//------------------------------// // Remembering is a Burden // Story: The Solar Steward // by kissfromarose2 //------------------------------// “Twilight we have to keep going.” Tearing her eyes away the student of Princess Luna forced herself to keep walking, the heavy stench of incinerated Lunar magic burning her nose. In front of her the others whispered amongst themselves worriedly, glancing back occasionally to check on her. Their concerned eyes gave her the strength to keep putting one hoof in front of the other but Twilight’s heart was already broken. Nopony could have survived that. Not even an alicorn. And now she would never know the truth. How ponies’ innate magic worked was simple, taught to the smallest of foals and found in the most basic of textbooks. It had to be. An uncontrolled surge or magical burnout could be fatal, even to the strongest pony. Every pony had a limit, a boundary to what they could do. Magic regenerated over time, but too much at once or a backlash too great and a pony’s wellspring would shatter. Without that… The steady tread of hoofsteps stopped. “We’re here.” As they crossed the threshold a cold wind seemed to sweep through the broken corridor, blowing away the dust and cobwebs to reveal the fractured stonework beneath. The only speck of colour in an otherwise grey landscape, Philomena led them onwards. Through the dimly lit hallways they wound, passing first through an old banqueting hall whose plates had long since grown over with moss; then past an old statuary filled with familiar faces none of them ever had met. Every so often Philomena would pause expectantly whilst they looked around, searching for the elements. Many times she would perch on the shoulder of one of the tall statues that seemed to be dotted all around the castle, the tall imposing figure of an alicorn whose mane and tail seemed to stretch on for miles even frozen in stone. Each time she would wait a few minutes as they searched before shaking her head and cawing her displeasure, pulling on Twilight’s mane until they moved on to the next room. As she led them up stone spiral stairs to the upper level Twilight tried not to look down. Beneath her right rear hoof loose pebbles skittered down the steps clattering as they went. Finally reaching the second level Twilight followed the others into the first chamber. To her surprise it was not a library or study as she might have expected. It was a bedroom. Though dust lay heavy on the floor, they could still see the golden fibres that had once matched the ancient tapestries still clinging to the walls. When Rarity’s keen eyes spotted the solar sigil woven deep into the fabric Twilight saw her gasp. As the other gathered around Twilight’s eyes were drawn to a yellowed book still sitting on the desk. Carefully reaching to turn the page she caught a glimpse of the words “Celestia’s private diary. Keep out! (Especially you Luna!)” before the page crumbled to dust almost as soon as she touched it. Upon the postered bed she saw a single sunflower cut in its brightest bloom, beginning to dry but not yet fully faded. All around it lay the withered remains of a hundred more, petrified petals reaching for a ray of sunlight that would never reach far enough into the room to cradle it. Tears pricking her eyes unawares she suddenly felt like an intruder. Stumbling from the room she caught Philomena’s gaze, the phoenix’s amber eye softening to a sheen more familiar in aquamarine blue. “We have no time to waste, we should leave now!” "I agree. We must march for the Everfree forest immediately." Shining Armour felt a cold sweat begin to trickle down the back of his neck. He was hoping it wouldn’t come to this. Queen Chrysalis gestured to her guards, already quickly moving to form ranks. Cadance moved to stand beside them. Shining’s horn lit up, roaring with the magenta glow that had given him his cutie mark. The was no more room for hesitation or doubt. He had his purpose, and he had his orders. Beginning the climb up a set of stairs even more precarious than the last, Twilight felt her apprehension begin to grow. They still hadn’t found the elements and now Philomena was refusing even to let them search in the proper optimal manner. After Twilight had stumbled her way out of the Lost Princess’s bedroom the phoenix had quickly herded the rest of them out, even pecking Rarity when she tried to resist. There was a bright glint growing in her eyes, one that scared Twilight. Having corralled them into the corridor she had begun pushing them with needlelike precision across the main hallway and towards the west wing. For a brief moment Twilight thought she had caught a glance at the throne room but, before she could spot more than two decaying chairs and a broken dais, Philomena was pushing them on again, up yet another flight of stairs, these even more crumbling than the last. Now, just outside the room, Twilight felt a shiver run down her spine. The ghosts here were even stronger than in the east wing. Forcing herself to push open the door she stepped inside. As she did so she felt the crunch of glass breaking under her hoof. Her ears however barely registered the sound. Instead they, like the rest of her, were frozen in horror. If the last room had been a museum, carefully preserved and protected from the ravages of time, then this was a crime scene. What remained of the furniture was barely more than shattered shards of wood. The curtains that had once been blue had been torn from the window frame with such force that the rail that had once held them up had been ripped cleanly from the wall, dragging down heavy chunks of masonry with it. The room itself had been left thrown open to the fury of the elements. The rotting wood gave the room a heavy smell of decay, and all over the floor tattered scraps of paper and the spines that had once held them were little more than wet pulp. Devastation washed over her as tears began to bloom in her eyes. Behind her she heard Fluttershy gasp. Turning to see her eyes widened in horror. All along the main wall what she had taken as scratches were instead words gouged deep into the stone. She stood there in horror staring, trying to make sense of what she saw. But all she could read was anguish. The few words she could make out made little sense, seeming to exist only to howl their madness at any pony who dared to look. Only three words were legible, repeated over and over, a wretched cry screaming out at the world. I HATE YOU! Feeling the words pierce her heart Twilight staggered backwards, as her hoof caught on something by the door she reached out to catch herself, landing heavily on the nearby Pinkie Pie for support. With sudden surprise she realised the usually joyful pony had never put a hoof past the threshold of the room instead waiting outside, her mane flat against her coat and her blue eyes large with grief. Looking down to see what had caused her to trip Twilight saw a small framed portrait of two alicorns, one white and one blue, holding each other close, oblivious to everything except each other. Though the glass protecting it had long since been trampled, the picture had remained almost untouched by time, unfaded by the elements that had consumed almost everything else. The only thing to mar its surface was a single word written large in a shaky hand all too familiar. Help Me For a moment she was overwhelmed by emotion. But then, at the feeling of her friends comforting hooves on her back again, she looked up, her face set in determination. “I know what we have to do.” “I swear Shining Armour, if you do not release us THIS INSTANT...!” Shining Armour gritted his teeth. His shield, powerful though it might be, was not made to contain two alicorn level rulers and several hundred angry changelings. That wasn’t even including the civilians. Looking back at the purple shield now encasing the entirety of the changeling hive he came to the conclusion he had perhaps panicked. In his defence, the recent explosion of Lunar magic really hadn’t been conducive to maintaining a peaceful situation. The anguished changeling queen currently throwing herself furiously against the wall of the shield was proof enough of that. Vision beginning to blur as cracks began to form before his eyes and a stray bolt of magic singed his ear, Shining Armour made one last ditch attempt to save the situation. “She ordered me to do it!” Everyone froze. The fight slipped from Cadance’s frame as Chrysalis’s eyes relit with a green fire halfway between hope and fury. “What?” asked the Princess of Love quietly. Letting out a sigh Shining let the fractured remnants of his shield fall. “Two months ago Princess Luna came to me with a plan. She wouldn’t say exactly what it was, but she told me that during the Summer Sun Celebration this year there would be an attack.” Cadance’s eyes widened. “How could she possibly have known that? If there was a threat like that I would have known!” "Nopony knew. That was the point. She wanted it contained to minimise the possible casualties." "But how could she even have found out in the first place? Threats like this don't come from nowhere!" Chrysalis sighed heavily. “She’s known for a thousand years,” she said softly. “I only wish she had told me the truth.” “The truth?” Shining Armour questioned in confusion. “About her sister.” "Her sister?!" Cadance and Shining shouted in unison. For a moment Chrysalis's eyes took on a misty quality, before she shook her head. "That isn't important now. Clearly whatever plan Luna had has failed." She scowled. "What I want to know is, what on Equus possessed her to make this a private family reunion!" Cadance opened her mouth as if to protest, but one look at the sluggish moon struggling to stay aloft and she shut it again. Meeting the Changeling Queen's eyes, the two rulers shared a look, turning in sync to look at the now heavily sweating guard captain. Shining crumpled under the duo's glares. “I don’t know!” he exclaimed. “All I know is she ordered me to keep you here out of harm’s way for as long as possible, or until the threat passed.” “Not until she recalled you herself?” challenged Chrysalis, one elegant eyebrow raised. “She said I would know when it was safe. Now I know what she meant.” The two shared another significant look, longer this time. “You don’t think… Aunt Luna wouldn’t…” “She would.” Shining looked before the two mares a slow feeling of dread beginning to creep over him. “She isn’t coming back, is she?” Cadance asked quietly, voice small. “She is if I have anything to say about it.” Chrysalis said firmly. “Whether she likes it or not.” She turned back to the changeling guards still standing primed behind her. “All guard regiments form march formation.” Throwing a look of challenge at Shining Armour she summoned her crown. “We’re going to rescue a Princess.” In the end it seemed as though all along Philomena had known all along exactly where it was they had needed to go. Almost as soon as Twilight had spoken she had taken off from her makeshift perch to fly out of the room, making the six of them run to keep up with her. Back down the stairs they went, through a broken archway on the main corridor and out into the courtyard. As Twilight entered she circled a strange stone statue before flying up to roost in a nearby rafter. Following her flight path with her eyes Twilight could see that most of the courtyard had long since fallen to ruin. With no pony to tend to the stone or keep the grass in check the floor had become overgrown taking much of the finely wrought stonework with it. Only the strange statue remained untouched. Five smooth spheres of stone stood, suspended on long platforms circling a sixth larger globe. 'Could this be what they had been looking for?' She glanced back at the others. Above her the sky cracked. Tears fell from the sky as thunder roared overhead, quickly followed by lightning too wickedly sharp to be anything other than a weapon. It shot across the sky, faster than an arrow, hitting something in the inky blackness. For a moment a pale figure was visible as it hit. Then a moment of darkness before the sky was turned red with fire hurled across the sky to hit another figure too slow to dodge. Twilight’s breath caught in her throat. They fell like a rock, hurtling towards the canopy, wings fighting against gravity. A hair above the treeline they caught themselves, landing heavily. For a moment a harsh rattling breath could be heard echoing out across the forest. Then the heavy flap of wings began anew, hauling them back into the sky where the other stayed, waiting. A heavy weight settled on her shoulder. Turning Twilight saw Applejack there, the others just behind steel in their eyes. “We’ve followed you this far Twi. Just tell us what we need to do.” Behind her Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Rarity nodded. “We started this together we’ll finish this together.” “Wherever it takes us.” “We’re behind you.” “And we have your back.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “Girls, I…I don’t know what to say.” Pinkie Pie grinned. “Just agree we’re all friends and get on with saving the world, silly!” A nervous look grew over her features. “We are friends, right?” “Of course you are!” Twilight blurted out. “I mean we are, friends that is. All of us. And we’re going to stop Infernia. Together.” As the last syllable left her mouth a bright light burst forth, illuminating her in magenta light, before spreading out to cover each of her friends who each began to shine a soft light of their own. Above them battle froze. And somehow Twilight knew everything was going to finally be alright. She looked at each of her friends in turn and saw exactly what they represented. Rainbow Dash. Loyalty. Applejack. Honesty. Rarity. Generosity. Pinkie Pie. Laughter. Fluttershy. Kindness. "Something is still missing." Her glowing eyes locked onto the statue. She could feel it calling to her, calling to be made whole again. She stepped towards it. “NO!” From the sky a dark angel fell at impossible speeds. Her wings were invisible, locked to tightly to her body they ached. Her gaze was locked upon the statue and the small figure slowly approaching it. A figure wreathed in flame and smoke followed the first. Crackling arcs of light and dark tore across the horizon. Twilight’s hoof reached out to touch stone. One final shot rang out. All was silence.