Cold. I was cold. The cavern floor was chilling me through my cloak and armor. Was it that or some sort of vile magic?
Light flashed off to my left. Red, angry light. I could vaguely hear Sunny shouting something as her horn ripped away the cover of darkness for brief instants.
A pair of fumbling hooves found my face and through the haze of my enchantment I could see Dream Pop looking at me. Her lips were moving but I couldn’t hear anything at first.
“Silent,” her voice finally cut through, sounding as if she was beneath water.
“Silent, are you hurt?” The words were getting clearer as she fumbled around, checking me for wounds. “Can you speak?”
I blinked away the confusion and tried to stand. It felt as if I was trying to lift myself and Mountain Stone all at once. “Get clear.” I pulled the amulet off my neck and set it in Dream Pop’s hooves before pushing her away.
“I’m not going to leave yooo—“ The mare screamed as something snatched her up in the darkness and spirited her away.
My heart started to pound. It was just like Nordanver. Everypony around me was going to die. “No,” I growled. With all my might, I pushed myself up to my hooves. The extra weight seemingly gave way under the force of my determination.
“Captain!” I shouted as another flash of heat magic leapt from her horn.
She reacted to the sound of my voice and started coming my way.
“Sergeant?” I called. There was no response. “Sergeant!” Still nothing.
I surveyed the area around us and pressed close to Sunny when she arrived. “What are you shooting at?”
“I don’t have a clue, but it seems to be keeping them away,” she whispered before firing off a few more heat lances.
“Them?”
“For sure. There is at least a unicorn and a pegasus. Not sure how many more. You and Miley took that first blast. Where is Dream Pop?”
“Something got her. We’ll get her back. Miley first; she must be close by. Stop shooting, we need to draw them out and take away their advantage. Follow me to the wall.”
Sunny’s horn was mid-charge but the glow slowly faded. “Okay,” she whispered.
Slowly and carefully, we backed up from where I’d landed to the natural wall of the cavern, being as quiet as we could. Once there, I crouched down and Sunny followed suit.
I set my mouth against her ear. “Don’t make a noise, wait for them to get close enough to see, and then let them have it.”
She nodded. With us nestled so close, I thought I could feel her heart racing, but it was mine. Still mine. No matter how many battles you’ve been in, the fear never gets easier.
Far above us, I heard the soft swishes of wings. Sunny moved but I set a hoof on hers and squeezed.
Then I heard it: the subtle sound of something moving off to my right. It was creeping up slowly. This was the same tactic they’d used before, perhaps. It could also be a reverse. Either way, I wouldn’t be ambushed twice.
“Trust me,” I whispered directly into Sunny’s ear before leaving her there. I wormed my way towards the creeper, letting my cloak slowly slip off onto the ground behind me.
The billowy flutter of wings overhead continued. Perhaps this time they didn’t know where we were. With each inch forwards, I drew nearer and nearer to the would-be attacker. I spread my wings out and braced my back hooves. This was it.
Through the enchantment, I saw a figure come up against a collapsed pillar near me and peek around it. She was a unicorn for sure, since I could see her horn.
I waited while she slipped around the column before pushing off the ground and leaping at her flank. My outspread wings helped me extend my leap and cover the long distance between us.
Just before the impact, she turned towards me, her horn lighting up. Instead of a spell, she brought up a shield. A physical, metal shield that I crashed heavily into. It wasn’t enough, however, as my momentum was so great that her levitation spell shattered, allowing both me and the aegis to carry forwards and crash into her side.
The unicorn was sent sprawling in front of me, her horn lighting once again when she came to a stop. Her magic grabbed hold of the shield and tried to smash me in the face with it. I’d had enough of that and got both hooves around it. With a jerk, I ripped it free of her spell and hurled it into the darkness. The echo of its crash landing boomed all around us.
That is when the warhammer sailed at me from somewhere else. I ducked and rolled towards where the unicorn was scrambling to get to her hooves.
I drew my backup sword and closed the distance. It was time to put an end to this. With the element of surprise lost, this unicorn was no match for me… I hoped.
A soft breeze brushed along my tufted ears and I immediately fell flat as someone whooshed past, trying to hit me as I’d hit the unicorn. It was a clumsy attack that had been rushed. The battle was turning and our adversaries were getting sloppy.
The distraction had been enough for the unicorn to get up, however. Her horn lit once again. At least until she was struck in the flank by a wide red beam. That at least yielded a yelp before she crumbled to the floor.
Off to my right, the sound of frenzied flapping was coming right at me. I turned to face it head on, dropping my sword.
Out of the darkness, a pegasus mare streaked right towards me, her features somewhat hard to distinguish through the spell that gave me sight.
Instinct took over as I fell into my battle stance and waited for her to come close. When she was in striking distance, I dodged out of her path and grabbed her by the hindhoof. While gripping her tightly, I wheeled the mare around, using her momentum to slam her to the cavern floor.
She gasped as all of her breath forcefully escaped. To her credit, she immediately started crawling towards the downed unicorn, at least until I set a hoof onto the back of her neck and pushed her face against the floor. “Stop moving. Where are my soldiers?”
In the dark, it was hard to tell exactly what she was colored, but the pony beneath my hoof was clearly a pegasus. She had dark, feathered wings, and tall, tufted ears. More so than mine. She was a nox.
“They have been subdued. Free my friend and you shall have them,” she wheezed.
“You’re hardly in a position to negotiate,” I growled, adding more weight to the back of her neck.
All I got in response was a light gurgle.
The area around me illuminated as Sunny lit her horn, building the intensity slowly so as not to blind us. “I think we got them all,” she said before trotting over and looking down. “Hey… don’t I know you?”
“Don’t be silly. Why would you know—“ I looked down again. In the light, I could see the pony’s cobalt mane, gray coat, and unique black wings. “Tranquil?” My hoof lifted slightly, removing some of the pressure but not enough for her to escape.
The mare’s head turned, her eyes widening in shock when she saw my face. “Silent Knight? What are you doing?”
“What am I doing? You attacked us! What are you doing?” Frustration slipped into my voice. Unwarranted frustration. It wasn’t often that I went up against one of my students in a fight, and thinking she was the enemy was muddling my emotions.
“You were all wearing black cloaks. What did you expect us to think? The dark priestesses all wear them!”
Dark priestesses? Did she mean the Night Mares? How did she know about them? My hoof came off the back of her neck and I reached down to help her up. “I’ll accept that on faith. It was one of my companion’s ideas. A bad one.”
Tranquil swatted my hoof away and scrambled from the light to her companion. “Exemplar, are you alright?”
Sunny and I exchanged glances. The unicorn she’d zapped! We hurried after Tranquil to where she was huddled over the unmoving body of Exemplar Ferrel.
It suddenly made sense. The stun magic, the floating shield, and the warhammer. None of it had clicked in the heat of the moment. I’d been under attack and simply reacted.
We hurried over to assess the damage. Sunny shook her head. “I didn’t blast her hard enough to kill.”
Tranquil glared over her shoulder. “She’s hundreds of years old. Exemplar, wake up.”
I settled close and checked her side. She was wearing her armor, and it was blackened with scorch marks but relatively intact. There was no visible wound, but if Sunny had heated the armor up she may have literally cooked the exemplar.
“She has a pulse,” Tranquil breathed in relief.
“I think she’ll be alright then. She’s a tough pony, old or not,” I said while looking around. “Hopefully she exercised as much restraint with Miley as Sunny did with her.”
“I’ll look for her.” Sunny looked around, her horn focusing cones of light into the darkness. “Sergeant? Sergeant where are you?”
“I don’t know!” Miley called from somewhere in the blackness. Her voice echoed all around us, making it difficult to pinpoint.
Sunny smirked. “She’s okay. Where is Dream Pop?”
Tranquil looked up. “If you mean the other pony that was with you, she is tied up on a nearby roof.”
“I see you’ve improved your skills even beyond our training,” I muttered before lightly patting the exemplar on the back of the neck.
“They come in use in non-lethal ways. I’ll go retrieve her if you’ll watch the exemplar. Assuming we are not enemies?”
My head shook. “We’re not enemies. I think we both mistook each other for the same threat.”
Tranquil Dusk nodded. “Indeed.” She then flapped her wings, making virtually no sound, and lifted off.
In the meantime, Sunny was ten or so meters away, yelling at Miley. “Can you not see my light? I’m right here!”
“I can’t see anything! It’s all black as… as being in a cave without a light!”
They’d work that out sooner or later. I reached into my saddlebag and pulled out my canteen. As carefully as I could, I poured a bit of water onto the exemplar’s face. She was unresponsive so I emptied a little more.
Even through the haze of my enchantment, I could see the mare’s bright blue eyes when they opened. Confusion crossed her expression. “Silent Knight? Have I died?”
“No, did you think I was dead?”
“No, but that would make a little more sense than you being here with me. I am in great pain.” The way she said it and her flat tone made it seem unlikely, but I trusted her. “I was struck by fire.”
“Yes, care of Captain Day. She thought you were intending to do us harm.”
Exemplar Ferrel shook her head quickly and winced as she did so. “No. I would not harm you. We were attempting to stop the invaders. You stopped them?”
“We are them.”
“Ah. Why were you wearing black cloaks?” Her horn lit, wisps of blue energy slowly being drawn to it. They convalesced there, then ran across her forehead, over her mane, and along her body before dissipating.
“My companion thought adventurers should wear cloaks. It was unfortunate. Although you were similarly dressed.”
The exemplar groaned as she tried to get her hooves under herself. I set one on her shoulder. “Is it wise for you to get up?”
“No, but now that you are here, there is work to be done. It is highly unlikely this is a coincidence. I shall heal. Your companion exercised restraint and my spell shall speed the process.”
“You’re right I did!” Sunny said, suddenly close to us again. She was leading Miley over by the hoof. “We have a problem. She’s stuck.”
Sure enough, somehow Miley’s head had been wedged into her helmet in such a way that her eyes were above their cutouts. “I’m sorry, boss. It happened when were tossed like rag dolls.”
Exemplar Ferrel cleared her throat. “My apologies, Miley Hooves. I thought you were a priestess of the forgotten winter.”
“That’s okay. We probably shouldn’t have worn those cloaks. I mean we probably looked like villains and initially they attacked me too thinking I was following them. So really this is just a mis—“
My hoof found Miley’s mouth. “What is the forgotten winter? You sent Myree to warn me about it.”
“I don’t yet know.”
Irritation slipped into my voice as I replied, “What do you mean, you don’t know? You warned me to be careful of it. How can you do that if you don’t know what it is?”
“That is a complex situation which I would like to share with you. I tried before, but you were not in the mood to listen. I am certain you recall that.”
She had tried to tell me right after causing my wife to relive my actions in the war. It wasn’t unreasonable for me to have been upset. It wasn’t a point worth arguing, though. “Very well, I’m listening now.”
“Hey! Before we have that talk can we please get me out of this helmet?” Miley whined.
Sunny softly snickered in response before nodding. “We should probably get Miley out of there.”
Tranquil Dusk landed beside us, dropping off Dr. Kitty who didn’t look, in any way, upset, however she did immediately trot over to the exemplar. “Hi, I’m a doctor and I heard you got blasted. I think I should look you over.”
It was just like her to be helpful. Sure, we’d been in a fight with these ponies but she was already eagerly helping them. As much as I wanted to know exactly what was going on, I knew Sunny was right and that we needed to deal with Miley. “Good idea. Why don’t you and Tranquil help Exemplar Ferrel while Sunny and I help Miley. Then we’ll sit down and sort this all out.”
There was general agreement from everypony so we got to it.
☾
It took longer to get Miley out of her helmet than anticipated. That was largely due to our eagerness not to hurt her. Suffice to say, between my prying and Sunny’s heat rays, Miley would need a new helmet when we got back.
Dr. Kitty led Tranquil and Ferrel over. “I am pleased to say that our patients will be fine long term. Although, next time you all get into a tussle, I want you to be gentler. Sunny, you cooked Ferrel pretty well and Silent, hooves are for hugging, not stepping on necks.”
Sunny gave a mock salute. “Aye, aye, doc. Although, perhaps next time, someponies shouldn’t start a tussle if they don’t want to go hoof-to-hoof with the Royal Guard’s finest officers.”
“And me!” Miley cut in.
“Yes, far be it for us to be surprised that the Royal Guard could exercise violence so effectively,” Tranquil shot back.
“Now, just what do you mean by that, little miss grab-a-pony!” Sunny replied.
“Enough,” I said. The word had been firm and short. Arguing wasn’t going to get us anywhere. “Tell us why you’re here so that we can get back to our mission.”
Exemplar Ferrel’s horn started to glow. She reached out with her magic and lit several ancient unicorn lamps that happened to be nearby. It just so happened that we were standing in the middle of a large boulevard.
“Tranquil and I are here because there is knowledge to be had. Unfortunately, we are barred from it. What has been left here is dangerous, however, and we have decided to protect it for as long as we can. We did not anticipate that you would arrive, nor that we were so unprepared to battle.”
“How is it the two of you came to be together?” I asked.
My former nox pony student spoke in her usual soft, docile tone as she explained, “I left the temple when the exarch decided to go to war. It horrified me that violence could come inside even those walls.
“I left to go explore the homes of my ancestors. On my most recent trip here, I caught sight of a pony roaming about the forest on her own. Imagine my shock when it turned out to be the exemplar. She told me what had happened, and I agreed to be her companion.”
What a coincidence that the two had ended up at Starlight Grotto at the same time after over a year apart. If I believed in coincidences anymore. Turning to the exemplar, I asked, “And what had happened?”
Exemplar Ferrel’s posture straightened. “When I went to the exarch’s chambers to find memory crystals for you, I found other ones and learned the unfortunate secrets of my order. Of our betrayal and of why we are no longer fit to associate with the alicorns.”
“Okay, what now?” Sunny asked.
The white mare’s jaw clenched. I rarely saw any emotion in her, but this was different. She took a deep breath. “We murdered the alicorns.”
Nopony moved. Could she be serious?
“What!” Sunny shouted in surprise. Her voice echoed over and over in the empty ruins asking the question repeatedly.
“It is so. Those that came before betrayed the alicorns and it has been known to our leaders for centuries.” The exemplar set her hoof on her neck where a simple twine necklace hid beneath her armor. She pulled on it until a crystal as black as the midnight sky came out with it.
Carefully, she set it on the ground in front of her and laid before it. She stretched out each of her hooves. One towards me, the other towards Sunny. “I feel you should see it for yourself. My account will not be as true as living it yourselves. If you dare, link hooves and all will be revealed.”
Memory crystals had not been a great experience for me in general. There was little doubt I was going to view this one, though. Without hesitation, I took the exemplar’s hoof.
Sunny looked skeptical but took the exemplar’s hoof in her own. Miley then grabbed my other forehoof and squeezed. Everypony else did the same with the pony beside them until the six of us were united.
The ancient unicorn’s horn lit, spilling tendrils of soft blue light that crashed against the crystal. That is when the darkness fell away to blinding white light.
When my vision cleared, I found myself surrounded by a million colors. Crystalline walls caught the light of unicorn lamps and separated it out into the entire spectrum. It would be something I’d love to share with my Crystal, but the background feelings of the pony whose eyes I looked through did not find it so impressive.
I… that is to say, she was not alone. There were eleven or so other ponies with us within this beautiful hall. All crystal unicorns, and all wearing the garb of the Unicorn Temple. It didn’t exactly match what I was familiar with, but the heraldry was the same.
One unicorn—a slender, elegant mare that shone in a soft green hue—looked us each over and nodded. “Yes, yes, you shall all do well. I thank you for being courageous enough to do today what must be done… what is necessary to restore what was lost. I know this task is difficult, but it is for the best. Is all prepared?”
Another mare nodded, this one shorter and more solidly built. “Yes, Archon. The alicorns will be in the chamber above us. They have no reason to be suspicious of anything nor expect for us to wield the gifts of True Winter.”
At the words True Winter, my head bowed, as did everypony else’s.
“Good. What of our king?”
“As you requested, he has been distracted and kept away from the meeting. He was most annoyed.”
The archon softly chuckled. It was a quaint, light little laugh. “I’m sure. He’ll be useful to us once this deed is done. It is time for us to answer our duty. It is time for us to remind all that nopony, alicorn or not, may upset the natural order. What we do today, we do for the forgotten winter. Lost to almost all ponies, but not to us.”
My mouth moved in unison with the others. “For the True Winter. May she never be forgotten.”
The sound of a door opening rolled through the room and I turned to look. Two unicorns came through it. The lead one looked almost like a perfect diamond. He bowed his head at the archon. “Our guests have arrived and are in the meeting hall. They have brought the young of the Day, but the young of the Night is in her room with her doll. What shall we do?”
“A small inconvenience. The two young alicorns are merely collateral damage, I’m afraid. They’ve done nothing wrong, but have unfortunately been influenced too much by the others. We shall take care of the elders first, then we’ll dispatch the young.”
My host seemed to swell with pride as she watched the green archon. All I felt was rage. They were going to murder Princess Luna! My princess. I had to stop them.
The archon stepped closer to me and set a hoof on my shoulder. I tried to will my own to hit her right in the face. It wouldn’t move. My host felt safety in this gesture.
“Exemplar Bliss, you and your peers shall use our gifts to complete the ritual. Remove their great powers. I shall lead the remainder of us upstairs to take care of the task at hoof.”
My hoof found hers. I squeezed it affectionately and spoke in a voice that was strangely familiar, “I shall miss you, Sister.”
“And I you. This must be done. The alicorns must die, and I gladly give my life to do it. Lead on once I am gone. When the enchantment is broken and everypony’s memory is restored, you will be the one to teach them the truth.”
Warm tears ran down my cheeks as the archon let go and walked past. Four of the others went with her, leaving the rest of us alone. I motioned with a hoof. “Take your places. We must not fail the archon.”
One by one, the remaining unicorns formed a circle in the room and my host trotted to the center of it. Their horns all lit and magical energy flowed towards me. When it hit, the feeling was unnatural. Was this what it was like to be a unicorn?
There was a pressure around my horn at first. It then eased and seemed to morph into a cool breeze. The unicorns began to chant in unison. It was an ancient language that I couldn’t make out, but as they did so, the magic grew and grew.
It crawled over my body and my crystalline coat drained of light. Darkness filled me, darkness grabbed me, darkness took me! This is wrong. This is wrong.
Hello again, Knight of the Moon.
No! I recoiled from the voice. It had me by the hooves. My forehooves. Summoning all my strength I tore them away and fell backwards, panting. I was in the darkness.
Unicorn lamps cast pale lights across me. The crystals were gone, as was my host’s body. This was Starlight Grotto.
The others were similarly dazed, but none looked as pained as I felt. Exemplar Ferrel’s eyes were on me as if she was trying to work out what had happened.
Nopony spoke. What was there to say? We’d just watched the moments that led up to the end of the alicorns.
Finally, Exemplar Ferrel said softly, “I do not know what the Forgotten Winter is, but I do know it is dangerous. I know that it has sent agents to do you harm, Silent Knight. They have appeared to me in your memories and I must know why and how.”
My hooves were white again… still. I held them up in front of my face just to be sure. “Yes.” Words escaped me. The memory had called out to me. To me! How? It was a memory. Just a memory.
Sunny cleared her throat. “Okay, I am going to guess that we’re all on the same side here. We’re here looking for some kind of conservatory. Silent believes there is knowledge inside that we need.”
“We have found the conservatory, but it is sealed. Nothing we’ve tried to open it has worked,” Tranquil explained.
Dr. Kitty chimed, “Well, now there are more of us. We can think it through together. Right, Silent Knight?”
“Yes.” Were my wings still white and blue? I pulled one around to check. Yes. Okay. “Yes… let’s go.”
Miley stood up. “I don’t know what that was, but I do not want to do it again, okay? Next time, I’ll just stay here in the present while you all go back.” She tromped over to me. “Major… boss… you look sick.”
“Yeah.”
“That was weird. You’ve done that before?”
“Yeah.”
The little mare helped me up. “I guess it doesn’t get easier, then.”
“No, I’m afraid it doesn’t.” I shook away the doubt and fear. We had a job to do. Were the Night Mares related to these priestesses? Were they related to the cultists the High Marshal was worried about? It seemed highly likely, but then maybe not. If Nocturna was aware of them, why would she allow herself to be ambushed by them?
Perhaps this group was hidden in plain sight. Perhaps the cultists had been a distraction to consume the Marshal’s resources?
“Let’s get moving,” I said.
Tranquil nodded. “It isn’t far. Come along, everypony. We’ll show you the barrier. I hope you have better ideas than we did.”
Dr. Kitty tapped her hooves on the ground as she walked. “Not better, new friend, just different. Also, did we actually go into the past? Who was I? Were we all the same pony? Did anypony else feel that super big spike of anger at the end? Can we do that again? Can we go into my memories? How do we do that? This would be super helpful for therapy!”
The exemplar’s ears twitched as the waves of questions rolled over them. “You have many questions.”
“I do! I’m a scientist.”
“You said you were a doctor.”
“Oh, I am! Dr. Dream Pop, MD, PHD, and several other letters. I dabble in a lot of things.”
“How impressive,” the exemplar said plainly before we reached a rather unassuming stone building. “Welcome to the home of High Marshal Moonglaive. We’ll find the conservatory within.”