Act III: Collision of Wills
Chapter 3: From the Cold Hearted
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All in all, Twilight Sparkle had no idea why she’d decided to look into the book some more. It had drawn such a rise out of Shining he tightened security after only skimming the pages and reading one entry. Despite her brother’s warnings, Twilight had opted to look into the book herself. Now that she was poring over the pages, Twilight was feeling something she’d never felt before, and hoped to never feel again: regret for opening a book.
I don’t believe it… Twilight thought, shutting the book in front of her, feeling every fiber of her body fill with horror and disgust at the content she’d read, I should have listened. This is the most disgusting account of anything I’ve ever seen in my life…
She sighed, leaning forward into her palms, trying to purge what she’d read from her mind before it consumed her completely. Reminding herself that the one who attacked Cadance was a dangerous psychopath who had—apparently successfully—done similar things before, was not going to be good on her.
“Twilight?” She nearly jumped at the voice, even though she knew before looking over to him that it was Corey who had asked the question. He stood in the doorway, tugging at his glasses a bit as he looked over to her, concerned.
“Oh, Corey,” Twilight said, “I thought you were out looking around a little?”
“I changed my mind on that,” Corey walked over towards her, offering a tilt of his head, no doubt seeing the look on her face, “Hey, what’s…”
He caught sight of the book, and she turned back to it. Even looking at it while it was shut made her feel uneasy.
“This journal,” Twilight said, “It’s filled with some of the most depraved thoughts I’ve ever read. This is the one book I will never pick up again. I could barely even read any of the entries!”
Twilight looked down to the floor, memories of those horrid sentences flowing freely through her mind. She physically shivered as she tried to banish those memories with no success.
“And it’s me we’re talking about,” she continued, “If I can’t stand to read something…”
“Twilight,” Corey cut in before she could finish, but when she looked up to him she realized he wasn’t looking at her. It didn’t take her long to guess what he was looking at, “I...I can read it if you don’t—“
“No!” Twilight stood up, causing Corey to take a step back, “I…I’m sorry. But this…Look, I know how you reacted when you heard what Lyon did. I was standing right next to you. But the acts described in this book, whether real or made up…They’re even worse.”
“I know that,” Corey said, his voice twinged with concern, “But someone has to process it…Maybe we can find out some kind of motives from it…Maybe.”
“I can tell you,” Twilight cast another look to the journal, “You won’t find anything that can help you figure things out in there. I thought the same…and now I can’t even stand to look at it…”
Corey looked to Twilight, but she still looked to the journal. Eventually, she turned away, her ears folding down, looking like she regretted even giving it another glance, her gaze on the floor.
“Well, I guess that’s not true either,” she said, “If you’re getting anything from this book, it…it shows just what kind of person Cadance had to deal with that night. I can’t believe someone that sick could so easily sneak in and get the drop on her…If she hadn’t been able to…”
Corey was struck silent. He didn’t know if he even could say anything. But that nagging voice at the back of his head wasn’t about to just let him not try.
“I…” Corey said, “I…”
“There’s nothing to be said, Corey,” Twilight said, “There’s nothing else you’ll get out of that book other than disgust…”
“I know that,” Corey said, “Seeing what it did to you and your brother… I can’t imagine what’s in there. I don’t know what I can say…All I know is…All I know…”
He ran out of steam, and he looked away for a moment.
“All you know…?” Twilight parroted, looking back up to him.
“All I know is…” Corey closed his eyes halfway, “If something like that happened to you, I don’t know how I’d act…Even the thought…”
One of his fists tightened, and he closed his eyes. Memories of a past life washed over him, and he couldn’t banish them straight away.
“Don’t think like that!” Twilight said. Corey flinched and looked back to her, “If all you do is think about everything bad that can happen, you won’t be able to get anywhere…”
Corey only watched as she continued on.
“I mean, I’ve been in dire situations before,” Twilight said, “It’s terrifying, of course, to think that someone like that can be running around. While this situation is different, it can still be overcome! Just like how you overcame Lyon. We can do this as long as we stick together…”
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After the assault on her, Cadance hadn’t been able to move as freely as she would have wanted. Not only did her injury make it difficult to walk, but the increase in patrols made it so she had to be under constant watch. Only this time, it wasn’t so bad. Her escort was her own husband. With her arms wrapped around his, the two walked down the halls. The walk was taking longer than it normally would, but she wasn’t about to complain. For now, she was taking the time to enjoy the fact that was able to hold Shining near her.
“I want to believe that, but right now…it’s hard.”
Cadance blinked for a moment. That wasn’t Shining’s voice at all. It was the voice of one of the newcomers that Twilight had introduced to her.
Corey, was it? she thought to herself.
“Trust me,” This was Twilight’s voice responding to him; she knew that voice anywhere, “I know the feeling. But I’ve come to learn that it’s a lot more reliable than you would think.” They weren’t too far away, and Cadance began to form a hunch on where they were.
Are they in my room? Guided by Shining, who also seemed to be listening in, slowly made their away towards the door of her room. Shining was ready to march right in, but Cadance tugged on his arm to get his attention. When he turned to look at her, she pushed one finger to her lips. Shining cast her a confused look, but went with her suggestion.
“And like I said, you’ve managed to hold your own before,” Twilight’s voice had a reassuring tone, “Your talent with magic is something I haven’t ever seen before.”
“T-thanks,” Corey stuttered, “But it’s only because you taught me so much on how to control my magic. If not for you, I probably wouldn’t be where I am now.”
Cadance heard Twilight giggle slightly, before she spoke up again.
“Well, I’m glad my teaching is paying off,” she said, “And it’s really been fun having a student.”
After that, there was silence. For that few moments, Cadance began to wonder if that was it. But then…
“M-maybe,” Corey’s voice came out sort of small at first, but quickly gained strength, “Maybe, I can teach you something sometime."
Cadance must have twitched a bit too hard, since Shining cast a look to her and mumbled, “Oh, I know that look…” Her eyes were now sparkling, and one hand had gone to her cheek, the other still helping her to cling to Shining for support.
“Well…there’s still a lot I’d like to know,” said Twilight, “But since this all started, I’ve never had the time to ask…”
The silence that followed was a lot tenser than before. At least, for Cadance. She didn’t know what he was about to say.
“Th-then…” His voice sounded very uncomfortable, but it still had the same strength that it did before, “How about a promise. When all this is over, when we…we have time to sit down and relax…I-I promise to answer every question you have. No matter how long it takes.”
“I’d like that…”
Cadance tugged on Shining’s arm slightly. When he looked to her, she caught his raised brow. She nodded, as if to say “I’m done here”, before both began to move on. With her eye trailing back to her room, Cadance could feel a smile etching itself into her face.
She knows how to pick them…
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After leaving Twilight and Corey alone, both Cadance and Shining went to what had served as Cadance’s new room. Once they were inside, Shining helped Cadance on to her bed where she laid back with a relaxed sigh. He watched as she laid back, trying to catch her breath. Even now, walking to her room was physically challenging.
“It’s really good to have you back,” said Cadance with a loving smile. Returning the smile, Shining reached over and placed his palm gently on her cheek.
“I promise I won’t leave your side again,” he said softly, leaning in closer. He planted a very soft kiss on her lips. The two then went into total silence, doing nothing more than enjoy each other’s presence. Being next to her, knowing that he could protect her if something happened again finally let Shining feel at ease. But there was still something eating away at the back of his mind. The only real words that the attacker had said.
“You’ve grown so much…”
The words made Shining feel uneasy every time the words replayed in his head. No matter how he thought about it, all signs pointed to the same thing.
“He knew you…” Shining mumbled, breaking the silence.
“Who did?” Cadance asked.
“Your attacker,” said Shining, “You said his only words were ‘You’ve grown so much’, right?”
Cadance nodded, staring at her husband as another silence overtook them. His eyes were distant, no doubt contemplating what he was going to say next.
“Does this mean he knew you when you were younger?”
The mere thought was enough to send a shiver down Cadance’s spine. Now it wasn’t just the possibility that her attacker was one of the breakouts, but also someone she may have known?
But who? she asked herself. Over time, Cadance had made a few enemies, though none of them were provoked by something she did. But for the attacker to have said what he did, to speak to her as if he had known her at a young age…
Cadance couldn’t think of a single soul who she had met who’d fit the—
“Wait…” Cadance sat up suddenly, only to wince as her side reminded her it hadn’t healed yet.
“What’s wrong?” asked Shining, reaching out to her. Cadance didn’t respond, her eyes staring off into empty space. Shining noted with dismay fear was clouding her vision once again.
“I…I think I know who he was.”
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After the group had finally settled themselves in, they all sat in the throne room. They hadn’t given it much thought before hearing the full story of the attack. But now that they did know what happened, they’d realized finding the attacker wouldn’t be nearly so straightforward. Unlike Lyon, this prisoner seemed to be capable of hiding his appearance. And if he could disguise himself as a crystal guards, chances were he was masquerading as someone else by now. All that said, it brought them to one single question.
“How are we goin’ to find him?” Applejack asked, “He ain’t gonna just let us find him…”
“Maybe Twi knows a spell that can find someone using a disguise?” asked Rainbow. The others mulled this over for a moment. It seemed possible. Even if Twilight didn’t know a spell like that, there was a chance she could find one.
“But even if she does,” Rarity said, “We would still need to find him…”
“But going out looking for him might not be the best idea,” said John, “Whoever it was managed to slip past trained guards unnoticed. He even waited until the dead of night to make his move. If anyone here were to be unlucky enough to corner him—or be cornered by him, it won’t be pretty.”
“Then what do we do?” asked Pinkie. No one answered, not that they could if they wanted to. As the others began to think to themselves once again, John made his way over to the window of the throne. Looking into the distance, he could see the empire. Hundreds upon thousands of civilians, and one of them wouldn’t think twice about ending their lives.
John didn’t know the answer to Pinkie’s question offhand, but he knew one thing for sure. The last confrontation drilled it into his head. There was a way to do this.
“There always is…”
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Ponyville had remained quiet since Twilight and the others left for the Crystal Empire. But even so, Princess Celestia couldn’t bring herself to relax. There was an attempt at the life of her niece as well as knowing that Twilight and her friends would have to confront the attacker. And knowing she couldn’t lift even one finger to help them only served to drive the stress home. For now, all she could do was rally her guards, ensuring that they continued to remain hidden as they guarded Ponyville—and Fluttershy, who had stayed behind.
She also had to keep up the charade that all was fine, but that was proving difficult. Even now as she sat on her throne trying to focus on her work, all she could think of was what had happened recently. Her mind betrayed her as she wondered what could happen to the others up at the empire.
No! Celestia thought to herself, lightly shaking her head, They will get through this…they always do…
There was a knock at the door, and Celestia leapt at the opportunity to get out of her own head.
“Enter,” she said. Shortly after the door began to open. Celestia blinked in surprise when she saw who was on the other side.
He bothered to knock? Celestia saw Discord on the other side. Even with the contempt he’d shown the records, he still had some level of jovial-ness in his personality left over.
“Is this a bad time?” he asked.
“I don’t think there will be a better one anytime soon,” she sighed.
“Fair point,” said Discord, only to surprise Celestia yet again, “By the way, I made a trip to Tartarus.”
Of all the places for Discord to go, Celestia had never imagined he’d go there willingly, for any reason.
“While there, I had Luna show me that mysterious hidden cage,” Discord walked over to Celestia—he hadn’t floated as much since the whole “Tartarus records” incident. Eventually, he came to a stop at the stairs leading up to her chair, stopping with his foot on the bottom one.
“What did you discover?” she asked.
“Some powerful magic went into that cell,” Discord said, “I dare say it could have held me as well. While I cannot tell you who was being held in it, I can tell you how they got out…”