Chapter 3
He rushed down the dark stone hallway, stumbling more than once on depressed stones in the floor. The torches lining the corridor were dimming, reducing the frightened earth pony's vision even further. His mistress had summoned him, had said it was urgent. It must be about Umbra, he thought. He never reported back! The mistress was often calm and reasonable during discussions with her soldiers. One thing she did not tolerate, however, was missing reports, especially so close to the invasion. Whoever had to explain the problem to her in detail...
He stopped at the entrance to his mistress's chamber and paused to pull a charm from his pocket, a symbol believed to bring good luck to the wearer. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he knocked on the wooden door. It was immediately opened by a large pegasus, coated in black armor emblazoned with a white crescent moon symbol. The guard stepped aside and allowed the soldier to enter.
Like the rest of the complex, this room was built of stone, hidden from prying eyes deep below ground. The only light anywhere came from torches lining the walls, most of them flickering and weakening as the day neared its end. This room was more brightly lit than the rest, for the torches at each corner were burning healthily. At the end opposite the door sat a white pegasus, flanked by two more guards. This one was much smaller than the guards, but the earth pony had no doubts about her strength; she had proven it many times against soldiers delivering news much like she was about to hear.
He cleared his throat as the pegasi fixed their eyes on him. "My lady, I bring troubling news regarding one of our scouts."
"Yes, so I have heard. Explain."
"Yes, my lady. Umbra, the one you sent to Ponyville, was ordered to send us a report one day after his arrival, explaining how likely the town would be to join us or, if needed, fall to us. He should have gone through the town and been on his way back by now, but there are no signs of him for miles. In the worst case, we believe he might have been captured."
"Captured?" The mare's eyes flared. "Do you know what this could do to us?"
"Yes, my lady. If he is not found..."
"He could expose us! Lay bare our plans! Celestia would know our intent, and we would be stopped before we ever got near Canterlot."
"My lady, if I might..."
"I'll send another to Ponyville and find him," the white pegasus snapped. "Our fastest flyer. I don't care what it takes; we need Umbra found and brought back here, before anything happens to him that will endanger us all."
The soldier before her cleared his throat as he slowly stepped back out the door, never taking his eyes off the mistress and her guards. "Yes, my lady. And what do you need from me?"
"You can go tell the others not to worry. I'll soon have this under control."
The door was closed and the room fell silent once more. The white pegasus ran a hoof through her indigo mane as she considered this development. If Umbra was captured, she would have to work quickly to even have a chance in the invasion. Before long, Celestia would be able to mount a defense, and no creature stood a chance against the magic of Equestria's ruler, not when so much is at stake for her. She turned to address her guards. "I wish to be left alone. Go get yourselves some dinner or something."
The guard pegasi exchanged glances with each other as they exited the room. Certainly, the mistress was safe within the underground complex, but she still wanted to be surrounded by guards most of the time. "Just as a precaution," she had said, but never described what the precaution was against. Ever since she disappeared from Cloudsdale and changed her name, Nightshade was "cautious" to a point that bordered on paranoia. It seemed she always expected something to attack her when she wasn't looking. To want to be alone now was out of character for her. Something must be troubling the mare deeply. Still, Nightshade had proven to be an effective leader. Since she took hold of the Nocturne, its ranks grew to over two hundred, all of them well-trained and provisioned for the assault on Canterlot. They outnumbered the royal guard, according to their informant in the castle, and possessed a map showing exactly where in the castle Celestia would be. After hundreds of years as a small group of rebels, the organization now had a solid chance at victory. That is, until Umbra went missing.
However threatening that news was, it would soon be resolved. Wherever Umbra had gone, he could never escape the grasp of the Nocturne. The cunning pegasus knew exactly who to send to Ponyville; an old friend who owed her a favor, the most talented flyer in all of Equestria.
The gray unicorn woke up to the chirps of birds at his window. The sun had barely risen, but sound could be heard downstairs. Lyra must already be up, he thought as he slowly made his way down to the ground floor of the inn.
Lyra was busy making a salad, throwing in each ingredient while she used her magic to control a pair of wooden forks. The mint-green unicorn cast a glance at her guest while she finished mixing the bowl. "Good morning. You want a bite to eat before you head out?"
"That's for me? Oh...yes, I would, thank you."
"No problem. Just common hospitality, right?" Lyra passed a smaller bowl of salad over, then covered the larger bowl before packing it into a picnic basket. "I'll be leaving soon too, so get your bag and anything else out of your room before I lock up, alright?"
"I left it at the library yesterday, before the party. It's still there, I think."
"Okay then. Let me just pack the rest of my lunch and we'll go."
Lyra took the picnic basket, and a checkered red-and-white blanket, and left the inn with the gray unicorn, magically locking the door and bringing the key to her saddlebag. The two separated at the fountain they passed by yesterday. Ponyville was already active, its streets filled with residents, travelers and vendors going about their daily routines. Birds could still be heard chirping in the distance, and the sky was clear today.
The gray unicorn knew his way back to the library, or at least to Sugarcube Corner, and either place was likely to hold his belongings. He wasn't sure where exactly he had left them, but that was not his main concern. He still didn't know who he was, or why he was heading to Ponyville before waking up in the forest. Twilight Sparkle should have something ready by now that can help him. With luck, he would soon remember everything.
The door of the library burst open just as the he was about to open it, sending him tumbling back a few steps to avoid crashing into Twilight Sparkle. Both soon regained their balance, and Twilight held up a flask containing a bright blue liquid. "Ah, you're already here. That saves a bit of time. I was about to go over to the inn and give you this," she said as she passed the flask to the gray unicorn. "If I followed the recipe correctly, it should help with amnesia and other side effects of head injuries. I haven't had the chance to use it yet, so I'm not yet sure it will work. You'll be the first to know if I was successful."
"I'm a test subject now. Yay." The gray stallion slowly drained the flask, recoiling at its taste. "Delicious," an obvious lie, "but it could use a bit of sugar."
"Maybe next time," Twilight replied. "Now, I'm going to the spa with Rarity for a while. I'll be back later today to see if that remedy worked. You can stay here if you want; I'm not expecting any visitors, and the library is closed today."
"I'll do just that. Thank you, Twilight."
"You're welcome, and thank you for coming here yourself. Now that I'm fifteen minutes ahead of schedule, I think I can manage a trip to the market." Twilight turned and trotted down the street, bringing a scroll up beside her and checking off the first two items on a long list.
The gray unicorn stepped into the library and quickly found his saddlebag, lying on the table he'd left it on the day before. Everything was still there, packed hastily into the bag. He had just begun fitting it on himself when he heard claws scratching the floor. Looking up, he saw a small, purple dragon making its way down the staircase, yawning as it noticed the gray unicorn. "Oh, so you're the one Twilight was talking about. Nice to meet you," he said, holding out a clawed hand, "I'm Spike."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, too, Spike. I wish I could introduce myself, but we'll have to wait for whatever Twilight gave me to work. So, what are you doing here? Isn't this Twilight's home?"
"Yeah, but it's mine, too. We were both sent to Ponyville so Twilight could help out with the Summer Sun Celebration. Princess Celestia found us a place to live that's perfect for Twilight, full of books and scrolls. I help out with carrying items, cleaning the library, practicing new spells...anything I can do."
"You're pretty busy, then. I think I'll just look around the library a bit, if that's okay with you, Spike."
Spike took a seat at the table, flipping a blue gem into the air and catching it in his mouth. "Mmm...sapphire." He then picked up a large ruby and took a bite out of it, using the rest to point at a shelf to his left. "You should try those books first. They list every major city in Equestria. Maybe one of them will sound familiar to you while that remedy sets in."
"Good idea. Thanks, Spike."
The gray unicorn pulled a book from the shelf Spike pointed out and began skimming through the pages. Cloudsdale, Canterlot, Appleoosa...none of them sounded the least bit familiar. It would probably take some time before the remedy took full effect, assuming it would work at all. Another idea came to him; Twilight Sparkle and Lyra had both been able to move objects with magic, something that seemed to come naturally for them. Maybe this will help...
"Hey, Spike. You said something about magic earlier. All unicorns can use it, right?"
"Of course they can. Most just use it to move things around for them, but some have spells that are focused on their talents. Rarity uses hers to dig up gems for her dresses. She goes out for a day and comes back with a wagon piled with rubies, emeralds, topazes..." Spike snapped back to attention, forgetting his hunger for a moment. "So yeah. You should be able to use it without any trouble. Why do want to know?"
"Well, I thought if I started using magic that I had before, it would bring back some of my memories. That remedy Twilight gave me should also help."
Spike was surprised at the gray unicorn. Twilight Sparkle had said exactly that last night while preparing the amnesia remedy. "Um, sure, I'd be happy to help. But now we've wasted a lot of time talking, and I have to get started on my work for the day." He unrolled a scroll, the other end coming to rest on the ground. "First," he read, "dust the bookshelves, then sweep the floor. If you want, you can practice moving objects around with that broom over there."
The two began with the shelf in front of them, Spike doing his best to tell the unicorn how to use magic. Concentrate on the target, he explained, and imagine it floating, then it would be easy to make it move in other directions just by thinking about it. After a few tries, the gray unicorn finally got a feather duster to hover in front of him. Within ten minutes, he was sweeping across bookshelves, controlling the duster easily. One slip nearly sent a vase to the floor, but was suddenly stopped just above the floor, now bathed in a white, magical light.
As the day went on and the many tasks were completed, the gray unicorn learned how to hold objects as easily as he would with his hooves. Still, it was nearly midday, and he knew nothing more about his identity than when he woke up that morning. Maybe the remedy had failed to work after all; he would have to talk to Twilight about some other solution when she returned.
The sun had just passed its highest point in the sky when somepony knocked at the door. "The library's closed today!" Spike announced as he approached the door. "Sorry, but you'll have to come back..." he paused as he saw exactly who was at the door.
"Spitfire! What are you doing here?"