Chapter Two

The inn was alive with activity. Ponies everywhere were sitting at the round tables set up in the eating area and chatting about various topics from the weather to business plans. Two unicorn mares, one black and one yellow, were serving the guests at the serving line, smiling as they gave them their meals. They gave a wink to the Lunar Republic Royal Guard as he passed through the line and picked up an apple. The handsome stallion flashed them a smile (he could have sworn one of them said that he was cute) and walked back to the table where four other Guards were seated at.

"And then," said one of the Equestrian Royal Guards, "she looked at me and was all like, 'This is all your fault!' and kept going on and on and on, so I just ignored her. I mean, it wasn't my fault that the damn carriage flipped over and ruined that heifer's dress. She was lucky to be alive, that ungrateful-"

"Whoa, calm down, Cobalt!" said one of the Lunar Royal Guards.

"Trust me, Night Shade," Cobalt replied, "if you were in my position at that time you'd be thinking the same thing. Hell, you would have probably thought worse!"

Night Shade gave a half shrug. "Maybe. What about you, Silent?"

The mute stallion named Silent Swing gave a shrug and went back to eating his breakfast.

The Lunar Guard stallion that was in line finally took a seat by Night Shade. "What's up, guys?"

"Took you long enough Shadow," said the Equestrian veteran named Ironside. "Were you flirting with those two mares again?"

"Yeah," Shadow replied with a sly smile.

"Will you ever get tired of that?"

"Don't be mad at me 'cause you don't get any play, grandpa."

The young Guard named Windshield finally arrived downstairs and sat at the table. "The princess said that she'll be down in a few," he reported.

"About time," Shadow replied. "I mean, I like this town and all, but at the same time, I don't. You know what I mean, Silent Swing?"

Silent Swing simply nodded.

"Anywho," Cobalt continued, "that ungrateful little hag was lucky to be alive after that accident. I nearly killed myself trying to stop the damned carriage."

Cobalt continued with his ranting for a few more minutes before Ironside changed the subject. They conversed for about five minutes until Princess Luna made her way down the stairs, dressed and ready to go. When she walked up to the table, the six Guard stallions placed their helmets upon their heads and stood at attention.

Ironside stepped forward. "We are ready to go, ma'am," he said.

"Good," Luna replied. After a quick head count, she asked, "Where's Captain Silverblade?"

"He's getting fitted for a helmet, ma'am," replied the muscular stallion. "He's been gone since four o'clock this morning. Heaven knows what's taking him."

As if on cue, the captain walked into the inn. Like most Equestrian Royal Guards, he had a white coat and a set of golden armor. To his right side, hanging by a leather strap, was a sheathed sword. The muscular stallion had several battle scars decorating his head and neck, indicating how many times that luck saved him. His blonde mane was long and had a luscious sheen to it. His tail, which also had such a sheen, was cut short according to regulations. He approached Princess Luna and bowed low.

"My apologies, princess," he said. "The smith took so long to get the measurements, plus he did not have anything that fit me."

"I take it that you are ready now?" Luna asked.

Captain Silverblade stood at attention. "Ready and willing, miss."

"C'mon! Where's that darn rock?"

Rainbow Dash had made it to the place before the other two and was looking for the out-of-place rock. Frustrated, she sat down.

"Where is it?" she asked out loud.

"Any luck, Dash?"

The blue pegasus turned her head and saw that Big Macintosh and Twilight Sparkle had finally caught up with her.

"Hay no," she said angrily.

Twilight walked up to the wall and began to assist her friend in searching for the rock. After about four minutes of scouring the rocky wall, the two stepped back from it.

"Jeez!" Twilight exclaimed. "Where is it?"

"Maybe the 'quake covered it up," Big Mac suggested.

That's when a light bulb went off in Dash's head. "Twi," she began, "maybe Big Mac's right. Maybe the rock and the tunnel entrance is covered."

"So?"

"So..."The pegasus walked up to the wall again and pointed her hoof at a certain spot on it. "So use one of your magic spells and blow up the rocks."

"Are you nuts?" the unicorn exclaimed. "That could trigger a rock slide and kill us!"

"Trust me, there isn't gonna be a rock slide."

Twilight gave her friend a "you're-crazy-as-hell" look. She stared at her for a minute then said, "Alright. But if something bad happens..."

"Nothing bad is gonna happen, Twi, as long as you hit that spot right there," replied the pegasus as she pointed at the spot that she indicated before.

Twilight sighed nervously and pointed her horn at the spot. Her horn began to glow as she focused her magic into it. As she did, the glow began to intensify until it was as bright as a miniature sun. Suddenly, a bright bolt of magic shot from her horn and flew towards the target, detonating upon impact. The explosion echoed through the mountains and debris fell everywhere. Once it cleared, the three equines could see that the entrance to the tunnel was revealed.

Big Mac whistled. "Wow, Twilight. You've really been studying up on your spells."

Twilight smiled and was about to say something when Rainbow Dash called to them from the tunnel entrance.

"Hey! You two!" she yelled. "C'mon! We're wasting daylight! Let's go!"

Princess Luna and her escorts were on the move. Not too long ago, the eight ponies had left the town and began their trek back to Equestria, but not without receiving some vital information from a Shang-Xiao sergeant.

"Be sure to stay out of the skies until you get past the Yashimoto Village outpost," he had said. "And if I recall, the bandits here practically rule the mountain trails at night, so be sure to find a safe place to stay before night catches you. I would hate to find out that royal blood has been spilled."

The party took the sergeant's advice and were quickly on their way. As they walked, Captain Silverblade conversed with the princess.

"My internal clock says that it'll be very close to nightfall by the time we reach Yashimoto," the scarred stallion began, "which means that we should find an inn to rest at as soon as we set foot in the village."

"Couldn't we just increase our pace?" Luna suggested. "We'd probably be able to bypass the village and reach the outpost."

"Not possible. Even if we were to speed our pace up and bypass Yashimoto, night would catch us as we're traveling from the village to the outpost. Way too risky."

The princess sighed. She was hoping that they would reach Canterlot sooner than that. However, their safety would be jeopardized if they were caught by the quilt of night, so Luna could only do what would best keep her and her escorts safe.

The party pressed on with Ironside and Cobalt on point scouting the area ahead, Silent Swing kept a distance behind them, Luna, Night Shade, and Silverblade were in the middle, and Windshield and Shadow brought up the rear.

They had been walking for about an hour until the two stallions up front suddenly stopped. Silent Swing noticed and signaled for the rest of the formation to stop.

Windshield began to get nervous. "Did they spot some bandits?" he asked Shadow.

The handsome stallion shrugged. "Dunno, but if they did, then we've gotta guard the rear while the guys up front take care of 'em."

"You've ever been in combat before?"

Shadow nodded. "Yup, and it ain't pretty, kid. Lost a lotta good friends." He paused as if to have a moment of silence for his fallen brothers in arms.

Ironside turned around and waved to the equines behind him, which was the signal to stand down. The tension lifted like fog.

"It's a friendly patrol," the Guardpony called out. "Shang-Xiao soldiers. They're offering to escort us to Yashimoto Village."

The captain chuckled. "Well that's mighty damn kind of 'em."

Princess Luna breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. It's safer to travel these roads in numbers."

"Domo arigato! Thank you so much!"

The trio had finally made it to Graystone Village, and – thanks to the tunnel – in record time, too. The village was not in that much of a bad shape as Twilight had originally inferred; most of the damage was already close to being fully repaired and the debris had been cleared up.

"You are very welcome, Mayor Graystone," the purple unicorn said to the gray earth pony stallion.

Big Macintosh looked up into the sky and noticed that the sun was beginning to set. "Looks like we should be headin' back t' Equestria," he stated. "It'll be dark purty soon."

"Watashi no yujin ga kenmeide wanai. Not wise my friend," said Mayor Graystone. "The roads are ruled by the bandits at night. We've had too many reports of those rogues attacking and robbing travelers. It's too dangerous to travel during the night so we lock down the village in the evening."

"Dang!" whispered Rainbow Dash. "Guess we're stuck here 'til morning."

"Relax, Dash," Twilight replied. "We'll just find an inn."

"You all can stay at my place," the mayor chimed in. "Don't worry! We have extra rooms!"

Twilight thought for a moment and then answered. "I guess we can stay."

"Yushuna!" the mayor exclaimed. "You three shall be my honored guests. Come! Come! Dinner's almost ready!"

"Thank you for the escort, troops," Captain Silverblade said to the armored soldiers. They saluted smartly and walked off to comply with their new orders.

Yashimoto Village was one of those villages that was not too big, but not too small. There were a few guard posts here and there, a thatch building that served as the local hospital, a blacksmith, smaller huts that the villagers lived in, and a large building that served as the inn. There was a wooden sign over the front entrance that had katakana characters carved into it. They read: Mamanetti no In – Mama Nettie's Inn.

Shadow made an observation of the inn. "Not exactly a five-star place," he stated.

"But it's better than nothing, brother," Night Shade replied.

"Yeah," said Cobalt, "and a helluva lot better than fighting bandits in the dead of night,"

The eight ponies walked into the inn and were greeted by the sweet smell of burning incense, ivory statues, shields hung on the walls, and a soot-black earth pony mare. She had dark brown eyes and dreadlocks for her mane and tail which were a two-tone brown and had small sea shells on the ends.

"I see tha' dem bandits caused ya t' stop 'ere for t' night," she spoke with a thick Jamaican-like accent. "My name's Mama Nettie. Welcome t' my inn."

"Pleased to meet you, Mama Nettie," Princess Luna replied. "I am Princess Luna, Princess Celestia's younger sister."

"Ah yes! I know 'bout her! Pleasure t' meet cha!" Nettie replied as she bowed respectfully. "Ya need rooms, right?"

"Yes," Silverblade answered. "Four of them, please."

"Very well." Mama Nettie turned and walked behind the reception desk. She grabbed four keys and laid them on the counter. "De room numbers are on th' keys."

"Thank you, Mama Nettie," said Luna.

"Please, just call me Nettie. Dinner will be ready soon. T'will fill ya up, trust me!"

To be continued...