//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: MLP: Starswirl of Solaris // by Evident Disaster //------------------------------// CH7 Restless Memories… XXXXX Ponyville Clock store… There was a right scuffle to get the ticket back, which resulted in a rather surprising fight from the clock maker a fellow named Sepia Tock who didn't exactly like the idea of losing the ticket when he had only just got it from nowhere. Well the night guards weren't easy to back down from duty especially with the princess having ordering them to recover the lost item. But pleasing the princess would be high praise if they could only complete it. "Hey stop right there criminal scum!" Sepia burst from the front window of his own store yelling. "It's MINE!" "Get back here and return the stolen property of the princess of Equestria!" One guard shouted in pursuit. Another guard stumbled out dazed with a large hoof print on his nose. "Oh that bloody blighter smacked my nose!" Colgate shortly followed out shouting. "Sepia, get back here and give it back to the night guards, and also your dad's shop is in ruins!" But to no avail a quick pursuit of the estrange doctor who made it clear he wasn't giving up the ticket. The night guards were in for a sure job tonight alright. XXXXX Ponyville- Library Starswirl felt the draft of the morning night come in, she saw the bright luminance of the moon rise over the land, it was a saddening sight for her to see what had brought her here. But more so was the fact that she was to meet with her parents. And also that blasted ticket, she hadn't sorted it out, of course the new gala wasn't to occur for another 6 and a half months, but still she didn't like the fact that she had to choose and decide who was to come with her. So many things to get done, and also her big reunion was also with her brother, her big brother, she had known that he was probably going to see her in his own time, but she didn't dare think of how she was going to break the news with him. Especially since she heard of the rebellion amongst the ranks of the former royal guards, there are even reports of Celestia's personal guard, Aquila had rebelled with dozens of other guards and have started fighting in regions north of Canterlot. It would make sense that Nightmare hadn't moved into Canterlot, it seemed more like the capital would be overthrown by the former royal guards, and also her brother, Shining Armour was also reported to have taken a whole battalion of warriors to the regions east of Equestria, but that might have been to throw off the Lunar Knights, Nightmare's new force of elite warriors who were coming in from the Lunar Caste Citadel far in the north. But that wasn't the only thing that had come to pass, from more reports coming in from other cities, Manehattan had fallen fully under the jurisdiction of the night guards, but the other varying forces of law enforcement had rebelled to the idea of joining Nightmare's rise to power. There was open hostility towards the night ponies, but much more fear. Another piece of news came in from Cloudsdale, a small riot had broken loose with the royal guards there and night guards sent there to replace them, there was even more hostility towards the night guards especially the bat winged ponies that Starswirl had seen on arriving into town. Pegasi didn't like these new bat winged ponies least of all. She wondered if everything would be alright. But at the looks of things that was far from it. It was soon to get worse, but when would it get better? It was all about timing and how the tension would break, if things did boil down then all hell was to break loose, and Equestria would be engulfed in civil war and chaos. But there was something that bothered her, if there were so many night guards; didn't that mean that there were many other orders of ponies in the world? She had the curiosity of where these new ponies were coming from and she did a bit of research, she found a small book of Equestria's history, it was written in old Evefree, she noted was called Arcadian. It was from the faraway lands of Arcadia, an empire that sat across the ocean, it once encompassed the known world and even further than the Badlands, but there had never been any further news from the ancient empire in over 500 years, ever since it collapsed after the failed leadership of too many governments. The old empire was a testament of equine technology and advancement, medical and scientific and arcane, there were many things Equestria took from the old empire, including military, but the technological factors had been removed. Something that Starswirl had noticed was that after the rise of Nightmare over 1000 years earlier, Celestia banned any involvement of Arcadian technology ever again. It surprised Starswirl even though Equestria had much to thank for Arcadia, why Celestia would ban the knowledge of the old empire from the new lands? There had been steam technology and arcane spell knowledge as well as advanced medical treatments and remedies, but most of this knowledge was lost during Nightmare's first rise to power. After the years there had been little mention of the old empire in any book she checked up on history, it was of no surprise that Celestia's orders had been thorough, but there was the chance that she might read up on something at Nightmare's castle, that was if she was to ask her 'mother' permission to search for something. But there was another reason for looking for the knowledge of the old empire, there was a mentions that some of the royal guards had located ancient bastions of the empire's first outposts here in Equestria, and have put them to use. More specifically the one outpost was Canterlot's royal guard bastion, which held very old pieces of weaponry and armour; she needed to do some research into what could possibly be located there. It was a guess, but if the royal guards at Canterlot hadn't moved from their bastion there they had to have a reason. And she had a feeling that things were going to escalate soon with Nightmare's new plans for Equestria, including the expansion of Ponyville and the destruction of parts of the forest of Everfree and so forth. But to the main task at hoof, she knew that time was also running short for herself. "Spike, did you get the…" "Laundry done? Yes, and I got the letters stacked in the desk as you asked, the ink's next to the writing board, exactly parallel. And yes I've gone and forwarded a letter to everypony about your parent's arrival, Pinkie said she'd be coming along with a good batch of cupcakes to spare, and AJ said she'd come around to see how things are going when she has the time. As for Rainbow Dash, she'd come when she had finished weather duties, Fluttershy wanted to come and meet if she could, and Rarity wants to bring a gown for Twilight." Spike stated as he finished the chores he did in the time she had asked him to do things. The week had gone by rather rapidly and she did admit she was getting rather side tracked, especially with things to get done for her 'mother's' arrival at Ponyville, and her grandparents, and of course the news from Shining Armour she just had to know if he was alright of course there was also the things she needed to ask from her mother, about the tickets. And a throng of other things she had to deal with. That reminded her of a problem she needed to go see Carrot Top of Ponyville, she provided the fresh local produce including carrots, but also her own special herbal blends. She heard they were nice and of course to Ponyville General Store for some minor decorations, she didn't doubt that she'd need to spruce up her home a little. She grabbed her leather barding and then exited the front door with her cloak, she still wasn't welcomed as much, Carrot Top, probably didn't take too much notice to whom she sold her goods to and neither did the old colt of the General store. The first stop was to the general store, which she decided to make a quick teleport to, she focused her magic and then in a short burst of light she was off. Upon arriving at the front of the general store she almost teleported on top of a poor mail colt who was busy setting down to take a quick breather, and well it sure surprised him at the sudden appearance of Starswirl. "Sorry." "No problem…" The colt replied hesitantly. Starswirl entered into the shop and found that there was someone else at the counter. "Umm where's Handy Dandy?" She asked the new clerk. "Oh, he's on business today, I'm his assistant clerk, Short Lending, I do most of the paper work, but I know my way around the cashier and things." He stated in a stature of discipline and calmness. "I'm just looking for something's to decorate my home." She explained. "Down in aisle 5 and near the end." He replied. She nodded and headed down to the aisle, she found things as neat as they normally would, and she located the party supplies gold piece streamers with ink trimmings and linings and some packets of blue and white frilly ribbons, she grabbed them in her magical field and then hurried over back to Lend. He counted the price up. "That'll be 6 bits." She gave him the money and she walked out back into the night time town, she then needed to hurry over to Carrot Top, but decided to avoid trying to teleport again, she felt that jumping in front of someone using magic would result in further attention she might not need at the moment. She was about to head through the market place and then to Carrot Top's shop when she heard a faint shout. "Geronimo!" A brown blur ran smack dab into her and she and whoever had hit her went flying and so did the various pieces of her shopping. Landing all around them were pieces of gold streamers, the first to get up was the assailant who suddenly awoke to a whole load of gold in front of him. He fumbled about, and heard of the coming guards, Starswirl was about to recover when he picked at random a gold piece in front of him and ran once more. The sound of hooves made Starswirl turn around in a daze at lunar guards she had met yesterday. "Ma'am you're alright, we apologise, but the pony we've been chasing seems to have taken it upon himself to avoid us at all costs, we shall apprehend him and retrieve the ticket at once." The mare didn't have time to see the rest of the guards head on after as she began to magically collect the mess around her. Once she packed her things away she remembered where she had to go, Carrot Top's place. She had spent enough time out here and so she hurried off into the night of Ponyville's streets towards the residence of the local fresh veggie grower. Carrot Top's home was located nearby from the market right across from the flower trio's shop, it was a certainly quaint little home, it had its own vegetable patch with vegetables growing and such, and it was a pleasant sight for her. She arrived and knocked on the door with her hooves 3 times, there was a muffled response. "I'm coming." The door swung open to reveal an orange mane mare with yellow coat and green eyes, she smiled and welcomed her in. "Welcome to my humble abode. How can I help you?" "I'm here for some recipe for your famous tea, and also a few fresh vegetables and a small packet of Evergreen Sugar." She replied. "Ah a favourite of the old fashioned Neighton special blend? Well fancy that, I have a couple of recipe pamphlets and all of the things you need, just wait a moment." She headed off into her kitchen and retrieved some of her vegetables from her garden. Starswirl had to wait about 20 minutes sitting there fiddling with her hooves when the yellow mare returned, and then stated euphorically. "Here you are dear; I hope it's to your liking." "Thank you." Star replied. "Oh by the way, you're mother's Nightmare isn't she?" Carrot Top asked. Starswirl hadn't realised that Carrot Top even knew it was her, it surprised her alright. "Umm, yes?" "Please send my regards to the mare, and also to your other mother, I do hope that things work out for the best. I have had my fair share of family reunions, and also you need to try something new." Carrot Top said before she closed the door. Star couldn't even ask her how she knew so much about her family coming over and for that matter how she managed to figure it out. Then again there was always the chance that one of the girls might have said something and then everyone else began to gossip, if so then she'd have to deal with more than her fair share of ponies going to see the great return of Twilight Sparkle, or of the family disaster on hooves. She didn't dawdle from here and hurried back home, and she did notice a change in how ponies were looking at her, and mumbling about her presence around Ponyville, they of course didn't talk of it out loud near her. She found that there was a bunch of ponies she identified as her friends. It seemed they all had gathered at the same time. "Hey girls, how's the preparation…" She halted mid-sentence when she saw her. Twilight Sparkle stood there smiling somewhat sadly and emptily and then smiled when she saw Starswirl. "My Star, how are you?" Star was astounded beyond words and then couldn't even reply properly. "I-I'm doing well…" "Darling it's amazing that you've made such a recovery, but I thought you weren't supposed to arrive till after your parents." Rarity inquired. "Ah well I had planned on coming later, but I wanted to see Starswirl as soon as I could, we did need to speak about something after all." She replied curtly. Starswirl looked at Twilight and then stated to the others. "Mum and I need to speak in private. That includes you Spike." Star directed at the dragon to stay outside while Twilight and her spoke. They both went into the library shutting the door behind them. Twilight encompassed the door with magic and sound sealed it for them to speak. And the first thing that Starswirl said. "What the bucking heck have you done?" She threw an accusing hoof at the mare that now stood away from her with a rather stoic look. "I've done nothing Starswirl, nothing has been violated in the contract you signed with your life, and I am here simply to ensure that the contract remains intact, as much as your family might notice a difference within me they'll never suspect what's happened, and neither will your treacherous brother." She shrugged. "My brother? You're here for my brother?" Star asked. "Of course not, I'm here as a messenger from Celestia." She stated somewhat sombrely. "Celestia sent you?" She asked in surprise. "Well sort of, she didn't give me many details, she was too indisposed. Drunk off in the deep end, but she gave me my life, she wanted me to contact you as soon as possible, which would probably now." She mumbled to herself. "Okay, just tell me, what did she want you to talk to me about?" Starswirl asked. "She wants you to know she can't help, and neither can the Elements, they can't pin down Nightmare fast enough, to do so would need powerful sealing magic which she can only provide, but with her sealed in the cage she can't help. Nightmare's guards would also pose a significant issue in the matter as well, and with new guards appearing every day the chance to change Nightmare back to Luna become harder, unless someone was to search for an artefact known as the Eye of Magnus, it was an ancient tool used my the first Alicorn Emperor of the ancient empire of Arcadia, of course that would mean someone would have to travel over the vast oceans of Trotero and Neighlius." She replied. "That's a lot to take in." Starswirl muttered trying to absorb all of the current events. "That's the only other means of getting rid of Nightmare, but the trip would take months, especially since very few Equestrians had been to the ancient homeland of Celestia and Luna, and no doubt the artefact might have been lost in the past 3000 years since it was last heard of." Twilight added. "But this is confusing; does it mean that the princesses were never from Equestria?" Star asked. "Not necessarily, their father was a powerful leader of the ancient empire or so the records I've read on have, and the few memories Celestia have provided me with indicate, Everfree was founded by them, but the old empire before that no longer exists. And with their father's death it was rather obvious that there wasn't much of an empire to lead." Twilight explained. "Then how do I get the eye of Magnus?" She asked. "That's up to you, either you somehow manage to travel the ocean or, you possible start searching here, it's been a very long time, but there's still old outposts of Arcadia scattered here in Equestria, I wouldn't know which ones might have what you're looking for. But I'd suggest heading north to the Crystal Kingdom. It was the last kingdom which had any real contact with the old empire, and it has a strong historical archive, well that and some sites which have been preserved for many years." Twilight replied. "Is that all?" Star asked. "That's all I know from Celestia, she's rather determined to get help for dealing with Nightmare, but she doesn't know any other option, either take this one, or you formulate an ingenious plan to catch her off guard." Twilight replied tersely. "What about Cadence? Is my baby sitter alright?" She asked. "The other princess fled to the Crystal Kingdom in preparation to fight Nightmare, as far as I have heard, Nightmare's armies are strengthening for a possible war with the Crystal Kingdom and even some of the nearby states." Twilight explained uneasily. "Then what do I do about getting into the crystal kingdom?" She asked. "I wouldn't have a clue, I don't control the military, but you do have pull as the daughter of Nightmare to come and go as you please, unless I or Nightmare request an escort to go with you." Twilight replied. "So either I go in and with an escort or not. But what's in this for you?" She asked glaringly. Twilight realised being a doppelganger she'd be motivated as well. "I'm here purely for the magic; I have no other business aside from that, let's just say, I have my own dreams I wish to accomplish." But before she could grind any information Twilight released the magical binds on the room and opened the door for the others. "Girl's I have to go fetch something from the market, Spike could you help me?" She asked. The dragon replied beamingly. "Sure thing." They headed off while Starswirl was left wondering what the motives of her doppelganger were, something was still amiss, and she knew that Twilight had assumed her existence for a reason, more than just Celestia now. If there was a larger plot in the midst of the current situation, she wouldn't be surprised. But to the issue at hoof, Rarity practically beamed at something. "I must say those various inscriptions on her body made her look so exotic." "Inscriptions?" Star asked. "Of course, you weren't here when she first arrived, she was showing us her new magical augmentations, they looked so beautiful as if someone had crafted them onto her body, at first I wouldn't imagine having such a procedure done on myself, but how they blend so well with Twilight. They looked like she was born with them." Rarity stated excitedly. "I agree, them light tattoos are mighty fine." AJ said rather interested. "Also did you see her new magical abilities? She came in on a summoned pair of wings, that's awesome, she's gotta be twenty percent cooler!" Rainbow exclaimed. Fluttershy didn't say anything she looked as if she was in deep thought and she looked at Starswirl and was staying absolutely quiet, which was unusual even for her. It was like she knew something was also wrong with Starswirl and Twilight, but she couldn't make it out. Meanwhile Pinkie was bounding about. "Yeah, she was all epic. Making her wing's vanish like that, and also her new staff that was awesome, it's like the staff from, Lord of the Rings, Gandalf's, too bad it's got that silly orb thing on top now, but still looks so cool!" She ranted to herself. No one paid attention to the bouncing ball of energy, but the group went into the house to help decorate the house for Starswirl in preparation for the imminent arrival of her parents and also the arrival of Shining Armour, but in the back of Twilight's mind something tugged at her still, what was going on? XXXXX Spike was busy eating an ice cream cone while they sat at the park, she could see the various ponies enjoying the night life, it wasn't great, but it wasn't so bad. There was some semblance of life still around, with ponies sitting on benches and one couple of mares sitting together, a light green unicorn sat oddly next to her friend who had a cream coat. There was a trio of fillies running amok with brooms and rakes, looking for something in the park. And then there was a colt running for his life while a pair of night guards chased him across the park. But why Twilight was here wasn't for the relaxing view, she needed to contact Nightmare. She telepathically summoned her link. "My dearest, I've set the gears in motion, soon we can be freed from these ties that bind us, the eye of Magnus will grant us what we want and we can both live in greatness as rulers together, our children shall inherit the throne and our empire will live a thousand generations. It's just a matter of time now." She said across the link. "Good, I've already prepared for the invasion of the Crystal Kingdom, if that brat of Equestria holds onto her past we'll never win. Force her hooves, and make her break, as for the brother, deal with him as soon as possible. As for Celestia's bastard knights, I'll deal with them soon enough, the wheels are turning my dearest, we will prevail." Nightmare replied. Twilight smiled as she looked above, the night so beautiful will soon be filled with blood and war, then again, when hasn't change brought some bloodshed? XXXXX Location: Unknown The grand bastion of the old empire once stood here, on this damned old mountain, it was here for so long it might as well have been part of the mountain, but no, the carvings and the markings on the old fort identified it quite clearly. It's amazing that the whole place had stayed intact aside from the 3000 years of wear and tear. But ponies still came in here; especially those of the old guard, the Crystal Kingdom's records had provided plenty of knowledge of the old bastion. A whole battalion of royal guards had come here for its reclamation, soon everything would be cleaned and squared away, and the whole thing would look like it had before, a fully functional fort. Guards hurried around securing old tapestries, and checking arcane torches which seemed to burn infinitely of course not forever, the number of lights had dimmed and gone out over the years from the disrepair and lack of energy required to fuel them. The level down the guards secured the armouries and barracks, the rooms inside held space for tens of thousands and ever more. Someone was going to have to take note of any maps and schematics when they could find them, as for the armoury, the leading guard took them to the primary armouries, he carefully checked the guide book on how to access the chamber. He knew that this wasn't exactly an easy task, the magic required for 3 very powerful unicorns. He alone would have to open the doors without assistance, but he had dealt with taxing spells before, he summoned a concentrated blast of energy and put his horn to the doors, and releasing the spell the magic burst the doors open. The dust gathered inside revealed a variety of old equipment that lay untouched. "This is it, we finally have our army." The lead guard stated. "Yes we do…" The captain of the guard moved ahead and brushed his hoof over a suit of armour. It had a pair of slits as eyes, its armoured plates were silver and grey, the top of the mane was dark black coloured bristles, then there was the whole body, it was metal, it seemed to have some sort of activation spell, but what distinguished it were the large cannons on its side. He read the inscriptions. "Commander Steel Hooves, First Arcadian Legion, 5th expeditionary force…" There was an added quote. "He was a true friend." "This will do me well." The captain said as he removed the helmet off of the mannequin. "Captain Shining Armour, we have secured all suits and weapons, what shall we do?" A guard asked. "We prepare, for war." He replied calmly. XXXXX Fallout Equestria reference anyone? Yeah, arcane armour MKV-B, it's going to get really nasty now; all war is about to be launched against the Nightmare's armies, and with it, heroes and villains will rise. So I'm sorry this took so long, I needed to get things sorted, and such, also Nightmare's not a character I'm finding easy to try and emulate, especially with all the things happening and also Twilight's appearance.