//------------------------------// // Allies, Part Two // Story: Legends Never Die: Friendship is Magic // by bookhorse125 //------------------------------// When they finally returned, Opaline and Twilight were making small talk, which made Flurry’s mind short-circuit. She couldn’t believe that her aunt was casually chatting with the single pony who would bring about her ruin, and furthermore, that Sunny was willing to trust her. Flurry wanted to blurt out everything to her aunt, to tell her what would happen, but everything she had ever been taught or had ever heard screamed at her to be silent. The fate of the world could depend on her keeping quiet. “Everything okay?” Twilight asked uncertainly, seeing the conflicted expression on Flurry’s face. “It’s fine,” Sunny said after a brief hesitation. She glanced sideways at Flurry. “Just… clarifying something.” “Is it true that you’re from the future?” Opaline blurted out, looking like a filly who had just tasted ice cream for the very first time. Her eyes were wide and shining, as if all her dreams had just come true at once. Sunny and Flurry whipped their heads to stare at Twilight, who shrugged guiltily. “Sorry. I only told her… enough.” “How much is enough?” Flurry wanted to know. Her voice came out harsher than she meant it to, but she didn’t care. She still wasn’t willing to accept the help of this future murderer. “She told me that you’re ponies from the future who came to warn us about an evil villain who is coming here with an army of shadow wolves that will imprison us and use our power to take over the world,” Opaline said, sounding far too gleeful for having said such a serious sentence. She bounced up and down on the tips of her hooves. “And if we don’t stop him, then he’ll take over all of Equestria forever!” “Right,” Sunny said. “His name is Grogar, and we need a way to stop him-” Opaline suddenly gasped, her eyes opening, if possible, even wider. “Grogar?” she whispered, her voice filled with hushed awe. “Probably should not have said that,” Flurry hissed to Sunny, who flashed her a look of annoyance. “I’ve heard of him,” Opaline continued, not having heard what Flurry said. She frowned as she thought for a moment. “We studied him. He was the first emperor, ruler of Equestria, father of monsters. He let them roam freely over the land, taking what they wanted and destroying the rest. He created a darkness so complete it seemed like nothing happy would ever shine through again. When he was defeated, it was the first time ponies came together and unified against an enemy.” She looked up again and, for some reason, met Flurry’s eyes. “He’s back?” Flurry didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to speak a word to her. But even so, she knew in her heart that the pony in front of her wasn’t capable of intentionally hurting anyone. Flurry could sense her heart and knew her true intentions, which were to prove herself and help other ponies in a world where everything was capable of destruction. She couldn’t quite pair this pony with the cold-hearted vile horror that had destroyed so much in her life. Flurry cast her gaze downwards and looked away from Opaline. “Yes,” Twilight said when no one said anything. “Grogar has returned, and he’s quite possibly only moments away from attacking Skyros. If he takes the city, then all of Equestria is doomed.” “That’s why we were in there,” Sunny said, jerking her head at Starswirl’s compound next to them. “We were searching for a way to stop him.” Opaline looked at them all seriously. “I know what you need.” “What is it?” Twilight asked. “Is it that ring-shaped-thing that Starswirl has in there? What is that for? What does it do?” “Oh, that?” Opaline waved her hoof airily. “That’s the portal to Equestria. But nevermind that. You don’t need Starswirl; you need somepony else.” And so that was how Flurry Heart found herself following Opaline Arcana through the streets of Skyros to meet with an unknown-somepony. “What am I doing,” she muttered under her breath as she trotted along behind Twilight and Sunny. They still ducked out of sight whenever other alicorns came walking along, and Opaline would lean against the wall as casually as she could (which wasn’t very much) and pretend like everything was fine until they had passed. She wasn’t very convincing, though none of the other ponies even gave her a strange look, which led Flurry to believe that Opaline was a misfit even in this ethereal otherworld that was Skyros. “Here,” Opaline finally said after they had descended down nearly to the first level of the city, to where the buildings were smaller and more cluttered, and there were fewer courtyards and open spaces. She held up a hoof to stop them, then pointed to a two-storied villa on the corner where two streets intersected. It reminded Flurry of some of the architecture in Cloudsdale. The roof was tiled with gray stone, and the walls were pearly white that glistened in the light. There were few windows, but there was a balcony on the second-level and a tiny, empty courtyard behind it with arches leading into it. Opaline approached the door and raised a hoof to knock, but before she could, Flurry ran forward and stopped her. “First, you’re going to tell us exactly who lives here, and who you’ve been taking us to see,” she said in a low voice that was hardly above a growl. Opaline’s eyes widened with confusion, and maybe even a little panic. “Flurry, what are you doing?” Twilight cried out. Flurry ignored her. She glared at Opaline. “Just tell us what you’re really up to,” she snarled. “Flurry, that’s enough!” Sunny grabbed Flurry Heart and dragged her off of Opaline, pulling her away in case she managed to break free. “Just leave her alone!” Flurry felt a blinding rage building up in her chest, giving her a sick, twisted feeling that made it hard to breathe, hard to think. She wanted it gone, and she didn’t know how to get rid of it. And through it all was the incredulousness that she was working with a pony who would do horrible, horrible things to other ponies, and those other ponies were willing to trust her. She wished she could go back and undo their meeting and return to the zeppelin with Twilight and Sunny, and somehow go back to Equestria and not have to worry about anything anymore. But she knew that was impossible. “A pony lives here who can help you,” Opaline said, looking at Flurry with a burning question in her eyes, but she didn’t say anything. “She’s my mentor, a unicorn who used to live in Equestria. Starswirl brought her here so that she could help… us.” She cleared her throat. “Her name is Gusty.” “Gusty the Great?” Twilight’s eyes grew wide, and her jaw dropped practically to the floor. She looked like she was about to faint, but Flurry reached out a hoof to steady her. “...Who is Gusty the Great?” Sunny asked uncomfortably, looking around. Twilight had to bite her lip to keep from screaming. “Sorry, Sunny, I keep forgetting how much of Equestrian history you don’t know,” Flurry apologized. “Gusty the Great was the unicorn who defeated Grogar and banished him to his prison in the stars. She stole his talisman, his bell, which I think you are well-acquainted with, and stole all of his power before she destroyed him.” Flurry looked at Opaline suspiciously. “And she lives here?” “How?” Twilight spluttered. “Gusty the Great lived thousands of years ago!” Opaline spread her wings. “Time doesn’t work the same in Skyros,” she said with difficulty. “It kind of… stands still. Starswirl convinced Gusty to come to Skyros to help train us alicorns, even though it meant… leaving behind a lot.” She glanced at the house with a pained expression. “I think it was harder than she let on.” “So why did she come here?” Sunny wondered. “Why did Starswirl the Bearded ask her to come to Skyros?” Opaline kicked at the ground and muttered something. “What?” Flurry said, a bit of harshness creeping back into her voice. The fire alicorn took a deep breath, looked straight at Flurry Heart, and said, “Because of me.” Flurry, Sunny, and Twilight all stared at her. “She came to help me,” Opaline went on. “My magic doesn’t work like anypony else’s. I’m the only fire alicorn in Skyros, and Starswirl really just doesn’t know what to do with me. I can’t master spells like everypony else, and every time I try to manipulate my element like the water alicorns or the light alicorns or the stone alicorns - it doesn’t work right. It goes all over the place and makes a mess. Most of the other alicorns think I’m too dangerous and stay away.” She took a deep breath and forced a smile on her face. “Gusty and I have been working on how to master my magic, but she does more than that. She defeated Grogar once before, and I think she can help us do it again.” Then, without waiting for any of them to fully digest what they had heard, Opaline turned around and knocked on the door. Hardly a second later, the door swung open, and a pony poked her head out. She was an elderly unicorn mare with a silvery-gray coat and blue-green eyes that were slightly larger behind a pair of thick-lensed glasses that were perched on her muzzle. She had a green mane streaked with ribbons of bright pink and twice as much gray that hung around her neck in a chaotic mess. Her bangs were constantly getting in her eyes, and she kept having to toss her head to gain a few seconds of clear visibility. Though she looked old and rather frail, there was a kind of life in her eyes that made her seem young. When she saw Opaline, she grinned. “Opaline! What kind of a surprise is this? I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow afternoon!” “Starswirl sent me,” Opaline mumbled, pawing at the ground with her hoof. “Um… I brought some friends.” Gusty the Great looked behind Opaline and, for the first time, seemed to notice the three other alicorns standing awkwardly behind her. Her face lit up, and she pushed the door open wider and stepped back. “Well, don’t just stand there! Come on in, please do!” She glanced behind her and temporarily panicked before lighting her horn and sending unseen objects flying about, crashing into the walls in a symphony of cacophony. Gusty gave a satisfied smile and stepped to the side. Flurry was the last one to enter the house. She glanced around rather warily. The inside of the house was cluttered, the walls almost all obscured with bookshelves that housed all sorts of random objects. There were stacks and piles of books all over the place, balancing precariously on windowsills and around a few potted plants that looked like they could use a few good days in the sun. Cobwebs hung in the furthest corners, though a broom was hurrying around, alternatively sweeping the ceiling and knocking piles of things over with the handle. Candles were randomly stashed, enough to supply light, but in such unexpected places that half the time Flurry wasn’t sure where the light was coming from. It was strangely homey in its own way. On the wall beside the door, a picture was hanging. Flurry glanced at it. It was of a much younger Gusty the Great, standing with two other unicorns: one of them a mare with a strawberry-red coat; a short, neat, sky-blue mane; and bright green eyes; the other was a stallion with a bright red coat and a mane that looked like fire. The picture was worn and creased and wrinkled, but the frame that it was displayed in looked new. “Please excuse the mess,” Gusty said apologetically. As she backed up, she bumped into a stack of books and nearly sent it toppling. “I, uh, wasn’t expecting anypony.” She turned around to adjust the books so that it wasn’t quite in as much danger of falling over, and the ponies saw some kind of metal leg brace on her hind leg. Gusty caught them looking and smiled easily, flexing her leg. “Nothing to worry about. Just a little something an old friend of mine made for me.” Gusty adjusted her glasses and got her first good look at the ponies in her front room. As her eyes swept over Flurry and Twilight, she said, “I don’t think I’ve seen you before-” Her eyes landed on Sunny; she stopped and gasped. “It… it’s you.”