Tempest found herself walking out of Elusive’s room in a daze. Everything seemed to have slowed down for a moment. Time was creeping by at a snail’s pace. And somehow, everything seemed out of focus, as if she was looking at the world through opaque glass. Stumbling out into the corridor, she did her best to appraise the current situation.
After Elusive had attacked her, something which had genuinely surprised her, he had suffered some kind of fit. He’d had a good hold on her at one point, despite her apparent advantages in size and strength. She was actually considering using her magic to force him off when his grip began to falter.
She remembered looking into his eyes. In any fight, she seldom broke eye contact with her opponent. Partly, it served as a way to intimidate, going against the basic nature of the pony species, but it also gave her a great deal of information. They say that the eyes are the window to the soul, and Tempest, in her many encounters involving hoof to hoof combat, had always learned far more from her opponents eyes, than from watching their movements. It was as if she could almost see what they were thinking, their emotions, their plans and strategies. It was a tool that had served her well over the years, and she’d done just the same with Elusive.
He though, had always been difficult to read. While every now and then, Tempest had seen Elusive’s mask drop for a fleeting moment, it was a rare thing, and she had never truly been able to read him through the mask he presented to the world. After all, she hadn’t even managed to spot the real mask he had been wearing all this time, never mind see beneath the psychological one.
But during their fight, he had changed. He had set aside his mask; the act that he had portrayed for so long. It was as if she were meeting the real Elusive for the first time. And he had been terrifying. Tempest could count on her hooves the number of times she’d been truly frightened, and that had been one of them. There had been no mercy in his eyes, no hint of compassion; nothing of the pony she knew. There had just been this...thing, that was determined seemingly to kill her. He wasn’t trying to hurt her, he genuinely meant to kill her in a rage. That alone was enough to deeply unsettle Tempest. She’d known Elusive for a while now, and felt like they had been good friends, and yet he had tried to kill her without a second thought.
Fortunately, she hadn’t had to stare at that monster for long. As the poison began to have a more severe effect on his body, to say nothing of his mind, those same killer eyes had dulled, his grip had relaxed, and she had been able to force him away as a violent fit gripped him. After that, she’d managed to call the nurses and doctors, despite the pain in her throat. Despite everything, she had still tried to help her friend, now that he was writhing on the floor. Of course, the doctors had hastily pushed her out of the way as they loaded him onto a stretcher and rushed him out of the room.
The last Tempest had seen of him, he had an oxygen mask over his face, and was being wheeled in the direction of the operating theatre. The doctors and nurses had spouted off some medical babble that she had little hope of deciphering as they pushed him through the swinging double doors.
After that, she’d been left alone. The hospital room was a complete mess. The attendant table had been turned over, the bedsheets scattered everywhere, and in the melee, a tray of instruments had been sent flying all over the room. Tempest staggered out into the corridor and slumped down in one of the chairs lining it.
The scene kept replaying over and over in her head. Elusive had been so...well, Elusive at first; his normal self. That cagey, evasive, yet somehow still friendly and charming stallion that had fitted her for a dress and taught her how to waltz. It was only now she realised that it was all a mask. It was a deception, an illusion, used to make her and other ponies feel comfortable around him. The real Elusive was nothing like that it seemed. He was a defeated, broken stallion, haunted by the ghosts of his past. He wasn’t her friend, she wasn’t anything to him; just something he’d done to keep himself close to sane. And all the while, he’d been silently hating it. To say that Tempest felt betrayed didn’t even come close to what she was feeling, even heartbreak didn’t seem to fit. All this time, she thought, amid all the ponies who distrusted and despised her, there was this one strange pony that she could get along with. He had no reason to be kind to her, it wasn’t like with Twilight, Spike, or Starlight. Tempest knew that, whatever else they might think about her, they all pitied her to some degree. Elusive hadn’t done that. He’d treated her as any other pony, and helped her on the path to becoming one again.
But it wasn’t true. None of it was. Every smile, every witty remark, every helpful insight, even that reassuring hoof on her shoulder. It had all been a sham. And all the while, he’d hated her. Just like everypony else.
Tempest wanted to cry, but she didn’t. She hadn’t cried since she was a filly. Instead, she lay down across two of the seats and laid her head on her hooves, utterly miserable. She knew what was coming; those same thoughts that had haunted her since her ‘new’ life had begun. The realisation that nopony would ever accept her, she would never be like other ponies, she would never have her horn back whole again, and that maybe she was just better off being done with all this.
No! She quashed those thoughts with a violent start. That way lay madness, and it was a load of horseapples anyway. Elusive was ill. The doctors had told both of them that an effect of the poison working its way through his system, was that it could affect brain chemistry, causing mood swings, irrational behaviour, and dissociative episodes. It was that which had been talking, not Elusive. She was seeing someone not fully in control of their faculties. He was frustrated with himself, and facing a grim death in the not too distant future. It was natural that he would lash out. Whatever he might have said in there, Tempest knew that he was still her friend.
At least, that was what she tried to tell herself. She would come close to convincing herself that it was true, only for nagging doubt to rear up in her mind. She couldn’t be sure if they were reasonable possibilities, or her own problems using Elusive against her. The only upside she could see was that she didn’t know for sure that it had all been a lie. That had to count for something.
She found herself waiting, watching the clock slowly tick by. First ten minutes went by, then twenty, then an hour, and still there was no word. She’d been on her hooves for the better part of twenty four hours. Add in a near fight to the death, and Tempest was completely exhausted. Eventually, even a trained soldier like her could sustain herself any longer, and she slowly allowed her eyes to close, as she fell into a deep sleep.
Tempest opened her eyes, expecting to find herself back in the hospital. She hadn’t really slept, more like napping, not reaching the deep state of unconsciousness necessary for REM sleep, and consequently dreaming to take place. But she found herself no longer in the hospital. She didn’t find herself anywhere in fact. For a few brief moments, all around her was a black void. It was only as she seemingly awoke from her sleep that the world around her began to shift into focus.
First, the sky reappeared. A beautiful night sky slowly formed before her eyes, as one by one, thousands of stars, glittering like diamonds appeared, winking into existence. Their light illuminated the world around her. It was as if she was floating in the night sky. There was no ground to speak of, though she was definitely standing on something. It was difficult to perceive. None of the most basic laws of physics seemed to apply here. There was no ground, yet she felt something underhoof. There was no gravity, yet she wasn’t falling, and had a distinct sense of balance, knowing up from down. And despite it being utterly impossible, she could hear the stars twinkling in the night. The world continued to create itself around her. Nebulae began to swirl around, giving form to the formless ground on which she stood. It seemed to stretch off into infinity, winding its way through the heavens.
Tentatively, Tempest took a few careful steps forward, testing the ground ahead. She slowly walked along the glittering path, almost mesmerised by the stars that seemed to dance all around her.
“I have a feeling I’m not in Equestria any more,” she said to herself as she tried to ascertain some idea of where she was, if such a concept could be applied here.
“Actually, you haven’t moved an inch,” an echoing voice informed her. Tempest started for a moment.
A nearby group of stars began to gather together, forming a new constellation that resembled a pony. A moment later, it was joined by a nebula that surrounded the outline the stars created, giving the voice a form, and a moment later, with a brief flash of magic, Tempest watched Princess Luna float down to join her on the star covered path.
“Princess Luna?” Tempest said in surprise. “Am I dreaming, or is this real?”
Tempest remembered Spike’s explanation of Luna’s dream walking ability; how she could enter the dreams of another and affect it, guarding them against nightmares. Luna herself looked a little nonplussed at the unicorn’s question.
“Technically, both,” she replied after a moment’s thought. “You are dreaming, but this is nonetheless quite real. I saw you drift off into slumber, and thought it best that we talk. I’m sure our mutual friend would approve of such absolute privacy. Nopony can bother us here. And we have much to discuss.” Tempest’s face fell.
“You know what’s happened to Elusive then?” Luna nodded.
“I always try to keep an ear to the ground, particularly in my own city,” she explained. “And were it not such a delicate matter, I would have come in person as soon as I heard what had befallen dear Elusive.” Tempest bit her lip for a moment.
“Luna. There’s something you should know about Elusive. I found out when I was helping to change his dressings. He’s…”
“A changeling. Yes, I’m well aware,” Luna said, politely cutting Tempest off. Tempest meanwhile let out a started snort.
“You knew?!” Luna nodded.
“He bears no ill will toward anypony. He has no loyalty to Chrysalis. And he has never expressed a desire to change his current circumstances. Thus I, and my sister, saw no point in taking any action. And to inform ponies would only put his safety at risk.”
“So you’re telling me you have no problem with a former infiltrator living right under your nose?” Luna chuckled.
“Considering that one of Equestria’s rulers not so long ago attempted to usurp the throne and plunge the world into eternal night. I think the phrase ‘kettle and pot’ might be appropriate. He is no more a threat to anypony than I am.” A fair point.
“So you know what’s happened to him?” Tempest asked, sitting down, with the alicorn coming to join her a moment later.
“I do,” she replied simply with a nod.
“He’s dying,” Tempest went on. “He’s dying and there’s no way for me to help him.” Luna now rested a comforting wing across Tempest’s shoulders.
“I don’t know why I’m so sad though,” she went on bitterly. “It turns out our whole friendship was nothing but a lie. It was just another little act he played. He smiled, befriended me, helped me more than anypony, and all the while ,he was quietly hating me, his life, everypony.”
“And what makes you so sure of all that?” Luna asked. Tempest let out a hollow laugh.
“He told me,” she explained. “Right before he tried to kill me in a fit of rage. He said he couldn’t stand being exiled from his homeland like this. And even more he hated that he’d started to get used to it, even like it. He told me how he ended up here. I can understand how he feels.”
“How so?” Luna prompted.
“I guess we’re a lot alike. We’re both soldiers who fought on the wrong side. We both made mistakes. And now we’re both stuck in this limbo. We no longer serve the enemy, but we’re never truly embraced as friends.”
“I think that may be partly by choice on Elusive’s part,” Luna countered. “As for you, you seemed to do quite well for yourself at my party. Stygian was most taken with you, as was my captain. You have been offered a position in my guard. Surely that shows you that not all ponies still see you as Tempest Shadow the traitor. Some see Tempest the reformed, Tempest the ally, even Tempest the friend. One or two even still see Fizzlepop Berrytwist.”
Tempest now rounded on Luna, as the pieces in her mind slid into place.
“Is that why you invited me?!” she demanded. “As part of some manipulative plan to ‘help’ me? Was that why you sent me to Elusive too; to ‘help’ him?”
Despite her anger, to the point where her horn was sparking, Luna hardly reacted to the display.
“I would be lying if I said the answer was no,” she admitted. “But nor was it the whole reason.”
Tempest snorted and tossed her head in agitation, storming away from Luna.
“I never pitied you, Tempest,” Luna called out, stopping her. “It’s one thing I can never tolerate from anypony. When I returned from my exile, while many were glad to see me, plenty vilified me as Nightmare Moon. Some still do to this day. There are ponies out there who will never accept me. So don’t think for one instant that you’re the only one going through what you’re going through. Me, Elusive, Stygian, Discord, Starlight, even Twilight Sparkle’s old rival Trixie. All of us made a mistake, and are never entirely trusted again. So I’m sorry if I tried to help you on that front.”
The venom in Luna’s voice at that last part actually caught Tempest off guard. Turning around, she looked back at the alicorn, who now seemed so sullen.
“I believe in redemption, Tempest,” she told her. “I believe ponies can change. But there are plenty of ponies who do not, and judge me, and others like me, for their past mistakes. And those same ponies judge you and Elusive harshly as well. In his case, it’s all rumours anyway. I believe it, and if other ponies don’t want to, then that’s their business. Do you know what the difference is between you and Elusive, Tempest?” Tempest didn’t answer.
“Elusive doesn’t care what others say or think about him. You’ve spent these past weeks in Ponyville and Canterlot, worrying what other ponies think. You worry about them not liking you, or thinking you are still loyal to the Storm King. Does any of it matter? Look at your life now. You have friends, you have a job. You have a new life that is just beginning. Do you realise how precious that is? If ponies want to whisper nonsense behind your back, that’s their bad lookout. They do it to me, and I don’t care! Neither should you.”
Luna paused, letting her wings drop to her sides. It was strange to see her caught up in such passion. On their previous meetings, she had always been so calm and serene, more so here in the dreaming realm where the very fabric of reality was at her beck and call. It certainly struck a chord with Tempest. She had been focussing, too much as it turned out, on what others thought of her. Like Luna said, she had friends, a new job, and a new life. That though, raised another question.
“But what about Elusive?” she asked. “If he’s so above it all, why is he just letting all this happen?” Luna smiled sadly.
“While he may not have said it in the kindest of terms,” she replied. “I can understand his feeling; to be far from one’s home, never to return. Then again, as I understand it, the poison that is killing him is known to affect the mind, as well as the body. Could it not be that what he said was just him lashing out, not truly meaning it? Elusive has many skills, and he definitely knows how to hurt somepony without inflicting any physical harm when he wants to.”
Tempest remembered his cavalier remark about how he had forever scarred the three griffons that had attacked him. And it had always been in her thoughts from the moment she’d staggered out into the hospital hallway. While her mind was whirring away, telling her that everypony hated her, including Elusive, there was a smaller part that resisted it. A part that Luna was now bolstering.
“There’s still nothing I can do though,” she said sadly. “The poison is some kind of changeling venom. There’s no antidote for it. The doctors can’t even do much about the pain.”
“Pony doctors,” Luna pointed out. “And pony medicine. While our medical serves are often excellent, they are not without their flaws. Cutie Pox for instance was declared by pony medical science to be completely incurable. Yet a zebra shaman can brew up a potion from a single flower that will almost instantly reverse the effects.” Tempest perked up at this.
“You think that the changelings might have some kind of treatment for it?” she asked. Luna nodded.
“There is no harm in asking them,” Luna said. Tempest paused.
“But Elusive’s too sick now to travel that far.” Luna chuckled.
“Tempest, there is an old saying in Saddle Arabia. ‘If Marehammed will not go to the mountain, the mountain must go to Marehammed’. Come up to the castle when you awake. I shall have one of my chariots waiting for you. A pair of thestrals should take less than half a day to reach the Changeling Kingdom. Seek out an audience with Thorax. Since the overthrow of Chrysalis, he has taken up leadership of the hive, though he is no king. His brother Pharynx might also be of help. He was, and remains, the head of their military forces. With luck, one of them will be able to help, or at least direct you to those who can.”
With that, Luna activated her magic. A bright white light emanated from her horn., shining like a sun amidst the night sky. The light soon began to engulf everything including Tempest. Within moments, she had lost sight of Luna, and not long after that, her whole world turned white.
“Miss Shadow? Miss Shadow, wake up.”
Tempest awoke from her slumber with a start, somepony was gently prodding at her. Blinking as she quickly came to, she found herself still lying down across two chairs in the hospital hallway. The doctor was standing over her, gently trying to wake her. She shook her head in an effort to clear the cobwebs.
“Sorry, I dozed off,” she said as she got to her hooves.” The doctor smiled.
“I thought you’d want to know that Elusive is awake again,” he explained. Tempest’s ears perked up at the news.
“How is he? What happened?” she asked quickly.
“It looks like a combination of the poison and stress,” he explained. “We’re not a hundred percent sure, but he underwent some kind of seizure. It lasted about four minutes in total. We put him on oxygen. I hate to say it, but this is just the start of it. As the poison does its work he’ll begin to lose more of his faculties.” Tempest’s ears wilted at that.
“How long does he have?” she asked.
“About a day. Maybe a day and a half. We’re doing all we can to make him comfortable. Most likely we’ll induce a medical coma towards the end; less painful that way.” He paused for a moment. “He’s asking for you, if you want to go in and see him.”
That surprised Tempest. Not so long ago, Elusive had been genuinely trying to kill her. He’d told her precisely what he thought of her and none of it was flattering. Why in Equestria would he want to see her? From her conversation with Luna, she was planning to head straight to the castle, but if Elusive wanted to see her…
If she was too late, the least she could do was say goodbye.
Elusive had been moved back into his room, which was now tidied up and showed no evidence of their earlier scuffle. He was back in bed, and at this point there was no question of him getting out of it. He was very weak, looking paler and more frail. Tempest stepped inside, closing the door behind her. Elusive looked at her for a moment. Despite everything, there was that same glint in his eyes.
“You look like Tartarus, my dear,” he said, his voice sounding a little hoarse.
“I could say the same for you,” Tempest fired back.
Elusive gestured towards the nearby chair, prompting Tempest to sit down.
“I wanted to apologise,” Elusive said as Tempest sat down. “For both what I said and did to you.”
“You were angry,” Tempest replied with a shrug of her shoulders.
“Still, that’s no excuse to lash out at a friend and a good customer,” he replied, finding it apparently hard to meet her gaze.
“Under the circumstances, it’s understandable,” Tempest assured him.
She paused for a moment. She wanted to tell him what her plan was, and that there was a possibility of saving his life. But what if she failed? What if there was no antidote to this poison? She didn’t want to give Elusive false hope. That would just be setting him up for another fall in the short time he had left. On the other hoof, what was better; resignation, or a glimmer of hope? She decided on the latter.
“I’m going to the Changeling Kingdom,” she announced. Elusive looked at her in surprise. “Your people might have some way of saving you. I’m not going to sit here and watch you die if there’s even a slight chance that I can save you.”
“All good things, my dear Tempest,” Elusive said with a sigh. “I’ve had a good run, and lived a modest life. Now though, it’s time to let go.” Tempest felt tears trying to well up in her eyes.
“No it isn’t!” she told him. “You’re not resigned to your fate. Of all the things you said to me before, one thing rang true. You don’t like yourself. You regret what happened with Nirx. I get that. But giving up on yourself isn’t going to bring him back, atone for your misdeeds, or whatever else you want to do. I regret what I did, what I did for the Storm King, and all the ponies I hurt in the process just to try and get my horn back. Giving up on myself won’t undo any of that though. You showed me that I could move past my mistakes, build a new life. That’s how you atone, Elusive; through life.”
Her impassioned speech certainly seemed to have an effect on the changeling. He smiled at her. It was a small smile, but it was a smile nonetheless.
“You are a fine speaker, my dear,” he said kindly. “And I can see our friendship has greatly helped you. Possibly far more than it has helped me. So, before you go off to try and save my skin, permit me to tell you something I’ve never told anypony. I said before that I was the one who exposed Nirx and I, that it was my mistake that got him killed. Well, that isn’t quite true.” He paused and sighed for a moment before continuing.
“It’s time I told you the truth,” he said. Tempest smiled.
“Oh I think I’ve just about given up on finding out that,” she said playfully.
“Now, now, patience has its rewards,” Elusive replied as he began his tale.
“It’s true, I made a mistake. I let a mare and her foal escape. I was captured by the Royal Guard, and I panicked. I tried to play a little double cross. I offered to give up Nirx and help them, planning to use the confusion to escape. But I wasn’t quick enough. Nirx knew that I was compromised, and that it would only be a matter of time before he was found out too.
“If you recall, Tempest, even before the attempted invasion, the city was put on high alert due to intelligence on a possible threat. Now where do you suppose that came from? The mare hadn’t told the guards anything. After I told Nirx what I’d done, he blew the whistle on me, started a massive search of the city. While I was being hunted down, he used the confusion to escape. He destroyed me.”
“He beat you to the punch?” Tempest said with some surprise.
“I never saw it coming,” Elusive said with a smile. “We’d been friends for so long that I never even considered the possibility of him betraying me.”
“And that’s why Chrysalis exiled you?” Elusive nodded.
“For getting captured, and taking pity on that mare and her foal,” Elusive clarified. “At least, officially. When Thorax overthrew her, I made overtures to return. But infiltrators were never exactly the most popular changelings in the hive. We didn’t just infiltrate other creatures; we kept an eye out for dissent; the invisible eyes and ears of Queen Chrysalis. I could name any number of my countrymen who might have sent those griffons after me. That’s why I deserve my fate, Tempest. I betrayed my friend.”
Tempest was again rendered briefly speechless by all this, but eventually found her words.
“Why are you telling me all this?” she asked. After all, he’d spun a couple stories so far that turned out to be only partly true at best. Elusive looked into her eyes sadly.
“So you can forgive me,” he said, desperately. “I need to know that somepony forgives me.”
He held out his hoof, just managing to take Tempest’s in his. His once firm grip was now weak as a foal’s. The two of them held their gaze for a few moments before Tempest finally spoke.
“I forgive you,” Tempest said softly. “For whatever it is you did.” Elusive smiled at that.
“Thank you, Tempest,” he said weakly. “For everything. Our friendship, however brief it might be, has been most satisfying. And you know what, there’s one positive thing I can say about this life I had to take on. I was a very good tailor.”
With that, he closed his eyes and fell asleep, exhausted by the effort now required just to speak. Tempest smiled back, hoping that this would not be the last time she saw him. Heading out into the hallway, she left the hospital, and hurried up the hill towards the castle.