“Sleep well?”
“Hm? Yeah, I suppose. Hey, you know why AJ seems so upset?” Rainbow asked as she pulled out the chair and sat on it heavily, struggling to keep her eyes open. “Woke up and saw he just… lying on her bed and staring up at the ceiling. She looked upset.”
Shining was looking out the large, ornate windows located at the very rear of the Captain’s cabin, a staple of ships for the air and sea. He looked across the harsh barren desolation of the Badlands and to the small farm beyond that where Pinkie’s family were still, presumably, asleep. Though, Shining doubted that; farmers did tend to wake early, but then again ‘rock farming’ was not exactly his area of expertise.
The Badlands. No name was more apt and despite being labeled as a ‘safe area’ now, Shining could not help but wonder why the Pies had decided to move to such a Celestia-forbidden place to start a family. If the reports were true, this place was beyond inhospitable. Even moreso than the Everfree.
The ship had arrived just before the crack of dawn, the Captain gently landing the airship just inches off the ground before his pegasi crew anchored it and tied it down to some nearby boulders. A true expert, his delicate handling of the ship was in stark contrast to the ad hoc way he did everything else. Moments after their arrival, the Captain and few chosen of his crew decided to ‘take a look around’ and disappeared in the direction of the nearby town he had seen in the air.
Due to their early time of arrival, it was agreed that waiting until a more decent hour was the polite thing before heading on over to the farm. Inside, Shining could barely wait. This was the home of one of the greatest heroes of Equestria, and a stallion that he admired so much. This was where Semper grew up, and Shining could not help but wondered what kind of parents the Pies were who brought up, not one but two, amazing children that were so completely opposite of one another
“Did she?” Shining asked. There was no use delving into private matters. If Applejack wanted to bring it up with her friend, she would, and Shining was experienced enough in the ways of the court to know better than to just talk about the problems of such a personal kind. “Coffee?”
“Yes, please!” Rainbow moaned and flopped down onto the seat. “Why is it so hot?”
Shining glanced down at the coffee in front of him watching the steam wafting off it before looking at the mare. She was leaning back and shaking her head, but her attention was not on the beverage in front of him.
“Oh! You mean outside? The rocks, most probably,” Shining said gesturing the a stack of boulders not far from where they were moored. It had looked as if somepony had purposely stacked those rocks on top of one another. “It’s already hot out here, the rocks just turn it into a large oven.”
“How can you stand it?”
Shining pointed to his horn. “I use magic to cool the air around me.”
Rainbow blinked. “You serious?”
“No.”
Rainbow laughed lightly. “How can you sit there so… relaxed?”
“Used to it, I guess. I mean, I’m used to putting up with situations where you can’t complain. So, yeah, there’s that.” Shining used his magic to lift the cup to his lips and took a long sip before placing it back down. “Surprisingly decent, considering…”
“Considering what?”
Shining looked at Rainbow and then at the pantry near the rear corner of the ship. He could see flies buzzing around the garbage can, and he had decided to take his coffee black because he dared not look inside the sorry excuse for a fridge for milk. Whether the Captain knew it was broken or not remained a mystery. A part of Shining wondered if the Captain even knew he had a fridge in his private quarters.
“Nothing,” he said neutrally. If Rainbow didn’t notice, there was no need to point it out. “Have you met Pinkie’s parents?”
Rainbow shook her head. “No. This will be my first time, but AJ has met them before. Something about finding out that they are really far distant cousins, I think. I dunno.”
“Cousins? That is interesting,” Shining replied. “That would make the Pies related to one of the largest families in Equestria.”
“What?”
“You know. The Apples. They’re huge and are important to Equestria’s growth as a Kingdom. You do know that Ponyville was founded by them, right? They are one of the most influential families in Equestria for expanding and turning inhospitable areas into livable spaces… and I’ve lost you, haven’t I?”
Rainbow nodded, but the glazed look in her eyes made it clear to Shining that he had indeed lost her.
The silence between them was becoming awkward when they heard the door behind them open and the Captain walked in with one of his crewmembers in tow. They were talking to each other heatedly.
“What’s going on?”
“There’s a small town on the edge of the woods, and we got this morning’s paper.” The Captain threw it in front of Shining.
Shining glanced over to it, then turned his body to focus on the words he saw in huge letters on the front page. He seized the spread in his hooves and leaned into the paper as if trying to tell if the print on it could speak to him. He looked up at the Captain.
“Is this true?”
“I hope not! But this is big. Real big. Huge. I don’t know what’s going on, but if what is on that paper is true, then there’s going to be trouble,” the Captain said as he returned from the cabinet with a mug and plonked himself next to Rainbow on the small table sitting almost opposite to Shining. He grabbed the decanter and poured himself a mug of coffee. “Real trouble.”
“What’s going on?” Rainbow asked.
Turning the paper around, Rainbow read the large bold headline in the center of the page.
“‘Griffin King Assassinated’?” she read aloud.
“Who’s been whatnow?” a voice asked.
“Mornin’ AJ, apparently the Griffin’s king was assassinated,” Rainbow replied, nonplussed.
“Oh?” Applejack walked close to the table took the paper from Shining. She read for a moment then nodded. “Says here that he was assassinated a couple of days ago, but that news about it only came out now. They’re saying that this is bad, that it can lead to war with the nation responsible.”
“Indeed,” Shining said and furrowed his brow. The timing of it all was not lost on him. He got up and walked over to the window and looked at the farm.
“I know what you’re thinking, and I agree,” the Captain said. “It’s too coincidental and the timing too convenient, wouldn’t you say?”
“I don’t like what you’re insinuating,” Shining said not bothering to turn around. The pieces fit too snugly to ignore.
The Captain laughed mirthlessly and shook his head. “Good riddance, I say. That entire Kingdom needs to be wiped off the face of the planet. I’ve seen first hoof what those crazies in the Griffin kingdom are capable of and I think this is a step in the right direction.”
“This could mean war.”
“Yeah, if it connects back to us. And I don’t think that’ll happen,” the Captain replied and laughed silently.
“How can you be so sure?” Rainbow asked interrupting the two.
“Experience,” the Captain replied bluntly.
Applejack looked up from the paper. “You think that Pinkie’s brother has somethin’ to do with this?”
“Completely. In fact, I think he is the reason.”
“What? He just took off, killed their king, then hopped back?” Rainbow asked. “Even I know that it’s not possible. Not with the border and stuff.”
Shining looked down. “Even if it is true, we can’t let on. If this leads to war with the Griffin’s, it’ll be bad. Real bad. Their kingdom is built for war and they have been at odds with their neighbors for centuries. We’re lucky we’re out of their reach, but they’ll come over that so-called border en masse if they decide that we’re responsible, and nothing would be able to stop them from getting to us.”
At that the Captain leaned back and nodded. “Open war with the Griffin’s would be worse than that. But you know that both our kingdoms would do their best to diffuse the situation.”
“If they assassinated Princess Celestia, do you think we’d back down?”
“Point taken. I’m just surprised that they’d let the image of their immortal king be tarnished like this. You’d think that they’d come up with some stupid excuse of their king ascending, or whatever nonsense they believe in, and that he had taken on the body of a newborn to continue his struggle with the Princess.”
“What?” Rainbow looked at the Captain. “What do you mean?”
“Rainbow, the Griffins believe that the king is the same Griffin who has ruled for the past several thousand years. I think to put their leader at odds with our Princess. They do this by brainwashing their subjects into believing that the king doesn’t die, but rather puts his mind and body into a new ‘vessel’ each time the old one dies. Each vessel is born in their holiest, most hallowed grounds through fire. Like a phoenix, I guess.”
“That’s silly.”
“Silly, but effective; the Griffins are nothing like us, so it’s hard to explain it without understanding the history.”
“Okay, forget it then,” Rainbow replied and laughed at her own joke. It faded away when she realized that none of them were following her lead. “Yeesh. Tough crowd.”
“Was there a joke in there?” the Captain asked Applejack quietly, who just shrugged.
“With this news, I’ll need to head back to Canterlot and to the Crystal Empire as soon as possible. Let’s go and see if the Pies are awake,” Shining said and got up. “Let’s get this meeting over with.”
They all descended towards the bottom of the ship and to the lowest cargo hold, where the place was surprisingly brightly colored and painted. Shining turned to look at the Captain, who shrugged.
“I got a kid. This is where he wanted to build his ‘pirate hideout’, so I let him,” the Captain said and they mozied on towards the bow of the ship where the gangway to the ground awaited them.
They walked towards the house, Rainbow floating close behind Applejack who led the way.
She knocked on the door.
“Yes?” came a voice just before the door opened. Limestone’s eyes grew wide and she pushed the door open and flung her hooves around Applejack. “Hey! Long time! Come on in! Ma! Pa! Guess who’s here!”
They entered the home and were shown into the living room, Shining removing his helm and holding it to his chest. The parents came in through another entrance and, upon seeing Shining, the mother instantly dropped to the ground. Her eyes locked onto the Guard with a mix of horror and fear.
It took a second for him to realize what she was thinking.
“Oh no! No, no, no, ma’am. Please. I’m not here for… there’s nothing… I…”
“What’s goin’ on?” Applejack asked, sensing instantly that something was amiss.
“We’re here to talk about Semper,” Rainbow blurted, totally not reading the situation properly.
Shining smacked his hoof across his face. “Not helpful, Rainbow.”
“What? We are!”
“It’s not that! What do you think they think about seeing me here!”
Rainbow just stared blankly.
Shining rolled his eyes. “Nevermind. Ma’am, I’m part of the Crystal Kingdom’s Guard, and I have no affiliation whatsoever with the Equestrian Border Guard apart from fulfilling a… favor for a fellow Guard I respected while I was Captain at the Palace for the Royal Guard. I’m here under the capacity of helping Princess Twilight Sparkle understand more about the relationship between your son, Semper Pie, and your daughter, Pinkie, and not because of… other things. I am so, very sorry to have startled you.”
“You mean,” the mother began, “that my son is… my son is alright? He’s still alive?”
Shining cursed Rainbow for putting him on the spot like that. In a way he had walked right into this. It would have helped just to be without his uniform, but he had not thought it through and he was now in the unfortunate position of looking like the messenger every parent of a Guard dreads.
“Yes, ma’am. I personally delivered a letter on his behalf to your daughter,” Shining said, confident in the assumption that Semper was, in fact, very much alive, “but when we showed it to her…”
“We know,” the father stated and helped his wife up off the floor. “Pinkie had another panic attack?”
“Yes. How did…?”
“She’s had a few in the past when it came to talking about her brother. Come in, sit. Do you want something?”
“Coffee for me, please,” the Captain said, pushing past Shining and walking towards the stallion in question. “I’m an associate of your son’s. He’s an amazing stallion and it would give me great pleasure and honor to shake your hoof.”
The father offered it with trepidation and the Captain shook with guile.
He turned to the mother, saw her face, and decided not to press his luck and remained standing along the sidelines while they all found places to sit. There was a tenseness in the air that was palpable. Shining could not help but kick himself. He was not thinking things through again.
“You said he sent a letter?” the mother asked quietly, still sitting and shaking a little.
“Yes, ma’am,” Shining replied. “I was asked to hoof-deliver it.”
“Then you’ve met him?”
“Well, no. The letter was sent to the palace in the Crystal Empire with a forward,” Shining stated, “but it came via the advance Border Guard that helps secure the northern areas and is affiliated with the Crystal Empire’s Guard. It had an official seal on it. There were other letters, but I chose to go to Ponyville myself.”
“I see. So, he didn’t ask you.”
"No, ma'am. I'm afraid not."
"I see."
“Is Semper coming home?” Limestone asked.
The mother turned to Shining.
“I assume so, but I don’t know if he’s coming here directly. According to the letter, he is heading to meet Pinkie first. It was the letter that eventually triggered the attack when we were in her room in Ponyville. I feel that, because of the geography, he will stop at Ponyville on his way here. It's on the way... relatively speaking.”
"I see."
The father nodded slowly as if understanding. “Amazing. Even after all this time…”
The mother wiped tears from her eyes. Another daughter appeared, her presence unknown to Shining until she offered her mother a tissue to dab at the remaining droplets from her eyes.
“What d’ya mean?” Applejack asked.
“A long, long time ago, Semper promised Pinkie that he’d be back for her birthday. Over the years, he’s not been able to honor that promise due to… what he does.” The mother stood up, her husband lending her a hoof. “He still intends to keep that promise, which is not that long now.”
“A week,” the shy daughter whispered just loud enough for Shining to hear.
“Seven days from now.”
“That makes sense then as to why he’d head to Ponyville first,” the father continued. "He wouldn't want to miss yet another one."
“Yeah, but why’d Pinkie freak out like that?” Rainbow asked, not pussyfooting around.
“Rainbow, right?” Marble asked. “Not one to mince words, are ya’?”
“Nope.”
“I can respect that,” the blue-gray mare replied with a nod. Limestone offered her a hoofbump, which Rainbow returned happily.
The mother seemed to collect herself. “You have come a long way, and I know that you’re trying to help Pinkie. I think it’ll be best if we show you something. Please, come with me.”
They all got up and followed the mother down a hall before stopping next to a large bookshelf. The father came over and placed a hoof against the side and pushed it gently. A small panel folded in and he pulled down a rope lever. A sound like a bolt being pulled back echoed behind the piece of furniture and the father pushed the side of it. The whole unit slid to one side on carefully fabricated wheels hidden beneath the unit to reveal a regular looking brown door.
“For some time now, we have had to… hide Semper from Pinkie. Although we’re not sure why, we had to keep Pinkie and Semper apart for Pinki's sake. It’s as if, whenever she remembers, there’s a switch in her brain that rejects him. Something just happens.”
“I know. She had an episode yesterday.”
“I see. Was it bad?”
“It was for me. I’ve never seen anythin' like it, but our friends are there and are takin' great care of her. She was already back to usual self when we left,” Applejack reassured.
“I’m relieved to hear that,” the father said and pulled out a book from the top-most corner. He opened it to the center where a key had been used as a bookmark. “For a while these attacks became so bad that at one point that we had no choice but to let Pinkie leave home. I traveled with her for some time, but the further from home we got, the more distant and vague she appeared to be. Before long, I had lost Pinkie and was traveling with some stranger that looked and sounded like my daughter. I didn’t know what to do. Then, one day, she was gone. I looked everywhere for weeks with futility. That was until… until...”
The wife nuzzled her husband as he inserted the key into the lock.
“Until what?”
“I think it best if I show you instead. But this all started one day. A specific day. When we all saw something happen in the sky. It was… an explosion of rainbows. From that moment on, something changed within Pinkie and… well, it took a long time before she came back to us. Pinkie was always different, but something special happened that day that changed her. She just seemed to know things. The Pies have always had this sense, but it is stronger with some of us than others. One day she said that she had to go. For a filly so young, of course we were apprehensive. We tried to sequester her away, trying to pin her down by family obligation and chores, but I saw what it was doing to her. We all did. And what made it worse was whenever she happened to focus on a picture of her brother, she would have these episodes. We were lost as to what to do. Keep her here, sad and stranded? Even when we hid Semper away, she still found things that reminded her of him. Although his presence here was short, this home could not forget our son. Nor could we.”
The family all nodded solemnly.
“So, we had no choice by to let her go. She insisted, saying that she had to. The farm could handle itself without me for a time, what with Maud back from studies to help around. When Pinkie was free, she was so happy. And what more could a father want? But she was very different and it scared me. She seemed to be so full of life and needed to continue one. One day, I awoke to find that she had gone. I searched, but did not find her.”
“It was a terrible time for us,” the mother said and patted her husband on the shoulder. “We thought we lost Pinkie for good.”
“Luckily, she wrote to us, telling us of her new home. She told us that she made a home for herself in Ponyville. Had I know whom the citizens were at the time, I would have perhaps resisted. Still, I accepted and acquiesced her care to her own fate. If she had survived and excelled for that long without us, then she would be fine. If it were not for the Cakes, I doubt I would have agreed to allow her to continue living there.”
“But the attacks still happened. So we hid Semper away. Before her first visit home, we took down all the pictures of her brother and removed anything that she could relate to him. We even went so far as to disguise his room and change the house itself. It worked.” The mother smiled sadly. “Our son was dead to her. So, we also decided to forget him too. Or at least try to.”
“You mentioned an explosion of rainbows? This happened when Pinkie was a filly?” Applejack asked.
“Yes, yes it did. Do you know what it was?”
“My Sonic Rainboom!” Rainbow blurted.
“You did it?” the mother asked, looking at Rainbow.
“Um… yes, ma’am,” Rainbow said and rubbed the back of her head. “I mean, not on purpose, but I did do it.”
“It’s what brought us all together. The Elements of Harmony. Because of Rainbow’s Sonic Rainboom, I decided to head back to my farm. If it weren’t for that, I’d have never met Pinkie in Ponyville. I would have never become friends with Fluttershy or Rarity or Rainbow. And we would have never met Twilight.”
Igneous nodded and turned the lock in the door. “I see.”
“Please pardon the mess,” Cloudy said and pushed the door open and stepped inside before the others could.
They all piled in after. The room wasn’t small, but it was not that large either. It was, for the most part, immaculate. There was only a very faint layer of dust, but it was clear that this room was cleaned regularly. The ‘mess’ Cloudy was referring to was the small pile of papers that were not aligned perfectly next to the bed.
“I never knew you had a room here,” Applejack said as she looked around. The wall was covered with images from the ceiling right down to where the bedside table was. There were framed newspaper clippings, gazettes, specials, but very few pictures.
Shining walked over to a picture on the desk and picked it up. It was a copy of the one he saw in Pinkie’s room. “I know this photo. It was in Pinkie’s trunk. It was the thing, I think, that triggered her last episode.”
“Oh, so that’s where it went,” the mother said nodding sadly. “I was wondering where my copy disappeared off to. I used to have it as a bookmark for the books I read. It’s one of the only photos we have of our whole family together. Pinkie must have taken it with her by accident when she took the last book I was reading.”
Shining replaced the picture carefully.
“Wow,” Applejack whispered as she looked at the space above the headboard of the bed. “That’s a lot of medals.”
“Semper always sent them to us. He said to keep them for him,” the mother said, her face beaming with pride.
“I had no idea!” Shining whispered. “I had no idea he got a commendation from Luna!”
“Yes. This was when she had just come back from… being Nightmare Moon. There was a… skirmish.”
“I read about that,” Shining stated in a whisper. “But it was hushed up because she changed back into the Princess we know and love.”
“Why was it hushed up?” Applejack asked as she walked over to the small window and peered out.
“That’s a long story. Perhaps another time,” Shining stated, not wanting to distract from the current objectives.
“Everything in here is Semper,” the mother stated. “Everything you need to know is within these four walls.”
“Is it okay for us to look around?”
“If it helps to get my son and his sister to be able to see each other again, then I have no qualms about it. Please help them.”
“Y-yeah!” Limestone exclaimed. “I’m tired of pretending I don’t have a brother!”
“M-me too,” Marble whispered and her eyes grew determined. “It… it’s for family, then I want to help too!”
“Okay,” Shining said looking around. “Then let’s start from the beginning.”
“Then you’ll want to read these,” the father said, opening a closet and reaching inside, pulled out a large metal chest. He carried it over and set it down gently on the desk. He then walked back to the closet and pulled out an old Border Guard uniform. The style had since been changed. Reaching inside the jacket, the father pulled out another key. He walked back over to the chest and opened it.
Everyone peered into the chest and noted its contents. Stacked, almost to the top, were a series of really old looking books.
Shining picked one up and opened it to the first page.
“The journal of Dierdre Pecancia Pie,” Shining said aloud to himself. “Who is she?”
“Granny Pie,” Marble mumbled. “Those are our granny’s journals.”
“Giggle at the ghosties…” Applejack said in a whisper.
Shining did not know what Applejack had meant, but did not pause as he hefted most of the books out of the chest. They were all bound in leather, most likely from a native Badlands creature. One, in particular, caught his eye.
“Have you read these?” Shining asked the father.
“My mother and I never quite saw eye to eye. I loved her, but she was very different from the rest of us. A very strong-willed mare with a heart of gold. In the years I grew up here, this was a harsh place where losing friends and family was not a rare occurrence. Daresay, it was common. Tragedy was part of everyday life and we moved on. I never met my father. He met his end at the hooves of some creature on a sojourn outside the safety of the village. My mother was heartbroken, but she had her sons, her four boys. Then, over the years, I lost two of my brothers to these lands. Now it is just myself and the youngest, who lives near Manehattan. His lifestyle was rejected by many here who called him unnatural. In my ignorance, I too felt shame over him.”
“What do you mean?” Applejack asked.
“I shall put this, how do you say, delicately. I am the only son of my mother that has children. And, unless my brother decides to adopt, will likely remain such.”
“Oh,” Applejack nodded in understanding.
“Yes. I feel nothing but shame for how we as a community treated him, but he is much happier where he is. My mother, bless her soul, loved him no matter what the others thought. She was always more enlightened than the rest of us.”
“Have you seen your brother since?”
“Of course, but we have grown apart over the years. Our lives are very different. Still, he does come back when he can, particularly on mother’s birthday to lay flowers upon her grave.”
“Would he be somepony we could talk to? In regards to Semper?”
Igneous shook his head. “Afraid not. My brother has never met Semper.”
“I see,” Shining looked at the journal and opened it.
“Your mother certainly sounds like a swell lady,” Applejack stated. “Do you mind if I go and pay my respects?”
Igneous turned towards Applejack and nodded. “Not at all. Lime and Marble will take you to the chapel.”
“I’ll come along,” Rainbow said. “This book-stuff is… well, boring.”
“Okay. I’ll find out what I can,” Shining said and furrowed his brow. “This might take some time.”
The Captain shrugged, “I guess I could tag along to the chapel.”
Cloudy smiled. “Thank you all so much for being such good friends to my Pinkie. I’ll get breakfast ready.”
With that, everypony left the room leaving Shining alone with the journals. When they were gone, Shining pulled out the one journal that he had purposely not removed from the chest and studied it. There was no way that Igneous could have missed him not pulling it out, but he had played along with his charade. Or perhaps it was just coincidence. Had he managed to elegantly get everyone out of the room so he could study it alone?
The journal simply had the initials ‘S.P’ carved into it. And, despite whomever’s efforts, the red tint of blood was still visible along the edges of the cover. Shining opened it to the first page, it was stiff, but the pages were not stuck together. He read the first sentence it to himself and closed the journal and heaved a sigh.
“I’m gonna need a drink.”