Chapter 19: The Lesser Evil
“This time I’ll kill you myself,” Tenebris announced.
Her horn charged up with powerful magic, but we were fully prepared for the following attack. Starlight’s protective bubble appeared around us in a moment; I poured my own magic into it to reinforce it. Even so, we were barely able to hold it when Tenebris unleashed her magic.
We had to do something. Anything!
I noticed a quick movement out of the corner of my eye and something hit Tenebris on her head. She recoiled, gasping in pain, and stopping her assault just moments before our shield collapsed. I was exhausted; a glance at Starlight showed that she wasn’t doing much better — it wasn’t a fight we could hope to win.
“Fire!” Ruby screamed.
Taking Ruby’s words literally, Starlight released a torrent of flames at the distracted Tenebris. I heaved, struggling to mirror her action, but all I could produce was a measly fireball. A couple of seconds later Starlight stopped the fire, as clouds of steam had formed in front of us, obscuring our vision.
Starlight conjured a gust of wind to clear it out and we all saw Tenebris standing at the same spot encased in a large block of ice, which had protected her from our attacks. Her eyes glowed at us even from the inside.
She wouldn’t be stuck like that for long.
“Let’s go!” said Ruby, grabbing my hoof.
I looked around, but Tenebris’ soldiers were approaching us from every direction. Even if I’d had the strength left to teleport, Tenebris would just follow our trail. To give us some time, Starlight grunted and concentrated her magic on the block of ice, covering the trapped mare in more layers of it.
It would only delay the inevitable.
Thankfully, the enemy soldiers were hesitant to attack. After witnessing our seeming victory over their boss, they just didn’t have the courage. Of course, there was no way for us to take them on all at once, even if we had taken Tenebris out for real — there were at least ten ponies in armor and a similar number of fresh recruits armed only with wooden clubs. I put a confident grin on my face and looked at the soldiers in contempt.
“Give up now and we will spare your lives!” I yelled at the top of my lungs.
The soldiers exchanged unsure glances, but made no definitive action. They could see the ice around Tenebris melting at an alarming rate; her left foreleg was already exposed. It would take only around a minute, maybe even less, for her to free herself. And when she did, we’d be toast.
Despite feeling light-headed, I tried to gather up the strength for a teleport anyway, seeing no other choice, but it was simply impossible. I wouldn’t even be able to save myself, not to mention my friends. And there was no way I would leave them here.
Suddenly, Starlight grabbed both me and Ruby and, in a flash of light, we flickered out of existence. When we materialized again, my spirit was crushed upon realizing that we hadn’t actually moved an inch. The soldiers began to approach again, with predatory grins.
“I’m sorry…” Starlight groaned, holding her head. “I’m all out of magic.”
As soon as she said it, I heard a whishing sound; it was coming from behind me. Before I could look back, something strong had grabbed me around my barrel and was carrying me away with a crazy speed. I pressed my legs close to my body — the pieces of oversized armor falling off — to avoid hitting the fence.
I screamed in shock and began to kick around wildly in a desperate attempt to escape whatever predator had grabbed me. Even more terror filled my heart as we got higher up — I would be a splat on the ground if I fell from that height! I continued to struggle against the firm grip despite realizing that, the panic making it hard to think clearly.
“Will you shut up?!” somepony yelled right above my ear.
I shut my mouth and finally looked up. A pony face was frowning down on me — I recognized him as one of the pegasus guards. I immediately froze. So that was who was carrying me while I was screaming like a mad filly… How embarrassing.
“Sorry,” I said, lowering my ears. “Where are my friends?”
“They’re right behind us.”
I had to take his word for it, as I didn’t want to risk moving anymore. I glanced down at the buildings that looked so small from here and squinted my eyes shut. I held myself completely still now, lest the pegasus were to drop me. The only thing keeping me from certain death were the pony’s forelegs around me.
“Relax and enjoy the flight,” he chuckled.
That was easy to say for somepony with wings… I ignored his advice and remained that way until we had finally landed on the solid ground. Or at least a roof, as I noticed when I opened my eyes. My friends landed next to me, carried by their own pegasi. I felt a knot in my stomach untying — the pegasus hadn’t lied.
“It was awesome!” exclaimed Ruby and jumped at the pegasus who carried her, catching him in a hug.
I felt a ping of jealousy when she awarded him with a kiss as well. Thankfully, it was just on his cheek, but still… I couldn’t allow any wrong assumptions to develop in the pegasus’ feathered mind. I cantered to Ruby and kissed her fully on her lips, throwing a winning side glance at the guard.
The stallion just snorted at the display.
“We’re safe for now, but we still have to get to the castle,” another one said from behind.
As the kiss ended, I looked Ruby over to make sure she’d gotten out of the fight unharmed. She did the same for me. When I’d confirmed she was fine, I finally asserted our surroundings.
We were standing on the flat roof of some building; the palace’s glowing shield was pretty close to here. I looked in another direction and saw the manor’s roof far away. Hopefully, Tenebris wouldn’t follow us here like before — we’d left no teleporting trail this time.
“Thank you for saving us,” Starlight said to the trio of pegasi.
After I expressed my own gratitude as well, the six of us climbed down to the ground. We were led through the narrow streets to the entrance of the hidden path to the palace. A disguised guard, who was observing our approaching, joined our little group as we got into the abandoned house. I allowed myself to relax.
“So has your mission been successful?” the officer in charge of the guards asked.
Ruby took the keys out of her saddlebag and waved them in front of his face with a happy grin. Everypony else looked at the Key in scrutiny though. It looked exactly like real Key we’d been shown on the pictures, but it could be a well-made fake. It would have been embarrassing for us to go through all this trouble for a fake.
“Is that it?” the officer reached his hoof to take the Key, but Ruby snatched it away and put it back into her saddlebag.
“I’m going to give it only to the Princess,” she said firmly.
***
“This is indeed the real Key.” Princess Celestia’s words put me at ease.
We were in the council room again, despite the exhaustion we all felt. Starlight had warned me that it was dangerous to deplete your magic reserve like that, but it was nothing a good night’s sleep wouldn’t be able to handle.
“Good job, everypony,” Luna said, bowing her head slightly. “I received the report saying that you have faced Tenebris herself. It’s an admirable feat of heroism.”
“Or stupidity,” Starlight pointed out. “The pegasi who saved us are the real heroes.”
“I will commend them for that feat,” Blueblood, who was present in full armor, said. “But there is no point in denying your achievements. Tell me, how did you manage to stand up against her?”
“It was me,” Ruby announced with a smug grin.
Everypony looked at her astounded; her grin only got wider at the attention. I was perplexed at what she had meant myself, before she explained, “I threw my helmet right into her face.”
“That’s what it was!” I exclaimed.
Ruby’s quick thinking had saved our lives, I suddenly realized. Starlight and I would be dead if she hadn’t come along. I gently nuzzled her neck to show my appreciation, as she caressed my ear.
A polite cough made me snap back to attention, blushing. Everypony in the room was looking at us two, hiding their amused smiles.
“So, what should we do with the Key?” I asked more as a distraction, rather than out of any real need for that knowledge. I mean, it was obvious we were going to use it to get into Tartarus.
It worked.
Everypony’s faces turned serious again as my question sparked a discussion. Its conclusion was exactly as I thought, but the question was when and how we would get there. Everypony agreed that it should be done as soon as possible; Tenebris was growing stronger every day.
But with somepony as powerful as Twilight on our side, our chances of victory over her would grow stronger as well. Not that it was the only reason for saving our good friend and Celestia’s old pupil, of course.
“What about Discord?” Ruby asked out of the blue. “He’s supposed to be our ally, right?”
Celestia was thoughtful before answering. “That is so, but he’s known to disappear for weeks at a time. I believe only Fluttershy has a way to talk with him.”
“Well, if she did, she wouldn’t still be captured,” Starlight shook her head.
“Then I don’t know. Although I hope that Discord will lend a hoof against Tenebris, we shouldn’t think that he’ll be able to solve all of our problems with a snap of his fingers. He is not as strong as he used to be.”
“Not as strong?” Starlight frowned in confusion.
“The Elements of Harmony have changed him, just as they have changed me,” Luna said. “While Discord is still very much powerful, he is not stronger than Celestia or myself.”
“Even so, it would be good to have him here,” Ruby sighed.
Luna just shrugged in return.
The meeting ended soon after. I went straight to my room, dreaming of my soft bed; my eyes were already closing of their own accord. Ruby trotted along with me, in case I fell asleep in the middle of the corridor.
As it turned out, it was a solid concern.
Ruby opened the door for me and I walked in, my eyes glued to the bed in front of me. It looked so soft and inviting. My friend followed inside, closing the door behind her.
“Why are you still here?” I asked, falling on my bed. Its softness was what I would have expected from the royal palace’s guest room.
“Is that how you treat your marefriend when she wants to share a bed with you?” Ruby pouted jokingly.
My eyes snapped wide and my mouth hung open. Ruby giggled, seeing my reaction. I frowned in confusion — sometimes it was hard to understand if Ruby was serious or not. Before assuming anything, I asked, “By sharing a bed you mean… sex?”
“Only if you want it,” nodded Ruby.
I wasn’t sure I did, at least not at the moment. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to feel Ruby’s hot flank or her strong, muscular and rounded body with her soft, azure coat… I caught myself ogling her and switched my stare to the wall behind her.
“I would love to…” I began carefully and paused, not sure how to phrase it without upsetting my friend.
“I feel a but,” Ruby filled the pause, drooping her ears.
“However, I’m exhausted,” I finished. “I would probably fall asleep in the middle of the whole thing.”
Ruby laughed. “Yeah, that would be a buzzkill,” she said, wiping a tear, “Still, I would be happy to just keep you company while you rest.”
Without waiting for me to agree, Ruby walked around the bed and climbed on it, settling by my side. Not that I would reject her presence, of course. I snuggled closer to her.
It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep in her warm embrace.
***
The bright sun woke me up in the morning. Blocking the merciless sunrays with my hoof, I finally cracked my eyes open. An involuntary sigh escaped my lips as I saw that I was alone in bed. My memories were blurry, but I was sure that Ruby had been cuddling with me before I’d fallen asleep. Perhaps it’d been a mere dream…
The door opened and the mare of my dreams walked in, balancing a tray with food on her back. Seeing me awake, her ears dropped slightly and she whined.
“Damn, I was hoping to give you a surprise breakfast in bed!”
I couldn’t help but smile. She grinned in return while carefully setting the tray on my bed. A strong smell of tea with lemon coming off it was breathtaking — it was just the way I liked it. A piece of some pie was also on the tray. I levitated it close to my muzzle to give it a sniff.
“I baked it myself just for you,” Ruby announced with pride.
“Really?”
“Sure,” the mare shrugged. “Come on, take a bite.”
I didn’t need to be asked twice. It was delicious! I knew Ruby was a good baker, but she’d outdone herself this time; I moaned in delight. Ruby smiled even wider when she heard the sound. She watched me finish the pie along with the tea, but when I was done, I was still hungry.
“Starlight warned me that you would have quite an appetite when you woke up,” Ruby told me. “Let’s go, I couldn’t carry the rest; it’s waiting for you in the kitchen.”
The breakfast waiting for me was a pretty simple meal and small as well. The palace was switching to siege rations, as Ruby explained. She’d had to wrestle with the cooks — figuratively speaking — to get the ingredients for her pie as it was. I waved my hoof to stop her apologetic speech; I understood the situation and didn’t mind.
After the breakfast was over, I offered for us to visit Lyra together; Ruby happily agreed.
We went to the room where the mare was recovering. Thanks to the amazing skills of Doctor Sparkler, the mare’s recovery was going well. Though she wasn’t allowed to walk on her own yet, she could use her magic to ride on a wheelchair instead.
Lyra was mindlessly roving around her room, bored out of her wits, when we walked in. She was elated to finally get some visitors.
“That was awesome, Ruby!” Lyra said after we shared the details of our adventures yesterday. “I wish I’d been able to go with…”
“It wasn’t all that fun when we were about to die,” I said, frowning at her enthusiasm.
“Oh, come on,” Ruby bumped me on the shoulder. “It was pretty awesome.”
I shrugged, “I guess…”
Ruby’s words made me realize how woefully unprepared I’d been for the fights we’d gotten ourselves into. Tomorrow, we would go out again to save our friends, but today Celestia gave us some time to recover after our magical exhaustion. It was a good opportunity to learn some more spells that could be useful in the future. Who knew, maybe it would save my life tomorrow.
I decided to visit the Royal Library, which was thankfully inside the palace’s protective bubble — if I could learn some new spells anywhere, it would be at that place. I’d heard a lot about the Library from Twilight and it’d been my dream to visit it ever since. Lyra was happy to join me, since she had nothing better to do, but Ruby wasn’t so excited.
She grimaced when I shared my plans with her.
“Spend the day reading books? No, thanks,” she shook her head. “I’d better go and lend my hoof in the kitchen.”
I shrugged — books weren’t for everypony. Besides, Lyra turned out to be a big reader herself, though she’d been slacking in that activity for the past few years. With her injury, though, reading would be her primary way of spending her time for a while.
It turned out that she knew the Royal Library like the back of her hoof; she used to visit it frequently while she’d been studying at the School for Gifted Unicorns, as she explained me on the way. I felt a ping of jealousy — I wasn’t gifted enough to be accepted at the School when I’d been a filly, that was why I’d had to go to The Canterlot College of Advanced Science. Who knew how my life would have turned out if I’d never met Doctor Shade there…
I forcefully threw those thoughts out of my head; there was no point in dwelling on the past.
“There’s the defense magic section,” Lyra waved her hoof at the row of shelves.
I trotted towards them and examined the displayed books more closely. Some of the titles I’d already read before, but a lot were unfamiliar and probably far to advanced for me yet. I picked one book anyway — Unicorn Magic: A Guide to Survival. It sounded promising enough, so I sat behind a table and dove right into it.
When I finally stopped reading a few hours later and looked around, Lyra was nowhere to be seen. I sighed, rubbing my tired eyes; she’d probably left a long time ago. Putting away the book, I stretched my whole body, stiff from prolonged sitting. The book was well-written, but I realized that I already knew a lot of things described in it from Starlight’s lessons.
It wasn’t a total waste of time, though.
There was one thing in particular that piqued my interest — the void stone. It was the ultimate magic defense, as the book claimed, but as much as I looked through the rest of the book, I couldn’t find any more information. According to it, such a stone was extremely rare and the writer found it unlikely that a reader would possess one. Damn it…
The ultimate magic defense sounded like something that would greatly improve our chances against somepony like Tenebris. I had to learn more! I didn’t want to waste my time combing through the other books, hoping to find something, when there was a simpler way — ask somepony with a lot of knowledge for help. And who would have more knowledge than a thousand-years-old Princess?
Usually, an audience with the Princess would have to be scheduled weeks in advance, but one good thing about the palace being besieged was that the Princesses had a lot of free time on her hooves, as it was impossible to hold a traditional court. I learned that Celestia was in her own chambers from one of the servants and, recalling my earlier misadventures in this maze of a palace, I asked this pony to lead me there in person.
The servant led me to the right door without trouble. It displayed a big sun in its center. It looked so pretty that I was sure it was made out of actual gold. My hoof reached forward of its own accord, but stopped when somepony gave a polite cough. Two imposing guards stood by both sides of the door, watching me unamused.
“Is the Princess waiting for you?” the left one asked.
“Uh, no,” I answered honestly. “But I really need to ask her something important.”
“You cannot enter then,” the guard told me in an even voice. “She gave orders not to interrupt the meeting she’s having.”
My ears drooped. “I see. How long would the meeting take?”
“I wasn’t told, but it just started a couple of minutes ago.”
Mumbling my thanks, I turned around and left. I had no intention of waiting for hours for the meeting to end, so I went to the second best source of information I knew — Starlight Glimmer. I found her on the outer wall of the palace, close to the barrier. She was looking at the city with a gloomy expression.
I asked her about the void stone, but her answer was disappointing to say the least.
“I have no clue what this stone is,” she said flatly. “Where did you hear about it?”
I told Starlight what I’d read in the book, which wasn’t much. As I’d expected, my description of the stone as the ultimate magic defense caught Starlight’s attention too. She offered to help me find out what it was the hard way — by going through the books one by one.
Together we returned to the Library. Only now did I realize that such a big place was supposed to have a librarian, but none was around. The pony was probably out in the city with no opportunity to get back to work. Too bad — the librarian would have helped us greatly. Without help, we had to go row by row until we found the Geology section. Starlight and I each grabbed a big stack of books and started reading.
We were at it for hours, pausing only to get some snacks, but shoveling through dozens of books we still found no mention of the void stone. I was engrossed in another book, when somepony suddenly spanked me on my flank. With a yelp, I jumped up, the book flying off due to my surge of magic.
“Ruby!” I roared, hearing the giggling mare behind me. Looking back, my guess had been confirmed.
“Sorry,” she grinned along with Lyra, who was here as well. “I just can’t believe you’re still here. It’s been almost the whole day!”
I levitated the unfortunate book back into my grip and examined it for any damage. Thankfully, it was okay. With a sigh, I explained to both mares the reason Starlight and I were stuck in the Library.
“It doesn’t have to be a literal stone, you know,” mused Lyra, rubbing her chin. “We should check the Alchemy section, I think. The stone might be artificial.”
It was as good a theory as any, so I put my stack of books back on their shelves and took one from the Alchemy section. Lyra joined in on the search and even Ruby had decided that it was worth her time. I was reading through the outline of the third book, when a phrase caught my eye. I returned to this line and read: anti-magic amulets. After turning to the right page and reading it, I realized — it was a hit!
“This is it, girls!” I shouted, breaking the silence of the Library.
Everypony dropped what they were reading and crowded around me. I read the page out loud, feeling more hopeful with each paragraph. It was describing the void stone in great detail. Rather than it being a natural stone, it was made artificially, just as Lyra had thought. Making it was quite a complicated process, requiring a set of unique ingredients.
When I turned to the page and read out the list, all my hopes went down the drain. Heart of a young dragon, horn of a unicorn foal, blood of an earth pony… The list went on and on. I finally stopped and shared a look of disgust with my friends.
“Somepony would have to be a bloody serial killer to collect all this stuff,” I said, shutting the book in frustration. “The stone is a big bust.”
“Don’t be so hasty,” Starlight said, opening the book again at the same page.
I looked at her, aghast; the others were mirroring my reaction.
“I’m not suggesting we make one!” Starlight waved her hoof in annoyance. “But somepony has probably done that before. We could find and use a stone that’s already been made.”
“I don’t think there’s a big supply of them,” Lyra chuckled nervously.
I grew thoughtful at Starlight’s words: this was actually a good idea. It was out of question that we’d make the void stone ourselves, but it would be foolish not to consider using an existing one… It would basically neutralize Tenebris’ magical advantage, allowing us to win with no needless bloodshed.
“We should ask Celestia,” I announced. “If anypony knows it, it’s her.”
“Yeah, let’s go,” Starlight supported me. “The meeting she was having is probably long over by now.”
Lyra and Ruby weren’t so enthusiastic, but they joined our procession to Celestia’s chamber. The same pair of guards greeted us by the door, but this time they allowed us to knock. A moment later, the Princess herself opened up.
Celestia looked distressed, but she put on a warm smile when she saw us. She had no regalia on her, but her stance was regal all by itself, even in the privacy of her own chamber. The Princess welcomed us in and I trotted into her room with trepidation; probably not a lot of ponies could claim they’d been here.
I sat on a couch she offered us. It was soft and comfortable, but I concentrated on the task at hoof.
“So, the void stone…” I began, but choked on my words when Celestia’s warm smile was replaced by a cold stare. I gulped.
“Where did you learn about this item?”
“The Royal Library,” I answered quickly, surprised at her reaction.
“I see. I know what is on your mind, my little ponies,” she said, giving each of us a stern glance, “But I’m afraid this is not the way to defeat Tenebris.”
“But why?” Starlight said, barely keeping the annoyance out of her voice. “It would completely stop her from using magic. We would smash her like the bug she is!”
The Princess frowned. “I will not allow you to create something so vile, even if it is for a good cause. That is out of question.”
I laughed, suddenly realizing what the problem was. Unfortunately, not everypony understood the cause of my good mood; Ruby gave me a painful jab to the side. I shut my mouth and glared at her confused face. Then I explained everything.
“We’re not planning to make one, Princess,” I said. “We just want to know if there is an existing stone which we could use.”
“Oh,” Celestia opened her mouth for a moment, but quickly gathered herself. “I apologize for assuming. The meeting I’ve just had must be making me judge other ponies a bit too harshly…”
“The meeting, Princess?” Starlight asked.
“My long-time adviser and friend has just admitted doing something bad for a good cause,” Celestia said, with no elaboration. I had no idea what she had meant, but I felt like I shouldn’t pry. “Anyway, there is no such stone in existence, as far as I’m aware. It was created by a dark alchemist in the past, who is now locked in Tartarus for his crimes. All his work was destroyed at my order.”
My ears flattened hearing her words.
Wait a second… It was our goal to go to Tartarus as soon as we were able to. Perhaps we would find this alchemist and ask him if he had any more stones hidden somewhere! I didn’t share my thoughts to the rest for now. Celestia would likely forbid it and I didn’t want to go against her orders.
The rest of the evening was spent with us having some amazing tea with the Princess, while discussing more pleasant topics. It helped us all to reclaim some of our good moods, which had been a rarity lately. I got to my room when it was already dark outside.
Ruby, of course, was right here with me.
“How do you feel?” Ruby inquired politely.
“Pretty good, actually.”
“Want to feel even better?” she asked in a smug voice.
I felt Ruby’s hoof rub my flank and I understood immediately what she was implying. The last night I’d been too tired to even think about it, but now the idea of sleeping with Ruby filled my insides with a warm and pleasant feeling. My tail rose slightly in excitement and any tiredness I had had vanished.
Putting on my most alluring smile, I asked, “What do you have in mind?”
***
It was hard to make myself get out of bed the next morning. After a full night of activities with Ruby, I wasn’t feeling all that well-rested, but the experience had definitely been worth it. I smiled, looking at her sleeping face, and poked her muzzle.
She scrunched it.
“Go away,” Ruby mumbled.
Impassively, I continued to poke her until she finally fully woke up. She grunted and complained, but in five minutes she was ready to go. One of the benefits of being a pony was that the clothes were optional. Even though it had bothered me a lot at first, now I found it pretty neat.
Starlight and Detective Seeker were already waiting for us near the armory, where our quest would begin. The Detective had asked to join at the last moment and everypony had agreed. Prince Blueblood himself was there as well. Together, we went inside to see rows of royal guard armor.
“We need some light armament for these good mares,” Blueblood said to the quartermaster.
The pony in charge of the armory nodded and disappeared behind the backdoor. Soon he returned, carrying four sets of gear. He presented them to us on the table.
“These are a light version of the standard royal armor,” the pony explained. “The border patrol uses it.”
I examined it closely: a thin chestplate, some croup protection and greaves to protect the legs. There was also a light helmet, which I put on first. The rest of the armor followed. I moved around a little — it felt more comfortable and easier to use than the enchanted armor our enemies wore. A sword went with the armor.
“Awesome,” Ruby said as she got into a set of her own.
After Starlight and Seeker did so as well, we were ready to go. Prince Blueblood thanked the quartermaster and led us to the dungeon. Princess Celestia herself was talking with four of her guards; all of them were pegasi as I’d noticed. Luna hadn’t arrived yet.
“These fine stallions will go with you,” Celestia pointed at the pegasi guards after we’d exchanged our greetings. “Good luck, little ponies.”
***
Getting out of the city wasn’t hard — the stairs led straight from the dungeon to the base of Canterlot Mountain. I was a little winded after the long descent, but tried not to show it. I glanced at Detective Seeker with a ping of jealousy — she had as much endurance as Ruby, even without an earth pony heritage.
As we walked, I called to mind our plan. The first thing we had to do as we got outside was to free Fluttershy, Marcus and Spike — they were supposed to be in the nearby village Shade had told us about. The second part of our plan was to go to Tartarus. Our pegasi companions had carried a chariot along with them to speed up our journey there.
Unfortunately, it had been left in the cave for the moment.
We didn’t risk using the chariot so close to the city because of enemy pegasi patrols which were watching the airspace around Canterlot Mountain. Having made sure that the exit was clear, we trotted out and closed the hidden door behind it. I looked back, but couldn’t see any signs of an entrance in the rock face of the mountain.
“We need to hurry,” said Starlight, “Before they move them into the city.”
I nodded curtly. With no further talking, we trotted down the path. The village should be really close if Shade was to be believed. Our friends were supposed to be unharmed and even though I was sure he was telling the truth, the Doctor had been out of the loop for a few days. I quickened my pace; Starlight was right to worry.
Our pegasi guards flew over our heads, watching the sky. We had to duck into the bushes a few times when they noticed the patrols, but otherwise our short journey was uneventful. Soon, the village appeared in our view.
It was small, with half empty streets. Ponyville was a bustling metropolis compared to this place. We searched through the village, getting a few suspicious stares from the locals in the process, until we finally found a house that matched the Doctor’s description.
The house appeared abandoned to an outsider, with the windows boarded up and a decaying roof, but we knew the enemy would be inside. That is if it wasn’t some elaborate trap. Starlight had her suspicions, so we did not approach the house openly, remaining just out of sight if somepony from the inside was watching.
“So, what is our plan?” I asked aloud.
“Break down the door, kill the baddies, save our friends,” Ruby said, marking each point with a tap on the ground.
“That’s a solid plan,” Detective Seeker said. “But we should act effectively and ruthlessly. Given the time, they would use the hostages against us.”
Ruby frowned at her plan being criticized, but listened to the improvements Seeker offered. She had no practical knowledge, of course, but her education as a police officer had included hostage situations. Before anything else, however, we had to learn how many enemies were awaiting us there.
“I’ll go ask the locals if they know something,” offered Seeker and we let her.
While she was doing her task, we observed the house. It showed no signs of life and some doubts began to crawl into my mind. Maybe our friends weren’t there anymore. If they had ever been there to begin with… Perhaps I’d been foolish to believe the Doctor after all…
My depressing thoughts were interrupted by the front door suddenly opening. A lone pony wandered outside; he appeared to be doing some exercises. After a few minutes of push-ups and stretching, he returned inside. Everypony watched him intently while he was out, but we decided against a blind attack.
Our friend’s lives were on the balance.
Soon, Seeker returned with the valuable information she’d learned. The locals considered the house suspicious, so they were trying to avoid it. Even so, they’d see the two ponies who were staying inside it when they made rare trips into the village itself to buy some food or have a drink.
That was encouraging. If they were acting like that while guarding the important prisoners, they were clearly not the best ponies for the job. Not that I would complain, considering the circumstances. Of course, there might be a third pony who stayed inside at all times…
I shared my thoughts with the rest and Seeker agreed. We would have observed the house more to make sure, but time was of the essence here, so we proceeded with our rescue mission.
Hidden under a chameleon spell, we slowly approached the house. It had only one door, which was likely locked. It didn’t stop us, of course. With a powerful yank from Starlight, the door was torn off its hinges and thrown outwards. The guards rushed in first with us following right behind.
Both of the enemy soldiers were sitting behind a table playing cards, and were absolutely astonished at our sudden appearance. Despite that, both of them took up their swords, preparing to mount a defense, but as more and more ponies poured into the room their courage took a crippling hit.
The pegasi guards weren’t taking any chances.
It was a quick fight with four versus two; the rest of us didn’t even get the chance to intervene. One of the enemies lay on the wooden floor, staining it with blood from the wound in his chest, while the other threw his sword onto the floor in surrender, seeing his friend going down. He got a heavy blow to the head, knocking him unconscious just in case.
We’d been victorious, but it was too early to celebrate. Starlight blew up another door and galloped inside first, preparing to crush anypony standing in the way between her and her friends, but I heard no fighting. What I heard instead were my friends’ voices.
I rushed behind Starlight to see them with my own eyes and a big wave of relief washed over me when I saw them unharmed. Sure, they were still in chains, but they showed no signs of being tortured or something like that. It looks like they’d been treated well.
I noticed Sturdy Peak, the changeling guard, was here as well. He tucked himself into a corner and glared at our pegasi guards suspiciously. He had his disguise ability on, so to an outsider he looked just like a typical pony. I decided not to blow his cover just yet.
However, the changeling wasn’t my top priority at the moment. My eyes went to Marcus. He looked back at me and I rushed forward to embrace him in a hug. I felt my eyes getting wet — I was so happy to finally see him again! He grunted and I weakened my grip – it wouldn’t be nice to squish the life out of him just after saving him from captivity
“What took you so long?” he said with a happy grin as I finally released him.
“That’s the most overused line I’ve ever heard,” I answered, booping his nose jokingly.
I heard a cough behind me; looking back I saw Ruby’s frown. She was not amused at my open affection towards Marcus, but remained quiet otherwise. I shrugged and turned back to Marcus, examining his chains. I probed them with my magic and then tried to tear them apart. The chains squeaked, but remained in one piece.
I sighed in disappointment. Starlight gave me an apologetic glance as she mirrored my attempt, but with much more success. The chain finally broke and Marcus was free. She repeated the process with the rest of the prisoners, hesitating slightly when it was the changeling’s turn.
“Come on, you still don’t trust me?” Sturdy said, drooping his ears.
“You haven’t given us a lot of reasons to,” countered Starlight.
The guards and Detective Seeker watched the exchange in surprise — they didn’t know the true nature of Sturdy as a changeling. I approached Starlight and put a reassuring hoof on her withers.
“He’s on our side, Starlight,” I said firmly.
She shrugged, mumbling something unintelligible, finally breaking the chains. Fluttershy helped the changeling to get up on his hooves and gave him a warm smile which he returned.
“What was that all about?” Seeker asked in confusion.
I turned to face her, trying to come up with some plausible explanation to avoid revealing the truth, but it was all in vain as Ruby simply said, “He’s a changeling.”
The guards recoiled in surprise at her blunt revelation. I quickly positioned myself between them and the changeling seeing as they had drawn their weapons. Detective Seeker had a deep frown, but remained much calmer than the guards, who had experienced the changeling invasion firsthoof.
“He’s our ally,” I told them.
“Yeah, right.”
“She’s telling the truth,” Fluttershy supported me, standing by my side.
The words of one of the Elements had some more effect on the guards than my own. Reluctantly, they holstered their weapons, but were still staring at Sturdy Peak with suspicion in their eyes.
I released the breath I was holding, as the crisis had been averted.
Together we exited the barren room. Fluttershy gasped when she saw the pool of blood on the floor. She rushed to the fallen pony and examined his wound. She gave us all an angry stare, which was surprising to see coming from the usually timid Fluttershy.
I shrank under it and felt guilty for some reason. It wasn’t like we were going to leave them like that! I’m sure, somepony was going to tend to that wound eventually… Fluttershy ignored everypony else as she tended to the pony’s wounds personally. Spike was assisting her.
“They weren’t as bad as they could have been,” she explained. “I’m sure they realized that the path they’d chosen was the wrong one.”
“Well, we’re going to get you to Canterlot,” Starlight shrugged. “Might as well bring those two there too to put them in jail, if that makes you feel better.”
Fluttershy nodded her thanks.
The trip back to the cave took us longer — our new captives were slowing us down. Besides, our friends were still stiff after spending days with almost no movement in that room. At least, they’d been well-fed, as Fluttershy assured me. Sturdy Peak walked close to me, ignoring the stares the guards were giving him.
“I’m glad you’ve allowed me to stay,” he said to me.
“I still don’t trust you,” Ruby, who was walking on the other side from me, threw in.
I threw her a pointy stare before returning my attention to the changeling, “You were trying to help us before. And we need all the help we can get against Tenebris.”
“Fair enough.”
While we walked, Starlight briefly explained to our friends everything that had happened while our friends had been held captive, finishing the story with Tenebris taking over Canterlot.
“Oh my, that sounds really bad,” Fluttershy said, folding her ears.
“You’ve faced worse with Twilight,” Spike patted her side.
“I’m not sure they have…” Starlight began, but seeing Fluttershy’s downed expression, stopped. “Eh, sorry. Spike’s right.”
Soon after that, we arrived at the cavern. The guards went upstairs first to deliver the new prisoners into the palace, while we stayed behind to talk privately. Starlight addressed everypony.
“Well, here we are,” she said. “You should stay in the palace while we rescue Twilight and the others.”
The little dragon raised his eyebrows. “What? I thought we were going with you.”
“It’s too dangerous, Spike,” Starlight shook her head. “Tartarus is likely guarded by Tenebris’ soldiers. There will be violence.”
Fluttershy sighed. “She’s right, Spike. As much as I want to go, I’m not sure I’ll do well if somepony tries to kill us…”
“Well, I’m definitely going,” Marcus stated firmly.
I looked at him, thinking about how to carefully talk him out of this, but in the end, we decided not to. I’d wanted to talk Ruby out of going with us in Canterlot and she ended up saving our lives. So if Marcus wanted to go, I wasn’t going to argue. I gave him a nod.
“Fine,” said Starlight. “But only if our pegasi are okay with carrying you in the chariot. You’re pretty heavy, you know.”
“I’ll go too and make myself useful,” Sturdy Peak said. “I can fly, so I won’t take up any space.”
Starlight was reluctant to allow it, but Fluttershy and I supported him, so Starlight gave up.
Fluttershy and Spike wished us good luck and went upstairs. When the guards returned, the ones of us who had stayed behind boarded the chariot. Two pegasi strapped themselves in, while the other two hovered besides it. They grunted, taking off the ground, and started to gain altitude quickly.
Once in the air, my fear of flying returned with a new strength. Grabbing the rail with my hoof, I deeply regretted my lack of fingers for the first time in weeks. The hoof grip just didn’t feel as secure. The chariot didn’t even have a roof! What if I somehow fell to the ground? I shut my eyes and dropped my ears to block the outside noise in an attempt to quell my panic.
But I failed.
Somepony embraced me right under my forelegs, but I only gripped the rail harder. I opened one eye, seeing Ruby’s concerned face. Starlight and Marcus were watching me as well. I felt guilty — my friends had enough to worry about other than my silly phobias.
“Why didn’t you tell us you were afraid of heights?” Ruby asked.
“I didn’t know I was,” I squeaked.
A buzzing to my left made me snap a glance in that direction — the changeling was hovering there. I shut my eyes again.
“Don’t worry, miss, I’ll catch you if you fall,” Sturdy assured me.
I nodded in thanks, feeling a tiny bit better for my safety. I tried to convince myself that there was nothing to be afraid of. If the chariot was dangerous, Celestia wouldn’t have suggested using it, wouldn’t she? Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to slowly open my eyes.
“How do you feel?” Ruby asked, still holding me tight.
“Don’t worry, I’ll handle the flight.”
I was foolish enough to turn my eyes from Ruby to the outside of the chariot, which proved to be a grave mistake. I lost my breath when I saw the ground so far down below. My head was spinning and my panic returned with doubled force.
“Somepony is chasing us,” one of the pegasi guards announced.
Everypony looked back, except for me. I was afraid that if I did so, I’d lose my grip and fall to my doom. My friend’s curses were enough confirmation for me to realize how bad it was.
“We need to land!” I screamed.
“I agree,” Starlight supported me. “We won’t outrun them — the chariot is too heavy.”
I yelled at the top of my lungs when the chariot suddenly dove down. The ground was approaching with disturbing speed. I barely felt as Ruby tightened her grip on me; I was too busy screaming my throat off. Before we crashed into the ground, however, our descent grew smoother. Soon, we gently touched the road below us.
Without thinking, I gathered the magic in my horn and flashed out of the chariot, appearing on the solid ground a few meters off it. I felt better immediately feeling the good, old dirt under my hooves. One thing was clear now — flying was not my thing.
My friends got out the more conventional way — by hoof — as the pegasi untangled themselves from the chariot. The changeling landed nearby. I realized that he was unarmed and asked one of the guards to give him a spare weapon.
Marcus was given one too, but a sword that was too small for him. It was more of a dagger than a sword in his grip. Out of our group, I was concerned about Marcus the most — he wasn’t a warrior and even though he was much larger than a pony, a stab to the gut was hurtful for creatures of any size.
We’d barely had any time to prepare when the enemy finally caught up with us. The pegasi in enchanted armor were swirling above us, like a bunch of angry bees. I zapped a spell, but missed. I growled, annoyed at my aiming skills.
I counted no less than a dozen of enemy soldiers. It was the same size as our little group, but considering the enemy’s superior equipment, we were at a disadvantage.
One of them gave the order and the fight began.
Everypony dove straight at us at once. Starlight put up a barrier on their way, but it fell apart as ten missile-like anti-magical armor pieces crashed through it. I fell on the ground to avoid being cut down like Lyra. Without looking, I hurled a rock after him, hoping to break the pegasus’ flight.
I had no time to watch the result. My eyes widened when I saw that Marcus hadn’t been as lucky as me — a big cut covered his shoulder. The pony responsible was flying over his head, constantly jabbing with his sword; my friend barely avoided those attacks.
Still lying on the ground, I levitated a big twig off the ground and hit the attacker on his head. It didn’t harm him by itself, but it distracted the pony long enough to let Marcus deliver a fatal stab in his neck. At least I thought it was fatal, judging by all the blood that was pouring all over Marcus when the pegasus dropped like a stone on top of him.
With Marcus safe for the moment, I observed the battlefield. All of my friends were still fighting, but one of our guards had already fallen. Starlight was having some troubles too, as the enemy’s armor made them resistant to her spells; she was slowly retreating with Detective Seeker protecting her flank.
My ear swiveled back as they caught a noise behind me and I jumped to the side, avoiding a sword that would have killed me otherwise. I yelped in fear and hit the attacker on his head, which was protected by a helmet.
It had been a mistake.
Ignoring my hit, he answered with one of his own. His iron-cast hoof connected with my unprotected muzzle and I flew backwards, landing on my back; my legs swaying in the air.
I felt the taste of blood in my mouth and my head rang, but my mind was clear enough to understand the mortal danger I was in. Hastily throwing all my energy to my horn, I focused on one thought — getting away.
As luck had it, I teleported a few meters above the ground just as the pony stabbed the spot where I’d been a moment ago. He froze in momentary confusion and missed Ruby, as she tackled him from behind the same moment I crashed onto the grass.
I jumped back on my hooves just in time to block an attack from the other pony. Backing off, I avoided his next hit and then suddenly launched the sword with my magic, aiming at his neck — it was a weak spot in this armor.
Unfortunately, the pegasus flapped his wings to dodge it. Fortunately, he seemed to forget about my magic. I pulled the sword back, severing his unprotected wing.
The pegasus fell down, screaming in agony.
There was no time to celebrate my little victory, however. I noticed Detective Seeker suffering a powerful blow to the head and falling to the ground, leaving Starlight’s flank unprotected. The soldier raised his sword in triumph and slashed down on the fallen mare. I froze in shock, as the sword went deep into her barrel.
Enraged, I grabbed the killer, throwing him into the ground before he could harm Starlight as well. The effort had taken almost all of my strength due to his enchanted armor and was completely useless, as the pegasus just flapped his wings, standing back on all fours.
He looked directly at me, and was suddenly decapitated.
I gaped at the headless body hitting the ground. Some new ponies had joined the fight. They were obviously on our side. With their help, Starlight defeated her own opponent.
But the fight was not over yet: half of the enemy’s initial numbers were still up and trying their best to cut my friends into pieces. I turned towards Ruby, who was fighting with her own opponent, but the pony wasn’t so easy to take down. He took a hit at his armored leg and counter-attacked, almost slicing Ruby’s throat.
I couldn’t allow it to stand.
Starlight joined me and together we grabbed the pony’s legs with our magic, letting Ruby deliver a deadly blow. After his death, the rest of the enemies realized that they were losing, but it was too late for them to run. They were surrounded and killed in a quick struggle.
“Wait, I surr—” the last one tried to say, but was interrupted by a guard’s sword stabbing his throat.
The fight was over. I rushed to Detective Seeker’s body, hoping against all odds that she was alive, but my worst fears were correct — the poor mare was dead. The bloody sword was still in her body. I gently seized it with my magic and drew it out, laying it on the side.
I sighed, but my eyes were dry. The Detective had been a good pony, but she hadn’t been my close friend or anything. Still, her death left me in a horrible mood.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” one of the ponies who had helped us said. “I wish I’d gotten here sooner.”
I looked at the stallion and his companion who’d basically saved us and nodded. Whoever they were, their appearance was timely. I walked around the field, making sure the rest of the ponies were okay. Other than the Detective, our group had lost one of the guards. The rest had some minor wounds, but nothing excessively dangerous.
My own muzzle hurt — I spat on the ground and saw some blood. I touched my teeth with my tongue and found one of them missing. Damn that pony… I saw Ruby looking at me in concern.
“Are you okay?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, just lost a tooth.”
While we were tending to our injuries, the newcomers finally explained who they were. Both ponies were low-level CSS agents from Manehattan. As it turned out, Manehattan hadn’t been taken by Tenebris’ forces. There had been an attempt, of course, but Agent Clipper’s actions – the silent pegasus I’d met while investigating the Doctor in Manehattan – had helped to avoid any big losses, decimating the enemy’s forces. The destruction of the Doctor’s warehouse, along with all those supplies, had probably played a big role as well; the enemy hadn’t been equipped as well as in Canterlot.
I was glad to hear the news. Not only had Tenebris failed to gain a large recruiting pool for her growing army, but my parents lived in that city. It would have been pretty bad if it had fallen into enemy hooves.
Even so, the situation in the city wasn’t all great. The enemy had managed to take out a lot of important ponies in the city, paralyzing the local government. Agent Clipper had had to assume temporary control over Manehattan. The trains weren’t working for now and the food was becoming an issue, so he’d sent two of his fastest agents to Canterlot to assess the situation.
“We saw these guys chasing a royal chariot, so it was our duty to help,” the agent finished his story.
“Thank you,” nodded Starlight.
The rest of us thanked the agents as well. Ruby even went so far as to give each one a hug. We quickly explained the situation in Canterlot to them and our mission. While they wished us luck, they didn’t join us — they had their own orders. We said our goodbyes and the agents flew in the direction of Canterlot, keeping close to the ground.
When they left, my eyes fell on the changeling. I suddenly realized that I hadn’t seen him actually fighting the enemy. Had he been hiding while our friends had been dying? Fuming inside, I walked up to him and expressed my doubts directly.
“I was fighting,” he said, offended. “I assumed the form of one of the enemy soldiers and attacked him from behind. I killed one, even.”
His explanation sounded plausible, but I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, so I still had some doubts. However, Ruby confirmed his words, so I had to apologize for Sturdy for my assumptions.
“I’m sorry, Sturdy… I guess I’m just shaken by Seeker’s death,” I glanced at her broken body, lying on the grass nearby. Then my eyes went to the other bodies, spread out on the road we had turned into a bloodbath, and felt a little sick.
“I think those guys had been sent to reinforce Tartarus,” Starlight said thoughtfully, addressing nopony in particular. “Since we’ve taken them out, we shouldn’t have any more problems on our way.”
Ruby cringed. “You’ve jinxed it. Now we’re bound to run into something nasty.”
Before resuming our journey, we took the time to bury our fallen comrades. Starlight quickly dug up two holes in the ground with her magic and gently lowered the bodies into it. It wasn’t a proper funeral, of course, but we promised ourselves to return afterwards, when time would allow it, and do it properly.
As Starlight put the dirt above their bodies, I felt like I should say a few words.
“Detective Seeker was a good, honorable pony,” I said, blinking away some tears. “She’d believed me about the Doctor and had tried to help as much as she could. I liked her. She could have been my friend if I’d known her longer, but that won’t happen now…”
I sobbed, interrupting myself. My little speech had opened up some emotions I’d been trying to suppress, and I couldn’t stop them anymore. Ruby hugged me and I cried on her shoulder, as the guards said some words about their own fallen comrade.
It was so shocking to see somepony familiar to me die before my very eyes. Before that, I had only seen some stranger’s death, but it hadn’t affected me quite as much. The scene of Seeker’s death repeated itself in my mind over and over again and I wished I could have done something to prevent it. When I finally calmed down, I felt a tiny bit better.
“Tenebris will pay for that too,” Ruby whispered to me. I nodded in agreement.
After our little ceremony was done, it was time to take care of our enemies. We dealt with them by throwing their corpses into a big hole in the ground. They didn’t deserve anything better for what they did. Thankfully, they all were dead already — no wounded were left among them. If there were, I was not sure we would have helped them…
There was nothing else holding us here, so we resumed our journey. Despite Ruby’s fears, it went smoothly. Our route took us above Ponyville itself and I looked down upon it. My latest outburst had numbed my feelings for a while, so I felt no fear being so high above the ground for the time being. Some ponies waved to us from the ground, but I wasn’t in the mood to wave back.
The whole journey took us only a few hours, when we finally landed on the border of the Everfree Forest. I thought it would be easier to fly over it directly to the Tartarus entrance, but apparently I was wrong. As the guards said — the weather in the Everfree Forest was unpredictable. A sudden gust of wind would easily throw a passenger out of the chariot.
I felt a slight ping of fear just considering the possibility.
Remembering our previous experience of going through the Forest, I was ready for everything. The same was true for the rest of us. I glanced at Marcus, who was walking with his arm gripping the handle of his sword. I would have preferred it if he’d had his old rifle along, of course, but it was somewhere in Tenebris’ possession.
Starlight was leading us, using the Key as some kind of compass. As I’d expected, a few timberwolves got in our way, but they weren’t a threat against us; nopony even got a scratch as we demolished the beasts. After that, the Forest decided that we were not to be messed with, and no more monsters touched us until we reached the Gate.
A statue of a petrified pony stood in the middle of the opening. His friends hadn’t bothered helping him, those bastards. I knew that he was still alive and likely conscious — a petrifying spell like that would keep you alive for years. The rest of the field was empty, with no signs of our first battle with Tenebris. I recalled in shame that I’d been too afraid to participate in it... It hadn’t been my fault. It had been Tenebris’ mind spell.
“Keep close, everypony,” Starlight said and trotted forward.
Heeding her words, we kept very close to her. I didn’t know how far the Key’s protective bubble went, but I didn’t want to risk being turned to stone like that unfortunate stallion. Of course, my friends would rescue me, unlike his, but they’d have to drag my stony body all the way back to the palace to do that. As we got to the door, Starlight opened it with her Key.
Her glowing horn illuminated the room inside. It was empty, except for the big portal on the opposite wall. Despite its fancy looks, I recognized the similarities with the one that had sent me to the human world all those years ago. It was clearly a more advanced model and, hopefully, wouldn’t turn me into a human again.
I cringed, remembering the experience. Being human hadn’t been all that bad, but I would prefer to remain a pony, thanks. That’s who I really am.
“Cerberus is supposed to meet us on the other side,” one of the guards said. “But Celestia’s sigil should make him recognize us as allies.”
Before we’d left Canterlot, Celestia had put a spell on each of us.
“It’d better…” mumbled Ruby, caressing her sword.
Starlight nodded and dove into the portal first. The rest of us waited until her head popped back out, demonstrating that it was safe to follow. And so we did.
Just as the guard had warned, the three-headed beast was standing right there. It looked friendly, as far as a giant dog with fangs could be. Even so, nopony risked coming too close to it. We slowly walked around as its heads watched our movements. One of them suddenly leaned towards me. I froze, preparing to teleport, but the head just sniffed me. Suddenly, it gave me a big lick.
“Ew,” I cringed as his saliva wetted my coat.
Ruby chuckled from behind, “The doggy likes you, Sunny.”
The others chuckled as well and the tension in the group lessened. I rubbed my face off and resumed my walk, smiling too. The big dog followed us all the way until the tunnel got too small for him. Starlight opened the second door at the end of it and we walked inside, leaving the dog outside.
“About time,” an old pony’s voice said, instead of a greeting.
“The Keeper,” the pegasus guard nodded. “I’ve heard you let another one escape.”
I now saw the elder unicorn who stood in the corridor in front of us. He frowned at the guard’s words.
“You could say that,” he shrugged. “But it wasn’t my fault.”
“We’re here to release our friends,” Starlight interrupted the dialog.
The elder nodded. “I’ve gathered as much. Princess Twilight hoped you would come for her. I freed her and the rest from their cells, of course, but without the Key, we can’t leave Tartarus. Since you’re here, I guess Tenebris has been defeated?”
My ears fell and I answered, “Far from it. She’s taken over Canterlot and probably all of Equestria.”
“Yeah, she often talked about doing something like that,” the elder pony said indifferently. “I never thought she would be able to, though. Anyway, come with me.”
Having said that, he turned around and trotted away. We exchanged glances and followed him. He hadn’t said anything about Tenebris’ guards being in the prison, but we were wary anyway. After losing some of our friends, nopony wanted to get into another ambush.
Thankfully, there wasn’t one.
“My apartments,” he announced, stopping at a door that looked the same as the dozens we had passed on our way here. Without further preamble, the Keeper opened it and invited us in. A wide smile grew on my face — Twilight and the rest were here!
“Starlight!” Twilight exclaimed as the mare walked in first. “I’m so happy to see you!”
The two embraced each other in a hug, as the rest joined in. Pinkie Pie squealed in delight and somehow managed to include me and Ruby in it as well, creating a big body pile. After the madness finally passed, I crawled out of it, breathing heavily — somepony’s heavy flank had almost squeezed the life out of me. I glanced at Ruby’s meaty hindquarters; it had likely been her doing…
She noticed where my look went and winked.
Grinning, I turned my attention to the others, examining their condition. Everypony looked fine and healthy, if only a little bored. But our arrival would surely shake up their prison routine a bit. I approached Rarity to give her a personal hug. Other than Twilight, I was the closest to her out of their whole group.
“Sundae, darling, it’s such a joy to see you again,” Rarity said, returning the hug. “But all of us are wondering, where is Fluttershy?”
Her question was heard by everypony and they looked at me for the answer. I was happy to allay their fears by telling them that Fluttershy was safe in Canterlot. Their smiles faded a little, however, when we told them about the situation in Canterlot and the rest of the country.
“I was afraid that she would do something, but this!” Twilight exclaimed. “It’s Tenebris herself! Starswirl the Bearded himself almost lost to her…”
Twilight shook her head in distress.
“I’m gonna kick the Doctor’s flank myself for letting her out,” stated Rainbow Dash, hitting her hooves against each other.
I shook my head. “The Doctor is helping us against Tenebris; he’s in Canterlot, in a cell right now.”
“What? Why?”
I explained to Rainbow Dash – and everypony else – what Shade’s motives were, or at least my own understanding of them. Tenebris considered the earth and pegasi ponies to be inferior to unicorns, and the Doctor was an earth pony. But the main reason was his marefriend Fleur, obviously.
“Fleur de Lis? Oh my,” gasped Rarity. “I thought she was with Fancy Pants…”
“That was just for show, I guess,” I shrugged.
“I dunno about you, but I’m tired of sitting here doing nothing,” said Rainbow. “There is only so much napping a pony can do.”
The rest agreed. Before we left Tartarus, however, I remembered what I’d wanted to do here. I approached Twilight and asked, “Do you happen to know about the void stone?”
“The void stone?” the mare frowned. “Yes, I’ve read about that stone. The ingredients used to create it are gruesome, but the stone’s properties are intriguing. I actually wanted to make one myself…”
I stared at her incredulously for a few moments before she realized what she’d said. Her eyes widened and she hastened to clarify, “I mean, without the gruesome part! What I wanted was to find another way to make a similar stone. The creator of the original stone was thrown into Tartarus for his crimes, you know?”
“I do, actually,” I nodded. “I kind of wanted to ask him if he has any more stones stashed somewhere. They’d be pretty useful against Tenebris.”
“Are you talking about the void stone?” Sturdy Peak approached us. “There is a big one in the hive.”
Twilight tilted her head. “The hive? What hive?”
The changeling paled, having realized his mistake. We knew his true nature, but we hadn’t had the time to prepare Twilight and her friends for such a revelation. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm my nerves. When I opened them, I was as calm as a monk. At least on the outside.
“Eh, Twilight, remember Sturdy Peak? He’s a good changeling,” I told her.
The changeling nodded and assumed his insectoid form. It caused as big a reaction as I’d expected. Everypony around stopped their conversation and turned their stares to the changeling; their faces were not friendly.
“A good changeling, you say?” Twilight gave me a cold glance. “Are you a changeling as well, Sundae?”
“Don’t be silly, Twilight,” Starlight intervened. “We’re the real us. And this changeling really did help us. I’m not sure I trust him yet, but he’s been helpful so far, so I’m willing to give him a chance.”
Twilight nodded, relaxing slightly. However, I saw her horn flashing and a wave of warm light washed over us. I felt no different than before. I looked at Twilight in surprise and she smiled sheepishly.
“Sorry, I had to know for sure,” she explained. “So, were you always a changeling, Sturdy, or did you just take on his appearance?”
“I am Sturdy Peak,” he answered with a shrug. “This identity was created specifically to allow me join the guard before the attack on Canterlot.”
The changeling told his story to the rest, once again claiming that he’d lost contact with his hive after the invasion and had lived a life of a simple guard ever since. He was either telling the truth or he was the most ballsy spy I’d ever seen. It would be ironic if he was still serving the changeling queen, while we knew who he actually was.
“I’m keeping my eye on you, changeling,” Rainbow Dash said when he was done with his story.
“Anyway,” Twilight stepped in before it could escalate, “You were saying something about the void stone in the hive?”
“Ah, yes…” Sturdy nodded. “The Queen’s throne is made of this stone. It completely blocks all the magic around the hive except for ours.”
“Really? Very curious,” Twilight said, looking thoughtfully to the side. “In theory, the stone should block all magic, including that of the changelings. Perhaps Chrysalis has made some modifications to the basic recipe.”
“Whatever,” Ruby waved her hoof dismissively. “If you claim to be on our side, can you go and get some for us?”
The changeling looked at her like she’d gone crazy. He shook his head vigorously.
“No, that’s a bad idea. If I return there, Queen Chrysalis would make me serve her again. I don’t want that.”
“Let’s just ask the guy who made the stone before making any decisions,” I said. “Maybe he hid some away.”
Twilight shrugged. “It’s unlikely. Celestia destroyed all of his work when he was locked in Tartarus.”
“There is one in the changeling hive though,” Starlight pointed out.
“Well, let’s go and find out then.”
***
The Keeper showed us to the cell where the alchemist had been put. The old unicorn opened the door with one of his keys and we walked in. Most of the ponies had to stay outside, as the chamber was too small to accommodate everypony, but Twilight, Starlight, Ruby and me went in.
A transparent magical barrier separated the entrance from the main chamber further away. It reminded me more of a working office than an actual cell. It wasn’t anything fancy, but there was a nice bed, some bookshelves and even some chairs. A gray earth pony sat behind a wooden desk, scribing something on a scroll. He looked up as we walked in, lifting his eyebrows.
“Whoa, a visit from royalty,” he chuckled, getting off his chair. “Finally here to release me?”
“This is incredible…” murmured Twilight, ignoring his words. “He’s been here for hundreds of years and he looks just like on the pictures I’ve seen in my books.”
I didn’t like this pony right off the bat — his attitude and the nasty grin he had on his muzzle rubbed me the wrong way. As usual, I kept my mouth shut, but Ruby wasn’t so restrained.
“Shut up,” she said. “We need to know if you’ve got any void stones.”
The alchemist’s grin lessened at Ruby’s harsh tone, but didn’t disappear completely.
“Even if I did, why would I tell you, insolent brat?”
Ruby would have answered in kind, but I jabbed her on the side. She glowered at me in return, but I gave her a sign to stay quiet. Twilight nodded gratefully and took the lead in the conversation.
“I can ease your stay in Tartarus if you give us some information,” she offered to the alchemist.
He thought for a moment and then dismissed her idea with a wave of a hoof. Twilight frowned.
“There is no point in lying,” the alchemist said. “I don’t have any secret stashes. Celestia wasted all my hard work.”
“You were killing innocent creatures to get the ingredients for your foul experiments!” Twilight burst out.
“Doesn’t mean it was easy,” he countered with a smirk.
Twilight fumed and Starlight took a step forward, lighting up her horn. The keeper grabbed her when she got too close to the barrier.
“Anything that goes in, stays in,” he warned. “And this barrier is impenetrable to your magic.”
The alchemist’s grin only grew bigger as he enjoyed my friend’s helpless rage. It must have been the best entertainment he’d had in years. His arrogance was making me angry too, but I kept myself under control, so I wouldn’t give him any more pleasure.
“Is there another way to make a void stone?” I asked the alchemist instead.
He shook his head, turning serious. “Well, no. My way is the only way to do it, believe me.”
“Why doesn’t it work on the changelings?” Twilight suddenly asked.
The alchemist looked at her in confusion. “It does not?”
“Nope,” Starlight shook her head. “The changelings got one of your stones and it blocks all magic except for their own.”
“That’s impossible,” the alchemist stated, lowering his ears. “My stone is perfect; no magic of any kind is supposed to work in its presence.”
“Perhaps you’re not as smart as you think,” Ruby smirked.
The alchemist trotted around the cell in agitation. Then he stopped and looked at us.
“They must have modified my original work,” he finally said. “I didn’t know it was possible to make the stone exclude anypony from its aura.”
Twilight nodded. “I agree. My own calculations of the stone’s effects proved that it would be impossible in its original configuration. Perhaps Chrysalis has changed its formula.”
“I must see it with my own eyes. Bring me an example,” the alchemist ordered suddenly.
He got our incredulous stares as an answer. The pony smiled weakly and shrugged.
“I forgot where I was for the moment… Spending hundreds of years here can have that effect on a pony’s mind,” the alchemist complained. “I would do anything to get out… Perhaps even make you another stone if you want it so badly.”
“Out of the question,” Twilight stomped her hoof. “I will not allow you to harm any more creatures.”
“I don’t even need to kill anypony,” the alchemist assured us. “I have enough ingredients stored to make another one.”
I cringed, realizing that he must have already killed a lot of creatures to acquire those ingredients in the past. But on the other hoof, they would be wasted otherwise… Since the vile deed was done already, it would be foolish of us not to use them.
“No,” repeated Twilight.
“You don’t know how strong Tenebris is, Twilight,” I said with a frown. “I hate the idea, but we should get every advantage to defeat her.”
Twilight shook her head stubbornly, but I could see her resolve withering. She probably realized that if Tenebris matched Celestia and Luna in battle, the fight to take her down for good would be harsh. Somepony would probably die. But all of that could be avoided if we used a void stone to disable her powers.
I shared my thoughts out loud, while Starlight and Ruby remained silent. They’d faced Tenebris as well and I hoped they knew how much we needed the stone. Sometimes it was necessary to do something you didn’t like to avoid something even worse.
Twilight sighed.
“I know how useful such a stone could be,” Twilight drooped her ears. “But all those who died for him to get the ingredients…”
“Their sacrifice will have been in vain otherwise,” the alchemist put his two bits.
“Shut up,” Ruby and Starlight both snapped at him.
It was a decision we had to make ourselves.
“I accept your offer,” Twilight announced in the end. “We will get those ingredients for you and you’ll make us a void stone. In return, you will be released from Tartarus, but you will live the rest of your days under constant observation.”
“Deal,” nodded the alchemist and shared the location of the ingredients he had stored. I just hoped they’d be still intact after hundreds of years.
***
“So, did he give you the stone?” Rainbow Dash shot out the question as soon as we got outside.
“Don’t be silly, dear,” Rarity smirked. “He’s in Tartarus, he doesn’t have anything here.”
Rainbow Dash just waved her hoof. “You know what I mean.”
We all exchanged glances and nodded. Our friends deserved the truth and Twilight explained the situation, hiding nothing. Rarity became nauseous when Twilight briefly mentioned what exactly was used in the stone’s creation. The rest of the ponies also weren’t taking it too well.
“And you want to let this monster out?!” Applejack flickered her tail angrily. “He maimed unicorn foals to get their horns!”
“I don’t want him anywhere near my Sweetie Belle,” Rarity stated, frowning deeply.
It took a while to calm everypony down.
“Look, it’s not like he’d be allowed to do anything like that again…” Ruby said, but she didn’t sound like she believed in her own words.
Knowing her, I knew she would rather kill the alchemist herself, than allow him to rein free, but Tenebris was the bigger threat. We almost died facing her the last time and the memory was too fresh in our minds.
“Can’t you together with the other princesses, like, overpower her?” Rainbow asked Twilight.
Twilight sighed. “We could, but it’s too risky. Remember Tirek? It would be something similar, but right in the middle of Canterlot…”
“Oh.”
***
The way back to Canterlot took us less time than we’d spent on getting there in the first place. The main reason was Rainbow Dash, who reined herself to the chariot, along with a pegasus guardpony.
We were flying with awesome speed. Unfortunately, it triggered my fear of heights, so I spent the whole flight lying down between the other ponies. It was a tight fit with three new additions — Applejack, Pinkie and Rarity — but at the same time I felt more secure with more company.
Nopony attacked us this time. After a mere two hours of flight, we landed far enough from Canterlot Mountain to avoid any patrols. Even though the journey was uneventful, I wasn’t about to complain. Detective Seeker’s death was still fresh in my memory and I’d rather have a boring journey than lose anypony else.
Celestia’s guards were waiting for us on the other side of the secret entrance. They told the Princess about our return and she met us when we arrived at the palace itself. She cantered — something I’d never seen her do before — and crushed Twilight in a bone-breaking hug.
“Twilight, I’m glad to see you’re alright,” she said.
I’d never seen Twilight and Princess Celestia together, but now I understood why Twilight talked about the Princess as more of a second mother than just a mentor. Their relationship was much more than just a student and a teacher.
Despite the late hour, Celestia led us to a private dining room, where we were served some dinner. Princess Luna and Fluttershy joined us there, while Twilight was sharing our plans concerning the void stone. The Princess of the Night didn’t know what the stone was until Twilight explained.
“While I find the creation process revolting, if this stallion has the ingredients ready, then I don’t see why we should not use them,” Luna said.
Her sister nodded. “I agree. I would never consider procuring the ingredients myself, no matter how bad the situation gets, but making a stone out of already existing ones is something we should consider.” Celestia looked at Twilight. “However, I don’t think it is wise to let the alchemist go. His crimes are unforgivable.”
“Of course, Princess Celestia,” Twilight waved a hoof, “But I’m not talking about forgiving him. He’d be living under constant surveillance. We can even use his knowledge for our benefit!”
“This alchemist sounds like a very bad pony, Twilight,” frowned Fluttershy. “I’m not sure I’d want to be neighbors with him…”
“I agree neck and crop,” Applejack stomped her hoof at the table, making Rarity cringe. “No pony like him will be in Ponyville as long as I breathe.”
Twilight threw her hooves up, “I never said I wanted him in Ponyville myself.”
A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Celestia frowned in annoyance, but opened it nonetheless. A pegasus mare in the Wonderbolts costume walked in; I could see Rainbow Dash ears perk up at her appearance.
“I just got back from the Crystal Empire,” the mare said. “You told me to seek you immediately if I had some important news.”
Celestia’s face showed no annoyance now; instead, it displayed a polite neutrality. She nodded regally to the Wonderbolt and waved a hoof, prompting her to continue. Before doing that, she trotted to the table and gulped down a whole carafe of water that Rainbow Dash had passed to her.
“The Crystal Empire has been thrown into disarray by the events in Equestria,” the Wonderbolt announced. “A lot of crystal ponies are protesting against Cadence’s authority, calling for independence.”
Twilight’s face fell at the news. I glanced around the table — everypony’s mood shifted for the worse at this revelation. Only Celestia and Luna still held their neutral expressions.
“How serious is it?” Celestia asked calmly.
The pegasus shrugged. “It’s not that serious yet, but there is a strong opinion that since Princess Twilight had been captured and you, Your Majesty, have lost control over your own country, there is no reason for them to serve Equestria anymore.”
“But… we saved them from Sombra! Do these crystal heads have no gratitude?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
“Should we set up a we-saved-you party to remind them?” offered Pinkie. “Or maybe another Crystal Fair!”
“Prince Shining Armor has a suspicion that it was pre-planned,” Wonderbolt shared. “There is no way it would have happened on its own so suddenly, he says.”
As my friends discussed how to handle the Crystal Empire situation, I felt myself falling out of the loop. For me, the Crystal Empire’s entire existence was a surprise; I’d only heard about it in old history books before. So I had nothing to add before I knew more.
“We need to squash those traitors,” Rainbow Dash huffed, hovering over her chair.
“Suppressing freedom never ended well back on Earth,” Marcus shook his head. I nodded in support — that was something I knew.
“I was hoping for the Crystal Empire to help us deal with Tenebris’ army,” Celestia sighed.
Luna put a supporting hoof on her shoulder and said, “I see two options now, sister. Either create a void stone to use on Tenebris, or a head-on attack with our combined forces from the palace. With Twilight and Starlight’s support, we have a good chance of being victorious against Tenebris. But the second option would leave most of Canterlot in ruins, so I would prefer the first.”
Everypony nodded one by one, showing their agreement, except for Twilight, who remained thoughtful. Pinkie Pie poked her, bringing her out of her thoughts. She looked at her friend and then turned to Celestia and Luna.
“Spike and I will go to the Crystal Empire,” she announced. “Spike is a hero there and I’m sure my personal arrival would show them that all is not lost in Equestria yet.”
“I’ll go too,” Pinkie jumped on her hooves, like she’d expected to go right away. “I’ll throw the best party I can to remind them that friends should help each other.”
Celestia nodded after some short consideration. In the following discussion, the rest of the ponies expressed their desire to join Twilight in her planned journey. Then Celestia turned to Starlight, Ruby and me.
“I have another task for you, my ponies,” she said. I already knew what she was going to say, so her next words weren’t a surprise for me. “You must go to Manehattan to acquire the ingredients for the void stone. You mentioned that the city is still under loyalist control, so it shouldn’t be too hard.”
I cringed inside when she said that. I wasn’t superstitious, but saying things like that was a direct way to just ask for some trouble. All three of us nodded at the same time, accepting the task.
“Can I go with you?” Rarity surprised me with the offer.
Everypony glanced at her in wonder and she explained with a smile, “We had quite an adventure in Manehattan the last time. It would be my pleasure to visit the city again with you three.”
“Four,” Marcus intervened.
I nodded. Of course he wanted to go. The last time I’d gone to Manehattan without him he’d been quite upset, knowing that I had almost died and he hadn’t been there to help. He had promised not to do that again.
“Tenebris’ army is getting stronger every day,” concluded Celestia, standing up on her hooves; Luna stood by her side. “As long as we contain her in Canterlot, she cannot solidify her control over Equestria as a whole. But it’s only a matter of time until she breaks into the palace. It could take weeks or even months, but there’s going to be carnage when she does.”
“It is our duty as the rulers of Equestria to protect ponykind. But even we can’t do it on our own,” continued Luna. “We are eternally grateful for your help, my ponies. May the Harmony be with you.”