I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR LOVE

Chapter 10: Sundown

Cheerilee groggily opened her eyes with a groan. What happened? I- Her inner thoughts were disrupted when she tried to pick her head up off of the floor, but found it held fast. A clink caught her attention and she looked back to her left at her forehooves and saw them tethered to a rough rock floor with thick iron chains. With great effort, she lifted her head from the floor and saw a chain underneath, presumably running up to a thick collar she could now feel around her neck. A quick glance at the walls revealed them to be rough hewn, and dotted with gemstones.

“Awake at last?” The teacher's eyes shot over to her right and she saw a pegasus mare similarly weighted down. An iron band encircled her barrel, restricting her wings to their folded position, and she looked like she had lost a fight with a mountainside. “Are you okay? I was worried when he brought you in; you looked to be in terrible shape.”

A sudden pain in her head made her wince, but Cheerilee rode it out, looking back at her cellmate through pain-filled eyes. “I look bad? You obviously haven't seen a mirror lately,” she retorted.

The pegasus looked back at all the bruises and cuts marring her lilac coat with a sad expression. “Yeah, I guess I put up too much of a fight. Black Diamond doesn't like resistance. I'm Cloudchaser, by the way.”

Cheerilee smiled at her sympathetically. “I know. I've seen you and your fillyfriend around town. Glitter, wasn't it?”

“Flitter,” she replied, a genuine smile breaking through. “Better not let her hear you call her that. She hates it when ponies do that.”

“Do you know what we're doing here?” Cheerilee asked.

Cloudchaser rolled her eyes. “All too well, unfortunately. You see, I was captured in the woods and brought here to that maniac by timberwolves of all things. He put me under some sort of hypnosis and found out that I saw you being taken by a griffon. I guess you could say that it's kinda my fault you're even here.” She grimaced apologetically. “Sorry about that. Luckily, he doesn't know how to do that very well or something, because I broke free almost right after that. Anyway, you're not even the one he's really after. You, my mare, are bait,” she said with obvious distaste.

The maroon mare's eyes went wide. “Bait? Me? Whatever for?”

“To capture the worst pony of all time, of course!”

Cheerilee and Cloudchaser turned to the passageway to see what could only vaguely be called a diamond dog. His pelt was a jet black, but sparkled in the torchlight like millions of tiny diamonds. He was taller than any diamond dog, and though well muscled, had the svelte look of a lean hunter. The collar on his neck was studded with gems of all colors and types, and he wore a vest of expensive silks sewn with more gems. Rings encircled each finger; the gold, silver, and platinum of the bands bejeweled with precious stones. However, it was his eyes that chilled the pony captives to the bone. There was so much hate in his eyes, so much malice, it was like looking into an abyss of scorn and enmity.

The diamond dog walked up to the bound earth pony and loomed over her. “You,” he said, touching the tip of one claw to her nose and drawing blood, “will be the one to draw the most hated of ponies to me, so that I may end her.” His voice had a deep, rumbling quality to it that sounded like stone grating on stone. “Then with her gone, I will tear the pony lands apart and take every single jewel stolen by ponies!” He grinned at her, showing off his gem-like teeth. “I may even let you live to witness it.”

Cheerilee lunged at him, attempting to headbutt him, but was brought up short by the cumbersome collar and chain on her neck. Black Diamond growled angrily and cuffed the mare solidly. Cheerilee staggered and fell back to the floor, her vision spinning. Being struck by him was like being hit with a sack of rocks.

“Leave her alone!” Cloudchaser shouted.

Black Diamond turned to her and barked shrilly, “Pony doesn't tell me what to do! I tell pony what to do!” His voice lost some of its deep timbre, sounding more like what a diamond dog should. He leaped over the the pegasus and punched her in the face. “Ponies! Don't! Give! Orders!” With each word, he kicked Cloudchaser, raining down blows. He stood over her suddenly still form, breathing heavily.

Calm returned, he turned back to Cheerilee and grabbed her chin to force her to meet his gaze. The dazed mare look at him with contempt and fear. Black Diamond grinned at her again. “Don't worry. I didn't go to the trouble of stealing you from that foolish griffon and replacing you with a decoy, just to kill you now.” His voice had returned to its gravelly overtone. His grip on her tightened, drawing blood where his claws dug into her skin. “No. That will come after I kill Twilight Sparkle.”

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A gray blur moved through the forest like a ghost. In the day's waning light, she became even harder to distinguish. As a simple recruit, she had been taught the basics and the value of inconspicuousness. Now, she raced through the underbrush, silent and quick enough that the small animals didn't even take note of her presence until long after she had gone.

Leaping up to a high tree branch, Plain Sight looked around to regain her bearings and look for pursuit or enemies. Bucking Hay, Minuette. This better be the way they went, or I'm going to have your stripes. She took a moment to scan the woods and noticed a small clearing ahead.

Instead of going back down to the ground, she leapt from branch to branch, never touching the ground until she arrived at the small meadow. The spymaster searched the ground, stopping when she came across a drop of crimson. She leaned down and sniffed, then licked at it, smacking her lips. Definitely blood. Fairly fresh, too. Searching around some more, she came across a trio of small furrows dug into the earth. Plain Sight stepped carefully as she approached so as to disturb as little as possible. She put her hoof next to the furrows experimentally. Looks about right for a griffon of the size described.

Plain Sight continued looking, and was surprised when a hoof sank into some soft earth up to her ankle. She withdrew the appendage and considered the hole. She tapped the edge of the hole, causing more of it to collapse, leaving a cavity. Something's not right here.

The earth pony began digging at the edges of the hole, widening it until a hole large enough to swallow a pony whole was revealed. It looks like someone tried to quickly cover this hole with a thin veneer or packed earth. But how did... Shaking her head, she inspected the hole. It looks like there's a tunnel down here. Does this have anything to do with Cheerilee's foalnapping?

An odd, dark coloration at the bottom caught her attention, so she nimbly jumped down into the seven-hoof deep hole. Plain Sight sniffed and tasted the stained earth, spitting out the foul dirt. Blood. They said that a griffon took her, so it's very likely that she would have had scratches if not gashes from struggling. She looked down the tunnel which appeared to be very stable. But why would a griffon take her into tunnels like these?

Plain Sight felt the unfamiliar tinge of panic as indecision pricked at her mind. Do I follow this mysterious tunnel which may or may not have anything to do with the foalnapping, or do I continue on in the direction Minuette saw them going? She bit her lower lip, worrying it between her teeth.

A moment passed. Then another. Disgusted with herself, the gray mare slapped herself and started carefully down the tunnel.

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News Flash kicked the garbage can across the room, scattering empty film rolls, paper towels, and other detritus across the now lit darkroom. “Buck, buck, buck, BUCK! How the buck did all our film get destroyed? Even th' unused rolls 'r garbage!”

Buried Lead patted her pink and blue stripped mane. “You fell asleep during journalism history class, didn't you?”

“Th' Hay yah talkin' 'bout, Bury?” the irate unicorn yelled.

“I'm talking about the yellow journalism incident about fifty years ago. Way back in... '48, I think?” He tilted his head and looked to be accessing an old, rarely used memory. “Anyway, some photographers got a little... ambitious, and tried to sneak into the Princess's bath. They say that she turned into a living piece of the sun. When they got back to their darkrooms, those that managed to hold onto their cameras, anyway, they found all of their film ruined. Every single frame was blank.”

News Flash looked at him incredulously. “Yah really think that's what happened? Ol' Sun-butt became a sun?” The pegasus nodded at her. “That... has got to be... the dumbest excuse Ah've evah heard!” She flipped an empty tray over with a satisfying clatter. “She's a pony for corn's sake; not some sorta phys'cal man'festation of a celestial object! She cain't become th' sun!”

“Somepony's been using that thesaurus I gave them for Hearth's Warming,” Buried lead muttered under his breath. In a placating tone, he said, “Well, that's sorta what some scientists are thinking that she is, actually. Credible ones, too; not just the looney kook fringe, either.”

News Flash looked at him like he had just grown a second head in front of her eyes. “Tha's... Tha's jus' stoopid! How would that even work?” The cream mare began pacing back and forth in front of her oldest friend. “What, th' sun got bored one day, and jus' 'cided to come visitin'? Hasn' anypony gone an' asked her, 'Oh, by th' way. Are yah th' sun made equine?' It... no! Jus' no, Bury. Tha's jus' askin' to take too much on faith! Where's th' evidence?”

Buried lead shook his head. “Of course nopony's gone and asked her that. The theory is based on observable data. I'll show you the report when we get back to Canterlot; but that's not important right now. What matters is that her radiation aura was strong enough to ruin our film, taking a day's worth of pictures with it.” The green stallion sighed bitterly. “The fact is Newsie, that I'm down to two rolls of film, and you're down to three that we had tucked away here in this wagon. The way I see it, we could either go back to Canterlot now, or we can stick around, and hope we can snap a picture or two that will satisfy both our bosses.”

The unicorn journalist looked stricken at the thought. “Ah... Ah cain't go back emptyhoofed! Ah'm walkin' a fine line with'm as it is! If'n Ah go back without somethin' to give 'em, Ah may as well sign mah own termination papahs!”

Placing a hoof on her shoulder, Buried Lead calmed her down. “Alright, Newsie, alright. Stay calm and carry on. We'll stick around and get our pictures.” His gaze shifted over to his camera on the counter. “We'll just have to be more selective about the pictures we do take.”

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As the sun set behind the horizon, Celestia's flight slowed to a crawl. Panting, she settled on the ground and collapsed on shaky legs. Sweat beaded on her once more alabaster coat, and her pastel-hued mane and tail returned to their normal state briefly before turning entirely pink and motionless. She laid in the dirt, gasping for breath, just within the demesnes of the Everfree forest. The halberd fell to the ground with a thud, neatly clipping off a lock of pink mane.

Too slow. I was too slow... Tears fell down Celestia's cheeks. Tears of frustration and despair, but mostly tears of fear. Fear for the pony for whom she had cared for most of the filly's life. No! I can't give up! I won't give up; not while I draw breath! With fantastic effort, the alicorn fought past the stiffness of tired muscles and exhaustion to extend a hoof forward. She dragged herself back on to her hooves, heedless of the dirt and plant matter that became tangled in her mane and tail. I'm coming, Twilight! Hold on, I'm-

A rusting of leaves caught her attention, and her eyes swiveled to find the source. Almost faster than her eye could see, a piece of the forest seemed to come alive to leap at her. Celestia ignored her protesting muscles and leaped backwards with the help of a flap of her wings, narrowly avoiding being sliced up by a wolf's massive paw. Taking a moment to actually look at her attacker, she gasped. The wolf appeared to have been formed from slowly cooling magma. Its pelt was hard and spiky like basalt, but cracks ran throughout, glowing yellow-orange, and the air above it shimmered from the heat it radiated. Now that she was aware, Celestia could detect the plants life smoldering beneath the wolf, that should have given its presence away. "A bulgae! Then-" A low growling behind her was the only warning she got as she turned around to face another bulgae just as it tried to nip at her tail. Her eyes narrowed as three more slowly stalked out of the underbrush.

Celestia backed away, almost tripping on the halberd she had dropped. Her horn glowed weakly as she picked up the weapon and twirled it menacingly, but the shaking in her legs gave away her weariness. Sensing their moment had arrived, the bulgae closed in, wary of the blade. One nipped at her rear leg, but was bashed in the face with the flat of the halberd, sending it flying. It got back to its feet and shook its head before resuming the prowl. The alicorn wobbled, but managed to keep her hooves.

The alicorn's eyes flared brightly as she summoned a rapidly expanding sphere of superheated plasma surrounding herself. The sphere grew faster than the bulgae could react, throwing them out of the clearing and over the trees. Celestia was left alone and panting, but still standing. However, that didn't last long, as her legs finally gave out, leaving her laying in the dirt.

“'Tia? Art thou well?” Luna's voice broke in on her thoughts, worry plain in her tone.

“Lulu? Where are you? Twilight needs us.” There was no recrimination in her voice, but Celestia could feel her sister recoil as if physically struck.

“We hath just arrived in Ponyville. Where art thou?”

“The Everfree forest where I've been chasing them down. Wait, how did you get there so fast?” Celestia was so shocked, that she even stopped gasping for breath.

“We teleported. 'Tis why We waited for Moonrise that We wouldst have the wherewithal to arrive with all due haste.

Celestia would have facehoofed had she the energy to waste. “Would you do me a favor then, and come here. I can point you in the direction Twilight was going so you can get there before she's hurt.”

With a white flash of light, Luna appeared next to her. “'Tia, what is- SISTER!” She shouted when she took in her sister's state. “What hath transpired? When We find the villain who wouldst deign to harm my sister so, We'll-”

“Luna!” Celestia shouted, then immediately regretted her volume. She swallowed to wet her parched throat before saying, “This is my fault. I let my emotions get away from me, and ran off half cocked. Because of that, I was too exhausted to do more than crawl, let alone fight off the bulgae that found me here; and with the sun down, I have nothing left in me. You must go to her.”

"Bulgae? Here?" Luna shivered as she scanned the forest, looking for the threat. Reaching out with her sense that allowed her to see everything her moonlight touched, she found them running off further into the forest. "Gramercy, they hath quit the field, and flee like the curs they are." The night mare nodded. “Indeed, We shall carry on the hunt, but first, allow us to call forth thy shieldwardens.”

“Luna, there's no time to waste on-”

Luna ignored her and turned her eyes skyward to the ever darkening night. Spotting movement, she put a hoof to her mouth and let forth an ear-piercing whistle. The creature in the sky halted and the alicorn waved. Flying down towards them, a pegasus of the Solar Guard landed before them and bowed. “Your Highnesses! We've been searching everywhere for you!”

“At ease, good soldier,” Luna said, bidding him to rise. “We needeth thee to fetch thy brethren and escort Her Highness back to thy fold.”

The stallion rose to his hooves and pulled out a small pouch from his belt. “At once, Your Highness. Please, take this water. I shall return shortly with help.”

Luna took the pouch in her magic and smiled at the guard. “We thank thee for thy thoughtfulness.” When he had flown away, she opened the waterskin and brought it to her sister's lips. “Prithee, slake thy thirst on this, whilst We seek out thy faithful student, forthwith.”

Celestia greedily drank up the liquid like it was life itself. She nearly turned the skin inside out, trying to get every last drop out. A metallic scraping sound drew her attention, and she saw Luna levitating the halberd before her, giving it a few experimental swings. “Keep her safe, Luna. You know what she means to me; to us both.”

“Whosoever harms a hair on her little head shall know the wrath of the heavens, and despair.” The hard look in Luna's eyes sent a shiver down Celestia's spine.

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“There!” shouted Twilight. She winged over, dropping altitude and speed as she approached the meadow she had seen the pheromone trail briefly stop earlier. She landed in the clearing with her five friends and two lovers gently.

“But, Twi, yah still ain't explained how yah know they didn't know that Cheerilee were fake,” Applejack said as she came to a stumbling landing.

The librarian turned to regard the farmer, her newly healed eyes glittering dangerously. “I read her mind, Applejack. I quite literally, experienced everything she did; everything. I can tell you right now, that she believed that she had taken the real Cheerilee to that cave. There was only one spot where she lost sight and touch with her from the moment she foalnapped her, and it was right here in this clearing,” she said, pointing at the ground with a hoof.

Returning her gaze to the grassy field, she added, “How that golem managed to smell like Cheerilee, let alone get switched so fast is beyond me right now, but I'm sure we'll find the answers when we get to the bottom of all this. Now let's spread out, and look around.” She took a step, then paused, declaring, “Just be sure to stay within sight of at least two other ponies. We don't want to get picked off like in some stupid horror movie.”

The ponies moved in, treading carefully, and keeping an eye on their surroundings as well as the ground below them. So it was Fluttershy who cried out, “Twilight, come look at this!”

Quick as a flash, she was surrounded by friends as they all peered into the hole uncovered earlier by Plain Sight. “What do you think, Twilight? Was she taken down here?” Dash asked.

“Ava didn't remember this hole, but...” The sensor made a reappearance, again pink, and the unicorn nodded. “Cheerilee's pheromones are definitely down here, along with something else's. It's odd, but...” Her sensor turned light blue before dissipating with a cry of pain from the caster. “Augh! Not again!”

“Twilight!” they all shouted, Trixie and Spitfire on either side of her, holding her tight.

The librarian covered her eyes, then blinked them open cautiously several times. “Phew! It's alright, everypony. I almost blinded myself again trying to decipher a magical aura. Luckily, I was able to cancel the spell before anything bad happened.”

Trixie lightly punched her in the shoulder. “You need to stop doing that! You almost gave Trixie a heart attack!”

Looking properly chastened, Twilight replied, “Sorry. I detected a magical aura on the periphery of my vision, so I tried to find out what it was. It's a lingering aura, so it's fading away.”

Spitfire looked concerned. “If it was strong enough to blind you as a fading aura, that does not bode well for us, or Cheerilee.”

“No Spitfire, it does not bode well for whoever took her, because I intend to return home with all three of my fillyfriends,” Twilight returned. As she hopped down into the tunnel, she muttered to herself, “And let's not forget making sure they never do this ever again.”

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As she ducked around a corner, yet another crystal golem lumbered past Plain Sight. Luckily, they were all very different in appearance, but that just meant she could keep track of their depressingly large numbers. She leaned further into the alcove created by the crystal outgrowths, as she heard a different sort of creature approaching. The sound was just as solid as the golems, but lacked the same tinkling of glass clacking together. She was surprised when a well-dressed, black diamond dog-like creature rounded the bend, nose held high.

“I smell you pony. Your stink makes me want to retch.” He looked around as he sniffed the air, unable to pinpoint her by that alone. “You want my gems too, don't you? Just like all ponies, they all come for my gems.” Black Diamond grabbed a crystal growing from the wall, and wrenched it loose. Holding it as a club, he paced back and forth in the tunnel, tapping the club into his other paw as he did.

Moving at a snail's pace, the spymaster slowly gathered herself, preparing to spring forward. When her target walked past, she leapt at him, forehooves first, aiming right for his head, and silent as the night. He must have heard her, though, as he whirled around, swinging the club as he spun. Plain Sight hooked her forelegs onto the club instead, and swung her hind legs up, connecting solidly with his jaw.

Buck! What is he made of? I think I split my hoof on his jaw! The gray mare kicked off his head with her good rear hoof, somersaulting backwards into a landing several hooves behind him.

With his thundering footsteps pounding in her ears, Black Diamond charged at the much smaller mare, pulling back a paw to swipe at her. As he swung, she dodged out of the way, letting him leave a trail of four parallel furrows deep into the rock floor. “Pony will stay away from my gems!” he shrieked, his voice once again losing it's menacing rumble for a teeth-grindingly high pitch.

Plain Sight rolled into a running start, making a sharp turn in the cramped cavern as she did. As she was about to collide with the wall, she began running along the wall, using her momentum to keep her from falling. She ran along the curve of the roughly hewn walls, charging back at Black Diamond, who was still trying to turn around fast enough to keep sight of the swift mare. Plain Sight was quicker though, and leapt off the wall while holding her spine straight, she rammed herself head-first into the dog's side.

This sent Black Diamond staggering, and Plain Sight flying, when his wildly flailing arm clipped her. The gray mare lurched to her hooves and shook her head to clear it. She looked to her opponent to see him glaring at her and holding his side. Again, they lunged at each other. Black Diamond struck out with his club again, but the gray mare just wasn't there. At the last second, she dropped to the ground and slid into his legs, sweeping them out from under him.

With a thunderous crash, Black Diamond hit the floor. Plain Sight rose to her hooves again, brushing some of the dirt from her forelegs. “I got news for you, whoever you are. I'm not here for your precious gems. And even if I was, there doesn't appear to be anything you could do about it.”

All Black Diamond heard was “here for your gems” and “nothing you could do about it”. He let loose a low growl that seemed to be echoed by the cavern itself. He slowly rose to his hind legs and faced the intruder, his eyes literally glowing with rage. Bringing his crystalline club up between his paws, he crushed it with one fluid motion; then ran at the mare again, this time so fast, that he surprised her.

Plain Sight tried to get out of his reach, but was too slow. As she turned to flee, he grabbed a rear leg in a crushingly vice-like grip and picked her bodily up from the ground. Without wasting any motion, Black Diamond swung her around until she met with the rough, crystal-studded wall. The first strike dazed her and knocked the breath from her lungs. The second saw her lose three teeth and break a foreleg when she tried to cushion the blow. The third, she lost consciousness and broke two ribs. The fourth, fifth, and sixth blows weren't even felt by her, and the seventh was just added to make sure she'd stay down.

His wrath sated, Black Diamond dragged the bloody and broken mare through the tunnels until he came to his other prisoners. Cheerilee and Cloudchaser looked up at his entrance and gasped when he unceremoniously dumped the gray earth mare to the ground next to Cheerilee. Both were too stunned by her appearance to say or do anything as he casually gestured and chains erupted from the ground and encircled manacles around her hooves, neck, and body.

“Monster!” Cheerilee shouted.

“You'll pay for this, Black Diamond! If you think the Princess is going to let you capture and torture ponies for your own sick amusement, you've got another thing coming!” Cloudchaser added, wiping away a dribble of blood coming down from the corner of her mouth.

Black Diamond turned to them with a smirk, his eyes briefly turning slitted and draconic before returning to normal. “You would do well to remember who you are talking to, ponies. You wouldn't want to end up like her, would you?” he asked, gesturing to Plain Sight.

Both mares tried to jump to their hooves, but were restrained by the chains that bound them. Black Diamond laughed as he left the three of them alone.

When she was sure that they were alone, Cloudchaser whispered, “Boss? You okay there?”

“Boss?” Cheerilee whispered. “You work for her?”

When it was obvious that Plain Sight wouldn't be waking anytime soon, Cloudchaser slumped to the ground, defeated. “Yeah. We're part of the detail charged with keeping the Elements safe and under observation.” She snorted and gestured to themselves. “Not doing too good a job of it so far.”

“Oh, come on,” Cheerilee whispered encouragingly, “Surely you've stopped plenty of threats before they became a problem.”

Cloudchaser rolled her eyes. “Of course, but this isn't our first failure.” She sighed as if weighed down with the weight of all of Equestria. “Just our most spectacular.” The teacher looked at her with worry. “And now, all six of them, and likely Twilight's other two lovers will be walking into this trap. We really dropped the ball this time.”

“B'l'y th't noise.” The low, broken whisper shattered the silence, causing Cheerilee and Cloudchaser to turn to regard Plain Sight.

“Boss?” Cloudchaser whispered.

Plain Sight opened a swelling eye to look at her cellmates. She hacked up some blood from her mouth as she tried to talk and said, “N't ded y't. St'll 'ope.”

“Please stop talking,” Cheerilee pleaded with tears in her eyes. “You need to heal; talking will only make it worse.”

The spymaster regarded her with affection. “Hey, Teach. Glad t'see y'made... th'cut. Sh' needs sme'pny like yuh.” She coughed again, spitting up a gobbet of something bloody and chunky. She looked down at it and smiled. “Huh. W'nder if th't's 'port'nt.”

“Sweet Celestia, that's enough!” Cheerilee shouted. Tears ran down her cheeks and pooled on the ground below her face. “Just hang on! When Twilight gets here, she'll set everything right! I promise, but you have to hold on!”

“S'okay, Teach,” Plain Sight mumbled weakly. “S'nuff t'know... she's in good... hooves...” The gray mare closed her eyes and sighed with a smile.

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“Prince-consort Shining Armor III, you sit down this instant before you reopen that wound!”

The white stallion rolled his eyes, but complied with the order nonetheless. The tone in Cadance's voice would brook no argument, and he wasn't about to see her try to make him follow her command; not in front of his own troops anyway.

To their credit, only one Sergeant actually smiled, but he was an old friend and mentor who had trained him from a cadet, so nothing was said. He looked to his aide-decamp, and asked, “Any signs of Princess Celestia or my sister yet?”

“Her Highness has been found, and a detachment of pegasi are winging out to her as we speak,” the unicorn lieutenant replied business-like. “Unfortunately, no sign of Lady Twilight has been found as of yet. We have squadrons of pegasi searching by air, and unicorns through clairvoyance, but the Everfree forest is extremely large, and cover is dense.”

“Tell them to to send a detachment towards the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters,” Shining said with a nod. “Trouble seems to gather at that place like ants at a picnic.” The stallion saluted and left. He looked at the rest of his command team and said, “You all know what to do. If there's any new developments, report back.” He returned their salute, then slumped when the last of them left his tent. He turned to his ever-present wife. “Cady...”

Cadance enveloped him in a hug, letting him sniffle into her coat. “It'll be alright, Shiny,” she cooed. “Twilight's a big girl, now. Not only does she have the Elements with her, but her fillyfriends as well. You know they'll do their best to keep her safe.”

Shining sniffed once more, saying, “I just wish it was me out there instead of her. She doesn't deserve this. Not my LSBFF.”

Cadance patted his head as he rested it over her shoulder. “I know, Shiny. I wish it was me instead, too.” She sighed and kissed his neck. “It just seems that fate has decreed that she's to have an 'interesting life'.”

“She hasn't even taken them to see our parents yet. Mom and Dad don't even know that she's seeing anypony yet,” The Captain lamented. “Just the other day, Mom was asking me when I thought Twily would finally settle down. Nearly choked on my scone.”

The Princess moved to look him in the eye. “There, you see? She has to come back, because she still needs to tell your parents. When was the last time she tried to keep something from them?”

Smiling at the sweet memory, Shining replied, “Yeah. She tried so hard to hide the fact that she had stopped for ice cream on her way back from school. She never even noticed the chocolate chip stuck to her cheek.” He grinned at his wife. “She didn't even last five minutes under Mom's stare before confessing.”

“To be fair, your mother can be intimidating, especially when you only come up to her knee,” Cadance retorted.

A commotion from outside the tent drew their attention as the flap was raised. In walked a bedraggled Celestia, looking more worn out than either of them had ever seen.

“Auntie!” Cadance exclaimed as she rushed to her side. Immediately, her horn lit up to cast a healing spell, but the Princess of the Dawn held up a hoof.

“Neigh, Niece. My wounds are minor, and healing as we speak.” She walked over to a pitcher of ice water and drank the whole thing, ice and all.” Save your healing in case it's needed when Twilight and the others return,” she said with a gasp.

Shining approached her cautiously. “Princess? Did you see any sign of Twilight?”

“I'm afraid not, Shining,” Celestia said with a shake of her head. "Luna is on the trail, though, and with the stars and moon to guide her, I am confident that she will be found.” It took all of her willpower to not try to contact Luna telepathically and ask her for new information.

Author's Notes:

Oof. This was a tough one to write. Plain Sight's last scene was just... yeah. Amazing how attached one can get writing a throwaway character, huh? She just kept growing and growing, until she took on a life of her own. I suppose News Flash and Buried Lead on on their way for the same status. :P

Anywho, the usual disclaimers here. Everything but the arrangement of the words, Plain Sight, News Flash and Buried Lead belong to Hasbro and Lauren Faust. The rest are mine.