Monday
Twilight listened to the rain drum on the roof of the train car.
The light, rhythmless barrage normally brought comfort and relaxation, a constant background noise meant to accompany a warm cup of tea, a soft blanket, and a good book, but when paired with the constant, regular chug-chug-chug that shook the carriage, all Twilight heard was discomfort. The mismatched noises were anxious, sloppy, and unprepared, and she didn’t need any reminders of her feelings of the task at hoof.
The unicorn inhaled deeply and looked back at the short, less-than-sweet letter that lay on her lap.
Twilight,
It is a relief to hear that you are en route with the interloper. I fear Luna may be Please bring it to the palace as soon as you are able.
Celestia
"Don't tell me that you're reading that again." Looking Glass eyed her from his place on the seat opposite her own. "You already know what it says. Nothing on it is reassuring."
Twilight sighed. "I can't really help it. It's so... short." She read it again, ignoring Looking's eye-roll. "The Princess is never this concise and her writing is never this sloppy. I’m worried."
"Well, we're working just about as fast as we can."
She breathed deeply, trying to lessen the ache in her chest, and wondered when they would be far enough away from Ponyville to escape the storm. The raindrops streaking sideways across the window offered no answers.
"I know, I know,” she finally replied, “but every second we don't deliver is another second we risk him finding out what's going on." She snorted and stamped her hoof. "Can't this thing go any faster?"
"You saw it! It has no idea this is something to be concerned about." He gave her a reassuring smile. "It's got no reason to! The creature's new to Equestria, so–"
Her eyes widened and she snapped her hoof to her lips. "Shh! Are you crazy? Aren't you worried he'll hear?"
"Oh, I'm not worried. The interloper's in the next car with Spike and the others." He waved his hoof at the far end of the train car. "It's never left Ponyville, so it'll be trying to blend into a different environment, and the rest of them are probably talking about how rude it was for the bureaucrat stranger to pull you away from your friends to talk business. No worries. I'm happy to take the blame for that one."
Twilight bit her lip. "Well, if you say so." She wasn't convinced, and every rumble and jolt the train made set her on edge. Was that the sound of hoofsteps outside the door, or just a bump on the track? She frowned. Even if it were somepony, it’s far too noisy between cars to hear us speak.
"The creature was new to Equestria, you can tell by its behavior." He tapped his hooves together as he spoke. "Its strange mannerisms, its not-quite-right accent... It seems like it was just adapting to the goings-on around it on the fly. The counselor even mentioned how oddly it behaved when it first arrived. Now, admittedly, that all doesn't explain everything, but you and I both know there are stranger traits an interloper can have. Remember the entry about the one that turned ponies inside out and–"
"Yes! Yes, I remember." Twilight grimaced and held out a hoof. "Reading about it once was plenty, thank you."
"Ah, of course. Apologies." Looking Glass blushed a little and shuffled a bit on his seat. "My point is that things are going well for the moment, no need to panic. You've double-checked the inscriptions on the bindings?" His horn lit and he levitated two leather bracers out of his saddlebags. The silvery, faintly glowing inscriptions made them look almost beautiful.
Twilight nodded. "I tested them on myself. The second we get even one of them around the interloper’s foreleg, any magic he, ah, it tries to summon will be siphoned off. No transformations, no discharges. Then we just have to get it to touch Luna, and our problem will solve itself."
"And I’ll be near him all through Canterlot, just in case I need to get these on him at a moment’s notice.” Looking Glass replaced the bindings. “I'm confident we've done all we can, at least for the moment. Nothing we can do now but stay alert."
The train rumbled around them. The engine huffed and chugged, muffled by distance and wind. Thank Celestia the train's mostly empty. Some primal force of luck must have been on their side. No prying eyes, no clueless strangers walking up and involving themselves, and best of all, low chance of casualties should something go terribly wrong on the ride to Canterlot. Really, only the counselor and Rainbow would be in danger.
Rainbow Dash... She got that glimmer in her eye whenever the colt struck a pose or cracked a dumb joke or acted like a smart aleck. Rainbow would stick up for Gabriel like she would any of the girls. The thought pinned Twilight's ears against her skull. They still needed to be separated, and when Rainbow finally found out... She has to know it's for the better. We're trying to save a princess!
She groaned. “I really wish Rainbow hadn’t insisted on coming along so… convincingly. This would all be so much easier if she stayed in Ponyville.”
The stallion grimaced. “Yes, she was rather, erm, vocal. Still, we knew she would probably resist being left behind, and that’s what the backup plan is for. It should give us enough time, even with her speed.”
Twilight knew, logically, that he was right, and nodded. "We're doing the right thing," she said, more to herself than Looking. "That colt is a being from another world. He's an interloper. Even if, by some infinitesimal chance, he isn't malicious, it won't matter. We still have to save Princess Luna."
I know I'm doing the right thing, so why does it feel so bad?
Looking Glass reached out a hoof and touched its edge to hers. "I know that it isn't easy. I'm not comfortable with the situation either. It’s built a personality. It looks just like a little foal," he said quietly. "And I know your friend and the counselor aren't going to understand at first, but we're doing it to help them. To help everypony. To help Princess Luna. We can't back down, no matter what. They're counting on us."
“I know, I’m just nervous, is all.” Twilight gave a little smile. “Thanks for all your help, by the way.”
The stallion laughed. “You know, Twilight, you’ve really changed since we left our schooling. What happened to that awkward filly who could barely keep a conversation going?”
Twilight giggled a little at that, despite herself. “I suppose she became an Element of Harmony.”
“Ah, yes. Are you sure you don’t want the rest of your friends along?”
Her smile disappeared. “I don’t want the situation getting any more, erm, complicated than it has to be. I wouldn’t feel like a very good friend if I dragged them along just for an uncomfortable decision, even if it is a difficult one.” Heck, I feel like a pretty terrible friend already.
“Mmm.” Looking nodded. “Well, have you got the backup letters? You know, just in case?” He nodded to her saddlebags. She eyed them as well, staring at the one she knew contained four tightly-wrapped scrolls, ready to be sent at a moment’s notice.
“They’re ready,” Twilight said. “Hopefully we won’t have to use the most powerful magical artifacts in Equestria for this, but if it comes to it, I can tell the rest of the girls to get to Canterlot as soon as possible. The express chariot tickets are already in there.”
Looking chuckled. “You really do plan for everything, don’t you?”
The far door made a loud Clunk! and its doorknob began to jiggle. Twilight and Looking both yelped and their heads snapped to the end of the train car. A moment later, it swung open, strengthening the train's rumble to a roar and revealing a little green colt. The two ponies stared at the imposter, and he raised an eyebrow.
He trotted into the car, letting the door swing shut behind him. "Uh, what's with the look?"
Twilight blinked. "Um..."
"To be perfectly honest, you caught us somewhat by surprise!" Looking Glass came to the rescue with an awkward laugh. "We weren't expecting the door to make such a startling noise!"
"Heh, sorry about that." The colt began to make his way down the aisle. "You guys done talkin' business in here yet?"
"Um, not quite, Gabriel," said Twilight, forcing an even tone into her voice, "but we'll be back with everypony in a second!"
He chuckled as he paused at their booth. "Oh, no worries from me. I don't care about whatever you're talking about. The others are the ones who’re wondering why you’re taking so long. I'm just looking for a bathroom." He gave them both a broad grin and trotted out the next door. "Ciao!"
Once it had shut behind him, blocking out the wind and quieting the train car's cabin, Looking Glass pointed his hoof. "See? No idea."
Twilight breathed a partially relieved sigh. "I think you're right. Now, let's get back to the others before it comes back. I don't want to be gone too long."
"Right behind you."
Spike's claws tapped on the train car's floor as he made his way through the empty space, humming to himself. The way the walls around him rumbled and shook didn't bother him as much as it did the other ponies, even when it was too loud to hear over, like now, as it rumbled up to the foothills of Mount Canter. Perhaps it had something to do with his dragon nature? Maybe I'm just used to those kinds of noises.
The little dragon imagined himself making a throaty railroad growl as he opened another door and stepped through, onto the platform between the cars. The railroad ties sped by below him so fast that they were only wooden blurs on the mountain's slate-gray stone. He elected not to think about what would happen if he fell, and stepped through the next door, smacking right into a pony.
"Oof!" the two went tumbling into the train car in a heap of limbs. Spike's eyes widened and he untangled himself as quickly as he could manage. His face grew hot as he got to his feet and held out a claw. "Sorry about that, Gabe! My bad!"
"Ah, no worries, dude, I've been through worse," said Gabriel, taking the outstretched limb and hauling himself to his hooves. "Didn't expect to literally run into anyone else here, though."
Spike raised an eyebrow. He said 'anyone’. "Yeah, I'm only following you to the bathroom."
The little colt shrugged. "Well, uh, you're not gonna have any luck here. I've been all the way to the end and I haven't found one."
He seemed pretty confident he knew where he was going when he left, Spike thought. Weird.
The little dragon snorted. "I guess I'm out of luck 'till we get to Canterlot, then. Good thing it's not that far."
"Yeah, good for me too. I was considering doing my business off the back of the train."
Spike snorted and let out a laugh. "Oh dude! Twi would freak if she caught me doing that."
"Ah, that's part of the fun," Gabriel said with a grin of his own. Then the colt tilted his head and tapped his chin. "Hey, Twilight seems a little neurotic today, yeah? Well, uh, more than usual, I mean."
Spike rolled his eyes and scoffed. What an understatement. "Oh, you have no idea."
"Oh?" The colt leaned up against one of the seats and crossed one foreleg over the other, grinning. "Do tell."
The little dragon crossed his own arms and set his shoulder against another bench. "Dude, she's been running herself ragged over things this past couple of days."
"What's been going on?"
Spike began to count on his fingers. "Well first, she got this super mysterious letter from Princess Celestia, telling her to research a bunch of old banned magic. Then that Canterlot stallion from the Royal Bureau of Snobs showed up to help with finding some sort of magical interdimensional monster or something. I don't really know the whole story."
The colt's eyes widened. "What?"
"Oh, yeah, you're new in town. This sort of thing seems to happen a lot, so don't worry about it too much. The longer you hang around Twi and her friends, the more you'll see that they get involved in all sorts of crazy stuff." He grinned at the colt. "You're livin' with Rainbow, so hey, maybe you already found that out."
"Whoof," Gabriel ran a hoof across his mane. "I've certainly learned my fair share living with her."
"And then, as if that all wasn't enough, she gets a letter from Celestia saying that Princess Luna is really sick because of that monster." He rubbed the side of his head. "You can imagine that it's been driving Twi up the freaking wall."
“Wait, the Princess is sick?”
“Yeah,” Spike said, his face falling, “I think things are really bad. Twi’s been so caught up in trying to help her. She’s thrown herself into it so much that I think she barely notices when I’m around. I should consider myself lucky that I even got brought on this trip.”
"Sounds like a lot to deal with." The colt rubbed his foreleg. "Well, do you think they're gonna catch that monster? Is that why we're going to Canterlot?"
"If I had to guess, we're up here to find some magical scroll or doohickey or something to help her out and she brought that nice mare and Rainbow along to give her a hoof, which would be why you're getting dragged along on this." He shrugged. "All I really know is that Twilight'll get the job done no matter what. At this point, I've learned to just sort of go with it, figure things out as they come, and decide what to do then. Way less stressful that way."
"Hmm. You ain't kiddin'." The colt smiled and held out a hoof. "I think I could stand to learn a thing or two from you, Spike."
Spike grinned and bumped it with a fist. "I wouldn’t mind hearing that more often." He turned around, and together, the two began to make their way back up the train.
The engine hissed and the breaks squealed as their train groaned to a stop at the Canterlot Main Station. Any hint of storm clouds and rain had been left behind. The clear afternoon sky filled its massive windows, pouring sunlight down onto the throngs of ponies milling about on the platform.
Gabe hopped off the carriage and onto the platform right away, his eyes wide at the grand hall arching above them. Rainbow Dash smiled as he ogled the sight, even if she was a little befuddled at his awed muttering. "This is what Grand Central must have looked like..."
"Hey, kid! Don't wander off too far!" She called as the others began to trot off the train. Twilight and that weird bureaucrat chatted quietly with one another while Sandy Hills followed Spike, the two of them coming up next to Rainbow.
"Augh, I'm so nervous," the counselor said, looking a little green around the gills as they all began moving towards the station's exit. "I can't believe the Ministry responded to my report so quickly!"
Rainbow patted her on the withers. "Don't sweat it, Sandy, You're great at your job! These Canterlot snoots would have to be idiots not to recognize how much you care about what you do!" She widened her eyes and blushed, looking to a smirking Looking Glass. "Erm, sorry, no offense, dude."
He chuckled. "None taken at all, Ms. Dash. I'm well aware that we Canterlotians can be somewhat... self-centered at times."
"Anyway, if they take you off the job, those desk jockeys are gonna have to deal with me." Rainbow bounced into the air and flexed, smacking her hooves together for good measure. "And they're not ready for all this."
Gabe laughed at that, snorting as he walked. Rainbow felt her heart swell with pride and found it difficult to hide her giggly-grin behind a machismo smirk.
The six exited Canterlot Station a few quick bathroom trips later, walking into the warm afternoon sun and brilliantly fresh mountain air. Moods soared all around as they began to make their way through Canterlot. Throngs of often extravagantly dressed ponies filled the roads, filling the spaces with energetic voices and forming a colorful river flowing in all directions between the whites, golds, and purples of the streetside buildings crowding for space.
Ponyville's storm was nothing more than a far-off thought here, where the skies were a jaw-dropping blue and proved a perfect backdrop for the colorful pegasi flying through the sky. The sight of ponies dipping and gliding overhead filled Rainbow with energy and she let out a whoop, performing a twisting loop-the-loop and coming in for a landing that would have Applejack huffing and telling her to 'be a tad less dramatic, sugar cube'.
Ohh, it felt so good to finally be able to stretch her wings.
"Yeah!" she said, grinning at Twilight and Sandy, "Sweet Celestia was I ever cooped up in that tiny train." The counselor hid a giggle behind a polite hoof and Twilight smiled.
"We had better get to the Ministry before we miss those meetings, but, uh, I'm sure there'll be time to enjoy the day afterward."
Rainbow blew a raspberry, but only a little one. "Alright, alright. Let's get a move on."
The group set off, pushing their way through the midday crowds. Once again, Gabe insisted on walking on the edges of the streets, near the buildings’ colorful façades and fanciful displays. Rainbow made sure to keep a close eye on him, but he seemed to be sticking to the others.
The colt rubbernecked at every detail, though, his eyes wide at everything from a countess's immaculate dress to the ivy crawling up one of the city’s many towers. It brought a smile to her face, and she lowered her head to his level.
"Pretty crazy, right?"
He laughed. "This place is insane. There's just so much of it!"
"Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction the first time I saw Canterlot," she said.
"I've never seen a city so alive and active! It's so, so open! and colorful, and everypony's just walking around! There must be thousands and thousands of ponies living here."
"Right you are!" said Looking Glass as the group entered a street-corner square. “Despite the location, Greater Canterlot has over a million citizens!." His voice swelled with pride.
Rainbow thought that wasn't all that impressive, but she held her tongue. She also didn't mention that Cloudsdale had a cool two million.
"Oh. Huh." Gabe seemed impressed, for the most part, but had already been distracted by a troop of guards marching through the square in formation, dressed head to toe in their royal armor. Surfaces polished to an immaculate shine caught the sun and threw it all about, transforming the ponies into barrages of golden shimmers. Their armored boots clinked and clacked against the cobblestones underhoof.
"Hey, Sandy, what are those guards doing?" Gabriel said.
"Hm?" Sandy pulled her eyes off a troupe of actors performing on a hastily-constructed wooden stage and turned to the colt as she trotted. "Oh, I don't know. I'll be honest, I'm—oops! Sorry!" She blushed at the scowling mare she had just bumped into and turned back to Gabriel. "I'm pretty unfamiliar with what the Guard does besides, erm, guarding the princesses."
Gabe shrugged. "That's alright. I'll just ask one the next time I get a chance."
"Hey, Twi, don't you know some ponies in the Royal Guard?" Spike said. “Besides your brother, I mean. Hey, do you think he’s stationed in town? Maybe we could visit!”
"I’m not sure, I haven’t heard from him in a while. And beside him, only a few," Twilight replied, turning away from her conversation with Looking, "and I haven't been in touch with them since I was at school.” She perked up a little, raising her head. “Oh, that reminds me, Rainbow, I've been meaning to ask for your help."
The pegasus grinned and answered without a moment's hesitation. "Of course, Twi. How can the ever-awesome Rainbow Dash give you a hoof?"
She expected Twilight to smile, but she didn't. Instead, she looked like she'd eaten some particularly old cheese—and not the good kind of old, either.
"You remember that problem I told you about?" she said. Rainbow nodded. "Well, since we're in Canterlot, I need to stop by the palace library to pick up a scroll. Can you help me look for it?"
Why does she look so uncomfortable? What's wrong?
Spike leaned closer to the colt. “Called it.”
The pegasus raised an eyebrow. "Um, sure, but aren't we trying to make this meeting?"
"Actually, Ms. Dash," Looking said, butting in, "Only Ms. Hills, Gabriel, and I must attend the meeting. It's quite alright if we split up for a little while."
Rainbow's brow furrowed and she frowned. Is this a good idea? Something didn't feel right, and Looking Glass was standing just a little too close to Gabe, but her friend Twilight had asked for her help, and Rainbow Dash didn't just leave a friend hangin'.
"Uh, I guess, as long as we aren’t gone too long." She looked at Gabriel. "Is that alright with you, kid?"
"Yeah, it'll be fine," Gabe said, perfectly relaxed. "I can handle these nerds no problem." Beside him, Spike looked confused about something.
She grinned. "That's the spirit, kiddo. Let me know how it goes, alright?"
"Can do," he said with a lazy smile before looking at Twilight. "Good luck with that."
"...thanks," she replied with an awkward grin. "Alright, Rainbow, let's go." Why did that make her uncomfortable?
Dash nodded, passing one last concerned glance at the counselor. “Keep an eye on him for me, okay, Sandy?”
“Of course, Rainbow,” she said with a nervous smile, “see you soon.”
A little later, Sandy Hills couldn't help but crane her neck as the now-diminished party made their way up to the building that headquartered the very government institution she worked for. It towered above the street, staring down at passers-by with tall, thin, presumptuous-looking windows inset into gray stone. Even its doorway imposed, arching far over her head and holding two medieval-looking oaken doors. She didn't like it one bit.
Much less welcoming than our quaint little Ponyville office.
"Come in, come in," Looking said, ushering them through the doors, "we haven't much time before our meeting with the regional manager."
Sandy kicked herself mentally and hurried inside. Focus. You've got a job to do.
The lobby was a good deal fancier than the building's exterior but no less imposing. The air was quiet and proper, spiced with polite conversation and the scratching of pens on paper. The front desk, apparently made of hoof-carved mahogany, stretched across the entire far wall beneath an exquisite mural of Celestia herself and housed several secretaries.
Tall, smooth pillars held up an arched ceiling far above her head and created enough space for her to comfortably fly. Had she chosen to do so, it would have been easy for her to go all the way to the ceiling and inspect the massive map of Equestria they'd had painted up there in meticulous detail, with all the Ministry's various offices marked. Manehattan, Las Pegasus, Baltimare, and there, a simple dot for Ponyville. It looked tiny next to Canterlot's bright, ornate star.
She imagined flying up to look closer would result in a lost job and an unfriendly escort out the front door, though.
Looking led them a short way into the lobby before holding up a hoof to stop them and walking up to the front desk alone. He said something she couldn't make out and flashed that shiny golden badge at the secretary, whose eyes widened before nodding quickly and sharply. The two had a fast-paced back and forth for a minute, then Looking turned around and strode back to the group.
"Alright, all, here's how this is going to be done. I'm going to take Gabriel in for an assessment and report." The unicorn turned to her. "Then I'll come down and get you, Ms. Hills, and they'll do the same for you."
Sandy frowned “What? Why would the manager be meeting us like that? That doesn't make any sense.”
“I don’t know, Miss Hills. I wasn’t the one who set it up. If you like, I can go back and file an official complaint.”
Her eyes widened. "N-No, that sounds fine.” Sandy nodded, feeling like her head was full of cotton. “Spike and I can wait here, in the lobby." She supposed the Canterlot branch just did things differently.
"Wonderful," the stallion said with a warm smile. "Come along, little one."
The colt snorted and followed in his trail, and the two disappeared through one of the doorways to either side of the massive, overly ornate front desk. Sandy stood for a moment, staring at the gold-trimmed door they had disappeared through for a moment, before shaking her head and following Spike to one of the lobby's many benches. They had plush velvet covers, of course.
The two made themselves comfortable, but Sandy raised an eyebrow when Spike set his chin into his palms and sighed. "What's wrong?"
"Twilight went to the library without me!" He snorted a little, shooting a small jet of green flame from his snout.
"Ah!" Sandy pulled back with a little gasp, then blushed and coughed into her hoof. "Erm, excuse me... Are you missing Twilight right now? Are you not used to spending long periods of time away from her?"
"No, it isn't that." The little dragon groaned. "It's just... Ugh. I'm supposed to be her number-one assistant! I'm the one who organizes the library! Rainbow barely even reads! Why would she choose Rainbow, and not even want to bring me?"
"Well, I’m sure she… actually, wait, you're right." The counselor frowned. "That doesn't make a whole lot of sense."
"I bet it's some kinda Element thing. But if that were the case, why would she only bring Rainbow?"
Sandy Hills didn't have an answer for that. The conversation withered and died as quickly as it had been born, and the two resigned themselves to bored pony-watching. Sandy's heart thudded in her chest as she watched ponies file in and out, their faces most often masks of bored annoyance.
What made them read her report so quickly? Did she do something wrong? Did she overstep her boundaries? I know I've been out of my depth with Gabriel, but I'm doing my best! She forced the edge of her hoof away from her teeth, reminding herself that that habit was broken, thank you very much.
"Lady, what's up with you? You got ants in your mane or something?" Spike said out of the blue, raising an eyebrow. "You look like Twilight when she gets all worked up about a friendship lesson."
"Oh, it's nothing." She tried to smile, but couldn't quite get it to reach her eyes, and Spike could tell. "It's a little nerve-racking to be here." She waved a hoof to the intricate seal carved into the center of the front desk. "This is the head office of the government ministry I work for. There's an office in Ponyville, but it's, uh..." She craned her neck to look all around the room, blinking at the inset gems and gaudy chains hung on the pillars. "...a lot less golden."
"Yeah, no kidding. They really went all-out with this lobby." He smirked. "Seems like a little much to me."
"This would even be too much in Manehattan," Sandy said. "The reason I'm feeling a little jittery is because, well, the ponies that work here are my bosses' bosses' bosses. They run the whole show and they're the ones that report to the Crown."
"Ah. Okay, I see how that could be some pressure. Heh." Spike rubbed his frill, looking a little awkward. The expression disappeared a moment later when he widened his eyes and pointed. "Hey, Looking's back! But..."
The stallion had his head low as he plodded back towards the two. When she saw him, Sandy stood up right away, ready to join him and go talk to her superiors, but she hesitated. He was biting his lip, he wasn't meeting her gaze, and far more importantly, he came up to them alone.
Sandy Hills swallowed. "Where's Gabriel?"
The ministry worker only looked her in the eye once he was a foreleg away. The slight wetness there made Sandy's heart skip a beat. He cleared his throat.
"Ms. Hills, I'm afraid I have some bad news..."
Rainbow Dash turned on a dime, looking at her friend directly. "What do you mean, bad news? What's going on?" Ponies flowed by them as they trotted up the gleaming marble steps to the Royal Palace, each and every one dressed in exquisite finery and noblewear, the colors bright and piercing in the afternoon sun. Twilight had pulled her off to the side a little ways once they’d reached the top of the wide, shallow stairway.
The unicorn straightened her neck and pulled a deep breath in through her nose. "Rainbow, I’m sorry. I haven't been completely honest with you."
Rainbow's brow furrowed. "What?" she said, very quietly. This doesn't make any sense.
"Well, um, you see Rainbow, I... Um, you know how the Princesses asked me for help?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, there’s more to the story." She fidgeted her hoof, drawing an invisible spiral on the cobblestones. "A few weeks ago, Princess Luna tried to perform a certain, erm, very dangerous kind of magic spell, but she messed it up and got hurt. That's the problem that I'm supposed to be helping her with."
Rainbow snorted as weight sloughed off her shoulders. "That's it? Princess Luna bungled a spell? Twilight, why didn't you just say so?" The look the unicorn gave her shoveled it right back on.
"Soul magic is a very dangerous type of magic, Rainbow. She's very sick right now, and in order to save her, we need to return the missing piece of her soul."
"I still don't get why this is such a problem," Rainbow said, frowning. "I mean, I get that this is a big deal, but why not just tell the truth, Twi? Why lie to me?"
"It's... complicated." She looked more green than purple at this point.
"Twilight, are you gonna puke?"
"I'm okay!" The unicorn said with a little too much force. "I'm fine, alright?" She rubbed her eyes with a hoof. "I... The spell was supposed to summon a pony, but Luna summoned something else instead. Something potentially dangerous. And now there's a cosmic monster disguised as a pony on the loose, and it has a piece of Luna's soul. It's called an interloper, and it's unique from any other interloper dealt with before."
"A cosmic—" Rainbow couldn't quite believe her ears. She dug a hoof around in one and made sure everything was in working order. "Twi, did I just hear you right? Did you just say that there's an alien around somewhere?"
"Shh! Not so loud!" Twilight ran a hoof through her already-messy mane, as she threw a wide-eyed glance at the ponies milling about past them. "Listen, Rainbow, you have to understand, if we don't get the interloper back to Celestia and destroy it, Luna could die. Will die, actually. It has a piece of her soul, and it needs to be returned."
"Okay, yeah." Rainbow snorted. "Monster, Luna's soul, whatever. Twi, I get that it's a big deal, so why are you being so weird?"
"I–, I, um, Rainbow, you need to understand–"
Rainbow put herself up in the unicorn's face. "Spit it out, Twilight!"
"Rrrgh!" Her friend snorted and stamped a hoof. "Rainbow! Luna performed the spell the week before last, on Tuesday night."
"What?" Rainbow waved a hoof. "Twilight, what the hay does that have to do with anything?"
"Think! What happened that Wednesday morning?"
"What? I don't know, Twi? How am I supposed to know that?" Rainbow saw a top-hatted stallion pause to look at her from over Twilight's shoulder. The hot-faced mare didn't care one bit. Her friend was acting weird and refused to tell her why! For Celestia's sake, what did anything have to do with a day almost two weeks ago?
Tartarus, so much has happened since then. Her life had been downright non-stop. Once she thought about it, the only reason she felt any energy at all right now was because of that day off at the park with Gabe.
Gabe, the fantastically strange colt who had upended the last couple weeks of her life just by being around.
Gabe, who appeared as if from nowhere and was known by nopony.
Gabe, who she'd found Wednesday morning.
Twilight looked her in the eye and spoke with a hoof slightly raised off the ground, halfway towards her chest. She looked ready to bolt. "Rainbow, it's him."
"...no," Rainbow said. She stamped her hoof. "No, no, that’s not right. I'm sure of it."
"Rainbow, I–"
"No!" She thrust herself into Twilight's face, "it can't be Gabe."
"L-Listen to me, Dash."
"You listen to me! He's not some sort of superpowered soul-sucking alien! If he's anything, he's the world's greenest doormat! Do you have any idea what he’s been through?" She jabbed her hoof into the unicorn's chest, completely unphased by the small crowd gathering around the two. "He doesn't deserve to be called a monster just for being different!"
"Listen!" Twilight shouted. Rainbow blinked and took a step back. "Rainbow! I'm sorry, but that colt is not who you think he is! Looking and I tracked the magic in Ponyville. I saw the manifestation site. I saw the green feather there." Another step forward. "You even said so yourself. Gabe's weird. He doesn't fit. He doesn't belong, and it's because he's not a he. He's an it. Look what happened to that little filly!"
"I—I don't..." Rainbow swallowed. "But he's such a good—I mean, he means well! He wasn't trying—I mean he didn’t want to hurt anypony!" She huffed out an unsteady breath. "He just wants... He just–!"
Twilight took another step. "These interlopers can be very dangerous, Rainbow. They could be anything, including something that is very, very good at wearing the skin of a cute little pegasus colt."
The crowd's murmurs grew to gasps and confused rabble. Rainbow felt Twilight's nose brush against her own as she glared her in the eye.
"I'm trying to help you, Dash! Even if, even if, by some universally infinitesimal chance, that thing is not malicious, we're still going to take it to Celestia and put it down. We have to save Luna.”
Rainbow saw a flicker of flame jump through Twilight's mane and balked. Her head felt light and the judging eyes gathering around the duo didn't help one bit. Her heart was beating far too quickly and she found herself struggling for breath. Rainbow trusted Twilight with her life, but this? It didn't make any sense!
Or... maybe it did. That home of his—that burning city. Those strange creatures. They aren't really across the oceans, are they? Her head began to spin. No, they’re from further away. They were from some strange land, some strange torn-up tartarus of a land, full of strange creatures with strange weapons that fought strange wars against each other and burnt their own cities to the ground.
That place that had produced the being that called itself Gabriel. The being that had hard eyes and a marred body, the being that had broken a little filly's leg without hesitation. The being that had killed.
But... that being also appreciated a sunny day. It devoured hay dogs, even if it had a weird name for them. It liked to draw and screw around with its friends and make smart-ass remarks. It was guilty over things it had done, and was good at math, and terrified of thunder, and it—
And he was not a monster. He may have been messed up, but he wasn't a monster. Rainbow knew, in her pounding, aching heart, that that kid was not the evil that Twilight was looking for. He was just someone tired and scarred by an unfair life.
And through it all, Princess Luna had been slowly dying.
They had to save her. She was a princess of Equestria! Celestia's sister! They had to! There was no way they couldn't! If Princess Luna really was going to die without that piece of her soul, what choice did she have? What would Rarity and Applejack and Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy say if they didn't? What would her parents think of her if she was the one who failed to save a princess?
All we have to do is kill the kid who I promised to look out for. The kid who I promised to protect. The kid who never got a say whether he was here or not.
The kid who doesn't deserve it...
Rainbow's face hardened. "No," she said.
"Dash–"
"No!" The mare snorted. "I'm not just giving him up! There has to be some other way. I–" Her throat closed up, and she had to force it back open. "He doesn't need to die. We can figure something out, ask the princesses for help or something. We can work it out, but I won't let you take him."
Twilight's face fell, and when she spoke, it was much, much softer. "Rainbow, I'm not the one who was supposed to take him," she said. "Why do you think I brought you out here?"
Rainbow's eyes widened and her mouth opened as if she were going to speak. Then it closed. She spread her wings.
"Rainbow, wait, you need to– Ah!" Twilight shielded her face with a hoof as the pegasus rocketed herself into the air. The crowd of ponies gathered around them burst into surprised cries and shouts, but they were already fading behind her, swallowed in the sound of rushing wind alongside a certain unicorn's desperate shouts.
"What? What happened?" Sandy Hills tilted her head and shuffled her wings against her back, glancing at Spike over her shoulder. He only looked up at her with those big, green eyes and shrugged as he tapped his claws together. The counselor looked back to Looking Glass. "What happened?"
The unicorn took a few deep breaths through his closed-lipped muzzle and swallowed. "There's no easy way to put this Ms. Hills, I'll just... I'll just tell you. We had our meeting with the Ministry's regional manager."
"And?" The question burst out of her. She felt full of anxious energy: manic, sick, and exhausted all at once. "What'd they say?"
"Well, before he gave a verdict, he listened to Gabriel tell his story. The colt recounted it all, right from the moment he woke up at the hospital." He bit his lip. "And then, well... he made a decision."
"What?" Sandy had to consciously keep from shattering the grand lobby's proper quietness. "That– that doesn't make any sense at all! He wouldn't even want to hear my professional report?"
"Evidently not," Looking said with a sigh. "It seems that he heard what he needed to hear. I, um, I am to report that as of right now, you are no longer assigned to Gabriel's case. All decisions you've made regarding Gabriel's care are marked null and void and you've been ordered to return to your station in Ponyville. He's to be assessed and looked after here in Canterlot."
Her mouth opened and closed. The tap-tap of hoof on marble seemed to echo through the towering space, fracturing and multiplying, becoming a barrage. She couldn't breathe.
"...I'm afraid that that's just the way it is, Ms. Hills. It's out of my hooves." Looking Glass twisted his hoof, grinding its tip against a groove in the white-tile floor. He spoke in a low, quiet voice, as if he was trying to let somepony know that their mother had just passed away, but didn't want them to make a fuss in public.
"W-what? How can they do this?" Sandy Hills pressed her hoof to her chest. "Was it my report? D-Do they think I didn't do a good enough job?"
The unicorn looked helpless. "I don't know. He didn't say. He only told me to report his decision to you." He stepped forward and gingerly set his hoof on her shoulder. "I know that this colt meant something to you, and I wish I was the pony making the decision, but I'm not. I'm sorry."
She blinked with the jerky, uneven gait of a rusted typewriter. "I– I didn't... I..." The words refused to assemble in her brain. It felt like a million things were bouncing around inside her head all at once, bashing into each other. The world began to blur.
"You had better go outside now," said Looking. "I need to return to the colt. Again, I'm sorry." He made a halfhearted smile and turned around to trot away.
"But... but I, I—"Sandy blinked hard and wiped a hoof at her eyes. "What..." She sniffled, talking to nopony in a quiet voice. "What'd I do?"
The cold, spacious lobby provided no answer.
"Hey, we had..." The mare felt a claw wrap around her hoof. "Um, Ms. Hills, we had better go."
She nodded, blinking hard and swallowing, but the tears didn't stop. She couldn't see! They made it hard to follow Spike. Why was it so hard? What did she do wrong? She ducked her head low and tried to look away as they passed the other ponies in the lobby, but she knew that they saw her.
I must look pathetic.
Spike led her out into the afternoon sun, but it no longer brightened her day. Instead, it shone far too harshly into her eyes, forcing her to squint. There were more ponies out here. Too many eyes. Were they all looking at her? Were they whispering to each other as they watched a full-grown mare get led through the street by a baby dragon? Were they talking about how awful she looked?
Sandy gulped down a sob and squeezed her eyes shut, focusing on following where the claw led. It felt like she was coming apart at the seams.
"Alright, let's just, um... Let's take a breather here, okay?" She gently bumped up against something at shin height. Smooth metal, warmed by the afternoon sun.
"W-whuh?"
"It's a bench, Ms. Hills," came Spike's voice from somewhere beside her. "I thought we could wait for Twilight and Rainbow Dash here."
Sandy sniffled and nodded, rubbing the back of her hoof across her snout. "Um, y-yeah, that's a good idea," she whispered.
The mare climbed onto the bench's curved metal slats, flopped onto her belly, and buried her face in her hooves. She hoped nopony was listening to her choked, shuddering sobs.
Spike swallowed. "Uh..." His throat closed up when he looked at the mare crying into her hooves on the streetside's bright purple bench. Its color shone with confidence in the midday light and the bench flaunted it, showing off its fanciful curves and superior craftsponyship. Just like everything else in Canterlot, it practically glowed with elegance and grace—the exact opposite of the mare breaking down atop it.
Her mane stuck out in all directions, bobbing gently with every shudder. She huddled into as small a shape as she could manage, keeping her legs tucked tightly under her and her tail swept around her side. The mare sniffled and croaked, desperately fighting a losing battle against her emotions.
Spike raised a claw, then paused. His clawtips hovered just above the matted fur on Ms. Hills' foreleg. It was the color of desert dunes.
"Hey!"
Spike's head whipped around before he even recognized the voice, only to be buffeted by a snap of wind. He shielded his face as a pegasus nearly crash-landed in the middle of the street, stumbling into a panicked run towards him. "Gah!"
The fact that it was Rainbow didn't reach him until she stood a hoof's width away from his face, her muzzle up close and personal. He stumbled back, arms held up in a waggling defense, and fell onto his backside.
"Spike!" Rainbow shouted. "Where is he?"
"What? Who?" Spike blinked and looked at the pegasus, really seeing her for the first time. "Where's Twilight?"
For some unholy reason, the question seemed to enrage Rainbow even more. She growled. "Spike, where is that slimy, snaky little bureaucrat?"
"Huh?" Spike managed, still dumbfounded. "Are you talking about Looking? The RBI dude?"
"The what?" Both of them jumped out of their skin at the cry and snapped their heads around to the bench. Sandy Hills' head stuck straight up, her mane everywhere. Her eyes glowed red and matted streaks of tear-soaked fur covered her face. She sniffled.
Rainbow took a step back. "Celestia, Hills, you look like absolute–"
"Spike," Sandy said, "what did you say?"
"Um, about Looking? He's an RBI agent. Y'know, he works for the Royal Bureau. But you guys already knew that, right?" Rainbow Dash and Sandy Hills both fixed gaping looks at him. "...right?"
A blinding flash of lavender-tinted light turned all their heads. Twilight appeared a short way down the street, in front of the Ministry building. She whipped her head around and spotted them an instant later, galloping towards them. "Rainbow!"
"Twilight?" Sandy said with Spike.
"Twilight." Rainbow lowered her head and glared.
She was out of breath by the time she skidded to a stop. "Rainbow, listen to me! I’m sorry, really, but it’s out of our hooves! Looking will have it well on the way to the palace by now, we–!"
"Where is he now, Twilight?" Rainbow snapped. "Where's that slimy ass?" Spike's eyes widened and he took a stumbling step back. He had never seen Rainbow lose her cool like this. What was going on?
"Uh, Twi?" Spike said with a timid voice.
"What has Looking done with Gabe? What's happening?" said Sandy, considerably less timidly.
"It's complicated, I–"
"No, it's not!" Rainbow cried. "Sandy! Twilight and Looking Glass are trying to kill Gabe."
"What?!" Sandy sprang to her hooves, tripping a little as she raced to get off the bench. "They’re what?!"
"It's not that simple!" Twilight said, starting to sound desperate. "That thing's not really a pony!"
Rainbow snarled. "It doesn't matter!"
"What are you talking about? That's insane!" Sandy clutched her head.
"I mean Gabriel's not a pony, it's something else." Twilight stepped past Rainbow, putting herself squarely in front of the shocked-looking counselor. "It was summoned to this world by dark, forbidden magic. It only looks like a pony."
"I–, what?"
"Twilight's trying to scare you!" Rainbow said, butting in. The three of them were muzzle-to-muzzle now. "That kid's no monster! And stop calling him an it!"
"No monster? It snapped a filly’s leg in half without hesitating, for Celestia's sake!" Twilight scoffed. "Rainbow, I'm trying to show you the truth! Stop acting like an idiot!" Spike's mouth dropped open. Twilight had complained about Rainbow acting brash in the past, sure, but going so far as to insult her? This day wasn't looking up, that much was certain.
Rainbow's face screwed up and a blush spread across her face, but Sandy beat her to the punch. "That was in self-defense, Twilight, I know it. That filly hit him in the head while he wasn't looking." Her face darkened. "What exactly is going on here?"
"Twilight–!"
The counselor put the tip of her hoof to Rainbow's lips. "I want to hear it from her." Rainbow scowled but kept her mouth shut, and the two pegasi fixed their looks on Twilight. Spike did, too.
She snorted. "About time somepony kept a level head," she said, returning Dash's toxic glare for a moment before turning to the other mare. "Sandy, Gabriel is something that we call an interloper. Old, outlawed magic summoned it to this world, and like the other interlopers summoned here in the past, it's very, very dangerous."
“W-what? Gabriel… isn’t really a pony?”
Twilight shook her head. “No, it isn’t.”
Sandy’s eyes widened, a mess of emotions flashing across her face. “But, but his past, his home, his sister–! Was that a lie? Did he lie?”
Twilight continued. "I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. More importantly, because of the interloper, Princess Luna is in grave danger."
"Princess Luna?" Sandy took a step back. "What? How? What does she have to do with this?"
"She's the original summoner," Twilight said, her voice low. "When she cast the spell, it ripped out a part of her soul, and well... we need to destroy the vessel to get it back."
Rainbow looked about ready to blow a gasket, but Sandy held a hoof across her front and cleared her throat. "Will she die if we don't?"
"Yes," Twilight nodded. "I don't know how soon, but soon. We need to move quickly."
“This can’t be right,” the counselor muttered, “this isn’t right.”
“I’m sorry, but it’s the truth.”
"So let me get this straight," Sandy said, sounding unsteady. "You are going to kill Gabriel, even though he didn’t choose to be ‘summoned’ here and hasn't acted anything like these other ‘interlopers,’ because the Princess needs to be saved."
"Yes," Twilight said, "I'm sorry you got so attached to it, but–"
"Do you call him things like 'vessel' and 'it' because that makes it easier?"
Twilight blinked. "I–, w-what?"
"Well, is it?"
The unicorn sputtered as she tried to form an answer. "Um, I don't really–, I, I'm just telling you the truth–"
"I want you to be aware of what you're doing, Twilight Sparkle," Sandy said. Her voice shifted into something downright venomous. It was so far away from her normally cheery, comforting tone of voice and it made Spike shiver. Even Rainbow took a step back.
"You're accusing Gabriel of being malicious, but you have no solid evidence for it. You lied to all of us, saying that 'friend' of yours was in the Ministry when he was really an RBI agent. You're willing to murder somepony to get what you want. Is that correct?"
"I want the princess to live!"
"That sure is a noble goal," the counselor answered, "but you're using it to kill somepony, Twilight. Somepony innocent. And you're sure there's no other way?"
"There's no time, and it isn't a–"
"He is a person, whatever he may be, and I know for a fact that Gabriel has no idea how he arrived in Equestria."
Twilight raised her voice. "I am trying to save–!"
Sandy did the same. "I also know that he isn't the monster you're saying he is. Intensely troubled, definitely, but not a monster!"
"It doesn't matter if he's the goodest little colt in all of Equestria!" Twilight exploded. "We don't have a choice!"
"You always have a choice!" Sandy roared back, slamming her hoof into the ground. "ALWAYS!"
"You really think that thing's life is worth more than Princess Luna's?"
Sandy's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Why, you stuck-up b–"
A black-and-white stallion came skidding to a stop an arm's length away from Spike with a panicked shout. His mane made him look like he'd been through a tornado, and his sprint had tinted his bone-white cheeks pink. He slid on his rear, his hooves scraping against the pavement and coming to a jerking stop on the curb. "Oof!"
"There you are, you little snake!" Rainbow cried victoriously. “Tell me where Gabe is, or I promise ya, you’re gonna be sorry.”
Looking Glass ignored her, fixing his terrified, wide-eyed stare directly on Twilight. He managed a short sentence in between pants.
"The colt escaped. It's gone."