Shadows of the Sun
By theamberfox
Chapter 13
“Are you sure you’re going to be alright, Lord Thunderhorn?” Rarity asked.
The general was leaning on the white unicorn, one of his forelegs wrapped over her back while the two stumbled out of a dark alley and towards the royal barracks. Its huge metal gate was closed and flanked by two ponies, one of them easily recognizable as Firewater, the barkeep from the nobility quarter.
“Don’t worry about me.” the old stallion replied. “I’m just a little exhausted from all that nonsense with the orb. I never thought I would end up doing so much of the work by myself. ”
The two unicorns had tried to avoid the main streets as they made their way through the city. The calamity of the rioting was spreading quickly and it was too dangerous to be out in the open. More of the nobles had joined the rebels that had split off from the original plan, fighting against the soldiers in what they believed was a war to restore their rights in the government. At the same time, the commoners had fought against them, fighting back against the greedy aristocrats in support of their princess’ recent actions or simply trying to defend their homes from the anarchy. Now the capital was a warzone and the flames that had started it all were still burning. Without anyone to quell the fires, they were constantly taking more of the city, filling the air with a dark smoke that masked the stars and the moon above.
The palace and the royal barracks were the only real safe places left in the city. They were well defended and pushed away from the majority of the fighting that was now taking place all over the noble and common quarters, so the few stray ponies that decided to approach had always turned back quickly.
“Damn those unicorns!” the Thunderhorn grunted. “I knew we couldn’t trust a bunch of sorry drunks.”
“I understand their concern.” Rarity said, her voice filled with regret as she began to remember how she failed to stop the fires and infighting from spreading over the entire city. “I don’t think they expected the riot to threaten their homes and families.”
“You have no idea how glad I’m going to be when we’re done with this, Miss Rarity.” the general sighed deeply.
“Thunderhorn, Rarity, are you two alright?” Firewater interrupted, walking forward to meet them. “You didn’t get caught up in the fighting did you?”
“No, we’re both just a little tired.” Rarity answered, stopping and smiling weakly. “Thankfully, the orb is prepared and we should be ready to use it when Princess Celestia arrives.”
“You mean if Princess Celestia arrives.” Thunderhorn intervened. “We still don’t know if she’s going to come back.”
“She simply must come back now, Lord Thunderhorn.” Rarity said with confidence. “If Princess Luna refuses to intervene then this entire city will burn to ashes.”
Thunderhorn frowned, refusing to comment on their grim circumstances.
“Where’s Goldenroot and Vortex.” Thunderhorn asked the barkeep, changing the subject.
The Firewater’s weak smile fell quickly, “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to answer that question.”
“What happened!? Are they both alright?” Rarity panicked, jerking forward and causing Thunderhorn to stumble as he leaned against her.
“Goldenroot is fine.” the barkeep explained. “Vortex is in the infirmary. She’s still alive, but…”
“Where is the infirmary!?”
“Go right through the main entrance of the largest building and it’s the first door on your right.” he responded promptly.
“I’m sorry, Lord Thunderhorn.” Rarity said hastily, pushing away from the old unicorn that was leaning on her.
The elderly stallion stumbled, but managed to keep himself on his feet as he watched Rarity sprint to the door, throw it open with her magic and disappear inside. He cursed loudly and chased after her, limping slightly as he walked with the barkeep just watching him from the gate.
As he approached the open door, he noticed the crumpled bushes on his left. An assortment of trampled twigs, leaves and bits of blue hair were scattered around the ground, all of which was soaked in a sickeningly large pool of blood that forced the unicorn to look the other way. He swore again, much more loudly this time, and bolted through the door, pulling himself through the opening and stumbling down the hallway and into the infirmary, a large room with a small administration desk near the entrance and several smaller rooms with doors lining the hallway beyond it.
“Is she… is she going to be alright?” Rarity’s voice stuttered from inside one of the rooms.
Following the sound of her voice, Thunderhorn walked a little further into the medical centre and turned into one of the open doorways, his eyes immediately focusing on the heavily bandaged pegasus lying on a bed in the center of the room. Lying on her side, her sky blue tail was carefully laid out across the length of the bed, the long strands of hair resting softly on top of the sheets, but her mane was almost entirely hidden underneath the white bandages that covered the top of her head. The rest of her body was erratically covered. Most of her chest and all of her right foreleg were hidden, but the rest of her body remained uncovered, having suffered what appeared to be only minor injuries.
Vortex’s breathing was weak and strenuous. Her eye’s closed tightly in her sleep, her chest expanding as far as it could as she took long breathes. Thunderhorn recognized it as a sign that she had damaged one of her lungs, puncturing or injuring the organ in a way that it was rendered almost completely inoperable and forced the single, undamaged lung to overexert itself in its absence. He wasn’t sure what had happened to her, but whatever it was, it was doubtful that she would ever completely recover from it.
Goldenroot was sitting on the floor next to the bed, the blue mare’s face meeting his as he watched her with a pained expression. His eyes glimmered in the thin, mocking torchlight of the room, the stallion constantly trying to blink his sadness away as the warm liquid formed in the corners of his eyes. But his effort was in vein, only pushing the tears down the side of his face and sending them rolling down his cheeks like tiny rivers.
“From what I can tell, she has a fractured leg, multiple broken ribs, a few damaged internal organs and severe head trauma.” a chocolate brown unicorn, mostly likely some kind of doctor, replied methodically. “The leg and ribs should heal over time with no permanent damage. The organs should be okay too, but she can’t overexert herself for several months until that lung heals.”
Rarity had her back to door, hiding her face from the general as she stood close to the pale green stallion. She seemed to be trying to comfort him, placing her hoof gently on his back, but it didn’t seem to be helping.
On the opposite side of the bed was the doctor. Thunderhorn could tell she wasn’t very experienced, carefully levitating a clipboard in front of her and quickly switching her attention from it, to Vortex, to Rarity, and then back again. It was more likely that she was only just a nurse and not a doctor, but during a desperate time like the present, they were fortunate to have someone with even that much experience.
“Now, the head trauma… I honestly don’t know.” the nurse replied hesitantly, running a hoof through her mane and down the back of her neck. “Any kind of injury to the brain is impossible for me to diagnose until she wakes up. If she’s lucky, she won’t have any permanent damage. If she’s not… well I won’t go into details, but please try to stay calm if she doesn’t recognize you when she wakes up. You’re only going to make it harder for her.”
“She… she can’t just have completely forgotten who we are!” Rarity shouted doubtfully, spinning to face the unicorn standing on the opposite side of the bed.
"I don’t… I don’t know…” the nurse stuttered, startled by the white unicorn’s outburst.
But as Rarity faced the nurse, Thunderhorn could see the tears in her eyes and he realized that she wasn’t really angry at the mare. She was angry at herself. Angry that her wonderful plan to save the world was falling apart and that she was responsible for all the suffering, destruction and death carried along with it.
"I’m sorry, but I have to check on the other patients. I’ll be back in an hour to change her bandages.” the nurse continued hastily.
The nervous, chocolate brown unicorn gathered up a few of the things lying beside the bed and rushed passed the old general and out the door. Her eyes darted around the hallway once as she slowly opened one of the doors and closed it behind her.
The nurse hadn’t explicitly said so, but Thunderhorn knew what she meant. There was a good chance that Vortex’s injury would be far worse than simple amnesia. And though he didn’t know exactly what had happened to her, a significant head injury could cause paralysis in most of her body or send the pegasus into a deep coma that she might never fully recover from.
Turning his attention back to the scene inside the room, Thunderhorn noticed that the tears had started to build up more quickly in the pale green pony’s eyes. He shut them tightly, sobbing quietly as he lifted a hoof to his head and rested it against his forehead. Thunderhorn knew what it was like to sit at the bedside of a sick loved one. It was a horrible feeling that ravaged your thoughts and burned through your veins like acid, knowing that you could do nothing to help them, knowing that, even though all your friends, your family, and the doctors and nurses tried to convince you that everything was going to be okay, the love of your life was fading away like a wisp of smoke on a windy day.
Rarity just fell backwards, sitting on the floor helplessly as she watched the young pegasus gasping for air on the bed in front of her, “I’m so sorry, Goldenroot.”
~
“Princess!” Shock Wave yelled, throwing open the door to her chambers and bolting into the room.
Sitting on the balcony and slowly turning her gaze from the burning fires and screaming in the city below, the moon princess stared at the soldier whom had just barged in. Her gaze was cold and depressing, her eyes sharing their sorrow and emptiness as they shone strangely in the light of the fires.
“Princess Luna.” the red pegasus continued, ignoring her unsettling gaze. “You have to do something! There’s a rebellion within the city’s walls. Canterlot is burning, rioters are taking over the streets and ponies are being killed.
"The royal barracks has already been lost to the rebellion. I’ve ordered the soldiers to retreat to the castle, but strangely, that hasn’t lured the fighting here. It’s like they’re not even targeting us.”
The princess turned back to the window, “Have you noticed soldier? Have you noticed that the sun has yet to rise above the horizon, yet it is well past ten o’clock in the morning now?”
“Princess, forgive me, but I don’t think that’s important right now. We need to do something about the city.”
“Princess Celestia is attacking the capital of Prance. It’s the only reason the sun has not yet risen.” Luna replied, ignoring the soldier’s alarm.
“Please, your highness. We need to do something! I beg of you!” Shock Wave pleaded, slowly approaching the princess and trying to bring her back to the more important issue.
“This isn’t about me or you or anyone else in the city. It’s about my sister. Only she is capable of repairing the damage to our city and our country.” Luna said calmly. “Only she can fix this. After all, she promised me she would.
"I’ve sent word to Celestia that she needs to return immediately, but it is to her discretion whether or not she decides to wait until after the war has concluded. However, I expect everything to be back under control as soon as she returns.
"Until then, I want you and the remainder of the guard to stand down. Do not attack the rebels and do not leave the castle.”
"Stand down!?” the pegasus asked in shock. “Princess, we can’t just wait for your sister to come back here and fix everything! The city is in peril and it is my sworn duty to protect the lives of the innocent and helpless.”
"You’re making the mistake of assuming that the war in Prance has only just started.” Luna replied vaguely.
"You may not be Nightmare Moon anymore, but you’re still a monster.” Shock Wave lashed out. “I don’t care if it’s against your direct orders, I’m not just going to give up like you, just step aside and watch my city burn to ashes. I’m going to defend my city, my country and everyone inside it to my very last breath.”
Shock Wave, fed up with the alicorn’s obvious apathy, stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her. The sound of her hooves echoed down the hallway, tears slowly rolling down the princess’ cheeks as she heard them grow fainter and then finally disappear.
~
“Before I do anything, I want to know the truth. Why did you sabotage my country, Pierre?” Celestia asked sincerely. “What exactly did you hope to gain?”
“My country was suffering, princess.” Pierre replied, rising from his seat and walking to the huge window behind him, watching the horrifying scene below. “I only wanted a better life for all the ponies that live here in Prance. I never intended to harm your country or cause a war. I only wanted to show your stubborn council that they were making a mistake. The trade agreement would have helped both our nations.”
Celestia walked further into the elaborately decorated room. Its walls were lined with several expensive paintings, but the pair of extravagant statues and packed bookshelves that Twilight had described were absent, almost as if they had never existed at all. But the princess ignored the flaws in her student’s depiction of the room and, nearing closer to the large desk Pierre was standing behind, her eyes narrowed and she glared inquisitively at the crimson pony across from her.
“That’s a very different story from what I was told.” Celestia stated.
“And what were you told?” the king asked, still focused on the sight below.
“That you were trying to conquer my country. You were trying to overthrow me and my sister in some kind of elaborate plan to take over the world. You promised to give the council power, so they willingly helped sabotage their own country.”
The room was engulfed by an ominous silence and from the reflection in the window Celestia could see a faint smile form on Pierre’s face.
"Did Sir Goldenroot tell you that?” he asked.
“No, Twilight Sparkle told me.”
“Your student?” Pierre asked in disbelief, finally turning to face the alicorn. “I thought she had died.”
“No, she never died, Pierre. You may have tried to kill her, but she never died.”
“Kill her?” Pierre replied, again in disbelief. “I suppose I can understand why you would think that, but I never even saw your student, only her belongings, which I immediately sent back to you.”
“How appropriate.” Celestia said as she glared at him. “That’s the exact same lie that your faithful subordinates tried to tell me, that she never even came here. Why are you lying to me, Pierre? Are you trying to make me feel sorry for you? Is this how you think you can escape your punishment?”
The scarlet pony just turned back to the window. It was still dark outside, but it was well past the time the sun was normally supposed to rise. The moon hung high in the starry sky above, its light pouring through the massive window and washing over the king’s body, forming a dark shadow on the floor underneath him.
"Don’t you think there is some truth, however small, in what we said?” he asked. “Or do you wish to hang on every single word your student has told you?”
"She has no reason to lie to me.” Celestia promptly responded.
"Whether you choose to accept it or not, what she has told you is not entirely the truth” Pierre explained. “She’s lying to you, princess, but even I don’t understand why.”
"You’re wrong, Pierre.” Celestia stated. “She wouldn’t lie to me.”
"I admire your faith in those around you, princess.” the king admitted. “I only wish it wasn’t so misplaced.”
The princess started to walk around the large desk and approach the king as he stared out the window.
"I’m not going to kill you, Pierre.” she explained quietly. “I don’t believe you deserve such a terrible punishment, even if you did fill the world with lies and cause such irreparable damage to the world.”
The king continued to look outside the window, even as the princess neared closer to him.
"I’m going to lock you in the dungeon beneath my castle.” The alicorn continued. “Perhaps when you are ready to tell me the truth, then I will let you return to your own country.”
"There is no truth I haven’t already told you, Princess Celestia.” he said calmly.
The princess stopped in her tracks only a short distance away from the ruby red pony.
"But you are too kind.” he continued, the reflection in the window showing him frown. “I could not save the weak, the young, the innocent… I have shamed myself beyond all forgiveness and I do not deserve to live among the ponies I swore, but failed to protect.”
The king turned to the princess. Clouded in the darkness of his own shadow, his face held an unforgettable expression. His eyes were filled with sorrow, but they held no tears, and his mouth gently trembled as he tried to force a fake smile in the bright moonlight.
"I’m sorry, princess.” he said.
Turning back to the window, the king bolted forward and hurled himself into the thick glass. The princess could only watch as the window shattered and the crimson pony was sent into the blackness of the night, the glittering fragments of the window dotting the sky like tiny raindrops.
Rushing towards the broken window and gazing down to the ground below, Celestia watched the pony and the fragments of the window grow smaller and smaller until they became invisible to her naked eye and the pony eventually stopped, slamming into the ground on the courtyard far below, his body lying in-between the two great statues and delicately arranged red and white flowerbeds on either side of the path.
For what seemed like an eternity, the princess just looked down at the sight below. The soldiers of Prance, the soldiers of Equestria and the innocent ponies that had been caught in the middle rushed from all over the city to the fallen pony’s side. And while they all looked down upon the king as he lay in the center of the path, the moon fell across the sky and disappeared over the horizon, making way for the bright sun that appeared just beyond the landscape.
"Princess Celestia!” Swift Wing shouted, stopping at the doorway and looking around the room.
The sight left the recently appointed colonel speechless. The massive window was shattered and the alicorn was just standing beside it, staring down into the city below as the sun slowly rose into the air outside and began to cast long shadows across the room.
"Is it over?” Celestia asked, watching the sun climb over the horizon.
"It’s… it’s over.” the pegasus replied, removing her helmet and tossing it onto the ground. “Right after we all saw the window explode and Pierre’s body fall from the tower, they just gave up. They just sat down and started taking off their armour.”
The princess said nothing and the room was once again bathed in silence as the sun rose higher and higher into the sky.
"What are we going to do now?” Swift Wing asked.
"We’ll set up an interim government until things can return to normal.” Celestia replied calmly. “Some of the soldiers will need to stay behind to watch over the country.”
The pegasus continued to watch the princess as a great flash of light illuminated the room in front of her. When the light subsided, a letter unravelled itself in front of the alicorn, the princess quietly starting to read it.
"I have to go back to Canterlot.” Celestia said abruptly, setting the letter on the large desk. “Find General Redhoof, he’s in charge until I return. If you cannot find him, you’re in charge.”
"What’s going on?” the pegasus asked.
"It’s something that I alone have to deal with, colonel.” the alicorn replied. “Just keep everything under control until I return.”
"Of course, your highness.”
~
“Goldenroot, we’re going to take the orb and wait at the palace.” Rarity said quietly. “We think that when Princess Celestia arrives she will go there first.”
While the others were busy preparing for the princess’ arrival, the stallion remained by the bedside in the small room, his eyes, although an intense red from his tears and prolonged sleep deprivation, still attentively watched the pegasus lying motionless in front of him.
“Fine.” he replied monotonously, his voice echoing around the small room.
While the tone of his voice could easily be interpreted as apathy, the truth was entirely the opposite. He still cared about the city burning outside the door, the bloody war in Prance, and the two ponies that stood, watching him in the doorway that were trying to bring it all to a sudden and abrupt halt. But what mattered to him the most wasn’t any of those things. He cared about her, the wonderful blue pegasus lying in front of him, and he refused to leave her side until he knew that she was okay. But as time wore on, he had begun to suspect the worst.
"Neither of us is sure why, but the royal palace appears to be completely deserted.” Thunderhorn added, answering the obvious question that Goldenroot had ignored.
Silence engulfed the room as the two unicorns moved their gaze from the pale green stallion to the dark blue pegasus and then back again. The entire scene seemed to be frozen, encased in a block of cold, solid ice as the world continued to move, shift and turn all around it. Goldenroot wasn’t taking this well, but then again, what kind of living, breathing pony could just ignore the pain of someone they cared about?
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” Thunderhorn asked. “We may need your help.”
“I don’t care about that anymore.” Goldenroot lied.
The unicorns exchanged worried glances, before turning back to the stallion waiting by the bedside.
“Goodbye then, Goldenroot.” Rarity said quietly. “We’ll see you when we get back.”
The white unicorn smiled with a kind of hopeful determination, but soon turned around and quietly left out the doorway. Thunderhorn followed soon after, glancing once more at the stallion and then at the pegasus, before he backed out of the room and gently shut the door behind him, the handle slowly turning back into place as he gradually released his grasp.
When the room was completely silent, Goldenroot turned to look at the door, silently hopeful that everything would be alright.
Why is it that when the world burns, I’m the one holding the match?
“Are they gone?” a weak voice asked from the bed, interrupting his thoughts.
Goldenroot’s head snapped towards the bed, Vortex's amber eyes glowing back at him softly.
“Vortex!” he yelled, wrapping his forelegs around her and starting to sob.
“Ow.” she muttered quietly.
Goldenroot jumped back, realizing that he was only aggravating her wounds and causing her more pain.
“I thought you died, Vortex.” he said, his voice shaking. “And… the doctor said that the blow to your head damaged your memory… She said that you might not even remember me.”
Standing near the bedside, Goldenroot watched the mare’s eyes intently. His tears streamed down his cheeks, the stallion unable to hold back the bizarre combination of anxiety and joy that flooded his emotions.
“I remember you, Goldenroot.” she smiled faintly, tears beginning to roll down her face and soaking her pillow. “You still owe me an expensive gift.”
“I know, Vortex.” he said, tears pouring down his face.
The stallion leaned in and passionately kissed the mare on the lips, everything that led up to this moment flashing back into his memory like a strange dream. He remembered first setting his eyes upon her and thinking about how attractive she was and how hopeless he had always been.
Focus on your job, he had told himself. She’s not important.
He remembered how she used to be and realized how much she’d changed and how wonderful and amazing she became to him when he finally discovered the real pony behind the stunning blue figure. And as the beautiful reveries finally drifted out of his thoughts, he realized how naïve he’d been that day. She was more important than anything and everything else in the world and he was never going to forget that.
“I’m sorry, Goldenroot.” she said, as the stallion slowly pulled away.
“For what?” he asked.
“I’m sorry I was so arrogant. I’m sorry I made you worry about me.”
“I didn’t think I would ever hear you say that.” Goldenroot smiled at her, “But I should be the one apologizing, Vortex. This… everything… it’s all my fault. I was a fool and I put your life in danger. I dragged you into this mess and-”
“Now don’t get too mushy on me, Goldenroot.” Vortex interrupted, grinning back at him. “You wouldn’t want me to gag, would you?”
For a moment, the two ponies simply smiled at each other in silence, but Vortex’s expression slowly changed, the mare becoming absolutely serious and turning her gaze away from the stallion.
“I heard what you said.” she commented. “I think you should go help Thunderhorn and Rarity.”
“I don’t want to leave you, Vortex.” he said resolutely. “Not now.”
“Don’t worry so much.” she said, turning back to him with a smile on her face. “It’s not like I’ll be going anywhere. And besides, you still have to slay the dragon and save the princess. We made it this far and if you forget to do that, we can’t have our happy fairytale ending, can we?”
Something about the mare had always made the stallion smile and, even though he knew that she was in an extraordinary amount of pain, he felt himself grinning stupidly back at her.
“I guess not.” he said.
~
The sun was gently rising into the sky as Goldenroot entered the palace, the bright orb only barely visible past the thick smoke in the air above the city. The interior of the palace was exactly the same as it had been before the riot, the great marble pillars extending to the high ceiling above his head and the identical marble floors polished to a perfect sheen.
“Sir Goldenroot!” Rarity shouted in surprise, rushing towards him. “I thought you weren’t coming.”
“A certain blue pegasus managed to convince me otherwise.” the stallion smiled happily.
“She woke up!?” Thunderhorn asked, smiling ever so slightly.
“And her memory doesn’t appear to be damaged at all.” Goldenroot replied. “Everything important is still there, at least.”
“Oh Sir Goldenroot, that’s wonderful news.” Rarity said, throwing her hooves around the stallion’s neck.
“It’s nice to have some good news for a change,” the general remarked, “but I think we’d better turn our attention back to our plan.”
Rarity released her hooves from around Goldenroot’s neck and smiled at him happily once more before turning back to face the general, the green stallion also trying to focus his attention on the important final details of what had been a long, complicated, and exhausting plan.
"We’re not going to use the orb immediately. We both think it’s worth the time to see if we can convince the princess to give herself up quietly. If she does that, we can avoid a potentially dangerous situation. However, if she refuses to submit herself, we need to use the artefact immediately, before she has a chance to react. Since I’m the only one who actually read the instructions for this thing, I think I should be the one to use it on her. It takes less than a second to actually unleash the magic, but we can’t afford to take any chances so you two need to make some kind of distraction.”
"Like what?” Goldenroot asked.
"Yell, shout, throw something at her… I don’t care what you do as long as it works.”
Goldenroot nodded once, expressing his understanding.
"Now, if anything goes wrong-”
The general was cut off as a bright light filled the area, blinding the ponies and forcing them to turn away from the source at the center of the room.
“Goldenroot, Thunderhorn, and… Rarity?” a voice asked in an aggressive tone. “I have to admit, while I almost expected some of the council members to return, I did not expect the element of generosity to betray me like this.”
The bright light faded away, revealing Princess Celestia who was gently flapping her wings against the air around her as she lowered herself to the ground. As she planted her hooves firmly on the floor, she folded her wings onto her side casually.
“Regardless, you ponies have set fire to my city, started a riot within its walls and caused the death of many of my subjects.” she said, glaring at each of the ponies individually. “Why are you doing this to me? Was it not enough to try and dethrone me once, you had to attempt to do it again? Will you not stop until one of us is dead, dismembered and buried?”
“Princess Celestia, I’m sorry, but we needed your full attention.” Goldenroot announced, stepping forward. “We were desperate to stop the war before it reached its climax.”
“The war is already over, Goldenroot.” the princess said, walking towards him.
“The war is over!?” the stallion shouted, stunned.
“Prance was defeated and their king is dead.” Celestia explained. “However, I will allow you to say what you want to say before I completely lose my patience with you.”
“There is no easy way to say this, your highness.” he said, trying to focus even as his mind wandered to the horrible fact that they had been too late to stop the war before it ended. “Your student, Twilight Sparkle, is dead. The Twilight that you’ve spoken to is merely a hallucination. She’s not real, Princess Celestia, and everything she’s told you has all been just a lie.”
Beginning at the drought, the three ponies wove an elaborate story about the past, trying to describe every single tiny detail of the seemingly inexplicable events that had taken place over only a few short months. But as they told this extravagant tale, Celestia’s mind wandered somewhere else entirely, leaving only her blank expression behind as she was consumed by the powerful memories of her past.
"It’s about Twilight… She’s not coming home.”
"They think she’s dead?”
Ever since the very beginning, they believed she had died. But when Twilight came back, she proved them all wrong. She proved that she was too strong to be overwhelmed by simple bandits, too clever to be fooled by the falsities that Prance had twisted under her nose, and too ambitious to just give up when she was confronted with the horrifying events she knew would soon follow.
"She was one of the best friends I had and nothing will ever change that. I just wish I hadn’t let her leave by herself…”
But why would Rarity lie about her own friend, whom she held so dear to her heart, being dead?
"I’ll come back as soon as I can tomorrow. I know we’ll have a lot to talk about.”
Even if they were telling the truth, then who, or what, had she been talking to? What was it that she had seen, held, embraced, and even given up her own bed to on that stormy night so long ago?
"So you don’t know… what happened? Everyone thought she was dead, Celestia, yet she shows up in your bedroom in the middle of the night?”
“I know it’s hard to believe, but this was very real, Luna. I can assure you, no part of me thought it was a dream.”
“Well, we’ll know when she comes back.”
Her sister had been so doubtful. She wasn’t willing to believe that Twilight would just come back in the middle of the night without anyone else noticing her return.
“Please, Princess Celestia.” Rarity pleaded, approaching the alicorn cautiously and dragging her back to the present. “It’s the truth. I… I walked into your bedroom when you were talking to her.”
Her legs trembling, her mouth dry, Celestia’s gaze fixed itself on the exhausted, white unicorn in front of her. With the raging fires and the devastating riot quickly mutating her beautiful city into a hideous monster, she frantically tried to forget the uncertainty that plagued her memories and focus back on the issues of the present.
“Twilight wasn’t actually there.” the Rarity continued slowly. “You were all alone in that room.”
Alone? Celestia wondered, drifting off once again.
"I swear to you, princess! I’m not lying to you. I’ve never met your student. I was one of the ponies that accompanied King Pierre on his journey to your palace several months ago, the other being Daniel…”
Catherine was right, the princess thought. I remember seeing them before, both her and Daniel. They had been the king’s escorts when he had arrived at the palace in Equestria several months ago. I remember talking to them. I remember being curious and asking them about their jobs, their families and their country. I even remember Catherine telling me why she had joined the army in the first place.
“Your student? I thought she had died.”
“No, she never died Pierre. You may have tried to kill her, but she never died.”
“Kill her? I suppose I can understand why you would think that, but I never even saw your student, only her belongings, which I immediately sent back to you.”
Was Pierre telling the truth as well? Celestia thought, her eyes beginning to water.
"Whether you choose to accept it or not, what she has told you is not entirely the truth. She’s lying to you, princess, but even I don’t understand why.”
Was Twilight lying to me? the alicorn wondered, closing her eyes to hide the forming tears.
"The Twilight that you’ve spoken to is merely a hallucination. She’s not real, Princess Celestia, and everything she’s told you has all been just a lie.”
Is she even alive? she thought. But then, what happened to her?
"We spoke with your sister.” Goldenroot said, pulling the princess back to reality. “We think she’s afraid of you, princess.”
Afraid? Celestia thought, fading away from reality again. My sister is afraid of me?
"You are and will always be more than just a student to me, Twilight. If I have to do this to protect you, my sister and everyone else in Equestria from harm, then I believe this is the right thing to do. I don’t think I could ever live long enough to regret protecting the ones I care about.”
"When will you be back?”
"As soon as I can be. I hope to be back in a few weeks, but I can’t be sure. Nothing ever really seems to go according to plan, does it?”
"I don’t really care how long it takes, princess. I just want you to come back.”
"I will never leave you alone, Twilight. I won’t make that mistake again.”
No. It’s not true. Celestia thought, glaring down at the ponies in front of her. It wasn’t all just a lie. Twilight can’t be dead. I spoke with her and held her between my hooves. No mere hallucination could ever be that real. No simple illusion could trick me, turn me into a horrible monster and force me to mercilessly slaughter innocent ponies.
"No!” Celestia screamed, finally giving voice to her thoughts. “You’re lying! She’s not dead and you’re all filthy liars! Every one of you! You burned and terrorized my city! You conspired against me and forced a war upon my country!”
Her eyes shone with a terrible rage as she spoke, her horrible glare moving quickly around to each of the ponies individually.
“I’m sick of your lies and I refuse to let you wreak havoc on my country.” the alicorn continued.
Realizing that the situation was about to turn violent, Thunderhorn cried out, “Goldenroot! Rarity!”
The two rushed away from the princess simultaneously, trying to redirect her attention towards them as the general pulled the shimmering blue sphere out of his bag.
But the distraction failed as the princess just stared at the strange orb the old unicorn was holding in the air beside him, I remember that…
In one swift motion, Thunderhorn shot a beam of light from his horn into the small orb, the light amplifying and changing colour as it shot out the other side. A magnificent blue light filled the entire room as the beam flew through the air towards the princess, but she knew exactly what they were trying to do. She recognized the crystalline orb from so long ago. She remembered why it was created, how it was used, where it was stored, even the exact words detailing the surface of the sphere.
Her horn shone with a bright light that wrapped itself around the princess tightly, the piercing blue beam smashing into the barrier just as it managed to close in front of her. The magic exploded along its surface and pushed the princess, reducing the marble tiles on the floor beneath her to rubble and sending her crashing against the far wall. The resulting impact shook the entire palace, the blue light finally subsiding as its power dissipated into the barrier. With the last of the orb’s magic gone, the light around Celestia disappeared and the exhausted princess stumbled and fell to the ground.
“You won’t kill me here, not now.” she wheezed, gasping for air as she climbed back to her hooves and inched slowly forwards.
Her horn shone again, her anger pulsating through the room as she moved towards the old unicorn.
“Goldenroot, Rarity, run!” Thunderhorn yelled. “Get out of here! I’ll stall her for as long as I can.”
The two ponies did as instructed and turned to the doorway, hoping to escape before the princess turned her fury on them.
“You will do no such thing!” Celestia roared, the magic around her horn swirling and darkening as she slowly neared closer to the grey unicorn. “I won’t let you continue to destroy my country with your selfish lies.”
As she lowered her head and prepared to unleash her magic on the general, the elegant tiara placed neatly on the top of her head slid off and fell to the ground, landing with a hard clunk as it crashed into the floor. Ignoring the trinket, the princess let loose her magic, the powerful golden light cutting through the air as it approached the old stallion. The general hastily threw up a magical barrier, but after thoroughly exhausting himself from filling the crystalline orb, the barrier was futile, shredding like paper against Celestia’s magic.
The general cried out in pain as the magic wracked his body and sent him flying across the room, smashing him into the stone wall and discarding him onto the floor. The crystalline orb, once again glowing with a faint orange light, rolled slowly away from his disfigured body and into the shadows of the room. The vivid orange letters projected themselves through the darkness and onto the wall, making the text written along the orb’s surface perfectly readable on the cold, stone nearby.
My beloved sister, my only family, I would toss aside my immortal life, my royal blood, and everything else I own for you, the one true constant in my world.
Goldenroot and Rarity continued to run towards the door as the alicorn started to refocus her magic power. She reached out with her magic and grabbed hold of the two fleeing ponies as soon as they neared the exit and gradually began pulling them closer to her.
“Princess Celestia!” Rarity desperately cried out. “Please, I know this isn’t who you really are! You’re the most kind and generous pony in the world; you would never want to hurt us!”
But the princess just continued to pull them closer, tightening her grasp on the two ponies and squeezing their bodies, forcing their eyes closed and making them scream in pain as they were crushed in her magical grip.
"You’re right, Rarity. I was kind. I was generous.” she explained with an intense hatred in her eyes. “But how can I be so kind and generous while you tread on my very existence? You destroyed the pony I once was and you created this monster that I am now!”
While the two cried out in pain, a strange cloud of magic was hiding in the shadows. It was reading the words on the wall and then watching the horrific display in the center of the room, watching as the one it knew as its sister turned into a terrible monster and killed the ponies she once cared for. She killed Thunderhorn, the pony that she had once trusted with her deepest, darkest secrets, and she was about to kill Rarity, the element of generosity that had helped save her sister, and Goldenroot, the pony that was willing to sacrifice himself just to save the forests of her land.
"Sister!” Luna screamed at the top of her lungs, tears streaming down her face as she slowly materialized out of the shadows.
Celestia loosened her grip on the two ponies, allowing them to breathe as she faced her younger sister.
"Luna! I… I didn’t want you…” Celestia stuttered, slowly coming to realize the horror of what she was doing.
"Why are you doing this?” the moon princess asked, lowering her voice as her teardrops sprinkled onto the marble floor below. “What’s happening to you?”
"They lied to me, Luna.” Celestia stated, regaining her composure slightly. “They tried to destroy our country. I cannot let their crimes go unpunished.”
Luna continued to sob, her tears soaking the ground as she just watched her sister. Her eyes forced shut by her sister’s prying gaze, Celestia couldn’t bear to look at her sibling and turned away.
"They’re not lying to you, Celestia.” Luna said, finally breaking the strange silence that had filled the room.
“What… what do you mean?” Celestia asked apprehensively, her body trembling as she turned back to face her sister.
The two alicorns just stared at one another. Luna merely looked upon her sister with tears in her eyes and sorrow in her heart, while Celestia gazed back towards her with a strange sense of misunderstanding, like she had no idea what was going on or why any of this was happening.
Slowly, Luna’s horn started to glow with a brilliant blue light and she lowered her head, staring down to the floor at her hooves.
“I’m sorry, Celestia.” Luna said regretfully, her voice shaking as she closed her eyes. “I didn’t want it to end this way.”
Celestia gently set the two ponies she was holding on the ground, the light encompassing them vanishing as they touched the ground. As soon as the light disappeared and the two ponies collapsed on the floor, a beam of light shot from Luna’s horn and Celestia just watched as it slowly encircled her, tugging at her body and eventually causing her to disappear from the room completely.
~
Luna stood behind a podium on a large wooden platform pushed to the far edge of the town square. A massive crowd completely filled the area, small fillies and colts pointing at the stage and tugging on their parent’s tails as they tried to figure out what was going on. Their parents, however, were not quite so lost. Very little had been explained about the gathering, but they seemed to believe that they knew what it was all about.
Everything that had led up to this point over the past few weeks had been some of the worst events in the history of their country. The drought, the war, the fires, the riots, they were terrible trials that all seemed to have ended at once. They thanked their princess for their salvation and now they were expecting a kind of celebration after all the hardships they had endured. However, they didn’t seem to know why Princess Luna was on stage in place of her sister, so the ponies just stood and waited in silent anticipation.
“Citizens of Equestria!” Luna announced from behind the podium. “The drought is finally gone, every last trace of it washed from existence!”
The ponies in the crowd started to cheer loudly, happy to hear of their victory over the terrible plague that had seemed to start everything.
“The war is over, Prance was defeated and they now reside under our watchful eye.”
Again, the ponies cheered, stomping the ground and looking at each other in excitement.
“The fires were extinguished and the riot was ended, but though our city is damaged, reconstruction is in progress and the ones involved in the riot are being punished appropriately.”
Still, the ponies cheered loudly and stomped at the ground with their hooves.
“Yet everything you’ve been told was all part of a terrible, destructive lie.” Luna continued, her voice changing from the pleasant tone it once was as she began to explain what had actually happened.
The crowd went from a roaring applause to complete silence at this remark, every one of the ponies staring back at the alicorn in confusion.
“My sister has been swept away by grief, taken by lies and falsities.” Luna announced, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “I’m sorry to tell you that she spread these lies onto you. Prance was not trying to conquer us, the council was not responsible for the drought, though one individual in particular was indeed responsible for making it worse, and the fires and the riot that took place only a few days ago were not started out of hatred for my sister. Instead, they were started because it was the only way we could pull her back to reality and force her to realize the truth.”
The princess paused for a moment, turning her head and attempting to blink her tears away and stop herself from breaking down in front of her subjects.
“She has been locked away now, down in the deepest catacombs of the castle.” Luna continued. “And there she will remain for as long as it takes for her to regain her health. Perhaps someday, when you are able to trust her again, she will resume her duty as the ruling monarch over our land, but until then, I will take her place.”
The ponies in the crowd below were visibly apprehensive about this new insight. Princess Celestia has been locked away and her sister was just supposed to take her place? Was she not the same sister that devolved into the villainous Nightmare Moon not so very long ago?
“I know that you are hesitant to trust me when I tell you this. I admit that I am not so sure that I am completely up to the task of ruling over this nation, or even worthy of it, so I am going to restore the council. Alas, the previous council members are either not capable of performing their roles any longer or have no desire to return to that life. Goldenroot will be banished for conspiracy against our country, Lord Thunderhorn perished in the riot, Lord Crescendo has gone missing, and Lady Wind Dancer, Lady Prairie Star, and Lady Vortex are all unwilling to continue with their positions in the government. Therefore, a new council must be created, one that will not be limited to just the nobility, but instead one that will include the entire populace of Equestria.”
The ponies started to talk amongst themselves and soon the town square was filled to the brim with an amalgamation of verbal dissent and panic at their situation. They didn’t seem to believe Princess Luna nor did they even want to believe her. Everything they did, everything they fought for, it couldn’t possibly all just be part of an elaborate lie, could it?
And amid all the confusion and even terror of the ponies around her, Luna just calmly turned back and walked off the stage.
~
She’d been cooped up in that tiny room for about a week now. Every day was the same, relatively dull experience. She would lie in her lumpy hospital bed and read, eat, sleep, or groan while various doctors and nurses badgered her with their concerns. She wouldn’t mind them so much, except they always managed to find some new complication as a result of her injury. First, she was diagnosed with ‘monocular temporal hemianopia’. The doctor had described it as ‘a visual field defect aligned along the vertical meridian of the affected eye’, but what it meant to her was that she had permanently lost all of the peripheral vision out of her right eye. Then she discovered that she had lost her unique ability to accurately tell the time using the position of certain objects in the sky as a frame of reference. Strangely, she was more upset about that than the loss of her peripheral vision. Everyone always found that trick to be so impressive.
Fortunately, however, both Goldenroot and Rarity would stop by to visit her and break up the day, the former always arriving more frequently and staying for much longer periods of time. She always wanted them to stay longer than they did, but they would both utter the exact same phrase like some kind of mindless machine.
"You need your rest.” they would say.
And then they would leave her alone, off to do something much more important and interesting. It was all a practically unbearable experience and she didn’t want to spend a minute longer in that tiny room. She just wanted to get outside and move around. She wanted to do something, anything at all.
Ugh! What time is it? she asked herself, staring out the small window near her bed and gazing out over the landscape. Goldenroot said he would be here at noon.
It looked very cold outside the window. The first snow of the season had finally begun to fall and it now blanketed the ruined streets and burned buildings of Canterlot in a soft, fluffy white. Turning her eyes from the snow covered buildings, she focused her attention on the ponies that wandered around the city. Wrapped with thick, winter scarves, they simply tried to avoid the bite of the frigid, winter air.
And of course, it’s going to be absolutely freezing when I finally get out of here. Vortex sighed.
Suddenly, a light, but quick succession of taps against the door interrupted her train of thought and Vortex pulled herself upright, leaning her back against the headboard.
Looking at the entrance with a big grin on her face, she called out, “I already told you, you don’t need to knock. Just come in.”
The pony on the other side seemed to hesitate for a moment, but eventually the door slowly creaked open and revealed a familiar face. Indeed, she recognized the face of the pony standing in the doorway, but it wasn’t exactly who she had been expecting. The brilliant golden armour the pony usually wore was absent and the cherry red pegasus, spotted with flecks of snow, was awkwardly cradling a long, skinny glass vase in her hoof. It was filled with seven, bright pink tulips that shot out of the delicate, semitransparent blue container like fireworks.
“Oh…” Vortex replied, her smile falling. “Hi.”
“I… I got you these.” Shock Wave replied, stuttering and trying to smile at the bedridden mare while she balanced the vase precariously in her hoof. “I know you don’t really like flowers, but I… I still needed to apologize to you.”
Vortex said nothing in response, just watching as the mare invited herself in, closed the door and walked further into the small room before carefully setting the vase down on the small bedside table. She was curious how the mare had managed to get such bright flowers at this time of the year, but her trivial curiosity was pushed to the back of her mind.
“I’m sorry, Vortex.” Shock Wave said, unable to look at the other pegasus directly, her eyes staring at the flowers on the table. “I should have believed you. I should have known that you wouldn’t lie to me about something like that.”
Shock Wave slowly sat down on floor near the bed, glancing up at Vortex momentarily before diverting her eyes away again.
“I still find it hard to believe that the princess has really gone insane,” she continued, “but I know you were telling the truth now and I… I’m so sorry I hurt you, Vortex. I…”
The pegasus drifted off and the two ponies sat in a strange, awkward silence for a long time. Vortex just quietly stared at the mare sitting beside her bed while Shock Wave periodically changed her gaze from the vase of flowers, to the floor, to Vortex, never keeping her eye on anything for more than a few seconds at a time.
Just looking at Shock Wave pulled and tugged at Vortex’s emotions. She wasn’t sure what to think about her. She was a friend from her past, one she had been willing to trust with her life, yet this red pegasus had refused to do the same when it had really mattered. She tried to kill her and while Vortex had a strange feeling inside her, like she was supposed to accept her apology, it was a sin that she wasn’t sure she was ready or even willing to forgive.
“I got kicked out of the royal guard.” Shock Wave stated plainly. “Luna was doing nothing about the riot and after we… met at the barracks, I assumed command of the remaining soldiers stationed in the city.”
She paused for a moment, grinning slightly as she looked at the pink flowers sitting on the table. Shock Wave seemed to be proud of her actions, even if they got her fired.
"Against her direct orders, I tried to stop the rioting and extinguish the fires.” she continued. “But Luna is nothing like Princess Celestia. She didn’t understand. She considered my actions to be desertion and I was issued a dishonourable discharge for misconduct and treason.”
Shock Wave turned her head, finally facing the dark blue mare directly.
“You know, I’d feel a lot better about this whole thing if you were back in the council. Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider that position? I know that every single pony in this country would welcome you back.”
“I’m leaving Equestria.” Vortex replied firmly.
“What!? Why?” the red pegasus asked in disbelief.
“Goldenroot was banished from the country, so I’m going to leave with him.”
“You’re joking, right?” Shock Wave asked doubtfully. “Please tell me you’re joking… After all you’ve done, you’re just going to run away with some stallion and disappear forever? Do you even realize what’s happened? This country is in pieces.”
“I know that, but the last thing anyone in Equestria needs right now is some overzealous rebel in the council.” Vortex explained. “I’m only going to make things worse if I stay here.”
“Have you even seen the council candidates?” Shock Wave argued. “They’re all extremists, radical commoners or conservative nobles. Not only that, but now we have to deal with Nightmare Moon as our monarch instead of the princess. Things were better the way they were before.”
“You were living in a lie, Shock Wave!” Vortex argued back. “You can’t possibly want to live in some fantasy world, just pretending that everything’s perfect when it’s really the complete opposite.”
“At least I was happy!” Shock Wave yelled angrily, standing up. “I don’t care if it was a fantasy or not, it’s better than what we have now.”
For a moment, Vortex was angry at Shock Wave. She sacrificed so much to make this country a better place, now she was trying to tell her that it was all just a mistake? But the feeling quickly fled from her emotions and she was left with only a sense of disappointment. It was heartbreaking to see that the pegasus standing in front of her was so very different from the friend she so fondly remembered.
"I… I think you should leave.”
The cherry red pegasus just stared back at her, like she hadn’t even heard what she said.
"Fine!” she said abruptly, walking to the door.
Vortex watched as she stormed to the exit and flung open the door, turning around and glaring at her once more before she left.
"You’re a coward, Vortex,” Shock Wave said, “and you’re definitely not the same pegasus I remember.”
With that, she turned and left out the door, slamming it closed and leaving Vortex alone in the silence of the small room.
Turning to look at the bright, pink flowers by her bedside, she was beginning to wonder if her former friend was right. She truly believed that they had done the right thing, but, while the flames were gone, was she really just leaving her country behind while the embers still burned on the ground? Would matters only get worse now that Celestia was gone?
Why does everything have to be so hard? She thought, slowly pulling herself back under the covers of her bed.
She didn’t want to just leave them behind, but what could she even do? She was useless by herself, she didn’t really know anything about politics, and she refused to abandon Goldenroot and all of her happiness for what was almost certainly simple paranoia.
Curled up inside her bed and staring intently at the tulips, another light tap sounded at the door before it swung open and revealed another familiar face. Except this time, it was someone she actually wanted to see.
“Hey, Vortex.” Goldenroot smiled, slipping into the room and quietly closing the door after him. “I know how much you hate this hospital food so I brought you a sandwich.”
The cheerful stallion smiled as he walked over to the table and reached out to the saddlebags slung over his back. Lifting the flap, he pulled out a large paper bag and set it down on the table next to the flowers.
“You certainly don’t see many of those at this time of the year.” he remarked, gesturing to the flowers.
“You’re late.” Vortex said astutely, pulling herself upright and leaning against the headboard again.
Goldenroot’s smile fell, “Actually… I’m about ten minutes early.”
Vortex frowned and glanced out the window once more. She really missed that trick, but more than anything, she hated being wrong.
“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Goldenroot grinned. “I think I’ve got something that will cheer you up.”
He reached into his bag again and pulled out a small, square box and set it gently on the bed, next to the mare. It was wrapped in shiny, white paper and had a pretty blue bow tied around it, the exact same colour as her coat.
“I was going to wait until after we ate, but…” Goldenroot said, drifting off.
“You know I was just joking about that ‘expensive gift’ thing, right?” Vortex asked, smiling back at him.
“You better not have been.” Goldenroot laughed. “This thing cost a fortune.”
And though it had been nothing short of a nightmare, something about the stallion’s joyful grin and reassuring disposition told her that everything was going to be alright. She didn’t have to stay here, give up her dreams and happiness to watch over Equestria like a suckling baby. It was much too naïve to think that the country would simply fall apart after what they did and that she was the glue holding it all together. Things would get better over time. Equestria could take care of itself.
Goldenroot grinned, “Well don’t just stare at it.”
~
It was snowing. The five ponies stood in a small semicircle around the two nearly identical stones protruding out of the ground, the entire scene enclosed under a bubble of magic that kept the small, white flakes from entering and disturbing the ponies inside.
Rarity was standing on the far left of the group and was solely responsible for projecting the bubble. As usual, her mane and tail were perfectly stylized, her makeup flawlessly applied and her coat a brilliant, shining white.
To her right, was Wind Dancer, the pegasus’ appearance almost identical to that of the unicorn beside her, if only slightly less immaculate. Her wings were carefully folded against her side and her gaze was focused intently on the stones in front of her.
And to her right, was Prairie Star, who had made the long journey to Equestria just for this one special, but depressing occasion. Her straight, golden mane partially obscured the earth pony’s face, rolling down the light brown coat of hair on her neck.
Continuing on down the line was Goldenroot, the pale green stallion with the bizarre, leafless golden tree on his flank, and finally Vortex, the dark blue pegasus with the light blue hair and swirling torrent of water on her own flank. The two were standing close beside each other, the latter having just recently recovered from her injuries during the riot.
The rigid stone on right of their field of vision read, Here lies Lady Violet, the mare that gave me a reason to love and a reason to live. You showed me the beauty of the world and everything inside it. And though our time was short, it will never be forgotten as the single happiest time of my life.
The stone on the left read, Here lies Lord Thunderhorn, a soldier, a general, a friend and a loving husband. He fought for what he believed in and he never gave up hope. His selfless courage and wisdom will forever be an inspiration to us all.
“It doesn’t really seem fair.” Rarity said glumly. “He worked so hard for our future, but he was never given the chance to experience it.”
“I think he would be happy to know that his sacrifice saved the both of us.” Goldenroot replied. “And although Equestria does not seem to welcome Princess Luna or the new council with open arms, I think that over time things will improve and eventually return to normal.”
“Where will you go?” Rarity asked, turning to face the stallion. “You have to leave today, don’t you?”
“Yes. Luna withheld my banishment only just long enough so that Vortex and I could leave together.”
“Yep, besides my peripheral vision, everything’s healed up nicely now.” Vortex stated plainly, unfolding her wings and stretching them out in front of the group. “And after getting kicked in the head, I only seem to have managed to forget one thing.”
“Well I certainly hope it wasn’t anything important.” Rarity said with concern.
“Well it was important,” the blue mare replied factually, returning her wings to her side, “but then Goldenroot bought me this watch.”
The pegasus lifted her right foreleg into the air, flaunting the elegant, golden watch sitting only a few inches from the very end of her hoof. Secured by a thick, gold and silver strap, the face of the timepiece held twelve little diamonds that were placed evenly around the circumference, one for each hour, and three shining silver hands so the pegasus could tell the time down to the exact second of the day.
Each of the ponies around her, with the exclusion of Goldenroot, who only sighed heavily and started to rub the bridge of his nose with a hoof, slowly walked closer, trying to examine the watch’s more intricate details. It was probably the most expensive watch they’d ever seen and until now, none of them knew such a thing even existed.
“It’s twenty-four karat gold, twenty-four karat platinum, the diamonds are perfectly flawless and it’s both protected and powered by a magically imbued artefact, so it won’t break and I don’t have to rewind it every other hour.” Vortex bragged, still holding the watch in front of her. “You’re totally jealous, aren’t you Rarity?”
She was jealous.
“That is absolutely gorgeous, Vortex.” Rarity said, still a little baffled by the expensive watch.
"Vortex, you don’t need to brag about it…” Goldenroot said quietly, trying to pull everyone’s attention away from the watch.
“Goldenroot, forgive me for asking, but how exactly could you afford something like that?” Wind Dancer asked suspiciously. “You’re not exactly the wealthiest noble on the block.”
“Well it’s not like I need my house anymore.” he replied with a smirk.
Vortex lowered her hoof quickly, the stallion’s remark instantly reminding her of what she had wanted to say before she had gotten so carried away showing off her watch.
"That’s right!” the blue pegasus announced. “Since we can’t stay here, we both decided we’re going to go on some kind of elaborate adventure. Maybe we’ll even find Crescendo and tell him what happened.”
She paused for a moment, just smiling at each of the ponies around the group before stopping in Goldenroot’s direction, her smile growing brighter.
"Or maybe we’ll just go behind a bush somewhere and make out.” she continued.
Goldenroot just shook his head slowly, giving the pegasus a strange look while she just grinned back at him.
“Are you going to be okay, Miss Rarity?” Goldenroot asked, turning back to the unicorn. “I mean, have you found out anything about what happened to Twilight Sparkle?”
“You don’t need to concern yourself with that anymore, Goldenroot.” she said, finally tearing her gaze away from the expensive watch and smiling quaintly at the stallion. “You’ve already done more than I could have possibly asked from you. You don’t, and never will, owe me anything.”
The pale green stallion smiled back at her.
“And I did manage to find her belongings, so hopefully something in there will help me understand what happened to Twilight.” Rarity continued.
“Well, I’m going to stay here in Equestria.” Wind Dancer intervened, jumping into the conversation awkwardly. “Even if my house was burned to the ground, one doesn’t keep absurd amounts of gold hidden in their cellar for no reason. My house has already been rebuilt to look exactly as it did before.”
Each of the ponies grinned and chuckled at her statement. Wind Dancer hadn’t changed a bit.
“And you.” she continued, turning to Goldenroot.
She just stared at him for a moment, the group enveloped in complete silence as the tiny flakes of snow drifted around the magical bubble that encased them.
“Thank you.” the white pegasus finally said. “I believe we are on equal terms once again.”
“That’s good enough for me, Wind Dancer.” the stallion replied.
“That’s Lady Wind Dancer, Goldenroot.” she corrected with a smile. “Unlike you, I had my noble status restored.”
“Until you find out where you’re going to go, you’re more than welcome to stay with me for as long as you wish.” Prairie Star intervened. “I found a job as a baker and I have a very nice house in that village now.”
“I don’t know, Star, we might keep you up all night.” Vortex smirked.
Goldenroot turned and gave her another harsh glare at her vulgar comment, the pegasus just smiling more brightly at his reaction.
“We’ll keep it down.” Goldenroot said quietly, turning back to the brown earth pony.
The group faded back into silence for a minute longer, turning their attention back to the tombstones and just staring at them as the snow gently landed, melted and rolled down the surface of the bubble surrounding them.
“Miss Rarity?” Goldenroot asked, breaking the momentary silence and turning to the unicorn. “When you do find out what happened to Twilight, I think you need to tell Princess Celestia. I worry about the princess. I’ve gone to visit her in the prison below the castle a few times now, but every time I see her it’s the exact same thing. She’s completely traumatized from the incident. She doesn’t eat, she doesn’t speak, she hardly even moves. Even when you address her directly, she simply stares through the barrier, right past you like you’re not even there.
"I don’t think she’s actually come to terms with Twilight’s death and the fact that Princess Luna, her own sister, has been so busy with the political state of affairs that she hasn’t had the time to see her even once, only makes her situation more depressing.”
The stallion paused, returning his gaze back towards the tombstones.
"I just think she might feel better if she knew what happened to Twilight, even if it’s not exactly something she wants to hear.” he finally continued.
"As soon as I find out what happened, I will tell her.” Rarity replied, trying to force a reassuring smile.
Pausing, the unicorn’s fake smile vanished and she gently closed her eyes.
"But I can only hope that she will believe me when I tell her. If she doesn’t, then I fear she will remain this way forever…” Rarity continued, “…or at least until she is no longer willing to endure the horrible pain and tragedy of her life.”
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Author's Notes:
Hey everyone. I was trying to get this chapter out before I left for vacation. Unfortunately, it seemed like I wouldn't make, but now my flight's delayed, so I guess I will.
Anyway, although this chapter wraps up a lot of the conflict, this isn't the end. There's still one more chapter left. That last chapter will show up sometime when I get back from vacation.
As always, thanks to my editor, Specter Von Baren, and my two prereaders, StyxD and my nameless friend. I really appreciated your help with this chapter, even if it did create a lot of extra work for me.
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Disclaimer:
“My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” and its derivatives are the sole intellectual property of Hasbro©. I do not have, nor claim to have, the rights to the intellectual property that this story is based on.