//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: Secondo // by Lil Penpusher //------------------------------// Silverstream huffed heavily with exertion. It had taken her 3 days of travel to reach the Equestrian shore, not to mention the day before then in which she was bypassing the strict watch of the sirens and their minions as she inconspicuously left for internal waters by means of an old fishing trawler. She was almost surprised not to have been caught, but then again the sirens were probably busy with Skystar and the others. The City of Baltimare was not the biggest, but it was the largest industrial and urban hub in the Equestrian southeast. It was also the only town in the southeast that Silverstream actually remembered by name, and so it had become the natural destination for landfall. By the time she'd arrived, she was exhausted, hungry and thirsty, and really needed a day's rest. She was already garnering some odd looks from the inhabitants as she wandered the streets, but wasn't sure if that was because Hippogriffs were still a rarity in Equestria or because she looked like she hadn't cleaned her feathers for a year. She'd wanted to take a breather so badly, but a voice in her mind forbade it. Forbade her from finding a hotel for the night, or grab some food at a restaurant, or anything like that. She was on a mission, and one that all her friends and family hinged on. She couldn't just sit back now and take her time. This letter... it had to reach the Princess of Friendship, and fast. The lone Hippogriff made her way to the train station instead. That was another benefit for landing in Baltimare, as it was the furthest extent of the Equestrian railway network down southeast. Beyond this point it was dirt roads at best and dense jungle at worst. She had a hard time deciding if jungle was a preferable alternative to the huge desert in the southwest, where she heard the buffalos lived among others. Oh well. The train slowly rolled out of the station, and the friendship student wasted no time in ordering on-board refreshments during the trip. Two bottles of water and three bags of peanuts. It was better than nothing, and at least the water rejuvenated her visibly. Prices were incredibly inflated just for being served aboard a train, but she didn't complain. She rested her head against the backrest of her seat and closed her eyes. The end of the line would be Canterlot main station, with the second-to-last stop being Ponyville, but it would still be a 4 hour journey until then, roundabout. She dozed off, and caught up on the sleep she had been missing out on. Slowly, the rumbling of the train carriage or the steaming of the engine far ahead faded. She found her eyes open once more, and suddenly found herself in some grim, almost abandoned-looking village. She looked to her left and right, but nopony was to be seen. She intended to shout 'Hello?' and 'Anypony there?' but found her beak wouldn't open. She raised an eyebrow, and wanted to raise a claw to touch her beak, but likewise her limbs would not do as she ordered them to. She felt her heartbeat accelerate as panic came over her. Fine... this was fine... she was probably just exhausted after her trip... Yeah. "H-Hello?" She perked up as a voice called out, after all. She meant to move around to face where she believed it to have come from, but her stupid limbs just wouldn't do it. "Hello? Can you hear me?" Yes! Yes she could hear them! But why couldn't she move!? She was almost surprised when she began to move after all, but not on her own accord but seemingly independent of her own volition. Steadily, slowly, almost like some form of machine, her body shifted to face a lime-green pony that had snuck out of what was probably her home's front door. Or maybe just some kind of hideout? Just what was this place, anyway? "You... oh, oh no! No!" Silverstream was baffled as the pony scrambled and dropped onto her belly for a moment in panic. "Dear Celestia, please!" The look of absolute horror on the pony's face was evident as her frantic attempt to escape boiled down into cowering and placing her hooves over her ears. Silverstream was so confused. Had she somehow missed a memo? Were Hippogriffs the bad guys in Equestria somehow? What had gone wrong here? Her head moved to look down upon her chest, and everything became clearer... if not a lot scarier. A necklace hung from her neck, and dangling from it, a red gem akin to those the sirens themselves possessed. The stone began to glow in an ominous red light as her right claw moved upwards and grasped the stone, her talons moving slowly across it as if gently caressing it. What. Was. Going on!? What was she doing!? Who even was she, at this point? Where was she, and why was she doing any of this!? She tried her best to scream, to voice a warning and tell the pony to help her... but the pony was in no position to do much of anything but cower in fear anyway. Not that her own beak obeyed her commands to begin with. Her eyes fell shut as she felt her beak opening after all. She tried to scream instead of letting out whatever she would do to the pony, having gotten the hint of what was gonna happen by now. "Miss?" Silverstream's body shook and twitched violently as a hoof pushed against her shoulder. She gasped, and took multiple deep breaths. Slowly, her eyes turned left, to her seat partner. "Sorry... but didn't you say Ponyville was your stop?" She briefly inspected the brown-coated pony, then flicked her head back around to the right, looking out the window to see they were stopped at a train station. This one, in particular, she knew very well. Ponyville. "A-Ah!" she gave out, realising she was going to miss her stop momentarily. "Yes, yes, yes! Sorry!" She got up and gave the pony no chance to make way as she pushed past into the aisle, her wing clipping the face of the helpful pony by accident. "Sorry sorry sorry sorry!" Silverstream called out over and over as she rushed out of the carriage to arrive on the train platform. She took a few deep breaths again. She needed a second or two to... process things. A nightmare? Yeah. Yeah, probably. It felt surreal though and... ugh. It made her shiver even now, thinking back to it. Is this how the sirens felt when they sung to helpless creatures? Yikes. She shook her head, quickly spreading her wings and lifting off to hover above the ground before beginning her short journey over towards the Princess' castle. It was good to see it again after such a long time, especially in the situation she now found herself in. She looked around further, seeing if perhaps she could find any of the elements roaming about at this time, but had no luck with that. Oh well. The flapping of her wings increased as she braced herself in her descent, before finally touching down safely. She took a deep breath and moved up to those big doors. The princess was no stranger to her, far from it, but usually they had spoken in a relation of teacher and student, or simply as friends. This was something far more dire and formal... and she wasn't sure how that would work out. With a gulp, she knocked on the door once, twice, and then a third time. She took a step backwards, waiting for a response. A heavy thud and click as it sounded like somepony turned the lock on the doors, and then one of them opened. "Oh, hello Silverstream!" Spike's familiar voice gave out as he appeared in the door. Sweet relief to finally hear a familiar face in a familiar country. "Hey Spike!" she replied with her usual positive demeanour, forgetting about the grim background of her visit for but a moment. "Haven't seen you visit for a bit. Came to visit Twilight?" "You could say that. Is she around?" Spike nodded and waved her along. "Follow me." The pink-feathered Hippogriff nodded and followed along, taking care to close the door behind herself as she did. Spike led her through the winding halls of the huge castle which, in her mind, still seemed smaller on the outside than it really was on the inside, which was saying a lot given how it was already huge on the outside. They entered the library to the sound of book pages being turned. Figures, Silverstream thought to herself. "Hey Twi! Silverstream came over to visit!" Spike remarked as he halted and presented the guest to the purple alicorn. "Heya Profess- I mean, princess," Silverstream greeted. Twilight chuckled, placing a bookmark in the thick book she was reading before closing it. "You know you can just call me by name, Silverstream. We're friends, after all." She hopped off her seat placed around the cutie map and moved towards her guest. "Besides, you and the others graduated, so I'm not your teacher any longer." "Wellll, old habits die hard, right?" Silverstream joked. "Right." The princess chuckled into her hoof. "Well, what brings you all this way back to Ponyville?" Silverstream's positive frown made the equivalent of a U-turn as it quickly turned into a depressing frown. Twilight's demeanour soon followed as she observed, visibly concerned. "Silverstream? Is everything... alright?" The Hippogriff shook her head. "No. No it's not, princess. Err, Twilight." "What's wrong?" Spike asked, placing a claw up against the Hippogriff's own. "It's Hippogriffia, we..." She stumbled over her own tongue, finding no real way to explain what had even happened. It was all so nonsensical in a way. "The sirens attacked and took over. Everyone is under their control now I think and Skystar told me to-" "The sirens?" Twilight interrupted. "But according to Starswirl they were banished long ago. Are you really sure?" "Very," the young griff replied with a nod. "I never did see them, else I wouldn't be here probably, but I saw what they did to others! All zombie-like, and they always fight and argue with one another!" Silverstream looked close to losing it, so Twilight placed a calming hoof on her friend's back. Even with the absurdity of the situation, Twilight wanted to take it seriously. As quirky as Silverstream tended to be, there was usually a core of truth to her ramblings and fears. "Calm down. We're both here for you. Now, can you explain what happened in detail?" Silverstream nodded once again, took a deep breath to calm herself, and began reciting the horrific happenings of the last two months. "It all started when a few ponies began acting weird. Once friendly and outgoing, they turned sour and hostile, always mad at you for nothing. I guess we realised too late how big of an issue it really was, and the sirens used them to take over the government. Skystar and I tried to organise some semblance of resistance to fight back but..." "But?" Spike wondered. The Hippogriff shook her head. "It all fell apart. Skystar sent me here, to you, as a last request." "A last request?" The Alicorn looked appalled and was starting to look frightened herself, now. "You don't mean-" "Not that, no," Silverstream interjected. "But I can only assume she's with them now. All of the resistance is. I don't know of anypony else who escaped." "What about Queen Novo?" Twilight asked. "We heard her over the radio one time, but she's already under their control. Skystar never really recovered from hearing her mum like that, I don't think..." Twilight removed her comforting hoof as Silverstream looked for the envelope on her person, quickly presenting the purple item to her friend. "Skystar wrote this and told me to bring it to you at all costs." Briefly hesitating, Twilight grabbed the letter and moved back towards the cutie map, where she sat down on her seat. Spike and Silverstream moved along to watch her from closeby, as the princess levitated over a scissor to cut open the envelope. Retrieving the white paper, they all went silent as the princess read the contents. "Dear Princess Twilight, dear Elements of Harmony. I know we haven't seen one another since forever, or at least it feels like it, but I write to you in an hour of crisis. By the time you read this, our resistance holdout will probably have been found out and overrun. I saw no other solution anymore but to petition you for help, heroes of Equestria. My home, Hippogriffia, has been taken over by an ancient enemy, the sirens. I am sure the princess will already know of their tale, as she is closer to Starswirl than me, but please trust that this letter is not a joke of any kind. My people suffer under the tyrannical rule of these 3 monsters, and are made to act in accordance to their whims. Those under their spell are no longer the creatures we once knew, and they have resorted to using enthralled ponies as hostages against us to break our spirit. I don't have much time, now, so I'm sorry if this letter is short. There are so many, too many, things I need to take care of now, and I can feel already that things are crumbling all around me. I have decided to stay behind and see things through, but I hope at least that Silverstream has managed to slip through the sirens' defences to bring this to you. I plead of you, as my last message written to you, to free my people from this nightmare. Like the Storm King prior, we are once again forced to endure the unbearable, but this time we are made to be complicit in the crimes of this new regime. Not even our minds will be our own, and I fear that we will turn even on you, Twilight, once you arrive to aid in our liberation. If you are reading this, then I will probably no longer be of sound mind. Please hug Silverstream for me one more time, and take this as an apology if I should ever try to do you harm while under the sway of the monsters. Please understand that no matter the tricks the sirens play, you must remain true to harmony and friendship and stop this madness. We look to you for freedom, because we could not free ourselves. I apologise for my failure, in that regard. Signed, Skystar." Twilight leaned back. She read a few of the paragraphs twice, and Silverstream was in no hurry to interrupt her as she did so. "Skystar gave you this?" Twilight asked just to doubly make sure. "Yeah. I really didn't wanna leave her alone but she insisted." Silence, again. This time, Silverstream was eager to know more, though. "You'll help us, right? Defeat the sirens like you defeated Sombra and Chrysalis and all the others before?" The purple alicorn put the paper down on the map and looked to her Hippogriff visitor with a frown. "We will," she answered. "But not now." Silverstream perked up, gasping as if someone held a hoof over her face to choke her. "Wh... what?" "We can't help the Hippogriffs right now, Silverstream. The others? They're all over Equestria with their own things to do." "But... Skystar..." "I know, Silverstream. I know." Twilight hopped off her seat and wanted to comfort her guest a second time, but this time she was met with a hasty retreat backwards from the pink griff. "You... don't believe us, do you?" Silverstream questioned, her voice clearly raising the suggestion of betrayed trust. "I do trust you. Both of you," Twilight refuted. "But times have changed. We were able to defeat Sombra and Chrysalis at a time where magic was still undisputed, but now?" Twilight sighed. It was a rough time to be the element of magic. "Magic can do a lot of things for a pony, but even then the world is starting to grow too dangerous for us to simply go over to hostile places and shake hooves. I don't want to even imagine a timeline in which Fluttershy or Rainbow Dash get shot at while flying through the sky. And since the sirens have taken over all of the Hippogriff Kingdom? That's... probably not too far from the truth." "Twilight, we need your help...!" Silverstream pleaded, a sense of betrayal still hinging on her voice. "If not you, nopony else will come to help Skystar and all the others!" "I know," Twilight agreed, "but although the magic of friendship is a strong force of good in the world, it does not guarantee us safe passage. We need Equestria as a whole to get involved, have escorts and more... but Equestria isn't ready for that, right now." "What do you mean 'not ready'? Have you seen how huge Equestria is?" "I know what you mean, and I know why you're angry at me right now and... I think I would be too. But Equestria needs to protect itself if it's ever meant to come to your help." The alicorn turned around and walked up to the edge of the cutie map. She waved Silverstream closer, to her side. The two of them, plus a curious Spike who climbed on top of Twilight's back to see, looked over the map for a moment. "It's true, Equestria is pretty huge," said Twilight as she began to levitate the scissors used beforehand. Silverstream's eyes followed them as they were used to point to the northeastern frontier of Equestria, "but that also means it's a big target. You mentioned that we defeated Chrysalis at Canterlot, but that's not entirely true. The Changelings took their defeat more so as a setback, and it only seems to have made them hate ponies more than before. The thing is, they're gearing up for a full-out war this time, not just a quick and easy, deceptive takeover like before." "What does this have to do with the Hippogriffs though?" Silverstream asked her. "The Princesses are concerned about Queen Chrysalis overstepping the boundary and waging war, because as large as Equestria may be, it's... not exactly geared for that. As a result, the brightest minds of Equestria are being pooled to help them with organising some semblance of a fighting force to oppose changeling aggression, and to ensure peace. That's why the others aren't here, by the way." "What do you mean?" "Rainbow Dash is helping Spitfire and the other Wonderbolts with training recruits, Pinkie is out to recruit young mares and stallions, Applejack is helping with organising supplies thanks to her great range of connections, Rarity is helping to design uniforms in Manehattan and Fluttershy I believe is helping in Canterlot with something that is technically classified." Silverstream was left staring and blinking like some sort of empty husk. "I'm really, really sorry, Silverstream," the princess said to the Hippogriff one more time, dropping the scissors on the map as she let go of them with her magic. "I really wish we could help you, but everypony is tied up doing their part to keep Equestria safe right now." "If Chrysalis has her way, there wouldn't be much of an Equestria left to help out, right?" Spike chimed in. Twilight was inclined to nod at least once. "I promise you we will come to help as soon as able. But right now... that's not something we can afford. I would hate my home being overrun like yours as well, which is why we're trying to prevent that from happening, for now." The friendship graduate frowned, understandably. This isn't what she had hoped for at all. She had wanted to make Skystar proud, wherever she was now, and prove that the trust placed in her was worth it. And what did she have to show for it in return? A whole lot of nothing. Even the most powerful magic of all, used to repel enemy after enemy of Equestria, was showing itself pre-occupied and powerless against the sirens. The Hippogriff felt a hoof on her back again, and just as she looked over to Twilight, she was pulled close for a hug. She was a little irritated for a moment but... accepted it more and more. The tension escaped her body as if Twilight was taking it all in for her. "I really am sorry, Silverstream," her former professor said quietly. "We'll save everypony in due time. Can you trust me on that?" The alicorn waited for seconds on a reply, tightening the hug a little bit. She felt her guest's head nod in response. "You always trusted me in the past despite everything... so yeah. I'll trust you like Skystar trusted me." Twilight felt her former student's face bury itself into her mane. And... a quiet bit of sobbing started coming through as they remained locked in place for second after second. "We won't disappoint you. I swear it."