Celestia is betrayed by somepony she believed to be dead.
Celestia prides herself on preparedness. She expected the return of Nightmare Moon, putting measures in place to ensure her sister's return to her right mind.
Court thaumaticists theorized that the breaking of the Lunar Binding Charm would result in the release of Discord. So Celestia ensured that he could be resealed with comparative ease.
She put measures in place to warn her when Sombra's prison was weakening.
But there is another foe from her past, whose hostility she refused to acknowledge. And he is coming.
--- This story begins shortly before 'Keep Calm and Flutter On' and follows canon up to but not including that point. 'Gore' in this story is limited to the prologue and the chapter 'Return to Canterlot part 2', and is very brief (and in my opinion minor) in both occurrences.
The young colt galloped down the hallway through a cluster of hovering pastries. As he passed the swarm of apple pies, he noticed that a number of them had sprouted wings of various types.
He shuddered and hurried on.
The colt was very young, still without a cutie mark. His dull brown coat and dark mane combined to make him look fairly unremarkable. Nopony unfamiliar with his identity would have guessed to look at him that he was descended directly from the line of Princess (Later Queen) Platinum, a family famed for their bright, silvery coats. His messy, ruffled mane hardly aided in such first impressions.
The pies hadn’t been the first strange thing to happen to him today. It had all started that morning, when he had noticed that all the surfaces in the palace had been somehow repainted in a garish blue-green-pink checkerboard pattern overnight. Then the castle chef, normally a refined gentlepony, had barged into the dining chamber cackling like a madpony and bombarded the colt and his mother, Queen Stardust, with what appeared to be cow’s milk infused with cocoa powder.
The queen had attempted to stop the other pony, telling the young colt to wait in the dining room for her to return. She had not done so, and although he had had every intention of remaining where he was, he had been forced to flee when a bright magenta earth pony had popped into existence somehow hovering just below the ceiling, bombarding him with what appeared to be living crickets made of caramel.
And as if that weren’t enough, the Royal Tower – his intended destination – had detached itself from the main part of the castle and was now hovering upside down almost a hundred meters away from the mountain on which Equulaneum was constructed. They were only connected by a single rope bridge which defied physics by seemingly twisting around from the upright castle to the inverted tower section against the will of gravity.
Also the ropes were made of liquorice.
The colt tentatively stepped onto the rope bridge, but as soon as he put one foot onto it, it wrapped around him and recoiled toward the hovering tower, throwing him forcefully through the edifice’s door. The large portcullis over the entranceway crashed down behind him, retracting and then crashing down again.
As if that weren’t enough, he still fell to the tower’s floor, which was now on the top, rather than the former ceiling. He had learned a while ago that whatever was going on, it had basically taken logic, thrown it in a trash pile, and then fed that trash pile to an animate furnace or something.
Fortunately, the halls and stairways of the tower had stayed comparatively mundane, except for the inverted gravity, rivers flowing uphill in place of carpets, and the fact that all the pillars had been replaced by what appeared to be barber poles.
Generally, the tower would be crawling with royal guards. This was by no means a bad thing – the colt was good friends with a number of guards – but now, it unsettled him that the only guard he had encountered so far had been a single stallion, with every drop of color vanished from his coat and mane. If he hadn’t been tap dancing the colt would have thought he was a statue.
He made it to the throne room itself without incident, discovering the door slightly ajar. Voices emanated from within. The colt nudged the door slightly further away and looked inside.
Sure enough, Queen Stardust was inside, standing in the chamber’s center, but she was pacing in circles around another creature. It could very loosely be described as partially a pony – its left leg and its head were vaguely ponylike, and one wing looked similar to that of a Pegasus. The rest of its body, however, was a mashup of a lion paw, an eagle talon, a dragon leg, a sea serpent’s tail, the body of a huge ferret, one deer antler and what may or may not have been the horn of a unicorn. One large, sharp-looking fang jutted from the right side of its mouth, a few strands of its scraggly snow white beard – and strangely, eyebrows – flying about its face.
It waved a hand and the fluffy pink cloud formations that had been gathering outside the castle all day started spinning into what looked like a hurricane, complete with heavy winds and a rain composed of the cocoa-milk concoction that the chef had been throwing everywhere. It was eerie looking at it out the windows, as the tower was still inverted, and so it looked very much as if the whole tower was standing in a magenta whirlpool.
“Stop this, Discord!” shouted the Queen.
The colt gasped and looked at the creature. Discord was a name from the old myths, repeated at the fireside to scare young children. It was said he was completely mad.
Well, this thing definitely fit the bill.
Discord slunk across the room to the balcony, and gestured upwards towards the city streets below. “Why should I, when it’s so funny watching them scurry around like that? Look at them, they’re like ants around a broken hill.”
“There is nothing funny about chaos and hate, Discord. Your very presence here betrays the principles upon which this fair land of Equestria was founded.”
Discord made an exaggerated pouting face. “You wound me. I do not utilise hate magic; that is solely the domain of the ethereal fiends.”
“A phrase which describes you perfectly.”
Discord waggled a finger at Queen Stardust. “No, no, no. I am immortal, not ethereal. I am very much here.”
“Do not split hairs with me, fiend. I-”
“Ooh, I love splitting hairs,” interrupted Discord. “I can get sixteen lengthwise splits on a single strand of hair, did you know?” He summoned a carving knife and demonstrated just that with one of his eyebrow hairs.
“ENOUGH!” shouted Stardust. “I will not have you despoiling this kingdom I have worked so hard for. Return to whatever foul place from whence you came lest you force me to return you to your brother Bellum by force.”
Discord crossed his arms and smirked evilly. “So be it.”
Stardust lowered her horn and scuffed at the ground. With a wave of her horn, she sent two silvery magical blasts towards Discord, who effortlessly reflected them with his eagle talon. They rebounded into the walls, shattering away pieces of marble with their force.
The colt ducked behind the door, only barely peeking in now.
Discord swung his eagle talon, releasing a cloud of glowing particles towards Stardust. They impacted with loud whistling noises on a magical shield that Stardust had erected around herself, releasing firecracker explosions for each one that hit. Another burst of magic from Stardust and the resultant fireballs marshalled themselves into a cloud and bombarded Discord. He snapped his fingers once more and the onslaught transformed into a swarm of pastel-colored insects with huge eyes and mouths, which buzzed out the window and away. At the same time, the rich carpeting of the room turned into a raging river, flowing away from the door and toward the throne.
Caught unawares, Stardust was swept off her feet, carried up the dais and deposited forcefully upon the throne. The river stopped flowing as soon as she came to a stop, and rained upwards, pooling in the ceiling. Discord pointed at her, but whatever he was about to do was lost as another spell from Stardust created a bright flash of magic and loud bang, producing a loud ringing and bright afterimage that made the colt stumble back dizzily. It even forced Discord to shield his eyes, and when he looked back, Stardust was gone from the throne.
Discord looked around the room calmly for her, appearing completely unfazed by her disappearance. The colt, however, could see his mother from his perspective, hiding behind one of the barber pole pillars that lined the edge of the chamber.
As soon as Discord looked away, she charged him with her horn lowered, clearly intending to impale him. However, the sound of hooves on granite alerted him to her presence and he twisted around faster than would have been possible for any other creature. His lion paw came about, grasping her horn at the base. Continuing his rotation a full three hundred and sixty degrees from where he had started, he used the supreme leverage provided him to throw Stardust to the ground. Stardust’s crown, the very same one brought by Queen Platinum from the Forsaken Lands, flew off and rolled down the hall, fetching up against a pillar.
Foolhardy as it might be, the colt rushed to help his mother, but he hadn’t even made it halfway when Discord stepped up to her and casually stomped through the base of her horn with his pony hoof. It made an audible crack that stopped the colt in his tracks, frozen with fear.
Discord casually stepped over the stricken monarch, collecting her severed horn from where it had fallen with his scaly crimson tail. And as she struggled to regain her footing, he plunged the horn into her ribcage.
The colt unfroze with a yell, running towards his mother. Discord looked over his shoulder in mild curiosity, then cackled evilly and continued toward the throne.
A pair of forelimbs suddenly closed around the colt, dragging him back from his mother.
“There’s nothing you can do, Cogspin,” said a familiar voice by his ear. “I’m sorry, but we have to get out of here.” He turned his head and saw, through a haze of tears, the blue coat and white mane of a Pegasus noble named Swift Wind. Swift Wind was a descendant of Broadwing, the sole Pegasus king of Equulaneum, and one of Cogspin’s oldest friends, despite being several years older. Swift had tears in his eyes as well, but his jaw was set in determined expression.
Cogspin looked back at his mother, lying on her side in a pool of blood. Her eyes widened as she saw him.
Go, she mouthed. A trickle of blood dripped from the corner of her lips, and the blood slowly transformed into flowers, folding together and sprouting upwards into a patch of roses inexplicably rooted in the marble.
The roses rapidly hid Stardust’s now-lifeless body from view. Cogspin finally went limp and allowed himself to be dragged away.
The last thing he saw as he was dragged out of the throne room was Discord transforming the royal throne into a high-backed, imposing granite affair, and sitting upon it, the Platinum Crown perched jauntily over one of the forks in his deer antler.
Twilight Sparkle was reading. This in itself was far from an unusual thing; what was unusual was her reading material.
She had just received a shipment of rare books from the Canterlot Archives, among them the full set of Starswirl the Bearded’s Discourses, a set of documents detailing the research of the legendary sorcerer. Currently lying open on the desk in front of her was the second volume in the series, Discourses on Impractical Magical Theory. She had gravitated towards this particular volume because it apparently contained further details on the time travel spell that had once sent her into full panic mode.
The Temporal Displacement Charm is theoretically possible, but requires incredible amounts of energy to utilise, increasing exponentially for journeys of greater magnitude. The average unicorn would pass out after moving back about three days. Even power on the scale of an ‘Alicorn’ or similar deity would be sufficient only for a year’s journey. In addition, nothing can be changed while in the past without the aid of a pre-existing dimensional scar (see page fifty-two). Nonetheless, I have endeavored to record what data my research has turned up, in the event further technologies or theorems are developed in the future which may render it useful.
“Well, that would have been nice to know last year,” commented Twilight to herself, turning the page. The next page bore an annotated ink illustration of a metal, spring-shaped contraption with nodules along its length composed of a material labeled as ‘Imperial Crystal’. Opposite the illustration was a short paragraph that read simply:
Though in theory the Helical Converter can amplify the magical strength of any unicorn to the scale of a deity, none of the many thaumaticists who have thus far attempted to construct one have succeeded in countering the inevitable feedback loop causing detonation. Since the failure of Bright Spark’s containment field and the complete annihilation of the Marenobyl facility, Helical Converter experimentation is generally frowned upon within most circles.
Twilight was about to flip the page again when a sudden knock at the door interrupted her concentration. Spike was away temporarily – he had returned to Drakkad to bring Peewee (his baby phoenix) back to its parents – so it was her job to answer the door, however rarely somepony may come knocking.
Leaving the book open on the desk, she stood up and trotted down the stairs toward the main room. She sighed momentarily, but then put on a smile for whoever was knocking.
The library door opened with a click, revealing a petite younger mare with a coat the color of parchment and a dull gray mane, falling to her shoulders and curling slightly. “Hello,” she said. “Are you Twilight Sparkle?” She gave an awkward little half-smile.
“Yes, that would be me. Please, come in.” Twilight opened the door and stepped aside. “And you are?”
“My name is Poison Point.” As the other unicorn trotted past, Twilight caught a glimpse of her cutie mark: a partially coiled scroll next to a feather quill. A drop of pale green liquid rested immediately below the tip of the quill. “This is an impressive library, comparatively speaking,” noted Poison. “Though the Canterlot Archives and the Crystal Halls are no doubt more comprehensive, this building certainly has… unique… architecture.”
“That it does. I have no idea what inspired mister Decimal to build it inside a living oak tree, but it does hold a certain sense of irony.” There was a short pause. “Were you looking for any book in particular?”
“No, thank you. I just came to browse, and perhaps chat while doing so, if you’re not very busy?”
“Sure. I was reading, but the book will still be there later.”
Poison Point trotted over to the nearest bookshelf and looked at the titles of the books. “Thank you. You’re not a Ponyville native, am I correct? You moved from Canterlot a few years ago.”
Twilight followed Poison Point along the bookshelves. “Yes. Canterlot was nice, and much more widely known, but to be perfectly honest I prefer Ponyville.”
Poison Point looked up. “Really? Why is that?”
“Of course, there’s the fact that all of my friends live in Ponyville, but that’s probably because I didn’t make an effort in Canterlot. Otherwise, generally speaking I mean, Ponyville ponies tend to be more hospitable. Not to say Canterlot isn’t, of course, but it’s been my experience that the Canterlot folk – with a few important exceptions, such as the princesses – tend to be much more snobbish and rude. You find very few ponies like that in Ponyville. Are you from Ponyville? I don’t think I recognise you.”
Poison point pulled a book out of the shelf, flipped through it, and reshelved it. “No, I’m from Baltimare.”
“That’s quite a distance to travel. What brings you to Ponyville?”
“Business. My boss is preparing an annual visit – different settlement every year – and he wants to try for a small town this year. We were in the Crystal Empire last year, Manehattan the year before that, and Stalliongrad during the Nightmare Moon crisis. He sent me out to find a nice, pleasant place, no crowds, that sort of thing.”
“Oh, so you’ve been asking around, then?”
“Yes. So far, Ponyville seems like an interesting choice. It’s had an… eventful… few years. We were planning to go here the year before last, but we had to make some last minute changes due to errant chaos magic. And last year, of course, he thought it appropriate that we give the ponies of the Crystal Empire an appropriate welcome.” Poison point plucked another book from the shelves and set it down on a table, letting it fall open. It displayed illustrations of several hundred ponies, mostly unicorns, but a lone stallion partway down the fourth column was a Pegasus. Every last one bore the same ornate, jeweled crown.
“So what work do you do, anyway? You didn’t say.” Twilight looked at the illustrations. She wasn’t familiar with the crown, but it must have been of some importance for so many ponies to be depicted with it.
“Nothing much,” answered Poison Point. “I’m just an administrative assistant to the Guildmaster of Mechanics, with the Equestrian Guild of Skilled Tradesponies.” She looked pointedly at Twilight, waiting for a reaction.
“The Guild? I don’t know much about it myself, but a few of my friends are involved with it. That’s hardly nothing much.”
“I suppose not,” chuckled Poison. “I don’t really think about it as much more than a job, myself. I just handle anything Mr. Axle Grease needs done. He’s getting on in age, and he can’t handle some tasks as well as he used to. That, plus his injury… Well, you get the picture.”
“Injury?” asked Twilight. “What happened?”
“You know, I never asked. It’s an old wound, from before I was born, let alone working for him. But it causes him constant pain. He walks with a limp, can’t speak very well, and can only consume some medication specially brewed by a Zebrican herbalist down the road from the office. He still doesn’t let that get in the way of his job, though. I admire that about him.” Poison flipped through the book in front of her. “You know, it’s getting kind of late. I need to be on a train back to Baltimare shortly, but thanks for this conversation.”
“Not a problem at all. Perhaps we’ll meet again.”
Poison closed the book and walked out the door. “Perhaps, indeed.” She closed the door behind her.
Twilight was about to return to her book when a sudden crunching noise caused her to turn around. A grapefruit-sized vase containing three slightly wilted daisies shuddered slightly on its shelf. The crunching noise repeated and the daisies shot into the vase.
Twilight stepped back. The vase shuddered again.
“Hiya, Twilight!” Twilight jumped. Without any warning or explanation, Pinkie Pie’s head and neck had popped out of the vase that should, by all logical sense, be too small to hold her mane, let alone the rest of her body.
“Was that Poison Point that just left?” asked Pinkie, chewing slowly on the bunch of daisies.
“Um, yes? How and why – never mind. Yes, her name was Poison Point.”
“I met her before, once. She’s nice. Did you know she works with the Guild of Skilled Tradesponies?” Pinkie swallowed the daisies.
“Yes, she mentioned she was looking for a location for their annual visit. She-”
Pinkie gasped loudly, cutting Twilight off midsentence. With a loud crash, the tiny vase shattered, the rest of her body springing back into its proper shape. “That means the Guild is coming to Ponyville!” She climbed down from the shelf. “Did I tell you one of my friends is a Guildmaster? Her name is Macaroon but we just called her Mac for short. When I was young she lived in Baltimare, and I lived on my family’s rock farm just outside the city limits-”
“Pinkie…” Twilight started to speak, but couldn’t get a word past Pinkie.
“-And my sister Inky helped her get her cutie mark once! They were talking to each other and Mac asked what Inky would like if she could have any meal she wanted. Back then Inky was really boring, see, so she just said ‘oatmeal’ and Mac said-”
“Pinkie!” said Twilight with a little more volume.
“-So Mac invented the bestest food ever for Inky, and even I can’t get them to turn out the way she does, so she called them ‘Macaroons’ and they were always Inky’s favorite, so of course Mac got one as her cutie mark-”
“PINKIE!” shouted Twilight.
“-Guildmaster of baking – yeah, Twilight?” Pinkie cut off her own train of speech.
“Nothing’s certain yet. She still has to talk to her boss in Baltimare. Ponyville may or may not be hosting the Guild.”
“Silly Twilight, that’s basically all that’s happened this chapter! Of course they’re coming!” Pinkie chuckled and rolled her eyes.
“…This what?” Twilight was completely confused, a feeling she experienced only rarely in situations not involving Pinkie.
Pinkie chuckled again. “I should go tell Rarity. She’ll want to get underway preparing something to show Shimmerthread as soon as possible.” She gasped again. “And then, Applejack needs to be expecting Mr. Chaff. See you later, Twilight! Sorry I interrupted your reading!”
Then Pinkie vanished, running off somewhere faster than Twilight could follow. She heard the front door open and close.
In a small town like Ponyville, it seemed, the rumor mill could really spin at incredible rates. Either that, or Pinkie Pie had somehow managed to visit everypony in town within the span of a single night. It was hard to tell.
Either way, as Twilight walked across town it seemed that ponies were speaking of nothing else but the impending visit by the Guild. From Bon-Bon to Carrot Top, everypony involved with a branch of the Guild was making sure that everything was as perfect as they could possibly make it. They didn’t seem to care that the Tour wouldn’t take place for another several months. As she entered the marketplace, Twilight even passed the town blacksmith (a pony she knew by sight but had never met personally, by the name of Forge Hand) polishing his forge from top to bottom.
“Hey, Twi’!” called Applejack from her stall. The usual selection of various varieties of (what else?) apples sat around the stall, sorted in baskets based on variety. Twilight greeted her in turn, trotting over. Rarity was also present at the stall, having stopped by for the same reason as Twilight.
“Have you heard the news, darling? The Guild is coming here! To Ponyville!” Rarity, like so many other ponies, was incredibly excited.
“I did hear, actually. I was just talking to a mare named Poison Point last night. Have you heard of her before?”
“In brief, yes. She’s the assistant to the General Guildmaster, if I recall?” Rarity replied in a questioning tone.
“Yes, that’s what she told me. And that basically sums up everything I actually know about the Guild.” As they talked, the two mares stepped aside to make way for a group of ponies to approach Applejack’s stand.
“Well, we’ll have to remedy that, and soon! I’m sure there are a few further things you must be aware of, even if only vaguely, so we’ll start from the beginning. The Guild was founded in a small village that would later become Baltimare, over a millennium and a half ago, by a machinist named Elbow Grease. At the time, they dealt in only mechanics. Over the years, they expanded to include the Metalworkers’ Guild, the Carvers’ Guild, the Weavers’ Guild, the Bakers’ Guild, the Theatrical Guild, and even the Farmers’ Guild. Each guild is presided over by its own Guildmaster, who themselves are presided over by a General Guildmaster selected from among their ranks. Today, most ponies who practice a skilled trade fall under the jurisdiction of one of the Guilds. I myself am a minor member of the Weavers’ Guild, which since sometime in the sixteenth century has covered all fabric-related professions.”
“That’s a lot of ponies.”
“Indeed it is. Equestria-wide, one in every five ponies is a member of the Guild in some capacity.”
Twilight thought back to the previous night. “So there are seven guilds, then? The only Guildmasters I know of are Axle Grease, Macaroon, Shimmerthread, and Grain Chaff, and the last two I’ve only heard mentioned in passing.”
“The ones you haven’t heard of are Iron Shod, the Guildmaster of Metalworking, and Stone Cutter, the Guildmaster of Carvers. The Guildmaster of Theatre, Two Face, poor fellow, passed away only a few months ago, and the other Guildmasters have yet to announce his replacement.”
“Have you ever met any of them?”
“Very briefly. When I was first starting my design business, I had to go to Baltimare to register with the Guild, and it just so happened that when I arrived, the Guildmasters were in the process of departing for Stalliongrad. Most of them were different back then, but Axle Grease, Two Face, and Iron Shod were there. Iron Shod never said a word – to be honest, he was a little scary – and Axle Grease was wearing this thick wool cloak, even though it was the middle of July. I never found out why.”
“Poison Point said he was badly injured a long time ago. That’s probably why; he was hiding his scars.”
“Oh, yes, that would make sense. He seemed to have difficulty speaking. I just assumed he was getting on in years, the poor fellow. Although he probably is that, too; I think I read in a magazine somewhere that he was born in the nineteenth century.”
As the last of a group of happy customers filed away from the apple stall, Applejack turned to the other two and commented, “Ah knew Grain Chaff for a time, when we were little. The Chaffs used to show up every Zap Apple harvest and buy a bunch’a Zap Apple Jam. He wasn’t Guildmaster then, a’course, but his family were still darn good farmers, even bein’ unicorns an’ all. Apparently they invented some kind’a warming spell that lets ‘em grow southern plants even up in Stalliongrad. His Equestrian wasn’t the best, but he communicated right proper.”
“Well, you’re lucky. I’m just so nervous about meeting Shimmerthread. They say her approval – or lack of it – can make or break a career in fashion.” Rarity’s smile dropped a few notches and she looked around. “I need to make sure that everything is perfect before the time comes.”
“Didn’t Hoity Toity and Fancy Pants both vouch for you?”
“Well, yes, but Fancy Pants’ endorsement was more on a social level. He doesn’t work in fashion, and for that reason Shimmerthread has the power to overrule him in such areas. As for Hoity Toity, well, a rather unfortunate thing happened last winter.” Rarity emphasized the word thing, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper for a moment.
“A thing?”
“A very unfortunate thing. His reputation has rather dropped a few notches in fashion circles.”
“Oh… Well, what about the other Guildmasters, then? Do you know anything about them?”
“Not much about Stone Cutter, I’m afraid. He’s fairly new on the scene, just popped up and took the spot after the old carver, Whittlewood, passed away a few years ago. Nopony had heard anything about him before that. Now Iron Shod, on the other hand. I don’t know much about him as a pony, but there is this very interesting rumor about him. Allegedly, he lost an eye and a forehoof in a boiler explosion some seven years ago at his forge. But the interesting part, is that according to rumor, he then fashioned himself a prosthesis and eyepatch out of the shrapnel from the boiler, and trotted all the way to the hospital under his own power. I can’t speak for its veracity, and for that matter I’m somewhat doubtful myself, but a number of ponies I’ve met are very insistent, among them Miss Fleur de Lis.”
“Good to know, either way, I suppose.”
Rarity was about to respond when she was interrupted by the blaring of microphone feedback. Everypony in the square looked around for its source. It didn’t take long for them to focus on Mayor Mare, standing outside the town hall, who cleared her throat.
“Everypony! I have a most important announcement to make!”
The sound of several apples tumbling to the ground made Twilight look back to the apple stand. Pinkie Pie was sitting in the basket full of Red Delicious apples, having apparently just emerged from under the layer of fruit, carrying a megaphone in one hoof. She raised the megaphone and said, “I already told everypony, Mayor!”
Mayor Mare blinked a few times, and then replied, “Pinkie, you don’t even know what I’m about to say.”
“Sure I do! You’re about to tell everypony that the Guild is coming here six months from now for their annual Inspection Tour. And I heard about that last night, so I went around telling everypony. Sorry! I just couldn’t resist spreading the good news!” Without waiting for a response, Pinkie sank beneath the apples and was gone. Somehow.
Beneath her calm exterior, Twilight was, as she often did when Pinkie Pie did the inexplicable, repeating over and over in her head ‘It can’t be explained, just leave it alone. It can’t be explained, just leave it alone.’ She had no doubt that multiple other ponies in the town, including the mayor, who had promptly facehoofed, had their own similar mantras.
“Well then,” continued the mayor, “that was what I was going to say. So, if you all know, then that’s a good half of my speech that’s irrelevant. As for the other half, we need to form an official welcoming committee to plan-”
Pinkie hopped out of the crowd with her hoof in the air. “Ooh! Oh! Pick me! Pick me!”
The mayor blinked again. “Yes, Pinkie, I think it goes without saying that you are always on welcoming duty.”
“Yes!” Pinkie pumped her fist in the air. “But wait! I have to go start planning the party-planning party right away!” With that, the dashed off towards Sugarcube Corner, mumbling something about a punchbowl.
Canterlot – the Hall of Ages
Luna trotted down the richly carpeted Hall of Ages. The building was the oldest in Canterlot; some believed that it even predated the arrival of the Six Pilgrims in Equestria. Ordinarily, Luna avoided the place, as one of the windows closest to the door depicted the return of Nightmare Moon, an event she had been attempting to put out of mind for three years. Today, however, Celestia had summoned her to the hall with a mysteriously worded letter, stating simply, “Come quickly, sister. There are distressing portents in the Hall.”
Seeing Celestia standing by one of the brightly shining stained glass windows, Luna trotted over to join her. “What troubles thee, sister?”
“A new window has appeared. Look.” Celestia gestured to the stained glass window at which she was gazing. Luna followed her sister’s gaze.
The window depicted the tallest tower of Canterlot Castle against a starry background, but with tongues of flame pouring out from the windows of the throne room at its peak. The two standards that sailed on either side of the balcony were visible, as well. One was consumed by the fire, but the other – which should have depicted Luna’s crescent moon cutie mark on an indigo background - instead displayed three interlocking gears of various sizes on a dull brown background.
Luna stared for a moment, then stated flatly, “It is his mark.”
“Yes. Though how it may come to sit there, I am at a loss to explain. As for the burning tower, that too leaves me ill at ease, yet I hope we may meet once more. There was much left unsaid when we parted.”
“I too wish we could have made amends, but he was but a mortal… surely he was long dead even before my banishment to the moon, a full millennia since?”
“There are things in this world that we cannot hope to explain, sister. We two are but a single example of many. It is not impossible that he may live on in some fashion, somewhere in an obscure corner of this world. If it is so, I would make amends.”
“Even if it is so, I would advise against seeking him out. Such a quest may well bring aught but pain.”
“This I know all too well, little sister. Yet I cannot help but wonder…” Celestia looked even more closely at the mark in the image. “Cogspin the Younger… what evil has befallen you?”
Normally, the Everfree Forest would be strange and terrifying. But not today. Today, the world had gone to Tartarus and the Everfree had stayed much the same. For that reason, the few who had escaped madness or worse had fled into the heart of the forest that they had once hated and feared.
White Rose's dark green coat matched nearby plant life surprisingly well, but it wouldn't help her to hide should any monsters appear - her long, bright yellow mane stood out against the dark forest like a dragon in Manehattan.
Rose didn’t know much about the forest. Only that it operated outside many of the known laws of nature, and was full of many strange and magical beasts not found anywhere else. One of her travelling companions, however, was far more knowledgeable on the matter.
“This region used to be called the Longhorn Plains, a long time ago,” Blue Spark had said. Like Rose and their other two companions, Swift Wind and Cogspin, Blue Spark was an Equulanean noble, descended from one of the seven Royal Families. He was descended from the ancient, if poorly-thought-of, Family Silver-Blood, which was famous for having produced the only king ever to be unseated in a coup. “When King Silvertongue ascended to power, he took the land from the local buffalo and gave it to his right-hoof stallion, Malus Plow-Pusher, and Malus planted an orchard on the land that provided most of Equestria’s income for some fifty years.” Blue Spark, though a unicorn rather than a pegasus, was almost identical to Swift, save that the colors of his mane and coat were reversed.
“So how did it get like this, then?” asked Swift Wind. Cogspin shifted his position on Swift’s back, yawning.
“Well, that’s the thing. Apparently Malus was practicing some unholy magicks or other somewhere in the area, and their effects continue to bleed through to this day. The governors of the Everfree, Lady Celestia and Lady Luna, set up here specifically to impose what control they could over the energies that still permeate the very soil under our hooves. They succeeded well enough that the taint is confined to the shade of the forest, but not so well that the place is truly safe. I mean, it’s better than out there right now, but otherwise I’d never recommend coming this way.”
A head-sized toad exactly the shade and texture of the path croaked loudly and hopped away. In the distance, something howled.
Spark looked around nervously. “And of course the walled town under the citadel is protected from the local wildlife. As I understand it, the Ladies have set up some sort of magical field that repels even winged beasts like a manticore or a dragon.”
“Come on,” scoffed Rose. “If there were dragons in these parts, no one pony could maintain a shield spell powerful enough to keep them out.”
“You’d be surprised. The Ladies actually move the sun and the moon through the air with magic.”
“Now you’re just making things up.”
“Nope. It’s true, they’ve been doing that for more than a thousand years.”
“Hey. You two, ssh!” interjected Swift. “Listen!”
They listened. Beyond the sounds of the forest, there was a new sound; the sound of ponies talking, and of carts rolling down cobblestone streets. Following the sound as it grew louder and louder, they eventually pushed through a final layer of foliage and onto the edge of a tall cliff. Far below them, a river – the River Equus, that originated from underground springs beneath Equulaneum – raged and roared, splitting in two around a tall plateau. Atop the plateau stood a magnificent castle, surrounded by a small village of stone huts. Immediately to the left of the spot where they exited the forest, a large stone bridge crossed the chasm and led through a large, open wooden gate.
The group trotted up to the bridge, where they were stopped by a navy blue mare in Everfree Guard’s armor, one of four guarding the bridge.
“Pardon me, miss. Got to scan your group for illusion magic before you can come in.” The mare held up a small blue crystal in a silver framework, waving it around all four refugees. “Standard security procedure, you understand. And you’re clean. Names?”
“Swift Wind, Blue Spark, White Rose, and Cogspin the Younger. We’re fleeing the fall of Equulaneum.”
The pony’s eyebrows rose. Obviously recognising at least one name, she said, “Equulanean nobility? Celestia wants to speak to you as soon as you arrive. Follow me, I’ll take you to the castle.” As she turned about, Rose noticed that instead of the feathered wings that would be expected of a pegasus, from the mare’s back sprouted a pair of leathery bat wings.
She turned to Spark as they followed the bat-pony and whispered, “How does she have bat wings?”
“The Everfree Guard has lived in the forest for generations. It’s to be expected that it’s changed them.”
“Ah.”
The journey through the town took only a few minutes, enough time for Rose to notice that, indeed, most of the ponies in the area did have the same bat-wings as the guard that they were following. Those that didn’t appeared to be refugees from outside the forest.
As the guard led them up the stairs and into the castle, another pair of bat-ponies pushed open the great wooden doors to allow them entry. Within the castle, a number of bat-ponies were clustered around a table, arguing animatedly about the contents of a large tactical map of Equestria laying on top of it. As they passed the table, Rose noticed a number of small crystals scattered around the map. Those within a radius of several hundred miles of Equulaneum glowed bright pink; the others were a dull blue.
After the foyer, their guide brought the four nobles up four flights of stairs to a small chamber with a fireplace opposite the window. In the chamber’s center stood a large, round wooden table painted with the sigil of the sun and moon. The room bore no further furnishings. Standing at the table conversing animatedly with each other were two exceptionally tall mares, one pale white and the other navy blue.
“My ladies!” said the guard. “What remains of the Equulanean nobility has arrived.” With that, she bowed and left the room as the two mares raised their heads.
“Greetings, young ones,” said the white mare. “I am Lady Celestia. This is my younger sister Luna. We are honored to welcome you to Canterlot.” She inclined her head in their direction. “Come over here.” The four approached the table, Cogspin climbing up onto Swift’s shoulders and watching the two through his mane.
“Tell us, what news from Equulaneum?” asked Luna.
“The queen is…” Rose hesitated, glancing at Cogspin. “Dead, my lady. A foul creature calling itself ‘Discord’ has taken the throne and the crown and twisted the land and all who live there into mockeries of what they once were.”
Celestia’s eyebrows rose. “Discord, you say? The Discord of legend?”
“It wouldn’t surprise me, my lady. From what I saw, much of his effects on the environment and populace are unintentional, a simple side effect of his very presence, though that’s not to say he doesn’t enjoy it.”
“I would prefer it if you would refer to us by our names, rather than our titles, while in the town. Deference can be tiresome, at times. But regarding your news, this changes much. We were aware of the warping of the land, but we had believed it to be the work of a spellcaster or even a group of spellcasters. The idea that it may be a god is almost inconceivable, but it means that soon the Everfree may be the lone safe place for sane ponies.”
“Is there anything at all that can be done, my-” Spark stopped himself. “Celestia? Surely there must. I’ve heard it said that there is no problem without a solution.”
It was Luna who answered this time. “There may be, but we must deliberate on its effectiveness. Certainly they have proven themselves, but not against a god.”
Celestia nodded. “Indeed. And even if they would be effective, they require bearers, something not always easy to find. We may be besieged here some time before the opportunity to strike back presents itself. In that spirit, what are your names?”
“I am White Rose of the family Cruelthorn.”
“So you are. I can see much of your ancestor in you. Were you aware that I knew your ancestor, Queen Cruelthorn the Penitent?”
“I was not, Celestia.” Wow, thought Rose, I thought Spark was exaggerating. To know Queen Cruelthorn, she’d have to be at least a millennium and a half old.
Next, Blue Spark introduced himself. This time it was Luna who replied, “We were also acquainted with your ancestor, King Silverblood the Wrathful. I see very little family resemblance in you, though in your case this ought to be taken as a compliment. King Silvertongue Silverblood was an unsavory sort of pony if ever there was one.”
Finally, Swift Wind introduced himself and Cogspin, who was still trying to hide behind Swift’s mane.
Luna once again replied to Swift, “We never had the pleasure of meeting King Broadwing, unfortunately. However, we look forward to coming to know all of you.” The last part she addressed to all four of the assembled ponies.
Celestia had been observing Cogspin with a curious expression on her face.
“Come forth, young one. There is no need to fear my sister and I,” she said gently to him. He responded by ducking behind Swift’s head.
Rose picked him up off of Swift’s back. “Come on, Cogspin. They’re not going to hurt you any more than we would.” She had only known the two for a few moments, but they seemed to almost radiate an aura of trustworthiness. She trotted around the table and set him on the ground in front of Celestia, keeping one hoof on his back for good measure.
Only once there did she really notice how tall Celestia was; Rose herself only came up to Celestia’s shoulder, while Cogspin barely reached her knee. Even as that thought crossed her mind, Celestia lowered herself to the ground, bending her neck so that she could look Cogspin in the eye.
Cogspin looked at Rose, who nodded at him. Then he looked at Celestia.
She smiled. “You are safe here, my little pony.”
He replied by laughing and smiling. “You’re way nicer than the goat ferret.”
“Goat ferret?” asked Luna quietly.
“Discord had the head of a goat and the body of a ferret, among other things,” replied Rose.
“Hmm.” Luna looked at Cogspin with concern. “He has seen things that one would not wish upon ponies of any age, has he not?”
“Yes.”
Another ‘hmm’. “No harm shall come to him while he lives within this city. This I promise.”
Celestia stood up, leaving Cogspin chewing on a piece of caramel candy she had given him, and announced, “I wish to extend the four of you an invitation to stay here at the Castle, until such a time as you may return to your homes in Equulaneum. If you are amenable, we have a number of vacant rooms just below our own in the west tower.”
“I don’t mind,” said Swift. Blue Spark nodded.
“That’s very generous of you, Celestia,” said Rose. “What do you think, Cogspin?”
“Mmth!” said Cogspin through a mouthful of caramel.
“Well, I think that’s settled. We’d be honored to stay as long as you’ll have us.”
The day had finally arrived. A stage had been set up just outside the train station, along with a banner and a cloud of confetti that Twilight (with persuasion from Pinkie) had enchanted to climb the walls and throw itself.
The setup had been vastly simplified from Pinkie’s original plan, something for which Twilight was grateful. After hearing the original party idea, which had called for, among other things, a catapult, Spike’s fire breath, and an unfortunate quantity of cephalopods, Twilight (with assistance from Rarity and Applejack) had persuaded Pinkie to go with a simpler idea so as to avoid overwhelming the Guildmasters.
The Guild train had arrived only a few moments ago, and its passengers – according to the mayor, who had been apprised of the procedure beforehand – would shortly be coming onstage and each speaking briefly before beginning the inspection of the various members of their respective Guilds in Ponyville. The mayor herself was on stage to greet them, along with Pinkie Pie.
The crowd, which had been muttering excitedly to each other, fell silent as the curtain shifted and Poison Point walked out onto the stage, holding the hoof of a cloaked pony that Twilight assumed was Axle Grease, the elderly Guildmaster of Machinery. Though Axle was stooped and trotted along sedately alongside Poison, it was still obvious that he had once been a very tall pony, evinced by the fact that even hunched down as he was, he was still a hoof-length or two taller than Poison. Twilight was also surprised to note the long, handsome horn that protruded from under the thick hood; it was dark brown, but heavily polished until it gleamed like gold. Obviously it was a source of pride for the aging Guildmaster.
He shook the mayor’s hoof, and then Pinkie’s. She said something to him that was lost to the distance, and he and Poison approached the microphone at the front of the stage. Axle cleared his throat and then began to speak.
“Firstly, I’d like to apologise for hiding my face. I received a grievous wound some fifty years ago which left me permanently scarred, but I hope it won’t interfere with anypony’s impressions of me.” His voice croaked and rasped like a candle flame in the wind. “Now, I’ve been Guildmaster for nigh on a century, and in all that time, the closest thing I’ve seen to a close-knit community is the Guild itself. Poison Point here tells me that Ponyville is a nice place full of nice ponies. That being the case, I think we’ll find our visit here to be most pleasant. Barring any unusual circumstances, of course, like a dragon attack.” Axle chuckled at his last comment, which quickly turned into a bout of coughing. As Poison Point guided him to the back of the stage, he withdrew a small flask from his cloak and drank from it.
Then, a pale gray unicorn with a cropped salt-and-pepper mane took the stage. His cutie mark depicted a chisel suspended over a gray block. He too shook the hooves of Pinkie and Mayor Mare, and then approached the microphone.
“My name is Stone Cutter, everypony.” He smiled pleasantly. “Guildmaster of the smallest and slowest-growing guild in the entire arrangement. I hope to know everypony much better by the end of this week.” He looked back. “I’m not the best with public speaking, but at least I always speak before Iron. Come on up, Iron!” He clopped his hoof on the stage and backed over to stand to Poison Point’s left.
Iron Shod’s hoofsteps on the stairs sounded slightly off, and as he ascended to the stage it was revealed why; his right forehoof was missing and replaced with a griffon claw made of what looked like cast-iron. His grayish-blue coat was marred by a pinkish scar that covered the right half of his face and neck, stretching from the base of his horn to his collarbone. The eye sitting in the scar was covered by an intricately tooled metal eyepatch. His mane was black, and his cutie mark depicted a hammer underneath a simple horseshoe. He also appeared to be built like Tom the boulder.
Instead of a speech, he simply grunted, nodded at the audience, and took his place to the left of Stone.
After Iron Shod had left the stage, there was a pause, long enough that ponies in the audience started to look around in confusion. Suddenly, the large tree overhanging the stage rustled loudly and disgorged a pony that Twilight almost mistook for Pinkie at a glance. Their coats were the exact same shade, and their manestyles were identical, but the new pony’s mane was streaked with a pale cream color, and also nearly completely obscured a magenta horn poking out of her forehead. In addition, the new pony’s cutie mark depicted some kind of cream-filled cookie.
After bouncing back from her impact with the stage, the pony hopped up to the microphone. Twilight realized who this must be a moment before she introduced herself.
“Hi! I’m Macaroon! But you can call me Mac if you want. It’s a lot shorter, and more fun to say. Oh right! Nearly forgot!” She hopped over to the Mayor and shook her hoof rapidly, grinning madly all the while, and then shared a hug with Pinkie. Then she returned to the microphone. “Anyway, as I was going to say, I can’t wait to try all the tasty little treats this town has to offer. As an aside, if Pinks doesn’t throw a party to welcome us here, I will, and everyone is invited either way. Cephalopods! Woohoo!” She threw a hoof in the air, and then retreated to sit by Iron.
The fifth of the seven Guildmasters followed promptly after; a tall, slender, snow-white unicorn mare with flowing lime-green hair and a cutie mark depicting a needle threaded with acid-green thread. Like Macaroon and Stone, she was smiling, but uncomfortably so. Above the grin, her eyes flicked laconically around the assembled crowd.
She tapped the microphone and cleared her throat, reciting woodenly, “My name is Shimmerthread. I’ve heard several wonderful things about this place. I look forward to meeting each and every one of you.” With the look of a pony who had just stumbled in something unpleasant, she trotted back to sit to Axle’s right.
After Shimmerthread had sat down (and Stone Cutter had thrown her an irritated glance), the sixth Guildmaster ascended to the stage. He too was a unicorn, with a dark maroon coat and bruise colored mane, and a cutie mark depicting a sickle cutting a bundle of wheat. The stallion was built like Applejack’s brother Macintosh.
“I am Grain Chaff.” He had a strong Stalliongrad accent. “Is not first time I have been to Ponyville. I have not been in some time, however. I look forward to seeing how place has changed.” He too went to stand in the row of Guildmasters, next to Shimmerthread.
If Twilight remembered Rarity’s lessons accurately, that meant the only pony left was whoever had succeeded Two Face as Guildmaster of theater. A drumroll seemed to come out of nowhere, though a quick glance revealed that Macaroon had somehow obtained a set of drums.
Then, not one but two nearly identical ponies climbed the steps onto the stage. Two very familiar ponies.
“Tough crowd, Flam.”
“I know as well as you, Flim.”
“We’re really sorry about how our last visit ended up, folks.”
“And not just because we got run out of town by an angry mob.”
“But rest assured, we aren’t going to try and sell you any cider or related paraphernalia this time around.”
“This time around we’re just here about performances.”
“I mean, our song wasn’t bad, was it?”
“Easily the best part of our first visit.”
“Anyway, the point is, give us another chance and we promise not to sell you any more metaphorical snake oil.”
The brothers bowed in unison and retreated to the row of Guildmasters to stand next to Grain Chaff. A number of ponies in the audience were whispering inaudibly amongst themselves, no doubt expressing various opinions about the Flim Flam brothers. They quieted down somewhat when the mayor stepped up to the microphone.
“Now that we’ve officially met all sev… er, eight Guildmasters, we’re prepared to begin the tour in earnest. Now, let’s all properly welcome our esteemed guests to Ponyville.” With that, she sat back and clopped her hooves together. Pinkie joined in with a halved coconut, and the audience followed suit. Flim, Flam, Stone, Macaroon, and Grain bowed in a more or less exaggerated manner, while Axle inclined his head lightly and Shimmerthread rolled her eyes. Iron Shod simply stood watching the audience impassively, a state Twilight was beginning to think was his permanent state of existence.
After a short time, the applause ceased, and the Guildmasters left the stage to grab any tools they might require for their various inspections. The audience proceeded to slowly filter back to their homes or places of business.
Ponyville: Guild train Moments later
“Oh, thank god. I thought it would never end.” Shimmerthread massaged the back of her neck with a hoof. “And now I’ve got to spend the rest of the day reviewing these earth ponies’ travesties of fabric-work.”
“Now, Shimmerthread,” said Axle Grease as he passed by. “These ponies are our hosts. You would do well to treat them with the respect entailed by such a position.” He opened the door at the end of the car and proceeded in the direction of his own cabin, accompanied by his ever-present aide, Poison Point.
“Creaky old twit,” she muttered under her breath. Iron Shod, passing by, uttered a short bark of amusement.
She gestured to him. “Hang on a second, Iron. There’s something I need to discuss with you.” He trotted over to stand by her. She was about to start speaking when the Flim Flam Brothers passed through the car as well, accompanied by Grain Chaff.
“Well, yeah, we sort of figured that out for ourselves. They’re better than we were because they worked together, whereas we tried to monopolize the cider market,” said Flim.
“Which basically amounts to most of the economy here,” finished Flam.
“Was not such the Ponyvillers’ success, but rather your own failure. As I said, they better understand how the world ought to work, yes?” Grain Chaff replied in his thick accent. He turned to Shimmerthread. “Ah, young lady. I have been meaning to speak with you. It will not take long. I need only say, you must relax in presence of ponies from Ponyville. Is not same as Canterlot where you are expected to believe certain things. Ponies will not like you if you simply parrot upper class beliefs as you do.”
Iron Shod glared at the group until they left.
“We found it,” she said simply to him.
Iron raised an eyebrow in the largest display of emotion he had made in the seven years Shimmerthread had worked with him.
“I see from your expression you know what I’m talking about. Good. That means I don’t have to explain. The point being, we only have to endure this miserable existence for another week or so. All we need to do is retrieve the object, and we’re in business.”
Iron grinned nastily.
“Yes. No more of that creaky old mechanic. Only one more week and our master, Prince Cogspin the Scorned, will once more walk the halls of Canterlot Castle as its rightful king.”
Iron chuckled throatily, joined shortly after by Shimmerthread’s own high pitched laughter.
Twilight looked up at the sky. The weather team had really outdid themselves today, clearing the sky of clouds for miles and even taking the initiative to push back a fog bank that had been creeping in from the Everfree Forest.
She had returned to the library briefly to finish reshelving a number of books, but then she had decided to seek out those of her friends involved with the Guild to wish them luck. Spike had come as well this time.
They went to the Carousel Boutique first, thinking that it had been Rarity who had been nervous more so than Pinkie or Applejack. On the way, they passed Stone Cutter talking animatedly with a woodcarver whose name Twilight didn’t know; they seemed to be arguing about some facet of a carved owl sitting on a table between the two of them.
As they approached the Boutique, they began hearing raised voices from within. Twilight was debating leaving so as not to disturb Rarity and whoever she was arguing with, but before she could the front door slammed open and Shimmerthread stalked out, nearly running into Twilight.
“You there! You agree, don’t you?” she said loudly. Before Twilight could respond, Shimmerthread continued, “Never mind, of course you don’t. Otherwise why, of all the places in Equestria, or even the entire world, would you choose to be here?” Raising her voice, she turned back towards the Boutique and yelled at Rarity (who was standing in the doorway), “You may be content to stagnate in this mudhole of a town with the rest of the dirt-diggers, but don’t expect me to condone, let alone endorse it. I wash my hooves of you.” She then stalked off down the street, grumbling to herself.
Rarity brightened considerably upon seeing Twilight. “Come in, darling. I’m terribly sorry you had to see that, but come in, it’s good to see you.”
Twilight and Spike followed Rarity into her kitchen, where a pot of tea was already prepared. “I had intended to offer some of this to Shimmerthread whilst discussing her review, but I suppose you saw how that turned out.”
Twilight accepted Rarity’s offer of a cup of tea, but Spike declined. Instead, he asked, “What exactly happened? You both seemed pretty worked up about something.”
Rarity took a sip of tea before responding. “Well, it was entirely her fault. I tried to keep our discussion civil, and indeed succeeded admirably for the first fifteen minutes or so. Around that point, she commented, offhand, and this is more or less a direct quote, ‘you should get out of this mudhole of a town before it ruins your career.’ Now, Ponyville is hardly Canterlot, I’ll grant her that, but I grew up here and I’ll be damned if I let some pompous little…” Rarity cleared her throat. “Anyway, even then, I tried to keep things civil, I said in what I’m pretty sure was as pleasant a tone of voice as I could muster, ‘Well, to be sure, all of my friends live here. I don’t think I’d be comfortable just picking up stocks and leaving just to avoid disapproving looks.’ It was about there she started on me.”
“That’s unfortunate,” said Twilight. “I know how excited you were about getting her approval.”
“True enough, but the price of her approval simply turned out to be too great. And eventually, I managed to glean from her comments that she wasn’t so much against the town because of its social status, but because of the fact that it was established by earth ponies. Wait until Fancy Pants hears about this!”
“I thought you said Fancy Pants had no power over Shimmerthread?”
“Not in the fashion industry, he doesn’t. But socially, he could destroy her with a few words. And he will, too, when he hears about what she said. He told me once that if there’s one thing he can’t stand, it’s bigots, and frankly I couldn’t agree more.”
“Well, it’s nice to see you’re handling this well.”
“Yes. It’s all very well to insult my business, and to be honest I think I might have locked myself in my room again had that happened, but insult my friends? Oh, darling, it. Is. On.” Rarity rubbed her hooves together.
From outside there came a blaring ‘Dun dun DUNN’ played by what sounded like a full orchestra ensemble. The two mares looked at each other in confusion, while Spike looked at the wall and scratched his head. Curious, the three returned to the front door and looked out.
Sure enough, Pinkie Pie was standing there, having just played the music that they had heard on her parasprite deterrent apparatus, a giant one-mare band setup she had cobbled together during a parasprite infestation several years back.
“Hi, Rarity! Hi, Twilight! Hey, Spike!” She disassembled the entire setup and somehow stored most of it in her mane, as well as putting a harmonica in the knot of a nearby tree, storing a pair of drum sticks in the bushes, and hanging a Pan flute around her neck.
“Pinkie?” asked Rarity. “Shouldn’t you be in Sugarcube Corner right now, waiting for Macaroon?”
“Don’t worry, I timed it perfectly! If we leave now, walking at a fairly sedate trot, we should arrive back at the Corner at exactly the same time as Mac.”
Spike raised a hand in confusion. “Wait, ‘we?’”
“Oh, that’s right! I wanted to introduce you all formally to Mac. I can’t believe I forgot to mention that! I already invited Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, and Applejack is busy showing off the farm to Grain Chaff. So I came to get you three!”
Spike looked back at Twilight and Rarity.
Twilight shrugged. “Why not? It might be fun.”
Rarity nodded. “Not a bad idea. My letter to Fancy Pants can wait.”
“All right,” said Spike, “Let’s go.”
The group started off in the direction of Sugarcube Corner, urged on by the exceptionally excited Pinkie Pie.
“Oh, I know you’re all just going to love Mac. We’re like two peas in a pod. Except neither of us are peas, that would be silly. And we’re not in pods either, unless the Changelings have taken over and this is all a magic-induced dream. So we’re more like two ponies in Equestria. But that would describe pretty much anypony, wouldn’t it?...”
Pinkie had barely stopped talking for their entire journey, and seemed to never change topic either, although she ended up saying, “Griffons aren’t really omnivores, did you know that? It’s a media thing – oh hey, we’re here!”
Sure enough, they had arrived in front of Sugarcube Corner. And, just like Pinkie had said, Macaroon was just approaching the door.
“Hey, Mac!”
“Hey, Pink! It’s been a while!”
“It sure has! Have you met my other friends yet? This is Twilight and this is Rarity and this is Spike.” As she named each one of them, Pinkie pulled them forward and stood them in front of Macaroon, who shook their hoof energetically in turn.
“Great to meet you all! Pinkie has told me so much about you! Including the fact that there are supposed to be seven of you, including Spike.” She pointed to Spike, riding on Twilight’s back. “Where are the other three?” She turned to Pinkie.
“I’m pretty sure Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are already inside. Applejack couldn’t make it right now, but she’ll be attending the party later.”
“Well then, we’d better go inside then.”
At Mac’s suggestion, the four filed inside the sweetshop, Pinkie and Mac hopping more than trotting. Inside, a couple of ponies were sitting at tables enjoying various confections that they had recently purchased. Sure enough, one table was occupied by Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.
“Hey, Fluttershy! Hey, Rainbow Dash! Glad you could make it!”
The two mares smiled in return, Rainbow calling out, “Hey, Pinkie!” The group at the door trotted over to the table, where Mac shook Fluttershy’s hoof (“You must be Fluttershy! I can tell because you’re trembling. You really don’t need to be scared of little old me!”) and shared a hoof-bump with Rainbow Dash (“That’s quite the mane you’ve got there.”).
Mac sat down at the table, and the other four followed suit. “So you’re the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, are you?” Both she and Pinkie had calmed down considerably now that everypony was officially introduced. “I mean, five of you are five of the Element bearers. Spike is Spike. That’s amazing!”
“Oh, it isn’t really that amazing, Miss Macaroon,” said Rarity.
“It totally is. And please call me Mac. Everypony everywhere has heard about what you did. The thing is, practically nopony has ever seen you in the context of Element bearing. A fair few ponies I’ve met are certain you all live in Canterlot, are all unicorns, et cetera. You’d be surprised how many, actually. If I had never known Pinkie, I would probably have made the same assumptions.”
“Well, I used to live in Canterlot, before we all met,” said Twilight. “I had zero friends then. I mean, except for the Princess, and I was her personal student. I still am, but we correspond mostly through mail nowadays. It’s well worth it to live out here where my friends are.”
Mac whistled. “Princess Celestia’s personal student, eh? I imagine that comes with a lot of benefits.”
“Not really. I mean, other than full access to the Canterlot Archives. And that’s not really much use since I moved here. I mean, I live in the library, after all.”
Mac raised an eyebrow. “You live in the library? And the librarian just allows that?”
“Well, I suppose I am the librarian. I never really thought about it before, but I guess it’s true.”
Mac looked at the clock and cringed slightly. “That might be a little bit bad.”
Twilight looked at Mac oddly. “Bad? Bad how?”
“Well, it’s a long story. Even though the machinist’s guild is the oldest of the seven, it’s still the smallest by far. Axle is done with inspections long before the rest of us are. And when he’s waiting for the rest of us, he loves to go to the local library and read. Doesn’t really matter what, just reads for hours on end. The point is, he likes to at least meet the local librarian, first thing. I’m sorry to interrupt our little gathering, but it’s really important to him, and he did only have one pony he needed to see in Ponyville.” She looked at the clock again. “If you hurry, you might be able to make it there before he does.”
Pinkie looked at Twilight. “It’s fine, go on. We’ll see you at the party tonight!”
Thanking Mac for telling her, Twilight gathered up Spike and trotted rapidly off in the direction of the library.
On her return to the Golden Oaks Library, she discovered that Axle had in fact already arrived. He and Poison Point were seated at one of the lecterns, reading a book propped thereon. He was still wearing his cloak, not that she’d expected anything different.
Twilight cleared her throat. “Mr. Grease?” He turned and looked at her, as did Poison Point. “My name’s Twilight Sparkle. I’m technically the librarian here.”
“Ah, yes. Miss Sparkle. Poison here mentioned you. I believe you are our esteemed Solar Princess’ protégé, not to mention the bearer of the Element of Magic, yes?”
“Yes, I am, sir. Although I’m perfectly satisfied to be just Twilight Sparkle in a non-formal setting.”
Axle Grease chuckled lightly. “I quite agree with you there. So what say you call me Axle and I’ll call you Twilight, hmm?”
Twilight smiled. “That would be nice, Axle.” Twilight’s first impressions of Axle Grease reminded her almost of Celestia, only male, and with a much older appearance and voice. As a result, she took an immediate liking to him.
“Would you come over here for a moment and look at this?” he asked. Twilight complied, trotting over to sit next to the Guildmaster and look at the book he was reading. “I find this subject material fascinating. Have you read this particular tome before?”
Looking at the page, Twilight was surprised to find that she had not. The full-page illustration, depicting a group of six ponies sitting in a cave (two female unicorns, two male earth ponies, and a male and a female Pegasus) chatting around a fire was unfamiliar to her. It was not colored, and so she couldn’t tell exactly what color the ponies were, and their cutie marks were obscured by their clothing, but she did note that one of the unicorns bore a tall crown embedded with several gems, while each of the pegasi bore six long, sharp lances tied into their saddlebags. The earth ponies were clothed simply, while both unicorns wore long gowns and the pegasi wore full suits of armor. “No, I haven’t. What’s it about?”
“It’s a history book, detailing the complete history of the city of Equulaneum from the point it was founded to its fall at the beginning of the Years of Discord. This picture,” he indicated the full page illustration, “is a tracing of one of the earliest known depictions of what we now call the Hearth’s Warming Eve myth. It bears several details that have been omitted from later representations, most notably the lack of stylisation of the Platinum Crown,” he touched the crowned unicorn, who Twilight now realised was Princess Platinum herself, “and the pegasi’s weapons here.” He indicated Commander Hurricane and Private Pansy. “The world likes to forget that those two came to Equestria with every intention of killing any unicorn who tried to come after them, and they brought the best weapons for the job. Oh, but forgive an old stallion’s rambling.” He laughed. “I’ve been fascinated with ancient history like this since I was a young colt, acting in a Hearth’s Warming Eve play of my very own. Anyway, what few ponies realise is that that very cave where the Six Refugees drove back the Windigoes with the Fire of Friendship is to this day underneath the stone of Canterlot.”
“Canterlot’s Crystal Caves, yes. I was there myself, once,” said Twilight. “If this is a history of Equulaneum, does that mean that Equulaneum is Canterlot?”
“New Canterlot, as it’s properly known. Princess Celestia changed the name after she brought down Discord. The name comes from her old walled city in the Everfree Forest, Old Canterlot. The place is ruined now, but as I recall you’re intimately familiar with the place.” He coughed slightly.
“I wouldn’t say intimately, but I have been there. I didn’t realise it was a walled city, though. I thought it was just a castle.”
“Oh yes. Ponies took refuge there after Discord took over. For some reason, he couldn’t touch it.”
Twilight looked back at the picture of the six ponies. “Something that’s always bugged me about the Hearth’s Warming Eve story is how Celestia and Luna aren’t there. Up until I read the story for the first time I thought that they had always existed.”
Axle coughed again, shifting to laughter midway through. “Many think that nowadays, even those who are aware of the story. They believe that the Princesses were simply elsewhere, and that all talk of the sun and moon of the time being moved by groups of unicorns were simply fabrication by the author. There’s even a cult dedicated to the idea in the Baltimare area. But no, Celestia and Luna didn’t come onto the scene until around 398 AE, when Queen Cruelthorn made them the Governesses of the Everfree.” He flipped through the pages, eventually coming upon a colored portrait of a pale grey unicorn stallion cloaked in a red velvet cape, looking off to the side of the frame with his eyes half-closed derisively. His long, silvery mane was pulled back behind his ears. “This fellow is the reason.”
Twilight noticed that the stallion was wearing the same crown as the earlier picture of Platinum. In color, it was obvious that the gems in the crown – set near the top of elaborate spires – consisted of a single diamond in the front, with an alternating pattern of sapphires and rubies circling around the sides.
“King Silvertongue Silver-Blood. The only tyrant king that Equestria has ever lived under. Celestia and Luna helped Cruelthorn unseat him, so she rewarded them with dominion over the Everfree Forest.” He flipped forward several pages to an image of six ponies in a row. He pointed to the one in the center, a dark green unicorn mare with a maroon mane that framed her face in a pair of dark curtains. On her head sat the Platinum Crown. “That’s Cruelthorn, there.”
“Her name doesn’t sound very nice.”
“That’s true, but she is perhaps the best example of a pony breaking free of her destiny. Despite her name and even her cutie mark, she became one of the greatest queens ever to sit in the throne at Equulaneum, earning the title Cruelthorn the Penitent. Ponies at the time practically worshipped her.”
At that moment, Axle began to cough violently. When he showed no signs of stopping, Poison Point picked up a small flask that had been sitting next to Axle. She uncorked it and handed it to him, at which point he raised it to his hood and drank deeply.
It smelled so incredibly foul that Twilight almost shied away. It smelled of rotten eggs, machine oil, and burning hair.
Corking the flask and putting it away, Axle turned to Twilight. “I’m terribly sorry about that. It’s a side effect of my wounds. This concoction,” he indicated the flask, “is something a nice zebra down the road from my home brewed up to soothe the symptoms, but it’s far from a permanent cure. It helps for perhaps a few hours at most, and fewer and fewer every year.” He cleared his throat. “But let’s not talk about that now.”
“Is there anything I can do?” asked Twilight.
“Nothing, I’m afraid. Nothing at all.” He flipped through the book a little further in silence.
Then he looked up, seeming almost hopeful under the concealing cloak. “There is… something,” he said hesitantly. “I mean, I would understand if you were to refuse, but… I should like to see the Platinum Crown just once, before I die. All those years of history, thousands of ponies sitting on the throne and each one bearing the crown. The rise and fall of not only Equulaneum, but Roan – the capital of Old Unicornia - as well, and the Platinum Crown has borne witness to it all. I should like to sit before it, even for a moment, and see with my own eyes the object that has lasted throughout so many centuries.” He turned away. “I would understand if you were to refuse, of course.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Why do you need my help to see the Crown? Surely it’s in a museum somewhere?”
“In a manner of speaking, I suppose. But not just anypony can get in to see it. It’s in the Secure Wing of the Canterlot National Archives. The ponies with clearance to enter are only the Princesses, the Dean of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and you. I’m sorry, perhaps I was too presumptuous. After all, we’ve only just met-”
“I’ll do it.”
Axle looked to her again. “Really? You’re sure?”
Twilight nodded. “I can see this is important to you. I’m sure I can get you in to see the Crown for a few moments.”
“Bless you, Twilight Sparkle. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.” At that moment, the elderly stallion simply broke down, sobbing slightly, and threw his forehooves around Twilight’s shoulders.
The train’s steam whistle signified their approach to Canterlot, and Twilight looked out the window at the city where she’d been born. The city had a peculiar architecture, growing out of the side of the mountain like a great coral, and bisected by a gigantic circular platform that was locally termed ‘ground level’. Despite that, many buildings in the city, especially the older or the larger ones, protruded from the bottom of the platform, allowing for sublevels with scenic views of the Canterlot Falls, which fed into the river Harmony far below.
One such building was Canterlot Castle itself; the castle’s dungeon had windows overlooking the valley below as it stretched out to flow into the Everfree Forest. Because of their nature, most windows were not barred, which led to several unfortunate incidents with inmates who had convinced themselves or each other that the drop wasn’t as great as it looked.
On the upper side of the city’s ‘ground’, on the other hand, the Castle dominated most of the skyline, though also visible were the great Hall of Ages, mounted against the very stone of the mountain, and the mysterious Sunderstone Keep – separate from the main body of the city, the massive stone tower could be reached only by flight, or perhaps by an exceptionally well-balanced mountain goat.
Twilight knew well that their destination, the Canterlot Royal Archives, sat at the base of the castle. The Secure Wing was set below the main Archives, clinging to the bottom of Ground Level. So far as she knew, only Celestia had been in the Wing for many years; perhaps Luna or Dean Arpeggio had been, but she certainly hadn’t. As such, rumors of various types abounded about the Wing; some said it had a glass floor, others that its interior exceeded the size of its exterior, and Moondancer had told anypony who would listen for nearly a whole month some time before Twilight had left for Ponyville that she ‘had it on good authority’ that the Wing was actually a prison for Nightmare Moon. The night before she had left Ponyville this most recent time, she had mentioned some of these rumors to Rainbow Dash, who had laughed out loud.
“Sure. And I suppose it’s also got the Sapphire Stone, Starswirl the Bearded, and whatever it is that makes Pinkie Pie so random, right?”
As if on cue, Pinkie had dropped out of an overhead lamp wearing a deerstalker hat, blowing bubbles out of a pipe, and wearing a moustache. She had proceeded to remove a magnifying glass from under the hat and scan the room with it. “And so the game is afoot!” she had said, before scurrying outside and disappearing from sight.
Twilight had found out the next morning that Pinkie had in fact been playing hide and seek with Macaroon at the time.
Speaking of Macaroon, she had indeed turned out to be like Pinkie’s doppelganger. She had been completely missing for the first few hours of the train ride, but when the Flim Flam Brothers went to look for her they had found her somehow sitting comfortably inside the train’s whistle. She had, it transpired, been planning a party to welcome Twilight on board the train (and also to thank her for what she was doing for Axle Grease).
Twilight stepped away from the windows as the train came to as stop at the Canterlot station. Turning around, she left the train, following the Guildmasters onto the platform.
Macaroon was talking to the Guildmaster and Poison Point as Twilight approached. “While you’re looking at that crown thingy, I’m going to head down to Pony Joe’s Pastry Shop. Pinkie said they have the best donuts in Equestria!”
The Flim Flam Brothers walked up to stand behind Mac. “We’ll come with.”
Shimmerthread gave the first obvious, genuine grin Twilight had ever seen from her. “Iron and I have business in the Market district. We’ll meet you outside the Archives.” She reached up, apparently trying to throw a hoof over Iron’s shoulder, but couldn’t reach high enough and settled for tapping him just below the shoulder instead. Iron grunted in assent.
Stone Cutter and Grain Chaff passed them by, Stone calling out as they did so, “Meet you there. We’re headed for the Artisan district.”
Axle nodded. “I doubt we’ll be longer than an hour or two, all told. We’ll meet when we’re done.” He turned and headed down the street in the direction of the Archives, accompanied by Twilight and Poison. Occasionally they would pass a royal guard, mostly the pegasi and unicorns of Celestia’s Solar Guard, but on at least one occasion, a dark-coated, indigo-armored bat-pony of Luna’s Night Guard nodded to them as they passed.
“An unfortunate group, the bat-ponies,” commented Axle Grease after the stallion had passed.
“How so?” asked Twilight.
“They used to be fairly plentiful. They went with Celestia and Luna when the two princesses – Ladies, then – established Old Canterlot in the Everfree. At that point, they were pegasi, but like everything that makes its habitation in the Everfree for too many generations, they were twisted by its magic. After the fall of Discord, the bat-ponies followed the new Princesses back to Equulaneum, or New Canterlot now. They served in the guard, and indeed lived in relative peace, for many years, but they’ve been declining slowly but steadily over the past two millennia. At the fall of Discord, there were exactly seven thousand, four hundred, and ninety four bat-ponies in Equestria. At the fall of Nightmare Moon, there were scarcely a thousand, and today their numbers are counted in the tens, not the hundreds. They face a unique quandary: for some reason they’re tied to the Everfree. While outside it, they’re more prone to disease and often infertile, but they refuse to return there until the princesses do. Their loyalty is going to render them extinct in a few scarce decades, but I can’t really fault them for that.”
“It’s a pity nothing can be done for them,” commented Poison.
“Yes, it is,” agreed Twilight.
Axle Grease nodded in agreement, as they approached the entrance to the Canterlot Archives.
Inside the large wooden doors, rich carpeting covered the floor of the hall, well faded by centuries of hoofsteps crossing it to traverse the largest library in Equestria proper (It was the third largest in the modern world and the fourth largest historically). One door, a simple iron affair off to the side of the main hall, was surrounded by a small arc of carpet that still showed bright colors like it was new. A sign above the door – which Twilight read as she passed through it with her two companions – read ‘Secure Wing: Access Restricted’.
The door led to a long, steep stone spiral staircase, which Axle Grease had some difficulty navigating even aided by Poison Point. Twilight walked in front so she could catch him if he began to fall, which indeed he did three times.
At the base of the stairs, there was a heavy door inlaid with the royal insignia, flanked by a pair of guards. One was a bat-pony similar in appearance to the one that they had passed on the street, while the other was a white-coated unicorn guard in the standard armor of the Solar Guard.
“Who are you?” asked the bat-pony, levelling a dark-colored spear at them.
“Relax, Caligo. That’s Twilight Sparkle. You know, the Princess’ protégé? She’s allowed in.” The unicorn guard raised the bat-pony’s spear with a hoof. “I haven’t seen you around for a while, Twilight. Let alone down here. Where’ve you been?”
“I moved to Ponyville a couple years ago,” she answered. After a while, she realised that the unicorn guard had been stationed at the castle during her period of direct study under Celestia. “It’s nice to see you again, too, Lancer.”
Lancer opened his mouth to say something else before being interrupted by Caligo. “And what about them?” He gestured to Axle and Poison.
This time, Twilight answered him directly. “They’re my guests. That’s how this works, right? I can bring a guest into the Secure Wing if need be?” She looked to Lancer for confirmation.
“Yes,” he answered, “but a guest. Just one, I mean.”
Caligo tapped a hoof on the ground and looked at the two. Twilight glanced at them apologetically.
“It’s fine, Poison. You can wait here, I can take care of myself for a time.” Axle trotted up to stand next to Twilight.
“All right then,” said Lancer. “There’s just one more thing before you go in. Caligo, if you’d like to do the honors?”
Caligo reached into his saddlebags and removed a large silver ornament set with cut bluish crystals. The ornament was shaped like a crescent moon and seemed to glow faintly in the bat-pony’s shadow. He ran it up and down the pair several times. As he did so, he explained, “This is enchanted to remove stuff like shapeshifting spells, magical hypnosis, or illusion magic. This particular one is brand new. We used to have an antique, but the damn thing exploded during the changeling invasion. This one’s less likely to do that, and it still works just as well as the old one.” He stepped back and put the object back in his saddlebag. “Well, they’re clear. Lancer, you can get the doors.”
Lancer’s horn lit up with a magical aura and the door split in two and creaked slowly aside, revealing that it was a good two or three hoofsbreadths thick. Once the doors were all the way open, torch sconces along the edges of the hallway beyond ignited, revealing a crimson-carpeted expanse with marble walls and a polished granite ceiling. Against the walls at various distances sat many glass cases, stretching into the distance.
“All right,” said Caligo. “Lancer is gonna close the doors behind you. When you’re ready to come out, there’s a bell-pull right inside. Give that a good tug and Lancer’ll open the doors again.”
Twilight and Axle passed through the doors. Caligo said something to Lancer, and the two stone barricades slammed shut.
“The Crown will probably be at the far end of the hallway. We should get moving.” The excitement in Axle’s voice was palpable as he started trotting at a moderate pace down the hall.
Twilight followed, gazing in wonder at the many artifacts displayed in the glass cases they passed. One case held a bright magenta book on a stand with the Roanan word FESTVS in large gold letters. A brass plaque underneath it read:
FESTUS CODEX Warning – Memetic hazard. Do not open.
A second case bore a single, razor-sharp crystal lance half again as long as her body. Its plaque read:
PEGASUS RIVER CRYSTAL LANCE Warning: Thaumatic sponge. Do not touch.
After several uneventful cases, she happened to notice a simple gold urn, sealed on top with wax and stamped with the seal of the Elements. After reading the inscription,
HORN OF KING SOMBRA Warning: may retain traces of consciousness. Keep immersed in purified lilac oil at all times.
She decided to step away and pretend she hadn’t noticed it. Another case contained what appeared to be a statuette of a pair of jackals, but it was covered by a cloth, so she couldn't be certain. Its inscription read,
JACKALS OF CAMELON Warning: hypnotic. Do not make eye contact with statuette.
After the jackals, they had finally reached the end of the hall. At the far end, there was a single display case in which sat the object they had come to see: the very same Platinum Crown from so many pictures in the Equulaneum book. Now that she was able to look at it from various angles, she noticed that the pattern of sapphires and rubies did not continue all the way around the back; the rearmost gem was in fact an emerald.
In person, the crown was somehow chilling, reminding Twilight of an inverted ring of icicles like those that might collect around drainpipes in winter. The ring of thick, spotted fur around the lower rim, something that she didn’t recall seeing in pictures, did not dispel this impression.
“The fur was added by King Razorwind Broadwing in 1898 AE,” noted Axle, raptly gazing at the crown. The plaque was even simpler than others, reading:
PLATINUM CROWN Do not wear.
Twilight looked closer at the ancient piece of headgear. Along the rim of the crown, almost obscured by the fur trim, was an inscription in Roanan:
‘CONCORDIA EST LVMEM DERIT PERDITVM IN DOMVS, GELIDVM IN CALDOR, ET IEIVNVM IN ALIMENTVM.’
According to the book on Equulaneum, Roanan had been the sole language spoken in Equestria until the coming of Discord, who had invented Equish from scratch and enchanted everypony in his domain to speak it exclusively. Twilight had the unique benefit of having studied under one of exactly two living ponies who had been alive at that time (and outside of Discord’s influence), and as such was one of three ponies fluent in Roanan: Her, Celestia, and Luna.
“’Harmony is the light which guides the lost to their home, the cold to warmth, and the hungry to food,’ indeed.” Twilight jumped slightly; it wasn’t her who had just translated the Crown’s inscription aloud; it was Axle, staring intently at the words. His voice sounded different; not just in awe of the crown, as she had first believed. It had lost its rasping quality completely, now flowing smoothly and richly from his hidden tongue. As she watched, he stood up, dispensing with his hunch completely. His thick cloak no longer touched the ground, instead hanging around the stallion’s legs, revealing his hooves. Unlike the thin, wrinkled limbs she had expected from Axle Grease, these were thick, powerful, and gleamed like brass.
No, wait, she thought. They weren’t like brass. His legs were brass.
“I thank you for providing me with this opportunity, Twilight Sparkle. But I’m afraid that this is where your role ends.” Reaching under his cloak, he withdrew a small object and threw it at Twilight. She dodged, and it clattered against the wall behind her.
“What did you do with Axle Grease?” Twilight shouted angrily.
“Oh, dear. So unwilling to take responsibility for our own mistakes. There never was an Axle Grease. He’s quite an old façade, I must admit, and I had grown rather comfortable in the role. But, like all things, he must fade away now, to be replaced by me,” the stallion removed his cloak, letting it fall to the ground and revealing his body in full. The stallion was made completely of brass, with glowing red eyes set into an intricate, subtly grinning face hammered into the headpiece. For a moment Twilight thought that these particular aspects of the stallion before her might be an elaborate suit of form-fitting armor, until she saw a gap where the stallion’s cutie mark should be, displaying a cavity within the brass shell filled with rotating gears. “Cogspin the Greater,” he finished. At his full height, as he stood now, he could stand eye-to-eye with Celestia herself.
Twilight paused for a moment to gauge her opponent. It was obvious he intended to try something, most likely steal the Crown. Since she had brought him here, it was her responsibility to prevent him from doing so.
Stalling, she asked, “Why didn’t Caligo’s device notice you?”
Cogspin kicked at his cloak. “No magic. A cloak, a hunch, and a rasp and suddenly I’m an object of pity, a feeble old stallion to be appeased, but never feared. So simple, and yet as you can attest, so very efficient.”
“Okay, I suppose I can understand you fooling Caligo, and even me and my friends, but what about the other Guildmasters? Ponies you work with on a daily basis. There’s no way they don’t suspect anything.”
“Of course they’re not fooled. They were aware the whole time. Their facades are almost as impressive as my own. Except for Shimmerthread, poor mare. She’s always been prone to anger issues. Any more questions?”
“Why?”
“Ah yes, ‘Why?’ The immortal question. Short answer: I’m here to claim the inheritance so rudely snatched away from me two thousand years ago.”
Twilight’s eyes widened slightly. “You’re him! The Cogspin from the last chapter of the book, who vanished from Old Canterlot just before the fall of Discord. But how?”
“Oh, come now. You’ve seen stranger. Armies of metamorphic emotivores in the streets of Canterlot. The god of chaos himself, the Crystal King returned from his icy grave, even the Princess of the Night escaped from her exile. I just-” He laughed, “-remade myself.” Cogspin tapped on the breastplate of his brass body, producing a shallow ping sound.
‘He’s way too confident,’ thought Twilight to herself as she watched the stallion who would be king. ‘I’m the bearer of the element of Magic itself, I should be able to stop him before he tries anything. Right?’
Cogspin sighed. “I tire of these mind games, or whatever they be. Try to stop me, or don’t, really it’s all the same to me.” With that, he raised a hoof and shattered the glass on the Crown’s display case with one blow. In an abstract fashion, Twilight noticed that the bottom of his hoof bore a sigil of three interlocking gears of various sizes.
‘It’s now or never, and I’ll be damned if I let it be never.’ Twilight began charging up a magical blast.
Cogspin looked up, his artificial face unchanged. His own brass horn glowed pale yellow to the sound of a loud whirring hum, and there was a barely detectable whistling noise behind Twilight. Before she could turn around to look for its source, something struck her horn from behind, and a heavy weight stuck at its base. Looking up, she saw something attached to her horn: a heavy brass ring, set with a piece of crystal. She realised it was the object Cogspin had thrown when he had first revealed himself – he must have brought it back around with magic.
‘A limiter. Damn. That explains why he was so confident. Doesn’t matter, I’ve already got a spell charged. With a little – okay, a lot of effort, and not a small amount of pain, I can still release it.’ Twilight braced herself. ‘This is going to hurt.’
She forced the accumulated magic out of her horn towards Cogspin. The limiter’s crystal flashed brightly, whiting out her vision.
Cogspin looked down at the stationary form of Twilight Sparkle. If he still had a functional mouth, he would have grinned smugly. ‘Thaumatically triggered self-contained temporal lock, bound to a discharged horn limiter. Glad I pulled that one out of my particular bag of tricks.’
He reached into the damaged display case and withdrew the Platinum Crown. It had probably helped the mare to trust him that the unique properties of the Crown were hardly bandied about; the Crown had been continually riddled about with enchantments over four millennia or more, and in the right hooves was quite possibly the most dangerous object in the entire Secure Wing.
He set the crown on his head, and a corona of light arced from one gem to the next, reflecting off of his brass skin in intricate patterns for a moment before dimming to a faint glow within each jewel.
He trotted leisurely to the far end of the hallway and rung the bell next to the door with his magic. The door slowly groaned open, the two guards on the other side looking at him in shock. The unicorn – Lancer, his name had been – tried to close the door, but Cogspin looked at him and said loudly, “Hold the door. I’ll just be a moment.” The diamond at the front of the crown flashed brightly, and Lancer went still, holding the door as Cogspin passed through.
The other, Caligo took a swing at Cogspin with his spear, but the emerald in the rear of the crown flashed and it glanced off the brass plating without leaving so much as a scratch. He was poised to make another attempt when Lancer released the door and drew his own spear, knocking the bat-pony’s aside. Lancer stuck the point of his spear under Caligo’s chin.
“How dare you assault our king!” he shouted.
“What in Luna’s name are you going on about, Lancer? That’s not-” He was cut off as the spear-point pressed further into his throat.
“Stop!” said Cogspin, holding up a hoof. “Let him live. Keep him here, perhaps. We can imprison him at a later date.”
“Yes, my king.” Lancer lowered his spear and, using magic, confiscated Caligo’s. He withdrew a pair of hoof-cuffs from his saddlebags and bound Caligo to the railing of the spiral staircase. He then proceeded to systematically confiscate Caligo’s armor and other assorted trinkets, including the scanning crystal. He piled the things by the door and then returned to resolutely standing guard.
A peal of laughter erupted from a wooden bench next to the stairs. Cogspin looked over to see Poison Point doubled over laughing.
“I take it you won’t need any assistance getting back upstairs, sir?” she said in between laughs.
“No. I should be fine.” Despite the lack of facial expressions, the sarcasm was not lost on Poison.
“But seriously though, that was magnificent. I’ve been waiting for this moment as long as I can remember, and I never expected that. Oh, it was hilarious!” She laughed some more. “What about Twilight?”
“Permanently engaged.”
“Great. I can’t wait to see everypony’s faces when they see the real you.” Laughing again, she trotted up the staircase, followed by Cogspin. The bound Caligo lunged for Cogspin’s back hooves, only to be knocked away when one of them lunged out and struck him in the nose with an audible crack.
The rest of the Guildmasters were waiting for them in the square immediately outside the Archives. Not a single one reacted with surprise to see Cogspin. The Flim Flam brothers reacted with awe, but the others reacted much the same way as Poison had. Iron grinned nastily, while Shimmerthread shouted, ‘Hail to Cogspin, true king of Equestria!’ With a word, all eight ponies followed him down the streets towards the castle, drawing stares from various passersby.
Sometimes, they met a guard, who inevitably tried to stop them, but a word from Cogspin and a flash from the Crown and they for the most part followed him. The sole exception was the bat-pony night guard that Cogspin, Poison, and Twilight had passed going the other way, who was quickly subdued by other guards just as Caligo had been.
Even the numerous guards patrolling the halls of the castle were ‘convinced’ by the crown’s power. No further night guards accosted them; one advantage of the decline of the bat ponies was that you were about as likely to encounter one nowadays as you would be to meet a griffon on the street.
One final flash from the crown and the guards at the doors of the throne room pulled the doors open for him and his entourage. Poison Point gestured to Macaroon, who withdrew a roll of paper from her mane and handed it over to the former Guildmaster’s assistant.
Meanwhile, Celestia stood up from her throne at the interruption. A foppish noble who had been rambling on about some inconsequential issue or another looked back indignantly – and then quailed before Cogspin.
Not so the Princess of the Sun. “What is the meaning of this?” She trotted forward, a frown on her face. The noble stepped aside, hurrying behind the throne and peeking out the other side.
Cogspin stepped forward, leaving the Guildmasters behind. “It’s been a long time, Celestia,” he said by way of answer.
Celestia hesitated. “Cogspin?”
“Yes. It’s been even longer since I stood in this room. I’d almost forgotten how big this place really was.”
“How is this possible?” asked Celestia, confusion written all over her face.
“Imperial crystal. I bound my soul to a chunk of the stuff before I died, and then I built this for myself.” Cogspin gestured to his brass body.
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I wasn’t quite ready to fade away just yet. I still have business in this world, and I'm not quite prepared to pass to the next until it's complete. So! To that business, then; you’ll notice I have already gone to the trouble of retrieving the Platinum Crown. I have come here to barter for the throne that goes with it.”
“Barter? That is not necessary. In truth, I have been but a steward of the throne, holding it until a worthy king steps forward to claim it. Though, I wonder, how exactly did you come to acquire the Crown?”
“Your secure wing was not so much so as its name suggested. In any event I think you will be much more interested in a trade when you hear what it is I have to offer.”
“Whatever it is, you’re certainly eager to be rid of it.”
“It is not so much a matter of my eagerness to be rid of it, as simply recognising that you will find it more useful than I ever could; it is after all something you have been seeking for some time. I can say with confidence that even after all these years you still recognise the name ‘Aurora’?”
Celestia’s expression became one of pure shock. “How do you know that name?” she asked.
“I found out where she is. I also discovered who she is, with a little searching, but in truth that is rather obvious to any pony who sees her. And she is still alive, I assure you. I’ll tell you where, if you’ll but sign the throne over to me.” Cogspin gestured to Poison Point, who brought over the scroll she had been carrying and unrolled it, holding it up in a magical aura.
It was covered in miniscule, curving script in a pale blue ink, and a phoenix-feather quill sat within, its tip soaked in the same ink. “It’s a simple agreement. I had Poison draw it up beforehand, and I’ve already signed. Just there.” Cogspin levitated the quill to point at the base of the document, where, sure enough, was written Cogspin the Younger. Above that, Poison Point had signed her own name, denoting her as ‘witness’. Below those two names was an empty space, which Cogspin indicated as he passed the quill to Celestia. She took it hesitantly.
“I have searched for Aurora so long,” she said. “It had been so long that I had given up the search, having arrived at the conclusion that she must have been killed. And yet, there are few lengths to which I will not go to see my only daughter returned home safely.” She lowered the quill to the scroll. “You will have the throne, Cogspin. May you rule as your ancestors did.” With that, she signed her name.
Cogspin rolled up the scroll, sealing it with a ribbon and drop of wax provided by Poison. He stamped the wax seal with the symbol of his cutie mark engraved on the bottom of his right forehoof and handed the scroll back to Poison Point. “Go put that away somewhere safe.” Poison trotted off into the castle. “Now, as promised, Aurora. She is here in Canterlot, in fact. Leaving the Hall of Ages, the third street on the right branches to the left halfway down, into a covered alleyway. This alleyway is rigged with a cloaking charm and temporal lock built by me. Not for this purpose, mind you; I made it to take down Discord. But, of course, you made that a moot point. Anyway, the device has been acting as a general catch-all for the last two millennia and even I don’t know how many are in there. One of them, though, is your long-lost daughter.” Cogspin trotted past Celestia and sat in the throne.
“Thank you ever so much for this, Cogspin. When I have retrieved Aurora, we have many things to discuss.” Celestia turned to leave.
“Not so fast. I want you and your sister out of Equulaneum within the hour.”
Celestia paused, confusion writ on her expression. “What?”
“I think you heard me perfectly well. You have an hour to leave my city before I throw you out. Twenty-four hours from now I will extend the ban to include your Element bearers, and to cover all of Equestria. I suggest you get moving.”
“But-”
“I said I would tell you where Aurora was, never once did I imply I would allow you to save her.” He looked to the clock hanging from the far wall. “Fifty-nine minutes. Feel free to try to come back with the Elements and unseat me. I had Poison include an antihostility clause in our accord. You are physically incapable of harming me or my allies, as are any beings who consider themselves to be working for or with you.”
“Why, Cogspin? Why do this?”
Cogspin sighed. “I hadn’t thought that explanations would be necessary. I suppose, though, I can elucidate a few things.” He sat up from the throne and indicated the west window, which looked out over the Canterlot gardens. The sun was low in the sky – clearly Celestia had planned to lower it as soon as she was finished with the petty noble (who had crept out from behind the throne and was now slowly making his way towards the doors).
Celestia looked out the window in the direction Cogspin pointed. Far below, on the ground, stood the master of Chaos, Discord, encased in his granite shell.
“That was the beginning. I watched him kill my mother, Celestia. For twenty years I waited eagerly for the day you would give the order for the Everfree Rangers to march out and use the ‘weapon’ you referred to – however obliquely – that first day to tear that thing to shreds, and when that day finally comes I find out that that weapon was friendship the whole time? I’ll admit I was pleasantly surprised when you succeeded in encasing it in stone. I’ll give you that much. But I knew it was only a temporary solution; it needed to be smashed, melted to slag, put in a box and thrown into the ocean attached to some heavy lead weights.”
He ground his hoof against the ground, scoring a line across the polished marble.
“And still I ended up waiting. Two thousand years I waited, and the year before last when I woke up with a clown nose and candy coating, I knew I had been proven right. Now granted, your element bearers managed to seal it away again, but I assure you, I am not going to wait for history to repeat a third time. Tomorrow morning I’m going to have that cursed thing ground to dust, erased from history, consum naturam non est.”
“But disregarding Discord for a moment, there is also the matter of this.” Cogspin reached up and tapped a hoof to the side of the platinum crown. “It should have fallen to me the moment Mother was killed. The only reason it didn’t was that.” He gestured out towards the sculpture garden. After that creature was destroyed, I expected to receive the crown, as was my right. But no, when the monster fell the crown went to you.” He looked at Celestia. “All this I could perhaps have stood with. What made me hate you as I do now is that, when presented with the crown, despite the fact it was refused me, you yourself refused to bear it. And you ascribed the name of your city to my home.” He trotted back to the throne and sat in it again. “You destroyed Equulaneum as surely as Discord was, and that is not something I am willing or capable of forgiving. So I say again: Get. Out. Of. Equulaneum!”
“No.”
“No? What do you expect to accomplish? You cannot unseat me now, nopony can.”
“I can try. You are not the pony I believed you to be, Cogspin. Not the young stallion I once knew. One so full of hate cannot become a good king - that is a mistake I will not make a second time. I am so very sorry.” Turning back to the brass pony, Celestia braced herself against the ground and threw a bolt of magic.
It glanced off Cogspin’s shoulder and tore a chunk from the chamber’s wall.
“I had almost hoped you would try that.” The air filled with a whirring hum, and a magical aura built around Cogspin’s horn. “I said ‘physically incapable’, not ‘not permitted’. That was a blood oath you signed. Now I know blood oaths normally require a blood donation from both signatories, but Poison Point’s special talent is writing-based magics. She found a very clever workaround: Changeling blood. As long as we both signed – which we did – it is binding.”
He released his spell and a bolt of electricity arced across the room, wrapping around Celestia and throwing her several meters back, crashing into the heavy wooden doors. “You’ll also note that my own magical ability has somewhat improved since last we met. Fifty-six minutes - go get your sister and leave, Celestia. There’s nothing more you can do here.”
Celestia stood up and, with a look of defeat on her face, pushed open the door and trotted slowly out of the room. A tear rolled down her cheek.
The Skies Above Old Canterlot Approximately 2000 years ago
Swift Wind hovered above the city below. In the twenty years since he and the other Equulanean refugees had arrived, a number of Pegasus engineers fleeing the fall of Cloudsdale had built a small cloud settlement over Canterlot. Though most cloud cities were mobile, he himself had helped to construct a thermal anchor system to keep the settlement – which some had begun to refer to as New Cloudsdale – within the borders of Celestia and Luna’s protective enchantments.
The group had managed to make a decent-sized circle of friends in Canterlot over the years. Although the four former nobles themselves formed its core, they had also forged a close friendship with Celestia and Luna, as well as Penumbra, the bat-pony guard who had met them at the gate that first day.
Speaking of Penumbra…
“Hey, Swift!” Flapping her wings, the bat-pony mare ascended from the castle grounds towards him. She wasn’t wearing her armor at the moment, indicating that she was presently off duty. Swift remembered being surprised the first time he’d seen her cutie mark; he had expected some sort of shield or sword symbol, like most of the guards back in Equulaneum, but Penumbra’s mark was three upwards-pointing shooting stars.
After a few years of wondering, he’d asked her what it meant. Her response had been, “I used to be a party planner before I joined the guards. They needed more ponies when Discord showed up – even when you arrived the Everfree Rangers were more than twice as big as they were before all this happened.”
“Oh. So… Shooting stars?” he had replied.
She had smiled and nudged him lightly. “They’re fireworks, dummy. Dad made them from scratch. A new explosion for every occasion. I always knew what we needed, and he knew how to make it happen.”
“I don’t think I’ve met your dad. Where is he?”
Her smile faded. “His name was Parallax.”
“Oh.” Parallax was famous in Canterlot; he had been out in the forest when he had come upon a group of refugees fleeing north from San Palomino. They were pursued by a large herd of ponies affected by one of Discord’s rage spells. Parallax had directed them over a bridge spanning Ghastly Gorge and sacrificed himself to bring it down once they had crossed, trapping the cursed ponies on the far side and giving the refugees a clear path to Canterlot.
“After he died, I realized there’s no room for parties when you’re one of the ponies protecting the last bastion of sanity in a world gone mad. It’s just… in poor taste, I think. Even just a night of going crazy when the rest of the world is permanently stuck in such a state, and going through hell because of it, I just don’t think…”
She trailed off. Swift had pointed out, “Not necessarily. The chaos that’s out there, that’s bad chaos, sure. But sometimes, there needs to be a break in the order. I remember Celestia mentioned something like this once; she said, ‘Harmony is not synonymous with order; harmony is a state of balance in all things, including order and chaos.’ I think order doesn’t exist to eliminate chaos, but to keep it in check, so it doesn’t, well,” he had gestured in the general direction of Equulaneum, “do that.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. No matter what your special talent is, you can use it to do great things. All you need to do is give it a try.”
Penumbra had laughed. “I can’t believe I’m getting life tips from somepony who’s almost ten years younger than me.”
After that, Penumbra had seemed significantly happier. Taking Swift’s advice to heart, she had started arranging birthday celebrations for her close friends. She hadn’t been fully certain about it… until Celestia had called on her to plan a Grand Gala for Luna’s birthday. That event, which had been a steady annual occurrence since that year, had also served to cement the group’s friendship, both with Penumbra and with the two alicorns.
Back in the modern day, Penumbra settled on a cloud nearby, and Swift joined her. “What are you doing all the way up here, Swift?”
“Just marvelling at the fact that we’ve been here for twenty years now. Twenty years as of just an hour or so ago, actually. It seems like just yesterday, doesn’t it?”
“It sure does. An appropriate time for Celestia to want to talk to us about the thing she and Luna mentioned on that first day. Rose told me to tell you – she wants us to meet her in the study at noon.”
“Which thing?” Hope rose to Swift’s face as he remembered Luna hinting at the existence of a weapon against Discord.
“I don’t know. That’s everything rose told me – she ran off to tell Cogspin. She figured he’d be excited to hear.”
“Well then, let’s go.” Swift lifted off. “If it’s what I think it is, we definitely don’t want to miss it.”
Penumbra followed as they lifted off and glided down toward the castle, landing on a balcony on the edge of the west tower and entering the double doors nearby. Ascending the stairs, they passed by Cogspin’s room. The door was ajar, revealing complex diagrams stuck to a piece of corkboard on the far wall, over a workbench covered in obscure mechanisms made of brass.
Swift laughed, remembering the little foal that rode into Canterlot on his back, and hid from Celestia behind his mane. “He sure has. If we hadn’t been here the whole time, I don’t think we would even recognize him.”
As they ascended the stairs, they caught up with Cogspin, who was slowed by his efforts to wipe oil stains off of his coat. The formerly white rag he had been using was quickly turning black.
He greeted them with a cheery wave of his hoof, raising a pair of goggles onto his forehead. “Hey, you two! Did Rose tell you what Celestia said?”
Penumbra shrugged. “Rose told me, and I told him. What were you doing, playing in a tar pit?” she joked.
“Nope, just tinkering. I managed to stop the oil leak in the lantern setup.” He gestured to himself. “I should try to keep away from open flames for a while.” He grinned.
At that moment, they reached the door to Celestia’s study, situated at the top of the tower. Penumbra pushed open the door and Cogspin and Swift filed in. The two Alicorns, as well as Blue Spark and Rose, were already present.
She saluted them, grinning. “I guess I’ll let you get to it. We can hang out later.”
“Wait,” said Celestia. “There is no reason why you ought not to hear this; stay if you wish.”
Penumbra shrugged, and went to sit by Swift, in front of the two sisters.
Luna approached from the back of the room, carrying a large, ornate chest, and rested it on the ground in front of the group. Opening it with magic, she revealed that its contents consisted of nothing more than six dark blue crystals, nestled in velvet padding. The crystals were flat, about the size of a hoof, and each bore a different symbol engraved on their upper face: a thorny vine, a twig with one small leaf, three balloons, a shield with a cross emblem, a crescent moon, and a stylised sun.
“These are the Elements of Harmony,” said Luna reverentially. “They are the means by which we might bring low Discord, as my sister and I alluded to on the day you first arrived.”
“They must be wielded by Bearers strong in the virtues they represent: Honesty,” Celestia indicated the crystal with the twig emblem on it, “Kindness,” the thorny vine, “Loyalty,” the shield, “Generosity,” the sun, “Magic,” the moon, “and Laughter,” the three balloons. “The marks on the crystals are the cutie marks of the ponies who bore them a millennium and a half ago.”
As Celestia said this, Swift noticed that the sun and moon symbols on the crystals were identical to Celestia’s and Luna’s own cutie marks.
“Sadly,” interjected Luna, “four of those bearers passed away long ago. As such, the artifacts are useless unless they choose new bearers, which is why we were hesitant to discuss them with you before; we feared they may have proven to be nothing more than what they appear. However, you four have experienced much emotional growth in the past twenty years; and we have come to count you within our own circle of closest friends. My sister and I, after much deliberation, have come to the conclusion that, should they encounter you, the Elements may well choose you yourselves as their new Bearers.”
Celestia reached into the chest, withdrawing the crystal that bore her own cutie mark. “While it is true that you are only four ponies, my sister and I have no reason to believe that the Elements would reject us if we were to attempt to use them again. As such, we shall bear our own Elements even as you will have yours.” Luna took her own crystal from the chest. “The most important thing to remember about the Elements is that they are not a weapon. They are a conduit of love, happiness, and joy that will restore balance to the world if used in a just manner, without malice. Step forward, and claim whichever Element you feel speaks to you. We are confident that it will accept you as its Bearer.”
Swift watched Rose step up first, gazing over the chest. Her hoof hovered over the Laughter crystal, passing on to Loyalty, and then finally settling on Kindness. When she picked it up, the symbol of the thorny vine on the front changed to resemble Rose’s own cutie mark, a single white rose.
Celestia stepped forward and looked at the crystal in Rose’s hoof. “It has accepted you. It is interesting that you should bear the element of Kindness, as it was an ancestor of yours, Summer Blossom, who bore it the first time.”
“I’ve never heard of Summer Blossom. How long ago were these used? A millennium and a half ago, you said?”
“Yes. And you would know her by the name society remembers her by, Queen Cruelthorn the Penitent. She despised that name, and always insisted that we who were her friends refer to her as Summer Blossom, the name under which she was born.”
Rose stepped back, replaced by Blue Spark, who immediately snatched the Honesty crystal. As it had for Rose, the image of the one-leafed twig vanished, replaced by Blue Spark’s four-pointed star.
This time it was Luna who commented. “It was most certainly not your ancestor who bore the Element of Honesty; on the contrary it was brought to bear against King Silverblood. We were overjoyed when we discovered how different you are from him; it was that which gave us hope that we may prevail against Discord.”
Spark nodded and stepped back, making room for Swift to trot up to the chest and gaze upon the two remaining Elements. His gaze fell upon Laughter first; after a moment’s deliberation he looked to Loyalty and, suddenly certain, grabbed the shield-embossed crystal from the chest and watched it shift to match his own cutie mark, of three parallel wavy lines.
“Loyalty is a powerful force in the world.” Luna stepped forward to stand beside Swift. “The loyalty of a few good ponies can save the world, or topple it, based on who that loyalty is given to. But true loyalty is far less complicated than the machinations of politics; you have been loyal to your friends. I am confident that you will continue to be.”
Celestia looked up, at Cogspin, who hadn’t stepped forward. “Laughter is all that remains, Cogspin. I-”
“What is this?” Cogspin interrupted her. “I waited twenty years to avenge my mother and now you’re telling me we’re going to love and tolerate Discord out of Equulaneum? That’s, that’s patently ridiculous. Love and tolerance is all very well between friends, but it’ll only get you so far against monsters like that thing that’s sitting on my mother’s throne, wearing my mother’s crown. You said that this isn’t a weapon? Well we need a weapon.”
“Cogspin-”
“No. I’m done here. I’m going down to my room. Maybe I can build something useful.” He stalked towards the door.
Rose reached out to him. “Cogspin, wait-” He slammed the door, cutting her off.
The other three trotted over to Celestia and Luna. “This is what I was afraid of,” said Luna. “Despite our efforts to help him past it, Cogspin has been unable to see past his hate of Discord. He will no doubt calm down in due time, but I’m afraid, with a reaction like that, he would be unable to wield Laughter even if we could convince him to try.”
Celestia gulped, slightly shaken by Cogspin’s vitriol. “Perhaps, in a few years, he might mellow somewhat?”
This time, Blue Spark interjected. “We don’t have a few years. If the Rangers’ reports are anything to judge by, Equis is going to tear itself apart in a matter of months from all the chaos magic in the air. What can we possibly do?”
At that moment their thoughts were interrupted by a loud whooshing noise, and all five of their crystals shifted into heavy granite spheres, still bearing the insignias of their cutie marks. A loud thunk drew their attention back to the chest, where Penumbra stood with a mortified look on her face, having just dropped a sixth such orb onto the wooden floor.
“I-I just wanted to get a closer look,” she stammered. “What, what happened?”
Celestia stepped forward and picked up the sphere from where it had fallen. “I do not know. But one thing is certain.” She held up the orb so that everypony present could see that its balloon insignia had been replaced with three shooting stars. “The Element of Laughter has chosen you as its Bearer, Penumbra.” She smiled broadly. “The Elements are complete.”
Cogspin yelled as he swept a hoof across his desk, scattering brass mechanisms, parts, and scraps to the floor where they bounced with a cacophonous clatter. He tore the blueprints one by one from the board on his wall, throwing them onto the floor as well. When that was done, he sat on the bed on the opposite side of the room, breathing heavily and simmering with anger.
There was a loud knock on the door, followed by the voice of an Everfree Guard. “Prince Cogspin! We heard a noise. Are you all right?”
Cogspin didn’t reply for a moment. He was staring at one of the blueprints lying on the floor. As he stared, his gaze hardened, and a smile spread across his face, carrying with it a grim amusement.
Snatching the blueprint, he threw it into a pair of leather saddlebags, following it with most of the brass bits from the floor. He threw the saddlebags over his back, snatching several chests full of similar spare parts and tying them together with strips of leather. He opened the door in the middle of the guard’s third call and threw the improvised saddlebags over his back, and those of the other three guards standing outside the door.
“Come on,” he said.
“Prince Cogspin?”
Cogspin grabbed the other blueprints, rolled them up as best he could, and stuffed them under the shoulder strap of his own saddlebags. He pushed through the four slightly dumbstruck bat-ponies, who hurried after him. “We’re going to go kill Discord.”
With a loud click, the light from the limiter ring faded as the device snapped open and fell to the ground. Twilight’s spell blasted out from her horn, passing through the space where Cogspin had been standing seemingly a moment before. The magical blast ricocheted off the stone wall – tearing splinters of stone from it and throwing them around the room – and collided with the jackal case, shattering it and throwing the jackal statuette into the alcove behind the case.
Twilight looked around wildly for the mechanical stallion who had just been standing right in front of her. He wasn’t in front of her anymore; only the shattered, empty case that had once held the Crown. To her right was a nondescript glass case with a plaque reading ‘NOTHING / Do not comprehend.’ To her left was Poison Point. Behind her-
Twilight did a double take. “Poison!” She cast an immobilizing spell, freezing Poison’s hooves in place. “How did you get here? Where’s Cogspin?”
“Whoa! Easy there. I’m on your side. Except for real this time.”
“You’ll forgive me if I don’t take that at face value. Answer the questions.”
“Right. Um, I just walked in here. I have my own clearance now. As for your other question, there is a newspaper in my saddlebag. It’ll tell you anything you need to know.”
For the first time, Twilight noticed a pair of saddlebags slung over Poison’s back. The right pouch, sure enough, held a slightly yellowing newspaper. Twilight picked it up with magic and looked at the front page. The front page headline, emblazoned in bold capital letters across the top of the image, read ‘Celestial diarchy falls after only four years: King Cogspin the Greater installed as High King of Equestria’
The image below depicted all eight former Guildmasters standing on the balcony from which Celestia had often made royal addresses. Cogspin, in the front, had left his cloak behind – sure enough, Twilight looked up and saw it right where he had dropped it – and wore the Platinum Crown instead. Behind him, the other seven Guildmasters, plus Poison, were themselves bedecked in varying degrees of finery. Twilight realized with a sudden feeling of disgust that they must have raided the Royal Treasury.
Shimmerthread had adopted a flowing silk robe, with patterns stitched in gold thread. Stone Cutter was covered in golden amulets and bracelets, while Macaroon had opted instead for a massive silver circlet atop her head – superficially similar to a Zebrican leg band – that pushed up her puffy mass of hair and made her head look like nothing more than an odd-colored broccoli flower. The Flim Flam Brothers had exchanged their trademark boaters for a pair of very familiar gold and silver tiaras, while Iron Shod initially appeared to have abstained. A closer look revealed that he had exchanged his brass eyepatch for a small gold plate embossed with a stylised eye with a lapis lazuli iris. Grain Chaff simply wore a silver pendant, while Poison Point wore a pair of gold earrings. Looking up from the picture, Twilight noticed that the Poison Point watching her expectantly by the shattered case no longer wore the earrings.
“That paper is six months old as of last Thursday.”
“That’s impossible. Cogspin was just down here a moment ago.”
“From your perspective, that’s true. Cogspin trapped you in a temporal lock when you tried to attack him. You spent all of a fraction of a second in there, but the rest of us spent six months out there.” She gestured down the hall towards the door. “A lot of things have happened. That article hints that Celestia voluntarily abdicated, but while that’s technically true, she immediately regretted it when she realized that Cogspin had deceived her. She tried to take it back, but Cogspin drove her out of Canterlot, and then renamed the place Equulaneum.”
“How could he be more powerful than Celestia?”
“Beats me. He wouldn’t even tell us that.”
Twilight squinted suspiciously. “And you’re pretty chummy with him, then, are you?”
“Once upon a time. He’s been drifting further away from us, and the world in general, lately. Getting increasingly paranoid, dangerous even. Tartarus, he even had the other Guildmasters and I sign contracts binding us to him, using the same magic he used to bind Celestia to her own word. Mine wasn’t binding – I used regular ink, not Changeling blood. Just a precaution, but a fortunate one at that.”
Twilight had started pacing, but stopped. “Where would you even get Changeling blood?”
Poison shrugged. “Beats me. Stone always got a hold of it. He never said where, and I didn’t ask.”
Twilight narrowed her eyes. "There are a lot of things you don't know, aren't there?"
Poison gave her an odd look. "I didn't expect it would matter."
Twilight sighed. "I suppose it doesn't, yet. So why are you here?” she said sarcastically. “Do you want me to, I don’t know, hoof over the Element of Magic to Cogspin or something?”
A look of horror crossed Poison’s face. “No! That’s the worst thing you could do. Celestia and Luna made off with the Elements when they fled the city, anyway. Cogspin’s been searching for them, but with no luck.”
“So you want me to lead you to the princesses, then?”
Poison scoffed. “I doubt even you could do that. Cogspin has been scouring Equestria for all of the past six months. He ordered her and the Element Bearers banned from the country on the very first day, but he refuses to believe they actually left. As far as I can tell, they did, and they took that dragon of yours with them, though I haven't got any proof other than the fact that he hasn't found even a hint of them yet.”
"Wait, they brought Spike? Why? Did Cogspin include him in the banishment?"
"No, he didn't. If I had to guess, I'd say they took Spike because he insisted on going with them, but again I haven't got any proof."
“If you don't want me to lead you to the Princesses, then why are you here?”
“I need a reason for the Princesses to trust me when I do find them. I need Celestia’s help to take down Cogspin.”
That got Twilight’s attention. “Why would you want to take down Cogspin?”
“Well, remember I said he’s been getting paranoid lately? Dangerous? For most of it, I was willing to look the other way – his curfews, random searches, imprisoning anyone who spoke out against him – and to be honest I regret a lot of that now, but it’s too late to worry about the past. Point being, he crossed the line a week ago. He abducted innocent civilians, put them in the dungeons. He plans to threaten their lives if Celestia or anypony else comes back to unseat him, nevermind the fact that he’s contractually immune to bodily harm of any sort. I thought there was no line, but it seems there is actually something I just can’t stand for.”
“These civilians, who are they? Why did he choose them in particular?”
“I’d rather not talk about it for the time being. First, we have to get you out of Equulaneum. I’ve got a bunch of old hidey-holes in Baltimare, we can go there while we look for your friends.”
“And I should trust you why?”
Poison nodded to the limiter on the ground. “I removed that and freed you from the time lock. Technically I didn’t save your life – you could theoretically outlast the entire universe in that thing – but I think what I did do at least merits a little faith.”
“Fair enough.” The glow at the tip of Twilight’s horn dimmed, and Poison shuffled her hooves.
“Thanks. My hooves were really starting to get numb.” She picked up Cogspin’s cloak. “Here. You should put that on.”
“What? Why?”
“You’re a wanted mare, Twilight. Cogspin put a price on the heads of all the Element bearers. As his paranoia increases, so does the price. I think it’s well into the seven figures by now.”
“And you were planning on telling me this when?”
“Just now. Take the cloak.” Poison shook the cloak. Twilight took it and put it on, making sure it covered her face.
“One last thing. Can you cast an invisibility spell, and if so, for how long?” asked Poison.
“Thirty seconds. Around fifteen when I’m under stress, or as much as a minute when I’m near the Element of Magic. Why?”
“One of the few things Cogspin hasn’t dispensed with is the guards outside the Archives. They’re going to be suspicious if I leave with a pony who didn’t come in with me.”
“Do they still use the illusion scanner? Because that would cut through even the best invisibility spell like butter.”
Poison frowned. “Damn. Okay, didn’t think of that. Granted, they won’t be using it on you, but the aura might be enough to shorten the spell’s lifetime.”
“It most certainly will. I got a good look at it on my way in. Model 75 Moonlight Unit. If that’s even in the room, I don’t think I’ll be able to cast the spell in the first place. I certainly won’t be able to keep it active once the doors open.”
“That is a problem. Just give me a moment.” Poison started to pace, but then grabbed a scroll and a stick of charcoal from her saddlebag. She started sketching on the scroll, then rubbing out what she had sketched. All the while, she muttered to herself, sometimes audibly, sometimes not. “Sillu? No, the meaning isn’t quite… …perhaps Suqammumu. No, no, the auditory association is too definite…”
“Poison, what are you doing?”
Poison raised a hoof and shushed her. “I told you, just give me a moment. I’ll have this figured out in no time. For the moment, though, I need to concentrate.”
She rubbed out what she had drawn and started again. “I’ve been going about it all wrong. I’ve been trying to make an invisibility spell, but no, we already have one. We need a spell that hides another spell. La Nabalkutu, perhaps. No, that might stop the spell from being removed entirely.” Her face brightened suddenly. “I’ve got it! La Halqu! That should do the trick!” She sketched furiously, ending up with what looked like a random scattering of slashes.
“What’s that?” asked Twilight, who had never seen an entirely new spell created before. The only time she had heard of it happening was when Rarity had accidentally invented her gem-finding spell, and she was pretty sure Rarity hadn’t shouted gibberish and attacked a piece of paper.
“This is a rune ward.” Poison Point held up the paper. “My special talent is writing-based magic. There’s the blood-oath included in that, of course, but rune magic is also a particular skill of mine.”
“Really?” asked Twilight, interested in spite of herself. “I’ve never seen a rune spell before.”
“That’s because it’s a rare talent. This one here that I just created is ‘La Halqu,’ which is an Urbuck phrase that loosely translates to ‘not lose’. Atrocious grammar, but Urbuck is notoriously hard to work with.”
“Then why use it?”
“Can’t do it any other way. Rune magic needs to be written in Urbuck script, or else it doesn’t work.” As she spoke, Poison was copying the glyph she had created onto a smaller piece of paper, perhaps an inch square. When she had finished, she held up the tiny square of paper. “This might sting a bit.” She then applied the paper to the side of Twilight’s face, at which point Twilight felt a sudden blazing sensation as if the page was a piece of hot iron.
“OW! What was that for?”
“I needed to apply the rune. Don’t worry, it’ll disappear in a few hours. But, if all goes as planned, that’ll prevent the illusion device from lifting your invisibility spell.” Poison turned back to the paper she had been sketching on and threw the slightly smoking slip on top of it. With her charcoal, she sketched out a smaller, different symbol in the corner of the larger paper (identifying it as ‘Shurpu’) and slapped the symbol, at which point the page burst into flames and disintegrated into a fine black powder.
“Anything else? Stupid question. Let’s get out of here.”
Equulaneum Sculpture Garden
A cacophony of metallic crashes announced King Cogspin’s presence in the Gardens, raising flocks of birds from the trees and sending hundreds of rodents scurrying towards their burrows. A number of ruts dug deeply into the soil – and even concrete walkways – spoke of many afternoons wasted on this same task: attempts to destroy Discord’s granite form.
A humming sound filled the air as Cogspin used magic to lift up the statue and rest it across a marble effigy of a trio of Solar Guards. This was followed by another crash as he brought his forehoof down on it with all his considerable strength.
There was no result, so he tried again, and a third time. On the fourth try, two of the three guard statues shattered into stone shards, while the third toppled off its plinth. Leaving Discord resting against that plinth, Cogspin took up the third guard statue and brought it down over the chaos spirit’s head. A second try separated the equine statue’s head from its shoulders, and Cogspin cast the body away, instead loosing a magical blast at Discord. The only result was that the tall statue was blasted back several meters, tearing up the dirt in which it was partially embedded and throwing the guard statues’ plinth against the castle walls.
He had refused to believe it when the guards he had assigned to the task months previously had returned after a week and told him that the statue was indestructible. The first thing he had done was gone out to the gardens and attempted to destroy it himself.
He had failed miserably, and so had continued his attempts for several hours every afternoon. Fairly early on, he had succeeded in breaking the statue free of its plinth, but he rapidly discovered that that was a small victory compared with the task of actually destroying the thing itself.
“King Cogspin, sir.” The voice came from the door leading back into the castle. Looking up, Cogspin saw that Shimmerthread had entered the garden while he had been otherwise occupied.
“What is it, Shimmerthread?”
“Matters requiring your attention.” She held up a clipboard in her lime-green colored magic aura.
“Where’s Poison Point?”
“She said she was going to Baltimare to get some more of that foul concoction you insist on drinking. She left about three or four hours ago.” She flipped a lock of her mane behind her left ear. “Which leaves me doing the paperwork. Remind me again why this is my job? I mean, couldn’t Stone or Grain handle this?”
“Grain is in Ponyville, and Stone went out with a group of guards to check for active Celestia supporters. What news, then?”
Shimmerthread sighed, and flipped open the clipboard. “Those Appleloosans are back again, complaining about Grain. Some stallion by the name of Braeburn showed up today wanting you to put him on a tighter leash.”
“I told them last time, Grain is my minister of agriculture and he will be allowed to do what he sees fit. Tell Braeburn my position remains unchanged.”
“They may riot if Grain continues to pass those tariffs of his. They’re not exactly helpful to apple farmers.”
Cogspin waved a hoof. “Then let them riot. But tell them that if they do, I’m coming out there personally to put a stop to it.”
“Good.” Shimmerthread flipped a page on the clipboard. “Princess Cadenza of the Crystal Empire province has been asking for independence. She basically quoted back what Celestia told you half a year ago.”
“Have we searched the Empire for the Element bearers yet?”
“Several times.”
“Get Stone to do it again. And tell Cadenza that she can have her independence when she provides us with an adequate substitute for the Imperial crystal that we would lose access to. Be sure to mention the fact that the Empire shares a border with both Gryphon and Drakkad, and that if she were not affiliated with Equestria then it would no longer fall to us to protect those borders.”
A quill rasped across the page, then flipped over a new one. “That Blueblood fellow is back again.”
“What did he want?”
Shimmerthread shrugged. “Nothing, he was just sucking up. I think he’s afraid of you. Oh, and Fancy Pants positively accosted me. He’s with those ponies who refuse to believe Celestia abdicated, thinks you’re covering up a coup.”
“Like that Pegasus, what was her name?”
“Spitfire. An apt title, if you ask me. Apparently they’ve gathered up a group, calling themselves the Celestian League. They figure that if they band together they can cause you no end of trouble, and as much as it seems unlikely, they’re probably right, at least on the political side of things.” Shimmerthread picked a sheet of paper out of the clipboard and levitated it over to Cogspin. “This is a petition that they all signed. They want you to either release evidence to back up your claims, or announce what ‘really happened’.” Shimmerthread finished her sentence with a pair of air quotes.
Cogspin looked over the petition. “That’s a lot of names. Orange Julius, Blinky Pie, Twill, Box Car, Chiaroscuro… the list goes on. Do we know who’s actually in charge of this group?”
“They claim nopony is in charge per se, but a group that size couldn’t exist without some kind of command structure. Flim and Flam have been looking into it, but nothing yet.”
“I want Mac to help them. She has a knack for finding things. Tell the Celestian League Poison will release the evidence they’re looking for when she gets back. That should stall them long enough that we can… arrange for the group to fall apart. Anything else?”
Shimmerthread flipped another page in the clipboard. “Oh, you’ll find this interesting. Dean Arpeggio came back with the results of that thaumatic analysis of Discord you requested.”
“Really? What did he find?”
Shimmerthread took out a folded page, setting the clipboard aside. The page had a musical note on the reverse side, which she ignored as she unfolded it. The page’s full length actually trailed on the ground at her hooves. “I can’t make heads or tails of most of this, but thankfully he’s taken the liberty of summarizing it up front. He found, essentially, nothing. That is to say, there are no protective spells around the statue whatsoever.”
“Then why can’t we destroy it?” asked Cogspin, a hint of anger creeping into his voice.
“Hang on, I haven’t finished yet. It says here that he hasn’t been turned to stone, that’s just what physically appears to have happened. What’s actually occurred is that he has been thaumatically locked. That means that he is stuck in the exact state he was in when the Elements bombarded him – he can’t be altered in any way, by any means, without first releasing him.”
“So Celestia did make it indestructible.”
“Apparently. If we want to destroy him, we’re going to have to let him out.”
Poison closed the forward door to her private car and sat across from Twilight. The car was less like a traditional train car and more like a mobile sitting room: richly carpeted in shades of red, a pair of mahogany benches ran down both sides of the forward half of the car. In the middle, on Poison’s side, there was a fireplace equipped with a forcefield to hold burning logs in place regardless of the motion of the train, while the rear end of the train was occupied by several cupboards which Poison had indicated were filled with bottles of wine, cider, and similar substances. In the center of the car hung a piece of expensive Imperial glowstone, carved in the shape of a seapony, which cast a soft white glow over the room.
“This is probably the last time I’ll get to use this. It’s a fairly long journey to Baltimare, so if you’ve got any questions, now would be the best time to ask them.”
Twilight lowered the hood of her borrowed cloak, pondering all her unanswered questions. Eventually she just decided to pick one and ask: “That drink that Cogspin had. If it wasn’t medicine, what was it?”
“It’s called kholesh,” answered Poison. “It’s rare to see any in Equestria because its only real use is part of some Camelonian ritual practice. I don’t understand it myself, but apparently Compass Rose and North Star brought the recipe back after their expedition in 1780-something. Ponies have no use for it, but apparently it’s highly addictive to emotivores, like Changelings or Windigoes. The stuff is technically legal in Equestria, but not even creatures that use it actually buy the stuff legally – like I said, changelings. They want to keep their cover intact. For some reason it has the same effect on Cogspin.”
“And how did Cogspin survive – or, maybe that’s not the best word – hang around this long? I saw him mentioned in the Equulaneum book, but judging from the dates he vanished two thousand years ago.”
Poison shifted. “Now, again, I don’t fully understand it. But apparently after he ran away from New Canterlot, he figured out how to bind his consciousness to a shard of Imperial crystal. That machine that you saw isn’t really him per se, it’s just his body. He projects himself into it to simplify interaction with others.”
“And how did he get you and the other Guildmasters to go along with his plan?”
“It varies. Iron Shod’s just going along with Shimmerthread, he bullied the Flim Flam brothers, Macaroon said she ‘just wanted to see all the little ponies’ faces,’ I don’t know why Stone did it, Grain was out for revenge for some perceived slight by somepony or other, and Shimmerthread practically worships the stallion. She tries to hide it, but she’d jump off the Canterlot Cliffs if Cogspin asked her to.”
“And what about you?”
Poison was silent for a second, looking down at the floor. “To be honest, I was just in it for the power.” She sighed. “I don’t know how I could have been that blind, but all I could see was that throne, and me sitting next to it, whispering in Cogspin’s ear.” She looked back up again. “I don’t want that anymore. There’s a price to pay, and it’s too great.”
Twilight blinked. While Poison seemed sincere enough, she had also been good enough to fool everypony when she had been Axle Grease’s personal assistant. After a moment of consideration, Twilight decided to reserve judgment for the time being.
“How did Cogspin recruit you? Did you know then who he really was?”
“He found us in the street. Me and my sister, I mean. In Baltimare. We were homeless and starving after our parents died. Cogspin found us and took us in. The official documentation indicates that Axle Grease raised us, but a more accurate statement would be that Cogspin taught us how to raise ourselves. It was sometime in that period that I lost my sense of empathy, and so did Cross Stitch, but I can’t pin down exactly when.
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “This ‘Cross Stitch’ is your sister, right? Where is she?”
“She’s Shimmerthread. We changed our names when I was fourteen. Before then she was Cross Stitch and I was Feather Quill.” Poison sighed again. “She was so different before we met Cogspin. I wish I could get Cross back, but I don’t think that’s very likely at this point.”
Deciding it was time for a change of subject, Twilight cast around in her mind for a different question. “Who taught you how to do rune magic? I was always taught that it was a lost art.”
Poison shrugged. “You might find this hard to believe, but it comes naturally. I just had to learn the language, and I took a course in Baltimare University for that. I actually made my first rune spell by accident, only a few weeks after I got my cutie mark. Here, look.”
Poison lifted up her right foreleg, displaying a simple glyph tattooed on the underside of her hoof.
“I drew that on a chalkboard purely by instinct, and it transferred when I tried to rub it out. A few years later I discovered it was the Urbuck glyph for nuru, meaning ‘see’. I stuck these everywhere I could for a while, and a fair few of them are still there. If I focus I can look through them.” She closed her eyes and the glyph glowed bright red, even as she let her hoof fall down to hang just over the floor. “There is so much dust in this carpet.” She opened her eyes and the faint red glow surrounding her hoof faded.
“How is that possible?”
“Beats me. I spent some time doing my own research, but I couldn’t find any precedents.”
Twilight cast around for another unanswered question. “How exactly did Cogspin manage to take the throne? You mentioned he tricked Celestia, but you never said how.”
“That is an interesting story. Have you ever heard of Princess Aurora?”
Twilight thought about it. “No, never. Is she another long-lost sister of Celestia’s?”
“Not exactly. Historical records of Aurora are sparse, but Cogspin managed to figure out that she was born to Celestia about a thousand years ago – shortly after the banishment of Nightmare Moon. His source didn’t record the filly’s father, but it did note that at the age of twelve she mysteriously disappeared. Celestia launched a kingdom-spanning search for her daughter, even going so far as to contact representatives of Gryphon, Zebrica, and the Dragons. The search turned up nothing, despite lasting a century. Do you see where this is going?”
“I think so. Cogspin claimed he found what happened to Aurora, and offered to tell Celestia in exchange for the throne.”
“Oh, Cogspin didn’t just claim to have found Aurora. He actually did find her. He told Celestia where she was too, just like he promised, only he banished her before she could go rescue Aurora.”
“So she was in Equestria then?”
“Better, she’s in Canterlot. She got herself trapped in a larger version of the time-lock that Cogspin used on you. He built it to trap Discord himself, but Celestia managed that particular task first. Celestia never found the time-lock because Cogspin used a really ingenious cloaking device. Everything is hidden, thaumatic signature, sight, smell, even scrying can’t perceive it. The only way to find it is to walk into it.”
“It must be somewhere out of the way, or else half of Canterlot would be trapped in it by now. If that were the case, surely an investigation would have been launched.”
“I don’t doubt that there are a lot of ponies in there. It’s existed long enough for it to be very unlikely at best that nopony has stumbled across it. But you’re right, there are few enough that it doesn’t spark an investigation.”
“One last thing. What’s our plan, once we get to Baltimare?”
“I mentioned I had a hidey-hole in Baltimare. I figured we could hole up there for a while while we take stock of what we know. It isn’t much, but it’s the best I’ve got. Unless you’ve got something?”
“What exactly is this hidey hole of yours?”
“It’s where Cross Stitch and I lived when we didn’t have anywhere else. Used to be the foreman’s office of an abandoned factory. There were two keys. I have one, we gave the other to a friend named Box Car for safekeeping.” She held up an old-looking key. “We shouldn’t stay for long. It’s just a place where we can get a plan together and then go.”
“Agreed.”
Baltimare Several hours later
“So what kind of a plan did you have in mind?” asked Twilight. The two had arrived in Baltimare without incident, but Poison had accidentally attracted the attention of a group of reporters waiting at the station for somepony else. After a while she had managed to distract them by claiming to be on ‘urgent business for the king’ and shooting them all dark looks. After that they had kept to back roads to keep from drawing any unnecessary attention to Twilight. That had been successful up until now, and was no longer necessary since they had reached the factory that Poison had mentioned.
Pushing open the building’s side door, Poison replied, “Well, I know most of the places Cogspin’s checked already, so unless they’re moving constantly we can rule those out as places to find the princesses. Hopefully you can provide some educated guesses and we can prioritize those based on likelihood.”
The building’s interior was dingy and poorly lit – most of the original lighting system had blown out a long time ago, and what was still functioning was powered off. However, clusters of small glowing crystals – Canterlot glowstone, the cheaper variety - had been tied up to the former lights, giving of a faint yellowish glow and illuminating a long hallway with discolored, off-white paint peeling off of the walls. There were several doors in the hall, all of which they walked past without investigating.
“Hmm. That’s odd,” observed Poison as they climbed a set of stairs. “Those glowstones weren’t there when Cross and I lived here. We had to navigate by Cross’ hornlight.”
“Does that mean somepony else has been using this place?”
“Hopefully not. I’d rather stave off any confrontation, friendly or otherwise, at least until we get out of Baltimare.”
“Whoever they were, they may well have left by this point. Glowstone remains functional for decades.”
Reaching the top of the staircase, Poison withdrew the key from her saddlebag and inserted it in the door before them. With a click, she pushed the door open, and froze.
Looking past her, Twilight saw that the former office was full of ponies. On a couch at the far side of the room, a tan earth pony stallion in a beat-up hat and scarf reclined. At the desk sat a muscular bat-pony, a pair of thin, dark brown unicorn twins, and a minotaur, playing poker. In the center of the room stood a trio of pegasi, who Twilight recognized after a moment of thought as Wonderbolts, out of uniform – Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Soarin’.
They had all fallen silent as soon as Poison had opened the door.
Nopony spoke or moved. It didn’t take much to guess that the office’s occupants had recognized Poison, and the question at hand was more what they were going to do, and if Twilight and Poison should leave before they got the chance to do that.
Poison apparently reached that conclusion at the same time as Twilight, saying, “Sorry, wrong room,” and turning around, gesturing to Twilight to go back downstairs.
Before they had gone two feet, a pair of loud noises like a camera flashbulb emanated from the room behind, and the two unicorn twins appeared in front of them.
“Hey!” shouted one of them.
“What are you doing here?” asked the other. Closer up, Twilight could tell that their spiked manes seemed slightly singed, as did the identical welding goggles that hung around their necks. The only difference between the two stallions was their cutie mark – some sort of tool for the left one, and a toothed wheel and axle for the right.
“We were just looking for the foreman’s office. I can see we have the wrong room, so if you’ll just-” Poison said quickly. She tried to push past the twins, but they pushed her back telekinetically.
Midway through her utterance, a loud creak and a series of thuds emanated from the room behind. There was only one thing Twilight had seen in the room that could make a noise like that, and sure enough when she looked back the minotaur had stood up and was making his way in their direction. The bat-pony had also vacated the table and was following the minotaur. Spitfire, Soarin’, and Fleetfoot moved aside to make way for them.
The minotaur grabbed Twilight and Poison by their tails and pulled them back into the room, while the bat-pony alighted on the ground in front of the doorway. “No, you have the right room,” he said. “The question is, why were you looking for it?”
“Have you come on behalf of Cogspin?” asked Spitfire.
“And who’s that with the cloak?” asked Fleetfoot.
Poison raised a hoof. “No, it’s nothing like that. We thought this room would be abandoned-”
“A likely story,” interrupted the bat-pony. “The only reason you’d have to come to an empty room is to look for somepony who doesn’t want to be found.”
“Have you come to ‘arrest’ us, then?” asked the minotaur sarcastically, having released their tails and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
“Fat chance.” The bat-pony grinned. “They try anything like that-”
“Hey, now! Let’s keep this somewhat civil,” interrupted Spitfire loudly. “There’s no need-”
“They made the first move long ago, I say-” The bat-pony turned to her, interrupting her in turn, only to be interrupted by Poison.
“I told you, we mean you no harm!”
After that, several ponies tried to talk at once, to the effect that only snippets of the argument – despite its steadily increasing volume – could be heard at all.
“-Bull-“
“-Not barbarians-“
“-Can’t just send-“
“-Like you’ve ever-“
When the volume became loud enough that Twilight’s ears actually started to ache – not to mention the fact that the minotaur had made a fist – she decided it might be time to intervene.
“EVERYPONY CALM DOWN!” she shouted at the top of her lungs, simultaneously casting a spell that immobilised everypony in the room. Silence fell, partially due to the surprise and partially due to the fact that the spell had slammed everypony’s jaws shut and held them that way. Twilight noted with mild surprise that the earth pony on the couch had not reacted at all to any of the proceedings, still reclining with his shabby hat over his muzzle.
Lowering her hood and facehoofing, she said in a matter of fact tone, “First of all, if you continue like this a guard patrol may very well hear it from outside and show up to investigate, in which case the argument becomes a moot point and we all get arrested. Secondly, as a bearer of an Element of Harmony I can give you my word that Poison had no idea you were here, is not looking for you and means you no harm. Third, I’m sure we can in fact debate this like calm, civilised beings. I’m going to let you all go now with the understanding that we’re going to discuss this calmly.” With that, she released the spell, and the bat-pony – who had been in the air at the time the spell was cast – dropped to the floor with a loud thud.
He was up again in an instant and prodded Twilight with his hoof. “How can we be sure you’re an Element bearer? None have been seen in Equestria since this whole thing started, and I wouldn’t put it past one of Cogspin’s ponies to pretend to be one just to gain our trust.”
Spitfire trotted up and pushed the bat-pony away. “Do you really want to start this again, Ross? Especially with a pony who just proved she can hold all of us in place with a flick of her horn? Besides, we’ve met before, if briefly. I can vouch for her. The real question, Twilight, is it?” Twilight nodded. “The real question is, why are you travelling with Poison Point?”
“She saved my life. She’s seen the error of her ways, clichéd as that may sound, and is willing to help us take down Cogspin.”
Spitfire considered them. “All right, good enough for me. For now, anyway. Let me introduce you to the Baltimare branch of the Celestians.”
“Celestians?” asked Twilight.
It was the minotaur who answered. “We’re a group who refuse to believe Celestia would voluntarily abdicate the throne to somepony like Cogspin. We’ve been campaigning to get him to show proof or reveal the truth.”
“Yes, and this is most of us in Baltimare,” said Spitfire. “Soarin’, Fleetfoot, and myself are here from Cloudsdale, and we’re waiting on some information from Fancy Pants, who’s usually in Canterlot. This is Iron Will,” she gestured to the minotaur, “Chiaroscuro – but we call him Ross,” the bat-pony, “Ratchet and Gearbox Sparks,” the unicorn twins, “and this lazy old fellow is Box Car. He’s a leader of sorts around here.” The shabby earth pony hadn’t stirred an inch. “He could also sleep through Discord’s return.”
She prodded him with a hoof. “Hey, Box. We’ve got visitors.” He snorted and pushed his hat up, sitting up on his haunches.
“Well, you didn’t have to wake me. I would have found out eventually.” He pushed himself off the couch. “So just who do we have…” he trailed off and his eyes widened slightly when he noticed Poison.
She waved at him. “Hey, Box.”
He broke out into a grin. “Quill!” he shouted. “It’s been what, sixteen years? You were no more than about yea high last I saw you.” He held a hoof up just below his shoulder.
Most of the others were looking back and forth between them in surprise. Twilight, although she hadn’t connected the dots at first, remembered Poison having mentioned Box on the train, and so wasn’t quite as surprised as the others.
The bat-pony, Chiaroscuro, stepped forward. “You know Poison Point?” he asked, somewhat accusingly.
Box, evidently somewhat slow on the uptake, responded, “Ross, you know I don’t read the papers. I wouldn’t recognise Poison Point if I was looking right at her.” Ironically, at that very moment he turned back to Poison and smiled. Iron Will couldn’t resist a facepalm.
One of the unicorn twins (Ratchet, perhaps? Even with Twilight’s memory it would take a while to tell them apart) piped up at that moment, with bluntness that Twilight would have associated more with Ross or Iron. “You are.”
Box’s grin started to slide slowly away. He chuckled. “Nice one, Gearbox. You almost had me for a second there.”
“It’s true,” added the second twin (apparently this was Ratchet). “Not only does she look exactly like the news photos…” He cocked his head slightly. “Although admittedly a little less gaudy, she’s already admitted it to us.”
Box’s smile had deepened into a frown. “If that were true, Ross would have tried to throw her out of the window by now.”
“Twilight Sparkle vouched for her, and Spitfire confirmed that it was actually Twilight Sparkle, so that’s good enough for me. At least, for now,” stated Ross flatly.
Box seemed to notice Twilight for the first time. There was a momentary pause. “This is a lot of information at one time. Quill, or poison or whatever name you’re using, you need to tell me exactly what’s been happening.”
Quill nodded, and the two retreated to a corner of the room, where they began to speak quietly.
“So, Twilight,” said Spitfire. “We’ve got plenty of time now. Why exactly are you so certain that Poison Point of all ponies can be trusted?” The three Wonderbolts sat down with Twilight, while Iron, Ross, Ratchet and Gearbox went back to their card game.
“Cogspin had me trapped in time. Poison helped me escape from Canterlot. She claims she knows how to defeat him.”
“Defeat him?” asked Soarin. “So he is rotten, then?”
“As far as I can gather, Celestia did sign the throne over to him willingly, but he tricked her into doing it.” Twilight explained what Poison had told her in the Archives and on the train.
“Wow,” said Fleetfoot. “That’s quite the thing.”
“Did Poison explain her plan to you?” asked Spitfire.
“Not completely. She mentioned on our way to the train that since she wrote out the contract that keeps Cogspin from being harmed, she can void it, but she needs Celestia and Cogspin in the same room. That’s why we need to find her. But I don’t know how it all works.”
“So if we can find Celestia, then we can get rid of Cogspin?” asked Fleetfoot.
“Somehow, I doubt it’ll be that easy,” commented Gearbox, looking across from his poker game. “Even if you can manage to find her, which I somehow think will be impossible unless she wants to be found, you still have to get her into the palace past all of Cogspin’s guards and keep her safe for however long it takes Poison to do whatever it is she’s going to do.”
“And that’s if she even still exists to be found,” added Ross. “Poison might or might not have told you this, but about a month after Cogspin came to power, we missed a night.”
“What do you mean ‘missed’ a night?” asked Twilight.
“Exactly what I said. The sun stopped moving, it was high noon for twenty-four hours straight. So far as I know, Celestia has been in control of the sun for three millennia, and in all that time the only time the schedule was interrupted was during both Nightmare Moon crises and the second coming of Discord.”
“But the sun’s moving now,” pointed out Ratchet, “so whatever happened must not have been permanent.”
Soarin’ sighed. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Ross might have a point. We were at the Crystal Empire for a show last month. If you ever make it out there, look at the palace every day at dusk and dawn. It’s Princess Cadenza moving the spheres, you can see the spell from anywhere in the empire.”
“But what could stop Celestia from moving the sun?” asked Twilight.
“We have to hope it’s nothing major, and that she can recover from it,” said Gearbox. “Until we find her, hope is the best thing we have.”
At that moment, Box and Poison stood up and trotted toward the door. Box gestured in Twilight’s direction. “Twilight, come with us. There’s something I think you should see.”
Twilight got up and followed Box and Poison into the stairwell and down a floor, at which point they entered a small room that looked as if it had once been used for storage purposes, but now contained nothing but a dresser and mirror.
“So what is it you wanted to show us, Box?” asked Poison.
“Patience. Do you know who Cogspin was, before he became,” Box gestured outside, “that?”
“Yes. He was the next in line to become king of Equestria when Discord took over. After Discord’s defeat, he tried to claim the throne, and fled when the populace chose Celestia instead, never to be seen again until now. What does this have to do with what you want to show us?”
“I’m getting to that,” said Box. “What’s not included in most history books is the fact that Cogspin was a personal guest of Celestia for fifteen or so years while he stayed in Old Canterlot. The two were very close. Some have said that he was Celestia’s best friend, second only to Luna. The princesses trusted him more than any other. Last year, he took advantage of that trust to betray Celestia and Luna.”
“We know all of this, Box. What’s your point?”
“Cogspin betrayed his best friend’s trust. And as I’m sure you know…” Box cleared his throat and looked up toward the ceiling. “Betraying a friend’s trust is the fastest way to lose a friend…”
‘No way…,” thought Twilight incredulously.
Sure enough, the dresser’s middle drawer popped open, releasing a puff of bright magenta mane over a similarly pink head, which proceeded to shout, “FOOOREEEEVEEER hey, Twilight!”
“Pinkie Pie?” asked Twilight.
“The one and only! Hey, Poison! Hey, Box!” Pinkie waved to them before hopping out of the drawer.
“Pinkie pie,” said Poison, “This raises a lot of questions, but first and foremost is, why are you not surprised to see us?”
“Tickly nose, itchy tooth, put a horseshoe on backwards.”
“What?” asked Box and Poison simultaneously.
Twilight, on the other hand, nodded in understanding. “Those are Pinkie Sense signals, right? What do they mean?”
“That I’m about to go on an epic adventure to save the world with a friend I haven’t seen in forever and a pony who used to hate me but doesn’t anymore.” Pinkie Pie said this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “The question I should be asking is where were you, Twilight? We were super-worried.”
“I was frozen in time in the Canterlot Archives. Where have you been?”
“Everywhere. I stayed in Equestria because I wanted to ask Mac why she’s been such a meany-pants lately, but she’s been avoiding me.”
Twilight – knowing Pinkie like she did – found this the most surprising thing that had happened that day. “Avoiding you?”
Pinkie nodded. “She seems to know where I am ahead of time and makes herself not there.”
Twilight contemplated that for a moment, then pushed it aside. “All things considered, it’s great to see you, Pinkie.”
“You too, Twilight.” They embraced for a moment.
“There’ll be time for catching up later,” interjected Box. “I think Pinkie might be able to help with Quill’s plan.”
“You know where the Princesses are?” asked Poison.
Pinkie shrugged. “Not for sure, but I do know where they went.” To Twilight, she added, “They took Rarity, Dashie, Fluttershy, and Applejack with them. Spike, too. They’re all safe.”
“That’s good news!” Twilight smiled.
“Where-” began Poison, only to be cut off by Ross throwing the door open and barging in.
“Fancy Pants just arrived. Spitfire sent me to fetch you.” He threw an odd look in Pinkie’s direction, but didn’t comment.
After sharing a glance, the four ponies followed Ross back upstairs to the office, where, sure enough, they found Fancy Pants waiting for them. Fancy Pants, like Spitfire, was a pony that Twilight had met before, but only briefly.
He was already talking to Spitfire when they entered. “The news from Canterlot isn’t so good, I’m afraid. Shimmerthread told me that Poison Point would send us the relevant documents as soon as she returns, but I just so happened to be near the throne room while she was talking to Cogspin.”
“And?” asked Spitfire.
“He thinks we’re a threat to him. He’s sent Macaroon to find out who’s leading the Celestians and assassinate them. If the rumors are true, and Macaroon has the same abilities as Miss Pie, then we must do something, and soon. Going to ground would buy us a few days at best.”
“What exactly can we do?” Poison approached the newcomer.
“Ah, Poison Point. Spitfire informed me of your change of heart. In answer to your question, I’m not sure there’s anything we can do, depending on how quickly you can enact your plan.”
“That in itself depends where Celestia went six months ago, and if she’s still there.”
“You should stay here for a few hours at least,” suggested Ratchet.
“Until sundown, perhaps,” added Gearbox. “You shouldn’t take the train anymore – it’s too well regulated by the guard. I know a stallion who can get us a map of all the less-travelled hoof routes. They may be slower, but at least you’ll get to wherever it is you end up going.”
“You should get that map,” said Twilight. “We can plan our route better with it.”
Ross gestured toward the window. “I should go warn everypony else about Macaroon.”
“That’s a good idea.” Spitfire nodded approvingly. “Soarin’, Fleetfoot, and I will go around and spread the word outside Baltimare. You three,” she gestured to Twilight, Pinkie, and Poison, “should go as soon as it’s safe.”
Streets of Baltimare
Chiaroscuro flitted down out of the sky, his hooves coming to rest on the sidewalk. Looking around nervously, he approached a billboard hung on the wall of a nearby building. He reached up to the cluttered mass of papers, searching desperately for one specific group. He pulled down a tattered notice for ‘lyre lessons’ and discarded a month-old bake sale ad before he finally found what he was looking for: a row of six faded photographs, in two rows of three, with the caption:
BY ORDER OF THE KING A reward for the capture of the so-named ‘Element Bearers’ or information leading to such, to the sum of one million bits apiece On the charge of intent to commit high treason
In the top center was a photo of Twilight Sparkle. And just below that, just as Ross had thought, was a photograph of the pink-maned mare that he had seen with her.
“I thought you looked familiar,” he said to himself. Ross pulled down the poster and examined it.
“Two million bits, you say?” he muttered idly to himself.
There was a sound like a hoofstep somewhere on the road. Looking around guiltily, he shoved the poster into his saddlebag and galloped off towards the guard barracks.
Gearbox rushed through the doors to the office. “I got it!” he shouted, laying down the map.
Fancy Pants had left shortly after Gearbox, intending to return to Equulaneum. Since neither the Wonderbolts nor Ross had returned, their group now consisted of Twilight, Pinkie, Poison, Box, the Spark twins, and the minotaur Iron Will.
“Great work, Gearbox,” said Poison, as they gathered around the table. “Pinkie was just telling us about what happened after Cogspin took over.” She gestured to Pinkie to continue.
“Well, we were all in Ponyville,” Pinkie indicated Ponyville on the map for Box’s benefit, and for the Sparks, “when the Princesses showed up all of a sudden and told us we needed to leave, and fast. They said we had to leave everypony behind for their safety – Cogspin and the other Guildmasters had turned out to be big meanies. Now Shimmerthread and Iron Shod I understood, and I’d been getting a few twitchy twitches around Cogspin, but I just couldn’t figure out why Mac would do something like that. I was trying to figure that out while Luna explained their plan.” Pinkie shrugged. “I still dunno. I thought maybe she was replaced by a changeling, but my tongue wasn’t itchy around her back when she last visited, so that’s no good. Then maybe I thought her bad friends were pressuring her into it! So then I decided, if she can’t see those meanies are bad influences, it’s my job to tell her! So I-”
“Um, miss Pie? The Princesses?” asked Box.
“Oh, right. Sorry. My brain went off on the wrong path through the Everfree. Like the one with the Poison Joke, instead of the one to Zecora’s cottage, so it got all twisted up, and-”
Iron Will cleared his throat loudly. Pinkie stopped and stared at him for a moment, then removed a package of cough drops from her mane and offered them to him. “Want a lozenge, Mr. Will?”
Iron declined the offer, and after putting away the package, Pinkie continued, “So anyway, while all the poison joke thoughts were running through my head, Luna was explaining to everypony else where they were going to be going. She said,” here, Pinkie engaged in a surprisingly accurate imitation of Luna’s Royal Canterlot Voice, “WE WILL BRING YOU TO THE ABANDONED OUTPOST AT LEGIONS’ FALL PASS. THERE YOU WILL BE SAFE FROM COGSPIN’S ARMY.” Pinkie took a deep breath, and when she resumed speaking, her voice had returned to normal. “Then Celestia said that the place was called McMaredo Ice Station. It really doesn’t sound all that fun, but if it’ll keep them safe I would never stop my friends from going there.”
“McMaredo Ice Station?” asked Ratchet. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“Neither have I,” said Poison, scanning the map with a puzzled look on her face.
The others shook their heads.
“I have,” said Twilight. “They really must not have been willing to take any chances. The Ice Station is so remote it’s not even on this map – if it were it would be somewhere around here.” She indicated a point about a hoofsbreadth off the edge of the map, straight north of the Crystal Empire. “It was built to keep an eye out for King Sombra, and as such was abandoned when he returned. Good thing too – it’s right on the edge of where the Old Kingdoms used to be, and the Windigoes were starting to take notice.” She traced a line south from McMaredo into Equestria, and then east to Baltimare. “This might take longer than we thought.”
“What do you mean the windigoes were starting to take notice?” asked Ratchet. “The windigoes from the old stories? Those windigoes?”
“Why would the princesses chose something so dangerous?” asked Gearbox nervously.
“Iron Will isn’t so sure it’s wise to bank on a journey twice as long as expected, with the danger of no outcome. Successful or not, we could all be in prison by the time you even make it there.”
Box entered the conversation somewhat sternly. “Iron, she never said twice as long-”
“But it is, though, look.” Gearbox pointed to the map. “We were thinking Zebrica, maybe Camelon at worst. Look, Legions’ Fall is at least a month’s journey out, more if the Crystal Plains reach blizzard conditions. And that’s if you took the train from here to the Crystal Empire.”
“Oh, well, there’s the good old family optimism, Gearbox,” said Ratchet sarcastically. “You need to have faith in a pony who’s saved the world at least twice over already.”
“I was just pointing out a fact, Ratchet, never once did I say anything about losing faith.”
“Ignore the facts!” shouted Box. “If we don’t help them try, Celestia only knows how Equestria will get out of-”
Iron interrupted Box in mid-tirade with one of his own.
“Are they really getting into this again?” Poison whispered to Twilight.
Twilight looked over to Pinkie, who was looking decidedly nervous. Oddly, though, she wasn’t looking at the arguing ponies on the far side of the table, but rather up in the air. Her tail twitched twice, like a cat’s.
It took a moment for Twilight to remember why that was significant.
Once she did, she didn’t bother with warnings, instead casting a spell that pushed everypony away from the map table, including herself. Box, Iron, and the Sparks ended up on the far side of the room, while Pinkie and Poison remained with her. It was a good thing she took that precaution, too, since at that moment, a large glowing coral-colored object crashed through the ceiling, demolishing the table and heavily damaging the floor for a decent radius around it.
As the glow faded, the object shrunk (Twilight would later realize that it was a magical high-impact shield) to pony-size, revealing a veritable doppelganger of Pinkie standing in the middle of the room.
Macaroon.
She looked around at the ponies in the room, all frozen in shock. She grinned and shouted upwards through the newly created skylight.
“Looks like our new friend was spot on. Not Captain Spot On, he’s completely different. And none of the other Spot Ons –Spots On? – that I know, either – everypony come on in, check this out.”
Just as the Celestians started to react, a whole squadron of royal guards streamed into the room. Unicorns smashed the door down, while pegasi simply streamed in through the gaping hole in the ceiling. Amidst the Pegasus guards, Chiaroscuro flitted down into the room, approaching Mac.
“Do I get my two million bits now?” he asked.
Macaroon opened her mouth to reply, only to be interrupted by the Spark twins.
“Ross, you sold us out!”
“How could you do that?”
Macaroon tittered, and with a flash of magic transformed their mouths into zippers and closed them. “Do you know how rude it is to interrupt pleasant conversation?”
Turning back to Ross, she continued, “No, now you get a cookie.” She pulled a cookie (“Chocolate chip,” muttered Pinkie) out of her mane and handed it to the slightly confused Ross. “You get your two million bits by asking at Equulaneum. I’ll send word on ahead.”
Turning back to the unicorn guards, who surrounded the four Celestians with lit horns, she said calmly, “Bring them in too. Cogspin will no doubt want to have a talk. As for you three…” She turned to Twilight, Pinkie, and Poison. “Cogspin’ll be really disappointed in you, Poison. Working behind his back like that, that’s not what friends do for friends. And Pinkie, I really thought you’d see this my way.” She started to advance, followed by the Pegasus guards. Pinkie started to back up, pulling the other two with her.
Macaroon pulled one of her titular creations out of her mane and started eating it. “I mean, what we are, it’s hardly commonplace, is it? I thought I’d found a kindred spirit in you, especially after our adventures when I last visited Ponyville.”
“We need to get out of here,” whispered Poison.
“You don’t say,” Twilight replied.
Macaroon hadn’t stopped. “Not to mention the cephalopods, that’s just what I’m talking about…”
“Okay, I think I got my answer!” said Pinkie loudly. “Brace yourselves!” She grabbed Twilight and Poison and jumped backwards.
“Hey, what are you doing?” shouted Macaroon. “NO! DON’T YOU DARE!” She jumped for them, followed by the guards, but Pinkie pulled them into a closet and the doors slammed.
Lot of good this is going to do… Twilight started to think, but she was interrupted by a disorienting flurry of noise, light, and the distinct smell of cake frosting. After a second, they fell backward out of… a mahogany wardrobe?
Twilight had just enough time to notice Macaroon hanging on to Poison’s left hind hoof, and Poison blasting her off with a concussive spell, before she also noticed that they had somehow appeared in a cloudhouse, and that she had no time to activate a cloudwalking spell.
As they fell through the floor with an audible poof, Twilight could make out Macaroon spellcasting furiously, and landing on all fours just at the edge of the hole they had made. After a moment, Macaroon turned and walked away.
But, now they had they had a more immediate problem: they were falling from cloud-level towards the ground at a high rate of speed, and Rainbow Dash wasn’t around to mount a daring rescue.
She looked to her companions; Pinkie had straightened out into as aerodynamic a shape as a pony could and was rocketing straight down, while Poison was screaming incoherently and flailing around. Turning slowly in the air, she noted that they were falling towards a huge oasis in the midst of a vast desert.
“Why are we in Las Pegasus?” she asked to herself. “How are we in Las Pegasus?”
She came to her senses at the feeling of an elbow colliding with her ribs. She looked to its source to find Pinkie, shouting something loudly that was being lost over the rush of the wind.
“What?” Twilight asked.
Pinkie facehoofed, and then mimed a unicorn horn, an invisible wall, and then something stopping.
Twilight suddenly remembered what Macaroon had done when she had fallen through the roof. Of course.
Drawing the three of them together telekinetically, she formed her magic into a cone pointed towards the surface of the water below. As they closed in on the glittering surface, Pinkie withdrew from her tail a snorkel and a pair of flippers. Poison was still screaming.
With a great splash, they impacted the surface of the water, crashing through it unharmed thanks to Twilight’s spell, which she then ended and allowed the water to close back over them. She tried to make for the surface, but she felt something pulling her further down. Turning around, she saw Pinkie with a death grip on her hind legs, swimming for the lake bed. In Pinkie’s mouth was Poison’s tail.
After a moment, Pinkie repositioned herself so that one pony was under each of her forelimbs, and then shot upwards. Twilight took in a huge gasp of air as soon as she broke the surface, followed by Poison and then Pinkie. Poison stood up and staggered towards the toilet, vomiting into it.
Wait, toilet?
Looking around, Twilight found herself sitting in a shallow bathtub, face to face with a familiar unicorn foal.
“Beh!” gurgled Pumpkin Cake, giggling loudly.
Ponyville Moments later
Carrot Cake had reacted with a surprising lack of surprise at the fact that Pinkie had just spontaneously appeared with two other ponies in his bathtub, while he was bathing his foals. He was also straight faced when Pinkie declared that Poison Point was now her friend. He seemed somewhat surprised to see that Pinkie was there at all, rather than her method of arrival. As he told Pinkie Pie while he handed the three of them towels, “Things have gotten almost boring while you’ve been gone.”
Pound and Pumpkin Cake, on the other hand, were downright amused by Pinkie’s ‘trick’, giggling animatedly and clapping their forehooves. Cup Cake, who had arrived to investigate the commotion, was also overjoyed to see Pinkie and Twilight again, offering them all a selection of pastries. She was less happy to see Poison, though not openly hostile after Pinkie and Twilight had explained the situation.
She was, however, amused by Poison’s efforts to extricate her mane from Gummy the Alligator, in whose limbs and tail it had become utterly trapped when Poison had surfaced underneath it.
After Pinkie had finished explaining the situation (and apologizing for the intrusion) with the Cake family (who had both shrugged it off again), Twilight pulled her aside and said, “Pinkie, I know I said I wouldn’t question the things you did, but I have to know: What exactly was that? I mean, one moment we were in Baltimare, the next we were in Las Pegasus, and now we’re back in Ponyville? Everything I know about magic says that teleportation like that should be impossible.”
Pinkie shrugged. “This is going to frustrate you to no end, and I really wish I had a better answer for you, but I don’t know. I’ve been able to do it since I was a filly, like a week or so after I got my cutie mark. I don’t know where it came from, only that I’ve been able to do it ever since.”
Twilight frowned briefly. “And Macaroon can do… whatever it is, too?”
“Yup. I don’t know how long she’s been able to – I didn’t know ‘til she came here with the Guild.”
At that moment, Poison approached them, holding the now-freed Gummy in front of her with magic. As usual, he didn’t react at all. Pinkie grabbed him and placed him atop her head, at which point he slowly began to sink into her mane.
“So now what are we going to do?” asked Poison. “Baltimare is practically on the other side of Equestria from Ponyville – the route we got from the map is useless.”
“That’s true,” said Twilight, “but we can just do whatever that was Pinkie did again and we can make it straight to McMaredo.”
Poison grimaced. “That’s about the last thing I want to do again, but since it’ll probably shave as much as a month off our journey, we might as well.”
“Nope.”
The other two turned to Pinkie. “What do you mean, ‘Nope’?” asked Twilight.
“Nope means nope. I told you I can’t explain it, and I can’t travel north that way right now.”
Twilight’s eyelid twitched. “You just took us from Baltimare to Las Pegasus and halfway back! What do you mean you can’t go north?”
“I meant what I said and I said what I meant. Sometimes, when stuff gets really serious, there are certain things I stop being able to do. Like when we first went looking for the Elements of Harmony, I couldn’t use my fast-travel to go any deeper into the Everfree. And when we were at the Crystal Fair, trying to stop Sombra, I couldn’t Travel anywhere inside the palace. I don’t know why it happens, it just does.”
Twilight facehoofed. “Well, if that’s out of the question, then we could probably take the path east. It forks north towards Trottingham as soon as it clears the Everfree, and after that there’s pretty much a long stretch of empty road until we reach the Crystal Plains. Once we get there we’ll be practically in sight of Legions’ Fall Pass.” She pointed out the nearby window, which faced towards the east. “It might actually be shorter than the trip from Baltimare, if we’re lucky.”
“North from Ponyville to Trottingham?” asked Poison. “Wouldn’t that take us past Broken Horn Hill?”
“Oh, right. I hadn’t thought of that.” Twilight sighed. “West, then. It’s slightly longer, but far less travelled.”
“Broken Horn Hill?” asked Pinkie. “What’s that?”
“Broken Horn Hill is a maximum security prison for the most dangerous of unicorn criminals. Ordinarily, just travelling past it wouldn’t be a problem, but nearby roads have regular and thorough guard patrols, and given our current status…” Twilight trailed off. “Well, let’s just say it would be best if we avoided Broken Horn Hill.”
Poison looked out the window. “How long will the journey take on the west path?”
“Still shorter than the trip from Baltimare, I’d guess, but not by much. And that raises the question of what we’re going to do for provisions; there are no stops on the west path. It’s pretty much straight to the Crystal Plains.”
“Food isn’t a problem, silly.” Pinkie laughed. “The west road goes through Whitetail Wood. You can forage more greens in there than you know what to do with.”
Cogspin and his four ‘borrowed’ Everfree guards had been living in the mad remains of Equulaneum for nearly a year, and progress on his project had been agonizingly slow. They had managed to stay under Discord’s radar for the time being by hiding in their current workplace whenever they felt him approach.
And one could feel him approach, as well as his equine lieutenant Screwball. Whenever either of them came near, subtle cues appeared that could be appreciated by anypony who remained sane: A stiffening in the air, a sudden flash of color throughout the soft stone walkway, or the sudden certainty that two plus two equaled five. Once the flames of the torches with which they had been illuminating Cogspin’s workspace had turned into solid ice. When Screwball – for it had been she in that instance – had left, the flames melted back into familiar warm, bright tongues.
The ‘workspace’ had at one point been a long, narrow tunnel that stretched all the way down a street, behind every building. Cogspin wasn’t sure of its original purpose, only glad that it provided ample space for the construction of his masterwork: a timelock. He had theorised that thaumatically charged crystals could be placed at regular intervals along the alley on the far side of the wall, and then agitated with a mechanical resonance to produce magical effects within the alley. He had yet to test it, mainly because of the sheer size of the undertaking, but now, after a whole year, it had finally reached completion.
“Now give that a good shove and we’ll be on our way,” he said to the guards, indicating a set of pistons extending from the opening of the workspace. The guards complied, pushing the metal rods all the way into the space. There was a clicking noise as the intricate clockwork sprung to life, and then silence as the cloaking charms activated, stifling the noise.
Cogspin replaced the wall panel and led his guards out of the building and around to the entrance of the alleyway, where sure enough, the nonsensical rotations and psychedelic color schemes had vanished, just as he had arranged the cloak spells to show.
“Is it possible?” asked one of the guards.
“It is very possible,” answered Cogspin. “This is the culmination of our efforts.”
“All the chaos, gone…” said another guard in wonderment. Cogspin hadn’t told his guards the machine’s true purpose – after all, he would need test subjects. He wasn’t willing to try the thing on Discord himself unless it was definitely functional.
“Would you like to take a walk in normalcy for a moment?” he asked. The four bat-ponies nodded earnestly. “Well, then go ahead.” He gestured down the alleyway.
Sporting broad grins on their faces, the four trotted eagerly towards the alleyway, disappearing in a flash of light only a few steps in.
Cogspin grinned. It seemed his theories were spot on indeed.
And, as if on cue, he became struck by a sudden, if brief, moment of panic as he wondered why he had two eyes. Responding to the moment of chaos, he withdrew to the edge of the street and hid behind the nearby giant candy cane. As he watched, the Right Hoof of Discord herself, Screwball, descended from the sky on the lift of a propeller beanie that looked too small to carry its own weight, let alone hers.
As Cogspin expected, she became immediately enraged at the sight of the suddenly normal alleyway. “What sorcery is this?” she shouted, looking around the street. Cogspin crouched in his hiding place, focussing on the idea of two twos becoming five – on the off chance she could sense his thoughts.
Apparently, she couldn’t, and turning around, she galloped determinedly into the alley, vanishing from sight with a flash just as the guards had. Cogspin grinned. And now for the ultimate test of the device’s capabilities, he thought. I must find Discord himself, and lure him here.
Rising to his hooves, he galloped off to where the light felt loudest.
Meanwhile The Plains of Equulaneum
Celestia raised her head towards the city in which she had been born, many centuries past. Had she not been aware of their destination, it would have been utterly unrecognizable.
Many of its buildings had sprouted wings – feathered, leathery, and filamentous, sometimes all at once – and begun to fly in a holding pattern around the city. The city itself had detached from the mountain and folded over on itself, so that its steady rotation produced the illusion that it had no upside or underside. Many roads curved up from the surface into huge loops, feats of admittedly magnificent architecture that Celestia knew would be completely impossible in a normal world.
Although they had indeed planned to travel to Equulaneum at dawn the day after they had bonded to the Elements, they had reached the borders of the Everfree only to discover that Discord had apparently decided that if he couldn’t control the region, then it would be easier to simply separate it from that which he could, situated as they were on the surface of the moon.
Between Celestia and Luna, it had been possible, if difficult, to separate the Everfree from the lunar surface and put it back where it should be; it would have been much worse had the stone had time to bind together. According to Luna’s analysis, the transit had to have happened very recently. In any event, the delicate process of moving the forest and town back into place while still maintaining an atmosphere around it had delayed them a full year.
Now, though, the six new Element Bearers (Or rather, the four new Element Bearers, alongside Celestia and Luna) stood on the plains immediately below Equulaneum, on the very edge of the Everfree, preparing to summon Discord down to the ground where the Elements could be used on him.
“Is everypony ready?” asked Celestia, to a short chorus of affirmatives. She nodded in response, and released a huge spark from her horn, watching it shoot up into the sky and explode in a burst of color.
This was followed by silence, as all motion in Equulaneum froze.
A bright light arced up from the castle, flying high over the many buildings, rooted in the ground or otherwise, and came flying down to the plains in front of the six Element bearers, where it revealed itself to be Discord, wearing a garish, reflective white zoot suit and similar fedora with a black band around its rim.
“And just who might you be?” he asked, removing the fedora and twirling it around the forefinger of his eagle talon, all the while smirking smugly.
“I am Celestia. We are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and we have come here to defeat you, Discord.”
“Harmony? Ergh. Sounds boring. Are you sure you’d rather not partake in a little chaos?” He snapped a finger, and a nearby flower promptly began actively attempting to extricate itself from the ground. His clothes transformed into a beekeeper’s suit, and a swarm of tiny, multicolored, spherical insects rose out of the ground and buzzed around him. “You get to play with these things!” One of them turned into a frying pan, and Discord grabbed it out of the air, exchanging his beekeeper’s suit for a pair of shutter shades. Another insect transformed into an octopus and landed on his head.
“I’m afraid we can’t do that, Discord. Your presence here is an abomination against the laws of harmony, and we will cleanse it from this land.”
Discord waved his frying pan and the swarm dispersed. Celestia suspected that she wouldn’t have had the faintest clue exactly what half the things Discord summoned were, were it not for some facet of his magic that made his chaos seem almost normal. “Well, fine, if you want to be that way,” he said, prying the octopus free of his mismatched horns with the frying pan, “I guess I’ll have to find other ways to convince you to see things my way.” He threw the pan and octopus into the brush, which promptly transformed into a stand of lollipops.
The smile that had, until that point, been omnipresent on his face vanished instantly, and the shutter shades morphed into the Platinum Crown, now hooked around his warped facsimile of a unicorn horn. He raised both hands, and they became covered in a patina of dark yellow magic.
Celestia looked back to the others and nodded. Focussing on their elements, which had been stored in saddlebags until this point, they thought of the friendship with each other that they had forged over sixteen years. As they did, the Elements rose out of their respective saddlebags and formed a ring around their six bearers.
Meanwhile, Discord raised his hands, his golden aura of magic forming into an ethereal sphere. He threw his head back and laughed as the Elements formed a ring of rainbow colored energy around the Bearers, and continued to do so as the ring became a wave that washed over Discord, obscuring him and everything nearby in a polychromatic burst.
When the colored light cleared, Discord was standing exactly as he had been, completely unmoving. As they watched, a greyish skin formed on the tips of his fingers, spreading across his mismatched hands, his arms, across his ferret body, and up his head and down his legs. His feathery tail was the last thing to go, and it seemed to twitch slightly before being consumed by the grey sheen.
The bearers looked on in silence for a moment, before Luna commented, “Well, that was unexpected.”
“What happened?” asked Penumbra.
Swift hovered hesitantly toward Discord’s immobile form. Slowly, he reached out and prodded it with a hoof.
“He’s turned to stone!”
“What?” asked Blue Spark incredulously.
“Stone. He’s solid granite.”
“Interesting,” said Celestia, stepping forward. “This is a vastly different result from the Elements’ last use. I suppose the end result is the same, but I still wonder…”
As she spoke, the world began to shift around them. The checkerboard pattern that the ground had taken on began to return to a more uniform green, while the lollipop shrubs shifted back into fiddleheads. In the distance, Equulaneum began to unfold itself, and its roads straightened out, adhering once again to the city’s surface even as the city itself reassembled and lowered itself back onto the mountain. The sky shifted from pink back to blue, and the clouds of cotton candy shrivelled and dispersed. A nearby gigantic gummy bear transformed back into an actual bear and ambled off into the forest. As they watched, several earth ponies pushed their heads up from gopher holes, color slowly flowing back into their coats and manes.
Equulaneum
Cogspin’s search had led him to a bizarrely looping road from which he could look up at the Plains of Equulaneum below. He had watched Celestia and the ‘element bearers’ walk out from the forest and summon Discord. He had then watched him attempt to engage them in conversation, his attack, their retaliation, and then been stunned by the result.
His observation had then been halted by the normalization of the city, which caused him to drop several meters as the laws of physics resumed function. The impact stunned him for a moment, and he woke in the middle of a veritable flood of ponies rushing out towards the plains to meet their savior.
Well I’ll be damned. I guess there must have been something to that harmony hokum after all. Dusting himself off, Cogspin joined the crowd leaving the city, practically thousands of ponies crowding the narrow mountain path that led down to the plains. A crowd had already gathered on the plains by the time Cogspin arrived, completely blocking his view of the element bearers, and though the cheering that had nearly deafened him at first had long subsided, he could barely hear anything over the continued muttering of what looked like the entire population of Equulaneum.
Pushing his way to the front of the crowd, he finally saw the object of the crowd’s attention: Celestia and Luna, standing in a clear space at the center of the crowd. The other four Element bearers, who he had once called his friends, stood slightly back from the two alicorns. Before them stood a pony that Cogspin recognised as the castle’s elderly earth pony archivist, Scrollwork. He was holding the Platinum Crown in his forehooves, offering it to Celestia.
Moments earlier
“You have saved us all from a fate worse than death.” The old, blue-coated pony bowed to Celestia. Despite her protestations, Rose, Spark, Swift, and Penumbra had unanimously identified Celestia and Luna as the group’s leaders when asked, and the assembled crowd had run with it. “We are forever in your debt.”
“We have done nothing but restore harmony to the land. Repaired an error in the natural order.”
“A feat that no other could have accomplished, I’m sure, else it would have been done before now.” The stallion paused, stroking his beard as if considering something. “I think I speak for all here today – and if not I implore everypony to correct me – but if you would accept, this time, I would be honored to once more extend the offer to make you queen of Equulaneum.” This was followed by a cacophony of cheers from the crowd.
Celestia’s eyes widened. This was not the first time she had been offered the role of queen – the last time had been exactly 1604 years ago, after the victory of the original Elements of Harmony over King Silver-Blood and Lord Malus. She had refused then – nominating her friend Summer Blossom, Rose’s ancestor, in her place – and she intended to refuse now. “Are there not many, more suitable candidates?” she asked. “What of Prince Cogspin?”
The pony – Scrollwork, his name was – inclined his head. “It was not Prince Cogspin who saved Equestria. It was you.”
“In that case, what of the nobles behind me? Swift Wind, Rose Blossom, Blue Spark?” She turned to her friends and fellow Element bearers. “Surely they are more suitable than me?”
Rose stepped forward. “I don’t believe I am, Celestia. It was you who protected all those you could from Discord, and you who taught us the power of harmony. And it was you who led us back here to free those you couldn’t shelter. I believe that you have not only the inclination to protect the ponies of Equestria, but the power to see it done.”
“Not to mention, everypony adores you,” added Swift. Spark and Penumbra nodded.
Luna leaned in towards her sister, whispering, “They are correct, you know. All of them. I am at a loss to think of any one pony who would make for a better queen than you.”
“Perhaps yourself, sister. It is a moot point, in any case – it wouldn’t be proper for me to bear the Crown. I am not of royal blood any more than yourself.”
Turning around to face Scrollwork again, she was surprised to see that he had retrieved the Crown from Discord’s statue and was proffering it to her. “The crown may also be borne by a ruler who is beloved by the people. And never has there been a candidate more so, unless I’m very much mistaken.”
The air was still for a moment, as Celestia contemplated the crown. Then it was broken by a shout from the crowd. Everypony’s heads turned towards the source of the noise. To Celestia’s surprise, it was none other than Cogspin himself, forcing his way free of the crowd and up onto the hill where she stood.
“Cogspin-” she began.
“No!” Cogspin interrupted. “You don’t GET to address me. Was this your plan all along, then, to turn my people against me and then usurp my throne when my back was turned?” His face was beginning to redden from rage. “Well, it won’t work. And when I get on that throne, I’ll see to it that you never so much as see a blade of Equestrian grass again!” He made a grab for the crown in Scrollwork’s hoof, knocking the elderly pony to the ground whilst pushing Celestia away with a burst of magic.
Though the magic barely ruffled Celestia’s fur, the response was explosive. The crowd surged in towards Cogspin and pulled him away from Celestia and Scrollwork, the crown rolling out of his hooves and down the slope.
Turning from the crown, Celestia saw that the crowd had descended upon Cogspin, burying him under a veritable flood of angry ponies, to a series of dull thuds of hooves hitting flesh.
“STOP!” shouted Celestia. The other Element bearers simply watched the spectacle in wide-eyed shock. At Celestia’s word, the crowd parted from Cogspin as he pushed himself shakily up on four hooves. One eye was blackened, and a trail of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.
“I see how it is, then.” He spat a globule of blood onto the grass. “Goodbye, your majesty.” He bowed mockingly, turning away and trotting towards the crowd. “May your reign be a short and unhappy one.”
The ponies in the crowd locked forelimbs, attempting to keep Cogspin from leaving.
“Cogspin, I-”
Cogspin interrupted her a second time. “I have nothing to say to you. Do you intend to let me leave, or keep me here until I waste away?”
A tear slipped past Celestia’s practised composure, and she made a decision that she would regret for two millennia.
“Allow him to leave.”
The crowd parted, and Cogspin trotted resolutely south, looking back only once. “Mark my words,” he said then, “I will make good on my promise, even if it takes me a thousand lifetimes.”
And then he was gone.
A grey Pegasus with a blond mane approached the hill silently and left the Crown at Celestia’s hooves, before rejoining the crowd. Scrollwork, recovered from his fall, looked on hopefully.
Celestia raised the crown to her eyes, contemplating it.
After what, to the observing ponies, seemed like an eternity, Celestia announced, for all to hear: “I would not feel right with this crown on my head. That said, since everypony insists on following me, I will lead you to the best of my abilities.” A roar of cheering and stamping of hooves from the crowd almost drowned out what she said next. “But, I will not take a position that I do not believe myself worthy of. If I am to lead you, it will not be as Queen of Equulaneum, but as Princess of New Canterlot. Nor shall I do it alone – my dear sister Luna,” Celestia stepped back and threw a forelimb over her surprised sister’s barrel, “is every bit as capable as myself, and together we will lead our little ponies until such time as somepony worthy of the crown comes forth to claim it.” She handed the Crown to Scrollwork. “Put it in the Archives,” she said quietly. “It will be safe there until it may be claimed.”
“All hail Princess Celestia of Equestria!” chanted the crowd. “All hail Princess Luna! Long live the Princesses!”
Formed of dark stone spires rising into the sky at odd angles, ravaged day and night by blizzards, and devoid of sunlight at almost all hours, Legion’s Fall Pass was every bit as foreboding as its name implied. It was no wonder Celestia had disbanded the Windigo research station within – even with Twilight shielding them from the worst of the raging storm, all three ponies were chilled to the bone. Pinkie had somehow procured three sets of winter gear, which had also helped immensely. Neither Twilight nor Poison had asked how she had obtained the clothes – only been grateful to have them.
“How much further?” asked Poison.
“Not far,” answered Twilight. Both had to shout over the wind. “Keep an eye out, though – I don’t want to miss it in the storm!” Twilight felt a tugging sensation on the end of her scarf. Looking around, she spotted Pinkie trying to get her attention. “What is it?”
Pinkie gestured ahead with a hoof. “Up there, on the cliff!”
Looking in the direction Pinkie indicated, she could barely make out an equine figure atop a nearby stone crag. She couldn’t see it in any detail – the blizzard wiped out everything but the silhouette. Twilight pointed out the shape to Poison.
“Is it one of them?” Poison asked.
“I can’t tell. I’m going to teleport us up for a closer look.”
Poison and Pinkie nodded, and with a flash of magic, Twilight zapped all three ponies up to the cliff.
“Hello?” she called to the pony. “Rarity? Applejack?” No response. “Rainbow Dash? Fluttershy?” The figure was too small to be either princess, and too large for Spike, and yet still it produced no response. Twilight drew closer, her shield and light spell illuminating the pony.
It wasn’t one of her friends. Instead, it was a pony she didn’t recognise – frozen stiff. The pony’s ancient-looking cloak was frozen in the state of billowing out behind them in the direction from which they had come, and icicles formed around their frame and at the tip of their horn, stretching out horizontally towards Equestria. The pony’s face stared in the opposite direction, their eyes as wide as saucers and their mouth open in a silent scream.
Twilight stepped back, suddenly frightened. Looking around the cliffs, she spotted what could be hundreds of identical shapes, on cliffs, on the distant ground, some – their wings outstretched - even adhered to the sheer walls by mounds of ice.
The howling of the wind suddenly seemed much more menacing.
“We need to get out of here,” she said to Pinkie and Poison.
“But what about-” asked Pinkie.
She was interrupted midsentence by the sound of the wind multiplying in volume, as numerous eddies of snow condensed into equine forms in the distance, their eyes glowing bright blue through the blizzard like searchlights.
“We can come back, but not if we’re frozen solid!” Twilight teleported the three of them back to ground level. “Run!” The storm of windigoes focused on the flash of teleportation, and gave chase just as the three ponies turned tail and fled.
Suddenly, Twilight found images of everypony she’d ever disliked at their most obnoxious rushing into her mind. The windigoes must be doing this, she thought. If so, I have a newfound respect for Clover the Clever.
Lost in her efforts to block out the mental sound of Discord’s mocking laughter, she failed to notice the sudden, looming metal wall right in front of her, and ran into it with a loud bang, stunning herself for a moment. She woke up to Pinkie dragging her through the snow, while Poison fought with a nearby door.
Shaking the mental fog away, she unlatched the door and shoved it open with magic, slamming it closed once all three had tumbled inside.
“I guess we found the research station after all,” commented Poison, as a series of angry bangs sounded against the exterior of the building. “Sure is dark in here.”
Twilight nodded, before realizing that neither pony could see her in the darkness. “Sure is,” she said aloud. “If our friends were here, they’ve gone by now. At least, I hope so, because the alternative is that they ended up in the windigoes’ icicle field.”
She felt a hoof on her shoulder. “Don’t say that, Twilight. We’ll find them.”
There was a sound in the darkness, like a combination of a bird tweeting and somepony blowing a raspberry.
“What was that?” asked Poison.
A chorus of high-pitched gasps sounded from the other side of the room. “I don’t know,” said Twilight. “Let’s take a look.” She lit her horn, casting a soft, purplish light over the mostly bare metal chamber.
Only it wasn’t mostly bare – almost the entirety of the room was filled with multicolored, fluffy balls of fur. The nearest one, lime green in color, looked up at Twilight with wide eyes, revealing an equine face, and stuck out its tongue.
“What.” Poison looked out at the sea of fur with a deadpan stare.
“Fluffy ponies!” said Twilight.
“I thought they were a myth?” said Pinkie questioningly.
“No, not a myth, just incredibly rare.” Twilight looked at the assembled crowd of puffballs. “Only in Equestria, I guess. Nopony knows where they come from, but I think this seems to confirm the prevailing theory.”
“Which is?” asked Poison.
“Well, it’s kind of a long story. Have you ever heard of an Earth Pony named Gelato?”
“No,” said Poison Point. Pinkie shook her head.
“He was Chancellor Puddinghead’s older brother. When Puddinghead and Smart Cookie started gathering the Earth Ponies to move south, Gelato protested, insisting that with superior Earth Pony stamina, they could brave the winter and live in a land free of unicorns and pegasi. He managed to convince a small fraction of the populace, and they stayed behind when everypony else went south.”
“What does that have to do with these?” asked Poison.
“Well, that’s the controversial part of the theory. According to proponents of the idea, Gelato and his followers managed to survive the windigoes and the endless winter by adapting in certain ways, like thicker coats to guard against the cold, and limited intelligence and bubbly personalities that keep them from feeling hate, thus keeping them under the Windigoes’ radar.
“So they’re not dangerous?”
“Of course not, silly!” said Pinkie. She hugged the nearest one to her, a dark red example. It grinned broadly and made a chittering noise like a squirrel. “Look at them! Even if they would hurt a fly, with all that fur I’m not sure they could!”
“Sounds good. So we stay here until the Windigoes get bored, then we leave to wherever would be our second choice to find the Princesses.” Poison yawned. “It’ll be great to finally get a rest after that excitement out there.” She sat down in the corner, whereupon a pair of fluffy ponies promptly began staring at her curiously.
“Good idea,” said Twilight, yawning as well. “Either the heating system is still on or these furballs make really good insulation – it’s really warm in here.”
Pinkie too yawned broadly, her mouth seeming to almost split her head in half before closing again. “I’m going to introduce myself first. But then, a nap sounds great!”
Pinkie Pie turned and made her way through the crush of fluffy ponies, shaking hooves where she found them and saying numerous variations on “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie!”
As a pair of fluffies parted to let her pass, she noticed something lying on the ground, where it had been obscured by the ponies’ fur. It was an old, slightly battered, and very familiar Stetson.
Pinkie frowned, an expression that her facial muscles were hardly used to making, made even worse by the fact that her eyelids were drooping. “Applejack?” she mumbled.
Looking up again, she scanned the ground near the fallen hat, not fully knowing what she was looking for. As the crowd of ponies shifted in the direction of Twilight and Poison, she found it: a pair of orange hooves, lying prone on the ground. The rest of Applejack’s body was obscured by a fluffy apparently standing over her, its thick lilac coat obscuring the floor. Pushing it away revealed Applejack’s sleeping form.
Pinkie looked up for the first time since entering the room, and she realized two things: One, Twilight’s hornlight was rapidly fading, and two, a pair of blue wings and a length of pink mane were visible of a pair of ponies resting in the rafters.
Pushing through the crowd of fluffy ponies towards the corner of the room, she found none other than the Royal Sisters of Equestria, fast asleep. Pinkie breathed a sigh of relief, smiling once more.
“We found them after all, Twilight!” she called, her voice heavy with the need to sleep.
“Wha’?,” came the slurred response, moments before the hornlight winked out.
Prepared as usual, Pinkie plucked a flashlight from her mane and flicked it on, pointing the beam at the princesses.
“Princess Celestia! Princess Luna! Wake up!” she called.
The princesses didn’t respond. Pinkie tried a second time. Still no response. She sat down in front of them and shook Celestia’s shoulder. Nothing, though Luna snored slightly.
Gradually, through her fatigue, Pinkie realized, wait a moment, there’s something wrong with this picture. She studied the princesses intently. It’s not that they’re on the ground, that’s to be expected. They’re naked, but we’re all naked. What is it?
Then she noticed the cobwebs.
The royal sisters were practically draped in cobwebs, as if they had been sleeping for months.
Pinkie blinked, and despite fighting to keep her eyes open, they drooped closed more and more with every passing second. Her legs gave out, and she saw the fluffy ponies, gathered around her with curious looks on their faces.
The red one that she had hugged prodded her with a hoof as her eyes closed completely.
Then suddenly she heard a voice in her head.
What art thou doing? This is no time to sleep. Thy friends art in need of thine assistance.
She briefly considered it might be Princess Luna (She had heard that the younger princess could travel in dreams, and the language was similar to her usual mode of speaking), but dismissed that idea immediately; this was definitely a stallion’s voice. Probably just the beginning of a dream.
I can’t stay awake, she replied. Might as well play along.
But thou must, and therefore thou wilt.
I tried. It’s impossible.
This cometh from the mare to whom the laws of physics may or may not apply? stated the voice sardonically. I will aid you, if I must.
She felt a sudden jolt, as if she had just prodded a thunderhead. Her eyes sprang open and she jumped a good four feet in the air before landing on her hooves.
What the…
Thou must leave this room. Mine spell will hold back the Windigoes, but what power I posess wanes rapidly - it will not last. Thou must hurry, and speak of this to no one. May the gods be by thine side, Pinkamena Diane Pie.
Wait, who are you? I want to thank-
Thou hath not the time. Go… The mysterious voice trailed off.
After a moment of stunned silence, Pinkie realized the voice was right – whatever was putting her friends to sleep was in the room. The Fluffies perhaps, though she had never heard of such a thing happening before.
Hopping around at incredible speed, granted to her by the voice’s spell (It felt not unlike having drunk an entire can’s worth of coffee), she gathered up all of her friends, locating the missing ones – Rarity and Spike, who were lying on her fainting couch and partially buried in the fur of the lime green fluffy, respectively – and pushed them out the door. The princesses too – she could apologise later.
As the voice had said, the storm of Windigoes still gathered around the station could not close within about ten meters of her, bouncing off some sort of invisible bubble shield. With a last howl of resentment, they vanished, the pounding blizzard withdrawing to the field of ponycicles.
Sighing with relief, she trotted hurriedly up to Twilight, prodding her urgently with a hoof. “Twilight! You need to wake up!”
This produced little more than a frustrated mumble and Twilight rolling over in the snow.
Pinkie sighed. “I’m sorry about this, Twilight.” She leaned into Twilight’s ear and said loudly, “Twilight! You’re going to be late!”
Twilight’s reaction was at least as dramatic as her own reaction to the Voice’s spell, her eyes snapping open and her hooves flailing around as she righted herself, only to stumble over and get to her hooves a second time. Then she paused.
“Pinkie?”
“Yeah, Twilight?”
“Why are we outside?”
“There was some sort of sleep magic inside. I found our friends – they were inside too. It looked like they were asleep since they arrived. It was a good thing the Windigoes left, otherwise we would have been trapped between a rock and an even bigger rock.”
Twilight paused for a moment, absorbing the information. “We need to wake them up and go,” continued Pinkie.
“Before the Windigoes come back, I know. I’ll start with the Princesses, you start with Poison Point, and we’ll work our way through.”
“Princess? Can you hear me?” asked Twilight hesitantly. Celestia had no reaction to her voice. She reached out and shook the Princess’ shoulder gently. The Princess of the Sun mumbled something indistinct and rolled over.
That’s a start, thought Twilight. “Princess? You need to wake up now.” Nothing this time.
Twilight sat back and thought for a moment. Reaching forward to try again, she was suddenly surprised by a horn blaring in the center of the group. She jolted, yelling in surprise. Princess Celestia sat up straight and did the same, prompting Twilight to repeat her action, and Celestia to follow suit again. Luna, too, had been woken by the sound, though not as dramatically.
Turning around, she saw Pinkie Pie with a crystal flugelhorn raised to her lips. Everypony else was either on their hooves, getting on their hooves, or in Rainbow Dash’s case, hovering about four feet in the air with her eyes as wide as dinner plates. Looking around, she rapidly calmed down and attempted to disguise her reaction.
There was silence for a moment as Twilight (and several of the others) looked towards the raging snowstorm that covered the field of frozen ponies. She had several moments of panic as she thought she saw a Windigo coalesce, but each time it turned out to be nothing but an eddy in the wind.
Sighing in relief, she turned back to the princesses to find them both staring at her in shock.
“Twilight?” asked Celestia. “Is it really you?”
“Yes, Princess.”
Celestia looked to Luna and back. “We feared Cogspin had killed you, when we arrived in Ponyville and your friends told us you had gone to Canterlot with him.”
“He didn’t. He did seal me in some sort of time lock for six months, but he didn’t physically hurt me.”
Celestia leaned forward and wrapped her forelegs around the slightly surprised Twilight, and Twilight could hear faint sobbing noises from the Princess. Luna smiled warmly. “We are glad you are safe, Twilight Sparkle. How did you escape?”
“Poison Point, surprisingly.”
Celestia pulled back. “Cogspin’s aide? What did she do?”
“She said Cogspin has been getting more and more paranoid recently – she called him ‘dangerous’. She has a plan to help you reclaim the throne. She said he did something that even she couldn’t condone, and she had some sort of epiphany and realized how evil he really was, and she had been.” Twilight paused. “Um, does that make sense?” They looked over to the rest of the group, where Pinkie seemed to be physically holding back Applejack and Rainbow Dash from Poison Point. Both were shouting something. “Oh, we should go over there and talk to them.”
Celestia and Luna stood up. “Indeed we should,” said Celestia. “In any event, anything further that can be said between us ought to be heard by the rest of your friends.”
They crossed over to the rest of the group, and Twilight added her magic to Pinkie’s efforts to subdue Rainbow and Applejack. “What’s going on over here?” she asked.
Rainbow Dash, hovering in the air agitatedly, said, “Twilight, you’re my friend, you’re awesome, and it’s great to see you, but her?” She gestured to Poison. “Not so much.”
Applejack was still fighting Pinkie’s grip to get at Poison. Twilight noticed a tear track running down her face.
“Applejack, what happened? What’s wrong?”
“She’s what’s wrong, Twilight! She can’t just show up and drop a bomb like that on a pony, not least of which when she had somethin’ ta do with it!”
“I told you, it was nothing to do with me! That’s the honest truth!” shouted Poison.
Twilight paused, looking around. “Could somepony fill me in on what you were talking about?”
Poison Point shifted anxiously. “Remember when I said we could talk about exactly what Cogspin did to turn me away later? It seems it’s later.”
Twilight cocked her head. “Go on.”
“I said he imprisoned civilians, but that wasn’t the whole truth. I didn’t want to acknowledge the act in full, but…” She swallowed. “They weren’t just any civilians. Cogspin sent Stone and Iron to Ponyville, and he had them capture a certain trio of fillies…”
Twilight’s confusion was rapidly morphing into shock. “He did WHAT?”
“I think you’ve guessed to whom I’m referring. He noticed during the Guild’s visit to Ponyville that they were close to the Element bearers… that is, you.” She looked around the crowd. “They’re still alive, and to the best of my knowledge intact. He intends to use them against you if you try to come after him.”
Twilight looked at Rainbow, noticing her staring at Poison with undisguised contempt. Looking more closely at her friends, she saw Rarity simply looking morosely at her hooves, tears dripping freely from her eyes.
Poison continued, “I left immediately after I realized what he’d done. Left to find you all and help you stop him from hurting anypony. Including those fillies. I regret every single thing I have ever done while working for him.”
“Then why did you do it for so long, huh?” asked Rainbow.
“I spoke about this with Twilight. I can’t explain it, but while I worked with him I just couldn’t feel emotion of any kind. The moment I made the decision to go against him, that’s when I started feeling again. I realized what I’d been doing, and how wrong it was. Maybe he had me enchanted or something, I don’t know.”
“I don’t think so,” said Twilight. “I don’t know of any sort of enchantment that would allow the kind of free will you described. I don’t think you’re to blame for what Cogspin did, but I don’t know any magic that would produce that kind of effect.”
It was at this moment that Luna entered the discussion. “I believe I do.”
Everypony looked at her in surprise, even Applejack.
“Celestia and I encountered such a thing long ago, before we held the forms you see now. Did we not, sister?”
“Yes, but I don’t see the relevance – we destroyed all information on its creation and function shortly after Blossom came to the throne.”
This, more than anything, surprised Twilight – all her memories from her time as Celestia’s student had indicated that the princess was vehemently opposed to enforced censorship.
“I thought we did, as well, but look at her cutie mark.” Everypony did so, including Poison herself. It was exactly as Twilight remembered it from their first meeting – the quill dripping acid green ink onto a sheet of paper.
There was a pause. “When did you get that mark, Poison Point?” asked Celestia.
Poison’s brow furrowed. “When I was twelve. I remember because of the odd circumstances – Cogspin gave me some kind of medicine and when I woke up the next morning it was there. I don’t remember doing anything to earn it.”
Luna looked at Celestia pointedly. “You see? It can be nothing else.”
“But how?” asked Celestia.
“Excuse me,” asked Poison, “But what exactly are you talking about?
The princesses looked around at the gathered ponies. “Forgive me,” said Celestia. “How many of you have heard of King Silver-Blood the Wicked?”
Twilight, Pinkie, Poison, and Rarity raised their hooves. Surprisingly, Fluttershy hesitantly followed suit.
“For the rest of you,” continued Celestia, “Silver-Blood was a unicorn who ruled Equulaneum for around fifty years some thirty-six centuries ago. He is to this day possibly the least-liked king of Equulaneum, to the point that an urban legend centered around his ghost persisted until the time of Discord.”
Luna picked up the narrative. “He is also famous for instituting the Irex Legion, Irex being a portmanteau of the Roanan phrase meaning ‘Wrath of the King’. The Legion, though small, was feared across Equis, from the Dragon lands to Griffonia, for the unnatural power and skill of its soldiers. It was not until the end of Silver-Blood’s reign that the exact nature of this power was revealed: the soldiers were recruited as foals, and fed a serum known as ‘Kingsblood’ for its silvery sheen. This resulted in day-long comas filled with nightmares and had a survival rate of only sixty-five percent.”
Celestia resumed where Luna had left off. “The ponies that made it out of this experience intact were what many referred to as ‘hollow’, their sense of empathy scooped out and replaced with not only raw power, but skill to rival one who had honed his skills for a lifetime. They showed no mercy in battle, nor in daily life after the abolishment of the Legion. The effects can be reversed, but it is rare – I could count off the number of Irex who successfully shook off the serum’s effects on one hoof. Many freed themselves to the degree that they tried to complete the process, but only Blossom succeeded. If you are telling the truth, and you regret what has been done, I shall trust you, Poison Point. I will offer you whatever assistance you need.”
Luna nodded in assent. “She is as much a victim of Cogspin as we were.”
“Wait a moment,” said Poison.
“Hmm?” Celestia raised an eyebrow at her.
“You said that the victims of Kingsblood were always foals. Why?”
“It did not function otherwise. To anypony already possessing a cutie mark, the serum was a deadly poison.” The princess curled her lip in distaste. “Silver-Blood conducted… extensive tests.”
Poison swallowed, and looked around at the assembled ponies. “We need to get back to Canterlot now.”
There was a howl in the distance. “We definitely need to get out of here, before those windigoes come back,” agreed Twilight.
“That’s not the only reason.” Poison glanced pointedly towards Applejack.
Oh.
A look of fear spread over Applejack’s, Rainbow’s, and Rarity’s faces.
“Do not fear,” Luna hurried to add. “If, as our new friend indicates, Cogspin has only recently conceived of this plan, we have more than enough time yet – Kingsblood takes in excess of a year to brew, and is thoroughly difficult and expensive to do properly.” They breathed a sigh of relief. “That said, we should make haste. We would liberate them as soon as possible. Will there be conflict amongst you?”
Applejack frowned at Poison. “Ah still don’t trust you. But, if you really are tryin’ ta help us and our sisters, then Ah’ll help you so long as ya keep on doin’.”
Rainbow nodded. “That’s fair, I guess.”
Rarity looked up. “I’ll do whatever needs to be done to help Sweetie Belle.”
“Then it is decided.” Luna nodded. “Gather close. I can teleport us as far as the city’s edge.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Really? I didn’t think even Celestia could teleport multiple ponies that far.”
The princesses shared a glance, Luna raising an eyebrow. Then she turned back to the now-packed group. “It can be done. Being an alicorn affords me certain advantages in the area of magic.”
Her horn began to glow, and she said loudly, “Prepare yourselves!” There was a flash of dark blue light, and Twilight was no longer sinking into a bed of snow, but looking at the looming towers of Canterlot in the shadow of the night.
Poison coughed. “That wasn’t as bad as I expected it would be.”
“So, what’s the plan, then?” asked Rainbow. “How are we getting in there?” She indicated the castle, visible in the center of the city.
“I could render us all invisible until we reached our destination,” suggested Luna.
Poison shook her head. “Perhaps until we reached the castle, but once we pass those doors nopony will be able to keep up an invisibility spell. That was one of the first things Cogspin had me do, plant runes all over the castle to remove illusions.”
“At least it will take us as far as the castle,” said Celestia. “We will hide in a more mundane fashion once we gain entrance. But how exactly do you plan to defeat Cogspin?”
“That should be the easy part. Once you two are in the same room, I can just tear the contract in half and it’ll no longer be binding. I have it on me, by the way. I took it when I left, but I can’t void it unless both signatories are present.” Poison patted her saddlebag.
Rarity stepped forward and was about to say something when Poison continued, “I think I know what you’re about to ask, and I think we should split up – half of us goes to get the fillies, the other half goes for Cogspin. The latter group should by necessity include myself and Princess Celestia. As for the other group, am I correct in thinking that you three would like to go?” She indicated Rainbow, Rarity, and Applejack. Each one nodded in confirmation.
“I will go, as well,” added Princess Luna. “Should they encounter anypony before you are successful on your end, they will be unable to fight back. I may be able to provide enough of a distraction to allow them to continue on. Also, I am fairly confident that none of you save Celestia, myself, and perhaps Poison have ever been to the dungeons.”
Poison nodded. “And I suppose the rest of you want to help your friends? Really only Celestia and I are needed to stop Cogspin.”
“Of course we will.” Pinkie nodded. “Anything they need.” Twilight and Fluttershy agreed.
Spike stepped forward, but Twilight held him back. “Not this time, Spike. It’s too dangerous. I want you to stay here, out of sight.”
“But I want to help!”
“I know you do, Spike. But I couldn’t bear it if you got hurt today. Just keep hidden, and we’ll come get you when it’s safe.”
Spike looked as if he was about to protest further, but then he sighed. “Okay, Twilight. I’ll wait here. Good luck.”
Twilight smiled. “Thank you, Spike.”
She turned back to the rest of the group. “If everything’s decided, we should go as soon as possible.”
Luna looked to Celestia. “Before we do, I would like to discuss something with my sister. In private.”
Poison frowned slightly. “Forgive me, Princess, but couldn’t it wait until after we’re finished here?”
“I hope so, but I fear it might not.”
Poison’s frown deepened. “All right. But please, the longer we spend here the more likely everything falls apart.”
Luna inclined her head. “Thank you.”
The sisters stepped away from the group. “What is it, Lulu?” asked Celestia.
“Why did Twilight believe you incapable of performing that feat of teleportation?”
Celestia looked at her sister strangely. “Perhaps she merely made an assumption.”
“I don’t think so. Admittedly, I don’t know Twilight Sparkle as well as yourself, but she does not seem to me to be one to make such an assumption when the available evidence is contradictory.”
Celestia sighed. “You are correct. I told her that I could not teleport further than a few miles.”
“Why? You have in the past performed teleports all the way from Canterlot to Zebrica and back.”
“That was long ago.”
“Are you implying your magical capacity has been weakening in the intervening years? How? Why did you not tell me of this?”
“I didn’t want you to worry for me, Lulu. I was diagnosed with hornrot thirty years ago. It was seven years ago that Twilight and I had our discussion on teleportation. Now, I have difficulty opening the throne room doors on my own.”
Luna was silent for a moment.
“Celly, I wish you had told me of this. We could have sought a solution.”
“There is no cure for hornrot, sister. It is a genetic disorder which modern medical science has not seen in two centuries. In any event, I was far past the point of no return by the time of your return.”
“What of your battle with Chrysalis, or Discord? Even myself while under the control of the Nightmare?”
“All battles that I lost, and now you know the real reason.”
“But why-”
Celestia raised a hoof, silencing her. “We will speak of this at length at a later time. For now, we have things which need to be done.”
Luna looked at her sister worriedly, but followed her back to the group. Celestia was about to announce something, but Luna interrupted her. “There has been a change of plans. Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie, you must travel with my sister and Poison Point.”
“Why is that?” asked Twilight.
Luna looked pointedly at her sister. “It strikes me that it would be best if the groups were close to equal in numbers. A larger group would attract more attention, and this is exactly what we wish to avoid.”
Twilight nodded. “That’s true.”
Luna turned to address the entire group. “I am going to cast the invisibility spell now. It is structured such that it will mask the sound of your hoofsteps as well, but also that we will be able to see each other.” She looked to the small dragon watching the proceedings. “I will cast it on Spike as well. It will help him to go unnoticed.”
Luna’s horn flashed dark blue, and when the light subsided, everypony appeared as a brightly shimmering silhouette of their former selves.
“This appearance is how we are seen by each other. To anypony else we may as well have vanished off the face of Equestria.” Luna’s voice sounded faintly echoey, as if she was speaking from the bottom of a well. “I have cast a similar spell to muffle our voices. Its effectivity is limited, however, so try to remain quiet once we enter the city.” Everypony nodded and they set off.
As they walked, keeping close together and to the side of the road, Luna maneuvered herself next to Celestia. “What do you intend to do once Poison voids the contract?” she whispered. “If your affliction has proceeded as far as you say, you cannot simply force Cogspin to leave.”
“I do not know what I will do, but I must do something,” said Celestia, her expression hard. “It is my fault that he has become what he is, and I intend to correct it at any cost.”
Luna shifted uncomfortably. “I find myself recalling the image in the Hall of Ages.”
“Of the burning Tower?”
“Of course. I am beginning to fear it was far more literal than we had originally assumed.”
“Only time will tell, sister.”
Both royal sisters paused in their conversation; they had reached the doors of the Castle.
“All right,” said Poison quietly to Luna’s group. “In an astounding feat of irony, despite all his paranoia, Cogspin leaves the dungeons virtually unguarded. I can only assume that he believes any aggressors will make straight for him; as such, Celestia, Twilight, Pinkie and I will face most of the castle guards. You will most likely be free to grab those three fillies and leave. If I may offer my recommendation, I believe the moment you have freed them you should rejoin Spike outside the city. Should we be unsuccessful you should flee as far away as you can.”
“Unsuccessful?” asked Rainbow Dash, narrowing her eyes. “I thought you said this plan was a cinch.”
“In theory it is, but there is no such thing as a foolproof plan. Anything can be upset by an unpredictable variable.”
Twilight nodded in agreement. “But it should work, right?”
Poison nodded in return. “Of course.”
After quickly running down all relevant information, the two groups split apart and walked through the castle doors. As they did so, Luna’s invisibility spell melted away, leaving them once again exposed for the world.
Luna trotted quickly but silently down the hallway, looking back to ensure that the other ponies were following. The five ducked silently down a spiralling stone staircase and descended.
The staircase was very tall. It did, after all, have to descend all the way to the dungeons, which hung from the underside of the city like a giant barnacle. After several minutes, they reached the bottom and found themselves at a row of cells lit by glowstones. Along the wall across from the cells was a row of wooden benches, and at the far side was a window, open to the air.
Several cells, it seemed, were occupied, judging from the snores, scratching, and clinking of metal on stone. The group of ponies trotted slowly down the cell block, and on the third cell they passed, found their quarry.
“Apple Bloom!” called Applejack.
The small yellow filly looked up, disbelief on her face, which quickly broke into a broad grin. The other fillies followed suit, as Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow rushed to the bars and attempted to embrace their little sisters.
“We came as soon as we found out what happened to you, girls,” said Rarity. “We were so worried! Are you okay? Did they do anything to you?”
“No, Rarity,” said Sweetie Belle. “We’re fine.”
“Thank heavens for that. We must get you out of that horrid cell. Princess?”
Luna nodded. “The metal has been thaumatically reinforced, so even I can’t just rip it off its hinges. I should, however, be able to open the lock.”
The cell door became engulfed in a dark blue aura. There was a moment of complete silence while Luna figured out the lock’s interior workings.
Then she jumped when a loud crashing noise reverberated throughout the dungeon. Turning toward the doorway in trepidation, she saw none other than Iron Shod standing at the base of the staircase. The crashing sound was him picking up one of the wooden benches in a silvery magical aura and slamming it into the floor.
As they watched, he picked it up again and began to slowly advance on them with the bench wielded as if it were a club.
The gathered ponies looked at each other nervously. “Do you think Poison has done whatever she was going to do yet?” asked Rainbow.
“I do not know,” said Luna, “but it does not matter. I shall hold off this aggressor. Rarity, the spell with which I was examining the lock is superficially similar to your gem-finding spell. You may be able to open the door while Iron Shod and I are occupied.”
Rarity nodded, and the lock was consumed by a light blue aura of magic as Luna trotted out to meet Iron Shod.
Iron scuffed a hoof against the floor. Luna lit a spell on her horn in response. The two stood at a standoff for a moment.
Then Luna fired her spell. It caught Iron Shod squarely in the center of his body, throwing him back several steps, but not actually harming him. Snorting, Iron retaliated by swinging his bench into Luna’s side with enough force to slam her body into the wall, making the room shake noticeably and knocking eddies of dust from the ceiling.
Were I not an Alicorn I would be dead from that blow alone, thought Luna. Of all Cogspin’s lackeys, why did this one have to be the one to discover us?
Iron Shod trotted slowly towards her, dragging his metal limb across the floor with an ominous scraping sound. Standing up slowly, Luna summoned a ring of magical spheres around her horn, throwing them one after another at the advancing brute. They impacted his body in sequence, stopping him in his tracks.
Just as she believed that this might be a semi-permanent solution, the bench came flying out of the flurry of magical spheres at the speed of a diving falcon, forcing her to dodge aside and knock the slab of wood out of her way with a hoof. The result of this was her losing concentration on her spell, and she heard Iron coming in her direction, and building speed surprisingly well for a pony with a metal griffon claw. In violation of her common sense, Luna countered Iron’s charge with one of her own.
Iron grinned, but failed to anticipate Luna dropping to the ground, limbs outstretched and knocking him off his hooves, and then following up with a magical blast to his underside that threw him all the way up to the ceiling with a crash. He slammed down onto the ground behind her with his full weight, and before he could recover she picked him up and slammed him into the wall.
“You will not harm our little ponies,” she said.
He simply chuckled. Too late, Luna noticed that his horn was alight, and barely dodged in time to avoid a second wooden bench flying at her. Before she could recover, Iron’s forehoof struck her across her muzzle and both his hindhooves collided with her barrel, throwing her across the hallway and into the bars of a cell.
Luna dropped down to the floor and circled around Iron , keeping herself between him and the other ponies.
Meanwhile, Rarity was making no progress with the lock.
Applejack snorted. “The hay with this,” she said. She trotted up to the door, grabbed it by the bars, and lifted. The pins came out and the door fell over with a clang. She looked at the others.
“What? Ah saw it in one a’ them movin’ pictures once. Come on, everypony,” she gestured to the three fillies, “We gotta get y’all to safety.”
As she turned around, she saw the fallen cell door covered with a silvery aura and speeding towards the Princess. “Princess! Look out!” she called.
Princess Luna turned around to see the heavy iron cell door speeding towards the back of her head. She ducked immediately, the large piece of metal sailing not an inch over the tip of her horn and smashing with an unpleasant crunch into Iron’s face.
He looked up with a bloody grimace, several teeth knocked free of his gums and several others shattered in his mouth.
It’s because it was his attack. He was able to wound himself where I could not because the contract has loopholes. Luna grinned. Good to know.
Then Iron did something that surprised most ponies present: he spoke.
“You’re goin’ta pay for that, ya bloody fancy harlot.”
His thick accent was difficult to place, seemingly somewhere between Scoltsland and Britmane. What was most surprising, however, was its pitch: it was not the deep drone one would have expected from such a large pony, but rather a high-pitched tone.
“I’ll gut ya wit’ the shaads o’ yer own horn!” he shouted, closing in.
Meanwhile, in the upper half of the palace, Poison’s half of the mission was going much more according to plan, or so thought Twilight as they passed by the patrolling guard. The guard, whom Poison informed them was the last one before the throne room, had completely ignored them thanks to something Poison had found – a glyph that she had placed on the stone floor shortly after Cogspin had first taken over. According to her, it translated to ‘not see’ and made it impossible to notice anyone or anything standing within a certain radius of it.
It had been effective. The guard had passed them on and left, and they had continued on towards the throne room.
“What’s that?” asked Pinkie. Twilight turned to see what she was pointing at, as did the others. It was an irregularly shaped piece of red crystal, about the size of a hoof, resting on a stone pedestal at about head height. The crystal seemed to glow from within.
“I do not know,” said Celestia. “It must be something of Cogspin’s.”
“It’s his soulstone, he calls it,” said Poison. “That’s where he stored himself after his body died. He transmits his consciousness from the stone to the body that we’ve all seen.”
“And he just leaves it out like this?” asked Twilight.
“He knows that nopony can harm him unless they void the contract. And besides, it’s under just as heavy a guard as he is.” They turned away from the red crystal and stepped through the doors of the throne room.
The darkened chamber was empty except for Cogspin himself, his brass body draped over the throne. As they approached, he raised his head to peer at them.
“Clichéd as it sounds, I have been expecting you.” He shifted himself so that he was sitting upright.
“Cogspin,” announced Celestia. “We are here to correct an injustice.”
“Oh, you are, are you?” He dismounted the throne and approached them, levitating the Platinum Crown from its resting place next to the seat. Fixing the headpiece immediately behind his horn, he stopped when he was about three pony-lengths from the group.
“We are,” said Poison. Stopping as well, she withdrew the contract from her saddlebag. “And it’s as simple as this.” She unfurled the paper and gripped it in two separate levitation auras.
Before she could pull the paper apart, a bolt of electricity erupted from the tip of Cogspin’s horn, knocking Poison to the ground. A golden magical aura formed around the page and rolled it up again, drawing it over to Cogspin.
“You should never assume something will be easy.” With an elastic snap, the contract winked out of existence. “I think I’ll put this somewhere safe. Now where were we? Ah yes-”
He threw a flurry of electric bolts from his horn towards the assembled ponies, but they winked out against a hastily erected lavender bubble shield, which flickered and blinked with the impacts but held.
“You’re not the only one with magical tricks up your sleeve, Cogspin,” said Twilight. The shield solidified, forming a perfect hemisphere around Twilight, Pinkie, Celestia, and the seemingly unconscious form of Poison.
Cogspin snorted. “The difference between us, my dear, is the fact that sooner or later you are going to get tired, whereas I can do this until doomsday if need be.” He hurled another lightning bolt, sending streams of energy crackling around the hemisphere. “And no matter what you try, nothing you can do will ever harm me.”
Iron Shod had become far more aggressive since they had tricked him into injuring himself. Since he had started to relentlessly drive Luna back down the hallway, the other ponies had decided that it might be too dangerous to attempt to pass him and had hidden in the newly opened cell.
This impression was aided by the fact that he had embedded the cell door in a nearby wall whilst trying to swing it as a weapon, forcing him to revert to the plentiful supply of wooden benches lining the wall.
A magical blast from Luna shattered one of Iron’s projectiles, but opened her up to an impact from another that had thrown her halfway down the hall. Galloping up to her, he attempted to bring his metal talon down on her head, but she rolled to the side at the last moment and he struck the stone floor with all his strength.
He yelled in pain and stumbled back, holding his forelimb close to his barrel. Luna wondered why, but on closer examination she noticed a sharp, bloody metallic point protruding from his elbow.
He attached the prosthesis with a stake, she realized. Not the smartest thing perhaps, but I shudder to think what some stallions won’t do to establish and maintain a tough image…
Breathing heavily, Iron Shod looked up at the princess with an expression of pure hate on his face. Setting down his limb, he began to limp forward, an aura of magic holding his quarry’s hooves in place. He grinned nastily, and jumped at the princess, another wooden bludgeon clutched in his magic.
Then he shouted in surprise as a hoof-sized stone sailed over his head and struck him on the horn, stunning him for a fraction of a second, but more importantly causing him to lose his grip on the magic holding Luna in place.
Behind them, Luna sighted Rarity standing in the hall with a second stone in a magical grip.
Luna took advantage of Iron’s momentary lapse in concentration by dropping to the ground and firing a bolt of magic at Iron as he passed overhead. This gave the leaping pony much more height than he had counted on, hurling him over Luna altogether and into the windowframe that neither had realised they had approached. He flailed for a moment on the edge and toppled over.
Slightly dumbstruck, Luna approached the window, looking out over the vast expanse of the valley far below. And then she looked down to see Iron holding onto a stone ledge just below the window with both his intact hoof and talon effigy.
He had a wild, panicked look in his eyes, looking down and then back up at the Princess. “Help me!” he called.
Luna raised her eyebrows. “You want me to help you?”
Iron gritted what remained of his teeth, and immediately winced in pain. “I hate heights, okay? I won’t fight y’ if y’ help me up, I’ll let ya go, whatever.”
“Were I in your position, you would let me fall.”
“Maybe. I don’t know. But I'm not, so what does that matter?”
Luna stared at him for a moment.
“It matters because I am not you. Not anymore.” She reached a hoof down and grasped his prosthetic talon, attempting to pull him up.
“Thank you,” sighed Iron, only to be interrupted by what Luna would later describe as a ‘squelching’ noise.
His prosthetic, now supporting his entire weight, had given up the fight to continue doing so and had simply separated from Iron’s stump.
There was a moment of frozen panic before gravity took hold and sent Iron plummeting from the underside of the city with a scream.
Luna pulled herself back into the window and tossed aside the slightly bloody metal claw, trotting back towards the other seven ponies.
“We must leave quickly, before anypony else comes.” Everypony followed her upstairs, the fillies sitting on their older sisters’ backs.
Meanwhile, the fight against Cogspin was rapidly devolving into a stalemate, as Twilight maintained her shield and Cogspin hurled bolts of electricity at it.
“He’s right, I can’t keep this up forever,” said Twilight, her voice somewhat strained. “Anypony have any ideas?”
Poison mumbled something indistinct, still only half conscious. Celestia shook her head, and Pinkie simply glared at Cogspin.
“You can’t win!” he shouted. “That contract you signed was thorough and specific. ‘Neither Celestia nor any being who considers himself, herself, or itself allied with her may inflict harm upon the body of Cogspin the Greater or any who serve him.’” He threw another bolt, and Twilight visibly winced. Pinkie, however, looked thoughtful.
She reached a hoof into her mane and came out with the red stone from the hallway. Twilight’s eyebrows knit. “Pinkie, when did you get that?”
“I just picked it up. Thought it might be important. And if that was exactly what the contract said then it sounds like yes.”
Cogspin paused. “You can’t hurt me. No one can.”
“Are you sure?” asked Pinkie. “Because the contract said we couldn’t harm your body, and your body is out there. While this is… What is this? Soul? Mind? Essence of being? Either way, I feel like you should be more careful with your wording.”
Despite being incapable of facial expression, Cogspin suddenly seemed to grow nervous. “Give me that!” he shouted, giving up on the bolts and throwing himself at the shield. To no effect – he rebounded off of it like a stone against a shark tank.
Pinkie hoofed the crystal over to Celestia. “Here. You can decide what to do with this.”
Celestia looked at the piece of crystal. It cast a red glow over her face. “You have crossed a great deal many lines in the seven months of your kingship, Cogspin. I see no alternative but to put an end to it.”
Cogspin stalked around the magic bubble, his eyes on Celestia the whole time. “You would think that, wouldn’t you.” He levitated a piece of dull purplish-blue crystal from a receptacle on a pillar. “This is a communication crystal. I made some preparations as soon as my intruder detection spells went off. Can you guess who I’m about to contact?”
He plunged the crystal into the floor at his hooves, and it seemed to diffuse into the marble. A shimmering pool of light sprung up around it.
“Iron!” called Cogspin into the pool of light. “How goes your preparations?” There was no response.
“Iron! Where are you?” Silence.
“Iron, you respond to me this instant or so help me-” At that moment he was interrupted by a sickening crack, and the pool of light morphed into a cluster of jagged stone spurs. Exactly what was displayed on the rocks was hidden to the ponies in the bubble, but it caused Cogspin to immediately fall silent. His face was (of course) impassive as he removed the crystal from the ground and cast it away across the floor.
“Has your contingency plan fallen through?” asked Celestia.
“One of them,” said Cogspin, his voice perfectly modulated. “What of Aurora? If I die you will be incapable of freeing her from her prison.”
“Not true. I have access to some of the greatest scientific minds of my generation. It may take us slightly longer, but I have waited nearly a thousand years. I can wait a few more.”
Cogspin made an odd grinding sound, accompanied by a motion that Twilight associated with nervous swallowing in organic ponies.
“I had hoped that I wouldn’t need to resort to this, but you’ve forced my hoof, Celestia.” He reached up and snapped off his brass horn, revealing a hollow space underneath. Allowing the horn to roll away, he extracted something about the same size as the horn beneath which it had been hidden from the cavity and held it up to them. It was some form of metal structure, formed into a double helix and studded at regular intervals with faintly glowing white crystals. It was capped at both ends with a metal ring and seemed to produce a glow from within.
“Anypony with even a basic magical technology education should be well aware of what this is.” Cogspin held it against the bubble shield and the point of contact began to turn bright white, with tendrils spreading out across the shield like a cancer made of light. As this happened, the light within the object seemed to pulse.
“A helical converter,” stated Twilight.
Cogspin nodded. “I am the only thing keeping it stable right now. I’m sure you’ve read about the unfortunate tales of Bright Spark, Glimmer Stone, or Shining Nova, correct?” He didn’t wait for confirmation. “I have succeeded where they failed, but it requires constant maintenance from me. If I am no longer present to keep it stable, if for example, you were to kill me, then it would rapidly reach capacity and overload. And I’m sure I don’t have to tell you educated ponies about Marenobyl now do I?”
Celestia’s head drooped, and she lowered the crystal to the ground, where it rolled away. “You win, Cogspin. I will not risk the lives of so many of my little ponies.”
“There are many lengths to which you would go to destroy me, I should think,” laughed Cogspin, “but risking the destruction of Equulaneum? That is not one of them.” He charged another lightning bolt at the tip of the converter.
And then there was a crunching noise, and he froze. He, Celestia, Twilight, and Pinkie looked back to see Poison Point, clinging onto consciousness by a thread, her hoof surrounded by shards of red crystal.
“Eat that… you piece… of…”
Then her head dropped to the floor, and Cogspin screamed, a sound no normal pony could have produced, filled with metallic screeching and grinding. His glowing eye panels cracked and shattered, leaving darkness behind. And then he collapsed to the ground and ceased moving.
But their main concern was the helical converter, which had come to rest against the side of the bubble shield and was pulsing faster and faster.
“Twilight?” asked Pinkie. “This shield will protect us, right?”
Twilight never even had a chance to answer her question before a bolt of electricity broke free of the converter and arced over the shield, shredding it like tissue paper and converging on Twilight’s horn, knocking her unconscious. More bolts erupted from the pulsing gems of the converter, tearing across the stone walls of the throne room like knives through butter.
Celestia used telekinesis to drag Twilight, Poison and the verge-of-panic Pinkie Pie close to her, draping her wings over the three of them. A bolt from the converter blasted Cogspin’s abandoned body into shards of brass, which flew throughout the room and embedded themselves in various surfaces. Strangely, the Platinum Crown, still on Cogspin’s head when he had fallen, remained pristine. Celestia looked at it, the seeds of an idea forming in her mind.
And then there was a flash of white as the converter exploded.
“We must reach the city’s edge quickly,” said Luna, as the group trotted rapidly through the streets of Canterlot. “Once there, you seven will reconvene with Spike and go somewhere safe. From our difficulties in dealing with Iron Shod, I can only assume my sister has encountered difficulties in dealing with Cogspin – I will go to aid her however I can.”
“Are you sure about that, princess?” said Rainbow Dash. “I mean, if Celestia couldn’t handle it – no offense -”
“I will brook no argument, Rainbow Dash.” She spoke to the entire group. “Two of you have sisters, and Rainbow has a filly for whom she cares as a sister.” The three fillies in question were on their respective elder sisters’ backs, sleeping soundly. “The three of you have proved today that there are no lengths to which you will not go to protect your family. The same is true for me. I will ensure you are safe, but after that I must go to my sister.”
Applejack nodded. “Family is the most important thing, no matter what. I get that.”
Luna’s reply was interrupted by the sound of an earth-shattering explosion. Everypony swung their heads around to look at the source, and saw a tongue of flame billowing out from the windows of the throne room. As they watched, the tower’s roof collapsed, smothering the flames before they caught.
Luna looked to the group of ponies behind her, then back to the tower. Behind her, she heard somepony shout, “Go! We’ll be fine!” She didn’t note exactly who, but lifted off and winged towards the tower, her mind consumed by panic.
Back on the ground, the four mares and three fillies watched her go. “Should we go help?” asked Rainbow Dash.
Applejack shook her head. “If Princess Luna can’t take care of it, we sure as hay can’t do nothin’. We need to get these girls to safety, and I don’t know if we can find any of that ‘round here right now.”
Rarity nodded. “Agreed.” They turned around.
Only to find themselves face to face with three familiar ponies who had just rounded the street corner.
“Well isn’t this a surprise,” said Shimmerthread, grinning nastily, as Macaroon leveled her horn and Grain Chaff scuffed his hoof on the ground.
Princess Luna set down on the ruined remains of the Throne Room. The entire ceiling had collapsed, as had the walls, knocking the throne from its raised dais. All the windows had, unsurprisingly, been completely eradicated. The floor of the room was covered in stone rubble.
Luna grasped a stone slab and lifted it with her magic, hurling it off of the tower in her desperate search for her sister. Nothing but more rubble lay beneath, so she lifted a second slab and hurled it away. Stepping into the room, her hoof struck something long and cone-shaped.
Lifting it, she found a brass effigy of a unicorn’s horn.
Whatever else happens, she thought, her expression grim, we were successful. She cast the horn away with a look of distaste.
With another stroke of magic, she lifted away a slab of stone the size of a table, and saw something separate from the ash-streaked remains of the throne room. A cluster of small white stones.
She picked one up with magic and examined it. When she prodded it with her hoof, it crumbled away into dust. She looked down at the pile.
It sat next to a large piece of rubble, shaped like a dome. There was definitely a space underneath the object. With mounting horror, Luna lifted the shattered stone fragment, and breathed a sigh of relief when she found Celestia underneath, three unconscious ponies beneath her outstretched wings. The alicorn’s barrel rose and fell with steady breathing. Luna felt another pang of worry when she noticed that Celestia’s horn had shattered completely – a final symptom of hornrot. Recalling her encounters with the condition before her banishment, Luna remembered that the stump would eventually fall completely to dust and skin would grow over the remnant.
“Celestia?” she asked, putting a hoof on her sister’s shoulder.
The elder alicorn raised her head. “Lulu! Are you all right?”
Luna smiled. Typical Celestia: never worrying for herself when there were others nearby. “I am fine, Celly. The better question is how are you? What happened here?
“He had a helical converter, Luna. He stabilised it somehow, and when he died, it went off.”
Luna raised an eyebrow. “A helical converter? But then why is the damage restricted to the throne room?”
“Is it? Thank the gods.” Celestia smiled in relief. “I do not know, and I do not intend to question it.”
Luna looked around her sister for the first time and noticed that she lay on a circle of relatively unblemished stone, not to mention intact carpet. “How did you survive the blast?”
Celestia pointed to a nearby slab of rubble. “Under there.”
Luna turned to the rubble and lifted it, revealing the Platinum Crown. It glowed white hot, the glow increasing as she watched.
“It had been layered about with spells by millennia worth of kings and queens, of not only Equulaneum but Roan as well. Many of those were protective spells. I redirected them onto myself and a small radius around me, providing just enough energy to escape the blast alive.” She reached up a hoof and touched the spot where her horn had been. She flinched a little. “But not intact, it seems. Channeling that much power must have been the final straw.”
As they watched, the Crown’s glow increased until it produced enough light to illuminate the sisters’ faces. One by one, in a circle around the rim, the crown’s gems cracked and fell out of their frames in shards. Then, with one final snap, the Crown itself fell to liquid, forming into a pool of molten platinum on the ash-scarred floor and rapidly losing its heat to the cool night air.
Celestia chuckled. “I suspect several of the protective spells I siphoned must have been protecting the Crown from being liquefied by the sheer amount of power that had been forced into it. With those gone, well…” She trailed off. “And did you meet with success?”
“We did. The fillies are safe.”
“Good. We-” Celestia was interrupted by a fit of coughing.
“Celestia! We must get you to a physician immediately.”
“It’s not that bad. You must tend to these mares first.”
“By Tartarus I must! Your ordeal is unique. There is no way to tell how it may affect you.” Luna pulled Celestia up and supported her with an outstretched wing. “I will bring them with us, but we must get you downstairs to the court physician’s office.”
Twilight, Pinkie, and Poison were lifted into the air by a trio of dark blue magical clouds, and Luna led Celestia down the hall towards the stairway at the end, the three unconscious mares trailing behind.
The two groups of ponies stared back and forth for what seemed like an eternity.
“Fluttershy,” said Applejack, “You gotta take the girls and make a run for it. We’ll hold ‘em off.”
Fluttershy swallowed nervously, and nodded. “You can count on me.” Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack all handed over their younger sisters to Fluttershy. Both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom woke up during the transit, to multiple reassurances from their sisters, but fell silent at the sight of the three aggressors. Scootaloo continued to sleep soundly.
Ensuring Scootaloo was well situated on her back, and the other two were remaining close by to her hooves, Fluttershy set off. No sooner had she done so than a bolt of magenta magic erupted from Macaroon’s horn and rocketed off in their direction. This prompted Rainbow Dash to tackle her from above at a considerable rate of speed, which in turn caused Grain to charge at Applejack and Shimmerthread to vanish in a blink of acid green magic. Applejack ran to intercept Grain, while Rarity spun around searching for their third enemy.
After a moment, she spotted a similar green flash atop the roof of a building behind them, in the direction Fluttershy had gone. “Oh no you don’t!” she called, galloping off in the direction of the flash.
She followed the teleportation flashes down the streets of Canterlot for what seemed like hours, though in reality it was probably only several minutes. It was after that period of time that she lost track of the flashes of magic that she had been using to track Shimmerthread.
Her increasingly fearful searches were interrupted by a whisper from a nearby alleyway.
“Rarity!”
Rarity turned to see Fluttershy, with the three fillies, hidden behind a cluster of garbage cans. She trotted over and joined them.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
Fluttershy nodded. “Are you? What happened?”
Rarity grimaced. “Shimmerthread teleported away. She was going after you. I followed, but I lost her right out there.”
Fluttershy paled slightly. “D-do you think she gave up?”
“I doubt it. You may have lost her, but she’s still looking. I’ll stay with you in case she returns.”
Fluttershy nodded, swallowing nervously.
Applejack met Grain’s charge by dodging to the side and kicking him in the flank as they passed. Grain had clearly expected a head-on charge, but Applejack could see that if she tried that, Grain’s horn would have gored her. This way, he stumbled a couple steps and fell on his face. In the moment it took him to recover, she had turned and was facing him again.
“Grain, why are you doin’ this?” she asked, before he could charge again. “Why would you work with a fella like Cogspin, to bring down the Princesses of all things?”
Grain scoffed. “Why am I doing this… Tell me, Applejack, what do you know about your family history?”
“What does mah family have to do with any of this?”
“Just answer the blasted question.”
“Ah know Granny Smith and her folks came to Celestia askin’ fer land and she gave them what’s now Sweet Apple Acres. That was somethin’ like eighty years past now.”
The two ponies had begun circling each other. “And before that?”
“Before that, the Apples weren’t nothin’ big. Nothin’ ta know.”
“That is where I would disagree. Have you ever heard of Malus?”
“Cain’t say Ah have,” said Applejack guardedly.
“Well, you have now.” Grain removed a piece of paper from his saddlebags and levitated it over to Applejack. “That is him.”
Applejack looked at Grain suspiciously, then took the page and unrolled it. It was an ornate portrait of an earth pony stallion, with the same build as Big Mac. This pony, however, had a dull maroon coat and neatly cropped, slicked-down mane the color of tree bark. He wore a fancy-looking suit that, in Applejack’s opinion, made him resemble a penguin. The corners of the portrait were decorated with an image of a large, worm-eaten apple, which Applejack assumed was the stallion’s cutie mark.
She set down the portrait. “And who’s he?”
Grain stopped pacing, and to Applejack’s surprise, sat down. “Sit, and I will tell you a story.”
Applejack complied, somewhat hesitantly.
“Several millennia ago, there lived a mare by the name of Barley Chaff. Earth Pony, so of course still somewhat looked down upon at the time. So you can imagine the implications when she was impregnated by a wealthy unicorn aristocrat. He left her alone, denied she ever existed, with nothing but her farm to support herself and her triplets. These foals were named Wheat, Rye, and Millet.”
“Hang on,” interrupted Applejack, “this sounds like your family history, not mine. Where’s all this goin’?”
“Patience. As I was saying, she had three young foals to take care of, and no one to help her do it. It wasn’t like today, where a pony in that situation could get a retail job, help from a family member, or if worst came to worst, an allowance from the government. She had her farm, and that was it. The moment those three foals were old enough to pull a plow, they were out doing just that, because their mother, she was weak. Could barely keep the place going.”
“There was one exception,” continued Chaff darkly. “Millet. He was obsessed with the art of alchemy. Nopony knows why, maybe he wanted to invent something to help his family, maybe he just didn’t care about them at all. In the end I suppose it was the latter – he created something and took it to Equulaneum. That is here, by the way. Whatever he made, it was amazing – he was accepted into the inner circle of the King himself. Incredible, for an earth pony then. He was showered with riches and land, and what became of Barley, Wheat, and Rye?”
Chaff snorted. “Nothing. Millet did not so much as contact his family. They remained impoverished, struggling to keep a failing farm afloat.”
“Yeah, this is a real sad story an’ all, but what’s it got to do with Celestia, Cogspin, or me?”
“Wait, and all will become clear to you. It was five years before the other Chaffs even discovered that their brother was still alive. Rye had come down with a bad disease. Tuberculosis, as I understand. Wheat had gone to Equulaneum to seek treatment, and met his brother in the street. After discovering Millet’s success, Wheat asked him to help with Rye’s ailment. Do you know what Millet said?”
Applejack shook her head.
“’He’s your brother. You deal with it.’ His exact words, recorded in the Archives. Wheat left Equulaneum without so much as a bit to his name, let alone a cure for Rye. Rye died within the month. Within the next year, Barley fell ill as well. Of course, knowing their options, they sent word to Millet. They received no response over the next seven months, over which time Barley’s condition worsened. Wheat was left working an entire farm to provide for his ailing mother, because Millet Chaff decided his money and fame would be better turned inwards. She died as well, at the end of those seven months, and Wheat Chaff was alone. He did marry eventually, though I don’t know when or to whom, because he is a distant ancestor of mine.”
“Ya seem to have reached the end of your story, and Ah still haven’t heard the relevance.”
“Not quite. Millet Chaff changed his name after he arrived in Equulaneum. Do you want me to tell you what he changed it to?”
Grain gestured to the portrait by Applejack’s hoof. “Malus Apple. Your entire clan was founded on the basis of betraying family in need. Bad enough were it not my family. As it is, well…”
“That’s it? This whole thing has been about a three-thousand-year-old grudge against mah family?”
“You know what they say; Blood Always Tells.”
Applejack spluttered indignantly. “Ya cain’t hold me responsible for the actions of a pony as has been dead three thousand years! It’s not like Ah agree with what he did – on the contrary Ah find it despicable, and Ah can’t name a single member of the Apple clan who’d say different. Frankly, Ah consider bein’ compared to somepony who’d leave his family in the lurch like that personally insulting.”
Grain Chaff rose to his hooves, and seemed to be about to say something, when he was interrupted by a vaguely magenta blur. Applejack felt something strike her head and collapsed to the ground. She slowly rose to her hooves, her head spinning, and spotted Grain lying on his side, seemingly unconscious, while Rainbow Dash stumbled around in a slightly dazed fashion.
Had Applejack been able to watch the event in slow motion, she would have seen Macaroon jump from the roof on the far side of the street, land on top of Grain, propel herself from his head and vault over the diving Rainbow Dash, then land and immediately leap off of Applejack’s own head, coming to rest on an awning immediately behind her.
Applejack shook the cobwebs from her brain and turned to face Macaroon, who had positioned herself immediately beyond the reach of the ponies on the ground and was blowing raspberries every few seconds.
“Git down from there, ya varmint!” she shouted. This produced no result, not that she had expected it to. So she did the next thing that came to mind: she picked up a hoof-sized stone from the ground and pitched it at Macaroon.
Macaroon hopped to the side and the missile sailed harmlessly by, impacting on the stone wall behind her. Another raspberry soon followed.
“That won’t do any good,” said Rainbow Dash, apparently having recovered from her crash as rapidly as always. “She has the Pinkie Sense.”
“Really? Aw, hay. What’re we supposed to do now?”
“I don’t know. But the bright side is, as long as she’s here, she’s not going after the girls.”
“True enough.”
Macaroon suddenly flicked her head to her left, as if something had caught her attention. At that moment, a cloud of greenish-purple mist appeared immediately over her head, coalescing into a sizable, heavy-looking stone. It dropped down the short distance onto her head, and there was a brief moment as a look of surprise crossed her features. Then, her eyes rolling comically, she fell off the awning stiff as a board.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash followed the direction Macaroon had glanced and were surprised to see Spike.
“Spike to the rescue!” he declared, strutting confidently towards them. Then he looked around. “Hey, where is everypony else? They’re not-”
“No,” said Rainbow, “Everypony’s fine. We sent the fillies off with Fluttershy once these goons,” she indicated Macaroon and Grain, both of whom were still unconscious, “showed up. Then Rarity went off after Shimmerthread. But how about you? How did you get here? I mean, not that we’re not glad to see you or anything.”
“Princess Luna sent me a letter saying it was safe to come in to the city. We should go find the others.”
Applejack nodded. “But what about these two?” She indicated the two unconscious ponies. “Ah don’t think we should just leave them lyin’ around.”
Rainbow Dash flew over to Grain and hoisted him experimentally. “I can take them back to the castle, get ‘em put away. You two go find everypony else and bring them back.”
“Is it safe at the castle?” asked Applejack.
Spike nodded. “Luna said it was.”
Applejack, too, nodded. “We’ll go find Rarity, Fluttershy, and the girls, then.” Rainbow took off carrying both unconscious ponies. “They all went thataway,” Applejack pointed off in the relevant direction, “an’ it looks to be just a straight shot with no turns or forks or anythin’, so I reckon if we find one we’ll find… the rest.”
Spike picked up on Applejack’s hesitation. “What’s wrong?”
“Rarity went off chasin’ Shimmerthread, not Fluttershy. If Shimmerthread went off in the same direction…”
“Uh oh.”
Applejack nodded, and the two hurried off in the direction of their friends.
Rarity looked carefully out into the streets. “I think the coast might be clear, Fluttershy. We should head back towards the castle.”
“Are you sure?” came the reply. “I think it might be safest to wait until we’re absolutely sure.”
Rarity shook her head, looking back. “We have no way of being absolutely sure without risking revealing ourselves to Shimmerthread should we happen to be wrong.” She turned back to the street. “This way we can sneak back without alerting-”
Rarity was interrupted by the tiniest of sounds. Any other pony might have missed it altogether, and Rarity herself might have if not for her nervously attuned senses. It was less a yelp and more of a whimper, but it induced her to turn back anyway.
Fluttershy lay on the ground, unmoving. In her place stood none other than Shimmerthread. The three fillies backed away from the newcomer, each bearing a frightened expression.
“Fancy meeting you here, little miss wannabe,” said Shimmerthread mockingly. “Cogspin expected you back weeks ago.”
Rarity stepped forward, ushering the girls behind her. “What do you want? You’ve lost. Cogspin’s dead.” Of course, she had no idea whether this was true or not, but she hoped that either way she could get Shimmerthread to believe it, and perhaps give up.
Instead, Shimmerthread chuckled. “Cogspin always said that we haven’t lost until we’re all dead. He chose each and every one of us for our will, and our strength." She paused. "Well, except for the Flim Flams. We had an empty slot to fill and a limited time to fill it." She shook her head. "But they don't matter. We won’t be working together, but we won’t stop until one of us wins once and for all.”
“Yes, well, as… interesting… as that sentiment is, that’s exactly the reason you will never win. You no longer work together. As long as my friends work together, we can defeat any villain such as yourself, elements of harmony or no.”
At this, Shimmerthread laughed aloud, a cruel sound that befitted exactly what Rarity knew about Shimmerthread. “You’ve never faced a villain such as me, Rarity Belle. And I strongly doubt you ever will again.” At this, Shimmerthread’s horn glowed bright green, powerfully enough to throw off sparks. Her eyes followed suit, and her saddlebags opened, releasing a mass of… thread.
“Thread? Your secret weapon is thread?” said Rarity incredulously.
Shimmerthread simply grinned nastily, and the strands of thread exploded toward Rarity, encircling her in a whirlwind of multicolored strings. Grinning confidently, Rarity employed a basic severing charm, similar to one she would occasionally use in her workroom to cut a pattern from multiple layers of cloth simultaneously. It cut through the whirling strands of thread like butter.
And had no effect on Shimmerthread’s construct as a whole. Rarity tried again, cutting through another swath of thread. As before, the halves of the severed strands became entities of their own, encased in separate auras of acid-green magic.
Impossible, thought Rarity. Nopony can reliably control that many individual objects at the same time, not even Twilight. Yet that didn’t change what she was seeing.
She felt something wrap around her hind hooves, and cut it with magic. It was a strand of pale blue thread. The severed pieces, no longer than a couple of hooflengths, rejoined the swirling cloud of thread.
“I am unique!” shouted Shimmerthread. “When I was young, Cogspin granted me great power, to do with what I wish. And what I wish right now, is to have my revenge for his death.”
Rarity severed another thread that was wrapping itself around her forelegs. She suddenly realized something: The thread in Shimmerthread’s cutie mark was the exact same color as the ink in Poison’s. That must have been what Princess Luna noticed. But that means- Another thread, this one once again on her hindlegs. That means Shimmerthread is also an Irex. The whirlwind contracted. Oh no.
A thread looped its way around all four of her legs, zig-zagging in a cross pattern. She cut it, but the remainder tightened around her fore and hind legs and unbalanced her, causing her to fall to her side. This was what Shimmerthread had been waiting for: The whirlwind of thread began to collapse as the threads snaked their way over her, forming an almost cocoon-like structure.
The light in Shimmerthread’s horn and eyes dimmed, but she continued to grin triumphantly.
“And to the victor, go the spoils,” announced Shimmerthread. An aura of magic surrounded Sweetie Belle.
“NO!” Rarity tried to shout, only to be constricted by the thread. But somepony did shout just that, and Rarity flicked her eyes towards the alley’s entrance. There stood Applejack and Spike, the latter of whom had shouted.
“You let her go, you scoundrel!” shouted Applejack, as they charged the snidely grinning Shimmerthread. Spike grabbed onto Sweetie Belle, attempting to pull her out of the magical aura. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo joined him, while Applejack simply charged Shimmerthread directly.
“I don’t have time to deal with you. Begone!” shouted the unicorn, summoning a more intense green glow from her horn. A wall of magic appeared in the alleyway, knocking Applejack off her hooves. Her momentum carried her across the ground and past Shimmerthread entirely. At the same time, a ripple of magic passed through the aura surrounding Sweetie Belle, throwing Spike and the other Crusaders away with a sound like a firecracker.
“Until we meet again.” Shimmerthread bowed, and a blast of magic deflected a second attack attempt from Applejack, without interrupting Shimmerthread’s demeanor at all. Then, with a zap and a flash, both Shimmerthread and Sweetie Belle vanished into thin air.
Most of Canterlot’s citizenry had been completely unaware of the events of that night. It was only once they woke up and noticed the blackened ruin of the Royal Tower that some began to question what had occurred. Celestia had, at that time, been bedridden, and so Princess Luna had made a statement to the population to confirm that Cogspin was, once and for all, gone, and that his co-conspirator had been rounded up and imprisoned.
The exception – Shimmerthread – had apparently plowed through an entire squad of Royal Guards (now freed from the Crown’s influence) sent to apprehend her before she could escape. None had been killed, but many had been badly wounded – between their accounts, and Rarity’s, Celestia and Luna confirmed that Shimmerthread was, like her reformed sister, an Irex.
Speaking of Poison Point, she had recovered remarkably quickly from being knocked unconscious twice in the same night – by Cogspin, and then by the concussion of the helical converter. Luna had explained that Irex – reformed or otherwise – were remarkably durable. Celestia had recommended that Poison seek a psychiatric professional to ensure that the ill effects of Kingsblood stayed gone, advice that Poison had taken to heart immediately.
Pinkie and Twilight had also recovered from the effects of the explosion more quickly than the castle physician had predicted, a fact he attributed to their bonds to the Elements of Harmony, though he confessed being unable to explain how that worked. Fluttershy had also woken the next morning with no ill effects, save for an overwhelming feeling of responsibility that her friends endeavored, more or less successfully, to quell. Apparently Shimmerthread had simply used a common sleeping spell to render her unconscious.
Rainbow Dash's transport of Grain and Macaroon had been completely uneventful, and after everypony had gotten together again she was frustrated for two reasons: First, that she hadn't been there to help Rarity, and second, that she had missed the last of the action. Rarity assured her that she couldn't have known what would happen. Those who had been present - Applejack, Spike, and the other two Crusaders - had escaped mostly unscathed from being tossed around by Shimmerthread, a fact likely attributable to the natural durability of their respective species. The two fillies had had to be physically prevented from chasing after Sweetie Belle, and Applejack and Rainbow had both resolved to make sure they didn't sneak out to rescue their friend. Admirable though their intentions may have been, simply being on their own in the wilderness was too dangerous for foals, to say nothing about Shimmerthread herself.
Celestia too had recovered from the explosion within the first day, though the loss of her horn apparently resulted in occasional dizzy spells. Luna insisted she take at least a week’s rest, but Celestia had begun taking on some of her political duties despite her sister’s advice. She had, as well, contracted a group of machinists to uncover and dismantle the machine that Cogspin had used to entrap Aurora.
These machinists happened to be the Spark brothers, whom Twilight, Pinkie, and Poison had met in Baltimare, and their parents, Lightning and Socket. Poison had initially had concerns that they might blame her for what had happened at the hideout, but of course they didn’t – Chiaroscuro had confessed, strictly speaking, back there. As for Ross himself, he had fled to Zebrica as soon as he’d received his reward from Cogspin, and even if he hadn’t, Ratchet lamented, he hadn’t technically done anything illegal in reporting them to Macaroon, even by the newly reinstated Celestian laws.
Of course Twilight had been curious as to how the Sparks had escaped from Macaroon and her guards. Gearbox reported that their escape had been possible largely thanks to Iron Will, who had distracted every single unicorn guard simply through the effort to keep him restrained. The Wonderbolts had flown away, the Spark brothers had teleported out, and Box had simply jumped out the window and run off. The Minotaur had been arrested and locked up (Celestia, upon hearing this, had sent word to Baltimare to have him released immediately), but everypony else had escaped without incident and hidden until Cogspin’s defeat.
As for the so-called ‘Brass Conspirators’ who had been captured – Macaroon, Grain Chaff, Stone Cutter, and the Flim Flam Brothers – they had been transported under heavy guard to Broken Horn Hill, where they were scheduled to remain pending a formal trial, and following that – most likely, considering what they had done and how publicly they had done it – they would remain indefinitely.
Rarity had attempted to leave Canterlot almost immediately after she had been freed from the cocoon-like structure that Shimmerthread had woven, with the intention of searching for Sweetie Belle. Celestia had persuaded her to wait for further information, explaining that she had done the same thing during her own search for Aurora. Celestia pointed out that the five ponies now held in Broken Horn Hill may know, if not where Shimmerthread is, then where she might go, thereby giving Rarity at the very least an idea of where to look.
And that is what brought Rarity, Celestia, and Pinkie to see the Brass Conspirators at Broken Horn Hill. Neither Celestia nor Rarity had been aware of Pinkie’s presence until their arrival – not because she had simply appeared, as she might usually do, but because she had been unusually somber (for Pinkie at least) for the entire journey.
The cells at Broken Horn Hill were the same layout as in any other prison across Equestria – two beds, no more than a pony-length apart, forming the sole decoration in the rooms. These, however, had extra security designed specifically to help secure the facility’s all-unicorn population. First and most noticeable was the lack of bars on each cell, replaced by a magical forcefield that Celestia explained allowed passage based on intent: If one intended to leave the complex, or if one intended harm to anyone or anything, then one could not pass. It could be deactivated using a horn-socket next to the chamber if somepony needed to be let out, but to prevent escape in such cases, deactivation of the forcefield would trigger an attractor cuff above each bed that pulled on the horn limiter it was bound to, keeping the prisoner restrained.
But there was no need for the guards to deactivate the fields for this visit: sound traveled perfectly fine through the field.
“Shimmerthread, as you may have noticed, has evaded capture.” Celestia addressed the captive audience.
“Good for her,” said Stone darkly. Nopony else replied.
“If any of you have information that may lead to her capture, I urge you to come forward with it now.”
Stone laughed. “Now why in the name of Tartarus would we want to do that?”
Celestia was about to reply when Rarity approached the field, glaring angrily at Stone. “Because she has my sister, and I will do anything to ensure Sweetie’s safety.”
This produced no reaction from Stone, apart from grinning broadly and leaning back on his bed. “I doubt I’ll see anything outside of these walls for the rest of my life. What more could you do?”
Celestia spoke this time. “If you were to cooperate, I might be able to have your sentence reduced.”
Stone shrugged. “Meh. I can deal with this place.” Grain was completely silent, staring at the attractor cuff above his bed and completely ignoring them. Macaroon simply stared intently at Pinkie.
Flim and Flam on the other hand, began nodding vigorously.
“I for one would rather not waste away in this place, don’t you agree, brother?” said Flim.
Flam nodded. “We didn’t want to participate in this whole fiasco. We’re just con artists, not maniacal zealots like our fellow prisoners.”
“Exceptionally fabulous con artists, but nothing more.”
“Why, I daresay-”
Rarity decided to step in and stop the two before they got on a roll. “Get to the point, you two. Do you have information about Shimmerthread or not?”
The brothers cleared their throats in unison and lined up in front of the force field. Flam started, “Well, we may perhaps not know as much as you like.”
His brother continued, “But we will share what we do know.”
“Shimmerthread owns some abandoned property near Grimy Gulch.”
“Under a false name – Cross Stitch. She bought it ten-fifteen years ago, or some such.”
“We can’t say definitively she’ll be there-”
“But there’s a very good chance she will.”
Rarity smiled. “Thank you.” She turned and began trotting away.
“Wait!” called Flam. “Are you going to get us out of here?”
Celestia addressed them. “I will see what can be done. Understand, though, that you will not escape this without consequences. I may be able to move you to a facility with less tight security, and I may be able to have your sentence reduced to a period of several years. But, willing or not, you did conspire to overthrow me and my sister, and regardless of your cooperation that is something I cannot ignore altogether.”
The brothers shared a glance, then nodded in unison. “That’s… reasonable.”
Celestia turned to follow Rarity out of the compound, but stopped when she realized Pinkie had simply sat down in front of Macaroon’s cell.
Pinkie had altogether ignored Rarity and Celestia making a deal with the brothers; she had come here for a different reason entirely.
Her and Macaroon had spent the whole time since her arrival simply staring at each other across the pale yellowish force field. At once, she finally asked the question that had consumed her ever since she’d heard exactly what her former friend Mac had been party to: “Why?”
Macaroon smiled nonchalantly. “Why what? Why is the sky blue? Why do we go door to door on Nightmare Night? Why does the blue wolf howl?” She leaned in close to the force field and whispered, “It’s because somepony painted him blue.”
Pinkie shook her head. “You know what I mean. Why did you join Cogspin? Why did you do all of those things you did? Those weren’t the type of thing the Macaroon I knew would do.”
“Well, Pinkie, perhaps I’m just not the Macaroon you used to know.” She jumped back, hopping in place repeatedly. “See, while you were away, I realised something. Ponykind needs direction, we need somepony to tell us what to do. And the old kings and queens, they didn’t work out because they were, at the core, just ponies, like us. That’s why Celestia has hung on so long, see, because she is, for all intents and purposes, godlike. But she’s not, really. She’s just like all her predecessors, from Platinum to Stardust. She just happened to get a lucky break a couple millennia ago.”
Pinkie raised an eyebrow. “So you used this… warped logic, to justify taking over because, what, you believed Cogspin was…”
“A god?” Macaroon scoffed. “No, no-no-no-no. That kind of thinking is Shimmerthread’s territory. I follow the whim of a far superior being to Cogspin, a true Deity.” She sat back and spread her forehooves in an almost serene gesture. “It was on His command that I helped Cogspin. He told me I was helping with His own grand plan to bring about His resurrection, His ultimate endeavor to give the ponies of Equestria the ruler they want, even if they don’t know it yet.” Macaroon was sounding less and less like Pinkie’s doppelganger and more like a maniacal zealot. Even Stone and Grain in the next cell over were casting odd glances in Macaroon’s general direction.
Pinkie shook her head. “You’re delusional.”
The smile dropped from Macaroon’s face, and she charged the forcefield, striking it with the bell-like peal of impact, and pressed her face against it. “Delusional, am I? You’ll see. Soon, He’ll free me from this place, and we shall bend the fabric of space and time together.” Macaroon’s eye had taken on a mad, menacing gleam.
Pinkie began to back away. Turning from the cell, she walked towards the exit alongside Celestia, who draped a wing over her back.
Macaroon called after her. “You’ll see it my way eventually, I know you will. You’ll hear him too! He told me,” she paused for breath, and then shouted, “YOU’LL HEAR HIM TOO!”
Meanwhile Winberg, capital of Gryphon
Winberg was the oldest Griffon settlement on the mainland. Technically, it had been taken by the invading Griffons from the Diamond Dogs, who had built and ruled it initially, but like much of the northeastern mainland of Equis, it was Gryphonian now. The city had been hewn into the side of a tall mountain overlooking the sea by the Dogs, and most of the original architecture was hidden within the mountain’s bulk. Griffon additions included external platforms from which to take off and land, all hewn from dark granite by the finest of Griffon craftsbirds, as well as a palatial castle which looked superficially similar to the Royal Palace of Equestria, though Griffon emperors through the ages have persistently denied any connection.
Within that palace dwelled the Royal Family of Gryphon, currently helmed by HRH Harthacnut Magnusson III, an old, scarred, and graying, but still strong and brash griffon. Emperor Harthacnut was not a fan of ponykind in general, but didn’t have the military power to move on Equestria without some sort of countermeasure to the famed Elements of Harmony.
The latter was the only reason he agreed to meet with the mysterious pony who claimed to have just such a thing.
As that cloaked pony was marched down the grand hall of the Winberg throne room, carrying a thick burlap set of saddlebags and flanked by a pair of Griffon guards, Harthacnut’s diminutive Diamond Dog aide stood and announced to the guest, “You stand in the presence of His Royal Highness Harthacnut Magnusson the Third. Respect is expected of you. State your business.”
The pony lowered her hood, revealing a dirtied, off-white coat and fraying green mane, as well as a prominent unicorn horn. She smiled slyly. “I’ve no love for the current government of Equestria. I’m given to understand you share that position.”
Harthacnut narrowed his eyes. “Supposing your understanding were accurate, just what would you do about it?”
“Everycreature knows the only real obstacle to an invasion of Equestria is the Elements of Harmony. I am prepared to help you neutralize them.”
The griffon, and indeed most of his court, leaned forward in a barely contained display of interest. “How would this be accomplished?” he asked.
The pony dropped her saddlebags, allowing the cloth to fall away from a small pony, no more than a foal, who was not moving. Harthacnut, despite being a member of a race not magical in and of itself, was still knowledgeable to recognise the signs of a magically imposed sleep state.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to enlighten me further,” said the emperor. “Does the foal have some manner of unusual magical ability?”
“No. The foal is only part of the plan. For the rest of it, I’ll need some alchemical equipment, as well as, let me see…” She put a hoof to her chin, as if recalling a memory. “Phoenix blood, extract of rotthorn root, dried poison joke, Tatzlwurm mucus, Changeling chitin, Mirror’s Fluid, and as much crystalline magic as you can get your claws on. Any will do, though I’d prefer Imperial. Oh yes, and a live parasprite.”
Harthacnut leaned over to a younger griffon nearby, who whispered in his ear. The pony guest waited patiently. After a moment of discourse, the aged griffon returned his attention to the pony. “My alchemical expert has a lot of interesting information about these things you’ve requested. Most notably that most are extremely expensive and hard to get. I’m not altogether certain I’m willing to commit such significant resources to this initiative without more information. I don’t even know your name.”
“I’d like to keep it that way, if it’s quite all right with you,” said the pony shortly.
Harthacnut frowned. “So long as you are more forthcoming with my other questions, I shall name you… þræll.” He brightened on thinking of the name, and much of his court cackled or guffawed loudly. The pony, however, curled her lip in distaste. “Ah, we speak Griffonian, do we? Perhaps you would prefer Sveinstauli? Or Lítthestr?” The pony’s expression soured further with each name. “Lítthestr it is then.” The pony, now known as Lítthestr, looked around in irritation, but said nothing. “Who is the foal?” asked the emperor.
“The younger sister of one of the Element Bearers.”
There was a flurry of murmurs amongst the assembled griffons. “How did you come by her?” asked Harthacnut incredulously.
Lítthestr answered simply, “At great effort.” She then continued, “In answer to what I’m sure will be your next question, we will not be using her as a bargaining chip. She is a weapon.”
“A weapon, you say? And just how do you plan to convince her to turn against her home and family? And even if you can, you said before she possesses no special powers. What good will she do?”
“That is what the alchemical ingredients are for.”
Harthacnut tutted. “Ah, but my alchemist informs me that the ingredients you named are not useful together, and poison joke is not alchemically useful at all.”
Here, Lítthestr grinned evilly. “That is because your advisor’s knowledge of alchemy is incomplete.” She chuckled. “I happen to know how to make those ingredients do exactly what we want.”
Here, the griffon alchemist spoke to Lítthestr directly. “You lie! My knowledge of alchemy is unmatched! If there were such a potion, I would know about it.”
Lítthestr shook her head calmly. “You do not know about it because it has been lost for thousands of years. It was rediscovered and the methods of its making taught to me. It was known, in its time, as Kingsblood.”
It was obvious that the term ‘kingsblood’ did mean something to the griffon, as he sat back, wide-eyed, and mumbled something under his breath.
“Colden?” Harthacnut addressed the alchemist.
“If she’s telling the truth, she’s referring to what you and I would better know as the Bane of Numitor, your Majesty. Kingsblood was its equine name.”
There was a moment of shocked silence, as the assembled griffons processed the revelation.
“And you,” said Harthacnut, “you are willing to turn the power of Numitor’s Bane against Equestria?”
Shimmerthread, or Lítthestr as it seemed she was now to be known, smiled, knowing she had the griffons convinced. “I am.”