Far is the Star Called Sol

by Omnicron25

17 - What Has Permanence?

Far is the Star Called Sol
Chapter 17: What Has Permanence?

Twilight Sparkle was feeling very irritable. It wasn't just the fact she had just woken up in a hospital, or that she could not use her magic because of a binding glyph, or that she had no idea what was going on. That would all hit her in a few moments. What was irritating her right now was the one stream of sunlight burning through the gap in the curtains and adding to her incredibly painful headache.

Disoriented and trying to hide her head under a pillow, she mumbled, "Spike, get that curtain. I think I overdid it again."

When the immediate wiseacre remark did not come followed by the relief from the blinding ray, she grew more agitated, which only made her headache worse. "Spike!"

Again, there was no answer, and the eerie silence continued. This made her open her eyes to see the darkened hospital room in fully for the first time. Anxiety started to take hold instantly as she began to recall the events that lead up to her blackout. The Changeling invasion, the fear— both her own and in the eyes of the ponies around her— Jason pushing through it all with his uplifting presence and solid determination, and her own inability to do anything.

The thought of Jason somehow overshadowed the rest though. Maybe it was because the thought of him by her side comforted her, because he made sure she was safe— despite her lack of magic— and his attempts to keep her in good spirits. The memories somehow calmed her as he did, and left as small smile on her muzzle as her anxiety ebbed. She let the memory linger since it seemed to also have the added effect of taking the chill out of the room. The feeling was curious to her. She found she enjoyed his company in the library as well, but his felt different somehow. However, she felt a nagging feeling too— as if she had forgotten something important.

"Spike!" she realized with a start as she remember the reason they had gone out into the battle to begin with. How could she had forgotten the draconic assistant she thought of as a little brother? Had Jason found him? Were they both alright? What had happened to Ponyville and her other friends? Her anxiety came back all at once, hitting her like a tidal wave. What if they need me? What could I do to help? What use am I without my magic? She remembered back to her first Winter Wrap-up in Ponyville. She had overcome this conundrum before, and it was her intellect and ability to plan, coordinate and rally that saved the scheduling of Ponyville's on-time arrival of spring for the first time in years. But what of now? Could she even handle something of this magnitude?

As if reflecting her emotional state, her already horrible bed-mane started to become even more disheveled. Throwing off the bedsheets, the lavender unicorn attempted to roll off the bed, only to be stopped by the IV painfully tugging on her left foreleg. Yanking the device out with her teeth, she continued to get out of the bed, successfully getting to the door before a sunshine yellow earth pony stepped in front of her.

"Twilight, get back into bed. You were brought here in a state of complete physical exhaustion…"

Unfortunately for the young nurse's assistant, the usual method of rational appeal meant nothing to the Sun Protégé at the moment. The only thing on Twilight Sparkle's mind right now was knowing what had become of her friends, Ponyville and what was done about the Changeling horde. Completely ignoring her, the lavender unicorn attempted to push pass.

To the assistant's credit, however, she made one final attempt to appeal since there was no standing doctor's order to keep the unicorn confined to bedrest. "Twilight, it's alright. Sentinel Heart's got everything under control; you don't need to worry yourself. I—I'm sure he'll come fill you in if I ask."

"Thanks Spring Blossom, but I need to see for myself," said Twilight much drier than she would have liked. She stopped taking in a deep breath afterward to calm herself and letting it out as a sigh before continuing, "I'm sorry, but I'm going to go crazy if I'm in that bed worrying any longer. Which way is Sentinel?'

She knew the security chief was a competent pony for leading crisis situations like this, and the unicorn was actually more than a little relieved to hear that he was the one in charge. The time and effort she had seen that pony make plans and contingency plans for situations like this always came off to her as more then a little paranoid— and even she admitted coming from her that was saying something— but now she could see he was right in doing so. If she talked to him, it was likely she could get a good overall perspective of the situation from him as well as get directions to everypony else— a great time saver.

"Um…" started Spring sounding a little unsure. "I would look in the main hallway? I'm sure he'll come through there eventually—"

"Thanks," blurted Twilight as she cantered past the assistant and started making her way through the mass of ponies. She was no master of navigating the halls of the health facility, but she had come here enough with, and for, Rainbow Dash and the Cutie Mark Crusaders to know how to get to the main passageway that led to the front desk and the primary entryway.

As she moved through the crowd, the unicorn could not help to feel a crushing blow to her optimism that was keeping her anxiety at bay. Many ponies turned to her expectantly as if she could wave a wand and make all the suffering go away. It pained her even more to have to ignore them and keep on going like everypony else. In every other instance, there had been a quick-fix— an easy solution— even at the times when thing seemed at their worst.

This time was different though. There was no quick, easy way to make the suffering go away, the damage had been done. She did not even have her magic to aid her this time— one of the few constants of her entire life. The librarian never realized how much she had taken it for granted before, and now, it was gone during one of the times she need it the most.

I wish Celestia was here, she found herself thinking. She would know what to do. She shook her head. Maybe this is all just a test setup by Princess Luna in one of her dreamscapes. Maybe I'm still in my bed back at the library and this entire ordeal with the Changelings never happened. Then, her eyes widened as her anxiety started to take hold of her thoughts like timberwolf fangs. What if I failed already and that's why I haven't woke up?! Maybe that's why I don't have my magic back yet! What if this is my punishment?!

She shook her head again, trying to clear her thoughts. No! That's just cruel! The Princesses would never do that! Would they? Even the entire situation with my BBBFF's wedding or the Crystal Empire wasn't… She shuddered at the memory of the gore and tried, unsuccessfully, to avoid eye contact with the ponies laid-up on stretchers along the edges of the hall.

"Twilight Sparkle!" called out a voice from the crowd, but she payed it no mind as she was too deep in her thoughts and worries.

"Buck it all! Twilight Sparkle, over here!" called out the voice louder and more agitated this time. She did not respond.

Finally, somepony grabbed her tail, making her pay attention to them.

"Twiligh—"

That pony was rewarded with a smack to the muzzle.

"Ow! Sparkle, that was uncalled for!"

Twilight instantly recognized the voice now as she spun around with the offending hoof over her mouth in shame. "Oh! Sentinel Heart! I'm so sorry! I was was just so deep in my thoughts I—"

The security chief put up a hoof to silence her as he shook his bandaged head— which Twilight noticed was mostly around his horn.

Magic burnout… Ouch! instinctively thought the lavender unicorn as she sympathetically winced. The black char was so bad it was actually showing through the bandages. On the black unicorn, the stark white cloth stained black was impossible not to look at.

"Yes, it feels as bad as it looks, and you bludgeoning me didn't help." Pausing to hold his pained head and breathe, Sentinel finally sighed and continued, "No matter, Spring Blossom was kind enough to tell me you were searching for me?"

Twilight knew by this point the monochrome pony would not be removing his glyph from her anytime soon, so she cut straight to her primary objective. "I want to know what's been happening since my collapse. I know you're in control here, so I figure I'd get it straight from the horse's mouth."

Sentinel Heart rolled his eyes and groaned. "Horrible attempt at comedy, Twilight. In this I have to say the jokes are better left to Pinkie Pie." He sighed. "You're not going to like what you here."

He turned to an earth pony pushing a medical cart. "Carrot Top! If anypony needs me or Twilight Sparkle, we'll be in her room. I need to explain the situation to her!" he called out over the din.

"Okay! Have fun you two!" called back the yellow mare with a mischievous grin before quickly moving on.

Twilight felt herself blush some, and Sentinel growled something profane before turning back around. "Come on. I'll put her on latrine duty later."

Twilight internally winced as she quickly turned to follow him…

---

An older Twilight Sparkle pulled her eyes from the pages of the tome. The memories that this incredibly accurate retelling of the time period made her somewhat depressed and scared her at the same time. She could remember when Scholar Quill interviewed her for this portion of this story, but the accuracy… It was unreal. She could see why he had been such a revered pony among the Atlasi now, because his weaving of the fabric of time as a story was absolutely incredible. She knew he had been thorough with his compilation.

However, remembering the news of a great portion of Ponyville being damaged by the massive fires that had broken out, various Changeling attacks and just simple collateral damage made the unicorn cringe. The total damage ended up equaling approximately twenty million bits, or as Jason once quoted after some calculation that he called 'guesstimating' came to about twenty-five billion of his currency. The memory of her enraged reaction to his explanation of 'guesstimating' made her chuckle a little. His surprised facial expression when she started throwing books at him still made her chuckle when she thought about it in retrospect.

The horrible feeling of dread of what that one-third of the population that was captured as food for the Changeling horde went through still made her pelt itch though. Worse yet, the somber memory of those ponies that died or were hurt during the attack still depressed her greatly. It was the greatest loss of pony life up until that point since the Great Draco-Equine Conflicts— almost all of which were civilian. She had to admit that even though she went through even harder times than that since the Changeling Invasion of Ponyville, that first real battle would always want to make her cry.

Then, she thought about Astral Plane. Why didn't I remember her being there before, and why are there still foggy spots afterwards? No pony seems to be aware of Princess Astra's existance before her birth, but she played such a major role… She shook her head. Maybe it was to keep her safe or keep her from being treated differently. I can see the Royal Family and the Elements agreeing to a blanket memory repression in that perspective. I know Luna and Apollo would.

She got up and started pacing around the study. "Why then do I still have foggy spots in my memories? Did another pony time jump? If so, who? I'll have to have Spike help me with this after him and Star get back from Canterlot. I know this is supposed to be his vacation, but…"

The out loud thinking was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Mom? Is somepony in there? Can I come in?"

"Come on in," replied Twilight with a grin. That's right. Today's Shining Star's first big adventure, she added mentally. I almost envy him. I wish I started out with something a bit smaller than purifying Princess Luna from Night Mare Moon.

The entry of the red colt complete in his modified Daring Do gear almost made Twilight laugh. "I take it Needlepoint helped you with the vest?" she teased.

The colt blushed. "Um… Y—Yeah! She's really good at that type of thing! I couldn't make a proper stitch if my life depended on it." He seemed a bit down at that as his ears started to droop, but then, he suddenly perked back up again. "So! Who were you talking to? I don't see anypony in here. Is Spike ready to go? I can't wait to see what adventuring will be like!"

Twilight chuckled at her colt's enthusiasm. "Keep it down, dear. Your father isn't supposed to know you're doing this, and you'll just be taking the canterway to Canterlot anyway."

"I know, but I'm just so excited! I get to go on a real adventure like in your stories, Mom! This would be like the best birthday present ever if today was my birthday!"

Twilight smiled broadly, but she knew her colt wasn't being as energetic as usual. He had taken his cousin's disappearance pretty hard, and she couldn't tell him anything as of yet. She wanted to be certain Astra was safe before she started making any announcements to her colt. "I'm sure you're going to have a fantastic adventure, my little pony. Now, you better go find Spike and get ready to go. You don't want to miss out on your first full day of adventuring, do you?"

"No way! I'll find him right now!" chirped as he dived and hugged Twilight with all of his might. "You keep trying to find Astra too, okay? I just know she's out there somewhere, but something tells me she's going to need help… wherever she is."

Twilight smiled, proud at how much of an older brother role Shining Star had taken towards his cousin. It reminded her of her younger days of herself and Shining Armor. "I will; have a safe trip."

Shining broke away with that patented goofy grin plastered on his face. "Of course! I'll have Uncle Spike with me! He won't let anypony hurt me!" Then, just like that, he ran out the door leaving Twilight alone to her thoughts yet again.

An old, familiar twinge in the back of her mind spoke up again. The paranoia— It was ever present as always, but it was moments like this that it fed off of like some parasite. Thankfully, her acumen of experience let her push it away without almost any notice. Spike would never let any harm come to her colt, and she knew it. However, that did not stop her from worrying, naturally. She almost felt as if she was rushing him for some unknown reason, as if he was going to be late for something if he did not get going today. However, she merely dismissed it on her schedule making habits.

Turning herself back to her previous object of interest, and attempting to distract herself, she looked again to Scholar Quill's tome. She had no wish to reread her own parts, lest only painful memories return, but as she skimmed the pages, she found the next part was from Fluttershy's point-of-view. This made her curiosity soar as there had been no real input from Fluttershy, Applejack or Pinkie up until now. There had been plenty from Rainbow, Storm and many of the others of course, but those three…

Quickly, her curiosity took a hold as if a spell had been cast and she delve straight into reading again— her world devolving into the past yet again.

---

…Meanwhile, Fluttershy awoke with a start and with the consciousness came back the memories. Those horrible memories of ponies and Changelings being hurt or dying, buildings burning, and her… She froze for a moment. She was alive, was she not? The last thing she remembered was holding Applebloom and Sweetie Belle tight as they fell into a burning building. She remembered the searing heat that made her blackout as she used herself as a shield for the impact, but that could not have been what happened. The butter yellow pegasus looked around to find herself in a hospital room with only a dim light of Celestia's sun shining through the windows accompanied by the sound of much activity outside her door, and she was alive and seemingly unharmed. Was that all just a horrible dream? What happened? Did I hit my head looking for Wind Storm? Oh no! Did I even find Wind Storm?! Did I fail him?!

The pegasus took a few deep breaths to calm down, just as Rainbow Dash had taught her. She knew panicking would do her no good now. That was when the next thought hit her. My friends! Oh… They must be worried sick! How long have I been out? She double-checked herself for any injuries before making toward the door murmuring, "Oh… I hope I haven't caused them too much trouble. I hope Wind Storm is okay too. Maybe Applejack and Jason found him." Another thought struck her, causing her to pause. "I hope the animals are alright; I'm sure Jason or Mac would've taken care of them for me. Angel Bunny must be worried sick too."

Opening the door, she was almost hit by a medical supply cart whizzing by being pushed by Cloud Chaser. This sight confused Fluttershy so much she could only watch as the very stressed looking weather pony passed. Then, she noticed the shear amount of ponies bustling outside to and fro down the hallway. Had there been some major accident? Her first instinct was torn between shutting herself back in her room until everything died down or immediately start helping one of the ponies on one of the makeshift cots or stretchers lining the walls, but she need to know what was going on too. After a few moments, the timid pegasus decided she needed to find one of her friends. They would know what was going on.

"Um… Excuse me…" she called out softly to one of the passing ponies, but they just kept going, seemingly too caught-up in their own task to notice her. "Sir?" she asked another passing pony, but he too was too busy to pay attention to her.

Then, she heard somepony yell. It was not a pained yell, but more of a yell of frustration. It was answered back by an equally blatant voice, only this one sounded more like it was just trying to overcome the constant din of the noisy hallway. Fluttershy started to make her way toward the argument when she heard the first voice yell even louder, "…and what were you thinking using war magic?! Honestly, Sentinel, I thought better of you! I should lock you up just for that! And you want to provide weapons to the citizens?! Only the Royal Guard—"

Fluttershy's eyes widened as she recognized the voice of Twilight and started making her way towards the argument whilst staying out of everypony's way as much a possible.

"The Royal Guard can shove it, Twilight Sparkle! We're at war! The only members of the Royal Guard that even helped us here were the reserve members already here and the Anti-Dragon Squadron! The only reason we held out was because of Astral Plane, Nalick— Royal Sisters preserve that human's mind, I hope he recovers— myself and the militia, and a bunch of rebel Changelings! It's been three days, and the Guard still hasn't shown up! We need to defend ourselves, and most of our major players are injured, missing, captured or incapacitated! If we don't at least provide weapons and basic war magic to the populous and Chrysalis decides to have a second go, we're going to be rutted up our arses so hard I doubt there will even be a Ponyville left to save! We barely were able to repel the last attack even after Nalick forced Chrysalis to flee the field! Oh wait! Jason Nalick isn't even an Equestrian national! I haven't seen you threaten him after revealing he had a dangerous alien weapon stored right under your muzzle! What about the lieutenant?! He was on vacation and thus only had the rights of an ordinary civilian! Should we lock him for his use of war magic too?! Oh wait, there's more! What about the Shifters?! You want to kick them out of town?! Forget it! Even better! What are you going to do about our issue of Astral Plane?! She turned into a bucking ethereal being and is obviously connected to the princesses somehow! What would you do with her if she were still here!?"

Fluttershy knew that other voice. It was a very angry Sentinel Heart, and she knew that pony did not anger easily. That, however, was not what struck her. It was what he said. That horrible dream had not been a dream at all. It had actually happened, and she was seeing the aftermath of it. Her eyes began to water as she began to shutter from the horror of what happened; the horror of what she now knew was true. But if she survived, that meant…

"Oh, Fluttershy, darling! I'm so glad you're awake! I was starting to worry!"

Fluttershy "Eeeped!" in surprise as she jumped, startled by the sudden appearance of a ragged looking Rarity to her right.

"Oh! Rarity! I—" she started in tears.

She was cut-off as Twilight Sparkle started her retort. "I swear if you teach these innocent ponies war magic, I'll—"

"Do what exactly?! Bring down your position as Celestia's most faithful student and lock me up along with the Shifters and put the town under royal mandate?! I got a red card too, Sparkle! If you even dare, I will use my right as a Town Council Member to call an emergency meeting and split Ponyville off as a separate city-state as is given our right under the Tribal Rights Agreement signed by Celestia and Luna themselves when Equestria was reformed after the sealing away of Discord! Then, I would kick you out of town, because it was you Chrysalis wanted to start with, and you would only get in my way of getting done what needs to be done! Face it! Canterlot has abandoned us!"

Fluttershy pushed her thoughts away for a moment as her and Rarity shared a look of shock before getting a closer look. There were a lot of ponies just staring and watching the monochromatic and lavender unicorns yell it out in the middle of the hallway. Their eyes were dead-locked on each other, and while Sentinel's horn was wrapped— clearly burned from magic overuse by the black showing through the bandages— Twilight's flank was still marked by the magic nullification glyph. The timid pegasus hid slightly behind her usually regal alabaster friend as the two continued to battle wits.

"You're crazy! Only—" the lavender unicorn began.

"The Mayor can do that?" Sentinel began calmly as his expression darkened further. "Twilight, Mr. Rich and I are the only functioning members of the Council left, and I am second-in-command to the Mayor to start with. I doubt I would have to convince Mr. Rich much at any rate considering what has happened already. If the Mayor were here, she would side with me readily. There have been many talks about us evicting you from town on basis of your presence being a threat because of outside forces and your own reckless use of magic. We just don't have the pony power to protect you and defend ourselves from the Everfree's constant threat. You ought to thank Big Mac and Dash for your uninterrupted stay. They are the only reason I voted to let you stay after the Want-It-Need-It spell incident. It was fifty-fifty, and I was the deciding vote. I thank you for getting rid of Night Mare Moon and Discord, but there's little else I feel obligated towards you for. I've planned for a worst-case scenario like this for a very long time, and I'll be bucked if I let this town fall because of one naïve pony's meddling. Unless the situation changes, I want you out of my way unless you actually have something to contribute, is that clear?"

Twilight seemed too dumbfounded to do more than nod at this point, and Fluttershy was just as shocked to hear that her friend had almost been kicked out of town before. Was this really happening? Was this all not just some horrible nightmare that she never woke up from? She silently prayed to Princess Luna it was, because the defeated look on her friends face made her want to break.

"If you wish to be of help, I would suggest checking on your human friend. He's locked himself in that room for three days now, and I think you mentioned he needed a spell you knew that kept him alive for longer since he has that… condition. I'll see you around," Sentinel Heart suddenly turned smacking Twilight in the face with his tail as he turned to leave and saw all the ponies staring.

"What are you rut-brained idiots looking at?! Get back to what you were doing! We need to be ready before the next wave of Changelings invade!" the eldest Heart Brother snapped, but then he found himself suddenly staring down a very angry Fluttershy who dropped down in from of him.

Hitting Twilight in the face with his tail had been the last straw for the kind pony. He had been rude, inconsiderate, degrading, and now just plain cruel to her friend, and now, Fluttershy needed to give the security chief a piece of her mind. Her eyes bored into the gray orbs of the unicorn, making him freeze, as she said, "That is enough, Sentinel Heart. I know you're only doing what you think is best, but taking out your frustrations on another pony is just wrong. I have seen Twilight protect this town from dangers you couldn't even touch. So what if she makes a mistake from time to time. We all do! Furthermore, are you really wanting to just pin all of this on Twilight? Because if you're pinning things on her just being here, then you better pin many of those things on me, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and the others too! We're Elements too, and I'm pretty sure Chrysalis was after all of us! I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but I will not let you be so mean to one of my friends. Understood?"

It took several moments for the surprised security chief to do anything. Then, it started out quietly, a small smirk and a titter, but that titter grew into a chuckle, and before long, into a manic laugh that gained highly disturbed looks from all the ponies within hearing distance as he finally broke away from the Stare and closed his eyes. He fell back onto his haunches and laughed so hard he grasped at his sides in pain before finally calming down after several moments. Then, righting himself, he put a hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder with a smile of pure, relaxed mirth on his features.

"It's great to see you up and about, Fluttershy. A lot of ponies were worried about you. I'm sorry if you think I was being too harsh on Twilight, but you have to understand my position here. I can't just standby and let that bug invade us again. I need to go make sure everything is in order though, and if you would, please go with Twilight to see Nalick. I think the poor human is remembering some rather nasty things by the way he was acting earlier."

"Um… Okay?" said Fluttershy, more than a bit stunned. She had never seen such a reaction from the Stare before, and it unsettled her more than a little to see a pony could react to it in so radically different a manner. As she finished making a mental note about the possible ramifications of this reaction for later, Rarity politely cleared her throat now that the other two unicorns were out of earshot.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Rarity. Um, did you need something?"

Rarity nodded as she smiled gently. "Quite alright, dear. I was just going to ask that you leave Sentinel to me was all. The only pony that probably knows him better than I do would be Rainbow Dash, and the poor dear is still recovering from that rather nasty run-in with Chrysalis. I—"

"Oh my! Rainbow Dash is hurt too!" the timid pegasus blurted. "I should go check on her too and maybe…"

Rarity put a reassuring hoof on her friend's shoulder. "She's a strong filly, darling. Don't fret yourself; Rainbow just needs her rest is all." A thought passed through her mind, it seemed, as she started to sound more urgent. "I'm sure this may come as a surprise to you, but I need you to do as Sentinel asked. I have a feeling he knows more about Tiberius's condition than he's letting on. Afterward, meet me in front of the lieutenant's room. Alright?"

"Alright… Is Jason going to be alright? If you don't mind me asking, that is…"

The white unicorn frowned thoughtfully. "I can't say for sure, dear, but I do know Sentinel isn't the sort to send a pony on a fool's errand."

"I don't know about that…" answered the meek pegasus as she thought briefly about Sentinel Heart's younger brothers. The eldest Heart brother often sent the twins to do menial work.

"Nonsense, darling. Now, go find Twilight and Tiberius. Goodness knows, I'm sure the two of them would enjoy your company after all they've gone through."

"What about you Rarity?" asked Fluttershy in concern as she glanced over the usually regal unicorn's ragged appearance. "I—I mean if you don't mind me asking…"

Rarity just waved a dismissive hoof as she gave the pegasus a gentle smile. "I'm perfectly alright, Fluttershy. This is nothing a little freshening-up can't fix." Then, she looked in the direction the security chief went off in and frowned. "However, a certain stallion needs to be brought down a few pegs, I daresay."

Noticing the agitated swishing of her friend's tail, Fluttershy took a couple steps back. "Um… Okay. J—Just take care of yourself."

A small smile graced her friend's features as she nodded a farewell. "Just remember to meet me in front of the lieutenant's room, alright? Ciao~"

Oh my, I hope she knows Sentinel Heart as well as she think she does. I'm not sure I'd even try to talk to him again so soon. He's become… scary… thought the butter colored pegasus as she hid behind her mane some before starting off in the general direction Twilight had gone in. I hope Twilight is alright too. She looked so sad after Sentinel said all those awful things to her. Maybe Jason can help her some too; he always seemed… nice, but didn't they say that Jason was hurt too?

She sighed as she continued onward careful to dodge the ever-changing flow of ponies as they busied themselves with the tasks set before them. So many ponies are hurt… Why would the Changelings do this? Was it because of what happened at the wedding? Did all of this really happen just because we're here, just like Sentinel said? She shook her head to try to clear her head of such negative thoughts. At least Applebloom and Sweetie should be safe if I am, right? I should try to find them after I meet up with Rarity later.

As she entered another crossing, it did not take long for her to realize she had gotten lost in all the hustle and bustle of the hallways. Upon realizing this, she let her mane fall over her face and slowly started to back up until she ran into something.

"Oof! Hey… er… Fluttershy? I'm glad to see you're awake. How are you feeling?"

Fluttershy squeaked in surprise and turned around, prepared to apologize profusely, but then saw the pony she was talking to. Her eyes shrank to fear-filled pinpoints as they widened and all the color drained from her face.

"Uh… Fluttershy? Are you alright? You look really pale. Are you sure you're supposed to be out of bed yet?" asked the pony as he blew a lock of his bandage-bound gray hair out of his face.

"I—I…" she stuttered as she looked upon the visage of Sentinel Heart with the blackened bandage around his horn along the upper part of his head.

The security chief studied her worriedly as she backed away from him very slowly. "Fluttershy? What's going on?" He slowly held out his right leg that was being supported by a metal brace, which squeaked slightly as he lifted his leg.

"No… No…" murmured the pegasus in fright as she started to back away. What's going on? Why is he here? I just talked to him; why…

"Oh my! Rarity's in danger! Ohmyohmyohmy! I—I have to warn her!" sputtered out the timid pegasus, nearly in tears, as she flew off over the other ponies back the way she came.

"Wait! Fluttershy!" called out Sentinel Heart before nearly collapsing. "Cloud Chaser… follow her!"…

---

Twilight Sparkle sighed as she marked her place and closed the book. This was certainly one of the most depressing parts so far, but then again the aftermaths always were, and she could not bear reading anymore of it at the moment. Instead, she decided to go have a talk with the documenter himself. Some things could not wait until Spike returned, and she wanted answers now. Much of this book broke many of Equestria's privacy laws, and while there was only three of them in existence, something told her three was too many. Scholar's version itself should have been locked in the restricted section of the Royal Archives— possibly even in Celestia's study if she could prove the magic that she suspected was cast upon it.

As she got up to leave her study, however, she saw a very angry Lumen at her door, making her eyes widen. "Lumen! What are yo—"

"Where are they?"

Twilight had a feeling she would need to confront her husband too, but this was odd, given he'd been bedridden for the past two days. Not to say she wasn't glad he was up and moving, but the look in his eyes worried her. "Dear, are you—"

"Twilight," said Lumen deadpan. "There was a very specific reason I had to be one to take that artifact. Shadow Haze is still after it, and he'll do anything to get it… Anything…"

The purple mare's eyes grew wide before she grew angry. "Lumen Bright Sparkle! What in Celestia's name made you think I knew that?! You never told me Fredric was still after the artifact! You said it no longer had any of its powers!"

Lumen huffed in anger, wincing as if struck. "The Bead of a Thousand Years still has a shred of power left in it, and if Shadow can get a hold of it…" The stallion looked up grimly. "He will change everything…"

Author's Note:

Sorry for the long wait folks! I hope you review and enjoy!

Comments

[BureYaAkili]

Noooooo. not everything