On it's way to Ponyville a single military Chariot flew through equestrian air space passing in between the clouds as they whisped by. The day was sunny and partly cloudy. Blue star and star tail were pulling the chariot which was big enough to carry a small platoon of guards. Ash, Palomino and sage dust were all riding in the chariot. They had been flying for about an hour now and the squad was ready to land soon. " So, what are our objectives once we land? Ponyville isn't exactly a danger zone." asked and stated a very bored earth pony Sargent. Palomino was sitting in one corner of the chariot playing with the plume on his helmet. " Well Our primary objective is to secure the town and gather intel. The more we know about the residents here, the easier it will be to spot anyone who doesn't' belong. But first, we're going to pay a visit to the mayor since she'll have more instructions for us. " Said Ash who was looking over the side of the chariot. " It should be an easy assignment for us. once we've established ourselves there we'll have the rest of our guard escort the princess here." said Sage in his usual canterlot accent as he was reading a book he had brought along which was in his ethereal grip. " Right. " replied Ash. " Sir we're about to land, looks like the mayor is ready to meet us, she's waiting for us at Mane street." Blue star said. Ash peered in the direction of the Mayor and said, " Ok put it down there.". The Chariot banked to the right and began to descend to the ground in a graceful and slow manner. Once they landed, Palomino was the first to get out, followed by Sage and finally Ash. Ash trotted up to the Mayor and saluted her. " Madam Mayor, Lieutenant Ash of the Canterlot Royal Guard reporting for duty." Ash was standing stiffly at attention with one hoof up to his brow. " It's good to finally meet you captain, The princess has told me a lot about you in her letters." Replied the Mayor. The Ponyvillians looked on with interest at the newly arrived guards. There had been times Guards have arrived to Ponyville with Princess Celestia, but never on their own. " I was told you would have other instructions for us once we've arrived." Ash asked the Mayor. " That's right Captain!" The Mayor said. She pulled a scroll out of her brief case she was carrying. She offered it to Ash who then levitated it towards him and opened it. "' Welcome to ponyville Ash. I wish I could have welcomed you there in person, but of course as you know I have my royal duties here. It feels like it's been forever since I've been home. As you know We have the 50th anniversary of the founding of Ponyville coming up in three days. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will be arriving then to attend the Banquet, so every pony is working hard to make it a celebration to remember. On top of your regular assignment, I'm also assigning you a side mission, I ask you and your squad to check up on preparations and aid wherever you can. The critical areas you will be checking are: Food and party at Sweet Apple Acres with Apple Jack Weather with Thunderlane and RianbowDash The festival on Sturrup Street with Pinkie Pie and Rarity, and the Music with Fluttershy. I am well aware of your capabilities in intelligence gathering so this will give you an opportunity to get to know the locals. I hope this mission will help you in in that regard and I'm looking forward to seeing you again. Sincerely, Princess Twilight Sparkle.' " Ash read to his squad. " Well, looks like we have our work cut out for us, so Blue star and Star tail, you two go find the weather team, Pal, you go and check out Sweet Apple Acres, Sage, you'll be hitting up Sturrup street and I'll go check up on the Music." Ash had pointed in each direction to his squad as he assigned them their tasks. " Boss What's the plan once we're done?" Blue star asked, " We'll all meet up at the hotel tonight." Ash then turned to The Mayor. " Mam, we're ready to get started if that's all?" " That will be all Captain. Thank you and I hope you enjoy your stay here in Ponyville! I know I have my share of work to do today so I'll leave you too it." " Consider it all done!" He said as he saluted her. _ Fluttershy was at her cottage. Her saddle bags were filled with sheet music and she was ready to leave to practice with her animals, yet she was going nowhere. A mother Swan was in her Cottage with her little cygnets, save for one. Her youngling had gone missing so she went to the only pony in town who could help her. " Oh dear, that's awful! Of all days for a young swan to get lost, this one is the worst. It'll be hard to find him, oh I hope he's OK!" Fluttershy was hovering next to the top shelf of her book case looking through a set of topographic maps Twilight had copied for her. They had all the local water sources mapped out so Fluttershy so she could find them for animals easily. Today she was making a list of places to check in case the young swan went to any of them seeing as swans feel safer near water. " Oh I wish I could get my friends to help but they are all busy getting ready for the celebration. I think we should start looking around PonyVille." Fluttershy rolled up a map and put it in her saddle bag. All the mother could reply with was " Honk" " Don't you worry Mrs. Swan, We'll keep looking till we find your son!" Flutter shy said with confidence that she could only muster up when an animal was in danger. Flutter shy flew to the door and opened it letting the swan mother out and then she was on her way out to start the search. _ The Squad spread out to their respective jobs leaving Ash to roam the streets. He was heading towards the center where the town hall was. The mayor directed him there because that was where Fluttershy was holding the rehearsals. Ash's head was on a swivel as he trotted through the small community, observing everything. It was small and cosy. Many of the places Twilight had told him about the night before as they were stargazing, were exactly the way she described them. Ash could see his parents moving here for the summer. Many of the Ponies were too busy going about their lives but every once in a while he would receive stares. It was pretty rare for royal guards to be present in Ponyville, ever rarer, a Captain. A couple of the mares even smiled at him. Still the Town gave off a sense of peace, something Ash could appreciate. The Town hall was coming into view as Ash made a turn towards the town square. He was trotting up to it when he noticed something. There were many Ponies trotting about the square, holding conversations and going about their business, but something kept pushing it's way through the noise. To anypony else it would just sound like peeps, but to Ash, it was an animal calling for help. Ash looked around but couldn't pinpoint where exactly the peeps were coming from. Ash trotted around a bit until he saw the animal. It was a small cygnet, a dark ball of puff with a bill and webbed feet. It was frantically trying to dodge hooves that unknowingly threatened to stomp him. Ash moved in as quickly as he could grabbing the small bird with his magic and pulling him up out of the crowd. Ash took him to a side street where he put him down. The little Swan peeped at him to put him down so Ash obliged. " What are you doing here? You could have gotten killed!" Ash scolded the little bird. It tried to hid from him under its fussy wing. Ash began to feel bad. " Ugh… Where's your mother?" Ash asked more calmly. The Cygnet began to cry with tears rolling down it's beak. It made a few peeps, telling Ash that he was lost. Ash was beginning to get a sinking feeling. He knew he was on a tight schedule for the next few days but now he had the prospect of being responsible for this swan. Reuniting the bird with his mother could take upto an entire day. Fortunately he was early for the rehearsal so that would buy him some time. "Where did you last see your mom?" Ash asked. The bird gave a few peeps and shook his head. He didn't know his way around the town. This frustrated Ash a little more. However, Ash did feel for the youngling. He felt he couldn't just abandon him now. The bird began to cry again. "Now now, Don't cry, I'm sure we can find her." Ash tried to comfort the little Swan By nuzzling him. The young swan made a couple peeps in a way that sounded like a question. " That's right, I said we. I'll help you find her, I promise." As Ash said this the swan reached up and nuzzled Ash back with his beak. "Ok OK, I think we should start with the stream. Swans prefer the water right?" Ash asked. The youngling nodded his head but was unsure. "Well we're bound to find her swimming around or flying around. Either way we'll have a better chance of seeing her in the water, cause you know, neither of us can fly. The bird gave an angrily peep. "Hey hey, I'm sorry! Of Course you'll be flying in no time!" Ash rolled his eyes. "Now, I want you on my back. Ok? We can't have you getting lost or trampled. " The Swan was then levitated up on to Ash's back. the Swan settled on the saddle portion and the two were on there way. _ Sage Trotted up to a stand where an eccentric pink mare was rummaging through a trunk of party supplies. her hind legs stuck out and waved around as she vigorously dug for something. " Excuse me. You must be Pinkamena Diane Pie!" Sage said in a dignified tone. The rummaging stopped and the pink mare slowly pulled herself out with a look of suspicion on her face. She looked at Sage and asked, " Who's asking?" She calmly demanded " Lieutenant Sage Dust of the Canterlot Royal Guard…." He said hesitantly. " You're new here huh?" Pinkie narrowed her eyes at him. " Yes, just got here today, Why do you ask?" sage then narrowed his eyes back at her. There were a few tense seconds befor, " Because Every New Pony here in PonyVille Needs a welcome Party!" Pinkie's stare turned into a huge smile. She then hopped over to him with her face just inches from his. " Uh… maybe later?" Sage was now on his hind legs trying to preserve what little distance there was between him and the crazy one. " Promise?" Pinkie said sharply. " Uh… yes?" Sage replied. "Pinkie… promise?" " Huh?" Sage wondered what that was. _ Fluttershy and the mother swan flew all around ponyville. They searched the woods and fields surrounding Ponyville and even spent time in Ponyville but to no avail. It seemed that the mother swan had lost her youngling for good. Yet, Fluttershy was not going to give up so easily. They decided to go as far downstream on the stream that went through Ponyville as they could. They were going to start close to the everfree forest and make their way up in hopes of finding the youngling somewhere in the stream. " Don't you worry Mrs. Swan. We'll find him yet!" Fluttershy reassured the mother. It had been over two hours since the young cygnet went missing. Time was running out. Fluttershy could see her cottage as they flew by, the other younglings were safe inside, being watched by Angle. Not too far was the everfree forest, Thankfully the stream deviated away from that horrible dark place. " There, We can start there!" Fluttershy pointed at the stream about a half mile away from them. The mother nodded her head and they began to descend. _ Ash Trotted along the calm, quietly running stream searching the tall grass that grew on the banks. He had been trotting for an hour now and according to the youngling, he had been waddling around Ponyville for an hour before they had met, looking for his mom. According to him, the family of swans were following the stream that lead into town and he had wandered off to look at the town. Before he knew it, his mother had moved on without him. Ash was hoping The mother Swan was searching that same stream. However, they had traveled about one mile outside the town and were headed towards what Twilight had called the Everfree forest. " Ok little guy, this won't do, We've made it out this far and we haven't seen your mom anywhere." Ash said. The youngling looked dejected. " Tell you what, maybe I can try traveling like a swan, maybe we'll get her attention that way." The Swan nodded. With that Ash made his way through the tall grass and began wading in the stream which came up to his shoulders. Ash began to wonder if the padding for the armor was going to smell afterwards. _ Blue Star and Star tail flew around PonyVille at cloud level as they explored the town looking for the PonyVille weather team. " The town seems pretty calm, I don't see any Sierra Alfa here." Star tail said to Blue. Sierra Alfa was code for Suspicious Activity in the Equestrian military. " It's too much of a backwater town for my taste." Blue replied. " Yeah you say that now but it'll grow on you." Star argued " What do you think of the town's ponies?" Blue asked " The mares here are pretty , especially that one called Rose Mary. She seemed pretty nice when gave us directions. maybe I'll pay her a visit." " 20 bits says she's not interested." said Blue. " What? No way! You saw the way she smiled at me?" Star argued " No, She was smiling at me bud." Said Blue smugly. " Oh really? " Star raised a brow at him. " Yeah, slobs like you make me look good." Blue said. " Oh you are such a bastard!" Star Tail playfully engaged. They kept flying for a bit and then Star asked, " So do you think she's the Rainbow Dash?" Blue thought for a bit. " Well She did live here for a while but I doubt she would be fiddling around with the Local weather team here." "Eh I guess you're right," Star agreed. "Hey what's that on our six?" Blue said as he suddenly turned his head to look behind him. He could hear something. " Uh … I can't tell" Star replied as he squinted. Suddenly a rainbow streak flew past them nearly missing them. " Get out of the way Slow Pokes!" said a voice off in the distance ahead of them. Star and Blue stared at each other. " You were saying?" Star said to Blue. _ Fluttershy and the mother swan had been swimming upstream yet they hadn't seen her young cygnet. Fluttershy knew that they were coming close to the possibility that the young swan was no where to be found in ponyville. " Mrs. Swan? We're almost half way back to Ponyville. Theres a pond just up ahead if you want to take a break and look there." fluttershy was looking back at the swan who was looking depressed. She honked at fluttershy letting her know she wanted to check there too. Fluttershy smiled at the Swan and said, " Don't you worry, Well find him. I Just know it!" Fluttershy and The Swan came to the pond which was hidden by cattails. They Got out of the stream and entered the pond from it's bank. They searched around for a while but the young cygnet was not there either. The mother swan was worried even more. Fluttershy went up to the mother swan. " Well we know he didn't come this way just yet, so he could be further up ahead." suddenly there was a noise just up the stream. It startled Fluttershy and she couldn't make out what it was. It was muffled but it sounded like a voice. " Uh.. I'll check it… out…. I guess?" Fluttershy said with trepidation. she then moved towards the grass. _ Ash and the young swan swam through the stream for a while with their eyes to the skies. Ash was beginning to get worried about whether or not he would find the mother. He looked at the youngling on his back who was looking depressed. " Hey, what did I tell you? We'll find your mother, OK? We just need to have some faith." Ash said sternly. He then leaned his head to poke the bird with his horn. The Swan's mood didn't change but he did nod his head. " Ok then." Ash looked around and noticed some tall grass that didn't seem to be growing from the bank. It looked like there was a pond just on the other side. " Hey I think I see a pond through those cattails. we're going to check it out ok?" Ash asked the young bird. He looked up at Ash and nodded his head. Ash began to swim towards the cattails which were thick. " Hang on we're going to push through them, they are pretty thick." The swan peeped and grabbed on to the edge of Ashes saddle with his beak. Ash pushed through the cattails sticking his mussel through first. Once he was on the other side, he was face to face with a pair of big, bright, teal eyes. _ Palomino Trotted Down a dirt road that lead to Sweet Apple Acres. The dust kicked up with every hoof step. The big red barn grew larger as he drew closer and the sound of birds chirping could be heard off in the distance. He was admiring the rows upon rows of trees that spread for what seemed like miles. "Thats a lot of Apples." he thought. Faintly, he could hear what appeared to be a small filly complaining. " But ahm supposed to be crusading today with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo!" She said to a large, red stallion. " Sorry little sis, but we have a job to do. The Banquets gonna be held here in a couple of days so we have work to do. We still need to set up everything in the barn. We need to clean the barn, set the tables…." Big Mac was listing all that had to be done but he was cut off by his little sister. " ….And move the pigs to the new pen on the other side of the farm, I know, I know! AppleJack wouldn't stop yammering about it!" AppleBloom was decked out in her crusader cape and red mane bow. " It's because this is important to herso ahm sorry AppleBloom but you have chores to do." " But Big Mac.." " But nothing, now go inside and change out of your cape!" The big red clydesdale said sternly. AppleBloom crossed her fore hooves and sported a red face almost as red as her mane. Big Mac thought he was beginning to sound like his other little sister. " Ugh Fine!" She finally concieded and marched towards the farm house. " Um Pardon me!" Palomino said to BigMac. " Well Howdy, What can I do you for?" Big Mac said to Pal. Pal trotted up to him. " I'm Master Sergeant Palomino of the Canterlot Royal Guard on royal business from Princess Twilight Sparkle to aid in whatever I can with the upcoming Celebration. I was told i could Find…" Pal looked at a list that was given to him by Ash. "...Applejack?" It was then he realised the name was familiar but he wasn't sure. " Yep, That's my sister, She's practically in charge here. She's out gathering supplies for the banquet but she should be arriving any minute." Big Mac replied. "Great! How goes the preparations?" Pal asked. " Everythings under control here, but there is a few thing's we could use your help with if you dont mind?" " Sure! what ever ya'll need!" Palomino said with a smile. " PALOMINO!" A loud voice with a southern draw screamed from behind Pal. " You have a lot of nerve showing your hide around here!" It was then Pal remembered who AppleJack was. SomePony he knew from a long time ago. " oohhh crap!" was all he could say as he slowly turned around and just like he knew he would see, there was an orange mare with blond locks and apple green eyes standing behind him. _ Ash stared into the teal eyes and they stared back. Nothing was being said and neither one could move. They stayed like that for a few minutes before ash moved back a little bit. " Uh… Um…" Ash tried to say something, but he was too confused about the situation to have anything to say on it. " Um…." Was all Fluttershy could say in return. She didn't expect a anypony to push through the grass like that and she was startled stiff. Just then the cygnet on Ash's back jumped off and swam towards his mother, his peeps of joy were clear. The mother also honked back. " OH.. Hey, you found your mom! I told you we'd find her!" Ash said excitedly as he snapped out of his state of confusion. Fluttershy snapped out of her trance of shock when she realised who the youngling was. " Oh My! We found him! See Mrs. Swan, I told you we'd find him!" She said as she turned to look back at her. Then she looked at Ash. His Armor showed he was from canterlot so she recognised that he must be part of Twilight's Guard. Twilight wrote to her that she would be sending them to PonyVille early so they could help. Still Fluttershy didn't expect to meet one of them like this. "Well I'm glad that's over, We'd been looking all over PonyVille for her." Ash explained. " You were?" Flutter shy asked in a quiet voice since she was still shy. " Yeah The little guy told me that he got lost." Ash looked at her as he replied. " You can talk to animal?"Fluttershy Was Shocked to hear that somepony else could converse with animals like her. " Sure can!" He said " Me too." Fluttershy's voice was gaining decibels. " Really? Here I thought I was the only one who could do that." Ash was surprised. " Hm, I'm Captian Ash of the Canterlot Royal Guard. What's your name? He asked. " Oh, um… I'm ...Fluttershy" Her voice was getting softer with each word.