Alley Way, Copper Greaves, Chest Nut and Charlene sat around the coffee table. A sombre mood permeated around them like a thick cloud. The foals, true to their nature, stayed upstairs where they could amuse themselves. Elysium’s news more than struck a nerve in the older couple, but drove a knife of worry into their hearts as well. The princess was not to be underestimated, and neither should her Royal Guards. Alley and Copper were also familiar with the strength of their children, and hope that they would be okay. They heard the story regarding the siege from Charlene, and accepted it with grim reluctance.
“Well…” Alley said, breaking the silence “It can’t get any worse, right?”
A bright magenta light poured through the windows, cascading from the sky above. For a whole three seconds, the sky was lit by wild, pure magic. Copper face-hoofed at the unfortunate turn of events. Him and his wife knew what the light meant. It meant that their children have fallen, and their home destroyed.
“Looks like I was wrong…” Alley smiled grimly, taking a seat beside her husband for support.
A moment later, an armour clad figure burst through the front door. She was a creamy yellow Pegasus with a long golden mane and tail. It looked like she got caught in a fire fight, as the tips of her mane and patches of her armour were singed.
“Venia!” Alley cried, wrapping her hooves around her fellow Pegasus “Thank goodness you’re alright! How is my son?”
Venia gently brushed the blue Pegasus off of her and began removing her armour.
“Celestia has joined the siege.” She said grimly
Alley’s face fell into true worry and shock.
“You know what the light means, don’t you?” she sniffled
Venia nodded, then traced the ancient rune for defeat in the air. The rune shimmered in a blue light, before falling like stars. Alley went into the backyard, coming back with a bird perched on her back. It was a magnificent, golden phoenix, unlike the fire red of normal birds of flame. It had a full glittering crest framing it’s head and three peacock feathers in addition to its normal tail. It regarded all the ponies quizzically as it was led into the room.
“Huri?” Charlene said, clearly confused “What’s she doing here?”
“I dunno,” Alley shrugged “She turned up in my backyard a couple hours ago,”
“So, if she’s here…”
A knock on the door signalled the arrival of a new character. She was tall, just as much as Luna, but slimmer. She was also an alicorn, with a soft pink coat and a three toned purple, white and darker pink mane and tail. Behind her stood two crystal guards, a mare and a stallion. The mare looked resolute and strong, with a lavender coat and darker mane that shimmered in the afternoon sun. Her partner looked like a gender swapped version of herself, but obviously lacked any professional behaviour. Both wore the customary silver armour of a Crystal Guard, and wielded a spear in their right hoof.
“I’ll get it,” Copper sighed, awaiting the inevitable
He opened the door to see the grinning face of Princess Cadence, and the disinterested ones of her escorts.
“Copper!” the pink princess smiled “How are you?”
“Doing well, ma’am,” he said politely, with a slight bow “Please, make yourself at home,”
Cadence smiled gratefully and let herself into the spacious living room. The two guards took up positions either side of the front door, and closed it behind them Copper found it odd how they were guarding from inside the house, as if trying to keep them in rather than foes out.
“Alley,” Cadence said to the crystal Pegasus “I didn’t know you owned a pet, let alone a phoenix,”
“Oh it’s not mine,” Alley giggled “It’s from a friend of mine. She’s having a little trouble at her house, but nothing to worry about I’m sure,”
Cadence’s face turned deadly serious
“Her home doesn’t happen to be a flaming ruin right now, does it?” she asked
Alley faltered
“I wouldn’t be any wiser,” she said nervously
“Don’t worry,” Cadence sighed, taking a chair by herself “I’m not here to arrest you, I’m just here to ask questions,”
“Well, ask away,”
“My aunt’s actions have been questionable lately, especially since she got obsessed with your children. She’s been pulling her hair out over something called the Spire of Knowledge. Do you happen to know what it is?”
Charlene and Chest Nut acted brilliantly, trotting over to the kitchen and pretending to busy themselves cooking dinner. Alley looked to Copper, who gave a nod of conformation. Gathering her thoughts, she begun the explanation.
“The Spire of Knowledge was a mythical structure of limitless power. It was said to be an ocean blue, round crystal obelisk. Contained within was supposed to be the knowledge of the whole multiverse. What’s that got to do with Celestia,”
“Well, for some odd reason, she has reason to believe that not only does it exist, but it is under the protection of three immortal beings, who she also believes to be your children,”
She paused
“Shining gave me the mission report. Verity collapsed with a mix of exhaustion and grief, Astral has been fatally injured, and Honour Bound has been declared dead,”
Alley gasped, putting a hoof over her mouth. She felt her eyes tear up, but quickly steeled herself. She knew her children, and somehow in the end of the day, they would return to her. Even death couldn’t hold them back. Huri sensed her pain, and nuzzled her cheek comfortingly, emitting soft purrs. Alley smiled, stroked the bird, and motioned for it to go. Huri reluctantly took off and flew into the kitchen, where the two mares were busily preparing themselves.
“I give you my sincere condolences for…”
“Save it,” Alley said, a little more harshly than intended “Those three are the best ponies I know, and I for one believe that they will return to me,”
“Well, in that case, I’ll take my leave,” Cadence smiled, turned and made her way out the door, her two guards in tow.
Alley breathed a sigh of relief. There was no time to lose. If she was to help her children safely, she had a lot of organisation to get too.
“Chest Nut, did you get it?” she shouted to the kitchen
“Got it,” the brown mare mumbled through a quill in her mouth
“Great, send it with Huri. She’ll know where to find them,”
With the assistance of Charlene, Chest Nut wrapped the parchment she’s been writing into a scroll, and sealed it in wax. She stamped it with the Nightmare Insignia, a family code of urgency developed when Nightmare Moon came into being. She was about to tie it to the gold phoenix’s leg before it pecked her indignantly. Huri gave the mare a hurt look before taking the letter into her claws. Chest Nut smiled sheepishly at the bird before assuming her trademark neutral look.
“Good Luck,” Chest Nut whispered
Huri rolled her eyes, and took flight out of the kitchen window, quickly vanishing in the clear expanse of blue sky. Chest Nut walked back to the living room to see Venia laughing hysterically.
“That bird is too smart for her own good,” she explained through giggles
*=_/)|*|(\_=*
Verity woke up in the pale moonlight. It had been many hours since the mansion’s collapse, yet she is still feeling every moment of it. She had felt something that hasn’t plagued her since a long time ago. She felt true, and utter despair. The one thing that she was entitled to give, was hope, and she had lost it, though momentarily. Astral looked a paler shade of blue as he watched the silver disk float across the deep dark sky. His blood ceased bleeding, but not because he was healed, but quite the opposite. He had none left.
Honour Bound was no more, but curiously, a hard cocoon lay where his dead body used to. An elliptical, glossy shape with veins of pulsing green web coursing down its length. It was the same size he was, and gave the same, steady and strong heartbeat.
“I would say ‘good evening’ my dear Veritas, but truthfully, it is not,” Astral spoke. His voice was different though. It was deep and hollow, rattling with every breath. What she heard, was the voice of death.
“We meet again, Hades,” Verity smiled, though forcefully
“I hoped I would surface under better circumstances,” he replied “But that was how it turned out to be, hope,”
He turned to her. Where Astral’s bright, intelligence blue eyes once were, were only black pits. Darkness shrouded his eyes, and leaked thick, black tears. The sight that would normally leave a full grown stallion screaming, was not even unnerving to her.
“Hope, a strange concept,” Hades said “The belief that things would go the way you wish. It brings life together in the face of darkness. Yet, it does not hold sway over fate. Things come, things go, that is how it was, is, and ever shall be,”
He sighed “All life must come to an end, even my own,”
“It’s been a pleasure talking to you again, Hades,” Verity said, putting a hoof on is shoulder “But I really need my brother back,”
Hades shook his head
“Even without my realm, returning from the dead is no easy task. The only things with that power, are dangerous artifacts, Gods like my former self or certain magical creatures, such as…”
“A phoenix?” Verity said, grinning mischievously
“Of course,”
Hades knew that look, and turned to see a brilliant trail of light descend upon them. Huri landed softly on the carriage floor, nodding greetings to the two ponies. She placed her scroll on the floor, and plucked one of her own wing feathers. She rested both on the ground before Verity, and took a perch in one of the ceiling corners.
“Many thanks Huri,” Verity smiled
She turned to the scroll, and unravelled it quickly, while Hades watched with mild amusement. The scroll contained a brief message, detailing the status of her parents which were thankfully fine for now. The second half was occupied by a large, intricate runic sigil. The sigil was composed of two birds, a phoenix and a nightingale flying circles around each other, like yin and yang. Behind them as a summoning pentacle, but with only four points. Verity grabbed the phoenix feather with her magic, since her circlet was not taken from her, as well as a feather from her own wing. Condensing moisture from the air, she conjured a cup’s worth of water, and combined them. The heat and pressure brought upon the three objects emitted a blinding white light. In seconds, all that was left was a golden orb. Wisps of red and blue orbited lazily around it as the yellow Pegasus placed it gently on Hades’ chest. He didn’t even flinch as the orb sunk into his flesh, like it wasn’t there.
“I will see you again, Veritas,” he farewelled “Hopefully, during better circumstances,”
The black from his eyes were gone as the orb worked its magic. The essence of the phoenix feather, burned away all impurities, making way for the good. The essence of water, renewed the body, helping it grow and regain what was lost. Finally, Veritas’ own life force and magic, made him remember who he once was, and what he still has to do.
Astral woke with a deep gasp and a heap of coughing.
“Thanks,” he said with a smile between coughs “Never thought I had to die again in another 500 years or so,”
“Neither did I, but it seems that recent events have changed our future to a path less taken,”
“Really? You’re still going to play the ‘wise old sooth sayer’ even in custody?” Astral groaned
“Definitely, but can you please tell me what’s going on with Honour Bound?”
Astral took a close inspection of the huge green-black cocoon where his adopted brother once lay. He tapped it softly, with his ear pressed to the side. He came to a rather startling conclusion.
“It seems he is going through rebirth,” Astral concluded, clearly amazed
“Please clarify, I’ve seen rebirth cycles, but nothing like this before,”
“Changelings are a rather strange species,” he began “Especially when it comes to pony magic. Honour has been with me since I was a foal, and remained close even now. Extremely few changelings, if any, have ever been exposed to so much emotional energy, and for so long. It seems that our gift of immortality has rubbed off on him, if in a weird way,”
Astral conjured up small summoning pentacle on the wall, flashing a clear blue. It disappeared quickly, leaving behind an antique looking pocketwatch. Opening it, in place of the normal clock was a blue miasma of moving patterns. Hundreds of hands spun at random but very quick speeds across the face, generating a bright blue light in their motion.
“The Amulet of Chronos,” Verity noted with a raised eyebrow
“It didn’t always look like this, but it should get the job done,”
He then fastened the large chain around the cocoon, none too gently. The chain dug into the hard surface until it became partially submerged. The green vains glowed brighter in response, and pulsed faster than before.
“There,” Astral sighed “That should speed up his recovery. How long until we get to Canterlot?”
Verity shrugged
“We’re only halfway there, so we should arrive by morning,”
“Great, That gives us plenty of time to prepare,”
*=_/)|*|(\_=*
Corporal Flash Sentry was having a less-than-satisfying time at the ruined mansion on clean up duty. A free spirit at heart, the lean Pegasus with the orange coat and short blue mane and tail loathed this kind of work. He, along with a dozen or so of his comrades were tasked with removing all evidence of the Princess’s arrival at the scene of the siege. Easier said than done, you could plot her path of violence with a pen and paper from an altitude of 500m. Neither he, nor his colleagues couldn’t resist being surprised by Celestia’s violent behaviour lately. The mission report said that Celestia took down the unicorn and the changeling single-hoofedly, but the blood was on the wall, and they knew otherwise.
It was nearing 8 at night when they were finishing up the final clean-up site. The laboratory peaked through a ruined circle of dirt and rock, a substantial distance from the surface. Being a Pegasus, Flash could enter easily, as well as about four other guards.
“Well,” a guard said “Looks like we’re all done here,”
“Not quite yet,” Flash replied harshly “We have one more item to tick off the list before we can get back to Canterlot,”
“That being?”
“A dead mare, white coat, three toned mane and tail. Why? You’ve seen her,”
“Give me the picture,”
Flash reluctantly hoofed over the bloodied clipboard to his fellow guard. The guard whistled appriecatively and gathered the other guards.
“Dang, hey guys, check out this sweet filly,”
“I wouldn’t mind getting a piece of that,” one smirked
“I’d be willing to share,” another said
“Guys,” Flash complained, rolling his eyes “This is really not professional behaviour,”
“Says you, Boy Scout,”
“If you’re done clopping over a photograph, we need to find this mare,”
“Nah, I’m leaving. If she were alive, maybe we’d stay,”
“Yeah! Catch you later Flashy!” a guard snorted
Laughing richly, they took off into the night sky. Flash was just about to get back to it before he heard complete and utter silence. The laughter of his comrades ended far too adruptly to have been natural. No Weeping Angels have been spotted any where near the Mansion since the Harmonizer was destroyed. Suddenly, a thick, heavy weight fell right on top of him.
“Ugh, what?”
Cursing to himself, he crawled out from underneath the massive lump. He froze in shock once he realised what exactly fell on him. It was his comrades, all of them, even the ones that stayed on the surface. They were all knocked out cold and tied together in chains. Relief washed over him when he realised that none of them showed any wounds on their enchanted white coats. Before he even knew what was happening, a tremendous force knocked him sideways, into a pile of scrap metal. Besides a couple bruises, he was alright. Until the same force knocked him high into the air.
Flash was beyond conscious thought as he was relentless whacked around like a rag doll. Reaching the terminal height of the mighty toss, a dark figure rose up to meet him, and slammed him down into the dirt again. Flash groaned as physical shock settled in. he must’ve had at least 15 broken bones by now. He jumped in his skin when an ornate golden two-pronged spear pinned his neck to the floor. The sharpened blades rested far too close to his skin on either side of his neck, creating shallow, superficial cuts.
A figure lit only by moonlight stood over him, holding the spear in place. If the place was even a little brighter, he might have collapsed even earlier. Above him stood the most beautiful mare he had ever seen. White, alabaster coat, completely unblemished and seductively flawless. Long, three toned mane of cherry red, meadow green and dark green that reminded him of summer. A face, that even though regarding him sternly, was equal with the warmest smile he had ever received.
“Who are you?” the mare demanded, sinking the spear lower into the earth, bringing the sharpened blade closer to his throat
That voice, he could listen to it all day, maybe even all his life. It reminded him of a symphony of violins, violas and cellos. Capable of so many expressions of emotion but sounding so beautiful no matter which is being portrayed. The mare was obviously getting impatient, and sighed in defeat.
“Stallions,” she grumbled, hefting a large wooden shield
Flash was knocked right out of his fantasies with a hard blow to the head. The mare retrieved her spear and shield, looking pitifully at the guard below her. She turned to the moon, basking in its soft white light as she let the brisk late night air flow around her.
“It has been too long,” she murmured
Collecting her few possessions, the mystery mare set off towards Ponyville.