//------------------------------// // Chapter 7: If You Only Knew // Story: Beacon in the Shadows // by Dee Bee Doo-wop Cooper //------------------------------// Beacon in the Shadows or Cheerilee’s a Paladin Chapter 7: If You Only Knew By DigitDaemon ~~~~~ Cheerilee awoke as the train was pulling into Ponyville station. Because of the way the train ran, the trip to Appleoosa had gone through several different town and cities along the way, but the trip back was a straight line of track directly to Ponyville, thus the trip back had only taken about half a day. Cheerilee stepped off the train with a few other passengers. No one was there to meet her, but that was to be expected since nopony had known exactly when she would be back. She took her time walking home. Berry Punch would be picking up Symphony from school, and until they got home, There was really no reason for Cheerilee to be home either. On the way she decided she would stop by the Inn and Suite Hotel, or as the owner pronounced it, “The Inn and Sveet hotel”. The Equestrian Expeditionary Force had commandeered it for logging during their stay, and the soldiers that remained were still lodged there. She entered the modest lobby and made her way to the desk. The owner, Four Stars, greeted her with his unmistakable eastern accent, “Ah, Cheerilee. How are you my dear?” “I’m doing alright. Have you figured out what to do yet with all the money that the army paid you?” “I vas considering adding more rooms, but I do think that the usually traffic I get would varrant it. Perhaps some advertising instead?” “I can’t help you with that one, unfortunately. Is there a Lieutenant still staying here?” Four Star rubbed his bearded chin for a moment before responding, “Vy yes, room two o’ four.” “Thank you very much.” Cheerilee made her way up to the second floor and knocked on the door for room two hundred and four. About a minute later Lieutenant Flurry Wing opened the door. “Hey, whats up.” Flurry Wing said with a grin, “Back from Appleoosa already?” “Yeah, things went pretty quick, I was actually here to ask if you would take my report to General Turncoat next time you see him.” Cheerilee pulled her report out of her bag and presented to the Lieutenant. “Sure,” Flurry Wing took the report from the school teacher, “But in return, you're going to buy me lunch tomorrow” “Sure. How about Sugar Cube Corner? One o’clock?” “I’ll be there.” Cheerilee left the hotel and continued back home. The trip was short and quiet, most ponies were still at work or at the market, and Cheerilee’s route subverted both the business district of town and said market. She was greeted at the door by an excited Symphony and a relieved Berry Punch. “I told you two I would make it back.” Cheerilee said while she held the little pegasus filly in a hug. Berry Punch joined the hug and squeezed her little sister tight, causing Cheerilee to wince. “What’s wrong?” Berry asked with a little concern. Cheerilee put Symphony back on the ground and turned her side towards her sister, revealing the knife wound on her side. “Hold on right there” Berry Punch ordered, “What’s that.” “Just a bit of a scratch, It’s nothing, just a bit sore is all.” “Looks to me like an infection waiting to happen. Come into the kitchen so I can clean it up.” “I keep telling you, I can’t get infections.” Cheerilee pouted as she followed her older sister into the kitchen. “I’ll believe a magical immune system the day Canterlot decides to switch the day and the night.” Cheerilee ruefully submitted to her sisters care, and to her credit, didn’t even wince at the alcohol swab. After a few minutes of bandaging, Cheerilee finally escaped the attention of her sister. She returned to the living room, where Symphony was quietly coloring. When Cheerilee sat down on the couch, Symphony picked her paper and crayons off the coffee table and sat down next to the fuchsia mare. She snuggled up against Cheerilee and then continued coloring, the paper sitting in her lap. Cheerilee wrapped her front leg around the filly and looked down at what she had drawn. It was two ponies with oval bodies and stick legs. Cheerilee was able to identify one of them as herself, but it took her a moment to realize that the other was Symphony’s mother. “That's a very nice picture.” “Thanks, It’s you and my mom. I wish you could meet her, she’s really nice.” Cheerilee rested her head on top of the pegasus filly’s, “I’m sure that one day I will” Hopefully not for a long time though. “So what did Twilight teach you today at school?” “She taught us about the sun.” “What did you learn about the sun?” “That it’s a giant ball of fire.” “Thats right.” “If the sun is made out of fire, how does Princess Celestia lift it up? Is she fireproof?” Cheerilee giggled at the innocence of the filly, “Why don’t you come with me to Canterlot tomorrow, and you can ask her yourself.” “But I have to go to school, don’t I?” “I think Twilight will understand if you miss a day of school to go and see the princess.” “Are you sure?” “Of course, I’ll tell her that it’s a field trip.” I should probably go see her anyways Cheerilee spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the couch and watching Symphony draw. ~~~~~ Onyx Loadstone finished cleaning up what had previously been a training camp for the Children of the Night. Now it was a few pieces of broken wood, a few fires, and a lot of rock sticking up at random jagged angles. He had already rounded up all the surviving trainees and tied them to one of the boulders in the center, after which he had given them a strong lecture on the incompetence of their former night watching, and how it had ultimately led to their capture. Of course, how could they have known they were fighting against one of the few ponies for whom the Earth itself sang out. Loadstone made his way over to the edge of the camp and sat down underneath one of the stone pillars of his own making and waited. Soon enough, he spotted the golden armor of the EEF on the horizon. He got up and silently walked away. Lieutenant Flurry Wing touched down in the remains of the training camp. This was the third time in the same number of days that she had been given an assignment, only to find that her task had been completed by an unknown force. Two other soldiers landed beside the lieutenant and began to take stock of the situation. “ Siphon, Firestorm, you know the drill. Find the prisoners. I’m going to take a closer look at these rock formations.” The two nodded simultaneously and walked off. “Who the hay is screwing with my missions?” ~~~~~ Cheerilee and Symphony’s quiet relaxation was finally ended by Berry Punch calling them to eat. Dinner passed quickly and soon Cheerilee found herself in front of the town library, knocking on the door. The door opened up to reveal the form of a baggy-eyed and slightly singed Twilight Sparkle. “Cheerilee, good thing you showed up. Please come inside.” Cheerilee cautiously stepped inside the library tree. “You would not believe the day I have had,” Twilight said with a groan. “I’m sorry about asking you to teach, I could get somepony else.” Twilight quickly shook her head, “No, no, it wasn’t that. You have a great class, they are very well behaved, and Symphony is a very smart filly.” “So, what happened then?” “Here, come on in and have seat,” Twilight gestured to the dining room table. ”Would you like some tea?” Cheerilee nodded and sat down on one of the oak chairs. “You remember how I was trying to identify the last part of the mind control enchantment?” Twilight asked, while she put the kettle on the stove. “Yes.” “Well I figured it out. Well, sort of figured it out. More accurately, I figured out why I couldn't figure it out.” “And why is that, if anypony knows complex magic, it’s you.” Twilight blushed slightly at the compliment, “Thank you, and for the most part you are right. If you show me any spell in Equestria, even some changeling and griffon spells, and I could probably tell you at least something about them.” “So why can’t you figure this spell out?” “Well, that's just it, the magic isn't Equestrian, or Griffon, or Changeling. It isn’t even draconic magic. I had to take books from the archive of the Royal Canterlot Library to figure it out. It’s Demon magic.” “Demon magic? I thought that demons were a myth?” “And I thought Paladins were a myth. No, according to the books I looked in, demons live in a separate dimension that is linked to our own. It also said that the demons have tried to invade and conquer our world twice.” “So you think that they are coming back?” Twilight shook her head, “Thankfully, no. Most of the enchantment in the mind control spell are common to the Equestrian magical vocabulary. Definitely not something that a demon could have done. But the problem is, that only a demon could have used the magic the formed the last enchantment.” “So you think that the demons are helping the Children of the Night?” “Possibly.” “Wait, so if you’ve spent all this time doing research, why does it look like you set yourself on fire.” “Oh that? I was helping Spike floss his teeth and I got a letter from the Princess.” Twilight took the now whistling tea pot and poured it out into two cups she levitated on to the table. “Enough of that for now though, what did you come to see me about?” “First, I wanted to make sure that you were doing alright, and second I wanted to let you know that I am taking Symphony to Canterlot with me tomorrow.” “Like I said, I’m doing alright. And I think it’s a great idea taking her to Canterlot, there is so much to learn about Equestria there. Did you know that the Canterlot library is the largest in the world?” Cheerilee mentally facehoofed. “You don’t say? Honestly, I was just thinking that some fresh scenery might help her keep her mind off her parents.” “Oh,” Twilight’s face fell, “That works too, I guess.” “But I’ll be sure to take her to the library, she does like to read after all.” Twilight’s expression brightened, “They have a great foal’s section, I can send a message to the princess and get you a private reading room.” “I don’t think that will be necessary, but thank you.” Cheerilee finished her tea and stood. “I should probably get going now, I’m gonna have another early train to catch.” Twilight nodded and walked Cheerilee to the door, “Thanks for coming to check on me, and... Good luck.” “Thanks.“ Cheerilee smiled and walked out into the night. ~~~~~ Silvered Tongue sat down in front of a silver tray that his personal attendants had prepared for him. He picked up a zucchini stalk in his magic and twirled it a bit before setting it back down. Not hungry? The unicorn jumped out of his seat. “Who’s there?” I would assume you knew it was me, you locked me in here. “No... No you should be dead.” Tsk tsk, did no pony ever tell you that it takes a lot more than draining a demons magic to kill it? “What do you want” Silvered Tongue asked, trying to contain his shivering. Your soul. Your army. Your country. You've already practically handed me two of them. “You, I sealed you up. You can’t hurt me.” The unicorn said regaining his composure. That won’t be a problem, I’ll just wait till you’re weak, or dead. Doesn’t matter to me. You can’t hold me forever you know. “Hmph” SIlvered Tongue sat back down in front of his food and began to eat in earnest, as if to take his mind off the previous conversation. ~~~~~ Braeburn finished signing the last of the paperwork on his former desk. “It’s all yours Gritting Sands, take good care of this town, ya hear?” The pony in question nodded gravely. “Good.” Braeburns expression turned from serious to a wide grin, “I got a pretty young mare wait’n for me.” Braeburn pick up his bag and slung it over his shoulder before walking out of the Sheriff’s office. He made it to the platform just as the Ponyville express was pulling in and hopped aboard. He immediately made his way to the dining car and began stuffing himself on the exotic foods that were only available on longer train rides.