Once Upon a Summer Midnight

“A man with nothing to die for has even less for which to live.”

― Margaret Weis

This night in Equestria was rather strange. The weather factory at Cloudsdale had a catastrophic failure when a mail-pony accidentally put her parcel for the manager down on the control console. Several buttons were pressed, one of which was the controls to the lightning generator to start producing at 300% the standard rate. This overloaded the capacitors, which led to an explosion of lighting. At the same time, the cloud machine was switched to producing towering cumulonimbus clouds instead of the fog that was scheduled. The explosion of lightning infused the cumulonimbi clouds to bursting with energy. The clouds destroyed half of Cloudsdale before they were successfully contained. Hundreds were injured, and valuable machinery was irrevocably damaged. By some miracle, there were no deaths. Cloudsdale is currently hovering near Los Pegasus for repairs.

However with the weather factory out of commission until late fall at the earliest, this summer was going on record as one of the hottest in Equestrian history. The Four Cardinal Wind Factories had to be shut down, for fear of spreading a massive wildfire in the kingdom. Several towns in the more remote parts of the kingdom were also under water bans. Farms had to have massive amounts of water escorted to them from by royal guards to ensure that this year's crops didn't fail. Wild animals were more aggressive than usual, the diamond dogs started siphoning water from reservoirs, and heat stroke incidents were at an all-time high.

It wasn't all bad for everybody. Manehatten had recently installed a massive number of a new invention from Unbelievably Wealthy (cousin to the Rich family), air conditioners all over the city. With everypony trying to beat the heat during the day, this summer was spent partying during the slightly cooler night. Something they did anyways, but now they were doing it even harder with beach bashes and concerts at the park. Flim & Flam's Imported Crystal Empire Crystal Water sales were through the roof. Princess Luna was able to finally get more contact with the citizens of her kingdom and get to improve her image for the common pony, along with improving the image of her Nocturnal ponies with Celestia's Diurnal ponies. Discord was having the biggest pranking spree since the unrecorded Discord palooza.

Such is the setting for when this story begins. On a normal summer night during a strange summer in Equestria...

One would think that taking a shower would help make this heat less oppressive. Cursed heat, why must you be so cursedly pervasive?

Stepping out of the shower, Luna dried herself off with a quick spell. By the time she walked out to the balcony, Luna was already sweating. However, with her favorite Caberneigh Sauvignon red, her mood simply couldn't be lowered, even with the perspiration that wouldn't admit defeat. While she didn't get drunk, she did enjoy the flavor and the texture greatly. Resting on her balcony, she took small sips of the wine, letting her taste buds revel in the sensations that it brought.

Feeling her creative impulses beginning to rouse, she decided that this would be the night which she reorganized the stars. Guiding her magic with old measured practice, she began moving the diamonds that lit her sky. Not thinking, just letting her magic and instinct paint on her canvas. This was something she always enjoyed, something that not even her sister could do. She even started humming a little tune while she shifted the stars. She made sure to leave the four Cardinal Stars alone. Too many ponies depended on their position for business and navigation.

All across the kingdom, all the ponies stopped to watch the heavens shift. Several proposals were made on the spot, taking advantage of the magic that this display brought them. Some stars exploded like the most brilliant fireworks, others streaked across the sky in zig-zags. All the while, Luna hummed a tune and drank some wine.

Finally the spectacle ended, and the ponies went back to their lives. Luna was admiring her work, for she did not often perform her favorite pastime. The astronomy ponies always complained about her messing up their charts. However, these were empty grumblings, since every new version of her sky immensely boosted the sales of star charts. Some collections were even beginning to take shape, along with new backgrounds for calendars. Still, she had agreed that shifting the stars too often would cause too much confusion for everypony. Thus she had agreed to wait at least ten months in between her bouts of "redecorating". Secretly, Luna didn't mind too much. The Stargazer's magazine had made a contest to see who could best guess what the new constellations were with a picture contest every time this happened as well, the winner getting a year's free subscription. She had begun getting mail from all manner of citizens trying to guess what constellations she was painting in her sky, even after the contests ended. Luna kept her favorite guesses in a drawer in her writing desk.

This is my best work yet, she thought proudly. Nexius and Calissandrus look lovely together, and Regius makes the perfect arrow-tip for that Minotaur archer. Luna hummed to herself, silently thanking the wine for helping her make a new and wondrous sky for her little ponies. She was gazing around, when she saw a bright star that she didn't remember put there.

Scrunching her face in annoyance, Luna looked through her telescope towards the north, where the errant star burned, like a searing indignation on her work. Looking up, she tried using her magic to make the star move to a proper place, only to find that her magic didn't work on it.

"I swear, if this is a prank from Discord, I will buck him into next summer. The night sky is MINE ALONE."

The royal Canterlot voice was beginning to creep into Luna's speech from her outrage at this infringement on what was hers. She began to cast the spell to remove the blemish from her work, only to find that it did nothing, no matter how much magic she put into the spell. This only lead to her getting more upset as she began to pace and try again and again to remove this stubborn light, always to no avail. Stomping her hoof only lead to cracking her balcony.

"Oh not again. The royal stonemason is going to have a conniption from this. Tis no fault of our own, this curs'd light won't go aroint! It hath the audacity to disgrace mine night, and anon it hath the gall to. . . come. . . closer?"

Doing a double take, and a triple check with her telescope, the light was indeed getting larger and brighter, and heading directly for Canterlot. Luna's eyes grow wide at the realization. The princess of the night took a deep breath, and formulated a quick response. She teleported to the guard house. Since it was nighttime, the Nocturne were the ones on duty. At the pop from the teleportation, every head snapped to Luna, with every golden set of eyes went wide at the princess's appearance.

"Night Guard, the city is under attack! From the north, a strange star is falling from the sky. I want you to start assembling every saberhorn in the guard, and start casting a barrier around the city. I shall join you after I awaken my sister."

There was no hesitation. Every guard in the barracks began to scramble like a well-oiled machine. The captains were setting up rally points, designating messengers, and sending out reinforcements for the patrols in case a panic broke out. Luna knew she did not need to stay, her Nocturne were well honed and disciplined, and this was the first disaster facing the capital at night. They would do their duty.

Nodding to herself, Luna teleported to Celestia's chambers and roused her from her sleep the fastest way she knew how; flipping Celestia's mattress.

"Sister! Sister wake up, something is coming towards the city, and we believe it to bring ill tidings for our citizens."

Celestia was instantly awake, even with the abrupt disruption of her pleasant dream.

"What is it Luna? What's going on?" she asked, while rubbing rheum from her eyes and retrieving her shoes and torc with a quick spell.

Luna merely pointed out the window at the large ball of light that was growing ever brighter and closer to the city. Celestia stared in confused awe at the sight. A quick look at Luna told her all that she needed to know. This was something foreign to the night sky, something Luna didn't have any dominion over. Celestia quickly put on her golden garments and the two sisters teleported to the battlements, where a Nocturne guard promptly saluted.

"Your highnesses, I am Captain Crescent Fang. All of our saberhorns have been assembled in the courtyard, awaiting orders."

Luna looked down to her Night Guard, giving her a nod. "Excellent work captain. Have them try to scry what that object is before it gets closer. We must know what it is we are dealing with."

With a crisp salute, the borealis captain flew off the wall and started shouting orders. Luna always admired the Nocturne military discipline. Watching them drill was one of her favorite pastimes, and it filled her with pride knowing that they-

"Sister, did you sense anything strange before you saw this object falling towards Canterlot?"

Shaking her head, partly to answer, partly to snap herself out of her reverie, Luna sighed.

"We were simply rearranging the stars, dear sister, when this light appeared from the north. At first we thought it to be a prank from Discord, though we are beginning to doubt that. Its path and speed are constant, as is its light. Were this Discord, it would be dancing across the sky and telling jokes and other such random nonsense."

He also has yet to appear and rub it in my face about how I couldn't stop him or fix it. That being loves to gloat.

Celestia couldn't suppress a giggle listening to Luna be so matter-of-fact about the ultimate being of chaos. Luna raised an eyebrow at this, but the captain landed next to them with another salute.

"Reporting in, highness. The saberhorns can't get a clear scry on the object. Something is interfering with their magic. From what they could gather, it isn't metal and it isn't a spell. Whatever that thing is, it must be fireproof, because they also couldn't feel it get any smaller as time passed. By our estimation, it will hit the city in about fifteen minutes."

That isn't good news. Either this is a substance that we don't know about, or it really is a falling errant star. I hope that I am up to the task of protecting our ponies. NO. No more thought such as these. I am the ruler of the night. There is no star that I don't have dominion over. Well, with one exception...

Luna's face remained impassive as she looked down to Crescent Fang again. "Thank you captain. Return and give the order to begin making a shield spell to block the falling object. We shall support the spell should the need arise."

The guard gave another quick salute before she flew back down to relay the order. The shield spell was made in short order; a large arcane tower shield construct with the emblem of the Night Guard in the center, with more magic pouring into from the saberhorns to reinforce and strengthen with several smaller shields overlapping the large one to help absorb as much energy as possible before the impact with the main shield. Celestia smiled at the spell, nudging her sister who was blushing a light shade of red.

"Why so bashful Luna? Doesn't your Night Guards' spell please you?"

"Stop teasing, Tia. We merely are so proud of our little ponies' dedication and efficiency. Not many units can cast that many spells in unison and integrate them into a larger whole."

Celestia couldn't resist a bit of teasing. "Are you sure it isn't because their emblem is your cutie mark with a shield in the background? I know how personal you feel about it."

"Even if we were to feel in such a manner, we would not be so arrogant as to deny our subjects their deep wish to show their loyalty to us, even if it does mean that our beautiful mark is now on every suit of armor and it makes us feel-"

Putting a wing over the ever redder Luna, Celestia nuzzled her little sister. "Relax Luna. I'm only teasing. You always did get stressed out before a big event like this one. You need to relax. Our ponies are counting on us, and we won't fail."

Luna's blush deepened a few shades.

Tia is right. There is nothing that I cannot overcome with my subjects and my sister at my side.

Looking out at the night sky, Luna could feel her uneasiness fade away with the comforting thoughts. So much had happened this night so quickly, she wasn't even aware of how tense she had become, or how nervous she was from this object. It had unnerved her more than she realized, though she pushed these thoughts out of her mind to focus on the task at hand.

Celestia ended the embrace when she saw that Luna had calmed down again. "Luna, what did you mean we will intervene if it became necessary? Would it not be best for us to make the shield?"

Luna's eyes never left the scene of the Night Guard maintaining the shield or the object it was meant to stop. "We wish to give the Nocturne a chance to prove themselves. They have been having...difficulties finding acceptance in some cities. They haven't had a chance to prove themselves to the world, and this is exactly that chance."

Celestia merely nodded. She understood the game of politics very well, and knew about the Nocturne's difficulties with society. Still, she let Luna best decide how to deal with the situation. It gave her sister a goal, while also pushing her to get better at the game of politics. A thousand years had left her a bit rusty.

The falling object, which was once a somewhat brighter glimmer in the night sky was now so bright that it was waking up ponies thinking it was day time. Many of the citizens of Canterlot began to gaze in wonder at the little star so close to the city. The Night Guard were able to convince the ponies that remaining indoors was the safest thing to do. The citizens didn't need much convincing. As the object got brighter and brighter, it also grew steadily bigger. It was always growing brighter and bigger by the minute. The entire city held its collective breath, waiting for the inevitable impact on the shield spell that the Night Guard were maintaining.

Eventually the object became so bright, that the ponies had to avert their eyes away, and everyone braced for impact.

They didn't wait long. A deafening explosion was heard; shock-waves were felt all over the city; the light that was blinding a moment ago was gone, replaced by the darkness of night again. Looking around, everyone saw that the shield spell was still in place, and that there was no apparent damage to the city at all. A rousing cheer was raised by the citizens, praising the princesses and the Night Guard. The celebrations were short lived, as the entire city began to shake as the city began to tilt towards the earth. A deafening cracking sound was also heard as a series of boulders began to fall from above onto the castle proper. Ponies in the city immediately begin panicking and running wild, trying to get out, only to find some of the larger houses had toppled over and blocked their path. Several fires erupted, and the patrols were overwhelmed trying to calm down the citizens.

Celestia wasted no time in catching the boulders and moving them out of the way, but they were only the beginning. Snow and boulders continued to cascade down the mountain, while Celestia used her magic to make sure none if it hit the city, with a giant golden shield. At the same time, Luna immediately used all her strength to grab the base of Canterlot to stop it from being torn out of the mountainside.

"Nocturne, rally to thine liege!"

The Nocturne assembled ranks faster than any other day in their lives. Every officer assembled in front of Luna, ready to do whatever was needed. Luna was trying to hide the strain from holding up the city, but she still grit her teeth in concentration. She made sure to keep her mental clarity so she didn't fall back into olde speek. Clear minds made clear decisions.

"Listen carefully, that object must have destroyed the pillars supporting the city. They were enchanted to be invisible. The city is in chaos, and sister and I must makes sure the elements are held at bay. saberhorns, your charge is to help us repair the pillars. Boreali, you shall get them to the underside of the city and act as messengers. Nightwalkers, your task is to go into the city and give aide to the citizens. Direct them to the bunker in the mountain, help the wounded, whatever is needed. This is our time to shine, my ponies!"

Every Night Guard present saluted, with a loud "Bound by oath, united by honor!", they split up their forces. Most of the saberhorns left on chariots, the few remaining being the medics. Messengers were designated and flown out to get an idea of what areas needed the most help. The remaining nightwalkers and few saberhorns gathered medical supplies and water. When the scouts returned, they headed out into the city, even the officers went into the field to do their part.

The avalanche finally stopped after some time, and the top of the Canterhorn was barren of snow. Celestia made sure that no more falling objects were going to fall onto her city today, and then flew down and landed next to Luna.

"Luna, what happened? I thought it was going to hit the shield spell and...are you alright?"

Luna was sweating profusely, taking deep breaths. "We are merely holding the city from...*ngghh*... plummeting to the earth, dear sister. Please...*hah*... go to the saberhorns under the city and...*hrk*... aide them with rebuilding the pillars. We can...MAINTAIN... the city until thou hath finished with the repairs."

Celestia nodded once, and flew out of site. Luna continued with her strained spellcasting, putting all her magic into holding Canterlot as still as possible. A few times she felt it tilt ever so slightly more downward, which made her redouble her efforts and pull the city back up as much as she could. All the while, her thoughts were raging in her head.

The star moved! 'Twas nev'r a star, foolish Luna. But of course mine star moving spell wouldn't work on something that wasn't a star. Wherefore didn't it occur to me to think that 'twas something other than space detritus? I was yea told that it wasn't made of metal. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Closing her eyes to fight back tears and to concentrate more on the spell, Luna didn't see the borealis Night Guard returning to the courtyard.

"Princess Luna! Captain Crescent Fang reporting the situation. About sixty percent of citizens have been successfully evacuated to the bunker, those remaining are mostly injured or trapped in debris. The repairs are proceeding quickly. Princess Celestia says they will be done in a few minutes."

Luna could only nod. She would never admit it, but she was bordering on blacking out from the magic strain. However, the city eventually righted itself to its former horizontal orientation beneath their hooves, and Luna dropped to the ground, panting from her ordeal.

"Princess Luna, do you require me to get you any medical attention?"

Finally opening her eyes, they slowly focused enough to see the captain that had been her liaison to the rest of the guard all night. "We...thought...you had...left."

"You never dismissed me, Princess Luna."

Luna couldn't help but laugh. It came out more as some strained wheezes then actual laughter. "Well then, Captain...we would...like thou...to get us water. We are...merely weary from...this evening."

"At once Princess Luna." With that, Crescent Fang silently flew off into the night.

As the Captain flew off, Luna couldn't help but feel that this event was nowhere near over. She would have to organize an expedition into the Canterhorn Caverns to see if the object that had fallen from her night sky could be located. If it was, then...she would deal with it then. Currently, she just wanted to get the glass of water and go to sleep. She didn't have the energy to lower the moon, and she was sure Tia wouldn't mind doing it for her.

By the time Crescent Fang returned with the glass, Luna was already asleep. Crescent put the glass down, and began to stand guard in front of Luna. Still having yet to be dismissed, she began to quietly patrol around the courtyard, ensuring Princess Luna got some rest. While on her patrol, a single black feather landed on her nose. The captain of the Night Guard was no stranger to pegusi, and she had met ponies of all shades of color; however, she had never seen a feather this dark before. It seemed to eat the light around it, and it didn't even have a sheen to reflect the light from the moon. She tucked the feather away in a spare scroll case from her messenger bags. If no other good came of this night, at least she had a new feather for her collection back home.

Public Speaking and Spelunking

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"Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional."
-Buddha

"The support pillars for the city were made invisible during the founding of the kingdom as a way to...beguile let's say, the other kingdoms. Have them question if it was wise to attack if a city as large as Canterlot could be supported only by magic; from their perspective anyway. Powerful magic meant powerful unicorns, let alone my sister and I. We have since moved away from times like those, however the pillars remained invisible, since nopony saw the need to undo the spell. At that point where we didn't need such measures, the city had become famous for seeming to "float" on air, and most ponies felt it better to leave it as is. The pillars are being repaired as we speak, and afterwards, I shall add more spells for extra stability and more powerful reinforcement. Next question."

As soon as Celestia finished answering, another cacophony of questions erupted in the press room. Public interviews were something Celestia loved and dreaded in equal measures. One the one hoof, she was able to get a good feel for the populace by from the questions asked. The papers had to cater to the moods of the populace in order to make them relevant enough to customers to buy. For the most part, the papers were very good at encapsulating the general concerns from the common ponies that she rarely got to speak with anymore.

The din died down just enough for one question to be heard over the others, "Princess Celestia, Hot Scoop from Fox Papers; do you think this is because of Discord and the free reign you've given him, despite his past?"

This was the part of public interviews Celestia dreaded. The more radical, less logical papers were allowed in as well. At only about 11:00 in the morning, she silently thought it was far too early for such questions.

Her face didn't falter from her warm, accepting smile as she responded, "We have no reason to believe Discord had anything to do with last night. His testimony, and that of Fluttershy, put him at her house for tea and biscuits at the time of the incident."

"But Princess Celestia, he's the embodiment of Chaos, surely he could do something like this no matter where he was?"

A slight sigh managed to escape Celestia. This paper in particular never let her decision to reform Discord go. His betrayal with Tirek only gave them more fuel for the proverbial fire.

"Discord had nothing to do with this. This incident was too straightforward for Discord to have been part of it. There was a definitive goal in mind with this incident, and that was to attack Canterlot. Discord's plans have never involved just hurting anypony without some sort of irony or joke."

After the bombardment from the reporters died down, a new pony stood up from her seat. "Inquiring Mind here, Princess Celestia, from the Manehatten Times. Where was Princess Luna during all of this?"

Happy for the change of subject, Celestia's smile grew a bit wider. "My sister is currently resting in her room from the exhaustive efforts that she put forth protecting Canterlot last night. Holding up the entire city from falling off the mountain for three hours took a lot of energy, so she understandably needs some rest."

I still have to talk with her for making me worry like that.

Before Inquiring Mind could respond, Hot Scoop spoke up again, "How can Princess Luna be tired from holding up a city when she can move the moon?"

At this, everypony turned and looked with very expecting eyes, and some murmurs. However, she was prepared for this question. This particular question had come up fifty-four times in some form or another, since she began public interviews. A shame the papers seem to ironically forget it every couple decades.

"The answer is quiet simple. Luna's cutie mark is the moon and night sky; meaning her special talent is moving the moon and stars and keeping domain over the night. Her magic is specifically attuned to moving the moon and stars, almost as effortlessly as one would move a hoof. For all other applications of magic, she has no special affinity. She has to spend just as much energy as any other unicorn would be required to. The difference being Alicorns have far greater amounts of magic and control than normal Unicorns, in part due to our nature and long lives."

If nothing else, Lulu will get some great cover stories from these interviews. Mental note; she owes me some cake when we meet for our monthly favors party.

"So what your saying is that Alicorns are not as special as we've been led to believe, and that Princess Luna doesn't have the energy to go on past a few hours of work?" Hot Scoop had one of the smuggest grins Celestia had seen in decades.

At this point Celestia thought of a running river, to keep her mind calm enough to match her face. She would never show these questions irked her. She had to maintain the serene ruler image, if for no other reason than to deny the satisfaction to this reporter. "To answer your questions, no, that is not what I am saying at all. Please, Mr. Scoop, would you tell me how much weight you are able to lift?"

The grin didn't budge. "Two-hundred pounds with my wings alone."

I'd have to rate that grin at about number thirty-five; better than Rainbow Dash, but not quiet as good as Gold Bricks. Which reminds me. Mental note; check in on Bricks when my meetings are done today.

Celestia nodded in acknowledgement. "Do you think you would be able to hold that weight for three hours with no breaks and the weight distribution is constantly shifting? Or if you also had to organize a city's reaction to an emergency? Even if the effort did exhaust her, Princess Luna's actions bought enough time to save the city as a whole, and get the citizens to the emergency bunker. It is not the shortcomings or mistakes of the individual that should ever be focused on; rather what they do despite them that should be how we judge their character. The Elements of Harmony have demonstrated this for all of Equestria many times over, and my sister did the same last night."

The hall erupted into cheers, with most every pony stomping their hooves. Hot Scoop was scratching out a few lines on his notepad. Celestia allowed the cheers to continue for a few moments before she gestured for quiet. "Next question."

The reporters began again in earnest from the most recent exchange. Some ponies questioned why she didn't have a system where reporters asked her questions in an organized list. While there were many official reasons, the one that Celestia cared most about was that she loved watching her ponies get so animated about asking questions. It kept things interesting, and these meetings more animated than the rest of them. Celestia's smile grew a few degrees warmer and several centimeters wider, while the sunlight's intensity went up by several lumens.

I certainly hope Twilight is having as much fun as I am.

"Princess, Princess! I hate to be the one to ask this, but how many were injured from last night, and were there any...deaths?"

The hall dropped to dead silence. What joy Celestia had been feeling was cut down by the question. The sun lost some of its shine, and the hall grew a little cooler.

Somberly, the sun princess answered the question she had been dreading the most. "There were many injuries last night, yes. We still don't have the exact numbers, but there are several hundred injured at least. As far as death tolls, we will need more time while we account for all the citizens. I hope you all understand..." Celestia politely coughed into her hoof. "We have time for one more question."

For once, no one in the hall seemed to have any question. After a minute, Celestia was about to call the meeting when a high-pitched "I have a question!" was heard from the back of the room.

A little blue filly with a ocean-green mane ran up the side of the aisle to get closer, followed closely by a grey stallion with a rusty red mane.

The filly stopped in front of Celestia's dais, panting out her question. "Ha...ha...are you...still going to...go to the Canterlot Elementary Talent...Contest?"

The stallion had caught up with the errant child, and started bowing and apologizing profusely.

Celestia's mood was lifted once again. The Talent Contest was a great city-wide event. Everypony in Canterlot attended, both for joy of seeing the young growing into their own, and to potentially scout out new workers for when they graduated. Celestia rarely got to go, but she made sure that she and Luna could go this year. Luna always did love children, and Celestia always loved going.

Her tone much brighter than before, Celestia silenced the stallion's apologies with a motion of her hoof. "I would love to attend, little one, but it is my understanding that the sports field and stage was damaged from the...event last night."

The little filly's eyes practically sparkled when Celestia talked to her. "Yea it was, but me and my friends went exploring around the bunker, and we found an old...umm what was it Bookworm called it again? Ampi- umphi...uhh..."

"I think you mean amphitheater, little one. What is your name?"

The filly jumped up and down in place, reminding Celestia of a certain pink party pony. "That's what it was called! Oh, uh I'm Happy Days. Everyone in our school was really excited that you and Princess Luna were coming to the show, and when our school got damaged everyone was really sad. So my friends and I went looking around for a solution until we found the amphitheater. I know you must be really busy, Princess, but everypony worked really hard to make this the best show ever, and we still have our props. Please can you come? Pleeeease?"

Happy Days eyes somehow grew even bigger than they already were.

This is adorable. I had almost forgotten about that amphitheater. The show was scheduled to begin this week, but under the circumstances, I think a little more time is in order. I know I've seen these two somewhere before though...

"I'll tell you what. If you can get your teachers to agree, and help get everything ready by next Saturday, I'll make sure that we will attend. Does that sound fair?"

Happy Days was living up to her name. Her head bobbed up and down so fast she was a little dizzy when she stopped. "Yes, Princess Celestia, that's perfect! Come on Daddy, we gotta to go tell Mom!"

Pulling the stallion along down the aisle and right out the door, he barely got out a thank you and goodbye and an apology for his daughter before the doors closed. The hall still heard a high-pitched squeal from outside; the hall let out a collective "D'aaawww" as everypony started packing up for their return trip. Gossip started, as it tends to with any gathering. Celestia always waited before leaving to catch some words, a practice that helped her many time before in any social event.

"That filly was adorable!"
"Yea she was. Did ya see ole Country Mile? Thought the poor fella would have a heart attack from how his little girl was actin'."
"Well she certainly was eager. Do you know why she was so excited to tell her mother?"
"What, don'cha know? Her mam is principle of the school 'round here. Oh yea, really nice lady, very passionate."

Ah, I thought those two seemed familiar. Yes, I've seen them a few times when I met with Principle Horizons. I'm glad that the questions could end on a happy note.

As soon as most of the reporters had left the hall, Celestia rose from her spot and started walking towards the royal library. She could teleport, of course, but there was no real rush. Her next meeting wasn't for a whole twenty minutes, practically an eternity to her. It was also the meeting about the damages and injuries, which she wasn't looking forward to one bit.

Time to check in on Twilight.

"Spike, SPIIIIIIIKE! Do you have those astronomical charts that I asked for?"

The Princess of Friendship, Lady of Ponyville, leader of the Elements of Harmony, bearer of the Element of Magic. Just to name a few of Twilight's official titles that were called out by the heralds at every event she now attended.

"Right here, Twi. They were in- WHOA!"

A crash was the company to Spike's stumble from carrying a large stack of papers and charts of the stars. While Spike did crash into the floor, the papers were all enveloped in a purple glow, and brought over to the desk that Twilight had turned into what could only be described as a war-zone for papyrus. Books were opened on top of books, scrolls overlapped other scrolls, with there being no clear distinction where the actual "top" of the pile was anymore.

The aerial battle above was even more chaotic. All manner of academic papers and books were constantly moving in an intricate dance that only the caster knew the steps to. On a chalkboard nearby, one could claim that a mad-pony had scribbled over every usable square centimeter of its surface, and one would be hard pressed to offer a convincing argument otherwise. In the middle of this small patch of madness was Twilight, glancing over papers, jotting down notes, and having thoughts run faster than a Sonic Rainboom. A hoof was constantly raised to help her with the royal breathing technique. That meant she was constantly turning on only three legs. The manic look in her eyes was at what her brother referred to as "the study fever."

All-in-all, even with the new charts, she was at wit's end.

Spike picked himself up and dusted his scales. Looking at the small island of whirling madness, he promptly turned around and walked away. As he was returning to his desk with some gems on it, he sat down and continued reading the comic book he had found.

"Ya know Twi, Celestia wanted you to figure out what the disaster yesterday was, not to make a new one."

"I know Spike, but this is really important to Celestia and all of Equestria. Something came out of the sky last night, and Luna didn't do it, and Discord didn't do it, and if they didn't do it, then that means something else did it, and-if-I-don't-find-out-what-did-it-then-we-may-never-know-what-happened-or-how-to-stop-it-next-time-or-what-it-means-and-then-society-as-we-know-it-may-collapse-and-"

A book smacked into her face lightly before going back to it's place in the vortex. "Remember to breath there, Twilight. Don't want a repeat of last time do we?"

Gasping for air for a few breaths,and shaking her head, Twilight managed to regain a semblance of calm.

"Thank you for that, Discord. Now as I was saying Spike, if I- DISCORD!"

The offending book had gained the eyes of the spirit of chaos, as his body came out of the floorboards, his limbs from the chandelier overhead, and some of Spike's gems became his mismatched wings. The book started flipping through all of the pages quickly, throwing out a part of his head onto the rest of him as it progressed. Discord, now as one body, stood with a giggle and grin, waving Twilight on.

"Don't mind me, number one student, carry on. I have to say, I'm not usually a fan of 'organized' chaos, but I will admit, you pull it of with flying colors. Well, mostly purple, but you get the idea."

Discord snapped his fingers. A folding beach chair, popcorn, a pair of old 3-D glasses, and a tropical patterned shirt appeared in a flash. He sat down and with another snap, made a coconut with a little umbrella and a bendy straw. He then started drinking the popcorn with the straw.

Twilight, for her part, was only annoyed for the time it took Discord to settle down, before she went back to her vortex and calculations, which Discord helped along by snapping up a new chalkboard for her to write on. Three sticks of chalk and five minutes later, the second board was full, and Discord snapped up a third one. The show managed to keep him thoroughly entertained, especially since every conceivable parchment in the room was never at rest for more than twenty seconds as Twilight was constantly checking and comparing her chalkboard statistics and formulas to any number of papers.

Discord took a photo with a camera that he conjured up, and put the picture in a book labeled "Purple-Smart Memories". Spike saw this and laughed, Twilight was too engrossed in her mad research to notice.

Then the library doors opened and Celestia walked in with an amused grin. "I see you are hard at work, my old faithful student."

Every paper promptly fell to the floor and Twilight jumped two feet into the air from the interruption of her mentor. "Princess Celestia, I didn't think you'd be done so soon, I haven't even written up a report yet, or a rough draft, or an outline-"

"Oh Celestia, why did you have to ruin the show? It was just getting to the good part!" Discord promptly threw the coconut over his shoulder out the window. It landed in the castle gardens and turned into a tree that grew pink lemons.

Celestia only sighed at Discord's antics. Looking at the all of the data that Twilight was processing was a reassurance. The more information that could be known, the better, especially since the next meeting was with the nobles. That was when Celestia had a wonderful idea.

"Discord, Twilight, will you both please walk with me? There is something I wish to discuss with the both of you."

The two in the room only shot each other a questioning look before Discord snapped away the getup, and Twilight gathered her notes on the most important of the information, which was a measly three-hundred pages. Spike followed behind Twilight, making sure to bring the extra papers and flashcards. Celestia led them down the hall with the trademark smile on her face.

I think this will work out very well for all parties involved. All that will need to be done after this is wait for the cave team to report back anything significant.

"This is starting to feel like an effort in futility. I mean, why are we down here again, when those Lunar freaks practically live in caves? They seem far better suited to the task."

"Hey, Ray, I just want you to know that I do this out of duty. Though I will enjoy it."

*THWACK*

"AHH, what the Tartarus, Breeze?"

"One: don't be a bucking racist you dope. The Nocturne have only been helpful since they got here. Two: they are called the Night Guard. As in, the hours that the sun ain't shining. Sound familiar?"

The pair of Solar Guards continued their little debate with each other as they continued walking down one of the tunnels of the old city within Canterhorn. They were part of the team of the Royal Guards to try to locate the object within the mountain. It was proving to be a difficult task. The maps of old Canterlot were mostly useless, in part due to time collapsing some tunnels, and the last night's event damaging even more. It was slow going, with multiple pairs of guards each trying to scout out a passable route to the lower levels of the mountain.

Ray and Breeze, a unicorn and pegasus respectively, were sent to an Eastern portion of the old city. The map said that it was once the section of the city where the nobles lived. The light from Ray's horn was enough to light up the section of the cavern they were walking in. Unlike most other parts of the city, which was lit using crystals in a fairly efficient and cheap way, the nobles had opted for the far more expensive oil based lamps. The empty posts stretched along down the entire length of the cavern, placed at regular intervals. The buildings were crumbling, but mostly intact. Time had eroded away most of the excess that they were known for, but one could still see some remains of impractical aesthetics, like the statue made entirely out of mithril, or the mirror made out of silver covered in cobwebs. All in all, it was a little creepy, especially given the reason why they were down here in the first place.

Ignoring most of what Ray was complaining about, Breeze made a mental note to be sure to suggest to his CO to quietly remove the statue to melt it down into something useful.

No need to tip off some snooty bigwig and start a whole "family heirloom" debacle. Why would you ever even waste that many bits for a mithril statue? While I'm thinking about it, why a silver mirror? That would need constant polish just to be used as its form intends. Bah, nobles. I'll never understand how so many can just throw practicality out the window. Least we'll be able to make a new set of heavy duty armor or two for cheap with that statue.

"You listening to me, Breeze?"

Shaking his head out of his reverie, Breeze looked over at his partner. "Nope, I tend to channel out stupid crap unconsciously. For you though, I'll make an effort to listen to audible garbage."

"Wow, OK. What the tartarus is eating you?"

Sighing, Breeze let his head hang a bit lower as he stopped walking. "I'm sorry Ray. Its just that my little sister got hurt last night, and you know she's a Nocturne. My shift just ended when that thing struck, so I haven't gotten any sleep, and as icing, our apartment building collapsed with most of our stuff inside it. Then we got tasked with trying to map out these caves. I don't mean to take it out on you...well except for the racist crap."

Ray, with a look of sympathy in his eyes, put a hoof on Breeze's shoulder. "Hey, I get it. My older cousin got hurt too, but ya know that the Princesses are having everyone treated, courtesy of the crown, along with repair costs. Also, you know I don't mean anything by what I say about the bat-ponies. Just making a joke."

Resuming their walk after that maximum amount of male bonding allowed in one day, they both felt a little better about their current job of mapping out the caves. While they didn't find many ways going down, they did continue to find a number of precious relics that they both made notes of. They kept walking for another hour, before they came to the point on the direct opposite of the mountain where they started with a fresh cave collapse.

Ray marked off the map they had been given for one last time, when both of them heard something. Ears pivoting to find the noise, their eyes opened wide at the realization that it was a high pitched voice. "Hello? Is someone there? Please, can anything hear me?"

Breeze and Ray began looking around to try to locate the source of the voice, but echoes made the task difficult. Ray tried to keep some of the panic from his voice. "Where are you? Are you behind the collapsed tunnel?"

"Yes, I am. Thank the cosmos I found someone to help me."

Breeze looked at the rock wall and the surrounding cave and support structures, trying to figure out exactly how safe it was to start digging. "Hang on, we'll be back as soon as we can with some help to dig you out."

"But I'm not the one in trouble."

Both of the Solar Guard raised their eyebrows at that, sharing a glance, before Breeze called out to the voice again. "Uh, you just said that your on the other side of this collapsed cave. How are you not in trouble?"

"Well, its pretty easy to not worry about that when you can crawl in between the rocks. Hold on, I'll be right over to explain."

Two sets of eyes grew wider as the pair of ponies waited for their mysterious guest to show up. It didn't take long until they saw something moving from out of the space between the rocks. Casting the lamplight on it, they saw a little spider about the size of a bit. It had a dirt brown color that blended with the walls and rocks of the cave seamlessly if on wasn't looking hard enough.

"Hello. Its nice to meet you. I'm so happy to have finally found something that can help."

Breeze was the first to recover from his amazement at a talking, tiny spider. "Uh...hello. I'm Private Breeze, and this is Private Ray, of Celestia's Solar Guard. Forgive us, but we haven't ever heard of talking spiders before."

"Not really surprising. Spiders like to keep to themselves if they can help it. I can't help it though. One of my friends is trapped underneath some rubble from the earthquake last night. He's alive, but he needs help to get out. Do you two think you can help?"

Ray was still having some trouble wrapping his head around the situation that him and his buddy were in. "Well, we'd love to...its just that we're on a mission to find a way to the bottom of the mountain from these passages and-"

"Oh, are you looking for that weird thing that crashed in here earlier and caused the earthquake? My friend and I were really close to it when it hit, and that's part of the reason why he got trapped under rubble. I can't move the rocks, but I know the way to the crash site. What do you say?"

Breeze raised an eyebrow at the all-to-easy solution to their mission. "Can't your friend just crawl through the rocks like you?"

"No, he's not a spider. He's bigger, about as big as you two, actually. Said he's a bat. He's the only one down here, so that means I have a one-of-a-kind friend!"

The two ponies looked at each other and nodded. Breeze stepped forward and knelt down to be on eye level with the spider. "We would be happy to help your friend if you could show us the way. How would you feel about meeting with our commanding officers to talk about all the details?"

Kindness and Noble Presentations

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“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”

-Charles Dickens

“There, there, child. Don’t worry, for your mother is in the best of care.”

Luna stroked the mane of the colt, who wept into her chest, making a literal river of tears. Ever since she had passed out in the castle courtyard, Luna has been trying to calm as many of her subjects as she could through dreams. Most of the dreams were nightmares that belonged to foals, such as this one, who worried that their parents or other family members were dead or hurt from the object's impact. Many were from adults who worried about their loved ones. A few were nobles who panicked about damage to their estates. Comforting them was all she could do while her body rested.

This colt showed no signs of stopping. Luna began to stroke his mane while humming a tune, one she learned in her youth. After a few minutes, the colt finally began to calm down and looked up at Luna with eyes full of uncertainty.

The colt sniffed and scrubbed at his eyes. “Are you sure mommy is going to be all right?” he asked, pushing the words out between sharp hiccups.

Smiling, Luna looked down, “Yes, child. You have my word that your mother will be alright.”

The child still seemed afraid, but Luna could feel the dream become less oppressive, and see some color return to the landscape, a sign that the young colt hugging her barrel was starting to calm down. Luna continued to comfort the child by humming her tune, while he got the last of his sniffles and hiccups out of his system.

The poor foal is only four years of age. I must ensure that nothing happens to his mother. I hope that my body recovers soon, ‘tis torture being unable to physically aid my subjects when they most need it.

Soon enough the colt’s dream faded into nothing as he fell into the deep, dreamless sleep of total exhaustion. Luna sat in the astral plane for a moment, looking around at the realm that stretched before her. This was her ethereal kingdom, a realm of thought and magic: filled with the brightest hopes, darkest secrets, and fleeting fancies that her subjects held within.

Today it was a blackened realm, full of nightmares from what happened last night. Taking a deep breath, Luna waited for one dream in particular to appear. After a few minutes, a sphere of grey appeared in front of her, almost like the dream knew it was wanted. Entering the dream as one would walk through a door, she emerged into a hallway in the castle, where a grey pegasus with a platinum mane was laying down on the bench. Upon her arrival, he sat up and bowed to her.

“Princess Luna, how may I serve?”

Luna smiled down on her liaison to the waking world, a lucid dreamer named Cloudy Head. Whenever Luna was patrolling the astral world, she had him waiting on standby, in case any orders needed to be delivered quickly while she needed to remain. There was never a guarantee that the pony she needed to talk to was asleep; there were also times when she either couldn’t wake up her body from sheer exhaustion, or she couldn't risk something in the astral plane getting out of hand.

“We require that you look for the family of Razorwind and ensure that they are given the best care that can be allotted. Also, add them to the list.”

“Of course, princess. By your leave then.”

The dream blinked out of existence as quickly as it appeared. Luna sighed. This list she had Cloudy keeping was the families that she would personally investigate as soon as she physically could; it had grown to well over fifty. Looking around, she began to walk towards the next dream, but noticed a strange shift in the plane. Blinking, she focused her powers to locate whence came the disturbance. Locating it easily enough, she began to head towards it.

This must be a terrible nightmare for it to send a ripple like that out into the plane. Whatever this pony's fears are, they run deep in their mind.

Luna found the nightmare, a blotch of darkness in the realm that seemed to, oddly enough, absorb light from around it. Taking a deep breath, Luna walked into the dream. Immediately she felt a ton of bricks crushing her from all angles. Using her magic, she willed the offending stones away, only to have more rubble fall down from above. She continued to clear away rubble for a few minutes, until it finally stopped with some support beams and tiles from the the roof.

Luna furrowed her brow as she cast her gaze about the landscape of the dream. It was a dour one, piles of debris stretching in all directions as far as the eye could see. Some were made of stone, some collapsed houses, others from piles of trees, one made of sand, but the only consistency was that they were all in piles of ridiculous proportions. The pile she just emerged from were the remains of a brick house.

This pony either is still buried, or has taphophobia. Regardless, this dream feels...strangely real. Best find the pony quickly.

Casting her senses out again, she looked for the pony who made the dream, only to find nothing. She blinked, and concentrated harder on finding him, but still came up with nothing. Stomping her hoof, she started removing one of the rubble piles. A loud boom rumbled behind her. Whipping around, she saw a new pile of debris appearing as the one she was clearing away disappeared. Luna sighed in exasperation.

“Hello! Is anypony out there? Thy Princess of the Night has come to give you aid, but you must help me help you.”

Luna began to hear whispers coming from everywhere, and nowhere.

“Will never find me.”
“Will never be fr--.”
“Will never be abl- to walk ag---.”
“Will never see t-- li--- -f -ay.”
“Will never fix th- ----d.”

As more and more whispers piled on top of each other, Luna had difficulty differentiating between them. They kept coming, each starting with “will never.” Usually helping a pony overcome their fears was a simple task: Luna found the route of the problem after exploring her subject’s dreams, then changed the dreams to help the pony confront their fear head-on. This worked most of the time, because she could take her time and gently nudge their subconscious to affect their dreams.

However, this dreamer’s mind was so warped and distressed from fear, that she couldn’t get any meaningful read on them. The voices kept on going, more and more making themselves known. Fear of death, of loneliness, of unfulfilled purpose, of unfinished business, of what lies beyond the veil; all happening at once, and stemming from the fact that this pony was having a nightmare about dying alone under a pile of rubble, undiscovered and forgotten.

Luna couldn’t take anymore of these voices, or their maddening whispers. She reared back and slammed her hooves down on the ground, causing the whole dream to shatter like glass, ending the voices and the piles. Luna took a deep breath to calm her nerves back on the astral plane.

“Thanks for doing that.”

Eyes wide, Luna whipped around to see a small prismatic blob hovering before her. She tried to say something, but her voice didn’t work. The blob waited for a few moments, then turned and began to float away.

Getting over her shock, Luna followed it through the astral plane. “Wait, what are you doing?”

The blob stopped and seemed to turn and face her, it was difficult to really tell, before answering. “Well, since you knocked me out of my little panic attack, I figured that I would just take a look around. You also seemed like you weren’t going to talk to me.”

“But how art thou able to manifest in this realm? Usually somepony needs my assistance to travel through this world.”

“I was taught by a shaman a long time ago. So then, there aren’t that many who can dream-walk I take it?”

“No, only myself and three others have the power to manifest in this realm. What was the name of the shaman who taught you and from what tribe does he hail from?”

“He was...he was...wait.........I can’t....remember? That is…not.....crap!”

With that the blob disappeared, leaving behind a startled and confused Luna amid a sea of dreams.

What was that? Who was that? This doesn’t make any sense, no other being on Equus has the power to manifest in the astral plane apart from those I know. The Zebrican shamans have ways to separate their minds and bodies, but that isn’t the same as manifesting. Why is it that I didn’t meet this being before? I’ve walked this plane ever since my return without sensing another. Unless…

Luna woke up on her bed, heart beating through her chest. Taking a few deep breaths to calm down, she cast a spell to locate Celestia. As soon as she finished casting the spell, a wave of dizziness came over Luna, and she had to lie down for a few moments. Deciding against using too much magic until she fully recovered, Luna threw open her door. Outside, Cloudy Head and some of the guards were having a discussion. As soon as Luna emerged from her chambers the discussion suddenly ceased, with surprised looks on their faces.

Luna, putting on her best neutral face, was the first to speak. “Cloudy Head, hath thou any imperatives that require our immediate attention?”

Cloudy put a hoof to his chin, face scrunched up in thought. “Well, no, Your Highness. Nothing of any immediate concern, just a report from a team in the mountain looking for whatever crashed last night, but are you sure that you should be up already?”

“Our health is satisfactory for the time being.” Luna waved a hoof, dismissing any argument that Cloudy might have. “We must meet with our sister, posthaste. Await here for our return Cloudy; we shall discuss this report with her after I find her.”

Cloudy bowed as Luna trotted away at a brisk pace By the position of the sun through the windows, Luna determined it to be around ten A.M.

No wonder Cloudy was concerned, only six hours of sleep is hardly enough time to recover from magical exhaustion. I shall endeavour to rest more later, the situation permitting. Tia, how didst thou do this on your own for a thousand years?

Luna could see the three unmistakable forms of Celestia, Discord, and Twilight walking down the hall away from her, having a conversation that she was too far away to hear. Luna took another deep breath to clear her head, and called out to the trio.

“Sister, we would like to have a word with you.”

Celestia’s ears straightened and turned to Luna as soon as she spoke. Three sets of eyes turned to look at her with varying levels of concern. Celestia met her halfway down the hall, with a slight grimace on her face. Giving Luna a once over, Celestia’s tail twitched every time her eyes darted over her younger sister.

“Luna are you alright? Is something wrong? Do you need something? Should you even be out of bed so soon? Have you seen the do—?”

Luna put a hoof up to her sister’s lips. “Sister, while we appreciate you concern, our health is acceptable for the time being. We have something urgent we must discuss with you.” Glancing over to Twilight, and Discord, she then whispered in Celestia’s ear. “Something has developed on the astral plane.”

Celestia’s eyes widened hearing her sister’s words. Quickly glancing back to the others, Celestia bit her lip for a moment. Looking back at Luna, she she asked, “Are you positive?”

Luna nodded. Sighing, Celestia walked back to Twilight with a regretful look.

“I am so sorry Twilight, but would it be possible for you to handle the begining of the meeting on your own? Luna and I must discuss something of great importance. I am so sorry, my old student, I wouldn’t if—”

Twilight wrapped a wing around Celestia’s side with a smile. “Don’t worry, I understand. Matters of state and security take precedence over keeping an eye on me. Besides, it will make a better impression on the nobles if I show I can stand on my own. You have nothing to worry about at the meeting, I can handle it.”

Celestia’s smile rivaled the sun in its brilliance at that moment and she hugged Twilight with her wings as a small tear fell from her eye.

“You’ve grown so much, dear Twilight. I know you will be a magnificent princess. Very well then, I leave knowing that the nobles are in capable hooves,” Celestia then looked at Spike carrying a fair amount of notes and cards with a smile. “And capable claws.” Celestia then used one of her wings to drag Spike into the hug as well. Spike happily reciprocated the hug.

It was all very touching until they heard a shutter click. Looking over, they saw Discord with a tissue and an instant camera already printing out a photo. Sniffiling, he blew his nose with a hankee. “How truly beautiful, a teacher and her student, and little assitant sharing a heartwarming moment. Now this is a Kodak moment, wouldn’t you agree, Luna?”

Luna raised an eyebrow at Discord as he waved the picture in the air. The hug ended with some annoyance at his antics. Spike excused himself, going ahead to the meeting room to prepare Twilight’s notes and cards. Celestia cleared her throat after he left, and turned to face Discord with a glare. “Now Discord, I’m sure I don’t have to remind you of the importance of doing a thorough job with your task.”

The photo folded itself into an origami soldier, which gave Celestia a prompt salute. Discord then stood at attention and stared straight ahead while the photo began marching on his head. Celestia’s glare turned into a scowl, “Discord this is serious. I’m giving you a chance to redeem yourself with the Tirek incident.”

Discord winced after being reminded of that piece of his recent history. He dropped the stance, and the photo unfolded back to normal. “Alright Celestia, I get it. I know I made a mistake, and it was a big one. Despite my demeanor, I am actually happy that you’re willing to trust me again. Don’t worry, not a pebble will be unaccounted for when I get back with my report.”

With that, Celestia nodded to Discord, smiled once more at Twilight, and walked back with Luna before they both teleported away.

Discord sighed as he snapped his fingers to conjure a photo album titled ‘Sunbutt.’ He put the photo in, and closed the album which promptly vanished. “Well, all that just happened. Wonder what's gotten into her.”

Twilight looked over at him somberly. “I’m sure it was something important. It always is, being a princess.”

Discord raised an eyebrow at Twilight’s tone. “What is the matter with you now?”

Twilight sighed, “I just miss the times we could enjoy each other’s company like before. Ever since I was sent to Ponyville, I’ve seen less and less of Celestia for recreational reasons, and more for political ones. Even after I became a princess, we still barely see each other outside of political events. I guess I just miss her more than I thought I would’ve since I made all of my new friends.”

Discord scratched the back of his head, eyebrows raised, mind racing to think of something to say to such a confession while glancing around the hall. “Well...I wouldn’t really worry about it too much, Twilight. It is the day after something almost played dominoes with Canterlot, so there are sure to be a lot of problems. I mean I’m here, right?”

Twilight giggled at the joke, a small smile on her face. “I know, and I know it is selfish of me to be like this right now, I just can’t help it sometimes. Celestia taught me almost everything I know. It’s hard when you seem to drift apart from ponies.” Discord put an arm around Twilight’s neck, with his trademark grin.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Celestia has always been a workaholic, even back before I was sealed in stone the first time. You’ll think of something to get her to relax for a bit. If you can’t, then I’m sure I could just make her work so hard she has to take a break.”

They both laughed at that joke. Seeing Twilight’s mood improved, Discord stood up and dusted off his knees. Twilight looked up, with a bright smile.

“When did you get so good at comforting ponies?”

Discord returned the smile. “Give me some credit; Fluttershy is my best friend. I’ve picked on a thing or two. Besides, you’re my second best friend, and what would she say if I let you be sad?”

Spike came running back around the corner.

“Twilight, the notes are all set up, and most of the nobles are in the room already, according to this checklist you gave me.” The list Spike pulled out was only missing a few check marks next to the names of Canterlot’s elite.

Smiling at Spike, Twilight did a few deep breaths like Cadence had taught her while going over some of the key points she had researched. After about a minute of this, Twilight opened her eyes with a steely glint of resolve in them.

“Alright then, I’m ready to meet the nobles. Now Discord, I’m sure you won’t slack off or anything like that with that task Celestia gave you, right?”

Discord gasped, covered his mouth with his paw, and held his claw over his heart. Every motion caused one of the three primary colors on paintings in the hall to switch to a different one, ending where red should be yellow.

“Moi? Twilight, how can you even suggest that I would ever do anything like that? I’m reformed now, remember? Now we really should get going, the longer we spend here talking, the longer we’ll keep our favorite sun princess waiting.”

With that, Discord put on a pair of Aviators, put his hands in his trench coat pockets, and started walking down the hall with a jeff cap on. Spike only gave a confused look before he asked a question that the universe demanded be asked.

“Why would you put on sunglasses, and a hat, when you’re going underground?”

Discord paused, looking over his shoulder and pulling the rim of the shades down to look at Spike. “Why you ask? You, a baby dragon, ask the Being of Chaos the reason behind his actions?”

“Uhh...yes?”

“Good answer! The reason is because it looks cool.”

“... But no one is around to see you except me and Twi.”

“Ah, silly little dragon,” Discord chuckled while shaking his head and adjusting his shades, “being cool isn't about who sees you, it’s all about the image. Well, I have a busy day ahead of me, so I must be going now. Toodles.”

With a snap of his fingers, Discord vanished. Oddly enough, it was without his trademark flash of light when he usually teleports. On an unrelated note, camera flashes in Canterlot that day stopped working, ruining the lighting of many reporters pictures and the insurance claims photos being taken. This would lead to many a late night for insurance bureaucrats and reporters, along with Photo Finish needing to reschedule an entire session with Sapphire Shores, causing both of their schedules to be thrown entirely off. One camera store in Canterlot amassed a small fortune in this time, being the only one still open.

Twilight, ignorant of all of this, simply sighed. “Discord’s antics aside, I do have to wonder what has Luna so worked up.”

Twilight started walking down the hallway, using a spell to right all of the colors in the paintings. Spike walked next to her, scratching his chin in thought.

“Whatever it is, it must be something big for both Luna and Celestia to have to work on it. Anyways, how are you feeling about the meeting Twi? Are you sure you can do this?”

Stopping in front of the doors were the meeting was soon to take place, Twilight took another deep breath. “Yes, I am Spike. Celestia entrusted me to this, and I know I can do it.”

“Wow, you’re taking this pretty well. Better than the last time the princess had you do a test anyways.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yes Spike, I know I overreacted to the test in the Crystal Empire, but now I am a Princess of Equestria. I need to start making a public image, and meeting with the extended noble families. I’ve read up on them, the relevant laws, and I’m excellent with Q&As. This is going to be easy.”

With that, a magenta glow enveloped the doors, and Twilight entered the room inside.

Okay, so maybe I wasn’t one-hundred percent prepared for this.

Twilight had researched many different things since she was brought to Canterlot via the guard chariot early in the morning. Legends, prophecies, dark magic rituals, and a slew of other topics trying to figure out exactly what the object from last night could have been. The plan was for Celestia to handle the nobles’ more immediate concerns, while Twilight would answer their questions regarding the actual event as best she could. Luckily for all parties involved, Twilight had read a fair amount of tax laws and other legal documents in her time as Celestia’s student, more so when she became a princess.

With all that in mind, Twilight walked into the room expecting a simple Q&A session with the nobles. She walked in, double-checked to see her notes were organized the way she liked them out of habit. Spike stood near the side of the room near the refreshments and snacks. Twilight looked out over the crowd to see the Canterlot elite, seated at immaculate white cloth covered tables. She quickly went through some mental notes of all those present.

Alright, so according to Celestia, the nobles are mostly made up of one of three groups. The oldest group consists of descendants of knights and famous ponies in history and hold a fair amount of sway in the military. The second consist of elected officials from the various districts of the country, responsible for the day to day running of society. Hey, I can see the mayor of Ponyville! Focus, Twilight. Lastly are the industrial ponies. They hold the most sway over the economy and manufacturing aspects of the kingdom. Hey, that’s Fancy Pants...focus. Now all you have to do is explain the situation as best you can and answer any questions. Easy as reciting Star Swirl’s early theories of Summoning Magic.

Checking the clock to see that the meeting had officially begun, Twilight took a deep breath and glanced over her notes one last time before officially starting.

“Attention, everypony. May I have your attention please? I would like to thank all of you for coming to this meeting on such short notice. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I shall be the one facilitating this meeting. As we all know, at about 2:15 A.M. this morning, an object crashed into the main support pillar of Canterlot and then the Canterhorn Mountain. Before we go any further, I want to assure everypony present here that the city is no longer in any danger of falling, and that Celestia herself has reinforced the support system so this won’t happen again. Any questions so far?”

A single unicorn raised his hoof near the back.

“Yes, in the back?”

Let’s see, older stallion, grey coat and mane, with the Equestrian coat of arms as a cutie mark. That would make him Sir Blason. What they say about his moustache is true, it really is the most fantastic in all of Canterlot, even from this far away… focus Twilight.

Sir Blason spoke in a voice that belied his aged appearance and commanded respect from those that heard it. “Yes, pardon my asking, but where is Celestia? I was lead to believe that she would be at this meeting as well.”

“You have been informed correctly, Sir Blason. Princess Celestia is currently investigating something that came up suddenly with Princess Luna. If they are able to resolve it quickly, then Princess Celestia will join us. However, you will find I am more than capable of running this function.”

The old stallion nodded once and sat back down. Looking around and seeing no other questions, Twilight began her findings on the strange object from last night. A question would crop up every so often, which she would promptly answer concisely, even the questions about how this event might affect some obscure tax laws and insurance claims. Most of the nobles looked at Twilight in a new light by the time she was done with her presentation. They always knew that Celestia’s prodigy was intelligent, but they had also heard of her legendary panic attacks. The mare today, however, was cool, collected, and on top of everything that they could ask.

“That concludes my findings on what hit us this morning. Just as a quick recap, Discord was not behind it, Tirek did not break free again, and despite it coming from the north, we have no reason to believe that Yak-Yakistan or the Crystal Empire is behind this either. Any questions before we leave?”

One pony, a golden coated unicorn with a dark red mane and a picture of a sunrise as his cutie mark, raised his hoof and stood to ask before Twilight acknowledged him.

“Yes, I have a question. I’ve noticed that while you told us everything the object wasn’t; you never told what it was. Do you actually know?”

I was hoping this question wouldn’t get asked. Well time to bite the arrow.

“Unfortunately...no. Despite researching about every known prophecy of falling stars, celestial creatures, and cosmic disasters, none of them coincide with what happened last night. It wasn’t a star or anything like that, otherwise Luna would have simply stopped it. No matter where I looked, this event is like nothing that has happened before in recorded history.”

The other pony smiled slightly at that answer. “Ah, I see. That seems like a bit of a waste of time for us all to just say ‘We don’t know what happened, but don’t worry.’”

Okay, who is this stallion?

Twilight checked the seating chart in front of her quickly to see the name New Dawn. She had never heard of him before, which meant he either was discovered as some noble’s lost child, or he had a very good friend with quite a bit of power. His name was on the list, so Twilight thought little of it at the moment. Looking back up, she thought a moment for an appropriate response.

“No sir, that is not what this is intended to be at all. In fact, we have a better idea of what this object is now than we did before.”

The stallion frowned slightly at that. “How do you figure that, princess?”

“Well, often times one can find out the facts by ruling out false information. Since we know that this event is something that wasn’t predicted by any prophet, it wasn’t a new weapon being tested as a declaration of war, and it wasn’t a cosmic being, we are now closer that you might think to understanding what happened.”

New Dawn raised his eyebrow at the explanation. “So what is it then?”

“My personal best guess is that some unicorn somewhere attempted a very powerful spell that backfired somehow. We will know for certain once we have recovered whatever it is from the ruins of the old city in the mountain.”

“Ah, so you still don’t actually know what it is?”

Why must this stallion make this such an issue?

“Considering nopony knows what it is, no I don’t.” Twilight hated admitting it, but there was no point in lying about it.

The unicorn had regained his smile, though it came off more as a smirk to Twilight. “Hmm, I see. Would Princess Celestia have known, I wonder?”

From the back of the room a familiar voice boomed out. “YOU WILL GIVE THE PRINCESS THE RESPECT SHE DESERVES, YOU LITTLE COLT! I’ve had enough of your wasting of time. Unless you have an ACTUAL question, then sit down, and be SILENT!”

Every ear in the room was flat from the volume of Blason’s command. New Dawn glared at the old stallion for a moment, but he did take his seat again. Blason nodded to Twilight and took his seat again as well.

Coughing once, Twilight looked around. “So are there any other questions?”

Nopony raised their hoof. “Well then, on that note, I hereby officially conclude this meeting.”

Most of the nobles got up and began filing out of the room, while a few lingered a bit longer. New Dawn was exchanging a few hushed words with Blason, after which New Dawn left, while Twilight observed from the corner of her eye while gathering her notes.

That New Dawn is going to be one to watch out for. I’ll have to ask Rarity to try to find out who he is. Why did he have to ruin the very end of the meeting? It was going so well up to that point.

The room had now emptied with the exception of Twilight, Spike, Sir Blason, Fancy Pants, and the mayor of Ponyville, Ivory Scrolls. The remaining ponies all approached Twilight and bowed respectfully.

“Hello again Fancy Pants, Ms. Scrolls, and it is nice to finally meet you formally Sir Blason Chevalier.”

The three bowed to Twilight, with Blason speaking up first. “A true pleasure to finally meet you as well, Princess. Apologies for the outburst at the end there, I just can’t stand little arrogant colts who think they own the whole damn kingdom. Pardon my language.”

Twilight waved a hoof while smiling. “No need to worry about such things while we’re not in an official function. My friend Rainbow Dash has quite the mouth on her as well when she gets upset.”

Blason smiled widely at that. “That is good. I have read a great deal of your exploits, and I was hoping to meet with you when this whole disaster is resolved.”

Yes, my first private meeting with a noble house, and with the Chevalier house no less! This meeting didn’t end as badly as I thought it did.

Twilight never let her demure smile change like Celestia had taught her. “I would like that very much. I will contact you once it has all been resolved.”

“Excellent. By your leave then, Princess Twilight.” Blason turned and spoke a few polite words with Fancy Pants. He then turned and smiled at Ivory, and kissed her hoof. Sir Blason then introduced himself to Ivory, with the hope that they could meet outside of politics next time. Ivory Scrolls blushed bright red, and stuttered out a response before Sir Blason turned and left the room. Once he left, Twilight turned her attention to the others with a smile.

“So, how are you two? Did you enjoy the presentation?”

Fancy was the first to respond, as Ivory was still looking out the door. “I’m doing well, thank you. I did rather enjoy the meeting more than I thought I would. You made everything so riveting, especially with your dialogue at the end. Wouldn’t you agree, Ms. Scrolls?”

Ivory was startled out of her little daze, quickly looking between Twilight and Fancy. “Oh, ah, yes, quite right. Of course, I don’t usually attend such events, but being the mayor of the town where a princess lives brings some new perks and responsibilities. Oh, not to say I mind, Princess Twilight, I just meant—”

“Relax, mayor. I understand, trust me. I just hope your both doing well with all that has been happening recently.”

After a few minutes of exchanging small talk, Twilight waved goodbye as the last two ponies walked out. Gathering her notes, she turned to Spike who had cleared the snack table of food and drink. She had just started scolding Spike when Celestia and Luna walked into the meeting room.

Celestia smiled at the scene, remembering a time when she was scolding a younger Twilight for trying to read a book she had “acquired” from the forbidden section of the castle’s library. Luna noticed her sister going down memory lane, and walked forward.

“Greetings, Twilight Sparkle and Spike. We do apologize for interrupting, but we must speak with thee.”

Jumping slightly at the interruption, Twilight turned around to properly greet Luna and Celestia.

“Oh, Princess Luna. I’m sorry, I didn’t notice you coming in. Hello to you as well, Princess Celestia. Have you two resolved whatever it was that you had to discu—Luna, you are aware that there is a spider in your mane, right?”

Luna nodded while the spider crawled onto her shoulder.

“Indeed Twilight, it is one of the reasons that we wish to speak with you immediately.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Uh, I suppose I could help, but Fluttershy is the one you really want to talk to about any animals. I’m not even sure what kind of spider this little guy is.”

“Hey I’m not a guy. I’m a female, like you. Can’t you tell by how big I am?”

Upon hearing the high pitched voice, Twilight’s eyes went wide as she stared at the spider. Spike was equally dumbfounded, looking at the spider with a mix of amazement and fear. They both looked back and forth between the spider and Luna.

Celestia chuckled at the reaction while the spider crawled back to Luna’s mane. “This little spider is named Rachel. She has very valuable information regarding the object that landed this morning. We would like to discuss what she has to share with you and anypony else you feel should be brought in on this.”

Twilight rubbed her chin for a moment before grabbing a piece of paper from her notes. After quickly committing the note to memory, she cast a spell to rearrange the ink on the page to a list of books before handing it off to Spike.

“Spike, while the princesses and I discuss...whatever this is, I need you to go grab these books for me from the library. After that, go find AJ and Fluttershy and tell them to meet me in my quarters in the castle at the request of the princesses.Then see if you can help around the city, OK?”

Saluting smartly, Spike ran off down the hall, while the three Alicorns, plus one, vanished in a distinct lack of light.

Ebon Wings

by Lanielan

Once Upon a Summer Midnight

Public Speaking and Spelunking

Kindness and Noble Presentations