//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Time // Story: Apprentice of the Stars // by Vohira //------------------------------// Chapter 4 Time When the bell at the doors to the Carousel Boutique rang Rarity expected to see another wealthy customer from Canterlot. But the pony she saw also was a pleasant surprise. The white unicorn had to admit, in almost two months of barely seeing Twilight, the purple mare had changed. The most astounding thing was how Twilight had grown a bit, not by much mind you, but she was taller than her by half of a hoof at most. She had lost some of her ‘rounder’ shapes and her coat had gained a healthy and even luxurious shine. Her purple friend was not Fleur de Lis, but Rarity suspected she was as close as any mare could get without excessive use of cosmetics. One thing however almost made the white unicorn faint. Her friend had slitted pupils! She had to blink a few times to be sure she was not imagining it. “Hi Rarity.” Twilight said with a small smile on her muzzle, she hadn’t seen hers fashionista friend for more than three weeks, and even back then it was brief. The last two months had been hectic to say the least. After the party Pinkie organized for her, hers lessons started in full swing. Each and every one lasted to very late hours, sometimes lasting until the Princess had to lower the moon. They were tiring physically and mentally. The consequence of this was her becoming almost as nocturnal as the Princess herself... which more often than not clashed horribly with almost everypony’s else schedules. And even when she was awake and not in the castle with Luna, said Princess gave her strict orders to train her body, as the few more training spars that had been arranged had shown, that Twilight couldn’t handle a prolonged battle. So at the beginning she had to ask Rainbow Dash and Applejack for some pointers, and after about two weeks she had a solid training regime that fitted her demands. All of that had caused her free time to become rather non existent and it put a strain in her relations with her five friends. But in the end all of her friends accepted it and Twilight was glad for it, and because she could spend less time with her friends, those moments became even more precious for her. “T-t-twilight, darling! How good to see you. My, you have changed... your eyes...” Rarity couldn’t stop herself from stuttering at the beginning. “Oh, those? A gift from Princess Luna, hers special version of the Night Vision spell. But I have to admit... I wasn’t too thrilled about this either.” Twilight said with a small sigh. The works in the castle were nearing their end and the spell field would be removed soon. Also the Princess got stubborn on the matter of that... gift. So Twilight accepted. “Well, a Princess is a Princess. But... I’m curious Twilight. Excuse me for saying this, but you have never looked so good! How have you gained such good looks? Now only my mane is more pristine than yours...” Rarity said with a small pout at the end as she came closer to Twilight to look closer at hers friend. “Lots of physical and magical exercises Rarity. As Princess Luna put it, unicorn’s body is as important as its horn. And even more so, as we unicorns don’t have that natural fitness earthponies and pegasi have.” Twilight said as she followed her white friend with her eyes as she circled her and murmured softly, probably about her new look. “I will have to keep that in mind then. Now Twilight, why are you here? Do you need a dress? I have a few that would look astonishing on you now...” “No, Rarity. It’s not quite what I need. I have a request though. Would you go with me tonight to Princess Luna’s castle? I want you to look at something there.” After hearing that, the white unicorn looked flabbergasted. “Well... Yes of course. I will just have to organize a sleepover for Sweetie Bell.” “Then when you’re done, come to the library.” Twilight’s voice had a commanding tone that startled Rarity. Yes, her purple friend organized and overlooked the Winter Wrap Up so she heard that kind of tone before, but she had never heard her use it when it came to such trivial things. Something was going on and Rarity wanted to know what. She was opening her mouth to ask her... but Twilight was already closing the doors behind her. ********** It was now late afternoon and Twilight was sitting outside her home, waiting for Rarity and the Night Guards. She wondered if she wasn’t too rough earlier in the Boutique. A small scowl showed on her muzzle. It really wasn’t her fault... well, maybe it was a bit. A month ago Princess Luna gave her a special offer. Luna almost begged her to accept, saying that she wanted to repay the smaller mare for cleansing her from dark magic that turned her into Nightmare Moon. Twilight was faced with a very hard choice then, and really... what else could she do when a royalty was begging her to accept? She said yes. Now a month from that night she was readying herself for the official promotion to the rank of a Commander of the Night Guard, that would take place in less than two weeks. At that time the castle will be ready, and a ball will be hosted in it. First in over a thousand years. Every major noble family will be invited, along with her friends, Princess Celestia, Princess Cadance and her BBBFF. Of course, in those invitations there was no mentioning of Twilight's promotion. It was going to be a surprise. Twilight shuddered a bit at that thought... She was not sure she wanted to see Celestia’s rection. This was another issue that bothered her. In the last two months Princess Celestia have sent her five letters. In all the white alicorn asked about her lessons and how Princess Luna treated her... And she was hiding the truth from her second mother and former teacher. It didn’t sit well with her, but it was easier to lie when she didn’t have to look at Celestia. The truth was that when Twilight had a decent grasp at four different battle spells, Luna had decided that Twilight was not going to be using the chariot anymore. She had to go on hoof to the castle. At first it was a terrifying experience, and the Night Guards had to save her from at least three probably deadly situations. But with time, she managed better and better. To the point where only the largest creatures of the night dared to attack her nowadays. She didn’t even realize when she became as dangerous as those creatures until she ran into a pack of Timberwolfs and they retreated growling at her threateningly. Princess Luna was right in one thing... Learnin the right mind set for battle magic only required practice and right circumstances. And Twilight’s knowledge of battle magic was still expanding... Also Princess Luna became less forgiving in their lessons after Twilight’s first night in the Everfree. But Twilight could understand that, now almost every night her life was at stake and Princess Luna wanted to be sure she was capable of protecting herself. Those experiences also brought answers to Twilight’s questions why there was never an attack at the castle and the workers in it and around it. Reluctantly Luna told her that one of her royal titles was ‘Mother of the Night’, as every creature of the night instinctually respected her for bringing forth the time when they could prowl around. It was also a major reason why she was feared a thousand years ago. After that one informative night, Luna asked her to never bring up that subject in their talks again. Now when Twilight looked into the mirror, she wasn’t sure she recognized herself anymore. The promotion especially forced a change, not in looks but in something more important. She was not officially a Commander yet, but even now she was expected to be giving orders. And she was scaringly good at it. Her need to organize everything perfectly was becoming something that the Night Guards feared. Not to mention her small obsession with being punctual, it wasn’t that bad as it was in the past, but the Guards didn't know that. And when one night two Guards were very late for their shift... Well, it wasn’t pretty. When that memory came to her, she smiled broadly. Screaming scornfully at the two ponies was a great way of relieving stress. Maybe not the best way of doing it, but definitely effective. “Twilight!” When said mare looked to her right she saw Rarity coming her way. “Hello Rarity, you’re earlier than I expected.” Twilight said slightly surprised. “Sweetie Bell was excited about that sleepover with Apple Bloom I arranged for her. You should have seen how fast she packed... Now then, for what are we waiting?” Rarity asked as she now stood by Twilight’s side. “You will see.” The purple mare’s voice carried a bit of a mysterious tone. Rarity looked slightly irritated but she didn’t say anything. After about fifteen minutes of waiting the dark blue chariot landed before Twilight and Rarity and pegasi Guards bowed to Twilight, this surprised the white unicorn. The purple mare just hopped onto the chariot and waved at Rarity to join her. Rarity hesitated but she finally hopped on as well. The Night Guards wasted no time and they were off, flying to the castle. “Oh my... We really are going to that castle...” Rarity said with a bit of disbelief in her voice. She didn’t quite believe that Twilight trained in the Everfree Forest until now. “Don’t worry Rarity, you will be surprised when you see it.” After Twilight’s little comment Rarity felt a tingle of magic in her eyes and when she looked at her purple friend, she caught Twilight’s horn glowing with hers magic. The white unicorn didn’t know what happened but she quickly realized she was able to see much better in the dusk. When she decided to look down, Rarity saw many ponies cutting down trees and building what looked like a... road? “Twilight dear, are they building a road to Ponyville?” Rarity’s voice was filled with curiosity. Twilight turned her head to look down and then at her white friend. “Yes they are. Not much of a castle for a Princess it would be, if it didn’t have a way for ponies other than pegasi to safely travel to it. They started constructing it about a week ago.” Twilight explained in her ‘lecture’ voice. Rest of their journey was spent in silence, with Rarity barely withholding the many question she wanted to ask. But when she saw the renewed castle, her eyes widened and her mouth hung open in utter astonishment. It was nothing like the ruin it was when they battled Nightmare Moon. The forest around it had been cut down to create place for new buildings, she suspected that these buildings were barracks and training gyms for Night Guards. The old rope bridge also was gone, in its place now was wide, sturdy and elegantly curved stone bridge. The castle itself looked like how it probably had in the past... With a bit of more accent at who now lived here. It’s many slim turrets shooting high into the sky were made from a darker, almost black stone which caused the windows in which light was seen to look like stars. Rarity could spot that at roof edges many spikes like the ones on the chariot were added. A wide rectangular courtyard was added before the castle, its edges accented by small fountains and elegantly trimmed small trees. “Take us around the castle first, and fly lower.” Twilight’s voice rang with authority and the pegasi pulling the chariot obeyed. Behind the castle, Rarity could see the beginnings of a beautiful garden. Rows of neatly trimmed trees and paths between them. Eight fountains in a large circle. Some bushes creating private niches. At the centre of the garden, which now Rarity could tell was planned like an eight pointed star, was a statue that shocked the white mare when she saw it. It was a statue of Nightmare Moon and if she was seeing right, it was the same statute before which she as a filly dropped some of her candies from Nightmare Nights. A reminder of a time when she still believed in that old pony story where she would be gobbled by the Nightmare if she didn’t offer her candy... “Twilight, why is this statue here?” Rarity asked as she looked at her friend. “Princess Luna is fond of the memories from last Nightmare Night. She wanted the original here and there will be a replacement made for that clearing in the forest.” Twilight answered with a small smile. When they finally landed Twilight almost dragged Rarity behind her into the castle. The insides also made Rarity look around all the time. Paintings and statues that connected somehow to the night time in general or night sky were present in every corridor and hall they moved through. Lush carpets in shades of blue were lying on the obsidian paved floors. Black candles that burnt with bright blue flame held by silver chandeliers provided the necessary light. Taking in all the new sights Rarity didn’t even realise when they reached a room in one of the towers. When she looked around she had a feeling whose room it was. It was circular, done in blues, purples and blacks. Rarity spotted stairs leading to a higher floor but they weren’t that interesting. There was a rather large mahogany desk on which the white unicorn could spot at least half a dozen books and scrolls. Five large, ceiling high bookcases dominated the far wall. There was a fireplace with pillows laying in front of it with some books stacked near it. The same candles that were lightning up the castle were also present in this room. And there was one thing that got Rarity’s full attention. It was a mannequin with a Night Guard armor on it, but it was incomplete, some plates were missing and it didn’t have the ‘cat eye’ in its centre like the rest of the armors she had seen had. “Yes, that's the thing I want you to look at, your the fashionista here after all.” Twilight said with a smile, when she saw that her white friend spotted the armor. “Who is it for?” Rarity asked a she went closer to the mannequin to examine with what she will be working. “That’s rather obvious. For me.” Was Twilight’s answer as she walked behind Rarity... and almost hit her when the white mare turned around to look at Twilight with a rather intense gaze. “And why do I, your close friend hear about it just now? You know how hard it was for us to adjust to seeing you less often... But if you join the Guard we will see each other even less.” Twilight sighed and looked at her hooves, before looking up at Rarity with her cat like eyes. “So you will get used to it again. Now do you want to help me customize this armor or not?” Whatever Rarity expected was not this. For a moment she stood gaping at Twilight in a very unladylike manner. Then she cleared her throat. “I will see what I can do, stay still.” It took Rarity a good portion of the next two hours to customize the armor. The simplest thing to do was placing in a blue sapphire in the socket the armor had for the ‘cat eye’. She added some dark blue material to the armor that covered Twilight’s back legs, flank and a very small portion of her sides. From the helmet she removed the dragon fin, making it possible for Twilight’s mane to stick out of it. All in all the modifications were very simple, but working with metal was much harder than working with regular fabrics. “Thank you.” Twilight said when she got a good look at what her fashionista friend have done. “You’re welcome darling.” Rarity’s stiff answer made Twilight sigh. This meeting was not going too well. “Listen Rarity, whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry. I was placed between a rock and a hard place... and I have chosen to do this for Luna.” Twilight’s voice was soft when she spoke. “The others will not like this news Twilight.” “I know and I understand. But I’m willing to take the risk, besides what kind of friends would the rest turn out to be if they didn’t accept my decision?.” As she was saying this, Twilight put on the armored shoes. “I need to go, if you want you can take the chariot back to Ponyville or you can sleep in my bed upstairs. I will probably be out all night.” Twilight said opening the doors and going out with the sound of her steel shoes hitting the stone. In the end Rarity decided to stay in the tower, she was too tired and had too many thoughts on her mind. The most important was that this new Twilight was not their old Twilight. And she still remembered how being ‘new’ worked out for Fluttershy... Her pegasus friend had returned to being her ‘old’ self. But she didn’t have that monster Iron Will watching her day after day. Princess Luna on the other hoof would never leave Twilight’s life so easily... Rarity shook her head, that was a stupid thought! How could she compare the two! But still... If Twilight was going to be this way all time... It would be... The. Worst. Thing. Ever! After that thought the white unicorn fell on the comfortable bed she found upstairs and tried to fall asleep. ********** A/N: If anybody has problems with imagining Twilight’s armor here, look at this (it’s not Twilight, but the armor is the thing that matters here): Click me! R&R ponies! And truly I didn’t count on so many likes and all the other good, motivating stuff, yeah not that many compared to other stories but it’s a lot from my point of view. Also, in the next chapter I’m going to finally tackle the ‘Adventure’ part of this story.