> Moamer's Return
>  by bonamb
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Catastrophes and Consequences
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lightning flashed outside her window and Twilight Sparkle fell from her bed with an undignified squawk, landing on the floor with a thump. Pushing herself upright and shuffling her wings, she marshalled her thoughts and counted:

One... Tw-

BOOM 

She flinched and her ears flicked back. It was close. Way too close for a storm to be without a warning from the weather team.

Getting up, Twilight opened the bedroom door and quickly trotted past Spike's room who, apparently, was still asleep with his door shut. Filing away the pang of envy at his deep sleeping for later and making her way past the map room, she turned left and hurried up the stairs up into the pegasi loft. 

Stepping out onto the main balcony she paused, stunned as she observed the furious storm from the safety of her weatherward. It was... enormous didn’t even begin to describe it. It obviously wasn’t natural, both from the way tropical cyclones simply didn’t occur this far from the sea, and the fact that it’s eye appeared to be centred almost exactly around Canterlot.

A Canterlot that seemed to be... glowing? A brilliant light shone from it, the only reason she could see it at this distance, through the storm.

Everypony in Canterlot must feel like they are staring into a lighthouse!

Twilight turned away, searching for her as of yet unused weather goggles. As she found and levitated them towards her, she paused apprehensively. Even a natural pegasus would find this storm almost impossible to navigate in, so, she thought, moving the goggles in front of her so she could view the storm through them, would she even have a chance?

Another bolt of lightning tore across the sky, searing it's afterimage into the back of her eyes. As Twilight quickly averted her gaze and tried to blink away the light, there was a sudden thud from the pegasus loft above, causing her to look up in panic. What if debri?-

"Twi!"

She squinted up at the blurry cyan shape above her, leaping back as it shook itself, depositing water everywhere before it jumped off and landed in front of her. As her vision focused Rainbow Dash appeared with a panicked expression on her face.

"Twi. Man, you gotta help with this! The weather office is in an emergency state and is gathering volunteers and all able bodied pegasai and you're a princess and have wings and that's the biggest storm I've ever seen so you gotta help."

Twilight blinked again at the smaller pony before catching up. "Yes, I-"

Dash grabbed her hoof and shaking it, continued: "I mean holy horseapples Twi, that’s like a hurricane times a hundred out there and all the princesses are Celestia knows where but you and-"

Pulling her hoof free from the sodden pegasus, Twilight planted her it on Rainbow’s muzzle which seemed to shock her into a state of insensibility for however long. Quickly clearing her throat Twilight carried on where she had left off.  "Dash - I was just about to go and volunteer."

Rainbow quickly processed this then nodded, distressed friend gone and back to business, assuming the facade of the weather team captain again. "Good - that's good. So, yeah, we've got our strongest fliers doing a double layered V formation to bust any parts of the storm that come too near to Ponyville. While that’s happening, we're gonna have a team of our best weather-smiths create a wall of cloud braced against your castle as it’s the tallest building we have, which should break the storm around us, uh, if you don’t mind that is."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "I'm fairly sure that this castle is at least in some way, a civic building, so it wouldn’t matter whether I-"

"Great! You're with the weathersmiths. Keep me updated with your magic flare thingies, I'll be heading the wedge."

Dash bent her knees, flared her wings, and with the sound of collapsing air, was gone.

Running over storm protocol in her head – maximum launch distance, away from any surfaces in case of sudden gusts - Twilight donned the goggles and cantered over to the edge. Taking a deep breath and flaring her wings, she too thrust herself out into the storm. As the wind caught her in its grasp, she allowed her heart one last quaver before steeling herself, and doing the job a princess was meant to do. 





The train rumbled and Twilight opened a sticky eye. From what she could see in the darkness outside the train, they had begun to slow down. Closing it, then bracing herself she opened both her eyes, only to screw them right back up as the sudden flood of light from Canterlot station caused stars to explode somewhere in her skull. Groaning, she stood gradually and opened her eyes again - just a crack, allowing light to seep through without the previously horrific stabbing sensation. Something she wasn’t exactly unfamiliar with, having performed far too many late nighters herself but...

Ugh.

It never got better.

As she stepped towards the end of the carriage, shaking out the kinks as she went and trying to ignore her aching wings, her thoughts moved sluggishly back to the night before. Rainbow Dash's plan had worked almost perfectly. The wedge's concerted efforts had allowed Twilight and the rest of the weathersmiths to create a dense cloud barrier around her castle, diverting most of the storm’s energy around Ponyville. There was some damage, but nowhere near as much as there could have been. She shivered at the thought of the smaller earth pony towns with lower pegasus populations, or resident alicorns, such as those in Whitetail Woods.

Twilight stopped and blinked as she emerged from the carriage and Canterlot's muggy scent hit her nose. It was thick as usual, almost a living soup of smells, but with that extra tang that always appeared around high concentrations of magic. Pillony's second sign actually seemed to have a stronger presence than usual but - What.

The alicorn's mind stuttered for a second as she beheld her home city. It was... damaged.

No, no. Damaged wasn't quite the word. Some buildings looked like they had been physically shredded, like a toddler with so much grass. Others, lower down, looked almost pristine. It had been… played with?

As Twilight’s emotional response quickly collapsed under the weight of her tired brain, she noticed the pattern of destruction appeared to radiate out in expanding curves, which, if simple logic was followed, would mean that this was part of a larger, circular explosion, and the epicentre was...

As her eyes tracked the pattern towards the palace a burgundy earth pony guard around her age in full armour trotted up to her from a squad of nearby guards and bowed.

"Welcome to Canterlot, Princess. Princess Luna has been expecting you and will explain the situation soon. We can take you to her, if you would come with us?"

Thrown out of her sleep deprived mind, Twilight just blinked at her before catching herself and inclining her head in turn. "Just Twilight is fine, thank you. Seeing the Princess would be informative though." Half smiling at the guard to set her at ease, she continued.  "Do you know where she is... um?"

The corner of the mare's mouth quirked as her eyes flicked to the bags under Twilight's eyes, and she tapped a pin on her chest. "First Lieutenant Hard Hooves Ma'am. I'm the one in charge of your detail whenever you come to Canterlot. We received the message from your assistant after you got on the train."

"But I sent that message an hour before?"

The Lieutenant's amused expression changed to guarded sympathy as she replied. "Princess Celestia is currently recovering Ma'am. We only found the message after a maid checked on her."

"Recovering?!" Twilight's wings shot open and she winced. Ow.

"Yes Ma'am." The Lieutenant held her gaze. "But only temporarily indisposed, she's just exhausted herself, nothing serious. Although," her eyes flicked to Twilight's wings. "I was going to have the Sergeant and her flight squad fly you up to the Castle so you could get there a little faster and avoid the debris, but I can see that would be a bad idea."

"Yeah..." Twilight shook her head. "All of Ponyville spent last night fighting the storm, so none of us are in particularly good shape." She chuckled "But somepony had to come see what was going on, so at least I got a good nap on the train. I think the others are still working."

"Indeed." The Lieutenant turned and nodded to a light blue, white maned unicorn in her squad who had saddlebags with a red cross on the side. "Medic Stitch, would you mind..?"

The unicorn trotted over and drew a small instrument out of a case in her bag. With an apologetic look on her face, she pressed it gently to Twilight's back.  Fireworks went off in the alicorn's mind and she drew in a sharp breath. The medic's eyes, Twilight noted, tightened every time Twilight winced, and after poking a couple more points on the alicorns barrel she floated it back into the case.

As she fitted that back into the bag she moved forwards where Twilight could see her better, but kept a concerned eye on the princess’s wings as they twitched. "Unfortunately, you've damaged some of your major flight muscles your highness, probably due to giving them a greater load than what they are used to. I don’t have much more on hoof than an endothermic compress... if you wouldn’t mind wandering through the city with that on your back?"

Twilight nodded, giving her a appreciative smile. “Anything at all would help after last night, thank you.”

As Stitch hummed in acknowledgement and drew out the compress, Twilight eyed it and pushed her tiredness to the back of her consciousness, focusing on the pad. Drawing and holding a spell-form in her mind's eye she made sure it wouldn't interfere with the current weave.  As Stitch affixed the compress to her back Twilight cast the completed spell, causing the compress to turn invisible. The  Lieutenant at her side raised her eyebrows at her fellow guard but neither said anything.

Looking back to Twilight, Lieutenant Hooves coughed and continued where she had left off. "There is a route to the palace that isn't blocked your Highness, but it is quite crowded. So, we are going to create a perimeter around you. If you could just stand still for a second and-" She signalled the rest of her squad, who formed a rough diamond around the three, a well-built grey pegasus leading the way. Clearing her throat she bellowed, startling Twilight "CANTERLOT PALACE, CLOVER'S WAY. FORWARD."

As they started off, heading towards a public walkway on the far side of the station, Twilight fought down her claustrophobic feelings and cantered closer to the Lieutenant. Sheepishly, she spoke. "Twilight is fine, really. I don't think a princess of friendship is supposed to be quite as formal as the others! Anyway, you're in charge of my safety whenever I come to Canterlot?"

The Lieutenant blinked, attention drawn away from their surroundings, before her mouth curled into a tight grin. "I am Ma'am, and I'm proud." Nodding to the ponies around her, she continued "We're a fairly recent unit, as under Captain Armour your protection was simply an extension of Princess Celestia's own house guard for logistical reasons, and" she winked at Twilight "guard politics. But after your ascension, and Captain Edge's promotion, he saw fit to create a separate guard unit solely for you. We are normally based here in Canterlot, but we do rotate 8 guards out every month at your palace in Ponyville. We would have had more, and a detail on you at all times, but Princess Celestia ruled against that. I disagree, but can understand her reasoning."

As they passed a large boulder planted in the middle of the road, the Lieutenant continued.

"This is the first time we've been formally introduced because your last two visits were too fleeting to actually schedule a meeting, but as Canterlot has been, well-" She indicated the boulder with her hoof. "It has been decided that your safety is of paramount importance, and that you should know your guard in case something else comes up."

Twilight nodded as she processed this new information, letting her mind flick back to Ponyville, and the guards outside her doors and around the town. Her stomach twisted as she realised that she had never even so much as said hello to any of them. Knowing Celestia though, she had probably argued for her privacy which Twilight appreciated.

Looking up, she noticed they had almost arrived at the Palace. This more sheltered route was unfamiliar to her, as she was used to taking the higher Academic's Road, nearer the school of gifted unicorns. She wrinkled her nose as a gust of wind hit them when they emerged from between the buildings. The tang of magic was far stronger here than it was nearer the station.

Not unusual for an Alicorn residence, but this really takes the cake.

As they trotted into a courtyard which Twilight hadn’t been in before, Lieutenant Hooves stepped in front of her. "If you would care to follow me Ma'am, I can take you to Princess Luna?"

Twilight glanced, puzzled, at her before realising the amount of damage to the palace had probably left some sections unstable. That, and she didn’t know exactly where she was. "Oh, yes! Thank you Lieutenant."

The Lieutenant turned to face her guards, loudly addressing them. " Corporal, you're with me! Sergeant Wings, take the squad back to the room, I'll meet you later."

The large pegasus stallion Twilight had noticed earlier nodded at Lieutenant Hooves and turned, leading six guards and the medic, Stitch, back where they had come from. A faded green pegasus with a brighter mane left her fellows to stand behind Twilight, offering a small smile which the alicorn returned.

"This way if you would, Ma'am."

As Twilight followed the Lieutenant into the palace, she noticed that the damage, while centring somewhere inside it  somehow hadn’t  affected the interior too badly. Barring she noted, as they took a diversion past a former corridor, fallen towers. Hopefully Luna would have some answers.

And hopefully her old apartment hadn’t fallen on anypony.
> Chapter 2: Fears and Findings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna sipped the coffee, ignoring the scorching sensation on her tongue in favour of gazing blankly at a wall, thoughts burning fiercer than any drink could.

Who would dare?

Her sister’s student was due to arrive at Canterlot within the hour. Her sister’s student - the newest alicorn, the princess of friendship and most importantly, one of Equestria’s best thaumaturgists. Her ability to pinpoint even the finest traces of a magical signature was well known among those who even knew what thaumatic impressions were. Her skill surpassed Luna’s own, due to her more direct approach, and almost equalled Celestia’s even at her young age.

Of course, Celestia was currently indisposed.

Luna’s ears flicked as she heard the guard’s spearbutts thump - Twilight? Raven? - outside the tea room’s single, admittedly tall, door. They had been on high alert since the event, and Captain Edge would most likely keep them so until all possible danger had passed, and then some. The loss of their fellows would likely keep them all vigilant until even after then.

“Princess Twilight has arrived, your Highness!”

The guard’s voice, muffled by the door reached Luna and she almost smiled. Raising her own, she replied “Enter, Sparkle!”

Watching the door creak open, she took another sip. She was sitting in the seat-cushion with the door on her right hoof, as close to being behind it as one sitting at a centred table could be, and the balcony on her left. Two avenues of attack, and two of escape, ignoring the fact she could teleport or simply blast a hole in the wall.

Luna knew which avenue she would choose, should the entrant turn out to be a disguised hostile. Tia had not looked this bad even when she had faced her in battle over a thousand years ago, and Luna intended on retribution. Noctem’s magical signature, which was paired to Luna’s own, hummed louder in her mind's eye, a comforting, familiar noise.

Luna raised an eyebrow as a lavender head poked itself cautiously around the door, analytic eyes flicking around the room until they came to a rest on her. Honestly, Tia did look awful, but if she had passed anything onto her student, it was the ability for both to have incredibly noticeable bags under their eyes.

Twilight’s cautious look quickly transformed into a smile when she saw Luna sitting at the table, mug in aura and with as welcoming an expression as Luna could manage given the gravity of the situation. Trotting up to the cushion on her left, back to the garden, Twilight’s gaze flicked to the centre of the table and Luna, following it, momentarily blanked as to why, before realising that was where Celestia would have laid the tea set. Feh. All this etiquette had never seemed important to her before, her only peer being Celestia. She supposed she would have to learn. She had chosen this room to comfort Twilight, and she supposed the familiarity of the tea would do the same. She had learned something being Celestia’s sister after all these years.

Twilight opened her mouth but Luna held up her hoof for a moment. “Distinguished?” She nodded at the old butler as he poked his head in after Twilight. “Fetch us our sister’s normal tea set, for our fellow Princess.” Distinguished bowed slightly, caught Twilight’s eye and smiled before withdrawing back through the door, closing it after him.

Twilight, now sat, didn’t even flinch under Luna’s steady gaze as she once had. The lunar princess held the stare for a second then grumbled, deflating slightly. “How much do you know?”

“What I know…” Twilight's eyes unfocused as she considered her answer. “I know that a massive typhoon appeared out of nowhere in central Equestria. I know that it was centred on Canterlot. I also know that Canterlot received a large amount of damage, far more than I would have expected something that was in the eye of the storm to. And, I noticed that Canterlot has a far greater concentration of ambient magic than is usual for the city.” A flicker of panic appeared in her tired eyes and she took a deep breath to steady herself. “And that Celestia has apparently, somehow, exhausted herself, something that I have never, ever, known her to do?! What- what happened?!!” Falling silent but continuing to take deep breaths to calm herself, she gazed at Luna, awaiting further answers.

“A weather bomb.”

“I’m sorry?” Twilight’s brow creased in confusion.

Luna sighed, and elaborated. “A weather bomb. An enormous amount of pegasus or gryphon magic packed into a tiny package, fitted with the equivalent of a magical hair trigger. This one was set to go off once it was swept with a scanning spell. We once used one against our sister a thousand years ago of a similar nature. They are, in effect, a city’s destruction in a parcel.”

As Luna watched, she could see Twilight’s thought processes and conclusions falling into place stone by dreadful stone. Pre-emptively she cut the damning question off, taking the conversation in a direction of her choosing.

“Yes, crafting one of these bombs would require power far greater than is usually possessed by a mortal, and yes, the weather magic would require a power similar to a unicorn’s to seal it, or an incredibly sensitive pegasus. Our sister chanced upon the creation of these in our youthful studies when she attempted to combine pegasus and unicorn magic to amplify the effects of a spell. The products of this experiment were initially intended to be makeshift power sources, for cities or massive workings.” Luna winced. “However, when destructive potential of the contained wild magic was realized and used by the Gryphons in their reunification wars, we scourged all knowledge of them from Equestria, aside from that which we held. That which the Nightmare used to great effect in the war of moon and sun.” Twilight took a breath to interject, but Luna held up a hoof. “In the thousand years since, there have been no new bombs, and thus we thought their existence had faded from history. But evidently somepony, or being, has interpreted the legends correctly, and somehow found evidence for the existence of these heinous creations, and created one themselves.”

Luna finished and sat still as Twilight blinked, processing this new information. Under the table her hoof twisted briefly before she stilled it. This mare had been one of the first to accept her after her return, and as stable as she was now it would still hurt to be - Luna cut off the useless worrying with a mental snarl, and grabbing those thoughts, brutally twisted them into a tight ball and shoved them to the back of her mind. Returning her gaze to her fellow princess she awaited her opinion.

“That’s… that’s terrible!”

Luna flinched and opened her mouth but Twilight barrelled over her.

“Taking an idea like that and… agh! It’s a marvel of thaumaturgy!” Twilight noticed Luna’s conflicted expression and quickly backpedalled. “I really don’t agree with your decision to hide it but I don’t know much about the situation in that millennium  so I can’t really give an informed opinion about that, but it’s an amazing thing in itself. A magical concept that has never been put into practice until now, or then or whatever! Conventional unicorn magic can artificially guide, like in weatherwards, but never outside of magical theory have artificial spell matrices and wild magic been combined in that - wow!”

Luna laughed, thrown off by Twilight’s train of thought. I suppose it should have been expected though. “It, ah, actually doesn’t use a spell matrix. The unstructured form actually helps with the free flow of energy and the magic is directed by the emotions and intent of the wielder. Similar in a way to bound weapons.”

Twilight’s eyes grew even wider and she let out a small squeak. “Of course! Gems are a solid state battery that take well to storing pure mana but - oh. That’s what makes it explosive.”

“Indeed. It flows too freely if directed to do so, causing a chain reaction and explosive release of all of the contained weather magic.”

“Oh. Ok.” Twilight winced. “I can see why you hid them now. It can normally only be created by somepony with a sufficient amount, and the right kind of power, but can easily be tampered with -”

“- to catastrophic effects.” Luna finished, still mildly surprised that Twilight had skipped over the Nightmare’s use of it altogether.

Then again… she is the Princess of Friendship, or Magic, for a reason.

Collecting herself, Luna shook her errant thoughts into a more acceptable form. “We have been informed that you are something of an expert on thaumatic impressions?”

“Eheh.” Twilight adopted a bashful expression. “Yeah, it’s a side hobby, although expert is probably a good term for my contributions to that field. Celestia knows it took some of those stuffy academics long enough to accept giving me my PhD at that age.” Ignoring Luna’s raised eyebrow Twilight continued, getting more and more enthusiastic. “That’s in synthesis though, which is an incredibly fascinating field because it touches all aspects of science while - oh, Princess, bomb, national emergency, sorry!”

Luna chuckled. “You know yourself and your subject. That is nothing to be sorry about. We were, however, going to ask you to examine the remains of the bomb after-” She paused as Twilight let out another audible squeak of excitement, waiting until she had sat back down in her seat and folded her ears back in embarrassment. “-after Captain Edge, who will be arriving soon, had briefed you on the situation.”

Twilight nodded almost demurely and sat back, silent. Luna eyed her in trepidation. She looked as if she was desperately struggling to contain herself, but Luna believed that there had been more than enough explosions in the palace lately so she said nothing to set her off.

They sat in an almost companionable silence for nearly 15 minutes, one filled with barely contained anticipation, which gradually dwindled away into worry as she remembered why she was excited in the first place, and the other lost in thought, coffee cold on the table. Halfway through Distinguished entered with the tea set and a smile, and Twilight was soon happily sipping away, looking far calmer, and marginally more awake.

The spears thumping outside the door again caught Luna’s ear, disturbing her reverie, and she didn’t wait for the guards to announce the visitor, knowing his footsteps well. “Enter, Captain!”

The door opened, quicker than it had for Twilight, and the Captain trotted through it. He was a taller than average unicorn, well-built underneath his armour. His coat was a light, faded yellow and his mane a dually toned deep orange. Luna couldn’t see his mark behind the metal barding, but she knew it to be a metal orb suspended in a unicorn’s red telekinetic field.

“Princesses.” He bowed. “I understand I am to brief you on what we know thus far?”

“And any and all theories that you may have.” Luna indicated the captain with her hoof. “Twilight, this is Captain Kinetic Edge. He was assigned by Central Command to Canterlot immediately after your brother left for the Crystal Empire.”

Edge gave Twilight a smile. “Hello again, your Highness.”

Twilight laughed. “Hello Edge - ah” her eyes flickered to Luna. “- Captain. Um, Captain Edge was a friend of my brother’s in basic, and I can still remember their group marathoning Ogres and Oubliettes sessions from before I left to live with Celestia. He was, and still is a good family friend.”

Luna raised an eyebrow at Edge, saying nothing even as he flushed.

“Ah. Yes, we know each other.” Edge coughed, clearing his throat. His face turned serious, and Luna could see his thoughts slotting into place behind his eyes. “Back to the matter at hoof. We have not conducted preliminary examinations of the bomb at your request Princess Luna, but we do have some theories as to it’s origin.”

“Good.” Luna indicated Twilight. “You may know that our fellow Princess here is one of the four known experts in magical impressions, and of them, two are conducting research abroad, and our own sister is currently indisposed. We wished to hold off until we could get her to examine it.”

“Ah. Do you think you would be able to glean some answers now, Princess Twilight?” At Twilight’s nod, Edge lit his horn-

“No!”

Captain Edge blinked, and his horn went out. “I’m sorry?”

“It’s fine.” Twilight chuckled, breathless. “You really don’t want to be teleporting that. While the chances of smaller, secondary, explosions are unlikely now that the weather inside has been released, your thaumic touch could contaminate what little remains of the original signature. We should probably have somebody bring it to us on a trolley, or go to it ourselves.”

Edge nodded, quickly processing this, and went to the door. Opening it and sticking his head through, he relayed her requests to the guards. As he returned to the table he flashed Twilight a grin. “Thank you your highness. My speciality is in spatial manipulation, not thaumaturgy. We haven't actually touched it yet, magically or otherwise. It’s still in what is left of the clearing room, which is being treated as a crime scene.”

Twilight let out a brief breath through her nose and sat back. “That’s good. Would you mind filling me in on what’s been going on? Princess Luna told me what a weather bomb was -” Edge shot Luna a glance which Luna returned blankly “- but I don’t actually know how it came to explode yet, or why Celestia is currently bed bound.”

At the mention of his ruler’s condition, the corners of Edge’s mouth gave a slight downward turn, before snapping back to neutrality. Luna theorised it was something to do with his professional guard pride, and the fact that somepony was able to hurt his princess. Perhaps that was a good thing though. No response would have worried her.

“At seven o’clock last night, a package came in with the usual shipment to the Canterlot Palace mail office. At half seven, it was transported to the Palace clearing room. Not too long after that when one of the unicorn guards on duty - Gem Barrier - attempted a scanning spell, it detonated, killing everypony in the room. Princess Celestia was with a personal guest at the time, having recently lowered the sun, and was preparing to retire for the night. We assume she either heard, or sensed the detonation, as the guards outside the room saw the teleport flash under the door - later confirmed by the guest - and next we knew she was inside the clearing room, with the bomb.” Edge hesitated. “I have an idea of what she did, but perhaps Princess Luna would be able to explain the process better than I, as she has knowledge of these bombs.”

Luna gave him a pointed look, which he returned with one of almost mock innocence, humour covering the pain he felt at the loss of his guards.

“We can.” Placing her hooves on the table, Luna shuffled her thoughts, and began. “What I think my sister did upon teleporting to the room, was to attempt to contain all the energy of the explosion within a telekinetic bubble. A conventional, if reinforced spell matrix with Celestia’s full might behind it, versus wild magic. In essence, she tried to overpower it. This, obviously did not work, as it might have for a normal explosion, where all the energy is expanded within an instant. A weather bomb instead produces a prolonged, concentrated patch of wild magic, about twice the size of a large city, lasting up to a week and destroying anything within it.” Luna’s hooves twitched before she stilled them. “What I assume she did, once she realised what exactly it was that she was holding, was do the opposite. She did as she would when making a weather battery, and attempted to control the storm via sheer power and intent. This method did succeed, and over the course of the night she immersed herself in the storm, and expanded it over the surrounding countryside, gradually dispersing its power over an increasingly wide area until it failed and dissipated.”

Twilight’s eyes were wide as she gazed at her and Luna huffed to herself.

“My sister is a fool. What she did, did work, but upon doing so she prevented me from helping. She made the spell her own - one advantage that conventional matrices have over wild casting is that multiple casters can assist with or leave a spell even after it has begun, while wild magic requires only the casters who started the spell to stay until the spell finished, or they died.”

That was definitely awe in Twilight’s eyes, and perhaps a little fear. Edge was unreadable. Luna sighed, and continued. “That singular explosion took on the full power of one of the most powerful beings in the world and would have succeeded if she didn’t invent them in the first place. We would like to know who exactly has the knowledge, and power to create one of these bombs, and who would dare to attack us at the very heart of our nation.”

There was silence, before Edge coughed. “We have some ideas. Our allies in Yakistan and Prance are also looking into this, and they appear to be innocent. Most of the evidence points to Gryphonoia so far, and our specialists don’t think it is a set up, but they could be wrong. It came from Gryphonoia via a very circuitous route - being repackaged along the way, the paper trail is almost indecipherable, and they managed to avoid all scans beforehoof. And the container is decidedly gryphon in origin.”

Twilight leant in. “Um, would I be right in saying that this means they have ponies who redirected the package within our borders?”

Edge nodded at her. “You would, your Highness. I have already dispatched a squad to the most recent point of origin, this one, unfortunately, being Ponyville.”

Twilight’s eyes widened and she stuttered for a second before quieting, seemingly lost in thought.

Luna restrained herself from slamming a hoof into the table and shocking her companions. She was furious. She was beyond furious. Traitors? In Equestria? Her sister gave them a life of plenty, and how did they repay her? Regicide?! Gritting her teeth she grated out.“We should confront the Gryphons - if they had no part to play in this then they can help. If they did -”

“- We should be careful.”

All eyes turned to Celestia as she walked through the door. Out of the corner of her eye, Luna saw Twilight visibly whiten and Edge suppress a flinch. She didn’t blame them, Celestia looked awful.

A few hours unconscious apparently hadn’t changed all that much. Her mane was down, long, pink and bedraggled - still slightly damp - draping down her neck and barrel, reaching almost to her knees. Luna herself had cleaned that and her fur after she fell unconscious, prior to leaving her in her bed as before both had been sticky and matted with sweat. That, was far from the worst part though, as Celestia who had always been always tall, lithe and athletic despite her diet, now bordered on the verge of dangerously skinny. Her cheekbones stood out in sharp relief on her face, and muscles stood hard on her barrel and legs. If Luna looked closely, which she didn’t care to, the faint ridges of her spine and ribcage were visible just before her hind legs. Her eyes completed the picture, the tiredness in them outclassing Twilight’s by an order of magnitude, dreadfully shadowed.

Walking slowly up to the table, she nearly fell onto the seat closest to the door, before seeming to remember herself and straightening with some of her usual grace. Luna silently slipped her the unfinished mug of coffee and Celestia took it with a hoof and downed it. Putting it back on the table she sighed, and quietly repeated herself, a hint of a croak in her voice.

“We should be careful. We don’t know for sure that it was the Gryphons, and I am loath to accuse an innocent party.”

Luna huffed and Celestia fixed her with a tired gaze. As Luna opened her mouth to speak Twilight beat her to it with an exclamation and wild eyes.

“Princess! You - are you alright? No, of course not that’s a silly question after that - will you be alright?! I’ve never seen you like this before!”

The corners of Celestia’s mouth curled up. “Then I am delighted to surprise you once again Twilight, though perhaps it isn’t quite as good a surprise as you would have hoped. I will answer your question later though, once this is concluded.” She turned to Edge. “Captain.”

“Your highness.” Edge nodded to Celestia. My father sends his congratulations, well wishes and a… cake and hopes you will be able to resume fencing with him soon.”

Both Luna and Celestia snorted, though Luna privately suspected it was for different reasons.

As Celestia’s stringy mane slipped slowly in front of her eyes she replied.“I thank him for the cake and wishes, but unfortunately I don’t think I will be fencing any time soon. My bed is to be my home, if my sister has anything say about it, for the foreseeable future.”

Luna eyed her now empty coffee mug, and reached up into her personal kitchen, teleporting an entire press onto the table by the tea set. “Which is where you should currently be, sister mine.”

Celestia made a half-hearted attempt to glare which was ruined by the way her eyes drifted off at the last second to stare blankly at the wall.  Luna, sighing, poured her a cup and passed it, not missing how her sister used her hooves to pick it up again.

A squeaking of trolley wheels in the passage outside and a knock on the door heralded the arrival of the bomb. As Captain Edge shouted for them to enter, Luna glanced at Twilight. The poor mare was still staring at Celestia, too stricken to be as excited as she was before. Nudging her telekinetically, Luna indicated the trolley. Twilight blinked and turned to the bomb as it was lifted onto the table, though her eyes kept flickering back to Celestia.

It was not unlike a vase. It was tall, with a widened, sturdy base, and made of an undecorated, solid wood, metal strips around it and going down the sides. Luna agreed with Edge's assessment of it being of Gryphon origin, though it was decidedly archaic. A large cork was deposited on the table text to it. Twilight examined it for a second, and her horn lit up, tendrils of violet magic caressing the exterior. She hummed in thought. “Okay… right, give me a minute or two and I should get the impression. Just...”

As Luna watched her fellow princess, the probing magic gradually became a full aura, and Twilight’s eyes lit up. She sat there, immobile and seemingly lost to the world. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Celestia almost manage a full smile at the sight of her student immersed in her talent. Breaking out into a coughing fit, she recovered and turned then to Edge, the last of her smile disappearing as she sat up a little more. Speaking quietly, throat hoarse, she asked. “Who were the guards on duty?”

Edge winced. “All of them are due to have military funerals. Gem Barrier was the one who scanned the package. Some of her plate is still intact, but her partner, Heavy Duty…”

Luna tuned them out. It wasn’t that she didn’t care when in fact she did, greatly. In the olden days, Luna was the mare who went out drinking with the troops the night after a successful mission or battle, and Celestia was the one who stayed, planning. Luna was the one who wept openly, while her sister preferred to keep her outbursts of emotion quiet and private. What concerned her more than the deceased guards though, was Twilight. The alicorn had started the scan with a relatively neutral, if worried expression. However, her brow had gradually furrowed, and now her face looked to be fixed in an expression of disgust as she probed the bomb.

“It’s wrong!”

Celestia and Edge looked up, and Luna observed Twilight carefully.

“It’s just… wrong!” Twilight shook her head like she was trying to dispel an annoying fly. “The magic. Unicorn magic has a particular frequency, as does Zebrican, Deer or Changeling, but this is just wrong! Celestia, your magic almost smothers it, but what remains is disgusting. Natural magic, however it is structured, leaks energy and gradually fades over time if not connected to a source or leys, but this is a leech! It’s a spellform that started with little to no energy initially cast, but instead ripped it off… something?! Somepony?! I could feel it trying to grab onto mine even though I was shielded but…” She shivered.

Celestia and Luna shared a look. In the previous millennium, vampiric magic such as this had existed among some covens, but Luna knew Celestia hated it, and upon the fall of the Nightmare and the dissolution of witchcraft into legend, Luna assumed she had let it fade over time.

This too?

The sisters both opened their mouths to speak but after a pause, Celestia nodded to her. Luna gave a tight grin and spoke. “Another form of magic from the past, which we once thought lost?”

“Indeed” Celesta coughed again, breathing getting worse the longer she sat. “The bomb is a coincidence, but more archaic magic? I believe somepony -”

“- Or thing -”

“ - is trying to send us a message. We need to-” Celestia broke off into yet another coughing fit, and Luna teleported in a napkin and passed it to her. As she held it to her face, Luna continued.

“I agree. What we need to do is find the previous owners of the bomb, and discover why they passed it on, and what exactly this magic may have done to any ponies who may also have come in contact with it.” As Celestia nodded, still coughing, Edge spoke.

“I recommend we send a division to the point where it entered our border when we find it. If all goes well which I don’t believe should be too hard, considering our excellent relationships with most of our neighbours, we might be able to get a diplomatic pass to continue following the trail, into whatever territory that may be.”

Luna raised her eyebrows at him. “And what if it came from the gryphons?”

He paused. “Then we boost the guard presence in all the border cities, give training on recognising bombs -” here he looked pointedly past the princesses -” or other archaic weaponry that has been hidden, and hunker down and hope for the best.”

Luna nodded. “Tis not a bad idea. You will need to consult with your peers, but we see few flaws with your plan. Gryphons respect strength, but they watch diplomats like a - ah - hawk. We would not be able to follow the trail inside their territory.” She turned her eyes to Celestia, who was shaking, hard coughs racking her thinner frame. “Thank you for your council Captain. We will be taking our sister to rest now. Call a meeting with Command, and I will join you there.”

“Princesses.” Edge stood up and bowed. With a flash of light, he disappeared.

Twilight had been watching Celestia with growing worry as she continued to cough, eyes widening as she spotted blood on the napkin. Luna nudged her as she stood.

“I will be joining Edge shortly, after I make some arrangements, so we would consider it a great favour to us if you would take Celestia to her room, and perhaps get her to eat something.” She eyed Celestia, concerned but trying her best to hide it. “Liquids. Cake would be too heavy for her to handle as of this moment.”

Twilight looked at her blankly for a second before she processed what had been asked of her, and nodded frantically. “Yes! Of course, I -”

Luna breathed out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. Knowing her sister when left unattended, Luna would later find her in her office, after she somehow managed to drag herself there. “Thank you, Twilight Sparkle.” Gathering the smaller mare in a hug, she gave a last instruction and an encouraging smile. “Call Distinguished, he will know what to do.”

“Of course, I will, I mean- yep, I’ll get her there! She’ll be fine!” Twilight lit her horn, and with a nervous grin she disappeared, taking Celestia with her in twin violet flashes of light.

Trotting over to the balcony, Luna stared out into the garden for a second. She believed that Twilight would get her sister safely into her room, and she most likely wouldn't receive better care and attention, even from Luna, than her faithful student could provide. It would also be a good opportunity for them both to bond, Twilight never having seen her teacher like this. She wished she could see them both but…She had work to do, and a distressed nation to take care of.

Shaking off any and all malignant thoughts, Luna spread her wings and leapt over the balcony taking the long route around to clear her head. Faust knows she would need it, if she wanted to catch the poor unfortunate responsible - which is what they would be, once Luna found them.

Baring her teeth in a vicious grin, Luna soared down towards the administrative buildings.

Watch out, whomever you are. There will be no escape from me.
> Chapter 3: Plans and Plotting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Celestia lay on the bed, still, and Twilight stared at her.

Celestia.

Her teacher, her mentor, the mare who had become her second mother.

Celestia.

The mare who had not given her everything, but instead shown her the path from which she could work to be the best pony she could be.

Celestia.

The mare who had seen her potential as a filly and helped her realize it. The mare to whom Twilight owed everything.

The mare who was lying. Still. On a bed in front of her.

Twilight’s tail twitched and brushed her hind legs. Jumping into the air and letting out a startled cry her wings spread in a flight or fight response before she remembered where she was and what she was doing. Calming herself and flicking her tail a few more times to reassure herself that it was still hers, as was this hoof, that hoof that one and this one. The wings, surprisingly, felt the most attached.

Celestia groaned, eyes still closed, then shuddered, her shockingly thin frame looking almost as if it would shake apart. Twilight’s brain split off into three directions. One panicking, one reassuring and one working as she processed the situation the only way she knew how. Scientifically.

Dangerously low fat percentage. Malnutrition? Yes. Stomach cramps? Maybe. Is the princess of the sun cold? Susceptibility to cold results in abnormally low body temperature - possible hypothermia? 
Symptoms: Shivering, occasionally. Slurred speech, no. Slow breathing, no. Clumsiness, yes. Fatigue, yes. Confusion, not noticed. Loss of consciousness, yes. Conclusion: Unlikely. 
Magical exhaustion?
Symptoms: Headache, not noticed. Inability to utilize simple magic, yes. Sleeping for long periods of time, possible. Loss of consciousness, yes. Weight loss, yes. Conclusion: Very likely.
Diagnosis: Extreme magical exhaustion and malnutrition from burnt body reserves. 
Solutions: Keep warm, and resting. Provide nutrition via IV or provide a high concentration of ambient magic and feed when awake.  

All of 0.21 seconds had gone by before Twilight leapt into action. Her horn lit and without pausing to consider what she was doing she lifted Celestia just up from the giant cushion that passed for a bed, spun the sheets out from under her and rearranged them to be as comfortable and provide as much heat as possible. Heat and rest, check. 

Next, Twilight, still unmoving, checked the weatherwards on the windows and balcony. Mentally diving into the palace wards, and finding the relevant matrix she quickly created a very specific hole in the Palace wards around Celestia’s room. As she flung open all the entrances into the open air - allowing the magically charged Canterlot atmosphere to seep in - the tang of magic saturated the room, overpowering the previous softer scents of the flowers which Celestia kept by her bed and the warm ones of Celestia herself. High concentration of ambient magic, check. 

Still within the wards, she shifted her magical presence over to the infrastructure as a whole and activated the signal to the kitchens and Distinguished. Food, check.

Checklist executed and the slight satisfaction of doing so still bubbling, Twilight stood and waited, mind finally processing what she had just done. She would never have been able to lift Celestia normally - Starswirl’s first principle of physical magical interaction decreed that a magical object or being emits a concentrated field of ambient magic, with its size depending on the respective power, size, and shape of the object. Along with this, his third principle decreed that an object or being with a field of sufficient strength cannot be influenced magically by another object or being that possesses less than half the power of the object or being. But if the being in question had exhausted their magical reserves, the field would weaken sufficiently to allow manipulation… Oh Celestia.

A knock on the door jolted her out of her thoughts, and she moved, at last, opening it for Distinguished.

“You called, your Highness?”

“Yes - ah” Twilight mentally ran through the symptoms again. “Could we have some oats and water and a bottle of syrup separately please?”

Distinguished took the odd request with a reassuring smile. Glancing past her towards the unconscious Celestia, he asked. “Magical exhaustion, your Highness?”

Twilight shrugged. “The symptoms line up, and I remember how Shiny was after the changeling attack - nothing like this though.”

“Indeed.” Distinguished nodded. “Oh, your Highness, a couple of other things. First, may I recommend porridge with chopped hazelnuts? It has the correct balance of vitamins and fats, and it is warming. The Princess has had me provide it for students who suffered from mild magical exhaustion while in a test with her. I can bring it up when you next use the bell.”

Twilight nodded. She remembered Moondancer had received it, as well as a few others whose names she wouldn't have bothered to remember then.

“Secondly, Mr Edge has sent a banana shortcake, which may also help her Highness. I can have that sent up with the oats if you wish?”

Twilight recalled Luna’s recommendation of liquids but knew from experience that sugar was a good source of quickly burning fuel for magic. “Yes please, thank you so much Distinguished! Celestia will probably really appreciate that when she wakes up.”

He huffed a short laugh. “Yes, I know her Highness’s predilections towards baked goods. I will return shortly. Princess.” He gave her a smile and closed the door.

Distinguished had been a fixture of Twilight’s life for years, as when she was personal student to Celestia, he had almost never left the princess's side. Him and Raven made the perfect team and ensured the princess of the sun was fed, slept, knew where she was supposed to be, and didn’t work herself into a stupor.

Come to think of it, Twilight couldn’t recall many occasions at all which didn’t have at least one of them standing silently in the background, ready to help. She had to admit, she did prefer Distinguished, as he was always willing to slip an excitable little filly a treat or two if she asked really nicely or cheered Celestia up if she was having one of her down periods. Celestia almost definitely knew, but as Twilight knew her now she had probably thought it was sweet.

Twilight returned her attention to her mentor, still lying on the bed but now more comfortable in the blankets and no longer shaking. As Twilight watched, her hair shifted slightly, still long and damp, but a ripple moved down it, being barely noticeable but still there.

Celestia.

It still hadn’t sunk in yet. Even after the mess with the changelings. Even after Tirek. She was Celestia. 

With some difficulty, Twilight wrenched her thoughts away from that internal conflict. The food would come soon, and sometime after that, she would awake. She appeared to be getting better already but Twilight would call a professional without hesitation if she seemed to deteriorate at all. She knew that Celestia wouldn’t welcome uninvited intrusion into her private sanctuary, barring the most dire of circumstances.

So, as somepony needed to keep watch over her, and Twilight wanted to be that pony, she resolved to stay. But what to do… Her eyes fell on a bookshelf - with some very old books - and Twilight involuntarily let out a little “squee” of excitement. Yes, this is exactly where she wanted to be. Levitating the first one in what looked to be a collection over to her and trotting over to the end of Celestia’s massive bed she poked it gingerly with a hoof. It was either here or the oversized chair and desk so… Twilight screwed up her courage and sat on the very comfy bed.

Settling into a more comfortable position, she opened the book to the first page, and glancing at Celestia, began to read.





Luna sat in the middle of the hedge mage, rubbing her temples. The council had broken for recess, a half hour for Luna to lower the sun - something that had not helped her headache - and to eat something.

She hadn’t slept since the evening previous, and despite having an alicorn physiology she was starting to feel drained after hours of caring for and stabilizing her sister and then the subsequent non-stop meetings wearing her down. There was a reason, after all, that Celestia took the day and she took the night.

She shook her head. Pathetic. In the early days of her reign she had once stayed awake for nigh upon a week, single hoofedly leading a small merchant fleet of her ponies through a gargantuan storm after they had been foolish enough to search for the lost city of marealantis.

But as the stabbing pain behind her eye flared, she winced. Of course, any physical task was far easier than bureaucracy and paperwork any day of the week. She loved her ponies just as much as Celestia did - but by her own mane, she was on the verge of declaring a state of war to give her immediate and unopposed administrative power! While Canterlot Command did usually take the best path, they took an age to get there - and Luna had lived through enough of those already.

The belltower chimed, and Luna sighed, weaving a teleportation matrix and throwing herself back through space to appear outside of the council chamber. None of the waiting command jumped, much to her disappointment. Checking her face was in place, she nodded cooly to them and trotted through the double doors into the meeting room with its round table, letting the officers file in after her. Both the Equestrian army and Guard division had representatives in the meeting - the army having Army General Hard Hoof - a solid, dark green unicorn - who sat on her right along with her subordinates: Lieutenant General Long Shot - a reddish unicorn with a distinctly non-regulation mane, who was in charge of eastern foreign military action and had only just arrived - and Chief Warrant Officer Cloud Cover, who was a pale pink pegasus with very blue eyes. Luna knew her as one of the officers who had personally helped her own reintegration into the military. The guard - on Luna’s left - had a tall, graying earth pony titled Guard General Barricade, and his subordinates: Colonel High Flier - a deep blue pegasus - who took care of Canterlot county, including Ponyville and Whitetail woods, and Captain Kinetic Edge, who commanded the palace and house guard, sitting next to his counterpart, Captain Shining Sky - a bright blue female unicorn - who was in charge of the general Canterlot city guard. Colonel Flier and Captains Edge and Sky all wore solar plate, while Lieutenant General Shot wore steel, army issue plate - Luna was told that this was out of preference, not necessity. Chief Warrant Cover, and Generals Hoof and Barricade were all in uniform - deep blue - with their respective ranks sown into the shoulders. None of the night guard were here, but they were likely busy. She would speak to the Night Guard General Swift Eclipse after the meeting finished.

As Luna sat on the cushion at the far side of the table, she ran over the previous half of the meeting in her mind. Captains Edge and Sky had been placed under investigation - while still on duty - for the lapse in security that had allowed the bomb to get into the palace proper (what about city guard). Edge’s plan had, however, been followed, and they had dragonfire jars ready to message wherever the package had come from before Ponyville, once the guard’s investigative squad found the source. Twilight Sparkle’s findings with the bomb had also been confirmed by a team of the military’s magical talents. For now, all they could do was wait, and bolster their defenses.





Twilight felt a faint tapping on the side of her barrel. It was irritating. Spike knew how she was in the mornings, and approachable wasn’t it.

It came again, more insistent this time, and she mumbled a bleary “gerraway”. Suddenly the poking sensation became a tickling one as the monster who was waking her switched tactics and Twilight yelped, falling off the bed.

Wait - my bed is against the wall.

As she sat up and opened bleary eyes to glare at her aggressor, Princess Celestia’s sideways face swam into view.

If thought processes were audible, Twilight could’ve sworn her brain just went ‘crunch’.

As she sat there, mind catching up with reality, the Princess spoke. “Good evening Twilight.”

“Good evening Princess. Uh.”

“Well, now that’s a title I haven't heard in a couple of years.”

“Princess?”

“Uh.”

This really wasn’t helping with the whole business of waking up. Twilight shook her head and looked again. Nope, the Princess was still there. Not a dream then.

Celestia, still lying on her side, nodded seemingly to herself. “Do you think you could summon Distinguished with some tea?”

Twilight, still on autopilot, telekinetically pressed the button and continued to stare. As they sat there, Twilight blank and Celestia faintly amused, the events of… before whenever she went to sleep came filtering back. The storm, the restless train ride, Canterlot damaged and Celestia hurt. Her eyes moved to the dip in Celestia’s bed where she had been lying, and the - ohno the book where her head had been.

Sleeping on the Princess's bed, and her priceless books at the same time. If there ever were an offense to get her banished to the moon, this was it.

A knock came from the door and Celestia quietly called for them to come in. Distinguished, to Twilight’s relief, entered. He had a tray suspended in his aura which, from the aroma, carried two large bowls of porridge and a teapot of spiced tea.

“Ah, perfect. Thank you, Distinguished.”

The butler placed the tray on the bedside table and bowed, backed out of the room. As Twilight’s gaze moved back to the food, she noted that A: The two bowls were different sizes, and B: She hadn’t eaten since… uh. That sandwich before she went to bed on the night of the storm? Her stomach rumbled agreement and, Celestia, who had pushed herself upright and was already reaching for the tea chuckled softly.

“You don’t need to restrain yourself on my behalf Twilight.”

Twilight laughed nervously and levitated the smaller bowl and spoon over to herself. They sat in silence and ate, both mares too hungry to talk. Celestia finished first. Bowl not quite empty but considering it was more than twice the size of Twilight’s, it was still an impressive feat. Putting it down and picking up the tea again, she spoke.

“So Twilight, I would hazard a guess that Luna put you up to this?”

“Um. Well, she did ask me to get you to eat something.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Oh, she did? Well. Once again, I am grateful for you going above and beyond what was asked of you. Although…”

Twilight’s heart felt like it stopped. Or filled with porridge. One of the two. “Although?!”

“Did my first edition copy of Pillony’s treatises on magical flying creatures really need to be drooled on?” Celestia held up the book Twilight had been sleeping on with a teasing smile.

Oh good, straight to the moon. 

A large wing gently batted her face and Twilight nearly fell over as she was abruptly brought straight back into the cruel grip of reality. Celestia had leaned closer to her with a concerned look, wing outstretched. “That was a joke. Twilight?”

Twilight shook her still foggy head to clear it. “Sorry, I just- I don’t know what’s happening right now.”

Celestia folded one hoof over the other and settled into a more comfortable position.“Let's see. You came here because somepony attacked Canterlot, and I spread the bomb’s effects over the countryside. You are in my room, right now, because you decided that you needed to take care of me, which I very much appreciate. You fell asleep because you had exhausted yourself defending Ponyville. We are currently both eating porridge because we are both very hungry. Did I get everything?”

“Yes- I.” Twilight’s eyes flicked to Celestia’s mane as it shimmered faintly, before returning to its inert state. “I think so?”

“Hmm. Coffee.”

“Coffee?”

“Coffee.” Celestia shifted over on the bed and patted the space next to her with her wing. “There is a press in my personal kitchen, and I know your predilection towards that particular beverage.”

A flash of violet light and the press, along with a couple of cups appeared on the bedside table. As Twilight sat down beside mentor on the bed and prepared the coffee, Celestia nursed the teacup held between her two forehooves, gaze drifting away before it flicked back down to her fellow princess, her gaze a touch more serious.

“I’m sorry about the jokes Twilight. Luna tells me I have a tendency to be facetious in the worst of circumstances.”

Twilight, her brain sharpened by the fumes emanating from the press, smiled. “Oh, you don’t have anything on Applejack or Rarity. I swear, if we didn’t have the elements, they’d just snark everything into submission.”

Celestia let out a soft laugh. “Indeed.”

As Twilight automatically poured the coffee, her limbs gradually gave way until she was leaning against Celestia’s side, staring into nothing until the cup nudged her lips and she snapped back to herself, quietly taking a sip. She looked up when Celestia indicated something.

“Is that the cake from Sabre?”

Twilight’s mind threw her an image of Distinguished mentioning he would bring it up as she looked in the direction indicated, and replied on autopilot. “Yep. Either that or another bomb.”

Celestia looked down at her with a raised eyebrow and Twilight quailed. “I’m sorry I just thought because you were joking I could -” Celestia raised the eyebrow higher. “-I’m sorry!”

They stared at each other for a second before the corner of Celestia’s mouth twitched, and she broke down into dignified giggles before lifting a wing and wrapping it tightly around Twilight.

“Oh Twilight, if I’m allowed to joke about something, you are more than welcome to join in.”

As Twilight’s heart slowed, she shook her head and smiled at herself. “I don’t think Spike would know how to react if I started acting so flippantly all of a sudden.”

Celestia huffed. “I’m sure he’d be more than happy to contribute.”

The cake levitated over to them, enspelled in a purple aura, and Twilight made a show of considering Celestia’s words before nodding with a smile. “Yep. He’d give as good as he got. Cadence rubbed off on him all too well when we were all in Canterlot. Cake?”

Celestia gave her a look and Twilight rolled her eyes back, the barrier of formality broken all of a sudden as she floated a plate with a large slice over to Celestia’s forelegs.

Celestia looked at it for a second before shrugging and picking it up with her hooves. Twilight studiously pretended not to notice, focusing on cutting herself a slice while draining the last dregs of her coffee. Celestia seemed even more relaxed now that had woken up and was able to eat - something that Twilight hoped was a good thing.

They sat there and continued to eat cake in a companionable silence. Tomorrow, Twilight would get to research, because she knew there was something wrong with the bomb’s magic - how it seemed to pull at her own, and she knew she should know why. But for now Celestia was looking almost well again, and she was satisfied, for now.





Luna blinked as green fire flared before her and a scroll flashed into being. This was the second one of the night. The discussion at the table fell silent as she unrolled it and began to read.

“Report by Lieutenant Rock Hammer - Hollow Shades Guard.

After receiving the information from the Ponyville squad, we searched the post office records and found the sender - a young weatherpony named Cloud Berry who was with her fiancée, a similarly aged gryphon called Caledia. We acquired a warrant, detained her, and searched her home. We found nothing suspicious - barring that she had recently been traveling - visiting the eastern coastline of Equestria, and Gryphonoia, where she met her fiancée. Barring immediate family, neither of them have many contacts from Gryphonoia, and none from Ponyville, and neither of them seem to be able to recall a package being sent to a Far Seeker, or even knowing he existed in the first place.

They have both been released in line with protocol, and returned to their home. 

The guards that were going through the postal records found that a package of the same description but with a different magical tag came from Baltimere. Our investigation concluded here, and we await further orders.

Equestria Eternal.”

Luna laid both the documents on the table, skimming through the other as she did so, then looked up to the assembled military ponies, giving them a moment before asking: “Your thoughts?”

Guard General Barricade cleared his throat, speaking with a voice that seemed to resonate. “The description of the ponies responsible matches the report from Lieutenant Private Eye. No recall of the package, sender, or recipient. And both senders have recently traveled Equestria’s eastern regions.”

Luna nodded at the graying earth pony. “Indeed. The package’s signature also changed. We know little of the postal service, so…”

“As she’s a pegasus, the tags would have likely been swapped.” Chief Warrant Cover cut in “If we can find the other package that the ID belonged to then we will be able to find where it came from before Baltimere, but that will take at least a week. Longer if it changed IDs there too. I can speak to Prompt Delivery to begin investigative proceedings immediately.”

“Please do” Luna said. “In the meantime, we would send a preemptive company to Baltimare, as we can likely assume that it came from across the eastern sea - from Gryphonoia. All evidence seems to be pointing in that direction.” Privately Luna knew Celestia would disapprove of this act of open hostility towards their neighbors, but if they weren't complicit, they had no reason to worry. If they were though…

Army General Hoof spoke up, a visibly repressed smile hiding behind her eyes. Luna was not the only one angered by Celestia’s state. “May I recommend two squads of pegasi and a squad of unicorns? If we are to be fighting gryphons, then aerial supremacy and firepower would be necessary.”

Luna was preparing a reply before Captain Edge at the other end of the table broke in.

“Unicorns proficient in teleportation should be there, for while the pegasi would be able to retreat in unfavorable circumstances, the unicorns would have no earth pony squad to fall back on.” He paused. “As such, I recommend myself to lead the squad.”

The assembled personnel blinked at the input from the relatively lowly ranked Edge before General Barricade nodded. It made sense, as his magical talent was almost as powerful in its own way as the previous Canterlot captain’s, who had managed to shield the entire city for almost a week. Luna could also see Edge wanted to redeem himself after his perceived failure in allowing the package through his defenses.

“That should work,” General Barricade said, before raising an eyebrow at his counterpart, who was still seemingly lost in thought. “General Hoof?”

“We will have to reshuffle military personnel,” she said. “And it might ruffle a few feathers along the way, but it’s the most logical course of action, especially for such a small company.”

Luna hummed. “They are mostly there in an investigative capacity, and to hopefully speed up the process- ?” she raised an eyebrow at Chief Warrant Cover, who nodded. “- Excellent. Now, unless anything else needs to be discussed, I believe we have been in session for far too long a time already, and we should break to begin preparations, and rest before another meeting tomorrow.” She internally winced at the last statement, but outwardly kept her cool as the assembled command voiced their affirmation. “Very well. I bid you all a good -” she glanced at the clock “-morning, and will see you later today.” She lit her horn and began weaving the matrix to teleport away. As it took her, she saw Colonel High Flier heading towards the Captain with a thunderous look on his face and she smirked before blinking and seeing only her bedchamber. And her bed. 

She sighed. It had been a long day. But she needed to write Swift Eclipse a memo, then she needed to check on Celestia. Her sister should be well rested enough to sign a few documents, especially after Luna had entrusted her care to Twilight Sparkle. But if she was not, Raven and Luna’s own secretary, Starshine, could easily head the Canterlot administrative processes between them while Luna slept, and would collate all non-urgent requests made of the crown until a time in which one of the sisters was in a state to receive them.

But before then, Luna simply needed to see her sister, who was probably eating cake right now despite express instructions on the contrary, and then she needed to sleep. As she turned to the door, a small, unintentional grumble escaped her. “Back in my day…”

Oh she really needed to sleep.
> Chapter 4: Mysteries and Monsters
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight sighed as she flipped through the reference guide. She would happily extol the virtues of research to anypony who cared to listen, but sometimes it did get a little tiresome. When she found the book she needed she read the code and activated the library’s recall spell, causing a shuffle in the stacks before she saw the book float up and over the shelves towards her. An invention by one Light Reader, that spell was an invaluable time saver, even if it did leave her cramping up from the lack of movement.

She reached up towards the thick tome with her magic and brought it down onto the table, shunting a sleeping Spike to the side. He had recently arrived, and was quite enjoying his break from being Twilight’s royal book fetcher, thanks to the spell.

The leeching magic on the… vase was still unknown to her, and her hours of searching through Canterlot’s library thus far had been fruitless. Odd, considering it was one of the greatest reprosities of knowledge inside Equestria. As she flipped through the book Twilight’s eyes fixed on a likely spellform, and stopping she read more on it, becoming more and more convinced as the seconds passed that it was what she had been looking for. Yes. This was perfect - but who is responsible?

She read further, noting down a scholar and activating a different variant of the search spell to find her earlier work. As the relevant books floated over she leafed through them until -

“Sequine?”





The carriages rolled to a halt and Captain Edge stepped off the train, glancing behind him as the platform quickly began to fill up with guards and other military personnel. They had arrived in Baltemere in line with the schedule, though an hour behind what Edge would have preferred.

Trotting over to Lieutenants Steel Hooves and Silver Shot he raised his voice and spoke. “We’re going to be moving out to the four designated barracks in ten minutes. I’m taking an escort from Owl’s platoon and heading to Baltimere command. By the books, but remain cautious. We don't want to take any chances.”

“Yes sir!” The grey unicorn and white pegasus replied in unison and turned to their respective platoons, barking out orders.

Edge moved through the crowd towards Red Owl and the new Lieutenant, Blade Petals. If he was honest, the name Lieutenant Petals wasn't very intimidating and neither was the pony, but both had hidden qualities which he hoped wouldn’t become necessary in this visit. When he reached them they were flicking through a clipboard, likely with a rota on, completely oblivious to his presence. He cleared his throat and they both jumped.

“Moving out to the designated barracks in ten minutes. Lieutenant Petals, get to your squad, I need to talk to Lieutenant Owl.”
“Yes sir!” Hip-bumping Red Owl, Petals trotted back over to her platoon, the clipboard floating along behind her in her magenta magic. Edge raised an eyebrow at his long time subordinate who glanced at Petals’ behind then back to him, a small smile playing around his lips. Oh this was new. Edge decided to drop the job for a moment and tease his friend.

“Everything… good with you and Petals, Red?”

The red pegasus visibly fought back a full blown smile and shrugged nonchalantly. “Eh. Could be worse sir.”

“Hmph. Don’t let worse get in the way of the job then.” Edge winked, but put his captain face back on. “I’m going to need a squad to escort me to Baltimere command. We don’t know if whoever sent the package has infiltrated the city itself, so we’re taking no chances.”

“Understood, Captain. The escort will be ready in two minutes.”

“Make that one Lieutenant.”

“Yes sir!” Red Owl moved off to his platoon and began to call out names. Edge moved over to the entrance, next to the two guards stationed there - they were from Shot’s platoon.

Owl was a good Lieutenant. All of them were. Good enough that they didn’t need their captain scowling at their sides at the very least. Owl would have to be careful with Petals though. Relationships between peers under the same command was frowned upon, and one between a superior and a subordinate was illegal. If he ever wanted to be standing where Edge was standing he would have to reject Petal’s advances.

Edge caught sight of the approaching escort and refocused his wandering thoughts. For now, though, he had a near assassin to catch, and a mystery to solve. Starting with the top.





He nodded to his escort and they took positions around the lobby. They were all pegasi which was probably a smart idea. Owl had chosen for speed rather than power, the latter of which was unnecessary with Edge’s own rather offensive defenses.

“Captain! Good to see you!”

The loud voice of Colonel Wrath Hammer greeted Edge as he walked through the door into the main floor of command. Hammer was a golden earth pony even taller than he was and gave the same impression that a brick wall would due to her being probably twice his weight in muscle. Edge was very glad she was on his side.

“Good to see you too Colonel.” He saluted. “We’re just settling into the guest barracks for what will hopefully be a short stay - once the investigative team has established that there is no large threat to be worried about.”

Hammer snorted. “Whatever the reason you chose to bring so many ponies I’m glad you did. Those feathered buggers on the other side of the border have been abnormally quiet these past few weeks and considering I trust them about as far as I can throw them, they’re lucky I haven't begun siege preparations yet.”

Edge glanced down at her hooves then back up to her face. “I would’ve thought you could throw them quite far, Colonel.”

She fixed him with a flat stare, holding it until he looked away before she chuckled. “That’s one of the reasons we’re still technically at peace. There has to be a little bit of trust on both sides. But not too much.” She paused. “Where’s the investigative team starting? I can send ponies to help if necessary.”

“That won't be needed ma’am.” Edge took a deep breath and stared her in the eye. “They’re beginning the investigation here at command.”

“Wh-” Hammer started as ponies began to file in behind Edge. Glaring at them, and then him, she lowered her large head down to his level to whisper angrily in his ear. “Celestia dammit Edge, I would’ve appreciated some warning.”

“Sorry, ma’am. We’re not discounting the possibility that we could have a traitor in our midst, and any warning would have given them time to destroy important documents. Each member of your staff will be needed for about ten to fifteen minutes of their time to answer a few questions, including yourself, Colonel.”

Edge heard her forcefully check her breathing before she replied with a gaze as hard as the hammer she was named for. “Understood Captain. When will I be needed?”

“You’re first Colonel. If you would just follow me to this office -” he nodded to where a member of the investigative team was standing outside a door. “- we can begin once a colleague joins us.”

She nodded and as they made their way through the suddenly filled office - Edge noticed that Hammer made for a fantastic crowd clearer - he spoke up.

“I’m really am sorry about the surprise Colonel, but we have our orders.”

“Hmph.” She glanced down at him and the corner of her mouth lifted from her frown. “It's not you I’m angry at, its the foal of a nag who tried to blow up Canterlot and start this whole parade off. Don’t worry for yourself.”
They sat in the office on opposite sides of the table and waited in slightly awkward silence for the member of the investigative team to show up. Having known Hammer for quite a few years now, Edge had every faith in her and he truly believed that this part was merely a formality. All he needed to do now was confirm it.

The other interviewer walked into the room and sat down behind Edge at the desk.

“Good morning Colonel Hammer, I am Quizzical Intention. Call me Quizzical. Now, do you have anything you would like to say before we begin?”





Three hours later Edge wanted to slump against the wall outside the office but instead remained at parade rest. He had to set an example.

None of the interviews he was in had been particularly fruitful. All protested their innocence and had alibis. The problem was that the investigative squad that had been sent to the post office headquarters had managed to track the package, and found it had originated in Baltamere itself. So either somebeing had managed to infiltrate the city, or they had a traitor in their midst. One with sufficient resources and knowhow to create something which hadn’t been seen for hundreds of years.

It was odd, and likely a side effect of still being rattled by the explosion in Canterlot, but Edge felt almost as if the entire city were working against him, not just a small cell of terrorists. But it was almost certainly just a feeling.

Beside him, the door opened and Quizzical Intention trotted out to stand next to him. He held the stack of paperwork he had been finishing in his aura and looked about as quizzical as his name.

“Everything alright Quizzical?”

“Yes Captain, I -” the unicorn sighed. “Something just isn’t adding up with all these statements. I have cross referenced each and every one, and they all support each other but there are… I just have a feeling that there’s something off with them.”

Edge glanced over the crowd of noisy ponies before them and lowered his voice. “I know what you mean. There’s something that doesn’t feel right in them, but you can’t but your hoof on it.” He paused. “I’m going to rejoin the PO investigative squad and see if anything else has come up.”

“Yes, yes you do that.” Quizzical’s eyes had already begun to unfocus as his thoughts internalized. “I’ll be here for quite a while yet.”

Nodding to him, and then to his escort, Edge set off for the post’s headquarters. He didn’t hold much hope that they would have found anything, but it didn’t hurt to give them some incentive.

---

Having told four of the six escorts to wait outside, Edge entered the post office lobby with two guardsponies following him.

There was nopony around.

Edge frowned. There should’ve been at least the investigate squad here, as they were ordered to remain. And considering that it was midweek, even the slightest bit of quiet in a public office was a miracle.

But silence?

Something was wrong.

With a flash of red Edge drew two of his mageblades - triangular, with a long sharp blade and no handle, just a rounded metal bottom - out of null space and silently gestured for his pegasi guards to flank him from the standard 10 meters. They all moved as quietly as ponies in full armour could, the pegasi holding their wings out for balance and softer footfall and Edge doing his best - muffling spells were not one of his specialties. As they passed into the main office area the two pegasi individually went and listened outside each door before shaking their heads and moving on. Edge remained central and ready to act.

Still nothing.

It was only as they passed into the filing area Edge heard a shuffle from behind the door and turned as something flung itself at him while one of the guards yelled for him to watch out. Noticing the flash of gold he spun his blade just in time and hit it with the blunt edge, knocking it out cold.

It was a guard. A blue pegasus who had been sent with the post office investigative squad.

Edge heard a whispered “what in Celestia’s name…” from the guard who had shouted before he turned and enveloped them in his magic. With a flash, they were all standing outside, alone. Where the rest of the escort… had formerly been. Along with a street full of ponies. Even the tall buildings on either side had gone quiet.

“...what?” he breathed.

Suddenly a pothole erupted upwards and something slithered out. Initially, Edge thought it was a pony - green, with a turquoise mane, but as it continued the mottled pelt transitioned into… scales?

It was the upper body of a pony with scales running up its spine and the lower body of a giant snake - and it was slithering right towards him.

The pegasi behind him took off and made towards it but as it opened its mouth to hiss - he noticed it had two fangs that folded down - Edge shot a blade towards its forehead and clubbed it unconscious as he had done with the pegasus inside.

Around them, other potholes began to explode and drains buckled, and the sounds of furious hissing filled the air. Grabbing the pegasi in his magic again Edge announced: “We’re leaving.” and teleported.





They appeared back in Baltemere command’s offices, the two pegasi dropping to the floor. One of them cursed. “What in Tartarus were those things Captain?”

“No idea.” Edge glanced around the room and began to slowly fold more blades out of his null space. A flash and another joined the two floating around him, then another, and another, and another. “Look sharp ponies, we need to leave.”

The offices were also empty.

To their credit, the guards took it in relatively quickly and moved back to either side of Edge. As they began towards the stairs and the long trip down to the lobby Edge cleared his throat. “I’m ashamed to say I don't know either of your names.”

The talkative pegasus on his right replied first. “Guard second class Blue Arrow sir.”

“Guard first class Mountain Flyer sir.”

“Alright Arrow and Flyer, here’s the plan. We find the Colonel, and any other high ranking staff who would be able to provide intel, then I T-jump us out and to Fillydelphia, as the train line has also probably been infiltrated.

“But sir, what if the Colonel is also -” Edge stopped to look at Arrow.

“We’re taking her back, willingly or not. Command needs answers, as do I.”

As they entered the lobby Edge noticed movement through the glass doors at the end. It was… oh Celestia.

A giant serpentine creature with an upper body the size of a fully grown Alicorn and the lower body of a massive constrictor serpent had her back to him. Instead of a mane, her hair was a writhing mass of snakes - through which he glimpsed some sort of crown, and as Edge’s foot hit the hard lobby floor every single one of them twisted to look at him.

She turned too, and grinned. 

She had no eyes herself - just empty pits - but so many teeth. 

She slithered to the side and gestured with a forelimb, and Edge saw Colonel Hammer - trator - kneeling on the floor in front of the creature. At a word from it she rose and fixed them with a blank stare.

Suddenly she was running.

No, a more apt term for it would be charging. Not slowing at all she smashed through the doors, sending glass and metal flying and Edge finally snapped out of his stupor as more than twice his weight in muscle and metal bore down on him.

The guards had already taken off to move out of the way, and he knew he couldn’t do anything drastic to her, despite her betrayal. The blades would just bounce off the armour and hitting her with a wall would -

Wait, that would work.

Edge concentrated and fixing a large section of the wall to his right in his magic he separated it from the rest and flung it at the charging earth pony, sidestepping as he did so. She ran right into it, sending brick dust and stone flying everywhere and her skidding into the other wall where she collapsed to the floor.

A moment passed and Mountain Flyer landed to check her, but as he approached a hoof shot out and collided with his muzzle sending him flying, his blood trailing through the air.

A glance outside and Edge saw the huge snake pony thing still coiled there. Grinning. Watching. Waiting.

A yell and Arrow shot past him. It was a decent tackle, and would’ve worked on anypony - but the now standing Hammer. She lifted her leg and almost nonchalantly shook him off, and as she made to stomp on him Edge hit her with a concussive blast from his horn. She went right back into the wall, actually making a small crater this time and Arrow slid away to the side.

And she got back up.

“Fine.” Grunting, Edge grabbed her in his magic and hurled her straight through the broken doors at the creature, who batted hundreds of pounds of warrior aside like nothing. Following her, Edge flung three blades at the creature, then teleported behind it and flung another three.

Stop.

He stopped. The blades stopped.

Everything stopped.

“Wh-”

Obey

Edge felt faint.

Why was he attacking again? Why would he want to hurt her at all? Was somebody trying to move against her? How dare they. 

She smiled her beautiful smile and he felt warmth blossom inside of him, but when she opened her mouth to speak the pop of a teleport sounded above her and as she looked up Edge felt some part of her hold over him break in her surprise.

“HUZZAH!”

With a sound like an explosion in a steel factory, a fully armoured Princess Luna fell on the snake thing’s head, slamming her into the ground. With a ripple of blue magic, Edge was thrown back, hitting the ground and skidding a few meters before knocking his head on the curb.

“CAPTAIN!”

Edge, winded and disorientated, coughed and painfully looked up towards where the princess was fighting the snake thing. A whirlwind of hammer and steel, Luna was utterly terrifying - but even as she caused him to wonder why she even needed guards he noticed that she was losing. A hit to the snake’s main body merely made it hiss - the armour was too thick - and even Luna didn’t seem to want to throw herself within range of those grasping arms. And fangs. Even as he watched it began to encircle her before she teleported behind it again.

“RETRIEVE YOUR COMPANIONS.”

Edged coughed again and dragged himself up. Flinging his magic outwards, searching, he found the magical signature of his mage blades and called them back to him. Then he searched again and teleported the unconscious bodies of Arrow and Flyer to him, then Colonel Hammer, for whom he ripped a nearby lamppost out of the ground and twisted it around her.

“Princess!” he called out to Luna and saw her ear flick. Hopefully, she heard him, because she needed to move.

Fixing a large section of the street in his magic he ripped it straight out of the ground and tossed it at the creature, ignoring the sharp pain that shot through his head. Grabbing another lampost in the same movement he batted a couple of the smaller snake creatures away that had come to save their queen.

Even as the giant chunk of asphalt flew towards them, Luna finally got a hit in on the creature’s more equine body mass, sending it hissing to the side as the princess used the impact to vault away, flipping backwards and up over the large flying section of the street moments before it hit them before shooting towards Edge and the ponies around him.

Even as she landed and her blue magic flowed over them Edge noticed the creature bursting through the asphalt with an explosion of rubble before flicking itself in their direction. Luna tracked his eyes and for a moment her horn glowed even brighter before the entire front half of Baltemere Command suddenly flew in from the side slamming itself into the building opposite, with the creature trapped between them.

And then they were gone.





Celestia was at her desk when they arrived.

The whump of displaced air and the clatter of a number of armoured ponies hitting the ground hit her ears and Luna’s shout of “CLEAR THE COURTYARD” quickly followed. Dropping the quill from her worn out magic Celestia trotted to the balcony to see what was going on. When she saw Luna in full plate and the ponies on the ground beside her, her heart skipped a beat and she took off from the balcony without a second thought.

Landing awkwardly in the courtyard she suppressed a wince as some visiting civilian ponies around her gasped at her appearance even as the guards ushered them out. Flapping her wings a couple of times to steady herself she moved quickly over to Luna and the guard captain who was the only one still standing. There were three ponies on the ground, two pegasi and one earth pony who was slightly larger than Luna, and was wearing a Colonel pin. That must be Colonel Hammer, but why did she have a… Baltamerian lamp post twisted around her?

Celestia assumed that the Baltamere expedition must have gone horribly wrong somehow, and Luna had flown off to rescue them and had deliberately ordered that nobody inform her. Even though she understood her motivation, she couldn’t help but feel hurt. But for now these ponies needed looking after and the more immediate threat needed to be addressed, whatever it was.

Hearing her approach Luna had turned to face her and opened her mouth, probably to explain.

“Sis-”

“Luna, we need to get these ponies to a hospital. I am not happy with what you did though I can understand, but we have more pressing problems right now.”

Luna nodded and Celestia looked at the single other standing pony. His eyes looked glazed, and he seemed to be struggling to hold himself in at attention.

“Captain Edge, you will also be going to a hospital. But first, why is Colonel Hammer restrained?”

Celestia noticed Luna look out of the corner of her eye. Apparently, she also didn’t know.

The captain swayed a little before answering. “She betrayed us, Princess. She was on the side of the snake-thing. Everypony was. All the guards. All of Baltemere was under probably her control. Nopony helped us. We don’t know what happened to the platoons we took, we don’t-”

Luna interrupted. “Captain, that's enough.”

Edge nodded.
Celestia couldn’t reply. She was still frozen in shock.

Snake thing.

A hiss sounded in her mind, followed by another, and another, piling up until it sounded like a nest of snakes - or a maneful of them.

“Celestia!”

“Wh-” she shook her head. “Yes?”

“You are still not well sister! Return to your chambers, we will talk of this once I have transported Hammer down to the cells and shed my armour.”

Celestia nodded, not normally so meek but already feeling exhausted. But first…“Luna.”

Her sister paused in turning.

“Is it her?”

“Yes. We should prepare, Celestia. The saccrena have rallied and Moamer has returned.”