The Proxy

by Eyesclops

CH09: Located!

-Canterlot Library-

Twilight got up. She finally had grip of her emotions, and while it had taken over an hour, the Princesses were still there, watching her patently. Princess Celestia let her cry, it was her loss after all. She had been sitting with her wing over Twilight.

"I'm sorry you had to see me like this, Princess Celestia..." The purple unicorn looked up at her teacher, and her teacher smiled in return.

"We all have moments like that Twilight. It was your turn. Sadness is a natural part of life." She looked over to Luna to signify that she was about to tell Twilight of the news.

"I have something I must show you, the book can wait for now, if you would come to my quarters. There is something there that you must see..."

Twilight wiped the last tears that were on her eyes, got up, and walked after Princess Celestia and Princess Luna out of the library.

-Leon's Location-

I opened my eyes. My wound had disappeared, but I was laying in a small pool of the blood that had dripped out. "Eeurgh!" I stood up quickly, hitting my head in the process. I noticed that on the ground, the crown I had taken from god's realm was there. I picked it up again. With my mouth, and left the tree. I began to walk the same direction I had the day before. Running no longer seemed needed.

After a few hours of walking, I realized it was no longer snowing, though when it stopped was beyond me. "I thought ponies controlled the weather..." I thought aloud to myself. "It must be like Everfree Forest here..." I looked up at the sky.

... I was wrong about it being like Everfree. A faint dot in the sky, a single speck, began to come into focus.

A pegasus...

"HEEEEEEY!" I jumped up and down, trying to get the attention of the flying pony. "HEEEEEEEEEEEY!"

The screaming finally worked, and the pony flew to ground level. It was a yellow pony with an mane and tail that looked as if it were on fire.

"And who might you be?" I asked the Pegasus.

"My name is Leon... I seemed to be lost, and was wondering if you-" I stopped, she was staring at the crown I had set down by my feet.

"Where did you happen to... to get that?" She asked with a hit of jealousy in her voice. She seemed tomboyish, but the crown seemed to have gotten the better of her.

"It happens to be someone else's. Don't worry about it. I was going to take it to Canterlot, but I ran into some... issues on the way. Where am I?" I tried to move it out of sight for the pony, who kept staring at it. She looked at me. It was clear in her eyes that she didn't believe a single thing I had said.

She eyed me down, "So how come your name is on it?"

Crap! I thought to myself. "Err... uuh... well, I'm not the only Leon in the world am I?"

"Actually, you're a first for me, and I've met a lot of ponies. Whatever your reason, I guess I don't need to know." A slightly disappointed look was on her face. "Anyways, you're near Cloudsdale, a bit north of it actually. Sadly, you cant go there, since it is made of clouds."

"Wait, I can't?" I looked at her, realizing I slipped up one too many times in the conversation.

"What is with you? Out in the middle of nowhere with a crown, you don't know what you're doing, and you forget non-pegasi can't walk on clouds?" She looked at me, trying to decipher the odd behavior that I was doing,

"Can you just please tell me where the nearest road is? Please? You haven't even said your name. Interrogating me is just rude!" I was trying to turn the tables on the conversation, to get her on the defensive. The less questions, the better.

Dang. It didn't work.

-Hallway in front of Celestia's Room-

"Guys, what are you doing here!" Twilight smiled as she saw five of her closest friends walking up to her. "Rarity! Applejack! Fluttershy! Rainbow Dash! Pinkie Pie!" She smiled and ran to her friends, who were being escorted by guards.

Celestia nodded her head and the escort disbanded, each returning to their original posts. "And what brings you here?"

"We came as soon as we heard about the big boomie on the train!" Pinkie Pie jumped up. She hopped around for a second, looked around and then finally asked, "Hey, where's Leon?"

Twilight looked down.

Pinkie didn't realize she had hit a sore spot, "So?"

Luna spoke so her sister's student wouldn't have to."He went missing after the train explosion. We sent out some people to look for him... but they didn't find him..."

All of the new ponies looked absolutely shocked, his disappearance wasn't mentioned to any of them.

Princess Celestia spoke up, "I have something I need to show Twilight Sparkle in my room, and to be honest..." She paused. She didn't know if she should tell these ponies about what had occurred. She looked at Twilight, who understood her question.

"I trust them, they're my friends." Twilight smiled. She turned to face them, "I have a long story to tell you, and I'm sure you're not going to believe any of it... I didn't at first either..."

She took a deep breath and recited the entire story, from when she had first met Leon to her sharing his dream. She spoke of God, and his recent resignation. She told of Leon's kidnapping, and the book in the Library.

"But there is one part not even you know yet, my dear student." Princess Celestia spoke up to Twilight as soon as she finished. "All of you, let's enter my bedroom."

The five ponies all stood there, taking in what was said. All of it was ridiculous, but even the Princesses were on board. None of the other ponies had actually noticed the change in his cutie mark either.

-Princess Celestia's Quarters-

"So, Princess Celestia, what is it you wanted to show m-" The magically inclined purple unicorn froze at the entrance of the room. The other ponies ran into her beacuse of how abrupt it was.

She saw exactly what Luna had immediately seen. The other five ponies didn't quite understand where her shock came from.

"God... what happened to him!" Twilight stood there silent, "He really is gone isn't he?"

"Who is this guy?" Rainbow Dash flew around the statue, "Gotta be important if you have a statue of him."

Luna clarified for the newcomers, "That.. was god. After his resignation... this happened. That really is him, so be careful around him okay?"

"He... he's stone!" Fluttershy said in her "shocked voice", even though it was still barely a whisper.

The five ponies murmured among themselves, that is, until Rarity spotted the most beautiful thing she had seen in her life.

"Wh-what is THAT!" She ran past the marble statue to the crown on the floor. "It... it's simply the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The elegance! The grandeur! The magnificence! The... the everything! I- I- I love it!" She was beginning to stutter, analyzing every detail she could without touching it. The rest of the ponies, minus the two Princesses and Twilight, began to walk over themselves and take a closer look at the crown. Twilight, however, was still fixated on the marble figure that dominated the area. God stood there, staring up at the sky, looking almost as majestic as when he was alive. She felt bad for him, he had sacrificed his rule for the faint chance of the next major event in Equestria, whatever it is going to be, would turn out okay. She wondered what had become of him.

"Oh dear... Twilight, is this yours?" Rarity's voice called out. It was enough to snap Twilight out of her trance. The princesses looked at the crowd, wondering what Twilight's response would be.

"O-of course not! That crown was God's!" She walked over to the crowd and gasped. The book she had previously balanced on her back, The King, fell down. The book opened to two crowns. They were identical in all features but one. Leon. Twilight.

Twilight looked at the crown and saw what everyone else did. "My name? Wh- why?..."

-Leon's Location, North of Cloudsdale-

This Pegasus wouldn't shut up. Nag nag nag. I looked directly at her, "What's your name?"

"You tell me the truth." She retorted.

"I can tell you the truth, which you won't believe, or I can tell you a lie which you will. Which to you prefer?" I asked the question while beginning to walk, she confidently flew around me, being as obnoxious as she could while doing it.

"Listen punk, but I really don't think you know much do ya?"

I looked at her and smiled, "Nope! Not a single thing. Now can I please get some form of direction?"

She laughed, "I'll give you a hint, you're going the wrong way." I stopped.

"See, shows you how much I know." She laughed again. She wasn't as obnoxious when she was laughing.

"Tell ya what, if you tell be a little bit of the story behind that crown, I'll help you out with your direction problems! The name's Spitfire."

I stood there, "Wait, THE Spitfire from the Wonderbolts? Rainbow Dash back in Ponyville went on and on about you."

"Oh, her?" Spitfire laughed, "I like that pony, and to be honest, she'd be a great Wonderbolt. Too bad all our formations all call for a specific number of ponies. If we could, she'd be on in a heartbeat. She's better than most of our team to be totally honest, but don't tell anyone I said that." Spitfire at an angle, just slightly ahead of me. "The road is this way if you're wondering."

I walked on towards the direction Spitfire mentioned and decided the easiest thing to do was tell her a believable lie (as believable as I could make it anyways), though normally I was against it, questions would slow me down, and the last thing I needed were delays.

"I won this in a bet in Fillydelphia. Some goldsmith bet his skills and expertise against the gems that you now see imprinted on this crown. I obviously won the bet."

"What was this bet?"

"Well, it was a race across the town. Don't ask how we got into the bet, I don't exactly know. He made me this crown when I won. I told him I wanted to give it to the Princess Luna, who I think deserves more credit for her work, and just to spite me he carved my name onto it."

Spitfire laughed again, this time for reasons I was unsure about, "You sure tell a good story, even if you can't lie at all. I guess I'm not getting the truth out of you today. Maybe one day you'll let me know."

"Darn, you noticed," I said, "Well, I guess one day, I might be able to tell you." I smiled, "You never said I had to give the true story after all."

She smiled. Once she had laughed, she wasn't nearly as obnoxious. Either that or when I mentioned Rainbow Dash. Or maybe it was just me. I wasn't sure.

"I'll see ya around okay? I have a meeting with some of the other Wonderbolts soon, there's going to be practice. Besides, it's getting cold out here, " Spitfire called out as she flew up into the sky, I saw her destination, a city of rainbows and clouds floating in the sky.

Cold huh? I realized I hadn't been cold after I had regained consciousness. I shrugged, assuming some magical property of the crown prevented me from feeling the cold. It was the only thing that had changed since before I had went to God's domain. I shrugged and walked toward the road.

-Cloudsdale-

The couple of the Wonderbolts were at their practice area, nopony outside of them were there at the moment.

"So did ya all hear? There was an explosion that wrecked a train between Ponyville and Canterlot! Rumors from the wreck say one of the ponies on it went missing." Soarin' said to some of the other Wonderbolts around a table. Spitfire walked in just in time to hear.

"Who went missing?" Spitfire asked, she had heard of the wreck, but this was the first anyone had mentioned a missing person.

"Well its just rumors now, but a lot of ponies on the train say that one of the attendants knocked out a black unicorn and kidnapped him. There are also some rumors going around that Princess Celestia sent out some of her guard to find the pony, but they came back empty handed." Fleetfoot said with her feminine voice.

Spitfire paused, "Does the rumors say anything about what the pony looks like?"

Rapidfire spoke up, "The dude that got knocked out and kidnapped? Well he was all black, horn, mane and tail. They say his cutie mark was a... what was it again..."

Spitfire, remembering the suspicious pony she had just met, spoke up, "Did he happen to have Storm Clouds with a beam of light piercing through them?" They looked up.

"Yeah that's right. But how would you know?" Rapidfire looked at Spitfire.

"Tell the manager I'm going to miss practice today. Can one of you find someone who can contact Princess Celestia? Tell her I know where Leon is."

"Leon?" All of the other Wonderbolts that were present spoke simultaneously, looking at each other.

Spitfire zoomed out of the practice area, headed northward as fast as she could. She didn't know who this mysterious unicorn was and how he got Princess Celestia to be so interested in his well being, but she was definitely going to find out, one way or another.

-Celestia's Room-

Celestia had watched as Twilight had stared at the crown. Everypony around her smiled about it, except for Twilight herself, who actually seemed downright horrified. She felt she would be defiling God's work if she wore such a crown, not to mention the fact she did not have any position that entitled her to wear a headpiece, one this beautiful even moreso.

She backed away. "I don't think I can wear this, I mean, you can't exactly explain why I would have it to other ponies anyways..."

Celestia stepped forward, "Would you like me to move it to a secure storage area, Twilight? I personally think you should keep it, It was his gift to you after all."

Twilight considered the offer, but she also considered the Princess's view on the matter, "Okay, I'll keep it, but don't be surprised when I never wear it." Everypony in the room smiled and laughed.

Twilight spun around and saw the page in the book. She smiled sadly, remembering her lost friend, "So Leon has one too?" She closed her eyes and took a breath to keep calm. She decided to change the subject, "So where are you all staying?"

All she got in return was a group of ponies saying different forms of, "Uuuuh, we dunno..."

She sighed and looked at Princess Celestia, who covered her mouth with a hoof and giggled.

They all walked out, all except for Luna.

She walked over to the statue and spoke to it, "I'm honored that the last thing you saw was my moon, God..." She bowed to it, showing her thanks for what the Deity had done during its time alive. She also turned to walk out of the room.

A letter appeared in front her at that very moment, and judging by the parchment, it looked like it was written in haste.

She unraveled the string around it and straightened the paper out with magic. It was addressed, "To Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."

She read the contents and a smile came across her face. With a cheer, the royal princess jumped up and ran after her sister in the most unroyal of ways.

Author's Note:

I was up a lot of last night working on this chapter and chapter 8, and it is easily the longest one so far. I know it wasn't the best chapter, but I've been doing this for... well not that long really. Remember to comment!

Comments

[Eyesclops]

I want to thank everyone that is keeping up with my story! I'm sorry for the 4 day delay, but I was on a mini-vacation to Canada. I'll be pumping out at least a chapter a day, so keep a look out.