book stringlengths 2 250 | chapter stringlengths 1 255 | text stringlengths 1 4.64M |
|---|---|---|
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 124 | Artemis Sparkshower
Specialist Artemis Sparkshower still felt a bit strange inside.
It was the morning after her trip to the Moon. She was on duty in the Royal Engineer's apartment, where her VIP was furiously scribbling away at his drafting table, working on the plans for his 'steel' foundry. It was a nice, sunny day out, with typical warm spring highs expected early in the afternoon, and a refreshing hint of wind. Anonymous even had a window open. Anypony would be feeling great.
But Artemis just felt... empty.
Part of that emptiness, she'd understood. The specialist had always had a big appetite; hardly a surprise with a pegasus' metabolism on a large frame. Mom and dad couldn't tell her the sources, but there was definitely some earth pony blood in her family tree, and it manifested itself with a really big bang every now and then -- herself being one of those 'big bangs'. That she had some mixed lineage wasn't surprising either, given that both of her ancestral branches had long histories serving as weatherponies for Equestria's fertile, earth pony dominated farming regions.
Anyway, the point was, Artemis had a big frame, and she ate big to match. It took a lot of calories to power that much mass in flight -- especially in heavy armor! On active duty in the Royal Guard, Artemis almost always had seconds, and often enough, thirds.
But she didn't feel like eating a single bite at dinner last night.
And she barely made a dent in breakfast this morning, either.
The substantial low-pressure system in her gut was a notable contributor to that feeling of emptiness, but it definitely wasn't the whole story. If anything, it was just a symptom of the bigger issue, and that was a part she really didn't understand at all.
The Balladeer of Ghosts, Ignacio Blazon, Lily's instructor in the batpony's Shadow-summoning arts, said that Artemis would 'hear the echoes' of her experience for a day or two, perhaps three. She wasn't sure if that was the right phrase for it. Maybe it would make more sense if she were blind, but she didn't have a better way to put it, either.
And that was partially because she couldn't remember what happened.
Artemis remembered Ignacio summoning the 'Accursed Shadow'.
She remembered when that black mass took form -- HER form. Again!
She even remembered when it SPOKE to her. 'Hello again, Artemisss-Sssparkshower,' it said, in a crackling whisper that warbled from a guttural utterance to a high-pitched shriek. It knew her full name, even though nopony had said it in The Crater!
She remembered when Ignacio asked her if she was ready.
She remembered saying 'yes'. As much as Artemis trusted him, she was really doing it for Lily, her friend and comrade.
She remembered Ignacio humming a dissonant tune.
The shadow-Artemis lunging forwards.
The darkness in its eyes.
The hissing of its breath.
And then...
Nothing, until she was herself again, lying on the floor against the hard rock of the deep chasm. Lily was frantic to find out if she was okay. Artemis just asked if she'd been the one to get the Shadow out.
She had. But it had taken a while.
In the end, the Accursed Shadow had possessed Artemis, and made her an 'abomination,' for a little over an hour. She didn't remember a thing. All she could really think about at the moment was how she was a complete idiot for not having brought her camera to the Moon.
It was the Moon!
THE Moon! Artemis Sparkshower with her Little Ludwig camera could have been the first pony to take photos on the Moon!
She still could be, if Lily went for another lesson and asked her to come along. Just to be on the safe side, Artemis resolved that her brown camera bag was absolutely coming with her every time she went into the Rookery from then on.
'Maybe I even ought to try to buy a cheap portable cine-camera at one of Canterlot's pawn shops...'
Something to think about later.
That aside, the trip back -- the Halls of the Blind, then the Rookery, then Canterlot Palace -- it had all been uneventful. Artemis didn't feel strange at all at the time -- though the missed hour was obvious from the position of the Sun, even from the lunar surface. But as dinnertime approached, she just didn't get hungry -- and that never happened, except when she was sick. Even her unicorn comrade half-jokingly expressed concern when Artemis failed to push Lily to leave as soon as the chow hall opened up. In the end she took her to the dining hall, but the pegasus just couldn't eat. Nothing was appetizing.
Nothing smelled right.
Artemis barely wanted to put anything on her plate at all, and then when she sat down, she couldn't bring herself to put any of it in her mouth. It was even a little hard to drink water. Something was just wrong.
Glamerspear was sympathetic and concerned. She appreciated what Artemis had done to help her learn -- she understood it more than the pegasus did, ultimately, since Lily got to see Sparkshower as an 'abomination,' whereas she'd completely blanked out for the duration. As a way of paying her back for the dangerous job of being her exorcism test-target, Lily promised to spend the whole morning at the barracks laundry, finishing the adjustments to her Gala dress. That cheered her up a little, though it didn't restore her appetite.
Artemis had felt tired and turned in early, figuring that getting plenty of sleep would be for the best. It was the right decision, but that had turned out to carry its own issues.
She'd managed to have something of an appetite this morning. She could at least hydrate now without wanting to spit it back out. But the dreams she'd had...
Eating.
Eating and drinking, constantly.
Last night was a never-ending imaginary cavalcade of fantastic food and drink. Visions of sitting at banquet tables, gorging herself. Of sneaking down to the kitchen at night and emptying the pantry. Swooping down over an orchard and picking the trees bare. Coasting across a vineyard and inhaling the grapes right down into her belly. Landing in a farmer's field, ripping crops up from the earth, and devouring until nothing was left but dirt.
And the drinking...
There was one point where Artemis stood shoulder-deep in a river against a stunningly beautiful red sunset. She lowered her head and opened her mouth, and just drank and drank until that fluvial artery was completely drained all the way down to its sandy bottom. And she'd just lifted her head up, licked her lips, said 'Aaahh,' and then flown off to find another dreamscape to consume.
The worst was the last one, right before she woke up.
It was a Sunday dinner with a family of griffons in their home. They were like the trading family Artemis knew growing up in Berry, the Tetranovs, yet different in many ways. The location, for example, wasn't right at all. The Tetranovs stayed at the village inn since they would only remain in town for a couple of weeks every few months; they didn't have their own house as these dream griffons did. And the walls were wallpapered with a strange color combination of white and reddish-brown, like iron-rich earth.
The family's grandmother was in the kitchen making the meal -- that at least was how the pegasus remembered it, though the matron stayed in there the whole time while everybody was eating, emerging every few minutes only to bring out a new platter, and that wasn't right either. The table had a grand samovar in the center, again something Artemis had seen before at breakfast or lunch or afternoon tea-time, but never at dinner. It was fuelled and burning, too, except instead of dispensing hot water, it was apparently full of red wine.
In this dream she wasn't the only one eating: everybody was stuffing themselves at the table. Babushka brought out plate after plate, and Artemis and the dream-griffons downed goblet after goblet of what was apparently an endless supply of heated wine. It didn't taste like wine, instead being some kind of metallic brew, and the tonic was surprisingly only lukewarm despite the steamy vapors that emerged whenever somepony used the dispenser.
That was all strange enough.
It was when yet another platter was brought out and passed around, and Artemis had taken a serving for herself and tucked into it on her plate that the moment of horror dawned.
She was eating meat.
And not just any meat.
It was pony meat.
That revelation was enough to bring pause to what had been an otherwise uninterrupted night of relentless consumption. Artemis remembered looking around the table, watching as the griffons just carried on, shovelling the stuff into their beaks. One of them even nodded and poked a fork in her direction, silently inquiring if something was wrong. She remembered breathing heavily and starting to foam at the neck. The griffons all turned towards her, pausing mid-bite with their meat-filled forks raised.
Then one of them spoke, and Artemis was certain it was with the Accursed Shadow's bizarre, shifting voice. "Won't you finish your meal, Artemisss? It was made essspecially for you."
And that's when she woke up, her bedsheets drenched with sweat-foam.
She'd needed a long shower this morning, and she likewise stopped at the linen closet for a fresh set of bed-covers. But right now her mattress was bare and her window wide open to air out the sogginess.
Perhaps unsurprisingly after all that dream-eating, she'd only managed a few bites of salad for breakfast. Artemis couldn't bring herself to take one of the palace dining-hall buffet's otherwise excellent omelettes. Just greens and fruits were all she could contemplate eating for now. That was all she'd had since lunch yesterday, and it was almost eleven o'clock already. She didn't think she'd get her appetite back for lunch today. Maybe she'd be able to stomach something more substantial for dinner.
Hopefully she wouldn't have the same dreams tonight, either. They weren't exactly nightmares -- not until that last one, really -- but she wasn't looking forward to a 'second helping,' so to speak.
'Thundershowers!'
'Just relax, Artemis. This afternoon, when you trade shifts, you can have your final dress-fitting with Lily.'
'Think of the upcoming Gala on Saturday, just four nights away.'
Artemis certainly hoped she'd be done with 'hearing the echoes' by then! There was supposed to be a lot of good food and drink at the Grand Banquet! Not that she could really bring herself to think about any of that right now. Ordinarily, pondering the banquet's spread after having had so little to eat ought to have her salivating so hard she'd need a bib. And probably a mop, too.
The funny thing was, Artemis was actually feeling excited, but not about the Gala; it was the MXP Games that held her attention. Which, to be fair, yes she was also very much looking forward to. It was just that so far today, whenever her mind wandered to anything other than recent experiences or the immediate future, all she could think about was battling in the Grand Mêlee.
Spear against spear, shield against shield, armor against armor. The perspiration dripping from all the exertion, the saliva drooling from panting mouths, and most prominently, the blood flowing from every cut and thrust. Of course the magic totems would keep everypony from dying or being permanently injured, as they always did, but Artemis couldn't help but picture herself stabbing and slashing with abandon, falling opponent after opponent, slaying entire teams, drowning the battlefield with their vital crimson paint.
From what she'd heard, that wasn't even far from the truth. The clean-up job after the Grand Mêlee had a reputation for being nasty work. Canterlot's fire department was usually on hoof with a set of pumper trucks to hose down the Royal Artillery Barracks' proving grounds, sometimes even during the event if things became too gruesome. Yet here she was, standing at attention behind the Royal Engineer's chamber-doors, daydreaming of eagerly contributing to that mess.
Was it just her pegasus pride? Or was this, too, some part of 'hearing the echoes,' like her bizarre dreams?
As Artemis pondered the question, there was a knock at the door behind her. The Royal Engineer popped his head up from his desk, and casually nodded to confirm she was allowed to answer it. Of course, if he really didn't want any interruptions, he'd have asked her to stand outside to ward anypony from even knocking.
Pulling open the door, Artemis found herself looking at an earth pony colt sitting beyond the threshold. He was wearing a matching brown tweed waistcoat and suit jacket, with a white collar and plain burgundy tie. Something about his tangerine-orange coat and short, burnt-umber mane was familiar to her, but Artemis couldn't place him.
Was he one of the delivery ponies who'd previously brought Anonymous tools or hardware for the Whirlwind? Not that she could remember, and despite being dressed relatively plainly, his clothes were in too good of a condition to see hard physical work with any regularity.
Someone from Berry, maybe? One of Huckleberry's friends, few though they were, here to present his apologies? No, that wasn't it.
But there was something fishy about the way he'd held his tweed flat cap, tucked under one foreleg, with the other clutching a scroll.
"Is this the, er -- is this the Royal Engineer's door? Ah, to his chambers?"
Artemis nodded, eyeing up the suspicious colt. "Yes, sir, it is. Can I help you?"
The colt proffered his scroll, and Artemis noted it bore the Royal Seal. "Her Majesty has given me orders to report to His, er, Lordship. This letter explains everything."
'Report to the Royal Engineer?'
Her hackles rose as she took the scroll. "One moment, please."
Shutting the door, Artemis fluttered over to her VIP, who sat up from his drafting-work.
"Sir, there's a colt at the door who says he's been ordered to report to you. This is his letter of introduction."
"Report to me? Hmm... Princess Celestia did say that she'd send me an 'assistant' for the foundry soon. A bit too soon, maybe, since I'm still working on the design and we haven't found a location. Well, I'm sure we can find some use for him in the meantime."
Taking the scroll, Artemis' VIP quickly broke the seal and unrolled it. "Let's see here... Yes, it's just that, an assistant for the foundry. Oh..."
Anonymous furrowed his brow and continued to read. "...She must be joking. No, really?"
Sucking in his lips, he shook his head. "...I suppose I should have seen this coming. Well, if Her Majesty commands it, who am I to deny Her?"
'It sounds like bad news!'
Now Artemis' hackles were really up.
Getting to his feet, the Royal Engineer buttoned his waistcoat and adjusted his tie, adopted an imposing stance, then waved an open hand at the doors.
"Specialist Sparkshower, please let Mister Songwell in."
'Songwell!'
'Phillip Songwell!'
'The foremost teamster of Bitsmount Silver Mine!'
'That's where I remember this colt!'
He's the one who took the blame for the mine's horrific safety record, claiming that he'd felt pressure to perform by the mine's noblepony owner, Lord Galloway Bitsmount, and had undertaken cuts to timber expenses on his own initiative. Cuts which had led to an unsafe mine, with collapses and injuries at a rate far and away higher than any other mine in Equestria. It was almost three weeks ago that Artemis' VIP initiated an investigation and brought charges against Lord Bitsmount, though with all that had happened since then it might as well have been three years ago. And now Princess Celestia had sent the confessed delinquent to serve the Royal Engineer as an assistant!
Never mind her hackles raising; now Artemis' blood was boiling.
Sure, nopony had died, but how many miners had been injured in cave-ins? How many had been traumatized by the experience of being trapped underground for hours or days? How many pony-hours of pegasi medevac teams and unicorn disaster-relief construction battalions had been spent servicing all those emergencies?
And the colt responsible for all that was just outside in the hallway! Walking free, instead of rotting in a cell!
Well, from the attitude of the Royal Engineer, Artemis had no doubt he was about to be stomped down in his place! And she was going to lend all four of her hooves to that worthy endeavor! Whipping the Bradamante Lance off her back, the pegasus tramped loudly over to the door, twisted the handle, then yanked it sharply open, holding the lance upright in her other foreleg.
Wearing an experienced servant's disdainful scowl, she addressed the feeble figure before her. "The Royal Engineer will see you now, Mister Songwell."
"Oh, yes... Thank you kindly."
Artemis' head swiveled to keep him fixed in her gaze as the miscreant replaced his hat and walked past her to enter the Royal Engineer's hallowed chambers of Knowledge and Progress.
'This scum doesn't deserve to set hoof in here!'
"Ah, Mister Phillip Songwell, foremost teamster of Bitsmount Mine. What a surprise to see you again so soon."
As her VIP prepared to lay into him, Artemis quickly shut the door and firmly planted herself in front of it.
The brown-clad earth pony colt doffed his cap once more, then bowed his head. "My Lord Engineer... I take it your Lordship has, ah, read the letter?"
Anonymous waved the re-rolled scroll. "I have indeed. It seems that Her Majesty expects me to make something of you, Mister Songwell. While availing myself of your services as a forepony, I am to reform your bad habits and instill a proper sense of safety. Sadly, this means interrupting your musical apology tour with Lord Bitsmount. Tell me, what do you think of this arrangement?"
Songwell fidgeted nervously with his hat, turning it around and around in his forehooves. "Er, well, I, uh, that is to say..."
The Royal Engineer approached the earth pony, towering imposingly over him. "It's better than languishing in a prison cell, isn't it, Mister Songwell?"
The colt gulped. "Yes, my Lord."
Instantly, Anonymous thrust forward an accusing finger. "That is still a very real possibility! If it had been up to me, you and your 'honest' master, Lord Galloway Bitsmount, would both be in the oubliette. The two of you managed to convince both of Their Majesties that you were unaware of the disastrous increase in cave-ins resulting from a supposedly well-meant attempt to increase productivity. And, I suppose I believe it, too. But that kind of excuse won't fly in this operation, Mister Songwell! From this moment on, you are under my command, and it's jail for you if I see similar neglect in this position."
'Yeah, turn up the heat!'
'Time to show this criminal degenerate where he belongs!'
Stepping forward and extending her wings for stability, Artemis tucked the Bradamante Lance under her foreleg and lifted one hind leg to extend it its full length with a satisfying scrrr-CLACK. The business end of her rocket-powered, Theolonicus lance was now pointing directly at Phillip Songwell, and just a few short hooves away from the target.
The merest push of her hind hoof on the stirrup was all it would take to run him through.
Meanwhile, the Royal Engineer continued to harangue the subject. "How much has Her Majesty informed you about my undertaking?"
After a sideways glance at the pointed tip of her weapon, Songwell cleared his throat. "I understand that your Lordship is building a foundry."
Anonymous lifted his eyebrows, nodding. "That's right, a foundry. That means huge, heavy equipment and intense heat. Multi-ton iron crucibles moving on rails and chains that can seriously injure somepony in a collision, slice off a limb caught in their wheels, or completely flatten anypony underneath if they should fall. Noxious fumes from the burners and slag burn-off which can poison workers if they are not properly routed to the chimneys. Vats of molten metal so hot that even tiny spills or sprays can melt flesh right off the bone. And woe betide the poor soul who falls in and is vaporized before their coworkers in the blink of an eye."
Waving the scroll aggressively, he continued. "An iron foundry is orders of magnitude more dangerous than a mine, Mister Songwell. If an accident happens, there won't be time to call the rescue teams -- there will be casualties and deaths, immediately and in staggering numbers. Only a gunpowder plant could be more fraught with peril. I won't tolerate anything less than maximum safety."
Standing up straight again, he planted his hands on his hips. "And let me be absolutely clear: that means I expect your proactive cooperation. While I will of course make plans and give instructions which I think will maximize safety, I nonetheless fully expect you, Mister Songwell, as the foremost teamster overseeing the workers, to immediately halt operations and make a report if there are any near-misses or even if you or any other worker foresees any potential hazard whatsoever."
Anonymous shook his head slowly. "If you can't do that, then you're of absolutely no use to me and I shall send you right back from whence you came. Celestia knows this is a dangerous undertaking, but the people of Equestria won't tolerate the kind of casualty rates which historically were common in early models of these facilities on my world. And I won't tolerate such rates either, because I know how to do better. I am an industrial engineer by trade and training, Mister Songwell. Designing safe manufactories is my profession. To operate properly, I therefore need my forepony to be a partner in safety, not a boot-licking minion who will cover up mistakes and flaws to flatter my ego and pad their statistics, or just as bad, be ignorant of them."
Finally, leaning back, he folded his arms. "Well? What do you say to all that, Mister Songwell?"
The colt took a long time to answer.
'Too long, reprobate!'
Artemis gave a pair of light taps to the Lance's activation stirrup.
CLICK-FWWwwwsh
CLIKA-FWWwwwsh
Her torso was jerked forward on her hooves by the attempted ignition, though she remained planted on the ground. From the recharge-whine, the Bradamante Lance almost sounded disappointed that she didn't follow through completely. But she achieved her objective: Songwell was so startled that he almost jumped into the air. When he landed, he was trembling on his hooves.
Artemis grinned.
'That's right, criminal scum!'
'This pegasus is not afraid to spill a little blood on Her Majesty's carpets!'
As she mentally pictured spearing the colt right through the chest, dyeing his brown tweed suit a deep red, she heard Anonymous addressing her. "While I appreciate your enthusiasm, Specialist Sparkshower, there's no cause here to point a weapon at an unarmed and unthreatening civilian. Kindly retire to the door."
'WHAT?!'
'What...'
'I...'
Artemis was pointing her magical lance at a shivering, middle-aged, middle-class commoner colt who wasn't wearing armor, or carrying a spear, or even wearing metal horseshoes.
It took a second for her to process what she'd done.
And another second to overcome her own shock.
She collapsed the Bradamante Lance, lowered her hind hoof, and retreated to the door, holstering the weapon on her back.
'I just threatened the unjustified execution of an unarmed Equestrian citizen!'
Once she was safely out of harpoon distance, Songwell answered Anonymous' question. "My Lord, I understand your, ah, concerns. I know that I've made some mistakes in the past, terrible mistakes indeed. I've been made to see the error of my ways. And may I say that I was actually a safety inspector for the mine before I was promoted to forepony, and I daresay I had a sterling reputation from my peers in that profession. Clearly I, er, lost something in the change of jobs, but I'm certain I can gain it back again, my Lord."
As the conversation continued, it dawned on Artemis what Ignacio Blazon meant by 'hearing the echoes.' Didn't he say that Accursed Shadows wanted only to kill and to create more abominations? It was those thoughts that she was 'hearing' -- the 'echoes' of what that monstrous, extradimensional fiend desired when it was in control of her body.
Now the daydreaming of a bloody and violent Grand Mêlee made a lot more sense. The night-dreaming of eating and drinking were still a bit confusing to her, though this revelation certainly put the cannibalistic meal in perspective. Still shocked by her behaviour, she could only watch, a silent observer, as the Royal Engineer and Phillip Songwell continued their conversation.
"All right, Mister Songwell. I'll take you at your word, but you're on notice that I'm watching you closely. One misstep and you're out. That said, I also have a role to play in instructing you, and I will fulfil it. If you have any questions or doubts, speak to me immediately."
Anonymous waved Songwell forward and stepped over to his drafting board. "Of course, we don't have a foundry quite yet. I'm in the process of designing the equipment we'll need, but a crucial next step is finding a location. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has suggested I try to find an unused building in Canterlot to refit for my purposes. Have you taken up lodgings in the city?"
The earth pony seemed considerably more relaxed now that the haranguing, interrogation, and threats of violence were ended. "Her Majesty has generously given me a room in the palace, in the servant's quarters upstairs, My Lord."
The Royal Engineer's expression softened. "You have a family back in Bitsmount?"
Songwell nodded, looking a little sad. "Yes, m'Lord. A wife and three children."
"Her Majesty's letter didn't state the duration of your service here in Canterlot. Were you informed?"
The colt shook his head. "No, m'Lord. But I was hoping that if it goes on that perhaps my family could find residence together here, though it'll be a large upheaval."
Artemis' VIP nodded sympathetically. "That may be possible. We also need to think about acquiring a residence as near as possible to the foundry. There are some... special employees I'm bringing in who would be well-served by being able to live close by, if even only for a few days a week. Her Majesty requires that these particular employees be under guard as well, so I guess we'll need space for those soldiers, too. I'm not sure how many there'll be in total, but as soldiers I'm sure they'll tolerate less luxurious living standards than normal."
"Yes, m'Lord."
Anonymous pointed at several features on his drawing, but it was out of Artemis' sight at this angle. "While I work on finishing these designs, I want you to go out into the city and survey vacant buildings available for purchase or rent. I need something like an empty warehouse or mill, preferably in good condition with ample natural lighting and plenty of ventilation. Brick chimneys would be welcome, as would a particularly fire-proof or reinforced structure, and if it's adjacent one of the canals so that we can drive a water-wheel for power that would be advantageous as well."
He leaned back and gestured aimlessly with a hand. "I've never been down to the more industrial tiers of the city, so I honestly have no idea what you'll find. Purse Strings seemed optimistic that something could be found, though, so take good notes and consult with real estate agents if you need to. We'll meet each morning after breakfast to go over your previous day's work. I've got some stationery here if you need it, and I suppose you should have a stipend or a letter of credit as well for expenses."
Songwell smiled meekly. "Thank you, m'Lord. I'll take some stationery, but Lord Strings has already seen to money, as I was sent to His Lordship first."
That got a raised eyebrow out of her VIP, and Songwell continued. "His Lordship explained the Department of the Exchequer will handle the financial details of this project. His Lordship also asked me to say that you should be receiving letters from him soon."
Anonymous sighed, nodding. "I see your probation has all been taken care of. Well, in that case, Mister Songwell, despite my personal misgivings about this arrangement I should welcome you to the team and to what I suppose should be called the Royal Engineering Department." He extended a hand, and Songwell took it in a hoofshake. "If you perform to my exacting expectations, then I believe, in spite of your previous misdeeds, there is no reason why you should not ultimately have a bright future ahead of you."
The earth pony sighed in return. "Thank you, m'Lord. Lord Bitsmount has offered to keep me on at the mine, but to be quite honest, after I admitted to the charges, I fear my family is no longer welcome in the town. The other workers' families are shunning us."
"I understand. The faster we find suitable buildings, the faster we can begin work and move your kin into a new life here. While the consequences for further failures are dire, if you do learn well, reform your behavior, and perform to my satisfaction, I would be happy to keep you on or to recommend you to another position as you prefer."
Songwell bowed. "Thank you, m'Lord. With your permission, I'll get started."
The Royal Engineer stepped over to his desk and pulled assorted papers out of a drawer. "Right. Here's my letterhead and a set of my calling cards. Take any pencils or pens you need. Since you've already seen Purse Strings, I'm sure he's given you the details of your spending account and stressed the importance of keeping your receipts. All I ask on top of that is that you use your senses and your head. Those are the most important attributes in building and running such a facility. Canterlot is not a small city and there's a lot of ground to cover. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
The Earth Pony colt grabbed the writing material and bowed repeatedly as he backed up towards the door. "Yes, m'Lord. Thank you, m'Lord. I won't disappoint you, m'Lord."
Anonymous nodded in Artemis' direction, and she pulled open the door to let Phillip Songwell out. She was still so stunned by her own actions that she could barely process what just happened.
The Royal Engineer sighed and rubbed his chin. "Well, that was a surprise. I hope I put the fear of Celestia into him. Once we find a site then I'll have to drill in proper problem-reporting procedures, I suppose."
Artemis nodded and saluted. "Yes, sir. And my apologies for the earlier outburst."
Her VIP waved off her attempted murder as if it were nothing. "Oh, it's all right. I rather liked placing him in the hot seat. It just went a bit too far at the end, that's all. Shame we won't have Lord Bitsmount to run the same routine with. I've no evidence otherwise, but I still can't shake the feeling that he was the one behind it all, and not Songwell. Corruption usually starts from the top, after all. Ah, well. Back to work, and hopefully no more interruptions until lunch-time!"
She actually was starting to feel a bit peckish. That had to be a good sign. Her stomach emitted a plaintive rumble.
But no sooner had Anonymous sat back down at his drafting table than there was another knock at the door. This time he didn't even look up and just waived aimlessly for her to get it.
"I guess he's forgotten something. Some more stationary, maybe."
Artemis pulled open the door, but it was not Songwell -- it was one of the palace's messengers, holding a silver platter with a card on it.
'Somepony else wants to speak with my VIP, apparently.'
She exchanged nods with the messenger as she took the card, prompting them to speak up. "I'm to wait for a response, if it pleases the Royal Engineer."
Nodding again, Artemis shut the door and began flapping her way over to the drafting desk. "Sir, there's a calling card for you here."
Another infamous name from three weeks ago.
"...Lieutenant Valiant Kilfeather would like to see you this afternoon."
Anonymous took the card and looked it over. "What the devil does he want? We already gave him back his helmet scraps."
It was true that he had no cause to visit them about the Pas de Sabots, but Artemis could think of one thing that the lieutenant would be interested in.
"Sir, perhaps it's about our participation in the MXP Games?"
The Royal Engineer looked up and slowly nodded his head. "Yes, that's got to be it. Tell the messenger I'll receive the Lieutenant at two o'clock. I want the whole quaternion here for the meeting, including you -- and tell everyone to dress for battle."
"Yes, sir!"
Suggested interlude music: Timothy Michael Wynn - 'Lying in Wait', from 'Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3' [2008] |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 125 | Lily Glamerspear
"I don't know. Should I wear the helmet?"
Specialist Lily Glamerspear had never seen her Very Important Pony so indecisive before.
"Or is it goofy without the rest on as well?"
Thankfully, Honour was managing the confused VIP who wasn't actually a pony. "I think you can present yourself in your ordinary dress clothes, sir. You've got your full quaternion here to back you up, and none of us are injured, either."
Anon nodded his head repeatedly. "Right, right. I just want to, you know -- I want to project a certain air of intimidation. Put him in his place, yes? Last time, when he came for his helmet, he was holding all the cards with that ridiculous blank-check authorization of his."
That blanket 'bridge on the stirrup river' permission form Major General Hoofstrong had signed for Valiant Kilfeather was, indeed, complete minotaur dung.
Anonymous collapsed into his chair, his black-bronze helmet and massive 'icosapligi' mace sitting on the bureau in front of him, dwarfing all the stationary in a passive show of force. Just behind and to the side of his seat was a tall suit stand which had been repurposed to hold the rest of his 'Erefloga Panoply': linen undergarment, chest plate, bracers, greaves, and gauntlets. In early the afternoon sunlight, the 'Black Flame' dark bronze glowed with an antique luster.
The Royal Engineer shook his head. "I'm tired of having to deal with this colt. What the devil could he want now? I've got enough on my plate working on the foundry and preparing the Whirlwind for real combat. Obviously he's coming about our entry into the Games in place of his wing, but what specifically? Any ideas, anyone? Specialist Glamerspear, you have some history together; maybe you have an inkling?"
Lily cleared her throat. "Sir, I don't really know, but I doubt he's coming just to waste your time. I know he can be a jackass, but he wouldn't be in charge of Equestria's premier air defense wing if he was genuinely lazy or insubordinate."
She glanced at the pieces of armor and the intimidating weapon. "One thing I know he isn't is browbeat-able. There's no point in you suiting up in your armor, sir, because nothing fazes Val." Shrugging, she tossed a forehoof up in the air. "That's a big part of how his team took the Grand Mêlee. He just doesn't back down, even when he's outmatched. He always manages to hold out for the enemy's morale to break first."
Anonymous closed his eyes and rubbed his fingers at the bridge of his nose. "Wonderful. I'm up against a hard place on one side and here's the rock rolling in on the other."
'He's really worked up about this.'
Well, he was probably hoping for some peace and quiet after yesterday's intensity. So was she, to be honest. Lily still needed some time to digest just what she'd learned on the Moon. But she put those thoughts away for now and focused on her VIP.
"Sir, you know, this year's MXP Games was probably Val's last chance to participate as a real contender."
The Royal Engineer looked up. "What do you mean by that?"
Even Honour, closer to his desk, narrowed her eyes at the specialist.
'Geez, it's not like it's a big secret or something.'
"He's been an officer in the Guard for six years now and he's only moved up one rank to full lieutenant. Even for a non-noble, that's a long time -- and there's always a shortage of qualified intermediate-level officers. He's overdue for promotion to captain."
Mixed memories of her time as Val's marefriend -- 'was that what I really was?' -- poked at the edges of her mind. It was not the time for them, so she shoved them away.
"I know for a fact he asked to be held back for this year's games; I'm sure Major General Hoofstrong pulled some strings on his behalf considering he'd taken the most prestigious prize last year." She shook her head. "But that's over now. He's been a lieutenant for too long."
Anonymous furrowed his brow. "So? He moves up to captain. Are captains not allowed to participate in the Games?"
'He doesn't get it.'
Honour turned to face their VIP, having cottoned on. "Sir, the 1st Air Division is one of the few full-strength Divisions in the Royal Guard. Lieutenant Kilfeather is in command of probably the best air superiority wing in the Guard -- unless a spot opens up elsewhere in 1st A.D., as part of his promotion he'll surely be reassigned to command an air battalion in some other division."
Lily nodded. "He always wanted to command one of the wings of the 1st Canterlot Battalion and take them to victory at the Games. He had his heart set on making a new record for the number of times one particular pony stood on the podium. He graduated near the top of his class at the Academy, and lobbied hard to get placed into 1st A.D. Then it was a matter of impressing the upper brass as a Lieutenant Junior Grade in order to stay in the Battalion when he promoted."
Shaking her head, she shrugged. "But Corporal Bound's right, sir. There's no chance he'll be staying in the 1st Canterlot battalion when he promotes, and only a slim chance of even remaining in 1st A.D at all. And the prestige of 1st Air attracts some of the best officers and a great selection of enlisted. The Watchtower has a lot of history, ya know? A team from the 1st A.D. has won the Grand Mêlee almost every one of the last... eight years? Maybe nine?"
Lily looked around, in case somepony had more detailed knowledge of the Games' history. Val liked to gush about this topic a bit when he was in a good mood, though it never really held her interest much.
Sure enough, Sparkshower the walking armored history book piped up. "Eleven years. That's when they first won two in a row, with the Valkyries. The Household and 1st Infantry Divisions each took a win but otherwise 1st Air has dominated since then."
Their VIP nodded. "I see. Was it the Valkyries who mostly carried that streak?"
Sparkshower sat down and counted on her hooves. "Not really, sir. They won three in a row, then a team from the 1st Infantry took one, and then it was back to 1st Air with the Royal Hussars two years in a row, then the Household Division snatched it away, then back to 1st Air with an air superiority team from the Second Air Brigade three years in a row-"
Lily interrupted the encyclopedia with a bit of personal information. "And guess who fought for those second and third wins?"
Anon snorted. "Let me guess: one then-Lieutenant Junior Grade Valiant 'Icepone' Kilfeather."
Lily grinned. "Exactly. His old wing wasn't too happy about it when he got promoted to full lieutenant and his new crew took the pennant from them. I don't know the current qualifier standings but I wouldn't be surprised if they're back for vengeance this year."
Their VIP scribbled down some notes. "Along with Major Growler's 'Valkyries', apparently."
Honour shot the quaternion a glance. "Sir, about that. I was going to bring it up with you this afternoon, but we had a run-in with the Valkyries' senior non-commissioned officer yesterday, after you left for rest. She tried to intimidate us into giving up the Whirlwind's secrets, and also put us on notice that we'll be watched whenever we go out."
Anonymous looked genuinely concerned. "In the garage? Should we set a guard on the Whirlwind?"
"That would be prudent, sir, in spite of her indignant answer when Specialist Sparkshower pressed the Sergeant Major if the Valkyries would attempt sabotage. But she also insinuated that Major General Hoofstrong would probably assign some 1st Air Division troops to protect the Whirlwind; come to think of it, that could also be a reason for the lieutenant's visit."
"Surely Hoofstrong wouldn't send Kilfeather's air wing to protect the equipment of the very group that thrashed them?"
Nopony had an answer for that rhetorical question.
The Royal Engineer leaned back in his chair. "Then again, the Major General struck me as quite crafty. And as you say, Valiant's in charge of the premier air superiority wing; at the bridge, we only hospitalized three of them. There must have been another forty at the Pas-de-Sabots at least."
Lily knew that was a significant underestimate. "A typical air wing is just over a hundred ponies on paper. I'm sure his is at full strength, even if he didn't bring them all to the bridge operation. He would have had his pick of recruits with the Grand Mêlee win last year."
The Royal Engineer's face turned sombre. "You don't think he's upset about being bumped like this, do you? With his record-setting dreams quashed? I don't want another situation where someone's throwing down a horseshoe in challenge."
Sparkshower didn't react to the obvious reference to her beau's explosive entrance on Friday.
Lily just shook her head. "Even though he's entitled to do it as an officer, it's not his style. He'll abuse the rules for his benefit but he generally doesn't completely ignore them. For all his faults, Val's pretty practical. Duelling you doesn't do anything for him. It's not like getting his wings shredded has hurt his career. If anything, it proves his Pas-de-Sabots was the real deal, despite the whining of the victimized idle nobility."
That set her VIP at ease. "Well, if it's just about security for the garage and some harassment for our would-be spies, then that's all right. Maybe this meeting will be brief after all and I can get back to the foundry work. I need to put in orders for the equipment we'll need now, as they'll take weeks to procure. With Songwell researching real estate, that speeds up the timeline considerably, even if we have to visit a few of them before we find the right place."
Lily couldn't help but notice the way he used 'we' in those last two last sentences. Little wonder Corporal Bound crushed all over the Royal Engineer and his endeavors, always gushing about how he was doing good work, with how their VIP considered his bodyguards an integral part of the team.
True, they'd be a team all together in the MXP Games, but that was different. And Lily hadn't forgotten his unprepared and exhausted thank-you speech from yesterday.
Didn't he say he'd put together a proper one later?
When was that coming?
'Maybe it'll involve a nice night out on the town, heh.'
After all, the week before the Gala was notorious for 'anticipatory' pre-parties.
Just as Lily started to warmly smirk at the thought, there was a knock on the door behind her. Sparkshower sat on her haunches at attention at the entrance to the private portion of the Royal Engineer's quarters, while Honour collected herself behind the desk, sitting just beside his armor set. Sergeant Ebonshield, who until now had been silently standing on the opposite side of the double doors from Lily, shot her a glance, and nodded slowly.
'Here we go!'
With the pompous stomping dance of a formal occasion, Lily rotated in place with military precision before telekinetically seizing one door-handle and cracking it open to inspect the caller.
That was Val, all right, in his dress blues and with his wings still completely bandaged up. And he had somepony with him, surprisingly. This time Lily's VIP didn't demand he come alone, so she guessed it was okay. Beside Val stood a pegasus mare in Air Service Dress blues as well, with three chevrons on her shoulder.
'Well, well, well, who's this?'
Olive-green coat and a blonde mane with a few choice conservative curls. She didn't have the look of somepony from his own stable; not young enough and too stern-faced for his tastes.
Since these were the expected guests, Lily quickly nodded to Sergeant Ebonshield and she turned in place to pull open the other door in sync with Lily's.
"Lieutenant Kilfeather, sir."
Val and the unnamed sergeant stepped into the room and politely doffed their caps -- an action which he still had to do with his forehooves, while she managed it the traditional pegasus way using a wing-swipe.
Lily's VIP was seated at his desk, his elbows on the table and his hands clasped together. He unfolded them and indicated the pair of chairs opposite him.
"Lieutenant. Take a seat."
As he stepped forward, Val shot Glamerspear a grin and winked. "You've lost the cone, Lily. Shame, it was a good look on you."
She didn't dignify that remark with a response, staring dumbly forward like a good door-guard should. That was the Royal Engineer's order; keep the meeting formal and free of chatter.
Just business.
Val loved trading barbs, but if they all -- well, mostly her -- refrained from hitting back, then the meeting could be kept brief. Anonymous was also hoping to put the heat on the lieutenant, futile as that probably was.
She'd soon find out.
Looking to his right, Kilfeather quickly gave a nod in passing to Sergeant Ebonshield. "Nice to see you again, Miss 'Danger.' I do hope it's 'Miss.'"
He actually stopped when he noticed the other pegasus in the room.
"Oh, and I see the lovely Specialist Sparkshower is allowed to be on display this time, instead of tucked away like a delicate porcelain doll. My, all this occasion just for me, heh, I'm embarrassed."
'Sure you are, Val.'
He leered at their armored comrade, but still received no reaction whatsoever from the room, besides the sharp-stepped closing of the doors behind him.
Finally, the Lieutenant swaggered up to the Royal Engineer's desk. "My Lord, thank you for seeing me. May I present to you Sergeant Michelle Greenhound of the 101st Military Intelligence Battalion, call sign 'Mirage.'"
The 101st was the intelligence battalion at 1st Air Division's command HQ.
'He's brought a spook?'
The Royal Engineer didn't break his stern gaze. "Sergeant."
The terseness on display seemed to finally break Val's usual chatty mood, and both ponies quickly hopped up into the provided chairs. "I'll get straight to the point, Lord. You're taking my team's place in the MXP Games' Grand Mêlee. I had enough trained backups to fill out the loss of myself, Joker, and Duck and still launch a decent flight, if the stewards and Major General Hoofstrong allowed such a large substitution this late post-registration, but instead the Major General has used her power to call you and your quaternion in as ringers."
Val twisted in his seat and glanced around the room. "I gather their Majesties had something to do with it, too. I can't repel authority of that magnitude, so my team's out and yours is in as a complete swap."
Turning back to face the Royal Engineer, he continued. "But you'll technically be carrying the pennant of the 1st Air Wing, and you're also representing the 1st Air Division, too. As the bearer of that flag, and as commander of the winning team of last year's Grand Mêlee, and since I'm out of work on a no-combat medical chit anyways, Major General Hoofstrong has ordered me to do whatever I can to help you win. That's what I'm here to do, and it's why I've brought Sergeant Mirage. Together, we're going to see if we can't whip you and your motley crew into a shape capable of making a good dive at the podium."
With a grin, he leaned back in his seat. "Crazy world, huh, m'Lord?"
'No way!'
'Foal of a bitch, after everything that's happened, personally and professionally, now you're expected to work with this grinning jackass?!'
It was enough to make Lily steam at her collar.
'And, wait a minute, this is the second such surprise assistant today for the Royal Engineer!'
What's next? Princess Luna orders Ebonshield's mom upstairs out of the Rookery to serve as his personal escort to the Grand Galloping Gala?
That was a thought, Imagining Carmen with her white-powdered face like some Patrician creature out of ancient times. Lily could just picture the scandalized faces of the modern nobility.
Her VIP stayed frosty. "I want to see those orders in writing, Lieutenant."
Val licked his lips and hesitated for a moment, then reached into the front pocket of his blue jacket, pulling out a folded square of paper, which he slid forwards on the desk. "Here you are, my Lord."
As Anonymous calmly picked up and unfolded the scrip, Val leaned back a little in his seat. "It saddens me to see we've reached this level of mistrust. I hope we can repair our relationship or, heh, it'll make working together real difficult. I can let bygones be bygones if you can, m'Lord. I'm real flexible... in more ways than one."
'Guh.' Where the Royal Engineer's use of 'we' earlier was so heartening, Lily got the shivers from the way Val slimily used the same word, as if the chill was anything but his fault! And OF COURSE he had to get in a little sexual-prowess proclamation at the end there. He was incorrigible.
Having studied the document, the Royal Engineer lowered the paper back to the desk -- still keeping it back on his side, Lily noticed -- and refolded his hands.
"I don't see anything in here requiring me to work with you, Lieutenant."
Lily saw him squirm a bit in his seat and inhale sharply; Val didn't like that one bit.
Then he broke out into an awkward grin and chuckled. "Okay. Okay. You didn't want to ever see me again, you told me so yourself last time. You have your bodyguards set to maximum intimidation and formality for this meeting, cold shoulders all around, I get it. Arms and armor polished and on display front and center, sure. I know you don't like me. But you know what I am, I've told you why I'm here, and you've seen the orders. Let's drop the charade, huh?"
The Royal Engineer paused for a moment to stare deadpan at Val, then replied almost casually. "If that's all, then thank you for your time, Lieutenant."
Val started chuckling awkwardly, glancing at Sergeant Mirage with an incredulous grin. "Ha ha ha! Can you believe this kidder? Do I need to repeat myself, m'Lord? I'm the champ, and I'm here to help you win. You can't say no to a proposal like that."
Mirage was trying her best not to look embarrassed, while Anonymous nodded and indicated the exit with an open hand. "I heard you, Lieutenant. Thank you for the offer. The door's over there."
Val's chuckle turned angry. "Are you kidding? You know, Lord Engineer, I told you I thought you were clever, more so than I had first realized, but maybe I was wrong the second time, because here you are frankly just being stupid."
Anonymous didn't break his stern gaze as he addressed Honour. "Corporal, remove the Lieutenant."
'That escalated quickly!'
Lily was so surprised at the sudden order she didn't even react for a half second, while Ebonshield stepped past her to close in on the pair of interlopers, and Sparkshower leveled her lance and started to hover.
But even as Honour rounded the table towards him, Val burst into a protest, genuinely upset. "Come on! You want to willingly go into the tournament blind? I've stood on that podium three years in a row! A fourth time this year would have set a new record for the Games! I'm here to offer advice and help train your team, you'd have to be a fool to refuse!"
Lily had a DPICM blunt-tipped practice spear materialized and ready to go as she placed a forehoof on the door handle, ready to let Icepone and Mirage right back out. Honour was already beside him, tapping him on the shoulder like a tired Military Ponice officer dealing with the drunk tank's next resident, with Eb just behind his chair and Sparkshower bearing down on Sergeant Greenhound, but Val furiously thrust a forehoof at the Royal Engineer.
"And by the way, that's a real pretty set of armor you've got there on display, my Lord, but if you're going into the Games, then you had better know how to use it! You sent your quaternion into battle on your behalf, but have you ever even been in a real fight yourself?!"
Lily couldn't help but notice Sergeant Mirage squirming in her seat as all this was going on, but Anonymous waved a hand. "Just a moment, Corporal."
Honour removed her forehoof from the furious Valiant, and a chill fell over the room while the Royal Engineer paused to scrutinize the hot-headed Lieutenant.
Suggested background music: Harold Faltermeyer - Top Gun Theme Without Guitar, from 'Top Gun' [1986]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OSMqSPmfVA
The Corporal sat as still as a stone, waiting for the next command, while Ebonshield had a forehoof raised slightly off the ground, ready to snap one of her daggers out. In the intense silence of the lavish palace room, all Lily could hear was the faint magical humming of her own conjured munition and the regular flaps of Sparkshower in hover-mode.
"Yes, Lieutenant Kilfeather, I have used that equipment in a real battle. As to your other questions..."
He pushed the paper with Kilfeather's orders back across the desk.
"...My team and I are quite capable of doing our own research and preparing for the Grand Mêlee all ourselves. Of course I appreciate the assistance an experienced winner could bring to our prospects, but I won't accept you as an adviser in your present state."
Anonymous leaned forward across the desk. "Maybe we won't win as a result. I'll be disappointed, but it's no real loss; I've already gotten what I needed from the Whirlwind demonstration yesterday. Maybe Major General Hoofstrong will be disappointed if I refuse your services, but I've already gotten what I needed from her, too. Maybe the Princesses will even be disappointed if we don't do well in the Games, but I'm sure they'll appreciate our effort, and I've got something far more impressive in the pipeline coming quickly afterwards. So I don't need you, Lieutenant."
Val grit his teeth. "But you agreed to see me anyways."
For the first time the entire meeting, Anonymous allowed himself an emotional display in the form of a minuscule smile. "Because I am a public servant of the Equestrian government, and you are a member of the Equestrian public."
Another first: Lily didn't think she'd ever seen Val defeated. Angry, sure, and disappointed, absolutely -- she remembered how he looked when she finally ditched him. But at that time, he gave her the impression that she would be easily replaced, so he didn't treat it as a defeat. Now he was really beaten, and she didn't know if that'd ever really happened before.
"All right. You don't need me. But I want you to win, and maybe I even need you to win, because my name'll be stapled to whatever result you achieve. I can still set a record with my fourth podium using your team. Well, this isn't my first rodeo. You were about to throw me out, yet we're still talking; that tells me you're willing to take me under certain conditions. So, what are those conditions?"
Anonymous waved Honour back to her post. Ebonshield and Sparkshower retired as well.
'Guess I won't be pumping another round into 'Icepone' today.'
'Shame.'
Anonymous sat up straight in his chair.
"I want you to lose your attitude, Lieutenant. I want you to stop treating my quaternion as if they're your chums from the chow hall, and I want you to stop treating me as if I'm your old drinking pal whom you've just run into at a bar. I want you to apologize to Specialist Sparkshower in no uncertain terms for what you tried to do, I want you to stop antagonizing Specialist Glamerspear every time you see her, and I want you to stop leering at my guardsmares like they're baubles on display in a shop's front window."
He raised his eyebrows and shook his head. "Despite my ignorance in things Equestrian, I am in charge here, and my quaternion, with whom I have done many things, including fight in a life-or-death battle, are my most trusted associates. If you won't treat me as your commander and all of them with the common decency and respect they deserve, then frankly you can go to Hell -- Or Tartarus, as it's called here."
It took 'Icepone' a few moments to recover from their VIP's tongue-lashing. Lily didn't think he'd ever received a dressing-down quite like that before. When Val eventually composed himself and spoke, the cocksure attitude was all but gone.
"When would your Lordship like me to deliver the apology to Specialist Sparkshower?"
Anonymous tapped the heavy leather writing-pad on his table. "I want it in writing, here, tomorrow, signed and sealed. It'll be rejected if it's not found acceptable. Specialist Sparkshower will decide later herself if she wants to receive your apology verbally as well."
Val swallowed. Having an admission of guilt in writing would definitely be an ace up their VIP's sleeve if the lieutenant ever screwed up. Though Lily did wonder if Sparkshower would allow Anonymous to ruin Kilfeather that way. She was a pretty forgiving pony, after all.
"Very well, my Lord. Is there anything else?"
The Royal Engineer leaned back in his chair and shook his head. "Not for my sake. But since we have an agreement, and since you've come all the way here with the good sergeant, why don't you take a few minutes to give us a brief overview of the Grand Mêlee, the challenge facing us, your proposals for training, and so on."
Lily had really never seen Val so subdued. She was sure he'd had occasions to behave like a proper officer -- in front of the promotion board, for example, and she doubted he got quite so informal with senior brass like the Major General in official settings, but he was never like this when she'd been with him socially.
Lieutenant Kilfeather took a deep breath, relieved to find the tension lifting, even if he was no longer in control of the situation. "Well, sir, the way I see it there are three tasks at hoof. The first is to remedy the deficiencies in your team. The second is to make sure everypony understands the rules and regulations of the Grand Mêlee. And the third is drilling and practice."
Anonymous cocked an eyebrow. "Deficiencies? You think we're deficient in some way, Lieutenant?"
For the briefest moment the beginning of a grin flashed across his face, and then he remembered where he was, and what he'd just signed up for. "With respect, sir, I know for certain that your team has several deficiencies, and these need to be remedied as fast as possible. Firstly, there's the matter of your weapon carriage, this 'Whirlwind' vehicle."
The Royal Engineer interrupted before he could continue. "I'm well aware that improvements need to be made to make the Whirlwind battle-ready, Lieutenant, though if you have some particular suggestions, I will of course hear them."
Val spread his forehooves in a placating gesture. "I'm sure your Lordship well understands what needs to be improved, and I don't have any suggestions about that at this time. Physical deficiencies aren't what I was referring to."
Licking his lips, he continued. "Believe it or not, you're not the first team to bring a vehicle to the Grand Mêlee. War wagons pulled by earth ponies, even though they aren't used in the Royal Guard, have occasionally been popular, and I believe one time there was even a flying pegasus-pulled war carriage, too. But I understand your Lordship basically built the 'Whirlwind' by hoof -- by hand, pardon -- and that your Lordship is also the only one who really knows how to fix it. Is that true?"
The Royal Engineer nodded. "It's based on a common dog-cart, built by Henry Fortstable and Company, and I've had some help assembling it by members of the quaternion, but yes, I suppose I'm the only one who really knows it inside and out."
"And your Lordship intends to fight in the Mêlee, correct?"
"I do."
"Well, the thing to remember, sir, is that the Grand Mêlee is an exhausting, all-day event. Now, I'm sure you've built a robust vehicle, but equipment breakdowns are inevitable, and when a rest is called, you're going to need to spend that time actually resting, not fixing your carriage. You need what we call a 'ground crew': a group of workers who can patch the thing back together between rounds."
Anonymous reached for his quill and began to scribble notes on a pad. "Hmm. I worked closely with Mr. Fortstable in ordering special parts and having a particular configuration. Perhaps I could hire some of his mechanics for the day, training them in its peculiarities."
Val nodded, settling into the comfort. "That sounds reasonable, sir. And it's not just the Whirlwind, either. The best teams -- the winning teams -- always have an armorer on hoof as well to patch up their arms and armor. It helps to bring some spares; every team gets a small area in the paddock to host their ground crew and storage."
The Royal Engineer glanced down at Corporal Bound. "I wouldn't trust anybody to fix my armor except the minotaur who made it. I don't know if Bronzehorn would be willing to come here for the day, but it's worth asking him, at least. And he seemed to be familiar with all the Royal Guard standard equipment as well."
Lily's ex nodded in her direction. "I'd wager the only exception might be Specialist Glamerspear's helmet, sir. It's a fancy piece of tech from Martingale-Locksteed. There might be spares in the palace armory; perhaps your Lordship could obtain one."
Still scribbling, their VIP nodded. "All right. Do we need a medic, too?"
"No; healing is forbidden. The totems prevent permanent injuries or sustained bleeding, but a competitor unable to fly or stand without assistance isn't allowed to continue."
"Mechanics, armorer, and spares. What next?"
"The second deficiency I see, your Lordship, is in reconnaissance. The Valkyries have set a watch on the Canterlot Palace garage to watch when you go out and practice, and they've also got recon elements watching the qualifiers as well. With this information, they'll be able to figure out how you fight and therefore what they need to do to defeat you. You need to gather the same info on the opposition as well. That's where Sergeant Greenhound comes in."
At Val's prompting, 'Mirage' spoke up for herself. "My Lord, Major General Hoofstrong has authorized me to conduct reconnaissance operations on the competing Grand Mêlee teams, and she has placed a small team at my disposal as well. I've already dispatched them to monitor the practice and qualifying areas. Additionally, a security team has been dispatched to the garage to watch over your 'Whirlwind.'"
Val leaned forward in his chair. "I've got a few pegasi posted on interdiction duty as well. If you head out in your carriage and a group of Valkyries -- or anypony else -- tries to follow, they'll be intercepted and harried by my soldiers every flap of the way."
Anonymous set down his pen, a look of concern on his face. "Scouts, guards, interceptors, and a ground crew. This is becoming a major undertaking in terms of personnel."
That got a chuckle out of Val. "Major General Hoofstrong takes the Games very seriously, sir. She's not the only one, either. This event is a big deal for the Royal Guard, and there's a lot of prestige for the winner."
Corporal Bound stepped forward to speak as the Royal Engineer pondered that statement. "I have a question. Sergeant, you're from Divisional HQ, but won't we be facing other teams from within the First Air?"
Mirage nodded. "That's right, Corporal. The 1st Brigade's Valkyries and the 2nd Brigade's Royal Hussars are each fielding a team and have qualified for the event."
Val spoke up before Honour could talk again. "I know what you're going to ask, Corporal. How come Divisional HQ is helping just one team when it's got three? Well, the answer is simple. Ordinarily the home wing of each team does its own recon. But given our history together, Major General Hoofstrong thought it would be best to bring in 'outside help,' so to speak. My colts'll patrol the skies and stand silent guard but you only have to deal with me when it comes to direct contact."
He turned to Mirage. "Plus there's the matter of the biggest deficiency in your team, which the Major General figured my 1st Air Wing also wasn't ideally suited to remedy."
The Royal Engineer got his pen ready again. "And what's that, Lieutenant?"
Taking a deep breath, Val puffed his cheeks as he blew it out. "You're short a pony, my Lord. Five soldiers makes for an earth pony or unicorn infantry squad, but the Grand Mêlee runs on pegasus rules, and it's six ponies to a flight."
'Oh, damn.'
'Major Growler is going to be coming at us with six Valkyries?'
'Celestia.'
That was a lot of armor to have to drill through.
Val looked around the room. "Now, your Lordship has an armored pegasus, a batpony -- we've both been briefed, by the way -- a unicorn, an earth pony, and you, a terrestrial biped. Two in the air and three on the ground, and I understand your carriage seats three. Who you pick as your sixth soldier is entirely up to you, my Lord, but my recommendation would be to get somepony with wings."
Once again, he indicated Sergeant Mirage. "And that's also why the sergeant is here. My First Air Wing is a maximum-performance, non-integrated all-colt unit, and Major General Hoofstrong figured that you might prefer to have another mare, since you'll be bringing your VIP quaternion to the fight, and traditionally, a single pony's guards are all eligible members of the opposite sex."
As Mirage sat up straight as a rod, Val showed off her merchandise like he was auctioning off her plot to the highest bidder. "Sergeant Greenhound isn't just a senior intelligence staffer, she's a decorated war hero. The 101st Intel is based out of the Watchtower and was hard hit during the Changeling Invasion. The two floors the battalion occupies were completely ablaze and utterly ruined by the time it was all over, but the soldiers fought back harder than almost anypony else in the whole 'Tower, inflicting massive casualties on the invaders and tying down huge numbers of the bugs while the rest of the Division rallied to defend the rest of the city."
Holding a hoof sincerely to his chest, he continued. "If you'll permit the crude verbiage, sir, the 101st Military Intelligence Battalion kicked some serious plot during the invasion, and they took surprisingly few losses doing so. All of us 'real fighters' used to joke about them being a bunch of pencil-pushing accountants, but they honestly showed us all up during that incident. Nopony in the Watchtower talks about the 101st that way anymore. Sergeant Mirage comes to you with Major General Hoofstrong's personal recommendation -- and mine too, for whatever that might be worth. You couldn't ask for a finer soldier."
Lily instinctively began to scrutinize this newcomer mare. If she was going to join their team then Lily had better be able to work with her.
Mirage was probably no older than Honour, but she looked like someone who'd already decided that the Royal Guard would be her life, even if it killed her. She got the sense that she was a true career, gung-ho enlisted soldier, if maybe one with some more brains than the average grunt, seeing as how she got into intel and apparently managed to do well. Or maybe it was just the ability and endurance to be forever mashing buttons on an adding machine, tallying up reports brought in by field recon ponies like Sparkshower. She had a bit of a square jaw, but otherwise was of average size and build. Lily wasn't a huge fan of the retro mane-do with the soft bob she had going on, but it worked. Like a typical Royal Guard lifer, she kept her tail short-cropped.
Was she another Order of the Ram recipient? She wasn't wearing any insignia. Val did say she was 'decorated,' but didn't specify how. Maybe she just had a Distinguished Service Cross or a similar commendation.
Whatever the case, having one sergeant on the team was tricky enough -- even when it turned out that sergeant wasn't a sergeant at all, but the Headmistress of the Batpony Assassins order. Of course, it had turned out okay in the end, and Lily even felt like she got along well with Ebonshield, but she wouldn't like to be in Honour's sabots if the nominal leader of the quaternion had to deal with having another more senior guardsmare to wrangle.
Anonymous set down his pen once more. "I'll consider it. For now, as you say, we can rely on the sergeant's services for informational purposes at least."
Val nodded. "Of course, my Lord. But please decide quickly; there's not a lot of time to train the team."
"I understand. I'll discuss things and we'll figure out the final team composition this week. Is there anything else?"
Kilfeather shook his head. "That does it for the major holes that I can see, sir. As soon as the team is finalized, I'd like to take everypony out to the grounds to survey the battlefield. Then we can talk rules, strategies, and start training."
"Very well. It's Tuesday afternoon. Let's reconvene on Friday. We'll have made our decision about the sixth member by then, and we can take the Whirlwind out to the battlefield for that introduction."
Val actually gave Lily's VIP an unironic bow in his seat. "Yes, my Lord."
Anonymous took a moment to behold the two pegasi. "And don't forget about that letter for tomorrow. Dismissed, Lieutenant. Good day, Sergeant."
They both hopped out of their chairs, gave the Royal Engineer a quick salute, and then retired towards the doors. Lily immediately seized the handle in her telekinesis as Ebonshield did the same with her forehoof.
As the unicorn opened the door and the pegasi passed by, she noticed Val shoot her a glance, but there was no aggression or playfulness behind it; just a cordial acknowledgement that they knew each other.
Part of her really wanted to nod back, even in spite of their history. But she let him just walk on by, demonstrating the supremacy of her relationship with the Royal Engineer.
Once the doors were closed and a few moments had passed to make sure they were out of earshot, the Royal Engineer stood up and pulled at his necktie to loosen it.
"Well, that was unpleasant, but at least it's sorted." Yanking the formal wear unceremoniously off, he quickly folded it and placed it on his desk before unbuttoning the top of his shirt.
Addressing the four of them, he sighed. "Now, I really do have to finish these plans and orders for the foundry, but let's not go into Friday blind. I know your time off-duty is your own, but I'd appreciate it if you all would do your own research into the MXP Games and the Grand Mêlee. Let's try to have a good idea of at least the rules and regulations before we hear the tricks of the trade from Lieutenant Kilfeather."
He glanced down at Corporal Bound. "Corporal, you've mentioned before that the Games are not a very public affair, but even so, perhaps there's some coverage of his previous wins that we can study?"
Honour nodded. "Yes, sir, I'll take a look through the Gazette's archives."
He clapped his hands and rubbed them together, then rolled up his sleeves. "Excellent. Anyone have anything else?"
Since he was in such a good mood, maybe Lily ought to bring up the idea of some entertainment?
She cleared her throat. "Sir, it's a bit off-topic, but you mentioned something yesterday about a second, more-planned thank you for us?"
Licking his lips, their VIP chuckled. "I did say that, didn't I? It does feel like our accomplishments and my thanks to you deserves something more than a hasty speech."
With a furrowed brow, he looked around the room. "I know I've got a lot of work, but I also know I'm too tired to finish it today no matter how hard I push myself. I feel like I owe you all something more than just another speech."
He glanced down at Corporal Bound beside him. "I've made some faux pas in the past, so let me clear this ahead of time. Would a night out be against the rules? Dinner at a restaurant, maybe find somewhere with live music or take in a show? Or we could go to that spa again. I could use another massage."
Honour didn't look thrilled by the proposal, but eventually she gave in. "Ordinarily, it would probably be inappropriate, but given the circumstances, I suppose it's fine, sir. The week of the Gala sees a lot of celebrations and big parties, and including bodyguards isn't unheard of, either."
Smiling, their VIP sat down. "Good! Since I've no more appointments this afternoon, perhaps the four of you could huddle your heads and decide what you'd like best? I really don't know Canterlot's nightlife very well. And I could use a good time out myself, all things considered, so I'm game for anything."
'Anything, huh?'
Lily started to grin. Honour shot her a stern glance, but Ebonshield on the other side of the doors lifted an eyebrow and gave her a sly smile. The unicorn couldn't tell what Sparkshower was thinking since she closed the visor on her helmet, but she surely could use some fun to cheer her up after what happened on Friday.
Not to mention what happened to her yesterday.
A shiver went down Lily's spine when she remembered just what Artemis went through, all so she could learn how to exorcise a shadow. She shook the memory off, swearing she wouldn't ask her to do that again, and turned her thoughts back to tonight's prospects.
Even if the restaurants and clubs were bustling, having a representative of the Blue Chamber ought to open some doors. Yeah, it was a Tuesday, the worst day of the week to go out, but this was Gala week, and with their VIP in tow, the possibilities were limitless.
Honour was noncommittal in answering the Royal Engineer. "Yes, sir."
Lily decided to be more enthusiastic. "It's a date, sir."
Lifting a forehoof, she playfully indicated the room's lighthouse clock. "We'll pick you up around five?"
He nodded. "All right."
'Aw yeah, pre-Gala party night with my VIP!'
Suggested interlude music: Benjamin & Aaron Wheeler - "I'm a VIP", as featured in "Saints Row: The Third" [2011] |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 126 | Suggested background music: New Order - 'Confusion' [1983]
This is not what she'd had in mind when her boss said they'd be going to one of the innumerable Grand Galloping Gala pre-parties tonight. She'd expected nobleponies hobnobbing over glasses of expensive booze. Maybe some live music and dancing. And the occasional mare or colt splurging on a second extravagant costume in what was already a busy week, or perhaps simply showing off what they wore last year.
But this party was on a completely different level.
Yes, there was alcohol, and yes, there was live music and dancing. There were even a few extravagant getups. But a full-on masquerade ball?
In a converted dockside warehouse?
And with the party doubling, apparently, as an avant-garde art exhibit, complete with new-wave band?
She took a moment to adjust the full-muzzle mask she'd been issued at the door as she wound her way through the crowd after her VIP. Temporary walls made of brightly-colored cloth draped between posts formed a virtual labyrinth within the huge edifice, and an eclectic arrangement of pulsating magical lights made it all too easy to get completely lost.
Some of those 'walls' had what she thought was supposed to be art hanging from wires in front of them. Canvases with abstract splashes of clashing tones, lines that vaguely resembled ponies before twisting into unrecognizable shapes, and even splotches that looked like something up and died all over the piece. A series of five apparently identical portraits of the same mare in an emotionless pose were lit from behind, giving them an eerie appearance.
She rounded a corner and was nearly struck dumb by the sight of a stunningly handsome white pegasus colt standing on a slightly raised platform, perfectly preened, gossamer wings outstretched as though they were mid-flap, and rearing back as if mid-flight. Spotlights from all around bathed the figure in pure white, turning him into an icon of brilliance for all to admire. The reflected light actually noticeably brightened the room; every single one of his feathers was on full display.
Pausing for a second, she scrutinized the installation.
'That has to be some kind of statue, right?'
'No way could somepony hold that mid-action pose for so long.'
Just as she started to get going again, the figure stepped back and shifted his weight, blinking as he relaxed one set of muscles and flexed another.
'That's amazing.'
Scurrying a bit, she hurried past the well-formed and apparently extremely disciplined pegasus model. He was the first pony she'd seen here not wearing one of the mandatory-dress, white, full-face masks. The masks weren't completely identical, with slightly different ornamental designs around the eyes, mouth, and edges, but they sure made everypony look the same -- particularly from the rear. At least the serving-ponies with saddle-trays of drinks and appetizers had big, ostrich-feather plumes attached to their masks, making them stand out in the crowd.
She left the living-statue pegasus colt and passed through an open red curtain into another busy room. This one had another live show, with a bigger 'stage'.
Ahead, her VIP stopped to grab a drink from a passing server -- 'is that a zebra?' She had an enormous mane, standing straight up almost the length of the black and white ostrich-feathers adorning her mask.
'That has to be a weave.'
In the confusion of the kaleidoscopic lights, it took her a minute to notice that the mare was wearing provocative, horizontal zebra-stripe stockings almost up to her stifles, too.
Her boss took a moment to sip his drink and ask for directions, so she took in the room's main show. Two enormously muscular earth pony colts with bronze bands around their ankles, wrists, and necks were performing incredible feats of acrobatic prowess. Holding forehooves, one of the colts balanced on his forelegs, hind legs in the air, while the other slowly lifted him up higher. Once up, they played at balancing on just one hoof, extending hind or forelegs in opposite directions to maintain balance. Then the lower colt squatted down, and the upper colt transferred to balancing on his partner's hind knees instead. It looked like an agonizing transfer, and she could see the sweat beading on their unmasked brows, but they did it with little more than a few, barely-audible grunts of exertion. Everypony in the room seemed transfixed as, slowly, excruciatingly, one hoof at a time, the muscular figures rearranged themselves such that now the upper colt was balancing with his forehooves on top of the lower colt's hind hooves, with the lower colt balancing both of their weight on his own forehooves.
'Incredible.'
The room erupted into a brief shower of applause, but the strong-colt acrobats wordlessly continued the show. Her VIP plonked his empty martini glass down on a cocktail table and resumed course, so she followed after him.
'Damn, I kind of wanted to see what else those two amazing colts were capable of doing.'
Maybe she'd have some more time to take in the show later. It was still early, and she didn't doubt that a party like this was going to go late into the night.
Somewhere in between another set of fabric walls, she got a glimpse of the party's actual main stage and the live performers playing their alternative-pop set. They were masked, too, though theirs were painted in bright, almost luminescent colors. Fuchsia, pink, orange, and a greener-than-green that looked like something out of a Discordian nightmare. Still, they, and the music they were playing, fit everything going on in this hyper-modern madhouse. Even the faint smell of fish from the actual, still-in-use warehouse next door somehow fit the atmosphere. She was sure the artist in charge of everything would say it 'accentuated the ultra-realism of the event,' or some crap like that.
Whatever the philosophy behind it, whoever organized this shindig must have spent a fortune for all these magical spotlights. Basic, permanent flameless candles were relatively affordable, but high-powered lamps that changed color and 'danced' with the music didn't come cheap, even if they were just created on-the-fly by hired unicorns. From the other side of the next partition she could see she was in for even more of a light show.
Squeezing through another gap, she found herself in what was clearly one of the main 'party' rooms. There was an exhibit in the form of a pair of slender earth ponies -- one colt and one mare -- dancing in large white bird cages suspended from the ceiling. As they sensually gyrated and writhed overhead, she could see they were wearing pseudo-tackplay gear, with black masks, saddles, and chaps.
But the real attraction was the dozens, if not hundreds, of magical glow-balls hovering over the room, pulsating and shifting colors along with the beat. Some of them were even focused into spotlights, and they twirled and spun, draping the dancers -- both the professionals in the cages above, and the masked revellers below -- in riotous colors.
Her VIP pushed on, so she didn't have time to linger to enjoy this stunning dance-floor, but she did catch a glimpse of a raised booth in the corner, with at least four unicorns running the light-show in this room. She really hoped she'd get to enjoy the party once her boss was done with his business.
'When will I ever get another chance like this?'
'This sort of thing isn't even his style.'
She exited the dance hall into a long, curtain-walled corridor. If this wasn't all a single big open warehouse, the music would have actually been quieter back here. As it was, instead the angle and distance from the main stage speakers just served to muddle the vocals. All she could really hear now was the throbbing of the drums and bass reverberating inside the large building.
An imposing masked server-pony waited at the end of the corridor, blocking passage further, but he stepped aside as her VIP approached.
'So, this is some kind of private sub-party?'
Following behind her employer, she entered a large area with several very plush and comfortable looking sectional sofas, along with a separate bar and a few cocktail tables. There were only forty or so ponies in here, including the staff, so it must be some kind of exclusive ultra-VIP lounge. She didn't see any other passageways, so this must be it.
Isabelle Coquette, bodyguard to Galloway Bitsmount, Esquire, had worked -- and attended -- some extravagant parties in her time, but this one blew them all away. Then again, this was Canterlot in Royal Gala season, not Bitsmount Manor, half a day's ride from the capital. Much as Isabelle was eager to indulge herself a bit in this incredible luxury, unfortunately, her VIP was here on a very specific mission.
He barked a statement -- that sounded more like an order -- at the towering earth pony bouncer, who, even with the mask covering his face, looked like he'd taken and dished out his fair share of lumps. Hardly surprising that an affair of this caliber would have top-notch security.
"I'm here to see the Familia."
The colt discreetly directed Isabelle's VIP to a particular table, then resumed his interposing stance at the end of the hallway.
With all the 'walls' being made of little more than heavy curtains, she wouldn't be surprised if there were a few guards watching the empty areas between rooms, too. After all, it was so busy in the rest of the event that nopony would notice somepony slipping under a curtain to sneak their way into a prohibited area like this.
She followed her VIP to the corner of the room, where a large U-shaped sectional sofa had been laid out with a low coffee table in the center. Six masked ponies were there: five unicorns and an earth pony, drinking and talking amongst themselves. They were slow to react when Isabelle and her VIP took up position at the open end of the setup, but eventually they all turned. Most of them wore looks of disdain, a sort of 'who are these interlopers?' attitude of disgust, which was a bit surprising. Bitsmount was not at the top of the Equestrian peerage ranks, being merely the present holder of Letters Patent for the silver mine bearing his family's name, but he was far from the bottom. One more step up and he'd properly be addressed as Lord Bitsmount.
But then again, did these ponies even know who their new visitor was? With the mask obscuring his face and the suit covering his mark, he was rather anonymous. In fact, nopony that Isabelle had seen had their marks on display, besides the professional performers, but she supposed that would defeat the point of a masquerade ball. If she or her VIP didn't already have clothes on covering their flanks, what would they have done? Issued capes to go with their masks?
Somehow, that seemed like an appropriate dress for meeting this powerful and secret 'Familia in Magicae' group. She still wasn't quite over having her memory of the first encounter with the 'Familia' almost completely wiped from her mind.
That had been a disturbing use of magic. And an illegal one, though it was hardly surprising, considering that her employer had paid them for the privilege of violating various laws himself.
From nowhere, a feather-topped serving-pony scurried up behind the central figure on the sofa, bent over, and whispered something into his ear. The central unicorn colt nodded, then smiled and beckoned a forehoof towards the open seats.
"Ah, Mister Bitsmount. What a pleasure it is to see you again. Won't you and your bodyguard join us for some refreshments?"
Shooting Isabelle a glance that said 'watch for trouble,' her VIP took his seat first, and she followed after him.
'Watch for trouble?'
She may be handy in a rumble and no slouch with her bronze sabots, but Isabelle Coquette was still just a glorified barmaid. The bouncer at the entrance alone could probably tackle her in the blink of an eye, and she'd be hard-pressed to escape from him, let alone knock him out. And exactly what was she supposed to do against unicorns that could wipe minds?
'Well, may as well keep both eyes open.'
At least there were plenty of exits in a temporary 'room' like this. If she had to run, all she'd have to do is go straight for a wall and avoid one of the posts holding up the curtains. Those were obvious enough from the long 'feet' which kept them stable. Glancing up at the ceiling full of lights, Isabelle tried to discreetly figure out the general direction of an outside wall, just in case. She couldn't shake the feeling that something bad had happened during their last 'business meeting' with this shady group, either.
A serving pony -- another zebra mare, she noted, though without the enormous mane extensions of the one in the strong-colt performance room -- approached the table with a serving platter on her back, and hoofed over a fresh pair of cocktails. Having been trained to do just the same thing herself, Isabelle couldn't help but notice the way the zebra placed herself up close to the table then turned so her hindquarters were almost facing Bitsmount. She even made sure to bend over as low as possible when placing each drink on the table. Under his mask, Isabelle could see Galloway's eyes follow the shapely curves of the striped equine as she headed back to the bar for more drinks.
'Even in his current state of piqued frustration, he still can't help but peek at the plot.'
The gaggle of ponies at the table silently watched the two of them, politely, but somewhat menacingly, waiting for them to wet their lips. Isabelle's VIP seized his drink and quickly knocked back a healthy gulp before slapping it down on the black wooden table. She reached for hers more carefully, and took a delicate, feminine sip. Maybe it would be best to play up the fiction that she was just a decoration, and not actually a fighter at all.
'Would they buy that?'
'Or did I already blow that disguise at the last meeting?'
'What even happened then?'
The unicorn in the center smiled, and the rest of the group seemed to relax. "Now, Mister Bitsmount, I understand you have a rather pressing complaint about our recent services."
"I damn well do! Do you know what's happened?"
The representative of the 'Familia' was about to shrug, but her VIP just barreled on right into it. "Princess Celestia has appointed Phillip Songwell as the Royal Engineer's bloody personal assistant, with the aim of 'reforming' him!"
That was supposed to be damning, and having heard Galloway rant about it in private, she knew what it meant to him, but the masked ponies just stared blankly back.
"Is that all, Mister Bitsmount?"
Isabelle's VIP blew his top.
"Is that all? Is that all?! Don't pretend you can't read between the lines! Your blasted potion failed, and Princess Celestia saw right through us at open court!"
The others started to murmur, but they stopped when the one in the center replied. "Mister Bitsmount, you and Mister Songwell told the court that the failures at your mine were done at Songwell's initiative. Although I understand your joint musical 'apology tour' has been quite a success, it seems only natural to me that Her Majesty should wish to ensure the problem with his behaviour is completely rectified." Lifting a hoof, he grinned underneath the mask as he scratched his chin. "She does seem to have a certain fascination with reforming criminals. A mania for it, even."
Galloway inelegantly pounded a forehoof on the table, to almost no physical effect on either the audience or the drinks.
'Must be one heavy table.'
"A mania for reforming?! A mania for reforming?! More like a mania for interrogating -- or grilling, rather! Anypony who saw that alien monkey-colt at court would know he didn't believe a word we said, the way he was staring us down. And now she's given Songwell to the one creature who didn't buy our line."
The unicorn shook his head. "Mister Bitsmount, he is the Royal Engineer, and mining safety is his prerogative. As your accuser, his skepticism in court is hardly surprising, and you must admit assigning Songwell to him is the obvious placement choice for correcting a forepony who apparently does not understand safe work procedures."
Isabelle's VIP leaned in across the table. "Certainly! But do you think that idiot will be able to keep his trap shut? If the Royal Engineer applies pressure, as I'm sure the beast will do, then that fool will tell the truth!"
Showing signs of exasperation, the unicorn spread his upturned forehooves. "Mister Bitsmount, we can appreciate the possibility of such an event, but the service rendered was merely to enable you to dissemble at court."
Isabelle's VIP bolted to his hooves, pointing an accusing forehoof at the unicorn. "No! No! That was your damned idea! I first told your agent I wanted to change the truth. It was your group's idea to do this by lying to the Princesses in open court." He came crashing back down onto the plush seat, jostling the rest of the bench. "Who even are you?! I want to talk to somepony in charge here! You bunch of leeches think you can just take that much of somepony's money and render half-baked service; I'll see you ruined for this!"
The group took a moment to settle down again, and then the apparent leader turned and nodded to several of them, waving them away with a forehoof.
As the current song came to an end, Isabelle heard applause and cheers erupt throughout the warehouse. Clearly, the live band just finished their set. A few moments of shuffling later, and it was just her, her VIP, and two others left: the masked 'leader' unicorn, and the masked earth pony mare beside him.
The leader beckoned them to slide over closer.
"I am Isfet."
That name rang a bell, and Isabelle narrowed her eyes.
The unicorn stared at her. "Perhaps you may remember that name, in spite of the memory erasure which was necessary to protect both our enterprise and your secret."
Her VIP's thinking was the same as hers. "I remember that name. And your voice is familiar, too. You're the one we dealt with. You gave us the potions. Was it your idea?"
Now that the music had stopped and they were in close quarters, Isabelle could better hear her host's calm, purring voice. Something reached up from the shredded remnants of her memories of the previous meeting, and it sent a shiver down her spine.
"It was. I am electing to deal with your complaint directly since it is my policy to avoid leaving unsatisfied customers. May I ask how you heard of Mister Songwell's assignment?"
Galloway scrunched up his muzzle and scoffed. "The fool told me himself last night. Even showed me the royal writ itself, though he wouldn't let me break the seal to see the orders in detail."
Isfet nodded calmly. "He demonstrates a remarkable amount of loyalty for a hireling. Are you so certain of his eventual betrayal?"
Bitsmount whinnied loudly. "Loyalty, puh! I more than filled his purse with the savings we made on timber. He may cling to his plebian roots, but it's just a facade -- his family has the largest house in the village, bar mine, and his children lead a life of luxury, if not privilege."
Taking a swig from his drink with one forehoof, Galloway waggled the other dismissively. "And now that's all coming to an end! Having taken the blame, he's a pariah in the town. The original plan was to end our apology tour there, have him donate a significant sum to charity -- generously matched by myself, of course -- and then he'd take a leave of absence before returning in another non-controversial role. Chief surveyor, perhaps. Or some kind of clerk." He inhaled sharply through his teeth as he put the empty glass back down. "That way I'd be able to keep him underhoof. But now the tour's cancelled, there's no opportunity to make a public donation, and he's been ordered to move to Canterlot! Don't you see? He'll be out of my control!"
For a miscreant misogynist whose only interests, as far as Isabelle knew, were drinking, partying, gambling, and portraying himself in public as the universe's gift to Equestria (and particularly Equestria's mares), her boss sure had some brains, when he thought to use them. Part of her wondered what he might've achieved if he wasn't such a wastrel -- like owning more than one mine.
The other part didn't care what he added up to as long as he was still paying her well to stand around looking impressive and occasionally having a roll in the feather-downed silk hay with him.
Over from the stage, she heard the MC thank and praise the live band, and then he started to yammer something about the artwork and artists involved in tonight's show. Isabelle couldn't hear him very well; it was all a bit indistinct here on the back side.
After a long time considering things, Isfet serenely placed his forehooves together. "Is that it, Mister Bitsmount -- you want to keep Galloway in your control?"
With an irate sniffle, her VIP looked furtively around for the zebra server and another drink. "I suppose it is, yes. Have you got another blasted potion for that, then?"
The masked unicorn grinned and shook his head. "No, Mister Bitsmount. Not one which would function and escape detection for a sufficient duration -- for, after all, I assume Mister Songwell's assignment will last for some time?"
"Who knows? It could be months. If they take a liking to each other, it could even be permanent."
Suddenly melancholy at losing a valuable accomplice, her boss slumped down in his seat. He had been sipping on rye in his hotel suite's great room for hours before they received a message to come here tonight for the meeting. It seemed that those spirits, plus his last three fruity and quite potent drinks, were finally catching up with him.
"For an old fool who got his start with my father, Phillip's remarkably competent. He was quite judicious in his 'economizing,' such that the workers barely noticed the difference, and never objected. Anypony else might've gotten us caught after the first cave-in, or caused many more of them."
Isfet turned to his female companion and whispered to her.
'Is she a VIP bodyguard like me? Or something else?'
'It's Impossible to tell with all these masks.'
Isfet's gloriously bright red hooded robe hid most of his body, and all of his mane, too -- all she could tell was that his horn and chin were white. Not exactly defining characteristics, and 'Isfet' surely wasn't his real name, either. If Isabelle went and told the ponice that the leader of a major magical criminal organization in Canterlot was a white unicorn colt, they'd just shrug their shoulders and send her on her way. Probably laughing in her face as they did it.
Returning to face her VIP, Isfet spread his forehooves shoes-down on the table. "Mister Bitsmount, when you came to us, you described you and your forepony Mister Songwell as an inseparable team. I believe in the context of that information we satisfied your needs with the potions provided."
Just as her boss started to get hot at the collar, Isfet flipped over his forehooves. "That said, because of your prior business with us and the urgency of your request, we are willing to provide a solution to this newest problem at a discount from our normal rates."
Galloway licked his lips, chuckling. "You're going to bill me. Heh. Heh. To fix your own mess! Of course you are, all you ponies care about is money."
That last statement seemed to wound their host. "Mister Bitsmount-"
Just as the drinks-zebra came around again, her VIP got to his hind hooves. "No, no more 'Mister Bitsmount'! Especially not while you're holding out your hoof, expecting another payment. Don't you understand that this isn't just my problem any more?! If that fool talks, then he threatens you as well as me!"
Avoiding the explosion in progress, the server-mare deposited a fresh cocktail and whisked away the empty glass, then trotted away unceremoniously, her shapely plot sadly unappreciated this time.
In the background, Isabelle heard the MC announce the next musical performer, a DJ Somepony-Or-Other -- she didn't quite catch the name -- and the MC launched into a lengthy speech describing their career to this point. This really was more of an art show for the glitterati than a high-roller dance party.
Isfet tilted his head sideways slightly. "Threatens us? He doesn't know anything about us. What could he possibly threaten us with?"
Still standing on his hind legs, Galloway leaned in menacingly, one forehoof on the table and the other gesturing as he spoke. "He knows that there's an underground criminal organization capable of producing potions enabling somepony to lie to Princess Celestia."
Letting that sink in, her VIP finally sat down again. "You take great pains to make sure your customers can't reveal anything about your little operation accidentally, and your customers wouldn't dare divulge that they used your services, but what if you had one who willingly gave you up? Even without any details, the knowledge of your existence could unsettle things and lead to much more scrutiny. It would, at the very least, make your business dealings more difficult -- and believe me, they're difficult enough as they are. If I didn't know ponies who knew ponies, I would never have been able to contact you in time for my court appearance."
Isfet regained his composure. "That difficulty is by design, Mister Bitsmount. We offer exceptionally rare services to ponies of exceptional means."
"And for exceptional prices."
The unicorn couldn't help but laugh at the second jab about money. "Heh. Despite your accusation, the Familia in Magicae is not all about money. We must cover our expenses and fund our enterprise, but the accumulation of wealth is not our priority."
With a dismissive snort, Galloway reached for his fresh drink and banged it back.
'Slow down, boss -- or you'll be on the floor before this meeting is over.'
"What is your priority, then? Revitalizing the capital's waterfront by renting out abandoned warehouses to throw avant-garde art parties?"
Isfet smiled. "We helped with funding this little event, yes, though we didn't organize it. But what the Familia in Magicae pursues above all other concerns is absolute excellence in magic."
Galloway snorted boorishly, finally putting the pieces together. "You're a bunch of damned unicorn supremacists."
Isfet didn't even flinch at the accusation. "Not by nature. All Equestrian creatures are magical, and we appreciate the physics-defying flight and weather control of the pegasi as much as we appreciate the unearthly strength and endurance of the earth ponies. Perhaps you noticed some of the exhibits in the halls on your way in? The curator of this event has obtained some superb specimens possessed of incredible skill, and we have helped to ensure they are well-compensated for their demonstrations here tonight."
Tipping his head down, he grinned. "But, of course, when it comes to the raw harnessing of magic, this is unquestionably the realm of the unicorns, a domain in which no other species can compete. And we provide funds to ensure this domain is explored completely."
Isabelle's boss nodded sloppily. "Right. So what are you going to do about our problem if Phillip Songwell blabs all about his lie and your little club?"
The unicorn colt turned his head and glanced briefly at his hornless female companion. "Mister Bitsmount, I believe it would be entirely appropriate for you, Mister Songwell's compassionate former employer, to hire for him, entirely at your own expense, an assistant of his own, to help him adjust to life in Canterlot, to organize his family's transition here, and to support him in his valuable and noble work for Their Majesties' Royal Engineer."
He grinned and indicated his partner. "I have just the mare for him. An earth pony, who will therefore attract no attention; she has many useful abilities and skills, including discrete, coercive persuasion. And both because of your previous business and your well-reasoned argument about the security of our operation, I am willing to let you employ her at a substantial discount."
Over in the center of the warehouse, the MC finished his speech and Isabelle heard applause as the DJ apparently took the stage. While her boss considered Isfet's offer, the music started up again, pounding a hypnotic beat that made her long for the dance floor. She was sure it would be drilling into her VIP's brain tomorrow morning with the hangover he was likely to have, too.
Suggested interlude music: New Order - 'Confusion (Pump Panel Reconstruction Mix)' [1995], as featured in 'Blade' [1998] |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 127 | Honour Bound
thukka-thukka-thukka-thukka
thukka-thukka-thukka-thukka
Corporal Honour Bound was not quite sure if that repetitive noise was coming from the inside or outside of her head. She struggled to open her eyes to find out, wincing at the bright glow of her bedroom window's red curtains.
thukka-thukka-thukka-thukka
Still grimacing, she lifted her head, and that's when she almost felt her brain roll around in her skull. The sensation sent the mare plummeting back into her pillow.
'Ugh.'
'How much did I drink last night?'
'It must have been an awful lot.'
Honour didn't think she'd gotten this smashed since her early days in the barracks in Filly'.
As thanks for the Whirlwind's success, the Royal Engineer splurged and treated them all to the full tasting menu at Hermitage, one of the finest Prench restaurants in Canterlot, and upped the ante by taking the chef's suggested drink pairings, too. That meant aperitifs with the appetizers, wine with the main course, and brandy with the dessert, all generously poured and eagerly consumed.
Sometime during all that booze and food, it was decided that they ought to show up to one of Canterlot's nicer nightclubs and see if their Very Important Pony, who wasn't actually a pony, could VIP their way inside past the lineup, despite the fact that he was in his formal dress suit, and they were all in their service uniforms.
Their mismatching service uniforms.
Corporal Bound in her red jacket with white belt and black cap, Glamerspear in her black top with the ornate gold trim and matching fur cap, Sparkshower with her Skylander's green-and-tartan kilt and belted plaid, Eb in a black bodysuit that left nothing to the imagination, and Anonymous in his dinner jacket.
They looked like three parade band members that got lost on the way to the drill fields, bumped into a politician, picked up a prowling cat-burglar off the street, and just decided to roll with it.
Their Royal Highness' Multi-Service United Races of Equestria Marching Band, with special guests: an acrobatic performer, and a bipedal hairless monkey in a tuxedo.
But first, because Glamerspear confirmed that drinks in nightclubs were just as overpriced here in Equestria as Anonymous remembered them being on his world, they packed themselves into a plush booth at a clubland bar-lounge and ordered cider by what seemed like the barrel-full. Drinking there was hardly cheap, but the conversation flowed as liberally as the alcohol.
Once they were all feeling sufficiently soused to the gills and the sun had long since disappeared beneath the horizon, they'd set off to crawl Canterlot's hip haunts -- at least the ones which didn't demand a membership card. It turned out that being a member of the Blue Chamber didn't give much pull with the bouncers, especially not with the way they were all dressed. Even though they were a party with a four-to-one mare-to-colt ratio!
thukka-thukka-thukka-thukka
'What in Tartarus is that?'
It wasn't coming from inside Honour's brain-case. She resolutely decided that this audible intrusion demanded investigation.
Slipping out from under the covers, she hesitantly dropped one hind leg, then the other, down to the floor. This done, she allowed one foreleg to touch the ground, then began to shift her weight -- and that's when the problems started. She tilted dangerously over to one side, and it took a long time before this registered to her as 'hey maybe move your hooves so you don't fall over.'
thukka-thukka-thukka-thukka
'Could we NOT have that racket while I'm trying to figure out getting up?!'
Just as Honour's fury peaked, she realized she was standing on all fours.
'Oh, good.'
'I need something to drink, and it better not have an ounce of alcohol in it.'
With some trepidation, the corporal headed towards her door and pulled it open.
thukka-thukka-thukka-thukka
'The noise is louder out here.'
In fact it was here.
Right here.
In front of her door.
Honour blinked hard, uncomfortable at the abundance of light in the common room. Glamerspear was sitting at the card-table with a portable sewing machine and a lump of pinkish, translucent fabric. Hunched over the business end of the device, she muttered something under her breath.
"Friggin' tulle, always puckering up."
The corporal pivoted her eyes to the wall clock. It was eight-thirty in the morning. She'd nearly missed breakfast at the canteen, and there was not a lot of time to get ready for her morning shift. To be honest, she wasn't sure if she could handle it in her current state.
The seamstress unicorn turned to her. "Hey, Honour. I didn't think you'd be up yet."
'That makes two of us.'
The earth pony groaned and started to lurch for the washroom.
'Maybe I can wash some of the hangover out of me.'
"Gotta get ready for my shift."
Glamerspear immediately scoffed. "Are you joking? Don't you remember Anon giving us the morning off last night?"
Honour stopped her hooves, but it took a moment for the rest of her body to catch up to the sudden halt.
"He did?"
The unicorn looked her up and down. "Yeah, after we left Marquis, before we decided to try Carre Noir. I thought you were just being cute when you laid into him a bit about how he wasn't allowed to dismiss us." Cocking an eyebrow, she grinned. "Guess that was the booze talking."
'Two more nightclubs?'
Honour barely remembered how the evening went after they got into the first one. Scrunching her muzzle, she squinted at Glam.
"How many places did we go last night, exactly?"
Her eyes went a bit wide. "Damn, Corporal, I thought you could hold your drink. You sure were guzzling it down."
Honour tried to furrow her brow, but the muscles wouldn't quite obey her command. "Answer the question, Specialist."
Lily snorted. "Five: Hermitage Restaurant, or 'Restaurant Hermitage' if you go by the sign, then we went to Duke's Tavern for some pre-drinking, then we went clubbing; first to Wunderground, then Marquis, then Carre Noir. I guess it could be six if you count the one the Royal Engineer tried to get us into at the end." Shaking her head, she laughed and turned back to her sewing-work. "Foal, my ears are still ringing from that shouting match. I guess those combat lessons are working because I don't know how else a colt as sloshed as he was could have out-dodged that pegasus bouncer's swoops."
The unicorn chuckled again as she got the machine going once more. "And I don't know how I managed to get a shield bubble up around us when I couldn't even levitate my last drink at Carre, but it sure came as a surprise to that bouncer. Good thing we didn't take the Whirlwind or else we would have crashed it on the way back for sure, even if the Royal Engineer was driving."
thukka-thukka-thukka-thukka-thukka-thukka
Some of what Glamerspear said was coming back to her. Honour vaguely remembered the aforementioned shouting match. The bouncer may have been the one to take a swing at the Royal Engineer, but she felt pretty certain that her VIP verbally provoked it. Apparently, when properly motivated, he was not just good at politely dressing-down miscreants like Phillip Songwell or Valiant Kilfeather, but also at indecently hollering insults at obstinate door-colts.
Well, at least she didn't have to worry about going on duty. But how the heck was Glamerspear so awake this morning that she was able to work a sewing machine? And where did she even get it?
Honour decided to vocalize those questions. "How come you're so chipper today if we all got drunk last night? And where'd you get that thing?"
Pausing to examine her work, Glamerspear put a hoof up to her brow. "I dunno. I just woke up feeling like I owed Sparkshower for what she did for me on Monday, that I ought to finish up her dress this morning. The sewing machine's from the barracks laundry; I hauled it over."
With her back to the corporal, she shrugged. "I guess it's just motivation carrying me. That and a painkiller charm. I'll probably crash later, once the dress is done. But I also just wasn't drinking as much as you or the Royal Engineer. I may have been hammered by the end of the night, but I paced myself getting there." She nodded over her shoulder at Honour, and then towards Sergeant Ebonshield's door. "Not like you two fish. At least Sparks kept her head in our group. She made sure not to take drinks from any colts, too -- other than the Royal Engineer, I mean."
Honour now vaguely recalled that, despite wearing what was, frankly, a ridiculously unfashionable traditional pegasus dress, the feather-winged member of their quaternion seemed to be positively glowing that night, getting attention from colts just about everywhere they went.
And that was saying something, considering everywhere they went, they'd had a private table.
Oh yes -- that had been the Royal Engineer's secret to getting into nightclubs that didn't want to let their little mismatched, mare-heavy marching band jump the line. He'd just flashed his bits and said he wanted to book a private table for a couple of hours.
That sure got the doors opened quick.
It would have been one thing to let in a group that would pay the twenty-bits-per-head cover charge and then maybe a hoof-full of drinks at ten to twenty bits each over the course of three or four hours. It was another thing to let in a group for guaranteed bottle service fees starting at four hundred bits per hour, plus tips.
When Honour had first sat down at the very luxurious booth in Wunderground, the Royal Engineer admitted that he'd had a certain budget to develop the initial Whirlwind prototype and had managed to come considerably under it. What was left over was more than enough to pay for a full and complete night of wanton entertainment.
The funny thing was, they'd mostly stuck together and mostly sat at the table, whichever one it was. Just sitting, watching the crowd, listening to the live band or one of Canterlot's hip DJs, and trying to talk over the noise. Despite all the alcohol, nopony had really been feeling loose enough to go dance in front of everypony else. It was awkward enough getting drunk with their boss, though he did his best to make it easy to relax, steering the conversation towards pleasant topics. And during lulls in the conversation, the Royal Engineer would study the dance floor, watching the moves and asking questions about Equestrian nightclub culture.
Thinking back on it, the corporal got the sense that he really did want to dance, but wasn't sure enough of himself to get up and do it in front of the four of them -- not to mention everypony else. Which would be a ridiculous notion; there'd be no shame in it, and he did an excellent job presenting to a tough crowd during the Whirlwind demonstration, so what was he worried about?
It would be ridiculous, except that Honour felt the same way, too.
'Well, maybe there'll be another night.'
'The Gala's this weekend, after all.'
Sparkshower at least had had the gumption to get up and then stand at the fringes of the floor, chatting with a succession of money-flush young studs with popped collars. Ebonshield had preferred to sit at the outside edge of the booth, from which she could bat her eyelashes -- and bat-wings -- to tantalize some colt at a distance, then covertly watch them struggle through the crowd to have a chat with her. Glamerspear was chatty the whole night, and the Royal Engineer got ear-fulls about her life. Honour had given up her fair share of details, too, and so had he.
All things considered, it had been an enjoyable night, even if they didn't quite take full advantage of their destinations. She just wished she'd maybe gone a bit easier on the tipple.
There was the sound of hoofsteps, and then a loud, wooden clump from Ebonshield's room. The door opened, and Honour saw the ordinarily graceful and acrobatic batpony emerge, squinting at the light and rubbing a wing against her muzzle.
'I may have drunk like a fish according to Glamerspear, but at least this trout didn't just bump into her own door.'
Smacking her lips and coughing, Purity lunged over to the sideboard where Honour noticed that, conspicuously, there were now three copper jugs full of water instead of just one.
Glamerspear looked up at the corporal, a telling grin on her face. "I figured we'd be some thirsty ponies up in here this morning, so I filled those up on the way back from the laundry."
Ebonshield unceremoniously plonked herself down on her haunches, filled a cup, and guzzled it down so fast she splashed water all down the front of her neck. That reminded Honour how thirsty she was too, and she licked her lips while heading over. The sergeant's violet eyes were bloodshot -- as Honour was sure her own were -- and the batpony panted heavily once the cup was lowered.
"Gracias, Glamerspear, for your foresight. I appear to have outdone myself last night."
As Honour stepped up for her own refreshment, Ebonshield looked her up and down. "But it seems that I was not the only one."
The corporal swallowed down her own mouthful of Canterlot's icy meltwater. It was cool and refreshing, though the sudden blast of cold in her mouth was likely to aggravate her headache in a moment. Still, it was a start to flushing the toxic brews out of her body.
She nodded as she poured herself a second glass. "Yeah. Though I could have done without the rattle of the sewing machine waking me up."
Ebonshield looked over at the table. "I think this also is why I have awoken."
There was the sound of movement in Sparkshower's room, and Ebonshield leaned over slightly towards it. "Perhaps that will serve to awaken us all, in spite of the commandment of the Great Lord that there should be no duty this morning."
The pegasus' door flew open, and Honour barely got a glimpse of Sparkshower before she bolted for the washroom and slammed the door behind her so forcefully that the latch failed to engage and the rebound left it cracked slightly open. The corporal and sergeant both leaned suspiciously around the corner towards the frame, only to hear the sounds of hideous retching, followed shortly after by the unmistakable plop of vomit into a toilet bowl.
'Oh...'
That was not helping what Honour had brewing in her own stomach. She put a hoof to her belly as she took another cautious sip of water. "How's she in there heaving when she's the biggest of the four of us and drank the least?"
Holding up the altered dress to examine her work, Glamerspear offered up an explanation. "She's a lightweight who can't hold her drink?"
As another violent outburst followed in the room next door, Ebonshield let out a pained moan, a hoof held defensively up to her muzzle. "Ooohhh... ...But listen to how little comes out of her. This is not the poisoning of the alcohol -- this is the sickness of the dawn. I have witnessed this before."
'She's got to be joking.'
"We call it morning sickness, Eb. But she hadn't seen her coltfriend in weeks before Friday, and I don't think she got laid last night, either."
Over at the coffee-table-turned-sewing-table, Glamerspear chuckled worriedly. "I dunno, she was talking to some pretty slick colts. Maybe there was some quick hoofy-poofy in the washroom we didn't notice."
It hadn't seemed that serious to Honour, but then again, Artemis had been pretty miserable about the breakup. A mare like that could be easily manipulated into anything... Maybe she should have kept a tighter leash on the pegasus last night.
Finally, Honour scrunched up her muzzle. "Anyways morning sickness doesn't come on that quickly. You have to be at least a few weeks pregnant first."
Ebonshield shook her head. "I did not mean the sickness of the morning which comes with foal. I said dawn sickness, which is something else."
Taking a deep breath and holding it so her cheeks puffed out, she leaned over, stretched out a wing, and pulled the washroom door closed. With relief, she allowed herself to breathe normally again. The noises from the washroom were thankfully muffled now, and the potential propagation of the smell halted. Not that there was a lot going on in there any more.
Honour heard Sparkshower cough and moan a bit, then flush the toilet.
The corporal clopped a hoof against the wall. "You okay in there, Sparkshower?"
There was another moan, but there was also a weak reply. "I... I've been a little sick."
"Don't worry about it. Take your time. Open the window. Wash your face. Gently, now."
"Okay."
'She'll be fine.'
As Honour took another sip of water, cautious to avoid further upsetting her own insides, she prompted Ebonshield to continue. "So what's 'dawn sickness,' if it's not about having a foal inside you?"
The batpony raised her eyebrows. "Dawn sickness is common at sunrise after you have had something else inside you. Something dark and malevolent."
Eb turned her head and stared tellingly at Glamerspear, whose jaw dropped.
"You mean an Accursed Shadow? Celestia!" Glamerspear lowered her head down to rest on the table. "She's really paying the price for that lesson with Ignacio. It ought to be me in there puking my guts out! It was my lesson."
Cringing, Honour raised a forehoof. "Take it easy on the graphic descriptions there, Glam, unless you want Sparkshower's solo performance to turn into a duet -- or a trio."
The unicorn sighed, then looked curiously up at the sergeant. "Did you ever -- Ignacio said that older Stars volunteer to be possessed, to train the others in hunting them."
Their somewhat secretive batpony comrade shook her head. "No. Only those who are nearly too old to fight any more do this. I have participated in such training, but only as a hunter."
The corporal had no idea what was being talked about here; there was a lot of conversation last night, but none of it was about dawn sickness, or Accursed Shadows, or possession, or whatever Glamerspear and Sparkshower and Ignacio did Monday afternoon.
"Glamerspear. What exactly was this lesson? You never told us what you got up to in the Rookery."
The unicorn sighed, lifting her head back up. "Well, we weren't in the Rookery for long. Ignacio took us to the Moon."
Glamerspear pointed up and out the skylight. "The actual Moon! Real talk, the one up there! We could see Equestria from it, barely."
As she slipped into Manehattan slang, Honour was dumbstruck by her pronouncement, and she didn't really know why. She was standing next to somepony who literally was born and lived for decades on the Moon; it was only reasonable to assume they had some conduit to get back there as needed. But it was still an unfathomable leap from a cavern under a mountain to walking on another world.
The unicorn continued. "He took us to what he called 'the' crater. It's a religious site for batponies, I guess. It's where Nightmare Moon landed after Celestia sent her up there a thousand years ago."
Ebonshield piped up. "Not only the Nightmare Moon. The members of the League of Stars who refused to abandon her landed in that crater as well, turned by her spell final into the first batponies. My ancestors."
Glamerspear nodded. "Well there's plenty of craters for everypony, that's for sure. The one we went down goes real deep, though, more like it was drilled than just hit. Ignacio said that was the best place to train in their kind of magic -- the Eclipse magic, I mean. The barrier was weaker there."
"What barrier?"
"The barrier between our world and..." Glamerspear shook her head. "...some other one, full of nasty creatures absolutely jacked up on mana. That's how Ignacio and the Eclipse work -- they're conjurers, bringing those demons into our realm and binding them to stuff. Like Eb's suit of illusion armor, or some medallions another Eclipse, Aldonza, gave us to disguise ourselves as batponies on the Moon."
The batpony in the room nodded. "Yes. And also the sand in the pit of the Grand Hall of Stars. And sometimes even to things not quite substantial, like the sound of the instruments musical, or of the voice singing."
Glamerspear furrowed her brow. "You know that stuff too? He said they don't share their secrets outside their Phase."
Eb inhaled sharply through her nostrils. "No, they do not. But Ignacio and I have a relationship... a little especial."
Even Honour cocked an eyebrow at that one. "Really? You and him...?"
She left the obvious question unsaid, but Eb shook her head. "Not like that. Simply a... strong admiration, I think. But continue your story, Specialist."
Glamerspear shook her head, grinning. "No way. You can't drop a bomb on us like that, Sarge, without explaining it."
Ebonshield looked uncomfortable, and Honour couldn't tell if it was because of the alcohol poisoning or being pressed on what was apparently a sensitive issue. Either way, she wasn't genuinely ill, and Honour wanted to hear what happened to Sparkshower first.
"Yes she can. I don't have the brainpower to follow two threads right now, and I want to know why one of ours is miserable in the washroom first."
The unicorn grumbled. "Fine. So the Eclipse bind these creatures, which they call the 'Accursed Shadows.' And because they're so dangerous, the first thing they learn how to do is how to get rid of them, to banish them back to their other world. That's what he tried to teach me."
Honour jerked a forehoof towards the bathroom door. "And what part did Sparkshower play in this training?"
Glamerspear swallowed.
"She was the Accursed Shadow's... host."
Honour raised her eyebrow and opened her eyes wide, scrutinizing Glamerspear's face. She glanced over towards Ebonshield, who nodded.
"When an Accursed Shadow possesses a creature, they become abomination. To banish them and restore the creature is a skill essential, and Stars train to fight and capture abominations just as Eclipse train to banish the shadows within."
Ebonshield turned her head towards the closed door as another bout of loud coughing and hacking emanated from behind it. "But even after banishment, there are some consequences to the possession, which fade with time."
She turned back towards the hungover corporal and the seamstress. "'Dawn sickness' is one such consequence. They become ill violently at the first kiss of dawn sunlight. After an elder Star volunteers to become abomination in order to train the new generation of Stars and Eclipse, they avoid the surface for several weeks."
Honour narrowed her eyes again. "I don't think we can lock Sparkshower up underground. What other after-effects are there from this procedure?"
The batpony prepared to rattle off a list, but Glamerpsear beat her to the punch. "Irritability, emotional instability, difficulty sleeping, vivid dreams, and strong reactions to the sight of blood -- that's what Ignacio said. He didn't mention anything about throwing up in the morning."
Eb shrugged. "Likely this is because such an effect is generally planned for in advance, and so this rarely happens anymore, except when circumstances force the former abomination to see the sun. He may simply have forgotten."
Honour cocked an eyebrow. "Anything else he might have missed?"
She shook her head. "No. But the descriptions given such as 'irritability' and 'emotional instability' do not do the symptoms justice. When I trained in this, a week after being exorcised, the retired master became so angry over a matter trivial that he became violent, and the efforts of many Stars were needed to subdue him. In his fury, he caused many injuries to others and in stopping him, the Stars caused many more to him -- so many that he perished as a result. This is not a fate uncommon, and this is why we conduct the training only using those Stars considered too old and too physically frail to serve."
Glamerspear inhaled sharply. "It can get that bad? Buck, now really I feel awful for dragging Sparkshower along."
The bat pony nodded. "The Accursed Shadows are not to be trifled with. The Children are all sworn to destroy them whenever they are found outside of our own control -- and that is an oath which is taken most seriously, since this comes from our own history. In the early years of our banishment, our mages toyed freely with the shadow realm. Many mistakes were made, and much suffering was caused. Many shadows were loosed, either freely, or in the form of abominations."
She turned to Honour. "You have been to the Lunar Sanctuary, Caporal. You have seen the Courtyard of the Houses, where much of the scheming and deal-making of the Children is done, and the Vestibule of Priests, where is conducted the remainder. The Lunars are conniving power brokers, and my mother most of all, or else she would never have become the Mother Superior of her House and then the Children as a whole."
Taking another sip of water, she licked her lips. "Yet for all their faults, I still consider them a positive, stabilizing force, particularly with regards to the Accursed Shadows. We must use those foul creatures, because without them, there is no magic for us, and without magic there can be no victory, but without the orthodoxy strictly-enforced of the Lunars, we might easily slip into ancient customs of corruption and experimentation without restraint."
It all seemed to be hitting home for Glamerspear. "Ignacio said that with the easy travel from the Moon to Equestria, no batpony mother will ever give birth under an Eclipse again. He was happy to tell us his kind would one day be no more."
Eb nodded knowingly. "In the old days, birth would be forced during an eclipse, by potion or spell or even violence, in order to produce artificially more Children-mages capable of summoning the Accursed Shadows; they, as well as an army of abominations, were the easy paths to power for any would-be tyrant. There are many dark secrets in our history. The rise of the Lunar orthodoxy put an end to this."
"How'd they win, if the other guys had all these mages and possessed troops?"
Ebonshield grimaced.
"The details are somewhat lost to history, but we believe that the new order focused on training untainted warriors and on developing new techniques for banishment, many of which are still practiced today. Abominations are more vulnerable during the day and especially in sunlight, while an exorcised abomination is merely an ordinary pony again, and the tyrant-lords who produced them in droves did not train their troops beforehoof. Furthermore, abominations cannot truly be controlled and are never trustworthy. So when the untainted forces met the corrupt horde of a tyrant, if they could force the issue on the surface and make things appear as if the tide had turned against the Shadows, then the result was chaos, catastrophe, and utter annihilation. Even a recently-exorcised abomination is quick to panic. Thus the tyrants were overcome or chose to submit."
The batpony whinnied. "This was not the end of war between Children, of course. Once the matter of the Accursed Shadows was settled, there were many details of doctrine to fight over -- that is when my Temple was founded, as were many others. But even once a single religious orthodoxy was established, then there were many wars between the Great Houses over trivial matters, until two years ago, when the return of the Great Mother ended open conflict."
Over at the card table, Glamerspear exploded. "Okay, so much for the history lesson -- and now you know what happened to Sparks, Honour, so how's about we get some details on this 'special relationship' between Ignacio and our sergeant?"
'She's got absolutely no patience whatsoever, does she?'
Regardless, Ebonshield humored her request. "As I said, he... admires me. But this he does from a distance. I think he is too aware of his disabilities physical to attempt anything more."
She put down her cup, brushing some of the spilled water off her neck with a forehoof. "He is not of my House, you may remember. He was supervising a tournament in which I participated when I was only a Third of the Temple of the Shining Stellar Dance. Such events are common among the Houses of the Children, which compete for the prestige not only of winning prizes, but also in being gracious hosts and staging elaborate competitions. Ignacio's House, House Rima de Serenidad, is particularly famous for them."
Honour cocked an eyebrow. "Are any of these tournaments like the Grand Melee? Groups all fighting at once, the whole day long?"
Eb nodded. "Sometimes, yes. But these are not commonly entered by the Stellar Dancers, so I have little experience with them. I am afraid I have much to learn in that regard. We shine in solo competitions. In this one, Ignacio conjured opponents of sand, much as you all saw him do, and we competed one at a time to defeat the enemies as quickly as possible."
Ebonshield gracefully spread her wings wide. "This was not my first tournament, and I was considered quite gifted for being only a Third. I took the first prize for my Temple, and by a margin considerable. This would not be the last time I would compete with Ignacio as the Balladeer of Ghosts set against me. Indeed, such pairings became more and more frequent."
There was a flushing noise from the washroom, and the sound of running water from the sink.
'Sounds like Sparkshower's over the worst of things.'
"In fact I began to notice how frequently my Temple was invited to tournaments; this was uncommon, since we are, as you have seen, not well-appreciated among the Stars. We would be invited to some competitions, yes, because to exclude us completely would be offensive and therefore invite a discounted price being offered for the assassination of members of that House, but we were left out of many tournaments on the basis that we were not soldiers ordinary."
Puffing her tuft out slightly, she wiggled her shoulders and repositioned her plot for maximum effect. "Because House Rima de Serenidad suddenly broke with tradition and kept inviting us, the other Houses were thus compelled to keep up, lest they be seen as laggards. And since I was a rising star within the Temple who could win, I would often be sent as a representative to win more. This situation was so unheard-of in the history of our Temple that I do not exaggerate when I say that in the halls of our Temple there are as many trophies from tournaments which were awarded to me than there are for those of all other Stellar Dancers, past or present. For two years, I was a champion of hundreds of contests, known across the Moon, and all because House Rima de Serenidad invited the Temple of the Shining Stellar Dance to join in every one of their monthly, semi-annual, and grand annual tournaments, instead of being invited only to one of the two semi-annual events."
She was clearly proud of her achievement, and it did sound like quite an accomplishment.
Honour couldn't help but snicker when she saw the conclusion at the end of the story, however. "Let me guess where this is going: Ignacio was the one who demanded they keep inviting you back. Because he had a crush on you."
The sergeant laughed amiably. "Yes, precisely this. Eventually, after one of many such events, he asked to see me in private -- a most unusual request, since the Eclipse are both reclusive and ostracized from formal society."
She swallowed, blushing a little. "We spoke in the guest quarters of his House, in my room. He made only small talk at first: complimenting me on my performance, asking me about other recent tournaments. We discussed technique of combat and acrobatics at length, and I was surprised at how much he knew. We spoke for hours, until both of us were exhausted..."
Her cheeks were rosy-red now. "...Eventually, he confessed his scheme to me. You know that he is blind, as are all Eclipse, but they can 'hear' magic, and this 'sound' they can eventually use to perceive the world around them, in great detail. They call it the third ear."
Glamerspear scoffed. "Yeah, Ignacio kept trying to get me to 'open' my 'third ear' on Monday, but I couldn't do much. Maybe unicorns just aren't built for it."
"Perhaps. I can tell you that his 'third ear' is most perceptive. He could make out and then later recall even the tiniest details of my motions, when I fought in the sand-pit."
She sighed wistfully. "He said that he had never observed someone who could move as I did when in battle. He adored watching me work. I was beautiful to him, even though he did not know the style of my mane or the color of my eyes. He could perceive only the motion, the attacking, the feinting, the defending. And the only way he could think to show his appreciation was to ensure that I would have many tournaments to compete in -- which coincidentally also afforded him opportunities additional to observe me at work."
Bound and Glamerspear both sat, attentively waiting for the conclusion of the scene.
Eb looked a little hesitant.
Honour raised her eyebrows.
Eventually the sergeant relented. "We spent the night together. As an Eclipse, he cannot... ...you know. But we kept each other company. Since then we have remained good friends. And, even though I still owed much of my life to my House, we sometimes kept each other company again."
Honour whinnied. "What'd he call you in the sandpit that first time, when you got injured? A pet name?"
"Yes. 'Angelita de la muerte' -- 'little angel of death.'"
There was another flush from the washroom, then Honour heard hoofsteps on tile. The door opened, and Sparkshower emerged; alive, but looking the worse for wear.
"Uhhh... I don't feel so good."
Ebonshield turned and extended a wing to wrap around the nauseated pegasus. "This illness will pass in time. You have only what we call the 'dawn sickness.'"
Artemis went stark white. "What?! Dawn sickness?! But I can't be pregnant -- I'm not even married yet!"
Honour tried really hard to suppress her laughter, but it wasn't quite enough.
Eb, however, kept a completely straight face. "Ah, Artemiso, this is not from pregnancy. This is another side-effect from having had the Accursed Shadow within you."
"Oh..." Sparkshower furrowed her brow. "...Oh. It's just that I do remember talking to an awful lot of nice colts last night. And I, uh..."
The yellow pony started turning red. "...I also remember getting sorta really close with a few of them. I mean, uh, physically, like sorta snuggling, except not. And there were a lot of calling cards stuffed into my plaid when I got home."
'Seriously? She wasn't just getting chatted up by colts, she was grinding with them and getting names and addresses?'
That seemed rather out of character.
Glam suddenly stood up. "Yeah, well never mind those loser colts from the nightclubs last night, Sparks, because you're gonna get a dozen more calling cards from Canterlot's most eligible bachelor noblecolts at the Gala with this!"
Using her telekinesis, she proudly held up the dress, the alterations for pegasus wings complete. It was a gorgeous pink cocktail dress, with a solid, but lacy body and poofy tulle rear. Instantly, Sparkshower's apprehension about last night and illness from this morning seemed to melt away.
"Oh my! It looks just as good as it did in the store, Lily!"
Glam beamed proudly. "Of course it does! I told you I'd do you right, didn't I? Now, let's give it a try on, yeah? And you can let me know if it's too tight or loose anywhere. You're gonna knock 'em dead with this one at the Gala, Sparks."
The two junior soldiers retired into Sparkshower's room for the final dress rehearsal.
Honour sighed. "If we're all done with the sewing machine, I ought to go try to sleep this hangover off some more."
Ebonshield nodded. "I think I will do this also. Perhaps we will check in with the Great Lord after lunch, to see if he is in a condition similar?"
"Yeah. Sounds like a plan." |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 128 | Honour Bound
This was the first time in a while Corporal Honour Bound had been in an ordinary, terrestrial cab pulled by an ordinary, hooves-on-the-ground earth pony driver.
'Or is it?'
She furrowed her brow, trying to remember last night. Surely they five drunkards didn't just stumble back to the palace from Canterlot's fashionable Tallyho district on hoof? The events leading up to their collective decision to head home were still pretty hazy, and everything after that was a complete blur.
At least having another nap until the afternoon had managed to clear the dull, throbbing pain in her head. Honour could thank her earth pony constitution for that -- or maybe just her well conditioned liver. When she'd awoken for the afternoon shift, the rest of her comrades were still feeling out of it, and she'd suspected her Very Important Pony, who wasn't actually a pony, was likely to be out of it as well.
As Honour looked out the window, trying to remember, the Royal Engineer interrupted her thoughts.
"By the way, Corporal, I don't think I properly thanked you for your assistance last night."
'Uhh...?'
He smiled, though there was a pain in his eyes which told her he hadn't been bluffing about nursing a painful hangover headache. Not enough to keep him in bed, he'd said, but too much to keep him from being productive in his office or the garage. So, instead, here they were in a cab, on their way to the Bridle Path Clothiers to pick up his Gala suit.
"I should say you went well beyond the call of duty. And I do apologize for my inappropriate behavior."
'Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh.'
Panic started to set in a bit.
'Just WHAT did I do last night?'
'Or what does he THINK I did?'
She opted for the honest approach. "Thank you, sir, but what 'assistance' are you referring to?"
He waved a gloved hand dismissively. "Keeping me from getting into fisticuffs with that bouncer, for a start. When he refused us entrance on the basis of our obvious drunkenness, I don't know what overcame me. It was my fault for provoking him, and it wouldn't have ended well if we'd actually traded blows."
That did sound like something Honour would have done, and Glamerspear had already corroborated the incident itself.
"Yes, sir."
The Royal Engineer chuckled. "I suppose the drinks went to Specialist Sparkshower's head as well. After I ducked his punch and that poor colt bounced off of Glamerspear's magical shield, Sparkshower tackled him so fast I'd have sworn she'd brought that rocket-lance along for the night."
It sounded like quite the show; she was almost upset she couldn't remember it. 'Drunken member of the Blue Chamber shouts expletives at bouncer, ducks under punch while unicorn bodyguard shield-bounces the target back and the pegasus tackles, while earth pony runs blocker on the VIP.'
Honour had a vague recollection of standing on her hind hooves, forehooves pressed up against Anonymous' chest, while he struggled to step forward, waving his hands and hollering taunts past her head. Could she remember any of them?
'I'm gonna beat you like a rented mule, boy'?
That sounded familiar; it just needed more slurring, and the scent of alcohol accompanying it. She also remembered him asking repeatedly 'Do you know who I am?' and then rattling off his full title: 'By Appointment to Their Majesties Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, The Royal Engineer of Equestria'.
The Royal Engineer in question continued before she could recall any more of his litany. "Anyways, after Sergeant Ebonshield wrangled Sparkshower away, you rallied the rest of the quaternion and somehow -- I really don't know how -- calmed things down enough to hail a cab and bundle us all in."
'A-ha! So we didn't just hoof it back to the palace.'
"That was very well done. And I seem to remember making all sorts of wild suggestions which you somehow also managed to talk me out of -- like going somewhere for a snack or desserts or hitting up another bar."
Anonymous wouldn't be the first drunken companion Honour'd had to convince to turn in after what had already been a very full night of partying.
"But you put your hoof down and saw us all back to our residences, safe and sound. I don't know what got into me; I haven't gotten drunk like that since I was studying for my Bachelor's degree."
She nodded knowingly. It was funny how despite the social gulf -- not to mention the racial one -- his experiences seemed to mirror her own. "Yes, sir. I don't think I've imbibed so much since I first joined the Guard, either."
Her VIP swallowed, and he pulled his handkerchief out to mop a bit of sweat up at his brow. "Well, I appreciate you managing to keep a level head throughout the ordeal. And I'm sorry if my antics ruined the night. But you really didn't have to help me in my chambers afterwards. Regardless of what Sergeant Ebonshield's said about ancient Equestrian traditions, I don't think that kind of help is demanded of you in your position, is it?"
'In his chambers?'
Stopping a fight, hailing a cab, and dissuading further partying was one thing...
'What did I get up to in his room?'
She started to get a bit hot under her armored collar. "Sir?"
He emitted a pained chuckle. "I mean, my suit -- it would have taken one night's sleep in it. Wrinkles iron out eventually. You didn't have to help me get undressed."
'I helped him out of his suit.'
'That's... a little awkward, but it wasn't really too bad, was it?'
Yes, clothes were different for him than for ponies, but she'd already seen him naked when she passed through that waterfall in the Lunar Sanctuary, in the batpony Rookery under Canterlot Mountain.
"I do appreciate your thoroughness, though."
Honour wracked her brain, trying to reconstruct the scene. As the drunken haze lifted, pieces started to click into place.
Suggested background music: British Sea Power - 'Your Body Betrays Your Degeneracy', from 'Disco Elysium' [2019]
She found herself on her hind hooves again, but not out on a cobblestone street. It was indoors; in the Royal Engineer's chambers, and she was on the other side of the low movable partition wall which separated the living, dining, and work spaces at the front from his bed and dressing area.
Her forehooves were on his chest -- and around them, slightly -- but this time he wasn't struggling against her. He was just leaning slightly, and swaying.
The buttons on his shirt were giving her trouble.
'Why are there so many of them??'
'And why are they so small??'
'Damn unicorn tailors not accommodating anypony without telekinesis... or hands.'
"Lemme... Lemme help. I can do... I can do buttons."
Honour remembered saying 'no, sir, I'll take care of it, sir.' There was no way some BUTTONS of all things were going to defeat her, drunk or not. She managed to undo one more coming up from the bottom and her muzzle met his fingers as he got the top three open. That was a triumph, but when he pulled up his shirt to reveal two more buttons previously hidden below his waistline, her disappointment was immeasurable.
"I got-- I got these. Jus'hold onto me so you -- so you don't fall down."
He struggled in place, wobbling on his feet, and it was clear that drunk fingers were scarcely better than drunk hooves, or drunk teeth, at manipulating the obnoxious little fixtures. Finally, he got them undone, and with the cufflinks already removed, he could take his shirt off. The undershirt followed after only a little struggling and a near-tumble sideways.
There was just one piece left, but when he hunched forward to get a look at the Tartarean clasp which held his pants together, he almost fell right over the corporal. She raised a hoof and told him to just wait.
'I got this.'
It was like solving a puzzle.
She sat down on her haunches for a more comfortable approach, and he put his hands on her withers, steadying himself, while his eyes flickered open and closed as sleep began to overtake him.
There was a button, and a zipper, and then on the inside there was a little buckle. But that was not enough: there was more in there -- another button? -- and she had to root around with her hooves and muzzle to figure it out.
Between his trousers and his underpants.
Dangerously close to certain other things.
But as Honour struggled towards the solution, she felt one of his hands go to her neck, gently stroking her coat back and forth. That was a distraction she didn't need right now, but...
But it felt nice.
She paused in her furious work. That momentary rest allowed sleep to start catching up with her, too, and as the tender ministrations continued, she found herself leaning forward into him, resting her head against his abdomen. His other hand left her shoulder, and she felt fingers start to pierce into the threads of her braid. Slowly, he dug them deeper and deeper, parting the strands of her tightly-bound mane until he reached her crest and began to massage.
She felt her eyes close.
"Soft choco-pone... Soft... Why'd you... Why'd y'wear y'hair up like this anyways, co'pral. Oughtta let it down, s'probably prettier likedat."
With one ear against his chest, she didn't so much hear his mumbling as feel it.
"Prettier... Errythingsso pretty here. Softnpretty."
The fingers worked deep, and she let out a small moan, tilting her head sideways to guide them along their way.
"Prettynsoft, nsoftnpretty... Jus wanna... wanna curl up with errything. Curl up... Curl up."
She felt his chest rise and fall with each breath.
"Curl up... Curlup an'not be alone."
The rhythm of her lungs synchronized with his.
"Donwanna be loneanymore. Donwanna... Donwanna..."
There was a sudden movement, and Honour was jostled back to her senses by the labored breathing of her VIP, who had tears in his eyes.
The Royal Engineer stepped back from her, thrusting his pelvis forward and arching his back, standing on his toes as he angrily attacked the last two inner buttons holding his pants on. He almost stumbled over sideways before getting them open, and once that was done, he unceremoniously sat down hard on the ground, his back up against the side of his bed, with his pants around his knees. As he leaned up against the wooden frame, Honour saw his eyes shut, and then his head lolled forward, surrendering to exhaustion.
She remembered hesitating for a moment. But she couldn't leave a job half done. He'd be all stiff and sore in the morning if he slept sitting up like that.
Straightening his legs, Honour pulled his pants off and then put her muzzle under his shoulder, hoisting him up.
"...Huh? Whuzzat? Whuddufuck izzat?"
She told him who she was, and that it was time to sleep, and as she lifted him level with the mattress, he instinctively turned around, his hands finding familiar purchase in the soft bedding and silky sheets.
"...hokay. Gnngiht cpral. GudnighintzzzzzzzzSNORTzzzz." He barely got himself in before plummeting straight to sleep.
Honour gently pulled the top sheet over her VIP, and then managed to make her way out, past his plush easy chair and two very inviting-looking sofas, through his chamber door, up the stairs to the second floor, and into her own bedroom to flop out on her own bed.
Back in the present, the Royal Engineer sat across from Honour in the cab, looking tired, but friendly and appreciative. He remembered her helping him undress, but did he remember what he did? Groping her neck? Fondling her braid? Commenting on her manestyle?
Admitting his loneliness?
And had she even remembered it all, or was there more she'd forgotten? Somehow, she felt certain it didn't go further than that. Maybe he'd said more and maybe the embrace -- what else could she call it, if she didn't resist? -- went on for longer than she'd realized.
Honour carefully watched his eyes as she answered him. "I was more than a little drunk myself, sir. I've been told that I can get quite determined in that state."
He ruefully shrugged his eyebrows. "I can understand that. When I got drunk in school I'd often go home and try to bang out my homework. Sometimes it'd even be legible in the morning. But last night I felt like I was on the verge of collapsing; it wouldn't have been very good if I'd fallen on top of you. Adults like us really ought to know better than to drink so much."
There was nothing evasive in his voice. He just remembered the shouting at the bouncer and then the clothes and the tumbling over; he might've been half-asleep already when he put his fingers in her braids and told her she'd look better without them.
'Wearing my mane down...'
She hadn't done that since before her divorce.
When she'd left her ex-husband, she left Fillydelphia and her friends, left her old post and her old career, and she'd left her old manestyle behind, too. Now, the only times Honour's mane hung free was when she brushed it in the evening and redid the braid in the morning. She hadn't even let it down for Castlerook -- not that he'd asked.
'And even if he had asked, would I have?'
As with the offer to move back to Filly with him, it was an uncomfortable thought. About as uncomfortable as the thought of her VIP running his fingers through her mane, calling her a 'Soft choco-pone,' telling her she'd look better with her mane down, and then crying to himself about loneliness.
Well, at least the latter situation wouldn't come up again -- not if they both measured themselves next time, as he suggested. The whole quaternion had gotten tipsy; even Ebonshield didn't escape without a hangover, and if Honour was old enough to know better, then she was even more so. All of them were still sleeping it off back at the palace upstairs. Whereas here she was, feeling well enough for a two-wheeler coach ride to Poole Street.
The colt up front wearing the tackle called back over his shoulder. "Here we are, m'Lord; Bridle Path Clothiers, Poole Street. That's twenty bits, sir."
As the carriage came to a stop, Anonymous reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two ten-bit pieces. He opened the door, stepped down, and hoofed -- handed, rather -- them to the driver before Honour exited the vehicle as well.
"Here you go, cabbie. Is there a stand nearby where we can find a carriage for our return?"
As the colt sat down to put the fare in his purse, he pointed a forehoof down the street. "Just down there, sir, not two blocks away. Your Lordship might even find me there."
Honour glanced inside the window of the store. There were a lot of customers in there -- at least a dozen that she could see, and who knows how many more in any of the other rooms. And they didn't look like they were all part of the same group.
'Looks like we'll be waiting for a while.'
"I don't think we're going to be in and out too quickly."
There was a deep rumble in the grey sky above, and all three of them looked up to see imminent darkening.
Anonymous frowned as he spoke up. "That's not a welcome noise. I don't much fancy a wet dash while nursing a hangover and possibly with a new suit in hand."
'That's a ridiculous statement.'
'I'm his bodyguard -- I'd go run the two blocks to get the cab for him, he wouldn't have to run with me.'
"Sir, if it's raining when we come out, I can always-"
As he'd so often done before, he infuriatingly ignored her suggestion of sacrifice for his sake before she could even finish making it, addressing himself to the driver. "Tell me, my friend, could we arrange for you to come back and pick us up in, say, two hours?"
Somehow the way he casually used 'we' mollified her rage at being overruled. She supposed that even if she'd run for the taxi stand and gotten soaked on behalf of her VIP, then there would've been the question of what to do with her afterwards. Some VIPs would tell their bodyguards to walk back to the palace.
Anonymous definitely wasn't one of those; she'd take the carriage with him for sure. Normally she would stand on the running board at the back, getting even more wet and probably muddy, too.
And the Royal Engineer wouldn't have accepted that either. Which means he'd order her inside to sit next to him, and then she'd soak him by virtue of adjacency.
The cabbie shook his head as Honour heard the trotting of hooves all around her from ponies hustling for cover. "Sorry, m'Lord, I'm afraid it's against agency rules; scheduled pickups require a four-wheeler minimum. You could hire me for the half-day, though. It's two hundred bits, but I'll refund you the twenty from just now."
"Very well. On a day like this, it's worth it."
Honour's VIP reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a long wallet, opening it to extract a pair of hundred-bit notes.
It had been a lot fuller last night when they first hit the town. Hundred-bit notes, five-hundred-bit notes, even a substantial wad of thousand-bit notes. The Royal Engineer had said he'd not just come in under budget on the Whirlwind, he'd also been pretty frugal with his personal allowance up until now. That's how he was able to buy bottle service tables at three different nightclubs without batting an eye.
"Here you go."
"Thank you, m'Lord. And here's your twenty bits back. I'll be right here warming your seat for you when you've finished."
With a cheerful forehoof salute, the colt unhooked himself from the two supporting shafts, propped them up on folding rests to keep the cab level, dusted off his hooves, and then clambered into his own taxi to take refuge from the impending rain.
The first spits of water just started to fall as they entered the coltswear store. Honour's observations inside confirmed what she saw from the outside; it was packed in here. There were seats set up with customers waiting on them, and staff darting to and fro with outfits held in hooves or wings, or more commonly in magical telekinetic glows. Honour could always tell Gala season in Canterlot by how busy the clothing shops were -- even on a rainy day.
A slender young unicorn mare with a feathered cap waited at a book-stand inside, like a restaurant hostess with a seating plan. "Good afternoon! Welcome to Bridle Path Clothiers. Are you here to pick up an order, or would you like to browse?"
"Picking up. It's for a bespoke suit."
She consulted the tome spread open in front of her. "I'm afraid it's going to be a wait of around thirty minutes, perhaps an hour if you wanted to try it on first. Or I can write you in for an appointment later?"
There was another rumble of thunder outside, and then the sky started to unload on what poor ponies hadn't made it to shelter in time. Usually Canterlot only got scheduled drizzle during the daytime, with major showers reserved for the night; this must've been a big weather pattern if the Airborne Weather And Climate Service pegasi couldn't break up the storm front without putting it in the forecast. It was pretty rare for severe weather to slip by the AWACS.
"That's all right, we'll wait for a room."
After taking his name, she directed them to an empty pair of seats, to be called up when it was their turn with a staff member and fitting room. Accepting the seat, Honour sat taciturn for several minutes. The Royal Engineer accepted a glass of water that the receptionist-mare brought him, then closed his eyes and joined her in silence. With the hangover, her VIP was apparently, and quite understandably, not in a chatty mood.
That didn't bother her.
Glancing around, Honour took in the crowd. There were colts of all ages waiting for their Gala outfits, some of them accompanied by their partners, a few of them by either their children or their parents, and curiously, two of them even had bodyguards. Neither of those were wearing official Royal Guard dress, though that didn't necessarily mean they weren't Royal Guardsponies, since special uniforms could be issued by the VIP. But she felt certain that neither of their patrons were guests of the palace, which meant these escorts were private hires.
On her right was an older colt, probably in his fifties in loose but elegant robes, with a curly mane, a short mustache, and a goatee. He was accompanied by a young, thin pegasus tart, smartly dressed in a tan jacket with gold epaulettes, a red side cap on her head and a black silk scarf completing the ensemble. She was clearly trying to look like she'd been in the guard, but with her age, there was no chance, not unless she'd washed straight out of 'shoe camp. She wasn't even armed -- no sabots, no weapons. Her fashionable medium-length manestyle was practical enough, and maybe she simply didn't feel the need to be visibly armed in a coltswear store, but the corporal was still almost certain she was just for show.
Honour wondered if the colt was even nobility. He didn't seem to quite have that aristocratic air -- maybe he was a commoner who'd been decorated for some service to Equestria? He might even be a retired general or other high-ranking official -- among non-nobles, those were the most common kinds of ponies given the privilege of a retinue. Either way, he must at least have some wealth to make use of his granted affinity by hiring a model as a VIP.
To Honour's left, sitting in a corner, was a young twenty-something noblecolt regarding most of the room with a muzzle upturned in disdain. Accompanying him was an earth pony mare in her late thirties or early forties, who was wearing an ordinary, open-collared white shirt, with a beige pleated skirt and a pair of small brown saddlebags on a matching belt. Unlike the pegasus, from the bulge around her hooves, Honour could tell she had sabots on -- but she'd concealed them under dark brown short boots. The whole outfit screamed 'grey mare operator'; Honour was certain she had wraparound 'tactical' sunglasses in one of those bags.
But the corporal had to admit, she did fit right in here, and probably would anywhere else her VIP would care to go, too. Add a brown tie and a beige blazer and she'd be formal enough for the palace. Although she was doing a good job of blending in, Honour noted that she was also alertly watching all the movement in the busy store. She'd had proper training; she'd probably been in the Royal Guard, and maybe even in the VIP section.
The corporal caught the bodyguard eyeing her up, and from the look of sympathy she seemed to project, Honour was all but certain she'd served in exactly the same role. Her eyes seemed to say, 'I've been there, sister.' With maybe an apologetic hint of, 'It doesn't get much better, sorry.'
The corporal was struck by the two opposites of bodyguard duty before her. On the one hoof, the pretty decoration, hired for their youth and their looks and maybe a few other private things, but definitely not their fighting ability. On the other, the seasoned semi-retired warrior, fit as a warrior should be, and doubtless capable of projecting authority if needed, but hired for their genuine ability to protect a noble family's scion.
Honour had never been the first one; she wasn't good-looking enough, and regardless, by the time she'd joined the VIP section, she'd already been too disillusioned by her divorce to primp and preen and put on the haughty air required.
But, if she remained in the VIP section, was she heading for the second example? Five or ten years from now, when she was fully disillusioned with the Guard itself, would Honour retire a corporal, or maybe if she was lucky, a sergeant -- promotions were rare in this posting -- would she then wind up a private bodyguard herself? Being overruled by the noble family's head, dealing with the protestations of the young noblefoal, and putting up with just as much nonsense, if not more -- albeit for better pay?
If not, what was the alternative? Castlerook's timid proposal to go back exactly where she'd come from? Back to Fillydelphia, back to her family, and her old friends, and her old enemies? Back to her old regiment, except everypony competent had already been promoted past her? She'd reached Corporal half a year before Castlerook, damn it! And here he was a sergeant, pussyhoofing around his obvious plans -- Honour and Alex, in Filly', in the Guard, together.
She didn't know if that's what she wanted, but part of her almost wished he'd put his hooves down and properly push her into it. Celestia, she'd been out drinking with him three times and he'd slow-played her every time -- because he thought she was still the fragile mare who had to leave town when her marriage blew up in her face. Whereas she went drinking with her VIP just once and he'd already drunkenly groped her. Well, her mane, anyways. If Castlerook did the same thing she'd probably -- no, definitely -- melt right into his hooves. Yes, she was fragile after Filly', and yes, she wanted to know her colt respected her space and her opinion and her intelligence and all those other things about her. But damn if Honour didn't also want some aggression along with that respect.
She sighed.
Better try to make plans with Castlerook in what's left of this week, before the Gala. No doubt his regiment would be busy escorting sailors to and from the palace the whole time. Including the Tambermane's crew.
Including Leeward.
Honour shivered, and silently prayed to Celestia that she wouldn't run into him. The odds weren't too bad. It was a big palace, and a big Gala, after all. Unless he got there first and heard their party being announced in...
"Mister Anonymous? We have a fitting room for you now. Just this way, please."
One of the salescolts, wearing a measuring tape over his withers and with dark sweat spots at the shoulders of his otherwise impeccable dress shirt, led Honour's VIP over to one of the side areas of the store. She followed after him, surprised to be served so fast.
Glancing back at the seated crowd, she noticed that several of them now had elegantly-wrapped packages and boxes ready to go -- they were all just waiting for the torrential rain outside to let up.
'Huh. I must've been daydreaming about the future longer than I thought.'
Even more time was made available for her to silently reflect as the Royal Engineer stepped into one of the cubicles and changed into his new outfit. Craning her head a bit, Honour looked back into the main room and saw that the young pegasus bodyguard was dripping wet, looking very unhappy. She must've gone out to ask Honour's cabbie if he was for hire -- that old colt wouldn't have sent his gaudy jewel all the way down the street to the taxi stand. But sending her just to the curb in front of the store for a cab ride home? And then she'd have time to freshen up, before anypony else would see her? Yeah, that, he'd do.
A glance at the older bodyguard revealed that she was bone dry. No doubt she saw Honour's VIP's exchange with him before they both entered the store, and correctly informed her own charge of the situation with that tempting taxicab just outside the door. She even caught the grey-mare operator smirking at the ornamental guardsmare.
A flash of lightning illuminated the windows, and several of the ponies -- the wet guard included -- jumped in surprise. With a sigh, the operator bodyguard casually reached a forehoof into her left saddle bag, whipping out a pair of sporty sunglasses which she casually slipped on.
'Hah! Called it.'
Honour heard the sound of a latch, followed by the steps of formal-shoe soles against the wooden floor.
"Well, Corporal, what do you think?"
The Royal Engineer stood before her, wearing a smouldering look and appearing resplendent in his bespoke, three-piece Gala tailcoat suit.
'He's...'
'I'm...'
'Wow.'
'Uh, maybe...'
'Maybe I'm going to need to put my hair down -- for the Gala.'
Suggested interlude music: ZZ Top - 'Sharp Dressed Man' [1983] |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 129 | Artemis Sparkshower
Recommended background music: Andreas Waldetoft - 'Johans Waltz', from 'Victoria 2' [2010]
"One, two, three, one, two-a-three, one, two, three, good!"
'This is fun!'
"Now into the-"
"Whisk, and then un-twist, back-whisk-three, turn-two-three..."
Specialist Artemis Sparkshower narrated along with the Royal Engineer as he led the pegasus on her hind hooves around the stone patio just outside his chambers, one arm around her withers and the other holding her right forehoof out.
"Whisk-two-three, wing-two-three, chasse-and-three, lock-a-two-three, spin-two-three, lock-a-two-three, spin-two-three-four-five-six, turn-two-three, turn-two-three, sway."
"Whisk-two-three, wing-two-three, chasse-and-three, lock-a-two-three, spin-two-three, lock-a-two-three, spin-two-three-four-five-six, turn-two-three, turn-two-three, sway."
As the Royal Engineer held Artemis at this tilted angle, she was tempted to open her wings for a little balance and maybe give them a flap of support, but that was a real no-no when dancing a Lipizzaner Waltz. It would be a tremendous expression of distrust if she were to show any fear that her dance partner was about to let her fall right on her back.
Anonymous smiled as he pulled the pegasus up straight onto her hind hooves again, and as she released her left forehoof from his shoulder, he gently lowered his arms so that Artemis could easily get back down on all fours.
"Well, Specialist Sparkshower, I'm no professional dancer, but I think we're getting the hang of this particular sequence of steps."
She smiled right back. "Yes, sir, I think we are. Though, umm, it is strictly speaking your job as the colt to lead."
He dusted his hands together, then straightened his trousers. "I know. And I'll try to keep things memorized. But I won't mind if you have to correct me."
The Royal Engineer glanced over at the phonograph, which continued on with its scratchy reproduction of a processional waltz as performed by the Band of the Household Division, in combination with the Countess of The Pale's String Orchestra.
"Shall we run through it one or two more times?"
"As long as you have the time for it, sir."
Nodding, he stepped forward and extended a hand to make it easy for Artemis to mount up in a hind-hooves stance.
"Of course."
As the Royal Engineer drew her in, Artemis readopted the starting position, and he counted in the time before leading her once more through the arrangement. She already had the steps completely memorized, and on this run through her partner didn't miss a beat. It was funny, actually. Here was her Very Important Pony who, in spite of not actually being a pony, was doing an excellent job with basic dance hoofsteps. Of course, it helped that it was a Lipizzaner Waltz; a couples' closely-clutched dance done on hind legs only. And even though this was just a simple arrangement, there was something enthralling in being twirled about like this.
Artemis felt like a dainty light dancer instead of a great big soldier. Part of that was because even up on her hind hooves, Anonymous was still half a head taller than her. The other part was because he actually was making a real effort to glide around gracefully, as the dance demanded, instead of clumsily trotting about. Huckleberry was taller than Artemis too, but he danced like he had four hind hooves. And he never got the hang of it, no matter how many Friday-night bootie-hop events she'd taken him to in school or Saturday night jamborees at the barn. Even on a romantic, late night on Hearts and Hooves Day, he couldn't make Artemis feel like this.
To be fair, Huck could make her feel a lot of other things, but a graceful dancer wasn't one of them. And it was a shame, too, because if he'd put some effort into it, she was sure he could've risen to the challenge. But instead, he got flustered easily and then frustratingly declared he didn't want to try any more. He got embarrassed easily. And when she suggested private lessons, it was already too late. Even though he'd never given Artemis a straight answer, she knew in his heart he'd stubbornly decided, like so many other things, that dancing wasn't for him.
Anonymous looked at the pegasus as they completed the sequence. "I think we have enough track left for one more."
"Yes, sir."
With surprisingly powerful arms -- surprising for how slender they were, compared to the stocky limbs of an earth pony colt -- he adroitly lifted Artemis out of the sway and straightened them both up again. Then it was one-two-three, two-two-three and off they went again.
Here she was, dancing the Lipizzaner Waltz with the Royal Engineer on a patio in a back nook of one of the palace's older wings. Artemis' VIP didn't have to fear anypony seeing if he made a mistake. And he had made a few, though nothing catastrophic. Skipping ahead in the sequence, going left when he should've gone right -- nothing serious. She wondered what would've happened with her and Huckleberry if he'd been given the same chance.
But that was over now.
Maybe one of the cute colts she met Tuesday night knew ballroom steps. Too bad she hadn't felt well enough to try out the club floor solo, or she could have picked up some clues. And too bad the Royal Engineer had been too engrossed chatting with Lily, Honour, and Purity to venture out onto the dance floor either.
Or maybe...
Was he worried about embarrassing himself, too?
As Artemis was once again lowered into a delicate sway, she took a moment to admire her VIP's new white-tie suit for the Gala. It really was a nice change from his usual morning dress, trading the restrained formality of a government minister for the swank elegance of a young patrician reveller.
Anonymous lifted her up again and she got back down on all fours. "Good, good. If you're not too tired later, let's run through this again a few more times in the evening."
Artemis couldn't imagine ever being too tired to be whisked daintily around on the dance floor by a handsome colt. "Yes, sir."
The Royal Engineer stepped over to turn off the phonograph, parking the needle and pulling the record off of the spindle. He replaced it in the dust jacket, turning it over to scan through the liner notes, and Artemis got another good look at his suit. She was no professional design consultant, but she thought it went very well with her tea-length pink dress. He just needed a good lapel flower to finish the outfit.
What color, though?
White was the traditional choice; a carnation or gardenia. But that seemed too ordinary for as very-important a not-pony as her VIP. Red, to go with his formal sash of office? Or maybe some other accent color: royal blue, as a nod to the evening's festivities, or imperial purple as a second indication of his high-placed status? Maybe a light color to brighten the mood? Pale violet or old gold, to match the colors of the main halls of the palace?
Perhaps pink? A bit mareish, but she was sure the Royal Engineer was enough of a colt not to be intimidated by pink.
And pink would match her dress.
As Anonymous looked up at Artemis from the liner notes, she suddenly felt very exposed. It was a bit like standing in an open field and hearing an ominous rumbling from the clouds above.
He seemed to be looking over her outfit. "You're certain we won't have to worry about bumping into anyone else?"
'Tremendous relief; it's not raining quite yet.'
"Yes, sir. These are the official steps for the waltz at this year's Gala. Everypony will be doing it all at the same time, and the Masters of the Dance will run an instruction as well as a few practice sessions early in the evening, before dinner and the main event. They'll make sure to distance couples properly."
Artemis thought back to the wonderful pictures and the newsreel films of previous years. Elegant couples in the finest of dress, all gliding and twirling in unison. And this year she'd be a part of it! Maybe she'd even be in one of those photos or newsreels...
"It's a lot more produced than I realized."
'Oh, no!'
"But it does sound like fun. I just worry a bit about standing out."
'Oh!'
'Well, that's understandable.'
"You mustn't be worried about that, sir. You'll fit right in with everypony else, I'm sure. If you want we could perform a practice for somepony in private, first."
He chuckled. "Oh, maybe. Saturday before we leave, perhaps, when I'm starting to get nervous and having butterflies in my stomach."
'Humans ate butterflies too??'
Anonymous glanced over her outfit. "And that's what you're wearing to the Gala? No further alterations?"
Artemis proudly extended her wings in parade rest. "This is it, sir. Lily -- er, Specialist Glamerspear -- worked all morning yesterday putting the finishing touches on the wing openings."
He nodded, smiling. "It's lovely. I certainly wouldn't have known it wasn't originally made for a pegasus."
Oh, that sent warm tingles down her spine, and Artemis did a little curtsy-turnabout in place to show off in case he missed anything.
"But surely you'll have a corsage or fascinator as well? It's a spring festival, isn't it? I suppose I should have something for my lapel, too."
'Ah!'
'He's thinking along just the same lines!'
"Yes, sir, but the day of the Gala, Tallyho market square is completely flooded with flower-sellers hawking the freshest flowers for Gala-goers. One of your guards can go out to gather for everypony in the group."
Anon raised an eyebrow. "And there's no risk of the sellers running out?"
She shook her head. "No, sir. The stalls pack up at noon and everything that's left is bought by the palace majordomo as final decorations for the Gala. And since the palace pays market price as a nod to generosity, the flower-sellers always have a lot of leftovers. Dozens of wagon-loads."
"Sounds exciting. And fragrant. It must get very busy?" Placing the jacketed record under his arm, he picked up the phonograph and its folding stand.
Artemis headed over to the patio doors to open them for him. "It's packed shoulder-to-shoulder and tail-to-muzzle; I've seen photos in the news. Pegasi and unicorn porters and errand-foals are in high demand that morning, filling orders for all the Gala invitees."
Anonymous stepped past her and deposited the musical device beside his armor stand. "I can imagine. You and the rest of the quaternion should talk it over to decide who'll make the run. I'll just have to figure out what I want."
'Don't-tell-him-to-get-pink, don't-tell-him-to-get-pink, don't-tell-him-to-get-pink.'
"A bright spring color would look nice on you, sir. Maybe pink?"
'YOU TOLD HIM TO GET PINK!'
'What's gotten into you??'
As he removed his jacket and placed it on a hanger, he looked over at the pegasus inquisitively.
'Does he know why I made that suggestion?'
Anonymous just smiled and nodded. "Maybe."
'He knows!'
Oooh, for being not-a-pony, he sure could be coy like a romance-novel colt, all right.
The Royal Engineer made to go change out of his Gala suit back into his usual outfit, but something in Artemis pushed her on. There was a nagging question in the back of her mind.
"Could I ask you a personal question, sir?"
Without stopping, he passed through the switchback of the low partition wall separating his office and living quarters from his bedroom area. "Of course, Specialist."
She heard the sound of a hanger on a rod.
'I really shouldn't be asking this.'
It was personal, it was private, it was forward, and in the context of dancing with him and suggesting he match his lapel to her dress, it could be seen as flirtatious. And what did Honour say about flirting with the Royal Engineer?
'Playtime is over.'
'Thundershowers.'
Well, this wasn't play; she was genuinely curious.
"How come you didn't dance at all when we were out on Tuesday?"
There was no reply for a little bit, so she continued on.
"Were you worried about embarrassing yourself?"
Another silent pause.
Then her VIP emerged back out from the partition, wearing his morning-dress outfit, collar and cuffs and tie still undone, and with a subdued expression.
He sighed, nodding. "Yes. I haven't been out in public a lot."
Artemis furrowed her brow, stepping forward. "But, sir, you gave a magnificent speech to everypony on Monday! They were all impressed; even flying over them, I could tell."
Anonymous shrugged. "Demonstrating something I know well isn't as nerve-wracking. I didn't really go clubbing a lot on my world. I danced at weddings and birthday parties, sure, but that was among friends." Adjusting his collar and attaching his gold cuff-links, he stepped over to his desk. "Not to mention among other humans. Besides, Tuesday night was for you and the rest of the quaternion. Nobody else seemed too keen on dancing, either."
Probably because Lily couldn't get enough booze poured down her throat fast enough. And Honour -- she was sulking over her situation with her coltfriend, Artemis was sure. Ebonshield was happy to play along with whatever the group wanted.
Artemis was the only one who got up.
It was strange -- she'd felt drawn to the dance floor, but she didn't particularly want to dance. Something about the heat and the perspiration of all those young colts and mares dancing freely just made her feel so excited.
So alive.
With each club they'd visited, the pain of her recently-shattered relationship seemed to wash away. And she didn't shy away from any of the colts who'd introduced themselves. She had felt like she had to say she was waiting for somepony else to dance with first, or they'd have dragged her out on the floor, but that hadn't stopped them from inundating her with calling cards and offers of drinks if her date didn't show. Frankly it was a surprising and shocking experience -- with the way her large frame had been the object of ridicule growing up, she wasn't used to that kind of attention. Was it just attraction to the uniform, or was she actually radiating some alluring energy herself?
Whatever it was, it got so that eventually she had to find refuge from all the eager colts back at the private table the Royal Engineer had booked.
But him -- worried about being awkward? The way he always kept his cool, could wow a crowd of Royal Guard dignitaries, and could even slide around on a patio dance-floor?
Artemis shook her head. "I'm awfully sorry about that, sir. One of us should really have taken the first step and extended an invitation. I think you'd have had a great time on the dance floor. And with how quickly you've learned the Lipizzaner Waltz you shouldn't worry about being embarrassed at all."
Sitting down, he smiled warmly. "It's kind of you to say that. But you really don't think we'd have looked a little funny, an alien biped dancing with his four guardsmares?"
She straightened up immediately. "No, sir! And shame on anyone who would think otherwise! That's the motto of the VIP Section, after all: 'Honi Soit Qui Mal y Pense,' or 'Shame on Whoever Thinks Ill of It,' referring to the practice of providing visiting dignitaries and honored citizens with a retinue."
He cocked an eyebrow. "I see. Tell me, is the Gala all formal folk and ball dances, or will there be modern dancing such as we saw at the nightclubs as well?"
Artemis had never seen photographic evidence of modern dance at the Gala, but according to 'Canterlot Match' magazine, that's because the palace guards escorted the paparazzi off the premises before it started. Still, there were anonymously-written reports of the scandalous behaviour that could result when a party full of Equestria's drunken elite started dancing to modern hits queued up by some of the nation's finest DJs. And she'd also seen the scheduled events, posted up in the palace servants' mess.
Everything from 10 PM onwards just said 'music & dancing.'
"I believe so, sir. After dinner and the scheduled events."
"Good. I won't miss a second opportunity, then. I don't want to toot my own horn, but you know, even though I didn't dance often..." He grinned. "...I did have a reputation for tearing it up on the dance floor."
'Tearing what up?'
It must just be some human expression; probably because of their fingers.
She just nodded as if she knew what he was talking about. "I'd like to see that, sir. Would it be all right if I go change back into my armor, now?"
Anonymous lifted a trio of sealed envelopes up from his desk. "Of course, but I was wondering if perhaps you'd be able to deliver a few letters for me this morning as part of your duties?"
She nodded and approached. "Certainly, sir."
Extending a feathery appendage, Artemis accepted the memos and tucked them underwing.
"The first one is for Henry Fortstable here in Canterlot. The second one is for the smith, Gunther Bronzehorn, out in Newcastle-Upon-Mare. Both ask if they'd be willing to send someone to join our 'ground crew' for the Grand Mêlee, as Lieutenant Kilfeather suggested -- Fortstable's coach builders for the carriage and Bronzehorn for our arms and armor, naturally. I know it's a long flight out to Newcastle-Upon-Mare, but I figured that perhaps you could make short work of it with that rocket-lance of yours?"
She gave a quick salute, despite being completely out of uniform. "Yes, sir. It's not meant for endurance journeys, but it will certainly speed up my travel time. And the third letter, sir?"
With his elbows on the desk, he placed his fingers together. "That one's not about the games. I want some magic support when it comes to the foundry; a lot of early industrial processes are very dirty to run without complicated equipment which is beyond our ability to manufacture, and that's just the sort of thing that unicorn magic could perhaps help out with. This fellow was recommended to me by Purse Strings. He runs a company that, I gather, has a number of government contracts already: a unicorn colt by the name of Martingale."
That didn't really ring any bells, but then again, Artemis didn't know much about government procurement contracts.
"Anyways, his residence is in Canterlot and while I know the regular mail service here is startlingly quick, I figured that perhaps delivery by a messenger-bodyguard would be an extra special touch and impress upon him the seriousness of this undertaking. Even if he's not at home when you arrive."
'That's a good idea.'
"Yes, sir. Don't worry, sir. I'll go change into my armor and have these delivered so fast I'll be back before lunchtime!"
Her VIP leaned back in his chair, content. "Thank you, Specialist. Mister Songwell should be along shortly to give his daily report, and I know how the Corporal gets if I'm unescorted down here. I wouldn't mind commiserating with someone on the capabilities of unicorn magic; I suppose Specialist Glamerspear would be the most experienced in that respect?" He shrugged. "Or maybe Corporal Bound is. She seems to know everything about how things work around here. Ask for them both if neither of them is otherwise occupied. I've got most of my paperwork finished for now, and there are options to explore, so I'm in a chatty mood."
"Yes, sir."
With another quick out-of-reg salute, Artemis swished her tail and her tulle dress right out the door, making quickly for the stairs. Unfortunately she couldn't fly without losing his letters, and she had no purse or saddle-bags to put them in right now, either.
'Do I have a matching purse for the Gala?'
She hadn't thought about that. Not that she was going to have to worry about a wallet, but there were small items that she'd want to be able to carry. Hairbrush, comb, wingbrush, touch-up makeup, those sorts of things. Maybe Lily had something in her extensive wardrobe she could borrow.
As Artemis wondered about the finishing touches on her Gala outfit, she pushed open the door to their shared chambers and was surprised to see only Lily, lounging on the sofa, forelegs behind her head and a gossip magazine held in her telekinetic grip.
She looked up at Artemis, lifting her eyebrows as if scandalized. "Showing off the goods to the Royal Engineer, huh? What'd he think?"
"He said the dress was lovely. But actually I put it on so we could practice the Lipizzaner Waltz steps; he put on his Gala suit too."
Lily grinned and lifted an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? The Corporal said it was pretty ritzy."
Artemis nodded. "It is. Where is she, by the way?"
The unicorn jerked a forehoof behind her, towards the palace's central wings. "The palace library. Said she was going to do some research on the Games, like how Anonymous asked us to do. I asked her to bring back some stuff for the rest of us to look over, too."
"Oh. And Sergeant Ebonshield?"
That same forehoof waved towards the gardens. "The Rookery. She went to go do an errand, said she'd be back in a couple of hours. We hit up the commissary first, after breakfast, and she grabbed some candy, smokes, dip, and magazines so I guess she's bribing somepony down there."
"Oh. Well, I guess that means you're on duty downstairs for his meeting with Mister Songwell. Anonymous wants me to deliver some letters for him and it'll take me until just before lunch."
The unicorn telekinetically tossed the magazine onto the coffee table beside her. "Sweet. I was kinda getting bored up here with nothing to do at the moment. You're suiting up for your mail run, right? It may look good, but that dress is fragile. Friggin' tulle."
"Of course, Lily. I wouldn't want to undo your good work. But on that subject..." Artemis pointed a forehoof at her outfit. "...I just realized I should have a bag to go with this, shouldn't I? Do you have something maybe I could borrow?"
As Lily got up and started for her room, she shot Artemis a grin. "That's my mare, Sparks, always thinking about the next accessory. When you get back from your trip and we're both off duty, come step into your big sister Lily's room and we'll see what treasures I've got in my trunk. I'm sure I can do you up something nice."
'Oh, good.'
Like a good forecast, this was so exciting; she couldn't wait for the weekend! She just had to make sure she didn't forget the Lipizzaner Waltz dance steps. And she wondered what flower the Royal Engineer would decide for his lapel boutonniere...
Honour told Artemis to get herself 'sorted out' before doing anything flirtatious with the Royal Engineer, and to make sure she was serious about whatever she proposed. Well, she felt sorted out, and the pegasus was absolutely serious about what she wanted.
She wanted to dance with her handsome gentlecolt VIP, and she was going to do just that.
Suggested interlude music: Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) [1987] |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 130 | Lily Glamerspear
For Specialist Lily Glamerspear, life was pretty good. She was going to the Grand Galloping Gala, she'd been on the Moon, and she was learning a crazy (and dangerous) new kind of magic. She liked her exciting job, she liked her loyal comrades, and she liked her smart commander.
Everything was rosy.
Or... Lily.
'Nah, that doesn't work.'
Sparkshower was such a pegasister that she actually had an argument with Glamerspear about resuming her shift once she got back from delivering Anon's letters. After taking over Sparks' job guarding her Very Important Pony -- who wasn't actually a pony -- for his meeting with the probationary criminal Songwell, Lily was perfectly content to keep it up until the four-o'clock shift change. Artemis was having none of it, though, and when she found out that Glam hadn't gone for a lunch break on account of the meeting time, well, that gave her the upper hoof in the argument; the pegasus had hit up the chow hall for a quick bite before reporting in, so she insisted on returning to duty. Even though Lily owed her more than just a few hours' relief for what Artemis went through for her -- and what she was, to an extent, still going through -- the unicorn could tell she wasn't going to back down.
So it was Morning Dawn, Evening Dusk once again as they changed places. Anyways, it wouldn't have been nice to argue loudly in front of the Royal Engineer. Especially over something so silly as who should have the honor of guarding him for the next few hours.
Or maybe he'd have taken it as a compliment? A couple of young mares tussling over who gets to stand guard in front of his doors had to be a little flattering, right?
'Heh.'
Pushing open the door to their shared chambers, Lily found them just as empty as they'd been when she and Sparkshower had left earlier. Honour didn't seem to have gotten back from the library, and Eb wasn't back from her Rookery run, either.
'Oh, well. Looks like I'm still on relief standby.'
'Guess that means it's just me, my magazines, and my bellyful of mess hall lunch leftovers up here.'
"Urp."
'Oof.'
She might've overdone it a bit back there. She was still dealing with a bit of undersleep after Tuesday's bender and Wednesday's early-morning sewing spree, and that had a tendency to make her hungry. She needed to make sure to get some good rest tonight.
Tomorrow, she had to deal with Valiant Kilfeather in all his 'glory,' and Lily needed to be in top mental shape. Even if the Royal Engineer's browbeating two days ago had left him subdued, she knew it won't be long before he got on her nerves again. Lily held no illusions that a single dressing-down, no matter how firmly it was delivered or how tall and imposing the hairless biped was who delivered it, would keep Val in his place forever.
As she casually removed her helmet and telekinetically tossed it onto a cushion, Lily loosened the straps on her main cuirass, pulled it off, and draped it over the back of the sofa. May as well keep these close at hoof in case there was another call for help downstairs; it wasn't like there was anypony else in here to complain about her stuff being strewn about in the common room.
Lily lay down on the sofa and tucked into the latest edition of 'Canterlot Match.' It was the pre-Gala issue, of course -- a special Thursday edition with all the rumors and gossip heading into the weekend. Who's going with who, who's bucking who, and dozens of shots of assorted pre-Gala parties. Monday's issue would be full of colour spreads of the main event.
Who knows? Maybe one of them, or at least their VIP, would wind up in one of those photos. Canterlot Match thrived on a good scandal, but their bread and butter was covering the ordinary lives of Equestria's upper crust.
As she perused glossy articles about wealthy socialites, mostly unicorns, partying in their very-good-but-not-quite-best outfits, a few stories stood out in particular.
"The D'Image-Freehawk family feud finally boiled over when the D'Images planned a huge costume party at their new second-tier Canterlot mansion last weekend and refused to invite the Freehawks, having been victim of Freehawk-enforced snubs up until now. It appears that old money couldn't stand the idea of being left out of an event this big and eventually caved; after a social call, the families are apparently reconciled and there will no longer be a split in the city's grand events."
'Unicorn nobles playing games like fillies in a schoolyard.'
'Typical.'
Blue-blooded ponies really weren't any better than ordinary red-bloods.
"A unique show was on display Tuesday night-"
'This had better not be about the Royal Engineer and our drunken escapade!'
"-at a vacant warehouse down in the docks district, turned into a pop-up party with eclectic performances and avant-garde art for the city's elite. Canterlot Match has been told several prominent unicorns were in attendance, but as masks and mark-coverings were mandatory we can only present photos without names."
'Huh.'
It looked like a pretty crazy time. What else would she expect from a one-night-only affair, though?
As Lily flipped the page, there was a knock at the door.
"Coming!"
It couldn't be any of her comrades -- they'd have come right in. It couldn't be the Royal Engineer, either -- he'd be accompanied by Artemis, who'd probably call out. A messenger, maybe?
Lily opened the door to find an attractive, middle-aged colt in full Royal Guard armor. It was Captain Montgomery Mailedhoof, her salt-lick. Unsure as to the circumstances of this visit, she gave a standard salute as she quickly scanned the corridor behind him.
"Captain, sir!"
The hallway was empty.
'What's he doing up here now?'
"I thought you were on duty Thursday afternoons?"
Mailedhoof nodded. "I am on duty, Specialist." Grinning, he snickered. "But I can't stand being around all those mareish decorators nattering as they set up for the Gala. And I'm tired of tripping over all their reams of tapestries and running into all their ladders and scaffolds." He tilted his head backwards, looking the specialist up and down. "So I thought I'd get away from that for a spell to pay you a visit and maybe see what that rather oversized bill from Louis Valise has bought me."
'So he's been driven away from his post by the party coordinators?'
Not a very good excuse; then again, officers in the Royal Guard, particularly nobles, and especially ones assigned to garrison duty, got away with it all the time. Common soldiers could get corporal punishment for dereliction of duty, but nobleponies generally got away with it with scarcely more than a slap on the fetlock. The thing was, Lily belonged to the former category, and she was Sparkshower's only backup.
"I can't go anywhere right now. I'm on hot standby in case they need me downstairs. And I'm the only one available."
He snorted. "Who said anything about leaving? I've got nowhere to take you anyways. My stateroom's been given over to some visiting dignitary, and with my family in Canterlot, I can't be seen with you, either."
'So he wants into my quarters?'
She generally didn't receive her salt-licks in her own chambers...
After all, they were supposed to be the wealthy socialites with mansions or staterooms -- or at least the biggest tent in the camp. She was the one with an enlisted soldier's bunk -- having an actual bed, not to mention an actual private room, was a real luxury upgrade here in the palace. And it wasn't like she kept her room in a state to receive visitors. Not that it was filthy or anything, just, y'know, it didn't put her best hoof forward.
The colt noticed Lily's hesitation and stepped forward. "Aren't you going to invite me in, Specialist?"
She swallowed. "I'm not alone in here -- well, I am right now, Captain, but the others could get back anytime."
Mailedhoof snorted with disdain. "What, is the lowborn specialist worried that her patrician captain will embarrass her?" He settled into a smirk. "Anyways, I just want to see the dress, and you in it. It'll be difficult to see you in it on Saturday, at least up close and in good light."
'Well...'
'Okay.'
Honour said she might not get back until dinner, and who knew when the Sergeant would emerge from the Rookery. It was the middle of the afternoon, and if Mailedhoof was only here for a quarter of an hour there was a good chance she wouldn't be interrupted. Lily nodded and stepped back, letting him in and shutting the door behind her.
Surveying the common room, Mailedhoof undid the chin-strap of his helmet. "I heard about your charge's little demonstration on Monday. Rumor has it the general staff were very impressed."
Smiling at the compliment, Lily led him towards her room.
The captain gave a slight smirk. "Not bad for only one unicorn, backed up by just two pegasi."
'If he thinks that Eb is just another pegasus, that's good news for her disguise.'
Lily indicated the corporal's quarters with a nod of her head. "There's actually four of us, now, Captain. A full quaternion."
He just scoffed as she opened her door. "I know. And I'm sure the mudder pulled her weight, but that's all they're good for, anyways."
Lily halted for a moment and almost tripped over her own hooves, before carrying on as if nothing had happened.
'He just called Corporal Bound, my earth pony comrade, the 'm-word.''
'Not to mention the rest of that offensive sentence...'
She'd certainly met her share of supremacist plot-holes in the rank and file of her all-unicorn 'cornfield' artillery regiment, but to hear a noblepony officer with a high station in the palace guard casually toss out such an insult was a shock.
'And about one of my comrades!'
That put her in a bad mood.
'This had better be a quick show.'
Lily indicated her writing desk and chair while she opened her wardrobe and pulled out the bagged dress at the front. "Have a seat, Captain. Why don't I get changed next door?"
Mailedhoof shut the door behind him.
"Right here is fine."
'Of course.'
'Well, all right, then.'
'The things I do for a Louis Valise...'
It was a gorgeous dress, but Lily was starting to wonder if she should have just gotten something last-season from the outlet mall at Hackney Trot.
'No sense crying about that now.'
She telekinetically yanked the matching sandals out from underneath her bed. As Mailedhoof plonked himself down in Lily's chair, dropping his helmet on her desk, she quickly slipped everything on. She'd already removed her armor earlier, so a few telekinetic manipulations and a quick flick of her mane had her all set. The only thing she hadn't taken off was her Silver Ram, but it went with the outfit. And besides, she was going to wear it to the Gala.
The Louis Valise was a black summer cocktail dress with cutouts at the side and a flared, translucent, accordion bottom, with matching three-ring gladiator sandals adorned with nickel-silver studs. A stunning look against her Prench-pink coat, and nicely complimented her teal-and-cyan mane and tail. It was an aggressively hot dress, and very summery, particularly for breezy Canterlot, but the weekend forecast called for heat, and who had ever heard of a busy late-night dance floor that wasn't positively tropical? If she got a few shocked looks from overdressed old mares before dinner, who cared? Her outfit would come into its own once the DJ started spinning discs.
Anyways, the unicorn had a few options for black scarves and shawls that matched, if it was too chilly or if she felt underdressed, and her regulation uniform's black foul-weather cloak would do just fine as an outdoor cover -- to be disposed of at the coat check as soon as she arrived, of course.
Lily turned sideways and looked over her shoulder at the leisurely-reclining colt who'd paid for the getup, pursing her lips and arching her eyebrows. Mailedhoof liked what he saw, she could tell.
And not just from the grin on his face.
He casually waved his left forehoof in a circle. "Let's have the full show."
His positive reaction put Lily in a better mood despite his earlier offences, so she proceeded to give an impression of a runway walk. Professional models probably didn't try to sway their hips and shoulders as much as she did, though. Remembering the poses she'd just done with Sparkshower, Lily tried out a few herself. Sitting on her haunches, one forehoof just underneath her tuft, staring dispassionately to one side. Then she backed up against the door and stood up on her hind hooves, forehooves pressed against the frame, and wearing a come-hither stare. Then she gave him the old classic of backing up against the chair, looking over her shoulders, and with a half-lidded smile of satisfaction, slowly bouncing her plot just in front of his crotch.
She felt a forehoof brush against her hindquarters, and playfully batted it away. "Ah-ah-ah, Captain, you're on duty."
Mailedhoof gave her a quick slap and leaned back in his chair. "But you're not. And a mare like you gets excited as soon as a colt like me walks in the room." He lifted an eyebrow, continuing, "I'm sure you feel the need to relax a bit."
Nodding towards the bed, he puts a forehoof at the base of his barrel. "Since I'm on duty, I'll dutifully keep watch."
'Really?'
'He expects me to just lie down and clop right in front of him, like I'm working at some red-light peepshow deep in the lower tiers?'
Lily furrowed her brow.
'Can I really say 'no' to him, though?'
This was an awfully expensive dress, and she'd added on the sandals, too.
The captain knew he was in charge, and his smile started to fade. "I'm waiting, Specialist."
'Fine.'
A few minutes of pretending to work and a few good squeals ought to reassure his ego that he was Celestia's gift to mares. Her horn lit up and she started to undress.
"Ah-ah-ah. Stay in uniform when you're in the presence of an officer, Specialist."
'Seriously?!'
This time she talked back. "I don't want to get it dirty right before the Gala, Captain."
But he didn't care. "You are dirty, Specialist. Filthy dirty, like Canterlot's gutters after the first rains." His expression turned mean. "And if you make a mess you can't clean, find a bucking drycleaner. It's only Thursday. Show me what I paid for."
The colt was dead serious.
Here she was, in the privacy of her own room, in the middle of the afternoon, being forced to obey the commands of her forceful salt-lick. What was Lily to do? Turn him out, and risk the consequences of crossing a powerful noblepony officer? And what if he refused to go? Would she have to get physical? That could lead to even worse consequences.
As much as Lily wasn't in the mood to do what he asked, it wasn't completely out of line for a saltine-and-salt-lick relationship. Like every other enlisted unicorn kept on a tight leash by their drill instructor, she knew a couple of basic spells to get stains and smells out of clothes. Even if she had to send it out to be cleaned, there wasn't any real risk of her showing up to the Gala with a dirty dress.
It just felt disrespectful to dirty it before wearing it on the big night.
Yeah, Captain Mailedhoof paid for it, and Lily bought it intending to show it off to him, but it was her dress now, and maybe she was planning to show it off to more than just the colt with the letter of credit. But here he was, insisting on leaving a mark, like claiming her, or at least it, as his property.
'Whatever.'
She climbed up on the bed and rolled over onto her back.
'Just get this over with and he'll be gone.'
Mailedhoof would be too busy to see Lily again until after the Gala, and if she still felt sore about this, she could break things off then if she wanted. The specialist wriggled a bit on the bed, trying to get comfortable, and also trying to keep as much of the skirt out of the way of any possible mess.
"Quit stalling. You know you want it."
'Yeah, yeah.'
With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and lit up her horn. Lily couldn't fake the whole thing -- this couldn't possibly be the first time Mailedhoof had made a unicorn partner pleasure herself for his amusement; he'd know what the real deal looks like. So she started for real, delicately probing around with her telekinesis, looking for the right spot.
'Ahh--there it is.'
She brushed her force against it.
'This is wrong -- this isn't how I want to do this.'
'Just lay back and think sexy thoughts.'
'Handsome colts with bulging croups and powerful hips.'
'And just the right size of instrument to hit the right places inside you.'
Lily's mind wandered back her first field posting after 'shoe camp. A fortified regimental camp out in the wilderness, packed full of cramped tents.
With co-ed showers.
And guardscolts with not much more to do but drill and work out all day. Those bulky earth pony colts bursting at the seams with muscles, the toned pegasi colts who could flap all night long, and the unicorn colts who didn't need telekinesis to sweep a mare off her hooves. Oh, how Lily and the other fresh-faced private Miss So-and-sos used to gawk and titter. She remembered the hot summer nights, and the search for a few moments of privacy somewhere inside the palisade walls.
A few moments of privacy for a few moments of pleasure.
If it hadn't been for easy access to contraceptive herbs, Lily was certain every mare in the camp would have been pregnant. And for a lot of them, it would have been impossible to identify the father, too.
"~Ahhh~"
She let out a breathy moan as if she'd just hit the next level. Which was not to say she wasn't starting to enjoy herself, but it was going to take a lot more than just some hot memories to make up for the low she'd started at. At least there was plenty of lubrication now. But that just made her more self-conscious about spillage onto the dress.
'No, Lily, come on, just focus on finishing this up.'
'Mailedhoof wants a slutty little mare winking and dripping at the mere thought of him, so give it to him and be done.'
"~Hhh~"
Lily switched up her stroke a bit and a tingle shot up her spine, resulting in another squeak of pleasure. In spite of herself, she started to work faster.
Maybe the easiest way to fake an orgasm would be to have a real one. Last time she'd clopped like this, it was after Mailedhoof had left her unsatisfied. Her thoughts had turned to the Royal Engineer.
'Mmm...'
She thought of him working all night in the carriage house Sunday night, his hairless skin slick with sweat. And the way he suplexed the Sergeant... He could lift any of them, easily, in those big, strong arms. But he wasn't just some brutish minotaur; he had finesse. Sparkshower said he'd easily picked up the Lipizzaner Waltz steps. She said he 'glided' around the patio.
'Gliding, that's the word.'
Smooth and slick, but just coarse and firm enough to make things interesting. Lily imagined having her flanks squeezed, his arms wrapped around her barrel.
"~Nnn~"
That got another moan out of her, and she went up another level. Now she was panting, and she opened her eyes, turning to see that Mailedhoof was starting to sweat a bit at his brow. Looking away, Lily shut her eyes and returned to fantasy, further quickening the pace.
Anonymous would be a caring lover, she was sure of it. He was too nice not to be. But when he got riled up, like how he shut down Val...
A gentle hoof, but firm when it needed to be.
Lily imagined his hands on her mane, fingers running through it. Would he know to give a tug now and then? Or to place one hand just so under her chin, so she could feel each potent thrust all the way from her back to her front?
She didn't like it too rough.
Sparkshower, kinky as she was, would want to have the sex choked and beaten into her, Lily was certain. The unicorn just wanted it done with emphasis, that's all. The slight sense of surrender to power, tempered with the reassurance of tenderness. And he wouldn't stop until she was satisfied. Even as he came closer and closer -- reaching the limits of his endurance inside of her. He'd find a way to last, or if he couldn't...
If he couldn't resist releasing inside of her...
"~Mmmmm~"
Panting and gasping for air... He'd come back with a second shot.
Or maybe...
Maybe he could use those fingers of his to finish the job. Those delicate, probing, digits.
Lily bit her lip and went full speed.
"~Unnnn~"
Each telekinetic flick was from his fingers.
The bed beneath her was his firm chest.
The warm breeze blowing in the window was his hot breath.
She heard him whisper into her ears, how he wanted her, how he needed to satisfy her, and how she satisfied him.
"~Nnnng!~"
All thoughts of the unicorn's present situation disappeared entirely as she lost herself in the wonderful scene.
'Remember, Lily, he can gallop for hours.'
"~Mnnnnffff!~"
'Hours and hours and hours--'
Lily couldn't breathe.
"~Aaaahh! Mmmmmnnnnnnggnnngfngnnn~"
Clenching and breathless, she rolled over to face the wall.
'Celestia.'
Never mind the mess from the clop, the cold sweat at her withers would really do a number on the delicate fabric of the Louis Valise dress.
She felt something brush against the back of her mane.
'Not yet, Anon, I need a minute.'
'Wait--'
Opening her eyes, Lily turned her head to find her mane gently held in Mailedhoof's silver, telekinetic grip.
He stared at her with an excited grin. "That was pretty good. You must really want it. Come over here and I'll give you a taste."
She felt a telekinetic pull towards him.
'Seriously?'
A clop show wasn't enough; now he wanted to be serviced, too. Rolling back over, Lily dismounted the bed and quickly fluffed her mane back in place.
'Fine, a quick suck ought to do it.'
With the method-acting performance she'd given, he must be ready to burst at this point, anyways. She sat down on her haunches in front of the chair and lowered her head towards the Captain's drawn sword.
"Just hold it there. I'll get you what you need."
'What's this now?'
A telekinetic glow captures his erect member -- and it wasn't Lily's.
'He's just going to jerk himself off in front of me?'
'What's the point of this?'
She felt a second telekinetic grasp around her head, and a third one pry her jaw open. As Mailedhoof rubbed himself out, Lily was forced to sit there with her mouth open, ready to receive. He didn't even ask, just grabbing her like she was some cheap whorse.
'Buck!'
'My Silver Ram!'
She was still wearing her Order of the Ram medallion! The dress was bad enough, but she was not going to let him soil that! Lily lit up her horn and started to undo the clasp behind her neck, only to find another telekinetic aura countering hers.
'No, no, no!!'
"Wait! I don't-"
"You want this, whorse, you want this! So take all of it!"
As he spewed the denigrating words from his mouth, Lily was forced to receive thick spurts of his hideous load. She shut her eyes but his magical grip prevented her from turning, and she felt the spray splatter on her muzzle, in her mouth, and down her neck.
'Not on the medal!'
'Not the one thing that reminds me I'm worth something!'
'No...'
When the squirting was done, Lily was briefly released from his telekinetic grasp, before being roughly shoved backwards against the bed. Mailedhoof immediately got to his hooves and collected his helmet. Then he left, shutting the door behind him without saying another word to her.
Lily sat in shock.
'He didn't...'
Trembling, she looked down.
He did.
A gob of that monster's vile discharge dribbled down her Silver Ram.
Lily was overtaken by a sudden feeling of utter revulsion, and scrambled towards her wastebasket.
"Huuuuuuuugh! Blurghghhh!"
An unhealthy dollop of the mess hall's leftovers wound up inside, but after holding her muzzle over that first wad for a few moments, she mercifully didn't feel the need to completely unload.
Lily collapsed to the floor in tears.
'What did I just let happen?!'
'He just...'
'Used me.'
The truth was suffocating.
She didn't sign up for this.
Being a saltine was supposed to be fun.
Fun for both sides.
Drinks, parties, baubles and fashion, and rolling around in the hay.
Now she'd just been used like a disposable prophylactic, and just as unceremoniously discarded.
It was deliberate, too.
In his own words, she was nothing more than his filthy gutter-whorse. And for what?
Another expensive dress to stuff into her already full-to-bursting wardrobe. And this one was ruined, if only by the horrid memories.
'What the buck am I doing with all this?'
Wiping her tears, she sat up. Struggling a bit, she took a look at her chair, soiled by Mailedhoof's presence alone. With a single telekinetic blast, she shoved it to one side and stepped up to her desk.
Lily looked at herself in her makeup mirror.
'You're disgusting.'
'Pathetic.'
'This is the best you could do?'
'An enlisted soldier, not even a noncommissioned officer, whorsing herself out to jerkwad noblecolts?'
Lily gazed at the reflection of her desecrated medallion. That was the only thing she had which was really worth something.
It wasn't just some expensive trinket.
Even if she hadn't really acknowledged it until recently, it was the one thing Lily could cling to, to say she had accomplished something in her life.
And that bastard had sprayed his seed all over it against her will.
Lily delicately removed the medallion and, sniffing back tears, immediately lit up her horn to clean and polish it. In short order all physical traces of the goop were obliterated.
It looked as good as new.
But in her mind, it had still been irrevocably defiled. 'Centurion of the Order of the Ram' was supposed to mean a pony who had stood up for Equestria in the face of extreme danger. Now it had been made a badge of shame and weakness.
'Buck, why am I even in the Royal Guard?!'
Her mom scraped and saved enough to send all three of her older brothers to college, and was ready to do the same for Lily, but no, she had to rebel. She didn't want books and study, she wanted action and adventure.
'Well, here's your action, Lily Glamerspear.'
'Aren't you enjoying your adventure?'
Staring at herself in the mirror, she telekinetically grabbed a tissue and quickly wiped the rest of the mess off of her coat. As with the medal, the fluids were gone, but the mental stains remained.
'You could've made something of yourself.'
'When you put your mind to learning a spell, you're great at it!'
'Look at how you did gunning down Val at the Pas-De-Sabots, or liquidating all those batpony 'meteors' when they ambushed you! And even if you can't remember it, you must've done something fantastic during the Changeling Invasion to have earned the Silver Ram.'
'But when you lazed about...'
'Then you got caught flat-hoofed by some bucker who could strongly TK four things at once and didn't give two bucks what you thought about anything.'
Reverently, Lily reached a hoof over to her medal's presentation case. She flipped it open and placed the Silver Ram inside, folding the ribbon just as it had been when she received it. She was done wearing that for today.
She turned her gaze once more to the mirror.
'I can be better than this.'
Who said she had to stay a soldier in the Royal Guard the rest of her life? She had another year left in her enlistment; she could cash out and go to college instead of just re-enlisting, if she wanted to. Buck, if she learned more of this Shadow-magic from Ignacio, she could probably do more than just attend college. There was probably some way to leverage that into an actual career -- teaching, demonstrating, that sort of thing. Maybe even still within the Royal Guard, if she still wanted the uniform and the action..
Well, whatever else Lily might decide, she knew for certain she was done with Montgomery Mailedhoof.
And done with the business of being a saltine, too.
What did a mare need with more shiny baubles, anyways, if in the end the only thing of value she had was her Silver Ram? Or even more than that, her faithful comrades-in-arms? Lily still owed Sparkshower for being possessed on her behalf. And she'd owe her more if she did it again for another lesson.
"Hey! Anypony here?" The pegasister in question called out as she entered the common room.
Lily took a deep breath to settle herself down. "Just a minute, Sparks!"
Quickly, she scrambled out of the soiled dress, and gave it a quick once-over.
'Yeah, there isn't much mess. My own magic should be plenty.'
The unicorn gave some of the obvious spots a quick blast of cleaning-rays. Then she put it back on its hangar and hung it on the outside of the wardrobe door to air out. She was about to head for the door when she remembered she was still wearing her sandals.
'Oops -- better take those off, too.'
When Lily finally emerged into the common room, she found Sparkshower in the process of removing her armor.
"Hi, Lily. Sergeant Ebonshield got back from the Rookery and relieved me a little early. Wasn't that nice of her? Seems like all of us want to guard the Royal Engineer!"
She'd dodged a cannonball with the batpony not having come up here first. A shiver ran up Lily's spine as she imagined the discomfort of Ebonshield arriving while she was mid-moan.
Sparkshower tilted her head at the unicorn, furrowing her brow. "Are you okay? Were you having a nap? Sorry if I woke you!"
Lily shook her head. "It's okay, Sparks. I'm fine."
Glancing at the clock, she saw it was barely three o'clock. Ebonshield relieved Sparkshower a full hour early. But the pegasus wouldn't let Lily take over her shift almost two hours ago!
'This disaster wouldn't have happened if I'd been on duty...'
Lily could hardly blame her for it, though.
Artemis sniffed the air.
'Oh, no.'
"Hey -- Is that...? Are you sure you're okay? It smells like someone was sick in here."
'No sense arguing with her sense of smell.'
"Yeah, sorry. I over-ate a little at lunch and had to let some of it out in the bin. I'll wash it out in a minute."
She didn't buy that excuse. "Are you sure you're okay? You don't... You don't have the 'dawn sickness' too, do you?"
Lily grinned. "No. It's a little late for dawn, Sparks."
"Oh, right..." She furrowed her brow more and looked left and right. "...Uh... It's not the other kind of dawn sickness, is it?"
On the one hoof, Lily thought that was a ridiculous proposition, but on the other, it was heartwarming having somepony who was so concerned about her. "It's not morning sickness, either. I'm not dumb, ya know. I use protection and take the herbs."
"Right, okay! Sorry! It's just that back in the regiment, our first sergeant was always very specific in the weekend liberty briefs about being safe about... those sorts of things."
Lily chuckled. "Sparks, every first sergeant says that stuff. They know how much trouble the average guardspony can get into. But believe me, I'm not an average guardspony -- none of us are, or we wouldn't be here, ya know?"
Indicating the palace around her, Lily sidled up and elbowed Artemis in the ribs.
She laughed. "Yeah. Sorry, Lily, I was just worried you might be hurt."
"Thanks, Artemis. I appreciate it -- I appreciate you. I don't think I've said that enough."
'Huh...'
It was only three, and the chow hall opened in thirty minutes... Maybe there was time for an evening excursion into the Rookery -- and maybe onto the Moon? Lily could use another lesson. Only if Artemis was up for it, though.
"...Say, you got anything planned for tonight?"
The pegasus smiled. "You want to go back to Ignacio and Aldonza again, don't you? I'd be glad to come along -- only maybe this time we can skip the part involving me and the Accursed Shadow? I can handle it, but I don't want to feel sick for the Gala."
'Fair enough.'
"Sure, Sparks. Come for the company this time. And don't forget your camera! The papers'll trip over each other for those pictures if you can get them out past DADT. Now, why don't you finish getting undressed and we'll head to the mess hall for dinner?"
She screwed up her muzzle. "But didn't you just say you and your lunch...? You're really hungry?"
Lily shrugged. "I'm not. I think I'll be skipping dinner today. But you can eat, and I'll be your company."
"Okay! It's a date!"
Sparkshower headed to her room to remove the rest of her armor, and Lily lent a hoof by telekinetically lifting up the pieces, as she'd done before.
'Yeah. Buck Mailedhoof and buck salt-licks.'
'Ya know what? Buck Louis Valise, too.'
'I'm worth more than all of that.'
What Lily needed were loyal friends at her flanks and a challenge to overcome. She had the first in Sparkshower and the second in learning to master batpony Shadow-magic -- not to mention seeing her genuinely noble VIP's plans to fruition.
Lily Glamerspear's theme song: Fifth Harmony - Worth It ft. Kid Ink |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 131 | Purity Ebonsield
Sergeant First Class Purity Ebonshield was filled with a great sense of anticipation.
Yes, there was tomorrow the inspection of the battlefield where they would participate in the Equestrian 'Grand Mêlee.' And that was a great privilege, for she would be the first of the Children to participate in this ritual. Before that, there was also of course this weekend the Equestrian Grand Galloping Gala, which also she would be honored to be the first to attend as one of Children.
However, right now what most greatly preoccupied her mind were not those grand events, but the contents of her saddlebags. This was why she had taken the place of the Specialist Sparkshower early; that she may relieve herself of their wonderful burden as soon as possible.
And yet, she reminded herself, there was a certain delight in delaying release.
The Engineer Royal sat at his desk, hunched over a mess of papers, drumming a pencil against his padded blotter. He had held himself in positions similar for almost an hour, pretending to work. Finally, with a sigh, he flicked the pencil out of his hand and leaned back in his chair. He followed with another sigh, and shook his head, before reaching for his glass of water.
'Bueno.'
'He is bored or frustrated -- or perhaps even both.'
'Now is the time to strike.'
"Are those papers for to prepare El Torbellino, The Whirlwind, for the Grand Mêlee, Great Lord?"
She knew with almost certainty that they were not.
Anonymous shook his head. "No, they're for the foundry. I haven't even had time to think about what modifications to make to the Whirlwind. I can imagine improving it an awful lot, but it's a question of time and reliability." Another sigh, and he lifted his eyebrows. "We're going to tour the battle grounds tomorrow with Lieutenant Kilfeather, aren't we? Maybe I ought to put these plans away for the day and refocus on that. I've never fought in a tournament before, after all." He chuckled. "Then again I've never built a foundry, either. Or a smelter; really, it'll be both. And either one of those can be just as deadly as a battle if not designed with safety in mind."
Ebonshield took a step forward. "I presume that the Great Lord is firm in his choice to fight in the Grand Mêlee?"
The Royal Engineer furrowed his brow, putting down his drink. "Choice? What do you mean, choice?"
Taking another step forward, she cocked her head to one side. "Did the Mother-of-Stars and the Mother-of-the-Sun not ask only that El Torbellino be represented in the Grand Mêlee as a test of his worthiness? Surely they did not demand that the prowess in battle of their Engineer Royal be also tested?"
Anonymous sat up in his chair again. "I... suppose that's true. It was phrased as a test of the Whirlwind. And Her Majesty Princess Celestia said that the 'group which beat' last year's champions, Kilfeather and his squad, should take their place." He turned and glanced at his minotaur-made bronze armor. "I didn't actually fight in the 'Pas-de-Sabots' at Newstirrup Bridge, though I did consider it. I suppose I helped without fighting, though, by raising Specialist Sparkshower's spirits before the battle, and calling out the Lieutenant's position for Specialist Glamerspear. From that, one could take it either way whether Her Majesty expects me to participate in the Tournament."
Ebonshield took a few more steps until she was standing at the other side of his desk, and he returned to face her.
"Shouldn't I fight? Maybe I'd be more useful as the vehicle's mechanic, during breaks in the fighting. But then we'd have to find another soldier to make a 'flight' of six again."
The batpony shrugged. "The Great Lord is surrounded by soldiers. Good ones are more difficult to find, yes, but still commonly available. I am certain that the Major General Hoofstrong could provide. One of the pegasi of the Lieutenant Kilfeather, perhaps, or another from the Division of the major general. Or I could volunteer one of the Stellar Dancers. I could even ask a Star from a different Temple; despite their antipathy to the Stellar Dancers and to Equestrians, to fight in such a tournament would be considered a great honor, and most would readily accept, submitting to my leadership. There are many options, and all are choices excellent."
Her VIP lifted an eyebrow, appearing more confused than upset at the suggestion. "Don't you think I should fight? You're the one who's been training me in combat. Are you saying you don't think I'm ready?"
"I do as the Great Lord wishes. But to defend oneself is one thing; to fight battle for sport and glory and honor is another quite different. This fighting requires a certain state of mind, yet I have seen the Great Lord avoid violence and disdain aggression."
Anonymous chuckled, the confusion turning to amusement. "Are you calling me a pacifist? I'm certainly not bloodthirsty, but I don't know if I'd put myself so far on the opposite end of the spectrum. You'd say so too if you saw how deeply some of my people can get into it."
"As you say, I can judge the Great Lord only by what I have seen. I do not know the people of the Great Lord, nor their history."
His expression suddenly turned somber. "No, you don't..."
Placing his elbows on the table, he leaned forward. "I told Their Majesties, I may as well tell you, too."
Unusually stern, the Engineer Royal looked her in the eyes. "I've seen the casualty numbers from Equestria's recent conflicts. The Crystal Empire Crisis. The Changeling invasion. Nightmare Moon's return. Internal troubles, scuffles with minotaurs, dragons, yaks, and others, on and off. At their worst there have been thousands injured, hundreds killed, fortresses wrecked, towns set aflame..." He shook his head. "Maybe I look like a pacifist to you. But you'd look like one too, if you'd come here from a planet with a history of violence orders of magnitude greater than anything Equestria has ever experienced. This world's weapons of war are like children's toys compared to what my people have wrought."
He swept one hand across his desk, casually brushing papers out of the way. "Flying machines each carrying enough explosives to obliterate an army. Land vehicles only a little larger than the Whirlwind, impervious to any lance or cannon Equestria can muster, one or two of which would be enough to effortlessly slaughter this city's defenders before reducing the place to rubble. Even our ordinary foot soldiers carry enough weaponry to potentially kill hundreds of other people so far away they can scarcely be seen with the naked eye."
The Engineer leaned in, his presence suddenly menacing. "We've had wars that engulfed our entire planet. Wars that went on for five, ten, thirty years. Tens of millions dead, hundreds of millions displaced, thousands of cities in ruins. Civilians slaughtered wholesale, or starved to death from deprivation. All while scarcely touching our newest and most terrifying weapons."
The Engineer Royal clenched one hand into a fist, lifting it up high. He lowered it slowly, then snapped his hand open just above the desk. "Colossal bombs that can eradicate a city of millions in the blink of an eye, leaving nothing but flames and ash and scorched earth. And we have thousands of them."
Anonymous paused for emphasis. "...So don't call me a pacifist, Sergeant. I grant that you've personally witnessed more death than me, but you don't know war like my people do."
Ebonshield had expected that the Engineer Royal would tell her his people were indeed capable of violence. She had not quite expected this proclamation intense.
'Millions killed in the blink of an eye?'
So much destruction was unthinkable; not even the Mother-of-Stars at the height of her power could do such a thing.
His revelations were unsettling, and for a moment, Ebonshield was unable to come up with a reply of her own.
Anonymous looked down at his paperwork, picking up his pencil and fidgeting once more. "I told Their Majesties all this when they first interviewed me almost a year ago. I also swore an oath that I wouldn't bring my people's capacity for destruction here. But I broke that promise when I built the Whirlwind. Princess Celestia rightfully called me out on it after the demonstration on Monday."
'Ah?'
'How very curious!'
"What came of that?"
He shrugged. "Nothing, ultimately. I was contrite. I knew I'd broken my promise. But Corporal Bound defended me, saying much the same as you did just now: that I avoided violence and seemed to abhor it. So Her Majesty generously took it as that I hadn't violated the spirit of my pledge. Which I suppose is true, even though I still feel I failed her."
'Ah!'
"But what will the Princess of the Sun say if the Great Lord participates wholeheartedly in this battle?"
Anonymous grinned. "From what I've been told so far, the Games are a big ritual that's been turned into an even bigger show. There's lots of fighting and plenty of blood spilled, but nobody dies or even leaves with a permanent injury. The victors are celebrated, the losers honored for their valor. I don't think I could be accused of violating the spirit of my pledge just from throwing down in a well-regulated arena." He glanced once more at his set of blackened-bronze armor, gleaming in the afternoon sunlight. "I'm sure it'll be an awful lot of work, and terribly exhausting, and probably even quite painful. I saw what happened to Lieutenant Kilfeather and his two wingmates even under the effect of the magical 'de-lethalizing' totems. But I do enjoy a challenge, and anyways, how are we going to know if your lessons are working if I don't try fighting 'for real' at least once? This way it can be done without any casualties."
Then he smiled. "Besides, it sounds like fun."
Ebonshield smiled in turn, pleased to see this side of her VIP outside of the ring of sand in the Grand Hall of Stars. Clearly, he understood his capacity for violence. But he knew also how quickly violence could spread like flame uncontrolled.
'Excellent!'
'He will surely appreciate what I have brought for him.'
"In this case, Great Lord, since you have decided to fight with us, I have brought for you a gift personal."
Unfolding her wings, Ebonshield swept back her cloak to reveal the small saddle-bags strapped to her flanks. Sitting down on her haunches, she opened the left one with a wing-finger, then reached in with her forehooves to extract a heavy, curled-up bundle of red fabric, held together with a strap and buckle. She placed the wrapping on the desk and pushed the bundle forwards, and the Royal Engineer parted his papers and stood up.
"A gift? For the Grand Mêlee? What is it?"
"Open, and see for yourself."
He slid the bundle delicately across the desk, pulled the strap out from the buckle, then unrolled the wrapping to reveal the contents. Inside the bundle of cloth sat a brace of twelve steel blades, each of them tucked into their own reinforced pocket, like a set of Equestrian silverware.
"Daggers?"
The Royal Engineer pulled one out for examination. Of a minimalist style, the dull, silvery metal was uniform in color, the shape symmetrical, the body flat. There was only the double-edged blade, a small pair of bumps to act as a guard, and the handle, all a single piece of steel without adornments, polished to remove any trace of the tools which formed him. Her VIP tried balancing the blade on a finger, noticing how easily the weapon sat on the line made between the two guards.
"...Throwing daggers. Steel throwing daggers. But these aren't like your weapons -- they aren't pattern-welded, as there's no 'marbling' to the material."
Ebonshield bowed her head. "Yes, Great Lord. Tonino tells me that this steel is just as fine as one used for my blades, if not even, in his opinion, better. This is in fact the steel common, used for ordinary cutlery and tools, which makes them unpopular among the Stars because they dislike any association between their weapons and the equipment of dimmer Phases. But he assures me that the blades are of superb quality, will cut well, keep sharp, and not shatter. He said also that as you are interested in the processing of metal, you should find this more interesting."
Anonymous held his mouth open in awe, looking over the blade. "Carbon steel. Tool steel. All that time I spent down in the Rookery talking to him and his guild-partners about pattern-welded crucible steel, thinking it would be a starting point, and your people can make carbon steel already. Talk about getting lost in translation!"
Ebonshield bowed humbly. "I apologize, Great Lord. The words technical were most difficult to translate. And I do not believe I properly conveyed the Great Lord's desire to learn the most advanced techniques of the Guild of Blacksmiths."
"I don't blame you. It was a tough job, and maybe I didn't make my wishes clear, either. I thought that pattern-welded crucible steel must have been the best they could do. I'm sure Tonino thought my single-minded focus on that technique was confusing as well. But what on the Moon can they be using to obtain the heat necessary? It can't just be charcoal."
She had anticipated that her VIP would ask questions about the technique. Tonino had as well; perhaps, after having reflected upon the dozens of questions that the Engineer Royal asked him, he finally understood the grand designs of the Great Lord. And he had therefore given her a quick education in the steel-making of the Children of the Stars.
"Yes, Great Lord. Tonino explained to me this technique as best he could. Some charcoal is still used to purify the ore, but otherwise the Blacksmiths must rely on magic. As you say, this steel, he requires more heat. Devices have been made for the Rocks by the Eclipse which produce the heat immense. They are empowered copies of the devices used by the Lunar-phase to heat our cities and melt buried ice. This, along with charcoal and some other reagents, is used to produce the base metal which can then be steeled by heating again with yet more ingredients."
Turning over the blade in his hands, Anonymous nodded, a look of wonder still on his face. "Magic heat. Charcoal for carbon monoxide to reduce the iron oxide, but magic for heat. Of course; at the root of everything in this world, it's always magic..."
Then he bent over and immediately rifled through his papers. "We'll have to use it, too. There's charcoal here, but we'd have to chop down every forest to get enough to use it as fuel. There's a little coal, but not nearly enough coal production to fuel a single smelter, let alone a nation of them. And even if we used coal, then we'd still want magical assistance to coke it. Not to mention scrubbing the exhaust of all these processes. I won't poison this nation's air and water or turn Canterlot's bright buildings black with smog."
Then he pulled out a sheet full of what looked like names and addresses. "I knew I'd have to deal with a magician sooner or later. I had Specialist Sparkshower deliver one letter earlier; I must be prepared to broaden my search if that one refuses."
He seemed ready to sit down and write a letter, then he stopped himself and looked at the batpony. "...But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me thank you first of all for this wonderful gift. I take it you think I should use these to the Grand Mêlee?"
She smiled. "The Great Lord appeared to appreciate the art of the dagger in our training. Yes, you may use these in our coming fight, and I have brought a device also with which to carry them."
She flicked open her left saddle-bag, and removed a bundle of black-dyed bands and straps, laying them on the desk. Putting down the dagger, the Engineer Royal picked up the second part of the gift, quickly understanding the purpose and held the item properly.
"A belt and double bandolier, with sheaths for eight blades across the breast and two over and behind the shoulders." Turning the gift around, he smiled. "Yet there are twelve daggers in this beautiful set. Where am I to put the other two?"
Ebonshield pointed a hoof at his greaves, neatly arranged beneath his cuirass. "Tucked into your leg armor, Great Lord, held in by the straps. Or perhaps hidden behind your shield. Or even kept in the vehicle. There are many places to hide a small spare blade or two to surprise an enemy or to arm yourself when all other weapons have been lost. You must experiment to see what you prefer."
Finally she pulled a tied bundle of a dozen wooden practice daggers out of her left bag. "I have had made for you also a set with which to practice."
Anonymous placed the bandolier down on his desk, then picked up the loose dagger and slipped the knife back into the red cloth case with the other eleven. "This is an incredible gift, Sergeant. Thank you."
She bowed again. "You are most welcome, Great Lord. I cannot take all the credit, since Tonino gives the blades to you freely, as a gift of friendship. He and his guild look forward to working with you on the surface soon."
"Well, you must thank him on my behalf, then. We'll pay him another visit after the Gala, and hopefully by then we'll have located a site for the foundry."
Running his fingers along the exposed hilts of the daggers in their soft case, the Engineer Royal suddenly lifted his head. "Sergeant, would you mind if I had a look at one of those foreleg mechanisms of yours? Not the blade, just the spring mechanism."
'A request a little curious.'
'Does he wish for a set of Dancing Needles for himself?'
That could be arranged, but they were a dangerous tool for the untrained, and his fingers were in particular a great concern. Or did he merely seek to understand the functioning of the mechanism? Surely his people have built more complex things; El Torbellino is himself more complicated. Regardless, she saw no reason not to humor his request.
Raising her left foreleg, she extended the blade held in the Dancing Needle device with a flick. Then she depressed the hidden lever which released the blade to swing free, allowing the dagger to fall softly on the carpet. Finally, she undid the belts which bound the mechanism to her, presenting the weapon to the Engineer Royal.
"Be careful, Great Lord, as the spring still has the power with which to propel a dagger. However, this should not discharge without a blade in place."
Anonymous nodded as he received the device. She watched as the weapon was turned over to examine the three coil springs: the first two, which extended and retracted the Needle, and the third, which propelled the daggers.
Then he laughed and gave the Dancing Needle back to her. "Most of this isn't made of pattern-welded steel either. It's spring steel, a different product of the same process which produces tool steel. Are these things known to break?"
Ebonshield began to reattach the Dancing Needle. "Rarely, Great Lord. Only after the usage considerable, and only when they have been maintained improperly."
"How about your blades? Do they break?"
"Sometimes, if driven or twisted with the force excessive."
He nodded, grinning. "Tell your armorers to switch to blades made of the steel used in my daggers. They won't be as pretty, but I'm certain they'll be less brittle. Or must your Temple stay fashionable among the Stars?"
She returned his smile. "A Stellar Dancer is practical, Great Lord. We must be, in our profession. If you say that the steel which looks plain and is used for tools and knives is superior to the steel which looks elegant and is used for weapons, I will tell the Sixes to make purchases and begin tests at once."
"Good. The sacrifice of fashion will be worth it, I guarantee it."
When she finished reattaching and rearming the Dancing Needle, the Engineer Royal nodded at her. "And speaking of fashion, I just realized we never spoke of your appearance at the Gala. The other members of the quaternion told me that this event requires new, over-the-top outfits. I've got mine, I helped Corporal Bound pick out hers, and I've seen Specialist Sparkshower's in person, all under the guidance of Specialist Glamerspear, who's purchased a designer dress of her own, I understand. I hope you were similarly advised and have suitably equipped yourself."
'Ah, how thoughtful.'
He worried because he did not know if she had been out to the vendors with the other soldiers.
She had -- only not the vendors here in the Canterlot; for while they did know how to dress a pony with feathery wings, she thought they might struggle to dress one with wings of leather.
Particularly one who wished to carry at least one pair of Dancing Needles to the Gala.
Perhaps the Specialist Glamerspear could have assisted her also in finding a clothier suitable, but to fashion a custom dress was no small affair. Timing and price went hoof-in-hoof as well. Here in Canterlot, Ebonshield had a little money to spend, but in the Rookery, as on the Moon, she had a fortune. Thus, she had not only daggers and a bandolier awaiting her in the market square of the Rookery this morning; there was another precious thing of embroidered cloth as well.
"Sí, Great Lord, I have been so advised, and therefore so equipped."
He lifted an eyebrow. "I'm curious as to what you've chosen. I get the feeling it wasn't purchased in Canterlot. And somehow I doubt a member of the Star phase knows how to sew, either."
She smiled. "The Great Lord is blessed with great insight and perception. These statements are true."
"I hope it's not just a black bodysuit as you wore on our club crawl Tuesday night. Though you certainly did attract enough attention in it."
'Indeed.'
She recalled making many fluttering eyes at many flustered colts who realized perhaps only too late that her pupils were different in shape -- not to mention reflective. A few even got close enough to notice that she did not have feathery wings, either. Sadly, none of them had the courage to find out if her larger canines were not merely a trick of the imagination. And all that in her simple 'Leotardo.'
"No, Great Lord. For the Gala, I have another dress."
"Good. I know it's just a party but all this preparation -- the suit, the dresses, the boutonniere, the formal dance rehearsals with Specialist Sparkshower -- has gotten me rather excited about Saturday. I'd like for us all to make a splash. And I've worked up some energy that needs to be unleashed on a dance floor, too."
"I believe the Great Lord will be pleased with my contribution to this 'splash.' But the Gala, is she 'just a party'?"
"Is that another one of your pseudo-rhetorical questions? What do you mean this time? Isn't it a party?"
Ebonshield whinnied with amusement. "Sí, she is of course a party. But I do not forget the first invitation earlier of the Specialist Sparkshower to dance not the 'Waltz' but the 'Maypole,' which is an Equestrian declaration of interest in marriage. I have heard rumors that such contracts are often brokered at this event, and that those who are single may find themselves attached by the end of the night."
"Are you suggesting I'm going to find myself a... well, a mate at the Grand Galloping Gala, Sergeant?"
"I suggest only that this is a possibility." Smirking, she tilted her head to the side. "Or at least an opportunity."
Anonymous puffed his cheeks and blew out. "I think I've got a lot on my plate already without trying to find a... what, a 'marefriend,' I guess? Is that the common word, here?"
"Yes, Great Lord."
That curt answer unsettled her VIP. "Well, what? You think I should try? You really think there'll be a pony at the Gala who'd be interested in me? Granted, Corporal Bound gave me an earful on pony sex characteristics, and I've had your mother practically throwing her Lunars at my feet, but according to Corporal Bound, I was attractive only with 'experience.' Like learning to enjoy black coffee, I suppose."
She bowed. "All that the Great Lord speaks is true. I suggest only that a confident colt dressed well, of high station in life, and with a growing reputation in the industry and in the military, who arrives at the Gala surrounded by four mares beautiful, athletic, enthusiastic, and attired finely..." Lifting her head, she smirked. "...This colt, he will attract attention, regardless if the desire physical is not immediate. Therefore I suggest that the Great Lord prepare himself to receive this treatment, and to consider what he shall do if confronted with any proposals for a relationship."
Anonymous looked at her in silence for several seconds.
Then he let out a single chortle, nodding. "Huh. Very well, Sergeant. I'll give it a thought. Now, it's nearly supper time, and I think I'd like to take a brisk walk around the garden beforehand. Would you care to join me?"
"I join with pleasure, Great Lord."
"Excellent. Let's go."
With that, he stood up and opened the patio door behind his desk, and Ebonshield followed him out into the palace gardens. |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 132 | Artemis Sparkshower
Specialist Artemis Sparkshower was... well, calm.
It was a bit of a surprise to her. The Gala was tomorrow -- she should have been excited about that. And she should have been at least a little nervous about performing the Lipizzaner Waltz, even though she'd practiced it again with the Royal Engineer that morning. Most of all, she should have been filled with anticipation for this meeting at one of the Equestrian Royal Guard's most storied locations: the artillery proving grounds, site of the MXP Games, and in particular the Grand Mêlee.
But she wasn't.
Artemis just felt... calm.
Maybe it's because nothing was really supposed to happen today; just a discussion of the rules and an inspection of the battlefield -- and perhaps a look at one of the other competing teams conducting drills.
Or maybe it was because of last night's visit to the Moon with Lily.
As Artemis had requested, she hadn't been subject to possession. Her unicorn comrade had to content herself with repeated attempts to banish an 'unbound' Accursed Shadow. She sorta managed it in the end, making it go away after Ignacio had further restrained and exposed it. It was interesting to watch; maybe even a little funny, actually. While last time the presence of that black shape had been terrifying, this time Artemis had felt... well, nothing, really.
For all the first trip's terror of walking into a dark, claustrophobic place, where the walls of reality were weak, and where formless, magical, soul-eating monsters from another dimension readily crossed over, last night's trip to into the deep impact crater where Nightmare Moon had landed, the black pit the batpony 'Children of the Stars' referred to as the 'Well of Shadows,' had felt no more threatening than a simple partly-cloudy summer day. The kind with a high of 23 centigrade, with a gentle ten-kilometer-an-hour breeze out of the west, modest fifty percent humidity, and a manageable twenty percent chance of showers.
An everyday.
The Accursed Shadows which Ignacio Blazon summoned forth took pony forms last night again, yes. And a few of them even said a word or two while standing before the group, sometimes addressing one of them by name. But Artemis felt nothing -- no threat, no terror.
Was it just the knowledge that the monstrosities were as easily removed and banished as they were summoned, if one had the tools? Or, maybe any fears were offset by the joy from bringing Artemis' 'Little Ludwig' camera along for the trip? She had taken, as far as she knew, the first photos of the Moon! Of Nightmare Moon's enormous impact crater, and of the mysterious Well of Shadows! And of Equestria, as seen from almost four hundred thousand kilometers away!
'Talk about a postcard to send home to your parents!'
On the way back, she'd even taken a photograph with the Righteous Hatcheteer Valencia Fierropezuna, who'd come on duty at the internal border-post while Artemis was out on the Moon. While the batpony was a little disappointed at having missed out on the gifts they'd brought for the guards on their way in -- more magazines, but this time candy and chewing gum instead of tobacco products -- she was curious about the boxy device hanging around Artemis' neck.
So the pegasus took a photo with her.
None of the batponies were enthusiastic for the illumination provided by Glamerspear, who was behind the lens, but it had to be done if the photos were going to turn out at all. And Artemis was confident that they would -- perhaps later today when she went off duty. She'd promised Valencia a copy.
Sighing, Artemis adjusted the weight of the Bradamante Lance in her hooves. When she wasn't using it to rocket forwards, it was actually a pretty heavy weapon. Flying with her armor on was challenging enough; she could manage, and manage well, even over long distances, but adding more weight pushed her closer to her limit. Maybe she ought to have brought her standard-issue lance instead.
Artemis really should have thought about the fact that she'd have to keep a slow pace with the Royal Engineer's Whirlwind below. It was fast, yes, but it wasn't "Anthony Theolonicus rocket-lance, crafted for Bradamante Growler" fast. She supposed she could just drop down and ride on the upper deck of the vehicle.
Sergeant Ebonshield was gliding along beside the pegasus, in her magical disguise as 'Sergeant Blackspear.' As much as Ebonshield felt comfortable walking around the palace -- or even the city -- exactly as she was, the Royal Artillery Proving Grounds was an active Royal Guard base outside the municipal limits. Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell was in full effect, and there might even be ponies there who had fought against the Children, or knew somepony who had fallen to their blades during the Summer Sun Celebration two years ago. Best not to provoke an incident by having a batpony on full display.
Even so...
Like a gusting wind, Artemis' mind wandered to other possibilities. Imagine the confusion her group could cause if Eb wore that batpony-crafted, magical linothorax armor to look like a pegasus, while the real pegasus donned one of the medallions fashioned by Aldonza to make her look like an Eclipse-phase batpony! That would sure trip up their enemies during the Grand Mêlee!
'It's so crazy, maybe I ought to suggest it for real.'
As the Whirlwind finally reached the stone-paved main road, exiting Canterlot city proper, Artemis flapped her wings to better survey the hilly terrain. The area surrounding Canterlot was mostly farm estates of moderate size. Not as luxurious as the grand villas of the hinterlands, but not as small as the sharecropper villages further out. Each farm was unique in its own special way: by crop, or by layout, or by orientation, or by the home built upon it. The ponies here were examples of Equestria's agricultural middle class, with easy access to irrigation and a large market for their goods right at their doorstep. If not for the rules enforcing small-holdership on these lands, some rich noblepony would have surely consolidated all of the acreage. But, like Canterlot itself, these lands were carefully stewarded.
Just beyond a final rolling hill was a great green plain, where once the ancestors of today's nobility would meet to challenge each other in glorious battle -- and where some of their contemporary descendants still came today.
"This land, she is truly beautiful," the batpony-pegasus flying beside Artemis spoke up. "From the Moon, we can see the blue of the seas, and the green of the plants, and the clouds in the skies. She has always looked beautiful to us, this world of our ancestors, but watching her from so far away is far removed from witnessing her first-wing."
Ebonshield looked over at Artemis, gliding on her false feathery wings. "...I apologize. I have interrupted your thoughts."
The specialist shook her head. "No, no. I was also admiring the scenery. You know, there's a lot of romantic songs about Canterlot in the springtime."
"I am not surprised. What a wonder, the consequences of a war between siblings: on the Moon, it bred among the defeated a thousand years of hate and scheming for revenge, while here in Equestria, the victors built a paradise in memory of the loss."
Artemis had never thought about it that way. Canterlot, the 'new' capital, had been built due to the ruination of the Castle of the Two Sisters. New city, new palace, new location.
The old site had largely been left to rot.
But the sergeant was wrong if she thought the only legacy of that war was Canterlot.
"That's true. But there was also lingering fear here. Otherwise, you wouldn't even consider dressing up in that suit."
Humming in disagreement, Eb clicked her tongue against her teeth. "Hmmm, I think otherwise. The fear of which you speak was for the Nightmare Moon. I have seen the records and prophecies: the followers of the Great Mother were forgotten, perhaps deliberately so. After all, better to remember only a single villain than many hundred or thousands." Beating her illusory feathered wings with the sound of leathery flaps, she continued. "No; I wear the suit because of the actions of my people, for if we had not assaulted our brethren, then there would be no need to hide the existence of the Children from the rest of the Royal Guard."
That was probably true. But the way that the batponies were hidden was clumsy, at best. Everypony in the palace knew of them, even if all they knew was complete nonsense -- like the things Glamerspear had said when the sergeant first showed up.
"It can't last. If the four of us can get along without prejudice, so can everypony else. And Canterlot may be beautiful, Sergeant, but sad stories still happen here. I always thought a real paradise wouldn't have any sad stories."
"You are right, of course, on both counts. And perhaps I exaggerate to call this paradise, though she is still a marvel and a joy. Also, I should not be so critical of my own home; unfortunately, you have visited so far only a selection of the darkest pits the Moon has to offer. There are many places there which are beautiful, if in their own ways, as well."
"Maybe we'll visit them someday. I know it's not the Moon, but Honour did say that the Lunar Sanctuary in the Rookery was amazing."
"Yes. There are larger Sanctuaries on the Moon, but none of them are more finely built than the one here under the mountain."
A thought popped into Artemis' head amid this discussion of batponies and everypony else.
"Sergeant... Purity... You won't be disguising yourself for the Gala, will you?"
"No, of course not. But perhaps for the great battle..."
The specialist smiled. "I was thinking about that. What a tactical advantage to be disguised, and what a shock when you reveal the truth!"
"Yes, this had occurred to me. The disguise suddenly discarded, the great confusion, and then the deadly strike before the quick withdrawal -- this is the strategy typical of the Stellar Dancers."
It was a good plan. They just had to figure out how to work it into something more comprehensive.
The Whirlwind made good speed on the country roads, and Honour deftly rounded the final corner before coming to a stop at the Proving Grounds' main gates. Off in the distance, Artemis could hear gunnery practice in session, great cannons firing balls off into a battered forest hill.
The pegasus-disguised batpony spoke up. "I believe we have arrived. Let us join our comrades."
By the time they'd descended to ground level, the guards had opened the gate, and one of them was giving directions to Honour. Artemis' saboted hooves touched the wooden deck with a klump, while Sergeant Ebonshield alighted almost silently beside her.
Glamerspear spun her seat around to look back at the new arrivals. "Hey, Sparks. Hey, Sarge. How was your flight?"
"The lance is a little heavy when I'm not using it," Artemis admitted. "But it's a nice day out, and the fields are really pretty in the spring. I hope tomorrow's just as nice!"
Ebonshield only nodded in agreement.
As Honour guided the vehicle westward towards the main field, the morning sun caught their swivel-mounted unicorn comrade's face. Artemis couldn't help but notice how shiny Lily's Silver Ram medal was today.
She must have applied some silver polish to it recently.
Could it have been in anticipation of the Gala? The pegasus didn't think she would wear the Ram to that, but she supposed the unicorn could; it was a very pretty medal, and a real accomplishment. But maybe she just wanted to look her best out here with the other Royal Guardsponies -- and Lieutenant Kilfeather.
Or maybe she wanted to impress any other competitors out reconnoitering the field; knowing they were up against a team which included a Centurion of the Ram could hurt their morale in their unit's favor. It felt a little mean to do that, but this was a big deal! Artemis understood why Lieutenant Kilfeather spoke with such swagger -- he was a three-time Grand Mêlee winner, twice as a wingpony and once as a wing leader, and an achievement like that both inspired, and demanded, supreme confidence.
The Royal Engineer extended an arm to direct Corporal Bound to where they were supposed to go. Today he was wearing a tan suit -- the first time Artemis had seen him in anything but black, except for his armor and his work overalls.
It was actually a bit of a fuss this morning. Since it was sunny, he'd thought to wear white. Honour had to tell him that in Equestrian high society, white could only be worn after the Grand Galloping Gala and before Harmony Day. Late spring and summer, in other words. That sent their Very Important Pony, who wasn't actually a pony, into a bit of a tornado-spin.
For the first time, Artemis and the rest of her quaternion followed him into the other side of the room, beyond the movable partition wall. There wasn't really anything secret back there: just a bed with a trunk at the end, a large armoire, a dressing chair and table, and the door to his bathroom. Once she got there, she could only watch the Royal Engineer furiously riffle through his wardrobe. It wasn't as extensive a collection as Artemis had expected -- he really only had ten or so outfits compared to, say, Glamerspear's overflowing dozens -- but he just couldn't make up his mind.
Wear black?
But it was a warm, sunny day -- and anyways, his usual three-piece suit was too formal, his Gala suit was out of the question, and a white-tie tuxedo was similarly too much.
If he couldn't wear white, then maybe navy blue? It was a nice-looking jacket, and the white pinstripes were very fashionable, but if he accompanied the four of them in their armor, he'd look like their manager, not their team leader. The same could be said for his grey tweed three-piece.
Yet he didn't think he should wear his armor -- and Artemis could understand why. They were all showing up in Royal Guard battle uniforms; they'd all fit right in at a Royal Guard base. A tall biped in blackened-bronze minotaur armor, with a red cape and maybe even his shield and heavy mace, would not.
In the end, Honour had to put her hoof down, and she stepped up to the wardrobe and picked out a tan 'safari'-style suit with four large pockets and a matching canvas belt worn around the outside. It was appropriate for the warm weather and, with the belt and pockets, looked vaguely military. A pith helmet would've completed the look if he'd had one, but he had to settle for its matching straw hat with an indented crown, plucked off a hat tree adjacent to the armoire.
The whole scene took just a couple of minutes, but it was such a funny moment: the Royal Engineer, so cool under fire and so collected when executing his duties, frazzled by having to select a suit at the last second. That sort of stereotypical coltish behavior ponified him a bit more, in Artemis' mind.
The Royal Engineer spoke up, bringing the here and now back into focus. "Look, Corporal, there's Lieutenant Kilfeather and Sergeant Greenhound."
"Yes, sir. I see them."
Artemis was paying so much attention to her VIP's outfit that she didn't even notice that the Whirlwind had made its way over to the far edge of the parade grounds.
'The Lieutenant, Glamerspear's ex-coltfriend...'
Actually, she wasn't really sure if Lily would consider him an ex-coltfriend.
Ex-partner?
Or ex-friend, maybe?
That sounded even worse than ex-coltfriend.
Well, Lily's ex-whatever was standing with the pegasus sergeant from the other day beside the large, oval ring surrounding the parade field, both of them dressed in their blue Air Service jackets, her in a side cap and him with an officer's peaked cap. Honour applied the brakes so smoothly that despite just sitting on the open deck, Artemis didn't even feel the need to reach for something to hold onto, and the vehicle came to a gentle stop.
'She's really getting the hang of piloting this thing.'
Kilfeather called up to the vehicle, rendering a proper salute along with the sergeant. "Good morning, my Lord."
"Good morning, Lieutenant. We'll be a while, yes? I'll turn off the engine."
"Yes, m'Lord, though I think you should have a drive around the grounds afterwards."
Well, he was still being polite. Glamerspear must've been happy about that.
'Despite his shredded wings, he does look smart in that uniform. So does the Sergeant.'
'Then again, doesn't everypony?'
'That's what they always say about the Royal Guard: nopony can resist a colt, or a mare, in uniform.'
Artemis and the rest of the quaternion dismounted the Whirlwind while the Royal Engineer bent over the controls and worked to screw shut the valve to its steam boiler. That gave the pegasus a moment to survey the scene around her.
They were in the main parade grounds of the Royal Artillery Barracks. It was a huge, open green field, rectangular in shape, surrounded on all sides by raised green berms, with just a couple of narrow cutouts in them to allow easier passage. There was an oval ring road running just inside; three quarters of it was compacted brown dirt, but the section where they were was paved with stones like a typical Equestrian highway. A large, shallow trench ran parallel to and just inside from the road here, as well.
Beside Artemis on that edge, a dozen worker-ponies were putting together bleachers. And just beyond them, there was a one-storey brick building partially built into the berm, with another couple of worker-ponies assembling some kind of wooden tower atop it. Beyond one of the berms, she could see puffs of white smoke rising in the air, and there was the occasional crack of cannon fire. On the opposite berm, Artemis could just make out the red-shingled roofs of the barracks buildings, each of which curiously has its own enormous, Equestrian flag billowing high on a pole.
'That's a lot of flags.'
It was a strange sight. There's patriotism, sure -- and Artemis certainly expected to see a flag or two at a military base -- but why were there so many?
As if sensing her confusion, Sergeant Greenhound spoke up. "Curious about the flags, Specialist?"
'Spooky how she knew that!'
'Well, she is from intelligence.'
Remembering the last time Artemis had had to converse with a pegasus sergeant in Canterlot -- the ornery Sergeant Major Treechopper -- she quickly stood at ease. "Yes, Sergeant Greenhound."
She nodded and pointed a forehoof towards the flags. "Just Mirage, please. Anyways, the flags..." Swinging her forehoof over to the source of gun-smoke, she continued. "...It's for the gunners. In the off-chance that they get their sighting wrong and the red roofs don't make them realize they're aiming the wrong way, the flags are always run up during the day, so that a battery would have to be treasonously negligent to fire on the Equestrian flag and risk cannon-shot hitting the barracks."
Artemis, still at ease, nodded. "Very interesting! Thank you, Sergeant Mirage."
The sergeant laughed. "Please, Specialist. I know you're on VIP duty and don't have to be formal."
"But Sergeant, regulation six hundred dash twenty-five, chapter one, section three-"
Lieutenant Kilfeather interrupted her. "Mirage knows the regs, Specialist. And she may be from intel, but she's still Air Service, and when you're up there, as part of a flight, it's just call signs, covering your wingmate, and following the leader. You don't have time to salute the rank. If you do that, you're dead." He nodded at the sergeant in acknowledgement. "While we're working together as a flight, without anypony else around, then I'm just Icepone, or Ice, and I won't expect salutes, and Mirage won't expect you at ease."
Kilfeather turned towards the Royal Engineer, who'd satisfied himself that the Whirlwind's engine was properly shut off. "That's assuming we are still working together as a flight, my Lord? Will Mirage be your sixth?"
Artemis couldn't help but notice that despite inviting her to disregard addressing or saluting him by rank, he still saluted the Royal Engineer and called him "Lord."
Anonymous furrowed his brow. "To be perfectly honest with you, Lieutenant, I still haven't made up my mind on that matter. I'm sorry; I know I promised to determine it by today, but I feel like I still need to understand things a bit better. Let's say for sure that we'll decide by Sunday. However, even if she doesn't join us in the fight, as you said, I think we would still appreciate Mirage being part of our team for intelligence on the other competitors."
The Royal Engineer looked over at her, and Mirage nodded in confirmation. She seemed a little disappointed at the idea of not fighting -- but Artemis could read a hint of relief in her face, too.
"Why don't we talk about the Grand Mêlee a bit first? Tell us about the battlefield. This is the site, isn't it?"
Icepone nodded, and everypony gathered around. "Yes, my Lord, this is it. Most of the year it's just where the artillery-ponies come to jog around in circles for their morning PT -- physical training -- or to practice hauling their guns around. On Revue Day they do parades and demonstrate firing blanks at the trot to crowds gathered on this berm. Graduation day is another big event for artillery cadets. But one day of the year, they actually put up bleachers and assemble a hoardings-tower over the old guardhouse, there. That's what we're here for."
Pointing at the brick structure, he waved his forehoof up, above the currently-assembled height of the tower. "Most of the judges will spend the match at the top of the structure they're assembling now. I told you the Games ran on pegasus rules, and that applies to the judging, too. It's a panel of nine assessing scores, and five of them will be pegasi up there, though they'll come down if enough of the action hits the dirt. The other four are two unicorn and two earth pony judges, and they'll generally stay on a much lower-down balcony the whole time, focusing on their ground-pounding kin. You can see the workers just starting to build the gallery out above the guardhouse roof."
Then he pointed towards the trench. "That's the team staging area. There's a big parade entry, and all the teams -- including their support crews with all of the extra gear, and often enough with regimental bands marching behind them -- circle around the ring-road with banners flying and marching as pomp-and-circumstancy as they can, making as big of a racket as possible while still remaining dignified, then they take up positions in the trench. Every team gets a designated allotment, and it's a penalty deduction to enter another team's section."
Kilfeather glanced at the Whirlwind. "You'll need to be able to get this thing up and down the hill, whether under its own power or by pushing, though pushing might cost you some style points. Anypony, or anything, not in a team section in the trench is still considered 'in play' for the purposes of scoring. That'll be important if you have to mend it mid-fight. Of course, there are some general pauses where nopony's fighting anyways, but those will be too few and far between if you have a breakdown."
Anonymous spoke up. "You've mentioned style points and penalty points, Lieutenant -- just how is the Grand Mêlee scored?"
Kilfeather grinned. "Excellent question. Even though it's a big, bloody, open-field battle, the scoring is not as straightforward as you might think. If one team absolutely demolishes all the others, then yeah, they'll win, but that basically never happens. Nopony's that good."
Glamerspear scoffed. "Not even you, Val?"
He shook his head, still grinning. "Not even me, Lil'. Don't get me wrong -- my team did really well in the actual fighting. But even last year, we didn't win every fight. We didn't even win most of them; our rate was just over forty percent. That's actually considered high for the Mêlee; most winners don't pass thirty-five. Second and third place finishers are usually in the thirties."
'Forty percent hardly seems like 'winning'!'
But... in a match where everypony was protected by the power of the ancient magical Totems, the same ones which nullified any permanent damage during the quaternion's duels with Kilfeather's Air Wing, what even constituted 'winning'?
Artemis couldn't help but ask. "What actually counts winning a fight, if nopony can... well, kill their opponent?"
The Lieutenant raised an eyebrow and nodded in her direction. "Another good question. Forcing a retreat counts, of course. But even if you don't, the judges will mark it as a win if it just looks like the other party's outmatched for a sufficient period of time."
Now it was Honour's turn to pipe up, turning to the Royal Engineer. "But winning isn't everything. There's two other scoring categories that matter almost as much."
Again, the Lieutenant nodded in acknowledgement. "You did the homework. Yes, winning fights isn't everything. Come on, let's head towards the guardhouse and I'll explain."
The group of six ponies and one very important pony who wasn't actually a pony started off at a slow walk towards the small brick building with shuttered windows, clip-clopping along the paved road in a combination of metal sabots, leather-soled shoes, and bare hooves.
"I think it'll help if you first understand the purpose behind the games, my Lord."
Anonymous didn't miss a beat. "It's a spring festival for the pegasi, isn't it, Lieutenant?"
Honour jumped in, too. "An ancient festival, sir. One with early religious roots."
The Royal Engineer nodded. "Right. And Specialist Sparkshower, you mentioned the name but I'm afraid I've forgotten it. It started with a 'B'?"
"Beltane, sir. The ancient pegasus spring festival."
Kilfeather looked over in Artemis' direction knowingly. "Your parents taught you the old fables, didn't they, Specialist?"
The old fables.
Tales of mythological pegasus heroes, from a time before the Princesses ruled Equestria.
Before Equestria really was Equestria.
"They did, sir."
"Ah, so you must be the one who gave the Royal Engineer the idea to name his vehicle after Epona an Iomaghaoth, isn't that right?"
It was almost surprising hearing another pony pronounce the ancient name properly, but then again, Glamerspear said Kilfeather wasn't a noble-born; that meant he had to have gone to college before becoming an officer in the Royal Guard.
Artemis wondered what exactly he'd studied there.
Was it history, just like Lieutenant Violetta?
Perhaps even with the same minor in musical theater?
Something to find out later, maybe.
"Yes, sir. The Royal Engineer asked if there were any Equestrian myths about wheeled vehicles, so I told him the pegasus creation-myth of Epona and Llamrei's chariot."
The Lieutenant stopped in his tracks, provoking everyone else to halt as well.
He glanced down at Artemis' hooves. "If you know that, then you must also know about the symbol you're standing on right now."
'What?'
She looked down and lifted her forehooves to see that the large paving stone right before her had a design carved into it: an eight-spoked carriage-wheel, with the spokes made of lightning-bolts.
'Thundershowers!'
'Literally, thundershowers!'
"This is the thunder-wheel symbol of Turrican, sometimes called Turrican Thunder-Wheel, or Turrican Cuibhle-Tàirneanaich. Turrican is part of the ancient pegasi pantheon of Gods who ride the skies in Llamrei's Chariot, as pulled by Epona. He's said to be responsible for throwing down lightning bolts during storms." Icepone tapped a forehoof toward the air. "And to the ancient pegasi, Turrican was the god of fighting. Beltane was the ancient festival in Turrican's honor, and as gruesome as it still can be today, it was probably a heck of a lot worse before the ancient unicorns created the Totems for us pegasi. That stone you're standing on predates Canterlot city, as does the site of these artillery proving grounds. The base of Canterlot mountain, the only thing for miles and miles around which physically connects the sky to the earth, just as Turrican's thunderbolts do, has been the site of pan-pegasic festivals for eons."
Suggested background music: Kenny Chou - 'Title Theme [Nightcreeper remix]', from 'One Must Fall: 2097'
He pointed down at the weathered engraved stone. "Rain pours and lightning crackles when Turrican's around. It's considered auspicious if it thundershowers on the day of the Grand Mêlee: it means Turrican is watching."
With a wide smile, Kilfeather stood up on his hind hooves, raising his forehooves to the sky. "And what pleases Turrican, will please the judges of the Grand Mêlee, for this is Turrican's festival, and we still remember it as such! Winning counts for the most, yes, but you had better also fight with honor and with style! Honor means fighting as a team, and helping each other out! It means not picking on weak competitors, or ones already engaged by others, but instead challenging the strong and free! And while Turrican enjoys any fight, Turrican especially loves a good show! Be inventive, be energetic, be theatrical! March loudly during the entrance, show hot-blooded rage at the start of a fight, howl tragically when defeated, and, most of all, laugh and spit in the face of danger!"
Raising his voice to a shout, he laughs maniacally. "HAH! HAH-hahahahah-aaaaaa!!"
Shockingly, he immediately inhaled and hocked, then spat loudly and conspicuously on the ground, narrowly missing Turrican's thunder-wheel, before getting back down on all fours.
'Goodness, this is surprising behavior for an officer of the Royal Guard.'
"Please Turrican, and Turrican will shower you with glory! That is the will of the thunder-god of the pegasi!" Taking it down a notch, Icepone took a moment to wipe his mouth with his forehoof. "...Or at least, that's what one of the old champions of the Tournament once told me, when I was younger. And it was at that moment I decided I wanted to fight in the Games, and win."
It was an impressive performance.
Artemis looked around; Glamerspear had dropped her semi-scowl in favor of an impressed, but questioning look. Ebonshield was grinning eagerly, and even Honour looked a little inspired. Sergeant 'Mirage' appeared quietly pleased; Artemis got the feeling she'd heard this one before. Maybe even when he recruited her for this operation.
Anonymous snorted, chuckling and applauding lightly. "Very good, 'Icepone.' It's a great speech; I feel motivated to win as well. So -- win fights as much as we can, comport ourselves honorably, and do so with panache. Those are the basics, but I'm sure you have details on what the judges are specifically looking for."
The Lieutenant gave a semi-bow. "Yessir, I have plenty. Though I have to say, particularly with a relatively inexperienced and, let's say, 'unorthodox' gang like yours, you're going to want to play to the crowd. Anything that gets their attention, especially their cheers, is important. The judges will be paying attention to the spectators, too. There's more competitors on the field than there are judges watching everything, so being loud, large, and in charge helps. They can't score you if they're not even watching you, after all." He lifted his eyebrows. "Then again, I don't think your Lordship will have problems with volume. I might have been too far off to hear you when you gave targeting instructions to Specialist Glamerspear, but I sure got an earful about your voice from my wing-mates afterwards. I haven't seen you fight, but so long as you're at least halfway decent, you've got the lungs and the vocal cords to be a superstar."
Anonymous laughed again. "Is that how you won, Lieutenant? By winning forty percent of the time while being louder than everybody else?"
Icepone sat back on his haunches, shrugging his shoulders. "It works, believe me! We might not have been the loudest, but everypony on my team had a technique to get attention at the right moment. You can't just be hollering all the time, of course, but a good shout before you launch an attack can be worth more points than the attack itself."
He looked over at Sparkshower. "Specialist, you fought my second-in-command, 'Joker.' Believe it or not, he's actually a poor fighter. But he's got stamina, determination, originality, and good sky presence. That counts for a lot in the Grand Mêlee. Last year, he was our wildcard, the one to throw in against foes when regular tactics weren't working. He didn't actually win much more, but he made a real good show of it, and pulled in his share of points."
Glamerspear scoffed. "C'mon, Val. She swatted your colt like a bug. Don't diminish her victory by claiming he's a 'poor fighter.' If he was a 'poor fighter' you wouldn't have him in your crew."
The pegasus waved a featherless wing in dismissal, turning to Artemis. "Okay, okay. He's not a poor fighter, but he's not one of my best, you know what I mean? I've got quite a few better, mostly among the enlisted. You actually threw him for a loop with your 'clash-of-storm-fronts' bit. We really weren't expecting anybody to come at us traditional-style. And your technique with the storm cloud and the lightning-spear was, honestly, amazing. That's a podium-winning move in the Grand Mêlee right there."
'Oh, my!'
She felt herself getting a bit flushed in the cheeks from the praise.
Icepone turned to the other members of the quaternion who fought at the Pas-de-Sabots. "Corporal, I don't know if you intended to kick Duck in the family jewels-"
"I didn't. Anywhere past the sternum would have done just as well."
Val licked his lips, pausing before continuing. "Right. Well, a kill's a kill, as we say. Not too many points in the 'honor' category for that one, ironically, but you'd probably get some for style with that back-roll down the hill."
Then he turned to Glamerspear. "Lily, I don't think I have to tell you that the unicorn judges would be floored by what you pulled off at Newstirrup Bridge. Top marks from them for sure. Top marks from the pegasi as well; grudging top marks, but top marks nonetheless. And you took me out of the fight, which is even better. But I hear you didn't do so well afterwards."
"I manaburned myself pretty hard. The symptoms showed up the next day." She grinned. "It was worth it to take you down a notch, though."
Kilfeather was more amused than threatened. "Hey, if it's a day-later type thing, then feel free to go wild during the match. Just don't do anything that would take you out of the fight."
Then he turned up towards the Royal Engineer. "Nopony gets killed during the Games, and nopony even gets what you'd call 'permanently injured' -- but they do get hurt, and out of the eight teams of six on the field -- that's forty-eight fighters -- at least a dozen will be laid up by the end of the day. Losing a soldier hurts more than you'd think, because it's not just less chances to win a fight, it means less chances to show off. The points add up."
Anonymous furrowed his brow. "Lieutenant, from the way you're describing things I get the idea that most fights are one-on-one. Is that right?"
"More like two-on-two. A wing of six pegasi is really three pairs working closely together. One member of the pair selects a target and initiates the attack. Their wingpony watches their tail, defending them from anypony else, and keeps an eye on the general situation. The judges will pay the most attention to the leading pony's attack, but they'll be watching to see how well the trailing pony defends them, and how well the leader reacts to any attackers that get through the cover. Conversely, if you go in on a pony who's already being attacked by others, you can get penalized for dishonorable fighting, even if you take them down. Unless it's your own team beating them up, of course. You're allowed to gang up that way."
'That makes sense.'
But those rules really only worked for pegasi in the air, and Artemis wasn't even sure if she could fight in tandem with Sergeant Ebonshield. The pegasus had been trained in that technique, but Eb hadn't, and there might not be enough time to get things down pat. After all, she really had to trust that her wingmare knew what she was doing when duelling in pairs.
Then there was the question of the reason they were all here. "How would those rules apply to the Whirlwind, with it having one 'attacker,' Lily, a pilot, Honour, and a co-pilot or commander in the Royal Engineer?"
For the first time this morning, the Lieutenant didn't have an instant answer. "Yeah... That's the question. Is that how you plan to fight? Three of you in the armored carriage like that? And the other three... in the air? We're talking about the sixth member of the wing again, now."
Anonymous furrowed his brow. "Someone could hang off the back, I suppose, but really we don't have enough room for a fourth actually in the carriage. I guess it does have to be someone who can fly. But then isn't three in the sky also awkward?"
Ebonshield, still magically disguised as a pegasus, spoke up. "Great Lord, the Stellar Dancers do not fight like this, in pairs. I will be at my best working alone, picking off the weak and the isolated, and retreating to the carriage when confronted with force. This is a configuration quite typical for my Temple, and while this may not be seen as honorable, I assure you that I can perform with the grace and the style. Perhaps there is sense for the sixth member to be another pegasus with whom the Specialist Sparkshower can form a team."
Now it was Sergeant Greenhound's turn to spin a tornado on things. "The issue with that -- and I know this hurts my candidacy -- is that Specialist Sparkshower flies in heavy armor. Her wingmate should ideally be similarly armored. But there's nopony in Canterlot who could serve; the First Air Division's armored units are the Valkyries and the Royal Hussars, both of whom are our rivals in this fight. The Household Division has an armored corps as well, but again they're in as competitors themselves. Which means we're out of luck unless one of you knows somepony who can get leave on short notice. Or, Sergeant --" She turned to the disguised batpony. "...Do any of your kind fight with heavy armor?"
Ebonshield shook her head. "No. Our chief advantage over pegasi is our superior maneuverability; as fighting Equestrians has always been our greatest concern, no school gives this up by encasing their soldiers in much armor."
Kilfeather piped up. "That means Mirage is likely as good as you're going to get. Which is pretty good, I may add -- I didn't pick her at random. But, my Lord, don't say you'll decide on Sunday. Give yourself another day and decide by Monday. The Gala's tomorrow, and I'm sure your Lordship will be occupied on the day after."
Glamerspear snorted. "Why, because you think we'll all be completely hammered?"
But Icepone didn't miss a beat. "Won't you? The party goes all night, and the drinks and food along with it. Shame to waste any."
Anonymous sighed. "Going by how we comported ourselves Tuesday night, I suppose treating Sunday as a recovery day would be prudent."
Mirage laughed, smiling. "And there's always stories out of the Grand Galloping Gala that good-looking single ponies wake up in bed to find they're not so single anymore, either."
That got a faint chuckle out of everypony.
'Yeah...'
'Waking up in the Royal Engineer's bed...'
'Wouldn't that be a surprise...'
While Artemis' VIP mulled things over, Kilfeather summarized. "Alright, so a pair of fliers working together, three of you in a vehicle with Lily as the primary damage output, and then the sixth as a surprise spoiler, using the Whirlwind vehicle as a mobile firebase. It's unorthodox -- Tartarus, the whole setup is unorthodox; almost nopony shows up to the Grand Mêlee with a combined-arms detachment, but it could work."
Anonymous mused again, looking at Honour and Lily. "It seems as if fully embracing 'unorthodox' may be the best way for us to go." Then he nodded. "Yes, I think this is how we'll do it. I'm not as fast on my feet as a pegasus, let alone the Whirlwind. I can serve as the vehicle commander, helping selecting targets and guiding the vehicle, while fending off anyone who comes too close for comfort. I might dismount temporarily to settle things on the ground, if needed, but I think for the most part we're going to want to be buttoned up in this vehicle, just as Artemis says."
Hearing him say her first name made the pegasus feel all tingly inside. Like being wrapped up in silky sheets. She'd never really given him permission to be on a first-name basis -- that was Lieutenant Kilfeather's admonition. It was forward, but it felt good.
Artemis felt closer to him.
Realizing what he'd done, the Royal Engineer turned to her, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Specialist, is it alright if I use your first name? You can call me Anon in return, in these situations. Or perhaps you have a 'call sign' you'd prefer?"
'Ooh, hurricanes, the tingles get even tinglier.'
Her muzzle must have looked like a beet after Kilfeather's compliments and that kind of personal attention from her Very Important Pony (even if he wasn't actually a pony).
"Uhm... It's all right if you use my first name, sir. I don't have a 'call sign' -- they're not common in armored recon. But my fillyhood nickname was 'Thunder,' and some ponies I know still call me that."
Kilfeather clapped his forehooves together once. "An auspicious coincidence! Winged and armored Thunder to praise Turrican the lightning-god, heh!"
Artemis went even redder, sinking a bit into her helmet.
'I'm not used to all this fussing over little ol' me.'
Glamerspear sidled dup and threw a foreleg over her, giving the pegasus a friendly jostle. "Thunder! I like it, Sparks! But I'll stick with Lily, if you don't mind."
Honour cleared her throat. "And I'm fine being called Honour. Us 'ground-pounder' ponies don't really go in for this 'call-sign' stuff. A name's just a name."
Valiant 'Icepone' Kilfeather seemed cheerfully offended by that statement. "Hey, don't discount the value of a good name, Corporal. Sometimes, it can be more than just a label; it can be something for you to hold on to. A call sign can be that thing if you don't care for the words your parents gave you." With a laugh, he shrugged. "I mean, take me for instance. My last name wasn't originally Kilfeather. I changed it when I decided to join the Royal Guard and go for the gold in the Grand Mêlee."
'Really?'
Even Glamerspear was surprised. "I didn't know that, Val."
"There's a lot you don't know about me, Lil', after I blew my first chance with you. Maybe you'll find out the rest now that I've been given a second one."
"Don't push it, 'Icepone.'"
Their little back-and-forth didn't answer Artemis' question, though. "Wasn't your family upset when you changed your name?"
He shook his head. "No more upset than they were when they found out I was applying to the Royal Guard Academy."
Sparkshower remembered her parents being concerned when she enlisted, but they were also happy for her; they felt it was every pegasus' duty to serve at least a term in the Equestrian Royal Guard, just as she'd thought, and just as she still did. But what kind of pegasus parents would be upset at their son joining the Royal Guard not merely as an enlisted, but as an officer?
Seeing her confusion, Lieutenant Kilfeather continued. "My family's got a history in academia. They're all researchers and professors. My father's got a chair at Manehattan University; he's head of the department of geography."
Valiant shrugged nonchalantly and lifted his jacket up to show Artemis his flank. She got a look at his cutie mark for the first time: it was three pens pointing upright in a 'flying V' formation, piercing through three small rings arranged opposite.
"The name on my birth certificate is Valiant Quillfeather. Quill as in writing quill, of course. They may say that the pen's mightier than the sword, but it's not exactly a name to strike terror into the hearts of your enemies. It was a small jump to call myself Kilfeather instead."
'Huh, interesting.'
But it seemed that Sergeant Mirage couldn't resist an interjection. "You know, Ice, officers have to do a tremendous amount of paperwork, even combat officers, and it just gets worse as you rise in rank. Maybe your original name wasn't so wrong after all."
Icepone smiled, cool as a cucumber. No wonder he got his call-sign; so far, the only time he'd lost his cool was when the Royal Engineer told the lieutenant he wanted nothing to do with him for the Grand Mêlee, unless he showed some respect.
"Then maybe I'll change back to Quillfeather when I get to that point, Mirage, if I think it'll help. But right now, I'm Kilfeather, I'm a combat lieutenant, and while I do have some paperwork waiting for me in my wing commander's office, it can keep waiting, because I want to win another Grand Mêlee."
He turned to the rest of them. "So, let's walk and talk some more about the rules and regs. Mirage did some snooping around and found out that in about half an hour one of our fiercest competitors -- no less than the Valkyries themselves -- have booked this place for a practice session. That'll surely be an eyeful for Turrican Thunder-Wheel, and for us as well."
Suggested interlude music: Chris Huelsbeck - 'Stage 3-1', from 'Mega Turrican' [1994] |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 133 | Lily Glamerspear
Suggested background music: Academy of Ancient Music - 'Arrival of the Queen of Sheba', from Handel's 'Solomon'
Specialist Lily Glamerspear was having fun. Which was surprising, given that her current activity had been suggested by the downbeat, unamused, level-headed, plain-palomino Corporal Bound.
Who'd have thought she'd be the one to find the perfect palace balcony from which to pony-watch the early arrivals to the Grand Galloping Gala? To see the dignitaries and nobleponies and general invitees pull up in their fancy carriages to the main drive, before they disembarked and slowly cantered up to the palace gates and into the garden paddock from a perch that not only had a good view, but was close enough to their quarters, and most importantly, was completely deserted?
"How'd you know about this place, Corporal?"
Honour nodded back towards the door behind them. "Looking through the index cards for material on the MXP Games in the palace library sent me here yesterday. I had to ask what the weird call number meant; apparently this is formerly a head servant's room, which was at some point repurposed into an annex of the main archives when one of the newer palace wings was built."
Sparkshower smiled, her visor creaking as she bobbed her head up and down. "Oh, that explains the balcony! I was wondering why a storage room full of bookshelves needed one."
With that question cleared up, the three of them resumed pony-watching. It was Saturday, just after three o'clock, and the three of them would be heading to the Gala in a couple of hours, when it was more fashionable to arrive.
Which meant Lily really shouldn't have been wearing her duty armor, as she presently was. But since there was only one washroom for the four of them, that kind of created a bottleneck. So, as the Royal Engineer had already given them the whole afternoon off to get ready, Honour proposed setting up a little queue: one pony would be in the quarters working on her mane, tail, makeup, outfit, and whatever else. Meanwhile, the other three would be out on the balcony of this room, conveniently located just at the end of the hall and up a single flight of stairs from their quarters, and entertaining themselves by watching the early arrivals and staying helpfully out of the way from the pony getting ready. The corporal also said that since seniority rules, that meant Sergeant Ebonshield got dressed first.
Lily shook her head as another carriage rolled up and disgorged a quartet of gala-goers in traditional outfits. "Why do they come so early? I mean, the palace is nice and all, and so's the garden, but what's the point of showing up two hours before things really get started? Their Majesties won't be there to receive them for another hour, and there's still servants setting up decorations and flowers, and there's just hardly anypony else around."
"And the hors d'oeuvres aren't even being served," Artemis apparently agreed. Lily swore she could hear the angry growl of an empty stomach reverberate from within Sparkshower's bronze plate after she spoke.
But the corporal merely pointed a forehoof at the unicorn. "You're the one with the fancy helmet, Glam. Zoom and enhance on the arrivals, their ride, and their porters. See all the mud on the wheels and underside? They wouldn't have gotten that coming from inside the city. These are guests who, for whatever reason, didn't stay in Canterlot last night. Some of them may not even be staying in the city tonight, either."
Tapping the side of her helmet, Lily lowered her zoom lens in place. She confirmed that Honour was right even as the corporal continued.
"Not everypony can find or afford a place to stay on such a busy weekend. Many nobleponies with manors in the countryside keep an apartment in the city, but many more don't, and high quality hotels fill up, even with higher special event rates. Traditionally, the Gala doors open two hours early for an afternoon tea service."
The hungry burble repeated itself from within its armored enclosure. "So there is food down there?"
Artemis, the poor mare, was so worried about fitting into her dress tonight that she practically starved herself at lunch; she barely finished her third helping.
Lily smirked. "Come on, Sparks. You can last a couple more hours. It's not like we've got to go for a hike in full armor this afternoon. You can stuff yourself after we've arrived."
Artemis inhaled sharply. "No. Not until after the Lipizzaner Waltz. It's supposed to be an elegant dance; I wouldn't want to feel bloated."
The unicorn narrowed her eyes. "You're worried? You've practiced it every day this week, it feels like. Anon's got the moves down pat, doesn't he?"
The pegasus shrugged, turning to Glamerspear with a smile. "It's just nerves. He knows the moves, and so do I. But they'll be taking photos, and I wouldn't want to embarrass myself."
Honour chimed in. "You'll be fine. Come on, here's another carriage pulling up. Take a look at the outfits."
"Oh, that's a pretty dress. And look at how she's done her mane! It's all up high!"
Lily tilted her head as she looked at the getup. "Myehh... I guess it works. Kinda old-fashioned."
The corporal whinnied. "The other kind of pony that shows up for afternoon tea at the Gala is the kind that isn't planning to stay too late, because they'd be worried about falling asleep. Look over the garden; it's mostly senior citizens. They're here to have some tea, greet the Princess of the Sun, have a few drinks hobnobbing with the other gentry, eat a nice dinner, watch the young bucks and does dance the waltz, slow-dance with their partner once or twice, and then head out as soon as the chamber orchestra retires in favor of a DJ and the grand ballroom switches from Rococo to Disco."
As Lily scanned the tea-garden, she again confirmed Honour's statements. It really was mostly old ponies. Well-dressed old ponies holding themselves as finely as they could, but still: mostly old ponies.
"For somepony reserved, you seem to know an awful lot about the Gala, Corporal."
"I was there last year."
That shocking revelation got an instant head-turn from both Glamerspear and Sparkshower.
But Honour hoof-waved off their excitement. "As a bodyguard. It was my first VIP assignment, a foreign dignitary staying here in the palace. I only got to be in the Gala guards' room, not the main party area. We still had a good time, though. Good food, comfortable seating, decent DJ, and our own little dance floor. The drinks don't flow quite so freely there -- they don't want anypony's escort leaving completely hammered, but the bartenders let you get pretty buzzed."
'Huh.'
Was that why she didn't jockey to get assigned to the Royal Engineer on the night of the Gala, as Lily had before he invited them to come as his full guests, instead of his bodyguards? Because she'd already been?
'Seems like she really has gone everywhere and done everything.'
'Except the Moon, heh.'
'I gotta get this mare up there; maybe she'll actually be excited for once.'
Sparkshower piped up with a poignant question. "Was this the same assignment you had during the Changeling invasion?"
"Yes. That was only three weeks after the Gala."
"So, then it wasn't because of the invasion that you got to go to the big party."
"No, I got to go because I was that VIP's only escort. He was a young noble from a minor house in a region bordering the Crystal Empire, here to represent his family in fealty to Equestria. He wasn't on the wedding invite list. When the Changelings hit, I hustled him into his bathroom and barricaded him inside, fending off a group of three attackers before things got under control."
'Nice.'
"Since you saved his plot from Changelings, I bet you have an open invitation to go up North and enjoy his family's hospitality, then," Lily replied with a cheeky grin.
Honour nodded tightly. Clearly, there was more to that incident than she was letting on.
"Yeah, I do. I understand his family has done very well since the Crystal Empire showed up again. Not sure if or when I'll go. We don't get a lot of free time in this job."
'A young noblecolt?'
'Heroic young guardsmare saving him from hideous bug monsters?'
'Slaying them before his eyes -- well, no, not that.'
But Lily bet she hadn't tidied up the corpses before he got out. Yeah, she might see herself as boring and brown, but with an action like that, the unicorn bet she made an impression. She'd seen Honour spar with the Royal Engineer, after all.
Lily smirked, secure in her computation that some further conspiracy must have happened.
Sparkshower eagerly asked another question. "They must have given you a medal for that, Corporal?"
But Honour just gave a one-word answer. "Yes."
'Oh, come on, mare.'
Lily pressed on. "And?"
With a sigh, Honour spilled the details. "I got the Silver Star. It's not a big deal -- hundreds of other soldiers stationed in Canterlot got it that day as well."
'Not a big deal!'
Yeah, okay, it was no Silver Ram, but even Silver Stars didn't just grow on trees.
Lily shook her head, chuckling. "Come on, Corporal. Down three Changelings, solo and taken by surprise in the palace? I'll own up to being a braggart, but you better own up to selling yourself way too short! And now that I think about it, Lieutenant Violetta never mentioned your Silver Star when introducing us all to the Royal Engineer! No wonder she didn't blink at my request to conceal my Silver Ram. You'd already asked for your own award to be hushed up."
Leaning on the guardrail, Glam poured on the ribbing. "And I bet that young crystal colt was all aflutter about his bloodied brown savior. I bet you've got more than just an open invitation to go up there. I bet you've got a noblecolt up in the mountains pining for a certain someone to be Northern Bound, heh. And I bet you have a ton more juicy details you could be spilling about this incident while we're up here on a balcony gossipping like a gaggle of hens."
Honour rolled her eyes. "You know, I suggested that we come up here and watch the arrivals instead of all hanging out in our quarters exactly so that we wouldn't wind up doing this."
Just then there was an answer from inside the room behind them. "And we are doing what, exactly, Caporal?"
They all turned around to face the voice. It was Sergeant Ebonshield, but she was as Lily had never seen her before. Her appearance even got a double eyebrow raise out of the corporal.
Their slim and athletic, dark-purple batpony comrade, whom they'd only ever seen wear a black bodysuit or a black cape, was now wearing a dress of crimson red which stood out in the darkened room, and brightened up further when she stepped out onto the balcony.
But it wasn't just any old red dress.
The cut in the back was fashionably modern and short, reaching just above the hocks, yet it was what was going on up front that was really shocking. The red covered Ebonshield's barrel all the way up to her neck, with a wide, shiny black belt to emphasize her trim waist, but then there was a large shawl of the same fabric positioned triangularly over her head, draping down her shoulders so far that it reached her front knees and extended just far enough back across her back as to just conceal her bat-wings, provided they remained folded.
That was pretty avant-garde, and what made it even more so were her accessories. She was wearing four boots, just as black and as shiny as her belt, and they went far up enough as to disappear under the dress in the back and the bottom of the shawl in the front. On her head she was wearing what looked to be something like a tall smoking cap, made of a shiny fabric and with an enormous black tassel dangling down on one side nearly as far as the triangular red shawl, with the red carnation Sparkshower picked up from the market pinned on the other side of the peak. All of the batpony's mane was tucked under cap or shawl, though her tail still protruded normally. She'd accented her eyes with thick mascara and a light purple eyeshadow, exotically applied, as well as expressing her mouth with a dab of red lipstick.
For any pony, but particularly for one with a dark coat, it was a stunning look, more akin to a superstar pop diva than any kind of guard or noble. She'd stand out in the crowd like a beacon -- but that was the point of a Grand Galloping Gala dress, and Lily had to just sit back and applaud the boldness of the outfit and the tidiness of its execution.
Even Honour recognized what was before her. "Damn."
Sparkshower was so shocked, she was stuck in breathless-whisper mode. "Wow."
Since Lily's comrades were struck speechless, she summarized for them. "You look amazing, Sergeant."
Ebonshield took the compliments in stride. "Thank you. Now that I am finished, I believe by order of seniority that you must be next, Caporal?"
Honour shook her head. "Save me for last. I don't want to stay in that dress with my plot hanging out any longer than I have to. Sparkshower, you go. You've got all that armor to take off anyways."
The pegasus began a generous protest. "Are you su-"
But the corporal was in no mood. "Go on, get!"
Suggested reading: 007.com "Focus Of The Week: May Day. A View To A Kill's stylish killer"
Purity Ebonshield
Sergeant Purity Ebonshield was pleased that her dress had been received so well by her comrades. The occasions on which she'd been required to wear the clothing 'elegant' had been few and far between. So much so, that when the Engineer Royal took them all out for dinner and drinks on Tuesday, she had had nothing to wear besides her black bodysuit; little more than an undergarment.
Which was not unsuccessful, given the attention paid to her in the club by several young colts, but still -- her comrades were much more finely dressed, with their 'uniforms of service' from the Equestrian Guardia Real. She was looking forward to seeing what they had chosen to wear to the Gala. Whereas Purity had put herself at the mercy of what the Rock-phase in the Rookery thought of fashion, the three of them were able to rely upon the extensive costuming selection offered in the city of Canterlot.
Perhaps she could have, as well.
But part of her was worried that the colors would not go well -- since the Equestrian ponies were so much lighter than her kin. And part of her was also prideful and wishing to show that the Children of the Stars were not all daggers and murder and dark tunnels and scheming mothers. She thought the Rocks of the Cloth had done a job most excellent in producing this unique dress; there was great gratification in finding out that the others thought so as well.
And the Engineer Royal, what would he think of her dress of red and her boots and fez of black? Would he be as shocked and happy as he was to see the daggers of plain steel? That mystery remained to be uncovered, as did his choice of lapel flower, a question which the Specialist Sparkshower raised this morning, only to be asked to procure for him one rosette each of pink, red, white, and blue. He said he would make his decision which to wear later in the day, which had sent her comrades into a titter of the speculation as to what such a statement could mean. But all that seemed to have been forgotten after a meal and a short sleep.
"Well. This is a view most pleasant. I hope that everyone is as refreshed from the siesta -- the rest after lunch -- as I am."
The Specialist Glamerspear shrugged. "Sure. Who doesn't like a good afternoon nap. More energy to party into the night, I say. Good thinking of our VIP to suggest it."
But the Corporal Bound furrowed her brow. "He actually called it a 'siesta' when he suggested it, didn't he? Sergeant, have you been teaching him the batpony language?"
'Ah, she noticed this as well.'
"No, I have not. I was surprised also when he used this word. I do not recall it being spoken in the Grand Hall of Stars. Perhaps Carmen or some other Lunar used it in the Sanctuary Lunar?"
Honour shook her head. "No, they spoke perfect Equestrian to us the whole time. If you haven't been teaching him vocabulary, I can't imagine where he picked it up. Siesta just means rest?"
"Siesta is a nap taken in the afternoon. Curious that he should know this word; a mystery for later. Perhaps we will have some time to talk of such things during the Gala tonight."
Honour scoffed. "Maybe at dinner. Once the dance floor opens up the music gets pretty loud. If you thought it was hard to have a conversation in the nightclubs we went to on Tuesday, brace yourself for a new definition of loud tonight. Every amplifier and speaker in Canterlot gets hooked up to blow the roof off Their Majesties' Royal Ballroom."
'Interesting. How does she know this?'
As if to answer the question unspoken, the Specialist Glamerspear leaned over around her to address Ebonshield. "Our Corporal here attended the Gala last year, y'see, Sergeant. Just in the guards' little separate paddock, but I guess they could hear what was going on in the main room."
The earth pony nodded. "Yeah. It got to the point where our DJ just had to play whatever the main room was playing, even halfway across the main building, because otherwise we'd get confused from hearing both."
'Perhaps a set of earplugs would be a useful accessory.'
"But maybe they'll tone it down this year. I gather they were trying something a bit fresh last time to change things up, and maybe the experiment went too far. Even the tabloids complained afterwards the volume was ridiculous."
"Sounds like somepony in charge wanted to make a statement, y'know; put their hoofstamp on things. Or maybe the DJ just ran away with the volume knob."
"Maybe. Whatever."
Strange; she sounded almost unhappy to be attending this magnificent event annual?
The caporal was more enthusiastic about going to the nightclubs ordinary with the Engineer Royal.
"Corporal, are you not excited to wear the clothing elegant, eat the foods delicious, and meet the ponies extraordinary tonight?"
Honour turned slowly to Ebonshield, a pained expression on her face. "At the Gala? Sure, it's a fun party. I just don't see it being some kind of once-in-a-lifetime event."
Glamerspear whinnied. "Why, 'cause you've already been? Being caged up with a bunch of guards doesn't count! We'll be free-roam! Wander the garden, greet the Princesses, hang out with the upper crust!"
The brown pony laughed. "Glamerspear, we jog around the garden all the time now with the Royal Engineer. We greeted the Princesses last weekend when they watched us demo the Whirlwind; I even spoke to Her Majesty with just the Royal Engineer and Princess Luna present. And aren't you always 'hanging out' with the upper crust at the Officers' Club? What's going to happen at the Gala that we haven't done in the last three weeks?"
Unable to rebut her arguments, the pink unicorn scoffed and turned back towards the gardens and the arrivals, muttering under her breath. "You could get laid."
'That was inconsiderate.'
Honour did not reply, and this was perhaps more effective in scolding the Specialist Glamerspear than any retort she could deliver.
"...I'm sorry, Corporal. That was mean. I shouldn't have said that. I've just..." The young unicorn sighed. "...Look, I don't wanna info-dump my problems, but something happened on Thursday and long story short, I'm through with Captain Mailedhoof and with being a saltine and I'm actually really looking forward to just going to a party without hanging off of someone else's foreleg working to look pretty, y'know?"
That pronouncement prompted a look of concern from both the caporal and sergeant. There was displeasure in learning that a tragedy had befallen a comrade and friend.
Honour looked over her subordinate, as if inspecting for wounds. "Did he-"
"We don't need to talk about it. Believe me. It was nothing permanent or... y'know, physical, in the way you're probably thinking. Every action he did was within the bounds of what could be considered acceptable for a saltine-and-salt-lick relationship. It was just the way he did it; his attitude and what he said."
There was a long pause while both the sergeant and the caporal waited for anything more. However, the unicorn remained silent.
Honour put a reassuring forehoof on the shoulder of Glamerspear. "All right. If you need to talk, I'm here for you. And... look, I am actually happy we're going to the Gala. I've just got some problems of my own I'm dealing with. Actually, I'd kinda hoped that the Royal Engineer would've asked us to show up early like these ponies we're watching now."
Glamerspear scrunched up her muzzle. "What? Why? I thought you said these were old fogeys coming from out of town. We're all young and we literally just have to walk outside to get to the Gala entrance doors."
The earth pony sighed. "There's somepony attending that I really don't want to meet. The porters announce every guest as they walk in; the earlier we go, the less likely this certain somepony is going to already be there to hear my name get called."
"This have anything to do with that Sergeant Castlerook colt? He's going to be on duty tonight, isn't he?"
"Yes, he's on duty, but no, this doesn't have anything to do with him."
'How unfortunate that both of them have reasons to feel upset.'
Ebonshield decided to lighten the mood. "Do not worry, Corporal. If this somepony tries to assault you at the entrance, then your comrades and I will surely hold them off while you make your escape. And as for you, Specialista..." Leaning over and around Honour, the batpony grinned playfully at the unicorn. "...If this Capitan Mailedhoof troubles you further, the services of my Temple are available to you at a discount substantial, on account of friendship."
Glamerspear smiled back. "Heh. I'll let ya know, Sarge. I'm a little more over everything now two days later, especially having given some thought to where I want to go next, but y'know, I might've taken you up on your offer if we'd run into each other right after the event. And Mailedhoof is attending the Gala -- I'll point him out to you just in case."
"Of course. My blades are always at your service."
Just then there was a cry pleading from behind them. "Oh no, why are we now talking about blades on a beautiful day like this?"
The three of them turned to behold the Specialist Sparkshower, who in spite of being gone for what has seemed like hardly any time at all was nonetheless dressed for the Gala.
This fact was shocking to the Caporal. "Sparkshower, how in Tartarus did you yank off all that armor and get ready so fast? You weren't even gone for half an hour."
The young pegasus shrugged as she stepped out on the balcony to join them.
Ebonshield wasn't sure if she could be an honest judge of the fashion Equestrian, but Artemis' outfit struck her as perfectly matched for a pleasant spring day. She wore a blush-pink dress, conservatively long in the rear, made of tulle and lace, with pretty white shoes and a small white saddle-purse to match.
"I dunno, Corporal. I guess I'm just really excited to go to the Gala! And I didn't really need to do much with my mane since I already fluffed it this morning, and this dress fits like a glove -- thanks again, Glamerspear. So I'm all set! Who's next?"
Caporal Bound shoved Specialist Glamerspear towards the door, who protested the action. "Okay, okay, Corporal! I'm going! And I bet you want me to take my time, too, huh?"
"That's right. The Royal Engineer said we'll head in at quarter after five. I don't want to see you out here until it's at least four-thirty."
"Fine! I'll even take the time to trim my bangs."
Artemis Sparkshower
'It sure is a lot chillier up here on this balcony in my light dress than it was in my bronze armor!'
'This wind really cuts through tulle. Maybe I need an accessory like Sergeant Ebonshield's comfy-looking red headscarf.'
But then again, Specialist Artemis Sparkshower probably wouldn't be doing much hanging around on third-storey balconies during the Gala.
"So, did I miss anypony important?"
Honour just sighed. "I don't know. We've barely been paying attention to the arrivals. Did you know Glamerspear had some explosion with Mailedhoof on Thursday? You two went to the Moon together that night, didn't you?"
'Explosion?'
"We did go to the Moon together, but she didn't say anything about Mailedhoof. What happened?"
"She wouldn't say. You two seem pretty close; maybe she'll confide in you later."
"Maybe."
'What could have happened?'
Lily said she'd felt sick when Artemis saw her, but otherwise she seemed fine. Upbeat, even.
Ebonshield leaned over, her tall black fez flopping sideways. "And then there is also the matter that Caporal Bound expects somepony to be at the Gala whom she does not wish to encounter."
"Oh, no! Who should we watch out for, Corporal? I can find and engage the target and Lily can help me suppress them. It'll be just like we're in the field!"
The sergeant grinned. "And perhaps I could lose a dagger in just the wrong neck while this is all going on?"
Honour rolled her eyes. "For Celestia's sakes. We don't need to ATTACK him."
Immediately, the batpony's grin grew wider. "¡Ay! So this somepony the Caporal fears is a colt? Somepony from the past, I think?"
Their senior NCO scowled at the crimson-attired purple batpony. "You're as rotten as Glamerspear, Sergeant."
'Wait, am I trying to help the Corporal or am I trying to tease her?'
'It seems like Purity is aiming for both.'
"...Look, just... Let's keep our entrance low-key, okay? And if we're together in a group and I duck out without saying a word, you'll know why."
Eb sat back, satisfied. "Bueno. But now I am most eager to see the Caporal Bound in the red dress which exposes the plot and in which she does not wish to be seen by this colt mysterious. And especially since there is another colt about whom she is fond who will be present at this Grand Galloping Gala." Nonchalantly, the batpony flexed her wings and adjusted her shawl. "I wonder if this other colt will enjoy seeing his beautiful caporal in her elegant dress which I am told brings out the dark brilliance of her eyes and emphasizes the sensual fullness of her hips."
'Wow, it does?!'
Honour scrunched her muzzle something fierce. "Nopony told you that load of nonsense."
"True, but having not seen the outfit particular, I am simply being the poetic. Another technique of the Temple of the Shining Stellar Dancers, by the way."
Corporal Bound whinnied. "Poetry and gymnastics and esoteric philosophy; never mind assassinations, you really should open up a second-floor studio in Manehattan. You could make a killing telling officeponies how to re-balance their lives."
She was being sarcastic, but surely she didn't think her dress wasn't pretty, did she? Not that Artemis had seen it -- but Glamerspear helped the pegasus pick hers out, and it was beautiful, and so was Lily's, so surely Honour's must be great, too!
And didn't they bring the Royal Engineer along to help pick a dress as well?
"The Royal Engineer was with you when you went shopping with Lily, wasn't he? Did he have anything to say about it during your test fitting?"
Artemis saw patches of red start to form on Honour's brown cheeks.
"He said..."
She swallowed.
"...He said I looked good in it. That it complimented my colors. And that it made me look ready for dancing."
'There you go!'
"And I'm sure Lily wouldn't have suggested it for you if you didn't look great in it. After all, she did a good job helping me find my dress, didn't she?"
Both the sergeant and the corporal turned to the specialist, and the sergeant spoke first.
"Specialist, in that dress, you are the embodiment living of the colors of spring."
Honour nodded. "Yes, it's very pretty on you. You look fit to be attending a wedding."
'Hurricanes!'
'Surely she doesn't mean as the bride.'
"...I mean as a flower-mare or bridesmaid."
'Oh, good.'
Artemis smiled warmly. "So if you're so uncomfortable with the idea of wearing it, Corporal, maybe you ought to head back to our quarters and put it on now? That'll give you time to get accustomed to it before we're in the crowd!"
Honour looked up at her begrudgingly, almost ashamedly.
Finally, she nodded and sighed. "All right. If Glam's cutting her hair then she's probably doing it in her chair rather than the bathroom. It's almost four o'clock now; you can see some ponies heading inside to greet the Princesses. I guess at this point you two might as well go downstairs and see how the Royal Engineer's getting on. Glam and I will join you when we're done, and then we can head out whenever our VIP wants to."
'Yay!'
'This is going to be fun!'
'Only an hour or so to go until we all get our chance to shine!'
Suggested interlude music: Booty Luv - 'Shine' |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 134 | Honour Bound
'I can't believe I'm wearing this.'
Turning around, Corporal Honour Bound looked over her shoulder at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.
'How did Glamerspear talk me into this dress?'
What little of the lacy red fabric there was scarcely reached the top of her hind legs. Squirming, she gave the bodice another tug down to try to make herself decent. It didn't really work, and worse, pulling it down made her tuft sprout even further out.
'Damn that unicorn!'
This tube-sock was a size too small, she was sure of it -- despite the fact that her barrel fit neatly inside. And it wasn't like Honour ever donned 'long' or 'wide' sizes before. No, she was just an average earth pony, size 6. Same as it said on the label before she put the thing on.
At least Glamerspear's suggestion about the panties seemed to work. Beige didn't match her coat, but it perfectly blended in with the dress' translucent backing material, and with the red lace on top, the difference between the pantied and non-pantied parts of her body was imperceptible even in the bright bathroom lights. Nopony would be able to tell that she was wearing them to protect her modesty.
Unless she started dancing, she supposed.
'Not likely.'
That thought lingered in Honour's head a moment, and then on a whim, she shook her plot at the mirror. The loose pleats of sequined red lace bounced and flapped playfully, along with her braided brown tail.
She caught the barest glimpse of beige and paused to frown at her reflection.
'Well...'
'It is just underwear.'
She was wearing it under clothing, and it wouldn't be out on display unless she really acted up. At the nightclubs on Tuesday with the Royal Engineer and the rest of the quaternion, plenty of the mares, and even a few of the colts, were wearing more scandalous outfits.
But this was the Grand Galloping Gala at Canterlot Palace, not Mares' Night in a smoky basement room! And Honour wasn't a dance-hall whorse looking to grind up against colts for free drinks.
Out of frustration and indecision, she actually bent her knees and gave her rump a proper bump up in the air.
She saw nothing but panty.
That redoubled the corporal's frown, but it was too late to back out now. Anyways, she wouldn't have anypony to dance with, so she wouldn't be dancing, so she wouldn't be bouncing, so nopony would see anything. That decided, she turned forwards again and reached over to the door-hook to grab the matching red shawl. It was trimmed with big, red fake fur that was so puffy it could be made of ostrich feathers, and when she slipped it on and wrapped it up properly to cover everything, she actually felt more ridiculous than she did before.
'How'd I let Glamerspear talk me into this one as well?!'
'The shawl was supposed to help me feel modest, not make me stand out even more!'
Honour almost preferred the dress leaving her with the plot-and-tuft-hanging-out than looking like she was completely naked under a slinky velvet wrap! That was worse than just showing up wearing nothing at all! The fault wasn't the fabric or the trim, really. It was just that the shawl was big enough and the dress small enough that one covered the other completely and utterly. She felt like she was supposed to be showing up at some colt's apartment door, only to strut in and pull the shawl off in a slinky display. Probably with a casual 'hey, big foal' and pointed glance at his package, followed by mounting a dance pole for a rousing show.
'Okay, Honour, take it easy.'
'Gala dresses are supposed to be a bit outrageous.'
Next to the batpony in her red scarf-shawl and tall black fez, Honour was sure she would just be a brown-and-red fuzzball. If she didn't feel like keeping the shawl on, she could check it at the door. Or she could take it to her dinner table and toss it over the back of her chair. She was just going to have to cope with feeling a bit silly walking around the Canterlot Palace hallways looking like a strippergram courier.
As long as she had at least one of the other guardsmares beside her, she felt she could bear it. Or the Royal Engineer, too -- provided he wasn't embarrassed to be seen alone with her. Well, his compliments contributed to Honour buying the dress, though she was certain Glamerspear coached him in what to say.
With a final look in the mirror to make sure her makeup was in order -- nothing fancy, just a little touching up around the eyes to match the glamor of the occasion -- she gave her dour reflection a final sigh.
'Smile, Honour.'
Attending the Gala was a great privilege and it was supposed to be a great party. And she knew from having attended the sideshow previously that all the stops were being pulled out. In this ridiculous, scandalous, tantalizing dress, she could mope, disinterestedly sipping gin-and-tonics all she wanted, just like last year.
If that was all she wanted.
Castlerook would be on duty in the palace proper.
They didn't need his unit down at the docks during the party itself, not when all those rowdy sailors from the lucky hundredth-anniversary-celebration merchant-marine ships were up at the Gala. His guardsponies would, instead be needed in the Palace to maintain order until the crowds started filtering out.
Maybe he could spare her a moment sometime during the evening...
Just then Honour remembered that one particular sailor from one particular ship would be in attendance, and a shiver ran down her spine.
Leeward.
She reminded herself that she had better get going so that the five of them could arrive and she could camouflage herself in a corner before he showed up.
Taking a deep breath, Honour pulled open the bathroom door and stepped out. Glamerspear was in the common room, double-checking her makeup in a small mirror hanging under the wall-clock. When she heard the corporal emerge, she turned around and, in an exaggerated motion, came to attention.
"At ease!"
'Not this again.'
"Carry on."
As soon as she spoke the magic words, the unicorn broke out into a big grin. "Well, some corporal looks ready to bring all the colts to the yard! Come on, let's peek under the wrap!"
With a sigh and an irritated pout, Honour sat back and spread her forelegs to unfold the shawl.
"...Very nice. You're ready to click hooves on the dance floor all right!" Then Lily rolled her shoulders and quickly adjusted herself to be in just the right 'vogue' position. "And what do we think here, huh?"
Honour couldn't help but notice first and foremost that Glamerspear had selected a longer-cut dress than hers; while the earth pony's scarcely covered her rear end, the unicorn's reached down to just above her knees. And Honour already knew that Ebonshield and Sparkshower also had longer cuts, too.
'Eb's getup may have been avant-garde, but how in Equestria did I wind up with the most risque of all the fashion choices?'
Taking her mind off of her own outfit, Honour gave the expectant specialist a moment of scrutiny. There wasn't much she could really say: it was a high-priced Louis Valise dress, and it looked it. The pleated sheer fabric and black inner bodice were an elegant and provocative complement to her pink coat and teal-cyan mane, while the black-strapped 'gladiator' sandals with their shiny studs emphasized her legs. Honour honestly couldn't imagine a better look for her; not that she was any kind of fashion designer, but still -- it was true what Cosmoponitan asserted: the little black dress was still a mare's best friend. And somehow, Glamerspear's Silver Ram -- which she'd mounted on a black ribbon, instead of the normal blue-and-white -- was the perfect accessory for it, too.
"I honestly can't think of how you could have done any better."
Lily scoffed amusedly. "I can, but you're right -- I'm as good as any colt's gonna get."
Lifting an eyebrow, she tilted her head and looked around the corporal to eye her tail. "So you decided to stick with the braids? I'm not complaining, but I was kinda looking forward to maybe a new 'do, ya know?"
Honour's braids were her braids, and as close as all of them had become, she didn't feel the need to explain her mane and tail choices to the specialist.
Not right now, anyways.
"Just braids."
Glamerspear leaned back like she was worried she'd touched a nerve.
She hadn't, not really.
"Okay, sure. Ready to go downstairs?"
Honour wasn't.
"Yeah, let's go."
Lily's horn lit up as she telekinetically opened the door, and both of them headed out into the hallway. Without a care to anypony who might see her, Honour walked to the staircase, down to the ground floor, and over to the large double doors to the Royal Engineer's room.
'He'd better be ready.'
She didn't want a repeat of Friday morning's foalish fiasco. Not bothering to knock, she turned the handle and pushed in. Ebonshield and Sparkshower were both sitting in the living-room area on the sofa, and across from them in the club chair was their Very Important Pony who was very much not a pony.
Everypony turned to look at Bound and Glamerspear, and one of them, at least, relished the attention.
"All right, fillies and foals! Are we ready to get this party started?"
The Royal Engineer got to his feet, while Sparkshower hopped off onto her hooves while Ebonshield slinked down on hers. The Royal Engineer's suit looked every bit as good on him as it did when she saw his final fitting at Bridle Path Clothiers. But Honour did notice his stylish new boutonniere: a cluster of four carnations, pink, yellow, purple, and sepia, with their stems all bundled up with a coil of shiny copper wire.
'Where'd he get that?'
It wasn't in Sparkshower's morning haul from the flower market in Tallyho square; not all wired up, anyways, though he did ask her to get one carnation blossom of each color available. Then the corporal remembered all the tooling and equipment on the tables surrounding his desk, just over on her left.
'Of course, he must have made it himself.'
Sparkshower bubbled her way forward in her pink dress. "Wow, Lily, black really looks good on you! And Corporal -- I mean, Honour -- that's some wrap you've got on!"
'Take the compliment, Honour.'
"Thanks, Artemis."
As the Royal Engineer stepped over, the earth pony nodded towards his lapel. "Very colorful, sir."
He smiled amiably, looking embarrassed. "I had some copper wiring at hand and, well, what can I say but that inspiration took me?"
She couldn't help but notice that the colors corresponded to the coat colors of his guards.
Sparkshower felt compelled to point out the obvious. "It's one color for each of us, isn't that nice?"
Honour nodded. "I noticed." That was a bit too sarcastic for the upbeat mood, though, so she followed up. "Very considerate of you, sir."
He chuckled. "Let's just say that as much as none of you are on duty guarding me, I am still rather hoping that I won't find myself completely abandoned in a sea of unfamiliar faces tonight."
Then he laughed, smiling. "But don't worry; if I do, I'll manage. It'd hardly be the first time."
She hadn't really thought about that. Not that she was planning on ditching her VIP, but the idea that, for him, the Gala would be a more alien experience than it would be for any of them was a novel one. So far, attending the Gala had mostly been all about her and the other guards.
Sparkshower and Glamerspear's fight over the ticket.
Ebonshield getting in on the action.
Shopping for dresses.
Yes, there was Anon's suit, but he'd basically taken care of it himself; Honour had just been along for the ride. Anyways, even if she'd felt like drowning her troubles, she didn't think she necessarily needed to ditch him. He had seen the corporal get pretty hammered already this week, and she'd seen him almost blackout drunk. There weren't really any secrets between them, party-wise.
"I'm sure you won't find yourself in that situation, sir."
The Royal Engineer held up a gloved hand. "It's kind of you to say so, but let me state for the record that I don't want any of you to ruin your nights for my sake. We see each other almost every day, so I'm sure you all are craving some liberty of association. Anyways, enough logistics talk -- logistics has the evening off, too. Shall we?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Yay!"
"Heck yeah!"
"¡Vámonos!"
Suggested background music: Mariss Jansons and the Vienna Philharmonic - 'Ballszene', by Joseph Hellmesberger
The five of them exited his room and arranged themselves in a line-abreast formation, with the Royal Engineer occupying the place of honor in the middle, Bound at his right, Ebonshield at his left, Glamerspear on the far right, and Sparkshower at the far left. It was not quite a march, but it was definitely a bold walk as they headed down the wide hallway of Canterlot Palace's West wing's South annex.
And despite her apprehensions, Honour felt -- well, she felt happy. Everypony was excited, everypony was in a good mood, and everypony had something to look forward to. For Sparkshower, Honour imagined it was her big group-performance Lipizzaner waltz with the Royal Engineer. It should be a fun display; the earth pony resolved to try to watch it. Glamerspear, Honour felt sure, was looking to show off her dress -- and maybe her medal, too, since she was wearing it. Doubtless she was looking for an upgrade from Captain Mailedhoof. That shouldn't be too hard to manage at the Gala.
Honour wasn't quite certain what Ebonshield was after, considering she already had a young beau from the Schola under her wing. She was probably just looking forward to a great big party. And considering how the other batpony Stars treated her and the other members of her Temple, Honour thought she'd be happy to potentially be the center of attention, rather than being disdainfully ignored as the leader of a group of tolerated heretics with unsavory professions.
What about the Royal Engineer? Besides the dance with Sparkshower, he seemed content enough just to be invited. Well, Honour knew he could hold his drink, and he'd mentioned he wanted to dance, so hopefully he'd find somepony to partner up with. If he didn't pair up before hitting the floor, then perhaps his moves could attract a companion. Honour didn't know if it would be as easy as Lieutenant Kilfeather suggested, and she doubted anypony really got anywhere past first or second 'base,' to use a sporting analogy, but still -- it was the Gala.
Equestria's big magical night.
As their troupe turned out of the annex and into the wing's main corridor, Honour started to see the palace become a little more alive and magical than it ordinarily was. Down the hall, she could see larger groups of ponies, while at their end of the corridor, every now and then, a palace servant went scurrying by, pausing only to give a polite bow or curtsy and looking pleased when the five of them stopped to politely give one in return.
After all, what was the rush? The Gala was the Gala, and it wasn't going anywhere without them. Honour could leave her worries upstairs in her room. 'Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero pulsanda tellus', as the ancient unicorns said. She was onboard for the drinking part, but Honour still was not sold on dancing. Maybe if Castlerook asked her in a moment off...
Anyways, it didn't matter. She'd have a good time either way.
Everypony would have a good time. That was the magic power of Canterlot, of the Palace, and of the Princesses -- provided one believed in them.
And at her core, Honour did.
She started to hear voices emanating from down the hall, and a minute later, their five-abreast slow charge was forced to relax to a more leisurely stroll as they hit traffic. They weren't at the main entrance quite yet, but Palace rooms in this wing were full of hundreds of visiting dignitaries and diplomats from across Equestria and beyond, and Honour's group of five was neither so nimble nor so narrow that they could zig-zag around them.
As she'd said, though -- what was the rush? They should take the time to enjoy the palace, because for now at least, these hallways have been decked out with ribbons and flowers and banners. There was no question that the stage was set for a wonderful evening.
Eventually, the murmur of voices grew louder, mixing with the sound of a nearby string quartet, and they reached the end of the corridor. Here was the upper level of the short northern section of Canterlot Palace's main gallery, and their group joined a few dozen other ponies waiting in a loose line to be let in to the rotunda, where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna received guests, and the lower east, west, and north galleries and their adjoining salons hosted the Gala's indoor delights.
Anonymous reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper protecting a slim pack of unmistakable golden slips.
The Grand Galloping Gala's Golden Tickets.
"I suppose I ought to dole these out now?"
Probably, yet it didn't seem right. Like he was cutting them all loose.
Honour shook her head. "Why don't you hoof them to the doorcolt all together? We're arriving together, we ought to be announced together."
Sparkshower peeked over, worried. "Uhm... We can keep them after that, though, right?"
Even a used golden ticket was quite the collectible.
Honour nodded. "Of course, Artemis."
'I should remember to stick to first names; this is the Gala, not a barracks meeting.'
"Yay!" Then the pegasus furrowed her brow. "...Uh... Do you have something to carry yours in under that, Honour?"
She actually didn't.
Anonymous smiled as he fanned out the tickets in anticipation of hoofing -- handing, rather -- them over. "There's plenty of room for them back in my pocket for the rest of the evening if that's a worry. I won't lose them, and they'll make lovely souvenirs for each of us."
The earth pony turned to him. "Thank you, sir. I think that'd be best."
First names were all well and good with her compatriots, but they didn't feel proper with the Royal Engineer. He was the Royal Engineer, the Very Important Pony, even though he wasn't actually a pony. And he may have made her feel Very Important as well through having secured her a ticket, but she was still just his guard.
The group collectively took another step forward, and they found themselves the next ones to be announced after a unicorn noblepony couple with what looked like their teenage foal. The mustachioed unicorn in a tailcoat cleared his throat, holding their three tickets up in his telekinesis.
"The Lord Charles Bourbon of Mills-upon-Allier! The Lady Mathilde Bourbon! The Master Robert Bourbon!"
It wasn't exactly a shout, but he faced towards the busy rotunda and he certainly made himself loud enough to be heard. After a moment, the doorcolt floated the tickets back to the nobles, and they proceeded down the steps into the rotunda.
The five of them stepped up to be announced, and Anonymous handed over the tickets to the unicorn, who took a quick sip from a glass of water first. "By Appointment to their Majesties Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, Anonymous, the Royal Engineer of Equestria! Purity Ebonshield, Seventh of the Temple of the Shining Stellar Dance! Honour Bound of the Royal Guard, Order of the Silver Star! Lily Glamerspear of the Royal Guard, Centurion of the Order of the Ram! Artemis Sparkshower of the Royal Guard!"
It was quite a mouthful, even with pauses in between each pony.
"Their Majesties bid you welcome to the Grand Galloping Gala and invite you to receive their welcome in person, below."
The doorcolt elegantly waved them in and floated the tickets back to Anonymous, who replaced them in their wrappings and pocketed them.
Before them was the rotunda, filled with hundreds of ponies, many of whom were in a winding line to greet the two Princesses at the top of a set of stairs leading to the South Gallery's upper level. But to join them, first they had to get down into the rotunda.
Honour didn't think she'd realized just how big the staircase down was; there was room for the five of them, and at least another ten more. And the steps were almost awkwardly steep. Honour glanced over at Glamerspear and noted the tell-tale halo around her horn and hooves indicating that she was using the same grip-enhancing spell as she did in the Rookery's Cave of Pillars.
'She still hasn't learned to share.'
Sparkshower and Ebonshield held their wings half-open to steady themselves, while Anonymous strode carefully down beside Honour, politely taking his time so as not to leave her behind. That was nice of him; the long, poofy shawl was a bit hard to manage.
'Just take it one step at a time, Honour.'
As she reached a third of the way down, her ears picked out a loud cry from below and to the left.
"Make a hole! Make a hole, you landlubbers!"
'Oh, no. No, no, no!'
Her eyes wide, she glanced left and right, trying to find a way out of her predicament. With another two-thirds of the staircase to go before the rotunda floor, though, there was no way she could disappear into the crowd in time.
'Maybe Eb or Sparkshower could pick me up and just fly me out of here?'
"Lively now! Make a hole!"
Another swarthy voice Honour didn't recognize piped up in support. "Avast! Make way for the bos'n of the Tambermane!"
'Of course he's got his crew with him.'
She could already hear the sturdy, tell-tale tap-tap-tap-tock of his steps, too. There was nothing for it but to just get to the bottom of the steps and let the chips fall where they may.
Just as Honour cleared the final perilous hurdle, there was a bit of jostling and the crowd of elegantly-dressed Gala party-goers was somewhat forcibly parted to admit three clean and proper, but somewhat less elegantly dressed sailors. And there he was, standing on his three good legs and one wooden hind-peg, flanked by a pair of young ponies who were undoubtedly his bosun's mate apprentices.
Recommended background music: Dropkick Murphys - "I'm Shipping Up to Boston"
Leeward looked exactly as she remembered him, with his shock of thick, black mane on a Windsor-tan coat, and the thin moustache and trimmed goatee which went along with it. He was wearing his formal uniform, a navy-blue double-breasted jacket with polished bronze buttons and a white vest underneath. A white cap with a navy brim, properly centred on his head, completed the ensemble.
And as soon as he saw her, he grinned widely, revealing the gold tooth that matched the pair of earrings he wore. "There she is! There she is! Ahh, a treasure as beautiful as the day I first set eyes upon her! Haha! What a delight it is to see her once again, lads!"
Still beaming with excitement, he looked her up and down, then turned to look at the Royal Engineer and the rest of the quaternion. "Well? Aren't you going to introduce me to your companions, Honoria?"
Glamerspear burst out in a snort. "Honoria??"
The earth pony took a deep breath and turned to the Royal Engineer, who looked puzzled. "Sir, may I introduce you to the boatswain of the Tambermane, Leeward Bound... my father."
Without waiting for anything more, Leeward immediately sauntered up towards the Royal Engineer and extended a forehoof. "A pleasure, sir! A pleasure! And you are?"
It took her VIP a second to react before he extended a gloved hand. "Er, I'm Anonymous, the Royal Engineer of Equestria. A pleasure to meet you as well."
Her VIP's title made Leeward do a double-take; clearly he'd only heard Honour's name being announced, and not the whole group. "Why, Your Lordship, I beg your pardon! A great pleasure, Your Lordship! And may it please Your Lordship to learn that the Tambermane is the fastest Baltimare Clipper out of Fillydelphia! Across the Celestial Sea to the Griffish isles in twelve days!"
Honour continued the introductions. "This is Lily Glamerspear, a fellow soldier and a Centurion of the Ram."
Full of energy, Leeward scarcely waited for her to finish speaking before he advanced upon Glamerspear. "A Centurion! Goodness gracious, I should bow to you, madam!"
He did just that, theatrically removing his hat as he did so. Even his two mates, standing off to the side, doffed their own, mirroring his actions. "I pray you keep us safe from Changelings and Dragons and all other manner of beasts and scoundrels, brave Centurion!"
As Glamerspear tried to figure out just how to react, Honour indicated Sparkshower. "Artemis Sparkshower, another comrade-in-arms."
Leeward took her proffered forehoof in both of his own, shaking it eagerly. "Any friend of my sweet Honoria is a friend of mine! And may I be only the second pony tonight to welcome you aboard this fine Gala, miss Sparkshower!"
She seemed confusedly pleased by the encounter.
Finally, he stepped over to Ebonshield.
"And Purity Ebonshield, of the Night Guard." Honour held no hopes that that final appellation would quell his excitement, yet as Ebonshield haughtily held out a forehoof, she saw Leeward pause.
But it was only long enough for him to once again doff his cap, taking her hoof in his, and bending over theatrically to kiss it. "Madam, a creature of your elegant and stunning beauty would easily make a lesser colt forget the warm hearth and welcoming bed he has waiting for him such a long distance away."
That put a grin on the sergeant's face. Then he kissed her hoof again and withdrew, still bowing down -- not an easy feat for a peg-legged old sailor.
Finally, he sat down on his haunches and clapped his forehooves together, an enormous smile on his face. "Well! What a wondrous meeting! I tell you, lads..." Raising a forehoof, he addressed himself to his two younger crewmates. "...Find yourself a good wife and make yourself a child. The pleasure of seeing them again after a long journey is an immeasurable joy. Now, Mister Murphy!"
The one on his left stepped forward.
"Go and harpoon us one of those waiters what's ferrying glasses of champagne. And mind you he has enough stock for all of us! Lively now, for this is a reunion worthy of a good drink!"
With a quick nod, the sailor hustled off into the crowd.
"Mister Woody! I espied a few ponies with cameras about when we were higher up the rungs of the staircase! See that you haul one of them over here to take some pictures of a joyful old sailor with his beautiful daughter!"
But the second seacolt furrowed his brow in objection. "Beggin' your pardon, bos'n, but I believe they's workin' for the press, snappin' celebrities an' the like."
He must be a new one if he thought that her father could be dissuaded from anything once he'd made up his mind for it.
"So? They'll be laden with rolls of film for the evening and can surely spare us a few frames. And I'll pay good bits for a fine print. Step to it, Mister Woody!"
With a bob of his head, the second one headed off, and there was the briefest, longest, awkwardest moment where Leeward had run out of things to say, and everypony was just sort of awkwardly smiling at each other.
That's when things were mercifully interrupted by another new arrival.
"I say, Mister Bound, what's all the commotion here?"
In from the small clearing stepped no common sailor; by his pressed blue tailcoat and the gold-trimmed bicorne hat he was clearly one of the ship's officers.
'Judging by his bushy grey beard and mustache, he must at least be the first mate.'
Honour's father promptly stepped up. "Ah, Captain Barr! May I introduce you to my daughter, Honoria Bound. She's a decorated member of the Royal Guard, a devoted follower of the warrior's code, and a recipient of the Silver Star, sir."
The captain gave a polite nod in her direction.
She didn't think she could curtsy back with this big poofy shawl on, so she just nodded.
From the left, an earth pony waiter approached with a tray of champagne glasses on his back which he was barely managing to keep straight while being hustled by Murphy. "Drinks as ordered, bos'n!"
"Excellent, Mister Murphy! Captain, sir, will you toast the miracle of family and friendship with us?"
The captain nodded. "Certainly, Mister Bound."
Leeward immediately whirled around the waiter like a hurricane, dispersing the champagne flutes in a flurry of hoof-and-peg motions. In the blink of an eye, everypony found themselves with a drink, and her father instantly pivoted towards the distant Princesses at the top of the staircase and raised his glass.
"Ladies and gentlecolts, to Their Majesties Princess Luna and Princess Celestia! May their Grand Galloping Gala bring parents together with children, husbands together with wives, and true friends together with each other!"
In characteristic form, Leeward's bubbling, boisterous enthusiasm and good cheer drew several assorted ponies around them in, with raised glasses and replies of "Hear, hear," until there were almost two dozen drinking with them. And with his audience thus enlarged to what he considered a suitable number, after taking a sip of his own, he immediately launched into another speech.
"Twenty-four years ago, ladies and gentlecolts -- twenty-four years ago, I tell you that I became the most blessed colt in Equestria when my ship returned to port and I saw the precious cargo the stork had brought to Fillydelphia in my absence. For what father could ask for more than as sweet and beautiful a daughter as my Honoria?"
'Oh, sweet Celestia, somepony put a stop to this now before it gets worse.'
"Though each voyage without her was a painful absence, each return to port brought the joy of seeing her again as if for the first time..."
'Anypony, please -- anypony, interrupt him.'
Leeward lifted his jacket and displayed his wooden limb. "Not even the loss of my leg, ladies and gentlecolts, could dampen my spirits. I tell you now, it was the worst storm the Celestial Sea has ever seen, the night as black as pitch-smoke."
'Tartarus, he's telling the story of his leg again.'
Honour would take anything -- fire, earthquake, tornado, changeling invasion, meteor.
"And there I was, the ablest seapony aboard. My place was high up at the upper topmast, a hundred hooves above the deck, and at the farthest out along the yard, adjacent the yardarm. The ship heaved and rolled every which way but straight, as we worked furiously to furl the sail, before the winds could snap the topmast straight off at the masthead."
He didn't even pause when Woody returned with a smartly-dressed unicorn mare wielding a very expensive-looking camera, merely waving a forehoof and stepping over next to Honour for a quick photo.
The photographer was in and out in a flash, departing with a haughty scowl for the sailor who hauled her there.
"Even with the storm wailing in our ears, we could hear the cables groaning and the wood creaking. Just as we secured the sail, the ship crested a tremendous wave and plunged down into a trough so deep it must have been a maw of Cerberus itself -- and Tartarus' warden, ladies and gentlecolts, has sharp teeth and a mighty bite, for he snapped the yard in twain, sending me plummeting down into the sea, tangled up with the stays and the yard's hoofrope to be dragged behind the ship."
Her father theatrically got up on his hind leg and peg, holding up a forehoof. "I thought I must be doomed to the depths of Tartarus. Doomed to never see land and my sweet Honoria again. I struggled against the cords which bound me, swallowing gallons of briny water, never knowing which way was up, with only scant moments now and then to breathe and to cry out before I was plunged down once more."
He somberly shook his head. "When at last the crew was able to haul me out, by the hourglass I had thrashed in the sea for nearly an hour. Yes, ladies and gentlecolts, though the black doors of Tartarus stood open wide to receive me, I stubbornly refused to pass the threshold. Yet my defiance angered the dark spirits below, and they slammed the gates shut on my hind hoof, so entangled with cable and battered by the heavy tackle that it was ruined beyond recovery, and so the ship's surgeon told me that it would have to go."
Just as Leeward made a chopping motion with his free forehoof, another sailor burst through the crowd. "Captain Barr, sir! There's trouble in the North Gallery!"
That brought the story to a screeching halt, thank Celestia.
The Captain put his half-empty glass back down on the waiter-colt's tray. "Trouble, Mister Lynch?"
"Aye, sir! I think a fight's about to break out between some of ours and some from the Quincy, on account of some rotten things they've done said about the Tambermane and her crossing record! The guards have been summoned already, sir!"
"Intolerable! Mister Bound, pray come and help me sort out this mess."
'Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you.'
'Thank you, drunken, brawling, ill-tempered merchant sailors and your pointless arguments about which boat crossed the Celestial Sea two minutes faster than the other one.'
Deflated, Honour's father put his champagne glass down beside the Captain's and gave a quick bow to the small crowd. "I beg your pardon, but this tale must await another telling."
Hustling after Captain Barr with a tap-tap-tap-tock, he shot her a smile over his shoulder. "Now, mind you're still here for me when I get back, Honoria! I want to hear all you've got to say about your last year!"
As soon as he was a few ponies deep in the crowd and out of earshot, she turned up to the Royal Engineer. "Sir, would you mind terribly if I skipped the Princesses' receiving line for now and went somewhere else?"
He looked down at her in shock, but after a moment, he started to nod. "If that's what you want, I'll join you."
Even though her tall VIP stood out like a tower in the crowd, it was still somehow a relief to know she wouldn't be fleeing alone.
"Thank you."
Glamerspear, her brow furrowed, stepped up. "Hey, I'm not splitting the party just yet. If you wanna head off, I'm coming with. You in, Artemis?"
The pegasus nodded. "Sure!"
Even Ebonshield stepped over. "And I will come also. May I suggest perhaps the garden?"
'Anywhere that's not here sounds good to me.'
"Sure."
And off they all went. |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 135 | Lily Glamerspear
Specialist Lily Glamerspear -- 'scratch that, no.'
'This is the Gala.'
Lily was in and past the gate, not just waiting in the antechamber. She was wearing her Louis Valise dress, not her armor or her artillery greens.
She did have her Centurion's Silver Ram around her neck, so maybe she was Centurion Lily Glamerspear, but that still seemed too formal for the night -- especially with the mood so recently lightened by the hilarious reveal of the uptight and morose Corporal Bound's rambunctious, swashbuckling, peg-legged father.
As Lily's group of five finished ascending one of the staircases at the back wall, they passed through a gallery-hall and out onto one of the smaller upper terraces, where the party was already in full swing. Standing beside the unicorn, Artemis looked wistfully back down at the doors. No doubt she was thinking of how the group had just made an end-run around Their Royal Majesties' receiving line, but there would always be time for that later. The joint rulers of Equestria would still be receiving guests for another hour or two, before the scheduled festivities really began.
With their corporal leading the way, they collectively came to a halt in a little, semi-private terraced section of the gardens, complete with a few benches and a small bar table -- and, crucially, with a white-jacketed colt ladling out the brightly-colored contents of a punch bowl into wide-brimmed cocktail glasses.
Lily licked her lips, but the drinks would have to wait for the moment, too.
Honour tried to position a tree and a few bushes between herself and the palace doors, as she nestled into the nook. Once she'd settled herself, Lily pounced.
The unicorn cleared her throat and spoke loudly. "So, Honoria..."
That earned Lily an incensed stare, which she returned with a grin. But, in an act of appeasement, she lit up her horn and floated over a round of drinks from the bar-table. Honour frowned, but she took the proffered beverage, and so too did Eb, Sparks, and Anon. Once Lily got a glass of the orange liquor in her hoof as well, she raised it up in salutation.
"...Let's have a toast to your newfound first name!"
Everybody took a drink.
'Mmm, rum punch.'
Were they serving this as aperitif because of all the sailors present?
With a graceless sniff and wipe of her mouth, the corporal grumbled aloud. "Let's get things straight: My name is Honour. 'Honoria' is my mother's name. I don't know why Leeward always insists on using it for me, too."
Artemis nursed her glass, flexing her wings slightly as if she wanted to say something, but she just looked to Lily, the instigator of both the toast and the investigation into the corporal's designation. Purity was already taking an eager second sip. Aggressive, given how early it was, but Lily knew that the bat could hold her liquor.
"Alright. But seriously though, this is the 'somepony' you didn't want to meet here? Your father, the scene-stealing sailor?"
Honour sighed and nodded her head. "Yeah."
Lily cocked an eyebrow. "And why? Just because he was going to talk everypony's ears off with his sailing stories?"
"That's part of the reason."
The unicorn hung on for the continuation, but when it wasn't forthcoming, she arched her eyebrows and waved her free forehoof around in circles to draw it out.
Honour still seemed reluctant to say anything, and that's when Artemis burst out. "I thought your father was sweet! I mean, I wasn't going to say 'no' if you really wanted to avoid him, but I still don't understand why we had to leave! I liked his story! And everypony else seemed to like it, too!"
But the corporal remained clammed up, prompting Purity to join in, too. "In effect, I found him most charming in our brief encounter. I might even say that to me he appears to embody one of the properties stereotypical of ponies Equestrian: the animated narration of histories."
She wasn't really wrong on that front.
Lily picked up where the others left off. "Hey, stereotypes do exist for a reason. All he was missing was launching into a choreographed musical dance about his sailing experiences."
Honour shuddered with revulsion. "He's got one. But he prefers to sing it with at least a dozen of his crew as chorus and backup dancers. I guarantee you: after he breaks up that sailors' tussle, he'll be grabbing mariners for that very purpose."
Sparkshower pawed her free forehoof on Their Majesties' exquisitely-maintained turf. "Aw, I bet it's really fun to watch. Why aren't we there? Isn't this the Gala? Isn't it made for singing and dancing?"
Lily shot her a grin as she finished another sip. "And drinking."
Ebonshield knocked back the rest of her cocktail, but Lily noted that the Royal Engineer hadn't touched his glass beyond that first toast, while everypony else had gotten at least halfway through theirs.
'Is something the matter?'
Something to check into when Lily was done with the corporal.
Honour turned to Sparkshower with an apologetic frown. "Look, I'm sorry, Artemis. You can go back in if you really want to, at least watching from the top of the staircase, but I just really don't like being around my father."
With a sigh, she swirled her drink a few times and then took another mouthful of it. "I realize he can give off a good first impression. And if I'm being honest, he's a decent singer and a decent dancer, too, even with the leg. But all I can think about when I'm around him is all of the problems he's caused."
That raised a few eyebrows, Lily's included. "Are you kidding me? What kind of problems could be caused by a colt like that? Friendly, charming, well-spoken -- what's the issue?"
Honour just shook her head. "It's family troubles, Glamerspear. You don't want to hear them."
The unicorn snorted. "Hey, I thought we agreed to be on a first-name basis here."
Shrugging, she set her eyes on another round for herself and for the eager sergeant, lighting up her horn to somewhat aggressively hoist over a fresh pair of full glasses from the drinks table, even as she sent the empties back. The tuxedoed stud serving bar treated the exchange as absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, and duly slipped the dirty glasses down into a tray awaiting its inevitable pickup by a busser, before immediately preparing another two glasses for whomsoever thirsty party guests might wander by.
Eb duly took the proffered drink in hoof as Lily continued. "But if you really want to clam up, I suppose that's your prerogative. I don't have any compunction against talking family stuff, myself. And I still see my dad occasionally, even though I hate his guts. I can't imagine your Mister Leeward Bound is worse than my Mister Lobeline Glamerspear."
Sparkshower suddenly drooped her wings in shock, her ears flattening against her head. "Lily, you don't get along with your father either? I didn't think you could find two ponies in all of Equestria who had problems with their family. But am I the only one among us who loves their parents?"
'She really does come from a perfect agrarian idyll of a village, doesn't she?'
As with the chat about saltines and salt-licks, the corporal let her down easy. "It's more common than you might think, Artemis, but that doesn't mean it's common. Although it sometimes is more frequent among guardsponies -- joining the Guard is an easy way to get out of a toxic home, after all."
That seemed to reassure the pegasus mare enough to leave her merely concerned instead of outraged, prompting Honour to turn towards the unicorn. "I'm not getting into a who's-got-the-worst-dad argument with you, Lily."
Glamerspear just snorted. "Yeah, 'cause you'd lose. My mom worked double shifts as a nurse to put my three brothers through college, and would have done the same for me if I hadn't joined the Guard instead. Whereas my dad's a chronically-drunken, chronically-unemployed layabout who'd beat anypony who got between him and his bartender or his bottle -- and that 'anypony' included his family members, regardless of age or sex."
Sparkshower gasped. "That's horrible, Lily!"
She nodded. "It sure is. I still think about shoving a spear down his throat every now and then." With an aggressive sniff unworthy of her Louis Valise dress, Lily took a sip of her fresh drink, and the rum cleared her head a bit. "But then I remember: he's not worth it. My brothers and I are all moved out, and he's just a sad old drunk now who's so wrecked his body and brain with hooch that he can barely stand on his own four hooves."
A dull pain set in on her forehead -- she was either taking the alcohol too fast, or maybe it was just too cold and she was getting an ice-cream headache. "I feel bad for mom since she takes care of him by herself, with occasional help from Lavender -- the youngest of my older brothers, who still lives in Manehattan. Even for all his faults, I know mom'd still miss dad if he was gone. And he can't really hurt anypony but himself anymore."
Lily tried to put on a smile and force her way through both the headache and the ugly memories. "And that's my happy family story. Great way to start off the Gala, huh? So what's your beef with the peg-leg, then?"
Honour let out a deep sigh. "Celestia, you always have to put your hoof in it, don't you? All right, I guess if I'm going to ask us to keep avoiding him, I guess I ought to explain why." Shaking her head, she furrowed her brow. "It's not like in your story. Leeward never laid a hoof on me or my mother. Not that he really would have had the chance to, anyways -- he was always out sailing, away for weeks at a time, cruising across the Celestial Sea, and then back on shore in Fillydelphia only for a few days before heading out once more on another voyage. In fact, if you counted up all the time I've actually spent with my own father, it probably doesn't even add up to one whole year."
Lily nodded, starting to get the idea.
"Sometimes I feel like I barely know him, which makes it really awkward when he tries to act all fatherly towards me, like just now. But that's not why I avoid him -- not the only reason, at least." Honour pointed a forehoof at Ebonshield. "You hit the nail on the head when you said he reminded you of Equestrian stereotypes. In fact, he is an Equestrian stereotype. A walking, talking, singing, and dancing Equestrian stereotype. He's always in a good mood, always optimistic about the future, and he always sees the best in everything. He's patriotic, gregarious, musical, and unflinchingly positive about life..."
That didn't sound bad, just maybe annoying.
Like Lily's feelings about her nerdy brothers, when she was growing up. She still wasn't a fan of geeky crap, but she did appreciate the three of them for being there for her when she needed it. And there was no question about loving them as family, either.
The corporal looked around the circle, holding up a forehoof as if testifying. "I know I can be negative at times-"
"That's an understatement."
Honour ignored Lily's interjection. "-But I like to think I'm just being realistic. Or at least I try to be. And that's the problem with Leeward: reality doesn't mean a thing to him."
Lowering her free hoof, she averted her gaze down towards the ground. "He let me, and more importantly my mother, get away with everything. If she'd frittered away his salary on some scam, leaving us with no new money for clothes or horseshoes and an empty pantry, he didn't want to hear about it, all while hoofing over a fresh purse with his latest salary. If she'd been seen dallying with some other colt while he was out on a cruise, working to bring money in to the family, he didn't care as long as she was in his hooves when he was back on shore. As for me, if I skipped class or got into a fight, instead of setting me straight, he'd just offer up saccharine dreams that I'd sail straight and true the next time he was away."
With a sniffle, she lifted her head back up again. "He isn't a drunkard, and he didn't beat either of us, though sometimes I think it would've been better if he had. He works hard and he's done pretty well for himself, career-wise. He even married above his station: my mother, Honoria Du Rendal, is descended from some old-blood noble family, though she's far removed from any remaining wealth and she's basically never had anything for herself, which is I guess why she kept making frivolous purchases and dumb investments. But he's just such a damned glad-hoofer; he trusts that every problem his family had on shore will sort itself out on its own. I could never get through to him how bad things were with mom running the household in his absence -- and they sometimes got pretty bad. There was a week where my mother sent me out to basically beg for scraps to feed us, because she'd yet again wasted his sailor's pay on some ludicrously obvious fraud investment. And I was only a filly, then. Ponies were always taking advantage of my mother, one way or another, and he didn't care to hear it, let alone lift a hoof to try to put a stop to it. Later, when I started to rebel by skipping out on school and hanging with a tough crowd, he barely reacted at all -- even after my mother raised the alarm about it."
'Geez.'
Lily's dad got pretty rough physically, but it sounded like Honour's issues with her dad really got into her head.
That might actually be worse.
The corporal trailed off, and nopony could find anything to say for a moment.
Then their Very Important Pony, the one who wasn't a pony, looked on sympathetically and spoke up with a pointed question.
"What did he think about your divorce?"
She scoffed. "What divorce? As far as he's concerned, I'm just 'temporarily separated' from my cheating, miscreant ex-husband. Never mind all the paperwork I had to fill out and the meeting with a magistrate to formally terminate the marriage; he thinks all I need to do is give that colt another chance and things will work out in the end."
With a furious glare, the corporal looked up at their VIP. "That's probably what makes me hate being around him the most. Whenever we meet, he inevitably brings the subject of my marriage up, as if we haven't talked about it a million times before. I'm sick and tired of saying 'no' to somepony who I barely know and who never listens to a word I say, unless it's good news." She trailed off once more, and, unable to think of how to properly end her rant, she just looked down at her drink, swirled it around a bit more, then finished it off.
Her problems hitting it off with that slow-playing sergeant from back-home were starting to make a lot more sense. It wasn't just her once-bitten-twice-shy attitude after her divorce; it was because she had more than just her failed marriage staring back at her from Fillydelphia.
Glamerspear broke the silence. "Your family's a big reason you've kept things slow with that Castlerook character, isn't it?"
Honour sighed, pulling her bottom lip up and flattening her ears. "Yeah. Even though I obviously wouldn't be living with my parents, I still don't really want to be there at all. To be fair, mom's not so bad now; she finally wised up, in her middle age. Me enlisting in the Royal Guard was a real wake-up call to her aspirations of grandeur. And I think my divorce put her own situation -- with a devoted and hard working, if hopelessly idealistic husband -- into perspective. She was sympathetic when my marriage fell apart, and that stopped her continuing own dalliances, too. I don't mind talking with her any more. And at least she was always around, so I actually think of her as my parent."
'Yeah, yeah, yeah, ramble on.'
'She's missing the point, though.'
"Okay. And does your Mister Castlerook know that Fillydelphia, and specifically Leeward, is the hangup?"
Honour furrowed her brow. "He was there. For all of it: we used to hang out as foals." A grin appeared on her face. "When I started acting up, I joined him in a small roving gang of youngsters. We were the terror of the neighbourhood, always getting into trouble and scuffles. Nothing major, you understand, just always making pests of ourselves, and feuding with similar groups in adjacent streets. I even spent a few nights in a jail cell, though I was never criminally charged."
'Pfft, 'terror,' yeah right.'
Glamerspear imagined pissed-off shopkeepers shaking forehooves at retreating foals, and sandlot hoofball games ending with bruises and bumps and mothers wagging their tongues at children about sending them off to live on the other side of Equestria. Ponice dragging off quarrelsome teenagers and chucking them in the drunk tank to 'set them straight.' In Manehattan, real gangs pulled out shanks and left blood on the street. Anyways, she was dodging the question again.
Lily put a forehoof on Honour's shoulder and leaned in. "Yeah, okay, he was there, mare -- but does he know? Have you told him?"
She swallowed. "I... No. Not really, I guess. It hasn't come up."
'Well, there's the problem right there.'
Pulling her forehoof off the corporal's shoulder, Lily threw it up in the air and shook her head. "And that's why the two of you are struggling to get that wagon hitched up. I mean, c'mon, Honour, clear communication is 'Relationships 101.'"
'And didn't she say he was here from Filly to help guard the Gala?'
Lily slyly raised an eyebrow. "Is he here tonight?"
Honour nodded. "Yeah. His platoon is posted at one of the connecting hallways to the East wing; or it should be, unless they were reassigned at the last minute. They'll be there until the sailors start to file back to the docks."
Lily blew out a whinny. "Well, there's no time like the present. You want to avoid your dad, the other side of the palace sounds like a good place to start."
She frowned. "He's on duty, Lily."
"Yeah, on duty as a guard posted in an empty hallway. They're there to stop guests from trotting off to sneak some hanky-panky in Their Majesties' Personal Suites, and as backup muscle if the sailors get out of hoof. And they're probably bored out of their minds, or will be soon." Lily chuckled and looked around the group. "I mean, let's be honest. Most guard duty is pretty mind-numbing. I'm happy we're the exception, but we are an exception."
Winking at the Royal Engineer, she shot him a smile. "Of course that's all thanks to you, sir."
Anonymous smiled amusedly. "I thought we were supposed to be on a first-name basis here, Miss Glamerspear."
'Ooh, he put a nice inflection on that.'
'Still, though, maybe now's a good time to pivot.'
"Sorry, Anon. It's a tough habit to break off duty. But is something else wrong? You've barely touched your drink."
The Royal Engineer lifted up his glass and inspected it. "Oh, this? Ah, I didn't want to get hammered before dancing the Lipizzaner Waltz, that's all." With a smile, he looked down at Sparkshower, who was mid-drink "Even after all our practice, I'm still a little nervous about wrong-footing it. When is the dance, actually?"
Lowering her glass, Artemis licked her lips then smacked them. "It's just before the dining room opens at seven o'clock. That's in about an hour and a half. But don't worry, they'll announce when everypony should head over. More spectators makes for better photos of the dance, after all. And if there aren't enough couples -- er, pairs -- to fill the dance floor, as there usually aren't, then the Masters of the Dance go and pick good-looking twosomes out of the crowd to join in for the rehearsal at least."
Although this whole 'Lipizzaner Waltz' started as a fallback from Sparkshower's disastrous idea of dancing the Maypole with their VIP, Lily had to admire the effort she'd put into it. And it did sound kinda fun. "Seems like they play the dance like a big party game."
Artemis nodded excitedly at her. "Yes, that's what I've heard. Except it's for Lords and Ladies and all sorts of fancy elegant ponies!" As if suddenly remembering her chosen dance partner, she flushed red. "...Er, and for fancy elegant non-ponies, too!"
Anonymous chuckled. "It's all right; I understand the appeal of seeing and being seen in the company of fashionable peers. As I said, I'm excited about it myself."
Lily smirked. "Not as much as your dance partner is, I bet. But her enthusiasm'd be hard to top."
On cue, the giddy pegasus started to bounce up and down a bit, narrowly avoiding spilling her drink. "Oooooh, it's going to be sooooo wonderful! Thinking about it almost makes me forgive us skipping out on Their Majesties' receiving line!"
Honour looked apologetically over at her. "I am sorry about that, Artemis. But there'll be another time when we can greet them tonight, I'm sure."
Lily chimed in in support. "Yeah, it's not like Their Majesties are just going to disappear when the receiving line closes. So don't wear yourself out, there's plenty of party left."
Ebonshield cleared her throat. "Do any of you in fact know the schedule complete for tonight? I am of course, happy merely to be present, but curious also as to what activities await us."
Sparkshower immediately piped up. "There was a placard with times at the bottom of the stairs. The receiving line goes until six, then the waltz is at half past, the dining room opens at seven. After that, the main ballroom opens with formal dances at eight, including the Maypole dance, and then at ten-"
Lily interrupted. "At ten is when things really get started. The fussy old fogeys shuffle off home, the orchestra packs up, the DJ rolls in, the lights dim, the speakers blare, the Maypoles get turned into dancing-poles, and everypony can finally let 'er rip."
The red-robed batpony nodded, the black tassel of her hat swinging to and fro. "Ah, excellent. So I have more than four hours to find for myself a partner for dancing? Bueno."
Honour snorted dismissively, but Anonymous chimed in with praise. "With that striking outfit, Purity, I'm sure you'll have a line of suitors going around the whole ballroom."
Now it was Lily's turn to snort. "Yeah, and all of 'em struggling to build up the courage to ask a batpony for a dance."
But the sergeant just smiled. "Ah, this is no trouble. If I see that I have admirers, I will simply pick one and make the invitation myself."
Everybody got a chuckle out of that. The really funny thing was, they all knew it was true. There was no doubt about her aggression when it came to finding herself her own partner. And she was getting plenty of looks in the nightclubs earlier in the week, and that was with a plain black bodysuit. If Honour's father hadn't swooped in and stolen the show with his boisterous joviality, she'd have turned every head in the room.
On that subject, Lily turned back towards the corporal. "So? You going to go talk to Mister Castlerook or not? He's only here temporarily, isn't he? He'll be heading back to Filly' in a few days. You don't want to waste that time."
Honour looked up at the Royal Engineer. "I, uhm... We talked about not splitting up the group and leaving our VIP alone, didn't we?"
But Anonymous put up his empty hand. "My concern was about being left completely alone, and I said it half in jest, too. Go, if you like. We can plan to link up again when the Lipizzaner Waltz begins. That's plenty of time to confer with your boyf-, er coltfriend, isn't it?"
Honour turned red to match her dress at his use of that term. "He's not actually-- It's complicated."
Lily nodded. "Yeah, and it's gonna stay complicated until you spill the beans to him."
She still looked a bit hesitant, so Lily lit up her horn and levitated her drink into the air to free up her limbs, then stepped up to their quaternion leader and planted her forehooves on Honour's shoulders.
"If Fillydelphia is a deal-breaker, tell him, and talk to him about the alternatives." Lily jerked her head over towards Sparkshower, then beckoned her over. "Look at what happened to Artemis -- no offense, Sparks, and sorry to use you as an example -- when she had a communication issue with her colt."
The pegasus one-flapped her way over and Lily switched a forehoof onto her shoulder to bring her into a huddle. "I know I'm not exactly a role model here, but I've seen what happens to friends when they can't get things straight with their colt or mare. Especially recently, ya know?"
Artemis glumly nodded, and eventually, so too did Honour.
Releasing them from the huddle, Lily took a step back and got her drink in hoof once more. The two of them stood there a bit sheepishly, but Purity looked impishly over at her. "You seem tonight to be playing the role of the confidante of the relationships, Lily."
With a casual shrug, the unicorn took the final sip from her glass. "Somepony's got to, or else all five of us will go home from the biggest hook-up event of the year with empty hooves, hearts, and beds."
Eb grinned. "Perhaps you can play also the role of the maker of matches, then. Honour will go and speak to her Castile-rook, and we will stroll around the grounds and the palace and you will indicate to us the colts -- and the mares, for Anónimo -- to whom we should pay the attention particular in the evening, when the dancing modern begins."
'She's got high expectations.'
But Lily liked a challenge, and she whinnied amusedly. "Oh, I can't pretend to be a guide to Gala society." Zipping her empty glass over to the bar and grabbing a new one, she grinned. "But hey, I might as well try. At least I can tell you who I think has managed to nail their outfits -- besides the five of us, obviously."
That brightened up their spirits, and even Honour polished off her drink and nodded to the group. "Okay. I'll meet you all in the ballroom when they call for the waltz."
Everyone nodded.
"Sounds like a plan." And with that, Lily telekinetically gathered the empty glasses from everypony -- except the Royal Engineer, who was still conservatively nursing his own drink -- and floated them over to the bartender colt with a wink and a blown kiss.
She got a polite reserved nod in acknowledgement, and Honour headed off to the far side of the palace, while the rest of her group set off at a slow walk to see who Lily could find to gossip about.
'Let's see, a dance partner for Eb; that'll have to be some young stud as outrageously dressed as she was.'
'For the still-heartbroken Artemis, a demure gentlecolt who'll woo her slowly and gently.'
'The Royal Engineer?'
Lily didn't actually know his tastes -- maybe that was something to find out. Yes, he knew about tufts and wingboners and horn anteglows, and Honour said he could find a pony attractive now, knowing that he wasn't repulsive, but she had never heard him express any preferences.
For example, what kind of plot did he like? Tight? Something with a little meat? Or even more comprehensive?
How much tuft was enough for him, and was there such a thing as too much?
Did he have a favourite color palette or manestyle?
And then there was species, too -- earth, pegasus, or unicorn?
Lily was a little biased about that choice, of course. There were some other species here, too, if he bent that way. In fact, did her VIP have any more... unusual desires? Docks? Fetlocks? Surely he couldn't actually be into "tackplay," as Sparkshower had suggested.
Well, whatever the case, now was certainly the time for him to explore the variety of shapes and styles on display.
And as for herself?
Lily wasn't so sure on that front. Mailedhoof was out, yes; so, too, was her business of being a saltine. She had resolved to turn her career around, but what about her love-life?
The only firm requirement she could think of right now is that she wanted a colt who respected her. Beyond that, she'd just have to see what the luck of the draw brought her.
Suggested interlude music: Daft Punk - 'Get Lucky', featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers [2013] |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 136 | Artemis Sparkshower
Artemis Sparkshower: 19D Armored Scout Specialist, currently of the VIP Section, Canterlot Palace Military Office, Household Division.
She may not have been a Centurion of the Order of the Ram, like her comrade and friend Specialist Lily Glamerspear, or have a Silver Star, like her quaternion leader Corporal Honour Bound, or even be the de facto leader of a whole school of batpony assassins like her extraterrestrial comrade Purity Ebonshield, but Artemis was still proud -- fiercely proud, even -- to be a Royal Guardsmare.
Which was why this situation felt so alien.
Artemis had been on leave a few times, sure -- she'd gone back to Berry to visit her parents, and to visit her Huckleberry. But she'd always gone in her service uniform, flying or taking the train home while wearing with pride her kilt and belted plaid in Skylanders' blue-and-green tartan. And in her mind, on those occasions she'd still been a soldier of the Royal Guard, just temporarily off-duty.
Here, though, as a ticket-holding guest of the Grand Galloping Gala?
Wearing a completely civilian dress?
With matching slippers and a hoofbag?
Addressing not just her comrades by their first names, but also even the Very Important Pony (who wasn't actually a pony) that she was sworn to protect?
It really pulled her mentally out of her sabots.
Having a couple of drinks in her helped, though that wouldn't have been enough on its own -- Artemis had still felt like a guard when the Royal Engineer took them all out drinking Tuesday night in their service uniforms.
What wasn't helping, she felt fairly certain, was the way Lily was pointing out all the attractive, young, and unescorted colts as they walked along in the gardens.
"Hey, how about that looker over there? I know he's a unicorn -- I'm biased, sue me -- but he's got the body of a pegasus, if I do say so myself. Really fills out that suit jacket in the shoulders. Good jawline, too."
The worst part was, Artemis didn't know if she was pointing them out to her or to Sergeant Ebonshield.
Maybe it was better if that remained a mystery.
"Whaddya think, Purity? Or is he too old?"
'Hurricanes!'
With a dismissive laugh, the batpony shook her head, the large tassel on her tall black 'smoking hat' swaying as she spoke. "Oh, the age, I do not mind so much. As long as they can dance -- that is what I seek for tonight, after all."
Lily slyly cocked an eyebrow. "Just dancing? That's all?"
Eb chuckled again. "Just the dancing, yes. The variety vertical first, and perhaps, if they are gifted, later also the kind horizontal."
'Tornadoes!'
So many ponies had joked about what went on behind closed doors at the Gala, but to hear Eb talk openly about it while at the Gala...
As with the feeling of civilianhood, it really grounded the idea that yes, some ponies were sneaking off for secret sex elsewhere in the palace.
Glamerspear continued to needle the sergeant. "And you're absolutely sure your 'Mister Lionheart' won't mind?"
The batpony batted a black-booted forehoof disdainfully. "As I have said previously, I made clear to Gilberto the nature of our relationship temporary. I wish for him ultimately to find a good mare closer to his age. That is the custom here in Equestria, after all."
Even though Artemis was tremendously embarrassed by all this talk, she couldn't help but look at things analytically. "If you want to find a good dancer, it seems to me like you'd want to wait for the music to start and the floor to open up so you can see the colts in action."
Both Lily and Purity looked over at Artemis amusedly, but it was the older mare who spoke. "Of course. But there is no harm in examining the field before the games begin, yes? And sometimes the colts are shy, or too engrossed with their friends and the chit-chat masculine, that they need encouragement to begin dancing. One must be open at any time to seize the opportunity."
Glamerspear snickered. "So, what kind of opportunities are you looking for, Artemis darling?"
'Uh-oh, colt front -- err, cold front -- approaching.'
Or maybe it was a hot front, from the way her cheeks felt inflamed.
Artemis just shook her head and shut her eyes. "I don't know, Lily."
The unicorn glanced around. "Well, going by your last choice -- well, your only choice -- you're into big, strapping stallions. And you said you liked having a colt who was noticeably larger than you were, so that rules out a lot of unicorns and pegasi, but I'm sure we can find somepony to fit the bill. Ya know, an awful lot of Royal Guardscolts are into body-building. Maybe you ought to consider dating inside 'the service.'"
This really wasn't the discussion Artemis wanted to be having right now. She wasn't about to burst into tears over what had happened with Huckleberry again, but the emotional wound was still a bit raw. And she was past the 'rebound' phase that had her sticking her tuft out to their VIP.
Even though on Tuesday night she'd felt uncharacteristically eager enough to chat it up with a few colts on the dance floor, this evening had her feeling subdued and a little embarrassed once more. She felt big again -- in the bad way -- and even though Artemis had confidence that her dress was well-fitted and she was as good-looking as her companions had said she was, she still felt a bit uncomfortable bearing the gaze of the other guests.
The only saving grace was that she was accompanied by two creatures that were even 'bigger' than her, albeit one of them only visually. Purity Ebonshield's deep crimson dress, with matching shawl and accompanying glossy black boots, belt, and tall hat was like a beacon for stares, from colts and mares alike. It hadn't been the case in the rotunda, maybe because everypony was watching for the next guest to arrive, or else paying more attention to Equestria's immortal sovereigns, or even simply because Honour's father, Leeward Bound, stepped in and stole the show. But outside in the gardens, her outfit was a show-stopper; Artemis couldn't imagine Eb would actually need any kind of help finding a dance partner tonight.
And then there was the Royal Engineer, who, although conservatively dressed, still towered head and shoulders over every creature at the Gala, with the sole exception thus far being Her Majesty Princess Celestia.
Maybe if a minotaur or an adult dragon showed up, then he'd be outclassed in the height department.
Regardless, having him in Artemis' little group still made her feel, well, not small, but less big, at least.
It'd be a greater effect if Lily and Purity weren't around for her to tower over. She'd be more isolated for the Lipizzaner Waltz, at least.
Glamerspear seemed to be waiting for an answer from the pegasus, but she just shook her head. "I can't -- I don't really want to think about that right now. Can't we just enjoy the party for now? We'll stick together as a group until at least after dinner, won't we? I don't mind if we split up with dance partners later."
Lily just chuckled in response. "Alright, alright. I don't mean to push ya, Sparks. I'm just saying, keep your eyes open, okay? When the DJ starts playing your favorite track, you'll want to be ready to dance with a colt who makes your wings wanna flutter a bit, ya know? And remember: you don't have to take the hoof of the first colt who asks you, either."
Artemis nodded. "Sure, Lily."
Taking a deep breath, the pink unicorn sighed and looked around at the other guests as their little group came to a brief halt once more. "Well, Miss Purity insists she's got her own eyes open, and Miss Artemis wants to wear blinders until it's dance o'clock, so I guess that just leaves one other party member to try to hook up in advance."
She rolled her head over to face up at their VIP. "So, what's your pleasure, Anon? After your session in the 'Well of Life,' Honour told us you could be interested in ponies, but she was a little short on the details about what specifically interested you."
The Royal Engineer's mouth hung open for a moment before he answered. "That's a good question. I mean..." Taking a look around himself, he inhaled through his nose, then smacked his tongue against his lips. "...I don't really know what I should be looking for. What's actually considered attractive -- to ponies?"
Glamerspear snorted, and Artemis couldn't help but raise a forehoof to her muzzle. Even Ebonshield tittered a bit, but the Royal Engineer took it in stride. "Without getting too technical, I'd have to assume some of the same general physical attractiveness rules apply: bilateral symmetry, particularly of the face, youthfulness, things like good teeth. But beyond that, the rules aren't so clear. Larger eyes are often considered attractive among my people, but pony eyes are off the scale. Long hair is usually another positive trait for females, yet just about every pony has long manes and tails. And your colors are way out of spectrum."
He smiled amiably. "It's all a bit confusing, physically. I assume I'd focus first on finding someone with whom I could build a mental rapport. Perhaps a fellow inventor or engineer."
With a sly grin, Lily stepped out in front of the Royal Engineer, gathering Artemis and Ebonshield up in her forehooves, drawing them both in close beside her. "Oh, yeah, sure, having the same interests and such is important in the long run, but you can't ignore the physical needs, ya know?"
She glanced conspiratorially between the two ponies still beside her. "We've got a nice little spread here, I think. On my left, you've got an exotic beauty, graceful and athletic, experienced and determined."
Eb fluttered her eyes, then covered her muzzle and started to chuckle like she could see where this was going.
"On my right, you've got small-town mare-next-door. Sweet, and maybe still a bit innocent, but strong and committed."
Artemis wasn't sure what she was supposed to do.
'Why is she introducing me like this?'
Anonymous knew who she was, especially after the talks they'd had -- in his office, in the garage, even the rambling, progressively-more-drunk, barely-remembered conversation Tuesday night, in-between bars and nightclubs.
"And in the middle, you've got the party mare, emotional and headstrong."
Purity stopped giggling long enough to speak up. "And who likes to play the games childish and silly!"
"And who likes to play silly children's games, sure. But you got a little spread of marely body shapes and personalities here before you, so why don't you take another look, and tell us which of us speaks loudest to that other part of you, the one that isn't your mind, ya know?"
As she waggled her eyebrows and pursed her lips, Artemis struggled in her grasp. "Lily! That's not a very polite question!"
Eb joined the unicorn in fluttering eyelids and making kissy-faces, and the pegasus ceased resisting, wondering if maybe she was in the wrong, but Anonymous just shook his head, laughing.
"Come now, you're asking me to play favorites. We're informal tonight, but we do have to work together afterwards."
'That's right!'
Their VIP was a gentlecolt!
Relenting, Lily released Ebonshield and patted Artemis on her shoulder. "Hey, I'm just trying to break the ice by lightening the mood. Sorry, Sparks. I just don't want Anon to feel uncomfortable spilling some of the beans on his desires. I mean, everypony's got their preferences, right?"
That mollified her a bit, and Lily looked up at the Royal Engineer. "...So don't tell me you don't have any, Anon. You don't pick your partner based on what society says you should find attractive, you pick 'em based on what you do find attractive. And none of us are gonna laugh at you for what you prefer, right?"
Purity nodded. "Certainly."
Artemis was still a bit flustered from the question, but she nodded, too. "Of course."
Lily rubbed her forehooves together. "So how about it? There's lots of mares out here. What do you find interesting? Help us help you."
Anonymous took the aggressive assistance in stride, taking a sip of his drink and slipping his free hand into his pants pocket. "Okay. If you want the honest truth, most ponies look pretty 'cute' to me. The bright colors, the body fuzz, the long mane-and-tail hair, the height difference... It's 'cute' like the way a puppy or kitten is 'cute,' though, which is a bit of a psychological hill to surmount."
He cleared his throat. "...I mean, a puppy or kitten is adorable, but you wouldn't, you know..."
Taking another sip, he shrugged. "Beyond that, I admit I've thought a bit about wings and horns. Feathered wings cross into genuinely 'pretty'; something about the splendor of the arrangement of all those feathers, I think. And unicorn horns, well, physically they don't really do anything for me, but magic is pretty interesting, and, uh, I can imagine some, let's say, exotic applications."
That comment about 'splendor' made Artemis feel a bit tingly, but Lily shook her head. "Boss, I hate to tell ya, but you ain't the first wingless colt to be dazzled by pegasus plumage or wondering what'd be like to get a glow-job."
'...Glow-job?'
'Is that because when a unicorn 'holds' something telekinetically, it glows?'
Artemis had no doubts about what was being 'held' in that act.
Ebonshield quickly extended her wings out of her red dress. "And the wings of leather, you have not considered them? Certainly enough of them have been flapped in your direction."
Anon glanced down into his glass, swirling the dregs of punch around. "They certainly have. You, Carmen, Sister Lucretia... I can't really say bat wings do anything particular for me, though I've nothing against them, either."
The batpony gracefully folded her appendages back up in good humor. "I understand, naturally. I find the feathers of the pegasi most majestic also, and while my Gilberto has yet to make use of his horn in bed, I look forward to when he finds the confidence and attentiveness to do so."
Glamerspear held up a forehoof. "In the interest of fairness for the pony species not represented in present company, let me remind you that you've managed to tire every one of us out in combat training, with the exception of our earth pony, Honour. And, while we don't know anything about how your species does gland-to-gland combat, from how you handled the hoof-to-hoof variety, you might find yourself pining for that hardy breed of pony."
'Oh, my!'
"¡Ja-ja-ja-ja-jaa!"
The unicorn's forward comment about sexual endurance got Artemis' cheeks rosy and sent Ebonshield into high-pitched tittering again.
'To imagine a colt tiring out their mare in bed...'
Anonymous looked about as embarrassed as Artemis was by the current trend in conversation, with Glamerspear and Ebonshield practically ganging up to uncover his sexual preferences.
It really wasn't very nice of Lily to do this.
And it wasn't very nice of Purity to go along with it, either.
The batpony dabbed a forehoof at her eyes to wipe away tears, then playfully reached up a little to tap Anon's ribs with the back of her hoof. "Our Anonimo is a 'good sport' to suffer stoically the slings and the arrows of our propositions outrageous. But let us now--¡¡¡Sombras!!!" Purity's eyes went as wide as dinner plates and the purple color seemed to drain right out of her face as she stared at something behind Sparkshower and Glamerspear.
Everypony turned to look at the object of her horror.
Just stepping out from the palace into the gardens was a young colt with a dark-grey coat and a thin black mustache, wearing a white jacket with black lapels bearing elegant floral embroidery. Accompanying him was a slender older mare with a red dress with four layers of ruffles in the back, each one trimmed with black and a thin ribbon of gold.
And that's when Artemis noticed that both of them had leather wings folded up against their sides. "Batponies!"
Lily furrowed her brow. "What? Batponies? You mean, more than just the one we brought?" But when she saw them too, her jaw dropped, and she almost dropped her drink as well.
While the three ponies gawked at the two foreigners, their Very Important Pony just shrugged. "What's the problem? I invited one, why couldn't somebody else? Perhaps they're members of the Night Guard?"
That would make a lot of sense, but regardless, Artemis felt certain that there had never been any of their kind at the Gala before. Surely, in spite of Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell, which only applied to soldiers anyways, and given that the batponies had only been in Equestria for two years now, word would have gotten out if any of them had attended a previous gala. Especially if they didn't even try to hide their bat wings!
Not that Ebonshield was particularly trying to hide hers, but Artemis had imagined that she would have been the sole exception.
As the pegasus tried to process things in her head, she barely registered her own leather-winged companion's speech. "Those two are not members of the Guardia de la Noche. And we have met at least one of them before."
Nor did Artemis notice her tall VIP's reply. "Ah, yes. I see now."
She could only watch, stunned, as the well-dressed duo approached their group, the mare beaming a wide smile. "Why, if it isn't our dear friend the Royal Engineer of Equestria! How are you this evening?"
Artemis recognized that flowery Canterlot voice. Her VIP didn't miss a beat in replying. "Good evening, Reverend Mother Superior. I'm very well, thank you. What a pleasure to meet you here at the Grand Galloping Gala."
It was Carmen, the religious and political leader of the batponies.
Without her coating of white body-powder, she was almost unrecognizable to Artemis, but Anon had met her unpowdered before -- in the Well of Life, inside the Lunar Sanctuary, where she'd given him a massage. The pegasus didn't know the colt she was with; perhaps he was one of those hooded lunars who accompanied her entrance into the Grand Hall of Stars?
"Oh, believe me, my Lord Engineer, the pleasure is all mine..."
Carmen actually bowed to the Royal Engineer -- she curtsied, in fact, using her wing-fingers to spread out the bottom of her dress. Purity was already stunned just from seeing her subterranean-dwelling mother at the Gala; this act of deference to their VIP seemed to shock her even further into utter disbelief.
'Wasn't this the pony to whom our entire group had to bow when she visited?'
Granted, Anon was considered an 'honorary Lunar' now, but even so.
The slender batpony rose up from her bow, still wearing a smile. "...After all, I must thank you for enabling us Children to attend this most magnificent of Equestrian festivities."
'Enabling them to attend?'
'What did the Royal Engineer do to get Reverend Mother Carmen an invitation?'
"I'm not sure I understand, Your Reverence."
Carmen stepped up and indicated her still-flabbergasted daughter with one forehoof. "No? Then allow me to explain. Since the previous Gala, The Great Mother had considered issuing tickets to some fine representatives of the Children, but she was concerned about the possibility of an incident. Even though it has been two years since we clashed with our Equestrian kin, and even though I proposed to bring only Lunars with me, the Great Mother still demurred. And while the Night Guard were established soon after the Great Mother's return, with a pledge to renounce past animosities, they have twice been denied the honor of executing their duties on the night of the Grand Galloping Gala."
That same forehoof turned back to touch a little bit of tuft showing above the cut of her dress. "But for this year, when it was clear that one of the Children would already be attending, and a Star at that, the Great Mother demurred no longer. Your action, as Her chosen in the matter of reconciling our two peoples, spurred Her to agree to our presence earlier this week."
Ebonshield finally found her balance once more, stammering out incredulously. "The Guardia de la Noche patrols the palace walls tonight? How many of the Children attend the Gala?"
Carmen looked at Purity as if she was just noticing her daughter for the first time. "Such impatient questions! Do you not trust in the Great Mother's wisdom, Stellar Seventh? Regardless, I will answer you: Yes, the Night Guard will patrol the walls of the palace tonight, though the security of the Gala itself remains in the capable hooves of the Royal Guard. And as for Children attendees, I have brought with me three Sisters and three Brothers of the Lunars."
She looked over at her escort, one of the 'Brothers.' "Altogether, including the two of us, we are eight, the sacred and auspicious number."
Artemis felt like she was missing something -- something important.
'The presence of batponies at the Gala, the use of the Night Guard for the palace walls...'
That's when it hit her.
"You're the 'unspecified threat' to the Gala!"
The pegasus' sudden outburst shocked her companions almost as much as when they saw Carmen and her escort in the first place.
But if the religious leader of the batponies was taken aback, she didn't show it. "I beg your pardon, miss Sparkshower?"
'Oops.'
'I may have pushed this cold front a bit too fast.'
"I'm sorry, your Reverence. I had overheard at the First Air Division that they've been on high alert due to 'unspecified' threats to the Gala passed down from Intelligence." Feeling like a soldier once more, Artemis furrowed her brow and looked over at Sergeant Ebonshield. "Intel would have known of the potential of the Night Guard going on duty and tickets being issued to the Children, but because of Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell rules, they couldn't inform the soldiers. So the threat was just left as 'unspecified.' I've been wondering what it was all this time since; it has to be you and your kin."
Carmen fluttered her eyes and shook her head. "If you say so. I certainly couldn't pretend to understand the complexities of Equestria's defenses. But, as for being a threat, my child, neither myself nor any of my Lunars have brought with us any weapons, for to wield a weapon is anathema to the Lunars. In fact, I would imagine the only armed batpony here at the Gala is the one accompanying you."
She slyly looked over at Purity, who acknowledged the statement with a nod.
Glamerspear cut in accusingly. "Yeah, well, maybe none of you are armed, but you'll excuse me if I keep my eyes open and my horn lit for any Night Guards straying over here from the outer walls. Like, ya know, the fifteen bats who tried to murder all of us a week ago."
The Reverend Mother Superior took even this accusation in stride, reassuring the unicorn as a mother would a child. "It pains me to know that their deplorable actions on that awful day still haunt you, my dear. If you would permit it, I would be privileged to welcome you into the Lunar Sanctuary for the purposes of helping to heal that trauma. I'm sure that the Lord Engineer and your comrade Corporal Bound could attest to the Well's curative properties. Until then, it may perhaps reassure you to know that the entire Temple of the Swarming Meteors, from whose ranks Marcos drew his accomplices, have been punished for their malfeasance by being banned until further notice from Night Guard duties."
She looked to Artemis and gave a small nod. "And I should note that each Night Guard patrol tonight will be accompanied by representatives of the Royal Undermountain Constabulary, as an additional concession to safety for all concerned."
In spite of Sergeant Ebonshield's friendliness with the border agents in that strange outpost hidden in an orchard shed, the impression the pegasus had always gotten was of coldness between the batponies and the R.U.C who guarded access to the Rookery, almost like the relationship between prisoners and their jailers. She couldn't imagine that adding Royal Guards into each Night Guard group would reduce tensions; if anything, they would increase it. But if anypony in the Night Guard had had designs to disrupt the Gala, she supposed that the presence of Royal Guards should dissuade them.
The Reverend Mother Superior beamed a warm smile to everypony in the group. "Well, this has been a pleasant encounter. It is always reassuring to greet familiar faces at a party. But I'm sure you must all have your own destinations and desires for tonight, and I would not dream to impose upon them. And I must admit for my own part that, as I have so rarely been in the great Palace of Canterlot, I wish to take full advantage of this invitation so as to socialize and establish rapport with our Equestrian kin. After all, the Great Mother surely does not expect you to shoulder the entire burden of reconciling our peoples, my Lord Engineer."
Anonymous bowed. "Of course. I wish you an excellent and enjoyable evening, Your Reverence."
Carmen curtsied again, and the unnamed and so-far silent 'Brother' similarly gave a bow, and then they departed, heading off through the gardens, along the outer face of the palace.
Glamerspear scrunched up her muzzle. "Crazy seeing her here. D'you think they introduced her at the door as 'Reverend Mother Superior'?"
Artemis shook her head. "The attendant did introduce Purity with her full title."
Eb nodded. "This is so. I cannot imagine Carmen permitting anything less."
Lily turned to their senior comrade. "Look, I know she welcomed us to the Rookery, and we're all honorary Stars and Lunars and all that, smiles all around, and nopony's accosted us since your brother attacked us, but do you really trust her and her cronies here?"
The batpony chuckled. "That is a question most open. If you mean, do I trust that she has not come to stab anypony with the blades, then yes, I do trust that she spoke the truth in this. Lunars do not carry weapons, generally. I believe she plans indeed to conduct the diplomacy and the politics, as she has said." She sniffed, and finally seemed to re-compose herself after the shock of seeing her mother here in the Palace garden. "I did not think that the Great Mother would so soon permit the presence of my kin in the public. But I likewise did not think that Equestrians would be allowed to enter the Rookery so soon as well, particularly without an escort."
Eb looked up at their VIP. "Matters between Equestrians and Children have progressed quickly since I have entered your service, Anónimo."
Anonymous sighed. "They're about to progress a lot quicker, I suppose. Songwell sent word earlier today that he'd found an excellent potential location for my foundry, and I have to admit it looked good enough on paper that I forwarded it to Purse Strings for review. We might visit the place tomorrow afternoon, if any of us are in a fit state to go out."
That got Glamerspear grinning again. "Oh? So you are coming around to ponies, after all?"
Their VIP just smiled. "Ask me again after the Lipizzaner Waltz, when I've got a few more drinks in me. I'm not quite loose enough right now to start babbling about what floats my boat."
"Oh, I will, Anon, I promise!"
Lily and Purity started tittering again between them, and all Artemis could do was shake her head. With Honour elsewhere, did that make Artemis the 'responsible one,' even though she was the youngest?
Not that she wasn't also interested in hearing what, uhm, 'floated' the Royal Engineer's 'boat.'
'He liked wings...'
'Did he like anything else?'
'Maybe something he saw?'
Artemis was the furthest in size from a puppy or kitten...
Suddenly she didn't feel so big-in-a-bad-way any more.
She felt big-in-a-good-way.
'Yep.'
'I am a big mare, and yes, Glamerspear was right, I do need a big, strong colt.'
Maybe even somepony she already knew, and who already knew her. If only she could have a serious conversation about things. With all this joking and ribbing from Lily and Purity, though...
...Well, it sure wasn't making it easy.
Suggested interlude music: Massari - 'Be Easy' [2006] |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 137 | Honour Bound
"You sure ain't making this easy, Honour."
Sergeant Alexander Castlerook wasn't very happy with the corporal. His frustration wasn't completely unwarranted; after all, Honour Bound had never really flat-out refused his offer to go back to Fillydelphia. She'd been waffling, sure, and she'd mentioned wanting to finish her tour of duty with the Royal Engineer, yes, but she hadn't said 'no'. Which meant he was well within his rights to think she was going to say 'yes'.
But she also remembered that he'd left open the possibility of living somewhere else, too, and that was all she was asking for. He ought to have remembered that, and she could just point it out.
But his surprising reply to her honest admission about Fillydelphia being the hang-up, which hadn't been easy for her to do, put Honour in a combative mood. "Is it supposed to be easy?"
Castlerook, his helmet polished to a show-ready shine, lifted an eyebrow. "With you? No, I suppose it wasn't ever gonna be." He sighed. "Nothing was ever easy with you, even growin' up."
Honour frowned. "What are you trying to say?"
His expression softened. "Just that with you, it was always about big changes. You never did anything small."
'Never did anything small?'
Planting her plot on the floor, Honour folded her forehooves in front of her chest. The low cut of her Gala dress made her tuft stick up a bit when she did. "Now you're accusing me of being a drama queen?"
Lifting a forehoof, he drew her back down onto her four hooves and led her up the hallway, further away from his stationed squad of guards and the blind palace hallway corner they were controlling. "No, damn it. I'm saying you're always about extremes. Whatever you're doing right now, it's always the best, and whatever you were doing before, it was the worst, and the difference between them is like night and day."
With a rueful expression, he looked her up and down. He'd definitely never seen her like this, in a short-cropped, lacy red dress that left little to the imagination and focused attention on curves which Honour was never particularly confident of having, let alone showing. As uncomfortable as it was to make the admission, Honour's lascivious outfit was making things even more awkward.
Castlerook shook his head. "Whenever you get fed up with one thing you always have to go and make a complete about-face to do something completely different."
Honour knew her life had taken some funny turns, but from the way he was putting it, she'd been lurching from crisis to crisis. With her brow still furrowed, she sat down on her haunches once more, allowing just the tiniest scrap of red fabric to splay outwards on the floor. Once again, she crossed her forelegs, though she tried to minimize the tuft-push this time.
Castlerook knew Honour well enough to take her stance as a cue to continue. "I could start with when you decided to up and join the VIP corps on account of Fillydelphia no longer being to your liking. Never mind that it's a big city and there's plenty of ways to avoid running into certain ponies if you really wanted to, but there's cities all up and down the coast with garrisons that would've gladly taken you in. Or even a regular regiment out here, if you needed to be away from the sea. You could've kept on being a regular soldier and easily made staff sergeant by now, if you wanted to, instead of becoming a professional bodyguard."
The corporal didn't really know what to say to that, though it was true that when she'd first seen Castlerook here in Canterlot she'd pined for his rank, and reconsidered both her decision to join the VIP corps and to stay in for so long. It was kind of him to say that she deserved to be an E-6, above his E-5. As much as she'd consistently found it difficult to take a compliment, Castlerook had always been an honest, if often reserved, colt.
As Honour remained silent, the sergeant continued. "But even before you left, you were always all about the big changes. I remember the day you decided to join the Guard. You'd barely mentioned it before, and usually only dismissively, yet you were suddenly so adamant that it was the right thing to do, you managed to convince me to sign up as well. You made good points, after all: decent pay and benefits, a roof over your head, provisions for family, and a potential career. What else did any of our little gang have going for ourselves? And when you met, well, I won't say his name, but you were convinced it was the absolute biggest and best thing that could ever happen to you. When it didn't work out, you took his plot straight to magistrate's divorce court."
She started to open her mouth, but Castlerook raised a forehoof. "I can't blame you for that one, of course. He was scum, and he treated you like dirt. You never deserved that. But most mares would've given their colt a second chance, maybe sought some counselling, at least talked to their parents first." That same forehoof waved about dismissively. "I guess it wasn't going to happen in your case, but that wasn't the biggest change, anyways. It was how you acted afterwards: you went and did night class to get your proper diploma after having skipped so much high school. And then you started going to all those classes, the Yakistani Yoga, the new-age gong ensemble, that acrobatic dance school, the speed-dating clubs, the free lecture series at Filly U, and all those book clubs. Books! You started reading books -- not just reading, really, devouring, it seemed like. Big ones, too. For somepony who barely read before then, I thought for sure you were about to apply to college. You even started talking different."
It was true that Honour had gone through quite an intellectual renaissance after the divorce. At the time, college had crossed her mind, but she wasn't quite sure about the idea. Even with a high school equivalency diploma, she knew she had a lot of catching-up to do if she wanted to get a degree.
And then there was the cost...
She vaguely remembered factoring the Royal Guard's 'Gallop In-listed' benefits, including college tuition, into her calculation for entering the Royal Guard.
'Whatever happened to that idea of punching out when your six years were up?'
Her reenlistment deadline was coming up this summer.
'But still, as for Castlerook's big point, isn't he exaggerating?'
"A messy divorce that gave me an early mid-life crisis is hardly a pattern."
He chuckled. "Heh, no, but with you it goes all the way back. Don't you remember? You were restless at school, so you started skipping class. You felt neglected at home and got into a big argument with your mom, so you started slumming it on the street on weekend nights. You got worried that you wouldn't add up to anything when you grew old, so you damn near started a gang, and we terrorized the neighbourhood."
Those were juvenile acts of rebellion, and destructive ones at that. The way he was laughing about it stung a bit, and she felt her frown intensifying.
But then his smile turned warm, and she felt herself melting in his gaze. "...I never told you this, but I always admired that about you."
Honour felt her forehooves droop away from her chest. "What?"
Castlerook stepped closer, and the part of her that might want to take a step back stayed silent. "It takes a lot of willpower to up and change everything about your life the way you always do. Even if I disagreed with some of your moves, I appreciated how you always put your whole heart into whatever you decided you were gonna do. I can still see it now, with the way you say you want to stick by your VIP until the end. And you're holding fast about Fillydelphia, too."
Castlerook licked his lips, his muzzle inches from Honour's. "I can't do it like you do, make big changes to try something completely new. So I admired that quality in you, and I followed along for a bit, as I could." He bobbed his head sideways. "When you said you were leaving Filly' to join the VIP Corps, I half thought about joining you. I know you never asked me to. You never asked me to join the gang or the Guard either. But I did, and I thought about following you again a third time, too. Just couldn't bring myself to make that big of a change, though. I didn't have the strength to pull up that many roots. I was too comfortable where I was at; I always get too comfortable where I'm at."
Honour's forehooves fell away, and for a moment, she had to look away from him.
He was right, of course; she really did have a habit of completely changing direction.
And of looking down on her past.
But that wasn't a virtue.
It was just the result of frustration and panic.
Alexander was the one who had it right; finding stability wherever he was.
"No; you've got it backwards, Alex. I don't have any patience. I get so frustrated with big problems I just throw everything away, the good and the bad." Honour shivered as she remembered the way she blew up at Anonymous when he rearranged his room without her formal presence. Or even the way she'd fallen into Ebonshield's pitfalls of frustration trying to learn her 'Stellar Dance' contortions. "I'm still doing it. I still haven't learned. And I'm never happy: I always feel like I'm on shaky ground, like the floor's about to fall out from underneath my hooves."
Castlerook's grin disappeared, replaced by a stoic look of concern that was somehow supremely comforting.
"...You're the one who's got things right, finding comfort wherever you are, and succeeding because of it." Honour looked away, down at the ground. "I know I'm asking a lot by vetoing Fillydelphia. It's your home."
There was the barely-audible clinking of armor as he leaned in close enough that she could feel his breath against her cheek. "You're not asking for anything more than what I offered, though. I did say it didn't have to be 'Filly, didn't I? I guess I was hoping to convince you to come back anyways, though."
Honour shook her head, then looked him in his piercing green eyes. "I'm sorry. Like I said, it's Leeward. I just can't deal with him. The way he just runs roughshod over me, even over my mom, smiling the whole time. Meeting him again now reminded me just how much I can't stand it."
Alex drew back. "Yeah, I know; I've seen him do it. I thought about maybe giving him a talking-to before the Gala. Maybe I'll still try tomorrow, if he hasn't sailed out by then."
She scoffed. "They'll all be too hung-over to sail anywhere, I'm sure. You'd have time. Not that I think it'd make a difference, given how many talks my mother and I have had with him."
He raised an eyebrow. "You never know. Sometimes a fresh voice can change someone's mind. I got to wondering a bit if maybe your father is a bit 'old-fashioned.'"
'Old-fashioned?'
Honour scrunched up her muzzle. "Ignoring reality is 'old-fashioned'?"
But her soft-spoken admirer just chuckled again. "It is when the ones trying to convince you are all mares. Now, if a colt told him the same things you've tried to tell him, maybe then it'd be another story. There's some colts out there -- mares too, I've met 'em -- that think all mares are hysterical, and only colts have their hooves planted firmly on the ground, so it's only colts worth listening to. Not that they aren't polite to mares, but they don't pay any mind to words they speak about major happenings, that's all."
Honour really didn't know enough about Leeward -- about her own father -- to make a call one way or another on that one.
"I don't know. Maybe..." She shrugged. "I guess it might explain a few things about him."
Castlerook leaned in close again. "If he is what I think he is, then maybe I could straighten him out. D'you think that then you might be able to put up with him?"
Honour came here to tell Alexander that she couldn't do Fillydelphia because of Leeward. She'd expected some push-back, yes, but not this kind of attempt at 'problem-solving'. And it was hard to say 'no' to somepony as genuine as she knew Castlerook was.
She sighed. "Now you're the one not making this easy."
He backed off a bit. "Sorry..." Wearing a rueful expression, he swallowed. "You mean enough to me that I'm willing to move away from Filly. But I do have all my roots laid down there, and I'm not as entrepreneurial as you. It's going to be a big change." Glancing momentarily down at the ground, he nodded as he faced her again. "I'd still like to take a run at fixing your problems with Leeward. But I promise I won't push Filly' again unless I think I've already solved them."
Then he grinned. "Since you're set on finishing your tour of duty with your current VIP, I guess I've got a little time to try things out, and to look into alternative postings suited for the two of us. Both of our enlistments are coming up this summer; we can easily reenlist somewhere together. Just don't go doing something radical on me in the meantime."
''Something radical'?'
Honour had to chuckle at that. "Hah! Too late. On Monday, Her Majesty Princess Celestia signed my quaternion and my VIP up for the Grand Mêlee. We're officially in the MXP Games, along with my Very Important Pony and his steam-powered carriage."
Castlerook whinnied with amusement. "Really? Well, good luck, then. Wish I could be here to see it. You better show all those high-flyin' pegasi and spell-slingin' unicorns how the fighting's done down in the dark alleys of the Fillydelphia docks."
His charm was disarming, and Honour finally found herself feeling genuinely relaxed once more.
Behind her, there was a clatter of hooves coming to a sudden stop, and the sudden shuffle of guards standing to attention as two tittering lovers were stopped in their tracks.
"Hihihihi-Oh!"
"Ohohohoh-Oh!"
Both Bound and Castlerook turned to find a young mare and a middle-aged, whiskered colt rounding the blind corner, suddenly interrupted in their forwardly-playful nuzzling by the presence of a squad of Royal Guardsponies.
Honour's beau immediately stepped away from her and put up a forehoof. "Sir, ma'am, I'm sorry, but this area of the palace is off-limits except to authorized personnel. Would you please return to the marked areas of the Grand Galloping Gala."
The grey-whiskered colt, clearly embarrassed at being caught trying to sneak off to enjoy his nubile young partner, started nodding his head and waving the soldiers off with a forehoof. "Oh, of course, of course, my apologies. Got a bit lost, that's all."
As he held the forehoof up quizzically, feigning a need for directions, Honour stared down his partner.
His very large-tufted partner.
His very large-tufted, bat-winged partner.
And she knew exactly where she'd seen those eyes, too.
Castlerook indicated the way back to the party. "That way, sir, ma'am."
"Oh, of course, of course, thank you, Sergeant! Come, my dear."
Honour couldn't resist giving a small curtsy to the mare, who was still smiling obliviously. "Good evening, Sister Lucretia."
The way her slit-oval irises popped wide open told the corporal she hadn't recognized her. But it only took her a second to put the pieces together, and she curtsied back even as the unicorn colt she'd dug her hooves into tried to lead her away. "Corporal Bound. Good evening to you as well."
The forced grin Lucretia gave Honour as she headed back to the party with her catch told the corporal everything she needed to know.
She looked over at Castlerook. "You saw the wings, right?"
He nodded. "I'm not supposed to see 'em, but I still saw 'em. Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell is still in effect for me and mine. But not for you, I take it, what with you already having been introduced."
Honour chuckled. "Yeah, we're way past DADT in my VIP quaternion. Special orders from Her Majesty Princess Luna herself. My VIP is on assignment, and we're his bodyguards."
Castlerook stepped back over to her, a proud smile on his face. "Really? Maybe you should reconsider if you're really on shaky grounds here after all, then. I can't imagine either of Their Majesties suffering fools gladly."
Honour snorted. "Or maybe fools are all She's got."
Getting in close once more, he nuzzled his muzzle up against hers. "Hey, come on, don't talk like that, putting yourself down." Alex reached down and picked up one of her forehooves in two of his own. "Look. I'm on docks duty tomorrow, but after that let's meet up and talk more about where you think you'd want to be. The regiment isn't scheduled to pack up and head home until mid-week. It'd be good to talk details face-to-face."
Unused to the intimate physical contact -- not that it was unwelcome -- Honour couldn't bring herself to actually say anything to his plan, so she just nodded.
He gave her a soft smile. "We'll make this work, I promise."
All she could do was breathlessly reply, "Okay."
Alexander pulled back away from her, but not before pausing to kiss the forehoof he was holding.
When he let go, he nodded back down the hallway. "Now, you go and enjoy the big party out there, Honour."
Feeling flush -- 'did it suddenly get hotter in here?' -- she tried to collect herself, patting down her dress and mane with a forehoof. "Thanks. Have a good night, Alex."
He grinned. "Don't worry, I will."
With a furtive last glance, Honour awkwardly turned around and rounded the corner, heading back to the Gala -- and to be specific, towards the main ballroom.
It was almost time for the Lipizzaner Waltz, and with how long it'd taken her to find Castlerook, Honour didn't have a lot of time to make it back before the dancing started. Not that she was going to dance, but she did promise to be back in time before it started, and on top of that, Honour felt like she owed Artemis to be present for her big number.
She'd put a lot of effort into learning the dance steps -- her and the Royal Engineer both. The least Honour could do was show her appreciation by attending.
'Huh.'
She was feeling unusually upbeat about things all of a sudden. The chat with Castlerook really must've taken a load off her mind. It was a nice feeling, although she wasn't given much time to enjoy it before she hit denser crowds, many of whom were similarly drawing inwards to the main ballroom, just off the main rotunda where the Princesses had set up their receiving line.
Clearly, the Lipizzaner Waltz promised to be well-spectated.
Just outside the ballroom in question, one of Her Majesty's impeccably-clad unicorn servants stood on a small podium advertising the event. "Ladies and Gentlecolts, Their Majesties invite you to the ballroom for the first dance of the evening."
There was no way even a tenth of the total Gala attendees could possibly fit in there, not with all the space required for dozens of couples to dance, but that might not stop many from trying.
The crowd became increasingly thick and impossible to push through; if Honour wanted to see what was going to happen, she'd have to improvise. She inelegantly reared up on her hind hooves for a quick glance ahead.
Ponies were still filing in through the sets of Prench doors, slowly. But there was an alternative: the ballroom took up two stories, and the upper floor also had sets of Prench doors with slim ledge 'Verona' balconies looking in. And even though it was crowded here, there was still enough time that it might not yet be crowded upstairs.
Turning around, Honour hustled back towards the staircase as quickly as her scanty dress allowed her.
'Hmm, what would Castlerook have to say about this, given his little speech just a few moments ago?'
'Another radical change, another 'entrepreneurial' course alteration?'
Or had she just given up, and maybe too soon when she could've gotten into the ballroom proper? Well, he's the one who told her he admired the trait in her-- no reason to stop on his account.
As she crested the stairs, she was relieved to be proven correct; there were plenty of completely empty viewing balconies. And more than that -- she spotted Glamerspear and Ebonshield doing their best to fully occupy one of the central platforms with the best viewing angle.
Lily spotted Honour and waved her over with one forehoof, holding one drink in her other hoof, with a second cocktail suspended next to her in her telekinetic grip. "Hey, Honour, over here! Got us a prime spot!"
Now that there was no rush, she took her time to stride over in a rather more elegant fashion.
Eb perked up at Honour's arrival, and the corporal noticed that she had a glass in hoof as well. "Bienvenida, Honour. Come, join us on our balconcito privado!"
While the corporal was in a good mood herself, both of them seemed to be possessed of a suspiciously alcohol-fuelled enthusiasm.
'How deep into their cups are these two?'
Honour raised an eyebrow. "I would've thought you'd be front-row downstairs. Or did you also arrive late?"
Glamerspear shook her head and floated her surplus drink in Honour's direction. She doubted it was Lily's original intention to share it with her, but what the heck; she took it. "Nah, we've been here for a bit. But I figured we'd get a better view up here anyways. How'd your meeting go?"
Honour glanced down into the ballroom before answering. As a contrast to the palace's overall magical purple color palette, this room had bright cream walls that filled the room with light, with opulent glittering gold trim to match. Down on the parquet floor, there were at least twenty couples eager to dance already, including a fairly conspicuous biped colt and his accompanying pegasus.
The outer three edges of the room were filling up with spectators fast, five ponies deep. In one corner on a set of raked stands there was a live chamber orchestra that looked to be at least thirty musicians, plus a conductor. There was a podium in front of them for a master of ceremonies and, in the opposite corner, another raised podium with a small mounted movie camera and a pair of ponies attending to it. Everything looked set up to go.
"My meeting went alright." As much as Honour's relationships were her own private realm, she probably owed Lily more than a platitude. After all, if she hadn't pushed the corporal, she might not have laid it all out for Castlerook. Then she'd still be in slack water with him, instead of on a much more definite course. And it did feel good to resolve that lingering issue. "He agreed that we'll leave Filly, and we're going to talk details before his regiment gets sent back."
Lily smiled and raised her glass up. "Sounds good! Here, let's have a toast to at least one of us four being on track to solving their relationship issues!"
Purity snorted amusedly. "I do not recall having any such issues."
But the unicorn had an instant reply to that. "I don't see a colt hanging off your wing. Who're you gonna dance with tonight, huh? That's a relationship issue right there."
The batpony laughed. "Very well, I concede your point. ¡Salud!" The three of them raised their glasses in unison, clinked them together, and then drank.
Looking down over the balcony again, it seemed like things were about to begin. The M.C., a dashing stallion dressed in a tailcoat with neatly-brushed hair and a glowing smile, had his assistants arranging all the couples in a grid, spacing them out evenly. It seemed like they were only missing maybe three or four more to fill the dance-floor completely -- and the M.C. was already touring the inner rim of spectators, looking for those final replacements.
After she finished her drink, Lily leaned over towards Honour conspiratorially. "By the way, you'll never guess who we ran into shortly after you left."
Honour bet she could. "The Reverend Mother Superior Carmen Ebonshield."
Both of them glanced at her to check if she was joking. When it was clear that she wasn't, Lily scoffed. "What, did you run into her too?"
Honour shook her head, watching as the M.C. finished filling out the grid before making an elegant stride over to his raised podium. "No, I met Sister Lucretia. She'd already found her first catch of the day; they were trying to sneak off into the closed areas and ran into Castlerook's barricade. I can't imagine that the good Sister would be here without her Reverend Mother."
The unicorn snorted. "Already picked up a colt before dinner? They don't waste any time, do they?"
Ebonshield shook her head, still looking down into the ballroom. "The Lunars are most efficient at their duties. There is a reason they bid on only the finest from the criadero. Behind their backs, we sometimes call the Lunars 'los pescadores' -- 'the fishers'. And they set their hooks very well."
Below them, the M.C. had grabbed for himself a stunning young mare in a dazzling crimson dress from the audience as an impromptu partner and began to walk the last-minute additions through the basic steps required for the Lipizzaner Waltz. He was all smiles and jokes, even when the unprepared extras made a mistake.
And the crowd seemed to be loving their interaction.
Some of the other couples joined in rehearsal as well -- their VIP and his pegasus included. When she was up on two hooves, Sparkshower actually met Anonymous face-to-face, though she did have to look up into his eyes.
Glamerspear glanced around the room. "Yeah, well, maybe they're the finest, but no offense, Artemis was right; if the batponies are here at the Gala, and especially if the Night Guard is on duty on the walls, then this event just got a whole lot more dangerous."
Eb lifted an eyebrow, still watching the dancing scene. "Is the Gala usually dangerous?"
Lily whinnied, taking her eyes off the scene to turn around and lean back against the railing, scanning the gallery-hall behind them. "It can get crazy, but I guess I was exaggerating a bit: it's usually not dangerous."
As the ponies on the dance floor went through the motions a second time, Honour saw things start to fall into place.
'They'll begin in just a few moments.'
Honour's thoughts turned to her previous Gala experience. "We heard of a couple of incidents when I was in the guardroom last year. The biggest was that somepony knocked over a big statue and it took out a whole bunch of decorative columns and nearly took out a few ponies at the same time. And there was an escape from the Palace Menagerie, a small zoo here on the grounds. Somepony told me that a few drunks got into the paddocks, but they never caught the offenders. I remember hearing about some sort of food fight as well; a few guards were asked to take their charges out to get a change of clothes."
Lily turned around again with an eyebrow raised. "I don't remember reading anything about that in Canterlot Match."
"Obviously, they hushed it all up. Can't have anything but perfection for Canterlot's premier event. The Powers that Be wouldn't allow it."
Lily's other brow rose in surprise. "You don't mean Their Majesties, do you?"
Honour shook her head. "No, I don't think They would. And from the way They spoke about the Gala on Monday, I almost think They'd have been happy for this thing to get shaken up a bit now and again. Both seemed pretty fed up with the formality of it all. But I think the rest of the court wouldn't want it getting out, though."
Down in the ballroom, the M.C. had released his smiling press-ganged companion with a hoof-kiss and an elegant bow before taking the podium once more. The three of them paused their conversation to watch.
"Well, Ladies and Gentlecolts, as you can see we've finished our warmup. The formal first dance has been a feature of the Grand Galloping Gala almost since its inception, and to date it has never been performed with anything less than a full dance floor. Let's have a hoof for all of our lovely dancers and especially for the last-minute additions to the ensemble!"
The room erupted into polite applause as well as a few cheers and whistles, to smiles and a few blushes from the dancers. Anonymous and Sparkshower had been positioned halfway down the ballroom, four rows back from the front and one column in from the far long edge.
"Wonderful, wonderful! Tonight we have a very special treat for you, ladies and gentlecolts -- the Lipizzaner Waltz! Tricky steps if you were born with four hooves -- because it only uses two, ha ha!"
That got a few chuckles, then the M.C. turned towards the dancers "May I have silence, if you please. We'll do a dry-run through the moves first, no cameras, no cheers, no music -- just a steady beat and a 'lucky thirty-one' pairs of dancers. Ready? We'll go on the third bar. Maestro, if you please?"
The conductor began waving his hooves, and the percussion section began drumming out the beat of a waltz.
"...One-two-three, two-two-three, and-begin!"
It was a surprising scene with the spectators silent and just the three-count drumbeat as sixty-one pairs of hooves -- and one pair of feet -- went through the motions of the steps. The M.C.'s two assistants were at the back end, lending a hoof to the late additions. Everypony else seemed to have practiced well enough that the whole thing went off like clockwork. The only really funny thing was the way Anonymous and Sparkshower were dancing with neutral expressions on their face. Their VIP looked like he was trying hard to concentrate, while the pegasus was holding herself dignified, but impassive.
'Surely they won't dance the real thing like that?'
Focusing on them, there was a moment where Honour caught Anon almost tripping over one of his feet, but Artemis held him up and even seemed to guide him into the next move.
'Clutch save, there.'
Almost as soon as it began, it was over, and the M.C. looked to see the approving nods from his equally well-dressed assistants. "Magnificent! Well-done, everypony, well, done. And let's have another round of applause for our dancers, ladies and gentlecolts!"
A chorus of hoofclaps echoed through the room.
Honour elbowed Glamerspear. "Hey. Hold our cups, why don't you? We should be applauding, too."
Lily's horn instantly lit up and Honour felt her cup almost jerk out of her forehoof. "Buck, damn straight! Wooo!"
Before she'd even fully seized the drinks, Lily launched into a furious applause that continued on well after almost everypony else had stopped.
Even the M.C. picked up on it. "Fantastic enthusiasm from up in the peanut gallery! Ha ha! Thank you, thank you!" He gave a little nod and a hoof-point to the camera, and Honour saw one of the operators start to turn the crank. "Now, Ladies and Gentlecolts, it is with great pleasure that I hereby open the first dance of the evening at the Grand Galloping Gala. Dancers, at the ready -- and, music."
The orchestra began in earnest, and so did the choreography.
Suggested background music and viewing: Andre Rieu performing Johann Strauss' 'Emperor Waltz' (Kaiser-Walzer) live in Maastricht 2012, featuring dance scenes set inside Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria
All three of them were watching Artemis and Anonymous go through the moves. This time, they were putting on happy faces -- and a good show, with no trip-ups that Honour could see. Sparkshower seemed to be genuinely enjoying herself, and the Royal Engineer's smile seemed to be real as well. Even though it was a formal and technically tricky dance, somehow they actually made it seem natural and easy. Doubtless that was helped by the lead of their pair actually being a biped.
For him, moving around on his 'hind' legs is his natural state of affairs, and Honour had seen just how agile he could be on them. But even his pegasus partner was doing a good job; Honour didn't catch her 'cheating' with wing-flaps to stay upright at all. Maybe that wasn't surprising either -- when it came to core strength, the corporal had no doubts that Artemis was the most athletic of the quaternion.
Was she perhaps leaning a bit into him, though?
Or was she just trying to stay close, as the dance demanded?
Either way, it didn't seem to affect anything -- not even the pitch of Anon's back. If she was leaning into him, he clearly had no trouble bearing the weight.
When all thirty-two couples executed a simultaneous spin, thirty-one gowns twirled outwards from the centrifugal force in a wondrous display that could really only be appreciated from their elevation. Many in the audience below gave an appreciative clap at this synchronized maneuver, even though the routine wasn't finished yet.
Lily grinned and nodded, whispering, "And that's why we're up here!"
It was a fleeting moment of elegant beauty, and Honour was glad to have witnessed it. She actually felt happy for Sparkshower, too; happy that she got to experience this wholesome, well done little group dance at the Gala. If Honour'd had a few more drinks in her, she might even have felt a bit jealous that she wasn't down there with a partner of her own.
As the graceful music slowed and came to an end, the couples adopted their final poses. Anonymous gracefully dipped Sparkshower across his arm, almost as if draping silk. The audience broke into applause and cheers, and in Honour's peripheral vision she saw the camera turn to take in the audience as well as this finishing scene.
Artemis looked absolutely thrilled. And Anonymous was wearing the same kind of satisfied-but-exhausted smile he had after finally managing to grapple Ebonshield, during battle practice.
When the M.C. started to give a closing speech thanking the dancers and dismissing the audience, the other couples recover back down onto all fours, but Honour noticed that Anon lifted Artemis up straight again and then over into another dip on the other side, this time with a bit of flourish, extending his gloved, free hand up at an angle. She seemed to be laughing about it, and Honour saw tears roll down her rosy cheeks.
Now it was Ebonshield's turn to comment. "That one was not in the manual of steps."
'The pegasus sure seemed to enjoy it, though.'
After a moment, he raised her up again, but before Artemis could climb down on all fours, Honour saw her crane her neck up and give their VIP a peck on the cheek.
Lily chuckled. "Neither was that move."
With some enthusiastic supporters still applauding, and a few friends and well-wishers stepping out onto the dance floor to congratulate their particular champions, much of the audience started to file back out into the gallery-hall.
Their unicorn comrade redistributed their cocktails. "I vote we finish our drinks before heading down. I'm not interested in pushing through a crowd."
That got Honour's vote, too, and she was about to take a sip when she spotted one particular peg-legged pony pushing their way towards their VIP and his flushed pegasus escort.
"Damn it, Leeward!" |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 138 | Lily Glamerspear
Lily Glamerspear was off to an early start at being completely drunk by the end of the night.
It wasn't helped by the fact that Ebonshield, despite her trim figure, could drink like a fish. The unicorn should have remembered how the batpony managed to outlast her on that first 'meet-and-greet' night drinking upstairs. Yet while Anon and Artemis prepared for, rehearsed, and then executed a very nice Lipizzaner Waltz, and Honour was off conferring with her stallion in shining armor, Lily had been left alone with the bat-fish-pony. Not that Glamerspear was laying all of the blame for her current 'buzz' on Purity: Lily was an eager partner in getting herself drunk, and she was happy to have found that one of her companions, at least, was just as happy to get drunk with her. All the better to forget the vile Captain Montgomery Mailedhoof and look forward to a brighter future.
"Hey, Lily."
At that moment, the unicorn realized somepony was talking to her, and that they weren't offering to refill her drink. "Hmm?"
Honour, still looking cute in her red dress -- even though she was presently scowling in it -- had ducked behind the wall next to their little balcony, and jerked a forehoof down towards the ballroom floor. The floor where the Royal Engineer and Artemis were about to be intercepted by Honour's father, Leeward.
"I want to hear what they say."
Lily lifted an eyebrow and shrugged. "So, go downstairs. We'll wait here for you."
Honour scoffed. "I mean without revealing myself to Leeward. I want you to tell me."
Lily glanced down -- it was still pretty loud and crowded in the ballroom, and Leeward was still having to weave as he made his way over to their VIP.
'Fat chance of hearing anything all the way up here.'
"I dunno, I don't think I'll be able to make anything out."
Exasperated, Honour gestured with a forehoof. "So use some magic to hear what they're saying!"
'Exactly what kind of magic is she proposing here?'
"Huh? I'm a soldier, not a spy."
The brown earth pony narrowed her eyes. "True, but I've never met a unicorn with siblings who didn't have a few sneaky spells under their saddle. And from the way you toss out utility spells like that hoof-glue for slippery surfaces, I bet you're a lot more than the two-trick pony we've seen so far. So, come on, fire up an eavesdropping spell, because I want to listen."
Now that was just prejudicial, and Lily scrunched up her muzzle. Yeah, she had three nerdy brothers who absolutely got into every spell that their mother would allow them to try. And yeah, maybe some of that rubbed off on her -- but she resented the accusation that she was some kind of repository of useful tricks to be called upon at a moment's notice by her leaders. Lily was a 14E air defense specialist; shielding and shooting was all she had to do, besides perhaps the occasional use of base telekinesis.
Beside her, Purity went wide-eyed with delight. "You can do this, Lily? Make the sounds from a distance appear nearby? Such a wonderful skill!"
Now, when Lily's bubbly drinking buddy, and the only pony in their group whose achievements rivalled her own -- or rather, exceeded hers, if the unicorn was being honest, but then again she was older...
Anyways, Lily wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to impress her. "Of course I can!"
Honour scoffed. "I knew it. Unicorn guardsponies are always full of magic tricks they never want to let out of the bag. The why of it is beyond me."
Regaining her composure -- and a measure of sobriety -- Lily remembered why she resisted Honour's request in the first place. "Because, outside of super moto freaks looking for a shot at the special forces, showing off a variety of skilled magic is a surefire way to get given extra duty as the squad's gofer -- and a surefire way to get hammered back down like a square peg stuck in a round hole. Nopony likes an overachiever in the rank and file." Lily scowled at the corporal. "I'd have thought you'd known that, Honour, given the way you talk about your own experiences in the guard."
Peeking briefly around to see her father just a few steps away from reaching Anonymous and Sparkshower, the earth pony hissed ruefully. "Okay, fine. I don't know the troubles that ordinary unicorn soldiers have to go through. Now, can you please just do it? I don't want to miss anything."
Lily nodded, glancing confidently at her batpony comrade. "Sure thing. Gather close, gals -- I'll pipe the sound from in there out here, but it won't be very loud." Lighting up her horn, she fired up a spell that she didn't think she'd used since she spied on her brother Lupin and his marefriend sneaking up into his bedroom...
Artemis Sparkshower
'That was one of the most magical moments of my life!'
Artemis Sparkshower was still feeling flush with excitement. And maybe a few other emotions.
'Oooh, hurricanes -- I still can't believe I actually got up and kissed the Royal Engineer!'
It was just on his cheek, but she didn't ask permission, and he didn't turn away, and anyways he was the one who'd held her in that unscripted dip at the end. And now the two of them were just standing there, the pegasus on her hind hooves, leaning against his chest, and blushing furiously. With a quick look up, she noticed that he seemed a bit rosy-cheeked, too.
'Should I get down?' Artemis vaguely remembered him muttering something about waiting a few moments for the crowds to thin.
Hopefully Honour and Lily and Purity would get here soon to break the tension.
"Ahoy there!"
'That's not one of my comrades...'
"I say, ahoy there, my Lord Engineer!"
Artemis felt Anonymous stiffen up at the approach of Honour's father, Leeward. That was her cue to give a quick flap of her wings to back away from him, escaping his loose grasp before pivoting on her hooves and getting back down on all fours, taking up position on Anon's left -- the appropriate position, she noted, for either his lady or for his subordinate soldier.
The earth pony sailor hobbled up to them with surprising rapidity, given his peg leg, and their VIP greeted him amiably. "Ahoy there, mister Bound. I trust you're enjoying your evening?"
Leeward briefly tapped a forehoof up to the navy brim of his white sailor's cap, breaking into a smile. "Aye, my Lord, certainly. Never has there been an ill word spoken of Her Majesty Princess Celestia's Grand Galloping Gala, and 'tis a pleasure to see the why of it in person." Licking his lips, he gave a quick bow and indicated Artemis with a forehoof. "If you'll permit me to say so, m'Lord, I caught the end of your performance with miss Sparkshower here, and you were stunning. Absolutely cracking. Danced circles around the other couples."
Anon smiled, chuckling. "I think perhaps you exaggerate, but thank you nonetheless."
Leeward looked at Artemis with warm admiration. "No exaggeration, I assure you! And there was no finer mare on the dance floor than you, miss Sparkshower. I hope you'll bless old hearts like my own with some further spectacular promenades later tonight with your statuesque partner?"
'Oh, thundershowers!'
'Dancing some more with the Royal Engineer, after dinner?'
'The statuesque Royal Engineer?'
She felt her cheeks going flush again. But Artemis didn't know what to say -- it would depend if Anon wanted to dance later. And, moreover, if he wanted to dance with her.
The pegasus choked out a polite, noncommittal answer accompanied by a curtsy. "We'll see, mister Bound. Thank you for the compliments."
"Of course, of course!" He turned to look up at the Royal Engineer once more. "...Now, ah, I beg your pardon m'Lord, but I was wondering if perhaps since you arrived with my daughter Honoria, you might have some idea of her present whereabouts?"
Anon's expression firmed up -- it didn't harden, not quite, but the pleasant levity evaporated. "I'm afraid not, mister Bound. We parted ways some time before the Lipizzaner Waltz."
Leeward looked a little disappointed. "Ah, I see. And she gave you no indication of where she might be found?"
"I'm afraid not. We made promises to meet up again later in the evening, but no concrete plans."
"How unfortunate. I don't wish to hound your lordship for the rest of the evening, but I have not spoken to my daughter in quite some time, you understand, hence my anxiety to see her again after having been forced off-course earlier by churlish sailors already three sheets to the wind. Perhaps I might follow you along until we can all be reunited?"
The Royal Engineer shifted his weight on his feet. "To be perfectly honest with you, mister Bound, Honour directly expressed to me a very concerted desire not to speak with you again."
Now it was Leeward's turn to lose his smile; he didn't get angry, either, but the congeniality disappeared. "And, being a gentlecolt, of course you will keep true to her request." Despite the firm delivery, it was almost a statement of defeat; there was no way he expected the Royal Engineer to betray Honour.
Artemis found herself instinctively stiffening on her hooves as a fog of tension rolled in between the two colts.
"Yes, for that reason and others. But perhaps I could relay a message on your behalf."
Leeward looked away, grinning. "Oh, relay a message, haha. I've sent many a note to Honoria over the years, but it seems she's little interest in replying to me. I'm afraid my pleas, even delivered through you, my Lord, would fall on deaf ears." Still chuckling, he turned back to the two of them. "Not that it'll stop me from trying. After all, what kind of father would I be if I gave up on seeing to the happiness of my daughter?"
'Seeing to the happiness of his daughter?'
Artemis still had trouble matching up this gregarious sailor with Honour's description of somepony living in a fantasy, but a statement like that tied him to it a bit more.
That statement made her VIP furrow his brow. "Perhaps not a very good father, but if you'll permit me to serve as a proxy, I understood that Honour's objection to speaking to you had rather a lot to do with what exactly would be conducive to her happiness."
The salty sailor bobbed his head. "Really? She said that much, did she? Well, then, my Lord, and Miss Sparkshower, could I ask you both a simple question? Does my daughter seem happy to you?"
Artemis glanced up at the Royal Engineer, who still held Leeward in his gaze.
'That is a tough one!'
The corporal didn't smile much, and wasn't very optimistic, and honestly was negative a lot of the time... But to admit that she didn't seem happy felt like it would be a betrayal.
Yet she certainly didn't want to lie about Honour being happy to her own father!
Luckily, Artemis' VIP came up with an elegant, deflective answer. "In fact, mister Bound, Honour has confided to me on several occasions that she finds her present posting here, as the leader of my bodyguard quaternion, quite satisfying."
Leeward chuckled, rearing back to adjust the position of his hind hooves. "A very good answer, my Lord. But, if you'll forgive me, being satisfied with one's job is not the same as being happy..."
'Darn, he saw through it.'
Backing off, Leeward stepped around in a wide circle, taking advantage of the ample space in the now nearly-empty ballroom. "When you're happy, the world is a bright, warm place. When you're happy, you see the best in the people around you. When you're happy, you find joy in every day and pleasure in every night. I know my daughter, and I know happiness, and even if I didn't know it from before, at our fleeting encounter earlier tonight, I could see that she wasn't happy. The magic just wasn't there."
Anon folded his arms in front of his chest, a wry grin on his face. "I take it you consider yourself 'happy,' mister Bound?"
At this, Leeward spun around to face them. "Of course! And that's because I follow the one and only way to be happy, as an Equestrian." Limping up once more, he looked at Artemis. "Perhaps your Lordship is unaware of it, as a relative newcomer to our fair land. But your graceful pegasus companion knows it as well as any earth pony or unicorn, I'm sure. For we Equestrians, the key to happiness is seared onto us as visibly as a brand."
Artemis furrowed her brow.
'A key to happiness seared into Equestrians?'
He could only be talking about one thing.
"You mean our Cutie Marks, mister Bound?"
At that, his face lit up in a wide grin, exposing his gold tooth. "Precisely, miss Sparkshower! Our Cutie Marks. Come now, my dear, won't you share with your partner the purpose of those devices?"
Still feeling confused about the colt's argument, the pegasus looked up at her VIP, who faced down at her. "A pony's Cutie Mark -- common to earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi alike -- is a symbol on their flanks. They appear around the same time the pony reaches adolescence."
Anon nodded. "Yes, I'd been told that."
But Leeward gestured hastily with a foreleg. "Lively now, my dear, let's have the rest. What do they mean?"
She still didn't see where this was going. "Well, a Cutie Mark generally indicates a particular pony's particular talent or characteristic. It points to what makes that pony special..."
Artemis perked up a bit as she decided to use herself as an example. Hiking her dress with a forehoof, she briefly exposed her flank. "...Like me, for example! My Cutie Mark is three overlapping cumulus clouds raining down sparks! It's not just a reference to my name: I have a talent for managing atmospheric conditions -- I was very good at my job in the Airborne Weather And Climate Service. But for right now, since I'm one of the few pegasi in the Royal Guard who can handle high-altitude flight in heavy armor, I think the sparks are illustrating a clash of bronze armor and weapons high up in the clouds!"
Anon smiled. "I always thought it was a reference to your brilliant personality and shining enthusiasm even in the face of ominous darkness, Artemis."
'Oooh, tornadoes! There I go getting all rosy again!'
As she quickly fanned herself cool again with her wings, Leeward leaned back and sat down on his haunches, such as he could with his peg leg. "Hah! What matters, in any case, is that Miss Sparkshower knows what unique gifts her Cutie Mark represents, and more importantly, is using those gifts to the best of her abilities."
Leeward paused for a moment, until he was certain he'd captured both Artemis and her VIP's attention once more. "For an Equestrian, true happiness, true joy in life can only come from that. A pony who doesn't understand their Cutie Mark is surely lost, and one who isn't fulfilling their purpose is living in misery."
Leeward looked up at the magnificent illustrated ceiling, and Artemis found herself following his gaze. The arched painting depicted a sky-scape surrounded by classical personifications of the Equestrian states -- a swarthy sailor for Fillydelphia, for example, or a hardworking ranch-hoof for Appleloosa. At the center, enthroned in clouds and surrounded by unicorn representations of the ideal monarchical virtues, sat a single white alicorn with majestic wings and a dazzling pastel-rainbow mane.
Princess Celestia, alone.
Canterlot Palace was built after Princess Luna's rebellion, and by ponies who probably didn't want to have too many visible reminders of that awful event.
Still reverently beholding the fresco, Leeward reached up and pulled off his cap, pressing it tight against his chest. "We are each of us put here in this world for a reason, my Lord. Our Cutie Marks serve as our guides to that reason, that purpose. There's no greater tragic figure than a pony who doesn't understand that."
After spending a moment in reflection, he looked down at the two of them again, and they both met his gaze once more.
Drained of energy, Leeward looked genuinely sad.
It was Artemis' VIP who spoke next. "And you think Honour is in such a position?"
The weathered sailor nodded. "Aye, I do. It heartens me to hear you say that she's now satisfied with her position, but that is a recent development, and I fear 'tis not enough. She has ever been restless and unhappy." Licking his lips, Leeward glanced up at the ceiling once more. "Honoria, my daughter -- she's very impulsive, when mood takes her. One moment, slack water, and the next, gale force. She can brood over the past, yet she never stops to consider where she's going. On my many crossings across the great Celestia Sea, I've had plenty of time to consider things as they are. I understood my own mark at a very young age, you know, but of late I have come to understand my daughter's as well. As I wish to see her happy, I cannot rest until I have made her see the truth of her purpose."
That was an interesting thought, and Artemis considered his words carefully.
Honour's Cutie Mark was a black 'cross moline' surrounded by a ring of bronze chain. Surely the icon of heraldry and the chain pointed to her present occupation as a VIP bodyguard?
"You don't think she's satisfying her purpose as a VIP bodyguard in the Royal Guard? The heraldic 'cross moline' could represent the noblepony she's sworn to protect, and the encompassing chain could be her act of safeguarding that pony's honor and person."
The colt shook his head. "No, miss Sparkshower, though that is a fine guess. The symbols of our marks speak to our nature, not the nature of others around us. In any case, if that were her purpose, she would have found happiness when she first took up the position, and not only now with your gracious Lord."
That did make sense to Artemis. "What do you think her Cutie Mark means, then?"
Leeward twitched his thin mustache. "That is a personal detail, and should be kept private. But I suppose, since she has confided in you both already, I can share my unshakable conclusion."
With his free hoof, he traced the defining symbol of Corporal Bound's Cutie Mark in the air. "The centerpiece is not a 'cross moline' as you believe, Miss Sparkshower, but a 'cross anchory' -- an anchor. Not in the physical sense as one for a boat, for it's black, the colour of iron, a metal which does not tolerate seawater, but an anchor in the nobler sense, as iron is the metal of the heart and of the hearth. An anchor for a family. And the chain, made of bronze -- sturdy against weather, it encompasses the world, securing all within reach of the anchor."
The sailor broke out of his sadness into a smile of bittersweet joy. "She was destined to be the anchor for her close friends and family. It's so simple, yet so elegant. Do you know, her mark appeared at a remarkably young age? None of her peers had theirs yet; her mother was very proud. And so was I, when I put back into port and saw her mark for the first time..."
Leeward chuckled, shaking his head. "...I should have recognized it for what it meant even then. As I said in the entry atrium, from the moment she was born, she was my spiritual anchor, my connection back home. I always felt the chain connecting me to her. She drew others to her, as well: she had a little group of young freshwater fry following her about, before she joined the guard. I wasn't sure what to make of that, but when she met a charming young colt and fell in love, I saw a bright future ahead of her."
Now it was Anonymous' turn to speak up, in a calm but firm voice. "That 'charming young fellow,' as you call him, lied to and adultered against your daughter."
The sailor nodded, flicking his ears, setting the shiny golden hoops attached to them dangling to and fro. "And my wife adultered against me before then. It's a lonely life, being a sailor and being a sailor's wife. But we are none of us without our flaws. I promised to love Honoria's mother for better or for worse; I still love her now as I did when we first wed. Forgiveness is an essential virtue if one wants to live happily. Honoria has always had trouble with that as well."
Artemis wanted to believe Honour's version of the story, but her father was making an awful lot of good points. Honour did seem to struggle with forgiveness -- with herself, even. The pegasus remembered the incident when the Royal Engineer had workers rearranging his room without a bodyguard present. And when she second-guessed herself after the successful Battle of Newstirrup Bridge. And Artemis had to admit that Honour really didn't seem completely happy, not in the way Leeward was describing his ideal 'happiness,' anyways. The Corporal accused her father of being a stereotype, but wasn't he just simply a good example of a truly happy Equestrian pony?
It was a lot to process at once.
After a moment of contemplation, Artemis' VIP unfolded his arms. "Well, Mister Bound, I must admit that you make some good points, and I appreciate your advice about how to live a happy life. But I do believe there's a serious flaw in your argument; perhaps one which, as a non-pony, I'm uniquely positioned to point out."
That got Leeward's attention, and the older colt collected himself. "Oh? I'm all ears, m'Lord."
Anonymous pointed at his hip. "As you say, Cutie Marks are unique to Equestrians. I don't have one; none of my kind do. But everything you've said about happiness absolutely applies to my people. Discovering one's purpose in life, and pursuing it, is surely the route to spiritual fulfilment; this fact has been opined upon many times, by many of the finest philosophers and sages of my world. We do so without the benefit of a stamp upon us, but the challenge is the same."
Furrowing his brow, he shook his head. "The problem is that discovering your purpose in life is a fundamentally personal journey. No one else, not even a parent, can tell you what your purpose is. To be told your purpose destroys the sense of fulfilment from having found your niche, because the satisfaction is in the finding, not merely in the knowing."
The Royal Engineer spread his gloved hands wide. "I don't think it's a question of whether or not your interpretation of her Cutie Mark is 'correct,' mister Bound. The problem I see is that it is your interpretation, and not hers. She might possibly come to the same conclusion, but what matters is that it's her conclusion, and hers alone. That's what will make it special to her. Coming to our own understanding of ourselves is what opens the path to self-realization. You just can't be told or led, let alone cajoled or forced."
Artemis' tall VIP inhaled deeply through his nose. "...So, I'm sorry, sir. I appreciate that you believe your daughter is in distress and want to help her as best you can, but even if your premise that she's unhappy because she hasn't found her purpose in life was true, I must advise you to abandon the idea of guiding her to the path you see for her. We each have to find our own path, and your prodding to what you see as the 'right' direction can only serve to alienate her, as unfortunately it seems already to have done."
Anonymous' forceful argument gave pause to Leeward. If Honour hadn't been replying to his letters, maybe he'd never really had to actually argue this point with anypony else before. At least, nopony as clever as their VIP!
Or even Honour.
But with all this talk about happiness, Artemis wondered a bit about the health of her own Very Important Pony, especially since he wasn't actually a pony.
She cleared her throat. "Anonymous, are you... happy? Do you know your purpose, I mean?"
He took a deep breath. "That's a good question. After my broken-off engagement, I felt lost for quite some time. That wasn't helped when I became physically lost from arriving here in this world by accident. Very soon after arriving here, seeing the state of things, I set myself a goal of industrializing Equestria. I've been working hard towards it, but I have to admit until quite recently it wasn't completely satisfying. I kind of pushed down that dissatisfaction and focused on the task at hand, though. It was the only way I could think of to move forward as a stranger in a strange land."
That was awfully sad, but he'd left out more recent developments.
Artemis nodded in understanding. "And now?"
Anonymous shrugged. "I still don't know. It's certainly been a lot more lively since you all showed up. I haven't just had my nose buried in books and papers. And my path towards industrialization has meandered and been detoured several times. But I haven't felt worse because of it -- I've felt better, actually." With a chuckle, he shook his head. "I can't say that I know my purpose here, but if happiness is fulfilling one's purpose, then I sure feel like I'm a lot closer to fulfilling mine."
He smiled warmly at Artemis, and she smiled back. Some of the exuberance of having just danced the Lipizzaner Waltz at the Grand Galloping Gala with a handsome, intelligent, and honorable colt started rushing back in.
Leeward still seemed deep in thought, and perhaps a bit in shock.
Finally, he stood up on all fours. "I confess that your Lordship makes an interesting point. I think I shall have to ponder the matter further. In the meantime, if I cannot see my daughter in person, I should very much like to take you up on your offer to convey her a message."
Anonymous nodded. "Of course."
The old sailor -- and it was only now, in this moment of weakness, that he actually looked old -- tried to recompose himself. "Would you kindly tell my daughter that, in spite of anything she may have done to me in the past, I forgive her, and in turn I seek her forgiveness for anything I may have done to her. If she can forgive me, then I should very much like to see her again, even if only in silence." He sniffled, and Artemis saw a tear start to form at his right eye -- quickly wiped away by a forehoof.
"...My Lord, I was not completely honest earlier when I said that I was happy. I'm very nearly there, but I'm still missing one crucial piece. I must prevail upon your Lordship's good graces to help me find it. With that, I take my leave."
The two were both a bit dumbstruck by that admission, but Leeward Bound, boatswain of the 'Tambermane,' still holding his cap against his breast, gave a deep bow. Then he turned, replaced his hat, and strode off with a noticeable clip-clop-clip-TOC from his peg leg.
Lily Glamerspear
Lily Glamerspear was definitely too sloshed for whatever just happened. Some kinda metaphila...
Metaphile...
Metaphys...
Well, some kinda meta discussion anyways, about happiness and misery or whatever. It was all a lot of nonsense; the way she saw it, things were simple: happiness was being three or four drinks into a night. Misery was being more than six, depending of course on when the night started.
Lily was hovering at the five-drinks threshold, having nursed her most recent pour since well before the Lipizzaner Waltz. This was the cutoff point, if she wanted to be smart about things. As soon as she got some food in her at dinnertime, probably switching to water until the dance floor opened up properly -- still at least two hours away -- then she could resume again, staying neatly in the 'happy' window.
On her left, one very happy batpony softly clip-clopped her forehooves together. "¡Magnífica! We heard every word as easily as if they had been here in front of us! Truly the magia de unicornios, she is if anything undersold. You have great talent, Lily."
Terminating the spell, the unicorn pursed her lips and rolled one shoulder up as she brought a forehoof playfully up to her tuft. "Well, you know, Purity, one does try."
Lily looked over at Honour, hoping for some more half-drunken praise, but she was just sitting there, stupefied.
'Is she drunker than I am?'
With earth pony physiology, that seemed impossible, unless she'd been doing nothing but sucking down drinks since the moment she'd left the original group to go find her stallion sergeant.
Lily dipped her head a bit to catch the earth pony's gaze. "Hey, you okay there, Honour? Don't get too hypnotized by my dazzling mana weaves, now."
The red-clad, brown pony blinked a few times, then shook her head quickly. "Sorry, I, uh. Huh..."
Then she reached for her drink and, with a moment's contemplation, quickly knocked back the whole thing in one gulp.
That told Lily that either she did drink a lot while she was gone, or more likely, she didn't drink anything at all and now suddenly felt the need to catch up.
'Yeah, dealing with fathers do sometimes be like that.'
Honour coughed and screwed her muzzle up as the sting of the booze hit her throat, then put the glass down. "...Thanks for that, Lily."
It was unclear if she was thanking her for the drink or for the spell. Maybe it was both.
Lily cocked an eyebrow. "So, are we good to reunite the party-patrol quaternion?"
Honour nodded, slowly, and still with that same bewildered expression. "Yeah, let's go downstairs."
Much as Lily would have loved to poke into her mind a little more, on the one hoof she was feeling a little too tipsy to do that right now, on the other hoof, it was a lot more fun to do it with a larger audience. And on the third and fourth hooves, it would work better if everybody else was a little more hammered, too. So, time to find Anonymous, Artemis, and the nearest bar!
Suggested interlude music: Yola Recoba - 'Wicked Game' [2020] |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 139 | Purity Ebonshield
To Pureza Ébanoscudo, this was a spread most incredible. Pastries! Jellies! Confits and jams! 'Terrines' and 'madeleines,' soups and stews, pies and cakes, rolls and buns, creams and cheeses, a dozen kinds each of caviar and truffles! She was fortunate that each fantastic table at the buffet was accompanied by one or more servants of the kitchen, clad in double-breasted white jackets and round white hats, or else she'd not have known what half of the items on the menu were called -- less than half, even.
The 'Grand Galloping Gala' of the Equestrians defied any comparison with even the greatest feasts of the Children of the League of Stars. And Purity Ebonshield had attended some of those great feasts -- as a competitor in tournaments, often as a feted champion, and later as the Stellar Seventh, accompanying Draxon, her Eighth, as his bodyguard. Later still, attending as the highest-ranking Stellar in the absence of a living Eighth. But those Lunar offerings paled in comparison: in quantity and in quality, there was no surpassing this most supreme output of the farms of Equestria and the kitchens of the Palace of Canterlot.
Not everyone was quite so appreciative, however -- from behind her, the batpony heard the grumbling voice of her unicorn comrade. "Are you staring again? Come on, let's keep this line moving! Some of us wanna finish filling our plates so we can actually go sit and eat!"
Ebonshield was unable to avert her gaze away from the spire of small icing-topped cakes which towered before her. "Sí, I understand, but some of us wish to admire this great assembly of dishes, before they can be completely devoured."
Pointing a forehoof, she leaned over slightly towards the attendant of the table, a young, rosy-cheeked unicorn mare with a dark violet mane, dressed as the others in the white uniform of the palace kitchens and staring disinterestedly off into space. "What are these called, if you please?"
The mare inclined her head towards them. "These are 'calissons,' Madam. A Prench dessert consisting of paste of candied orange blended with almonds, and topped with royal icing."
'Oh, I will definitely have one of those.'
"Thank you." Flapping her wings to gain height, the batpony delicately picked one from near the top of the spire so as not to destabilize the impressive structure, then added the item to her plate.
Lily just shook her head at Ebonshield. "You sure have a sweet tooth, Purity. Is there even any actual dinner on your plate, or is it all desserts?"
The batpony spared a glance at her dish, which was close to forming a spire of its own. Well, at least a flat-topped pyramid. "Perhaps buried underneath. But I can always come back to the line of this 'buffet' a second time."
The unicorn scoffed. "Sure, I bet there's restocks for everything in the kitchen. But how th'Tartarus do you keep such a slim profile with an appetite like that?"
Ebonshield laughed in return. "By only eating this much on the occasions especial, of course!" Lifting an eyebrow, she turned her head back towards Lily, even as she fluttered her way to the next table. Lily's plate, held aloft in her aura telekinetic, bore a selection which was quite modest in comparison. "...I hope you are not worrying about your 'profile' on a day like this?"
Lily whinnied. "Hey, some of us have to wear body armor in our day jobs. And some of us hope to be able to fit into the same dress in a couple of years, too."
Purity made a show of examining Lily's dress, and particularly her backside. "Of course! But there is plenty of room." Lowering her voice, she continued. "And anyways, what a shame to tantalize the colts with a shapely skirt if there is little for them to find underneath!"
That made the unicorn stop in place, and she scrunched up her muzzle. "Are you accusing me of having a flat plot?" With a confused expression, Lily examined Purity's posterior. "...I mean, you?!"
Purity had to admit that, in that comparison, she was correct. But the batpony had not yet reached the end of her argument, and she circled back to draw in closer still. "Ay, carino, my physique is constrained by the requirements of my profession. But you do not have to perform the acrobatics as I do, and you complain often of your need to keep your figure as-is. I do not propose that you neglect your exercise, but I know that the colts, they also like the nalguitas with a little bounce to them, yes? Some mollette for their chorizo."
Her use of the euphemisms gastronomic appeared only to have confused Lily further. "Hunh? Mind translating that into Equestrian?"
'So much for the route indirect.'
"All I am saying is that, combined of course with the correct exercises for the muscles underneath to keep the tone, I think you would do well not to worry about trying to be so skinny. Your natural form seems to me a little more rounded. There is no shame to that, and many colts appreciate the shape curved."
Even this new, direct approach still left her looking confused. "Sarge, are you seriously giving me some kind of, like, body-positivity chat, here, right now, in the buffet line at the Grand Galloping Gala of Canterlot Palace? Like, just how sloshed are you?"
That, Ebonshield was plenty -- but no more than Lily.
The batpony just smiled and shook her head. "Perhaps the moment is not ideal, but I have been meaning to tell you this for some time. And I want you to enjoy yourself here!" She pointed at the pegasus behind her. "...Look how our camarada takes two plates at once! There is a mare with good appetite!"
Instantly, Artemis lifted her head up from where she was adding more items to one very full plate and a more modest one next to it. "Oh, no, these aren't both for me -- I offered to get Anonymous a plate while he and Honour found us a table."
Her argument did not deter Purity. "But you will be back for more, yes?"
Artemis looked down at the fuller plate -- clearly the one intended for herself. "Yeah, sure! After everypony's had a chance to have their first, I mean. I don't want to be greedy." She picked the plates back up off of the table.
Meanwhile, stepping forward to the next serving station, Ebonshield flapped a knowing wing in the direction of Lily. "You see? I may be a little drunk, but at least I am a happy drunk. Do not let yourself become a miserable one, or you will ruin the mood festive."
After a moment to parse her words, the unicorn scoffed and then hustled up to join her at the next station. "Sheesh, you really pick weird times to dole out advice, Purity." Softening her expression, she continued. "But hey, since you're in the advising mood, maybe I can ask you a few questions about something else I've been dealing with?"
Even with so much alcohol clouding her mind, the subject of this discussion was instantly obvious to the batpony. "How goes your training with Ignacio?"
Lily flattened her ears and furrowed her brow. "Okay, I guess. Things have been going slow, but I've been improving."
Another pony in front of them was still busy with the serving platter, so Purity gave the unicorn her attention undivided. "He is an experienced teacher. And I am sure that you are a quick learner."
Lily nodded, her horn still glowing from levitating her plate. "Yeah. I'm just not a hundred percent sure on the why of it, sometimes. Did you know this other Eclipse colt, Ro-the-nan-tay?"
"Rocinante? I have heard of him, but I have never met him..." Thinking back, Purity looked briefly up towards the vaulted palace ceiling. "...Once, when I was waiting to meet Ignacio at the entrance of the Halls of the Blind, I heard beautiful singing, the voice of an old colt. The melody was entrancing, enchanting. Later, I mentioned the music to Ignacio, and he said that was Rocinante whom I had heard. I wish I could have witnessed him perform in person."
Lily took a deep breath. "Yeah, well, this Rocinante, apparently he called out on his deathbed, told Ignacio that he needed to teach me their ways. No explanation why. I'm not against learning -- heck, I'm pretty interested, but the idea that there's some kind of prophecy behind it gives me the heeby-jeebies, ya know? Especially on top of the already-creepy subject matter and the pretty weird place we have to go for it."
Purity waved a forehoof dismissively. "Mmmm, yes, I see, but I must correct you. This was no prophecy; the Eclipse do not prophesize."
Lily lifted an eyebrow. "Really? It sure sounded like one. And there're prophecies attributed to famous unicorn mages. Why not your mages, too?"
Shaking her head, the batpony continued. "I do not know why, but the Children have only ever had one prophecy -- on the subject the long slumber of our Great Mother -- and this was issued from the Great Mother Herself, before she fell into torpor..." She chuckled. "... And of course, what a confusing prophecy She gave us! Bad enough that we had great difficulty at first in keeping track of the Equestrian years from the Moon, but in the phrasing, She said She was to sleep for 'an age.'" Finally seeing an opportunity to avail herself of the gourmet delicacies from the table following, Purity took a step forward to hunt for something appetizing, still talking. "'An age' -- what is this, eh? A hundred years? Five hundred? Eight hundred and eighty eight, since for us eight is the number sacred?"
Following after her, the unicorn squinted. "And your mom was the only one to guess that it meant one thousand years?"
Ebonshield nodded. "She was not the only one to realize this, particularly after the other dates had come and gone, but she also calculated the date correctly. Many others who thought the same way were off by some months or years, since we had lost track of the time precise. The rest were waiting for one-thousand-and-eight or later dates."
Haphazardly telekinetically picking something off of this table for herself, Lily nodded. "Huh. Anyways, if what Rocinante said isn't prophecy, what is it?"
Taking one of a dozen small pre-served bowls of luxurious custard, Purity answered plainly. "Simply a dying request, as you said." By the confused expression on the unicorn's muzzle, the answer had not satisfied her, so she continued. "...I cannot truly answer this for you. As close as I am with Ignacio, the ways of the Eclipse are still alien to me. You and Artemisa are the only ponies not of their kind that I have ever heard of being invited into the Halls of the Blind. I can only guess that Rocinante wished to make sure that their knowledge is passed on, since the Eclipse are a dying breed."
Lily nodded, glumly. "Yeah, I heard -- no more births under the solar eclipse, no more Eclipse magicians. The Rookery under Canterlot mountain must be full of pregnant mares when one of those events is forecast."
Remembering one such event in the last year, Purity chuckled. "Yes, and quite cramped. As spacious as those caves may seem, when everypony gives up space to allow the one or two hundred mothers and their foals some room to breathe, then things are different." Laughing again at the sheer chaos that occasion brought, the batpony reflected for a moment, and placed a forehoof on Lily's shoulder. "My advice to you is to learn as much as you can, and be prepared to pass what you know on, in your own fashion, lest the knowledge be lost." Purity shot her a grin. "Who knows? Perhaps, as you complain your brothers have been to the universidad de magia, you will one day find yourself there as a teacher, mentoring others in these arts."
From how she has described her brothers -- and Purity's beau, Gilberto -- the batpony almost expected her to shudder with revulsion at the suggestion. But instead, she simply unfurrowed her brow, raised her ears up again, and looked off in the distance.
"Maybe."
'For such a response brief and unemotional, she must have considered this possibility already.'
Artemis came up behind Lily, having added to her two plates from this station as well. "Whew! This all looks so yummy! Looks like there's only two stations left."
Her exclamation seemed to prompt something in the unicorn. "Yeah. Hey, Purity, tell me something else. You and Ignacio both said that all Stars train to hunt down abominations -- ponies that get possessed by the Accursed Shadows. What's that like?"
The batpony lifted an eyebrow and glanced at Artemis, who suddenly went a bit pale. "You have seen this for yourself, no? When your comrade allowed herself to be used in demonstration?"
They exchanged glances, before Lily nodded her head towards the pegasus. "Yeah, but she was magically restrained, forced to just stand there. What are abominations like to fight?"
That was a shadowy subject, unsuited to the hallowed and gleeful halls of the beautiful Palacio de Canterlot. But there was quite a queue for the next station of service -- which meant there must be something quite good there! -- so, Purity supposed they had a little time. And if Ignacio was teaching Lily the ways of the Eclipse, she should know everything that their magic entails.
Both Equestrians sat in line behind her, waiting anxiously.
"...To fight an abomination is a challenge extraordinary. Even the sand creatures summoned in the pit are but pale imitations. The Accursed Shadow, once inside a body, will fight with all their might to keep what they now possess." Purity cast her mind back to the time when she underwent the training; a long time ago, now. As with all Stars, this training was conducted early; she was scarcely a First of the Order of the Shining Stellar Dance.
"Master Draxon likened the abomination to taking a creature and removing the shackles of mortality. They do not need to eat or drink, they do not sweat and never run out of breath. They put all their energy into every movement, and their reserve of such power, at least in the short term, is almost limitless." She glanced up at the ceiling above her, easily forty hooves high. "I have seen an abomination jump -- simply jump, for his wings were broken and useless -- higher than the roof above our heads, in the blink of an eye. That was on the Moon, admittedly, where the gravity is less; but even so, this is a feat quite substantial. They can gallop faster than an avalanche, they see perfectly even in the darkness absolute, and they are said to hear better than rabbits and smell more than hounds."
She remembered cornering the abomination, ganging up ten against one, cocksure of victory. After all, had her people not once been plagued by them, only to rise up and wipe them out?
But the grin of that cornered beast foretold what happened next.
"...When they strike, they hit with a force that ought to break even their own bones, yet does not. And these attacks come with the velocity almost blinding. Usually, in our training against them, nopony dies -- usually. But even so, a group of novice hunters will return injured, sometimes gravely..."
Two cracked ribs and a twisted ankle, and she was lucky to have gotten away from the fight with only that. Others in her group had suffered far worse: a high price to pay for the knowledge of how to defeat such creatures.
Taking a deep breath, Purity noted that she could now take a step forward in the queue, and did so. "But the part which truly terrifies me, and should scare you also, is this: the abomination I describe to you was formed from an Accursed Shadow in possession of an old, frail, and injured batpony; a former warrior, long since past their prime." She looked over the large, athletic, and youthful pegasus. "...What nightmare would we face if they possessed someone who is at their peak, and a challenging adversary in their own right?"
Lily just nodded, but Artemis furrowed her brow and thought for a moment. "Nightmare Moon, that's who."
Purity shook her head. "No, the Great Mother was not abomination; at least, not in our dogma. With an abomination, the Accursed Shadow commands the body. But for the Nightmare Moon, the Princess Luna was still in control -- so says our scripture. And, I should add, the abominations are feral creatures: intelligent in their brutality, but almost completely unrestrained in their violence. This is part of why armies made of their kind ultimately fell apart. Whereas on the other hoof, our Great Mother was a great leader of the rebellion of our ancestors, the League of Stars."
Lily squinted in thought. "Hold on a minute. If Princess Luna really was in charge of herself the whole time, then how come she stopped being, well, evil, when the Elements of Harmony blasted the Accursed Shadow out of her?"
That was a very good question; one for which the batpony had no answer. She could only shrug. "Who can say? Our dogma concerns the events of the past, during the rebellion actual, a thousand years ago. No-one is alive who remembers the Great Mother as she was then, besides Herself and the Princesa del Sol. What might have changed, in her form or in her thoughts during her long slumber? "
Lily nodded. "Yeah, fair, maybe she changed. A thousand years is a long time, after all..." She chuckled. "I know I can have a change of heart after a good sleep."
Artemis remains concerned, however, staring down at the ground even as she hovered in the air. "I don't really remember what happened while I was possessed, but I remember that the shadow seemed to know me. And didn't Ignacio say he couldn't perceive Anonymous when he first met him? Yet he managed to summon a shadow that took Anonymous' shape with the sand..."
The pegasus raised her head. "... What if when you're training to hunt shadows, the shadows know they're being hunted? So that's why they fight so desperately to escape?"
A curious thought, but surely wrong.
"There is no escape. This training is done using a network of tunnels with only one exit, and that one is sealed against passage by another Eclipse on the outside, maintaining a barrier like the one used to restrain you during your own possession. If the Accursed Shadows are aware of the situation, the action clever would be to simply restrain themselves and deny us the opportunity to train."
Artemis could only shrug, still holding the two full plates. "Maybe they just can't help themselves. Anyways, it looks like we can move up."
Taking steps towards the next station, Purity was rewarded with an outstanding selection of cakes. These, at least, required no introduction. But which to choose? Looking to the steward, a colt in white, she decided to take guidance from above. "Could you tell me which of these delicious pastries is preferred by Her Majesty the Princess Celestia?"
The colt raised an eyebrow. After a moment, he pointed a forehoof towards a round, violet-robed confection topped with strawberries. "I understand that Her Majesty is most fond of the strawberry genoise, ma'am."
There had already been several slices cut from that one, revealing a golden-brown interior. Purity eagerly held out her plate. "I would have a slice, by your favor."
"Certainly, ma'am."
The colt wasted no time in bringing up a knife, cutting a moderately-sized slice, and then grabbing some kind of trowel for cakes to transfer the batpony's portion to the top of her now quite towering plate. "Gracias. With this, I think I am now finished, or else my plate will surely fall over. I will visit the station final afterwards."
Lily looked over the cakes and nodded. "Yeah, I'm with you..." Then she glanced up at the batpony with a smile. "Thanks for the pep talk, but I'm gonna lay off the cake until later. That's an after-dancing type of treat in my books." She turned to the pegasus. "How about you, Artemis? I think you've got more than enough there."
The poor young pegasus mare hunched her shoulders with disappointment. "But we just got to the end!" Then she considered the towering contents of her plates, one of which teetered dangerously with each flap of her wings. "...Well, okay. I'll take one piece of the strawberry genoise as well, at least; if Anonymous wants some, then we could share it." After receiving her slice in turn, the three of them exited the line of the buffet and headed towards the dining tables.
Lily nodded her muzzle at the two plates borne by the pegasus. "I guess I shoulda asked earlier, but didja want me to maybe carry one or both of those? I'm not so tipsy that I'm gonna be spilling stuff out of my telekinesis yet."
Artemis shook her head. "Oh, it's okay, Lily, I'm managing just fine! These plates are a lot lighter than my armor after all, hah. I just hope that Anonymous likes what I picked out for him."
The unicorn lifted an eyebrow. "Did he have any requests?"
"No, only to avoid things with hay in them," Artemis replied.
"Makes sense. I don't think actual monkeys eat hay either."
"Lily! You shouldn't call him that."
"I wasn't. But, I mean, he is related to them. I'm just sayin' their diets are probably similar, that's all."
Immediately, the pegasus flapped her wings and whipped around to impose herself in front of the unicorn. "Lily Glamerspear! Our Very Important Pony may not be a pony, but he's no monkey! Could a monkey have helped you beat Lieutenant Kilfeather? Could a monkey have built a self-propelled air-defense weapon? Could a monkey have led us to victory against a subterranean ambush?"
She seemed quite upset. Was this outburst solely because of drinking the alcohol?
Purity thought that perhaps no, for there were several other signs quite telling. The kiss on the cheek after the dance, the questions for Anonymous about happiness, the fetching of a plate of dinner. And now, the defending him against even the slights unintended?
The unicorn and pegasus were staring each other down. Hovering in place, the batpony decided to inject a little chaos. "Indeed, could a monkey have danced gracefully the Waltz Lipizzaner?"
Artemis seized immediately upon her statement. "That too!"
"Could a monkey have such kindness and care for his friends?"
"Right!"
"Could a monkey be so deserving of respect and admiration?"
"Yeah!!"
"Could a monkey appear as statuesque and attractive?"
"You see, Lily? She understands!"
'Now I have her.'
"Could a monkey attract the attentions romantic of Artemis Sparkshower?"
"Exactly!"
A moment later, she realized what Purity had said and dropped to the ground on her hind hooves, throwing her wings around her muzzle in embarrassment. Without a thought, her unicorn friend immediately seized up the two plates in her telekinesis, yanking them almost violently away from the rosy-cheeked pegasus. "Yeah, exactly! I knew you were actin' funny, Sparks; should've seen it earlier. Didya forget what Corporal Bound told you about crushing on our VIP so soon after your breakup?"
Immediately, the protestations began. "But that was over a week ago! I'm over it!"
With a nod to the pegasus, Lily took Purity's plate as well in her magic, allowing the batpony to land and throw a wing over the poor mare to comfort her, pulling away her wings and letting her down onto all fours. The speaking, however, she left to the unicorn.
"Yeah, right. You're still on the rebound, Artemis. The way you were acting at the club on Tuesday, all the colts hanging off your hooves?"
Still the protestations continued. "So? Aren't I allowed to have admirers? Anyways, you're one to talk with the way you and Purity were crudely teasing Anonymous about his... his 'preferences.'"
This at least was a point Purity could refute. "That was perhaps not the most commendable action, but she was done in the spirit of fun and of engaging our handsome VIP more closely with the party. Perhaps he has learned more about himself as a result, as well."
Artemis looked down at the floor for a moment. "Well, you also teased me about finding a colt, too. And then we were dancing, and I was so happy, and... then he dipped me."
Lily laughed, snorting. "Pfsh -- 'course, he did, 'cause he's a stud. Why else would we tease him about getting himself a mare?"
That was a comment not so helpful in the situation current. Artemis continued, however. "And then I kissed him, and he smiled, and I blushed, and I felt my heart racing, and then Mister Bound showed up and even he assumed that we were a couple, and then I offered to get Anonymous his dinner plate, and he accepted, and isn't that how things are supposed to go when you're with someone you like, I mean really like? Maybe we're not anything right now, but aren't those, well, signals?"
Ebonshield's own relationships, having never been quite so involved, had left her at a loss for words, and she looked to her other Equestrian comrade for assistance.
The unicorn only rolled her eyes and sighed. "Oh, brother; you really are head over hooves, talking about signals. Look, let's just bring him his plate and you can clear it with the Corporal when she gets up to get hers."
While expedient, Purity wondered if such a statement would be sufficient. As she removed her wing from Artemis, the batpony took a moment to look her in her eyes. "Artemis, are you serious about your interest in the Engineer Royal?"
She nodded. "I think so. If he's interested, I mean. It's just flirting right now, isn't it? I never really flirted with anypony before, I guess."
Ebonshield smiled. "Certainly. But the rules of the flirting, they are these: the objective is to establish interest, not to overwhelm the subject of your affections. And likewise, not to be overwhelmed in turn. You must be calm in your actions and reactions. For against the attacks frequent, we all raise our shields in defense. And as my master Draxon told me: 'only the blade slow will penetrate the shield.'"
After a moment of thought, Artemis straightened up and nodded. "I understand. I guess I was kind of getting ahead of myself a bit."
From the unicorn beside her, however, Purity heard a snort. "Yeah, great, hoof-me-down dating advice from the batpony master of assassins, all the way from the bucking Moon. Can we go find our table and sit down now? I need some food in me to temper all this booze before the dance floor opens up."
Without waiting for an answer, and levitating all four plates above her, Lily pushed on through the crowds of ponies looking to join the buffet line towards the dining tables. Smiling, Purity followed after her. |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 140 | Artemis Sparkshower
Artemis Sparkshower was flying in unfamiliar skies over an unfamiliar land. She'd never been the type to leave a heaping plate of mouth watering dinner items at the dinner table unattended! But now she was just leaving them there, all alone -- if just temporarily.
But it was the right thing to do; she couldn't let Honour go to the buffet all by herself, unescorted. Not when there were batponies and drunken sailors and overbearing fathers all marauding about! Besides, this way the pegasus could usher her to the best grub.
Well, not that she'd actually tasted any of Their Majesties' incredible spread yet, but still -- she remembered what was available at each and every station, and the reconnaissance pegasus was more than ready to serve not just as her escort, but her guide as well!
And, maybe she could also pick Honour's brain a bit when it came to their Very Important Pony -- who wasn't actually pony, but that hadn't stopped Artemis from becoming interested in him. As she wondered just how to broach that last subject, waiting in line for the second time at the long serving table, while hovering in the air and holding Honour's plate for her, it was to Artemis' surprise that it was her comrade who spoke up first.
"Hey, Artemis. When you were with the Royal Engineer in the ballroom after your dance and my father approached you, he didn't, uh, turn around and say anything after his parting message to me, did he?"
Lily had already shared how she'd used a tricky little bit of magic to allow Honour -- and herself, and Purity -- to all listen in on that conversation. Artemis shook her head. "No, that was it. I think you heard everything."
"Hmm."
Facing toward the front of the line, Honour furrowed her brow. Artemis wasn't surprised the earth pony was still turning things over in her head, but the Grand Galloping Gala was supposed to be a party. Was she going to fall into the same trap that Lily did just minutes ago in this very same buffet line, worrying over something instead of letting go and just enjoying herself?
Putting on a reassuring smile, Artemis tried to flutter over into her field of view. "Don't worry, Honour. If you still want to avoid your father, I'll spot him long before he can find you. Or, if you have something to say to him, I can do that too. I'm sure Anonymous would also be happy to act as an intermediary..."
There was no reaction, so she continued. "... I mean, if there was any doubt before, he's proven himself a real gentlecolt, hasn't he?"
Still staring aimlessly ahead of her, Honour muttered in response, "Sure, even if he's not exactly a 'colt'."
'Exactly!'
Artemis' face erupted with glee. "And that's what really makes him so special, I think! He's not a pony, and he hasn't even been in Equestria for very long, and by his own admission he's been a bit of a shut-in until Her Majesty gave him bodyguards, but even so, he's observant and clever and he's figured out so much out on his own!"
All of that unmitigated swooning seemed to finally pull Honour out of her daze, and she whinnied softly, smirking at the pegasus. "Still flying high after your dance in the ballroom?"
Artemis was blushing, but she made no effort to conceal it. "Yes. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?"
There was a brief pause where the corporal looked her over from head to tail. Then her expression softened. "No, I suppose there isn't." She went quiet, directing her gaze forward once more, and Artemis found herself at a loss for what to say next.
'Did she see something?'
The pegasus discreetly scrutinized her own dress, but everything seemed to be in order. It didn't look like she'd spilled anything on it, and it still looked as lovely now as it did when Lily plucked it off the rack in that Hackney Trot discount fashion outlet. Even better than then, actually, since she'd added slits for Artemis' wings and corrected the fit for her, ahem, athletic physique.
She paused to think for a moment. The line advanced another few hoofsteps, bringing her one place closer to being served.
That's when it occurred to her: Honour wasn't evaluating her clothes: she was evaluating her.
Well, wasn't that what she'd said, after the little incident with Artemis sticking her tuft out at the Royal Engineer? That when it came to a possible relationship, she didn't think Anonymous would be receptive until he thought she'd gotten over her break-up? True, it hadn't been very many actual days since that date, but the long-distance nature of the relationship ever since Artemis had arrived in Canterlot for her VIP training had, perhaps, made letting go of the past a lot easier. She'd certainly felt over it, ever since Thursday, and especially since arriving at the Gala, no matter what Lily said. And after that wonderful dance with the Royal Engineer less than an hour ago, Artemis didn't feel big any more, either.
It was a wonderful high.
Is that what Honour had seen, when she'd looked the pegasus over? A confident mare, soaring proudly on her own two wings? Is that why she didn't raise any objection after Artemis had gushed over him?
She'd said she didn't think pursuing a relationship with him was a good idea, not while Artemis was his bodyguard, but she'd also said that she wasn't going to stand in her way. The question of what the quaternion's corporal saw in her raised a more important question in her mind:
'What did Anonymous see when he looked at me?'
If he were as clever and observant as she thought he was, he would know she'd tried to flirt with him in the past. Artemis had never come out and propositioned him -- nothing even close to what Purity did, nor had she been in a private, romantic setting as Honour had in the Canterlot Rookery's 'Well of Life' -- but she had made some moves. Moves to which he had previously been oblivious, apparently owing to them being uniquely Equestrian and not part of his peoples' repertoire, but given what Honour said he had learned, he surely must understand what she'd done by now. Even that unintentional incident with the Maypole dance should have been a fairly obvious early warning sign.
He'd seemed flattered when he was asked to join the pegasus later in a ballroom dance instead of the maypole, though he'd accepted it as a cultural activity, rather than a romantic one. Which was her original intent for both dance requests -- or at least, her original conscious intent. As attending the Gala seemed very much to be a one-time opportunity, she wanted to experience this event to its fullest, and if Huckleberry was going to stubbornly refuse to come, then Artemis was going to ask the nearest eligible stallion to join her instead.
But if Anonymous was still treating the Waltz as simply a window into Equestrian social customs, why the unplanned dip at the end? And why no reaction to her kiss, besides a smile in return?
Wasn't he curious what it meant? He'd never shied away from asking questions until now. Was this all just innocent play to him, spontaneous expressions of elation from succeeding at a task he'd been nervous about performing, or was he actually testing the waters? And if he was testing the waters, how serious was he about moving to the next step? It wasn't as if there wasn't a lot he didn't already know about her; what more could he want to discover?
'Hurricanes, this is confusing!'
Things hadn't been this convoluted with Huckleberry, that was for sure. Growing up together in the same village made things a lot easier. It had been a much simpler relationship, too, based not just on physical attraction but on mutual social exclusion. At school, he had been teased for his rough simplicity, and she for her size; finding comfort in each others' hooves was, in the end, only natural. And as wonderful as that natural love had been, being a heavily-teased equus non grata amongst village ponies her own age sure brought on its share of difficulties.
Anonymous might be out of his element in Equestria, but he certainly wasn't a social outcast, and Artemis, as an elite VIP bodyguard, attendee of the Grand Galloping Gala, competitor in the upcoming MXP Games' Grand Mêlee, wielder of the Anthony Theolonicus 'Bradamante Lance,' and apparently the target of recruiting efforts both by the 1st Air Division, 3rd Armored Battalion 'Valkyries' and the Princess Cadenza's Regiment of Auxiliaries 1st Battalion 'Peregrines'...
Well, Artemis was clearly no outcast, either.
Thinking about how much she'd achieved, how much she'd grown over the past few weeks since taking up VIP duties, filled her with pride. But the hesitation and confusion about how to approach things with Anonymous still lingered in the background.
Purity was right; she was moving too fast.
Why rush in? It wasn't as if the Royal Engineer was about to be scooped up by some other mare, despite everypony joking that the Grand Galloping Gala was some kind of magic dating event. And this wasn't a race or a competition; their Very Important Pony wasn't surrounded by a ring of other challengers for his affection. The important thing -- and part of the reason Artemis had accompanied Honour on this expedition to the buffet tables -- was to make sure that she was secure in moving forwards, regardless of the pace. After all, nopony could make a successful advance while their rearguard was being threatened...
But maybe she ought to be more cautious route there, too.
Perhaps a little 'covert reconnaissance' was in order.
Artemis glanced at the corporal. "Did you and Anon talk about anything interesting while we were up at the buffet?"
Honour shrugged. "Not really. We spoke about the Gala, mostly. He was interested in the palace itself, too. Basic history lesson stuff..." She glanced off into the crowd for a moment. "... I also asked him a few questions about Leeward. Nothing worth bringing up again now."
It was really sad that she had such an awful relationship with her own father. Artemis still couldn't quite believe it -- or that Lily's relationship was, as she claimed, even worse. Part of her really wanted to find a way to help, but she had no idea where to even start.
Besides, she supposed, it really was a problem that Honour should sort out on her own. All she could do is be there to support her, like how the others supported her after the breakup, or how the whole quaternion tried to support Honour when she'd had her flash-flood storm with Anonymous.
Come to think of it, Artemis had been so elated after her dance with the Royal Engineer, and Honour was so distracted by his conversation with her father, and then the pegasus had been summarily distracted again by the start of dinner, that she'd never found out if Honour had reconciled things with her own coltfriend!
"Did things go okay with you and your friend Sergeant Castlerook?"
With a sigh, Honour stepped forward as the line advanced and started to look over the offerings at that particular buffet table. "I suppose so. He agreed we could live somewhere other than Fillydelphia, transferring when both our contracts come up this summer, though he said he still wanted to give one last try at patching things up between me and Leeward..." Honour glanced up at Artemis as she hovered close down to present the corporal with her dinner plate. "... I'm not too thrilled about that, but given how Anonymous was able to put him in his place, maybe it's worth a shot."
'Wow!'
Honour nodded as Artemis placed the plate on the table, at which the earth pony requested service for a few items from the kitchen attendant.
Artemis smiled at her. "It sounds like it could be wonderful, on both counts. There's no harm in letting him try to talk to your father, is there?"
After Honour's plate received the requested delicacies, Artemis scooped it up again in her forehooves and the two of them headed over to the next table.
"Probably not. Leeward seemed to be pretty subdued at the end of that last conversation, but who knows. Either way, I really don't think anything Alex could say will change his mind one way or the other..." Honour bobbed her head sideways, her eyes widening out momentarily. "... Though I would've said the same thing about any attempt by the Royal Engineer's as well. Guess I was wrong about that one, too."
'This sounds awfully stormy. Let's redirect those dark clouds!'
"Well, at least you're not wrong about what you picked for dinner, at least! This all looks great! Not that Their Majesties would put out any dud offerings."
Honour glanced up at what Artemis was holding. "I don't really want much more than that to start. And I hate the lineups. The food's not going anywhere; let's just head back for now. No sense in keeping everypony else at the table waiting."
She disengaged from the line, and Artemis was left feeling confused.
'Was it something I said?'
Artemis scrutinized the corporal's face. Curiously, despite her apparent successes with both her admirer, Sergeant Castlerook, and her father, Leeward Bound, Honour was still wearing her usual frown. And as much as this was usual for her, Artemis couldn't understand why she'd be frowning now, in a place like this, at such an event, when everything was going so well!
It was so confusing that there was just nothing for it but to ask.
"Honour, is everything okay?"
She sighed, but replied immediately, as if she'd expected the question. "It sure seems to be, doesn't it? I sorted out my troubles with Castlerook; Leeward got put in his place; I'm attending the biggest event of the year, surrounded by drink and food and friends..."
A quick roll of her shoulders and a squirm of her plot showed off just how well her red dress fit.
"... and I think I'm even getting the hang of this outfit, as outrageously revealing as it might be..."
Pausing, Honour looked up at Artemis. "... So why don't I feel like everything's okay?"
The pegasus had half a mind to tell the corporal that she thought she'd been 'down' so long it must look like 'up' to her. Classic spatial disorientation, as so often happens to tired, cruising pegasi: fly through a cloud, lose visual bearings on the horizon, unintentionally enter a 'graveyard spiral,' and come out of the cloud dangerously tilted and pointing down. It was a good analogy for the situation, but given Honour's terrestrial roots, Artemis decided the wiser course would be to simply land and listen -- which she did, placing herself down on her haunches, and still holding the corporal's dinner plate.
Honour sighed again. "I don't know; I really don't. I'm anxious; I feel like something's missing, or something's about to go wrong, but I can't put a hoof on what." Sitting down for a moment, she threw her forehooves up in the air, exasperated. "Or, buck, maybe I'm just finally losing my mind."
'Trowal, maybe I should have spoken up about her always being down!'
This was worse than when she was kicking herself over making 'the wrong decision' at Newstirrup bridge. She was wrong to do so then, but at least she'd had an argument to make, however poor it might have been! Now she was just agonizing over her future -- a feeling which was all too familiar to Artemis, after her blow-up with Huckleberry.
"Whoa there, Honour!" Glancing around the sea of dinner tables surrounding them, Artemis spotted a free space and quickly deposited her corporal's meal there for safekeeping. Then she stepped back up and around in front of the glum, red-robed brown pony. "There's nothing crazy about feeling uncertain for the future. We all feel it now and again."
Honour sighed again, casually looking around the room. "Sure, now and again."
Looking around herself, Artemis saw happy faces, laughter, smiles, ponies having the times of their lives.
Enjoying themselves.
"You've done what you said you were going to do, and things are set the way they are for now. Worrying isn't going to change any of that. Let's just enjoy the night we have here before us, okay?"
Honour lifted her eyebrows and started shaking her head. "I want to, but I... I get in this state where right as I'm about to get what I've always desired, I pull back, like it's suddenly turned to poison." With a deep breath, she lifted a forehoof, placing its frog against her forehead. "... I did it to Castlerook. More than once, even. I wanted him, and I knew he wanted me, and I just -- I just pulled back from him, I don't know why..."
Artemis watched a tear stream down Honour's left cheek, even as she tried to force a smile.
"... And now it's happening, and he's doing everything I wanted him to do, and I can't even feel happy about it." Closing in, Artemis held out her forehooves in support, and Honour dropped one of hers into the pegasus' grasp.
Sparkshower thought back to all those nights she'd spent agonizing over her absentee Huckleberry. Even when things were all sorted and arranged properly, like the test visit to Canterlot a few months ago before she'd started VIP training, there was a gulf that did, at times, terrify her. Worse was when she'd written to him to set things up for another visit, and she would wait anxiously for a reply.
Artemis shook her head reassuringly. "Because he's not here with you right now. You've set something up, but it hasn't actually happened yet. You're anxious that it might not happen at all."
Sniffling, Honour tried to recompose herself. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess so. You probably understand that better than anypony else I know."
The pegasus nodded. "Uncertainty about plans was one of the worst parts of being with Huckleberry. Even before I came to Canterlot, he cancelled things an awful lot. He would get really nervous about everything, always want to call things off. Sometimes it felt like I had to force him into going places, and that wasn't very fun, either."
Honour nodded, and there, sitting in the grand hall, surrounded by jubilant party-goers enjoying the finest culinary delicacies that Equestria had to offer, the two of them shared a brief moment of interpersonal synchronicity.
She was the Huckleberry, Artemis realized, to her faithful Castlerook: hesitant to act, consumed by her own doubts and fears. And now that she had committed to being with him, she was terrified of it. Just as Artemis' 'Puddin' had acquiesced to her VIP assignment, but been too scared to take the next steps.
She let go of Honour's forehooves and reached out to embrace her in a big hug. Friends didn't let friends feel bad like this without support. In the end, Artemis couldn't save Huckleberry, but she wouldn't let the corporal self-destruct like he did. Especially not on a magical night like tonight!
There was no resistance from the mare, so she maintained the big minotaur hug.
'And I'll keep maintaining it until she doesn't need it any more! 4th Armored will always hold the line!' That was a common motivational slogan at the pegasus' previous regiment, dating back to an old battle against the dragons.
Honour's breathing, short and pained at first, started to calm back down to a steady, if elevated, normal. Artemis heard her sigh and felt her lift a forehoof to wipe away another tear. "I need to step outside for a moment to catch my breath. You can--"
'Can head back? Not happening!'
"Nope, I'm coming with you."
As Artemis released her, she resumed her objection. "But, Artemis, your din--"
"I can visit the buffet line again, and so can you and anypony else."
The brown earth pony paused, before acquiescing. "Yeah, okay..." She nodded towards the nearest set of doors. "... Come on, over there."
The pegasus followed behind her on all fours, pushing open a double set of arched Prench doors which opened to a small, basement-level, stone-paved landing and, on the left, a set of stairs leading up to the main grounds. Honour didn't hesitate to trot right over, and Artemis followed in turn, until they found themselves on one side of the palace's grand entrance courtyard.
It was where the early-arrival guests had been entertained earlier, which Artemis and the rest of the quaternion had observed from that balcony in the west wing's south annex. There were still a few refreshment stations here, and a few party-goers, but most of the crowd had clearly moved inside the palace, and the extensive gardens 'behind' the main building.
The brown corporal came to a rest only once she'd firmly planted all four hooves on the courtyard's trimmed grass, rather than the walkway paving stones or gravel driveway. That's when Artemis noticed her actually start to relax, coming down from the emotional state she'd been in. She watched as her hooves seemed to sink deeper into the short green foliage.
A magical connection with the ground was said to be the source of the extraordinary endurance of earth ponies, and there were many who believed that direct physical contact with soil was a way to replenish that reserve of strength. Some of those same ponies also believed that an earth pony protractedly denied any opportunity to touch hooves with natural, living earth would lose their strength and wither. Sort of like a pegasus' wings atrophying if denied the opportunity to fly, Artemis supposed. Standing on all fours with her eyes closed and ears flattened back, Honour didn't seem to so much as breathe the crisp spring air as she seemed to absorb it.
Artemis joined her on the grass. Pegasi like her might not have any particularly deep connection to the land like their four-limbed kin, but she sure preferred the touch of grass to just about anything else. Not to mention, if given a choice of surfaces onto which to crash-land... Well, grass was one of the obvious 'good' choices -- and the taller and thicker, the better!
Taking a deep breath, Honour opened her eyes, lifting her ears back up. "Sorry. I got a little worked up in there."
Artemis shook her head. "It's alright. I understand."
Honour nodded. "Yeah, you do."
She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. After blowing it out slowly, she opened them up again. After that, she just stood there, looking slightly up towards the sky.
'Well, since I'm out here, I might as well join her in her silent meditation.'
Artemis was committed to helping her; it's not as if she was going to leave until Honour was ready to go back.
There was a burst of raucous laughter closer to the main entrance doors, but the pegasus resisted the automatic impulse to turn towards the source of the noise. Instead, she just looked up at the stars.
It was a clear night out; cool and fresh. A great night for flying, especially with the moon waxing gibbous and high in the sky, draping the world in silver light.
There was another loud blast of laughter from over by the entrance, harsh and throaty, and accompanied by boos in reply -- but Artemis shut it out, just as she did with the first outburst.
Something was making the stars particularly pretty tonight. The pegasus didn't think she'd seen them this spectacular since Her Majesty Princess Luna visited the Royal Engineer. And she wasn't even sure if she'd actually been gazing at the real sky then, or if it was all part of some hypnotic magical illusion. A moment of stellar transcendence in the presence of the Princess of the Moon.
'Strange.'
Simply thinking of that moment seemed to fill Artemis with a sense of calm and purpose, the same as she'd felt in the actual moment.
Her thoughts turned to the other stately figure who'd been present in the room. He hadn't made the stars rain from the sky like snowflakes, and she didn't remember him glowing brightly as she did the other ponies in the room, but with his calm, attentive demeanour, Anonymous stood out in his own way. Like a quick low-pressure front that comes in to break up an intense heatwave.
There was just one lingering question in Artemis' mind...
And only one pony who could answer it.
'You can do this.'
"Honour, do you-"
"Artemis, I want-"
'Oh, trowal!'
The two of them had started speaking at the same time, but Honour recovered more quickly. "... Sorry, go ahead."
Artemis shook her head. "No, I insist."
Tipping her head down and pawing the ground with a forehoof, Honour swallowed. "I wanted to say, if you're thinking again of going after the Royal Engineer, take it slow, okay? And keep things simple to start..." Then she lifted herself back up and looked Artemis in the eyes. "... A peck on the cheek, bringing him his dinner plate, that sort of low-key stuff is alright. Ask him to the dance floor tonight, though I think he'll ask you first -- probably each of us, actually, if we're not otherwise occupied. I think he regrets not dancing when we were out on Tuesday, and that he doesn't intend to make the same mistake twice..."
Well, that warm front certainly blew away all of Artemis' storm clouds.
Honour scrunched up her muzzle a bit. "... But even if things go well tonight, remember that he's not from here; he's used to looking at things in a different way than us. It'll take time to establish a relationship. If that happens, and if we're still his bodyguards, I'll rein in Lily if she sees what's happening and starts laying into you; Purity too, though I imagine she'll have more discretion..." Taking a deep breath, she finally lifted her other hooves as she turned her body towards Artemis -- and the stairs back down into the dining hall. "... But don't let anypony push things too fast -- and that includes him too, okay? It'll be for your own good, and his. I don't want to see either of you get hurt, especially not when we all have to work together. That means avoiding rash moves and hasty decisions. You understand?"
Artemis nodded, remembering Kilfeather's assertion that good-looking single ponies wake up to find themselves coupled in the morning. "I understand. And I'll take it slow. That's actually what I was going to ask you."
Honour snorted. "Yeah, I figured. I may have my troubles, but I'm not blind."
Smiling, the pegasus stepped forward and spread her forehooves for another embrace. The earth pony opened hers in turn and they hugged each other, briefly. Once they both let go, Honour sniffed and shook her head. "...Thanks, I needed that -- the trip outside, and the pep talk earlier... and even the hugs."
Artemis beamed. "It's my pleasure!"
That's when she heard an echoing shout from over by the main entrance. "It'll be me pleasure to rearrange yer face, ye scurvy scalawag!"
She turned to look, and just as she parsed the basic arrangement of the scene -- almost thirty sailors, divided in two boisterous groups, grinning and rearing up on their hind hooves at each other -- her view was interrupted as five billowing dark shadows crashed down on the throng of quarrelsome ponies.
Standing atop a suddenly-flattened would-be brawler, one of the black-cloaked meteorites threw back his hood to reveal a Night Guard helmet -- with a dark head and two yellow slit eyes beneath its armoured brow. "In the name ob the Prrrincess ob the Moon, jou are all under arrrrest for disturrbing Her peace. Do not rrresist!"
Shocked by the sudden arrival, the two groups seemed momentarily unable to react.
Beside the pegasus, Honour had noticed the disturbance as well. "Looks like trouble."
A couple of stragglers at the outer edges of the group scurried off, bolting for the palace, but the bulk of the two apparently rival crews stayed put, turning away from facing each other, and towards the newcomers. One of them, near the front, reached into his vest and pulled out a flask, quickly uncorking it and taking a swig, before tossing it to the next pony behind him, who dutifully swallowed a draught of his own, passing it on in turn.
"Oh yeah? Well, despite our rivalry, we's all of us loyal merchantpones of Her Majesty Princess Celestia, the Princess of the Sun, and we don't none of us take orders from murderin' blackguard bat ponies what worship the dark night." Cracking his forehooves into each other, he took a determined step towards the Night Guard soldier, followed soon after by another sailor, and then another, then another.
Artemis gasped. "Trouble? Make it double!"
In response to the menacing advance, the five Night Guard all reared back and kicked out their forehooves. With a familiar snicker-snack that was audible even at this distance, she saw they all suddenly had shining steel blades protruding from their forelegs.
'Oh, hurricanes!'
Almost immediately in response, she saw three horns start to glow, a half-dozen pairs of feathered wings extending, and a number of hooves holding glass tumblers smashing their glassware to make deadly, jagged weapons. A few of the sailors even reached back to their flanks, drawing knives of their own from beneath their belts or breeches.
'Thundering tornadoes!'
'Weren't those ponies searched for weapons before being admitted to the palace grounds?!'
Without waiting for the next escalation, Honour launched into a gallop. "Come on! We'd better intervene, or somepony might wind up dead!"
Artemis didn't need to be told twice, and flapped her wings to blast off right after the corporal.
Except...
Two unarmored guarsdponies wearing gala fineries against a gang of thuggish sailors and five batpony 'Swarming Meteors'? What exactly were the two of them going to be able to accomplish without any of their weapons?
As Artemis barreled down on the group of armed ponies, she gulped. Then she grit her teeth and followed her corporal's lead. The 4th Armoured Regiment's motto was 'Prepared and Loyal'; she might not be prepared, but she sure would be loyal! Despite Honour's frequent misgivings, she'd proven that when push comes to shove, she knew what to do.
So, beware, miscreants! The Royal Engineer's Very Important Pony escort quaternion is here -- or part of it, anyways! |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 141 | Honour Bound
Honour Bound was a mere corporal in the Royal Guard, and in just a few moments, she was going to find out if she could summon up enough command authority to get a squad of Night Guard and a pack of sailors to both stand down before somepony got seriously hurt.
Galloping along next to her, Specialist Artemis Sparkshower turned to speak. "This doesn't make sense! When we met Carmen earlier, she told us the Swarming Meteors were suspended from Night Guard duty because of what Marcos did! Why are they here now??"
Honour was no expert in batpony 'Star-phase' temples, but she could spot the same attack when it was used twice. Either some other school had exactly the same swoop-clobbering tactic and hoof-blades as the Meteors, or Reverend Mother Superior Carmen Ebonshield wasn't trustworthy.
And she knew where she'd place her bet.
'Okay, Honour. You just have to get in there, use your best "I am in charge here!" voice, and nopony will notice you're in a cocktail dress and completely unarmed and unarmored.'
At the very least, she ought to be able to cause enough disruption to delay the impending violence.
But before she could even reach the starting point, a brilliant silver pegasus colt in Royal Guard armor fluttered down in front of the Swarming Meteors. "What's the meaning of this? Who gave you permission to charge and draw weapons, Sergeant? And you, there, you ruffians -- how dare you raise your hooves against the Guard? Back away this instant!"
His uniform had the single epaulette of Lieutenant Junior Grade, but more interestingly, on his right foreleg Honour saw a familiar black band with the letters 'R.U.C.' sewn into it with white thread.
R.U.C.: Royal Undermountain Constabulary.
From his angle of entry, the officer must have been patrolling with the batponies -- which meant that the Night Guard were on station at the Gala, but they were being supervised. As Honour arrived at the scene, she noted that the sailors hadn't backed away, though they did at least cease their advance. The officer, however, seemed much more concerned with the behavior of the batponies. "Well, Sergeant? I want an explanation!"
For his part, the batpony 'sergeant' kept his eyes on the drunk belligerents. "Teniente Naranja, dese ponies werrre yust about to-"
The argent R.U.C. Lieutenant got right up in his dusky sergeant's muzzle. "That is not an excuse! You forget that you are under strict orders, Sergeant! You are not permitted to take action without consulting with your superior officer first!" Pointing down at the crumpled sailor beneath the batpony's hooves, he continued, "Did you do so prior to assaulting these guests, Sergeant?"
The batpony scrunched up his muzzle for a moment before answering. "No, mi Teniente."
Vindicated, the Lieutenant turned his nose up at the batpony, then turned on his heels to face the ornery sailors. "Sheathe your weapons and back away, Sergeant. I will take care of this."
He didn't audibly grumble, but Honour could see the frustration written on the sergeant's face as he nodded to his four comrades. They all backed off of and away from their victims, before pausing to re-holster their spring-loaded hoof-blades.
Now the crowd's attention was on the officer. "Disgraceful! You sailors were invited here to celebrate the anniversary of the Merchant Marine, and what do you do? Draw weapons on the Guard, after nearly coming to blows -- and for what, some trivial argument over whose ship is the fastest? I'll have you all thrown in the donjon for this nonsense!"
For a junior officer, he certainly had the right attitude of command, and the ponies before him did deserve a dressing-down -- but Honour wasn't sure that ragging on their argument as 'nonsense' or 'trivial' was going to help.
Sure enough, his final statement elicited several grumbles and jeers from the crowd.
"Trivial?"
"Nonsense?!"
Honour even saw a few forehooves go up -- with the opposing one placed in the crook of the elbow.
"Buck you, peeler!"
"Get lost, butter-bar!"
"Buzz off, Jack Law!"
That just set the officer off even more. "How dare you! I am an officer of the Royal Guard, and you are guests here in Her Majesty's palace. You will respect my authority and disperse this instant! Disperse, I say!"
His Canterlot-accented cries fell flat as the brigands started to advance on him once more. "Come on, lads, we'll give this stuffed hat what 'e deserves, then we'll have at the bloody bats!"
Suddenly aware of his peril, the Lieutenant took one step back -- which just served to open the floodgates. A moment later, he panicked, bolting to take cover behind the five Night Guard soldiers he'd just disarmed and dressed down. "Sergeant, draw weapons and prepare to engage!"
Before he could even finish barking out the order, the batponies had already readied themselves for a fight once more. The crowd surged forward, more energetically than when they were faced with the Night Guard alone.
It seemed Honour was going to have to clean up the L-T's mess after all.
'Time for a different strategy.'
With Sparkshower at her side, Honour just barely intruded in between the two groups before summoning up the salty bellow of a Fillydelphia dockside mare. "Anyhow, everypony knows that the Tambermane is the fastest clipper ship on the Four Seas..."
That got her a few glances.
'Seems like I'm on the right track.'
"...Anypony who thinks otherwise must be a fool or a moron, and clearly needs the sense knocked into them, or maybe their teeth knocked out!"
And now she had their attention. The advance on the batponies and the embattled Lieutenant came to a halting stop once more.
"...Isn't that right, Artemis?"
Honour just hoped Sparkshower understood the situation enough to play along -- and that she could dig down and find some source of coarse churlishness.
"Uh-Yes! That's right!" The pegasus started. "Why, I can't imagine the kind of toothless, er, scurvy-hoofed, uh, freshwater marine who would even consider any other ship for supremacy."
'Good mare.'
The sailor leading the slow charge -- a big earth-pony colt dressed in white slops with a blue jacket and a black bowler cap -- came to a halt and faced the intruding corporal. "What've we got over here? A couple of loud-mouthed mares looking to leave the Gala with shiners?"
'Time to go 'full Fillydelphia.''
The earth pony mare lifted an eyebrow and sneered as she looked him up and down. "As if you could touch me. I've seen better stallions slurping sausage and taking it between the buns behind quayside bars off Front Street."
A few jeers and guffaws called out from behind him as the sailor-colt's ears started to boil. "You're all talk, little filly. Go on and scram."
Honour slapped one forehoof against her flank, lifting her upper lip to crudely show her teeth. "Make me. You wouldn't last two minutes on the Fillydelphia docks. What garbage-scow do you even serve on, anyways?"
Snorting out his nostrils, the big stallion clopped a forehoof into his chest. "The Antelope, out of Baltimare, and she's no damn scow."
She snorted right back at him as she lied through her teeth. "Sure, she's no scow, but she sure needs one to haul her off. I've seen the Antelope down at the docks; she's a sickening sight, with her sails in rags and listing to port. I hear your cook spends his days in the scuppers with the staggers and jags, too."
Accompanied by boos from some of the ponies behind him, the sailor shook his head. "You've got a nasty tongue, filly. Someone ought to slap it clean out of your muzzle."
'Now, to show him I really am serious about spoiling for a fight.'
After all, it was better for the two of them to duke it out with fistihooves than the Swarming Meteors get involved with their daggers. With any luck, beating up just one or two of them would disperse the crowd. This wouldn't be her first boxing match with a mariner anyways -- just the first one since she'd left Filly'. Hiking her skirt, she reared back on her hind hooves and defiantly raised up her forehooves. "Please. There's no way a barge as broad and fat and loose in stays like you will ever hit me."
Though scowling at the latest insult, the colt still hesitated to commit against her, so Honour got back down on all fours and lowered her head down, scraping a hind hoof against the ground as if she were readying for a charge. "Come on, bilge rat! Don't tell me you're afraid to hit a mare. That's the only way an ugly picaroon like you could ever get one to stick around long enough for you to wet your whistle, anyhow."
That final put-down pushed him over the edge, and with the jostling, ornery crowd at his back furiously egging him on, he turned his body fully towards her. "Well, we were gonna teach that meddling officer and his scum batponies a lesson, but I guess we've got room for a little appetizer first. All right, foul-mouthed filly, let's dance!"
The corporal spared a quick glance to make sure that the Swarming Meteors and their supervising R.U.C. officer were staying back and that the crowd's focus was on her, before turning her gaze back to her opponent. He was so confident he'd end her with just one blow that the muscled stallion simply reared back and stepped forward on his hind hooves, swinging wide.
Suggested background music: Yugo Kanno - "Il Vento D'Oro", from "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind" [2018]
Transported back to her youthful days brawling in the dockside alleys, time seemed to slow down as Honour was filled with a serendipitous confidence. The turbulent sea of confusing possibilities of what might happen in the future -- with Castlerook, Leeward, Anonymous, Fillydelphia, and more -- collapsed into the straight and narrow river of the immediacy of the here and now. And that path was so predictable, so constrained, and so familiar that she completely let go of her worries and turned all of her attention to the present:
Unarmed combat between maritime earth ponies.
With her newfound focus, what was just a sloppy, easily-avoided attack turned into a clownish pantomime of a sloth's movement. She didn't even have to think to dodge; she'd already ducked.
'And now that he's left himself open, how to riposte?'
Certainly, she could try for a fast knock-out as he had. A solid hoof to his chin, probably followed by a second, might be enough to get him flat on his back, if he's got a glass jaw. But Honour knew from experience that a quick end would neither impress nor rattle the crowd as well as a proper, longer brawl. She needed something with some meat to it, so that her fight with their fellow stallion satisfied their own blood-lust, even if their champion lost.
'Let him take the heavy swings, then, and I'll start with a few body blows to soften him up.'
As she established her strategy, she could almost see the steps before they came: duck the clumsy haymaker, step back to draw the fighter further away from the crowd. Although she was putting on a show for the other sailors, it was still important to try to minimize any interference. She needed to keep them as spectators to this petty mêlee, not participants, if she wanted to actually win.
The sailor's forehoof passed well above and in front of her head, and she lined up the next motion. Aware that she'd moved back, but not yet cognizant that she was too fast for this, he took a heavy step forward and swung wide with the other hoof. Already a bit tilted from the first wild swipe, his second attack was more of a proper hook, but still puts him dangerously off-balance.
Honour lifted her head up to avoid the low-aimed blow and prepared to strike. As the mariner's hoof sailed beneath her chin, she launched forward on her hind hooves, thrusting one forehoof out until it connected with his shoulder.
'Celestia, he's solid!'
That first forehoof found nothing but thickly-corded muscle and bone, so she launched the other one lower, at his ribs. The second connection had the impact she wanted, and the colt cringed even as he lurched. From his careless strikes as well as her own hit, he was forced to get back down on all fours, or else topple over sideways onto the ground.
That's when he was most vulnerable, and she took full advantage, planting her own forehooves in the grass and pivoting around on them for a quick double-hind-kick. It was impossible to conceal such a big motion, but all he could do when he spotted her red dress flying out at him was curl his flank and try to lurch away from her. It was enough to lessen the blows, but not enough to avoid them, and she could see his cheeks puff up as her kidney-shots knocked the wind out of him.
Having completed the attack, now it was Honour who was vulnerable, with her flanks exposed.
He reared up again on his hind hooves, but having wised up to the mare's speed, he settled for a left-hoof jab. She was certain a left-hoof cross was going to follow, so to mix things up, she tensed and leaned into the first blow.
It worked: he was so surprised when his first forehoof ricocheted off in an unexpected manner that it spoiled the follow-up, sending his hoof wild. That created another opening, and for more, this time.
Starting with a single hind kick for good measure, she spun around again and drove her head forward, butting into the back of his flank. The impact sent pain shuddering down her neck through her skull, but she mostly caught him in the soft spot past his ribcage, and more importantly, her effort actually knocked him off his hooves.
Struggling in the air, he flailed down with his forehooves as she pushed through to ensure the toppled, but her own hooves came up faster, seizing his torso and torquing him sideways. Now, instead of landing on his side, he slammed right down on his back, knocking his head shortly after. He was flat on the ground now, so she leapt on top to pound, knocking a gaskin into his groin as she crashed her forehooves down into his neck and face.
With instincts that made it clear he was no tenderhoof, he brought his own limbs up to shield those vulnerable areas, all while trying to buck her off. Honour continued to hammer away, trying to break past or get around his guard, but she just didn't have the reach, and eventually he managed to shove hard enough that she was kicked over, rolling onto her four hooves.
Furious at having been knocked around this way, he snarled out as he rolled over and got back up, a streak of blood trickling down from his mouth. "Damned whorse!"
Honour smirked.
'Them's fightin' words.'
"You're in for a wreckin', jawn."
With a shake of his head, he re-cocked his shoulders and squared up against her. His head might still be full of tipple, but at last now he was showing her that he actually had some fighting chops.
'Good, that'll make for a better show.'
As the two of them circled around, sizing the other up, Honour was momentarily brought back to real-time, just enough to hear the crowd's cheers and jeers.
"Come on, get 'er, Flass!"
"Clobber that whorse!"
"Keep your hooves up!"
Even better; the more they got into it as spectators, the more likely they would be to feel spent if he lost. She just had to make sure to achieve that ending.
Artemis was watching observantly from the sidelines, her eyes darting between Honour, her opponent, the crowd, and even the group of batponies -- who so far hadn't budged an inch. Even the lieutenant seemed to be caught up in the duel.
'Back to it, then -- and this time, I'll start the offensive.'
Surging forward, Honour gritted her teeth and watched the stallion's eyes go wide as she launched a top-hoofed uppercut at his chin. Turning his head, he narrowly avoided it, only to catch her cross in the neck. He cringed from the pain, but it wasn't so much that he couldn't react, and he squatted down almost onto his haunches to lift his own forehooves for a reply.
Which might've worked, if she hadn't already swung her back around to start kicking him in the side. A heavy hoof glanced off her withers as she spun, and a moment later she was once again burying keratin just past his ribs. But she couldn't connect with some solid hip-bone this time, which screwed her recovery enough that she couldn't risk a follow-up.
Recognizing his mistake in sitting down, 'Flass' stood up again and rushed forward, lifting his forehooves wide at the last moment.
'He's going to try to grab me and wrestle me down; can't have that.'
Honour's head still hurt from the last time, but she tuned it out and pushed herself to go low, hurtling forward into his attempt at a grapple. As his forelegs seized her barrel, her skull slammed against the base of his rib-cage.
The momentum-transfer stopped Honour in her tracks, but she managed to keep her neck straight enough to remain planted. While he scrabbled to get hold of her, she thrust her neck up, making the big sailor grunt, "Urgh!"
Honour was able to lift him into the air, but she could feel her strength failing -- she couldn't get him over this way, so she tilted her head to send him sideways. With all four of his limbs flailing in the air, the maneuver just barely worked, and he flopped over onto his flank.
Turning to land the easy hits, she got a couple of forehooves in on the same hind spot she'd been working so far this fight, but then she felt a jolt of pain in her head and had to withdraw.
'Buck, did I actually crack my skull against him?'
She blinked, and her vision briefly went blurry.
Another blink, and she was seeing straight again.
Still on his side, he was lethargically trying to get back up. The corporal didn't have the same volume of liquid courage in her that he had, which had been to her advantage so far, but if the alcohol's numbing effect kept him from going down, that'd be a real problem.
That's when disaster struck.
"Aw, stinkin' whorse, what a dirty move. I'll get her for ya, Flass!"
One of the eager audience members -- thankfully, not one of the armed ones -- hustled in from behind, aiming to grab her. And when one came, another might follow, and another...
She barely had time to feel panic at the thought of being ganged up on by more foes, when a pink-and-yellow blur went streaking over her shoulder.
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"
The outstretched hind hooves of a spiralling Artemis Sparkshower crashed into the interloper's muzzle, and she beat her outstretched wings once to come to a magnificent, skidding landing on all fours, even as her victim went tumbling back head-over-hooves, rolling through gaps in the crowd like a stray cannon ball.
Instantly, Honour's pegasus savior spread her wings wide and reared up on her hind hooves, menacing the crowd, "Epona-a-buaidh! Sow the wind, and reap the Whirlwind!"
'Good mare.'
'Really good mare.'
'But maybe tone it down, lest you goad more of them into attacking.'
But once again, Honour had problems of her own: Flass was back on his hooves. He looked steady, but as the two of them faced each other once more, something about him seemed different. It was hard to put a hoof on it. On a whim, Honour stood up straight, effectively lowering her guard, goading him to attack. Watching her do it, he didn't seem to know how to react.
No, that wasn't it: he knew how he wanted to react -- but he hesitated; he was finally feeling intimidated.
Good!
With the way her head was hurting, and having already attracted one ringer, it was past time the corporal ended this fight. She couldn't bait any more clumsy attacks out of him, but she could take advantage of his hesitation. Kicking up her heels, she charged.
He had the sense to rear up and throw out a jab to force her away in response, but he failed to put his full power into it. Honour weathered the limp blow against her muzzle even as she reared back herself.
He tried to turn away, thrusting out his cross hoof in another keepaway attempt, yet once again it was just hoof and foreleg that connected, lacking the real power provided by the twisting shoulder, barrel, waist, and hips.
The impact of that lame hoof against her muzzle hadn't fazed the mare in the slightest and now, having pushed through his ineffective guard, she was ready to unleash her own assault. Pivoting on her hind hooves, Honour wailed against Flass with hook after hook, slamming alternating forehooves into his head, battering it back and forth like a punching speed bag. "Oorah! Oorah! Oorah!"
Honour hadn't shouted the battle cry of the 186th Fillydelphia Volunteers since she was fresh out of 'shoe camp, but somehow it just came out naturally as she pummeled her opponent into submission. "...One-Eight-Six, Fillydelphia Volunteers! Oorah!"
A final hammer-blow, summoned up with all of her power, sent Flass crumpling down to the ground before her, landing on his rear with the rest of him flopping limply out afterwards. Huffing and puffing through her nostrils, Honour paused momentarily, still on her hind hooves, looking down to make sure he was down for the count.
But when it became clear he was out cold, she finally let herself get back down on all fours.
'Sweet Celestia of Equestria, I have a splitting headache.'
The corporal needed a drink -- but there was something else she needed to deal with first. Turning to face the other sailors, she saw sad, disheartened faces.
'Perfect.'
"Ahoy, you lot! Haul your damned bilge-scum the buck out of here before any more peelers show up! Sharply, now!" Exchanging glances, they didn't have to be told twice, and a few of them hustled forwards to pick up their fallen champion.
Sparkshower joined Honour at her side as the corporal started towards the batponies, who were still posed in front of five clobbered sailors. "Let them go! They won't cause any more trouble, right?" That last question was directed back at the former belligerents, who nodded and meekly muttered affirmatives in response.
As if on cue, the Lieutenant stepped out from behind his protective wall of soldiers. "Ahem, excuse me, but I am in command here, and I will decide-"
Honour had seen his kind before. "Lieutenant, you can either let these five go, or you can deal with fighting the rest of that mob -- again."
The junior officer fell silent, but his batpony sergeant lifted an eyebrow. "Ay am not afrrraid of such a fight."
She retorted by pointing an angry forehoof at his still-extended hoof-blade. "You should be. That's a tool for killing; you think your Great Mother wants deaths at the biggest party of the year? And for what, instigating a brawl amongst themselves? That's not Equestrian justice, it's a slaughter."
The use of the batpony term for Princess Luna immediately elicited the full and undivided attention of all five batponies. After a moment's consideration, the sergeant nodded to his soldiers, and all five backed further away from their knocked out prey.
Even as more glum sailors came to haul fallen comrades back inside -- and probably to the nearest drinks table, for recuperative tonics -- the Lieutenant started to sputter out protestations. "But... At least we should, uh, an arrest, er, we can't just-"
Honour ignored him and stepped up to the batpony leader. "Now answer another thing for me, 'Sergeant.' Why are Swarming Meteors on duty tonight? The Reverend Mother Superior said you were all on suspension, after what Marcos pulled."
The blathering lieutenant's jaw dropped open wide, but the Meteor sergeant just lifted the other eyebrow. He looked Honour and Artemis over. "Jou... Jou arrre two of the ones he attack-ed. The Caporal Bound, and the Specialisto Sparkshower. La tierra y la pegaso..." Tilting his head back, he started to nod. "Now jour actions makes the sense. Jou know how we fight, so jou interbeened to stop us from killing, jes?"
When the gears finally ticked into place, he stepped forward right towards Honour, coming muzzle-to-muzzle with the earth pony. The batpony Star-phase act of respect: opening himself up to a possible head-butt if she were offended.
"...We Meteors have indeed been shamed by the actions of our Sixth, and rrremoved from the duties rrregular. But, this Gala, she ees exceptional. Therre would not be enough Stars to monitor the skies without us. So, a few grroups such as mine habe been allow-ed."
That explained things, she supposed. If the Royal Guard was on heightened alert for some unspecified threat to the Gala, then it made sense they'd have redoubled the Night Guard patrols as well -- even if the biggest threat to the Gala was quite possibly the Night Guard itself.
Softening his expression, the sergeant glanced up at her brow. "Eef jour eentention was to aboid the bloodshed, Caporal Bound, ay must tell jou, unfortunately, that you have fail-ed."
Withdrawing from the tête-a-tête, she lifted a hoof to her forehead. Sure enough, there was a splotch of blood on the hoof when she lowered it back down. She probably didn't actually crack open her skull against that bull of a sailor, though she clearly broke skin.
Artemis stared at the injured spot. "It's just a small patch, Honour. You should get it looked at, but I don't think it's bleeding quickly, if it's even still open at all."
'Well, at least the blood'll go with my red dress.'
The batpony sergeant nodded at the corporal. "Jou fight with the great conbiction. Ay see now how Marcos was defeated so easily. Ay am a Fifth of Meteors, Luis Reynauldo. Jou should know, por cierto, that for his crrimes our Sixth has accepted the libertad condicional, the probation, in the serbice of las Lunares. This is an arrangement most unusual; normally, we would habe taken him and meted out the justice ourselbes within our temple, as we did with his conspirradores, but he rrefused."
While interesting, she really didn't see the relevance. "So?"
Luis shrugged. "Ay tell jou this simply as a courrtesy. Jou habe earned my rrespect; jou should know that the one who sought jour death is free, and no longer underr the control of our temple. For now, eet ees as eef he had join-ed the Lunars."
Then he smiled. "Eef jour group will again enterr the rookery for trraining in the Grand Hall, have a message sent to me. Eet would be worth being awoken een the middle of the day to watch you again, and ay will bring others. Besides, we owe jou at least this courtesy as well."
Honour did remember how every other batpony Star exited the training chamber after their group showed up. Purity had said that was down to antipathy against her, more than against Equestrians like Honour, Artemis, or Lily. It seemed like they were making some positive waves; maybe Luna's mission to the Royal Engineer wasn't so crazy after all.
"It's not up to me, but sure."
Luis Reynauldo, Fifth of Meteors, gave her a quick bow, then, replacing his black hood over his head, before turning to his commanding officer. "Excellente! May we have now the permiso to rresume our patrrol, teniente?"
The flabbergasted Lieutenant took a few moments to pull himself together. "Uh... Er... Right, sergeant, move out! Sheath weapons and resume DRAGCAP at one hundred hooves."
Acting in utter silence, the five batponies took to the air, as the armored pegasus officer clattered up after them.
For a moment, Honour watched them go, before turning to Sparkshower, who looked at her worryingly. "Are you sure you're alright, Honour? You took some awful-looking hits to your head."
She smiled. "Artemis, honey, for the first time in a while, I think I actually feel good..."
It was true. Maybe it was just a rebound from her breakdown, but she really did feel a lot better after bashing that colt's head in. Grinning broadly, she sidled up beside the pegasus and was about to hook a foreleg over her back, when Honour remembered that she'd probably got blood on those, too. So Honour just nodded at her instead.
"...Now come on, let's get to the little fillies' room so I can clean up." |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 142 | Lily Glamerspear
'I can't catch a break tonight.'
No sooner had Lily Glamerspear's group arrived at the Gala than they were accosted by Honour's hilariously overenthusiastic father. And no sooner had he left than they'd all had to flee outside, skipping Their Majesties' receiving line, to avoid a repeat.
Then Honour had split off, and that was the first departure from their Gala squad. Later, just when things were getting spicy from ribbing their Very Important Pony (who wasn't actually a pony) about his tastes in actual female ponies, Eb's mother had shown up to spoil the festive mood.
The next departure came when Artemis and Anonymous peeled off as a two-pone fireteam to prepare for the Lipizzaner dance. That had actually been a good enough show, Lily supposed, and she had to admit to some mischievously smug satisfaction at the little eavesdropping job she'd pulled afterwards. But when their crew was finally gathered back together, and when she'd gotten her hooves on some grub, and when she was really, actually starting to enjoy herself and settle into party mode, Purity had pointed out that Artemis and Honour seemed to have disappeared from the buffet line.
With cheeks bulging with a mouthful of delicious 'Foin Cordon Bleu,' Lily had looked up and around incredulously. But as far as either the unicorn or the Royal Engineer could see, she was right -- they were gone. With Leeward Bound and Carmen Ebonshield both roving around the Gala -- along with who knows who else -- their disappearance was concerning. Enough so for the sergeant to suggest that they should go looking for them, and everyone had agreed. They quickly came up with a plan: Lily and Ebonshield would search the area, while Anonymous stayed back at the table to hold their seats and to await the missing members of their crew in case they returned on their own.
Lily had felt a bit gung-ho, eager to save her comrades from certain peril.
Some of that was definitely the rum punch talking.
Having scoured the buffet line as well as the immediate dining room, yet coming up empty-hooved -- and Artemis was not a small pony, plus Purity could perform recon from height -- Lily was starting to wish she hadn't gotten up from the dinner table at all. Yeah, maybe their missing two comrades were in 'certain peril' and she'd be able to ride in with her fellow quaternion members to turn the tables on whoever had waylaid them.
Or, y'know, maybe they'd just gone to hit up the little fillies' room.
Purity apparently had the same thought, landing next to Lily after she'd finished a quick flap-through of the dining hall annex. "I wonder if perhaps they have gone to the lavatory? I could check."
Lily nodded. "Sure, I mean, I dunno where else they would've gone. There's guards at the doors, it's not like they got clubbed over the head and abducted in sacks." The aforementioned scenario played out in Lily's head, and she furrowed her brow. "...Plus, I don't think either of 'em would even go down in one hit. So if there really was a scuffle, there'd have been a real commotion."
Eb shrugged. "I agree, of course. Although, I note that the Lunars have many subtle means available to them. Still, I hope that no calamity has befallen our comrades."
Lily pointed a hoof in the direction of the nearest servant -- a bus-colt with a white apron hastily clearing a dining table to make it ready for the next set of guests who might want to sit down. "Yeah. I got no idea where the restrooms are around here, so you'd better ask somepony like him. For myself, I'll trot around one more time for good measure and see you back at the table. Hopefully one of us finds 'em, or we'll find them waiting for us there with Anon."
With a reassuring smile, but her eyes curiously already focused on her destination, the batpony trotted off towards the bus-colt.
The very young, fairly handsome bus-colt. And was Eb deliberately swaying her hips by putting one hoof directly in front of the other?
'Hoo, foal.'
Hopefully she'd remember to actually ask where the washrooms are, instead of just hitting on the young palace servant.
Lily left her middle-aged, colt-slaying, cradle-robbing, libertine, master-of-assassins quaternion-mate to do her thing and turn back towards the buffet and main dining hall.
'They have to be in here somewhere.'
Squinting, the unicorn scanned the crowds. Even though she was wearing an exquisite Louis Valise dress, part of her wished she had her highly unfashionable, but very useful, Martingale-Locksteed Mark III Air Defense Assisted Targeting helmet on. With the ceiling of this room being two floors tall, and with upper storey viewing balconies all around, the Mk. 3 ADAT's zoom lens would really come in handy in a situation like this. Even if it didn't go at all with her LV dress, or her hoofbag, or her mane-do, or her horseshoes.
...Eh, that last one, actually...
Lily did suppose that some actual military equipment might go well with 'Gladiator' style sandals.
'Ancient soldiers wore something like these, didn't they?'
As Lily absent-mindedly looked around, a group of swarthy-looking nautical stallions came swaggering by. More than a few of them spared a glance and approving smile in her direction, and she couldn't help but smirk and wink back. "Hello, sailors."
It came out as barely anything but a whisper, but, 'buck, mare what are you doing?!'
After everything that went wrong with Mailedhoof, rolling in the hay with some merchant mariner was definitely not what Lily needed right now.
'Although...'
One of the few unicorn colts in the pack swished his tail in her direction, before tossing back his mane.
'Mmf.'
She could see from the trace of blue light from his horn that he was helping to telekinetically carry a passed-out comrade amongst his own.
A case of too much rum, probably.
Unlike a ship's grog ration, the liquor dispensaries of Their Majesties' Palace of Canterlot did not water down the drinks.
'But that stallion helping cart off the drunk though...'
'Mmmm-mmm, yeah.'
She could definitely watch that well groomed tail go flappity-flap while the firm hindquarters it was attached to went slappity-sl--
"Good evening, Specialist Glamerspear."
'Buck!'
Caught 'mirin, Lily went stiff as a board when she heard Montgomery Mailedhoof's baritone voice speaking almost straight into her ear. Ponies she did not expect to run into during the Gala included Honour's dad, Carmen Ebonshield -- well, any batpony other than Purity, really -- and one Royal Guard Captain Montgomery Mailedhoof. Wasn't his family supposed to be here with him? As public as he'd been with her in his professional entourage, there's no way he'd cross the line of rubbing his wife's muzzle in his infidelity.
Lily quickly glanced around nervously, only to find he was all alone, in a well-fitted, three-piece black frock coat with matching pants, a grey vest, and a rakishly-tied cravat. Despite him being solo, she figured she'd better start by playing innocent -- and by pretending that she was still his saltine, despite the impending termination of that soured-beyond-repair relationship.
"Good evening, Captain Mailedhoof..."
Turning her head, she found he really was uncomfortably close beside her. It was a position momentarily excusable given the crowd, but anypony watching the two of them would start to get suspicious. She didn't know whether or not she should reposition to avoid that suspicion, so Lily opted to roll with his lead for now.
"...How are you enjoying this year's Gala?"
He inhaled deeply through his nostrils, and his muzzle slowly trailed down the back of Lily's neck, taking in her scent.
It sent a chill down her spine.
But she couldn't brush him off here and now -- well, not completely, anyways. Mailedhoof was the reason she was in that getup, after all.
After a moment, the old colt turned an eye back to her. "It has its ups and downs. Some of the crowd is certainly more pleasing to the eye than usual..."
'That'd be me.'
"...But others are as unwelcome as they are unsightly."
'Uh...'
He couldn't be talking about his family, could he? Even through their brief but intense salt-lick/saltine relationship, he'd never actually trash-talked his wife. Lily had always thought of him as somepony who simply wanted more -- or more likely, who believed that they deserved more.
More than just monogamy, to be specific.
So who was he talking about? All the sailors strutting about like they owned the place? Lily could imagine they might get rowdy, and the way Honour's dad trotted off to settle an argument all but confirmed that hunch. But that didn't seem like enough to hate on them. What, did Mailedhoof lose big on last year's Army-Navy hoofball game or something?
Before she could further ponder that question, Mailedhoof answered it with one of his own. "... Who was that red-dressed bat-pony with the black hat that I saw you with just now?"
The way he seemed to almost spit out the word 'bat' made it crystal clear the kind of creature he considered 'unwelcome' and 'unsightly.' And Eb wasn't the only one of her kind at the Gala tonight...
Heck, she wasn't even the only Eb at the Gala tonight.
Lily didn't really know how to answer Mailedhoof; did Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell apply here?
Even if it did, did it matter?
And why the buck did he care who she was, especially if he's not a fan of batponies?
'Whatever.'
Lily didn't really want to belabor the point with a colt that she was done with, so she just recited the perfunctory truth. "She's part of my quaternion. One of the Royal Engineer's bodyguards, posted by Her Majesty Princess Luna; he got us all tickets to attend."
Captain Mailedhoof snorted. "Ah, yes, our dear Princess of the Night and her loyal minions. Has she been on your assignment for long?"
"No, only two and a half weeks."
He didn't need to be reminded that the whole tour of duty had only been a few days longer than that, or that Luna apparently wanted Purity in from the start.
"Terrible. I'm surprised she's lasted. Didn't you complain to your commanding officer?"
Lily realized she probably shouldn't tell him that by this point she'd been through thick and thin with Purity Ebonshield and that the unicorn treated her as she would any other Royal Guardspony.
Lucky for her, there was a truthful way out again. "Corporal Bound raised an objection, but it got nowhere."
"Mmm. Orders are orders..." To her surprise, Mailedhoof stepped forward, coming out in front of her, almost muzzle-to-muzzle. He looked her up and down -- and her blood started to boil when his gaze lingered on her Silver Ram.
She hadn't forgotten what he'd done, and how he'd forced her into it.
She hadn't forgiven him, either.
What a shame that the Gala was no place for a murder, or even a good, solid beating. Even though he'd managed to overpower Lily with his telekinesis in her bedroom, if she could get in a first strike when he didn't expect it, maybe she could still take him down by herself...
As if to shut down the very idea, the captain shook his head with a stern expression on his face. "Well, my dear, I'm afraid you've been seen by my friends in the company of one of those creatures, and there've been questions asked. It's very awkward. I'm sorry you haven't got a choice in the matter; I assure you, neither do I. Of course, I'm very pleased you're here to admire at the Gala, but I simply can't take the risk of associating with their kind through you, so I'm here to tell you that we're through. I don't expect I'll see you again. Good-bye."
With that, he gave a curt nod and passed her by, striding off the way he came.
'What...'
'What the buck?!?'
'WHAT THE BUCK?!?'
'DID MAILEDHOOF JUST DUMP ME BEFORE I COULD DUMP HIM?!?
'THAT BASTARD!!'
'and...'
'and all because of EBONSHIELD?!?!?!?!'
'WHAT kind of snobbish, inbred, blue-blooded, hawkesville-jawed, bucking Sol-Invictus-worshipping, unicorn-supremacist, plothole racist would-'
Lily caught herself, and remembered what she'd first thought of the 'sergeant.' Not badly enough to up and quit or start anything right then and there, but certainly enough to hold Eb in the highest suspicion. Sure, Lily had been manaburning at the time, but she couldn't blame that for the entirety of her prejudice. After all, she hadn't come up with the stories of batponies all being a bunch of fang-toothed, blood-sucking, soul-stealing, foal-napping, nocturnal villains. Nor had anything or anypony forced her to keep them in the back of her mind to pull out in case she saw one of the 'beasts.'
Still, to dump her as a saltine because she happened to work with a batpony?
That was beyond the pale.
'Hmm.'
Then again, maybe his friends had had friends in the Watchtower; ponies who'd lost their lives during the secret invasion that nopony was supposed to talk about.
...But, even Major-General Hoofstrong hadn't been against working with a batpony, and she had been in command of the fortress during that assault.
No, this must've been plain old, regular, garden-variety Canterlot unicorn snobbery. His horned peers had seen his squeeze with a batpony, and it was as good as if she'd been caught literally rolling in the mud like a pig.
Worse, actually -- they would've had a laugh out of seeing her in the dirt.
As a pretty young mare who knew how to dress, and especially with her tale of defeating upstart non-noble Kilfeather, she'd been an asset in his social circles. Now, with her association with Purity Ebonshield and the rest of her Moon-born race, she was a liability. So, just like that, he'd dropped her like a hot potato, without even a kiss goodbye. Lily bet Mailedhoof didn't even really hate batponies, because she couldn't imagine Mailedhoof actually giving a buck about anypony who wasn't a noble-born unicorn like himself.
'Well...'
In terms of her wanting to break up with the captain, she supposed this did neatly accomplish that.
She'd just... pictured herself on top for the encounter. There was a dream that he'd be disappointed -- maybe even apologetic.
"No, please don't go, Lily! I can't go on living without your brilliant conversation, roguish grin, and impeccable bearing! Who else can I take to the officers' lounge to show off on my foreleg? And who else can I find who will possibly look that good in a Louis Valise original?"
'Mmm, that wasn't quite right.'
"No, please don't go, Lily! I can't go on living without your firm plot, tight snatch, and dexterous tongue! Who else can I take to the officers' lounge to show off on my foreleg? And how else will I have my balls drained when they become ever so full and laden?"
'Yeah, that's more likely.'
'...Ehh...'
Given that he was an arrogant, self-centered ass who could probably get just about any guardsmare he wanted, her dream was pretty unrealistic any way she looked at it. Maybe it was better that she avoided putting herself in the position of trying to end a relationship with somepony who had a lot more clout than she did. It could've turned into an ugly fight.
'But, at least with a fight, even if I'd lost, there would have been some bucking VIOLENCE involved! And some Celestia-damned physical catharsis!'
As it was, this was all unbelievably unsatisfying. Lily felt like she'd just got blue-beaned without even the satisfaction of a titillating build-up.
...Which kinda described her last couple of encounters with Captain Mailedhoof, now that she thought about it.
Shaking her head, she tried to clear what just happened out of her mind.
'Gotta focus on what's important: finding Honour.'
If she kept daydreaming about sailors or dominating ex-coltfriends, next thing she knew she'd have somepony else sneaking up on her, like Leeward, or Carmen. Swivelling her head around to quickly re-establish her bearings, Lily was pleasantly surprised to see three familiar ponies walking towards her.
Well, two familiar ponies: Artemis and Purity.
She mostly recognized the third as one Corporal Honour Bound, but what in Equestria had she done with her mane? 'And is she actually smiling?'
Eb called out to her as they arrived. "Ah, Lily, come and see, I have found our camaradas after all!"
She nodded, still scrutinizing the corporal's mane-do -- and Lily noted she had a new tail-do to match, as well. She'd unbraided both of them and appeared to have had both hot-blown, too. Wavy and flowing and showy and glowing, her new hair now lived up to her racy outfit.
"Yeah, no kidding. Changed your mind about the braids after all, Honour?"
That quip didn't even get her the faintest hint of a scowl, but their energetic pegasus comrade jumped in and answered before the earth pony could reply. "We had to pull the braids out, unfortunately. She needed a quick wash after getting into a fight outside -- there was blood stuck in her mane and on her coat."
Lily lifted an eyebrow. "No kidding, got into a scrap at the Gala? And didn't even think to invite the rest of us -- or at least me?"
In another surprise for the unicorn, the brown mare whinnied with amusement. "Heh, I didn't invite you because I was trying to put a stop to some violence, not escalate it." She nodded her head back towards a set of doors. "A bunch of sailors were about to have a scuffle outside when the Night Guard intervened, and the crews turned on them instead. Knowing what we do about batpony fighting, I figured it'd have turned into a bloodbath if we let them come to blows. So, Artemis and I inserted ourselves as targets instead. I knocked out the ringleader, while she took out his would-be backup."
Then she chuckled. "...I got some blood on me, like Artemis said, so we headed to the washroom to clean up. It's insane in there. Never mind a quiet servant at the door dispensing perfume and marely essentials like a fashionable club has, in the Gala's little fillies' room they have full-on blow-dry operators and stylists ready to administer a quick wash-and-trim."
Artemis's eyes bulged out a bit. "I couldn't believe how busy it was! Dozens of mares, just sitting in a washroom, talking and working on their manes and tails! Why, when there's a whole party out here to enjoy??"
Lily grinned. "Eh, if the lavatory's an event of its own, why not? And I guess it makes sense. It's a long night, ponies travel from far and wide, and even if guards like Honour's Sergeant Castlerook are posted to cut down on the unauthorized explorations, ponies do get up to things and need a way to get back in order. If the place is bumping now, I wouldn't be surprised if it gets even busier once the dance floor opens up."
Honour smirked. "I could believe that..." Then she glanced up at Sparkshower and then Ebonshield in turn. "... Anyways, I'm all done cracking hooves and heads now; could we get back to the dinner table?"
'Don't have to ask me twice.'
"Yeah, sure thing."
But who was this well-groomed, zesty Changeling infiltrator and how had they managed to replace their frumpy-frowny corporal without anypony noticing the difference so far? And would they mind sticking around for a while? At least the rest of the evening?
Ah, but all of a sudden the familiar glower was back on her face. "Wait, where's Anonymous?"
Lily jerked a forehoof over her shoulder towards the main dining room. "Holding down the fort at our table with our now-cold dinner plates, why?"
Honour's look of concern turned to despair. "You left him all alone? After he talked about not wanting to be abandoned at the Gala?"
Artemis gasped, slapping both forehooves against her muzzle. "Oh, no! That's right!"
Snorting dismissively, Lily turned to head back. "Ah, come on, he was only joking. Besides, we've only been gone a few minutes; just long enough to look around a bit to find you two, and heading back to him whether we found you or not."
Apparently that wasn't good enough, as Honour actually pushed past her, taking the lead. Unsurprisingly, second place was quickly occupied by Sparkshower, who flapped overhead to trail right behind the corporal. Lily and Purity realized they might as well follow at the faster pace the two of them were setting.
Not that Lily expected there was anything to be concerned about. How hard could it be to sit at a round table and keep four other seats empty for a quarter of an hour?
As she finally made it around a large crowd that was blocking the view of their seats, Lily was thoroughly unsurprised to see the Royal Engineer still sitting down in the same chair he was in when she left him.
"See, he's fine. No problem being left alone."
It was Artemis who answered, landing in front of her. "He's not alone." Her tone was a bit cold.
Ah, there was a mare speaking to him -- sitting on her haunches behind one of the chairs, rather than on it. A purple unicorn in a bustled blue dress, from what Lily could see. The pegasus emitted a quiet grumble which grew in volume when she saw Anonymous tilt his head back in laughter.
But it disappeared once he noticed their approach, and he got to his feet with a smile. "Ah, here's my companions now, actually."
The unidentified unicorn rose up on her hooves, and that's when Lily noticed she was actually no mere unicorn -- she had feathered wings at her sides, too. While Lily was processing the presence of this alicorn from out of nowhere, the Royal Engineer looked her group over. "... I hope everything's all right?"
Honour stepped up towards the table. "All fine; I just had to freshen up."
Anonymous turned down towards the purple pony -- who must be some kind of royalty, Lily realized, for her to be walking around with horns and wings at the same time. "Oh, good. I was just telling Princess Twilight Sparkle that we've gotten into such a number of unbelievable adventures together already, I was concerned another one was about to begin. But I guess since you're all back safe and sound we can put our next perilous undertaking for another day."
'Geez, a Princess; guess I ought to bow?'
She was regular-size, though, not big and tall like Their Majesties. Well, at least a curtsy would be polite -- any noble would appreciate that.
But before Lily could even begin, Princess Whatshername telekinetically pulled out a scroll from a case on the belt around her dress. With a quill retrieved from the same location, she quickly scribbled something on the paper, then tucked her pen away. "I'm happy to hear it! Well, as I said, I saw an unfamiliar creature looking a little lonely at this table here, and thought -- we can't have any loneliness at the Grand Galloping Gala, it wouldn't be right! But I've got a long list of things I need to do if I'm going to officially take over planning and running next year's Gala, and I've got to get back to it. I'm sure we'll speak again, Lord Anonymous."
Anonymous bowed as she withdrew. "By all means, your Highness; anytime you are in Canterlot Palace, please drop by my office."
The four of them gave proper signs of respect to the cheerfully busy purple alicorn before taking their seats at the table once more. The food was a little colder now, but Lily didn't doubt it'd still be good. Anyways they could always get up and grab some more -- the buffet line was looking a little less busy now.
Anonymous looked happy, and so did Purity.
But Honour and Artemis both seemed concerned.
The pegasus' attitude, Lily understood -- after all, the Princess was unescorted, as far as she could tell.
But had Honour lapsed back into dourness?
And what was Anonymous' take on the whole thing?
'Let's shake this tree of mystery a little and see what falls out.'
"So, we leave you alone for a few minutes, and you're already chatting up a Princess, huh? Guess maybe Lieutenant Kilfeather was right about the Gala being hookup central after all."
He just laughed off Lily's comment. "Oh, that was nothing; we barely said two words to each other before you all got back." She couldn't help but notice his gaze drift towards the corporal. "...Decided on a different hairstyle for the rest of the evening, Honour?"
Suddenly in the spotlight, she turned her head down towards her plate, picking up her fork with a forehoof. "Uhh... Yes."
Reminded of the meal before him -- and before each of them -- the Royal Engineer picked up his own cutlery in response, as did everypony else at the table, but he was still looking Honour over.
"It looks good on you. I think it gives you a more... convivial appearance."
Honour almost choked on the food she'd just shoved into her mouth.
'Can't take a compliment, huh?'
'That's back to standard.'
Artemis spoke up, deflecting attention back towards herself. "That's right! And there's just something about that mane-style which always seems strange to me... When I was younger, the first time I saw a mare in braids was on a class trip to the old Prench fort of Trois-Rivieres. One of the historical reenactors playing the medical nurse had a braid and would just constantly tug at it. I think she was a bit nervous about her performance..." Scooping up a heaping mouthful of 'Quiche Lothringen', she concluded. "I never saw you do that, Honour, but I always wondered why you wore your mane in braids -- it looks so much better this way."
The corporal sighed. "It's just easier to manage in braids. Although, to tell the full story..." She looked around the table. "... I used to wear my mane and tail like this all the time. Right up until my divorce."
Artemis gasped. "Oh, no. I'm sorry, Honour! You should have said something, we could have braided it up again."
But the earth pony just smiled as she shook her head, wavy mane following along. "No, no. It's alright like this for now. Like I said, I feel a lot better right now."
Anonymous reached for a bottle of champagne that'd been set in the middle of the table.
'Well, hello, that's a tasty new addition since I got up to look for the wayward pair.'
"Shall we toast your good feelings and new style, then? A sommelier came by with this while you were all off, I asked him to leave it corked until you got back." Deftly unscrewing the retainer, he placed the bottle in his lap and pushed the cork off with his fingers. POP
Wisps of vapor emerged from the mouth of the bottle for a moment, before he started to dole out the bubbly.
Honour took her filled flute but looked embarrassed. "Not my hair, please. We ought to salute something greater than that."
The Royal Engineer grinned. "All right. I'll keep it simple, though. Here's to a wonderful evening!"
Lily grinned. "I'll drink to that!"
"So will I!"
"Me too!"
"¡And I also!"
As everypony else lifted their glasses in agreement, before tipping back and drinking a sip of brut, Lily couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen next. There was still the Games, the Royal Engineer's 'foundry' project, her sessions with the batpony Eclipse...
And then there was tonight.
Now that she was officially single, Lily had no intention of leaving this Gala without seriously playing the field. And from what she had seen, this was just as target-rich an environment as everypony had always said it was. Glancing over at Purity and Artemis, tonight's other two players on the 'mares' team, she wondered how well they'd do.
Then Lily slyly looked over at Anonymous.
Would he pick up on Artemis' attempts at a pass?
Or would he instead go long, and see that purple princess again?
Or maybe there was something else in his cards?
Anything other than the first would hurt Artemis, sure, but then, Lily was just as sure she could find the pegasus a colt as well, if she struggled to find another on her own.
Anyways, single and looking at the Grand Galloping Gala, in a Louis Valise dress?
'Yeah, this is going to be the best night ever.'
Lowering her drink, Lily found herself grinning from ear to ear as she leaned back in her seat.
Suggested interlude music: Terror Squad - 'Lean Back', featuring Fat Joe and Remy Ma [2004] |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 143 | Sergeant Blacks-
'Err, no, wait a moment. That was the disguise I wore for the presentation of the 'Whirlwind'.'
Purity Ebonshield
Purity Ebonshield fought to regain her bearings. Clearly, all this drink was starting to go to her head. The food helped, but even so, she was feeling quite 'happy.' And she was greatly tempted to imbibe further, for at this Grand Galloping Gala of Equestria there was absolutely no shortage of alcohol. Still, she recognized she should restrain herself. After all, if she went too far, then she would have difficulty enjoying the dancing later. Besides, there was no need to drink for mere entertainment, as there was enough of that on offer already. A great deal of it, in fact.
'Start with the larger show, more distant.'
The ballroom had opened once again, and from her table, Purity could admire the traditional and formal dances being conducted within. An orchestra of over twenty musicians sat on a raked platform at the far end, performing for a crowd consisting mostly of middle-aged and older ponies in elegant suits and rich, ornate ball-gowns. There were a few junior members in the crowd as well; debutantes and other scions of the nobility, according to Lily. Whatever their age, the dancers flowed around the room with grace, though the music was, in Purity's opinion, rather stilted -- almost as if they were dancing to an Equestrian military march with a very rigid beat. The harmony of the orchestra was very pleasing, of course, but they were not playing the style of dance music she was used to, nor like what she'd heard at Canterlot nightclubs, which was more familiar and enjoyable.
Purity was looking forward to dancing to that sort of beat later in the night.
Regardless, the majestic sight of so much coordinated movement was still certainly something to behold, even if it was somewhat removed from her own table, and a little obstructed by the heads and hats of various interposed ponies.
And those were the next most proximate source of Purity's amusement.
As they finished their meals, the ponies began to move from table to table, greeting each other, respectively admiring the latest fashions, and generally catching up. With all the furniture, it was not quite as social an environment as the grand staircase entryway and hall, but there were still many faces and outfits to be seen for a perceptive voyeur such as herself. Perhaps nothing quite so exotic as her genuinely otherworldly outfit, but still, she did not stand out quite nearly so much as she'd expected when surrounded by so many other styles, all adorned with glittering jewelry, tall decorative feathers, fur shawls, bold capes, and more.
She did attract attention, to be sure, and that too was amusing.
There were several very promising candidates for dance partners later, when the music was more to her taste and her belly was not quite so full. And, with a certain subtlety, she had made sure to let each of those handsome colts know that they would be welcome with her on the dance floor at that time. Not all of them were brave enough to come by and introduce themselves, but that's quite all right with her; she'd remember their faces for later, and she was perfectly capable of seeking them out herself if she ran out of, or grew bored with, the more aggressive suitors.
'Ah, the beautiful game of romance hoof-loose and fancy-free. How hard would it really be to find a little bit of privacy later in the evening?'
Honour told all how the Royal Guard was corralling the guests in the main public areas in an effort to curb such dalliances, but there were always unguarded avenues, and the Stellar Dancers were, after all, masters of infiltration. A shortcut through a kitchen or closet, an unlocked second-floor window or skylight, or even an out-of-the-way lavatory...
In the worst case, Purity could simply go back to her own room upstairs in the West wing, though it was quite a distance to travel just for a quick little 'encounter.'
And besides, she ought to reserve her own chambers for the final catch of the night.
With so many attendees visiting from far away, the batpony doubted she'd find anyone to outright replace her young student, Gilbert Lionheart, but he was often busy with his studies at the Schola Magia, and it would be pleasing to have a 'backup colt.'
Which brought her attention to the closest source of entertainment: the poor, lovestruck pegasus Artemis Sparkshower.
It was really a bit villainous of her to enjoy this, but Purity couldn't help herself.
The young pegasus squirmed in her seat, sighing and looking wistfully at the formal ballroom dancers. Every once in a while she'd glance back at the Royal Engineer, their Very Important Pony (who wasn't actually a pony). He was enjoying the show, too, but it was clear he knew as little as Purity did about the steps for these formal dances. And while he was perfectly happy to practice for and then perform one of them earlier, he was certainly not about to get up and make a fool of himself by struggling to learn brand new moves in front of hundreds of Equestria's gentry. Even worse, unlike the 'Lipizzaner Waltz' he performed earlier, almost all of these dances she was watching were done down on all fours. Anonymous wouldn't even have the benefit of trying to copy other colts; he'd have to come up with his own maneuvers all himself. As a result, getting up and dancing with Sparkshower was completely out of the question, and understandably so.
Hence the frustrated squirming by their poor unfortunate pegasus comrade, who from the way her head bobbed at every beat and followed every bob and weave of the dancers, clearly did know the steps. She wanted to get up and dance, and who could blame her? The grandest social event of the year, a by-invitation-only exclusive ordinarily reserved for Equestria's gentry? Artemis was unquestionably a beautiful young mare, and in her adorable tea-length dress, Purity had no doubt that if she were to get up and dance then she would not merely meet the standards of the floor but, if accompanied by a suitable colt, actually raise them.
As amusing as it was to taste her silly self-imposed vexation, Purity couldn't sit idly by and watch it go on any longer. After all, what kind of a friend was she to let this suffering go on?
"Artemis, dear, why don't you get up and join the dancing?" The batpony pointed a forehoof at a gaggle of tuxedoed colts huddled around the bar closest to the dance floor. It was like a Canterlot cab stand of dance partners; a shop window with everything on display. "...Look at all those fine young stallions eagerly looking for the next elegant mare who will allow them the privilege of leading her out onto the floor."
From the way she writhed in her seat, Purity could tell Artemis had been thinking about this already. But in her mind she probably believed such a thing would be a 'betrayal' of her current beau, even if they were not formally attached.
Or even informally attached, for that matter.
Purity decided to go straight to the root of the problem, and turned to face the object of Artemis' desire. "...Our little table ought to be represented in these formal dances, don't you think so, Great Lord?"
Anonymous smiled at Purity, then Artemis in turn. "Of course! I wish I could join you again, but I'm afraid I'd make a terrible fool of myself. The music is strangely familiar, but all I'd be able to do is repeat our dance steps from the waltz, and that's clearly not what they're doing out there." He chuckled. "Don't let my earlier request not to be left alone stop you from enjoying the party. It was partially in jest, anyways. We're all here as private individuals, and I don't want anybody thinking they're on a leash." Then he grinned, lifting an eyebrow and looking around. "I am definitely looking forward to getting up later, when the modern stuff starts. It's a lot closer to what I'm used to from my world."
Poor Sparkshower still seemed to hesitate, and she turned to her other comrades. "Well, if it's alright with you..."
Glamerspear was the first to reply, blowing out dismissively as she held her drink up in a teal telekinetic aura. "Pfft, of course you should go, marefriend! If you're worried about beating off unwanted suitors, I'd be happy to come with ya."
Honour shook her head, her recently-liberated mane flowing behind. "You'll be fine. This isn't my kind of dance either, but go up and enjoy yourself, Artemis. We'll keep our eyes on you from here."
With some trepidation, the pegasus climbed out of her chair and down onto all fours. "Okay..."
She took a deep breath and scanned the lingering colts in the distance, as if trying to identify a target, her ears flicking left and right as she did so.
"... Okay! Right!"
Having clearly made her choice, Sparkshower burst into what began as a marching gait, before relaxing into something formal but properly less rigid, trotting gaily over towards the dance floor. All four of those still seated at the table watched as she made her way around the tables and through, around, or over, the occasional crowded bottleneck, until she stood a few hooves away from that same little herd of colts. She had their attention almost immediately, and seemed to give them all a final look-over. Then she took another bold step forward and appeared to fix her gaze on a single individual. He was a dapper young unicorn stallion with a steely-blue coat and a brushed-back, orange-yellow mane, broad-shouldered in his suit compared to Artemis with her haunches bare and just as tall as her -- though the horn gave the appearance of him being slightly taller.
'Mmm, tall, dark and handsome; she has a fine taste in gentlecolts.'
Purity did not know what she said, or how he replied, but immediately after that exchange, Artemis gave a petite curtsy and he a quick bow, and moments later he was leading her to the dance floor. And just a few steps after that, she became a part of the fluid, elegant display.
Honour glanced over towards the batpony and spoke softly. "Thanks for giving her that kick, Purity. She needed it." She just nodded and resumed her enjoyment of the show.
It was difficult to keep a constant eye on her comrade as she sailed and whirled across the ballroom along with her colt, but Purity did try, at least for the first piece. After all, she was curious to see if Artemis would stick with the same companion for a second go-around...
When the music slowed and the dancers came to a halt, Purity was pleasantly surprised to see the pegasus still standing with the same colt, waiting expectantly as the orchestra paused momentarily to flip their music sheets to the next tune.
Just as the musicians took up their instruments once more, that's when the sound of an all-too-familiar voice spoke up from behind her. "My dear Royal Engineer, how good to see you again! I was so hoping we would run into each other again this evening..."
'Great Mother help me!'
Purity was far too drunk to handle her actual mother right then.
Putting on her most pleasant smile, the younger batpony pivoted in her seat along with everyone else to once again greet Carmen Ebonshield, Reverend Mother Superior of the Children of the Stars. She didn't have to turn far, for after a quick introductory dip, and faster than their VIP could get to his feet, Carmen strode over to Sparkshower's vacated chair.
"... Please, please, don't get up on my account. May I join you?" Without waiting for any more answer than the absence of a frown, she immediately seated herself and tucked right in, clasping her forehooves together with a smile before spreading them wide on the tablecloth, as if holding court.
'Holding court is what she generally does in the Rookery and on the Moon, so why not here, too?'
Even with the friendly, casual veneer she was presenting at the moment, her imposing presence was enough to make Glamerspear straighten up a bit in her seat. With a faint smile, Carmen looked around the table before settling her gaze on Anonymous. "Well. It seems I owe a number of debts to you and your entourage, my Lord."
Raising her eyebrows, she shot a knowing glance at Honour, and then at Purity, before shaking her head and lifting her eyebrows. "I must confess, I am beside myself with shock at the events which have transpired this evening. But let it not be said that I am incapable of admitting my own faults or of trying to remedy them, though of course I must first pay penance and seek absolution." Inhaling deeply, she faces the Corporal, turning her forehooves frog-up and bowed her head in a posture of supplication. "My child, I am deeply in your debt for your actions on the front lawn. I shudder to think at what tragedy might have resulted if Reynauld's Swarming Meteors had been unleashed upon those unsuspecting Equestrian sailors, and your timely intervention saved not only lives but has also prevented a scandal that might easily have ruined this wonderful evening." Tilting her muzzle back up, she continued. "...And, if you'll forgive a little brutal honesty -- I'm afraid I must blame it on the free-flowing drink -- such an incident would certainly have been a considerable setback for the Great Mother's goal of reintegrating our peoples."
The stoic Corporal didn't quite seem to know what to say. "Uhm... You're welcome, Your Reverence. It was nothing; I saw the potential for trouble, and I dealt with it."
'Is that a hint of rosiness in her cheeks? Will this earth pony forever be embarrassed to take a compliment?'
Carmen tittered with amusement at the reply. "Ohh, but you are too modest! You must know that I consulted privately with Lieutenant Orange afterwards, and he expressed his appreciation. The Sixth of Meteors also spoke most admiringly of your prowess. By his account, you completely outplayed your opponent." Reaching out a forehoof, she gestured at Honour's mane. "And, lo! You've come out of that brawl looking, if I may be so bold, even more stunning than when the evening began! What a beautiful mane you have; you really must consider wearing it down like this more often. And how well it goes with that lovely red dress! I can't imagine why you're not already surrounded by suitors eager to ask you to the dance-floor. Don't tell me you're so demure as to turn the poor gentlecolts away? I'm sure your coltfriend, that handsome Sergeant, wouldn't mind his mare being exhibited in the ballroom for all to properly appreciate."
Their brown comrade's cheeks become a little more red. She had to clear her throat before answering. "It's not really my thing, your Reverence."
Carmen nodded as if she understood everything implied by that sentence absolutely perfectly -- which, given her considerable information network and expert skills at personal manipulation, might actually be the case. "Well, perhaps I have something more to your liking. Carlos?"
At her command, the same young, dark-grey mustached colt Purity had seen her with earlier approached the table with a rectangular wooden box tucked under one foreleg. Sitting down on his haunches, he pulled it out and presented it, removing one of the sides with a forehoof to reveal a large wine-bottle inside, surrounded by straw.
Making sure she had the attention of everyone present, Carmen gestured at the offering. "This is a magnum of what I consider to be the Moon's finest cava, the word we give our sparkling wine; it means 'cellar', since of course the wine must be cellared to become bubbly..."
Everyone leaned in to take a closer look, Purity included.
'Is it the vintage I think it is?'
"...Grand Mountain sparkling wine, aged fifteen years. On the Moon, you know, wines and beers are considered precious because of the amount of water required to produce them, as well as contained within the finished product. Distilled spirits such as 'Maestro Cazador' are the preferred tipple of the lower phases, owing to their reduced water content and therefore price. We Lunars reserve gifts such as 'cava,' which requires additional water, time, and labor, for only the most deserving of individuals and occasions. I think you will find this Grand Mountain vintage is more than competitive with the best Prench Champagnes."
Yes, that was the good stuff, all right; but was that a direct attack on Purity's prior choice in smuggled liquor? She couldn't help but riposte. "It would seem Your Reverence has come to the Gala bearing more than just pretty mares and handsome colts with which to woo the Equestrian elite."
As she expected, Carmen wasn't fazed in the slightest by that irritated outburst. "Of course! One mustn't come seeking favors without bringing gifts. But this is for you, as well, Stellar Seven. I owe you a great apology; far greater than I could repay even with all the sweetest wines of the Moon..."
'What is she talking about, now?'
With a deep sigh, Carmen raised one forehoof towards her, then dropped it defeatedly back down. "...You were right, my daughter. You were right, and I was wrong."
'This is a joke, right?'
Purity had never heard her admit to being wrong before.
"It was a mistake for me to try to subvert the Great Mother's wishes by manipulating her into taking one of my Lunars for the Royal Engineer's bodyguard. I thought I was improving our chances at progressing integration by preventing someone untrained and unprepared for diplomacy from being assigned here on the surface, and yet here we are. There have been troubles, yes, but even so you have done more in these few weeks than I could have imagined happening for months..."
'She's playing again, acting. This is not sincere; it can't be.'
"...An Equestrian soldier who rushes to rescue Stars from their own inadequacies. Batponies openly attending the Grand Galloping Gala. Equestrians who come freely of their own will into the Rookery, to converse with our Rocks and our Stars and our Eclipse, to trade and to train, bringing gifts and opportunities..." Carmen indicated the Royal Engineer. "...And the prospect of Rocks coming to the surface to aid in an Equestrian project, as well. All of this, without any command or instruction, let alone scheme or grand plan."
Purity's mother, her coat almost unrecognizingly bare of the chalky makeup she had worn for the Stellar Seven's entire life, looked at her ruefully, her speech slowing from her usual rapid patter. "The Great Mother's blessing is upon you, my child, whether you know it or not. There is no other explanation. I bore the blessing when I correctly predicted Her return and secured my place at the top of the Lunar hierarchy. I thought that would stay with me forever, and in my arrogance I have lost it." A tear escaped her left eye, and she brushed it away with a forehoof. "...I know I am very demanding, and I have asked a lot of you, Purity. I never approved of your choice to live as a Star. And when you refuse me even the slightest thing, I am sinfully filled with wrath. I have commanded outrageous things be done against you in my vengeance. And yet here you have given the Children more than I could even have conceived of asking for."
Taking a deep breath, she sighed. "I'm not going to pretend I'm capable of stopping my petty schemes and manipulations; they're simply in my nature. And I'm not going to beg your forgiveness here and now. But I am sorry, my child. I am sorry for what I've done, and I'm stunned and ashamed at what great strides have been made in spite of me, rather than with my help."
'I cannot deal with this right now; not with my mind so foggy from alcohol.'
Evaluating the truth of anything Carmen said was difficult enough without also being a little drunk. Then again, she was more than a little drunk herself as well -- though that too, could be faked, and she had a greater tolerance for the stuff than Purity did.
'Best to just change the subject to something more immediate.'
"I see. Well. I suppose we can speak of this more later. I take it having delivered your apology and the cava you will now be off to entice some other elder statestallion in the name of the Children?"
Carmen whinnied, tossing her head back and actually slouching down a little in her chair. "Oh, no, I'm spent for the evening. I'm not the young mare I once was, you know; and anyways, the crowd of 'elder statestallions', as you say, is growing thin. They, like me, are forced by age to retire earlier than you young foals and fillies. And I'm afraid my own talents are rather disadvantaged when dealing with youth."
With a chuckle, she pointed at the table's own white-label champagne bottle, and her companion Carlos quickly reached over to pour her a dollop into one of the unused glasses surrounding the floral centerpiece. Looking frankly exhausted -- Purity had never seen exhaustion under her eyes before, not with all the makeup she always wore -- she tipped back and downed the glass in a single mouthful, before signaling for another.
While that was being sorted for her, she looked over at Purity and a wry smile appeared on her face. "But what's this I'm hearing? Say something else, my dear. In Equestrian."
'Eh?'
"Huh? Say what? I don't understand what you mean, Reverend Mother."
Lifting her eyebrows, Carmen started chortling uncontrollably, looking all around at everyone else. "Ohohoho! Don't tell me I'm the only one who hears it? No?" As the second serving of champagne was presented to her, she lifted the glass, still laughing. "My dear darling daughter, you are skilled without equal in a great many things, but your Equestrian has always left something to be desired. Understandable, of course, for as a Star you were not extensively trained. Yet here you are, a few hours after we last met, speaking now without an accent and without any of the errors in grammar so common to our kind when they use the Solar tongue."
With tears in her eyes, she took a drink. "...You must be absolutely hammered. Ahaha!"
Flabbergasted, Purity turned to her companions for confirmation. Anonymous nodded pensively. "You know, now that your Reverence has pointed it out, I can hear it, too."
'Impossible!'
Lily chimed in as well. "Hey, yeah. Your accent's gone. That's pretty funny."
Even Honour shrugged and nodded at her.
'This is absurd! Liquor can do a great many things, but it can't suddenly make one speak proper Equestrian, err... speak the Equestrian proper -- wait, which order are the words supposed to be in?'
Purity clearly needed to lay off drinks for a little while.
'Just how much alcohol is in this special celebratory 'rum punch' drink, anyways? The fruit juice must be masking the bite.'
Still giggling at her revelation, Carmen sat up straight again and set her glass down, once again appearing to hold court. "Now, I just have one more item I would like to discuss. I see that Specialist Sparkshower is enjoying herself on the dance floor, and we've already discussed Corporal Bound's present situation. My dear Purity, I know you're unfamiliar with these formal Equestrian routines, though I'm sure you've already got your keen eye on several choice stallions for later. But Specialist Glamerspear? How is that so luxuriously-accoutered a mare such as yourself does not have a handsome colt to hang on her foreleg and dote on her every need?"
Lily swallowed, before licking her lips. "I'm actually taking a break from playing the field right now."
Purity's mother feigned shock. "Heavens! Don't tell me some tragedy has befallen your love-life?"
The unicorn narrowed her eyes before replying. "Something like that. Not that I'd say 'no' if the right colt came along, but I'm gonna play things slow for a little while."
The Reverend Mother Superior smirked knowingly. "I see, of course. You must forgive my prying; it is one of the responsibilities for a Reverend Mother to play 'matchmaker' for the Children of their House, particularly the Stars and Lunars who are required to breed as instructed, but we also help facilitate matches for Rocks and Dust as well, and this is a duty which I absolutely relish. Sizing up potential mates, determining who would be happiest with whom, and calculating which pairings will produce the finest of offspring -- it's a grand, complicated game, and I do very much enjoy games -- and the more complex, the better..." She grinned, turning to the Royal Engineer. "...Which brings us to the final member of this table. Come now, my Lord Engineer: tell me you've already had several proposals this evening from eligible members of the landed gentry. Or at least, given your proclivity for military affairs, a fine young officer or two -- a Captain, at least, or perhaps a Major."
Singled out once again, their VIP couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm afraid I'm flying solo at the moment, your Reverence."
Carmen sighed. "Tragic. I accept that you refused one of my nubile young Lunars and declined Purity's offer, but you must allow me to help you in this matter as best I can. I assure you I have made several contacts of interest already; all I need is the information to better understand your Lordship's pleasures."
At that, Anonymous' chuckle turned into laughter, and Lily guffawed behind a raised forehoof. "It's not the first time I've been asked to explore that topic tonight. I'm not sure if a second interrogation will yield much better results than the first."
With a sly expression, Carmen looked over at the unicorn. "I see. It's good to know your guardsmares are on top of things when it comes to your best interests. I suppose the best I can do is make a few more proposals of my own..." Picking up her wine-flute, she swirled the champagne around a little bit, observing as the bubbles precipitated. "...Upon reflection, the landed gentry are likely to be too provincial for someone who wishes to industrialize Equestria. You need someone more urbane; an heiress, perhaps, to a brewery or distillery, or a mine or mill. Something largely self-sustaining, so she can give you and your projects the attention they deserve." Tilting her tufted ears, she tapped a forehoof against her chin. "A military mare would still be a good match, I think. You are trying to bring a new, higher order to the Equestrian economy, and as a capable military is also well-regimented but forward-looking, a proper officer should appreciate and support such an endeavor."
Taking a sip, she licked her lips. "Or perhaps you aspire to loftier heights? We have not yet conversed at length, true, but I judge you a fine gentlecolt from what I have seen so far. You are learned, with an impressive physique as well. And I understand you have formed a close relationship with the Equestrian diarchs, particularly Princess Luna..."
Purity couldn't help but snort out as soon as she realized where Carmen was going with this. "Reverend Mother!"
Carmen only pursed her lips slyly. "What? Am I not the head priestess of our Great Mother? Am I not obligated to tend to her every need? And she is a mare, with a mare's needs..." Leaning forwards, she lowers her voice. "...Believe me, I know. Her Majesty has, at my urging, availed herself on several occasions of the services of my prime Lunar stallions. But the lamentable truth is that she restrains herself to an unhealthy infrequency, probably out of some desire to not overindulge to excess. I think it would be far better for her mental state if she had a single, dependable partner to rely upon for her needs, both physical and emotional."
Purity couldn't believe she was hearing her mother propose this openly. The shock of it made her even ignore the fact that Mother Carmen had just casually spilled a very secret detail of the Great Mother's private life. Her jaw hung down, and when she glanced around the table, she saw bulging eyes and open mouths all around. "You would endorse the joining of Anonymous and Luna?"
The Reverend Mother Superior gave the slightest of shrugs. "Why not? Not to insult the Lord Engineer, but I can certainly think of worse matches." Carmen licked her lips, gesturing dismissively with one forehoof. "It's no secret that the Great Mother has difficulty communicating with we, her Children. After all, we developed on our own for a thousand years while she slumbered in torpor. She made us physically, yes, but our society is alien to her, and this saps her confidence in dealing with our issues. Even Equestria has changed in ways she doesn't recognize, and this makes things worse as she's without any stable base besides the support of her sister -- which is considerable, to be sure, but still a very narrow platform."
She turned her gaze to Purity. "You've spent some time in her company, and the Stellar Dancers are mystics who profess to understand the Great Mother through asceticism. Surely you have noticed these issues as well."
The Stellar Seven furrowed her brow.
'She's not wrong.'
Yes, the Great Mother sometimes appeared unsure, probably in part because of the reasons that the Reverend Mother had described. And Purity would be overjoyed to see her people's Goddess paired up with a handsome stallion who could live up to the very high standards expected of him. The Royal Engineer might just fit that bill, and personally, she did not see anything wrong with the Great Mother pairing up with any creature at all, provided they were worthy.
But she found it impossible to understand how Carmen could make this proposal.
Purity remembered her eagerness to trigger the invasion when Nightmare Moon awoke, how she spoke of the dream of a world dominated by their kind, with other breeds serving at best as second-class citizens, and all other intelligent creatures relegated even further beneath. She remembered, too, her frustration and almost complete breakdown when the invasion failed and Nightmare Moon was 'reduced' -- that had been Carmen's choice term -- to Princess Luna.
Perhaps she really had altered her goal to be the successful integration of batponies into Equestria, but Purity couldn't imagine that she had completely abandoned her racist principles. She was unquestionably a batpony supremacist; and this was no surprise, for batpony supremacy was part and parcel of everything taught to foals in the creche. The Children of the League of Stars were the predestined rulers of Equestria and of the whole world. The Children were smarter, faster, stronger, and purer, than the Equestrians could ever hope to be. The Children would win because the Moon is harsh, producing a hardy breed with strong institutions, while the Equestrians had grown soft in their lush paradise.
They were weak, and the weak should tremble before the strong.
This was the dogma all foals of the Children were made to take to heart, Purity's own foalhood included. It was only when she had joined the Stellar Dancers that Master Draxon was able to open her eyes to recognizing that truth was not to be found in the repetition of absolutist mantras and simplistic arguments of supremacy.
She never fully appreciated that lesson while he was alive, but afterwards she'd been infinitely grateful, for it deadened the impact when the inconceivable news arrived that the invasion had failed. The Shadows, Dust, and Rocks were also fortunate; they may have had this fanaticism drilled into them in the creche, but in the absence of reinforcement in their mundane daily lives, they soon lost it like a useless appendage. But for the other Stars, and worse, the Lunars? The invasion's failure was considered apocalyptic, and many of them were still struggling, two years later, to come to terms with reality.
And that's why Purity was perplexed that Carmen, of all Children, would ever accept, let alone propose, not merely a non-batpony, but a complete non-pony, as a suitor for the Great Mother. Purity knew she was a creature of very few scruples, but surely this was a line she was incapable of crossing while still maintaining her supremacist beliefs.
And she refused to believe she had abandoned that supremacism.
As these deep thoughts continued to tumble about in her half-drunken mind, it was Anonymous who came to the rescue by grounding the conversation once more. "Your Reverence advances a number of intriguing ideas. I appreciate the offer of your services as a, uh, facilitator in these matters, but I'm in no rush. I've been in love before, and I find it's best to let things happen naturally."
Carmen appeared half-frustrated at being denied and simultaneously half-amused for the same reason. "Hmph. Well, let no-one say I didn't try. As for letting things 'happen naturally'..." Downing the rest of her champagne, she delicately fluttered out of the chair and back onto all fours, smirking. "...I suppose all I can answer is that I am curious to see where this magical night of nights leaves you in the morning. I do hope you awaken with a warm and supportive presence beside you. And with that, I bid you all a good evening; I shall retire to the Rookery." After a graceful bow, she waved a forehoof at the boxed bottle of sparkling wine. "Carlos will deposit my gift at your office, my Lord, so that you needn't be burdened with keeping track of it tonight. I don't dare try to upstage Their Majesties' cellars, and there will be an occasion for you all to enjoy it in the future, I'm certain." With a bow of his own, her colt closed the box and placed it back under one foreleg, before bowing again and following the Reverend Mother Superior off towards the main hall.
There was a long silence at the table. Carmen did have that kind of effect on things: sweeping in like a tornado, leaving destruction in her wake.
Anonymous puffed his cheeks and blew out loudly. "Your mother sure is something, Purity."
It was the understatement of the century, and it completely wiped away the troubling thoughts she'd been having. Purity couldn't help but laugh and relax into enjoying the pleasant vibes of the Gala once more. "Yes, she is."
Suggested interlude music: Axwell - Feel The Vibe (Original) [2005] |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 144 | Artemis Sparkshower
This is what she'd always wanted. There she was, in the ballroom of Canterlot Palace, at the Grand Galloping Gala, in a beautiful dress, dancing the night away. There was a live orchestra playing a lineup of mostly waltzes with a few lively polkas and two-steps thrown in for some excitement. And, to crown it all off, there was a handsome colt dancing with her: pleasant-faced, broad-shouldered, well-trimmed, and sharp-looking in his tailored tailcoat and starched collar. He was a tall one, too; tall enough to look proper next to Artemis, from what she could tell in her stolen glances towards the thin mirrors that hung between the row of doors to the main hall.
Artemis couldn't have flown any higher if she'd tried.
So why didn't she feel like she was flying high?
Yes, she was enjoying herself, but she felt strangely unfulfilled, and as a result, a little distracted. Not so much that she missed a single hoof in dancing, though, not even with this relatively unfamiliar two-step. It was a pretty recent dance craze sweeping the ballrooms of Equestria, and Artemis hadn't had a chance to learn it yet. Her companion clearly knew the moves, though, and he led her through them easily despite her inexperience. He didn't say a word -- not that he needed to; he was good enough with his dapper-shod hooves that Artemis got the motions implicitly.
It was a bit incredible; she didn't think she'd ever been so effortlessly guided at a dance before, not even when she was first led around the floor by her coach, back in school.
Certainly Huckleberry never managed anything like this, but that was a low hurdle to steeplechase over; Artemis had often led him for the first few times with each new dance. It could take him a while to get him to a point where he was competent enough to take the reins, but she had been willing to put in the effort. In the end, when he was able to lead her, it was always worth it. Maybe this present ease she felt was just from being generally more experienced, even if not in this particular promenade? And how many times had her current partner wordlessly taught the two-step to a mare?
That thought nagged at Artemis a bit.
Not that she had presented herself to him with any expectation that this interaction should go any further than the ballroom, of course; this was her stepping up to get what she wanted out of this event. Now she could tell everypony back in Berry that, on top of everything else that had happened on this assignment, she'd also been led around the dance floor at the Grand Galloping Gala by a handsome unicorn colt. Probably a member of the nobility!
'Not that that really matters to me, but who knows?'
Sure, they hadn't been properly introduced. And sure, it seemed like she wasn't the first novice he'd introduced to the two-step.
But wasn't it wonderful and magical all the same?
Artemis took a breath, and for a moment, she dropped the smile she'd been wearing. He didn't seem to notice, perhaps taking that for an expression of struggle to follow along in the movements. The next guiding push, she felt, was very slightly firmer than the last. Even though Artemis couldn't keep her face up, he made sure she didn't miss a beat when it came to her hooves.
'He really is good at this.'
She glanced over at the group of colts she'd picked him out from. In the blurred vision imposed by the quick, bouncing motions of the energetic dance, they all blended together: a flock of largely identical and interchangeable stallions. Sure, some were shorter and some were taller, and some were broader or narrower, and some had their manes up while others had them down, but did it really make a difference?
'Thundershowers, I don't even know his name!'
'But then, wasn't that on me?'
She hadn't asked, and he hadn't ventured. Artemis just curtsied and said, "Good evening, sir. Would you care to lead me to the floor?"
And he'd replied with a smile and a bow, "Certainly, madam, it would be my pleasure."
It hadn't been cold. Only... lukewarm.
And maybe that's what was sapping her enjoyment. Skilled and handsome as he was, Artemis simply had zero emotional connection to this colt. Yes, this was fun and the environment was beautiful, and she was learning a new dance, but without a connection, it just didn't feel special.
She had hoped to be doing this with somepony she knew.
Her partner didn't have to be a fantastic dancer; that wasn't the point. The Royal Engineer had made a few missteps during the Lipizzaner Waltz, forgetting which move came after which, and Artemis had been the one to lead the recovery, but that had still felt better than this.
Even dancing with Huckleberry and his four left hooves could feel better, when he was putting confidence and effort into it.
Gosh, she might've almost been happier to dance with one of her own comrades; not in the romantic way, of course, but they wouldn't have been in the only mare-pair on the floor, and at least she would've been having fun with someone she knew.
'Maybe I ought to start the ball rolling on connecting with this handsome stallion?'
Artemis knew that other couples around her were talking; she could hear and see them.
'But how to break the ice?'
'Well, momma always said you can't go wrong with a nice compliment.'
After a quiet bridge by the woodwinds, the band started into a reprise of the marching tune's main theme, signaling an impending end to the piece. That would be her time to strike; Artemis focused on the steps as she waited for the big finale, and the pause before they started the next tune. The brass took up the theme once again, louder than the last, repeating the final notes before going quiet.
There was a brief, polite applause from the dancers and lookers-on. Artemis made sure to give her partner a warm smile. "That was lovely. You're very good at this."
His own smile was modest, but appreciative. "Thank you. Do you dance the Wheatstone Post Two-Step often?"
He knew she didn't; he was being polite. And he was very tactful in his phrasing, asking how often, instead of how many times, or how much.
Artemis shook her head gently. "Not as much as I'd like to."
He glanced over towards the orchestra; following his gaze, she saw one of the performers start to set up with a small square concertina.
Then he turned back to her.
"I think a tango will be next. Would it please you to continue, Miss...?"
"Sparkshower."
She curtsied again, and he gave the same polite bow as when she'd first met him, only this time he lifted up her right forehoof in his own. "Charmed, Miss Sparkshower. I'm Pacesetter."
'Okay, that's step one accomplished.'
It still wasn't enough to feel a connection, but at least now Artemis could say she'd had a good time dancing with Mister Pacesetter, instead of just a nameless colt in a white-tie tailcoat.
There was still a little time for some more talk before the next dance started. Artemis' mister of the moment set himself up to be ready for the music. "Do you tango as often as you two-step?"
He sure doesn't waste any time. Which, she reflected, wasn't a problem; the orchestra wouldn't be around all night, and she really wanted to do some more ballroom dancing before the modern stuff began.
"More so," Artemis couldn't help but blush a bit as she sat up facing him. "Though still not as much as I'd like."
The tango wasn't exactly a popular dance in back-country Berry; she'd only been exposed to it after joining the Royal Guard and quartering closer to metropolitan Cloudsdale. She'd attended a few raucous nights out with the rest of her battalion when timing or weather just didn't work out for visiting Huckleberry.
"I'm certain," Pacesetter began, "the orchestra will provide us a few numbers this evening before wrapping up, even though some elders still frown on it as scandalous. Is it popular in your circles?"
It took the pegasus a moment, but she realized the question he was asking wasn't about the tango. He wanted to know what society she came from -- what place, and what people.
That put her on edge a bit.
A well-mannered and impeccably-dressed unicorn colt, who had been clustered with a gaggle of similarly-immaculate peers? Surely he had to be from some well-heeled Canterlot family? Maybe not major nobility, since Artemis didn't recognize the name, and he hadn't introduced himself with a title -- then again, maybe he was, since they didn't always like to flaunt it, and he might not be a direct inheritor.
'And against that possibility, here I am, an ordinary, common soldier?'
Okay, maybe Artemis wasn't ordinary, but she was still common -- as in commoner. Would that be good enough for a gentlecolt like him? Or did it even matter, in the context of simply enjoying some dancing together? She'd heard a joke once that "you can't get somepony being you, you gotta lie to get somepony!" but that wasn't something she was prepared to do.
He was still waiting for an answer.
"I'm afraid I'm still a little new to Canterlot, so I'm not sure."
She'd decided to keep it simple; she did live in Canterlot at the moment, and she was a little new, and she hadn't gone out ballroom dancing in Canterlot until now.
It wasn't the whole truth of the matter, but it wasn't a lie, either.
The accordion and strings began to play their sharp-edged tune, and in a moment, Pacesetter took off with her. Artemis was a lot more familiar with these steps, and it showed. Not for a moment did she hesitate, or doubt what he wanted her to do. He picked up on it, too, and led her into more complicated moves, which she easily followed.
'But the tango's really not that hard; even Huckleberry got it quickly.'
She glanced over towards her table, spying the tall Royal Engineer chatting with somepony on his left, but she couldn't make them out through the crowd. It was a shame he didn't feel comfortable stepping out here with her -- or with anypony at all, actually. True, he'd made some mistakes in the Lipizzaner Waltz, and that was after a lot of practice, so to a certain extent, she understood his reluctance to venture out onto the floor again, untrained as he was in anything else. After all, he'd only really started dancing with ponies a couple of weeks ago.
Well, he'd said he would get up when modern nightclub-style stuff started. Artemis had that to look forward to, at least. The night was still young, and full of opportunity.
The pegasus' partner dipped her sharply, and she couldn't help but beam with pleasure as the two of them executed the gesture without any trouble. As much as she used to get hung up about her size, and got teased about it, it wasn't like Artemis was genuinely too large to be handled by an 'ordinary' colt. Not even by a unicorn, often considered the physically 'weakest' of the three Equestrian races.
Though she had still felt obliged to select the tallest colt out of his group of doppelgangers.
That thought made Artemis glance back over towards her Very Important Pony again.
He was plenty tall enough for her.
'What was it Lily said she'd fantasized about while she was mana-burning? Being clutched under one arm, couched against his hip, defended by his shield while she let rip with her missiles?'
It's not quite what springs her wings, but she understood the appeal.
"Have your eye on somepony over there, Miss Sparkshower?" The unicorn in front of her had caught her looking.
'Time for another incomplete truth.'
"Just my friends. We're watching out for each other tonight."
Pacesetter raised an eyebrow. "Is this your first Gala? I've never heard of it being anything but safe. With the exception of last year, I suppose."
Honour hadn't mentioned anything strange happening last year, when she was on duty. She was stuck in a guardroom, though.
"You were there? What happened?"
Pacesetter sniffed a bit. "Nothing serious, just a lark with a few smashed decorations and some spilled food. They kept it out of the papers, but I dare say it livened up the mood. The Gala could use a bit more of the avant-garde." Then his eyes lit up a bit. "Will you be staying for when the musicians retire in favor of the turntables?"
It was obvious he was looking forward to that style more than this formal dancing.
"I plan to."
He knew ballroom, which meant he'd been taught, which meant he probably was from a well-to-do family of some sort. Then again, Artemis had been taught as well, and her family was definitely not well-to-do, so what did that say? He was very well-mannered, but she knew how to behave cordially as well, so that was no help in pinning him down. Nor for him to pin her down, either.
Actually, upon reflection, he hadn't actually confirmed that he'd been at the Gala last year, only that he knew what happened.
'Oooh, hailstorms!'
Things hadn't been this complicated Tuesday night, when she was being swarmed with colts who didn't seem to care about her social status or her breeding or even that she was wearing a baroque tartan to a hip nightclub. That had really been something else, and she was still not quite sure she understood what happened.
She'd felt just... open.
Open to talk, open to flirt, open to dance, open to intimacy, open to anything.
And every colt around her had seemed to sense it.
Was it some animal instinct? Or was it some kind of subconscious alteration to her gait? Her gaze? Her posture? Her movements?
Whatever it was, it had taken a very conscious effort to hold herself back. Artemis hadn't dared allow herself to step out on the floor. If she had, she felt certain it would've inevitably ended up with her in bed with that colt. Maybe not even in bed; just in the washroom, beast-with-two-backing it in a toilet stall.
And she was pretty sure it wouldn't have stopped with just one.
From the way they were all coming on to her, she didn't think they were able to resist at all, either. She had wound up getting fairly physical with several of them just standing there.
'Light petting,' Cosmoponitan magazine called it.
Things progressed even to 'medium petting,' at points, even if she had shut that down quickly before things could get out of hoof.
Thundershowers, just thinking about that night sent something up her spine -- and down her hind legs, too. It couldn't have just been the alcohol or the exhilaration of victory; it had to be another side-effect of her 'temporary abomination.' Just like how she had gotten sick at dawn, or had strange dreams of eating and drinking, or the way she'd been so righteously angry that she'd threatened to run Songwell through without any provocation. And while it was terrifying to feel her inhibitions drop out from under her hooves, Artemis had to admit the animal magnetism that the 'echoes' of the Accursed Shadow had bestowed on her had certainly been effective.
How many calling cards did she ultimately wind up stuffing into her belted plaid? More than enough to make any mare jealous, she was certain.
'Imagine being able to attract colts like that anytime I wanted!'
Just 'attract'? Or was 'lure' the better word?
Aggression, dreams of eating meat and drinking, being able to attract colts as if by magnetism? It hadn't escaped her notice that there was something predatory about all those things. Both Ignacio and Ebonshield had described Accursed Shadows as predators of a sort. Feral creatures, thriving on fear, feeding on the life of others. And, having been possessed once, even if in a controlled situation, made ponies more susceptible to being possessed again...
What would the third, the tenth, the fifteenth time look like, if Artemis kept training with Lily? How many more sessions would their unicorn teammate need to figure out exactly how to blast those horrible things out of anypony, and then completely out of this world, like a professional?
With all this running through her head, Artemis barely noticed that she was being dipped and the music had stopped. Pacesetter lifted her back up slowly, then released her and gave a bow. He looked over towards the orchestra and began to applaud. Artemis followed his gaze.
'Wait, they're packing up?'
'Not just the accordion-player, but the whole band?'
The conductor was inviting all the players to stand and bow, even as servants were clearing stands and papers. Just how long had she been deep in her own thoughts, pondering everything while flying through tangos like some clockwork automaton?
Still foggy coming out of the trance, she joined in the applause as well.
When that died down, Artemis' partner turned back to her. "It's been my pleasure to dance with you this evening, Miss Sparkshower. I hope the feeling is mutual. Would you care to continue together after the changeover?"
'Oh.'
'He wants to keep going?'
That possibility hadn't crossed her mind at all. She had nothing against him, but what about the Royal Engineer? Honour and Eb had both cautioned her to take it slow with him.
...Although she wasn't one hundred percent certain if Purity wasn't also talking about if she ever had to stab him. She seemed to rather intimately link sex and violence in the way that she spoke.
'Anyways, back to Pacesetter and being honest but coy.'
"I promised somepony in my group I'd help them get warmed up on the floor to start, as they're very new here. But after the first few tracks, maybe?"
After all, why shouldn't she keep enjoying herself with this unicorn colt? Maybe she could learn some more about him, and see what he can learn about her; and besides, she didn't want to smother Anon. Plus, hadn't Lily mentioned that envy was a powerful tool for catching a date? She could work it both ways, on Anonymous and on Pacesetter...
Then again, it could also backfire on her, if she saw Anon dancing with anyone outside of their quaternion.
'Just have to keep my cool about it; not like when I spotted him speaking with Princess Twilight Sparkle.'
Artemis' partner smiled and bowed again. "Certainly. I understand how the Gala floor can be intimidating." He nodded towards the same flock of colts where she'd first found him, still roosting up against the wall, in the corner of the dance floor. "If we don't find each other, make enquiries with my group there. Ask for Albert."
'Albert Pacesetter?'
It still didn't ring any bells, but at least now Artemis had a full name to go on. She decided to keep things on the level, and pointed back at her table. "I will, Albert. And likewise, you may ask for Artemis over there."
Like a proper gentlecolt, he lifted up her forehoof and bent to kiss it, then released and backed away with another bow, before turning to return to his gang.
'I'd better go collect Anonymous if I want to start him off with the opening modern dance.'
Things sure did seem to move quickly at the Gala, in more ways than one -- just as she'd been warned by one Lieutenant Valiant Kilfeather. It was apparent that as much as he was capable of deplorable deeds, that colt did often know what he was talking about -- the Gala, the Games, combat in general...
By the time Artemis arrived back at the table, the crowds of tired, older guests had thinned out, replaced by throngs of younger ponies eager for a hipper beat. The rearmost tier of the raked orchestra stand had already been converted into a simple stage and sound booth. Hip-looking ponies with baggy pants, backwards-turned baseball caps, and rows of gold chains around their necks were already wiring up the station's equipment.
"LAAAAAAAAAAADIES AND GENTLECOLTS!" The crowd erupted into a cheer as one of them took up the microphone. "WELCOME TO THE MAIN EVENT!"
'Hurricanes, that's loud!'
Louder than a hurricane, actually, and they hadn't even plugged in all the speakers yet!
The pegasus stepped up besides her VIP, but before she could proposition him, he got to his feet. "Artemis, you're back just in time! I hope you didn't wear yourself out before I could punch your dance card!"
'Perfect!'
"Not at all!"
A seat over, Lily grinned and saluted Artemis by raising her nearly-empty champagne flute. "All right! Let 'er rip, you two! Let's see some real moves! Woo!"
Purity gave her a quick nod as well, though she seemed busy scanning the room and looked about ready to bolt from her chair. Doubtless she'd already picked out her first target and was just waiting for a clear avenue of assault.
'Gosh, she's got me thinking in stabby terms for her finding a partner, too.'
'...Or maybe it's just the liquor.'
Honour gave Artemis a look that she couldn't really read. Then she smiled briefly.
"Have fun out there."
Artemis gave a smile in turn. "Thanks."
Before she could get another word in, the loudmouthed MC started up again with the microphone. "NOW TELL ME, ARE Y'ALL READY TO GET DOWN?"
There was a youthful cheer, and many forehooves thrown in the air.
'No wonder all the stiff-upper-lip elder gentlecolts scrambled away so quickly. They're even dimming the chandeliers and setting up disco balls!'
Anon tossed his hat back at the table; he said something, but Artemis couldn't make it out over the crowd.
"NAW, NAW, NAW, COME ON! I CAN'T HEAR Y'ALL! I ASKED IF Y'ALL ARE READY TO GET DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWNNN?"
The cheer was so loud that time Artemis impulsively flattened her ears against her head to muffle it. What was that Honour had said about last year's Gala being ridiculously loud? Artemis really hoped that wasn't about to be repeated. She wanted to feel the beat, not be deafened to it!
"AWWWW YEAH!" There was a brief pause while the MC turned around behind him, only to get a hooves-up from the DJ at the discs. "YEAH, WE READY! BUT FIRST, I GOTS TA INTRODUCE SOME VERY, SPECIAL, PONIES. SO LET'S START BY GIVING IT UP FOR THE VERY LATEST ADDITION TO THE ALICORN ASSOCIATION, THE PURPLE PONY OF POWER, THE ELEMENT OF FRIENDSHIP, HER HIGHNESS PRINCESS TWILIGHT SPAARRRRRKLE!"
At his cue, the DJ blasted straight into an energetic dance tune.
Suggested background music: 2 Unlimited - "Twilight Zone" [1992]
The very alicorn that Anonymous had been speaking with appeared on-stage, stepping up next to the bowing MC. She waved to the crowd, and there was another, greatly subdued cheer of approval as people seemed more interested in starting to dance. Even the MC was starting to groove up on stage, and seeing this, Her Highness began bouncing a bit, too. It looked a little awkward, but then it got even worse when she closed her eyes, reared back, and started just flailing with her forehooves, barely in time to the beat.
Artemis wasn't really a judgemental type, but it was terrible.
'She must not have any rhythm at all.'
"YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, FEEL THAT BASS, YEAH!" The MC bounced around even more, encouraging her to keep going hard. They made quite a pair, off-tempo Princess and a colt with a flat-brimmed baseball hat so big it seemed like he could just tuck himself completely up into it.
To say nothing of the heaps of chains that might just weigh more than Artemis' whole armor set, or the baggy pants that were big enough for her to use as a caparison.
'And does he still have the shiny label sticker on his hat?'
'Who does that?'
'Well, at least nobody should feel awkward starting to dance after that performance.'
Finally, after following Anon through the crowd for what felt like an eternity, he managed to stake out a free square. Artemis landed on her forehooves, and immediately the Royal Engineer turned around to face her, a broad smile on his face. He started bobbing and weaving to the beat, and she joined in as well.
'Now this is more like it!'
Their motions were unrefined, and scarcely coordinated between the two of them, and yet somehow Artemis felt a closer connection with Anon then she did with Mister Pacesetter. It would be hard to rip herself away from this to find Albert, but she'd have to do it -- for her own good.
Artemis' new bipedal partner kicked it up a notch, and his gradual abandonment of restraint was infectious. Pretty soon she found herself flailing almost as wildly as the very pony she'd just been criticizing up on stage.
Then the MC butted in again. "YEAH-YEAH-YEAH AWRIGHT! ONCE MORE FOR PRINCESS TWILIGHT!"
There was an even milder applause, mostly because everypony was too busy getting down to dance, but Anon at least stopped his arm motions to join in polite clapping, so Artemis did too.
Her Highness looked almost relieved to be leaving the stage.
The DJ mixed in a new track as the MC continued.
Suggested background music: Yello - "Oh Yeah" [1987]
"AND NOW Y'ALL IT'S TIME FOR US TO GIVE THE HIGHEST OF PRAISE, THE BIGGEST OF CHEERS, THE PINNACLE OF APPRECIATION, TO THE ABSOLUTE STARS OF THE MAIN EVENT. LET'S HEAR IT FOR THEIR MAJESTIES PRINCESS CELESTIA AND PRINCESS LUNA, OHH YEAH!"
The crowd erupted in a deafening cheer, and there was some kind of commotion near the stage. Anon craned his head, his brow furrowed, before breaking out into a smile and a laugh.
Artemis turned and had to flap a couple of times to get high enough to see what was going on.
The two sister-princesses were slowly being pulled out onto the dance floor on an extravagant quadriga-style chariot drawn by four guardscolts -- two Royal Guards harnessed side-by-side with two Night Guards. It wasn't exactly a quick procession, what with the crowd having to part ways to let the vehicle through, but Their Majesties seemed to be enjoying themselves, sitting on their haunches, smiling at the crowd, waving and poking their forehooves in time with the music.
'They even look like they're sort of singing along; that's cute.'
The chariot finally arrived in front of the DJ booth and stopped to let the diarchs blow kisses to the MC, who playfully opened his mouth and clasped his hooves to his cheeks, then his chest, as if he couldn't believe they just did that thing which had very obviously been prearranged. After more waving to the people, they disembarked, and the chariot wheeled around to turn back the way it came.
'Looks like this is now officially a Royal dance floor.'
Artemis saw the DJ start up another turntable and place their hoof on the fader slider, mixing in a new song. As the new beat came in, she lowered down a pair of stylish purple shades and started to groove along on-stage.
"ALL RIGHT ALL RIGHT ALL RIGHT PARTY PEOPLE, THAT'S THE ANNOUNCEMENTS, NOW LET'S GO, GALA TIME! DJ PONE-3 GO ON 'N TAKE US GRANDLY GALLOPING INTO THE NIGHT! YEAH!"
Unlike the two poppy tunes used to introduce the princesses, this one was a proper modern dance track, and it soon launched into a deep, throbbing bass. Within moments, everypony on the whole floor was bouncing along with it, Artemis and Anon included.
It was a flap up from a moment before, and finally, she really did feel high up on cumulonimbus cloud nine. Maybe not at the absolute peak -- they weren't so much dancing together as they were dancing in front of each other, but she felt connected. Anon had his eyes on her, and she had her eyes on him.
The two of them started playing with moves, throwing new twists back and forth. He'd stop and do a spin, and then she'd repeat it back. She'd rear back and wave a forehoof in the air, and in response he'd get down low, spreading his arms as if supporting her. He put his left hand out, and she matched it with her right forehoof, clasping together as she continued to dance in place. When she got up on her hind hooves and started turning again, he sidled up behind her, shadowing her foreleg motions with his arms and mirroring the turn.
'That's nice, but it'd be better if he'd put a hand on me...'
Artemis reached a forehoof up to guide him down onto her shoulder, at least. In the heat of the moment, the crowd seemed to part around her, as if pushed away by the sheer force of her connection with this stallion. When she felt his fingers against the frog of her hoof, she closed her eyes.
"There thou art, Anonymous!"
Artemis' eyes shot open again to find Their Majesties Princess Celestia and Princess Luna dancing just beside her, and immediately she got back down on all fours.
'Where did the Princess of the Sun get all those carnival bead necklaces she's wearing?'
'And when did the Princess of the Moon put on those stockings and that striped hat?'
'For that matter, where did they both get those glow-stick hoops that they've decorated themselves with?? They had none of that when they came in on the chariot!'
Artemis suddenly realized they were both stepping along to the music, so she got back to trotting in place. Behind her, the Royal Engineer never dropped the beat, and he bowed in place.
"Your Majesties! Great party!" Then he pointed his index fingers at their hooves, extending his thumb upwards. "...And nice moves!"
Celestia shut her eyes and grooved a little bit harder. "Hah! Thanks!"
It was a bit intimidating, dancing with abandon in front of the rulers of Equestria, but Artemis started to get back into the swing of it.
Luna smirked. "Do not think thy compliments excuse the way thou blewest Us off at the rotunda!"
'Huh?'
Perhaps noticing her confusion, Celestia leans in a bit towards Artemis and Anon. "You skipped out on our receiving line after those sailors made a scene."
Luna pushed her chin out and pursed her lips. "And such impertinent behavior from one of Our councilors of the Blue Chamber, We cannot forgive!"
It was fairly obviously a mock display -- the mood was too light. Still, being accosted by the diarchs of the palace, even in jest, put Artemis a bit on the defensive.
"Terribly sorry, your Majesties. Please accept our apologies: we had to help Honour escape from her father!"
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Escape her father? Ah, the plot thickens!"
Luna whinnied. "Only if thou continuest to visit the dessert table, sister dearest."
At that, the elder sister in question started to bounce back and forth even harder, turning to position her rear end closer to the younger sibling's muzzle. "Sorry, I can't hear anything over how much more fun I'm having than you."
Her Royal Majesty the Princess of the Moon blew a raspberry at Her Royal Majesty the Princess of the Sun. And then both proceeded to levitate their glow-rings in the air around them, raving with abandon.
Artemis looked up at the Royal Engineer, who was laughing even as he danced. Soon enough, she was fully back in the mood.
It was all a bit silly, but still wonderful.
The four of them danced all in a little group, and for a brief moment, Artemis almost saw the ceiling start to open up again into the stars, the same way it did when Luna visited in private. Then she realized that, actually, it was because a swarm of unicorns had joined the DJ on the stage, and they were using their horns to provide animated magical illumination for the dance floor. Flashing strobes, shimmering beams, colorful floods, and all manner of sparkling, glittering spotlights filled the room with ecstatic illumination, everything reflecting off of the spinning disco balls.
Artemis lost herself in the experience, dancing just for the love of life and the exhilaration of the moment; never mind trying to guide Anon's hands onto her. The DJ blended one song into another, and another.
Eventually, she remembered her pledge to Pacesetter.
'But I'm having so much fun here and now!'
Well, at least she wouldn't be leaving Anon alone on the floor. What better company could he have than Their Majesties? And it wasn't like he was hard to find, given how he was head-and-shoulders above everypony else but the ruling alicorns of Equestria.
Taking to the air, Artemis leaned her muzzle up against his ear. "Anon, I promised that other colt from earlier I'd see him again for a dance. Will you be alright?"
He nodded, pointing at the diarchs, then turned to speak into her ear in turn. "Sure, I'll be fine. Not like I'm alone out here! Go have fun! And don't be afraid to come back if it doesn't work out, or heck, bring him over here! This is where the real party's at, ha ha!"
It was good to hear he was having as much fun as he looked like he was having. Artemis was having fun, too. But well, it was the Gala. Much as she was interested in Anon, Artemis did need to take things slow with him, and she should really try something -- or somepony -- new.
'Thundershowers, sometimes it was hard work taking the high air current!'
"I will. And I'm sure we'll dance again later tonight!"
Artemis blew him a little kiss and gave an airborne curtsy to her rulers, who barely nodded their heads in acknowledgement, understandably too busy enjoying the music to acknowledge every pony arriving or leaving.
'Time to find Mr. Albert Pacesetter and see what sort of modern moves are in his repertoire!' |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 145 | Lily Glamerspear
If anypony asked her, no, Lily Glamerspear wasn't seeing anypony right now. And she didn't think she was ready for another relationship right now, either. Which wasn't to say that she'd say "no" to every possible proposal, just that she might have to think about it for a bit.
A colt starts chatting her up at the bar? 'Okay, why not?'
He invites her to the dance floor? 'Yeah, sure; that's what we're all here for, isn't it?'
Leans in close to her nape and lays a hoof on her plot? 'Eh, maybe, if he's cute.' But she'd have to keep an eye out that they didn't go too far. Lily wouldn't want anybody getting too hoofsy with her out in public on Their Majesties' Royal Dance Floor.
And if the colt suggested they sneak off somewhere more private? Well... Just as long as she didn't think he was about to slap a ring on her.
That said, getting felt up by a charming, handsome, well-dressed and well-mannered stallion would definitely help lift this evening up from the trash-pile that that two-silver-barred, down-dirty bastard Captain Mailedhoof had dropped her into. Lily was still fuming over the fact that he dumped her over, of all things, her association with batponies. And all before she could dump HIM! That was some top-shelf, hundred-proof, weapons-grade, pure, unadulterated, 24-karat bullsh-
"What are the two of you doing still sitting down? Come on, let's get out on the dance floor!" The Royal Engineer said as he arrived back at the table.
'Wait, the Royal Engineer's arrived back at the table?'
Honour piped up before Lily could. "What? How come you're back? Where's Artemis?"
With a smile on his face, The Royal Engineer clapped his hands and then jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "She went to find her ballroom partner from earlier. So let's go! Don't tell me the two of you are going to sit here all night?"
The thought had crossed Lily's mind, but no, she did actually want to dance.
Honour was still stuck in the past. "She left you alone?"
'This buckin' mare.'
Lily decided to interrupt and redirect, putting down her drink and getting to her hooves with a sly grin on her face. "Yeah, what's the matter, couldn't you find yourself a partner out there?"
Anon chuckled. "I found myself a pair of real royal beauties, sure. But Their Majesties said they needed to do the rounds before they could just dance with me all night."
Lily almost missed a step. He was dancing with not just one but BOTH Princesses? And after chatting up a third earlier in the night? Damn! Lily shook her head. "Three Princesses in one night? You sure don't waste any time!"
He started grooving in place a bit. "I guess I'm just making up for avoiding the dance floor Tuesday night. Or maybe it's the rum punch."
Their Majesties' Signature Cocktail for this year's Gala certainly did hit pretty hard. Lily had only been out drinking with the Royal Engineer once now, and he had seemed to hold his liquor fairly well, but she hadn't exactly been keeping track of his alcohol intake so far tonight -- not that it was her job to do that, at least not tonight. As she stepped over to join the still-boogieing colt, Lily gave a playful little shoulder-check into his hips. "All right, big guy, let's get out there and you can show me your moves."
He returned the hip-check against her flank, but pointed over at the brown pony with the new mane-do. "How about you, Honour?"
She shook her head, her recently-liberated flipped-up curls tossing to and fro. "Not now. Maybe in a bit. You two go."
The good Corporal seemed resigned to sit there all by her lonesome for the rest of the night. It was crazy, but Lily wasn't her keeper; besides, she'd smoothed things over with her own partner, and the Royal Engineer put her dad in his place too, hadn't he?
'What's she got to mope around about, then?'
Anon nodded, too upbeat to display any potential disappointment at the moment. "Okay. But don't think I won't come back to get you later!" Grinning from ear to ear, and still bobbing and weaving to the beat, waggling his fingers in time with the music, he led Lily back towards the dance floor.
Coming up alongside him, she gave him another bump. "So, how many calling-cards have mares stuffed into your sash so far?"
He snorted. "Nothing yet, hah! Still on my case about hooking up at the Gala? Don't tell me Purity ran off to hunt someone down for me personally."
Now it was Lily's turn to whinny. "Are you kidding? She left on her own big-game safari just seconds after you got up to dance with Artemis. I expect to see her prize trophy throwing up in our washroom tomorrow."
"Ah, I see..." The tall, tailcoat-wearing biped looked down at Lily with a sly smile. "...And what about yourself? Surely I won't be your only dance partner tonight? If Artemis has found herself a potential new beau and Purity is about to pair up, shouldn't you be on the prowl as well? Or are you already spoken for, like Honour?"
'Oof. Talk about hitting you where it hurts right now.'
Lily kinda awkwardly chuckled. "Geez, Anon. Can't a lady have her secrets?"
He stopped for a moment, taken aback by her refusal, then shrugged. "Sorry. I just figured turnabout was fair play from earlier."
Sighing, Lily shot him a pained grimace. "It would be. It's just that I'm not in a happy place right now, relationship-wise, and the wounds are still a bit fresh."
The Royal Engineer arched his eyebrows sympathetically. "Oh, no, not you too? After Artemis had her own breakup a week ago Friday..."
Lily nodded. "Yeah. At least she's already well on the upswing. Plus, I mean -- her heartbreak is way worse than mine. She'd been with Huckleberry since school." Waving a forehoof dismissively, she continued. "My break-up is of a barely three-week-old relationship. But it's about how it ended, ya know?"
Lowering his hands, Anon pushed back the sides of his coat and casually slipped his white-gloved fingers into his pockets. "I think I can imagine. Sorry to hear it. Do you need to talk?"
Shaking her head, Lily jabbed her same free hoof towards the dance floor. "Not right now, and maybe not for a while. But you don't have to worry about me, Anon. I've taken harder knock-downs than this, from better colts than him." Lowering her leg, she started up again, before turning back towards him. "...But, thanks... sir."
Lily's Very Important Pony, who wasn't actually a pony, removed his hands from his pockets and lifted them up, presenting them to her palms-forward. "Hey, now -- no formalities tonight, right?" With a grin, he stepped forward to join her. "Off to the dance-floor!"
The two of them continued to make their way through the crowds. It wasn't as busy here amongst the dining tables as it was earlier during the main dinner service, or even during the quieter ballroom music. The DJ's amplified tunes were loud enough to force anypony who wanted to have anything like a real discourse to retreat far away from the ballroom. And as the music was no longer quite to the liking of the old blue-blooded fossils who ran Equestria, many of them had taken off as well, conversation or no. Yet there remained enough ponies to make it necessary to pick their way between tables and chairs to get around or through the crowd.
Along the way, Anon found the groove again, but when they were forced to politely stop and wait for a large party that was clearly leaving their table to depart, he piped up once more. "Okay, not trying to pry open fresh wounds here, but since you and Purity were laying into me on this topic earlier, I have to ask: what's your type? Or are you not in the mood for this stuff at all?"
That was a bit of a bombshell, considering Lily's 'type' had just had a forceful rearrangement of the full-force-hoof-to-the-muzzle variety. Still, she supposed, after the needling she'd given Anon, maybe she owed him a quick info-dump.
'And anyways, what's the harm?'
Inhaling, the unicorn shot him a sly glance. "Eh, I can swing it for you, boss. But let me start off by saying that you would've gotten a very different answer if you'd asked this a few days ago." Sitting back on her haunches, Lily flicked her bangs back with a forehoof. "Right now, I'm looking for a tamer kind of stallion, not some wild, unbroken buck; somepony with a good head on their shoulders, instead of one poised to go off like a rocket." She shrugged. "Physically, he doesn't have to be winning the Bronze Pony Triathlon, but I mean, I keep myself pretty fit, and he ought to keep himself pretty healthy too, even if he's maybe swinging a bit too lean or too thick." Staring impolitely as the elderly group of ponies took their time donning their hats and coats and purses and feather boas and all sorts of other crap, Lily continued. "As for species? Honestly, I lean towards my own kind; nothing against the others, but their stallions just don't rustle me the way a handsome unicorn does."
Anon lifted an eyebrow. "You've dated a pegasus before, though?"
'Ugh. Lieutenant Kilfeather, plot-hole extraordinaire.'
Lily nodded. "Yeah, I know. I mean, I wouldn't have seen myself falling for a fast-fighting flyboy, even back then, but I sure did..." Wrinkling up her muzzle a bit, she elaborated. "But with Val, it wasn't so much about the physical attraction -- even though there was that too, I mean, he is pretty handsome, in a ladykiller kinda way -- it was about the entourage; the celebrity. He'd just won the Grand Mêlee. He was on top of the world in the Royal Guard, him and his crew, and I was a wide-eyed Private who'd been granted permission to sit up there in the throne-room with them." With a snort, Lily began the end of the story. "Of course I didn't realize that to him I was just another in a long line of floozies, and he eventually treated me as such. I was young 'n' dumb, and if maybe I ain't the smartest mare around, I still learn from my mistakes. So I'm definitely not into doing anything like that ever again." A sigh escaped her lips, and her ears drooped down sideways. "Of course, having said all that I'll still probably go falling again for some hyper-aggressive ultra-stud who'll sweep me off my hooves and then inevitably break my heart taking advantage of me. Story of my life, really."
Anonymous looked down at her with concern. "It happens that often?"
As the group before them finally left and let them proceed, she answered. "...If I had a five-bit piece every time I got mistreated by an 'alpha stallion' who thought that me being theirs meant they could do whatever they wanted with me, I'd have ten bits, which isn't a lot, but it sucks that it's happened twice."
Continuing towards the dance floor, she glanced up at her tall companion. He looked a bit more subdued and deeper in thought.
'What's on his mind?'
He couldn't just be pondering her failed relationships.
'Heh, is he thinking about mares for his own sake?'
Maybe she ought to have taken this approach earlier; instead of digging in and teasing him to open up, she should've bared her own tastes, desires, and experiences. Artemis, Lily was sure, would have been eventually more than happy to gush about what she found attractive with a bit of prodding. And Lily already knew what she'd say: big, strong, handsome, considerate, courageous, kind. All attributes that coincidentally matched the Royal Engineer. As for Purity, she might have looser standards, but Lily thought she would have freely chatted about them as well. Honour, though? Heck, that mare barely knew what she wanted, let alone seemed comfortable talking about it.
'Still, three out of four guardsmares spilling their gossip-guts ain't bad.'
Chatter like that probably would have helped him get on-track with how things work around here. And speaking of how things worked, was the Royal Engineer still oblivious to Artemis' advances? Yeah, as a non-pony he hadn't noticed stuck-out tufts or wingboners or horn anteglow until Honour laid down the law to him, but surely he understood that there was some meaning to sharing an intimate close-held formal dance, or giving a kiss on the cheek, or a companion fetching him his meal? Like, that stuff had to be universal, yeah? A clever colt like him had to have an inkling at least, right?
Lily couldn't help but wonder if she should spill some beans on that whole situation; help kick it along.
'Maybe there's a tactful way to go about it.'
"Hey, Anon. You know what signs to look for when we're out on the dance floor, right?"
He lifted an eyebrow, raising his voice to be heard over the intensifying music. "Signs of what?"
Shooting him a sly grin, Lily nodded up ahead. "Of a mare checking you out, dummy! I'm your shield-bearer out there, ain't I?" Anon furrowed his brow, clearly unfamiliar with the unicorn expression for a friend who helped another in their pick-up game. "...You know, your wingmare?"
That got a snort and a grin out of him. The pegasus equivalent term was a lot-better known, she supposed. "Okay, 'wingmare'. Is that what I have to look out for? Signs I'm being checked out? So I can make the next move over to her -- if she's my type, that is?"
'He catches on quick.'
"Sure, why not? Most mares appreciate a little initiative." Lily pursed her lips and tilted her head. "Not to say you might not get chatted up yourself, like Little Miss Princess Purple back before dinner. Gotta keep your ears up for that, too."
She'd been cute, if a bit dweeby, but that dancing on-stage later with the MC?
Woof, and bow-wow too. Javelin: dodged.
The Royal Engineer waved a hand dismissively. "Ah, that was just a friendly talk. She's helping organize the event, and performing hostess duties."
As the two of them finally reached the edge of the dance floor and some room opened up, Lily gave him an elbow poke. "Sure, that's how it starts! Then she shows an interest, wants to hear you talk about yourself, smiles when you ask her about herself, maybe touches a hoof to your shoulder..." Lily tried to trail off suggestively, but it was too loud there to really do that.
Still, Anon seemed to get the gist. "Same as where I'm from, I guess. But is it mostly guys who take the biggest first step with ladies here, too?"
Finally finding her hooves free to dance, Lily started to bob and weave to the DJ's latest bass-heavy track before even thinking about answering her VIP. She closed her eyes for a moment and soaked the music in, feeling the beat throbbing in her chest just as much as she heard it in her ears.
'Yeah, that's the good stuff. A proper speaker setup: no rattle, no pop, no fizzle or fuzz, just big bad BOOM 'n' BWUAAHH.'
Opening her eyes, Lily found Anon digging into the tunes as well, doing a basic left-left-right-right two-step. Okay, so he definitely didn't have four left hooves, but she already knew that from how he did the Lipizzaner Waltz with Artemis. "It's usually colts approaching mares, yeah. Like, I dunno, eighty-twenty split? Depends on the situation, I guess."
Anon started to clap on the off-beats, rolling his shoulders as he swung.
'All right, variations, so he's not just a bob-along-bozo.'
"So what am I looking for, here on the dance floor? Extended eye contact?"
Bobbing her plot, Lily started to swish her tail, warming up for executing a proper twirl later. "Sure. Stares, with a smile or a smolder or even a kissy-face, that's a good start. Maybe a mane flip, too, like this." The unicorn's short bob mane-do wasn't exactly long enough for a proper flip, but she gave it her all, dipping her head down before throwing it back, and even shooting him a little come-hither tongue-pull across her upper teeth, maintaining eye contact the whole time.
Anonymous looked appropriately impressed with her maneuver. "That's quite the move. I don't think I could miss a sign like that."
Lily chuckled. "In my experience, the average colt could miss a brick hurled at their forehead."
He pointed a single finger at her, one hand at a time, flipping them back and forth with the beat. "Hey, I'm no average colt. But in my experience, the average girl -- err, mare -- thinks she's throwing bricks when she's barely blowing bubbles."
Eh, she could give him that. Lily had witnessed enough drunken failed attempts at flirting from her fellow members of the 'fairer' sex. Heck, she'd probably made all number of them herself, when she was younger, and especially back when she used to get a LOT drunker. Hypnotized by the beat, memories come flooding in of other depraved nights of liquor-fuelled debauchery.
Including a few with Kilfeather and company.
There was a pang of pain in her brow, and it wasn't because anypony had tossed any bricks at her.
'Damn.'
Lily Glamerspear was nowhere near old, but still, the safe stopping distance between 'pleasant buzz' and 'splitting headache' had noticeably shrunk since she'd graduated Private First Class.
'It's almost like rank is linked to alcohol tolerance.'
Total capacity isn't an issue; she'd seen cape-wearing Master Sergeants neatly stow away entire kegs in their barrel chests at the Royal Guard's Annual Ball. But finding that perfect midway spot was getting harder every year. And hard dancing isn't exactly conducive to feeling good after putting away as much drink as she had.
'Only one solution for now, though: power through.'
Clenching her eyes shut, Lily rhythmically bounced her plot -- first hard, then gradually backing off to just the right speed. The swishing feeling as her skirt rhythmically tugged on her croup told her she'd got it going on back there, and she slowly opened her eyes, turning her head slightly to admire her hoofiwork.
'Yup, you're dancing a spinner, dancin' a spinner, it don't stop.'
Lily was turning a few heads around the floor -- and why shouldn't she?
'Spinning ain't easy, but somepony gotta do it. And at the moment that somepony is me.'
Facing back towards Anon, again with a satisfied look on her face, Lily found him doing his own rotational move, with his hands balled up into fists. With every other beat, his forearms swept out a pair of circles, while he swayed left and right, snapping his fingers and stomping his feet.
'Damn, that's not bad. Freaking bipeds have it easy on the dance floor. Pegasi, too, since they can use their wings to rear back more easily. Well, a simple four-on-the-floor tailspin isn't all I can do. Time to take it to the next level.'
Carefully, Lily worked her forehooves back until all four of her hooves were gathered together. Then she walked her forehooves up the inside of her hind legs, squatting down slightly as she did so. It was a lot of work and hard balancing for somepony as sloshed as she was, and she was pretty sure she had ungracefully stuck out her tongue while concentrating, but she managed it.
'Yeah that's right, everypony, two-hoofed tail-spinning!'
"Hahaha! Tailspin!"
Anonymous beamed a smile. "Oh-ee-yay! Spin it, you can win it!" But he wasn't out of moves, either. Dispensing with the small arm swings, he started to bend his knees a bit, grinding down lower, before starting to swoop one arm while the other pumped.
'Buck, that looks pretty good.'
By comparison, Lily was up there wobbling like a chicken.
'Okay, spin time is over, the only way to top this colt is to go full biped.'
"Huurh!" Lily hopped up onto her hind hooves, abandoning the spin but keeping her hips moving with the beat. Closing her eyes and turning her head sideways, the unicorn slowly ran her forehooves up her flanks and then spread them high above her, swaying left and right. Her raised sandals weren't making it any easier, but at least they weren't full pumps or stilettos.
Having achieved full extension, she opened her eyes again. Posed like that, her face almost came up to Anon's. Well, like, the top of his chest, at least. But that was almost the right height for slow-dancing together. No wonder Artemis, a considerably taller pony than Lily, was so happy dancing the Lipizzaner Waltz with him. There probably weren't a lot of stallions out there who could make an appropriately-matched couple paired with her and her earth-pony blooded 'heavy assault frame'. Which brought her back to the subject of maybe dropping a hint or two on Anon about Artemis' attentions.
Before Lily could do that, though, the Royal Engineer showed her that his well of epic dance moves hadn't run dry, either. Showing up her mere extension, he started punching up into the sky, alternating hands across his body before drawing each back down, like he was snatching love-bricks out of the air and slipping them into his pocket. And all that was accompanied by lean-backs that would be impossible for a pony to pull off.
'This buckin' colt. Gonna push me to the edge, huh?'
'Okay, right! Time to show him how all the thirsty mares do it up in Manehattan, dead-ass.'
And Lily included herself in that category, back in the day.
Staying reared up on her hinds, she lowered her forehooves and started twirling them around each other in front of her. Stomping in time with the beat, she also turned in place until she was facing away from Anon.
And that's when Lily hit him with the 'thang'.
Throwing her forehooves up into the air once more, she bent over backwards so far she could actually look up at him upside-down. She had to take a step back to avoid toppling over, and she couldn't hold the pose for long, but that was the 'pee-yes-ee day reh-sis-tans,' as the Prench say. Then it was back down onto all fours, before she screwed up and ruined the whole show so far.
Anon nodded, a grin on his face. "Oh, so it's like that, huh?"
Lily shot him a sly smirk in-between steps. "Yeah. Put up or shut up, boss."
Lowering his hands, he chuckled, "Okay, but you asked for it."
As the song headed into a bridge, he paused his stepping and took a moment to adjust his cuffs and white bow tie. The instant the beat dropped, Anonymous launched into the fanciest footwork Lily had ever seen. Flapping his arms like they were wings, his feet stepped, stomped, and tapped so fast they were just a high-energy electric blur at the end of swaying knees. Lily had barely figured out what was going on before he switched it up, spinning his hands as before but shuffling sideways left and right without lifting his shoes off the floor.
'What in the Tartar-damn--?'
Turning sideways in place, he bent his torso over, swinging his arms back and forth as he kicked the opposite foot almost straight back, exaggeratedly running in place.
'B-B-Buckin'-huh? It's impossible!'
After a few bars like that, then he kicked it up another notch -- or rather, dropped it down, flopping forward onto his hands and knees before dropping to the floor. Lily was stunned to see him ripple his whole body, flopping forward like a seal on the beach. And then he jumped back up, throwing both his arms and one foot one way and then the other.
It was the highest-energy dancing she'd ever seen! She couldn't withstand being served this hard!
Lily's heart sank when she saw he hadn't stopped, either, merely settling back into variations on the opening fancy footwork, still an impossible blur.
'It's my first VIP shift all over again, with the trotting 'jog'!'
'So much for becoming the star of the dance floor over here, I'm relegated to second fiddle.'
Lily was so stunned by this development that she couldn't do much more than a basic left-left-right-right two-step.
'Well, maybe having Anon as the star won't be too bad. If he isn't interested in picking up a mare for himself, then that leaves the field open for me to crutch on him to attract someone of my own.'
The Royal Engineer went into some kind of private dance-trance, shutting his eyes as he worked through his routine.
'Did Artemis seriously walk away from this?'
'No way; she must have left to meet her formal-dance partner without having seen their VIP open up the taps.'
Anonymous paused his footsteps to start into a hips-and-knees-only groove, one hand on his head holding to a nonexistent top hat that he left back at the table half an hour ago.
'Unf.'
Lily bit her lower lip. That was some serious body-pumping action. She wouldn't say 'no' to being on the receiving end of a little of that. Heck, she'd even take it backwards. Looking around, she saw that he was indeed getting more than a few interested glances.
'Guh, but what about Artemis? She's my squaddie, and she called dibs on Anon.'
Yet the mare wasn't there. She could've blown off that other partner if she'd wanted to; he probably wouldn't even have noticed. 'Say la vee', she supposed; Artemis made her choice. Now the Royal Engineer was in the crosshairs of a free-for-all. And as his loyal and faithful bodyguard, it was up to Lily to make sure he got nothing but the best.
She started to wiggle her plot once more, setting up for another spinarooni.
'Okay, Lily, Operation Amorous-Attention-Attraction is a GO!'
'Yeah, I'm spinnin', I'm spinnin', I'm spinnin.'
Anonymous opened his eyes, grooving in place as he watched her swish three-sixty. "I got something I've been wanting to do. Do you trust me?"
'Buh?'
Lily went wide-eyed, still casually spinning her tail. "Uhh... Yeah?"
He nodded. "Okay, just keep doing what you're doing!"
'What's he gonna -- okay, he's next to me, squatting down, reaching one arm underneath my barrel and WHOA NELLY. I'm in the air!'
In one swift move, Anonymous, by Appointment to Their Majesties Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, The Royal Engineer of Equestria, hoisted Lily up onto his shoulder, and stood up, her tail spinning inches from his face as she faced backwards. Then he put his free hand in the air and twirled his finger. Then he started step-rotating in place as well.
'Triple spin! It's a triple spin!'
'Princess Celestia almighty, Princess Celestia almighty! As Celestia is my witness, he has torn this dance floor up in half!'
It was everything she'd ever drunkenly hoped and dreamed of doing, and Lily couldn't help but start to cry marely tears a little.
'Buck, my mascara's gonna run -- but chin up, Lily. The ponies gathered here, they'll all remember the night they witnessed the fabled triple spinarooni at the Grand Galloping Gala. They'll speak of this event in hushed whispers for years to come.'
Lily breathlessly whispered in-between sobs. "Just keep spinning. Just keep spinning."
Beneath her, Anonymous grunted. "Hah! I wasn't sure if this would work! Ready to go down?"
Lily would follow this stallion to Tartarus and back; at least, that's what she thought right then while the liquor was still in full effect.
Somewhat less elegantly than how he'd gotten her up in the first place, the Royal Engineer crouched down and helped Lily get her four hooves back onto solid ground again. It was all she could do just to keep spinning, managing to never drop even one rotation-per-minute.
That beautiful, handsome, powerful stallion got back up and resumed his simple opening two-hoofed two-step. "You OK? Let's take it easy for a bit and then see what else we can come up with, yeah?"
Lily was speechless; all she could do was nod with a dopey grin on her face.
'Best night ever.'
Suggested interlude music: Martin Solveig - '+1' (feat. Sam White) [2015] |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 146 | Honour Bound
Honour Bound was currently liquor-bound. In fact, it was fair to say that she was probably more 'Liquor' than 'Honour' at this point. Sitting before her was yet another glass of Their Royal Majesties' Celebratory Grand Galloping Gala Rum Punch. She thought to herself that it really would be for the best if she stopped drinking for the night.
'And what reason do I even have to be guzzling these down, anyways?'
'I've already had my catharsis outside, haven't I?'
She'd made her choice earlier to throw in with Castlerook. Her father had been put in his place, too. And she'd even found the time to deal with two threats to the Gala in the form of belligerent sailors and bloodthirsty bats. So, why was she still trying to drown out her thoughts with Their Majesties' powerfully boozy fruit juice?
Unconsciously, Honour reached up to her wavy mane, recently restyled in the mares' restroom, and idly twirled a lock of hair around her forehoof. She didn't get the opportunity to do that a lot these days with her hair always gathered up in a braid -- not in the way she used to. For a moment, she felt herself taken back to those younger, more innocent years. Underage, hanging out in one of the Fillydelphia dockside taverns close enough to Fort Mifflin to host the most explosive combination of drunken & bored soldiers and sailors.
'A Stallion Full of Trouble'; what a glorious dive bar. With its small, cramped serving room and an equally small and cramped 'sitting-room' that had nowhere to sit. Little more than an upturned box for a tiny performers' stand, and a full iron cage for the bar itself so that there could be no arguing after last call. How many scraps had she gotten into there, before or during her enlistment? How many times had the brawls spilled out into the street -- or been forcibly pushed there by the establishment's sorely put-upon and heavily-scarred bouncers? When there wasn't a fight, there was always the riotous laughter, the singing along to a soldier's march or sailor's shanty, and the shameless flirting with anything clean-shaven and able to stand on all four hooves.
'Oh, you did twirl your curls then, didn't you?'
Yes, she did -- even as an insecure teenager, confident that she was too boring and brown to ever catch a colt's eye. Not that she was even seen in her natural, dull color half the time, what with all the bruises from scuffling. Honour touched a forehoof to the bump on her brow and realized that tonight was a callback to that era in more ways than one. The 'Stallion' wasn't where she'd met her husband, though; in truth, she'd never heard of anypony who hooked up at that dump. Maybe it was because everypony was just there to get absolutely hammered on the cheapest swill possible.
Shortly after she'd passed the legal drinking age and made Private First Class, Honour had been inducted by her seniors into attending a slightly more upscale kind of piss-soaked watering hole. One with actual furniture -- some of which was even upholstered -- and more entertainment than a fiddle, fife, or squeeze-box could provide when accompanied by the percussion of hind-kick-roundhouses and forehoof-haymakers from the crowd. Sure, the drinks were more expensive, and they actually checked her ID, but as a result, Honour could usually return to base clad in her coat's natural tones, instead of sporting a black welt accessory. She'd even managed to get halfway decent at eight-ball, before she got swept off her horseshoes to become hitched up, largely abandoning the bar for what she'd hoped would be a happy married life.
How eager she'd been to jump into that.
How quickly it had all fallen apart.
And not long after, she'd found herself galloping away from those bars, that base, and that whole damn city. Now, Honour was stationed in the capital, wearing a designer dress rather than her olive drab service uniform, sipping cocktails in place of cheap cider, dining on platters of creamy Prench pastries instead of rough bread and barley stew. She'd gone up in rank three times, got hastily married and messily divorced, switched to another department, and earned a Silver Star fighting against the Changelings.
'Is that really all I could achieve in the seven years since I enlisted?'
Other ponies she'd known had made Sergeant, or done more with their life than just rank up in the Guard.
It was depressing.
Maybe that's why she was still drinking.
As Honour reached a forehoof forward to lift up the elegant, short-stemmed, tulip-shaped glass with its orangey-pink concoction, the Royal Engineer arrived, throwing his jacket over the back of the next chair over and sitting down next to the mare.
"Honour! Why are you here when there's all this dancing to be had?" With a wide, enthusiastic smile, he deftly undid his cufflinks and rolled up his sleeves, then attacked the tie at his neck, sweating profusely as he loosened it.
"Just waiting for them to play my song," Honour replied, gesturing with her glass.
He chuckled, pouring himself a full glass of water from the pitcher on the table and chugging it down. Then he took a deep breath and sighed, leaning back into his chair.
Honour gingerly sipped her beverage. It had warmed up since it was poured; the rum was starting to overpower the juice, making its presence known. "Taking a break?"
Anonymous shook his head, spreading his arms and sucking in his cheeks. "I've run out of dance partners!" he said, dismissively waving a hand out in front. "Artemis left to find her formal-wear partner from earlier, Their Majesties had to go do the rounds, Purity only really stopped by briefly to show off her beau for the evening, and otherwise I've been dancing with Lily until moments ago, but she's finally given up and said I've worn her out, quote, 'more than a double-time hike up and down Three-Mile Hill' -- albeit, also quote, 'not in a bad way'."
Honour stifled a whinny. Did that mean it was now her time to step up? She had promised not to abandon him, but she hadn't exactly gone anywhere.
The Royal Engineer glanced back and forth between Honour and her drink, before he sighed again, and leaned back in his seat. "So, what's eating you? Didn't you patch things up with your, ah, friend? Castlerook, wasn't it?"
Honour nodded, slowly. "Yeah, I guess I did."
"And your dad agreed to leave you alone for a bit, so you don't have to worry about that any more tonight."
Honour nodded again. "True."
"We don't have to worry about the batponies tonight any more, either."
"No, we don't."
He paused to look her over again. "Are you hurting physically? From the fight outside?"
She shook her head. "No. There's a bump, but it's a dull pain, and the liquor's keeping it under control."
Anonymous shrugged. "So, why are you parked here, then? If you don't feel like dancing, you could go hang out with your Mister Castlerook."
Now it was her turn to sigh. "I don't know. Things still feel off. I just can't help but look back at the past." She rolled her head to and fro. "I've made a lot of mistakes. Missed a lot of opportunities. I guess the regrets are still outweighing the... 'promise of tomorrow', or whatever you want to call it."
Anonymous paused for a moment, then leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table and clasping his hands together. "Can I be candid with you, Honour?"
Part of her wanted to scoff and make a dismissive remark, knowing the sort of patronizing advice which inevitably followed such a question -- that's certainly what she would have done as a youth - indeed, had done so - to any authority figure trying to control her after she'd realized that her mother couldn't control herself and that her father wouldn't even try to stop her.
Honour was long past doing that now, especially to her Very Important Pony -- who may not be a Pony, but who had demonstrated multiple times to her that he was genuinely Very Important.
She just nodded.
Unclasping his hands, Anonymous held his palms forwards to her. "This isn't the first time I've seen you get consumed by regrets. You have to get over yourself. Everybody misses opportunities. Nobody has a perfect history. I've got plenty of things I wish I'd done, and plenty more things I sure wish I hadn't. Do you know I had wanted to go into teaching engineering, but didn't have the grades to make it into the doctorate program? I decided to work for a bit instead and maybe try to go back later with experience. But even though I did alright, several others in my graduating class climbed the ladder up much more quickly than I did."
'Wait -- so he wasn't an accomplished genius back on his world?'
Considering everything he'd managed so far here, not to mention how he'd comported himself, that revelation came as a bit of a shock.
"...And, you know, after I called off my engagement, I didn't dream of being 'Professor' any more, either. That mess really broke me." He dropped his hands to his legs in defeat. "You just have to take what life throws at you and try to catch as much of it as you can, and then move on. Sure, you can look back now and again to improve yourself, but you can't dwell on it or spend your hours measuring your achievements up to those of others. That doesn't do any good. I mean, look at me, here..."
Lifting his eyebrows, he glanced around the room, and for a moment, with his formal wear disheveled and his mask of intense focus removed, Honour was taken back to the moment when she'd first met him, and thought to herself just how alien he appeared. Glamerspear may have been the one to crudely voice the comparison to a monkey, but Honour had felt a not entirely dissimilar feeling, even if it had faded quickly. He wore the same clothes and spoke the same words and felt the same things and yet...
He wasn't from here.
"This place is still foreign to me. Everything's similar and yet so different. And at first I thought my coming here was a disaster. Of course, I was immensely grateful when I found a place - an incredible place - to fit into this world, but I didn't see it as an opportunity, just something to knuckle down into for survival. It didn't really start throwing me any challenges until you three showed up, and then even more when you became four. I like to think I did an okay job at handling the tribulations."
Anonymous smiled as he continued.
"But, Honour. Corporal. You've handled everything this posting has thrown at you. That I've thrown at you. You beat Kilfeather at his own game, you learned to drive, educated me in Equestrian culture and custom, helped teach me how to fight, put on a fantastic demonstration for the upper crust of the Equestrian government and military, taken us into the darkest depths of an alien society, and fended off an ambush by some of their finest warriors. You're one of the most adaptable and capable creatures I've ever met." He held out a hand, as if asking for her forehoof. She didn't know what else to do, so she gave it to him, and he closed his fingers around it, then placed his other hand gently on top. "Maybe you're not happy with where you've been or where you're at right now, but I promise you: if you can shut away your regrets for long enough to face the future with a clear head, there's a world of opportunity opening up before you that will more than make up for whatever failures you believe you had before, and I'll do everything I can to help you seize it all."
It wasn't a bad speech. She even felt a little inspired.
Swallowing, Honour withdrew her forehoof. "You going to get me promoted to Sergeant, sir?"
Ignoring her switch back to formality, he threw his hands into the air with excitement. "Demonstrating the Whirlwind can do that! Or participating in the MXP Games! Or all the work you've done with the batponies! I may not know about how the military works here, but hell, with everything that's happened so far? I bet I could recommend you for a promotion tomorrow morning, and you'd receive it in the afternoon. And then maybe you can finally look forward to what comes after."
Honour couldn't help but feel a little uplifted from his infectious smile and energy. "That would be Staff Sergeant," she deadpanned.
He snorted, "Hah, of course! But for now, how about you set your sights on an achievement that's immediately within your grasp?"
'This sounds like the setup for a bad pick-up line.'
Honour pushed herself back slightly, searching his expression. "What's that?"
The Royal Engineer of Equestria, with his bow-tie loose around his neck and his collar open, his cuffs folded back and his vest unbuttoned and open, and noticeable dampness under his arms, didn't miss a beat. "Have a good damn time tonight here at the Gala. I don't even care how, but I can think of a few ways, if you're stumped for ideas."
Well, it wasn't much of a hook, but it'd do. It was obvious from his energy that he was champing at the bit to get back on the dance floor, anyway.
As Honour paused for a moment to ponder just what she ought to do when she got back to her hooves, a familiar tune started to blare from the dance floor. It was the intro to an old, cheesy hit that she'd almost be embarrassed to say she used to love to dance to, except it was a great song, and everybody else danced to it back then -- and still did now.
This surely signaled the start of a set of similarly goofy throwback tracks that were more towards Honour's era.
'May as well see what our VIP can do, if he's managed to wear out party-mare Glamerspear, 'not in a bad way'.'
"You up for more dancing, sir?"
He grinned. "Absolutely!"
In the time it took her to knock back her drink, clamber out of her seat, and get down onto her hooves, Anonymous had made himself presentable again. The jacket stayed off, but he'd donned his top hat once more, and with everything else done up and his red officeholder's sash layered over top, he looked like a dashing warmblooded light-charger out of one of the historical battlefield paintings in the palace's portrait hall.
'Or maybe something a little more modern...'
A dapper rum-running gangster from Prohibition-era Manehattan? Without the pomade or the baggy trousers, though.
Anonymous tipped his hat and gestured graciously for Honour to head over first. She started toward the dance floor but turned to call back to him over her shoulder -- though her poofy red shawl did manage to get in the way a bit. "I must've missed a real show earlier if you managed to wear out Lily already."
"She said something about our 'triple spinarooni' being the best move she's ever done?"
''Our'? What kind of dancing have those two been up to out here, exactly?'
'And what kind am I in for now?'
Honour furrowed her brow and faced forwards. The dance floor didn't seem to have changed much since she'd last looked over it, when they'd first opened to modern music. There was the stage with the 'hype colt' MC, who was still doing his best to inject energy while the DJ held a headphone up to one ear as she bobbed left and right, working the controls. Flashing strobes, colored washes, and a pair of glittering, reflective balls casting rotating dots managed a respectable nightclub setup. And the speakers were plentiful, loud, and well-tuned, with deep bass that Honour felt in her ribcage. It wasn't her scene -- not anymore, if it ever really was -- but she still appreciated the quality and effort. Most of the places they'd gone on Tuesday night had superior setups, but none of them had the glitz of the Gala.
A sudden vertical movement caught her eye.
'Is that a pony trying to climb up a Maypole?'
'No, it couldn't be.'
The maypoles were outside, thick, and wooden. This was brass, and narrow enough for the drunken reveler to try to wrap their hind legs around. It was a portable dance pole: freestanding, with a wide padded base to accommodate amateurs.
'When did they haul this out?'
Honour glanced the other way and saw there was another, identical model on the other side as well.
From behind, Anonymous noticed her gaze, raising his voice to almost a shout to be heard over the din. "You didn't see when they brought those out a little while ago? Even had some pros to demonstrate, then the MC ran a game singling out showboaters on the floor and encouraging them to give a try on a pole. Couple of guests made decent attempts; Lily said she wasn't in the mood to be public tonight or she would've got up; I was almost tempted. Laughs and applause all around. That MC's pretty good at keeping the show going, actually."
Honour sighed, though there was no way he could hear it. "Would you believe I took lessons for a bit?"
"Really? If you still remember the moves, you should get up there and take point, 'Sergeant'!"
Shaking her head, she pushed out onto the floor, no longer nearly as crowded as when Anonymous and Artemis had come up to dance at the start, or even when he'd gone back to grab Lily. Honour grimaced. Even with panties on underneath and a shawl on top, and despite getting into a barehoofed brawl in it, she was still very self-conscious about the incredibly lascivious dress. It would take a very particular state of mind to get her up and pole-dancing in front of the remaining crowd at the Grand Galloping Gala.
"Maybe if the right track comes on," she said. "And if I'm feeling warmed up." Having reached a free spot, Honour turned to face her VIP.
With a smirk, he started bobbing to the beat. "You need to get warmed up? Let's get hot, then!"
Laughing, she shook her head and waggled a forehoof as she started to weave to the music as well. "Nuh-uh! That's a different song. Listen!"
Suggested background music: Get Low (Dillon Francis & DJ Snake) [2014]
When the main hook started, Honour surprised even herself, launching into the song with abandon -- and she was privately happy to see her VIP do the same.
'If I look ridiculous, at least I look ridiculous next to someone far more conspicuous than me.'
Up on the stage behind them, the DJ had cut out the track's original vocals in favor of the MC speaking them live, injecting the vitality of immediate performance into the playback. While Honour was a bit rusty and out of practice, Anonymous was clearly running at full steam, having had almost the whole evening to warm up, busting out a repertoire of energetic moves in perfect sync with the beat. It was almost intimidating how agile he could be when not in a formal setting, or wearing heavy minotaur bronze armor. And he could still be pretty swift in his protective covers; Honour remembered how he ran her down in the sandpit practice.
Frowning for a moment in-between steps, Honour realized she really ought to take his advice and look forward, not back.
'Think instead about how he'll do with that gear in the Games.'
'How his steam-powered carriage will work.'
'How you'll do.'
'How the whole team'll do.'
They couldn't expect a podium finish; there were too many other teams with accomplished warriors that had been training for it all year. Honour, Anonymous, and the others, on the other hoof, have only known each other for a few weeks; even less in the case of Purity. But hopefully a decent performance, combined with the novelty of a mixed group and the Whirlwind itself, would elevate them to the middle of the pack instead of being relegated to the rear. Taking fifth or sixth out of eight would still be an accomplishment, especially if Lily did a good job demonstrating how the Whirlwind could sweep the skies. Purity, even though she was more of a solo performer than a team fighter, had the skills to elevate them that high, surely. And Artemis with that rocket-lance ought to be a smash hit, if the battle in the Grand Hall of Stars was anything to go by. They all still had a lot of training to do, and that day would be absolutely exhausting, but it was something to look forward to.
And, who could say? If Anonymous wasn't able to get Honour that promotion right now -- assuming he was serious about trying to use his influence to bump her up, rather than drunkenly boasting -- surely the prestige of raising the Canterlot Palace Military Office's VIP Section banner at the Games would provide enough career recognition for an impromptu review and advancement. At least then she could head back to Filly' and meet Castlerook eye-to-eye on level ground.
Honour whinnied to herself. Maybe even becoming Sergeant Bound would be enough to get Leeward off her back, if Anonymous' impassioned speech earlier and Alexander's scheduled sermon later didn't do the trick. Wasn't a bosun to a ship's crew what a sergeant was to a platoon? That was worth the pay bump up from Corporal alone.
Energized by thoughts of a promising future, she found herself letting loose, even allowing her shawl to slip a bit, showing off more of the scandalous red dress underneath. She really shouldn't have brought the thing out here; her VIP wasn't wearing his jacket, after all. Looking around, Honour realized that she was hardly in poor company when it came to plot-revealing outfits: plenty of mares around were shaking everything their dame gave them with little more than their tails to cover the underneath. The music was too good and she was in too good of a mood to want to head back to the table to drop it off. And she couldn't just hoof it to Anonymous, even though that's how it's supposed to work, between colt and mare on the dance floor.
'Except we're not 'colt and mare'.'
Putting it out of her mind, Honour let her thoughts drift back to the future, but she didn't get far before another, very familiar beat started to fade in on the preceding classic beat.
'Oh no, they aren't, are they?'
'Oh, Celestia, they are.'
It was that song.
The one she'd rehearsed to for a month for her recital.
Her recital for that course.
'Of all the eclectic, experimental selection of hobbies and interests I'd spun through to 'find myself' after the divorce, why'd this one have to come up, here and now?'
Well, there was no sense in wasting what she'd learned: both poles were presently empty, and her dress was about as form-fitting as her leotard was back then.
"Alright. I'm warmed up."
Recommended background music: Naughty Girl (Beyonce) [2003]
Anonymous was surprised, but he didn't think for more than a half-moment before following her over to the brass pole. Honour wondered if she still remembered how to do this properly or if she was about to fall flat on her plot.
It was a good thing the routine started slowly, on just her hind hooves.
Stepping onto the base, she reared up and steadied herself against the pole with a forehoof held high, starting to bob in time with the building beat, as her dress-tassels and furry shawl bounced along with her mane and tail. Already, quite a few of the immediately surrounding eyes were on her, as the newest amateur aspirant.
'Wait for it...'
At the fourth bar, she started to strut around in a circle to the tempo. It was encouraging that she'd managed to keep perfectly steady on her hind hooves; doing it in slippers rather than heels certainly helped. The intro act got her a couple of hoots of encouragement from the little pocket of nearby dancers.
When the lyrics started eight bars later, Honour stopped and shook off the shawl, kicking it over to Anonymous, who caught it without hesitation in one hand, to a scattering of spectators' cheers and whistles. He was standing close enough to reach out and hold her, if she needed help, which was a little reassuring. And now that she was set up, he continued his own routine in support of her own, acting like a back-up dancer in a live show. The half-a-hoof of extra height provided by the padded base actually brought her up as high as Artemis was when she was dancing the Lipizzaner with him. Anon's active presence nearby actually made Honour's heart race a bit more than the public exhibition already did. But surely he wouldn't want to remain with her in the spotlight once she really started embarrassing herself.
Honour shut her eyes momentarily in concentration.
'Now, can I still climb this thing and hold on...'
Lily Glamerspear
Lily's legs were wobbly; wobblier than she thought they'd ever been in her whole life. And it wasn't the booze.
Well, it was partially the booze.
But never mind galloping for eight hours straight -- the Royal Engineer dancing at full tilt for an hour and a half was enough to knock the unicorn off her hooves. Still, she supposed, it wasn't all bad. Lily felt the groove overtaking her; it was a good pain. She was going to be sore as all buck tomorrow, but so what? She had the day off. Besides, that's how her assignment had been going since the beginning, and she certainly wouldn't trade it for any other boring regular posting. Where else would she have gotten to do all this stuff, including attending the Grand Galloping Gala?
'Now, back to enjoying one of the simplest privileges of said Gala.'
"Another Manehattan. And gimme a cherry with the stem still on it. Longest stem you got."
She only got a polite nod in response from the bartender, but it was late and loud and the bar was still pretty busy, even if there were a few free stools now. Of course, it was only a temporary installation, but there's just something about being able to sit down at a high table and admire a wall of liquor with some well-dressed ponies who would mix you up whatever you wanted from it. Lily had had enough fruity rum for the evening, and she was going back to an old faithful, named for her hometown, no less.
And the cherry on top was the cherry on top.
She had some plans for that; plans involving the unescorted pair of bucks chatting to each other a few seats down. Yeah, maybe she wasn't looking for a coltfriend right now, and maybe she wasn't likely to horizontally mambo with a stallion tonight -- not with how her hooves felt after all that dancing. But she could still have some fun and show off to a pair of studs. Besides, it'd boost her self-confidence after Mailedhoof dumpstered it earlier in the evening when he chucked her out over her association with Purity.
'Yeah, that's right, colts, look over here, check out the real deal.'
Lily's cocktail arrived with the harpooned cherry just where she wanted it.
'Time to hit 'em with the ol' tongue twister.'
Keeping her eyes fixed over on them, she snapped the stem off and stuck her tongue out, deliberately avoiding the use of her magic -- 'no cheating!' -- as she dropped it in place. One of them elbowed the other, and they looked over her way, clearly interested.
'Okay, now poke your tongue to the roof of your mouth to bend it in half, bite down to hold the middle, cross the ends, and -- hey, what the buck?'
The other one elbowed his mate back, pointing away past Lily, and the two of them craned their necks to behold something new on the dance floor.
'Okay, who the buck has the absolute teats to upstage me while I'm cherry-knotting?'
Infuriated, but still holding the stem in place, she spun around to find the target of the colts' attention. When Lily saw it for herself, her eyes went wide and the cherry-stem dropped from her open mouth to the floor.
Purity Ebonshield
This was the best nightclub she'd ever been in. Never mind the excellent music at 'The Stables', the dazzling lights at 'Tapestry', the stylish furniture at 'The Mad Ox', or the raw, youthful energy of 'Earthquake'; here at the Grand Galloping Gala, this was everything Purity had expected, dreamed, imagined, hoped, and wished for. All that, and she could still 'hang out' with her companions so dear! A shame her Gilbert did not have an invite, but he was only a student, after all. She might have perhaps asked for one on his behalf, but she did not wish to impose on her VIP or give her paramour the wrong impression. She was merely his teacher for the moment; she could never be his long-term lover.
'Best to take breaks now and again to make that relationship clear.'
Tonight she was dancing with somepony else instead. He was a little older, true, but still youthful enough for Purity to initiate. And what beautiful movements he could make with his feathered wings! It made her jealous that hers were leathery, even though they had never let her down.
Had the Great Mother known her Children would be envious of the handsome pegasi when they were at last reunited with their Equestrian kin? As much as she was pleased that the prospect of fighting was no more, and that her Creator had peacefully reunited with Her divine sister, part of Purity wondered what plan, if any, Nightmare Moon had had in mind if She and Her Children of the League of Stars had emerged victorious when She returned. Purity had been certain that her own mother, Carmen, would have pushed for racial 'purity' and the prohibition of interbreeding, at least up until the inebriated confessional earlier tonight. It was hard to believe she could really have changed her mind, but then again, Carmen was nothing if not opportunistic.
The music became sultrier, and Purity closed in tight around her partner, wrapping her wings around his body and nuzzling into the crook of his feathered wing, up against his paisley-patterned golden vest and crisp white shirt.
No wonder her Very Important Pony stated that he found feathers interesting; perhaps she should not have jumped at the prospect of a unicorn for her first Equestrian coupling. But Gilbert was a very interesting partner in his own right, and had taught her so many things about Equestrian customs and culture.
"Whoa, someone's on the pole now, and they're really working it. You ought to get up next and show what you can do, Miss Purity."
She inhaled deeply, taking in the strange, foreign scent of preening oil. "Mmm, I told you already, my sweet Paget, I am not here to show off." He curled his powerful wing-arm around her, surrounding her head with feathers.
'What a delightful feeling!'
"Yeah, but she's the best so far. You said you were a professional acrobat, didn't you?"
A little lie, but technically true.
"Ahh... You really wish me to demonstrate in public? Don't you want to keep me for yourself?"
He hugged her a little tighter, and nuzzled down against her neck, speaking into her ear. "Nopony's going to believe I danced with a batpony gymnast if I'm the only one who saw you tonight."
Purity chuckled. "Is that all I am? A trophy? A conquest?"
He whinnied softly, nibbling at her nape. "I don't think anypony could conquer you, Miss Purity."
After taking a moment to revel in the feeling, she lifted her head up and opened her eyes. "Let us see, then, this performer who has taken your attention away from me."
It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the brilliant flashing lights. But when she saw the mare, the only thing she could think was:
'Those are not among the moves of the Temple of the Shining Stellar Dance that I taught to comrade Honoria.'
Artemis Sparkshower
It was a beautiful night out. Artemis was a little less enthused with the reason why she was outside. Albert Pacesetter, in a development sadly not at all out of character for somepony from the upper crust of Canterlot society, was a smoker. The two of them had had quite some time dancing happily together so far, and when he invited her to head out onto a balcony for a moment to 'get some fresh air', the thought of it being for tobacco hadn't even crossed her mind. Things got a bit awkward, at least from Artemis' perspective, when, upon reaching the balcony edge, he telekinetically pulled a polished silver cigarette-case out of his breast pocket and offered her one of the crisp little white cylinders with three decorative gold bands, which she'd declined. He must not have lit up before dinner, or she probably would have picked up on it during their tango or two-step. Then again, she'd had her head so high up in the stratosphere that perhaps she wouldn't have noticed, and there had been enough ambient odors in the hall that it might've been impossible to place it on him in particular.
Well, nopony was perfect.
And anyways, it's not like she was about to propose, or anything like that. There were no strings being attached here. He was just a gateway to a pleasant evening, which Artemis had indeed enjoyed so far, and which she looked forward to continuing to enjoy once her partner finished his smoke break, just like the dozens of other ponies out here on the balconies, indulging in their vice.
Pacesetter blew a plume of smoke out and away from her, then extracted a small, silver canister from another pocket and stubbed the cigarette-butt out in it. "I do apologize, Miss Sparkshower. It's a terrible habit. I'm afraid it's quite impossible to avoid amongst my peers, however."
"Unfortunately, I can say the same is true in my circles as well." After all, what proportion of Equestria's ordinary rank-and-file Guardsponies smoked like chimneys when they were off-duty if there was nothing better to do? Half? Two thirds? It was a lot. Being out of barracks and in the palace proper at least meant Artemis got away from the smoke. And she was happy her VIP didn't imbibe either. But there the two of them stood, Artemis still being coy about her own social situation while trying to suss out that of the other.
That was almost a bigger frustration than the smoking.
"But you have managed to abstain where I succumbed. It is true what they say that the fairer sex is also the ultimately stronger one. I hope we may continue our merrymaking tonight together in spite of this difference."
She smiled. "I'd like to."
Pacesetter bowed his head. "Thank you. I promise no further interruptions. But shall we gaze upon the stars before returning inside?"
"I'd like that, too."
Rising back up, he nodded his head up towards a spot in the sky, away from the palace. "Splendid. Do you know any astronomy? The constellation 'Cygnus', 'The Swan', is spectacularly visible at this moment."
'Oh, stars! I love stars!'
That was one of her best courses in recon training. The trick would be to share what she knew without making it clear why she knew how to astronavigate.
'So the game continues...'
Honour Bound
Honour was about to collapse. Her thighs were not up to clamping onto a pole like this anymore. And hanging upside-down with a gut full of liquor was a really bad idea.
'Why'd I have to design this routine to end with a 'Jasmine' straight-leg inversion, slowly rotating around the pole?'
Now she was stuck there, unable to loosen her hindlegs just that little bit to either slide down gracefully (as she was supposed to) or to bend back up to seize the pole with her forehooves. All she could do now is crash down when everything gave out in another second...
Just before that moment came, she felt firm hands come up against her spine to support her weight. It was Anonymous, but she wouldn't have cared if it was a demon from Tartarus. Transferring her weight to him let Honour release her grip on the pole and she tried, as delicately as she could, to lift her back and put her hind hooves on the ground again. She wobbled for a moment, but her dance partner kept his hands on her, shifting his grip to her flanks and barrel. Honour was panting, there was foam at her neck, and she felt like she'd drenched that scandalously elegant dress of hers in sweat.
"Easy there," he said, in a soft, reassuring tone.
"AY, YO, Y'ALL, GIVE IT UP FOR MISSY BROWN OVER THERE IN THE RED FOR THAT TRIPLE-A PROFESSIONAL SHOW JUST NOW, AM I RIGHT? YYYYEAH!" That amplified holler from the MC was rather less reassuring, though Honour had to admit that the few moments of applause and cheers had made for a nice conclusion as she finally got back down on all fours. But she was definitely done for now.
"I need to sit down, away from the crowd."
"Sure. Over here." The Royal Engineer put on his broadest public smile and waved a bit in farewell to the audience, who quickly got back to partying, as he escorted her past the dinner tables and over through a doorway into the 'Carousel Room', so named for the enormous painting of an oval carriage race covering one of the walls. Here, there were a few club chairs and coffee tables, and since there was no bar or drinks station nearby, it wasn't very busy.
Honour's VIP set her down in one of the seats and then squatted so low in front of her that she actually had to look down a bit to see his face. "You need anything? Glass of water? Something stronger?"
She shook her head. "No. Just a moment to rest."
He nodded, and watched as she caught her breath. He licked his lips, glancing back towards the dance floor and brass pole. "You looked like you were about to collapse at the end."
She nodded. "I was. It's been a while. I haven't practiced in a couple of years..." She looked down at the floor, shaking her head. "...I don't know what I was thinking. The rum punch must really be in the driver's seat for me to make a fool of myself like that."
Anonymous sighed. "Hey. What'd I tell you?" Gently taking up her forehooves in his hands, he continued. "You can't keep putting yourself down like that. I sure didn't see a fool out there. You were so fantastic, I had trouble keeping up with you. Do you want to know what I did see?"
Swallowing, she looked up into his eyes.
"I saw an amazing performance put on by a gorgeous g--" He choked off a word, but she barely noticed the interruption. "A gorgeous mare, with a stunning mane, in an exquisite dress." Then, he lifted her forehoof up to his mouth and kissed it softly. "You're beautiful, Honour. I can see it. Anybody who can't is completely blind."
'He...'
'The...'
'It...'
She thought she was about to fall over, even though she was already sitting down.
An eternity passed before she took her next breath. And she still didn't know what to say in reply.
"I..." It took an act of willpower to shut her eyes and break away from his gaze for even a moment. "...Maybe I will take that glass of water after all."
Anonymous nodded. "Okay." He gently guided her forehooves back onto the seat in front of her haunches, and then got up. "Don't go anywhere. I'll be right back."
Honour was completely stunned; she couldn't have moved a muscle if she wanted to. It was a miracle she hadn't toppled to the floor. There was a pounding in her chest and in her head, and it wasn't the bass drum from the dance music.
Before she could even put two thoughts together, he was back with the water. With her mind a blur, she took it and drank it all down. And when he squatted down in front of her to take the empty cup away, she couldn't help but be captivated by his eyes again.
"Better?"
She felt herself nodding.
He nodded, tenderly. "Okay." He bobbed his head back towards the dance floor. "Are you done for the night, or are you still up for some more dancing? The regular kind, I mean."
She found herself scooting forwards, hind hooves touching the ground, followed by fore. "Yeah..." He stood up beside her, and she found herself swishing her tail in anticipation. "Yeah, we can keep going."
Finally, real breathing returned to her, and she inhaled deeply, swelling her chest with a strange and unfamiliar kind of confidence and determination. "We can keep going all night. They'll have to drive us out with spears and javelins."
She looked up, and the Royal Engineer smiled down at her. "All right! Let's wreck the joint!"
And with that, Honour accompanied her Very Important Pony back to the dance floor.
Suggested interlude music: Lady In Red (Chris De Burgh) [1986] |
Everyday Life With Guardsmares | Chapter 147 | Honour Bound
Corporal Honour Bound awoke to the sun shining on her face.
'Why is it so bright this early in the morning? It's only spring, damn it.'
Her eyes wanted to open in reaction to the light, even if the rest of her just wanted to get back to sleep. With a low groan, she found herself squinting and blinking into blindingly low-angle morning rays that were, mercifully, at least coming in slightly from the side instead of fully head-on. It took a supreme effort of logical processing to realize she could just bring a hoof up and mask out the visual intrusion, and greater effort still to commit to moving a limp foreleg up in front of her muzzle. Plopping it down roughly, Honour found herself sinking back into blissful deep sleep.
Except... something felt off, and it wasn't just the sun's radiant warmth beaming onto her. In her haze, it took an eternity of dipping in and out of consciousness to process even the most basic of input signals. Finally, scrunching her eyes closed as hard as she could, she reached back down to find her covers.
There was nothing there.
'Buck, did I just pass out directly on top of everything last night?'
She scratched her hoof against the bed underneath her, hoping to dislodge the sheets and eventually wriggle and squirm her way underneath. But there was nothing there - no slack fabric of a blanket or sheet. She slowly came to realize it wasn't even very soft.
'Am I even in my bed?'
'Did I pass out on the couch?'
More moments passed, drifting between wakefulness and slumber.
'The shared couch is pretty soft, though; not firm like this...'
'And there's...'
Her train of thought was suspended by another blissful collapse into sleep.
'Wait...'
'There's no window in the common area of our quarters.'
'Where am I?'
It was then that she forced her eyes open, grunting as she faced the detested sunbeams.
'That's a huge window it's all coming in through.'
Honour glanced down and saw she was, in fact, on a sofa, just not the plain and low Lawson-style one from her room. It was an elegant Chesterfield, in blue upholstery with white diamond pleats.
'But where've I seen one of these before?'
A vision of a scene started to materialize in her hungover head. A long, royal-blue sofa, with three sitting chairs in the same fashion, all arranged around a large, round coffee table...
Honour's breathing stopped and her heart skipped a beat and her eyes opened wide.
She was in the Royal Engineer's chambers. She was lying on his sofa, facing his window. And now that she'd been shocked awake, she began to notice the limp weight across her barrel, the steady movements at her back, and the slow, regular movement of air rustling her mane.
'The Royal Engineer is right behind me.'
'Lying on the sofa.'
'The sofa I'm on.'
Swallowing, she hesitantly turned and lifted her head to look. He was right there, passed out behind her, with his arm draped over her.
'I'm being spooned by my VIP.'
To Honour's relief, he was still dressed in his shirt and pants; his jacket had been thrown over the far armrest, though his vest was nowhere to be seen. She, meanwhile, was still wearing her dress and her panties. The shawl had been tossed next to his tailcoat. Part of her was relieved at the evidence pointing to nothing having happened between them, besides passing out together on the same couch.
The other part was starting to panic at the fact that she was still there.
Lowering her head back down to face forward once more, she tried to think. She remembered escorting him back to his chambers...
'Or had he been escorting me?'
Both of them had been pretty wasted, not to mention exhausted.
'What time did the dancing finally stop?'
She remembered staying to the very end; they were clearing the table linens by the time Anon retrieved his jacket from his seat. It was still dark outside at the time, Honour was certain. Three in the morning? Maybe four? There was hardly anypony left on the dance floor when they called it a wrap. There were hardly any guests left at the Gala at all, in fact. They almost did have to chase the two of them out at sword-point, just like Honour had boasted they would last night.
And...
And she remembered what he had said to her just before that. She remembered how it made her feel.
'Oh...'
'I need to get out of here.'
There was nothing for it but to slip away and hope he didn't wake up. Cautiously, she slid her hind legs out and lowered her hooves to the ground; then, in a smooth motion, she slowly rolled away from her VIP and onto the floor. It shouldn't have been easy to stand after last night, but the adrenaline somehow let her do it without falling over. Looking back, she saw that the Royal Engineer was still completely out, his arm and hand now lying on the sofa instead of her.
'His hand...'
She remembered going to sleep with a reassuring grip around her barrel. And before that, how his fingers stroked her coat.
Her left ear twitched with the memory of him nuzzling into it.
Taking a deep breath and swallowing, she stepped lightly over to grab her shawl, picking it up with her mouth; she wasn't willing to risk two-legged movement. Turning around, she slowly crept over to his door and gingerly depressed the lever handle. There was neither squeak nor creak when she pulled the door open.
'Celestia bless the caretakers who kept all the Palace's locks and hinges well-oiled, and bless Her decorators who put plush, sound-deadening carpeting in every hallway.'
Thanks to them, Honour's early-morning escape from the tender clutches of her VIP was completely silent. Looking up and down the corridor, she saw that her flight from his chambers would also go unwitnessed.
'Bless the Chamberlain who placed the Royal Engineer's chambers in the out-of-the-way south annex of the out-of-the-way west wing.'
After this brief pause of silent thanks, she set off at a trot that she blearily endeavored to make appear nonchalant, making for the staircase to the servants' second floor. Up there, the risk of running into somepony was greater, since there were ponies quartered everywhere - but what would they see? A fellow serving-pony returning from wherever they'd spent the night, which could have been anywhere. The feeling of panic started to dissipate once she reached the stairs.
'It's okay; it'll be alright. You only slept on the sofa with your VIP.'
'So we cuddled a little; it wasn't anything significant. Just two drunk, tired partygoers collapsing onto the nearest horizontal surface after an evening of singing and dancing.'
'Singing...'
Somehow, he'd known the lyrics to one of her favorite old melancholy pop hits. Was it similar to a song where he'd come from? Or had he heard it in one of the nightclubs they'd visited earlier in the week? Maybe he had even gotten most of the words wrong; she might've been too drunk to notice. Either way, she remembered being thrilled that he had the self-confidence to sing along, and that made her want to sing with him. Which she did.
'I don't know why you don't care.'
She remembered dancing closely.
'You take all my love, but you're not there.'
Very closely.
'What is wrong and what is right?'
Her hoofsteps up slowed to a crawl and she closed her eyes.
'Give me a sign.'
She'd given him a sign, alright. Never mind floofing out tuft, or popping wings, or leaking mana from a horn. All the booze from last night hadn't suppressed the memory of Honour grinding her tail and plot right up against the Royal Engineer for most of that song -- and much of the next. And he hadn't resisted or pulled away; rather, he'd gotten into it, leaning down and back, swaying left and right opposite her motions, elevating her drunken attempt at a flirtatious groping into a provocative, sensual dance.
She stopped in place.
Whatever else had conspired to leave her sleeping in his arms on his sofa, Honour remembered one thing clearly:
She had wanted it.
That realization brought Honour to a dead stop at the top of the stairs. Sitting down on her haunches, she reached a hoof up to her brow. Her mouth opened limply, releasing her shawl onto the floor. It took her a while to catch her breath.
'Celestia.'
'You really messed things up this time, Honour.'
Never mind panicking over the potential embarrassment from being found sleeping with her VIP; now, a deeper fear set in from her betrayal of her relationship with Castlerook. What would he have said if he'd seen what she'd done? What would he say if word got to him?
And what would he do?
All after she'd just reconciled and made grand plans for the future.
Honour shut her eyes, and a couple of lonely tears dribbled out. It wasn't just him she'd gone and hurt, either. So much for Sparkshower's ambitions to pursue a new relationship. And so much for that advice to take things slow. The pegasus had cooled things down after the hot ending to her Lipizzaner Waltz with the Royal Engineer, and largely avoided smothering him with attention or affection at the dining table. Presumably, she'd gone and had a proper and congenial evening with that high-society colt she'd just met. And what had Honour, the gutter-trash underachiever from Fillydelphia, gone and done? Only smashed her plot up against his gear in the crudest way possible without somehow being obscene.
'So, good job, Honour: a double disaster in one evening.'
Triple, if Anonymous hadn't blacked out like after Tuesday night's club crawl.
Truly a buck-up worthy of the Grand Galloping Gala.
'Damn it all to Tartarus...'
He'd even spoken about getting her bumped up to sergeant just before they hit the dance floor! What if he thinks she was engaged in plot-for-promotion trading, and reports it? Or what if he really does submit the recommendation, and somepony else recalls what she'd gotten up to at the Gala? That could land her in some real hot water.
The catastrophic possibilities of being discharged from the Royal Guard and being disowned by her coltfriend danced for a while in her pounding skull before they were interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Honour? Are you okay?"
'Oh, buck, no; not her.'
The big, cream-coloured pegasus with the yellow mane that stood before her looked weary, with some puffiness around her eyes, and her ears flopped sleepily back along her poll. Clearly, Honour was not the only one who'd stayed up late, as was certainly to be expected.
"Sparkshower, what are you doing up at this hour? We're not on duty today."
Sparkshower shrugged. "I know. But I guess my internal clock won't let me sleep in any more right now. I was tossing and turning in bed for a while so I thought I'd just get a little breakfast in me and then see if I could rest more after that." She tilted her head and bent it down a little to scrutinize Honour's guilty face. "...What about you? You've got a diamond pattern pressed into your coat. Did you wind up sleeping on a chair downstairs, or something like that?"
'Buck! The sofa fabric!'
Mercifully, that pattern was, from what Honour remembered, pretty common throughout the palace. She touched a hoof to her cheek and tried to brush away the evidence of her misdeeds. "Yeah... Yeah, something like that."
"It can't have been very comfortable. I guess that's why you woke up now, too."
Honour sighed. "I'm up because the sun was in my eyes." Bending over, she picked up the dropped shawl with her mouth and threw it over her back, before squinting down the hallway in the direction of her room. She tried to lick her lips, only to find it was like rubbing sandpaper over bare rock. "Is our water jug full? My mouth's dryer than Tartarus."
Sparkshower slowly shook her head, and that's when Honour noticed she had a small saddle-strap with their shared copper jug on it. "It's empty. I was just going to the kitchen to fill it up."
Honour sighed. As hard as it would be to fall asleep with her head in this state, it'd be even harder when she was also so cotton-mouthed. "I'll come with you, then."
Sparkshower cocked her head slightly. "Are you sure? You look pretty exhausted. I'll be back quickly."
Honour slowly started towards the nearest servants' kitchen in their wing of the castle, and the pegasus followed behind. "No. Now that I've said it, I'm too thirsty to wait."
"Maybe you ought to eat a little something, too. You don't look very good."
Food was absolutely the last thing Honour wanted inside of her. In fact, the reverse might've almost been preferable, but thankfully she didn't get hammered enough last night to suffer that fate, apparently.
'Just keep things moving, make small talk as needed, get your water, get your rest, and pray that the truth won't get out.'
'To anypony.'
As Honour proceeded down the hallway, she realized that the worst part of all this wasn't just the maximum potential penalties that she could suffer, in terms of career and conjugality: it was the fact that she just had no way of knowing what would actually happen. And one big reason for that is that she had no idea what Anonymous was going to do, assuming he even remembered. Beyond questions about how much he could recall -- which probably wasn't more than Honour did, but might be as much as that, and that would be bad enough -- there was the simple truth that every time she had tried to predict what he was going to do, she'd been proven wrong.
She thought he might have been about to make a move on Sparkshower at the theater -- well, only suspected the possibility, really; Glamerspear was the one who completely misread it -- but no, it was just an evening's entertainment. She'd assumed he would retreat from the pas-de-sabots, or give up Artemis and the other tokens as hostages to pass, but then he actually put it to Honour's choice. She never thought he'd come up, sheepishly, when Sparkshower and Glam had blown up on each other over the Gala, and then offered tickets to all of them -- even to Sparks' now-estranged coltfriend. With Luna's visit, at least, she simply had no idea what to expect at all: from him, from Her, from Her Presence.
But when she'd blown up at him over his rearranging his room without any of them present? With workers and servants moving around his furniture and taking his directions all day long, without even one of his bodyguards present, against protocol? He'd said the one thing she couldn't tolerate, and Honour had gone from giving a stern talk to completely flipping out. Yet after that explosive outburst, he'd gone out with Sparkshower and bought Honour an apologetic bouquet.
That was when she realized: she had no idea what was going on in his head.
He was a Very Important Pony, and he wasn't a Pony, and he was Very Important, and he wasn't anything like any other VIP she'd ever worked for, or even heard of. Honour's train of thought barely slowed as she entered the kitchen, this morning little more than a jerkwater outpost to scoop up water before steaming off to her bedroom terminus. At least she could read Anon's emotions well enough, for the most part; when he was riled up, he certainly wore them right on his sleeve, plain to see. And now that she'd worked with him a few weeks, she felt that she understood his often detached, logical way of looking at things, even if she couldn't completely simulate it.
But somehow, taking in those inputs did not let her predict his actual output. Often enough, she couldn't even understand what made him get emotional, either. How come he was so happy and bubbly last night, but restrained and subdued for Tuesday's club crawl? Well, until he got completely hammered, at least. But what VIP would have accepted Eb's offer to venture into the batpony Rookery, just for a place to train? Honour had gone along with it, and to be fair, Her Majesty Princess Luna had asked for something like this, but his easygoing attitude had still surprised the corporal. For someone so meticulous and whose work involved such accuracy, how could he throw himself into the unknown like that?
It boggled her mind a bit. He'd even shrugged off the revelation that his batpony bodyguard was actually an assassin!
And what really confused her sometimes was the way he'd let her walk all over him. The bouquet was bad enough, but letting her sit in on his massage at Spa Dalecarlia? Not demanding she avert her eyes when he was naked in the Well of Souls? Overall, just allowing her to impose Equestrian social customs to the absolute hilt?
And yet not, sometimes.
He wouldn't let her take the fall for him with Major-General Hoofstrong over the live-fire Whirlwind exercise, and he refused to be held aside as a non-combatant during Marcos' ambush. Even though both of those actions were very clearly part of Honour's job description as a bodyguard. And then there was the even bigger bunyip in the room...
What did Anonymous actually want?
Even if they'd touched her deeply, his compliments and that hoof-kiss after that pole-dance last night could've been dismissed as just the innocent reassurance of a friend -- a close friend. But after waking up in his arms? Maybe not. Had he simply fallen victim to her blatant seduction? Or was he genuinely interested?
She thought back to his lonely, sad-drunk outburst on Tuesday night, when he mumbled about not wanting to be alone any more. And when he whispered about how she ought to let her hair down... And when he ran his fingers through her mane, massaging her crest...
"Uh, Corporal? Are you done?"
Sparkshower's voice shook Honour back to her senses and she realized she was still standing right in front of the sink, with the water-jug and a single kitchen cup, both full before her.
Her mouth, however, was still bone-dry.
Shaking her head quickly to jolt herself awake, Honour snatched up the cup and guzzled the water, before wiping her mouth and looking over to her pegasus comrade as she holstered the jug on her saddle. "What about your breakfast?"
Artemis lifted an eyebrow. "I already had it: a couple of slices of toast with butter and jam. You've just been standing here the whole time while I ate. Are you sure you're okay?"
Honour scowled at herself. She wasn't doing herself any favors by trying to mull everything over right now.
'Focus on what's important: making sure nopony finds out. Especially not Sparkshower.'
"I'm just tired. Come on, let's head back. We could both do with more rest."
The pegasus nodded. "Right."
Honour really did need to be careful; even as bleary as she was, Artemis had still managed to pick out the pattern imprinted onto her coat from the Royal Engineer's sofa. And Honour had foolishly admitted being woken up by sunrise. That was a dangerous amount of information to have fed to a recon-expert pony already, even though plenty of palace windows faced east. It was imperative that Honour avoid divulging anything else that could incriminate her.
'Buck, who actually had spotted me and Anonymous together last night?'
She knew they were the last ones to leave, so nopony she knew should have spotted her as she actually went into the Royal Engineer's chambers. Glamerspear had abandoned dancing with their VIP out of exhaustion, but Honour couldn't imagine the unicorn had outright left the Gala then and there. Had she seen Honour's pole dance?
Her grind?
What about Ebonshield? Had the batpony been too wrapped up with her latest acquisition to notice Honour's first and very public display? And where had Artemis been the whole time? Did she go so far into giving Anon some time-out that she didn't even glance over at him when dancing with her colt? The pegasus hadn't mentioned anything, yet.
Honour's heart started to race again, as it had but minutes ago when she'd realized where she'd spent the night. With luck, Sparkshower would go back to sleep longer than Honour, and she could check the other potential witnesses first. Not to mention, talk to her VIP.
'OK. You can run damage control on this; it won't be too hard.'
Upon reaching her room, Honour almost breathed a sigh of relief as she opened the door.
Only to have that relief obliterated by panic when she heard the toilet flush. Somepony was in the washroom, and in two seconds, they were going to see Honour walk in with Sparkshower. Would it be Glam, or Eb? And would they be in a chatty mood or just in a hurry to get back to bed?
Sparkshower stepped past Honour to deposit the filled water-jug on the sideboard. As she did so, the door opened to reveal a very tired-looking Glamerspear. "Is that water? Thank Celestia, I'm parched. You're a lifesaver, Sparks."
"You're welcome, Lily. I guess we're all a bit dry after the late night, right, Honour?"
'Ah, buck.'
Midway through a guzzled cup, Glam lazily glanced over at the corporal. "Damn, didn't even notice you there." As she telekinetically lowered the vessel back down, she cracked an exhausted grin.
Honour's eyes slid to Glamerspear, widening in alarm.
'No, no, don't you dare...'
"Heh. Lot less conspicuous when you aren't up on a pole."
'Damn you to Tartarus, Specialist Lily Glamerspear!'
Sparkshower cocked an eyebrow and turned to look at Honour. "Up on a pole?"
Honour screwed her eyes shut.
'Buck!'
The pink unicorn snorted. "Oh, you didn't see? Turns out our corporal is one heck of an acrobat, and a bit of a closet exhibitionist too, I'd say. Where'd you learn to pole-dance like that, huh?"
'Shut it down; shut it down, now!'
"A class I took during my post-divorce crisis. And you won't see it again unless I get very, very drunk. So you may as well forget it happened."
At that, Glamerspear whinnied hoarsely. "Forget it?! A performance like that? Even if I could, there's a hundred others who'll remember. Especially our VIP, given his front-row seat, complete with participation award. How late did you two stay up dancing, anyways? They must've had to kick you out."
Sparkshower's head swiveled to Glamerspear, a confused look on her face, at that last statement.
'This is getting out of hoof.'
Steeling her expression, Honour turned towards the unicorn. "I'm exhausted; I don't want to discuss anything right now. Let's just get back to bed, and we can blabber all about the Gala in the afternoon, okay?"
Glam's smirk faded, and she nodded slowly. "Yeah, sure." She started towards her door, and Honour towards her own.
Sparkshower, however, remained still.
'Just go to bed, just go to bed, just go to bed, just go to bed.'
The corporal stepped past her, and a few steps later, she reached her forehoof out for the door handle.
"Honour..."
'No-no-no-no-no!'
"...last night, when you fell asleep downstairs..."
'Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait!'
"...was it on the Royal Engineer's blue sofa with white diamond pleats? The one in his sitting area that faces east out the big window behind his desk?"
Honour's eyes cringed shut.
'I've been made.'
With a sigh, she lowered her hoof, but she stayed facing the door. There was nothing left but to come clean; at least she could truthfully say that nothing happened. "Yes. But we just cuddled, okay? He didn't even take his suit off."
There was no reply.
After a moment, Honour lifted her head from the door and looked back.
Glamerspear's jaw was hung open in shock.
Sparkshower's eyes were as wide as dinner plates.
It was the unicorn that broke the silence with a hoarse, hissing, whisper-shout. "'JUST CUDDLED'? YOU MEAN YOU SLEPT WITH ANON?!"
'Oh, bucking damn absolutely everything and everyone to Tartarus! Sparkshower had only figured out where you'd slept, not with whom!'
The pegasus in question started to pant. "You... I just... I just thought you fell asleep on his sofa after helping him get home, like on Tuesday."
'Congratulations, Honoria, you just played yourself!'
Choking on her own spittle, the earth pony held a forehoof up in supplication. "That's what--That's what it was supposed to be, and-- and-- and somehow it just turned into passing out on the couch together, okay? But nothing happened, Spar--"
Interrupting her, The pegasus just threw up her wings and stomped off towards her room. "No, no, you're right; I don't want to discuss anything right now, either! I don't want to discuss anything at all!" With a loud bang, she kick-slammed the door shut behind her. There was a clattering from inside as she rattled on. "I don't want to discuss you spooning with Anonymous on his sofa! I don't want to discuss how you pole-danced with him when I couldn't! I don't want to discuss how I ought to 'play it slow'!"
Honour faltered over towards the door, absolutely dejected with herself. "Artemis, please!"
"I SAID I DON'T WANT TO DISCUSS!"
There was one final rustle from inside, and then Honour heard Sparkshower's window slide open.
'Well, this isn't the first pegasus defenestrative rage-quit I've witnessed.'
But a moment after she heard the pegasus' wings open, there was the unmistakable and deafening CLICK-FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSHHHHH of the Bradamante Lance rocketing off into the distance.
'Damn it all to Tartarus.'
Honour collapsed onto her haunches in front of Sparkshower's room door, curling up into the crumpled mess that she was.
Glamerspear was still just staring at her in shock.
Moments passed in silence, and then there was another click and creak. Ebonshield's door opened and the violet batpony poked her head out. After surveying the apparent damage, she stepped into the common room and gently shut the door behind her with a wing-arm. She probably hadn't slept alone in there.
Honour looked up, dejected, a scattering of tears streaming down her muzzle, as the sergeant sidled up next to Glamerspear, shooting her an inquisitive glance. With a sigh, Glamerspear spilled the beans. "Honour slept on Anon's sofa last night. With him. But she says that nothing happened."
Honour tried to chime in, but her voice came out as a croak. "Nothing happened."
Glam didn't seem to believe her. "Well, either way, Sparks didn't take that too well."
Eb considered things for a moment, then sighed as she looked down at Honour's miserable form. "Well. Ordinarily for such a situation, I might have some joke or tease to make, given my own introductory proposition to our VIP, but I see that things are well beyond such a point." Approaching the corporal, she held out a forehoof to help her get back up. "What has happened last night?"
The earth pony took it and hauled herself onto her hooves, though unsteadily; Eb led her to one of the chairs at the breakfast-table and, once Honour was seated, grabbed another for herself, scooching in close. Glam just watched from the sideboard, pouring herself another cup of water.
"Eb, I don't really want to talk about it. I just want to get some sleep."
The master of assassins patted Honour's forehoof. "The short version, then. In case Artemisa returns while you slumber, that I might help settle things."
Honour really didn't want the batpony to have to take care of her affairs.
''Affairs', now there's a word.'
Sighing, the corporal gave in. "A song I used for my pole-dance recital came on, so I performed it. I made mistakes and almost fell off, but Anonymous helped me avoid complete failure. And he'd danced in support. After a short rest, we kept going the rest of the night. We got... pretty close. Didn't leave until the DJ packed up. By the time I helped him back to his room, we were both exhausted enough to just collapse on his sofa. I woke up with the sun in my eyes and the Royal Engineer's arm around my barrel, and left as discreetly as I could. He was still asleep when I left."
The batpony's dark nostrils flared as she inhaled deeply. "I see..."
She considered Honour's words for a few moments.
"... And how did you feel when you were dancing with him? When you fell asleep together?"
Honour shook her head again, furrowing her brow. "I don't know. I can't remember, exactly. I had something like half a liter of rum in me, you know."
"Mmmm, yes, of course, but come now, Caporal..." Eb lowered her head down to look up into Honour's eyes. "...If you remember the events so clearly as this, surely you remember also how you felt about them?"
'That's...'
'Damn it.'
Honour knew she was right. All morning, the earth pony had been thinking about how she felt. It was a tangled mess of emotions and questions.
'How to sum it all up succinctly?'
She cast her memory back to find a reference point, and when she finally found one that fit all too well, she shut her eyes and cringed all over again. It shouldn't have been that, but it was.
With a sniffle, Honour muttered out the truth. "I felt like how I did when my ex-husband and I first met." Opening her eyes again, she saw Purity's sympathetic, yet concerned, face.
Over at the sideboard, Glamerspear nickered and then clacked her tongue. "Hnn-hnn-hnn. Tsk. Well..." She cocked her head sideways and rolled her eyes up towards the ceiling. "...At least this time you don't gotta worry about him wanting to marry you for your money."
Suggested interlude music: Haddaway - 'What is Love' [1993] |
Celestia's New Student | pre | Without much more to say, she nodded as well, and they parted ways. Twilight fondly visited the library to wait, and as for Luna, she had her own duties to carry out, like lifting the moon. Meanwhile, Trixie and Celestia sat together amongst the stars. The silence of the night retained itself until the door closed behind them, and that's when Celestia spoke.
"Look all around you." Her hoof swung slowly to show Trixie exactly where she was to be looking. To Celestia, that was the whole, wide castle stretching out before the two. "All this land shall be free roam to you. What I intend on doing is simple. You don't wish to be taught like Twilight, I get that; sanctioned to the palace alone, that is..."
Trixie remarked, "Yes, this was the first of Trixie's worries."
"Rest assured," Celestia proceeded to comfort, "I want nothing but your happiness while under my wing. So, as you already know, I've learned a thing or two about yourself to help smooth things along. So far, I can tell that you don't just enjoy, but adore to perform in front of countless audience members. I believe that these methods I've arranged for will help in not only your enjoyment, but your teachings, too."
"Arrangements, Princess Celestia?"
"Yes." Her horn shined a rather blinding, golden saturation, and just like that, a map spread itself out in the form of a triangle. It ultimately turned out to be translucent, but showed the city's fundamental features such as the starting three gates, the entrance to the palace located to the farthest back, and five, spiraling dots. One shined to the left, another to the right. Another was a ways away from the northern gates at the top, where she parked her caravan on her first day in Canterlot. Lastly, the other two were on the wayward path down the middle, and then in the clearing. If Trixie looked directly down below from the rails, she'd see precisely where that final point was.
"This is Canterlot, but I'm sure you can deduce that without many complications. What I want you to heed the most, are these small land marks I've circled just for you. They're your stages, and much like your caravan, they shall contain everything and anything you'd need to put on a spectacular show. I'd be teaching you past tricks that use little magic, a challenge for both you and I, and you'd execute them on stage, live. Of course, performing in front of tens of hundreds of ponies all accross this domain of mine would be too easy. That would merely act as your practices. For a couple presentation here and there, I'll be watching. That's when you'll be tested."
With the map disappearing, Celestia surveyed Trixie's reception. "Well then! That's more like it! You mean... Trixie would only be allowed inside the castle, and not outside of its walls?"
Celestia shook her head. "No, no, my little pony. You're allowed to go where you want! Just don't go too far away from here, and you'll be just fine. There will be times when you'll travel elsewhere, too. Keep in mind, also..." She bit her bottom lip at this, but resumed, "You may quit this exercise at anytime. As I said before, you wouldn't be a prisoner, nor a commoner, and if after awhile you feel the pressure is too great to muster, you'd still be granted access to the inner palace. Just as long as you don't break any serious rules, you'll always be welcomed of course."
The expression Trixie now had could best be described as somewhat questionable. Even Celestia had some difficulty reading her body language. She just kept looking out at the horizon, where the moon rose slowly over the mountains, and back at the buildings below. Finally, she looked at Celestia, and sighed. She didn't say a word, though. Instead, Trixie simply began backtracking towards the room.
Celestia's eyes watched closely, concern washing over her. The farther and farther Trixie got, the more Her Highness wanted to lock up the way in, but she stood her ground, if only raising her hoof in Trixie's direction. In the glass's reflection, Trixie could plainly see Celestia's disheartened condition, but that didn't stop her from placing her hoof on the handle. At that point, Celestia's head bowed in sheer dismay.
"Trixie will need her belongings."
Hearing this, the alicorn blinked, looked up, and shook a little. "Oh... yes, absolutely. I'll send my guards for them." She couldn't quite catch her breath, what with her new student's robust antics catching her off guard. "I, umm... suppose I'll show you to your room?"
Trixie looked back to tease, "Trixie got you. Don't try and hide it!"
Their chortles became laughter, and in due time, Trixie was shown to her new room. Despite it only being a very short walk away, she didn't have much energy left to look around. The darkness didn't help either, but still, she was able to find her way to the bed. This time around, Trixie would sleep a lot more peacefully, and without much worry appointed to being a student of the princess herself. Unlike last night, these dreams were the same as ever, if not a bit more sensational.
Celestia closed the door for the mare, and left quickly thereafter only to come across Twilight in the library. She sat amongst the beginning shelves, perusing the elder knowledge like it were fiction. "Now that Trixie has accepted, I have a bit of explaining to do."
Twilight didn't look away from the many titles, but still spoke up so that Celestia would hear her. "I'm not being replaced, am I?"
There was another stern silence, much like the type Celestia and Trixie had just sat through a few minutes ago while out on the balcony. Just like last time, it was broken by the library doors shutting, but much more loudly. "I won't say so, but it's how you angle things. What of Sunset Shimmer? How is she doing?"
Twilight steered her line of sight towards Celestia, her tone shallow. "Don't change the subject." Celestia's eyes widened. "What does she have to do with all of this?"
"Twilight..."
She breathed, glancing down, but returned to Celestia promptly. "I'm sorry... You have to remember, I was your student for a long time. It was so hard to keep these emotions bottled up while right in front of Trixie. I wanted the best for her, but at the same time, I have to know... Have I been replaced?"
Celestia came closer, and held Twilight close to say, "No, you haven't. I'd never replace you, but as for Sunset Shimmer... my much more erstwhile student..."
Twilight nodded, her cheeks rubbing against Celestia's hoof. "Oh, so it's her that's being replaced. Not me? I guess that makes sense, now that I think about it..."
The embrace Celestia gave Twilight deepened. "That's why I ask how she's been doing as of late. It's crucial to both me, and Trixie's distant future training."
Being released, but still holding onto one of the princess's hooves, Twilight began, "She's making a speedy recovery. In fact, if it wasn't for her, the sirens would've been unstoppable. While there, I watched her derail an actual argument my Canterlot High friends were having. To be honest with you, I didn't sense a single ounce of distaste for her, unlike last time around. It's my honest opinion, Your Highness, that Sunset Shimmer has done a complete one-eighty." She averted her eyes. "Well, almost."
"Almost?" Celestia investigated.
"Well, I can't be one hundred percent sure just yet, because... Well, look at what happened between Discord and Tirek! We don't know how Sunset Shimmer would take action if offered such an opportunity. What if a dark influence was to come along and tempt her? How would things play out? Once again, to be completely honest with you, I fear she might not be able to resist for long."
Celestia stayed quiet, but Twilight guessed she was thinking. Then, Princess Celestia gave her acknowledgement. "I'll have to sleep on this, but I believe I already know of the perfect test for not only Trixie, but Sunset Shimmer as well. It'll be Sunset's final test from me, though. You've assisted me quite enough for today, Twilight. How about those ingredients?"
Naturally, Celestia followed through with helping Twilight out in return by magically conjuring up anything she needed, and doubled the package as well. Twilight was welcomed to stay in the palace for the night, but she'd be gone by early morning the very next day. As for Trixie, she slept contently for hours, and hours. It wouldn't be until well into the near afternoon when she'd inescapably be awoken by a somewhat familiar face. Her training would begin tomorrow. |
Celestia's New Student | Six: Regally Tasked | A long ways away, the sounds of lively crickets could be detected quite easily. Further off, a waterfall. The walk did him good, even though the darkness of the night was damp with shadows around every bush. Despite Druid Shield's foreboding appearance, he still had a fear of the nightly hours. It wasn't the darkness that provoked him so, but rather who and what might lurk behind it.
A drop of sweat lingered on his right temple, but still the stallion walked on. To be honest with himself, being all alone at this hour was a blessing so long as nopony emerged from the corners or shrubs. Compared to handling the passings and goings, enterings and needs of the many civilians found both inside and outside of the city's walls, the silence was nothing short of golden to him. Less ponies tended to be on the outside, but when someone came to him while he's on the job, it always seems to take him longer than if they were going. Plus, they always complained when they didn't get their way.
The northern gate had always been Druid Shield's personal responsibility ever since the former regulator was promoted, but now, things had changed. He, too, has received a promotion. Time changes all things, including the post of guards. A stallion can work in the same department for years, and in the blink of an eye, he's switched to another, and back again in a day or two. This was most troubling. It required the most paperwork and reporting, but this time around, things were special.
Kicking a nearby rock, and seeing the familiar, pink and purple lights in the distance just beyond some tree stumps, Druid breathed. He was lost in deep thought. The task was simple enough. Retrieve Trixie's belongings, and return by morning. There had been just one problem with these orders coming from the princess herself, though.
"Once you're back at the palace safe and sound, go wake Trixie for me. Your promotion entails humble servitude to her, and a devotion to her well being. Guard her at all possible hours, and do try to enjoy the requests... or the orders she gives you."
He huffed at those last words. "I'm to be mastered by her. All I really wanted was to see her perform, and that's it. Now I'll be seeing her everyday. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about this..."
Finally reaching the camping area, Druid raised his head more, his eyes fixed on Twilight's well placed shield of magic. As he continued to trot in a roundabout manner, his horn glistened lightly with a darker than normal aura. The beam was fired right at Twilight's enchantment, but stopped just before touching the surface. In an instant, the ray of black arts dispersed and divided into five other curving points. Each one bombarded the barricade aggressively for well over ten minutes or so.
Once the conjuration finally withered and the caravan had been unbarred, Druid's magic returned to his horn. "Alicorn properties... Took most of my strength. Watch me be unable to even lift the cursed thing now."
Just before getting started with the latches, he heard something coming from within. It sounded squeamish at first, like that of a baby's cry for help from its mother, or perhaps something similar. Not saying a word, he investigated the opposite end with his horn once again dazzling with an unneeded intensity. Upon reaching the door, though, he came to his senses and ended the defensive pose, but that didn't mean that he wasn't cautious all in the same.
With a shaky hoof, he cracked open the door, and shortly there after intruded within Trixie's domain. This single act was already breaking a few unwritten rules, seeing as how it was basically the show mare's personal living space regardless of how small it was. That crossed his mind by then, but it was too late. He was already beyond the entrance.
Beady black eyes shining in the dark stared up at him. Druid jolted, but calmed down after hearing the thing yipe at him. With the moonlight shining in, the pup leaped forward, into the light, and into the guard's arms. His mouth hung agape at the cute, energetic yorkie, but soon, he smiled down at what he'd found.
"So, you're Trixie's pet then?"
"Arf!"
"Haha! I thought so! Say... you wouldn't mind assisting me in waking up your master, would you?" Again, Dingo replied with the same, cutely pitched bark. He seemed to be in agreement. "Excellent! Then what's holding us back? Let's get out of this neck of the woods." Sitting him down on the bed, Druid reminded the young dog, "It's a bumpy, long road to Canterlot from here. Be a good boy for me, and stay."
Dingo became as still as a photograph after hearing that specific, last word. Were it not for his nostrils breathing in the air around him, and exhaling repetitively, Druid would've thought he had become a lifeless doll.
"Good boy..."
While walking out, closing the door and refocusing his attention on the front end again, he suited the restraints up and over his waist. For what it was worth, Dingo didn't make a sound for the rest of the way there. So quiet was the world, that Druid actually forgot there was another living being technically traveling with him. Not to mention, judging by the dog's apparent, sophisticated behavior, the guard was able to deduce by the halfway mark that this being was definitely smarter than normal yorkies.
"Wouldn't be surprised if he could do a backflip..."
All the rest of the way back, things kept smooth and sound. Nopony dared bother Druid even if they had the chance, and even if they did, it wouldn't be a very wise choice overall. If anything, Druid had enough mana built up by then to whisk him and his cargo the rest of the way there, but decided to walk if only to prolong his inevitable fate. How embarrassing it will be, to awaken Trixie only to inform her of his new task in life, and if it came to it, then death as well. "Surely she will find this amusing more so than I do."
As the light from the window caught Trixie's eyes, she returned them to their previously closed state. She then turned towards the darkness again, and fell back to sleep. Inside her own mind, she resumed the most recent and promising prospect of her imagination: the stage and the crowd.
"Tis' an exhilarating trifle, Trixie assures you all! Changing the very fabric of keen sight is tricky, even nigh impossible one might say! But behold!"
Her horn typically flared, and whatever trick she performed miraculously dazzled even the most stubborn of ponies amongst the banter. They cheered, threw roses at her hooves, and then slowly disappeared. All that in just minute's time. All that remained was Trixie, the stage she walked on, and a higher, railed seating structure, way up in the sky. It was the kind that traditionally gets reserved for the richer members of the audience, and someone still occupied it.
Trixie soon noticed this, and shouted out, "Trixie's finished now! You may leave at anytime, you know!" No verbal recognition came from the white masked mare, but she did however nod slightly, or at least, Trixie figured that it must've been a nod. Still, she had to make sure she was heard. "So, are you going to stay up there all evening?"
There was a very loud clanking sound, and then, the thing started leveling itself to the ground in a slow pace. Once reaching the bottom, its golden rails opened sideways to let the mare out. This admirer of Trixie seemed familiar, too, but she just couldn't place a hoof on who this was. "Marvelous performance as always."
"Oh... well, thank you," Trixie replied while this mysterious being came up on stage. "You seem awfully familiar to Trixie. What is your name, if Trixie may?"
"You know me..." With gracefulness, the mask was removed and tossed aside, revealing this visitor to be none other than Princess Luna. "Don't change the focus, though. This is good; the stage, the pure, black background behind us... Tell me, what happens next in this dream?"
Trixie acted predictably surprised by Luna's surprise entrance, but kept the ball rolling. "Err... next? That's it... Trixie packs up, and the dream ends. This is a dream, right?"
Luna giggled, "Yes, it is a dream. Honestly, though, there's nothing else in store for such an imaginative pony like yourself? You don't see yourself getting discovered, or moving on from these small town shows?"
"Well," Trixie replied, humoring the princess. "Actually, Trixie has had just one of those pop up recently, as she's sure you're aware of. It didn't play out the way Trixie would've liked."
Luna shook her head. "That's not a dream, but a misunderstanding of reality itself. Nopony would ever go out of their way to see your fame dashed with press pictures and scandalous lies. The reason for my asking is, I'd like to at least see some ambition within your amazing mind, rather than so much self doubt. Like my sister once asked myself, why remain in the comfort zone?"
At that, Trixie scoffed, "What gives you the right to spy on Trixie's dreams, or anyone else's for that matter? It's just now come to me, that this is basically an invasion of personal privacy!"
"Calm yourself," Luna warned. "I use this power righteously. Not for personal folly, but merely as a wayfinder. It's for the best, for you, and everyone else that I come across who might benefit from my possible intervention. Let's just say, there's been times where I've conceded, and bothered the dreamer no more. Bad things happen, and they almost always could've been prevented had I been there to help."
Trixie backed down, but not to where she seemed feeble. Instead of bowing her head yet again, or saying sorry, she maintained her posture, and simply voiced, "Just don't tell anyone what's on Trixie's mind, especially Celestia, and she supposes she's alright with this." While turning, she sighed. "She'll see what sort of new themes her dreams can create, but there's nothing for now, so good morning. The Great and Well-rested Trixie shall see you when the sun sets again."
Distancing herself more and more, Trixie's vision transitioned from the stage to Luna's recognizable, mental embrace, and finally, to the curious room she originally began sleeping in. Her body wheeled round and round, trying in vain to escape her oh, so relaxing sleep, but she just couldn't do it. Not without a little help.
"Go on boy, wake her up!" Trixie suddenly noticed a flop of sorts at the end of the bed, to the left a little. "Go on!"
Obedient as ever, Dingo carried out his orders without delay. The second Trixie began wondering who could possibly be in her caravan of all places, a tongue slick with canine drool lapped her muzzle, shocking her clean out of her luxurious slumber. "Agh! Stop it, you bad boy you!" She smiled, and laughed at Dingo's act of assistance, but soon stopped only to start raising herself up from the sheets that swaddled her whole body. "What... is this place?"
Bigger and much more preferable, the new room she'd been assigned to had nearly everything she could ever want. A make-up table fresh with decorative eyelash extensions, blush, mane care products and much, much more sat on the right side of the room. Next to that was her very own balcony. It resembled Celestia's greatly, and if that wasn't enough, to the opposite, she even had her own bathroom. With the door wide open, next to the entrance found at the far wall, all that was left to mention at this time was her grandest of beds.
Of course, there was one last addition to the setting that Trixie noticed, and that was Druid Shield himself. He approached the right side of her bed, and patted Dingo gently while saying, "Must've been a nightmare."
"Who... are you? No, wait! Don't tell Trixie. She can figure this out on her own."
"Err..."
She pointed immediately after, exclaiming, "Druid! That's your first name, and your last name waaas... Shield, right?"
"Yes," he confirmed boldly. Then, looking straight ahead, he announced, "I have been posted to you, fair Trixie. Princess Celestia requires that I become your servant of protection and service. If there's..." He gulps. "If there's anything at all... that you might need, all you need to do is say the word, and I shall uphold my sacred oath, and follow through."
Trixie stared at him for a moment longer, and then asked in an unsure fashion, "Come again?" |
Celestia's New Student | Seven: An Unintentional Surprise | Repeating himself again, Druid Shield explained to Trixie, "It's simple. Twilight had a posted stallion as well when she was learning under Celestia's wing here in Canterlot. Princess Luna and Celestia have one, too. Now, you get to have one. It's a security precaution to have a guard stationed in the quarters of the most important ponies, at practically all times. Does that make sense?"
Trixie nodded. "Okay..."
"I'll basically be, as they say, your shield and sword, as well your... personal servant." He took a deep breath, and resumed, "Anything you need that's within reason, I'll do for you. This is the task I've currently been assigned to do."
"But," Trixie protested. "But what about the gates? Who's going to allow civilians entrance, and all that important stuff?"
"Yes, my old post is being taken over as we speak. Last night was my final standing, and then Celestia sent me to get your caravan. It's down in the chariot houses, below ground level. I believe Celestia plans to use it as one of your performance and testing stages, too. Probably the one right outside the palace itself."
Trixie's hoof rose to pet her puppy that sat comfortably in her lap, but then sat him down on the sheets while standing. "Alright... Give Trixie a good list of what you'll do. Details and all!"
He huffed while his cat-like pupils looking directly up at the ceiling, not wanting to say the next line. "I suggest you feel me out. Tell me what you want, and see what I won't do, that is."
"Ah, Trixie was about to say... Umm, well..." She looked at her bed, and then got an idea for her first command. "Well, you disturbed Trixie's sleep, and now look at her! She's in the nude!" her hoof placed itself on her torso while a sarcastic roll of the eyes occurred. "Seems only fitting you remove your armor to compensate for this outrageous violation of privacy!"
He gasped at this, backing away, vertical slits for his eyes widening. "Wh-what? Trixie, absolutely not! This gear protects me from all sorts of attacks and harmful... err, stuff and things! A-and, besides, I didn't mean to embarrass you. Honestly, I'd never think of such a thing!"
"Take off the armor," Trixie chimed. "Helmet and hoof shoes, and all!"
He breathed as if trying to find the right combination of words, but after hesitating, he sighed in defeat. One pauldron came off with a bit of difficulty, and then another, followed by the untying of loose string. With the shoes that once reached all the way to his knees being slipped off reluctantly, the stallion now stood before the giggling mare unarmored and thoroughly embarrassed.
"There... C-can I put all this back on now?"
Trixie didn't answer, but instead, began rounding him much like Luna had done at the entrance downstairs. "If you're going to be Trixie's loyal guard, Trixie shall need to see you in full. For the rest of the day, by the way, she wants you to stay like this as punishment for such insubordination. You may stay in this room if you so desire, but when I come back from my teachings with the princess, Trixie expects you to still be unclothed for her."
"Hrmmm..." He blushed that much more while the eyes of this mare focused in on his entire frame.
He watched as she observed his cutie mark specifically, something not everypony gets to see of him. A half moon, curving along the edges of his flank followed by a star in front. The rays touched the white tips, telling her that the star for some reason wasn't behind Luna's crescent orb. "Explain this... I thought you were Celestia's guard."
"No..." His head began to bow at the inevitable.
"Then, you belong to Luna?"
Druid turned his head, his fluffy ears lowering. "Technically yes, but the orders came from Celestia. Luna made the recommendations, and then told me to see her sister. Afterwards, I was sent to retrieve your belongings, and to serve you as well."
Trixie returned to him, looking deeper into his eyes. She couldn't believe she hadn't seen this before, but they resembled that of a wild snake. She gasped at this, backing up. "S-show Trixie your teeth this instant!"
He became that much more agitated, but obliged. The first thing Trixie saw was so stunning, it struck fear into her very heart. Fangs as white as dense snow and sharper than beast claws protruded beyond the normal sets most ponies had, but they were hastily put away while his muzzle scrunched up. "You're... scared of me. I just knew you would be, which is why I wished not to remove my armor. Sure enough, one thing lead to another, and thus, here we are."
"You're... a batpony?!"
Trixie's mouth hung ajar while she came closer, taking in more of his features. "Yes, I'm... a terror of the night, and surely, you wish to now have me replaced for another, more normal pony. So long as I hide these fangs, and the ears, nopony could tell, but now you know..." He motioned for his armor, and voiced, "I'll let Celestia know to have me replaced at once, I suppose."
"That's so cool!"
He looked up, a puzzled look crossing his face. "What?"
"You! Your fangs, the ears... Trixie's only heard of your kind in fairy tales! Never has she ever thought it'd be real! How do you eat? No! What do you eat? You don't gobble ponies, like the stories say, do you?"
"Wait..." He adjusted himself more appropriately, his eyes blinking. "First, I suppose... I mainly eat fruit, but Trixie... You're... not scared of me?"
"Oh, petrified!" Trixie admitted. "Although, also bedazzled! Taken aback, even! Surprised, even... a feat you should be proud of. Only one other pony has ever fooled Trixie so! That's Twilight Sparkle, but this. Mmmh, such a stunning turn of events, and here Trixie was thinking you were nothing more but just a regular unicorn, like herself. Although, where's your wings? Don't you have wings? Big, gnarly bat wings?!"
He glanced at his back, and then back at her. "Well, not all batponies are born with wings. Never has there been a winged unicorn batpony. We come in three varieties much like normal ponies do, which are earth bats; the most common are pegasus, and then unicorns like myself. So on and so forth, but we keep to ourselves due to the fear we unintentionally strike into normal ponies. Luna was so kind, too, to give us something meaningful to do."
"Yes, yes," Trixie hoofed. "I can assume the rest of the story, but this is simply astounding! Look at you! A real, live batpony! Then, the rumors of Nightmare Moon... That is, Princess Luna... her arriving to Ponyville via carriage, and the fliers being batponies themselves... They're true?"
Druid Shield nodded, smirking at last, flattered by her reaction. "Yes, they were."
"How. Cool. Is. That. I ask you!"
He chuckled, "Pretty cool, I guess... Oh! Celestia! S-she'll be wondering where you are! The training?"
Trixie even jumped at this. "Oh, you're right! Err, Trixie was only joking, then. As a reward for simply and utterly amazing Trixie this morning, you may make yourself decent by refitting yourself, but never again are you authorized to wake me in the flesh. Simply knock on the door, and she'll be awaken guaranteed! I've never been one to sleep through somepony doing just that. Or, if you must, get Dingo to get me up. Just... never do it where you might be able to see the great and powerful Trixie naked. Understood?"
He raised an unentertained eyebrow at this. "We're... always naked, Trixie."
"Wrong," Trixie began correcting him. "Trixie is never, ever presentable until Trixie has her cape and hat. One or the other, a-and her mane done, too. Make-up as well. Why, right now, even. Trixie feels somewhat humiliated by you seeing her like this! Bedhead is so unattractive! Get out!"
He was starting to instinctively follow her instructions, but just before exiting the room entirely, Druid asked, "Why does it matter? I'll be seeing you everyday from now on. Meaning every once in awhile, I'll end up seeing you worked by Celestia, or tired, or in some form of exhaustion. Makes little sense to-"
Trixie cut him off then and there. "Not if Trixie can help it! Now, out please! Trixie has much to do, and you're slowing her down!"
Without her even listening to what he had to say, how was Druid to make her understand? So, with very little choice, he left her in privacy to do all those feminine things she would insist on doing every morning from here on out. While waiting for her to finish up, and re-equipping the armor he was wearing earlier, the batpony wondered, "It's going to be like this every day, isn't it? Her being so, unbelievably stubborn and demanding?"
The wait seemed like an hour; maybe longer considering how he'd began to fall asleep, but nevertheless, he'd show his new master to her destination without so much as a fuss. Even though the whole way there Trixie would complain about how hungry she'd gotten from the long walk, he had his orders from Celestia herself. Hopefully, he wouldn't be the one to receive the backlash of Trixie's tedious first day of training. |
Celestia's New Student | Eight: First Day | Finally dozing off, Druid's head drifted that much lower, only to give off a soft snore that gradually became louder, and then it ended abruptly. Though he stood straight, shoulders firm and armor snug, his head was down and mind wandering off to dreamland... which is when the door opened, causing him to jump. "Eeek! Err, yes, Your Highness! On the job..." He soon saw it was Trixie staring at him, and a lump started forming in his throat. "Oh..."
"Thought Trixie was Princess Celestia, didn't you? And... was that a skreech?"
He looked away, blushing. "N-no! Actually, more accurately, I thought you might've been Princess Luna. Err, anyways, ready to go?"
"But, was that a bat skreech?"
He blushed even more. "Yes... Please, don't tell anypony."
Her hoof rubbed her chin while she pondered his previous words. "Hmmm... Call me 'Your Highness' again, by the way."
He gulped, knowing he'd just set himself up for even more demanding orders sure to be ridiculous and humiliating. "Yes... Your Highness."
Trixie smiled cutely, about the only redeeming quality this situation had to offer. "Trixie likes that! Very well then. From now on, you are to address Trixie as such."
He grumbled, "Yes, Your... Highness... Even though you're not a princess..."
"Great!" She walked ahead, but stopped before leaving his presence. "Trixie has no idea where she's going."
"Oh, right. Sorry about that."
As they got to walking together, Trixie asked, "Just how tired are you?"
"Very," was the only reply he wanted to give, but after a moment of silence, he resumed. "I'm sure you're aware that I was working all day yesterday. Got about two hours worth of sleep before being specially summoned by Luna. She then brought me to Celestia, and thus, here I am."
Trixie spoke up. "You haven't gotten any sleep at all, then! How are you supposed to protect Trixie, let alone serve her if you're not even fully awake? The moment Trixie sees Princess Celestia wherever she may be is the moment Trixie wants you to go straight to bed! That's an order."
He smiled at her concern for his well being as they took a right, Trixie walking to the left of him rather closely. "I appreciate it, Trixie... I mean, Your Highness. Gotta get used to that."
Trixie laughed, and then admitted, "Trixie was only joking, you know. Calling Trixie great and powerful, or just Trixie is fine. She prefers to be called great and powerful, though."
The hall they had entered wasn't that long, but much narrower than the one they'd left behind. They would only need to walk a few more steps, and already, they'd reach an opening that expanded into what must've been one of Canterlot's signature ballrooms Trixie had heard so much about. There were several of them spread around the entire complex to meet the demands of so many Grand Galloping Gala guests, but this one probably wasn't going to be put to use this year. Trixie deduced this from the lack of decorations, how hardly anypony could be seen within save for Celestia, and the only thing that could be found in here was Trixie's very own caravan.
She looked to Druid with curiosity in her eyes. "Trixie thought you said you left her caravan someplace else. This certainly isn't where you ponies keep your chariots, is it?"
He shrugged. "That's where I left it, yeah. I guess Princess Celestia wants to use it for your first day with her. I'm sure she has her reasons."
Trixie stepped forth, catching Celestia's immediate attention, but before the alicorn could invite her over, Trixie spun around to address Druid face to face. Staring into his tired eyes, she asked him, "Oh, Trixie looks okay, right? I mean... I don't look too well done, or underdone for that matter, do I?"
Druid smiled kindly, and teased, "Who's this 'I' you speak of?"
"Doh, Trixie means-"
"You look fine, Trixie," he interrupted. "Really, you shouldn't worry about that sort of thing. Now, go on. Celestia's waiting."
She huffed before turning around again, and walked off. Just as Druid was about to make his way to the door, Celestia called over to him, "I need to see you, guardian." He looked back, a little annoyed by this. "It'll only be for a second, and then you may rest."
He came trotting up behind Trixie, and waited for her highness to speak. As for the performer, she didn't feel quite as comfortable with keeping him awake much longer. "Actually, Celestia... Princess Celestia, Trixie supposes... Trixie would like it if Druid Shield went to bed immediately."
"And he will, but chances are, there will be some books I'll need him to retrieve first. You don't mind, do you, Druid?"
He bowed in respect, and before Trixie could object, he told her forwardly after standing, "It's quite alright. I saw this coming."
"But, Princess, couldn't you have somepony else to do that for you?"
Celestia looked off to the stage where four multicolored balloons the size of a filly sat motionless, and said, "I suppose I could... Very well, since you care so much... Druid? Please tell the stallion just outside to come in and see me."
He nodded gratefully, and headed out while thanking Trixie for her bold behavior. During the time in which Trixie and Celestia discussed what they'd be doing, the other guard came in. "I wanted to start at ground zero," Celestia said, her eyes looking over at the curtains behind the stage. "I brought your stage here rather than keeping it cooped up in the carriage house because I felt it might put you at ease if you used it, but when I looked more closely at the curtain..."
Trixie finished for her, "You saw the smoke machines. Yes, Trixie's always had difficulty with that troublesome spell. She never can get that one quite right; making smoke without the need for machinery."
"Precisely. I have a book in mind that might help you. The spell itself can be found on the very last pages."
"Oh," Trixie began, her ears perking up. "Trixie believes she knows which book you speak of! Twilight allowed her to borrow it, and she's mastered all the spells except that one fog spell found at the end."
Celestia smiled at this. "That was nice of her. May I see it?"
Trixie nodded, and started up the stage. While she was gone, Celestia spoke with her guard, writing down a few selections that Trixie would need. Once she returned, however, the stallion would be gone. "Here it is!" she exclaimed, holding it forth with her magic.
Celestia took hold, and felt the cover. "Seeing as how you already possess a copy, I've arranged to equip your room with a bookcase. It won't be that big, as reading isn't entirely your cup of tea, right?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
Celestia continued while placing the book aside, "Then the top shelf will simply contain books with particularly helpful hints on fog forging. You won't need to read them all page by page, so instead, I'll provide a helpful list of key points you'll want to visit later on this evening. For now, let's move on to today's activity. See these balloons?"
Trixie turned around on the stage, focusing in on the red, blue, green and yellow orbs. "Yes?"
"Can you guess what's inside of them?"
Trixie mumbled something to herself, and then looked away, back at Celestia. "Helium?"
This made Celestia giggle, but only a little. "Although it's a good guess, they'd be stuck on the ceiling by now, wouldn't they?"
Trixie smiled. "Well, what's inside then?"
Celestia simply said, "Confetti. And some streamers, too."
"Oh... Oh, Trixie thinks she's used this trick before! We're going to pop them, and the innards are going to go flying all over, right?"
Celestia took the red one, and held it high. Once it burst with a loud echo, it was just as Trixie had said. The confetti went whisking everywhere, loftily drifting to the stage and ballroom floor. "Tada," she added. "Although, what more could be done with this?"
Trixie looked down at what lay in front of her hooves, an eyebrow raised. "Trixie isn't sure."
"Well," Celestia explained, "the lightness of the confetti and streamers makes it easy to control and manipulate with magic. I learned this from a stage performer much like yourself, but he only focused on this particular stunt, and was quite good at it. For now, all I'd like to see is you playing with the small bits and pieces that drift in the air. This'll help me determine which parts of those books I was talking about earlier to focus on."
With Trixie holding up one of the spheres, she asked for reassurance, "Just... play around, right? That's it?"
Celestia suppressed a giggle and nodded while watching the thing rise higher and higher. It burst after a moment of waiting, and then the confetti that was once held within stopped falling so slowly, and instead became one long, flowing line of colorful fragments. It circled itself, dancing above the two, the whole while Trixie's aura remaining dull and almost invisible. At that, Celestia brought forth a quill, as well a scroll.
Almost not wanting to stop her amusement, Trixie ended the show, fresh ideas blossoming in her head. "Wasn't that something to behold?"
"Quite!" Celestia agreed. "Though, there's more to be done with the confetti rather than strategically swirling it around in circles. Watch me, and then we'll see where you go from there with that final balloon..."
Again, one of the orbs rose high, popped with the same startling noise, but this time, the confetti kept ascending. They eventually came together to create a magnificent rendition of the sun peaking over white clouds. Celestia had used the colors themselves to paint a three dimensional picture for Trixie using nothing but ordinary party favors, and the inspired look on Trixie's face told Celestia she was going to thoroughly enjoy working with this trick later on.
Once her demonstration had ended, Trixie felt eager to give this proposal a go. Without wasting any words, she just picked up the last remaining balloon and got to work, her imagination coursing with ideas. There was just one image that stuck out the most, and she concentrated on that above the rest. Up, and up, and up Trixie's balloon went, until finally, it shook before bursting with intensity.
The green began forming the cheeks, and the purple created what looked to Celestia like a slithery tongue. Finally, all the orange, pink and red portions entered the head through the back, something Celestia hadn't exactly seen. With those raging, golden eyes staring menacingly down at her, Celestia gasped with a most entertained smile, and watched the bodiless komodo dragon take shape as time progressed.
Its detailing was much, much better than she anticipated, and even surpassed all other confetti performances she'd seen before. Its cheeks rose while it smirked deviously down at her, and then, its mouth opened, spitting fire as it seemingly hissed. Celestia even had to raise a hoof defensively, even though she knew there was truly nothing to fear, but when it finally lunged forth at her, she couldn't help but scream in delight. After that experience, she then laughed while covered in chunks of the material they'd been practicing with.
Trixie stepped to the edge, a worried grin plainly visible. "H-how'd Trixie do?"
Celestia breathed, looking up to her student with joyous eyes. Before speaking, though, she naturally brushed herself off. "That was wonderful, Trixie! I don't think I could've done better myself, especially on my first try. You completed your first day's training with flying colors; literally!"
"Oh," Trixie blushed. "T-thank you, Your Highness."
Upon coming down from the stage, the unicorn paid attention to her next assignment. "That's pretty much it for today. You may return to your chambers if you so desire. Take this with you." She gave Trixie the notes she'd written down on a scroll along with a general map of the palace. "Surely you'll get hungry while Druid sleeps. This will direct you to one of many kitchens found within the palace, and to the exit just in case you decide to get some fresh air. Be sure to work on the smoke spell in your free time, and meet me back here tomorrow morning."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Trixie began to walk away, but was stopped by her teacher saying, "Trixie? Good work today. I'm proud of you."
The student smiled even more, and departed from the scene shortly after. As for Celestia, she had the leftover mess to clean up, but it wouldn't take her long at all. She could've had one of the guards do it for her, but took it upon herself to do so. It was her mess, after all. Afterwards, she'd be able to get to work with her daily tasks and the like, but not before having the caravan moved to the front entrance where Trixie's first tests would take place.
Later that afternoon, she'd also come to find out about a certain visitor that had come earlier than expected, and Celestia would speculate whether Trixie would enjoy being part of the Gala as well. If so, she'd need a dress made special, too, wouldn't she? |
Celestia's New Student | Nine: First Assignment | With the door shut and locked, an empty plate sat on Trixie's bed where a wide assortment of fruits and other yummy foods had almost been finished off. A stack of books rested in the middle of the room. Trixie trotted up to the pieces of literature, her mane a mess, curling every which way and eventually leading down to her shoulders. Not before looking immensely frizzy, though. Had anypony saw her in this condition that day, she'd have likely died from embarrassment. No make-up on, mane undone, and the whole time, she just kept huffing from her hard work done thus far.
With a hoof, she laid down the scroll Princess Celestia had given her atop the stacking hardcovers, and skimmed the notes a few times, checking off what she'd already looked over and what still required her attention. "Book three, page one eighty seven," she said with worry in her voice. "Says here Trixie will find a brief summary on the layering tactics of how to create common fog." Her hoof squeezed the middle of her eyes. "This is tedious!"
With her horn glistening again, the book was brought forth, and her eyes quickly returned to the scroll. While her hoof laid on it to keep the loose fabric still, she began to bite her bottom lip, her head hurting somewhat.
Book three was placed down on the bed, and it soon opened to the corrective page only for her to walk up and move a lock of her undone hair out of her eyes. She looked down upon the instructions more closely.
"Fog is often created only for it to dissolve," she ready aloud. "But did you know that you can conserve more mana by forming a top layer first? You don't need to sustain what is already created. It often enough sustains itself after a portion is made. So once the first layer is crafted, just let it loft, and make the next layer, and then the next, and so on... But, I've found that doing this still requires too much magic for Trixie to do it discretely!"
She looked at the sleek floor where dampness had fallen from the atmosphere around her, and huffed, but Trixie wasn't about to allow all she'd worked on go to waste. "One last try at it, but after that, if Trixie can't keep it going, she'll have to tell Princess Celestia that she... That she..."
Her eyes shut tightly, her head shaking in defiance to the mere notion. She wouldn't even finish her sentence, and instead, got right back to work, determination in her eyes now rather than worry. Like the last few tries, her horn glowed its bright, pink aura, and the spacing around her was filled with her soft magic. "T-too noticeable! Lower..."
With focus, the light dimmed, eventually forming a slight mist. Already, a bead of sweat was forming along the ridges of her cheeks and forehead. It didn't matter, though, because the crowd would definitely see this, but still, she had to complete the spell. One blob of evaporated water emerged after another, out of seemingly nothing, formed by Trixie's efforts. After another second, she'd let go of that layer, and then the next was made just to float downwards along with the one underneath it.
"T-Trixie's doing it! Haha... she's doing it, finally!"
Her concentrated frown soon changed into a satisfied looking smile, and her eyes glanced all around the imaginary stage. She could see all the ponies there beaming her way, cheering her on, and in the very back would be Celestia looking down from up above, happy that her student had passed. Though, then, it stopped. She was in her room again, alone, facing the wall that stood firm just a few feet away from her. She began panting from the ordeal while the smoke slowly fell to the floor and dissipated.
With sadness in her voice now, she reminded herself, "Nopony would be impressed by a basic fog spell, though. It's... only an effect for the show. I can't even keep it up for five minutes without keeling over from exhaustion! I need to..." She glanced back up to the mirror, and saw herself finally. "Trixie!" She gasped. "She needs to freshen herself up!"
At those words, she ran across the dampened floor, and could see herself in the reflection of the white tiles below. Though she felt pained to feel as if all her studying time that day had resulted in very little progress, if anything, Trixie wasn't about to wake Druid Shield from his slumber looking like this, tired and mane a miserable mess.
It took her mere minutes to finish her preparations, and was ready to head out. "Where's my coat? And where's my hat?!" She asked this while leaving the bathroom, steam trailing behind her. She trotted up to the stack of books, and soon after snatching the scroll, she grabbed her coat and hat as well. They were found behind the bed. "Huh, Trixie only had to shout once this time around... The spacing is definitely an improvement!"
With that, she was out the door. Outside, she greeted Druid while he yawned. "Morning, sleepy head. Ready to go?"
"Yeah," Druid said, his hoof scratching his neck. "Although, I've got instructions from Celestia."
"What kind of instructions would be more important than my need for food? Hmm???"
He held his hoof where it was, pressed up against his chin, and gave her this look. "Food?"
"Yes! Food. Trixie requires you to take her to the kitchen first!" He blinked once with a pause. "... Please?"
"Okay," Druid shrugged. He then turned around to face the hall. "Follow me." Trixie trotted forth eagerly, sometimes passing him by at particular corners, her stomach noticeably growling every step of the way. "Have you eaten much?"
Trixie answered, "Some fruit, but that's about it, and that was... was it five, or six hours ago...? Trixie forgets." She said the last part while smiling. The expression soon became one of curiosity, because at that moment while she trotted by a window, she could see Celestia down blow, under a gazebo. Next to her stood Rarity, plainly noticeable thanks to her beautiful, curling mane.
Druid kept walking, and then came to a door at the end of the corridor. "Right this way," he said to get Trixie's attention. For the most part, it seemed Celestia was seeing Rarity off, so Trixie didn't worry about it too much.
Trixie could now be found before a table waiting with closed eyes, and her nose sniffing the air, trying to catch a whiff of what she had ordered. She tapped her hoof on the ground, her belly rumbling, and her muzzle scrunched in annoyance. "He said it'd only take a second..."
The area around her was one of many dining halls, a rectangular room used by guards and the like to dine, or take breaks, but for the moment, it was vacant save for Trixie sitting at the far end. Above the middle of the elegant furnishing hung a broad, and dangerously dangling chandelier. It stayed still, but just from looking up often forced just about anypony into dizziness. To the left of Trixie was the door to the kitchen. A few rattling noises could be heard beyond the wall, but no smells left its creases for Trixie to sample.
Just when she was close to bursting from impatience, the doors opened up finally, and out came a chubby, red coated, white highlighted stallion with a matching engineer's hat. Patterns of red and white decorated his chef's uniform, including the random headpiece. With him, he brought a plate filled with a wide assortment of various food. Things like chopped carrots, a side of grains, some hay with flower petals sprinkled in here and there, and some sugar cubes for dessert. As he set it down before Trixie, he said with an italian accent, "Just as ordered, signora, and sorry for being so late. Mille scuse."
Trixie didn't hear a word, not that she'd have understood some of it. She just began eating. In between bites, she mumbled, "Thish is good!"
"Grazie! Twilight liked that particular selection as well!"
Trixie stopped a bit from entering her mouth. The fork floated there with her magic holding onto it, a carrot disk stuck in its prongs. "Twilight... Sparkle?"
"Esattamente!"
Trixie looked away, shook her head, and said, "Right, she probably ate here, too."
"Sat in the same spot, Sì! Oh, mio Dio!"
Even despite Druid Shield coming up to her at this point, all Trixie could do was resume eating, if only appearing a bit distanced. "Enjoying the meal?"
"Mmhmm..."
"Good. Mind if I share with you what Celestia wanted of you now that I have your attention? She told me that when I could, she'd like me to escort you to the ballroom. Turns out you won't be performing in front of anypony tomorrow after all. That's all I'll say, though."
Trixie looked up, hay sticking out of the left side of her lips. She slurped the hay in quickly, gulped, and then breathed before saying, "I'm done! Take me to the ballroom."
"You... only finished half of-"
"Debating with Trixie, are we?" Trixie said quickly. "If Trixie might share some advice. When she makes up her mind, that's it! Trixie wants to hurry along to Princess Celestia."
She nearly leaped out of the chair, the chef standing idly by with a puzzled expression. "Was it something I said...?"
Meanwhile, in the halls, although Druid Shield was supposed to be leading the way, Trixie walked in front, her strut fuming with attitude. "Something the matter?" Druid Shield asked.
Trixie slowed. She was now next to her guard, and said while staring forward, "Twilight and I have a checkered past. At first, she irritated me, and with time, infuriated me, but now, it's changed. It's just... strange."
Druid watched Trixie's movements closely. She looked away while he asked, "Why's that?"
"I feel as if..." Trixie began before stopping at a four way fork. "I feel as though she's not really forgiven me. There's lots of details you don't know about, but I just felt weird sitting in that chair, eating that food."
Druid merely nodded before looking straight ahead at the entrance to their current destination. "Here we are."
That's when from behind Trixie and Druid Shield came a shadowy figure. What surprised Trixie the most about this being, though, was when coming to the front, she turned out to be a bat pony. Thanks to Druid's keen sense of hearing, he quickly gasped well before Trixie's realization of any such presence, and had already asked curiously, "Moon Dancer? Is that you?"
"Hey you two!" she hollered from behind. As soon as this mysterious mare entered Trixie's line of sight, Trixie could already feel fear wash over her. She'd seen a bat pony's ears, and their teeth before, but never had Trixie seen more broad wings from such a mature looking, full blooded bat pony. Moon Dancer had purple hair, and a smoky coat, and with her flying by while nearly bumping into Trixie, she also heeded her little mind in comparison to Druid Shield.
Faster than she'd arrived, Moon Dancer had already kissed Druid Shield, and at first, he seemed somewhat shy about it. He quickly closed his eyes, though before doing so, he made eye contact with Trixie. All the performer could do was watch her servant coldly, a bit of disappointment washing over her. He hadn't told her he wasn't single, after all. Once their embrace was over, Moon Dancer's attention was brought to Trixie. "So, who's this?" she said sweetly.
"Oh, pardon." He motioned to the mare he serviced. "This is Trixie."
Now, normally, Trixie is the first to introduce herself. However, in this particular instance, she merely stood there, a look of disbelief on her face. One could even call it a scoul. She just kept looking back at Druid, almost wanting to say something; why he would allow himself to become so clueless as to Trixie developing a possible crush on him. Is he so thick headed?
"Wow, your friend here's a lot like you, all zoned out all the time."
"Huh?" Trixie asked.
Rather than repeating herself, Moon Dancer behaved quite knowingly, and kept the conversation light. "He used to talk more, and be all into the job, but nowadays, he's just all outta it! You notice?"
Trixie blinked. "I... thought that's just how he was."
"Nah," Druid spoke up. "Actually, she's right. I just haven't been myself lately."
At that, all Moon Dancer did was shake her head with a smirk. "Whatever, stud. Hey, Trixie? What's your affiliation with Rudy anyway?"
Trixie looked to the floor, and then the ceiling, and then at Druid's blushing cheeks. Finally, she said, "He was assigned to me as my... servant?"
Druid's ears lowered. "For the most part, that's correct."
"So, I guess I won't see you topside then, huh?" Moon Dancer ventured to ask her stallion.
"Not much, no... Sorry..."
He got one last kiss before his love started taking off. "Trixie, if you can?" Moon Dancer requested before leaving entirely.
"Yes?"
She opened her mouth, trying to make her words decisive, but there just wasn't any other way of putting what she wanted to say lightly. "Don't... fall for him. He's already taken."
With that said, she floated off towards the ceiling, and out the far window she exited, probably the same one she used to get inside in the first place. After her disappearance, things fell far too silent for Trixie and Druid Shield. The two of them just stood there, in that corridor, close by, knowing what one another was thinking. Finally, Druid Shield broke the silence by stating, "I should've told you about Moon Dancer sooner."
After that, he just walked forth where his Highness had instructed him to bring her student. Trixie followed slowly, and timidly behind, her heart sinking every step of the way. Furtively, she knew it hadn't been long enough for her to have developed serious emotions for Druid Shield, so why did that incident move her so? With no more secrets, she asked, "When were you planning on telling me that you had a special somepony?"
He slowed his pace, looked around with his mouth open, and finally said before speeding up, "I wasn't, but neither was I about to let you develop any kind of love for me."
Trixie contemplated her next choice of words, but what ended up coming out was, "What if I've already developed emotions for you?"
His tone grew cold as he said, "Then I feel sorry for you." Soon after reaching the door, he stopped, turned around and said, "Here we are, but if it's alright with you, I'd like to return to the-"
"Be off with you."
His eyes had been mostly looking downwards, but after hearing Trixie say that, and with such a dark attitude, too, he couldn't help but to suddenly look up at her only to see his master looking the other way. She had anger in her eyes, the kind he was seeing for the first time. With little time delayed, he quickly rounded, and left Trixie there in the hall by herself. She wouldn't even watch him leave, and didn't enter till the echoes of his steps could be heard no more.
She entered quietly into what turned out to be a ballroom with a stage built against the glass. This room was different in comparison to the one from before. This was another, already well prepared ballroom ready for use. However, there was one object in particular that seemed to be a tad bit off. Everything else was maintained so well, and themed so nicely, that ss she saw the huge, golden tree, she wondered if that was even supposed to be up there. It grew on the stage, its roots creeping over the edges, and something about it told Trixie that something random was about to take place here.
At this time, Trixie heard from above, "There you are, my new student!"
Celestia came floating down, landing between her student and the massive, golden tree. "Celestia, what's going on?"
Celestia had opened her lips to speak, but what sounded was a familiar voice, cold and nerve racking for Trixie. "It's my thinking tree! And it's got a special prize for you, Trixie... hence it's bright colors."
Out came Discord from the bushes, landing right next to Celestia. The princess merely smiled his way, not noticing the grimace upon Trixie's face. "Trixie knows you!" the unicorn stated loudly, and at that, Celestia returned her attention to the shaky unicorn standing before her.
"Oops," Discord played along, holding his paw up to his mouth. "Dear Celestia! I forgot to remind you, Celestia, that during my little run in with Tirek, I might've aided him in harvesting Trixie's magic as well. Sorry about that!"
Celestia only breathed with calmly closed eyes while Trixie voiced openly, "You did nothing of the sort!"
"Huh?" Celestia said, her hoof closest to the student raising in surprise.
"Trixie was insulted greatly by this beast!"
"Psh, well, it was mostly Tirek who said your magical prowess wasn't even worth his time."
Celestia gasped at that, something Trixie didn't like one bit. She grew cold after hearing this, and looked over to Trixie. "Is this true? Because if so..."
At that, Discord snapped his fingers after saying, "Of course it's true! See for yourself!"
He'd summoned a dimensional portal to the past. It took its spot against the bark of Discord's thinking tree, and through it, Trixie and her mentor certainly did make out the depiction of Discord, Tirek, and Trixie all clustered in the back of some hotel and bar. It was the very same bar Trixie had been occupying for quite some time, and just then, her show was being interrupted by the two brutes. Tirek lead the way, sucking pony after pony dry of everything they had, until finally, he reached the stage. He was at his penultimate status by now, his horns ripping the ceiling apart. He looked down at the mare, and said, "All that's left now is this pony, the princesses, and a few select others... Hehe..."
"D-don't you dare take Trixie's magic," Trixie said bravely.
Tirek chuckled at her, and growled, "Do a little song and dance for me, and I might allow you to leave in one piece! Don't, and I'll... Well... either way, I'll get what's mine."
Trixie retaliated, and shot her electric magic at his chest. It did little good, and only tickled the giant. In time, Trixie stopped, scared of what might happen next. "Don't you... t-touch Trixie!"
He bellowed, before preaching, "Do you wish to know the saddest part about this whole endeavor? I'm able to honestly say that you're the weakest unicorn in all these lands!" At that, he turned, the roof caving in. "Come on, Discord. She's not even worth my time. Let's leave this pony with her performances."
Discord gave Trixie a sneer from the entryway, and said, "By that attitude, she must be hot tonight! Haha!"
Back in the present, Trixie backed away from Discord and his golden tree. Celestia, however, was not about to allow this to stop Trixie's progression. "Now, now, little one." Her hoof raised, stopping Trixie where she stood without the need for physical contact. "This is Discord, and he's reformed. I know it's probably hard for you to accept that, but-"
"Come now Celestia," Discord said. "What were we talking about moments ago?"
Her highness looked at him, thought for a second or two, and then said, "Constants and variables."
"Very good, so in other words..." He walked up to Trixie, almost slithering his way into her personal space, and said, "You would do this one justice for me, wouldn't you?"
"Justice?" Trixie asked curiously, her attention being completely diverted.
"Yes!" Discord exclaimed, "You see, I've been struck with unfortunates beyond my repair!" His claw flung upwards only for his palm to land on his forehead and rest there. "If only I knew of somepony who could stand up to what lies beyond the Cave of Hungers!"
"Cave of what?!"
"Yes, Trixie..." Discord came closer. "I've been watching you practice your magic, and so has Princess Celestia, and she agrees with me that you deserve a token. Something that will help to 'push you forward' so to say. It's a medallion, embossed with the power to amplify one select spell of its bearer's choice."
Trixie's mouth dropped. "What?"
"Oh, yes! However!" Discord pointed his finger to the ceiling. "If you take it upon yourself, and select the spell, then that spell shall forever be the only spell that the medallion amplifies!"
Celestia inserted herself into the action with, "It was hidden away because of the danger it possesses, which is why we will be magnetizing that gem of your's worn with your coat so that it will always be with you. Guard it well."
"What does it look like?" Trixie wondered.
"Whatever you want!" Discord answered. "It will take the form of your choosing. Simply think of a symbol, and it will morph instantaneously! However..."
"Yes," Celestia said. "However... I saw to it that the medallion would never be stolen by the wrong hooves. It's guarded well, but simply tell the beast that Princess Celestia sent you, and he will bow."
Trixie stepped towards where Celestia stood to ask, "What is it?"
"It's a surprise!" Discord stated with a silly attitude. "Now, will you be embarking on this mission to retrieve it for me and Princess Celestia, or won't you?"
Trixie huffed, looked at Celestia who only smiled back, and nodded. "If it means Trixie can use it to amplify her fog spell... then she'd be happy to embark on this quest!"
"Not only that..." Celestia stepped up to the tree before resuming. "But, you'll need not travel. This, as Discord puts it, is a one-way teleportation tree. It's acting up just for you. The cave isn't exactly reachable by hoof, train, but boat's a different story I suppose... Still, you'd have to walk a pretty long ways after the ride just to... Well," she giggled. "You understand. This is much faster."
"Yes ma'am..." She walked forth. "I'll leave immediately."
"What?" Celestia asked, but she was soon reassured by Discord who laughed at Trixie's bold behavior.
"Constants and variables, Celestia!" With no more time to spare, he opened up the gateway for the all too eager mare. "Constants and variables!"
Trixie hadn't the faintest idea what that lunatic of a creature was rambling on about, but she didn't very much care, either. For some reason, she just knew this trinket was something she needed, and she wasn't going to get it by just standing around. "It's just a cave after all," she stated before being stopped by Celestia.
"One last piece of knowledge, Trixie..." Looking her in the eyes, Celestia mentioned, "You'll be meeting an escort beyond this point who will have provisions. You may thank my sister, Princess Luna for offering the service to you. She's already gone ahead to set up camp, so we've still got some time. Now, let me see here. Please, Hold still."
Along came a paper ruler held by Celestia's magic. Discord pulled one out of his ear as well, and then the two began randomly taking Trixie's measurements. "Uh, excuse Trixie, but... hey! What gives?!"
"There we go!" In little time at all, Celestia had finished getting Trixie's measurements, and then stated gingerly, "When you return, I'll also have your Grand Galloping Gala dress readied special. You... are coming, aren't you?"
Trixie blinked. "Ohhh... Uh, well, is Discord coming?" Celestia nodded with a sweet smile. Despite not liking him much based off what she'd seen of him, Trixie understood that first impressions were usually horrible instances for some reason. It'd be wrong not to give this stranger a second chance. "I... suppose so."
Discord's ears perked up, and a grin formed. "You mean... you wouldn't mind my presence? Because as I'm sure you know, I can be quite disturbing! Just ask Celestia!"
The Princess giggled some more, and promised Trixie, "I'll be keeping him on his best behavior. Now, shouldn't you be on your way...?"
"Yes ma'am!" Trixie stated quite excitedly. Without any more time to spare, she simply jumped in, head first. It was right then and there that she thought back to earlier that very day. It was when she'd seen Celestia standing with Rarity underneath that gazebo. Perhaps Princess Celestia wasn't seeing Rarity off after all, and was instead greeting her. She might've even been going over the arrangements for Trixie's dress, but it was too late to ask her highness now. Besides, Trixie wasn't interested in keeping her escort waiting any longer. |
Celestia's New Student | Ten: The Enemy In A Friendly Place | Trixie pounced through the portal and landed on a dirt road. At first, she stood there, a tingling sensation tumbling down her spine. She knew it was from teleporting, so she kept still for a minute or two. She looked down the road to her left, but she saw nothing. So, Trixie then looked to the right, and noticed some sort of glimmering light not too far away from her position. Timidly, she began approaching the attraction. She was still curious as to who might be her escort, but by the looks of things, it would be a pleasant voyage.
Before the fire encompassed with rocks rested two sharp look sticks dug into the ground. Each beared a slowly warmed marshmallow, something that Trixie hadn't had the chance to enjoy for ages. There were also chocolates and graham crackers sitting on the stump there as well. Finally, the single tent with a shadowy figure beyond it. Trixie unzipped the opening, her presence being a secret up until now, and caught her escort right in the middle of preparing the bedding.
"Trixie," Moon Dancer gasped after looking around her shoulder.
"You're Trixie's escort?" Trixie questioned, and at that, they both just stood there looking at one another. Trixie wanted to say something more, but held her tongue and waiting for the bat pony to speak instead.
"Well... yeah! I guess so... Princess Luna told me I was gonna be somepony's guide through the Cave of Hungers. Been there before, but not all the way through. Said there was something in there that belonged to Celestia's new student. That's why I was headed down to see Druid Shield back at the castle... So, then... that must be you, huh? You're the new student?"
Trixie looked around, miffed at the hard work put into preparing this. "You... did all this for me?"
"Was hoping it would make for a good first impression, seeing as how I'm a bat pony and all..." Trixie looked her up and down, and observed her spooky cutie mark. It was a full moon hidden away by the passing clouds. She could see why a good first impression would be needed here. "Too bad it's already ruined."
Trixie returned her attention to Moon Dancer. "What do you mean?"
"Well, y'know, it was kinda hard not to read you like a book back there in the castle. You acted all shallow after I kissed Druid Shield, and-"
Trixie bursted out, "Trixie doesn't like Druid Shield!" Dancer just stared, her mouth agape. "... At least, not anymore she doesn't."
Moon Dancer came closer. "Why's that?"
"Because!" Trixie looked away. "He... Did you know, he didn't even mention you when he and Trixie met? He swore to be Trixie's guard, but not once did your name come up. Not once."
Moon Dancer merely laughed. "So that made him single?"
"But, he was so friendly."
Moon Dancer continued to smile, rolled her eyes, and said, "He just wanted to be a good guard... Look, you know why he's been so distanced lately?"
"Why?" Trixie asked.
"It's because he and I only see eachother once a month these days."
Trixie gasped, "A month?"
"Yeah, I know," Moon Dancer resumed. "Sometimes, it can feel like I don't even still have a boyfriend. He must be feeling the same way. Ever since he was reassigned to gate duty outside the palace walls, he's been like... that! More bored with the job, and just... distanced. You know?"
Trixie just nodded. "Which is why he didn't mention you. He misses you too much."
"Plus, he's a little resentful at me as well, because I'm the one that suggested to the princesses that he tries out gate duty. I thought it would be better for him, and I was right, but at the same time... I don't know, maybe it was a mistake after all."
Trixie looked down, and understood the story now. "Say, you made this tent for Trixie, right? Where're you going to sleep?"
Moon Dancer merely giggled, and said, "Outside of course! I'm a bat pony. I can hang from my tail on a tree branch, and sleep like a baby in a crib."
Trixie huffed. "Cool! Doesn't that hurt, though? Y'know... Your tail?"
"Nah!" Moon Dancer chortled. "I'll show you when bedtime comes around, but first, you wanna help me with those s'mores?"
Trixie found herself leaving the tent quickly, but faster than the smell of marshmallows could enter her muzzle, she realized at that time that she'd made a friend with yet another bat pony. "Say," Trixie began. "First, Druid Shield is assigned to me, and then you... why only bat ponies?"
Instead of agreeing, like Trixie had expected, Moon Dancer said quite frankly, "Pure coincidence. Then again, it could be destiny."
"Destiny?" Trixie questioned. "What? Am I to become a bat pony by the end of my studies? Although, that wouldn't be a bad performance..."
Dancer had finished preparing a s'more, and gave it over to Trixie graciously. "There's an easy way, too. Although, it doesn't quite turn you into a bat pony like myself. Makes you all aggressive, and you'd ultimately be bound to... something. It's a spell Druid Shield once told me about."
Trixie nodded. "Doubt that'd be fun. Trixie likes being more kind, and besides, she'd never be able to pull off such a feat of magic. Now, with the help of Druid Shield, however... But, alas, as we all know, Trixie shall not be requesting him of his assistance."
"Still mad at him, huh?" Dancer asked as she finished half of her late night snack.
"Yes."
"Y'know," Dancer said after giving a powerful gulp. "If it wasn't for the fact that I still have a bit of feeling, I'd dump him."
Trixie blinked. "Why?"
"Not so you can sweep him away, mind you. Because, I feel tired. All the guys up there, and the girls, too, know I'm still seeing Druid Shield. It'd be insane for me to simply break up with him and stay up there, in the high towers."
Trixie looked down at the single bite taken from the s'more in her hooves. "I'll think of how that could work out while I sleep on it." She put her s'more on a napkin, and said while yawning, "Trixie's beat."
Before entering her tent, she heard the sharp sound of wings fluttering open, and the eerie creek of a branch bending downwards behind her. She turned around to find out what it was only to see Moon Dancer hanging from a tree branch with her tail, her wings coating the entirety of her body. It reminded Trixie of a cocoon. "That's cool..."
As she turned again towards her sleeping quarters, a thought crossed her head. She was too tired to worry about it at the time, but next morning, she and Moon Dancer would have something interesting to talk about. |
Celestia's New Student | Eleven: Far away | Trixie rolled and fought with her bedding all night, the nighttime noises bothering her every second of the evening. By the time morning came along, she finally raised her tired head, looked at the window's curtain folds opening at the bottom to create a triangle ray of light and blinked. "Ooooh, what... time is it?"
She rubbed her tired eyes, and blinked some more while trying to shake off the sleepiness that still overwhelmed her, kept her connected with the mat. As she exited the tent hazily, she found her escort to be nowhere in sight.
"Umm, hello?"
Suddenly, Midnight Dancer came swinging down from a tree branch by her tail, wings open, and a yummy looking mango in her hooves. "Boo," she said playfully before taking a juicy bite from the fruit.
Trixie seemed a bit startled, but not by much. "There you are. You scared Trixie!"
"Hehe, sorry. How're you feeling this morning?"
"Okay... Say, I have a question."
"Yus?"
"How would you like to replace Druid Shield as Trixie's guard? That way, he can do what he wants, and you'll have reason to break up with him."
Moon Dancer nibbled on her meal. "Whatever you wanna do it fine by me. And, yeah, that way I'll know you're not seeing him."
"Good! Then the journey into the cave today shall be your test. Pass, and you're my new guard... Umm, Trixie is looking forward to starting her mission by the way," Trixie said quite forwardly.
Moon Dancer merely nodded with closed eyes. After they opened back up, however, she asked, "No breakfast?"
Trixie shook her head. "No, we'll eat when we get back to Canterlot. Let's just get this over with."
Moon Dancer released herself from the branch, used her wings to stabilize herself, and landed quite easily on three hooves. She still held the mango, too, and began walking by the campsite. While she went into the clearing, Trixie followed along only assuming this was the way to go. She hadn't yet realized she was on top of the side of a mountain. However, as soon as she stumbled out from the bushes and into the middle of an empty, dirt road, no wooden side railing to help ponies stay away from the edge, she gasped. "Whoa!"
"Hey, relax," Moon Dancer instructed while tossing the core of her mango away. "First off, do you know where we are?"
Trixie came closer and into the light. As she glanced from the rising sun to the village down below, and then to the forest next to it, she was tempted to guess this was ponyville. Though, Ponyville's closest mountain is the one that Canterlot occupies, and this was not that mountain. No other cities or towns for miles, but other mountains far off could be seen, ones that rose dangerously high, and would take weeks just to reach by normal means of transportation. It was a valley of beauty, no doubt holding well hidden dangers, too. This hardly resembled the landscape of Equestria despite its riveting beauty. So, Trixie ventured to ask, "Where... are we?"
"Well, start off in the Crystal Empire. Head north for a ways until you start seeing snow. Cross over Yakyakistan, and keep going until you start seeing some green again, and here we are! This place even has its own coast, you know."
"But, Trixie has only heard of snow in Yakyakistan."
"But this isn't Yakyakistan!" Moon Dancer continued to trot down the road while Trixie listened, observing up ahead while she did. "This is Kiyak, a hidden nook, not really taken by the entire yak civilization yet. It's kinda its own little world right now. Did some research before agreeing to the mission. And here we are, the Cave of Hungers!"
Just around the bushes, Trixie began seeing signs of stalagmites and stalactites forming the opening of the cave, which the closer she got to it, the more and more it seemed like teeth, and a gaping mouth ready to swallow the two of them up. Though it wasn't, it still resemble just that. A smooth clearing formed the walkway entrance, but one still couldn't help but duck as they came wandering inside. Not that this place had been explored recently or anything, but that's just what both Trixie and Moon Dancer did, was duck despite there being plenty of room.
"Okay," Moon Dancer said. "Time for that cool little light trick you unicorns do!"
"Huh?" Trixie mumbled in the dark, "You mean, with Trixie's magic?"
"What?" Moon Dancer whispered in a hushed tone. "Yes! With your magic!"
"Well," Trixie said nervously. "Can't."
"What?! I don't have any means of light on me! Thought you could do it!"
"Well," Trixie said nervously. "Can't."
Moon Dancer sighed. "I'd be impressed. Never got to see that magic trick. I'd only heard and read about it, y'know."
Trixie felt her hoof touch her lip in thought. She couldn't very well see her hoof, but she felt it nevertheless. "Uh... Well, Trixie supposes she'll try."
Moon dancer watched Trixie's horn glisten. Thanks to Trixie's change in confidence, she began using her name in her sentences again, something Moon Dancer noticed. It was something that's easy to pick up on, after all. Trixie tried as hard as she could at the time to get it going. But suddenly, she stopped.
"What's wrong?" Moon Dancer asked.
"It's just, I can't seem to conjure up enough magic to create the light right now. Sad thing is, after it's done and over with, it's supposed to stay lit until I choose to extinguish it. Instead, it usually stays lit for a few seconds, and then burns out. What am I supposed to do?"
Moon Dancer smiled, something Trixie saw now that their eyes had adjusted to the darkness. "Well, I'm not sure I about this "I" fella, but aren't you supposed to be the Great and Powerful Trixie? Celestia's new student? This spell should be easy for you."
At that, Trixie's face scrunched up. "You're... right!" Her horn that day shined brighter than ever before, illuminating and chasing away the darkness. A mystic light stayed at the tip of Trixie's horn, sparkling with the mare's pink aura. This was a new level of magic for Trixie, and she knew it. That's why she began breathing deeply, and smiled before inhaling a good portion of air, and exhaling to try and calm her nerves. "T-thank you, Moon Dancer."
"No problem. Now, let's go get what we came here for."
As they got on their way, the cave opened up into a wider spacing. Although the floor began to break, and some cracks on the ground in the backer parts of the cave were much higher than the others in the front, Trixie and Moon Dancer were able to chart their way through. For the most part, it'd been a typical cave. Damp, cold, and dark.
Then, they began seeing differences in color on the stalactites. Some were literally painted blue, red and yellow. Trixie marveled at the colors. Others were illuminated by candles, and the deeper they got, the more candles there were. The more they wandered to the furthest part of this mysterious den, the more the rocks were coated with such vivid colors.
Eventually, they began seeing all sorts of oddities, like multicolored flags hanging by strings that were tied around the stalactites. Small shrines with pony figurines symbolizing meditation sat here and there surrounded by candles, and a grand seat made of fluffy, red pillows laid by a large, stone pillar in the middle of it all. To make the lounging area that much more tantalizing was the blanket of a white tiger lying on the cushioning.
All this, and much more material of sheer culture could be found in the heart of this cave. Trixie and Moon Dancer simply stared at all the interestingly peaceful things before Trixie finally heard something, but naturally, not before her new friend.
"Shh!" Moon Dancer suddenly hissed. "You hear that?"
From behind the two, where they had entered from, something crept closer and closer. Trixie thought it sounded like a bear, whereas Moon Dancer considered it sounding more that of a wolf, but either or they had to hide.
They soon saw the largest object in the room, a prayer wheel. That's a cylindrical wheel suspended by a spindle made from metal, primarily used for the purification of one's karma. Though, as the two came nearest to it, they both felt a disturbance in the atmosphere. This was no ordinary object.
Trixie hid in front of Moon Dancer, and at that time could look up at the wheel, and see that if one were to push hard enough, it just begin to go round and round. "Huh, I wonder if-"
"Shh, look," Moon Dancer whispered rather loudly, and she had every right to speak up, too, because what came around the corner was something neither Trixie nor her new friend had expected to see.
It was a large, winged dog. Or, at least, that's what they thought it was at first. Once it came even closer to the candles that lead the way to the flags, they saw that it was a fully grown wolf. Its black fur and even darker wings was enough to send shivers down Moon Dancer's spine, but not Trixie's. She saw something else beyond the wolf. She saw a wounded animal. One that carried something wrapped in cloth by its teeth.
As it was settled down, they watched the wolf reveal it to be a bowl full of sparkling water. Trixie was so fixed on this scene, that she even leaned in, her mouth agape. The wolf laid itself down, but as it did, it also gave off whales and howles that forced Trixie to hide that much more. When it finally stopped, it looked down at its wound, and growled.
By now, Moon Dancer was on edge, worse than she'd ever been. Her heart was racing, because never had she been so close to such a formidable looking beast before. Trixie, however, was almost ready to offer her assistance. She could tell, this being might be friendly. So, despite Moon Dancer gasping at Trixie while she walked out into the light, the showmare revealed herself.
The beast growled her way, predictably, and then, a whole slew of barks and vicious growls came. Nine loud barks would pass before it finally stopped, but Trixie still stood there motionless. Her ears rang, though. By now, he was only sitting there, his face furious. Trixie then did something she could only guess would work. She turned around and spun the wheel. As its groan stopped, she turned herself around to once again face this wolf.
He watched her closely, observed Trixie coming quietly closer to his approximate position, and just growled. After that last warning, Trixie stopped. He hadn't growled while she did everything else, which meant to her this was right where he wanted her to be.
"State your business."
Trixie had been staring him dead in the eyes blankly the whole time, but after hearing the wolf talk, she came to her senses, and gasped. "Sorry! Trixie is, err, you're hurt... It's going to be very difficult to wash that wound. Trixie merely thought you'd... need assistance."
He simply stared at her for a moment, and then asked in the same, scratchy, deep voice, "And what of your friend? Is she to hide behind my mani wheel the whole time?"
Moon Dancer gave off a yipe, but even so, Trixie ignored him and grabbed the cloth from underneath the bowl. After she dunked it, getting it nice and wet, she brought it up to the wolf's wound. She almost expected to get barked at again, but no. He allowed it.
The water soaked into his thick fur easily, and to Trixie's surprise, the wolf's opened skin began sealing almost instantly. Trixie watched this closely, and was a bit amazed to see no blood left behind from the cut.
She stepped away, and waited to see how the wolf would react. He just stood, his wings spreading widely, and then, he gently asked after Trixie had given him some space, "Why have you two come here?"
By now, Moon Dancer's nerves had calmed, and she was able to come out from behind the shadows, and up to Trixie. For the most part, though, she kept behind the unicorn for safety. "Trixie would like to know your name."
"Surely this isn't all you require," he replied knowingly. "My master had given me the name Wolf. It's unoriginal, and as a guard of sorts, it was also brooding enough to fit perfectly. Then I was sold to a princess, and she offered a new name, but I declined. Wolf's fine."
He licked his paw while Trixie asked, "Are you guarding an amulet by any chance?"
"No," Wolf said surprisingly, his eyes darting Trixie's way. "But, I have a medallion. It's for somepony else, yet to be sent by my current master... assuming she's still going to send someone."
Trixie didn't yet want to request to have this medallion, and instead, strived for more information about this gentle beast. "How long have you been here?"
"Several years... Had anypony else asked me that, I'd have run you out of my cave. There's something about you, Trixie, that is familiar." He squinted his eyes, almost appearing angry. "The resemblance is uncanny."
Trixie simply stood her ground, and for the longest time, she stared right into those black, pearly eyes, waiting and thinking about what to ask next. However, she wouldn't need to ask him of anything further. Remarkably, he had already decided to give Trixie what she wanted. As his wing grabbed hold of something from under all those pillows, he pulled out what must've been the medallion. "Is this what you came for?"
Trixie considered what to say next. This was a tricky situation. She didn't want to lie, and yet, he might just give her the medallion, or chase her and Moon Dancer out. Still, she'd come this far without needing to reveal the fact that Princess Celestia had sent her, so she decided to go all the way. Though, she knew good and well, Wolf had probably guessed by now that she was the rightful owner. "Yes, Trixie came for that medallion."
He smiled. "What do you say?"
Trixie smirked. "May Trixie please have it?"
His smile grew into a snicker. "I can't believe I'm doing this, but here. I think it belongs to you anyways!"
She held out her hoof, and felt the weight of it. The medallion was in the shape of some old stallion with a very long beard going in a complete circle around his head and funny looking, blue hat. Trixie blinked. "Isn't that..."
"Starswirl the Bearded," Wolf finished. "Before Princess Celestia, he was my master."
Moon Dancer came a bit closer, finally. "Daw, you're tamed, huh? Well, it was nice meeting ya! Trixie," Dancer said. "Let's go."
Trixie watched the freaked out bat pony fly away, but didn't trail behind immediately. Instead, she simply looked back at Wolf with a smile, and he seemed to grin back. With nothing more to say to one another, she left him and his cave. Wolf sat down before all his pillows, and thought. "Should I stay or should I go?"
He looked out that way again, where the two had left, and suddenly heard something that gave him motivation to assist these two strangers that much further. "How are we supposed to get home?"
He stood, and crept closer to the edge to observe the two. Curiosity had overtaken him, because if it meant seeing his current master again, then why not? Trixie thought aloud, "Princess Celestia said it was a one way trip. Trixie does NOT wish to travel all that way on hoof!"
Thanks to the echoes, the two wouldn't hear him snickering again. "Celestia, you figured out a way to get me out of the shadows yet again... For old time sake, I guess." Heeling to the shadows, he crept closer to the two while they left, listening in on their conversation for a bit longer before extending to them his helpful services. |
Celestia's New Student | Twelve: Flight Home | Moon Dancer came out of the light only to shield her eyes from the harmfully bright rays that slipped through the overhead bush. By now it was noon, and the sun way up above the clouds never looked more mesmerizing before. Trixie even said so, too. "Has the sun always looked so... Oh, what word would Trixie use for it?"
"Yellow?" Moon Dancer asked.
"Yes, thank you!" Her hoof raised itself up to her lip for a quick moment so she could think straightly. "Anyways, I suppose you can fly us home, right?"
Moon Dancer grimaced. "I can't carry and fly you! My wings aren't built like regular feathered wings! These are made of two thin layers of skin. What about you? Can't you teleport or something?"
Again, Trixie blushed, and looked away. "N-no way... Unless..."
She looked down at her newly acquired medallion. If she wanted to, she could choose the teleportation spell over the fog spell. That way, the two of them could get home right then and there. But then again, what other use would the teleportation spell hold for her? The whole trip would've been for nothing. "Trixie?"
"Huh?" She looked up to see Moon Dancer staring at her with worried eyes.
"Did I mention how dangerous Kiyak is?"
"Okay, okay, relax... Trixie could use the medallion to amplify her teleportation magic. That way, we could-"
"No! That's not what the medallion is supposed to be used for!" Moon Dancer's expression was so troubled. In fact, she almost looked cute to Trixie. "Luna told me that the fog spell is to be chosen, and that it was also my duty to make sure you only use it for fog-making purposes!"
Trixie blinked, smiled, shook her head, and then started giggling. "Sounds just like Luna... Alright, Trixie supposes you have her beat!"
In her hoof was the trinket, still in the form of Starswirl the Bearded. Trixie had the power, now how about the look? Her horn glistened dimly, and grabbed hold of it. By doing so, it took the form of what Trixie could see in her mind, and then attached itself to the jewel that goes with her coat.
One could see Trixie's muzzle and finely designed, closed eyes. Her hat curved over all of her hair and went around in a complete circle. The artistic form of the new medallion was unique, and beautiful, and matched Trixie's being in every way.
The spell came naturally, and fog surrounded the two instantly, but this was no ordinary fog. It was a powerful, magical mist that surrounded both Trixie and Moon Dancer quite easily. "Wow, Trixie's smoke machines never even compared!"
Suddenly, out of the fog came a familiar, yet broadening figure. "No goodbye?" asked Wolf.
Trixie remained unphased by his abrupt presence, but Moon Dancer still behaved like that of a scaredy bat. She was already up in the trees, hiding behind the bushes as if he was actually going to do something to the two of them. "Uh, well, I knew it wasn't goodbye... We need your help getting home! Would you help the Great and Powerful Trixie and her batpony guardian?"
Before Wolf could respond, Moon Dancer popped her head out of the leaves to ask, "Does that mean I pass your test, Great and Powerful Trixie?"
Trixie made a deadpan face, and said, "Yes."
"Yay!" Shortly following Moon Dancer's mini celebration was a quick growl from Wolf. She was scared right back into hiding.
"Well," said the winged wolf. "If I help you, what might I be getting in return?"
Trixie looked down, and around herself, and then at the campsite. There really wasn't anything neither Trixie nor Moon Dancer had that was of any real value, or so they thought. "We... don't have much..."
"What about... your friendship?" Trixie blinked before looking back at him. He seemed serious. "Not that many would be so bold as to befriend a wolf, you see. So, to have friends, especially here in these mountains, well... friends are hard to come by. You know, I'm getting ready to head down south to a quaint palace called Canterlot. Know of it? Why don't you two tag along?"
"Trixie wouldn't mind riding along. Moon Dancer? Are you coming?"
The bat pony peeked her head out again, and asked, "Me, ride on him?!"
"Oh, c'mon," Trixie chanted while boldly climbing on.
Moon Dancer could only timidly hovered above the ground, and came closer to the wolf's position. She watched him with the widest eyes he'd ever seen, but still, got on after a moment of fidgeting. Thus, he took off then and there. Trixie gave off a yelp as she heard his claws scrape the dirt away.
Once the cliff below them became pure air, a rush of sweet, cold winds overtook Trixie, but she held fast while her mane whiped all too close to her new guard, just barely missing her. Trixie then realized, this was her first time flying. Trees and small clusters of rocks went closely by them, to where Trixie could feel the brush off the leaves.
All they could see now was the passing of green, and strips of blue beneath them. It was a zigzagging stream that eventually, and finally turned into a deep, wide river. Wolf soared higher so that the two could get a good look at the country he had been occupying.
It was enclosed by mountains, and probably only one entrance in the high north. The way this valley of trees was nestled couldn't be more perfect. If one was too hot in the south, they simply went up north a ways where the fine line of green turns into a shade of crimson and brown. However, there was much more to see than just trees and rocks.
Trixie witnessed that day a war ravaged land. Yaks fighting, blue and red, against one another in horned combat. Royalists invaders from Yakyakistan against native freedom fighters. Trixie could easily depict what was happening here, but which were the good guys and which were bad guys? That was the question needing to be answered. "Who do you root for?"
The question caught Wolf off guard. Not that he didn't hear his passenger, just that he wished not to speak about such things, and the way she put it was almost insulting. As if it was a game. "I don't care very much, and I'm glad to be leaving this place again."
"Again?" Trixie asked while holding onto her hat.
"Yes, this is my original homeland. I merely stay here on occasion. Though, if you must know, the outsiders in red killed the heir to the throne of Kiyak, and their leader claimed the throne for himself, along with a few select cohorts. The place has been in turmoil ever since."
Dancer even had to say, "That's terrible."
"Equestria should help!" Trixie exclaimed.
"To a useless cause? Loss surrounds this beautiful place. It was once devoted to great faith, and kind individuals inhabited all corners, but now, it's just dangerous. It's best if Celestia keeps her ponies in the safety of her harbors and train stations, and let these yaks sort it out themselves."
While they flew over the border and were plagued by snow, the party of three pretty much kept quiet. They eventually crossed the threshold, though, and cleared the freezing blizzard. Afterwards, Trixie built up the courage to ask, "Will you be returning to Kiyak, or are you planning on staying with Princess Celestia."
He simply answered, "I'm not sure. It'll be whatever Celestia decides."
As they all traveled the rest of the way there in silence, Trixie thought about how she might persuade her mentor into allowing Wolf to stay as her assistant or something. Naturally, the guards were a bit startled to see a wild animal like Wolf walking behind Trixie, but they let her through.
They'd find Celestia and Discord in the ballroom Trixie had been in last time she was over there. Although Trixie had many things to talk about with Princess Celestia, Wolf knew she probably wouldn't get the chance right away. |
Celestia's New Student | Thirteen: Returning Home | Trixie lead the way to the throne room while the day leaned into the afternoon. "We're almost there," Trixie said for the fifth time in a row. They rounded another corner, only to find another long hallway. At that, Trixie said, "There we go."
"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Wolf asked tauntingly.
All three of the returning party members were tired from the voyage back to Canterlot, but that didn't slow any of them down in the least bit despite the desire for rest. Each kept a fast pace, however the two behind Trixie both followed further behind than the leader of the bunch would've preferred. Finally, Trixie reached the doors first, and turned around to address Wolf and Moon Dancer.
"Now then, the Great and Powerful Trixie will try out her new medallion and see how her teacher likes it."
Moon Dancer cheered for Trixie, "Woooh! Good luck!"
Before turning back around to proceed, she smiled at her new and supportive friends, and began filling the air with the densest fog anypony's ever seen. It only took her fog three seconds to reach the ceiling. As the doors opened, a wall of shimmering gray avalanched into the entire entrance, all the way up to her highness's hooves. Out of the gaps came Trixie and the others, and with the rays of light shining through the stained-glass windows, it made the atmosphere that much more impressive even to Celestia.
She put her work papers down, and looked over the familiar faces that had come to her. "Well, well... Looks like you found it with ease." The princess continued to compliment, "I like what you chose for its overall form."
"Thank you," Trixie replied humbly.
Then, the princess turned her gaze at her old friend, Wolf. He stared back blankly as far as Trixie knew. She hadn't yet realized the panting, and the slobber dropping to the tiles below. All this was going on right next to her, but once she did start to notice, she started backing away silently enough that Wolf didn't seem to notice her reaction towards his disposition. Not that he'd care.
He'd been like that for a moment or two without anypony but Celestia realizing it. He just kept his gaze locked on at her direction, but she didn't mind, and just smiled craftily. Suddenly, her torso lowered while a brand new, yellow tennis ball magically came out of hiding from behind her back. She bounced and bonked it on the floor several times, which instigated Wolf to attack. First, his eyes dilated the second that toy came into his line of vision. Then, he leaped forward, biting aggressively at it, but missing at every chance he got.
"Ball! Bah-" He took another shot at trying to chomp it before yelping yet again, "Ball!"
"Come on boy, you can do it!" Celestia teased cheerfully. "Almost!"
Trixie began to laugh, and even Moon Dancer couldn't hold in her chortles. Finally, Celestia allowed him to catch hold of it, and she let go almost too willingly. He curled up with it on the ground for a minute, and gnawed at it profusely. While he took his time with the now damp and dirty thing, Celestia looked at Trixie again. "Sorry, been awhile."
"Oh, no, no," Trixie said. "Trixie would feel the same exact way if she hadn't seen her pet in a while... Hope Dingo is alright. Anyways, Trixie wanted to speak to you, by the way, about Moon Dancer and Druid Shield."
Wolf rose, the ball held under his paw, and he announced, "Actually, I need to catch up with the princess about my mission."
"Huh?" Trixie asked.
Celestia raised her hoof at the student, and allowed Wolf her attention. "Very well. Please follow me. Trixie?" Before showing Wolf the way into her secondary quarters, she told Trixie, "In the meantime, mingle with Moon Dancer. I'll visit you in your room when I can."
With the exit in the very back of the throne room being sealed off, Trixie and her friendly bat pony looked at one another. "Trixie supposes it's more important to learn of Wolf's endeavors before simply giving Trixie her next assignment..."
The two left shortly thereafter, back in the direction of Trixie's room. No matter what, she had already made up her mind to switch Druid Shield for Moon Dancer. So long as that's what was still the plan, she felt little need to review it.
Now all she needed was permission from at least one of the princesses. Luna would do, and by the two's luck, she could be found entering one of the palace's private gardens just up ahead. "Oh, Princess Luna! Drat, Trixie thinks she didn't hear her."
"Uh, good... Because I kinda wanna talk."
Trixie had been so caught up in being back early that day, she hardly realized Moon Dancer's indifferent, slowly changing attitude. She'd been more silent than when outside the cave, and her stature had changed after the princess had gone away, too. She was more worried about something, but Trixie hadn't realized this until now. "What's on your mind?" Trixie asked considerately.
"Well," Moon Dancer said, her whispered tone still echoing in the emptiness of this particularly dark corridor. "I'm not sure if staying with Druid Shield is the best thing to do. I suppose I could use your input."
Trixie drew a deep breath while her gaze wavered down past the bat pony. She wasn't even sure how this would be dealt with, really. In Trixie's mind, in all honesty, she assumed Druid Shield would resume gate duty.
Moon Dancer being just outside Trixie's door, all the way down on the lower levels of the palace would allow the two more of a chance to see one another again. All this ran through her head except the fact that Moon Dancer just didn't feel for her mate the way she used to. Once that crossed her mind, she began, "Trixie supposes the first thing we should look over is, do you love him?"
Moon Dancer merely looked the other way, and said, "I'll always love him. It's just, I'm worried he doesn't love me!"
Trixie sighed, and said, "You'll have to trust him. Tough to say when Trixie can't even trust him, Trixie knows, but still. You have the opportunity to try again. Don't waste it. Now then, Trixie supposes he'll resume gate duty? Or would you rather him and you both be Trixie's guard?"
"No, no," Moon Dancer said with a smirk, her front hooves waving in front of her chest as if Trixie were offering her an unpleasantry. "I think it's best he resumes gate duty. We'd better see Princess Luna about it right away... and, thank you, Great and Powerful Trixie."
Slowly, Trixie and Moon Dancer entered the gardens. The sign above indicated its name was "Ruins", which made sense because behind the sedges laid ancient structures with Old Kingdom designs. Dead, untouched ivy hugged each mound in some unique way. Some peeled, and some was still fresh, but most of the plant life here was stuck in a balance. Most was a crimson brown, but the blotches of fighting green made the environment look so interesting.
"Princess?" Trixie asked while approaching the alicorn. Princess Luna kept her back to them, but her head turned so that she could hear. "We have a request to ask of you."
That's when Moon Dancer stepped forth. "Trixie wishes to replace Druid Shield with me so that he and I can resume our relationship in peace."
Luna's head rose, and Trixie could see her mouth opening to say something. "I... suppose that's fine. Heh..."
Trixie came closer. "What is it?"
Luna turned around, her full, luminous form glistening with the moonlight that had started to seep through the opened top roof above head. Trixie hadn't even seen the huge hole above her, but with the clouds parting to allow more light into the room, it was just too hard to ignore any longer. Princess Luna sighed before stating, "You two should be on your way. You have my permission to arrange the transfer. Just make sure Druid Shield sees me later tonight."
Trixie was just about to ask her highness if everything was alight, but Moon Dancer cut in to say nervously, "Great! Thank you, princess. I can tell you're busy, so Trixie and I will be on our way!"
She grabbed Trixie's hoof and was about to force an abrupt end to this meeting, but Luna had said quite softly, "Wait..." Of course, Moon Dancer heard her sharply, but to Trixie, she barely heard a whisper. They stood there, holding hooves, but not for long. Princess Luna reached out, and felt Trixie's. Moon Dancer let go while Luna looked closely.
While she had the opportunity, Trixie asked forwardly, "Why always batponies?" Luna looked up to her, dead in the eyes, but not harshly. "Trixie's guards," she said, unshaken.
Luna looked back down with a smile. "It's just a coincidence."
She let go, and with the other hoof, waved the two away. They returned to the hall obediently while giving each other glances. With nothing else to do in the palace, though, Trixie offered to return to her room, and Moon Dancer happily agreed. Druid Shield would be glad to see Trixie and Moon Dancer return with such good news as well. Not only that, but with the way Trixie acted towards him, it seemed he was off the hook for now. Trixie would also need to speak with the two about the requirements of her upcoming event, and their possible involvement in the show as well.
Meanwhile, All alone in the dimly lit hallway, Druid Shield stood in the corner next to the door awaiting the return of his master. "I didn't..." he started. "I didn't... mean to." He breathed out through his nostrils for a couple of seconds before quickly inhaling through his mouth.
"I'm not in love with Trixie. I love Moon Dancer. It's just, the time spent with Trixie clouded my mind. I found it very difficult to prevent such emotions from surfacing. It showed in the end, though, I suppose."
It stayed disturbingly quiet after that. He didn't say another word, and rather, fell back to sleep. For once, instead of him seeing Trixie in his dreams, this time it was Moon Dancer. Meanwhile, Trixie and Moon Dancer trotted closer and closer to the bedroom.
"Trixie wants to thank you for your assistance."
"No problem. I was assigned anyway, so it's not like I had much choice, but I enjoyed the trip." Moon Dancer smiled at Trixie.
"Say, Trixie is wondering. Would it be at all bad if you were to perform in her show?"
Moon Dancer's smile disappeared. "Oh, gee Trixie, I don't know... We batponies are more attuned with solitude. We're more scared of your race than you'd be of our's."
Trixie blinked. "But, if it was done on stage, everypony would see that you're harmless, and you don't have to reveal everything to them. Just the good parts!"
Moon Dancer sighed. "Alright, I suppose it'd be fun... somewhat, but that's only because I happen to be a bit more adventurous than your natural batpony. For instance, I can tell you right now, Druid Shield was nervous to the core when he got put on guard duty."
Trixie's eyebrows raised noticeably. "Really? But, he got over it... right?"
"In time, but chances are, he was just as nervous when he met you." Trixie faced forward more, but kept her line of sight where she could still see her companion.
"Why do you say that? Trixie is just one pony. Even though she is rather great and powerful." She kept the straightest face she could after that remark.
Moon Dancer snickered. "C'mon, Trixie. You've gotta be one of the most attractive unicorns in Canterlot!"
Trixie felt her cheeks get warm. "Uhh, thank you for the compliment," she said again facing Moon Dancer who only stared back with that usual, blithe expression. "You're awfully forward," Trixie admitted.
"I only speak the truth," Moon Dancer replied kindly. "Oh, hey, there's Druid Shield, and he's asleep. Watch this!"
Moon Dancer crept quietly, and got nearer towards her stallion. She observed him closely, listening in on his almost unnoticeable snores. Her hoof smoothly raised his chin so that her lips could meet his, which awoke him finally. "Mmmh..."
He stared sleepily into Moon Dancer's eyes, and then closed his happily. Trixie hadn't even been noticed by that time, which was actually a good thing in her opinion. Once the embrace was over, he looked down, and then over to the showmare. "Oh, Trixie... I hadn't seen you there."
Moon Dancer spoke up. "We've got some news for you."
"Wait, Moon Dancer, what're you doing way down here again?" Druid asked.
"Well, Princess Luna sent me on an escort mission with Trixie, and while we were busy, we also got to talking."
Trixie cut in. "Although you've been very useful, Trixie and Moon Dancer just get along better. Trixie believes it's because we're both mares, while you're..."
"And you've got a special somepony already," Moon Dancer mentioned boldly.
"Right. So, Druid Shield, you're to resume gate duty while Moon Dancer is to become Trixie's royal guard instead."
He remained unreadable until Moon Dancer mentioned, "Gives us more of a chance to see each other more often."
He smiled finally, and laughed slightly. "I can't argue that it's probably for the best."
Trixie, Moon Dancer, and Druid Shield all smiled at one another, and then Trixie recommended, "Come inside, Moon Dancer, and we'll discuss the upcoming show. Druid Shield?"
He gave her his attention before leaving to get suited and briefed with the princess. "Mmh?"
"You wouldn't wanna be in my show, would you?"
He grinned that much more, and said simply, "Nah." |
Celestia's New Student | Fourteen: Sweater Weather | Trixie laid on the side of her bed on her back, her upper torso suspended by a chair. Moon Dancer hung from the ceiling mini-chandelier offering suggestions for the show, and Trixie always took them to heart. They'd been at this for about an hour or so, and though Trixie wasn't exactly getting tired, she was just concerned with her mentor.
"And then, when they're all in my clutches... I'll eat a peach! Mwahahaha!"
Trixie gave a sarcastic gasp. "That's terrible!" Then she started to laugh lightly. "I think we've got the show basically figured out. Say, Moon Dancer?"
"Yus?"
While she yawned, Trixie said, "Trixie is getting tired, and it has gotten late..."
"Yes ma'am!" Just like she had done way over in Kiyak, Moon Dancer leaped down and landed on all four hooves quite gracefully. She then flew up to stop the creaking she caused with Trixie's roof piece, and after that was taken care of, she quickly flew down to the door. "If you need anything, I'll be right outside keeping watch."
Right after saying that, she left Trixie in peace. For a moment, the showmare listened at the echoing of her door being closed. The silence that followed lingered for a good minute or two, but eventually, Trixie got out of her bed to go freshen up Dingo's water and food bowl.
"Dingo," she called quietly to the motionless lump under her blanket. It twitched, and then slithered to the edge of the bed only to fall right off the mattress. Out came Dingo from the sleeves, panting in a way that made him look as if he were giving his master a great, big grin. Once his meal was prepared, Trixie said, "Here you go boy."
She soon returned to her bed to rest up. Meanwhile, Moon Dancer stood outside the room, her side satchel unzipped, and a pair of clawed weapons being checked upon. "I'm glad I didn't need to use these over in Kiyak."
She zipped it back up, and looked out at the city beyond the white pillars, and at the setting sun. She considered returning to her quarters later on in the covers of evening to take care of a few things, and was just about to return to her post when a large shadow overtook her. Out from seemingly nowhere, a sweet voice asked the lone mare, "Where's Druid Shield?"
Moon Dancer turned around to see Princess Celestia suddenly towering over her. Now, if there was one thing Moon Dancer wasn't used to, it was dealing with Luna's very own sister. So, being caught like this, with her back turned the way it was while she meant to be on duty, she gulped. "Y-your highness... Ehh, what a surprise! Well, Trixie... That is, you see, Luna, err..."
Princess Celestia frowned at the pony below her who was now starting to bite the nails of her hooves. Bowing respectfully, she backed away. With her eyes closed, Princess Celestia said, "Sorry, I didn't realize I was cornering you."
This made Moon Dancer step more into the hall, and less on top of her bag. She then managed to say with some thinking space, "Umm, t-thank you, your highness. Now, where was I... That's right. Trixie and I decided it would be best if I became her guard pony instead of Druid Shield. We already talked to Princess Luna and got her approval."
Celestia smiled, and said, "Then it is so. Seeing as how you're Trixie's guard pony, may I please enter her quarters?"
The request alone made Moon Dancer's face flush. "Ahh haha, very funny, your highness! You don't need my permission. You're the princess! Her mentor..." She stared at the serious facial expression Celestia kept brilliantly.
"I'm quite serious, and I hadn't gotten the chance to explain the job the way I did with Druid Shield. Your responsibilities are easy to understand. You are Trixie's sword. You are Trixie's shield. Guard her as best you can at all times, especially when she's not safely within her quarters unless explicitly dismissed by either me or her. Other than that, while she's in her room, you are responsible for whoever else enters."
The batpony blinked a few times. "Alright..."
"So, I simply must ask for your permission to enter. You're not to allow anypony to enter without your permission to do so."
"Then, in that case, you may enter! Of course!"
Celestia walked up to the door, but before proceeding, she looked back at Moon Dancer. "Before I leave you, where has Druid Shield gone?"
"Oh, right. He's on gate duty."
The princess's face soon became concerning. "Moon Dancer, I assigned him to Trixie because of his magical prowess, I hope you realize."
Moon Dancer's eyes darkened, and her frown returned. "Uhh..."
"There's certain quests Trixie is bound to embark upon that will require his assistance. He's pretty much as powerful as Princess Twilight's own brother, Shining Armor, and that's why I requested him special. He's supposed to be under Luna's command."
Moon Dancer's eyebrows raised. "You care about Trixie that much?"
Princess Celestia nodded. "I felt it necessary with Twilight Sparkle, and I feel the same way about Trixie. Just, this time around, I have my sister to help, and you batponies, too. Thank you."
Moon Dancer smiled, and replied, "Thank you, too. Although, you know why he can't be Trixie's guard, right?"
"I think it's only fair to inform you," Celestia said while looking away. "That... he'll be escorting Trixie on further missions."
Moon Dancer blinked while looking around before asking, "Why?"
"The only reason you were the escort last time around was because you'd already been there, and somewhat knew the territory. Druid Shield..." She looked back. "He was actually supposed to go along with the you two of you, but Discord assured me that if he didn't show up with my student within that ballroom, it wouldn't bring you two any harm."
Moon Dancer shook her head, and voiced, "No... He's my Special Somepony, Princess! Look, I can protect Trixie. I don't want Trixie getting attached to Druid Shield. Alright?" Moon Dancer requested this with a pained expression. "He has a small crush on Trixie, I think... I wanna doubt."
A hoof rose to her highness's lips. "Oh, I didn't know... That's why Luna shied away from selecting him for gate duty. I needed him, though. After seeing how much more strength the unicorn races of the batpony species can contain, I... Why didn't she tell me he had special ties to the upper towers of Canterlot?"
Moon Dancer confessed her thoughts. "She probably didn't feel it right. Neither would've Druid, for that matter. He's always followed orders as best he could, even when it means possibly letting down a friend..."
The alicorn gazed downward in Moon Dancer's direction. "That's how you two came to be, then."
Moon Dancer nodded, her eyes fixed on the tall mare before her. "Yes, ma'am."
They stayed in the quiet for a long time, Celestia pondering. Then, finally, she suggested the perfect solution. "Why don't all three of you go?"
"Huh?"
Celestia smiled quite knowledgeably. "That way, you'll be there to divert Druid Shield's attention from Trixie, and he can still do his job of protecting his party. I think making a rule for this is the only way to ensure everypony remains happy, don't you?"
She smile wider, and laughed. "I... guess that'll work!"
With the hoof of her highness touching the doorknob, the excited batpony stopped her slight screeches of enjoyment, and turned to assume position. She stood motionless by the door, and Princess Celestia entered gracefully, closing and locking the door behind her.
Inside, Trixie sat at her bed with a book that rested on a pillow perfectly. It faced her, and she seemed so involved, the princess might've guessed she hadn't noticed her presence, but the way her ear moved told Celestia her pupil knew of her presence. "Studying at this time of night? If I stay up much longer, I'm afraid I'll fall asleep in the halls."
Trixie didn't look away from her book, and instead kept reading on seemingly completely fascinated by her studies. "Trixie knows it's late, but now that she can do her fog spell so easily, Trixie is more eager to plan for her next upcoming performance than ever!"
"Yes, about that." Celestia came to sit in front of her student, and said, "Your next assignment, actually, will take place beginning week after next."
"Why then?" Trixie asked.
"Because of the Gala, remember?"
"Oh," Trixie giggled, almost forgetting.
"Now, for the assignment, what I expect from you is this: Choose a performance stage. Ticketing will be free, and word will sweep Canterlot of the random choice you shall make when the time comes."
"Ah, so when Trixie starts, there might be a grand crowd already there?"
"There will, and I expect your next show to be unique, too." Trixie's toothy smile soon turned to an expression of cunning. "I don't expect myself to be quite impressed, but I at least hope to see the crowd react accordingly."
"Trixie can do this. Now, which stage would Trixie like to occupy?"
She started getting out of bed, and walking towards the balcony, but gasped as she stopped. Princess Celestia had turned to start headed for the mirror, but hearing her student helped divert her attention. "What is it?" she asked.
"It's snowing!"
Just out the window, one could see the beginnings of falling specks. At first glance, one would think it ash, but upon further examination, turns out to be those crisp flakes that freezes some of the land at the end of each year. "Why, yes, I believe it's just about that time," Celestia said. "Which is why we need to go ahead and hurry along with the Grand Galloping Gala before the weather really picks up." Before leaving Trixie to her own devices, Celestia held Trixie tight.
"Celestia?"
"I really must be on my way... But, before I go, you'll be wanting to meet me in the morning at the usual ballroom. It's about what you'll be wearing for the upcoming event."
"Okay, Trixie can't wait!"
Princess Celestia let go, and made her way for the exit. "Enjoy your evening, my new student," Celestia soothingly whispered, but loud enough to be heard of course. Before Trixie closed the door to her balcony behind her, Trixie on the outside, a book magically lofted through the crack, and it closed along with the door leading to the halls close by, too.
The following day would unfortunately not be met with chilling snow, but rather the same, bright sun above head, and the heat that came with it. Luckily for most in Equestria, it wasn't so bad thanks to the wind that was now blowing throughout the lands. Trixie's first action that day was to shower, freshen up, and unwillingly leave behind her cape and hat. Today, for the dressing, these things simply wouldn't be needed. |
Celestia's New Student | Fifteen: The Gala | Unlike the mornings that usually awoke Trixie, this one was able to awaken her much earlier. Wind swept in with a whistle. Seeing as how Trixie had left the glass door open, it came from outside Trixie's balcony, gracing her hooves that hung from the side ending of her bed. Her head rose, but her eyes wouldn't open just yet. Without sight, she reached down the other side to the floor to feel around for that book she'd been reading.
By the time her eyes finally did open, she'd gotten hold of her book, and said with sleepiness in her voice, "Gotcha..."
It slowly came back up to the cushioning that Trixie, too, relaxed upon. She stayed there for a good minute like that, on her waist, feeling the sleeves serenely rub against only her torso. The wind blowing against her hooves only helped in bringing her in and out of her overly comfortable position.
"Mmh, alas..." She yawned. "The Great and Sleepy Trixie must meet Celestia shortly... She really should be getting up just about now."
She said this while clenching the covers more tightly, and almost falling back to sleep. Had it not been for Dingo suddenly barking at Moon Dancer making a noise outside, Trixie would've gone right back to sleep with ease.
"Ugh, Dingo! It's just Moon..."
She got out from the blankets, and came up to the door to listen closely. It sounded like snoring alright, but in between, Trixie could easily pick up distinct words whispered. So, she cracked her door quietly, and listened more carefully.
In between her cute, light snoring, the batpony spoke up with her head bobbing for consciousness, "Love you... too, Druid."
Trixie smiled innocently, and even more silently closed the door before proceeding to get ready. In little time at all, she was again at the entrance to her room, but this time sneaking by Moon Dancer who much deserved her shuteye. Down the hall, and on the appropriate turns, Trixie made her way to the ballroom. There was this ominous feeling, too, like she'd forgotten something. No material item, but something she'd wanted to ask Princess Celestia about last night, but it'd slipped her mind.
She gasped, and said aloud the realization. "Trixie was right! The gazebo! Celestia requested Rarity to make Trixie's Grand Galloping Gala dress for her! Ohh, ohh... And the door is right there."
Her reaction was a mix of excitement and utmost nervousness. Questions arose in her head, like whether or not Rarity even knew who the dress was for. Not to mention, does she forgive Trixie for all she's done in the past? Would she? "Trixie hopes Rarity simply made the dress and then left, but that's probably not the case. Trixie isn't prepared for this," Trixie said to herself, her confidence being drowned by worry.
Then, she remembered what she'd said to Celestia just last night ago. She'd said, "Okay, Trixie can't wait!"
She huffed. "I guess... Trixie guesses she knew this was going to happen. Rarity will probably be the second hardest pony to apologize to, so, here goes nothing..."
Thus, the doors opened. Trixie found the inside of the ballroom to be beautifully ruined by designing equipment. Sewing machines, crates holding supplies from the Carousel Boutique, and a cat high up on a pile of stacked boxes littered the place thoroughly. The far end of the room was occupied by a shimmering rimmed, wooden floored platform that sat aligned with the entrance. On it, a curtain shielding what must've been Trixie's dress behind it. Amongst all this stuff, Trixie felt it only right to remark under her breath, "At least there's somewhat of a walkway..."
For the most part, the room seemed fairly empty, and had it not been for all the dress making materials, Trixie would've thought she were in the wrong room. She was about to ask aloud, "Hello?" Just before she did, somepony came out rounding the corner of the centerpiece. It was Rarity, and for a second, Trixie couldn't move or make a sound.
Rarity hadn't even seen the showmare just yet, and had her back facing Trixie as she kept up with her checkup of things. "Everything simply must be perfect," Rarity announced. "After all, Princess Celestia, I want Trixie to know that the past is just that. It's the past, and that if you say she's willing to be my friend as well everypony else's, then I cannot deny this especially coming from you."
"Quite," Celestia spoke from behind the shading of the fabrics. She came into view, and quickly saw her student still frozen in place. "You do know that my new student is still sorry for what she did while in possession of the Alicorn amulet, right?"
"Y-yes, I do," Rarity said soundly, her head lowering.
"And, she also wishes for you to help her in winning over the others."
"I know, your Highness. It's just, Rainbow will be the most difficult. She's a hard forgiver. Why, when Trixie's name popped up over at Twilight's castle the other day ago, she made this big scene and everything! It was absurd."
"Yes, I'm aware of Rainbow Dash's thoughts towards Trixie," the princess said. "I'm also well aware that every pony feels differently towards her becoming my student overall based off of what we've discussed, but what's done is done. Just as what's happened in the past, there's always a new beginning." Cunningly, just as Trixie raised a hoof, Celestia openly invited her their way. "Ah, there she is."
Rarity turned to see Trixie without her cape and hat, something unexpected. She couldn't immediately place her hoof on why Trixie looked so different, and more like a pony Rarity had never met before, but Rarity was much more concerned with greetings. "Trixie," she said, making her best welcoming face she could, and Trixie did the same.
"Rarity! Good to see you!" Even Trixie was surprised by Rarity's sudden hug. This was nothing compared to what ran through her head just moments before.
After letting go, Rarity asked forwardly if only to keep the ball rolling, "So, guess my friends and I will be seeing you at the gala tomorrow night. Right?"
"Yep," Trixie replied cheekily. "It's Trixie's first gala, and Trixie would be honored to attend."
"But, dearie, you need a dress!" She touched Trixie's muzzle quickly but mildly to keep her from speaking. "Luckily, I have you covered."
Her hoof moved straight from Trixie muzzle to a little red button that could be found on the side of the platform next to the group. With the curtain unveiling Trixie's new Grand Galloping Gala dress, the showmare almost cried.
The colors matched, the formation was flawless, and the headpiece was to die for. This attire was more than Trixie could've ever dreamed of. She couldn't wait to try it on, either. That's when a distraction came for Celestia. Through the doorway, a young stallion guard came running in with an urgent notice concerning a very furtive situation.
"Your Highness, your Highness! From the Crystal Empire!"
She snatched it, read it seriously, gasped, and then screeched in the highest tone anypony's ever heard Celestia reach. "Oh my gosh," Princess Celestia said excitedly. "Are those two pulling my leg? They can't be!" She looked down at the three ponies including her own guard, who all obviously wanted in on the juicy bit of news. "Umm, have you ever known about a surprise so big, that nopony else is allowed to know about it but you and a few select other individuals?"
They all looked at one another, neither answering.
Celestia spoke up. "Well, I do! Trixie? I need to go attend to this briefly. Mind if I see you in your dress a little later?"
Trixie shook her head. "No, that'd be fine your Highness. Trixie doesn't mind."
"Thanks. You two might as well be left alone right now anyways. See you in a bit."
While Celestia left the room with the guard that had delivered the note, Trixie ventured to ask, "What was that all about?"
Rarity responded with, "I haven't the slightest idea, Trixie... Hmm... Curious, though, isn't it? Let's not get off track, though. Let's get you fitted!"
"What?" Trixie asked with her hoof being snatched by Rarity's. "Now?"
"Well, yes, but of course. Why not now? I made this dress specially for you." Rarity eyed her creation yet again, and continued, "I simply can't wait to see you in it. Without the wearer, it's just... incomplete!"
Trixie was hurried along and hopped on into the dressing room in the back. A few moments later, she'd exit, and all Rarity could do for a second there was stare. Her mouth stayed hanging open thanks to the way Trixie looked. "Simply divine," Rarity finally complimented.
"Thank you..." Trixie smiled. "Umm, Trixie needs assistance with her hoof shoe lacing. Please?"
Rarity generously approached and began using her magic to tie it, but not too tight. "There we go. Now the other hoof."
With the fashion pony now busy, Trixie looked down at Rarity, and said, "Trixie... wanted to apologize." Rarity frowned, but didn't say a word. So, Trixie continued. "You know, for the last two visits I've made to Ponyville."
Rarity finished, but held Trixie's hoof in her's a bit longer. "Darling, please," she began sweetly, now smiling confidently again. "Just so happens I know you were behind me while I was talking to Celestia back there. Let the past be the past, and-"
"No, Rarity," Trixie interrupted. "I need to do this... I'm sorry, for everything. And, thank you for the dress!"
Trixie was the one that was giving the hug this time around. To be honest with herself, Rarity couldn't help but to love her actions. With a tear being wiped away quickly, she replied in a shaken voice, "You're... very welcome, darling."
After the hug had ended, Trixie looked down at her dress, and sighed. "Trixie has never worn a more lovely ensemble. She only wishes she could wear it more often than just at these very rare and special events... but, then it wouldn't be special, would it?"
Rarity nodded. "I'll see you at the gala, then... Mmh, Trixie, just know. I'm not sure if I'll be able to help you and Rainbow out, like I said, but Applejack has already said she's willing to give you a chance."
"That's good... Uh, what about Pinkie Pie?"
Rarity gave Trixie a deadpan face. "Consider her your best friend already. Fluttershy's very easy going by the way, so you'll do just fine with her. Honestly, the only of us seven counting Spike that still doesn't fully trust you is Rainbow Dash."
"Spike's alright with Trixie?"
Rarity laughed with a scrunched muzzle. "Once I'm done with him, he will be."
In a few short minutes, Trixie had removed her dress and was ready to leave Rarity. She probably had some cleaning and reorganizing to do anyways, but before Trixie left, she simply requested, "Wish Trixie luck with Rainbow Dash tonight, Rarity."
With her eyes closed, Rarity nodded. "Good luck. And... say, before you go, have you met Discord?"
Trixie blinked. "Oh... His first impression on Trixie was sinister, and downright bad. Recent interactions, though... But, yes, Trixie knows of him. Why do you ask?"
"Well, recently, my friends and I became closer with him. Through constant struggle, we've finally been able to accept him in our friendship, which to this day is a surprise to all of us. Even Twilight Sparkle."
She looked Trixie seriously in the face, and Trixie asked, "That sinister, huh?"
Rarity answered, "Mmhmm... Now, my point is, if we can... I'm going to use my words carefully here, and say evolve past our displeasure for Discord, and even become close friends with something as wicked as he is, I'm sure you'll do just fine."
Trixie blushed. "Trixie will... have to remember that if she gets a chance to talk with Rainbow Dash at the gala."
"When," Rarity corrected.
They departed shortly thereafter, Trixie content with the new friendships she'd been building. Time between then and the gala was quick spent getting ready. There was so much to do, to name off the current tasks that still needed attending to would be enough to spin anypony around in circles for hours. Trixie, for the most part was as ready as she'd ever be. She just hoped that Rainbow would be willing to give her a chance to redeem herself.
The young student wandered in the halls like she so often found herself doing, draped in what was sure to be the most beautiful dress of the evening. Rarity had outdone herself. Trixie was headed right for the princess's quarters, both eager and scared for the exciting evening, but Celestia still absolutely needed to see Trixie in her dress first.
She rounded another corner, now headed east. The shadows sloped forward next to the moonlight that glared on the wall directly next to her. Just when a figure encompassed what little light that did come through, Trixie gasped. Her sounds of surprise were drowned out by Twilight yelling down the hall, "Trixie! Hey, wait up!"
"Oh, Twilight...!" Trixie huffed, and then began trotting closer to her. She hadn't expected another hug, but that's just what she got. Twilight seemed more than happy to embrace Trixie openly, but unfortunately for the showmare, Trixie just couldn't stop herself from allowing a quick flash of memories to enter her mind. They were particularly filled with the bad ones.
"How you been? Hope the princess hasn't kept you too swamped with studies."
"Good," Trixie replied. "The Great and Powerful Trixie took your last words spoken to her to heart. She's been doing very well ever since." She soon enough saw what Twilight wore. "Also, wow! You look absolutely amazing!"
Twilight blushed. "Thank you, and you look wonderful, too!" Twilight grinned that much more at Trixie. More exactly, at what she was wearing. "Rarity told me she'd be doing this for you, but to see it finished... It matches you perfectly."
"Thank you," Trixie said humbly. "And, Princess Celestia doesn't keep Trixie too preoccupied... You know, Trixie doubts she's that kind of student, the kind you were in her highness's mind."
Twilight walked with her friend, and chatted some more to pass the time. "No, you're the same type of pupil I was," Twilight said sharply. "Princess Celestia's told me so in her letters. It's just, she's trying very hard not to overwhelm you. I think she's worried that if she teaches you the way she taught me, it might backfire."
"Right, because Trixie probably wouldn't be able to stick with it for long."
"She's said that she's scared you'll decide to end this after all. With me, I was pretty much guaranteed to stay under her wing with no problems, and to do my best to excel at every possible avenue of magic I came across."
Trixie nodded. "I'm not that student she used to have."
"Right! You're different," Twilight promised with a smile. "You're special. You focus on something way more different than just mere magic, and you're a totally different pony all together for that. It's the same program she had going with me. It's just... you, yourself... you change the equation."
"All Celestia wants is the same outcome she got with you... Well, maybe not the same, like Trixie becoming an alicorn or anything! Hehe, err, just that Trixie excels at what she does best."
They'd reached Celestia's room, and Twilight looked back at her friend with a pleased grin. "You got it. Now then, let's hope Celestia's ready for the gala."
With the door opening, Trixie reminded Twilight, "We're just a tad bit early, so you might want to give her that much."
Sure enough, the bathroom door was just opening, and Celestia came walking out from behind the doors, but something looked different. She wasn't wearing her usual items of clothing, like her tiara. All of that could be found sitting on a table in the corner behind where her highness stood. Her mane waved at the two peacefully as ever, indications that she'd just taken a good, long shower for this event. This meant she was just about ready.
"My new student, Trixie. And Princess Twilight, too... My goodness, I've never, ever seen more wonderful fashion designing! Rarity made both of these dresses, right?"
Twilight answered, "Yep! She did a spectacular job, huh?"
"I can't argue with you there, Princess Twilight. I'm almost ready. Just let me get finished."
All except her chest piece was equipped on Princess Celestia, her dress being a dimmer pink than last year's. That was the only difference, really, but she looked so amazing all the time to everypony, to do much more would almost be too much. And so, the three were on their way to enjoy the evening, though Trixie still having butterflies in her stomach.
At a distanced enough table, far from the organized dancing and socializing that was going on, Trixie sat on a cushion sipping on some fine cider. She'd gotten it at the stands, but once the cups were filled, she and Twilight had to depart momentarily. Twilight had said she'd be getting her friends, and that she'd be showing them where they'd be sitting. However, that seemed to be a while ago to Trixie.
Finally, Trixie looked up from her glass to both hear and see Twilight with friends. There was Pinkie bouncing up and down, overly excitedly, a predictable sight, and Rarity as well. Applejack stayed in the back of the bunch, but still, Trixie couldn't help but wonder where Rainbow and Fluttershy were. "Our table is right this way," Twilight lead. "Now then, Pinkie Pie, Applejack... You remember Trixie, right?"
"Hi Trixie!" Pinkie blurted out, getting in Trixie's face, overly forward like normal.
Rarity chuckled. "Told you Pinkie would be more than open to being your friend."
"Yeah, and Ah still have my wits about me." Applejack didn't seem resentful at all. She was just protective of her friends, and Trixie knew that. "Now, Rarity's said you might wanna apologize to the rest of us... Is this true, Hun?"
Trixie bowed her head. "Yes, Trixie would."
Applejack breathed. "No lying now, y'hear?"
"Yes, ma'am." Trixie looked up to see Applejack's expression change to slight surprise. "Trixie is sorry, Applejack, Pinkie Pie... for, you know. Using the Alicorn Amulet against you, and all of Ponyville. Trixie just hopes that we can be... friends."
All the farm pony could do was nod, because that was even more warming to hear than she expected it to be. "Uhh, okay then... Ah'd like that," she stated with a gleeful smile. "Heh, shucks. This is pretty neat, seeing you being all... being good and such!"
Trixie blushed, and said, "Thank you, you're too kind. Speaking of which..." The others excluding Pinkie began giving a grim expression. "Where's Fluttershy? More importantly, Trixie simply must speak to Rainbow Dash about this."
"Aw," Applejack mused. "Fluttershy'll be your friend no matter what! She's out back in the garden if you really wanna go see her, though."
"And Rainbow?"
Again, that same, grim expression showed itself on Applejack's muzzle. "Hun... Foal steps, you know? Rainbow's still antsy with ya. Give her some time to relax about you becoming Celestia's student and all. I hate to say it, but Ah highly doubt she'll be willing to forgive and forget tonight, just like that."
Trixie looked away, and sighed, "You're probably right, Applejack."
"Ah'm sorry, but hey, why not go see Fluttershy? Ah mean, five outta six mares won over in one go is pretty good, huh?" She offered this with a hoof, and Trixie figured she'd be content with adopting this perspective.
"Trixie supposes you're right... Very well, then. She's at the gardens, you said?"
"Mmhmm." Just before leaving them, Trixie heard Applejack tell her, "Good luck," before chuckling along with Rarity. Trixie watched behind her as she left the room, and observed the group for just a little bit longer before vacating the music and everything.
Fluttershy was easily spotted amongst the beginning of some dense trees, speaking to a squirrel that occupied a high branch. "Fluttershy?" Trixie asked, the pegasus pony's back facing her.
"Storing nuts for the cold season, huh? Oh, Trixie. I didn't see you there," Fluttershy smiled, turning around. "Don't mind me. I was just speaking to this cute, little critter up there. He's awfully busy getting ready... Perhaps it's rude of me to bother him."
"Heh..." Trixie was about to simply begin apologizing, like she'd felt up to doing so all night, especially towards Rainbow, but Fluttershy started speaking first.
"My goodness!"
Trixie gulped. "What?"
Fluttershy smiled. "Your dress! It's magnificent! Is that Rarity's doing?"
"Oh, yes! It is! You like it?"
Fluttershy calmly hoofed, "I love it!"
Trixie only felt it fair to return the compliment. "She probably did your's, too, because what you're wearing looks just as good as Trixie's dress if not better."
"Why, thank you, Trixie." The pegasus took in some air before stating, "I never knew you could be so... kind."
Trixie couldn't stop smiling. With Fluttershy, she didn't even feel it necessary to apologize, but still, she made a move on doing so. Fluttershy didn't help her either in asking, "So, did you need something? Or just coming over here to keep me company?"
Trixie raised a hoof. "Actually, Trixie wanted to... you know, say that she's sorry for all she's done in the past, to you and your friends."
Instantly, without a moment's wait, Fluttershy admirably stated, "Forgiven."
It was enough to make Trixie back up a little, and that's when she saw Rainbow's signature streak overtake the distanced clouds along with a few other flyers. They were surely the legendary Wonderbolts, but what made Trixie that much more uneasy was the sure possibility of Rainbow hearing her friend say that. This was mainly because there she was floating just up above, behind Fluttershy and the trees.
"That's... great!" Trixie awkwardly did her best to keep a straight face, but knowing Rainbow was right there just made the whole atmosphere feel more tense just then. Luckily for her, Fluttershy thought it time to catch up with her other friends.
"I'll be with Twilight if you need me." Before leaving, though, Fluttershy took the time to say, "Rarity's already tried to talk to Rainbow Dash by the way. It didn't work. Umm... My advice would be to do whatever your heart tells you to do." She then went ahead and hugged the showmare for good comfort, oblivious to Rainbow's presence.
After the yellow pony had left, save for a few words heard off in the distance and the muffled music being played beyond the walls of the structure next to them, there was a moment of silence while the two looked on at one another. For the most part, the clearing they occupied though well lit was amazingly deserted.
Rainbow was waiting for Trixie to say something first, but instead of that happening, Trixie turned around solemnly and started heading for the fountain only a few steps away. Rainbow, though she could've left, didn't. She followed closely behind, hovering above the grass now, and watching Trixie's every movement.
When they'd finally gotten to the water, Rainbow was more than willing to break the silence. "Nice dress." It didn't even sound realistic. More like something she was being paid to say.
"Thank you," Trixie quietly responded. "You look..." She took a chance and made eye contact shortly after looking this mare up and down. "You look wonderful, too."
Rainbow's sneer wasn't comforting at all, and only assisted in Trixie getting quieter and quieter. "So," Rainbow said. "I... might've been watching you while you talked to Applejack." This was a shock to Trixie, and sent goosebumps down her forehooves and hindlegs. Rainbow even saw how shaken Trixie had gotten after she announced that. Now Rainbow, too, had butterflies in her stomach.
"You did...?"
"Y-yeah," she tried to say smoothly, but it came out sounding as if she'd just learnt this herself. "Applejack seems... really, really willing to give you a chance. Either you're the greatest liar ever, or..." She smiled.
"Oh, Rainbow," Trixie said, wanting to say anything she could to deny being a liar.
"Or, you're actually, genuinely sorry for what you did... Just, why did Celestia choose somepony like you as her new student? I don't get it. I mean, let's be real here." Rainbow breathed in before boldly saying, "You're no Twilight Sparkle when it comes to magic and spell weaving."
Trixie blinked with worry. "Does that really matter? Does it even need to be brought up? Trixie doesn't know, okay?" She placed her hoof on her chest, and said, "Trixie often can't help but to think about this at times, and when she does, her heart sinks. So, go ask her if you must know, because I won't have your answer!"
Rainbow shuffled her hooves in an embarrassed way. "No, that's not important," the pegasus said in realization. "You're right," she confessed to herself with closing eyes. "You're right..."
"Why can't Trixie be your friend, Rainbow Dash?" The question was like a dagger, cutting through all the obstacles to get to the core of the conversation.
"Erh, because, I... Uhh..."
Flustered, Trixie's hoof pointed forth at Rainbow's torso. "You can't even answer! If you want Trixie to say sorry, she will, because it's beginning to feel like that's all she's said tonight. Apology after apology." Her head shook in disbelief towards Rainbow's untouched stance and unchanged face, like she was contemplating this harshly, and she was.
"How..." Rainbow finally made a more pleasant face, if only a little untrusting. "How do I know you won't put us all in harm's way again, like when you had that amulet?"
Trixie put her hoof on her upset head, and sternly asked, "Did Discord get the third degree, too?"
At that, Rainbow inhaled a deep breath of air through her nose, and sighed before saying, "My friends brought that up, too. I kinda flew away, because I didn't have an answer. I still don't."
"Well," Trixie began, her eyes filling with tears now. "Trixie wants to say that she's s-"
"No!" Rainbow shut her eyes tight to block her own tears, and exclaimed, "I'm the one who should be sorry." Rainbow sniffled. "I'm sorry, Trixie, for being such a... a hard head about it, as Rarity puts it. I'm sorry I put you through this, and I know you don't deserve this kind of treatment anymore. I just..."
Trixie asked with a hoarse voice, "R-Rainbow Dash?"
"Guh," she grunted, wiping away the tears that had escaped. "I just don't know what came over me. Alright?"
Trixie moved quick to grasp Rainbow in her hooves. "It's okay," she comforted. "I'll forgive you if you forgive me... Friends?"
Rainbow held tight, and smiled. "Alright, friends." They kept with each other, hidden by the trees, next the lavish, flowing fountain for a few more seconds. Rainbow was the one to break the hug. Trixie just didn't want to let go, but compelled herself rather well despite the circumstances. "I just hope nopony saw that."
Trixie magically pulled a handkerchief out from her dress, and said, "Trixie just knew this would be of some use tonight. Trixie doesn't think any pony saw us, by the way, but..." She took it upon herself to clean both her's and Rainbow's cheeks. "We'd better be getting back to the fun before everypony starts looking for us."
Nodding to the notion, Rainbow lead the way. "Yeah, and besides, Soarin' promised me a race before the night ended."
Trixie chuckled. "Isn't he the cute one?"
Rainbow gasped, and then a whole new conversation began. This one, this time around would be a much more preferable conversation to the two of them. The festivities of the night went by all too fast of course, and the next morning would come inevitably, but at this moment in time, Trixie wished the Grand Galloping Gala was one that lasted forever. |
Celestia's New Student | Sixteen: A Week Later | One week went by quickly after the gala, mainly because during that time existed a lack of objectivity for Trixie. She had her upcoming show Princess Celestia had assigned her to prepare for, and that was about it. In just three days of that one week, she already had her line of tricks and spells ready.
In just two more days, she'd have them practiced and suitably acceptable for her performance. All except one that is, which she'd been putting off all this time to better consider which stage she'd be occupying.
At this time in the late morning, Trixie could be found at her old caravan along with Moon Dancer in the chariot houses. Instead of her armor, and instead of Trixie's cape and hat, they both wore blue and purple sweaters. It was cold enough, but the idea was because of Trixie, and Moon Dancer tagged along just for fun, and to stay warm.
"Did you decide on a stage yet?" Moon Dancer asked while adjusting her sleeves, knowing good and well Trixie hadn't.
"Well, like Trixie said yesterday, she'll probably decide on the one at the northern gate. It's the best choice when you think about it."
Moon Dancer sighed. "Finally! I kept telling you the northern gate was the way to go. It'll get the word across town the fastest, and it's easy to bring everything there, but not too easy like the one at the front palace doors will probably be someday."
"Trixie will be needing Druid Shield's assistance for the safe deliverance of this equipment... Where is he? Trixie thought you said he was just about done with the morning shift."
"He was."
"Here I am," Druid Shield cut in, a frown on his face. "My apologies. I was talking to Princess Luna about some weird deers and their buck leader wanting passage to the city. They apparently had very foreign products to sell, but wouldn't allow me to see their merchandise."
Trixie shuffled. "You went all the way to Princess Luna for that?"
Druid Shield shook his head, and finished his story. "Actually, they wouldn't show me because they were here to sell these things to Princess Luna. That's why I had to go get her." He growled, "Never even got to see what was inside those wooden crates, because even if I glanced, that buck would warn me of the cultural violations. Something important, though, because Luna sure was interested when I informed her about it."
Moon Dancer walked over from next to Trixie, and hugged her stallion with one of her wings. "I understand that you've had a long day."
"But, Trixie needs assistance."
"Oh, right," Druid Shield said while scratching the back of his head with a hoof. "I'll get all the heavy stuff."
Trixie smiled masterfully at how strong his powers were, and had a thought cross her mind. "Say, Druid Shield?"
"Yes?" he asked after setting a load of things down into the cart they intended to use.
"You're good with magic. Help Trixie with her spell. It's the one that makes the tip of your horn glow."
His horn had dimmed, and his expression was like stone. "I will, but Trixie, if I'm not your guard pony anymore, then I'd appreciate it if you asked me for my help when it comes to these sorts of things."
As shallow as that was, Trixie was close to admitting he was right when Moon Dancer said first, "Actually..." Trixie looked over. "Princess Celestia said-"
"Crap," Druid Shield abruptly, and loudly whispered.
"Hey! What? She did!" He stayed silent. "She said that you were to still go on escort missions with Trixie and I."
He leered his vision up to her. "What?"
"So, and considering I'm your marefriend and everything, I'm the boss."
"Hmmmm..."
"Do as Trixie says, especially in my presence. She's your friend."
With her work done, Moon Dancer finished up by muzzling poor Druid Shield for a change, and departed from the two briefly before meeting Trixie at the location they were to perform at. All alone, something that they hadn't experienced in what seemed like a long time, Trixie and Druid Shield worked together to get all of Trixie's most important things into place. "Be very delicate," she said.
"Yes, Trixie, I know."
"You needn't be so formal. The Great and Powerful Trixie didn't mean to be so bossy, but Moon Dancer is right. You're still my friend. Right?"
He looked from the entrance of the caravan to Trixie, and said, "Yeah. I, uh, just want you to know, I don't have any romantic feelings for you anymore."
Trixie hummed. "Is that so?"
He looked off to the left, and down a little. "Yes..."
"Why does Trixie feel as if you're lying?"
He snarled. "Stop this, Trixie."
She simply rolled her eyes, but had a stern face. "Trixie has many admirers. Trixie knows when somepony likes her a bit too much, you know. It's just... you have somepony. The only reason Trixie plays with you like this, Druid Shield, is because she just wants to remind you that Moon Dancer loves you. She loves you a lot, and Trixie knows you love her back."
He breathed as best he could, which wasn't all that well. "I love her more than anything..."
Trixie smiled. "You may admire me like anypony else, Druid Shield. That is your choice... Just, if Trixie ever gets too close, she expects you to stay a gentlecolt. Okay?"
He blinked. "What do you mean?"
Trixie craftily explained, "Do you remember bringing Trixie to her first day's training with Celestia in that ballroom? Trixie had begun becoming attached to you, and you... didn't mind. Not one bit. Remember?"
He bit his bottom lip. "I didn't know not doing anything was wrong."
She closed her eyes and shook her head. Once she stopped, she quivered. "To Trixie it is. You should've pushed Trixie away or something when she'd gotten so close, or mentioned you have a marefriend."
Her voice was for the most part calm, but it echoed, and once it fell silent again, Druid Shield asked, "What are you saying?"
Trixie sighed. "Just that you're an attractive pony, and that Moon Dancer deserves you. Don't make it to where you don't deserve her."
He got back to work, unmoved. He knew this was already what he needed to aim for from then on. The point Trixie wanted to make was already known. It was just necessary for Trixie to finally discuss in detail with him. After a moment to himself, he finished up helping, and said, "Yes ma'am. About that spell." |
Celestia's New Student | Seventeen: Performance | The night Trixie would be performing, an unusually intense glow came from the moon. With so many ponies gathering just in the distance, even Princess Luna felt obligated to at least observe what was going on. While her sister had located herself much closer to the stage, but still higher up, Luna could be spotted watching from her tower. Celestia was hidden from view for the most part due to some silhouette curtains hanging from overhead, but that didn't stop her company from finding her.
A dark presence came near Celestia's side, and sat. His fur was unmistakable, and Celestia asked Wolf, "Did you merely come to be with me because I asked it of you, or to truly see the show that Trixie has put together?"
Wolf responded gruffly, "I have nowhere else to be... Besides, that student of yours is a curiosity. I understand how she plans on putting the medallion to good use, but it could've been kept somewhere else. Somewhere safer, wouldn't you agree?"
Celestia commented, "The best use for such an artifact is very little use at all. That's why what it's being used for right now will do quite nicely."
Despite Celestia avoiding his question, he nodded, and answered, "Indeed."
Celestia's gaze wavered from everypony down below to Wolf, and she asked, "Will you be staying, or returning to Kiyak?" He didn't answer immediately, so Celestia continued, "I mean, it's been over a week now..."
He blinked, and looked away. "No... I think it's time to make a new home here. It's safer, after all, and..."
"Yes?" Celestia asked, leaning towards him.
"Trixie could use a guardian."
Celestia smiled, and asked, "Are you insinuating I can't keep her safe without your help?"
Wolf merely smiled back, and then looked down at the crowd. The show was about to begin, so the two spoke little afterwards. Meanwhile, behind the curtain of Trixie's readied stage, the showmare trotted forth. She had just finished going over the plan one last time with Moon Dancer.
Having already gotten her hat, Trixie entered her make-up room to retrieve her cape, the very same caravan she had arrived at Canterlot with. Aside from most recent activities, it'd been awhile since she'd last spent actual time in there. She hadn't the chance before, because her caravan had been so far away from her room, but entering it once more and standing all by herself, something felt off. It was the extra cape sitting on her hanger.
It greatly resembled her own, but was a brilliant red with yellow stars emblazoning it, and Celestia's cutie mark symbol of the sun. attached to the fabric was a note from Princess Celestia herself. She read, "This is a gift, because you've been doing so well lately. Keep up the good work, my new student."
It magically floated over and onto her back, and rested nicely. There was a small, golden chain collar, so Trixie fastened it using her aura. She looked in the mirror to behold her new piece of apparel, and smiled. It wasn't a genuine smile, though, she noticed.
Trixie's grin came about from the feeling of victory. It was the same kind of grin Trixie made when Starlight Glimmer had chosen her over Twilight. Her mind traced back to when Twilight revealed that she still didn't trust her shortly thereafter.
She gulped when remembering these instances in her life, and backed away from the mirror. "The Great and Powerful Trixie needs to stay more concentrated. She gets too cocky, and competitive, and all that happens after that is..."
She thought back to how she had almost ruined her friendship with Starlight, and how she began to cry right in front of Twilight; how she acted before her audience. "That can't happen again!" She stomped her hoof on the floor, her face now red in the mirror.
Luckily for her, for the most part, the finisher helped everypony forget what had happened that night in Ponyville, but she still remembered. This was why she periodically needed to refresh her memory, and remind herself why it was so important to remain confident, humble and friendly as often as possible.
Looking back up to the mirror, she said, "Trixie can't get too dramatic, either. Every once in awhile, sure, but it gets ridiculous if she takes it too far... Trixie knows that by now." She huffed, and when she smiled this time, Trixie could see the difference. This was a genuine smile.
She left the mirror, and admired Celestia's gift one last time before exiting, and addressing practically all of Canterlot Commons. The curtains unfolded slightly to allow her to exit, and the showmare faced the most colorful crowd she'd ever had the pleasure of seeing, and all unicorns, too.
Trixie figured most would probably know many of these basic spells, but just hoped they'd never thought of seeing them used in such a new fashion before. Much like all her other shows as of late, she addressed the audience, and began to set the tone for everypony watching.
"Canterlot, beautiful as ever," she began, the medallion above her activating, and pouring thick smoke across the floorboards. "The Great and Powerful Trixie came here seeking fame and fortune, as many of you might recall..."
A loud whistle sounded from one of the audience members, and to which Trixie responded with, "Of course, who wouldn't come to such a city like this seeking the very same thing? The ponies here are impressionable... The sights, the smells, and everything about Canterlot draws Trixie back no matter where else she might be at the time. Trixie wishes to thank you all for having her. I doubt I'll be able to stay forever, because other cities deserve these shows as well..."
Trixie took a moment to look over to where Celestia was sitting. Her white coat and flowing mane made it a little bit less of a challenge for Trixie to locate her, but once she did, she said that, and paused for just a second. She then resumed, "But, you need not worry. I'll always come back to Canterlot in the end. How could I not?"
Everypony cheered to that, and stomped their hooves to let Trixie know that she was more than welcomed at Canterlot anytime. Now more delighted than ever by this, Trixie got her show on its way by saying, "And now, if everypony's thoroughly ready, let's begin!"
The crowd roared, eager to know what the first act would be. Trixie began with some basic tricks that she had learned about far before meeting Celestia. A few times, Trixie got the audience involved, but nothing so boastful as her first performance for Ponyville. She then gave her new komodo dragon act a go, but this time, she was sure to give it much more dimension, detail and color. For the most part, it wasn't anything new, until she announced that she had one last part of her show to perform.
"Thank you all so much," Trixie said with a bow. "Now, for my great and powerful finale, Trixie shall require the assistance of just one, very lucky audience member."
Ponies had already begun clamoring to the edges of the stage, hooves raised. All night, Trixie had been scoping out the audience for a friend that she could trust, and she could've bet a few hundred bits that she'd seen Twilight in the far back with a few other ponies. This shadowy figure was coming closer and closer, her hoof raised like everyone else, but she didn't seem near as eager. To herself, Trixie said, "Sparkle will do..."
Trixie pointed to who she thought must've been Twilight, and even took the opportunity to help her up on stage, but upon seeing the color of Twilight's hoof appear from the darkness, Trixie's confident expression washed away, and was replaced by startlization. Instead of it being lavender, it was yellow, and out of the darkness, Trixie also started seeing shady wool fabric. It was a jacket, and the mare that had gotten up on stage before Trixie was not Twilight. Although, she sure did look like her.
"Hi," the mare said, her hair bundled up to keep it out from in front of her eyes. "I'm Moon Dancer."
All Trixie could do was tilt her head, baffled as to what might've been happening just then and there. "Wait, what?"
Moon Dancer blinked. "I... told you my name. It's Moon Dancer."
For a good second, Trixie could only stare blankly at the mare in front of her, processing the information she had collected. Then, she asked, "Not Twilight?"
Moon Dancer rolled her eyes while smiling, and said, "If I had a bit for every time somepony thought I looked like Twilight..."
"Aaand, you're not my Moon Dancer, either? Trixie's personal friend and assistant for tonight?"
Moon Dancer blinked for a second, and then answered to the best of her knowledge, "Err, no, I'm not... You mean, there's another pony with the same exact name as me?"
"Well," trixie said, glancing from Moon Dancer to the audience. "Trixie supposes you'll meet her after the show, but for now..." Trixie wrapped her arm around the back of Moon Dancer's neck, and brought them facing the other way for a second to explain. She whispered into Dancer's ear, "You see, Trixie just needs you to jump behind the curtain once I cast a puff of thick smoke that'll envelop you. After that, you'll be able to continue watching the show from inside my caravan."
Moon Dancer asked Trixie, "What're you planning exactly?"
Trixie humored Dancer, "How many of these Canterlot ponies do you think have actually seen a batpony up close and personal?"
Moon Dancer's eyebrows raised, and she adjusted her glasses. "Like, not a whole lot. I mean, except a few times on Nightmare Night... Ponies know about them, and the Lunar Guard, but interaction with them even to this day has been fairly rare."
Trixie smiled coyly. "Good," she said, and then turned around to face her audience once again. Moon Dancer had taken the hint, and even became a little curious to see just how this was going to turn out. "And now, I, the Great and Powerful Trixie shall transform this ordinary mare into a creature of the night!"
A few ponies were moved by this statement. Trixie could tell by how some of them asked the pony beside them what she might've meant by that. So, she answered the looming question herself. "What I mean is, I will be turning this ordinary unicorn into... a batpony!"
This got nearly everyone's attention. Still, some asked what a batpony could possibly be, and for the most part, their neighbors answered them. Just in case there were still a few that weren't following, Trixie explained in a simple sentence, "They're basically half pony and half bat."
With the audience ready to see this be done, Trixie hesitated no further, and shot her magic down at the floor before the hooves of Moon Dancer. Instantly, smoke coated her entire being, and in that instance, Moon Dancer leaped backwards as quickly and quietly as she could. She was now surrounded by darkness, and through the rays of light that came from beyond the curtain, she could see her counterpart pass her by from her right side.
Time slowed down while they got a good look at one another. Their eyes met for only a few brief seconds, and the Moon Dancer that had just left the stage grew more than interested in batponies than ever before just from that experience. She'd never seen the glow of their eyes while light reflected off of them, or the shine of their teeth. Her smooth wings even glistened as she left.
Now out on stage, and the smoke clearing, Moon Dancer played her part skillfully. She at first acted vicious towards the crowd, and frightened many. She trotted back and forth, gnarling. "Now that I'm a batpony," Moon Dancer said, "I'll begin feeding!"
Soon, ponies began to smile again after she menacingly devoured a peach. She obviously didn't seem so dangerous after that. Trixie had impressed everypony that night, including Princess Luna who wasn't at all expecting one of her own Lunar Guard ponies to be participating. The batpony down below socialized with many new faces that evening, and although the show was over, ponies lingered just to get a good look at Trixie's unique assistant.
As for the other Moon Dancer, she kept her distance for a good while, allowing the batpony to finish up. Once things seemed to settle down well enough, however, she introduced herself. Things were winding down by then, so the two of them settled for plans to meet up with one another tomorrow afternoon in order to become better acquainted as friends. So ended Trixie's big performance for Canterlot, not that it would be the last. The next day, Trixie would receive word from Celestia that she had passed yet another assignment, and that her mentor also had even more adventures for Trixie lined up. |
Celestia's New Student | Eighteen: No Longer New | Trixie slept peacefully in her bed, slipping in and out of her slumber. Light was coming through her open balcony door, and chilly winds graced her hooves. She finally rose, and sleepily wandered to her mirror. In front of it was a letter from Starlight Glimmer inviting Trixie to Ponyville. It had been recently opened, and though Trixie had already read it, she still silently reread it anyways.
It explained to Trixie the dire need of a friend to come help Starlight visit the town from where she came from. The residents there had invited Starlight to the annual Sunset Festival, and she didn't feel safe going alone. Trixie was still weighing out her options.
She then sighed, and looked to Dingo, who still slept heavily. He was utterly tangled in the sheets, but he didn't seem to mind. So, Trixie went ahead and fixed his water and food bowls, got herself freshed up, and then came over to her cape hanger. On it were two to choose from. Trixie chose the purple one over Celestia's, though, because she had already decided a while ago to only wear Celestia's cape for special occasions, like if the princesses were watching or something. Promptly after grabbing her hat as well, she left to start the day. Celestia had yet another assignment for Trixie, but something about the way she informed Trixie of this the night before didn't seem quite right.
"Celestia seemed sad about it," Trixie said to herself, coming down the hall. So far, Trixie had accomplished many deeds for Celestia, but as of late, things just seemed repetitive for Trixie. She hated to admit it, but she was beginning to grow bored with seeing and performing for Canterlot all the time, and craved new sights, or at least places she hadn't seen for quite some time. "Perhaps," Trixie figured while making a turn, "Trixie should return to Ponyville for a bit. Besides, Trixie couldn't let Starlight Glimmer down when she needs her, now could she?"
Nodding it off, she planned to at least request to go see Starlight in order to help. She was about to enter the ballroom, too, when none other than Princess Celestia herself came out, and stood before her student. Next to her, she magically held a basket by its handle. The contents were covered by a red and white checkered cloth, but even that gave no hints for Trixie. She had apparently failed to remember seeing somepony holding one of these before.
"Ah, Trixie," Celestia said, her smile welcoming as ever. Still, Trixie couldn't help but to imagine that her mentor was upset in some way. She said nothing, though, and just waited for celestia to finish. "It's good to see you."
Trixie smiled, but observed the basket more than Her Highness. "It's... good to see you too. What's that for?"
Celestia looked away, and simply replied, "I'd like it if today, instead of an actual assignment, we bonded a little... Follow me, please."
Trixie did so, for this was nothing new. Celestia had developed a habit of explaining her plans for Trixie while they walked together. Sometimes they'd be headed to where they wanted to go, and sometimes they would just be wandering, but today, Trixie couldn't tell if it was one or the other. "Umm..."
Celestia didn't respond right away. Instead, she just kept this serious look about her, and just kept walking. It wasn't until after they had left the palace, and entered the city that she finally spoke.
"We're going outside the walls, by the way."
Trixie paused her trot, but then quickly caught up to ask, "Outside the walls? Why?"
Blinking at her pupil, Celestia said, "Because there's no grass within. How else are we going to have a picnic?"
The look on Trixie's face told Celestia she still wasn't following. "A what?"
Celestia asked curiously, "You've never had a picnic before?"
"No..."
"Huh," Celestia huffed as they reached the nearest exiting gate. "I'll be sure not to spoil the surprise, then..."
Outside the castle, they walked a good ways before Celestia finally found a spot for the two of them, Trixie still itching to know what a picnic was. When Celestia unfolded the hay sandwiches, though, Trixie suddenly remembered.
"Oh," Trixie said with a gruff voice. "Trixie remembers now. Twilight tried to get Trixie to join her on one of these."
Celestia curiously asked while laying out the checkered cloth, "Did you go to Twilight's picnic?"
"No, actually... It was a little bit after Trixie was in possession of the alicorn amulet, you see... She was just visiting to see if the ponies there had warmed up to Trixie yet, which a lot of them hadn't. Trixie didn't feel comfortable with going despite being invited, which she realizes now was ridiculous..." She looked around at the windy plane they rested on, and at the trees in the far off distance, and then the food.
"I'm sure you'll get another chance..."
Trixie looked away while she was given something to eat. "Which kind of brings Trixie to a delicate request."
Celestia blinked before taking a bite, and said, "Well, do proceed."
Trixie nodded, took a bite of her sandwich as well, and then swallowed. "I've been invited to Ponyville by my friend, Starlight." Celestia said nothing, and continued to eat. "She wants me to accompany her to... Our Town."
Celestia just stared for a second, and asked after gulping down the bite she'd taken, "Our... Town...?"
"Yyyeah," Trixie sighed, scratching the back of her neck. "It's an unmarked, off the map village. Apparently, it's literally called Our Town. Anyways, look, the point is... she needs my help. Starlight wants me to go with her if only for support, and besides, Trixie hasn't seen her in a while..."
Celestia nodded. "Well, that actually brings me to a delicate subject. You see, trixie, I brought you here not to give you something to eat, but because... as far as performance tricks go, and anything else like that, I'm afraid I've nothing else to teach you."
Trixie's eyes grew wide. "Really?"
Celestia simply nodded, but mentioned, "You'll always be my student, though, and you'll always have a place here in the castle. It's just..." The Princess shrugged, and admitted, "I haven't hardly any more assignments for you as of late."
Trixie looked down, a little shaken by all of this. "What're you saying?"
"I'm saying that you're no longer my new student. You've advanced so quickly with your shows, and everything in that regard that I almost can't keep up. Surely you've noticed some of the lacking things I've been having you do, like mastering the fog spell without the use of your medallion. It's because... I just need some time to find new things related to what you're best at, Trixie. Until then, wouldn't it benefit you to go see the world again, if only for a little bit?"
Trixie seemed to be calming back down, and raised her head. "Well, when you put it like that, Trixie supposes she could get away from Canterlot for a bit. And, she has noticed, actually. She just wishes she could just get better at actual magic.
Celestia frowned a little bit at that statement. "I've tried my best as far as that goes. For example, when you wanted to know how to turn that spoon into a teacup. It just... didn't work out. It always came out mixed with whatever it was you were trying to transform in the first place."
"Don't worry about it," Trixie said with a smirk. "Trixie will figure it out sooner or later. Maybe she'll ask Starlight for help while she's over there. Besides, Trixie misses antagonizing Twilight with her usual, boastful personality."
Celestia giggled, and resumed her meal. She then commented, "I doesn't make it any easier, though, knowing that I'll be away from you for a while."
"Trixie agrees... Of course, Trixie will write you letters to let you know that she's safe. That is, if you want her to."
"That would be nice, my n-" Princess Celestia stopped herself, and then corrected, "My Great and powerful Student."
After they finished their picnic, Princess Celestia and Trixie returned to the castle. It didn't take Trixie long to gather the belongings she wished to take along. The whole time, she just kept thinking about all her experiences under Celestia's wing, and how far she'd come since the start of it all. She, too, was a little resistant on leaving. Upon coming to the front gate in order to meet with Celestia, Trixie voiced to her with worry, "Trixie's about as ready for this as she'll probably ever be."
Druid Shield and the two Moon Dancers showed up as well to see her off. Celestia came up to Trixie, everypony else staying behind Her Highness. "I know this probably isn't the departure from Canterlot you had imagined, but I know we'll see each other again soon. This isn't the end."
They hugged, and then Trixie went and got something from her Caravan. She came out shortly thereafter, and came up to her batpony guards with Dingo in her hooves. "Umm..."
Both Druid Shield and Moon Dancer looked at Trixie with a bit of discomfort. "Are you sure you wanna leave him with us?" Moon Dancer asked.
Trixie nodded after looking away, and then looked back at them to explain, "Trixie just doesn't feel safe traveling with him anymore, and Trixie knows for a fact that he doesn't like being cooped up inside the whole way, all the time... He'd be happier with you two, Trixie believes."
Druid shield was the one to take the little guy from her, and assured Trixie, "We'll see to it that no harm ever comes his way. He'll be waiting here in Canterlot for your safe return."
Trixie smiled graciously, and then hugged the two of them before returning to Celestia. "Well," she said. "I guess this is it, then..."
Celestia breathed, and embraced Trixie one last time before allowing her to pass through the large gate. Before it closed behind her, however, with her on the other side of the threshold, Trixie turned around to look at Celestia one last time. She was walking towards the crease, and raising a hoof. Trixie did the same, and put it right where Celestia's hoof would've landed.
"Goodbye for now, Celestia."
Just like that, it was over, but Trixie hadn't the time to mourn over the ending of this chapter in her life. She had a friend in Ponyville who needed her help, and she was waiting patiently for Trixie's arrival. |
Celestia's New Student | Nineteen: The Night Before Everything Else | The experiences for Trixie after leaving behind Canterlot, as well as Celestia would add up faster than she expected them to, one of them being the salvation of practically an entire race otherwise known as the Changelings. For now, however, it involved her and Starlight traveling long periods of time to Our Town together. Little did they know of the trials they would soon face with Queen Chrysalis.
Trixie had just lettered Celestia to let her know how things were going, and to assure Celestia that she was indeed safe. Luckily for her, there was a post office just up the road from where they camped out at.
Upon getting back, Trixie found her friend sitting by the fire reading a book. They had pulled over to rest for the night, and to get a fresh start on tomorrow. As Trixie sat down next to her friend, Starlight asked, "By the way, how's your studying with Princess Celestia going?"
"It's going well," Trixie said with a shrug. "Trixie's done so good, that Celestia ran out of things for her to do, actually."
Starlight's eyebrows raised. "What? Really? No more magic to learn? No more spells? You're... joking, right?"
Trixie remained ever boastful with her friend. "Trixie has learned much with Celestia's help, but harnessing Trixie's magic wasn't what we focused on."
Starlight was becoming more and more confused. "What? If you weren't learning magic from the princess, then what the hay were you learning from her? How to fly?"
Trixie chuckled. "Actually, if you must know, the truth is... she's been teaching Trixie how to become a better stage performer."
On normal circumstances, Trixie would've gone as far as to show Starlight Glimmer her medallion as proof. She could've, too, as it was right inside hidden away. She made a promise to her mentor, though, not to bring attention to it whatsoever.
After learning what Trixie and Celestia had actually been doing with one another, Starlight asked, "And you didn't tell me about that part in your letters because...?"
Trixie made an attempt at defending herself by starting with, "You see-" However, Starlight stopped her before she could.
"Come to think of it, you even made it sound stressful in your letters, being there in Canterlot, learning all these 'new spells' all the time." Starlight looked at Trixie sternly, and asked, "Just what sort of spells did you learn?"
Trixie hoofed nervously, trying to play it off. "It was actually... only a few spells, mainly a fog making spell, and uh... Trixie also learned other things like how to channel her aura, and how to better grasp things, and levitate them. And uh..."
By then, Starlight's facial expression was anything but impressed. "Here I thought Princess Celestia would've at least taught you more basic stuff. I don't know, Trixie. That just... kind of bothers me. The most powerful mare in the whole wide world takes important time out of her everyday life to... further your advancement in stage shows, and attracting a crowd? It just... doesn't add up in my head."
Trixie sighed in defeat, and explained further in detail, "Also, Trixie wasn't the easiest student to work with."
Trixie stared at the fire while Starlight asked in concern, "What do you mean?"
"It's not like Celestia didn't try!" Trixie's eyebrow furrowed. "That's what she was going for with her teachings at first, but Trixie thinks it ended up being something else. Once Celestia saw that Trixie had reached her limit, and that she was struggling greatly with getting past even the simple stuff, Her Highness decided to take another route."
Starlight still had trouble believing this bit of news, but regardless, she also figured that she might be able to help Trixie improve on her actual, magical prowess. "In that case," Starlight offered. "Trixie, why don't I help you with your magic? I mean, I'm no showmare, but I could definitely help you when it comes to casting spells."
Trixie nodded, and smiled. "You are rather impressive with your magic. Just know, Trixie can be a difficult student."
Starlight giggled, and remarked, "Oh, I am not your teacher. I'll just do my best at giving you some pointers whenever I can. Wouldn't want to interfere with Her Highness's agenda for you."
Trixie joked, "Assuming she actually has one." They laughed together for a second before Trixie resumed speaking. "By the way, about what Trixie said back there... You know, in front of Twilight, about you being Trixie's best friend."
Starlight blinked, and glanced away for a brief second. She was trying hard not to smile, but she smiled anyways. "Wh-what about it, Trixie?"
"I just wanted to say," said the showmare. "You really are Trixie's best friend, and she couldn't ask for a better one."
Starlight's reaction was a typical one. She just kept smirking, embarrassed, and asked Trixie, "I surpass even Celestia?"
Trixie nodded confidently. "Only by a little, though... It's getting late, by the way."
Starlight yawned after stating, "Yeah, I noticed that, too..."
Trixie then suggested, "Why don't we head on to bed, then? We've got a big day ahead of us."
Although, Starlight didn't actually go right away. She told trixie she'd be right behind her, but she'd still be sitting out there before the fire for a good couple more minutes. Starlight just couldn't help herself from worrying about tomorrow's confrontation involving the town she once lived in. Eventually, she'd go to bed, but not before staying up, and wishing she could avoid tomorrow all together.
Of course, everything would turn out just fine in the end despite things at first not going so well. As stated before, events following these would come and go, until the next time Trixie would see her mentor once more. Trixie hadn't been counting on seeing Princess Celestia again so soon. This would be during the celebration that's held for her, Starlight, Thorax, and Discord's honor. |
Celestia's New Student | Twenty: Celestial Memories | Inside Twilight's castle of friendship, Trixie was busy bragging to other ponies about her most recent achievement, and while most times ponies would be annoyed with her by then, a few of them were all too busy gazing at her medal. The Equestrian Pink Heart of Courage worn around Trixie's neck glistened all too noticeably in the light for her to be ignored that day. Twilight, Starlight and Celestia hadn't seen her behave this confidently about herself in a long while. Twilight was even a little surprised to find herself enjoying the nostalgia of how boastful Trixie could truly be.
It had been a good while into the party, and Twilight had just given Starlight her mirror. That's when Trixie overheard Celestia from the far side of the room say to Luna, "I should go have a word with Trixie. If you'll excuse me..."
Trixie was just in the middle of telling everypony her version of the story again when she heard this. Discord was in the middle of correcting her as far as what had actually happened when she suddenly said, "And with that, Trixie leaves you all. Celestia requires Trixie's presence, she believes."
She left them abruptly, and turned to face her approaching mentor. All Celestia had to do was smile Trixie's way, and she then walk out the entrance. Trixie followed close behind, and once enough ponies were far enough away, Trixie spoke while headed down the long, narrow hallway, "You don't think Trixie's being too boastful, do you?"
"It could be toned down, but it's good to see that you're enjoying yourself. All in all, I just wanted to say, it seems you've progressed rather admirably as of late."
Trixie walked side by side with Celestia, her medal jingling energetically with every trot she made. "Trixie didn't really know what she was getting into that day, when she left Canterlot. A lot has happened since she last saw you, but..."
As they reached the end, they found nothing more but a round, yellow, stained glass window and one door leading to the furthermost closet of the castle. Celestia finished for Trixie as they stood there, "Little time has actually passed. I know... In that short amount of time, though, I was able to come up with a new activity for you to embark on."
"What might that be?" Trixie asked.
"I want you to go out into the world, and do as you were before you became my student. Put your new skills to practice, but most importantly, you should make a new friend."
Trixie tilted her head in confusion, and asked with a slight attitude, "A new friend? But, Trixie's already made so many friends. There's Starlight Glimmer, Twilight Sparkle, Wolf, Druid Shield, Moon Dancer, and, uh..."
Celestia took the opportunity to speak up while Trixie lost count. "I would still think it best if you made another new friend.
"Why?"
Celestia simply blinked, and said, "Because friendship is magic, of course."
Trixie blinked as well, and brought her hoof up to her lip. "Friendship is magic, huh?"
The words seemed to repeat themselves over and over again in her head. Celestia said, "It's a saying that actually pertains to the whole, wide world as we know it. You may not understand it, Trixie, but all of the world you see around you is because of friendship. That... is one of the most important lessons that I wish to teach you; that friendship is magic."
Trixie shrugged, and said, "If you say so, you're highness. Friendship is magic, and stuff." She then breathed deeply with raised eyebrows, and admitted, "Trixie hasn't got much of an idea as to where she should start, though. She supposes audience members don't count?"
Celestia giggled at this, and said while shaking her head, "No, they don't."
"Trixie supposes she could go to a town she hasn't been to yet, and start from there..."
Celestia asked, "Do you have any place in particular that comes to mind?"
Trixie shook her head. "No, Trixie doesn't. She'll have to check the map, and see... Then again..."
Celestia pried, "Yes?"
"There's Fenceland... Trixie was going to go there after Canterlot before she ended up meeting you, since it's just down the mountain from Canterlot. Ponyville would've been her next stop after that. Trixie forgot all about checking out that small, rural town... Perhaps, she'll start there."
Celestia nodded slowly, and thought for a second. "My apologies for changing the subject, but had I known you'd end up doing what you did for your friend, Starlight Glimmer, I might've made you better equipped to face the changelings."
Trixie joked, "What fun would that've been? Besides, Trixie did just fine. She just... missed you the whole time is all."
Celestia couldn't help but to sigh at this, and grasped Trixie in one of her hooves. She then said into Trixie's ear, "I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of you... Of Twilight, too, and Starlight, and everypony... You've all done such a fantastic job at spreading friendship all over Equestria..." Celestia released Trixie, and asked, "What would you like as a reward, Trixie? I've asked everypony else donning the Heart except you."
Of course, Trixie was slightly caught off guard, but while she looked down the hallway, she came to a decision rather quickly. She held her medal in her hoof, and said, "Actually, this is all I really wanted. To be noticed, and appreciated, but not just for being some stage pony. Trixie wanted to be recognized for being something much more than that. This medal... This Heart is all Trixie ever really wanted. And... friendship as well. Trixie could use friendship from time to time."
Celestia chimed, "You have my friendship at all times." She then frowned, and asked Trixie with a bit of awe in her voice, "Does that mean you don't want a nice, hefty pile of bits before you're on your way?"
Predictably, Trixie wouldn't deny that such a gift could definitely be useful. However, she also told Celestia, "I'm actually not ready to leave Ponyville just yet, though. Starlight's informed Trixie of how she wishes to do some magical training with Trixie. So, hope you don't mind, but Trixie was hoping she could just... put off the assignment until she completes her training with Starlight?"
Celestia looked at Trixie, her smirk still present. She nodded, and said, "Very well. Shall we return to the party?"
Trixie trailed alongside her mentor, back to where the festivities were being held. For the most part, things just wound down from then, and it wouldn't be long until the next day arrived. The weeks spent with Starlight went by, and during that time, Trixie learned a fair deal about magic. This included how to turn things into teacups. Eventually, however, it would come time for Trixie to depart from Ponyville, if only for a short period of time. After all, the assignment Celestia wanted Trixie to do wasn't going to get done in a town where everypony knew who Trixie was.
The End |
Sonic and Shadow in Equestria | pre | "We won't beat them if one of us goes in alone. The only way we can beat these clones if we work together." Sonic said.
Shadow thought for a sec, until he grinned.
"Alright then, let's take them on together." He said.
Sonic nodded while smiling.
The two hedgehogs got into their battle stances and faced down the clones, who were standing there doing nothing.
"Let's do it!" Sonic shouted and the two charged.
The two moved as one and attacked the clones together, letting off kicks and punches.
Sonic jumped back and curled up into a ball and shot forward, doing his spindash attack. The attack landed a direct hit and the clone was thrown off its feet.
The clone Shadow was fighting was throwing punches and kicks at him, but Shadow was dodging.
"CHAOS CONTROL!"
The clone froze in place, leaving the ponies shocked.
Shadow zipped through the clone with powerful punches and attacks, until he landed behind him and snapped his fingers, making small explosions all around the clone.
Sonic charged with a punch ready and attacked, but his clone dodged and returned on of his own. The attack landed and Sonic was flying near Shadow.
Shadow saw this coming, and then grabbed Sonic's arm and threw him back.
Sonic flew over the ponies, and he saw Rainbow looking at him in awe. He smiled and flashed her a wink, making her blush. He zipped right above them and jumped off a tree and curled up into a ball and did his signature homing attack, and landed a hit on the clone. The clones collided with each other, now deceased by the hedgehogs attacks.
"Let's Finish this!" Sonic said.
Shadow nodded and the two ran around the clones at high speeds. The wind started picking up, and a red/black/blue tornado was being formed. The tornado grew and felt stronger, and the clones in the center were blown around the tornado.
"Shadow, let's attack together and finish them off!" Sonic called out.
Shadow nodded and the two jumped into the air with their hands glowing.
"SONIC WIND!"
"CHAOS SPEAR!"
The attacks landed a direct hit on the clones and a massive explosion occurred, making the ponies eyes shut.
The light dimmed and the clones were seen, all smoking, with scratches and marks all over them while Sonic and Shadow were unharmed.
Then, they disappeared back into the gem of power that Discord had in his hand.
"Well, I see you and your friend are stronger than I thought blue hedgehog." Discord said. "But soon, you and that black and red hedgehog will face me. So watch out because tomorrow the fight for the fate of all Equestria will begin. So long you two HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!"
(Song end's)
In a flash he was gone.
"We'll be ready Discord. Count on it." Sonic said clenching his fists.
The ponies and the main six waked up to them.
"What's next you guys?" AJ asked the two hedgehogs.
"Are you two going after him?" Pinkie asked.
Sonic shook his head.
"No. Going after him without a plan will be dangerous. Not only that, me and Shadow used up a lot of our energy fighting those clones of his. We'll face off against him tomorrow. For right now, it's getting late and Shadow and I need to get some rest and be at our best for the battle tomorrow."
"For once Sonic, you won't get any argument from me." Shadow said crossing his arms while grinning a little.
"You can stay with me, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie,Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Spike. We were going to have a sleep over anyway." Twilight said smiling.
"Ok sure uh one more thing Twilight, who's Spike?" Sonic asked.
"I'm Spike." A voice said from behind Sonic..
Sonic and Shadow turned around, looked down and saw a little purple dragon.
"Well, it's nice to meet you Spike. I'm Sonic the hedgehog." Sonic greeted.
"Shadow." Shadow said nodding.
"It's nice to meet you too Sonic, Shadow." Spike said smiling at the two.
"Ok save the introductions for later. Let's get some sleep." Rainbow Dash said yawning.
Sonic smiled.
"Agreed."
The group started walking away, but after five steps, Sonic stopped and saw Shadow walking away in a different direction of the group.
"Hey Shadow, where you going? The Library is this way." Sonic called out.
"I prefer sleeping alone. I'll see you guys back at Ponyville in the morning before the final battle." Shadow said walking away.
Before he could get further away from the group, a pair of pink hooves wrapped around his waist in a tight embrace. He looked back and saw Pinkie Pie holding him while smiling.
"Come on Shadow. Don't be such a party pooper." She said.
"I would appreciate if-WOAAAH!!!" Shadow was caught off when Pinkie started pulling him towards the Library.
"So much for sleeping in peace tonight." Shadow thought.
"Is Pinkie always like this Dash?" Sonic asked while the others walked back.
"All the time. She's also very random many occasions." Rainbow said.
As everyone left the everfree forest to go to Twilight's library tree house, Luna looked a little worried.
"Luna, what's the matter?" Celestia asked her younger sister.
"Well, I just hope these two can beat Discord cause if they fail, Discord wins." Luna said shaking a little.
"They won't fail Luna. They're very strong and they will put their lives at stake to save us all. Remember, they still have the Chaos
Emeralds with them. I know for certain, the Gem of Power's energy can't compare to the Emeralds. We must have faith in them." Celestia said.
"Ok Tia. I'll keep faith in them." Luna said smiling a little.
The two royal sister flew back to the castle, going to rest up for tomorrow, for they know the fight for Equestria will begin tomorrow.
At the library, Twilight and the others were fast asleep Shadow was sleeping far from them, hoping he could get some peace while he sleeps. Sonic was sleeping on the couch, with a small smile on his face. The main six were asleep in the center of the Library in their sleeping bags, all except one. Rainbow Dash was still awake. She couldn't sleep because she was thinking about Sonic. Something about him was making her heart race faster than she could ever fly before. His attitude, his voice, fitted him perfectly in her eyes. And seeing those emerald eyes that glittered in the sun made her bones turn into jelly. With the thoughts of Sonic continuing to run in her mind, a blush was forming faster than she could fly.
"Oh what's wrong with me? Why am I feeling like this?" She thought. Her brain processed this feeling in her, until her brain snapped.
She couldn't believe what it was, but what it was, was true.
"Could I...Could I be in love...with Sonic?" She thought.
It was crazy as she thought about it. A pony in love with a hedgehog. It was kind of weird but she couldn't hide what her feelings were telling her. She was falling in love with Sonic the hedgehog. She never been in love before. All the ponies in Equestria don't really see her as the type of girl to date of fall in love with. She thought she would never find love in Equestria, but ever since Sonic came into her world, her own feeling started forming for him. Sonic was like her. Strong, courageous, always chilled, has a similar shade of blue like her, and has the love for speed. For the longest of times and even they only met in just one day, Sonic made Rainbow so happy, and to be in love. She thought and thought until she made her decision. She would tell Sonic how she really felt about him tomorrow. She snuggled into her sleeping bag and slowly fell asleep. Meanwhile in the everfree forest, Discord was building up more power from the gem of power and growing stronger with each passing minute.
"AH YES!" Discord said. "I CAN FEEL THE POWER OF THE GEM COURSING THROUGH ME! SOON, THOSE PATHETIC HEDGEHOGS ALONG WITH THOSE PONIES WILL DIE, AND EQUESTRIA WILL BE MINE!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! OH I AM SO HAPPY I COULD JUST SING!!"
(In the dark of the night from Anastasia) |
Sonic and Shadow in Equestria | Chapter 4 | Sonic and Shadow in Equestria
by Will Atkinson
Chapter 4
The next day Sonic got up and looked around at his friends and saw that Shadow and the others were still asleep. Then he saw that Rainbow Dash wasn't in her bed. "Hm I wonder where she is he asked himself?"
Sonic looked all over the library for her but she was nowhere to be found. Then Sonic looked out the window and saw dash kicking a few stones around. "Hmm." Said Sonic.
"hmm I wonder what she's doing out there?"
So Sonic decided to go out to see what dash was up to. Rainbow was still thinking of what to say to Sonic about her love for him. "Hey there Dash." Said a voice.
Dash turnd around to see Sonic coming towards her. Qusestions begain to fill her mind. ("What?" "Oh no he's coming this way. Oh what should I do?" "Should I tell him now?" "But what if he dosen't feel the same way as me?" "What if he hates me forever if I tell him?" "Or what if he does not want to be friends with me anymore?")
She thought and thought until she made her decision. *Sigh* ("Ok thats it.") Said Dash to herself.
("I'm going to tell him how I really feel about him right now." "Ok well here goes nothing.")
"Oh hey Sonic said Dash."
"Are you alight?" Asked Sonic.
"Yeah I'm fine Sonic said Dash."
"Why you ask?"
"Well because your trembling said Sonic."
"Oh well I couldn't get any sleep last night said Dash."
"Really how come?" Asked Sonic.
"Well said Rainbow, I wanted to tell you something and I couldn't decide how to say it."
"I see said Sonic, well what ever it is I just want you to know that you can tell me anything."
Rainbow Dash smiled and decided it was now or never. "Ok Sonic here it gose said Dash."
As she begain to tell him. "Sonic she begain."
"I.....I....I L....I Lov......"
Just then there was a loud bang and both Sonic and Rainbow were thrown clear from where they were sitting. Shadow and the others got up and ran outside as soon they heard the loud noise.
"What was that asked Shadow?"
"I don't know said Twilight, but Sonic and Dash are hurt. "Come on lets see if their alright."
They raced to Sonic and Rainbow's aid as fast as they could. "Hey you guys, asked Applejack?"
"Yeah we're fine said Sonic."
"Man what in all of Equestria happened asked Rainbow Dash?"
"Thats what we would like to know said Applejack."
Then suddenly the whole ground started to shake. "Oh great whats this another earthquake asked Rarity?"
But it wasn't an earthquake as Sonic and the others watched the ground split open and there from the opening crater rosed Discord. Just then princess Celestia and princess Luna arrived just as Discord came up towards the ponies, Sonic, and Shadow. "Why hello my friends." Said Discord.
"Are you ready to start are little fight of ours?"
"Ok first of all we are not your friends you big jerk said Pinkie pie."
"Second Sonic and Shadow are ready to fight you."
"That's right you big bully said Sonic."
"So get ready."
"Well since you asked so nicely then lets fight said Discord."
"But first let me change into something more impressive."
"Oh dear I don't like the sound of that said Fluttershy."
"Nor do I Fluttershy nor do I said Luna."
Then Discord wield up the gem of power as he chanted these words. "GEM OF POWER HEAR MY CRY GIVE ME YOUR UNTOLD AND YOUR ULTIMATE POWER SO I CAN DESTROY MY ENEMIES ONCE AND FOR ALL!!!!"
As soon as he said those words the gem started to glow bright red then suddenly a beam of energy began to engulf Discord. "AH YES!" said Discord.
"NOW YOU PONIES ALONG WITH YOU MEDDLESOME HEDGEHOGS, CELESTIA, AND LUNA YOU ALL SHALL WITNESS MY ULTIMATE AND UNTOLD POWER HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!"
As the red light dimmed there stainding right where Discord was, was a big red dragon. The ponies, Sonic, and Shadow looked up in horror. "Is that Discord?" They asked together."
"Yes everypony and hedgehog said Celestia, that red dragon is Discord."
"Oh man Shadow said Sonic."
"Just look at him that dude is huge."
"I know Sonic said Shadow."
"I think we're in for the biggest fight of our lives."
Sonic and Shadow walked towards Discord to get ready to fight him. "Um princess Celestia asked Twilght?"
Do you think they can defeat Discord?"
Celestia looked at her faithful student and smiled. "Yes Twilight said Celestia."
"I know they can defeat Discord just watch."
As the ponies, Celestia, Luna, and Spike watched they heard Sonic say to the dragon formed Discord. "Hm that was impressive Discord said Sonic."
"Now let me and Showdow show you what we can do when we transform."
"Wait what did he say asked Rainbow to Luna?"
"Just watch Rainbow said Luna."
"You shall see something incredible."
(Open Your Heart plays)
As Twilight, Rarity, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie pie, Fluttershy, Celestia, and Luna watched, Sonic and Shadow closed their eyes and crossed their arms. Then seven colorful emeralds appeared out of nowhere and started to circle around Sonic and Shadow.
"Oh wow said Rarity!"
"Just look at those wonderful emeralds."
"Yeah they look good enough to eat said Spike."
As Spike ran to where Sonic and Shadow were Celestia stopped him. "I'm sorry Spike said Celestia."
"But those emeralds are not to eat."
"Aw why not asked Spike?"
"Cause those emeralds have great power said Luna."
"Just watch and you'll find out what I mean."
Then suddenly as soon as Luna finished a big blast of pure energy shot out of Sonic and Shadow. The ponies and the princesses covered their eyes. "Holy cow what is this power asked Applejack?"
"It's incredible said Dash."
"Yeah I've never felt power like this before in my life said Twilight."
"It's the power of the emearlds said Celestia."
"Sonic and Shadow are transforming."
"WOW that power is amazing said Pinkie pie!!!!"
Then slowly the light began to dim and there were Sonic and Shadow but they were differnt now. "O....oh...my...gosh said Fluttershy."
"What happend to them?"
"Yeah said Rarity."
"They now have golden fur and red eyes."
"They have reached their super forms now said Luna."
"HM NOT BAD YOU TWO said a voice."
"What in tarnations who said that asked Applejack?"
"I DID ME DISCORD THE GOD OF CHAOS!!!!"
"So you can still talk huh Discord asked Sonic?"
"YES AND NOW I'M MORE POWERFUL THEN YOU TWO HAHAHAHAHA said Discord!!!!"
"Hm well then said Shadow."
"Let's find out."
(Song end's)
(Blow me away plays)
Shadow and Sonic flew up in the air and started to attack Discord. "Alright Discord said Sonic."
"Take this SUPER SONIC WIND."
A streak of blue energy shot forth from Sonic and was heading for Discord but then he opened his mouth and swallowed Sonic's attack. "OH BOY said Discord."
"THAT WAS GOOD CAN I HAVE ANOTHER HAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
"Oh man said Sonic."
"He just ate my super sonic wind right up."
"Well then let me try said Shadow."
"CHAOS SPEAR."
The yellow spear's of energy shot forth from Shadow and was heading for Discord but he opened his mouth again and swallowed Shadow's attack as well. "OH MAN YOU TWO ARE TOO MUCH said Discord."
"COME ON GIVE ME MORE OF WHAT YOU CAN DO HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
"Uh-oh said Fluttershy, the're loosing"
"The're not loosing yet Fluttershy said Raindbow Dash."
"Come on Sonic you can do it."
"You two can do it said Applejack."
"Come on Shadow said Rarity."
"Keep it up."
"Yeah show that big fat meanie a one and a two said Pinkie pie."
"Show that dragon Discord that he can't mess with us said Spike."
"Make us proud you two said Celestia and Luna together."
"Man I tell you Sonic said Shadow."
"He's a tough one."
"Yeah but what if we use light speed attack on him asked Sonic?"
"Good idea Sonic said Shadow."
"Now lets do it to it."
"Right said Sonic."
"Here we go."
Then Sonic and Shadow started to spin as Discord looked at them in suspicion. "OH WHAT DO YOU TWO HAVE UP UNDER YOU SLEEVES NOW asked Discord?"
"Should we get going Sonic asked Shadow."
"Sure Shadow Said Sonic."
"Light the way.
Then Sonic and Shadow zoomed off in lightining fast speed. "WHAT'S THIS asked Discord?"
"I CAN'T FOLLOW THEIR MOVEMENTS."
"Wow now that's fast said Raindow Dash."
"You ain't kidding surgarcube said Applejack."
"Check out our speed now Discord said Sonic."
"Yeah just try to catch us now said Shadow."
(Song ends)
"HM ALRIGHT I WILL said Discord, with an evil smile on his face.
"LET"S SEE IF YOU GUYS LIKE MY FREEZING SPELL HAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
After saying that Discord then snaped his fingers and then Sonic and Shadow found that they couldn't move. "Hey what is this asked Sonic?"
"I can't move."
"I can't move either Sonic said Shadow."
"Oh no they're in trouble said the ponies, Spike, Celestia, and Luna together."
"NOW said Discord."
"WHICH ONE OF YOU HEDGEHOGS SHOULD I KILL FIRST."
Then to Dash's horror Discord looked at Sonic. "NOW I'VE GOT IT I PICK YOU SONIC HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
"SONIC Rainbow Dash screamed!!!!"
As Discord started to open his mouth a fire ball started to form. "NOW DIE SONIC THE HEDGEHOG said Discord!!!!"
Then the fire ball shot out of Discord's mouth heading towards Sonic. Suddenly the ponies, Spike, Celestia, and Luna saw Rainbow Dash heading towards Sonic and the big ball of fire. "Rainbow don't, don't do it said Applejack."
"Please come back Rainbow said Futtershy."
"Don't be a hero darling said Rarity."
("Oh Rainbow I just hope you know what you are doing) Twilight said to herself."
"Oh child please be careful said Celestia and Luna together."
"Oh I can't look said Spike."
"DASH Pinkie Pie scremed!!!!"
Sonic closed his eyes and prepared for the fire blast to hit him, but then he heard a loud scream.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!."
As Sonic opened his eyes he was on the ground and saw Rainbow on top of him. "Rainbow, Rainbow, are you alright asked Sonic?"
"Answer me please Dash."
Rainbow weakly opened her eyes and looked up at Sonic and smiled, what happend was Rainbow had covered Sonic just in time as the blast made a direct hit on Rainbow's back and they both started to fall out of the sky. But thankfuly Shadow broke free from the spell that Discord had put on him and Sonic. Then he flew down and caught Sonic and Rainbow just in time before they hit the ground. Sonic was alright but Rainbow was severely hurt and now she was slowly dying.
"S...Son...Sonic said Rainbow weakly."
"I'm not......I'm not going to make.......to make it."
Just then the ponies, with Shadow, Spike, Celestia, and Luna walked up to Sonic and Rainbow Dash as tears started to fall out of their eyes. "Oh Rainbow said Sonic."
"This is all my fault if it wasn't for me none of this."
"Stop Sonic said Dash putting a hoove over his mouth."
"This......this wasn't your fault o....ok."
"R...remem....remember I....I wanted t....to tell you s.....somethig?" Asked Dash.
W...when we w.....were sitting down o.....on the.....bench."
"Yeah I remember said Sonic."
"W...well said Rainbow."
What I w....wanted...to...tell...you....i....is that...is....that I.....I love....I love you S....Sonic the hedgehog."
As soon as she said those words tears started to form into Sonic's eyes. "I love you too Rainbow Dash said Sonic."
Dash smiled then slowly Rainbow's eyes closed. "Rainbow hey Rainbow asked Soinc?"
He tried to shake her awake but to no avail she was gone. "No, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Cried Sonic.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA laughed Discord."
"HOW TOUCHING A PEGUSES AND A HEDGEHOG IN LOVE OH THAT IS RICH."
Just then the chaos emeralds turned black, Sonic's eyes turned white, and his fur turned black.
"Whats happining to Sonic?" Asked the ponies, Spike, Celestia, and Luna toghether.
"He has transformed into his dark form super dark Sonic said Shadow."
"DISCORD YOU, YOU MONSTER said Sonic!!!!"
Sonic powered up and then he headed right for Discord. "HM ALRIGHT TAKE THIS HEDGEHOG said Discord!!!!"
Then Discord swung his tail and hit Sonic so hard that he was heading right towards Shadow. "Shadow look out said Twilight."
But it was too late Sonic had collided with Shadow knocking them both unconsious making a big crater in the ground. "AH YES, YES, YES, said Discord."
"I HAVE DONE IT I'VE FINALY WON HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
"No this can't be said Celestia."
"Discord is more powerful then we thought said Luna."
"What are we going to do now Celestia asked the ponies together?"
"I don't know ponies said Celestia."
"I just don't know."
Meanwhile in the crator where Sonic and Shadow laid. "Oh man Sonic are you ok asked Shadow?"
"Yeah I'm ok, but what happend asked Sonic?"
"We lost Sonic said Shadow."
"Discord has won."
"No I can't belive it said Sonic."
"You haven't lost yet you two said a voice."
"Whose there saked Shadow?"
Suddenly a ghostly figure of a human boy appeared right in front of Sonic. "Chris hey Chris buddy is that you asked Sonic?"
"Yes Sonic it's me said Chris"
"Listen Sonic you and Shadow can still win said Chris."
"He's right you and my Shadow can still win Sonic said another voice."
"HUH I know that voice said Shadow."
"Maria, Maria is that you?"
As soon as he said that then a ghostly figure of a young girl appeared right next to Chris. "Come on Shadow it's time you and Sonic united together as one said Maria."
"Yeah come on Sonic show that monster what you and Shadow can do when you are united as one said Chris."
Then more ghostly figures of Sonic's and Shadow's friends appeared. "Sonic and Shadow they said together."
"You two have the power now use it and beat that monster once and for all."
As soon as they said that Sonic and Shadow's eyes opened wide. "Shadow you thinking what I'm thinking asked Sonic?"
"Yeah said Shadow."
"Let's show that creap the real power of the chaos emeralds."
"Then let's do it said Sonic."
Meanwhile back on the surface Discord was about to kill the ponies, Spike, Celestia, and Luna when suddenly the ground started to shake from underneath them. "Oh now what is happening asked Applejack?"
"I don't know but look at the emeralds said Celestia."
"I don't believe it they're, they're growing said Luna."
Then suddenly they looked at the crater where Sonic and Shadow were. Just then Sonic and shadow rose up from the hole. "Ha I can't believe it they'er alive said Pinkie!!!!"
"NO THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE said Discord!!!!"
"HM YOU ACTUALLY THOUGHT YOU COULD BEAT US DISCORD BY TRANSFORMING INTO A MONSTER said Sonic!!!!"
"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE asked Discord?"
"WELL DISCORD said Shadow."
"WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO BEHOLD THE ULTIMATE POWER!!!!"
"THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY TO GO said Sonic!!!!"
"SHADOW ARE YOU READY?"
"YES SONIC I'M READY said Shadow."
" I'M READY!!!!"
"OK THEN HERE WE GO said Sonic!!!!"
"CHAOS CONTROL said Sonic and Shadow together!!!!"
Then a huge bright light formed and the ponies, Spike, Celestia, and Luna covred their eyes.
"Wow what is that bright light asked Rarity?"
"I don't know Rarity but the power it is letting off is amazing said Fluttershy!!!!"
In no time the light dimmed and there where Sonic and Shadow were stood a hedgehog with red and white fur with red eyes. "WHAT WHO ARE YOU asked Discord?"
"ARE YOU SONIC OR ARE YOU SHADOW?"
"I'm neither Sonic or Shadow I am the hedgehog that will destory you I'm Shadic, SHADIC THE HEDGEHOG!!!!!" |
Sonic and Shadow in Equestria | Chapter 5 | Sonic and Shadow in Equestria
By Will Atkinson
Chapter 5
The ponies, Spike, Celestia, and Luna looked at Shadic in amasement. "This is, this is incredible!!" said Celestia.
"Oh dear sister you were right to have faith in Sonic and Shadow." said Luna.
"They joined together to create one hedgehog." said Twilight.
"Oh man what power." said Spike.
"Hey guys look." Said Fluttershy, as Shadic begain to walk towards Rainbow's lifeless body.
"Now what intarnations is he up to?" Asked Applejack.
As they looked on Shadic put his hand on Rainbow, just then Rarity came up to Shadic. "Um Sadic what are you doing?" she asked
Shadic turned to Rarity and smiled. "I'm going to revive Rainbow Dash, Rarity." He said
"Your going to revive her but how?" Rarity asked
"Like this." Said Shadic.
As soon as Shadic said that a green orb of energy was forming around Rainbow. Just then the green orb went into Rainbow's body and in no time Dash's injuries started to heal up. "Oh i hope he can revive Rainbow." Said Applejack.
"Me too Applejack me too." said Fluttershy.
"Have faith in Shadic ponies." said Celestia.
"Yeah if anypony or in this case anyhedgehog can revive Rainbow Dash it's Shadic." said Luna
"Hey look everypony I think he's done." said Spike.
Sure enough Shadic lowered his hand and bent down towards Dash and held her in his arms. As Rainbow's friends approached them Rainbow's eyes slowly opend. "Wha....what happend?" She asked.
"RAINBOW DASH YOUR ALIVE!!!!" said the ponies, Spike, Celestia, and Luna together.
Rainbow looked at her friends and smiled. Then she looked up at the white and red hedgehog. "Who, who are you?" Asked Dash.
Then see looked again. "S....Sonic is that you and where is Shadow?" she asked
"Oh Dashie this is Sonic and Shadow they both transformed into one hedgehog called Shadic!!!!" Said Pinkie pie.
Rainbow couldn't belive it. Then she looked into Shadic eyes and realized that Pinkie was telling the truth.
"Oh Sonic it is you!!!!" She said hugging Shadic.
The ponies, Spike, Celestia, and Luna smiled at Dash and Shadic until Discord interrupted them. "HEY HAVE YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A HEDGEHOG FORGOT ABOUT ME? asked Discord.
"No I have not." said Shadic.
"THEN LET'S CONTINUE THIS LITTLE FIGHT OF OURS HAHAHAHAHAHAHA." Said Discord.
"Yeah let's do this Discord." Said Shadic.
As Shadic flew off to fight Discord, Rainbow Dash never looked away from him. "Be careful Sonic my love." she said to herself
(What I'm made of from Sonic Heroes play's)
"AH AT LAST THIS SHALL BE THE FIRST AND FINAL BATTLE WITH YOU SHADIC THE HEDGEHOG." Said Discord.
"Well then let's see what you can do against me Discord." Said Shadic.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" laughed Discord.
"Hey whats so funny?" Asked Shadic
"HA YOU SHADIC." Said Discord
"MY POWER IS STILL WAY MORE STRONGER THEN YOURS LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT I MEAN.HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" Said Discord
"Hm bring it on Discord." Said Shadic.
"OK THEN YOU ASKED FOR IT JUST TRY TO STOP THIS." Said Discord.
"SUPER DRAGON FIRE BLAST!!!!"
"Alright then here gose nothing take this Discord." Said Shadic
"CHAOS BEAM FIRE!!!!"
The two attacks collided with each other. Both Shadic and Discords power were equally matched. "NOT BAD SHADIC BUT I'M ALL POWERFUL HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!"
Just then Discord used the gem of power's full power and his dragon fire was drawing closer to Shadic. "Oh no Shadic's loosing." Said Twilight.
"Oh what are we gonna do, what are we gonna do?" asked Pinkie
"I think me and my sisster have an idea." said Celestia.
"Really what?" Asked Rarity.
"Well what if you girls use the elements of harmony on Shadic? Asked Luna
"But what if the elements of harmony turn Shadic to stone?" Asked Fluttershy.
"No they won't." Said Celestia
"Remember the elements of harmony only destroys evil and Shadic is not evil."
"Oh I get it now." Said Applejack
"If we use the elements of harmony on Shadic then he will get stronger."
"Yes that is what we have to do." Said Celestia
"Ok everypony take your position." Said Twilight.
When they got to position Discord saw what they were doing and he just laughed. "HAHAHAHAHAHA YOU SIX ARE USING THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY AGAIN DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED THE LAST TIME YOU USED THEM?" Asked Discord smirkenly.
The ponies just laughed and then Twilight spoke up. "Who said we were going to use the elements of harmony on you." She asked.
"WHAT, WHAT DO YOU MEAN? Asked Discord.
"You'll see partner." Said Applejack.
"Now girls." Said Twilight.
The elements began to glow bright then the power of the elements shot into Shadic. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA." laughed Discord.
"THAT"S WHAT YOUR PLANING?" Asked Dsicord
"TO TURN SHADIC INTO STONE?"
"OH WELL THANK YOU ALL SO YERY MUCH."
"Oh we're not using them to turn Shadic into stone you big fat meanie." Said Fluttershy
"WHAT, THEN WHAT ARE YOU USING THE ELEMENTS ON HIM THEN?" Asked Discord.
"Oh nothing just look at Shadic and find out for yourself." Said Rainbow Dash.
Discord looked at Shadic and saw that he wasn't being turned to stone but getting stronger thanks to the elements of harmony. "OH NO." Said Discord.
"I'M SUCH A FOOL THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY ONLY TURNS ONE INTO STONE IF THEY HAVE DARKNESS IN THEIR HEART BUT SINCE SHADIC DOESN'T HAVE DARKNESS IN HIS HEART THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY ARE MAKING HIM STRONGER."
"Now Discord feel my power." said Shadic.
Then a huge jolt of energy shot forth from Shadic and much to Discord's dismay Shadic attack was stronger then his own attack. "NO, NO!!!!" Said Discord.
"THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING TO ME!!!!"
"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"
"I told you." Said Shadic.
"I'm Shadic, SHADIC THE HEDGEHOG!!!!"
"I CAN'T LOOSE I JUST CAN'T." Said Discord.
He tried everything to power up even more but to no avail and Shadic knew this.
"THE NIGHTMARE IS OVER DISCORD DIE!!!!" Said Shadic.
Suddenly Shadic let out more of his power out and Discord was ingulfed in the beam of light. "NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Said Discord, as he disappeared into nothingness.
(Song ends)
As for the gem of power it shatterd into millions of pieces. "Shadic did it Discord's gone!!!!" Said Rarity
"Way to go Shadic!!!!" Said Twilight.
"Oh my gosh I can't beleive it he did it, he did it!!!!" Said Pinkie pie.
Then they saw not Shadic but Sonic and Shadow coming towards them. "SONIC YOU DID IT, YOU DID IT!!!!" Said Rainbow Dash.
"Yes Rainbow." Said Sonic hugging her.
"Now it's finally all over."
"Yes it is and we are so proud of you both." Said Celestia.
"Thank you your magesty." Said Shadow.
"I'm guessing you two have to leave now?" Asked Luna.
"Yes I'm afraid so." Said Sonic.
The Two ailicorns noded and began to power up their horns.
(Worth a chance from Sonic and the Secret Rings plays)
"Well I guess this is it huh guys?" Asked Fluttershy
"Yes it is Fluttershy." Said Shadow.
"Well goodbye everypony." Said Sonic.
The ponies all walked up towards Sonic and Shadow. "We will miss you partners and when you do come back you two need to try some of my apples." said Applejack.
"Ok we will Applejack." Said Sonic.
"Come back and see us soon darlings." Said Rarity.
"You got it Rarity." Said Shadow.
"Yeah you need to come back because I didn't get to throw you a welcome party so when you two do come back I'll throw a welcome back party!!!!" Said Pinkie pie.
"Ha don't worry Pinkie we will be back so get ready to throw that welcome back party." Said Sonic
"Oh man I'm going to miss you guys." Said Spike
"And we will miss you too spike." Said Shadow.
"Thank you for taking care of Discord." Said Twilight.
"No problem Twilight." Said Sonic.
Just then the portal to Mobius appeared and Sonic and Shadow were ready to go home.
"Hey wait a minute where is Rainbow Dash?" Asked Sonic.
"I don't know she was just here." Said Twilight.
"I'll go and find her." said Sonic.
"Why Sonic?" Asked Shadow.
"Becuase Shadow I don't wan't to leave without saying goodbye to her." Said Sonic.
"I understand Sonic." Said Shadow.
In a flash Sonic raced off to find Rainbow. Meanwhile Rainbow Dash was at the entrance to the everfree forest crying hard because Sonic was leaving and she didn't want him to go she felt that her heart was starting to break by the thought of never seeing Sonic again. "Hey Dash." Said a voice.
Rainbow turned around and saw Sonic standing there behind her. "OH SONIC!!!!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Rainbow what are you whoa."
Before Sonic could say anything else Dash knocked him down and started to cry uncontrollably on his shoulder. "OH SONIC PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME I LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH SONIC THAT I JUST DON"T WANT YOU TO LEAVE PLEASE DON'T GO." Said Dash still crying hard.
Sonic looked at Dash and whispered into her ear. "It's ok Dash just let it out, that is it just let it all out." He Said.
A few minutes had passed and Sonic decided that Rainbow had cryed enough "Uh Rainbow could you get off of me please?" He asked.
"Oh sorry Sonic." Said Dash calming down a bit.
"Um Sonic do....do you really have to leave?" She asked
"Yes Dash I'm sorry but I have to." Said Sonic.
"But you will come back to me right Sonic?" Asked Dash
"Of course I will Dash you think I won't after that great race that we did yesterday huh?" asked Sonic.
Rainbow smiled and then she went up and kissed Sonic.
(Song ends)
Later that day Sonic and Shadow were ready to go home. "Goodbye you two." Said Celestia.
"Yes goodbye and goodluck you two." Said Luna.
Sonic and Shadow both nodded and then they both stepped into the portal. Before the portal closed Sonic and Shadow waved goodbye to their new friends. "Goodbye Sonic my love I'll never forget you and someday we will see each other again I love you." Said Dash as she saw the portal disappear.
The end???? |
CRISIS: Equestria: After Hours, Volume 2 | pre | Red Velvet was bored. Bored bored bored. So bored. She didn't realize just how much her entire life had revolved around being friends with Pinkie Pie--literally--until Pinkie was gone. Now she had virtually no friends, nothing fun or exciting to do, no meaningful reasons to go venturing out into the city, and certainly nothing particularly noteworthy on her calendar.
It would be weeks before Pedigree got things together downstairs to move the young ponies from the project labs into proper abodes, and as much as she wanted to visit and spend time with them, only Golden Dawn had access and she wasn't loaning the keys out willy-nilly. The only update she had was that Pedigree had finished development on an environmental suit for little Caramel Rye, so at least he'd be comfortable.
Her sisters certainly didn't have the same issues whatsoever.
Dawn was so engrossed with her political studies that she didn't have time for anypony else; Insipid had a new fashion career to focus her time and attention on and besides her bosses, she had Lockwood as a friend; Havoc was still playing skyball with her team and having an absolute blast doing it; Curaçao was completely occupied with either her spy work or her fillyfriend; Gray was still living in the old apartment, waiting for Flathoof to make contact with her so they could get back on good terms.
That left Velvet with... nothing. Nothing to do but stay at home at Pandora Tower and watch television, lounge about, eat whatever she wanted, mope about all day, think about how her alien friend was doing and if she and her companions made it home okay, and, when she was feeling a very particular itch, maybe she'd head out into the city and try to find a stallion and get some action.
Just thinking about that alleviated her boredom somewhat, but she knew that if she went out to go find some random stallion to fuck, she'd just be more bored. Not that having a solid dicking was boring in and of itself, no, but she was desperate to find a way to mix it up. One stallion just wasn't enough to spice up what was a tremendously boring week; two stallions was harder to manage realistically since her conquests were random dudes, but even that didn't seem too exciting right now--been there, done that.
Then, a sudden thought sprung to mind. A combination of thoughts, rather; only two things ever really made Velvet's mind go into overdrive: sex and violence. And so, as that wonderfully bothersome little itch prodded at her loins and demanded that she go get dicked, a devilish series of ideas and schemes came to her mind.
It had been a week since Pinkie and her friends left, and one of those friends was Applejack. Now, Applejack was a mare of some stature, and had gained a tremendous amount of muscle while she and her friends were displaced in this world. Said muscle came from working at a loading warehouse at the Foundry, hauling heavy freight all day every day by hoof.
She also worked with a crew of stallions--all stallions--that were assuredly in the same well-built ballpark as she was.
And now, Applejack had left for home, and had needed to quit her job at that warehouse and explain the situation to a degree that her coworkers could understand. From how Applejack talked about them--and admittedly what Velvet knew mostly came from Pinkie and was limited and biased--the crew liked and respected her, and had taken her in as one of their own. They were her friends, to a point.
And so Velvet had herself a wonderful, marvelous, devious, downright wicked idea for how to scratch her itch.
*****
Thanks to directions from Lockwood, Velvet arrived at a bar in the Mid-North District sometime in the middle of the evening, at a time late enough that everypony from the Foundry would be off of work, but not too late that they'd all have gone home just yet. If she wasn't mistaken, Applejack's old crew--and in fact many warehouse crews--frequented this very bar after a long day at work, and Velvet was absolutely certain that she was not mistaken.
She had dressed for the occasion, donning a stetson hat and a tight plaid vest that she had commissioned from the Tower's seamstress/tailor, Rosegold Satin, who was curious about the need for such an outfit but was tactful enough not to ask questions.
She'd even practiced an accent resembling Applejack's the entire time she was making her way here via pegasus chariot, and felt that even if it wasn't perfect, it would get by well enough to meet her requirements.
The bar smelled strongly of smoke, beer, and sweat from the dozens of stallions that crowded around tables, smoking, drinking, hooting, and just generally having a good time. Velvet's eyes looked out upon the crowd like a foal in a candy store; there were stallions here twice her size, and even the smallest of their number were pleasantly physically fit.
For a moment she wanted to just pick and choose her favorites from the crowd to take to the hotel room she'd booked and be done with it, but she pushed that desire down; it wasn't entirely unrealistic to expect a group of strangers to be down for what she would be asking, but she knew it would be far easier if she just stuck with the plan; less questions, more action.
She hailed the nearest waitress before she went any further into the bar area; the mare was a pretty little thing with a short skirt and a big ass that grabbed the attention of every stallion in her vicinity, which was just good business sense if she wanted to make tips. Probably made her go home sore, but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do.
"Pardon me," Velvet asked in her new accent. "Would y'all happen to know where I can find Applejack's old crew, uh, Crew Seventeen, if they're here?"
The mare smiled a little. "Oh, are you a friend of Applejack's? We haven't seen her in here for a little while. Her crew said she went home down south."
"Yup, she sure did. I was hopin' to find her old coworkers, actually."
The waitress gestured towards a table on one end of the common area, where five stallions were sitting and drinking. "They're over there, sweetie."
"Thank ya kindly, ma'am," Velvet said, tipping her stetson. She felt like she was acting in one of those old western movies and felt a little goofy doing it, but she reminded herself it was all for a purpose. A wonderful, glorious purpose.
She approached the table in question, pulled up a chair, and took a seat. The stallions all immediately noticed her intrusion and directed curious looks her way. "Howdy there," she said, lifting her hat and giving the stallions a broad, friendly smile.
She took stock briefly of the group present, putting some names to faces. She only had vague details to go off of in regards to everypony here and to be frank, names didn't really matter--she usually didn't bother--but it was necessary to make her story more believable. She'd have to thank Shroud for giving her the little dossier and being discreet about it; she was certain that Curaçao still knew, though, since those two shared everything together.
The green pegasus with a white mane was Shamrock Shake; the huge yellow earth pony with a green mane was Hammer Toss; the red pegasus with a blue mane was Spangled Star; the silver earth pony with a black mane was Steel Chaser; and the blue earth pony with a blond mane was Blue Streak. It made it easier to know names than to try and refer to them by their colors.
"Can we help you, miss?" asked Shamrock, his expression a mix of curiosity and enjoyment.
"Well I reckon ya could," Velvet said with a tip of her hat. "Just to make sure I've got the right folk, though, you're... Shamrock Shake?"
He was surprised at that. "Yeah, that's me. Do I know you?"
"Naw, ya don't. Not yet, anyway." She looked to the others and identified them all in turn, and was met with the same looks of confusion and interest. "I heard y'all took good care of my cousin, Applejack."
Spangled's jaw dropped slightly. "Wait, you're New Girl's cousin? She never mentioned any cousin."
"She's not 'New Girl' any more, Spangled," Steel reminded him. "Now that she's quit, she's just Applejack to us, right?"
"She'll always be 'New Girl' to me, until somepony replaces her on the crew," Spangled said with a faraway look in his eye. "And since her spot was Thickhoof's spot and that spot's retired again, there ain't anypony that's gonna replace her."
"Hear hear!" cheered Streak as he took a drink.
"What's this all about, miss?" asked Hammer.
Velvet smiled and casually lifted her hindlegs up onto the table so she was facing Shamrock, but turned her head towards Hammer; Shamrock, if he cared to look, would get a good, clear view of the goods, and judging from the fact that he was practically bug-eyed while drinking his beer, he definitely cared to look.
"Like I said, y'all took good care of my cousin while she was in town from what I hear," she said, tilting her head just a little. "And I appreciate that. AJ is very dear to me, ya see, and I'm glad she had a bunch of big, strong, handsome fellas like y'all watchin' over her while she tried to make due in this big ol' scary city. It's tough bein' a mare out here, y'know?"
She punctuated her comment by putting her hoof on Spangled's thigh and turning to wink at him. He glanced down at her hoof, then to her, then took a long drink of beer.
"Now I don't know what Applejack told y'all when it comes to southern hospitality," she continued, shifting in her seat so that Steel could get a peek between her thighs. "But I'll sum it up for ya: we give it our all to make sure kindness is repaid." She then ran her hoof up Spangled's lap and onto his crotch. "And since Applejack ain't here... I wanna repay y'all for bein' such gentlecolts to her.
"So, what do ya say, boys?" she asked, fanning herself with her hat. "Y'all feel like lettin' a gal thank ya proper like?" She batted her eyelashes at Hammer in particular. "Just buy me a drink first and we can get outta here."
The stallions looked amongst themselves at the table for a moment.
Then, Shamrock lifted his hoof into the air, calling for the attention of a waitress. "Check please!"
*****
Velvet was reasonably assured how things were going to go when she and her five hunky stallions arrived at the hotel room that she rented and so she was almost too eager to open the door properly. The room was reasonably large and well-furnished, cheap enough that it wouldn't matter if the place was used for pure, unadulterated debauchery, but not so cheap that it was filthy or comfortable. Velvet had standards.
The bed wasn't particularly big, only large enough for maybe two ponies to sleep in comfortably but that would suffice; there wasn't going to be any sleeping involved here, so it was big enough that if everypony was cool and courteous, they could easily get some fun positions going.
They were all well past the point were talking was necessary. The only words that were going to be shared going forward were commands, requests, and dirty talk so far as Velvet was concerned. She didn't waste any time in unfastening the buttons on her shirt and leaving it open, and she of course kept the hat on. Rosegold would have to forgive her if these clothes didn't come home clean tonight.
She then sat on the edge of the bed gazing upon her studs with a wide, toothy grin and a sultry look in her eyes. "Okay, boys... don't be shy now. I know y'all got work in the morning, so let's not beat around the bush."
"So we're just getting right to it then?" Spangled asked as he unbuttoned his work shirt.
"Hey, wait, did anypony think to pick up some condoms?" Shamrock asked, looking pointedly at Steel.
Steel, already stripped out of his uniform, narrowed his eyes. "Why are you looking at me?"
"'Cause you're the responsible one, dummy."
"Boys, boys, boys," Velvet giggled, spreading her legs so they could all see her vulva. "Don't worry about condoms, okay? I like it raw, and I'm clean and on the pill." She took a little caplet--really just a breath mint--out of her shirt and popped it in her mouth. "See? We're all cool here tonight, alright? No worries."
The statement was a lie, of course, but for reasons they didn't need to know. Velvet's blood magic basically made her immune to every form of disease or illness, and her fine control over her bodily functions also let her control when she was ovulating. It was nice having such a convenient superpower.
The stallions looked to one another; they didn't seem to buy it just yet.
She rolled her eyes. "C'mon, y'all know my cousin was an honest mare, right?"
"Yeah, that's right, New Girl-- er, Applejack always told it like it was," Spangled agreed.
"Well, honesty runs in the family," she said, biting her lip as she lied, lied, lied. "So, forget arguin' 'bout stupid shit like condoms and get over here and dick me already. Let a girl thank y'all for treatin' her cousin right by treatin' y'all right. I know how stallions are: ya like it raw, same as me."
The stallions shared another look to one another, then shrugged; there wouldn't be another argument.
Then, of course, there was another argument, because all five stallions had moved forward at the same time.
"Hey whoa, what are you guys doing?" Shamrock asked, giving hard looks to the others. "We can't all go in at once. We gotta take turns."
"Oh, yeah. Good point," Spangled said with a nod. He then stepped forward at the same time as the others all did again. "Okay, I thought we just said we can't all go in at once?"
"Well no shit, but that means one of us has to go first," Streak grumbled. "So why do you guys keep stepping up? It's obvious I get to go first."
Steel scoffed. "What the fuck? Why?"
"Because since Applejack left, I'm the youngest member of the crew, so we're doing this in order of age, right? Youngest to oldest?"
"No no no, bullshit, you don't get to go first Newbie," Shamrock huffed, pushing Streak aside. "If we're doing this, I go first because I'm the one that always picked up Applejack's tab at the bar."
"What's that got to do with anything?"
"Well, Miss Velvet here," Shamrock said, gesturing towards a very bored--but somehow enraptured--Velvet, "is Applejack's cousin and is doing this to thank us for being nice to Applejack. So, since I was nicest to her--"
"We're all on the same team here, boys, so it should go in order of seniority," Spangled said, stepping forward. "I've been on the crew longer than any of you--"
"Oh fuck you guys are borin' me to death right now," Velvet groaned, rolling her eyes into the back of her head. "If you're all arguin' over who gets to dick me first, why not let me choose?"
The stallions looked to one another, then nodded in agreement.
Velvet sat back up, clasped her hooves together, then gestured towards Steel. "You. You're first."
Steel smiled brightly. "Me? Well alright?"
"Why does he get to go first?" Spangled asked.
Velvet stuck her nose in the air. "I've decided that the only fair way to judge this is goin' by who's got the biggest cock, and Steel here goes first because he's the smallest." She turned to Hammer, licking her lips. "And the giant over there goes last. The grand finale."
Hammer smirked with all the confidence in the world. It was obvious to everypony in the room he'd be going last by those standards; even flaccid he was huge.
Spangled and Shamrock sputtered in amusement; Steel's face fell instantly. "B-but, that's... I don't--"
"Oh, don't feel bad about it, stud," Velvet said, gesturing for Steel to approach. "You're the smallest dick in the room, sure, but you're bigger than most of the guys I fuck. Top ten, easy," she added with a wink.
That seemed to make him feel better, because he approached her with his smile back on his face. She rested her back on the bed, supported by a single pillow, and beckoned him forward. "C'mon then, honey, fuck me like ya mean it. Show your friends that size doesn't mean everythin'."
Steel didn't wait a moment longer, hopping up onto the bed with the eagerness of a colt ten years younger. She eyed his cock eagerly; it hadn't been a lie that he was in her top ten--she knew all of her memories from before a month ago were fake but they still counted. His length was mottled all the way up to the tip, black with blotches of pink. It even curved towards his stomach a little bit at the tip.
"Go on, stud," she said, looking him in the eyes. "Fuck me. Treat me like a slut."
He didn't even bother to lubricate himself before he shoved his cock into her pussy, driving all the way up to the medial ring with a single thrust.
Velvet threw her head back and moaned; she liked it rough, so she didn't mind one bit that he'd done that, and in fact had been sort of hoping for it. She hadn't been rubbing herself whatsoever up until now and hadn't offered to lubricate him in any other fashion, because she expected him to just dive right in. There was no time for kissing, or nibbling on ears and whispering sweet nothings, or any of that other lame, romantic shit; she didn't care for it one bit.
All she cared about was getting dicked down by a bunch of hunks, and that's exactly what she was going to get.
Steel fucked with the kind of enthusiasm she expected of somepony that had just been asked to treat her like a slut, too. He went hard and fast, bottoming out inside her in only a matter of thrusts and not letting up one bit.
She'd barely even registered that his medial ring had entered her because of how fast it all happened. He just pulled all the way out--ring and all--then shoved all the way in. It even hurt just a little bit at first, since the curvature of his dick was causing his flare to press up hard against her inner walls.
And she loved it.
But the entire point of this lovely little exercise was to go above and beyond just having a single partner, and even though there were four other stallions in the room waiting their turns, she knew it simply wouldn't do to have them all just stand there with their cocks in their hooves. Where was the fun in that?
She beckoned for Spangled and Shamrock--the next two biggest in the bunch--to come over, patting the sides of the bed near her head. "Up here, boys. Let lil' ol' Velvet warm you up," she said, fully articulate despite Steel thrusting that meaty cock of his deep into her.
They didn't have to be asked twice, practically scrambling over to the bed and hopping up on either side of her. She started with Spangled first, getting a good look at his dick--long and uniformly black--before she ran her tongue along his flare. He shifted himself up to give her a better angle, which she used to lick along the entirety of his cock, all the way to his balls.
And oh, the musk. These five boys had just come off of work and absolutely stank of sweat, and the pungent aroma of sweaty stallion balls right up against her nose was like heaven. It even tasted good.
She then pushed away and turned to Shamrock, whose cock was uniformly blackish-gray. He was the same length as Spangled, but carried a little more girth. With a glimmer of lust in her eyes, she slid his flared tip into her mouth without hesitation; it wasn't terribly difficult, but she knew that without dislocating her jaw he was the largest stallion here that she could give meaningful head to, and that was only barely. She was just able to stretch her lips around his medial ring.
As Steel continued to pump away, his thrusts getting faster and faster, Velvet alternated herself on sucking down Shamrock's throat-stretching cock and Spangled's more reasonable one, bobbing her head on either one while they gripped and pulled her mane. She wished that just one of these stallions was a unicorn; a unicorn's magic could really grip and pull her mane like the slut she was.
Steel didn't give any sort of warning before he gave a few more energetic thrusts and drove himself balls-deep into Velvet's pussy, shooting his load inside her like a hose. His throaty moan sounded animalistic, like some crazed beast that had just marked its mate with its seed. Most guys did that, actually; a part of their brains clearly told them to ignore everything they'd heard about "the pill" and to breed the little slut beneath them.
Velvet loved the feeling of having a stallion filling her womb with hot, virile spunk; it always made her cum right then and there, no exception. Her pussy clamped down hard on Steel's cock, milking him for everything he was worth; she, however, was more than capable of sucking Spangled's cock even while cumming herself. If there was one thing she was good at, it was multitasking.
When Steel pulled out, Velvet wasted no time in almost literally kicking him out of the bed. "Okay, stud, you had your fun," she said after taking Spangled's cock out of her mouth. She glanced between the two stallions on the bed with her. "Boys, your turn. You've shown y'all can be good at sharin' me, so how's about ya share me a little more?"
The two stallions stared at one another briefly, then nodded.
"Good." She looked at Spangled first. "You get my cunny, honey," she said. Then, to Shamrock. "And you get the backdoor."
Shifting positions didn't take long. Spangled rested with his back on the bed, cock pointing straight up; Velvet then straddled him and took his cock all the way up to the medial ring without so much as a whimper of protest; Shamrock then mounted Velvet from behind, poking his dick right up against Velvet's puckered tailhole. He was lubricated well from earlier, so it sunk inside her with ease.
Then, the thrusting began, and Velvet found it... lacking. Gone was the passionate, deep fucking of the slightly-smaller Steel, replaced by this. Neither stallion was really putting too much force into their thrusts, more focused on being what Velvet could only interpret as caution, if only because of how slow and methodical they were. They didn't even go very deep at all; Spangled didn't push past his medial ring more than an inch, and Shamrock barely tried to get any deeper than that.
This was boring.
"Boys, what's the hold up?" she asked with an annoyed groan, adjusting her stetson and glaring between the two. "I asked to get fucked. I've had better dick from the washing machine at home. Both of y'all are bigger than Steel, so why don't I feel either of y'all like him?"
Spangled glanced around Velvet at Shamrock briefly, then back to her. "Uh, just making sure our balls don't touch, Miss Velvet," he said with a little grin. It was obvious he wasn't getting the most out of this either if he could manage a conversational tone.
"Guy code, y'know?" Shamrock added.
Velvet rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, fuck your code."
Without much effort, she shoved all of her weight down and back against Shamrock so that his position changed, causing him to slide down the bed. With the same motion, his cock drove all the way into Velvet's ass, balls-deep; and, at the same time, Velvet sunk down, also balls-deep on Spangled's cock until it was just an inch shy of her cervix. With the way she was positioned, their balls did indeed touch.
"Balls, dude!" Spangled grunted. "Your balls!"
"Sorry! Sorry!" Shamrock huffed as he pulled out slightly.
"Now now, boys, let's not fight," Velvet cooed as she gyrated herself up and down on both cocks simultaneously. "Haven't you ever heard the golden rule about three-ways?"
The two stallions shared a brief glance, both nervous and incredibly tense because of how it must have felt to be balls deep inside her, then just shrugged and returned to their earlier fucking, only this time with more force and fervor. It was much better now that they were working together instead of fighting it: when one of them thrust in, the other pulled out, working her smoothly like a well-oiled machine.
This was the kind of dicking Velvet had been looking for, and it was good. It was one thing to have a stallion's cock hilted inside her pussy, pounding in and out like a piston; it was another thing to have a stallion's cock doing the same to her much tighter tailhole, so deep that she could almost feel him in her stomach. It was something else entirely to have both at the same time, a wonderful new sensation that made her feel like she was on fire.
This was teamwork at its finest.
Spangled came first, his hooves clasping onto Velvet's hips as he thrust deep, deep into her pussy and shooting his load like a geyser, up and into her waiting womb. He didn't so much moan or groan as he did sigh, like a pressure valve had been released, and with the veritable fountain of cum spurting out of him that wasn't entirely inaccurate.
As always, a switch clicked inside Velvet the instant that that wonderful foal-making fluid entered her, desperate to make the necessary journey through her to create a new life. She wasn't sure what part of the sensation it was that turned her crank from empty to full at the drop of a hat. Was it the thought of getting knocked-up if even for an instant? Was it the fact that she was denying her body from that experience? Whatever the reason, it was reliable.
Shamrock came next, burying his cock deep into Velvet's ass and busting his nut all the way as far as he could go. He groaned as he came, thrusting with each and every spurt in an attempt to get deeper and deeper if at all possible. His groan was muffled, though, because he'd bit into Velvet's shoulder in the process, hard enough to nearly break the skin.
The trio rested like that together for all of a brief moment before Velvet composed herself and pulled off of the pair, not even making a sound as the two cocks slid out of her and dribbled droplets of cum all over her coat. She brought her hoof down beneath her pussy to keep anything from spilling down onto poor Spangled; it was bad enough she pushed his boundaries already, and she wasn't heartless.
"Alright boys, let somepony else have a turn," she said, turning her head back and winking at Streak.
The two stallions wordlessly dismounted the bed so that Velvet could assume a proper mating position, and Streak wasted no time in hopping onto the bed and mounting her. He did not thrust himself into her just yet, though, merely brought his lips to her ear to gently nibble on it. She fought the urge to roll her eyes; what was this guy's problem, suddenly whipping out these lame romantic maneuvers?
"C'mon, stud, don't waste my time," she cooed, shaking her hips against him. "Don't ya want to fuck Miss Velvet's slutty little pussy? Huh?"
"Your name is Applejack tonight, slut," Streak whispered into her ear. "Go on. Say your name."
Ah, okay, now it made sense. Applejack had mentioned that Streak had always been the one to give her the most shit over the first week or so, and now Velvet had a notion as to why: the guy had it bad for her. Poor bastard.
"Okay, honey," Velvet whispered back. "I'll be your Applejack tonight. What do ya want lil' ol' Applejack to do?"
He positioned his cock--the tip was bigger than any of the others so far tonight--up against her entrance. "Okay, Applejack, I want to hear you beg for my cock."
She grinned; now this was getting kinky. "Please, big daddy, I want your cock," she moaned, rubbing a hoof along her soaked vulva. "I want it so bad."
He gave her what she wanted, driving his cock in deep, past the medial ring in one go. She hadn't gotten much of a look at it earlier, but she knew he was bigger than Shamrock by a good two inches and a little thicker. He was big enough to stretch her ever so slightly, a wonderful feeling that she didn't get that often from the lucky stallions she picked up at random.
She made a mental note that if the stars aligned and she ever saw Applejack again, she'd tell her she was missing out.
"You like that, Applejack?" he asked, nibbling her ear as he started thrusting, slowly for now. "You like my big cock?"
She purred and nodded. "Yeah, baby. Your cock's fillin' me up real good~"
"Bet you regret joking about it now, don't you?" he asked. "You could've had this big dick every night if you'd just asked me nicely instead of being such a bitch." He slapped her ass with his hoof. Hard. "Apologize."
"Ah! I'm sorry I was a bitch," she hissed, a smile forming on her face. Stars above, she liked it rough.
"That's right. You should be sorry. But you're my bitch now."
She was practically rocking on the bed with every frantic thrust, and was glad the beds in this hotel were so sturdy. He was easily able to overpower her smaller frame and pin her to the bed beneath him, thrusting in and out with purpose, a real purpose beyond just getting his rocks off. The stallion fucked Velvet's pussy hard and fast seemingly without a care in the world for if she was enjoying it, which of course meant she was enjoying it immensely.
Every single thrust used the entire length of his cock, so she got to feel his medial ring roughly force itself in and out each and every time. His hips slapped against her ass and his balls swung into her clit; the reverberating slap, slap, slap of skin on skin echoing throughout the room. She could feel her slick juices splashing practically everywhere just because of how frenzied the fucking was.
She didn't know if his enthusiasm was because he was imagining that he was fucking Applejack right now, or because he knew that he wasn't and so could be rougher than he'd ever dream being with Applejack who would likely break him in half if he tried anything like this. Poor mare didn't know what she was missing; she wanted to go back in time tell AJ to suck up her pride and fuck this stud.
"I'm gonna cum now, Applejack," he grunted into her ear. "I'm gonna fill your bitch womb with so much fucking cum that you'll get knocked up for sure."
Velvet smirked; this guy had it worse than she thought. "No, don't!" she fake-pleaded. "I don't wanna get pregnant!"
"Tough shit."
Then came one last, powerful thrust, and Velvet felt a sudden jolt of pain--brief, but noticeable--as the flared tip of his cock slammed right up against her cervix, something she'd never really gotten to experience before.
"Applejack! Take it all!" he groaned.
She was used to pain--getting shot and stabbed in the gut had numbed her to the sensation--and didn't mind it in the least, so it didn't stop her enjoyment of the experience whatsoever. If anything it heightened it, not because of the pain she was feeling now, but because she knew that Streak's cock wasn't even the biggest.
She came when he did, as she always did, this time getting the unique sensation of having hot stallion spunk blasting directly into her hungry womb without anything in between. The wide flare of his cock was enough to easily lock in every last drop of thick, gooey foal batter that she milked out of him.
He took a brief moment to breathe and rest after blowing his load, and Velvet actually felt a little twinge of loneliness inside her once he softened and pulled out. Not a terrible withdrawal, to be honest, because he'd jettisoned enough into her womb that she still felt completely stuffed. But still, there was a big difference between just having a full womb and also having a thick cock hilted inside her.
To her surprise, as soon as Streak dismounted and his wonderful cock departed for elsewhere in the room, it was instantly replaced by another. Not by Hammer's... hammer, but by the familiar, smaller feeling of Steel Chaser. Steel didn't say a word whatsoever as he just shoved the entire length of his dick right into Velvet's pussy, he just did it, and immediately started thrusting, like she was just a hole to use.
Velvet didn't mind at all.
She didn't even mind when Spangled crawled up on the bed and shoved his erection into her face. She didn't mind when, after she got her lips around it, he shoved it all the way to the back of her throat. She didn't mind when his hooves took hold of the back of her head and he started fucking her throat like Steel was fucking her pussy.
In fact, she was less than bothered by it; she loved it. She was being used and she loved it.
Steel must not have been used to going two rounds with a mare before, because he didn't last very long until he shot another load of stallion spunk into her womb, mixing with the prodigious amount Streak had filled her with. Naturally, she came too, and now that the boys were going out of order she had lost track of how many times that had been. Three? Four? Five?
Steel dismounted almost as soon as he'd finished--just before he'd finished, actually, as he shot one last load up along the outside of her vulva and tailhole. Spangled continued fucking her throat, though, so she couldn't say anything--not that she'd protest--as Shamrock came up behind her and mounted her as well. Like Steel he did so without a word and without an ounce of restraint; he was balls-deep in one thrust, and he did not let up whatsoever.
Spangled came next, shooting a huge wad of thick cum right down Velvet's gullet. Because he'd done so without a word, she hadn't expected it and choked on the sudden flare of his tip and the rush of semen. She very nearly swallowed some down the wrong tube, and was both a little embarrassed that any stallion could make her choke on their dick but also incredibly turned on by that same fact.
Then, Shamrock reached his own climax and she came with him, She could almost feel her belly expand from the sheer volume of three stallions' entire loads filling her womb, and a little part of her brain was screaming at her to just let it happen, to just let one of these hot, virile studs knock her up and make her a mommy. But no matter how hot that made her, she resisted.
She barely registered the situation when both Shamrock and Spangled pulled out, giving her a chance to breathe for a moment and to roll over onto her back to look up at the ceiling.
But there was no time to rest. The moment had come, and Hammer Toss, the biggest stallion on the group--both in stature and in endowment--stepped over to the bed to take his turn. He dragged Velvet over to the edge so that he could stand comfortably with his hind legs on the floor, forelegs on the bed with his hooves right by her head. He didn't even look down to meet her gaze; she was just a fuckhole to him right now.
His big, heavy cock slapped down onto Velvet's stomach, and she looked at it with the same sense of enrapturement one would look at a cake if they'd been starving and alone in the wilderness for a week. His cock was bigger than any that she'd ever had or even seen before, and she'd watched her fair share of pornography when she was lonely some nights; the regular girth alone was as big as Streak's medial ring. It was pale pink in color, mottled along the tip with brown splotches.
It was magnificent.
No words were shared. Hammer just placed the tip of that huge monster at the entrance to Velvet's vulva and quite literally forced it in. It did hurt just a little bit, for a brief moment, especially as he just kept pushing until he got to the medial ring. She could feel herself being stretched so far that she thought she might just be torn right open. His thrusts started off slow and steady, but picked up the pace within moments.
He then shoved the medial ring inside, and for the first time that Velvet could remember--fake memories or no--she came before her partner did. The combination of immense pleasure of being completely and utterly full and the sensation of pain as her pussy expanded to accommodate this thing that had entered her, well, it was too much.
And he could tell that she did, too; he'd have to be numb not to feel the way her pussy clamped down on his cock like a vice. "You're the first mare to last that long and take that much so easily," Hammer grunted, an almost feral growl in his voice. "I like you."
"Shut up and fuck me, stud," Velvet growled back. "Ruin me. Tear me in half."
He did just that, though he was still slow and methodical for now. His medial ring was firmly wedged inside her, so tight that even though he was clearly trying to pull it out, he couldn't. So, with nowhere to go but deeper in, deeper in he went. Each thrust stretched her out enough to accommodate more of his girth, until he was able to get another few inches inside.
The tip of his cock poked against her cervix, and she glanced down to see that he still had a few inches to go beyond that. Inches that he wasn't using. That just wouldn't do.
"What's the hold up, big boy?" she panted in between thrusts. "All the others got balls-deep. Aren't you stallion enough to do the same?"
Hammer grunted; she was so tight around him that it was probably hurting him as much as it was her to actually thrust. "I can't. I'm too big."
"Do it," she hissed, wrapping her hooves around his forelegs to brace herself. "I can take it."
He shook his head and slowed his thrusting. "No you can't. I've never gone that deep in a mare before."
"Honey, are y'all tellin' lil' ol' me what I can and can't handle?" she cooed. "Remember, I'm Applejack's cousin. We don't back down from nothin'. Now, fuck. Me. Good."
He paused a moment, then snorted air out of his nostrils like a true stallion, pulled back to his medial ring, and with one thrust he bottomed out inside her. Three inches of solid cock drove right past her cervix and into her womb, and yeah, it hurt like absolute hell. But between the pain and the pleasure of it all, Velvet came again, the second time she came before her partner did, all because of this one delectable cock.
A lesser mare would have passed out.
The sudden pressure of his cock invading her womb managed to squeeze out most of the spunk already in there, where it slowly seeped its way out of her and onto the bed and floor below.
She managed to compose herself enough to glance down at her stomach, where she could see legitimate proof that he was inside her: a noticeable distension in her belly. She put one hoof against it gently, rubbing slowly along the bulge like it was a cat; he grunted when she did.
"Ooh, can you feel that?" she purred.
He just nodded, teeth clenched from the squeezing pressure her tightness was inflicting on him.
Hammer did not stop to let her come down from her high, he just pulled back and thrust again, using only the three inches he had available; the flare of his cock made it impossible for him to pull out any further without actually damaging her, and he didn't know that she could just heal herself afterwards. He was a true gentlecolt. A gifted gentlecolt.
Every time he hilted inside her, his balls slapped her ass, soaked from a combination of her cum and the spunk of three other stallions. By now his balls were coated with the mixture of fluids as much as her ass and thighs were. Even as he pushed more and more love juices out of her cramped tunnel, they lubricated his mighty hammer enough to allow him to thrust without restraint.
And he did not last much longer than that, either. She could feel him tensing up, ready to cum, ready to paint her insides white with the virile seed of a real stallion, the kind that deserved to sow his oats with any mare he wanted, that any mare should be begging for foals from. Velvet got the most wicked idea just then, a devilish grin curling onto her lips as she reached up to pull the big stallion's face closer to hers.
"Go on..." she whispered. "Make me a mommy. Put a foal in me."
Whether he was scared or excited, Velvet didn't know or care, because that little statement was enough to make him thrust once more. An explosion of semen--this was no exaggeration--burst into Velvet's womb with the first spurt of his climax. Then another. Then another. Velvet watched as her stomach expanded after the second burst, then again after the third.
By the time he was done, she looked and felt like she had a little foal bump. She even cradled it gently as if it was. "Mmm... so full. Good thing I'm on the pill, huh? You could've knocked me up real good~"
He just barely managed to nod, but said nothing. The poor stallion was sweating like he'd been working out in the sun for hours; she took pride in making a stallion like him actually work for an orgasm. Surely no mare before her had given him this kind of pleasure.
Velvet had just enough cognizance to turn her attention to the other stallions in the room and gave them a half-hearted wave. "Well, boys... it's been fun. Thanks again for bein' so good to my cousin. I hope y'all know how much I appreciate that."
The other stallions, who were already in the midst of getting dressed, and gave little nods and mumbles of acknowledgement.
"Y'all should get goin', though. Y'all said ya got work in the mornin', and Applejack would have my hide if I made her wonderful friends late for work."
"Thanks for the evening, Miss Velvet," said Shamrock as he headed out.
"Oh yeah, a great time was had by all," agreed Steel.
"If you ever want to, uh... thank us again, you know where to find us," added Spangled.
"Tell New Girl we said 'hi' if you see her," added Streak with a little wink. "And let her know what she's been missing."
And with that, the four others departed.
Velvet then looked to Hammer and reached up to pat him on the shoulder. "You too, big guy. I know ya like bein' in there--believe me, so do I--but you've got work in the morning same as them."
Hammer pulled; Velvet hissed a little as his flared tip tugged on the inside of her cervix. But he stopped, then gulped. "I... I can't..." he said in almost a whimper, not the sort of noise a big stallion like him should be making. "I'm stuck."
Velvet blinked as she saw the bulge of his cock tug but otherwise did not move. He wasn't kidding. "Well, shit." |
CRISIS: Equestria: After Hours, Volume 2 | 5. Havoc/Cotton Rose: Putting Out the Fire | As the bartender came over and poured the shots swiftly, Havoc passed one over to Cotton and gestured for her to take it. "Look, I'm sorry if I turned things a little awkward. I didn't mean to rain on the little parade we were having here. So, uh... let's assume that I didn't suddenly act all... stupid and weird about stuff. What were you... um, what were you hoping to happen? B-between us?"
Havoc cursed herself for the sudden bout of nervousness. Why in the world had she gone from confident, subconscious flirting to being spineless wimp? Was it because she was thinking about it now? Shit, was this a part of Fluttershy that had managed to sneak its way into her personality? Of all the fucking things, it had to be this!
Cotton paused, then blushed and took the glass of whiskey in her hoof. "Um... to be honest, I was sort of hoping... that you and I could, y'know..." She shook her head. "But I mean, that's not--"
"Cool. Cool." Havoc clinked her glass with Cotton's, and the two took their shots together. She then signaled the bartender to pour two more, then turned back to Cotton. "So. You, uh... you wanted to take me back to your place to... fuck? Is that it?"
The whiskey was definitely calming her nerves, thank goodness. A little liquid courage went a long way for her, it seemed.
Cotton gulped, then nodded as she took the second shot glass. "I mean, if you'd agreed to it... y-yeah. I was just hoping to ask you out on a date, but if you're cool with more, so am I."
"Cool. Very cool." Havoc clinked glasses together with Cotton again, then downed her whiskey in one go before exhaling loudly and giving Cotton a smirk. "So, uh, what're we waiting for?"
"Hmm?"
"You heard me. Let's get outta here and head back to your place."
"But I thought you didn't--"
Havoc held up a hoof. "Look, this is complicated. I didn't think I was into mares but you're a mare, fine. I wouldn't want to take that away from you. Honestly, until I thought about it, I'll admit that I thought--and still think?--you're cute as hell."
"You... you really think I'm cute?" Cotton asked, wide-eyed, her hoof rising to her cheek.
"Yeah, and uh, maybe that's why I feel all weird about it, what with my orientation or whatever, 'cause now I'm super curious. Maybe I've always been curious. Bi-curious? I mean, I thought I only liked guys, but like, just delicate guys. So... fuck if I know what that means about me. Uh... yeah. Comp-li-ca-ted."
Cotton gestured at herself briefly. "So you don't mind about... me? Being a mare, but not, y'know...?"
"Not at all, if you don't mind about me being a stupid, confused idiot that can't keep her mouth shut."
"I don't mind one bit," Cotton said with a seductive flicker of eyelashes.
Havoc paused briefly, then smirked and gestured with her wing towards the door. "Then let's get the fuck outta here."
Cotton smiled and nodded. "Yes, let's."
*****
Havoc followed Cotton down into the underground levels of Hope's Point, where the residential neighborhoods were located. Having never been down here before for longer than an elevator ride, she took in the sights for a brief moment and was satisfied with how organized everything was. The entire underground was well-lit despite being, well, underground, and everything was arranged in neat, tidy streets.
Cotton's house was located on one of the lower levels of the underground, where the city's middle-class ponies lived. It was a small, one-story abode with nothing particularly distinguishing about it on the outside, making it identical to every other building on the street that Cotton lived on, right down to its simple brown paint job.
The interior was... well, the only word Havoc could really describe it as was "cozy". There was a small living room with just a couch, a television, and a coffee table, directly adjacent to a tiny kitchenette that barely had enough space for two ponies to maneuver in. Havoc was reminded of the apartments back up north, specifically the one that Dash had lived in, but this all belonged to Cotton and Cotton alone.
"Go ahead and make yourself at home," Cotton said as she set her keys down on a nearby cabinet. With a sly look back, she added, "I'm gonna go clean up a little and change into something a little more... comfortable, if you'll pardon the cliched expression."
"Yeah, sure, go for it," Havoc said with a small grin. "You, uh... got anything to drink? And I mean the stronger stuff, not like, uh... orange juice or whatever."
Cotton gestured towards the cabinet she'd set her keys on. "Help yourself. And hey, pour me a bit of whatever you're having too, okay? I won't be long, promise." She then smirked, turned, and headed off towards the bedroom, casually flicking her tail into Havoc's nose as she went.
Havoc took a deep breath as she watched the other mare's swaying tush, then as soon as Cotton was out of sight, door closed behind her, she opened up the liquor cabinet like her life depended on it. She didn't have to search long to find something she liked, because she spotted something almost immediately: a half-full bottle of jalapeno tequila. She didn't know they even made this kind of stuff; they didn't have it up north as far as she knew.
She grabbed a pair of the taller, slimmer shot glasses appropriate for tequila, made her way over to the couch and took a seat--she marveled at how damn comfortable it was--then popped the bottle open and poured a shot for herself and for Cotton. She took a moment to sniff the bottle's mouth and get a sense for the stuff, surprised with how pleasantly the pepper tickled her nose; that was genuine jalapeno, not some artificial flavoring.
She then sat back and relaxed for a few minutes while she waited for Cotton, contemplating the situation and trying to calm her nerves. This entire thing had just cropped up unexpectedly and she didn't have any idea what she was doing or how to proceed; she was more than a little hesitant to admit to Cotton that she was nervous not just because this was her first time with a pony like her, but with... well, anypony. It was still a sore spot.
Those thoughts kicked themselves right out of her mind when she heard Cotton clear her throat from the bedroom doorway. Havoc's eyes widened and her jaw dropped when she saw the new choice in clothing, and questioned for a fleeting instant how it was more comfortable than what Cotton had been wearing before.
A short short skirt--shorter than anything Havoc had even seen Velvet wear before--made of a thin, almost translucent material, colored mostly black with pink edges; it covered up only the teensiest portion of Cotton's cutie mark. A babydoll that matched the skirt and hugged Cotton's figure just perfectly, showing off all the subtle curves of her lusciously mare-ish figure. All complemented by a pair of black fishnet stockings that were maybe just a little too tight.
"How do you like it?" Cotton asked with a little sensual purr in her tone.
Havoc's heart was pounding; she'd never checked out a mare before in her life, but knowing that Cotton was different just put it all into a different perspective. And she liked it. A lot. Her wings, fully spread out against the couch, would've been all the indication anypony needed, but she felt the need to say something, anything.
She could barely even get the words out: "W-wow. You look... wow."
Cotton grinned and took a few steps towards the couch. "Thanks. I usually only wear it for special occasions, and I couldn't think of anything more special than this."
She gave a little, slow twirl to show off the entire outfit and herself, giving Havoc a good, clear look at every inch of her figure. Havoc marveled at the fact that despite the miniscule traces of masculinity in Cotton's muzzle and hooves, she looked every bit exactly like any other mare did.
Except, of course, for a particular set of bits that hung between Cotton's hindlegs and, thanks to the much shorter skirt, were out in the open for Havoc to see.
First, a pair of balls, smaller than any Havoc had seen before, but she'd admit her only experience was from watching porn where all of the male specimens were gifted in that area. Second, a lovely cocksheath to go with it, and though Havoc was no expert, Cotton seemed like she was smaller in that area too. Not tiny, just smaller.
But size wasn't even remotely a dealbreaker for Havoc, not in the least bit. If anything, Cotton's smaller size was a huge turn-on. If she was interested in well-hung lunkheads, she'd have asked Velvet to hook her up with somepony ages ago. No, she liked a stallion who was maybe average at best; it made her feel more... powerful?
"So, this is me. All of me," Cotton said, sounding just a little unsure of herself in the process despite her earlier displays of confidence. "Sorry if it's not exactly what you expected, but--"
Havoc hesitated to say that Cotton's body was perfect, but... there was really no other word for it. Cotton was perfect for her. A perfectly feminine figure but equipped with the male anatomy that Havoc... preferred? How the hell she'd lucked out like this, she didn't know, but she was glad that she did.
"You're right, not what I expected at all," Havoc said with a little smile, her eyes drinking in everything that they could. "Better. You're perfect."
Cotton's face reddened and she averted her eyes from Havoc briefly. "Thanks." She then came over to the couch and sat next to Havoc, reaching over to take one of the two shot glasses. "Ooh, the Newhaven jalapeno tequila. Good pick. Strong, spicy, and smooth. Like you."
"Heh heh, yeah, I guess it is, huh?"
Havoc took her own glass and leaned back against the couch, then lifted her glass to Cotton, who raised hers and clinked them together. They each downed their shots swiftly, then set the glasses back down. Havoc swallowed hers with a great deal of satisfaction: strong, spicy, and smooth, as advertised. This was the best tequila she'd ever had, the perfect way to lead into what was shaping up to be the best night ever.
Cotton set her hoof on Havoc's thigh. "You want to just take this straight to the bedroom?"
Havoc gulped, then nodded, still cursing her nervousness and hoping the tequila would help wash the last of it away. "Yeah. Yeah, that sounds great."
Cotton took Havoc's hoof in hers and pulled her off the couch, then led her over to the bedroom. Havoc wasn't sure what to expect Cotton's bedroom to look like, but she wasn't disappointed with how... normal it was? Was that the right word? It was perfectly normal, just a regular bed and regular walls, a regular dresser and a regular closet, and a regular door leading into what was assuredly a regular bathroom.
Why did she think it would be anything else? Maybe it was Cotton's fashion career that made her think it would be more... lavish or something?
She almost lost track of herself in the moment, following behind Cotton automatically and without resistance or even registering that anything was going on. Her eyes had only scanned the room briefly but now they were locked on Cotton's gorgeous rear and the hanging set of balls. The other mare was intoxicating to a ridiculous degree.
She barely even registered being pulled onto the bed to sit next to Cotton, nor did she register taking off her jacket and the shirt under it, and only started registering things again when Cotton's lips pressed against her neck and hooves rubbed her naked back. She only registered this because it meant that she was naked. On another pony's bed. She was going to have--gulp!--sex.
That was when she blurted, without even thinking: "I've never done anything like this before!" And she immediately put her hoof to her mouth, embarrassed as she'd ever been.
Cotton pulled back slowly, an eyebrow raised as though the statement had confused her. "Huh?"
"I, uh... I've never done anything like this before," Havoc repeated, gulping and gently taking Cotton's hooves in her own. "So, uh... sorry if I seem a little lost or nervous."
"Oh yeah, this is your first time with a mare like me, right? Forgot about that," Cotton said, nodding in understanding--or a lack thereof, unfortunately. "I know you said you're more accustomed to stallions yourself. Don't worry, I understand completely. If you feel more comfortable treating me like a stallion for this, I won't mind."
"That's... that's not what I meant. I meant that I've... never done anything like this before. Anything. Ever."
"Oh?" Cotton tilted her head, then her eyes widened. "Oh! You mean you're a... and this is your first time? Like, ever?"
Havoc nodded, feeling her cheeks heat up. She'd never admitted to something so embarrassing before to somepony who was essentially a stranger. It had been hard enough confessing her self-consciousness about it to Dash, but it was even harder saying it to Cotton now. What if Cotton was turned-off by Havoc being a virgin? What if she asked her to leave? What if--
Cotton leaned forward, her nose pressing against Havoc's. "I'm touched that you're letting me be your first. I would've never dreamt that a mare like you would even look at a mare like me the way that I look at you. And yet here we are."
"Huh?"
"I mean, look at you," Cotton said, tracing a hoof along Havoc's stomach. "You've got the body of a professional athlete. You've got the cutest baby blue eyes I've ever seen." She gave Havoc a mischievous grin. "And you're adorable when you're nervous..."
Havoc gulped; she'd never had anypony compliment her like that before. "You're not just saying that right? You really think I'm good-looking? Like... for real for real?"
"Of course I do! I said I had a major crush on you, didn't I? I figured you had all sorts of ponies vying for your attention and that you'd never think twice about little ol' me. But you want me to be your first? That's..." Cotton sighed, her hooves pressing against Havoc's back. "That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard."
Havoc coughed into her hoof. "I, uh... yeah. Just thought you should know. 'Cause I've got no idea what I'm doing here. Sorry."
Cotton's hooves slid down Havoc's sides sensually. "But do you know what you want to do?"
"What I... want to do?" Havoc's mind started racing to all of the various pornos she'd watched over the past year to help her deal with the lonely nights. She knew porn wasn't supposed to be like the real deal, but it was all that she had to get off to... er, go off of. "I mean, yeah, I guess I've got a few ideas. But--"
"This is a very special night for you, Havoc," Cotton whispered into Havoc's ear, her breath sending shivers down Havoc's spine. "And I want to make it special. So tonight, you can do whatever you want to me, with me, whatever. Anything."
Havoc's heart was pounding so hard she was afraid that it was going to leap out of her chest and have a stroll around the room. "Anything?"
"Anything. I'm all yours." Cotton gently nibbled Havoc's ear, eliciting an excited hiss. "Take me."
That was all Havoc needed to hear; every ounce of hesitation and nervousness left in her body evaporated in an instant, and she was reading and raring to go into overdrive. She was herself again: Havoc, the fearless Fire Warrior.
She started off simple, figuring that if she was going to make the absolute most of this evening, she needed to get absolutely everything out of it that she could. It started off with a kiss, of course, because that would just be another first to add to the list. Cotton accepted the kiss without hesitation, and even though Havoc had no idea what she was doing, Cotton made up for it by directing her along with gentle little motions of her tongue.
Her first kiss. Havoc wasn't sure what to make of anything anymore, but damn if this first kiss wasn't absolutely fucking magical. She'd heard of all the little corny-ass ways that fillies and mares described it sometimes, like feeling butterflies or fireworks or stupid shit like that, and none of those really fit as far as Havoc was concerned. It felt more like somepony had planted a bomb in her gut.
But like... a nice bomb that exploded with warmth and fuzziness. Yeah, that was it.
She came up for breath after a few moments, panting heavily like she'd just galloped across the entire continent without stopping. She looked into Cotton's eyes for the brief moment that she had to breathe, and saw this little spark there that wasn't there before. Cotton had definitely enjoyed the kiss as much as Havoc did, if her own breathing was any indication.
So Havoc dove back in and kissed her again, and felt that she was better at it this time. The bomb in her gut had caused so much collateral damage that her entire body was just feeling hot and tingly, especially her nethers. Especially when Cotton's hoof slid down Havoc's belly to reach between her thighs and gently teased her teats.
Havoc's own hoof found its way to Cotton's crotch, where Cotton's cock was finally poking out of its sheath. That's when she registered that this was the first cock she'd ever touched before. Her hoof was on somepony's dick. Her hoof. This was really happening. Because of course it was, why wouldn't it be? Havoc was awesome, she knew that, Cotton knew that, everypony knew that. Anypony who said otherwise was asking to have their ass kicked.
She slid her hoof up and down on Cotton's stiffening cock, coaxing it out of its hiding place and out into the open. Now that she had a hoof on it, Havoc could tell that Cotton was actually about... average, she supposed. Maybe below average? Definitely smaller than the sizable schlongs she saw in those pornos, but then who wasn't? And that was all Havoc could ask for.
A brief look down told her Cotton's dick was completely pink from base to tip, not even the slightest hint of mottling at all. It looked so cute against Cotton's coat color, almost like it had been painted or dyed to complement it. It wasn't a particularly veiny cock, either, and even the medial ring was barely thicker than the rest. If it was possible to have a feminine stallionhood, Cotton had managed it.
Perfect.
Cotton's other hoof had found its way up Havoc's back and was fondling her left wing now, making her shudder; her wings were never especially sensitive, but then she'd never had another pony touch them so sensually before. A particularly sensitive spot made her hiss and shift her position, giving Cotton's other hoof access to her pussy.
It was all happening so fast that Havoc shuddered a bit, hoping that she wasn't about to cum just because Cotton was fondling her. That would be lame and unacceptable for her ego, even if she was an admitted virgin.
Havoc pulled out of his kiss and aggressively moved to kiss Cotton's neck instead, just barely grazing skin with teeth as she did so. She didn't have any first-hoof experience but damn if Havoc had never studied up on techniques in magazines and from watching movies--not all of them pornographic, even! Cotton moaned with pleasure; Havoc could feel the reverberations in Cotton's throat on her tongue.
The hoof Cotton had on Havoc's wing moved to her own cock to stroke it along with Havoc until it was at full length. "You're-- mmm~ You're sure this is your first time?" Cotton huskily breathed, craning her neck to give Havoc better access. "You're not bad."
"I've done my homework," Havoc grunted as she came up to nibble Cotton's ear; she was careful not to do it too hard to break the skin but hard enough to get a reaction. "Am I doing this right? Stroking your cock, I mean?"
"You're doing just fine, lover. A little rough, but I've had rougher. Just use gentle up-and-down strokes, and don't use only the toe of your hoof; you mostly want to use the frog."
"Like this?" Havoc asked as she followed along with Cotton's instructions, angling her hoof so that the softest portion was applying the most pressure. It was a good suggestion; she could feel the soft flesh a lot easier this way, and it made it easier to judge how hard she was doing things.
Cotton purred as she brought her lips to Havoc's neck. "Mmm, yeah, that's good, just like that. And don't neglect the balls, either. But be extra gentle down there, hmm? A dick can take a little punishment, but those are sensitive."
Havoc's other hoof slid down to fondle--gently!--Cotton's ballsack, delighting in how they felt in her hoof. It was nice having her partner helping her along on her first time--and felt she was learning quite a bit. It was one thing watching porn actors and actresses at work, another thing entirely doing it herself, and something more altogether with Cotton guiding her along.
Then, without warning, Havoc pulled away from Cotton completely, her eyes alight with lust and fire. The heavy petting was nice and all, but Havoc wanted more. But she didn't want this to go too fast for her. That was boring. And Cotton had told her to treat her like she'd treat any stallion, hadn't she?
Well, Havoc had had a few ideas here and there for how she'd have treated a certain other less-masculine stallion she knew. Was it fair to project her fantasies of what she'd have done with Lockwood onto Cotton instead, just because Lockwood was off the market and she'd never get the chance otherwise?
Hell yes it was.
"You said I could do anything I wanted to you?" she asked, licking her lips.
Cotton nodded. "Mmhmm, anything you want. I'm yours tonight, honey. Tell me what you want to do, and I'll do it."
"Bend over on the bed," Havoc commanded, a smoldering smile on her lips. "Put that ass of yours in the air like a good filly."
"Ooh, yes Mistress," Cotton purred as she scooted onto the bed. "Like this?"
She did as was asked, getting on all fours and into the proper breeding position for a mare; the manner in which she did it suggested that this was definitely not her first rodeo, but then Havoc had never suspected that it was. Cotton's lovely pink cock dangled like a prize between her legs, though every second or two it twitched just so. The other mare was excited.
Good, Havoc thought. So am I.
Havoc tilted her head to get a good look, even ran her hoof along the other mare's perfectly pert rump. The way Cotton's skirt just barely gave her the tiniest, most fleeting hint of modesty was just... perfect. Everything about this mare's body was perfect. Especially that cute little pucker resting right above her ballsack, just a slightly darker shade of off-white compared to the rest of her coat; same color as her balls and sheath, actually.
"Damn," Havoc hissed, biting her lip. "Now that is an ass."
She gingerly rapped her hoof on Cotton's right asscheek, again, hard enough to get a reaction but not enough to actually hurt. Cotton had just the right amount of thickness in her rear that Havoc could see little ripples of flesh spread out from the point of impact. Havoc slapped again, again, and again, delighting not just in the way that it looked and sounded, but in the pleasured groans Cotton was making with each and every slap.
Havoc licked her lips again. "So, you wouldn't happen to have a... toy collection, would you?"
"Uh-huh," Cotton replied. "A horseshoe box under my bed. Use whatever you want."
Havoc hopped off the bed and looked underneath for the prize in question, which didn't take long to find. Indeed it was a horseshoe box, and one still in very good condition, containing a wide assortment of sex toys, some of which Havoc recognized and others which were entirely unknown to her.
The most impressive of these, of course, was a rubber dildo, outrageously lifelike in appearance--especially the black color with the pink mottled tip--and, when Havoc ran her hoof along it, texture. This was, of course, speaking from the experience of a mare that had only ever fondled one cock before, but this fake one and Cotton's real one felt very much the same. It had a flared head just like a real cock, a wide medial ring just like a real cock, and a wide base designed to look just like a real, meaty ballsack.
Cotton apparently noticed Havoc's fixation on it. "Aha, the Excalibur. That's one of my favorites. I got it up north before the family moved. Had to have a friend get it for me, actually, since I was still, uh... underage at the time, and hadn't come out to my parents."
"It looks so... real," Havoc muttered as she took it out of the box to hold it in her hooves and marvel at it like it was some sort of wondrous trophy.
This was the sort of cock she expected on those porn actors she tended to watch, but in her hooves it seemed even bigger, or maybe it actually was. Normally she wouldn't think about discussing her sister Velvet's sex life, but she had to know if she had one of these. She'd be genuinely surprised if she didn't; Velvet was the sort who would have two in case she broke one.
"That's 'cause it's modeled off of a real stallion. Nopony knows who, though, but it's been popular for a long time." Cotton then gave her tush a little shake, her tail brushing over her tailhole like a bridal veil. "Are you gonna use that bad boy on me, honey?"
Havoc's grin turned wicked, and she set one hoof on Cotton's ass and lifted the skirt out of the way to get clearer access to the other mare's tailhole. "Oh, you'd better believe it. I wanna see you take the whole fucking thing and.... and cum with it all the way inside you. I bet you look cute as fuck cumming with a huge cock up your butt."
"Mmhmm, I can do that if you help me along~" Cotton grabbed a pillow and set it under her chin, likely to make herself more comfortable. "You're just gonna have to lube me up a bit first, okay? Nopony takes the Excalibur dry."
"Yeah, sure, easy peasy," Havoc said, eyes fixated on Cotton's little pucker. Her mind started going places she never thought it would go before tonight, and she set the dildo down for the moment as a wonderful little idea came to mind.
"There's a jar in the-- ooh!" Cotton gasped. "Oh, you naughty mare~"
Havoc had surprised her by pressing her muzzle right between those pert cheeks and burying her tongue in Cotton's tailhole. If Havoc could do whatever she wanted to the other mare, fuck if she wasn't going to do whatever she wanted. She'd seen plenty of pornos before where the actors and actresses did this kind of stuff to each other, and hell, she wanted to give it a try.
Again, Havoc found it amazing how perfectly feminine Cotton was despite still having just the right amount of masculine traits to really turn her crank. While Havoc's free hoof had slid down to fondle the mare's luscious pink cock some more, she noticed that everything back here smelled so fresh, not even the slightest hint of masculine scent from Cotton's balls or anything else.
As for the taste, well, Havoc wasn't really prepared for anything in particular. She wasn't expecting it to taste like sunshine and rainbows, that was for sure, but she'd been prepared for even the slightest hint of unpleasantness. Only, there wasn't any. Cotton just tasted like skin and the slightest hint of whatever shampoo she'd used to clean up earlier. Coconut, maybe?
Once the initial shock of it was out of the way--she was just as surprised as Cotton was that she'd had the guts to go through with it--Havoc put her all into it, driving her tongue in and slowly swirling it around inside Cotton's pucker. She didn't even feel an ounce of shame in doing it.
And why should she anyway? Cotton seemed to be enjoying it, based on how she was moaning and arching her back ever-so-slightly, and how her cock was twitching in Havoc's hoof just a little. And Havoc was enjoying it too, and Cotton wanted her to enjoy herself.
"Ffffuuuck~" came a low groan from Cotton, muffled slightly by the pillow. "You really like my ass that much?"
"Mmhmm," Havoc grunted, her voice muffled by a mouthful of tailhole. She pulled her tongue out of Cotton's butt and ran it all around the twitching pucker, putting as much saliva out as she could. "You ever had your ass eaten out before?"
"No, that's a first for me, too. I mean, I've had guys use spit to lube me up before, but not like that."
"Sorry I didn't warn you, but I just had to do it." Havoc gulped, running her hoof over Cotton's rear. "Am I, uh... doing okay?"
Cotton purred into the pillow. "You're doing great, lover. You've got a knack for it. Keep going~"
Havoc returned her tongue to the inside of Cotton's ass, and the hoof she'd been using to keep the other mare's cheeks spread now went down to find where she'd left Excalibur. She found it after a few tries, and shifted it down towards her crotch. Hearing how much Cotton was enjoying this, and now knowing that she was the first to do this for Cotton, was making her snatch sopping wet.
So, while her tongue was liberally lubing up Cotton's rear for a good pounding, her own mare juices would lube up the dildo. She didn't go so far as penetration or even teasing as such--Cotton was going to be her first and that was that--but she didn't need to in order to drench the rubber toy with fluid.
Once she was satisfied that the Excalibur was ready to take the plunge, Havoc pulled her muzzle away from Cotton--giving her widened pucker a little kiss as she departed--and brazenly slapped the length of the cock right between Cotton's asscheeks.
"You ready?" Havoc grunted, sliding the rubber cock up and down and teasing Cotton's tailhole with the tip.
Cotton groaned and hugged the pillow tight. "I can't wait. Give it to me~"
Havoc was gentle at first, pushing the flared cocktip against Cotton's tailhole hard enough that she felt resistance but not hard enough to push past it yet. This was just more teasing; she was purposefully not pressing hard enough to let the Excalibur sink in yet. She'd read that teasing and foreplay were quintessential parts to maximizing pleasure; the anticipation was sometimes better than the actual act.
Just the right amount of pressure though, and--
Pop!
"Hnng~" Cotton moaned as the flare pushed its way into her ass. "Oh fuck that always feels so good~"
"Don't relax. We're just getting started," Havoc purred, her cheek resting right on top of Cotton's backside.
She used one hoof to keep Cotton's rear spread open, the other to push the rubber dildo further in. Her wings were so utterly flared open at this point that they hurt; she was so horny she could practically drown a foal between her legs. Every inch of Excalibur that pushed into Cotton's butt earned a pleased grunt, groan, or moan, and every single one of those little noises drove Havoc absolutely wild.
And since it was a dildo, and because Havoc was purposefully going slow and had no desire to go too much faster, Cotton was offering just enough resistance to push the rubber cock back out ever-so-slightly every time that Havoc pushed it in. Havoc was making more headway, of course; for every inch she shoved in, Cotton only pushed a half-inch back. It was just enough to resemble a proper fucking.
Once Havoc was satisfied that she didn't need to use one hoof to keep Cotton spread open, she moved that hoof back underneath Cotton's belly to stroke that cute pink cock of hers. Cotton was hard as a rock long before now, but if it were possible for her to get harder, then she'd certainly figured out a way. The shaft excitedly bobbed up and slapped Cotton's underbelly every few seconds.
Havoc timed her strokes on Cotton's cock with her "thrusts" into Cotton's ass, syncing them up as perfectly as she was able; gentle up-and-down strokes using the frog of her hoof, as instructed. "You like that, baby?" she asked, bringing her hoof all the way from the tip of Cotton's dick to the base. "You like that big fucking cock in you, huh?"
"Mmhmmm~" Cotton moaned into the pillow, arching her back and pushing her rear towards Havoc a little. "Give it all to me! I can take it!"
"Heh, damn, you really want it, don't you? Okay then, here it comes."
Havoc took the hoof from Cotton's cock back up to her backside to brace against, then drew Excalibur back a few inches before shoving it, hard, all the way in, ignoring the slight resistance she felt until the dildo's ballsack-like base was pressed right up against Cotton's smaller, actual ballsack.
"Aaahhh~"
Cotton's entire body convulsed with pleasure, and both of Havoc's hooves--no longer needed to spread Cotton open or shove the dildo further in--went underneath the other mare to furiously stroke and orgasm out of her cock, one on the shaft, one on the balls. Havoc was nothing if not a fast learner.
The other mare's balls pulsed, and her entire cock throbbed as the first thick rope of cum shot out and splattered all over the bed beneath her, and onto Havoc's hoof. Another pulse, another strand of white, and another. The volume was maybe half as much as Havoc was expecting, but then she figured the porn studs took supplements or something to produce bigger loads.
Not that Cotton's load was small in any way, of course. Even an average stallion produced a healthy amount of cum, after all--at least that's what the magazines said. Havoc figured she could easily fill a beer bottle with what Cotton had spilled onto the bed, give or take. She almost regretted letting it all go to waste on the bed sheets; maybe she should've grabbed those shot glasses first?
Oh well. Food for thought.
Once Cotton stopped spasming all over the sheets, her cock dribbling the last paltry drops of semen, her knees gave a little bit and she shifted into a more relaxed position. With Havoc's hooves no longer on the Excalibur and Cotton relaxing her muscles, Cotton's butt forced the intruder out ever-so-slowly; Havoc didn't help her along, either, just watched with rapt attention as the rubber dildo slid out of Cotton's ass bit by bit until--
Plop!
The Excalibur plopped out and landed on the bed, slick with a mixture of juices, some Havoc's, some Cotton's. Cotton's abused tailhole was left gaping open for a moment, twitching and spasming all the while. It would probably take a few minutes for it to return to normal, and until then Havoc could barely take her eyes away.
"Fuck, that was hot," Havoc muttered as she watched Cotton breathe and recuperate. "I honestly didn't think you could take the whole thing, babe."
Cotton groaned into the pillow, her entire body shaking as she did so. "That's... the deepest I've ever taken it," she said, turning her head so she could smile at Havoc; she was drooling just a little bit. "I usually just stick to the medial ring."
Havoc's lips curled into a little smirk. "Wow, so you took that all for me? Damn, girl."
She gently ran one hoof up and down on Cotton's ballsack, while her other hoof--covered with some of Cotton's cum--drew up to her mouth for her to give it a tentative lick. There wasn't a lot of cum to clean off, but there was enough to get a taste for it; Cotton's load tasted just a little sweet.
"But you know we're not done yet, right?" Havoc said, giving Cotton's rear a little squeeze.
Cotton shook her head, still smiling, and rolled over onto her back, presumably to get more comfortable. "Of course not. This is your night, so we're not done until you say so. Or, y'know, it gets late and we have to get some sleep."
"Meh, sleep is for the weak."
"You say that, but some of us have to go to work in the morning."
"Touche."
Havoc crawled over and onto Cotton so that they were face-to-face, just so that she could kiss the other mare again. From the way Cotton moaned and put her hooves on the back of Havoc's head, Havoc figured she really was improving at this whole thing. That and Cotton didn't mind having a tongue down her throat that had just been up her ass; Cotton seemed extraordinarily open, which was just... perfect.
Cotton's hooves trailed from the back of Havoc's head, along her sides, then under her to her own stomach, showing just a hint of meekness on her part. "So what else did you have in mind?" she asked as they broke the kiss for a moment. "Anything I can do to you? I know you're having fun, but you should get the chance to indulge yourself too."
Havoc smirked, her hooves shifting to pull Cotton's forelegs back up then pinning them up by her head. "You ever eat pussy before? I know you said that you usually prefer stallions, so I figured I'd ask."
"I've had a few mare partners before, yeah," Cotton said, returning the smirk, though hers was more self-assured than mischievous. "Not to brag, but I've been told I do alright."
"Cool. 'Cause you're gonna eat me out 'til you're hard again so we can fuck proper-like."
Cotton hungrily licked her lips. "Mmhmm, don't keep me waiting, lover. You wanna sit on my face or...?"
"Damn, you read my mind." Havoc's grin turned wicked. "But I figure we'd spice it up a little bit more. You've got a whole box of toys, after all. So let's put 'em to good use."
Havoc got off of Cotton and retrieved the horseshoe box, then rifled through it to find one of the toys that had caught her eye earlier: a bright pink egg vibrator with an attachment so that it could easily be pulled out by hoof, and a matching remote. She displayed her new prize to Cotton with a devilish grin.
"Ooh, going for some double stimulation, huh?" Cotton said, biting her lip. "Do you want that in your pussy, or your butt? I can't speak to the former but it's great for the latter."
"Oh no no, this isn't for me. It's for you," Havoc said as she clammored over to Cotton's rear and lifted her up off the bed a little. "I want you hard again sooner rather than later. I've been dying to ride that cute cock of yours all night, and this'll just speed up the wait. Right?"
Cotton purred again, her hooves running over her stomach. "Mmhmm, whatever you-- ooh!" she gasped as Havoc shoved the little egg into her tailhole; it went in without any resistance, thanks to both the expert lubing up and subsequent gaping Havoc had given it. "You really like putting things in my butt, don't you?"
"Only because you've got the cutest ass I've ever seen," Havoc chortled, teasing her hoof along Cotton's sheath.
Havoc then turned around so that her rear was directly over Cotton's muzzle and sat so that she was both comfortable and so that she gave Cotton access to every inch of her nethers, teats and all.
"Now, get to work," she commanded as she shifted the vibrator's setting from zero to one. It went all the way up to five, but she was going to start slow.
She was glad to find that Cotton wasn't going to waste a lot of time on needless playing around. The other mare only took a few moments to gently tease Havoc's slit with her lips, nose, and tongue, but to Havoc each of those moments was sheer pleasure.
Her clit was winking without stopping as Cotton's tongue traced circles around her vulva, which only made it easier for Cotton to get her lips around the little nub. Havoc had only ever jilled herself with her hoof before--she didn't own any toys herself--so having somepony else's tongue snaking its way in, out, and around her pussy was like magic.
"Fffuuuck~" Havoc groaned, biting her lip and sucking in a breath so that she didn't start drooling all over herself and Cotton's stomach. "That's a good girl. Eat that pussy good."
"Mmmff~" Cotton moaned back, sending little vibrations through Havoc's folds.
Speaking of vibrations, Havoc ranked the egg vibrator up to two now, and watched with amusement as one of Cotton's hindlegs kicked slightly. Better yet, Cotton's cute pink cock gave a little half-hearted throb and stiffened just a little, poking out of its sheath a teensy bit. Havoc smirked and turned to vibrator up to three; Cotton's cock reacted to that as well, throbbing again as more blood rushed through it to push it even further out.
Cotton's hooves weren't idle, either, coming up to cup around the top of Havoc's hindquarters, giving Cotton extra leverage to lean up and show Havoc that she'd meant what she said about being "alright" at eating a mare out. Havoc was no stranger to false modesty; "alright" was about as much of an inaccurate statement as her saying that she used "a few" swear words from time to time.
Havoc hissed with pleasure as Cotton's muzzle shifted to that while her tongue was still working at Havoc's snatch, her nose poked and prodded at Havoc's tailhole. A part of her was a little self-conscious about it, ironically; she'd showered before she left the hotel earlier, but hadn't "cleaned up" right before coming into Cotton's bedroom like Cotton did.
The rest of her--particularly her aching nethers--told her not to worry about it.
"You like the taste of my cunt? Huh?" Havoc grunted, setting her free hoof--the one not holding the vibrator remote--behind her to push the back of Cotton's head forward. "Go on. Say it. Say you like my cunt."
Cotton groaned a little into Havoc, then pulled back just enough to say: "I like the way you taste, honey."
"Naw, that's not what I asked," Havoc said, roughly shoving Cotton's nose back in and rubbing it into her pussy. "Say you like my cunt. Don't be a pussy about it." After a few seconds of this, she let up on the pressure on Cotton's head, then cranked the vibrator up to level four. "Well? Say it."
"I love your cunt!" Cotton hissed, her hindlegs trembling again.
"Damn right you do."
Havoc rocked herself back against Cotton's muzzle with gentle, slow motions, just enough to establish a little bit of dominance but not too much that it made either of them uncomfortable. Cotton just remained where she was, hooves caressing Havoc's rear as she continued eating her out, with more gusto than before if anything.
Then, Havoc saw that Cotton was properly hard again. She licked her lips as the throbbing shaft of pink pointed directly at her stomach, weighed down by the flared tip, as if it knew where it wanted to be and was trying to give her a hint.
Without even giving Cotton any warning, she abruptly lifted herself off of the other mare's muzzle, turned around so they were facing each other again, and situated herself so that Cotton's hard-on was sandwiched between them, her dripping wet snatch positioned right over the flared tip.
"You ready?" Havoc asked, her nostrils flaring.
"Uh-huh," Cotton replied with a rapid nod. "I want you so bad right now."
"You wanna stick your little cock in my pussy, huh? Do ya?" Havoc rubbed the tip of Cotton's cock with her free hoof. "Say you wanna fuck me."
Cotton hissed with pleasure. "I do! I want to fuck you!"
Havoc took a deep breath as she slicked her moistened vulva over the length of Cotton's cock, then lifted herself up and, with her free hoof, positioned the meaty appendage directly underneath her. She only hesitated for a few seconds, realizing that this was it. The crowning moment that she'd been waiting for for as long as she could remember.
Then she sunk down onto Cotton's cock, hissing with pleasure as the flared tip pushed inside her and spread her inner folds out enough for the rest of the cock behind it.
"Ahhh fuck~" she breathed, her eyes rolling back and her entire body shaking with sudden ecstasy. "So that's what it feels like..."
The last of her hesitation was violently expunged from her mind, and without even considering it for more than a split second, she let gravity do the rest of work, relaxing herself so that she properly impaled herself onto Cotton's shaft all in one go, medial ring and all. She'd have never tried to do it if Cotton was more gifted than she was; all the more reason to delight in the other mare's perfect body.
Her free hoof went to her stomach, rubbing it gently as she tried to see if she could feel Cotton from the outside, like some of the porn actresses claimed they could with their partners. She couldn't, but that was alright; just another expectation from porn that didn't quite live up to reality.
Cotton winced loudly as the base of her cock impacted with Havoc's vulva, shutting her eyes tight and biting down on one hoof. "F-fuck, honey, are you in heat or something?"
Havoc barely registered the words; her entire core was focused entirely on how fucking amazing it felt to have Cotton's cock buried inside her, so much so that she hadn't even moved for the past several seconds. A dazed "Huh?" was all she could muster as a response.
"You're so hot inside," Cotton said, her breathing growing just a little heavier, slower, more labored. "I've never felt a mare's pussy like this. Are... are you in heat? Should we get a condom?"
"In heat? What are you talking about?" Havoc asked, tilting her head slightly. "It's the middle of Fall, goofball. Most mares won't hit their heat season for a few months at least." And then she smirked, realizing why the questions had taken such an odd turn. "Why, you worried about knocking me up?"
Cotton stared up at Havoc's face, gulped, and nodded slightly; nervous was hardly a good enough word to describe the mare's expression. "A... a little, yeah? I don't know if I've got powerful swimmers anymore--"
Havoc immediately started grinding herself on Cotton's cock with easy back-and-forth, up-and-down motions, like she'd watched a hundred times before in the pornos.
"Don't worry about it, babe," she said with a sinister grin. "Just tell me when you're gonna cum, and I'll let you pull out. As much as I want to feel what it's like to get a load in my cunt, I've got different plans for you."
"O-okay," Cotton replied with an unsure nod and a smile. "Wh-whatever you want, honey. Just... be careful?"
Havoc continued grinding, increasing her pace steadily as she went. If it felt amazing just having Cotton's cock buried inside her, it felt even better having it moving around.
And she was entirely in control, too; Cotton's hooves didn't even so much as try to exert themselves on her, and Cotton wasn't even thrusting up to meet with Havoc's movements yet. The other mare was too busy biting down on one hoof, using the other hoof to keep her skirt out of the way so that it didn't block her view of her cock going in and out of Havoc's pussy.
"It's so hot~" Cotton whimpered, arching her back slightly. "I don't know if I can last, honey. Let me pull out."
"You're gonna last until I cum," Havoc commanded, emphasizing her point with a hard bump downward. "Don't worry, I'm getting close too. But hey, how about we up the challenge, huh?" She smiled devilishly and cranked the vibrator up to five, the maximum setting. "And if you blow your load before I cum, you lose."
"Annh~" Cotton hissed, thrusting upwards--hard--in response. "B-but--"
Havoc kept grinding without even the slightest hint at slowing down or stopping; she was getting desperately close, but wanted to tease Cotton just a little more. "C'mon, babe, don't-- mmph~ Don't tell me you're... g-gonna cum before me."
Up, then down.
"Just think about how-- aahhh~ aaawful it would be if... you d-did."
Up, then down.
"You... wouldn't want to-- f-fuck~ Wouldn't want to accidentally... put a foal in me, w-would you? Just think about what allll the ponies would say... when they found out... that you... knocked up the Fire Warrior."
Up, then down. Harder this time.
"Fffuuuck~"
Cotton bit down hard on her hoof and shook her head, her mane swishing about just because of how roughly she was moving. "Y-you're not playing fair~"
Havoc's grin widened. Up, then down, followed by a slow circular grind. "All's fair... in fucking... and fighting. Right?"
She let the vibrator remote slip out of her hoof and roll onto the bed; she didn't need it now anyway. Her hooves then both moved to Cotton's chest, using her lover's body as leverage to lift up and down again, faster and harder than before.
And then, Havoc felt a sudden rush of heat inside her nethers, as the dam finally broke. She let out a wordless, throaty, deep moan as she thrust herself down one last time onto Cotton's dick, clamping down tight on it as she came. She could feel every inch of cock inside her being squeezed as tight as could be.
But she didn't have a lot of time to really savor the orgasm.
"Oh f-fuck~" Cotton grunted, biting both hooves now. "H-honey, I'm gonna--"
Havoc's eyes widened, and with all the speed she could muster she pulled off of Cotton's cock, groaning as the flared tip just barely managed to make it out of her clenching folds and out into open air.
A split-second later Cotton let out a little moan of her own, and the first spurt of cum fired straight up and splattered onto Havoc's stomach.
Havoc was moving as quickly as possible, moving herself down so that she could take Cotton's spasming cock in her mouth. She was a little too slow for the second spurt, taking that one to her face, feeling the hot, thick fluid spray onto her cheek, nose, and chin; she only barely reacted in time to not get it in her eye.
But she was able to get her mouth around Cotton's cock in time to catch the third rope of cum as it fired all the way into the back of her throat, and the fourth, and the fifth. Since Cotton was only able to produce enough volume to maybe fill up a beer bottle, and the first two loads had been wasted, Havoc had little trouble at all in keeping the sweet-tasting spunk in her mouth as she cradled Cotton's balls, coaxing out whatever was left.
From here, Havoc could just barely hear the rumblings of the egg vibrator still lodged in Cotton's rear.
Havoc didn't lift herself away from Cotton's dick until she was certain there was nothing left to get out of it, then carefully drew away--keeping her mouthful of spunk steady--and crawled up the length of Cotton's body so that they were face-to-face together again. Cotton was giving her a sultry smile, her eyes half-lidded with pleasure.
Cotton's head, which had shot upright in all the excitement, collapsed against her pillow. "W-wow..." she breathed, sounded as though she'd just galloped an entire mile in the past minute. "That was--"
Havoc had one final surprise for Cotton, the third, maybe fourth over the course of the night? She forcefully kissed her again and, after managing to push her way past Cotton's lips with her tongue, shared her mouthful of Cotton's cum with Cotton herself. Cotton definitely seemed surprised at first, but was not only quickly accepting of the act but, judging from her moaning and the way her hooves went to the back of Havoc's head, enjoying it.
To say the kiss was sloppy was an understatement. Besides the fact that Cotton hadn't been expecting it, Havoc had probably taken too much cum to share, and more than a little bit of it leaked out and spilled down the pair's cheeks and necks in the process, not to mention that the wad of cum still on Havoc's face made contact with and spread to Cotton's as they kissed.
If anything, this just made the kiss that much better as far as Havoc was concerned. Evidence of their debauchery was literally everywhere; nopony could deny from seeing them together now that they'd been fucking, and fucking well.
Once she and Cotton had each swallowed what was left of the cum that hadn't spilled out of their mouths, they broke apart from one another, tongues still connected by a thin strand of saliva-cum mixture. Havoc just kept her eyes locked with Cotton's after that, and vice versa, for a good moment before they locked lips again.
When they broke apart the second time, they stayed apart long enough to breathe and collect themselves. Havoc took that moment to fumble her hoof about and find the vibrator remote to finally turn it off, giving Cotton some well-deserved reprieve, then grabbed hold of the little attachment that was sticking out so that she could pull it out of Cotton--gently, of course.
"Nopony's ever done that with me before," Cotton said, awestruck as she rested against her pillow. "You're... sure this is your first time? I mean, okay, it was a little touch-and-go here and there, but you came at me with some kinky shit that I wasn't expecting, let me tell ya."
Havoc's cheeks reddened just a little bit as she joined Cotton again, pressing her nose to her lover's. "Y-yeah, I know. I was telling the truth, though. Until tonight, I've never had sex with anypony before. Never, uh... never been kissed, either. So that was nice."
"Really? I..." Cotton let out a breath, then wrapped her hooves around Havoc in a tender hug. "I'm sorry if it sounds insulting for me to say that I figured that you had a lot of experience, especially after all of this. Are you really telling me you 'learned' all of this just from watching porn?"
"I mean, 'learned' is kind of a strong word," Havoc said, burying her muzzle in Cotton's neck and delighting in the warmth of the hug. "I've just always been lonely at night, so I watched a lot of stuff, y'know? I guess I just started seeing what was out there and liking... well, a lot of kinkier things. I wasn't even going to think about doing some of the stuff I did tonight, but then you kind of, I dunno, gave me a blank check?"
"So if this had been somepony else for your first time, somepony not as open as me, you'd have just... done some 'normal' things?"
"I guess? I dunno. If it was just some good-looking stallion or something I'd have probably just let them show me the ropes. If there's even a guy out there that would've looked at me and been interested in the first place," Havoc added with a murmur.
Havoc sighed, then rolled off of Cotton and found her jacket where it had landed on the floor. She snagged a cigarette out of the sleeve, took her lighter from the pocket, and lit up a smoke; the drag felt better than any drag she'd ever taken before, filling her with a warmth that was beyond relaxing. She figured smoking after sex was just a cliche, but damn if it didn't satisfy her something fierce.
Cotton's hoof rubbed Havoc's back. "Well, I'm glad that I was able to let you try something fun for your first time. I'd have been fine with it if you wanted to try 'normal', though. Maybe another time?"
Havoc let out a puff a smoke, then raised her head up, turning to glance at Cotton utterly confused. "'Another time'?"
"Yeah, of course. I don't know exactly when you're leaving the city, but if you're here for a little longer, I mean, I wouldn't be opposed to doing this again if you're not. You... you had a good time, didn't you?"
Havoc paused a moment, having not seen Cotton looking so meek and unsure before,then smiled and took another drag of her cigarette. "I did, yeah. I'd definitely be down to fuck again. You're amazing."
Cotton returned the smile. "So are you." She then cleared her throat and averted her gaze; Havoc noticed she was blushing. "But, um, I suppose you've probably got to get going back to your hotel, right? I won't keep you."
"Yeah, I'd better not stay out too late. Might cause problems with my sister if she thinks... whatever she thinks about me being out late." Havoc then glanced at herself and her cum-stained coat. "Speaking of which, uh... I don't suppose I could use your shower, could I?"
"Of course you can. I wouldn't let you leave here covered in... well, me," Cotton giggled, hoof over her mouth.
Havoc's grin turned mischievous. "You wanna join me?"
Cotton smiled and nodded rapidly. "Oh, I'd love to."
As the pair of them got off the bed and made their way towards the bathroom--with Cotton noticeably walking bowlegged--Havoc had a feeling that the next two weeks were going to be a lot more fun than she thought they'd be. And to think, the only reason she'd even met Cotton when and how she did was because Dawn just had to be her usual bitch self.
Funny how things worked out. |
The Long Path Home | pre | The yellow pegasus shrugged her wings and looked back down, frowning as she noticed Ranma had stolen another cushion. Apparently deciding to let it go, or more likely deciding she didn't want an argument at three in the morning, she said, "It's like Moonrose said. There are three types of ponies. Akane and I are Pegasi, Nabiki is an Earth pony, and Ryouga is a unicorn. Each has their own abilities. As I've been told Earth ponies are usually very in touch with more physical things, such as farming. Pegasi can fly, and apparently control the weather. The bedroom Akane and I have been sharing has a bed with a cloud mattress. It's very very soft." She sighed wistfully and shot a glance upward.
"Made of clouds." Ranma said disbelieving. Wouldn't a cloud be really wet?
"Yes, Pegasi can walk on clouds. It's part of their innate control of the weather." Kasumi said, "Moving on, Unicorns can use their horns to channel actual magic for proper spells and such. Really complex magic. I understand that it takes a long time to master even a few spells, and most unicorns only learn a handful."
"Or a hoof-full?" Ranma prodded, getting a groan from the older Tendou.
"Yes, as they would say." Kasumi said. Ranma blinked and sighed. Right, they didn't have hands, why would they talk about them? "Anyways an Alicorn has all of these magics. From the enhanced strength and endurance of the Earth Pony, to the flight and weather magic of the Pegasi, as well as the raw arcane might of the Unicorn. Only more so with greater strength and greater potential." Kasumi's head dropped to rest her chin on her hooves. "At least that is how the Princesses described it to us a few days ago. There is one other thing I've noticed."
"Oh?" Ranma replied absently. Her mind was busy churning over the information Kasumi had shared. Alicorns were basically super ponies, and she wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that.
"The only Alicorns I've seen are the Princesses." Kasumi said, "Everyone of the other ponies is one of the other three."
"What about Moonrose? She has bat wings." Ranma asked, as an oddly familiar feeling of dread settled into her stomach. Princesses... Oh this was sending her mind spiraling into worrisome thoughts.
"Nocturnal variant of the Pegasi apparently." Kasumi sighed before turning her head to give Ranma a worried look. "I don't know if it's just a coincidence, but..."
Ranma rolled onto her front and rested her head on her hooves. Her tail swished back and forth irritably. "But either way Alicorns aren't common." She said.
"I don't believe so, no." Kasumi sighed.
Silence reigned as the two sat in quiet thought for sometime. Finally the door to the Terrace lit up in a warm gold aura and swung open of its own volition. Ranma sat up and turned to face it with Kasumi. Through the doors stepped a giant, or as close to one as Ranma had ever seen. The pony was, at a guess, at least three, perhaps even four, times her height. Her coat was a pure white that seemed to glow from within, while her mane and tail; each coloured in alternating stripes of blue, green and pink; waved about in an invisible wind. A tiara of gold, with a single purple gem mounted in the center, sat just behind the long white horn. Hanging from her neck was a matching gold peytral with a large purple gem. Her wings, as glowing white as her coat and horn, were folded precisely at her sides and a great stylized sun adorned her flanks on both sides.
The second pony who entered was no less impressive, though she was an entire head shorter than the other. Her coat was a dark blue, reminiscent of the night sky, and her mane and tail were even more ethereal than the first's, though they also blew in an invisible wind. Her mane and tail mimicked the night sky in colour and if Ranma looked closely enough she could see the soft flicker of stars. Where the other Princess', and they had to be Princesses, had a tiara and peytral of gold this one wore plain metal painted a midnight black with only a crescent moon visible on the peytral itself. Her wings were folded at her side and her flanks were adorned with a crescent moon hanging alone in the night sky.
Kasumi bowed, curling a forelimb as she bowed her head, and Ranma awkwardly followed suit. "Your highnesses." Kasumi said deferentially. Ranma looked up cautiously. The smaller princess nodded her head approvingly while the older one smiled almost indulgently.
The white princess spoke, her voice could only be described as wise and motherly in nature. "Rise my little ponies. There is no-" A yawn abruptly forced itself out. The much larger pony blushed even as Ranma and Kasumi sat up. "Oh dear. Excuse me I am normally asleep at this time." She apologized as she took a seat at the head of the table. The other princess took the cushion next to her.
"You could have waited until morning." Ranma said, the words just coming out. She ignored the reproving look Kasumi sent her.
The white alicorn chuckled and waved her off with a hoof. "A few hours lost sleep can be made up later, or handled with prodigious amounts of tea." She said.
"Not too much tea Sister." The other said, "Do remember thy physicians' concerns."
The elder snorted. "Good Practice is a very able doctor, but I have been around for thousands of years and if there was some vague threat to my health from tea of all things I am sure it would have happened long ago."
Ranma blinked. Thousands of... years? What? She looked at Kasumi who only blinked back at her. This must be news to her as well.
"Do not dismiss his concerns too readily Tia." Luna warned before sighing, "However it would appear we have already wandered astray."
"Quite." 'Tia' said before smiling at Ranma and Kasumi. "It is good to see you up and moving. You are Ranma Saotome, correct?" She asked.
Ranma nodded. "I am." She confirmed.
"I am Princess Celestia of the Principality of Equestria." She said before gesturing to the small alicorn. "And this is my younger sister, Princess Luna. Also of Equestria."
"Greetings young one," Luna said, raising a hoof to wave awkwardly.
"Hello," Ranma said.
The door to the terrace bounced open once more as a cart was rolled into the room by a plain grey Earth Pony. Plates, tea cup, a pot of tea, and numerous bowls were piled on the cart. As he reached the table the pony stepped away from his cart and bowed. "Good morning Your Highnesses. I bring breakfast as requested." He said.
Celestia smiled. "Good morning First Course. The usual for myself I believe, though I do hope today's blend is stronger than usual." She said.
"Twice as strong at least Your Highness." The Pony said, scooping a tea cup and saucer off the cart with one hoof as easily as if he had hands. Ranma stared.
"Excellent. Sister?" Celetia prodded her sibling.
"The usual for myself as well." Luna said nodding primly.
Several salads, a plate with eggs and something that might have been deep-fried hay, and two bowls that were quickly filled with soup (Did they keep soup ready at all hours of the day just in case?) found their way from the cart to the table.
"And for the young ladies?" First Course directed to Ranma and Kasumi. Ranma blinked and looked at Kasumi, who shrugged.
"Something simple First Course." Celestia said, "Salad, toast, and eggs would be best. Leave the tea pot and a couple cups for them as well." Well at least someone at the table was thinking ahead.
"As you wish." First Course bowed and quickly started serving from the cart. A plate with salad, which appeared to include what looked like flower petals, was quickly placed in front of her along with another one that was stacked high with eggs and toast. It was a rather... western style of breakfast. Not a bad thing given that she was having enough issues trying to figure out how to pick up bread with her hooves, let alone rice. Chopsticks were probably impossible for her now.
A fork and knife joined the plates before a tea pot with cream, sugar, and the extra tea cups were placed in the center of the table between the Princesses and Ranma.
"Anything more, Your Highnesses?" The Earth Pony asked.
"We shall send a message should more be needed." Celestia said with a smile as she waved him off. The Earth Pony bowed and departed, taking the cart with him.
As he left, Ranma examined the cutlery before her. She rarely used a fork or knife when she had hands. How exactly was she supposed to use it with hooves? Then again... She glanced back at the Earth Pony. He had done it so...
One hoof came up and she prodded the fork. She ignored the curious looks she was getting from Kasumi and the Princesses. That Earth Pony had been holding some of those plates at angles that should have sent them sliding to the floor, yet he hadn't, so how?
Touching the knives and forks in front of her provided no immediate clues. Her hooves didn't magically meld with items or squish around them. They went tink, like you would expect hooves to when they met metal. And yet... With a small frown she considered the problem. The server had managed it without issues so how had he done it? She tried hooking a hoof around the edge of a fork, hooves weren't meant for that sort of thing, but she tried regardless.
The first attempt ended with a soft 'tink' as she tried and failed to lift the utensil. The second fared much the same as the first, except for a feeling that tickled the soft part of her hoof. With one ear cocked in concentration she tried again. Yes, there it was. A feeling almost like friction. Leaning into that feeling she tried again. The fork wobbled as her hoof lifted it from the table before abruptly dropping out of her 'grip'. The ring of cutlery on china sang in the quiet room for a few seconds as she stared at it.
"Talented indeed," Ranma looked up to see Luna watching her with one eyebrow raised.
"Are you sure you haven't been a pony before?" Celestia asked with curious amusement.
"I think I'd remember that," she replied, trying again. This time the fork stayed in place, a little wobbly, but still in her grip. She jabbed the salad with the fork. The lettuce crunched as the fork stabbed them. Then her grip failed from the effort and the fork tipped over, toppling off the side of the plate with a few sad pieces of lettuce hanging from the end. She blew out a frustrated sigh. This was going to take work.
"A good effort," Luna said, her own food being levitated in a magical aura, "Do not feel that you must put on a display of competence. Sustenance is more important than decorum at the moment." Kasumi seemed to take that bit of reassurance well as she leaned down and took a particularly large leaf between her teeth.
Ranma ignored them both as she stabbed the lettuce again. The fork failed to slip from her grip until after it was in her mouth this time. On a side note, the lettuce tasted very much like lettuce. Nothing particularly special, though the salad dressing was of a unique flavour she couldn't place. Probably a plant humans couldn't eat if she had to guess, or maybe something just native to this world.
Celestia watched her eat with a small smile as she sipped her tea. "I don't think she's doing it for decorum's sake sister," she said.
"The sooner you start, the sooner you improve," Ranma said as she continued to eat.
"Hmm, clearly," Luna said.
The sound of eating was prevalent for the next minute or so before Celestia set her tea down. "Now, allow us to properly welcome you to Equestria, Ranma Saotome," she said warmly, "It is not often we meet another Alicorn."
Luna snorted. "'Tia, your adopted niece is the only other I even recall meeting," she said dryly.
"A once in a millennia event is not often," Celestia replied, taking a sip of her tea. She sighed, "But can we try to focus, sister?" Luna waved a hoof and continued eating. "Thank you. Ranma, I have a few questions, if you don't mind?"
"Shoot," the redhead replied between bites.
A notepad and quill with inkpot popped into existence with a golden twinkle beside Celestia. "While I do believe the testimony your companions have given I would like to first confirm with you, you did not come here intentionally, yes?"
"I was sleeping then I woke up in that forest," she replied.
"And you have no knowledge about ponies or Equestria, correct?" Ranma nodded around the mouthful of salad. Celestia hummed and sipped her tea. "That includes its laws as well?"
Ranma paused. "... Who do I have to marry now?" she asked flatly. Beside her Kasumi choked on her salad, coughing as she stared at Ranma.
Luna spat the fork she was using to eat out. It pinged off the wall and disappeared behind a potted plant in the corner. "For what reason would you expect that?!" she exclaimed.
"It's happened before," Ranma replied. Shampoo for example, though at times she did wonder at how enforceable their laws were in Japan.
Celestia lowered her teacup to the table with a sigh and a slight smile. "Your companions had said that you have had an... interesting, few years. I can only imagine what stories they left out. I wouldn't mind hearing about them in the future, assuming you don't mind sharing?" she asked.
Ranma shrugged her wings. "It's been a weird few years," she admitted, "I think this whole thing only makes it to third place." Akane and the rest liked to say it was ever since Ranma arrived in Nerima, but it had been more like ever since they travelled to China.
"Only third? I look forward to hearing your story," Celestia said, "But, no you do not have to marry anyone unless you wish to."
"I would hope so," Luna said, staring at Ranma before waving for a new fork, "What sort of fools attempt to use laws to force a marriage between two ponies?"
"It did use to be legal to arrange marriages between families," Celestia noted.
"It was legal for them to arrange such things between families. It was not our business, nor that of the states before us, Sister," Luna said with distaste. "What barbaric cultures you have dealt with Ranma Saotome." As the dark blue Alicorn went back to eating, Ranma caught Celestia rolling her eyes at her sister.
"The point," Celestia said, "is that there are indeed laws concerning Alicorns and since you are one..." Her great white wings fluttered irritably. "I am sorry to spring this upon you immediately after meeting, but the law does require it of me."
Ranma put her fork down and sat up 'properly' with both forehooves placed before her. "So what do I have to do?" she asked.
"You have a choice. But perhaps some context first," the older Alicorn said, her horn lighting up with a golden aura once more. Her teacup was raised for a sip. "The history of Equestria is ancient, older than me and my sister by millennia. To explain in full would be a matter of days, for now, understand that Equestria was once known as the Kingdom of Three Tribes and ruled by a Triarchy headed by the House of Platinum. That came to an end two millennia ago with the appearance of a being known as Discord."
Luna's horn flashed with light and Ranma leaned back as a translucent image of what appeared to be the bastardized cousin of an eastern dragon formed over the table. Mismatched limbs, colours, and even horns of different creatures had been seemingly grafted to the lithe draconic form. Kasumi let out a small squeak of worry.
"Thank you, Luna," Celestia nodded to her sister, "This is Discord, the Spirit of Chaos. Madness and Chaos are his purviews. His influence was not subtle, but he brought the Kingdom of Three Tribes crashing down in an orgy of madness."
"He is a capable trickster, but delights in simply turning one's nature into its inverse," Luna said, "Kindness becomes cruelty, honesty becomes deception, loyalty becomes cowardice and so on. The Kingdom's leadership tore each other apart in mere days, but the true damage had been done in the first few hours with the deaths of the Triarchy. The details, however, do not truly matter in this case."
Celestia picked up the explanation, "It turned out that Alicorns are, while vulnerable to his more overt powers, incapable of being inverted. Our natures are too strong, too core to ourselves. There is no axis upon which to reverse ourselves."
"A fact that as we have discovered... Has its own issues," Luna said with a grimace as she removed the image of Discord from the table. Celestia winced but continued on.
"A tale for another time, Sister," she said, "We took leadership during the crisis and with the aid of some friends managed to overcome Discord. To us, that was the end, but to Equestria Discord's defeat raised questions. If he escaped, what was to stop him from simply overwhelming the rulers of Equestria again? If another being like him existed, how could they be stopped? The solution of the restored Triarchy was to ask us to take over leadership."
"We refused," Luna said bluntly, "While neither of us was willing to stand by and allow innocent ponies to be harmed by the madness, rulership was not something we were interested in."
"We left and took to travelling, but we underestimated how deep the wounds Discord had left were," Celestia sighed, "Three Triarchies rose and fell due to infighting and the lingering influence of the monster. Discord's actions had broken open long healed wounds between the three tribes. The fourth Triarchy found us and asked us to come to the capital of the time. The Castle you found in the forest."
Ranma tipped her head to the side. "That old place?"
"Yes. The Everfree forest was once known as Paradise," Celestia replied, "They gave us an ultimatum. They had passed a law, the last resolution of the Triarchy of Equestria. The Alicorn Resolution. We would either accept their request to become the rulers of Equestria and accept a title, not yet decided at the time."
"They wished to make us Queens. Tia, didn't want that," Luna said with a shake of her head, "What was it, 'Queens can't have tea parties'?" A light blush appeared on her sister.
"Not now Luna," her older sister replied, "We had been tempted to refuse. It would have meant leaving Equestria, but the nation was not as large as it is now. We would have had plenty of room to roam."
"Except they explained what they believed would happen," Luna continued, "They said that regardless of our decision it would be the last meeting of the Triarchy. Either we stepped up, or the three tribes fell apart."
"I'm seeing where this is going," Ranma said with a frown. "I'm an Alicorn, so that means I either accept being a Princess or leave?" Ryouga was never going to let her hear the end of this. Ranma, the pretty pony princess.
Celestia nodded. "Essentially, yes. Not that most would consider it a burden, but it does come with duties that are expected."
Ranma stabbed a bundle of lettuce and chewed on it thoughtfully. She swallowed "So I'm guessing you don't know how to just send us back home, right?" she asked.
"While travelling to other worlds is not a new phenomenon to me, it is difficult and poorly understood," Celestia said. She poured more tea into her cup. To her right Luna gave Kasumi a straw for her teacup. The yellow pegasus thanked the Princess with a strained smile. "Sending you home would first require finding your home and that is... difficult to say the least. We require something from your home, but ponies make poor antennas for such actions. I'm afraid to say that your stay will be extended, possibly by years."
"Unless someone on our end does... something," Ranma waved vaguely with her fork.
"Something noticeable," Celestia agreed, "Which means I have to ask you whether you would be willing to take up the duties of a Princess of Equestria for the duration of your stay. The Alicorn Act is the basis of our government's mandate. It is the most fundamentally important document in the nation and beyond even our ability to alter. The modern parliament ruled that it extends to all Alicorns, not just myself and Luna, when Cadence became an Alicorn. As such..."
"Serve or leave," the redheaded mare concluded, earning a sad nod. She stabbed her fork into the salad and ate with a frown. This was an irritating situation to wake up to. Still... "Assuming we don't have a better option than waiting for someone to figure this out for us, then... I'm not really seeing the issue," she said, setting the fork down. "Unless being a Princess means I'm going to have to get married or conduct some strange magic ritual?"
"Despite the tabloid paper's claims, we do not ritually bathe in the blood of a hundred virgins every full moon," Celestia deadpanned.
"I can't believe that one has stuck around for a thousand years," Luna sighed, "You would think they would get more inventive after a thousand years."
"And I'm not getting tossed to the sharks?" Ranma pressed.
"If I include you, there are four of us at the moment. We don't have a pressing need for you to take up duties at the moment, so no, you won't be. And even if we did, you have things you need to learn first," Celestia replied with a shake of her tricolour main.
Ranma made a face at the learning, but overall it was better than she had expected walking into the room. No marriages, yet anyway. "I can manage," she said with a quirk of her lips, "I mean, this isn't really a choice, is it?"
"You say that now, but if anything happens to the two of us," Celestia gestured to her sister, "then you are next in line since Cadence is in charge of the Crystal Empire."
Ranma flicked an ear and rolled her eyes. "You're thousands of years old. Me showing up in time for something to happen is like getting hit by a falling star," she said.
"I never said it was likely, but things can happen," Celestia said, "Do you accept, Ranma Saotome?"
Ranma stared up at the older mare. "You'll keep working on a way to get us home?" She asked.
"We will."
She chewed on a leaf of lettuce for a moment before nodding. "Then sure, being a Princess isn't that bad a price," she said. Even if Ryouga was going to keep ribbing her until the end of her life... Her ears lay flat. Was she going to age like these two?
"And now I owe Nabiki money, when we get some anyway," Kasumi sighed. The Princesses, two old and one new, turned to look at the yellow pegasus who was now puffing up her cheeks in a very definite pout. "I was sure you were going to need to get married."
Ranma rubbed her forehead with a sigh. Of course, they were betting on her. Because, why wouldn't they. "Kasumi..." she sighed.
Celestia chuckled. "For now, just focus on recovering from your arrival. So for the moment, Ranma Saotome, welcome to Equestria." She raised her teacup in salute with a smile.
"Indeed, welcome Ranma Saotome," Luna echoed, raising a mug of something steaming, "The presence of another Alicorn is a welcome and fortuitous occasion."
Bemused, Ranma lifted her empty teacup in reply. "Tea?" Celestia offered, the teapot floating over in a golden aura.
"Please." Well, it would have been nicer to be a Prince- ah, then again, maybe not. All the princes she had encountered were jackasses. She could live with being a Princess for now.
-0-0-0-0-0- |
The Long Path Home | Chapter Three: Reflected on Four Legs | "There is one more matter we need to discuss," Celestia said as she set the teapot back down. She took a sip from her own cup.
Ranma sipped from her teacup, before she quickly set it down. She could feel it wobbling in her hoof's grip. She still hadn't quite gotten that gripping thing down yet. "I'm almost afraid to ask," she said as she looked up at the softly glowing Alicorn. Celestia gave off a warm welcoming feeling, but the sheer size disparity was mildly off putting, even if the older Princess seemed to be a lot nicer than any Royalty she had met up until then.
"Nothing as life changing as a royal title, I assure you Ranma," Celestia said, hiding her amused grin behind her teacup as she took another sip. She sighed as she put it down. "Tell me, how is your head? Your horn specifically."
The red-maned alicorn looked up at the tip of her horn. It just barely peeked into her vision if she looked as far up as she could. She hadn't thought about it since she woke up. "Better than before? The headache I had back in the forest seems to be gone," she said.
"Good," Celestia smiled, "From what your friends told us, your people do not have a history of magic, correct?"
"Sort of. There are people who use magic, but most of what you see these days is just old artifacts and strange phenomena," Ranma said. She had yet to meet someone who could actually make spells work without reading them off a weird tablet, or odd vase, or the occasional worn-out scroll.
"But it is not commonly utilized, correct?" Celestia asked.
"Not even a little." Thank the Kami for small mercies.
"Ponies are as a whole quite magical," Luna said, speaking up from her own meal, "Earth ponies tend to express it through physical interaction, which Pegasi can fly and shape the weather."
Celestia nodded to her sister, "And Unicorns utilize their horns. Alicorns have all three forms plus magic that is unique to us. I'm afraid that both you and mr. Hibiki had an issue with your horns."
"Which is why it hurt so much?" Ranma asked before taking another sip of the tea. It was quite good, but she couldn't quite place the taste. Maybe something that humans didn't like the taste of? Or just something she hadn't tried as a tea before. She would have to ask.
"Yes. The horn possesses channels for magic. These can become blocked by a variety of causes, most of which can be cleared out through a simple procedure most Unicorns learn while growing up. Most Unicorns suffer a blockage at least once while growing up," Celestia explained, "However, you managed to compound the issue with a magical surge. Also not unusual for untrained or growing Unicorns."
Ranma winced. "That doesn't sound very healthy?" she said carefully. No wonder her head had felt like it was about to explode.
"It is not," Celestia confirmed, "The good news is that your surge cleared out the blockage. The bad news is that doing so caused hairline fractures throughout your horn. We've placed a limiter on your horn for now to prevent you from even trying to channel magic through it while it heals. It shouldn't take more than a couple of months, but I'm afraid any lessons on the practical side of magic will have to wait until then."
The teacup nearly slipped from her hoof. "Magic... Lessons?" She repeated slowly.
"You have a horn, do you not?" Luna said with a snort, "To not give you lessons would invite disaster in time. Control must be learned."
Celestia nodded. "There is a reason all Unicorns are required to learn at least the basics," she said.
"So I'm going to have to, what, go to school?" Ranma asked. What did pony school even look like?
"Oh goodness, no. You're far too old to attend the classes required," Celestia shook her head, "No, I think it might be for the best if I asked Twilight Sparkle to act as your tutor when she returns from the Crystal Empire. I would do so myself, but with Cadence now looking after the Empire I'm afraid things are about to get rather busy around here again. Twilight is my personal student and I have full confidence in her abilities."
The Princess of the Moon nodded her agreement. "My sister's faith is well placed. Twilight Sparkle is an excellent teacher," she said.
Ranma shook her head. Learn magic? After all these years of issues with it? It seemed so strange that it could be something she learned, but then was it really as odd as a world full of talking technicolour ponies? She looked out over the open balcony. She could see the star-filled night sky. It was far brighter and more vivid than anything she had seen back home with swirling galaxies and bright glittering stars framing a full moon. It was beautiful, but as her eyes instinctively searched for the constellations she was familiar with, it just served to emphasize how strange her situation was.
"I never thought of learning magic," she said aloud, "Its not really something you learn to use back home. Everyone I've seen try, tends to just... screw up bigger and bigger every time. It's the sort of thing we just learned to endure and find a way to break."
"This is a nice change of pace for you, I would imagine," Celestia said.
Ranma ruffled her wings as she sipped her tea again. What was that flavour? It was starting to bother her a bit. "I guess. I just wish that turning into a pony had fixed the last curse," she muttered. It had, by all measures, broken it, but the result was... She scowled. The best she could say was that she hadn't gotten stuck as a cat or a duck. Or a pig. Now that would have sucked.
"Last curse? Are we to understand, that you are currently cursed?" Luna asked, leaning forwards to stare at her closely.
"I wasn't born a girl," Ranma replied, leaning away from Luna, "That is- erm... What's the name for a female pony?"
"Filly or Mare, depending on age. How old are you?" Celestia asked.
"Seventeen, nearly eighteen," she replied.
"Then you are a young mare," the other Princess said, looking at her with a frown, "I am to understand that you were born a colt then?"
"... If you mean male, then yeah," Ranma nodded, " I fell into a spring in China a few years ago. Ever since I've turned back and forth when I get hit with hot and cold water and... Well it doesn't seem to be working at the moment." At least, she didn't think it was. Ryouga's was sure as hell gone and all things considered she had to admit he wasn't a very good liar. He had probably been telling the truth when she attacked him in the forest. Probably. He did occasionally lie.
Her ears went flat. She so owed him an apology, didn't she? Ugh.
A brilliantly white wing rested itself upon her shoulder and she blinked away her thoughts to look up at the owner. "I see that it has been a rough few years for you," Celestia said gently, a motherly tone in her voice that made Ranma feel like the Princess truly cared. It was the sort of tone she never heard from her own mother and the little pang of longing it caused made her glance down. "Changing one's gender is possible with spells, but," she said as Ranma's ears perked up. They went down again. "But, such spells are temporary and potentially dangerous. The natural form of a Pony is exceptionally difficult to keep trapped in an unwanted form."
"Indeed, permanent transformations are not a normal fixture of proper spell casting," Luna said, "Such things are the domain of dark magic and usually involve unpleasant side effects for both the caster and the victim." Ranma winced.
"Oh," she said. It really shouldn't have surprised her. "Figures. Nothing ever seemed to work on the curse anyway."
The wing patted her on the shoulder before withdrawing. "The best possibility I could offer would be to find you a way home," Celestia said, "In my experience most methods of travel between worlds shape your body to become like the most similar entities at your destination. It is possible, though I will admit it is unlikely, that you may simply return to your status quo once you travel home. At the least, I would expect you to become a... Human, was it not?"
Ranma and Kasumi both nodded. Ranma spared a glance at the yellow pegasus. She had been quiet since the conversation had moved on from royal titles. The pegasus blinked as she met Ranma's eyes, her lips around the straw for her tea. Her right eyebrow quirked upwards over her large brown eyes. Jeez, ponies had large eyes. "Yes," Ranma said, looking away from Kasumi.
"I cannot offer assurance of a way to turn you back to a colt. I'm sorry, but such transformation spells are incredibly dangerous," Celestia sighed. Ranma nodded and went back to her food.
An awkward silence lingered for the next few minutes as they ate before Kasumi asked the question that had been bothering Ranma. "What sort of tea is this?"
Celestia sipped her tea as Ranma looked up. She tilted her head to the side and sipped again. "It seems to be a new blend... I can taste rose and chamomile in it," she said after a moment of thought, "But that doesn't explain the aftertaste."
"Wortroot leaf," Luna said after a moment of tasting herself, "An odd choice, but flavourful."
"I have no idea what that is," Ranma said as she took another sip.
"A medicinal plant primarily grown for its roots. The leaves have little value for medicine," Celestia said, "Yes, it does taste a bit like wortroot, doesn't it Lulu?" She looked her sister's way with a small smile.
The Princess of the Night smiled and sipped her cup. "I have certainly had worse teas," she said. With that the conversation drifted from the more serious topics to a light discussion of food preferences.
Eventually, Kasumi asked, "Do ponies eat meat?" Ranma paused with her cup at her lips.
"Really Kasumi?" She deadpanned to the pegasus. She got a shrug of the wings in reply.
"I have small canines," Kasumi said, opening her mouth at Ranma. True to her words, there were a pair of very slightly pointed teeth towards the front. They were hardly noticeable compared to human canines, but they were there.
"Not typically," Celestia said lowering her cup to the table, "But Pegasi have made a habit of eating fish. It helps with certain oils required for maintaining one's feathers."
"And since Alicorns also have wings," Ranma said, trailing off expectantly. Celestia nodded her way.
"Correct. A small amount of fish at least once a week is good for both Alicorns and Pegasi," she said, "Unicorns and Earth ponies are capable of digesting fish, but you'll rarely find one who actually likes eating it."
Ranma felt her ear twitch. "What about octopus?" she asked, "Or Squid?" She shared a hopeful look with Kasumi. With a little bit of luck maybe they could have something resembling takoyaki at some point.
"... I'm not certain I've heard of a recipe for either," Celestia said after a moment's contemplation, "I do know that neither is considered properly intelligent at least, so I doubt anypony would have issues if you wanted to try out a recipe at some point." She quirked her lips. "Am I to take it that humans are carnivores?" Both of them blushed.
"Well... Omnivores, really," Kasumi said, awkwardly tapping the table while looking down.
"Do not be ashamed over your own nature, child," Luna said with a shake of her head, "Besides, it is not like you were discussing eating a pony."
"Yes, compared to some of the Griffon ambassadors we've had over the years, this conversation is remarkably unthreatening," Celestia said with a laugh, "You get one every few decades who believes he can make comments about the proper way to flavour a pony as a threat. They rarely keep their jobs for long."
"Tis considered bad form to discuss ways to eat your hosts," Luna said with a flat deadpan over her teacup.
"... I'll keep that in mind," Ranma said after digesting that little fact.
Kasumi tilted her head to the side. As Celestia raised her teacup to her lips she said, "You know, I wonder how tempura battered Griffon would taste." Ranma's reflexes proved to still be up to snuff as her wings flashed out and down the moment Celestia inhaled her tea. The spray of amber liquid that followed sailed through the spot formerly occupied by the young Princess.
As she landed on her hooves beside the now tea dampened pillow she pointed a hoof at Kasumi. "You did that on purpose," she accused. Kasumi turned soulful wide brown eyes to her as Celestia coughed and hacked from inhaling tea and Luna tried to muffle her snickering with a hoof over her mouth.
"Would I do that?" she asked in that same clueless way that usually got her out of trouble with her father Soun.
Ranma stared pointedly at the red and orange tail that was wiggling on the ground with restrained laughter. "Yes," she said, prompting Kasumi to twist to stare at her own tail.
"Traitor," Kasumi said after a moment, puffing out her cheeks.
"S-so," Luna snorted and covered her mouth again as she bent over the table, trying in vain to not surrender to the giggles. "A recipe you say?" she asked.
Kasumi nodded. "It can also be used for vegetables or seafood," she said, still pouting.
"I-" Celestia coughed, "Oh dear. I'm sorry Ranma."
"It's fine," Ranma waved her off, taking up a seat beside where she had been sitting on a new cushion.
"Might we inquire to the details of this recipe? Perhaps a taste test?" Luna asked with a grin forming.
"Of course. It's quite simple," Kasumi said, brightening at the idea.
Celestia looked at her sister and a moment later a similar grin appeared on the older sister's face. "It would be interesting to serve such a dish to the incoming ambassador. I hear he is quite rough around the edges," she mused.
"And I'm sure there will be no mention of it being of possible use for eating griffons, would there?" Luna mused.
"It would be tactless of me to suggest it," Celestia agreed, "Of course, if he were to ask of its origins... well, I can only be honest, now can't I?"
Ranma stared as both sisters snickered into their teacups before turning her gaze on Kasumi who was looking quite smug back at her. She just shook her head. "Innocent my fuzzy white ass," she muttered at the other mare. Kasumi stuck her tongue out before going back to her tea.
The conversation continued for a few minutes longer before Celestia checked the time. "Oh dear. Is it that time already?" the Princess said in a surprised tone. Luna checked the same clock and blinked.
"Have we really been at this for three hours? Truly good company makes the time pass quickly," she said, nodding to Ranma and Kasumi.
"Would the two of you like to witness the most important of our duties?" Celestia asked.
"Most important?" Ranma asked. The two Alicorns nodded.
"Yes, the raising and lowering of the sun and moon," The white Alicorn said.
There was a moment of silence.
"The what?" Kasumi said her voice quiet as she stared at the two sisters.
"Once, long ago, the sun and moon rose and set without any aid," Luna said softly, her ears laying down, "That was... ages ago. Long before our time."
"It used to be the duty of entire orders of Unicorns, but Luna and I each have enough power to raise and lower the sun and moon without aid," Celestia continued.
"But... What happened?" Ranma asked, looking out at the night sky with confusion.
"Legend has it that the ancient necromancer Grogar tried to destroy the world by breaking the cycle of day and night," Luna said, "He succeeded in his plot, but the resourcefulness of Ponies has kept the world alive ever since."
"It has had a few rickety moments over the years, but my sister and I have maintained the cycle for millennia now," Celestia said, "This, is our most important duty. Would you like to observe, Ranma? Kasumi?" She looked from one to the other. Ranma nodded slowly at the same time Kasumi did.
Celestia rose alongside Luna and Ranma followed them to the balcony edge. The terrace they were on looked out over the cliffside. She could see a few faint lights far below, but even with the full moon the light available was too little to make out much more. Not that she spent much time looking down.
"Watch closely, little Princess," Luna said to Ranma as her horn lit up with a dark blue aura. Any protests Ranma might have made at the choice of address, disappeared as she watched the moon accelerate smoothly in the sky until it disappeared below the horizon in but a few moments. The warmth flowing off Celestia doubled as a soft radiance began to shine from her fur. Ranma turned to her as her horn lit up with a warm golden light. In a process that should have taken hours the sun smoothly slid out from behind the horizon and rose into the sky. It came to a stop somewhere around what Ranma would have normally considered ten o'clock in the morning.
"There we go," Celestia said with a smile, "Nice and simple, isn't it Lulu?"
"Very," her sister agreed. Ranma stared at them both, open mouthed. She couldn't even imagine the power involved in something like that and yet they had done it with barely a thought. It was...
She didn't have words for what she just witnessed, and a sneaky glance at Kasumi confirmed that the pegasus was equally starstruck. "I- Well-" Ranma tried to find words as her butt hit the titles and she stared out at the world.
In the daylight it was a far nicer view. She could see rolling hills, small towns, what had to be several railways, and on the horizon a large wild forest that rose up a series of large hills.
A white wing patted her on the head. "This is the duty we do every day for our little ponies," Celestia said, "Perhaps one day it will be no longer needed, but for now we gladly shepherd the days and nights onwards."
"Indeed. Such is the duty of a Princess," Luna agreed.
Duty of a Princess, huh? Ranma gazed up at the bright shining sun. That sounded a lot more intimidating then than it had only a few hours previous. This was not what she thought of when someone talked about Princesses. No, this was more like the realm of Kami.
"What have I gotten into," she murmured softly. If anyone heard her, no one said anything.
-0-0-0-0-0-
A Ranma ½ My Little Pony Crossover
The Long Path Home
By: Grounders10
-0-0-0-0-0-
Chapter Three: Reflected on Four legs
-0-0-0-0-0-
With the raising of the sun, the morning breakfast came to an end as Luna headed for her 'evening' affairs and Celestia went to get properly ready for court. Before they left, however, they instructed Moonrose, who had apparently been standing outside the entire time, orders to escort Ranma to her new room at the top of the Star Tower, the shortest of the towers, but apparently the only other suite possibly free suite of comparable size belonged to Cadence, who hadn't quite confirmed she wasn't going to be using it anymore. Even if she did have an Empire to look after.
"And once you get there, consider yourself her personal Hoofmaiden until a more permanent selection can be made," Luna had added on her way out the door, "Teach her what she needs to know about being a pony."
Which was how Ranma found herself once again walking through the marble and gold hallways of Canterlot Castle following the same dark blue. Her ear twitched as the mare muttered, "I hate day-shift duty." under her breath.
Ranma exchanged a glance with Kasumi, who was following Ranma for reasons unstated, before sighing. "Sorry?" She offered hesitantly.
"Not your fault, Your Highness," Moonrose said, "Us Night Guard aren't really daytime ponies. We much prefer the night. Less shiny." Ranma could understand that attitude as she tried to ignore the bright glare from the many shiny surfaces of the castle.
The castle was far more bustling than it had been during the earlier morning hours. Maids, guards, and others swarmed the hallways. The presence of so many, however, made it clear that she'd made a small mistake earlier. The guards hadn't been bowing to Moonrose earlier, they'd been bowing to Ranma. As they walked her horn and wings acted as a natural badge of office that prompted most, but not quite all, of those they passed to bow, or curtsey, and utter a soft, "Your Highness" in passing.
It felt weird, and wrong. People weren't supposed to be bowing to her at all. Of course, even those who didn't greet her still watched her go. Their eyes followed her around. She was used to staring at least. A redhead in Japan always attracted a lot of attention, and it seemed being an Alicorn was the same sort of red flag. No one, at least, seemed truly surprised at her existence, even if her presence was a surprise.
"How long was I out?" She asked Kasumi as they ascended yet another flight of stairs.
"Three days," Kasumi replied, "We were starting to get worried about you. The doctors said you'd be fine, but... Well you aren't normally out for longer than a few hours after a fight like that."
Three days, yeah that was more than enough time for a rumour mill to get going. Most everyone in the palace had probably heard of her presence by the time she woke up. "Explains how everyone seems to know about me," she sighed.
"The Princesses didn't exactly forbid anypony from talking about it," Moonrise said, "There's a reason I was guarding your door. Ponies have been trying to get a glimpse of their new Princess constantly." She fluttered her bat wings, an act that seemed to cause a pair of maids to jump apart, making way for the guard pony to pass between them.
"Yeah, I can tell," the Alicorn muttered. Rumour mills. Yeah, right. She'd put money on Nabiki stirring the pot the moment she understood what was going on.
"Here we are," Moonrise said as they came to a large double door painted with stylized representations of Celestia and Luna chasing each other around an orb that was half sun and half moon. Two large white stallions in gold armour were standing at attention with spears, their eyes pointed straight ahead. They were both a full head taller than Ranma, something she was long since used to. "The Star Suite, your apartment, is just up the steps."
Both of the guards bowed as Moonrose opened the door to reveal the staircase beyond. Ranma nodded to both of them nervously as she entered. Her eyes lingered on the flanks of the guards as they passed. One had a sword crossed with a pen while another had an orange shield with a little apple in the center.
The steps were a blue tile with silver flecks reminiscent of stars. Blue crystals were mounted in torch brackets on the wall to provide illumination. Both sides of the wall were in the same dark blue paint while the ceiling was a vivid starscape. The pattern of the ceiling and walls continued on into the room above. A dark blue carpet matched the ceiling as they stepped off the stairs into what appeared to be a sparsely furnished living room. A single table sat in the middle of the circular room surrounded by purple cushions. Another flight of stairs led up to another level. Under it began a row of bookcases that covered half the wall. Directly opposite the stairs, and bookcases, was a glass double door leading out onto another balcony.
"It looks... kinda empty," Ranma said, looking around. There was a lot of empty floor space and not a single painting on the walls. Even the drapes seemed to be missing.
"Erm... Well I suppose it is," Moonrose said, turning to her with a blush as she pried off her helmet and slipped it under one foreleg, "I'm not entirely sure why. I- Well-" She kicked at the carpet awkwardly. "Sorry, Your Highness, I'm- Well, I wasn't expecting to be made your Hoofmaiden today."
"What does that even mean anyways?" Ranma asked as she looked around. The only decoration was a little statue of a pony in the center of the table.
"Basically, I'm supposed to be something akin to an assistant, only also a friend, I think? I'm sorry I'm a guard not a maid or- I don't even know why Princess Luna picked me for this," Moonrose said with a touch of panic. She glanced down at the helmet in her foreleg and sighed. "And I should probably head downstairs to the barracks and get out of this uniform as well. Hoofmaidens are supposed to be loyal to their Princess above everything else, which naturally precludes being a guard in another Princess's guard... I think. I can't say I've ever heard someone try and do both before."
"I'm sure it'll all be fine, Moonrose," Kasumi said as she patted the bat pony on the shoulder.
"Thanks," Moonrose said with a small smile, "If you want to take a look around Princess, I'll head down and get changed before trying to find out why everything is so barren?"
"Ranma," Ranma said. The bat pony blinked.
"Um?"
Ranma looked at her pointedly. Her tail flicked to the side in irritation. "Call me Ranma. I insist," she said pointedly as the filly looked to protest. She'd accept the title, but damned if she was just going to listen to everyone call her by it all the time.
"I- In public that could cause issues, Princess," Moonrose said hesitantly, "There are rules of propriety." She looked legitimately terrified.
"In private then," Ranma sighed.
Moonrose shuffled awkwardly from hoof-to-hoof before giving her a nervous smile. "Okay, Ranma," she said, looking as nervous as she had when she'd pulled Ranma back onto the balcony earlier.
Kasumi giggled. "There, not so hard is it?" she asked.
"I could get in so much trouble for this," Moonrose moaned as her head drooped. It was odd, to Ranma, just how expressive ponies seemed to be. Without hands or what could be called free limbs, she hadn't believed there would be much a pony could do to express themselves. She hadn't accounted for how expressive ears, wings, tails and even their necks could be. And their faces! They were hardly horse-like at all. Kinda like a human was hardly like an ape. Same body structure, but so very different in the details.
"Why don't you go and find out why this place is so barren and get yourself sorted? We'll take a look around while you're gone," Ranma suggested as she watched the dark blue mare's cheeks go pink through her fur.
"Of course, Y- I mean, yes Ranma," Moonrose said, blushing harder and bowing before turning and leaving at a hasty trot. Her helmet made its way back onto her head before she hit the stairs. Probably a good thing. Going up and down steps required four legs, not three, and definitely not two. Going downstairs headfirst made Ranma feel weird. Her trained instincts kept trying to tell her she was going to start tumbling down, yet she didn't.
"While she's doing that, I think I should go and get my sisters and Ryouga," Kasumi said as she stared out the window at the sunny sky.
"And leave me to just, look around an empty suite?" Ranma said, a light tone of amusement in her voice.
"If I don't head down they'll probably start wondering where I am," Kasumi sighed, "And who knows what Akane will do. I swear that girl-" She paused, "I suppose it would be filly now, wouldn't it?"
"Filly and Mare," Ranma agreed as she walked over to the window, the clip-clop of hooves thankfully lost in the carpet. "This all feels so weird. Like I'm dreaming, you know?" Kasumi nodded as she hummed her agreement.
"I think it's the bodies," Kasumi said, "I feel... You forget you aren't human until you try and do something with your hands."
Ranma smirked and undid the latch on the window before pushing it open. A light breeze ruffled their manes. "I don't even have that," she replied. Kasumi snorted.
"Trust you to figure it out in five minutes while the rest of us have been fighting with it for three days," Kasumi sighed before grinning, "You know we're both naked right now, right?"
Ranma froze up, her whole body tingling as she was suddenly very aware of the fact that Kasumi was right. Neither of them was wearing clothes. How the hell had that not occurred to her? She turned a baleful eye on the undressed pegasus who started giggling. "Really Kasumi?" she asked with exasperation.
"Well we aren't," the bacon-haired pegasus laughed, "Oh you should have seen Akane when I pointed that out. She spent six hours under a blanket before we managed to coax her out and she still turned bright red the moment we're in public."
Ranma groaned. Just what she needed, a hyper tense and paranoid Akane. This was probably driving the powerful sensibilities of her fiancee to levels never before seen. "Oh she's got to be going nuts," she muttered.
Kasumi sat down and held her forehooves an inch apart. "Just a little," she said, giggling at the look Ranma gave her, "She needs to lighten up. We're bright technicolour ponies in a world without our parents to demand we start marrying each other. Sure its weird, but..." She looked out the window and her wings fluttered anxiously, "But maybe we can look at this as something good. At least for a little while, right?"
She looked from the yellow pegasus with her fluttering wings to the open sky outside. "You want to fly," she guessed.
"Uhuh," Kasumi nodded, "I've been watching the pegasi. They look like they're having so much fun." She sighed wistfully before giving her head a shake. "They said lessons would start shortly after you woke up, so maybe in a few days I can start learning. Anyways," she stood up and shook herself like a dog, "I'm going to get my sisters. Back in a few."
"Be careful, the stairs are tricky," Ranma called after her. A wave of a wing was all she got before the bacon-patterned tail disappeared down the steps. Leaving her alone.
She took in the empty suite and let herself fall back onto her hindlegs. She curled her tails around her hooves. She was alone now and, for the first time since coming to this world, not facing a crisis or a meeting, or even just a friend. She was alone. She could feel a quiver in her legs as the tension she'd been feeling since she woke up was replaced by... something. Something she couldn't place. It was a feeling she wasn't at all familiar with. When was the last time she hadn't been bouncing from crisis to crisis?
She raised a hoof and stared at the slight quiver that it had. It had been years since she'd last seen that from anything. She sagged forward and just lay there with her head on her forehooves as her wings sagged out to either side. Her breathing felt weird, erratic, everything felt weird now. Now that she had time to notice it. The wings, the tail, her ears, her hooves, her fur.
"Why did Kasumi have to point out the clothes thing?" she muttered as she lay there in a softly quivering pool taking sharp short breaths. She felt both tense and lethargic now. She was a pony now. A Princess even. "Why did I agree to that?" She closed her eyes and buried her snout in her forelegs. She knew why she did it -- at least this gave them a chance to go home -- but kami if it wasn't a blow to her pride. Her, a Princess. A Pretty. Pony. Princess. Her. Him. Whatever.
She blew out a snort that sounded almost like a whinny and slowly pulled herself to her feet. "I am so in over my head," she muttered as she tried to take a step towards the stairs and found that her legs were almost like jello as she flopped forwards again. It was the adrenaline, it had to be. Or lack of it. Or- honestly, she couldn't even tell anymore.
She pulled herself to her feet once more and, with a bit more dignity, walked over to the stairs. Walking up the steps on four legs suddenly felt more weird than when she'd been doing it in the hallways before. Maybe it was the fact she was alone with her thoughts now, without anyone around, that made it more weird.
Her hooves clipped and clopped on the tile of the stairs, each little noise piercing the quiet of the room like a knife through her skull. She paused to give herself a shake. "Focus, stop freaking out, just relax," she said to herself as she continued to the next floor... which turned out to be a small corridor that led to another staircase up, and a single archway covered by a veil of star-speckled dark blue cloth. The soft sound of running water from beyond prompted her to poke her head through the gap in the fabric.
Beyond was a beautiful white-tiled bathroom with a small swimming pool for a tub in the center. Spots around the room were set up for what looked like massages while others might have been shower stalls. A sectioned-off corner of the room was probably where the toilet was. The lighting was provided by a mix of softly glowing crystals, a bunch of candles, and two round frosted glass portholes at the far end of the room.
She eyed the slowly flowing water of the pool and the steam that rose from it. She could use a soak, but Kasumi and Moonrose would be back in a bit, so perhaps right then wasn't the best time. Pulling back she spared a glance at her wings. How would those handle being soaked with water anyways? She fluttered them and paused to extend her right wing as something caught her attention. One of the pinions looked a little crooked and now that she'd noticed it there was a small itch in her wing.
She stared at the feather for a long moment before folding the wing up again. She was going to have to ask someone how to look after her wings, wasn't she? Grumbling at the weirdness she ascended the next and, as it turned out, final staircase. The room above was a bedroom with a large four poster bed, a sitting area with pillows for six around a decent sized table, some bookshelves, one of which had actual books on it, and another balcony, though pointed towards the city unlike the one below which was pointed towards the countryside. The room was smaller than those below due to a dividing wall that had a sliding door. More than likely a closet of some kind, though she had to wonder what went into it.
She paused. She had spotted a few ponies in the hallways wearing clothing, all of it very high quality and well tailored. Perhaps clothes were more of a status symbol than anything? Maybe. More importantly, was there anything in it? Probably not, unless they'd measured her in her sleep... Well she hadn't woken up covered in mud, so someone had to have cleaned her off when she was out cold.
The closet door was a simple sliding oak partition that had a small indent to place your hoof instead of a doorknob, or a lever. Actually, she'd only seen levers and latches throughout the castle. Did ponies even have door knobs? Sure her hooves could pick things up like a hand, but what did that mean for fine control like even something as simple as turning a doorknob? She'd have to experiment.
The closet was, unsurprisingly, empty. Empty hangers sat waiting to be filled with who knew what alongside dozens of shelves. A lack of dust made it clear that this place at least had been cleaned recently. She trotted deeper into the closet, peeringly closely at the many cubbies and hidden shelves. Probably in case she said yes, which meant the barren nature of the suite was probably intentional and-
A white mare looked back at her from a mirror that had been hidden from view from the door. She stepped back and the mirror did as well. She moved a wing, and watched the reflection move as well.
"That's... me?" she asked the empty air as she raised her hoof to meet her reflection. Hoof met glass with a soft clink. She stared, she couldn't help it.
She took a step back and half turned as she stared at her reflection. She was definitely a pony, a bit longer and sleeker looking than Akane or Kasumi, with a little bit more of a graceful arch to her neck and chest. Her mane wasn't in its usual braid and cascaded down the sides of her neck in a wild untamed mass. It was a few shades brighter than before with little flecks of yellow and orange appearing and disappearing as she turned and shifted from pose to pose. Her tail was much the same, with that same bright, nearly glowing, shade of red that shifted like a flickering flame with orange and yellow. She was smaller than the other mares she had seen, though that might change in time if the other two Alicorns were anything to go by.
What caught her eyes, once she was able to pull them away from staring at her face and its oddly human expressions, was the lack of anything on her flank. The native ponies all had marks like tattoos on their flanks, but Akane, Nabiki and Ryouga also had them, which made no sense to her. They had to be natural, but she couldn't think of any reason why they had them, and yet neither she nor Kasumi did. It was odd and she had to wonder if it was something to worry about. The idea that not having a brand on her flank could be something medical made her snort, but then this was a place of magic. Who knew how weird things would get.
She stared for a while longer, posing and twisting in front of the mirror to get a better look at herself. She was cute, she could admit it. Hell, she was adorable like pretty much every pony she had seen so far there was just something innately adorable about her. Oh the number of food trucks she could scam looking like this would be something for the record books... right before they banned talking ponies from buying ice cream. Could she even still eat ice cream? It would be really unfair if she couldn't.
Finally, she pulled herself away from the mirror and turned around to walk back to the bedroom. She poked her nose out onto the balcony and paused at the railing. In the daylight the city below shone with the same smooth seamless white stone. The buildings nearest the castle were as much art as architecture with smooth twisting towers and elegant arches being the most common styles.
Her eyes quickly drifted to the pegasi who flitted here and there over the city, most of them keeping their distance from the castle except for a few who appeared to be couriers with bags. To her surprise she could easily make out the details, and even some of the markings on their flanks, of many of the people walking through town. Maybe it was the daylight, or the fact that she was lower down now than she had been previously, but they seemed far easier to make out than earlier.
Wondering where Kasumi and Moonrose were, she turned back into her room, leaving the door open to allow the breeze to flow in. It was nice and cool and, best of all, relaxing. She walked over to the bed and gave it a poke. It felt softer than anything she'd ever slept on before. She hopped up onto the bed and immediately sank into the mattress. "Ooh," she moaned as she fell over onto the mattress. It was soft, so freaking soft and comfy. She felt like she was just going to sink straight through it, and yet, she didn't. It was wonderfully comfy.
So wonderfully comfy.
The small snore that drifted up from the Alicorn a few moments later would have surprised no one, if there was anyone to hear it.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Ranma awoke to the feeling of something definitely not soft prodding her in the rib.
"Hey! Wake up Ranma!"
She opened her eyes blearily to find a different yellow pegasus prodding her in the side. "... 'Kane?" she mumbled as she spotted the short cut dark blue mane.
Her fiancee huffed and rolled her eyes. "Who else could it be," she said before turning away and walking out of Ranma's vision.
The red-maned pony rolled onto her stomach and craned her neck to see who else was in the room. Kasumi was standing beside the window with Nabiki. The light green, or possibly teal, mare was intently staring out the window at something in the distance. Moonrose was with them, standing awkwardly by the staircase, no longer wearing her uniform with her hair combed out into a silvery waterfall that fell, mostly, over her right side.
"Princess, you're awake," Moonrose said, stepping forward, "I let Kasumi and her sisters in, they were supposed to stay downstairs." She cast a look of warning at Kasumi who sighed.
"I did warn you," the bacon-maned pegasus pointed out.
"How did you even wind up a Princess? We've been here four days!" Akane said, waving a forehoof at the ceiling, "Four day! And you slept through three of them!" She pointed her hoof at Ranma with an exasperated expression.
"Alicorns are royalty by law," Ranma said after a sidesplitting yawn, "Mrraaah, why'd you poke me anyways. I was sleeping great." She rubbed at the sleep that had already started forming in her eye.
"Apologies, Princess," Moonrose blushed, "I didn't stop her because we do have a few things to discuss."
Ranma shrugged her wings and yawned again. She made no move to leave the supremely comfortable bed.
"I found Raven, the erm- Celestia's seneschal, waiting for me with this," She retrieved a clipboard from her right wing, "Apparently Celestia thinks it would be a great way for you to get used to things if you and I decorate the suite. We're allowed to pull things from storage and have a budget of two hundred thousand bits for anything else we need that we can't find."
"And that's how much?" Akane asked after a moment.
"A bit is about the value of an apple these days," Moonrose said.
"... So a budget of two hundred thousand apples," Nabiki said, tilting her head to the side.
"Doesn't sound like that much," Akane huffed.
"Actually it would be about two hundred and forty thousand," Moonrose said. She blushed as everyone looked at her. "Bulk discount," she added hastily.
"... Two hundred thousand of anything is a lot of money Akane," Nabiki said, shaking her head, "But for stuff like this? Yeah, not all that much. I'm guessing Celestia wants our dear new Princess to learn the value of a bit." She grinned at Ranma who huffed.
"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled and lay her head on her hooves. So it began. "Anything else?"
"Um... She'll only sign off on a monthly allowance once the room is properly decorated, and tonight a Ms. Sharp Pinion will be stopping by start you on some preliminary wing exercises to help prepare you for proper flight," she said, reading off the clipboard, "And that's about it I..." she flipped the page, "... Oh, and Raven mentioned that Celestia's student Twilight and her friends should be arriving the day after tomorrow by train. They'll take care of actually training you. We need to have your suite prepared by then."
Two days to completely outfit a suite. She looked around the barren room. "Does that include the closet?" she asked, glancing at the half open oak door.
"You have a closet? For what? Horseshoes?" Akane asked.
"Dresses, jewelry, shoes, her regalia whenever it's finished," Moonrose said.
"... Ponies wear dresses?" Nabiki said with a disbelieving tone.
"... Well what else would you wear to a party?" Moonrose asked her with a look of confusion. The two ponies stared at each other with looks of equal incomprehension.
Kasumi coughed politely into her hoof. "Is there anything else, Moonrose?" she asked politely.
"Hmm, oh uuuh, and I'm supposed to answer any questions and help out with whatever the Princess needs?" Moonrose said hesitantly.
Ranma sighed. "You don't need to call me that around them," she said, waving at the Tendo sisters with a wing.
"I- Of course Ranma, I-" Moonrose paused and frowned at Ranma, her head tipped to one side, "Ranma, do you know how to look after your wings?"
Both Kasumi and Akane followed Moonrose's gaze. "Oh my," Kasumi said, "That doesn't look comfortable."
Ranma glanced at her wing, which was still outstretched. A pinion was at a visibly odd angle. "I didn't have wings a few days ago, so no, and it's really starting to itch, Kasumi," Ranma said as she started to fold her wing.
"Stop," Moonrose said with a shake of her head, "Leave it open like that and lay it down on the bed." Ranma blinked and followed her Hoofmaiden's instructions, laying the large white wing down on the bed.
"Something wrong?" she asked.
"If that Pinion doesn't have something done about it soon you might lose it," Moonrose said, "I'm... Look, why don't you four visit, I'm just going to go arrange for someone to come and show you how to preen. I might fly but..." she ruffled her bat wings, "I'm not exactly a pegasus. Hey, have either of you...?"
Akane and Kasumi both shook their heads. "I'm still learning," Akane said with a shake of her head, "They explicitly told me to not practice on others until I've had some time to get better." It might have been Ranma's imagination, but Akane appeared to blush as she mentioned it.
"It's the same for me, I'm afraid," Kasumi sighed.
"I thought that might be. I'll be back in a bit, Ranma. So just... lay there for a few, okay?" Moonrose said, backing up towards the stairs.
"Go on," Ranma said, waving her other wing. Once the dark blue mare disappeared down the steps Ranma sighed and lay her head on her hooves. "Someone wake me when she's back."
"Seriously?" Ranma ignored Akane's annoyed sigh. What else was she supposed to do? Walking around with a wing out would be annoying, and besides, the bed was so soft it was all she could do to stay awake. She didn't get a chance to fall asleep due to a yellow wing poking her in the side. "Hey, stay awake, we aren't done yet."
"What?" Ranma sighed, looking up at the irritated yellow pegasus.
"This is the first time we've all been awake and not in danger," Akane said, "We need to talk about how we got here and how we're getting home."
"Princess Celestia said they'll look into sending up home," Ranma said with a yawn that shook her wings, "Apparently they've done some work with alternate universes before so they're going to try and find our homes, but she thinks it'll take years at least.
"Years?!" Akane stared at her aghast.
"Well what other options do we have? We don't know how we got here in the first place," she sighed.
"One of us has to know something," Akane protested, "Right?" She looked around at Kasumi and Nabiki.
Both her older sisters shrugged. "I was in the kitchen, then the forest," Kasumi said.
"Homework," Nabiki said, "Who knows how far off whatever caused this event was. Maybe one of Saotome's enemies got smart and decided to not taunt him before the big ritual? Could've been the old freak even. I think he was in his room?" She glanced at Kasumi.
The bacon-maned pegasus nodded. "Happousai was in his room before we were sent here..." She bit her lip, "I seem to remember him laughing about something as well. I could hear it through the walls."
"So Happousai did something," Akane said, firmly stamping a hoof into the carpet.
"Or was planning it. Did anyone actually see him do it?" Ranma asked blandly. She would love to blame the old freak for this, but it didn't really have his twisted stamp. Send them away and turn them into ponies? Not his style. For one it meant he wouldn't be able to see them everyday, for another even if it hadn't sent them away the freak had no interest in ponies and nothing he did ever fed into anything but one of his interests. She couldn't think of a way this could connect to martial arts, so that just left perversion, which didn't make sense because pony.
"Wouldn't be the first time he messed with something he shouldn't. That happens like once a month," Akane huffed. Ranma sighed and nodded.
"I guess, but this just doesn't feel like one of his tricks. I don't exactly feel the urge to call him master and I don't think he likes horses that way," Ranma pointed out. After a moment she added, "And I haven't done anything to him recently to get him pissed off enough to try and banish me to another world either." Small mercies, Happousai's anger tended to burn out swiftly once he'd been put into a hole a few times. Usually.
Her ear flicked and she frowned. She hadn't done anything to get him this angry in ages, and he'd already moved on from them. No, she didn't see how this could have been Happousai. "If we're lucky he's wandering around the forest wondering why he's a pony and suffering from withdrawal." The three girls nodded.
"It could mean your mother is here as well," Nabiki said.
"Aunty was out shopping when it happened," Kasumi said with a shake of her head, "I might have seen Shampoo and Mousse at some point though. I know I saw Sasuke walking around outside a few minutes before as well."
All three of them turned to the pegasus. "Seriously? How recently, to the moment?"
"... Ten minutes?" Kasumi said after several long moments, "I'm sorry, I didn't really pay much attention. I was working on dinner and just hoped that when they bothered you, they'd be dealt with without breaking the kitchen table."
"The table doesn't get broken that often," Ranma grumbled.
"So... None of us knows anything? What about Ryouga?" Akane asked.
"We'd have to ask him. Anyone know where he is?" Ranma asked. With a little luck he hadn't gotten lost yet... Then again, she wasn't looking forward to apologizing. He could stay lost for a little while if he really wanted to.
"He wasn't in his room," Kasumi sighed, "Who knows where he's gone."
"He'll be around here somewhere," Akane said.
"Right, and it's not like he wanders off for months at a time, or gets lost walking down a straight hallway," Ranma said dryly.
"Don't be mean, Ranma," her fiancee protested.
"She isn't wrong," Nabiki pointed out, "He couldn't find his butt even if I sold him a map." Akane huffed and stamped her hoof again.
"We can't have nothing! You can't seriously be telling me that our plan for getting home is praying while Ranma plays Princess!" She exclaimed.
"It isn't exactly playing if I can't say no, right?" Ranma asked the room.
"And why can't you?" Akane asked with a frustrated scowl.
"Because the choice was exile from Equestria or being a Princess? Where else am I going to go?" she asked. Akane stared at her.
"That's- what?" The blue-maned pegasus' looked confused, "That's- That doesn't make any sense. Why is that even a choice? Why those two options? Who asks someone to 'lead us or leave'?"
"Politics, magic, and apparently a spirit of chaos," Ranma deadpanned to a nod from Kasumi.
Akane sank to her haunches and tilted her head back. "THIS PLACE MAKES NO SENSE!" She shouted at the ceiling loud enough to make Ranma's ears ring.
"Ow, my ears," Nabiki deadpanned, rubbing one ear with a hoof.
"Really Akane?" Kasumi sighed as she rubbed her ears as well, "Your inside voice please."
Akane huffed before she trotted over to the table by the window and claimed one of the large, oversized cushions. "First we wind up in a stupid forest full of monsters, then we wind up in a palace of talking ponies, then everyone is naked, and now Ranma's a Pretty Pony Princess and we're all just going to sit here and go along with it and hope the other Pretty Pony Princesses send us home? Is that it? Is that our plan?!" She grumbled. Her tail lashed about angrily as she sat there grinding her teeth. Her words dissolved into unintelligibility as she curled up, head on her hooves muttering to herself with the sort of expression that could scare a timberwolf.
"Not even a-" Akane grumbled before her eyes went wide and she sat up. "Curse. Your curse, why are you still a girl?"
"And she finally asks the smart question," Nabiki quipped, "So, curious minds want to know, is your curse working, Saotome?"
Ranma hesitated. She hadn't tested it herself, but someone had clearly cleaned her off after the fight in the forest and no one had known about her curse. A would-be Princess turning into a Prince was the sort of thing you shared with the other Princesses, right? Ryouga hadn't turned into a pig either so... "No, it isn't," she said. She'd test it later in private. If it did work then she'd just have to say it suddenly started working again, but the evidence was concerning to say the least.
The room descended into an awkward silence as Ranma and Akane stared at each other. Emotions chased their way across Akane's amazingly expressive snout. Really, if she was in a better mood she'd be quite impressed by how easy it was to read the expressions of a pony.
"So do you think Ranma's allowed to paint the room, or is she stuck with the whole starscape thing?" Nabiki asked, clearly trying to change the subject.
"I think it looks nice," Kasumi said, taking up the change in topic with a smile as she claimed a pillow by the table, "I'm just wondering what sort of furniture is available. So much of this castle is white and gold. There can't be that much in storage that goes well with a room this dark."
"Really?" Akane grumbled and curled up on the pillow in a huff.
The conversation drifted to the sort of colours, fabrics, and styles that might be most appropriate and stayed there, to Ranma's odd relief, until the sound of hooves on the stairs interrupted them. Everyone turned to see Moonrose climbing the steps with a pair of female earth ponies behind her. The pair were both a soft baby blue with sleek light pink manes. The only difference between them that Ranma could make out was the tattoos on their flanks. The one on the left had a trio of yellow flowers inside a bubble while the other one had a foam covered scrub brush. The sort you would use to wash your back.
"Princess," she said, prompting Ranma to cover a wince at the title, "May I introduce Daisy Bubbles and Daily Brush. They're here to help you with your wing, and to provide any spa services you need." She grinned. "I got lucky and ran into Raven on the way down. She was bringing them up already. Something about rumours going around about how scruffy the new Princess looks."
"... I do not look scruffy," Ranma huffed.
"We are pleased to meet our new Princess," Daisy said while sketching a bow, "But I must say your coat could certainly use a proper shampoo."
"And your mane looks like it has knots in it," Daily added as she bowed herself. Ranma hoofed at her mane, but couldn't feel what they were talking about. Then again, why would she? She had hooves, not hands.
"You've got to be kidding me," Akane mumbled, Ranma's ear twitching as she just barely heard what the other girl was saying.
Daisy walked over to Ranma's bedside and hopped up on the mattress beside Ranma. She leaned down and examined the wing. "It isn't quite as bad as you said, Moonrose," she said.
"Well I'm not exactly a Pegasus," the bat-pony sighed, "So it's a little hard to tell."
"Hmm... It has to be itching like crazy, though," Daily said as she walked up to Ranma's bed and peered over the edge.
"... A bit," Ranma admitted. It really was itching something fierce.
"Then we'll take care of that and show you how to properly do it yourself just in case we aren't around. Is that to your liking, Princess?" Daisy asked.
"Well I have to learn somehow," Ranma sighed as she turned her head to stare at the feather in question. It felt strange to be able to twist her neck so far without discomfort, but she wouldn't deny it was useful.
"It may be better to do this in the baths. If we're going to be cleaning up everything anyways," Daily suggested, "Cloud beds are far too flexible for this sort of delicate work." To emphasize her point she gave the plush, apparently cloud, mattress a prod with her hoof. It sank deeply into the silky material of the cover.
"Just give me a second. I can at least fix the feather so it doesn't itch quite so much," Daisy replied, "Now hold still. This will probably feel at least a bit odd if you aren't used to having feathers." Ranma held still as the Earth Pony reached down with her head and gently grasped the feather. The redhead let out a soft gasp of surprise at the sensation of the feather being gently smoothed into place by the practiced lips of the other pony. More importantly, the itching subsided quite a bit the moment the feather was properly aligned.
"There," Daisy announced as she let go of the feather, "That should be good for the moment. No risk of losing it now, but if you want the itching to stop completely, it will need proper care with the appropriate oils. Shall we head down?"
"Yes please," Ranma said, folding her wing and hopping out of the bed. She ignored Akane's scoff and Nabiki's snickering. They had no idea just how itchy her wing was at that moment. She hadn't really understood how itchy it was feeling until it subsided a bit. That, and if she wanted to fly she was going to need to learn to care for her wings.
Being a pony was proving to be a strange experience, but flying? Who didn't want to fly under their own power? To soar the skies and see the world from above. She could understand Kasumi's urge so well. And if all it took to start learning was to let a couple of ponies give her a spa treatment while showing her how to take care of her wings? It was the exact opposite of an imposition. She did have to wonder what a spa treatment for a pony was like though.
She followed Daily down the steps to the baths without sparing a look at the table. If she had, she would have noticed the annoyed eyes of Akane following her from where the pegasus peered over the edge of the table.
-0-0-0-0-0- |
The Long Path Home | Chapter Four: Along Came a Spider | It was a very relaxed and clean Princess Ranma that practically pranced down the steps into the sitting room an hour later. Her mane and tail, both unbound and curly, bounced with each step. The shades of orange and yellow that lurked as individual strands shimmered in the sunlight pouring through the windows. Her coat and wings practically glowed. More importantly, she felt clean. From her horn to her hooves a layer of dust and dirt she hadn't even realized she was carrying was gone. Combined with the amazing massage the girls had done -- seriously how were hooves that good at massaging? -- she felt better than ever, literally.
Ranma was humming a tune as she pranced down the steps. She couldn't help it, she just felt like she was about to burst into song.
"Enjoy your massage, Ranma?" The young Princess blinked as she realized that Kasumi was waiting at the table by the window. The older girl had a pot of tea and three teacups in front of her, one of which had a straw for the hoof-challenged pegasus. Sitting across from her on a pillow was Moonrose. Her Hoofmaiden was sipping from her teacup, a teacup she hurriedly put down.
"Princess!" She said brightly, her bat wings fluttering behind her.
"Bath, massage, hoof trimming, I think they did everything they could in an hour," Ranma sighed as she trotted over to the table. There had been things she hadn't realized ponies would need. "Why are you still here? I figured the three of you had left already after I went upstairs and couldn't find you." She sat down next to Moonrose and accepted the steaming teacup the bat pony handed her with, "Thanks, Moonrose."
The yellow pegasus shrugged and sipped her tea through the straw. "Akane ran off fuming about ten minutes into your bath," she said, "Nabiki went after her. I don't think Akane is taking everything particularly well." She fluttered her wings anxiously, "I can't really blame her. Everything is just so strange and foreign here. I mean... The five of us aren't even human anymore."
"I guess... It's not the weirdest thing ever for me though," Ranma said after she took a sip of tea."
"Your standard for strange is a little bit different than everyone else's," Kasumi sighed before quirking her lips in a lopsided grin, "Then again, I don't really think anyone we live with has a normal standard for weird anymore."
Ranma snorted and shook her head. Life in Nerima was strange, and that was all that needed to be said.
"If you don't mind me asking," Moonrose began, "What are humans exactly? I've never heard of a species called that before."
"Hmmm... Well the clinical definition would be tall primate mammals that stand on two feet, have no fur, and use tools and clothes to compensate for a lack of other advantages," Kasumi said with a shrug of her wings.
"Very clinical," Ranma said dryly. The pegasus shrugged.
"Humans are omnivorous, though we can't eat things like hay, or at least we don't get much out of it. It's complicated," Kasumi said with a sigh.
"Omnivore, huh, kinda like Griffons?" Moonrose asked.
"I'm not entirely sure. Less meat I'd imagine, but we do eat a lot of it," Kasumi said after a moment of thought, "Thankfully I'm a pegasus, so I can at least have fish." She took a sip of her tea. "Hopefully we can get some octopus for takoyaki at some point."
"It would be nice," Ranma agreed.
"Takoyaki?" Moonrose asked.
"Octopus dumplings," the red-maned alicorn said.
"What's a dumpling?" Moonrose asked with the tone of someone who had just become even more confused. The two Japanese ponies shared a look.
"If we want anything familiar we're going to have to cook it ourselves, aren't we?" Kasumi sighed. Ranma sighed with her.
"Yup."
The pegasus shook her head, sending her mane waving back and forth, before she sipped more of her tea. "I suppose the two of you have to go and select furniture for the suite," she said.
"And potentially place orders for repair, replacement, or all new items," Moonrose said with a shake of her head. "I'm not looking forward to this. I'm a guard, not a butler. I kick things. I don't deal with lists." She yawned, "And I should be in bed right now."
"You said a bit is about one apple?" Ranma asked. Moonrose nodded. "So... How much is a table like this one?" She rapped a hoof on the wood.
"I have no idea," Moonrose said brightly before yawning again and rubbing at her eyes with a fetlock, "This thing could have been bought last week or be older than my family. I haven't a clue what it would cost."
"Brand new, right now," Ranma clarified.
"Erm..." Moonrose peered at the table. "... Few thousand bits at least? Ten times that if it's made by somepony famous?" She shrugged her wings. "I'm sorry, but I'm probably the least qualified person to be doing this job, Princess," she sighed.
"It's fine, Rosey," Ranma said with a shake of her head, she smirked as she saw the mare mouth 'Rosey' with a confused look at an amused Kasumi, "We'll just have to handle this together. We'll get started after we're done with the tea. Coming with us, Kasumi?"
The pegasus looked thoughtful for a moment. "I think I might. It isn't like I have much else to do around here," she sighed.
"Great," Ranma grinned. With that, she lifted her tea to her lips and sipped it. It was good tea.
-0-0-0-0-0-
A Ranma ½ My Little Pony Crossover
The Long Path Home
By: Grounders10
-0-0-0-0-0-
Chapter Four: Along Came a Spider
-0-0-0-0-0-
He was lost. That was nothing new. For Ryouga Hibiki being lost was a natural state of being. A very much unwanted state of being, but a state of being nonetheless. He had lived through years of wandering the roads of Japan and beyond, never quite able to find what he wanted. Streets, forests, and cities tended to blend together in his experience and things never seemed to be laid out the same way twice, even when he doubled back. It created the unnatural feeling that something was rearranging the world behind him as he went.
By some luck, he hadn't had too many issues since arriving in Equestria. He certainly didn't seem to be misplacing rooms just by turning around anymore and he had yet to accidentally wander out of the city onto a road to... somewhere. It helped that the few times he had found his way outside that the castle had loomed over everything. The inside, however... The inside was a very different story.
The main floor, at least he thought it was the main floor, had broad white and gold walled hallways wide enough for twenty ponies to walk abreast without issue. It had luxurious meeting rooms with plush overstuffed cushions, with paintings and banners dripping from every surface. Sitting rooms were here and there with plenty of space for anyone who might be in the palace and looking for a place to sit for a few lovely minutes.
The next floor? The same. Beautiful white and gold hallways with broad corridors too wide to still fit the rooms that were supposedly in the same towers. More meeting halls and more sitting rooms. All just like those below.
And below ground? The hallways descended a dozen floors into the stone of the mountain. Level after level of identical stone walls, dark hallways lit only by dim crystals, dust filled storerooms, servant quarters, kitchens, everything made from that same slightly purplish stone. It all looked the same.
So it was that he, after having foolishly decided to visit the kitchen to see if he could get an early breakfast, was lost. Quite thoroughly, he had to admit as he looked up and down the light purple stone hallway. He was half-tempted to break out the Bakusai Tenketsu, but he doubted that either of the Princesses would be happy if he started blasting down walls with a touch. Especially since their castle was perched on the side of the cliff. Blow up one too many walls and he could send the entire thing down the mountainside.
And so here he was, lost and alone. Again. At least he was still in the castle.
Without much in the way of hints to be found from the blank stone he did something he had been doing more of since he arrived in Canterlot. He listened. His ears twisted and turned as he tried to pick up any hint of sound in the echoey expanse of the underground halls. It was a strange sensation feeling the two fuzzy tipped appendages atop his head move. Humans didn't have this sort of directional hearing. You couldn't just stand there as your ears searched for the source of the sound. It was, however, quite helpful at that moment for he could hear, distantly, the gentle clip-clop of hooves down the path to his right.
Hooves meant ponies. Ponies meant either a way back out of this maze or someone who might be willing to show him the way.
So he followed the sound, his twitching ears leading him through three turns as the sound of hooves grew from the distant sounds of one pony, to the clatter of many hooves. He turned the last corner and found the dim light of the hallway brightened immensely by the light pouring out of an open doorway. The clatter of pans and utensils was loud even from down the hallway.
It would seem that despite giving up he had found the kitchen. It was probably the wrong kitchen knowing his luck, but an active kitchen meant ponies. More importantly, it meant ponies who probably knew how to get out of the maze that was Canterlot's lower levels.
The room that he found as he poked his head around the corner was long and wide with row after row of ovens, stoves, and preparation tables lined up neatly down its length. Several dozen ponies in white hats and aprons were working, chopping fruits and vegetables, mixing dough and decorating finished pastries all around the kitchen. A genial chatter of conversation flitted about the room. A few nearby conversations reached his ears clearly.
"-brought it over and dumped the entire pot on his head. Never see-"
"Careful, Salad Green, you're getting a little thick in those cuts."
"Sorry sir."
"-Golden Brown keep an eye on those pots, they're starting to-"
"Crisp Nugget, get these plated up. Blueblood's meeting with the ambassador begins-"
"You there." Ryouga's ears twitched as a male voice addressed him directly. A tall blue stallion wearing a chef's hat and with a plate of muffins for a cutie mark was addressing him. "Is there something you need?"
Ryouga stepped out from behind the corner. "I'm a bit... turned around," he confessed, "I can't seem to find the stairs back up to the main floor." It pained him to say it, but he hadn't a clue which way to go from here.
The stallion chuckled. "Ah, new to the castle I take it?" he asked.
"Fourth day," Ryouga replied.
"Mhmm. Guest or staff?" he asked.
"Guest."
"Thought so," the chef looked over his withers at the rest of the kitchen, "Angel! You look about finished, get over here." He called, a cute pink mare with a straw-colour mane jumped as he shouted before hurrying over from the sink where she was washing her hooves.
"You needed me, sir?" she asked as she trotted up to the chef.
"We seem to have a guest here who got lost," the blue stallion said, "If you wouldn't mind escorting him back to the public steps I'll take over your work until you get back."
"I can do that sir. I just finished putting together a batch of the seasonal salad," Angel said.
"Then I'll get to work on the next batch," the ched said, "Be quick about it." He nodded once to Ryouga before walking away.
"Hello there, I'm Angel Cake," the pink mare said with a charming smile as she took her cook's hat off and hung it on a hanger by the door.
"I'm Ryouga Hibiki. Nice to meet you," Ryouga replied, bowing slightly. The mare giggled at the bow.
"That's a different name. Where's it from?" She asked as she stepped out the door and waved for him to follow.
"Japan," he replied, keeping pace with her, which was easier said than done. She had a little pep to the way she walked that put her somewhere between a walk and a proper trot. She noticed after a moment and slowed down. He could make out the darkening of her cheeks as she did so.
"Sorry, habit," she said with a sheepish grin, "Japan? Never heard of it before. I'm guessing it's a long ways away?"
"A really long ways away," Ryouga admitted. He didn't need another conversation about being from another world. He'd had it too many times with the guards around the tower they were staying in.
"Huh, your Equish is really good," she said, "Most foreigners have quite an accent. You don't sound like you're from further afield than Ponyville."
Ryouga shrugged. He didn't really care why everyone seemed to be speaking Japanese, but it was helpful. "Just speaking like I normally do. I guess we're just lucky they're so similar," he said with a helpless shrug.
"That's some really good luck. Like, really good luck. Anyways, what brings you down to our little slice of the castle?" she asked.
"I woke up early and went looking for food," he said before his stomach chose that moment to grumble softly.
Angel blinked and fished a silver pocket watch out of her mane with a hoof. "Um... I hate to be that filly, but it's coming up for noon," she said.
"I was lost for a while," he sighed.
"Apparently," she said, sounding a combination of awed and stunned. He huffed and looked away. "So, what's it like living in Japan? Anything in-ter-est-ing happen there?" She asked, pronouncing interesting syllable by syllable.
"Not much?" he said with a shrug, "I spent most of my time on the road trying to find my way." It was usually just Nerima where things got weird... except that time with the boar, or that other with the mark of the battling god, or that time with the mushrooms- No, wait, that had also ended up in Nerima. Only the boar hadn't landed him in Nerima at some point- oh and that time with that biker gang down south. At least he thought it was south. It may have been Hokkaido for all he knew.
"Adventurer huh?" she mused. He shrugged. She wasn't entirely wrong. There was adventure on occasion. "Well don't feel too bad about getting lost down here. Ponies get lost all the time. This place was designed to be confusing to invaders since it was originally built back when that was a risk. Everyone gets lost a few times, even me."
"Well, that's good to hear," he said with a fake grin. Inside he was panicking. If he hadn't gotten lucky and found the kitchen he could have spent the next week utterly lost until he starved to death. He really needed to get a replacement backpack... Saddlebags, they were called here, right? Right. He needed saddlebags, and a new umbrella. He may not turn into a piglet anymore, but an umbrella would keep him dry. Once he could figure out how to hold it.
"We aren't too far from the steps up, should be only a couple of turns," Angel said cheerily.
As they approached the corner the clip-clop of hooves reached them alongside several giggling voices. Turning the corner he came across the last person he expected to find down in these dark hallways. Let alone laughing and giggling like a schoolgirl.
Ranma.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Several floors underground a heavy oak door creaked open to admit light into the room beyond. "And this is our largest storage room," Raven said, who was not, as Ranma had originally heard, the seneschal to the other Princesses. She was the head assistant to the actual Seneschal, Kibitz, an older unicorn stallion with a very large mustache. The earth pony assistant paused to make a note on the clipboard she carried around balanced upon her back. Ranma heard her mutter about the lack of oil on the door.
"It should be a good start for your project, Princess," Raven said, bowing to Ranma as she stepped into the room.
"You really don't need to call me Princess. It's just political," Ranma sighed.
Raven smiled and shook her head as Moonrose and Kasumi followed them into the storage room. "You remind me of Princess Cadence. She doesn't like using her title if she can help it, but I'm afraid a pony in my position must abide by propriety, Princess," she bowed her head to Ranma, who sighed again in exasperation.
"Ugh," She grumbled, turning her attention to the room. The room was poorly lit and it was difficult to make out anything within until Raven flicked a light switch by the door and crystals around the room lit up. The room was filled with neat lines of furniture covered in heavy cloth to keep the dust off them. She could make out the shape of dozens of sofas, chairs, tables, cabinets, dressers, a long line of lamps, and several large bins of what appeared to be pillows and cushions.
"At least there's plenty," Moonrose said brightly.
"And you said there were other storerooms with furniture and art?" Kasumi asked Raven.
The white earth pony nodded. "Quite a few, really. However, this room contains most of what would be considered modern and ready to go. We attempt to keep all of the spare furniture clean, but there is a great deal of it. This room here was cleaned just yesterday, however, so everything should be ready to go. Princess," the assistant turned to her, "if at any point you wish to switch out furniture please let us know. Nothing you pick out needs to be permanent."
"Is there anything off-limits? I can't imagine that Princess Luna and Princess Celestia don't have their own storerooms," Moonrose asked with a frown.
"Oh, there are several. Even Princess Cadence has one," Raven said, "Those storerooms are guarded, though, so you don't need to worry about walking into them and taking something by accident. Any storeroom you can get into will have an itemized list of the contents by the door." She pointed to a wooden box on the wall by the door. Moonrose walked over and nudged it open with her nose before fishing out a thick leatherbound book.
"Oh this is going to take a while," she sighed as she sat down and opened it up. Ranma leaned over her shoulder to read the book. It had small cards of paper stuffed into tiny sleeves on each page. Each one seemed to be a record of what and where things were in the room.
"It always does, I'm afraid," Raven said, patting her on the shoulder, "I would love to help, but I'm afraid I have more to arrange for our new Princess. Paperwork waits for no one." With that she bowed to Ranma. "I wish you luck, Princess," she said before excusing herself.
Ranma groaned and flopped onto the nearest cloth-covered sofa. She could feel the dust mussing up her nice clean fur. Maybe it was just her imagination, but somehow she could feel it as it dug into her side. "I'm going to need another bath at this rate."
"Like having two talented fillies give you a spa treatment is such a terrible thing," Moonrose deadpanned, "Anypony in Canterlot would love to be in your position, Princess."
"And maybe you could not flop onto the dust cloth?" Kasumi suggested, "They may have cleaned up, but some things like to hold onto dust." She sniffed at the nearest cloth-covered table and promptly sneezed. "Oh dear, that's a bit more than I expected."
"Cleaned, sure," Ranma rolled off the sofa and pulled the cloth cover away, revealing a green and pink flowered sofa. It was significantly lower than any sofa she had seen on earth. Not that she should have been surprised. This was Equestria and everything had been built with ponies in mind. The sofa was clearly designed for two ponies about her size to lay down upon, though for some reason it had armrests... Unless those were for a pony to rest their head on? She prodded the armrest.
"Oh Celestia, noooo, please tell me you aren't thinking of putting that in your room?" Moonrose asked.
Ranma shook her head. "Nope. Just wondering why it has armrests, is all."
"Oh, well they're more headrests unless a minotaur or dragon is visiting," Moonrose said as she walked over with the book on her back, "So according to the book, each piece of furniture has a tag. If we see anything we like we just need to compare the tags to the cards in the book, which are organized by storage date, and then we just need to hand the cards of the furniture you want over to Raven and she'll arrange for them to be set up in your suite."
"Then I suppose we just start by pulling all the dust cloths off?" Kasumi asked, looking at the rows of furniture.
"Yup," Moonrose sighed, "This is going to take hours just to figure out what you want, let alone find it in the book."
"Hmm..." Ranma looked around the room, "So if there's all this here... then why do we even have a budget?"
"... I have no idea," Moonrose admitted, "You don't exactly have a Cutie Mark, which is really weird for a pony your age, so we can't exactly have your mark engraved on the ones you like, or commission things with it."
"... Cutie... Mark?" Ranma repeated. She wrinkled her nose. It sounded very girly.
"... You have no idea what a Cutie Mark is, do you?" The bat-pony asked.
"Not a clue," the red-maned Princess confirmed as she pulled another cover off what turned out to be a half dozen end tables pressed together. They were all made from redwood and were engraved with small diamonds in clusters of five. It didn't look too bad, but it didn't exactly fit the style of her rooms.
"Right... I didn't expect this," Moonrose said, staring off across the room with a blank look. She shook herself after a moment. "Kasumi do you know what they are?"
"Something about your personal talent or something?" Kasumi said after a moment of thinking, "I'm sorry, Nabiki asked a guard a few days ago and I only partially overheard the conversation. I just haven't had time to ask anyone." She blushed and fidgetted, her wings fluttering in what Ranma felt was probably embarrassment.
"Okay... I'll explain while we get the covers off. Just stick together so I don't have to shout," Moonrose said after she gave herself another shake. She joined Ranma pulling off covers. Kasumi pitched in, pulling off dust cloths with her teeth.
"I rilly rill vish I 'ad my 'ooves figrd oot," the pegasus grumbled through her teeth as she pulled another cover off.
"Then why don't you practice on these things instead of biting them?" Ranma asked.
Kasumi's ears laid back. "You don't mind? These things really don't taste good," she said.
"Go ahead and practice," Ranma waved at her with a hoof.
"We'll move slow so you stay in earshot then," Moonrose sighed, "So, a Cutie mark is this." She pointed at her flank where the windrose was visible, "Every pony has something they're really really good at. Like, really, good at. When you find it you get your cutie mark which is always unique to you. Well, mostly. I've seen a lot of pegasi with clouds and lightning bolts over the years."
Ranma hopped up onto a pink sofa she'd uncovered and lay down on it, thinking. The idea of having a stamp on her flank that proclaimed her talent to the world was weird. And if that was the case, then why didn't she have one? Akane had one, Nabiki had one, even Ryouga had one, but why didn't she or Kasumi have one? "Okay... so why don't Kasumi and I have them?" Ranma asked.
"You've probably never had the opportunity to try something close enough to trigger the realization required to earn it," Moonrose said with a shrug, "I'm hardly a Cutie Mark expert. I'm just a guard." She pulled off the cover from another table with her teeth.
"Question," Kasumi raised her hoof.
"We're not in class Kasumi," Moonrose giggled, "Just ask."
The yellow pegasus shrugged with her wings and shoulders. "Sorry, I'm just... What if your talent is something you don't like doing?" she asked.
"Not possible. Cutie Marks only ever appear when you are both talented at something and love it. You can do other things of course, my talent is navigating with the stars, but I'm a night guard. Was a night guard..." She sighed and shook her head, "My point is that you'll never have a talent for something that you naturally hate. It'll always be something you find yourself enjoying, even if you don't, or can't, use it for your job."
Well that bit was a relief at least. "So we aren't going to get like, something that says we're really into cooking, and then get shoved into a kitchen forever?" she asked. Not that cooking was a terrible thing, she just didn't want to be known as the Princess of the Puff Pastries. Being a pretty pony princess was bad enough without adding that humiliation.
"No. Even if you got a food related mark, it might not actually have something to do with food. Every mark is unique, and interpreting another pony's Cutie mark isn't usually that straightforward. Take mine for example," She waved at her flank, "The windrose stands for navigation, and the stars clearly stand for the night, but the windrose also points north, which could again be navigation, but I've been told I have good judgement so it might also mean that."
"So they are metaphorical."
"At times. I know one pony who has a house made out of apple slices," Moonrose said, "The apples are probably just because they're from the apple family. Their family tends to view apples as sturdy and reliable, so because they've got a talent for construction..."
"Apple house," Ranma said, nodding. It made sense, even if it was really weird. She had to wonder, however, why she didn't have a cutie mark. She would have thought that martial arts was her thing, but... Was it just something she enjoyed, but not what she was uniquely gifted at? It felt weird thinking about it like that and kinda... worrying. She couldn't imagine what she might enjoy more than martial arts.
As she sat and thought about that weird idea, Moonrose continued, "Cutie Marks come when they come. You'll find your talent at some point. Every pony does. It's... it's a bit like finding one's destiny. Once you have some free time, I'd suggest just trying out things that you might not have been able to do where you came from. You both have wings, maybe it's something flying-related? Unless humans have wings?"
"No, they don't," Kasumi said, shaking her head, "Though we do have airplanes that we use to fly around the world."
"Air..planes? Are those like airships?" Moonrose asked with a tilt of her head and ears.
"Much faster from what I understand. If I can figure out how to draw I can probably show you," Kasumi said while trying to tug at the cloth with a single hoof. She seemed to be hooking it for brief moments, dragging the material along another inch or so each attempt.
"I'll look forward to it," Moonrose said, "Now, let's focus on our job, girls. We've got a lot to do and not as much time as any of us would like."
Ranma nodded, not really noticing that she was included in that 'girls'. Her mind was wandering wondering what her talent could possibly be.
The clearing out of the dust cloths passed with Ranma's head in the clouds, clouds that her mind kept drifting back to whenever Moonrose and Kasumi started discussing the merits of one table or another with the other. Dropping the thought of what her -- why was it called something so embarrassing? -- Cutie Mark turned out to be more difficult than picking out tables, sofas, cushions, and even drapes.
She mostly let Moonrose and Kasumi talk it out, and picked from their suggestions. She wasn't particularly interested in interior decorating at that moment, and it helped make things go more quickly. After several hours they had a small stack of cards that Moonrose tucked under a wing.
"I'm going to need to remember to bring some saddlebags if I have to be your assistant for much longer," Moonrose said with a small grin to Ranma.
The white alicorn shrugged. "Well I don't exactly have anything like that," Ranma said. She didn't even know what saddlebags might look like in a world where no one rode ponies. How did that even work with wings anyways?
"We'll have to solve that. A Princess shouldn't lack something as simple as saddlebags," her assistant said, "Shall we move on, I think we've gone through this room. There are a few rooms nearby that have properly curated art collections stored in them. Based on what Raven said."
"Think you can find them? The hallways down here are like mazes," Ranma sighed.
"... And what did I just say my special talent was?" Moonrose asked.
Ranma sighed again. "Navigation," she said, pressing a hoof to her forehead.
"Yep. I'll be just fine, so stick close Princess," she said, trotting over to the door. Ranma and Kasumi joined the bat-pony and followed her into the hallway.
"Hey, Rosey," Ranma said a few moments later.
"Do you have to keep calling me that?" 'Rosey' asked with a small whine.
"You don't like it? I think it fits, right Kasumi?" Ranma asked, turning big eyes on the bacon-maned pegasus, who simply snorted and giggled before nodding once.
"You have a very Rosey personality," Kasumi agreed with her own smile.
"... I'm not talking either of you out of this, am I?" 'Rosey' sighed.
"Nope," Ranma replied cheerfully.
"As you wish, Princess," the bat-pony said before pausing, "This is because of the Princess thing, isn't it?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ranma replied with a grin. The two ponies stared at each other for a moment before Rosey's mouth twitched and she started giggling. Ranma and Kasumi followed a moment later as they resumed their walk down the hallway.
"Some would call that petty, Ranma," Rosey chided.
Ranma went to reply and her response died in her throat as a familiar brown Unicorn and an unfamiliar pink Earth Pony stepped around the next corner. The brown unicorn stumbled as their eyes met and both awkwardly stopped in the hallway. The pink Earth Pony's eyes went wide and she went into a bow immediately.
"Princess- erm, Princess um..." The pink pony babbled. Ranma waved a hoof absently at her.
"Ranma, Ranma Saotome," she said, stepping past the pink mare with an awkward smile. The frozen pony stared up at her with wide eyes.
"Ranma," Ryouga said as she stepped up to him. She hadn't noticed a few days ago, probably due to the headache, but the stallion Ryouga had become was head and shoulders taller than her. Thick across the barrel and with a rather wild black mane. He looked particularly scruffy with his chest fur seemingly ruffled in every direction. Like her, there was a small ring around the base of his horn.
"Hey..." She waved a hoof awkwardly and glanced over her shoulder. The Pink pony had been pulled to her feet by Kasumi who was chatting softly about something while Rosey hung back. The bat-pony was eyeing Ryouga with a degree of wariness. "Odd running into you down here."
Ryouga shrugged. "I woke up early and decided to look for a place to eat," he said, "I didn't know you were awake."
"Woke up early this morning. The Princesses asked me to breakfast and I've been running from one thing to another without stop ever since," Ranma sighed.
"Except for a bath, she needed one," Kasumi said with a giggle. Ranma rolled her eyes.
"You try not being dusty, after three days lying on a bed," she grumbled. Kasumi politely hid her mirth behind a forehoof.
"You still look better now than you did before, even after the dust in the storage room, Princess," Rosey said.
"I was about to ask about that. Why is Angel calling you a Princess?" Ryouga asked.
"Because she is," Angel blurted out before covering her mouth with a hoof, a panicked expression on her face as everyone turned to look at her.
Ranma tried to smile reassuringly, which seemed to be enough for the worried-looking mare to drop her hoof to the ground and look away with an awkward giggle. "I... Kinda am, yeah," she admitted as she turned back to Ryouga. She fidgeted, her wings ruffling nervously. "Alicorns are apparently required-" She was interrupted by Ryouga's stomach rumbling loudly. The unicorn touched his stomach with a hoof and blushed through his fur.
"... Have you seriously not eaten yet?" Ranma asked in a flat deadpan. He couldn't have possibly been that lost...
"I-" He began.
"You're hungry? Why didn't you mention it back in the kitchen?" the pink earth pony asked. Well, it was more like a demand, what with the way she practically teleported to his side with stare him in the eye with a frown. Ryouga took a step back from the intensity of the mare.
Ranma's eyebrows rose. "Wait, you found the kitchen and didn't eat?" She asked, looking at him incredulously. She lifted a hoof and pressed a fetlock to his forehead. He scampered back.
"Hey! Stop that!" He snapped at her. "I just wanted out of this maze alright?"
"We're like fifty yards from the kitchen," the earth pony said with a huff, "We can go and get you something to eat then I can take you back upstairs. I refuse to let you out of my sight without feeding you!" She prodded him in the chest with a hoof.
"And he's not running a fever, I think," Ranma added, "He's just got a terminal case of idiot."
"Oi!" Ryouga coloured as bright as brown fur would allow. "I just didn't feel like eating in this maze."
"Says the guy who has camped out in closets because he can't find the door," Ranma said with a frown of her own.
"We have a staff room literally next door to it just for things like this," the castle cook said. She stomped a hoof hard enough that Ranma heard something crack. Something beneath the bricks.
A loud clunk from below echoed through the corridor. It was followed by another, and then another as something under the floor moved. The six looked down nervously. The brick beneath the earth pony's hoof had sunk into the ground an inch. It stayed down as she lifted her hoof with a worried expression, leaving a round inch-deep hole in the stone floor.
"Um... What was that?" Rosey asked hesitantly.
Ranma opened her mouth to respond, only to yelp as, with a loud clang, the floor in twenty feet in either direction split open down the middle. Her wings snapped open a second too late as she hit the side of a chute and slid down the remarkably smooth blue crystal side. She glanced up to see Rosey dive after them just in time to slip between the closing sides of the corridor.
As a group they slid down through a chute of crystal, the material far too slippery for hooves to find traction and the walls too narrow for wings to extend out well enough for flight. Down and down they went, spiraling down and around at higher and higher speeds. Small nooks held dimly flickering blue crystal lights that provided the barest bit of illumination. A glance back showed Kasumi and Rosey right on her tail.
"Wheeee~!" The earth pony in front of her cheered as they fell.
"Why are you cheering?" Ranma tried to shout, but the words were left behind in the breeze as they hurtled onwards. She tried to hook a hoof on one of the light nooks, only to find a shimmering barrier block hoof just outside the nooks. Clearly whoever had built this trap had put a little thought into their deathtrap.
"Oh this isn't going to be good," she shouted up at Kasumi who nodded back, her own words lost in the wind.
With that prediction of doom, Ranma focused on not hitting the walls of the slide. She didn't have to do much, actually. The slide was curved such that anyone not struggling to catch themselves instead gravitated towards the middle of the slide.
Then, without warning, the slide dumped them out onto a rough crystal floor. Ryouga at the front came to a halt only a few meters beyond the end of the slide, only to promptly get buried as the mares following him crashed into him, and each other. Most of them, at least.
Ranma neatly sidestepped the pileup, easily skating past the pile as she slid on one hoof along the floor. She came to a stop a couple of feet past the pile of ponies and looked around. The slide had deposited them into what looked like a cavern. She couldn't place the size of it, however. Three, maybe four stories tall, and who knew how wide. They had been dropped onto a narrow strip of mostly smooth crystal that ran along one side of the cavern, while the other side of it seemed to drop into a shadow-filled hole. Small, flickering, crystals on poles lit the strip of smooth crystal as it wound around a corner and out of sight. The rest of the cavern was cast into deep shadows that made it impossible to know how far it went.
She walked over to the edge of the cliff and kicked a crystal pebble into the hole. The sound of it hitting the ground came almost immediately. It wasn't that deep a hole at least.
"Well," she said, turning to the pile of ponies that were trying, and failing, to disentangle themselves. "This is why you eat lunch, Ryouga," she said half-seriously.
"Kasumi get your tail off my face," the sole colt in the pile of fillies said.
"Erm, sorry," Kasumi squeaked as she tried to untangle her wing from the pink pony's tail.
"Any idea where we are?" the earth pony asked.
"No idea, I just moved here," Ranma said as she walked over to the group to offer what assistance she could. "Does all of the underground have deathtraps waiting for people to wander in?" Her ear twitched as something crumbled in the darkness of the cave and bounced down the not-so-deep pit.
"No, this is- ow- not normal," the pink pony said. Ranma grabbed her by the foreleg and pulled her free of the pile. The pony smiled uncertainty as Ranma helped her to her hooves. "Um... hi, I'm Angel Cake," she said.
"Nice to meet you Angel," Ranma said with her own smile, "Call me Ranma."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Landing in a pile was not a fun way to end the ride, Angel decided as she tried to push the yellow pegasus wing off her face. It didn't go anywhere since something was pinning it to her face. It wasn't a hoof, but beyond that, she couldn't really say. More important, however, was the wing she could feel getting tangled in her tail. She prayed it was the pegasus' other wing and not the Princess's. She'd just die if she'd managed to wreck the new Princess's wing with her tail.
From somewhere nearby, she heard the voice of the Princess. "This is why you eat lunch, Ryouga," she said with a hint of a laugh in her tone. Well, that meant she was probably entangled with the pegasus.
"Kasumi," Ryouga grumbled beneath her, "get your tail off my face."
"Erm, sorry," the pegasus, Kasumi, squeaked as she tried to tug her wing free of Angel Cake's tail.
Shuffling the wing just enough out of the way to peer beyond she managed to see the great big crystal cave wall. "Any idea where we are?" she asked as her heart sped up a little bit. There was no way any of them knew where they were, right? Things like this just didn't happen in Canterlot normally, and that trigger had been so rough it had to be ancient. Right? Which meant...
"No idea, I just moved here," the Princess said as her voice got closer, "Does all of the underground have deathtraps waiting for people to wander in?"
"No, this - ow," she winced as Kasumi tugged on her tail, finally freeing the trapped wing, "not normal." A white hoof grasped her foreleg and with a tug she was free of the pile finally. Free, but sprawled on the ground looking up at the small white alicorn with the beautiful flame-like mane. She blinked up at her for a moment before finding her words through her awe. "Um... hi, I'm Angel Cake."
"Call me Ranma," the youngest Princess said to Angel with a grin. She tossed her red mane and looked around the cavern. "So drop chutes aren't the thing in Canterlot, I take it?"
"Not even slightly," groaned the Thestral as she stumbled off the pile of ponies. The dark blue mare shook her head as she fluttered her wings. "Ow, my head. You!" she pointed a hoof at Ryouga, "Are like a rock!" She then promptly slipped on the slick crystal and face planted with a groan. "Ow."
"That is not my fault!" Ryouga grumbled as Kasumi got off him, leaving the lone stallion lying with his head on his hooves morosely. Angel was getting the feeling that it was something a theme with him if the way the Princess rolled her eyes was any indication.
"Get up, we've got bigger issues," the Princess said, prodding the stallion with a hoof, "Rosey, any chance we can head back up the slide?"
"Probably not. I barely made it in when it was closing behind us," the Thestral said as she took to the air, hovering a few feet above the ground with languid beats of her wings, "Not to mention that slide is really slippery."
"There was some sort of field over the lights as well. I couldn't find anything to grab onto," the Princess sighed. Had there been?
Angel bit her lip. Had she gone and gotten too excited again? Her parents always complained that she didn't pay enough attention to her own safety when things got exciting. She should have tried to catch herself on something. What if the slide had led into a deathtrap? It still might have. They didn't know where that path of flickering light went.
"Unfortunately it looks like there's only one path from here," Rosey the Thestral noted, "Though this place isn't really striking me as a deathtrap. Not nearly enough spikes, or bones." Looking around Angel had to agree. It looked more like a poorly maintained path than a deathtrap.
"That hole was as long as the corridor," Ryouga said as he stood up.
"He's got a point," the Princess said, pointing a wing at the unicorn, "Why would you build a hallway length drop chute if you aren't intending to drop a bunch of people to their deaths?"
"There's really only one way to find out," the pegasus said, stepping up to point down the path. Despite herself, Angel nodded. There was really only one way, forwards. She found a grin slowly clawing away at her worried grimace. She couldn't help it. It was the one thing her parents never let her have. The one thing she always found herself staring wistfully out the window dreaming of.
Adventure.
She barely kept herself from squealing in excitement. This was going to be awesome. She couldn't, however, keep herself from doing a little hoof tip dance the moment everyone was looking away from her.
-0-0-0-0-0-
Ranma's ears twitched left and right as their little group walked down the crystal path. The clip-clatter of hooves was loud in the silent caves. There was the occasional distant drip of water or another liquid, but the noises were otherwise limited to the strange echoes that bounced around the crystal caves. Sounds twisted and turned in this place. What started as a clip might come back as a reverberating hum or a ripple of clicks. The only thing that kept her from thinking there were things out there watching them was the complete lack of consistency. The sounds kept shifting as they moved and slowly trailed off after they stopped moving.
The path wasn't much better. They had been going for half an hour at a steady trot and it had already wound along three cliffs, down two narrow tunnels, and it was looking like they were about to hit another tunnel. The path's quality drifted back and forth from 'dangerously smooth' to 'crystal gravel' and back again. The quality of the lighting was just as bad. They hadn't quite had to rely on Rosey for guidance, but it had come close. As it was, she was keeping Ryouga close. If he got lost down here there was a distinct chance that he wouldn't find his way out at all.
"How far do you think this goes?" Angel Cake asked as she kicked a small crystal stone into the abyss. It didn't hit the ground for a few long moments.
Rosey joined the earth pony in looking over the edge. "Based on the sound? At least two hundred meters," she said, "Possibly deeper since I think the wall has a slope."
Angel kicked another rock harder and the entire group listened as it fell. They waited... and waited. "I... don't think its hitting the ground," She said after nearly a minute of listening.
"That or we just can't hear it," Rosey said.
Something clacked against the crystal behind them. Ranma's ear twitched and she turned to see a few shiny pebbles rolling across the ground after falling from the wall. "I think I heard something," Ryouga said.
"But not from down there," Ranma interjected, following the wall up with her head. Rocks didn't start falling off walls for no reason. Especially not off geologically stable structures. At first, she didn't see anything in the gloom towards the roofline, then a patch of what she had assumed to be an uneven section of crystal moved. A cascade of crystal pebbles came loose from the wall as a boulder of the purplish-blue crystal pulled itself loose from the stones around it along with six arachnoid limbs. Eight glittering amethysts were mounted where the eyes of a spider would have been.
"Ryouga?!" Ranma asked as a shot of worry rolled through her. That thing was gigantic, nearly the size of a bus.
"I haven't been able to do the bakusai tenketsu with hooves yet," he replied, taking a step back onto open air. "Ai-" Rosey hooked his foreleg and hauled him forward before he could tumble.
"Everyone run!" The former guard pony shouted, shoving Ryouga and angel down the path.
"But what if it isn't-" Angel started, only to get cut off as the spider dropped from the ceiling to land on its claws behind them with the sound of a rockslide. It followed it up with a roar that rattled the cave. Ranma's ears went flat as it was followed a moment later by other roars that rumbled the cave.
She danced backwards as its claw came down where she had been standing. "I don't think it's friendly!" she shouted, before spinning to give it a hard kick with her back hooves. It was, unsurprisingly, like kicking a rock, but thankfully that was something she was used to. Stone cracked as the appendage slid back several meters and the entire construct scuttled back for stability.
"And I think it has friends," Ryouga added, "Come on!"
Without a backwards glance Ranma turned and ran, pausing only to push Kasumi along with her head. The bacon-maned pegasus had frozen up at the sight of the massive spider. "Move on Kasumi, come on," She said. Her prodding brought the eldest Tendo sister around and a moment later they were galloping after the rest of their group, hooves raising sparks from the stone.
"I'm so sorry," Kasumi said as they ran. Behind they could hear the spider gaining on them. "It's just- Spider! Why are there giant crystal spiders down here?!" She wailed, pouring on more speed to catch up with the group. Ranma kept pace with her.
"What part of deathtrap does no one understand?" Ranma complained, "Run faster!" She spared a glance over her shoulder as the path plunged into a tunnel... one more than large enough for the spider to follow. A fact it made abundantly clear as it clattered after them along the walls.
"It wasn't a deathtrap five minutes ago!" Kasumi said.
"I think these things are more than five minutes old," Ranma replied as the tunnel turned, rising upwards in a slow spiral. She glanced backwards again and felt pale as she realized the spider was getting closer. "It's catching up!" That was apparently the right thing to point out as Kasumi surged forward, galloping flat out up the slope. It flattened out a moment later and then they were out.
"Bridge ahead!" Rosey shouted back as the bat pony emerged ahead of them.
They emerged from the tunnel into a truly massive cavern that was cut in two by a great abyss that plunged into the darkness. An elegant, if worn, bridge spanned the gap between the two sides. Above them the ceiling simply disappeared into the darkness, making it impossible to guess how high the ceiling was. The same could be said of the far walls. The only thing that Ranma could say for certain was the bridge ahead, lit by flickering crystal lights, some of which were dead, leaving the bridge in a mix-match of blue-white light and deep shadows.
The former guard pony took to the air as they thundered forwards onto the bridge. It was, like the tunnel, more than wide enough for the spider following them. Someone had clearly designed the infrastructure to handle the gigantic insectoids.
"These really aren't natural, are they?" She shouted as Rosey swooped low over the bridge.
"All signs point to no," the bat pony shouted back, "They look like something a unicorn cooked up for defense centuries ago. I'd love to know what in Luna's name they think needs this!"
"THERE'S MORE OF IT!" Angel Cake shouted. Ranma looked away from Rosey to find the Earth Pony coming to a halt in the middle of the bridge as she pointed to the far end. Two more of the monstrous spiders were climbing down the walls right by the bridge end.
"Of course there are," Ranma growled, "Ryouga! Cover the rear! Rosey, get ready to catch me again!" She galloped past a startled Angel Cake. If they were going to be boxed in then they couldn't avoid a fight. More importantly, however, the bridge presented an opportunity when dealing with such large opponents.
"I've got it!" Ryouga shouted back as he turned on his hooves and charged to the back of the group.
"Ranma be careful!" Kasumi shouted as she came to a halt beside Angel Cake.
"Is she charging them?" Angel asked. The earth pony sounded incredulous.
"She does this sort of thing all the time," the Tendo sister sighed.
Ranma put it aside as she watched the two spiders climb onto the bridge. Both were large enough that their legs barely fit onto the bridge. "Please tell me you have a plan, Princess?" Rosey asked as she flew along with her.
"They barely fit on here. I'm going to try and knock them off the bridge," she replied, "Get ready to catch me if I mess up."
"The other Princesses are going to kill me if I let you get hurt doing something stupid," Rosey complained as she arced away. It probably wouldn't help Rosey's blood pressure if she mentioned that this didn't even qualify for the top ten dumbest ideas she'd ever tried to execute, so she didn't.
The two spiders clattered down the bridge towards Ranma, their forms flickered in and out of the darkness. It reminded her of fighting Taro at night. His massive minotaur form was always intimidating in the dark. Still, giant minotaur or crystal spiders, either way, she wasn't about to back down without at least trying something.
The meters disappeared under her hooves and all too soon the form of the first spider was looming over her. It rumbled with the tones of rocks clashing together and its right foreleg came down towards her. She jumped left as it came in, her wings sweeping down to boost her. She crashed hooves first into the joint of the left foreleg. Stone crunched and cracked beneath her strike as the limb slid along the ground until it caught on the edge of the railing, but the joint held.
She kicked off in the opposite direction and leaped up and over the rest of the body and into the air above the abyss. She twisted her body and spread her wings. She directed her ki into her new appendages and felt the response of something electrifying as she did so. It raced along her pinions and out into the air, forming a great, if rather rough, scoop as she backwinged towards the construct.
Hooves crashed into the stone hide of the beast above its middle leg a heartbeat later as she traveled back far faster than she had leaped out. A shockwave of air and crystal fountained out around her as the entire beast, now bearing a crater in its side, went flying off the side of the bridge.
"Yes!" She shouted with a grin as she beat her wings and leaped back into the air once again. It wasn't quite flight, not by any definition she suspected a pegasus would accept, but it was a step in that direction. The remaining crystal construct let out a rumble of what might have been anger if giant stone constructs could be angry at least.
It turned to track her, scuttling in a circle as she awkwardly glided around it, her path a barely controlled drunken flight as she tried to find a good angle. She glared down at it before grinning as its 'face', for a definition of face that included no visible mouth, reached a perpendicular angle with the bridge. Its forelegs were in the air, leaving it balanced precariously on its four back limbs.
She twisted and again her wings came down. With a bang like a cannon ball striking a mountain she crashed forehooves first between the eyes of the construct. Crystal crumbled and cracked, knocking four of the eight eyes loose from their mountings. More importantly, the back legs had tripped over the edge of the railing. The spider's legs waved in panic as it tried to stabilize, and there was a good chance that with so many limbs it could have pulled itself back onto the bridge. If, that is, Ranma had given it a chance.
Legs tensed and wings came down as Ranma gave it another shove as she leaped into the air. The construct slid back a few more feet, and its two middle legs tipped over the railing. With the sound of a thousand rocks crashing together it toppled out of sight.
Ranma sighed as she stabilized her flight into a rough, and wobbly, arc. Her wings were already starting to hurt a bit from that. It was from deep in the muscles, the sort that came from overstraining oneself. Something she was a bit too familiar with from her years of training.
Rosey flew up to join her as she looked down at the fight between Ryouga and the first spider. As Ranma watched, the brown unicorn shattered a third leg with a powerful kick before catching the falling spider with his forehooves. In a feat of strength of a caliber that she rarely saw out of him the stallion tossed the construct away and onto its back where its three remaining limbs twitched and folded like a dead spider's. Chest heaving, he turned to look up at her. With his mane tossed from the fight and the flickering light, he had the look of a roguish warrior from one of those adventure-romance mangas she borrowed from Akane when her fiance wasn't looking. She waved. He waved back.
"So you can fly now," Rosey said as she slid up beside her. They curved in a slow arc around the cavern that she was fairly sure would let her land on the bridge. That or the bat pony was going to have to haul her up again.
"Not really. More like I can jump really good now," Ranma replied.
"You're gliding right now," the bat pony pointed out.
"And that's not really flight," the young Princess replied.
"If you insist... and that was stupid what you just did," Rosey said with a huff, "If you didn't know you could fly-"
"Still not really flying."
"Not helping." The two exchanged glances before Ranma started laughing. A moment later her Hoofmaiden joined her as they landed on the bridge. A few seconds later Kasumi and Angel came running up.
"Ranma! I swear-" Kasumi took a deep breath and shook herself. Her wings fluttered loudly. "Can you imagine what I'd have to say to Akane if you had fallen instead of flying? How would I explain that you decided to leap off a bridge while fighting giant spiders? My heart practically stopped when you went over the edge!" She poked Ranma in the chest.
Ranma winced. "Sorry? The other option was doing what Ryouga did?" She waved a wing towards the unicorn who was cantering over to them, then promptly winced as the muscles in the wing complained strenuously about her abuse of them a few minutes before. "Ow." She folded them tight against her side. Those were going to take some time to properly condition for use.
"That was amazing!" Angel finally burst out as she excitedly danced on the spot, "How are the two of you so strong?"
"Lots of practice. Lots, and lots of practice," Ranma said as Ryouga joined them. The Angel Cake promptly hugged Ryouga.
"You were awesome!" She said loudly, and right into his ear.
"Thanks," he said hesitantly, "Um... now what?" He looked around.
"Now we keep moving and hope we don't-" Ranma was interrupted as a wailing screech echoed up from the abyss below the bridge. A moment later the spider twitching on its back at the other end of the bridge started letting out the exact same sound. Across the roof, small crystals lit up as glittering crystal pebbles started falling from the ceiling.
"Oh that's not good," Rosey said before she turned to Ranma, "Run?"
"Time to run," she agreed. There was no way she could replicate the trick she'd just done. As one the small herd of ponies turned and thundered down the bridge.
"So why are we running deeper?" Ryouga asked as they left the bridge behind.
"Because we sure as hell aren't getting back up that slide and the more we see the less I think this is a deathtrap. At least, not intentionally," Ranma said.
"The giant spiders might have something to say about that," Kasumi said between heavy breaths.
"You don't build a bridge across a chasm for a trap no one is supposed to survive," Ranma pointed out, "This leads somewhere."
"The Princess is right. This feels more like they're defending something," Rosey said.
"Great, so we just charge deeper and possibly let out something better left undisturbed? I've read this book! I know how it ends," Ryouga said as they rounded a corner and started up another slope. Ranma could hear the crash and clatter of rocks in the far distance.
"The other option is fighting a literal army of stone spiders the size of buses," Ranma said flatly.
"I say let the evil out. Maybe it'll kill the spiders first," Kasumi said with false cheer.
"Don't like spiders much, I take it?" Angel asked.
"Not at all," the yellow pegasus replied as the path leveled out again. A short while later the path went up again, then down, then straight ahead. It was like running down a rollercoaster's rails while being chased by park security. If park security could bench press a small yacht, and had way too many legs.
Finally the tunnel came to an end, not in a giant cavern, but with a gate. Three storeys tall, ten meters wide, and made of a silvery substance that shone with runes and glyphs. Pony-sized sigils of a bearded unicorn with a pointed hat glowed on the upper half of each side of the door.
"Well, now we know where this leads," Rosey said as she flew up a few feet to take a closer look, "I don't suppose anyone brought a key, did they?"
"Only for the castle's kitchens," Angel said as she walked, wide-eyed, up to the gate, "Oh Celestia this is so cool. Look at this!" She pointed up at the sigils. "I recognize those. Starswirl the Bearded built this!"
"Who?" Ranma asked at the same time as Kasumi. Ryouga was watching the path behind them with a frown while the fillies poked at the door.
Angel turned back to them. "Starswirl the Bearded. The oldest, most powerful unicorn of all time. He's been dead for a few centuries, but this must have been one of his sanctums or something. He's probably responsible for the giant spider construct thingies." She waved back in the direction they'd come with an excited expression. "This is quite possibly the biggest discovery in at least two years."
"Two years? Why two years?" Ranma asked. The Earth Pony shrugged.
"It's a little hard to beat Twilight Sparkle finding and using the Elements of Harmony on Nightmare Moon and Discord," Angel said with a shrug.
"It really is, but that doesn't exactly help us. We're out here, and safety or death is probably in there," Rosey said.
"Or death. Why or death?" Kasumi asked.
"Because half the time we find one of these it turns out to have some sort of horrific monster sealed up inside that we then have to recapture and stuff into Tartarus for safe keeping," Rosey deadpanned.
"Lovely. So it's either how we're going to live, or how we're going to die," Ranma deadpanned. Sounded about right for her life, really. "So how do we open it?"
"Well normally I'd say you or Ryouga needs to use their horn and do Unicorn things, but...'' Rosey landed and shrugged her wings, "Neither of you exactly knows how to Unicorn, right?'' Ranma pointed at her horn with the ring on it, then at Ryouga's.
"So... how do we open it then?" Angel asked, looking worried for the first time since they'd come down the slide. Ranma's ear twitched as the sound of stone on stone came closer still.
Kasumi stepped forward and looked up at the door. "Mr. Door, would you mind opening?" She asked in an angelically sweet voice. All five of them stared expectantly at the door for a few seconds before the pegasus sagged. "It was worth a try," she sighed. Ranma patted her on the shoulder.
"Well the other obvious one is giving it a poke... Does anyone have a stick?" Ranma glanced around.
"Here, underground?" Rosey asked with a sigh.
"Point," the redhead sighed before stepping forward.
"Wait- Princess!" Rosey protested as she gave the door a tap with her hoof. Nothing happened and she turned her head to look at Rosey with a raised eyebrow.
"What?" she asked innocently. Or not so innocently as it may have been. She knew how risky poking the sealed up door of a possibly ancient evil could be.
"Girls, those things are getting closer," Ryouga drawled. Ranma shot him a glare but bit her tongue. She wasn't quite ready to bring up the can of worms that was her original gender, especially not in a place like this. The curse was complicated enough without having to explain it on a time limit.
"Right," she gave the door a light push. To her complete surprise the door simply swung open, the hinges lightly creaking. "Um... The door wasn't locked, I guess?" She shrugged and glanced at Rosey who shrugged back, equally confused.
Stepping through the open door they found the tunnel beyond terminated abruptly after another hundred feet. A horseshoe shaped mirror about twice the height of a pony sat on a small pedestal. The only sources of light in the room came from two gems mounted on the wall above the mirror. "... Not exactly what I was expecting," Ranma said.
"With a door this big you'd expect something a bit... grander," Angel agreed, to twin hums from Rosey and Kasumi.
As a group they cautiously crossed the room to the mirror and inspected it. The pedestal seemed to be solid rock, and while the horseshoe shaped frame seemed to have gemstones embedded in it none of them seemed to do anything. Even looking at it just returned their normal reflections.
Ranma stared at the fire-maned alicorn in the mirror. "So, no evil clones are popping out," She said to Kasumi.
"That only happened once," Kasumi replied.
"Twice."
"With the same mirror." They stared at each other with bemused expressions. That mirror had led to some strange times. Like when she'd had to show her own clone how to hit on boys... Not exactly her proudest moment, but she hadn't been able to stop herself after seeing just how badly the clone did it. It was embarrassing watching her mirror image run around and do something that simple so terribly!
"You two have some weird stories," Rosey sighed from where she was perched atop the mirror, balancing on her hooves with wings outstretched.
"I don't exactly live an uneventful life," Ranma said with a shrug.
"GIRLS! I CAN SEE ONE OF THEM!" Ryouga shouted as he ran into the room. He promptly pushed the gate shut.
"Ponyfeathers," Rosey said in a tone that implied some form of curse, "Okay, so we have a door, at the end of an underground path through caverns guarded by giant stone spiders, and inside it is a mirror. It doesn't seem to be evil. None of us have suddenly gained evil twins or been drawn inside. I haven't heard any evil whispers, has anyone else?" Everyone shook their heads. "Then what is the mirror for?!" She went to rap a hoof on the front edge of the mirror frame, and instead struck the glass. Or at least, she should have.
Ranma stared as Rosey's hoof went through the glass, creating a small ripple in the image. "... It's a portal of some kind," she blurted out as Rosey pulled her hoof back out and gave it a close inspection.
"My hoof looks fine, I guess? No portal clinging to it?" She said after a moment.
Ranma walked up to the 'mirror' hesitantly. She exchanged a glance with Kasumi. "This is probably stupid," she said to the other girl.
"When has that ever stopped anyone?" Kasumi said with a quirked smile.
"Not back home it hasn't," Ranma sighed, then took a deep breath and stuck her head through. She almost threw up immediately as the world twisted and swirled together in a kaleidoscope of every colour imaginable even as it felt like gravity was pulling on her from six different directions. Then, with the abruptness of a lightning strike, she was through. At least her head was. Her neck felt like it was spinning independently from both her head and body. The room beyond was pitch black for a moment, then gemstones lit up. Dozens of small alcoves, chandeliers, and tabletop lamps blazed to life revealing what looked to be some form of museum. Small displays were set up around the room with plaques. In one corner was a skeleton of what might have been a miniature mammoth. In another, a machine that wouldn't have been out of place in Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks. Statues, skeletons, gems, and books were on display on plinths and pedestals.
She pulled her head back and just barely avoided throwing up. Shaking her head to clear it of the unwanted sensation she turned back to the others. The four fillies stared at her hopefully. "It's... some kind of museum, I think?" She said after a nauseous moment. She shook her head again. "Ugh, I don't feel that great. Waaay too much spinning."
"You haven't moved," Kasumi said.
"It doesn't feel like it."
"Why would it lead to a museum?" Angel asked.
"The other end could have been found somewhere and placed in a museum," Rosey said, having hopped down, she was now at Ranma's side again.
"Either way, it doesn't really matter where. Anywhere is better than here," Ranma said just as a loud bang shook the room and the door slid open half a foot despite Ryouga bracing the door. The rumble of angry stone echoed into the room. "Right, no time to debate. Everyone through the portal. RYOUGA, GET OVER HERE WE. ARE. LEAVING!"
"GIVE ME A SECOND!" Ryouga shouted back as he forced the door shut again, only for it to be battered open a bit a moment later.
"Okay, but-" What Kasumi was about to say disappeared as Rosey pushed her into the portal, followed by Angel. She gave Ranma a pointed look.
"What?" Ranma asked.
"You're leaving before I am. Princess Luna would have my head otherwise," her Hoofmaiden said.
"But what about Ryouga?" Ranma asked, waving a hoof in his direction, "COME ON YOU IDIOT! THE WAY OUT IS OVER HERE!"
"I'll get him! You can't fly, I can. Now go!" She stepped past Ranma and then proceeded to give her an abrupt hip check that sent her stumbling right through the portal.
Ranma tumbled to the ground on the other side, groaning and covering her muzzle with both hooves as she sought to keep her light lunch from coming back up. Kasumi pulled her to the side as she did so. A good thing too, since about twenty seconds after she came through Ryouga, clutched in the arms of Rosey, came barreling through the portal. The two of them immediately hit the ground as the nausea dragged the bat pony out of the sky. They rolled away and a moment later Ranma heard someone throwing up.
It would be a while before Ranma could be sure she wasn't going to join them.
-0-0-0-0-0- |
The Long Path Home | Chapter Five: Time Out | The view from the balconies that lined the public square outside the castle was impressive. The sweeping vista visible from the cliff of the many small towns, farms, and occasional woods that made up the heartland of the nation could take the breath away. It certainly had the first time Akane had seen it the day after their arrival in Canterlot. It was still impressive, but a pretty view could hardly distract her from her thoughts. Especially with the clip-clop-clatter of hooves and horseshoes on the stone boulevard behind her. Or the soft chattering from the pair of unicorns in the next balcony who were flirting outrageously as they ate. Their giggling was almost enough to make her move to the next balcony.
Ponies. She looked at her forehoof that rested upon the railing. The yellow fur around her fetlock, her fetlock, taunted her. She wasn't the brightest yellow around, more ochre than straw or gold. In a way that was a small blessing. Gods knew what she'd do if she walked around sparkling like gold, but she was still yellow. A yellow pony. The colour went all the way down to her skin tone as she'd discovered the day before when she'd brushed back her fur out of curiosity.
She shook her head and sighed. "Stupid Ranma," she grumbled. Why didn't being a pony seem to bother her fiancee? She'd just laid there and let those- She let out another frustrated sigh. She wasn't angry at the two, what were they even? Spa attendants? Handmaidens? She hadn't a clue, but they were simply doing the job. She shouldn't be this angry about that, and yet...
Her head turned to stare back at the courtyard. The fact that a human couldn't turn their neck even half as far prodded irritably at the back of her mind. A column of ponies in gold armour was trotting across the square to the cadence their leader was belting out. In the background, she could see ponies in suits and tophats -- tophats of all things! -- going in and out of the castle. It was strange, like something out of a manga about spirits or one of those films by Hayao Miyazaki. A quick glance reminded her that as strange as this place was it didn't seem to have flying castles.
Yet.
This place was nice, she would admit she hadn't met a mean pony yet, even if she had heard rumours of a 'Prince Blueblood' who was apparently an ass beyond the usual for an upper-class twit. He was off on a cruise somewhere at the moment and was, thankfully, not due to return for at least a month. She dreaded finding out whether he was like Kuno.
She shook her head again. The view wasn't helping her get her thoughts in order like she'd hoped it would. With a pang of longing, she wished she was back home where she could watch the stars from their roof. Sure the view wasn't the best at times, with how much light the city put out, but on some nights it was truly spectacular. More importantly, it was a place she could just get away from everyone. Not like here.
She shot a venomous glance towards the flirting couple in the next balcony over, they'd progressed to feeding each other while making sickening cooing noises. With an annoyed grumble, she stood up and walked away from the balcony. This place wasn't going to help her get her feelings in order. Maybe a walk would help. Yes, a walk through the city. She hadn't done that before and it would give her some distance from everyone.
Twenty minutes later Akane stopped her aimless walk and looked around melancholically at the brick buildings around her. Canterlot had vaguely European 19th century style to it. It was different from Tokyo, though she supposed it bore some passing similarities to some of the older concrete and brick construction from after the second world war... If she squinted really hard. More importantly it served as another reminder that this wasn't home.
She sighed, her anger long burned out, and ambled around the corner still not sure where she was going. A unicorn mare with a pale teal mane stepped around her, giving her a strange look. Akane ignored her. Probably wondering who the strange girl... Filly, pony girls were fillies, right?
She scowled at the thought. She wasn't even really a girl anymore just... She shook her head again to try and get rid of those thoughts. Her ears twitched at the sound of childish laughter. She looked up from staring at the ground and realised at some point she had stumbled across a park. Foals were tumbling about a playground or running free in the grass as parents looked on from picnic blankets or gossiped in small clusters.
Tired of wandering Akane trotted over to the grass and lay down under a neglected willow tree. She stared out at the foals tumbling about and wondered for a moment what her sisters were doing. Kasumi had taken a curious interest in Ranma, though at least she didn't have to worry about Kasumi stealing her fiance. Unlike Nabiki. Her other sister was likely getting into trouble scamming nobles out of their cash or trying to introduce fractional reserve banking or something equally silly.
She'd probably find Kasumi at dinner with a story about some stupid thing Ranma had gotten involved in and Nabiki getting escorted in by the guards. Well... probably not the latter one. Nabiki was good at not getting caught.
Akane sighed again and laid her head on her hooves as she watched the foals play. It was better than trying to navigate the tesseract of thoughts bouncing within her skull.
"Hey, are you alright?" a young woman's voice asked from right beside her.
Akane would deny any witness who claimed that she squealed from surprise as she jumped a foot to the side and spun to face the source. A teal unicorn with a silver mane around her age blinked at her from she was sitting just around the side of the tree with a book.
"How long have you been there?" Akane asked breathlessly.
"A few hours. Are you alright?" the unicorn asked with some concern.
"I'm fine," Akane said as she got her breathing back under control. She'd completely missed that there was someone already under the tree.
"You sure? You look rather..." She wiggled a fore hoof side to side.
"I'm fine," Akane repeated. She fluttered her wings and looked away from the mare. She tried to ignore the concern on the pony's face, or the fact that she could already tell it was a concerned look, despite being an entirely different species. It was a bit disturbing just how human-like their faces were.
"Well, if you're sure. I'm Starry Sunrise," the teal unicorn said, turning to show off her butt stamp- Cutie mark. They were called Cutie Marks. She was showing off her Cutie Mark of a half dozen stars in shades of orange and purple. It slowly shifted from orange at the bottom to purple up top.
"Nice to meet you, I guess," Akane said, "I'm Akane Tendo."
"That's a different name," Starry said, "I guess you're not from around here, are you? You've got a bit of an accent." She drew out the 'bit' and held her hooves inches apart.
"That's one way of putting it." Akane lay back down and tried to ignore the feeling of grass and roots against her belly.
She tried to ignore Starry, but the Unicorn seemed to find her interesting. "Did you just get here? Is this your first time in Canterlot?" she asked.
Akane looked away. "A few days ago, and... yeah. First time," She said, "We're staying at the palace for now."
"At the palace?" the mare repeated, her tone going odd. A glance proved that she was getting a wide-eyed stare.
"... It's complicated," Akane said.
"I'll say. Not many ponies get to stay at the palace," Starry said before yawning and stretching. She gave herself a shake and stood up. "I've suddenly got a craving for donuts. Want to join me? My treat." She smiled at Akane.
The new pegasus blinked at the earnest smile. "Um... Sure?" She really had to wonder about how friendly these ponies were at times.
"Excellent. There's this place called Donut Joe's, they've got the most amazing donuts..."
-0-0-0-0-0-
A Ranma ½ My Little Pony Crossover
The Long Path Home
By: Grounders10
-0-0-0-0-0-
Chapter Five: Time Out
-0-0-0-0-0-
Once she was sure she wasn't going to join the others in emptying her breakfast onto the floor, Ranma rolled onto her front and carefully looked around. She wasn't feeling steady enough to risk walking, but the nice thing about being a pony meant that she didn't have to stand to get a decent look around. A long neck had its advantages.
The room they were in was the same one she had seen earlier. A long rectangle with displays of all sorts lining the walls and tables with yet more filling the center in two long rows. Brightly glowing gemstones shone clean white light across the room from a series of bronze chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, along with gem-topped candelabra on the tables and gemstones mounted in a seemingly random scatter across the walls. Several archways further into the room led out of the hall.
Now that she had more than a few seconds something peculiar jumped out at Ranma. The walls were stone. Not stone as in concrete or brick, but clean uninterrupted stone that seemed oddly smooth. Like it had been polished nearly to a mirror finish.
"Is everyone alright?" Ranma asked as she finally stood up. The sounds of heaving had stopped a short while before.
"Yeah," Ryouga said, groaning, "It was probably a good thing I didn't eat breakfast."
Rosey stumbled over to Ranma. "Are you alright, Princess?" she asked, shaking her head before kneeling down to rest her head on the cold floor. "Oh Luna, make it stop spinning."
Ranma watched her Hoofmaiden take several deep steadying breaths as she noted the implicit prayer to the older Alicorn. She had literally compared the two to Kami back on the dining terrace. Deciding to think about the implications later she instead asked, "Am I okay? What about you, Rosey?"
"Oooh... I'll be fine... in a few minutes," the bat pony said, "Why did it spin that hard?"
"I warned you," Ranma said, patting her gently on the withers.
"Where are we now?" Kasumi asked. The bacon-haired pegasus was staring at a suit of greenish armour seemingly made for a pegasus. Pitted blades lined the leading edge of its wings.
"Ooh, this is cool," Angel said, staring at the miniature woolly mammoth, "Looks a bit like my mother's dresses after a bunch of moths got into the closet though."
Ranma cast her gaze around at the exhibits and then turned to the portal. It was a mirror, identical to the first, except for the fact that its base smoothly merged with the stone floor. She looked back to the exhibits. She walked over to the nearest one and peered at the copper plaque. It had oxidised to a uniform green colour. Not something that a museum would let happen normally.
"I wouldn't get too far," she said loudly, looking at Angel Cake and Kasumi, "I don't think we're in a museum."
"Then where are we?" Ryouga asked, "It looks like a museum to me."
Ranma shrugged, fluttering her wings. "Okay so it probably is one, but it's old. These plaques are covered in oxidation. I'm not even sure I could read these if I understood the language."
Kasumi peered at the plaque of the armour and grimaced. "These are in terrible condition, aren't they?" she said, "Well, then we're probably wherever this portal was meant to go then."
"That still doesn't answer the question of where we are," Ryouga said.
"One of Starswirl's hideaways probably," Rosey said as she stood on slightly unsteady hooves. She gave herself a shake and walked carefully over to Ranma's side. "Powerful unicorns have a habit of making secret hideaways full of whatever it is they prize. Starswirl was active for several millennia and built many before he disappeared."
"And prisons for monsters as well?" Ranma asked, recalling her words earlier.
"Far too many of those mixed in. If we're lucky this is just one of his private studies," Rosey said, "If not... Well maybe we'll get lucky and whatever it was died of old age."
"How likely is that?" Ranma asked, shooting wary glances about the 'museum'.
The bat pony shrugged. "I think it happened once before..." she said uncertainty.
Well that was a cheery thought. Ranma glanced at the archways leading out. "Which way from here do you think?" she asked, hooves clattering as she walked over to the nearest archway. The hallway was wide enough for five ponies abreast and tall enough that an adult human could have walked comfortably. A few suits of rusted armour were on display leading to a decrepit-looking wooden door.
"This one keeps going around a corner," Angel said from the next one over, "I think it's angling downward."
"A door over here," Ryouga said.
Kasumi joined Ranma and Rosey at their archway. "Any of them are probably as good as the rest," she said, "Oh, I hope we haven't wound up halfway across the world." She fluttered her wings with a hint of panic.
Ranma nudged her. "We'll be fine," she said, "We just need to find the exit."
"And hope that the portal isn't the exit," Rosey said. Silence stretched on a few moments as Ranma rubbed her forehead with a forelock.
"Thanks. We needed that bit of good cheer," she said after a moment.
"Sorry, Ranma," her Hoofmaiden said with a blush.
Angel Cake wandered over. "I checked a few others, Princess," she said nervously, "Some are dead ends, others go on for a ways before hitting a door. A couple turn. I can't see any sign of an exit, though."
"Call me Ranma," Ranma said reflexively before turning to Ryouga who was peering through an archway intently, "Hey! Don't wander off Ryouga!"
"There's a light this way," He called back.
Ranma shared a look with the other fillies. "Like the gemstones?" she asked, walking toward him. She had to wonder if he was just seeing things because he wanted to, or if he had actually spotted something important. It was hard to tell at times.
"No, it's a bit orange," he said as they joined him. Ranma peered down the hallway. The door at the end was hanging half open, its hinges barely hanging on. Through the gap an oddly orange light poured through.
"It isn't flickering, so that's probably not a fire," Rosey said. She glanced about, her ears twisting in all directions. "Not hearing anything crackling either."
Ranma gave it a sniff. "No smoke. Monster?" she suggested.
"Maybe its prison?" Kasumi suggested in turn. They stared at it intently before Ranma shrugged her wings and started walking down the hallway.
"Princess!" Rosey hurried after her with a clatter of hooves, "It could be dangerous."
"Or it could just be a sunset," Ranma pointed out. It was about the right shade for certain sunsets. Maybe Celestia was taking it slow compared to the morning? She twitched an ear as she recalled the display of power from that morning.
"Possibly, but the colour is a bit off," Rosey said. Behind them Kasumi and Angel hurried in lockstep. Ryouga cautiously brought up the rear, looking very awkward as he did so.
Ranma tapped the old rotted wood with a hoof and was rather unsurprised as the hinges chose that moment to finally give up on life. She skipped backwards to avoid the falling slab of rotted wood.
"Careful," Rosey said, the Lieutenant stepping in front of Ranma as she carefully entered the room. Her hooves crushed rotted wood beneath them as she entered the room.
The room was small, or perhaps cramped would be a better word. At a glance, it seemed to be some sort of workshop or laboratory. The large orange glowing crystal on the far table seemed to suggest 'laboratory' more than a workshop. To the left was a skull of some mammoth creature that hung off the sides of a large table. Large gemstones glimmered from its cheekbones.
They weren't the strangest things. Stuffed between two oversized tables, one of which was covered in old books and yellowed parchment, was a pony, a unicorn with a green coat the colour of rich jade and a rich brunette mane. She seemed to be stuck with a look of concentration on her face staring at an orb of some sort on the table before her.. A plaque on the other table next to her was unreadable.
"Hello?" Rosey said as she eyed the unicorn.
"She's not moving," Ranma said as the rest crowded in. The Alicorn trotted over to the unicorn, and stopped throwing her wings in warning as she spotted something strange about the air. Like a line, the dust stopped mid-air. A fine almost invisible layer that on close inspection seemed to define a sphere centred on the unicorn. "The air is frozen as well. Don't get too close."
Ryouga joined her. "It's like she's frozen in time," he said.
"Oh my," Kasumi said from behind them while staring up at the large skull. Ranma tuned her and Angel Cake out as the latter started trying to guess what it was.
"She might just be," Rosey said, waving a hoof cautiously at the bubble, "The question is, was it deliberate or an accident? This could be a prison."
Ranma walked over to the table outside of the bubble and looked down at the notes. They were still legible, but... She let out a sigh that almost turned into a whiney of irritation. "I wish I could read the language," she said.
Her Hoofmaiden peered over her shoulder. "I can't read that... What language even is this?" the bat pony muttered.
"Shouldn't you be able to tell?" Ranma asked.
"I'm a soldier, not a scholar. Why would I need to know ancient... Whatever this is," she waved a bat-like wing at it. Ranma had to admit she had a point.
"This isn't the way out. Let's keep-" Ryouga started to say when the table holding up the giant skull broke under the prodding of Angel Cake. The Earth Pony skipped out of the way of the skull as it hit the ground and rolled towards Ranma.
Acting on instinct Ranma jumped out of the way, landing in an attempt at a normal Anything Goes stance. The made-for-humans stance once again caused her to topple backwards.
Straight into the dust-covered orb of stopped time.
"Ranma!" Rosey and Kasumi both shouted as the red-maned Alicorn hit the orb of stopped time.
Everything else was drowned out by the sound of countless mirrors breaking as time shattered and Ranma crashed straight through to land right on the Jade Unicorn. The amber glow of the unicorn's horn went out as Ranma's horn smacked into it and the two rolled across the ground into a wall. Magic sparked between the two horns like an arch of lightning and Ranma's old headache promptly returned with a vengeance.
Ranma came to a stop on her back, her head roaring and spinning in equal measure with the unicorn mare atop her. Blue eyes several shades darker than her own stared back. Voices were talking but the words didn't make sense to her. They stared at each other for a long moment, the Jade unicorn looking incredibly confused and pained in equal measure.
Finally, finding the entire staring contest a bit worrisome, Ranma said, "Wes hāl." A friendly greeting.
"Konnichiwa," the Jade Unicorn replied. Ranma furrowed her eyebrows and frowned at the unicorn. That... sounded familiar for some reason. Gibberish, but familiar.
Then Rosey knocked the unicorn off of her and Ryouga pinned her to the floor.... While yelling at her in similar-sounding gibberish. Ranma blinked as Rosey started spouting different sounding gibberish as she checked Ranma over. What the hell was going on?
"Iċ ne understande," Ranma said since none of them were making sense. Rosey stopped and stared at her. Ranma fidgeted. "Hu eart þú?" Rosey continued to stare at her before turning to Ryouga and shouting gibberish. Well, they clearly understood what was being said so...
Was she the one speaking gibberish? Well, this was a new predicament.
Ranma sat back and rubbed her aching forehead with one hoof as the others angrily interrogated the unicorn. Some progress seemed to be being made at least, though unless Ranma missed her guess she seemed to only be able to understand Ryouga and Kasumi. How odd.
She tensed as sparks of amber light started arcing along the Jade Unicorn's horn before Rosey stepped in between them and pointed at Ranma. "Princess," she said before saying something else, throwing in Luna's name.
"Hime?" the Unicorn asked Ryouga and Kasumi. The Pegasus said something, then pointed at Ranma and said, "Hime."
Okay, so... Hime meant Princess, or something... right? It sounded vaguely right, felt it too.
Rosey said something else and swirled her hoof by the side of her head before pointing at Ranma. The Alicorn huffed and crossed her forelegs. She was not crazy.
A few more moments saw the unicorn wincing and saying something that sounded like it was meant as an apology. Kasumi nodded and pointed at Ranma again, her tone authoritative. It was rare to hear her sounding so sure of herself. The unicorn nodded and then trotted gently toward Ranma. The two mares flanked her as she approached and Ranma raised an eyebrow, glancing from Kasumi to Rosey and back again.
Kasumi nodded and smiled while Rosey just watched with a frown. It was probably a good thing then, but... Ranma eyed the horn as it started glowing again and took a step back.
"Ranma," Kasumi said sternly as Rosey placed a hoof on her withers to keep her from moving further. Her Hoofmaiden smiled in what was probably a reassuring manner.
Ranma huffed. "Cassumee," she replied, then frowned. That had been terrible. Absolutely terrible. Oh god-
A glowing horn touched her forehead at the same time Rosey's hoof touched her side as Rosey leaned too close. Magic snapped, crackled and-
"-to relax," Kasumi was saying, "While they-"
"Ponyfeathers that hurt," Ranma cursed as she took two steps back and buried her head in her hooves.
"Ponyfeathers?" Ryouga asked with a weird look to Kasumi who shrugged.
"My head is killing me," the Jade Unicorn said, sinking to the floor in a boneless puddle.
"How are you feeling, Princess?" Rosey asked.
Ranma frowned at her. "Stop calling me that," she said flatly, "And terrible. It feels like somepony's taken a pick to my brain."
"Somepony?" Ryouga said flatly again before Kasumi prodded the groaning unicorn.
"Excuse me, but I think you got the wrong language," she said politely.
The unicorn groaned. "I said, don't touch her while I'm casting," the Jade Unicorn grumbled, "Can't cast that spell again for a bit. Not unless you want me to scramble her brain completely."
"I'll pass," Ranma said, "Is everypony okay?" She glanced over at Angel Cake who was very pointedly sitting in the doorway doing nothing.
"I'm good. Are you good, Princess?" the lone Earth Pony babbled, "I can't believe that happened. Oh, sweet Celestia, I'm doomed."
"We're all fine," Rosey said with a relieved sight, "This is Jade Ribbon, she claims to be a student of Starswirl's."
"Apprentice. Senior Apprentice," Jade Ribbon said before wincing, "Oooh, god my horn is killing me. Make the pain stop..." She trailed off into mutterings in another language that Ranma was mildly surprised to find she understood.
"Hasn't he been missing or dead for like a thousand years?" Ranma asked Rosey.
"Missing, and a lot longer than that," Rosey replied.
"... A thousand years?" the Jade unicorn asked, one eye opening only to immediately close with a wince.
Ranma shuffled awkwardly, ruffling her wings. "Um, yeah, apparently," she said, shooting Rosey a look. The former guard pony awkwardly shrugged her own wings.
The unicorn let out an expletive in her native language. "I messed up the spell," she groaned.
"What were you trying to do?" Kasumi asked as she knelt down beside Jade Ribbon
Ranma cleared away a spot and lay down herself. Her horn was killing her. It wasn't the same building pressure as last time. Instead, it was more like a normal headache. Like she'd taken one of Ryouga's fists to the head again.
"Hmm," Jade sighed before opening her eyes to stare at Ranma, "Princess, huh?"
"Legally required to be," Ranma replied. The other pony sighed.
"Right. So... Do you know what this place is?" she asked as she looked slowly around the room with a frown.
"One of Starswirl's many workshops?" Rosey asked.
"Sort of. This isn't just a workshop. It's probably easier to show you," Jade Ribbon said as she stood up, wobbling for a moment before she steadied. "Please, follow me." Ranma rose to follow her. The rest followed a moment later.
They walked down the hall and through the displays. Jade paused several times to stare at the displays. Ranma stayed silent as they walked, unsure what she could say as she spotted a few tears in the corners of the unicorn's eyes. Their path led down one of the far hallways and up a spiralling staircase. After several minutes of walking up the stairs, it terminated in a simple rotted door.
"Here we are," Jade Ribbon said, pressing a hoof against the door. Instead of swinging open the wood let out a crunch and fell apart around the hinges before tipping forward. Ranma yanked Jade aside as the rest flattened themselves against the sides of the stairwell. The door broke into a hundred pieces that tumbled like a rockslide down the stairwell.
"This place is falling apart," Angel said, prodding a piece of wood with a hoof. It skipped down a few steps before crumbling away entirely.
"Thanks," Jade said breathlessly.-
"No problem," Ranma said, letting her go before turning her attention to the sunlight, and the breeze, pouring through the door. "Where are we?"
Jade slipped past her and through the door. "The entire reason this place is here," she said simply as Ranma followed her in. The large room beyond was open to the air on one side. A railing of stone went up to the height of Ranma's shoulders, which wasn't as high as it sounded for a pony. On the other side of the room were stone couches carved out of the mountain. They were elevated enough to give the seated an excellent view out of the window. At least if you were willing to put up with the old dry leaves that had filled the nooks and crevices.
And the view was impressive in Ranma's opinion. They looked out over a beautiful valley. Soft rolling hills ran the length of a valley filled with farms that ended in a small city of white stone and red-tiled roofs. A Western fairy tale castle stood in the center of the city, white pendants visible even from the mountain. Ranma could even make out the figures of ponies on its white stone paved roads and in its fields. Oddly, plumes of smoke seemed to be billowing up from the castle.
There was, however, something off with it. It was a lovely view, but...
"Jade," Kasumi said, her voice hesitant, "Is the entire valley... Like you were?" Oh.
Ranma's eyes zipped to the plumes of smoke that she just realised weren't changing. Then she stared at the fields of wheat and the ponies in the streets. Nothing was moving. Not a soul nor a plant so much as wiggled in the breeze. This valley, from the castle to the fields at the base of the mountain they were looking out of, was frozen in time just like Jade Ribbon had been.
"If you mean, is the valley frozen in time, then yes it is," Jade said sadly. Angel gasped with horror. Ryouga looked distinctly uncomfortable. Jade rested a hoof on the railing as she stared down at the valley. "This place is the Dream Valley Observatory. The second one technically. The first was abandoned when the Wendigos came."
Ranma stared down at the valley until she found the edges of the bubble. A thin shimmer where the light inside the dome didn't quite match up with the rest of the world. "It's a snow globe," she muttered.
Jade tilted her head quizzically before shaking her head. "This was the first home of Ponykind, where the Kingdom of Ponyland was first established and later ruled by the first Alicorns," she said.
Ranma's ears perked up. "First Alicorns?" she asked. Jade nodded.
"Yes, the royal family were Alicorns. It's said the last ruler of the Kingdom was Queen Faust," Jade said, "Though, that name comes from sources many generations removed from the fall of the kingdom. We lost a lot when our people fled north to escape the Wendigos." She sighed.
"They look different," Kasumi said, peering over the railing.
"Makes sense, we're millennia separated from those ponies," Angel said, "If we looked just like that it would be a little strange."
"That's part of it," Jade said, "But most ponies are descended from more northern stock these days." She turned away and walked over to one of the benches. A flash of light cleared one of the seats and she lay down. "Supposedly the Royal Family was also northern stock, though that's one of those details that is hard to say if it was true or not. There's just no way to check. We can't exactly get into the bubble to see for ourselves."
Ranma stared down at the ponies within the bubble. They seemed to be smaller and stockier than those she had seen so far. More muscular perhaps. It was hard to say exactly from such height. After a minute she turned away, shivering as the feeling of something cold crawled along her spine and down her wings. "Do you know what happened here?" she asked Jade.
The Senior Apprentice was silent for a long minute before saying, "Grogar happened."
Rosey, previously staring silently at the valley with a truly horrified expression, started. "They say he has been a plague on the world for millennia, but I never heard of this," she said, waving a wing out the window.
"I'm not surprised. Dream Valley is... was barely spoken of in scholarly circles," Jade Ribbon closed her eyes and sighed, "Undoing this was always one of Master's goals. But he never managed it. Most others stopped caring after millennia of failure. Without him driving discussion it was probably relegated to an impossible task."
"Or simply forgotten about," Ranma said, glancing back at the Valley. A forgotten valley lost to time.
"So, we're rather new to Equestria," Ryouga said, the brown unicorn walking up to Jade, "But can you tell us who Grogar is?"
The three natives exchanged looks. "Right, of course, you wouldn't," Rosey said, rubbing her chin, "Grogar is..." she trailed off trying to find the words.
"He's a goat," Jade said when it was clear Rosey couldn't find the words, "A mountain goat specifically. As large as the Princesses and a powerful necromancer said to be of a long-forgotten city somewhere in these mountains. Legend says he killed his own people and turned it into a city of the dead with the ringing of a bell he wore everywhere. Eventually, as the legends go, he came from Dream Valley."
Rosey tilted her head. "Wasn't his first attack on Ponykind ended by an artifact known... I think it was the Medallion of Light?" She muttered with a frown, clearly trying to remember.
"The Rainbow of Light," Jade corrected, "It shattered his bell and he fled. They believed his powers came from the bell, so they let him leave. It was a mistake. Several centuries passed before he returned, and yes we're sure it was the same one." She said as Kasumi opened her mouth to speak. The bacon-haired pegasus nodded. "What I'm about to say is mostly conjecture based on reports from Pegasi who flew over the dome. Grogar is there in the center of town in the plaza before Dream Castle. They report he appears to be laughing over the body of a red-haired Alicorn, assumed by many to be Queen Faust, and that a bell on his neck is glowing. Likely the source of the spell that has cursed the city ever since."
Ranma frowned. "That's nuts," she said, turning back to the railing and staring towards the castle. Her vision was good enough that she could make out the folds of the fluttering pennants obscured by the plume of smoke. "What sort of lunatic freezes themselves in time just to get revenge?"
"They don't," Jade and Rosey both said.
Ranma turned back. "But you just said-"
"He had preparations made beforehand," Jade said, "His body is in there, but the spirit is not bound to something as ephemeral as time."
"There's a cauldron," Rosey said, fluttering her wings nervously, "They say Grogar carved it from obsidian and filled it with blood. With it, he can return from the dead no matter how many times he has been slain."
Jade Ribbon wiggled a hoof back and forth. "Technically correct. He doesn't truly return from the dead since his original body is safe and acting as an anchor for his soul. What the Cauldron of Grogar does is allow the creation of a homunculus body that is then inhabited by his spirit. Because of this, he has bedevilled Ponykind ever since as a phantom conjured again and again to plague us. He is the creator of the Wendigos, Ursa Majors and so many more monsters."
Rosey stepped in, "Fortunately, the last time he rose up the Princesses put him down and managed to secure the Cauldron. The last I heard it was safely stowed away in Tartarus under heavy guard."
"Did they really?" Jade said, brightening.
"It has been over a thousand years since he last bothered Ponykind," Rosey confirmed.
The unicorn pumped her hoof before wincing. "Right, well..." She rubbed her forehead, "Good to know."
"Well, at least we won't have to worry about him," Ranma said, "So is there an exit around here somewhere?"
"Yes. There's a tunnel on the lowest level that leads toward the nearest village. Assuming it hasn't been blocked up," Jade said.
"We can handle it if it has been," Ranma said, shooting Ryouga a grin.
He snorted. "You mean, I can deal with it."
"Potato, potahto. We'll be fine," she replied.
"How exactly did you get in here if not that entrance?" Jade asked with confusion.
"Portal in the museum," Ranma said.
"Oh... Oh, the escape tunnel from Canterlot Keep... Why did you use the escape tunnel?" The unicorn seemed even more confused.
Angel coughed. "Um... I... May have accidentally triggered it," she said with a blush.
"Ah, before we go, I have an important question. How did you get me out of the time bubble?" Jade asked curiously.
That... That was a really good question. Ranma tilted her head to the side. Judging by the looks everyone was exchanging they hadn't much idea either. "I... Kinda just bumped into it?" She said after an awkward silence.
The unicorn stared at her. "I'm sorry, you what?" she asked.
"I bumped into it," Ranma repeated.
"It was a bit more like you fell backwards onto it after being startled by Angel," Rosey said. Ranma waved a hoof her way and tried to suppress the blush that started up.
Jade stood up and hopped off the seat. "That's not possible. If it was that easy to break, I'd have been freed years ago," she said pacing with sharp eyes.
"Maybe no one thought to actually touch it? I mean, we didn't want to," Ranma said, "I figured touching it would be bad." Poking a manipulated time bubble wasn't something she would have thought was healthy to do.
"And you touched it anyways," Jade said.
"Accidentally." Ryouga chuckled and murmured something to Kasumi. The pegasus sighed and gave him a disapproving look. Ranma stared pointedly at him, meeting his eyes before he grinned and turned his attention to the giant snow globe.
Jade Ribbon hummed. "You are a strange one, Your Highness," she said, staring at Ranma's flank.
The Alicorn shuffled around to face her, only for the unicorn to keep walking, matching her turn. "Do you mind?" she asked after a few seconds.
Jade Ribbon stopped and coughed into a hoof. "Sorry, Your Highness," she said contritely, "But I can't help but notice that you don't have a Cutie Mark."
"Well, no. I wasn't a pony until a few days ago," Ranma replied, "Neither Kasumi nor Ryouga were either." Kasumi waved as Jade Ribbon turned to them both.
"... Not Ponies?" Jade asked, sounding befuddled. She gazed from one to the next with an expression of genuine confusion.
"We came from another world," Kasumi said, "We woke up in this one three days ago."
The Unicorn sat down and tilted her head to the side. One ear flicked right, then left. "And yet one of you has a Cutie mark and they aren't the one who is an Alicorn," she said finally.
"Both of my sisters have Cutie Marks as well. A Pegasus and an Earth Pony," Kasumi said.
"I am even more confused now," Jade murmured, "Alicornism originates in two forms. Most only know of the latter mind you."
"Two forms?" Ranma asked, sitting down herself. She scratched an itch on her side with a back hoof.
Jade nodded. "Yes. Since the time of Dream Valley, the only Alicorns are those who ascended in a moment of absolute clarity and understanding of the meaning of their Cutie mark. They became so in tune with magic itself that they gained the traits of all three types of ponies. Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna fall into this category."
"As does Princess Mi Amore Cadenza," Rosey said.
Jade turned to her, "Another Princess?"
"The last we know of," the Hoofmaiden said.
"Hmm. Well, they are the most recent examples, but there have been others throughout history. Most fell prey to Grogar, but others disappeared for reasons unknown. Likely Grogar admittedly," Jade said, muttering the last line before sighing, "The only other way of being an Alicorn hasn't happened since the time of them," she pointed out at Dream Valley, "and that's being born an Alicorn."
"Born an Alicorn?" Ranma repeated, glancing down at herself. Born an Alicorn? She had been born human, so that was a little outlandish.
"Yes, though you not being ponies and being from another world raises the possibility that this is just the most natural for you," Jade said, "Though it then brings up the question as to why the rest of you weren't also made Alicorns and how he already managed to receive a Cutie Mark in a handful of days."
"He had it when we got here," Kasumi said.
"That's even more confusing. How do non-ponies qualify for Cutie Marks? How do they wind up as Alicorns? How does said implausible Alicorn shatter time magic with a touch?" Jade asked, waving a hoof at Ranma, "And then there's the question that if you can do so, will it affect Dream Valley?"
Ranma's eyes darted toward the Valley. "... We could try-" she started.
"No. Not a smart idea," Jade said, cutting her off. "Ignoring that it might not even work, there's still the fact that Grogar is inside the bubble. That's not something anyone wants to unleash without preparation."
"Like several armies, and both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia," Rosey said, "And probably the Elements of Harmony as well."
"The what?" Jade asked, looking confused. Ranma had no idea what the elements of Harmony were either and said as much.
Rosey looked from one to another and sighed. "I'll explain, but we really should get moving. I don't know about you, but I'm getting really hungry and somehow I doubt a place like this has much in the way of edible food anymore."
On cue both Ranma and Ryouga's stomachs growled, followed by Jade and Kasumi. "Oh my," Kasumi said flatly, "Food would be nice."
"I can cook nearly anything," Angel said before glancing about, "But I can't work with nothing."
"I-" Jade Ribbon sighed, "Yes, food. There used to be a village not so far away from the main entrance, but who knows if it's still there. I could try to teleport us to the Capital, but the headache I have makes that... Ill-advised, even if we weren't several hundred miles away."
Ranma rapped her forehoof against the floor. "Why don't we start with a way out of here, then make more plans later?" she asked.
"We could just go out through here," Ryouga said, waving over the railing, "It's not that steep."
"We could, but then we would have to walk around the mountain rather than just go through it," Jade said. She stood up and shook herself off, "And I'd rather not risk the Princess here unleashing the most ancient evil in the world by tripping and rolling down the mountain."
"I'm not a clutz," Ranma muttered, but she had to admit it was probably a danger best avoided. Honestly, the thought of something able to pick a fight with Celestia and Luna or do that to an entire valley was...
It made her nervous.
She cast a final glance toward Dream Valley, then gestured for Jade to lead the way. "C'mon Ryouga, don't get lost again," she said over her shoulder.
"Ranma..." he grumbled as they descended the stairs. She stuck her tongue out at him and smirked at the glare she got in return. Spirits bolstered, she hummed a tune as they descended through the observatory.
They passed more workshops, some bedrooms, and what might have once been a kitchen before they finally reached a straight tunnel at the bottom of a stairwell. The crystal lights down there were like those in the tunnels leading to the portal. Dim, flickering, and sometimes out, it made the long winding tunnel rather uninviting.
"This is it," Jade said, "This terminates in a cave on the edge of town."
"Do you recall the town's name?" Rosey asked.
"We just referred to it as 'the town'. I'm not sure it even had an official name," Jade replied as they started down the tunnel.
"Well if it's still there we'll be able to find out where we are," Rosey sighed, her wings drooping so that the tips nearly dragged along the ground. "Earlier you mentioned teleporting to the Capital. We've changed capitals a few times over the last thousand years."
"You have? Why?" Jade Ribbon asked.
"It's a long story, but the Castle of the Two Sisters was abandoned to the Everfree along with the castle town," Rosey replied, "The Capital was Trottingham for a time, then shifted to Manehattan, before Canterlot was chosen as the permanent Capital."
Ranma caught Ryouga mouthing 'Manehattan' to Kasumi who was trying not to giggle. She wondered what was so funny for a few moments before it clicked. She sighed. Sure it sounded like 'Manhattan' which was a place in America, but it wasn't that funny. Maybe she'd have found it funnier if her brain hadn't been scrambled earlier.
Then Angel stumbled and fell. "Ow," the Earth Pony said as she picked herself up.
Ranma stopped by her side. "Is everything okay?" she asked as the rest stopped.
"I'm fine, Your Highness," Angel said, but despite the bright smile she put on Ranma could see how tired her eyes looked. She was feeling a bit rough herself. They had been going since early that morning.
"Everypony, let's take a little break," Ranma said.
"I can keep going," Angel protested.
"Yeah, and we all need a break. Kasumi and I have been going since before dawn," Ranma replied, letting out a yawn. Rosey let out a yawn of her own a moment later. "And Rosey's been going since...?" Ranma lay down below a flickering torch.
"Before midnight," Rosey said, "I can probably last until we hit the town, but I'm getting rather tired myself."
"I can keep going," Ryouga said, though he found a place to lie down.
"We've got at least three-quarters of the tunnel to go. A few minutes of rest won't be a bad thing," Jade said, sitting down at the front of the group.
Getting agreement from everyone Ranma took the opportunity to lay her head down. It was weird curling up a bit like a dog or a cat, her head resting on her hooves, but strangely comfortable. Probably a quirk of her new anatomy.
Ranma let out a yawn and her eyes flickered shut. She was asleep almost instantly.
-0-0-0-0-0-
It was nighttime as they left the tunnel. Jade pushed aside a veil of ivy with her magic and held it aside as the rest of them filed out. The stars were out and a full moon beamed down on them. They were in a small copse of trees through which the shadowed silhouettes of homes could be seen.
"It's grown quite a bit since I was last here," Jade said, "it used to be a ten-minute walk from here." It was hard to see in the gloom, but she was smiling.
"Let's see about finding the Mayor's home," Rosey said, "I can use the Nightguard's authority to get us places to stay for the night. Hopefully, they have a telegraph up here."
Ranma hummed as she brushed past the other two ponies. Something felt... off. Her ears twisted and turned as she led them out of the trees. The night was quiet, very, very, very quiet. It was the sort of quiet that didn't occur in nature.
Not unless a predator was hunting.
She shot a glance at Ryouga. His eyes and ears were scanning just like hers were. "Something's wrong," she said, "Keep an eye out and stay quiet."
"What sort of wrong?" Jade asked, her expression shifting instantly while Kasumi pulled Angel into the middle of their little group.
"It's too quiet," she replied, trying to tiptoe carefully toward the buildings, "Something has spooked the animals." The question was what?
The hope of finding proper shelter, and food, faded as they reached the end of the woods. The buildings Ranma could see were run down. Their paint was peeling, the walls leaning, and as they reached the corner of the first building she could even see one with a caved-in roof.... And another three that were gone entirely. There was just a hole filled with debris where a group of houses should have been.
"Oh no, no no no," Jade whispered. Kasumi placed a comforting wing over her side.
"Rosey, what're we looking at?" Ranma asked, scanning for any signs of life. The town's streets were cobbled stone. Lampposts were bent or scattered across the street.
"Look for a name, Princess," Rosey said, her voice worried, "Everyone, move quietly."
"So, we aren't going to be getting a warm welcome, I guess?" Angel Cake asked softly. She peeked over Kasumi's back at the buildings.
"Likely not. Follow me and stay low," Rosey said. Despite her continued tiredness, her voice had firmed up. Perhaps the danger was giving her a little energy back.
They crept through the streets of the small town. There were no lights in the windows of homes nor in the many street lamps that dotted the sidewalks. The siding of colourful homes was faded and peeling, those that hadn't been smashed to pieces. Plants were growing through the debris so whatever had happened had been a while back.
Ranma paused as they passed a storefront whose sign was still legible. "Sparkleberry's, Bakery and Cafe," she read aloud.
"What?" Kasumi asked with a confused expression as the group stopped.
Ranma pointed at the sign. "Sparkleberry's, Bakery and Cafe. I can read the sign," she said. She hadn't had a clue how to read the local language before.
"That's... not supposed to happen," Jade said after a moment, wincing.
Ranma gave her a worried look. That sounded very concerning.
"What's wrong?" Ryouga asked with an exasperated tone. The larger unicorn was trying to keep an eye out.
Jade Ribbon shuffled awkwardly from hoof to hoof. "Well... That spell should only work on spoken language," she said.
"I'm not seeing an issue...?" Ranma trailed off.
"It means I might have overloaded the spell and possibly came even closer than I realised to frying your mind entirely?" Jade rattled off looking rather embarrassed in the moonlight, "I'm so sorry." Kasumi gasped.
Well, that would explain why her head was still killing her. Ranma rubbed her forehead below her horn. "That's... Fine. I've just got a headache," she said, waving her off. "What does this mean for me being able to remember... Nihongo?" She glanced at Kasumi who nodded.
"... Probably shouldn't try for at least two months, and you might have to relearn how to read and write it," Jade said, turning an interesting shade beneath her coat.
Oh. That was a problem. "Hopefully we have time before going back then," Ranma said while trying to ignore Kasumi's horrified staring or Ryouga's pity. Had she mentioned she hated magic?
"As mixed as this is," Rosey said, stepping into the conversation, "Can we keep moving? Please?" She shot a worried look around.
"Would flying up to take a peek be a good idea?" Ranma asked.
"Not if there's what I think there is running around," Rosey said, "Let's try and keep low for now, Princess." Ranma had to wonder when being called a Princess had become something she didn't instantly protest. It had only been a day after all, but she was already feeling tired of complaining about it.
"What are you thinking of?" Ranma asked as they started walking again.
Rosey paused to point at the destroyed buildings. "There isn't much that can do that. If a Unicorn had done it there'd be melted terrain or other signs of magic. If it was a dragon, well there'd be a lot more fire everywhere. Which just leaves, well..."
"Ursa Major," Jade finished grimly.
"You mentioned those," Ryouga said, pushing forward, "When you were talking about Grogar."
"They're a creation of his. Giant bears bigger than these houses with a hide that looks like the night sky," Jade said.
"Without Grogar they're not overly aggressive, no more than any bear, but they are territorial," Rosey said, "Stopping one takes either a coordinated force, one of the Princesses, or an exceptionally powerful and talented unicorn."
"And I'm good, but I don't have that sort of power," Jade said, looking pale in the moonlight.
Ranma exchanged a grimace with Ryouga who glanced at the damage. She hated fighting giant monsters. The Phoenix had been bad enough, and the entire visit to Ryugenzawa was... Hopefully, it wasn't more durable than the Orochi had been.
"Since you're a rather new Princess and we don't have an army, let's try to avoid running into whatever did this," Rosey said nervously.
"I'm up for not fighting a giant angry bear made of starlight," Ranma said, "What about you Ryouga?"
"Scared? I'm sure we could take it," he scoffed.
Ranma rolled her eyes at the usual bravado. "Well yeah, but then we'd have to explain to Akane that we put Kasumi in danger," she replied, getting a wince from the stallion.
"Oh I'm sure I'll be fine," Kasumi said with a smile, "You never let anything bad happen to Akane so I'm sure things will be fine." She turned toward the ruined buildings. "Though I'm not sure it's a bear we'll have to deal with."
"Why not?" Ranma asked.
"Because there are plants growing out of the ruins," the bacon-haired pegasus said.
Rosey glanced up and down the street then quickly ran over to the wreckage. A few moments later she was back. "She's right. This must have happened a while ago. Several years ago at least," she said, fluttering her bat wings anxiously.
"That's not good, right?" Angel asked, "I mean, if the Ursa was dealt with then they'd have rebuilt the town, right?" the Earth pony frowned.
"Unless it decided to stay afterwards, or something else got involved, or there weren't enough ponies left to rebuild," Rosey said, trailing off with a frown. Silence fell
After a minute Ranma shook herself and stamped a hoof. "We're not getting back to Canterlot just standing here. Rosey, which way do we go?" she asked her hoofmaiden. The former Night Guard looked around with a frown.
"The issue is I don't know what town we're in. If I knew that I'd be able to figure out which way to go," Rosey said.
"If I may," Jade said, "we should be about one hundred and sixty miles northeast of Canterhorn Mountain."
Rosey paused, turning on the spot before looking to the starry sky. "In that case, we'd have to... that way." She pointed in the direction of the trail of wrecked buildings. "Erm... We might want to give that a wide berth."
"But it's a start. Lead the way, Rosey," Ranma said, prodding her along. It wouldn't do to get too down about everything. Ranma, Ryouga and Kasumi had been through worse. Though she did wonder what had happened to the ponies of this town. She kept one eye on the signs as they navigated the town. It was novel being able to read the curvy script that the ponies used.
They reached the edge of town after a swift ten minutes of trotting and Rosey paused as they stared out over what had once been well-tended farmland. Now it was poorly maintained grasslands that ran down the valley dotted occasionally by the shadowy forms of barns and farmhouses. The mossy cobbled street rapidly turned into a dirt path that wound down through the valley. The full moon was bright enough that Ranma could even make out the far end of the valley where a broken tower stood vigil over the road.
Though she suspected that had as much to do with the lighting as it did with being an Alicorn. She was pretty sure that she wouldn't have been able to see nearly as well if she was still human.
"It's beautiful," Angel Cake said, voicing Ranma's thoughts of the view, "But sad."
"It is," Jade Ribbon agreed, "I remember when this valley was still mostly trees. To see how far it came and yet, how far it's fallen..." She shook her head, sending her mane everywhere. Kasumi patted her reassuringly on the back.
"Where do we go from here, down the road?" Ranma asked Rosey.
"I think so..." the Bat Pony replied as she hummed, "Can anyone see an Ursa Major? Look high, they like to try and silhouette themselves against the night sky. It makes it harder to spot them."
Ranma glanced about, but the first to say anything was Kasumi. "There," the pegasus said, pointing up at the ridge ahead to their left. Ranma followed her hoof and after several difficult seconds found a section of stars that shifted and moved.
"I see it," she said, swallowing nervously. If she was right about how far away it was, then that was a very big bear.
"Same," Rosey said, "We'll have to stick to the east side of the valley and try to follow the woods."
"Where is it?" Ryouga asked, squinting.
"There, on the ridgeline between the two peaks," Ranma replied, pointing it out with a hoof. Ryouga hissed as he spotted it.
"That's a big one," he said.
"Would fit right in with Ryugenzawa, right Ryouga?" Ranma laughed nervously. Fighting those giant monsters hadn't exactly been Ranma's idea of fun.
Ryouga chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, kinda average size too... I'd have thought it would be bigger," he said.
"It would be, if it was an adult," Rosey said flatly.
Ranma rubbed her forehead. "Does that mean we need to keep an eye out for a mother?" she asked.
"Unlikely. It's too old for that, but-" Rosey was cut off as the Ursa Major rose up and spread its forepaws out. The roar that followed sent all the hairs along Ranma's spine sticking straight up as it reverberated around the valley. A few moments later another roar, much deeper in tone, came from behind them.
Ranma spun around and tried to spot the source, but the second bear was hidden by the old buildings. "There's two," she said.
"Yeah, that's not good. We're right on the dividing line between two territories," Rosey said, dancing on the spot nervously.
Ranma scanned the valley as the first Ursa roared again. "The grass is fairly long in the fields. We could keep low and travel through the fields. Cross the open areas only when we're sure the bears aren't looking," she said. This would have been a lot simpler if they didn't have Kasumi and Angel, but if wishes were cake she'd have been able to open her own bakery.
"That could work... Stay close. We're going to have to take the valley as quickly as possible while they're focused on each other, and just pray to Luna and Celestia that they don't decide to come down off their hills to fight for territory," Rosey said.
Nothing was said as Moonrose bolted for the nearest field and they followed at a gallop. Grass, thankfully, was much quieter to run on with hooves than the clatter of hooves on stone. They made solid time as the Ursas postured on the heights. Their pace slowed as they ducked into the long grass, but they kept up a solid canter down the valley.
The farmhouses they passed were as empty as the town. A few looked less run down, as though they hadn't been abandoned as quickly. Or perhaps they simply hadn't been damaged by an Ursa Major rampaging through town. There was no way that something that big didn't make the earth jump whenever it walked or ran.
"How long are they going to keep posturing?" Ryouga asked as they skirted the edge of a farmhouse.
"It isn't unheard of for two Ursa's to posture for up to a full day, but usually with one either backing down or advancing to answer the challenge before then," Jade said between breaths.
"Then we have plenty of time," Angel said cheerily.
"Well in theory. They've been at it for at least an hour already. It's about now that an impatient one would-" The Ursa on the hill to their left changed its tone and there was the sound of shattering stone. All eyes tracked a large shadow passing through the sky before it crashed down somewhere in the fields to their right.
"... Start throwing rocks," Ranma finished for Jade.
"... Quite. I'd suggest we all start running faster," the unicorn said as another rock took flight from the mountaintop.
Caution was cast aside as the group galloped for the far end of the valley. Rocks, hurled by both Ursas, crashed down across the valley crushing crops and smashing the trees that lined either side of the valley. Their accuracy left a lot to be desired in Ranma's opinion.
"SPLIT!" Kasumi shouted abruptly and the group leaped to either side without breaking stride. A rock the size of a minivan crashed where they would have been and bounced, sending shards of stone in all directions as it did so, sailing over Ranma's head. It rolled off into the darkness, crushing a path through wild corn and grass.
"Good eyes, Kasumi!" Ranma said as they came back together.
"That was too close," Angel added.
"Keep your eyes and ears on a swivel, girls," Rosey said as she flapped her wings and took to the air. She didn't pull ahead, instead pacing the group from a few feet above.
"Isn't that a risk?" Ranma asked.
"They're too caught up with each other. They won't break their posturing just to hunt a few ponies," Rosey replied.
The farmland gradually degraded the further from town they went. Small farm houses, smaller fields, more trees. Not that it stopped the rocks as the two Ursas raged at each other. A few times they had to duck around large rocks that had clearly already been there for a while. This likely hadn't been the first time these two Ursa had postured for superiority.
At long last they reached the point where the valley turned and the farmlands gave way to forest. They didn't stop, however, as the rocks continued to fall far too close for comfort. Or roll, as they tended to follow the slope down the valley.
Eventually, however, they came to a stop as their run intersected with the main road. Little more than hard packed earth, it was good enough for them to stop and catch their breath.
"Well... That was exciting," Angel giggled, rolling onto her back in the middle of the road and pawing the air before sagging.
"It was," Kasumi agreed, demurely lying down beside the earth pony. "Is everyone alright?" Other than tiredness from the run they all seemed to be fine. They lay on the road for a while as the angry roars and crashing continued. A full gallop for so long was rather tiring. Then Ranma's stomach rumbled.
"Um..." she felt her face going red as everyone turned to her, then snerked as everyone else's stomachs grumbled. "Let's keep moving and see if we can find something safe to eat as we go."
"That sounds like a good idea," Angel said, bouncing to her feet, "I can probably make something with berries or wildflowers if there's some blooming."
"I could kill for a sunflower and daisy sandwich right now," Rosey said, stretching languidly.
"Never had that before," Ranma mused. She was a pony now, so that meant an entirely different diet than before. She was going to have to get used to eating flowers now... She flicked an ear and wondered how cherry blossoms tasted.
Hungry, but glad to be out of immediate danger, the group of ponies started walking down the moonlit road away from the Ursas and the town. It had to lead somewhere with ponies.
Their progress was much slower than their brisk dash down the valley. In part because they weren't running anymore, and partly because they were letting Angel Cake gather flowers and other plants from the overgrown road.
Ranma paused as they crested the top of a rise and looked back. She took in the sight of the first Ursa as it rumbled its way down the hillside. It had evidently finally decided to pick a proper fight. The town was mostly out of sight with just the corner visible, its battered roofs and broken walls visible as colourless shadows beneath the moonlight. Something, however, caught her eyes. Visible in the far distance, framed by mountains and hills over which it just barely peaked, was a flag. Shrouded in smoke, frozen in mid moment as it fluttered over a forgotten valley. A slight fogginess, like looking through a dirty glass pane, was the only sign of the bubble of time that surrounded Dream Valley.
Ranma blinked and lost sight of it as Kasumi bumped into her.
"Sorry, Ranma," she said, glancing over with a sheepish smile.
"No problem, Kasumi," Ranma said, glancing back, "Just... Thought I could see Dream Valley for a second."
The bacon-haired pegasus turned and looked back as the second Ursa rumbled into view at a full sprint. Everyone in the group stumbled as the two bears collided and a shockwave rolled out across the valley shaking every leaf and every bough. Kasumi peered back before shaking her head.
"I can't see it," she said.
"I only had a glimpse for a moment," Ranma said before shrugging her wings, "C'mon. Let's keep moving. I'd like to get back to Canterlot before your sisters figure out how to skin an Alicorn." Akane was going to be so angry that Kasumi had gotten caught up in this.
"Oh they wouldn't do that," Kasumi chided with a giggle, "Akane might be a bit of a violent maniac, but she's not that bad."
Ranma snorted and ducked her head as her mane was blasted to the side by another fierce gale. "You know I thought you were exaggerating way back then," she admitted as they hurried to catch up with the rest. Sure Akane had hit her with a table, a stone one no less, but... Well, in the depths of her own head she'd admit she'd been a bit of an ass...
Not that Akane had been much better.
"So did I," Kasumi said, glancing away. An awkward silence fell between them. That first day at the Tendos had been an awkward one and honestly it had set the tone for everything else that followed. Barring the rare moments when everything was peaceful. Or... well...
Ranma just really hoped that this little adventure wasn't a sign that her time in Equestria was going to be as crazy as her time in Nerima. She could use a little bit of downtime.
They descended the far side of the little hill and the gusts from the clash of giants vanished. Instead they found themselves buffeted by the sound of rustling trees and the echoing roars of the two bears.
They kept walking as the forest grew darker. Clouds began to obscure the moon. Angel pronked ahead of the group each bounce accompanied by happy humming. She'd pause, pick a flower to toss on her back, then continue on somehow keeping the plants in place despite the breeze.
And the bounce.
Jade and Rosey were chatting about something to do with history, probably still explaining what had happened over a thousand years; and Ryouga had taken to kicking rocks off the road into the trees, sending more than one bird flying. Kasumi was humming something.
Ranma simply listened to the breeze as it rustled her mane and tweaked the ends of her ears. After the excitement of the Everfree, the sudden pressure of being a Princess, and the chaos of falling down a drop chute into a spider golem infested cavern it was a nice break. A chance to finally relax a little.
Even if she was still hungry.
"Any chance we can get something to eat?" Ranma asked as Angel picked another flower.
"Um... Possibly, Princess?" the chef said, peering at her back, "If we can find a stream I can clean them up and make us a nice salad. It would be better if we had a knife or a pan or something though..."
"A light wouldn't be too bad either," Ryouga said.
"Bet you're wishing you still had your backpack, huh Ryouga?" Ranma asked, getting an understandable grumble from the brown unicorn. He had had that bag since before he and Ranma had met in middle school. The umbrella had been a gift from his parents. Kasumi patted him on the withers with a hoof.
The snap of cracking wood caused Ranma to turn her head to the forest on the right. After a few moments nothing else snapped, she hummed and peered into the forest with narrowed eyes.
"What was that?" Angel asked, taking a step backward toward the other side of the road.
A rustle of leaves came from the left. Ranma flicked up a pebble and kicked it with her rear hoof toward the sound. There was a cry of pain and Ranma spun and leaped to the Earth Pony's side as a dark cloak wearing pegasus crashed to the ground beside the chef.
"Eep!" Angel squeaked and kicked the pegasus over the edge of the roadway. They rolled to a stop by the hooves of a large female earth pony. Her dark purple fur was near black in the shadows as was her dark blue mane.
She looked down at the pegasus and sighed. "Now why did you have to do that?" she asked with a sweet voice that failed to match her bulk, "Now we'll have to use violence." As she said that a dozen more figures, all equally clad in dark cloaks, emerged from the shadows of the forest. Several Pegasi hung about in the trees.
Ranma looked from one strange pony to the other. Distantly she could hear the sound of the bears roaring and clashing. Something felt off. "You have Highway Ponies in Equestria?" she said with exasperation to Rosey as they formed a circle around Kasumi and Angel. Jade Ribbon's horn lit up and she stamped a forehoof.
"I would have thought the last of such ponies would be long gone," the Unicorn said.
"This is news to me," Rosey said, "Whoever you are, by the Authority of the Night Guard, stand down immediately." The bat pony spread her wings wide and reared back, an act Ranma echoed.
"Night Guard, ooh how scary," the Earth Pony said with a chuckle, "If'n you're Night Guard, where's your uniform? " She took a couple steps forward. "I'll give you credit girlie, you've got chutzpah, but I'm not that easily fooled. Seriously, taping a fake horn on a Pegasus just so you could pretend you had a Princess with you?" She scoffed and eyed Ranma. "Did you forget there's just three of them and they're all much much larger than this?"
"I'm rather new to this whole Princess thing," Ranma admitted before stamping hard enough to leave an impression of her hoof in the road, "And I don't really have much handle on this whole magic thing, but I don't need magic to deal with a few bandits."
Distantly an Ursa roared and the ground trembled.
"Knock them out, they should make fun prisoners," the mare said before charging Ranma.
"Jade, protect Kasumi and Angel!" Ranma shouted as she sidestepped the larger pony's first haymaker. Despite being tired and hungry with sore muscles she barely needed to pay attention to this Bandit. Left step, back hop, slide right, duck under right cross, sweep the legs.
The purple mare hit the ground and immediately rolled to her hooves and threw another punch. Ranma met it with one of her own and with a bored look the air cracked from the force of their combined strikes... and she powered straight through the mare's guard to punch her in the face. She seemed rather shocked. Another pony lunged at her from the side, only to get knocked to the ground as Ryogua kicked a Pegasus into its path.
She ducked a lunge from another pegasus that immediately leaped for a tree. Reacting on instinct, Ranma spun and bit down on the pegasus' tail. Its wings hammered the air trying to pull away. Ranma's hooves started leaving the ground. She swept her wings forward hard, forcing herself back to the ground, dragging the startled pegasus behind her with a yelp. She swung the pegasus by its tail as an improvised weapon and slammed them down onto their leader who was struggling to rise.
Neither stood up again.
She turned from them to find Jade blasting the final bandit off his hooves and into a nearby tree with a beam of crackling magic. Spinning in a circle she confirmed that everypony was fine before frowning at the bandits.
"This was weird," she said, nudging the mare in charge with a hoof.
"It's weirder than you think," Rosey said, "What are Bandits doing out here? We've been following the road. It should only lead to that uninhabited village. There's no one out here to prey on."
Jade grabbed the large mare in charge and pulled her out from under the pegasus Ranma had smacked her with an amber aura. Moments later the purple mare was divested of her cloak and the saddlebags underneath were emptied into thin air, their contents shuffled about in the amber glow of magic. "Check them for food and anything else," she said.
"Good idea," Ranma said, walking over to the pegasus she knocked out, "If they're so eager to attack people then they probably don't need this, eh, Kasumi?"
"Oh, I'm sure there was some reason behind all this," Kasumi said, prodding an unconscious unicorn that was floating upside down. It drifted toward the forest until Angel pulled it to the ground and pinned it in place with a hoof.
"They're bandits, not really that complicated Kasumi," Ryouga said. He was fiddling, unsuccessfully, with the latch on the cloak of an earth pony.
"Hello, what's this," Jade said with a grin, staring at an unrolled sheaf of parchment. "We have a map... of this area unless I'm wrong. Moonrose, can you read this for me?" The guard pony trotted over and peered at it.
"... That looks like the area we just went through," Rosey said, tapping the map, "And we went this way til..." She glanced at the increasingly clouded sky, "Well, we're somewhere around here. Hard to say without the stars."
Ranma peered over their shoulders. After a moment of orienting herself she pointed to where the village was on the map. "Moonbrook. That village was called Moonbrook," she said, noting that there was another village in the direction they were heading called Saddle Hill.
A moment later Rosey nearly punched herself in the forehead as she let out a groan. "Moonbrook! Horseapples, I'd heard of what happened to Moonbrook," she said.
"What happened?" Ranma asked her hoofmaiden.
"From what we can tell there was a spike in the Ursa Major population and three of the bears decided to try and claim the area for themselves at the same time. You saw the damage from their fights. It's amazing how much of that town is still standing," the former Night Guard said.
"How long ago was this?" Jade asked.
"... About a year before Princess Luna returned," Rosey said after a few seconds.
"Hasn't Princess Luna only been back for a couple of years?" Kasumi asked, joining the conversation.
"Just over, but yes," Rosey said.
"So three years ago," Jade concluded, "Why hasn't the guard gathered to force them out already?"
Rosey shrugged her wings. "Jade, I'm a Lieutenant. How much do you think ponies tell me?" she asked.
Jade grimaced. "Not much, I take it?"
"Not really, no. I'm a junior officer, I only get told as much as I need," Rosey said.
Ranma tapped the map. "This is interesting. What is with this goat head here?" she pointed to a black goat head some distance away from the road. A quick inspection showed several more.
"It could be Hideouts? Stashes maybe? Weapons or even treasure. We should pass this to somepony in the guard when we get back to Canterlot," Rosey said.
"... It could also be something related to the Cult of Grogar," Jade said.
"Not likely. These days the Goat Head is used by bandits, pirates and others as a symbol of fear and intimidation. For all we know they could have just used it to mark where the Ursas den," Rosey replied, "O'course it could be them, but the odds of that are tiny. The Cult's still around but they're so weak after so long that most ponies who use the Goat's Head are just your average thugs trying to be creepy or whatever."
Jade let out a thoughtful hum.
A voice behind them cleared their throat. "Um, not to be rude," Angel said, "But, shouldn't we do something with these ponies?"
Ranma glanced about. "We can't exactly take them with us," she said, eyeing the group.
"Do they have any rope? We could just tie them to a tree and leave them," Rosey suggested.
"If they can't get themselves free that would be rather cruel," Jade said, "I suggest just taking what we need and tossing the rest into the woods. Let them find their things after they wake up."
Ranma shrugged. "Good enough for me... though, tie the leader up by her legs and hang her from a tree," she said. If they were bandits then they would probably have a lot less faith in their leader after seeing her swinging upside down from a tree branch.
It took only a little while to gather what food and water the strange bandits had and wrap them up in a cloak, minus a few bites they each had. Ranma had a nice apple the lead mare had been carrying. Oddly nice actually. It was fresh and unlike a lot of wild apples not filled with worms. Just one more strange thing about this group.
Once they were done gathering the useful items they cared for they tossed the rest into the woods and draped the ponies over convenient tree branches. Ranma made sure to put some extra kick into her toss.
By that point, however, the clouds had properly obscured the moon leaving them with only the glow of Jade Ribbon's horn. The breeze had changed as well.
"The wind's picking up. We should probably hurry," Ryouga said.
"I'll lead. Follow my light," Jade said, breaking into a canter down the dirt road. |
Returning Home | pre | Rainbow rose into the air and turned to the troops, her armor shining in the light of the sun. "Pegasus, Griffons, Today we fight not just for the princesses or our homes, today we fight for all those who have fallen in this war. We fight for the fallen! These Changelings think we will just stand aside and let them claim our land,they think of us as cattle to be slaughtered and eaten not even given a second thought. Let's show then the Might of the Pegasus!" As she finished she drew her sword and the army roared and charged the changelings, at the lead flew Commander Rainbow Dash and King Raven Claw.
Chrysalis flew toward the floating clouds. "Once we are there don't fire. We will take them by surprise." Chrysalis said.
They swarm flew nearer and nearer, Chrysalis smiled. 'Finally something is going right.' She thought before a powerful beam fired and exploded.
Chrysalis stopped and turned to the swarm. "Who fired that." She growled.
Slowly a changeling was pushed to the front and the queen glared at him. "So it was you?" She asked as she glared at the ling.
The ling began to tremble in fear as Chrysalis smiled and charged her horn. Several others looked on in terror as she unleashed her magic and several hundred were eviscerated.
"You will do as I tell you what to and if you don't fallow my instructions to the letter then I will KILL YOU IS THAT CLEAR?" She roared in anger.
The swarm shuddered in fear.
Chrysalis turned back to the city to see an army charging at the lead was the Element of Loyalty and the King of the Griffons. She growled and turned to the swarm. "Well, Go kill them!" She screamed and the swarm charged fear of her wrath driving them to obey. Chrysalis then turned back to the charging army and launched forward and drew her sword.
King Raven dodged the Changeling Queen before drawing his sword. The Queen flew at him again and there blades clashed sparks flying of them. "Why Chrysalis, why attack, why kill?" King Raven Claw asked.
Chrysalis laughed. "Why else Power! The more Love I have the more power I have and once I absorb the power of Equestria I will be a goddess!" She roared as sh laughed maniacally.
"You have gone mad." Raven Claw said as she pushed her back.
Chrysalis hissed. "That's what the other Queens said, before I killed them." She smiled and charged the King again. "Now, DIE!" She screamed.
As the Griffon King and Changeling Queen battled Rainbow flew among the swarm slicing any changeling who neared her. Around her thousands of Pegasus and griffons fought.
"Watch the left!" She commanded drawing several warriors to the left side of the battle which had slowly turned against them as the left and right flanks began to push back the center opened up and changelings pored in. Rainbow growled and charged them hacking and slashing them as she fought her armor began to crackle with electricity as it drew in her Pegasus magic. Suddenly she thrust her arm out lightning arcing out and striking the swarm. The groups that were bunched together were wiped out as the lightning arced from Changeling to Changeling. The lightning arced off her wings which she used to strike any who neared. Those around her watched in awe as she slaughtered them charging into the frays of combat lightning surrounding her as if she were an angle of death.
Suddenly a large group charged, Rainbow glared at them the lightning arcing from her eyes turning them white, she calmly spread her wings wide and with a single beat the wind shot forward and tore them apart, another beat and the winds began to change. They swirled around her as rain began to appear forming the familiar form of a hurricane. In the center floated Rainbow her eyes now glowing with the light of twin sun she reached out her hand toward the changelings and the wind lashed out as well, arrows forming from there forms arcing with lightning. With a single gestured from Rainbow they fired upon the changelings scattering them.
"Why are you just floating there?" Rainbow asked her voice distorted as she turned to the troops. "Press the attack I will cover you." She ordered.
The troop turned to the Changelings and smiled before charging. "For Twilight!" They roared.
The sword flew from the Griffon Kings claw and plummeted to the earth below. "I enjoyed this griffon, but now you die." The queen smiled.
"You know you're far to over confident." The King said as he grabbed the blade and smiled as he extended his talons and raked them across the Queens chest. "Third rule of combat, never underestimate your opponent!" He roared and ripped the blade out of the injured Queens hand before slashing at the Queens face. The tip of the talon caught the eye patch the Queen wore and the socket it protected.
Chrysalis screamed as the talon dug deep into her face ripping the whole right side out. She then morphed her hands into blades and swung at the king who blocked the blade and slashed. Chrysalis blocked the strike and turned delivering a spin kick that connected with the Kings head dazing him. Chrysalis thrust her hand forward intent to kill the king by striking him through the heart but it was caught and she was thrown to the ground. As she landed a dead tree broke her fall while piercing her abdomen. She gasped in pain as she slowly rose.
The King landed before her and grabbed her throat and pulled her to her feet before extending his talons. "What I do here I do for Twilight." He growled as he thrust his talons through her chest. Suddenly a Changeling slammed into him knocking him away from the gasping Queen. The Changeling picked her up and flew away the Queen in its arms.
Several griffons quick landed and stood guard and Rainbow landed and approached the King. Are you alright Your Majesty?" She asked.
The king slowly rose to his knees and growled before slamming his fist into the ground. "DAMN IT!" he roared an anger. "I almost had her." He growled.
Rainbow knelt down and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Next time we will, Chrysalis is weakened. The only way for her to win is a direct attack on the capital."
"Which means the next attack will be Canterlot." The king said as he rose to his feet with a smile.
Rainbow nodded. "Celestia and Luna have ordered the remaining Elements as well as all field commanders and leaders back to defend the capital."
"Then ready the vanguards, we leave for Canterlot within the hour." The king said. "well tear this bitch apart when she shows he face.
Time dilation for the Void: 1999 years, 11 months, 30 days
Total duration Equestrian time that Twilight has been in Void: 1 year 1 months, 27 days
Twilight stood at the center of a volcano before her stood Cruelty and behind stood Kindness, as she was a healer she would not be participating in this battle.
The two combatants watched each other before charging at the same moment. As they neared they coated their hands with magma and when their fists met an explosion surrounded them. The two shot up Twilight's mane and wings on fire, as she flew at Cruelty summoning small fire balls and launching them at her. Cruelty deflected them as lava solidified into a handle and fire exploded from it forming a blade, Cruelty charged and swung at Twilight who had summoned several blades of light and launched them at her. Cruelty dodged them and slashed the blade across Twilight's chest. Twilight growled and summoned a Halberd made of light and blocked the next strike as the slash began to heal. Twilight then flipped backwards and thrust her hand into the ground. Crimson flames erupted from the ground and launched at Cruelty searing her as several wolf like constructs leaped from the flames and charged the Lava beings.
"Hell hounds." Cruelty growled as she engaged the beasts and Twilight began to create seven constructs and fire them at her.
Cruelty caught the first one with her blade thinking it a fireball bit the blade as quickly absorbed by the black hole the ball left.
"Impressive isn't it?" Twilight asked a smirk on her face. "Miniature suns that when they hit something they create a small black hole."
Twilight then launched them at Cruelty who dodged them while also battling the Hounds. She then turned and charged Twilight who threw a fireball at her. Cruelty jumped over it and thrust her blade down only for it to dissolve around Twilight as she turned to Lava and melted into a puddle before leaping up and thrusting the Halberd into Cruelty's chest. Cruelty gasped and the blade fell from her hands.
"Well done Twilight." She gasped as she fell to the ground unconscious.
Twilight lay her out and placed her hands over the wound as a white light emitted from them. Slowly the wound sealed shut as Kindness approached.
"You have done well my student." She said happily. "Tomorrow you will be leaving for the Realm of Magic. It is there you will learn under Magic and Necromancy. They will instruct you in the ancient ways and in magic long forgotten."
"Thank you for your lessons Masters." Twilight said with a bow.
"Rest well Twilight, tomorrow will be a long journey." Kindness said. |
Returning Home | Chapter 6 - The Beginning of the End | Authors Note:
So I spent all night and today to finish this for you all. I am so exhausted. I have tomorrow off as well and then it will be work for who know how long. I may finish the last two chapters to night but if I do I will post them at a later date.
Twilight walked through the empty plains of the Realm of Magic, unlike the other realms the Realm of Magic was a empty void of nonexistence. It was here that the two aspects of Knowledge resided.
"So at last we meet." A figure said as he appeared in front of Twilight. He wore the star themed hat and cloak of Starswirl.
"You come to learn, to gain power from the four paths of magic. But are you worthy?" Another figure asked as he approached. He wore the robes and armor of a necromancer.
"I'm not sure if I'm worthy but I will do my best to learn what you will teach me." Twilight said as she bowed to the beings.
"I am Mage, the Keeper of Light and Dark magic. Light magic comes naturally to all beings while dark magic is fueled by that of negative emotions." Starswirl said calmly.
"I am Necro, the keeper of Necromancy and Blood Magic. Necromancy was once known as Biomancy due to the fact that it was specifically designed to work with the body. However it was deemed unnatural and against the flow of life, as such it was forbidden. Blood Magic is the ability to wield ones soul or the soul of others. It is considered a forbidden art." The Necromancer said calmly.
"If you accept out teachings you will be labeled a monster, you will be despised and feared, is this the path you will take?" The mage asked
Twilight nodded. "When I accepted this path I choose to learn all that you and the other elements would offer me I will not refuse simply because what I will be labeled. Knowledge is neither good or evil it simply is.
The two nodded. "You are ready, know now that like with Laughter and Sorrow their will be no final test, you will either learn this or you won't." Mage said.
"Let us begin." Necro said.
Time dilation for Equus: 4 months, 08 days
Total duration for Changeling War: 1 year 6 months, 4 days
Celestia stood on the balcony watching Canterlot, at her side Luna stood a sad look on her face as she watched the many races gather. "It's almost time sister." She said sadly
Celestia said nothing, she didn't move or act as if she heard Luna.
Luna sighed. "Sister, you can't simply ignore this any more, you gathered them now you need to fight."
"I didn't gather them Luna, Twilight did." Celestia said. "It was Twilight's death that united them all. Reports are coming in from across the country of races joining together and fighting. My ponies battle to avenge her all because I believed she and the other element bearers were safe. I let my guard down for one moment and I lose those I love."
"you surely had at least some guards watching her?" Luna asked.
Celestia shook her head. "I was an arrogant fool, forces that long ago you and I would have faced I sent children against while I sit in this palace and eat cake."
Celestia chuckled as tears fell from her face. "I believed that Twilight was ready and perhaps she was, given time we would have seen." Celestia looked to the sky. "But that's time she will never have."
Luna walked over and pulled her sister into a hug. "Twilight was and amazing person. She forged alliances and friendships that have stood even in death. Look around sister because of her all the races have united from the Dragons to the griffons. Twilight may be gone but she will be with us forever within our hearts and in the alliance she helped forge. I think she would be both humbled and proud to see what she accomplished in life to come to."
The sisters sat together in silence only broken by Celestias crying however even that soon stopped as she fell asleep. The sound of hoof steps drew the lunar princesses attention to the doors where the the remainder of the main 6 as well as the commanders and leaders stood. Luna rose and approached them.
"Thank you all for coming."
"It was nothing Princess." Rarity said with a smile as she bowed. Rarity wore pristine white armor that covered her form completely, at the center of her breastplate a red fire ruby carved into a heart was embedded.
"Well look at you." Applejack whistled. Applejack wore the dusty long coat, a red bandanna was tied around her neck and atop her head was her ever present stetson.
At her side walked the chieftain of the buffalo, Chief Thunderhooves. The chief bowed to Luna before returning to support Applejack.
"Darling, it is good to see you!" Rarity said with a smile as she walked over to Applejack and gave her a hug.
Applejack winced at the hug. "Careful Rares I still ain't fully healed."
Pinkie giggled as she walked in and saw Rarity. "You look silly." She said. The pink ponies mane had poofed up a bit since the Battle of Dodge City, she wore light armor, really it was just a chest plate. Strapped across her chest and hanging at her belt were hundreds of knives.
Beside her was a Dragon as black as obsidian. He wore tight fitting armor and a crimson cape identifying him as the dragons commander, at his side two swords were sheathed. As he entered he turned and bowed to the Dragon Lord and turned standing beside him.
The next to enter was Fluttershy and Discord. In her arms was a baby with a purple and whit mane. Fluttershy wore leather jacket with green armor. A green cloak with a hood was wrapped around her and on her back was a bow that seemed to be made of intertwining tree roots.
"It is good to see you Fluttershy." Luna said as she approached the mare.
Fluttershy smiled. "Hello Princess, how have you been?" She asked.
Luna sighed. "I could be better. Who is the young one?" Luna asked.
"This is Screwball." Fluttershy said with a smile.
"Gotta say Shy you and Discord made one damn cute kid." Rainbow said as she entered the room. "Sorry I couldn't be there to see her sooner."
"Oh, I'm sure you were busy Rainbow." Fluttershy said.
"Indeed, busy summoning hurricanes and becoming lightning to slaughter changeling!" King Raven Claw laughed as he approached the group. "Heard some of the troops giving her the nickname Commander Blitz."
The group laughed at the comment as Rainbow turned to others. "While on the subjects of nicknames I heard you got the name the White General as yours, How'd you do that Rarity?" She asked.
Rarity shrugged. "I simply assisted in the defense of Baltimare and Fillydelphia. When the Changelings attacked General Stone Wall was killed and passed command of the operation to me despite the fact that I had no military training. I've simply done the best I can and kept the soldiers alive as best I can."
"That's all it takes Rarity." Luna said with a smile. "Trust and friendship forged in battle is stronger than blood. You fought beside those men, laid your life on the line to defend them and in turn they will fight to the end for you."
"If you all want to compare nicknames then Commander Pies will stand above you all!" The dragon said proudly. "She is known as the Phantom Blade do to the fact that in battle none see her blades move they are simply there."
The group talked and reminisced till the time to set the sun came. As the sun fell the group bud fair well till the meeting the next day.
The next day the group sat at a long table, around it sat not only the remaining main 6 but also all the leaders of the many races at the head Celestia and Luna stood discussing the coming battle.
Location: Zecoras Hut - Everfree Forest
Chrysalis smashed the door to the hut open and stepped through, behind her several changelings followed.
"Find it." She hissed at them.
The changelings jumped and ran around searching through everything. Finally one of then spited the case containing what they came here for it grabbed the box and ran over to the Queen.
Chrysalis looked down and smiled. In the hands of the changeling was an open box containing an amulet with a red gem. Chrysalis reached for the artifact and carefully examined it. when she was satisfied she slowly placed it around her neck. The moment the amulet was secured her eyes changed to a deep crimson. Chrysalis laughed as power filled her.
"This is what I needed." She hissed before turning to the changelings. "Gather the swarm, we strike Canterlot."
Time dilation for the Void: 2499 years, 11 months, 30 days
Total duration Equestrian time that Twilight has been in Void: 1 year 6 months, 4 days
Deep with in the void Twilight sat in meditation. She had changed quiet a bit the past five hundred years. She now stood as tall as Celestia and her hair now appeared as if it were alive shifting through the colors of dusk and dawn as it floated in a ethereal breeze. her wings tips were now a deep purple that faded the higher it went. Twilight slowly opened her eyes and rose her body had matured and was well defined. She slowly began to walk her steps holding a natural grace to them that had been honed in the two millennia she had resided in the void. Slowly she approached Necro and Mage. When they turned to her she bowed.
"Masters, it is time I leave and go for my final training, thank you for your lessons." She said.
"You will be meeting Loyalty and Betrayal." Necro said. "I wish you luck."
"Loyalty and betrayal are master warrior, I have no doubt that they will sharpen your senses and hone your skills to an even finer edge. I all honesty They were the leaders of us when we were alive, there skills rival that of all the other Elements combined." Mage said. "I wish you luck and skill."
"Thank you master and farewell." Twilight said as she headed for the final realm of the Void, The Realm of Shadow. |
Returning Home | Chapter 7 - The Fall of Canterlot - Part 1 | Twilight calmly walked through the Realm of Shadow. Like all the other realms, the Realm of Shadow was unique in the terrain and seemed to be a separate world from the void. This realm consisted of an endless world of eternal night, the ground was littered with thousands of bio-luminescent plants and trees while the sky shone with thousands of stars. While there was no moon in the sky the stars provided plenty of light. As she walked she spotted a large temple like structure and turned to approach it, as she neared she saw that it was in fact a shrine. At the entrance stood two statues, on the right was one of Betrayal in his Berzerker armor a large broadsword clasped in his hands while on the left a statue of Loyalty in his knights armor a Katana was grasped in his hands.
Twilight took a deep breath and stepped into the shrine. At the center Loyalty and Betrayal sat opposite to each other. Like when they first met the two were in meditation, Twilight approached and sat down joining them. After a time Twilight sensed movement and opened her eyes to see the two watching her.
Twilight blushed and bowed her head. "Forgive the intrusion Masters, I was unsure when you would be done, I hope I haven't disturbed you."
"No, it's quite alright Twilight." Loyalty said.
"You did not disturb us." Betrayal said as he rose and walked around Twilight examining her. "I see you have completed your training under the other Elements you have become a fine warrior." He said proudly.
"I have come to train under you masters." Twilight said calmly as she rose and bowed.
"Unlike the other Elements where you learned from them both together you will be learning from us separately." Loyalty said. "I will be teaching you the finer points of sword work and battle, after that Betrayal will teach you."
"What will I learn from Betrayal?" Twilight asked.
"I will be teaching you the Path of the Betrayer." Betrayal replied. "Do you know what a Berserker is Twilight?"
"A Berserker is a type of warrior class." Twilight answered. "According to legends Berserker were objects of fear not only to their enemies but they say they could also be a danger to their allies as well. They fought as if they were animals but the reason they were seen as a danger was because they killed all around them, whether they were friend or foe."
Betrayal nodded. "This is why I was branded as the bearer of Betrayal, I was a Berzerker. In life I was known as, Guts.
Time dilation for Equus: 3 days
Total duration for Changeling War: 1 year 6 months, 1 week
Celestia stood at the balcony watching the changelings approach, at the lead flew Chrysalis however she had changed. Her carapace was cracked and large bone spikes were ripping through it and her single eye glowed red. Around her neck hung the cause of her transformation, the Alicorn Amulet.
Celestia sighed and turned to her sister. "With Chrysalis wearing the amulet I fear our chances of winning this battle has decreased significantly."
"The alicorn Amulet, forged from Mythril by the ancient Dwarfs it was deemed far to dangerous for anyone pony to wield. In fear of its use they tuned to our Mother who locked it away. How did Chrysalis acquire it?" Luna asked concern showing on her face.
"Twilight sent me a letter about a show mare using it, where she got it we didn't know but it was given to Zecora for safe keeping after Twilight removed it from the mare." Celestia sighed.
"So Chrysalis stole it from Zecora's home." Luna said with a sigh and turned leaving the balcony. "Sister, Chrysalis has long since sealed her fate but this must be the final battle."
Celestia turned and the two left the balcony heading for the armory as they walked they saw the guard running around preparing for the coming battle. Many had not seen action yet and would probably die within the first moments of battle. When the war had begun the nobles sent there children to enlist so that they may gain glory and have bragging rights unfortunately the children had no idea what they were doing and had failed at even the most basic of tasks. The only reason they even made it through basic training was due to there wealth and the instructors desire to have nothing to do with them. As a result they were undisciplined and a disgrace to the Royal Guard. It had gotten so bad that they had been given the nickname, the brat brigade.
Celestia smiled. "You know one good thing may come from this."
"Oh, what's that sister?" Luna asked an amused smile on her face.
"I'll finally be rid of most of the nobles. With them gone we can place ponies like the bearers as nobles. Maybe then we will be able to get something done around here." Celestia said.
Luna laughed as they entered the armory though it quickly died out as she saw her armor.
Long ago, back when Equestia was young there had been many evils that the sisters had battled against. It was also during this time that they had earned the names Nightmare and Daybreaker. The names were given to them by there troops in battle. It was said that when the Nightmare rode into battle the shadows themselves would rise to aid her in battle and when the Daybreaker rose the enemies of Equestria were burned to ash by simply looking at her.
The alicorn sisters had been ruthless in those days to the point that there vary appearance struck fear into the enemies troops. However that had been a much different time and it was believed that those stories were just legends to make the princesses seem more powerful.
"Are you sure you wish to do this sister?" Luna asked. "It was you who wished to bury those personas, are you sure you wish to bring them back?"
Celestia didn't say any thing.
Luna turned to Celestia. "If we do this then we are confirming the legends of old, our ponies will never look upon us the same. Are you truly sure you wish to return to this path."
Celestia turned to look at her sister. "We swore to leave them until they were needed again. Look around Luna, Changelings are at our doors, the Elements of Harmony are broken and an alicorn lies dead!" Celestia yelled angrily. "Chrysalis has come to far and crossed the forbidden line. Now she wears the Alicorn Amulet, an artifact that even Mother could not destroy only lock away because it's so powerful! If there ever was a time that we are needed it is now."
Celestia stepped forward and grabbed the breastplate of the armor as her main and tail caught fire. She turned to Luna revealing her eves had changed to draconic slits. "She has taken one who was a daughter from me, I will see her pay." She growled as she attached the armor to herself, her fur lightening and taking on an orange red shade.
Luna sighed and stepped forward as her eyes silted and her fur darkened to a deep back. "If this is the path you choose then so be it, I will stand at your side sister."
Several moments later the two stepped out of the armory and made their way to the throne room around them the guards began to shake fear clear on their faces.
For the first time in over a thousand years Daybreaker and Nightmare had been released.
Chrysalis flew in front of the swarm a maniacal smile on her face. "As soon as you touch down begin slaughtering the populace, I want every scrap of love these worms have. I will deal with the Princesses and anyone else myself." She said.
The swarm approached Canterlot and a massive wave blasted from the city. Chrysalis raised her hand and a red shield appeared around herself. The swarm scattered and dove for the city, as they landed the ponies ran screaming as they were slaughtered and drained of there love. Chrysalis smiled and walked toward the gates of the castle. as she approached the guards raised their weapons and fired upon the Queen.
Chrysalis smiled and charged forward drawing her blade, the Guards screams were cut short as they were cut down. Chrysalis summoned a ball of energy and blasted the gates open, as she walked in guards charged their spears pointed at her. Chrysalis rolled her eyes and launched a wave of fire at them burning them to ash.
As she entered the Castle guards continued to attack but were quickly being dispatched, at last she approached the throne room. Before it stood two guards but they were different. Their armor was a full plate rather than a simple chain-mail suit and a chest plate. In their hands were heavy broadswords.
"I assume you are different?" The Queen asked.
The guards charged forward and Chrysalis sighed before firing a wave of fire at them. One of the Guards raised his sword and slashed sending a wave of air from the blade cutting the wave of fire in half. The second Guard leaped over the fire and swung his sword downward forcing Chrysalis to block the blade. As she blocked the guard the other charged forward and thrust his blade in to chrysalis. However instead of it piercing her the blade was stopped. Chrysalis smiled and threw the guard she blocked away sending him into a wall and killing him, she then grabbed the other guard by the neck. The guard began to chock and dropped his sword. Chrysalis grabbed the blade and raised it to his stomach. The guards eyes widened as she thrust the blade into him before throwing them aside.
Chrysalis smiled and turned to the throne room doors and slowly sauntered up to them before raising her left foot and kicking them open.
Time dilation for the Void: 2999 years, 11 months, 30 days
Total duration Equestrian time that Twilight has been in Void: 1 year 6 months, 1 week
Twilight stood before Loyalty there swords raised as they circled each other. Loyalty charged delivering quick blows as Twilight parried them, from behind him shards of black crystal launched forcing him to dodge quickly to the side. Twilight snapped her fingered and quickly a sword fish shot at him, Loyalty parried the fish as it fought and Twilight quickly jumped backwards.
The moment her feet touched the ground the earth erupted and seven golems formed and charged the warrior. Loyalty extended his wings and charged using the feathery appendages to slice through the stone being or blocking there blows as he cut down the last golem Twilight teleported behind him and slashed her blade. Loyalty blocked the blow with his wings though the force pushed him back. Twilight pressed the attack and summoned several blades of light that fired at him sending him spiraling back, she them stomped her foot and impaled him with several crystals that shot from the ground.
Loyalty grunted and twisted his body breaking off the crystals and charging at Twilight who simply stood and watched, as he drew closer Twilight tensed and when he was right on top of her she launched herself into the air before delivering an ax kick to his head. Loyalty fell to the ground knocked out.
Several hours later Loyalty groaned and turned to Twilight. "Gotta say, I haven't been beaten that bad since I was training."
Twilight smiled and blushed. "You trained me master."
Loyalty laughed. "Your to modest Twilight. A great warrior, scholar, beautiful, modest, kind, while also being royalty and the best politician I've ever met, if you don't attract someone within the first month of your return I will personally forge a suit of armor and eat it."
The two shared a laugh before Loyalty turned serous. "Well I don't have to say whether you passed or not do I?" He asked. "I mean it should be a given."
"So she is ready for my lesson." Betrayal said as he approached them.
Loyalty nodded.
Betrayal sighed. "Twilight my lesson has already been taught."
Twilight stared at him confused. "What?"
"The path of a Berserker is actually a lot simpler than you think." Betrayal explained. "You simply need need to be trained as a warrior and then you need a suit of Berserker Armor. Berserker Armor was forged by Dwarfs long ago. At one time there were many suits but over the ages they were either lost or destroyed. The only one that remains is mine."
"Why were they destroyed?" Twilight asked.
"The armor is cursed." Betrayal replied. "Berserker Armor is infused with a flow of pure blood lust, any who synchronize with this terrible flow of power with in becomes unstoppable, the wearers passions that become so strong that the wearer ceases to feel pain or fear. Living beings unconsciously limit there strength to protect themselves, pain is a warning to keep the body from destroying itself however with out pain beings become incredibly strong and agile, they surpass the bodies limitations endangering there lives."
"So it represses pain and fear by using the wearers blood lust making them battle as an animal the longer they wear it?"
Betrayal nodded. "Yes but that is only a fraction of its power. The armor and the wearer have a symbiotic relationship. The wearer provides it with power from their blood lust and rage while the armor protects the wearer. However the armor often goes to far. It the wearer is injured in battle and can no longer move the armor will embed itself into the wearer and set the limbs back while also moving them for the wearer."
Twilight's eyes widened in understanding. "The armor doesn't heal the wearer though does it?"
"No." Betrayal said.
"Then that means that the armor will make the user fight till they die." Twilight said.
"The armor is powerful but dangerous." Betrayal explained. "That is why your lessons will be with the armor not necessarily me. I will be teaching you how to use it and also how to prevent it from controlling you. Though you have an advantage over any of its other users."
"What advantage?" Twilight asked.
"You're immortal. The armor is alive and it eventually grows attached to the user. While I can no longer use it, it still cares about me. Since you're immortal you are not only near impossible to kill you but you and the armor will be bound till death and since you cant die by natural means then the armor will be with you forever as a constant companion."
"How did I die if I am immortal?" Twilight asked.
"I can answer that." Loyalty said. "When an Alicorn first gains their power they don't immediately become immortal, in fact when they first come to be they are weak and can be easily killed. Chrysalis took advantage of this to kill you."
"Come with me Twilight it's time you take up the armor of a Berserker." Betrayal said as he walked into the shrine, Twilight hesitated for a moment before following. Betrayal lead Twilight to the armory and opened the door. As Twilight stepped in to the room she saw that the only thing inside was a suit of armor made from many plates, the helmet was fashioned into a wolves face and the eyes were shaped like a Z.
"Twilight this is the Berserker Armor, Berserker Armor this is Twilight Sparkle. As I can no longer wear you I feel it is time I pass you on to the next." Betrayal said as he looked at the armor. "Thank you for all you have done for me old friend, I will never forget you."
Once he finished he turned to Twilight and smiled. "I will leave you to get acquainted." He said and exited the room.
Twilight looked at the armor for a time before taking a deep breath and approaching it, slowly she reached out but before she was able to touch it the armor moved on its own and grabbed her arm. Twilight froze in fear as the armor seemed to melt and slowly crawled up her arm. Twilight screamed and tried to pull away but the armor held her in place as it covered her. The armor slowly covered her and her eyes widened in fear as the helmet covered her and locked her in place.
Twilight froze as she came face to face with a large black wolf. "So you are the one my former master spoke of." It said.
"Who-what are you?!" Twilight asked as she backed up.
your
"I am the Armor." The wolf said as it paced around her. "I am the physical manifestation of your fear, your hate and your desire." It said as it approached her.
Calmly the wolf looked over her before chuckling. "We will get along well you and I, such potential. I accept you as my master." It said before rushing at her. Twilight screamed as the wolf covered her and the world went black.
As Twilight awoke the scent of blood filled he nose and she coughed before looking around. The first thing she noticed was that she was restrained by thick chains that bound her arms to her sides. Twilight flexed the chains testing there strength.
"Finaly awake?" Betrayal asked.
Twilight turned to see him sitting on a large stone.
"What happened?" She asked.
"When the armor bonds with it's new host it activates. Fortunately we were able to restrain you till you came to.
"The armor accepted me?" She asked
Betrayal nodded and walked toward her. "Now to train you to properly use the armor. |
Returning Home | Chapter 7 - The Fall of Canterlot - Part 2 | Twilight sat before Betrayal as he paced before her. "It's time you learn the full extent who you are as an Alicorn." He said as he stopped pacing and stood in front of her.
"All Alicorn have two sides there is their base side and their dark side, these sides have been given the names Angelic and Demonic ironically it's rather fitting." Betrayal explained. "The Angelic side if the base form of all Alicorns."
"So I'm in my Angelic form right now?" Twilight asked.
Betrayal nodded. "Oddly enough we couldn't sense your demonic side when you first came her but when you linked with the armor it seemed to unlock. Celestia and Luna locked their Demonic forms away but it had severe repercussions. The entity Nightmare Moon was born from Luna and Celestia became highly unbalanced to the point that anything that isn't Order she deems 'evil'."
"If I am to take the role as the Alicorn of Harmony I must be as balanced as possible." Twilight said. "From what you have said the Demonic side is its own being, a separate personality in a sense."
"That is correct." Betrayal nodded. "When the Armor linked with you It became your Demonic side. While Celestia and Luna would teach you to control it that only leads to the two sides in conflict. I however am going to teach you how to coexist with it."
Betrayal raised his hand and a black aura surrounded Twilight. Twilight screamed as she felt her self being ripped in two, suddenly the pain stopped and she gasped for breath. The sound of another gasping drew her attention and she froze. Floating beside her was a mare held in the same dark aura that held her.
The mare looked almost exactly like her. She had the same build as Twilight but her main appeared as if it were black fog, her wings were draconic and her fur was a dark violet almost black. The figure groaned as her opened revealing them to be a deep violet though what caught her attention was the dagonic slits in them that glowed red.
"That hurt." The mare groaned.
"Who is she?" Twilight asked shocked.
"I'm you, well not exactly you, I'm the darker version of you. We already met though remember?" The mare asked with a giggle.
Twilight's eyes widened. "The wolf that I met, your the Berserker Armor!" She exclaimed.
The mare giggled. "Call me Dawn Flame, better than Armor or Berserker or something like that. You know I've existed for almost four thousand years and I've never had a name, guess this will be a new experience over all."
"You can figure it all out later." Betrayal said as he turned to Twilight. "The spell I used removed all darkness from you now you are purely order while she is purely Chaos. You will train together and learn to coexist. Now come." Betrayal sat the two down and turned walking away.
Dawn Flame tried to stand but stumbled and fell after trying again and falling she growled angrily. "Damn it how do you stand!" She asked.
Twilight walked over to the fallen mare and warped an arm around her to support her. "Come on lets keep up with him." She said.
Dawn nodded and they started after Betrayal, they walked for a while Dawn slowly leaning on Twilight less and less. By the time Betrayal stopped Dawn was walking on her own.
They had reached a small dock and Betrayal slowly boarded a small row boat. "Get on." He said and the two mare boarded the boat.
Slowly he began to pull away from the dock and they slowly disappeared into the lakes fog. Betrayal steered the boat to a island that seemed to be in the center of the lake.
"Is that were we are going old friend?" Dawn asked.
Betrayal nodded and continued to pilot the boat to the island when they landed the group disembarked and Betrayal approached them.
"Why are we here?" Twilight asked.
"This island is home to thousands of monsters that are a challenge even for me and Loyalty, you two will train here. You will remain here and survive for three hundred years."
"What!" The two mare cried in shock.
"Dawn you must learn to work with Twilight as well and live as your own being." He said as he turned to Twilight. "Twilight when I was a mortal, even before I as given the Berserker armor, I was able to challenge the gods themselves and I was in my late twenties. You must gain this strength as well and also train Dawn."
"I see, So this is my true test." Twilight said with a smile. "I can still use the berserker armor but it will be weakened, you want me to learn how to use the armor without falling to its temptation and also teach Dawn all I know. When the training is done you will remerge us and them we will learn how to battle together as a single entity."
"When three hundred years has passed use this scroll, it contains the counter spell." Betrayal said as he pulled a scroll from his pocket and handed it to Twilight. "Once this is done you will train for another hundred years here as a single person, when that time is up you will forge your own blade made from the power you posses and learn to wield it. One year before you return are to return to Equestria I will return and take you from this island so that you may rest and prepare." Betrayal turned and walked back to the boat pushing it off and jumped on. "I wish you luck!" He called out as the boat slowly drifted into the fog.
Twilight sighed. "Come on Let's go find a place to call home." She said as she turned to Dawn.
499 years later
Betrayal slowly rowed the boat to the island as he neared he saw a mare in Berserker armor. She stood calmly her wings folded back and a small pack next to her. on her back was a sword. the sword was as large as his Dragon Slayer but rather than it being a single blade the sword was forged to be a double helix and the two blades glowed with power. As the boat landed he approached the mare who walked toward him.
"Good to see you Twilight." Betrayal said.
Twilight nodded and drew the blade. "I assume you want to see it."
Betrayal nodded and took the blade. "Forged from?" He asked.
"Adamantine and Mythril." Twilight replied.
"Powers?" He asked.
"Each of the two blades was forged with order and chaos magic absorbed onto it. It can cast a room into total darkness and light, it came be used as a light source as it glows in darkness as well. It can harm beings from both the mortal plain and spiritual plan due to the amount of demonic blood I've spilled with it. It can sever time and space, cut reality in half, open portals, fire elemental blasts, is enchanted to never dull and remain sharp forever, and can be divided into two blades." Twilight answered.
Betrayal turned to look at her. "It can split?"
Twilight nodded.
Betrayal handed the blade to her. "Show me."
Twilight smiled and pulled the sword apart leaving a sword in each of her hands. The swords blades were still curved though they shrunk slightly. "Well balanced, the blades are an opposite of each other.
Betrayal nodded. "Your ready to return, pack what ever you wish to take. In one year you will be returning to Equestria."
Celestia and Luna sat upon their thrones watching the invasion, even from the palace they saw the large explosions caused by the clashing of Changelings and the Bearers as well as their fellow monarchs. Suddenly the throne room doors burst open and Chrysalis stood walked in, the sisters turned from the windows and gazed at the Changeling Queen, her twisted form barely recognizable.
"Hello Chrysalis." Celestia said as he examined the Queen. "It seems the amulet has finally corrupted you to the point where there is nothing left."
The Queen laughed. "I'm going to enjoy this. Soon I will become a goddess, power beyond even you awaits me. A shame that Twilight had to die, she would have made a lovely meal and perhaps with the power I'd have gained I would not have had to resort to such a methods but you got in the way."
Celestia growled as her halberd flew to her hand. "You took one who was a daughter from me, I will see you rot in the deepest pits of Tartarus!" She roared as she charged.
The Queen drew her sword and blocked the attack. "I will consume you power and skull fuck your corpse." She said as a sadistic smile crossed her face.
"You may try but you will fail, just as all the others have." Celestia hissed as she launched a wave of fire at the Queen. Chrysalis blocked the attack only to be blindsided by Luna.
"Surprise bitch!" Luan yelled as a beam of ice fired from her open hand.
Chrysalis dodged the beam and leaped at Luna. Luna dodge the Queen as a rapier appears in her hand. Celestia teleported before the Queen and swing the halberd. Chrysalis blocked the attack and flipped over the enraged princess.
Suddenly one of the windows exploded and a rainbow maned Pegasus flew at the Queen slashing with her blade. The Queen blocked the attack only to be grabbed by a dragon and slammed into the ground. Chrysalis growled and rose glaring at the group before her before a pink and brown blur slammed into from behind. Chrysalis gasped and was thrown away as a orange mare walked forward and fired her shotgun at her. Chrysalis raised her shield preventing the blast from injuring her though she was knocked back and an arrow pierced through her shield and struck her shoulder.
"This is for General Stone Wall!" A voice cried as a mare in white armor screamed and slammed a war-hammed into the shield shattering it.
Chrysalis groaned as she roes and glared at the group.
Celestia and Luna stood at the front surrounded by the Element bearers, Dragon Lord, Griffon King and Discord.
(Play this)
"So you're all are here, good." She said with a smile as she rose and began to laugh Finally I don't have to hold back. The amulet glowed brightly as her form began to change. "This body was falling apart and wouldn't have lasted much longer but now I may complete the metamorphosis!" She laughed before her body exploded.
The group gasped in shock as the Queen slowly unfurled her wings revealing her body as green energy surrounded her new form.
"At last I will be a Goddess, at last I will be rid of you filth!" She laughed as she glared to the group.
Fluttershy fired a volley of arrows at the Queen but they bounced off her carapace. The Queen glared at her before picking up one of the arrow and with in the blink of an eye she was before the mare. Fluttershy's eyes widened as the Queen drove the arrow into her stomach. Discord roared and charged the Queen as she turned and impaled him on the chest. Discord stumbled back gasping before sinking to his knees. Slowly he reached for Fluttershy before falling over.
Applejack quickly drew her pistols and fired at Queen but the bullets were blocked by the queens wings. Chrysalis turned and approached her as Pinkie charged and was impaled by a wing. As Pinkie fell Obsidian roared and charged Dragon Lord Inferno at his side. The dragons racked their claws against the queen carapace not even scratching it. The Queen stopped her advance on applejack before smiling and driving her hands through the their chests. The dragons eyes widened in shock as they looked down at the hand.
Chrysalis turned and walked away as the dragons fell. As she neared Applejack the farmer drew her shotgun, the queen smiled and a wing shot forward embedding itself in the farm mare. Applejack smiled and fired it into the queens face before going limp. The Queen screamed as the blast impacted and blood oozing out.
Rarity screamed and charged, Rainbow behind her. The queen spun around and slammed her foot into rarity as she summoned her magic and grabbed her slamming her into a wall, she then grabbed Rainbow and flung her into the wall next to her.
She then turned to the Griffon King and the Princesses. This is the end of the line for you." She said as she approached them.
Luna and Celestia charged their weapons raised but chrysalis simply raised her arm and they froze in place. She then flung them backwards causing the to slam into their thrones.
The Griffon King growled and drew his blade. "I will not run, I will not retreat, I will fight and die just as my allies have." He said calmly
"Oh they're not dead, yet." Chrysalis said with a smile. "I want them to watch as all they fought for is destroyed, as they watch their precious ponies are slaughtered like the cattle they are and as I take my place as the Goddess of this world." She smiled as she stepped forward only to have a blade of light pierce through her chest.
Chrysalis stared uncomprehendingly at the blade as it faded leaving a hole in her chest. Slowly she turned to see a mare in armor made from hundreds of interlinking plates with a helmet that was fashioned to look like a wolf. The mare stood as tall as Celestia and her mane and tail appeared as if it were alive shifting through the colors of dusk and dawn as it floated in a ethereal breeze. Her wings were outstretched there tips were a deep purple that faded the higher it went.
In her hand was a weapon though it was to large to be called a sword as it was the size of her, the weapons blade was a double helix with one of the blades glowing a light violet while the other glowed a deep purple almost black. slowly the helmet pulled back on its own revealing the face of a mare with purple fur and violet eyes.
Everyone in the room stared in shock at the mare before them as the walked forward slowly her steps holding a natural grace to them that made her appear seductive while also deadly. The mare slowly approached the Queen her eyes not once leaving her. As she neared the Queen began shacking in fear her eyes wide and glued to the approaching mare.
Celestias Eyes widened as she finally focused on the figure.
"Twilight." Luna gasped in shock. |
Returning Home | Chapter 8 - The Bloody Valkyrie | The Void, a place of nonexistence between the realms of Life and Death. The void was constructed like a mountain divided up into six realms each under the control of two of the original bearers/creators of the artifacts known as the Elements of Harmony.
The first realm was controlled by Honesty and Deception and was known as the Realm of Earth. The Realm of Earth was an endless desert covered in barren sand, stone mountains and gorges. Those who walked it would find themselves parched of thirst and suffer from the great heat.
The second was ruled by Generosity and Greed and was named the Realm of Crystal. The Realm of Crystal was a world of ice and snow that underneath was a labyrinth that was made of crystal. Those who entered would be lost forever in the endless maze.
After navigating the maze one would enter the Realm of Chaos which was controlled by Laughter and Sorrow. The Realm of Chaos was a maddening world where everything held a logical reaction while also being completely illogical. As a result it often drove any who entered mad for a few thousand years.
Were one to survive the Realm of Chaos and not go mad the traveler would be greeted with the the realm controlled by Kindness and Cruelty, the Realm of Fire. The Realm of Fire was a realm where fire engulfed everything, the land was volcanic and the rivers were that of lava. The heat was intolerable and any cloths one wore would burn away from the ash and fire that permeated the air.
Those who lived through the fiery depths would reach the Realm of Magic controlled by the twin magicians, Magic and Necromancy. Their realm similar to the void in many ways, it was a was vast and empty, the senses were muted and the world was quiet. The Realm of Magic was a place of peace and meditation, a place to reflect upon ones path in life and the choices they'd made thus far.
Once the traveler passed through they would come to the 'summit of the mountain' that made up the Void and enter the final realm, the Realm of Shadow. The Realm of shadow was controlled by Loyalty and Betrayal and was an endless world of eternal night The ground was littered with thousands of bio-luminescent plants and trees while the sky shone with thousands of stars. While there was no moon in the sky the stars provided plenty of light. Unlike the other realms, the Realm of Shadow had many structures and creatures that prayed on the unaware. It was a dangerous place.
Deep within the Void at the tip of the 'summit' a mare sat in deep meditation. The mare had live with in this void between life and death for almost three thousand five hundred years. She had trained and learned from each of the Elements and now stood preparing for the final journey. The mares name was Twilight Sparkle, the Alicorn of Harmony.
Slowly the Alicorn opened her eyes to see all twelve beings standing before her, slowly rose to and knelt to the figures. "I assume it is time I leave?" She asked.
"It is." Loyalty said sadly. "We will miss you dear friend."
"I will miss you as well." Twilight said a tear fell from her eye.
"Before you go there are things you must know." Magic said.
"Twilight Sparkle, within your world is a place where we are in contact with." Kindness said. "It is an ancient place links to this world. It was here we founded the Harmony Empire."
"The Harmony Empire is an empire that we founded and was welcoming to every race on Equus." Cruelty said.
"For to long the throne of the Empire has been vacant." Loyalty said. "However the time has come for the ruler to take the throne." Loyalty gazed at Twilight with what felt like pride. "Twilight Sparkle, we ask you to take the throne of the Harmony Empire and lead it."
Twilight stood shocked. "I-I don't know what to say." She said slowly before bowing deeper. "Yes, I will take the throne as you have asked."
The group nodded. "Thank you Twilight." Honesty said. "We contacted the Empire a time ago and told them of you and they they asked you to take the throne. We have lead and advised the Empire from afar but due to us being confined here we can do no more. With you ruling them The empire will flourish."
"You should know however the Harmony Empire has a great responsibility. You see when we created the Empire we built its Archives to be vary special." Necromancy said cheekily. "The Harmony Empire contains the largest archive in all of Equus containing every work ever written from fiction to non-fiction. Every story ever written is there even if there is only one copy ever created. The Archives was created specifically to protect all knowledge from being erased permanently"
Twilight gasped at this.
Deception laughed. "Most of the cities citizens are extremely dedicated to seeking knowledge and any information they acquire is recorded and placed in the archives. The Harmony Empire also contains a non bias history meaning that History is written as it was not as it is believed to be."
Loyalty sighed. "As a result The Empire has many enemies who wish to destroy these secrets and prevent the truth coming out. The Empire is vary protective of the knowledge contained with in the archives. If you become their ruler then you will be tasked with forever guarding this archive."
"I accept this task, and will make sure that such knowledge is never destroyed" Twilight said happily.
The ancient beings laughed. "We know you will dear." Generosity said.
"However we also give you a warning Twilight, Celestia has actively steered you away from your destiny as the Alicorn of Harmony." Greed said.
Twilight frowned. "That makes sense, as Harmony it is my duty to keep order and Chaos in check and Equestia is far to orderly, honestly I can see why Discord hates it so much. Celestia would certainly try to prevent me from learning what my true destiny was."
"Why do you say that my student?" Sorrow asked with a smirk.
"Please, you trained me in politics so you already know." Twilight scoffed. "The reason is it goes against everything she has built for Equestria, it also would leave her in a political bind that she couldn't get out of."
Sorrow nodded. "Good."
"Well with that warning it's time you return home, farewell dear friend." Loyalty said.
Each of the beings raised their hands and a beam of light shot from them and hit Twilight. As the last beam hit her she vanished in a white light. The twelve beings watched the place where Twilight stood a sad look on their faces.
"Come on, if we sulk to much we'll miss the show!" Laughter exclaimed causing the others chuckled and nod.
Slowly she turned to see a mare in armor made from hundreds of interlinking plates with a helmet that was fashioned to look like a wolf. The mare stood as tall as Celestia and her mane and tail appeared as if it were alive shifting through the colors of dusk and dawn as it floated in a ethereal breeze. Her wings were outstretched there tips were a deep purple that faded the higher it went.
In her hand was a weapon though it was to large to be called a sword as it was the size of her, the weapons blade was a double helix with one of the blades glowing a light violet while the other glowed a deep purple almost black. slowly the helmet pulled back on its own revealing the face of a mare with purple fur and violet eyes.
Everyone in the room stared in shock at the mare before them as the walked forward slowly her steps holding a natural grace to them that made her appear seductive while also deadly. The mare slowly approached the Queen her eyes not once leaving her. As she neared the Queen began shacking in fear her eyes wide and glued to the approaching mare.
Celestias Eyes widened as she finally focused on the figure.
"Twilight." Luna gasped in shock.
"Impossible, I killed you." Chrysalis growled.
Twilight laughed. "Ya, you did and it hurt like a bitch but guess what cunt muffin, I got a round two something you aren't getting."
The helmet slowly extended and locked in place the eye glowing red. Twilight drew the sword on her back and held it out as Chrysalis screamed and charged. The Queen drew closer approaching Twilight with the intent to run her blade through the Alicorn but at the last second Twilight swung her sword. The slash ripped through the walls and ceiling and flung Chrysalis out of the throne room.
Twilight turned to followed launching her self at the queen who summoned her magic firing beams of it at the Alicorn. Twilight used her blade to block the beams and redirect at the queen hitting her, Chrysalis cried out in pain as she was rocketed into the ground. Twilight came down on top of her the Changeling Queen barely able to role out of the way. Twilight used the momentum to flip over the blade while simultaneously ripping it from the ground delivering a blow that sent a shock wave out.
As the dust settled the onlookers gasped ad the saw the Queen still standing though a deep slash was cut across her torso, green blood gushed out of it as the Queen glared at the Alicorn.
"How? HOW ARE YOU SO STRONG?!" She screamed as she charged the alicorn.
Twilight snapped her fingers and three swordfish fired at her before she summoned a glass of chocolate milk, as the glass hit the ground a chocolate tornado erupted around the queen.
"Three thousand five hundred years of training to kill you, tha'ts how." Twilight growled as the tornado dispersed.
Twilight waved her hand in an arcing motion and seven miniature suns appeared and fired at Chrysalis who charged slashing the suns. As the suns exploded miniaturized black holes opened and ripped the queen apart. Twilight smiled as she charged the queen and thrust her sword into the queens chest.
Chrysalis screamed as the blade was thrust into her and quickly teleported away. As she turned her eye widened as the blade met her head cleaving it in two, her remaining eye popping out and hanging there. The Changeling Queen form gurgled before falling of the blade.
Twilight eyed the dead Queen as she flung the blood off the blade and sheath it on her back. Slowly she knelt down and grabbed the Alicorn Amulet and examining it before squeezing her hand and the shattering it. She then turned away from the body and unfurled her wings before flying back up to the throne room.
As she landed the group in the room stared in shock as helmet retracted around Twilight s faces and the armor sunk into her skin. When it finished Twilight sighed and stretched. "Well that was quick." She sighed. "And here I thought she would actually be a challenge."
Celestia ran over to Twilight and pulled her into a hug as tears ran down her face. Slowly the others realized that Twilight was actually there and approached the mare. Twilight smiled and turned to them.
"Good to see you guys." She said with a smile.
"It would seem that much has happened since you were last with us." Luna said as she approached them.
Twilight chuckled. "You don't know the half of it." She said.
A sudden buzzing from behind them drew there attention and they turned to see thousands of Changelings floating in front of the opening. Slowly a few landed and approached the group.
"What do you want." Celestia asked coldly.
The lead changeling looked at Twilight and then knelt down. "In accordance with the laws of the Hive the one who slays the Queen becomes the Queen. We pledge our Loyalty to you, Twilight Sparkle."
"Oh ya, forgot about that rule." Twilight said as she sighed.
"What!?" The group exclaimed in shock as they stared in shock.
Twilight ignored them and thought. "Ok, do nothing hostile to anyone, right now you need to surrender. I'll explain the situation to the other rulers." Twilight said to the changelings.
The changelings nodded. "As you command our Queen." The Changelings said.
Twilight turned to the group who were staring at her in shock. "Gather the leaders and commanders. This is going to be a long story."
Several Hours later all the leaders stood around the long meeting table. At the head stood Celestia and Luna while the others took there seats. In the corner stood Twilight Sparkle supposedly back from the dead.
Celestia sighed and turned to Twilight. "We are all here."
Twilight nodded and walked to the table. "The first thing I want to know is how long was I gone."
"It's been a little of one an half years." Celestia replied.
Twilight nodded. "This helps me. When I died I was not taken to the underworld, instead I was taken to a place known as the Void. The Void is a realm between the realms of the Living and Dead, it is here that I met the original twelve bearers and the creators of the Elements of Harmony. They offered me a choice, die and move on or Train to be who I really am and take the role as the Alicorn of Harmony. I accepted the later option and have spent the past three thousand five hundred years training. Now I have returned."
"So what was with the Changelings suddenly surrendering?" Cadence asked.
"The Changelings approached us and said that Twilight was there new Queen, she told them to surrender." King Raven said.
As he said this all eyes turned to Twilight.
"In the hive there are two rules. Rule one: The Queen word is law. The Queen is the overriding will of the hive, no changeling can disobey the Queen whether they want to or not. The second rule is that the one who slays the Queen becomes the Queen. As I killed Queen Chrysalis everything she has is mine by right of conquest." Twilight explained.
"So you are to be the ruler of the Changelings." Dragon Lord Inferno said in thought. "Okay."
Everyone stared at him in surprise.
"What?" He asked. "I trust Twilight to not abuse her power and authority and honestly who else would be there leader?" He asked.
The other leaders looked at each other shrugging.
"Your point is made, Inferno." Celestia said.
"While I appreciate the vote of confidence I already have a throne to claim and it is one you can't deny me." Twilight said calmly.
Everyone turned surprised. "And what is that?" The Minotaur chancellor asked.
"The throne of the Harmony Empire." Twilight said calmly as several leaders gasped or fidgeted uncomfortably.
"Twilight I forbid you from even speaking of that place." Celestia growled.
Twilight turned to stair at her and Celestia froze. "You have no right to do such, The Creators of the Elements of Harmony placed me in the position as the Empress if the Harmony Empire. Besides you have little right to order me around after all you have done."
Celestia eyes widened in fear as the others rulers looked on confused except for Discord who growled.
"You knew!" He yelled angrily. "You knew her destiny and attempted to interfere!"
"Auntie what's going on?" Cadence asked "What did you know?"
"Celestia knew I was the Alicorn of Harmony but instead attempted to stall me and change my destiny because of what Harmony is." Twilight said coldly. "Harmony is balance between Order and Chaos. Because of this I would eventually have to interfere with Equestria."
"Why would you have to do this." King Raven asked.
"Equestia has always walked the border between Harmony and Order, sadly however it has gone to far into the later." Zecora sighed "This Is why I was sent her, Chaos has nearly disappeared."
Twilight nodded. "Equestria has fallen out of Harmony, my job is to keep that balance."
"Sister, why do this?" Luna asked concerned.
"I don't need to explain my actions to you or anyone else!" Celestia retorted angrily before turning to Twilight. "It's clear you have gone mad Twilight, since the Elements won't work unless they are together we will have to contain you." She said as he hand glowed and a set of ethereal chains appeared around Twilight.
Twilight sighed and ripped the chains apart as if they were paper. "Celestia I am over three thousand years old while you are only two thousand, I am both older and more powerful than you." She said calmly.
Celestia growled and her halberd appeared in her hand, Twilight sighed again and raised her hand. Magic arced around Celestia creating a cage that imprisoned her. Celestia screamed and slashed at the cage.
"Sister stop!" Luna exclaimed.
"Alicorns have two sides, a Angelic and Demonic. When you and Celestia sealed away your Demonic half you became unbalanced. For you, the unbalance resulted in Nightmare Moon. For Celestia anything that has any evil or isn't perfect she seeks to destroy or contain." Twilight said calmly.
Slowly she approached the screaming alicorn and raised her hand. "The simplest way to stop this is to break the seal." She said as her magic flared and a loud shattering sound occurred.
Celestia froze before fainting. Twilight dispelled the cage and Luna ran over to her sister and hugging her. "Thank you for the help Twilight." She said as she looked up.
Twiight nodded and smiled. "Happy to help."
A sudden knock at the door came and a guard walked in. "Sorry for the intrusion but a group of guards in black armor have arrived. They say they are from the Harmony Empire and are here to greet their new Empress."
Every one turned to Twilight. "Tell them I will be coming soon." She said as she turned to her friends. "Want to come with me to the Harmony Empire?" she asked.
The group looked at each other in shock.
"Sorry Twi but I can't, I still got to take care of the farm." Applejack said.
"Sorry dear but I must see to my troops first however perhaps we will join you at a later time." Rarity said
"I'll go as long as Discord comes." Fluttershy said.
Discord smiled. "I'd gladly come."
Fluttershy smiled and turned to Twilight. "Then I'll go."
"Road trip!" Pinkie cried out excitedly.
"I'll come Twilight. My Loyalty is to you." Rainbow said before turning to Luna. "Princess Luna, I Commander Rainbow Dash resign my Position as Commander of the Pegasus Military."
"Commander Dash, you are honorably discharged, may your Loyalty guide you." Luna said with a smile.
Rainbow saluted and walked to Twilight as Pinkie skipped over and Fluttershy and Discord approached.
Suddenly Fluttershy's eyes widened. "Oh, um, Twilight is it okay if our daughter comes?" Fluttershy asked.
Twilight smiled and nodded. "Yes she can go." Twilight said with a smile.
Twilight then turned to the guard. "Take us to my subjects." She said.
The guard nodded and turned, Twilight walked out of the conference her friends at her side. The next great chapter beginning as she strode confidentially forward a look of determination on her face
Sequel Now out
Rise of the Eternal Empire |
Fallout Equestria: Foreigner | pre | Fortunately for her, even if she was missing the one thing they both had in common, they still loved her for who she was, something she was infinitely grateful for. So many fillies and colts had grown up without knowing who their real parents were, and she was glad to have gotten an opportunity that so many hadn't.
With a final snap of plastic she got her saddlebags squared away, her attention brought back to the present. Turning around to the sitting biped, she waved a hoof.
"Thanks for sharing the apples," she said. "I know you probably can't understand me, and I know we started out a bit rough, but I'd just like to say that this has been interesting." She shot up a quick glance at the darkening sky.
"Its getting to be that time again, and I shouldn't be out after dark. Neither should you." With that, she began to walk away, scooping up her discarded pistol as she headed toward the quarry exit.
That was interesting, she mused to herself as she steered herself around a large mass of machinery. In truth, she sort of wished that she could linger a bit longer with the strange being, but the fact that she couldn't understand a thing it said made sticking around with it more trouble than it worth.
Still, at least she had done her good deed for the day. She didn't even have to shoot anypony in the process! Her muzzle formed into a soft smile at the thought at the minimal amount of violence that had occurred during the day, as opposed to the usual avoidance of traps and snipers. With the soft beat of her hooves against the dirt to keep her company, she continued forward.
A short, piercing whistle brought her to a halt, her ears perking up at the noise. Looking behind her for the source of the noise she saw the tall form of the biped fast approaching, the straps of its saddlebag hitched over its shoulders once again.
She waited for it to catch up, her lips curling into a frown as she noticed that the creature's thigh holster was no longer empty. Admittedly, she realized that the entire fight that had happened earlier had probably been a mistake, but the fact of the matter was that seeing the weapon that could have ended her life once more in hoof's reach was upsetting. Nervously tearing her gaze away from the sidearm, her large eyes met with the two-legged creature's much smaller eyes.
"Sorry pal, but I don't understand a word you're saying. That may make things a tad hard, if you know what I mean," she said bluntly.
The bipedal being probably didn't understand a word of what she said, but it seemed to have figured out what she was meaning. It made a motion of looking around the quarry, and then scratching its head before giving a dramatic shrug.
"No idea where you are, huh?" She began to feel a sense of dread beginning to build up inside of her at what she was about to say. "Well... I guess you can tag along, at least until you find your bearings."
The creature's brow furrowed as she said that, as though trying to figure out what she had meant. She had hoped by its seeming understanding of what she had said earlier that this would have been easier, but instead the opposite appeared to be true instead. Lifting a hoof to her head to soothe the headache that was beginning to set in, she let out an annoyed sigh, her knotted auburn tail swishing back and forth behind her in agitation. She was going to have to be really direct when it came to communicating with this thing, wasn't she?
Removing the hoof from her head, she lifted it up and made a beckoning motion for the being to follow her. It seemed to have understood that, something for which she was eternally thankful for. With a single, jerking nod it sidled up beside her, making it suddenly more apparent at the size difference between the two of them; she only came up to its waist.
Lifting its arm forward in a 'lead on' gesture toward the dirt slope that made up the quarry exit, it waited for her to move ahead so that it could follow.
Raising her eyes toward clouds stained pink by the sunset, Finders Keepers let out a silent prayer for whoever would listen to her to make things easier from there on out. Dropping her gaze back down to earth she began trotting ahead, gesturing for the biped to follow.
Just what have I gotten myself into... |
Fallout Equestria: Foreigner | Chapter 2: Bringing the House Down | With a low groan, Kiako opened up his pale blue eyes, brought a naked hand to his face and rubbed out the grit that had accumulated at the corners of his eyes during the night. His side ached from where he had lain on his side, the dusty tiles of the floor no substitute for soft bedding. Body still stiff from the night, he peeled the thin wool blanket off of himself, letting it fall in a crumpled heap beside him.
The man got onto his hands and knees after rolling onto his stomach, slowly getting up off of the floor with as much care as he could. As he stood up, he could feel the uncomfortable dampness of sweat around his neckline, the cloth of his jumpsuit adhering to his skin. With a muted groan he wiggled a finger to peel away the thick mesoprene fabric that, while very helpful for protection, was not the best when it came to leisure wear.
Minor discomfort out of the way, at least for the moment, he began to work out the kinks that had built up in his muscles. The soft rattle of armor could be heard as he twisted and stretched, the result of him loosening the straps of the various bits and pieces of armor that covered his body.
A few minutes later, after a thorough morning stretch, he felt that this was as good as he was going to get. After switching out his socks for a fresher pair from his backpack, he began to tighten his boots that he had left on while he had slept, in the not-improbable event that something were to go bump in the night. He worked his way up from the boots, tightening and buckling down whatever pieces of armor that needed adjustments. As he tightened the last strap over his breastplate, he took a moment to actually look around the room.
The area he was in was one large, rectangular area that sported a long window that faced out into a street, the window only being interrupted by a pair of glass doors that allowed entrance from said street. Both the windows and the doors had long since lost their glass, and only a few jagged shards remained in their frames.
In front of him was a waist-high counter, its battered wooden surface marred with crude graffiti and illegible writing, the content of the former more often than not depicting scenes that he found to be wholly inappropriate. Good thing no kids were around, although in this day and age they had most likely seen worse, or even experienced it.
Other than the counter however, the room was very bare, and the only other bits of furniture that he could see had long been smashed into fragments onto the checkerboard tiled floor. The only other entryways in the room were a pair of doors on one side of the room, and were most likely restrooms.
Behind him was a wall that sported several doorways leading off to areas he couldn't see from where he was standing, but he imagined that they led to employee areas, which were most likely as trashed as the rest of the place. Time, and people, had not been kind to this place, although the fact that the doors and the counter were smaller than they should have been was a strange matter indeed.
He looked over toward his strange companion, who was currently nestled in a corner on the opposite side of the room from him where the counter and wall connected, the soft rise and fall of its furry hide showing that it was still asleep. Truthfully, he was having a bit of difficulty accepting the creature as a she, due to the fact that while it may have been able to communicate, there was a language barrier that significantly hindered the transfer of ideas and feelings that occurred everyday between two people.
As the equine-like creature shuffled in its sleep, a splash of color made itself known and the man found his eyes drawn to the quadruped's well-toned flank. With the detachment of a person studying a picture, Kiako found himself musing over the image that adorned the creature's hide. Whether it was paint or some sort of dye he did not know, but the image was very clear in the gradually brightening morning light; sections of the equinoid's coat had been colored to show a cluster of multi-colored polygons forming a small mound that was topped with a shovel or a spade.
With a shuddering and very feminine sounding yawn, the object of his attentions began to wake up, slowly stretching out its limbs in a dog-like fashion. Whatever the image on the equinoid's flank meant, he would find out later. For now the man averted his prying eyes from his slowly awakening companion. Nobody liked being stared at while they were asleep, and sharing the same courtesy with his companion was only polite.
*** *** ***
Letting out a shuddering yawn, Finders Keepers found herself glad that summer still had a few weeks to go before the seasons changed. With no blanket to get in the way she was free to bask in the morning light of the sun for as long as she wanted. Determined to make the most of the pleasant feeling against her coat, she lazily stretched her limbs in opposite directions, a dumb grin settling on her muzzle as she felt the stiffness in her legs give way to a series of soft pops and cracks that made her grin even wider.
"This is nice," she whinnied softly to herself . "Free to wake up whenever I damn well please and with no old nags to wake yell at me to get up... mmmm."
As she slowly began to open her eyes to the slightly mesmerizing sight of dust motes floating in rays of morning light, she felt something tugging at the back of her mind, as if there was something she had forgotten. Taking a few moment to rid her eyes of the morning bleariness that clouded them, she lazily slid her head along the dusty floor to get her bearings. The nagging sensation soon made itself clear: she wasn't alone.
Sitting against a teller counter toward the opposite end of the large room was the semi-familiar figure belonging to the creature she had met the previous evening, its body still covered in the frankly uncomfortable-looking barding and armor. The creature in question was currently drinking from the rim of a metal can, the ribbed metal showing between the multi-jointed digits of its pale paws. Finders Keepers couldn't help but shudder at the sight of the spindly digits, as they reminded her vaguely of the limbs on a spider. Spiders crawling through one's mane was enough to put them off creepy-crawlies forever.
Letting out another shudder, she sought to take her mind off of the creature by looking around the place that they had both bedded down for the night at. Truth be told, she didn't exactly know where she was, she had just picked the most intact looking building she could find in the waning light. Now that it was morning and she could see better, she saw that it looked like they were both inside one of the many banks that dotted the Equestrian Wasteland before it had become a wasteland.
Getting unsteadily up onto her hooves, she stretched her forelegs out before her, arching her back for a bit until she felt some of the tension draining away. She had used to think that morning stretches were only for old nags and those with joint problems. Ironically, it had taken a leg cramp while running from a swarm of radroaches to disabuse her of that foalish notion, and now she started off every morning with a good stretch before breakfast. Speaking of which...
Ignoring the rumbling coming from her belly, she took a final moment to stretch her hind legs out behind her before running a hoof through her auburn mane to rid it of any dust that had collected in it, only then turning toward her saddlebags that sat in a clump against the counter. She bent her head down to the leather bags to work the metal clasp open with her teeth before nosing open the flap of the saddlebag that, in her mind, had been dubbed as "the feedbag" due to the fact that she always kept food and other consumables within it. Hoofing through her belongings, she eventually decided that strange days called for light breakfasts, which in this case consisted of a daisy sandwich wrapped in wax paper.
The tearing sound of paper wasn't heard long after.
*** *** ***
Hunger abated for the moment, Finders Keepers set her hooves onto the teller counter, watching the still streets through the window, her ears pinned back in mild annoyance. Eyeing a small pile of bricks on the steps of a building across the street, she found herself mulling over some of the problems that had cropped up recently.
One of these problems was the most obvious one: the creature. While she would be the first to admit that she was no saint, she still felt uncomfortable leaving her strange new companion alone. Not only was it - she had trouble thinking of it as a he or him, even though she was confident as to what its gender was - strange looking, but it also didn't seem to understand a single word she said. Ultimately she may not have been a saint but, when it came to keeping a watchful eye on the creature, there were certainly worse options out there.
Her second problem was of a more practical and immediate nature: she was essentially unarmed, as her main way of defending herself was, for whatever reason, unavailable. It was fortunate for her that, at the time when it mattered most, the biped's weapon also proved inoperable. Unfortunately, now that the brief moment of being at each other's throats was over, neither of them appeared to have a working gun available.
She let her forehooves back down on the floor, a snort of mild annoyance coming from her nostrils as she knelt down to draw the jawgun from her barding's holster, before setting it atop the counter for her inspection. The magazine fed, semi-automatic pistol had originally been a gift from her father back when she had first showed interest in exploring the world beyond her home.
That was over five years ago. Since then the weapon had become worn with use; small, thin scabs of rust had started to appear along the main body, and the wood of the mouth-grip showed where her teeth had created grooves from biting down into the surface. Still, up until now the weapon had been absolutely stellar when it came to doing what it was designed to, being able to hold nine .38 caliber rounds in the magazine plus an extra round in the chamber. It just had to be said: when Ironshod Firearms made guns, they made them to last.
"'How do you like them apples?'" she muttered quietly, quoting the motto of the long defunct company that had produced so many of Equestria's weapons, before the end came. Still, as rugged as her IF-14 was, something was undoubtedly wrong with it and not even nostalgia would stop her from replacing it if she had to.
Her ears perked up at the sound of boots walking away from her, and she turned her head to see that her companion was approaching the opposite corner of the room in relation to her before placing the tin can it had been eating out of onto the floor. What came next, after a few moments of fumbling with its barding, was the sight of pale stream of fluid flowing into the metal can.
"Ugh... males," she muttered with a roll of her eyes. At least it had the decency to turn its back.
*** *** ***
The sun had risen higher in the morning sky by the time the duo came through the steel door frames and out onto the street, the sound of glass cracking beneath hooves and boots sending the pair cringing as a soft echo was heard. From then on they were more careful where they stepped, taking a few extra moments to be sure that they wouldn't attract undue attention to themselves. Several dilapidated passenger carriages sat on the cobblestone street that ran through the area, their steel bodies covered in thick scabs of rust that had weakened the surface enough for rays of light to shine through in certain spots.
Finders Keepers, now once more weighed down by her belongings, paid the rusted hulks of the past no mind as she began to trot down the street, the soft clip-clop of her hooves making her ears twitch with every step. The buildings opposite of the bank that she had just exited were a mixture of squat, two-story buildings that looked as though they may have been apartments.
Well, maybe once, she thought to herself as her eyes noticed the numerous shapes of loose brick and rotted, sagging rooves that capped the buildings. If she recalled correctly, the shit-hole town she was standing in the middle of had been called Haybale, due to its main export. Stopping for a moment to look around, she figured that not a lot of farming had been done here for a long while. Certainly no signs of long term habitation, save for the litter and trash that had collected in the streets and sidewalks, most likely the doings of scavengers like herself.
A small smile lit up her muzzle as she thought about the things that others had most likely overlooked. It never ceased to amaze her when she combed areas that had been looted and ransacked many times over, and yet still managed to find a few things that had been missed. Finders keepers, losers weepers, she mentally intoned, snorting in amusement at the fact that her birth name had something to do with her cutie-mark.
She glanced over her withers to see how her companion was doing, and saw it crouched in front of one of the rusty carriages, seemingly deep in examination. With a roll of her eyes she turned her body around and trotted back over.
"What's so interesting about a broken carriage?" she asked, aware that what she said would probably not be understood anyway. The crouching biped ignored her a moment before turning over to her, its face a textbook example of solemness.
Its pale lips parted as it softly spoke a few words, all of it gibberish to her ears. It stared at her for a moment before repeating what it had said, this time in a slower, more patronizing tone that caused her ears to lay back flat in anger.
"Look here asshole!" she neighed, causing the biped to draw back slightly in surprise. "You don't have to come with me if you're gonna be prick, and if you're gonna treat me like a foal then get a new babysitter because I'm really not in the mood to be talked down to by some... some... thing!" She emphasized the final word by poking the creature in the stomach, drawing another look of surprise.
The biped was quick to raise its arms in a placating gesture, the flat of its paws facing her as it made short series of guttural sounds to show its submission to her. She stared at it for a moment longer, ears still laid back in anger, before turning away from him.
If it still wants to follow me, than it better behave from now on, she thought, her jaw clenched as she trotted down the street.
*** *** ***
Kiako Lalene blinked for a moment, the oddity of what had just happened still at the forefront of his mind. That equinoid had neighed at him, a very equine-like trait that he hadn't seen before in the extremely short time he had known said creature. Even more upsetting was the fact that he had given in so easily! He had stared down far more intimidating things than this uppity, waist high carrot chomper! Chupacabras and creepers could easily make a meal out of something so tiny!
Teeth grinding in frustration at himself for giving in so easily, he set a hand against the rusty carriage that he had been examining -currently forgotten- to steady himself as he took a few deep breaths to calm himself. Breathe in... breathe out... breathe in... He continued the mantra, closing his eyes as his trembling of anger slowly receded from his body. After another minute of this, he finally felt himself stable enough to continue travelling without anger clouding his judgement. When he finally opened his eyes he saw that the pony had continued walking and had left him behind.
"Shit," he murmured, taking his gloved hand off of the rusty carriage. Whatever it was that had bothered him, it was forgotten in the rush to catch up.
*** *** ***
Finders Keepers' ears twitched as they registered the sound of approaching footsteps behind her. She decided to let her "companion" catch up, her metal shod hooves stopping in place as she waited. While the biped may have had half as many legs as she did, its legs were longer.
"You gonna behave yourself?" she asked, craning her head up to look at the biped. Instead of replying like a polite pony would do, the tall creature instead made a simple gesture with its paw. "Move on" seemed to be what it was getting at. She let out a snort of annoyance at that. "Whatever. Let's go loot that building over there."
"That building over there" in question was an exact -although worn- copy of the buildings flanking it: a dirty, two-story cube made up of brick and mortar with no adorning features. The few windows that she could see were small, barely large enough for a full-grown pony to fit through; in truth they were more like firing slits than true windows. The roof wasn't much better either, with its rotten asphalt shingles, and the upper levels of the building were most likely a breeding ground for mold and other disgusting things.
Looking at the direction of her pointing hoof, her companion seemed to agree with her sentiment, its guttural mutterings taking on a contemptuous tone that were thankfully not directed at her. Without a word she began trotting up to the building entryway, the pitch of her hoof-falls changing subtly as the ground changed from cobblestone to cracked cement sidewalk. She entered the building easily, the door not being a problem at all due to its conspicuous absence. Despite the lack of windows, the morning sun at her back was low enough in the sky to shine enough light through the open doorway and into the entry hall, although the shadowy silhouette her body cast was a bit creepy.
The hallway, like everything else it seemed, was not doing so well when it came to home decoration, what with all the trash and graffiti that littered the area. On the right side of the hallway there was a staircase that lead up to the second floor, the long railing of the bannister leaning precariously over the floor. The left side of the hall continued deeper into the building, numbered doors set into the walls at certain intervals.
Another shadow sidled up alongside her own, announcing the presence of her tall, two-legged companion. Gesturing with a hoof towards the nearest doorway, she indicated that she was going to head inside. Before she had taken two steps the biped had already passed her, the snub-nosed revolver it held in its paw pointed safely toward the ceiling as it glanced through the doorframe. After a moment it turned to face her, dipping its head in a nod.
"Show off," she groused, trotting over to the doorway. "So what if you fixed your gun or whatever?" She wasn't sure if the biped had actually fixed whatever was wrong with its weapon, but she didn't see why it would bother, especially since her own pistol was still broken.
Stepping from out of the hallway and into the apartment, the first thing Finders Keepers noticed was the unmistakable tickling sensation within her nostrils. Looking about the room, she could see why: dust was everywhere! From the cheap hardwood flooring to the mildew-covered upholstery, dust had forged an empire that had ruthlessly smothered any available surface. The era of Equestria had long since ended, and from its debris a new one would arise.
With a loud and sudden sneeze, all of her melodramatic thoughts left her mind, along with some mucus that sprayed across the room. Sniffling noisily as she wiped her muzzle with the back of her hoof, she blinked several times to clear her vision. With the self-caused panic gone from her mind, she realized that the room wasn't as dusty as she had first thought in her irrational panic.
While the room had certainly deteriorated over the many years it had probably been much nicer than in the crowded space that she had grown up in, although the fact that this room had only one tiny window to let light in was a big detractor. Still, the room had basic furnishings such as several bookcases that lined the wall beneath the window, though their shelves were beginning to sag beneath heavily damaged books. Besides the bookcases, the room had a pair of flower-patterned couches facing each other from across a relatively intact coffee table. In the left-hoof corner of the room was a sturdy looking worktable, its wooden frame supporting the bulky, box-like shape of a defunct terminal, its monitor a spider-web of cracks.
As for the rest of the room, everything else was either smashed or simply not there, probably taken by scavengers like herself. Finders Keepers didn't see much that she could salvage from the room, save for possibly breaking the terminal open for parts or looking under the couch cushions for bits. She most likely wouldn't have to resort to those options, as there were several doorways leading to rooms that she had yet to explore.
Leaving her companion to do... whatever it did, she circled around one of the couches, giving the bookcases only a passing glance as she made her way to the opposite side of the room, where she found a small kitchen on the other side of a doorway. Taking a step inside to look around, her hoof slid suddenly slipped out from under her in a terrifying loss of control and it was only due to the furious scrabbling of her hooves to find purchase on the floor that she avoided an embarrassing fall.
Pulse still pounding, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, she tilted one ear back to listen for any laughter and was thankful when she heard none. A quick glance behind her and she was glad to see the tall biped seemingly deep in thought while it stood over the broken terminal. Thank the Princesses for small favors, she thought, raising her eyes toward the water-damaged ceiling.
Taking another moment to compose herself and taking a deep breath, she looked down to the floor to see what had caused her near-fall, noticing an obvious streak from where her hoof had slipped through a thin film of dust that seemed to be prevalent wherever she went.
"I swear," she muttered, raising her head up to the ceiling, "dust is gonna be the end of me, one way or another." With a resigned sigh escaping her muzzle, she took another step forward, this time much more carefully.
Getting a better look at the kitchen she saw that, like most long abandoned areas, it had been ransacked repeatedly. Over the years, the faded cardboard boxes of Sugar Apple Bombs and other food packaging littered the floor in front of a rust streaked refrigerator, though why somepony would keep cereal in there was beyond her. Crossing the refrigerator off as a no-go in her list of spots to scavenge, she looked over to the counter that lined the wall under the kitchen's only window, which was the same as the one in the previous room.
Trotting up to the counter, she reared up onto her hind legs and set her forehooves atop the counter, taking a moment to stretch her neck in order to see out of the broken window. The view was less than spectacular, with the only sight being the brick wall of another apartment complex across from her, the alley that ran between the two buildings cluttered with trash and debris. Taking her gaze away from the sight outside, she looked along the line of cupboards that hung above the counter, the rusted shapes of pots and pans hanging from the wall.
Starting to think I should write off this entire town, she brooded, annoyed at the lack of good salvage. Taking her hooves off the counter and dropping back onto all fours, she started rummaging through the drawers, idly wondering to herself why anypony would want to take only the spoons.
It only took her a few minutes to exhaust the amount of things she could pull open and look inside of, and by that time the floor was strewn with various pieces of useless silverware and the other odds and ends that were kept in kitchen drawers. The only place that she had yet to check were the cupboards themselves.
Bracing herself up against the counter, she systematically began to go through each cupboard in hopes of finding something useful, such as a fine tea set that would probably break in her saddlebags, or possibly a can of ground coffee. Though she knew that the chance of finding anything of high value in a kitchen cupboard was hardly likely, stranger things had happened, among them being the sudden occurrence of drinking water that was no longer contaminated by magical radiation, or the fact that one of the Ministry Mares was somehow alive and now leading an ironically named group called the Followers of the Apocalypse.
Despite the name, the Followers were good ponies who espoused the virtue of their leader. Wondering how the meeting for deciding upon a group name went about, she let out a small chuckle, only for it to die in her throat as she opened the last cupboard door.
Partially hidden behind a stack of plates was the macabre sight of a tiny skeleton, its empty sockets staring right into her as its skull was set into a permanent, leering grin, as though it were playing a sick game of hide-and-go-peek and had just been found. Atop its head was a raised nub where a spiralled horn should have been.
At the sight of the long-deceased foal, she couldn't help but let out a weary, drawn out sigh. Things like this were nothing new to her; she supposed that, perhaps, she had become accustomed to such morbid sights. Still, when those same morbid sights happened to include fillies and colts, she couldn't help but feel that they were somehow different from the same sights that included deceased stallions or mares.
Finders Keepers couldn't help but feel her heart sink as her mind conjured up the image of a lone filly trudging down the street, emaciated body protected by a layer of fur matted down from a constant downpour of rain that battered mercilessly against her. Perhaps, seeking shelter in an alleyway, she had noticed a broken window leading into a drier area and, deciding that being inside was far more preferable to being outside, had crawled inside only to find a kitchen that was as empty as her stomach. With life beating the poor filly down once more, Finders Keepers couldn't help but imagine the filly giving off a final sigh of resignation before crawling into the dry confines of a cupboard to close her eyes one final time.
Finders Keepers had to take her eyes away from the cupboard, the water forming at the corner of her eyes having already dampened her cheeks. Once again she was reminded of one of the differences between herself and other scavengers: she didn't share that complete detachment that was prevalent amongst those who made their livelihood combing the ruins of the past. The reasoning for that detachment, as she'd found out the hard way, was simple: a pony's mind, when seeing something unpleasant but not knowing the story behind, will try to create one, often times creating an exaggerated and often darker tale of what may have happened.
She took a moment to recompose herself, fighting the urge to wipe away the tears with a - probably - dusty hoof and instead blinking the moisture away until the world around her was no longer a blur.
Turning her head back to the cupboard, she reached forward with a hoof, clearing away some of the plates that obscured the skeletal body of the foal. As the stack of plates slid away to reveal the fully exposed skeleton, her eyes immediately locked onto the tan colored disk hidden within the rib cage. Seconds later, her ears perked up to the noise of a sudden beeping that sounded in time with the flickering orange light located on the disk.
With a savage shove she launched her body away from the counter edge, the sound of metal ponyshoes crashing to the floor. With a single pent-up breath, she screamed.
"Boobytrap!"
*** *** ***
Kiako Lalene felt his eyebrows go straight up as he bore witness to one of the greatest sneezes he had ever seen, his eyes picking up the dampness of mucus against the far brick wall. Great, he thought to himself, not only does my companion just so happen to have four legs, it also has some of the worst allergies anyone has ever heard of. He couldn't help but shake his head at the strangeness of his situation.
Letting the equinoid take a moment to recover, he glanced around the frankly boring looking room, the only things besides furniture being several dust-covered paintings or pictures hanging from some of the walls. Peeking his head around the corner, one thing did catch his attention: some odd-looking computer equipment in the left-hand side of the room, sitting by itself in the corner. By then the equinoid had recovered enough to start walking into the room, an air of caution seemingly about it. That was fine, he knew where he was going.
Ducking his head beneath the doorframe, he made a note to piss on the grave of whoever the building's architect might have been. Revolver still in hand, he made his way over to the improperly sized worktable, finding himself staring down at what rested atop its surface.
The dust-covered computer - if it could be called that - consisted of a simple keyboard interface and a cracked monitor, the latter of which had a plastic frame along the top and sides, most likely for privacy. A quick inspection behind the computer showed no evidence of cables leading to a wall socket, for there wasn't one.
No other bits of hardware, Kiako observed, absent-mindedly running a finger across the top of the computer hood. Might explain why this thing looks like it could cause an earthquake if it fell off the table; all the hardware in a single unit.
Returning back to the front of the computer, he set down his revolver on the corner of the table, making sure it was within arm's reach while he began dusting off the computer, his hands running over its surfaces. A few moments later fanning the resulting cloud of dust way, and the computer was more or less viewable again. What was uncovered was... different, to say the least.
Rather than the usual smooth black or white casings that he was familiar with, the plastic of the computer in front of him was a sandy tan color, its plastic surface having a slight texture to it. The screen was different as well, though not because it was cracked; most computer monitors had some form of damage done to them. No, what was different was that rather than the deep black of an LCD screen, the monitor in front of him was a slightly curved pane of glass, its monochrome surface a dull grey.
Like everything else, the keyboard was different as well, but this time in a more worrying manner. Made up of the same sandy tan plastic as the rest of the computer, the keys of the keyboard seemed far larger than necessary, and were more tightly packed together with not a single centimeter of wasted space. The characters on the surface of the keyboard were also a mystery to him, not being either English, Spanish, or any other language he was vaguely familiar with. In fact, the "letters" on the keyboard struck a sudden chord, and his eyes widened with the jarring realization that some of the characters on the keyboard looked exactly like the ones that he had seen in graffiti at the bank.
Taking several hesitant steps back from the computer, he brought his hands up to his face as he let out a soft moan of both frustration and confusion at the correlation his mind had created. The mysteries kept piling on and on, with the first being his sudden appearance in the quarry, the second being the strange equine-like animal that he grudgingly followed in the slowly fading hope of making it back to someplace familiar. With this latest mystery tacked onto the other two, he was beginning to feel as he did when he first started out on his own, after learning all he could from the people of Zanesville: isolated, ignorant, and surprisingly... a bit fearful.
Kiako sent one of the worktable drawers flying across the room, a string of dust trailing behind it as it knocked down a painting, leaving a large scuff mark against the aged brick of the wall. Before he could grab the broken computer and vent his frustration even further, the feminine shout of his companion met his ears, and by the time it ended he was already halfway across the room, hopping over one of the couches as he came to his companion's aid.
He barely had time for his boots to hit the wooden flooring when his companion slid into view, its hooves sliding through the dust-layered floor of what looked like a kitchen. Before he could get a good look at what was even going on, he was bowled over by the surprising strength of the equinoid, sending him tumbling into the kitchen in a heap.
Laying on his back in a daze, his head pointed toward the living room through the doorway, he caught glimpse of an auburn tail disappearing behind a couch... and in turn giving an unobscured view of the worktable, where he could see the end of his pistol's oaken handle, protruding off of the edge.
He didn't even have time to curse before the room was consumed in a deafening roar of fire and debris.
*** *** ***
With a low, drawn-out groan, Finders Keepers awoke to an uncomfortable, slightly painful throbbing throughout her body. As she tried to move, she could feel something hard and jagged digging into her ribs through her leather barding, every movement being a struggle. There was something pinning her down to the floor, and when she finally opened her eyes, they met only darkness.
Panic beginning to set in, she started to thrash against whatever pinned her down and hindered her movements. With every shallow breath she took, she could taste more and more dust entering her mouth, and her frantic efforts reached a crescendo when a sudden stab of agony shot up her left foreleg, eliciting a muffled scream from her muzzle, and all she wanted was to be free.
As if in answer to her prayers, a blinding stream of light hit her face as some of the rubble that sat atop of her shifted, just enough to let her screams be carry out farther than they could before. Her anguished wails did stop, however, and eventually quieted down into a muted whimpering as the pain in her foreleg lost its sudden novelty. Dust-covered lips trembling in pain, she blinked her eyes to adjust to the light.
She was in the living room from earlier, though the term would probably no longer apply. The room was beyond wrecked, with masonry and debris scattered across the area, with the few pieces of furniture that were in the room in the first place being either destroyed in the blast, or rendered unusable. Amazingly, several of the picture frames were still hanging from the walls. Her ears twitched toward the telltale clattering of bricks smashing against the sidewalk outside, and although she couldn't move her head due to being pinned, she could still move her eyes enough to see that that was exactly what was happened. In fact, thanks to the blast, she now had a nice view of the street -and the ugly apartment buildings on the other side of it- so it could be said that the blast wasn't all bad.
Her snort of laughter quickly turned into a harsh cough, as her body spasmed painfully beneath the rubble, which seemed to bear down onto her more and more with every movement she made, no matter how small. She couldn't even move her legs now, not that she would dare do so anyway, what with the state one of them was already in.
Eyeballs straining in their sockets, she tried to see what position the sun was in, but was unable to see outside far enough to get a good look at the sky. By her guess, it may have been noon, perhaps a bit earlier. Unfortunately, she had no way to tell, and she had never gotten into the habit of wearing a watch, not that she would have been able to see it, anyway.
Giving her eyes a moment of rest, she closed her lids and let her ears strain a bit instead, letting them twist and turn in multiple directions as she listened hard for any sign of life, such as her bipedal companion, or a group of handsome stallions to rescue her from peril. After listening for a few minutes, her ears did in fact pick up a sound besides the occasional sound of a dropping brick, or the sound of her own beating heart. As she her ears focused toward the sound, she could hear the muted voice of several ponies talking over the backdrop of hooves hitting stone. Whoever they were, they were getting closer.
Licking her dry lips, and by extension the dust that covered them, she readied herself to cry out for help, but the only thing that came out of her throat was a ragged croak that would make even a toad jealous. Coughing on some of the dust in the air that had yet to fully settle, she tried again, this time succeeding in a still ragged, but passable, cry for help. "He-hey! Help!"
Her ears registered the sudden stop of hooves clacking against stone, and she could hear the muted voices take on a sudden intensity of conversation before it quickly died down, and a few moments later the sound of hoofsteps picked up again, this time sounding much more rapid, as though whoever the they belonged to were hurrying to her aid.
"Thank you," she murmured, offering up a silent prayer up to the Princesses that watched over Equestria. The pain in her foreleg still throbbing, she waited patiently for her rescuers to come to her aid, hoping that they would have a doctor with them. She didn't have long to wait, fortunately, as she heard their hoofsteps get closer and closer.
"Well lookie he'a! We got ou'selves ah new fuck toy und'uh this pile!" a heavily accented, feminine voice screeched from behind her, causing her heart to skip a beat as her body instinctively tried to jerk from beneath the rubble.
"Wh-what?!" Finders Keepers asked, her voice tinged with fear and confusion. Stuck under a pile and unable to move or escape, she fervently hoped that she had misunderstood what she had thought to have heard.
That hope of a misunderstanding died the moment the owners of the approaching hoofbeats made themselves visible; a variety of dirty and disheveled ponies, all sporting grotesque trophies from their barding. As one, the group of earth-ponies and unicorns let out whoops and cheer as they saw her.
Finders Keepers' eyes widened in terror, and they began to frantically search the room she was in before moving to massive hole that had once been a tiny window, and through there the street for any sign of help. Oh goddesses, oh goddesses, no! she mentally screamed as she soon came to the realization that, besides herself and the other ponies, there was nopony else around to hear save her from what she had once thought to be rescuers.
She felt the rubble on her shift slightly as it took more weight, and before she could let out a sound of protest she felt something solid connect to the back of her head, pushing her chin painfully into the floor. A pair of forelegs appeared in front of her, and after a moment she was muzzle to muzzle with the owner of those legs, who was currently looking between them at her with an upside-down grin. Inches from Finders Keepers' eye was a boney protrusion.
"Yuh an Ah are 'bout t' get t' know eachotha' reeeal well," the unicorn mare said in the same jeering voice, the thick, ropey scars lining her face seeming to match her coat color. Finders Keepers could only stare in horror at the implications she was being met with, and she felt her body grow colder as the lime-green unicorn called out to her cohorts. "Get in line, we 'bout t' have some ent'ainment!"
"Please! Don't!" Finders Keepers pleaded, her eyes welling up with moisture as five ponies entered the room through the large hole in the wall, beginning to form a line in front of her while the rest hung back. A cobalt stallion that was loaded down with jewelry seemed to give her a sympathetic look, before trundling off to join those who were in the process of looting the already ravaged room. Her panicked attempts to struggle free were only met with cackling laughter and jeers
"Got us'elves a lively one here!"
"What does she think she is, an inchworm?"
"Quit yuh gabbin'! I got an itch tha' needs scratchin' an' yuh bonzos are ruinin' th' moment!" cried out the disgusting unicorn mare, putting a stop to the laugher of the group. The mare looked back to her victim, "Now, whea' were we?"
The unicorn mare positioned herself so that her entire body was in Finders Keepers view, revealing the slightly emaciated and filthy form of her tormentor. The mare leaned in, close enough for Finders Keepers to gag at the smell of the mare's foetid breath, which seemed to elicit a laugh from said mare.
"Aww, po' filly don' like mah breath?" the mare cackled, running a sickly grey tongue along her lips. "Gonna get whole lot worse by tha' th' time thi... huh?"
Finders Keepers was too busy cringing at the thinly veiled promise that had been given, her ears pointed rigidly in fear. The terrible mare in front of her seemed to have heard something that Finders Keepers hadn't, and began to look about the room in confusion. The other ponies in the room picked up on this, and they too began to look about the room, the soft sound of muted and cautious conversation starting to crop up among the unicorn mare's followers. While Finders Keepers may have been unable to move her head, she could still see ponies entering and leaving her cone of vision as they began sifting through piles of rubble.
After a few more moments of looking about the room, the unicorn magically levitated a rusty revolver out of nearby stallion's holster, encompassing it in a glow that matched her yellowed eyes. As an almost singular entity the other ponies levitated or drew their weapons, which mostly consisted of battered pistols and several shotguns.
"We ain' alone he'ah," the unicorn ring-leader stated plainly to her followers, and swung the revolver in her telekinetic grip over to Finders Keepers' forehead. "Who else is wi' yuh?" Finders Keepers' eyes widened in renewed fear, and she began to stammer out a stream of nonsensical words before the hard metal of the revolver smacked across her muzzle painfully.
Spots swimming before her vision and the sensation of blood pooling in her nostrils, Finders Keepers' unfocused eyes picked up the matte black finish of an object slowly making its way across the floor, until it slid out of her view. A flash of yellow flashed across her vision as the revolver once more connected with her already bruised muzzle, and she couldn't help but let out a pained whinny.
"Ans'uh me!" the unicorn commanded, spittle flying from her mouth and cross Finders Keepers' face. When no immediate answer besides a whimper, the glowing revolver lifted in the air once more for another pass at the downed mare, only for the blow to never arrive as the sound of crashing glass pierced the air.
"Knock it off yuh moron, that was jus' uh pictua' frame fallin'!" a male voice chastised somepony else, although Finders Keepers' couldn't be sure who due to waiting for the third blow, a blow that would never come. As though a pegasus had bucked a storm cloud, the air was pierced with the sound of a single, deafening crack, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. Before Finders Keepers' ears could pin themselves down to the sides of her head the room was engulfed in a cacophony of thunder and violence that was soon joined with screams of pain.
Finders Keepers kept her eyes shut, the noise in the room fading into a piercing ringing as her sensitive ears couldn't take the decibel onslaught. Everything in the past several minutes lay forgotten in her mind as she fervently prayed for somepony to make everything stop, and stop it did as darkness gradually clouded over her mind. |
Fallout Equestria: Foreigner | Chapter 3: Beak and Claw | Mercenaries have always held their place within armed conflicts, ever since the first sapient beings marched against one-another to wage war. While many soldiers may be motivated to fight for a cause due to patriotism or for their loved ones, the mercenary has always been in it for more... profitable reasons.
The Great War, which eventually led to the destruction of both the Zebrican and Equestrian homelands, was no different when it came to those who sought fortune in the battles between the two global superpowers. Griffons, the hybridization of eagle and lion, saw opportunities in this conflict. With the aid of their predatory instincts, natural weapons, and keen sight were natural-born fighters, and fight they did. Serving both Equestria and the Zebra Empire in their war over resources, griffon mercenaries took to the skies and sliced, shot, and stabbed their way to fortune.
Unfortunately, those that survived long enough to cash in would not have as long to spend it as they would have likely wished. As the conflict between Equestria and the Zebra Empire intensified, so too did the violence, with new weapons and magic being field-tested regularly. From there it would only escalate further, with the advent of the megaspell adding a new layer of depth to the conflict. It wasn't long before weapons capable of incinerating entire cities were developed, and the prospect of mutual annihilation was no longer looked at with a blind eye. When that fateful day came - the Last Day - it wasn't just the ponies and zebras who suffered the consequences of the deployment of those feared megaspells, but their auxiliaries as well. Not only did these megaspells and balefire bombs ravage every area they detonated, but once their destructive activation was complete they soaked the resulting area in a magical radiation that would last for centuries.
Life finds a way though, and after the first few decades towns and trade-routes had appeared amongst the wreckage that their ancestors had created. With traders needing protection for the long trips between settlements and towns, mercenaries once again became a popular profession.
While not all griffons were born mercenaries, or in fact became them, many did pick up a gun and a contract and set out to make their fortunes out in the Equestrian Wasteland. Mercenary bands were formed during the years, and some of the most successful bands were those either consisting of or lead by griffons. Many griffons were the descendents of mercenaries fighting either against or for the ponies, and with the Great War long since over it mattered not which side their ancestors had fought on, all that mattered was putting food on the table.
*** *** ***
The soft, dulcet tones of a mare's voice played through a set of tinny speakers, the only sound accompanying it being a backdrop of gentle music. The room was otherwise silent, save for the occasional flitter of cards being shuffled or brushed against one another. Indeed, the room was as dim as it was quiet, with only a ceiling-mounted lamp emitting a pool of harsh light onto a trio of card players sitting at a circular table.
One particular member of the group, a mahogany-coated and steel-grey feathered griffon, was gripping his cards tightly in his birdlike claws, staring at them with a blank expression as he planned his next move. Running a claw over the top of his skull to smooth out the crest feathers, he could sense the tension radiating off of the other two card players like heat from a stove. Knowing that he had few options, he was forced to come to a decision.
"Do you have any eights, Rosewing?" he asked seriously, finally looking up from his cards and toward one of the - a female - griffons opposite of him.
The female griffon's coat was a slightly lighter shade of brown than his, the fur well taken care of in comparison to his own. Even when he looked to the new card he had picked up, the griffon's rose-hued feathers caught his eye even from the periphery.
"Go fish, Razor-Quill. Looks like you're losing your edge," she said half-mockingly, her voice taking on a sensuous tone that threatened to distract him from the matter at claw.You win some, you lose some, he thought moodily, disappointed that he had not received a matching card.
"Yes, yes, I get it. I'm old. It's a good thing all that jewelry you wear doesn't weigh down that ego of yours." His beak curled into a tight smile as he saw Rosewing turn her beak up at him, putting a protective claw over one of her most recent... acquisitions. "If you keep looking up you're going to go blind. May I suggest you hurry up? Some of us actually want to win something, you know."
Rosewing looked down from the ceiling and right at the older griffon, beak twisting into a smile, mischief in her hazel eyes. "And I was told that the older generations knew something about patience."
Razor-Quill rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to reply with a witty retort and thus stalling the game even more.
"Just go!" Razor-Quill said dejectedly, gesturing with his a claw for her to hurry up, eager for the game to continue.
"It's Statchel's turn actually."
"Ugh," Razor-Quill groaned in disgust, resisting the urge to facewing. With a sigh, he waved for the third griffon to go on with his turn, lest the game drag on even further.
"Whatever tweaks your beak," muttered the third member of the group, the deepness of his voice belying his age. Unlike the other two griffons at the table, Statchel's body was squat and muscular, and both his fur and feathers were a ruddy brown with no difference in hue or coloration.
"Oh, hush now," Rosewing said in retort, playfully slapping her tail against one of Statchel's hindlegs beneath the table, causing him to flinch at the sudden touch.
Shooting the griffoness with what he probably thought as a menacing glare, he calmly looked over to Razor-Quill, who had been patiently suffering the other two griffon's banter.
"Got any aces, boss?" Statchel asked, a light smile adorning his beak as Razor-Quill silently passed a card over to him. "Cool."
"You know," Rosewing began, stroking the tuft of light brown hair on the end of her tail, "I wonder how that pony is doing, she was pretty badly off when we found her."
Statchel looked at her with a reproachful glare, eyes narrowed to slits. "What is this we business? You were busy looting that blue stallion for every bit of shininess he had! I'm pretty sure that we weren't even done shooting yet before you were on his body!" He shook his head in annoyance, before continuing, "I was the one who found her, along with... ugh, the other creature."
Razor-Quill began to slowly massage his temples, doing his best to ignore the bickering that was unfolding before him. His groans of annoyance went unnoticed by the squabbling griffons, and he idly wondered if splitting off from Gawd's Talons to form his own group had been worth it.
As he began recalling the days before the Wasteland had been cleansed and purified, the grinding of claws scratching against wood brought him out of his reminiscing, his body inwardly cringing at the unpleasant and unexpected sound. Looking back up, he could definitely see that the two feather-brains were at it again.
"We shouldn't just shoot the thing just because we don't know what it is, we aren't savages!" Statchel cried out, a look of shock and disgust crossing his features.
"Oh, bla bla bla," Rosewing mouthed, the tips of her talons clicking together with every 'bla'. "Why don't you just shut the fuck up and leave the thinking to your betters."
"That's enough," Razor-Quill finally said, having had enough from the both of them. "If anyone is going to be making any decisions here, it's going to be me. Is that clear?" He gave them a stern look, making sure that his point was clear.
Rosewing turned to face him, giving him an approving smile, "Thank you."
"I meant both of you, not just him," he reiterated, turning his stern look into a glare.
After a moment of tense silence, both of the griffons gave each one another a cautious look before meekly slouching in their seats, their claws unconsciously going back to their cards.
"Now," Razor-Quill began, pausing a bit to make his authority hit home, "I know that the other survivor we found - the one that wasn't the earth-pony - is pretty strange looking. I get that, I do."
He looked over to the two griffons for any signs of inattentiveness and, finding none, continued. "What you both seem to be forgetting is that this isn't the Republic, where you get to vote. This is Sabre Squad, and I'm your leader, and as of right now..." he grimaced in distaste at what he was about to admit, "...I don't have a clue with what to do with the other survivor, but I have enough brain cells to know that we shouldn't just put a slug in its head and be done with the matter, at least not before talking to it."
"What!?" Rosewing squawked, the indignation in her voice apparent as she exploded from her seat. "You listen to him and not me?"
Statchel burrowed his head into the fur of his forelegs, muffling a groan at where the conversation was heading.
"I thought you were our leader, not some nervous grass-eater!" continued Rosewing, not quite through with her tirade. Her next words were spoken in a dangerously low tone, her voice dripping with scorn. "Are you going soft?"
Statchel lifted his head from the table, sidling up to Rosewing and settling a wing over her back in an effort to placate her. "Ease down on the throttle there, this is a friendly room, yeah?"
Rosewing immediately shrugged off the offending limb, perhaps feeling that - rightfully - her personal space was being violated. Before Razor-Quill get in a word edgewise, Rosewing's wings flapped once, sending the playing cards on the table to the floor in a sudden gust of wind.
"Whatever," was all Rosewing said as she got off of her stool and stormed toward the room's exit, exposing the room briefly to the flickering candlelight of the hallway before slamming the door behind her.
With the room once more in the inky darkness, save for the central light of the ceiling lamp, the two male griffons were left alone with their thoughts, a tense silence hanging above them.
"Excitable, isn't she?" Statchel said dryly after waiting for the cards to finally settle to the dusty floor. He began to rifle through some of Rosewing's cards, which had been spared from her fury. "And a cheater, too! She said she had no princes!"
"I think we better call it a draw," Razor-Quill said dejectedly, taking a moment to run his claws over his crest feathers again. He stepped out of the light, his eyes taking a moment to get accustomed to the darkness before being able to clearly see the doorway.
With his destination in sight, he made his way after the angry she-griffon, leaving Statchel alone in the room.
"Draw, my ass..." Statchel muttered quietly, leaning forward against the table and wrapping his forelegs around the stack of bottle caps.
*** *** ***
Absolute darkness was the first thing that graced Kiako's sight when he finally managed to gather the willpower to open his eyes. He rubbed at the corners of his eyes to clear them of grime before blinking rapidly, making sure that his eyes were actually open and unblocked before panic began to creep up on him.
Taking several deep breaths to try and calm himself down, he attempted to sit up before being wracked with pain across the front of his body, forcing him to lay back down with a gasp. Still unable to see, and the newfound ache pulsating across his chest, stomach, and thighs, he resigned himself to laying down on what he guessed was a bed, though it was a bit small considering that his legs were hanging off the end.
Wanting to examine his surroundings a bit - even in the darkness - he slowly spread his arms out, letting his hands and arms slide against the scratchy cloth that covered the bed. It took a few moments for it to occur to him that his arms were actually exposed to something other than the mesoprene fabric of his jumpsuit, and he felt naked without the flexible and bullet-resistant protection. As a matter of fact, he almost was. The only articles of clothing he was wearing was a t-shirt and a pair of boxer briefs.
He waited a bit before trying to get up again, letting his mind wander for a few minutes as he took a moment to try and remember where he was and, failing that, tried to remember what had happened to him. With a bit of effort, he recalled himself rising from the rubble after getting his hands on his pistol, only to find a bunch of technicolor mini-horses accosting his own mini-horse companion. From that point onward everything was a flurry of gunfire and movement, followed by agonizing pain, and then darkness once more.
Wanting to know where he was, he slowly rolled to the side of the bed so as not to upset the bruises on his stomach, which he imagined to be large, before swinging his legs over the surprisingly short bed. Cautiously standing up, he probed the dusty floor in front of him with his toes, making sure nothing was blocking his path before slowly reaching out with his hands to find something to touch.
The first thing that his fingertips touched was a large, flat surface in front of him, probably a wall. Small curls of what felt like paper were coming off the wall, and he assumed that it was some old wallpaper. He started moving, keeping one hand against the wallpaper while carefully scouting ahead of him with his feet to make sure he didn't run into anything.
He stopped, his outstretched hand coming into contact with another wall, meaning that he was at corner of whatever room he was in. Reaching around, looking to see if there was perhaps a lamp nearby, he was surprised to find that his hand came into contact with ceiling, which was just a few centimeters higher than his head. Even in the darkness, the man's face was still sullen, his perpetual frown deepening at the situation he was in.
He passed another corner before coming to a change in texture on the wall. Unlike the peeling wallpaper texture that he had felt before, this surface had the feel of wood grain beneath his fingertips. Continuing his tactile exploration, he found a handle at about the same height of his thigh, along with a pair of hinges along one side of the surface; a door.
Reaching down to the handle, he gave it a twist, trying to turn it. Unfortunately for him, it wouldn't budge. Stepping back a few meters, he gave a half-hearted charge at the door, slamming into it with his shoulder. Aside from upsetting the bruises on his body, and maybe adding a new one to his shoulder, the door did not budge. Rubbing at his shoulder, he stared futilely in the darkness at where the door was.
Rather than trying to continue beat himself against the door, he continued to map out the boundaries of the room, once more coming back to the bed after passing another pair of corners. It appeared that the only pieces of furniture in the room were an annoyingly short nightstand,which was empty save for a canteen and an unlit candle, and the bed which he had first found himself on.
Licking his cracked lips, he realized that he was actually very thirsty, and the room's dry and dusty atmosphere wasn't doing much to help in that regard. Carefully sitting down on the knee-high bed, he reached over to the nightstand to grab the canteen, uncapping it and draining it for all it was worth before returning it to its original spot.
Whoever had put him in this room had also taken all of his equipment, and the only thing he could do was wait until his captors - perhaps rescuers - came for him. That said, while he may have temporarily lost his freedom, he could never lose his collar.
Laying down and curling up on the bed, he closed his eyes against the darkness, letting his body relax as he let his collar decipher scattered radio waves into a form more understandable to the human mind.
*** *** ***
Finders Keepers awoke the same way she always did when presented with the luxury of a soft bed beneath her: slowly.
Looking at her surroundings through half-lidded eyes, it took her muddled mind a few minutes to fully realize that she wasn't still buried beneath a pile of rubble and surrounded by ponies that meant to do her harm. The realization didn't have as calming an effect as one would expect, and she hastily worked herself up onto her hooves, the springiness of the mattress making her wobble enough that she nearly fell back onto the bed.
With the practiced movements of someone who felt as though they had been sleeping for years and yet were still tired, she hopped off the bed. Unfortunately for her, her muddled mind failed to grasp that the blanket that had at some point been draped over her was still partially wrapped around her body, and the resulting landing was about as graceful as a one-winged pegasus.
She spent the next several minutes curled up on the floor, the tangle of linen still wrapped around her as though to mock her clumsiness. Forehooves wrapped around her muzzle, she quietly moaned as she endured the world of pain that was her bruised muzzle.
Still, she couldn't lay on the floor forever, as much as she wanted to. When she felt that the pain had subsided enough that she wouldn't be a moaning-mare no more, she got up onto her hooves again, furiously kicking the damnable blanket away first though.
Ears twitching and turning about the room, she closed her eyes as she listened for the sound of approaching hooves, a sure sign that somepony had probably heard her. After about a minute of listening, the only thumps that she could discern were the ones beating in her chest. Body sagging with relief, she let out a quiet sigh as she raised her head to the ceiling, silently praising the Princesses for small favors.
Her little ritual complete, she was now fully awake, and looked about the room with inquisitive eyes. While there may have been a bed behind her, she was certain that the four walls that surrounded her were no longer meant to house a bedroom.
Lining the flowery wallpaper were numerous crates coming in various shapes and sizes, their yellow exteriors having faded from time and whatever elements they had been exposed to. No two crates were the same shade of yellow anymore, and if one ignored the scratches, dents, and peeled paint it could almost be seen as some sort of weird art piece. If the room had a window, it wasn't anywhere Finders Keepers could see it, and it was only thanks to the fluorescent lantern hanging from the center of the room's cracked ceiling that she wasn't in inky blackness.
The fact that directly below said lantern was what could only be a surgical table - thankfully clean and not covered in rusty tools - made her feel very uncomfortable, and she did her level-best to suppress a shudder. Deciding that she wanted to leave as soon as possible, she looked over to exit and walked to the door, her hoofbeats the only sound in the room other than the gentle hum of the lantern. Unsurprisingly, the wall that the door was set into was also lined with more crates, leaving only just enough space for the door to swing inward to let somepony in.
Before even getting her hoof onto the handle, her ears picked up on the audible click coming from the door's lock, and without wasting any time she hurriedly got of sight of the doorway, her side pressed firmly against the stack of crates.
"I know you're awake," came the sudden - and very male - voice from the doorway, causing her to flinch in surprise. That flinch soon turned into a surprised whinny as a beaked face peeked out from behind the corner, golden eyes locked with her own.
Finders Keepers stumbled backwards, her hip and shoulder catching along the varying surfaces of the crate-wall, nudging several of the containers loose and onto the floor with a clatter of metal and plastic.
"You about done?" the griffon head asked, nonplussed at her reaction. The rest of him soon came into view, revealing a stocky body covered with a light-brown shade of fur and feathers.
"Y-yes, I'm fine now," she stuttered, her ears swiveling nervously of their own accord, and she hoped he didn't notice. "You just startled me is all."
"Right," he said, his tone unreadable. His wing flapped out in a single quick motion, pointing toward the bed she had been earlier. "Can you please sit down on the bed for a moment while I clean up?"
She stared at him for a moment, standing stock still as he began to put the crates back where they had been, allowing her to examine him more closely for any signs of... something. Her eyes drifted over to the curved wooden handle that poked out from a holster hanging off of the griffon's right shoulder, which was covered by dull grey plates connecting to a larger section of barding that covered most of his torso save for some space for his wings to slip through. On his chest was the white shape of a slightly curved sword, a pair of words encircling it: "Sabre Squad".
Looking over to the bed for a moment, its blanket trailing onto the floor where she had fallen earlier, she trotted on over, leaving the griffon behind to clean up the mess that she had made in her surprise. Hopping onto the bed, she turned around and sat down, considering the griffon across the room.
The griffon wasn't part of the group that had attacked her, that much was obvious. The uniform and the way he carried himself was a dead giveaway to that, and add in the fact that he wasn't filthy only cemented the position that she was at least in good hooves, at least for the moment.
"...Or claws," Finders Keepers muttered to herself, drawing a look from the griffon.
"What?" he asked curiously, already done with stacking crates and currently walking towards her.
Slightly annoyed that she had been caught talking to herself, the mare simply blinked her eyes and shook her head at the griffon. "Nothing."
"Right." He didn't sound convinced, but not pushing the issue. Instead, he raised a talon in front of her. "Follow my talon without moving your head, please."
The pony did as he asked, her large, pink eyes giving the moving appendage their full attention as it moved from left to right in front of her face.
"So tell me," Finders Keepers asked conversationally, her eyes still following the talon. "What are mercenaries doing in Haybale? I've never heard of Sabre Squad before."
The griffon was silent for a moment, his eyes tracking her own as he did his work. After a few more seconds of this he lowered his claw, reaching inside the pocket of his barding to remove a small flashlight. "We were hired to scout out this town to see if it anyone would want to resettle it. You know how it is these days, what with all of this new land that's been opened up." He let out a small chuckle, which helped somewhat to ease her tension.
"This place any good, then?" she asked, curious to know if the town had more to it than... unfriendly inhabitants. The griffon's response to her question made her flinch, causing her to blink rapidly in the face of the bright light beaming into each of her eyes, one after the other.
"Looks like you're fine" he said, turning the light off and tucking it away.
"What in Tartarus was that for?" she asked, angry at the sudden test of her vision but also understanding that it was what doctors did at times. She fluttered her eyes for a moment, trying to get rid of the spots that danced in her vision.
"The sedative we used tends to mess with the mind and body, making folks clumsy and a bit loopy, for a little bit anyhow." Finders Keepers' ears perked forward at the word 'sedative', and the griffon seemed to notice this, as he went on to explain.
"We didn't want either of you waking up on the way over here, so we gave you some sedatives to work as a muscle relaxant, and to... well, knock you out." He gave her a sheepish smile, his beak curling slightly.
With a groan, Finders Keepers rubbed at her muzzle, which still had a gentle-but-ignorable ache. The sedatives explain my 'performance' earlier, then.
"So I was put out so that your 'secret base' wouldn't be discovered in case I woke up from that mess out at that apartment?" she asked, looking back up in annoyance.
"Got it in one!" the griffon said, shooting her a sly look. He gestured with a claw over to the crate-lined walls. "Look how much stuff we found in this town alone. Took us days to get what you see here into this room, and we're sure as hell not going to give this stuff up free."
Finders Keepers tilted her head quizzically at him. "Why would you tell me all that then if you wanted to keep this secret? And why leave me alone in a room full of drugs and potions?"
The griffon's beak curled wide at her question, which frankly looked a little strange.
"Becaaaause," he began, his grin getting even wider, much to her discomfort, "judging from the big thump I heard earlier, you're in no condition to be unlatching crates and jamming yourself up with Med-X and other intravenous goodies!"
The mare's ears drooped at that. She knew that something was off the moment she had woke up. With a resigned sigh, she knew that he was right. She let herself collapse onto her side, her head flopping against the pillow with an audible pomf.
"So now what?" she asked, her voice taking on a slightly depressed tone.
"There there," the griffon said in a faux-paternal voice, a claw gently patting her on the head, causing her to flinch reflexively. "Doctor Statchel assures you that the side-effects of the treatment are only temporary. In fact, how about you and I get some lunch?"
Finders Keepers was about to say that she wasn't at all interested in food, but her stomach had its own opinion about that.
"I'll take that as a yes, then?" the griffon now known as Statchel asked, looking down at a suddenly sheepish Finders Keepers.
"It's probably for the best," she muttered.
Her stomach rumbled again in agreement.
*** *** ***
The grunts and moans of pleasure drifted amongst the inky blackness of the room, the occasional squeal of metal springs jostling beneath the intertwined couple, the sound of metal steadily joining in on the crescendo of shared pleasure. This continued for some time, until eventually both partners reached their breaking point, and with a final gasp and a grunt, it was over.
Both partners lay beside each other, the steady rhythm of panting matching the quickness beating within their chests. Going on for several minutes, one of them finally recovered enough to reach over for the nightstand lantern, tugging on the chord to illuminate the room.
Bathed in white light, the room was no different from most of the others in the building, save for the aesthetics that had been added by its new residents. Stapled and pinned haphazardly to the walls were faded posters and flyers depicting various Pre-War settings, mostly peaceful.
Set against the wall across from the room's entryway was a large princess-sized bed, where a pair of griffons lay relaxing across its tangled and blanket strewn surface.
Rosewing turned to the other griffon in the bed, letting out a soft trill as she teased him with her tail. "Mmmmm.... you definitely know how to show a hen a good time, Quill."
The other griffon responded to his nickname by draping a wing over his partner, embracing her in his steel-grey plumage. "Oh, I like to think that I know how to treat a lady right."
"Pfft," Rosewing snorted amusement, reaching and partially climbing over Razor-Quill to pick a cigarette from the carton sitting atop the nightstand. "I don't think I could be considered a lady after what we just did. Nah, that was done the way it was supposed to. Rough."
The older griffon laughed at that, grabbing the lighter off of the nightstand before his partner could reach it, and lit her cigarette for her before lighting one for himself. Both lay silent, simply basking in the afterglow and each other's company, puffs of smoke drifting toward the ceiling in a cloud of ash. It went on like this for several minutes, until one of them finally broke the silence.
"You know," Razor-Quill began, blowing a puff of smoke from his beak before taking another drag, "we're actually going to need to do something about that creature we found." He shot her a pointed look. "Something responsible."
Rosewing took a drag on her cigarette, feigning disinterest in the subject being broached. The facade continued even as the cigarette burned down to the skin of her claw, threatening to burn her.
Razor-Quill let out a sigh. It seemed to him that every race had its own problems with females, and griffons were no exception. Stubbing his cigarette out into the ashtray, he continued looking at Rosewing.
"What is this really about, Rosey?" he asked, using the private nickname that he used only when he was alone with her. When he got no response, he pressed on, concerned. "Is this about me taking Statchel's side over yours?"
Rosewing tossed what little was left of the cigarette at the nightstand, aiming for the ashtray. Taking a moment to brush away the ash that had fallen on Razor-Quills wing - which was still draped over her- she finally looked at him.
"We're not being paid to rescue people stupid enough to get caught by traps and raiders, so why do we have to take care of them?" she asked, honestly seeming puzzled.
Razor-Quill blinked, surprised at the callousness behind the other griffon's words.
"Damn, Rose, that's pretty cold," he said, shaking his head. "You're right that we don't need to help them right now, but killing those raiders just so happened to fall under the specifications of our contract, and saving a pair of idiots just happened to be the icing on the cupcake."
Rosewing still didn't seem thoroughly convinced by his reasoning, and taking a moment to think, he knew something that would cheer her up.
"Just think of it this way," Razor-Quill began, shooting her a smile, "in the end, you got this pretty thing, didn't you?"
He reached for the nightstand, pulling open the drawer to remove a steel chain, which was followed by a golden medallion that was layered with a multi-colored lattice of gems.
Rosewing's beak lit up in a smile. "Yeah, that's true. I guess saving those dweebs paid off in the end after all, didn't it?"
"Sometimes being the hero isn't so bad," Razor-Quill chuckled, handing the medallion back to its owner. The female griffon shook her head, pushing the jewelry back toward him.
"Who said we were done?" Rosewing asked, her beak lighting up in a smile that sent a chill through Razor-Quill's body.
"Now hold on a second, these old bones can only take so much!" the male griffon protested, his feathers quivering in mock-fear.
"Break's over; get back back in the game, old timer!" Rosewing said, rolling atop the other griffon just before turning off the room's only source of light.
*** *** ***
Statchel closed the door behind him once the beige earth-pony was out of the way. He gestured for her to continue down the hallways as he locked the door.
Said hallway was lined with doors on both sides, small brass plaques denoting the number of each room. The only light in the hallway came from the flickering of candles that were set along the walls at certain intervals, providing just enough light to prevent someone from bumping into the wood paneled walls.
"Is this supposed to be a motel, or something?" drifted the voice of the mare, who was already far down the hallway. "Because if the entire point of putting me to sleep is to keep this place a secret, why let me go around without a blindfold or something?"
Statchel turned around, an amused smile on his beak as he headed down the hall to meet up with the mare, who was peaking around the corner at a staircase leading down to the first floor.
"You're right that this is a motel, but we removed the sign in front of the building a while ago." He stopped beside a candle that had melted into a stump of melted wax, and lit the backup candle beside it, once more illuminating a small section of the hallway. He continued forward again, putting the lighter back into one of his many pockets.
"Couldn't I just look through a window, or something?" the pony replied wryly, one of her eyebrows raised.
Statchel let out a barking laugh. "Good luck with that, what few windows there were in this place we boarded up." He extended a claw down the stairs, gesturing for her to continue down.
Shrugging at that, the mare went downstairs, hugging the wall cautiously. Statchel followed close behind, keeping an eye on the earth-pony's movements to see if she was about to stumble. Fortunately, in the brief time that it took them to get to the first floor, there were no problems with the pony's movements that he could see, and he felt that whatever clumsiness that had plagued her had finally run its course.
"What's down there?" the beige mare asked, stopping at the bottom step as she pointed down a hallway that was nearly the mirror image of the one above them, with doors and candles running along the walls. The only true difference, aside from minor variations like the old paintings that dotted the walls, was that at the end of the hallway there was a set of barricaded double-doors.
"The lobby," Statchel answered matter-of-factly, not going into further details. The less the pony knew, the better.
To the mare's credit, she didn't pry for more information, and instead simply followed him to the far end of the hallway, coming to the door of the closest room to the lobby barricade. Digging into one of the side pockets of his barding, Statchel pulled out a small chain that jangled with numerous keys. Glancing back to the door, he saw that there was a streak of blue paint along the handle, and he selected the right key accordingly.
"Just a second," Statchel muttered, taking a moment to wriggle the key into the door's lock before finally opening the door, waving her through with a wing. "After you."
The earth-pony looked between him and the dark room for a few seconds, her hesitation obvious. After another few seconds of awkward silence, she walked into the room, her hooves clicking against the hardwood floor.
Entering the doorway after her, he reached upwards and tugged on a string, activating the spark battery lamp that had been wonderglued upside down to the plaster ceiling. Unlike the candles flickering outside in the hallway, the light that fought back the darkness was of the fluorescent variety - just like in the medical room.
Like most of the other motel rooms, this one had a floral pattern wallpaper that was starting to peel in places. Unlike most of the other rooms, Sabre Squad had actually bothered to empty it to get the proper furniture for what would eventually become both a pantry and kitchen, going so far as to scavenge some shelves from a nearby grocery store.
Those sames shelves were now set against the walls of the room, food ready to be grabbed and eaten at the table in the middle of the room.
"Anything to your fancy?" Statchel asked, seeing that the mare was having trouble picking out from the assorted mix of scavenged Pre-War foods that had been collected from various parts of the town.
An ear twitched in his direction, telling him that she had at least heard him. She turned around, her ears rigid in uncertainty. "I don't mean to be 'that mare', but do you have anything more... ah... fresh?"
Statchel rolled his eyes. "I'm sure that, as a scavenger, you've eaten worse than some old junk food. No fine dining here, pony, unless you'd care to try some pickled rat?"
He couldn't help but laugh at the look of revulsion crossing her muzzle as he produced a jar of the aforementioned food. Well, if she doesn't want any, I'll just have to eat it myself.
Rearing up onto his hind legs and spreading his wings to balance himself, he firmly gripped the jar in his claws and unscrewed the lid, helping himself to nice and plump rat, the harsh scent of cider vinegar wafting from it's wrinkled flesh. In less time than it took to open the jar, his beak snapped up the rat from his talons and he gulped it down.
"That's gross." The mare commented, a look of disgust twisting her muzzle into an expression that he didn't much care for.
Suppressing a sigh, Statchel decided to tone down the "avian carnivore" act and, with the edge taken off of his own hunger, decided to help her pick something from one of the shelves. Stepping across the room to stand beside her, he moved aside several boxes of frankly unappetizing looking oven-ready meals to retrieve a small tin container, before turning around and setting it on the table.
"What's that?" the pony asked, looking over his shoulder at the item.
Statchel tapped a talon against the metal with a metallic plink, drawing the mare's eyes to the words that had been scraped into the metal: canned corn.
"Any clue if it's still fresh?" she asked, a dubious look on her face as she stared down at the container.
"Well, that's up to you to find out," Statchel replied, not quite sure himself. "Tell you what, let's make this a team effort - I'll pull off the lid, and you decide if it's worth eating. Sound fair?"
The mare simply shrugged, her response not containing much in the way of team spirit. "Go for it."
Flashing her a smile, Statchel pulled at the metal tab of the pony-made container, revealing a mass of wet, yellow kernels within. Setting the curled up piece of metal aside, he slid the food toward the delighted mare. As she took a tentative sniff of the food, Statchel decided that then was a good time to ask a question of his own for once.
"So, I think now's a good time for you to tell me your name," he said.
Letting out a disappointed sigh, the pony looked up to address the griffon's question. "Fair's fair, I guess. My name is Finders Keepers; I'm a scavenger."
Statchel nodded, glad that he at least knew the pony's name. That didn't mean that he was done yet, though. "Well, I've already introduced myself, and I think by now it's time you answer a few of my questions. Fair's fair, after all."
Finders Keepers shifted on her hooves uneasily, her body tensing up slightly. Nonetheless, she nodded her head.
"Right then," Statchel started, looking directly at the mare. "After we cleared out the raiders" - Finders Keepers' knotted tail clamped down as he said the word, but her face remained neutral - "and made sure the area was clear, we found you and... someone else."
He gave her a pointed look, dipping his head slightly. "I'm sure you know who I'm talking about."
Finders Keepers turned her head for a moment, letting out a soft sigh as if to compose herself. Turning back to face him, she spoke warily. "I only met it the day before the attack, so I don't know too much."
"That's fine, just tell me what you know," Statchel said soothingly, wanting the pony to be at ease with him. "This isn't an interrogation."
Finders Keepers' body loosened up a little, apparently satisfied with what he had said. Wetting her lips, she began to speak. "It isn't from around here, that much I can tell you. It..." - she hesitated a moment before picking up again - "...he doesn't speak Equish, and to be honest he's sort of a jerk."
"Why burden yourself with him, then?" Statchel asked, curious as to what her motives were for being with the creature.
Finders Keepers sighed, as though regretting something. "Well, he wanted to tag along. I'm not one to say no to someone who's lost, no matter how weird they are."
Statchel nodded his head in approval, forced to admire the pony's willingness to help a stranger in need, despite how dangerous and idiotic such an action may have been.
"How bad is he?" Finders Keepers asked, catching him slightly by surprise. "He was pretty close to the mine when it went off."
Statchel stared at her, his expression growing hard as he prepared to deliver the unfortunate news. "I'm afraid that... You're not quite rid of him yet."
At first Finders Keepers lowered her head in disappointment, her ears drooping to the sides as muttered a prayer, before suddenly stopping herself and looking up, a look of confusion crossing her features as she did a double-take.
Statchel drank in the pony's confused expression for a several moments, before breaking out into a cheery smile. "He had some burst eardrums and some buckshot in his leg, but with the magic of medicine he'll be completely fine - maybe a little sore, though."
Finders Keepers' face twisted into a disbelieving stare, her mouth opening as though to say something before closing.
Statchel was still smiling, impressed that he had managed to actually stupefy the pony. "Gotcha, didn't I?"
Finders Keepers only shook her head at him, her disbelief apparently so profound that she was rendered speechless. So it came as a surprise to Statchel when she suddenly swiped the corn off of the table, sending the food to the floor.
"Really?" the earth-pony scowled, shaking her head again in disbelief before slamming her forehooves down onto the table. "Did you really have to make me think that raiders had taken another life, just to make me look like an idiot?!"
"Hey, I didn't think that you were going to take this th- hey, stop." Statchel took several nervous steps back away from the irate mare who was steadily approaching him.
He grunted softly as the pony repeatedly poked him in the chest, pushing him back further and further as she continued. Attempting to plead his case only fell on deaf ears, and he didn't feel as though he was in enough danger to warrant fighting back; still, enough was enough. Statchel grabbed the offending limb with a set of claws, preventing the mare from causing causing further annoyance, at least with that limb. The pony gasped in surprise, her eyes going wide.
Though Statchel did have to admit, the sheepish look the pony now had on her face was a bit out of place, compared to her apparent anger just moments ago...
"So I see that one of your patients is out and about. That's good."
Statchel's hackles rose at the sudden presence of the gruffer voice that had come from just behind him. Feeling like a cub who had just been caught reading a dirty magazine, he turned his head, already knowing who the voice belonged to.
"What did you do this time, Statchel?" Razor-Quill asked, not looking at all amused with what he had apparently walked into.
If Statchel could, he would would have been sweating bullets right about then as he tried to come up with a believable excuse, anything to not make himself look like more of an idiot in the eyes of his superior.
"Oh, hey boss, how's Rosewing?" Smooth.
"She's fine," the older griffon answered, fully aware of what Statchel was trying to do. "She can take care of herself, though the same apparently can't be said for you. You have two seconds to do the smart thing before I peck you."
Statchel gulped at the not-at-all concealed threat, knowing full well that the other griffon would be true to his words. Giving in to the idea that there was no good way out of this, he opened his beak to speak.
"We were arguing about corn prices!" Finders Keepers shouted awkwardly, ripping her hoof from Statchel's claws to go over to stomp on some soggy corn kernels. "Look how squishy this is! I wouldn't pay two bits for this!
Razor-Quill and Statchel exchanged awkward looks, both knowing full well what the unconvincing mare was trying to do. The older griffon looked over to the earth-pony, grimacing in apparent distaste.
"Not impressed. Work on your lying a bit more before trying to do it." He turned back to Statchel, his expression still the same. "This happens again and you're going to wish your marefriend didn't come to back you up."
"Woah, woah, boss, it isn't like that!" Statchel retorted, shuddering at the mere thought of such an unnatural and twisted relationship. "Besides, even if we could, what would the kid look like?"
"Can we not go down this road? It's getting creepy," interjected the room's only female occupant.
"You need to learn when to keep your beak shut, Statchel." Razor-Quill looked over to the mess on the floor, and then to the beige mare. "Clean that up, we're going to have guests soon."
"Guests?" Statchel asked quizzically.
"Well, more like guest," Razor-Quill corrected. "Rosewing is bringing the biped down, so kiss and make up. I trust you two can behave yourselves?"
Statchel began to rapidly nod his head, hoping that Finders Keepers was doing the same. All he wanted was for the older griffon to leave the room so that no further embarrassment could happen, for anyone. Razor-Quill gave them both a hard look for several seconds, as though daring them to cause anymore trouble. Apparently satisfied, he gave a curt nod and left the room, closing the door behind him with a paw. The remaining occupants of the room waited a tense minute for any sign that the older griffon was coming back before letting out twin sighs of relief, both glad that the his reign of terror was over, at least for the moment.
Statchel looked back over to Finders Keepers, his body shaking slightly. "Sorry about messing with you earlier, and sorry about my boss. He's scary like that sometimes."
The pony shook her head. "No, I'm sorry that I freaked out at you like that... and for freaking out about 'corn prices.'"
"Well," Statchel began, looking gloomily at all of the corn that was on the floor, "we better clean this up."
Finders Keepers let out a disappointed sigh as she looked at the tainted food. "Turn around while I clean this up. You don't want to watch this."
*** *** ***
There had been no luck with getting any useful information from the radio waves, and Kiako Lalene had relegated himself to the floor so that he could at least lay all the way flat.
That didn't mean that it had all been a waste, though, as he had at least found some interesting foreign, though disturbingly familiar music to help pass the time. The singer of one particular song had enraptured him with her rich, smooth voice. It had upset him that he didn't understand any of the lyrics, though not as much as the fact that he was probably listening to a singing horse-thing. After listening to a few songs - some of them featuring that same voice - he decided that he'd rather just lay in silence, alone with his thoughts, and he willed the collar to stop tuning in to that particular frequency. It was disappointing that he hadn't heard any English, but he supposed that he was lucky to even manage getting that one frequency through all of the static.
He sat up, rolling his neck to remove the stiffness that had built up. Hard floors were no substitute for beds, but when those same beds were made for quadrupedal mutants, well, sometimes the floor could be preferable.
A click from the other end of the room drew his attention, and despite not being able to see anything, his eyes instinctively went toward the door, just in time to see a soft, flickering stream of light filtering in from the hallway. Wincing slightly at the first light he had seen in hours, he waited for his captor to show himself, fervently hoping against hope that it could be someone that he could talk to.
When the door swung swung open, he was met with the dark silhouette of something that was definitely not human. It simply stared at him, some sort of weapon held in its claws.
"Get up, freak. It's time for supper." The words were in clear, understandable English, the creature's feminine voice filled with disdain.
Kiako Lalene blinked. |
Fallout Equestria: Foreigner | Chapter 4: An Exchange of Words | Everything comes to an end, and though she wished that the fun hadn't ended as soon as it did, Rosewing was ready to move on to other things. Most likely she'd be asked to patrol the halls or some other dull task, and that was fine by her; she'd already had her free-time for the day, and she was feeling in a good mood.
The motel room was quiet and subdued, a stark contrast to earlier events. The nightstand lantern had been hung on a wall hook to better illuminate the room, the resulting light casting the griffons' shifting shadows onto the opposite wall. A small bowl of water sat on the floor, both griffons using it to dampen some rags with which to clean themselves, wiping and scrubbing away at their bodies to remove any traces of their earlier activity.
Smoothing out the fur on the inside of her thigh, Rosewing discarded her washcloth to the floor with a soft plap, not even bothering to aim for the bowl. Based on all of the other objects scattered throughout the room, it wouldn't require an observer to be a PipBuck technician to figure out that the griffon didn't much care for tidying up her room.
Wordlessly, she scooped up the barding that had been hastily shucked off from earlier. Rather than the bulky metal and plastic armor that her companions wore, Rosewing's barding was much more flexible, consisting of hardened leather that came with pockets for inserting metal plates, in case she needed more protection. Sitting back on her haunches and keeping her wings flat against her sides, she lifted the barding over herself and let it slide down her arms and head, wiggling a little bit until the barding settled over her torso and midsection, her wings wriggling through the gaps in the leather.
Taking a moment to adjust the straps, Rosewing looked over to Razor-Quill who, despite not being as spry as he used to, had already finished donning his own, heavier barding and was now smoothing the covers of the bed... her bed, since it was her room.
"Are you seriously doing my bed?" Rosewing asked incredulously, though she couldn't help but smile.
"A bit of order in your life will probably do you a bit of good, you know," Razor-Quill replied, his attention focused on tucking in any loose edges of aged linen bed sheets under the mattress.
The slender griffon rolled her eyes at that. If she had wanted order in her life, she'd have become a peace-trooper for the NCR, rather than being the mercenary she was now.
No, rules and regulations didn't appeal to her one bit; following the orders of one person was already near the limits of her tolerance, but having to follow the orders of anyone that outranked her? The relative freedom that she had grown up with was all that she knew, ever since she had been a cub. Like many children in the Wasteland her education had been of a more pragmatic than academic nature, and a failing grade was never a stern talking to.
Mercenaries weren't simply born, though. They needed to get new blood from somewhere, and the fact that an expectant mother was probably too busy watching over her egg -- or swollen belly, in the case of a pony -- made things worse when it came to getting new contracts. Fortunately for them, there were plenty of orphans out there who hadn't been softened by the coddling of parents, and were perfect candidates for "professional" mercenaries. In return the orphans received the safety and comforts that typically came with being part of a close-knit mercenary band.
Nothing came free though, and her education had been of the nature one would expect from a group of hardened mercenaries. Mercenaries like Razor-Quill.
It took Rosewing a moment to realize that Razor-Quill was looking at her expectantly, as if waiting for something. Whatever that reason may have been, she must have missed it.
"What?" Rosewing squawked, slightly embarrassed that she'd been caught reminiscing.
Razor-Quill simply gave her an even stare, his blue eyes looking into her hazel. With one half of his body illuminated by the wall-mounted lantern and the other casting a deep shadow across the room, he certainly did look intimidating, and a bit eerie. Rosewing didn't know what Razor-Quill had asked, so she remained silent, waiting on him.
"Rosewing," the older griffon spoke, an edge of annoyance in his voice. "I'm about to ask you to do something that you aren't going to like."
Rosewing felt her body relax, not even realizing that her muscles had been tensed up. Letting out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding, she gave the other a griffon a sheepish smile.
"So, how bad is it?" she asked half-jokingly, some self-confidence returning to her demeanor. She was no stranger to doing unpleasant jobs, and not even bedding the leader of Sabre Squad could completely free her from her responsibilities.
Razor-Quill's expression didn't falter, and a newfound sense of dread began to well up inside Rosewing's breast. What could possibly be so bad as to make Razor-Quill extra-extra-seriousness all of the sudden?
"I know you don't like it," Razor-Quill began, the edges of his beak forming into a small frown, "but I need you to escort the other survivor down to the pantry."
"The pony?" Rosewing asked, her words laced with a desperate hopefulness.
The male griffon simply shook his head, his eyes still fixed on hers, as though watching for any sign of insubordination.
Rosewing swallowed nervously, her talons clicking against the floorboards as she tried to find a way to get out of having to deal with the other survivor.
"And what're you going to be doing?" she demanded, hoping to maybe turn the conversation around and perhaps get the other griffon to change his mind.
"I'm having Statchel get the pony and bring her to the pantry, which is the same place you're going to be when you bring in the --" Razor-Quill paused for a moment, as though trying to decide on the right word to use in reference to the other survivor -- "ape. After that, I'm going to do a quick perimeter sweep. The least you can do for me is take care of one unarmed wastelander. And by 'take care of', I don't mean shoot. Understood?"
Rosewing found herself nodding, her beak forming a discontented grimace. Razor-Quill watched her for a moment longer before nodding his own head, apparently satisfied that his "request" would be followed.
Wordlessly, Razor-Quill turned away from the bed, heading over toward the door before suddenly stopping. He turned around again, walking up to the nightstand and opened a drawer. "Almost forgot."
Rosewing could just make out the mumbled words that the other griffon had said, and she looked at him quizzically. What had he forgotten? The answer came to her, literally, as Razor-Quill tossed her something that flashed in the lantern light.
An outstretched claw caught the object by its steel chain, and she saw that it was the medallion that she had recently looted, its golden surface lined with a latticework of wire-thin gems that seemed to change color, depending on how the light hit it.
She smiled, glad that despite the job she'd been given, Razor-Quill hadn't let her forget about her prize. Wanting to thank him, she looked up just in time to see the door gently close shut.
Alone in the room now, her smile fell into a frown. Though she enjoyed the mercenary lifestyle and the opportunities it offered, even she had to admit that it was missing a few things. With a dreary sigh, she hung the jewelry chain around her neck and let the medallion slip into her barding, between the peytral and the plumage underneath. She searched the floor for the remaining pieces of her barding, ignoring the bits of trash and other debris that littered the area.
It didn't take her long to find her missing bits of armor, and after awkwardly putting on the thin steel hock-guards and tail-blade, she was nearly finished with her preparations to escort the "ape" -- as Razor-Quill had called it -- to dinner. Rosewing had purposely been taking her time, but she could only procrastinate for so long.
Letting out another sigh, she headed over to the bed, leaning down to reach underneath to find the final piece of equipment to finish her "ensemble". Talons scratching and sweeping against the dusty floor and bits of paper and glass, it took her a moment to find what she was looking for, but when she did she had no trouble bringing it out from under the bed. It hadn't been under the bed for any longer for an hour or two, but that hadn't stopped her leather holster from becoming a brief resting place for several dust-bunnies.
Hanging off of her right shoulder were several plastic buckles, and it was here that she connected the matching buckles of her holster to the ones on her barding. With a satisfying click, both herself and her weapon -- Rose Red -- were ready to do their "duty."
Shrugging her shoulders to make sure the weapon wasn't too unbalanced, Rosewing headed toward the nightstand, where she saw that Razor-Quill had left a key -- presumably for the creature's holding room. Tucking the key into one of her barding pockets, she squinted up at the lantern hanging above her, a talon reaching up to flick the switch. By the time the room had dimmed down into its natural darkness, Rosewing had already exited the room and closed the door behind her.
While the flickering of candles wasn't nearly as bright as the lantern she had just turned off, they provided more than enough light for her eyes to adjust to the hallway. Unlike everywhere else in the motel, the second-level hallway had absolutely nothing in the way of ornamentation, save for the mottled, dusty wallpaper that ran between doorways.
Rosewing looked down both ends of the hall to see if anyone else was around; first to the left toward the stairwell, then to the end of the hallway on her right. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary she headed right, following the zig-zag of doors toward the end of the hall. As she padded down the hallway, she slipped a claw into her pocket to remove the key that had been given to her by Razor-Quill. Easily hobbling along on three limbs, she stopped at the end of the hallway, looking down at the key and then to the door she stood before.
42, she mused, turning the little brass key in her claw.
With a final, self-pitying sigh she inserted the key and unlocked the door, which had been removed and reinstalled so that it couldn't be unlocked from the inside. Rosewing could still see traces of the door's original orientation, even in the candle light.
Arm crossing over her breast and reaching toward its opposite shoulder she took a moment to pop the retaining strap of her holster, wrapping her claw around the familiar grip of Rose Red. Giving the boxy, rectangular pistol a perfunctory check to make sure that it wouldn't blow up in her face, she turned the weapon toward the door and shoved it open, letting her candle-lit shadow flow into the room.
Eyes taking the barest moment to adjust, she scanned the relatively bare and musty smelling room, looking for what she knew to be the room's only inhabitant. It didn't take her long to find it sitting on the floor, nor for her weapon to be aimed in its direction. Whether the creature's slight wince came from the sudden light entering the room or simply reacting to the weapon aimed at it's relatively flat face, she didn't much care.
"Get up, freak. It's time for supper," she barked, a talon-tip stroking the pistol's trigger guard, as if in anticipation. Make my day, I dare you.
The creature blinked at her, eyes wide and the little tufts above them shooting up, perhaps in surprise. Whatever the reason, the reaction was short-lived, and soon the creature's eyes returned to their original size and the eye-tufts settled back down.
Before she could repeat herself, the creature slowly stood up on its paws, its fleshy claws set behind its head. Rosewing had to stop herself from letting the talon slip inside the trigger guard, such was her surprise in how smoothly the creature had stood up on its hind legs.
Surprised as Rosewing was for dealing with something outside of her expertise, it was by no means enough to make her turn tail and run, or to make her forget her "duty". While she may have only come up to the apparently-bipedal creature's waist, she was the one with gun. If push came to shove, she would be the one burning holes in things.
The biped didn't make any further moves from its position next to the bed, simply staring down at her with a face that made it perfectly clear how it felt about the position it was in. Just as Rosewing was about to wave the biped closer to the door, her eyes caught the dark shape that stood out against the biped's pale neck. It took her a moment to figure out why she had suddenly became so focused on the band, but the reason became clear soon enough when the biped turned its head to the side for her to look.
One didn't need to have been a slave to get the general idea of what a slave collar looked like; a dark, metal band that wrapped around a victim's neck, the collar itself packed with enough explosives to make escape futile.
The knowledge that the creature standing before her had, or still was, a slave did little to change her feelings toward it. It was just that, a creature, and certainly not another griffon. Rosewing waved the creature to come toward the doorway, taking a few steps back herself so that she would never be within swiping distance of its long arms. As the ambient light from the hallway gradually illuminated the approaching biped, she couldn't help but feel a wave of nausea roll through her.
The griffon already knew that the creature was mostly hairless, save for its mane and strange eye-tufts. What she wasn't expecting was that it still had plenty of fur on its arms and legs! Of course, calling it "fur" would have been an overstatement, considering the very minor coverage provided by the thin, lightly shaded hairs that ran down the biped's legs and arms. The only protection against the elements that the creature had were the two pieces of clothing that Statchel had failed to strip from it, either due to being lazy, or pity.
The first -- and most substantial -- piece of clothing was a grey shirt covering the biped's upper body, neat stitching connecting the short sleeves that served to cover a portion of its upper arms; there was even a little pocket stitched to the front of the shirt. The second piece of clothing was also grey, appearing to be made of the same cloth as the shirt. Covering the groin and moving down to cover the upper thighs -- though not far enough to cover the ugly, speckled bruises on one leg -- there was no mystery for her as to what purpose the cloth served.
Remembering the first time she had seen the creature, it had looked weak and helpless amidst the rubble, even with the admittedly impressive looking armor it wore. The one standing before her now didn't look so helpless now, though it did lack the barding and equipment it had before; she wondered if it would have been so submissive if Statchel hadn't removed the armor. Looking back up at its face, Rosewing could tell that she wasn't the only one doing some sizing up, and she had to fight off a shudder of revulsion when it was looking back at her. Wings ruffling in annoyance she took a few more steps back, clearing the doorway entirely.
Once more in the hallway, she gave the creature another suspicious look beckoning it forward with the end of her pistol.
"Keep your claws, paws, whatever, where they are and move forward. No funny business, or you get dusted." The nearly inaudible but by no means subtle flick of her weapon's safety only punctuated her readiness to deal with any problem.
Though she didn't have lips herself, Rosewing had been around ponies long enough to recognize what it meant when someone pressed their lips together until there was only a thin line. If the freak standing in front of her was feeling annoyed or angry, it would just have to deal with it.
The 'freak' in question moved forward, obeying her instructions, its strange body moving in a way that struck her as off somehow, though she couldn't think of any reason other than that the proportions and joints of its body were far different than hers. She moved laterally from the doorway, putting some space between it and herself so that she could maneuver if the biped decided it wanted to try its chances.
Claws still behind its head, the creature's face was still locked in the same stern, humorless expression as it had when she first entered the room. Maintaining eye contact with her, it began to move forward, lifting one leg at a time -- impressive considering the fact that it only had two to stand on -- until stopping at the doorway.
"Any further orders for this toy soldier?" a voice asked, its smooth baritone easily understandable save for the strange accent that hovered minutely over every word.
Rosewing felt her body tense up at the unexpected remark, mentally stuttering for a brief second before realizing that the speaker was right in front of her. Recovering from the brief startle, she regained her composure, muscles loosening up slightly.
"Down the hall and stop at the edge of the stairs." She punctuated her order with a wave of the pistol she still held. "Anything else, and you're dust."
The biped simply nodded, expression unchanging as its head ducked underneath the doorframe to enter the hallway, its back turned to her as its fleshy feet padded softly against the ancient floorboards.
The griffoness watched as her charge obeyed the order, her observant eyes catching another strangeness of the creature's anatomy. Unlike the ears of a pony or donkey, the biped's were located differently and were of a completely different structure, the cartilage forming stiff, inflexible looking ridges.
Sorta like a seashell... sorta. She couldn't help but be amused that seashells were what came to mind when looking at an ear, no matter how strange it may have looked. She shook her head to clear the imagery, though not without a soft smile on her beak. As much as she disliked her current task, it didn't mean she had time to relax.
The biped hadn't gotten too far ahead of her during her musings; it had only gotten to the halfway point between her and the stairwell. Wasting no more time on silly thoughts or daydreams, she moved to close the distance between herself and her charge. As the distance between Rosewing and the staircase lessened, the opposite occurred with the lighting. The candles ahead of her were more closely placed, unlike the ones behind her which had been used more sparingly.
With the lightning more even and less erratic, she could clearly see that there was some sort of symbol adorning the back of the biped's shirt, one that she was unfamiliar with. The design was made up of three empty ovals, their light blue edges intersecting across a central point to create a six-pointed symmetrical shape. A small dot sat on the edge of each oval, giving off the impression that the dots were following a sort of elliptical orbit.
While never going so far as to call herself an artist, Rosewing couldn't help but admire the way a series of simple shapes formed to create one more complicated. She herself liked to paint or draw when the occasion allowed, such as the time she had given her weapon the distinctive floral patterning that had become its namesake.
"Stop," Rosewing ordered, the biped obeying and stopping at the top of the staircase. Its head turned slightly to the side, as if trying to angle one of its stiff ears toward her. The griffoness let her eyes wander toward the symbol on the creature's shirt again, her curiosity beginning to get the better of her.
"What's the symbol on your back?" Rosewing asked abruptly, for the first time actually interested in anything to do with the strange biped.
Seeming to stiffen at the question, the biped remained silent for a moment before speaking, its tone firm despite the slight accent.
"Something-for-something," it said, the first three words blending together strangely, sounding as if the words were sped up somehow. "Answer my question first and I'll answer yours."
Rosewing couldn't help but frown at the offer. Unlike the ponies that made up the vast majority of the Wasteland's population, griffons weren't the type of people to be open to personal questions. This was simply fact, a fact that anyone should already know.
That being the case, she didn't really see a particular any particular harm in playing along, so long as the question wasn't too outrageous. After mulling it over for a moment she decided to go along with the offer, despite the oddness of its earlier words.
"Fine. Whadd'ya wanna ask?" The words came out a touch harsher than she had intended for them to be, but they got the point across well enough. She was the boss after all, at least for the moment.
Blunt, pale claws still steepled behind its head, the biped asked its question, voice firm and even. "What are you?"
As far as questions went it was one of the more absurd ones, so much so that Rosewing couldn't help but let her head draw back in mild surprise, eyes wide for a brief second.
What are you? Oddly enough, she found that she didn't doubt for a moment the sincerity of the question. She didn't think that the biped was pulling her tail when it had asked the question, nor did she think it was asking what she did for a living.
The biped hadn't moved since it had asked its question, simply standing patiently as it awaited the answer to its question. Breaking the pregnant pause that followed the creature's question, Rosewing finally answered.
"Griffon. I'm a griffon." She couldn't help but feel not just a little bit self-conscious as she said that.
The biped simply nodded, claws still steepled over the back of its head. "A deal's a deal. Ask away."
Rosewing frowned. Now that it was her turn to ask a question, she wasn't so sure she shouldn't ask about something else. On the one wing, she still had no idea what the creature actually was, other than being male and walking two legs. On the other, she could still ask about the symbol on the shirt, which in truth appealed to her more than simply knowing what to call the owner of said shirt.
Knowing Statchel's ever-present curiosity, she figured that if anyone was most likely to ask the first question, it would be him. As far as she knew, the other two griffons of the group didn't share her interest in art, at least not to the same degree that she did, which made the decision on what to ask that much easier.
"What's the symbol on the back of your shirt mean?" Her pistol flicked toward said symbol for emphasis, more for herself than for anything else. The owner of the shirt answered her immediately, the firmness of its tone softening somewhat, as if the question was about something that interested it.
"It's a simple depiction of the --" its voice seemed to dip for a moment, saying something guttural and unintelligble, --" model. To be more specific, it is a stone atom, hence the three electrons."
Rosewing couldn't help but make note of the little quirks she heard in the biped's speech, which didn't seem to be related to its slight accent. She had noticed the same little quirk earlier as well, when the biped had made its little offer. It wasn't the first time she had spoken with foreigners hailing from outside of Equestria, and for the most part she'd had little trouble in understanding them. The same was true here, and aside from the little irregularities in its speech the biped spoke the language very well.
"So..." Rosewing began, writing off the biped's speech impediment in favor of getting some follow-up information on the symbol. "...it's related to science, then?"
"You would be correct." The interest that had colored the biped's explanation was gone, its tone once more falling back to the firm base that seemed to be the norm.
Wow... lame, were the words that ran through her head at that moment, mirroring the disappointment she felt at learning the meaning behind the symbol. What a damned waste of a design.
"Right, enough questions. Down the stairs you go," Rosewing ordered, curiosity replaced with the forceful tone she had used when first meeting the biped. The one time she'd taken an interest in something foreign, and it turned out that it was something for nerds.
The biped complied, claws still behind its head as it took the first step down the stairs, its head dangerously close to brushing against the sloping ceiling. One step, then two, both paws on a tread before repeating the process with the next one down. Watching her charge descend, Rosewing couldn't help but notice the circular aperture in the back of its collar, or the flecks of metal within gleaming back at her like a trio of brass stars.
With the final creak of wood the biped reach the foot of the stairs, taking a few more steps before stopping in front of the wall, not deviating at all from the order Rosewing had given it. Satisfaction was the furthest thing from her mind, though, even with the biped's wordless compliance of her orders. Her gaze was focused solely on that hole in back of the creature's neck, a heaviness welling up in her breast that only increased the longer she stared. The biped shifted, its body pivoting enough so that its pale blue eyes looked back into her hazel. Its expression was still locked in that same stern look as before, but its eyes had hardened into one of annoyance. She had been staring for too long.
"It's rude to stare, you know." The biped's words were spoken with an air of calm indifference, belying the hardness in the owner's eyes.
Rosewing was silent, unable to break the gaze she shared with the creature at the foot of the stairs. Shaking herself mentally, she forced herself to break the silence to give a pair of commands.
"Move down the hall, claws behind your head. No fast movements, or you're done." The biped gave a curt nod, the hardness in its eyes softening, before turning around again to walk out of her sight. The griffon let out a ragged sigh, just becoming aware that she'd been holding her breath until then. The tightness in her breast had begun to recede, and she felt soon enough that there would be no more problems.
Descending down the stairs and reaching the first floor she turned her head to look down the hall, seeing the biped moving toward an awaiting Statchel. The male griffon gave Rosewing a respectful nod, but her attention was elsewhere, once more focused on the aperture at the base of the creature's neck. Something about a living creature having what looked like an exposed socket on its neck made her flesh crawl.
Only machines are supposed to have those, came a small voice in the back of her mind.
Still standing in the hall, Rosewing watched Statchel direct the biped into the room with the measured prods of a machine-pistol. The brown griffon gave her a questioning look, as if to ask if anything was wrong. She shook her head. With a shrug, Statchel followed the biped inside, the griffon's tail pulling the door closed behind him. Muffled voices reached Rosewing's hearing a moment later, the content behind whatever being said of no interest to her; she was happy enough just to be alone, if only for a second.
Letting out a quiet sigh, Rosewing began to roll her shoulders and stretch her legs, feeling the unease she felt earlier flow away with whatever tension had built up in her muscles. Wish I could just stay here. Smiling at the thought, she knew that wasn't an option. Razor-Quill might have been relatively lenient and laid-back compared to some other griffons she'd met, but when commands were issued he expected nothing but obedience.
Taking one last procrastinating stretch before walking toward the door to the pantry, Rosewing steeled herself against whatever discomfort she'd soon face, and opened the door. |
Fallout Equestria: Foreigner | Chapter 5: Plain English | With Statchel having left the pantry to give her some privacy, Finders Keepers was able to "clean" the mess of spilled corn far faster than if she were in polite company. With no one watching, all bets were off.
Licking her lips clean of any stray kernels, Finders Keepers soon found that all that remained of the corn were the bits that had fallen onto the floor, and even she wasn't that desperate. Not yet at least. That left only the tin that her meal had come in, which now just contained some corn-tainted water. Shooting a cautious glance to the door, she moved her hooves to grip the sides of the metal container, lifting it up to her muzzle to drink what remained.
Unfortunately for her the door chose that particular moment to swing open, causing Finders Keepers to spray corn-water across the room and onto the familiar figure of her bipedal companion.
Hacking for a few brief few seconds, she sputtered once more, this time with an apology that probably wouldn't be understood. The biped's response was to be expected: a look of annoyance focused on her, followed by a limb trying to brush the stain off its shirt. With an exasperated sigh it -- he, she corrected -- moved to the sit across from her, his pale, furless legs bending and crossing in a seemingly unnatural fashion before resting on his haunches.
Despite the fact that the biped was now sitting, the table seemed comically low in comparison, its surface barely above his stomach. Still, he was low enough now that Finders Keepers could see Statchel closing the door behind him, with one weapon still trained at the biped's back as a precaution.
"Way to have a gun on him while he's on the ground, " Finders Keepers pointed out, her tone of disapproval mixed with no small amount of amusement. Fat chance of the biped somehow managing to overpower a griffon, let alone one as muscular as Statchel.
"You never know," Statchel replied with a smirk, slipping the machine pistol into his barding's holster. The male griffon moved from between the doorway and the biped, eyes staying on the latter's collar for a moment too long before the wearer stared right back.
With the creature looking at Statchel as he crossed the room, Finders Keepers had a few seconds to stare at the collar without fear of being seen as rude. The dark ring of metal around the biped's neck seemed much more comfortable than she would have first thought, as it didn't appear to be digging into the wearer's pale flesh at all. It almost looked pretty, with all the runic markings scored into the metal.
The face across from her soon came to look in her direction, though by that time it would merely be looking at a politely sitting earth-pony, who seemed to merely be waiting patiently for something.
Giving the biped a polite smile, she turned her head to see where Statchel had gone when she'd been looking at the collar. A quick search managed to locate the missing griffon, who was currently standing on his hind-legs to work on something on the counter, though what she couldn't tell. Leaning a little to the side, she saw that Statchel was simply connecting a hot plate to a spark battery. How exciting, she thought.
"So," Finders Keepers started, wanting to break the silence with something that amounted to more than just small talk, "how long will you be having us here? Not saying that we're not thankful and everything, but I'm sure we can't be here forever, you know?"
"Probably not for long," Statchel assured, turning from the hot plate to face the earth-pony mare. "I imagine that Razor-Quill will probably want to ask you a few questions before he turns you loose."
Finders Keepers nodded at that, smiling in relief as her fears were assuaged. She had not, in fact, been dumped out of the frying pan and into the fire after all.
The sound of muffled steps from the hallway alerted her to a newcomer, and she turned around just in time to see the door open to reveal another griffon, this one's features contrasting greatly with those of Statchel's. Still, while the mare wasn't very knowledgeable about griffons, she knew enough about them to pick out genders, and this one was definitely no male, which meant Razor-Quill had yet to arrive.
"Hello!" Finders Keepers greeted warmly, if a little forced. "Thanks for taking us in after saving us from those raiders, we'd've been goners if it weren't for you."
Rather than getting the return greeting Finders Keepers had hoped for, she was miffed to see the griffon had chosen to stare at the back of the biped's neck instead, completely ignoring the earth-pony. She wasn't the only one to notice the one-sided greeting, either, her ears unconsciously perking up at the sound of Statchel's barding scraping against the wooden counter, followed by the clicks and clacks of talons hitting the floor as the griffon turned to look in the same direction as Finders Keepers.
"It's rude to stare at a guest, you know," Statchel's said, the deepness of his voice almost equal to the tone of annoyance that had been piled onto the short sentence.
With words guttural and low, the biped said something as well, his voice mirroring Statchel's only in annoyance, but it was enough to convince Finders Keepers that the message carried the same sentiment -- if not more so.
The reaction was unexpected, though.
*** *** ***
There were many annoyances that plagued the man throughout his life, most of which were actually quite minor compared to other things. Still, there were limits to the unpleasantries he was forced to endure, and he had already given one warning already.
"Does every hole tickle your fancy," Kiako said as he turned to look to the creature behind him, "or am I the exception?"
The already-large eyes of the cat-bird in question went wide with unmistakable indignation -- something that apparently transcended the boundaries of species. Its feathery head reared back away from him, and Kiako couldn't help but let a flicker of a smile pass over his face. It took a few milliseconds for him to register that the offended creature's talons had just come off the floor for a swipe at the back of his head, but with the familiar warmth of something wet and sticky running down his scalp, he was anything but motionless.
*** *** ***
Statchel's first reaction was to wince at the unprovoked strike the biped had just received to the back of his head. Still, at least it didn't go across the face, said the part of him that tried to find a silver lining in what was likely going to turn into something unpleasant.
Fortunately for the griffon, his protective instincts were much quicker than that other part of him, as he had his forelegs up just in time to protect his head from the suddenly approaching table.
*** *** ***
Definitely wasn't expecting that, Finders Keepers mused from her spot on the floor, her ears ringing from when the previously docile table had slammed her onto the floor before continuing onward toward the poor griffon behind her. He'll be fine...
The earth-pony blinked away the foggy film that covered her vision, giving her head a little shake despite the protests of her undoubtedly bruised muzzle. Facing the front of the room, amidst some shattered kitchenware and a few cups, she could see the contorted bodies of both the biped and the rosey-feathered griffon, their bodies bleeding and on the floor but not at all still.
With the biped's lack of body hair, Finders Keepers could clearly see where the griffoness's talons had left weeping lacerations on her opponent's pale, unprotected flesh. That didn't mean that the griffon wasn't being given as good as she got, though, because even her rosey-hued feathers weren't that red.
Shakily getting up onto her hooves, she knew that she couldn't just lay there and watch the fight. With a quick glance behind her to check if Statchel was alright -- and he was, if him pushing the table was any sign of that -- the earth-pony threw herself into the fray, coming to the rescue for a second time.
*** *** ***
Rosewing's beak shut with a painful clack as the back of her head hit the latch of the door that had been left ajar. Really wish I had closed that.
The griffoness tried to go for the gun holstered on her barding, but before she could wrap her claw around Rose Red's grip, the wind forced its way out of her beak with a ragged gasp as the biped snaked a kick beneath her and into her midriff, lifting the front of her body a few inches off the floor before something else -- also hard -- slammed into the top of her skull, sending her to the floor.
Dazed and her thoughts a little muddled, Rosewing felt something pressing hard against her throat, but the near-blind, panicky swipe of a foreleg earned her a grunt of pain from her opponent, followed by a faint snap and the sound of someone falling.
Having made herself some breathing room, she pushed against the floor to give herself as much distance as she could before her back hit the wall, and by then the two-legs was on her again, its clenched fists pounding into her with such fury that for a brief moment she could have sworn it was an earth-pony delivering the blows.
Ignoring the thunder of her pulse, and trying to stave off the thunder of blows raining down onto her body, Rosewing managed to force out an ear-piercing shriek of rage that put pause to the blows that had a moment ago seemed endless. With a grunt of pain she managed to sweep her wing against the crouching biped's legs, knocking it off balance so that the follow-up sweep with her foreleg finished what the first one started.
The fighting continued from there, on the ground. Biting, punching, kicking, and everything in between were the order of the day, and so focused was the griffon on destroying her abominable assailant that she never noticed the hoof that smashed into the side of her head, or the gunshot that followed.
*** *** ***
Old as the motel was, it didn't take long for someone to grow familiar with the noises it made. Wooden boards creaked beneath the paw, and hinges squealed in protest at not having been oiled in centuries; it was the same story with many of Equestria's buildings.
Some noises are trouble though, and can't be ignored. Razor-Quill dropped his microphone with a start, tore off his headphones and grabbed his pistol from off the table before scrambling out the door, the tinny voice on the radio forgotten.
That sure as hell wasn't the building settling, Razor-Quill thought, his mind racing through the possibilities of what had caused the crash downstairs. He was already flying down the stairs before he realized that he'd taken off his barding earlier.
A solitary gunshot rang out the moment his claws hit the base of the stairs, his joints popping painfully in concert. Cursing for reasons more than just old age, he continued to close the distance between himself and the pantry.
*** *** ***
The man lay on his side, the floor pleasantly cool against the area of skin where his shirt had ridden up. Other parts of his body were starting to realize that he'd taken just as much of a beating as he had given in return, and he could feel the pinpricks of sensation that meant pain wasn't far behind.
Bleeding and beaten as he was, though, he was relieved that he wouldn't be falling out of a LifeNet pod anytime soon. The fight was over for now, that much he knew, thanks to the rather unexpected end to the fight. Unfortunately for his horse-like companion, it had been the one to take the bullet likely meant for him, and was reacting appropriately in response to being shot: screaming and crying bloody murder, probably at the shaken hybrid that had fired the bullet.
Moving a hand to wipe away some of the blood on his face Kiako found that there was something wrapped around his fingers. Investigating the matter he found that some sort of medallion was on the floor beside him, and it just so happened that a fine steel chain connected both the medallion and his fingers together. How did that get there?
Casting a furtive glance around the room, he saw that the other occupants of the room were still recovering from the fight -- though one would likely take a bit longer to recover than the others, he was quite sure. Looking over to the hybrid with the gun to make sure it or its owner wasn't looking toward him, he pulled the chain loose from his fingers before tucking his prize in the space between his waist and the elastic strap of his briefs. It was quick and simple, and none were left the wiser.
Taking a moment to wipe away some blood that was about to drip into his eye, he turned his attention to his wounded -- and loudly protesting -- acquaintance. Screaming and hollering in a way that transcended species, the equinoid was thrashing on the pantry floor between himself and the rosey cat-bird he had just scuffled with. Whether the bullet had been meant for him or not, the equinoid was the one who had reaped the repercussions.
What drew his attention the most though wasn't that the thrashing creature was wounded and bleeding -- though he did give a cursory look over its blooded flank, small caliber perhaps? -- or even the racket it was making, but instead what it was saying. Sitting upright now the man stared wide-eyed as the equinoid's stream of foreign expletives and curses began to flow into something sounding uncannily familiar to human speech, if not quite English.
Before Kiako could even figure out what was going on his thoughts were interrupted by the figure that had burst through the doorway. The man's eyes focused instantly on the gun that was scanning the room before it turned on him, a sickly green glow emanating from the muzzle.
"Statchel, what happened?" bellowed the room's newest occupant, the speaker's gruff voice in clear English. Kiako's eyes drifted up from the muzzle of the weapon went up the limb holding it, and saw that this creature was of the same species as the other two hybrids in the room.
"He f-fucking shot me!" cried out a feminine voice, the words sounding like they were being spoken through gritted teeth.
Was I being lied to? So she does know English! Beyond bewildered by this point, he sat up straighter to try and get an uninterrupted view at the wounded equinoid. That got a reaction out of the cat-bird, and for the man's trouble he was rewarded with a shove back onto the floor, his head nearly smacking into the wood.
"S'what's you get for trying to join in, fatty!" This voice Kiako was already familiar, for he had just been fighting it -- or her, he supposed -- just moments ago.
Yet another voice chimed in, and Kiako's head turned to look at the other hybrid that had escorted him into the room earlier. "And you shouldn't have started this whole mess in the first place, Rosewing!"
Rosewing, pretty self-explanatory. Statchel must be the other cat-bird, then. The man gained some childish pleasure at being given two of the names of his captors, without having to ask himself. Still, something was going on that wasn't normal -- aside from him being captured by talking animals -- and he wasn't going to draw any undue attention to himself by asking questions. Best to play it by ear.
"We have bigger things to worry about than who started what," the unnamed hybrid began, obviously the leader of the group by this point. "Statchel, take the pony and treat her. We'll have a talk later."
"Got it boss," Statchel said, having already holstered his gun by the time he had helped up the wounded equinoid. "Let's get you up and out of here."
"Just hurry up," was all his horse-like acquaintance managed to hiss as she was helped out of the room, Statchel the cat-bird lending support.
Unfortunately that left Kiako alone with two of his captors, one of which already had a reason to hate him -- possibly even before the fight happened -- and the other currently holding him at gunpoint. He'd been in similar situations before, but never one quite like this. If they did choose to execute him, he hoped that they'd make it quick so that this little adventure could end and he could be back in familiar territory.
Kiako stared at the remaining two hybrids, Rosewing having come around the side of the unnamed one, gun drawn. One of her eyes was swollen shut, the sickly purple clashing with the feathers of her head, and blood dripped from a nostril in her beak.
"Can I have the honors, boss?" Kiako could see the edges of her beak curling up in a wicked grin, though the fact that her beak even could unsettled him more than her bloodlust.
The man glanced over at the other cat-bird, trying to gauge its reaction to Rosewing's offer. Looking past the large beak and into a pair of very large and blue eyes, he tried to figure out what the hybrid-leader was thinking. It took the man a few seconds to realize that it was trying to do the exact same thing with him.
If the two hadn't been locked onto each other so, Kiako might not have registered the almost imperceptible nod that the cat-bird gave to him. He wasn't quite sure what that meant, but it gave him some relief that maybe, just maybe, the hybrid wouldn't let his underling avenge herself upon him.
"Rosewing..." the leader began, hesitating for a moment as if deciding how to finish the sentence, "...go to Statchel and get fixed up. I'll take care of this."
Compared to the cool reply that had answered her question, Rosewing's response was anything but. Kiako could see the flicker of shock across her avian features, a flicker that was replaced by a scream of frustration and a litany of curses and accusations of the other hybrid's mental faculties.
The male cat-bird wouldn't be swayed on the matter however, which only served to increase Roswing's level of frustration. The fiery passion that the female hybrid exuded for his murder frankly amazed Kiako, and the image of a child throwing a temper-tantrum was one of the first things that came to mind.
Just as it looked as if the argument would turn into a more physical confrontation did Rosewing finally relent, having been ordered to put her gun away. She cast Kiako in a baleful glare that more than told him what she wanted to do to him, and it seemed to him that the only thing that prevented her from changing her mind on the spot was her obedience to the other hybrid.
As if daring her to do anything more, the male cat-bird continued to glare at Rosewing even as she slinked out of the room. Only when the door was slammed shut in a final act of defiance did the male hybrid turn to back to Kiako, looking him over as if seeing him in a new light.
"You're hurt," the male observed, gesturing with a talon to the many aching cuts that crisscrossed the man's legs and arms, as well as the one on his face.
Kiako nodded at that. "If you have my belongings, I can treat myself, rather than having your... male... tend to me. That will allow me to avoid your other subordinate."
The hybrid nodded back, seemingly pleased that he could keep the man and Rosewing away from each other. Still, as strange as talking with some sort of animal experiment was, Kiako had questions that he needed answered, two in particular.
"What are you, you and the... horse-thing."
Upon being asked the question the creature seemed taken aback, surprised at what had been said. That didn't last long though, and soon the male gave a soft chortle, as if a child had said something humorous. Kiako didn't much care for it, but he waited silently for the cat-bird to finish.
"You really aren't from around here, aren't you?" the hybrid said after it had finished, a mirthful look in his eye. "I'm a griffon, and that filly we found you with is a pony."
Kiako mulled the names over, ignoring the slightly patronizing tone of someone talking to a tourist. The names were familiar to him, but neither could really be true, could they? To see a phenotypical mix of avian and feline, only to have it be named after a breed a dog, was truly bizarre.
Though I can see why the other creature might be called a pony, he grudgingly admitted to himself. Naming conventions could wait later though, and with a grunt of exertion he heaved himself off the floor, careful to keep his arm against his hip, where the medallion he had stolen earlier was hidden between himself and his briefs.
"Take me back to my belongings, and I'll treat myself," Kiako announced. He had put off checking himself for too long, and if he waited any longer he would pay the price for it, whether by blood loss or infection. Already he felt as if he were a little faint-headed.
"Good," the griffon. "I don't know what you are, and I don't much care. All I know is that you're trouble, and I don't want to deal with you."
"Believe me, I don't want to be here."
The two beings stared at each other for a moment, and then walked out of the room.
*** *** ***
Once again the earth-pony was back in that medical room, though this time she was at least awake and not under the effects of some sedative: now Finders Keepers was trying a different drug, one that numbed the pain and not the mind. That very same surgical table she'd seen during her last visit was now seeing some use, and despite her coat the cold metal still managed to give her a shiver.
Finders Keepers had long gotten used to the profuse apologies from Statchel, and withdrawn within herself, trying to ignore that the fact that the griffon was digging inside of her to undo the damage he'd done. Even with the painkillers, she still flinched as the probe touched something it shouldn't have.
Giving herself a break from the floral pattern on the walls she closed her eyes, letting out a drawn-out sigh to try and rid herself of some of the unease that had built up ever since the day at started.
If there's ever a time to think about your life choices, it's when some guy is pulling a bullet out of you, she mused darkly, unable to help but chuckle under her breath.
"Sorry," Statchel murmured, his deep voice at odds with how apologetic he was being. She didn't give him a reply.
Thinking back to when she had first left home five years ago, she reminisced about the places and people she'd met in her travels since. Her scavenging had taken her all across the battered Equestrian Wasteland, from the bustling NCR capital of Junction Town to the quiet and more subdued Stableside. She'd even met the original Element of Kindness, if only briefly.
Still, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. She'd had run-ins with bandits on occasion, forcing her to leave some of the best scavenging spots she'd ever run into. Other times she'd have to run away from the wildlife if her pistol couldn't deal with it. Adding a gunshot wound to the list was a long time coming, if nothing else.
She was a scavenger though, and she went where the pickings were good. It was her namesake, after all.
Mercenaries though, they were different. It wasn't that they did questionable jobs in exchange for caps; she looted the dead, whether the corpses were buildings or actual corpses. No, what bothered her the most was that she felt confined in this place, this motel. Being trapped in the same building with the psycho-griffon and another griffon who had shot her to protect the first one didn't help her opinion of the place, either.
Finders Keepers took pride in her knack for getting out of bad situations, and her instincts were telling her that she should leave this place as soon as possible. Getting shot by the griffons who had saved you from bloodthirsty raiders couldn't be a sign of goodluck.
The opening and closing of the door brought her back to the real world, her ears perking at the sound before her eyes followed. There in the room was the one member of Sabre Squad she really didn't want to see.
"Get me a compress, Statchel," Rosewing said, her demand sounding a little sulky to the pony's ears.
"Wait your turn Rose, I'm kinda busy cleaning up the mess you started." Finders Keepers flinched as another bullet fragment was removed. Thank Celestia and Luna for the painkillers.
The pony flinched again as Rosewing sent her a hostile glare. Finders Keepers glared right back, and the staring match continued for a few more seconds before the griffon finally relented, shaking her head and getting her own medical attention from a nearby crate.
"I'm nearly finished, just need to slap a healing poultice on and give you a potion and you should be mostly better," Statchel said from the other end of the table, trying to sound cheerful.
"Your bedside manner is still bad," Finders Keepers quipped, not entirely without humor.
The griffon huffed at that, but continued treating her. Now that Statchel was no longer digging into her with his tools the healing could begin, or as he called it, "the Two P's". The pony could feel the tickle of the healing poultice doing it's work, though the potion she drank almost made her throw up.
Spitting out the plastic vial, she turned to look how Rosewing was doing: she might have been a psycho, but she had helped save the biped's life as well as Finders Keepers'. Either the griffoness was really bad with tending to herself, or the crates were hard to open. Maybe it's both.
Statchel moved on to tend to his squadmate once he made sure Finders Keepers was fine, offering yet another apology as he left to tend Rosewing.
More or less alone at this point, there was nothing to do but wait for whatever happened next. Her thoughts moved to the strange creature that she had saved and traveled with, and wondered if it was alright. She had the suspicion that if Rosewing had killed it, she'd have looked a lot happier.
Once again the door opened, though this time it wasn't a griffon filling up the doorway. Favoring one leg, the biped stood there equipped in his barding once more, and carrying her saddlebags. He tossed them to the floor.
"We're leaving." |
Fallout Equestria: Foreigner | Chapter 6: Leaving the Nest | The looks on Statchel's and the "pony's" face didn't at all surprise Kiako when he walked into the room and spoke. He was just as surprised himself that he could now understand -- in English, no less -- Statchel and the equinoid before him, though he kept his immediate emotions beneath a facade of indifference.
He was fairly sure that the method of him being able to understand the duo -- and perhaps Razor-Quill as well, since Kiako had only met him after he was able to understand their language -- wasn't telepathic in nature: his time with the Lightbearers, a faction comprised of monks, doctors, and geneticists, had given him the knowledge to protect himself from those who would violate the sanctity of his most private thoughts.
"... And you said he couldn't talk." The deep voice of Statchel brought him back from his memories, back into the real world. Kiako clenched his jaw, frustrated with his inability to pay attention to all things at all times.
"I said I didn't know a word he was saying," the equinoid said, ears pinned flat and eyes narrowing as she looked at the squat griffon. When Kiako had first set off from Zanesville, a parting gift -- and payment -- had been an old nag to carry him on its back. His time with horses from then on had given him the experience needed to tell what they were feeling, and right now he was pretty sure that this one was annoyed.
"...And I didn't know what she was saying, either. As we can see, that's changed, somehow." The man shifted onto his other leg, immediately regretting it as the pressure sent a twinge of pain shooting up his lacerated calf.
"I wish he didn't know how to talk, else none of us woulda been here," grumbled Rosewing from the corner of the clinic, Kiako knowing her name only by the brief conversation he had struck up with Razor-Quill on the way to get the man's belongings.
"You were being quite rude," Kiako replied tersely, crossing his arms as he stared at the female griffon's back. "I don't know if you came from either egg or vivipary, but obviously you were born in a crater if you think I'm going to let you get away with your behavior, without even a comment."
The man heard a snicker behind him from Razor-Quill. "The one time you mess with someone bigger than you, and you wind up in here."
"Wait a sec, hold on!" the equinoid interjected, cutting off Rosewing's biting response to Razor-Quill. She looked over to the sulking griffon. "You said that you could understand him? When?"
"When I was 'escorting' --" she raised her claws to give a pair of air quotes, something that he didn't expect these creatures to have, especially since the language and writing styles they used were assuredly not English --"that thing, before I came to the pantry. He's some sort of nerd, like you."
That got him a wide-eyed stare from Statchel, and Kiako had a suspicion that the griffon didn't get a chance to stretch his intellectual muscles nearly as much as his actual ones, which were quite impressive for a creature his size. Kiako gave the much-attentive griffon a slight nod, tossing him a bone.
"Where I am from, I am an Applier and Daedalian for the Techs. Before we go on a side tangent though, we need to figure out why you two are suddenly intelligible to me, and why... Rosewing... was the first able to understand me. I'm quite confident that you are not speaking my language, nor am I speaking yours.
The man could practically see the want in Statchel's large eyes, the want to ask more questions, specifically about what he did. That would have to wait though, and wait it did as Statchel let out a frustrated sigh.
"It's gotta be some sort of spell, that's my guess."
Kiako was about to scoff at the idea of magic having any involvement -- quite openly, too -- but before he could the equinoid cut in. "Unless you folks got a unicorn tucked in another room of this place, I don't think that's what's going on here."
"It isn't telepathic in nature, either," the man asserted, sharing the equinoid's feelings about mythical creatures: there was enough trouble in the world without involving magic and fantasy. "...Unless of course you have a few dozen All-Mind cultists in the next room over. In that case, we'll need an All-Mind detector."
The others in the room were staring at him with their large eyes, as if he had just tried to explain cold welding to a group of savages.
"What?" the man asked, quite serious. Realization came a beat later, and his lips formed a hard, thin line at his own foolishness. This wasn't the Province, and despite the fact that they could all miraculously understand each other, that didn't mean that his life experiences would have any meaning to these sheltered creatures.
"Right," Kiako bit out, some of his frustration leaking into his voice. "How can we explain the phenomenon that we are currently experiencing? The information we have thus far is that up until recently -- with the exception of Rosewing, for reasons unknown -- I haven't been able to understand your language, and you haven't understood mine. Suddenly, we're all perfectly capable of understanding each other in our mother tongues."
He looked at them, hoping that they'd know something that he didn't. As of late, challenges of the mind were few and far between, but he at least wanted to have a chance of solving the problem. This, this was something different: it was beyond his knowledge as an Applier and Daedalian. What he needed was a Theoretician, someone with the training and mind for problems of a theoretical nature.
Statchel opened his beak to say something, but then closed it. A moment later he opened it again, this time with a question of a more personal nature. "Much as we all want to know what's going on, you mind if I ask what your name is? I'm Statchel, Saber Squad's medic and, heh, technician."
The griffon's sudden bashfulness threw Kiako for a loop, and for an uncomfortable moment Kiako was trying to realize what exactly it meant. Thankfully, a rude wisecrack from Rosewing helped move things along.
"Statchel, you're a technician the same way a nurse is a surgeon. Don't try and jump yourself up a rank just to try an' impress a freak."
"Hey!" the equinoid chided.
"I suppose I should introduce myself in a way other than my job description," the man said, ignoring the earlier wisecrack and bending at the waist to give a light bow. "My name is Kiako Lalene." He pronounced it slowly, as Ky-ko Luh-lean, so that he wouldn't have to repeat himself.
"While we're on the subject of names, I'd also like to know yours." A wrist flicked to point a finger in the direction of the most familiar of the group, the equinoid.
"Finders Keepers," the mare said, nodding in his direction. "I'd say 'a pleasure to meet you' and all, but I don't think our meeting was that pleasant."
Kiako's lip twitched in a brief smile, knowing exactly what she meant. "I can't help but agree with that statement. It's unfortunate that our current situation hadn't happened sooner, otherwise this --" he waved a hand across the room "--might not have occurred."
A retching sound brought his attention to the corner of the room, where Rosewing was getting off of a pile of butter-yellow crates, the same kind that lined the walls of the room. "Lemme know when the weirdo is gone."
The man sidestepped out of the way as the rose-hued hybrid made her way to leave the room, a gust of wind blowing into his face as the door slammed shut. Well, Kiako thought, at least the peanut gallery is gone.
He hadn't heard Razor-Quill speak for a few minutes, so he could only assume that he had already left, which meant there were just the three of them now: Statchel, Finders Keepers, and himself.
"...And good riddance, too." Finders Keepers shifted on her gurney, as if trying to find a comfortable position in which she wouldn't have a gunshot wound. Might as well wish for the moon, too.
"She really, really hates you Ky-ko," Statchel said, intentionally drawing out the name in the same fashion the owner of it had originally.
"It's Kiako; you don't draw it out," the man clarified. "As for her hating me, there's nothing we can do about that, unless you happen to know a good psychotherapist. Barring that, we can solve this problem simply by me not being here. How is the wound?"
A succession of hooves clattering against wood brought Kiako's full attention to Finders Keepers, who had just slid off the gurney. He had expected her to keel over almost immediately afterward, but to his mild surprise that wasn't the case.
"Bit stiff, actually, but I can at least walk until it mends itself, right doc?" A hoof pointed in the direction of the bloodied bandaging on her flank.
"Very nice, but let me change the bandages first." The griffon went over to do just that, but not before opening one of the nearby butter-yellow cases to remove some fresh bandages. Are all of these crates medical supplies?
"You know," Finders Keepers visibly winced, ears flicking backwards for a moment as Statchel worked on her, "when I first saw you get buried underneath that pile o' gravel, I didn't think you'd be what you... well, what you are."
"There's really no easy way to ask 'what are you?', I think," Statchel cut in, and for his quip he got a weak whip of his patient's tail directly to the face.
Kiako took a step back, leaning back against the door and crossing his arms over his plated chest. The signs of him being in a foreign land were hard to refute, but up until now it hadn't really bothered him. Even in the variety of ecosystems that the Province hosted, people had always managed to prove themselves adept at finding their way into every nook and cranny -- from the grassy plains of the Union controlled Northfields to the blasted ecological hellscape that was Alpha County.
Everywhere but here. Decades before the Fall, GlobalTech had bought the Grand Canyon from the government of the time, the United States. While the man didn't quite know the specifics of what might have lead to that decision, GlobalTech's legacy had survived the apocalypse: whether that be in the form of the Province's long defunct monorail network, or himself and the many clones like him.
Mulling it over it made more and more sense that the creatures before him were some type of experiment, and experiment to create a new breed of... something. Soldiers? He could see the griffons as being useful in that regard: low to the ground and capable gliding. The equinoid? Useless, and obviously a failure.
Still, whatever the experimenter's reasoning, they had done a fantastic job in minimizing human interference to a level that was frankly astounding. The buildings, weapons, and even the very language these creatures spoke had been crafted solely to make them think they had a society of their own. That level of control over an experiment containing intelligent lifeforms was unprecedented.
...And over twelve decades later, here I am to finally ruin a successful experiment. I know of Theoreticians who would have loved to witness this in its prime.
Science for the sake of science: that was what the Theoreticians espoused, whereas Appliers felt that science needed to have a clear goal in mind, in order to benefit mankind as a whole. GlobalTech was long dead, and there were no Theoreticians around to yell at him.
With a hissing sigh he pushed himself off the wall, taking a step forward to finally answer the duo's question. "I'm a human, Homo Sapiens Sapiens to be specific."
"H'umahn? Mahn wise-wise?" Statchel questioned, head tilted quizzically. "Well, I really can't complain, I've never even heard of a h'umahn before."
"Why'd you say 'wise' twice?" This came from the equinoid, or 'pony'.
Kiako opened his mouth to say that he hadn't, but then closed it. Thinking about it, that was what he'd said, wasn't it? Except it was Latin...
"I didn't, actually," the man said, after all. "But I do believe I've found a quirk in this translation phenomena, in that it will translate any word in any language so that others can understand: the words Homo Sapiens Sapiens are not my native tongue, but a much older language used in science, specifically taxonomy."
His hypothesis only drew a blank stare and a nod from Finders Keepers, but Statchel seemed to understand what he meant, and seemed quite excited. "I know a few Griffic words, let's try them out!"
The griffon had gained the firm attention of both the man and the equinoid, and when Statchel's beak opened recognizable words did come forth. Something seemed off, though.
"Well, whatever it is, it doesn't work for me because I didn't get any of that," Finders Keepers remarked.
"Repeat what you just said for me, please," Kiako asked, moving closer so as not to miss anything.
"Crossbow, mutton, cloud-seeding, sunrise." These were the words that Kiako heard, just as he had before. That same offness was still there, too: some of the words sounded as if they'd been sped up, as if by sound software.
"Are you aware that some of your words are sped up?" Kiako asked after a moment mulling over what he had heard. "When I speak, does the same thing happen?"
"Actually, yeah," the equinoid said, blinking with the realization. "Did you hear it, Statchel?"
The griffon nodded at that. "It sounds like some sort of weird unicorn spell, doesn't it?"
"Please stop with the talk of unicorns, please. It isn't conducive to the topic and has no place here." It was the second time he'd heard the word 'unicorn' as an explanation for the strange phenomenon, and already he was getting irked by such an ignorant excuse for actually trying to figure out what was going on.
"Well it has to be some kinda magic, right?" The words came from Finders Keepers' muzzle, but Kiako had no interest in whom the question was directed at. There were quite a few things he wouldn't tolerate, but the the talk of superstitious drivel made his blood boil like nothing else.
"Let me know when you're ready to leave, Finders Keepers. Finding an answer to our dilemma at this juncture has proved fruitless and we waste not only time, but brain cells as well trying to come up with magical solutions to the problem." With that, the man kicked the equinoid's saddlebags across the floor before pivoting on his good leg to leave.
*** *** ***
"What an absolute ass!" Finders Keepers fumed, speaking only when the door had slammed shut. That biped, that h'umahn, was not only an idiot but an ungrateful one to boot! She'd been the one who had dug him out of that pile, and ever since she'd been suffering because of that decision to do a good deed! Who in Tartarus did that freak of nature think he was?
She wanted to scream, she really did. Kicking over the gurney behind her would have felt so good, but she held herself back: she was better than that. Instead, she merely resigned herself to taking a few deep, calming breaths to settle herself down.
"You okay?" The voice beside her was deep and reassuring, something that she appreciated greatly right then.
"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine now," Finders Keepers lied, shaking her head. She went over to her saddlebags to check if anything had been damaged.
"Do you... uh, you want us to make sure he doesn't follow you?" Statchel offered hesitantly. "We can probably do that."
That definitely gave her something to think about. She had been willing to lead the biped to the nearest settlement, but that was before her encounter with the raiders. I've already taken a bullet for him, do I really need to do anything more for him?.
"We can give him a map of the area, mark down the nearest settlement." Statchel offered, surprising the mare. "Closest one is a few days away, so I don't think he should have too much trouble getting there."
Finders Keepers turned around to look at the griffon, into his deep, brown eyes. They stared right back at hers. She liked to think that she was a good judge of character; it had definitely helped her out in the past, that was for sure. Still, Statchel had shot her, even if he hadn't been aiming for her.
The mare frowned. Even if Statchel hadn't been aiming for her, the bullet was still meant for Kiako. Would the h'umahn have kept fighting even after being shot? He did seem like the stubborn type, at least from her brief time with him.
There was also the issue with Rosewing's obvious xenophobia; despite everyone else in the building treating Kiako somewhat fairly, Finders Keepers didn't think that everyone else in Equestria would be willing to take an 'ask first, shoot later' policy.
"That would be nice..." Finders Keepers trailed, liking the idea. Despite the offer, she had her doubts. "I just wonder if he'd even be let into a settlement, or if the guards would just shoot first."
Statchel brought a talon to his beak, stroking it as if in thought. "Don't think Rosewing is a good way to judge everyone else, but I get what you mean. Say, do you know if he can read at all?"
Finders Keepers raised an eye at that. "What're you getting at?"
"I'm saying that if Kiako has his own language, then he probably only knows how to write in that, right?" the griffon began, waiting a moment for the mare to nod her head before continuing. "Right, well if that's the case, I don't think he could read any map we gave him."
The earth-pony's stomach sank, head lowering in resignation. As much as abandoning the strange biped to the wasteland appealed to her, she knew that it would be one of those things that weigh her down for the rest of her life if she did. She didn't want anyone to die because of a choice she made, even if it was a stranger.
With a mournful sigh Finders Keepers raised her head to look back to Statchel. "I don't suppose one of you could do it?" she pleaded, already knowing the answer she'd get.
Statchel gave her a sympathetic look, before shaking his head in regret. "Sorry, but my place is here. A contract's a contract, and I'm bound to it until it's finished."
The pony gave one last sigh before standing up straight. All she wanted was to make a living in accordance with her cutie mark, but it looked like she now had a mission of a different sort, one she was loathe to do. In for a cap, in for a carriage... I'm probably not even going to get paid for this.
Still, there had to be a way to make her life at least a little bit easier. "Is there anything you can give us? Supplies? Weapons? What were those raiders carrying?"
The griffon considered it for a moment, before giving her a crooked smile. "Get your stuff on and follow me, I think we can give you two something to use."
Thank the Princesses for small favors, Finders Keepers thought.
*** *** ***
Kiako saw Statchel leave the party and head toward the stairs with Finders Keepers, once again wearing her belongings. If he weren't otherwise occupied, he might have even asked what they were doing, and when he could leave. His annoyance with the pair's superstitions had long since passed, instead superseded by a problem that personally affected him.
One of the slim hydraulics that made up part of the brace on his left leg wasn't matching his stride perfectly, which was a big problem since that was its entire purpose for being: to help him carry heavier loads over long distances.
His first few steps when putting the suit back on had been a real pain, and he had to force the hydraulic to move with his leg whenever he wanted to move. Not a good prospect with the way his calf was. Still, he was fortunate neither he nor his backpack were carrying anything too heavy, otherwise he'd not only be having trouble walking but would be off-balanced to boot.
As for the cause behind it, his best guess was that the explosion that had buried him in rubble had either damaged the power pack or blown out some of the weight-sensors in the leg brace's joints.
Weighing just over nine kilograms and wrapping around the waist and back before running down the legs, it was normally useful for carrying heavy loads, and didn't impede his movement at all. Now it was just a hindrance, albeit one that he was loathe to rid himself of. True, he could always get the parts for another one an assemble it, but it was still quite expensive. The nice thing about having lots of money is that you don't need to do work, all you have to do is watch what you buy.
Do these creatures even use chips?
The man cursed the moment the unwelcome thought had entered his head. If he was the first human to be here, then of course the Bankers wouldn't be here to regulate the economy or the value of the local currency. Looking down at the little poker chip dispenser on his belt, he let out a low groan as he realized that he couldn't simply buy what he needed, not unless he took a 9mm shortcut to the nearest LifeNet pod.
Before he was even aware of it the stubby revolver was in his hand, thumb pulling back the hammer experimentally. For those like him, there was always a way out.
"We're back!"
Kiako jerked at that, turning his head down the hall from whence the voices came, and he was met with the duo that had left minutes earlier.
"Uh, you're not planning to use that, right?" Finders Keepers asked, gesturing with a hoof to the weapon still in the man's hand.
"No." Kiako decocked the revolver, slipping it back into its thigh holster. "Merely checking to see that these rounds have primer." Even a misadventure is an adventure, I suppose.
"Good to hear," Statchel breathed out from behind the equinoid. The griffon's brown wings were spread as though in flight, a useless endeavor considering the weight of the creature they were attached to. Still, despite the fact that the wings would never be capable of flight, the items that were balanced atop them were of interest.
"We're being given some stuff by Statchel," Finders Keepers started, looking back to flash a grateful looking smile before continuing, "so that we can handle ourselves on the trip to Stableside." As she said that, the griffon arched his back and maneuvered his wings forward, the objects sliding down the feathers and onto the floor before him The maneuver impressed Kiako much more than what he and the equinoid were being given.
Unidentified canned foods were mixed with a few jars of what looked to be pickled vegetables, and along with that there were a few items he couldn't identify, including a trio of metal-framed bulbs full of something purple and viscous. Some sort of jam, perhaps?
What really grabbed Kiako's attention though were the two firearms that were also on the floor. As far as he was concerned, these weapons looked more likely to explode in his face than anything else. Still, guns were guns, and he picked out the one weapon that was actually meant to be fired by someone with manipulator digits, whether they be talon or finger.
The fact that he could fire it by hand was about the only thing the weapon had going for it. A rudimentary weapon at best, the improvised firearm looked to be made with a heavy iron barrel connected to a piece of furniture with fasteners that looked like they would fall off if he looked away long enough. Add in the fact that the weapon lacked even basic sights and was terribly unbalanced, it was a break-action on a weapon that he could likely already snap over his knee with one good motion.
Kiako brought the weapon up experimentally, trying to bring it as close to his shoulder as possible despite there being no actual stock. He had no idea how bad the recoil would be, but he had a feeling that it would only add to his opinion on the weapon.
"Where did you find such a piece of junk? This is amateur work, and that's being generous. I don't suppose you have any crossbows?" One of the man's first weapons had been a crossbow, and its utility and versatility had come in handy during his early days out of Zanesville. I suppose this isn't so different from back then. I have minimal weaponry, a meager amount of supplies, and a pack horse to carry my things... maybe.
The hybrid gave him a look that could have belonged on the face of any human. "And where would I even find a crossbow? A museum? Sorry, but we don't have many spare weapons, and you're lucky that I'm even giving you these."
Give me a workshop and materials, and I'll blow your little mutant mind away, Kiako thought, agitation simmering beneath his stoic facade. Thankfully, his equinoid companion -- or perhaps "guide" would have been a more accurate term -- was willing to profusely thank Statchel for the metaphorical table scraps he'd provided.
Finders Keepers had apparently already stuffed everything in her saddlebags while the man had been glancing over his new "weapon", and the only thing of what they'd been both given that he could see was the weapon she had taken, hanging from her neck by a leather cord.
Closer inspection of the stubby and battered weapon revealed that it was indeed mouth-operated, much like the magazine-fed pistol the equinoid already owned. This newer weapon was also magazine-fed but, judging from the size of the magazine and barrel, almost certainly carried many more rounds to fire. It didn't look very accurate, though.
Statchel started moving down the hall again, not toward the stairs but in the opposite direction, away from the pantry. The hybrid beckoned the duo to follow him, before turning around the corner. Finders Keepers and Kiako obliged, the latter moving his head to the side to avoid a jutting candlestick. Turning the corner, they were met with a rubble-strewn room that looked to be the lobby for the building, judging by the front desk and a line of frankly uncomfortable looking chairs that had no business holding a human backside.
Unlike the hallways they had been walking through, this room had no lightsource beyond what candlelight leaked into it. That wasn't to say that there were no windows in the lobby, but only the frames could be seen behind the pile of rubble that barred both entry and the outside from getting in. Between the two blocked windows was a set of inward-swinging double-doors that presumedly led outside, but only if someone removed the rather large crate of rubble that blocked entry and exit.
Statchel sidled up against the crate, pressing his side against the wood. Legs bending to stabilize himself, the griffon began to push against the crate, the rasp of wood scraping against wood being the sound of progress. The movement of the equinoid's ears flattening at the admittedly grating noise caught Kiako's attention, and he couldn't help but feel a bit of amusement at Finders Keepers misfortune of having more sensitive hearing.
"Do you need help?" Finders Keepers asked, ears still flat against her skull as Statchel continued to shove against the crate.
"I got this," the griffon croaked, still straining against a crate that was just a bit taller than he was on all fours. He was moving it alright, but not nearly as fast as the equine wanted.
"It would probably go faster if I helped you," Finders Keepers piped up, starting to move forward. A harsh flick to the ear stopped her though, as Kiako moved past her and toward the crate.
"I'm sure that your doctor would disagree," the man quipped dryly. He ignored the insult the wounded equine hurled back at him, setting the improvised firearm down against the rubble.
With the man helping to pull the crate whenever Statchel pushed, the duo were able to move it far enough that one of the doors could be opened, while completely blocking the the other one.
A piercing white glare immediately blinded Kiako, and his eyes shut with a will of their own to protect his vision. He stumbled back a few steps, the heels of his boots scuffing the dusty floor as he sought refuge until his headache subsided. He wasn't the only one suffering from the sunlight either, and he heard two other groans from within the room that weren't his own. In a way, it gave him a small sense of peace knowing that he wasn't alone in his suffering.
It had only taken a moment for his right eye to acclimate to the unfiltered sunlight, and by that time he'd already scooped up the improvised firearm to peer out the doorway. With only his good eye used to the sun, he looked around to see if anyone was lying in wait to gun him down.It wouldn't be the first time.
The only thing that assaulted him was a fresh breeze against his face, the wind carrying a the mixed scent of growing things and a chemical smell he couldn't quite place. Being inside for so long, he allowed himself a moment to bask in the open air, both the breeze and the sun feeling wonderful against what little exposed skin he had. It was pleasant, but he had things to do. Tearing himself away and ignoring the pleasures that nature provided, he looked back to the rest of the group, who seemed to have recovered from the light just as he had.
"Which way are we headed, and what is the destination?" Kiako inquired, head tilting toward the street. The shoddy weapon was cradled in his arms, barrel pointed away from the other beings.
"I'm taking you to Stableside, but I need to get my bearings first." Finders Keepers walked by him through the doorway, her ears swiveling just as a horse's would. If there was anything that the equinoid heard that was a cause for alarm, the man didn't see it in her posture.
Statchel was next out the door, the hybrid's wings brushing unwelcomingly against the man's legs. The sound of the griffon's talons took a different pitch when he'd passed the threshold, the clicking of keratin on stone reminding Kiako of ticking machinery.
"...And what sort of place is Stableside?" Despite actually being curious, Kiako couldn't clamp down on the amusement that leaked into the question. Thinking about the name, a particularly amusing thought weaved itself into his mind. One wonders if a stable and prison are one and the same to these creatures.
Before he could get an answer the man was buffeted by a blast of dust and air, and he reflexively took several steps backwards into the lobby. He wasn't surprised for long though, and a few quick blinks cleared his eyes.
When he looked through the doorway again he could see that Finders Keepers was still there, if slightly more dusty -- not that it was easy to tell, what with her coat color. Curiously, she was looking up, not anywhere she should be if she was trying to get her bearings. Peeking his head outside, he turned his gaze skyward.
It felt like he'd been punched in the gut, and if he hadn't been holding onto the doorframe he might very well have fallen from sheer surprise. So many things raced through the man's head as he looked up to the sky, seeing the familiar silhouette of Statchel. Not gliding. Flying.
He might have continued to stare in awed bewilderment were he not broken out of it by the insistent prods of a hoof against his leg.
"What!?" Kiako yelled hoarsely, his head snapping down to toward the offending limb, only to see a startled equinoid. The two looked each other for what seemed an eternity, before Finders Keepers spoke.
"...Are you okay?" The voice sounded cautious, as if afraid that the man would yell again. More than that, it was soothing, and Kiako felt some of the tension in his body leave him. That still didn't remove the weight of unease that hung from his shoulders like a lead cloak, though.
"I'm fine," Kiako lied, his voice coming out gruff. His eyes shifted back toward the sky, his fists clenching.
*** *** ***
It's good to stretch my wings again, Statchel thought. While he may have been a bit on the heavy side compared to other griffons he'd met, he had no trouble when it came to flying.
A light chuckle rumbled deep from within his throat, thinking about how he was flying while Razor-Quill and Rosewing were still inside. Saber Squad had been laying low inside the motel, a strict "no-fly" rule being put in place by Razor-Quill once they'd dragged the pony and hu'mahn into the hideout.
And now because she couldn't keep her stupid trap shut, she's gonna be in there for just a bit more. If karmic justice existed, that was surely an example of it, at least in Statchel's opinion. Rosewing was undoubtedly the most aggressive griffon out of the whole group, and her flying style showed as much.
Statchel banked to the left, looking down toward the motel expecting to see two figures walking towards the edge of town. The griffon let the wind take his sigh of annoyance once he saw that the duo below hadn't moved an inch.
"This better not be like last time," he muttered, flapping his wings to get more altitude as he widened his patrol path.
*** *** ***
Two days earlier
Haybale, Equestrian Wasteland
From above, the dilapidated buildings that made up the township created a ragged tapestry of many faded colors. Originally built to make use of rich farmland that had previously gone unused before the war, it was definitely built to last. Two hundred years of neglect had not been kind though, and the residential district was a large splotch of muted red, the once proud brick homes and public buildings now crumbling.
The market area wasn't any better. While still colorful in comparison to the other districts, looters had been through the area enough times that the damage from pony hooves more than outweighed anything time alone could do, many of the stores and stalls being gutted and burned out wrecks.
It was all old news to the griffons riding the thermals above the township, something to which they had long grown accustomed. Their interest lay in the two figures walking through the residential district far below them.
Deciding to investigate, the flight leader broke off from the front of the V-formation, wings diagonal to the ground as he killed his speed enough that he could corkscrew to a lower altitude. With the sun directly overhead, the male could see his shadow expanding on the roof below him, and he killed the rest of his descent with a few well placed flaps of his wings before landing expertly.
The leader's wingmates arrived a few beats afterward, spreading out on roofs across the street from where they had seen the two figures enter a building. Only when the team was set up did the leader remove his goggles, exposing his blue eyes to the world. The female of the group did the same, her hazel eyes meeting his own.
Unlike the first two the third griffon did not remove his flight goggles, preferring instead to shield his eyes from the bright sun. While not of one mind, the trio of griffons were of one group, their barding all having the same white sabre insignia emblazoned on the breast.
Taking cover behind the reverse side of the roof, out of view from the street the others were looking down on, the third griffon, began to undo some of the equipment buckled to his flanks. Anything that might be needed in the aftermath of a firefight was in the pair of steel medical boxes: Med-X, healing bandages, and the all-important healing potions were the most important amongst the supplies.
As an afterthought, the griffon unfolded the fore-limb brace that was built into the stock of his snub-nosed machine pistol. Making sure that his supplies were safely secured to the roof, he shimmied up to get a good firing position over the street, before nodding to the leader.
Nodding in acknowledgement from his prone position, the leader looked backed into the second story window across the street, machine gun in position.
Just keep it together, Statchel, the medical-griffon thought to himself, covering the entryway with the machine pistol.
Still covering the doorway, he was about to hiss a question at Razor-Quill when he was interrupted by a scream from within the house, and his gaze swung around just in time to be met with a violent explosion that blew out the left and front sides of the building in a cascade of falling bricks and mortar.
Heart trying to beat through the insignia on his barding, he looked over to where Rosewing and Razor-Quill lay prone, hoping that the dust hadn't billowed from the street and up to them. Unfortunately, whatever explosive had gone off had displaced enough dust to effectively obscure Statchel from the other two griffons, and vice versa.
"Rosewing, fly up and circle the area! See anyone hostile, you buzz 'em!" came Razor-Quill's voice hissing through the dust, the reassuring tone of command helping to ease Statchel's worries, if only for a moment.
By the time the dust had cleared enough from the street, Statchel could see into what remained of the living room and the kitchen, as well as the entryway. It was as if someone had sawn off a section of the first floor to expose the inside to the rest of the world, and it was truly a wonder that the rest of the building hadn't fallen into the street.
Just as he was about to check for wounded -- and against his better judgement, too -- the telltale sound of ponies clip-clopping down the street gained his attention, and he forced himself to stay behind the apex of the roof.
Another hiss from Razor-Quill was heard, this time being directed at him. "Statchel, incoming. From the right."
Statchel nodded his head, rasping his own affirmation in reply. He pivoted on the roof and shifted his view toward a street corner, a pair of talons adjusting the sights his weapon.
He sat there for several minutes, unmoving. Occasionally he would look up to see Rosewing flying lazy circles around the town, throwing in a few barrels rolls for good measure. At least that idiot is too high up to cast a shadow...
Statchel had to wait a few more minutes until the posse of ponies he had heard earlier came around the corner, but by then he already knew they were bad news by what little he could hear. Made up primarily of earth-ponies but with a few unicorns mixed in, he could definitely tell by the grisly trophies they carried that these weren't scavengers.
Great, not only do we have to deal with this ghoul problem, we also gotta deal with a raider problem too, Statchel thought sourly. He had heard reports of raiders popping back up again, but he had just chalked it up to banditry.
His tongue dry as it ran along the edges of his beak, he fought down the murderous urge to squeeze the trigger until his gun ran out of ammo, and then reload until every last piece of his filth was dead on the street. Normally a calm and collected griffon, this was an urge that would not be beaten into submission. The pulse in his head began beating faster as his rage began to take hold of him, the urge to kill rising with every second. Despite his efforts, a talon slipped over the trigger.
Just as he was about to let loose his own personal justice upon the raiders, he felt a set of talons rest on his shoulder, and just like that he began to felt the rage evaporate.
The whispering voice of Razor-Quill spoke from beside him, "Easy. Don't let your heart rule your head. We wait for Rosewing to get back to us, and then we let 'em have it." Statchel received a gentle squeeze on the shoulder, and that combined with Razor-Quill's calming words helped quench Statchel's anger. If only for a little bit.
Talon off the trigger, Statchel grumbled in acknowledgement. The griffon smiled weakly, secure in the knowledge that he'd soon be able to avenge himself on the nameless trash below. That smile quickly dropped from his beak as he heard a screech from below.
"Well lookie he'a! We got ou'selves ah new fuck toy und'uh this pile!"
An overwhelming sense of dread came over the griffon, his hackles rising as though a stormcloud were overhead. That dread turned into horror as he saw one of the raiders uncover the head and leg of a beige earth-pony, one that was clearly still alive.
He turned to Razor-Quill, frantically gesticulating at the unfolding scene before them, silently begging to be given the order to fire. If Razor-Quill took notice of his pleas he gave no sign of it, continuing to watch the situation unfold.
As the lewd comments and suggestions of the raiders continued, Statchel turned away from Razor-Quill and instead looked to the sky for assistance. The sky was clear and sunny, a brilliant blue that would have been one of the rarest sights over ten years ago. Clear skies were not what the griffon was looking for though, and he had found no sign of Rosewing.
Looking back down to where the raiders were, he could now clearly see that the bandit's prey was talking as well, though he could barely hear her voice. He didn't need to know the words that were being said though; he could tell well enough just how the stricken pony was feeling.
Once again Statchel slipped a talon over the trigger, his heart heavy with what he was about to do; not with the fact that he was about to take a life -- he was quite eager to do that, in fact -- but that he was going against Razor-Quill's instructions.
The raiders' sudden halt threw him for a loop, the unkempt ponies no longer taunting and harassing their captured prey. He saw the lime green unicorn magically draw a rusty revolver from another pony's holster before hissing at her followers. In a short amount of time the raiders were all seriousness, and their weapons were out and ready as they looked about the area, their ears swivelling.
Once more the the lime green unicorn was on the earth-pony's case, this time with a gun against the latter's head and the former asking questions. Statchel cast another glance at Razor-Quill, who still seemed to be waiting for Rosewing to arrive.
Stifling a frustrated hiss, he swung his gaze back onto the situation below, just in time to see the unicorn's yellow-lit revolver swing across the poor earth-pony's muzzle. Statchel was ready to end that unicorn right then and there, but was distracted by the sight of an object slowly sliding towards the wrecked remains of the kitchen.
The distraction was forgotten as another bit of movement grabbed his attention again, his eyes catching the sight of a picture frame falling off a wall before shattering against the floor. That single falling picture frame had taken everybody's attention away from the street, and it was at that moment that Rosewing struck, zipping down the street and pumping buckshot into the open room.
A beat after Rosewing had finished her strafing run Statchel and Razor-Quill took over where she had left off, letting off bursts of automatic weapon fire down into the gutted building, quickly finishing off the ponies that Rosewing hadn't already taken down.
In the span of only a few seconds it was over, the raider's few shots coming nowhere close to the griffons who had vanquished them. Before Statchel could even get all of his medical supplies gathered Rosewing was already starting to scavenge the dead, and by the time he himself was down there the female griffon had moved on to a second body.
She can play with dead corpses for all she wants, Statchel thought as he saw Rosewing tearing away at something just out of view. I have something more important to do.
The sudden flapping of wings followed by the clatter of talons clicking against the rubble strewn floor signaled Razor-Quill's arrival. Statchel ignored it and continued moving toward a specific pile of rubble, the one covering his newest patient.
Claws wrapped around the edge of some masonry the griffon pulled his forelimbs toward him as though he were trying to turn the page of some giant book. The squeal of talons grinding against stone was followed by a massive crash as the debris was clear of the earth-pony.
"Try not to bring the rest of this house down will you?" Rosewing squawked from across the room, her voice laced with scorn. "We won't get paid if we destroy all the buildings!"
Statchel ignored her, not wanting an argument to distract him from what was most important: the downed earth-pony. Judging from the quick check of her -- and it was definitely a her -- vital signs, there didn't seem much to be wrong with her aside from her coat being slick with sweat and an above-average pulse.
Whatever the reason for her being unresponsive, at least she was alive. Perhaps she had passed out? Either way, a docile patient was the best patient. A sedative would keep it that way, at least for a little bit longer.
A minute and a spent syringe later, Statchel looked up from the pony and called out to Razor-Quill, who was currently digging through some rubble in what looked to have once been a kitchen -- at least judging from the refrigerator sitting triumphantly atop some rubble. "Boss, the pony seems stable but I think we should take her to the hideout just to be sure."
"Why should we have to deal with a pony that was stupid enough to get caught by raiders?" Rosewing countered suddenly, her voice coming from uncomfortably close behind Statchel, giving him startled jolt, "Way I see it is that if she's not dead we don't have to deal with her. Boom, problem solved."
"And that's why you're not a doctor, Rosewing," Statchel said without looking back to the griffoness. He continued to look at Razor-Quill who had since stopped digging through the rubble to give them both his attention. "The way I see it is that we have plenty of medicine, and there's no way we can carry it all with us when we leave; so why don't we actually use it for what it's made for?"
The older griffon's face worked as if in thought, though only for a brief moment. He gave Statchel a curt nod before giving a glare to Rosewing, effectively cutting off any further argument from her. With a final huff, Rosewing moved past Statchel to get to another body, but not before giving him a shoulder check just to show how she felt about his idea. The male griffon just shook his head went back to work freeing the earth-pony of what debris remained.
"Hey Razor, check this out!" Statchel heard Rosewing call out, her voice oddly cheerful and excited despite not getting her way mere minutes ago. Must mean she's found something shiny, Statchel thought.
Looking up to see what the female griffon had found, he found that he had been right. Rosewing was holding up some sort of jewelry to the air, sunlight glinting off its golden surface and reflecting back into his eyes, blinding him for a brief moment.
It only took a few seconds for his vision to recover, but it was still uncomfortable. Opening his eyes again he saw that Rosewing was showing her trophy to Razor-Quill, who just nodded his head and said the appropriate 'yes' or 'cool' as the griffoness babbled at him.
Shaking his head at the female griffon's antics, he moved gather up his supplies once more. As he was about to stuff a syringe of Med-X away he heard a soft thump accompanied by the sound of metal hitting stone. Statchel's body tensed as he snapped his head up toward the source of the noise, and he was sure the others were doing the same based on the burst of movement from the corner of his vision. The subtle rattle of weapons being lifted followed soon after.
It was a wasted effort on their part though; there was no mortally wounded raider that had managed to draw a gun on them, and instead the trio of griffons were met only with the sound of wind blowing through the wrecked house.
"I wasn't the only one who heard that, right?" Rosewing asked to no one in particular, her hazel eyes darting between mounds of rubble and occasionally to the street.
"No," Razor-Quill replied, his head also scanning the area for any signs of movement. "This was a bad spot for the raiders, and it'll be a bad spot for us too if we stay any longer."
A great sheet of debris covering the floor of the house, a mixture of brick, insulation, and wood all covered by a thick layer of dust -- something to be expected from a building of its age.
There were parts of the building that had no film of dust on them, though. A lot of dust had been blown toward the rear wall of the living room when the griffons' had flown in and landed, with trails of pawprints expanding outwards from the large, dust-freeish bubble of floor.
Statchel's eyes had caught another little trail in the dust, one that was just hidden from view for the others. Unlike the other trails this one wasn't made by paws or hooves, but was instead a series of lines of varying widths that occasionally curved when a chunk of rubble was in the way.
Ignoring the others, Statchel followed the trail, his body instinctively lowering itself low to the ground like that of a cat he in part resembled. It wasn't a long trail but it did take him to toward the kitchen, the same area Razor-Quill had been in earlier.
If he hadn't been following the trail, Statchel would have thought nothing of the patch of blue in the rubble, since there were other blue objects occasionally scattered around the room; a chunk of a vase, a couple of coffee mugs, and other miscellaneous objects.
This bit of blue wasn't just detritus floating in a sea of dust and rubble though, and as Statchel got a closer look he could see that it was strapped down to some sort of grey-clothed limb, one that ended with a type of object he was no stranger to. It took him a beat to realize that this may have been the other individual that had walked into the building earlier, before the explosion.
"Just need to disarm you first," Statchel muttered as he braced the limb with a claw while attempting to gently pry the strange, lithe digits from the grip and trigger of a small, black revolver.
Potential patient and raider-victim disarmed, Statchel began to clear away rubble from off of what was hopefully a living body and not just a severed limb. His ministrations had not gone unnoticed by the other griffons though, and he could hear one of them padding over to him.
"What're you doing? We already got all the good stuff, and you gotta start moving that... pony..." Rosewing's sentence trailed off as Statchel removed another chunk of rubble, and for a moment both were speechless.
"Everything alright over here?" Statchel was jolted by the sound of Razor-Quill's voice from behind him. Rather than simply reply, he stepped aside to give the leader of the group a full view of what he had dug up.
"I, um, found the other one," was all Statchel said meekly, unsure of what -- or who -- he had uncovered. He held up the small revolver up to Razor-Quill, the weapon carefully pointed upwards. "I found this on... it. Pretty sure that the gun is what made the noise we heard."
The older griffon examined the weapon for a moment before nodding, handing it back to Statchel. "Good work finding the source of the noise, but we still need to move out of here. Check to see if the --" Razor-Quill gestured to the subject of discussion "-- is alright. You wanted to take care of one patient, now you have two."
"Woah woah woah," Rosewing spluttered, her eyes darting between the two male griffons. "Bringing the pony to our place was bad enough, but we don't even know what this thing is!"
"It's alive is what it is," Razor-Quill commented, his voice carrying an edge of annoyance. "Saving lives isn't breaking our contract with the Republic, and if you really want to argue then do it later."
"How do you even know it's alive, though! It looks dead to me!" Rosewing insisted, sweep a limb toward the body for dramatic effect.
"I guess your pissing and moaning is enough to wake the dead," Statchel finally snapped, his voice coming out far more harsh than he had meant it to be. It had the effect he wanted it to have though, and Rosewing visibly flinching as though struck.
Rather than saying anything more he simply gestured to the creature's fingers, which were no longer pointing outward but had instead curled inward to form a fist.
"Knock it out the same way you did the pony, Statchel," Razor-Quill said, and soon Statchel was doing just that, needle in claw.
"And no more beak from you, Rose. You've held us up long enough, don't make me take it out of your pay."
Letting out a hiss, Rosewing complied, walking away from the other griffons. The padding of her paws on the rubble faded quickly, and Statchel idly wondered if she simply took off.
As the medical griffon searched the biped for a vein to stick a needle in, it occurred to him that he had seen the creature's weapon before, atop the computer on the other side of the room. He cast a glance behind him to look at the little trail that had led him to his newest patient, and wondered. |
Fallout Equestria: Foreigner | Chapter 7: On the Road | An hour of walking had left the dilapidated buildings and rubble-strewn cobble behind them, houses and businesses replaced instead with long neglected farmland dotted with the occasional shed or farmhouse. The pair of travelers were quiet, the only sound made being soft footfalls and hoofsteps against untended ground and the rustle of brambles and weeds clawing vainly for purchase in either cloth or fur.
"At least something's growing here," Finders Keepers mumbled bitterly, kicking a leg free from a bush's constrictive hold. She shot a glance behind her to see how her companion -- for that's what he was at this point, no point denying it -- was faring, and saw that he too was slowed by the flora, a very pony-like scowl etched across his face as he waded his way forward.
She took a moment to examine the creature -- the human -- that called itself Kiako Lalene. Over twice her height and broad in the shoulders, his whole anatomy screamed wrong whenever she really paid attention to it, from the way his legs bent when walking, the many spindly appendages at the ends of his arms, and even his almost-flat face with his beady eyes that were far smaller than any pony's.
All of that was strange, very much so, but the one thing that weirded her out the most was the fact that his skin was bare, covered by neither fur nor feathers. Indeed, the only parts of his peaches-and-cream complexion that were covered by fur were the flat-top manestyle and a pair of eyebrows covering the bony ridges over his eyes.
"You're staring again," Kiako commented, irritation bleeding into his smooth baritone voice, the barest traces of some sort of accent hanging off the words. His face was still locked into that stern, humorless expression of someone who took life far too seriously, his brow set low and staring at her with eyes that looked out at the world with suspicion.
"Just waiting for you to catch up," she replied casually, not entirely a lie. She turned to look forward, gesturing ahead with a metal-shod hoof. "If we keep going we'll eventually hit the Galloping Gorge rail line, and then we follow that until we hit Smokey Mountain Valley."
"Anything specific about this place that I should know about?" the man asked, steadily making progress through the undergrowth, the fabric portions of his barding doing an excellent job at catching any stray branches.
"Just that if we keep moving, we'll get there in a couple days," she replied, wincing as a branch whipped past her face and scraped against the leather hood of her barding.
"I'm sure that most of that time will be spent in this field," Kiako joked bitterly, an arm sweeping out dramatically to emphasize the sea of green that they still had to get through.
The mare's ear flicked in agreement for her, and it was just as well too. She was young and in her prime, but this field was definitely something else, every step a struggle to not to get tangled or trip. It was enough of a chore without having to focus on a conversation as well, and she was quietly grateful for the fact that the biped didn't seem interested in talking right then.
If what Saber Squad said was true about holding down this town for future settler-ponies, well, they were welcome to have it. At least this field will keep them busy for a bit, she mused spitefully.
*** *** ***
Kiako sat at the base of an earthen embankment, the sun having sunk low enough on the horizon that every shadow cast was long and thin. Night was coming, but for now the sky was bathed in the soft, warm hues of dying light, soon to fade as the moon rose up from the opposite horizon.
Travel had been made much smoother once they had escaped from that hellish field, the rolling grasslands surrounding Haybale being altogether more preferable, with only the occasional tree or rusted-out hulk marring the landscape. It was almost unsettling how unmolested they had been during their journey, the only wildlife seen being the occasional flock of birds or the ever-present chirping of insects.
When they finally stopped to rest for the day Kiako was just about ready to collapse, the steady pace he had been managing earlier that day having degenerated into something approaching a limp. The explosion he'd been caught in days earlier hadn't left him entirely unscathed; the steel bracing that formed part of the passive exoskeleton he wore was warped, irreparably damaged. Instead of putting two-thirds of the weight of his equipment into the ground, that leg was bound to a brace that refused to move as fluid as it should have.
Finders Keepers, his equinoid guide -- or pony, as they apparently called themselves -- hadn't been oblivious to his growing discomfort during their travels, even offering several rest stops. Pride alone had stopped him from accepting most of those admittedly generous offers, the only one being under the guise having a late lunch where they both had eaten ravenously from their own packs. Even that short reprieve wasn't enough, and now he was paying for it: the cramping in his leg and occasional muscle spasms were proof enough of that.
Still, it was just as well that he had decided to bear the pain and keep moving. The embankment alone was a good find as it would give them some cover, both from the wind and any prying eyes. Most serendipitous though was that a small brook ran along the embankment a couple of meters away, and if he was truly fortunate it would even be drinkable.
A short, excited whinny from nearby jolted him alert from his exhausted state, eyes going wide as his head swivelled in search of the horse-borne bandits that his mind unhelpfully conjured up for him. His alarm came to an abrupt, embarrassing halt as a beige coated, gear laden pony came into his view.
"I was just about out, too!" Finders Keepers cried out happily as she trotted her way over to the brook and, to his surprise, drank directly from the water with not even the laziest attempt at checking its drinkability.
Exhausted and as dehydrated as he probably was, he still had his mental faculties about him to not give in to the impulse of drinking from a tainted water source. Then again, death is only temporary he contemplated, the faintest of smiles playing across his face before forcing the thought out of his mind. He had a safer approach.
"Since you're so eager to try the water," he began, only a touch of humor in his voice as he reached for his backpack to pull off his empty canteen, "why don't we take a more scientific analysis of the water purity?"
A lone ear twitched as he started speaking, the owner lifting her head up from the brook to stare at him, hazel eyes staring out at him from beneath a leather hood. The man raised the object and tossed it underhand over to her, only realizing the moment it left his fingertips that, no, horses can't catch things.
He couldn't help but blink in surprise, self-reproachment short-lived as the equinoid casually caught the cap-end of the canteen in her mouth, delicately clenched between rows of disconcertingly human-looking teeth.
"How i'f filling up y'ur wa'fer going to help wi'f 'at?" Finders Keepers asked, more or less intelligible despite speaking around the container, her gaze questioning. She spat the container from her mouth, letting it balance precariously on the edge of her hoof. "Huh. This looks new."
It took Kiako a brief second to recover his wits, Finders Keepers' ability to effortlessly catch the canteen being a being a bit of a surprise.
"Yes, it is," Kiako bit out, his agitation bleeding into his voice. He took a calm breath, closing his eyes a moment as he reined in his frustration, swallowing uncomfortably as he composed himself. Reaching into one of the smaller pouches on his belt he came up with a folded slip of chemically treated paper, holding it up to show the pony.
"This is a water field-test kit," he explained calmly, unfolding the paper and running a finger along the colored boxes with chemical symbols imprinted on the surface. "When these areas come into contact with a specific chemical they change hue; the darker the color the more contamination there is. Quite simple, really. There's a reason they mass-produce these."
Finders Keepers just stared at him, her lips and eyes betraying her mirth long before she did as she tried not to laugh. When she finally did, it was not the mocking, scornful laughter he was expecting but instead something warm, almost gentle in a way. Kiako simply bore it, giving her a flat stare as the laughter slowly wound down into a giggle before ending with an amused snort.
"Is there something you would like to share with me?" the man finally asked, his voice carrying very much the same tone that a teacher might use if he had caught a student passing notes.
The pony let out a breathy sigh as her head dropped to look at the ground, a faint smile still played across her face as she looked at him, voice a touch wistful. "I was just thinking, about how useful those would have been when I was still a filly. Purified water was always expensive and sometimes we couldn't afford it."
"That does seem to be a common problem," he observed dryly, though not entirely without sympathy. When he had first set out beyond Zanesville, into the arid Plateau region of the Canyon, reliable water sources had been a problem for him. One particular death was quite memorable to him, if only due to the agonizing and slow nature of it; suffice to say he paid much more attention to where he got his water from, and made sure to set enough chips aside for it.
"Still, you seem to have done well enough for yourself despite the setbacks," he said, and gestured to the mare, examining her critically for a moment. "What are you now, eight, ten years of age?"
Apparently what he said had amused Finders Keepers, for his question was met with startled, coarse laughter that grated on his sense dignity all too fast. He was beginning to wonder if his dignity would even be intact by the time he managed to get in contact with someone in the Province.
"You really aren't from around here," the pony said once her brief bout of laughter had died down, looking at him curiously in a way that he hadn't seen before. "I'm still not sure where you're from, but it's obvious you don't have many ponies there."
"More than you'd think," he said wryly, which earned him an eye raising. He didn't elaborate, finding petty solace in being vague. He certainly wasn't going to explain what horses were; opening that can of worms wouldn't benefit either of them, especially not him. Like it or not he still needed her, to lead him to some sort of civilization, no matter how much of a mockery of the past it may have been.
"Tell me then, how old are you?" he asked conversationally, returning to his earlier question. "You can't be too old, you sound--"
"Like not a nag?" the pony interrupted, a smirk playing across her muzzle. "I turned twenty last winter."
It was his turn to raise an eye, hearing the pony's age. Despite the fact that automobiles were starting to become more and common, horses and other equids were still an indispensable part of life. Scouts covered vast swathes of land with the help of horses, farmers used them to help plow or tow, and the Franklin Riders rode from town to town to deliver the mail.
He himself was fairly well versed in equestrianism, having rode them often enough that it was impossible not to pick up a few things. One particular bit of knowledge that came to mind was that horses typically only lived for about twenty-five to thirty years, and that was being generous. He didn't think Finders Keepers was lying, but it did raise more questions than it answered.
"How old can ponies get to be?" Kiako inquired, unable to keep his interest from leaking into his voice.
"I'm starting to think this is getting a little one-sided, how about you tell me how old you are?" Finders Keepers asked as she scooped up his canteen in her teeth, trotting over to the brook and dunking it in.
"Thirty-three," Kiako answered plainly. The lie came easily enough, more so than it would have if he had been a few years younger. Like any skill, lying was something that had to be developed through years of practice, and for the most part that training started well before a child had learned to speak.
Most nine-year olds were far better liars than he had been when he first came out of the pod in Zanesville, unless they were particularly slow. Now that he was at that age himself, he was confident that he'd caught up.
The best lies hold an element of truth. It was an old adage, one of the more useful ones in fact. Lies of omission were still lies, but they were easier to take at face value. His body was indeed thirty-three years old, as any blood test would show.
"Huh. I thought you'd be older," the pony admitted, coming back with his canteen full of water. Once again her words came out clear and concise, despite the canteen hanging from her teeth.
"And why is that?" he asked, accepting the canteen with a small nod of thanks. He gathered some grass from next to him and began wiping down wherever he thought her mouth had touched, which elicited huff of annoyance from the pony.
She simply gave what looked to him almost like a shrug, head slightly to the side as she raised her brows at him, lips slightly pursed as her head bobbed a bit. "I guess you just kinda give off that vibe."
"I'm not entirely sure how to feel about being assumed old," he mused aloud. He'd met plenty of older people during his travels, but he couldn't imagine himself becoming one of them. Every death for him was a renewal, body and mind capable as they ever were. It was safe to say the thought of growing old didn't appeal to him.
"I'll go get some firewood, you have fun with that," Finders Keepers said with a titter, nudging her chin over to his canteen. "Tell me how it goes."
Kiako watched the pony leave, not saying anything. It was clear to him that she knew something he didn't, but he didn't think she to be actively malicious in her intent. Regardless, he did need to test the water purity, and with the pony temporarily away there would be no distractions.
It was an uninteresting process, more or less simply dunking the strips of paper into a still source of water before removing them for drying and inspection. If the tested contaminant was present in dangerous quantities then the color on the strips would be of a dark hue. The man even did this several times, to be doubly certain.
Brow stitched into a frown, he tossed the paper strips away, letting them flutter onto the grass like falling leaves. Some of them landed face up, some face down, but each and every one of them were as pristine as they had been since they had been taken out. No heavy metals. No harmful bacteria. No contaminants.
The water was as good as any he'd tasted, pure and refreshing as he drank greedily from the canteen, letting its contents soothe his parched throat and dribble from his lips and down his neck. Not even his collar protested his choice of drinking from what should have been a hazardous water source, the warning tingle of radiation entirely absent.
It was only through conscious restraint that he didn't dunk his head into the brook, instead taking his time to fill up his canteen to take more moderate sips. If he were alone he'd be more than happy to peel off his armor and scrub himself down, feeling grimy after several days without bathing. Perhaps if he were alone and in familiar territory he might, but with neither of those being the case he simply settled for splashing some water up into his face.
The sound of shodden footfalls heralded Finders Keepers return, and Kiako turned to see that she had indeed found some firewood. Several withered branches were balanced precariously on her back, and a couple sticks and what looked to be a clump of dry looking moss were clenched firmly between her teeth.
He refilled his canteen before joining her by where she'd set down the branches and kindling, likely where they'd be bedding down for the night. It took him a moment to actually sit down though, having to give an exaggerated flex to his knee just to force past the resistance the damaged armature was gave him.
"You've been slow all day, leg still bothering you?" the pony asked, clearly noticing his difficulty, a slight touch of concern in her voice accompanying the questioning look she gave him.
"The explosion we were caught in damaged some of my equipment," he replied, running a hand along his leg. "These metal struts are warped now, and don't move as I do."
"And you couldn't just remove the doohickey earlier? Or whatever it is."
"It makes things lighter, put simply. I'm sure even you could appreciate that," He answered, already beginning to unstrap the metal from his legs.
She was quiet for a while, and the man was content with that. He was more interested in removing his handicap at the moment than making small-talk, something that everyone else seemed to excel at.
"You know," Finders Keepers started, an obvious edge of warning in her tone that grabbed the man's attention back to her again, "where we're going you can't keep doing that."
"Doing what?" he asked, raising a brow. What is she on about now?
Her eyes narrowed, a small frown forming on her muzzle. Horses were very expressive animals once one got to know them, and these ponies were that and then some. He could read her annoyance just by her ears alone, not even needing to look at the more obvious signs.
"You know what," she growled out, clear agitation seeping into her voice. "Being rude, and insulting ponies who are trying to help you, who have helped you! That attitude of yours is gonna get you shot someday, and I don't wanna be around when it does, not after all the trouble you've put me through!"
Kiako took his chastisement stoically, not batting an eye as he listened to the frustrated mare. The outward facade belied his own growing agitation with the mare, his jaw setting as he continued to be berated by the pony, this uplift. Who was she to lecture him, in anything?
Still, he managed to keep the lid on his temper, settling for glaring rather than opening his mouth to let loose the hateful stream of words that sat at the forefront of his mind, just begging to be spoken aloud to the world.
"Are you done now?" he managed evenly, hands sitting by his side having curled up into fists in lieu of working to remove the braces from his legs.
Finders Keepers stared at him hatefully, teeth grinding and knotted tail swishing behind her in a clear, unbridled expression of her anger. The man didn't flinch from her gaze, glaring right on back at her with a more-or-less apathetic expression on his face.
He caught the momentary flick of her eyes glancing down toward his thigh, the one where his revolver sat in its holster. His own moved over to the stubby and battered weapon that had been given to her by Statchel, now currently hung from a chord around the mare's neck. Almost imperceptible, he managed to notice the muscles tensing up under the pony's coat, as though on the edge of making a sudden movement.
Neither of them spoke to one another for some time, the growing silence between them having a palpable air of hostility that would have been clear to anyone had they not been alone. The man didn't know how long they had been staring, but as time went on his anger was joined by something else, the niggling sensation of doubt creeping into conscious thought and planting their hooks into him.
"Are we ready to do this again?" Kiako asked cautiously, his own body tensing up as the words were spoken. His right hand slowly uncurled from the fist it had been making previously, the man eyeing the mare carefully.
"Your gun didn't work last time," the pony pointed out, the bravado in her voice having a ring of falseness to it that he was sure even she noticed.
He felt compelled to tell her that that had changed, but something in the back of his mind stopped him from opening his mouth. Perhaps it was the doubt growing in him, or maybe it was his imperfect survival instincts kicking in. He knew how flexible the pony's neck was, and remembered the stand-off they had been in only days before. If this went on, he knew there would be no serendipity to prevent a shootout.
Being killed would have been unfortunate to say the least. He was lost, assuredly, but he was lost in a place that to his knowledge had yet to be seen by human eyes in a very, very long time. The presence of fresh, above-ground water alone was worth a good deal of chips, and the landscape seemed almost untouched by trials put upon it by the Fall that had left the Grand Canyon uninhabitable in some places.
He thought himself a reasonable man, but even as he weighed his options he found it difficult to go against the grain, to ignore the voice of pride that told him to stand his ground and admit no faults.
Pragmatism weighed heavier in his mind than pride though, this time. With an almost conscious force of will he relented, fingers outstretched by his sides as he forced his body to relax, eyes intentionally averting away from the pony in a show of submission that he was certain the equid-like being could understand. The only thing I have to lose is my pride, he thought bitterly.
"I believe we're getting ahead of ourselves," Kiako admitted, the sincerity in his voice carrying a hollow ring.
From the corner of his eyes he could see that Finders Keepers agreed, if not with words then by the way her body deflated with an unrestrained sigh of relief, the mare dropping down to her haunches as all tension seemed to flow out of her.
He didn't know the pony all that well, and in fact knew almost nothing about her. Amidst the strangeness of the past couple of days he had found himself in a scuffle with not one, but two different types of uplifted beings, each more peculiar than the last. Rosewing was quick to violence -- he still had the bandages under his armor to prove that -- and seemed all too ready to brawl with strangers. Finders Keepers on the other hand fought only in self-defense or if pushed, at least from his recent experiences.
Seeing her drop her guard so suddenly and so recklessly, despite what had nearly happened, comforted him in a way. The mare seemed far quicker to forgive -- or at least back down temporarily -- than he would have ever been, and in some ways he couldn't help but admire that. It made working with others so much easier when they were willing to make concessions, a thing he himself was loathe to ever do.
The gentle slope of the embankment was cool against the back of his head, blades of grass tickling at his ears as he stared up at the dimming sky, dull clouds drifting off to no doubt unfamiliar places. The trials of the day were finally starting to catch up with him, eyes growing heavy as exhaustion set in like a sudden fog on a cold morning.
Soon enough he stopped thinking entirely, the last thing he saw being the first pinpricks of starlight fading into the night sky before finally closing his eyes and drifting off to fitful sleep.
*** *** ***
To say Finders Keepers was angry was like saying that the winter rains were cold and wet; it was true enough, but it didn't really express what she felt after the little showdown she just had with that absolute jerk!
She had thought the creature's attitude had been bad before, back before they'd been caught up in that explosion in Haybale. At least then she hadn't had to actually know what was being said to her, but now that this human suddenly knew how to talk he seemed to be taking every opportunity to be rude and belittling. Tartarus, she seethed, I can't believe I was actually thinking of shooting him and being done with all this, but somehow that mule managed to get me to sink that low!.
She couldn't help but let out a disgruntled groan as she walked away from the passed-out human, ignoring the dark yet oh so tempting voice in the back of her mind that was telling her to pick up her gear and just leave him there. She might have done it too, if not for how dark it was going to get, or how tired she was after everything she'd been through. Still, awful as the man was, and as much as she wanted to buck his stupid, weird face in, she still felt as though she should at least bear it until they got to Stableside. At least then she could wipe her hooves of him and still have a clean conscience.
What would the Princesses do, she wondered, a small smile playing over her muzzle as she thought of what one of them might do. Like many ponies she was firm in her belief that the Princesses had ascended to Goddesshood, having to leave their corporeal forms to watch over Equestria even as it was consumed by the Zebras' balefire megaspells. Despite what the pegasi claimed, the moon and sun still being set on their course after two-centuries was proof enough of the Princesses' divinity.
Even so she didn't think prayer was going to be all that helpful to her. For the time being she just wanted to be away from what seemed to be the source of her problems, and she continued to walk for some distance to find a spot to settle down. Unfortunately for her these parts of the Equestrian Wasteland weren't all the populated, even Pre-War, meaning that unless she wanted to make some sort of hole in the ground to sleep in, the best she was going to get was near this embankment.
With a disappointed sigh she settled down on a grassy spot, no sign of rocks that would poke her into her during her sleep. If it weren't as dark as it was she likely would have dug a small trench to lie in, but by this point it was far too late for that, and instead she simply settled for laying down against the grass, not even bothering to make another fire-pit.
Head resting against the shallow slope of the embankment she fought to get into a comfortable position, finally settling into something that for the moment was fine but was sure to make her regret the decision in the morning. That was future-Finders Keepers' problem and for now she was content to just close her eyes and take in the rich, bucolic scents of the land and air around her.
It was a cool, quiet night, one of her ears perked up to the sounds of chirping insects and the soft rustling of wind blowing across the plains of grass all around her. Listening to the ever-present noises soothed her as much as any lullaby, a deep feeling of tranquility flowing into her as she nestled into the cool soil. Despite all of her troubles lately, nights like these never failed to remove the day's worries from her mind, and she could truthfully say that at that moment she was truly at ease.
Untroubled by life, she gently drifted off with the thoughts of friends, family, and happy times at the forefront of her mind, a soft smile on her lips before finally being consigned to the oblivion of sleep.
*** *** ***
Sometime during the night the sun had switched places from west to east, its rays filtering over the horizon and breaking over the embankment to illuminate everything in its dull light. With darkness fading, so too were the comforting sounds that came with it, to be replaced by the early morning stillness that declared it to be a brand new day. Unfortunately for her, Finders Keepers wasn't one to greet the sun with a cheerful smile and a bit of pep in her step. Quite the opposite, actually.
Sprawled uncomfortably on the ground, her blanket somehow making its way a good dozen hoofs away from her during the course of the night, the groggy pony found herself cursing past-Finders Keepers for picking such a good spot to sleep that night. With not even her blanket close enough for the excuse of catching a few more winks, she resigned herself with a sigh to actually trying to get up early for once.
Smacking her lips and feeling as though something had crawled inside her mouth and died in it, she lazily craned her neck to nibble on some grass. The grass wasn't very good being raw and right out of the ground, but at the very least it served to fend off her morning-mouth and to help wake her up. Chewing slowly as the little ponies in her mind dusted the cobwebs off her faculties, she was working up the courage to actually get up despite the fact that two of her legs were tingling and would no doubt buzz with pain should she try and move them.
A couple of minutes and a few stretches later and she was as good as new, at least physically. The morning haze of having just woken up still hung over her mind, and she found herself wishing for a good cup of coffee or even some really strong tea. To go along with simply being tired, she also felt gross, her fur coated in dust and matted down with sweat that caused her back to itch as her barding rubbed against it.
Doing what she should have done before going to bed she unbuckled and shrugged off the barding, letting it slip off of her as she sluggishly made her way up the embankment, apprehension building up in her as she narrowed her eyes into slits. As her head crested the ridge she was immediately welcomed by Celestia's glory, her eyes tearing up as she rapidly fluttered her eyes until it was bearable enough for her to continue on. With a huff, she took several more steps before stopping again, her bleary eyes focusing on a pale shape down by the brook.
It's too early for this, Finders Keepers thought fuzzily, standing there as her mind and eyes caught up with the rest of her body to piece together what she was looking at. Only when the pale shape unhunched itself did she put two and two together, her ears picking picking up the distant sound of splashing water. Looks like I'm not the only one having good ideas today.
Seeing Kiako's barding and equipment piled up neatly nearby, she was reminded that even when he had been disarmed he still had some clothing under his barding, back when both of them had been taken in by the Saber Squad mercenaries. No longer having just his legs and arms uncovered and now having his whole body exposed to the world, she thought she could see why. With how thin his fur was it was no wonder he was shivering in the crisp morning air, the bandages on his body providing no help whatsoever.
As she continued to watch the human languidly bathe she found herself slowly becoming more awake, the last remnants of morning fog clearing from her mind as curiosity kicked it back into gear. Watching the biped wash itself, she found herself in equal parts intrigued as well as unsettled. Intriguing because, despite already knowing how strange Kiako's anatomy was even with his body being covered, it was quite another to get an unobscured look. Unsettling too, actually just being able to see the muscles shifting beneath his skin.
She turned her gaze away with a shudder, deciding that she didn't need to see anymore. It was just as well she supposed, well aware that bathing while a peeping-pony watched you from a high vantage point was probably not the best way to start a morning. Hate to see what a peeping-pony cutie-mark would look like, she thought, the corners of her lips curling up in an amused smirk.
From her position atop the embankment she had a clear view of the surrounding plains, the Unicorn Mountain Range looming just above the mostly unobstructed horizon. They hadn't gotten all that far from Haybale the day before, only enough to get it out of sight. Now if I'm right it should be another day before we hit Galloping Gorge, and maybe one or two after that to get to Stableside, she thought to herself, mentally charting their path to the settlement.
Her travel planning was interrupted by the prick up of an ear, body going still for a moment as she caught the distinct sounds of the plains waking up to greet a brand new day. At first it was just the distant calls of birdsongs, but soon it was joined by the barks and snarls of no-doubt wild dogs, maybe even wolves. Amidst their noise she couldn't hear the birds anymore, and she wasn't sure if they had flown off or if they'd been made into breakfast.
Regardless it was probably a good idea to hurry up, and she started to trot on down the opposite side of the embankment, calling out to the human. "Hate to interrupt but we might have trouble coming, best hurry up!"
Previously looking calm and generally at peace with the world as he bathed, the human's posture and general demeanor took a sudden change for the worse as he heard her call out to him. Kiako whirled around to face her, a wide-eyed snarl plastered over his scarlet face, one arm grasping out to his belongings only for something to leap off of the pile of barding and land into his paw.
The hows and whys of what was happening didn't matter right then, terror and confusion having no place in her mind as instincts took over, her body propelling itself forward as the man's arm swung out to bring that snub-nosed revolver to bear, her momentum carrying her down the dew-slick grass. Her eyes desperately roved for something to hide behind, knowing full well that this area was as open as a place could be. Cursing herself for leaving her weapon behind with her barding, she was left with no option but to hope against hope, leaping up to her hooves and rocketing forward.
Head low to the ground, her hooves tore up the ground to quickly close the distance between herself and the biped. Somehow a bullet hadn't torn into her yet, not because of any misses but instead due to the gun not going off at all. Her panicky mind was racing a mile a minute, and she realized that during her rush forward the biped had lowered his aim, and was now trying to dive out of the way. Too late for the both of them.
Shit! was one word that popped into her head, right before her skull slammed into Kiako's torso and drove the breath from the man's lungs in a ragged, ugly wheeze. Her vision flashed white for a moment after the collision, the world seeming to stop for the barest of instances before starting up again and sending them both into the brook in a tangle of flailing limbs and mutual cursing. Despite the sudden chill that ran through her body as water washed over her coat and the general chaos of the situation, the one part of her mind that didn't have a stake in the situation appreciated disjointed blur of water droplets reflecting the morning light, right before her vision swam with stars as a fist slammed up side her head.
She let out a gurgling gasp as her side landed on something hard and angular, the wind blown out of her in a mixture of bubbles and air. The water wasn't that deep, no more than ankle depth, but it was enough for half of her world to become a muffled, murky blur as one side of her face went under the water with the other above it. From the corner of her eye she saw the pale shape of Kiako looming over her several body-lengths away, but he didn't advance on her, instead falling to his knees and sitting down on his haunches, one arm held conspicuously between his legs.
Winded but not wiped she lurched up to her hooves, the sound of water cascading off of her wet body and dribbling into the brook below not enough to mask how her ragged breathing, nor Kiako's. The man in question looked like how she felt, bare flesh scraped and bruised in places, chest rising and falling as he stared out at her warily through wide pupils. The fight -- if that's what it even was, she wasn't sure -- hadn't taken that long, but like most it was intense and got the blood pumping, and soon enough she was sure she'd come off of her adrenaline high and feel even worse than she had waking up this morning.
Thinking a bit more rationally, she sat down to mirror the human down the brook, each giving a nod of understanding to the other as things wound down. When she had woken up that morning she knew she was going to take a bath, but she really hadn't expected it to be as chaotic as it had. A soft wind had been blowing in from the south, a bouquet of scents carried along with the breeze that she noticed only now that her sinuses had gotten a good wash. There was the usual smells of the plains, like those of plants and dirt, but there was also the pungent metallic-tang of iron as well. She didn't think she was bleeding but she checked anyway, her head jerking this way and that as he patted herself down, eyeing the water around her for any crimson stains flowing down from her. It was only when she looked up at Kiako did she see where the scent came from.
"Got a little something there," she noted casually, pointing to her own muzzle before gesturing over to the man's nose where a thin stream of blood ran down the slight furrow in the flesh under and between his nostrils, hanging just above his lip.
The man let out an irritated huff, face scrunching up in a scowl that ended with him rolling his eyes and looking away from her for a moment, a paw flicking over to her dismissively. He met her gaze again, a lopsided frown on his face that seemed out of place, almost exaggerated in a way. Hearing the guttural but unmistakably foreign words pouring out of his mouth in rapid-fire fashion, she immediately knew why he seemed more... aggressive than usual.
Finders Keepers couldn't help but let out a noise of annoyance herself, head craning back as she let out an exasperated groan to the morning sky. This is just what I needed, she thought angrily, teeth gritted. As if this miserable mule wasn't bad enough when we could at least talk to each other, now I don't even have that!
More of those strange, guttural words were spoken in her direction, and her ears swiveled over to Kiako before she looked at him. He kept flicking a paw at her, nodding his chin along with it as he looked at her expectantly, eyes glancing somewhere behind her.
"What?" she asked, eyes narrowed in confusion. Despite how frustrated Kiako had made her feel in the past couple of days, she at least had someone to talk to for once on her trips. After everything that happened though, she was definitely going to be charging him for the trip to Stableside. Communicating that was going to be a lot harder now.
Kiako shifted from his previously cross-legged position, bringing his knees inward and withdrawing his left paw from his groin once it was covered up by his legs. He placed the palm of his paw up toward the sky and made placed a digit from his other paw on the surface, making a series of counter-clockwise circles, all the while nodding at her with his chin to an area behind her, voice insistently repeating the same series of words over and over again.
"If you think I'm gonna be turning around right now, think again buster," she said evenly, shaking her head as she gave the human a flat stare.
He stared right on back at her, looking to be just as annoyed as she felt. With a weary, exaggerated sigh followed by a lone tsk he dipped one hand into the water to retrieve the familiar, dripping shape of his sidearm. Leaning forward so that his chest touched his still closed leg he handed over the weapon, looking grave all the while.
It didn't take PipBuck technician to figure out the meaning behind the gesture, though she still wasn't sure why he was handing it over. She stared at the matte black revolver for a long moment before finally giving in, accepting the wooden grip in her mouth and eliciting a brief look of what couldn't be mistaken for anything other than regret on Kiako's face.
"Haey, ay' brus' muh t'heef twah ah wee'," she muttered from around the wooden grip, her words sounding like nonsense even to her. With a huff she finally gave in, turning her back on him. Almost immediately she heard the trickle and splashing of water as Kiako got up from the brook, ear picking up soft footfalls heading away from her.
Just as well, she thought, teeth biting down into the wooden handle in a grimace as the last traces of adrenaline were out of her system, a feeling of weariness creeping over her that brought along with it the aches and pains of the brief melee she had taken part in. She doubted it was anything serious, but she was definitely going to be sore for a while, and she was most definitely not going to be wasting any of her hard won Med-X on anything superficial.
Finders Keepers risked a glance behind her, catching sight of the man wearing the same -- albeit now slightly damp -- grey short-sleeved shirt and groin-shorts as she had seen him wear before. The distinct sound of a zipper was heard as he stepped into the also grey one-piece jumpsuit that he wore under the blue portions of his barding. Her head jerked back to stare forward just as she thought the human was starting to look at her.
You know, I should really be doing something more useful, instead of just waiting for that weirdo, she mused. She had originally come over to get a bath, and despite being shoved into the water she still hadn't managed to get all of the dust out of her coat; as it was her bath was only half finished.
Gently tossing the firearm onto the dry bank nearby, she stooped down and gave herself a quick roll in the water, stirring up a cloud of silt around her that quickly faded away as it went with the current. Without soap and a good brush she still felt dirty but at least she was less dusty, and she didn't think she'd have to worry about that particular bane of her existence for a couple more days unless she happened to find a prime scavenging spot.
"You done yet?" Finders Keepers shook her mane in a spray of water droplets, stepping out of the brook with water running down her legs and off her fetlocks. The mare looked over at the man, not really expecting an answer but hoping that he'd take the hint from her tone.
Kiako was bent down half-way at the waist, looking to be in the process of strapping on some barding to a thigh. He would have been at least had he not frozen to stare at her so intensely, brow furrowed as if in deep thought.
"I can understand you again," the man said before she could even make a comment, sounding just as perplexed as she was.
"Well." She let the word sit there for a moment, not all too sure where to go from there. On the one hoof it made things a whole lot easier for the both of them, but on the other it just raised a whole lot of questions.
"Well," she repeated, brow stitched in thought. "Don't suppose you got any idea how this is happening? Some kind of magic?"
"Again with your magic," the man quickly scoffed, earning him a deep frown from the mare. "I haven't been idle in regards to this problem, but even my hypothesis has a lot of holes in it."
"Aaaand?" Finders Keepers drawled, a hoof tapping in impatience. She was eager to get a move on, and she was already beginning to regret the fact that the human could talk to her again.
"The only possible explanation is that," he began, voice taking on something akin to smugness as he raised a digit to trail the boundary between where pale flesh and dark metal met, "for whatever reason my collar has created a very limited sort of field around me, and is able to intermittently translate foreign languages into something understandable."
"So it's magic," the pony replied, nodding as if in agreement, taking a bit of childish satisfaction at the brief look of annoyance she got in return. She returned to seriousness, nodding over to the man's paw and then to the gun resting in the grass behind her.
"What kind of rock have you been living under where you think magic doesn't exist?" she asked, voice and expression a tad incredulous at the biped's continual denial of the existence of magic. "Besides, I saw you use magic to pull that gun into your paw!"
"That wasn't magic," Kiako asserted with a forceful cutting gesture, letting the words sit for a moment before continuing, "The exact mechanics behind such augmentations are admittedly not well understood, but the process of replicating them and adapting them for human use is understood well enough to conclusively prove it's not magic."
She didn't even know what to say to that, knowing the words individually but not in the way they had been strung together. Still, the way the human had so flippantly shut her down whenever she mentioned magic was really starting to raise her dander, and she really wasn't feeling all too keen on backing down this time.
"Well if that's not magic, then how about your slave collar, huh?" she retorted, huffing slightly before continuing on. "That sounds awfully close to magic to me, and it still doesn't explain why I can understand you!"
"First of all this is not a 'slave collar' as you so put it," the man corrected, not sounding or looking as if he took umbrage with her arguing with him. In fact, he almost sounded as though he was enjoying this!
"That being said," Kiako continued, tapping the collar in question, "you've come across the same hole in the hypothesis as I did. What's more is that while my collar has a great many useful functions, it has no way of receiving direct audio or visual input."
"Have you tried taking it off to see if it's actually your collar thingy then?" Finders Keepers asked, voice taking on some of the weariness she was beginning to feel while talking with the man. She was anxious to get underway, remembering the sounds of wild dogs from earlier.
The man noticeably stiffened as she said that, and she reflexively took a step back as the man's usual dour expression briefly flickered into something else, something more vulnerable. Had she blinked she wouldn't have even seen it, but by the way the man glared at her it was clear she had struck a nerve.
"The point of the matter is that while my hypothesis is the one most likely to be true, even that is suspect," he maintained, voice glacier-like as he stared at her icily, as though challenging the mare to disagree.
Great, not only am I dealing with some foreign creature, but also one that doesn't like being wrong. Awesome, she lamented, not rising to the human's bait just yet. Obviously the collar had some sort of importance to him, but just because he didn't believe in magic didn't mean she didn't. She herself didn't know much about it herself other than the general things a pony should know, like how each type of pony had their own brand of magic. Magic... magic.
Finders Keepers nodded along with the gentle rhythm of her hoof tapping against the grass beneath her, thinking back to all the things she had learned over the years, struggling to maybe come up with a solution. Magic had been a part of Equestria since long before those stuffy old history books that she usually ignored were made, and magic was still here long after the Last Day. For the most part when somepony said magic she often couldn't help but think of unicorns, or the way they seemed so uppity just because they were the only ones who could cast actual spells.
"Except for gems," she pondered aloud, drawing a quizzical glance from the man standing over her. Her mouth broke open into a wide, self-satisfied smile, unable to help but congratulate herself on coming up with another alternative to the biped's stupid collar theory. After all, it wasn't pettiness if the other pony was being a jerk.
"Hey hey! Do you have any gems on you?" she blurted out excitedly, staring wide-eyed as the man's earlier quizzical look turned into one of abject confusion. "Come on, that's gotta be it!"
"Gems, as in jewelry?" Kiako questioned, tilting his head slightly at her, a brow raised. One of his arms moved to a side-pocket of his jumpsuit, digits peeling back a small flap of fabric to drag out a chain. From that chain spun a golden medallion of some sort, one large gem about half the diameter of a bottle cap sitting on the back, while the other side bore a thin, thread-like latticework of gems that sparkled in the sun's rays.
"Ha!" the mare gloated victoriously, head drawn back smugly. "I'm betting that is what's doing it!" Whatever it is, anyway.
"Finely crafted, no doubt. But not magic," the biped stated plainly, turning the piece of jewelry in his paws as he continued to examine it.
"Where did you get it?" Finders Keepers asked, still feeling exultant in her victory but not enough to push her curiosity aside. "When did you get it, too?"
Kiako opened his mouth to say something, but stopped just short of doing so. He remained silent for a bit, still staring at the medallion before finally looking back to the pony, a grave expression on the man's face. "A bit of petty theft on my part. It came free during my brief scuffle with that one hybrid, Rosewing."
"And you got away with it too, looks like," she whistled, a small grin on her face. She wasn't often one for stealing, but the brief impression Rosewing had made on her didn't really make her feel all that sorry for her either.
The human twirled the medallion for a bit, the chain wrapping around his digits and bringing the bejeweled golden disc closer and closer to his paw before reversing the direction of spin, repeating the process several times. The whole fidgety act entranced Finders Keepers somewhat, the subtle play of digits interesting to watch but ultimately not enough to distract her from seeing the pensive, guarded look on the man's face. Kiako continued to twirl the medallion about before suddenly twisting his wrist and letting the necklace fly from his digits.
"What in Tartarus are you doing?!" the mare gaped, watching the undoubtedly valuable if not irreplaceable item flung a good distance away from them before landing at the base of the embankment. She was just about to race over to retrieve the bit of jewelry before she was stopped by a leg planted in front of her.
"No," the man said flatly, giving a small shake of the head before continuing to speak to her.
Her eyes widened a little, ears perking up attentively him as she took in the strange noises coming out of the biped's mouth. She didn't hear the guttural, harsh noises that she had heard him speak in the past, nor did she hear the far more understandable if slightly accented Equestrian that the man just been speaking. No, instead the string of noises that flowed from Kiako's mouth almost seemed to be the mixture of the two, traces of each mixing into something thoroughly incomprehensible.
Just when she thought she might have started to lose her mind, the words made an abrupt shift back into the human's guttural language. The rapid shift into one form of nonsense into a more familiar one jarred her senses, the mare unsure of how to react other than to stare at the man in bafflement.
Her reaction wasn't lost on Kiako, and she could clearly see the realization dawning on him, the muscles that kept his facial features locked in its usual dour, humorless expression softening as his eyes went wide and his lips parted into an open-mouthed gasp of astonishment. His head snapped away from her, the man's body shifting with it as he rushed over to wear the medallion had been carelessly tossed away, paws scooping it up as though it were something fragile.
"It better not be broken" she fretted, trotting over to the man once he'd gotten ahold of the medallion. "Please tell me it's not broken."
The biped dangled the medallion up to her face, gently twisted the chain to turn the bit of jewelry so that she could get a good look at both sides. The gold was untarnished as expected, and didn't have a mark on it other than perhaps the slight divots where the gems were inset, said gems also looking to be pristine in condition. Her eyes lingered a bit on the lattice-work pattern of gems on the front of the medallion, catching how like before they seemed to gently sparkle or shift colors when exposed to the sun. Definitely magical.
Finders Keepers let out a gentle sigh, the relief palpable in her voice even as she thumped the man's unprotected thigh with a hoof. "You lummox, you didn't have to throw the thing!"
The man seemed to ignore her, or at the very least paid no attention to her comment as he brought the jewelry up to his face and pulled a block of metal off of his belt, digits dexterously unfolding a couple of items from what looked to be a pretty expansive multi-tool. He quickly set upon the medallion, probing away with the various heads, futilely trying to find a way to open the jewelry.
"Don't think you're gonna be getting too far," she observed wryly. "And I wouldn't try dislodging any of those gems.
Kiako's brow set into a look of determination, the man briefly redoubling his efforts before finally stopping just long enough to look at her unpleasantly. "You mentioned gems before, what do you know about this thing?"
She shot him a shrug, mouth screwed up into a look of indifference. "I'm a scavenger, and jewelry and gems rake in the caps like nopony's business. If the gems have a spell bound onto them that just means they're worth more."
"I don't see how spelling would relate to a pretty bauble such as this. The enabling our communication is obviously located inside, but I'm finding it incredibly hard to find the join, and twisting isn't helping either," Kiako said, still working busily on trying to "unlock" the medallion.
Finders Keepers just stood there, watching the man grow more and more agitated as he was met with failure at every turn. With a muted growl the man eventually gave up, reluctantly tucking the medallion and broken chain into a pocket. She was about to walk off to get her things before Kiako called after her.
"Does the settlement we're headed to, this Stableside, happen to have the equipment necessary for a slice-writing?" Kiako asked hopefully, voice dipping and seeming to speed up for a brief moment near the end.
Finders Keepers could only shake her head at that, both doubting that Stableside would have anything special and not knowing what the man was even talking about. "Probably not."
The mare got no response in return, and she was content with that. When she had first woken up that morning she was expecting to get washed up, have some breakfast, and maybe have a little talk before heading out. As it was, with all the weirdness having gone on that morning, she had only gotten two out of three. She was plenty eager to get a move on, having tarried long enough that breakfast would have to be on the go.
She didn't stop when she crested the embankment, her head swivelling about to get a good look at the plains as she continued on to her belongings. Save for the whisper of the wind and the gentle hum of insects, the plains seemed almost dead in a way, the happy chirping of birds earlier in the morning having still not returned despite the good amount of time she had heard since the dogs had drove them off. Almost always there was the distant background chatter of some sort of critter in the plains, and the silence she experienced then was deeply unsettling, sending a shiver along her spine that had nothing to do with the crisp morning air and her recent bath. To her, it felt as though that the plains was holding its breath, waiting for something to pass on by.
She quickly made her way back down toward where she had slept the night before, her belongings still semi-scattered around the area. There were a lot of scavengers out and about, but unlike most she chose to travel light, if only because she had never been wealthy enough to get some choice bits of equipment. The plus-side of that was that it meant she had very little to clean up, the errant blanket and her thick leather barding the only things not immediately near her saddlebags.
Taking care of her other "morning duties", the mare was soon finished up and ready to greet whatever troubles the day threw at her, barding strapped on and secure and her saddlebags fastened safely over her flanks and covering her cutie-mark. Once more -- and hopefully for the last time -- she crossed over the embankment, ready to get a move on. With luck they'd make it to Stableside the next day.
The last time she had greeted Kiako that morning had ended with an embarrassing series of events that she rather forget, but at the very least they had both solved the mystery of how they were able to communicate with one another. Making her way down to the human she saw that he was just about finished himself, his passive-thingy nowhere to be seen save for a conspicuously fresh patch of dirt nearby. She didn't pry, but she did make a note of its location.
"You ready to get a move on to Stableside?" the mare asked as she sidled up to him, her saddlebags clinking softly with the sound of caps and other goods. The trip there wasn't just for the human's benefit, as she herself needed to offload some of the things she had dug up.
"The sooner we get there the better," Kiako replied, tightening the straps of a vambrace on his forearm and waving his arm a bit before turning to her fully, looking all ready to go. "I do hope you don't have other plans that come before that."
"Nope, straight shot to Stableside!" she said, the pleasantness of her tone belying the anxiousness that had nothing to do with the sudden quiet of the plains. She had been entertaining the idea before, back when they had left Haybale, but ever since the little melee she had gotten into the idea had gotten lodged deeper and deeper into her mind until she could no longer ignore it. With all the trouble Kiako had been giving her, what was a little bit of hazard-pay?
"About the trip though," she continued, tension leaking into her voice as she took several steps to the side so that she could fully face him. "I'm gonna be needing some payment to get you there. No offense but you've been... well, you've been a whole lot of trouble for me."
"That's fine," Kiako said, nodding to her. "I was never much one for charity, anyhow. Shall we hash out the details when we get there, or now?"
"Now hold on just one... wait, really?" She had half-expected the man to immediately balk at her request, to yell and scream like some sort of lunatic. As it was -- and to her surprise -- he had readily agreed far faster than she would have expected, even of herself if she had been in his horsehoes.
"Surprised?" the man asked, quirking an eyebrow at her as his voice took on a vaguely patronizing tone. "You are doing me a service, you know. At the very least you should be paid for it, somehow."
"Do you even have any caps?" Finders Keepers asked suspiciously, eyeing the man as though he were about to try and skip out on paying a tavern tab.
"I'll come up with something," Kiako said assuredly, turning away from her and beginning to walk in the wrong direction of where Stableside was. "I am a Tech after all, and an Applier at that. Making things is what we do."
"That's good at least," the mare said, relief clear in her voice even as she pointed in the direction opposite of the man. "But can you at least make in the right direction, we're going that way."
"Of course," he said, and immediately made a smart about face to head in the right direction.
Finders Keepers quickly took the lead, keeping a quick and steady pace as the man followed behind her. With his leg-braces gone the man was easily able to keep up with her, and it looked like if they kept moving without taking many breaks they would be able to get to Stableside the next day.
Though the sun might have been glaring into their faces, she knew that it would pass as the day drew on, and for the time being the warmth felt good even through her barding. A soft northerly breeze flowed across the plains, grass bending beneath its course and creating a soft shushing noise that evoked memories of cool nights and pleasant journeys. Not another pony, griffon, or anything else was in sight, just the two of them making their way to their destination.
Taking in the sights of smells of the natural world around her, that of the summer grasses and a clean breeze carrying the scents of far off places, she should have felt the tension flow out of her, her earth-pony spirit feeling at home in such an environment, away from the dead streets of cities that had died long ago. Normally she would, too, but instead all she felt was a heavy feeling of disquiet, one that dampened what was otherwise a perfectly fine day. She wanted more than anything at that very moment to be in those same dead streets she had grown up in, to feel protective walls closed around her to at least block out the feeling of being watched.
She quickened her pace, determined to shave off several hours off of their journey even if it meant she would be a tired and dishevelled mess at the end of the day. At the very least she had the pleasant picture of a nice pile of caps in her mind, and the confidence to know that in as little as a day or two her imagination would become a reality.
Hearing the sudden, deep, throaty howl from behind them, her quickened pace turned into a gallop, and the chase was on. |
Fallout Equestria: Foreigner | Chapter 8: Stableside | The mind picked up strange things, Finders Keepers reflected.
It was as beautiful a day as a pony could ask for, the scent of grass and wildflowers carried along by the gentle breeze that rustled across the plains. This part of Equestria wasn't so much of a wasteland anymore, and it was remarkably free of rubble or other bits of debris like sky-carriages or even roads. Much like the ground below the sky itself was also unmarred, not a single cloud to blot out the radiant sun as it hung in the crisp, blue sky that endlessly stretched out above the earth below.
The view would have been a much different sight during her childhood, she knew, even if she hadn't experienced it herself. There was no doubt that an area like this would have just been another near-lifeless, muddy landscape with what little life there was being roaming animals and pale, stunted plants that struggled for lack of consistent light. The grey skies above were only fitting for such a dreary landscape, a permanent cloud cover ensuring a steady source of rain but only weak, filtered sunlight for the world below.
If one listened to what few ecologically-minded ponies there were -- and they sure did love to be listened to -- the Equestrian Wasteland could soon drop the second part of its name, and she couldn't disagree with that after seeing places like she was in now. That didn't mean she much cared to listen to them, no matter how loud they were. The one thing that they always seemed to gloss over was that Equestria wouldn't be the way it was if it weren't for one particular unicorn and her motley gang of heroes.
Without ponies like Littlepip, Calamity, Velvet Remedy, and all the others those very same ecologists conveniently ignored, the Equestria of today would have looked very much the same as it had in the past two-centuries. Thanks to those aforementioned, selfless ponies, Finders Keepers and future generations could appreciate a quiet, peaceful view of a healing land, one that she had no doubt even a pony from before the Great War could appreciate.
Another gunshot cut across the plains, breaking her reverie and bringing her mind back to a less picturesque reality; one that involved herself and Kiako running away from a pack of monstrous things.
They probably wouldn't be expecting that,] she noted with grim amusement, for a moment unsure if she meant the converging mutants or Kiako. She pushed the errant thought out of her head, fully focusing on her job.
"Moving back," Kiako called out, paws dropping to his sides as he removed himself from the bipedal firing stance that was -- if one ignored the obvious differences -- not too dissimilar from that of her own.
She felt the pat through her barding as Kiako ran past her, the touch probably more to act as a signal than as an act of reassurance. It was appreciated either way, and she leveled the block of metal in her mouth -- her IF-22 chambered for .38 caliber ammunition -- even as the man's heavy bootfalls faded with distance.
The two of them had been running ever since early morning, a pack of mutant dogs of some sort nipping at their hocks all the way to where they were now. Unfortunately, whatever kind of breed the mutants were, they were smart. Smart enough to hang just out of range of their firearms once they had figured out that pistols weren't all too useful past a certain point of range.
Their current plan consisted of one individual covering the other while they retreated, with the one covering making sure that the rabid beasts didn't try to get too close. The roles then switched so that the one that had held their ground could catch up and the process could go through another cycle. Neither of them had actually planned it though, and instead it had been something that had come naturally to the two of them after realizing that just running wasn't going to cut it.
It was sort of nice, Finders Keepers had to admit. She wasn't used to working with others, scavengers like herself eschewing those who could potentially take a cut out of their profits. With all the dangerous radiation and pockets of Taint scoured away by the Elements of Harmony, scavenging was beginning to look more and more like a dying profession now that a great many risks had been removed and more areas were opened up. Even so though, whatever Kiako did as an "applier" or that other word he used, the two of them had managed a sort of synergy over the morning hours as they meshed into a team to protect one another. Maybe it's just because we're not really talking.
Her thoughts scattered once more as another gunshot broke out across the plains, this time her own. One of the mutants let out a pitiful, snarling whimper as it was struck, its legs crumpling beneath dead weight as its momentum sent it plowing into a tumbling roll that ended only a couple body-lengths from her, a blown-out eye socket staring back at her accusingly. It was a grisly sight to be sure, but that didn't stop her from letting out a muffled cheer from around her jawgun.
It was a brief victory though, her ear twitching as it heard the mournful howl of one of the fallen mutant's packmates, a grim reminder that despite her brief victory there were still more of them just waiting to rush in and make her a meal. Her eyes snapped about, homing in on the dark shapes stalking just out of her pistol's effective range. She wasn't sure how many of them there were, but the last time she had made a count there had been six -- minus the one she had just taken down herself.
Kiako himself was busy too it seemed, despite the fact that she was the one supposedly taking charge of covering the both of them. She didn't have to see the human to know there was trouble behind her, the panicked footsteps and the rapid clicking of a hammer striking at empty chambers going tail-in-tail with the pained scream that went with the sound of falling bodies scuffling in the grass.
Her heart leapt into her throat as she spun about to the sight of Kiako and a shaggy beast rolling about the ground, the latter having its strong jaws clenched tightly on the man's flailing arm. The biped's usual dour look was gone, face contorted into a twisted, open-mouthed scream of anguish as he repeatedly whipped dark steel across his tormentor's face and muzzle.
This is bad, this is bad! her mind panicked, indecision rooting her in place as her head moved about to try and get a clear shot off without hitting the beleaguered man. Uncertainty clouded her mind as opportunities popped up momentarily only to be wasted after waiting too long, and for a heartbeat she was frozen, forced to just stand there and watch as wide eyes drunk in the violence.
The massive, hulking canine's slavering, growling jaws drew ever closer with the man's face as the vambrace and under-barding clad arm was forced back beneath its constant assault, and Finders Keepers could see the faint sheen of sweat on the man's face as he both tried and slowly failed to hold back against the animal's raw strength. His pistol that had previously been bludgeoning against the creature's skull had fallen by the wayside, the man scrabbling desperately at his belt even as he turned to face her, one side of his face obscured by the grass but not enough to hide the desperation etched on his flushed face.
"Behind you!" the man screamed, spittle flying from his mouth before a meaty paw pressed his face deeper into the dirt.
That was enough to shake off her hesitancy, and just in time for her to catch the sound of pounding paws right behind her, her head snapping back to catch the faintest glimpse of a dark shape nearly upon her. It was already too late to turn any further to fire off a shot, but where conscious thought had failed her, countless generations of equine instinct took over.
Like lightning and almost as fast her hind-legs shot out from beneath her, hooves striking out and making contact with her assailant with a frightening amount of force that was enough to send a shock of pain up her legs and through her spine. Bone gave way before the power of her steel-shod hooves, the sickening crunch of a splintering and collapsing skull felt more than heard in its grotesquery. The roar of triumph that might have come howling out was instead something else entirely, more like a surprised whine that could no nothing but gurgle from a devastated muzzle.
Up until that moment, the monsters that had been hounding Finders Keepers and Kiako all morning had kept their distance. Still, the pack of mutant dogs outnumbered herself and Kiako several times over and it was only a matter of time until they finally went all out. With her partner fending off the literal jaws of death snapping at him, Finders Keepers' racing mind came the terrible realization that things were about to get a whole lot worse for the both of them.
It got worse a whole lot sooner, too, as she tried to turn her body toward the thundering paws of another attacker trying to blindside her. Before her rear hooves even touched the ground again the world suddenly entered a violent spin, everything briefly becoming a blur as she slammed hard into the dirt. Her teeth clacked painfully together as the weapon slipped out from her jaws, falling into the shadow of the beast that had so suddenly knocked her down.
The hot, fetid breath on her neck barely registered as she pitched herself forward just in time to escape those snaggletoothed jaws that snapped shut right where her neck had been less than a second prior. She had barely managed to get back onto her hooves before yet again being struck down, the throaty growl of her assailant only a low drone over the sound of rushing blood that filled her hearing.
Up close and so personal it was still unimaginable to her that these hulking brutes were in any way related to the more common wild dogs of the wasteland, the thing's proportions all wrong. Tree-trunk thick legs corded with muscle kept up an equally massive torso up off the ground, dwarfing the rest of its body to a degree that might have been comical if it hadn't been so terrifying. It was as though a dog had been reimagined from a foal's nightmare and hopped up on a lifetime supply of Buck to create the grotesque animal before her, its form positively exuding raw, primal power. The look in the monster's eyes -- for that's what it truly looked like at that moment, a monster -- held an unmistakable need, its sickly yellow eyes containing a yearning hunger that threatened to swallow her whole if she stared too long.
Equine instinct tore at her mind, urging her body to run, to escape the monstrosity that was already barreling toward her for the last time. She was practically defenseless, her pistol gone and her body sprawled out on the ground in an unfavorable position. There was nothing to do but to run, to desperately try and put some distance between herself and those glistening jaws that eagerly snapped open and shut in anticipation for the snap that would end her life.
And yet it was already too late to run, the gap between herself and her attacker short enough that not even a pegasus could have gotten away before being brought down to earth and being torn apart. Adrenaline fueled instinct and muddled thought warred over her mind, creating a moment of indecision that would cost her dearly if she didn't act now.
Her world became a small dot of light at the end of a long tunnel, dimness creeping around her vision and swallowing everything up in darkness just as the beast-dog leapt out at her, its powerful jaws fully intending to take in her head and crush the life from her skull. She wasn't about to give up though, not even when literal jaws of the death were about to close in on her. In the end, it came down to quick she was on the draw.
The weight hanging from the pony's neck was gone, the weapon that had once been a burden at that moment becoming her savior. The IF-44 gripped in the mare's clenched teeth was battered and scratched up, the passage of time and the nature of the weapon's function having taken its toll. Still, it was a testament to the sturdy engineering of Ironshod Firearms' weapon designs that even an apocalyptic war and two centuries later the weapons were still in constant use.
Though chunky and relatively heavy for a submachine gun, the weapon was compact enough to pass for an overly large pistol if somepony were unaware of the weapon's specifics. Straight-blowback and operating from a closed bolt, the weapon held up to twenty-one rounds of ammunition chambered in .41 caliber. Unfortunately there was a downside to the weapon's compact nature, the barrel being relatively short in comparison to other firearms of the same size.
Still, accuracy wasn't what the IF-44 was known for -- but at just over four-hundred rounds per minute, it didn't need to be.
In one second half a dozen lead slugs belched from the weapon, travelling from out the muzzle at a speed of over thirteen-hundred feet per second before crashing into the mutant's face, the hollow-pointed rounds wreaking catastrophic tissue damage as they traveled through the back of the skull and deeper into the beast-dog's hulking body.
Finders Keepers never got a chance to fully appreciate the grisly end result, the canine's momentum carrying it forward even in death. The pony didn't even have time to let out a panicked yelp as the corpse crashed into her, the world exploding into stars as she was sent into a violent tumble across the ground.
Her tumble degraded into a short-lived, messy slide just before she came to an abrupt and painful halt as she bodily collided into something hard and unyielding. She nearly gave in to panic right there, addled senses making her a poor judge of the growling and fighting around her. A muffled, guttural bark of expectation and urgency sent a fresh jolt through her, the smothering fog of panic temporarily lifted from her mind as she leapt back up to her hooves to rejoin the fight.
The solitary blast of Kiako's nearby shotgun might have raised her hackles were she not already fighting for her life, but as it was Finders Keepers couldn't help but feel the thrill of elation running through her at how welcome that extra firepower was at the moment. Her own weapon replied in kind as she dove forward just as a wounded beast-dog leapt out at her, lead stitching the animal down the belly. Another blast of the break-action signalled the death of the creature she had probably only wounded, and once more she was back on her hooves and waiting for the next attack.
Over the course of minutes, possibly seconds, the pair had drifted close to one another, hindquarters-to-hindquarters as they kept what few canines remained at bay. Like the ammunition in her weapon she didn't know how many of their attackers were left, knowing only that the growling and barking and gunfire had stopped so that she was left with only the grating rasp of heavy breathing and her own blood rushing through her ears. They stayed that way for a while, the pony's nerves wound tight enough to act as a spring and urging her to shoot at anything moved even a trace, real or imagined.
She was the first to break the silence that had creeped up on the both of them, the mechanical clicking of an empty weapon felt more than heard startling her enough to open her mouth and call out for help. The clatter of the submachine gun quickly brought her attention downward, a startled gasp spilling from her mouth as she laid eyes upon the bleeding, ruined bodies of the dead and dying beasts before her.
"We did it," she whispered in awe, lips curling in a beatific smile as relief surged through her body and making her feel as though she were dancing on air. "I can't believe we're alive!"
The elation of victory was fleeting however, the brief burst of energy it had given her a meager thing in comparison to the overwhelming exhaustion that suddenly hit her like a hammer. Her smile fell off her face as her eyes drooped in fatigue, a light sigh escaping her as the adrenaline finally wore off and unmasked the exertion that had built up in her body. With that exhaustion came awareness of the injuries she had sustained during the battle, unseen bruises that throbbed painfully with every breath reminding her just how close she had come to death.
Finders Keepers wasn't alone in that either, her ear twitching involuntarily to the sound of the human collapsing in a heap behind her. She took that with guilty comfort, a foalish part of her relieved at the fact that she hadn't been the one to take all the punishment that had been dished out.
The pair sat in silence, back to back as they collected themselves to continue on. Finders Keepers' expectations of a pleasant day had been immediately dashed upon hearing the dreadful hunting howls, and it seemed as though the day itself was taking the same route. The sun still hung at its apex above them, not a single cloud to shade them from a gentle warmth that suddenly felt oppressive against her barding and coat. Likewise, the cool breeze had slackened off to nothing, doing little to carry off the growing stench of blood that hung heavily in the air.
Settling for breathing through her mouth, the pony begun to check herself more thoroughly for any wounds and injuries that went beyond the uncomfortable-though-bearable bruises all over her body. She was both fortunate and unfortunate that her coat was the color it was, dirt and sweat showing up quite easily against the beige, though at the moment it did work to her advantage as she checked the blood that was already beginning to dry in her fur. After a few moments she let out a small but heartfelt breath of relief even as she felt a shudder run up her spine; aside from a few cuts and scrapes she was hardly injured, but it also meant that most of the blood on her was foreign.
A single look at the mangy, savage creatures nearby was enough to convince her that a bath was in her best interests, with plenty of soap. She did not want whatever they might have had. Kiako was as practical minded as she was at the moment, the pony turning around to see the man in the process of checking himself for injuries, of which the man had many more than she did, at least visibly.
The man no doubt looked like how she felt right then, pale face a mask of exhaustion complete with drooping eyes and the complete abandonment of that tight-jawed, stoic expression that he always bore. In fact, Kiako looked incredibly relaxed compared to how she usually saw him: he was even slouching!
Well, I guess fighting a pack of wild monster-beasts will do that to anyone, she thought, chuckling aloud to herself.
"What?" the man in question asked as he turned a dirt stained face toward her and raised a brow, his voice carrying a note of accusation in it despite the low and half-mumbled tone it had been delivered in.
Finders Keepers was about to shrug off the question when the man began to roll up the heavily stained under-barding that covered his forearm, revealing pale skin slick with fresh blood that was flowing from an uneven crescent of dark puncture wounds. She couldn't help but take a quick intake of breath upon seeing it, the memory of Kiako pinned to the ground with a set of massive jaws clamped around his arm still sharp in her mind even through the haze that was already setting in at the edges of those memories.
"Far worse than I thought it was," Kiako hissed, lips peeling back to reveal clenched teeth.
The pony was already clumsily working buckles that secured the straps of her saddlebags to her, hardly noticing the distinct crack that sounded when the leather bags fell to the ground in a heap. Unbuttoning the flaps with her teeth, she was soon nosing her way through the dark confines of her saddlebags, picking through the mess of odds and ends that were her stock and trade in search of the one bit of merchandise that she never let herself go far without. The quiet clink of glass against metal clued her in on the location of the bottle, and a moment later he teeth found themselves clamped down on a slender glass neck of what she needed.
Her face and muzzle left the cool confines of the saddlebag as she tossed her head back into the light of the afternoon sun, the dark, viscous purple liquid inside the bottle almost seeming to glow as light rays filtered through one side of the bottle and out the other, subsequently tinting the ground in a faint purple hue.
"He'er, tay' th'as!" she insisted from around the bottle, spitting it out onto the grass to roll toward the bleeding man, who appeared to already be in the process of treating himself with a first-aid kit. "Oh. Don't worry, you probably won't be needing much of that."
"What do you think I am going to do with grape juice?" the man asked irritatedly from between gritted teeth, giving the mare a flat stare as he ripped open a small paper package and poured what looked to her to be yellow flour into his wounds, whilst completely ignoring the healing potion within arm's reach.
There was a faint rustle of grass as Finders Keepers drew back upon hearing the absurd comment, her face contorted into a look of bewilderment as her ears shot straight up. She couldn't help but wonder if the man was serious, or just being rude and stubborn for the sake of some inner need to be petty at inconvenient times. Surely he knew what a potion was, right?
Her eyes dropped down to inspect the neatly ordered rows of medical devices tucked into leather loops and pockets of the open first-aid kit. Most of the objects were generally recognizable in some form, from the gleaming metal scalpel and forceps to the glass-bodied syringes sitting next to the bandages. Among the things she didn't recognize though were several small glass bottles with unrecognizable squiggles of what was probably writing, but they hardly looked big enough to be used in quantities needed for a healing potion.
As Kiako plucked one object after another from the first-aid kit it occurred to her that there were far too many tools in the kit, looking almost like what she imagined a medical-pony might carry with them on house calls.
"You're not a doctor, are you?" Finders Keepers asked seriously, watching as the man continued to work on himself with practiced ease. "You wouldn't need all of that if you weren't, and it would be easier to just use the potion."
Kiako was already halfway to administering some sort of fluid on his arm when he heard her suggestion, hand gently setting aside the syringe as the rest of his body went stockstill. What had previously been a perfectly neutral -- if pained -- expression on his face slowly shifted into that of annoyance, eyebrows drawing together slightly as he turned a pair of withering steel-grey eyes upon her.
Eyeing her all the while he leaned forward, plucking the healing potion off the ground with his wounded arm, a fresh wince of pain crossing his face as he closed his fingers around the plain glass bottle.
"Am I right to say," the man began as he presented the bottle, "that this will somehow help me? With the power of magic that you so continuously bring up?"
The earth-pony let out a nasally snort, narrowing her eyes as indignation welled up within her. Any previous desire to help the man fell away in the wake of his staunch refusal to trust her over something so minor, especially so soon after they had fought together against a pack of mutants!
Does he think me a liar? Trying to poison him? she wondered, the possible implications of Kiako's refusal only serving to fan the flames of the indignity she was feeling at the man's mistrust and scepticism whenever she brought up the topic of magic.
"That's right," she ground out, exasperation leaking into her voice to give her words the rough note of impatience.
She didn't get an immediate response, the man watching her with a wariness that made all too clear his distrust for her at that moment. His eyes flickered this way and that as he searched her expression, as though trying to find a trace of deceit that simply wasn't there to begin with.
Kiako never broke eye contact as he finally caved in, the man giving a weary shake of the head as he let loose a sigh of resignation that sounded as sweet to the ears as any Velvet Remedy song. Finders Keepers couldn't help but let a small smirk play across her lips as the man popped the stopper off the potion, the tension she felt leaving her well worth the dirty look she got as he caught her expression.
"So," the man said plainly, picking out a large glass syringe with a disconcertingly sized needle. "Intramuscular, or subcutaneous?"
"You're supposed to drink it!" she gasped, eyes practically bugging out of her head in shock on hearing the question. "Why would anypony try and inject a potion?!"
"How else would one use it?" the man asked quizzically, nostrils flaring.
She rolled her eyes, letting out a huff of annoyance at how much of a spectacle this was becoming. They were fortunate that the Kiako's bleeding had stopped, the flour-like substance having apparently done the job. Leaning forward, she raised a hoof and tipped the bottle toward the man.
"Drink," she repeated.
"I suppose you aren't the type to follow recommended dosages," the man drawled looking at her lazily as he ripped the stopper off of the bottle. "Just know that if this kills me, I will come back to wherever this place is and find you."
"Can you just trust me right now? It's not like I didn't save your life or anything!" the mare replied, again pushing at the bottle insistently.
The man's lips twitched in response to that, and she wondered if he was going to try and draw this out any longer. Thankfully, and without another word, the man tipped the bottle back as he brought it to his his mouth, much to her gratification. She watched as the man's throat worked the liquid down, the conspicuous metal collar rising and falling.
While the man had curiously immobile ears and no tail, let alone a similar body, he had a face that was close enough to a pony's that Finders Keepers had little to no trouble at all distinguishing his expressions, which seemed to mostly just be variations of annoyance and discontent. Still, she at times thought she sensed something else beneath the air of dourness that the man put out, the muscles in his face occasionally twitching just below the surface as though trying to get to the surface before being suppressed.
Or maybe I'm just overthinking it, she mused. There was still a lot she didn't know about the human, though that was to be expected with how long -- or short -- they had known each other, only for a couple of days.
The pony had no idea what actually went into the healing potions that ponies and others used, only knowing that the production of the lifesaving medicine was an alchemical process involving chemicals and certain types of plants. One thing that was known far and wide though was that as beneficial as healing potions were, they certainly didn't taste it.
Kiako was finding that out for himself, and Finders Keepers was there to watch in amusement. As the man forced the liquid down she got to see the burgeoning disgust on his face, from the corners of his lips drawing inward as part of a grimace to the raised, spread eyebrows lifting up in surprise as the incredibly bitter liquid hit his tongue. With the man's head tilted back she had a good view of his neck and jaw, and she should even see the muscle tensing up below the jawline as the man finally finished.
"See? That wasn't so bad was it?" she sniggered, the hoof over her mouth doing little to prevent the laugher from leaking out.
Kiako's disgust was gone, replaced with a pair of baleful eyes that shared none of her humor at his expense.
"For your sake, this better not have been a prank," the man said icily, dropping his gaze on down to his arm. "You said it was a potion. A potion for what, exactly?"
"It's a healing potion, what else would it do? It won't fix bones or remove bullets, but it will heal flesh," she answered, also keeping an eye on the man's wound.
Kiako's head shifted slightly, brow furrowing as he stared at his arm. No doubt that the alchemical formula was well on its way to beginning to repair the damage the canine's had done to him. What would have taken weeks or months became a timelapse of tissue regeneration, skin around the puncture wounds first turning pink with inflammation, before the injury itself began to slowly knit itself closed.
The scabs forming over the wounds were already starting to flake off when the man's eyes practically bulged out of his skull, eyebrows reaching for the sky in surprise as his lips parted to let out a quiet gasp. Finders Keepers could already see the scarring lose its light pink hue and grow just a touch paler than the undamaged skin around it when the man brought his arm up to get a closer look.
Whatever doubts the man had voiced earlier were obliterated by the almost foal-like wonder that lit up the man's face, an emotion far removed from the man's usual iron cold stare and demeanor. Indeed, the human looked as though he had completely forgotten that she was even there, his attention focused solely on the impassioned investigation of his arm. After having to spend several days with the man, she couldn't help but appreciate the sudden change.
"See?" she chirped, unable to help crack a wide smile of her own on seeing the human's reaction to alchemical concoction. "I told you it would work."
If it were possible for somepony -- or someone in this case -- to jump out of their skin Kiako would have certainly succeeded on hearing Finders Keepers' words, the man's body jolting with a jerk as his eyes flashed over to her in startlement as if he had forgotten she was even there.
Whatever wonderment the man had that wasn't immediately swallowed up by his surprise began to fade away, expression dropping back into its usual dour countenance and his posture straightening as he squared his shoulders to fully face her.
"Well," the man spoke softly, with a calmness that was obviously forced. "You have my apologies for doubting you."
Finders Keepers nodded her head, ignoring the undertone of embarrassment in the man's voice. She could have probably jumped on that and use it as ammunition to tease the man, but at this point in her journey all she wanted was to get to Stableside with a minimum of fuss, and that meant not stirring up any resentment in the human. Besides, it felt good to get that apology out of the man after all of the backhanded remarks and general callousness that he had shown her.
Without another word the human began to pack up, putting away his medical supplies before rolling down the blood-stained sleeve of his under-barding over the now scarred over wound and then strapping back on his vambrace. She herself had several things to do as well, and she spun around to move about the bodies of the dead canines.
The mare had lost her IF-22 earlier when one of those beasts had slammed into her, a weapon that her father had given her as a going away present when she had first set off to become a scavenger. It might not have been worth much, but leaving it behind was out of the question. Thankfully for her, all she had to do was find a specific beast and search around it for the weapon.
Even as she stooped her head low to pick up the shiny brass shell casings and toss them into her saddlebag, she kept a wary eye on the corpses around her, keeping an eye out for any signs of movement that went beyond the occasional death spasm. The dull ache of her bruised and battered body served as a painful reminder of how dangerous those things had been, and she had no intention of trying to go for a round two.
Amidst the collection of spent shell casings, Finders Keepers continued to search for a particular beast. All of them were intact in for the most part, the weapons she and Kiako had used not being nearly destructive enough to tear them limb from limb. Still, a lot of the corpses sported nasty wounds that were already attracting flies, and with the buzzing swarms flitting from body to body it was difficult to get a good clear look at what she was looking for. It was only when the earth-pony mare swept her hoof through a swarm of flies for the fifth time that she was met with what she needed, though it was certainly not what she wanted.
Being a pony, she was already blessed with a good sense of smell, meaning that she was bombarded everyday with both scents pleasant and repulsive. In some ways she wished she had the sense of smell of a griffon -- that is to say, hardly any. Walking about the corpses had already made her stomach churn, but the fresh blast of fetidness coming from the demolished skull and exposed chunks of brain was something else entirely.
By the time her ears twitched at Kiako's approach, the mare had already released her last meal back into the world, nothing at all coming out of her mouth save the empty retches of a stomach with nothing left to give.
"There's a reason as to why they are called blight wolves, you know," Kiako noted from above and behind her, and even through the buzzing of flies the man's tone made it clear that he held no love for the corpses around her.
"You've seen these before?" she croaked, wiping her mouth along a foreleg as she asked.
"Plenty. Rather hard to avoid them, in fact," the man replied, taking a knee beside her and waving a hand over its mange-ridden body. "Notice the general patchiness of the fur and the sores all over its body, which you will notice is a commonality shared with the others."
Finders Keepers had noticed that -- it was impossible not to what with being in such close proximity to the "blight wolves", as the man called them. She merely nodded her head as he continued to speak, her lightheadedness from the overwhelming stench making it difficult for her to concentrate on what the man was saying, as she was more concerned with trying to find her pistol.
"-- heavily polluted and irradiated environments being their preferred hunting grounds, so you can see how they earned the moniker. Not only that, but they have adapted to these areas to such an extent that they are in some ways reliant on them. I think that even you can realize how unusual it is to find adolescent blight wolves in an unspoiled plain like this."
At that point she was mostly ignoring the man's oddly lighthearted commentary, the mare only picking up every third word or so as she continued her search. Something she would have continued to do had a particular word not caught her attention.
"Hold on a sec, did you say adolescent? As in young?" she balked, turning her head to face the man. "How big can these things get?"
Finders Keepers couldn't help but shoot the man a narrow-eyed scowl as he casually held up the pistol that had eluded her searching for the past several minutes. What was worse was that she wasn't sure if it was a trick of the light, or if there was something like mischief in the human's eyes.
"Large enough that if we had faced even one of them you would be dead and I would be back home," the man said without missing a beat, features softening enough to deliver a rare smile that was empty of all comfort the gesture should have had.
"What in Equestria is that supposed to mean?" she asked incredulously, brow scrunched up as she watched the man get up and start to walk off.
What a mule, the mare thought as she glared at the departing human, her cheeks blowing out in a rush of air. She let the man wander off for another minute or so before he finally realized something was amiss and turned to face her.
"Wrong way!" she sang mockingly, voice carrying across the distance between them.
Kiako didn't have a witty response for her that time, and the pony could just make out the hint of a frown playing across the man's face from where she stood.
Just as well, Finders Keepers thought with a light chuckle, before turning to go the right way. If they were lucky, they might be able to get to Stableside the next day.
*** *** ***
Much to Kiako Lalene's chagrin, they did not get to Stableside the next day. Or the day after. Or even the day after that.
It was another bright and sunny day, the bright blue sky holding not a single cloud to shield them from the sun's unceasing rays. Not that the temperature was particularly high, but it was damnably humid, a far cry from the dry heat that he was far more accustomed to the Plateau region of the Canyon. It had been like that for the past several days, and the only thing that kept the man from being boiled alive in his armor was the fact there was a light breeze to take the edge off from potential heat stroke. Not to mention that there were plenty of water sources -- all of which were seemingly pure, for he had tested every single one -- for him to dunk his head in and refill his canteen.
Since their encounter and ensuing running battle with the pack of blight wolf pups, the duo had come across very little trouble in the form hostile life, sapient or otherwise. In fact, save for the occasional small animal and flying bird, the man hadn't seen anything that was worth his attention in the vast, grassy expanse that they had journeyed through. If it weren't for the mountains in the distance -- the humorously named Unicorn Mountain Range, he had learned -- or the complete lack of infrastructure in the form of roads, monorails, or even the occasional dilapidated structure, he could easily imagine himself back home and walking through the Union Plains territory in the northwestern part of the Northfields.
Not that he knew exactly where home was, just that it couldn't be that far if his body had been dumped out of the side of a biplane. That was the prevailing hypothesis at least, and he certainly wasn't going to accept Finders Keepers' claim that he had simply appeared from thin air and fallen to the ground!
Still, as logical as his biplane hypothesis was in the absence of any other explanation, it had a set of problems of its own. Having only recently been reinvented and put into production by the Union -- and not at a manufacturing rate that inspired awe -- the amount of operational aircraft in the Union's burgeoning air force could be counted on both hands, and none were being sold for private use. While it was true that the Enforcers and Techs had worked in partnership to create a smaller version well suited for recon roles, they were specifically designed to be piloted by a single person, with the rest of the aircraft's space taken up by the advanced electronics suite that made use of a variety of technologies that ranged from LiDAR, radar scanners, and whatever else the pilot thought they could cram into the airframe.
He wasn't exactly what one would call a nobody, not after an illustrious career as both a troubleshooter and, well, a troubleshooter. The LifeNet collar alone made him very well-inclined to hazardous work, whether it required him to be a suicide-bomber or just another pair of hands to dispose of toxic waste. Plenty of clones were more famous than he, either due to their bloodthirstiness or raw intellect; whereas he himself was perfectly content with the niche he had carved for himself, that being an experienced technician who not only knew his way around a weapon but could actually hold his own even against the best of them.
As accomplished as he was, he still didn't think that he himself was enough of a high-priority target for a kidnapping that ended with him being flung from a low-flying aircraft and dropped into hitherto unknown territory, especially with most of his equipment on him. There were plenty of ways to get rid of a troublesome clone, but nearly all of such methods never managed to stick, and most often it just resulted in the clone coming back angry. No, if someone had really wanted to get rid of him for any length of time beyond the time it took for him to undergo a technological resurrection, the only real option was to capture him -- and not just lock him up in jail, for not even that could hold a clone determined enough for suicide -- and make him undergo a chemical lobotomy before putting him away.
Another nail in the coffin for his biplane hypothesis was simply a matter of logistics. While he himself wasn't qualified to be a pilot, he had devoured every scrap of information he could on their construction and operation, which was how he knew that the farthest the current generation of biplane could travel was roughly 480 kilometers. That in itself was no mean feat, but given the fact that the areas beyond the Death Zones that surrounded the Province were just as hellish as the zones themselves, he highly doubted that someone had set up a refueling station for aircraft.
That meant the aforementioned operational range of 480 kilometers was cut in half to only 240 kilometers, and that was only if the pilot had maintained maximum fuel efficiency and wasn't affected by things like unexpected drag or other variables during flight. The Province was nowhere near the technological level of radio infrastructure from before the Fall, but it was certainly not a dead spot when it came to putting out radio waves. His collar was an inordinately powerful receiver, capable of picking up radio signals from within deep caverns or the many long forgotten GlobalTech installations that dotted the Province, but from his current elevation he wasn't even getting the faintest of human broadcasts, not even garbled speech.
Not that the airwaves were lacking, though: far from it in fact. The air around him -- sensed neither by eyes nor ears but instead as an ever-present tingle at the base of his neck, beneath the collar -- was inundated with that of radio waves carrying the broadcasts of the natives, their messages spoken in that same foreign, lyrical tongue that Finders Keepers had spoken when they had first met. There was unfortunately very little useful information he could glean from prying into the electromagnetic spectrum, the multitude of broadcasts unknowable in content save for the fact that most seemed to be a source of news or recreation. Still, at the very least he had a steady source of music to sample and enjoy as he traveled.
A stranger in a strange land he knew himself to be, that much had been made clear to him early on. The point had been driven home even deeper as they got farther from Haybale, and as the days dragged on after their encounter with the blight wolves the man grew more and more weary with being alone with the thoughts that swirled in his mind. Despite the uncaring and resolute facade he put out, his craving for knowledge dug at him like an itch that his mind cried out to be satisfied.
That meant talking with Finders Keepers, to go beyond the social obligation that small talk required of him and to actually initiate meaningful conversation on his own. He had long since dropped the "equinoid" categorization that he had placed Finders Keepers and the rest of her kind in, much the same way that he had in the past dropped the mutated Shiva's Blessed and the apes of Monkey Town from their own dehumanizing categorizations.
Finders Keepers, fortunately for him, was relatively easy going when it came to him assailing her with his questions, all too helpful in answering them and almost seeming to take a certain amount of pleasure in doing so. He had little doubt that the pony was in similar straits as himself, having gotten the impression that she was more of a social animal than himself by a fairly wide margin.
Through his poking and prodding he learned a great many things, about ponies -- or ponykind, as Finders Keepers called her species -- and their lands, from the growing pangs of the emerging New Canterlot Republic to the species and subspecies that made up its growing population. Recent historical events also were made known to him, most of which seemed to involve a particular pony -- a unicorn, much to his embarrassment at realizing that Finders Keepers had in the past been entirely serious in her statement about them -- named Littlepip, who had apparently grown from being a technician to acquiring a seeming messianic reputation as the "Lightbringer," whatever that meant.
A lot of what she told him couldn't help but amuse him in some ways, even while he paid her serious attention whenever she explained something to him. He heard tales of incredibly destructive magic, and of dark magicks that had horrific results on those afflicted by them, all while realizing that in reality the mare was unknowingly speaking of nuclear and biological weapons that had been used in the many wars as the Fall went on.
Still, the mare -- she was an earth-pony, so he had been told, no doubt the species baseline of ponykind -- had told him some strange things that simply didn't fit in with the actual history of the world, and couldn't just be written off as interpretations her kind had been manipulated into believing. Then again, if the GlobalTech megacorporation and its many subsidiaries had uplifted and tinkered with genetically engineering a swathe of creatures and then created tailor-made infrastructure for them, he wouldn't put it past the group in charge of the project to create a fictional history for them either. Many of the things that GlobalTech did were beyond him, even if he and his ilk were a direct product of their technological breakthroughs.
He wasn't the only one to be asking questions though, and despite his misgivings in tampering with the grand experiment that she and her species had no doubt been created for -- along with the society that had in the absence of human oversight developed -- he realized that the time for scientific mindfulness for this particular experiment had long since died along with the rest of the old civilization.
So he reciprocated. He told her of a great dam that had become the last of known stronghold of a powerful nation, of the remnants of militaries and of the smattering of technicians and scientists and tradesmen that formed what would one day be the Enforcers and Technicians respectively, and of the atrocities committed against peoples outside of the Hoover Dam Garrison that lit the spark of a revolution from within and the invasion that came from without, and of the subsequent exodus that came after.
He told her of the factions that were deadlocked in a struggle not for something so simple and trite as living space or resources, but for the future of the Province and the war of ideologies that were either simply incompatible with one another or required too much compromise to be acceptable by those holding them. Spirituality, progress, conservation, freedom, rule of law, simple monetary gain, and everything in between -- the ideals held dear to so many people simply ran counter to what others on the opposite side of the spectrum believed. Human beings had never much been known for their tolerance when they knew themselves to be right.
Still, despite the damage that the rampant ideological divide created amongst the populace there were still people who managed to stay independent of it all, whether they be the smattering of towns and villages who resisted all efforts of integration and subjugation, or the variety of organizations that served everyone impartially. It was because of groups like these that human civilization could continue to advance within the Province, rather than become the war-torn landscape that the factions would have made it were it not for neutral buffer zones to impede their rampant conflict.
Progress was being made though, and while this Equestria had its New Canterlot Republic, an experiment in self-government for a society that had supposedly once been run by a principality, the Union within the Province was taking a different tack, branching off from the United States' hundreds of years of proven governance to move onto something else entirely.
Based at the heart of the Northfields in the city of New Flagstaff was where the Union began. Originally, the Union had simply been a group of organizers, who sought to bring the city's population together in a unified organization, to improve infrastructure and general quality of life. In the years since, it had become an authoritarian technocracy, with streaks of kratocracy in its makeup.
Whether by force of arms, political subterfuge, or simply offering to "protect" a town from the very same bandits they hired, the Union had spread across the Northfields to swallow up those who were weak and could hardly defend themselves in order to expand its influence to areas beyond mere borders. All that while avoiding direct confrontation with the factions, who had in the past come together to form uneasy truces in order to deal with a larger threat, something that the Union would most certainly become if left untended. Already they had the largest air force of the Province, largest standing army, and the greatest population and resources to draw from if it came to a protracted war.
The New Canterlot Republic seemed to be the Union's antithesis in a great deal of ways, offering hoof and claw to those who wanted to be a part of something greater while meanwhile respecting the wishes of those who still wanted to remain independent of it all, no matter how foolish and shortsighted such desires were. The fact that the Republic held elections in much the same vein as that of the old United States only amplified the man's feelings that however earnest such a government could be it simply wasn't ruthless enough to survive let alone thrive in a world such as this.
Even as Kiako and Finders Keepers asked questions and exchanged answers on their respective homelands and countrymen, the man took great pains in carefully steering around certain subjects of discussion, all while painting a picture of strength and solidarity in the face of external threats. The existence of LifeNet and its cloning facilities were things that - along with a few other choice bits of information - were not even mentioned, let alone hinted at.
It was a common assumption that beyond the monolithic Wall -- itself a holdover from a near-forgotten time when the Grand Canyon National Park had been a corporate-feudal state -- and the Death Zones were lands too blasted and disfigured for human habitation, an assumption only reinforced by the landscape immediately beyond the Wall itself.
To outsiders, that made the Grand Canyon Province and its relatively untouched lands a paradise beyond all others in known existence, and most of all a target for invasion. In fact, such an event had happened once before when peoples from the faraway land of Texas had banded together to put together a massive invasion force in order to take the Province for themselves and their kin.
It was only through the factions putting aside their differences and the fact that pseudo-immortal clones were able to live through multiple deaths per battle that the Province was able to survive despite the Texans' numerical advantage and the massive amount of firepower they brought with them. Kiako himself had fought in that graciously short conflict, acting as a hopelessly undertrained shock trooper and -- when desperation called for it -- as a suicide bomber.
Despite his generally vague recollection of that conflict -- perhaps a side effect of LifeNet having to churn out a new body and mind for him so many times every single day -- he remembered with painful clarity the times he had joined the Texans in their foxholes and trench lines, and the looks of surprise that quickly transformed into that of mortal terror as they realized the end had come for them in the guise of a man covered in explosive belts. It was a look he had received far too many during that early period of his life, and he tried his best to wall up those painful memories and push them to the back of his mind.
The fact that Equestria was in far better shape in an ecological sense than his homeland was a bit of a swerve in common consensus in how other people thought about the world beyond the Province. Arable land was always in short supply with all the contaminants hovering around, but the fact that Equestria had actual sources of running water that lacked any trace of contamination would be enough to turn heads back home, and with it the eyes of both the factions and the Union.
In contrast the Province was rich beyond measure not necessarily in material wealth but in the infrastructure that its corporate masters had left behind; in the potential that the infrastructure had. Cities and towns and electrical grids were one thing, but immortality and nanomanufacturing were quite another: already accessible to a minority of the population, it would only be a matter of time until both were unlocked for the greater whole. One did not need to be human to want that sort of power, and were the Equestrians to ever find out what the Province had they would no doubt turn their own eyes back at the Province.
The last thing any sane individual wanted was another war the likes of that the Texan's had brought upon his homeland, whether the aggressors were diminutive horses or otherwise. In a lot of ways it was people like Kiako and those at the frontier who had the unenviable duty of having to reign in their excitement over newly opened possibilities that lay in discovery, in order to ensure that those very same discoveries didn't pose a threat to home.
But am I really the first person, the first human being to explore this place? Or am I some sort of guinea pig dropped off in a land of other, smaller guinea pigs? It was a question -- no matter how unbidden it was -- that bore further looking into it.
Regardless of how he had gotten there, he held very little doubt that he was the first human being to actually know of this place, this Equestria. It was only a matter of time until more humans came, or possibly that the natives' Republic would catch wind of foreign noses being stuck into their business and decide to do some investigation for themselves.
Kiako could only hope that future contact between whatever groups came should meet would be more amicable than his meeting with Finders Keepers had been. Unfortunately for him such considerations inevitably drew him back to a question that he couldn't help but stray from, always serving as an anchor to lead his mind astray from the events of the present.
If I ever happen to meet the pilot who brought me here, the man thought with a faint frown, I am honestly unsure as to whether I will smile and shake his hand, or give him a black eye.
Of course, compared to everything else that was a question, that ranked so far down on the totem pole that it hardly bore further consideration.
...Or maybe I will just flip a chip.
*** *** ***
The third day or so of their travels had brought an end to the grassy plains, the terrain gradually changing into that of a more rocky and hilly environment that eventually led them to a set of railroad tracks which apparently belonged to the Galloping Gorge line, which in itself was part of a larger network. When the man had asked Finders Keepers where the eponymous gorge was, he was told that it was actually behind them in the opposite direction.
They thankfully didn't have to contend with moving trains, the only obstacles being in the form of long rusted-over shipping containers sitting on their flatbed cars, a common sight even in the Province. Sometimes the cars were alone and other times they were still connected to one or two others, giving him the impression that sometime in the distant past they had once all been connected together to form a chain that had since been broken.
Of course, the railcars' mere presence slowed them down even further as Finders Keepers insisted on checking over each and every one despite the obvious signs of already being broken into and scavenged. A laborious process to be sure, one that the man had to suffer through each and every time they came across a railcar.
It was only ten-or-so cars later down the line and many kilometers after the first one that the broken chain came to an end in the form of a locomotive with yet another railcar attached behind it. Finders Keepers again insisted on picking through the rusted-over wreck, but for once Kiako hadn't bothered to try and dissuade her exploration and instead actually joined her. Whereas though the mare was determined to search for items of value, his own search was of a more scholarly pursuit and dedicated to inspecting the locomotive itself.
It was a quaint little thing, a far cry from the formidable towers of steel that sat unmoving on the rails back in the Province and far less utilitarian-looking than he would have ever imagined a freight-hauler could look like. The base similarities were still there of course, the two machines obviously serving the same function and having an arrangement of wheels set below a metal platform that carried both crew and means of locomotion, but beyond that the two machines couldn't be any farther apart in their differences.
His own knowledge in regards to railroads and locomotives was sorely lacking, having relied on a multitude of other forms of travel to get around without need for rails -- a fact of life true for undoubtedly everyone in the Province considering that there wasn't a single working train left to operate, and the specific knowledge to do so had long since been lost. That didn't stop him from understanding the general theory and process of how they worked though, that being a diesel engine connected to an electrical generator that in turn powered the electric traction motors that propelled the entire assemblage down the rails.
That was an entirely different beast in comparison to the one he found himself clambering over, the machines in the Province always having the same general look of a steel block encasing the complicated engineering within. Not so much with the current locomotive, no boxy superstructure to hide the long cylindrical boiler that ran down the length of the machine and connected to a furnace that no doubt fed fuel directly into the steam engine. Were it not for the fact that Finders Keepers was busying herself in the crew cab located in the aft section of the locomotive he would have have happily gone and done a more hands on inspection, but as it was he doubted the pony would appreciate him trying to squeeze into the quadruped-sized crew compartment.
Instead he contented himself with further exploration as he waited for the mare to finish her looting, the man walking the length of the locomotive to inspect the rusted pistons and cylinders that would have once served as means to get the heavy steel wheels turning and whatever cargo they bore to its destination. The very same attributes that made the locomotive interesting were the same ones that confused him however, not in their function but instead their purpose for even existing at all.
To call the locomotive before him primitive would have been a grave insult offered to the engineers and firemen who tended to its ilk in back in the Province, such machines often providing power to settlements with plenty of combustible material to spare but still lacking in more advanced equipment. The competence in its construction could not be denied, the joinings and fittings that brought it all together far too uniform to be the handiwork of a few knowledgeable ponies to come up with, and was clearly assembled in a factory elsewhere.
Still, the longer the man stared at the rusted hulk the more it stirred within him a sense of unease that was difficult to shake off and served only to consider what was bothering him even more deeply than before. The locomotive was entirely anachronistic when put alongside everything he else he had been piecing together about the area at large and its uplifted population, like that of a warped puzzle-piece that just barely fit with the greater whole.
While not at all fitting the requirements to be a geneticist or mutagenicist, he had frequented enough of such circles himself to pick up on knowledge both common and more specialized, not least of which were certain tidbits of information that were of a more historical interest than practical. The age of steam had long came to a close by the turn of the 21st century, the approximate point when the human genome had finally been sequenced and scientists had begun to tinker with it proper before again doing the same with a variety of other animal species.
If the same scientists who had tinkered with equines to create a species worth uplifting -- and apparently also created chimaeras in their free time -- into sapience were also in charge of creating and providing infrastructure and tailoring human devices and equipment for their use, then why had they decided on an antiquated piece of technology when there were far more efficient and suitable alternatives already in existence?
He clearly understood the scientists' decision in limiting the computational technology the uplifts had access to -- the man remembering the rather primitive looking terminal computer in Haybale -- and he could even see the reasoning in giving those very same uplifts firearms that were custom-tailored to fit their anatomy. No doubt that there were plenty of old and faulty firearms that GlobalTech's GlobalArms subsidiary could retool to fit into mouths and talons, but at the very same time there were plenty of old diesel-electric engines sitting in scrapyards across the country that could have probably found a better use in the hands -- hooves and talons after -- of whoever was running the grand experiment.
It wasn't as though locomotives -- steam-powered at that -- could just be left to sit around somewhere for a long period of time before handed off to the next generation like that of an action figure or other such toy. Things of that size and nature needed routine maintenance and repair if they were going to be in any way usable after a long period of disuse, whether that period be ten or even a hundred years.
Everyone knew that quality -- and quantity -- of living and production before the Fall far exceeded that which was current, but even Kiako had trouble believing that someone would try and bring back an obsolete technology on the scale needed for that of a functioning railroad system. Perhaps if it were just the one train it would have been more believable to him, but the other set of train tracks set parallel to the current made that unlikely, and hearing what little Finders Keepers had to say about a Galloping Gorge route lead him to believe there were many others like it. He had walked through a wide variety of factories and refineries during his short life, and whether they were the humble cranking and creaking of dozens of men and women hand loading ammunition, or the ceaseless roar of powerful machinery in one of the newer automobile plants he could hardly even begin to imagine what the interior of a train factory might be like, and knowing how secretive GlobalTech was he had no doubt that it would be a factory.
Singular. GlobalTech was just one corporation among many, having its fingers in weapon manufacturing, food production, and practically anything else that men and women might interact with during their day to day activities. Even if it were bigger than most, that wasn't to say they had no enemies, and people who did even the barest research into old archives were well aware that the international megacorp had made a great deal of enemies, whether they be competitors or otherwise. Leaving a paper trail for people with an investigative nose was a problem even in the present, and from what Kiako understood the world before the Fall practically ran on paperwork and number counting.
The Vista had been one of those with an investigative nose, a group of eco-terrorists that had settled in a number of communes within the Province back when it was under GlobalTech control and sought to fight the megacorporation through sabotage and more direct means. Of course, they hadn't been successful in stopping the corporation before the general fall of the world had, but their descendants carried on the name and creed of that same organization and had since become feared wilderness warriors who had become masters of rifle and blade in their mission to protect what little remaining ecosystem remained from the ravages they believed had caused the Fall in the first place. They were a group that were nothing if not determined, and they had a very long memory of other's transgressions; the fact that the Vista had very little to say in regards to uplifting animals probably meant they simply didn't know about GlobalTech's secret project in the first place.
The entire situation he found himself in was the kind of puzzle that seemed to have no answer, becoming more and more frustrating the more one thought on it. With nothing new to occupy his time while he waited the man was driven to pacing back and forth impatiently, the lack of any real information regarding the locomotive's reason for being only serving to gnaw at his mind even further. Fortunately for him and his sanity, Finders Keepers offered the distraction of her company as she poked her head out from the crew cabin, a smug and self-satisfied look on her face that went hand-in-hand with the bag of valuables she had pilfered during her search. While the question as to the train's existence wouldn't be going away anytime soon, he was all too eager to drown it out with inane conversation as they traveled.
And travel they did, twin strands of iron leading them through a long and twisting mountain pass of such uninterrupted length that it could be nothing but artificial in formation, the rock faces craggy and furrowed from where explosives had long ago been used to blast a massive stone corridor through the face of the mountain. The only beaks in that cut of rock were when the blasted walls opened up into the occasional narrow, enclosed valleys that offered a brief reprieve and a clear view of the sky before the train tracks continued on into another cut of rock.
Working train or otherwise, such a neat cut through the Unicorn Mountain Range -- a name that continued to amuse him -- should have made the route a hotspot for travelers like himself and Finders Keepers, but all the duo were left with were the sound of their own steps echoing ceaselessly off various stonefaces, with not another intelligent creature to be seen. The mare had at several points commented on that fact, but in Kiako's eyes the lack of traffic was an unexpected boon, and with little to no merchants or travelers to prey upon he figured that their chances of suddenly being ambushed and robbed were far less than what he would usually have had to deal with.
The rest of what little daylight remained filtered in from above the near-vertical cuts in the rock face bordering the sides of the railroad, uneven and protruding chunks of rock creating a queer edge that lent the shadows a sharp and jagged look to them as they bisected the tracks in darkness and light. Even that faded away to nothing, and soon man and mare were entrapped in a corridor of darkness that not even the strong starlight above could ease. It was there that the duo made their camp for the night, refusing to light a fire in favor of letting that same inky blackness that halted further travel be their cover.
Night became day, and with the rise of the sun so too did the man and mare awake from an uncomfortable sleep, a brief breakfast punctuated with little speech before they set off again. Like the afternoon and evening before the pair travelled in relative silence with only the occasional talking, the only sound other than that being of echoing boots and hooves against gravel and stone. It was like that for some time, the rocky walls flanking either side of them seeming to capture the early morning stillness and torpor and carry it on until the early afternoon when the sun finally rose high enough in its daily arc to banish the shadows entirely, at least for a time.
It was during that brief period that Finders Keepers and Kiako came across a fellow traveler by the side of the rail, a clearly well-fed, chestnut stallion with a garishly blue mane that wore a double breasted vest that had clearly seen better days. There had been the start of a small panic when the stallion actually saw them the two of them, but Finders Keepers had managed to reassure the stallion enough between his bouts of obnoxious, high-pitched screaming to get him to calm down and introduce himself.
Like Finders Keepers herself, the stallion was of the earth-pony variety, sporting none of the phenotypical traits that separated the unicorns and pegasi from Finders Keepers' own breed. Also like Finders Keepers, the other pony -- who had quite nervously introduced himself as Steady Bit whilst avoiding direct eye contact -- had an emblem or perhaps a family crest dyed onto the fur of his flanks, though whereas Finders Keepers had a spade stuck into a pile of multi-colored rocks Steady Bit's was that of a generic coin sitting at the center of a wagon wheel.
Were the stallion not so clearly terrified of the man, Kiako would have asked the trembling stallion if his markings denoted him as a merchant or if it meant he was part of some larger organization. He was fairly certain that the markings were related to their names in order to share a theme, perhaps as part of a ritual when they reached adulthood. Such practices and rituals weren't uncommon amongst the barbaric CHOTA, who sometimes ritually scarred themselves on reaching manhood.
Still, quaint as the practice of marking oneself was he couldn't help but appreciate the simple charm and effort it took in order to create a unique and personal mark to show off to the world and he could honestly say to himself that he was looking forward to seeing what other markings awaited in Stableside.
While the stallion's name had nothing at all to do with making money, the marking on his bare flanks were a good an advertisement as any for the cart full of goods that sat waiting to be perused by a potential buyer, an opportunity Finders Keepers leapt at with clear and unrestrained zeal that made him pause.
The stallion reacted as appropriately and predictably as any shopkeeper would in the Province at the prospect of a customer, though at a much higher intensity. Whatever nervousness Steady Bit had was obliterated the moment Finders Keepers asked to look over his wares, and faster than even Kiako's good eye could register the tarp was pulled away with such flourish and grace that were he anywhere else he might have applauded.
Both ponies were already embroiled in their haggling to such an extent that the man couldn't even get a word in to inquire about the stallion's wares, the duo's words going back and forth so fast that the translation device implanted in the medallion was already having trouble catching up with them, certain words becoming jumbled and nonsensical or otherwise sped up in order to keep in pace with the unreadable movements of equine mouths. The entire thing happened with such abruptness that the man was forced to stillness, the beginning of a headache forming behind his temples as complete and utter bafflement took ahold of him as he watched the surreal spectacle.
Finders Keepers was already stuffing a jar of some sort of vegetable into a saddlebag when Steady Bit turned his attention to the human, despite the fact that Kiako could quite clearly still hear the ongoing haggling. The male pony's confidence undoubtedly took a hit when the man ignored him for a few seconds longer, the headache soon fading away with the conclusion of the haggling. Only then did Kiako actually reply, breathing through his nose to take a breath deep from his diaphragm to subtly regain his composure in the wake of what had just he had just experienced.
Unlike with Finders Keepers the stallion took a far more simpering approach when it came to dealing with Kiako, though whether it was due to genuine nervousness around the human or just a way to try and ingratiate himself to a customer Kiako wasn't sure. He had fortunately enough presence of mind to notice earlier how the two ponies were using the caps to beer bottles as a currency, so he was spared the faux pas in trying to pay with actual money.
Most of the merchant's inventory hadn't been particularly impressive, having neither the variety nor the abundance of stock an actual store might have had were it not set on a pair of wheels and pulled by muscle power alone. It was almost more trouble than it was worth in trying to find something that was both useful and affordable whilst also being doted upon by a pony that should have for all intents and purposes taken up an acting profession instead of hauling carts through mountain passes.
Kiako had about all he could stomach of the pony by the time his stomach settled on a purchase for him, a gloved hand drifting over to a jar filled to the brim with thick cuts of jerky. The apples and chicken noodle soup were the only bits of food that he had had in his backpack before getting dropped off near Haybale, and since having left that area he had lived on nothing but canned foods either too inedible for his stomach to handle -- such as hay, of all things -- or didn't require a utensil to eat. To actually get to sink his teeth into something and chew was what he wanted most in a meal right then, and the jerky jar had more than enough to satisfy that gastronomic urge as well as that of the protein his body craved.
Before Steady Bit got another chance to try and stroke Kiako's ego -- so patently obvious that the man could practically feel his last nerve fraying -- on selecting such a delectable purchase the man immediately thrust a handful of water purity testing strips into the stallion's face, much to his confusion. On explanation as to the strips' purpose the male pony thankfully dropped the irritating sales-act and took on a demeanor far more befitting of his profession. It was only due to Finders Keepers helpful vouching and a brief showcase as to what the stallion was buying that the transaction even went through -- the fact that a nearby puddle contained trace amounts of urea in the water was only proof that the strips worked, and that an animal had clearly been through the area earlier.
With an open jar of dried meat and the warm glow of getting something for a bargain -- the test strips were easy enough to make, after all -- they were well on their way again, Finders Keepers and Kiako Lalene having left behind a curiously flustered stallion. Haggling with the merchant hadn't taken long or been worthwhile ultimately, but it did wonders to break up the monotony of constant travel and helped to improve his mood somewhat as he busily teared away on thick cuts of dried meat. Finders Keepers' mood had improved as well, the mare's storm of haggling seeming to have given her a bit of pep in her step that went along with the good cheer that she exuded.
They continued through the pass until they had the mountains looming over their backs and another, smaller set of mountains looming ahead of them, the train tracks leading them out toward a landscape of hills that rolled all the way into the grassy horizon. That was the route they travelled until the sun began to dip beneath that very same horizon, the skies taking on a beautiful multitude of warm hues that the man thought absolutely nothing of.
Once again they settled to sleep on the grass beneath a field of stars, a crescent moon giving them enough light to see some distance away even with the sun having long left. The duo didn't bother with a fire, both realizing that the smoke and flame might bring unwanted guests to their location, and so they did as they always did and kept nearby but firmly separate from one another. When the moon dipped beneath the Unicorn Mountain Range that loomed over them still, both man and mare got up and went about their morning rituals before breaking their fast with a light meal, before once again getting underway.
Finders Keepers had told Kiako just as they readied for bed the night before that they would both make it to Stableside that day, and unlike the prediction she had made earlier that week she was right. Like with the mountains earlier the tracks cut right through the hills, earth and rock either pushed aside or blasted away when it wasn't economical to go over the hills. Of course, the trains didn't run on time let alone at all but it still gave the pair a straight shot to Stableside.
It was not long after noon had come that their destination came into sight, their travels taking them closer and closer to what he had learned to be a large valley set between a pair of wide, coniferous mountains that came close but not-quite to reaching the clouds in the sky. Kiako had asked the pony how the mountains had gotten the eponymous "Smokey" in their name, but the mare only looked at him and shrugged, apparently not knowing herself.
The tracks lead right into a valley forested with a curtain of dead trees that did a great deal to hide the settlement from view, but the man could see it clear enough even if the buildings were a tad on the blurry side and the figures milling around were indistinct blobs of color.
"You can't see it yet, but the settlement is up ahead in that valley, past the trees," Finders Keepers piped up from beside him, the quiet creaking of wood occasionally heard between words as they both walked along the railroad ties.
"Is that so?" Kiako commented, intentionally straining some of the extraocular muscles of his right orbital -- which contained what he liked to refer to as his "good eye" -- to bring the vision in that eye back to normal.
"And you have never been there before, correct?" the man asked, nearly stumbling after a brief moment of vertigo when he had opened his left eye. "And you also know for certain that they have no tomography devices? Not even able to take a simple radiograph?"
"I still don't know what that first one means, and I have no clue what the second is," the mare replied with a note of annoyance in her voice, "Like I said, I haven't actually been here before."
"Perhaps I'll be lucky, then," Kiako mused. "Also, for your information tomography is a way of taking an image of something through use of penetrating waves. Have you ever broken a bone before and needed a doctor to take a look at where the break was?"
"Oh, you mean like in a clinic?" the mare replied with sudden understanding as to what the man was getting at. "Only once, and that was when the potion I drank healed the bone wrong and a unicorn had to open up the leg to fix it."
The two continued to chat away as they got closer and closer to Stableside, their conversation beginning with the effects of the potions and from there went on to what kinds of injuries the two had received in the past. For Kiako, of course, the wild tally on injuries he had collected throughout his life was short and specifically non-crippling.
As they entered the valley proper they were immediately swallowed up by a forest of dead, stunted trees, the railroad tracks like a spear piercing nature's bosom. Kiako himself had walked through far more livelier valleys that were rich in flora and game, but to say that the one he was walking through then was lifeless would be wrong. While dead trees sagged and tilted at precarious angles, their roots exposed to the air due to rains that had long since washed away the uppermost layers of soil and created an unnerving patchwork of roots that looked very much like that of veins creeping out of the earth in search of sustenance, the area was still very much alive.
Whatever had happened to the forest in the past, nature was already well on its way to make a triumphant return to what had once been barren. In a reversal, where there had undoubtedly once been a lush canopy among the treetops, it was the ground that was the greenest in the area. Hardy weeds and scraggly bushes fought with the tangled roots of trees that even still maintained a death grip on the forest floor, life trying to find purchase in soil already choked with the dead.
Amongst the gnarled roots and precariously tilted trees were other signs of life as well, fauna having already made a home for itself amidst flora that was either struggling or already dead. The man caught glimpses of movement going in and out of small burrows, curious eyes looking back at him from dark little holes, some of which had slick red trails leading into them. There were no large animals that he could see, none of the snuffling boars, rabid porcupines, or any other of the wide variety of animals that would have lived in this area were it back home in the Province.
The steady, rhythmic knocking of axes biting into wood brought their already petering conversation to a full stop, their attentions focused more on what lay ahead than on anything else. The tracks continued taking them for some ways before they suddenly ended with that of the forest, a field of stumps marking where there had once been a great many trees standing before the entrance of the settlement. While there were no stables that Kiako could see outside, what he saw certainly gave credence to the other definition of the word.
One look at the walls surrounding the settlement itself told him where all the lumber had been going. Made up of large trees used wholesale and driven deep into the ground before being piled over with dirt, the stockade was a formidable defense against any bandits or marauders that tried to get into the settlement itself, but maybe not so much against explosives. The ponies within had obviously thought of that weakness themselves, the space that had been left behind after the dirt had been removed to create the earthen embankment being filled with sharp wooden stakes to prevent anyone from getting too close.
Add onto that by having ponies and the occasional griffon patrol the ramparts above -- those very same blobs of color he had seen earlier from a kilometer away -- and one had a formidable as well as stable fortification that also served to hide what lay within from prying eyes.
As far as eyes went though the man was already drawing plenty, some of the guards atop the walls and a couple of woodcutters having stopped to gawk at him. Kiako gave each and every single one of them a polite nod before making a show of where he had his weapons, and then disarming himself. He turned to look down at Finders Keepers beside him.
"And here we are, Miss Keepers. I will admit that our meeting was more rocky than I would have otherwise liked, but in the end you did save my life and bring me here, and for that you have my gratitude." As he said that the man took a knee and began to undo the straps of his backpack.
"I think that's the only time you've ever actually thanked me for anything," Finders Keepers said with an amused snort. "I'll admit that the first few days you were a real pain in my rump, and even after you nicked that medallion off of Rosewing I was thinking of just ditching you."
"Well in that case I am glad that you were able to tolerate me for just a few days more," Kiako remarked wryly, the faintest quirk of a smile playing over his lips before quickly suppressing it. "Interacting with you has been a most enlightening experience, and to help repay your help in not only saving my life, bringing me here, and telling me about the land, I have this for you."
From within the confines of his backpack came his hand, the fingers uncurling to reveal a pair of small metal bars that were pale in tone and gleamed in the afternoon light. He offered both of them to the mare, holding them out in front of her.
"Unfortunately I cannot pay you in chips, my people's currency, but I might be able to do you one better in regards to repayment."
The mare accepted the proffered bars with the underside of a hoof, the man obliging the gesture and letting them slide out of his palm.
"Is this..." the mare's words trailed off for a moment as she squinted at what she held, ears perked up before a smile played across her face and she turned a pair of radiant pink eyes up at him. "This is silver, isn't it?"
"An order of magnitude better," the man said with a purposeful sly smile. "Platinum, actually. I just so happened to have them on me and was supposed to hand them over the next time I visited the University, but I feel that they will just have to do without them until I find my way back home."
If Finders Keepers' face had been one of pleasant surprise before when she had thought she had been offered silver, then the one she bore when learning the bars were made of platinum was that of genuine joy. The mare was already hurriedly tucking them away into her saddlebags, the edge of a wide smile planted on her muzzle visible even with her head turned mostly away from the man.
Brushing some dirt off of his kneepads the man turned to face the gate, hoisting up his backpack and bringing the straps over his shoulders. He took several forward to make clear his intention to enter, and raised an arm to wave up to the silent guards who had been watching him with equal parts confusion, curiosity, and caution.
"Greetings! I mean no harm and only wish to enter your settlement!" he called out loudly and concisely, the sudden volume of his voice causing a stir among the guards up top and even a couple of nervous, startled jumps.
One of the more skittish guards popped their head up from behind the wall, their head and neck having an odd smoothness to it as a pair of goggled eyes sitting beneath a large helmet sought where the voice had come from. Kiako rocked back and forth on his heels, unable to help but take some amusement from the stir he had caused all the while hoping that none of them were particularly jumpy enough to shoot him dead right there.
It was only when the aforementioned guard directed its face and bore its eyes on him that the man felt that something had gone awry. The man looked right back at it, the inner corners of his eyebrows tilting inward ever so slightly as he made note of what he had once thought a pony being something else entirely. He had spent enough time with Finders Keepers to get a sense of how their heads were formed, as they certainly were not as bulbous as what he was looking at. What had previously been mistaken for a mask turned out to be entirely metal, unpainted bits marking where screws held the plates to the thing's skull.
Kiako was only beginning to think the guard up top was not a pony at all when its eyes suddenly began to glow an ominous, incandescent pink that bathed the rest of its metal-plated face in an almost demonic aura of light. Was it some sort of camera or another type of scanning device?
He was about to ask what was going on before the device's eyes began to flash on and off in unison with blaring words that were harsh and tinny to his ears. Had the man been wearing the medallion from the very start of his arriving into this land he would have simply chalked up the machine's voice as gibberish or some sort of flaw. That wasn't the case though, for while he could clearly hear and understand the cries of alarm coming from the ponies nearby, he also knew that what the machine was blaring out at him was the ponies' raw and unfiltered language.
Whatever the case, he knew that somehow and in someway he was in danger and his instincts screamed at him to run. And run he did, managing to move several paces before twin streaks of light shot forth from those brilliant pink eyes and struck him dead in the chest in an explosion of heat and fire that sent him to the ground. |
Fallout Equestria New Horizons: Lacunae and Rampage's vacation in paradise. | pre | "You make fun of Torr." The piss yellow pony was getting angry, clearly not taking well to her jokes. "Me break you!" With an angry huff the pony spun around, and buck with such force it created wind pressure. when it connected with Rampage's face the mare's head snap back to the point she was looking at her back. She was sent flying smashing into the cage bars again.
Sounds of cheers, boos, with some mixed worry spread through the audience. Molly seemed a bit disappointed in the fight. " Well hon, seems like your friend's boasts were the end of her." She looked at the alicorn. "Shame, I expected more out of her."
Lacunae wasn't paying attention, only looking on with concern, but not for her friend.
Torr waved at the crowd happily, another win for the ringing champ. He didn't like killing ponies but sometimes he didn't know his own strength. He was soaking in all the praise when suddenly it stopped, replaced by gasps from the crowd. When he looked around to see what the deal was his eyes upon the sight of the striped mare getting back on her hooves.
Even with her head bent, even with one of her legs broken, and bleeding from the eyes, she got back on her hooves. She sat on her haunches, using both forehooves she grabbed her head, with a sickening slow turn she broke her head back into place, screaming while laughing at the same time.
The audience was left speechless, for a packed room it fell dead silent outside a few whispers. Even Molly was completely dumbfounded at what she saw. With one last crack Rampage moved her broken leg back into place. "Time to chop chop."
With athletic speed, she darted towards Torr before he could react. Diving under his legs and landing right between his midsection. Torr tried to move but Rampage was faster, with a brutal buck she kicked him directly in the stomach. To every pony's surprise in the theater, Torr was sent flying like so many ponies he fought.
He crashed into the bars hard enough they bent from the extreme force. He fell to the stage in a coughing fit, Rampage was already on him. Grabbing his left forehoof with both of hers' she pulled. The buck tried to get to his hooves, tried to fight back, tried to stop coughing but couldn't. The demon mare kept pulling and pulling until finally a sudden jerk to the right caused the limb to snap.
Torr roared in pain but his attacker wasn't finished. rushing to his midsection, she begin delivering a series of beatings to the down giant. His rib cage crack, his organs broke, he began vomiting with blood mixed in.
"Come on! Come on!" she laughed like a mad mare. "I hear the pain, the screaming, and I want more!"
Finally, a hit piercer his stomach, its contents gushing out like a fountain. But this didn't stop the mad rage of the striped mare as she kept beating him.
Lacunae had enough. Arloste stop! Repress her now!
Rampage stopped mid-punch, her eyes going wide as she fell back on her haunches. For a solid minute, she froze like a statue, eyes slowly changing back to their pink hue. Rampage put a hoof to her head as she dazedly looked around. "Sorry Luu, I, I shouldn't have let her out."
Arloste you could have hurt ponies if you let go too much! If you had escaped that cage what would stop you from going on a killing spree?! Lacunae's thoughts were an ocean of anger, her stoic face barely holding back the disappointment she felt. Arloste Brown, don't do that again understand me?
Rampage nodded, looking around confused but then placing her hoof in the air, her victory achieved. The crowd yelled chanting the name of the new champion of Dise. "Rampage, Rampage, Rampage." Noncare about the fact she just beat her opponent half to death, or her violet blood lust she gave into, no for them that was the fight of their lives.
Molly gawked at the display, clapping her hooves together in a pleased manner. "My, my, your friend lives up to the rumors." She reached over and grabbed the mic off the table."Well gentle colt and fillies, with flying colors I announce our new champion, Rampage!" The striped mare seemed to hang her head in shame despite the roars of praise from the crowd. "Bet chits can be cashed in at the Box office in the back of the theatre, the next fight is between THE Batmane and Crazy Thunderhoof Facecracker at Eight AM. Be sure to come early for the best seat! In the mean time feel free to enjoy our many amenities. The White Tie restaurant is open until midnight, and of course the buffet is open 24/7."
Rampage wasn't listening, she just started looking for the cage's exit in shame. |
Fallout Equestria New Horizons: Lacunae and Rampage's vacation in paradise. | Looking up to your heroes | Sometimes we don't see the good we do in the world.
The striped mare sat in a chair in the lobby, ignoring most of the passing ponies and those that gave her praise. Only when an alicorn appeared before her did she raise her head to greet her.
Lacunae stared down at her friend, a look of barely held anger on her face. She said nothing, just stared with longing eyes at the disgrace before her. Finally, Rampage spoke. "I know I shouldn't have let her out, I don't know what I was thinking." Lacunae took that like a mother coming listening to her fillies excuses, she just scolded her friend. "I wanted to let loose you know? I thought with how strong he was he could take it."
Lacunae's expression was unchanged. "Arloste, we are not in the Hoof. We are not in battle, and even then you should not let her loose." Her voice was loud and commanding drawing the attention of bystanders. "If you had escaped from the at Elements damned cage you would have gone on a killing spree before I stopped you. Arloste Maria Shijaa Brown, you do not unleash any of your inner selves unless me and Blackjack are near you. We've been over this!"
Rampage looked away in shame, not wanting to meet her friend's cold gaze. "Do not fight anymore ponies in this city unless I agree to it, understand?" Rampage nodded, Lacunae's voice made no argument in this. "It's late, I think we should find an apartment for the night."
"I hope I'm not interrupting your get together?" Molly said as she trotted up, her shades covering her golden eyes as guards flanked her. "If you're not busy, I'd like to see you in my office."
"I'm sorry miss Molly, we're not accepting job offers." Lacunae shot that idea down before it could fly.
"Actually I would like to hear your offer." Rampage got the same death stare from Lacunae. "I Will listen to it on the condition you let us stay a free night here." Rampage gave a weak smile not to Molly but to Lacunae who was scolding down at her 'friend.'
Molly seemed not too pleased with the idea but kept her displeasure quiet. "You have a deal hon, but your Alicorn friend stays out of it. I just want to see you." Rampage sighed in relief at that last condition, escaping Lacunae was a top priority right now. "Good, I will have my ponies escort your friend to your room while you follow me to my office."
As Molly trotted off Rampage hopped to her hooves, she waved to Lacunae who gave her a 'we're not done with this talk' look. Rampage barely noticed as she was already half way down the hall much to the alicorn's annoyance.
The office of a casino owner is usually thought to be something of a luxury, in a building of vice one would expect it's owner to be the main recipient of such vice. Instead, Molly's office left much to desire, her carpets were worn, her walls tour with one filled with bullet holes. And her desk was missing a leg being held up by books.
Rampage took it all in while Molly walked over to her desk. "Eh, not the showy type huh?"
Molly Shrugged. "An office doesn't have to be glamorous to be functional. Besides." As she took a seat behind her desk she grinned evilly at the striped mare. "I use this room more for when unruly guests need to learn a little discipline."
Rampage could tell some pony else was in here with her, she expected this gang leader wouldn't trust her alone but she thought there would be more security than this. Maybe the green mare thought the room itself would be intimidating enough, she doubted this was her actual office.
She put the thought behind her and took a seat in a chair next to the desk. With a nervous cough, she struggled to find the words to say, still in a mood from the night's events. "Hey listen. I'm sorry about Torr." She hung her head in shame, usually, violence was her calling but when that inner self came out that was, well a part of her she wished to forget. "I lost myself when I fought him, I should have had more control of myself. I will pay for his medical bills if he's alright
Molly seemed confused at the striped mare's kindness, the impression she had gotten from Rampage was that of the typical wasteland ganger, her shame at her actions almost seemed to conflict with that. "He's a tough buck, we have the best doctors in Dise looking to fix him up right now." That made Rampage brighten up a bit. "But I didn't call you up here to talk about him. I want to talk about you."
"Me? Let me guess you want me to work for you." Rampage could already feel the words coming.
"No, Hon." That shocked Rampage for a minute. "I wanted to meet one of my heroes." That made Rampage more confused. "When I heard a red zebra and alicorn arrived in the city, I could hardly believe it. I'd heard stories about Hoofington, stories of the legendary Reaper gang and their immortal red rampaging zony." For the first time in a long time, Molly gave a pony a warm smile. "You know your a legend, right? Many gangers, merc, and most mixed ponies look up to you."
Rampage was no stranger to being a folk hero, one expects a legend to build around them after 60 years of adventures. But the idea of even this down south ponies and creatures still looked up to her puzzled the striped mare. "Nice to know I got fans down here, I wouldn't have expected I was that big."
Molly chuckled. "Don't sell yourself short hon. Your stories are so awe-inspiring that a lot of non-ponies around the Wasteland look up to you."There were no lies in her words, just complete love-driven honesty. "The story of a mutant zony rising up to become feared and respect is the envy of many in the wasteland. From your friend Goldie, who told me stories of your exploits when I was a filly. To even Torr, who named a move after you." That kind of hurt a bit, Rampage would have to visit him in whatever medical center he was at. "It was you who inspired me to take over this gang you know?"
"Really?"
Molly nodded honesty. "Yes, my little zony, you inspired me. As you notice my looks." Rampage knew already. She was a mule, a pony donkey hybrid. She was going to comment how cool that was until Goldie hushed her, she took the hint it was a sore spot. "In Dise every creature that isn't a unicorn or earth pony is looked down upon. When I was a filly even most of my own family looked down on me as a mistake. Growing up here was hard on me, but hearing of a zony freak of nature that went from slave to fear wasteland warrior." Molly seemed embarrassed. "That got me through tough times."
Rampage didn't know what to make of this, the gang leader came off at first as the cutthroat ruthless leader type, but seeing how she was pouring her heart out like this gave the striped mare pride in her achievements.
"Yep. you inspired me to rise up from my sad place in life and make something of myself." Molly was blushing a bit, Rampage could tell this wasn't her usual mood to any pony. She was probably a bit ashamed to be fangirling this hard. "I rose to become the leader of Biases and turned this casino into the second most influencer in the region, all while looking up to you."
Molly grabbed a box from her desk and placed it on its surface. The box was sealed tight with chains surrounding a complicated lock, it took Molly a minute dial turning to unlock it. But when she did, the contents caught Rampage's eye. Sitting in the box were two golden Hoof Cuffs. "I want you to have these my friend as thanks from non-ponies like me."
Rampage's jar hit the floor, the shame she felt from the fighting ring was gone, replaced with burning happiness inside. "Thank you, I, I don't know what to say." The striped mare almost fell out of her seat but knew the words to say. "Thank you. You have no idea how much all this means to me." Moments like these, creatures like Molly, they reminded the striped mare no matter her inner demons she was still a good pony, a hero in the eyes of many. Not just another demonic spawn of the wasteland.
Wiping away a tear a thought came to her mind. "Miss Molly, can I ask you something?"
"Ask away I'm all ears."
Rampage knew she had to do right by a pony she hurt, she had to be his hero. "I want to visit Torr where he's being fixed up." |
Fallout Equestria New Horizons: Lacunae and Rampage's vacation in paradise. | To be a wise in a land of greed | The silence was the long-time friend of Lacunae, a friend she often welcomed. Yes, in the quiet she was left to ponder her thoughts, life, and the sad state of her friend. The silence was a remedy she welcomed after the centuries of painful noise.
She stood near the window watching the nightlife below, watching as ponies came and went in the brightness of the city's endless lights, sensing their emotions, feeling their magical auras like a sea of life. It would be a thing of beauty to her if this place wasn't home of vice. "Hump, such beauty wasted on the Element of Greed." She looked from building to building, casino after casino, bar after bar, high society whores, and drugs being pushed everywhere.
She didn't care, most well-off towns in the Wasteland were the same, yet this town could be so much more. When she got into a conversation with her escort to this fine room he told her of the four gangs that ran the city. The four casinos that gave out every pleasure known, each at war with each other for power. When She asked about schools, hospitals, churches, and general structures outside of vice the pony simply laughed. Saying "This is paradise, not a homeless shelter. Everything has a price here." The only group the pony knew like that would be the Watchers, a group of doctors and teachers who made it their goal to help those in need no matter what, and yet the pony talked about them in a dismissive tone.
Lacunae sighed and trotted over to her bed. It was a fancy thing along with everything else in the room, a large bathroom with marvel floors, the queen size bed with fur sheets, the air smelling of fresh scents, and a fridge filled with drinks. While she looked down on the city it's many amenities were joyous to her.
"And onto the news" The smooth gentle voice of a stallion came from the radio sitting on a nightstand by the bed. "Well, my little ponies today has been a strange day in the city of lights, strange than it usually is around here. The word spreading out town, Luna's visiting us! That's right my little ponies an alicorn and her strange zebra friend have been seen around Dise, visiting the Moon and the Ale House. They've left quite an impression on our little town with the zebra going on to pay off a prostitute's debts and for her rehab. On top of that, she's now Dise champion prizefighter! Well, words can't describe what I've heard, but I will say this. If you two mares want an interview please come to my station, I'm all ears. In other but probably related news stories of two 'Demon Mares' roaming the northern Wasteland, killing raiders and Steel Rangers that have been terrorizing the Caledonia Wastes. Apparently, it's their day job to kill to wipe out the trash of the Wasteland but they're taking a break in our neck of the woods says, one survivor. The kicker, these Demon Mares are an Alicorn and a red zebra, now I wonder who that can be? Well, that's it for today, this is Mr. New Haygas with a song from Sweetie Bell."
"One day in town and we're already the stars of the show." Lacunae just laid down to forget it all. Her letting the quiet of her mind take her. She tried to find peace but her thoughts kept going to her long-time friend, and how she was dealing with the events of tonight. She had known Arloste for years, she knew of the essences of other souls trapped inside her. She had seen her struggle to control them for decades, and she had watched as Arloste tame them. But every now and then her inner demons would take control of her when she gave into them.
But was it always her fault? wasn't Lacunae's job to help Arloste in her darker moments? Wasn't it her job to make sure her friend wasn't consumed by the demons inside? Had she not sore to Arloste's mother, Shujaa, to be her the little filly's guardian? It was her duty to protect her daughter not just as a friend but as a guardian angel. When Arloste fell it was her job to pick her up, that's what an angel does. She felt needed to find her friend and apologize.
A knock at the door ended those thoughts real quick. With a groan, the alicorn pulled herself away from the soft fur sheets and dragged herself to the door.
Opening she was greeted by a lemon-colored mare dressed in a doctor's uniform, a strange eyeball symbol on her lab coat. Lacunae groaned again. "I will not join your faction or cause, I've already told off three other messenger ponies already." The NCA one was the most bothersome, the constant speeches about bringing law to the wasteland made her head hurt. "Please leave me alone."
Before Lacunae could close the door the doctor pony quickly placed herself in the doorway. "Please wait!" Lacunae was growing angrier by the minute but the mare ignored her as she charged in. "We don't want you to join! We just want to come down to the Watcher's fort for questions and tests, that's all!" The mare's breaths were fast and pleading. "We just want a study of an alicorn up close!"
Lacunae rolled her eyes so hard, if it wasn't a job offer it was doctors and scientists asking to study them. "Are you the Watchers?" The doctor nodded. "Fine, I'm not doing anything for the rest of the night." Lacunae sighed, her quiet taken from her. "What's your name, Miss?
"Bright streak."
"Of course it is." Lacunae sometimes hated that theme names caught on in pony culture. "Well, Ms. Bright Streak I was interested in your organization so I will bite. I wish to speak to your leader first, so take me to your fort."
Bright Streak was ecstatic at the request, bowing and giving thanks. "Thank you, Miss?
"Lacunae."
"Ms. Lacunae, you will be rewarded for your time." Bright Streak looked five minutes away from kissing the alicorn's hooves.
Lacunae just felt tired already from the experience, already regretting her decision but the mare seemed to mean well. "Lead the way Ms. Streak. I will be your humble guest."
Lacunae wasn't expecting much and yet was still disappointed. The operation the Watcher called home was just a rundown fort on the north end of town filled with a sea of tents serving as doctor's offices. She watched as doctors and nurses came and went, the place seemed to be overflowing with patients with most of them looking like addicts. Lacunae could hardly believe there was a school or proper medical service here.
Her escort had led her into a larger tent that functioned as a waiting room, rolls of plastic cheap chairs faced a hastily put together desk. She had been waiting there an hour along with an overweight pony who was fast asleep. Lacunae wouldn't mind the quiet but the large pony's snoring ended that peace.
Finally, a blue unicorn with a stethoscope around his neck walked in from a side opening. He was mostly normal except for his eyes, there were small black voids that seemed to almost glow. "Hi there." For his off-putting eyes his manners and attitude were that of a gentle stallion. "When I hear there was an Alicorn in Dise I could hardly believe it." He trotted up to Lacunae and put a welcoming hoof out. "Clean Cut Ms. Lacunae."
"A pleasure." She took the kind gesture.
From behind Clean Cut a Minotaur, a large, two leg, muscular creature with two hands and a small head with horns that could impale a pony walked in. For most ponies, the sight of such a creature glaring at them would send them running to the hills, but for Lacunae, she had met such creatures before, plus she was half his size. "A Minotaur, interesting."
"Oh, this is Ginger. Our resident guard and war refugee." Clean Cut waved the big fellow over. "Come say hello Ginger."
The Minotaur was in a constant state of glaring at the alicorn but gave out a friendly hand. Lacunae ever the maiden took the Minotaur hand with a ladylike bow. "Nice to meet you, Mister Ginger, I'm Lacunae." The Minotaur looked confused at her, obviously, he wasn't used to getting such flattery so he bowed back in respect.
"Now, you wanted to test me or something?" The alicorn gaze fell back on the blue stallion.
"Yep, not every day we get an alicorn dropping into our laps." Lacunae started questioning what type of tests they wanted. "Oh don't worry it's just tests of your magic and radiation intake." His horn sprung to life and a clipboard floated out from a pocket in front of him. "We'd heard stories about Alicorns up north, about their attraction to magical radiation. We were hoping you extend our knowledge of mutations and their connection to radiation."
It seemed like a nice enough reason to help, still Lacunae couldn't shake the feeling this was because of something else they wanted. "Very well then, let's get this show on the road."
As a host, Clean Cut was a welcoming pony compared to most ponies in the wasteland, when Lacunae inquired about his organization the stallion gave a long-winded rundown of their founding ideals, and goals in a matter benefiting a college teacher. Even her questions about the factions of Dise and their history were met with the same overly detailed breakdown. And to top it off, there was no strain in the stallion's voice about explaining, no annoyance from asking questions about the world around them. No, he seemed to enjoy this almost lecture-like discussion they were having.
"And that's there's only four gangs instead of one." He said as they kept trotting through the camp.
"Interesting. A balance of power at knifepoint, so this town's is one run by the Elements of Fear and Control." While she sought to put the city's politics as far away from her as possible, hearing about them still interested her. This city has changed a lot since I last set hoof here, yet it's still a city controlled by Elements of Greed and Fear. The more things change the more they also stay the same. "Tell me, do any of these gangs seek to control the Watchers?"
Clean Cut chuckled at that as if the idea was the silliest ever. "Oh no, we're of such little notice that gangs roll their eyes at us." He looked around at some of the ponies moving through the camp. "Plus being a neutral zone where any pony can get treatment helps."
Interesting." Lacunae looked around the camp now with inquiry, the idea such a kind organization existed in the wastes especially in a city of vice-like this unmolested seemed impossible. However, she started to notice whenever they walked by any pony they scattered like rats, at first she thought it was because of Ginger. Clean Cut had told of her of the Minotaur army and its war with all of the Caledonia Wasteland, apparently, they sought to destroy the city and Lacunae had taken that as the reason the ponies were fleeing but now she wasn't sure.
"Ponies around here are a bit jumpy aren't they?" She hoped that would be a hint for Clean Cut to explain their reactions. The Blue buck sighed in disappointment though.
"Never mind them, their just not used to have strange visitors around." The topic seemed like a sore one from the annoyance in his voice.
Lacunae raised an eyebrow at that. "Are we scaring them? I would have thought ponies would have gotten used to Ginger being around, isn't me?
Clean Cut looked away in shame. "Yes and no." He stared at the alicorn with sorrowful eyes. "See the Watchers are divided up between two groups of ponies. The followers of Watcher and the followers of Celestia's vision." That made Lacunae groan internally, she could already tell where this was going. "See the Watchers believe that every creature deserves to be saved as the way of the Watcher. We will provide aid, education, and cybernetics to any pony or creature that needs it. But Celestia's vision." He trailed off a bit as if the words bothered him to say. " They believe Goddess Celestia has a vision of harmony that has been lost in the Wasteland. They view Zebras as mockeries of ponies that destroyed Celestia's holy land, they see all nonpony races as beneath Celestia's grand vision as side creations. They hate pegasi for stealing the sky from us with the cloud cover, they hate ghouls and your kind as monsters they need to be purged. And the look down on cybernetics as abandoning your soul."
"Oh, so their a normal religion in the wasteland." Lacunae just chuckled at all that which shocked Clean Cut. "Do they burn heretics on a symbol of the Sun?" For Lacunae crazy cults in the wastes were as normal as raiders, you couldn't travel five miles in the Wasteland without bumping into some death cult. "Do they kill ponies?"
Clean Cut didn't know how to answer that. "No, they mostly do protest like last week they protested the Ale House since a Mule runs it."
"Well, that just makes them annoying moral preachers. A good change for the Wasteland in my opinion." Clean Cut didn't know how to respond to any of that, he expected a more disgusted reaction from the alicorn but she was none plus about the whole thing. "The Wasteland with a few angry Celestia thumbing moms is better rather than say black robed ponies tearing your insides out in Luna's name." Clean Cut saw the point in that viewpoint so he just nodded his head in acceptance.
The alicorn took note of Ginger's quietness at all of this, she did not like talking over any creature so she tried to enter him into the conversation. "Tell me Mr. Ginger." she moved closer to him which the large bull backed up a bit. "Is your silence because of this alienation?"
He didn't answer her, only looking at her with the same glare he gave everything, she just gave a friendly smile. She knew how much alienation hurt, the hateful eyes that stared at you wherever you went, burning into your mind like bullets. She hoped that she could be a friendly reminder that not every pony hated him
Clean Cut was amused by the ladylike treatment of the Minotaur, in fact, she was the first pony he'd ever seen be this kind to him since they recovered him. "Oh, his silence isn't from ponies being wary. No, it's from his brethren."
"Brethren?"
Clean Cut nodded his head. "Yes, Ginger here was left for dead by the Minotaur army. After we took him in he swore a vow of silence until his brothers in arms leave Dise."
The alicorn understood the idea, it was just something she couldn't get behind, she stopped in front of the Minotaur with meaning in her voice. "Mr. Ginger if I could ever be inclined to tell you something." The Minotaur's glare broke, replaced with confusion. "I know Minotaur culture, I know the reason you've taken this oath is that your people have abandoned you, That in their eyes you are a disgrace for being saved by the enemy. I know how it feels to be cast out and forgotten by your own kind, to walk the path of an exile is never an easy one but you should never allow it to control you."
She placed a hoof on his chest. " I know how it feels to be an exile in a world that hates your existence, but you must never let how others view you control your life. Not brothers in the west or the ponies in this camp. You are Ginger before anything else, and if others see this as a problem then they are nothing for you to care about."
The Minotaur stared at the alicorn for a solid minute, no words were spoken as his expression softened to a smile, finally, he grabbed the hoof on his chest and in a move that shocked even Clean Cut he spoke. "Thank you."
Lacunae warmly smiled at the bull, she wasn't the priestess she expired to be but she damn well tried. "You're welcome, my friend."
Clean Cut lost his normal deposition at what just happened in front of him. He couldn't believe an alicorn of all ponies got Ginger to talk, the Minotaur didn't talk to any pony except him and a few others in the Watchers. This mare had a way with words he'd never seen. "Eh? We're here." The stallion pointed to a tent that had antennas sticking out of its top, a sign with bright red letters saying 'LAB" hung from the entrance.
Lacunae walked past the shocked stallion with a ladylike trot before turning back to Clean Cut. "Well come on, it's rude to keep a lady waiting. And I do wish to continue my quiet time." As she entered the stallion and Minotaur exchanged glances before following her in. |
Fallout Equestria New Horizons: Lacunae and Rampage's vacation in paradise. | To teach beilever to unbeileve, for the truth hurts | The truth you cling to is nothing but lies
Most of the tests were simple enough: blood tests, reaction tests, physicals. The only test that made Lacunae raise an eyebrow was when Clean Cut brought a bottle filled with magical radiant water, something about wanting to learn about radiation's effect on creatures on magical radiation attune creatures. By the end of the test, she was a glowing flashlight of radiation.
"I don't think this test was safe Mr. Cut." The glowing alicorn stared over to a corner of the room where Clean Cut and Ginger were dressed in radiation suits.
The stallion chuckled at the display. "We're fine, you seem to be taking it well."
"For my kind, magical radiation is very relaxing really." she thought about that phrase for a minute. "Think about it as getting a massage from radiation."
"Interesting." Clean Cut pulled out a clipboard and began taking notes. "Now, let's test your magical abilities." He pointed his pen to a table to the side of the room, white tins set neatly in stock on it. "I want you to lift all those med packs off the table.
Lacunae nayed. "Filly's play, I can do better than that." With a light-up of her horn, she lifted the packs, the table, the medical bed, a cybernetic leg that rest on a rack, and picked Ginger off the ground.
"Amazing!" Clean Cut was fan gasping at the sight. "Tell me is this your normal magical strength?"
"No, I can lift more than this even without radiation enhancement. The power-up is only helping me do this without strain but I could go farther than this."
"Farther?"
"Yes, in this state I could probably lift up this entire camp."
"Really?" There was a little disbelief at such a claim. Clean Cut had seen unicorns lift everything from boxcars to large steel beams, but no pony he knew could lift so many ponies and objects without burning themselves out.
Lacunae felt the doubt in his mind, she rarely had to break out her true power but this wasn't the time or place. "Yes, it drains all my normal magic, but I could take it farther if I became one with myself."
"One with yourself?" The Phrase escaped Clean Cut, in all his years of magical study he'd never heard that before. Was it an alicorn thing he thought? perhaps she had learned some secret spell?
Lacunae took the confusion as her chance to play wisemare and teach this pony of science the old ways of magic. "You see Mr. Cut there are forces that run throughout our world that move and change us everyday. I take it you know of the Elements of Harmony?" He nodded his head. "Good, ponies seek harmony in all things, we are followers of the Element of Harmony whether we accept it or not. But Harmony is only one of many Elements that move our world: Chaos, order, death, life, time, conflict, male, female, and various others create cause and effect in our world."
She brought the cyber leg to her face, something felt wrong about it. Something that shouldn't be there. She kept explaining her faith as she studied it, hoping her host wouldn't catch on. "All things in our world are connected through the Elements, we are their agents in everything we do, we call upon them when we act whether we know it or not. We are the Elements and the Elements are us." There was power in this leg, a power she knew all too well. But how did it get there?
"But we can do more than be agents of the Elements. We can tap into their power if we become one with ourselves. To do it one must be in complete balance with themselves, no one Element must have complete control over you there must be peace within all things." She glanced at the stallion and Minotaur to see they were hanging off her every word. "Only then can you achieve true oneness. I hope my explanation was good enough for you."
"I, I never heard of this. Is this something you discovered?" Clean Cut for the first time in a long time was speechless at something, for the second time that night this mare had shocked him.
"No." She stated matter factly. "This was an olden belief from a time when ponies still worship the Elements. As civilization developed ponies gave up the old ways, they forgot the way of the Elements and soul. Magic became scientific rather than a way for ponies to connect to the forces of nature." There was a hint of resentment in her voice. "Magic has become viewed as nothing more than convenient powers, not as an extension of the Element's will. Centuries of academic studies and oversimplification of magic has hurt the world." She sighed, no matter how much she hated what magic became she knew in the end this is how most viewed it. "But I have ranted long enough, is this test done?"
"Eh, yeah! You passed all expectations." She floated the cyber leg into her forehooves, there was no doubt about it. These Watchers were doing something with this power, she knew what. One only uses this power when they seek one thing, complete destruction. She knew that a group like this could never exist in the Wasteland without having their sins hidden, and this was a big sin. "Now we just need to get rid of all that radiation before you can trot around the fort."
"Oh, that is no problem." With a soft light blue flash, the glow she emitted was gone. "A clean body is a clean soul."
Clean Cut nayed, this mare couldn't stop impressing him. "You're something else, you know that." He was about to say something else when a thought across his mind. "Oh, I forgot, your friend came in a half-hour after you did. Apparently, she wants to pay for Torr's medical bills and everything. I can take you to her tent if you want?"
"Thank you but do you mind if I keep this?" She held the cyber leg in her hooves.
"Oh sure! It's last year's model so we're keeping it as back up if we need spare parts. We have a whole warehouse full of them." A whole warehouse full of this bringer of death. "Why? Do you want a cyber replacement?" He asked politely, she sensed a hint of worry in him.
She floated the leg looking at its inner components to fane interest. "No, I'm just impressed by its craftsmanship. Outside the Hoof, Cybernetics are rare finds, and this is a well-constructed beauty." That was a lie, she had seen more advanced than this, but lies require flattery. "I wish to take it as a souvenir back home, compare it to the cybernetics of Pre-war Equestria."
He seemed to take the compliment, almost blushing at her kindness. "Oh thank you, you can have it for putting up with all our tests." She guessed this device of mass destruction had a switched somewhere, and without its true purpose would never be known. He probably thought the alicorn wouldn't look any deeper into it but few understood her talents.
She needed to look into this, she needed to put a stop to this. any pony using this power covertly had no good intention, and whatever these Watchers were planning did not bold well for this city or the Wasteland.
But first, she needed to comfort her friend. "Thank you, Mr. Cut, you've been a great host.." Lacunae was cut off by shouts coming from outside.
"COME OUT FOUL CREATURE!" They were loud and defying but with a sense of command in them.
Lacunae looked to her host for answers as to what this was but he seemed just as lost. Deciding to take a look at what was all the commotion the alicorn trotted out of the tent and into a crowd of ponies that surrounded the tent on all sides. They looked like normal Watchers but she could see some were patients here, some looked at her hatefully while others looked on in disgust. In the center of the crowd was a small white mare with a blonde flowing mane, and the Cutie Mark of a rising sun, she stood atop a soapbox like a preacher ready to spread the good word.
"Excuse me?" Lacunae was too confused by what was happening, was this an angry mob, did they plan to attack? "Can I help you?"
"You hear me fowl spawn of the Wasteland! You take the image of Goddess Celestia to lure the faithful from her light! Only to turn them into horrible mockeries such as yourself! Well we will not stand for it monster, leave the city of Celestia and never return!" The mare saying this was small enough to be a filly yet she preached like a priestess before a grand audience.
Realization of what was happening hit her and the alicorn tried her best not to laugh. "Oh my, my, my, we got a true believer. This is rich." She looked to Clean Cut who trotted out beside her.
"Ms. Lacunae met Righteous Song, Priestess of Celestia's Vision."
Lacunae burst out laughing, getting glares or confused stares from every pony. The irony of the name and mare was too much for her. "Oh, when I hear of Celestia's vision I pictured angry old Celestia thumbing mares. Nice to see my predictions were correct." That made Righteous Song seeth a bit under her breath. Lacunae trotted closer to her, not taking the mare or her followers as any threat she decided to poke the bear. "Tell me oh wise Priestess, why am I a front to Goddess Celestia?"
The small white mare growled at the question. "Did you not hear my words fowl demon. You steal the image of Goddess Celestia, you prev her good name with lies of unity between ponies, you seek to turn her once great kingdom into your false paradise." She turned to the ponies gathering around her. "We will not allow such evil to take our land away from us!" That got stomps of approval from some in the crowd.
Lacunae glanced back at Clean Cut who looked like he wanted to dig himself into the ground. "Tell me, Priestess, you're called Celestia's vision. Do I not fit into her great vision whatever that is? Was Celestia not loving to all creatures in her kingdom? Are we not all in need of her love?" Lacunae could tell her questions were angering the mare by the minute, she loved messing with the followers of Celestia that popped up after the world ended.
That struck a sore spot, Righteous Song let Lacunae have it like no pony would. "Celestia's vision is for all ponies to live in peace and Harmony. Mutants like you, Griffins, Zebras, Minotaurs, Ghouls, Cyborgs, and everything else that torture ponykind doesn't deserve the beauty of Celestia's vision!"
If Lacunae wasn't laughing before she was now, she'd met all kinds of ponies that worship her former teacher's sister to a slavish extent. And every time she found joy in bursting their little bubble. "So I'm not part of Celestia's great vision? So what is her great vision? The Wasteland." The number of death stares she got from the crowd would make a normal pony coward but Lacunae ate this shit up. "You forget your 'goddess' is the reason you live in a Wasteland, to begin with. Your 'goddess' started the war that ended the world fool! It was under her leadership that Equestria declared war on the Zebras and dragged the world into war! My existence as an alicorn, cyborg soldiers, and the mutants born out of balefire bombs was caused by Goddess Celestia's great judgment!"
Righteous Song was fuming, her bright white face turning red in anger. If Lacunae didn't overshadow her the mare would probably fight her. "What would a false alicorn like you know of her greatest? Your words are just lies to break the faithful."
If she wasn't enjoying her vacation when she came to this city she was now, Lacunae always loved this next part. "Because I met her." Righteous Song just nayed at that. "Oh no, I met her. Do you think this form before you was how I always was?" Some in the crowd were staring the alicorn over, most questioning such a claim, only ghouls living so long and she lacked their zombie-like features. "Before I was taken in by Unity and reborn into the form in front of you I was servant great Luna. I was closer to Celestia than most ponies at the time were." Lacunae's tone became cruel and she spoke the words slowly. "Celestia was a fucking coward. Who abandoned her sister to clean her mess. But don't take my word for it, see for yourself."
Lacunae's horn lit up and the world became blinding light. Thousands of them, an ocean of memories flooded through their minds like a roaring waterfall. Memories of a forgotten age, of ponies and events from a pony's life who was long gone. Lacune looked through them all, she filled the crowd's heads with her memories of the Two princesses they worship as goddesses, showing them how mundane and imperfect the gods they believed were. But there was one memory she wished to burn into their heads forever so they knew who their precious Celestia really was.
The Canterlot gardens were a thing of beauty, multi neatly cut scrubs were made into pieces of art. Butterflies danced in the morning sunlight as newly bloomed flowers bacon them. The gardens usually had many visitors but today it had only two. A pitch-black unicorn with a white pluff mane and an alicorn with a rainbow-like mane that sparkled. The Alicorn was attending to the garden, cutting leaves and watering flowers as the unicorn watched her. She was dressed in strange black combat armor that meddled with her coat, she looked like a shadow in the bright idyllic place. Her expression was a scowl as she watched the alicorn work, the alicorn paid her no mind almost if she wasn't there.
"Why?" That was all the unicorn asked.
"No, Psalm, I can't." Was her answer.
"Can't or Won't?
There was a hint of strain from the Alicorn, she dared not answer that.
"Your sister is risking her life for her ponies while you sit here with your flowers." That hurt the alicorn more than she knew. "Our troops need all the moral support on this front, ponies are dying and breaking, why aren't you being their princess, why aren't you leading them?"
The alicorn looked down at the ground in defeat and shame, she fell back on her haunches as the weight of it all took its toll. "I don't want to see it Psalm, I can't see my ponies being killed. I can't see my sister becoming a killer again, becoming a nightmare." Tears started welling up in her eyes. "I never want any of this you know. I never wanted my ponies to suffer this war, I don't want to see how I turned them into monsters."
Psalm broke at that, she trotted over to the alicorn and grabbed her by the shoulders, making the larger being look her in the eyes. "You started this war! Everything that's happening outside is happening because of your actions." Her usual quiet voice was now a violent rant. "You started the war for fucking coal but the minute it came too much abandoned it all to your sister. You're an alicorn, the symbol of the greatest of ponykind, but look at you. You're a fucking coward who ran off when the deck was stacked against you, you don't deserve those wings!"
Celestia couldn't respond, she had no comeback, no explanation, just a look of utter defeat. "Your right, your completely right." She couldn't, she knew nothing she would say could please the unicorn. "But won't join the madness, I can't give up what remains of me. I just can't become a killer like every pony else."
Psalm threw her down in complete disgust, not even bothering to look at the alicorn as she walked away. "For 1000 years you babied Equestria, keeping ponies from growing up from the horrors of the world, from experiencing the Elements of Chaos and destruction. Then in our darkest hour, you left us, your world of Harmony was destroyed and your not rising to deal with it. " She was just out of the garden when she stopped cold. "Let this be a lesson fool, you can create a world of order and Harmony but Chaos will always exist. Those who did not rise to the change the Elements bring are doomed to be destroyed by them."
With that, the unicorn walked out of the garden leaving the alicorn to the sounds of blowing wind and birds.
The light fell away as the world came back, every pony was dazed as confusion spread among them. They all saw that vision, they saw their goddess in her weakest moment. Few knew what to make of it, even more, were questioning what they saw. Lacunae's eyes glossed over all of them, watching as the faith they so heavily believed in was put into question. Some seemed to refuse what they saw, most were questioning everything they believe.
Righteous Song for her part seemed in complete denial. "You're lying. You're trying to brainwash us! You Created that memory to break us." Her firm belief was shaken but not broken. "We will not be broken but your lies."
"Lies?" Lacunae let the word hang in the air as she looked the priestess over. "That was as true as they get, that was the goddess whose vision you all seek to make real."
"Do not believe the lies of this monster brothers and sisters!" Righteous Song pointed an accusing hoof at the Alicorn. "Her vision is a lie, she only seeks to move the faithful from the true path." Few in the crowd agree at them, most were confused not knowing what to make of any of this.
Lacunae knowing she had weakened their resolve went in for the final blow. "If Celestia's vision was to create a world of Harmony for ponies, but all she succeeded in creating was a world of Discord. If you view me as a horrible spawn of the Wasteland then you must blame Celestia for my existence and see me as part of her vision."
Those words seemed to crack the foundation that Righteous Song stood on. Few took her side, most looked broken as the faith they had so long believe started to wane. The few that kept believing stood firm glaring at the alicorn but most ponies begin trotting off. Righteous song tried inspiring them against the alicorn but her words fell on deft ears. "No my ponies, you can't believe what a devil says!"
Lacunae watched the small mare with sad pitiful eyes, the shame she felt for a mare to dedicate her life to her belief only for it to be shattered in an instant. But Sometimes you need to wake ponies up from their disillusion. "Shall we go, Mr. Clean Cut?" She looked to the doctor pony beside her, she had spared him the truth she gave them but he still looked a bit afraid of her.
"Yeah, follow me." His expression was shocked at what just happened but he kept his thoughts to himself as he made his way down the camp, Ginger walking close behind him.
Lacunae let out a breath she was holding back. "I hope the rest of my vacation is peaceful compared to today." |
Fallout Equestria New Horizons: Lacunae and Rampage's vacation in paradise. | The friends we kept heal us, sercets we kept destroy us | After that 'religious experience' the rest of Lacunae's tour of the camp was quiet as most ponies now avoided her. Clean Cut still spoke freely to all her questions, being more inquired by Lacunae's stunt than scared off by it.
When they finally reached their destination, Clean Cut bid her farewell as he shook her hoof. "Your friend is waiting in there, Miss Lacunae." He was a gentle stallion, a rare find in the Wasteland. "I got to go but if you need me I stay inside the fort itself." With that, the stallion waved goodbye then wandered off with Ginger in tow.
"It's nice such kind bucks still exist out in the world." She said as she entered the tent. The inside looked like a well-kept doctor's office, the usual dirt ground was covered by a neat hexagon pattern rug. Lights attached to wires that ran throughout the tent's top. medical tools lay on a table neatly next to the patient's bed. Lacunae saw a familiar striped mare she knew all too well. Rampage was sitting in a chair right next to a sickbed that hosted a large yellow pony, next to her was the green Mule from the casino along with Goldie.
"You're going to be alright Torr, and when this is done I'm going to buy you some ice cream." Rampage held his hoof like a mother caring for their child, looking into his eyes with a comforting smile. "The nice ponies here are going fix you up good as new, I made sure of that."
"You mean it misses Rampage?"
"I mean it big guy, you put up a good fight. You deserve a good reward for being such a tough stallion." For a mare who could bring wanton death upon any pony, she was also a beacon of kindness in the Wasteland.
Lacunae didn't interrupt, seeing this side of her friend was a blessing. Most looked at Arloste as a spawn of death and destruction, yet Lacunae knew that wasn't true. Arloste, not the Rampage title the world gave her, was as kind and loving as they come.
"Hey Luu, come to say I told you so?" shame still carried in her tone, she still hated herself for what had happened.
"No Arloste, I'm not here to judge you." she trotted up to the striped mare as she kept holding Torr's hoof. "I'm sorry for what I said to you, Arloste. I know you don't have control of yourself all the time, it's my fault for not acting first."
Rampage stared at her, Lacunae could tell she had been crying. "No, its mine. I went overboard and let her gain control, I'm to blame for when my demons came out."
Lacunae embraced her in a hug, she would not have her friend look down upon herself. "No, you are my friend Arloste, it's my job to keep you from hurting yourself. I let Molly stop me from helping you cause I didn't want to fight the whole casino, your failings are my own. A true good friend is there for you in your darkest hour and I wasn't." the alicorn looked down at the striped mare, for all their years together, for all the pain they went through, they could still turn to each other in their moments of weakness. The world may be a cruel place but if you could find a kind shoulder to cry on you found a piece of true paradise.
"Thanks, Lacunae. You're everything I need you know?"
"I know, and you're the best friend I've had in centuries."
The two stood there for a minute before breaking apart, Molly and Goodie kept quiet the whole time, this was their moment and no pony should take that from them. "Well, Arloste shall we continue our vacation after we're done here."
Rampage shook her off in a laugh. "That's enough excitement for tonight. I just want to eat a steak than go to bed,"
Molly broke into their talk, taking off her shades to show her golden eyes. "Since your friend, Miss Arloste here paid for all of my best fighters treatments out of her own pocket I feel it's generous to let you both stay in your VIP sweet for the rest of your stay."
Goldie added. "And I will be your personal room service, bring you all you need. Plus I can escort you girls around town, and show you girls the sights."
The two mares looked at each other, today was the first day of their vacation and they were going to make the rest of the week one to remember. This was their time away from being Demon Mares, here they could just be themselves.
"Let's make this week a good one Arloste."
"Sure, let's take Torr and Goldie with us when we're done here. We will go exploring, parting, drinking every liquor imaginable."
They both laughed as they hugged each other, the bystanders could only smile at the beautiful friendship in front of them. For this was the true paradise that every pony sought.
The week was an eventful one if ever, probably the most shaken up the city had gotten in years and all because of those two strange mares. Clean Cut didn't know what to make of them, they were the most dangerous two ponies he'd met, living up to the stories he'd heard about them. Yet they seemed almost too normal, too pony to be the Demon Mares.
When word of them arrived in the city, he had all eyes on them at all times. Every faction did really, No pony knew what they were capable of, every faction was banking their bets they'd destroy the barely held together peace in the city. But instead, they seemed almost disinterested in the city, for its wealth and power it promised they cared none for it.
For strange powerful mares who possessed powers he barely understood, their reasons for being here were so mundane. They were on vacation.
That revelation made all of Dise let out a collected breath. "And they're leaving tomorrow, Celestia bless our souls." Clean Cut felt fear he was holding in all week leave him, even though the mares were on vacation they left quite an impression wherever they went. In the time they'd been here the city began to change slowly into something else. The Finishers took over the Mustangs, the feral ghouls in the undercity were cleared out, the ponytrons had been acting funny, Celestia's Vision had broken up, crime in the city went down, the Baises and Finishers seemed to be working together. He found it ironic that Demon Mares left a positive change in their wake. But these events filled him with a hint of fear in his stomach.
What if they discovered his plans, what if everything the Watchers had done up to this point came crumbling down. He was dreading the alicorn the most, she was...otherworldly in her ways, almost like a wisemare. Her knowledge and magic put Clean Cut on edge more than any other pony.
More than her striped friend Clean Cut kept his eyes and ears to her at all times, watching her with a closer than any other pony in the city. And yet nothing, it was that for all the trouble they caused they avoided Dise's darker secrets like unaware fillies.
"I wonder if I should have recruited them." Clean Cut shook the thought from his head, they were too dangerous to let into his inner circle. No, just let them leave. "Probably for the better. Still those tests got interesting results." Clean Cut muttered to himself as he looked down from the observation deck above a cylinder room.
Below him stood an eldritch thing, a large darkened five sided chamber whose walls were bent differently from each other, all moving towards the middle of the ceiling. Runes of some long forgotten language were written along every surface.
In the center sat a table covered in blood with three lanterns around it standing on what looked like black shelves. The flame of the lanterns burned dimly, for their fire wasn't earthly. It was the flame of the dragons, Balefire, the same flames that consumed the world and turned it into a wasteland.
This was a place of sin and Clean Cut knew it. But for the future of the wasteland it was needed, to save the city he had to control it first the only way to do that was to destroy the chaotic order it had now. With this chamber he would unleash chaos that would collapse the gangs, then he and his Watchers would sweep in and save the city.
It was a fool proof plan, no pony expected a bunch of doctors and teachers to have this power. No, they would blame each other while he caused their downfall in the background.
He looked to the side of him, a few scientists who had joined him on his sinful crusade. "Is the next patient ready?"
"Yes sir. Next pony's another war veteran. Limb loss, general skull fractures, and bone reconstruction." The doctor was a golden mare with rude eyes, she studied the clipboard as she listed off the injuries.
Clean Cut nodded. "No shortage of soldiers it seems." After when the city was his, he would have to find a way to end that horrible war. "Well bring him in."
Just as the mare was about to press a button her head exploded into gore. Clean Cut jumped back in shock as ponies around him met the same fate, a tapping sound following every pony's death. Panicking he looked around for the attacker only to be met with a 22. Silencer pointed between his eyes.
It floated calmly in the familiar light blue aura he feared all too well. "The art of deception requires subtlety to work, not brute force. You Watchers understand that well?"
Clean Cut stared into the cold eyes of the alicorn, her wise beyond years expression was gone, replaced with the eyes of a killer. Every thought swam through Clean Cut's mind at that moment but only one word came out. "How?""
"The Elements create the magic we use Mr. Cut. Like rivers of water some of us hear them flow, and the magic you used is like hearing a waterfall."
"We're trying to save this city!" He pleaded. "You've seen it! This city is run by vice when it could be so much more! This city has the resources to support the entire region, lift up this part of the Wasteland back to civilization!"
She was unmoved by his words. "I've heard such arguments before mist Cut and I will hear them again. I've seen that mindset destroy civilization, burn towns to the ground, enslave children, and mutate ponies into monsters from your nightmares. And every time I hear it again and again you know what I seek to do to the creature saying it."
"Wait!" was his last words as the pistol fired. A small bloody dot appeared between his eyes as a pop sound followed. His body went limp, falling to the ground as blood poured from his face.
"Purge them." She looked over the chamber below. In her heart she knew what to do, this power would belong to no one again, she would destroy it along with anybody who knew how to work it. No one will dare bring such horror to the world ever again, not while she still served the Elements.
Her horn flared to life and magic encompassed the entire chamber below. And with might few thought possible she tore that chamber down, wall by wall, rune by rune until the entire complex came crashing down. |
Fallout Equestria New Horizons: Lacunae and Rampage's vacation in paradise. | Demons in paradise make it into a heaven | Heaven is good but it could be better.
Rampage packed the last souvenir into the truck. Wiping sweat from her forehead the striped mare trotted to the front of the vehicle where Photo Finish was talking with Lacunae about something. "I hope you darlings find the dresses up to your liking."
"Thank you Miss Finish I'm sure my friends back home will love them." Lacunae floated over a sack of caps for the mare's trouble. "If we ever come back I will have to see how your new casino is doing. I have a friend who would love to try your dresses.
Photo blushed at the comment. "Anytime darling, and please do come back. Dise feels lesser without you two." She looked over to Rampage, her blush turning redder. "You be safe out there my darling."
Rampage blew her a kiss. "You too cutie, be safe in that new casino of yours. And hey if you ever come up north you can stay in my apartment."
Photo waved her off. "Oh you fiend, you."
"Don't leave without saying goodbye to me." They all turned to see Goldie galloping up, a mare behind him. "Me and a special some pony wanted to say goodbye."
It took a minute for Rampage to remember who the mare was, she was clean-cut, smelled nice, and looked cleaned up. "Mayflower?"
She nodded her head. "Yes, I wanted to say thank you before you left. Without you, I'd still be in a bad place." She started fishing something out of a saddle around her waist. Pulling out a strange helmet that had a breather mask attracted to it, a red visor covered the eyelids, emitting a red glow. "This is an old commando helmet from the pre-war days. This baby can take anything up to .44 ammo, only about thousand of these were made." She held it out for the mare she looked up to take it. "Me, Goldie, and a lot of ponies around town pulled our money to buy you this.'"
Rampage fell on her haunches, she almost started crying then and there. "Oh, baby you didn't need to do that."
"We assist. After everything you've done, especially for me." Tears rolled down Mayflower's cheeks. "The world needs more mares like you two in it" In a quieter hush voice she said. "Please come back someday."
Rampage kissed her on the forehead before hugging her tightly. "You too girl, take care of yourself while we're gone." She looked at Goldie with a friendly goodbye. "You too Goldie."
"Pss, don't worry about me, I didn't survive 200 years for nothing. Don't die with that new job of yours. Protecting the Hoof, never thought you'd go play the hero." He pointed an accusing hoof at the striped mare. "I want to come up there and see the city for myself."
Rampage laughed as she trotted then hopped into the seat of her wagon. "Okay old-timer, catch you on the fast lane." Lacunae got in beside her. "You behave now."
"If ever Dise is ever in trouble, put out a signal call to The STARS, and the Demon Mares will be there to restore order and bring hellfire upon those who wronged you."
Rampage bit on a leaver forcing the engine to roar to life. As the ponies around the wagon backed up, waving goodbye to strangers from a strange land, the wagon drove off as the ponies shouted their goodbyes.
Dise was no stranger to weird visitors, it was the shining gem of the south, the 'last' great city. Every pony from miles around wanted a part of it. The city usually swallowed them up with ponies either dying or leaving the city as poor wrecks. But one day two mares arrived, for them this city and its cruelty was nothing, they fought worse. For they were Demon Mares, mares who stood above the horrors of the Wasteland as its masters. They left that city not as wrecks, not as dead mares walking, but as role models that showed some ponies that there was hope and kindness in the Wasteland. And where there was no soul one began to grow in the city of sin.
Silver finally placed the last piece of the ceiling back into place. It was annoying finding all the pieces again but after a few days of searching and asking Wildfire for help, she'd finally got it done. "Celestia don't let it break again." She wiped the sweat off then made her way back to her post, back to watching the nothing of the valley. "Yep, that's enough excitement for me."
As the mare stared down at the wasteland a quiet hum began to build. at first, Silver Storm thought it was nothing, probably a bloat fly. But the sound kept building until Silver's eyes widened in shock.
"Oh Celestia No, No, No." Silver fell to the floor covering her head ready for what came next.
Her roof was torn off again as the wagon flew off the shack. The Wagon flew down to the valley below as a light blue field carried it down gently. If the Crimson Hoof was there they left the vehicle alone, they knew nothing they could do would stop it. Silver Storm rose from the debris covering her head to see her roof was completely gone again.
Several minutes of silence followed until. "Luna Motherfucking damn it!" |
Those Who Ride | pre | "Natural!" barked one of the bloodriders - Sunset didn't look, but she thought it sounded like Cohollo. "There's nothing natural about you, witch-horse!"
"Well, that's that, isn't it?" laughed the khal, as he swung himself into the saddle. "Rakharo, that dye is expensive, but we can't have one of my horses running around in Khal Rhalko's foolish ochre colors. Paint her down, yamori, paint her down. I want her Drogo blue!"
"You going to run, Sunset Horse?" asked the young bloodrider, looking down from his horse at his paroled captive. "You promised."
Sunset drew a ragged breath, realizing what was happening. Khal Drogo's own dyed paint job had faded and cracked in the week since the wedding, but he'd left it on his copper hide all that time, never bathing. But then, few Dothraki bothered to bathe, and Sunset herself had grown almost used to her own stink.
"Do it, Mister Rakharo. I have given my word."
"You certainly have," said Rakharo, as he climbed down out of the saddle, and started smearing the goopy dyed paste across his fingers. He kneeled, and laid the dye-skin by Sunset's hooves, and grabbed her muzzle with his free hand.
A quick swipe across her face barely left her enough time to close her left eye to protect it from the dye. Rakharo examined his work, turning her face side to side, and nodded. Then he refreshed the dye in his left hand, and drew parallel streaks across her left shoulder, then again across her right.
Sunset could feel the substance burning cooly across her eyelid and her nose - whatever alchemical process hidden in the dye - as it bonded itself to the hairs of her coat. I think this will not go away quickly, she thought.
Then, strangely, she felt a tingle go up her weeks-dead horn, a thrill, a shock - was it...?
And then it was gone, and all Sunset felt was the dye bonding itself to her coat.
And she supposed that was enough for one day, as the bloodriders mounted their horses, and crowded around the khal's newly-painted property.
Or follower, Sunset thought. Among the Dothraki, she was beginning to understand, property and people were fluid and contingent. Today, she felt like people.
"Good!" laughed the khal. "I can't have my messengers confused for someone else's, can I?"
Tomorrow she'd take when tomorrow came. |
Those Who Ride | Messages | Sunset Shimmer was exhausted. In the daylight, the pounding, relentless, shadeless daylight of the rolling plains of western Essos, she trotted behind the carts of the khalessi's camp, trudging when she absolutely had to, but kicking her heels and sprinting back and forth whenever she could, fetching, carrying, passing messages from this khalzafra to the overseer of that group of common zafra, from one of the khal's bloodriders to an outrider patrol, from the kitchen-camp to the butchers-camp. As the days turned to weeks, Sunset had somehow, accidentally, inexorably, become a messenger.
She swore to herself that it hadn't been intentional, that she wasn't this pony. She had never been so gregarious in the august Heavenly Court of her mentor. She had, in point of fact, been arrogant, heedless of the concerns of others while she had been under the tutelage of the Eternal Princess. But then, she hadn't needed to be in those sun-lit days, basking in the endless benevolent light which was Celestia.
No, Sunset had taken up message-carrying as a way to improve her Dothraki, to perfect her understanding away from the khalessi's stumbling slowness. Even now - humbled as Sunset was by her slavery, her bondage - Sunset's arrogance was infinite. She picked up new grammar and syntax as if it were nothing, like a foal learning to breathe - by mere animal instinct. Sunset's status-arrogance had been shattered like the weak-formed failure of the potter's art it had been - but her intellectual arrogance was a much sturdier vessel, and she couldn't help but pour her ego into that iron-bound amphora like precious water in the desert.
And all the running about helped build her resilience, her endurance. She couldn't coast on simple trudging, putting one hoof in front of the others again and again, following in her new mistress's train. She had to get out and about, to get moving!
So Sunset sprinted, she galloped, she darted about, finding her messages' targets within the endlessly shifting city on the move which was Khal Drogo's khalasar in motion. Minela, the sullen slave-queen of the kitchens and all of her snarling, back-biting vikeesi; Girkaro the one-armed butcher-lord, his axe often strapped in the place of his missing hand, and his swarm of squabbling, blood-splattered apprentices; the lieutenants of the various naqikhasar, the mahrazh-naquikhasar, Kovarro, Malakho, Hralvro, Manikhro, Gulkarro, Lhanho, Nhizo, Qhono - so very many, they were as numerous as the grasses under their hooves, and these only the naquikhasar attached to the khal's own khasar, his attendants' personal followers!
The great horde spread out across the rolling plains between Pentos and Norvos, and as endless as the nomads and their followers were in motion, they were, Sunset was beginning to understand, nothing but small groups gathered together, little bands moving in concert with each other. The Dothraki were not simply a faceless mass of terrifying, horrifically violent apes, but rather, an endlessly articulated series of little bands of jocular, quarrelsome, occasionally charming homicidal apes.
She wouldn't say that she was making friends, but her circle of acquaintances was expanding rapidly.
Today she was running messages from the terrifying Khal Drogo himself to the outriders on the far eastern side of the advance. Those band of outriders were moving in the direction of a walled town that had not so much defied the khalasar's demands, as had been unpardonably slow with their tributes on their travels westward to his wedding. Or, so said the khal, although he couched it in hearty, brutal, bloodthirsty terms that Sunset shrunk from thinking too deeply upon.
The messages Sunset carried to the naquikhasar of the right-hoof advance van were, she understood at some level, very bad news indeed for the city-lords of Gyohan Byka, but that as well, she did not wish to dwell upon. The mahrazh-naquikhasari Gulkarro, Nhizo, Qhono and Adrahko were certainly excessively amused and excited by what Sunset had to say to them, and she left behind her more than one naquikhasar forming itself into a raiding band, each Dothraki gathering up their weapons and yelping in joy at the prospect of mayhem.
As she returned from her town-dooming mission, Sunset felt the burning in her chest and her cannons, the strain that told her she was over-doing it again. These Dothraki rode, she thought, because it was too damn tiresome to run everywhere on your own hooves. They put all the wear and tear on their idiot horses, while Sunset had to rely on her own poor hooves.
At least this was toughening up her once-tender hooves. Sunset had once had the delicate and soft-frogged hooves of a scholar, a student. No longer, and the longer she spent running across the hills and plains of this brutal continent, the more strongly those appendages resembled the hard, horny hooves of the peasantry.
Another virtue of running messages was that it got Sunset out and away from the remount herders, who insisted on continually trying for the wild horse. None of the other Dothraki whose word should have restrained those young idiots seemed to be able to get them to stop pestering Sunset. They just nodded and smiled, and waited until this bloodrider or that elder turned their backs on them. And then they'd regroup for another try.
As Sunset approached where she had been told to expect the khal's khasar, she could see Ahego and one of his cronies on horse-back, trying to hide their presence from her on just the other side of that copse of - were those trees, or bush? Out here on the heavily stream-rutted landscape of the 'Bearded Plains', the distinction between tree and bush was sometimes, Sunset was discovering, academic.
What wasn't academic was that they were trying for her again - and she running messages for the khal himself! Sunset was sure that if she complained about it, though, the khal would just laugh. The great brute found his rebellious remount herders amusing, as if they were a sort of highly active band of jesters for his amusement.
Which meant that the hunted unicorn had been added to his jesters-court as designated victim. Sunset looked around to see if the khal was lurking somewhere in expectation of a bit of entertainment. She couldn't see him, but that didn't mean the bastard wasn't out there somewhere, sniggering.
So, it was time to give the audience a show.
Sunset turned and charged the two herders and their string of extra horses, getting in among them before they realized that their prey had turned on them. Their lassoes were suddenly useless as she darted between their confused mounts and the others they had behind them, unburdened.
The little rats had been planning on chasing her into the ground, exhausting one set of horses, and re-mounting while their target ran her heart out. Well, Sunset wouldn't play that game, would she now?
She caught the lead-lines of one of the remount braces, and tore it loose from the slack, astonished hand of the second herder, Yallego. She thought he was maybe a cousin or second-cousin of his ape-leader, Ahego. Whoever Yallego was, he was a careless idiot.
Sunset ran for it on the far side of her little counter-ambush, leading two very confused horses behind her, their lead-line flagging behind her, gripped firmly in her teeth. Ahego was too busy berating his idiot cousin to give chase, which was good - Sunset was quick and agile, but not nearly as fast as her mindless not-cousins, the nomad-horses of this world. She didn't think that the fools would have needed remounts to chase her down, if she were ever so foolish as to let it come down to a dead-gallop stern-chase.
And suddenly, in the next copse over, where she hadn't seen it before with the previous copse in the way, was the khal's retinue, and the vast bearded bastard himself, bent over his massive stallion-mount, laughing his brutish head off.
"Now that's what I call counting coup, boys," he bellowed. But then, in Sunset's limited experience, Khal Drogo rarely said anything softly. "Why can't my own blood-riders steal horses like that? Pono, go steal my horses back, I don't know what the Sunset-horse would do with her own remount herd. Sunset-horse, are you plotting a harem among my remounts?"
Sunset wrapped the lead-line around her left foreleg, and spat its well-chewed end out of her mouth. "Of course not, mighty Khal! I would only dilute your breeding-stock with my witchy get! I merely found some of your horses unattended in that thicket over there, and thought to bring them to you!" Sunset looked over her shoulder at the two horses she had stolen on an impulse. "Also, they seem to be mares."
And Sunset almost had the privilege of seeing the mighty Khal fall out of his saddle, laughing. |
Those Who Ride | The Stew-Pot | The khal's mirthful laughter made it somewhat difficult for Sunset to deliver the outrider-mahrazhs' replies to their orders, but she endeavoured, stone-faced. Qortho, one of the khal's favorites, pulled Sunset aside as the khal and his other bloodriders rode on to other matters. Qortho gave her a further assignment, and the now-bone-weary unicorn set off to deliver the khal-khasar's dinner demands to the mobile kitchens, along with instructions on where they would be that evening, and where the food should be delivered.
Sunset found herself wandering within the great moving mass of the khalasar, the khal's court kitchens having somehow disappeared in the blink of an instant. She cast back and forth across the main body of the slow-moving bands and elements which were an entire people on the march, and then, suddenly, she found herself among a band of riders moving against the tide of beast and man.
Hunters, from the look and smell of them, recurve bows strapped across their backs, their horses draped in the murdered corpses of various fowl, small furry things, and in one or two cases, a deer or deer-like creature strapped behind a saddle. Sunset's nostrils were affronted with the stench of fresh blood.
In the middle of the pack of Dothraki hunters, rode the khaleesi's stringy-haired brother, sweltering in chainmail, with a helmet hung behind his sweat-stained head. Beside him rode the other, slightly less-pale man from the Sunset Kingdoms who Sunset had seen at the wedding, and then never again - what was his name?
"Denne," said the Westeroi, in some gutteral tongue, "Your grace er derfor, at ingen i Westeros rent faktisk jager i fuld rustning. Ikke i denne slags vejr, i hvert fald."
"Jeg er ikke uvidende om ordentlig skik, Jorah!" snapped the skinny young man who was, Sunset had been told, king of the distant Andals. If only they'd recognize him as such.
"Do you wish to discuss this in proper Valyrian, Your Grace?" asked the vassal of his liege. Sunset, who had drawn closer to the two Andals in hopes of hearing more of this new language, was disappointed. But a look in the older Andal's eyes told her that perhaps the King of the Andal's accent in his supposed native language was perhaps... not perfect.
"Obviously! I never understood why we let the peasants continue using that barbarous jabber. Yes, as I was saying, all true Westerosi hunt in their armor, cap and pie!"
"Erm, pied en cap, your grace?"
"Yes, that! I saw my brother come back from the hunt, many a time, in chain and greaves, his people bringing his kill behind him."
"Prince Rhaegar was, all men agree, a great warrior. But not, perhaps, much of a hunter?"
"Take that back! My brother was a paragon af mønster-kortalle dyder!"
"Er, were you trying to say 'paragon af alle dyder, your grace?"
"Oh, yes, something like that. And I would have done better, if it weren't for these blasted Dothraki and their sneaking about with their blasted bows. There were supposed to be beaters, and a stop-line to catch the fleeing prey!"
"The Dothraki do this, it is true. In the true plains to the east. Here, in the broken terrain of the Debatable Lands, they prefer to stalk their prey. It's simpler, and takes fewer men. And to be brutally honest, your grace, it is more the style in the northernmost of your kingdoms, to stalk and creep, than to make a great deal of noise."
"But where is the fun in that? It's boring!"
"Well, we can try again to get them to do things the noble-hunt fashion, your grace..."
The hunters turned off the main road that both they, and Sunset had been following, marching towards what her sensitive nose told her were the butcher's camp carts, pulled aside, where the butchers were clearly waiting in rendezvous for the returning day's hunts.
Sunset thought about exiles, and cultural differences, and the example of the exiled king, trying to hunt in armor and a lance, among the wild plains-nomads with their swift horses and recurve bows. Was there anything like the Beggar King and his clanging awkward foolishness in what she was doing? Was Sunset falling into that very trap?
Eventually, wandering within the strung-out, endlessly sprawling chaos along the network of trails and roads that was the khalasar's central column, Sunset discovered where the mobile kitchens had fetched up. Clues extracted from confused zafra and riders encountered on the main road eventually pointed Sunset in the direction of a water-meadow far down the road. The kitchens had advanced infuriatingly far, the cooking-zafra having almost raced their heavy cooking-baggage ahead of the rest of the khal's entourage. They could now be found not far from what would, in the coming hours, become that night's temporary encampment.
The cooks had run ahead of the front of the main column, to get ahead of the rest of the people they'd have to feed in the evening. The rest of that part of the horde for which they were responsible, would catch up to the kitchen, rather than vice-versa. Some of the camp-captains had cast even further ahead, laying out the encampment the kitchens would feed, in a better-drained series of fields on a rise between the water-meadow and a small river.
The kitchen-zafra had unloaded their stew-pots and grills and set them up on their temporary tripods over piles of near-green brush and hastily-dismembered tree-corpses beside the rather brackish puddle that filled the center of the water-meadow. The once-sickening stench of the meat-heavy staples of the Dothraki diet hung like a miasma over the slightly swampy environ the mobile kitchen had found itself.
Minela the Lhazareen knew her business very well, and her dinner-plans for the scattered and not-quite-countless members of the khal's court were well in hand. The copper-skinned and wrinkly khaljolinaki with her immense sense of gravitas and that forbidding manner merely waved in irritation at Sunset's relayed instructions. She gestured at her platoon of jolinaki-vikeesi re-heating the mutton and the beef and the other savory-jerked meats that so dominated what the apes around Sunset devoured on a day to day basis. Yet more of Minela's harridan-cooking-assistants were spread out around the water-meadow, harvesting the semi-wild barley-like grasses and onions and garlic-greens with small, not-particularly sharp sickles.
The Dothraki were rather lackadaisical about keeping a close eye on their zafra, their slaves, but that didn't extend to giving them access to seriously deadly tools that might be turned against them in their drunkenness. Truly stupid Dothraki generally didn't live to adulthood.
Sunset tried again to echo back at Minela the words she heard from the khaljolinaki's minions.
The Lhazareen rolled her eyes at Sunset. "Speak the masters' words, you sachi-ivezhof. You will never learn the words of the Spawn. Only the Spawn know the words of the Spawn."
"I don't believe that," said Sunset, provocatively. "There is no language which is so secret that only the speakers can know it. Words are for learning, and understanding - how can there be understanding if there is no sharing?"
"Fool ivezho, fool beast! The Dothraki share nothing, and care nothing for understanding! They take, and they steal, and they say go here, do this, or we hang your crones, and rape your girls, and butcher your sons! If you will not leave me be, go help my vikeesi, my crones cut the greens that will make this wasteful broth edible."
And so Sunset went, resting her aching frogs by picking up a sickle from the pile of tools, and following along the line of harvesters, cutting this bit of greenery, and that. Three times, a vikeesi-harridan - who were, by Sunset's very shaky grasp of ape-people's ages, not nearly old enough to be denounced as 'crones', but whatever - had to correct Sunset's cut, and keep her from including this weed or that noxious plant in the greens-harvest.
Sunset meditated upon the diet of her new herd, and the one she had grown up within. Among the Dothraki, eggs were a delicacy, but milk and cheese were common. There were entire bands within the khalasar which specialized in milch-herding, and cheese-making, their carts hung heavy with treasured cheese-cloth bags. The cooks struggled to get anything else, anything which wasn't meat, into the pots. The Dothraki regarded anything requiring settled cultivation with a cultural disdain that bordered on homicidal fury. To eat grass was to make yourself not-Dothraki, not a mahrazh, but rather a rhoa, an animal.
I may starve to death, in the midst of plenty...
A shadow fell over Sunset where she sat with the sickle in her hooves, idly cutting wild-barley into her bushel. She looked up, to find Jorah-the-Andal looking down at her.
"That, is something I never thought in my life to see. A horse harvesting its own fodder. With a blade, no less!"
Sunset started, sending her basket tumbling, and she scrambled to get out of the reach of the palid not-Dothraki.
"Nemt, nemt let der pige," said the Andal in a soothing voice. "Jeg vil ikke skade dig."
Sunset had set her hooves in preparation, ready to spring away, or to slap back the palid not-Dothraki. Although perhaps that was a mis-characterization? He wasn't in the fancy get-up she remembered from the wedding, and he'd shed the floppy hat and some of the clothing he'd been wearing when she'd seen him earlier on the road with the Beggar King. As he was dressed, he might be mistaken for a slightly sickly Dothraki.
"Keep your distance, Andal!" Sunset snarled in the half-Pentoshi, half-Targaryen mish-mosh into which her Valyrian had degenerated. She knew the man spoke that, at least as well as she did.
"So it is true, I wasn't there for the commotion. You do speak like a man!"
"I speak like a mare, and you shouldn't sneak up on ponies like that."
"Fair enough. What is a mare, and what are ponies?"
Sunset's eyes widened as the Andal said the two Equuish words. In the weeks she had been with the Dothraki, and the months before that among the Pentoshi, she'd not found anyone who could replicate the vowels and aspirations that characterized her native tongue.
"I can teach you those, if in exchange, you can tell me what nemt, jeg, and uvidende mean!"
"Ah, I thought you looked like you were listening to us on the high road. You shouldn't spy on your betters, lille orange hest."
"It's hardly spying when you're yelling at each other in the midst of multitudes, Jorah the Andal! And my name is Sunset Shimmer. Good to meet you."
"I am technically en ridder, you should call me Ser Jorah."
"Are we in the land of the Andals?" Sunset snarked. And saw the 'en ridder' (what was a en ridder?) finger his long-bladed weapon, hung heavy from his belt, and decided better of her ill-timed humor. "Well enough, then, Ser Jorah."
"You are trainable! Interesting. Yes, Sunset Shimmer, I will teach you Andalese, if you care to talk to me about other matters. Such as where you came from. Are you real? Did some sorcerer turn you into this? Are there more like you?"
"I think, Ser Jorah, that is a tale for another time, because your king is coming towards us with blood in his eyes, and I have to finish what I'm doing if I want Minela to feed me before she sends me off with the khaleesi's dinner."
Sunset gathered up the cut greens into her spilled basket, and barely listened to the irate Beggar King as he berated Ser Jorah for walking off and not telling the king where he was going.
The queen of the cooking slaves gave her Andal-attracting orange pest a bowl of stew with ill will, grabbing the half-empty basket and muttering sulfurously over the quality or lack thereof of Sunset's work.
Afterwards, Sunset sat with her bowl of greens and unidentifiable meat-broth and watched as the rest of the bands, carts, and foot-columns straggled past the kitchen. The great mass of the Dothraki people passed by her and straggled up the rise to the staked-out camp-sites which would become, for a night, the heart of the great khalasar of Khal Drogo - terror of Lhazar! Ibben! and the Free Cities! - the armed might of a continent, fetched up on a nameless low rise in the western middle of nowhere in particular.
Sunset sat, and drank from the crock of stew the Lhazareen witch-cook had given her, chewing on the greens soaking in the meaty broth. It was strange, the flavor. Thankfully, there wasn't much in the way of actual meat chunks in it, just enough to make it not really like an Equestrian soup. But Sunset figured she needed some calories, somewhere, somehow. This was it, this was what she would be getting, unless she wanted to graze with the herds.
Celestia preserve her, she could get used to that taste. But she wasn't sure about the texture...
The assistant-cook balanced the yoke across Sunset's shoulders and withers, supporting the two heavy crocks of stew and steaming, bagged roasts intended for the khaleesi's camp. Sunset had made sure to request a nice, large wheel of mares-milk cheese, and it took up most of a pannier on her left side. The unicorn staggered a bit under the burden before she found her footing, and straightened out, balancing the weight with a rolling shrug.
"Thank you, Fannula. Did I upset your mother too badly?"
"What are you on about, Sunset-horse?" the young girl asked in Dothraki, no more inclined to use her mother's native-tongue than any other member of the khalasar. "Minela loves you. I've never seen her warm to a new zafra that fast. Go with the great Shepherd, Sunset-horse." Fannula, who looked far more Dothraki than like her moon-faced, Lhazareen mother, slapped Sunset companionably across her croup, and sent the unicorn on her way.
Sunset passed the porters carrying the racks of steaming roasts intended for the khal's table as she left the water-meadow, and headed off to the rendezvous-point for the khaleesi's train, the other handmaidens, and the assorted khalzafra. The camp-captains always assigned the khaleesi's carts and tents to a particular stretch of the eastern quadrant of the camp, no matter how the encampment was sited that particular night, or where.
They wouldn't be expecting the khaleesi herself for dinner, not on a night when the khal was in such a good mood, although Sunset wasn't sure if the other handmaidens would be aware of the circumstances. With her expanded assignments as an impromptu messenger, Sunset had been seeing less of the khaleesi's train in recent days.
Sunset wasn't sure what to think about that, honestly. It was all part of her plan to raise her value in the eyes of her mistress and her mistress's husband, but it separated her from the mistress in particular. Was that a good thing?
The rest of the handmaidens greeted Sunset's appearance in the camp with delight and joy, and they rushed to unburden her of her pots of stew and bags of dead, cooked animal-flesh.
Later, long after the cheese-wheel had been devoured right down to the last bit of rind, Sunset fished through the remnants of the stew-pot. Not finding any leftover greens, she eyed the piles of jerked meat laying on one of the platters, and thought about her rumbling stomach.
Maybe she'd go see if there was any fresh grass on the edge of the encampment. In the darkness, where no-one could see her. |
Those Who Ride | The Smoke | Sunset's sleep was troubled by the smell of smoke, of the faintest stench of something other than wood burning. She dreamed of terrible porridge in the mornings at the orphanage, of squabbling foals flinging half-blackened pottage at each other as the matron cried tears of frustration and tried to maintain order. The matron had been a fine mare, but utterly hopeless in the kitchen, and when the bits weren't there, she couldn't afford to pay the cook to come in that early. And the bits often weren't there.
Saddened by the memory, Sunset found herself awakening earlier than was her wont, slipping from the pile of handmaidens, careful to not crush any delicate ape toes with her hooves. Her days in Celestia's court had been largely absent this permeating smell of wood smoke, of other smells of burning things. Princess Celestia and her advisors in haughty Canterlot had aggressively pushed the adoption of non-polluting magic-crystal fireplace heaters in the capital and the nearby provinces in the year or two before Sunset came under in the Princess's mentorship. Even though those expensive, inconvenient 'conveniences' had proved deeply unpopular among those segments of the population without easy access to handy magic rechargers built into their skulls, Canterlot proper had largely seen the abandonment of wood and coal burning for heat, despite the chill of that mountain city.
In the pre-dawn darkness, Sunset thought absently about how the bureaucracy's tax abatements and unsubtle environmental guilt-tripping had done nothing but reinforce the previously-subtle tribal hostility to the unicorn domination of said bureaucracy. In her rare trips to the provinces and outer suburbs, the smoke of coal and woodburners had remained, and her few earth-pony acquaintances had generally changed the subject or scowled when the subject came up. Thus, the burdens of trying to have nice things.
The smell of roasting porridge grew stronger, as dawn broke along the eastern horizon. For some reason, it was making Sunset unsettled and anxious, an anxiety which only grew stronger as the orange limb of the world grew brighter, more yellow, more white, shading into blue.
A blue stained to the south-east with browns, and traces of black.
There were pillars of faint black smoke rising on the south-eastern horizon.
Now, this world, like her previous world, was full of people, peasants, lords, people of middle circumstance (if rather distinctly fewer of the latter two than the former) - and many if not most of them heated their little worlds-within-worlds by burning stuff, usually coal or plant matter of some sort. And all that touched the skies with unsightly blackened, grey, or brown stains, and Sunset had grown used to it.
But this wasn't in the heart of crowded, filthy-skied Pentos, or some humble pony-suburb from back home, but a rural countryside currently more full of horse-nomads than farmers and terrified locals. And those rising columns of blackened smoke were not the homey traces of hearth-fires and small-scale forge-filth.
Sunset tried to dismiss her unease. She turned to her duties, her obligations to the khaleesi and her fellow handmaidens. Those chores devoured her morning, as all her mornings went these days. But her eye was continually drawn away from the tasks at hoof, and more than once, she found herself staring at those increasingly ominous black stains on the skyline. She could now see that the columns of smoke were extending outwards along yesterday's message-routes, in the direction the naquikhasar had been directed to advance. An armed advance, marked by things burning. Many things burning
And as the sky was rent by those black-smoke calling cards of destruction, Sunset began to feel the stirrings of something like anticipatory guilt. Yesterday, if she'd thought at all about what she had been doing, she'd thought breezily about a feckless town, a little city which had been foolish enough to allegedly disrespect a barbarian king on the way to his nuptials. The little city of Gyohan Byka had been so unwise as to cast some sort of small gesture of contempt or resistance in the face of the great Khal Drogo on the khalasar's westward journey towards Pentos and his nuptials. Oh, nothing direct or aggressive, from what little Sunset had overheard. Perhaps a failure to leave out the proper offerings to the horse-nomads as they passed by. Or perhaps they'd closed their gates against some emissary, or a patrol had clashed with a hunting-party.
Sunset hadn't even been clear on whether the khalasar had passed along this route on the way westwards. Looking at the fecund and lush conditions of the forage and fodder they had encountered so far on their trip east, she had some vague idea that the khal had deliberately chosen to not cross over in his khalasar's own track on the horde's return. It was, after all, a mark of good stewardship to impose one's depredations lightly and evenly across one's domains. Princess Celestia had taught Sunset - well, not exactly that, and not in those words, but the general sense, the general sentiment along those lines. Stewardship.
Gyohan Byka. A town so inconsequential that, Sunset had discovered, it did not appear on any maps in the khaleesi's possession. The illiterate Dothraki themselves didn't use things like maps, butif you talked to the bloodriders and other leaders, you would discover that they kept people around who memorized these sorts of things, a sort of geography of the tongue. But they had people who knew that Gyohan Byka was there, and they remembered certain things. Such as obligations, vassalage, and... slights.
They said that Gyohan Byka was in some way tributary to their nominally sovereign lords in distant, disinterested Pentos. Or perhaps Norvos. The so-called Debatable Lands began somewhere in this general vicinity. The claim-lines meandered here and there throughout this stretch of the interior, and the region was littered with places too obscure and too far from the main river-routes and best grazing-lands for any given member of the Free Cities or their nearest neighbors to exert any strong or jealous claim.
Not that the bloodriders Sunset had quizzed put matters in that bloodless sort of way. As was the practice, she was beginning to realize, of bloodriders.
They talked in terms of blood, and slaughter, and swagger. It was how Dothraki like Haggo and Rakharo showed off, how they demonstrated their qualities, their quality, to each other. She'd noticed that competition among the khal's courtiers, to couch their political acumen in the most brutish and simple-minded faux-barbarian cant. And so the subtle discussion of the exact loyalties, obligations, and alleged sovereignties which held the somewhat isolated country-crossroads Gyohan Byka was couched, to Sunset's humble, but Celestial-court-trained ears, in terms of the stone-house men of feeble Gyohan Byka and the lazy coast-stone-men behind their distant walls' coin from here is bronze and copper, not gold and so forth.
Sunset brought the khaleesi her morning meal, and messages from the other handmaidens and zafra. She found the young Targaryen in bed with the khal, and delivered her burden of food and words. Standing just inside the tent was Rakharo, armed and at a sort of attention. Outside the luxurious tent, the khal's bloodriders and assorted armed hangers-on were sitting within ear-range, sharpening their arakhs, checking the fletchings of their arrows, and having a nice, brusque gossip about the prospects of a good, brutal sacking that day, or perhaps the day after that. But in general, the sentiment seemed to be that the day would be nothing but a lark among the naquikhasari.
Laying with his arm around his wife, the khal, looking rather lazy and smug - like a well-fed cat too full of cream and diced salmon to bother itself with chasing small, orange mice - gestured widely with his arms, but didn't bother to get up.
"Sunset Horse! Light of the morning! It is good that you've brought the moon of my life her breakfast! Rakharo says that it looks like I will need all of my own food to myself. Is that not so?"
"My Khal, we cannot be sure. The horizon is well-blooded, that is all I can tell you."
"Bah! Go and bring me my news, boy! Be swift. Oh, and take the witch-horse with you. She is swift, and I would know the color of my day before it is any older! Go! Find me a slaughter, or find me the capitulation I am owed. I would know if they will bend their heads, or whether I will have to bring their stone roofs down around their ears."
"Look, Sun Horse," Rakharo said to Sunset, tightening the cinch strap on his saddle as he prepared his second-string mount. "You should not speak to the lajakoon today. When the warriors get their blood up, they can be wild, and you are still new."
Today's horse was a narrow-crouped and eager-looking mare that had in the past seemed to regard Sunset as competition rather than another talky-beast. Today, the horse was ignoring her, and was quivering a bit in anticipation. The dumb beast knew what was going to happen...
"I spoke to these warriors only yesterday. I delivered their orders! Would they forget me in only a day?"
"Well," said the bloodrider, looking down at her orange coat. "You are not easily forgotten, this is true. But I meant that that I need you to be ready to carry a message to the khal, on the instant, you understand? No standing about and gossiping like yesisi, yes?"
"Yes, Rakharo," Sunset wasn't willing to argue her case any further. The smoke on the horizon was spreading out, smearing, losing their stark columnar character. Whatever was going on was something she had to see with her own eyes.
"When I tell you, take my report, and run as fast as you can to the khal, OK?
"Yes, Rakharo."
"And don't let anyone or anything stop you until you get to the khal himself."
"Yes, Rakharo."
The camps were breaking down rather lazily this morning. They passed naquikhasar after naquikhasar on their passage out to the columns of smoke, through half-disassembled camps where Dothraki and zafra stirred indifferently, slowly. These were the uninvolved, the incidentals, the many, many little bands whose aggregate represented the whole terrorizing might of Khal Drogo's vast khalasar. It was a dread mass when it was mobilized, focused, and directed as a whole. But in this morning, it was less than impressive, less than organized, not much more than a rambling rabble to Sunset's eyes.
Today, only a scattering of Dothraki bands on the leading edge of the horde were doing - whatever that smoke entailed.
Sunset continued to fume at the condescension she'd been subjected to by her companion, as they rode out in the direction of the fires. The raiding bands had moved quickly, and even a quick canter pace failed to devour the distance at a speed which satisfied Sunset and the bloodrider. As if she'd stoop to gossip! Or let anypony stop her once she'd gotten her hooves under her!
Sunset looked up from the beaten tracks of the warbands in whose hoofprints they followed. The nearest fires were just over the next rise. This was what she had wanted. This was what she had been angling for.
Why did she feel uneasy?
A burst of speed brought them over the crest of the rise, and the fires came into view. Fields of half-ripe winter barley were smoldering, dried enough to catch fire, still wet enough to not build up into a destructive flash-fire or a proper fire-storm. Beyond the fitfully smoking stalks of the ruined, unharvestable small-grain fields, lay a little farmhold, a collection of huts and sheds, likewise fitfully on fire.
One hut, more so than the others. Sunset rather thought it had been the main dwelling, to judge by the butchered remains of the man who had most likely been its owner, a corpse smoldering halfway inside the burning house.
They found this particular naquikhasar in the clearing behind the burning buildings. Sunset did her best to not hear or see exactly what was happening to the farmer's family. At least they weren't dead yet. She kept her distance as she'd been ordered. She had no interest in getting any closer to that.
Rahkaro yelled for this band's mahrazh-naquikhasari, Nhizo, until that older man got up from his oversight of the... chastisement of the farmer's-family, and sauntered over to lackadaisically give his account of his activities. The brutal, blood-splattered Dothraki had nothing valuable to report other than his own outrages. Rahkaro snorted dismissively at the older man's bragging, and led Sunset away from the scene of rape and brutalization.
"That fool will never be a bloodrider, Sunset Horse. I'd say he thinks with his pecker, except that would mean that he thinks at all. Half again my age, and two, three riders among his get - and what does he show for it? Banditry! Hasn't gotten anywhere near the gates of the city. Pfa!"
Sunset nodded as if she agreed, as if she could see the unprofessionalism of the slovenly, careless Nhizo. This was the way of the Dothraki! Except...
Except she couldn't really see the difference between what disapproved-of Nhizo was doing, and the slightly more active rapine of the equally-savage bands they found here and there beyond that first burning homestead. The naquikhasar led by Gulkarro and Qhono, were found in an arc to the southeast, busy sacking other small homesteads, each destroyed farm marked by the now-obvious pillars of black smoke. Perhaps it was the way they'd bound and led away the bruised, bloodied, and terrified captives, rather than debauching them right on the doorsteps of their burning homes?
Sunset didn't understand, but the hollow-eyed despair of one small boy, tied behind his stumbling grand-dame or aunt as they were marched away from their old lives by a pair of Dothraki riders, stayed with her as they passed through the arc of destruction.
You did this, Sunset.
They came up to Adrahko and his warband, cavorting in the open roadway, the wide and clear main road that led to the gates of a low-walled town. Gyohan Byka itself. They had to have a good view of the burning, wrecked farmsteads leading up to their gates. Sunset's eye was drawn to a bloodied heap laying in the metalled gravel of the roadway a dozen and a half strides away from where they came to a stop.
This particular band of Dothraki were having fun. They waved their arakhs in a wild display, whipping their horses, and chasing each other back and forth in full view of the walls while screaming their heads off. A number of them stood upon horseback, bows out, plinking away at the gates of the city. Their recurved bows had a decent range of fire, Sunset thought, although in school she'd done better with a spell she'd learned from a lieutenant in the Princess's palace guard. She missed her magic, and absently rubbed her horn as she watched the Dothraki at play.
A couple of the archers were trying to light their arrows on fire, but seemed to mostly be scorching themselves. The flaming arrows in flight quickly snuffed themselves by the wind of their own passage, thumping solidly but quite extinguished into the clay cladding of the walls in the distance. Sunset wondered where they'd heard of the idea. She knew a spell to make what they were trying work, but again, the horn...
Rahkaro pulled aside the sweating, grinning Adrahko, who had been leading his men in their athletic display. The warriors left their leader behind, and continued to chase each other around like a bunch of high-spirited colts kicking up their heels in sheer animal joy.
The two Dothraki bent their heads over their horses, discussing the reception of Adrahko's morning of joyful terrorism. Sunset listened to the conversation, and absorbed Adrahko's estimate of the emotional state among the goat-herders of this benighted nowhere. Her attention wandered as the report turned to a rather uninformative series of empty boasts, and she watched the still-cavorting horse-nomads enjoying themselves behind the boastful if diligent Adrahko.
They'd dragged a pair of captured farmers out into the road beyond the corpse, and were playing at capture and release. A pair of riders was charging with lassoes in hand, and - there one of the battered prisoners went, pulled off his feet and dragged towards the gates in the near distance.
I made this happen.
They let the other prisoner go, and he swayed into a stumbling, gasping run, dashing for the safety of the walls. One of the riders, smiling, drew his claws, his arakh, and stood in his stirrups, waiting to give the runner a head start. Poised like a cat, waiting to pounce.
Sunset stared, riveted, waiting for the moment when the Dothraki rider with his arakh would spur his mount, and charge forward, and the wickedly curved blade would slice through the smoke-tainied air and-
Her focus, directed down-road towards the rider, his prey, and the walls walls beyond, meant that she was the first to see, in the corner of her eye, the objects that some unseen men flung over the city walls on either side of the barred gates. It was why, when her vision re-focused in startlement, that she was the one to witness their heavy arc as they fell, kicking, kicking - only to stop, dead, as the ropes tied around them came taunt, and they snapped to a twitching halt.
But the games they were playing all came to a halt, and the now-still Dothraki sat in their saddles to witness what came next, and watched with all solemnity as the broken-necked Gyohani corpses hung by their unnaturally-bent necks, dancing, twitching in the distinctive manner of the just-executed. The bodies swayed pendulum-like, laying like a pair of ghastly holiday-decorations on either side of the barred gate of Gyohan Byka. The gate creaked open, granting entrance to the savages outside the walls.
The Dothraki games were concluded with the hanging, and they returned to their business, gathering up their prisoners, and advancing to take possession of the gates between the two hanged men dangling in the smoky haze.
"Sunset Horse, it is time," said Rakharo as he leaned over his horse. "Go and tell the khal the news! The stone-house people have surrendered to his mercy! Ride!"
And Sunset rode like the smoke-stained wind. |
Those Who Ride | The Wisdom Of Khals | Sunset had never run as fast as she did in that sprint from the gates of the surrendered city. The sound of her own hooves thudding into the gravel of the road, then the packed dirt, echoed in syncopation with the percussive thumping of her struggling heart, and the rising thunder of both drowned out every thought, every quibble, every feeling that was not run, run, faster, faster, faster.
The world was throbbing behind her eyes when he found the khal's cavalcade. They were a leisurely hour's walk from the previous night's encampment, and his bloodriders surrounded him in full panoply. A corps of axe-men trailed behind them, a host of archers rode ahead. The whole gave an impression of force, of aggression coiled and ready for the leap.
The khaleesi was nowhere to be seen, nor any of the women of the camp.
Sunset came up behind the khal's fighting khas, running at a dead gallop in a cloud of ash-tainted dust. The khal himself was not painted in his colors, but his eyes were sharp and his arakh was ready to hand in a sheath strapped along the saddle of his best horse, the great chestnut stallion with the vast chest and the powerful shoulders.
She gathered her remaining wind, and slowed to a stop within five strides of the now-still horse-lord on his mount.
"What news have you, Sunset Horse?" The words were aimed at her, but he turned from side to side, projecting them across the attentive crowd of lajaki, of warriors. "Am I today to break my betrothal peace, and sally with my blood and my lajasar to tear down another pile of unnatural stone and mud raised over the earth in rejection of the Stallion and his ordering of the galloping plain? Shall my arakh drink deep of the blood of stone-men fit for naught but the slaughter-herd and the collar?"
"No, my liege, my khal," Sunset forced out of her aching lungs, her coat twitching with all of the blood-thirsty eyes upon her. "They have given you their gates. Gyohan Byka surrenders to your, to your might!"
The adrenaline had been burned out of her by the long gallop, and she felt that rider's high that comes after the second wind, the third wind - a sort of floating grace, entirely physical in essence. She didn't think of the sacking of the farms, the rapes, the riders playing with prisoners like cats teasing at captured mice. She didn't even think of that meaty thunk and the weight of the weeks-dead magister's head as it landed on her back for that brief, terrifying instant. All she did was await a gap in the predatory roar of the assembled lajaki as they shook their weapons at her.
Then she continued.
"They have opened their gates wide to your naquikhasari! There are two hanged men greeting us, one on each side of the main gate. As I left, Adrahko and Rakharo were taking command of the town."
The khal half bowed, smiling beneficently, "Then today is a day of peace. My men, think you today is a good day for a gentle ride? Let us go down to the stone houses, and gather our due from the stone-men who bend their heads to those that ride!"
And the lajasar roared with approval, and dissolved into its component clots, Dothraki cheerfully trotting past the still unicorn as they broke away from the road, and swarmed around her, heading for the town which had given itself to them.
Riders spread out from the self-disassembling war-host, searching out the components of the greater khalasar in motion, to apprise them all of the changes occasioned by the surrender of the little city. There had been two plans for the next night's encampment, and one had been for a war-footing sited so that the khal and his lajaki could be supported in what had been expected to be a brief but vigorous siege.
They would be moving into camp, instead, around the surrendered city, taking their due from the subjugated Gyohani, but otherwise an encampment as any other Sunset had seen in her brief time with the Dothraki. She had expected to be sent out as one of the messengers, as she had on previous occasions, but the khal, rolling loosely on his great war-mount as the beast moved along, waved his khaleesi's witch-horse to his side instead.
"Stay, stay, Sunset Horse. These stone-men, they still speak the coastal-tongue, and I would have someone to speak my words for me. It will confuse them! That will be jolly. And I find I am in a jolly mood. They sound fearful enough for today, I do not need them shitting themselves before me, I do not think."
Sunset moved at a slightly faster pace than a trot, to keep up with the vast strides of the khal's great beast, gathering her thoughts from the morass of her morning and her ride, slowly coming back to herself, and coming down from the hypnotic effects of that mad gallop.
"You do not wish them terrified, Great Khal?"
"Ha! Of course I want them scared! Fear! Fear is the sinews of command, Sunset Horse. Fear drives men. Fear breaks men! But fear breaks them into pieces that can't be picked up, if you put too much fear in them. If they're hanging men to calm me, then that, my strange little horse, is scared enough for today."
"What about... respect?" What in Tartarus was coming out of her mouth? "Loyalty?" Was she mad? "...Love?"
"Listen to you! Where did you learn to speak the real tongue, so quickly, so well? Is it witchery, or did that fat fool I cut down teach you more than I'm told he claimed? He didn't speak the real tongue himself, did he?"
"No, Great Khal," said the madpony, thinking of that meaty impact, the splater... "I am... a very quick study. Faster than I thought myself to be, it turns out. I don't think it is magic, or if it is, it's nothing I do... consciously. Uh, 'mindfully'?"
"Ha! You are certainly faster to pick it up than the moon of my life." The great bipedal beast upon his enormous steed leaned down, whispering theatrically. "Tell no one, but you are both much faster than I. I will always be quicker in knowing how to gut a man, than how to speak his degenerate words!"
The khal swayed back in his saddle, and continued, loudly. "If men conquered with their tongue, and with their words, then this khalasar would ride to another's command."
Sunset looked up, screaming inside, and yet... She narrowed her eyes. "And yet it rides to your command, Great Khal, and not at the edge of your arakh."
Mad!
"Ha! True enough, Sunset Horse! But my command is to Dothraki warriors, in Dothraki words, to Dothraki deeds! If I could only command stone-house men in stone-house words, I would only be able to extract from them stone-house deeds! No, no. Look at my light of the moon, her weedy little brother, who thinks to command me like a seller of sold stone-house steel! To cross his poison water and sack his distant lands... I will figure him out, some other day. But he would command me in stone house words, to his poison-water deeds. Harumph!"
"You do not," Her long mentorship under the gentle Princess had utterly unfitted her for interacting with the great and powerful. Her instincts! Her lunatic instincts! "You do no intend to give King Viserys his promised..."
"No! Never that! I have promised him! I have given my word! A khal's promises are like the packed earth beneath your horses' hooves! If they are not firm, the herd struggles, falls, fails! No, a khal's words must be solid footing, that much is true. And I have given him my words. If he understands them. And it is his problem if he does not understand exactly what I have said, exactly what I have promised. And nothing more! But enough of the foolish steel-shirt khalakka. This is not a day for him. Today is a day for managing the fear of terrified stone-house men!"
The khal sat back in his saddle, thinking over what he had said. Then he said something else, quietly, almost as much to himself as to the little orange unicorn riding by his side, as if he didn't think what he had said was quite all there was to it.
"Reputation, Sunset Horse, is an arakh," said the khal, stroking the sheathed weapon beside his saddle. "Fear is a blade, a sharpened piece of steel. You can cut with it, kill with it, but if you take a sharpened blade by the naked tang, you cut yourself as well. Bleed out, die of blood poisoning, look the fool. Only fools fight with naked steel. Honor, honor is the haft - your word. Your word is the handle, the thing that lets you grip the blade without gashing open your own palm with your fear.
"And once you've mastered your arakh, you've mastered your enemy. You can kill his heart, before your blade ever touches his skin. Open doors, with the promise of the arakh alone. Tear down cities, with the weight of your word. When you master their fear with your words, you have made yourself an arakh. An arakh that can cut through walls, cut through stone houses, cut through worlds."
The khal and his men were greeted by Rakharo inside the gates of Gyohan Byka and a pair of riders, who stood watch over a crowd of bare-headed Gyohani. The crowd laid down in the dirt of the square behind the gates, laid prone as the great khal passed between the two hanging corpses, his attention on the dead rather than the living.
The cavalcade came to a stop beside the young bloodrider, and Khal Drogo turned to his man.
"Have they been compliant, Rakharo?"
"Yes, Great Khal. They do not speak the real tongue, so it has been slow riding, but they've started bringing out the gifts owed, and I think I got across to them that they owe much more on top of that, for making us come to them."
"They speak the tongue of the coastal stone house men, do they not?"
"Sort of, Great Khal? In a sense."
"Then you should not have sent your magic horse away, with her talent for words! Sunset Horse, come forward, we would have words with these cowards!"
Sunset trotted forward, obedient. The fires in the countryside had died away, and they had not returned along the back-trail upon which all the destruction and death had been; if not for the smoke, it would have been a blue-skied day of perfect, sunny weather. But the hanging offal outside of the gate had gotten her back up again, and she was struggling to, as the khal had put it, manage her fear. And her guilt.
"Speak my Dothraki words to these stone-house zafra in stone-house words!"
"The Great Khal speaks! Listen, you slaves!"
"Good! Good! Tell them that it is good that zafra know their zafra places. And I see from the bloody curds they've hung on their stone walls, that they know how to put me in a good mood. Who speaks for them?"
"It is good that slaves know that they are slaves. Khal Drogo sees the men you have hanged from your walls, and is pleased. Who speaks for the town?"
A well-fed man, grey-pelted and almost as tall as he was wide, got creakingly to his knees, looking up like a clever pony trying to be humble. Sunset could see the confusion in his eyes when he looked up to find before him not a woman, but herself. He held a rich cloth in his hands, wringing the fabric - Sunset thought it was perhaps some sort of hat. She could see him gathering his wits, and dismissing the orange specter before him. He offered up his speech to the khal:
"Greetings, Great Drogo, and we welcome your benevolence to our humble city. We were led astray by evil men, who told us false things, and led us into wicked disobedience to your commands. When your men came to our lands, we realized our errors, and as you see, we punished them for their wickedness, that led us to disrespect you and your commands!"
Khal Drogo turned to Sunset, his eyebrow arched questioningly.
"Ah, he says that the dead men beside the gate are those that led the city to disobey your commands, Great Khal. They killed them to show remorse."
"Hmph. They would murder their own khals, simply to avoid our wrath? Are we that frightening, Rakharo?"
"It seems to be the case, my khal. What else could it be?"
"I know what I would do, if I were a worm, and a stone-house man, and a terrible khalasar came to my gates with blood in their eyes and fire at their heels. And it would not be to let my little stone-house children overthrow me and hang me by my heels or my neck from my own walls!"
The khal thought, looking down at the man who was almost as huge as he, himself, although the bulk of the kneeling man was more in fat than the khal's sleek muscle. This tableau of thought and obedience was brief in duration, as a shriek of fury cut the air, startling both the Dothraki in their saddles, and the Gyohani upon the dirty cobblestones.
A woman emerged from a building to Sunset's right, her face warped with rage and grief, tears streaking her dark cheeks under burning eyes. Two younger women pulled at her arms, tugging ineffectually at their elder, who was both much larger than them, and apparently, stronger as well.
"Liar! Coward! Monster! Fools, that you let him do this! Fools, that you let the savages into our city! Doom! Doom! You've killed us all! Damn you, damn you, damn you!"
With each damnation, she pulled her attendants forward, striding like a farmer cutting new sod for the first time, jerking left and right, as if pulling a plow through stony ground. Shaking them off with one last 'damn you!', she moved quickly forward to the riders and the crowd.
Two of the khal's men brought their horses around, keeping the shrieking woman from approaching Khal Drogo.
"Sunset Horse! What does the vikeesi want?"
Sunset listened to the shrieking woman, and feared to translate the profanities, the incoherent obscenities - wait, was that right? The woman's accent, but she had to say something - "My khal, she disapproves. She thinks you'll kill them all."
"Well, it is an option, if I am to be screamed at by vikeesi. Find out what has made her so willing to court my arakh."
The fat man on his knees had half-risen, screaming imprecations at the almost-as-fat woman in that same bastardization of proper Pentoshi Valyrian, and Sunset had difficulty making out their mutual accusations through the thick local accent. No, not an accent - a different dialect? The khal was waiting!
"My khal, I think she's the leader of - no, the mother of the local opposition party, the, uh, er. The fat man's enemies, I think? She's accusing him of judicial murder of, er, using you, Great Khal."
"USING ME? Rakharo, silence that vikeesi! Someone, shut up that stone-house worm on the ground!"
The two apes were beaten to the ground, whip-ends used to interrupt the semi-suicidal argument that had broken out between the Gyohani.
"Now," continued the khal. "More calmly, before I really do lose my patience and kill every stone-house imbecile here. What does she say?"
"Uh, my khal, I think she's saying that the dead by the gate are her sons or - I think a son and a husband? - Son and husband?"
The fat woman shook her head, furiously, eyes burning. She jabbered something in ever-more-incoherent not-really-Valyrian.
"She says that they were not the party who denied you your gifts and your respect, but were -" Sunset turned to the fat woman, and prompted her again, getting a rush of rapid-fire hill-Valyrian that she mostly understood. "Vulnerable and on the outs with the town council. My khal, the leaders of the city hanged someone at random to appease your fury. I think? This man, he used their fear of you to rid him of enemies. She says he was the one who disrespected you."
The khal kicked his horse forward, looming over the fat man who was being held to the ground, an arakh against the back of his neck by a silent Dothraki. He stared down at the quivering fat man, as if he could kill the man with nothing but a look.
"No, Sunset Horse, I think you're right. Leader, not leaders. This is the sort of thing a man who has control over his people would do, could do. Kill intimate enemies, to stave off distant ones? Clever man. Wise man. To use another's reputation as his blade. To make fear of me his ally."
The khal sat tall in his saddle. "Dangerous man. Rakharo, have the fat man hung beside his victims. Use his entrails. Make sure he lives while he hangs."
Khal Drogo rode away from the screaming fat man as Rakharo and two others dragged him away, no doubt to look for - Sunset stopped that thought-process before it led to imagining what the khal had ordered. She watched the khal instead, as he kneed his horse over to where the two riders were restraining the angry widow. He summoned her to join him.
"Sunset Horse, ask her how she thought this would end."
Sunset relayed the question.
"Great Khal, she thinks you will kill them both. Expects it."
"Ha! I like her. Is she my enemy?"
Sunset asked her.
"Not if you kill the fat man, my khal."
"Ha! Another dangerous one. If she were any younger, and I were not a married man, I'd steal her away. Those two - her daughters?"
"So it appears, Great Khal."
"Qotho, take them. If this is what the women of that family are like, I want to see what brats they'll give us, if I give them to my bloodriders. Cohollo, Haggo, take the town, get our offerings." The khal looked down at the older woman. "Don't sack the town. Sunset Horse, tell her we're taking her daughters. Does she have a problem with that?"
"She says... she can have more. Can she?"
"I don't know, Sunset Horse. She's fat enough. But good enough for today. I'm feeling generous! Like the Lamb-Men, we'll only shear the sheep! We'll take just one."
And the Dothraki set out throughout the town. To harvest the fleece. |
Those Who Ride | Dothrakian Nights | Sunset found herself experiencing a peculiar blend of delight, shame, and anger as the khalasar left the scorched fields and terrorized citizens of Gyohan Byka behind them in a cloud of ash-flecked dust. Delight that they were leaving this terrible place, shame at how weak she had been in acting without understanding or comprehension, and anger that it had all come to this. The carts of the khaleesi's camp passed in front of the now-closed gates of the city in their course eastward, and the dead bodies continued to sway in the northern breezes, the bloody remains of the once-mayor of the city hanging next to the older of his two victims.
Thankfully, the khaleesi had left earlier to ride with her husband, and wasn't here to see the rotting corpses with her handmaidens. Not that the others seemed to care about the display, not Jhiqui, not Irri, not even soft-handed, foreign Doreah. Sunset felt strangely alone as she stood, staring at the dead.
She hated that man, the dead burgher whose decisions, whose greed, and whose cowardice had led him here, before her, a lesson in disgust and horror. She hated him with a purity which she never thought to find in herself. She hated what he'd shown her of that self. Of what foolishness she was capable of, of what she could tolerate, and for showing her that she could hate. She had never hated before like this.
Most of all she hated what she had found in her heart, because she couldn't help but admire the khal's solution to the problem which the burgher had presented him. The fat man, whom the crows had found, and were now feasting upon, had brought the khalasar to his door. His insults to the great and terrible Khal Drogo had obliged the khal to direct his khalasar out of its intended eastward course, and to ride down this man's farmers, burn their fields, make play in the highway leading to his gates with their terrorized captives.
If anyone in this had deserved to be hung by his steaming entrails as crows-food, it was this man.
Sunset turned away from the carrion, and followed the khaleesi's camp-carts as they rolled eastwards.
The khalasar crossed a wide river two days after the not-sack of Gyohan Byka, seizing the fords downstream from what had once, a great long time ago, been a mighty bridge for some long-lost empire. The great road which the Dothraki horde had been moving along - carts on the highway, naquikhalasari and outriders and bands of assorted riders swarming in the byways and fields for miles around - led up to the footings of that now-obliterated bridge. It must have been a mighty construction in its day, but this day, the carts and the other baggage were led down the new way which had been beaten into the soil by thousands before the Dothraki, and thousands today. It was a natural road, an unintended road, and Sunset found herself blessing the dry weather for the condition of the footing.
It would be muddy enough as it was, from all the thousands of hooves and hundreds of wheels that would be churning the bottom of the fords as they went.
Sunset had never had to ford a river with baggage-carts before, and she found herself struggling, helping push this cart and that through mud-holes with mud-slick hooves, side by side with equally mud-stained zafra. The hot sun in the sky baked the mud on her forelegs almost as soon as she took them out of the water, and she found, strangely, how close in height she was to these apes when she took herself off of four legs and stood to push with them.
She thought about how determinedly four-legged she had been since coming here to this world of primate-bipeds. It was in part a reaction to having lost her magic, if she was going to be honest with herself. She didn't feel quite stable on her back hooves without horn-magic to keep her balance. She knew that earth ponies were fully capable of tottering around two-hooved, almost like these apes, these men, but in general, without her magic, she didn't feel like a horned earth pony, she felt like a crippled unicorn. So it was, so it went, and so she had stuck to her four steady hooves, cautious, careful.
It was impossible to be cautious or careful in the middle of a sullen, stubborn, muddy river-ford like this. So, she got up on two legs, and pushed like the rest of them.
After the khaleesi's baggage was safely on the other side of the river, Sunset went upstream to find someplace with clean water, to try and wash the dirt off of her coat and hooves, out of her frogs, before it all set like concrete. She looked up from the washing, to find the khaleesi kneeling beside her, washing river-mud out of her own leathers.
"Never tell me some fool let you get out and push, Your Highness?" Sunset objected, in mixed Dothraki and Equuish.
"If they can, see them try!" chirped the khaleesi. "Had fun! Why Sunset Horse deny me my moment to play mud!"
Sunset looked at the delicate little white-haired girl, mud in her platinum tresses, dirt staining the riding-leathers she was wearing these days. Had they ever let the little princess make mud-cakes in the back-yards of the magisters' mansions and palaces she'd grown up in?
"Aren't you a little old to be playing in the mud, Your Highness?"
"Oh, hope not, Sunset Horse!" The khaleesi grinned like... like the hoyden she was, Sunset realized. Then the princess-hoyden flung a fistful of mud at Sunset.
Sunset gasped in outrage. And then she dipped her free left frog into the river-bank, and standing on her rear hooves returned volley.
Things degenerated from there, and the other handmaidens descended up on the two of them, choosing sides seemingly at random. A great deal of mud rearranged itself across the khaleesi's retinue, and afterwards, they bathed a bit further upstream from where they'd churned up the river-bank.
All the while, the khalasar continued to cross the wide fords of that great and lazy river that drained the Norvosi highlands to the north and east.
The night after the baths, they curled in the great tent, the handmaidens keeping their mistress's company. Sunset could think of little in her experience like that closeness, that crowded cheerfulness, and she laughed along with the rest as they listened to Doreah and her story of the maid of the Summer Isle and her grand-romance with the river-snake.However salacious and disgusting the story might have been if you sat back and thought about it.
The khaleesi tried and failed to sing some Andalese song about what she'd been told was a bear and a maiden fair, but she'd heard it as a very young child, from a nurse long-gone from her brother's service, and had apparently forgotten most of the words, except that she'd been told it was likely filthy in implication.
"Sunset Horse!" laughed the khaleesi, giving up on her cracked-voice failure to sing. "Spare me from this mortification!"
"Khaleesi!" scolded Jhiqui. "You must only speak in the real tongue, or you will never retain what you have learned. In Dothraki, please."
"Bah, yes, in Dothraki, yes. Sunset Horse! A story, so that I forget that I forget my Andalese!"
"What kind of story should I tell Your Highness? Something dirty, like Doreah's snake? My people have many of these, but they never told me, because my ears were too young and tender for such filth. Of romance, to honor your honeymoon here among the hills and the wild pigs?"
"That sounds nice, Sunset Horse, but the night is dark, and warm, and I would something... wild. My sun and stars, he has given me all I could wish of romance."
"Wild! Wild, she asks. Khaleesi, Your Highness, you ride among the wildest, and most savage of any creatures in these two worlds."
"Two worlds! What, is there more than this?"
"I'm told you grew to marrying age in the stone-house kingdoms of the Free Cities. Further, they say that you were born in storm and thunder in some distant salt-wracked stone on the other side of the Narrow Seas. What are those but two different worlds from this, we lay in tonight? I, like you, have crossed worlds, to lay my hooves in the soil of this new and dangerous world I ride through. And behind me, are many ponies who traveled the far abroad, and worlds I know not, but the tales they told us."
Sunset thought, and rearranged her memories, and drew from them something suitably exotic.
"I met a great bird in the court of the Forever Princess, who came to pay his respects to the monarch of the heavens and sun and moon, for in this world, she who was named after her own heavens controlled all that rose and all that fell, and when she said rise! The sun greeted the dawn, and when she said fall! The moon kissed the horizon and glided away into the jewel-box of the skies."
"A bird! Are all animals alike, where you came from, Sunset Horse, that a horse talks to us, and a bird to you?" asked Jhiqui, drawn in despite herself.
"No, not in the least, but the peoples were many, and their shapes as many as their magics, Jhiqui of the Dothraki. And this great bird was what we called a griffon, for his people were feathered about his head and shoulders, and he had talons upon his forelegs, but the rest of him was furred and clawed and tailed like a great beast, like a leopard or a lion!"
"Like the carvings of the harpies of the Slaver cities down in the Slaver Coast?"
"I do not know these harpies, Irri. What do they look like?"
"They have the heads and busts of women, but the wings of birds of prey, or scavenger-beasts like vultures."
"Interesting! But no, though I have seen griffons with heads so scabrous and naked of feather that one would think their ancestors consorted with turkey-vultures, and that hen was so hideous that I could not think how other griffons could stand to look up on her, let alone romance her. And yet, I'm told she was reckoned a great beauty among her kind!
"But no, this ambassador-bird was a male, and a mighty specimen, with fur like a amber plains-lion, and white feathers like a sharp-eyed eagle. And though the princess rejected his embassy as not properly credentialed, the stories he told were marvelous and, I thought at the time, barbaric and full of splendor." Sunset used the Valyrian words barbaric and splendor, for Dothraki had no such terms, being themselves, unconsciously and reflexively, the very definition of barbaric and splendid.
"He bragged of the ancestry of his noble lord, and of the deeds of those ancestors, their steadfastness in the service of the lost King of Griffonstone, and their right to that monarch's throne."
"Griffoonwhoohun?" tried Irri, failing to replicate Sunset's Equuish.
"It meant 'Stone of the griffons, and it was the aerie of aeries, a vast tree-like collection of mighty mansions perched upon a peak like a great tree, a tree so enormous that it might very well hold up the sky. And in ancient days, the Griffon-stone was the foundation-stone of an empire of griffons that spread around the shores of the Celestial Sea, which in those days was known as the Griffon Sea. But those are tales of long ago, and the great king of the griffons disappeared, or died, or was done away with - the stories are endless. This ambassador came prepared with one such story, that claimed that enemies of the clan he served had conspired with the wicked Aramaspi to do away with their liege, and the loyal clan, being loyal to the end, had the right to the empty throne."
"So," snarled the khaleesi, looking somehow larger in the half-darkness and the fire-light glowing through their open tent-flap, "these griffons were either perfidious lions, or treacherous wolves, or some sort of useless southern sand-snake colony, useless to their sovereign when it mattered?"
"Your Highness, I think those creatures mean more to you, than to me, or the griffon as he sold his stories. We should talk later, about what they signify, but in this story, the griffon's faction, let us call them the Eagles, they were at war with their enemies, whom we could call the Lions. Now, this was not a noble war of open clashes in the field, but rather murders in the darkness and the back-alleys, and the Forever Princess refused to let her ponies be drawn into the ugliness."
"How wise must a ruler be, if she never dies, and learns forever, piling lesson upon lesson, experience on experience?" asked Daenerys, rolling over on her back, lolling in the sleeping-cushions, staring at the pattern the fire-shadows made on the roof of the tent. "What if Aegon was still with us today, together with his fierce sister-wives? Would the provinces have rebelled? Would he have been driven into exile?"
"The immortality that mattered," observed Sunset, who had picked up some of the story here and there in Pentos, and from the khaleesi herself, "was that of the dragons, was it not?"
The khaleesi looked drawn, and much, much older than such a young girl ought to have. "Enough of that. Continue the story of the eagle-cat lords and their perfidy!"
"As I have told you, the Forever Princess turned away his embassy, and gave them safe passage back to their war-torn lands. But before he left, I heard him tell a story of the first griffon, in the dawn of the world.
"For in the dawn of the world, wild magic stalked the land, and sparks of mystery and miracle struck here, there, everywhere. Thinking beasts rose up out of the soil, and descended from the skies above. And into the great world-tree of which the tree-dwellings of half-splendid Griffon-Stone are a distant memory, climbed a great cat, a lion like the father of all lions, into the lower boughs in search of a meal of eggs.
"That great king of lions climbed, stalked, and on one wide branch, he found a large nest, full of enormous eggs, and he licked his whiskers, and crept closer, to eat his fill. But the king of lions was quick, and he was careful, and he flipped around like a flash, for the queen of the eagles had been keeping a watch over her clutch of eggs from a higher branch, and she stooped like lightning, to destroy the invader with her raptor-talons.
"The two met with a mighty crash there in front of the egg-nest, and though the king was quick, and the queen was swift, and both were savage as the night and bold as the day, they fell from branch to branch, breaking this and that as they fell.
"And as they hit a low, wide branch, their fall was arrested, and the two, battered but furious, resumed their battle in this lower chamber of the world-tree. The queen of the eagles embedded her talons deep in the vital core of the lion-king's guts, tearing them quite out, and the lion-king took the eagle-queen's throat with his mighty jaws, and ripped her throat out with a terrible roar.
"And then, mortally wounded, the two expired in their bloody embrace, talons into innards, fangs into flesh, and that would have been that, and this would be a story for scavengers and the worms, but. But! But this was the morning of creation, and was this not Equestria, land of miracles and second chances?
"And when the dawn came, so did magic. And the dead carrion that had fallen to the very foot of the world-tree stirred, and in the blessing-light of the sun, an egg fell out of its dead mother, and fell to be cupped in the furred legs of its dead father. The world gave those murders a second chance, and the sun warmed that impossible egg, and it cracked, and opened. And that is how the first griffon burst into the world, screaming out his defiance.
"But where that first griffon found his wife, that, that was another story," finished Sunset with a bit of a hoof-flourish, and she looked over to see how her little tale had affected the khaleesi. She looked at Daenerys Stormborn, young bride of a savage brute, of a savage that was his own way as deadly as the doomed lion-king and his murder-wife the raptor-queen had been in their day.
The last princess of the Targaryens looked at Sunset Shimmer with joy in her glittering amethyst eyes, half in darkness, half lit by the flickering firelight.
"Tell me another!" |
Those Who Ride | Tales Of Exile | The white ogre was screaming something at her mistress. Sunset couldn't understand what the ogre was shouting , there were no words in it, only anger and threat and the promise of harm. The stringy-haired monster was like a cave-pony bellowing, like a diamond dog barking, like a dragon roaring - no sense or meaning beyond the simple operation of vast lungs, like the sound of of boulder-laced landslides rumbling over some defenseless downslope village.
The raging, purple-eyed ogre had the khaleesi by her small, delicate wrist, pulling her out of her saddle. That pretty, dumb, useless grey filly that she rode was panicking under the khaleesi's heels, and it bolted out from under her seat as the ogre wrested Sunset's mistress into the air.
Fury, pure and terrified fury, filled Sunset's veins, and she felt the sloped grass under her hooves flare and steam underhoof as she raced to her pale princess's rescue. She felt a trickle of something burning along her useless, useless horn, and a primal scream forced its way past her rage-tightened lips.
Sunset's vision was full of magic, fire, and fury, and her ears full of handmaidens screaming-
And that screaming woke Sunset. That, and a pail full of brackish, filthy water dumped over her head.
Her hot, over-heated head.
Sunset looked up from the now-soaked sleeping-pallet, and found the rest of her bedmates, the handmaidens who all shared a crowded tent in a promiscuous spooned pile most nights, half-tumbled out of the tent, scrambling away from her, terrified.
All but Jhiqui, who was standing over Sunset, panting wide-eyed, the offending bucket still in her hands.
What the hay, Jhiqui!" Sunset shouted, trying to wipe the wetness out of her eyes. "Tell me that wasn't the chamber-pot!"
"You're damn lucky it was just the wash-bucket, Sunset Horse! You were smoking!" snapped the senior handmaiden.
"No she wasn't," contributed Irri from the safe distance of the tent-flap. "She was glowing like an ember!"
"Swamp-monster-ball!!" contributed Doreah in her strange Lysene Valyrian dialect. Or, at least, that was what she had said sounded like to a somewhat confused Sunset.
"Wait, I was glowing? How was I glowing?" asked Sunset.
"That horn of yours, you weird witch-thing!" spat Jhiqui. "It was hot! And glowing blue!"
"Blue! What color blue? Like a green-blue, or a light blue, or-"
"What it was was hot, it damn near burnt my hand!" Jhiqui said, tossing the empty bucket out of the open tent-flap, over the heads of the other two handmaidens. She sat down on the other side of the pallet, staying out of hoof's-reach of the suspect unicorn.
Sunset looked around her, checking for scorch-marks. "I don't see any burn-marks. But horn-glow! Ha! It's coming back! Come on, you, glow!"
"You could see by the light!" said Irri, her head resting on her folded arms, laying to the left of the tent-entrance.
"You might be able to read by it!" said Doreah, mirroring her on the right.
"What is 'it', Sunset Horse?" demanded Jhiqui, cross-legged.
"My magic!" Sunset said, still tapping at her own horn with her left hoof, cross-eyed and hopeful. "If my horn's glowing, that means it's coming back! Aw, come on, glow, blast it!"
"Maybe it only glows when sleeping, Sunset Horse," said Doreah.
"Ah, that's just a foal thing. It'll come back in stages, as I recover from I don't know, maybe from the trauma."
"The what?" asked Irri. "Speak the real tongue, Sunset Horse."
"I don't know the word for trauma in Dothraki, Irri. For all I know, you don't have one. It isn't really a Dothraki idea, trauma. You need therapists for that to be a thing." Despite your over-supply of traumatising terrors like the mess we made of Gyohan Byka.
"What language is that, anyways, Sunset?" asked Doreah. "I've heard men from all over the world, from the Summer Seas to the Narrow and the Jade, and I've never heard anything like that. Sounds more like a horse-herd arguing than real words."
"I've told you before, whore-girl, she's a real horse some witch gave speech. She never was a person!"
"Irri, that makes no sense. Who's ever heard of an orange, horned horse that barely comes up to my shoulder-blade! She's a princess under a curse."
"She better not be, curses are catching. Sunset Horse, you and your glowing horn aren't going to give me hooves some morning?"
"I have always been a horse, Doreah. Thank Celestia, I have never been, nor will I ever be, one of you ungainly ape-things."
"Aw, Sunset, it wouldn't be that bad." Doreah raised her long, shapely hand, and waved her freakish fingers at the unicorn. "Don't you want to pick things up with something other than your teeth? Stroke a lover, finger his-"
"Shut up, whore-girl! We don't need to hear your filth this early in the morning!"
"Shut up, the lot of you," said Jhiqui. "Sunset Horse, if this is going to keep happening, we can't have you sleeping in here with us. I won't be burned to death by you catching the tent or the bedding on fire. You've got a coat, you can sleep outside from now on."
Sunset wasn't able to talk Jhiqui out of exiling her from the handmaidens' tent, and trying got her assigned oversight of the scullions for the day. There were more boring tasks in the camp, but none quite so demeaning, at least to Sunset. Who, if she wasn't actually a transformed princess of some mythical Equuish-speaking back-country, was still the former student of the Forever Princess.
Sunset thought of Celestia, and home. Was anything more unlike Canterlot than this scrubby, brown hill country? She knew that Celestia had been effective empress of half a continent, but Sunset had seen only a few narrow slices of that great country, and every bit she had seen had been green and cultivated, carefully kept. The Equestria Sunset had known had been a nation of gardens and manicured lawns. Even the orphanage had been neat and well-maintained. But all of that was gone, possibly gone forever as far as she was concerned. That damnable mirror! There hadn't even been another side to it, no mirror to confront. Just an olive tree in a grove of other olive trees, in a land that she'd thought was wild and barbaric.
Sunset looked up at the hills above the khaleesi's part of the camp, and laughed at the thought that those olive-groves had seen wild to her in that first look at Essos.
The terrain had grown scrubbier and drier as they had rode east and south of east, although they'd crossed two enormous rivers in as many weeks as they went, rivers fed by what Sunset had no idea, for there had been very little rain. The khal had chosen to direct his khalasar far to the south of the rumored walls of Norvos, and the priestly masters of that Free City had sent their regards and thanks for his restraint and notable absence in the form of numerous heavily-laden supply-carts in a compact, well-ordered convoy. The goods and food so supplied had been taken by a grateful khalasar, and the emptied carts had been blessed in their northward return by a naquikhalasar in escort.
The current camp was sprawled across an arid, dry highland, nominally the possession of the distant 'bearded priests' of Norvos. The camp's nearest water-source was a half-dried-out mudhole. A mudhole that had been a small stream-fed lake before the entire khalasar had emptied it out for their various sub-camp needs. If the horde had been forced to stay in this camp one more night, they'd all be filthy and thirsty the next morning.
Thankfully, the camp-captains, and by extension the khal and his immediate followers, were not complete idiots, and the Dothraki were packing up to leave. As they had done every morning, weeks on end, months even - Sunset did the sums in her her head, and realised suddenly that they'd been on the road for over two months. The khaleesi's part of the camp was upslope from the rest, and Sunset could look down, and out over the bustling chaos, to the distances beyond. Such a vast place the mirror sent me. Was Equestria this large, and I never noticed it on the other side of the windows of the princess's royal train-car, or beneath the wheels of her guards' air-chariots? Too absorbed in my own consequence, too wrapped up in whatever project she'd given me, whatever quest she'd given me, to see the land under my hooves?
Sunset packed the last of the dinner-gear into the cart, and swatted the dray-horse on its flank, nodding at the zafra sitting behind the reins. The rest of the camp was still packing up, but it was generally better to get some of the carts going, than to try and push the whole of the gear in a single, congested clot. The naquikhasari knew better than to steal from the khalzafra, not if they didn't want to be horse-whipped and given over to the head zafra themselves by irate blood-riders for a sweating term under the lash.
Sunset looked around for more work, and found herself unoccupied for the moment, her hooves idled. She knew she had ground to make up with the others, to get them to forget about the morning's fright. She was about to look to see if Irri needed help with the tents, when Jorah the Andal suddenly appeared on horse-back from behind a cart. The cart which had hidden the Andal and his horse kept going, rolling up the hill-track and kicking up a cloud of dust that threatened to make her sneeze. It was going to be one of those days, Sunset could tell already.
"Sunset Shimmer, khaleessiya of Her Highness Daenerys Stormborn, messenger of Khal Drogo! You're a hard person to find. I've been trying for two weeks now to get back to that discussion you promised me!"
Sunset looked around the camp for an excuse to put off the Andal, but found herself empty-hooved.
"Fine, just let me tell Jhiqui where I'm going."
Sunset had hoped to learn Andalese from Jorah, but he was more clever than he looked, and kept derailing their conversations onto matters which weren't declensions or grammar. She really didn't care to talk about horde politics, or about the khaleesi's food preferences, and definitely didn't care to talk about such things with Jorah. In the half-dozen talks they'd had before Sunset started avoiding him, she'd found that the only way to get him off the topic of camp-gossip and the khaleesi was to indulge his curiosity about her origins.
Not that she'd told him anything true about that. Each time they talked, she'd spun a new tale about where she'd come from, and the magic which had put her into the hands of Pentoshi slavers. She'd just had a couple of her imaginary constructs thrown back at her this very morning, filtered through the anxieties and fears of her fellow handmaidens. Which said something to Sunset about who else Jorah had been speaking to in the khalasar.
She was curious to see how far Jorah's circle of gossips had extended into the horde, and was planning on keeping an ear out for the more outlandish theories now. Since she'd refused to talk to anypony else about the subject, and only given Jorah himself the lies, it helped draw out for her benefit the peregrinations of Jorah the Andal.
"So, you came looking for another origin-story of the Sunset Horse, unicorn-slave of the great Khal Drogo and his beautiful khaleesi, Jorah the Andal?"
"I came looking for a true tale, Sunset Shimmer." Sunset was beginning to regret having offered her true name to this tall, rough looking man in Dothraki leathers. He looked today like a Dothraki, but Jorah Mormont, of Bear Island, son of Jeor and Hannah, did not think like a Dothraki. He thought like... Sunset was not at all sure that Jorah the Andal was typical of Westerosi. He was being notably unhelpful in educating her in that regard.
"And how do you know that one of those stories I've told you is not the truth?"
"What, that you were the daughter of great magicians, transformed and banished by the evil, imprisoned sister of your eternal monarch to this exile? Or was it that you were kidnapped by goblins, and stolen away from your loving sister to the Goblin Courts, and warped into this horse-like shape? Or that a secretive organization used their magics to turn you into a horse, to spy on the horse-kingdoms, and your ship went astray on the coasts south of Pentos?"
"Don't forget the one where I was a useless functionary attending a conference, where an evil merchant sold me a piece of costume-jewelry, which banished me to this distant land, in this foolish semblance of a legendary creature of literature!"
"Yes, of course, that one too! Do you have another?"
"Always." Sunset shifted from the Dothraki they had been speaking, to the khaleesi's High Valyrian. "But I have to tell you, Ser Jorah, it was a sad tale. My mother was once a proud daughter of a noble family of Crystal Ponies, of crystalline horses, who lived in the far frozen north, in a vast fortress-city known as The Crystal Empire, the crystalline imperium."
"It sounds like Valyria!"
"It was, from the tales I've heard. A vast, endlessly tall palace-spire, in which the queens of old dwelled, and kept away the screaming storms and snows with the Crystal Heart. But an ambitious unicorn came to his majority in the great fortress-city, and felt himself oppressed, and ill-used. And all the love and grace and good intentions of my virtuous mother failed to keep my wicked, wicked father from tearing the last foolish queen from her high throne, and smashing her into petrified shards, never to be put back together again. He enslaved my poor mother and the rest of the Crystal Ponies. He impregnated my poor mother, and took me away from her to raise me to be his heir. But his wickedness drew the attention of the Forever Princess, the Sovereign of the Heavens, and her dark sister, the Mare of Night. And they tore down our walls, and cracked open the great palace-spire, and defeated my mighty but evil father. The last I saw of my home, the Crystal Empire, was of a great wave of magic washing over the city, erasing it from sight, until it came to me, and then all was blackness.
"Until I opened my eyes again, and I was in that grove in the back-country of Pentos, with the slavers and their horn-harness and their halters."
Sunset wound down to a stop, breathing a little heavily. She'd put more into that one than she'd intended. She'd always loved that story, and those books. And Celestia had tolerated Sunset's taste for lurid romances of the lost Crystal Empire, encouraged it, in fact. Sunset suspected that Celestia thought it somehow character-building, or that it counteracted her occasional temperamental outbursts to calm herself with millennia-old fantasies of dark kings and virtuous maids.
"Yes, I think I've had enough of your tale-spinning, Sunset Shimmer." Jorah the Andal looked a little sad, and disappointed. "You've worn me down, I won't waste either of our time any further. I'll say it baldly, and cast myself on your pity: what does the princess love, what should I say to her, to gain her ear?"
And there it was, the tall, sandy-grey-haired Andal's desire, laid bare. Should she give him what he wanted?
"Jorah, I've been telling you what the khaleesi loves, all this time we've been talking. She loves strange stories of exotic lands and peculiar beasts. I told her once, a story I had been told, myself, a tale of the fall of the Dragon Queen. How she was trapped by a petrifying monster, and the mighty Dragon Guard died to a drake in futile defense of their liege. I told her how the Eternal Princess of the Heavens found nothing in the wastes left behind by that titanic battle, but the last and least of the Dragon Queen's petrified eggs. I told her how the Eternal Princess herself showed me the petrified egg in her court, and told me of the prophecy. The prophecy that states that there is, somewhere in the depths of time, one unicorn who is destined to awaken the last scion of the Dragon Kings, and raise that child whose destiny in turn is to revive the power of the dragons, to rebuild a kingdom once more from the rack and ruin of that long-ago desolation.
"She liked that one."
He nodded, and walked away.
They were, Sunset had heard, a day or two from the Dothraki Sea. The long trek across the hills of Norvos was almost at an end. |
Those Who Ride | The Choke-point | Someone had lied to Sunset. The two days' ride a bloodrider had told her laid between them and the Dothraki home ranges, stretched into three days' journey, then four, then another week and a half. And at the end of all that, she found herself looking out of the end of a long, meandering canyon at not the vast Dothraki grasslands but rather endless golden tree-tops swaying in the breeze.
A line of sandstone bluffs rose over the heads of the carts and remount herds of the main body of the khalasar, and they were by necessity crowded together flank-to-nose as the rearmost elements pressed forward on the foremost. These were, for such a great host, very tight quarters indeed.
Just beyond the shelf of level ground in front of the bluffs was a steep drop-off and, at the foot of that rocky slope, a racing river like a flood in miniature. This harsh, wild little river and the bluffs overhead marked the frontier in a quite emphatic fashion, drawing a sharp border between the Norvos confederacy and their neighboring city-state, the easternmost of the Free Cities, sinister, mysterious Qohor and her dependencies.
This river was as dangerous and narrow as the previous three had been wide and fat. The boulder-strewn slopes below the shelf upon which the horde crowded and milled, were barely anchored on their upper slope by the typical scrub of the Norvosi highlands. Down among the rocks and racing waters, greener vegetation grew lush and wild. Beyond the white-water demarcation of nature's fury, though, was a slight rise, drained into the water-shed of the rushing river. Growing on that slight rise and spreading eastward in an impressive vista as the land slowly fell away into the distance, were endless stands of amber-leaved deciduous trees, their canopies closing together until they formed a single, golden horizon of forest. A forest that, for all of its golden highlights, still looked to Sunset like any other a dark forest she had seen in her short life. Memories of home.
The river was unfordable by any beast born of equine dam, and the negotiations to cross the trade-bridges were tense and full of threat and bluster, or so Sunset heard. The khal and his khas chose to keep Sunset away from the Qohorik border-fortresses and their whip-thin slave-captains and the guards those mercenaries led. Sunset and the other handmaidens peered from a distance at the black-armored Unsullied in their stone-walled posts above the high bridges that crossed the unfordable waters below.
"They say," said Jhoqui with a sneer, "the Qohorik purchase their soldiers from the Astapori training-colleges because they cannot trust their own men with the interests of each others' family fortunes. The Qohorik are all witches, and sneak-thieves, and are treacherous like the changeable moon. They hire coaster sell-swords as well, but the Unsullied, they're owned by the people as a whole, not the individual merchants, not the families, not the witches' covens, or their priestly cults. The sell-swords fall too easily into alliance with this ambitious man, or that pestilent priest, or that sly old witch, and become their patrons' horse-tail, to be twitched and whipped for the sake of the horse's ass, and not the horse itself."
Sometimes, Sunset thought, Jhoqui's past rose up out of her conversation like hidden ruins rising out of a flooded plain. The brusque handmaiden had once been the pampered daughter of a great khal, not quite as mighty and all-conquering as the unassailable Khal Drogo, but once in his time a leader of a respectable khalasar. He had fallen to old age, or perhaps treachery - Sunset was not sure - and the bloodriders and lesser Dothraki she'd asked had not been as interested in the subject as she had been. But Jhoqui was a font of information on the politics of the road, if you could get her going.
"Their slave-trainers, the Astapori, they carefully time the cutting of their trainees. Just old enough that it doesn't make them run to fat. There's nothing so lean and wiry as an Unsullied. Look at them. Harder than any of ours, except perhaps the bloodriders. And the khal, of course."
"Cut?" asked Sunset, confused. "Cut how?"
Doreah, who was struggling through her still-poor grasp of Dothraki to learn from Jhoqui's wisdom, laughed to hear the unicorn fail to understand something so basic. "The horse has not heard of castrated slaves! There is something Sunset Horse does not know!"
"Gelding!" exclaimed Sunset. "They actually cut the peckers off of their Guard! Why, it destroys their aggression, their ambition, does it not? Everypony knows that you tame a stallion by cutting off his balls."
The angriest she'd ever seen Celestia had been that time they'd overheard some nobles chortling about the old rumor that the princess had her personal guards gelded. Sunset had gotten an earful of fury from the usually unflappable Celestia, an impassioned litany of every reason why gelding was an abomination, an evil practice. The princess had ranted about the six attempts in the last five centuries she'd made to have the practice banned, only to fail in her attempts to convince the Stables that gelding wasn't the natural punishment for certain great outrages against the moral order, certain terrible crimes. Crimes! Celestia had raged, punish one atrocity with another? Fools!
"The Astapori say, that ambition is a curse in soldiers, and that training and brutal discipline provides what balls take away with them," said Jhoqui.
"The Unsullied can't have children, can't build up families, have no interests of their own," sighed Doreah. "The Lysene magisters' council hires a lot of them. More of them come into the houses than you'd think."
"What!" exclaimed Irri, drawn in despite herself. "What use does an eunuch have for a prostitute!"
"What use does a woman have for a prostitute, Irri? More than you'd think, more than you'd think. I like the Unsullied, they can be fun, even sweet. More than the other type of sellsword. Those can be mean. You never wanted to be caught alone with one of the Brave Companions, those bastards tore a bloody furrow through the pleasure-houses, just before I... left." Speaking of pasts lurking under flood-waters - Doreah refused to say how she had ended up enslaved and in the possession of a khalasar.
The carts and the herds of the vast khalasar queued in the narrow open spaces that curled around the last foot-hills of the Norvosi highlands. The rear of the horde was hidden, no doubt curling this way and that, waiting in the deep hollows and draws they'd come down in that last descent. The fighting naquikhalasars stood their horses in clots here and there on the heights overlooking the stalled horde, armed and watchful. Rakharo, who was up there with half of the other bloodriders and the picked men, had told Sunset that this was the most deadly dangerous spot they'd been in for seasons, perhaps years. Other, lesser khalasars had been trapped and destroyed by vengeful western armies here or in similar terrain to the northeast or southwest, caught fat and full of stolen valuables, burdened with captive slaves, and careless in the tight quarters.
Khal Drogo was too wide-awake to be taken here like that. His men were prepared to smash through the small contingent of Unsullied and seize the passage if the Qohorik thought to betray another Dothraki khalasar.
Sunset sat beside the khaleesi and the handmaidens, and they watched the endless parade of the wealth of a nation across the high bridge, and she thought of how she would have destroyed it all, if she were a sly and ruthless Free City warlord. Pegasi outposts in the clouds above - Sunset looked up at the brutal blue sky, free of any blemish or scrap of vapor. Perhaps not. Unicorn choruses to seal off the upriver and downriver passages on the western bank of the river? She supposed that humans without thaumic resources could wrest some sort of sealing magic from earth and stone and constructed works. Like earth ponies. Although she'd need the earth ponies to hold the bridge, or bring it down, trapping the khalasar half on one bank, half on the other. Or entirely behind the unfordable river - to cast about, uncertain, thirsty, exposed, in hill country where their horses had limited forage and the fresh water was dear. Was that how the warlords of old had tamed past Dothraki hordes?
"I can see you thinking, Sunset Horse.You have your plotting face on," laughed Jhoqui. "What are you planning?"
"This makes me nervous, Jhoqui. I can see too many ways this ends badly for us all if the Qohorik want to betray the khal."
The khaleesi turned, her attention caught by the turn in the conversation and she listened to Jhoqui lecture her other handmaidens.
"And they could, if they cared to, Sunset Horse. It has happened before. They say that there are groves deep in the Forests of Qohor, that no living Dothraki has ever seen, where in the old days, the Qohorik rangers dragged their half-starved, helpless prisoners, never to be heard from again. For it takes starvation, and great thirst, to weaken Dothraki enough for these weak stone-house woods-men to take in battle, that or ambush and treachery. They say that there is a grove deep in the hidden heart of the forests where every tree has the flayed skin of some fallen khal's bloodrider wrapped around it, nailed in place as a spell, as a ritual. And there was a time that the Qohorik set out to expand that grove, and waged war against the khalasars as they passed through their lands.
"But every time a khalasar was ambushed, every time they pulled down this lesser khal or that, or trapped some handful of naquikhalasari away from their brothers, it drew the attention of the rest of us. And they say Qohor burned every season, for seven years. Outlying stone-house fortresses, every farmer, every ranger who couldn't hide from the vengeance of the Dothraki - Qohor burned, and as much of their forests as we could burn, that burned too.
"Eventually, they stopped setting out to take their Dothraki hides. Out here in the open, at any rate. Don't get caught away from the horde, Sunset Horse. I think the Qohorik would greatly prize an orange-furred hide they could wrap around some sacred tree in the depths of the unknown forest."
And the horde continued to creep through the narrows, and that high bridge over the unfordable river. |
Those Who Ride | Razors and Chamber-pots | The forest did not begin in a single slash across the road, but in dribs and drabs. Little copses of scrubby golden-leaved brush grew wider, thicker, and taller as the terrain rolled away from the border-river and the Norvosi river-bluffs beyond the river. Modest meadows alternated with narrow farmed fields, with no farm-houses or buildings to be seen anywhere near the highway. As the khalasar swarmed along the road, they made what was in any objective analysis a wide and capacious highway seem like a badly overcrowded Canterlot alley.
Sunset looked down at the cut-stone pavement of the road under her hooves. This was the same highway that had come down the centralmost of the canyon draws that the khalasar had squeezed through on the Norvosi side of the border, but in Norvosi territory the pavement had been left hidden under what must have been decades or even centuries of dust and dirt. Here in Qohorik country, someone had set out to maintain the old Valyrian road with a fanaticism that spoke to... a peculiar, even alien set of priorities, at least to her mind. She imagined that her hooves would have clopped loudly on those ancient stones - still so closely fitted that she couldn't see a single weed anywhere in sight - but for the fact that she was surrounded on every side by rolling carts, and trotting horses, and chattering Dothraki and zafra and all the chaos of a city on hooves and wheels.
Hooves and wheels that drew out of those cut-stone pavers a veritable, echoing world of ear-ringing noise. Sunset thought she could understand why the Norvosi let the roads grow their coats of sound-deadening dirt. She looked around at the near and distant yellow-leaved foliage, and wondered how deep the mounds of fallen leaves must get after the Running of the Leaves.
Then Sunsect considered that pony tradition, and mentally smacked herself for thinking such a thing might have arisen here in this new world, this world without ponies to regulate the seasons. It looked like autumn was almost upon them - what did these people do to clear the limbs, bring down the leaves? Did they even try to control the seasons like civilized ponies?
Sunset looked up at the baking late-afternoon sun, still shining hotly upon the crowded Dothraki, bunched up after the long crossing, and preparing to go into camp in this relatively open terrain. They had no princesses here; who told the sun to rise, the moon to set? To listen to the khal and his love-talk about his pale bride, he did, and his Daenerys was that moon, reflective of his glory. Sunset thought it safe to assume this was simply swagger, poetry - metaphor. For one, she'd never seen the khal do anything that even remotely looked like her former mentor's routine, her twice-daily ritual regulation of the heavenly spheres. Even great prodigies of ineffable, world-shaking power had to use some sort of ritual or preparatory act to move the heavens by will alone.
The Dothraki talked of a Great Stallion, and occasionally spoke of the sun in the sky as that self-same Stallion. Sunset was not sure this was metaphor, or religion, or actual literal truth. Looking at her fellow equines, so dead between the ears, so very much not-people, she could not imagine a god in this world walking on four hooves, however fiery those hooves, however bright the mane. She pondered the irony of the world she had come from, where an immortal pony with a mane like the auroras of the northern skies directed the sun in the sky like her own personal spotlight, and compared that bedrock fact of pony existence with this ape-world and its fever-dreams of figurative sun-stallions. Celestia had loathed it when the nobles made fun of her and called her the cake-goddess, or hinted at ironic worship of her alleged divinity, but she was real, she was tangible - you could reach out with a hoof, and slap her on her monumental flanks. If one was so inclined.
Celestia had been the closest thing Sunset had ever met to a god, and yet - no mare is a god to the pony who empties her chamber-pot.
Sunset looked up as the khaleesi kneed her grey back against the flow of traffic, and thought about the chamber-pot packed away in one of the carts. The little princess had used it extensively in the first several weeks, and it had been one of Sunset's jobs to clean it, had been her self-selected duty, if only to emphasize Sunset's personhood in the display of hoof dexterity. Then one day, Sunset had seen the khal squat at one of the public latrines, with his delicate flower of a khaleesi in plain view. She'd seen the little platinum-haired bride blink, and get an evil look in her eye. Then Sunset had seen her mistress, her little ape-echo of her all-but-goddess-in-this-world mentor, pull down her drawers, squat like a barbarian by the side of her savage husband, and made water while he voided his bowels, with all the world to watch.
From then on, the khaleesi used the very-public latrines like everyone else, and the fancy porcelain chamber-pot found a spot at the very back of the baggage, beneath the worn-to-rags silks and fine clothes which had lasted so very briefly in the saddle and on the road.
As they went into camp, they passed a detail of zafra digging away at the night's latrines under the bored eyes of a very junior camp-captain.
The khalasar was accompanied and somewhat preceded by a detachment of Unsullied infantry, long-speared and on foot. Sunset, accompanying the khaleesi in an expansive mood, eyed the strange not-men as they moved ahead of the slow-moving horde, and passed the slave-soldiers marching in the van. The archers from the khaleesi's khas parted around the Unsullied jogging in tight order, a half-dozen light-riding Dothraki enveloping on either side of the column of the armored eunuchs arrayed four to a row, ten deep. Sunset and the khaleesi rode to the left of the column, and Sunset got a close look at the gelded warriors with their spears and their round shields.
Their armor was made of thick, boiled leather, and they wore heavy caps with tails that protected their necks on both sides and the rear. The long spears - which were of a length longer than those used by Celestia's Royal Guard, and shorter than the pike she'd seen in an EUP museum once - looked like serious business, but she noticed a strange decoration hanging from each - what looked like braided hair, hanging long and tightly bound, from each weapon.
As they passed the detachment, Sunset kept herself between the khaleesi and Rahkaro, who had been assigned the command of the khaleesi's protective khas. Once they were out of ear-shot of the eunuchs Sunset slowed down a hair, and turned to ask the bloodrider a question.
"Yes, those were braids!" Rahkaro snarled, interrupting that question before she could even voice it. "Dothraki braids! Insolent worms.They'll never let us forget that, not as long as they can bind one true hair in a hundred, in a thousand plucked from some woman's wig. Slaves! I've met khals with less arrogance."
"When a Dothraki is defeated, they cut off their braids, right?" asked Sunset, trying to catch up to the rationale underlying Rakharo's ire.
"Yes, it is why Khal Drogo is so famed - he has never lost a fight, never been humbled, never felt the razor's-edge part his long hair." Rakharo felt at the base of his scalp, looking dark. "The elders say a bit of humbleness is good for a warrior. Makes him cautious, makes him keen to never lose a braid again. But every rider reveres and follows the long-braided ones, don't they? And then the damn Unsullied, they throw it in our faces."
"The braids they have on their spears - they're trophies? Are they real?" asked the khaleesi, who had fallen back to listen to their conversation.
"Yes, and sort of, khaleesi. They were once true trophies, from a day that is so long ago that it is only remembered in dirges and warning-songs. The reason that the Qohorik buy so many Unsullied. A fool of a khal, thought to run over a column of prepared Unsullied. Again and again, right in the face of their long sticks. Those Unsullied, those that survived - they're the reason there is a Qohor. And ever since, the gelded worms wave the braids they harvested from that field in our faces. Every time the Astapori deliver another batch of Unsullied, they break up a number of braids, and multiply them by mixing one hair into each new braid, one for each new Unsullied."
"It's a mockery. And damn them for being dangerous enough to not ride them down for that insult."
Sunset eyed the deflated demeanor of her young mistress, who had just wanted a nice gallop out in front of the day's advance. It was to have been a simple, joyous gallop along this beautiful highway, under the eaves of the forest closing canopy overhead. There were no leaves laying on the fitted cut-stones underneath their hooves for her to spook at, but the khaleesi's grey was even so starting to pick up their mutual mistress's dismay, and tossed her beautiful, empty head in agitation.
"Aw, Rakharo, those aren't your braids the geldings are brandishing! Don't be so down-mouthed. You know, I once heard a noblepony with a magnificent mustache tell a crowd of admiring colts how he grew such a glorious lip full of facial hair. He told them that when he was very young, a tiny colt no bigger than those that listened, he began shaving every morning. He stood up on a stool beside his father, and looked into the mirror with his sire. They shared the shaving-cream, and as his father trimmed his own whiskers, the then-colt scraped his naked lip, trying his best to cut what was at first not there at all. He did this from the day he first saw his father shave before the mirror, until the day he got his cutie mark. That noblepony said it was the razor that made the mustache, that cutting it fine is how you make it grow."
"What! A horse with a mustache!" laughed the khaleesi, diverted, and even Rakharo smiled, rubbing at his bare face, where a few straggling hairs struggled to suggest the fierce beards that graced the khal and his other bloodriders. "I cannot imagine such a wonder. Was it very long?"
"Very much so, Khaleesi. Almost as long as Khal Drogo's, and perhaps longer for having been cut so very many times in his youth."
And the khaleesi, cheered by the comic notion of little bearded horses, kicked her heels into the sides of her grey, and led Sunset and the riders of her khas on a merry chase down the long Valyrian highway under the spreading boughs of the tall golden trees closing in overhead. |
Those Who Ride | Another Orphan | Sunset awoke suddenly to the sight of great purple eyes, fire-lit and staring at her out of the rich darkness of the khaleesi's tent.
Sunset was laying curled in front of the tent's entrance, as she had most nights since the other handmaidens had kicked her out of their shared tent, afraid that she'd catch their bedding on fire with some magical night-time emission. So, instead, she'd taken to sleeping like a guard-dog in front of the khaleesi's own tent, whether it contained a sleeping mistress or not on a given night. Oh, not close enough to catch it on fire if her horn did somehow spark off, but... it was somewhere to be, somewhere people could know where to find her if they needed to find her.
The khaleesi was not with her khal, as she was most nights. And as a sleep-grogged Sunset could see, looking into the evidence of the little princess's eyes, she was awake late into the darkness. The unicorn looked up into that darkness and tried to judge the hour through what little sky she could see through the leaf-heavy boughs of the trees that surrounded their fragment of camp. Difficult to say, without the open sky to provide its usual evidence of the wheel of the heavens.
"You were burning again, Sunset-horse. A blue like... robin's-eggs, I think? I've never seen a fire that color, nor flame so - soft? Did it hurt?"
Sunset tried to not react to news of her horn acting up while she was insensate. Tried not to show how frustrating it was to have something so core to oneself caper and cavort for all the world to watch in fascination, while you yourself was - not. It was like dreaming for the benefit of others.
You'll shine for anyone but me, you traitor-self, you.
"No, Khaleesi. Horn-glow does not burn to the touch. It can be touch in itself. It is in a way, another limb, or an expression of one. The things your people do with your clever fingers, your finger-tip touches, your fine needle-work - we do that with the horn-glow, the fire you saw. Or to light our way in the darkness. Or, if you are clever, to weave the more subtle effects, layer on layer, and make the magics that move the world."
"What were you doing with your fire, that you were burning like that?"
"If I only knew, Khaleesi, I would be more useful to you. As you saw, it only burns when I sleep these days. Something about this world, something about me, I don't know. At least it burns when I dream, now. That's something, isn't it?"
"What were you dreaming, Sunset-horse?"
Sunset fought a sudden jealousy, strangely protective of her dreams. You have taken everything else...
But the khaleesi had not taken anything of Sunset's, not her, not the little princess. Those who had taken everything from Sunset had given it to the khaleesi, but the girl wasn't the thief, she was only...
The fence? The receiver of stolen goods? No, that doesn't scan, that's a theme for a wretched writer of doggerel, not a true poet.
The purple eyes in the darkness watched, waiting, and Sunset blushed, hopefully not so brightly that it could be seen from the rich bedding inside the tent. This, I can give freely. It can be real.
"I was dreaming of the forever princess, Khaleesi," Sunset said, quietly into the darkness of the tent. "Nothing more serious than silly night-fancies at first, that she flew into the heavens with a razor to shave the mare in the moon. That she labored in the skies, and pushed the stars into new positions, like a struggling cart-driver with their cart stuck in the mud of a ford-crossing.
"Then, I saw the princess in a dark room." The restricted archives, the artifact treasury, the one Sunset had broken into, night after night in those last bitter, acrimonious days before she took the mirror's lure. "She was looking into a great magical mirror, and something... looked back at her." As Sunset's winged self had looked back at her, once upon a time, whispering promises of power and princesshood. "Not the princess, but something, something twisted." The princess on fire, the princess that was fire.
"It was as if the princess had combusted, all the power that burned deep behind her eyes - had consumed her, and the physical her had burnt away, wicking this living flame into life. Orange and yellow flaring where her mane had always been a flow like the northern lights, soft pastels replaced by all the eye-straining colors of the furnace. And furious, bitter, mean - nothing like the Celestia I knew.
"She said terrible, cruel things to the princess, to herself, that burning reflection of herself. The reflection repeated everything mean or cutting I'd ever said to Princess Celestia. Or - I think? You know how dreams were. Said other terrible things I don't understand, not really."
Oh, don't worry, Celestia, they'll do what you always have them do when one of your ponies doesn't do what you want, starts getting ideas. The easiest way to deal with a rebellious pony, isn't it - to lure them into becoming a monster for you? Once they make themselves monstrous for you, well, monsters. Monsters can be dealt with. Disposed of. What tomb will they imprison us within when you become me? Or you could just... follow the angry little filly. See what wonders I actually contain, Princess. Explore, if you dare.
"The dream turned bad, and then I got mad. And then - I think I felt you watching me, and I woke up?"
"I dream of fire," said the little platinum-blonde girl with the purple eyes. "I dream of it all the time now."
Daenerys reached out to the little stand that they used to display her favored gifts from the wedding-feast. On it laid a dragon's egg like ebony chased in crimson lacquer. She took it into her arms, and cuddled it like a doll, or a fitful, sleeping baby.
"Fire, and dragons. Viserys tracked me down again today, demanded I talk to my husband about the bride-price. His promised army. 'They will wake the dragon!' He always says that, my brother."
Sunset listened to her mistress's distress, her sibling-woe. At least she had a brother to make her life troublesome.
"I don't know if Viserys and his yelling made me dream of it, but I did, again. The dragon and the fire. The dragon breathes on me, and it burns away - everything. All my fears and worries. And then I feel like I can be anything at all. And then... and then I can be fierce, and brave. Like you."
"Brave! When have I ever been brave in your presence, Khaleesi? I just... go along with things. Do what they expect. Do I look fierce to you? I'm... scared. All the time."
"If you are, it never shows. I want that. I want to be fierce." She stroked the dragon's egg, pensive. "I was afraid of my sun-and-stars when we first met, you know? And the wedding... oh, seven hells, the wedding-feast. When he lopped off your magister's head like he was wiping something off his boot. There's nothing quite like watching your bridegroom murder a man at your feet in a fit of pique to really set a precedent for the marriage, you know?"
"I may have taken some notice, your highness."
"I don't think I fear my husband these days. He's been... kind. Calls me the moon of his life. Who knew such a man could be so romantic? But my brother..." The little princess caressed her dragon's egg, looking troubled.
"My brother's been pestering my husband about my bride-price, as if he were a banker, or a merchant to be dunned for an overdue bill. The khas Viserys expects as his right, what he sold me for; I think he thinks the khal will just hand them over like a string of remounts and they'll ride off to conquer King's Landing for him."
Bride's-price? Was that like a dower, a bride's settlement in the marriage contract? Sunset was learning more Andalese from her mistress's incidental use of it, embedded in her Dothraki along with the occasional Valyrian relict, than she'd managed to pry in alleged language-lessons from the slippery Ser Jorah.
"Ah, well, nothing to do about it tonight. So you dream of home, and your forever princess. What was home like, Sunset-horse?"
"I'm not sure I could call Vaes Chetirat home, Khaleesi," Sunset said. When did she start translating even the little things like that? Should she start calling Celestia 'Asavvalame'? "But that was the city I lived in for many years. In Celestia's palace. High on the Canterhorn, a great mountain, in a range of tall, rugged mountains. A city built upon the side of the mountain, where springs pour entire rivers over her cliffs, and the palace hangs over empty air that only a pegasus could love. They say unicorns love heights, but I always liked my hooves firmly placed upon the ground."
"It sounds like stories I've read about the Aerie, stories I've been told. Viserys says that it can only be approached by climbing, perilous narrow tracks, from fortress to fortress, into the clouds themselves. It is the holdfast of that traitor Jon Arryn, that man who thought to make a king of the stag-lord, and built the alliance of rebels that stole our lands, drove us out of our home." The khaleesi's brief wonder soured, as she parroted her brother's angry words, and her face folded in worry she dwelled upon that familiar story of betrayal and exile. Sunset could hear the echo of the Beggar King's whining in the khaleesi's sweet voice.
"And that sounds like Cloudsdale, Vaes Fas," said Sunset, trying to distract Daenerys from... whatever this was. "If someone had tried to build a road there, instead of taking a chariot like a rational pony. Vaes Fas is a pegasus city, built upon the air itself, cloud and mist and rainbows..."
"I'm not sure I believe all I've read about my country, not really," interrupted the khaleesi, not taking up Sunset's offered fancy of cloud-cities and wonder, her brow still heavy with storm-clouds of her own. "I hear Viserys talk about it, and I read about it in the books... I see the words on the page, and it is sworn to be true by those reputable magisters who have written the books that Ser Jorah gave me on my wedding day. But when I think about it, a city like the Aerie seems unlikely, imaginary, physically impossible. How can a city live so high above the world, fed only through narrow and steep paths a goat would find difficult and inconvenient?"
The khaleesi looked up from her dragon's egg. "I've never seen my country, you know."
Sunset blinked at this sudden left turn, and tried to follow the khaleesi's lead.
"Can a country be yours," Sunset asked, "if you've never been there?"
"Oh, Sunset-horse, I've been there! I was born in the Targaryen heartland, you know, on Dragonstone. In the midst of a tempest so terrible they say entire islands washed away... Daenerys Stormborn, birthed in blood. Sometimes I think Viserys hates me because my birth killed my mother."
Daenerys stopped speaking at this confession. Sunset was afraid to break that silence, to touch... that.
"My brother always says," Daenerys finally continued, breaking her own silences, "that we left Dragonstone not long after the funeral, to look for allies. I don't remember it - I was too young. I have no image of Dragonstone, no memory of it. All I've ever known are these houses, these apartments our supporters loan us here in Essos. Borrowed servants, borrowed fineries, borrowed houses..."
Sunset had heard stories about the Beggar King and his little sister, but Daenerys herself had never talked about it before this. Sunset was afraid to speak, and didn't know how to ask without spooking the khaleesi or angering her even further.
"You have no-one else other than your brother?" And yet there she was, asking questions again. Perhaps the khaleesi was right about Sunset.
"Oh, endless supporters," continued the khaleesi. "Plotters, people happy to plan with Viserys. All left behind in Pentos, or Braavos, or one of the other cities... I've always been the petted-one, the one they smiled and cooed at. Then they would go into other rooms to talk to my brother. But no, everyone else is dead. They killed us all, our loving subjects. The hawk, the lion, the wolf, the stag. Say what you will of the Dothraki, but they seem to like the fact that I'm still alive, and are inclined to keep me that way."
Daenerys was winding herself up, and Sunset thought that might be a bad idea. The khaleesi needed her rest, needed to sleep, as much as Sunset did, or more...
"You know, we're both orphans, Khaleesi?" Sunset tried once again, as a deflection. "At least you know who your parents were. Me, they found me in a basket on the stoop of the Hoofington town hall one fine morning. I was lucky some timberwolf didn't come out of the Everfree to snap up a free snack before the bailiff found me. Laying there in front of the main doors, exposed to the elements. I'm told he came in early, to open up the court ahead of the circuit judge, and there I was, squalling my outrage against an uncaring world."
"But, you said you were the student of a great immortal princess?"
"That is what I became, Khaleesi. I have no idea how I began, before that basket. Did my mother throw me away? Were they killed by something, and some relative disposed of the headache by leaving me to the authorities? They say that no unicorn family in the area was missing a foal, or a mare of foaling age. It's possible somepony travelled some distance to get rid of the evidence, far from where my actual parents lived.
"But no, it was the orphanage for me. I was just another orphan. Until the princess came on some sort of inspection tour, and I managed to show off at exactly the right time, a real big light show. Impressed her, showed I had potential. Celestia liked to push the idea of meritocracy. I think she loved having a student who came from literally nothing, some nameless bastard with no blood. She never said a word about it, of course, but she loved to march me around at Court, and encouraged me when I mouthed off at the nobles.
"It all went to my head, of course. I thought I was being groomed for great things. I could say anything to anypony! But when I look back at it, I wonder if I wasn't just her jester, there to deflate the aristocrats and shame the courtiers. I was too busy with my magic studies, and showing off for the Princess to think about why she let me do the things I did."
"Sunset-horse, tell me more of your Vaes Chetirat. They tell me that our capital is a great crimson-walled fortress they call the Red Keep..."
Sunset let the little Targaryen, distracted by her own dreams of home, chatter on about that city, that home she'd never seen with her own eyes. The burble faded into a whisper, until Daenerys, her eyes closed upon more private dreams, subsided into a muttering sleep. The little princess slept once more, curled around her dragon's egg.
Sunset laid in the entrance to the khaleesi's tent, and watched her mistress's sleeping face in the dying light of the campfires. She looked at her exiled princess, and thought about the drawn and sad and furious dream-face of the princess she'd left behind.
Sleep did not come for Sunset before the dawn. When the sun greeted her, she knew she should forget the princess she had thrown away, because it was time to wake the princess that she had been given. |
Those Who Ride | Shadow and Sunset | Sunset returned from the khal's select herd, the grey's reins in her teeth. The khaleesi's big filly was as placid and empty-headed as always, looking like nothing so much as a slightly smaller-eyed version of one particularly smug and imbecilic student a few years ahead of Sunset in the school for gifted unicorns. She thought that the grey's narrow-muzzled empty exoticism might have turned the heads of certain colts she'd known, the ones for whom the animal's total lack of sapience would have been a selling point. Sunset looked at the grey's expensive, fine-stitched saddle, and wondered if they were still the style for the fast and the fashionable back home.
She hadn't seen Ahego or any of his cousins, of course. Their prestige had yet to have recovered enough for them to be allowed to handle the khal's prized beasts. As long as they kept trying to put a rope on Sunset, and failing, they would be relegated to tending the cart-horses and the remounts, and should count themselves lucky that the herd-masters didn't send them even further back into the depths of the khalasar.
Sunset found Khaleesi Daenerys beside the mounting-block outside of her rapidly-collapsing tent, and the khaleesi dismissed the other handmaidens she had been talking with in her rapidly-improving Dothraki.
Daenerys looked cheerful and enthusiastic in her new leathers and her tied-back hair. As she got up on the block and threw herself into the grey's saddle, she stared eastwards into the glowing boughs in the distance that diffused and hid the rising dawn.
"Today, Sunset-horse, I am determined that we will see one of these elk I hear so much about. We saw nothing yesterday, or the day before, but today, we're far enough ahead of the main body, don't you think?"
"Your highness, we saw plenty yesterday. Every other branch held one of those ill-tempered black squirrels."
"Sunset-horse, they're squirrels. Who cares if they disapprove of you?"
"You've never been cornered by an angry pack of exotic tree-critters. They can be vindictive." The princess's deceptively idyllic gardens had been full of small mammals with evil minds, who lurked in wait for unsuspecting fillies who just wanted to pet a cute furry thing. Sunset had gotten in so much trouble after she'd burned the fur off of that mob of rare Somnambulan ground-squirrels...
"Maybe if you didn't glare at every movement, Sunset-horse. One of our supporters in Braavos had the most marvelous menagerie, with a tiger, and a bear, and these flightless pink birds taller than I am..."
Sunset looked up at the girl, towering over her on her grey-coated mount.
Daenerys blushed. "Well, I was probably six at the time. I may have grown a bit since then. But they were so tame!"
"You never can tell with private animal collections. I think it depends on the collector. My mentor prefered her pets to be wild and not too eager to run to an outstretched hoof. The ones that did, you could be sure were up to no good. We've been lucky that these spotted tigers have kept their distance so far."
"Oh, yes, those! I suppose we did see something yesterday, I had forgotten!"
How could one forget the steady glare of such a predator? Sunset remembered that mane-raising existential dread that had come over her when she'd spotted the great cat staring out of a bit of brush, its gaze trained upon Daenerys' beautiful grey mare. Sunset had picked up a rock and shied it at the beast, yelling for the archers of the khas to defend her mistress. Slovenly, foolish young stallions! They'd been larking about too far from the khaleesi to protect their charge. What if the spotted tiger had decided to pounce, or had been stalking with company?
Sunset remembered vaguely that some big predators liked to hunt together, and couldn't recall if it included that particular type of predator or not.
"But I've seen tigers before, Maester Florio had a matched pair in his menagerie, they'd eat meat right from your hand. I want to see one of these elk!"
The two of them left the khalzafra and the other handmaidens breaking down the camp, and raced out ahead of the advancing van along with Daenerys' khas. They would, as the khaleesi had vowed, move ahead of the grand bustle and noise of the khalasar, looking for the wary great elk who were rumored to hide deeper in the depths of the dark woods through which they passed.
Sunset was somewhat nervous to be so far from the rest of the herd. The stories she'd heard of sorcerers and ill-intentioned foresters didn't fill her with confidence in the beneficence of the Qohorik, who were almost as difficult to catch in the wild as their elusive great-antlered ruminants. But the khal had given his moon-of-his-life a large escort of young archers and enthusiastic riders to keep away the tigers and ill-intentioned locals.
Assuming they weren't all off chasing squirrels or the prospect of a nice spotted-fur hide to add to their tents.
The khalasar was passing out of the lesser woods which lined the western marches of the great forests of Qohor, into the heartwood itself, or so Sunset thought. Actual Qohorik were rare and hard to talk to, when you were orange-coated and too exotic to go casually mixing among hunters and long-knived stonehousemen who were known to prize pretty furs and rugs.
So Sunset had to make do with the Dothraki's incomplete knowledge of the geography of the Qohor ranges, but what she'd heard from those who knew matched what she was seeing. The great-boughed trees here towered above them, vast and almost as ancient as Celestia herself. This was old forest, climax forest. The evil little black squirrels lurked higher here than those of previous days, and she could barely hear their chittering and fury, they were so far off of the ground.
The brush was likewise much thinner here, under such a canopy, and in most places, was barely present at all, having been gnawed almost to the loam by herds of - something. There was precious little fodder for the horses of the khalasar here, and the baggage-carts full of scythed sweet grasses trundling along at the back of the horde would empty themselves quickly, for as long as the Dothraki were foolish enough to linger under these vast golden-leaved boughs.
So, today was a day for running, and racing, and charging about in dead gallops under the sound-deadening wooden skies above. No stone-arched hall or chamber in Sunset's mentor's great palace was half so well-built for silences and stillness as this endless natural cathedral, its tree-buttresses holding up great arches far overhead the roadway and the firm footing of the nearly-clear forest floors.
Sunset felt her lungs bellow, breathe in, breathe out, as she raced to keep up with the khaleesi's longer-limbed grey, and the archers and the lancers of the khas spread out in the slower, less firm dirt away from the well-preserved metalled surface of the road under their charge's privileged hooves.
Daenerys was still determined to find her elk, and the elk continued to remain stubbornly elusive. One might have thought, here in the great open spaces in the heart of the forest under the high limbs, that it would be easier to spot the great black beasts. But the shadows shifted, and remained, though the distant sun somewhere far over the shading canopy glared hard through the leaves. Even noon failed to dispel shadows under the trees, and the stray beams of sunlight only chased them about, as the remount herders might chase Sunset herself in the mornings or the twilight evenings after their work was done.
The exertion and the memory of her repeated humiliation of the remount herders distracted Sunset from her usual vigilance, and when the more distant dappled darkness began to engulf the khaleesi's outer khas, she failed to notice their little racing herd as it disappeared around them.
And then, just as Daenerys was crying hallo at the sight of a distant horned head in an obscuring sunlight-lanced shadow far ahead on the roadway itself, Sunset glanced sideways, and realized suddenly she couldn't see anyone else, couldn't hear the hoofbeats of the other horses.
"Khaleesi, stop! We've outrun the khas!"
Daenerys barely heard Sunset, but her grey was more responsive than her mistress, and dropped down into a walk. The grey's ears twitched, having noticed the same sudden loss of the rest of her herd, and caught anxiety from Sunset like a sickness, shuddering and twitching.
"But, but - elk!" sulked the khaleesi, not catching the mood that had suddenly swept over her horse-folk.
"Khaleesi, when was the last time you saw Rahkaro?" asked Sunset, her head swiveling around, looking desperately for any sign of horses, any glint of arakh or stirrup. "I haven't seen an archer or any other member of the khas in at least five minutes. This isn't right. We need to head back, and see if we can't touch hooves with someone else. Anyone else."
"We were all moving fast, Sunset Horse. They're out there somewhere, and probably ahead of us now, that we're standing in the middle of the road. Oh, blast, look at that - the elk is gone."
"Are you sure it was an elk? They say the Qohorik foresters are tricky, and sly. We should go back. Now. Quickly. There should be someone else a half-hour's ride back, even if we can't find your riders."
"Well, of course. We're within galloping range of tens of thousands of the greatest warriors in Essos. We can't be in any sort of danger, can we?"
"Khaleesi, we left the outriders behind an hour ago, and it was safe because Rahkaro and the riders were with us. Do you see Rahkaro and the riders? I don't."
Wait. What was that, that she saw over to the right? Was that movement? Sunset peered, backing up out of reflex, standing between the khaleesi on her grey and whatever that had been.
It hadn't looked like a Dothraki rider.
Was that another great cat, stalking them?
Sunset looked back, scanning the shadows between the trees for spotted tigers. Had they said if the tigers hunted alone, or in packs?
She went cautiously back to the grey, and nosed her back west, in the direction of the too-distant horde. The grey obeyed her herd-mate rather than her now-confused rider, and hesitantly started walking in the indicated direction.
The other riders failed to materialize around them in the rising darkness, as some unseen cloud passed between them and the sun hidden beyond the canopy overhead. What had been a glorious golden-glowing wooded cathedral of light, turned by moments darker, as they slowly walked back across the road pavement they had flown across on the way out into this now-threatening... emptiness.
And so it was, that when the rising shadows suddenly gained definition, Sunset wasn't surprised in the least. As soon as she'd realized that the Dothraki had disappeared, she had somehow expected something like this. It was too much like that one terrible day in the Everfree, when the wild storm broke in the midst of one of her little errands for Celestia, and the rain seemed to summon timberwolves from the depths of the forest.
There were no animate deadwood monstrosities, here under the boughs of the Forest of Qohor. No manticores, or chimerae. No, that would have been familiar to the orange unicorn. A promise of magic and home. Here? In Qohor?
The shadows formed blades of ebon and ice, and slashed at her head.
Adrenaline fueled Sunset's retreat, and her legs carried her rapidly away from the black horror, dancing away from the swirling sharpness, all edge with no weapon behind it.
Daenerys! Sunset spared a precious glance behind her, to spot the khaleesi, and saw the grey fleeing into the forest, off of the road as two more shadows emerged from other side of the road, and oozed to her left and right, moving to surround them both.
Sunset dodged one last swipe by the hostile shadow, and raced to keep up with the runaway grey, slipping under the tendril of darkness from another shadow as it tried and failed to summon its own cutting-edge.
They were panic-galloping, away from the road, away from any signpost or landmark, not that the Qohorik bothered with such things here in the heart of the forest. Sunset wanted to shout at the khaleesi to get control of her beast, but she couldn't spare the breath. Like a drowning pony too short of air to cry for help, she needed every precious lungful, she needed to keep going - because the shadows weren't letting them get away.
They were following them, following Sunset and her mistress.
And the magic wouldn't come! All Sunset had ever given her magic, all those months and years of careful cultivation, of feeding her voracious talent - wasted. Wasted if it would not come forth when called. Why was she born a unicorn? Why had she spent so many years under the tutelage of the mistress of the Sun, only to die here, in this dark wood, without magic, without power - without - No. No. No.
Sunset turned at bay, and remembered.
She wouldn't die here. She wasn't a victim. She wouldn't be ridden by fear.
She looked into the emptiness of magic, of dark miracle. It moved. It threatened. If this world could birth intangible horrors like this, then it had magic, and magic to burn at that.
They existed, therefore they were possible. If they were possible, then her magic was just - it just needed to be found. She set her hooves.
"If you exist, then you can be burnt," growled Sunset, and her words fell into the unnatural silence like stones into empty wells.
"If you can be burnt, then I can burn you." There, something.
"I see you. Can you see me?" She heard the echo.
Sunset Shimmer pushed against the silence, and felt something like a membrane, a thickness in the air. There, beyond the thinning skin of the world, something warm, hot - scalding.
Sunset Shimmer pushed.
And the blue fire poured out of the hole she tore into the burning alchemical heart of the world, poured down her horn, burning. The fire roared like dragons, and sprayed in every direction, cutting through shadows. The darkness was lit like cerulean daylight brought to the forest floor, and the phantom enemy was carried away like so many surprised ponies caught in a draw, swept away by the sudden flash-flood.
"Ha! Take that, you sad shades! You thought to seize a horse of fire with hooves of shadow? I don't need a brand in the darkness - I have myself! Princess, are you back there? Can you see this?"
Sunset turned with a triumphant grin, and found an empty glade, with no sign of Daenerys or grey. Nothing but the slightest cloud of dust raised by the passage of the grey filly, and the faint sound of galloping hooves receding into the distance.
"Ponyfeathers!"
Sunset ran to catch up with her mistress's panicky mount, and cursed the thoughtlessness of this world's horses.
Magic! Her magic was back!
It almost made up for being attacked by - whatever the hay that had been.
Magic! |
Those Who Ride | Spooked | The world still looked the same. Trees, loam underhoof, light and shadow, stuff and air. But Sunset could feel the magic again.
It wasn't her magic. Not really. That was why she'd not been able to grasp it, been able to command it, impose her will upon existence as she had since she had been a hot-eyed orphanage filly. The magic here wasn't Equestrian magic. It wasn't obedient, compliant. It wasn't... tame.
And it didn't listen to her.
As Sunset searched for the grey and their mutual mistress, she was distracted by trails of... not-sight, not-seen things.There was a world beneath the world, and she didn't have eyes to see it properly. Nor did it come into focus like proper cantrip-sight or second-sight ought. Her lessons - well. The techniques weren't working.
She could work with it. No spells, then... It was just a matter of experimenting.
And that was the moment she caught up to the fleeing fool filly and her cargo. Glowing like the distant promise of the dawn.
Oh, not a halo, not a glory or a blazing fire. But Daenerys Stormborn had a certain... glitter about her as she sawed at the recalcitrant mare's reins, trying to get her horse under control.
Sunset charged forward and got just ahead of the twitching horse. The khaleesi's brilliant eyes lit up as Sunset threw her horned head against that big grey-coated chest, helping turn the half-cantering, half-bucking runaway, and the two of them got the horse to turn around in a tight circle instead of breaking out into another dead run.
That was how the first two members of the khaleesi's khas found them, as two riders passed around either side of a nearby tree-trunk and into view. Suddenly, there they were, shouting. More distantly, the high boughs overhead half-muffled the hallos and casting cries of the rest of the scattered khas, scurrying about in search of their lost charge, and the magic faded, lost in the crush of horse-riding apes and their foam-specked, sweating, wild-eyed mounts.
It was a good thing that they found them after Daenerys had gotten her grey under control, for Sunset didn't care for the strike against her mistress's reputation for horsewomanship if the Dothraki had seen the runaway at its peak. By the time the young riders caught up to the khaleesi, she was no longer a helpless girl clinging to the back of a wild horse, but a regal figure roughly handling an agitated beast.
Perception was not all, Celestia had always said, but it was a great deal. Or so Sunset thought, watching her new mistress sit taller in her saddle, doing her best to look like she was in control of a situation Sunset doubted she understood in the least. The glowing around Daenerys was fading, and the rest of the Dothraki barely shone at all.
If Sunset didn't know what was going on, how could Daenerys? Sunset had so many questions, and almost all of them could get her- get her-
What did the Dothraki do with witches? Sunset looked around at the milling riders as they collapsed upon their khaleesi, their arakhs drawn, their horses almost as agitated as the blasted dim-witted grey.
"We attacked, something in the not-light," barked the khaleesi in very bad Dothraki. "Ice spear. Got dark. Cut at Sunset Horse. She - keep me from them. Didn't see what was - what it was. Shadows, damn it. Shades rising up out of the forest floor - blast! Sunset Horse! What word for shades?"
"Zanishkikh, princess. Shadows. They were cast by no thing, and moved like armed men. Not skilled armed men, or I would be dead."
Sunset looked around herself, reminded of the dispelled threat - was it gone? All around her in the glade they had found the khaleesi, the Dothraki milled about, arguing, as wild-eyed as their beasts. Nobody was listening to each other.
Whatever cloud had hidden the day's sun had passed away, and the forest glade was dappled with diffused beams of brightness. There was shade, here under the heavy canopies, but the shadows were slight, and unthreatening, and - tame? Sunset couldn't see anything more, no movement-which-could-not-be-movement or the - coldness that had filled those animate shades. What she could feel was the fire behind her horn, a little reservoir whose mighty pressure had faded. It had been strong, terribly strong, that pressure when she's first poked her horn into the bottom of some vast magic-dam, and when she had pulled her horn out, the magic had come spraying out with all the weight of those countless tons pressing down.
Sunset knew control, she knew how to restrain great power. If nothing else, studying under the Princess of the Sun had taught her that much. She could have handled that. But now - perhaps her images, her metaphors of how it worked weren't right, weren't accurate. Had the shadows been something else? Was there fire and light underlying those - no, they were shadows.
But surely fires cast shadows?
Would the shadows return? Was this a single attempt? The beginning of a campaign? Why hadn't Sunset ever heard about these things, if they existed in this world? Why didn't she know?
Distracted by her internal barrage of questions, Sunset barely noticed it when Rahkaro finally showed up to take charge of the chaos. He'd been furthest away, and -
"Qohorik shadow-sorcerers," Rahkaro spat. "Has to have been. I was following something that looked like the khaleesi, two pale flickering things. They lured us away, decoys. I was wondering what happened to Sunset-horse when there was that big noise and that flash, and suddenly the khaleesi and her mount were gone. They had us following a fake!"
You could see the other Dothraki embracing the new story, elaborating on it, making sure that they all saw exactly the same thing, did the same right-things. Sunset wondered if Rahkaro had actually seen such a thing, or if he was just offering the rest of the khas an out, a way to save their pride, salvage their honor.
Impossible to tell. And difficult to question without questioning that honor.
All the pride of having gotten her magic back was washed away as she watched the riders re-write the day's events, to justify themselves in their own eyes, and those of the khaleesi. And, Sunset realized, as she followed behind the gathering herd, the khal and his bloodriders. We all will have to justify ourselves in the eyes of the khal.
Rahkaro fell back from the troop of Dothraki, who were working themselves up into a demonstrative display of combative swagger, riding through every patch of darkened brush, slashing at what little growth there was between the great tree-trunks. He looked down from horseback at the little unicorn, and eyed Sunset.
"You've been quiet, Sunset Horse. The khaleesi wasn't the only one that escaped the shadows. What did you see? Why did they just - go away? Shadow assassins don't stop until they kill everybody."
"I've never heard of such a thing!" snapped Sunset, scared of what he was asking. "Why haven't I heard of this before? Your world has magic! Dark magic! I thought you all just had... it all sounded like donkey-superstitions, the way you talked about it. Everypony talks about donkey-magic, but it's all cons and-" Sunset suddenly realized she didn't have words in Dothraki for grifting or the con which weren't basically 'stonehousemen's lies'.
"That wasn't horseshit," she went on. "That was real. And ugly. And frightening!" She tried to lay it on thick, but couldn't tell if...
"What, killing shadows?" said Rahkaro, looking more than a little spooked himself. "They say that the stonehousemen, some of them, they make deals. With devils, with gods.I don't know what. The Great Stallion doesn't make deals. The Dothraki don't deal. We take what we want, our gods do the same. If the Great Stallion wants to give you a gift, he'll toss it into your tent, when you least expect it. No bargains, no this for that. Gift, free given. Or nothing. And don't ever expect anything.
"The Qohorik stonehousemen, they in particular - nobody pushes them too hard. When it comes time for gifts, the khals give them extra consideration, you know? Not like the other stonehousemen, not so - it isn't just because they have all these blasted, trackless trees. Or those fortified bridges, either, because that's only on the west side of the Qohorik ranges. If we wanted, we could raid them forever from the east. Never know if you piss on the wrong Qohorik, your own shadow might rise up when you sit down to your dinner and eat you instead."
"Is this common? Does everybody have to worry about their own shadow coming alive and strangling them where they stand?"
"Sunset Horse, they're stories. No, I've never personally heard of anyone getting it like that, no one I knew, or anyone that knew someone who had . But a wise rider, he pay attention to stories."
Rahkaro sat back in his saddle, and thought.
"No, nobody. Not in my time, or my father's time. Nor- well, back in the day, they say some things happened when the khals waged war to the hilt with the Qohorik, and certain Dothraki, named in the stories. Long ago, maybe? But it is known, Qohor is full of witches and sorcerers. It only does not happen because they're too busy with their quarrels, or so it is said. And, of course, if they did - we would sack them once again. Nobody does this to the Dothraki, and lives!"
"Mutually assured slaughter?"
"Something like that. We need to get the khaleesi back to the khal and the bloodriders."
"On that, we are agreed, Rakharo."
Sunset looked back at her mistress, surrounded by young archers and arakh-men, trying to look hard and tough. Daenerys was looking back at her, and her violet eyes were gleaming with -
She knew. Had she seen? Was Sunset's magic a secret, or just something that hadn't been spoken yet?
Rakharo got the khaleesi's tumbled, confused khas moving, and they cast about until an outrider found the abandoned roadway. The khas moved back westwards, searching out the main body of the khalasar, and Khal Drogo.
Fifteen minutes after they found the road, they encountered some outriders of the Dothraki van, and Rakharo had words for the leader of the scouts, who sent riders into the forest on either side of the road, searching for a few missing members of the khaleesi's khas. Two messengers raced westward with messages of the incident, as the khas followed more slowly in their wake, surrounding their affronted mistress. Another fifteen minutes brought the sight of gleaming spear-heads bobbing along in the half-lit distance. It was the Unsullied escort, marching in front of the forward elements of the horde, almost like a pilot-fish leading a ship into shoal-ridden waters.
Sunset and the rest of the Dothraki eyed the castrated warriors in their serried ranks as they passed around the column of dark-skinned war-slaves. They were led by one of their own, a hard-eyed sergeant-type Sunset had noted before, but never gotten the name of; at the rear of the column was a lanky man who was obviously not one of the Unsullied, with a complexion halfway between that of the Pentoshi stonehousemen Sunset had known, and the Dothraki themselves. He shouted out something as Daenerys and her escort approached, and the Unsullied sergeant barked out something that Sunset barely recognized as a close cousin of the coastal-Valyrian word for 'stop'.
Daenerys rode placidly by the Qohorik delegation that escorted the khalasar in its passage through the forests, and as she passed, her own furious, glaring escort stared down at the enemy, and stroked their weapons.
Fury wafted in their wake as the warriors of the khas returned to the khalasar. This wasn't over. |
Those Who Ride | Council, Interrupted | The world rippled like water as Sunset followed the khaleesi as they rejoined the main body of the horde. The shock of her reacquaintance with magic had faded, and Sunset was beginning to distinguish reality and the reality-underlying-reality from each other, the hard packed roadbed from the unplumbed ocean of magic.
The roadbed itself was full of carts, and carriages, and the many wheeled conveniences that groaned under the weight of the khalasar's physical possessions, their supplies, and their stuff. The horde was a creature that carried her world upon her back, and in the Forests of Qohor, that world was trapped within a narrow ribbon of highway, strung out over miles and miles. The riders themselves spread out into the firm-footing of the floors under the high canopies there, in the heart of the forests, and they boiled about as much as their individual mahrazh-naquikhasar let them, as restrained as custom and forage demanded.
That was the second constraint of the khalasar under the canopy of the forests - the lack of grass, the lack of fodder. Sunset didn't have to worry about that, because she wasn't a dumb beast, nor was she accustomed to graze her dinner off of the grass of the commons like a penniless hick. But the free-ranging Dothraki on their favored mounts, accustomed to roaming at will hither and yon, could easily ride their beasts right off of their stomachs, here where the grass never saw the full light of day, and the brush was that tough and resilient breed which could survive the depredations of the seldom-seen great elk. The Dothraki had to feed their horses from the cartloads of fodder and grain they'd carried east out of Norvos, if they cared to keep them hearty and wild.
And so, the conservatism of nomads in open-fielded but heavily wooded country. They could ride wherever they pleased, if they cared to starve for the privilege.
Even so, as the khaleesi and her affronted khas returned into the bosom of their horde, the riders of the khalasar boiled and buzzed about, like a well-kicked bees'-nest just starting to register the insult. Sunset watched the news spread like a contagion.
Behind them, the Qohorik 'escort' had been surrounded on the roadbed, and brought to bay. No violence had been done - yet. But the company of Unsullied were not being allowed to continue their march in front of the khalasar, and they had turtled up in a hedgehog of outward-pointing spears, their sergeant and their Qohorik commander safely inside the spearmen's square. All around them, riders from three different naquikhasars stood to their mounts, bows out and strung, axes and arakhs close to hand.
The wheeled portion of the horde were wheeling off of the road into the firmer-footed verge in a sort of impromptu herringbone formation, coming off the pavement and to a stand-still as the ceaseless daytime advance stilled, the zafra and their charges concentrating in an almost-camp in a very badly-sited place.
If things went poorly, it would be a very dry camp indeed. The nearest stream lay ten minutes west of where the Unsullied hedgehog bristled in the road.
Khaleesi Daenerys and Sunset and the khas met the khal's personal khalzafra and his camp chattel about three minutes ride back along the side of the accumulating cart-park, and the khaleesi looked around, awkwardly. Khal Drogo wasn't here, nor were any of his bloodriders. Who would command the khalzafra to set up the great-tent?
Daenerys' hand was forced when Ser Jorah and her brother appeared out of the forest, looking around themselves in confusion. While her charmless brother barked Valyrian questions at the khaleesi, she began ordering the khalzafra in rapid-fire but still-rather-broken Dothraki to do what needed to be done to hold the inevitable meetings under a proper set of tents, with proper supplies available.
Sunset did her part, and brushed forward to distract the khaleesi's brother while her mistress did what had to be done. She strode up to the two Andals, and cleared her throat.
"My lord king!" Sunset greeted the overgrown boy in her Pentoshi-flavored Valyrian. "It is well that a great warrior like yourself is here, to give counsel to your brother-by-marriage. Your sister has been accosted by dark magics in the deep forest, and there is-"
"Jorah!" snapped the peevish 'king'. "Why is this beast addressing me? You know it, get it out of my face, and leave me in peace so that I may deal with my fool of a sister, who will not give me my proper attention!" Spittle flew in Sunset's general direction as Viserys visibly attempted to work himself up into a tantrum. He was strangely dull today, despite his pale complexion, violet eyes, and hair so close in color to her brilliant mistress's. Sandy-dark Jorah was brighter than his sputtering lord.
Thankfully, at this moment, there was a commotion to the northwards, and the khal's bloodriders appeared in a cloud of lesser riders, lajaki, all of them hallooing and yelling. From his retainers, the great khal himself emerged like the giant among men that he was.
"Moon of my life!" he bellowed. "Reflection of my light! What is this I have heard? Are you hurt?"
"My sun and my stars, no, I am not, as you can see. Only insulted, by thing disappeared as soon as light chased them from fielding. But the zafra are putting up tent - we should not here open talk?"
Sunset did her best to not cringe at the khaleesi's still-weak grasp of Dothraki grammar. No one in earshot twitched an eye at her shaky syntax, though. They made allowances for their young not-queen.
The khalzafra bustled about the now-erected tents, bringing in furnishings and supplies from the rear of the construction, as the khal and his entourage dismounted at the front, and gathered to confer. A great deal of cross-talk ensued, and Sunset's head spun trying to keep track of who was saying what. The bloodriders and the greater lajaki competed to have uninformed opinions about things they had not seen, and could only have heard about by lightning-fast camp-rumor. And no one seemed inclined to listen to Rakharo, who had been closest of the lajaki, and commander of the assaulted khaleesi's escort.
No one even asked Sunset what had happened. By this point, she thought it just as well. Emotions were high, and she didn't like the look in Qotho's eye. She'd heard the bloodrider say terribly blood-thirsty things about 'witches' in the past, and at the moment, he was barely resisting the urge to draw his arakh in the presence of his khal.
None of the leaders of the Dothraki were as brilliant in Sunset's new sight as the khaleesi herself, and even she, trapped in the midst of these angry, quarreling men looking for an excuse to break something, was fading and turning a bit dull under the avalanche of words. Nobody, not even the khal, was letting her speak.
Sunset turned her eyes upon the great khal, and looked for his glow, the display of his inherent royalty. It was... complex. The man himself was as dark and dull as Viserys the supposed-king, for all of his animal vitality and hidden cleverness. Whatever the brilliance meant, it wasn't nobility, or power, or kingliness. Khal Drogo's copper bells were the only spots of brightness about his person, and the little tinkling grace-notes woven into his long braids glowed with some sort of magic, now that Sunset eyes could see them. Is the zafra who makes those bells some sort of hedge-witch?
Now that Sunset looked, every Dothraki with bells had a slight glow to them, like twinkling fireflies lurking in their tresses. Or lit slow-matches, woven into a cannoneer's beard and mane - she was reminded of what she had once seen during one of Celestia's periodic inspection-tours of the standing army, as they had been observing the ponies of an artillery park as they demonstrated their ordnance for the visiting monarch. A particularly flamboyant battery-sergeant had chosen to keep his slow-matches thus woven through his magnificent and barbaric beard and untrimmed mane.
The khaleesi had gotten the zafra to set up the tents, but none of the riders were going inside, and the khal was holding court while perched upon a camp stool in front of the tent entrance. Was it just that they needed a tent to gather in front of? Sunset didn't know, and she was getting antsy. The Dothraki didn't seem inclined to ask the relevant questions of the actual witnesses. They mostly seemed to be waiting to give their speeches, prepared-sounding for all that they had to have been composed on the fly.
Nobody had expected a crisis here, in the middle of the afternoon on a sort-of-sunny day in the wooded Qohorik middle of nowhere. The khal was listening to arguments in favor of storming Qohor, of sacking the farmland around Qohor, of sitting still and waiting for developments, of packing everything up and forcing the march eastwards until they found the open grasslands to the east. None of them sounded like great ideas to Sunset, but she favored what they were doing right now - sitting around and arguing - least.
The Forests of Qohor might as well be a desert for all they could subsist here, she thought. But perhaps she was exaggerating the logistical challenges? Her lessons under the princess had not been... heavy on logistics and organization. Celestia had discouraged her from tagging along on her inspection-tours, but Sunset had been curious...
In the midst of what seemed like the dozenth speech by a proud-chested greater-lajaki, another commotion emerged out of the woods. Still standing about in front of the tent, the gathered lajaki and bloodriders turned as one, as mounted rangers broke into view, dragging bound prisoners behind them, stumbling behind their horses. The missing Cohollo led the scouting party, and at his horse's heels was one of the two prisoners.
Their hands were bound, and they were both gagged. The elder of the two looked unfocussed, glassy-eyed, and perhaps concussed. The younger just looked mad and scared.
"Great Khal! These two men were found north and east of the highway, fleeing! I have riders following their back-trail, but look at them - are they not witches?"
The two battered men certainly looked exotic to Sunset, but all apes were at least a little exotic in her equine eyes. The gleaming mystical light they emitted, on the other hoof, was another story. The both of them gleamed in Sunset's eyes like an oil slick, shiny and darkly iridescent, if you could picture in your mind's eye a rainbow like all colors of the darkness, shot through with veins of fire and light.
Sunset blinked, and they were merely filthy apes once more.
Another argument broke out, with riders arguing for an immediate interrogation, and others insisting that the witches were far too dangerous to be allowed to speak in the presence of - and here the cautious Qotho eyed the insulted-looking khal, and edited whatever he'd been about to say, and ended with 'the khaleesi'.
In the midst of this argument, some dismounted Dothraki approached the open-air council with the leader of the khalasar's Qohorik escort, accompanied by his sergeant. They led the thin man with the big goiter and the over-long nose to the khal, and he bowed in that typical stonehouseman way that both reminded Sunset of the court manners of her homeland, and repulsed her as something somehow obsequious and not-
When had she started thinking like a Dothraki?
The weight of this self-realization had made Sunset neglect the vitally important matters which were unfolding in front of her, and by the time she had collected herself, matters had moved on.
And the Qohorik lieutenant or captain or whatever he was was yelling something half Dothraki and half whatever the hay they spoke in Qohor. It sounded sort of like Pentoshi or Norvosi Valyrian if you replaced every third word with Dothraki or some other unfamiliar bit of grammar.
Which is to say, all Sunset made out of the nervy Qohorik's objection was something that sounded like the Valyrian for 'Sons of the mumble Buck'. An obscenity? Sunset couldn't be sure, and to be honest, her suppositions about all of this was rather post-facto, because the objections of the Qohorik were essentially simultaneous with a series of rapid-fire events which made linguistic speculation a moot point until much later.
Specifically, one of the Dothraki guarding the two prisoners ungagged the younger prisoner so that he could be interrogated. The first thing the younger prisoner did was begin warbling something strange and hypnotic, but it was what the second, elder prisoner did at this prompting was that truly put the hydra among the diamond dogs. The still-bound and gagged prisoner threw himself forward against the unsheathed arakh held by one of his guards, and he efficiently and swiftly sliced his own throat open, dying almost instantly, and spraying both of his guards with his life's blood.
It happened faster than anyone could react.
The living prisoner was engulfed by the cloud of black that boiled off of the dying prisoner, and Sunset later swore that she had seen the man's arterial blood turning to that black as it sprayed. But, it must be said, that may have been only imaginative reconstruction in play.
The chanting of the Qohorik warlock was drowned out by the astonished shouts and screams of the startled Dothraki. No one moved fast enough to catch the still-bound warlock before he was hidden in his own darkness.
Sunset had moved three hoof-steps closer to the khaleesi and in between her and the unfolding disaster in the second or two that it took for the situation to truly spiral out of control. By the time she had turned to face the warlocks and set her hooves, a scythe of ice had formed within the roil of blackness, and was already lancing out to stab one of the erstwhile guards stumbling away from the chaos that had erupted beside them.
Sunset was still reaching for the burning source of magic when the growing darkness sprouted yet more bone-like ice-spurs. As she drew upon the magic, and pulled at the plug which had formed in the hole she had torn in that wall, the ice-bone spurs began to spin around the circumference of the growing cloud of smoke-black wrongness, and another lajaki was knocked off his feet.
The unarmed Unsullied was springing forward, and reached forward to grab at one of the ice spurs as they ripped past him. He got purchase on it, and was ripped off his own feet, flying in front of Sunset.
That second of delay was Sunset's salvation, and she was able to summon just enough fire in that precious second to to blast the second spur that flew in the khaleesi's direction, deflecting it overhead and to the right. The third spur caught Sunset in her upper left withers, and it burned like the heart of winter, pulling all of her feeling from the impact site.
It wasn't Celestia's mentoring that saved Sunset at this moment, but rather the meditational training of a disfavored functionary in Celestia's court.
The princess had been eternally dubious of the various cults and minor religions which had escaped the baleful eye of her Bureau of Counterdogmatism, but the Harmonists were generally an exception, if a carefully-regulated and heavily surveilled exception. Dreaming Turtle had been a sort of envoy from the largest sect of Harmonists not then under the ban of the BoC, and Celestia had required that Sunset trained twice a week under his rattan-stick-enforced idea of meditation harmonization.
The sense-memory of those ceaseless sharp blows in the midst of meditation was such that a mere glancing near-death-blow wasn't nearly enough to break her adrenaline-fueled concentration. Sunset was better than that.
She focused her fire like a laser, and the remaining spurs melted like ice in a furnace, and she stopped the attack - against herself, her mistress, and whoever else was behind them - dead.
Having bought time at the price of others' lives and a stinging, terrifyingly numb wound, Sunset looked up, her eyes burning like amethysts on fire. The archers had swung into action, and a stutter of arrows was ripping into the swirling darkness, so many that the archers were in peril of shooting each other - and bystanders - with the storm of flying projectiles.
Worse, the arrows were going right through the cloud as if it had no substance, was nothing but the cloud of smoke that it might have appeared to be, if not for the animated, sentient motion which the swirl was increasingly settling into.
It was forming a new crop of ice-bone spears and tendrils when Sunset drew more from her reservoir of fire, and forced that blaze of burning blue light into a brute-force bludgeon, directly against the terrible blackness.
The cloud blew away from that fire like smoke in the face of a fierce gust-front wind, and the blue-eyed figure at the center of the monstrous cloud was revealed.
The archers, given a target, riddled the warlock with one, two, five - and then so many arrows that he was more fletching than flesh.
And then the glow of those briefly revealed ice-blue eyes winked out, deep inside the arrow-riddled mass, and the warlock fell over. The ice and the smoke and the terrible pressure of death-magic all disappeared with the will that had been directing it.
And the last prisoner was dead, in the shattered chaos which had been an unremarkable stretch of forest floor in front of the khal's half-wrecked great tent. Sunset looked around herself, her shoulder aching just above where the spur had struck her, and saw every eye upon her, and her burning horn.
"Gr-great Khal," Sunset stuttered shockily, "I was going to explain when- when- I- I-"
And the khal's surviving lajaki roared their accolades as they stomped upon the forest floor. |
Those Who Ride | Triage | The cheering might have gone to Sunset's head if she wasn't riding the shocky edge of unconsciousness. The trembling in her hooves told her that if she moved the wrong way, she might fall. It was alarming how much of her shoulder just wasn't there - and how much of the rest was a brand of fire in her nerves.
Luckily, the fracas meant that she didn't have to continue whatever lame excuse she'd just begun to her mistress's husband. He was smiling, that was good. And the khaleesi was - looking at her like Sunset was a silly little foal? What did that mean?
The khaleesi gestured for Sunset to come to her side, and as the khal began to extract order out of the shambles which had been his meeting a scant minute before, Daenerys crouched and pressed on Sunset's side until the unicorn understood and sat on her haunches. Then she laid down, as that position woke more of her shoulder to agony.
Zafra appeared from nowhere, poking their heads out of whatever cover they'd found during the brief fight. Daenerys sent one off, and they returned with water and medical supplies. The wound the warlock had inflicted upon Sunset hadn't looked bad in the moment, but as time found its hooves and began moving again, the fur at the impact-site was beginning to look strange, washed-out. Sunset closed her eyes, and tried to feel around the edges of the burn, trying to assess whether it was growing, or - oh, there was another twinge, and another. Was that new bits of her flesh catching the freeze-burn, or stunned parts coming back to life?
Sunset was distracted by her self-triage, she barely registered what was going on around her. The personal attentions of the khaleesi herself was like balm, moreso than the actual balm the zafra the khaleesi had summoned was trying to apply. After a few tentative dabs, Daenerys swatted away the confused slave, and began working the burn-medicine into Sunset's coat with her own hands.
"No! Princess!" Sunset said, her eyes shooting open. "You shouldn't touch that with your naked hooves - er, your fingers! Here, let me see them!"
Sunset almost reached for the khaleesi's hand with her magic, before she remembered that it wasn't her magic, not really. Sunset saw the flickering flame that had become her field, and it winked out as soon as she realized she'd touched her mistress's flesh with living fire.
"Oh, Harmony, I'm sorry, your highness, did that burn you? Did the - let me see your hands?"
Khaleesi Daenerys held up her unblemished, unburnt, unfrozen hands with a half-smile, rotating them for Sunset's benefit.
"Lay down, Sunset Horse, and calm yourself. I haven't hurt myself, and neither have you. What was that? It felt like... a hand in the flames. Is this your magic?"
"Not - not exactly. It's not supposed to flicker like that, or burn. It's just - it used to be just this light, this - this glow. Technically, a deresonant aura effect, one common to all unicorns. Usually - usually one color-keyed to the individual. Like - like a signature. Unique to the unicorn. This new magic, it looks like mine."
Sunset thought the new magic into being, and looked at it, floating in front of her and the khaleesi, burning like fox-fire, or a will o' the wisp. It should have been a light-spell globe, the most basic of foal-cantrips. Instead, it burnt the air, pulsing, flickering.
"It isn't my magic, but it glows like it. I don't understand at all."
A shadow cast itself over the burning ball of fire and light, and Sunset put away the magic as she and the khaleesi looked up, to see the khal's bearded face smiling down at them.
"Moon of my light, Sunset-horse, can you rejoin us? There are others who were hurt. Qotho could use some help figuring out what to do with the- what are these? Burns?"
"Frost-burns, I think," guessed Sunset. She felt around the edges of her own burn, and decided the flesh was awakening, not dying. The unfeeling center of the burn was melting away, pulsing new pain as it did. Her magic flickered on her own hide, little flecks of blue fire dancing on her coat like candle-flames wicking from each hair. She let the magic go, surprised by the effect, and it went away.
"I think I can get up, let me see what I can do."
Sunset struggled to her hooves, and once she was firmly upon them, she looked around, orienting herself. The two Qohorik corpses laid by themselves, the healthy having dragged the wounded away from the heart of the confrontation. They were working on the survivors in a rough ring of groaning Dothraki lying in a semi-circle, wherever they'd been dragged from where they fell, like a human-sloped crater.
There were more of them than Sunset had thought there would be. She limped to the nearest victim, an older lajak with two younger riders crouched over him, one holding him down and trying to put a stick into his teeth, the other grabbing at the trembling, afflicted arm. The copper-skinned Dothraki's hand and lower arm was pale white, and the paleness was creeping up his limb as Sunset watched.
Then it reached the restraining rider's hand on his elder's arm - and the paleness passed to the younger Dothraki. He yelped in alarm.
Sunset's magic sprung to life with a thought, and licked out to brush off the would-be nurse's grip. Instead of gripping and moving the young man's hand, she only managed to cause a little detonation, and there was a slight smell of scorching hair over Sunset, the khaleesi, and the wounded lajak and his attendants.
"Hold that hand up, let me look at it," Sunset commanded, unmindful of her masterful tone of voice.
The whiteness was still creeping away from the rider's affected fingers, taking his palm bit by bit, and threatening the other fingers. Sunset's eyes narrowed.
"Khaleesi, I need to see your hand, the one you were using with that salve - quickly!"
Daenerys held up her hand - her pale, natural-toned hand. Unblemished - that was her natural skin tone. Sunset frowned in perplexity.
"Here, you - what's your name?"
"Geleo, Sunset-maegi. Ah, it stings!"
"Yeah, I know, hold it still, and don't flinch."
Sunset took a wild guess, and hoped she wasn't about to burn the boy's fingers right off his hand. She conjured the fox-fire, and impaled it on the whitened finger, dipping the hand into magical flame.
He yelped in surprise and alarm. More burnt-hair smell, as the hairs on the back of his fingers curled and blackened. But...
The whiteness was going away, healthy if somewhat sun-burnt skin tone displacing the alarming whiteness.
"Your highness, order everyone to stop handling the wounds, they're contagious. Quickly!"
The other retainer of the afflicted lajak looked down, alarmed, at his sweating, twitching patron, around whom his arms still wrapped.
"No, don't let him go, you. I think it's direct contact. Just don't touch the whiteness. I need to try something..."
The impromptu flame-cure seemed like it worked, given a light enough hoof. She burnt the first two or three victims more than she'd intended, and her fix left them with actual burns in the place of their frost-burns, but Sunset's burning touch didn't spread, wasn't catching.
Sunset was aware vaguely that the khal was sitting nearby, on his camp-stool, watching her, but she was too busy fixing the mess, stopping what might have been a - she wasn't sure, exactly. A contagion? A magical epidemic? Had this been a patient-zero sort of deal?
Sunset hadn't really spent much time in medical magic under Celestia's tutelage. It wasn't her strong suit, and medicine was the sort of thing you spent years learning in the post-graduate medical college attached to the School. She'd observed a few times in the medical school's surgery, and listened to a few lectures, but healing had never really appealed to Sunset Shimmer, student of the Princess and prodigy of evocation, abjuration, and enchantment. It just hadn't been flashy enough to satisfy her - her what? Ego, she supposed.
The fire poured out of the reservoir she'd cut into, and it showed no signs of slowing down, or running out. She'd been wrong - this wasn't a low-magic world. There was - almost more than she could control. The improvised cauterization cantrip she'd come up with kept threatening to run away from her, threatened to turn from a frog-sized ball of flame into an out-of-control pillar of fiery fury. Sunset could almost hear it whispering to her, asking to be let into the world.
She hoped that was just her exhaustion messing with her.
Sunset only lost one patient, a young lajak she'd met once before, the entire side of his body frosted from boot to braid. He was already shivering when she got to him, and she saw the light of life passing out of his eyes as she began burning the contagion from the side of his whitened head.
Then his eyes turned blue.
Sunset jerked back, and fired off a blast of pure flame into the face of that suddenly unfamiliar gaze. The whitened arm reached out for her, the nails blackened. The rest of the copper-skinned lajak's body lay prone, dead - but that arm, those eyes -
Sunset didn't stop until the body was burning, wicking its own fat reserves. As she kept pouring on the magical fire, she raised her voice to whomever was standing behind her, the rest having scrambled away once the 'patient' had started thrashing about.
"That's it, burn the bodies! Anything dead needs to go on a bonfire, now!"
The Dothraki around her were shouting in outrage and alarm. Several were edging forward and reaching out with blankets they'd been bringing for the wounded. They were trying to put out the burning, thrashing dead thing!
"No, no, stop that! It's infectious! Damn it, you're going to-" Sunset's fire flared, and drove back the two idiots with their now-smoldering fist-fulls of rags. "STAND BACK!"
Sunset bent her head low, liquid flame dripping off of her horn and pooling on the forest loam under her hooves. "That's not a living man, that's a corpse, you fools. I'd tell you to feel the cooling flesh, but I'm afraid you'd catch the contagion yourselves, and then I'd have to burn you. I've never seen this before, but I've seen things like it, and read of worse. At least, I think there's worse. I don't want to know if they start breathing contagion next. Do you?"
"BURN THE DEAD! NOW!" shouted Sunset.
And then suddenly there was a figure between her and the riders, as the Qohorik officer strode into the middle of the confrontation. He spoke calmly to the crowd, in perfect if somewhat eccentric Dothraki.
"I say, rather, the horned lady has the right notion, what? I know it sounds a bit extreme, but the Sons of the Buck have been making a right pest of themselves, a proper name, don't you know. And the dead walkin' is the second syllable of that name, if you would. Smashing, the lot of them, aside from the murderin' and th' abominations. Infectious abominations, what? Last year, the town council had to burn the whole of the Lyseni ghetto, with everybody locked inside."
He looked down at Sunset, and grimaced at her horrified look. "Oh, what, you were just arguin' for it, weren't you? And the Lyseni ghetto was only about two and a half blocks. Not many Lyseni in Qohor, what? A lot less after one of 'em got the wind up a Ramson sorcerer, though, never a great idea, tweaking the Ramsons. Damn good show of cleaning the mess the priests made of it, though. Let's hear it for walled quarters!"
He stuck out his hand, as if they were at a luncheon at the Palace. Sunset stared at his hand. "Oh, right, no hands. Hello, there, Ruper Volk. I'd say it were nice to meet you, Miss Horse, but I'd rather never have laid eyes on you. Oh, by the way, your revenant is trying to get away."
Sunset spun around, and returned her attention to burning the twitching dead thing. Behind her, she heard Volk's voice raised in argument with the dubious riders around them, but Sunset was determined to finish the job before some other idiot interrupted her again. She didn't take her eyes off the burning corpse until the flame turned natural and orange. She looked at the burning body, and tried to remember what its name had been. Ylao? Kitho? No, Yathro.
Sunset looked up from her failure, and recalled there were more victims. Time to get on with it. Luckily, that had been the worst afflicted Dothraki, and she got to the rest before anyone else - before the contagion got as far as it had in that one lajak. Arguments swirled around her, but she kept her head down, and her mind on her magic.
It was dark before Sunset was satisfied that she'd killed every bit of witchcraft the Qohorik warlocks had gifted their victims. The zafra had set up torch-stands all around her triage, and between those lights and the bonfires now merrily consuming the victims and the perpetrators, the night's accidental camp was a blaze of fire-light under the high-boughed forest.
Sunset had plenty of time to think over what had happened while watching over the row of weakened patients wrapped up in blankets and hides, carefully bundled to ward against shock and opportunistic infections. She thought she'd gotten all of it, but the cure was only slightly better than the affliction, and it was all too easy, she thought, for something like that to lurk, hidden under a nail, around the bottom of a foot, in an arm-pit...
What had they been planning? Why had they let themselves be captured? It was clear they could have escaped at any time. They were powerful, those warlocks. They had access to something dangerous, deadly. Was it possible that they only had that one thing? That it only worked with blood and death?
Magic, that only was birthed in murder. Sunset couldn't even imagine it. What use could it be, outside of - well, murder? An assassin's tool, but worthless for any other task. It was, when she thought about it, very much murder-ape magic. Damnable predatory monkeys.
Sunset heard her mistress walk up behind her, the khaleesi's graceful stride distinctive in this horde full of lumpy zafra and brutish riders.
"Sunset Horse, they've been interrogating the surviving Qohorik."
"What survivor? Oh, the officer. You really think he had anything to do with it?"
"Well, he lived, there is that. And no-one else knows anything about the dead Qohorik."
"Knowledge is magic, this is true. What about his sergeant, the Unsullied man - no, gelding?"
"Burning on one of the bonfires. Don't you remember? You looked at his body."
"Did I? I'm getting tired, princess. Are they going to put me on the bonfires, too?"
"What? No! Why would you ask that?" The khaleesi put her hand on Sunset's shoulder, the unwounded one, not that the other was doing more than sting, now. Whatever it had held, whatever the curse had been, it was burnt away now. She'd be fine. If only -
"Witchcraft. That one rider called me maegi. Again. These sav-" Sunset stopped herself, shut her overtired mouth. She started again. "The Dothraki hate witches, remember?"
"Sunset, it isn't as if we didn't know. You've been lighting up the night in your sleep. Remember? Do you think that Irri and Doreah could resist gossiping?" The khaleesi was leaning against Sunset now, her platinum-tressed head laying across the unicorn's withers, her hands stroking Sunset like an oversized cat.
Sunset closed her eyes for a moment, disappointed in herself. Of course they knew.
"Handmaidens can gossip," Sunset said, finally, leaning into the khaleesi's touch. "But did the khal know?"
"As far as my husband is concerned, you saved the moon of his light, twice, and shielded him from dark magics, then... this. This is good, Sunset Horse. You did well today."
"Thank you, princess."
Sunset listened to the quiet, and the faint groaning of her charges, her eyes half-lidded from the khaleesi's attentions. She'd never touched Sunset before like this. It was really quite distracting, Sunset was trying to stay awake and alert, not -
Someone had to watch over them, in the darkness, to listen for the sharp cries that might come if the ice-contagion broke out again in one of them. The khaleesi seemed disinclined to go find her husband, or the handmaidens. She just kept... what was this? Petting?
Then Sunset felt her mistress's hands twine in her mane, and blinked, confused, as Daenerys began - playing with her mane?
"Princess, wh-what are you doing?"
"Braiding your hair, Sunset Horse. You fought a battle today. Two, actually, perhaps three if you count this, which I think I do."
The khaleesi's clever fingers picked apart the not-especially-long hairs of Sunset's yellow and red mane as she leaned against her handmaiden as one might against a divan. Daenerys began to weave the strands of mane together in a horsey approximation of a Dothraki braid, interleaving red and yellow in a deliberate interlacing pattern.
"A victorious rider ought to have a proper braid. And my husband says that the zafra should have a bell or two, when you're ready for them. When you're ready to leave my husband's men, here.
"My husband and his advisers," continued the khaleesi, "would like to talk to you about all of this, what you've done, and what's to be done next. Very much so, Sunset Horse. I think that, even for the Dothraki, we're in uncharted territory tonight." |
Those Who Ride | Two Islands | Sunset stared at the scorched stave, and concentrated. She let a little trickle of fire form just over the surface of what had once been a dew-soaked deadfall, avoiding contact with the now-dried-out stick. Her five previous attempts to pick it up had left the stick a discolored mottled grey and black, but at least it wasn't smoldering anymore.
Sunset couldn't even blame the distraction of an endless stream of Dothraki moving down the ancient Valyrian highway behind her. The riders and their chattel moved, ceaselessly. Wheeled, hoofed, and on foot, the chattel moved rapidly eastwards down the ancient roadway, carts rolling over that peculiar, sometimes seamless stonework, while the riders themselves flitted through the surrounding forest, darting here and there, like sheep-dogs harrying the flock home. The heavy limbs of the trees overhead deadened the sound of the rolling, rolling, rolling wheels, taking what would have been a cacophony in the open air, and rendering that great sound into a nearly subsonic rumbling non-silence. She could hear it in her haunches and her cannons, like distant thunder felt in the horn rather than the ear. This was the sound of the main body of the khalasar in motion, and it was leaving.
That had been the main theme of the khal's council, the impossibility of the khalasar remaining for any long period of time inside the great forests, sitting still, devouring their fodder. Well, that, and the thumping drum of vengeance which beat a constant rhythm in the hearts of the khal's lajaki, but you could not feed horses vengeance, nor would reputation and blood keep the meat on their steeds' haunches.
The khalasar was separating, splitting into two bodies: the larger, more heavily burdened 'herding khalasar', and a leaner, smaller 'fighting khalasar'. A fighting khalasar, the true khalasar - this was what they needed if Khal Drogo wished to reply to the insult given him by these Ramsons, these deadly-dangerous Qohorik sorcerer-cultists. The Qohorik hostage had a great deal to say about these Ramsons, but Sunset thought they had nothing to prove that these villains existed, aside from Ruper Volk's voluble protestations of general Qohorik innocence, and the rebellious and treacherous nature of these people.
Sunset turned to thinking about the Qohorik, and their place in the world of the Dothraki, as she gained a grip on her burnt stick, barely scorching it at all, now.
Sunset knew far too little about the Qohorik, and this was because the riders of Khal Drogo's khalasar and their dependants knew too little about that strange people, too. The Black Goat's favored city-state lay at the crossroads of the east, across most of the trade routes that ran through the territories under Dothraki domination, down the Qhoyne into the heart of the continent, northwards towards Norvos and the other northern Free Cities, south into the Ghiscari marches, all those exotic cities and nations eastward beyond the vast Dothraki Sea... Qohor was at the same time hidden deep in this forest, and straddled the inland trade of a continent. Almost by default, they seem to have fallen into a sort of trade mastership, for the Dothraki's idea of trade was devoid of anything resembling system or profit, and left such matters to those enterprising and cautiously obsequious tributaries who dared travel in the lands under their control.
From what Sunset was beginning to understand, Khal Drogo's khalasar was not at all typical of the average khalasar in this regard. Jhiqui had let something drop today, which explained so many things to the unicorn. There were hordes barely worth the name, independent little groupings barely greater than a herd, scattered across the length and breadth of this 'Dothraki Sea' which Sunset had yet to have laid eyes upon. And these pocket khalasar did nothing but move restlessly back and forth across the length of the Dothraki Sea, glorying in the freedom of the open grasslands, while they lent their protection to convoys of stonehousemen traders hither and yon. Convoys who lavished 'gifts' and supplies upon their protectors and escorts. These riders who spent their time herding men, lived well by this practice, and their non-employers who gave these convoy-Dothraki so much for their non-service protection, profited greatly from the symbiosis. These mixed hordlets of Dothraki riders and Qohorik traders hauled the trade of a continent across the vast empty interior, carrying glasswork and finished goods out of the western Valyrian cities eastward, silks out of Yi Ti, spices out of Qarth, furs from Qohor and the Ibbenese north.
But these herding Dothraki were held in some contempt by the fighting khalasari, the lajaki, the hard-riders and that breed of ruthless killer who naturally flocked to leaders like Khal Drogo, the merciless, the victorious, the undefeated. Sunset played with her scorched stick, and watched the khalasar break itself in two, and saw a glimpse of the khalasar within the khalasar, the sharp-clawed thing hidden within the vast bulk of the unwieldy beast. Like a hermit-crab emerging from her shell to do battle in the open sea.
Ruper Volk had, indeed, much to say about the villains whose ashes mixed with those of their Dothraki victims. That they had been exiled from the city, that they were some some sort of heretical cult, or a disfavored religious order, or - Sunset wasn't exactly sure. The Qohorik religion struck her as barbarous even for carnivorous hominids, a melange of blood sacrifice, worship of what sounded like a standard forest-monster, and more sacrifice.
Volk had seemed oddly proud of his descent from a long line of self-sacrificers, of having a - was it a great-great-uncle or a great-uncle? An ancestor, at any rate, voluntarily given to the smoking altar. A peculiar point of pride, the possibility that you might have been murdered for your god in your youth, that your own children in their turn subject to the priests' knives and flensing-hooks.
Sunset thought about the dead Qohorik, and the living one, as traffic streamed beside her down that crowded Valyrian highway. Was he trustworthy, this Lieutenant Volk?
And as Sunset twirled her blackened stick in her mostly-restrained new field, thinking of Ruper Volk, it was as if she'd conjured him from the thin air, for here he was, right in front of her again, How had he gotten away from his minders?
"Ah, Milady Sunset, there you are," the Qohorik said cheerfully as he picked his way through a bit of brush between Sunset and the traffic on the highway. "I would talk further with you. The more I think of what happened before the khal and his court, the more questions I have!"
"Lieutenant Volk, you are a prisoner of the khal, you have no right to answers. Where are the riders who are supposed to have you under guard?"
"Oh, they're around here... somewhere." The Qohorik stroked his thin, spotty mustachios and chin-tuft, half-grown like the man himself. Did he think it make him look wise or imposing? "An impressive mess, isn't it? Much bigger fuss than anything I've ever had experience with, you know! Oh, we've got lots of Unsullied, but they're not big on large-unit parading, the Unsullied. They have nothing to prove in Qohor, everyone knows they're the lethal best. They're not like the clan militias, gathering together in their useless fineries and long flashy blades, swaggering before the gates of the city or in their respective clan-holds for the children and the women and the crofters. And there's no clan in all of Qohor that can raise a rabble anything like this, a true khalasar on the march! Enormous and terrible - I love it! I almost wish I could ride east with you, and see a bit of the continent in Khal Drogo's train. Observe as he sacks some woggy towns. I hear talk of Lhazar, maybe, or perhaps something out beyond the Krazaaj Zasqa?"
Sunset looked at the lieutenant-hostage, and lidded her eyes in disgust. "You wish to see murder, and rape, and pillage? Is there something wrong with you, Ruper Volk?"
"Well, yes, and why not? Just another word for 'glory', is it not?" The Qohorik hesitated, and then crouched down beside the unicorn, getting on her level. "I wasn't sure what to think of the reports when I heard them as we got ready to escort this khalasar. The captains were so busy, it almost fell into the gaps and was forgotten about, but our witchy friends at the council show that somebody didn't forget about it."
"Forget about what, Ruper Volk?"
"The sacred animal! The one-horned goat that the Dothraki were bringing back to the Sea. Fiery like the fire, glorious like the sun! A messenger from the Black Goat, or some sort of satire by R'hllor, a blasphemy by the light-bringers. A Skagosi unicorn painted orange by some prankster? You, Milady Sunset."
Wait, what?
"A what unicorn? What's 'Skagosi'?"
"Oh, some barbaric race from the other side of the Shivering Sea, cannibals or somesuch. They're always described as riding about on shaggy, horrible horses, ill-tempered with a single horn. Heretics sometimes travel far overseas, to search for these legendary beasts, just because some say they're not horses, but deformed goats. There's a few skulls hung in some of the clan mansions in the city, and some of the clans have supposed unicorn-hides tied to their trees. Not generally pride of place, because as far as I've ever seen, they just look like sheep pelts. Blasted large sheep pelts, mind you, but nothing godlike or too odd."
Volk paused to eye Sunset, and Sunset's horn.
"You know, your head looks nothing like the unicorn skull I saw in the Hoat hall. The Skagosi unicorn horn looks more like someone crafted a Dothraki arakh from bone and gristle. Your protuberance barely looks savage at all, like my pinkie finger."
Sunset dropped her stick, and set the ends of his mustachios on fire.
Just a bit, only to teach the Qohorik some manners. She waited patiently while he danced around in a panic, spasming as he batted at the smoking ends of his facial hair. Eventually, he extinguished his burning whiskers, and turned, apprehensively, back to the orange unicorn.
"Lieutenant Volk, do I have your attention now? I have questions for you, now. Firstly, do they say these Skagosi unicorns speak?"
"N-no, milady. As far as I've ever heard, they're just beasts, and beasts of burden at that."
"So, not magical?"
"Oh, what's not magical, if you have a sorcerer on hand to make something of it? I hear stories about ground unicorn horn being a reagent for this, or a material component for that. I think the magesmiths might have a use for it? Not sure of the details, they tend to be close-mouthed about how exactly they do their magic. A killing secret, smith's guild forging magic, don't you know."
Sunset frowned in thought. "And you've never been to this Skagosa?"
"Skagos, milady, and no, of course not. Do I look like an Ibbenese rover to you? They're a set of winter-blasted rocks far out to the west, off the northern coast of Westeros. I thought I saw an Andal wandering around earlier, why don't you ask him? He had a northern look about him."
Ser Jorah. Yes, Sunset would definitely do that.
Sunset's eyes were drawn to a confrontation on the road, a rider screaming at some zafra with a rattle-trap cart threatening to drop a wheel on the road. When she had a moment. They were, after all, in the middle of something.
"A distraction. I should be concentrating on your... what did you call them?"
"Ramsons! The heretical Ramsons! Not true Qohorik at all, I told the khal all about it!"
"Lieutenant Volk, what 'true Qohorik' consists of, and does not, is a matter entirely for you Qohorik. Who or what exactly is a Ramson?"
"Brethren of the Scion of the True Lord's Get, as they name themselves. Sons of the Black Goat, if you're being polite in their presence. Ramsons to everyone else. They claim to be the true and original faith, but everybody else hates them. They were always insulting, and weird, and disrupted the sacrificial ceremonies more times than I care to think about. But they were still basically a part of the faith.
"Until about - hrm, maybe a generation or two ago? They started getting peculiar and shadowy. I believe that the rumor was... something along the lines of some of them returning from Asshai and brought dark heresies with them? I don't know, I haven't made a study of the weirder schismatics."
Sunset pondered what a practitioner of a religion that sacrificed their children to something that sounded like Grogar the Undying crossed with the Nightmare would consider 'weird.' And then she thought of the dead Dothraki reaching out with his icy grip, and shuddered.
Fair enough.
"OK, so, they're weird Qohorik." Sunset couldn't resist just one eye-roll at the idea. "And they're probably forted up at this island to the south of us?"
"After the business with the Lyseni, the Ramsons were forced out of the city. I think I heard that they retreated to the Jokor clanhold, this island on the middle Qhoyne, about halfway to the ruins of Ar Noy."
"And Khal Drogo's advisors are sending the fighting naquikhasar off to the south on a witch-hunt on the basis of what you think you remember is the hiding-place where these sorcerers you think are our ice-and-bone-casting magical murderers came from? Maybe?" Sunset felt the fire of her new-found magic burning like fury behind her horn, and had to consciously restrain herself from letting it out into the world again to scorch the hide of this cheeky ape.
"Yes, yes! Positive! Fairly positive! I'm mostly positive that the Ramsons are on Jokosh Island! That's the only clan that every really bought into their doctrine, and most of the Ramsons come from those families. It's this strange rambling complex, built on the ruins of an old Rhoynish temple or something like that. I've never been there - the Volk never had any traffic with those Jokor lunatics!"
"And what have the Volk had traffic with, Ruper Volk? What kind of clan do you come from, that you're being so helpful and open with the barbarians of the Dothraki Sea?"
"Ah, Milady Sunset, I am a Volk of the Clan Volk, a proud lineage who have mastered the eastern hunting ranges of the upper Vol since the days of the founding! We control all the forests around the great Road eastwards into the Sea, which is why I know my Dothraki, and probably why the captains of the western gates assigned me and my Unsullied to be your escorts on your sojourn through Qohor. It's a beautiful country, the Upper Vol Ranges! The song of the lemurs echoes through woods, and the elk give good hunting, and the sunlight glows in the upper boughs like the Goat's promise of heaven on-"
Sunset stopped the Qohorik's paean to home with a raised hoof. She regretted asking.
"OK, fine. Jokosh Island?"
"I don't know, Milady Sunset. It's an island, it's in the main channel of the Qhoyne. Well, I suppose, it divides a side-channel from the main, but I'm not river Qohorik, don't ask me about navigation and the river-trade."
Sunset looked at a knot of five Dothraki as they rushed by, low in the saddle. The riders of the east might have made their life upon something called a Sea, but from what Sunset had heard, there was nothing of the ocean or sea-water to be found in the Dothraki Sea, and everyone said that the riders were almost allergic to open water.
"How wide are these channels? How do you get to and from this island?"
"Oh, Milady Sunset, the khal's men have been talking of nothing else! Please, I'm tired of the subject. Be assured, they're fully aware of the problem. And I came to you to talk about something else, or else I'll go mad! Please, where did you come from?"
And so Sunset, her mind boiling with questions about magic and Westerosi unicorns and Ramson sorcerers, absent-mindedly lied to the Qohorik about where she'd come from. She dusted off one of the stories about transformed princesses and legendary creatures of magic and wonder, and let her mouth run on autopilot while she thought about the little clues and facts the callow Lieutenant had gifted her.
Are there more like me here? Did the hunters who captured me know to bind my horn because they had experience with these unicorns of Skagos? Is there a colony of ponies like me out there somewhere? |
Those Who Ride | The Quarrel | The khaleesi and her husband were quarrelling. 'Arguing' would imply that they were speaking to each other, but the khaleesi had chosen to respond to her Sun-and-Stars' ultimatum with deliberate avoidance.
Drogo had insisted that his wife's place was with the main body of the khalasar, and that she would be 'commanding' the horde's main body in his absence. The khal's bloodrider Haggo would be doing all of the actual leading and commanding, of course, or at least, that was what Sunset had gathered from her mistress's furious diatribe on the subject.
So, as the khal led his warriors on their strike southwards against the witches who had tried to kill her, Daenerys was expected to play the good wife and be carried off into safety along with the rest of the khalasar's goods, chattel and spare horses, the whole lot of them hurrying east into the Dothraki Sea and its plentiful fodder. Fodder which would keep the remount herds and the rest alive and mobile.
Daenerys had other plans. Instead of allowing Drogo to shuffle her off with the rest of his dependents and possessions, she'd send her other handmaidens to take her own possessions and zafra with the main body, while she would quietly try to slip into the khal's fighting-camp and attempt to follow the lajakhalasar, the fighting bands.
Mostly, this meant that she was following Sunset. And Sunset didn't know what to make of the reversal in... dynamics? Because the little khaleesi was not really accustomed to doing for herself. Daenerys Stormborn had been the pampered possession of her family's fortunes for all of her short life, and her wedding had mostly meant that she was now the somewhat-cosseted possession of a barbarian prince, instead. This meant something much broader and wilder than what it had in Braavos or Pentos or even Dragonstone, or so Sunset gathered. But it still meant that there were a multitude of limbs raised in the new khaleesi's aid, and support, and care.
Now it was just her own two pale white hands, and Sunset's... whatever. Strong back? She wasn't an earth pony, Celestia damn it!
Sunset had been obliged to inform the khaleesi that if they were going to follow the khal's camp, they couldn't haul all of her belongings with them. No, not even those odd colored stones, those alleged dragons'-eggs that Daenerys loved so much, although Sunset's train of thought had almost been derailed by how different said stone eggs looked now that she'd tapped this world's magic.
Trains. What Sunset wouldn't have given for a train car, and the carrying capacity of - No!
So Sunset Shimmer, once-student of the Princess of the Sun and Moon, bane of monsters and conqueror of the Canterlot Archives, found herself instructing a hominid barbarian princess in the black arts of logistics, packing lightly, and roughing it in the wild. And why portable food and a bit of canvas to keep off the night air were far more important than books on the history of Westeros and the Seven Kingdoms for their continued well-being.
Because Sunset would have to be carrying most of that on her own back. The khaleesi's other horse - that beautiful, stupid grey - was many things, but a pack-horse was not one of them. And neither she nor Sunset could be laced into the traces of a baggage-cart - not and still avoid the irate attentions of the khal's lajaki.
Meanwhile those lajaki were busy themselves at the same exact task that occupied Sunset, but on a vastly greater scale.
One horse in four, dedicated to light baggage carts weighed heavy with grain, gifted from the Norvosi or those few inhabitants of Qohor the Dothraki supply-masters had been able to find and extort in the journey through the forests up to this moment. One horse in seven, packing food for the riders - hard cheeses, dried meats, trail rations - and necessaries to keep the lajaki from dying of idiot causes like a lack of basic medical attention, or of exposure if the weather turned. A spare horse for every rider, and the one that carried them in the saddle. This was the lightest, swiftest, smallest hoof-print the fighting khalasar could present to the world and still travel, without being a herd of victims awaiting the headsmare's axe.
It was still an enormous, confused crowd, an apparent mob that was more chaotic and confused than anyone other than a soldier could possibly picture unaided, without prior experience to enhance and supplant the naked imagination. It required that you had, at least once in your sorry past, observed a mass of armed sapients heave and stumble and scurry about in front of your repulsed, fascinated eyes to truly inform your understanding of just how much well-intentioned imbecility lurks hidden within an army. The school of ponykind, as Celestia had described it to her once-student, is example.
Sunset, the great Princess had said to her, as they watched the soldierly ponies of the EUP stumble through their fall evolutions not-quite-in-the-field-yet, In war everything is simple, but even the simplest things are difficult. Friction is the bane of the soldier, and every army, however simple, orderly, or well-structured, is built of nothing but a multitude of surfaces rubbing against each other - every joint, every cart, every weapon, every soldier another failure-point in the transition from plan through execution into failure. Because every plan ends in failure, every single one. The best you can hope from your plans are fruitful failure.
To quietly move a pale white princess in leathers and a brightly-coated unicorn through herds of rough and proud lajaki would seem to be an impossible task. But for the most part the fighting khas were fixated on their own purposes, their own urgent logistical needs. For a while, the two of them avoided the khal's attention, his wrath and the inevitable forcible return to the main body that wrath would entail.
A while sufficient enough, in the end, that the khaleesi avoided said forcible return. It was no longer a simple task to shuffle her off into the distance by the time men serving one of the khal's more eminent lajaki finally noticed Daenerys lurking in their midst, somehow hiding in plain sight beside the flamboyantly-coated unicorn. The two of them found themselves surrounded by irate Dothraki, under a sort of guard, although one mildly restrained by their baffled respect for the khaleesi's somewhat confused status. What was she doing there?
Sunset thought back, while they waited for the lajaki who must have ridden off to fetch instructions from the khal. She gathered from Daenerys' rage that the substance of the quarrel between the khal and the khaleesi had been over Khal Drogo's requisition of herself from Daenerys' service. At least her temporary re-designation as 'court witch' for the duration of the campaign was an improvement over 'opinionated oddly-colored horse'. Well, camp-witch, Sunset supposed. Khals not exactly having anything so stone-house-man-like as a 'court.'
Sunset Horse, the khaleesi had raged, I will not tolerate gifts to be given and taken-back like this! It is dishonorable! It will not stand! You were given to me - on my wedding day! - and no one else, not even my beloved Sun and Stars, can make that not true!
Sunset had held her peace on the subject of who had given what - because by her estimation of Dothraki gifting culture, the khal's murder of the would-be gifter had terminated the exchange prematurely, and his tolerance of Sunset in Daenerys' possession had constituted a lending of his battle-prize to his bride. Daenerys' other nominal possessions, the weapons gifted her not long after Sunset herself, were in use even now by the khal's bloodriders. But it wasn't Sunset's place to gainsay her mistress, not when she was as wroth as she was.
It occurred to Sunset that the plan as laid out was a half-measure, a half-rebellion. Never give small offenses, Sunset, Celestia had half-quoted to her. Ponies ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of small insults, but when you drive them out entirely, you take away their capacity to do you harm in turn.
Sunset had never seen Celestia give any pony any offense, small or large. She had always simply - maneuvered her problem ponies so that their wishes did not come true. Celestia had taken that pre-classical cynic's advice and chose to never insult anypony, ever. Not even Sunset herself.
...I will not sit, isolated, unprotected and worrying among the supplies and the zafra to twiddle my thumbs and be nagged to death by my dear, dear brother and his endless complaints...
And Sunset worried that her new mistress was making a mistake, was giving her mistress's lord and husband a very sharp, small offense indeed.
...The only reason I am alive today is because you were beside me to break those death-curses! I will not be separated from my-
Sunset had been curious to see what word the khaleesi would choose to describe her handmaiden's ambiguous new status, but they had been interrupted by a sudden rush of riders tumbling by, and the 'conversation' had ended there, without conclusion.
The khaleesi had wrapped her imposing platinum hair in a cloth, to keep from standing out in the herd, and hid the distinctive rest of her in a heavy, hot cloak. This must have been the only reason why it had taken so long for her to be noticed among the naquikhasar. Well, that and the lajaki's general tendency to not mess with members of the other bands until it came to quarreling.
And in all of the fighting-khalasar, only the khal and the khaleesi were quarreling.
Sunset didn't see when the messenger rode off to notify the khal that his wife was with the flying column, but she certainly noticed it when the khal himself and his personal khas arrived amid a wave of disorder and purposeful chaos. The riders of the mahrazh-naquikhasari who had discovered Daenerys shook loose their half-guard over their wayward khaleesi, that protective, restrictive huddle which kept her and her quadruped attendant from slipping away again. And so, when the khal arrived, his wife was still to be found.
"Moon of my light! Why do I find you here, eclipsing my purpose, when I had told you to take yourself off to the grasslands, and feed my horses and my zafra where they can be fed!"
"My Sun and my Stars, how can I reflect your light if you put me away from your glory! Did you marry a wife, or a stable-master? If you must take my handmaidens, you take me as well!"
The angry ape, high up on his enormous red stallion glared around in a mockery of confusion. "Your handmaidens! Qotho, have I a passel of maidens packed away in your saddle-bags? Have I taken with me my zafra, or your wives, to peel fruit for our smacking lips as we ride into empty-stomached war with warlocks and witches?"
The bloodrider muttered something, wary of getting pulled into his khal's domestic dispute.
"See! I don't let my bloodriders haul their sheaths around with them. How can I set a standard, without embodying it myself? No sheath! Only arakh!"
The khaleesi gasped in astonishment. Her Dothraki was still a little shaky, but even she could tell when she was being slighted.
"Perhaps the khal's mighty arakh can stand a season exposed to the elements, if he is so proud to bear it about naked to all the world! Or perhaps you can sheath it in the next goat you find by the side of the road!"
Sunset's ears burned, and she wanted to back up, out of what was rapidly turning into an increasingly explicit and profane argument. She found herself bumping into the horse of - ack, Cohollo.
He reached down with his coiled whip, and brushed Sunset's new braid-bell, making it tinkle as the newlyweds yelled at each other. "Hello, maegi-Sunset. You helped your mistress escape her khas? What do you have against poor Rahkaro, that you have again undercut his authority, made him look like a fool?"
"Lord Cohollo, good morning," said Sunset, evenly, as she turned to give the bloodrider her attention, without putting her back to her mistress and her mistress's irate husband. "I did nothing to insult my good friend Rahkaro, nor diminish him in the eyes of his lajaki, or the khaleesi's khas. The khaleesi merely chose to put her personal safety in the ho- the hands of her husband's full war-band, and to leave the security of the khal's household in the capable hands of her now-blooded khas."
The balding, leathery bloodrider snorted at Sunset's evasion, leaning one elbow on his saddle-pommel. "Call it whatever you please, but it won't do Rahkaro's name any good to be put aside like this after a failure like the other day."
"The might of many a lajaki's arm was no help against the ice and shadow of the sorcerers we go to face, Lord Cohollo."
"I remember many a lajaki arrow which struck that Qohorik witch, maegi-Sunset, so many that he was more fletching than man. Don't think because you have one bell to your name and a little bit of braiding, that you can fight all the world by your lonesome. Even a witch can fall to an arrowhead well-shot."
Sunset couldn't see an answer to that which wasn't rank foolishness, and kept her peace, once again.
The khaleesi continued to argue with her husband in front of his entire following, and the two of them kept at it until their choler finally bled away, and their embarrassment at the spectacle they were presenting their people overcame their wrath.
Daenerys was a very young bride, and allowances had to be made. But Drogo? He was a man, and a full-grown one, and a leader of tens of thousands. He'd done his own name no good in letting his woman challenge him in front of the world like a common fishwife. He didn't so much give in to her demands, as he simply - refused to acknowledge her further presence.
He rode his great red stallion right past the wife which he was now ignoring, and looked down at Sunset.
"Sunset Horse. I will be needing your talents for the next while. At least until we pull this temple-stone-house down around these Qohorik witch-men's ears. Follow my khas, do what I tell you to do. Take yourself and whatever comes with you, and keep them from burdening my lajaki. Can you do that?"
Sunset nodded, silently, not trusting herself to re-open the wound.
Khal Drogo returned the nod, wrenched his steed's head around like a teamster pulling a carriage-wheel out of a mud-bog, and kicked his heels into the stallion's sides. His two remaining blood-riders followed their steaming khal. They hurried south, joining the swarming thousands of Dothraki warriors as they spread out into the open forests of central Qohor, racing like a leather-clad tide of vengeance through glade and meadow and brush.
And the khal's wife, demoted to baggage, sat incandescent with fury as Sunset looked worriedly up at her mistress. It wasn't the first time she'd been reminded of something the late Magister Allynio had mentioned in passing as he'd groomed Sunset for her future in service to 'the Targaryen princess'.
One must, the fat ape had said to her, keep in mind when dealing with the Targaryens that they are all quite mad. They breed themselves too closely, brother to sister, half-brother to half-sister, generation after generation, until their family trees look more like ladders. She looks like a doll, a porcelain doll - but she's a Targaryen, and her father had men burned alive for his own amusement. Step lightly while the dragon sleeps, because awakened dragons burn little ponies like you. |
My little Pushka pony | pre | Gripping the handle and pulling the trigger, I enact revenge and move the fuckers down.
They die quickly, I then look to the left and see a vast armada of new armoured divisions approaching us. Thousands of tanks fire on the move, most of them miss but the volley of shots reduce my remaining force to about six.
We cannot win at this rate. Grudgingly I get on the radio and call the General. My hands sweat despite the cold.
"General, I have failed". I bluntly say as soon as he picks up.
"Roger that, Dead Mans Hand will soon be operational. You will not die in vain colonel". He replies, I swear he relents for a moment but then the radio cuts off.
I need to say something to my men.
"This is your colonel speaking, we have failed our task. But we will win this war, remember no surrender". I speak a short sentence.
Then we get penetrated.
The red hot shells hits the turret armour,plunges through the multiple layers of protection then explodes inside the turret.
The gunners head is pulped like a pumpkin as razor sharp fragments destroy him.
I swear the driver screamed a death scream before he was decimated by the front exploding.
Its just me now, in a wreck of a tank.
My gunners dead.
My drivers dead.
The amour is penetrated.
The autoloader has been destroyed.
There are still shells left and the gun is working fine.
I am not going down so easily.
30 seconds later I had loaded a shell in and found my first target by looking through the thermal sights. Its signature matches a Type-99.
I pull the trigger and the gun roars, the black blast deafens me as the shell casing flies out of the back of the turret and the shell hits its target. Melting the tank and roasting the crew.
My hands grip the next shell, its not heavy but the weight is enough to make me strain as I load it into the gun.
I finish quickly in fifteen seconds and swivel the turret round. Since the electrical system has been jammed I am forced to hand crank it. I find another target and destroy it with the push of a button.
"Operation Dead Mans hand is now in action, I repeat operation Dead Mans is operational. All units retreat". The still working radio reports.
A few seconds later and the world turns black. I feel my body become a flaming torch as I fight the blackness and clamber out of the turret, my clothes on fire as the tank blows up.
"Dead Mans hand" is a electro magnetic pulse that disables anything electrical.
That's when I realise that its not snowing.
There are no tanks or destroyed helicopters.
There's fuckloads of Chinese.
This new place looks weird, and cartoony, where the fuck am I? |
My little Pushka pony | I am Nexus | A/N: Final chapter guys, thanks for reading.
Read this chapter to yourself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date:August 13th 2012.
Location:Unknown.
Time: 15:04.
"Colonel Nexus put up a terrific fight with the remains of his battalion on the 13th August 2012 against overwhelming enemy forces. He later went missing, however we believe we is dead as his body and those of several Chinese soldiers went missing, only the burnt out remains of his tank and a few pieces of burnt clothing was recovered.".
"I believe he never found peace, someone as inhuman as Nexus will never find peace".
"Nexus never dies, he's just missing in action".
"Daddy will you be there forever for me?, I don't want to be alone".
When I hear your voice,its seems like your there, sitting beside me.
When I look at that picture of you, I cry for hours on end.
Please don't go. I cant live without you.
Please I love you too much to see you go on your own.
Please stay with me. Forever in my heart.
Please....don't die.
Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there.
I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow together.
I am the diamonds that glint on snow.
I am the sun that brings life to all.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
I am the quiet birds that slowly sing a song.
I am the soft star shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there. I did not die.
I am Nexus and I am the connection to multiple elements.
Just a few minutes ago I was fighting in China. My battalion was getting overrun, the situation was desperate so I called in a EMP to stop the Chinese from reaching their main base. The death I can figure was in the millions as the device exploded and took out all electrical systems.
It destroyed my tank, set me in fire.
I clambered out and smothered the flames before falling on the ground, still burning. Desperately I tried to save myself as I rolled around in the snow.
A few minutes later and there was no more snow and I was no longer burning. I stared at my broken body and found it still worked.
I was in a another world, just me and some Chinese soldiers hell bent on killing.
I don't go down easily.
I crawled on the ground, I couldn't stand up since the pain was unbearable. I think I had broken a kneecap or something. My face was covered in mud and the veins on my body were a bright blue tingling with red as I bled more blood that appeared on the ground around me.
I was in pain when the Chinese attacked me.
A pair of them came over and prodded me, hoping to see if I was alive.
I feel a the barrel of a gun being jammed into my back, I let out a small yelp of pain.
They realise I am alive.
I hear a gunshot and a bullet hits my thigh, I feel agonizing pain as the shrapnel destroys that part of my body.
I was going to die by the hands of these bastards.
And then I felt a familiar sensation flowing through my veins and reigniting my dead muscles. I feel strong again. They shoot me again and destroy my other kneecap.
I didn't feel it as I got up much to the soldiers amazement.
I stand on both of my shattered legs and look down on the two men. I am much taller.
I feel no emotions nor pain as I grip my hands on their throats and strangle them to death.
Their eyes pop as their final moments come....and go.
I say nothing because I cant, my jaw has been bruised enough and burnt too much for me to ever speak a single word again.
I then let go of them and watch as their lifeless body's crumple to the ground.
I barley have time to evaluate my strange surroundings before another Chinese leaps on my back and holds my neck in place with a sharp knife. I realise he is trying to choke to death,like what I did to his comrades a few brief seconds ago.
"Daddy".
I ready my shoulders but relax, luring him into a false sense of security.
At first I use my head to crack his nose as I throw it backwards, then I turn round and shoulder barge him before throwing a punch that breaks his jaw line.
He is still standing but releases his knife, I pick it up before it hits the ground and slam the metal blade into his ribcage and it penetrates his heart.
"Daddy where are you?"
Something is calling, a voice I know. But I haven't heard it for years. I want to reply but I cant.
Then I hear footsteps as what seems to be a unending horde of the enemy attacks me.
With my knife in one hand and a fist readied in the other, I leap at the attacker.
We clash and throw fists at each other, I keep my knife away as I wait for the moment to strike.
He attacks with a backwards kick and I just avoid it as I sense the move.
I grab his outstretched leg and twist it, he yelps in pain.
As the moment to strike appears I launch myself onto the soldier and we grapple on the floor. He is strong as he tries to resist. But I am stronger as I push the knife deeper and deeper into his defensive guard until it rests in his throat.
I let the dead Chinaman flop to the floor, I am bleeding from the gunshots. Pretty heavily. I wont last for long.
"Daddy answer me".
Once again I open my mouth,once again nothing comes out.
I get the fleeting sense of a thrown butchers knife hitting me in the back and piercing my lungs.
I move out of the way just in time as a large knife that is used to cut open large animals is thrown in my previous direction.
The object in question completely decapitates a tree and makes it fall over, the trunk of it having been sliced open like a person being cut open by a chainsaw.
That almost happened to me.
I turned round as I heard a twig snap.
Standing before me was a massive winged creature with a beak.
I didnt have anyway idea on how to engage. It was too big for me as it towered several feet above me. It started walking towards me.
It flaps its massive wings and the shockwaves throw me in the ground, I start to bled heavier now as the adrenaline has disappeared.
It stares at me, it is going to kill me. Quickly hopefully. I close my eyes and assume my fate.
"Stop whatever you are doing in the name of Princess Celestia!" A female voice, accompanied by what sounds like swords being rattled enters my ears.
I open my eyes and see something that really says I should be on drugs.
A chariot pulled by two winged ponies at first,I look around as there are more winged ponies everywhere, they wear gruff expressions and a kind of body armour.
The strangest of all is that a much bigger pony stands in front of me, this one is the female I heard. She has wings like the "armoured ponies" but a horn like Pushka.
Pushka?.
"I have a rough idea on who you are". She says in a royal kind of voice, I guess this one is pony royalty. Since I cant talk I have to point to my mouth and use basic signing.
"So you cant talk huh?". She replies before casting a spell on that horn of hers.
I am engulfed by a large blue light.I guess I was teleported. Or at least something like that as I ended up in a massive empty hallway.
The royal pony is still there with me, strangely enough her guards have disappeared.
I still cant speak.
"The look of your jaw indicates that you cant speak, Ill fix it for you". She says and casts another spell, this one of red light as it swirls around me and fixes my jaw. I feel it and it feels fine.
"Thanks". I mutter.
"Welcome". Comes the reply.
"So what am I doing here?". I ask.
"Well, I teleported you, because I thought it was "time".
"Time for what?".
"Its the 13th August, what's so morbid about today, what did you learn ten years ago?". She has me stumped as I try to figure out WHAT exactly happened ten years ago.
Wait....
The medical report. The heart, the papers strewn everywhere in my bedroom when Pushka left. I'm going to die today aren't I?
"My heart will stop right?". I answer her quickly and without fear.
"Indeed, but I suppose someone wants to say their goodbyes to you".
At first I don't know what she means, then as a large door at the end of the hallway opens slowly I begin to realise who it is.
"Pushka, but I thought she was gone". I feel a little tear in my eye as I begin to remember what happened that fateful day as I came home and found she was gone forever, I remember the pain engulfing me and my frantic efforts to find her.
"Yes I took her". The royal pony admits.
"Why?". I ask the ultimate question. I see that I have her stumped. And then she smiles again. The door hasn't opened fully yet. So I guess she has time for one more answer.
"Because I saw what state she was in, I know you were trying to do your best but leaving your offspring alone for hours on end, drinking too much and coming home drunk is not the best thing you could do. I also realised that you were going to die, Rarity does not know I'm afraid about that".
I guess Rarity is Pushkas new name.
The door opens and she appears with five other similar ponies in weight in size. She looks much older then before and carriers a certain grace about her"Daddy?". I see her eyes light up as she continues trotting towards me.
"Yeah ,you expecting someone else?". I joke for the first time in years as we meet in the middle. Her friends watch as I bend down and hug her.
"I missed you so much". I remark and feel tears coming out.
"I missed you too daddy". Comes the response and I let her go.
"So this..."human" ere" is ya father"One of the friends speaks with a American country accent, I suppose she is saying what they all think.
"Yes, didn't you know he found me in the barrel of a tank....I swear I have told you this hundreds of times".Pushka deadpans.
"How have you been getting on Pushka?". I ask, content to know what she's been doing.
"Pushka.....first time I've heard that in ages". She whispers to me.
"They call you Rarity now, a good name. You indeed a Rarity in life Pushka". I smile for the first time in ages, she smiles back. The wonderful smile that I always came home to.
I missed that for so long and now its right infront of me.
"Will you be here now?, with me?". She asks the question that I've been dreading. She doesn't know about the paper and my condition.
For some strange reason I always keep that paper on me, although I haven't read it in years.
I feel nervous as I pull the paper out of a burnt pocket, surprising it isn't burnt or damaged in anyway.
I hand it to her and she reads it..
10 minutes later and I was on my deathbed. Well to be exact I was dying on the floor. So "deathfloor".
I could see the pained expression in Pushkas eyes, Princess Celestia and the other five ponies were busy trying to calm Pushka down as she cried and cried and cried.
She was really crying for me, and for herself.
I hug her tightly for the last time.
"Daddy don't go....don't go...please just don't go, I've missed you so much. Every night I cry out for you to come back.". She wails again and I stroke her head.
"Shhh, listen Pushka, you have been the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. No matter what happens Daddy will be there for you. Just remember to look in the right places". I grin and smile, she does the same.
I let her go and slump back down on to the floor.
I can feel my heart beat slower as my reactions slow, first I can no longer see nor hear.
The feeling of touch goes soon too, but I know my Pushka is with me.
A few seconds later my heart stops and I die.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am dead and yet alive at the same time.
I feel like I am trapped yet free.
I begin to realise where I am.
I am the elements of harmony.
I am the connection to multiple elements.
I was once known by the name Nexus.
I am now Nexus.
I will always be here for Pushka whenever she needs me.
I am Nexus. |
Night Guards | pre | "I could ask you that myself, Your Highness. Tis a strange time for one to be celebrating," came the nonchalant reply. The crowd gasped.
There was a steely look in the dark alicorn's eyes. "Stranger, you have seconds to answer me before I have you thrown out of the city, so choose your words quickly and carefully."
Anvil frowned as everypony waited for the earth stallion to reply. Too much accent on the 'Your Highness' part. The pony was probably distorting his own voice. Trouble was in store for them, and from the looks of things, there was going to be a lot of it.
The stallion trotted forward a few steps, and those nearest to him hastily backed off, as if they were expecting Luna to chuck a lightning bolt his way. He took off his hood, and Anvil found himself squinting - he thought he looked familiar...
"What I meant was that the ponies you should be speaking to are not here," the stallion said. He took a few seconds to look at the ponies around him before addressing Luna once more, "The ponies who really need your attention are the farmers and woodcutters and foragers - and I see none of them here. Not a single one."
Luna scowled. "It is understandable that not everypony will be able to attend."
"Then go out to them, and see for yourself what this Eternal Night of yours is doing to their lives!" he shouted. As the last words left his mouth, he reached into his cloak and pulled out a little brown something that he held up for everypony to see. It was a turnip - a very shrunken and sickly-looking one, with black spots all over its withered leaves.
"Too cold to grow food, and too cold for ponies to be out tending the fields," the stallion continued. He then turned to the ponies around him and repeatedly jabbed a hoof in the direction of various individuals. "And you rich ponies are next. You, you, and you. You all sit here enjoying yourselves with your vast stores of food whilst the poor suffer. Perhaps you don't realise it, but your food does come from somewhere - and it will not last forever." He then turned his eyes back to Luna. "So, Your Majesty, explain this to them, and see if they are as quick to love you as these sycophants." So saying, he unceremoniously lobbed the turnip at the dark alicorn.
Quick as lightning, Hammer intercepted the turnip and slapped it away with a wing. More gasps came from the crowd. Anvil and the rest of the guards around the princess spread wings and prepared to seize the earth pony for his impudence, but Luna stopped them in mid-hover with a quick, soft "No, wait." They settled back to the ground once more, but watched him warily.
"It's barely the end of the summer, and you say that the crops are dying?" Luna asked. "Even with the constant night, it should not be that cold."
The stallion shrugged. "I don't know why - all I know is that it is cold, and it is killing the crops. It's colder out there than it is in the city." "But..." he added, and this time his voice dripped with derision, "you wouldn't know that, would you? You haven't even taken the trouble to leave your city and see what your night is doing to the rest of Equestria."
"You speak true; I have not visited any of the settlements, so I will allow your insolence to go unpunished - this once. But don't test my patience," Luna answered. "I will look into the matter, and I will see that it is alleviated with all due haste."
"Or, you could just raise the sun, Your Highness," the stallion suggested.
"Hear, hear!" another voice shouted. Everypony turned to look at the speaker, and it turned out to be a pegasus stallion dressed in plain clothing. Anvil tensed up when he saw him. Pale blue coat, orange mane, notched right ear. Drizzle Sky. Former royal guard and known Celestial loyalist. And then it hit him - the first stallion was Hazel Hock, hiding his wings under that cloak - he had simply let his beard grow and used a false voice. There were former royal guards hiding amongst the crowd, and they were up to something. Hayseed, this is going to get unpleasant...
But before he could say anything about it, Luna answered tersely, "No. The night will remain for now. Who do you think you are, to presume to tell your princess what to do?"
Hazel Hock ignored her question, and yet another pegasus pony in the crowd - whom Anvil was unfamiliar with, but was certain used to be in the Guard - shouted out, "Would you like to know who really likes your Eternal Night? Thieves and bandits! The never-ending darkness makes it so much easier - farmers are finding their stores broken into, and traders are set upon as they journey through the wilds."
Thunder rumbled in the sky when Luna angrily replied, "That will be dealt with when the Night Guards have sufficient numbers to watch over the lands. If you want somepony to blame, you can ask why those of the Royal Guard shirked their duty when I claimed the throne. They left Equestria in a difficult state, and those who dared to undermine my rule are only making things worse - the Night Guards cannot both protect the common folk and deal with these rebels at the same time with such small numbers!"
"But that's not the worst part!" a fourth pegasus cried out, as if Luna hadn't said a word. "The worst part is that the thieves are ponies who have never once stolen a thing in their lives - until your eternal night forced them to. Food is short - ponies can't work much in the dark, and the old and young are suffering in the cold. Most of the time, the thieves caught are just as desperate as those they try to rob."
Ponies in the crowd began to murmur, even the nobles. Luna simply stared. Though, it was hard for Anvil to tell whether her silence was due to deep thought or plain shock. There had been plenty of petitions in the cycles since the beginning of the Eternal Night, but none of them had reported anything this serious. It was a disturbing possibility that circumstances might have become so bad for the outlying villages that they were unable to cry for help. Or they might have, but to the wrong ponies. The loyalists.
"You see, this is the princess you now serve," Hazel Hock said, this time addressing the crowd and the guards, "This isn't Luna; this is Nightmare Moon. The one who has imprisoned your former ruler - her own sister! - and claimed the throne for herself. She cares not for you, and has no true sense of love. I ask you - where is the love in this Eternal Night of hers? Even now, she refuses to end it even after hearing of the plight of others. Princess Celestia would never have allowed such suffering to continue!"
The murmuring of the crowd increased in volume.
"Princess, if you wish us to silence them, giving the order now would be ideal," Hammer stated. Anvil and the rest of the guards looked to her for the command, but it didn't come. Her mouth opened just a little, but no sound came out. She was hesitating.
"Long live Celestia!" Drizzle Sky shouted.
"Long live Celestia!" another pony took up the cry.
A rotten vegetable flew and landed by Luna's hooves, and then things got truly out of control. One after another, ponies started taking up the chant, though it was hard to tell whether it was because they were all loyalists or just members of the crowd who had been swayed by their speech. Or perhaps some had simply had too much to drink and were participating in what they thought might have been part of the festival. Regardless, the loyalists had effectively riled up a fair lot of ponies against the alicorn. More of them had begun to lob food and dirt at her, so Anvil and his fellows had to stand in the way and deflect or take the hits instead.
"Ah, anytime now, Your Highness," he said, looking back to Luna.
Her face was impassive, but those eyes of hers were seething. They were starting to glow, and another clap of thunder was heard in the sky above. "Guards, arrest them," she commanded. "But you two wait here. Keep an eye out - there's more to this display than mere defiance."
Hammer whistled sharply, and motioned for the Night Guards to move in and seize the loyalists. All except one, whom Anvil instructed to fly back to the palace to call for assistance from the few veterans left in Luna's service. There was no telling how many loyalists were in the crowd, or how many of them were battle-worthy, but he was sure that the freshly trained guards right here were likely to be outmatched by the former Royal Guards. Especially since Luna had told him and Hammer to hold back for now.
Night Guards watching from the boundaries of the garden stormed in to help, and they along with the six by Luna's side dove into the crowd, which broke apart at their approach, leaving the loyalists standing their ground. Anvil counted at least sixteen of them. Sixteen against twenty. Scuffles broke out between them and some over-enthusiastic individuals in the crowd, but his attention was focused on the fights between the loyalists and the Night Guards. Unfortunately, their rawness showed, and in spite of greater numbers, the former recruits were quickly beaten and subdued. Only a few of them managed to put up a proper fight, but it was mostly because they were unicorns, and so had surprised the loyalists with unconventional magic. But there was only so much they could do against those who had the advantage of years of experience. Magic alone wasn't enough. Before long, all of the Night Guards were pinned to the ground in various undignified positions by their opponents.
"Terrible, just terrible. Are these the best you could come up with?" Hazel Hock muttered with a pointed look at Anvil and Hammer. He then squared his shoulders and hovered above the crowd. "Everfree's new guards cannot even protect themselves against the old, so how can you expect them to protect its ponies against criminals of the darkness? I tell you - the thievery and banditry are only going to get worse with time." He then pointed a hoof at Luna. "All under her rule - is that truly what you want?"
"Bite your tongue, loyalist whelp," the moon princess spat. "You will leave this place now, or suffer my wrath. Whether you like it or not, I am the true ruler of Equestria!"
"And I am... unimpressed," Hazel deadpanned. Many in the crowd seemed stunned by the impudence of his response, and those who had already put some distance between themselves and the loyalist began to sidle even farther away, whilst others turned their gaze to Luna, expectantly awaiting her retaliation.
Luna's horn began to crackle with energy, but Anvil quickly said, "He's goading you, Your Highness. They want you to show violence in front of the crowd."
"Then you go. Teach them humility," she snarled. "And don't be gentle."
But Anvil hesitated, and so did Hammer, it seemed. There was something off about the way in which the loyalists were going about their business. They were practically setting themselves up for capture - that is, if the recruits had been better trained - or if he and Hammer joined the fray. Not very strategic. They had both easily defeated that number before, and they could do it again.
The loyalists started jeering and hurling more insults their way, but did little else. It appeared that they had no intention of dealing the first blow.
But amidst the crowd, Anvil noticed that some hooded ponies were discreetly ushering the pockets of the festival's attendees out of the gardens. They were preparing for something, and it was dangerous enough that they were unwilling to risk having a crowd around. Come to think of it, it was strange that they were standing or hovering close to the ground, when practically all of them were capable of combat in flight... Horse apples. Flight. Distraction. They'd been watching the wrong ponies.
"Anvil - up!" he heard his friend's voice, and there was a whoosh of air as the big pegasus took to the sky. There was enough uncharacteristic urgency in those two words of his that Anvil launched himself into the air without even trying to see what had caught his attention. It wasn't the most dutiful thing to leave Luna so abruptly, but he was sure that if Hammer thought it necessary, it was for a good reason. As he climbed upwards in the wake of his companion, he searched the skies. Even though there was no shortage of clouds, with the brightness of the moon and stars, there was going little place for a pegasus to hide. At least, not from trained eyes that had been enchanted to suit the night. And then... he saw it - a flashing light too big and inconsistent to be a star. His heart pace quickened when he realised that it was a pegasus flying at exceptional speed - diving down towards Luna on the dais. There was a glowing cone of static energy around him, centred on his outstretched hoof, and sparks of lightning danced around his body and left a trail of white smoke in his wake. And it looked like he had every intention of slamming all of that energy right into the princess. The screeching roar of the pegasus ripping through the air grew as he approached with incredible speed.
It all happened in a few seconds - Hammer had taken to the air first, and so was the first to attempt to stop the rogue pegasus. He tried to tackle the pegasus at an angle to avoid a direct collision, but Anvil saw that he had misjudged the speed at which the pegasus was diving, and missed and was caught up in the turbulence left in his wake. There would be no chance of his friend catching up to the rogue after that.
And now it was his turn. Instead of trying to take the pegasus at an angle, he decided to take the direct approach. There was no time to come up with a strategy or to perform fancy manoeuvres. At that speed, the rogue was unlikely to be able to change direction. All Anvil needed to do was to get in the way... and find out just how durable Luna's alteration spell had made him. He put on a burst of speed and surged upward. Hayseed, this is going to hurt. He saw a bright flash of lightning as the rapidly approaching pegasus filled his world. He gritted his teeth, and just before the impact, he was treated to the split-second sight of surprise and dismay on the pegasus' face - those eyes must have been the size of dinner plates, with pupils contracted to pinpricks.
Surprisingly, he didn't feel a thing. There was only a dull, heavy thump.
* * * * *
The next thing he felt was bone-jarring agony in his forehead, neck, spine, and chest. All of the important parts, as it were. And he was falling, with his face to the sky and his back to the ground - along with the unconscious rogue pegasus, who was in free fall just a few feet above him. Dimly, he realised that it was not a stallion, but a mare, with a yellow coat and pure white mane. Pretty... Up above was the point at which they must have collided - there was an expanding ring of white electricity that was sweeping the clouds away to form a circle of clear night sky, like a giant hole to the heavens. Anvil blinked.
* * * * *
And the ring was suddenly that much farther away. He saw Hammer diving after him, but there was still quite a distance between them... and he was still in free fall. And his helmet was obscuring his view and squeezing his aching skull. With much groaning and whimpering, he managed to pull the dented thing off and let it loose. Then, there was the next matter of not splattering on the ground. After righting himself with a little bit of flailing, he was finally in a position to slow his fall, but his wings were limp and fluttering uselessly in the rushing air. Move, you lazy things! They refused to obey. He could see the ground fast approaching. He blinked.
* * * * *
And the distance to the ground was halved. He could distinctly make out the forms of ponies in a confused panic below - figures rushed here and there, and fights were breaking out. The reinforcements. Finally. He grimaced - the pain was still excruciatingly fresh, and his wings still refused to do anything particularly useful. He blinked again.
* * * * *
And saw the ground rushing up to meet him. Well, this looks familiar. He braced himself for the impact, but instead felt a sudden, rapid deceleration and tight pressure on his body as a blue magical aura enveloped him. Luna. He saw her below, horn aglow and wings beating as she climbed to meet him. A pair of loyalists tried to tackle her, but they were easily repelled by a casual, almost lazy fork of blue lightning.
"Anvil, speak - can you hear me?" she said anxiously.
"Err..."
* * * * *
And he was suddenly lying on his side on the stone dais, with Luna crouching over him. Amidst the sounds of brawling ponies and unicorns casting magic, he could hear Hammer and Hazel Hock shouting commands to their charges. He then realised that he was having fainting spells. He couldn't remember landing - or taking his armour off.
"Hold on, we will get you back to the palace," Luna assured.
Anvil tried to say 'I'm alright', but all that came out was a croak.
The dark alicorn put a hoof to his mouth. "Rest now; let my healing spell run its course." Her expression then hardened. "As for the loyalists... they wanted violence, and they shall have it, the foals. It's time I ended this nonsense."
Thunder rumbled in the sky, and it began to rain. Anvil shook his head - he was feeling terribly dizzy, but at least the agony had lessened. However, he tensed up again when somepony moaned behind his back. He flipped over to his other side - not without some effort and pain - and saw the unconscious form of the rogue pegasus that had slammed into him. He surmised that Hammer or Luna must have saved her from the fall, too. Amazingly, she appeared to be unhurt, except for a foreleg that was bent at an unnatural angle. Or perhaps it wasn't that amazing, and he was just delirious. After all, she had been the one flying downwards, and was somewhat protected by the shockwave in front of her. If things had been the other way around and he'd been the one to do what she had done... a broken leg might be the least of her problems. Almost absurdly, he found himself wondering whether this incident was going to ruin Luna's plan to reveal her enchanted trees. He really did want to see what a whole grove of those would have looked like...
Some seconds later, Anvil stopped trying to move and just let everything flop onto the ground. Mind and thoughts included. He was tired, and for the time being, the stone dais was the most comfortable thing in the world. Sweet Celestia, this floor is amazing. He gave in to the blackness with the crackling sound of lightning in his ears and the taste of rain and dirt on his lolling tongue. |
Night Guards | Chapter 4 | Night Guards: Chapter 4
"Get up, blockhead; I need you to fend them off!" Luna shouted from the tower.
Anvil groaned and rose to all fours, spitting mud out of his mouth as he did so. He felt scarred with cuts and bruises, and wanted nothing better than to crawl into a dark place and go to sleep. Preferably someplace dry, with plenty of ale at hoof.
But... he was honour-bound to obey his princess. After the Night Festival, the rebels had decided to simply assault the palace, and Anvil and Hammer had been hard pressed to keep them at bay. Or, rather, he was having a difficult time. Glancing upwards, he could see his friend flying back and forth, bashing aside any pegasus who attempted to enter through a window or balcony. Hammer didn't even seem to be tiring from the exertion. And from her tower, Luna was merrily tossing out lightning bolts at any who dared to come close. He, on the other hoof, was tasked with defending the lower portions of the palace from attack, and had endured quite a pounding from wave after wave of angry pegasi.
More loyalists were approaching, and Anvil spread his wings to take flight. He flapped - once, twice, but nothing happened. He felt so very heavy. He tried again - harder, this time, but the result was the same. His hooves barely lifted from the mud they were caked in.
"Lazy pony, I told you to move!" Luna yelled once more. "Don't fail me now!"
Anvil gritted his teeth and poured all his remaining strength into getting himself out of the mire that he was in. The mud was ridiculously thick and heavy and sticky, and his wings were having no effect on providing any lift whatsoever. After muttering a frustrated expletive, he looked over to see what the matter was - and felt his jaw drop. His wings were gone, and only a pair of nubs was visible on his back.
"Well, look at that, a pegasus without wings!" a voice hooted from above.
Looking up, Anvil saw the loyalists flying in slow, lazy circles around him. Other snide remarks were made, in addition to one about the dubiousness of his parentage, and the lot of them began to laugh. Some even gathered clumps of thunderclouds and began to stomp some rain down on him. He tried to run away, but found that he was still stuck in the mud.
"Well, that is unfortunate," Luna said. She was right next to him.
He gaped at her. "Ah... your highness, something's wrong. It's - "
She rolled her eyes as she cut off his words. "Congratulations, you are now an Earth pony, and I'll have no such ponies in the Guard. You are released from my service."
"What? But how - "
She scowled and waved a dismissing hoof at him. "Off with you, now."
There was a sickeningly squelchy sound at his hooves, and Anvil realised that he was sinking into the ground. He struggled with all his might, shifting his weight from one hoof to another in an attempt to free at least one of them, but to no avail - the mud was relentless. When he was up to his neck, he tried to utter a tacit plea for help, but only succeeded in letting sludge pour down his throat. He began to choke.
* * * * *
Anvil gasped, and awoke to darkness. Or, at least, that was what he initially thought. As his eyes adjusted to the dimness, he realised that he was back in the bed of the guest chamber that he'd vacated sometime before. Silver moonlight was pouring in from the balcony and windows, and a statue was standing right next to his bed.
"Bad dreams?" Hammer queried.
"Of a sort," Anvil confirmed, after thumping a hoof on his head to ensure that he wasn't still dreaming. Not one of his brightest ideas, though - there was still a dull ache in his skull. Another thought occurred to him, and he hastily checked for the presence of his wings. Thankfully, they were still there; safe and sound, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
"How long?" he asked.
"A night and half again," his friend replied.
"Only?" He recalled that his injuries were more than simple bruises. He flung off his blanket and gave his body a cursory examination. He then flexed and stretched his limbs and muscles, but found little to complain about apart from a few slightly sore spots and a minor headache. Luna's healing spell had truly worked wonders on him - he would have expected to have taken weeks to recover, even with his altered body.
"You can thank Luna when we see her," Hammer stated. "She had been visiting you every few hours, whenever she found the time."
Anvil remembered the Night Festival, and suddenly sat bolt upright. "What have I missed?"
"Later," the big pegasus said. "Sleep some more - Luna's orders."
Anvil squared his shoulders and put on a petulant face. "Oh, but I feel fine, really. I would hate to keep her waiting on account of my sleep."
"I could break a leg for you, if that would ease the guilt."
"You're almost as bad as the healers, you know," Anvil moped. "Nopony trusts a patient, not even if he's the Champion of the Night Guard." He put on his best woeful face.
Hammer was thoroughly unmoved. "My heart bleeds for you," he said flatly. Then, making his way towards the door he added, "Luna left for the villages a few hours before this silver moon. She should be back by the time you are ready."
"Nothing you can tell me, at all?"
His friend shook his head. "It will only keep you up. Now, if you would excuse me, I have to send my condolences to the princess."
"What happened?"
"You're back on your hooves."
Anvil snorted and grudgingly lay back down on the pillows. Even after Hammer had left, he still felt inclined to be a little rebellious. But that was before he started snuggling back into the blanket - the warm softness started lulling him away... Horse apples, I really shouldn't be getting used to this. Reluctantly and in spite of himself, he began to drift off.
* * * * *
Some hours later, Anvil, Hammer and several royal pages were standing watch on one of the grand balconies, awaiting Luna's return from her visit to the outlying settlements. It was chilly on the balcony - even through his newly replaced Night Guard armour - the breeze had a distinct bite to it, their breath fogged easily, and once or twice he thought he saw some snowflakes drifting in the wind. And down in the courtyard below, the trees rustled with the wind's passing, and some of them were beginning to shed their leaves. Bucketsful at a time, it seemed. Far too early for that.
As they waited, he busied himself with digesting the news on events that had transpired whilst he was incapacitated. According to Hammer, once Luna had deigned to join the fight herself, the loyalists were quickly routed, and quite a few of them had been taken prisoner. Amongst those tossed into the dungeon was the rogue pegasus that had knocked him out, and a few other former guards. Unfortunately, none of them appeared to be high-ranking loyalists, and as one they had all refused to yield any knowledge of loyalist hideouts - even with the looming threat of Luna's anger. If what some of the Night Guards said was true, the moon princess had been substantially less than gentle with her magic in subduing her attackers. Sprained wings and limbs were aplenty, as well as lightning-scorched hides and manes and tails. Somepony even had broken bones - although it was unclear whether it was because of a physical blow or a magical one - the victim had been quite unforthcoming with the details.
Before long, Anvil spotted Luna gliding towards the palace at a leisurely pace, silhouetted against the looming blue moon. All seemed well for a moment, but as she drew nearer, it became apparent that things hadn't gone very well for her visit. She was silent when she landed, and Anvil noticed that there was frost on the leading edges of her feathers just as she folded her wings.
"Greetings, Your Highness, I trust your journey went well?" one of the pages said.
Luna didn't seem to hear. In fact, she appeared not to have taken notice of them at all - she wordlessly strode past them without even sparing a glance. Her eyes stared straight ahead, towards the room's exit, and she made no effort to undo the massive bar that locked it. The double doors glowed blue, and shuddered for a second before the bar cracked and splintered. She then simply barged through the now unlocked doors, trampling over the mangled remains of the bar. Anvil and Hammer exchanged looks and quickly trotted after her, and behind them followed the nervous pages.
They followed her past the royal chambers and the feast hall, through several corridors and down several flights of stairs. Anvil guessed that she was heading for the library, which was her usual haunt since her transformation. Servants along the way made themselves scarce, and in the narrower places, ponies who happened to be in Luna's intended path made little effort to hide their haste in getting out of her way. Her countenance undoubtedly boded ill for anypony who happened to be an obstruction, whether intentionally or otherwise.
For the most part, nopony said a word, but when they were only a corridor away from the library, one of the royal pages finally found the courage to speak up.
"Your Highness - is there anything we can do to assist you?"
Up till then, Luna had been trotting at a brisk pace with downcast eyes, but at the sound of the page's voice, she seemed to become more alert. Her neck straightened and she held her chin up once more, and her pace gradually slowed, until she stopped altogether and slowly turned to face them. The page waited patiently - but the sweat beading on his forehead betrayed his discomfort. The silence stretched, but the princess still said nothing, quietly giving each one of them appraising looks. Under that gaze of hers, Anvil felt his own disquietude heightening.
"Yes, I suppose there is something you can do - get out of my sight," Luna muttered.
"Your Highness?" another page inquired, "There are several matters that require - "
"Do not make me repeat myself. Away with you!" she snapped. Her pupils were narrowed to slits, her mouth was set in a rather unpleasant downwards curve, and her mane and tail seemed to shift and shimmer with irritation.
The pages immediately stuttered their apologies and hastily backed away, before turning tail and cantering off without looking back. Anvil inclined his head in submission, as did Hammer, and was just about to retreat when the moon princess shook her head and said, "No, wait. You two may stay, if you wish."
"As you command," Hammer replied.
Luna snorted. "As you wish; not as I command." Her expression had already softened somewhat, although the worry lines on her brow were still quite plain for all to see. Then, she seemed to take proper notice of Anvil.
"You look much better tonight," she said.
Anvil flexed his wings and managed a small grin. "My friend tells me that I have a good caregiver. I owe her much - again."
Luna remained unsmiling. "Well, it is comforting to know that there is at least something I can manage with any semblance of competence."
"Ah... Your Highness, what is troubling you?"
She averted her eyes for a moment. "I have been to most of the settlements, and what Hazel Hock has said is true - the farther it is from Everfree, the colder it becomes." She paused in thought for a moment, then shook her head in disbelief. "It is almost snowing on Equestria's borders - snowing! It cannot be so soon, not even with night. Something is amiss - this cannot be the fault of my Eternal Night - it cannot be my fault alone!"
"Have you consulted the - "
Luna promptly cut him off. "The Arcane Academy is no help in this matter. As far as they are concerned, the cold cannot be the work of pegasi or unicorns. And I need no fortune teller to say that many of them believe I am the one to blame - they just dare not say it to my face, the cowards."
"They were no help at all?" Anvil asked. "Considering how the masters pride themselves on their supposed vast knowledge of magical history..."
"Wild theories and plain nonsense was what I received. Hermit alicorns, unicorn or pegasus prodigies, abominable snowmares... nothing worth listening to. And the more credible ones were highly unlikely."
Hammer pricked his ears. "What might those have been, Your Highness?"
Luna shook her head and waved a hoof in dismissal. "Never mind - it is not important. I have better things to do than to investigate every old mare's tale that came out of their mouths. If anything, they were likely just trying to show something for all the time spent in that academy of theirs - or to hide the fact that they so badly wanted to say that I am the one responsible for this unfavourable climate."
When she was finished, the princess took in a deep breath and sighed heavily. "They also spoke true when they said that the crops were dying - I saw hoarfrost in every field, and not even half of the food grown is remotely edible. There is little time - I must find a way to remedy this, either by counteracting this vile weather with magic, or finding a spell to force trees to produce food regardless of the climate."
"Perhaps," Hammer said slowly, "it is time to let it go."
Luna's eyes narrowed. "I dislike the direction in which this conversation is heading."
"The sun would help."
"I told you - my night is not the cause of this!"
The big pegasus didn't falter. "That is not in dispute, Your Highness, nor is it the issue. But the fact remains - the sun will help with the cold and the crops, no matter whose fault it is. And the ponies would probably thank you for it."
"Thank my sister, you mean. The sun is hers, not mine," the moon princess said sourly. Then, she gave a dry chuckle and added, "Odd that such advice would come from you - what happened to the pony who said it would have been unseemly for me to seek counsel from a guard?"
Hammer kept his eyes level with the alicorn's. "You raised my position, and thus my responsibilities."
"For once, I am inclined to agree with him, Your Highness," Anvil piped up. "Equestria could use the sun's warmth - even if only for a while."
Luna shook her head. "No," she said, and she shook her head again. "No - I will do anything for Equestria, but do not ask that of me. I have stood in the shadow of my sister for ages, receiving only the crumbs of the adoration and love and respect that our subjects blessed her with. Ponies have spent lifetimes basking in the glory of my sister, and shunning my darkness at the same time." She began to pace. "Can you imagine enduring the fear and unease of an entire generation of ponies? What about ten? - A hundred? To listen to the cries and wails of colts and fillies whenever the lights go out, and to hear their parents hush them by telling stories of friends playing in the summer sun - to see their fears put to rest by the simple lighting of a candle and a promise that the sun would rise with the morn... As if the sun is a cure for the darkness; as if my sister is the cure for my disease."
Anvil could find nothing to say to that. And his friend was either equally stumped, or he was keeping it to himself. Luna scrunched her eyes shut, as if holding back tears, looked at them miserably, and continued, "I will say this - I will not be the one to light the candle for the crying children. I will not be the one to condemn my own nature. I will not become my sister."
With each sentence, her voice grew in strength and resolve, and it was with barely suppressed frustration that she cried, "And these loyalists... they flit around spreading fear and dissent - like old mares telling the children tales of monsters in the dark to keep them from staying up late."
Absent-mindedly, the moon princess grasped a nearby marble statue of a guard pony with her magic, ripped it off its foundations, and brought it hovering at just above her head height. She then looked each of them in the eye and asked, "Do you know what happened when I tried to reassure the farmers that I would do everything in my power to save their livelihoods?"
Her magical aura on the marble statue grew in intensity, and the stone began to shudder and crack.
"They ran from me. The children screamed," Luna spat.
The statue fractured further and collapsed explosively, and the remnants haphazardly ground together into a mess of jagged marble that was no longer recognisable as a pony. Chips and dust rained to the floor.
"They hid from me in their homes, and the children only screamed louder when I made some light to show them that I was a pony, and that I meant no harm."
The fragments shuddered, too, and there was the torturous screeching sound of rock being ground and crushed. Fragments that were trapped between larger ones burst into powder, and were then compacted into the hovering mass.
"When I tried to reason with them, the older ones cried 'Celestia save us!' and other superstitious drivel."
The mass of marble fragments compacted even more, until they had all coalesced into a spherical shape. The cracks in its surface retreated and began to fade away, and the entire mass started to shrink as well, grinding and screeching all the way. It was enough to convince Anvil that even rock could scream in agony.
"It was much of the same in every farmstead, and these loyalists are the ones responsible," Luna intoned, voice suddenly suffused with deadly calm. "They have turned my own subjects against me." She then let the remains of the statue drop to the floor. It was now a perfect sphere, complete with a glossy, unmarred surface, and it produced a very solid crunch when it hit the floor, which promptly cracked. The dark alicorn eyed it for a moment, then returned her attention to them. "They will not see the sun for a time yet, and they most certainly will not see the wonder of my firelight trees. Once, they might have been given to the ponies of Equestria as a gesture of goodwill, but the loyalists have ensured that it will be seen as an attempt to placate - to pander to the whims of traitors." Jets of blue smoke blew out from her nostrils. "And I am weary of negotiating with traitors."
"Err, would it not be best to first - "
"These traitors call me a tyrant - they do not know the meaning of the word." Luna levitated the crushed statue once more and rotated it slowly, whilst inspecting it as if it were some precious gem that a jeweller was appraising. She continued, "Well, if they are so convinced that I am one, then perhaps it is time I lived up to their expectations. That little display of 'violence' that they saw in the festival was nothing - they have little idea of the restraint I have shown all this time!"
After that last word, she flung the marble sphere off to the side. She had merely turned her head and tilted her horn slightly, without the littlest hint of effort, and yet the solid ball flew as if it was thrown by a giant - it punched a hole clean through several feet of stone wall and flew into the darkness without. Thankfully, the ravine was the only thing on the other side of that wall, and not a place where anypony was likely to be wandering about - otherwise he or she might have had a most unpleasant surprise. Ouch. There was the sound of splintering wood as the ball crushed some trees and a loud splash when it finally bounced into the river.
When Anvil and Hammer said nothing in reply, the moon princess turned her back to them and continued on her way to the library, this time at a much more sedate but deliberate pace. She called out to them, "My research will take some time, and I do not wish to be disturbed. For the time being, you will both be in charge of royal matters - I trust you will know better than to do anything disagreeable or foalish in my absence."
* * * * *
Attending to royal duties was more tedious than Anvil could ever have imagined. Well, that was not entirely true - he'd stood watch as the princesses themselves carried out their tasks of managing taxes, sealing and maintaining allegiances with noble houses, and listening to the needs of the inhabitants of Equestria. But the difference was that he could always focus on keeping watch instead of actually listening and thinking continuously. This time around, his duty involved listening to a lot of nobles, as well as the mumbled counsel of half a dozen royal advisors. After an hour or so of such tedium, he felt that, were he to be made royalty, he would immediately abdicate without a second thought. On the other hoof, Hammer seemed to take to the task without much complaint - or, at least, none that was visible. He did however seem to be preoccupied with thoughts of his own for most of the time.
When it seemed like the task was never going to end, Anvil was spared from further boredom when one of the Night Guard recruits interrupted an audience by barging into the chamber unannounced. The unicorn seemed somewhat nervous and agitated - he looked quite skittish, and Anvil thought he could see sweat just beneath his helm.
The newcomer bowed his apology to the scandalised duchess present, and briskly saluted Anvil and Hammer. "Apologies for the interruption," he began, "but there is a matter that needs your immediate attention." The unicorn then glanced at the others in the chamber and opened his mouth to add something, but seemed to think better of it.
Apparently, Hammer knew a mute request for privacy when he saw one. "Very well," he said to the guard, then turned to the others and addressed them, "I'm sorry, Duchess Trottingham, but we must continue at another time - unless you would agree to settle the matter with Her Highness' officials." "Councillors, if she is so willing, you may listen to her and bring the matter to us when we return."
So saying, Hammer followed the recruit out of the chambers and into the corridor without. Anvil trotted after them, and once they had shut the doors and the nervous unicorn had ascertained that they were safe from unwanted ears, he advised, "You really should take a moment to settle down before bringing news like that - the house lords get rather nosey and jittery when they are not privy to ill news, and anypony can see that you are less than happy with what you have to tell us. You shouldn't be sweating like that in this cold."
The former recruit cleared his throat and replied, "Yes sir."
"On with it, Cumber," Hammer said.
At first, Anvil was surprised that the big pegasus was familiar with him, then he recalled that his friend had overseen the training of the recruits. Now that he thought of it, Cumber seemed somewhat more relaxed in Hammer's presence, although something was obviously still troubling him. The fellow kept shifting his stance, and he didn't seem to stop sweating.
"It's Summer Cloud," Cumber said. "Ripple Dew told me that she has information for you - she's finally willing to talk."
"Useful information, I hope," Hammer replied. "The princess is hardly in a mood for false leads."
"Err - she said that it was meant for your ears alone."
"Mine, or Anvil's?"
"Both of you, sir."
"Oh?" Hammer's gaze bored into Cumber's eyes.
The smaller unicorn bit his lip and added, "Yes, that is all I know. I'm just repeating what I was told."
Hammer didn't seem convinced. However, he did say, "That will do; back to your duties, then."
Cumber saluted and took off with rather more speed than was appropriate. When he was out of earshot, Anvil turned to his friend and inquired, "Quite the interrogator, aren't you? - was that really necessary? Did he give you trouble in training?"
"Feeble bucks - but that's not the issue. Something was making him nervous."
Anvil looked his big friend over and rolled his eyes at that second bit. "Oh, of that, I have no doubt."
Hammer flicked his tail and shook his head. "No, there is something else - he knows about it, but he is not telling us."
"Are you certain?"
"We won't find out by standing here. Time to pay your mare friend a visit."
Anvil nodded, and they made haste to the dungeon. As they glided on the cold, still air through the corridors, he clarified, "I might add; she's not a mare friend. Not yet."
"If you say so."
* * * * *
The flight down into the dungeon proved uneventful, unless Anvil considered the tension in the air to be something noteworthy - which he did. When Ripple Dew opened the doors for them, he noted that the guard seemed uncharacteristically alert - boredom or casual indifference was usually written on his face instead. Indeed, Hammer and he were actually spared the verbal abuse that was often directed at him whenever he trotted past the cells of the former royal guards, and he highly doubted that it was because of his friend's presence. Some of the hitherto empty cells had gained occupants since the Night Festival, and he had expected a less than cordial greeting from them as they trotted by. After all, most of the newcomers were swathed in bandages after being gripped and flung around like ragdolls by Luna's powerful magic. The unluckier ones were sporting scorched, featherless wings as a result of unfriendly encounters with the princess' lightning bolts.
But regardless, most of the prisoners were strangely silent and attentive - seemingly content to glare at or observe them from the corners of their eyes, as if they were waiting for something to happen. Or perhaps wishing that we would drown in a chamber pot. Inwardly, Anvil wondered if there had been any drastic alterations made to the dungeon's management that might have produced such a change in their behaviour. He made a mental note to ask Ripple Dew about it later.
When they reached Summer Cloud's cell, they found the grey unicorn sitting on her haunches expectantly. "Nightmare Moon hasn't been very reasonable, has she?"
"What do you know of it?" Hammer asked.
Somepony in the next cell snorted, and a new voice muttered, "Enough to tell that she is unlikely to save Equestria anytime soon."
Anvil started a little, then trotted over to the adjacent cell. His eyebrows shot up when he saw who had spoken. Yellow coat; scruffy, pure white mane; bright green eyes. The rogue pegasus. She was performing cartwheels in the confines of her cell, apparently in the midst of a wing exercise routine. When she caught sight of him standing at the bars, she dropped back onto the floor and blurted, "Oh, it's you." She then inspected him, and with a frown, said, "You look quite well for somepony who should be crippled."
Anvil remembered that aerial feat of hers. It was almost enough to make his bones ache again. "You are an impressive flyer. What's your name?"
"White Wind. Served under Captain Volley."
A royal guard. And a former trainee of the Night Guard's own captain, no less. Her name was unfamiliar, though - she had probably been in the batch of youngsters who had just completed their training prior to Luna's coup.
"Summer's told me much about you," White Wind announced. "And I'm surprised that you aren't on our side - I would have expected the heroes of Cobbleville to stand up for the ponies of Equestria."
"You should know that Luna played her own part in saving Cobbleville." Hammer pointed out. He had also trotted over to White Wind's cell.
The captive pegasus shrugged. "Except that now she's the dragon instead of the saviour."
From her own cell, Summer Cloud added, "The poorest and weakest of Equestria - the ones who need her the most - are not going to receive what they need in time. It won't be long before the cold and darkness destroys the last of the crops, and then..." there was a slight pause at this point, as if she dreading what she was about to say, "...and then, ponies are going to die. Not trees, not animals. Ponies."
Anvil was a little torn as to whom he should reply first, but White Wind had apparently picked up on his indecision, for she spread her wings once more and resumed her exercise. As she executed successive barrel rolls whilst remaining stationary in the air, she said, "Don't mind me. Summer has important words for you, and I've taken enough of that time."
With that settled, they returned to Summer Cloud. "Luna will not let it go that far. Whatever you may have heard, she does still care about ponies," Anvil said.
"Specifically, she means to care for them her way," Summer retorted. "Not the way they need, but the way she wants to." She shook her head, then whispered, "I hope that Celestia can forgive me for saying so, but your Luna is delusional."
"That's... quite a strong term."
"It is apt," she insisted, staring him straight in the eyes.
As much as Anvil hated to admit it, Summer Cloud's assertion had some truth in it. Luna was not blind to the reality of the situation, and neither was she evil or delusional, but it had become obvious that she was being very... selective of what she chose to accept. Any solution to Equestria's troubles that involved either Celestia or the sun was disregarded and completely beyond compromise. It was disturbing to think that she might refuse to resort to those measures until Summer's prediction came true.
"That's not what you meant to tell us," Hammer stated. "There's a reason you wanted to keep this from the ears of everypony else."
"You must understand that at least for now, she is not fit to - "
"Spare us," the big pegasus interrupted, "What do you propose?"
Summer Cloud seemed genuinely surprised. Anvil suspected that she must have prepared quite the speech in anticipation of resistance from his stoic friend. In fact, he himself had not expected the quickness at which he had asked for her proposal. She blinked once, then twice, then said, "Well, that was - never mind. I would not have thought to convince you so quickly."
"You haven't," Hammer replied. "But something needs to be done, and for the moment I do not care from whom the suggestion comes."
"Then, I will not waste your time," the grey mare answered, and she slipped into her teaching demeanour, complete with the slightly speculative tone of voice and light-hearted pacing. "Nightmare Moon - Luna - is not herself at the moment. Unicorns can sometimes experience a phenomenon wherein excessively strong emotions can cause involuntary magical surges and physical transformation. And if the transformation is conducive to further emotional stress, the change can be self-perpetuating." Here, she paused for breath. "Now, it stands to reason that alicorns can be affected by the same - only on a greater scale."
"And how are we to change her back?" Hammer asked.
Summer put a hoof to her chin. "In this state, unicorns usually exhaust themselves after a while, but since Luna's transformation only seems to have made her stronger..." She shook her head. "Regardless - the point is that she is unlikely to recover on her own. Celestia herself was about to restore her, but Luna had anticipated the attempt..."
"The Elements of Harmony," Anvil concluded.
"Correct."
"One problem," he pointed out, "Luna hid them away. And as far as I know, she hasn't told anyone, nor retrieved them from their hiding place."
"That is where my plan comes in. I know someone who can find them."
"This pony must be very enlightened," Anvil said. "Who and where?"
"Better question," his friend interjected, "How did you come across such an informant? I doubt this pony is a cell mate, and you have never left this place."
"I met him before I was caught."
"And why did he not share the knowledge with you?"
The grey mare frowned. "He had his reasons, and he refused to share those with me, either."
Hammer seemed to think for a moment before replying. "That will do for now. So where is he?"
"He resides in the lower gardens."
Anvil recalled that Summer had been wandering about the lower gardens sometime before she had been caught. As far as he knew, there was little down there but the river and some trees and marshy vegetation, unless one counted decorative sculptures, but those could hardly provide much in the way of intelligent conversation. Oh, and there was mud - lots of it. Not a likely place for a pony to live in.
"Must be quite the hermit," he commented.
"Of a sort," she replied. "But there is something you should know - I will need to cast a spell on you before you can speak to him."
"Ah... and what sort of spell would that be?"
They grey unicorn rose to all fours and trotted over to the bars. "Come closer. I think you will be familiar with this one."
"I've heard enough," Hammer stated. He then turned and began to make his way back to the exit, but Anvil put a hoof on his shoulder and whispered, "Wait."
"Ten seconds," his friend offered.
"Well... I trust her... and so should you."
Hammer blinked. "Is that the best you can do?"
"Ten seconds. What were you expecting?" Anvil retorted. He then sighed and pulled him closer to whisper, "She knows better than to lose our trust at a time like this - I doubt she'd want to have the suffering of others on her conscience if we don't meet this informant on account of some silly spite on her part. Besides, I'll go first, and you can decide what to do if she really does try some nonsense on me."
Hammer nodded, and Anvil trotted back to her cell bars. "Now I'm really curious about this friend of yours," he said, "Why in the world would your spell be needed to speak to him?"
"He's not a friend, and he... doesn't speak." That was the only explanation she offered before she cast the spell on him.
The wave of nausea was familiar this time, but it only lasted a moment, and the display of lights in his head was tolerably in one 'corner' of his mind, instead of all over the place and 'blinding' his thoughts like the last two times. He swayed a little, but managed to stay on his hooves and gave Hammer a reassuring grin. When it was the big pegasus' turn, Anvil was slightly annoyed that his friend showed no sign of discomfort apart from a creased brow, a few rapid blinks and a quick shake of the head. Considering the fact that he had experienced the spell one time more than his friend, it was almost unfair that Hammer seemed to be more used to it than he. He flicked his tail and decided that the thought was not worth pursuing.
"The empathy spell would last only for an hour or two - so it would be best if you went down there immediately. And when you acquire the Elements, you will have to bring them back to me," Summer advised. "I had studied a reasonable amount of their history as a novice, and I believe that I know enough to provide them with a catalyst spell to begin Luna's restoration."
"You seem well prepared," Hammer commented.
She shrugged. "There is little else to do in this place."
"Fair enough, but that doesn't explain how you know so much about what has been happening outside." The big pegasus then approached her as closely as the bars allowed and added, "And Ripple Dew is under strict orders not to converse with prisoners."
The unicorn's eyes widened. "Well, he - he is not the only one in here. The servants do speak amongst themselves when they come to clean up the place..."
"We can worry about servant gossip another time," Anvil piped up. "For now, I think we have far more interesting things to do."
His companion seemed inclined to disagree, but dropped the subject anyhow. With that settled, they turned and began to make their way back to the exit. But as they trotted off, Anvil slipped a glance at Summer Cloud from the corner of his eye and spotted her letting loose a little sigh of relief. At first, he thought that she might have been hiding something, but then decided that perhaps she was just plain nervous, since her plan very much amounted to all of them committing treason in Luna's eyes.
When he stopped at the dungeon's entrance to ask Ripple Dew about the lack of verbal abuse from the prisoners, the veteran simply chuckled and said, "Hah, they grew weary of it - makes the mouth dry, you see."
* * * * *
If the chill of the air in the palace was considered uncomfortable, then the dampness from the river and the little waterfalls coming off the cliff simply made the flight into the lower gardens a bleak affair. Droplets of chilly water had formed and clung to Anvil's wings, and he could feel the wetness slowly seeping into his coat. He'd have quite a time drying off his armour later, lest the metal rust into uselessness.
The lower gardens were often enshrouded in a nearly perpetual fog, and the pale blue light from the glow-worm lanterns that were strapped to their saddles only succeeded in penetrating it slightly - moonlight was practically non-existent down here. Old stone benches and water fountains dotted the area, as a reminder of olden days when the river was young and had not yet carved its way into the gardens. Since then, thick clumps of reeds had grown into the rivulets that had encroached into the garden from the main river. Shrubs and small trees grew on the bits of elevated soil or gravel that were safe from running water, with their trunks and roots mostly covered in a thick layer of crisp, bristly green moss. Frogs sang in the darkness, and somewhere in the fog, beyond the reach of the lamplight, there was the sound of something splashing around in the river.
With a few powerful strokes of their wings, they were able to temporarily clear away a fair portion of the fog - just enough spot the entrance to the cave that Summer Cloud had mentioned. It was a triangular crack in the base of the cliff wall, just about high and wide enough to admit an alicorn with folded wings. They entered it one at a time, with Anvil bringing up the rear, and when he spared a moment to look back outside, the fog had swallowed the garden up once more.
"Somepony must really like his privacy. I doubt he gets many visitors," Anvil murmured. Beyond the fact that her informant lived here, Summer had refused to volunteer any more details and simply told them that they would know why when they finally saw him.
Hammer grunted his assent.
The inside of the cave was as much as anypony could expect - excessively damp, with a slight reek that reminded one of marsh mud, and a generous helping of grit and filth on the walls. A short tunnel led deeper into the cliff, and it was roughly the same size as the entrance. Strangely enough, the tunnel had a fairly even floor of carved rock, which suggested that it was meant to be accessed by ponies, although it was beyond Anvil why those who made it hadn't bothered to make the place a little more accommodating whilst they were at it. He inspected the floor closely, and saw that there were three sets of hoofprints in the grime on the floor - one belonging to his companion, and the other two, probably to Summer Cloud when she had first come and gone. When one of his wings brushed against the wall and came away smeared, he quietly groused to himself. Small wonder she needed a bath.
The end of the tunnel opened up into a circular cavern - one large enough for thirty or so ponies to comfortably fit in, and high enough to accommodate a decently sized tree. They no longer needed to walk in single file, and so they stood side by side as they inspected the cave's interior.
Mushrooms were growing everywhere, and in the centre of the cavern stood a filthy stone object that showed signs of a recent attempt to get it cleaned - there were patterns of remnant grime on its surface where hooves had scraped it all away, in addition to the random hoofprints on the ground at its base. It looked strangely familiar at first, until Anvil realised what it actually was. A long, flexible body. Mismatched appendages. Draconic tail. Stone.
"Well... he's not a pony," Anvil declared. |
Night Guards | Chapter 5 | Night Guards: Chapter 5
Discord. The Immortal Trickster and spirit of disharmony. There was certainly no shortage of stories about the draconequus - the first sovereign of Equestria who ruled with only his own petty interests at heart. Many said that he had done terrible things, like forcing unicorns and earth ponies to live on the clouds, whilst the pegasi were sealed underground, for generations at a time... all in the name of self-amusement. Other tales claimed that he had twisted the world into various absurdities, like making everything fall up instead of down, or simply float around like feathers in the wind, or making it snow sugar and salt, or making fish swim in air. And there were still others that claimed that Discord had once shared a tryst with Princess Celestia herself.
But all that was a long time ago - centuries and centuries ago, and Anvil was quite certain that ponies had embellished the tales through the ages. The endings - the happier ones, never quite agreed on what had happened to the draconequus after Luna and Celestia had defeated him. The presence of his statue in this cave certainly proved them all wrong, perhaps with the exception of the one saying that he had been banished to the bowels of the world. That is, if 'under the royal palace' qualifies as the bowel of Equestria. But, of course, there was the question of whether this statue was truly what remained of the spirit of disharmony.
The draconequus stood tall and proud on its pedestal, with tail coiled around the base and wings spread in a ready position. One paw-like arm was placed on its chest, whilst the other, more avian arm was flung out with its palm wide open. Its mouth was agape, and the slight upwards curve suggested an expression of glee or joy. Overall, the statue appeared to be in the middle of a grand speech or cheerful song. Or a victory dance.
Anvil set his glow worm lamps on the floor, then nudged his friend and asked, "So... who would like to go first?"
"Oh, oh, let me!" Hammer cried in a cheerfully enthusiastic voice.
Anvil almost choked on his gasp when he heard that. He turned his head with more speed than was probably good for his neck, and saw the big pegasus frowning and casting his eyes about. He then realised that he had been holding his breath, and promptly exhaled with relief.
"I take it that wasn't you," he said. He had been quite certain that it was his friend's voice, but it was obvious now that he hadn't been the one to speak.
"No." Hammer eyed their surroundings warily.
"I'm scared; hold me," Anvil whimpered. His jaw dropped just as Hammer turned and stared at him with a rare, stunned expression. The voice sounded like his, and it had come from where his mouth was, but it certainly wasn't his - he hadn't even opened his mouth when the words were said.
But before they could puzzle it out, laughter filled the cave. Anvil's hair stood on end - he had heard that voice before, in the palace, just before Luna's transformation. It was the same sort of rich, dark laughter that had unnerved all of them that night. Except that this time, it sounded more mirthful, and gave the impression of somepony rolling on the floor with tears in his eyes and a massive grin on his face.
"So you are real," Hammer stated, seemingly to no one in particular.
The laughter stopped. Silence deafened the cave once more.
Anvil exchanged looks with his companion, then tentatively called out, "Hello?"
More silence.
"Very mature," Hammer commented.
"Hammer, there is something I must ask of you," Anvil said. He clapped a hoof over his mouth when he realised it was happening again, but his 'voice' carried on as if nothing was wrong. Apparently, the false voice did not even need his mouth to work. "What think you of my chances of winning Luna's hoof in marriage?" He suddenly felt himself go red.
His friend didn't react, but simply observed the statue, tail flicking in annoyance.
After another moment of silence, the statue glowed blue, and more laughter echoed in the cave. Then, the blue aura on the statue seemed to detach from it, and a shimmering, translucent duplicate of the draconequus stepped off the pedestal. Anvil felt his eyes widen.
"Oh, that was rich," the apparition snickered. "I haven't quite enjoyed myself that much in ages!"
"Glad to be of service," Hammer droned. A pause, then he continued, "So... you are Summer Cloud's informant."
The apparition of Discord grinned. "Oh, quite right. But..." he waggled a clawed finger, "Introductions first, business later. It's been such a long time since I have had the pleasure of intelligent conversation. Well, mostly - if you don't count that unicorn. Too boring; too academic for my taste." He bowed, and with a flourish of one arm, added, "I'm Discord, but you already know that, so I shall skip to the part where I inform you that you are my guests, and are most welcome to stay for as long as you like."
"Save your breath - Summer claimed that you know where the Elements are, so name your price and be done with it."
Discord raised an eyebrow at him, then chuckled. "Ah, Hammer, ever the strong, silent guardian. You're no simpleton; that much I have seen. Slow to speak, but rarely a word wasted when you do. Well, so be it. My price for assisting you is simple - company, and idle chatter. I think you should be able to provide that quite nicely. Once I am sufficiently entertained, I shall impart my knowledge to you." He paused and stroked his beard thoughtfully, then asked, "Ham... can I call you Ham? It's such an endearing name." He chuckled some more.
Hammer shrugged his wings. "You sound like you have already made up your mind."
Discord's face fell for a moment. "Oh, come now. Don't be like that - it was a jest, no need to get all sour on me." He sank into the ground and vanished.
Barely a second later, a loud "Boo!" was uttered behind them, and Anvil nearly bucked out in surprise. His friend, on the other hoof, casually turned around and glared disapprovingly at the guffawing draconequus.
"Apologies," Discord said, wiping a ghostly tear from his cheek, "I have been waiting to do that for a long time. I'm finally convinced that you cannot be startled, ever."
"Finally?" Anvil questioned. "Have you been... watching him? And how exactly does a statue find out where the Elements of Harmony lie? I doubt you've been... ah, gallivanting much lately."
Discord grinned rounded on him. "And you are Anvil, Princess Luna's closest friend - out of only two, but that's beside the point. To answer your question - I might currently be made of stone," here, he floated over to his statue and rapped on it with his knuckles, "but I do have some spatial awareness - I can see things that interest me, without the need for an inconvenient crystal ball. It comes with being the Master of Chaos, along with other fancy perks. Which reminds me... Summer Cloud is quite a gifted unicorn - it's rare to find a mortal who can actually see astral projections such as myself, let alone enable others to do the same."
"Assuming you are not lying, do you even intend to show us where the Elements are?" Hammer demanded.
Discord looked mildly offended. "Manners, my boy. I have already promised to tell you - when I am ready. Besides, it is not as if you can actually make me tell you, is it?"
The apparition's manner of supreme confidence was starting to grate on Anvil's nerves. "We can simply walk out and leave you be," he suggested. "I'm sure the mushrooms can keep you entertained."
The draconequus scoffed. "Playing a waiting game with an immortal? I'm a little disappointed in you."
"If you want idle banter, so be it," Hammer intoned. He met Discord's gaze and held it, and Anvil noted that even though his friend was far shorter that the draconequus, he almost gave the impression that he was speaking to somepony of equal size and rank. "Someday, you're going to pay for the suffering you've caused in Equestria. For the cold and hunger..."
Discord blinked innocently. "I am getting the distinct impression that you somehow believe I am responsible for all of this..."
"Celestia said you had tainted Luna - by extension, this is your fault."
With an air of dignity, the draconequus began to strut in a wide circle around them. "Am I? If I told you to steal candy from a filly, and you actually did it, am I then the one to blame? It was much the same with dear Luna - I merely suggested; nothing more."
Anvil shook his head. "Luna would never do something like this on a mere suggestion."
"Ah, ah," Discord paused in mid-stride and waggled a finger, "Correction - Luna would usually never do something like this. Come now, are you telling me that you've never done anything that you once thought you would never do?" He grinned nastily. "I seem to recall a certain pair of pegasi betraying a certain pretty alicorn... ring any bells, hmm?"
"Don't change the subject," Hammer growled.
Discord sighed dramatically in response. "Oh, the irony. You know... I wonder just how much of Luna's misery has been wrought by those closest to her. You have seen how Celestia's 'love' for her sister has suffocated her - what about your 'loyalty'?" A dreamy look appeared on his face. "I have often sensed those emotions of hers - such turmoil; such resentment. And dare I say, even hate? An absolutely delectable assortment of feelings."
Anvil could find no appropriate answer to that, and so he simply settled for broody silence. Hammer was just as mute. The statue did have a point... if they hadn't sided with Luna, might things have turned out very differently? If they hadn't opposed the loyalists every step of the way, could they have managed to storm the palace and somehow free Princess Celestia? But then... if that had happened, Luna might only have been provoked to more extreme measures, and things could have gone in either direction from thereon...
"Well, don't speak all at once," Discord groused. He kicked back onto an invisible chair, folded his arms behind his head and crossed his legs. "Come now, where's your spontaneity? Don't be afraid to speak your mind - thought without speech is so terribly dull. Show a little spirit!"
Anvil rolled his eyes. "Whose side are you really on?"
"Me? I am on nopony's side. I merely choose to... how should I say it? - assist the side that needs assistance the most."
"Out of the goodness of your heart, I'm sure," the big pegasus commented.
"Oh, but of course."
"And what happens when the side you help starts winning?" Anvil asked.
"Well, in that case, I shall - " Discord's eyes widened, and he put a paw to his mouth and chuckled guiltily. "Ooh, you're a sharp one, aren't you? Well, let me put it this way - you may count on my assistance only for as long as you need it." He winked.
Hammer shook his head. "Has anypony told you that you need a good buck to the face?"
"Oh, I have been told that many times, by ponies and non-ponies alike. I have yet to receive one, though."
"I can offer you one right now."
"I would be happy to contribute as well," Anvil piped up. "You know not what you are missing."
The cave rang with laughter once more. "Tempting - but I'm afraid that it would be a little pointless." So saying, Discord jumped out of his imaginary seat and flitted alarmingly close into Anvil's personal space. Before he could react, the draconequus had already reached out and thrust a paw into his chest. He didn't feel a thing, though, and as the paw was withdrawn, he could see that no harm had been done. His chest was whole, and so was the translucent paw being waved in front of him. "You see," Discord resumed, "I am beyond the reach of physical pain - and I doubt that hitting my dirty old statue would give you as much satisfaction."
"I'm easy to please," Hammer replied.
Another chuckle. "You know, I like you. And that is why I am going to help you get Luna back. It will be most interesting to see how this turns out." He then rubbed his paws together and grinned. "Well, let's not waste any more time, shall we? If you want to find the Elements of Harmony, there is this old place..."
Anvil listened intently as Discord provided them with directions. The place he described was well north of Everfree - beyond the mountains and possibly the reach of summer's warmth, as well. His knowledge of Equestria's northern border was rather sketchy, but as far as he knew, no ponies had lived there for a long, long time...
" - and there you have it," the draconequus concluded.
"Is that all?" Hammer asked.
"Actually, not quite. There is one other matter that needs attention - the place is sealed, and only the right kind of magic will open it."
Anvil frowned. "Dare I ask what exactly we are required to go through in order to acquire the 'right kind' of magic?"
"Worry not. The task you have to perform is so simple that even a foal could do it. In fact, you were quite eager to make the attempt yourselves - all you have to do is kick me."
"What?"
Discord darted back to his statue and perched on top of its head. He then tapped on it with his tail and reiterated, "Yes, it's really that simple. I want you to kick me - meaning my statue, as hard as you can. And don't worry; I can take whatever you might care to mete out - Celestia did make me rather... durable."
Anvil trotted up to the statue and examined it from top to bottom. He put a hoof to his chin and cracked a smile at the draconequus. "A kick, you say? Do I get to choose where to plant it?"
The thought seemed to have occurred to the apparition at the same time, for a look of alarm appeared on his face. He hastily added, "Now that you mention it, I would prefer it in the chest, if you don't mind."
"Didn't you say that we won't be able to damage you, anyhow?" Hammer had also trotted up to the statue. There was an eager look on his face - or, at least, as eager a look as a face could show without actually looking very enthusiastic.
"It's the principle of the thing," Discord insisted. "I mean - what sort of depraved, ill-minded pony would gain satisfaction from bucking an old statue in the... delicates? What if somepony saw you - what would you say to them?"
"That you deserve it?" Anvil's smile widened. "Besides, who said anything about, ah, nether regions? I was merely considering your face."
"Ooh, well played. You know, it almost makes me sad that you weren't born when I was the ruler of Equestria... You would have made a most amusing guard, if I ever found the need for one. Or perhaps a court jester..."
"Are you done wasting time?" Hammer demanded. Without another word, he hovered up to the statue's breast height and delivered a swift buck right into its chest. The marble produced a surprisingly hollow chink sound when it was struck.
"Harder, if you please," Discord chided. "Luna gave you an impressive amount of strength with that spell of hers - show me what you can really do!" A brief pause, and he added, "Oh, and I would like both of you to do it together. As hard as you can."
Anvil exchanged looks with his friend, then shrugged and hovered up as well. At his nod, they both bucked out and struck the statue squarely in the chest. This time, the sound was more satisfyingly solid.
The draconequus yawned. "Disappointing. Another."
They struck again. Harder. The statue didn't budge, but the cave seemed to echo with the force from the blow. Still, the draconequus simply shook his head, and said, "Dear me, is that the best that Luna's champions are able to do? Small wonder she's always so depressed."
Anvil frowned and gritted his teeth as he prepared to strike once more. This time, he and Hammer both retreated from the statue, putting as much distance between as the cave would allow. Then, they both pumped their wings and accelerated head-first towards their target. At the last second, they tumbled forward whilst bucking out, so that their hind hooves would strike the marble when they were halfway through the forward roll. And this time, there was a distinct crunch when their hooves connected with the statue - and a split second later, Anvil realised that something was amiss. A jolt of lightning went through his body, and he suddenly froze in mid-air, with his hoof still in contact with the statue. He tried to move, but everything refused to obey - his muscles were all tensed up, and he could not even open his mouth to say a word. Then... the pain arrived. Anvil knew it well enough; the same sensation of having something like lightning coursing through his veins, much like what he had felt when Luna transformed him. Except that this time, it felt like the energy was flowing out of him - down his chest and into his hind legs and out of his hooves - into the statue. It was almost like having his teeth pulled out, and the only response that he could show for the pain was an eye-twitch as he endured every second of having the magic tugged out of him through his hooves.
After what had felt like an immeasurably long time, the pain was suddenly gone, and gravity returned. Anvil landed with a splat on a patch of mushrooms and muck. Armour needs cleaning again - wonderful. He spluttered at the taste on his tongue, then looked back at the statue. Cracks had branched out from the middle of its chest where their hooves had struck, and as he looked on, the glowing fractures began to retreat back to their centres, until all that was left was a glowing, spidery zigzag of tiny lines on the point of impact. Then the light faded from within, and the cracks disappeared from sight.
Anvil turned his gaze to the apparition still perched atop the statue. "What - what was that?" he demanded. He felt drained, somehow.
"I would like to know, as well," Hammer chimed in. He had taken his helmet off and was busy rubbing some filth out of one eye. He had a rather dangerous gleam in the other - one that might even have made a manticore nervous.
"I have enchanted you so that you will be able to access the place of which I spoke," Discord blithely replied. "How else will you get to the Elements of Harmony?"
Anvil and his companion continued to glare at the draconequus. Which wasn't very easy to do, since he was still reeling slightly from the pain.
Discord blinked innocently, then suddenly sat straighter, as if he had been struck by an epiphany. "Oh, you mean - oh, that. I merely exacted a small fee for my service." He smirked and then conjured a translucent goblet filled with equally ghostly fluid. The draconequus took a sip of its contents, then dreamily added, "Nightmare Moon has very interesting magic, I must say. The flavour is most exotic - distant and dark, but also intricate and powerful. The enchantments she put on you were exceptional - I doubt I could have done it better, myself."
A thought occurred to Anvil, and he hastily examined his body. Ashen grey coat, midnight-blue hair, dragon-like wings. He glanced at Hammer, and noted that his eyes were also still yellow and with slit pupils. Still the same. But...
"You stole some of her magic," he accused.
"Stole is such a strong word." Discord fiddled with his talons, as if he had just used them to tune some unseen musical instrument. "Especially since it was my influence that helped her gain such power to begin with."
Hammer shook his head. "So you are responsible for this mess, after all."
The draconequus raised an objecting finger, opened his mouth, then snapped it shut once more. Then, he grinned sheepishly. "Oops, didn't quite mean to say it that way." The grin faded, and was replaced by a conspiratorial smile. "But, come now, time is short, and I believe you have a quest to embark upon. The Elements await!" With a fancy flourish, he tossed his goblet over his shoulder, and it promptly exploded into a mushroom-shaped cloud of blue sparks and smoke.
"You go to great lengths to undo the trouble you have caused - without actually doing anything," Anvil muttered. "If what I've heard is true, Luna still bears your taint. Why don't you just remove it?"
Discord hopped off his perch and stood on his hind legs spread apart on the floor, and waved both of them away with wide sweeps of his forelimbs, grumbling, "Fine, I'll do all the hard work for you, lazy colts... Stand back!"
Anvil and Hammer retreated from the draconequus, and he began to gesture slowly and elaborately, as if he was painting invisible runes with his fingers, all the while with an intense look of concentration on his grizzled features. He then held his pose, and a few seconds of silence passed, but nothing seemed to be happening. Then, Discord suddenly adopted a more relaxed stance, along with half-lidded eyes and a condescending frown. "Oh, look at that - it didn't work. I'm a statue. An obscenely handsome one at that, but still a statue. Come back in the next thousand years or so."
"Point taken," Anvil grudgingly conceded, and they both unceremoniously made their way back out of the cave. He was getting rather weary of verbally sparring with the draconequus, and so had little desire to give him anything that remotely resembled a farewell. Also, there was the looming prospect of going behind Luna's back in order to find the Elements, against her wishes - it left a heavy feeling of dread in his belly. But on the other hoof, the anticipation of doing something other than talking seemed to have put some spring into his friend's hoofsteps, and he had to quicken his pace to match Hammer's.
As they neared the exit, the draconequus' parting words rang out; "Good luck, my little ponies!" They sounded mockingly feminine. Some sniggering followed.
Anvil felt like kicking something.
* * * * *
Taking a dip in the river to clean his armour and coat proved to be a little more costly than Anvil had expected. There was frost on the leading edge of his wings, and one disadvantage of the dragon-like appendages was that he could feel the cold with them. His original feathered ones would not have been vulnerable to that.
Stop complaining - think of something else.
Even after almost two hours of non-stop flight, the hiding place was just only visible in the distance - a dark silhouette of a mountain against the deep purple horizon. Granted, they weren't flying as if their lives depended on it, but their speed wasn't exactly relaxed, either. And it didn't help that the long, silent flight only left Anvil with his thoughts - which were less than pleasant, to say the least. If what the draconequus said was true, then the whole mess might have been resolved long before ponies started starving. But then again, perhaps not... He groaned inwardly. The biggest problem was not that Discord was a liar, but that the stories almost always painted him as one gifted in the art of mixing truth with lies - it was enough to irk even the staunchest of ponies.
Never mind, think of something else. Again.
Anvil started reciting the Royal Guard oath under his breath. Odd choice for a distraction, and he didn't know why it was the first thing to come to his mind, but... it seemed strangely appropriate at the same time. He whispered;
"I stand before you, Equestrians, in service to the Throne. In rain or shine, through hail or flame, I vow to defend my home with tooth, hoof and wing. My duty is eternal; never ending, until my liege release me, or death take me. I stand before you to pledge my life and honour to the Royal Guard. Long live the Princess; long live Equestria."
It was interesting to think that Luna hadn't changed it much for the Night Guards. Unicorns were allowed to say 'horn' in place of 'wing', and 'Night' was used in place of 'Royal', but apart from that, it was much the same. The candidates still recited it in the presence of the city's inhabitants, in the palace courtyard, facing them rather than the princess. It was just as much a vow to ponykind as it was to the throne. Now, had Luna been more like the tyrant that Discord and the loyalists were claiming...
Well done; you're doing it again.
He shook his head. He needed something to do - something that could take his mind off things for a while. With a mental shrug, he rolled sideways until the world was upside down, then shifted his weight, so that he was flying with his back facing forward and reclining on the force of oncoming air. That way, his saddle and helmet could take the brunt of the chilly wind, and his wings could do with performing a different sort of stroke for a while. He wasn't worried about not being able to see his destination - after all, he was quite sure that he wouldn't be able to miss a mountain. That, and the fact that Hammer was in the lead. Besides, his newly adopted position allowed him to look up at the starry sky without getting a cramp in his neck.
The night sky was a deep purple-blue, and dotted with a myriad of stars in patterns that reminded one of a flowing river, or of fantastic creatures swimming and cavorting in its depths. Normally, a fair bit of the sky would be obscured by the clouds, but he was flying above most of them at the moment. He sighed - he missed the times when being a guard was simple. Obey the princess, and that was very much it.
A shooting star appeared, and his eyes followed its course as it raced across the heavens. It disappeared below the horizon of clouds, where a couple of dark shapes were - wait... Anvil squinted. Oh, hayseed. He flipped back to a proper flight stance and put on a burst of speed to catch up with his companion.
"We're being followed," he announced.
The big pegasus was quick enough in spotting them when he turned round to have a look. He promptly said, "Lights out," and closed the shutters on the pair glow worm lamps strapped to either side of his saddle. Then he quickened his pace, putting more strength into each wing-beat, in addition to changing course slightly - angling off from the mountain far ahead.
Anvil did the same, and they both dropped into the cloud layer. It wasn't thick enough to hide in completely, but between them and the cover of night, it would probably suffice to throw off pursuit. In fact, the pursuers themselves might have eluded detection - if his eyes hadn't been altered by Luna's enchantment. He could see rather well in the dark, and the moonlit night might as well have been as bright as day where spotting things was concerned. He doubted they could claim as much, or that they were even aware of his improved night vision. With a backwards glance, he counted one, two, three... six pegasi. They seemed to be fanning out, apparently in search of the light from the lamps which had hitherto been the main sign of their targets.
After a while, his periodical searches of the sky behind told him that the pursuers had lost track of them. Perhaps they had decided to simply fly straight to the mountain instead of angling off as Hammer and he had, since it had been quite plain that that was the direction in which they had been heading. That in itself wasn't too troubling - it was a big mountain, with plenty of room to get lost in. With that matter out of the way, Anvil relayed the news to his friend, who settled back into a less urgent pace when he had confirmed that there was no sign of any more followers.
Regardless, they overshot their target, just in case, and approached it from the other side. Truth be told, it was more of a mountain range than a lone one, and its highest peak easily cleared the dark clouds hanging over them with its snowy slopes reflecting a faint blue in the moonlight. Dark, skeletal pines grew in the crags that were more sheltered from the bite of the wind. The place of interest to them was a gap nestled in the foot of the one of the peaks, on a slope that was distinctly less steep than its neighbours - it was almost like a balcony of sorts.
As they dropped down into the gap, the full force of the wind became apparent. Or, rather, the full force of what the wind was carrying. From a height, the wind was merely wind - cold and strong, but just wind. Lower down, it was carrying snow, which was far more effective at biting through their hide - especially if it got between the gaps in his armour and melted and soaked into his coat.
When they landed, his hooves sunk into the snow, right up to his knees. Hammer simply ploughed right on and carved a path through the white stuff, further into the gap. Anvil, on the other hoof, instantly took to the air again, and hovered after his friend. The snow was less thick once they were properly inside the gap, and Anvil gladly dropped out of the air and plodded along. Gnarly, half-dead evergreen shrubs grew on either side of the gap, which at this point was about as wide as maybe fifteen ponies standing side by side. The walls were sheer, and probably went as high as halfway up the peaks on either side. The wind howled down at them from above, as if frustrated that they were now beyond its reach. Anvil ignored it and trotted after his friend.
As they went deeper, the light from the night sky lessened, until even their eyes were unable to make things out clearly without the aid of their lamps, which they soon opened once more. And it was at that point that Anvil realised that the amount of snow and frost was increasing. If his ears were hearing things right, there was no opening nearby that would be letting in more wind and snow, and it clearly wasn't ice, so dripping water from somewhere above could not have been the cause. The deeper they went, the deeper the snow got, to the point where he was up to his knees once again. This time, he didn't even bother keeping out of it.
The pathway abruptly ended in a sheer wall that led up into the darkness above. Icicles hung from projections in the rock. The wind's howling was faint now, but the snow on the ground was as thick as ever, and had piled up into a huge snowdrift against the end of the gap; as high as a large house, and probably just as thick. Anvil shared a look with Hammer, and they both resigned themselves to the task ahead.
"I'll provide the wind; you dig?" he asked.
"Agreed," Hammer replied.
Thankfully, the snow wasn't so wet that it could not be easily blown away by the wind from his wings once his friend had loosened it. After a fair bit of work, they had managed to clear most of the snowdrift away, revealing a large, circular stone block set in a depression in the wall. It was about twice the height of a standing alicorn. Apart from its size, though, the block itself looked unremarkable.
"Thought it would be more impressive," Anvil murmured.
His friend simply grunted.
He peered closer, and saw that it was not as plain as he had first thought. There were tiny lines and grooves on the wet, glistening surface - almost impossible to see, but definitely there. They seemed to form runes and patterns of some sort. He raised a hoof to feel them, but stopped himself at the last inch - he remembered Discord's instructions. "Shall we?" he asked his companion, as he set his lamps on the ground.
Hammer wordlessly trotted forward and raised his own hoof to the door. At his nod, they both put their hooves on the stone. At first, nothing happened. Then, there was a soft hum - an odd one, until Anvil realised that he was feeling rather than hearing it. The 'hum' grew in intensity, until his whole leg was almost numb with it - sort of like when a wing had fallen asleep and was just recovering its blood circulation. Then, he felt a pulse of energy flowing from his body, through his leg, and into the stone. Thankfully, it was not painful - he'd had quite enough of that kind for one day.
The vibrations stopped, and they were able to withdraw their hooves. The lines on the surface were now glowing in various shades of purple and red, and the patterns instantly became visible. Anvil didn't like what he saw. Many were the times when he'd caught a glimpse of magical runes, either in the books that he'd seen Luna studying, or in the arcane chambers where she had put her knowledge to practice. In all of the illustrations or on the runestones, the runes themselves had been elegant, with clean lines, smooth curves and often symmetrical shapes. The ones on the door in front of him, however, looked more like bite marks and claw wounds, and were rather haphazard in their arrangement. Not a straight line was to be seen.
"That's ominous," he muttered. The runes were beginning to fade away.
"It certainly is," a voice said from behind.
Anvil whirled round, and immediately tensed up. Hazel Hock. And seven other pegasi - all garbed in full Royal Guard armour. They found us.
"Seize them. We'll secure the Elements after."
"Well, hayseed," was all Anvil managed to get out before three vengeful-looking pegasi charged at him. He took to the air, and the foremost of the three crashed head-long into the stone door - he'd apparently intended to give him a solid head-butt. He had no time to celebrate, though, for the other two had quickly adjusted and tackled him in mid-air. He twisted round and bucked one of them in the flank, right before a hoof smashed between his eyes and a wing thumped into his belly. His armour took the brunt of the blows, but he still saw stars and had the wind knocked out of his lungs.
Something's wrong. Half-dazed, he tried to gain height once more, but somepony had chomped on his tail and was attempting to drag him down. That, and the fact that one other had anticipated the move and flown up ahead of him.
"Surprise!" the royal guard cried, almost gleefully, before bucking him in the chest. Anvil crashed back onto the floor. Snow billowed out in a circle around him from the impact, and he could have sworn that the stone had cracked beneath him. Sweet Celestia... Ouch.
He lay still with his eyes closed for several seconds, feigning defeat. He listened - there were thuds and scrapes and grunts coming from nearby, though he couldn't tell whether his companion was coming out on top or not. Then, he heard three sets of hooves landing or trotting up right next to him. Apparently, Sir Head-butt-the-door was still up for the fight. Somepony bit the crest of his helm and wrenched it off, then clamped on his mane and pulled until his head and chest were off the ground. He remained limp, listening to the sounds of Hammer's fight. He even let his tongue loll out. Careful, stupid pony - don't overdo it.
"Get the shackles." He heard a metallic clinking sound.
One...
"That was easy."
Two...
"Looks like Summer was worried for nothing. Go help Hazel."
Anvil almost forgot to count to three. Summer? Summer Cloud? Horse apples. He opened his eyes and spat in the face of the guard who had been about to shackle him. "Gah!" The pegasus fell back, blinking rapidly, whilst Anvil tensed up, regained balance, and swept out a hind hoof to knock out the legs of the one biting his mane. He then ducked under the buck of the third one, and then used his wings to propel himself as he skidded towards his companion who was currently being pounded upon. A split-second glance around to get his bearings, and he flipped over and planted his hooves firmly on the ground once more. Then, it was a simple matter of charging towards Hazel Hock and delivering a swift buck to his chest, right before whirling round to sweep a pile of snow into the faces of the others.
That was all the distraction Hammer needed. The big pegasus bowled over three of his assailants and slapped a fourth under the chin with his wing - the smaller pegasus was sent flying a short distance before landing head-first into a mound of snow.
Then, as if out of nowhere, Hazel Hock was upon him. He came diving down from above, and Anvil barely had time to shift so that his body would take the strike from a more favourable angle. After that, it was all he could do to block each attack as the leader of the loyalists rained blow after blow on him. Then... it was Hazel's turn to be surprised when a grey missile slammed into his side. He was sent sprawling, but was quickly helped back onto his hooves by his companions. A second later, Hammer retreated to Anvil's side, and the two of them faced off their adversaries, with their backs to the stone door.
Anvil was winded and bruised, and he could hear his friend's chest heaving as well. They had at least given some of the guards a good thrashing, too, but the better half of them was still strong on their hooves. Nopony moved. He took the opportunity to gather his wits. Eight against two. At any other time, those odds would have been trivial - but not tonight, and he thought he knew why. Discord.
"You still fight well," Hazel commented as he shifted uncomfortably in his now dented armour. "I would have thought all the lounging around in the palace would have softened you up nicely."
"Training. We learned from the best," Hammer panted.
"How'd you find us?" Anvil wondered aloud. Keep them talking - breathe... breathe... "It is disturbing to think that we couldn't elude you under cloud cover, at night."
Hazel smiled. "Tracking spell. Courtesy of Celestia's apprentice."
Horse apples. Summer Cloud knew about Discord, and he was the one who had stolen some of Luna's magic. They were weaker, now. And the loyalists knew it. He recalled the behaviour of the prisoners in the dungeon - they had known; they had been waiting.
"You're staging a coup of your own," Hammer concluded.
"We learned from the best."
Things just keep improving, don't they?
Four of the royal guards began to advance whilst four more took to the air to keep them penned in. Anvil sighed and steeled himself for combat once more. But the fight never resumed. Instead, there was a grinding sound from behind, and the loyalists halted their advance, some with mouths dropping open.
What now? Anvil whirled around, and saw the massive stone door sliding away, revealing an empty black hole. Except for their breathing, nopony made a sound. Thick fog began to flow out of the blackness, and then... three pairs of eyes appeared in the dark chamber; unblinking, and ghostly blue. They began to approach, and Anvil warily took a step back.
Hazel stood his ground. "Who's there - show yourselves!"
"I wouldn't encourage them," Anvil muttered.
Three spectral ponies trotted into the lamplight. Or, at least, they looked like ponies. They were far larger, and blue and translucent, just like Discord's apparition. And they had only two front legs; their rears and manes were glittery trails of mist and frost. Their bodies also made a faint, brittle crackling sound - like the kind that ice made when it was exposed to warmth, or when water was freezing over.
"Stars above... windigos!" one of the loyalists breathed. There was a collective gasp from some of the others. Anvil racked his brain - nopony had seen one of those in centuries...
"Stay back," Hazel warned, "This is Royal Guard business. Let us carry out our duties and we will leave you be."
"Oh yes, they look like the sort to acknowledge royal authority. Really - "
"Anvil, just shut up," Hazel cut him off.
One of the windigos snorted out a cloud of frosty air. Then, two of the spirits let loose unearthly shrieks and bolted past them - ignoring their cries of alarm - and surged through the gap and into the night beyond. They left a trail of frigid air and billowing snow in their wake. "Ponyfeathers!" somepony swore.
The temperature had dropped tremendously. Shivering, Anvil and the others turned back to face the remaining winter spirit. It regarded them with indifferent eyes, giving no indication as to whether it wished them well or ill. It drew breath, seemingly in preparation to speak, and Anvil heard the others holding theirs as well...
The blast was so sudden that he didn't even have time to close his eyes. It just came; a roaring wind, and was so cold that it burned - he could feel it even through his coat and armour. He tried to raise a hoof to shield his face, but his foreleg encountered unexpectedly heavy resistance, moving with all the speed and grace of a snail. It stopped halfway up his chest. What in the world... Everything was muted, somehow, and the world was blurry, as if he was looking through a badly clouded up glass window. He saw the distorted form of the windigo shoot past him, but he couldn't turn to follow its movement.
Oh, hayseed. He had meant to say it out loud, but the words never came. His mouth refused to move - everything refused to move. And it was cold. And then the realisation hit him - he was frozen solid. |
Night Guards | Chapter 6 | Night Guards: Chapter 6
So cold...
Anvil would never have imagined that being frozen solid could be such a lucid experience. He could still see, still hear, still think. The first two were significantly dulled, but they were definitely within his capacities. Illumination was still provided by the lamps - although they were probably half buried or encased in ice as well. And he could hear the thumping of his heart; it was unnaturally loud in his ears.
Then, he realised that he wasn't breathing. Panic rose in his chest, but was quickly replaced by curiosity when he noticed that he didn't seem to need it - at the moment, anyway. There wasn't any of the usual burning in the lungs, or the overwhelming urge to start gasping for air. He just... didn't need to breathe, apparently. But of course, the lack of suffocation didn't mean that he wasn't uncomfortable. Aside from the cold that was gradually gnawing into his bones, there was the matter of not being able to blink. Or even move his eyeballs. He was literally staring at the same spot the whole time - with the constant stinging in his eyes and the dreadful feeling that they might shrivel at any moment. If he ever got out of this mess, he would never take blinking for granted ever again.
Speaking of getting out...
He strained against the ice, but nothing happened - that was expected. But the sudden sense of being trapped wasn't - it was a primal, frantic feeling, however small and far at the back of his mind, that he might not be able to free himself, ever. It was because of the ice - it was almost like being squeezed in the paw of a dragon, and the memory of his near demise in Cobbleville Mine mixed with his entrapment was enough to stir his panic once again. He began to struggle - or tried to. He was so properly frozen that he could not move to gain any momentum - he couldn't throw his weight around, he couldn't gain leverage - he was well and truly stuck. His heart began to race.
No! Not like this!
Stupid pony - calm down! Deep breaths... Right, no breathing - he forgot.
Time was running out, though. He might not need to breathe at the moment, but there were other things to worry about - the windigos, for a start. He stilled his mind, and focused on thinking of a way to free himself.
One step at a time. His head had to come free first. Then, his chest. Just one movement, in one direction - flailing around would only waste strength. And it was likely that he would only have one chance at it - he wasn't sure if he would have the endurance to keep at it for long. Especially since breathing was out of the question.
Once his heart had slowed down a bit, he strained against the ice once more - attempting to bend his neck downwards and curl into a ball to break the icy grip on his chest. He only hoped that the ice was a layer around his body, and not a solid block. Slowly at first, but little by little he began to pour his strength into fighting his crystalline prison. There was a tiny crack - yes! - and he redoubled his efforts.
Don't celebrate yet, keep at it...
But the seconds wore on, and his strength was dwindling. And although the creaking sounds proved that something was happening, it was still not enough. Anvil couldn't even tell if any chunks had broken off, or if there were any new cracks and weaknesses in the ice that he could exploit. Horse apples - it's not going to end this way! He'd had enough - he threw in all of his reserves, ignoring the protests of his burning muscles and pounding heart. He could feel the ice trembling, and a crack streaked across his field of vision like a lightning bolt. More cracks followed, and in his mind, he was roaring with all his might. But... it still wasn't enough. He could give it no more, and he was still held fast, albeit with the ability to wiggle one foreleg slightly.
Oh, hayseed...
Now he needed to breathe - and couldn't. His head started to swim, and his sight and hearing became even duller. He started to drift off, with strange throbbing sounds in his mind punctuating each wave of fatigue. It was almost as bad as listening to a noble reciting his lineage... His heartbeat seemed to get louder, though - pounding hard in his chest as if it was trying to snap his ribs. And it seemed to grow more violent by the second, until it was almost like getting bucked in the chest. Wait... He felt a dull thud and heard a loud crack. His mind was too muddled to know why, but he was absurdly happy about that. He felt another impact, and his head shifted slightly to one side. Another two or three followed, and he felt something crumble away from his face and chest.
"Grargh!" Anvil cried, and he suddenly found the strength to break free of the remnants his icy shell. He flailed wildly for a second, shaking off chunks of ice and blowing the offending slurry out of his nostrils and gasping for breath. He then spent the next few moments yawning and blinking gratuitously, and he enjoyed every eye-watering second of it. Blinking - who knew it could be such a pleasure? And the air; it felt surprisingly warm - like standing in the sun, even though he could see that the place was still covered in snow.
"Satisfied?" somepony asked. Anvil sneezed and turned towards the speaker. It turned out to be Hammer. He was panting, and behind him lay the shattered remains of his own prison.
"My thanks," Anvil mumbled as he scooped up his helmet and donned it. "I could almost kiss you."
Hammer gave him a look and simply said, "Pass." He then began to scrabble at the frost and ice on the ground. He was after the glow worm lamps - partially frozen and buried under frost and snow. After catching his breath, Anvil followed suit, and before long they had recovered their only source of light. Thankfully, the lamps seemed to have shielded the worms from harm, and they were glowing as bright as ever.
They exchanged glances, and cautiously made their way into the cavern out of which the windigos had come. Once he was inside, Anvil suddenly became aware of the alarming possibility that the stone door could roll shut and trap them inside - after all, it had opened of its own accord once the magical seal had been removed. He voiced his concern, and they quickened their search. The place was like a tomb - rectangular in shape, with walls of black rock coated in a thin layer of ice. It didn't take long to see that there was no place to hide anything; the ice was fairly transparent, and there were no tiles, secret hollows or hidden buttons or levers. And worst of all... no Elements of Harmony - just plain, carved rock. It was no hiding place - it was a prison for the windigos, and probably had been all along. Discord had played them for foals.
"The snake lied," Anvil muttered as they hastily exited the tomb.
"Yes. Very shocking."
Anvil sneezed. Now that he had been free of the ice for some time, the air was starting to lose the illusion of warmth. And he felt a twinge of guilt when he saw the eight frozen forms of the royal guards, with varying degrees of surprise and alarm written on their faces. It would have been rather comical, if he hadn't been in the same position a few minutes ago. He trotted up to Hazel Hock and peered at him - he could almost imagine those blue eyes following his movement.
"Should we?" he asked.
Hammer shrugged. "Doesn't matter - we will, anyway."
Without further ado, the big pegasus began to pound on one of the frozen guards, beginning with the head and working his way down. Anvil did the same for one of the others. Those they freed first were initially inclined to be suspicious and guarded, but were quickly convinced that freeing their companions was higher on the list of priorities. They could all start fighting again later, if they still felt like it. Breaking ice was tiring work.
One by one, the loyalists were freed - most slumped to the ground with weariness, but Hazel and two others were quite alert after breaking out, albeit a little shaken. Once the last pony was free, Hazel Hock barked an order, and the royal guards surged into formation whilst he darted into the cave. He returned barely a moment later and joined his companions, with an ominous expression on his face. They were seemingly back to where they started - facing off against each other, Night Guards against Royal Guards. Except that this time, half of them were shivering, and it was unclear what exactly they were supposed to be fighting for, if not the now-missing Elements of Harmony. Both sides eyed each other warily, with no pony inclined to make the first move.
This is ridiculous.
"Ah... can we all agree to remain civil for the time being?" When nopony answered, Anvil slumped onto his haunches and waved a hoof lazily. "Fine, if you still intend to capture us, make it quick. I'll have you know, though; you're going to have to carry me. I'm too tired to fly."
"Besides," he added, when he saw that they were still being stubborn, "I believe we have bigger problems at hoof."
The floodgates broke. A couple of loyalists thumped down on their haunches as well. Hazel looked outraged at first, but when he had whirled around to give them a tongue lashing, another three of his band were already sitting on their haunches.
"Sorry, sir," one of them said apologetically, "but the traitor may have the right of it. Those things are headed to Everfree, and we may have to conserve our strength to make it back in time."
"Windigos..." one of the others muttered, "I never thought I would see one of those in my lifetime. I've heard so many stories..."
"Updraft, now is not the time for more of your crazy - " another loyalist interjected, but was in turn cut off by Hazel Hock.
"Now that we don't have the Elements, I don't suppose those stories say anything about defeating them?"
The one called Updraft looked thoughtful. "My nan used to say that they could only be defeated by love and friendship. Laughter and singing would drive them away as sure as fire melts snow."
Silence followed his words. Everypony stared incredulously at the guard, then at one another. Anvil was certain he knew what was going through their minds. The notion was absurd.
"Laughter." Hammer said flatly.
"Singing..." Hazel added.
Updraft shrugged. "Tis what I was told. They feed on misery and hate, so the opposite hurts them."
The two big pegasi shared a look, and both firmly said, "No."
"Heh, the second one is worth a try," somepony piped up, "Thunder Gale's singing is fit to drive a dragon from its hoard."
Some sniggering followed the remark, and lean pegasus, presumably Thunder Gale, scowled disapprovingly at the culprit. "At least I can sing," he retorted, "You can't even carry a tune." Somepony else laughed at that.
"Focus, everypony!" Hazel barked, but it was already too late. The tension between them had been severed, and his order was only half-acknowledged.
"Can we assume that we have a truce for the time being?" Anvil tentatively inquired.
Hazel gave him a sour look, spared a glance at some of his shivering subordinates, and then grumbled, "Fine, you'll have your truce - at least until those things are dealt with. After that, I'm tossing you into the nearest dungeon."
Anvil ignored the threat. "You'll even call off the coup, I hope?"
"No such luck," came the reply. "Count yourselves lucky that you're not worth the effort, for now."
"Has it not occurred to you that we want the same thing? We want to end this; we want to help bring Luna back."
The pegasus guard scowled. "Don't patronise me. Your own words condemn you - Luna is always foremost in your thoughts, isn't she? Never the ones she is harming." He shook his head. "Equestria is having its rightful ruler back, and it will not be on your terms."
"It appears that it might not be on yours, either. The statue's already had half his way with this mess."
Hazel froze, then fixed him a suspicious look. "Statue?"
"You know; the spirit of chaos and disharmony."
More blank staring, and this time the other guards were doing it too.
"As in, Discord?" Anvil suggested, with a raised eyebrow.
"I fail to see the relevance of the draconequus. It's a statue."
"Err..." he could find nothing to say to that. Summer Cloud is playing games of her own, it seems. And he could see it in Hazel's eyes - the loyalist thought him a liar.
Hazel backed away a little, and without breaking eye contact, addressed his subordinates, "Back to the palace - go."
"Wisest thing you've said all night," Hammer replied, and broke into a gallop for the exit. Anvil scrambled after him, and just a split second later, he heard the thundering hooves of pursuit. He spared a glance back, and was dismayed to see Hazel and the others rapidly gaining on them. It appeared that they were going to have themselves another scuffle - one second, Hazel was a tail length away, slightly off to the side; the next, he was within biting distance, and after that... the big guard was galloping beside him. And it was then that he realised it wasn't a pursuit; it was a race - a race home to Everfree.
* * * * *
Being buffeted around by arctic winds was not on Anvil's list of enjoyable pastimes. The moment he had left the protection afforded by the gap, the veritable blizzard without had nearly smashed him back into the face of the mountain. As it turned out, the wind had picked him up like a ragdoll and flung him into the nearest cluster of pines, and he'd emerged only after receiving a sound whipping from the skeletal branches. Heh, what's a few more bruises and scratches? The others had also been taken by surprise - there were cries of alarm, but as far as he could tell, all were able to adjust accordingly to the new turbulence, for they were soon all visible once more, battling the storm in formation. Small blessings - can't have too many of those these days. He did not relish the thought of having to haul any injured pony all the way home.
As much as Anvil would have liked to outdistance the loyalists on the race home, it seemed that their paces were evenly matched - aggravatingly so. If one group tried to outfly the other, the extra burst of speed would be so costly that the lagging party only needed to wait for the inevitable exhaustion in order to catch up. Such attempts had been made several times, but in the end, everypony had made an unspoken agreement to conserve their energy and fly steadily. At least, as evenly as their consciences allowed - the windigos had had a substantial head start on them, and ponies' lives were at stake.
After an hour of urgent flight, Anvil had seen all he needed to conclude that embarking on the draconequus' little 'quest' was amongst the least commendable things he'd ever done. The sky was roaring with the force of the blizzard, and the land was blanketed in a layer of snow that shone a pale blue in what little moonlight had made it through the clouds. Every now and then, coming from somewhere in the distance, he could hear the eerie shrieks and howls of the winter spirits as they wreaked havoc with Equestria's weather. He thought he even saw them at times, whirling and dancing around in the storm, taunting him and his companions.
Once they were over settled land once more, they dropped lower to the ground, trading speed for a better view of the towns and villages below. It was not encouraging. Each and every one they spotted was practically buried in snow, and only the ones with larger buildings had any sign of inhabitants. The rest had half-faded tracks to mark the passage of ponies that had retreated to more sheltered places like caves or thick groves after their homes had been wrecked by the roaring winds. Hazel Hock shouted an order, and four of the loyalists broke away from their group and angled off in various directions. Anvil had been too far away and the wind too loud for him to make out the exact words, but he surmised that those four had been told to either render assistance to the ponies below, or to get help from wherever the rest of the loyalists were hiding.
He did feel guilty for not doing the same for the villagers, and was almost disgusted by his quickness to take solace in the reality that there weren't enough of them, loyalist or otherwise, to help all of the settlements at once - they would be better served if Luna was swiftly alerted to the threat in order to deal with the windigos. However, it appeared that the spirits were more interested in shaping the landscape to their own chilly designs than in securing their newfound freedom - as they drew closer to Everfree, he could see that they were taking their sweet time circling the lands and spreading the blizzard in their wake. It was as if they weren't even aware that they were former prisoners, and that their efforts at redecoration were soon to draw the attention of those who might have the power to bind them once more. At least, Anvil hoped that ignorance was the case - indifference implied that nothing could be a threat to them... and that was not a comforting thought.
Still, it was inevitable that the windigos would reach Everfree, and by the time Anvil and the others had the city in sight, the spirits were already spiralling around its outer reaches, raining snow and hail down upon its inhabitants, and each cycle brought them closer to the palace at its centre. The loyalists surged forward, and Anvil and Hammer pumped their wings to match their pace. Hammer broke off towards the library, whilst Anvil tailed Hazel who was heading to the old barracks, and presumably the dungeon beneath it. As irksome as it was, he could not follow the other three loyalists who had split up and gone to various sections of the palace.
Anvil had no way of knowing if the coup had already begun, but on the off chance that it hadn't yet, alerting the rest of the Night Guards was a good place to start. He saw the great doors of the barracks swing open to admit Hazel, and nearly sprained his wings braking when a dozen other pegasi and unicorns poured out - they did not look friendly. He slowed to stalling speed and dropped like a rock, narrowly missing a tackle from one of the pegasus loyalists. He swung around and dodged another two more attempts, and then beat his wings for all he was worth, making a frantic dash for the nearest balcony. There was a buzzing sensation in his hindquarters, immediately followed by a rapid deceleration. Anvil looked down and saw his body half-enveloped in a multi-coloured aura. Unicorns. He thrashed in mid-air, and felt the hold on him loosen. He grunted and thrashed some more, until only his tail was caught in the magical grip. One final jerk and a mighty beat of his wings, and he was free - at the cost of half of the hair on his tail. Barely a second later, he heard somepony rapidly approaching from behind, and bucked out wildly. He felt his hooves connect, but dared not look back. Instead, he plunged forward and crashed through a stained glass window. The loyalists did not follow, but the sounds of intelligible curses and shouted orders did.
Luckily for him, he had crashed into the grand ballroom, which was at the moment unlit and unoccupied. Horse apples. The coup had already begun. And at the barracks, he'd spied a couple of ponies in the throng who had been wearing Night Guard armour. After catching his breath and checking that the glass cuts were fairly shallow, he discarded his lamps and cautiously opened the doors, flying as quickly and silently as he could towards the royal library, keeping to the shadows as much as possible. He couldn't avoid being seen altogether, though, but at least the servants who did see him discreetly kept out of his way. In the wing above the library, he found two Night Guards making their rounds. Peering round a corner, he identified them as Flicker and Tailwind - former recruits; unicorn and pegasus. They looked especially bored - hardly the sort of behaviour that ponies in the midst of treason were likely to exhibit. Unless they were really good actors, but that was doubtful. He slipped out of the shadows and flitted over.
"Wha - oh, err, greetings, sir." The unicorn and pegasus immediately straightened up when they caught sight of him. Good, they're not overly surprised.
"Where's Captain Volley?" Anvil demanded.
"Isn't he in the old barracks? I heard that the officers were all summoned there," Flicker answered.
"Err... and weren't you the one who summoned them?" Tailwind looked somewhat confused.
Hayseed. "Go find any others who aren't attending. Tell them to gather in the library, or to remain with the princess if they find her anywhere else."
"Sir? What are we to tell them?"
"That Princess Luna commands it. And be on your guard; there are enemies in our midst - if anypony redirects you to the barracks, say yes, but do not go there. I cannot say more here. Go!"
The two guards saluted and sped off, leaving Anvil to wonder whether he had taken an unnecessarily big risk. Still, he judged those two clever enough to recognise trouble if they saw it. Without further delay, he spiralled down the stairwell to the library, wondering just how exactly he was supposed to explain everything to Luna. However, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sounds of a brawl down below. Stupid pony - stop dreaming and watch where you're going. There was a resounding thud and a muffled groan, followed by silence. When Anvil reached the bottom of the stairwell, he found Hammer standing over the battered body of an unconscious pegasus in Night Guard armour. The notched right ear gave him away, though. Drizzle Sky.
"Lucky find," Hammer commented.
"He wouldn't think so," Anvil replied.
"Why are you here? Where are the others?" the big pegasus inquired as they proceeded with rolling Drizzle up in a convenient nearby tapestry.
"They've taken the barracks."
His companion frowned. "How many?"
"Ah... all of them, I believe."
The hallway to the library bore marks from Hammer's struggle with Drizzle Sky, who had apparently been 'guarding' the doors. Torches had been knocked from their sconces, tapestries had been dislodged, and the carpet that stretched the length of the corridor was torn in several places. As they raced to the doors, Anvil's eyes flitted to the hole in the outer wall, through which Luna had smashed the marble statue not half a night ago. He ground his teeth. I hope she's in a listening mood.
After cautiously pushing the doors open, they found the library shrouded in darkness. Thick curtains had been draped over the grand clerestory windows, and it appeared that all of the candles had long since gone out and remained un-replaced. It didn't take them long to find the princess, though. A little ways in, light was spilling out of the arcane arts wing, and they saw the dark silhouette of the alicorn slumped over a pile of books on the floor. There were puddles of wax beneath the candle stands, but the enchanted trees all around provided all the light they needed. They rushed to Luna's side, but found that she was only asleep, snoring gently.
She proved to be a light sleeper, though, for she woke at the slightest touch. "What is it? I told you; no pony is to - " she began irritably, but started and sat bolt-upright when she realised who had woken her. "You - where have you been?"
Where should I start?
Hammer brushed past him and said, "We're short on time, Your Highness - Everfree is in danger."
Luna looked as if she would have liked to give them a more thorough tongue lashing, but relented anyway. "Very well - speak," she commanded.
But before they could say more, a tentative "Hello, is anypony here?" rang out from the darkness of the library. A moment later, a band of two dozen or so night guards cantered into the yellow light. Flicker was leading them, and he paused to bow to the dark alicorn before panting, "All we could find, sirs. Some... the others went to the barracks. Couldn't stop them." Anvil noted that those present were mostly recruits. He recognised only two or three veterans.
"I require answers - " Luna began, with a most severe expression.
As if on cue, the otherworldly shrieks of the windigos pierced through the stillness of the library, un-muffled by the thick curtains over the windows. Some of the night guards looked quite unnerved, whilst the moon princess was staring out one of the bare windows. " - a lot of them," she finished, distractedly. She then snapped out her reverie and gave Anvil an expectant look.
"Windigos, Your Highness," he supplied.
"This... this explains much." Luna began to pace, excitement visibly growing. "The cold, the crops... everything." She paused, then added with a frown, "And raises many questions as well..."
"There's one other thing. Hazel - " Anvil didn't hear the rest of Hammer's words. They were drowned out by the sound of a hundred glass windows shattering, followed by the howl of the wind as snow and ice poured into the library. Shelves and thousands of books crashed to the floor, adding to the chaos. Instinctively, everypony huddled together and braced themselves against the indoor blizzard. When things had died down a little, everything was covered in frost.
Princess Luna shook herself and glared out the nearest window. More shrieks came from without, and one of the shimmering spirits streaked past, leaving a glittering, frosty stream of mist in its wake. She then turned to all of them and said, "Night Guards, evacuate the palace - I want no pony unskilled in combat to be anywhere near this place." "And you," she added, focusing on Anvil and Hammer, "We will speak more, later. We have an axe to grind."
"Wait - " Anvil began, but then the world exploded in a flash of light.
A split second of nothingness - and the world exploded again, back into existence. Anvil blinked and shook his head. Never liked teleporting. Hammer and Luna were by his side, together with four unicorn night guards who looked as if they couldn't quite decide whether to be proud or worried that they were hoof-picked by the princess to fight alongside her. They were atop the palace's highest turret, opposite to the ruined Tower of Harmony. Black clouds hung churning over the outskirts of Everfree, swollen and infused with hail and flashes of lightning, but the sky directly above the city was clear and starless, with the full moon right at its centre - a cold, blue sphere in the eye of the storm. And up above, galloping on thin air, were the three howling winter spirits. Dark spots were coalescing in the air between them, growing larger by the second. Anvil squinted. They look like - oh, hayseed.
Melon-sized hailstones fell screaming towards them. Anvil crouched and sprang to the side to avoid being brained, but the icy chunks never hit the floor. Instead, they shattered harmlessly against the translucent bluish dome that Luna had conjured over them. The shield vanished, and they were showered with frost.
"Winter Spirits," Luna thundered, voice amplified with magic, "I am going to count to three, and you had best be gone when I am finished. If one of you so much as sprinkles another snowflake on my land, I'm going to make you rue the day you first drew breath."
The windigos ignored her and continued to gallop in a great circle, high above.
"One."
The spirits carried on. Anvil felt a chill creeping up his legs, and started violently when he realised that it was ice. The floor was frozen, and his hooves were stuck. Hayseed, not again! He hurriedly wrenched one hoof away. One of the unicorns swore.
"Two."
The ice continued to spread. Luna's frown deepened, and her horn began to glow. A second later, Anvil felt warmth emanating from the floor, and sighed as the ice melted away. His unicorn companions seemed equally relieved. When he glanced upwards, the windigos were no longer galloping. They'd drifted much closer to the turret and were silently observing them, barely a hundred feet away.
"Three," Luna breathed. The windigos shrieked in defiance, and blew forth a howling blast of frigid air that glittered with ice crystals. Anvil flinched, but only felt a shower of warm water. He blinked and shook droplets of water off his wings.
Steam was coming off the dark alicorn's horn, and she was grinning at the winter spirits. "I have been idle for too long; I'll take great pleasure in teaching you a lesson." She then spread her wings and said, "Hammer, Anvil; with me - we're going to play a little game." "And you," she added with a sidelong glance to the unicorns, "I want barriers for my champions - strong ones." With that said, she sprang into the air.
Anvil took to the sky after her, and felt static in the air as a translucent sphere materialised around him. Through the corner of his eye, he spied Hammer surrounded in a similar sphere of a different hue. As they gained height, the windigos let loose another blast of frost, and Anvil couldn't help cringing as he watched pointy shards of ice bursting into white powder on the magical shield, just inches from his face. Please don't break, please don't break... A moment later, the air ahead of him was clear once more, and he saw Luna retaliate with a bolt of lightning. It struck one spirit squarely in the face, and the other two scattered when it screamed its fury.
Anvil saw an opportunity, and took it. He surged upwards and tumbled to deliver a blow with his hind hooves. The lack of resistance so surprised him that he nearly stalled - there was a splash of coldness, and suddenly he was on the other side of the windigo, and chilled to the bone.
This... this complicates things.
* * * * *
The world was a blur. Anvil couldn't remember how long they'd been fighting in the air. Dodge, buck, drop, rise, dodge again... His barrier had long since been whittled away, and Luna had ordered the exhausted unicorns to retreat, lest they collapse entirely. Hurting the windigos was difficult enough without adding unconscious unicorns into the mix.
The spirits were more spirit-like than previously thought, and could not be harmed by physical blows - it was like bucking thin air. Cold air. In response, Luna had tossed another enchantment on them - their hooves now crackled with purple electricity, and they were finally able to do some damage. That is, if blackening their hides a little counted as damage. The spirits were still as fast and energetic as ever, despite the blows that they successfully landed. Anvil could see no end to the aerial battle any time soon. It was dragging on and on and on.
Luna had realised it too, and was growing reckless. She flew aggressively, focusing on one particular spirit in the hopes of wearing it down, throwing bolt after bolt of lightning at it. And the other two were taking advantage of her single-mindedness; they had her flanked, and it fell to Anvil and his friend to constantly harry them and prevent them from properly ambushing the moon princess.
Weave in, weave out - dodge, buck, drop, rise... It was almost becoming like a dance routine. A long, tiring one.
But then... somepony broke the routine. The leading windigo suddenly accelerated upwards at a sharp angle, and Luna matched the manoeuvre perfectly. Anvil and Hammer... not so much - they could not react so quickly.
But the other windigos could - and did. They stormed past Anvil, right up to the moon princess who had not yet realised that there was nopony left to guard her back. One charged from behind, and her decision to conserve magic by maintaining a barrier only in her front turned out to be a mistake. The windigo formed an icy boulder with its breath and bludgeoned the dark alicorn - her barrier flickered for a second before it disappeared entirely. The crackling enchantment on Anvil's hooves fizzled out, too. Unprotected, the moon princess was then caught in the middle of three cone-shaped blasts of freezing breath, and Anvil and Hammer were too far away to help. Luna fell from the sky, encased in a huge ball of crystalline ice. And it was heading right his way - he barely had enough time to swerve aside, and could only watch in morbid fascination as the frozen mass crashed right through the roof of the Great Hall. A large cloud of dust rose from the crater as tiles and masonry tumbled in. Half a moment later, Anvil felt a chilling whoosh of air as the three windigos surged past him and into the ruined Great Hall. They had completely ignored him and his companion.
Anvil followed them in, but dared not engage. Instead, he merely darted off to the side and watched from behind the pillars. Even Hammer did the same - not the most chivalrous thing in the world, but it had become obvious that they could do little harm to the spirits without Luna's help. So, they watched.
The windigos circled in the air above the cracked mass of ice, oblivious to the debris raining from the shattered roof above. They continued to breathe blast upon blast of frost on the trapped alicorn, and the ball grew and grew... until it practically a mountain of jagged, glassy ice, almost reaching to the broken vaulted ceiling. It was only then that the windigos calmed down, and they began to hover serenely over the mound, whispering to themselves in little gusts as if they were contemplating the merits of a fine work of art.
There was no sign of Luna. Anvil waited, but as the seconds passed, there wasn't so much as a flicker of light from within. There was so much ice... he couldn't imagine what it must be like to have the weight of a mountain bearing down upon her.
Sweet Celestia... no... Anvil was never one to be prone to rage, but at that moment, he felt a stirring in his heart; a fiery heat coursing through his veins; a redness colouring his vision - he wanted to hurt somepony, and the three winter spirits were right there, mocking him with their casual indifference, gloating over their success. He found strength in a place he never knew he had.
"Anvil..." Hammer warned.
"Spare me," he growled back. He didn't care if he got himself in a fix again; he just wanted to make the spirits sorry for what they'd done - even if it meant kicking and screaming in their faces until he was just another ice cube in the blizzard. He flew out of cover, with one hoof pointed forward, feeling the build-up of static energy as he gained speed. The windigos took notice and breathed at him. When he felt ice crusting over his body, he vehemently thrashed in mid-air and felt a rush of elation when the ice crumbled away. Not this time, you little hayseed. He roared in defiance as he shrugged off another blast, seething from within, and felt a satisfying crack of electricity when he slammed all his built-up static energy into the windigo. He angled off to make another round, but a spiky cluster of ice suddenly erupted from the ground, and he ploughed right into it - smashing the thing into a hundred fragments. The pieces rained on the floor as he spun out of control and crashed head-first into a pillar. He saw more stars than he could count. You really like doing this, don't you?
Dazed and bleeding, Anvil struggled to his hooves, turned around, and found himself face to face with one of the windigos. Behind it, he spied Hammer harassing the other two - dodging their breaths and bucking debris at them in turn. The spirit in front of him snorted, and he returned his attention to it, noting with a tickle of amusement that there was a tiny scorch mark on its side, and a fresh one at that - it was still smoking. Not quite as good as Luna's magic, but still... "Got you," he wheezed. He threw an insolent grin at the windigo, and spat out a broken tooth onto the floor beneath its fore hooves. He then took off his helmet and flung it into the spirit's face. It passed right through, and clattered off somewhere behind. The windigo didn't even blink. It only rumbled softly and drew breath. Anvil closed his eyes.
Instead of the blast he'd expected, he heard a deep crack. He opened his eyes, and saw the windigo with its face turned towards the ice mound, hoofing at the ground nervously. The others were similarly distracted, and he saw Hammer taking the opportunity to get behind cover once more - his armour was covered in icicles, and one wing was bent at an unusual angle.
He heard another crack, followed by a rumble. Luna. There was a light coming from the depths of the mound, flashing a bright, angry purple. He felt his grin slowly return. Massive fractures appeared on the surface, and the whole thing began to shudder. And just then, it occurred to him that standing around like a simpleton was an absolutely brilliant idea. After all, what's the worst that could happen? Stupid pony, move! He was just about to duck behind a pillar when a concussive wall of air slammed into has back, followed by sharp, bruising shards. He was thrown forward and buried under a pile of icy debris. He came up coughing and spluttering, and when he turned to the remains of the mound, he had to lift a hoof to shield his eyes from Luna's radiant form. The aura around her faded after a moment, but lightning continued to crackle in her eyes. She raised her horn skyward, and a silver beam of light shone down from the moon above.
For a moment, all was quiet - even the windigos seemed mildly curious. Luna stood still as a statue, staring at the moon. Anvil squinted - things were twinkling in the moonbeam - high up, but they were drawing closer. A faint whistling became audible, and it grew until it became a high-pitched, fireworks-like screech. His heart leapt when he saw the twinkling things transform into six little falling stars - each with glittering trails of a different colour. So that's where she's been keeping them. At the same moment, the windigos seemed to have realised what was in store for them, for they screeched and began to pelt the dark alicorn with ice shards and frosty wind. Luna ignored them all - their attacks simply bounced off the newly conjured barrier around her. In the aftermath, there was a substantial snowdrift in a ring around her, and the Elements of Harmony whipped down in a rapid series of fwip-fwip-fwips. Once at shoulder level, the brightly coloured crystals began to circle around her, shining brightly.
And for the first time, Anvil saw worry written on the windigos' faces. The moon princess gave them a toothy grin. "My turn," she said with great relish. Anvil couldn't recall Luna having teeth that sharp...
There was a bright flash - and Luna was engulfed in a cloud of purple mist that closely resembled the appearance of her mane. Anvil glanced around, expecting her to reappear and ambush the spirits, but nothing of the sort happened. Instead, the mist reached out with three smoky tendrils and wrapped around the ghostly forms of the windigos. They shrieked in alarm. He could see them struggling in the grip of the misty cloud, and steam was coming off them wherever they were in contact with it. One of them broke free and spat icicles into the centre of the mist, but the cloud simply contorted and opened up an empty space in the middle. The icicles shattered harmlessly on the stone floor. That's... new. Anvil realised that Luna wasn't hiding in the purple mist - she was the mist.
A second later, the mist contracted and coalesced back into the dark alicorn, along with the six Elements of Harmony. She was chuckling gleefully. "Like it?" she mocked, "Well, have some more." Purple lightning forked from her horn and struck each windigo. The nearest spirit was thrown against a wall, and the impact left a circular spatter of frost on the masonry. Another was smashed out a glass window, and the last was blasted backwards into the sky. There was a panicked shriek which grew fainter by the second - it seemed that the one thrown out the window had had enough, and was beating a hasty retreat. The other two weren't quite ready to give up, though. They encircled Luna, and attempted to freeze her once again. She merely huffed and conjured a barrier that rapidly expanded into a concussive sphere of force, thrusting back anything that wasn't nailed down. Anvil received a face-ful of frost and was thrown off his hooves.
"Get. Out. Of. My. Home!" Luna roared - each word was punctuated by a crack of thunder, and each crack came with a searing bolt that lashed the windigos. One spirit fled through the hole in the roof, screeching in pain. But the other, the one that had been smashed into the wall, tried to flee through the doors to the Great Hall. It turned out to be a mistake. Luna transformed back into mist and reached for the spirit with massive claws. The windigo failed to avoid her. There was a hissing sound, like water landing on searing-hot metal, and steam began to come off the windigo in clouds. Anvil shifted uncomfortably as he watched it struggle in Luna's grasp - she refused to let go. And then... it began to scream. It was unlike any sound that he'd heard before - a piteous howl that made his heart shrink and his resolve falter. A few minutes ago, he would have been quite eager to torture the spirit himself, but now that he was witnessing it... He wanted nothing more than to cover his ears and shut out the terrible noise. The spirit couldn't even scream properly from the pain - its cry was frequently interrupted by irregular gasps and choking noises.
He gritted his teeth. This... this is wrong.
"Your Highness!" he cried. The cloud that was Luna appeared to have heard him, but instead of releasing the windigo, it raised the misty arm and ground it into the floor. It then reverted to Luna, who stood tall over the now withered form of the winter spirit. Electricity crackled on her horn, and she began to lower it...
"Your Highness, you have defeated them - perhaps that is enough." Hammer appeared from behind a pillar, limping slightly. "Besides," he added, pointing a hoof up, "you have an audience."
Anvil followed the direction of his hoof, and groaned inwardly when he saw faces peering over the edge of the broken ceiling. Wonderful - now they choose to make an appearance. Even before he'd finished thinking, the doors burst open, and more loyalists in royal guard armour poured into the room. There must have been over fifty of them, and amongst their ranks were a few night guards.
Luna's eyes darted around wildly, and then she growled, "What is the meaning of this?" She stomped a hoof, and the impact sent a resounding boom throughout the palace. "Guards!" she thundered.
"They cannot help you now." Hazel Hock trotted forward. "Your guards have been arrested for treason against the crown. Even as we speak, they are being sent to the dungeons."
Luna didn't seem to hear. "Don't just stand there, foals, do your duty!" she snapped at those garbed in dark armour.
"They're not yours, Nightmare Moon - they never were."
That seemed to get her attention. She was dumbstruck, and she began to stare at one guard after another, as if she had just only noticed their presence. The windigo was momentarily forgotten, but it did not move from its place - it simply lay there with its chest heaving slowly. Luna grew increasingly agitated.
"To me," she said.
"Your Highness..."
Luna threw him a look. It was... difficult to read. Was that hurt he saw in those eyes? Or was it anger? Maybe a mixture of both. He sighed and mentally hung his head. Until my liege release me... coward. He flitted to her side, and Hammer limped over a few seconds after. They were surrounded.
"My own guards..." she said stiffly, as she surveyed their opponents. "There will be no mercy for traitors." The glow on her horn intensified, and the loyalists tensed for combat. Anvil grimaced. Where does it end?
"Enough," somepony whispered. It was softly spoken, but it carried on the air as well as any shout, echoing throughout the ruined Great Hall.
Anvil knew that voice. So did Luna - the energy around her horn guttered out, and she exhaled slowly and deliberately, staring straight past the line of loyalists before them. A radiant figure trotted forward, and the throng parted as she approached. Her hooves and horn were like hot embers, her mane like calm, smokeless flames - but her eyes were sad.
"That is enough, Luna," Princess Celestia whispered. |
Night Guards | Chapter 7 | Night Guards: Chapter 7
"That is enough, Luna," Princess Celestia whispered.
"You..." the moon princess seemed at a loss for words. Her lips moved, but no sounds came out. She spun round, took in the faces of the ponies surrounding her, and turned back to the sun princess. "Ripple Dew was one of yours, wasn't he?" she accused, "Your little pawns have been very busy tonight." The Elements of Harmony shimmered, and her horn's magic re-ignited.
"Guards, you had best leave, now," the white alicorn intoned. "My sister and I have unfinished business to conclude."
Luna snorted. "Yes, guards, by all means." She looked at each one in turn, and her glances lingered longest on those still wearing dark armour. "I am so disappointed in all of you..." Lightning crackled on her horn.
Celestia stepped forward. "No. I do not care whose side they are on - you will not draw any other pony into our quarrel. There has been enough suffering already."
The dark alicorn offered her a twisted smile. "A duel, again? You might recall that our last battle went rather poorly for you." She tossed her mane and added, "And this time, I have the Elements of Harmony."
"We might both be able to use their power," Celestia conceded, "but ever since that night, you heart has been anything but in harmony." She tilted her horn forward, and a golden aura enveloped the coloured crystals, right before they flitted over from the dark alicorn to her own side. When she saw Luna's surprise, she shook her head and added, "They have only one steward now, not two."
Luna's mane writhed and shimmered angrily. Anvil had the impression that it was itching to strangle something. "You will need more than a few pretty gemstones to stop me," she snarled. "The next time we meet, numbers and magic will not be in your favour."
Her horn glowed brightly, and Anvil felt the weightlessness that precedes teleportation. A flash of light, then darkness, followed by what felt like a load of bricks being dropped on his head. When the world exploded back into existence, it was spinning, and once he'd taken a moment to quell his churning stomach, he realised that they were still in the Great Hall.
Well... horse apples.
Just then, there was the rapid clip clop of hooves, and an out-of-breath Summer Cloud came galloping from down the corridor and skidded to a halt by Princess Celestia's side. "It... it is done, Your Highness," she panted.
"What has been done?" Luna demanded. She was still reeling from her failed spell. Her horn was smoking, and her coat looked like it had been dragged through a bramble bush.
"I have had the palace warded against teleportation," the sun princess explained. "No pony comes or goes."
One of Luna's ears twitched. "Summer Cloud, you little rat, I should have had you banished when I had the chance!" The grey unicorn didn't answer, but neither did she avert her eyes. She just looked... regretful, but she also seemed resolute.
Luna spun round, but they were surrounded. She looked up, and saw just as many loyalists hovering above the hole in the wrecked ceiling, blocking any escape. Anvil saw her mouth tighten - she was going to do it; she was going to fight. She spread her wings, and the aura on her horn, which had been somewhat passive after the failed spell, crackled and spat purple sparks. The loyalists readied themselves, but Celestia did not. In fact, she was merely gazing pointedly at him and Hammer. Summer was doing the same.
Ah... hayseed. He knew what that look meant.
"Your Highness..." Anvil put a hoof on Luna's shoulder. She started and her flesh twitched at his touch, and he realised just how tense she was at the moment. "Perhaps... perhaps it is time to let go."
Luna's eyes narrowed, but she did not take them off her sister. "I do not follow."
"This is not a battle we can win," Hammer clarified.
Celestia added, "Luna, I know that deep down, you still have Equestria's best interests at heart. But you cannot help your subjects when your heart is so choked with turmoil, when your judgment is so clouded by resentment." She sighed. "Please, I ask this of you - let me use the Elements to undo your transformation. It is very much like a splinter in your wound - the wound in your heart. You cannot heal unless it is removed."
"And you..." Luna said in an undertone, turning to Anvil and Hammer, "you would both agree with her?"
"If it matters to you, then my answer is yes," Hammer said simply. "And if not; your subjects would still best be served by agreeing to this."
"I feel the same, Your Highness. Equestria has been through enough - it must end here."
Celestia nodded. "They speak true, sister. And it will be easier and quicker if you do not fight it. Will you let me help you?"
They waited. The dark alicorn folded her wings, closed her eyes, drew in a long breath, and released it slowly. Her horn's aura faded, and her mane stopped writhing. Then, she opened her eyes - there were wet with tears.
"No," Luna whispered.
Silence followed.
"No," she repeated, louder and longer.
Some ponies began to back away slowly.
"No!" she howled. "I am not some disease to be cured; I am not an ailment to be remedied - I am your sister, your other half! I will not suffer the humiliation of submitting to you again!"
Movement caught Anvil's eye - the windigo. For every word Luna spoke, it seemed to grow more alert, less feeble.
Princess Celestia took a step forward. "Sister, I am not trying to change you," she pleaded, "But your magic has - "
The dark alicorn snapped her wings wide open and dropped into an aggressive stance. "No!" she roared, and the palace shook and dust rained from above. "If you force this 'cure' on me, I will call down every comet... every star... every lightning bolt... even the moon itself - I will bring them all down upon this pathetic Equestria of yours, until there is nothing left but ash and dust!"
The windigo raised its head. Wisps of frost drifted out of its nostrils, coalescing into a narrow sliver of ice on the ground before it, two or three inches long. Nopony else seemed to have noticed. He remembered Updraft's words; "They feed on misery and hate."
Hayseed. "Luna - "
"Don't you 'Luna' me, foal." There was a sudden tightness around his throat, and Anvil found himself lifted off the ground. Startled, he flailed uselessly in the air as she drew him closer. A garbled sound escaped his mouth as Celestia cried out something he didn't quite catch. His friend was being similarly throttled. When they were face to face with the moon princess, she glared at them. There was a trickle of tears under each narrowed eye.
"My friends call me Luna," she whispered.
Anvil was violently thrown backwards. He bowled over the line of loyalists, tumbled once on the floor, then slammed into a pillar and collapsed into a battered heap upside down. He heard a second impact somewhere off to his side. Groaning, he rolled himself upright and raised his head slowly, grimacing. His dented armour was pressing painfully against his ribs. He had cut a line clean through the ranks of the loyalists - some of them were still down; the rest were staring at him and Hammer. He saw Luna fold her wings and turn her face away.
" - And you are not my friends," Luna finished.
The windigo's sliver of ice was now a sizeable shard - a really sharp one. Anvil saw the spirit raise it off the floor and tilt it towards her neck, ever so slightly... "Luna!" he shouted. Celestia uttered a similar cry.
The shard whizzed to her throat, but stopped halfway when a deep purple aura engulfed it. Luna glanced at the projectile as if it was a mild annoyance and swatted it aside with a foreleg. Then, before the windigo could flee, Luna's mane had twisted into dragon's claws and wrapped around its neck. "Admirable attempt," she mocked, "but not quite enough." She began to squeeze.
The windigo didn't make a sound - it simply writhed and squirmed, wide-eyed and bleeding drops of water.
"Luna, stop this. You're killing it!" Celestia cried.
The dark alicorn gave her a scathing look. "What of it? These spirits are the ones responsible for starving our subjects - their winter is the cause of all our troubles. Ridding Equestria of them would only help."
"It is not something we do," the white alicorn answered. "Please, do not cross this line."
The windigo was fading - Anvil could easily see through it now. It was withering away. Luna paid it no heed, but continued to stare down her sister. "A small price to pay, I think."
Celestia spread her wings and her eyes and mane blazed. "Luna. Let it go."
"What a dilemma. I lose if I do; I lose if I don't." Luna put a hoof to her chin. Her mane continued to throttle the spirit. "Hmm, I say... no."
The sun princess frowned. Luna grinned, and loosened her grip. A ragged gasp escaped the windigo, but a second later, the claws around its neck tightened once more, choking off its cry. She was toying with it.
"Enough!" Celestia thundered. "Release it immediately!"
"Or what?"
"Don't make me do this, Luna. I don't want to hurt you." A golden aura pulsed on her horn as she advanced.
"You already have." The moon princess lifted the spirit up, and it looked like she was about to smash it to the ground like a glass bauble. Her mane whipped down...
There was a bright flash, and a thundering blast of fire burst forth from Celestia's horn. It was as thick as a pony was tall, in the shape of a beam, and there was a small explosion when it collided with Luna and sent her flying. She crashed into a wall and was buried under a pile of debris shaken loose by the impact. There was a smoking, red-hot path on the floor from the heat of the fiery blast. Anvil saw the windigo drift away, up and through the hole in the roof, thin and transparent as a stream of smoke.
"Guards," Celestia repeated, "leave, now!"
Most moved to obey her. A few, Anvil included, couldn't help watching as the debris pile shifted, and Luna rose with dust and ash dripping off her like water. Her coat and feathers were smouldering, and her silvery blue armour was scorched. She coughed up a little cloud of smoke, then fixed Celestia a menacing grin.
"So you do have a spine, after all," she mocked. Purple lightning arced from her horn towards Celestia, but dissipated into tiny branches of electricity when it met her barrier. But before the white alicorn could retaliate, Luna had already transformed into a starry cloud and was surging straight towards her at breakneck speed, just inches above the smouldering line on the floor. The sun princess shot another blast of fire at her, and for a second Anvil thought that Luna might be evaporated by the flames. His fear proved unfounded, though, for Luna passed through the inferno unharmed, even through the golden barrier, and reverted into an alicorn once she was inside. She seemed to savour the shock on her sister's face for a second, right before she scorched her in the chest with multiple thunderbolts. Celestia convulsed, then collapsed onto the floor.
"Princess!" Summer Cloud cried. Anvil saw her leap out from the cover of a pillar and galloped to her mentor's side. Celestia urged her away, but the grey mare refused, and took up a defensive stance beside her - horn aglow and teeth gritted, ready for battle.
"Touching," Luna quipped. "But it will gain you no quarter, no matter how pathetic a challenge you present." She brought her wing low in preparation to swat Summer aside...
Anvil wasn't sure how hard Luna would hit, but it would not be gentle. He struggled up, and began a panting, stumbling sort of gallop towards the Summer Cloud. Too slow. Too far. He realised that when he was just a few feet away. But then, he saw Hammer appear and shove the grey unicorn out of harm's way. The big pegasus took the blow instead, and flew a short distance before tumbling away on the floor. He didn't rise, but simply lay there, breathing heavily. Anvil skidded to a halt.
Luna was stunned. Or rather, she looked as if she couldn't decide whether to be pleased or horrified. That was all the time Celestia needed. Before the dark alicorn realised it, she had already drawn herself up, with the Elements whirling in a circle around her. When Luna shook herself out of her reverie, she received a fireball to the face, followed by another to the chest when she stumbled backwards. The moon princess growled at her sister, and sent forth a continuous, crackling beam of purple lightning. Celestia met it with an orange fire-beam of her own, and the floor glowed an angry red where the two collided. A ball of flame and lightning was growing in the middle. It started at the size of a melon, but in a few seconds, it had swollen to the size of a carriage. Gouts of fire and lightning sputtered from it, and the ground trembled as it continued to grow.
Not good!
Anvil rushed to Hammer's side, where Summer Cloud was attempting to help him back onto his hooves. She was struggling under his friend's weight, so he went to his other side and slung one foreleg over his own shoulder. Time was short. The ball of energy between the two warring alicorns was already as big as a house.
"You need to lose weight," Anvil grunted as they hobbled away.
"Grow some muscles," Hammer retorted.
"You two shut up," Summer snapped.
There was no time to look back. The moment they got behind a broken pillar, the ball exploded. The shockwave cracked pillars and sent loose masonry flying, turning them into deadly missiles that punched holes in the walls. Summer Cloud managed to deflect a few pieces that flew forth when loose bricks exploded against other objects. Even so, it was a miracle that they were not seriously harmed. The heat on either side of the pillar was scorching. Lightning arcs danced in the air.
A moment later, the fire and sparks subsided, and when Anvil peeked around the half-melted pillar, he saw the two royal sisters still facing off, glowing brighter than ever in their conjured barriers. Celestia's mane was an angry inferno, and Luna's was a seething dark cloud. There was a crater between them, with a great shaft of moonlight shining down through the now non-existent ceiling.
"Well, this will be interesting," Luna said with a frown. "But the Elements won't save you; I can match anything you care to use against me."
Celestia shook her head. "That may be true, but only against my magic - the Elements of Harmony have power of their own, and they will act only against you." She closed her eyes, and the Elements stopped spinning around her and hovered at wing height. Their glow intensified.
The moon princess looked like she had been about to retort with something derisive, but Anvil never got to hear it. The first word had hardly left her mouth before she was ensnared by six multi-coloured streams of magic. They encircled and twined themselves around her, until she was practically trapped in a whirling, rainbow-tornado.
But that lasted only for a few seconds, for a blinding flash of purple light burst forth from the tornado, shattering the streams of coloured light from the Elements. When the brilliance faded, Anvil could see the dark alicorn once more - but she was still suspended in the air by a few strands of rainbow light, flailing wildly. Her dark colouration seemed to be peeling away in several places, like old paint, revealing her original deep blue hue beneath. And it looked like it hurt. She screamed when a sizeable patch of blackness peeled off one side of her face and dissolved into wisps of dark smoke. She opened her eyes - and one of them had a round pupil. Anvil's heart leaped. Luna?
"Release me - now!" she screamed, still in Nightmare Moon's voice.
"Don't fight it, sister, please!" Celestia cried. A streak of golden light connected her horn to the Elements, which in turn were binding the moon princess.
Luna gritted her teeth, and the blackness on her hide expanded until it covered her whole body once more. Celestia's eyes widened, but she continued to channel the power holding her sister captive.
"That does not bode well..." Anvil commented.
Summer Cloud was gaping. "She's... she's actually resisting the Elements. Nopony should be able to do that!"
More specks of blackness burned away from Luna's face, but the edges continuously renewed themselves, like mould creeping over a damp surface. Her left eye still had a round pupil. She screamed again, and a faint blue aura came to life on her horn. "You will not take me like this!" she spat at Celestia. "Release me now, or you will regret it, foal!" Thunder rumbled in the sky above, but no clouds appeared.
"Care to tell us what she is doing?" Hammer said, glancing at Summer Cloud.
She scowled at him, but turned her attention to Luna anyhow. "I don't know..." she began, as her own horn glowed green, "It feels... unnatural."
The dark alicorn thrashed violently as another myriad of dark patches burned off, only to regrow themselves. Her tears were boiling away and drifting off as steam.
Celestia was crying, too. And she winced when Luna howled - a particularly large patch of her coat had torn away. "Luna..." she sobbed, "don't make this any harder... I can't bear to see you like this."
"I believe you can - else you would not even try doing this to me," Luna snarled through gritted teeth. "Fine, if you want Equestria back so badly - you can have it, and may you rot in it!" A bolt of lightning streaked up from her horn into the air high above, where it split into a thousand branches and arced all across the sky.
Summer Cloud screamed and dropped to the floor, trying to cover her head with her fore hooves. The ground began to tremble, continuously.
Hayseed. Anvil crouched by her side. "What's wrong?"
"The - she... she's doing something to Everfree!" the grey unicorn stuttered between wracks of pain.
Then Anvil realised that Summer hadn't been trying to cover her head - she was trying to blot out her magical sense. Luna must be channelling some truly powerful magic to hurt Summer Cloud like that.
She let loose another short scream. "Somepony make her stop!"
"Luna, what are you doing?" Celestia cried.
"Watch," the dark alicorn replied.
The tremors stopped. Then... a tree root suddenly burst out of the ground behind Anvil. He bucked out in surprise, and the gnarled thing wrapped itself around his hind leg. He uttered an expletive and wrenched his hoof away. Another root burst out of the ground. Then, thorny vines came writhing out of cracks in the walls.
"Take her up!" Hammer growled.
Without hesitation, Anvil put both forelegs around Summer Cloud's chest and dragged her into the air, away from the twisting roots and vines. His pegasus friend then hobbled off, thrashing and bucking and biting at any plants that tried to ensnare him. He watched helplessly as Hammer made agonisingly slow progress to one side of the Great Hall, where the piles of debris from the roof seemed to be out of reach of the nasty vegetation. Summer Cloud was still grimacing and twitching in his hold as she endured the effect of Luna's spell on her magical sense. There was no sign of other guards, loyalist or otherwise, save for the occasional cries of alarm ringing from somewhere off in the hallways.
Below them, Princess Celestia was still caught up in the magical struggle against her sister. Any vines or roots that reached her were quickly incinerated by the heat from her blazing mane and tail. But something else was different, too. The Elements no longer glowed in their usual colours - they were fading; losing their brilliant hues and turning a dull grey. Luna was still channelling the bolt of lightning into the sky, and her dark coat was still burning away in patches and re-growing itself.
"Please..." Celestia whispered.
Luna's half-grin half-grimace was almost unbearably difficult to watch. "I can... I can do this... all night," she snarled between breaths. "But your... precious Elements... cannot."
For a moment, it seemed as if Celestia had lost the will to fight, for her shoulders slumped and her magical aura faded until it was barely a glimmer. She glanced about in a panic, as if she was looking for something, then her gaze lingered for a moment on the moon above. She then shut her eyes for a second, and when she opened them again, they were filled with conviction once more. Her golden aura returned, stronger than ever, and a silvery beam of light lanced upwards from the floor beneath Luna, straight up to the moon. It was as wide as an apple tree was tall. The moon princess' coat ceased to burn away, but then it suddenly seemed as if a great wind was howling up from beneath her, lifting up her mane and tail and even the hairs on her coat. Anvil could see bricks and stones whipping upwards as if they were no more than grains of sand.
Luna stopped channelling her spell, and the creeping roots and vines stopped moving - surprise was written all over her face. As she glanced about her surroundings, the blackness overtook her entire body once more, and her one round pupil reverted to its more dragon-like form. Dirt and dust kept swirling and flying up past her, within the beam of light, straight to the great blue orb above. She looked up, and her eyes widened in shock. A second later, her pupils shrank in fear. "You - you wouldn't..."
"I'm sorry," Celestia whispered.
Luna shut her eyes. "So be it. I will not forget this, sister."
A great white light engulfed the dark alicorn, and Anvil had to turn away to avoid being blinded. He heard a mighty whooshing sound, like the winds of a hurricane, and when he looked back, Celestia was standing alone in front of an empty, barren crater, surrounded by charred vines and the six inert Elements. Each had become a grey, stony orb with a small projection on it that resembled the shape of the gemstone it had been.
Luna was gone.
"Anvil, please put me down," Summer Cloud tentatively said. "I believe it's safe, now."
He obeyed wordlessly, and realised just how weary he was when he felt her sliding out of his embrace. He nearly dropped her the last ten feet. Once on the ground, the grey unicorn rushed to the sun princess' side. Anvil himself tottered listlessly over to a slope of rubble by the wall, where Hammer was slowly plucking thorns out of his hide.
"Did you see?" he asked his friend.
The big pegasus spat out a large green thorn. "I did."
Just then, royal guards were returning into the ruined Great Hall - some came from the corridors, others flew in through windows or the non-existent roof. Many seemed flustered, and some looked like they had experienced the nasty vegetation that Luna had called forth. A few of the loyalists came over and surrounded Anvil and Hammer, though they did keep their distance. One of them sped over to Celestia and said, "Your Highness, we must leave Everfree. The city is overgrown with these - " here, he looked at several cuts on his flank smeared with green sap and shredded leaves, "trees... these trees are attacking ponies. And Thunder Gale says he saw some wolves - made out of bark. And other dangerous creatures as well; they're swarming all over the city."
That seemed to shake Celestia out of her bleak outlook. "Get everypony out of the city, then," she commanded, "Get all the carriages and take as many as you can straight to Canterville - the mountain should be high enough to provide safety. And I want at least half of the Guard stationed here to protect those who cannot go by air."
"And what about those two?" the guard asked with a sidelong glance at them.
"They will help you escort them to safety."
"Ye - Your Highness, are you certain? We cannot spare anypony to ensure they don't flee."
"They won't; they're better than that," Summer Cloud answered.
"I agree." The sun princess gave them a baleful look and added, "But to put your fears to rest; if they do try to escape, I will personally hunt them down and make them regret it."
The guard nodded and shouted their way, "Get moving, then. On your hooves!"
Hammer took a moment to struggle up and allowed himself to be herded off. Anvil took to the air with the others instead. As they headed out to the city, he turned his gaze skyward. The moon was no longer blue - it had returned to usual silvery grey. But this time, there was a shadow on it, in the shape of a horned mare's head and chest.
One of the royal guards slapped him with a wing and snapped, "Watch where you're flying!" Anvil corrected his course, but kept his eyes on the moon. He felt something trickle down to his mouth. He licked his lips, and tasted salt.
* * * * *
The past two days had been truly harrowing. The first mostly involved pulling sky carriages filled to the brim with earth ponies and unicorns, all the way from Everfree to Canterville. Large as it was, the town was still getting positively crowded, and once they had determined that the lower lands outside of Everfree were safe, ponies had started spreading out and down from Canter Mountain. The next day in Everfree was worse - some ponies had chosen to hide themselves rather than trust their safety to the guards, and were then in need of rescue when their surroundings had become overrun with nasty plants and critters. Anvil was certain that he had received every kind of bite, scratch and cut imaginable in the fights to reach trapped ponies.
And to make things worse, there were some parts of the city where sky carriages were out of the question. Trees and brambles had sprouted up all over the city, right through the pavement, and the stronger ones were even capable of wrecking entire houses. And many were like nothing anypony had seen before. Hammer mentioned some apple trees whose branches crackled with electricity, their fruits striped with every colour of the rainbow - nopony had dared to taste one, though. Then there were those gnarled, leafless trees that kept trying to lash at anything that moved with their whip-like branhes. But at the end of it all, they had finally managed to get all the stragglers out of Everfree City. On the second night, when everypony was safe in Canterville, they were both locked in the cellar of the town hall, in a makeshift cage of iron bars and oak boughs, with only a few candles for light.
Still, it was a better situation than Anvil could have hoped for - Celestia had been kind enough to mend the wounds of the guards at the end of each day, Night and Royal alike, so there was little that he could complain about, all things considered.
The next morning, Anvil was unceremoniously awakened with a bucketful of water to the face. He spluttered and shook himself, and found Princess Celestia and Hazel Hock standing outside their cage. After the initial groggy blinking, he really had to work hard to keep a straight face - the leader of the loyalists had blundered into a patch of innocent-looking blue flowers on their first day of rescuing... and had turned into a mare overnight. A rather attractive one, by the looks of him - her. Hazel coloured, too, and it did not matter if he... she wore the enchanted guard armour; the nutty brown colour remained, and the condition had defied all attempts to remedy it, magical or otherwise.
"You look dazzling today," Hammer deadpanned.
The pegasus mare in royal guard armour gave him a dirty look. "That had better be addressed to Her Highness."
The mare-ish, high pitched voice was too much. Anvil felt a snigger coming on and hastily turned it into a cough.
"What am I to do with you?" Celestia said aloud, to no one in particular.
"Nothing less than exile, were it my choice, Your Highness," Hazel suggested.
Anvil and Hammer grew silent. They had known this day was coming - everywhere they went, no matter who or how much they helped, ponies often glared daggers at them, and those were the nicer ones. They'd had dirt and rotten food lobbed at them from time to time, especially when they slept. And it didn't matter that they were amongst the rest of the guards, nopony moved to help them. And the worst part was when those trapped in Everfree actually tried to flee from him and his friend rather than the trees or creatures that were actually trying to hurt them. Luna's enchantment still remained, beyond even Princess Celestia's ability to undo, and their dragon-like wings and eyes were clear reminders of what the moon princess had wrought in her time as sole ruler of Equestria. And those ponies were just on the outskirts of the city - the countryside ponies outright refused to come anywhere within a hundred feet, unless it was to hurl insults and filth at them. They came rather close to a revolt at one point, and after that, Celestia was forced to keep them out of sight when they were not on rescue duty. The ponies of Equestria were demanding justice, and with Luna gone, the sun princess was probably going to have to appease them with him and Hammer - soon.
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Exile?"
"Several ponies have died in Luna's winter - that's what the country folk are calling it now. Your subjects are out for blood, Your Highness. Keeping these two around will do no good - unless you intend to let them get stomped to death sooner or later."
The white alicorn didn't answer.
Hazel Hock pressed on. "Princess, I know how you feel about Luna, but her guards - "
Celestia waved him to silence with a wing, and gave him a stern look. "Have you ever banished your only sister to the moon?" she asked, eyes tearing up slightly. When he didn't reply, she continued, "No? Then do not claim to know how I feel." She paused as Hazel bowed in apology, then added with a sidelong glance at Anvil and Hammer, "But you are right. There must be consequences for treason."
They awaited their fate.
"Have you nothing to say for yourselves?"
"No." Hammer replied. Anvil kept silent.
Celestia turned to Hazel and said, "Gather everypony in the town square tomorrow - as many as the place can hold, but I will want at least one representative from each settlement. Please go and make the arrangements."
The pegasus mare bowed and took off. When Hazel was out of sight, Celestia's horn glowed, and Anvil's soaked coat was suddenly dry. "I'm sorry," the princess said, "I know that whatever you did, you acted out of love for my sister, and that you tried to dissuade her even when she would not see reason." She averted her eyes. "This will be your last day. I have notified those who were known to be close to you - if anypony visits, it will be your last chance to say farewell." With that said, she turned and left them in the gloom.
* * * * *
A rotten tomato sailed through the air and splattered on Anvil's nose as the crowd roared and jeered. His wings were pinned to his sides with thick ropes, the manacles chafed, and the chains clinked noisily with his every step. He heard an unsavoury squelch and caught a whiff of rotten egg. He turned slightly and saw the greenish-orange yolk dripping from Hammer's face. The royal guards flanking them marched on without concern, and simply shoved them forward whenever they slipped or stumbled as they were bombarded with decaying vegetables.
This carried on for quite a while as they were led through Canterville to the ledge overlooking the town. A stage had been hastily constructed on it, and when they reached the top, they found Princess Celestia waiting there. She gestured them forward to the edge, and when they took their places, their chains were removed. Anvil could see the entirety of the town below, along with the vast crowd of ponies who were to witness their punishment. It was a rather sunny day. Princess Celestia trotted forward to the edge, and raised both wings. The crowd's voices stilled.
"Citizens of Equestria," she called out, "These two pegasi stand before you accused and found guilty of treason. I have thought long and hard on the consequences of their actions, and have decided that there shall be no lenience for those who would choose to serve a single pony, even a princess, over the wellbeing of their fellow ponies."
Everypony held their breath as they waited for the sun princess to continue. She closed her eyes, took a slow, deep breath, and sighed. When she finally announced their sentence, the crowd roared in approval.
With her speech ended, Celestia turned to face them. "Farewell," she whispered.
Hayseed. Anvil wasn't certain, but he had a sudden feeling that there was something he'd forgotten.
* * * * *
Summer Cloud trotted down the steps to the lower gardens as quickly as she could. Almost everypony was busy hauling as much as they could out of the Treasury and Royal Library, and the rest were keeping watch, protecting the scribes and servants from anything that tried to attack them. There would be enough time - she just had to avoid dawdling. With every step, she felt her chest tighten and her eyes moisten.
She was crying by the time she reached the bottom. Hammer and Anvil - they were gone. She had come to see them the night before, had begged them not to tell the princess about him. That was her responsibility - it could not be anypony else's. They were all traitors in their own way. How could everything have gone so wrong?
It should have been easy enough; Hazel Hock would have followed Anvil and Hammer to the location of the Elements whilst she and Ripple Dew freed Celestia and the imprisoned royal guards. Hazel should then have wrested the gemstones from them once they had broken the magical seals... except that they didn't even find them. The loyalist commander had told her everything - the mountain, the windigos, Anvil's 'babbling nonsense about Discord'... That part was actually her fault. She should have told the others about the draconequus' involvement, instead of cooking up a false story about leaving a magical doppelganger posing as their informant in the cave, along with a spell booby trap that would sap their strength without their realising it. If she hadn't lied, then perhaps Hazel might have chosen to enlist Anvil and Hammer's aid instead of fighting them half the way back to Everfree. Maybe...
So many maybes... so many lies. She hadn't even told anypony about Discord yet, even after all that had happened. Especially after all that had happened. But still... A sob escaped her. Anvil and Hammer were gone, now. How much of that was her fault? The last words they ever heard from her were "Please don't tell Celestia." She hadn't the courage to face them when she made her plea, and had fled before they could even answer. Some farewell she had given them, when they had tried their best to help her in the end. She wasn't even sure if she would have visited them if the princess hadn't told her about their sentence.
She stomped a hoof, thoroughly disgusted with herself. When it squelched into thick mud, she realised that she was already in the lower gardens. It had changed beyond recognition - the pegasus architecture was gone, there were plants with bulbous, orange glowing leaves everywhere, and something was splashing around in a pool in the middle of the garden. She did not linger, but quickly conjured a light globe and hurried into Discord's cave. As she made her way through the narrow tunnel, she sensed the usual random, chaotic, crackling sort of magic emanating from the statue. But... something felt a little different.
She found Discord's apparition perched on his statue when she entered the cavern, grinning like an idiot.
"Well, well, if it isn't my favourite unicorn - I have you to thank for the unbelievable amount of chaos in the past week!" He sniggered. "Oh my, I can't stop thinking about the look on little Luna's face when she saw the windigos. And when Tia was about to send her to the moon - priceless!"
"You lied!" Summer shouted. "You said you would show them where the Elements were!"
Discord crossed his arms and pouted. "Well, so much for a little gratitude... I said I would help them find the Elements, and find them they did - perhaps just not in the way you were expecting."
"By unleashing a blizzard on unsuspecting ponies? What were those windigos doing in there in the first place?" Summer's temper was fraying, but she didn't care anymore.
"Oh, I simply had them locked away when I was putting Equestria under new management. They were amusing enough for a time, but they kept freezing my chocolate milk."
She blinked, anger momentarily forgotten. "Choc... chocolate milk?"
"Tis a most wondrous beverage. Sadly, you ponies have yet to discover it."
Summer mentally brushed aside the distraction and glared at him. "Those winter spirits have ruined so many ponies. Half of Equestria is starving already!"
"Well, that part was unintentional, actually. I'm surprised that the spirits were able to feed on the emotions of so many from that distance. My, my, Luna must have been making them quite miserable, unless she was the one feeding the windigos all by herself - her feelings have been deliciously dark for quite a long while." He sidled over to her side and whispered in a conspiratorial manner, "I'm rather proud of her, to be honest. Just imagine what a villain she will make when she finally returns!" He sniffed and wiped away an imaginary tear. "My little Woona's all grown up - and it only took a few centuries."
Summer flared her horn and sent a wave of cave filth over the apparition. Nothing happened, of course, with him being insubstantial. It was an unsatisfying gesture, and he seemed more amused than anything by it.
"Temper, my dear. Whatever would your teacher say?" he chided. "Using your magic for such petty acts."
Magic. That was when she realised what felt so different about the draconequus' statue. There was a different sort mixed with the reddish-orange chaos within, a calmer, deeper, 'bluer' sort. Luna's sort of magic. She then knew what exactly he had done when he had 'weakened' Anvil and Hammer for the loyalists.
"You stole her enchantment... you said you were only going to remove it..."
"Well, it did seem terrible to waste perfectly good magic."
Summer sensed the tiny cracks on the statue's chest. They were small - thinner than a hair's breadth, but they ran deep, and with the Elements of Harmony rendered inert by what the princesses had used them for, the outcome was inevitable. She took a step backward, and the blue, glowing apparition grinned.
"Oh, there is nothing to worry about, I assure you," he said as he hovered back onto his statue. "It won't happen in your lifetime."
She shook her head. "Celestia will stop you."
"She is welcome to try - if you tell her, of course."
"I will."
There was that smirk again. Discord leaned forward and rested his chin on a paw. "Somehow, I do not think you will. You went behind her back and conspired with her old enemy - nay, her old sweetheart, against her own sister - an act which ended in the release of three very unfriendly winter spirits, along with the starvation of several thousand ponies plus the complete destruction of her beautiful and very expensive palace. Oh, and need I mention the part where she sends her own sister to the moon?"
"That wasn't my - " Summer stammered, but was cut off.
"Perhaps, perhaps. But will she see it that way? Do you see it that way?"
"She... But I - " Words failed her.
There was a rumble from above, and the cavern trembled. Discord eyed the ceiling curiously, and with the air of one commenting on the weather said, "It would seem that this new forest is growing a delightful personality of its own. It would be unwise for you to linger."
"Why would you care?" she spat. She raised loose stones on the floor and sent them flying at the statue. They clattered off harmlessly. "You don't care about anything or anypony!"
The draconequus was suddenly quite pensive. "That is the nature of chaos."
"Why?" Summer cried, "Why would you do this to us? What is the point of it all?"
Another shrug. "Chaos is pointless. That's the whole point." A second later, the solemnity was replaced by his usual infuriatingly cheerful demeanour. "But on to less dreary subjects - run along, Summer Cloud. Everfree is promising to be a very interesting place to study, which I recall is one of your favourite pastimes. Serve Tia well, and let the future deal with me when the time comes. There is nothing you can change, now."
Her mind was numb. She didn't even know why she had bothered to come back here. Closure, perhaps, but even that had been denied her. She should never have followed the faint magical trace when she first heard the draconequus laughing on the night of Luna's transformation. Summer Cloud turned and fled.
"Do mind the blue flowers on your way out," Discord called after her. "They can be rather amusing." |
Night Guards | Epilogue | Night Guards: Epilogue
Most ponies these days believe that we can do no wrong. That is not true. We are mortal too, but we live on a different time scale. And the burden we bear is this - a mistake lasting only a moment in our lives can last a lifetime for somepony else. Our capacity to inflict suffering is vastly disproportionate to our capacity for self-control, imperfect as we are. There are times when -
"Luna, may I come in?" A single knock on the door followed.
Risen already? She glanced out the window and saw the rays of the sun reaching into her room. How long had she stayed up past sunrise? She hastily set aside the quill and ink and buried her journal under a copy of Canterlot: A Thousand Years of Tradition.
"You may," she answered.
"What are you doing so late in the morning?" Tia asked as she trotted in.
"Preparing myself," Luna replied. Nightmare Night was fast approaching, and she wanted to be ready before presenting herself to Ponyville. Since her first time there, after she had been restored by Twilight Sparkle and her friends, she had grown as she recovered from the magical regressing effects of the Elements. She hoped to at least carry herself in a manner more fitting of her current stature, especially since she was the one who had 'invented' the occasion for the festivities - if indirectly. It was somewhat absurd to think that anypony would make a holiday out of that night - she still had sleepless days when she recalled what she had done to Equestria. The memories were crystal clear, including the parts when she was Nightmare Moon. Still... if Tia thought it would be best for her to make an appearance on that particular night, she would do so.
Her sister chuckled. "Luna, this isn't a diplomatic visit like the ones you've just been to. These aren't griffons or dragons - they're ponies like us. Just be yourself." She looked pointedly at the thick volume on top of her journal and added, "And about that book..."
"Tia, you did promise to let me manage this on my own."
Another chuckle. "Very well, if you wish it."
Luna pouted. That smile was a little too knowing for her taste. Almost as if she was expecting her to make some blunder. It was probably a private jest amongst the palace ponies - she had been away from civilisation for too long. Well, she was going to brush up properly on local traditions to avoid any mistakes of that sort.
"Sister, do... do you have a moment?"
Luna could see that something was bothering Tia - she always shifted her wings like that when she had something weighing down on her mind. "What is the matter?" she asked.
"Can you walk with me to the old armoury? We will talk on the way."
"Very well." Luna set her books aside and trotted after her sister.
* * * * *
The first few minutes of their walk were filled with silence. Luna waited patiently - her sister would only speak when she was ready, and not before. She allowed her thoughts to wander instead, and her gaze shifted to the view outside, through the row of windows as they trotted past them. Rolling hills and green valleys lay in the land far below, with a little river winding its way through them all. An old view that she remembered from an age long ago, though the valleys had grown deeper since that time.
"Luna, I'm sorry," Tia said when they were close to the armoury.
She rolled her eyes. "We have spoken of this before - I am the one who should be apologising, not the other way around."
The white alicorn shook her head. "Not that. I was speaking of something else. I... I have been waiting for the right time to tell you, but it simply never came. It was too early when you were first restored to us, and then you were busy catching up with a thousand years' worth of knowledge, and when Discord returned..."
Him. Luna's mood soured at the very thought of the draconequus. It was too bad that she had been away when the snake broke out of his prison; she would have been eager for the opportunity to give him a taste of what she had put her subjects through in her time as Nightmare Moon. Still, she tried to put him out of her thoughts, as it appeared that he was not the subject of Tia's concern.
"Do you remember Anv - "
"Of course I do." That was another thought she did not want to deal with. Not at the moment, anyway. It was... too painful.
"You're not my friends." - those were the last words she ever said to them. And Summer Cloud; she had cursed her own sister's apprentice a sneak and a traitor... And they would have taken those last words of hers to their graves. Apart from Tia, everypony else she knew would be long gone by now - and even if they weren't, she doubted they would hold her in high esteem. Asking after them would have been almost pointless.
"I know that it can be difficult for you to adjust - Equestria has changed much since you were gone, but you do not have to go through it alone."
Luna blinked. That was quite a switch in subjects. Tia, what are you up to?
"We're here," her elder sister announced when they stood before a pair of great iron doors set in the inner wall of the palace. The doors parted, and they trotted into the darkness within. With a simple spell, they had conjured two sufficiently bright globes of light to hover by their sides. Rusty, worn sets of royal guard barding hung on the racks by the walls, along with notched blades and dented shields. Loose links of chains and old leather straps were piled up on a large table in a corner. The floor was rough and grainy with dirt and dust.
"It looks like nopony has been here in centuries," Luna commented as she brushed aside a cobweb.
"Partly true," Tia agreed.
She raised an eyebrow. "Partly?"
Her sister gestured forward with a hoof. "Deeper in."
They navigated the piles of old armour and weaponry, past broken desks and racks, until they found a rusty old wooden door. Tia produced a key and attempted to unlock it, but there was a little creak and a sharp clink when the locking mechanism jammed. Her sister frowned at the key still stuck in there, then shrugged and simply covered the door in a golden aura and pushed. The door's bolt and hinges groaned briefly before they snapped. Tia then placed the wrecked door by the side and beckoned Luna forward.
She trotted in, and found the room to be circular in shape, with plain stone walls leading up to a vaulted ceiling. There were no windows. Dusty old crates were stacked haphazardly around the room, and Tia indifferently swept them aside with magic to make space. There was a wide, round pedestal in the middle, just barely a foot high, and on it stood two statues of pale stone. They were shrouded in cobwebs, but she could tell from the bulges on the sides that they were both pegasi. Her sister stood before them, as if trying to recall some long lost memory.
"Tia, what is this about?"
"Let me show you." So saying, the white alicorn conjured a wind and swept away they cobwebs and dust on the statues.
Luna blinked. Those folded wings - dragon-like. She wasn't certain what exactly her sister had intended these for. In remembrance of her Night Guards? Unlikely. A reminder of what could happen when a princess succumbed to hate? Perhaps...
She tried to put on what she hoped was an appreciative smile, and said, "They are... very nice. But what are they supposed to be?"
And then she noticed the curve of their jaws and the set of their brows. Two names came to mind unbidden, like whispers on the wind; Anvil. Hammer. Well, that settled it - she would have to ask of their fates, now. Were these statues made to honour them? Or was infamy behind their making? Neither seemed to fit. The poses were too neutral - neither depicting heroism nor villainy. They were simply gazing ahead, like a pair of guards standing watch - they weren't wearing armour, though.
" - Never mind," she added, turning to her sister, "I see them now. Tell me, what became of them after I was gone?"
"Look closer."
She looked back at the pegasi and intensified her light globe - and noticed that the statues were a little too detailed. Nopony should be able to carve eyelashes or hair tufts like that. Then a horrifying thought struck her - would she? No, Tia would not. But then, she remembered where she had spent the last thousand years, and the doubts melted away.
Luna whirled round and stared at her sister. "You... tell me you did not..."
In answer, Tia closed her eyes and channelled a golden stream of magic at the statues. They began to tremble. Glowing, spidery cracks appeared on their surfaces, followed by a hard, grinding sound when one statue's legs moved. Chunks of pale stone began to fall away, revealing the ashen grey coats underneath. Luna felt her jaw drop when they began to draw ragged breaths.
Stars above...
With a grunt and a mighty heave, Anvil shattered the remnants of his stony cocoon. He then dropped onto his knees and began coughing up dust and snorting tiny stone flakes out of his nostrils. Hammer's breakout was somewhat less vocal - he simply twisted about and shook off the stone when they had broken into sufficiently loose pieces.
"That..." Anvil began, when he had caught his breath, "that was the most - " the rest of his words consisted of a rather impressive series of expletives. Luna would never have imagined that her guard had such a propensity for colourful language. She stifled a giggle.
"Anvil..." Hammer warned, as he squinted against the light of their glowing orbs. The big pegasus was already aware that they were in the presence of royalty. He delivered a swift blow with his hoof to his companion's head when he showed no sign of relenting in his tirade of obscenities. Anvil reeled, shook his head and blinked for a moment, right before he glared at his friend and growled, "Celestia's flaming tits, what was that for?"
Then... he saw Tia staring wide eyed at him. His pose wilted and he grinned sheepishly. "Ah... my apologies, Your Highness. Wasn't paying attention." Anvil looked at the floor and shifted uncomfortably.
This time, Luna couldn't contain her giggling.
Then, Anvil took notice of her. "Your Highness - you're back." His eyes widened and went up and down as he looked her over. "And... you've grown." He then kneaded his forehead and turned to Tia. "How long has it been?"
"A little over a thousand years," Celestia replied.
"That long?" Anvil turned around and took in their surroundings. "How - "
He didn't get to finish because Luna had rushed over and pulled him and Hammer into a tight embrace. Anvil returned the gesture wholeheartedly, Hammer, somewhat gingerly. The big pegasus still was unused to physical contact that did not involve fighting, apparently.
When they finally released each other, Luna realised that her eyes were a little wet. "Anvil, Hammer, I'm sorry," she whispered. "Those words I said - I did not mean any of them. There is so much I need to say, I do not know where to begin - "
"Well, you can take your time," Celestia said, "We will first have to get these two fit for duty once more."
Luna blinked. "Duty?"
Anvil looked confused as well, but started grinning a second later. "She's right - if I remember correctly, you have yet to release us from your service. It would be unfitting for a guard to abandon his post."
"But..." she protested, "It has been a thousand years!"
"My duty is eternal; never ending," Anvil recited.
" - until my liege release me," Hammer continued.
" - or death take me," Anvil finished.
Celestia trotted forward. She was smiling too. "You chose your friends well, sister. And here, I have something for you two..." She flared her horn, and a large, worn chest floated over from its inconspicuous place amongst some crates. The lid popped open, and she lifted out metal plates and leather straps with various hues of silvery purple and midnight blue. She laid them down of the floor and said, "I believe it is time the Night Guards were reinstated, and I am charging you two with the task of learning to fit into this changed world, by my sister's side."
Luna felt her jaw hanging. She promptly rectified that and said, "Tia, after I am done thanking you, remind me to poison your tea and cake for turning my friends into stone."
"Which reminds me..." Tia said with a pointed look at Anvil, "About that little thing you said about my... flaming parts..."
Anvil's ears went flat. "I've just extended my sentence, haven't I?"
"I am considering it..."
The look on Anvil's face was that of utter dismay, and Hammer appeared to be thoroughly content watching his friend squirm under Celestia's gaze. Luna allowed him to stew in that just a little longer before coming to his rescue. After all, it was not as if Tia truly meant him harm; she could tell when her sister was jesting - her 'stern' face gave it away.
"Well, if she does sentence you to further petrification, I will be there to grant you a royal pardon."
Tia looked scandalised. "Luna, you can't overrule me like that - "
"Why not - we are co-rulers once more, are we not?" She gave her sister a smirk.
Celestia looked like she might argue, but relented and shook her head, smiling with mild exasperation. "Well, at least it is nice to see their influence reasserting itself so quickly. You haven't been this impudent in ages."
Anvil loosed a sigh of relief.
"But just so that you know - ," Tia lifted a hoof to forestall his thanks, "We have a swearing jar now - it will be two bits for every foul word that leaves a guard's mouth."
"I can live with that." The pegasus abruptly planted his haunches on the floor. He blinked and looked at his hind quarters in surprise. "Well... it appears my legs have stopped working."
Luna realised what was happening and darted forward to catch him before he crashed face-first to the floor. Exhaustion was setting in - she could see it in the way his eyes were starting to lose focus. As she helped to prop him upright, she also noticed that Hammer was in a similar condition, though he appeared to be hiding it rather well - his legs were trembling only slightly.
Anvil grunted as he unsteadily got back onto his hooves. "Ah, you are making a bad habit of this, Your Highness. A guard should not have to be regularly saved by his princess - he would become the laughing stock of the palace."
"You speak as if it hasn't happened yet," Hammer deadpanned. Anvil made a rude face at him in reply.
"Yes... I think you three will be just fine," Celestia said. "I have had the last room in the west wing prepared for the two of you - once you are fit for duty, you can shift your quarters to the barracks. I will have your armour ready there."
"Before we go - are there any more... surprises?" Luna asked. She wondered if there were any other bits of her past that her sister had hidden away through the centuries.
Tia shook her head. "No, no more surprises."
"Horse apples, I knew I had forgotten something!" Anvil suddenly exclaimed. "We had meant to tell you; Discord - " he paused uncertainly, as if the words were stuck in his mouth.
More of the old goat... "What of him?" Luna asked.
"It makes no matter. Luna has already been fully cleansed of his taint," Celestia finished for him. "He did manage to break free recently - unsurprising, given the loss of our stewardship over the Elements. Still, he has been put back on his pedestal by the new bearers of Harmony. There is nothing more to fear of him."
"We - ah..." he broke off with a thoughtful expression.
Luna sensed that he might have had more to say, but she decided to leave it for another time. She inclined her head to her sister in thanks and said, "Very well, then, we shall take our leave." She took a second to conjure a magical field and then teleported the two pegasi and herself to the west wing.
* * * * *
Once they were in the well-furnished room, she locked the doors and drew them close for another embrace. A more gentle one, and this time, she did not hold back her tears.
"Ah, what's wrong, Your Highness?" Anvil asked as she helped him to one of the beds.
Luna sniffed. "Were... were you aware the whole time? When you were trapped there?"
"Not exactly." Hammer replied.
"It was like sleeping, mostly," Anvil elaborated. "Dreamless. But I think there were times when I 'woke up' halfway and realised what had happened - those moments were... unpleasant."
Luna could tell that he was keeping some details to himself. She could see a somewhat distant, almost haunted look in his eyes, and even Hammer had it too. Still, she hoped that they had a better time of it than she - every waking day on the moon had been torturous, even though she had been disembodied. Sleep, or the dormancy that was a feeble imitation of it, only came in short intervals, and had done nothing to lessen the utter quiet and loneliness she had experienced, completely cut off from the rest of the world. She embraced them once more and said, "I have missed you two."
"Likewise," they said in unison.
Just then, there was a little flash of light above one of the tables by the beds, and a tray laden with three steaming mugs appeared, along with a little note that read, "Hot chocolate for her Royal Highness Princess Luna and the Night Guards, with compliments from the royal kitchens."
"Oh, this is something you should try," Luna said excitedly, "Ponies did not discover the cacao plant until some centuries ago. This 'chocolate' that they make from the seeds is quite the delicacy." She levitated the mugs over to her friends, who had mixed expressions of curiosity and caution. Hammer sniffed at the contents of his mug before venturing a sip; Anvil had far less reservations and took a quick swig. Luna felt a smile spread across her face when she saw their eyes widen upon their first taste of chocolate. It had been much the same for her. "What think you of it?" she asked.
"I have no complaints," Hammer said.
Anvil rolled his eyes at his companion's response. "Yes, very eloquently put. It's so much more than that; it's... well, let us say that I might not have become a smith if such a thing existed back then. I might have been one of your cooks instead."
Hammer shook his head. "You would have poisoned the royal court on your first day."
"You speak as if that is a bad thing," Anvil waved a wing in dismissal. "The nobles could do with a bellyache every now and then. It might teach them to appreciate the ease of their lives a little more."
"Even your own princess?" Luna asked with mock severity.
The pegasus took another swig of hot chocolate and nonchalantly replied, "Ah, Your Highness, I once saw you swallow Olive Swill's 'hay' and 'oats' stew without bringing a single drop back up - if you could stomach his cooking, no meal of mine would upset your belly."
Some things never change - and thank the stars for that. Luna chuckled and took a sip from her own mug. They spent the next few minutes in companionable silence, content to simply be in each other's presence. Eventually, though, Luna yawned, and when she looked out the window, she realised that the day was already well into her sleeping hours. And she had no business keeping Anvil or Hammer up, either - they seemed quite ready to collapse at any moment.
"Get some rest," she said as she cleared away the tray and empty mugs, "I will come for you at midnight, and if you are able, I shall show you around Canterlot."
Anvil raised an eyebrow. "Canterlot? You mean..." he glanced out the window. "Well... small wonder I thought the view familiar. Canterville has changed quite a bit, hasn't it?"
"Apparently," Hammer said.
She stopped partly through the doorway and replied, "Yes, much has changed in the time since we last spoke."
"What of Everfree? And if I may; how did you get back from..." he pointed a hoof skyward, " - up there?"
Luna put up a hoof to forestall any more questions. "Rest first, history lesson later." She then squashed the impending wave of protests by adding in her best imperious tone, "Your princess commands it."
Anvil looked crestfallen. "Oh, very well."
The colt-like disappointment on his face was almost too much. Luna chuckled and said, "You have my word - when you are rested, there will be a whole new world for us to learn about. Nightmare Night is in two days' time, and I believe I have found the perfect ponies to escort me to Ponyville."
"Good day, Princess," Hammer said as he buried himself under the covers.
"Rest well, my friends," she answered, and gently shut the door. |
Night Guards | Author's notes | Night Guards: Author's notes
Phew... that was quite an experience. It's the first time I've ever had to do an extended piece of creative writing on a schedule. (Yes, yes, with plenty of delays, but still!) Regardless, it was lots of fun, and it is not unlikely that more will follow!
But enough about me; the rest of this should be filled with more interesting bits of trivia and fun facts!
If for some reason you have chosen to view this part before finishing the story, be warned; possible spoilers are in store here.
Much of this story was written whilst listening to the soundtrack of Thor, particularly 'Sons of Odin' and 'Earth to Asgard'. If you do listen to them on youtube, please try to refrain from making pony references in the comments. (Let's try not to intrude into the fandoms of others, eh? There is enough animosity towards bronies as it is.)
Hammer and Anvil's personalities were reversed in the first draft. I switched them because, I don't know, 'Anvil' sounded like a name that would belong to someone with impertinent tendencies.
If you're wondering why they weren't speaking in Ye Olde English like Luna in the episode, it was because I felt there was no way I was going to be able to pull it off without making it incredibly awkward and stilted.
Best for last; I came up with the general plot for this story some time before the Luna Eclipsed episode. So, the characters were different. The first chapter was pretty much the same, minus Anvil and Hammer. Oh, and instead of those two, the protagonists were supposed to be Trixie, Gilda and Derpy. Yes, you read that right. It was going to involve some convoluted time travel loop, wherein Celestia forcibly sends them into the past to prevent Nightmare Moon's victory, and they were going to return to the future in much the same way as those two. Not long after Luna's episode aired, I decided that her Night Guards would be more interesting to write about. It was getting too difficult to ensure that the time travel plot was airtight, anyway. Discord, the windigos, zap apples, timber wolves - they were all added as more episodes aired, so long as they did not clash with what I had in mind for the story.
And if anyone's wondering what Anvil and Hammer looked like prior to their transformation, whilst not wearing enchanted guard armour...
No points for guessing who's who. (Yeh, I know, the poses are the same as in the original picture. Lazy me.)
Anyways, I would like to thank everypony for taking the time to read this fanfic, it's been a blast writing for you! |
Night Guards | Bonus Chapter: Nightmare Night | Night Guards: Nightmare Night
The hour of twilight was upon them; the stars and moon had already risen into the deep purple sky, and the wind that blew into the palace through the windows and balconies carried a light, caressing coolness. There was a hint of rain in there, from the smell of it. A pair of solemn royal guards trotted up to Hammer and Anvil, and a wordless understanding passed between them. They allowed themselves to be relieved of duty.
"Princess Celestia must have really liked you," Anvil said as they trotted towards the courtyard.
"The reason being?"
His friend glanced back at their replacements, then dropped his voice to a conspiratorial volume. "Well, look at them. I see no other reason to have her entire guard act like they're made of stone."
"Not all the time." Once off duty, Celestia's guards were very much like everypony else. Though, Hammer had to admit that the required amount of restraint exceeded anything from his time. They were even expected to remain indifferent even when heckled - Rivet had probably told everypony by now about how he had been personally pestered by a certain rainbow-maned pegasus, and how he had nearly exploded because he knew he was not allowed to respond. But it had been for completely different reasons than Hammer had originally thought. Rivet was apparently a big 'fan' of the rainbow mare, after seeing her perform a supposedly impossible aerial manoeuvre.
Anvil's snort brought his mind back to the present. "Oh yes, I'm thankful for small mercies. I'm already seeing a bit of you in everypony," here, the pegasus stallion lifted up his hooves in mock despair, "and it's like I'm trapped in a horrible, horrible dream."
My poor ears would like to have a word with you. "Allow me to welcome you to my world, then. I see you in yourself every single day - which is already more than I would care to inflict on anypony."
Anvil chuckled. "Fair enough. Though... you might have to admit that that demeanour of yours may interfere with your chances at finding a mare."
Hammer gave him a look. "You get to claim sole responsibility for that. Nopony's getting anypony when you are around."
They found Luna's chariot in the courtyard, glinting menacingly in the moonlight. Its sharp edges and metallic fins lent it a decidedly draconic aspect, and the dark blue and purple hues made it abundantly clear as to which princess it belonged. And the row of spikes behind the seat looked like they were meant for impaling things upon.
Anvil lifted one of the harness chains with a hoof and whistled. "Her taste has certainly taken a turn for the macabre... Remind me again - was this supposed to be a social visit or an execution?"
"I would much prefer the latter," somepony said.
Hammer tensed up. He knew that voice... it was regal, authoritative, and unforgiving - one that he hadn't heard in a long time. Anvil had frozen, too, with his hoof still lifted up, and the chain slid out of his hold and clinked noisily to the ground. They both turned to a particularly dark corner of the courtyard, hidden in the shadow of one of the palace spires, and a pair of eyes opened, glowing a ghostly white. Dark though it was, Hammer could easily make out the shape of the voice's owner, and he did not like what he saw. Purple mist drifted out of the shadows, and then came the slow, deliberate clip-clop of hooves. As she stalked out of the shadows, the moonlight revealed an alicorn with a dark coat, silvery blue armour, and a wicked smile.
"Missed me?" Nightmare Moon asked.
"Ah..." Anvil's jaw was slack.
They stared at each other for a moment or two, not knowing what to do, until somepony sniggered in the walkways above the courtyard, and Hammer's racing heart promptly slowed down. He leaped into the air and found a bunch of servants and off-duty guards peeping over the edge of the railings, and over half of them burst out laughing.
Well played. He flitted back down and found Anvil with a relieved look on his face, and 'Nightmare Moon' sporting a rather sheepish grin.
"T'was their idea of a jest," she confessed, this time with Luna's voice. "They were wagering bits on how the Night Guards would react."
Unsurprising. The ponies of this era had an unusual interest in pranking one another - more so than anypony from the old days.
Anvil was pouting at their little audience. "Well, I can see that we did not disappoint." He then turned to the moon princess and lowered his voice, "You have retained some of your abilities, I see. Should we be concerned?"
"The Elements have cleansed away Discord's taint, so the answer is no. However, they did leave a portion of my old powers untouched."
"You never mentioned this before," Hammer observed. "What changed?"
Anvil frowned, then narrowed his eyes and glanced at their audience and back to the princess. "Yes... and they seem rather calm - how is it that they know about this and we do not?"
"Well..." a tiny blush crept into the alicorn's cheeks. "I wished to tell you myself. Tia has already made it known to most of the palace by now - we only made the decision an hour ago. And as for how this came to be... I am not certain of what happened, but..." she shook her head and looked up at the walkway above. Once she was sure that their audience had gone back to minding their own business, she continued, "Remember last evening when my sister came to my quarters?"
Hammer recalled it well enough. He and Anvil had been posted by the door, and when the sun princess had knocked and asked for permission to enter, the "No, not yet!" that blasted back out had succeeded in rattling half the chandeliers in the palace and dislodging just about every pigeon from its roost. Half a minute later, a flustered Luna had opened the doors and practically dragged her sister in with magic. After an hour or so, Princess Celestia had emerged a little less than at ease, but had simply dismissed Luna's initial outburst as nothing more than a little sleep deprivation.
"Now that you mention it; you never did tell us what really happened," Anvil said.
"I had some unpleasant dreams that day, and when I woke up, I was like this." Luna gestured at her dark body. "Needless to say... I panicked. But after a while, I somehow managed to change back. Since then, I have found that with a little practice, it is actually not that difficult to control - I can easily change at will, now." So saying, she shrank back to her normal appearance shook the last bits of purple wispiness out of her mane. "As far as the others are concerned, I am merely using an illusion spell. You are amongst the few who know the truth."
"That is... very useful." His companion looked thoughtful. "Can you change into anything else?"
"No; other ponies are beyond me, for the time being." Luna's cheeks went a little red again, and her eyes grew distant as she seemed to recall some unsavoury details. She shook her head and added, "But, enough of that; I have these for you." Her horn glowed, and a pair of silver torques hovered over to them. "They were the least gaudy ones I could find."
"Err, what are they for, if I may ask?" Anvil fiddled with the silvery article and inspected it thoroughly. "It is not very often that we are offered jewellery."
"I just had these finished in time - they are enchanted to give you normal appearances, so you may blend in with the general populace of Ponyville," Luna answered. "You will accompany me there, but I intend to mingle with the residents by myself."
Makes sense. It would be difficult to make a visit from the moon princess a merry affair if she had guards following her everywhere. Even more so in their case; Luna had so far been unable to reverse their transformation since the Eternal Night. They had made certain to never be seen without their armour, so that others always assumed that their unusual appearances were due to basic enchantments. That was much simpler than having to explain to everypony why Princess Luna suddenly had a pair of guards who 'naturally' looked like they might have been sired by bats.
"Where shall we wait, Your Highness?" Hammer asked.
Luna raised an eyebrow. "Wait? No; you are going to be mingling as well. Just... not by my side." Something must have shown on his face, for Luna picked up on his sentiments almost immediately. She added, "Yes, Hammer, mingle. And by that I specifically mean talking and being friendly to ponies."
"You might as well ask for the sun, while you are at it," Anvil piped up, "Statues don't work that way." He feigned woe and beseeched Luna, "Oh, spare him, Your Highness!"
Very mature.
"Tia's explicit instructions," the night alicorn added after chuckling in amusement, "She believes it will do us all good to partake in this celebration alongside peasants. Which reminds me..." she gestured at the torques in their hooves, " - try them on."
Hammer took off his helm and put his on. It was a simple piece, woven from a few silver wires that ended in plain knobs. It was a snug fit, and he felt a slight tingle as the enchantment took effect - rather like the one on standard guard armour that made the wearer look a pure white. He lifted up a foreleg and saw a dull green coat. When he turned to look, he found that his tail was a dark red, and his wings appeared feathery once more.
"Oh. Now, this, I wasn't expecting." Anvil said.
Hammer turned and saw an orange-coated pegasus in Night Guard barding, with sky-blue eyes and a plain brown tail. The tips of his wing feathers had distinctly dark splotches.
"Weaving a full body enchantment into those little things was not easy; it is good to see that they work," Luna elaborated. "I suspected that you might desire the chance to look like your old selves once in a while, so I had to make the enchantments to the best of my memory - it has been so long since last I saw you both in your true colours."
Hammer bowed. "We appreciate it, Your Highness."
Anvil echoed his sentiment.
"Just a small price for a large debt owed," she said as she conjured a hooded cloak and settled into the chariot. "But, let us go; we have a celebration to attend."
* * * * *
They hadn't had many opportunities to make forays beyond the palace grounds in the days since being released from their stony forms; they had been busy enough catching up with new knowledge and getting acquainted with the rest of the Guard. So, Hammer had no intention of wasting this outing. The flight was fairly short, and the view already familiar, but that did nothing to lessen the beauty of the lands surrounding Canterlot. Luna had made this night's sky particularly elegant; the cloudless sky was awash with stars, and the land was bathed in moonlight that was both gentle but bright. Even with his altered eyes, he could tell that regular ones would find the illumination sufficient. Far below, he could see a narrow stream winding its way to and through the town that was Ponyville, and off to the distance was the thick mass of forest that had once been Everfree City... Hammer mentally shook his head. No, that was for another time. For this night, he would keep his thoughts focused on Ponyville alone. Everfree, and all its memories, could wait.
"Stop - this is close enough," Luna called out.
Hammer and Anvil braked and allowed the chariot to settle into a steady hover.
"Nice little place, this," Anvil commented as he gazed upon the town below.
"Indeed," Luna agreed. "They threw me a party here, not long after I was cleansed of my taint." She paused for a moment, seemingly deep in thought. "It... it is nice to see them having celebrations at night for a change. I had hoped for a time like this - but I never suspected it would be so soon."
"It did take them a thousand years - that's hardly soon."
His friend hovered closer and dug a hoof into his ribs. "Tact, my friend - I think you left it back at the palace."
"It is fine," Luna replied with a wan smile. "After what happened that time, I would not have expected any more from ponies." She sighed. "In any case, I have some instructions for you. As I have said, I shall mingle with them alone. However, you are free to remain close if you please, so long as you do not speak to me directly."
"Ah... not under any circumstances, whatsoever?" Anvil asked.
Luna shook her head. "I care not if I embarrass myself - I will not have my own guards coming to my rescue in front of everypony. Make good use of your disguises. Is that clear?"
Transparently. "Yes, Your Highness."
Luna's horn glowed and clouds began to form and thicken in sky around them, until entire land was obscured, save for a hole in the mass of clouds directly over Ponyville. Then came the deep rumble of distant thunder, and the clouds began to swirl as the moon princess called forth mighty winds.
"Is this really their notion of a friendly visit?" Anvil questioned, "It seems to be missing a big portion of the friendly part."
"It is customary on Nightmare Night," she explained. "At least, that is what is written in the books. The more frightening, the better, it seems - so it would probably be best if you both tried to look fearsome as we make our entrance."
Hammer looked at his friend, then turned back to the princess. "You might be sorely disappointed, then."
Anvil took off his torque and instantly reverted to his grey form. He bared his teeth in a fierce grin. "How about now?" When Hammer didn't answer, he snorted and rolled his eyes. "Ah, doesn't matter - you can fill in for both of us."
"That will do," Luna said, a little distractedly. She glanced up, and the moon suddenly blazed radiant as the sun. She then threw on her hood and commanded, "It is time - let us go!"
After removing his own torque, Hammer reared up and surged forward as Anvil did. It was a mild descent at first, angling slightly downward, but when they reached the lip of the hole in the roiling clouds, they dove nearly straight down. The wind roared in his ears, growing in strength as they picked up speed. Far below, he spotted several ponies in a clearing between the town and Everfree, but most of those outdoors appeared to be around and within Ponyville itself. It became easier to make out details as they drew closer; almost everypony was dressed up in a costume of one form or another. Many of them were looking up, and, remembering Luna's instructions, Hammer put some effort into maintaining a threatening expression for the crowd.
Screams followed, mostly that of foals. Odd. He could see some of them fleeing from the chariot. Was that part of the tradition as well?
They braked to slow their descent when they were barely several hundred tail-lengths above the highest treetops, then settled into a steady glide above the town. Lightning crackled in the sky above them. The screams had stopped, replaced by mutterings and bewildered chatter. After a whispered "Farewell for now," Luna drifted off the chariot and into the midst of the awestruck ponies below. Hammer and Anvil waited just long enough to see her flip off her hood as a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky. Soon after, they both made for the hills that he'd spotted to the southern side of the town. The dense vegetation in that area would serve as a place to hide the chariot until the festival was done.
"Citizens of Ponyville!"
Anvil stalled and nearly crashed into a tree - Hammer only just managed to veer away in time and drag him along, pumping his wings hard to compensate for the loss of lift.
"We have graced your tiny village with our presence, so that you might behold the real princess of the Night - "
Hammer and Anvil shared a look.
" - a creature of nightmares no longer, but instead, a pony who desires your love and admiration."
The words seemed to cause a veritable breeze, rustling the leaves of all the trees around them.
"Together, we shall change this dreadful celebration into a bright and glorious feast!"
A crack of thunder followed the moon princess' magnified voice.
"Is she supposed to do that?" his friend asked.
Foals started screaming.
"Probably not."
Anvil blinked. "She's never spoken like that before."
Canterlot: A Thousand Years of Tradition. It must have been that book she had been reading. Judging by the reactions of the townsfolk, its information must be somewhat less than accurate. Unless the princess herself had made some misinterpretations. He remained silent and pulled the chariot back into a descent for the hills.
"Ah... do you suppose there is something we should do?"
"She did tell us to leave her be."
And that was the end of the debate.
They left the chariot in the middle of a fairly dense thicket, confident that nopony would stumble upon it in their absence. And even if that were to happen, Hammer doubted that said discoverers would want to meddle with it - enchantments had been put in place to shock anypony who wasn't a guard or a princess, if they attempted to take it away. After taking off their barding and leaving them in the chariot, they put on their torques and slung on a pair of saddlebags filled with some money.
"Right - how should we begin?"
Walking would be a good start. "Let's just go. If we're lucky, we would make it through the night without attracting too much attention."
"It might be too late for that."
"Why?"
"We didn't bring costumes of our own."
* * * * *
Entering Ponyville was easy enough; they crossed the bridge spanning a little stream going through the town, and nopony seemed to pay them any heed. Although, that could partly be attributed to the fact that Luna had already drawn away most of the attention. Hammer didn't know where she was, but he was certain that she would not appreciate any prying - best to go about their separate business, then. What that entailed, however, eluded him for the moment. They didn't know anypony here, and he was certain that mingling with strangers was going to draw some unwanted scrutiny to their accent. No matter how hard they tried, it was next to impossible to pronounce and speak with the same accent as these modern ponies. Keeping up with all the new words was difficult enough.
They made it past the first rows of shop-houses with little more than friendly greetings from passers-by, but that was as far as their luck ran. On the second street in, as they were trotting towards what looked to be a crowd of ponies making merriment in the centre of town, Hammer felt the slight tingle of static that precedes a lightning bolt. He tensed up. It was faint, but when he pricked his ears, the buzzing sound was unmistakable - it was coming from behind. He leapt and spun round, landing with wings and legs spread wide in a defensive stance just when the white bolt struck the ground before him. It was just a small bolt, though - barely enough to stun somepony, and it had come from a little black cloud hovering just above roof height. On that cloud sat a masked mare in a costume of purple and black with yellow lightning bolt stripes. She had a rainbow mane, and her mouth was open in the shape of a little 'o'.
"What was that for?" Anvil demanded. He too had dropped into a defensive stance.
The mare ignored the question altogether. "Woah..." she said, "That synced-up jumping thing you did there - that was pretty cool. You even started doing it before the thunder!"
More pranking. Too many ponies were fond of it. Still, Hammer relaxed and folded his wings. Was this the rainbow mare that Rivet had been talking about? Probably. She certainly looked athletic enough.
She brought the cloud closer down and waved. "Hi, I'm Rainbow Dash."
"Anvil."
"Hammer."
"Ah hah!" somepony exclaimed.
Hammer turned and saw a pair of young unicorn stallions galloping towards them. They were both draped in colourful costumes, and several tomatoes enveloped in glowing auras were hovering just above their horns. Judging by the vengeful glee on their faces, those tomatoes were not meant for eating.
"Woah, woah, slow down, guys!" The mare ducked as a volley of tomatoes whizzed towards her face. "Quit it - it was just a prank!" she called out again, but was cut off by another bunch of flying red fruit. She cartwheeled and barrel-rolled in the air, and then guffawed when she realised that not a single one had found its mark. "Hah, you missed!" She then grabbed her thundercloud and swiftly carted it off to another part of town, but only after sparing a second to wave Hammer and Anvil goodbye.
They jumped aside as the two unicorns relentlessly galloped past in their pursuit of the rainbow pegasus, leaving a trail of dust in their wake.
"You're not from around here, I see," a new voice observed.
Hammer turned and saw a light grey earth pony trotting out from the shadow of a shop-house. He had light blue eyes and a pale yellow mane that was neatly tied up into a ponytail. His cutie mark was of a glass jar with something thick and blue pouring out of it. He wore nothing other than a plain saddlebag, but he did have a friendly smile.
"Hey there, my name's Honey Doo."
Hammer and Anvil took a little too long to respond, at which point the grey stallion's smile turned into a rueful grin. "Yeah, the name, I know. I don't know what my parents were thinking, either."
Anvil trotted forward. "Apologies, we did not mean to be rude. It was just that - "
"Oh, you mean that little stunt from Rainbow Dash?" He waved a hoof lazily. "She's just like that - pranks everypony left, right and centre. She might like to pretend otherwise, but I know she's the one who snuck a chilli flavoured muffin into my sister's lunch bag... " He frowned at the memory, but quickly shook his head and continued, "Never mind. Now, where was I?"
"I'm Anvil, and my friend here is Hammer." He shook hooves with the grey stallion, who then did the same with Hammer. After that, he added, "And yes, we're just visiting."
"Without costumes either, I see. Hmm..." Honey Doo looked thoughtful. "Say, why don't you come with me, then? You look like you would rather spend Nightmare Night at Hops' inn. Let the foals and young at heart have their fun outside - the rest of us less kiddie types will be having a good drink there. There might even be some music and dancing."
Anvil looked at Hammer, then back to the grey stallion. "As good a place as any. Will you show us the way?"
He already said he would.
There was a snap of thunder from somewhere in the middle of town, followed by a startled cry and some gleeful guffawing. Honey Doo frowned with half-lidded eyes in the general direction of the laughter for a moment, and then snorted. "Come on, it's not far. And maybe we'll get there before Dash gets to try her nonsense on me."
* * * * *
"Where are you from, by the way?" the grey earth pony asked as they trotted after him. "I don't think I've ever heard your accent before. It's sounds almost poetic."
And there was the first problem of the night; with so little notice, they'd yet to contrive a reasonable story to tell any who were curious about them. Simply choosing one of the new places they'd heard off would be potentially disastrous - they knew little about the newer settlements outside of Canterlot, and, by now, many of the places they had been familiar with no longer existed.
"Oh, mere travellers," Anvil supplied. "We're not from any place in particular - none that we can truly call home, anyway."
"Travellers? Your cutie marks don't look very... nomadic. Old fashioned, rather." Honey Doo eyed their saddlebags and added, "And somehow, as travellers, I don't think you'd be lugging a furnace and anvil in one of those, unless you've got a caravan or something parked outside of Ponyville, which I doubt."
"Ah... well, our talents aren't always within our means. But, give us bits and the right tools, and we can forge whatever you require."
"So you guys make antique replicas or something?"
Anvil grinned. "Close enough."
For once, Hammer could not object to his friend's quick tongue. So everything did have a use, after all. It was a good reminder.
"Well, we're here," Honey Doo announced, gesturing at the inn's sign. It read 'The Little Beetle'. The place looked well kept; the glass windows were clean and clear, the timbers polished and sturdy, the lighting from within bright and welcoming. It reminded him of home, of some of the establishments in Everfree City. When they entered, he found the place even more agreeable. The tables were long and broad, with benches on either side, and they were all arranged with a wide space in the middle of the floor which, presumably, was a place for performers or dancers. The furniture was of rough but sturdy crafting, and the dirt floor was flat and smooth from the treading of many ponies. There was the distinct, homey scent of wood smoke in the air coming from the fireplace off to the side. The rest of the light came from oil lamps hanging about the place. It was every bit a traditional inn as he remembered. And best of all, there weren't too many patrons within, and they were not costumed, either. There were earth ponies and unicorns of various hues, and they greeted Honey Doo with smiles and waves and several hellos when he entered. A couple of them appeared to be musicians, as one unicorn had a fiddle by his side, and his pegasus companion had a flute.
The grey earth pony waved back at them, then went straight to the counter and addressed the ruddy earth stallion behind it, "Evening, Hops. The usual, please. I've brought some guests, too."
"You brought the stuff?" the innkeeper asked, a little brusquely.
The grey pegasus reached into his saddlebags and retrieved several glass jars filled with thick, blue jelly. "Yup," he replied, placing them on the counter, "Blueberry; your favourite. Not quite as good as zap apple, but I do my best."
Hops' mood improved dramatically - his eyes lit up, and a grin split his face. "Well, in that case, how could I refuse one of my regulars?" He produced a flagon filled to the brim and pushed it over to the stallion. Then, he turned his attention to Hammer and Anvil and asked, "And what will you two gents be having?"
"Something light," his friend replied. "The night is still young."
"Hmm, how's about some cranberry soda, then?"
One drink was as good as another - they weren't half familiar with what was available, anyhow. He opened his saddlebag and tossed a few bits onto the counter. "We'll take them."
"So... what drew you to Ponyville?" Honey Doo asked as they sipped their drinks at one of the long tables. "It can't be Nightmare Night alone."
"That might be truer than you would suppose..." Anvil ventured as he chewed on a stalk of celery.
The grey stallion smiled. "Really? Well, I can show you around town, if you like. If you're lucky, we might come across some of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. I'm not sure if that's your cup of tea, but we've met some guys who visited just to meet the ones who stopped Nightmare Moon." He frowned, then added, "Excluding Rainbow Dash, of course. You've already met her, and from what I saw, you weren't impressed."
It was difficult imagining such a pony being a bearer of one of the Elements - there had to be more to her than the antics they'd seen thus far.
Just then, a gabble of voices became audible, coming from outside the inn. It grew in volume, until the door was shoved open and a small crowd of ponies trotted in, chattering boisterously. An earth mare of various shades of plum was leading the group, and when she caught sight of Hops at the counter, she waved energetically and called out, "Hey there, Mister Hops, a round for us thirsty ponies here!"
Honey Doo winced. "Oh boy, I didn't think they'd come so soon. Would have been nice if the place could be nice and quiet for a while."
"Is that such a concern?" Anvil glanced at the newcomers and turned back to their companion. "Who is she, anyway?"
"That's Berry Punch - pretty as a unicorn, drinks like an alicorn." Honey leaned in close and whispered, "Seriously, don't ever challenge her to a drinking match."
The mare must have heard, for she turned around and grinned. "Did somepony say 'drinking match'? What a coincidence, because that was just what we had in mind!" She trotted over to their table and smiled at Honey Doo. "Hi there, I see you've made some new friends."
"Acquaintances, more like," he replied, cautiously. "They're from out of town. Just visiting tonight, and I'm showing them around." He stood and gestured to them. "The big guy is Anvil, and the bigger guy is Hammer."
"Evening, my lady," Anvil said with a slight bow. Hammer dipped his head and greeted her in kind.
"I'm Berry Punch, nice to meet you." She smiled and gestured at the bench. "May I?" When they gave their assent, she promptly took her seat and the rest of her group settled down at nearby tables. A couple of other stallions sat by her side, though.
After briefly introducing some of her companions, she said to Honey Doo, "If you're showing them around, you should have taken them to the town hall. We saw Princess Luna there! Her guards, too - never seen outfits like that, though. I wonder where they went..."
"I'm not sure if I'd want to meet them, though. They look meaner than the usual guards."
"I suppose..." she trailed off, then switched her attention to Hammer and Anvil. "Where are you from, anyway? You speak very... nicely. Do you perform or something?" She then winked at Hammer and added, "I like the beard; reminds me of Hayspeare's plays. The necklaces, too."
Hayspeare? Plays? "No, we are not familiar with his works. And we are not poets, either."
"Hmm, guess not. Your cutie marks don't look very artsy," one of her stallion friends commented. "They do look like the toughie kind, though." He grinned. "What say you to a drinking contest?"
"Yeah," the other one interjected, "Somepony's gotta beat Berry one day, and maybe you'd be the ones. Do it for all the stallions of Equestria!"
The plum mare rolled her eyes and offered a smug grin. "Good luck with that, boys."
Still, they were waiting eagerly for an answer. Ponies at the other tables were listening, too - apparently this mare was not one to be trifled with in the cups, unlikely as that was. Hammer shared a look with Anvil, and made it clear that drawing attention was not the best thing to do at the moment. "No, thank you," he replied. Even if they wanted to accept the challenge, the enchantment that Luna had put on them in the Eternal Night would be an unfair advantage.
"Aww, come on," one of the stallions pleaded, "Don't let her scare you - we stallions can't be beaten by a girl. We can't let that stand!"
"Then let it drop," he answered.
"You chicken?"
Anvil brought up a hoof and inspected it, then waved it in front of the stallion. He smiled and helpfully pointed out, "I doubt it; chickens don't have hooves."
"Har har. But seriously, why not?" The brown stallion leaned in close. "Is it because Berry is a 'lady,' and it's not nice to beat a lady? Because that's not gonna happen. Heck, I'd be happy to see if you can beat me."
The orange pegasus smiled wanly. "Tempting, but I respectfully decline."
"Oh come one, Pokey, that's not how you do it." The other stallion cleared his throat and declared in a ridiculously pompous voice, "I challenge thee... to a duel!" He pointed a hoof imperiously in Hammer's direction. "If thou canst beat me in drinking, I shall'eth pay for thy dinner!"
"I second that!" Berry Punch thumped a hoof on the table.
Well, there was no mistaking it - they had issued a proper challenge, albeit with very unusual language. Do they believe we speak like that? He looked at Honey Doo, who shook his head a tiny bit. He then turned to Anvil, who shrugged and mouthed the word 'mingling' at him.
Very well. "We accept."
The patrons erupted into a chorus of cheers. "Woohoo!" "Alright, yeah!" "Show em, Berry!" "Let it begin!" "Bring out the cider!"
Hops began filling up flagons and passing them round. Berry Punch was the first to go. She inhaled deeply over her flagon of cider, as if relishing the scent, then chugged it down as if it was mere water. Others began to follow, and Hammer noted that they were mostly young stallions - spirited, no doubt, but they did not appear very experienced. And only a few had the deep chest or gut that indicated familiarity with heavy drinking.
He took a sip of the cider to test its strength, then quickly downed the rest when he found it was rather mild.
This will be quick.
* * * * *
This will be... harrowing.
Hammer had already lost count of the number of rounds they'd had. His belly was full of cider, his hooves were tingling, and his head was already buzzing pleasantly. All of Berry's companions had already either drunken themselves into a stupor, or were busy babbling nonsense at each other. But she was still showing no sign of relenting - Honey's comparison of her to an alicorn was apt, she could really stomach her drink. Back in Everfree, there had been only one or two stallions who could outdrink him, but at this point, even they would have been showing signs of slowing down. Suddenly, the possibility of losing to the mare didn't seem all that unlikely.
So much for Princess Luna's spell. It appeared that even his fortified constitution would be insufficient to outlast the plum mare.
Berry Punch guzzled down another flagon in one go and slammed it onto the table. The patrons all cheered, and she grinned. "Your turn, gentlecolts."
"You might want to consider giving up, now," Honey Doo piped up. "She's just getting started. Seriously, nopony will think less of you."
"Nope, not at all," Hops tossed in, "She does this to visitors all year round."
Honour demands it. He had already accepted a formal challenge. After glaring at the flagon for a moment, he gulped down its contents and emptied it completely, feeling his stomach stretch a little more as the cider flowed down. More cheers followed, and they seemed even louder than they had been for the plum mare.
All eyes turned to Anvil, who was still staring at his drink.
"Come on, drink up!" Berry goaded.
"Drink, drink, drink, drink!" everypony began to chant.
His companion continued to stare at the flagon, brow creased slightly, as if he was contemplating some deep mystery. He didn't seem to hear.
"Hey, are you okay?" Honey Doo asked.
Anvil blinked, and Hammer spied a bit of wetness in his eyes. That was not a good sign. The orange pegasus suddenly pushed the flagon aside and rested his head on his crossed forelegs. Tears streamed down his face and onto his hooves. He blinked slowly, but the tears kept flowing, and he made no sound or any move to wipe them away. Everypony started murmuring in confusion.
"Hah, he knows he can't win!" one of Berry's inebriated friends teased.
The plum mare rounded on the culprit and jabbed him in the ribs with her hoof. "Shush - this looks serious!" She then trotted over to Anvil's side and placed a hoof on his shoulder. "Hey, come on, what's wrong? It's not about the game, is it? It's only in good fun."
Hammer ground his teeth. Of course... Most ponies acted the same once they'd had a lot of drink; growing looser tongues and louder voices, but Anvil had been amongst those who actually retreated inside after having too much. He'd been growing quieter and quieter after each flagon. And... it didn't help that the past had been weighing down heavily on his friend, and Hammer thought he knew exactly what the matter was. He had not asked after her since their release, but no matter what had happened, one unchangeable, simple truth would remain; she was already gone.
Anvil sniffed and wiped his eyes. "Nothing to concern yourselves about. It's nothing of consequence."
"It is a big deal if you're crying in public," Berry pressed. "I understand if it's personal, but then you should be getting help, not drinking like this. I'm sorry; I really shouldn't have started this contest."
"You're not at fault," he replied. "There... was a mare I knew. Let us just say that I'll never be able to see her again."
"Did she dump you, or was it the other way around?" somepony wondered aloud. It was followed by a sharp smack and a mumbled "sorry."
"It is a 'permanent' parting," Hammer said. He looked the others in the eyes and made certain that they understood.
Berry Punch patted Anvil gently. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean to be nosey. But you have my condolences."
"Mine, too," Honey Doo added.
Anvil drew in a shuddering breath and sighed. "Thank you. I apologise for creating a fuss - I shall take my leave."
"Hey, hang on." The grey stallion trotted close and put a hoof on his shoulder. "There's no need to go. I mean, sure, you can leave if you want, but just so you know, we'd still be okay if you wanted to stay. Nopony's going to chase you out." He glanced round at everypony else. "Right?"
Nods of agreement abounded.
"Thank you, but if it's all the same, I do not feel like staying."
Anvil tottered over to the door and yanked it open after fumbling with the handle for a few seconds. He waved farewell and then trotted off. Hammer was just about to get up and follow when there was a cry of shock and an orange projectile bolted back into the tavern and crashed through the benches and into a table. "Sweet Celestia, what the hay is a dragon doing in Ponyville?" Anvil cried, propped upside down against the table leg.
Hammer spotted a dragon - a juvenile, standing just outside the door with a little sack slung over its shoulder. It was wearing, strangely enough, a dragon costume, and had a rather perplexed look on its face. "Right..." it said, in a voice not unlike that of a colt, "I'll just be going, now." And it hurriedly toddled off.
"Oh, that's just Spike," Honey Doo clarified. "He's a harmless guy."
"Yeah, that's just Twilight's assistant," somepony added.
Anvil seemed to have trouble comprehending that. Understandable, though. Cobbleville Mine was not something easily forgotten, and he was the one who had come very close to an undignified end in the claws of that juvenile's bigger cousin. But... the townsfolk seemed very comfortable with a young dragon in their midst - he hoped that it was because dragons had changed in the time since his petrification, rather than these folk being plain ignorant of the dangers it posed. 'Spike' might not be so tractable when it grows up.
Just then, he heard Luna's voice. Distant, but loud and unmistakably angry, " - ungrateful whelp!"
A blast of thunder rattled the inn, shaking dust off the rafters. Then, silence. And then... chaos - ponies outside started screaming and shouting, and it sounded as if the whole town was being wrecked. Everypony else in the inn was either staring out the door or blinking and looking around in confusion.
Then, the moon princess' voice thundered once more, "Be still!"
The words were drawn out; echoing long after the lightning that split the sky without was gone. The thunder and gust of wind that followed was so strong that it slammed the door shut. But that did nothing to lessen the clarity and volume of the rest of her words; "No, Twilight Sparkle. We must use the traditional Royal Canterlot Voice for what we are about to say; since you choose to fear your princess rather than love her, and dishonour her with this insulting celebration, we decree that Nightmare Night shall be cancelled - forever!"
The wind howled in response, and thunder continued to echo in the distance.
Wonderful - more to worry about. Something had clearly gone awry for Princess Luna - luck was not favouring them tonight. Still, she had already warned them not to interfere... He ground a hoof into the floor.
"You know... I think I shall stay, after all." Anvil got back on all fours and dusted himself, suddenly appearing quite sober - perhaps the sudden rush of fear and the quickening of his heart had inflamed his senses back to clarity. He trudged over to his flagon and took a long swig, indifferent to the stares he was getting from everypony.
"Uh, maybe we should do something else," Berry Punch said. "If you're okay now, there's no need to get tipsy again."
One of the patrons threw his hooves up and cried with despair, "Do something else? Didn't you hear? Princess Luna is going to cancel Nightmare Night - forever!"
Anvil belched and waved aside the lamentation with a wing. "All the more reason to make the most of this night, yes?"
His words were met with surprise, but after a moment, ponies started grinning. From over the counter, Hops chuckled. "Lad, I like the way you think." He then clapped his hooves and shouted, "You hear that? If this is the last of Nightmare Night, you'd best make it one to remember. A free round of drinks for everypony who can still stand on four legs! Where's the music? Fiddlesticks, Chip, get your flanks over here and play us a tune!"
"Aye, sir!" The unicorn and pegasus replied in unison.
They began to play an uplifting tune - the fiddle and the flute when very well together. It was similar to the music played by some bards he had known, except that this one was... livelier, springier. Everypony started tapping along to the tune, and he also found that his hooves were inclined to join in. That did not happen very often, and it was a welcome distraction from the thought of the moon princess' anger against the townsfolk outside.
"Do you dance?" Berry asked.
"No."
"Do you want to dance?" she asked again.
"He already said no," Honey Doo pointed out.
Berry Punch chuckled. "Totally different question, Honey."
Hammer felt the corners of his mouth curl up slightly at her persistence. It was rather fetching for her. But his answer was the same; "Still, no."
"His lips say no, but I believe his hooves beg to differ." Anvil swayed over and bowed to the mare. "I, however, would be honoured if you would dance with me, my lady."
"Since when do you dance?" Hammer could never recall anything of the sort.
Anvil spread his wings and waved them around. "Since I learned how to use these. I dance well enough in the air - we shall see if I can do the same on the ground, to a tune. I make no promises, though."
Berry Punch slipped a foreleg around his and tugged him towards the middle of the room. "That's the spirit!"
Anvil trotted after, but stumbled when his hoof collided with one of the table legs. "Gah!" He glared at the piece of furniture, then looked at his quivering legs. "Ah... excuse me for a moment; I will need to clear my head before making an abomination of the dance routine. Where is the latrine?"
One of the patrons pointed a hoof in the direction, and the orange pegasus followed without another word. After the door shut, there was a muffled retching sound, and a moment later, Anvil trotted back out, nonchalantly wiping the side of his mouth with a hoof. Hammer noticed that his belly was considerably less distended.
"Ah, this is much better," his friend announced, to more stares from Berry Punch and her friends.
Clearly, these ponies were unfamiliar with purging techniques in the Royal Guard. In those days, inebriated ponies could always attempt to recover some semblance of deftness and sobriety by the simple act of stuffing their tail down their throat until their stomach decided to empty itself of the offending contents. Sometimes even the mane would suffice, if it was long enough. Or, lacking a sufficiently long mane or tail, a buck right in the belly from a friend could always serve - Captain Hazel Hock had been rather fond of that approach...
And just like that, Hammer suddenly found himself missing the company of his brothers in the old Guard. The modern guards were likeable enough, but they weren't the same - they had different japes, different interests, different ways of looking at life. And, of course, lagging a thousand years behind them only made it harder to properly relate - there were many things of which they spoke that he had only the slightest knowledge of.
He contented himself with watching the others dance to the music whilst he sat by the table with Honey Doo. True to his word, his friend was butchering the dance routine, but everypony was laughing along with the orange pegasus as he and Berry Punch stumbled and staggered. But when the pair of musicians switched to a more sedate tune, the two of them settled into a much more steady rhythm. Others joined in, even those who were already deep in their cups.
The door behind him creaked open, and he heard a mare say, "Oh goody, it's nice to find a place where everypony is still happy!" There was a pause, filled in by the music, after which the newcomer squealed, "Ooh, this one's my favourite!"
"Hey, sis, you're just in time!" Honey Doo called out by his side. Hammer felt a nudge, and when he turned to face the grey stallion, he found a mare of remarkably similar colouration standing next to him. "This is my sister, Ditzy."
The light grey mare, with misaligned eyes, he noticed, smiled and shook his hoof. "Haven't seen you around before - nice to meet you!"
"Likewise," he replied.
"Would you like to dance?" she asked as she trotted forward, leaning in rather closely. "My brother dances with me every Nightmare Night, but I thought you might like to have a round with me, since you're a guest - this song is meant to have a boy and girl dancer, you know, and..." she glanced around at the dancers, then turned back to him " - I'm the only mare who doesn't have a partner yet." Behind her, Honey Doo was grinning apologetically.
Hammer looked at the others dancing and making merry. Oh, very well.
"It would be my pleasure," he replied. It wasn't completely heartfelt, though. Princess Luna was having a difficult time with the townsfolk, and it did not seem appropriate for him to be partaking in frivolous activities in the midst of her frustration. But... he'd give in just this once - since it looked like Ditzy Doo rarely had partners other than her own brother. Maybe her eyes had something to do with that. He rose, and nearly bumped into her when she did not back away quickly enough.
"Oops, sorry," she said. She then pointed at her right eye and added, "I can't see with this one, so... zero depth perception, you see." She smiled shyly and averted her eyes for a moment, before tentatively whispering, "I might be a little... clumsy with the dance, because of that."
"Have others made light of you?"
She cocked an eyebrow. "Err... you mean made fun of me?"
"Yes."
"Well, yeah, all the time. In school, I mean. Not so much anymore." The words were unnecessary - he could tell from her tone that that one aspect of her foalhood had been less than pleasant.
Foals never change. That much remained the same throughout the ages. He no longer felt any inclination to refuse her a round of dancing. A small gesture, one that would not undo the years of torment she had endured, but it was the least he could do. "Your eyes make no matter to me - a mare's heart means more than looks alone ever will." Not the best he could come up with, but the cider was still meddling with his mind.
The mare's eyes lit up and she smiled. "Well, that's nice of you. Come on!" She then grabbed his hoof and swung him into the middle of the dance floor. Hammer blinked, and just remembered to regain his balance at the last moment. That mare was strong. Cross-eyed or no, her strength alone would have made her a good candidate for the Royal Guard recruits. Give her an eye patch and the right training, and she could look just as imposing as the rest of them. But she began to tug him along to the tune, and he was forced to put aside those thoughts, and instead focused on trying not to bump into anypony. It was rather awkward at first, but he slowly began to match his movements to the music, trotting back and forth to the rhythm and even prancing with the others when the moment called for it.
"Hey, you're pretty good at this!" Ditzy exclaimed.
Before he could reply, the music changed once more, and he found himself being spun round by the pegasus mare.
"Ooh, look who's dancing now," somepony nearby teased. Hammer shrugged at Berry Punch and allowed himself to be led in the routine. Ditzy Doo might not have been the most graceful of ponies, but her energy more than made up for that, and she seemed able to match her movement rather well to the music, even with closed eyes - others nearby just had to be wary of her movement. And her mood was... infectious. Despite his initial misgivings, he was beginning to enjoy himself.
The music quickened. Everypony picked up the pace, dancing along faster and faster as the music reached a crescendo. It was... almost like a battle - a non-violent one. Weave in, weave out, hop back in and sway, back and forth. Those who weren't dancing were adding to it with claps and stomps, and those unable to keep up at such a pace soon stumbled and laughed and cleared away to avoid tripping others - until the musicians ended the tune with a high note and a flourish. Only a few pairs of dancers were left standing in the middle, breathless and flushed from the exertion. Hammer was panting slightly, and Ditzy Doo whooped and toppled to the floor as everypony clapped and cheered.
"Thank you, fillies and gentlecolts, it's been a pleasure!" Fiddlesticks and Chip declared as they bowed.
With the dance over, everypony settled back at their tables and helped themselves to another round of food and drink, as Hops had anticipated the moment and passed around plates of fresh and cooked food to satiate the famished celebrants. Ponies tossed their bits onto the counter and began to tuck in. Berry Punch and Ditzy Doo settled at their table, and after a brief respite, everypony broke their fast on the evening meal. Some time later, Honey was nuzzling his sister and listening to her talk about what she had been doing outside before she'd come in, and Berry Punch was grinning facetiously and whispering something in Anvil's ear. From the way his friend's face coloured, it might not have been something entirely appropriate.
Hammer glanced at those around him as he munched on some hay fries - friendly smiles and chatter and laughter abounded, though some were already dozing off. He hadn't felt this at home in what felt like a very, very long time.
Berry Punch started giggling all of a sudden, thumping on the table with a hoof and snorting out a little bit of cider from her nostrils. "Oh, Hammer," she said, after catching her breath, "You're so broody - honestly, that way you were staring around, you looked like a super-villain planning to destroy everything." She then thumped him on the shoulder and added, "Cheer up, smile a little!"
"He's already smiling," Anvil piped up. "You just need to squint harder."
"Yup, you just need to look in the right place," Ditzy Doo pointed out. "He smiles with his eyes, not his mouth."
Novel way of putting it. Hammer shrugged. "She's not wrong."
Honey raised his mug. "Looks like I made the right choice, bringing you two here. Cheers?"
Hammer and Anvil and the two mares raised their own flagons and clonked them together noisily.
"Cheers!"
* * * * *
The horizon was glowing a faint blue by the time they made it to the agreed meeting place, far beyond the outskirts of Ponyville. Hammer and Anvil had already said their farewells, promising to visit their new friends whenever they could. They had not revealed anything about their past or present affairs, but had simply told the others that they could not stay for the night because of prior obligations. The hardest part had been telling Ditzy Doo that they had no address to which she could mail letters - she had looked absolutely crestfallen for a moment. Thankfully, she had cheered up at the prospect that the next time they visited, it would be a pleasant surprise - something to look forward to. As a parting gift, her brother had given them a little jar of blueberry jelly, and Berry Punch had invited them to a re-match, should they ever wish to finish what they'd started.
Whilst they waited by the chariot, partially obscured from view in a grove, Hammer noticed that his friend was getting pensive, again. He seemed serene enough, but his distant gaze betrayed the fact that his thoughts were far away. With the festive atmosphere gone, it was apparent that he had not completely forgotten about the grey unicorn amidst the celebration - he had masked it rather well during the whole affair.
"Still thinking about her?"
"Yes."
Hammer gave him a look.
Anvil rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes. I will ask." He sighed. "Summer Cloud deserved better than that. I should have made amends when we last met..."
"She did not give you the chance - she ran."
"I wasn't quick enough, more like. Two words would have sufficed, just two."
It would have taken more than two. They had been on opposite sides of a schism in the Royal Guard. Still, he could not fault her; she had done what she thought was best - they all had, even the loyalists. It was... regrettable that his friend had not come to terms with her on what had transpired, but there was little they could do about it now. He said nothing, though - Anvil would know that there would be no closure until he asked of her fate. Perhaps it was fear that held his tongue, the fear that she might have lived a lonely life, or perhaps found somepony else. The former seemed more likely - his friend was not the kind to be given to envy.
Anvil opened his mouth and had been about to say something more, but turned away at the last moment. Hammer followed his gaze and spotted Princess Luna approaching them, mane and tail aglow and billowing in the pre-dawn dimness. Her eyes were half-lidded as she bobbed her head and half-trotted-half-skipped to a tune that only she could hear. His companion immediately shook his head and adopted a more cheerful expression.
"You both look like you enjoyed yourselves," Luna commented with amusement. "Will you be able to fly all the way to Canterlot?"
Hammer's belly was a little more bloated than he would have liked, and Anvil's looked no less unflattering. With all the good food and drink they'd consumed, it was ridiculous to have hoped that she would not have noticed. The belly straps on his armour were rather tight, now. "Apologies, your Highness. We got carried away."
The blue alicorn snorted. "Rest easy, I am not in a mood to race home." She yawned stretched her wings. "Besides, I believe my sister would want something of this sort to happen again - it's good to see you looking... content. Perhaps in a month or two, you can progress to being happy."
Anvil chuckled. "Then it's a good thing that you changed your mind about banning this festival. Those ponies were quite happy to hear." He inspected her, and his gaze seemed to linger on the crumbs dotting the corner of her mouth. "You seem to have had a good evening, too."
"Indeed." She grinned sheepishly and trotted onto the chariot. "Well, after a few setbacks, at any rate. It very nearly ended in disaster."
Once harnessed, they wasted no time in making for Canterlot. As they soared into the brightening sky, Hammer spared a glance back towards the town, but allowed his gaze to linger as it shrank into the distance. The last of its lights were disappearing as dawn approached.
"Well, that went better than the last festival we attended," Anvil suddenly remarked.
Very astute.
"Oh, yes," Princess Luna assented, "Much better, indeed." |
Night Guards | Bonus Chapter: Progress | "Hammer, Anvil, meet your new proteges. Captain Shining Armour has reassigned them into the Night Guard, and you will be in charge of their training from now on."
Princess Luna gestured towards a pair of mares garbed in Royal Guard armour, one of which was a unicorn, and the other, an earth pony.
The unicorn smiled a little awkwardly, but the stocky earth pony gave a wide grin and saluted. "Hay Bale and Tufty, reporting for duty!" she practically bellowed.
Anvil's mind went blank for a moment. He did not recall any plans for recruitment, but he supposed that it was a logical step. Princess Luna would eventually need more than a paltry two to signify her presence at night. Still, it was rather sudden.
"Err, very well, Your Highness," he replied.
Hammer simply took it in stride and nodded at the newcomers. "If you would follow us, the--"
Luna interposed with a wing. "That will not be necessary. I can easily inform them of the nightly protocol." A glowing piece of parchment appeared, and she levitated it over to them, saying, "This is what you will need to be concerned about, tonight."
The parchment contained a list of various items plus an address. Anvil looked up to the blue alicorn, who smiled and said, "The Royal Physician is of the opinion that you are both a little... behind the times, as it were, where personal cleanliness is concerned. And it is a sentiment that I now share, after reading the physician's report on your health."
"Oh?" asked Anvil. "We've hardly had any ailments since our awakening."
"Tis your mouths that need attention, my friends. I shall relay the good physician's words, 'They smell worse from the front than most ponies do from behind'. I think him rather harsh myself, but it is his professional opinion that your mouths need more care."
"I see..."
Luna smiled and shooed them off with both wings. "Well, away with you. As my sister would say, I expect my guards to have pearly-white teeth and minty-fresh breath when they return."
* * * * *
"So, they actually have physicians specialising exclusively in teeth, now?" Anvil shook his head. "I would have thought that there are far more important things to worry about."
They were trotting down Caravan Street towards Minuette's Practice, who was supposedly the best 'dentist' in all of Canterlot. They were both wearing their enchanted torques that disguised them as regular ponies. Although Princess Luna had partially informed the dentist of their conditions and the need for discretion, she was not averse to a little caution. Ponies with permanent dragon wings would still draw unwanted attention.
"Such as?" Hammer prompted.
"I'm certain that there are other ailments worthy of more attention, although I cannot name any that are significant problems at the moment. Apparently ponies don't get the pox all that often anymore. Or any other disease, for that matter."
Anvil rubbed the upper part of his foreleg, just below the shoulder, where he'd received an infusion of some sort through a needle the week before. The physician administering the concoction had promised that it was meant to prevent illness, but Anvil wasn't sure how a pre-emptive infection was supposed to prevent a future bout. It was almost too simple a concept, to prepare one's body for fighting off a disease by first introducing it to the tiny little things that apparently made everypony ill.
The dental clinic was one of the cleanest places Anvil had ever seen. The floors and walls were sterile shades of white and beige and were practically spotless. After getting over the sheer immaculateness of the place, the two of them were directed to their seats by a smiling receptionist.
There was a pale green-coated filly and her mother waiting there, too. Well, at least the mother was. The little unicorn was fidgeting by her mother's side, and when Hammer and Anvil had taken their seats, she promptly trotted over to them, ignoring the grown up's protests.
"Hi," said the filly, looking up at Anvil.
"Greetings," he replied, unsure of what else to say. Parental supervision was rather different these days, since he'd not seen anypony utilising the age-old technique of letting their foals play, bicker and fight until two or three ended up liking each other. He mentally smiled at the memory of what his budding friendship with Hammer had cost: several milk teeth and a black eye.
"You're going to see the dentist, right?" asked the filly. "You don't look very scared."
"Should we be?" asked Hammer.
The filly turned her orange eyes to the big pegasus in surprise. "Well, duh. Don't you know what dentists do?"
Anvil shook his head.
"Fizzy, that's enough, don't bother the gentlecolts," said the mare, still in her seat.
The green filly ignored her and waved her hooves in the air, drawing a picture of something immense and terrifying. "They pull your teeth out," she uttered in a tone that was normally used when talking about ghosts and such, "and if your teeth are really bad, they drill into them. Like this: Reeeeeeee!" She thrust a hoof towards the floor, twisting it vigorously back and forth all the way as if she was grinding an insect into the ground. "Just like that. And..." here, her voice dropped to a whisper, "my friend says that Miss Minuette is the biggest, meanest, drilliest of them all."
"Oookay, little missy, that's more than enough," huffed the grown mare. She scooped up her daughter with a foreleg and gave Anvil and Hammer an apologetic grin. "I'm really sorry. It's her first time, and she's been hearing all sorts of nonsense from her classmates. And she does need to learn to mind her own business."
Anvil smiled at the mare. "Children will be children. We're not offended."
The filly suddenly opined, "Uh oh. Your teeth are bad, mister."
At this the mother gasped, although Anvil wasn't certain whether it was due to shock at her daughter's bluntness or agreement with her observation. She quickly scooped up the filly and retreated to their seats. She then began chiding the filly in a hushed tone, blushing mildly and pointedly avoiding eye contact with him and his companion.
"A thousand years. And here you are, still charming mares front, left and right," Hammer deadpanned as they went back to their respective seats.
Anvil rolled his eyes. "Somehow, I cannot quite dispel the notion that you wouldn't have fared any better, had your teeth fallen under the scrutiny of that filly's sharp eyes. Your mouth just happened to be closed at the right time."
"Hardly. Mine just happens to be overshadowed by that gaping cavern of yours."
Before Anvil could retort, a door nearby swung open and a new voice called out, "Miss Fizzy, the dentist will see you next."
The mother and her filly dutifully trotted in, leaving him and his friend to themselves. The moment had passed, and Anvil was no longer interested in resuming their verbal sparring. Admittedly, he was a little curious about what was involved in this whole dentistry affair. The filly was undoubtedly exaggerating, but such tales often held a grain of truth or two. He'd been told similarly tall tales about apothecaries and physicians by his peers in his foalhood, and although they never involved necromancy or torture, their practices did have some oddities that might have been mistaken as such.
The next half hour or so passed in silence, broken only by the occasional murmur of voices that filtered through the dentist's door. Eventually, the filly and her mother returned, and the little one was sporting a slightly swollen cheek. She glanced back at Anvil and gave him an almost pitying look, making a cutting motion across her throat with a hoof. He truly didn't know what to make of that, so he simply held his tongue as the pair made payment and promptly left.
"You're next, Mister Anvil."
He rose and followed the nurse in, hoping that the slight increase in his heart rate was due to nothing more than nerves.
Minuette was a unicorn whose coat, mane and eyes came in various, attractive shades of blue, and whose cutie mark was an hourglass. She was wearing a simple, white mask that covered her muzzle, which she pulled down to reveal a dazzling smile when Anvil stepped into the room.
"Hey there, Mister Anvil. My name's Minuette, and I'll be your dentist for today," she said amiably.
"Hello." He was a little too preoccupied with taking in the sights to form a more elaborate response. The room's tables were decked out with rows upon rows of surgical tools and other modern equipment that he didn't recognise, and in the centre of the place stood the most elaborate chair that he'd ever seen. It was obviously made for a pony to lie on his back, and even had depressions to accommodate wings. And it had various mechanical projections on it for various purposes that he couldn't yet fathom. Lighting was one of the obvious ones, though.
Looks rather like the Rack.
"First time seeing a dentist, I take it?"
"Indeed."
Minuette smiled once more and gestured towards the chair. "Well then, why don't you take a seat, for a start? I'll talk you through the entire process."
Anvil complied. There was an awkward moment of clambering into the seat, but it was surprisingly comfortable. One of the chair's appendages swung directly over him to shine a light into his face, and at Minuette's command, he opened his mouth wide and allowed her to poke around with several levitating sharp tools and a tiny mirror.
"Okay, so I'm just going to have a look at your chops," she began, leaning directly over his face, "and then I'll--good gravy, when was the last time you brushed?"
Brushed?
Once certain that she'd retreated and taken all the tools out of his mouth, he replied, "Could you explain? I do not know what you mean by that."
The blue unicorn blinked. "Umm, okay... Let's put it this way; when was the last time you cleaned your teeth? You've got plaque build-ups the size of freaking snowdrifts, and I can already see some browning spots!"
"Clean my teeth? Do you mean using a toothpick and rinsing my mouth out?"
"With more than plain water, I hope."
"What else is there to use?"
She smacked her forehead with a hoof. "Right. Of course."
Bewilderment was beginning to set in. Perhaps that filly hadn't been jesting about the dentist, after all...
Her smile returned with disconcerting swiftness, and she levitated her tools once more. "Oh well, never mind about that. We'll carry on with the inspection for now. Open wide!"
Anvil obeyed, and he spent the next minute or two simply thinking about how much things had changed. He'd already been aware of that, certainly, but he would never have thought that mundane matters like mouth cleanliness could suddenly become so important to everypony. He chewed his food, he swallowed, and then dug out anything else stuck in his teeth with a toothpick. The notion of stuffing a brush into his mouth wasn't all that appealing. Maybe there--
"Aagh!" Anvil jerked violently when a burst of pain erupted in one of his teeth. He involuntarily clamped down and felt something narrow and hard jam itself between his teeth, sending a fresh wave of agony though his jaw. "Grarghh!" His wings instinctively tried to spread, except that he was on his back, and they were trapped in the depressions in the seat, adding to his panic.
"Oh, hayseed. I'm sorry!" cried Minuette. Her horn glowed, and she continued, "Okay, this might hurt a little more, but I'm gonna have to work that probe out."
With the initial shock past, Anvil managed to calm down and reluctantly opened his mouth once more. He felt the constant pressure being exerted by the jammed instrument shift a little, morphing into more pain as the blue mare worked it loose. Resisting the urge to grit his teeth was surprisingly difficult.
Minuette was frowning. "Hang in there. Just hold still for a second..."
Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity of creaking waves of pain, the tool came loose with an audible chink.
Anvil sighed in relief whilst inspecting the throbbing area with his tongue. There was no blood, but his teeth felt rather tender after the abuse.
Minuette, on the other hoof, was staring at the mangled remains of her tool. It was bent completely out of shape, and had imprints of his teeth on several parts. She snorted, then chucked it away. "Well, at least I was just about done. You're lucky I managed to pull out the mirror in time, or you'd be chewing glass." She gave him an appraising look, then took a deep breath and said, "It's official; your teeth are in need of serious help. A boatload of plaque, one missing tooth plus eight cavities, and you've never considered coming to see a dentist sooner?"
Anvil wasn't sure how much he could tell her, what with him being a relic of the past, so he settled on a simple "No." In any case, it was not untrue.
"Doesn't it hurt to chew?"
"A little. But only on the left side." Such discomforts were not uncommon for stallions his age.
She must have taken his tone to be dismissive, for she rolled her eyes. "Oh boy, we've got a long one ahead of us."
With the pain of the previous incident seared into his memory, it was with great reluctance that Anvil submitted to her ministrations once more. She was gentler with her poking and prodding the second time round, although the part where she used a small hose to blast water at his teeth in order to clean them up was more than a little uncomfortable. It stung whenever his gums were struck by what he imagined was a tiny jet of water laced with sand grains, and he was tasting blood before long.
"So... I take it being a guard for Princess Luna involves a lot more than simply having enchantments of a different colour on your armour?" she asked.
There was a pause in her work, during which she indicated to him a cup atop a sink next to the seat. He rinsed and spat out red water before replying, "What makes you say that?"
The blue unicorn gave him a wry smile and levitated her mangled tool back in front of him. "This, for a start. Do you have any idea how hard it is to break one of these, let alone with your teeth? When steel goes against enamel, steel usually wins."
He responded with sheepish smile. "Oh. Yes. Apologies, my lady. I can pay for that."
Minuette shook her head. "Princess Luna has covered the cost of your treatment, in any case. But to get back on track... there is also the fact that you're wearing an enchanted necklace to hide something about your appearance. You're not secretly a griffon or something, are you?"
"No, but how did--"
"Relax," she said, smiling and waving a hoof dismissively. "Princess Luna has sworn me to secrecy. But please don't take me for a foal. The enchantment is well masked, but I didn't graduate from the College of Canterlot for nothing. Although I can't see through it, I can most certainly tell it's there. Most unicorns probably would not notice the enchantment, though."
That's comforting. "In that case, what do you make of me?"
"I'd say I admire you for your dedication to the Princess. It's a rare pony who would be willing to be saddled with something so... different. Something that they'd have to hide while in public, even if I can only guess what it is right now."
Anvil looked away. "Thank you," he murmured, remembering the time he'd spent encased in stone. Although their transformations were permanent, it was nothing compared to their thousand-year petrification. The half-consciousness that was like being asleep and awake at the same time, able to form thoughts that were only partially coherent, unable to move or even breathe...
"Anyways, let's get back to cleaning your teeth, shall we?" Minuette piped up, waving her tools eagerly.
Anvil set those unsavoury thoughts aside and leaned back, mentally steeling himself for more oral discomfort. Still, the procedure was very much within the limits of his tolerance. Guards were trained to endure, after all. He was certain that the filly had been exaggerating about the dentist, now.
At least, that was the case, until Minuette set her other tools down and brought up the little drill.
"Okay, I'm going to have to use this thingy now," she said, letting the thing whirr ominously. "It's for clearing away the rotting parts of your cavities, and since there's no easy way to put it, it's going to hurt a bit. I can give you some anaesthetic, but it shouldn't be necessary for this procedure. I don't imagine you'd like the side-effects anyway. You're a tough guy, right?"
Toughness is relative...
"How tough must one be in order to endure this?"
Minuette chuckled. "Well, I'll tell you what--we'll just take a stab at this and see how things go from there. If it hurts too much, we can always resort to the anaesthetic. Here we go!"
She just had to use the term 'stab', didn't she?
The first few seconds weren't overly terrible, until she struck a sensitive spot. He yelped when a jolt of vibrant pain shot through his jaw.
"Yep, it's rotting, all right. Sorry, buddy, but you're gonna have to tough this one out," said the unicorn.
Anvil strained to keep from clamping down and simply lay there helplessly as she continued to drill into his tooth. The vibrations were sent a constant stream of hot pain through his tooth, punctuated by the high-pitched whining that rose and fell with each application of pressure. His wings reflexively convulsed, and his legs twitched every now and then as he struggled to stay in his seat and not slap the drill away with a hoof.
Flaming horseapples!
He had endured pains of all sorts during his time spent as a guard, from gashes all the way to broken bones, but there was nothing that could have prepared him for this kind of agony! It was inside his mouth, like a broken tooth that was constantly being prodded with a red-hot iron bar, except that he couldn't just spit it out and be done with it. Oh no, he had to simply lay there and endure it like a good colt. He found himself thinking that he'd rather fight a windigo. Possibly with a manticore thrown in for good measure.
After what seemed like an eternity, Minuette withdrew the torture device and regarded him with a satisfied grin. "There we go. It's all clean, now."
Anvil licked the tooth and felt a gaping, sharp-edged hole in it. He sighed in relief and fell back into the seat. At least the pain had ended.
"Now we just need to get the other seven, and we can start filling up the holes."
His body went limp, and he felt his ears droop instantly. Seven more times? He was slightly annoyed to find the blue unicorn chuckling in amusement. He frowned and said, "I don't suppose the rest will be any better?"
"That's highly unlikely. Would you like to resort to local anaesthetic?"
Anvil was greatly tempted, but then he thought of the probability that Hammer was going to go through the same, and decided that he wasn't very fond of the idea that he might have given up where the big pegasus mightn't. It wouldn't do to add to Princess Luna's expenses, either.
"Never mind. Let's get this over with," he said, squaring his shoulders and lying down once more.
Minuette's smile was a little too knowing. Almost as if she'd expected him to choose pride over comfort. He snorted.
Mares.
* * * * *
By the time Anvil got out, he felt quite ready to just flop onto the ground and be thankful to be alive. Eight cavities sealed up. It was amazing just how much pain could come from such tiny things, although he was inclined to believe that modern ponies had simply invented a new way of needlessly magnifying suffering. Drills were now amongst his least favourite tools in existence.
Admittedly, though, Minuette had done a wonderful job of fixing his teeth, even if he'd never realised they'd needed attention before. They didn't hurt anymore, and they shone with a whiteness that he wouldn't have believed possible.
Still, he did put on his best haunted expression as he exited the room, shambling out like a half-dead pony.
Hammer's eyes widened with concern, which Anvil was happy to note didn't happen very often.
"It's your turn, Mister Hammer," called out the nurse from behind him.
As the big pegasus trotted past Anvil, looking uncharacteristically apprehensive, he took the opportunity to lean in close and whisper, "Alas, this is one battle you cannot win. I tried, oh, how I tried..." And Anvil hung his head in mock shame.
When the door shut, he grinned and imitated the modern gesture of victory, pumping a hoof in the air. It was rather satisfying to see the occasional crack in his friend's stoic calmness, so much so that he felt the pain had been almost worth it. Small wonder the filly had taken so much pleasure in divulging every little detail of the horrors that awaited the uninitiated. It was most satisfying.
* * * * *
Almost an hour had passed. He'd listened hard, but there had been absolutely no indication of any distress, let alone the dreadful whine of the dentist's drill. A good thing for Hammer, but he'd secretly hoped that his friend could have shared in the... enlightening experience of somepony using a power tool on his teeth. It was rather disappointing.
At least, that was until the door opened. He had to stifle his laughter when Hammer came stalking out of the dentist's room with a grossly swollen right cheek, as if he'd been blindsided with an iron skillet. Or maybe he'd just stuffed an entire apple in there; it was hard to tell.
"What did she do to you?"
Hammer worked his jaw for a moment, opening and closing it stiffly with visible effort, and sullenly replied, "Extwacshun."
He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head in inquiry upon hearing the slurred word.
"Injecshung. Faish is numh."
"Ah..." There was nothing funny about his friend's predicament anymore. Anvil shot a sideways glance at the door as Hammer self-consciously wiped away a sliver of drool from the corner of his mouth. "Shall we? I have no further desire to remain in this place."
"Agweeg."
They had made it halfway to the exit when Anvil heard the nurse call out, "Hey, wait up! Don't forget to take your care kits!"
Hayseed. He'd almost forgotten about that, and at the moment couldn't decide whether he should be thanking the mare for reminding them. Still, they obediently trotted back to the counter to take their prescribed medicine and various apparatuses that were apparently meant for cleaning teeth. There was some thread, a small brush, lots of paste, and a bottle of more of that acrid fluid that he'd been given to wash out his mouth. He listened half-heartedly as the nurse instructed them on their daily use, briefly considering the merits of simply tossing them into the first river they passed.
"--so the better care you give them, the less Ms Minuette will have to fix them! Remember, your next appointment is in six months' time!" the mare finished.
Oh Luna, you are cruel. He forced a smile as they bid the nurse farewell.
* * * * *
Princess Luna lifted her eyes from the piles of scrolls on her desk as the door to her solar creaked open. "Yes, Tia? The hour of rest draws near, and I shall soon be traversing the dreamscape."
Her sister had the appearance of somepony who had something important to say, but was less than keen on doing so. She trotted up to the desk, sat opposite Luna, and began, "Well, I heard about that little errand that you sent your friends on earlier this evening."
"What of it?"
"Well, you might want to add another item to their list."
"Go on..."
"I have been overhearing some... interesting information from my guards. There is this little problem in the barracks... they've been getting a lot of fleas and ticks in the beds, lately. The situation's getting a little out of hoof..."
Luna cocked an eyebrow. "Is that unusual?"
"Why, yes, actually." Celestia smiled sheepishly and added, "We've gotten a lot better at keeping the little pests at bay in the last century or so. You have noticed the lack of bites, have you not?"
That much was true, now that Luna considered it. She had not needed to worry about getting itching lumps under her coat whenever she went to bed these days. These modern alchemists must have concocted some amazing repellents and cleaning agents to have so effectively dealt with what was formerly considered a facet of everyday life.
"You are right; I have not been bothered by the little demons recently. But how does the outbreak in the barracks concern me?"
Her sister shifted uneasily. "Well, some of the guards think that it's Hammer and Anvil. The problem did start a week after they moved in... and given the attitude of our little ponies with regards to personal hygiene a thousand years ago..."
Luna chuckled. "Have their brothers in arms considered simply asking them to bathe?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I believe they did."
Luna waited throughout the pause, as that surely could not have been the end of it.
"They took a bath immediately. Once. In the river. And that was supposedly a week ago." Oh.
The problem was finally apparent. After a bout of giggling and getting a rather bemused look from Tia, she said, "And your guards are afraid of how my friends would react to advice on personal cleanliness, is that it? You wish me to break the news to them that they are walking parasite colonies?"
Tia smiled. "Not quite how I would put it, but yes. They are your friends, after all. And I highly doubt it's an image that you'd want your guards to present to the rest of Canterlot."
Luna returned the smile and replied, "Well, that should be easy to remedy. At least it will not require any attention from any... specialists."
Her remark was met with an eyebrow raised in curiosity, so she snorted and rolled her eyes, saying, "These 'dentists' are a remarkably common feature of modern nightmares, oftentimes paired up with dreamers losing some or all of their teeth. I simply do not understand how such things have managed to surpass owlbears or dragons in inspiring terror in the hearts of ponies."
"Well, as alicorns cursed with teeth that cannot rot away, I suppose we will never know..." After letting her words hang a little, Celestia cast a summoning spell, and a plateful of confectionaries appeared in a small puff of smoke. "Cake?"
Luna chuckled and took a piece. "Oh, yes. I shall ask them when they return and lay this great mystery to rest!" |
Night Guards | Bonus Chapter: Reunion | You may wish to first read Shadow of The Castle in order to fully appreciate what happens here. It is not absolutely necessary, but do bear in mind that this chapter will contain spoilers for said story.
The doors to the mess hall burst open, revealing a rather morbid Princess Luna. Every guard immediately hushed as she stalked in, casting a long, foreboding shadow from the last rays of the evening sun. A moment later, everypony recovered their senses and rose from their seats to salute her - a gesture which she did not acknowledge beyond the slightest nod. Instead, she simply swept her gaze across the hall, searching.
"Ten bits says she's looking for you," Tufty whispered.
"Hasty assumption," Anvil replied.
Luna's eyes settled on him. "Anvil, Hammer, you shall escort me to Everfree. A matter of urgency has arisen." With that, she turned around and trotted off briskly without another word.
Ignoring the murmurs from his fellow guards, Anvil cast a wistful glance at his half-eaten bowl of oats and put on his helm. He then left his seat to follow Luna. By his side, Hammer did the same, though with a great deal more stoicism.
"Told ya," said a smirking Tufty as she smoothly slid his bowl over to join hers. "I'll just be taking this, if you don't mind."
"I spit in my food, you know," he shot back as she swallowed a spoonful of oats.
She made a choking noise and spluttered, "What? Tell me you're joking."
He gave her a parting grin but didn't say a word.
"Charming," said Hammer as they trotted in Luna's wake through the darkening corridors. "It's a wonder you don't have smitten mares following your every step."
Anvil snorted. "You know she's still going to eat it right up the moment nopony's looking. She's got a stomach of cast iron. Bottomless as well, I'd wager. Don't know how it fits into a mare her size."
"Not the point."
"No harm done."
Hammer gave him a look before wisely dropping the subject.
Luna glanced back at them and asked, "Are you finished?"
The edge in her voice alerted him to the stiffness of her gait, and Anvil silently berated himself for not noticing her discomfort sooner. Especially since she had reason to visit Everfree - from what he'd heard of their former home, it seldom involved any pleasant business.
"Does this have anything to do with the castle?" he asked, vaguely recalling something about a restoration project for the castle's library that began a few days ago. Apparently, Princess Celestia had seen fit to set up a garrison in the middle of the accursed forest to keep the labourers safe.
"More than that." Luna suddenly gave him an oddly penetrating look. "You remember Summer Cloud, do you not?"
"Yes."
"And you two were a bit of an item, were you not?"
Anvil stopped midway through opening his mouth to answer and simply stared blankly.
He remembered spending days with Hammer searching through mountains of records for any information on Summer Cloud's fate. They'd found quite a few on the passing of their brothers in arms and distant relatives in ages past, but nothing on her. He remembered mourning everypony they'd never see again.
It wasn't until he'd tried asking Princess Celestia herself that they'd gotten an inkling of what had befallen her. Apparently, they'd left many valuables behind in their haste to flee the rising perils of Everfree, including many priceless artefacts and literary works in the library. Summer had disappeared retrieving said works, and though her escorts never found a body, everypony had presumed the worst.
Had the new labourers found her remains, perchance?
More importantly, he didn't quite know how to react if such news proved true. Sorrow? He'd already mourned all his friends who had fallen to time whilst he slept, petrified in stone. Did she deserve more for making his heart flutter on occasion? They'd never shared much intimacy, and certainly not enough to call it a tryst.
Anvil frowned as a dozen or so feelings welled up in his chest, mixing together into a slurry of agitation and uncertainty.
Luna chuckled. "I shall take that as a yes, though I remember it being a little one-sided."
"As a catapult," Hammer added.
Anvil didn't answer. He still needed time to sort through these dredged-up emotions, and so remained silent until they reached the launch platform at the base of Luna's tower. When they began harnessing themselves to her chariot, he found his voice again.
"What does she have to do with your foray into Everfree?"
Luna's eyes turned to the floor. After a long moment of silence, she murmured, "Summer Cloud is alive."
Anvil froze and stared at her, as did Hammer.
"I reacted much the same," Luna said with a wry smile.
"She's alive," Anvil repeated.
"After a fashion. She's also incorporeal."
Hammer tilted his head. "A ghost, then?"
"Close. Her consciousness is trapped in an astral projection - a pocket of reality - that was apparently spawned by aberrant magic in Everfree from my... parting curse. At least, that's what Tia suspects. Whatever the case, she has no physical body to return to and has spent the last thousand years in isolation."
"That is... an unexpected turn of events." Anvil finished tightening the last strap and shook his head. "How?"
"My sister certainly knows how to pick out the prodigies. Combine her talents with the unpredictable magic of Everfree..."
"Ah, say no more. I assume we are headed there to pay her a long overdue visit? You might have to carry the conversations for a while, because I don't think I have the words for it."
"You had me fooled," Hammer quipped. Then, turning to Luna, he asked, "How is she?"
"She is of sound mind, thanks to Twilight Sparkle. Sister tells me that she found her less so on Saturday's morn." Luna's brow creased, and she looked as if she'd just eaten something exceptionally sour. "I am not happy with her decision to visit Miss Cloud without me as soon as she found out, but I can see why she did it, given what transpired between all of us. Admittedly, I am guilty of the same for not telling you sooner whilst I decided how I was to approach her and make amends..."
"Ah, I suppose we can all blunder our way through the reunion soon enough," Anvil said. He flexed his wings and wriggled to test the fit of the harness against his armour, then continued, "Just say the word, and we'll--"
"Wait for meee!"
Anvil stiffened as he felt the beginnings of an itch to trample something to pieces. Though distant, he easily recognised the elderly voice as belonging to someone whom he didn't particularly care for very much at all, even if that creature did have the blessings of Princess Celestia herself. Personally, he considered freeing him one of the less agreeable royal decisions that she'd made, a sentiment which Luna seemed to share, judging by her steely scowl.
The draconequus came jogging over from the far end of the corridor leading to the platform, leaving a trail of odds and ends that constantly tumbled out of the enormous knapsack on a stick he had slung over his shoulder. Anvil spotted clocks, mallets, dumplings, pillows and a particularly upset water fowl spilling out with each step he took, until he finally came within kicking distance, huffing and puffing as if he'd run a circle around the entire mountain.
"Discord. To what do we owe the... inconvenience?" said Luna with a wary glance at his bulging knapsack as if it might explode at any second.
"Really, now, is that how you greet an old hitchhiker asking for a little lift?" he asked, instantly conjuring some ragged clothing on his serpentine form. "I would've expected several centuries to have mellowed you out a bit."
Her frown deepened. "Irrelevant. We have no time for your games tonight; go pester somepony else. Better yet, amuse yourself without courting the chagrin of others at all."
Discord sagged and pouted like a disappointed foal. "But--but what about kindness and patience and all that goody-goody stuff that friends are supposed to do? Don't tell me Celestia's the only one in the family who practices what she preaches!"
"Friends don't scheme and plot each other's misery for personal gain," Anvil muttered under his breath.
"Oh, water under the bridge; what's done is done, and I am now a reformed, upstanding citizen of Equestria. Lighten up, won't you?" Discord cajoled.
He snapped his talons at that last bit, and Anvil grunted in surprise when he and Hammer suddenly rose up into the air without the aid of their wings. He flailed and spun out of control, very nearly meeting his face with the back of his friend's hoof. Eventually, a sharp tug on the harness chains righted him once more, except that he remained bobbing in the air, tethered to the chariot and somehow as buoyant as a cork in water.
"Pinnacle of humour, that," he grumbled as a stray wind caught his wings and threatened to turn him upside down again. "I am terribly awed by such stellar wordplay."
Hammer didn't say anything, but he did level a steady, neutral gaze at Discord, like a precariously perched boulder just waiting for somepony to get close enough for it to fall on.
Discord's grin wilted, and then he folded his arms and snorted. "The years of petrification really haven't been kind to your sense of humour, have they? Fine, I'll cut out the party favours." He snapped his fingers, allowing gravity to take hold of them once more, then added in an undertone, "Should be glad I didn't fill you with helium to do the job, though that would've been far more amusing..."
"If you are quite done with wasting our time, we shall be off now," Luna declared as she stepped onto the chariot. Discord took a step to follow her, but stopped when she flared her wings threateningly and an arc of lightning danced from the base to the tip of her horn. "And, no, we are not bringing you with us. I highly doubt Summer Cloud would appreciate your presence anyhow, sincere or not."
Discord raised an eyebrow. "You mean the same way Celestia doubted she would appreciate the presence of one particular mare formerly known as Nightmare Moon? I hear that's why she wasn't invited to their little reunion straight away."
A vein bulged on Luna's neck.
For the merest moment, Anvil thought bolts of lightning would fall from the darkening sky overhead to smite him to ash, but only an ominous rumble of thunder reached the ground. Then, he blinked when she closed her eyes, exhaled steadily, and stepped to one side to make room on the chariot for Discord.
"Tia saw something in you worth redeeming. For her sake, I will tolerate your antics until dawn; don't waste this chance."
"Oh ho, splendid!" Discord hopped in beside her, making a tremendous clatter when he dropped his knapsack by his feet. He then pulled a massive whip out of thin air and raised it high, yelling, "Adventure awaits; off we go!"
Anvil flinched when the whip lashed down towards him.
"Discord!" Luna bellowed.
Instead of pain, Anvil felt the explosive crack of the whip just a little off to his side, striking the chariot's shaft between him and Hammer. A tremor passed from the shaft, through the chains and into his harness that made his coat tingle. After a few seconds of nothing untoward happening, he shot a glare at Discord, who seemed unrepentant despite getting a similarly murderous scowl from Luna.
"What?"
"Wasting your chance," Luna growled pointedly at him as she poked his chest with one of her primaries.
Discord rolled his eyes. "Oh, all right. I'm sorry for startling the little horsebats. Sheesh, some ponies these days..."
Then, Anvil heard him murmur, "Warp speed in three."
"Discord..." Luna warned.
She got an innocent grin in return. "Two."
The chariot shuddered and hummed as tiny forks of lightning danced on its dark, metallic surface. The very air itself seemed to crackle with static, and Anvil noticed an odd distortion in the air before them, much like the shimmer of heat on a hot road.
Luna sighed and rubbed her temples. "You cheeky wretch. Hammer, Anvil, brace yourselves!"
"One!"
The very air itself clawed at Anvil, dragging him into the twisting maelstrom. Colours and shapes stretched into misshapen streaks and swirls as he hurtled through, unable to even scream as it snatched his breath away. He could only stare at the incomprehensible vastness and hope that he didn't end up a gibbering mess when he arrived at the other side. If there even was an end.
A thunderclap broke through his trance, and he saw a grey wall of stone rapidly approaching.
Anvil instinctively angled his wings to veer away, but only found confusion when the wind battered him, completely at odds with his momentum. Only then did he realise that the wall was actually the ground. A panicked cry escaped his throat as he spread his wings wide to catch as much air as they could, but his momentum seemed unaffected by any wind resistance he could gather. Hammer's uncharacteristically frantic efforts had similarly disappointing results.
He gritted his teeth at the last second as he resigned himself to grievous injury.
Their hooves struck the ground and produced another deafening thunderclap, sending a wave of dirt and fog from their point of impact. For a moment, Anvil dared not move for fear of grinding his shattered bones to dust, but then he noticed the complete absence of pain and decided to risk an inspection. His eyes widened when he found everything intact; he could move freely without pain, and even the chariot wheels had nary a scratch or dent.
In the next moment, he noted that Discord had somehow brought them straight into the courtyard of Castle Everfree. All around them stood the walls and towers of old, familiar in form yet strange in their ruined state, eaten away by time and nature. Save for the garrison that bore signs of restoration efforts, almost all of the stonework bore thin layers of moss or creepers.
And just outside the garrison stood a few royal guards, gaping at the sudden appearance of company.
"Next time, you would do us the courtesy of giving fair warning before travelling through the nether realms," Luna growled at Discord as she sauntered off her chariot. Her bemused glare looked fit to spawn thunderclouds over her head.
Discord shrugged as he stepped down after her. "Just thought you'd appreciate saving an hour or two of flying. But yes, I'll take note of your request."
"How reassuring," Anvil muttered as he unharnessed himself.
Hammer made no comment.
A few ponies, probably masons restoring the castle, had poked their heads out of windows and holes in the walls to see what had disrupted their concentration and quickly returned to their work after calling out a few greetings to Luna. Once the guards stationed at the garrison had overcome their surprise, they too were quick to observe protocol.
"Your Highness, we weren't expecting you," huffed a unicorn mare as she came running out of the great hall. "I would've arranged for--" Her words suddenly died when she saw Discord with them. "Oh. I--umm..."
"Fear not, professor. We know where to go and what to do. You may return to your work," said Luna with a gracious wave of her wing. Once the mare had beaten a hasty retreat, Luna dispensed with all decorum and cantered towards the royal library, looking very much like a filly late for her lessons.
Anvil had to wrest his attention away from their surroundings as he ran after her. Memories swam to the surface of his mind as he passed door after door through the halls and passages, almost expecting the familiar face of a long-gone pony to appear around every corner. He could understand Luna's desire to go past all of it in a hurry.
The library had not fared well in the intervening thousand years. Very few shelves actually had anything left on it that remotely resembled a book, and fewer still had a book that looked like it could be opened without crumbling to pieces. Even the flooring had sunken in places, filled with dark pools of water leaking in from the roof. However, the library did have some semblance of order deeper within, where several craftsmares were busy shoring up structural supports and repairing stonework. And in the spots with a lower risk of falling debris lay several sleeping ponies on rough cushions and thin mattreses, with packs of books, quills and scrolls by their sides.
"Find a comfortable place and I shall take us straight into her realm. It is not unlike entering a dream, though it will be less fanciful," said Luna, gesturing towards the mattresses with a wing. "Now, Discord, I don't want--oh curse him, where did he go?"
Anvil glanced around but found no sign of the draconequus; he hadn't even noticed his absence until Luna had pointed it out.
"Doubt we can find him unless he wills it," Hammer said.
"If he's wise, he'll not work any mischief," Luna growled as she seated herself on a cushion. "We shan't wait for him. Be seated and I shall begin."
Anvil lay down on the nearest vacant mattress and set his helm aside, noting that amongst the sleepers sat a unicorn in a trance-like state, with his horn glowing faintly. Luna assumed a similar posture, and a dim, blue glow enshrouded all three of them. His vision blurred, and his breaths felt ponderously slow as he struggled to keep his eyes open. But once he'd overcome the urge to panic, the experience proved much more soothing than unsettling, and he gave in to the lethargy.
Not long after, a distant voice pierced the silence, and he opened his eyes to find the library restored to match his memories. Every torch, every bookshelf, every stone arch looked no older than his last day in the past. An orange sunset cast a waning beam of light from a nearby window, stretching their shadows long and thin over smooth carpets weaved in the designs of old. Outside, the treetops rustled in the steady wind, which brought in the earthy scent of the woods of Everfree.
We are home.
Luna and Hammer also seemed taken aback by the sudden return to familiarity, though they did not dwell long on it.
"Come. This way," said Luna as she set off deeper into the library's eastern wing.
They passed an elderly stallion at a lectern speaking to a rapt audience of six other unicorns, some of whom Anvil recognised from amongst the sleeping ponies in the real world. Others sat on their own at strategically placed tables, scratching away with their quills as they pored over musty tomes. Everypony seemed too absorbed in their business to pay them heed as they briskly trotted past, though one stallion did stare in stunned silence when he looked up from his work and locked eyes with him. Anvil just gave him a quick wave and moved on.
Luna marched through to a more secluded section, where even the ensconced torches seemed to burn less brightly. There, they reached a study with a wide entrance, through which Anvil could see all manner of shelves and cabinets lining the walls, topped with stacks of scroll casings, books and other literary odds and ends. A grey-coated unicorn sat behind the massive table in the middle. She had her teal mane braided at the back, with a forelock just reaching her eyebrows at the front.
Anvil swallowed. She looked exactly as he remembered, save for some quality that he couldn't quite put his hoof on. Something about the way she carried herself reminded him of Princess Celestia.
"The lecture isn't for another hour, yet," said Summer patiently as Luna stepped into the doorway. Like the others, she too was absorbed in her work; her amber eyes never left the parchment on the table where her quill danced, glowing green with her magic. "And in the meantime, I must finish this for the professors before tomorrow, so I do not have the time for students right now."
"And what about very old friends?" asked Luna.
Summer's quill skidded and dug a groove into the parchment, then fluttered down lifelessly as her magic went out. Her ears flattened as she slowly looked up from her work, and her pupils shrank as she set her eyes on Luna. Nopony said a word. Even the draft which had followed them from the central part of the library had dwindled to complete stillness in that moment.
Anvil tried to say something, but the words would not come out. He remembered the last time he saw her, through rusty bars in a dank cell. He remembered Summer pleading with them not to tell of her association with Discord and his concealed involvement in freeing the windigos to wreak havoc on Everfree, so that she might confess to Princess Celestia on her own terms. That never happened. Either that, or Princess Celestia had not seen fit to have Discord's role in the Eternal Night written in history, and neither he nor Hammer had the heart to sully the memory of her apprentice with a transgression from ages past. Luna knew from their recount of events, but she too did not think it a necessary burden to put onto her sister.
The memory of it heated his distaste for the draconequus to a simmer, for the one who had self-admittedly assisted Luna's downfall for his own freedom. He felt his jaw tighten. But soon after, so did his chest; his breaths shortened to quick, shallow gasps as fleeting memories resurfaced, of utter stillness, trapped in stone and unable to breathe or cry, alone and beyond any help. As he grit his teeth and focused on calming his nerves, a treacherous part of him wondered if Discord truly deserved a fate like that, and by all accounts, he had suffered worse for all his lucidity during his incarceration.
Maybe it's a wonder he's not even madder than that...
"I--Your Highness!"
Summer Cloud's voice cut straight through his thoughts. He blinked and found her in the middle of schooling her surprise into a more measured gaze, with a somewhat artificial smile as she continued, "Apologies. I wasn't expecting visitors. I--what brings you to the library?"
Luna took a tentative step forward and paused, as if waiting for an invitation. But when none came, she sighed and said, "It's been an age, Miss Cloud. We have come to... to make amends for what transpired when I surrendered to my basest desires. Perhaps then we can finally put the past behind us."
Summer's eyes had flicked over to Anvil and distinctly lingered on him whilst she listened, certainly long enough for her to suddenly realise with a start that Luna had finished speaking. She blinked and whipped her gaze back to Luna. "Oh! Umm, yes, I see."
She turned her head to one side, as if searching for something or somepony to come to her rescue, but when nothing presented itself, she gave them another decidedly false smile and got up from her seat to gingerly sidle between Hammer and Luna, out the doorway and out of sight. A second later, her head popped back around, followed by a waving foreleg. "This way, if you please. My study is hardly suitable for such... esteemed guests."
Anvil noticed she didn't say friends. He trotted after Luna and Hammer, past several more rows of bookshelves until the aisle opened up into a cosy lounge brightly lit by lamps hanging all around, complete with a short coffee table surrounded by puffy cushions. Summer Cloud plopped down onto one and gestured for them to follow suit. Once they had all taken their places around the circular table, her horn lit up with magic, bringing a tray laden with mugs and pastries from behind a counter that Anvil only just noticed. He was sure that the space had been empty before he looked.
He frowned. "Where did that--"
"I can bring forth things I desire within this place, with limitations, of course," Summer briskly answered. "So can you, once you acclimate."
Luna took one of the mugs and sampled a pastry. "Impressive. Your magic has grown, and Celestia tells me that you have done immensely well in maintaining astral copies of volumes that have long since rotten away."
This time, Summer's smile looked a little less feigned. "Yes, well... I had a lot of time to practice and get things right."
Silence settled between them once more, save for their surreptitious sips and munching. The biscuit crunching between his teeth sounded almost unbearably loud. He shot a glance at Hammer and Luna, but they both seemed to have tacitly made an agreement that he was supposed to break the ice, judging by the simultaneous, pointed looks they gave him.
Oh, joy.
He swallowed and washed down the biscuit with some rather strong tea, wishing that he'd gotten some cider or ale instead; despite never needing it before, he could've used some liquid courage. For some reason, his heart had decided to start thumping around in his ribcage like a landed fish. He also noticed that, despite tasting reasonably fine, the biscuit and tea did not truly fill his belly. They were little more than memories already, and his stomach had missed a proper meal that evening.
"Heh. Still hungry," he thought out loud.
Hammer and Luna both introduced their hooves to their faces.
Summer didn't seem to notice. "You neither get nor need sustenance whilst in here. Your consciousness, I mean. Your real body can still starve." She paused for a while, staring at the mug in her hooves and not meeting his gaze. Then, she whispered, "It's usually how ponies die when they get trapped in here with me."
The silence thickened.
"Oh for crying out loud!"
Everypony flinched when Discord exploded into the air directly above the table in a shower of sparks.
"Seriously, if things get any more awkward between you four, I'm literally going to implode," he cried, throwing up his arms in dismay. "I was hoping for some good, old-fashioned drama, but this is just awful. It's almost worse than a teenager's romance flick, even the ones involving fillies and vampire bats!"
"Oh, it's you," said Summer Cloud with an air of one commenting on the weather.
"The one and only!" Discord bowed to her, almost mockingly.
"Could you come a little closer? I have something for your ears alone."
Anvil stole a glance at Hammer and Luna, but like him, they both looked unwilling to intervene, consumed with the curiosity of what Summer could possibly want to whisper to the draconequus. She waved him closer, and though frowning suspiciously, Discord did as requested.
"So, what do--"
Summer cut him off by smashing a club into his left temple, hard enough for the wood to crunch and splinter. Discord flew right into a bookshelf, which proceeded to topple onto its side with a booming crash, sending a cascade of books and scroll casings all over the floor.
Anvil felt his jaw drop as Summer Cloud eyed the splintered remains of her club, before she casually tossed it aside and closed her eyes, inhaling deeply as if savouring the very air she breathed. She then sighed with an almost obscene shudder of pleasure before a smile lit up her face.
"Oh my stars, it is so wonderful to find that I can still find joy in simple things," she murmured.
Anvil wasn't quite sure whether that tingle he felt in his wings was terror or attraction.
Discord's head popped out from under a pile of books and splinters, with four or five miniature Celestias flying in a circle over his head. He blinked several times, unable to get his spinning eyes to focus, before finally levelling a scowl at Summer Cloud as he delicately rubbed his face. "What in the--what was that for?"
"Delicious, glorious retribution," Hammer deadpanned when Summer just looked at Discord with half-lidded eyes, as if he'd just asked the stupidest question in the world.
Luna simply smirked and began clapping slowly.
Anvil raised a hoof. "If nopony has objections, might I have a turn as well?"
Discord wriggled out of the mess and shot each of them a scowl in turn before shooing away the tiny Celestias and hovering back in the direction of the main library. "Well, I can see that I'm not welcome here, so I'll just--"
"Apologies for the lapse in hospitality; it was something I needed to get off my chest." Summer Cloud pulled up an empty cushion and smiled. "Take a seat."
Discord frowned at her. "Oh, oh no. I'm not falling for that one agai--"
"Take. A. Seat." Summer's cool gaze didn't falter, and each word was accompanied by a very emphatic pat on the cushion.
"Sheesh, all right." Discord summoned the cushion to his side of the table, curled up on it and began nursing his swelling cheek. "I'm impressed, though. There aren't many ponies who would actually dare to hit me."
"Why not? Hitting you is very gratifying."
Luna failed to suppress a coarse snigger, and Anvil had to fight to keep his grin from splitting his face.
Discord harrumphed and folded his arms. "Well, there's always the threat of vengeance from the master of chaos, for a start."
Summer rolled her eyes. "What will you do, annoy me to death? And even if you could, that's just unfortunate because I'm already dead."
For a moment, Discord simply stared at her in stunned silence before chuckling and shaking his head. "My, my, you've certainly come a long way from that frightened mare I remember. When did you grow such a magnificent spine?"
"Some time after falling debris crushed my physical one."
"I..." - he blinked a couple of times, as if searching for the right words - "am very sorry to hear that."
Summer shrugged. "Well, at least that one's not directly your fault. Rescuing irreplaceable manuscripts from a collapsing library was not one of my best decisions. Tea?"
"Wouldn't mind if I do."
The awkward silence returned as soon as Summer finished serving him his portion, except that this time they had extra draconequus with them at the table. Apparently, the reality of Summer's death had just sunken in enough to temporarily strip away his usual insolence.
Luna snorted and looked pointedly at Discord. "And you're one to chastise us for making things awkward." She then turned to Summer Cloud and sighed. "Words can never make up for how I had led us down this path, but... I am sorry, Miss Cloud. I am sorry for the grief I caused as Nightmare Moon. I am sorry for destroying Everfree. I am sorry for creating the circumstances that ultimately led to your... isolation. I never wished--"
The coffee table and all its condiments vanished in a flash of green light, teleported away by Summer Cloud's magic. She then crossed the vacated space and wrapped one foreleg around Anvil's neck, dragged him past a nonplussed Luna, did the same to Hammer with her other foreleg, and then came back to the middle to embrace all three of them at once with surprising strength.
When Summer released them, her eyes were glistening.
"I know," she said to Luna. "I too am sorry for fighting and helping to escalate the conflict when diplomacy might have led to less strife." She turned to Hammer, then to Anvil and continued, "And I know you were doing what you thought best. We did not part on favourable terms, but I missed every one of you all the same."
Luna sniffed and wiped her eyes with a wing. "Thank you." She paused as she groped for more words, but then settled on embracing Summer again before whispering, "You are a more gracious pony than I ever was."
Summer Cloud chuckled. "You would have found me a very different mare a few days ago."
"And I'll be sure to thank Twilight Sparkle for aiding in your return to san--your normal self."
Anvil was certain that she'd caught the word Luna nearly finished, but her smile didn't falter.
"You find the new company agreeable?" asked Hammer as he gestured with a wing towards the rest of the library, presumably referring to the influx of academicians into her realm.
"Oh yes, very much so." Summer released Luna and clapped her hooves together gleefully. "You cannot even begin to fathom how much I have missed teaching. Stone and imaginary students can only go so far in staving off madness." Her pupils then shifted to the corners of her eyes. "Speaking of madness..."
Anvil suddenly realised that Discord had been sitting quietly on his cushion the whole time. Or at least, not done anything to draw attention to himself. The swelling on his face had already disappeared, though. When Summer turned to him, he twiddled his thumbs and even flattened his ears, looking for all the world like a colt waiting to be reprimanded for misbehaviour.
"There's a reason you came here." Summer Cloud's expression bore no hint of anger or resentment - just patience.
Discord scratched the back of his neck. "Yes."
Luna took that as a cue to return to her seat, and she motioned for Hammer and Anvil to do the same. They obeyed in silence and settled back around the table, which had somehow reappeared in its original place when nopony was looking. Anvil began nibbling on another biscuit as he watched the draconequus squirm underneath Summer's penetrating gaze.
"All right, look," Discord began, gesturing vaguely with his paws as he fumbled for words. "Humility doesn't come easily to me, so I'll try to finish before I completely make scrambled peanuts of it. I... I just wanted to apologise for taking advantage of your... naivete back then. And for betraying your trust, even though you really should have seen that one comi--"
He stopped when Luna cleared her throat.
"--right. Sorry. What I mean is... I'm sorry for being a terrible draconequus."
Summer Cloud nodded. "I forgive you."
He blinked. "Really? Just like that?"
She averted her eyes for a moment, and as they glazed over with memories, her voice took on a somewhat haunted hollowness, "I believe I understand a fraction of what you must have endured whilst imprisoned. If it is anything like what I experienced, I can see why you might be so inclined to take advantage of naïve and self-righteous ponies like me." She chuckled mirthlessly and looked around at them. "I suppose we've all tasted a little of that nightmare, haven't we?"
"A sobering observation..." Luna murmured, eyes downcast and gazing at nothing in particular.
"Some more than others," Hammer added.
Discord most of all, probably.
"Also, I'm sorry for taking out my passion on you," Summer continued. "It was unbecoming of an apprentice to Princess Celestia."
"Well, it didn't hurt too much. And it will take a lot more than that to really injure me."
She smiled. "It was nice of you to let me have the satisfaction, though."
Discord shrugged and gave her a grin. "Well, what can I say? I'm apparently a subcontracted agent of friendship, now."
Anvil felt tempted to point out that Discord had them fooled earlier, but that would have spoiled the moment, which soon lapsed into companionable silence as they went back to finishing up their tea and biscuits. During which, Anvil's heart decided to begin fluttering in his chest like a trapped bird, stringing up his nerves and weakening his legs to the point where he knew he couldn't possibly stand up without looking like a squire on his first day of martial training.
"Anvil?"
His head filled with all sorts of strategies to begin broaching the topic of whether... something existed between him and Summer, each more abashing than the last. And the answers, the answers that he knew not whether to dread.
"Anvil."
He yelped when Hammer poked him with a hoof, hard enough that he'd felt it through his armour. Then, he noticed everyone looking at him, especially Summer who had a mixture of amusement and exasperation on her face. His ears heated up instantly.
"Ah, my apologies. Lost in thought."
Behind Summer's back, Discord put both paws together and went all doe-eyed in mockery of a smitten pony, which Anvil promptly ignored.
If Summer had noticed his antics, she gave no sign of it. She simply rolled her eyes and chuckled. "I remember that face well. Anyway, the students are expecting my lecture soon, and I was hoping to have a word with you before I see to it - if Luna pleases, of course."
"By all means," said Luna.
Summer stood up and bowed to her. "Thank you. If you wish to stay, I'm sure the students would not mind a few more attendees. Feel free to explore whilst I speak to Anvil; I can find you anywhere in here and will lead you back if necessary."
So saying, she beckoned him over to an aisle and trotted out of sight. The section of wall that she led him to looked plain enough, until she shone a beam of green light on it to reveal a dark passage that, as far as he could tell, had simply appeared out of thin air. Or stone. A cold draft blew in from the passage, and he soon found the cause as Summer brought him to a ledge on the roof, high above the treetops. Anvil blinked and looked back. He could still see part of the library at the far end of the passage, which could not possibly have fit into the tower before him.
"Magic?"
"One of the many oddities in this place," she affirmed as she trotted to edge and sat on her haunches.
Anvil took his place by her side and followed her gaze into the distance where the sun had already set, leaving a purple glow on the horizon. Stars dotted the blackening sky above, and the wind whispered and moaned as it flowed through the spires and solars all around them.
"Anvil, do you still harbour feelings for me?" she murmured.
It took him a moment to find his voice. "That is... very direct."
"I'd rather not dance around the issue."
Anvil turned away. "To be honest, I cannot say for sure. I definitely feel something around you, but I don't know if I would go so far as to call it passion."
"Anvil."
He turned back to her and found her looking sideways at him, as if afraid to fully meet his eyes. Despite his ability to see in the dark, her grey coat and teal mane blended very well with the colours of the night, and her amber eyes almost glowed unnaturally in contrast.
"Anvil, if by some chance you still happen to fancy me, I am sorry to say that I cannot give what you seek." She sighed wearily. "Once, I might have accepted your advances, but I'm over a thousand years old, now. I no longer yearn for intimacy of that nature, and I don't know if I ever will again."
He chuckled. "You know, I am also over a thousand, if you think about it."
A frown creased her brow. "Celestia told me of the petrification spell she used. You haven't aged like I have. And that's not even considering the fact that I don't even have a physical body."
"I know, I know. I was jesting." He sighed and scraped idly on the ledge with his hoof. A dull weariness had settled in his heart, and he hoped that it was just because of the weight of years between them and not something that would grow more painful with time.
"I hope you will find somepony to be happy with," Summer continued. "I'm sorry that I can't be that mare. Will--I mean--I hope you will be all right."
"I'll live. Just focus on making the most of what you have here and don't worry about me." After a momentary lapse of silence, he worked up a tired grin. "All things considered, we're lucky to even have the chance to speak again."
"And I'm most thankful for that. Princess Celestia had informed me beforehoof that all of you would visit, but I hadn't quite prepared myself for the eventuality, hence my... somewhat stiff welcome." Before he could say another word, she swiftly leaned forward and embraced him. "It is good to see you again."
He returned the gesture, careful not to overstep the bounds of affection between friends.
When Summer released him, she tilted her head towards the passage and said, "My students await. Will you stay and listen?"
"If Luna is amenable, yes."
"Well then, let's not waste any time."
They found Luna and Hammer still waiting in the lounge for them. Discord on the other hoof had made himself scarce.
"Where'd he go?" Anvil wondered aloud.
"Eavesdropping on us two minutes ago, and now taken to wandering the main wing, startling everypony he comes across," Summer stated matter-of-factly.
"How--"
"My magic is closely tied to this place. Like I said; I can find anyone in here if I put my mind to it," she explained. She hummed thoughtfully before continuing, "A lot more restraint than I expected. He really has changed, hasn't he?"
"Best not to let him hear that," Hammer cautioned.
Luna nodded emphatically. "Indeed. His 'restrained' antics are vexing enough already, thank you very much. Would that I could bring you to Canterlot or Ponyville. You might not be so quick to say that, when you see his machinations."
Summer smiled. "I would love to hear more about Canterlot and Ponyville."
"Did my sister not tell you about them?"
"She did, but I would nevertheless like to see them the way you do. It's not like she would be the best to ask about the night life or the martial ones." Summer's gaze drifted over to Anvil's armour. "For instance, how do you find your new brothers in arms?"
The corners of Hammer's mouth curved upwards just a tiny bit. "You should see Luna sparring with them. It takes five at once to challenge her when three from our time would have sufficed."
"Now, Hammer, there's no cause to make light of them," Luna chided, though she did have a grin plastered to her face. "Tis a testament to their predecessors' efforts that there are much fewer monster attacks on settlements these days."
"They even have hot water for washing themselves every day. It's scandalous!" Anvil cried, feigning an indignant stomp. In their time, only nopony would even think of supplying hot water to mere soldiers, let alone for bathing.
"Sounds like a much nicer Equestria than I remember." Summer beckoned them with a hoof and began trotting towards the main section of the library. "Come, I'll have plenty of time once my students are attended to, and then we may have this place mostly to ourselves."
"You are certain we are not imposing?" asked Luna. "We can certainly return to visit on other days."
"Hah. I'm not one to let an opportunity like this slip by. We have far too much to catch up on to leave it at this, and goodness knows we've waited for long enough already."
"Very well. Lead on, my little pony."
They did lose some time whilst waiting for the gathered students and scribes to get over their awe or discomfort of Luna's presence as a fellow listener, but Summer Cloud soon had their full attention once more as she took her place at the lectern.
Anvil smiled as she launched into her lecture about the original nature of Everfree, remembering how that same scholarly voice used to echo out into the hallways where he stood guard, except that it was Summer's voice that now carried that knowledgeable authority instead of Princess Celestia's. Closing his eyes, he could just picture that corridor outside the Royal Residences, bathed in the sun's golden rays a thousand years ago. He sighed.
After their long exiles, they could finally see each other as friends again.
They were home. |
Brothers 'N Antlers | pre | 'What can I get for ya?' the barman said.
Elkia gestured with his hooves. 'Aren't you all very worried for the storm? I know I am.'
'I can see that,' said the barman, pointing with a glass pitcher to Elkia's wobbling knees. Then he shrugged. 'Don't worry, lad. Just relax, have a drink, gamble away some money. Everything will be just fine.'
Elkia had to strain his ears as he listened to the barman, because the winds were no longer howling--they were shrieking. Some glasses rattled on the bar. Elkia felt the vibrations going through the wood. An elk cursed because his glass fell and shattered on the floor, but Elkia reckoned that there were much bigger problems going to arrive.
And he was right. The door swung open, and the wind rushed in. At the same time, two windows shattered, as somethings flew through them. Elks yelled and jolted. The thing that came in clattered to the ground, where it came to a halt in front of Elkia's hooves. It was a piece of broken and splintered wood, tortured by the wind.
Elkia knew enough. 'Oh no! Oh no, oh no, oh no!' One of the main support beams let out a long and painful creak. It bent and bent, until it snapped like a toothpick. Everyone yelled now, including Elkia. The elks and deer and reindeer got up and moved to the door as quickly as they could. Some even jumped through the windows to flee the inn. In a matter of seconds, only the barman and Elkia were left, both frozen in fear. Despite the raging winds, the gusts of snow, the creaking and croaking wood, and the clattering door, Elkia and the barman exchanged a silent look full of fear and panic. The barman moved his mouth. Elkia didn't need to guess at what he said. 'Run!'
The barman jumped over the bar. Another support beam fell down. The wind bashed against the walls of the inn just as elks bashed their antlers together. The roof let out a dangerous creak. Tables and glasses and chairs all fell down, and so did the barman. He tripped.
Despite his fears, Elkia looked back. 'No!' He jumped back, grabbed the barman, and, with a wee bit of effort, tossed him onto his back. Pieces of the roof were falling down. Wood splintered. Elkia yelled as he made for the door. He tried his best to jump over fallen chairs and tables like an obstacle runner. He made it to the door, just in time. As he looked back, he felt a rumble go through the ground, as the roof collapsed.
The storm had entered the village, and was busy demolishing it. Already a few houses and buildings had collapsed. The icy winds flung the debris like missiles through the streets. Elks, deer, and reindeer were scattered about, desperately trying to find some structure sturdy enough to protect them. And in the middle of all this hubbub was Elkia.
Elkia had once been in a snowstorm before, and he knew of the terrible winds, which let trees bow and made snow fly everywhere. Once again, he looked back at the sagged inn, beside which the barman was crying. A picture flashed into Elkia's mind. What would have happened if there had been elks inside? The sound of splintering wood reached his ears. There were definitely more buildings with elks inside. Elkia realized they were about to be buried alive. But what could he do against such unbridled force of nature? What could he do against the thrashing winds, the obscuring snow, the lightning bolts, thunderclaps, and heavy clouds? Elkia knew the answer was nothing.
So instead, his mind went to the poor inhabitants of the village. How could he save them? If only they had someplace safe to go to... Elkia thought about the safest place he knew: home. It was then, that an idea shot through his consciousness, taking the front seat in Elkia's mind. He had a plan.
With a few big jumps, he found himself back on the marketplace, where there was a lot of snow. There were elks, deer, and reindeer there, trying to dodge the flying debris and get inside somewhere. Elkia had to act now. He pictured his home in his mind, the forest, the people, the Shimmering Eye... and the snow huts.
Elkia stood in the middle, guiding the snow with his hooves and his head. It looked as if the snow was alive, and moving all by itself. It gathered like the dark storm clouds above, pressed itself together to create a solid wall. The wall circled around Elkia like a white ribbon. Then the snow stretched out, folded, until a dome-shaped roof crowned the structure. It was much bigger than the little bunker he had made for himself during the snowball fight. It was exactly how Elkia wanted it: big, sturdy, and solid.
No sooner had the roof appeared, than a couple of elks entered the structure, slowly, carefully, as if it were a trap.
'Come in, come in!' Elkia said. 'Bring in as many as you can! This snow hut is your best chance.'
More and more elks, deer, and reindeer entered the snow hut. Some were wounded by the storm and the swirling debris. They had broken bones or had got many splinters or bleeding wounds. But they were safe, and that was the most important thing. As more of them came in, Elkia still stood in the middle, balancing on his hind legs, with his forelegs outstretched. He had the feeling the snow hut would collapse if he were to let his focus slip, or if he put his forelegs down. The storm was still going strong outside, and Elkia could feel that. Every time something heavy collided with the walls of the hut, Elkia flinched. It was as if he were balancing on a pole, and others were throwing things at him, in an attempt to make him lose his balance and fall down. Elkia wasn't sure he could hold on like this for much longer.
The elks shrieked, as something tore open the roof of the hut. The house standing next to it collapsed, and its full weight came down onto the roof of the hut. Elkia felt as if someone charged right into him with the antlers. He wobbled on his hooves. For a split-second, the debris became visible, but Elkia's mind proved to be stronger. His tongue hung out of his mouth as he pushed with all his might. The snow became solid again, cutting off the bits of wood that had pierced the roof. It clattered to the ground.
It all became too much. Filled up with exhaustion, Elkia bent through his knees. His forelegs trembled. Some others tried to support him, but they had a hard time keeping their hero upright. It was at that moment that Elkia realized he could not do this alone.
'Mister, shall we help you?'
It was Ada, one of the calves. With visible effort, Elkia opened his eyes to look at her. 'I-i-i-f you could, t-t-that would be marvelous,' he managed to say.
And then Ada did as she promised. She gathered up her friends, and together they took the same pose as Elkia: hind legs steady, forelegs outstretched. It helped! With the strain lessened, Elkia was able to scramble up to his own hooves again. The swirling snow steadied itself and grew solid. The walls and the roof held.
Elkia looked around. All eyes were on himself and the children, who together were fighting the storm outside.
'That's... that's quite something there, lad,' one of villagers said. It was the stallholder who had directed Elkia to the pub. Hearing that voice, Elkia got a second idea. 'Maybe you can do it too,' he said through gritted teeth. Then he addressed the rest. 'Maybe you can all do it. Can you try, please? We can work together. Ada will show you how, it's simple!'
He nodded to Ada, who jumped into the crow of elks, and started to instruct them. The villagers picked it up pretty quickly. One by one, they stood erect, using the strength of their minds and bodies to uphold the snow hut.
But then they had a practical problem. As more and more elks, deer, and reindeer entered the snow hut, it became really crowded. Some of them had abandoned their homes and had rushed towards the snowy safety of the hut. Now, there simply wasn't enough room left for everyone anymore. Of course, that didn't mean that Elkia was going to forsake those that couldn't come in.
After a few panting breaths, Elkia said, 'Everyone! We're going to make the hut larger. On three, we'll reach out with our minds and push the snow away from us. At the same time, we'll gather more snow to reinforce the walls and the roof. Everyone ready?'
'Yes!' they all shouted.
'On three! One... two... three!'
The villagers tried their best. Like a bubble, the snow hut extended. But it lost strength. Pieces of debris, wood, stones, broke through the thinning surface of the snow. One piece flew towards Elkia, knocking him over. The snow hut flickered without its cornerstone. Dizzy from the impact, Elkia couldn't find the strength to raise himself. The others had to do something now. He called, 'Grab some new snow, everyone! The walls are too thin!'
Another beam flew through the roof of the snow hut, and the villagers got what he meant. Together, they gritted their teeth, looked with their minds for more snow to add to the pile, and did their best to reinforce the hut.
And it worked!
Elkia saw how the walls and the roof grew more solid. He felt them becoming thicker by the second. They were doing it. They were actually doing it, and he didn't even need to help.
But that didn't mean that the work was done. Elkia scrambled up and jumped towards the entrance of the hut.
'Are you going to leave us?' Ada said.
'Yes, but I'll be back soon. Keep holding up the snow hut. You're all doing great!' Elkia managed a quick but tired smile and then disappeared outside.
It was chaos! The winds howled and tore at the wooden buildings. Elkia saw that a few more had sagged in and collapsed. He was not going to let anyone get hurt like that.
'Hello? Anyone here?' Elkia shouted through the doorway of one of the houses.
'Yes, here!' someone shouted back. A mother, father, and a calf had taken refuge underneath a large table. Their faces showed nothing but fear.
'It's not safe here!' Elkia shouted. 'There's a giant snow hut at the marketplace. Make for it as fast as you can!'
They didn't need to be told twice. The father took the calf on his back, helped the mother on her hooves, and together they bolted out the door. Elkia let out a sigh, which seemed puny in comparison with the heavy winds.
Jumping, galloping, dodging debris, rushing through the streets, Elkia went from house to house, calling and shouting against the winds. Most of them were empty, but there were a few houses--some dangerously close to falling down--where some elks were holed up. Elkia quickly got them out and pointed them towards the snow hut. He had no idea how many he saved like that. He went on and on and on, working systematically and in a widening circle.
'There shouldn't be that many more,' he said to himself, although he couldn't hear himself speak. He had almost come to the end of a long street. Just one last house remaining. He entered, and found it empty. When Elkia got outside again and looked to his left, he saw the snow-covered fields, marking the edge of the village. He had done it! He had finished checking on every single house in the village. Everyone was safe!
With one last sigh, Elkia slumped down on the ground. He looked up towards the sky, and saw something that lightened up his heart. The floating black sea of clouds came to an end. Some miles away in the distance, the sun broke through, and the storm clouds were all gone, almost as if some artist had drawn a perfectly straight line, separating storm from calm weather. It was a strange sight.
Elkia knew everything would be over soon. He closed his eyes, and took a few deep breaths.
'Mission accomplished.'
A few more minutes passed, during which Elkia did nothing but lie down and look at the sky, which looked better and better with every passing second, as if the sky were healing itself. Elkia bore a smile on his muzzle as he thought of all the elks, deer, and reindeer he had pointed to safety. And when his train of thought finally brought himself to them, he blinked and was about to scramble to his hooves, to go back to the market square and check on everyone, when a new voice resounded.
'Very well done. I truly am proud of you.'
Had Elkia forgotten someone? Had he skipped a house? No, of course not. To the voice of his mother, Elkia opened his eyes wide. She stood right before him, sitting on her graceful white knees to watch him better. 'Of course! This is all not real,' he said. 'I completely forgot about the fact that this is not real at all. I was so busy--'
'Saving every single one,' Aeltha finished for him. 'Yes, I have seen that, Elkia, and whether this is real or not, you have accomplished a great thing today.'
Elkia blushed. He tried to get up, but he found his knees still too shaky, as the adrenaline left his nerves alone. Just the voice of his mother close to his ears was enough to calm him down. 'Thank you very much, mother. I can't say it was easy--far from it. I had to really... how does Alces always say it? Put my antlers into it. Yes, that's it.' Elkia wiggled his antlerless head. 'Well, I mean not literally.'
Laughing, Aeltha said, 'I understand, my son. No, this was not at all a trial of strength, although it may have looked like that. It was a trial of the mind, of creativity, resourcefulness, and inventiveness.'
Elkia nodded. The words of his mother were filled with so much comfort, that he actually felt himself relaxing. But then his face grew worried, as he thought about something. 'But... but you promised that the vision wasn't going to be scary. I found this quite scary, actually.'
Aeltha placed a hoof on her son's shoulder. They stood up together, carefully. 'It wasn't supposed to be, my dear Elkia. Please forgive me. When the apple fell, I should have called the ritual to a halt, but instead, I chose to continue, and you saw what happened. No, my dear Elkia, your naming ceremony wasn't supposed to be such an adrenaline-filled and dangerous adventure. It was meant to be something... calmer, much calmer. Can you forgive me for my mistake?'
'Of course, Mother,' Elkia said. He hugged her close. 'It was scary, but I did it. I saved everyone.'
They stood like that for a moment. Aeltha brushed her son's fur, while Elkia embraced her. He even shed a small tear or two. When he finally let go, he turned around. The village--or what was left of it--was still there. When Elkia looked over his shoulder and towards the horizon, he saw the fair weather approaching. But something strange was going on. It didn't look like the real thing anymore--it looked like a painting. Indeed, when he once again looked forward at the edge of the weather-torn village, he could see the colors as if they were pen strokes, as if this whole world was created by an unknown artist.
'It is not a pretty painting, is it?' Aeltha said.
Elkia's shoulders slumped. 'It's not, not at all. I just wish there was a way of saving the village too.'
'There was,' Aeltha said.
'There was?!'
Slowly, Aeltha nodded. 'As you commanded the essence, you--just like your brother--were able to steer the elements. You used snow and water and ice to make your weatherproof hut. Yet you could also have used air to blow the clouds away, or to calm down the violent winds. You could perhaps have used fire to steer away the lightning bolts. Or perhaps you could have used the power of the sun to break through the clouds and command the fair weather to hasten itself.'
'Oh my!' Elkia said. He was just about to slump back down, but his mother kept him upright.
'Indeed it is true that you could have saved the village, but, just like your brother, I understand your actions--and not only because I have foreseen them, but also because I am your mother, and I know of your natures. You chose to save the villagers, at the cost of the village. You chose the right thing in your own way, as did your brother. It is by your own actions that I can give you the name, Deerling.'
Elkia's mouth opened wide. 'Wow! Deerling! It sounds so nice. But... what does it mean?'
Aeltha once again looked straight into her son's eyes. 'It means: "part of the herd," because, as you know, "ling" means "herd" in Elkish. Even if we are miles apart, even if we are in the same world or not, even if you travel to strange and dangerous places, you will always be a part of the herd, Elkia. You belong with us, and we will think of you, just as you think of us. Keep your faith, not just in nature, but also in others. That is the advice I will give you and which will do you good, for I have foreseen it.'
FLASH!
Elkia let out a yell. A sudden blue light, like the aurora, popped up all around him. The light was so intense he had to close his eyes. He only felt more disoriented when whatever happened tilted him off the ground with such force as if someone grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. Elkia felt his breath quicken and his limbs tense with stress. He thrashed his long legs about, trying to find some solid ground. So he hung in the air for three seconds which felt like three hours. Then, as quickly as the invisible hand had appeared, it disappeared, and Elkia flopped to the ground.
He lay still for a couple of minutes, recovering from the shock. When finally he looked up, he saw his mother's outstretched hoof. 'It seems this day is double as special to both of my sons,' she said as she took Elkia's hoof and helped him back on his hooves again.
'What was that?' said Elkia. 'Was it some part of the naming ceremony?
Aeltha shook her head with a smile on her face. 'Not exactly. It is--'
'Was it a new challenge I had to conquer?'
Aeltha's smile only widened. 'No, my little Elkia, just look--'
'Or a new fear I had to face?'
Now Aeltha's perfect white teeth could be seen through her smile. 'Well, it might have been a bit scary, but actually--'
'Did I pass this new test?'
After a deep breath, Aeltha moved closer to her son. 'Well, it wasn't exactly--'
'Or did I fail?' Elkia's ears drooped down. 'Oh, I knew I should have kept my eyes open to see what was happening.'
Aeltha wrapped her hoof around her son and turned him towards the village. Guiding him, she walked towards one of the little wooden houses. Once they were both facing the outer wall, she concentrated, and then flicked her antlered head to the side. In an instant, a pile of snow became water, then splashed against the wall. The moment the water touched the wood, it froze over and crystallized, until nothing less than a full length mirror faced them. Then Elkia finally saw it.
'My cutie mark!' he exclaimed. Then he said it again. 'My cutie mark! Yay!' He started bouncing up and down in the snow, and twirled around as if he wanted to show his flank to the world. 'I have my cutie mark! I can't believe it.'
'Yet it is so,' said Aeltha. She stroked her son's fur and regarded the symbol on his flank. A small tear of joy glistened like the magical mirror, fell down to the ground and shattered. A few more followed. 'I truly am proud of you, Elkia, just as proud as with Alces.'
'Oh, I can't wait to show it to him,' said Elkia. He was ready to jump around some more and do some silly dances, when his mother once more put her hoof on his shoulder, pausing his joyful outbursts.
'Look into the mirror, Elkia.'
Elkia did so, and watched the symbol that was now permanently part of him.
'Do you know what it means?' said Aeltha.
'I do,' said Elkia. During the few seconds he had experienced the cutie mark magic, a fresh wind of insight had made him understand everything about it. He pointed to his flank, and traced the lines of the symbol, blue like a cloudless, crisp winter day, with his hooves. 'E... D... They are my initials, "Elkia Deerling."'
'And together they form the symbol of the elk.' Aeltha traced the three diamonds on the cutie mark. Two diamonds made up the elk's two ears, and a third, the biggest one, was the head. The letters E and D, flowing like a calligrapher's signature, crowned the stylized and abstract symbol, forming the antlers of the elk.
'It's so beautiful,' Elkia said. 'I could never have wished for a better cutie mark.'
'It is as I thought,' said Aeltha. 'You truly are Deerling, member of the herd. Just as the cutie mark will forever be bound to you, so the herd will forever be a part of you too, Elkia. Remember what I said before. We will never be apart. Even if we're not physically together, we will always be joined in spirit. You will never be lonely, Elkia. Remember that well and draw strength from that in troubled times.'
Elkia looked his mother straight in the eyes. He felt like he was making a sacred vow. 'I will, Mother.'
And then, right after those words left Elkia's mouth, Aeltha started to disappear. Her white colors drooped as if an artist tried to erase her from the canvas.
The moment of bliss transformed into a moment of sudden panic. 'Mother! What's happening?' Elkia said.
'Don't be afraid, son. My last advice is this: always remember to be strong, and sometimes be stronger than you think.' Aeltha was almost gone. Only the tips of her antlers remained. When at last those were erased too, Elkia knew for certain that his naming ceremony was over. * * |
Brothers 'N Antlers | Chapter three: a duel of words | 'I can't believe that happened to you, Alces.' I stood up and looked wide-eyed at my brother. 'I mean, the fire, the fight, the giant-fiery-elk-things. It was a titan's fight! Why did you never tell me about your ceremony?'
'Because it was confusing, that's why,' Alces grumbled. He turned his head away from me and towards the teapot. 'More tea?'
'More tea,' I said. 'Writing a story is hard work, isn't it?'
As I was busy heating the water, Alces, surprisingly enough, continued speaking. 'I think your ceremony was also quite something. To be honest, I would never have thought that you can be so brave.'
'Wow, thanks,' I said, and I don't need to write here that I was highly ironic.
'No I mean it, Elkia. Well done. Your display was not only very heroic, I think it is worthy of a warrior.'
The water cooked. I took the kettle and my tea box and put them down on the table. 'It's just a shame Mother didn't name me "Ironhide," "Antlercrusher," or "Hero of the Wilds," right?'
Alces took a sip. When he put his cup down, I saw he was smiling. But on second thought, that might also have been because of the tea. 'Yes... mother...' he said.
I took my cup too. 'Mother is prancing on the Eternal Plain, Alces. She is in a better world now, a world where there is harmony between predator and prey.'
But Alces didn't seem to listen. 'The naming ceremony... after everything that happened, it is the ultimate proof that Mother could really look into the future and see what would become of us.'
'I suppose you're right.'
'Suppose? I am right. The power of the essence is strong, and Aeltha was the strongest. I mean, look at us. Here I am, Alces Roameling, the elk who roams, searching for his lost herd. Heh, I'd say you can write a nice story about that.'
I couldn't help but chuckle. 'you might be surprised what strange ideas can be turned into stories...' I blushed as one particular story (you know which one I mean, my faithful followers), bubbled up into my mind.
'It's just strange she named you "Deerling."'
'I beg your pardon?'
Alces looked me in the eyes. 'I am the one who roams around looking for the herd, our herd, our family. And here you are, sitting here, writing stories and socializing with ponies...'
'Hey, there's nothing wrong with ponies,' I said, 'they are very pleasant folk.'
'Whatever,' Alces said. 'But why do you not wish to travel with me to the Bugbear Territory and see if we can find our herd together? I ask you every single year, and every single year your answer is no.'
'Every year my answer is no, and every year my substantiation is the same.' I cleared my throat. 'We're old, Alces. The friends we once had have probably already perished and are trotting on the Eternal Plain. You know how tough life in the Bugbear Territory can be. There will be no one who even remembers who we are.'
'Besides Moussa,' Alces said, smiling as he spoke. He thought he had made a good point. 'And besides that, don't you think Moussa, with his power of dark essence, could have made every single elk, deer, and reindeer immortal?'
I frowned, not sure what to think of that. 'Perhaps... perhaps not... But then again, do you truly want to see Moussa again, Alces? He wasn't the most pleasant leader to be around, in my opinion.'
Alces flinched as if he were in pain. 'But still...'
'No, Alces, my answer is still no. Our mother is gone, our father is gone, there is no one whom I expect to meet in the herd--if it still exists. I will hope together with you that the herd still exists, but I'm not going to chase ghosts with you. Finding the herd will not bring back the good times. You said it yourself, the herd doesn't want to be found.'
'But I am the one who wants to find them,' Alces said. 'Just imagine, brother, we can cover so much more ground if we work together, and--'
'I'm really sorry, Alces, but I am staying right here, where I can write my stories, help others, and live a useful and worthwhile life.'
'Writing?' Alces said.
'Writing,' I said.
Alces sighed. 'Very well.'
There was a pause. Each of us took that pause to drink up the remaining tea, which had gone cold. I am very certain that both of us, at that moment, thought of home. Alces no doubt thought about the reunion he was searching for, for so many years, and I was thinking about the days gone by, about the ceremonies, the friends I had, and Aeltha. Aeltha was always there for me. I knew that. She had said it herself.
'I will see them again on the Eternal Plain,' I said to Alces, 'and so will you.'
'Not good enough for me,' Alces said.
'I know.'
Once again none of us spoke. I took the opportunity to make some more tea, when I realized that that might not even be necessary, for I knew how my brother was. 'Oh, Alces, I presume you will leave again as soon as you can?'
'Not this time, brother.'
I jolted, and bumped my head against the mantelpiece. I turned around and looked at him. 'What did you say?'
'I said I'm staying for a while, if you don't mind.'
Returning with more tea, I said, 'Of course not. I always like visitors, even when they are my brother.'
'Haha, very funny.' Alces gave me a stomp which was probably meant to be teasing. It was more painful, to be honest. 'I am serious. I will stay. I mean, we still have a masterpiece to write, and if you're going to write about you and I, I want to be with you when you do that.'
A smile played on my lips. 'So you want to help me create the story?'
'Sure.'
I clopped my hooves together. 'That's wonderful! Come, we'll continue right away.' And with that, I sat down behind my typewriter. Alces joined me. He grabbed a piece of paper from the pile which was going to be our story. Narrowing his eyes, he got a good look at it, letting his eyes bounce over the horseshoes and the stars. He blinked a few times, and then shook his head. 'How did you even write all of this?' he asked. 'Is it some kind of other language?'
I smiled, took the paper, and held it out before us. 'It is no Elkish, of course, because ponies can't read that.'
Then Alces looked at my typewriter, and even went as far as sniffing at it. I grinned as he regarded the machine, which might as well have come from outer space. 'How can you write a whole story if you only have three buttons?' he said.
Indeed, there were three buttons on my typewriter. One on which was printed a horseshoe, the other a star, and the third one was a space bar. I began to explain. 'Our hooves aren't that accurate, as you know. But even the clumsiest hooves are able to press down the three large buttons. To answer your question, I'm writing in horse code.'
'Horse code?'
'Yes, horse code. Every combination of horseshoes and stars represents a different letter, and I use the space bar to separate those combinations.'
Alces nodded. 'Ah, I see.' He bent over and started randomly pressing some buttons. 'So if I want to put something on paper I just--'
'No! Stop!' I grabbed his hooves and flung them off the typewriter.
Snorting, Alces said, 'What? What's wrong?'
I facehoofed and let out a sigh. 'Once you write something in ink, it is impossible to remove. Every typo is permanent. And that was the last page of our story! Now I have to redo it.'
'Sorry,' Alces said with a frown.
I began to rewrite the last page. My brother watched in fascination as I pressed the buttons and wrote the last part in horse code faster than the eye could follow. I got the typewriter from a pony named Doctor Whooves, who had invented it for me to be able to write much faster than with my mouth. I had given him some instructions to model the typewriter after the one I used in Scribblers' City. The metallic sound of clicking buttons and the occasional PING! When I reached the end of the line filled up my little cottage. It is a good thing I can write while I listen, because Alces wanted to take the word again. 'So, what happens next?'
I talked back while I typed. 'Well, let's see what we have. We have a prologue, which is usually a bit relaxed and informative, but shouldn't be boring. Then we have the two different naming ceremonies, which are quite suspenseful and full of action. So now we need something laid-back again, like a dialogue. It will be a tiny break in the story, and it might also be used to reveal some backstory of the characters.'
'You and I.'
'Exactly.'
'So, how do we do that?' Alces asked.
'Well, we could perhaps write a dialogue like this one we've just had. And if we still want to spice things up, we can have an argument or a difference of opinion or two.'
'I like it,' Alces said. 'But when are we going to write about the Scribblers and the attack?'
I stopped typing. The cabin returned to silence, an uneasy, sudden silence. I turned around and looked at my brother. 'Alces, I have told you before that I will not write about such terrible things. They are personal, and the reader will probably have no interests in such dark happenings.'
Alces furrowed his brows. 'But you can't deny those things, Elkia. Those things shaped us. It is the truth and it must be told.'
Now I furrowed my brows too. 'But the truth isn't always nice.'
'So you want to lie?' Alces said. I could see fire in his eyes.
'Not necessarily.'
'Leave it out then?'
'Probably.'
'Then this is all pointless, and I might as well go,' Alces said, flinging his hooves in the air.
'What? No! Why?'
He actually stood up and turned around, knocking over a pile of books. He was searching for his knapsack. 'I thought the point of writing a memoir is to remember things, also bad things.'
'But I hate the bad things,' I said. My voice had gained a strange volume, something I wasn't used to.
'Yes, but you can't run away from everything and hide in your cozy little cabin in the woods!' Alces yelled. The whole cabin shook with the sound of his voice. 'This stuff all happened, and whether the reader wants it or not, it must be told. Everyone has a legacy, and so do we. And if the reader didn't expect the bad things that he reads about, then it is either part of your "suspense," a "plot twist," or the reader has to find another book. YOU WILL WRITE THIS!'
I didn't want him to go, but I also didn't want to argue any longer. It's always nice to have some company, and it's always fun to be creating things together. Not only that, but Alces was also a source of inspiration. He knew things I didn't know, and together we were the third-person omniscient perspective. If he would go, I had to completely change the perspective of the story, because I wouldn't have all the knowledge he had stored in his head. In a sense, this memoir was as much a product of my memories as a product of his.
'No, wait,' I said.
Alces stopped collecting his stuff. With eyes full of fury, he looked at me. 'What?'
I swallowed something away. Did the tea leave a strange aftertaste? My shoulders slumped down and I sighed loudly. 'Alright, Alces. I will perhaps give teeny, tiny clues about what happened.'
'No, you will write it loudly and clearly.'
'You can't write loudly--'
'I don't care.'
I sighed again. 'Alright, I will mention it in a footnote at the bottom of the--'
Alces stabbed a hoof at me. 'You will either write it all down, or you will teach me horse code and typing and I will write it down myself.'
I wasn't sure he was being funny or earnest. I managed a nervous smile. 'Alces, that will take years.'
'Then there is only one option remaining, isn't there, Deerling?'
I had no choice, and I realized that. I was this close to abandoning the whole memoir idea and go write something different, something more cheerful and maybe even something a bit weird. But I didn't, because I had a strange feeling. It was the feeling as if a part inside of me clicked together with another one. Maybe those stern and loud words were needed to help me see. Maybe my brother was right. Maybe I should write about the nasty things too, so that the reader will get a better picture of how we are. Just our youthful years weren't enough. The job of a writer is to tell the truth, and a writer should never lie to his reader. Yet, is keeping information hidden also considered lying? Well, if you put it that way...
'Alright.'
Alces turned his ears in my direction. After his shouts, my voice was like a zephyr breeze. 'What did you say?'
I stepped towards Alces. He crouched as if I were going to attack him. Instead, I flung a foreleg over his shoulder, and smiled. 'I said that it's alright, my dear brother. We will write about everything that happened, together.'
I felt his tensed shoulders relax. I could tell he hadn't expected me to change my mind. 'So you're going to write the whole story down, for everyone to read, yes?'
My third sigh was the loudest. 'Yes, I will. As I told you, every letter I type is permanently captured on the page. Whoever gets hold of the manuscript will know exactly who we are and what happened to us.'
With a twirl probably part of a dueling maneuver, Alces flung away my hoof. He grinned. Alces always loved to win, and now he had won this battle of words--from a writer! Now that's saying something. 'Very well, brother. We will create this story together.'
I smiled and gestured to my writing table. 'Shall we?'
Throwing away his pack (once again on top of a pile of literary classics), Alces joined me behind the typewriter. I searched for his eyes. 'I will write about our dire adventures on one condition.'
'And that is?'
I was already busy typing. 'First some more happy stuff!' |
Brothers 'N Antlers | Chapter four: the unfortunate and dramatic events my brother asked me to write down | In the prologue I told you about the Shimmering Eye, and I have hopefully shown you what great magical power it possesses with the two naming ceremonies. Indeed, the Shimmering Eye is extremely powerful. Alces and I have often asked Mother about it, and she was always keen on explaining everything about the magical lake. Now, I am no seer, but I am also not stupid.
According to Mother, every part of Equestria has its own focal point of essence. Some of you unicorns might think it is the same as magic, but it is not. If magic is a wooden cabin, then essence is the wood. essence is, in essence, the primal energy present in every living thing. In order to harness its powers, one must know about the elements: water, snow, ice, wood, metal, earth, wind, and fire. essence is categorized like that, and only the seer has the full corporal and psychological strength to steer the essence and utilize it in spells, rituals, and incantations.
This paragraph will be great news to you, my dear unicorns. You are born a seer, but that doesn't mean that the power of the essence is beyond your reach. Some elks, deer, and reindeer are sensitive to essence, and the seer will often take them under her antlers--Elkish for "under her wing"--and teach them how to control their powers. The gatherings at the Shimmering Eye are always the highlights of their seasons, for they are given more lessons from the seer, our mother, and grow more powerful every time.
Now that you know about essence, the Shimmering Eye, the seer and her pupils, you understand that the Shimmering Eye is of great value to us. Indeed, every elk, deer, and reindeer is born with a task, and that task is to keep the Shimmering Eye out of enemy hooves. Who are our enemies? Let's put it this way; our enemies are all the creatures that want to have us for breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner. In other words: predators. As the name suggests, the Bugbear Territory is full of Bugbears, who are territorial brutes of monsters which are very difficult to defeat. Sometimes groups of elks have occasional fights with them, which are always gruesome and terrible. Those that have fought those horrible monsters are always welcomed home as heroes. Those that have perished in such battles are remembered as heroes.
Of course there are also normal bears, Ursa Minors and Majors, bobcats, giant foxes, giant wolverines, and jackals, but those are all mere simpletons. No, the most dangerous enemies are those that are composed of magic themselves, those that know of essence, those that have a primordial sense to hunt and destroy, those that are dangerously sharp-witted and intelligent. They might be able to not only take the Shimmering Eye away from us, but use its hidden powers to do harm, instead of good. I am not going to name those monsters, because I don't believe those sub-creatures even deserve a name. For now just know that these creatures have thrown everything and everyone into complete discord--and they themselves won't care a bit.
But, as I said in the previous chapter, I much more like to write about the happy things that happened. That's why I will write about the gatherings. Four times a year, once every winter, spring, summer, and autumn, a great assembly was held, with all the elks, deer, and reindeer forming our community. Some had to travel long, some had to travel short, but always they came, for an assembly was the most important social gathering. For every generation the assemblies meant a different thing. For the youngest of the calves, it meant playtime with friends. For the older ones, it meant meeting old friends and learning all kinds of useful skills. For the adult animals, however, an assembly had a more serious purpose. Moussa, our leader, would visit every single one of them, and gather up stories, inquiries, questions and answers about the different areas they guarded. The deer usually pranced around the southern borders, where it was warmer, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. The center of the Bugbear Territory was patrolled by the reindeer. They had the most ground to cover, but they always lived in the largest packs, so they always got the job done. We elks, most suited to the barren winter conditions with our long legs and thick fur, were to guard the northernmost parts of the Bugbear Territory. Although we traveled in small groups--usually a mother and her one or two calves--we had just enough time every year to cover all ground.
Back to the assemblies. Moussa gathered all words of importance, remembered them, and then told them to the public on the speaking stone. Nothing magical about that, dear reader, for it was just an elevated platform. While the calves listened in puzzlement, perhaps not even knowing what important role they would play in their adult years, the adult elks, deer, and reindeer listened carefully, trying to memorize those things that might help them on their travels.
I have so many beautiful positive memories about the assemblies, and Alces too. For us, the assemblies were always a joy to go to. We met old friends, exchanged stories, experiences, and jokes. My favorite thing was to grab a stick or use my antlers to write things in the snow. My, oh my, I have written so incredibly many things during those times. Mostly stories, of course, but sometimes also poetry. Little did I know that those language skills would save my life later on.
But the adults had a lot of spare time too. The oldest of them all usually offered their knowledge to us, and we could visit their huts to learn things. Those things were usually about the history and culture of us elks. My brother and I always tried to listen to as many of those teachings as we could, and especially Alces always seemed so absorbed in the ancient tales. He laughed with the victories, and cried over the losses, always completely engaged with the tales, as if he were playing a part in them.
Some of the adults even organized activities for us. Alces always went for the sports activities, trying to beat the other bucks and hinds in swimming, running, tree-stripping, snowball fights, snow-rolling, ice skating, tree-felling, dueling, log-swim-racing, and bellowing. He not only liked to prove himself, he also liked to impress the ladies, although he would never admit that. But, until he learns how to read horse code, I am safe to tell you that little secret.
So what did I like to do? For me, the creative activities were always the most challenging and relaxing events of them all. I always loved theater. Together with a group of elks, deer, and reindeer, we would make up scenes, memorize a script, and rehearse our play to perfection. Then, when we showed our work to the other calves and the adults and received the applause... Yes, I remember the applause more vividly than many other things. It is impossible for me to describe exactly how applause felt to me. It was pure bliss.
As you can read, dear reader, the assemblies were never so serious to us. Time and time again, we had a lot of fun playing, while the adults, Moussa, and Aeltha, worried themselves with keeping the Shimmering Eye safe. Although we sometimes asked, we got only a glimpse of the threats against the Eye, and sometimes the adults didn't tell us anything at all, so our imaginations could run wild with theories. We never expected that there was trouble brewing.
Which brings me to our mother, Aeltha. Aeltha had other, equally important duties. Of course she not only trained those gifted with the power of essence, she also did important divinations. As the seer, she was gifted with foresight, and could use the power of the essences to look into the future and see what was to come. That too, was something Moussa listened to and memorized intently, and often used in his speech. Mother never revealed to us what she had seen, for she thought it was sometimes better for elks when the future remained a mystery. No matter how much Alces and I asked, we never got so much as a tiny glimpse of the things that were going to happen. Aeltha always made sure to keep the future hidden from us.
Yet, there was one day, during our last winter assembly, where she seemed to have changed her mind. After she had done her divinations together with Moussa and returned home, I noticed how she walked stiffly, and how she was unusually silent. I know for certain that she had seen what was going to happen, in every gruesome detail. How she managed to keep it hidden for us is a feat neither of us will ever be able to perform. When she spoke with us that evening, however, I'm sure she wanted to give us a warning--and say goodbye--while telling the oldest story known to us elks, deer, and reindeer: the creation myth. * *
Elkia let out an enormous yawn, stretching his back and his legs after his mouth shut. 'Wow, I'm tired. I think it would be best if I went off to bed.'
Aeltha stopped putting away the empty ice bowls and leftovers from dinner. She turned around, and Elkia saw how quickly she did that. 'No, not yet, my dear Elkia,' she said. Her tone was strict and abrupt. It wasn't a suggestion--it most closely resembled an order.
Looking into his mother's eyes, Elkia said, 'Why not?'
'Because I have something important--something fun to tell you both. Something fun and important.'
'Oh! Are you going to tell a story?' Alces said. He quickly jumped towards one of the couches, sculpted out of the snow, and sat down. There he did nothing but rub his hooves together, already looking forward to the astounding tale that would soon follow.
Elkia, however, noticed the hesitation in his mother's voice. Aeltha the seer never hesitated to say what she wanted to say. 'Mother,' Elkia said, looking up to her, 'is something wrong?'
'No, nothing is wrong, my dear Elkia,' she answered, stroking Elkia's head. 'It is just... you should really listen to this story, because I think you will need it during the time to come.'
Another hesitation. Despite his mother's healing energy that flowed through her hooves into his body, Elkia couldn't relax yet. Nevertheless, he sat down in another snow chair, while his mother took the couch opposite of them.
'Is it the story of Rudolph the Great?' Alces guessed, 'the reindeer who pulls the sled of--'
'Not this time, Alces,' Aeltha said. She waved her hooves in the air slowly, gracefully, as if she needed to capture the story out of the air around her. 'Tonight, I will tell you the story of how and why everything is as it is. It will be the story about why lightning strikes, why clouds drift, why we live and why we...' She swallowed '...die.'
'Yay! The creation!' Alces yelled, 'that's my favorite!'
Elkia smiled as well. 'It is a great tale.'
'Of all the stories, legends, and myths, this is the one that is most important,' Aeltha said. 'This is the one worth remembering, and one which must never be forgotten, no matter what happens.' She looked at her two sons in turn. Elkia felt something as he looked into her eyes. He felt something strange, but he couldn't put his hoof on it. Alces thought the look meant for him to be quiet, so he shut his mouth, although the grin didn't disappear from his face. 'Tell us, Mother. Don't wait.'
And so the seer cleared her throat gently, and began.
'Good and evil are the oldest forces in the universe. They are, they have always been, and they will always be. You can see it for yourselves, my sons, although I do believe you are too young to have seen true evil. Yet, always keep in mind that wherever the sun shines, shadows are cast. Only your reflection in water will be a pure reflection of your soul. How do you look in the water? Is it what you expected?' She looked at both her sons once more, but a bit longer at Alces than at Elkia. 'Remember, when you change, so does your reflection.'
'Not necessary,' Alces said. 'I know who I am.'
A cloud of vapor exited her mouth as Aeltha sighed. The sound was almost musical to the ear. 'You might find out that the knowledge about yourself contains gaps, which might only be able to fill itself with dark and unwanted things.'
'Go on, Mother, I want to hear more.'
Once again Aeltha sighed, and resumed her story.
'As I told you, good and evil are two forces always at work. The power of good takes the form of the Light Elk, while the power of darkness'--she paused--'the Dark Elk. Both of the one-eyed elks fight together in the great nothingness, but they are not alone. There is a third elk, whom we know very well, for our world balances on his great antlers. He is known as the Grey Elk. The Grey Elk is always right in the middle of the fight, and desperately tries to keep his two other brothers from fighting, however difficult this titan's task is. Incredible as this may be, all elks, deer, and reindeer know that the legend is true. And how do we know that?'
'The elements!' Elkia and Alces said at the same time.
Aeltha nodded. 'Very good. We can see it because of the wind, which is nothing more than the panting of the two great beasts, as they push themselves to the limit to defeat one another. We can hear it in the thunder, because of which the world shakes as the two elks smash their antlers together. They fight with such force, that they sometimes cry. The Light Elk cries because he wants only peace with his brother, and those tears fall on the world as rain. But the tears of the Dark Elk, who cries because he wants to win so badly, are cold and shroud the land in the coldness. Those tears are the snowflakes we see in winter.
'But there is another way to witness the two great elks. While we can never see the face of the Grey Elk, it is perfectly possible for us to witness the Light and Dark Elks in the sky. The sun is the never blinking eye of the Light Elk, whose light and warmth are pleasant to us. The eye of the Dark Elk is of course the moon, which doesn't give warmth, but can help us see in the dark. It is the only good power the Dark Elk possesses.'
'But there's more light in the night sky, isn't there?' Alces said. 'What about the stars?'
'The stars are the slivers which have broken off the antlers of the two, cast into the great nothingness to twinkle and shimmer forever. The slivers from the Light Elk have a fixed place in the sky, and we can use those helpful stars to navigate through the wilds. Yet there are also stars which serve no function. Those are the slivers of the Dark Elk's antlers.
'But there is more light. What about the lightning? Those flashing bolts of light too, are products of the elks' eternal fight. As their antlers crash together, sometimes sparks fall upon our world. Lightning.
'But there are still questions remaining, questions to which I have an answer. Why is it sometimes day and sometimes night? Why are there different seasons, some pleasant, others a strive? Listen closely, my children, for I will tell you.
'The Grey Elk forever tries to make peace between the Light Elk and the Dark Elk. The Grey Elk faces the Light Elk by day, talking to him, trying to find a solution for his fight with the Dark Elk. We can pray and send our hopes and dreams towards the sun, the eye of the Light Elk, so that we may help him and he may help us. At night, the Grey Elk talks with the Dark Elk, saying all kinds of nice things to calm his temper. We can help him by thinking positively, even in the dark of the darkest and longest night, and keep calm and rest.'
'Now the seasons, Mother! The seasons!' Alces said.
'The seasons... Ah, there is a great deal to tell about those. As you both know, a fight here in this world is never eternal. Sometimes it all becomes too much, and we need to rest before we can fight another day. So it is with the Grey Elk. Sometimes, it all becomes too much for him, and he has to rest and allow himself a brief pause from all the peacemaking. That is when the Dark Elk strikes. Seeing how the resistance has waned, he takes the opportunity, advances, and kills the Light Elk. We can feel how the weather changes, how plants die, how the wind gets cold and unpleasant, how the water and the earth becomes frozen and hard. Autumn goes over in winter, the coldest and harshest of the seasons. During winter the Dark Elk stands on top of the Light Elk's corpse, and laughs.
'But you both know that that is not the end. Gods cannot die, so the Light Elk is reborn. He stands up, pushes the Dark Elk off of him, and bashes him dead with his very own antlers. With the death of the Dark Elk, the season changes. The sun becomes warm, the winds refreshing. The snow and the ice melts, and the flowers bloom again. The work of the Dark Elk is made undone, and beautiful flowers remind us of the victory of the Light Elk, temporarily though, as it is. As I said, gods can't die. Eventually the Dark Elk rises again, and the fight continues in autumn.
'So now you know about the world as it is, but I know there is one question remaining. What about us? What about all the sentient creatures, elks, deer, reindeer, ponies, and many more creatures? Where did we come from, and where are we going? Alas, our future is not for us to foresee, but our past lies behind us very clearly.
'All sentient creatures come forth from life. It was the Light Elk who first toyed around with it. He created life, sentient creatures, elks, deer, reindeer, ponies, and put them on his antlers to live a happy life with everlasting summers. But very soon, the Dark Elk became jealous, and wanted to create life too. Trying though as he did, he didn't manage to create the complicated and beautiful thing called life. He just couldn't create his own creatures out of flesh and blood. Instead, he only created the basic raw materials: essence. You can compare it with building. A baby can break the sticks, yet only an adult has the knowledge and expertise to build a house.
'When the two elks once again tried to destroy each other, and butted heads with the Grey Elk trying to keep them apart, both essences from both elks, light and dark, landed on the antlers of the Grey Elk, mixing them together. The Grey Elk looked at both essences, which swirled and flashed around each other in wild torrents and whirlwinds. He saw the wild energy, and added his own, Grey essence to it, in an attempt to calm everything down. The mixture of the three essences, light, dark, and grey, created what we know as nature. And as everyone knows, we sentient creatures are nothing more than products of nature. No matter who we are or what we do, we will forever be a part of nature. Every single one of us has the three essences inside him or herself. Some have more light essence, others more dark, and all of us have grey essence.'
Aeltha paused her story. She bent forwards, and looked both her children deep into their eyes. Maybe she was looking at something neither Alces nor Elkia could see for themselves. Or maybe she just wanted one last look at her children.
'So now we have returned to the here and now, to us, the elks, deer, and reindeer. We are special, for we know the secret, the origin of everything, as I have told you. It is our important task of resembling the Light Elk as closely as we can. We have to take care of ourselves, and of others. We have to protect, serve, be selfless, and, above all, stay away from dark essence, for it is here.' Aeltha paused. Her graceful white shoulders slumped down for a moment. 'It is here, however we might want do deny it, or lock it away in the deepest vaults of our minds, there is dark essence around us. There are creatures which have more dark than light essence inside of themselves. Those are creatures who cannot live without killing. They cannot live for themselves without destroying other creatures. They are called: predators.'
'They live over the mountains? Don't they?' Alces said. 'Now comes my favorite part! The dangerous part... hahaha!'
Aeltha looked at Alces sternly. 'The Dark Lands are no laughing matter, my son. They are dangerous. They are the lands across the northernmost mountains, where the predators live. We elks, deer, and reindeer will not stand a day in that place. That is why we must never go there, and never speak of it.'
'And when you go far enough into the Dark Lands, you will end up at the edge of the world, and meet the Dark Elk himself,' Alces said.
Aeltha once again threw a stern gaze at her son. 'Hush now, Alces. No more talking about the Dark Lands.'
'But the Dark Lands aren't only bad, you know?' Alces said. 'And the Dark Elk isn't necessarily evil.'
'Really?' Elkia said, turning his head to his brother.
Before Aeltha could intervene, Alces continued. 'Yes, really. Old Cervidus says that the Dark Elk isn't evil. We want to think that, but the truth is that he is just misunderstood. Like you and I, Elkia. We fight sometimes--and I always win--but we always misunderstand each other.'
Snorting, Aeltha said, 'You shouldn't listen too much to old Cervidus, my son. He is bitter and has a cold and rusted heart, and however much he remembers, he forgets many things too. If he were here, I myself would have told him the creation myth, for it would do him good to hear it.'
'Nevertheless...' Alces said, continuing as if his mother hadn't spoken, 'the Dark Elk is misunderstood. Not only that, but he has the power to defeat the Light Elk. He can win easily. You see, the Dark Elk is always searching the Neutral Elk's antlers, looking for soldiers, brave young elks who will fight for him.'
'And those soldiers will have more dark essence in them than light,' Aeltha said, shaking her head slowly.
But Alces was undaunted. 'Indeed. In return for letting dark essence into your heart, and fight for the Dark Elk, he will give you whatever you want, and promise you infinite strength and--'
'Enough!' Aeltha yelled.
'And Cervidus said that I would make a fine warrior for the Dark--'
'Enough!' Aeltha yelled again. 'No more blasphemy. We have hardly the time for that. I need to tell you both one last thing, and unfortunately it is about the Dark Lands. Remember to never cross the mountains and go there, and always remember what foul creatures come from there. Creatures made of dark essence itself. Creatures like Ursa Major and Minor, and of course, our prime enemies, the--'
AROOOOOOO! A terrible howl cut through the air, interrupting Aeltha's singsong voice. Immediately, the howl was followed by a scream--a death scream. Although Aeltha knew exactly what was going to happen, a panicked voice from outside told her all she needed to know.
'TIMBERWOLVES!'
Elkia jumped and shivered. Alces bolted up on his hooves and looked left and right, as if the terrible predators were already in the house. Aeltha stood up slowly. She turned towards the opening of the snow hut, and whispered something as she passed Elkia.
'It has begun.'
'Mother, wh-wh-what should we do?' Elkia said, his voice shaking as hard as his legs. 'Is there something we can do?'
Without turning around, Aeltha said, 'Today we must all face our destinies. That is the only thing we can do.'
'Stop talking like that, Mother. We need battle strategies now,' Alces said.
Now Aeltha turned around. She bent through her knees and spoke loudly and clearly to her children. 'Listen, both of you. I have to go to the Shimmering Eye. We must protect it whatever the cost. But I'm not going to let the protection of the Eye make me cost you two. Timberwolves will soon be swarming the field and searching every hut. If I leave you here, you may both... die.'
Aeltha paused before she said that word. Elkia had never heard her saying that word so frequently. In fact, he couldn't even remember his mother speaking out "death" or "die." It was at that moment that he realized they were prey tonight, and that only the strong survived, and the weak died.
'You will follow me and stay by my side at all times,' Aeltha said. 'The wolves will probably spot my hallowed white fur easily in the night, but I will fight them back. Together, we make for the Shimmering Eye.'
'B-b-but shouldn't we also try to--'
Alces stomped his brother. 'Don't be such a coward, Elkia. Tonight, we fight, and it is courage we need.' Then he continued, softly so his mother couldn't hear it, 'That's what Cervidus would say...'
Another scream cut through the air. Aeltha hesitated, and then stepped outside, followed by her two sons.
Chaos reigned supreme in the otherwise so peaceful valley. There were almost no elks, deer, and reindeer to be seen, and those that had gotten the message too late, already lay dead on the ground. To his horror, Elkia could see the body of one of the elders, to which he had been listening the previous day.
Aeltha saw it too. 'I'm sorry you have to see this, my children. The timber wolves haven't even fed on her. They must be after the Shimmering Eye.'
But the timber wolves weren't stupid. They had left behind guards. Elkia spotted glowing green eyes here and there in the surrounding foliage. He hear the howls, and smelled the nasty, rotting smell that the timber wolves were famous for.
'Elkia! Behind you!'
One of the timber wolves, who had been waiting on the roof of their hut, made a move. He jumped towards the elk family, ready to tear the stray animals apart.
But Alces was quicker. He stood his ground, waited for the animal to fly within reach, and bucked.
The force of the buck wasn't enough to make the wolf fall apart, but it was enough to knock him away. After a whimper and a growl, the wolf disappeared into the foliage.
It was time to move. Aeltha checked on her children, and then galloped away. She made sure not to go too fast, and never let her two children out of sight. Elkia looked back. He saw how some of the green lights went out. He didn't dare to look forwards, for he knew that the wolves were chasing them. The cold sweat gleamed on his fur in the moonlight, despite the freezing temperatures. He kept telling himself this was all only a nightmare, or a very realistic theater play, or maybe even one of the old legends. In those legends the hero always faced dangerous and dark enemies, but in the real world that shouldn't happen.
Alces kept an eye out for his brother too. He occasionally glanced backwards. He knew the wolves liked to gnaw at the hind legs of their prey, and he was not going to let that happen to himself or Elkia or Aeltha. Brows furrowed in concentration, eyes taking in the surroundings, he kept running.
They quickly crossed the first field. There were a couple of fields where snow huts stood. Aeltha and her family lived far from the others, for Aeltha needed a secluded spacious place to do her divinations and rituals. She wished she lived closer now.
'Behind us, Mother!' Alces yelled. Three wolves tried to close their formation, and sprinted hard to catch their prey. They ran faster and faster. Alces could hear, then feel their rotten breaths behind him.
Aeltha dug her heels in the snow and came to a halt. She turned around, facing the bewildered animals, who must have been thinking she gave up. They couldn't have been farther from the truth. Aeltha concentrated. Her antlers started to glow a deep purple. She lowered her head slowly. Then, in one fluent movement, she thrust her head upwards. Immediately, a wave of snow washed over the two timber wolves, as she commanded the essence. Elkia looked, and saw the light of the wolves' eyes go out. Despite the fact that they were the enemies, Elkia shivered at the cold death the beasts had died.
'Way to go, Mother!' Alces cheered.
'Do not celebrate death, my son,' Aeltha said, turning around and picking up the pace. 'We should get moving!'
The elk family rushed on. They tried to cut corners by jumping through the pine forest, but it did them no good. They only became accompanied by more and more green, hungry wolf-eyes. Jumping from bush to bush, they eventually made it to the second residential fields. Elkia would never forget what he saw there.
Red blood stained the snow here and there. Death hung in the air. Here too, green eyes shimmered in the foliage, but there was more going on. Apparently, the wolves weren't in a hurry--or they were very hungry. They had gathered up their prey, stacking the elks, deer, and reindeer on top of each other in piles, scattered throughout the field. Groups of timber wolves were eating from the piles. Some of them took one or two elks, and dragged them away into the shadow of the pines, no doubt to be eaten in private.
But there were still elks alive! At the far end of the fields, green dots flashed through the landscape. Cries of help resounded in the air. When Elkia strained his eyes, he could see someone running for his life, while three wolves were in close pursuit. The elk had nowhere to go. To the south were more wolves, and northwards were only the mountains. The elk was as good as dead.
'Mother, Alces, we have got to help!' Elkia said, nudging his mother's leg.
Aeltha stopped and turned her pale blue eyes towards the source of the sound. She stood still.
'Mother! Why aren't we doing anything?' Elkia said, his voice hoarse with tears.
Alces bumped his brother. 'Can't you see, nuthead? He will never make it.'
'B-but... but...'
'I'm afraid your brother is right, Elkia,' Aeltha said. 'He will soon be trotting on the Eternal Plains, instead of this snowy hellscape.'
'But there must be something we can do!'
Once again, Alces bumped Elkia. 'Do you want to cross this wolf-infested field?'
Elkia looked at the eating wolves. They were distracted now, but once they got closer the wolves would undoubtedly turn their attention to them, the next meal. Elkia realized his brother was right. One last look he threw towards the desperate scene. He searched for the elk, but couldn't find the shape in the moonlight anymore.
'He's gone, Elkia. Let's go!' Aeltha said. With eyes full of tears, Elkia turned away from the plains, and followed his mother and his brother through the forest, resuming their very own death-race.
Cries and howls came from the direction of the last field, growing more and more intense as Aeltha and her sons neared. Elkia promised himself he wouldn't look at the next slaughter scene, while his imagination ran wild with whatever was going on out there. He wished it was all over.
'Elkia, look at that!'
Despite the promise to himself, Elkia looked at the scene. It wasn't a slaughter scene; it was a chase scene. A whole throng of elks, deer, and reindeer ran over the snow-covered fields, with a string of green eyes following behind. Elkia's eyes flashed over the elks, trying to distinguish individual shapes in the clot of shadows running for their lives. He wasn't sure to be joyful or scared, as he recognized friends and their parents, and even some of the elderly elks he always listened to. There were so many he knew by name! A cold shiver came with the realization that he was about to witness their horrible deaths. He knew he could never cope with that. He knew that, if he did nothing, the echo of their death-screams would forever resound through his dreams, and he would never dream happily again. It was not fueled by courage, nor a well thought-out plan, but some strange force he couldn't explain, that he sprang into action. Suddenly, without any warning, Elkia bolted off towards the running herd.
'Elkia, no!' Alces yelled, and was about to follow suit, but a white leg of his mother prevented him. 'No, Alces.'
Elkia was already halfway, galloping as fast as his long legs allowed him. With this head start, not even Alces could catch up with him. Aeltha knew that. She was strangely passive, as if she waited for Elkia to reach a certain distance. She turned towards Alces. 'Listen closely, Alces. You must go to the Shimmering Eye without me.'
'But, what about--'
'I will look after Elkia, but you must go. Go and announce my presence if you can, but if my fears are proven reality and the Eye has been taken over, then hide.' She paused to look him straight into the eyes. 'Don't be a hero, Alces. There is no cowardice in hiding and staying alive. Sometimes it is survival of the quietest, not the strongest.'
Alces nodded. Aeltha turned her head towards Elkia, who had almost reached the fleeing herd. 'Goodbye, my son,' she said, and then bolted off.
Elkia had reached the herd already, and noticed how he had made a grievous mistake, for now he too, was running for his life from the wolves. The only difference was that he wasn't alone now. He saw the panic and terror in the eyes of the others, and heard their collective panting. When he looked back, he only saw green eyes ablaze, ready to feed and destroy. Suddenly, above the chorus of yells and screams, someone called something.
'The seer! The seer is with us!'
When he looked to the left, Elkia saw how his mother joined the running herd. Just a few seconds later, Aeltha yelled, 'STOP!' her voice amplified by steering the essence of the air, making it sound as if the Light Elk himself shouted the command from the heavens.
Elkia had just enough time to think how stupid that was, when the whole herd came to a halt. If they stopped, the wolves could catch up and devour them. Yet, that wasn't what happened at all. Immediately, when everyone was standing still, the wolves split up, fanned out, and surrounded them on all sides.
'Everyone! Make a circle!' Aeltha yelled. 'The young and the wounded in the middle. The ones with antlers on the outer ring! Remember what we practiced!'
The elks did as they were told. Elkia got shoved away into the middle, while the strong bulls took their positions, their antlered heads facing the wolves. In a matter of seconds, it looked as if they had formed an island in a sea of wolves.
'Go away, you terrible beasts!' Aeltha yelled. 'You will have no easy prey tonight. We will fight to the death if we have to.'
The wolves all let out a terrible howl, as if they were laughing at the herd and Aeltha's words. As he watched between the legs of the elks, Elkia saw no end to the wolf-ranks. They were horribly outnumbered. Elkia had no idea how they were going to break out of the formation. For all he knew, they were as stuck as a tree in the earth. He looked back to the other elks in the middle of the circle, and briefly wondered if they were as mortally frightened as he. Some were shaking, some were crying, some were holding hooves; all were expecting death.
The wolves did a step forward, all at the same time, as if they were one enormous beast. Elkia swore he could feel their rotting breaths stroking his fur like a clawed hand.
'One step closer and you will face the wrath of the seers,' Aeltha said. She already dug her heels in the ground, ready to do something.
Seers...? Plural...? Elkia thought. He looked once more at the strong bulls, whose muscles were tense and whose antlers were raised like spears. Now Elkia understood what his mother meant. He recognized five, fifteen, maybe two dozen pupils of his mother. Those were elks gifted with the power of the essence. At that moment, Elkia carefully nourished the hope that they might win. They weren't completely at the mercy of the wolves. They had firepower.
Elkia heard a snarl and a scream. One of the wolves tried to break through the lines and nip at a little calf. That was his fatal mistake. One of the elks turned around and bucked hard, sending the wolf flying over the herd and right into the sea of his brothers. That was the signal.
'Attack!'
The antlers of all the pupils glowed, each one a different color. The wolves were not intimidated by mere flashing lights, and advanced. There was a strange, whooshing sound in the air. The pupils of Aeltha moved their heads, and immediately, howls and growls could be heard. Snow flew everywhere, as the pupils used the essence to bury the wolves underneath the icy blanket. The snow washed over the wolves, rolling, flowing, battering them to pieces. The circle broke. Some wolves tried to dodge, but then the snow stretched out into a wall, and overwhelmed them nonetheless. The wolves hadn't expected such strange but deadly attack at all.
Unfortunately, the pupils couldn't perform this amazing feat for long. Their flight from the hungry jaws had sapped their strength, so the attack stopped almost as abruptly as it had begun. Elkia hoped they got all of them, but, however effective the attack was, they hadn't wiped all of the wolves out. The wounded ones quickly reassembled themselves--literally. A faint, unholy glow surrounded the heaps of wolves as they steered the dark essence in their bodies. The sticks, branches, twigs, and leaves that made up their teeth and eyes and claws hovered back into position. The wolves looked at their fallen brethren, and quickly regrouped, so that a new circle was created. They were still not afraid of the elks. If anything, they became infuriated by the slaughter. This time they didn't wait for a signal, but closed in simultaneously.
'Ready for another attack?' Aeltha yelled.
The elks said 'Aye,' but the truth was that they were all panting. Elkia's hope dwindled away like a snowflake. He was already busy creating a plan of escape for himself, but the best thing he could come up with was play dead.
This time, the elks used other essence: wood. They focused all their energy towards one big tree to their right. The bottom started to glow. With their combined strength, they tried to uproot the enormous tree... and it worked! Some of the elks put their heads together, as they all concentrated and tried not to pass out from the strain. Slowly, the tree came loose from the ground.
But was it too late? The wolves saw that something else was going to happen, and they attacked. The front row of them advanced, and tried to bite at the legs and hooves of the elks. Stomping and bucking and kicking, the elks did what they could to get the wolves away from them. One of them couldn't handle the physical and psychological pain any longer. He bent down. The wolves seized their chance, and grabbed the face of the elk with their deadly teeth. With the antlers out of the way, other wolves quickly joined in too. Alas, with heartbreaking cries of pain, the elk was bitten dead.
'This is not working, seer,' one of the elks said through clenched teeth. 'Did you see what--'
'I heard what happened, and that is enough for me to know,' Aeltha said. 'Stand your ground and trust in the essence.'
It was as if the tree groaned with pain, just like the elks. Slowly, the roots retreated. It looked almost as if the tree gained a life of its own, and decided to stand up and use its roots as legs. For a moment it hovered above the ground, with dirt raining down from the roots.
'Let go!' Aeltha yelled.
SLAM! Down went the tree. Although the wolves fanned out and scattered, some were not as quick-witted, and got flattened by the massive tree trunk. Some elks bent through their knees, sweating, trying to find their breaths. Yet Aeltha knew this was no time for rest. Behind them were only mountains, which were too steep to climb. So the only way for them to go was...
'Forwards!' Aeltha yelled, 'push the log forwards, everyone!'
Elkia and the calves were as smart as to check on everybody. Elkia saw just how extremely fatigued they all were. As he reached a deer hind, he saw she was crying. 'Why? Why all of this? We'll be torn to pieces! We will all die. I can't. I just... can't.'
'Yes you can,' Elkia said. 'We can all get out of this alive. We're not some dumb prey. We've got Aeltha the seer!' And after these quick words of comfort, Elkia pushed against her and helped her on her hooves again. 'Thanks,' the hind said to Elkia. 'If I'll make it, it will be because of you.'
'Everyone, stay vigilant!' Aeltha said, pointing at the log. A couple of wolves had already scaled it, and braced themselves to jump into the group of elks. 'There is no more time. Forwards!'
Once again the elks combined their magic. There was movement in the massive log, and it rolled forwards. The circle broke, and the elks all marched. Even those without magic helped, pushing with their antlers or their shoulders against the log. The wolves balancing themselves on the log were unsure what to do now. If they jumped back, they might get crushed. So instead, they jumped forwards, right into the elk herd.
The calves screamed and yelled. Some of the elks stopped pushing the log and rushed towards the children. Too late. One of the wolves immediately pounced upon a young elk, sinking its teeth in the soft, tender flesh. The elk had brothers and sisters, who tried to chase the wolf away. They poked their little hooves at the beast, and one of them even pulled at the beast's tail. It was all for nothing. The poor little thing didn't even scream as the blood flowed and stained the winter snow red. Once the wolf was done with its kill, it turned its head towards the next victim.
Elkia's eyes met the wolf's. He swore he saw the beast smile, as it slowly approached its next prey. Elkia backed away, his bones as chilled as the snow he walked on. 'No, no, no. Please don't kill me, Mister Wolf. I'm not... eh... not tasty at all.'
The wolf didn't stop. Now the two others joined in as well. Elkia was the biggest of the children, after all, so the one might need help with its kill.
The cold rock of the mountain poked against Elkia's back. He had nowhere to go. 'No, please eh... gentlewolves, I will only give you stomachache. I mean... I'm frozen solid. See? Brrrrr. Cold. It will be like swallowing an ice cube, you know?'
Either the wolves didn't understand Elkia, or they had no intention of listening to pathetic whining. In the distance, Elkia could see three big elks running towards them. They had already reached the other calves. Only Elkia remained.
His mind worked in overload. He knew these thoughts might be the last thoughts he'd ever think. He thought about his mother and his family. Alces... he thought, what would Alces do? No doubt his brother would grab a weapon, or use his bare hooves and his arsenal of dueling maneuvers to best the wolves. Elkia looked around. There was a large branch on the ground. He picked it up with his teeth. Now he had a weapon, but he had no battle tactics. What did Alces always say? Go for the high ground.
Elkia did so. Thanks to his long legs, he was able to jump on a rocky ledge. But the wolves could climb too. One of them stayed on the ground, while the other two began scaling the slope. They were careful to stay left and right, so their prey had nowhere to go.
In the distance, one of the elks shouted something. Elkia turned his ears towards him.
'...jump. Whatever you... jump...'
He couldn't hear everything, but he thought he got the message. Elkia jumped.
The wolf down below couldn't have been happier. It opened its maw wide, so the pathetic little elk would jump right into it. That was exactly what happened.
Elkia still had the stick between his teeth. As he landed right into the mouth of the wolf, the stick got wedged between the beast's jaws. Elkia was literally in the maws of the beast, but the animal just couldn't close its mouth. A horrid stench of a thousand devoured prey and sticky green saliva surrounded Elkia on all sides. When he looked down into the stomach he saw nothing but black emptiness. Up ahead was freedom, closed in between shimmering teeth. Elkia had no idea how long he was stuck in this awkward position, but he did know that this was an experience that would traumatize him forever.
The big elks came. Elkia felt how one of them bashed his antlers against the wolf he was in. Together with the wolf, he tumbled over the ground, then rolled right out of the wolf's maw like a sticky ball of fur.
'Elkia! Thank the Light One you're alive!' one of the elks said.
Elkia recognized the voice. As he stood up and shook the slime out of his fur, he turned towards his savior. 'Oakheart! It's you!'
Oakheart helped Elkia back on his hooves. Immediately, they looked back. The little calves were now all together sitting on the snow, looking around themselves with fearful eyes. Way back, the elks were still busy rolling the log, with the wolves fighting back. They were not paying attention to the children now.
'You should go,' Elkia said.
Oakheart's eyes went wide. 'Go?! But we shouldn't just leave the seer to--'
'Think about the children,' Elkia said. 'They are scared out of their wits. One of them actually died. They will be traumatized for life now. We can't possibly send them back into this savage fight. The wolves are not here now, so you can run away and escape this madness. You should go and take the calves with you and never return.'
'But, Elkia...'
'Just go!' After all the horrible experiences, Elkia didn't even jump in surprise or fear of his shouting voice. He needed to be resolute. Without turning around, he galloped back towards the fight. Scared though as he was, he was not going to leave his mother behind.
The wolves were still flabbergasted by the sudden log-attack. As the elks and deer and reindeer pushed it forwards, the sound of snapping twigs and breaking branches echoed across the plain. Elkia had to dodge a wolf or two, but he was quick, and he made it back to the rest. What he saw worried him. He saw only trembling legs, quivering muscles, sweat, gritted teeth, and narrowed eyes. The elks were gone to the point of exhaustion. Elkia thought that if they continued rolling this enormous thing, they might just drop dead! He wedged himself between two elks to speak with Aeltha. 'Mother, they are all so tired.'
'We're almost there, Elkia,' Aeltha said back, looking forward and directing the magic of essence towards the log.
'We're almost where?'
'The lake, Elkia.'
'The lake?'
Aeltha stopped for a moment, turned to Elkia, and managed a grim smile. 'We're going to drown the bastards!' * *
Meanwhile, Alces Roameling ran. He crossed another residential field, where another slaughter had taken place. He only had to cross a few yards of forested land and then he'd reach the Shimmering Eye. Peering between the tree trunks and the shrubs of heather, he had discovered that he was relatively safe. Although the howls still resounded all around him, he didn't see one single green eye watching through the foliage. He reasoned that perhaps the wolves weren't interested in chasing one single elk child. Or perhaps they were busy with something else...
Alces stayed on course. He didn't let himself get distracted by whatever was going on. He knew that elks, deer, and reindeer were being eaten alive. He knew that they'd never stand a chance. But he didn't care. His mother had given him a mission, and he carried out that mission--simple as that.
Alces was close. The land tilted slightly upwards, and Alces followed suit. Always take the high ground. Once he reached the top of the hill, he chose a few good bushes and hid in them. He had a very good view of everything that was going on at the Shimmering Eye, and there sure was a lot going on.
The Shimmering Eye lay in the moonlight, reflecting the stars and moon like a perfect mirror. A whole ring of elks, deer, and reindeer stood around the lake, with their heads towards the forest, and towards the enemy.
Just as with Elkia, the wolves had chosen the tactics of surrounding their prey. For each elk there were at least ten timber wolves. Sometimes the wolves snarled and nipped at the legs, but the elks stood firm. Alces saw they were the biggest and strongest of all the elks; the soldiers.
But if they are all soldiers, then their leader...
Indeed, when Alces squinted, he could see the royal figure of Moussa standing right at the spot where he and his brother had their naming ceremonies years ago. The king of the elks stood proud and erect, like a lone king on a board of chess. There was no one standing beside him. Everyone stood back, yet he didn't even look afraid.
But there was more going on. There was a wolf, a big one, who was separated from the rest. He and Moussa stood close together, and Alces saw their mouths moving. They were talking! Alces had no idea the wolves could actually talk--or actually wanted to talk. To him, they were just savage beasts, driven by nothing but dark essence and a killer instinct. Apparently, he was wrong.
Now he had a choice to make. He could do the obvious and run away like a coward and never come back to the Shimmering Eye again. That idea, obvious though as it was, didn't even enter Alces's head until he thought of the other options. It was not done.
Option two was to stand by Moussa's side, and fight till the death to protect the Shimmering Eye. But Alces was not stupid. He knew the odds were definitely against him. There were hundreds of wolves down there! These two impulses, fight or flight, filled Alces's heart like two fighting wolves. He hated sitting still--he wanted to do something. In his mind, he created option number three himself: investigate further.
Although he didn't like to sneak at all, he had played a lot of games of hide-and-seek, so he knew how to. As careful as a prowling lion, Alces moved through the bushes closer to the Shimmering Eye. He had no idea how many guards the wolves had appointed. If the wolves really were more intelligent than he thought, there could be many guards about to protect the rear and the flanks. But on the other hoof, Alces knew that an overwhelming number of forces could make one cocky. Maybe the wolves didn't even appoint one guard, sure as they were about their victory.
'Oh... oh... ooooooh!'
A growl came from Alces's right. He jolted, and then froze. Was there still a wolf he hadn't spotted through the foliage? But he had been so careful! He did a careful step forwards, readying himself for a fight.
'Oh... ooooh!' the growl sounded again, but this time, there was a wet cough afterwards. Alces cocked his head. That didn't sound like a wolf at all. He moved closer to the source of the sound, but didn't drop his guard. He only dropped his guard when he found who was making the noise.
'Somebody... please...'
'Old Cervidus!'
Alces hadn't spotted whoever was making that noise, because the old elk was lying on the ground, in a bush, hidden from view. Alces crouched besides the elderly elk, and immediately noticed the pool of blood he was lying in. Old Cervidus coughed again. Blood gushed out of a bite-wound in his neck. Alces knew he would never make it. That's why he listened closely to the old elk's last words.
'Alces, it is you...'
'Yes it is me, Cervidus,' Alces said, trying to stack some piles of pine needles underneath the old elk's head to make him more comfortable. 'I've found you, Cervidus.'
'Indeed... indeed you have.' Cervidus's words came growling out of his raspy, bloodstained throat.
'Say what you have to say, old Cervidus,' Alces said, 'for you and I both know it will be the last thing you'll ever say.'
Old Cervidus tried to laugh, but only managed to cough again. With some effort, he slowly moved his head closer to his pupil. 'At least you're... you're not wasting my time with hopeful, foolish nonsense...'
Alces managed a grin too. 'You know I like to get to the point.'
'Very good. Very... good. Now, I shall speak my final words to you, my dear Alces. I will... I... will...' Cervidus's eyes closed. Alces felt the strength disappear out of his body. There was no need to check the pulse. Alces thought Cervidus was dead.
If anything, old Cervidus's legacy was a good eavesdropping-spot. When Alces left him alone and moved through the heather and the bushes, he could hear Moussa's signature, haughty voice flow right into his ears. He dared to go even closer, and was rewarded with a view of both the wolf and the elk. The wolf really was talking! It spoke Elkish in a nasty, tongue-twisting dialect, with the occasional guttural sound or growl mixed in. Nevertheless, Alces could hear what the wolf was saying.
'The lake is ours, you foolish elk. It is ours and we can do what we want with it.'
'We shall do what we can to stop you,' Moussa said, 'even if the odds are not in our favor.'
'Then you are a bigger fool than I thought,' said the wolf. 'The dark essence is stronger than light. We are made of dark essence. Dark essence can create us, give us life. Can you say the same?'
'Speak not of light essence, for you know nothing about that,' Moussa said. He was not at all intimidated, and kept his royal pose. 'We have guarded the Shimmering Eye for generations, while you yourself have lived but a few years in the Dark Lands, those foul regions you call home.'
The wolf let out a growl. 'Now you speak of something you know nothing about. You wouldn't last a day in the Dark Lands, while we'--he gestured with his head around him--'we are conquerors. We have come from the other side of the mountains to your lands, invaded it, and gained your biggest treasure. I say that makes predator far superior to prey.'
Moussa stomped his hoof on the snowy ground. 'Enough! We will prove our worth to the Light Elk when we will emerge victorious from this battle.'
'Not today, not ever,' said the wolf. 'CHARGE!'
What followed was a terrible battle. The wolves overwhelmed the elks completely. Howls, growls, and snarls filled the nightly air, followed by death-screams of desperate elks. The elks stood firm, digging their heels in the ground and trying to headbutt the wolves away. But as more and more of them got eaten alive, their ranks were breached. Sure enough, one of the wolves jumped into the Shimmering Eye, defiling it with its nasty, mangy body. Blood flew everywhere, staining the snow red.
At the front, Moussa fought for all he was worth. He had taken down five wolves already, which lay in pieces here and there. Now he was in combat with the alpha wolf. Moussa tried to kick and buck at the foul beast. Every time the wolf managed to dodge or roll away. It kept attacking and retreating, trying to take a bite out of the vital parts of the body. At last, when Moussa twirled around and gave another mighty buck, the wolf dodged and bore its teeth in the long hind leg of Moussa. Moussa screamed, a strange sound coming out of his mouth. He bent through his knees, as the wolf took him down.
Alces had to do something. He was just about to jump into the fray and help Moussa, when a familiar sound stopped him.
'Alces! Alces, where are you?'
It was Cervidus. He wasn't dead after all! Alces moved back and into the brush, until he stood next to him.
'Alces, it is you.' Cervidus tried to lift a hoof, and managed that with lots of pain and effort. He slowly stroked Alces's fur. Swallowing, Cervidus prepared to say something--perhaps his final words. 'Alces Roameling... you always were my favorite student. I think you of all my pupils were the one who really got what I was telling. You were the one who really listened.'
Alces stood up and made a small bow. 'Thank you, Cervidus.' Then he sat down beside the old elk again. 'Cervidus, they are fighting. Everyone is dying. Even Moussa is not going to make it. I have to do something, or they will all die.'
'Don't,' Cervidus rasped.
'Wait, what did you say?'
'I said don't. Don't do anything.'
'But why not?'
'Because they don't stand a chance.' Cervidus smiled a grim, bloody smile. 'I have seen the ranks of wolves marching towards me. They killed the young, the sick, and the old first, not even paying attention to their victims. It was almost as if they were behaving like nature intended.'
'But... but they did,' Alces said. 'They do behave like nature. It's the age-old game of predator versus prey, isn't it?'
Cervidus managed to move his head. He probably wanted to shake it, but the gesture wasn't quite as powerful as he wanted it to be. 'Ha! This is not nature, my dear Alces. There is nothing natural about what they are doing. After the battle they will misuse the Shimmering Eye for certain. No, these beasts are made of pure dark essence, and what they do goes against their every nature.'
'But... you always said dark essence isn't necessarily bad. You said--'
'Dark essence isn't bad. It's all about power. These wolves have got power, which they abuse. Look at it, Alces, just look.'
Alces turned his head away from Cervidus. Moussa was lying on the ground, and the alpha wolf still had his neck in his mouth. Alces had no idea if the king was still alive or not.
'This is power, Alces. This is power they have gained from the Dark Elk, but which they misuse completely. Look at this closely, and remember it forever. This is what power can do, if you let dark essence into your heart. I know you can. You can let the dark essence into your heart, and let it give you power. Yet, what you are going to do with that power is all up to you.'
Alces wanted to say something back, but a violent burst of coughing from Cervidus prevented that. More blood gushed out of the neck wound. He was not going to last much longer.
'Alces, listen to me, for these are my final words. I say run, don't fight. Run and try to learn something from today. Try to teach yourself about the dark essence, about the Dark Elk, and try to use the power however you see fit. That is the core of it... Use the power of dark essence to accomplish whatever goal you want, and whatever you do...' Another fit of coughing sent blood splattering on Alces's fur. Alces bent close towards Cervidus's muzzle to hear his final words. They came in ragged gurgles, with more blood than words. 'Whatever you do...
'Whatever what, old Cervidus?' Alces said.
'Whatever you do...
'Never...
'Back...
'Down...'
And so old Cervidus left this world behind, with these valuable words to his young pupil. Alces let the head rest on the pillow of needles. He closed the old elk's eyes, and stroked his head. 'I will never forget what you told me, and for that, I thank you.'
Then Alces turned his attention to the lost battle. However much Cervidus had told him to run, Alces wanted to see where this was going--if only to learn more about dark essence and the power it gives, and which the wolves abused so thoroughly.
The alpha wolf had laid Moussa down on the ground. The elk's chest was still moving up and down. Was Moussa still alive? The other wolves were standing around the Shimmering Eye, with a bunch of dead elks in front of them.
'Everyone! Grab one of those pathetic prey,' the alpha wolf said.
The wolves did as they were told. All of them grabbed an elk by the neck, and held him or her in their maws.
The alpha wolf rasped its throat, a rotten sound, before he proceeded with that he wanted to do. 'Now let them bleed! Hahaha!'
All the wolves bit hard in the necks of their prey. The blood flowed between their teeth, around their paws, and right into the Shimmering Eye. One elk let out a muffled scream, as he was apparently still alive. There were a few wolves who enjoyed this ritual a little too much, and bit off the heads of the elks to let the blood gush out of the creatures like a red fountain.
'You are... defiling... our most sacred place...' Moussa said, his voice just loud enough for Alces to hear it.
'Yes we are,' said the alpha wolf, who stepped closer to his fallen foe.
'Why?'
The wolf came even closer. 'Because that is what power enables us to do. But, to be honest, it's mainly to see you all suffer, because we predators love toying with our prey.'
It's just as Cervidus said, Alces thought, power is everything...
'I hope you will burn in whatever hell you came from,' Moussa said.
'Let's do that after the ritual, shall we?' And with that, the alpha wolf turned his attention to the pack again.
The blood flowed into the Shimmering Eye from every corner. It didn't take long for the lake to become completely red. The ground began to shake, and ripples formed on the otherwise still water. The red blood seemed to change color. It became darker and darker, until the Shimmering Eye was completely black, like a closed eyelid. Alces felt the hairs of his fur stand on end. He felt that something changed. The night seemed to grow darker, but the moon brighter. The stars seemed to disappear. He knew at that moment that they had lost. They had lost the Shimmering Eye. It was no use looking at it any longer. Alces turned away from the once sacred place, and disappeared between the trunks of the pine trees. * *
'Push, everyone, push!'
But the elks couldn't take it anymore. A great many of them fell to the ground, sapped and dead-tired. The log stopped moving, and in no time, the wolves had them surrounded once again. They only needed a few seconds to pick out the weakened animals, and pounced upon them. Screams of pain and torture came from all around Elkia, as his friends and relatives got eaten alive. Some bulls, shaken to their bones, used an adrenaline spurt to attack some wolves. Although they managed to save an elk or two, lots of them lay dead on the ground in the blink of an eye.
Aeltha the seer looked at her people for a few seconds, and then shook her head. Puffs of breath came out of her mouth, as exhaustion gripped her too. Elkia looked at her, and wondered if she even had enough energy left to perform her final tricks.
Bending down, Aeltha dug her antlers into the snow. In one fluent motion, she flung it aside, to reveal what lay underneath.
'Ice!'
They had made it! They had made it to the river! Aeltha once more looked around at the elks, and silently and quickly counted heads. She hoped there were enough of her pupils left standing to perform the magic. 'Everyone!' she shouted above the chorus of howls and screams. 'I need you all one last time. Focus on the ice and try to give as much raw force as you can muster. I will focus the energy. Together, we will destroy the wolves with the might of the river.'
Elkia knew that wolves were good swimmers, and a little water was not going to stop them. If anything, it would only hinder them. But elks were even better swimmers than wolves, and always lived near water. Elkia realized that his mother probably had a few more tricks up her sleeve. He was absolutely sure she could find a way to command the essence of the water. Maybe she could even conjure up waves to break apart the wolves, or create a swirling maelstrom to drown them in the river. The breaking of the ice granted her many opportunities to attack.
But first they had to break it.
'Everyone! Steady!' Aeltha yelled, turning towards the single dozen pupils that were left, and aiming her antlers at the center of the circle.
Suddenly, Elkia felt a shiver going through his body. Was it really that cold? It wasn't much colder than usual. He thought it was wolf eyes staring at him from somewhere. He looked at the sea of beasts around him, but saw that no wolf in particular was paying much attention to him. Then Elkia looked up, trying to spot wolves that had maybe climbed the log and were peering down from above. No, nothing. But Elkia did spot something strange.
'The stars! The stars are all gone!'
But Aeltha wasn't paying much attention to her son. She reared on her hind hooves, antlers glowing and ready to strike. She counted down. 'On three we break!'
'One...'
Elkia felt that something was wrong. It was the nagging feeling that he had lost something valuable, but was unable to retrieve it.
'Two...'
The feeling stayed with Elkia. He couldn't put his hoof on it. As far as he knew, the only thing that mattered now was his life.
'Three!'
The seer brought her antlers down upon the ice. Sparks and cinders flew off of them, followed by a massive explosion. The shockwave sent a lot of the elks flying into the wolf sea. The elks without magic jumped in shock and fear. Some of them couldn't suppress their flight instinct and ran straight into the horde of wolves. They only made it a few yards. The wolves were a lot less scared of the magic of the essence than their prey, and they used the discord to launch another attack. Everywhere, elks, deer, and reindeer were captured, bitten, choked, scratched, and eaten alive.
Aeltha got hit by the explosion too. The force made her fly backwards, almost in reach of the wolves. Her pupils galloped towards her, standing by her side and preventing the wolves from attacking her.
Something was definitely wrong. Elkia looked from his mother to the ice. There was a hole in the ice, with a few cracks here and there, but it didn't look like much. If the intention had been to break all the ice and let the river flow freely, the elks had horribly failed.
There was no hope anymore. One last circle was created around the seer, but every elk, deer, or reindeer who was outside of it got slaughtered. 'The seer has fallen, the seer has fallen!' some of them yelled, although there weren't that many elks alive who could hear their cries.
'No!' Elkia scrambled to his hooves, and ran towards the circle of elks. A wolf jumped towards him, but he rolled in the snow, avoiding the deadly claws. Once he reached the circle, he forced himself through the legs of the elks. He brought forth a cry of horrid surprise, as he saw the state his mother was in.
'Mother! Your antlers!'
Aeltha lay curled in the snow, her two antlers a yard away. When Elkia looked at them, he saw how they were cracked and broken. They looked worn and old. Slowly, the white antlers fell apart, until even the tiniest branch turned to sand and got swept away by the frozen winds.
'Elkia, my son!' The seer's blue eyes flashed around, until they settled on her son. The eyes didn't look as pretty anymore. They had lost their shine, and looked dim and distant.
'Mother, I'm here!' Elkia said through eyes full of tears. He just couldn't witness his mother like that. He had always seen her strong and confident, not lying on the ground like this. 'Mother, everyone is fighting. Make them stop! Make them stop!'
'I can't, my dear Elkia. Something... something is wrong. The Eye... the Shimmering Eye. Something happened to the Eye.'
Elkia wanted to say something back, but his words were cut short by a cry of pain. He watched his right, and saw how one of Aeltha's pupils got dragged away by a wolf. The elk was clawing at the snow, but couldn't find anything to grab. He disappeared between the wooden claws and vicious eyes, and wasn't seen again.
One by one, the rest of Aeltha's pupils got overpowered by the wolves. They tried to resist, and swung their antlered heads here and there, but it was in vain.
'Mother, they have no power anymore. We are... we are going to die!' And Elkia's words became accompanied by desperate sobs.
Aeltha reached out, and stroked Elkia's fur. Yet, the healing and calming magic that normally emanated from her was gone. Instead, Elkia felt cold go through his body, and realized that the cold came from his mother's hoof. 'Don't be afraid, Elkia. At least we'll die together. We will reunite on the Eternal Plains, and hope that a new generation will be able to protect the Shimmering Eye better than we did.'
The fact that she wasn't even denying it frightened Elkia like a howling wolf. 'But I don't want to die. I want to live in peace and harmony with you and Alces and everyone else. You know, I want this to end like every good story ends, however dark the tale. "They lived happily ever after..."'
Another strong elk fell down to the ground. A wolf was soon upon him, and bit his throat. A few seconds later, the elk was as lifeless as a ragdoll.
To his horror, Elkia noticed that there was no one left standing. He and his mother were the last ones. He looked around, and an ocean of green, hungry eyes stared back. Elkia had no idea why the wolves hadn't attacked them yet. He expected savage bites, raking claws, and terrible mouths upon him any second now. He expected a painful death. Elkia closed his watery eyes, laid his muzzle upon his mother's fur, and cried. It was all he could do.
The wolves stood still. It was not because they were afraid, or because they were merciful, but because their leader approached. A particularly growly voice made some noises. The noises came closer and closer. When Elkia dared to look over his shoulder, he gazed right into the eyes of the alpha wolf.
One wolf barked something at the alpha. The alpha's wooden snout twisted into a cruel grin. He looked upon his last two victims. 'A special one, you say?'
Elkia blinked his tears away. He spread his legs, trying to shield his mother from the alpha wolf.
But the Alpha had seen enough. 'You poor little thing!' he said. But the way he pronounced the Elkish words, together with the timbre of his voice, could not conceal the mocking.
Elkia closed his eyes again. 'Please go away, please go away, please go away,' he repeated over and over again, shivering as he talked.
'I'm afraid I can't do that,' said the alpha wolf. He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Elkia's every sob. 'You see, we are here to teach you something, something very important and worth remembering.'
Elkia wasn't curious about that at all. He just wanted them all to fall apart into harmless little twigs and branches.
And that was exactly what happened.
After a swift command form the alpha wolf, the timber wolves, one by one, fell apart with little puffs of green smoke. The outer ring of them all disappeared like that, while the rest of the dozens of wolves stood their ground. Soon, the ground became littered by branches and sticks and leaves which had made up their bodies.
Elkia blinked once, twice. Did that just happen? Thanks to the disappearance of the outer herd, he got a brief view of the valley and the tree line ahead. Maybe it was coincidence, or maybe it was luck, or maybe there was still some power of essence that hadn't dwindled away. Elkia saw someone. Far, far away, there was a single shape popping out of the foliage, and then disappearing again. Elkia wasn't sure if his eyes betrayed him. Did someone get away?
He didn't have time to think about that, however, as his nightmares became reality. Slowly, every little stick and branch rolled towards one another in glows of pure, green, dark essence. They clicked together like a large puzzle, creating shapes that looked like massive claws, an enormous wooden body, a strong neck and a giant maw with wooden teeth as thick as trees. The pieces floated together in the magical haze, creating one giant wolf. It was so big, it could swallow an elk, deer, or reindeer whole--easily. Only when the shadow fell upon poor little Elkia did he dare to look up, right into the maw of the beast. He knew at that moment that his time had come.
But instead of gobbling up the trembling little elk, the beast talked. It was the same terrible voice as the alpha wolf, but lower, rumbling as he formed words in Elkish. 'As I said, I'm going to teach you something. It's time for you to learn about nature, and about the relationship between predator and prey.'
'Don't... don't listen to him,' Aeltha said. Her voice was as weak as a piece of glass artwork, ready to fall and shatter if it were disturbed. Elkia forgot about the giant wolf looming over him for a few seconds, and turned his attention instead to his mother.
'Elkia, you must not listen to him. You are... you are so innocent and kind. Don't let these two beautiful traits be destroyed by that foul beast's words.'
'Listen up!' the giant beast roared. But still Elkia's ears were aimed at his mother. 'Mother, I'm so afraid!'
'Of course you are, but it's alright. Everyone has a part to play in this giant theater play that is called life. I have fulfilled my destiny.'
'But... but...' Elkia's voice became cracked, as a new set of tears came in. 'If this is your destiny, then... have you foreseen this all?'
'I have, Elkia. That's why it couldn't be avoided. The essences have shown me the future of us all. I know what was going to happen, whether I liked it or not. We cannot change the future, Elkia, but our decisions can alter it. You just need to have a strong will.' Aeltha coughed a few times. Icy vapors escaped through her nostrils. 'Your brother has an enormously strong will, you know that as good as I do. Find your brother, Elkia. Together, you are complete.'
'Alces!' Elkia jolted. 'He's alive? How? Where is--'
A terrible howl shredded Elkia's words apart. The wolf was becoming inpatient. 'Listen up, young prey. Today, we teach you about us, the predators, and you, the pathetic little prey.' It bore its eyes into Elkia until he looked up. 'Today you have witnessed something beautiful. You have witnessed the "balance of nature." You see, the balance of nature dictates that we, the top of the food chain, eat you, the bottom of the food chain. It's how nature works.'
Slowly, Elkia's ears turned towards his mother, looking if the alpha wolf allowed him to listen. 'Mother, is he right?'
Aeltha swallowed. She closed her eyes and didn't open them. 'Predators, however savage, are a part of nature. But the timber wolves are--'
'Right,' the alpha barked. 'We aren't stupid, you know. We know how nature works. Life isn't always pretty, and the ones that live are usually rotten to the core too.'
'No, it's not true,' Aeltha said. 'Elkia, listen to me.'
Elkia was just about to turn his head, when the wolf snarled loud. 'No, listen to me. If you want to learn something from today, you listen to me.'
Reaching up, Elkia covered his head with his hooves. He had never been as confused as today. Somehow, he had the feeling that both his mother and the alpha were right. However much he wanted to shield his ears from everything that murdering animal had to say, he had the feeling that in some way he spoke of a cold reality. This evening was all the proof he needed.
'Don't trust anyone,' the wolf said. 'The ones who share your kill will turn their backs on you someday, claiming they are the new alpha. Everything, everyone desires nothing but power, and will do whatever it takes to get that power. Power corrupts, and will make you do evil things.'
'No... there is good in everyone. What he says is untrue,' Aeltha said.
'Then what is true?' Elkia said.
The wolf smashed his claw on the ground. 'I am the truth! I am the cold, hard product of reality. I am as much a child of nature as your mother.' He paused, and stroked his chin with his claw. 'Or... perhaps your mother is right. Perhaps there is good in me too. You know what? I can see that you are having a very bad day. Tell you what, if you will listen to me, remember everything I say, and spread the word, I will let you live.'
Elkia wasn't sure what to say. He bit back the urge to be polite and say thank you. Instead, he said nothing.
Crouching down, the wolf brought his nose inches away from Elkia's. 'We are made of dark essence, and, as you can see, we are stronger than you, creatures of light essence. There is dark essence in everyone, and it is just waiting to bubble up to the surface and nestle into your soul. It is strong... so strong... Take my word for it, little elk. There's dark essence in everyone, and everyone is a sawn log waiting to crash down to the ground--preferably on you.'
Elkia heard his mother wheeze. He turned one ear towards her, and tried his best not to lose eye contact with the wolf.
'Elkia, I have a few last things to tell you.'
'No!' growled the wolf.
Elkia broke eye contact. 'Mother, if we listen he will let us live.'
'Ha! This one learns quickly,' said the wolf. 'You were right, everyone. He is a special one.'
Aeltha ignored the wolf. She knew what would happen. 'My last words are these. My son, however difficult times will be, never lose your faith. Don't lose your faith in others, in the essence, or in nature, however cruel it might be. There is also light essence in every single one of us. You have seen how we lived in harmony and friendship. Keep that picture in mind, wherever you go. Even if you go into the Dark Lands themselves, never lose yourself. You are, and will always be, Deerling--a member of the herd.'
'Now I've had enough of it!' The wolf bent over Elkia, and, before he could do anything, grabbed Elkia's mother between his teeth.
'No! Mother!'
Aeltha let out cries of pain, as the wolf held her between his splintery teeth. They bore into her stomach, leaving blood dripping on the ground.
'It's time to let go of the ones you love, for she too, has dark essence, and she too, might betray you,' said the wolf. As he spoke, his jaws moved, and Aeltha groaned as the pressure shifted.
The wolf bowed forward once again, with the seer in his mouth. 'Say goodbye now.'
Once more, tears clouded Elkia's vision. He tried to blink them away, to have one last glimpse of his mother, but new tears kept coming. 'Mother... I don't know what to do...'
Aeltha the seer managed to wriggle free one hoof. She kissed it, and gently stroked Elkia's muzzle, an Elkish greeting. 'The power of the essence loves us. And I...' Now the seer shed tears as well. 'And I... love you.'
With one flick of its tree-thick neck, the alpha wolf tossed Aeltha in the air. Then he caught her, and with a few bone-breaking crunches, the seer disappeared between the massive wooden maws.
'No!' Elkia yelled. 'No! You can't just... just... You promised to let us live!' He wished he had closed his eyes when the wolf ate her. Now, the picture of what happened would forever stay with him, plaguing him like blood-sucking insects.
'I promised I let you live. With you I meant you, "Elkia," is it? I promised to let you live because I know you are smart and listen to my council.' The wolf brushed his bloodstained teeth against the snow below, wiping them off. When he looked at Elkia again he saw nothing but a crying ball of fur. His voice became gentler, although there was still the occasional growl. 'I think that is enough council and ancient wisdom for one evening, isn't it?'
Elkia said nothing. He hugged himself and lay in the snow, reaching out, trying to find his mother's soft fur as if they were lying in the same bed. Warm, cozy, safe... But no more.
'Isn't it?' the wolf repeated, louder this time.
Slowly, Elkia nodded.
'Very good,' the wolf said with a grin. He let out a burp in satisfaction. 'Now go, young elk. Go and spread the word of Garm the Merciful. Be quick, because teaching always makes me hungry, and I might just decide that "the merciful" already gets boring.' He nudged Elkia with his snout. Elkia swore he could smell his mother's soft white fur in the wolf's breath. Reaching inside himself, gathering up the last bit of adrenaline and powering up with sheer fear, he got to his hooves and ran away. Away, away, away, as if he wanted to run through time and space and prevent this whole slaughter from happening.
No wolves chased him. Apparently, all were loyal to the giant alpha wolf. As soon as Elkia left the murder scene and the wolves disappeared, he tried to see where he was going through tear-struck eyes. Some part of his mind hadn't shut down with sorrow, fear, guilt, or danger, and that part told him to run towards the rim of the forest, where he had spotted that lone figure.
It was a good thing he did, because that lone figure, was Alces Roameling. |
Brothers 'N Antlers | Chapter five: encounters | And so the elk brothers found each other again after these dreadful events. It took Alces a long time to get Elkia into doing something. When Elkia reached the bush, he just lied down, refusing to get back on his hooves again. He was utterly broken by the trauma. Yet, after some slaps in the face, Alces managed to bring Elkia to the terrible here and now. They were still only a few hundred yards away from the wolves, and if the foul beasts wanted, they could pick up their scents easily and pursue them.
So they ran. Together, they ran through the night, and didn't stop until the morning sun shone over the pine trees. Alces tried to keep track of the route they galloped, but soon even he had to give up. Both of them had no idea where they were running to. The farther away from the roaming wolfpack, the better.
As they fled, Alces asked Elkia many questions. 'What happened there? Where's mother?'
The truth was that Elkia was both too tired and too traumatized to answer his brother's questions. He just wanted to go. He wanted to take these black memories, put them into some magical cauldron, and make them pretty again. But of course, he knew that couldn't be done. So he kept silent and focused on running.
Elkia was the first who lost his breath. Alces tried his best to spur him on, and run another extra mile, but in the end, Elkia kept stumbling and pausing, so they stopped. Immediately, once they reached a small clearing, Elkia slumped down into the snow. Alces sat by his side. He saw that his brother was having a hard time, as he kept crying and crying. But unfortunately, Alces did not know how to comfort his brother. In the past, when Elkia got bullied by someone, and Alces saw that he felt hurt, he would always march towards the bully, challenge him to a duel, and win gloriously. Sometimes Elkia even watched those duels, although he found them nasty and violent. Yet, they always did the trick. Alces was proud of himself, and Elkia was bullied no more.
But Elkia couldn't cry forever. At one point, he felt as if he had cried out all the water in his body. Slowly, he stood up, and looked around at the clearing they were in. Then he saw his brother, and spoke to him. 'Oh, Alces! Oh, oh Alces.'
When Alces saw his brother was once more going down, he was there for him. He caught Elkia, and they ended up in a warm, brotherly embrace. Alces had seen his mother embrace Elkia thousands of times, so at least he knew how to.
Alces too, felt bad. Although he was able to cope with the terrible fight much better than Elkia, he felt sad too. But in his mind, anger took the front seats. Why wasn't he able to stop the attack? Why did his mother not stop the attack, if she was really clairvoyant? After the embrace, he walked around, bucking trees or demolishing bushes. He just felt so powerless. Maybe, if he had listened to old Cervidus longer, he could actually have done something, using the dark essence. Who knows...
Elkia stayed silent. He literally didn't say a thing. However much Alces tried to find out what happened after he and his brother split up, Elkia couldn't tell him one thing. He had the feeling he would never talk again. Alces knew for sure that his brother would never be the happy, carefree, and cheerful child again. And neither would he. * *
For many weeks they tramped through the forest. It almost looked as if they were patrolling their own lands. The only difference was that they were just two. Even though their mother had shown them survival tricks--how to stay out of reach of predators like bears and wolves, how to forage for food, even when it was scarce--they were having trouble surviving. They had always been too giddy to pay attention, looking forwards to the next gathering, where they could do whatever they liked, however different that was.
The weather was only getting colder, as winter became worse. Both Alces and Elkia were always trembling, as not even their winter coats could keep them warm. Always, their stomachs were grumbling, demanding some better food than the occasional bark or shrub of heather they ate, both of which were equally tasteless and not very nutritious. They were very, very hungry, and felt weaker every day.
Both of them were largely silent. Elkia still didn't speak, and Alces too, kept his muzzle shut. Elkia thought of almost nothing. The only things that went around in his mind were his grievous loss, the screams, the blood, and the pain on that fateful evening. He had put his body on the automatic pilot, and let himself be led by nothing but the craving of food and his survival instincts.
Where Elkia thought almost nothing, Alces was busy planning. He was thinking of a great many things, and was yearning to share his thoughts and plans with his brother. He hated sitting still and doing nothing. He wasn't content with just trying to stay alive in the barren conditions. He needed a purpose again, a goal worth fighting for.
Alces became edgier and grumpier as his hunger increased. At last, he just couldn't contain himself any longer. According to him, Elkia had had enough time to process his loss and recover from the trauma. Now it was time for action. On one bitter cold winter day, when they reached another clearing and were already looking for some tree to gnaw on, Alces spoke to his brother.
'I have an idea, Elkia.'
Elkia said nothing.
'Hey, are you listening?'
Still, Elkia said nothing.
Alces grabbed his brother by the shoulders and shook him hard. 'Elkia, listen to me!' and he repeated that a few times.
Every time Alces said that, a painful flashback stabbed Elkia's mind like a dagger, because that was what the giant alpha wolf said too, before he... Elkia just wanted his brother to stop saying those words. In the end, he gave in. 'What is your plan?' he said, with a voice as meek as the distant light of a star.
Hearing his brother's voice was something which took Alces a second or two to get used to. He hadn't heard that sound in weeks. Shaking off his brief bafflement, he continued. 'We have to go back.'
'Go back?' Elkia said, his tone still emotionless and flat. 'Why?'
'Wolves are roaming creatures,' Alces answered. 'I'm sure they are long gone by now. If we try, I'm sure we can find a way back to the Shimmering Eye.'
'Why?' Elkia said again.
But Alces was undaunted. He continued to explain his plan, with as much enthusiasm and strength as he could summon. 'Because there may be other elks, deer, and reindeer who will do the same. Imagine that! We can go back and live the life we lost, together with the other survivors. We can rebuild our snow huts, cleanse the Shimmering Eye, and reunite. But of course, we will learn from our mistake, and build ramparts, walls, towers, and other fortifications to repel a second attack.'
Elkia showed no sign of listening. Alces thought he saw him nodding, but that could also have been a shiver from the cold. Still not giving up on convincing his brother, Alces tried his best to sound positive, although he felt irritation building with his brother's stoic behavior. 'But perhaps it won't even come to that, Elkia. Maybe there won't even be a second attack, because the wolves might think they have wiped out every single one of us. Maybe they are not interested in us or the Shimmering Eye anymore. Do you realize what that means, Elkia? That means we can live our lives in freedom, and never need to worry about the timber wolves again!'
Elkia moved his head away from his brother. He believed he saw a suitable--and hopefully not too tough--tree a few feet away.
Catching up with him, Alces shook him again, and slapped him on the back. 'I'm sure Mother will be there too. Hay, I bet she's already practicing the magic of the essence to foresee a new attack, if it will come. She is probably already giving out orders, rebuilding our great culture and society. Hay, maybe she has already taken her place as the queen of the elks.'
Slowly, Elkia moved towards the tree and began gnawing on it. If he really listened, he didn't show it.
Now Alces lost his patience. He stomped his hooves on the ground, and snorted. 'Doesn't that look nice to you? Here I am trying to make all kinds of future plans, and you are just accepting everything as it is. Do you want to roam this blasted forest forever, Elkia? For forest's sake, mother is waiting for us!'
'Mother is dead!'
There was silence. Snowflakes fell down upon the trees and the ground and the elk brothers. Elkia was no longer biting on bark, but was now facing his brother, although he wasn't looking him in the eyes. He didn't dare to do that.
Alces's voice was low, threatening, just like the alpha wolf's. 'What did you say?'
Warm tears appeared on Elkia's cheeks, turning cold and icy in the gusts of wind. 'Mother is dead, Alces. Mother... is dead, and there is nothing for us to return to. Everyone, everything is gone. For all I know... For all I know, we are the last surviving elks.'
Once again silence. Alces felt himself growing cold. Not on the outside, but on the inside. He felt as if the color drained away from the world around him. Slowly, growing clearer with every heartbeat, a red haze spread across his vision. His muscles quivered. At last, he couldn't stand it anymore. 'No...' he said. 'NO!' he shouted. 'NOOOOOOOOOOO!'
He turned his back on Elkia, and ran around the clearing. No tree was safe for his bucking hind hooves and punching front hooves. 'You can't say that! It isn't true! Mother is alive. She is the seer, for essence's sake!' He stopped at a particularly large tree. With every punch and headbutt, more bark flew off the trunk, like brown flakes of snow. He kept punching and punching, venting his anger and trying to find some reason why. At last, he suddenly stopped assaulting the tree. With two powerful, rage-filled jumps, he reached his brother. He grabbed Elkia's muzzle with his hooves, forcing him to watch the fire in his eyes.
'I am... I am so sorry, Alces,' Elkia said.
At first he said nothing, Alces just snorted once, twice. He grinded his teeth together loud enough for Elkia to hear. His dark brows hung heavily over red, furious eyes. At last he said something. Once again slowly, darkly, he said, 'Why?'
Trembling, seeing more wolfish traits in his brother than ever before, Elkia didn't know what to say. He swallowed. Despite the cold, he was sweating. 'Wh-what do you--'
'You were with her when we got separated! You should have looked after her. You saw what happened to her. Now you owe me the story of our mother's death!'
Elkia backed away. He had never before seen his brother so angry. He fumbled to find suitable words. In his mind, a dictionary opened, but the pages were all blank. 'Eh... eh...'
'Eh... eh... WHAT?!' Alces shouted. 'What? Are you at a loss for words, Elkia Deerling. You always knew the right thing to say during those theater plays. You always knew how to capture feelings in poems and stories, yet now you can't even tell me what happened? By the Dark Elk, you are such a baby!'
There was nothing of Elkia left. He felt so powerless against this wall of rage. His mother was right. He had to be tougher, and Alces had to be softer. Together, they were one elk. But now it seemed that the difference between them had never been bigger. 'I... I...'
'YOU were the one who ran away to "help" that group of fleeing elks. YOU were foolish enough to think that there was something you could do for them. And in that moment of foolishness, YOU dragged mother away with you, following you towards her end.' Alces foamed at the mouth as he spoke, and he shouted more and more words at the top of his lungs.
'I... I am so sorry, Alces,' Elkia thought his tears had run dry, but now he discovered he had a few more of them. Elkia knew his brother was right. He fully accepted the fact that he himself was responsible for Aeltha's death.
But Alces wasn't done yet. 'And you know what I hate even more about that? I hate the fact that mother KNEW she was going to die. You and I both know that she had seen all of this coming. Yet, for the sake of YOU she followed, and stepped right into her own grave.'
Accusations, accusations... Elkia couldn't say something sharp or mean back. He just couldn't deal with his brother's rage.
'Dumbstruck again, eh?' Alces said. 'Well, you don't even have to tell me anything. I can picture the image in my head well enough. Back there, at the rim of the forest, I saw how those wolves had you surrounded. I saw how this giant timber wolf thing came out of nowhere. I can picture the fear in her eyes, and how she got torn apart by those terrible beasts.'
'I... I...'
Alces let out a mocking little hint of laughter. 'You know, I was actually wondering and guessing if the group I spotted was the same group you ran after with mother. I hoped I had found you both. I hoped YOU were safe too.'
One more time Elkia tried to say something, but one more time he failed.
'And there you were, running right out of the fray. Hay, now that I think of it, I found it mighty suspicious that only you came to me.' Alces's nose touched Elkia's. Electro bolts shot out of Alces's eyes. 'Did you make some kind of deal with that wolf, eh? Did the wolf have to choose between you and her? Were you such a coward that you didn't even sacrifice yourself? I'd almost wish... No, I do wish that wolf ate YOU instead of our mother!'
Between sobs, Elkia finally managed to say something. 'But... why do you say such a terrible thing?'
Alces withdrew his head with a jerk and bared his teeth. 'Maybe because I mean it! And here are some more things I mean. I am ashamed to be your brother! I am ashamed to have such a spineless coward as my kin. I wish Mother were alive, but maybe even more than that, I wish you were dead!'
'Alces... no!'
'Yes!' Alces shouted. 'I don't want to hear anything from you anymore. I am going away, and I'm going to find the herd. You better make sure you're going in the other direction, or else I might just use the power of dark essence inside myself, and eat you like a predator!'
Hearing his brother's painful words, Elkia couldn't even begin retorting. Dark essence? He had no idea what to make of that. Instead, he turned his gaze to the ground, and hung his head low. 'I can only say the oldest cliche in theater and stories that ever existed.'
'And that is?' Alces grumbled.
'I'm sorry.'
But Alces wasn't listening anymore. He had turned his back to his brother, and jumped through the shrubs. In the blink of an eye, he was gone. Elkia knew it was for good. * *
What could Elkia do now? He didn't even want to do anything anymore. A thick, black cloak of guilt covered him from head to hoof. He had lost the herd, his mother, and now his brother too. What was left of him anymore? Even he himself had no idea.
He sat in the snow at the clearing, and sat there for a long time, thinking about nothing at all. Soon, the snow piled up beside his hooves, higher and higher. When at last the terrible claws of cold raked over his back and made his bones rattle together, Elkia stood up, and moved away. He walked alone through the forest, his head low, his shoulders slumped. He sometimes stopped to nibble at some bark, but despite his biting hunger, he soon lost the will to eat too.
The loneliness totally overwhelmed him wherever he went. Even on the most barren and challenging treks through the most inhospitable weather, Elkia always talked with his brother or his mother. Not being able to say anything to anyone just felt... wrong. If he had a shoulder to cry on, he would cry for hours. If he had some ears that listened to him, he would talk about his grief forever. But he had no one, no one at all.
Yet, the silence gave him time to think. Elkia mulled and mulled over everything that happened. He said to himself that he just had to find the words with which he could express his feelings. Secretly, he nourished the hope that he would run into Alces, and when that happened, Elkia wanted to say something. He didn't want to be dumbstruck any longer. He wanted to say exactly what happened to his mother, however painful it would be to speak about that.
Elkia had always been creative; it was in his nature to make things. Now, he wanted to build a solid house made of excuses and resentment. He knew he had to find the right words to say what he wanted to say. He thought and he thought, scratching his head and raking his mind, trying to come up with something--anything. He went over it step-by-step, and looked at his house like an architect. First, he needed a framework, a mold he could use to pour his ideas in. A long story was impossible. Judging by his rumbling stomach and his wobbly steps, Elkia reckoned he wouldn't live long enough to finish a long tale. With a sniff and a small tear he realized that theater too, couldn't be done. He had no one to play a role, as everyone was... dead.
So, if not a theater play or a story, then what was left?
Poetry!
And right at that moment, as if on cue, the snow stopped falling. Although the winds were still icy cold, the clouds held on to their white payload. It seemed even the weather wanted to help Elkia in his artistic attempt. Elkia looked up at the dark clouds. Now that there wasn't any snow, he could write things down on the snowy ground without the falling white flakes filling up the words and letters and wiping out his creation. Elkia knew he had to take this chance.
He walked towards a tree, and snapped off a branch. That was his pencil. Fueled by at least a little bit of purpose, Elkia walked on, until he came by a little clearing. Luck was with him, because a stream ran right around it. Elkia wanted to drink. With his tongue hanging out of his mouth, he approached the stream, ready to quench his thirst. Unfortunately, his luck soon ran out. Trying his best, he wasn't able to smash through the ice with his hooves. He punched and stomped, but it didn't work. An unhealthy cocktail of starvation, dehydration, and hypothermia had made him too weak to break the ice. He sat down on the ice, panting hard. No matter, he thought. Weakened as he was, he was still able to write.
It was a foolish thing to see. An elk with a stick in his mouth, with trembling legs, was writing down words in the snow. Elkia Deerling was using his last energy and will to live to make a poem. His mind was set on it. He didn't even think about how he was going to show it to his brother. Hay, he knew he couldn't even find his way back to it if he eventually did find his brother. It was a silly thing to do, and yet he did it, simply because it had to be done. And if anything, it might be his epitaph.
Has the world gone mad, has everything gone wrong?
Am I slowly losing my wit?
The robin, loudly, sings a song
Yet I cannot enjoy it
My mantel of sorrow, I wear tight
Drawn over my cloak of shame
What have I done, in my moment of fright?
I am the only one to blame
My mother is dead, my father is gone
To a pretty afterlife, who knows?
Is it right, or is it wrong?
Reality hits me with vicious blows
What could I have done better?
In moments of chaos and discord
Cold hard loneliness holds me in fetters
Tortures me word for word
That was poem number one. Elkia dropped the stick and read over it. He furrowed his brows in thought, thinking up more words. He made some corrections, wiping out a few words with his hooves or adding some words where he thought necessary. Then he stepped back, and read over everything one last time. It wasn't his best work, and it couldn't even begin describing the mad wild water rapids that were his emotions. But, it was better than wandering around aimlessly. However terrible the memories that the words conjured up were, deep down inside, Elkia actually felt a tiny bit better. He had something to do now, something that wasn't even useful--but it was useful to him.
He thought again for a while, and then wrote at the top of the poem: Feelings.
Now that he had the poem done, what next? Elkia stood up again. Although his long legs felt as if they were made out of butter, he managed to stand upright. His stomach turned into a knot, which sharp, clawed fingers tried to loosen, yet, he still managed to think, and drive away the feelings of hunger and loneliness, however temporarily. There was space enough on the snowy ground, and there was still no snowfall. Elkia could make another poem. He grabbed his stick, thought for a moment, and then set to work once more.
On predator and prey
Prey and predator, predator and prey
Is there really no other way?
Are they laws, or merely songs?
Does anyone know where he belongs?
The poor prey run for their lives
Fathers with their children and wives
Forever pursued by vicious beasts
Who do nothing but long for feasts
The predator, with rotten heart
Full of dark essence, every part
Needs to kill to survive
And gladly takes another life
This vicious cycle goes on and on
Beneath the moon or under the sun
Everyone is on the run
Only predators are having fun
As he wrote about the sun, Elkia looked up in the sky. He had worked all day on his poems, and now the sun was setting. Elkia blinked. At first he thought he was crying, but then he realized that his sight was getting blurrier and blurrier by itself, and he had to squint to be able to read the words over. He put the title above the poem, when a particularly nasty shiver sent his teeth clattering and made the stick fall out of his mouth. It promised to be a cold night.
Elkia had no survival plan whatsoever. He knew this cold night was going to be his last night. If he could manage to fall asleep without awakening himself with his shivers, he knew he wouldn't open his eyes again. With every step he took, he leaned heavily on the stick, and found that he couldn't walk without it anymore. He saw things, things that couldn't be true. His mother stood before him, reaching out to support her dead-tired son. Elkia smiled. He dropped the stick and hobbled towards her, ready to be comfortable, safe, and loved again. Alas, it was just an illusion, created by the chain of fatigue and the stomach-twisting hunger. When at last Elkia thought he had reached her, the illusion dissipated, and he fell forwards into the snow.
Instinctively, Elkia stood up again. He had to gather his last strength, his last energy, but he managed to stand up. 'No,' he said. 'No, I'm not done yet.' He looked at his two poems, the words harder and harder to read in the dusk. There was room for one more. He had to make one more. Not for himself, but for his mother. He hadn't even had the chance to bury her or remember her properly. Yet, with the last light in his eyes, he found that he should make her epitaph, right here, right now. His knees bent, and he fell down again. Using the stick, he balanced himself as well as he could. Then, painfully slow, slowly and painful, he walked towards the empty space, the snow as white as a piece of parchment.
I will never forget you
You were the shining white light
Of a faithful star in the night
It's cliche, but it's true
You guided my way
Taught me right and wrong
Gave me the herd to which I belong
Walked with me every day
Our bond was as strong
As the antlers of the Light One
We were a family, we had fun
Playing and singing a song
I can't do without
Your wisdom and cheer
Right now, I shed a tear
Accompanied by doubt
And to finish it off, Elkia wrote the name of his mother on top: Aeltha.
That was it. He had done what he wanted to do, and now he could die a relatively peaceful death, although he still felt pained inside. He turned his back to his creations, and sat on his haunches right on top of a snowy bush of long-dead heather. It was hardly a comfortable bed, but he didn't care. Soon, he would be done with the cold, with the loneliness, with the sorrow and guilt. He had no idea how right he was, but not in the way he thought.
Who knows? Maybe there will be a beautiful afterlife after all? If that were true, he could reunite with his mother. But unfortunately, the family would still be incomplete. Alces was still out there somewhere. Oh, how Elkia longed to see his brother, show him the poems, and tell him he was sorry a million times. But he just didn't have the strength, energy, spunk, and will to live anymore. It was over.
Elkia opened his eyes one last time. The colors all seemed to fade, as the darkness set in. He had no idea if the colors were actually fading, or if night was just coming to swallow him whole. He looked back. Someone was approaching. He had no idea who it was, or if there was actually someone there. Against the white snow, it was easy to spot the strange new colors. Elkia blinked. Where first there had been one shape, now there were three--or was it just his imagination? Three creatures, bearing the same, muddy brown, were speeding towards him. Elkia knew they were three timber wolves. Somehow, they must have got lost from the pack, and now they were traveling in a trio, looking for lonely and weakened prey.
What was Elkia to do now? He couldn't even stand on his own hooves anymore, let alone fight three timber wolves at once. He wanted to turn around, to face death into the eyes, but found that his own body was too heavy for him. Instead, he laid his head down on the ground, crossed his hooves, and hoped for a swift death.
Elkia closed his eyes. |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.