Chapter 15 – Sunset
"All in all, I learned almost entirely nothing from that endeavour. Except that the ponies fail at programming scientific calculators. But then again, they're rather advanced from reverse-engineering the one I brought along. Midgård had to begin from a giant room to perform basic arithmetic. Which reminds me, I still have that radio to code.
"Okay, I've settled on a decision. I was a bit of a dick earlier this morning. I'll apologise to Cadance when I next get the chance to. Wait, more important than that: Not only did she know it was a harmonic topaz, she knew I – wait, wait, wait. I don't have the topaz anymore. It disappeared when I touched it. Okay, apologise for reaction, then attempt to understand how the hell she even knew.”
Very little happened for the remainder of the day, and certainly nothing relevant. Nobody/nopony really paid any attention during both lunch and dinner, and the remaining hours eventually passed onward as the sun descended across the sky.
Because it was not too far from the summer season, the sun set rather late – around 9 PM. Fred Walsh sat on one of Canterlot Castle's western balconies – The same one he and the first spontaneous STF stood on during Potens Daemonium's attack and initial death in 796 – to watch the sunset.
The sun dipped near the horizon. Consequently, the sky's colours shifted from the typical daylight blue to a pinkish-red.
Some footsteps sounded from behind him, shortly thereafter accompanied by a voice. “This used to be one of my favourite places in the castle.” Fred turned to the voice and saw Twilight Sparkle standing in the archway, with Princess Cadance in the corridor on watch.
“I can definitely can see why. You've got a great view of the western side of Equestria, including towns and the sunset, obviously, and actually, the first Solar Task Force watched Potens Daemonium fall on this very spot,” he agreed, punctuating the end of that sentence by pointing toward the ground.. 'Damnare, I'm never going to stop thinking about the past... It was last week, why am I so worked up about it?'
The glowing yellow-orange orb continued to descend further down the horizon.
“I used to be an avid lover of science, just last week actually,” Fred lamented.
“What happened?” she took notice of the word 'used.'
He took a breath. “Ever since I bounced back into Equestria, I've begun losing faith in it. Maybe my joy will come back, but for now I have to wait until the scientists on Midgård make another wormhole that won't try to destroy everything.”
“I understand. Everything's different since that demon attacked me.”
“You must still enjoy the sunset though,” he pointed outward, “or you wouldn't be sitting here,” he reassured.
“At least that's one thing that remains constant.” She nodded.
Instead of continuing the conversation, Fred and Twilight sat and watched the sun continue to fall below the horizon. The night began to take hold as the colours changed again, now at an indigo-violet hue, matching the unicorn's features.
“So that's why you like watching the sun go down,” the human commented as he compared her coat and mane colour with the sky. Also, her full name seemed relevant.
Twilight knew what he was getting at. “That, too.”
They sat, watching the skies change for a few more minutes. Fred then stood up, stretched his back and walked over to Princess Cadance. He had something important to do. The pink alicorn was dividing her attention between the lack of events in the castle's hallways, and the talk previously happening on the balcony. Fred moved over to her.
“Princess Cadance,” he addressed.
“Fred.”
He inhaled before making his apology. “Sorry about how I overreacted earlier today.”
She spent a second pondering the statement. “I guess I can see why you did so,” she accepted. “So how did you find the harmonic topaz?” She re-asked the question from earlier.
“Yesterday, Twilight, Rarity and I all went to find some harmonic gems after I mentioned about them. We set off, found the topaz on a collar, then Twilight was attacked. After we dealt with that, we retrieved another gem as well,” Fred took the harmonic sapphire out of his pocket.
“I haven't actually seen one of these before...”
“It's a magic blocker. I'm not going to test it,” he stated.
“I can accept that.”
“Although, how did you even know I had the harmonic topaz? I didn't bring it along; it disappeared,” he dug straight to the point.
Princess Cadance held back on her reply. 'He doesn't know yet...' “I'm good at finding the gemstones. I was born into the Crystal Empire after all.” She smiled.
Fred responded with a quizzical facial expression. 'But not the sapphires... Also she's withholding something...' “But you acted as if I still had it. I don't, it disappeared when I touched it.”
“Really? Well, I'm sure you know what I meant,” she responded in a tone as if saying 'Ha, I know more, but you can't prove anything.'
Unable to get a metaphorical foothold on the conversation, he sat back down on the balcony. “Filius a canis,” he muttered quietly.
“What was that?” Twilight heard him say something, but she was unsure what.
“Nothing,” he quickly replied, avoiding a confrontation.
Everyone remained seated for the remainder of the sunset, until the twilight sky shifted once more to a dark blue, almost black, and the half-phase moon rose upward. Now that the sunset had ended, Twilight, Fred and Princess Cadance left the balcony behind to return to their earlier-assigned rooms.
Instead of going directly to his room, Fred decided to take a detour to the castle's infirmary. He had something to say quickly.
He peered in the archway to a room containing beds and medical supplies. Inside was also a pony, the same doctor who bandaged his injury the day before.
“Oh, by the way. It turns out I am fighting a demon. Sorry.” He took off before the doctor could formulate some kind of reply.