Upon hearing her sister speak, Celestia herself was in absolute shock. Somehow, for reasons unknown to her and everypony else, her own sister Luna could not even remember her. It was something that deeply struck the princess down to her core… and Rain could tell that she seemed distressed by it. And with what just happened to Canterlot when Veritas of the Dark right now, it would be a lot for anypony to take in.

So, he then turned to Shining and asked him something. “Shining, would you know of anyplace we can have Celestia and Luna here stay for a bit. The main castle still may not be safe to walk around in and I think the princess needs some time to wrap her head around what just happened.”

That, had the Unicorn himself sigh really deeply. “I might know a place… My father had just gotten me a home to move into before you and I were deployed to Ponyville. It may not have everything in place, but it could do as a temporary place to reside. I’m going to check in with the guards though, to make sure that we didn’t suffer any casualties from this attack. If you're looking for it, mom had my Cutie Mark painted on the door. You can’t miss it.” With it, the unicorn left them as Rain and the others soon got up and began to look for the building. It didn’t take them long to find the door, but after they got inside, it took them a while in order to settle down and form any words to speak.

The first one that did though… was Sunset. “Okay, I have too many questions to ask and I think only Rain can answer them.”

That even had Rain look at the unicorn in confusion, just as he set Luna down on a sofa. “What makes you say that?”

“Well one, that Veritas… whoever he was sounds like somepony that you and Shining had encountered before,” Sunset explained, counting it off using her fingers. “Two, he mentioned something called Visions that both you and Shining have, which I don’t even have the slightest clue as to what the hay that is… and Three, if this guy is someone that you met before, what exactly is his planning?”

“Well, the first two questions I can answer. However, I don’t know the answer to the third one,” The knight replied back. “First, that Veritas of the Dark was someone that Shining and I encountered before in the Everfree Shrine, the place where Celestia found me as a child. On the way to Ponyville, Luna appeared in front of us in the crystalline form we just saw her in a few moments ago and told us that we needed to protect the crystal inside. When we got there and found the crystal, we found Veritas, but he overpowered us and ended up destroying it.”

That had Celestia and look back at Luna for a moment before she looked towards Sunset. Just as Rain continued with what he said next. “Second, after we failed to protect the crystal, Luna showed herself again and granted us the power of visions. Which in turn has us summon the emotions of fallen heroes who were given form because of the crystal they were encased in. Lastly… on the subject of crystals, it sounds like these ‘Sworn Six’ are going after and trying to destroy certain crystals that keep things balanced. After the one in the Everfree was destroyed, the monsters in the forest became more hostile and attacked Shining on his way to regrouping with me.”

“If that’s the case, then we shouldn’t be letting those guys wander around all over the place and stop them before they throw the world into chaos!” Sunset replied back.

“I agree… however, there’s something that we don’t know much on… which is the crystals they’re going for in general,” Rain replied back, before looking towards Princess Celestia for a moment. “Celestia, do you remember the books I brought with me when you brought me to Canterlot?”

“Of course I do, Rain,” The solar princess replied. “Why do you ask?”

“Can you bring them here for just a moment? I’m thinking that one of the books that I brought might be on the crystals since there was one directly underneath the old castle of the twin sisters.” He asked politely. That had Celestia nod for a moment before using her magic to teleport herself out of the room, followed by returning a few moments later with a collection of books inside a leather satchel.

“A lot of the books that were uncovered from the ruins were placed in the Canterlot Archives for other ponies to study. But there were a few that I withheld from the archives because of the information that they contained,” The Solar Princess replied before taking out some of the books and placing them on a nearby table. “If you believe that the answers to which you seek are contained in the pages of these books from Starswirl’s time, then allow for Sunset and I to help as well.”

Yet, it was as Celestia said that, all three of them heard a question that wasn’t really expected at all. “C-can I help too?” They all collectively turned to look back at Luna, who had actually gotten up from her spot on the couch and was now at the table.

“L-luna, you shouldn’t be moving around so soon. Aren’t you still recovering?” Sunset herself asked, who was just as equally surprised as that of both the princess and the knight.

“I f-feel fine… Just a little dizzy.” She spoke shyly, shivering a bit under the crimson cape that Rain gave her earlier. Making the unicorn realize something.

“Oh crap… I just now realized that Luna doesn’t have any clothes now, does she?” Sunset spoke up. But before Rain or Celestia could say anything, she was already up and preparing to rush out the door. “Hang on just a minute! I might have some old garments in my room that she could use.”

And just like that, before anypony could really say anything, the unicorn slammed the door behind her. Causing some parts of the house to shake a bit due to the sheer force of how she closed it. Of course, Rain knew that this was kind of normal for Sunset. After all, she had done this before several times while they were beginning to learn and understand their magic. However, this wasn’t exactly the best time to be running off anywhere. Especially when they were trying to figure out what exactly were the Veritas trying to do, where would they be headed and how were they going to stop them.

“How soon do you think she would be back?” Rain then asked Celestia, who honestly did not know how to answer his question.

“Hopefully as soon as possible…” Celestia then replied, turning her gaze to the books on the table and then back towards her sister as she was looking at the seams of the books and reading each one of them to herself. Most of the books themselves seemed to be either inscribed teachings for magic or recipe’s on crafting standard items. But there were a few novels that seemed to stand out as compendiums of old stories. Which, could possibly have some kind of clue as to what they are looking for.

However, one name soon began to ring a bell as she overheard Luna say one particular name from the pile of books. “Legends of magic, the stories of Equestria’s greatest heroes…”

That’s when Celestia herself soon spoke up to them. “We should start with that one…” That had Rain and Luna look back at the solar princess, a bit confused… but also curious as to why that title in particular. “Back in the day, Starswirl the Bearded kept a collection of stories under that same title. If we’re lucky, we could possibly find the answers we seek within those pages.”

“Well, it’s worth a shot at least.” Rain commented as Luna opened the book. Before they could look at the table of contents though, that was when they heard the door slam open as all three of them saw Sunset rush back inside… with Shining Armor right behind her.

“I’m BACK!!” She declared, which only caused Shining to look at them with a deadpanned expression on his face as he closed his door behind them. Slowly beginning to regret letting Sunset… and everyone else for that matter, come into his new home.

“Sunset, I understand that you are excited, but could you at least demonstrate some restraint while you are in my home?” Shining simply asked of her, only for the unicorn to roll her eyes in response and then have Luna come with her so she could wear some proper clothes. Leaving the unicorn with Rain and Celestia. “Please tell me that she wasn’t like this upon coming here… I’m trying to understand what in the world is exactly going on.”

“Well, after we brought her up to speed, we’ve come to the conclusion that whatever those Veritas are planning has to somehow involve the crystal that was in the Everfree Shrine… and the fact that when they left, we heard them say that they were moving to another crystal,” The fellow knight informed him as he turned the page in the book he had out on the table. “So, given this, we’re thinking that there’s more than one of those crystals that are in shrines like the one in the Everfree. Right now, we’re looking through some of the books I brought with me when I first came to Canterlot to see if there is any kind of clue we can possibly find.”

Hearing these details had Shining take up a seat as he looked back at both of them. “If they are planning to destroy more crystals… and each one destroyed having ramifications similar to that of what happened in the Everfree… Oh dear Celestia that’s bad,” It was only a few seconds later that he actually turned to Celestia and realized what he said. “Oh… Sorry princess, I didn’t mean-.”

“It’s alright Shining, mistakes happen,” Celestia then responded. “But yes… the ramifications of such an event would be beyond catastrophic. So we need to figure out how many other crystals there are and where they are located. Afterwards, you must act quickly in order to stop them before they can destroy anymore.” Shining himself nodded his head in response as he watched his friend look back at what he was reading. From the looks of things, Rain was trying to find a particular page in the book after looking over the table of contents.

To Shining, this meant that Rain must’ve found something rather important. But before he could tell them what he had recently found, that was when Sunset and Luna came back. “Here we are… What do you guys think?”

When Rain looked up, he saw Luna in a grey vest with a purple and white sleeveless jacket that had the cloak and hood of those who specialized in magic of the healings arts. More specifically referred to as the White Mage. The skirt that was part of the overall outfit also bered the same colors as the jacket and the only other things that stood out were her gloves, which were black and white. “Wow… that looks amazing on you Luna. Did Sunset pick that out for you?”

“Actually… she chose that herself,” The unicorn added on. “Luna told me that she felt a bit more comfortable with this one than some of the other choices we were looking at…” Around that time though, Sunset had noticed that Rain was farther past the table of contents in the book that he was looking at. Leading her to believe that he found something.“But enough about clothes. Did you happen to find something?” She then asked in order to try to change the topic of the conversation.

“Well… There’s one thing here that might be close to what we’re looking for,” He said, pointing to a particular page in the book. “According to this passage here, long ago after the founding of the Kingdom of Equestria by Clover the Clever and the leaders of the original pony tribes, Princess Celestia had just begun to rule the kingdom of Equestria under the guidance of Clover’s teacher, Starswirl the Bearded. But one day though, he disappeared… along with five other heroes that were known as the pillars of Equestria. But on the day of his disappearance… and hours before the banishment of Nightmare Moon, many of those in the Kingdom of Equestria and around the world saw a series of six crystals take form in the night sky before casting them away to different corners of the world… Nopony knows what the crystals are for, but it lead to believe that each one of the crystals represent an element in nature based off of it’s inhabitants.”

“So… are these crystals supposedly… outside of Equestria?” Sunset then asked, which soon lead to Rain reading the second passage.

“According to what’s here, yes,” The Knight continued as he placed his finger on the next few lines. “Equestria is home to the crystal that represents the earth that ponykind cherish. Griffonstone’s the home of the crystal that provides safe travel along the winds. Abyssinia has a shrine for the water crystal so sailors can travel safely through the seas. The Dragon Lands is home to the Fire Crystal that is a symbolic reference to a dragon’s flame… and the other two on here are supposedly based on the elements of Ice and Lightning.”

“If that’s the case, then they must be going for Griffonstone next,” Shining now interjected as he saw Rain close the book. “Out of the countries that were just mentioned, they’re the closest ones to Equestria.”

“Yes, but the locals there aren’t what they used to be back in the day,” Celestia now spoke up. “If you both plan to travel there, then you must find a way to travel by sea. The griffons are more likely to let you pass through their ports if you are traveling on a merchant ship rather than a vessel like the one’s you’re familiar with.”

“So… wait,” Rain said for a moment, looking back at the princess. “You’re… not going to stop us? For a moment, I thought you were going to convince us not to go head over heals on trying to go after these guys because you would want us to help rebuild Canterlot.”

“The city can be able to rebuild on it’s own with time,” The Princess told them, getting up from the seat that she was in before looking directly at them. “But this isn’t the fate of our nation that we are discussing… this is the fate of all nations and the world. Those monsters are a threat to every one of them… and this is something you can’t just stand by and watch.” That, in Rain’s mind, told him that he and Shining we're definitely going to be going after the Veritas in order to stop them from trying to destroy anymore of the crystals that kept the world in balance.

And it meant that there were some preparations that need to be made first before the journey ahead. For one thing, both Rain and Shining needed to take the chance to have the right amount of curatives and equipment needed to keep on hand. Yet, it needed to be lightweight so it wouldn’t slow them down. Secondly, there was the issue regarding travel. They needed to be able to find a port that could take them across to Griffonstone, but since the attack by the Veritas also destroyed part of the train station, travel by railroad was ruled out of the picture.

It took them close to an hour in order for both knights to have everything that they needed as they proceeded to the city’s east gate and made their way down the mountainside. By the time they reached the bottom of the path though, that was when Shining soon asked Rain a question. “So, what is your plan in regards to finding a ship?”

“That… I think may be the part that we might have difficulty with,” The knight admitted to his friend before adding something to that. “But I believe there are some places where we can look. Some of the ponies who have built ships, whether trade or military, have lived in cities along Equestria’s east coast. Plus, one of those cities, Fillydelphia, is a rather huge town for trade where it’s local or foreign. At least, that’s what Sunset told me before we left.”

“So we are making our way to Fillydelphia.” Shining stated plainly, causing Rain to nod his head in acknowledgement.

“That we are…” Rain said, before smiling a bit. “That we all are.” Shining could not understand at all what his friend was talking about as they walked along the path they were headed. Occasionally having to fight off monsters that would emerge from hiding in the grass along the side of the road and attack them when did not notice.

It wasn’t much for them to handle at first… but at one point, when there were more enemies than they could handle at once, that was when they felt something fly by them and strike one of the monsters that took on the form of a great cat with extremely long whiskers. Both of them turned around at that point. Rain with a smile on his face… while Shining with an expression of shock on his. “Nice shot, Luna.”

The young alicorn herself, holding a bow where the limbs that extended outward took on the form of a pair of wings as she held it in one of her hands. Before looking back at both of them with a nervous expression on her face. “T-thank you?”

“Princess, what are you doing here? You’re suppose to be back in Canterlot with Sunset and Celestia.” Shining himself then stated. “How did you know we were here?”

“That’s because she had been following us,” Rain replied to his friend as the unicorn looked back at him now. “I felt her not far behind after we departed from Canterlot. I’m surprised that you didn’t feel her magic with her being only a few feet behind the both of us. Besides, you can’t exactly just send her back the other direction now Shining.”

“You’re…… serious?” Shining now asked, looking back at both of them now. “Rain, please tell me that this is some kind of joke.”

“Why would I be joking? You saw how she shot that Coeurl just now,” The fellow knight told him in response. “If it weren’t for her, that cat would’ve had it’s teeth on your arm and emitted a pulse that would have paralyzed it… Speaking of which though, where did you find that bow?”

“I-i didn’t find it,” Luna told them in response as she rested the weapon along her shoulder. “It just… happened when that Sunset pony was trying to help me be familiar with my magic. She told me to say the first thing that came to my mind, so I said ‘Reincarnation’ and then this… just appeared.” That had Rain and Shining look at one another in complete and utter bewilderment. For their weapons, the enchantments for their blades were either part of the original blade or forged into it. But for Luna, her weapon… wasn’t like that. “Sunset tried holding it, but almost hurt herself.”

“Wait, what? How?” Rain then asked.

“She told me that it felt like she was… carrying some… I think she said, cannonball?” Luna told them, before shaking her head for a moment. “But when I’m holding it, I don’t feel any weight at all.” The alicorn then looked at both of them for a moment, before she shuddered and looked back at Shining Armor. “Please don’t send me back… I really want to help.”

“How would you be able to help-?”

“Let her come along, Shining,” Rain interjected, catching the unicorn off guard as he looked back at his friend. “She’s as directly tied into this as you and I are. It was because of her that we got spared from the Veritas in Canterlot. The least we could do is let her come.”

“Rain, are you hearing yourself right now?” Shining then asked as he looked back at him. “You’re talking about taking a princess… with us… where it is likely that anything we might have to face would want to kill us. Don’t you realize how much trouble you would be in if Celestia found out-?”

“She let me go…” That statement had both knights stare directly at Luna. “I… told her about me wanting to go with you… and she let me. She said that she trusts both of you in keeping me safe… and trusts me in knowing that I’m doing the right thing.”

That had Rain blink for a few minutes and had Shining take in a deep breath as he sighed deeply. “Alright… if Celestia herself said that, then who am I to not listen… Just make sure that you keep up though. It’ll still be some time before we reach the closest town and we don’t want to leave you behind.” That had Luna nod her head rather quickly before deciding to walk next to Rain… all while the knight did not even notice the small light blush that was on her face at the time.

It only took them a little while longer for the three of them to finally reach a town, but by the time they did, a sense of relief came over all three of them. For one thing, they had spent the last hour walking on their feet and aside from the brief moments where they didn’t had to fight off monsters or thieves, it finally felt good for them to be able to rest their legs. For the most part though, a lot of things here seemed rather… quiet in this town. In fact, there were only a few ponies out of their homes unlike that of a town like Ponyville.

“Shining, what was the name of this place again?” Rain asked as he finally had the chance to lean back against a wall while his companion looked at the map.

“Well… according to this… it says that the name of this town is called Hollow Shades,” The stallion read off the piece of paper as he looked back at Rain. “It’s the closest town to that of Fillydelphia and also a town that has a lot of history.”

The crimson knight himself raised an eyebrow for a moment as he looked around. But Luna, who was at his side at the time Shining said that, followed up by asking him a question. “W-what kind of history?”

“Well, over a thousand years ago, it was said that Starswirl the Bearded himself, along with five other heroes alongside him defeated and banished a group of sirens that were terrorizing the town. However, those were olden times… and nopony knows what happened to the Pillars of Equestria now,” Shining replied to her in response. Though… hearing the name ‘Starswirl’ made her shudder for a small moment as the unicorn took notice of that. “Are you alright Luna? Is something the matter?”

“N-no, It’s just…” Luna said, looking down for a moment as she looked back at Rain and Shining. “I f-felt like I heard that name somewhere before… B-but I don’t remember when…” That had Rain look to Shining for a moment, before he noticed some of the townsfolk looking in their direction. Which, prompted Shining to then say something else.

“I see… In any case though, I suggest that we should try to not bring as much attention to ourselves as possible. Who knows what someponies would do if they found out that we had Celestia’s sister with us.”

That had Rain look back to her, before saying something else in response. “Alright then… pick a name.”

“I’m sorry… what?” A baffled Shining Armor asked as he looked back at both of them.

“If saying Luna’s name in public may draw attention to ourselves, then maybe we could call her by a different name while we’re traveling and when we’re by ourselves, we’ll address her by her real name?” Rain suggested, before looking directly back at Luna herself. “If… that is okay with you, of course.”

“I-i… think it’s a good idea,” Luna mumbled, before looking up back at Rain as an idea came to her, “In fact, I think I might have a idea for one.”

“You do? That fast?” Rain asked, personally surprised by how quickly she thought of something as Luna took the chance to sit down on a wooden bench right next to where Rain was standing at.

“W-well I kind of look like a filly for my age… and my name is Luna… so how about Fina?” That, had both knights look at one another with a raised eyebrow, before Rain decided to speak.

“I… like that actually. What do you think, Shining?” The knight asked his comrade, wanting to hear his opinions on the matter.

“I don’t have any other suggestions to assist on the matter, but I have to agree with Rain.” Shining replied in response, before noticing a couple of townsfolk approaching the three of them.

“Well, this is a very rare sight indeed. It’s not often that we get visitors to our small little abode here,” The first one, a male pony with fur and a tail that resemble that of the night sky, a pair of bronze eyes and the wings of a bat as he looked to wear some traditional leather garments on his arms, legs and body. “Welcome to the town of Hollow Shades. We may not have much here, but I assure you that we can try to help you however we can-”

It was then though that the stallion’s companion, a mare who had features that were similar to that of the stallion next to her as well as the bat wings with the only acception being her mane was tied up in a ponytail, noticed the insignia that was pinned to that of Rain’s and Shining’s clothes and spoke up. “Wait just a moment Nightstar… I want to know more as to who they are and why a pair of knights just happened to show up in Canterlot. And for that matter, if they are with the guard, then why are you two on your own with this girl?”

That, had Shining and Rain look back at one another for a moment, surprised to hear that from this new pony they just met. But before they could say anything, the stallion spoke up as he looked back at her. “Stella, calm yourself. Despite their appearance, we should not judge them because of who they are.”

That had the mare snap back at the pony next to her as she took hold of what looked like a lance in her hands. “Are you out of your mind?! This is all too suspicious of them-!”

“Sister,” The stallion stated boldly, causing her to stop. “If they did mean any harm, then we would’ve smelled the stench of civilians on their clothes and equipment instead of monsters… however, that doesn’t prove to be the case. We should at least listen.” That had the pony growl in frustration before putting her weapon away. All before Nightstar looked back at the three that stood before them. “My apologies for the hostility. It wasn’t meant to be intentional.”

The one who spoke next though… was Luna as she stood next to Rain. “Um… S-sister?”

That had the batpony speak up as he looked towards Luna. “Both of us are twins. I’m Nightstar while this is my sister, Stella Star. Now, would you care to introduce yourselves?”

“Well, I’m Rain,” The Knight introduced himself as he looked back at the twins. “This is my friend Fina and Shining Armor.” That surprised both of them as they looked back to Shining Armor with a look of surprise on their face.

“Shining Armor… As in Shining Armor, son of Captain Night Light?” Nightstar then asked, looking back at him as the unicorn himself looked at the bat pony.

“Yes, that would be me…” He told them, before adding onto that statement. “Forgive me if I sound bold, but how do you know of my father and I?”

That had the stallion look to his sister before looking back at all three of them. “We once served as part of the night guard in Canterlot as well as protect the citizens of the city from any creatures that tried to infiltrate and pose a threat while most of the town slept. Our father was even part of it… but when he contracted a deadly poison from a fight with a chimera and it left him in no condition to fight, Night Light allowed for us to take leave and focus on making sure we could be here for him and protect our home.”

That… was a lot for both Rain and Shining to take in at the moment. But Luna took it upon herself to ask the next question. “Were you able to find a remedy for the poison?”

That had both of them shook their heads as they looked down with a deep sigh as Stella began to speak this time. “No. Even though we were able to flush the poison out, the acting agent is affecting his muscles, making him weaker by the day. We tried magic already, but it was not as successful as we hoped. One could say that it almost made things worse.” That had Rain and Shining gasp a bit… but Luna herself looked back at the bat pony for a moment, thinking of something before looking back to them and asking one simple request.

“Can you take me to him, please?”

Originally, both Stella and Nightstar were baffled by the request of a girl that they just so happened to meet only mere minutes ago. Despite everything that they just told her and the fact that all previous methods of trying to heal the wounds had failed, she seemed determined to not give up hope just yet and wanted to see him anyways.

So when she and her companions entered the room of the sick bat pony that was their father, Luna looked to Rain for a mere moment as he asked a question. “Are you sure that what you have in mind is going to work?”

All Luna could do was nod in response as Nightstar pulled back the covers around his father's right shoulder. The swelling from the bite looked very bad, painful to the point that it would be impossible for one to move their arm. But it didn’t make Luna look away though. Instead, she placed her hands on the outside of the wound as she muttered a single word.

“Poisona.”

The single word had magic immediately begin to form around Luna’s hands. Not magic that any unicorn could use, but the magic that Rain, Shining and Sunset were able to use on their own. It left the knight shocked to see her be able to perform an ability such as this one as the magic seeped into the swelling wounds and have it begin to die down. The redness and pain beginning to disappear as color began to return to his face.

All of this… left Rain rather surprised. “How… were you able to do that?”

“Sunset tried to teach me some magic b-before I left to join you two… what she was able to teach me was how to heal ponies of not just injuries, but also heal poison and disease.” She stuttered for a moment, looking back to both Stella and Nightstar after saying that to Rain. “I-i hope that I was able to do what I can so he could be able to not be in pain anymore.”

Both of them were going to say something to her in response, but it was then that they heard a slight groan from the stallion in the bed as they were able to see him open his eyes and stand himself upright. “W-what? W-w-what happened? I… don’t feel pain anymore…”

That moment… had Stella dismiss her serious tone from before as she rushed to the bedside, tears almost beginning to flow down her face from the joy she was feeling. “F-father!! You’re awake!” Nightstar also rushed over, just as shocked to see that his father was awake and not in pain. Something that had not been the case over the course of the last few weeks. “By the stars, we thought we weren’t going to see you again!”

Rain himself felt happy for them, but after a few moments, he heard Shining heading towards the door and excusing himself from the room. “I believe the two of you wish to have some privacy with your father-”

“No no, it’s fine…” He heard the bat pony that was in the bed straighten himself up and lay his back against the wooden bed rest along the wall. “I wish to thank you and your friend for being able to help me. Would you care to introduce yourselves?”

“Father, these are Rain, Shining Armor and… Fina, was it?” Nightstar asked, which resulted in a nod from Luna as he continued to speak. “Both Rain and Shining Armor are knights in the Canterlot Royal Guard.”

“I see…” He said in response, before looking back at Rain and the others. “Well, allow for me to introduce myself now… My name is Comet Star. I was a Commander for the Royal Guard’s NightWatch… now I honestly don’t know if I’m able to fight now because of how long I’ve been out of commission.”

“Don’t think like that,” they heard Luna tell him. “I-i’m sure you’ll be fine if you get enough rest.”

“That’s very kind of you…” Comet told her in response. “But I don’t want to get my hopes up… Tell me though. What brings the three of you to Hollow Shades? I would expect for knights such as yourself to stay in Canterlot.”

Rain sighed for a moment. When he heard that, he soon looked back at the three bat ponies as he began to speak. “Well… that’s the thing… Several hours ago, Canterlot was attacked.”

That had shock appear on all three bat ponies as they all had questions for them. “W-what happened!?”

“Was anypony hurt?”

“Who would dare attack Canterlot!?”

That had Rain sigh for a moment, but before he could say anything, that was when Shining Armor decided to step in. “Nopony was hurt, but sections of the city are being rebuilt since the enemy was able to command monsters to attack the city. As for the attackers, they were a group of six who were outfitted with dark armor and called themselves the ‘Sworn Six of Paladia’.”

Rain soon picked up from where Shining left off as he nodded his head. “We are not clear about what their intentions are, but it seems as if they want to bring harm to more than just Equestria. We were on our way to Fillydelphia because we needed a ship that could take us to Griffonstone, where we believe these attackers would strike next.”

That was a lot for the three bat ponies in order to process. But after a bit, Comet soon had to say something. “I see… That is indeed a lot to take in… If I may though, I would like to ask another question on a different matter.”

“Sure, what is it that you want to ask?” Rain spoke, but soon noticing that the question was for someone else as Comet was now looking in Luna’s direction.

“Forgive me, but this question isn’t intended for you, but for the lady…” Comet said, looking to Luna now. “I’m a little curious as to how you were able to heal my wounds. We’ve had healers try to use curatives and spells before, but compared to you, they did not do much good.”

“W-well…” Luna replied, before looking back at Rain, who decided to pick things up from there and help her out.

“Her magic, along with ours, is not like most forms of sorcery that you would see nowadays. In a sense, it would be seen as ancient magic,” He explained to them. “Spells from the time of heroes such as Starswirl and Clover the Clever.” The bat pony himself chuckled for a moment, smiling as he looked back at them.

“Well, I am indeed grateful for your help in cleansing the venom that was inside me. But I may need some more time before I am back at full strength…” Comet told them. “But on a different subject, you said that you were going to Fillydelphia, correct?”

Rain, Shining and Luna all nodded their heads in response, which soon had the bat pony himself say something else. “Well, the only way to the city is through the forest that’s to the east of town… However though, it’s said that there’s a creature that lurks in the forest. Some would even think that it’s haunted.”

That… had Luna shiver for a moment. “H-haunted?” It also had Rain and Shining also seem a bit confused as they looked back to Comet and his children.

“What would lead someponies to think that the forest is haunted? Doesn’t the train go through there to Fillydelphia?”

“No, the train goes along the outside edge of it,” Stella clarified for them. “As for the forest itself, anypony who has tried to go through it has heard voices that told them that they were trespassing sacred ground. The sound of it alone makes most ponies run, but nopony has ever seen who lives inside there.”

That… only had Rain say something that everypony in the entire room… wasn’t entirely expecting as he took a deep breath. “Well… I guess we’re going to be the first then.”

“Rain, is this really the best course of action for us to be taking?” Shining Armor asked his friend as he, Rain and Luna entered the forest.

“Shining, this is the only other possible path that would allow for us to reach Fillydelphia,” Rain told the unicorn as Luna stood by his side. “Besides, if this place is supposedly ‘haunted’, then it would mean that we would not have to worry about being attacked by thieves or bandits.”

“That may be true, but we honestly don’t know what could be lurking in there.” The unicorn countered in response, which soon lead to his friend asking one particular question.

“Shining, are you seriously trying to back out now? You’re not scared now, are you?”

That had the unicorn blink for a moment, before shaking his head. “Of course not! I’m just recalling from when we were originally in the Everfree Forest the other day. We should at least be a bit careful.” Rain understood what Shining was talking about, but seriously began to doubt that his friend wasn’t afraid.

But as they traveled through the forest, they began to notice that everything around them was rather… peaceful. Not at all like the ‘haunted’ persona that it was given. But soon, the three of them began to hear a voice that didn’t sound like anything else they heard before. “W-who goes there!? Why are you impertinate… Imperinent… Imperpinent… Rrgh! How many times do I have to say that word until I get it right!?! It’s so ANNOYING!!”

That… had Rain and his companions look to one another as the knight soon asked something. “What… was that supposed to be?”

“I-is it some kind of ghost?” Luna asked, shivering a little at the thought of it.

“Doesn’t… seem like it,” Shining replied. “Still, it is possible. But ghosts don’t normally act like an entitled foal who sounds like they’re mad at their parents, so let’s see it as a working theory.”

That though… got a entirely different reaction from the ‘ghost’ in question. “Whaaaat!?! Who do you people think you are?!! Walking brazenly into my grove!! Look, if you jerks have no business with me, just do me a favor and get lost!!!”

All that did though… was make Rain smirk. “So you’re saying you want for us to get lost in your forest and never leave? If that’s the case, thank you for welcoming us.”

“Yay!! I want to meet this ghost so we can make treehouses and live here forever!” That… just lead to Shining Armor facepalming himself, questioning what he was seeing as he looked back at them.

“Why are you two acting like this?”

“Didn’t one of Twilight’s friends say that you needed to ‘giggle at the ghosties’?” Rain chuckled, recalling Pinkie Pie mentioning that when they were all coming back from the Everfree Shrine after the Nightmare Moon incident.

“I’m NOT a ghost, darn it!! Why do all of you people keep assuming I am one!?!” The voice snapped, sounding irritated with the three of them.

“If you’re not a ghost, then what are you supposed to be, Mr. Voice?” Luna asked curiously. Which, made the voice groan a bit at first… before saying something else in a more calm demeanor.

“If it’s answers you seek from me, search the grove.” After that, Rain looked back at the others as he then thought of something.

“Hey… do you think it’s possible that this person might know something about the Veritas? I mean, if they’re going to Griffonstone and don’t have a ship, then they must’ve passed through here right?” The Knight’s theory lead to Shining Armor and Luna looking back at one another for a moment, before the unicorn then responded to him.

“It’s… possible,” The unicorn admitted. “Though, we need to find this… person first before asking them anything.” The likelihood was that the voice that had been talking to them for the past few moments was somewhere deeper in the forest, meaning that they had to wander off the main path in order to seek them out. After a while though, Rain and Shining were looking all around in the treetops and the ground to be aware of their surroundings. Though… Luna herself decided to not look at what was above them… and more at what was in the distance as she spotted a glowing light that resembled that of a ruby.

“Hey… Look over there.” She pointed out to the two knights she was traveling with as they all carefully approached it.

“Do you think that’s… the voice we’ve been hearing?” Rain asked Luna and Shining. “Maybe some kind of spell?”

“If it were a spell, we could feel the magic from the pony who would be casting it.” The unicorn reminded him. “However, I’m not feeling anything of that nature at all. One could think that it may be a campfire, but I don’t hear flames either… the only thing I do feel though is a presence.”

That had Rain raise an eyebrow for a moment. “A presence? What do you mean by that exactly?”

“By presence I mean a presence of a being with great power. Like if you stood before Princess Celestia, but this is much different. For one thing, it’s much… smaller.” That had Shining notice something once he turned back to face Rain. “Rain… Where’s Luna?”

That made the knight blink as he turned around to notice that she wasn’t by his side anymore. “What the-? I swear, she was here just a moment ago!”

“Just great… A couple of hours in and we manage to not only lose our sense of direction in this place, but we managed to lose Celestia’s sister too?!” Shining stated in disbelief as he facepalmed himself. “By the stars, how are we going to explain this too-” The unicorn’s train of thought though was interrupted when both of them heard the sound of giggling nearby. Only for both of them to see Luna snuggling with what looked like a jade colored rabbit with the poofy tail of a fox and a ruby on it’s forehead. They were in the middle of what looked like a stone platform that had three pillars. One at the top and two at the bottom corners at each side and each one with what looked like a green marble with a burning flame inside.

“Guys, look at him! He’s so CUTE!! Can we keep him? Can we!?” Luna asked. Only for all three of them to get caught off guard by what they heard next.

“Hey!! Get your hands off of me!! I am not some kind of pet, lady-! AAGH!!!” That had Rain blink a couple of times before he looked back at Shining Armor.

“Did that… rabbit just talk?”

However, the creature himself didn’t quite like how he was being referred to as he now snapped at the knight before Luna found a new way to pet him. “Shut your mouth! Y-you’re talking to the mighty esper Carbuncle-! Agh, not the ears!! Not the ears!!!”

“Aww, this little guy is just too adorable!!” Luna teased, rubbing his ears some more.

“AGH!! Why does your demonic hands feel so good!?! STOP!!” The esper squirmed again. During this though, it was when Rain noticed that the gem on the creature’s forehead was beginning to grow brighter. But before he could say anything, he was knocked back a couple of feet as he tumbled onto the ground. To which, made Carbuncle panic. “Ah! I’m sorry!! I’m sorry!! I’m sorry!! I didn’t mean for that to happen!!”

“Luna, I think you should let him go…” Shining instructed her as he rushed to help Rain get up. “Are you alright, Rain?”

“Yeah… just a bit caught off guard. That’s all…” Rain said, before returning his gaze to the one that called himself Carbuncle as he now approached the esper. “I think that we all have some questions to ask our friend here… Like what are you doing all the way out here in the forest?”

“T-this place is my home! Why else would you ask something like that?” Carbuncle questioned them.

“Well… we were told by the ponies in the nearby village that this place was… well… haunted.” Rain replied. “That anypony that passed through here heard voices… was that you?”

“I-i…… I just wanted to make friends! I’ve tried t-traveling outside to the village, but the ponies there think I’m a monster,” The esper told them, sounding rather down and upset while doing so. “I… wanted to see what things were like outside the grove. But with me being an esper and all…”

“Pardon me for interrupting,” Shining interjected as he looked back at the small being. “But I’ve heard you say the word ‘Esper’ more than once now. What exactly is an esper?” That… actually caught Carbuncle by surprise as he looked at all three of them with the same amount of confusion.

“Seriously? None of you know what an esper is?” He asked, which caused Rain, Shining and Luna to all shake their heads. “That… is a new one. Even for me.”

“What is an Esper then?” Luna asked.

“Well even though the name changes, depending on the species and what now, Espers are the equivalent that some may see as demi-gods or divine beings,” Carbuncle replied in response to Luna’s question. “Some of us are either sealed away because their power was seen as too great for someone to behold or they don’t make their presence known unless they feel someone enter their domain.”

That had Shining Armor speak in response now as he folded his arms. “I get it… you make your presence known to us and the ponies that come here because all of the forest here is your home.”

“That’s right…” Carbuncle replied. “However, many of these beings themselves are much… much older than I am. Heck, some of them have been around before the time of your princess… Celestia I think her name was.” That surprised Rain for sure. To think that there were these powerful beings around before her time? That seemed almost unheard of from what he learned. “I’m the youngest of the espers and I don’t really… well… have as much experience as some others.”

“Alright… what about that blast from your jewel earlier?” Rain then asked him. “What was that all about?”

“Well, that is a particular power that I possess. Ruby Light,” He said, before his gem glowed again and had him cloaked in a mystical veil. “Try using your magic against it.” Before Rain could say anything about it, Shining followed through on it and began to cast a low level ‘blizzard’ spell. However, as he sent the ice shard at Carbuncle, the veil that was around him deflected the spell.

Which ended up hitting Rain in the face. “Ah ha ha ha!! Oh gods, the look on your face! T-that’s just-! Ah ha ha!!”

“Yeah yeah… very funny…” Rain grumbled back. “So your power is that you can be able to deflect spells?”

“I also know abilities to resist elemental magic…” Carbuncle added on. “But I can only do that once you pass my trial.”

Hearing that had Rain, Shining and Luna all collectively look at one another for a moment, before Luna asked a question. “T-trial?”

“You don’t think Espers just stand around for people to stare at now, do you?” Carbuncle asked them. “Espers can be able to lend their strength and power to those who complete a trial. After that, the more times you use that power, the more it grows. Much like a muscle in your body.”

“So… if we wanted for you to come with us… what kind of trial would we need to do?” Rain then asked the esper. The Esper paused for a moment… looking like he was deep in thought for a moment as he turned to them.

“Well… despite my power, I’m not much of a fighter… and unlike all the other ponies who ran away when they heard me, you guys seeked me out…” Carbuncle asked, before coming up with something on the spot. “How about this… you tell me the reason for deciding to come this way… and maybe, just maybe, I’ll join you guys.”

So, Rain decided to take a deep breath and start from the beginning. Explaining about how Shining and him went to the Everfree Shrine and because of them failing to stop Veritas of the Dark, he was able to destroy the earth crystal. From there, he had also covered how Shining and him got the power of visions, fighting off Nightmare Moon, the return to Canterlot and also about Luna. It took a while for them to finish, but by the time that Rain was done, the esper had an answer for him.

“A-after hearing all of that… I really want to help you g-guys,” He said, before looking back at Luna. “J-just please… If you want to snuggle me like that, p-please warn me in advance? Y-you remind me of an old friend who would do the exact same thing long ago.”

“Oh?” Luna asked, “Who was your friend?”

“Why, it was Mistmane. One of the old ‘Pillars of Equestria’.” Carbuncle replied, before looking down on himself. “She… stayed with me here in the grove and was my only friend. But one day… out of nowhere, she was gone. Ever since then, I’ve been alone… until I found you guys.”

“Aww, that’s just so sad…” Luna said, before pulling Carbuncle into a hug again in order to try and make the Esper feel better.

“Uh… w-what are you doing?” The esper questioned.

“C-comforting you?”

That had Carbuncle sigh as he said something else to Luna. “W-well, your heart is in the right place… but your hands and arms are not…” Once the Alicorn let go, he then looked towards Rain as he began to speak again. “In any case though, I should give you these.”

That was when Rain felt something appear in his pocket from out of nowhere, before pulling out what looked like a replica of the spheres that were on each of the pillars. “What are these?”

“Those are evocation marbles. When in battle, those can gain a special energy that you get when you fight and when it’s full and bright, you can call upon the esper you want to summon in battle by name,” Carbuncle replied as Rain placed the gem back in his pocket. “It works on all Espers once you get more of them to lend their strength… And guys.”

“Yes Carbuncle?” Luna then asked in response.

“Thank you for letting me come with you guys. This is going to be so much fun!!” With that, the body of Carbuncle soon began to glow, before the esper disappeared and the spheres on the pillars lost their color. Looking to his companions, Rain smiled as they began to make their way out of the forest and onto Fillydelphia.

It felt good to have some new friends join them on their journey.

Author's Notes:

New chapter, new friends and a new companion. And with it, Rain and his companions set off on their journey. Keep in mind, I'm trying to keep the same kind of personality to Carbuncle as demonstrated in Brave Exvius, but while also showing that he has a weakness for people cuddling him.

---

New Party Member acquired- Luna

Job: White Magus/Princess
Role: Healing/Support
Rarity: 2*~6*
Origin: Exvius Rainfall
Gender: Female
Race: Alicorn
Trust Mastery: N/A (Story Character)

---

The Esper Carbuncle has joined your team!

Evocation- Ruby Light: Covers your team in a mystical veil of magic created from the gem on Carbuncle's forehead, protecting your team against magic and reflecting any spells back at your opponent for two turns.

---

As always, thank you for the support. I'm glad you guys like the story so far and I hope to see you next time!
-Frost