye. Raising her voice she called down below forcefully.
“Who goes there?!”
The purple unicorn didn't answer, but instead ran towards the castle doors at full speed. Luna gritted her teeth at this inconsequential act of defiance, but swiftly pushed it from her mind. Twilight Sparkle was not the kind of pony who would openly ignore her.
“Stay indoors Twilight Sparkle!”
As Twilight disappeared from her field of view, Luna sat down and contemplated the previous argument. She swore she wouldn't ever argue with her sister like that since her banishment to the moon, yet here she was, already in a shouting match with her. She wasn't even certain how the fight began. One moment they were happy to see each other and the next they were furious.
Luna wiped a tear from her eye and shuddered with the night's breeze. A small fear of this fight had crept into her mind. But she wasn't afraid of being sent back to the moon, she was afraid of losing her sister again.
Princess Celestia rose groggily that morning. Her fight with her sister had wrecked her thoughts all night and the morning was already carrying that feeling as though she should just stay in bed. Looking in the mirror at the mess that was commonly called “Princess Celestia”, Celestia breathed a tired sigh and reached for a brush with her magic.
She was going to skip breakfast this morning, not because she didn't want to see her sister, but because she wanted to get to the bottom of these changed orders that had her sister so upset. There wouldn't be much time for her to investigate however. There was a wedding rehearsal later that morning, dozens of arrangements, both for the wedding and for the kingdom's everyday rule, not to mention that she hadn't even raised the sun yet. Everypony wanted her attention for some detail here or there, but unlike the Gala, this time she would be the pony that would help her sister.
The more she thought about her sister's arguments, the more she wanted to look into this matter personally. After all, Rocinante did willingly challenge a draconequus, surely a pony dedicated enough to the dream of chivalric knighthood to face such danger without batting an eye would be willing to endure a little hunger and boredom for the sake of defending a princess from a most likely imagined threat.
As her sun began to rise, Princess Celestia looked towards the tower. Her sister had evidently already gone to the breakfast table, perhaps to talk things over more reasonably this morning. A frown slowly came across her face. Perhaps she should have gone to breakfast instead of rushing to find out what was going on. She didn't even know where Rocinante and his squire were. Quickly she checked the time. She didn't have long, but even if she couldn't find him before the rehearsal, she was certain that Twilight would have no trouble adapting to the role of best mare and she could resume the search afterwards.
Rocinante yawned and stretched as he looked over toward his tired squire.
“Well done, dear Sassa. We have lasted the night and no doubt our vigilance has dissuaded evil's cowardly approach.”
Sassaflash yawned and nodded as she watched the Princess raise the sun. Her eyelids felt unbelievably heavy as sat on her flank and contemplated what to say when her stomach suddenly spoke for her with a deep and distressed grumble.
“Can we go get breakfast, cousin?”
Rocinante shook his head with a smile as he pranced back and forth across the gate's opening. Where he found a colt's energy at his age and background was a mystery to Sassaflash.
“I fear that we have yet to receive relief from our lady. But fear not, dear Sassa. For I shall hold the line hear while you go and fill your empty stomach. This is the day of the glorious wedding, therefore be sure to eat up as we must be extra vigilant! No doubt the dastardly foes will try their utmost this day to take the forces of virtue by surprise, but we will be ready for them! Ha! I dare say I hope they strike soon so that I might use the phrase 'defeat villains for breakfast' quite literally!”
Sassaflash smirked at her cousins eagerness. Although she certainly lacked her cousin's enthusiasm, it did tend to be contagious to everypony around him.
“Do you want me to bring you back anything? Or should we let the enemy bring breakfast to you?”
“Ha! Well said, dear Sassa!”
A sudden rumble from the knight-errant's stomach interrupted his thoughts as he looked down toward the source of the unexpected noise.
“However I am certain as to neither the timing of the foes attack, nor the nutritional value of such cowardly villains. Therefore I must say...”
Another rumble came his stomach.
“Waffles please.”
Sassaflash burst out laughing as she nodded and began trotting towards the castle with a wave to Rocinante behind her.
Chrysalis could feel the butterflies in her stomach as she peeked out from between the closed curtains onto the grounds below. Today was the day and if she didn't play her cards just right, everything would be for naught.
Her plan for Celestia and the Royal Guards had been in place and carefully scrutinized for months before she came to Canterlot, even the sudden addition of the Elements of Harmony to the mix fell under a few of the contingency plans she and her fellow changelings had devised, but Princess Luna still imposed a significant problem.
She had hoped to be able to siphon some power off of her before the battle later today, but she couldn't risk delaying any longer. She had to get Luna out of the picture before she and her meddling escorts could interfere with the wedding any more.
Looking into the mirror at her new disguise, Chrysalis smiled and tilted her invisible horn towards the glasses of water she had gathered the night before. It had worked on the real Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, so she had little doubt that it would work on Princess Luna. A simple poison, not enough to do any real harm, but enough to render an alicorn unconscious for a few hours while a wedding took place, an invasion occurred, and a cocoon was wrapped around her.
Princess Celestia may have had too many cup bearers for her to use the trick on her, but nopony would expect Luna's most faithful and loyal knight to bring about his princess's undoing. With a smile on his face and a tray carrying its grim contents on his back, “Sir Rocinante” carefully exited the room and began making his way towards the Princess's chamber.
Sassaflash stared in wonder at the great hall before her. Despite the fact that she had been with Princess Luna for the past year, it still amazed her that she was not only having breakfast in the Royal Castle, but that she was having breakfast in the Royal Castle as a welcome friend of the Princess. A giddy smile came across her face as she bounced lightheartedly down the hallway. How many little fillies dreamed of being where she was now? Everything was like a dream as she trotted along the plush carpet and waved “good morning” to her cousin across the hall.
With a sudden jerk, Sassaflash came to a halt as she looked through a door to the side at her cousin, Rocinante, with a silver tray on his back, walking towards one of the towers with an intent look on his face. Her earlier excitement had been replaced by confusion and was the confusion was slowly being replaced by an unexplained nervousness as she approached her cousin.
“Rocinante?”
Rocinante jumped and turned to face her with an unnerving smile on his face.
“Ah! Ah... you... good morning! How are you?”
Immediately Sassaflash's mane began to stand on end.
“I'm doing fine. Where are you going?”
“Ah, I'm going to see Her Highness, Princess Luna. She said she was thirsty, so I thought I'd bring her some water.”
Sassaflash looked at the pony in front of her with a raised eyebrow.
“You thought what?”
“I... thought I'd bring her some water.”
A small bit of pride rose up in Sassaflash's chest as took a step back.
“You're not Rocinante. You're an imposter.”
Rocinante's eyes widened as they darted around, but seeing no other pony in this hall, he soon smiled and resumed the conversation.
“Oh? And what makes you say that?”
Sassaflash smiled as she narrowed her eyes. She had been traveling with her cousin long enough to pick up on a number of his more eccentric qualities.
“For one, even if Princess Luna had told him to leave the gate behind, there's no way he could have beaten me to the castle. But more importantly two, Rocinante doesn't use contractions.”
Sassaflash felt quite smug until the imposter in front of her smiled and began advancing toward her.
“I hadn't noticed that about him. Thanks for the tip.”
It was then that Sassaflash realized that they were alone in the hallway. Instantly her eyes went wide and she turned to run back to the last guard she saw, but the imposter was suddenly back in front of her. As she opened her mouth to scream, the imposter suddenly teleported next to her with his hoof conveniently over her muzzle.
“Now now, we wouldn't want anypony else no know our little secret would we?”
Sassaflash panicked as she tried to pull away from her captor, but the fake Rocinante had too strong of a grip. She tried to scream again, but nothing more than a muffled cry came out of her mouth. The imposter grinned as his eyes suddenly beamed with an unnatural glow and a bright green fire encircled the both of them.
“Don't worry, you're just going on a little trip to a little place we talked about yesterday.”
As a bubble began to encapsulate them, the imposter stepped out and smiled. Immediately Sassaflash tried to follow, but she bounced off of the bubble's wall. Placing her hooves against bubble's edge she screamed at the top of her lungs, but the imposter only shook his head and mouthed something inaudible to her. She was trapped and before long she saw the bubble begin to sink into the floor. Panicking, Sassaflash pushed against the top of her prison with all the strength her wings could muster, but it was no use, the world quickly grew dark as she disappeared beneath the castle floor
Slowly the world began to stop spinning and Sassaflash carefully stood up. Reaching out with a hoof, she could feel that the bubble that imprisoned her was gone, but without any light she couldn't tell anything about where she was.
“H-Hello?”
Her echo was the only voice that answered and soon Sassaflash felt her knees begin to knock as she stumbled around in the darkness.
“Is... Is anypony here?”
Suddenly a shrill, unnatural laugh answered back, echoing off of the walls around her. Sassaflash jumped as a pale green image of her cousin's face appeared on large piece of raw crystal ahead of her. But the hope caused by the sight of Rocinante was swiftly replaced with dread as a cruel grin spread across his face.
“Don't you recognize this place? These are the very crystal caverns your knight spoke so highly of. I must say they are making an excellent prison for everypony who gets in my way.”
“Who are you?! What do you want?!”
“Rocinante” took on a sudden look of surprise as his face disappeared from the crystal and reappeared on a crystal slate above her.
“You haven't figured it out yet? I'm the very 'agent' you and your knight have been looking for this whole time.”
The face disappeared and Princess Cadenza's face appeared on a crystal behind Sassaflash.
“It must be so embarrassing to realize that all this time you've been guarding the very 'foe' you've been trying to find!”
Sassaflash's jaw dropped as the laughing image of the fake princess appeared on all of the crystal's surrounding her.
“N-No... That's... how?”
Her breath grew shorter and shorter as she tried to back away from all of the laughing faces around her when suddenly they all disappeared, except for one image in the crystal in front of her which made her heart nearly stop.
It was now her own face that was grinning back at her.
“I really should thank you though. Sir... Rocinante was it? He is harder to impersonate that I thought. You however... well, nopony will think twice about a simple pony like you.”
“Wh-What are you going to do?”
“Oh don't worry, I'm sure that your princess will be happy to see you soon enough.”
The face disappeared with a cackling laugh that left Sassaflash with the crystals resonating in the dark.
Princess Luna sighed as she sat down in front of the mirror in her room. She looked like a total mess after stressing all night over the fight with her sister. Pulling out a brush and straightening her mane, Luna tried to go over everything in her mind again.
It didn't make sense that Sir Rocinante and Lady Sassaflash would leave Princess Cadenza unless ordered to, but Celestia certainly wouldn't lie to her about not giving them any orders.
With another sigh, Luna looked at her reflection. She had hoped Celestia would be at breakfast so that they could talk things out in a much more civilized manner, but Celestia never showed up. Was it because she didn't want to see her? Was it because she was too busy to deal with her now? Or too angry?
Luna fought back a tear as she closed her eyes and took a slow deep breath.
“She was my big sister, best friend, and mentor...
So why can I not even talk to her...”
The sudden knock at the door cause Luna to jump as she quickly cleared her voice and put the brush down on the table.
“Enter!”
To her surprise, Sassaflash walked in with a silver tray on her back.
“Good morning, Princess.”
“Ah Sassa! What brings thee here this morning? I trust that Princess Cadenza is well?”
Sassaflash nodded as she set the tray down on the table next to Luna's brush.
“Quite well, Your Highness. Sir Rocinante is with her as we speak, being the ever faithful guard that he is.”
Luna smiled as she looked over at the tray.
“It does me well to hear that the confusion regarding Princess Cadenza's escort has been resolved. What is this?”
Sassaflash smiled broadly as she motioned to the glass.
“I thought you might be thirsty, so I brought you some water. We have a big day today, getting ready for the wedding and everything. So we will all need to stay hydrated!”
Luna cocked an eyebrow towards Sassaflash as she magically lifted the glass off of the tray.
“Art thou feeling well, Sassa? For thy spirits seem unusually high this morning.”
Without waiting for a reply, Princess Luna raised the glass to her mouth and downed the water. Almost immediately she could tell something was wrong as Sassaflash approached her with an uncharacteristic smirk.
“Oh, I'm doing very well Your Highness.”
“Sassa... Nay... Who art thou?”
Luna suddenly felt remarkably dizzy as “Sassaflash” gave her only a slight push, that caused to princess to stumble back towards her bed. Blinking her eyes, Luna tried to clear her mind, but it was too late.
“Treachery!”
“Don't worry, dear Luna. I'm sure your knight will understand, you've been up all night and you need your rest.”
“What hast thou done with Sassa...flash... R-Rocinante...”
As her consciousness faded away Luna desperately tried to reach out, the poison acted too fast and soon she was sleeping peacefully, but deeply on the bed.
Queen Chrysalis smiled as she examined the results of her labor and readied her magic to produce a fitting cocoon for the sleeping princess.
“Two alicorns down, one to-”
The sudden sound of hooves on the stone stairs leading up to Princess Luna's room interrupted Chrysalis in the middle of her triumph. Thinking fast, she swiftly changed her disguise into a pony with the authority to tell whoever it was that was coming to go away.
“Ah! Fair Highness! How excellent to find you so quickly!”
“Princess Cadenza” grimaced towards the knight-errant who emerged happily from the staircase just outside the door that she had foolishly left open. Placing a hoof to her mouth, Princess Cadenza motioned for Rocinante to be quiet before scurrying out to meet him just outside the room.
“Shh... Princess Luna is sleeping right now. Best come back later when she's fully rested.”
Despite her strongest wishes, Rocinante did not leave, but instead bowed low and looked up at her.
“Ah! Alas, I cannot then complete one duty, but never fear, Fair Highness, Princess Celestia herself has asked me to also look for you and escort you to the wedding rehearsal.”
Princess Cadenza rolled her eyes as she looked back towards the sleeping Luna on the other side of the now closed door. The cocoon would have to wait until after the invasion. It was irritating, but not unacceptable. The poison should last well until after she had conquered Canterlot.
She had considered teleporting Rocinante to the crystal caverns with his squire, but a new and better thought came into her mind.
“You... haven't been tasked to escort me all day again have you?”
“Alas no, Fair Highness. My charge is to escort you unto the care of Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia. From there I am to depart and meet again with Her Noble Highness, Princess Luna, should she be awake, to convey Her Royal Highness's deepest regrets for the previous confusion regarding her Noble Grace's intent to protect Your Fair Highness and invite Her Noble Highness to meet with Her Royal Highness as soon as she is able.”
Princess Cadenza stared at Rocinante blankly for a moment before she finally shook her head.
“So that's a no?”
“Yes, Fair Highness.”
Chrysalis desperately wanted to send Rocinante to the caves below them immediately, but she resisted the temptation.
“Well, since Princess Luna is sleeping at the moment, could I ask you to do a favor for me?”
Rocinante bowed low, as he always did.
“Of course, Young Excellency. How might I be of service to you?”
Princess Cadenza smiled as she motioned out the window.
“You said you knew where the entrance to the crystal caverns was?”
Rocinante tilted his head slightly and forced a sheepish grin.
“Not exactly, Fair Highness. I do recall the descriptions from the old legends, but those are most noble accounts of olden times. While the scenery may not have changed too much-”
“Good. I want you to show my bridesmaids the caverns. They're waiting for you by the main gate and oh so excited to see the beauty of the crystals themselves.”
Rocinante looked between the stairs, leading down and to the reception hall, and the princess next to him.
“Fair Highness, your bridesmaids will be needed for the rehearsal, will they not?”
“They will not. You see, I only chose those particular bridesmaids for their... their martial skill. But Princess Celestia told me that she thinks the enemy might be using the caverns as a base of operations. So I was hoping you and my bridesmaids could form the first line of defense against their attack. Maybe even defeat the enemy right there!”
Rocinante looked at her curiously, his eyebrows furrowing slightly as his mind mulled over what the Princess had said.
“So when you said your bridesmaids wished to view the crystals...”
Princess Cadenza rolled her eyes and sighed.
“I was speaking in code!”
Rocinante's eyes swiftly began to widen in excitement for the prospect before him.
“I see! Ah ha! Very clever, Most Fair Highness! Fear not! We shall place such a tight grip upon the cavern's entrance, once it is located, that no pony will ever be able to slip by our grasp!”
At last the princess smiled.
“Excellent. But be careful, the enemy is reportedly an ingenious master of disguise... and beauty. She may take the form of me or even somepony you know. But no matter how convincing they may be, let no pony through.”
Rocinante saluted and spun on his hooves eagerly towards the door.
“Of course. I shall gather my noble squire and depart at once!”
“No!”
The knight-errant stopped immediately at the princess's sudden outburst.
“No?”
“I mean... Your squire... is... busy I'm sure. I doubt you will need her.”
With courteous bow, Rocinante gave a hearty laugh.
“You jest well, Young Excellency. But a knight is nothing without his noble squire! Dear Sassaflash has accompanied me through each battle until now. It would be the height of rudeness for me to leave her behind at the moment of our grandest triumph.”
Princess Cadenza gritted her teeth.
“I meant... I was speaking in code again. Your squire will be helping me with a no doubt dangerous... and... equally important task that... doesn't... require a knight like yourself.”
As the knight-errant looked at her with narrowed expression, Chrysalis began to pool her magic up inside of her. If this didn't work she would have to act fast to strike Luna's personal guard before he would be ready.
But Rocinante simply smiled and rose from his bow.
“I understand, Fair Highness. I wish you the best of luck and please, worry not for your most special of days. For you are guarded by the very best the Kingdom of Equestria and the forces of virtue and valor have to offer!”
As he turned and trotted eagerly out towards the castle grounds, Chrysalis suppressed a small chuckle of her own.
Once her eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, Sassaflash found that she could see little, only vague shapes and silhouettes, but the fact that she could see at all meant there had to be light coming from somewhere, she just had to find it.
“Think Sassa... What did Rocinante say about these caves? Why are they here?”
Rubbing her temples, Sassaflash glared at the wall as though it would give up its secrets to her.
“They dug these caves because Canterlot used to be a mining town before it was the capital... Unicorns love crystals... They founded the town because this was a rich mountain deposit... ung. Think Sassa, think! How did they dig these?! With magic? Why did they stop? They stopped... they stopped... Ung, I don't remember!”
Collapsing on the ground, Sassaflash all but gave in to despair.
“Trapped... trapped just like Sir... what's-his-name... Ung— it doesn't matter... or... or does it?”
A sudden light flicked behind her eyes as she looked at her reflection in the crystal in front of her. Instead of trying to remember what Rocinante had said about the caves, she tried to remember what the legend had said about the knight that was trapped inside them.
“He was tired... hungry... and had all but given up when... when he did something... there was a song... Yes! He sang the song his mother had sung to him when he was a colt and that opened the way home!”
Sassaflash trotted in place with eager excitement at her ability to recall the story, but her excitement soon waned as she realized she had no idea how that could possibly help her. With the dust settling back down around her, Sassaflash soon stomped the ground in anger instead of excitement.
“This isn't getting me anywhere! Think Sassa, think! I'm out of time! They need me-”
Her words were cut of by a sudden rumbling beneath her hooves, as though somepony had magically blasted away a wall somewhere else in the caverns. Yet what caught her attention was not the strange rumbling, but the effect it had on the crystal in front of her.
While most of the ground shook briefly, the crystal in front of her vibrated and hummed for what felt like an eternity while Sassaflash stared at it with wide eyes as the idea swirled and formed in her mind.
Holding the pitch the crystal had made in her mind, Sassaflash slowly and carefully stepped up to the crystal and opened her mouth.
“Ahhh...”
Her heart grew lighter and lighter as the crystal vibrated in response. That was the meaning of the legend! The knight was able to sing his way home because the crystals resonated with his voice! Taking a deep breath, Sassaflash sang the carefully held pitch until the crystal began to shake, slowly at first and then violently before long a crack suddenly split the crystal down the middle.
With an almost vengeful grin, Sassaflash planted her front hooves firmly in the ground and gave the crystal the hardest kick she could deliver. Though it was certainly harder than any cloud she had ever kicked, it soon gave way to a new chamber behind it, with more light reflecting off of the crystals to guide her path. She couldn't see where exactly the light was coming from, but she knew now it couldn't be too far away.
But the smile that came across her face however soon dissipated as she heard what sounded like Princess Cadenza's shrill laughter echoing down the cavern walls.
Rocinante eyed the surroundings carefully as he looked for landmarks that matched the descriptions in the ancient legends about the crystal caves.
“I do believe... if the far western castle tower was truly built on top of the ruins of the ancient barracks and if main street was built upon the dried riverbed, then an entrance to the caverns should be...”
Rocinante scanned the horizon carefully when at last he saw a tiny dot on the mountainside, just within the magical barrier.
“Ah ha! There it is! Come, dear allies! Let us make haste to meet the enemy in glorious and decisive battle!”
As he checked behind him, Rocinante saw that the three bridesmaids were still as silent as ever, their green eyes staring forward in an almost trance-like state as they followed him. Shrugging his shoulders, Rocinante took their silence to be some form of meditation for their martial art, and led the way.
As the cave drew nearer and nearer, he could feel his own excitement growing as a small laugh welled up inside of him.
“This day is going to be perfect,
the kind of day that makes me prideful as a knight.
Now the foe has shown his face,
I will put him in his place,
soon all the world will see my noble might!”
Sassaflash raced through the winding caverns, singing and kicking at every crystal that barred her path. As she kicked her way through another crystal and dodged around another, Sassaflash grimaced as she thought about her cousin's optimistic prediction for the day.
“This day was going to be perfect,
the kind of day that makes us sad to see the night.
But the bride I've realized,
is nothing but a mare of lies,
and now I fear that we are heading for a fight...
Climbing his way up the steep mountainside was laborious, but not too difficult. Pausing for a moment's breath, Rocinante looked back towards Princess Luna's tower with a smile. While he had hoped that she would be able to rest well, he also wished that she could watch his great victory over the enemies of Canterlot. As the bridesmaids caught up with him, he smiled and continued eagerly up the slope.
“Now please rest, my Noble Princess,
victory belongs to me.
The foes? Well, though they may be strong,
I have my knightly virtue,
and the cause of right I pursue,
since when has right ever lost to the wrong?
No I do not fear this fight,
so come evil, this ends tonight!
Face me now and meet your great demise!”
Sassaflash could feel her heart racing as she spread her wings and flew over the ancient mine cart tracks and landed on the other side of the gorge. Even though she knew it was impossible, she was desperate to get to her cousin and her princess before the changeling could do any harm to either of them.
“I must escape before it's too late.
Warn my knight of evil's plight.
Hope, for this gives me such a fright.
For I fear that he is fighting,
for a changeling who is lying,
instead of for his Princess of the Night!
For I know that he could win,
against all evil, thick or thin.
Oh, Rocinante, beware the foe within!”
At last the cave entrance lay before them. Rocinante's breaths were beginning to become more and more labored, but he still smiled as he looked to the bridesmaids who were still pressing on alongside him.
“Finally the moment has arrived.
Dear ladies, please now step aside.”
Sassaflash looked up at the rays of light coming from above and flexed her tired wings. Not too long ago, she would have been exhausted by this run, but either all the time spent questing through the countryside had toughened her or the adrenaline in her system simply let her ignore how tired she was and kept her racing and panting towards her goal.
“The battle's soon upon us,
and the foe still walks among us!
Victory will soon be...”
“Mine. All mine.”
Rocinante let out a tired, but still triumphal laugh as he trotted into the cavern's wide opening and examined the terrain.
“I see that there are two paths from which the foe may...”
Rocinante's words trailed off as the bridesmaids continued walking past the entrance and on to a path that arched above a lower route before spiraling down into the mountain.
“I see... If you defend the high road, then I shall hold the low path and together we shall block all passage for the enemy. Do not hesitate to call upon my aid should you find yourselves overrun. My lance is eager-”
Rocinante froze as he rounded the corner, almost walking right into Sassaflash.
Both ponies leapt back from each other in shock, but Rocinante was quicker to recover and tilted his lance towards his cousin.
“You will not go anywhere near the noble city of Canterlot this day villain! Prepare yourself!”
Sassaflash's eyes widened as she stepped further back away from the knight-errant's lance.
“Cousin! It's me! Sassa! What are you doing?!”
“Her Fair Highness warned me of your devious disguises and I must admit, I am impressed, but I know for a fact that my cousin Sassaflash is assisting Her Fair Excellency with her wedding even as we speak! You are too late to stop us now!”
“Rocinante! Princess Cadenza is the real changeling! She's been playing us all for foals from the start! That's why everypony has been acting weird! We have to stop her now!”
Rocinante's resolve seemed to falter for a moment, but his eyes swiftly narrowed back on their target.
“Sassa? No, I was told this would happen. You will not deceive me so...”
Rocinante stopped as a small bouquet of flowers landed on his back.
“What is this?”
“I WANT IT!”
The knight-errant had no time to react as three desperate and determined bridesmaids fell on top of him from above. As the dust slowly settled around the pile of tangled ponies, Sassaflash calmly walked up to her cousin.
“Even I could tell now would have been the perfect time to attack. Do you believe me now?”
Rocinante looked up from where he was pinned the underneath the three bridesmaids.
“Dear Sassa! How foalish of me to mistake you so! I beg your forgiveness! No doubt the disgusting coward of a rebellious upstart pony used some form of terrible magic to deceive me! But how did you come to be down here?”
Sassaflash shook her head as she offered her cousin a hoof.
“There's no time! Princess Luna is in danger!”
Rocinante's jaw fell open as he quickly rose, quite forcefully, through the still bickering bridesmaids.
“Then there is not a single moment to be lost! Come Sassa! Let us rush to the side of Her Most Noble Grace!”
Sassaflash gave her cousin a worried look as she picked up his lance and passed it to him.
“Are you alright? Can you still run?”
Rocinante, still covered in dust and a few flower petals, laughed as he started racing for the cavern's entrance.
“Fear not! Dear Sassa! For each time a knight-errant is knocked unto the ground, he shall rise again and again and evil shall be undone!”
“Halt villains! In... In the name of... the Roy... Royal... Crowns of... Canterlot I demand that you... that you turn... and face me... at once!”
Twilight Sparkle turned her head and looked over her should towards the sound of the voice. Behind her were two exhausted ponies chasing after them with determination, but they were swiftly falling behind.
But a quick look at Princess Cadance told Twilight all she needed to know. Cadance wouldn't stop for anypony but Shining Armor and as long as the two ponies behind them stayed out of their way, she wouldn't even bother with them.
Twilight gritted her teeth as she took another look back. It was hard to tell from the distance, but she was fairly certain they were being chased by Sassaflash and her cousin.
“I'm going to go back there and see what they want!”
Cadance never took her narrowed eyes off of the castle gate as she shouted back over the rushing wind racing past them.
“Don't bother, We don't have time!”
“You keep going! I'll be right back! They may be able to help us!”
Cadance said nothing as she continued racing for the castle in earnest. With a bright purple flash, Twilight teleported mid-stride in between Sassaflash and her cousin, causing more than just a small amount of mayhem for her pursuers.
The armored earth pony jumped and stumbled in surprise and would have fallen face forward down the hill were it not for the fact that his lance had been tilted forward. Before anypony could react, the lance dug into the mountainside and pole-vaulted the stunned earth pony into the air.
Sassaflash barely had anytime to react as she watched her cousin sail through the air at full speed. Flapping her wings as hard as she could, she managed to catch up with him, but the knight-errant and his equipment were far too heavy for the one pegasus to keep airborne.
As they raced towards the ground only a short distance behind Princess Cadance, Twilight teleported underneath them and the trio formed an odd tower of ponies that was racing, somewhat uncontrollably, downhill.
Looking up to the one pony she was familiar with, Twilight called out to the pegasus above her.
“Sassaflash?!”
“Twilight?!”
“What are you doing here?!”
“Twilight! Princess Cadenza is an imposter!”
“I know! She's a changeling!”
Sassaflash's words hung in her mouth, but her eyes spoke the question she wanted to ask plainly enough for Twilight to answer.
“I mean the one at the wedding is a changeling! This is the real Cadance!”
Rocinante and Sassaflash exchanged glances for a moment before nodding.
“Oh! That makes sense then!”
As they reached the bottom of the hill the trio broke apart. Twilight moved out from underneath Rocinante and once the knight-errant was back with his hooves on the ground, they resumed racing after Princess Cadance.
As they drew nearer to the gate, Twilight saw the guards were lining up, but not opening the doors, despite their group's obvious hurry.
“What are they doing?!”
Rocinante shook his head as he gasped for breath.
“I... almost... forgot... The guards... were ordered... to be on the look... lookout... for an... imposter... Princess...”
Twilight and Sassaflash both dropped their jaws and immediately Twilight teleported further ahead to where Cadance was frantically running ahead of them.
“Cadance! The guards think you're the changeling!”
Sassaflash wasn't certain what the real Princess and Twilight were talking about or what sort of plan they may have formed in front of them, but as the guards readied their spears to intercept the alicorn racing towards them, Princess Cadance simply teleported to the other side of the gate in a bright flash of light.
The guards soon scrambled off of the wall and began racing after the Princess while most of the guards still on the ground outside seemed unsure whether to stop the remaining ponies or not. Sassaflash looked to her cousin with concern in her eyes. She might be able to fly over, but Rocinante could only charge straight ahead.
“Do you think they will let us through?”
Rocinante smiled as he continued his charge, but said little in between pants of breath. Just as Sassaflash braced herself for the worst, Twilight Sparkle appeared next to them and with a bright flash of light, they were on the other side.
Of course the other side of the castle gate was also swarming with guards eagerly trying to stop the Princess Cadance that they believed to be the imposter. Twilight, not wanting to see which side the guards considered them to be on, swiftly teleported them again, further inside the castle.
Regrettably, Twilight was the only one of them prepared for the teleportations, but after both Rocinante and Sassaflash picked themselves back up off of the ground, she was quick to lead the way towards the ceremony. Rocinante however, slowed down and curved towards a different hallway leading to Luna's tower.
Twilight stopped for only a moment, but Rocinante waved them on.
“Go... your... princesses need you... ours... needs us...”
Twilight paused as though she were going to say something, but instead nodded and ran off to catch up with Cadance. Dealing with the imposter would be up to them, both Rocinante and Sassaflash knew their responsibility was to their Princess, whatever she might need.
The fact that the Princess did not awake as they burst into her room made Sassaflash's heart stop. But the Princess's chest still rose and fell with each breath, which in turn allowed everypony in the room to breathe at least a little easier.
“Most Noble Grace, we need you this very hour! I beg you to arise and take note of your imminent peril!”
Sassaflash gently shook the Princess's shoulders, but to no avail.
“Cousin, I don't think she can hear us.”
“Most Noble and Gracious Highness... Whatever did the accursed foe do to you whilst we were so deceived? How could we have failed you so?!”
Sassaflash shook Princess Luna's shoulders again.
“Cousin, I... When the imposter captured me, he... or she, said they were going to bring Princess Luna some water.”
Sassaflash immediately began searching the room and quickly noticed the empty glass on the floor. Afraid that touching it might place her next to the Princess they were trying to save, Sassaflash motioned to the glass and eyed it carefully, but kept her distance.
“It... It looks like the imposter slipped her some f-form of...”
The words hung in her throat tightly. The very idea of what she was looking at made her sick to her stomach. She was a weather pony from Ponyville. How did she come to get wrapped up in all of this? A panic began to well up inside of her as she turned to her cousin. She didn't belong here. How did this happen? How did an innocent adventure or two turn into this?
Rocinante's reaction was completely different. Sassaflash didn't even notice her cousin bending down to examine the glass with the same amount of caution at first, but then he suddenly scooped it up with his hoof and examined it closer.
“poison...”
Sassaflash's ears perked up at the word and, for a moment, her own chest became lighter.
“Do you know anything about it?”
Her heart fell back almost instantly as he shook his head.
“Not even the slightest. However, from what evidence we have around us, I believe that is the surest conclusion.”
Had she not been so worried for the Princess's condition, Sassaflash would have sighed. Instead she merely shook her head.
“I know that! What can do we do about it?”
Rocinante again shook his head.
“Regrettably I know very little of the cowardly world of poisons and potions. Such villainous underhooved things like this have no place in the proper and noble realms of justice, virtue, and valor.”
Sighing as he placed the glass on the table, Rocinante turned and walked next to the sleeping princess.
“A thousand curses upon me, oh Most Noble of Graces. How I have failed you so, to not prevent such a poisonous sleep to fall... upon... you...”
Sassaflash was stirred from her own melancholy by Rocinante's trailing words. Looking up from the floor to her cousin, she saw that Rocinante's eyes had suddenly grown very wide and his face suddenly began turning to a bright shade of red as he removed his helmet.
“C-Cousin? What's wrong? Did you think of something? Is there some legend you remember that we can use?”
Rocinante stared straight forward, his eyes focusing on some point as far away as they could.
“I... have...”
Again Sassaflash's heart leapt as a hopeful smile came across her face.
“What is it? What can we do?!”
Rocinante cleared his throat and, much to his cousin's surprise, seemed to blush even brighter.
“You may recall a number of legends, quite popular amongst younger foals... especially fillies... I am not certain why fillies seem to prefer this sort of legend over colts, perhaps-”
“Cousin?”
Sassaflash's smile was quickly fading at the sight of her fearless cousin suddenly becoming so timid. But Rocinante continued before she could ask what was wrong.
“Ah! Yes... I digress- You may recall, dear Sassa, a number of legends in which a princess is enchanted, cursed, or... or poisoned in such a manner as to be rendered completely unconscious, u-unable to be woken.”
The memory of the old pony tales she had been told as a filly suddenly came back to Sassaflash's mind and her mouth fell open right as Rocinante spoke the common cure in all of the tales.
“You see, the cure for such an ailment is... is... a kiss...”
At the simple mentioning of the word, Rocinante's face reached a shade of red that rivaled Applejack's brother. Sassaflash stood agape as her eyes darted between Princess Luna and her Knight of the Restored Moon.
“Cousin... Rocinante... Do... Do you think it will work?”
Rocinante almost seemed to not hear her as his eyes finally broke off of their invisible focus point and fell on the sleeping princess. His breathing became slowed and very deliberate as he leaned forward as slowly and carefully as he could.
Very gently, he placed his free hoof next to Luna's head and gently shook the mattress in one last attempt to wake her by “normal” means, but the Princess did not even stir. Her calm, peaceful breath left her nostrils and blew gently across his hoof, sending chills down the knight-errant's spine.
Setting his lance down on the floor next to the bed, Rocinante took his now free hoof and gently brushed Luna's mane away from her face. Her face almost seemed to shine with a graceful alicorn beauty as Rocinante slowly leaned in and closed his eyes.
Yet before his lips could make contact with hers, the entire tower shook violently. Rocinante stepped back from his Princess and raced with his cousin to the window. Both knight and squire stared in wonderment as black, insect-like creatures began pouring in from the skies before the pieces of the magical barrier had even finished falling onto the city below.
Sassaflash looked down towards the castle in horror. The guards had evidently dedicated all of their time and resources to finding the imposter princess. Everypony was out of place trying to lock the castle down from a potential infiltrator. Despite the entire castle being on alert, the enemy had caught them completely off guard.
As the changelings began raining down into the city, Sassaflash heard the familiar scrape of metal on stone as her cousin reequipped his lance and helmet.
“At last the cowards have shown their hoof. Take care, dear Sassa. The battle is now upon us.”
As he marched towards the door, Sassaflash nearly stumbled over herself to stop him.
“W-Wait! What about Princess Luna?! What about the ki- what about helping her?”
Rocinante, his face now back to its original off-white, smiled as he looked out of the window and back to his cousin.
“My dear Sassa, Think back to the beautiful legends that you know so well. Did the prince, knight, or otherwise rescuer ever save the princess and then defeat the evil that had so wickedly imprisoned her? Indeed not! No dear Sassa, every last one, to a pony, first defeated the great evil before rescuing the fair lady. Now the great evil is upon us, but fear not! We fight in the name of justice, virtue, valor, and Her Noble Grace! Victory will soon to be ours!”
Without another word, Rocinante began marching around his cousin and towards the door. Sassaflash stood dumbfounded as she watched her cousin trot excitedly down the stairs. She turned back towards the sleeping Princess, then to the window outside, the back towards the staircase.
At last she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was how she got here. She had thought that she didn't belong, but she suddenly felt with her heart just how wrong that was. She was a squire, no, she was the squire to the Knight of the Restored Moon. They worked as a team and though she may not understand how their adventures got them were they had, she did know one thing: They would see where their adventures would take them together.
Closing the windowsill behind her, Sassaflash swiftly trotted after her cousin.
Only a third of the way down the tower, Sassaflash found her cousin waiting for her with a smile across his face.
“I was beginning to wonder if you were coming.”
Sassaflash paused for a moment to look out one of the windows. Down below, the Elements of Harmony were racing towards one of the castle's other towers, dodging the enemy's attempts to dive bomb them with remarkable speed.
It was a sight that helped Sassaflash to breathe a little easier. Between the Elements of Harmony, Princess Cadance, the Royal Guard, and most of all, Princess Celestia, there couldn't be too many changelings left for them to deal with.
“The enemy is a bit late for breakfast, so you won't get to use your line, cousin. How about lunch?”
“Ha! Excellent use of spirit! Come! Let us break the miserable foe under hoof with such fierce determination that they shall rue the day they ever dared dream themselves capable of challenging the forces of justice, virtue, and valor!”
As they continued down the more of the stairs, Sassaflash took another peek outside and suddenly began to feel faint. Below them Twilight Sparkle and her friends were being escorted back towards the main keep and the guard appeared to be completely overwhelmed by all of the changelings swarming around them.
“C-Cousin? Cousin, you need to see this.”
Rocinante trotted up excitedly towards the window.
“What is it? Surely the cowards have not surrendered yet.”
“No... look. Maybe we should head back and get Princess Luna out of here...”
Rocinante looked to his cousin with disbelief.
“Abandon the field? Surely you jest, dear Sassa. We have yet to engage the enemy in glorious battle! Fear not! They will fall before my lance and tremble before my name!”
“But there's so many...”
“Ha! So many Changelings, and I have not even had breakfast yet! Fear not! For the more there are, the greater the triumph! Come Sassa! Onward, to glory we go!”
Sassaflash couldn't help but notice the dread she felt in the bottom of her stomach, but Rocinante had not led them wrong so far.
“This day...”
As she searched for the right words to try and describe just how terrible this day had been, Rocinante smiled and leapt down the last few stairs before door leading out to the wall. With a puffed out chest and beaming grin, he looked back up towards her.
“This day is going to be perfect,
the kind of day that makes me prideful as a knight.
For though the foe is all around,
we have already lost the town,
at last now I will get to join the fight!”
With a loud and boisterous laugh, Rocinante threw open the door and leapt out onto the castle wall. Sassaflash had hoped the situation would be better than hopeless, but as she walked out the door behind him she saw the situation was unfortunately, as she had expected.
Rocinante, still laughing, had pointed his lance toward almost every changeling they could see on the walls and in the courtyard below. A few guards were running about, but they were being pursued by an impossible number of changelings and most of the guards lay strewn about trapped by some form of green slime that pinned them in place.
“Hear me now, vile and wicked shape-shifters and servants to evil and destruction! I am I, Rocinante! Flee now lest you be swept away by the ever powerful force of justice, virtue, and valor through my righteous lance!”
Everypony, even the trapped guards, stopped and looked at this strange pony who had appeared seemingly out of nowhere with his absurd ultimatum to the entire changeling army. For a moment, time almost felt as though it had stopped as everpony waited to see if this crazed earth pony was even real. Sassaflash felt her knees begin to knock as hundreds of changelings crowded around them. Even the short distance back towards the safety of the tower and been filled with at least a dozen opponents. But despite all that had surrounded them, Rocinante's smile never faltered as he reached up with his spare hoof and straightened his famed helmet of Marebrino.
“You cannot say that you were not warned, villains. Prepare yourselves!”
No sooner had he spoken the words when suddenly a brilliant flash of light burst forth from the castle's main tower. It was over them and gone in an instant, but as Sassaflash reopened her eyes she saw that all of the changelings were gone and all of the guards were back up on their hooves.
“What... What happened?”
Rocinante turned to looked at his squire with furrowed brows and a look that, to Sassaflash's disbelief, appeared to be disappointment.
“It would appear, my dear Sassa, that the cowardly foe has decided to turn tail and run instead of facing my wrath. Clearly my renown as a knight-errant for the cause of good has spread further than I realized.”
The warm magical light pulsed through the entire capital, sweeping away all of the changelings, dissolving their cocoons, and purifying all of the magical poison in Luna's body. The Princess awoke with a start as she snapped up from her mattress.
“Help me!”
The room responded with an empty silence. Breathing heavily, Luna looked to the mirror over her desk. She had a bead of sweat running down the side of her face, along the edge of her brushed back mane. Was it all a dream?
As the Princess of the Night, dreams and nightmares were something she was intimately familiar with, which was why she felt so disturbed to be unable to tell the difference between her nightmare and reality. Rising from her bed, she looked around. What time was it? What was she doing before she went to bed. She remembered Sassaflash, no a fake Sassaflash. Where was Rocinante? Where were her companions now that she needed them most?
She had to find them. Luna swiftly opened the door and there, to her surprise, was the stunned knight-errant and squire.
“Princess Luna!”
“Noble Grace!”
Sassaflash embraced the stunned Luna's foreleg tightly. As Sassaflash looked up at her, Princess Luna thought she felt a dampness where the squire's face had pressed up against her. Had she been crying?
“Princess! I'm so glad you're alright!”
Luna smiled as she returned Sassaflash's embrace and looked to her knight-errant for an explanation, but Rocinante seemed to have fallen back on his haunches as he sat there on the plush carpet floor in the stone doorway. The look of relief in his wide eyes was accentuated what appeared to be moisture.
“It gives me great relief and pleasure to see that you are well, Most Gracious and Noble Highness. Indeed, we are both quite relieved to see you.”
Though she wasn't sure what had happened or what was going on, Princess Luna held her free foreleg open with a tearful smile and her knight obediently and eagerly walked into her embrace.
Sassaflash stirred slightly as a gentle breeze blew in from the window. Seeing her friend's sudden motion, Princess Luna gently took hold of a blanket and draped it over the young squire.
“In truth, Sir Rocinante, thou should rest now that our foes are vanquished.”
Rocinante yawned and shifted slightly from where he sat on the couch and Princess Luna couldn't help but stifle a small chuckle as he blinked his eyes repeatedly.
“Thy appearance betrays thee. Wherefore dost thou resist thy well deserved rest so?”
As silence filled the room in response, Luna leaned in closer, smiled, and draped a blanket over the sleeping knight-errant.
It was a pleasant feeling, to see so many ponies below enjoying all of the work she had put into the night's sky. Despite not knowing her beyond a few stories and a name, Princess Cadance had asked Luna if she would mind setting up a beautiful starlit night sky for her reception below.
Of course Luna happily obliged.
The cool night felt great against her coat as she glided silently through the air. Luna felt as free as a bird, slipping in between the towers like giant race pylons and diving down on the reception below, flaring out her wings at the last moment for a gentle landing next to her sister.
“Hello everypony. Did I miss anything?”
Everyony smiled, but as Pinkie Pie took charge of the music and the dancing began to pick up in tempo, Luna felt a nudge to her side as her sister motioned away from the crowds. Following after Celestia, the two ponies strolled alongside the wall as the music grew quieter and quieter, until at last they could barely hear it at all.
Luna felt it rather difficult to look at her silent sister during their soundless saunter in the shadows. Despite having most of the day left after the attack, Celestia had been busy with the ceremony and Luna had taken over the rest of the capital's security and recovery, leaving neither with the opportunity to talk about the issue that still burned in their minds.
“Sister... I...”
Celestia turned and faced her sister, not with a disappointed or angry scowl, but with the same gentle smile that she kept so consistently throughout her life. Despite having rehearsed her apology for her temper last night so many times, Luna was left speechless.
“The foe was a changeling, Little Sister.”
Luna swiftly nodded, but before she could begin, her sister continued.
“It looks like she was using her powers to disrupt everything from the inside... just like you and Sir Rocinante had warned us.”
It was a small thing to notice, but Luna considered it remarkably noteworthy.
“Thou hast referred to Sir Rocinante... as a knight.”
Celestia nodded.
“Luna, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have lost my temper so quickly, certainly not with you.”
The two sisters closed the gap between them and stood side-by-side, both staring up at the glowing, empty moon above them. A solemn reminder, not only of their past arguments, but also of the bank slate now before them.
“In truth, Sister, my own temperament was far from proper. Truly, we were both consumed by exhaustion and fear of the uncertainty of the time. Let us put such trivial things behind us.”
Celestia smiled, but shook her head.
“Not quite. Luna, I said some very inappropriate things I... Luna, Sir Rocinante is your knight. You knighted him, and that is a decision I should and do respect. He may not have the training of a guard, but you're right. He has proven himself many times and had I listened to you and taken matters more seriously I would have avoided all of the danger my pride had put everypony in. So, Luna, again, I'm sorry.”
Luna wore a comforting smile of her own as she reached up and draped a wing over her sister.
“And I am sorry that I had doubted thee and thy preparations so. In truth, I was too persistent and too forceful in my decisions regarding thy security. I should not have pressed thee so nor should I have made such a nuisance of myself.”
Celestia returned the embrace and held her sister tightly.
“Luna... You have never been, nor will you ever be a nuisance. You are my little sister, my best friend, and mentor.”
A gentle breeze blew the warm steam cloud across the platform while the locomotive's brakes squeaked and brought the train to a halt. Sassaflash normally hated standing in the midst of the hot steam that billowed out from their trains, but this time she was grateful to have something to blame for her watering eyes.
Despite the attack being over, most ponies were still staying indoors for a while and those that were out and about were kept back by the Royal Guard, guaranteeing a little privacy for four ponies on the platform.
Had Sassaflash known this was going to happen, she would have been far more upset at coming to Canterlot so quickly. Goodbyes were hard, even if she knew she would see the other ponies again soon.
Princess Celestia, on the other hoof, was quite excited to have her sister back with her at the capital. They had so much to catch up on and she was eager to get started over a warm breakfast, but the train was to leave soon and she owed much to the ponies who were leaving on it.
“Sir Rocinante of La Manecha, Lady Sassaflash of Ponyville.”
“Here, Royal Highness.”
“H-Here, Princess.”
“You have both watched over my sister and guided her throughout the land. It would appear that I have again found myself indebted to you for your help.”
“It was both our pleasure and our honor, to escort Her Most Gracious Highness throughout her journey.”
Rocinante and Sassaflash both bowed so low that their heads rubbed the concrete beneath them.
“We indeed regret that our travels have reached their end. But, Noble Grace, fear not! We shall continue to press onward, forever serving as the arm of justice, virtue, and valor in your name!”
Princess Luna smiled graciously, but quickly lifted her friends up from their stooped positions.
“Thy sorrows are not thine alone, but my place is alongside my sister in the ruling of our kingdom. I thank thee, Sir Rocinante and Lady Sassaflash, for thy protection and thy guidance. Thou hath served thy Princess of the Night to great effect and though I may no longer be able to join thee in thy adventures across the land, prithee, go and continue thy journeys, for thy cause is just, thy heart is virtuous, and thy spirit is full of valor.”
Sassaflash smiled and wiped a tear from her eye.
“It won't be the same without you, Princess.”
“Fear not, Dear Sassa. For though our circumstances may change, our friendship will not. Thou art welcome, nay encouraged, to visit anytime thou dost find thyself in Canterlot.”
Rocinante gave another bow before the train blew its whistle.
“You honor us, Noble Highness. We shall no doubt return with glory befitting the reputation we have earned while at your side!”
Luna smiled as the train blew its whistle again. Her sister had told her where the mysterious light that saved the city had come from, but she had decided to leave the knight-errant with his version of the battle.
“We both eagerly anticipate thy success, Noble Knight of the Restored Moon. But the hour is passing by and we cannot but think it improper for us to hold the conductor from his duties any longer. Farewell Sir Rocinante, Lady Sassaflash.”
Both ponies waved goodbye to both princesses. Looking back over her shoulder as she boarded, Sassaflash couldn't help but wonder at her situation again. A simple, everyday weather pony turned squire was being seen off by the Royal Pony Sisters. As they sat down near the back of the car and the other ponies began filing quickly onto the train, she felt a chuckle, not too much unlike her cousin's typical triumphal laugh, well up inside her. Not too long ago she was supposed to have provided her cousin a safe place in Ponyville to recuperate from what her family had said was madness and now she couldn't wait to see where their next adventure would take them.
