//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 - Reunions // Story: The Mare that eats The Monsters // by Skijarama //------------------------------// That evening, Twilight found herself waiting with no small amount of nervous energy on the outermost edge of Little Lapis, standing in the center of the road she and Drifter had followed to reach the small town. Word had been sent by Spike that they had been found and were being escorted to the town to meet up with her. He briefly apologized for having not shown up yet, mentioning that they had been attacked on the way by some sort of flying creature. Naturally, Twilight was worried that somepony had been hurt. Of course, that wasn’t all that had Twilight so worried. Ever since Celestia left the inn, there had been no sign of her. Twilight couldn’t help the concern she was feeling for her former teacher. Celestia had always been so calm, collected and radiated an aura that spoke of confidence and calculated assurance. She always seemed to be in control, or at least sure she could regain control of any situation. But this…? Twilight, in her entire life, had never once seen Princess Celestia so… broken. So vulnerable. She had never seen Celestia cry like that, save for when she saw her banish Nightmare Moon through the vision potion Zecora had made. But even then, she maintained her course of action and didn’t give up or back down. To see Celestia so quietly retreat from a situation like that… it rattled Twilight to her very core. So distraught and lost in thought was she, that Twilight completely missed the fact that her friends were coming over the top of the hill to meet her until a missile of purple scales and green spines collided with her chest, knocking the wind out of her and wrapping her up in a tight, constricting hug. “OOF!” Twilight gasped out with the wind having been forcefully knocked from her lungs in a harsh puff of air. “Twilight! Oh, it’s so good to see you!” Spike said with enormous relief, clinging to her as if afraid she would disappear. “Ah’m in agreement with Spike there, Twi. We’re all mighty glad to see ya.” Applejack said with a chuckle before gently prying Spike off of the princess. “But, uh, try not to strangle her with yer hugs, eh, Spike?” “Eheh, um… sorry.” Spike said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head and smiling awkwardly. Rainbow was next for the tackle, though she skidded to a halt at the still dazed Twilight’s side, looking her over intently. “You’ve got bandages.” She stated bluntly as she looked her over. “Any of them fresh?” “Whaaa…?” Twilight wheezed out while catching her breath. Rainbow opened her mouth to ask again when a stern glare from basically everypony else made her shut up. “Oh, come on! Enough with the chit chat! Time is hugs!” Pinkie declared before reaching out and pulling everypony into a group hug, making sure it wasn’t too tight out of consideration for Twilight’s need to breath. For several moments, they all sat there just basking in the warmth between them in their embrace. Finally, Twilight managed to speak up. “It’s s-so good to see you all, girls…” she uttered weakly, tears of joy and relief coming to her eyes. It had only been a few days, yet it had felt to her like it had been years since her last big group hug with her friends. To be in such an embrace now was beyond comforting. “Oh, Twilight!” Rarity suddenly exclaimed in surprise. “You’re wearing armor? And you have a scabbard for a sword at your side? What in Equestria have you been up to for you to need such attire?” Twilight deflated and sighed. “It’s… complicated, and I barely understand most of it myself.” For several moments, everypony looked at her with concern before she slowly untangled herself from the hug. “Come on, let’s talk at the inn. Lumberjack can make us all some soup and Drifter and I can fill you in.” “Sounds like fun!” Pinkie chirped, her mane finally returning to full poof. “Ahm in, that’s for sure. Ah’m starvin’, an I reckon the rest of y’all aren’t too much better, eh?” Applejack affirmed, rubbing her belly and glancing at everypony else. “Soup sounds lovely.” Fluttershy said quietly with a warm, gradually relaxing smile. “Is Drifter that bat pony that Princess Celestia mentioned before we came out here?” Rainbow asked, to which Twilight simply nodded. “Alright, count me in. I’m kind of curious to see how well she flies.” “...She can’t fly right now, Rainbow.” Twilight said uneasily, pawing at the snow absently. “Why not?” “Because she’s been horrifically wounded. She’s stable and her wounds closed, but a lot of damage to her muscles, bones and tendons will take a lot longer to heal… her wings were almost torn completely off. She won’t be flying anytime soon, I’m afraid.” Twilight explained before glancing back towards the inn with a somber expression. “And please, don’t mention Celestia to her right now.” “Huh? Why?” Applejack tilted her head curiously. “I… I’m not at liberty to talk about it. Just… don’t bring up Celestia, okay?” Everypony shifted apprehensively, looking between each other before nodding slowly. “We won’t say a word, sugarcube.” Applejack said gently. “Well, if that’s all settled, can we please get inside where it’s warm? I never exactly got the chance to make our new snowsuits out of the balloon…” Rarity suggested with an eager nod at the inn. Twilight giggled half heartedly before turning to lead them all inside. “Sure. Come on, girls. Follow me.” The sun was setting, Luna noted. In fact, it was setting sooner than it was supposed to by almost an hour. She glanced out the window and tilted her head in curiosity and concern. She knew that Celestia was still up north aiding Twilight and Drifter against Horizon’s fiends, so maybe she wasn’t sure of the time or something else was distracting her thoughts. It would not surprise Luna in the least if that turned out to be the case, considering the situation. The doors to her chambers slowly creaking open drew her attention away from the last vestiges of sunlight. Luna turned and gasped as she saw Princess Celestia trudge in, looking exhausted and miserable, eyes downturned and movements sluggish and sagging. “Sister?!” Luna asked in a loud, bewildered tone. “...Lulu…” Celestia croaked out in barely even a whisper, her body beginning to shake before she closed the door behind her with a lazy flick of her magic. “I… I spoke with him.” Luna instantly brought herself tenderly to Celestia’s side, pulling her into a tight, warm embrace. “I’m sorry… tell me everything.” she said gently, guiding her ailing sister towards the bed so she could lie down and be comfortable. She needed all the comfort she could get right now. “Horizon was waiting for Twilight and D-drifter… we spoke... “ Celestia almost smiled as she recalled their exchange. “He’s still in there, Luna. He can still be saved…” “Tia, please… don’t delude yourself with that right now.” Luna said, instantly wincing and inwardly cursing at her choice of words. Celestia didn’t seem to mind though, continuing on as she and her sister nestled down into the blankets on top of the bed. “He… he wants all this to end. He’s coming here to Canterlot.” Celestia finally managed, a few tears streaking down her face. “Hmmm… to reveal himself so suddenly after so much time in hiding and retreat means he has some sort of plan… and if he is coming here to Canterlot…” Luna said softly, more to herself than Celestia. “He’s going to duel me, Luna.” Celestia said sorrowfully, earning a cringe from her younger sister. “And undoubtedly his fiends will follow him here, leading to an attack on the city itself.” “...That’s not what distresses me so, however.” Celestia muttered, a shiver running through her as she struggled to force down another rush of tears. “Sister?” “...Drifter. I… she… she knows, Luna. She knows, and… it is as I feared…” Celestia stuttered before burying her face into the blankets, sobbing uncontrollably. “She rejected you…” Luna said in an unbelieving whisper before pulling Celestia closer in their hug, wrapping her wing over her older sister for added measure. “I’m so sorry, Tia… you didn’t deserve that.” “...I wish I could believe that, little sister… I truly, truly wish I could…” “Okay, everypony, soups up! Come get it!” Lumberjack announced in his boisterous voice, drawing eager glances from every single pony in the room. Drifter smiled and glanced over to Fluttershy, who sat right next to her, looking over the damage to the muscles on her back and around her wing joints. “I’m not going anywhere. Go get some food. You need it.” she said softly to the yellow pegasus. “I’ll bring you some.” Fluttershy said with a smile before making her way to the large cauldron of bubbling soup. The aroma it emitted should have been a natural wonder in the world, as far as everypony was considered. Lumberjack was about as good a soup cook as there was in these parts, according to both himself and the locals and affirmed by Drifter. “No, that’s fine, Fluttershy. I… I’m on something of a diet.” Drifter said sheepishly after Fluttershy, who looked back at her curiously. “She’s not joking. She’ll be fine.” Twilight assured her gently, looking at Drifter worriedly. Drifter herself nodded back before looking down at her hooves, very gently flexing the one that still had claws, even if they had broke. They were retracted at the moment, but Twilight could see the subtle movements they made under her skin. “Whoo-ee, mister Lumberjack! Ah have tasted a lot of fantastic food, but this soup is absolutely delish!” Applejack grinned enthusiastically after a few spoonfuls of soup from the steaming bowl. “I should hope so!” Lumberjack replied with a hearty chuckle. “I mean, it’s part of why I make such a good living with just this here inn. Sometimes, ponies come in just to buy the soup!” “I can see why. Fabulous, absolutely fabulous!” Rarity chimed in with a smile of her own before downing another spoonful. “I must ask, what is your secret?” “A secret.” Lumberjack said tauntingly, earning a pout from the fashionista. “Well, you make sure somepony knows that secret before you’re gone, dude!” Rainbow suggested while swooping over and nudging Lumberjack in the shoulder. “It would be, like, a felony to die without making sure somepony can make this stuff!” “I’ll think about it.” Lumberjack said before play-punching Dash in the side, drawing a grunt out of the pegasus. “Woah! You hit hard!” “I cut down trees before I started up this place. Muscles kinda build up when you do that sort of labor.” Lumberjack replied with a grin before trotting towards Twilight, who was nursing her own soup while sitting near Drifter. “Need anything, you two? You’ve been through a lot.” “We’ll be fine.” Twilight said with a smile, Drifter nodding along in agreement. “Yeah, I think you’ve done plenty.” Spike commented with a smile of his own. “I don’t think you need to- oom! Wha-” BELCH! “AYYIIIE!” Lumberjack squealed in a rather undignified manner as Spike belched out a torrent of green flame that coalesced and formed into a scroll bound with the royal seal. Everypony stared at him for a second with varying expressions of amusement or bewilderment. “Uh… ahem. Ima go.” He said stiffly before shuffling off to do something else. “What does it say, Spike?” Twilight asked curiously as her number one assistant unraveled the scroll and read through it. “Okay, let’s see… uh, it looks like Princess Luna’s calling us all back to Canterlot. Like, right now.” Spike said uneasily, pointing at the letter with a claw while turning it so the others could see. “What, for real?” Rainbow asked with mild surprise. “Yeah, uh, lemme see here… uh, she says that ‘there are efforts being made to evacuate the city and its population as fast as possible.’ Something big’s coming up, apparently, and she wants us to help with the evacuation and then make sure the ponies are safe.” “Something big?” Twilight echoed quietly, no small amount of fear and trepidation slipping into her voice. “Like what?” Rarity questioned uneasily. “Like a full blown invasion.” Drifter said bluntly. Everypony swiveled their heads to her and her suddenly grave expression. She closed her eyes tightly and inhaled deeply. “What…?” “Horizon showed himself. In all the time I’ve been tracking him, that has never happened. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that a full blown emergency evacuation has been called on the exact same day.” Drifter opened her eyes, the pupils shrinking down to mere slits and a soft glow coming off of the irises. “No, it’s not a coincidence. Luminous Horizon is about to launch an attack on Canterlot. And I don’t need to tell any of you how vicious his fiends are.” Everypony shifted uneasily, glancing between each other silently. Drifter slowly got to her hooves, wincing in mild pain. “No matter which side wins, the aftermath will be the same.” Drifter scowled and glanced out one of the windows into the cold, snowy night. “It’s going to be an absolute bloodbath…”