While Emerald was talking, the Princess of the Night stared into the corolla of the red-orange flower. She avoided eye contact, occasionally closing her eyes and distracting herself with the amorous perfume it gave off. It had already begun to wilt beside the healthy pink rose.
Halfway through the story, she and Emerald had both lain down on large silk cushions, and while he spoke she stared at the marble floor, arrayed in argent squares and blue diamonds that kept her eyes always busy.
When he asked his question, Luna took in a deep breath and spoke softly.
“The Harvest Moon is always endowed with extra growth magic,” she said. “But not like the growth magic used in spring. The Harvest Moon is filled with fertility magic. It is the magic of renewal and new life. I don’t do it, nor did my sister when she raised the Moon during my banishment. The Moon expresses its magic by itself, just as the Sun would keep burning even if it did not rise.
“You are right. I too have noticed that the fertility magic is different during certain harvests, when two full moons shine with the Harvest magic. During my thousand years imprisoned in the Moon, I felt its magic coursing through me, and became as familiar with it as you are no doubt with the magic of the Earth and trees.
“Certainly the magic is different. It is extremely powerful fertility magic, and perhaps you are right in thinking of it as resurrection magic. However, I can give you a clue as to the type of magic it is, and that is this: only on two other occasions have I felt this magic. At the time my sister banished me, and when Twilight Sparkle thwarted my return.”
A terrible heat flashed through Emerald Alembic’s entire body, and his heart skipped a beat.
I knew it, he thought, but let’s hear her say it.
“It is the magic of the Elements of Harmony,” the Princess concluded.
Emerald’s heart was warm and dizzy with delight. At last, he thought, after centuries of searching, the final piece of my research is complete. So near to Victory, so near and now I’m touching it. It perhaps won’t suffer my embrace just yet, but soon, and from then on.
“The Elements, then,” said Emerald, “are the only existing way to harness the Double Harvest magic?”
“I do believe that,” said the Princess.
“I would like very much—in fact, I will need to study the Elements of Harmony.”
“I do not think that is possible,” said Luna nervously.
“Only if I understand how the Elements work can I complete my understanding of the Mental Crucible. Only they will allow me to perfect my medical magic.”
Luna appeared very hesitant to grant him his request.
“Think about it,” Emerald continued. “With this magic, nopony will ever have to die, not until it is their time and old age takes them. Never again will an accident claim a filly’s life, flood and fire will be powerless. And only someone who understands the Mental Crucible can use the magic of the Elements to that end. Besides,” he added quickly, “it is the condition I demand if I am to undertake the duties you’ve requested of me.”
“I understand,” said Luna. “But I will have to discuss everything you’ve said tonight with my sister. You have no objection to that?”
“Of course not,” Emerald smiled. “I only hid my wings from her because she and I were never alone together. At any rate I believe she suspects me. Tell her my secret, by all means, and tell her that I have the best of Equestria’s future at heart.”
“I will speak with her tonight,” said Luna, “and she will give you her decision in the morning.”
“And one more thing,” said Emerald. “Remind her that I am not asking you to hand over the Elements of Harmony to my custody. On the contrary, I am asking you to allow me to build a lab in the castle so that I may study them only when my royal duties are completed each day.”
“I will tell her so,” said the Princess warmly.
They bade each other good night, and Emerald Alembic returned to his chamber unescorted. He had spoken to the Princess with as much composure as he could summon, but he was frightfully nervous as to how Celestia would react to his identity. And then there was the affair of the Hydra—he would not for the world confide his worries to the Princesses, but the Hydra’s sudden appearance had caused him constant worry since he had awoken in the royal parade that afternoon. It had a suspicion of foul play about it.
Yet despite all these worries, Emerald dwelt upon his successes, and he fell quickly asleep in his bed, and had the soundest slumber, and the loveliest dreams, that he had had in almost one hundred years.
* * *
The Sun was barely over the horizon when a knock at Emerald’s chamber door woke him up. The door opened before he could get out of bed, so he acted swiftly to wrap himself in his blankets to cover his wings.
His precautions were unnecessary. In the doorway stood only the two Princesses side by side. Luna looked at Emerald with her accustomed compassionate look, and Celestia stared at him half-sternly.
“I want to see your wings,” said Celestia.
Emerald bowed before removing his blankets, and stretched his wings in the yellow light of the chandelier. His translucent feathers twitched and he contracted the wings so they were back against his side.
Celestia grimaced at this confirmation of Luna’s story.
“It’s difficult to believe that it’s true,” said the Day Princess. “We haven’t heard of another alicorn in a long time, but it has happened before that an alicorn came out of hiding.”
“I apologize,” said Emerald humbly, “but no opportunity presented itself to reveal my secret to you, Princess. It was always my intention that you should know. But let me be clear: I have not come out of hiding, as you have put it, except to Your Highnesses. As it is, there is a pony in Ponyville—the dressmaker—who knows my secret. I would like your permission to brew a very special potion that would remove from her memory only the fact of my wings.”
Celestia frowned and pondered for a long moment.
“Very well. The ingredients will be gathered for you. What is the formula?”
Emerald showed the Princess the page in Star Swirl’s book.
“With one additional ingredient,” he said. “I will need a Blue Swamp Lily, flower and root.”
“I do not like the sound of that, I admit,” said Celestia. “It is a restricted plant, and you are a headstrong and defiant stallion. Even so, you seem honest enough. We will gather a Blue Swamp Lily for you. And for your lab, what will you need?”
“Only the standard potion-making equipment, several journals and plenty of ink. And an obsidian scrying stone. I cannot stress enough how important the obsidian is.”
“I understand,” said the Princess flatly, “and it will be provided. As for the Elements of Harmony, you will be allowed to study each Element individually for up to three hours each day. The guards will allow you to be in possession of one Element at a time. Whichever you choose. But if you wish to study another Element, the previous one must be returned first. Understood?”
“Perfectly,” Emerald smiled. “But when I have studied them all, I fear I may have to perform at least a little bit of research upon them when they are together. Perhaps even when they are activated.”
“If it comes to that. In the meantime glean as much as you can from the Elements individually. Your lab will be set up in here, if it please you.”
“That would be most convenient,” replied Emerald.
“Then so be it. All you need will be assembled by midday. When is the soonest you can produce a treatise instructing unicorns in the use of alchemy?”
“If I write all day, I can produce a practicable template by midnight. A truly in-depth treatise would require a week and an assistant.”
“An assistant will be provided. Write enough in your preliminary template that the Royal Guards can learn basic alchemy.”
“I will focus on defensive alchemy, then. Wards and sealing spells.”
“Very good,” said Princess Celestia. “When this treatise is submitted to me, you will have access to the Elements of Harmony.”
Emerald Alembic bowed until his nose touched the tiled floor.
“I am much obliged, Your Highness.”
“And we are grateful for your dedication to the Kingdom,” Luna chimed in.
The Princesses left the chamber and Emerald sat down at the writing desk. There was enough paper and ink for him to write until more supplies arrived at midday. He set about recording his instructions for the Royal Guard, teaching them on paper how to construct their own Mental Crucibles, the most necessary tool for alchemical magic.
When the laboratory equipment arrived he ignored the workers and continued writing. Only when he needed a break did he unpack the boxes of vials and flasks, set up the scrying stone, or bother organizing his ingredients. He was eager to begin brewing the forgetfulness potion, but he decided to wait until he was finished with his official duties.
He finished earlier than expected, at moonrise about two hours before midnight. He promptly began crushing and refining the ingredients for the potion. It was an hour-long process to let the potion sit before adding the Blue Swamp Lily, and Emerald did not wish to waste a moment.
While the potion was sitting he retrieved a messenger to bring his treatise to the Princess. He returned to his laboratory and began refining the Blue Swamp Lily, which had to be made into a tincture with Rainbow Color before being distilled into the sitting potion.
He ordered the Element of Magic to be delivered to him, and studied it for half an hour before returning it, slightly disappointed.
When the potion was completed he bottled it in several vials and tucked them safely away in a cushioned case. He would find a way to administer the potion in the morning, which would mean taking a trip out to Ponyville. But in the meantime, he wanted to get some sleep.
There came a knock at his chamber door. A second knock, then silence.
“Who is it?” he called.
“It is your Princess,” said Luna’s voice through the thick plank door.
He bade her enter and greeted her humbly.
“I was not expecting a visit so late,” he said.
The Princess became very red.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “You must be tired, I should not have intruded.”
“Not at all, not at all,” Emerald smiled. He was exhausted, but there was something charming in this visit. He wished to see how it would turn out. “Is there something you need?”
“It’s not that,” the Princess paused. “But you are so old, like us. Maybe I was hoping…To catch up with an old friend is to relive your past for a moment.”
Emerald understood. He wanted to relieve her embarrassment. Instead he sighed.
“Chasing the past is dangerous,” he said. “Even if you could return to a time of innocence, what would you gain? You would only lose your perspective.”
“Why are you saying this?” Luna protested.
“Your Highness, all the years you want me to give back to you, even I don’t have them. For me, they are bubbles of forgetfulness, wandering with no direction and no memory. The beautiful past you want to remember, it never touched me. Please Princess, do not look to me for comfort, for I swear on my life I never had such a thing.”
The Princess, more hurt than angry, let out an indignant gasp.
“Well! I come to offer my friendship, and I am lectured by one of my subjects. I can see I am not welcome.”
She stomped toward the door in a clumsy hurry.
“You called me ‘young one’,” Emerald called after her. She halted in the doorway. “It made me smile.”
“How so?” said Luna, apparently soothed by his remark.
“I proposed to River Rose the night your birth was announced. A new princess for the royal family. I remember every detail of that night. Of you, I remember most of all the rumors of your blue hair. It looked like the moon, they said, so soft and passive and wise. “You are right, I am very old. I was an adult when you were born, and an old man when Star Swirl broke my heart; ancient when he died. So very ancient when they all died. You’ve noticed it, too.
“They all die. How do alicorns bear this, the loneliness of life without our race? How do we watch the whole world pass to dust around us while we live on, remembering a mountain who was once our friend, but has since crumbled into a valley? It is not safe for us to have friends, because we know too well the pain of losing them. This is why I spoke rudely to you, Your Highness. If I am honest, my life has made me too afraid of friendship.”
“In that respect, Emerald Alembic,” said Luna through a click in her throat, “we are much the same.”
“Your Highness will not mind my calling her Luna?”
“She would be honored,” the Princess replied.
“If you are still offering your friendship, I cannot but accept it. And we will talk soon, but for now I am too exhausted to think.”
“I understand. Good night, Emerald Alembic.”
“Good night, Luna.”
The Princess left, and Emerald took a few moments to clear his head. He needed to breathe, so he opened the only window, which swung open on a rusty hinge. He stared at Luna’s likeness in the glass and sighed. He let all his thoughts flow through him, surf through his lungs and leave him on his breath. Out into the night he threw his troubled thoughts until he felt ready to sleep.
His heart palpitated excitedly, however, when he lay in his bed. His mind wandered back to his goal. Tomorrow he would finally touch the Elements. What had he heard? That the dressmaker Rarity was the bearer of the Element of Generosity? There was some Blue Swamp Lily left—it is a simple matter to mix a potion that would make her very glib.
“But no,” he thought. “I will leave her be. The bearer likely knows no more about the Elements than I. What is their secret? They are Harmony—interpersonal traits—brought together by magic. To be sure, that’s what they are. But what of their true nature?”
It took him long hours to still his mind and get to sleep. When he did, he dreamed of the Elements; he dreamed of the Princesses and medals of honor; he dreamed of Twilight Sparkle, who was so legendary in her magical skill; and most vividly, most pleasantly, most cruelly, he dreamed about his revenge.
* * *
Outside Canterlot’s walls, in the pale light of the waxing moon, a hooded figure crept toward the city. He dared not enter, for he dared not be seen. Instead, he was waiting. When the time was right, he would make the first move. He feared that his opponent was close to something dangerous, something that had to be stopped; he would stop it. After so many years, he felt close enough to taste his revenge.