Chapter 12:Who dares brave the forest?

Celestia was deep in thought. Within the muffled confines of her quarters she sat, accompanied by the captain of her guards, his wife, Brave Wine and the disgraced bodyguard Stalwart Defender, who had told her what he knew.

"So, you believe that she is within the confines of our old castle?"

"No your Majesty, I know she is. However I believed that… Well, I guessed that since you hadn't condemned Brave you… perhaps you hadn't lost all faith in me either."

Shining Armour frowned, confused.

"I don't understand. How is it you know this?"

Defender hesitated, his mind going through the memories of his discussion with Splintered Dreams.

"Just remember Stalwart Defender… I was never here, you do not know me and I never told you anything."

"I'm afraid I cannot tell you, for I'm not quite sure how I know myself."

Shining Armour was clearly sceptical, but a gentle nudge and a shake of her head from Cadance prevented him from speaking up. Celestia showed no signs of scepticism, nor any other real change in thought.

"If Luna is there, then You cannot waste any time then can you?"

Defender paused, along with everypony else in the room.

"I'm… sorry?"

"Well, you're going to go get her are you not?"

She looked at him archly, challengingly.

"You are planning on getting her aren't you Defender?"

He cringed under her glare.

"Of course I was You Majesty. I'm not about to let anything happen to her you know."

"This is you only second chance, you understand?"

He nodded.

"Yes milady, I understand."

Brave Wing nodded and stepped forward.

"We'll leave immediately."

Defender shook his head, looking to his fellow guard.

"No Wing. You have to stay here. If you go missing, any other insurgents within the confines of the castle will really start getting suspicious. Besides…"

He smiled.

"I don't think the ill Princess would be without guards. True? And since that is the cover story, I need you to be here to reinforce it."

Crestfallen, Brave Wing sighed and hung his head.

"I… I understand. I'll stay here."

"Excellent. In the mean time, I will go and enlist the help of Twilight Sparkle and her friends. They know the way to the ruined castle."

He grimaced.

"Besides. I might need her and her friends."

Celestia nodded.

"True. Stalwart Defender, promise me that you will not allow her to come to harm."

The disgraced guard nodded.

"I promise you milady. I told her she would never be harmed whilst under my protection, I meant it."

"Alright Everypony. I know it's late, or early depending on how you look at it, but this was far too important to wait until morning."

---

Twilight stood before her friends. Fluttershy sat, leaning on a big black coated stallion with deep red hair and a single visible purple eye. He had one wing draped over her shoulders to prevent her from being too cold in the cool night air. Rainbow Dash was practically lying all over A purple stallion with hair like flames. He was struggling just to keep her awake. Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie sat on their own, or rather, AJ and Rarity were. Pinkie was bouncing, seemingly wide awake. AJ yawned before she spoke.

"If ya say so Twi. Couldja just tell us what it is that's so important thatcha had to wake us up at two in the morning?"

Talisman sat beside Twilight, a cup of steaming hot coffee in his hooves. Twilight looked to him and he smiled tiredly, putting one hoof over one of hers for support.

"Girls, Demon, Ranger, Princess Luna has been kidnapped from Canterlot."

There was a collective gasp from the others in the room. Well, everypony except Talisman, who'd already been told.

"What! Luna? Taken?"

Almost instantaneously, Rainbow was in the air, agitated.

"Is that even possible? How the hay do you kidnap a princess of Equestria!"

Rarity sat, shellshocked, unable to speak. Fluttershy and Demonheart in much the same state. Applejack, however, was just as vocal as Rainbow after her outburst.

"Ah have to agree! How in the hay did she get kidnapped? She's got more magical power than anypony but Celestia so far as we know! Besides that, who'd be stupid enough to risk Celestia's wrath?"

Twilight held up a hoof for silence. I took the ponies a while to actually calm down enough to do so however.

"Girls, please."

Ranger feigned offence at this, although his façade didn't last for long. After this piece of news, he really didn't care for jokes. Twilight continued.

"We don't know who did it, we don't know how or why. But Celestia can't leave the capitol, it's too risky for her to do."

"Risky?"

Rarity sighed and looked to the confused Athelete.

"Honestly darling, do think a little. If Luna's been kidnapped then it's likely it's from somepony who doesn't want her on the throne. Following that thought it stands to reason that there are others that want Celestia gone."

Rainbow was about to respond hotly when a blast of light blinded the group and, in the dead centre of the room, appeared Stalwart Defender.

However, due to the strange occurrence of him appearing three feet above the ground and not expecting it, he fell face first onto the floor, cursing in pain as he hit the ground. He received a further surprise when he looked up.

Straight into the glowing red, aggressive eyes of Demonheart, hearing only a low growl from the big Pegasus stallion. His wings were flared in typical Pegasus fashion when it came to intimidation. Make yourself look big enough and maybe your aggressor won't want to attack you. It's not like he really had to though. Demonheart was big enough to make most ponies back down without any attempt at a fight either way.

After recovering from her shock and watching the scene for a moment, trying to comprehend what she was seeing, Twilight stepped forward.

"Defender? What are you doing here?"

Talisman found himself chuckling at the situation, much to the amazement of his fellows.

"It's alright Demon. He's okay. He's actually Luna's personal bodyguard. No reason to be so defensive, he won't hurt us and he definitely won't hurt Fluttershy."

Slowly, very slowly, Demonheart's eyes slowly began to change colour, which was quite the shock to Defender, who hadn't met the large stallion yet. He did not, however, back down. He felt a gentle tug at one of his wings and a gentle nuzzle to his shoulder and he relaxed a little, recognizing the loving touch of Fluttershy. Mind you, he only relaxed enough to give the white Pegasus stallion enough room to stand, which he did. It was then and only then that Stalwart Defender recognized just how big the Pegasus was.

By all things holy in this world! This stallion is huge!

Demonheart was quite a bit larger than the guard and, even with all of his training, Defender hoped he never got on the bad side of him.

Not to mention the way his eyes changed.

That had, quite honestly scared him. There was a lot that Defender had seen. He'd even faced Luna's tantrums without a twinge. But this…

What in the name of Celestia is this stallion?

---

Brave Wing sat rather despondently in Luna's quarters. It had been a long night. While all of the guards had been told of Luna's absence, and reason for, not all of them seemed to believe it. As such, he'd been chasing away various guards all night. Having been (temporarily) promoted to the head of the 'order', He had not only the right, but the authority to push pretty much anypony that he wanted to around. But he missed the company of Luna, and had grown accustomed to talking with her on his shifts. As such he was fairly bored.

He sighed as another knock came upon swift wings to his ears. He trudged over to the doorway and nudged it open, speaking before even acknowledging the presence.

"I'm sorry, Princess Luna is not well and will not be taking visitors right now."

His face flushed however when he looked up, revealing the seriously pretty nurse Heart Sworn.

"Oh, Heart Sworn! I… didn't know it was you."

The young nurse stared at him in surprise.

"Brave Wing? Wherever is Defender?"

Brave Wing hesitated, unsure as to what to tell her.

Oh man, what do I tell her? I know she likes him, but… I can't let her into the room either. Oh jeez, what a mess.

"He's… not here at the moment." He replied evasively.

"I can see that Wing. Could you tell me where exactly he is?"

Brave Wing automatically shook his head.

"I'm sorry. I'd like to tell you, but I cannot."

She looked a little crestfallen. Something that Brave Wing couldn't help but notice.

"Oh… It's rather important. It's… well it's about his wing."

Brave Wing frowned.

"His.. wing?"

She nodded.

"Afraid so. Oh dear, this could be disastrous. See, I've gone over the X-rays from his broken limbs and wings again…"

Her face flushed as he looked at her incredulously.

"What?"

"Why were you looking at his X-rays?"

She stammered nervously.

"I… um… c..concern, suspicion?"

His amused look only made her flush further.

"What does it matter! I was looking at them, okay?"

She took a moment to pull herself back in line before continuing.

"Anyway. The doctor in charge of Defender's treatment, one of our senior doctors, made a mistake and set his wing wrong. Whilst one of the breaks mended true, but the other one… well…"

She hesitated before continuing in a wavering voice.

"It's going to be very fragile unless we fix it properly. That means re-breaking and re-setting it."

It took a moment before the full implications of what Heart Sworn just said occurred to him.

"Oh… shit."

Heart Sworn seemed quite taken aback by Brave Wing's sudden curse, having never heard him curse before.

"I'm sorry?"

Brave Wing barely heard her. He was too busy checking both directions of the corridor that Heart Sworn was standing in before he grabbed her hoof and exited the room, letting the door swing shut behind him.

"Come on. Celestia must know."

Heart Sworn, naturally, resisted, pulling back gently. Naturally Brave Wing was stronger, but he stopped as he felt her tug and looked back at her.

"Celestia? Why would she care what happened to his wing?"

Brave Wing, once again torn, hesitated.

"I… Celestia will decide if it's important enough to tell you. I cannot. Now come on! This could be really important!"

He went to leave again, but the young nurse resolutely held her ground.

"I'm not going anyplace until you tell me exactly what is going on."

Rrgh! Dammit Heart Sworn…

He sighed, frustrated.

"Jeez Heart, listen. You're cute and you're quite the strong heart, as well as kind. But I cannot tell you under any circumstances. It's not my information to tell, I don't have the authority. Celestia is the only one who's allowed to tell anypony anything. It's… Listen. I can't tell you why I need to do this, but I can say this. Either you come with me and give Celestia the details and she can decide what to do, or I go alone and she only gets a little information."

Heart Sworn couldn't help but be surprised at the sudden maturity the young guard was showing as he paused for breath. Before she could talk however, He continued.

"Heart, this could be the difference between Stalwart Defender living or dying."

There was almost complete silence for a moment as Heart Sworn tried to comprehend what was just said.

"…. I… okay."

---

Needless to say, Celestia was quite surprised when Brave Wing flew into her quarters via her balcony, with a terrified Heart Sworn clinging to his neck, almost strangling him. He put the young nurse down gently once he was inside the room and landed himself, taking a moment to catch his breath from her grip of iron. Celestia looked at the pair.

"Brave Wing. Please explain what you're doing here and who this is."

Brave Wing, snapping to attention, breathed deep and began to explain.

"Your Highness, I beg your forgiveness for entering your chambers without permission and in the fashion of which I did, along with bringing another into your chambers the same way. Majesty, this is Heart Sworn, the nurse who assisted in treating Stalwart Defender during his recovery from his accident."

Celestia looked at the young nurse, who was quite pale, not only from reverence at the presence of the princess, but also from her sheer and utter terror from being flown around the castle. Heart Sworn, for her part, did manage to bow rather gracefully considering the circumstance.

"Y..Your Majesty. It's an honour t..to meet you."

Celestia smiled gently at her.

"It's nice to meet you too Heart Sworn. So it's you I have to thank for my sister's guard?"

Heart blushed.

"W..well I helped, that's all. I was only in training at the time."

Brave Wing, having been sitting impatiently waiting for the introductions to finish, jumped in before Celestia could speak again.

"Excellent. Now that we know each other, I'm sorry for being short ma'am, but Heart Sworn has something to tell you about Defender."

Celestia appraised the young guard for a moment in surprise. He'd never been this brash under her corps.

"Is that so?"

She turned back to Heart Sworn.

"What is it that you have to tell me?"

---

Celestia stared at the young nurse in shock.

"Are you sure?"

Heart Sworn nodded.

"Yes miss, I swear. There's… well, there was also a hairline fracture at the base of his wing. I um…"

She hesitated before speaking.

"If that goes then… I'm scared that he won't be able to fly anymore. I mean… ever."

"How bad?"

Heart Sworn blinked.

"I… I'm sorry?"

"The damage Heart Sworn. How bad will he be damaged?"

"Oh. I um… My best prognosis would have to be bone fragments in the cartilage, so shredded cartilage around the joint, potentially torn ligaments from bone fragments, if not torn then severely damaged."

She hesitated again.

"As I said before Majesty… He'd never be able to fly again. Not even our magic can repair cut ligaments and shredded cartilage. Not enough for that anyway."

Her nerves were starting to get the better of her now and her voice dropped down in volume dramatically.

"I… I'm sorry Majesty b..but.. Why is this so important..?"

The room was silent for a long while and Heart Sworn felt her nerves rapidly becoming worse. She was about to break down when Celestia spoke.

"Heart Sworn. You must understand that what I'm about to tell you cannot leave this room under any circumstances. By no means are you allowed to tell anypony at all about this, understood?"

Heart Sworn nodded slowly and felt herself subconsciously leaning forward.

"Stalwart Defender was found guilty of planning and instigating the kidnapping of Princess Luna."

Heart Sworn gasped in shock.

"What! No! Defender would never!"

Celestia held up a hoof for silence.

"I didn't say he was correctly convicted. He was locked in the dungeon until such a time as he divulged the location of Luna or until she was found. However…"

She paused, as though still trying to figure it all out.

"Somehow our disgraced guard managed to procure a rather curious piece of equipment, an ancient mask enchanted with the invisibilus charm. Meaning when he wore it he became completely invisible. Using this he escaped from the dungeon and came here to tell me what he somehow managed to discover from within his cell."

Celestia once more held up a hoof for silence.

"Before you ask, Luna's location was among them. I sent him to Ponyville in order to find her and bring her back."

"But I don't expect him to get out without fighting. This could be a problem."

---

Defender galloped alongside Twilight Sparkle, Talisman on her other side. Behind the trio was the rest of Twilight's friends and fellow bearers of the elements. Among them also was Demonheart and Rock Ranger, both of them beside their respective partners. In fact, Demonheart was one of the only reasons Fluttershy was willingly galloping headlong into the Everfree Forest. As they were running, Twilight yelled to Defender.

"How do you know all this anyway? I thought you said you were locked up!"

Defender grimaced as he ran.

"I'd tell you if I could Twilight, I really would. But I can't. I just know she's there and I know I need to get to her."

Twilight's face creased into a frown. This bothered her. The fact that he couldn't tell anypony how he knew what he knew placed a large amount of suspicion upon his shoulders. Secrets never flew very well with Twilight, she sucked at keeping secrets herself and she didn't trust them either. Secrets got ponies hurt. The mask atop his head worried her even more. She had read up on possibly everything that could be considered valuable in magical history and yet she'd never once seen an artefact like that one. It chilled her to the bone. The thing wasn't normal, and she had her suspicions about the origins of the mask and its materials.

But she still didn't know what exactly to think of it. She trusted his intentions, but she wasn't sure if she trusted him as an individual anymore. She wasn't sure if this was his true colours coming out, or if she'd merely missed it beforehand, but something told her that this artefact of his wasn't, strictly speaking, legally obtained.