//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 // Story: Fears of Bygone Eras // by Lusaminia //------------------------------// It had been a painful sleep, and one that Aurora was all too familiar with. She had been in battle plenty of times before, her fur covering most of the scars on her, and that which didn’t was usually covered by armor. A small scrape there, an arrow grazing her here, nothing really out of the ordinary. Yet this night hadn’t been painful simply because of the physical injuries or because she could now see out of only one eye. She had Equestria, had taken back Canterlot, and the alicorn was imprisoned somewhere below the castle, where she would kill it after destroy it’s canon. By all means, she had won. Yet the excruciating pain that came from her broken wing, the small field of vision, it made her feel like she had lost more than anything. That creature, that wolf, with a paw that looked like it couldn’t even break a frail stick, somehow cracked not only her wing, but the blade that was attached to it. That creature was the obstacle standing in her way, not the alicorn. It was the wolf that had crushed her attempts at truly wrestling control of the city, stealing the canon from the alicorn’s chest. All she could hope was that hope that Tholak would come out on top. What a perfect final duty to her, before she offed the only other thing she was scared of. A relationship formed from nothing more than necessity to her, but did the dragon really fall in love with her? No. It was more likely that he had planned to kill her, a threat to dragon society, and a threat to his standing with his men. What else would such a war crazy imbecile do, especially when those he trained started taking orders better from a pony than himself. It would be far easier to pretend to fall in love, use that to get close, and then kill her. Too bad she had also the same exact idea, or he might actually have gotten away with it. The door opened at the far end of the castle infirmary, Aurora awake but her eyes were not open. All she heard were the hoof steps and metal sliding across metal; clearly a member of the castles medical staff. That was, if they actually were here to help her instead of try to kill her when she’s down. Either option would be smart, but considering she didn’t feel anything enter her back in the next few minutes, she decided to take her chances and see who was their. She winced as she turned her body, accidentally rolling on her injured wing as she did so. A gasp came from the pony who had entered the room, and they muttered instructions that were too quiet for her here. Looking to see who it was, she saw a pink unicorn with a blue mane above her, rolling her back onto her side. No words were spoken between the two as the mare tended to Aurora’s wing. The pegasus did everything she could to hold in the pain. “Does it hurt to much, my lady?” The unicorn asked. “I-I mean, you are the pony who just-” “Yes and yes,” Aurora answered, letting out a sigh. “If you wish to leave this to somepony else or leave the castle staff, you have my wish. I know that I have not made the best first impression.” “Bad first impression or not, you would have nopony else to take care of you. I’m the only medic in the castle, considering the military barely takes action,” The unicorn explained. She heard the injured mare groan, one she associated more with disappointment than pain. “Oh, speaking of which, Doctor Cross at your service, your,” Doctor Cross found herself unsure how to phrase her words “… majesty.” “Aurora Oracle, and I’m not ‘your majesty’ just yet. No crown sits on my head,” She told the doctor before whispering. “And it is still very much alive,” She turned her head to face the unicorn, finding it uncomfortable but feeling it was more polite. “You’re really all the castle has.” “We have experts come from the local hospital if anything serious happens, but since Queen Twilight took over that hasn’t really been necessary,” Doctor Cross explained. She forced a smile, but Aurora saw right through her. This unicorn was unhappy about certain things as she was. “No great evil trying to take Equestria, no invading forces until, well, now obviously. Besides, my family has served Equestria’s royalty for as far back as we know.” “Well, you’re family has done a great service to the nation, Lady Cross,” Aurora said. Her smile was genuine. “Will it heal?” “With proper care, rest, and the such, your wing will be good as new,” Cross replied. “I’m sure you probably know, but there is nothing I can do for your eye. What event caused such an injury? It surely wasn’t a pony?” “A beast that had found its way into the city during the battle,” Aurora half lied. “An intelligent one at that. Caught me off guard while battling a soldier, and it cost me.” “Well I would feel sorry for that creature, knowing that it just got on the new queen’s bad side,” The unicorn joked as she finished, managing to get a light chuckle out of Aurora. The pegasus heard the door open once again, watching as a yellow and red dragoness walked through the doors. “Hello, is something the matter?” “I’m here to speak with Aurora, in private if you wouldn’t mind,” The dragoness asked, putting on a light smile. Doctor Cross nodded her head to the dragoness, turned around and bowed to Oracle, and then left with her tools. Aurora rolled onto her back, being careful to not put too much pressure on her broken wing. The dragoness continued her way towards Aurora’s bed, sitting down on the bed across from her. She sat down and remained silent, waiting for Cross to leave in case she used the information she had against them. The dragoness doubted that it would happen, but it was always good to be cautious. “What do you got for me Topaz?” Aurora asked. “We had an attempted entry by a unicorn not long after you fell asleep, tried to free the alicorn, Twilight Sparkle,” The dragoness, Topaz asked, crossing her legs. “We’ve used the debilitating coating and locked her up in the prison, though we decided it was best to ask for your advice.” “She’s trying to protect what she knows is right, let her go,” Aurora explained. “Somepony like that shouldn’t be in jail, and as I said before: the only pony to go under the axe for now on is the alicorn.” “Everyone remembers what you said, but I would herald caution in your decisions,” Topaz said. “We both know that there will be those who try to stop you, and they have good reason for wanting to. Change isn’t something they want, and some are afraid of power,” She opened her mouth, closed it, but choose to continue with her train of thought. “That’s why I warned you about Tholak’s intention. That’s why… I’m gonna murder him for you.” “So you’ve finally decided your own loyalty?” Aurora asked, receiving a reluctant nod from the dragoness. “And you would choose me, a pony, and the leader that once tried to wipe your entire race out, over your own flesh and blood.” “Tholak may be my brother by blood, but a brother he is certainly not,” Topaz said. “At least, not anymore. It seems like ever since he took up the position of dragonlord he’s become more of a blood crazy lunatic than an actual loving individual.” Topaz could have continued, but she didn’t want to, and Aurora wasn’t going to push her to do so. She had no brother to call her own, and thus didn’t know how to react to the news present to her. Either way, she was happy to know the dragoness wasn’t gonna be an enemy. The more friends she had, the more powerful she was, and the better Equestria would be off. “Well, siblings or not, I’m glad to have you on my side,” Aurora replied, smiling. “Though, you don’t have to kill him for me. Whether you hate him or not, you’re going to hesitate to kill your own, and it could cost you,” Topaz didn’t respond, so the pegasus decided to change the topic. “So, Tambier’s formula actually work? The maniac actually found a way to disable pony magic?” The change in topic got a similar smile out of Topaz. “It surprised me just as much as it does you. Figured he was all talk for the longest time, but what do you know, he did it! Just coat it on the horn for a unicorn, wings for a pegasi, or hooves for an earth pony, and it disables all pony magic,” Topaz let out a sigh. “Although, we wouldn’t need to play this gambit if you hadn’t been so uptight about testing it.” “A pegasus takes pride in her wings and I wasn’t about to let you try and harm them,” Aurora boasted, though her pride quickly dropped as she looked to her broken wing. “Though, I guess I won’t be flying for a long time, or even able to fight properly.” Topaz merely shrugged in response, knowing anything she would say in response would only anger the pegasus. “Well, I can’t stay for much longer. We have a lot of things to do, such as repairs and getting the castle staff prepared for you,” Topaz got up and started making her way to the door, stopping as she remembered something. “Oh, your highness, about the coating. Tambier informed me that the alicorn is showing slight resistance to the coating, and that her body will quickly become immune to it. He estimates five days before needing to reapply, and also estimated the time will be a day shorter each time. Unicorn resistance or something like that.” “So we have… five plus four plus three is twelve… than three more is fifteen. Tholak has fifteen days to destroy the canon,” Aurora mumbled. She ground her teeth, unhappy at how little time he had to fulfill his duty. “Thanks for informing me Topaz. Creator be with you.” The dragoness bowed, smiling pleasantly as she did, before turning and opening the door. With a few more steps, she allowed the to-be-ruler to rest, and left the castle infirmary. “She’s doing okay?” Cross asked. Topaz nearly jumped as she heard the Doctor’s voice, but managed to keep herself in check. “Yeah, just resting up,” The dragoness replied. “Thank you for being willing to stay. I know we didn’t exactly make a good first impression.” “Well, thank you. Her majesty actually said the exact same thing earlier,” Cross said, holding back the urge to giggle. “Let’s just say that my loyalty is to Equestria, not royalty.” “I…” Topaz found herself unable to retort, knowing that she was very much the same. She was loyal to her people, sure, but in no way was she loyal to those that ruled above her, or even her own family. “I understand that feeling.” -------- Psyche could hear the dragons in front of her whimpering in fear. She had no idea what she had done wrong, or why they were so scared of her. Besides, she was just one, blind earth pony with no battle experience, they should be scared of her. Yet, that was before they had made on crucial mistake. A mistake that had caused them to scream in terror and fear her for no reason at all. That mistake? They had removed her blindfold, and she had locked eyes with the very dragon to do so. She took a step forward, the whimpers breaking into screams as the dragons ran from as far away as they could from her. She grabbed her blindfold and tied it around her eyes once again, letting out a sigh. She moved for the door, only to run into a piece of stone that was not there before. She moved to the side of the stone and continued to the door, which she closed without a sound. Hoping that nopony else would bother her, she started to consider where her newest work was to be placed, or if she should sell it off to some of the nobles who stayed in the city during the attack. -------- Cross cleared Aurora from the infirmary the following morning, though it hadn’t been without the two butting heads or instructions. Much to her disappointment, Aurora had found that ponykind hadn’t found a way to instantly fix bones in the past thousand years. She had to begrudgingly go along with the fact that she could not fly or use her blades for a decent amount of time. Outside of that, the to-be-queen had also refused her doctor’s request to cover up her now missing right eye. While Cross saw it as a health hazard, Aurora saw it as a battle scar. It was a reminder that she had let her guard down against the wolf, and knowing what they did would remind her not to underestimate them if they cross paths again. That, however, was not her current issue, but rather the fact the unicorn who had infiltrated the castle yesterday had refused to leave her cell. According to the prison guards, who had shown great disdain for her, the mare the dragons had imprisoned was a mare by the name of Rarity. A hero of Equestria, and the owner of one of the largest fashion establishments in the country. Not a combination she had expected, but putting citizens in harm's way seemed like something an alicorn would do. Nonetheless it sounded like the mare had some guts, considering she demanded for Aurora personally, and had used lots of colorful words to tell her to turn herself in. The current predicament is one that she had seen before, back before the union of the three tribes. She had two choices that didn’t involve submitting to Rarity’s request, and both had high risk to them. The easier and safer for the short-term option was to kill the unicorn, which would keep her from possibly attempting a coup in the future, but she knew that was a bad idea. Tyrants were formed in blood and skulls, and she wished to be no tyrant, ruling with fear and executing all that opposed her. That would also contradict what she had told Topaz late last night. Her other option wasn’t better, but it was the one she would try and follow through with. Rarity’s was a hero of Equestria in the eyes of the public, and it was because of her that Equestria still stood. If she let her go, it could put her own life in danger, but would win her some favor with the citizenry. It wouldn’t be much, but showing kindness, generosity, and honor would be the only way to one day win her ponies to her side. That would mean running the risk of a pony who could possibly outmatch being free, meeting with nobles, and showing that she cared for Equestria. Having made her way down into the dungeons, lead by two ponies guards, as well as Topaz in case they tried to attack her, she was lead to the unicorn’s cell. Aurora looked at Rarity, who immediately looked back at her the moment the two came into view of each other. A white unicorn, horn covered in that transparent mixture that Tambier had created to disable the alicorn’s magic. She was wearing a rather thick fur coat despite the humidity, her gaze one that breathed discontent. Aurora didn’t let the look discourage her, only straightening herself up more. Despite apparently being in her late forties, Aurora was surprised to see little to no wrinkles. “As you requested, Ms Rarity,” The guards said. “Thank you, dears,” Rarity replied with a nod. Aurora was a little surprised at the mare’s voice, thinking it sounded more like that of a noble lady than that of a seamstress from a small town. “Now, if you would please leave us so that we can chat?” The guards bowed in respect to the mare and took their leave, no back talking to be found as she did. Aurora looked to Topaz, the look being all the dragoness needed to know she was to follow. Topaz turned and walked just far enough out of sight to make sure Rarity couldn’t see her, Aurora watching her to try and give the impression she was making sure she left. After a few seconds Aurora turned back to Rarity, her smile contradicting the grimace on the unicorn. Aurora took a deep breath in. “I figured you would take the option to leave. They did tell you there was no crime to what you did right?” Aurora asked. “Yes, they did, but I’m not leaving here till my friend is free,” Rarity exclaimed, ending her statement with a stomp of her hoof. “And you turn yourself in.” “Not an option, not after what I had to do to get here,” Aurora replied. She sat on the ground, only to jump in shock as her butt touched water. She groaned at the sight, taking notice of how horribly kept this place was. “Yet, at the same time I’m not gonna execute a hero of Equestria. So, as I said you are free.” Aurora grabbed the keys off of a nearby hook and unlocked Rarity’s cell. She forced it open, taking note of the rust and wear on the bar door and making a mental note to fix it up. Despite opening it, Rarity still didn’t take a step out of the cell, instead trying to ignite her horn. What she was met with was a headache, as all the magic she tried to force into her horn rebound back into her head. The unicorn fell to the floor, the headache seeming to have no intention of leaving. After several minutes of agony, Rarity found herself able to stand again, though her thoughts ended up going to her now wet coat. “Aww, and I just purchased this a week ago,” Rarity pouted. She finally stepping out of the cell for the soul purpose of batting Aurora’s muzzle. The pegasus remained unmoved, though it took her entire being to not cross her eyes to focus on where she had been hit. “This is all your fault, you… you… imbecile!” Rarity moved back into her cell removing the key and throwing it back to Aurora, who got hit in the head. She then closed the door, looking to the ceiling with a “hump”. “Look, I know that what I did was horrible, but you of all ponies must know that sacrifice has to be made for the greater good,” Aurora told Rarity, a hint of desperation in her voice. “The alicorns, no matter what good they have done, has been holding Equestria back, and you want to know how I know this?” Rarity only responded by turning further away from Aurora. “We’re still using weapons from a thousand years ago, a thousand years! Our military, is far as I’ve seen, has been reduced to a laughing stock, and that’s just at first glance. The alicorn’s power has made us lazy, ill-equipped, and under prepared for any possible threats that has used that time to actually advance.” “And what makes you such an expert on this? And is it worth the price you have decided to pay?” Rarity retired. “How many young stallions and mares did you kill in order to make Equestria better? Was it worth it?” “The sacrifice is never equal to the goal, but we all must learn that this is the price to pay for safety, happiness, and the option to live,” Aurora responded, unshaken. “A thousand years ago, I was given the throne by none other the Princess Platinum, a unicorn! She believed that I would lead Equestria to better days, but the alicorns decided that I was unworthy,” Her voice got more stressed as she talked, veins starting to show in her neck. “They have the right to deny the leader Equestria wanted? The ponies want?! They exiled me, and I was forced to work with my enemy in a gambit to get it back, one that they thought had failed for a thousand years!” She started to pace as she continued to speak. “I stand now not because of some higher villain, but because death wished me to win - Equestria wished for me to win. You know that the alicorns have blinded ponies, that it is the ponies who must take Equestria’s government. To live forever is to be stuck in a single moment of history, and to those individuals change is a worm! You want those who see innovators and inventors as worms to rule?” “My dear Twilight is not a worm!” Rarity shouted, her voice overpowering Aurora’s and causing the invader to take a step back. “You want to know who the blind one is? It’s you! The one so stuck up in the past you aren’t able to see the advancements that truly matter. Medicine, education, economics, harmony. These are the powers of Equestria, the ones that you are unable to see you blood bathing barbarian!” Aurora did all she could to hold in the anger at Rarity’s name calling. “That matters none if we can’t defend ourselves from invaders and criminals!” “Rarity, do as she says.” Aurora looked a few cells down, recognizing the voice from before the invasion. There, sitting in a cell, the anti-magic substance soaked into her horn, wings, and hooves, was the alicorn. Aurora snarled at the sight of her, her eyes landing on its chest. Rarity, for the first time since she was down here, looked genuinely shocked. She rushed to the bars, laying her eyes on Twilight, who was so restricted by the substance on her body she could barely move. “Twilight, you… you don’t expect me to leave you with somepony like this, do you?” Rarity asked. “Rarity,” Twilight muttered. Her voice was weak, and she had to strain it in order to get those around her to hear. “I… appreciate what you have done, but you have other things to worry about; things that are more important than me. You have a business, and a mom and dad who needs you in their age.” “You can’t be serious,” Rarity said to herself. She looked to Aurora, hating that she would have to ask for the pegasus’ kindness, but her concern for her friend was greater than that hate. “Please, open it. I need to see her.” Aurora looked to the alicorn, and sighed. “If it gets you out.” Grabbing the key from off the floor, she once again opened Rarity’s cell. The former element of generosity didn’t wait for Aurora to get out of the way, pushing her aside as she ran to her old friend. Aurora watched from a distance, uninterested in what was being said but keeping an eye on the two’s facial expressions. She couldn’t read the alicorn, though that may have been due to the substance restricting her (she would have to talk with Tambier about how much he actually used), but Rarity’s expression continued to change. One moment she was smiling, the next she was one the verge of tears, but those tears never actually came. At the end of it all, the two hugged, Rarity whispering words that Aurora knew well were “be safe”. With that, the two separated, and a defeated looking Rarity walked to Aurora. “Don’t think this will be the last you hear from me,” She whispered. “I will not see what you have planned for Equestria.” Aurora smiled. “You’ll come around in time, I’m sure of it.” As Rarity left, Aurora gave a glance to alicorn, noticing a smile on its face. Though she didn’t speak a word, Aurora knew well what that smile meant: she lost. She was unable to convince an innocent pony to leave their own cell, and the only reason she left was due to the creature she would kill. Her breath echoed through the prison hall, that smile being added to the number of reasons she would kill the alicorn. “Don’t you dare think you’ve won the war,” Aurora barked, turning away so she didn’t have to see the smile. “Your days away from death.”