//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: An Awkward Affair // Story: Diary of the Necromancess // by Sebbaa //------------------------------// Chapter 8: An Awkward Affair As you turn another page, you notice that the script has suddenly changed to Equestrian while still retaining the same hoofwriting. You turn the pages back and forth and quickly come to the conclusion that several pages have been ripped out of the tome. You frown and read on, hoping that these pages don't contain the secrets you are looking for. “Rarity, I need your advice!” I almost jumped into her face, when she had finally opened the door after I had knocked on it furiously for several minutes. She was wearing her white and purple trimmed bathrobe and her sleep mask still on her brow. “It's three in the morning dear! Can't it wait until tomorrow?” I bit my lower lip, I had not realized what time it is, or thought about normal ponies sleeping at this hour. I clearly couldn’t think straight anymore. I can't remember when I messed up common curtsey this badly before. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you, but I can't sleep, I can't think!” The word felt odd on my tongue. My masters had told me never to apologize, it was a sign of weakness. I had not done since I left the tower. But then again I had come to Rarity, because I was weak, confused, lost. She mustered me with a raised eyebrow, then quickly stepped aside. “It's alright dear, please come in! You want a cup of tea?” I guess my inner turmoil must have shown clearly on my face, all the hours of standing in front of the mirror, training to control the every motion of my face and body so I wouldn't betray my thoughts were useless at that moment. “Yes, tea is good. Tea is very good.” She ushered me into the kitchen. Or rather the spacious room that served as both kitchen and living room in Rarity's apartment in Canterlot, a kitchen-cum-living room if you will say so. I thought it strange at first, but if you have friends over regularly and cook for them yourself, it is quite nice. I sat down at the table, and she lit the stove and put on the kettle. As she waited for the water to boil, she sat down next to me and placed a hoof on my shoulder. “Now dear, tell me what's bothering you.” I looked up to her with feverish eyes. “Rarity, I don't know what's wrong with me. I think I'm in love. And it's madness Rarity madness!” “In love? But that's wonderful darling! Who's the lucky stallion?” “Lionheart, the captain of the Night Guard.” I answered without thinking. Rarity paused and raised an eyebrow. “I always thought the captain was a mare.” “Of course she is! Why?” “Oh nothing! Nothing wrong with loving another mare in this day and age. It just took me by surprise, that's all. I always thought you were into stallions, you know, when you had your first heat and came to me for advice. . .” “Ugh, don't remind me. That was awful! I don't know how I would have lived through that without your advice and Zecora's potion.” I shook my head and sighed. “Well, I didn't know that I was into mares until I met her either. I knew that I didn't much care for male or female back on Dere, but you know. . . that was human males and females.” “Hmm. . . of course. We must have looked as alien to you, as you did to us. But you have gotten used to ponies, have you not?” I shrugged. “Took me only what? Two years?” By now the water was boiling. Rarity levitated a set of china onto the table and poured the water into the teapot with practiced ease, then focused her attention back on me, her eyes sparkling. “Now, tell me everything from the start! How did the two of your meet?” I took a deep breath to collect myself. “Alright. It was about a month ago. . . .oOo. I was conducting research in the Canterlot library. I was sitting in a lone and dark reading room, surrounded by piles of old books, the only light the azure shine from my beloved gwen petryl stone hanging from my neck. I had totally lost track of time, but it must have been late into the night, only a few hours before dawn, when I was interrupted by somepony walking up on me. “You can't be here Ma'am, library's closed at night!” I had not hear anyone approaching, but I saw why when I looked up. Standing before me, doing his best to look stern, was a young sarosian wearing the deep purple armor of the night guard. You know sarosians; those bat ponies move without a sound if they want to. I looked back down on the notes I was scribbling with a quill. “I've got special permission.” He boggled at my nonchalant reply; it took him a moment to find his act again. “Special permission?” “Yes, from Princess Luna if you must know. Now move on and stop disturbing me!” “Of course, from the Princess herself! And who might you be Miss?” My quill stopped and I looked at him sternly. “Sapphire! Soldier, I don't like your attitude. I've got important research to finish, and you are keeping me from working!” I have learned that it is actually possible to talk down most guards if you are just impudent enough and never let any doubt come up that you have every right to do so. It didn't work on this one though, I guess he was either brave, or stupid. “I know nothing of any special permissions. I have to insist you follow me to the guard's office.” I dropped my quill and stomped around the table. “No, I insist! I will have a word with your captain about your insolence!” “Of course you will. Now, come this way! Don't try anything stupid.” The library is part of the castle complex, just like the guard house. Still, the Canterlot Castle is big, it was like half an hour walk from the library to the guard's office. Even at this hour, there were still several ponies in the room, either on stand-by playing cards, or sorting through paperwork. Most of them were sarosians, as night shift actually coincides with their natural sleep cycle. The young guard lead me to a waiting area, which didn't mean there were pillows to rest on, just some free space to either sit on the floor or just stand. I preferred later. “Wait here, I go an tell the captain!” he said and entered the captain's office with pride swelled chest. That couldn't have lasted long, after only a minute, a furious shout came from the room, and I found a satisfied smile sneak onto my lips. The door was yanked open, and the captain stomped out of the room, followed by her subordinate trotting behind her, his head low to the ground. The young sarosian looked even smaller in his armor than before. The captain herself was a strong contrast to that. Even though she was a bit shorter than I, her figure was most imposing. She was lean like most flying ponies are, but of broad chest and shoulders. I got the immediate impression that this mare could break me in half like a dry twig in the blink of an eye if I ever provoked her ire. She looked angry, with a dangerous gleam in her yellow, cat like eyes. But her anger was not directed at me. “I am very sorry Miss Sapphire,” she said when she approached me; she had a strong voice with a rough edge to it, perhaps from shouting down recruits. “Apparently my very green and incompetent subordinate didn't read the note on not bothering the unicorn in the library after closing time.” She looked back over her shoulder and snarled at the young pony. “Not once in the two weeks since it was posted, despite passing the notice board several times every day!” “I'm sorry captain,” “Don't apologize to me, I don't need it! Apologize to the mare you are keeping from doing her work!” The recruit stepped before me and bowed down, his snout almost touching the ground, his ears lain on in humility. “I am very sorry for disturbing your work Miss Sapphire, please forgive me.” I felt my stomach tingle at this sight, not just from a soldier cowering before me, but from the sight of the mare that had made him do it. “I accept your apology.” “Good soldier! You are still on latrine duty for two weeks! Now get out of my sight. Dismissed!” The recruit swallowed, quickly saluted and stumbled over his own hooves, trying to get away before provoking the captain any more. When he had left the room, the mare turned back to me, and her whole demeanor changed; she let her head sink a bit and laid her ears back sheepishly. “I'm very sorry for your inconvenience Miss Sapphire. I should have informed each of my guardsmen of your presence personally.” A felt my cheeks heating up, and if my stomach had tingled before, a hurricane of butterflies now raged through it. I inhaled sharply through my nose to collect myself, I spoke my next words on a whim though. “That you should have captain,” I said, looking down on her my head held high. The sarosian reacted by making herself even smaller. “But I think you can make it up to me.” She looked up to me with a little confused, yet a hopeful shimmer in her eyes. “You will treat me to dinner. Are you free the day after tomorrow, captain?” .oOo. “And? Did she say yes?” Rarity had moved closer to me, as my tale went on, and now leaned over the table. “She did, not that I left her any choice.” Only now did she sit back, and rubbed her chin, pouting. “Yes, that you didn't. Don't mind me saying so, but you were quite brash towards her, were you not?” I nodded with a sigh. “That's actually just like me, I usually just sugar coat it in politeness. But you know, with her acting all submissive, I kinda felt like taking up the reins. And I didn't want to risk her saying no. I really wanted to see her again.” I shook my head. “That was stupid of me, I know.” Rarity reached over on took my hoof in hers. “Oh no, absolutely not darling. It's perfectly understandable. Ponies are known to do the strangest things out of love.” Her reassuring words managed to lure a faint smile from me. “Well, I wouldn't say it was love back then. But serious interest for sure. I had never met a mare like her, not pony nor otherwise.” She nodded. “So how went that first date between you?” “Uhg, it was an awkward affair. Lionheart was just as clueless what she had gotten herself into as I was. She had gotten herself an early shift, and I had set myself an alarm clock to know when I had to stop with my research.” “What are you researching anyway? You make it sound awfully important.” Rarity interrupted me with a raised hoof. “Among my continued studies of Equestrian culture and magic, I'm helping Twilight with her research on Equestrian history. Pre-classical era, if that means anything to you.” “The time between the founding of Equestria and the princesses' reign, of course. The time of Starswirl the Bearded and the Knights of Equestria.” I nodded. “Actual historical records of that time are rare, most of what we know today is just folklore and old mare's tales. So I sort through crumbling scrolls in the deepest corners of the archive and copy and sent to Twilight whatever relevant information I can find.” I didn't tell her about the part where that conveniently granted me entrance to the “forbidden” part of the archive, which only meant that it was not accessibly by the public because the tomes kept in there where so old they would break apart if handled incorrectly. Still, hidden in this part of the archives where books and scrolls one might associate with its foreboding name; one only needed to know how to look, and writings on magic, alchemy and forgotten history revealed themselves. Rarity frowned. “Twilight has been obsessed with ancient history lately. She's even planning to conduct archeological diggings. She hardly finds any time to spend with her friends anymore.” I shrugged. “Can you blame her? After the changeling invasion and the reappearance of the Crystal Empire, I guess she wants to know beforehoof what other forgotten threats might rise from the past.” Or was it because I questioned her trust in Princess Celestia back when I had started my life in Ponyville? I can't really tell, but I kept that thought to myself nonetheless. Rarity sighed. “I guess you are right, she just wants to be prepared. But I were interrupting you. So you had set yourself an alarm.” It took me a moment to pick up my tale where I had left. “Ah, yes! I headed home quite early actually, so I had enough time to prepare. . . .oOo. I know I take thrice as long to groom myself than the regular pony, but as I was staring at my own reflection in the mirror, it just never seemed good enough; the mane not straight enough, the coat not shiny enough. Only when Lionheart had arrived to pick me up and knocked on the door, did I call it sufficient, and only because I didn't want to let her wait. It's unbecoming of a sorceress to not be ready precisely when she means to. I had put on my black socks and my favorite evening dress, you know, the black and blue one with all that lace and frills, the one that hides my gauntness very well. But when I opened the door, I found that Lionheart had not dressed up at all. And I don't think that she should have, don't get me wrong. She had obviously groomed herself thoroughly too; her coat shone in the moonlight, and her mane fell like silk over her shoulders. I was stunned by her sight for a moment, my eyes tracing over her body; steel knot muscles were moving under her coat with the smooth grace of a panther, as she shifted her weight. White scars shone through her coat in several places, on her legs, sides and even one on her face running over her left eye, yet they only added to her aura of invincibility. My gaze finally lingered on her flank, not only because it was well toned, but I saw her cutie mark for the first time; it showed a constellation of white, gleaming stars. She smelled nice too, clean and fresh like the air after a midsummer rain; she had not bothered to put on any perfume, and I suddenly felt very conscious of the elaborate dress and heavy fragrance I wore; more so it made me feel conscious of what I was hiding underneath. I quickly collected myself and forced a smile on my lips, before she would notice my discomfort. “Oh hello there captain, I almost didn't recognize you without your armor.” “I know! It hides my scent rather well, doesn't it?” She must have seen my nostrils flaring or something, and I think she was right too; night guard armor is enchanted that way. Helps with covert operations, or Luna just dislikes the smell of sweaty soldiers or something. My smile widened to a real one, as I grabbed my summer cloak and swung it around my shoulders. “Alright then, shall we?” From my apartment we headed down the mountain, leaving the spires of upper Canterlot behind us. I tried to come up with something, anything to say to her, but everything sounded stupid or shallow in my mind. We walked in uncomfortable silence for several minutes until I couldn't take it anymore, and just said the first thing that came to my mind. “So, where are you taking me, captain? Or is it supposed to be a surprise.” She shook her head. “It's not, I just forgot to tell you, I guess. And please call me Lionheart! I'm off duty.” “Well, if you insists Miss Lionheart .” “Just Lionheart please, Miss Lionheart makes me sound old.” “Alright Lionheart . I am Sapphire, pleased to meet you.” She gave me a sheepish smile. “We are going to a place called Auerbach's Cellar. A sarosian runs it, so it's open all night.” She made a shrug with her leathery wings. “You know, there are not many places we can go with our schedule.” “I don't. But I guess with your people as a minority and the other races being day active, it is to be expected.” She nodded, then for a few moments said nothing, but bit her lower lip trying to come up with the right words. “I was wondering about that,” she finally said. “About why a unicorn like you works in the library every night, though it would normally be closed.” “Now that I think about it, why is it closed at night? Don't sarosians read books too?” “The staff needs time to resort returned books and clean the place, and there are not enough sarosian customers to justify a night shift. Besides, it is open long enough in the evenings and early enough in the morning for every night pony to get all the books they want, so its not an issue.” She raised an eyebrow at me. “Except for you it seems.” “And back at prying out my strange behavior.” She cringed, laid her ears on when I pointed that out to her. I chuckled at her discomfort. “If you must now, I just feel more comfortable living at night. I have sensible eyes and sunlight irritates me. So I prefer to have the moon and stars over my head, and I also enjoy the peace and quiet. Working in a closed library with nopony to bother me has a certain tranquility to it.” That was not really a lie, I just left out all the other reasons. I had not told anypony, not even Rarity or Twilight. It's never wise to let anypony learn the nature of your strengths and weaknesses. The rest of the walk was mostly spent in awkward silence again. I think I briefly tried for smalltalk, but there is only so much that can be said about the weather when everypony knows the schedule anyway. It took us a bit less than an hour to arrive at Auerbach's Cellar. After descending some stairs, we came into a long vaulted cellar, dug into the side of the mountain itself. The walls were whitewashed, only soothed black where candles had lit the room with their cozy orange light for decades. Narrow passages led to similar rooms to the left and right. Each room had a heavy wooden table running its entire length, but only the middle one had a bar at its end with an white bearded sarosian wearing an eyepatch busy hoofing out countless drinks. Every room was packed full with ponies of all ages and races, a good part of them being sarosians themselves. They were sitting all along the tables, crowding the passageways, the bar or even flying over the crowd. The noise was deafening, and the thick smell of sweat, smoke and spilled cider almost breathtaking. “I think I'm overdressed.” Lionheart chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. “I guess that is far from the quiet and tranquility of the library, isn't it? Sorry, I should have known better.” “Well, now that we are here let's make the best out of it. Carpe noctem! Go and get us a table!” She began shoving herself through the crowd towards the far end of the table in the left room, furthest from the bar, which was the quietest place in the cellar, if not by much. Getting a whole table was of course illusory, but when Lionheart put her hoof on the table, making all the cups on it clatter, and snarled: “You foals should be drinking milk. Get lost!” a group of fillies and colts generously made room for us and left the cellar in a hurry. I sat down at the end of the table, and the captain took seat opposite me. A pegasus waitress, alerted by Lionheart's entrance, walked over to us, carrying two tablets full of empty glasses on her wings. “Good night you two! Lionheart, Miss, what can I bring you?” “I'll take a mug of the strong cider. Sapphire, what do you want to drink?” I looked at the waitress with a concerned frown. “I don't suppose you have green tea, do you?” She shook her head. “Only if you consider long island ice tea a sort of green tea Miss.” “Alright, bring me a glass of red wine then.” I usually don't drink, and I don't do salts or whatever consciousness altering substances ponies take. A sorceress with a clouded mind is a bad sorceress, a potential danger for herself and everypony around her. But with Lionheart around I had the feeling I could indulge in a single glass of wine. The waitress nodded and trotted off to the bar. “So eh. . . ” The captain rubbed her hoof on the table in circles, fishing for words. “you are not from Canterlot, are you. “Oh, what gave me away? Is it my Bosperan accent? Or the fact that I'm more comfortable standing on two legs instead of four?” She boggled at my riposte, shook her head and wrinkled her brow. “What?” “Oh come on, we both know the princess has briefed you about my whereabouts, probably told you to keep an eye on me while I work in the castle.” I leaned over the table, staring at her with an angry frown. “Actually,” the captain replied slowly, “she has done no such thing.” “Wha. . .?” “The order to let you work in the library at night came in written form. Truth be told the princess didn't even ask about you until she got my report on your arrest two days ago.” “Oh. . .” I drew back from the table, trying to make myself small. I could feel my face flush hot red and considered just teleporting to get out of the situation. “I guess the princess actually respects my privacy. Who'd have thought,” I mumbled more to myself than to Lionheart. “Of course she does! Why wouldn't she?” “Let's just say I wouldn't hold it against her.” Just that moment the waitress came back and brought our drinks, saving me from elaborating on that topic. We thanked the pegasus, and Lionheart wasted no time to take a long draft from her big, foaming mug of cider. I in turn only nipped from my wine; it was sweet and thick, almost black in color in the candles' dim light. Lionheart set her mug down with a thump and wiped her mouth on her fetlock. For a moment she mustered me with an indecisive pout. “You don't trust the princesses, do you?” I shook my head. “Well, I don't distrust them, I just don't really know them.” Her raised eyebrow told me she wasn't satisfied with this answer. I sighed. “By now I believe their whole 'all powerful but benevolent ruler thing'. They don't seem to indulge in excessive debauchery, at least no more than any other pony, taxes are low, civil order is high and I haven't seen a single pony starve since I came here.” “Of course not! The princesses would never allow such a horror.” “Exactly! But I just cannot help but think that Equestria is just too good to be true. There has to be a drawback with all of this.” “Like what?” I shook my head, and took another sip from my wine, before I replied. “Freedom, the freedom of choice to be exact!” Lionheart just looked at me puzzled, so I continued my explanation. I made a wide gesture with my hoof. “Cutie marks for instance. When they appear, ponies think they have found their special talent and purpose in life, and they will continue to order their life according to that belief. A pony who gets a cake cutie mark will become a baker, a pony with a plow cutie mark will go on the be a farmer.” “It's not really all that simple. Many ponies work as something completely different and pursue their special talent merely as a hobby.” “Still, there are enough farmers to keep the population fed, there are enough soldiers to keep them safe, and just enough ruling aristocrats to keep order.” She gave me a nonchalant shrug. “Your point?” “Wouldn't everypony just try to become an aristocrat if they really had a choice in the matter?” Lionheart took a gulp from her cider and rubbed the back of her head. “You know, I think you have a misconception about an aristocrat's life being more desirable than a farmer's.” “Is it not?” “Are you trying to become an aristocrat?” That reply took me aback, I lifted my glass to my lips and nipped at the wine for several moments, contemplating the thought. “No, I really am not.” I finally said when I put it back down. “There you go! There are a lot of drawbacks to being an aristocrat. With the wealth and respect come a lot of responsibilities too. They have to rule, keep public order, make hard decisions, keep up their public image because they represent the citizens of Equestria and go to that really boring galas.” I had to chuckle at that explanation; I think the wine was getting to me. I had thought more along the lines of not wanting to get poisoned by envious peers or waking up to find a dagger in my back. I kept that thoughts to myself. Encouraged by my amused reaction, Lionheart continued eagerly. “Most farmers really love their work too! Something about growing plants just really resonates with earth pony nature. Pegasi on the other hoof prosper in civil service, because it gives them a chance to show off their prowess.” I swayed the last of my wine, holding the glass in my telekinetic grip right in front of me, staring at it deep in thought. “Well, I didn't get to choose becoming a sorceress either, even without a magical mark, so I guess it really doesn’t matter. And if it brings peace and prosperity, it can't be a bad thing, right?” “We had cutie marks before we had peace and prosperity, you know that right? A ponies mark is considered a blessing from Harmony, but harmony between ponies doesn't happen on its own. It's something everypony has to work for.” “Ah yes, you are referring to the time of the warring tribes aren't you?” I stopped moving my glass. “When I learned that bit of Equestrian history, it actually reminded me a lot of my home.” I shook my head, then emptied the rest of the glass in one go. While I was busy staring at my empty glass, Lionheart took the liberty to order a second round. “Now you really got me curious. Wherever do you come from?” “Really, really far away. Let's just leave it at that.” That killed our conversation until the second round arrived. I found myself taking a generous sip before I started talking again. “Enough about me! I'm getting myself depressed. Let's talk about you. However did you become a captain of the royal guard? Please don't mind me saying so, but you seem to be quite young for the position.” “I don't mind, I'll take it as a compliment.” She took a sip from her cider, and rolled her eyes. “You know,” she said when she put her mug bag down. “The Night Guard had only been reinstated after the return of Princess Luna. Since traditionally only sarosians served in it, they couldn't just take soldier from the ranks of the regular guard. So they ended up with a bunch of raw recruits who had only just joined for the prospect of gloriously serving the Princess of the Night, and a hoof full of actual trained soldiers.” I placed my forelegs on the table and rested my chin on my hoof, listening closely. “Did you join in search of glory too?” She shook her head. “No, I was one of the soldiers. Joined the Royal Equestrian Army shortly after I had gotten my cutie mark. I guess Luna was impressed how I handled the raw recruits, she promoted me to captain herself.” “Your cutie mark? It's the constellation of the lion right? Now I sense a tale to be told here.” Lionheart raised her mug again, and her voice was muffled by the wooden container as she answered. “No there's not, I wouldn't want to bore you.” She then proceeded to empty her cider in one go and order yet another one. I tapped my chin with a hoof. Now I was truly intrigued, wondering whatever sad tale she was trying to hide. But it would be useless trying to get it out of her just then; I frowned and raised my glass to take another sip, finding it to be empty. Lion ordered a third round and something to nibble on, nuts or whatever, I don't seem to remember. Actually my memory becomes foggy after that because of the wine. I'm a real lightweight as it seems. There is only one more thing I remember clearly. A thing she asked me at one point. “Say Sapphire. . .” “Uhu.” “Why did you ask me out to dinner?” “Pff, can't I ask out a pretty mare when I see one? Just because I'm a sorceress, I have a thought out reason for everything?” Even though her face was pretty red from all the cider already, I still saw her blush as she looked down at her hooves. “You don't have to make things up. We both know that I ain't pretty. Nothing compared to a beautiful lady such as yourself.” I snorted very unladylike and broke out laughing. “Now we both know that's a lie! I'm a walking skeleton, while you are so full of life!” “Right,” she stretched the word and looked around the room, avoiding my eyes. “Moving on then.” “I liked your attitude towards me.” I suddenly said in a low voice, playing absentmindedly with an empty wine glass in my hooves. Her eyes stopped wandering, and focused back on me. “You are so very powerful, not only physically, but as captain of the guard too, and yet when your subordinate was gone, you humbled yourself before me, as if you were a peasant compared to me. And I liked that, it made me feel. . . really good I guess.” She looked down and her hooves with a shy smile. “It just came over me. Your confidence, they way you hold yourself, you just have this overwhelming presence. It was hard not to kneel before you and. . . I guess I kinda liked that.” A wide grin slowly spread my lips, as I looked up from my glass. I gestured her to come closer, lean over the table towards me. With quivering lips she drew near to me. .oOo. “Then, what happened then?” Rarity had leaned ever closer and closer during my tale, now she could barely sit still. I took a slow sip from my cup of tea, smelling it first, letting it run over my tongue, and I sat the cup down slowly before continuing my tale. “Then I threw up all over face.” Rarity blinked. “What?” “Told you it was an awkward affair.”