Golden looked glumly at his mismatched hands. How could he have been so stupid? True, he hadn't thought there was any chance Celestia would be here. And his true form was certainly faster and more intimidating. But concern and anger had clouded his judgment; he should have transformed back as soon as he saw her.
Shaking off his surprise, he quickly turned away from her. Maybe everything wasn't lost yet. Perhaps she wouldn't recogni-
"G-Golden Apple?"
Dammit.
Celestia stepped back from the strange creature that bore the face of her missing friend. "Wait, why do you look like that?" she asked, her voice trembling. "What's going on?"
Golden flinched. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he growled in as deep a voice as he could muster. "You had better get out of here, right now!"
"I will not!" Celestia replied in a surprisingly strong tone. "What did you do to him? Where is he?"
"Where is who?" Golden bit out. This was good. Well, not good, but not as bad at least. She didn't realize the truth. Maybe he could still salvage this.
"Golden Apple," she replied anxiously. "He's a pegasus that disappeared the other day. Why do you look so much like him?"
"I certainly do not look like a pegasus!" Golden rejoined. "In fact, I take offense to that!" He drew himself back up to his full height. "I am a proud draconequus!"
"I meant your face," Celestia clarified irritably. "Your face looks like him."
"Well, how in the world am I supposed to know that," Golden asked disdainfully. "You little ponies all look the same to me."
"But you knew my name," Celestia said thoughtfully. "Something isn't adding up here."
"How about you cut the chitchat and use that rainbow-thingy already?" Captain Sterling demanded as he struggled to escape Golden's magical grip.
Celestia's face twitched. "I'll use it when I'm good and ready!" she answered defiantly. "I want some answers first."
"You know what? I'm growing bored of this," Golden announced. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll just take these nasty ponies and be on my way."
"You will not!" Celestia countered. "The Rainbow took care of those wood creatures and it'll take care of you too."
"Oh, I sincerely doubt that," Golden replied. "Anyways, I already told you, these ponies are up to no good. They're dangerous!"
"I have no idea what he's talking about!" Captain Sterling retorted. "He's crazy!"
With a flick of the draconequus's fingers the captain's mouth disappeared. The earth pony's eyes grew round as he struggled all the more violently to get free.
Celestia pawed angrily at the ground. "I don't care what they're up to," she said. "You stop this right now, you monster!"
Golden's eyes narrowed at her repeated use of that word. Monster. It was far from the first time he had been called that. In fact that was probably his most common moniker. But to hear it from his angel's lips was unbearable.
He tightly clenched his talon and paw. Why was this happening? Things had been going so well before. Finally he'd thought he might be able to make a friend. Someone who might truly understand him. But no, it didn't look like that was going to be possible after all. Not for someone like him.
All he'd wanted to do was to protect her. And now he was the bad guy. A monster. Something that had no place amongst these pretty ponies. He'd thought that with her unusual combination of a horn and wings that she might someday understand, but that had just been folly. Celestia would never understand.
"Fine," he growled. "You want them? You can have them." With another flick of his fingers Sterling's mouth reappeared and all five ponies fell limply to the ground. "Goodbye, Celestia. I don't expect we'll be seeing each other again."
The alicorn stared at the draconequus as he shambled unsteadily towards the trees. "You still haven't told me how you know my name!" she shouted after him, but he slowly disappeared into the woods without another word.
Captain Sterling clamored to his feet the moment the creature was gone from their sight. "This is our chance," he whispered to the nearest unicorn.
"Are you alright?" Celestia asked as she turned her attention back to the ponies. "Are any of you hurt?" She took an unsure step forward, still exhausted from her earlier efforts.
The unicorn's horn glowed briefly as he cast his well-practiced sleep spell. As weak as the filly was, she offered little resistance to its effects. A moment later she fell to the ground unconscious once again.
"Ok, load her up on my back," Sterling ordered. "Make sure you get that pendant thing too. He was very insistent that we find it." He glanced over at the recovering pegasus ponies. "You two, get back in the air and see if you can locate the rest of the team."
"Then what?" one of the other unicorns asked. "Are we heading back?"
"No," the captain firmly replied. "Our job's not over yet. We've still got to go get the little one." He thought for a moment. "I don't care how many ponies see us; we're heading back home the long way. I don't ever want to step foot in this horrible forest again."
Luna never had been very good at minding her big sister. It wasn't too long after Celestia had left that the little filly had slipped out of the house and went straight to the village elders to tattle. Although Topsoil was still unconvinced that there was really a monster in the forest, he couldn't just ignore the fact that Celestia might be heading in to danger. The quiet alicorn was more than just the village's weather pony, she was one of them. She was family.
Thus by the time that Sterling's royal guards, now restored to their full number, arrived in Everfree, they were greeted with an unexpected sight. Instead of a sleepy village of unsuspecting farmers they found a hastily assembled posse of ponies ready to fight for their filly.
Captain Sterling fumed inside as he faced off against an older earth pony. "Didn't you hear me? I said hand her over," he repeated as he thrust a hoof at the frightened little indigo filly.
"Nothing doing," Topsoil replied, his jaw set in a stubborn grimace.
"This isn't a request. This is a royal edict passed down from His Highness Silver Gild himself."
Topsoil held firm. "Is that right?" he asked with a dangerous gleam in his eye. "And what makes this Silver fellow think that he has the right to order us around? He's not royalty."
"Before she disappeared, Queen Galaxia appointed His Highness as her successor," the burly captain replied calmly. "You would do well to show him some respect."
"That's the first I've heard of that story," Topsoil retorted. "I don't suppose you witnessed this so called appointment yourself, did you?"
"Are you refusing a direct order from His Highness?" Sterling asked in a more menacing tone. "Perhaps you mud farmers need to be reminded of your place!"
"I'd sure like you to try!" Topsoil retorted. He eyed the grim faced guards suspiciously. "What do you want with Luna anyways?"
"That is none of your business," the captain answered.
"It's because she's the Queen's daughter, isn't it?" a new voice asked.
A hush fell over the villagers. Sterling turned his attention to the mature pony pushing her way up through the crowd. He didn't say a word as the tan mare stepped up beside the mocha stallion.
"It's true, isn't it" Amber Waves demanded. "I'll bet you already have Celestia too, don't you?"
"I am not at liberty to divulge any information," Captain Sterling replied, his voice slipping back into an emotionless tone. "We are merely here under orders to bring back this filly."
"I'll tell you right now, that's not happening," Topsoil stated firmly. "And you can take that straight back to your master."
Sterling shook his head. "This is not up for debate. We're bringing her with us, and that's final." He nodded at one of the unicorns assembled close behind him. "Take her."
Luna suddenly found herself levitated into the air. A terrified scream left her throat as she struggled to break free.
"Stop it!" Topsoil demanded as he charged forward, but the captain was ready. Sterling easily intercepted the elder pony, knocking him down hard on the ground. Topsoil struggled to get up, but a carefully measured kick sent him sprawling again.
"Do not resist," the captain ordered. "We don't want to hurt anypony."
"How dare you!" one of the farmers yelled. A chorus of angry voices joined in as the angry villagers drew in closer.
"Crowd control," Sterling ordered the remaining guards. "Try not to hurt them too seriously."
The villagers outnumbered the guards at least three to one, but against well-trained ponies wielding magic or whizzing overhead they were practically helpless. In a matter of minutes the few ponies still on their hooves had pulled back to nurse their injuries.
"Put that filly to sleep," the captain ordered, pointing at the squalling little alicorn. He beckoned back towards the edge of the village. "Go retrieve her sister. We're getting out of here."
The great doors to the Great Hall of Canterlodunum burst open with a bang. "I have important news, Lord Astron!" an orange-coated unicorn exclaimed as she strode into the hall, her blue and violet mane messy from a hard gallop.
A sturdy white unicorn with a flowing blonde mane stopped in midsentence. "I apologize, but it appears that something has come up," he said to the group of ponies gathered around him. "If you'll please excuse us, we'll pick this up later."
His small audience promptly left, murmuring amongst themselves as they went. As soon as they were gone Astron sank wearily down in his seat and waved at the newcomer to continue.
"A pony named Amber Waves from the village of Everfree arrived at the gates just a little while ago," she began. "Apparently there's been an alarming incident in her village." She took a deep breath. "Two days ago a pair of alicorn fillies were kidnapped by ponies claiming to work for Silver Gild. Additionally she said that several villagers were seriously injured in an altercation with the kidnappers."
"Alicorns?" Astron repeated dumbly. "Night Shine, you don't think…"
"Amber Waves suspects that they are the Queen's daughters," Night Shine answered quickly. "And as you know, there have been persistent rumors from the capital that a pair of alicorn fillies was brought in shortly after Queen Galaxia's return. This incident only lends more weight to that theory."
"Assuming that they are her daughters, why would Silver Gild do something like this now?" Lord Astron asked.
"It would appear that he is taking a more active approach towards consolidating his candidacy." She irritably brushed back a stray lock of hair with her hoof. "Getting rid of any potential rivals is a logical first step."
"But they're just fillies," Astron protested.
"If they are Galaxia's daughters, then they are royal princesses," Night Shine answered. "Before the Cataclysm, ascension to the throne was primarily hereditary. Thus as the Queen's direct heirs they are even more of a threat to his ascension than you are. Not to mention the fact that they are both female."
Astron raised an eyebrow. "So?"
"So?" Night Shine repeated incredulously. "You need to study your ancient Equestrian history books better. The crown has almost always been held by mares."
"That doesn't seem very fair," he grumbled.
"Fair or not, that's how it is." She paused for a moment, but he didn't reply. "Well, what are you going to do about this?" she demanded.
"What do you think he's going to do to them?" the stallion asked tentatively.
"As long as those fillies are alive, they pose a threat to him," she replied. "What do you think he's going to do?" She bit her lip. "As I'm sure you realize, those fillies would of course threaten your own candidacy for the throne as well."
"I realize that."
Night Shine sighed. "To give you a bit more background, Amber Waves told me that the fillies' names are Celestia and Luna. Their mother and father mysteriously disappeared at the same time as Galaxia disappeared again, so regardless of their lineage they appear to be orphans. Celestia, the older sister, has been working as Everfree's weather pony for the last several months to support Luna by herself. They are known as quiet and studious girls, but apparently they are well loved by the entire village. "
"Are you trying to guilt me into making a decision?" Astron inquired.
"No, I'm trying to help you make the right decision," Night Shine countered. "That is my job, after all."