Chapter 3:

Double Agendas

After a short while, the strange stallion managed to gain his composure enough to stop crying. Celestia and Luna let him get it all out of his system and allowed him time to enter a calmer state of mind before questioning him further. Though still very sad at his current situation, he otherwise seemed fine.

“Do you think it’s alright if we ask you a few things, stranger? So we could maybe find out what happened to you?” Luna said, rubbing his back with her wing. He sniffled a few times more and took a breath, looking up at her.

“Yeah, (sniff)… anything you want.”

“Can you tell us the last thing you remember before you wound up in our garden?” she asked in the gentlest voice she could think of. The last thing she wanted was for him to break down or freak out again.

“I remember playing soccer in grade school…a fist fight I got into where some kid took my watch after he beat me up… making out with this drunk 15 year old when I was at a party I wasn’t supposed to go to…” He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. “Bits and pieces from here and there, all different times of my life. But last night... just a bright flash and lots of pain.”

“The flash. The one I saw in the sky last night. That’s probably when he arrived here.” Luna said to Celestia. “Tell me, friend. You said this is not your body. Do you mean that before last night, you weren’t a pony?”

He shook his head. “No, before tonight I was a human. I… live in huge city, in a little apartment, with nothing but humans. I never seen anything like you two in my whole life. At least I don’t think I ever did, but I think I’d remember something like you two.” He said, giving them both another quick glance over. “And I have no idea how I ended up looking like you.”

Celestia made careful note of one crucial key word. She addressed him again. “So the only things you remember are little snippets of your life, the bright flash last night and then you woke up here with us.”

He nodded. “That’s all I remember before I got here.” He took a moment to try and focus again. “I barely remember what I looked like.” He looked at Luna with eyes red from crying. “How in the hell did this happen?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know, friend.” the night princess said, leaning in and nuzzled his neck. He leaned into her and closed his eyes, taking comfort in the care these two strange beings were giving him. “But trust me; we’re going to find out.” She pulled away and looked into his eyes. “I promise you, we’re going to do everything in our power to help you, alright?”

He sighed deeply and sank into the bed a bit more, relaxing for the first time since becoming fully awake. “Thank you… thank you both.”

Celestia stood up and started to walk out of the room. Luna removed her wing from around the stallion and stood up off the bed to follow.

“Wait! Where are you going?” he said, reaching out to grab at Luna’s tail, forgetting he didn’t have fingers. He barely stopped himself from falling on the floor again as Luna turned around.

“I was just going with my sis-” Luna started to say, only to get cut off abruptly. She could see the look of fear return to his face.

“Y-you really need to go already? Why? Where you going? What’s happening?” His questions were hurried, and Luna thought he may start panic again.

“I… well…” Luna paused a moment, looking to her sister. “Celestia, do you need me for anything, right now?”

Celestia paused, addressing the stallion instead of her sister. “Well, I’ve got some things to look into about your story, friend. We have the collective knowledge of the entirety of Equestria in our libraries. But it may take some time to find the information we seek. Luna, why don’t you stay for a while? I shouldn’t be that long there, but after that I’m going to attend court.”

She trotted back to the bed and leaned towards him. “Don’t worry, now. As soon as we figure out what circumstances brought you here, we’ll be on the road to getting you back home.” She trotted back to the door. “Luna will keep you company, and I’ll be back in no time.” And with that, she exited the room, closing the door behind her.

Princess Celestia made her way back to the throne room to prepare for the task at hoof, a worry growing in her mind. “A human.” She thought. “I could have gone the rest of eternity without ever hearing that word again...”

===

Luna walked back the bed and sat down on the floor in front of the young stranger. He fixed himself back to his original position on the bed, legs tucked underneath him, with wings and tail held close. His eyes were losing the red from crying and he seemed stable now, if not still a bit awkward.

“You probably have a lot of questions right about now, huh?” Luna mused with a smile. He only nodded, his red mane bouncing slightly over his eyes.

“Hey, it’s alright. I’m as confused as you are right now.” She extended a hoof onto the bed in front of him. He gave a nervous smile and placed the end of his hoof to hers. “We’ll figure this out together. Don’t worry. Now, is there anything you’d like to know?”

“There are a couple questions, now that I can think straight again. If you don’t mind, that is.” He seemed to be quite a bit more comfortable around her. Twenty minutes ago, he was an out of control ball of nerves. Now, at least, he could look at her and carry on a conversation.

“Luna, right? Princess Luna? And your sister there was Princess Celestia?” he asked. Luna simply smiled and nodded.

“Alright. And you and your sister both rule this kingdom we’re in now?”

“Yes,” Luna said, “we rule over all of Equestria.”

Luna got up and walked over to the balcony doors and pushed them both open with one hoof, turning back to the stallion. “Come here and take a look. I think you may like this.”

Nervously, he pulled his legs out from under himself and inched his way to the edge of the bed. Slowly, he hung his hind legs off the end of the bed, sitting up in an uncomfortable position. Sheepishly, he called to Luna.

“Um, Princess? Could you help me with something?” She trotted back a few steps toward him.

“Sure, anything you want.”

“I kinda need you to… help me walk.” He said with a nervous grin and a forced giggle.

“You got to be kidding. You’re kidding, right. You can’t walk?” Luna asked in disbelief.

“Well, these legs do seem to work,” he said, waving all four of his legs at her. “but I never had to walk on a set of four legs before. You saw how I fell before when I tried to get out of bed before, remember?”

“Well, how many legs do humans have, exactly?”

“Just two.” he said, missing only having two at the moment. Luna sighed and shook her head.

“Just two legs? It’s a wonder you were ever able to get around at all. Ok, fine. I’ll help you walk. Come on.”

Luna stood next to the bed as he shimmied off and planted all four hooves on the floor. He took a moment to slowly lift and set down each one, feeling how different they were this old feet and hands.

“Now, just watch my hooves. Try to mimic my movements as I go.” Luna said. Slowly, shakily, the young stallion followed her hoofsteps with his own, his back legs tripping up a bit. Luna giggled to herself as he quickly caught himself just before falling again.

“Careful, now. Remember, you have four legs, not two.”

“Yeah, I know, I know. Just don’t go too far away from me, ok?” he said as he followed Luna around the room a few times, slowly picking up speed to a gentle trot.

“You know, Equestrians usually learn to walk pretty early on in life.”

“Yeah, how early on?” the stallion inquired.

Luna giggled again, making him blush at her answer.

“Heh. About a month or so after they’re born. But hey, look at it this way.” she said, stopping abruptly, forcing him to stop short and fall back on his rump before running into her.

“What’s that?”

“At least this gives your story a bit more credibility. You should have been able to walk, at least. Just by instinct alone. But hey, wait a moment!” Luna gasped, a thought suddenly running through her mind.

“You probably don’t know how to use your wings or horn, then, either! Wow…”

He looked over his shoulder and looked at his wings folded at his side, resting gently against his body. Looking straight up and crossing his eyes a bit, he could see his horn growing out of his head.

“Well, no… I mean, I don’t think I’d know the first thing about flying with these things, and I can’t remember if I ever knew how to fight, let alone how to fight with this horn.” He said, reaching up to touch it. It felt hard, like he expected it to, but what seemed stranger to him was that he could so clearly feel his hoof running up and down his horn. Luna laughed out loud when she heard his last comment.

“Fight with it?! Are you crazy? That would hurt! I meant you probably don’t know how to use magic. Imagine if you were to break it, fighting. You’d be powerless without it.”

Luna gasped as he walked ahead of her and sat down, stretching his legs out. She pointed with her hoof at his backside, making him feel a little self-conscious.

“Oh, wow, I just noticed! You don’t have a cutie mark!” Luna said, running up and pointing at his flank. The stallion looked down at his side and back up at the princess.

“A cutie-what now?” he asked, giving her a confused look.

Luna paused a moment to remember who she was talking to and tried to find a way to explain. “Every pony, as they grow up and live their lives, eventually finds out what their special talent is.”

“Special talent?” he said, puzzled.

“Yes, the one thing in life that they were absolutely born to do! The thing in life that would bring them the most joy, and bring the most joy to those around you. You must have noticed mine and my sisters, right?” Luna said, waving her backside at him, showing off her crescent moon. He leaned away a little, still looking, wide-eyed. Luna noticed this and sat back down, blushing a little.

“Hehe. Sorry about that. It’s just that, well… This pretty much proves you’re not from Equestria. You would definitely have a cutie mark at your age. I mean, a grown pony, without his cutie mark? That’s just downright strange!” Luna stopped laughing and turned to the stallion still sitting on the floor, a sad look on his face as he tried to unfold his wings and looked back up at his horn.

“I don’t know anything about this world… or about the creatures that live here… or even this body I’m in.” He slowly stood up and started moving back to the bed, head hanging down in depression. Luna quickly trotted up in front of him.

“No, no, no, I’m sorry! It’s just, well, everypony kinda learns this stuff as they’re growing up. It looks like you’re going to have to play catch-up a bit, that’s all. Come here, now.” She nodded her head over towards the balcony again.

“I know you might be feeling overwhelmed or scared, but I’m going to get you some help. The ponyfolk here are good for that.”

Luna led him out onto the balcony and crossed her front legs over the railing. He followed her and brought his legs up as well and looked out across the scene before them.

“Oh, wow…” was all that he could manage to whisper out.

Before them, the vast scenic beauty of Equestria spread out for as far as the eyes could see. The bright, radiant sun shown down on the land, seemingly leaving no inch untouched by its brilliance. High above them, the stallion could see weather pegasi kicking and pushing stray clouds across the sky, rounding them up into tight clusters before pushing them off towards what looked to him to be a floating city. Other pegasi flew in all directions above the castle and around the grounds. Below them, in the palace courtyard, he noticed unicorn ponies using their magic to repair an old section of wall, levitating bricks and bags of concrete in all directions as they reconstructed the old structure. Back and forth, normal looking ponies pulled empty carts away from the construction area while still more pulled full carts stacked high with stone and brick towards broken wall. Outside the palace grounds, gorgeous buildings of all shapes, sizes and colors reached out towards the countryside that was itself, colorfully quilted with crops of all different kinds. And at the end of large patch of dark green forest, alone in the landscape, rested a small town, picturesque in the hilly and lake dotted scene.

He stood, mouth open in awe at the wonderful view before him. He had never seen anything like it before. At least, not that he could readily remember. He turned back to Luna, noticing a sweet smile on her face as she watched him take in all the beauty before him.

“Amazing, right, friend?” she said, moving over to him and placing a hoof on his shoulder. “Welcome to the Land of Equestria.”

===

Princess Celestia walked swiftly down the hall back to the royal library. She pushed the large double doors open and entered into the large room, slivers of morning sunlight piercing in through the drawn blinds covering the windows high against the wall. The room itself was huge; two tiered with steps on either side allowing access to the upper level, with a dozen large tables in the center for students and scholars to review the many ancient tomes held within these walls. Against the far wall, between the two rows of tables, a beautiful painting on the wall of the palace at sunset. She entered so quickly, she barely noticed a young mare, reading near the back of the large room. However, her entrance did not go unnoticed by the mare, who quickly jumped up from her seat in surprise.

“Princess Celestia! Nice to see you, your highness.” The mare said, quickly curtseying to the large alicorn. Celestia paused a moment in shock, then quickly flashed the light-brown earth pony with a feather duster cutie mark a smile and nodded back.

“Hello, Dusty. Catching up on some more reading, I see?”

“Oh, yes, princess. This one is about some of the famous earth ponies throughout history. Very interesting stuff.” She said, motioning to the open book on the table. “Thank you again for allowing me and the other palace workers to read in here on our breaks and lunches. We all really enjoy it.”

Celestia giggled a bit at the mare’s nervousness. The staff always seemed so eager to please her. No matter how many times she interacted with them, they always acted like it was the first time, so prim and proper.

“That’s no problem at all, but as long as I have you here, can I count on you to relay a message for me to the rest of the staff?” Dusty paused in her place, a bit stunned.

“Why, of course, your majesty! Anything you want.” She said with another curtsey, her light orange mane bobbing as she rose.

“We have a visitor, as I’m sure you probably know by now. He’s a stranger in this land, and doesn’t know anything about it. I want you to pass it along to everypony, even the guards that he is to have anything he wants. Within reason, of course. Food or information about Equestria; that sort of thing. And if anypony has any questions, they can address me in the throne room later.” Dusty nodded and turned to leave to spread the word, when Celestia stopped her again. “Oh, and Dusty? Make sure that I get a detailed list of everything he asks for. I want to know what he wants to know, and everything he does. Understand?” Dusty stopped, puzzled by this request, but decided not to question her princess.

“Very well, Princess Celestia. I’ll pass the order on to the palace staff, and the guards. Is that all, your highness?”

“Yes, and if I may ask; could you please leave me for a while in here alone, and make sure I’m not disturbed? I have some personal research to conduct, and would like some privacy.”

Dusty picked up the book from the table in her mouth and started back down to the end of the library where she got it from.

“Yes, of course, princess. Just let me put this book bac-“

“Take it with you! Just… bring it back when you’re done.” Celestia said, quickly sticking her hoof out in front of her, blocking her path. Dusty’s ears folded down, shocked and a bit frightened by the sudden insistence of her princess. This quick and unexpected change in her ruler’s demeanor took her by surprise.

“Ye… Yes, Princess Celestia. I will return it as soon as possible.” She said, quickly turning and trotting out of the room.

Celestia followed her to the door and, as soon as it closed, bolted the latch it at the top. She turned back and walked to the end of the room, stopping in front of a large picture of the palace on the wall. She touched the tip of her horn to the tip of the highest spire on the painting and channeled a wave of magical energy into the wall. Taking a few steps back, she watched as the painting drained of all color to the floor and vanished. A low hum emanated from deep within the wall as cracks and lines appeared in the area that the painting once adorned, breaking open piece by piece, folding in on itself to reveal a dark passage that extended deep into the palace. The princess quickly trotted into the wall, activating magical torches that lined the passage before the opening in the library grinded and closed up behind her.

The narrow passage grew broader, expanding into a large circular room with a raised circular platform in the middle. The walls of the chamber were decorated with artifacts of antiquity, relics of times of war, upheaval and chaos from some long ago and forgotten time in history that no citizen of Celestia’s world would remember today. Spears, swords, hammers, axes, knives, shackles, chains, harnesses, bridals, whips, restraints. Between the items hung paintings of equal horror; paintings of war, armies advancing on one another, cities laid to waist, fields and trees burning. The entire room, a virtual monument to destruction. A museum of violence and war. The flickering magical torches casted shadows on the wall that seemed to make the weapons move, as though still attacking some unseen enemies on their own. The scene as she entered sent a shiver up Celestia’s spine. The room disgusted her to no end, however she felt the need to keep it still, to serve as a constant reminder of lessons hard learned and the truth of the past.

She walked up to and climbed the platform to the top, stopping at three glass cases in the center. Three simple square glass cases on top of round marble pillars that all stood as high as Celestia’s shoulders. The first, holding a leather strap, old and rotted, broken in the center, as though torn or bitten through. The second held an arrow. A simple broken wooden arrow, snapped in the middle with the tip missing. Celestia walked past both the first cases to the final pillar, holding the item of most interest to her.  Standing in the final glass case, held up by an iron stand was a single helmet, gold with a red feathered plume running across the top from front to back. The princess cringed at the sight of it, mostly because of the skull that still rested inside the helmet; bare of flesh, the bleached white skull was that of a creature with a rounded head, flat face and whose eyes faced front.

“I don’t know why you’re here, beast” she said to the dark visage behind the glass. “but if you’ve truly what you say you are, may Fate have mercy on your soul.”

She gave the artifacts one more glance from the center of the platform, then walked down the steps back to the entrance. She turned back towards the center item once more before leaving, an old fear, long buried began to rise in her once more.

“May Fate have mercy on your soul, human, because I will not.”

===

As the alicorn princess and the young pegacorn stallion exited the room, he felt energized with a newly found sense of hope. The view from the high balcony of the valley below helped to calm a few worries and fears that he still had, though there were still so many questions about this new world and body that he didn’t understand. He trotted alongside her down the hallway, almost bounding up and down as he felt more daring, causing Luna to trot in small bursts to keep up. The two passed by beautiful works of art, past all the paintings and murals and sculptures and such that Luna and her sister themselves had picked out when they first had the palace built. The two stopped in front of a large tapestry, drawing out an “Oh, wow” from the stallion.

“Yeah, friend,” Luna said with a slight giggle, sitting down beside him. “I thought you might like this.”

Before them hung a massive map of the world, showing the various kingdoms and cities in all the four corners of the globe. To the north, the Griffon kingdom. To the west, the tribal lands of the buffalo and gazelle. To the south, in the broken chains of islands, lie the territories of the dragons. To the east, far across the ocean, was the home of the elephants, zebra and rhinos.

“Your world is amazing! And you say it was all built by ponies?”

“Well, OUR country.” Luna said, feeling a deep sense of pride for her subjects. “This palace, the grounds, the city below, and everything else in Equestria. Using their magic, muscle and wings, they helped craft this world with me and my sis-“

Luna froze. Neither she nor her sister mentioned it. He didn’t know yet. He had no idea she and Celestia were the gods of this world, the divine spirits of the sun and the moon. Could she explain that to him? Of course she couldn’t. Then she’d have to explain what she had done one thousand years ago to the world. She would have to explain why she was imprisoned on the moon, and what she tried to do the moment she came back. She couldn’t admit that to him! He might be the one and only living pony in the world that knew she existed, and didn’t hate or fear her. She couldn’t have him hate her too. Not him, not after just having saved his life. This world was scary enough to him without turning herself into a monster in his eyes.

“Well, hehe. I mean, in this COUNTRY, that is. Not the world. Heh. The other races around the world all created their own cultures, styles of ruling and…”

Luna paused. He was gone. She looked around, and saw him strolling down the hall, browsing at other works of art.

“Hopefully he didn’t hear my slip of the tongue.” She thought as she walked down the hall to get him.

“Hey, stranger, admiring the great artists throughout Equestrian history, I see?”

“Yeah, but I was just kinda thinking about something.” He said as he paused for her to catch up.

“Alright. Wondering what, exactly?”

“What are some regular, old everyday names around Equestria? I mean, I know I have a human name, though I can’t remember right now. But you’ve been calling me ‘stranger,’ or ‘friend’ since I woke up. Isn’t there something a bit more normal you could call me? Just a name I could use till I remember my old one?”

Luna thought for a moment.

“Well, there’s Alchemy, Storm Breaker, Soarin, Throttle, Amp, Charger, Dive Bomb, Phalanx, Silver Shield…”

His eyes opened wide.

“Whoa! What is THIS?!” he said, startling her as he cut her off. Luna looked up and noticed they were sitting in front of her favorite tapestry. He was looking up, mesmerized by the glorious work before him.

“Oh, that? You like that, huh? Yeah, that’s one of my favorite pieces, too. We don’t know who did it. It arrived in the palace one day during the early days of construction. We don’t even know the artist that made it. We only know the name of the piece. It’s called the Midnight Blaze.”

He stared for a moment, a smile slowly growing from ear to ear.

“I… I like it. I like it! I’ll take it!” he said, laughing. He turned toward Luna with a wide grin.

“It’s perfect! It’s mysterious, it’s flashy and you don’t know where it came from. Like me!” He beamed as he looked up at it. Luna took a moment and watched him repeat the name over and over again to himself, his lips moving with no sound coming out. She couldn’t believe this was the same pony she saved in the garden last night. He was so different than when he woke up, scared and lost. He didn’t even know how to use his legs. But now, he seemed to feel more at home with her in the palace by the moment.

‘He’s so amazed by everything here. Was his human world really so different than ours?’ she thought, turning her eyes back up to the tapestry, then back to him.

“You know, I think Midnight Blaze is a pretty a pretty suiting name for you. It even seems to match your colors. It fits you well, Midnight.” Luna said, bumping her shoulder into his, making him wobble in place. He grinned, liking the sound of his adopted name. He liked the way it sounded coming from her. And the fact that she mentioned it was one of her favorite works of art didn’t hurt matters, either. Or maybe he just liked the way she talked to him. She had been so kind to him since she found him in the garden, saving his life treating him better than he ever remembered being treated before coming here to this pony populated world.

“Well, now that we have you an honest-to-goodness Equestrian name, how about we make you into a full-fledged Equestrian citizen?” Luna said, a sly smile on her face. He leaned back and returned the same smile.

“Ooh? And what did you have in mind, Princess?”

“Well, we don’t know how long you’re going to be with us, but how would you like to learn to use those wings and that magic horn of yours?” His mind spun at the idea. Use his wings, to FLY?! And use real MAGIC?! Like those unicorns in the courtyard were using? He didn’t need to think about it for long.

“Oh, GOD, yes!” he shouted, his tail swaying back and forth in anticipation, wings fluttering slightly on their own before drawing back to his body. “That would be awesome! You can really teach me how to use these things? I’m going to fly, AND be able to use real MAGIC?!?”

Luna was about to answer, but paused, thinking about something her sister told her.

‘Don’t you think it’s time you let your subjects see their young princess? I know they’re eager to get to know you again.’ Celestia’s words rang in her mind.

“You know what, Midnight? I think I have a few better teachers in mind, if that’s alright with you.”

“Well, yeah, that’s alright,” he said, still bouncing in place. “if you think they could do the job, I’ll take any teachers you wanna give me! I trust you, Luna.”

The last words almost made her fall over. Trust? In her? She almost couldn’t believe it. Those simple words only give her more confidence to go ahead with her plan.

“Well, alright. Tell you what; you could go back to your room, just for now. I’ll make the arrangements. I’ll make sure everything around the palace is still running smooth with me being busy here all morning, and I’ll come and get you in a few hours, than.” She said, turning back towards the guest room he awoke in, Midnight close behind.

He pushed open the door, allowing her to enter, then followed behind her, taking a seat on the end of the bed. Luna went over to the balcony and pulled the heavy drapes to either side, fully exposing the room to the full light of fore walking back in front of Midnight.

“I’m off to make the arrangements now. If you need anything, I’ll leave a guard outside the room. We usually have a few on every floor, just in case. You can ask him, and he’ll have the palace staff bring you whatever you want, alright?” she motioned to the door behind her as she addressed her guest. This was her first real try at being a good hostess in centuries.

“Luna?” he said sounding a bit timid. She turned back to him just in time to have his two forelegs wrap around her neck, catching her in a tight embrace. She froze in place, stunned by the sudden and powerful show of affection, not knowing how to properly respond. Slowly, she brought her right foreleg up and returned the hug before slowly backing out.

“I’m sorry, if I stepped over any boundaries I shouldn’t have just there. It’s just that, I don’t know how I could ever thank you. I don’t know if I’ll EVER be able to thank you. You’re doing so much to help me, and we’ve only just met…”

She smiled warmly as he fumbled out his half apology, half thank-you.

“It’s alright, Midnight. This is how we treat our friends on Equestria. No pay-back are necessary.” She stood back up and made her way to the door, Midnight following close behind.

“Stay here, and I’ll be back in a couple hours, just as soon as I take care of a few things. Alright? He nodded yes, and watched as she trotted down the hall and around the corner to the stairs, out of sight. Returning to the bed, he fell on his back and stretched his legs out in all directions, looking at the ceiling. This was starting to feel less like a bad dream and more like some beautiful fairy tale he’d hear as a kid. But back in a few hours? What exactly should he do till then?

===

Luna stepped lively down the hall, working her way into a trot, then into a full canter, swelling up with pure joy. An honest outburst of happiness, and all because of her showing of kindness to a stranger! Was this what it felt like to be loved by her subjects again? For the first time in a long time, she felt absolutely giddy, skipping and cantering past a small group of guards, narrowly missing them. Wait, a guard!

“Soldiers, halt.” Luna yelled, skidding to a stop behind them and then quickly turning around. The guards almost tripped over themselves responding to her command as they turned to face their princess.

“Yes, Princess Luna?” they responded, almost in unison, some of their armor and helmets crooked from the surprise interruption.

“I have a special request to make of one of you, a special assignment. Who’s the lowest ranking officer here?” They all paused for a moment, looking at each other. Then, from the back, a single white pegasus with a sky blue mane came forward.

“That would be me, Princess Luna. Sky Shield, private, first class. This is only my third week on duty. Ready for assignment.” He was young, for sure. Maybe not much older than Midnight looked. He’d be perfect.

“Very well, then. The rest of you are dismissed. Go about your duties, I’ll have the captain send up a replacement for Sky Shield. Thank you.” The other guards turned and continued down the hall, leaving Luna and Sky Shield behind to discuss his new assignment. “Private Sky Shield, I assume you know about our new guest down the hall here? You’re assignment is simple; Attend to his needs. Anything he requests, food, books, information. Make sure he gets it, alright? I want him to learn as much about Equestria as his little heart desires.” She said, patting him on the shoulder pad of his golden armor. “Oh, but don’t let Princess Celestia know about this, OK? I don’t want her to think I’m being over-generous with my new friend. He’s down the hall in the third room on the right. Have fun, soldier!” And with that, Luna turned and bounded off, leaving a confused Private Sky Shield behind.

He stood in place, his mind trying to wrap around the contradicting orders he just received. Only minutes ago, Dusty, the head of the working staff, informed the guards of Princess Celestia’s orders to inform her of everything the new guest requested. And now, Princess Luna orders the guest’s requests to be kept secret?

“Oh, great,” he thought, slowly making his way to the guest room door. “That’s just what I need; conflicting orders. She hasn’t even been back in the palace long, and she’s sneaking around behind her big sister’s back? I got a bad feeling about this...”

===

Luna made her way to Celestia’s room and over to her desk. It was surprisingly cluttered, belonging to a princess, the most prevalent items being the reports sent back to her from her current prized pupil, Twilight Sparkle. Rummaging through the drawers and shelves, she finally found her target; a single unused scroll.

“This is it,” she thought, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly. “The scroll that I need for Midnight.” Every unused scroll within this desk was already enchanted to appear before Twilight when sent, transported through her young dragon assistant, Spike. Luna felt nervous. Would they respond to her request favorably? Would they respond at all? The thought of allowing her new friend upstairs to fully utilize his new powers steeled her determination, as she opened the seal and began writing.

“Dear Twilight Sparkle, I humbly request the help of the Elements of Harmony for a very important task…”

Next Chapter: The Call Goes Out Estimated time remaining: 16 Hours, 3 Minutes