//------------------------------// // Chapter 24 // Story: Death Rides a Pale Mare // by totallynotabrony //------------------------------// Pale wasn’t surprised when the door opened before she got there. The guild would be unwise to not have a watch posted, and they must have seen her coming. What surprised her was how Coin shot out the door and wrapped her forelegs around Pale’s neck. “I thought you were dead! What-” She pulled back, still holding Pale’s shoulders but looking her up and down. “What happened?” Pale shifted uncomfortably. She hadn’t expected to get a welcome quite like this. “I’ll tell you inside.” “Of course.” Remembering herself, Coin turned and led Pale into the house. Trottingham was a far hike from the cave, but Pale hadn’t considered any other places the guild would go after being displaced. It looked like they hadn’t, either. The house was exposed and vulnerable, but if the cave wasn’t secure, was any place? Pale saw Jolly at the window as she walked into the kitchen. His usual demeanor looked strained, but he gave her a smile. “What a surprise.” Shadow and Whisper came in to see Pale for themselves. “Oh, you’re not dead,” Whisper observed. “I suppose you can keep your stuff, then.” From him, that was about as encouraging a comment as could be expected. Pale acknowledged it with a nod. Handsome appeared. His previously scarred face was now mostly wrapped in bandages from further injury, but he was mobile. The eye Pale could see widened in surprise. Pale looked around. There were just seven of them. It wasn’t even crowded in the small kitchen. Was this what the guild had been reduced to? She pulled back her hood. The assembled crowd gasped as her mane fell away from her horn. “We need to have a talk.” There were no arguments. Handsome stayed near the window to keep watch, but the rest clustered in front of her at the kitchen table. There was precious little in the pantry. Jolly made them what was available, which was tea and toast. Pale was completely unused to being the center of attention, but sat at the head of the table and forced herself to talk. “My mother is Queen Chrysalis.” Reactions ranged from a head tilt by Whisper to a jaw drop by Shard. “She approached me weeks ago about joining her. I hadn’t seen her in years and we didn’t part on good terms. I told her no. Then, I heard about her swarm being taken down.” Pale went on. “I don’t know where Chrysalis is now, but I think she came to the cave. I’d been buried in the rocks…” She looked at Coin questioningly. “I told them,” said Coin. “We thought you were dead.” “I thought so, too,” allowed Pale. “I think Chrysalis did this.” She touched her horn. “I didn’t ask her to. I didn’t want to tell you all this, but you all should know, in case she comes for me again. She made it your business.” “I mean, she saved your life, right?” said Shadow. Pale shot her a look. “Maybe.” “Not to give her so much credit,” said Coin, “it doesn’t sound like you’re on good terms, but I saw you go down. It’s been two days since then. She must have done a lot.” “And knowing her, that makes me suspicious,” said Pale. “So I want all of you to keep on the lookout. I shouldn’t have to tell you she’s a master of disguise and manipulation.” “How do we know you aren’t her, trying to trick us?” asked Whisper. Pale gave him a flat glare. He chuckled. “Yeah, it’s you. Just checking.” “So what can you do with that brand new horn?” Shard asked. “I haven’t tried,” said Pale. “I can move small things. That’s about it.” “There’s no way you have that fancy horn and that changeling blood and you can’t do something cool,” he prodded. “I’ll help you practice.” Pale nodded and changed the subject. “More important than Chrysalis is getting back to the fight. It’s not going to be easy. After the cyclops, everything has changed. We’re going to have to come up with a new plan for operations. We’ll need a source for weapons. We need to figure out how to defend this place, or find another we can. And, most importantly, we need a way to see beyond our perimeter.” The others nodded in agreement, but none said a word. “There wasn’t any time to save things from the cave,” said Pale. “And I think going back there would be a bad idea.” She reached into her cloak and pulled out the one journal she’d taken. As if called, Piper’s three black parasprites filtered into the room. Surprising herself, Pale was happy to see them. She set the journal gently in the center of the table. “I did manage to get some of Piper’s notes. Everything else, we’re just going to have to reproduce from memory.” “It’s going to be a long recovery,” she acknowledged. “This isn’t going to be easy. It’s going to be the hardest thing we’ve ever done.” Pale had never had much say in her own life. Between Chrysalis and falling in with the guild, she had never had any choice in what her future held. The others had been recruited to the guild at various points in their own lives, but now shared her fate, whatever that was. They had no choice. No matter the effort, they had to rebuild, they had to avenge their fallen fellows, they had to stop the Blight. Would any of them choose differently if they could? Pale sat in front of the telescope on the upper floor of the observatory. She was a creature of the night, but had never studied astronomy besides what she needed to know of the stars to navigate. Mostly, the empty rotunda was a quiet place to think. Her speech to the others was surprisingly rousing, even to her. But saying was easier than doing. Pale had no idea where the guild would even start with their goals. However, difficulty did not make them unachievable. Pale had seen many things she’d thought were impossible turn out not to be so. Just like her horn. She still resented Chrysalis, even her own curiosity at the possibilities of magic couldn’t replace that. But now that she had the ability, she might as well practice it. An old telescope mirror leaned against the wall, its surface dusty and curved, not at all ideal for a looking-glass, but Pale used it anyway. She only now took the time to properly evaluate herself after the battle and subsequent cave-in. She’d been cut several times, the smallest of which was across the top of her muzzle in front of her eyes. The slash across her chest was long but shallow and had barely bled. In fact, the worst thing might be her ear, smashed in the fight, cartilage crushed flat. The muscles still seemed to work, but the shape was wrong. Pale tried to fix it with magic. Just folding it back into the correct shape didn’t work. She didn’t know any healing spells. What did she know? She hesitated, but then concentrated hard, trying to draw on her changeling magic lessons from years before. Could she not simply morph her ear back to the correct shape? It didn’t work, not even a little. Well, with as many things had changed since she’d gotten her horn back, at least one thing was still the same. Pale relaxed her magic. At least she still wasn’t a changeling, if that was what Chrysalis had been trying to achieve by reaffixing her horn. Even though she was just experimenting with moving small things, Pale could tell her magic was stronger than it had been when she was a foal, and in fact seemed to be growing stronger. With practice, she was now able to lift knives, though she was still clumsy with them. What had changed? Surely she wasn’t any more experienced now than when she’d had childhood magic lessons. Pale frowned in memory. Granted, her childhood had been spent in a much different setting. A thought occurred to her. Chrysalis’ throne in the hive had been carved out of an ancient dark stone that absorbed outside magic, leaving a barren wasteland around the hive and weakening anypony foolish enough to approach. Was that why the half-pony Pale had never managed to properly use her magic? That actually cheered her up. She wasn’t a changeling. There was the sound of hooves on the spiral staircase and Coin appeared. “There you are. We’re going to have dinner soon.” “Thanks for telling me,” said Pale. She didn’t really want to go, but it was only after food was mentioned that she realized how hungry she was. She’d been more focused on other things. “Oh,” said Pale. “I found this.” She used her magic to take out the golden bit she’d recovered from Coin’s room in the cave. It was the very same spinning coin that had been her namesake. Eyes wide with surprise, Coin reached out to take it, her own magic meeting Pale’s. “I can’t believe it,” she said. “I thought it was gone.” Coin hesitated, dropping her head, and added in a different tone of voice, “I thought you were gone.” Coin shook her head and stepped closer. “I’m really glad you’re back. I know I said it before, but I’m finding it really hard to express how emotional I am about that with just words.” “Well, you know I’m not a hugger,” said Pale. “It’s not about you,” said Coin quietly. It wasn’t, was it? Pale sighed and gestured her forward. Coin was quick to capitalize. She tucked her head onto Pale’s shoulder, eyes closed and hanging on like a foal to a teddy bear while Pale stood still. After a moment, she said, “You’re like hugging a statue, Pale.” “That must be hard.” Coin looked up at her. “I can’t decide if that was an intentional pun.” “Maybe,” Pale admitted. Coin gave her a sympathetic smile. “I appreciate you trying.” She disengaged and headed for the stairs. “Just like taking charge. Somepony needs to.”