//------------------------------// // Past Memories, Present Concerns, and Future Plans // Story: From Oaths to Vows // by Partizanne //------------------------------// Cadance looked out beyond the bars of her cage, beast, and villains confined within their own set of bars. This alone would be enough to frighten the alicorn, but without her magic, she was completely helpless. However, she wasn't sure if this place scared her worse than the centaur that had locked her up. Tall, blue, strong, ram horns, and with such a seething hatred in his eyes. She tried to think if he mentioned his name, but if he did, she couldn't remember. He did give himself many titles though. I'm what your aunts are most ashamed of, I'm what haunts the darkest part of their memories, I'm the truth that these princesses wished stayed locked away in Tartarus. Her Aunts. The centaur had set her down in her cage, but he threw Aunt Celly and Aunt Lulu against a wall. This centaur clearly knows them, and they obviously had more than a small dispute. Cadance turned to look at her aunts. They had their own cage, close enough for her to touch their hooves if she reached, but nothing else. The two seemed to either be sleeping or very tired. Their heads were down on the ground, eyes closed with weary expressions on their face. Things that the centaur said echo in her memory, making questions surface in her once calm pool of a mind. She wanted to believe everything was a lie, but as the Princess of Love, the truth important to building a bond. Sooner or later she would have to confront them, and she had always been a 'rip the bandage off' kinda gal, so... "Aunt Celly?" Celestia didn't acknowledge the pink alicorn. "Who was that centaur?" Again, no answer. "Celestia please, nopony just comes out of nowhere claiming to be 'what your aunts are most ashamed of' without having some kind of reason, however misguided it is." Celestia sighed as she raised her head and looked at Cadance. "It's nothing important." "A centaur that nopony has ever heard of showed up out of thin air, said something about being locked away in Tartarus, locked us in the same prison, and is apparently working with Tirek. You honestly have the nerve to tell me that it's nothing important?" Luna spoke from the floor. "Cadance, if we believed that this centaur was of any importance to you, we would have spoken to you before." "We're family, aren't we? Families shouldn't keep secrets from each other." "We aren't keeping secrets from you." Luna rubbed her temples with her tired hooves. "Then why won't you tell me about him? Did you forget that I can sense people's emotions? I can tell you're keeping something from me." Celestia looked at the pink alicorn with desperation in her eyes, silently asking her to drop the subject. Cadance wasn't one to back down so quickly, she would be the Princess of Stubbornness if she was of the Princess of Love. Eventually, Celestia relented, preparing herself to reveal the secret that Luna and herself had worked so hard to keep hidden. "Long ago Tirek had come to Equestria with the purpose of stealing our magic. If his brother, Scorpan, hadn't told us about his plans, we would have surely fallen to him." "I don't care about Tirek, I care about the other one." Celestia continued as though she hadn't even spoken. "After Tirek was defeated, our kingdom went into a golden age. For five hundred years, before the age of Sombra or Discord, our country was at peace. Six months after Tirek was locked away, another centaur came to Equestria and threaten that peace. Luna and I did what was best for our subjects." "What did he do? He said he was locked away here, and ponies aren't just thrown here for no reason." "He was no pony, he was a threat." "But what did he do?" "WE DID WHAT WE HAD TO DO!!!" Luna's guilt finally broke her as she jumped up from the floor and shouted at her niece. Cadance recoiled in fear, never had Luna treated her in such a way. Luna soon broke into tears, her head falling onto Celestia's shoulder as the elder of the two stroked the younger's mane. Cadance was certainly scared, but not stupid. Twilight had told her about what had happened with a zebra named Zecora. If a whole town, with no prior experiences with zebra, was willing to treat a harmless potion brewer like an Everfree beast. A whole nation, who had their entire way of life threatened by a centaur before, would certainly want to make a second centaur more than just an outcast. "He didn't do anything, did he?" "We were scared," Celestia said silently. "Celestia, we don't lock away ponies because we think they committed a crime. We don't jail them because there's a chance that they might have done something illegal." "Cadance listen-" "No, you listen! You took an innocent centaur's freedom because you thought that there was a chance that he might want our magic! He did nothing wrong and you threw him in jail!" Cadance was fuming. "I'm the Princess of Love for buck's sake, do you realize how this goes against everything I've worked for?" "That centaur-" "Stop calling him that! Just tell me his name!" Celestia stopped before looking away from the younger regent, choosing instead to bury her face into Luna's mane. Cadance just stared in disbelief. "You put him into the worst prison in all of Equestria, and you didn't even know his name?" "Cadance-" "Don't talk to me. I can't even look at you two anymore." She turned her back on her aunts, resting her head between hooves as she laid down. Celestia flapped her wings as she surveyed the land below her. Luna was flying just behind her, making sure that Celestia hadn't missed anything. Half a year had passed since Tirek's downfall and the ponies of Equestria were happy, but rumors had begun to float around. Another centaur was spotted near a town on Equestria's western border. Luna and Celestia had put much thought into why another centaur would be in their country, all they knew was that the last centaur had only one thing on mind. Stealing magic. So far, neither sister had caught sight of their target. Perhaps the rumors were merely rumors and the threat was only their overactive imagination. Still, they had this unshakable sense of dread, as though something terrible was here. "Celestia, perhaps we should return. We've been looking for this knave for two fortnight. It is most certain that he hath either left or was simply a thing of lies." "One more night Luna. If we don't find him by then, then we can return. I simply can not rest knowing that somewhere out there is another of those awful beasts." "We share thy sentiments sister. If we can dispose of this abomination with haste, we would certainly have much better temperament for the next few moons." "He's only been in Equestria for a few weeks, there's no way he could've-" Celestial spotted something moving through the brush. "Over there!" Celestial dove into the foliage, no noticing or caring if her sister had managed to keep up. She landed, the dust around her being thrown into the air. Everything was still, nothing moved and not a sound was made. Luna landed next to her sister, looking around for the centaur that was meant to be there. The darkness of night, limiting their vision. "It's very silent, something knows we're here," Luna whispered. Still, not a sound. Celestia's horn illuminated as she prepared a scrying spell. She knew for a fact that she had seen a centaur in the forest below. If it didn't want to show itself willingly, she would simply have to smoke it out. A dome of energy expelled from the alicorn's horn, and like echolocation, she felt a pulse return from her target. A hundred yards and moving slowly and carefully, North by Northeast. "Found you." All at once, the three took off in a mad dash. The centaur raced through the woods as fast as it could, not caring for the cuts and nicks from the branches as they ran for their life. For days, the two diarchs were hot on his tail and talked of 'banishment.' Lost in adrenaline-fueled thought, he didn't have time to react to a blast from the princess of the moon. The blast sent him sidelong into the trunk of a tree, a huge bruise forming under his fur. Knowing he only had a few seconds to recover, he stumbled to his hooves. Such a heavy blow had slowed him down, the two rulers closing in at a rapid pace. The forest before them opened up to a clearing, giving the elder sister a clean shot. Pain. His back burned from where his lower and upper half met. He tripped on his own hooves, tumbling across the ground and skidding to a stop. He tried to stand again as a sweeping darkness took his hooved out from underneath him. Celestia had taken this opportunity to attack from above, her gold-plated horseshoes poised for his skull. The spiral horns of the centaur glowed green, and an orb appearing between their tips as a bright green beam shot through the air. Celestia was stuck directly in her chest. Her regalia had protected her but had failed to withstand the attack itself. She fell from the sky, her regalia split clean in half and landing near the downed princess. "Vile creature, thou shalt pay for your transgressions!" She seemed to weaponize a piece of the night sky itself, a dark tendril lashing out from thin air. A second beam from the centaur severed the mass before striking at Luna. Before a second attack could be launched, the centaur was surrounded by a golden aura. "Now, Sister!" Celestia called out. Luna summoned a portal to Tartarus, violently ripping through reality. "You can't do this to me! I've done nothing wrong!" The centaur was thrown through the portal, reality mending itself as he passed through. His words hung heavy in the air as Luna checked on the wellbeing of her sister. "You meant 'our will,' didn't you?" Discord's voice cut through the silence of the throne room as he tampered with the stained glass windows. His glass likeness mimicked his movements. "Of course," Tirek said, leaving the throne to approach the draconequus. "Here, I want you to have something. This was given to me by someone very close to me." Tirek roughly pulled the amulet from around his neck, before tying it around Discord's own. "I give it to you as a sign of my gratitude and loyalty." Tirek held one hand to his heart, as though silently swearing he was being honest. "Oh my, I do love a good accessory." Discord examined the piece he'd been gifted before continuing. "I suppose that's Rarity's influence." Discord looked across the grand hall, his eyes landing on the younger centaur. With a snap, he appeared before the grumpy Gus. "What? No gift from you Asmund?" The centaur turned away from him. "I have very few worldly possessions, each one very dear to my heart. I would never bestow one onto you, of all people." "Aw, please? There must be something your willing to part with. An old blanket, some jewelry, your blessing." "Well..." Asmund stroked his chin. "There is something I'm willing to part with." "Ooooooh, what? Tell me." Discord wrapped himself around the centaur's upper half. "You." Discord flopped to the ground. "Why must you wound me so?" "Would you two stop bickering?" Tirek's voice cut through the air. "Somewhere out there is the magic of three alicorns, waiting to be absorbed. The sun and moon still rise and set, so it must be in the possession of some other pony." Asmund looked behind the taller centaur before answering. "My guess is that it's with that new princess, whoever she is." "What?" Tirek turned around, the stained glass catching his eye. The visage of a fourth alicorn was plain as day, purple coat, purple mane, and a tiara with a six-point purple star as the crown jewel. "Is this meant to be humorous?" "Oh, no. I haven't touched that one yet." Discord said, waving it off nonchalantly. "There's a fourth, and you did not tell me this!" Tirek pointed an accusing finger at the draconequus. "I just needed some assurance that you truly considered this a team effort," Discord held up the amulet. "And now I have it." "And where can we find this fourth princess." Tirek grabbed Discord by the throat. "Where is her castle?" At this point, Asmund had tuned out the others. He had wanted to stay with Tirek, but something felt wrong. A conflict was approaching, and if Tirek fell, he would have to carry out the second part of their oath. He would need to be far away so he wouldn't get caught, no matter how much he wanted to stay and help. "Asmund!" The blue centaur snapped out of his stupor. He turned to face the voice, Tirek standing there, arms folded and an annoyed look on his face. "I believe you have something of mine." "Just take your magic already." "My, feeling rather feisty today. What has your horns in a twist?" "A thought has occurred to me, one that is very... troubling." Asmund looked away from Tirek as the last word slipped from his mouth. Tirek raised a brow, his friend didn't usually get like this, so it must've been important to him. Something that he wouldn't want to be discussed in front of a certain Lord of Chaos. "Discord, I need a moment alone with my associate." Discord's eyebrows raised, but he simply shrugged a poofed away to cause some more chaos. "So, what big bad boogieman is plaguing your mind this time?" Tirek said half-joking as he put an arm around Asmund's shoulder. Asmund shrugged it off. "Since we're going after the last alicorn, that means that there's going to be a final confrontation. Right?" "Naturally." Tirek crossed his arms. "What of it." "Well, if it's going to be happening so soon, I should start my escape. You remember the second part of our oath." "That would only be necessary if I fail." Tirek sounded insulted. "Do you truly think so little of my, to lose to some pony?" "I never said that, don't put words in my mouth. It's just... I want to go with you, but if I need to fulfill the oath, I need to be somewhere safe." Asmund turned his whole body to face Tirek. "If you do fall, anyone who's seen me will start a hunt. I cannot drain magiclike you do, I'll be vulnerable. I need to leave. Now." Tirek didn't know what to do. He was hoping to have Asmund by his side, but the younger centaur was speaking reason. Blood oaths were never broken, even if those involved both agreed to end it. It was a superstition that was as old as their species. They both heard tales of those who had broken their oaths, none of them ever survived through the next week. "I... Hadn't thought of that." Tirek said. Neither one spoke for a few seconds, but it seemed to last much longer than that. Neither one wanted to be the one to say goodbye, but it would come regardless. "You should probably take your magic back before I go." Again, no one said anything. It was simply routine at this point. They face each other, Tirek takes magic, Asmund staggers, Tirek catches him, maybe berates him, then Tirek leaves to steal magic. It was the same in Mineighapolis, it was the same in Las Pegasus, it was the same wherever they went together. And just like all the times before, there was no guarantee that they'd see each other again. There were no goodbyes, no last words, just silent sorrows as the two went their separate ways. Discord poofed back into, sombrero and maracas at the ready. "I'm all set for our capture of the elements." Discord said in a singsong voice, maracas shaking with the vigor of a rabbit on cocaine. Looking around the throne room, he only saw Tirek staring up at Twilight's image on the window. "So... where's the blue one?" "My associate and I made an agreement. He would only help us until the fall of the two eldest alicorns." "Why?" "A personal grudge. Regardless, he is making his leave as we speak." Tirek turned to face the draconequus. "I trust you have a plan to capture the bearers of the elements." "Of course, what do you think I am, some disorganized hooligan who's constantly winging it?" Discord threw his maracas down in indignation while Tirek just stared at him.