Stories in Stone
Memories of Twilight
By TDR
“...all I long for...”
“…And then he said, 'If this doesn't work, I'm so sorry,'” Sweetie Belle chirped through a mouthful of pancake drowning in syrup.
“An’ that's when he blew fire at us,” Apple Bloom concluded, munching on a bowl of cinnamon-soaked oats.
Celestia sat back, looking at the pair. Despite their chipper attitudes, both of them looked rough. They had slept nearly a full day since they had arrived and had woken up ravenous. The minor burns they had received from Scootaloo's fire were hidden under a few puffy bandages and were not likely enough to scar.
“So what happened to Scootaloo?” Sweetie Belle questioned, looking up at the princess.
She smiled slightly at that. Neither of them was frightened of her or even cared she was a princess past asking a few hundred questions. It had taken some time to get them to calm down enough to tell her what happened, but they were more comfortable rambling on with her than anyone else she had met save Pinkie Pie or Bleu. It was almost a comfort dealing with her younger subjects, as they held none of the fear of royalty that her older subjects did. Still, this was perhaps the fourth or fifth time they had asked about their friend. She had distracted them before, but they were clearly worried. Perhaps she should at least tell them a little.
“She is still asleep. It seems she went through a little more than you two did with this ordeal. I will make sure that you two are the first to know when she wakes up,” Celestia stated. “What you girls did, while brave, was quite foolish. As Spike said, he went with Silver Claw willingly. We were not sure he was still on our side.”
“Pfft, it's Spike. No matter what happens, he's still our friend. We had ta try an’ git him back, ‘cause no pony else seemed tah be doing that,” Apple Bloom pointed out rather matter-of-factly.
Celestia could not help but chuckle at the filly’s surety of the situation.
“So… are we gonna go back to Ponyville anytime soon? Rarity's probably worried about me,” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Oh crud! You said we've been asleep all day, too. Granny's gonna tan my flank fer this,” Apple Bloom wailed.
Celestia was not happy about it, but if word got back to Silver Claw, Spike would be in far more trouble than the girls would be. “I am afraid I will need you to remain in the castle for a time. I wish to keep an eye on young Scootaloo, and with what happened, it would be best if you remained here for a little while,” Celestia responded. She was a little worried about their reactions to that, but Apple Bloom quickly brightened.
“Wait a minute… if Princess Celestia is vouching fer us, that means Granny can't say anything about me being missing.”
“Oh yeah, and mom and dad can't, either. Plus, Miss Cheerilee can't say we faked this to get out of class!” Sweetie Belle chimed in.
“An’ when Scootaloo gets up, we ken explore tha castle. We missed out on that at tha wedding.”
“Maybe get an explorer cutie mark.”
“YAY!”
Celestia blinked, listening to the pair ramble off what they could try while here and wondering what she had gotten herself into.
==================================================================
The room’s door swung open, although there seemed to be no one on the other side for a few moments. Then, the silhouette of a unicorn poked his head into the darkened room, looking about.
“Fluer?”
“Not at the moment. Honestly, I doubt I could play the air-headed bimbo for much longer, anyway,” Scarlet snorted from somewhere in the darkened room.
“Ahh I see. I take it that the information you have been waiting on was in the dead drop?” the stallion questioned.
“Yes. Although I’m still not quite back up to full, time is short.” The mare stepped out of the shadows. Her foreleg wasstill bound up, and her face and neck were also wrapped up like a mummy from the other surgery that had been done. “I would have enjoyed your hospitality a bit longer, but Nocturne wants me back.”
“I expected as much. Before you go, I do wish to point out I have been considering our little agreement.” Scarlet's eyes narrowed.
“Oh, don't give me that look. The deal is still on; I would simply like to expand on it a little.”
“How so?”
“Certainly while being a higher ranked noble would be delightful...”
“You want to try your hoof at being a god as well.”
“Who wouldn't? I have been aiding you and your group as best I can since you came to my attention; I would expect perhaps that shows I can be trusted with such things. ”
“While useful, you have yet to do anything that would make Nocturne consider you useful enough to make a god.”
“Ahh, I expected that, and here is where I change it.” The stallion chuckled as a golden glow floated over scroll, unfurling it before the red earth pony, who regarded it curiously.
“What's this? “
“A simple spell developed by Twilight Sparkle. She has a rather compulsive habit of documenting everything. This is the spell she developed to free the Five Beasts. It was simply sitting there in her library for my agents to find. Convenient for us, if I do say so myself.”
“Nocturne can do that on her own without this spell. That was a wasted effort.”
The scroll was yanked back and rerolled. “The spell is not for her; it is for me. While I cannot gather any sizable force of mercenaries without attracting notice, I can free a choice selection of ne’r-do-wells from the garden who can be easily convinced to aid you.”
“Not bad. It may be worth a few points in your favor.” Scarlet smirked.
“I also know that all of the Element Bearers have left and are on their way to the Badlands for some reason. That might be of more use to the others than to you, however. And then there is this, but I doubt it will count, since you asked me to have it made to your exact specifications.”
A small box drifted to the mare, settling down on the ground before her as she prepared the last of her gear to depart. She flipped open the lid curiously. A grin crossed her masked features.
“OOOh, if my head didn't hurt so much, I could kiss you.”
“While I am sure your beauty will be impressive once your wounds heal, I would prefer you instead put in a good word for me with your employer.”
“Oh, I will... After all, when it's all said and done, Nocturne’s going to be short a follower anyway.”
“Remind me not to get on your bad side.” The stallion chuckled.
======================================================
“Noooooo!”
The rainbow colored beams lanced down, swirling about her and obscuring her in light.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Nightmare Moon screamed as she was enveloped in wash of colored light. It was impossible; she had destroyed the Element of Magic. How had this unicorn brought it back? She should have tried harder to kill them; clearly the beasts, illusions, and even dropping them off a cliff had not been enough.
She braced for the pain she expected to come— the feeling of the painful crystallization of her flesh as had been done to Onyx
Scale, or the slow creep of stone up her flesh as she was turned into a statue like her generals.
There was a pang of regret at that line of thought, one that lingered as time seemed to slow in the middle of the vortex. Memories
flooded her mind.
She had seen them, seen them in the garden, sealed in stone. She was going to destroy them, smash the statues to rubble at their betrayal, but she couldn't. As mad as she was, she could not help but to look on them with sadness before her sister’s presence drew her to Ponyville.
They had followed her. No matter what, they believed in her, no matter what they lost, no matter what she did, until the end. In the end, even they couldn't abide by her actions, and yet they still tried to help her even though they knew she would try and destroy them.
And they followed her into imprisonment. Why, she didn't know. They could have had their lives back; they could have been hailed as the saviors of the War of Night, but they let themselves be forgotten to follow her. She knew they still lived like every other creature in that garden; they stood as if they expected it, as if they knew and wanted to be made statues.
Her friends had followed her, even after she turned on them. They had not betrayed her... she had betrayed them. Betrayed their honesty with her lies, their generosity with her greed, their compassion with her hate, their laughter with the tears she left in her wake. Betrayed and spited their loyalty to her.
They went to her sister to try and save her, not to turn on her. They braved the enemy stronghold themselves to seek one who could destroy them, for her...
Nightmare Moon collapsed, the armor cracking and falling away from her as the magic swirled about her, pulling at her fur drawing away the black coloration of her fur; the dark void of her mane and tail was drawn into the vortex.
She had never felt this small. Her sister and her friends had been trying to help even after all she had done to them.
The dark voice in the back of her head screamed out, the cry muting until it was barely a whisper, and she collapsed fully.
She could feel her sister freeing herself, as the last vestiges of Nightmare Moon's power trickled away. She could feel her coming closer, knew that a punishment, a reckoning for her actions was coming; all she could do was huddle there and whimper.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Luna jerked upright with a start, her hat flipping off her head to the floor as she whipped her head about, struggling to shrug off the dream. She paused, panting softly, her breath blowing out rapidly through the mask.
The clack of the train car was the only sound for a time, though she could hear loud voices from the next car. It sounded like singing —bad singing— along with a great deal of laughter, Bleu's near-musical tones, and the high-pitched giggling squeal of Pinkie Pie.
“Nightmare, I gather… Nox, was it?” stated a voice from inside the darkened sleeping car.
Luna's ears perked, her head turning to meet Rarity's gaze as the white unicorn lifted the hat and placed it back on her head.
“Something like that,” Nox muttered, glancing up to see Rarity sitting at the other end of the train car. “What's going on up there?”
“Well, somehow, Bleu and Pinkie managed to convince Rhede to sing a few songs with them.” Rarity shuddered. “Dreadful, really, for as delightful as Mister Pelt's voice is normally, he simply cannot hold anything that even remotely resembles a tune. I fully expect he would mess up trying to hum along somehow.”
“He does,” chuckles Nox lightly.
“I thought as much. Seriously, Princess, do you plan to continue this facade even now?” Rarity questioned as Luna cursed to herself at falling into the mare’s word play.
“It was supposed to fool everyone. How did you figure it out?” Luna asked with a sigh.
“Well, you did just confirm my suspicions now, though honestly, I have no clue how you even thought to fool me,” Rarity stated. “I fitted that costume for you specifically. The one who wore it at the castle was a little too short and a little broader than you are. The material sagged in places and was stretched tight in others where it shouldn't be. The fabric doesn't lie, Princess.”
“And here I expected Bleu would be the first to figure it out.”
“I still need to ask why, Princess. The first time was to hide from your sister, but why now?”
“Better to hide, I suppose. For all that has been done between us, at the very least, it would make everyone uncomfortable. At the worst, they may try to risk themselves to save me from something when they should not.”
“Honestly, I think you worry too much. As far as I can tell, most of them are already fine with you.”
“It is not the others I am worried about. He convinced them to follow him into stone to wait for me.”
“Actually, Jer'rahd did his best to deter them from joining him. You have quite the strong friendship with them, Princess. It is clear you care for them and you would all do anything for each other. The only thing that seems to get in the way is your and Jer'rahd's pride. This entire costumed venture could have been avoided if you simply forgave them. Though you think they should forgive you and it's this rather annoying catch-twenty-two that is driving me crazy!” Rarity shouted the last bit, tugging her mane with her hooves.
“Umm...”
“Far be it for me to try and tell a Princess what she should do, but you should just talk to him. Twilight mentioned you told her you became angry every time you saw him, yet here you are in the back of a train car traveling with him. Seems to be an excuse to me,” Rarity huffed. “I won't tell anypony who you are, but they are going to figure it out sooner or later. I expect Bleu may already know, and I am sure somehow Pinkie Pie does too. She probably has an itchy ear or something that tells her when royalty are around in disguise or something.”
“Wobbly nose, actually,” Pinkie Pie stated, popping up from under one of the pillows on a bed across from Rarity, with Bleu perched on her back pointing an accusing claw at Luna.
“Ah HA!” Bleu shouted.
“This I did not need,” Luna growled.
=======================================================
Celestia left the pair of foals with two guards she knew she could trust. Captain Peach Blossom and Captain Lion Heart had been pulled from training for this task.
The pair was less than thrilled with foal sitting duty until she explained the situation to them. She put a small glamour on the pair, changing their coloration to any pony who saw them and informed the pair they could tour the less populated areas of the castle.
Hopefully, the guards could keep them out of trouble. She watched as the four of them set off along with a cover story about watching some ambassador or another’s children. It wouldn't be the first time this happened, so it was believable enough.
Her hooves fell lightly on the stones as she trotted down the hall to check on Scootaloo. A sudden scream sent her galloping the rest of the way to fling open the door to the guest chamber.
The place was a veritable inferno: the bed, furniture, and nearly everything else in the room was burning with a green fire. Celestia winced, expecting for a bed or something to form at any moment and fall on her head. Thankfully, the green flame seemed to be normal fire, save its odd coloration.
In the middle of the room, the orange filly was rolling on the floor trying to put out her wings.
“Stopdropandroll, stopdropandroll! Gah, Miss Cheerilee lied! I’m still on fire!” Scootaloo shouted.
Celestia blinked, not able to stifle a chuckle fully at the filly’s flailing. She could recall she had set a room or two on fire herself in her sleep when she first gained her abilities, though by that point, she had known what she could do.
“Do calm down, Scootaloo. While you are on fire, is it burning you at all?” Celestia commented as she stepped into the room fully. Her magic doused the fires spread about the room and pulled open the windows to let the smoke filter out.
“Princess Celestia?! What? I mean no, but... What's going on? Where's Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom?” Scootaloo chimed, her mane and tail flickering with green sparks. Every shift of her wings changed the shape of the feathers of flame sprouting from them as if they were real wing feathers.
Celestia regarded the filly and could not help but have her smile widen by the fact this foal did not seem to fear her station, either.
“Your friends are safe. I am sure they are touring the castle right now with a pair of guard captains I borrowed from Major Kaisur's training group.” Celestia smiled.
=============================================
“No wait, don't!!” shouted Lion Heart, diving to try and catch a vase that Apple Bloom had knocked over, only to have it smash on his head.
Peach Blossom rushed after the pair, trying to keep up with the fillies who wanted to see everything they could at the castle immediately, and they didn't seem to be very concerned about what got in the way of the cutie mark crusade, or whatever they had yelled before taking off.
Lion Heart shook his head free of the pottery and glared after the pair.
“Next time the princess asks for a favor, we ask for a raise first...” grumbled Peach Blossom.
“Still better than Major Rose's training,” Lion Heart muttered, pushing himself to his hooves.
A loud explosion drew their attention as Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom ran past going the other way.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen!” Sweetie Belle commented as they run past.
“Seriously, this place can't be up tah code,” Apple Bloom stated.
The two guards looked at each other, then at the smoke coming from the other room.
“I think I would prefer the Major's training,” Peach Blossom said.
================================================
“At least, I hope they are safe,” Celestia muttered. “At any rate, your friends told me what happened. I expect that it is the reason what happened to you came about. Not something one would consider as a discoverable talent.”
“What?” Scootaloo asked as Celestia moved closer and pointed to the filly's flank.
Scootaloo turned and looked back, her eyes widening as she saw the green phoenix on her flank. She turned, trying to see it better and wound up spinning around in a circle until she fell over dizzy, setting the carpet back on fire with her wings.
The new fire snapped her out of her excitement and sent the little pegasus running again in a panic, relighting everything in the room as she bounced around trying to put herself out.
Celestia slapped her face with her hoof, realizing this was going to be a long day.
==========================================================
Granny Smith sat up in bed, hearing Winona barking up a storm. She grumbled and rolled out of bed, muttering about AJ's dog, though she knew the pup didn't just bark for no reason.
She made her way downstairs, the steps creaking lightly as she made her way towards the kitchen. Her ears perked up as she heard Winona yelp in pain. She moved down the steps a little quicker, hearing the poor thing whimpering and growling.
“Damn mutt, shut the buck up already,” a voice hissed.
Granny’s eyes widened as she picked up a broom and pushed open the door to the kitchen. The back door was wide open, the lock busted, and a griffon stood in the middle of the kitchen rubbing her foreleg where Wino had bit her.
Granny grumbled, shoving the door all the way open and swinging the broom at the griffon.
“Blasted burglar! Git outta mah house!” Granny shouted around the broom handle.
The griffon winced as the straw broom walloped her on the head before she growled something that sounded like a swear in Griffon and grabbed the broom, yanking it —and Granny's teeth— from her mouth.
“I have had it with this crap! Dogs and geriatric old farts… this was supposed to be a damned hunt. Where's the pony called Applejack!?” Wind Razor growled, throwing the broom and teeth aside.
Granny narrowed her eyes. “I ain't telling you nuffing, yah over blown feather duster. Now git out!”
Wind Razor growled, glaring at the green earth pony. “If I can't claim my target’s lover, I’ll just take the rest of the family and come back!”
The griffon lunged at Granny, only to be stopped short as the door to the kitchen flew off its hinges and into the leaping griffon, knocking her back across the room and into the stove with a crash.
A large red earth pony stallion stepped through the doorway, pushing the old mare back behind him before cracking his fore hooves together as he glared down at the griffon.
“Eeenope.”
=====================================================
Applejack watched the zebra intently as she made a few motions, which the earth pony tried to mimic with some success.
Rhede glanced up from his book occasionally, getting a little annoyed at Twilight reading over his shoulder. The others were either in another train car catching up on sleep or outside of the train for a late flight.
Rhede glared and pulled the book away again, trying to shoo the curious unicorn away, though he would have had better luck trying to get Pinkie to calm down than stop Twilight from trying to read a book she had never seen before.
Twilight did pause a moment to watch AJ and Velkorn go through some sort of kata, or whatever it was called. Rhede sighed happy for some sort of relief from the book-crazy mare.
“AJ, I just thought of something,” Twilight said.
“Oh, an’ what’s that, sugar cube?” AJ asked with a small twinge of annoyance at having to split her concentration between Twilight and keeping her balance. Velkorn didn't seem to be affected by the distraction.
“Well, I saw the training Major Rose was doing with the dragon magic. It’s rather amazing what those other earth ponies could do with it. It's something that might help you out considerably as well in a fight, not to mention farm work.” Twilight stopped as AJ stumbled and crashed to the floor of the car. “Was it something I said?”
“Ah ain't gonna use no magic, doesn't matter what kind it is,” stated AJ. “‘Specially that kind.”
“Why not? Considering our situation, you should set your stubbornness aside, at least for a while. You don't even know the spell that was used...” Twilight blinked as AJ jumped back to her hooves, glaring at Twilight.
“Ah know real well what spell yer talking about, an’ ah know fer sure ah will not be using it,” AJ growled.
“Ah, so you're intolerant of it too, I gather?” Rhede muttered, closing the book.
“Intolerant? What?” Twilight questioned.
“Twilight, the dragon’s strength spell doesn't always work. That's why a number of the earth pony guards that Rose was teaching were pulled out of the training. Some, like me, simply can't utilize the ability. Then there’s the ones that draw a little too much from it. The latter are why the spell was banned back in the First Dragon War,” Rhede explained.
“So wait, what happens when you pull too much?” Twilight switched her gaze between the two.
“I'm curious how a non-military pony knew about it. I can understand Rose, since he was sealed before the dragon war, but how did some farmer find out about it?” Rhede asked.
AJ winced under the stare from the pair of them before she grumbled and mutters the rest. “Ma knew it from before she married Pa. Taught him as well with no problems; though all us Apples were plenty strong already, little extra wouldn’a hurt. Became a bit of a legend on how strong and tough tha Apples were. Everythin’ was fine fer a while ma and paw ran tha’ farm on their own with help of it. Problems came a bit later.”
“Hmmm? Later?” asked Rhede.
“Ma and Pa had no problems with it. After they passed, however, their eldest found tha spell in ma's diary, figured it could make things easier around tha farm. Didn’a quite work out that way...”
======================================================
Wind Razor cursed as she flung the door off herself and leaped at the red stallion, who simply let her come at him. He sidestepped suddenly, knocking the griffon away with a bat of his fore hoof before she even laid claws on him.
This repeated more times than she liked. She couldn't maneuver very well in the small kitchen, and there was no way to attack from the sides as long as the pony stood in the doorway.
“Gah, I know you. You're that damned stallion that was with the mare Claymore wanted. Scarlet supposedly killed you. How the buck did that bitch manage to even touch you?”
The stallion said nothing, though she did notice the green mare and the dog were safely behind him now. This was turning into a bust— best to just drop the crap and hope the shock gave her a shot.
She reached back and tossed the fillies’ bags to the side. One of the bags was sticky and smelled like some sort of jam. The jar must have broken when the door hit her. The thick, syrupy mess had soaked into one of the bags with a small apple on it. In the dark kitchen, it looked very much like blood.
Both the stallion’s gaze and the old mare's were drawn to the bags.
“Oh my gorsh, is that Apple Bloom's bag?!” Granny gasped.
Mac glared back at the griffon. “Where's mah lil sister?”
Wind Razor grinned, clicking her claws together and hoping the stallion would move from the door to attack now. “Guess.”
Granny looked from the bag up at Mac as his ears flattened to his head. She could hear his teeth crack as he gritted his jaw.
Mac reached up and unfastened his harness, letting it fall from his neck. The heavy yoke struck the kitchen floor and splintered the wood at the ponies’ hooves as it hit.
“Tha buck?” Wind Razor questions.
============================================
“Big Mac's a what?” Twilight questioned.
“They used to call them berserkers. During the First Dragon War, Ruin commanded a whole regiment of them.Ponies who could learn how to tap into the dragons power but couldn't control it once they did.It was always on. They couldn't function in proper society so they were almost all in the Guard. They were such feverish combatants that in battle, they would not stop until either they were all dead or the enemy was. Even in the worst parts of the war, Princess Luna was reluctant to use them as they openly sought death more often then not.The spell was banned before very long though it still popped up from time to time in old notes or such. With the spell banned, there never was a regiment of them in the second war, though from what Jer said there were plans for more to be trained in the Lunar Republic. For the most part, everyone was too scared to use them, as in the heat of anger they could turn on their own just as easily as the enemy. Only Ruin seemed to have any sway on them in that state.”
“Big Mac ain't a berserker. He's as calm and sweet a pony as yah ever met. His problem is if he gets worked up, he can't rightly control all that strength he's got. That spell caused more harm than good, and it's taken a lot of therapy and training tah get tah this point. Heck, we're still paying medical bills fer when he used to hurt himself doing something,” AJ explained.
“Should be fine unless something sets him off. Or he and a mare friend get a little too personal...” Rhede commented, getting a glare from AJ.
“Ain't nothing wrong with mah brother. Ah don't need you tellin’ me otherwise. His mare friend ain't complained yet. ‘Sides, he's still less violent at his worst than yer friend out there at his best!” AJ growled, gesturing to the next train car that held Jer'rahd.
“Okay... you got me there. Of course, Jer has a spirit of death and destruction inside him. Mac's just got a dragon’s rage to deal with,” Rhede sighed.
“Okay, this is definitely something I want to know more about,” Twilight said.
The pair looked at the purple unicorn, who had a scroll and pen out and was writing down everything the two of them hadsaid.
“Seriously?” Rhede growled.
“Ah shoulda known,” muttered AJ.
“What? It's not like Major Rose or Kaisur are telling me anything about this. It's another area of history that we don't know anything about, and it's a new spell.” Twilight commented.
“One you can't use because you're a unicorn. Anyway, considering he was attacked by Scarlet and Claymore and didn't break anything, I'm inclined to agree that he has control. I mean, if his marefriend was attacked and he didn't lose it, what would set him off?” Rhede muttered, noting the sheepish expression AJ suddenly had.
“Ah ‘spect family mostly, ‘specially Apple Bloom. He's been real protective of her since Ma and Pa died...”
====================================================
The wall of the Apple family farm house exploded, sending wood, plaster, pots, pans, the kitchen sink, and one very stunned griffon flying out across the farm yard. Most of the items, including the griffon, finally tumbled to a stop at the beginning of the apple orchard, though a few items went much farther.
Wind Razor rolled with the hit, wincing at every movement as she rose back to her paws. Her lungs felt on fire and a horseshoe-shaped spot on her chest was bleeding heavily where the pony's hoof had caught her and torn through the skin.
What the heck was going on here? Wasn't this the damned pony Scarlet had nearly killed? How could a damned farmer hit so hard?
She coughed, looking down at the flecks of blood on the ground. That one hit had to have broken her ribs, and judging by how difficult it was to breathe, it probably punctured a lung, too. What the hell was this pony?
The griffon’s eyes widened as she threw herself to the side. A refrigerator smashed into the ground where she had been standing and dug a furrow into the dirt before bouncing back into the air to crash into the trees behind her. A number of other loud thuds continued before a final loud splash some distance away marked the appliance’s watery resting place.
The crunch of wood and plaster brought her gaze back up to the hole in the side of the farm house as the stallion stepped out of it.
He snorted, and she was sure steam came out of the pony’s nostrils. His eyes were pure white, and he seemed to be frothing at the mouth like a rabid animal.
“Shiiiiiit...” cursed the griffon.
The green mare was behind him, shouting something that she couldn't make out. To be perfectly honest, she’d had enough of this place. Silver Claw's plan to raze the town was sounding better by the moment— to hell with the peripheral trophies.
The green pony was not given a second glance as the red one moved towards her. Wind Razor had had enough— she was gone.
The griffon kicked off the ground, her wings struggling as the motion shifted the broken bones of her ribs as she haphazardly climbed into the air like a drunken watermelon.
A roar from the pony on the ground drew her attention back down as the stallion appeared to be swinging something around his head on a chain. The griffon’s eyes widened as she realized it was a massive iron farm plow.
She panicked and flapped harder, trying to climb above the pony's throwing range as quickly as she could. She squawked loudly as the metal farm tool flew under her, a sharp pain running along her back as she flapped even harder, vanishing above the clouds.
A glance back once past the damp clouds showed her tail had been severed again.
She whimpered, trying to keep the adrenaline flowing until she made it back to Silver Claw's cave. After all this, the last thing she needed would be to black out mid-flight, though the new wounds were making that look like a possibility.
======================================================================
Granny Smith watched as Big Mac went off. There were very few things that frightened her anymore. Snakes and her eldest grandcolt in this state were about it. He wasn't a danger to the family, though anyone else might have a problem, especially if he didn't recognize them.
A few more farm implements joined the first in soaring after the griffon. As the first crashed back to the ground, the large stallion only stalled a little to catch his breath. The anger was still there, but there was no outlet. Given enough time, he would calm himself... Well, once he finished stomping the griffon's tail to paste, anyway. Still, so long as no one else showed up, he should be back to normal in a few moments.
“What is going on here?” questioned an unfamiliar voice.
Granny's eyes widened as she looked from Mac to a cloaked figure looking up at the damage to the farm house.
“Yah dang fool! Git outta here afore he sees yah.” Granny shouted.
The figure paused looking at Granny, then to Big Mac, who had taken note of the figure. The red stallion's eyes narrowed as several tons of thrown metal crash to the ground around him. Granny winced as her grandson rushes the cloaked figure.
The hooded pony seemed surprised, though a faint red glow shone from under the hood, lighting up a red striped muzzle. The spell surrounded Big Mac, lifting him into the air, though his momentum kept him going until he was floating above the figure, legs kicking as he struggled to reach the hooded pony. After a few moments, his struggling stopped though he remained panting heavily.
“Are you calmer now?” questioned the cloaked figure.
“Eenope.”
“Likely to rip my head off before I can explain anything?”
The exhausted pony considered a moment before responding. “Eenope.”
“Well, I suppose that will have to do. I did not expect any of you Apples would know a draconic spell, let alone use one. Now then, if everyone is alright, might I get an explanation on what happened here?”
The glow faded as Mac was lowered back to the ground, where he sat down hard.
Granny pushed open the screen door, wincing as it fell off the side of the house, and slowly made her way over to the pair. “Not ‘til yah state yer business. We had enough unexplained guests tonight,” Granny growled.
“Granny, git...”
“Shush, Mac. This one ain't any harm, or she'd not ah been polite this far,” Granny muttered. “Not like that dang griffon.”
“Wind Razor? Well, I suppose I should clarify my own actions before I ask anything. I am representing Princess Celestia in Ponyville currently. I would have been here sooner, but I was nearly in Ponyville chasing another feeling before I was guided here.”
“Granny, we ain't got time for this. Apple Bloom...”
“...is fine... despite what you may have heard or been told by the griffon,” the masked pony stated, drawing both the Apples’ attention.
“What? An’ how do you know that?” Granny questioned.
The figure sighed. “I do not agree with the Princess’s suggestion, even if I understand the why of it, particularly after what seems to have transpired here. Celestia wanted me to tell you Apple Bloom is missing. I expect Wind Razor wished to tell you she was dead.”
“Stop being all vague and crap an’ just tell me where my sister is!” Mac snorted, ignoring Granny's attempts to shush him.
“She is safe, though it is best for all parties involved if you consider her and her two friends to be missing.”
“Scoots and Sweetie? What tha hay did they git into this time?” Granny muttered.
“A rather delicate and dangerous situation, one they cannot simply apologize for and get out of. Until this matter is cleared up, they will remain as they are. If you have doubts to my word, please contact the Princess through Miss Sparkle when she returns. I would trust no one else with that knowledge. If anyone else asks, you are to say she is simply missing. You may tell them of the griffon’s visit. Given that I assume that is the remains of her tail and neither of you are hurt, she did not accomplish her goal. Bringing up that these criminals can be hurt, and badly, will do much to quell any panic that may arise from the foals’ disappearance.”
“That still ain't explaining anything. Ain't no reason fer us tah believe yah, either,” Granny stated.
“That is true, though for what it is worth, which would you rather believe? That the griffon was correct and she is dead or that someone who claims to be sent by the Princess says she is fine?”
The pair looked at each other before Big Mac nodded.
“An’ who are you, anyway?” Mac questioned.
“Someone who knows how special Apple Bloom is, though I regret the situation. If Miss Sparkle asks who told you to talk to her, tell her my name is Sunshine.”
================================================
Lion Heart flailed, trying to get out from underneath the tapestry. Peach Blossom was flying back and forth across the room trying to catch the fillies currently swinging on the chandelier claiming to be after their swashbuckling cutie marks.
The unicorn filly certainly had the voice for the pirate type. For such a small thing, her voice boomed through the main hall, bringing more attention to the guards’ ineptitude on dealing with the pair to the servants and other guards.
“YO HO FIDDLE DEE DEE...!!!” shouted Sweetie Belle as she dangled from the chandelier.
Lion Heart growled, wondering how he was supposed to look after an entire race of half-dragons when he couldn't handle two fillies.
=========================================================
Celestia wondered how she had managed to deal with an entire nation when she could not even deal with one filly.
There was no way Sunshine had been this bad. Either that, or her memory was terrible. Frankly, with all that was going on, she was afraid it was the latter. At least back then, she had Baelit to help.
Once the fire situation had been settled, the questions started about her cutie mark. After answering what she could, she had asked Scootaloo to remain still for a time until she could study the pegasus a little to try and figure out the trigger for it herself.
A servant had brought some food for the little mare and Celestia had thought to take that time to look closer at Scootaloo's wings only to have the green flame go out when the filly started eating.
She made the mistake of mentioning they went out, which sent the filly into a panic. The panic reignited her wings, which started new fires, and the chaos accumulated with a bowl of oatmeal upturned on the Goddess of the Sun's head somehow.
As the glop dripped down her face, she recalled that Sunshine had actually done this once.
When Celestia went to clean up, she had come back to gleeful squees and more smoke. The Princess was not even aware there was anything in the room left to burn at this point.
Celestia ducked back into the room, only to have a small orange and purple filly careen off the side of her head and then flutter back into the air before crashing into a wall and fluttering the other way like a dazed moth.
The impacts did not even seem to faze Scootaloo as she was far too lost in the haphazard flight she was performing. The filly was giggling with glee at being airborne, all the while setting tapestries and the exposed wooden rafters on fire as she flitted about.
Celestia twitched, preparing the spell to douse the fires again.
==========================================================
Jer'rahd shifted, sliding his hooves under him and standing up. He could hear the steady drip of water over the clank of the chains binding him in place and feel the cold stone under his hooves. He knew what was to come. It was always what came— his mind was clearly running out of new nightmare material, but that didn't matter when the same things always worked to torment him.
Wait…
He never remembered what was coming until afterward. Why was this different? He waited for far longer than it should have taken for the water to wash over him to drown him in the depths. He exhaled deeply, opening his eyes.
A wall of dark water loomed before him. He jerked back as far as the chains would let him, his head whipping about franticly at the sight of the dark liquid.
He forced himself to calm down and survey the situation. Aside from the initial panic, there was no fear despite being surrounded by dark, oddly-flowing water that he knew was filled with unspeakable horrors— things that had constantly plagued his sleep for over a thousand years now.
Even while under the influence of Chrysalis, he had nightmares. Sometimes even Entropy would show up to torment him. It was unlikely the creature created the nightmares, though it was certain it thrived from the fear they caused him.
But this? He lifted a fore leg, watching the metal chains binding it shatter and fade into nothing as he pulled. A quick shake of his body dislodged the rest of the chains. He looked around at the walls of water about him, then down at the floor and the silvery light that was around him. He lifted his gaze upward and he smiled.
A silvery white orb hung in the sky far above him, the beam of light holding back the water all the way to the source of the beam.
The full moon shone down on him, its light keeping the nightmares at bay.
Jer'rahd's smile grew even wider; this only happened when she was near. She was the only one whose presence kept his nightmares at bay, even when she was one herself.
He sat back on his haunches, eyes fixed on the silvery moon far above, the smile not leaving his face.
========================================================
Nox sighed, adjusting her hat and traveling to the diner car of the train. The sunlight was already streaming in the windows and she cursed her sister with every beam that managed to find its way under her hat into her eyes.
Rarity had at least agreed to remain silent without issue. Getting Bleu and Pinkie to keep things to themselves required some sort of Pinkie Promise nonsense.
It had been a rather trying evening even getting that from the pair. She was quite worried about the agreement she was forced to make with the two of them as well. Making open ended deals never boded well.
She was not going to agree to anything of the sort, but Pinkie Pie was adamant about the deal being the only way the pair would keep quiet. They would stay quiet now for a favor to be given at a later time when they came up with something.
Luna had at least managed to make sure it was not something that would be harmful to her or anyone else or any sort of prank. They agreed though they both giggled disturbingly when she accepted the potentially ruinous deal.
Now all she wanted was a bit of breakfast and to get ready for the day ahead. The train should arrive at their drop-off point just before noon, and they would spend the rest of the day on hoof. It was caution that had decided on the slower route rather than just flying.
The Badlands were prone to sudden wind storms, and even if those could be avoided, the train made it less likely that they would be seen by one of the escapees. Flying chariots carrying this many supplies tended to attract attention, as did airships.
She slid the last door open, stepping into the dining car and right into the stares of Starfall, Applejack, Twilight, and Rhede.
Nox flattened her ears as the two ponies who had been chosen to bear the Element of Honesty bored their gaze into her like daggers. AJ had a large meal half-eaten before her and Starfall had a plate that looked picked at, though she was nursing some apple juice and still looked a little green. At least the pegaus was not violently ill like she normal was.
This was not going to be a pleasant trip. She ignored the pair, moving to collect her food, planning to head back to another car to eat when Applejack spoke up.
“So ah been meaning tah ask, whats yer deal?”
Nox sighed, having heard the same thing from the others already before they even got on the train. “What do you mean?”
“Tha costume, fer starters. Only ponies with somethin’ tah hide or a show tah go to’ll wear a git-up like that.”
“I have already stated I have something to hide,” Nox snapped back. “And that something is my identity. The costume is by no means going to affect my abilities.”
“It affects how we see you, or in this case, don't. You are hiding behind a mask and a false name. I can't say I have ever met a pony who's done that and did not have something nefarious in mind,” Starfall stated.
“Hey now, that sort of crap is what I do, you know!?” Rhede retorted.
“And every time you do it, you are about to kill someone or steal something.” Starfall glared back at Rhede.
“Ummm right, good point. Carry on,” Rhede muttered, mostly to himself.
“Keeping those things a secret from your teammates doesn't help much. Plus, yer kinda a last-moment addition to the team, and none of us know yah or have worked with yah before. Heck, we've done more with each other than we have you, so we got some understanding of what’s what there, but you? ‘Bout all we know is that yer an alicorn. Can't be that many of them that yah think hiding yerself will stop someone from knowing yah,” AJ pointed out
“There's actually exactly twenty three pegi-corns in the world— more, if you count Nocturne, snow ponies, river ponies, and sea ponies,” Twilight stated matter-of-factly.
Everyone looked at the librarian as she flipped a page on the book she was reading and took another spoonful of cereal, ignoring their questioning stares.
“It is my business who I am, Miss Applejack. I am here to aid you, not cause any issue,” Nox said.
“That's tha point: yer already causing issues with this masked pony nonsense. Ain't no pony ken trust yah when yah seem to have so much tah hide,” AJ pointed out. “Hiding who yah are like this is too much like lying fer my taste, could be anything under there.”
Before Nox could respond to that, Jer'rahd trotted in from the open door of the next car, carrying a rather large plate of food and softly humming to himself as he set it down on a table.
The entire car stared at the strangely chipper pony as he picked up a scone and started putting grape jelly on it.
Nox sighed. “I care not if you trust me due to the mask, just so long as you know that I am here to help you with this mission that the princess sent you on.”
“Oh don't worry, I trust you,” Jer'rahd said suddenly before taking a bite out of the scone.
Again, the entire car stared at the unicorn.
“Umm, Jer... you okay?” Rhede questioned.
“Mmhmm, great, in fact. Amazing what a good night’s sleep will do for a pony. Anyway Starfall, Applejack, keep in mind that Luna and Celestia put her on this team, so they trust her. I just said I trust her, and I’m lead of this party alongside Sparkle. Hey Sparkle, you trust Nox here?”
“Yeah, sure thing,” Twilight muttered flipping another page.
“So if both princesses and both your team leaders are alright with her then you two should be fine as well,” Jer'rahd stated, finishing off the scone. “These are really good. Who made them?”
“Ummm, Pinkie and Bleu are cooking...” Rhede replied, still staring at the smiling unicorn.
“Ahh, that explains it, then. Sparkle, we're going to get a bit of practice in after breakfast so there's still time to rest before the train stops.”
“Mhhhmmm,” muttered Twilight through another spoonful of cereal.
=========================================================
Nox closed the door behind her, stepping into the last car before yanking off her hat and throwing it down, having a mini fit that threatened to spill her food.
“What the buck is the point of the costume if everypony knows who I am ANYWAY!?” Luna cursed.
A white hoof lifted up from one of the bunks and spun around in the air.
“Darling, I told you that to begin with. Now be a dear and keep it down. I still need to get a bit more beauty sleep while I am still able,” Rarity commented.
=============================================================
Celestia sighed, looking at the filly before her snoring away. Scootaloo had finally exhausted herself right before dinner and nodded off at the table. Celestia had put her back in her room after fireproofing it with a few spells here and there.
Stepping away from filly for perhaps the first time that day, she moved into the throne room, blinking at the damage there.
Her jaw dropped at the sheer carnage that had seemed to have gone on inside. She had not seen damage this bad since Silver Claw had attacked the Gala.
The doors to the throne room opened and a pair of guards hobbled in, leaning on each other for support.
Lion Heart's armor was dented and painted bright red. His hair, mane, and tail were halfway done up, and each of his individual scales was painted a different color. He had a bit of tissue in his nose with some blood on it and one of his eyes was swollen shut.
Peach Blossom did not have any armor on at all and looked half drowned. One of his wings was bent at an odd angle, his fur was shaved in patches, one hoof was stuck in a can of plaid paint, and there was a steel bucket stuck on his head with an eye hole cut into it.
Celestia blinked, looking at the two in shock, but before she could ask anything, Peach blossom spoke up. “Princess, we would like to report that the Cutie Mark Crusaders did not receive a cutie mark for the following...” Peach Blossom muttered through the bucket.
“Base jumping, hole digging, structural integrity testing, runaway cart stopping, blue meth cooking, scale painting, interior design, crowd surfing, building inspection, catapult use, swashbuckling, piracy, tapestry swinging, hooficures, magic, anti-magic, elder god summoning, spelunking, castle exploring, cooking toast...” Lion Heart stated in a monotone voice.
“Free-form rock climbing, interpretive dance, phoenix riding, phoenix bathing, phoenix capturing after it escaped, firefighting, blacksmithing, armor repair, being a guard, curling, macramé, the Macarena, time travel, off-season Hearth’s Warming decorating, wild gazebo wrangling, moat diving, moat monster wrestling, moat monster veterinary assistance, moat monster catching when it escaped, the flop...” Peach Blossom continued.
“Rapier fighting, training dummy construction, training dummy breaking, brick laying, freeform flying, swiping snacks from the kitchen, playing Princess Luna's video games, sarcasm detection, being noble ponies, being ambassadors to the Diamond Dog representatives, knowing what an ambassador is, trying to start an international incident, annoying Prince Blueblood, the Carameldansen, listening to war stories, starting a fight between guards, cockfighting, being quiet, settling down, or not touching that,” Lion Heart finished.
“We do hope, however, that they will get their cutie marks in finally being asleep already. We also hope that you might get an extra cutie mark for giving ponies a raise who obviously deserve one,” Peach Blossom finished before they both collapsed.
“Yay,” Princess Celestia sighed.
========================================================
Bloodtail smirked. He had been wanting to do this from day one, but there was too much of a chance of it being found out. Now that they were so close to the end, it wouldn't matter if it was discovered or not.
He tapped the end of the glass with a hoof, letting the last drops of bluish fluid fall out of the bottle before dropping the vial in as well, listening to it fall before hearing it smash against the side of the well before striking the surface of the water.
He pulled his head back, looking around to make sure he wasn't spotted. There were several such wells in this town, as well as the river that ran along side of it. While he doubted the entire town used the wells for water, he was sure enough did for it to be a useful target. His ears perked up, hearing a bellow far in the distance and wondered briefly if that was related to what Wind Razor was off doing.
He simply shrugged, moving away from the well and darting off into the night. There was still so much left to do and the end was oh so very close.