//------------------------------// // Of Tales and Travels // Story: Lines and Webs // by Airstream //------------------------------// The night grew all around them as the Pegasi and unicorn ate and laughed around the fire, swapping stories and making jokes. The air was filled with good cheer, as the successful completion of their journey meant that the Condottieri would be paid an exorbitant amount for what had amounted to a routine escort mission. Many toast were made, glasses of wine raised in wishing health to Princess Luna, Twilight Sparkle, and Tarantella, who accepted the praise graciously. Twilight noticed that the grey Pegasus seemed to wear the mantle of leader naturally, completely at ease and in control of the surroundings around her. Soon enough, the meal began to come to a close, and the Pegasi straggled off to their tents in twos and threes, some to rest while others donned their armor for escort duty. Twilight's offer of help with the dishes, while initially refused, meant that cleanup took only a few minutes, the pots and pans and plates glimmering wetly on wooden racks as they dried by the glow of a dying fire. Curious to know more about the young Pegasus, Twilight decided to venture a question. "Tarantella? If you don't mind, could I ask you a personal question?" "Go right ahead, Ms. Sparkle. You are welcome to ask me anything." Twilight shuffled one hoof across the ground. "You can call me Twilight, if you'd like. Ms. Sparkle sounds odd to me." The Pegasus gave her a cheeky grin. "Very well, but only if you call me Tara." Twilight returned the smile. "Deal. And about the question, I wanted to ask you about your family. What happened to your father? How did he die?" Tarantella sighed, and gestured to the fire, indicating that she should sit. Taking a breath, she spoke. "It will be time to go soon, but I think the tale is short enough to tell without cutting it short." She sat next to Twilight, looking up at the stars. "We of the Condotteiri are a proud people. We shun the peace of the south, and choose instead to hold back the north. Though most of us are Earth ponies, our family, the Allegrettas, are Pegasi. We are the only family of Pegasi that choose this life, and we are proud of our heritage. If you are unfamiliar with the term, Condotteiri means "taker of contracts". For the longest time, we were paid to hold back the hordes of Minotaurs, who would periodically attempt to invade over the border, and to deal with Diamond Dogs wherever we found them. Neither of those are problems here in the valley, though. Diamond Dogs haven't been seen above the surface in decades, and since the Minotaurs formed their Khanate, the tribes only periodically roam through this area. Those that do are hesitant to taste our iron, knowing full well our reputation. No, the foe we fight here is one that is far worse, far more insidious. This is why we can ride among the storms, why we are at home among the roughest of weather and the worst of winds. We of the Gale Dancers fight the Windigos of the far north, not for profit as our earthbound counterparts, but for honor and to defend this land, which is ours by right. We hold the foul beasts at bay throughout the winter, when ponies suffer and the Windigos are at their strongest. Often we lose one or two Pegasi to them, usually the old or sick, those whose time draws near anyway. I thought my father safe from this for many years. He was but sixteen when I was born, our family marries very young. My mother, a year younger than he, bore me through one of the worst winters we have seen in the valley, when the skies overhead rumbled with the hooves of that ghostly herd and lightning flickered among the driving snow. Such are the circumstances of my birth. From a very early age, I wanted to fly with my father, to do as my family has always done. In the summer, he and I would practice with the long pike and the laccio, preparing me for my first flight with him. And soon, in my fourteenth year, I rode out with the stallions of our company to fight against those monsters. A long story made short, I handled myself well, and managed to hold one at bay long enough to distract it from my father, who gored it neatly and sent it whistling back to the icy north, nothing more than a cold wind. That was my first time in battle with an enemy, and I have never lost the love for it since. The pursuit of an honorable foe has long been a passion of mine, and it was something my father and I shared. In every winter since that first, I have been at the head of the fray, and not a stallion among the ranks objected when he named me his successor, the proudest day of my life. Truthfully, I had expected a mate of my own before I had taken my father's mantle up, but it was not to be. Last winter, during a light storm, we went out on a patrol together, checking to make sure the snow did not worsen, inviting the Windigos to assault us once more. A good day it was, a few days before the Hearth's Warming Eve celebration we choose to follow, the Winter Moon Festival. Our family has always preferred the Princess of Night to the Day, for reasons we cannot explain save that she was always a friend to the north. It was this festival we were discussing when we noticed a sight that stopped our hearts in our chests. A black wall of clouds bore down on us swiftly, and we could see it was roiling from within, churned by the largest herd of Windigos either of us had even seen. We fled, but the southern wind blew in our faces, and we would not have made it, save for one thing. My father left his weapons behind, shedding pike and rope, using the newfound lightness to propel us towards camp. We raised the alarm from on high, every Allegretta taking up arms, even my mother. And we rose as a host to fight them to a standstill, but my father charged headlong into the enemy after refusing my weapons, saying I had greater need of them. The battle was long and exhausting, and when we were done our armor and weapons were rimed with ice, our feathers heavy with cold. We found my father, frozen solid and in pieces on the forest floor below, his expression grim and calm, accepting of his fate. No tribe can be without a Condottiero, mine included. So, though I wanted nothing more than to grieve, I took control of my family, and have led us since then." The camp was silent for a while, as both mares sat gazing at the stars. Tarantella spoke again. "The night my father died was the night Princess Luna was to visit us and share in our festival. Upon her arrival and hearing of his sacrifice, she placed a star in the sky for him, one only visible during the months of winter, a warm red star we all call Trucco. Not only this, but she placed us on retainer. We want for little now, and times are good. In return, the occasional favor is asked of us, and we are all too happy to comply. This is how I met you, Twilight." Twilight, without knowing quite why she was doing it, placed a hoof around Tarantella's shoulders, a quiet embrace. "I'm sorry. It was not my place to ask that." The mare smiled, returning the embrace warmly. "Nonsense. My father was a great stallion. His life should be celebrated, not mourned past its time. I have accepted his loss, and I see no reason for you to be saddened by the passing of somepony you did not know. Now, prepare your bags. We climb for the mountain soon." ________________________________________ The procession of ponies from the camp numbered four-and-twenty, not including Spike or Golden Radiance, who walked ahead of the file of Pegasi with Twilight and Tarantella. The train of ponies had an almost medieval feel to it, their way lit by lanterns instead of magelights, pikes and daggers rattling as they marched along a path cut into the woods. Far from civilization, when they had left the light of the campfire, the trees turned shadow into pitch black velvet, hanging in swathes from branches, obscuring the very ground they walked on. The lanterns were shuffled, and brought to the front. Curiously made, each one had three painted sides, ensuring light only came through a blind in the front, which could be opened and closed at will. "These are called lanterne silenzione, or Quiet Lanterns. They prevent those that may be watching from seeing us, while we have light enough to march by." Tarantella explained as they walked. "Is that necessary?" Spike asked, a bit worried. "Are we in danger of attack?" "I hope not!" Tarantella laughed. "It is merely a precaution. But calm yourself, dragon. None visit this valley anymore. We are safe." And so the procession continued on, through the cool night air surrounded by old forest. Twilight realized that she could see the stars in greater detail than ever before, vast patches of minuscule particles of light hanging breathless in the stillness of the black. Lost in the beauty of the night, she walked in silence with the rest of the file, as the path exited the woods, swinging along a small lake before climbing the hill into the night. Twilight glanced up, taking in every detail of the house, from the rusted open gates to the crumbling guardtower on one side of the rise to the moonlight glinting off of the flaking tiles of the roof. She turned to find the Pegasi setting up camp. "What are you doing?" she asked, as Tarantella unslung her pike and turned to face her. "Our contract stipulates that we bring you to the gate of the Castillo, and leave you to climb the rest of the way on your own. Fear not, Twilight, we shall be waiting on your arrival. In the meantime, midnight fast approaches, so you and your friends should leave." she said, as Spike and Golden Radiance stood waiting at the bottom of the gate. Twilight nodded, and galloped for the gate, Spike and Golden Radiance falling in behind her as they raced up the hillside, following the cobbled path that encircled the rise once before finally culminating in a gate that would have been formidable if not for the missing door. Speeding across the overgrown lawn, Twilight aimed for the main building, a square structure that seemed to have been built around a courtyard. Spike and Golden Radiance followed close behind, and the trio burst into the courtyard, hoping that they were not late. Princess Luna, Dio Noctis ex Equestria, turned to face them, having been observing a nearby garden. A smile curled her lips as she observed the panting unicorn. "Good evening, Twilight Sparkle. I am glad you could make it. If you would care to accompany me, alone, to the garden, I believe you and I have much to talk about." ________________________________________ "Now, tell me all that you know." Luna said as they walked. "I cannot reveal anything unless I am sure that you know of the topic beforehand. Even this is difficult for me, so I shall wait until you are finished." Twilight nodded, taking a deep breath. "Alright. What I think I know can be summed up as follows. Celestia has manipulated bloodlines in Equestria to pick desirable traits for generations, picking things like speed, stamina, magical ability, and such. She is able to do this by using the Elements of Harmony, as evidenced by the effects they have had on my friends. Such tampering was able to produce extremely powerful bloodlines, though they had few foals as a result of this. Such is the case with my family. If I draw a parallel between myself and my family, and the House of Aria, I notice that the stories are identical, save for one thing. The birth of an Alicorn, which killed the mare bearing it and dooming the family to extinction. I can therefore summarize, based on my life experiences, that I was born and bred to give birth to this new Alicorn, and groomed for loyalty and unquestioning obedience to my beloved mentor, to make it easier for her to insinuate a colt into my life. After seeing my friends paired off, I would naturally be looking for someone similar. This supposed blessing would actually be my undoing, as he would father this foal himself. The only thing I cannot figure out is why. Why does Celestia want another Alicorn?" Luna inhaled, looking out over the edge of the garden, a simple fence separating her from a drop to the ground below. The moon, almost full, glinted on the water of the lake, and she looked almost pleased that Twilight had figured it out. After a moment of silence, the Princess of the Moon shook herself. "Very good. I have convinced myself that you know enough. I can fill in the blanks for you, thank the Aether." She gestured for Twilight to sit by her side, and the two looked out over the lake below. "Now, to understand your predicament, we must go back centuries in time, during my slide into darkness as Nightmare Moon. You are undergoing something similar, but that is not what we are discussing right now. Do not worry, all will be made clear in time. When I last stood at the head of my army, gathered at Dunsinane and ready to strike my sister down out of jealousy, the Power of Harmony roamed free and untethered, appearing only when needed most. Neither of us were able to wield it when we were set against each other, so it was a matter of my Breaking and my sister's Binding, and the armies we led. Much of the land was ruined by our struggle, and so the ponies we were supposed to lead suffered. Though I had done my best to defeat her, Celestia was too strong, and many ponies rallied to her, in fear of me. As they should have been, for I was a monster. I had not seen Celestia in combat for much of my new campaign, and so we pressed our advantage, meeting on the fields outside of the Capitol to assault the walls. Much to my surprise, the ponies manning it stood firm against my army, bedraggled as it was. Deciding to end it, and perhaps in an attempt to draw my sister out of hiding, I personally led the final assault against the castle in order to break its siege. It was then that my sister erupted from the tower, body shimmering with the Power of Harmony, somehow bent to her will. Realizing all was lost, my army fled, and I followed them, and for seven days and seven nights my sister and I fought over what is now the Everfree Forest. One of my oldest and most powerful of pupils, Radiant Zenith, held me down while Celestia banished me to the moon for one thousand years, in the strongest chains we knew of, ones made to shackle immortal beings like the Greater Demons, or the Dragon King himself. Lunar steel they were, forged in the heart of the sun. So bound, my corrupted being raged for a millennia, gathering what power she could from the stars and working her way free." Luna sighed, looking up at the moon. "This I do not begrudge her. Truly, I had fallen from on high. She had every right to do what she did. But what I could not abide, and had no choice but to, was the world she had created while I was gone." "You see, Twilight, my sister and I are born of the Aether, the primal forces of Creation. It gave form to three things alone, and from there we shaped it. Celestia was first, representing Order in its purest form. Discord came next, representing her antithesis, Chaos. The two of them would have torn the universe asunder before it had begun, so the Aether made me. My job is to balance the scale, Twilight. Depending on what I am doing, I represent Chaos Restrained, or Order Unbound. They are essentially the same thing, and it is my job to make sure that all of Creation is kept spinning by any means necessary. Because of Discord's destructive tendencies, I agreed to bind him into stone with my sister, after he chose to manifest himself and attempt to destroy what we had worked so hard to create. After we had manifested, Twilight...the feeling of love and adoration from your kind was amazing. Agreeing to be more active in our roles, we set about improving Creation while leading you to glory. And for a time, that was enough, save for my...unfortunate gift, one you share. Breaking magic is very different from Binding magic. Binding is governed by thought and Order, the purview of Celestia. My magic is that of Breaking, channeling Chaos itself into the world. It is very much an emotional magic, as it resists being told what to do. Much of it exposes the user to negative emotions, emotions such as wrath, or hatred, or distrust. Pupils learning its complexities routinely spent a year under my tutelage learning how to deal with these emotions, how to accept anger as part of you, keeping it close instead of letting it rule you. Would that I had followed my own advice, but I fear that it was inevitable at that point. Our war against Discord resulted in me using far more Breaking magic than I should have. From there, it served only to magnify all the negative thoughts and feelings I had of my sister, and soon I was consumed by jealous rage. All of it my fault entirely, and to this day I regret every action I undertook under my ill-advised new identity. But I digress. Upon my return, I was met by you and your friends. Though I was weak, you are to be commended for your mastery over the Elements, the foci my sister had created. Through some means unknown to me, she had shackled the Power of Harmony to her will, Binding them into those ornaments you wore. I owe you a great deal, Twilight Sparkle. That night saved me from myself, and it is because of this that I took it upon myself to watch over you. But it also would have sealed your fate if not for your discovery of that book, waiting for us in the shape of a unicorn back there. When I was touched by the Power of Harmony, I too was shackled to my sister's will, little more than an ineffectual puppet at first. Later on, as my power returned, I noticed that things were very wrong in Equestria. For one thing, my sister had marked you all, marks that appeared when you had been fully assimilated into Celestia's harmonious society. You know them as Cutie Marks, and they did not exist when I was among you. Foals acquire these marks gradually, but an external mark appears only when they have accepted the conditioning broadcast by the Elements, a magical suggestion as constant as sunlight. For another, I was shocked to find another Alicorn. Celestia explained to me that she had found a way to ensure balance in Equestria, that four Alicorns would stabilize the world far better than two. Though I could do nothing to stop her, I nonetheless began to insinuate myself into her confidences, pretending eagerness and hoping to learn who the next Alicorn would be born to. When I found out it was to be you, I was almost physically ill. This was a perversion of the Order that Celestia once stood for. My power was constrained by Harmony, I could not balance the world anew. And worst of all, I could not do a thing to warn you, or indeed any being, sentient or not." Twilight cut in. "What I don't understand about this is what my potential child would be ruling over. You have domain over the Night and Breaking, Celestia the Day and Binding. Cadance is the Dawn, I guess, and she rules over...Love?" Luna shook her head. "Nay, Twilight Sparkle. She rules over Emotion. Her presence near the Elements had speeded Celestia's plans considerably, and I knew that it was too late for me to try and break the instruction you were being given. You foal, though...your foal would be Cadance's antithesis. Your foal would control Thought. Celestia would call it Inspiration, but that is only part of the truth. With the fourth Alicorn ruling over the Dusk and Thought, there would be peace in Equestria, aye. Nopony would ever again commit a crime, or make foolish decisions. Ponies would live in true Harmony with one another. No dissent, everypony working towards the same goal. A new Golden Age, under Celestia's benevolent rule. Unfortunately, ponies are the only ones that Celestia feels deserving of Harmony. She loves you all dearly. But the Gryphons would undoubtedly be crushed next, followed by the Minotaur hordes. Possibly the Quilin, though she speaks well of them, and hopes to one day attempt to show them the meaning of Harmony. A perfect paradise, ponies living in Harmony with one another, with nothing else to distract them from making all of Creation into a perfect clockwork construct. Order Overbearing. And that I cannot abide." Twilight tried to process this. "I can't believe this. Why would she choose to do this? Didn't she see what your Rebellion accomplished, when you tried to upset the natural order by causing eternal night?" "I do not know the mind of my sister, Twilight. I know only what I have been told. But I do know this. She must be stopped, and you are the one who can do it. Your bloodline is so concentrated that you are very nearly an Alicorn yourself in terms of power, though you lack experience. There is a downside to this, however. Upon your conception, Celestia laid an enchantment upon you. Should you engage in intercourse with any stallion, even once, that will be enough. A powerful unicorn would be preferable to Celestia, but I do not jest when I say that any stallion, having taken your maidenhead, will get you with foal, and this foal will be the Alicorn that kills you and dooms us all." "How am I supposed to prevent that? All of Equestria is looking for me right now, there's nowhere for me to run. Even your assets couldn't hide me forever, Princess." Twilight said, her gaze turning from the lake to the midnight-hued goddess. "Fear not, Twilight Sparkle. The time has come for you to stop running and fight. I have a plan, and it must work perfectly if we are to succeed and break her hold." Twilight's ears pricked forward. "Alright, let's hear it." "My forces are aligned to strike at Celestia, and most of our preparations are complete. However, we need several things. The first is your agreement to join our cause. Do you accept this?" Luna asked, locking eyes with Twilight. "Yes." "The second is the most difficult. I require your absolute trust. Trust that I will not lead you astray. I promise, when you need me most, I shall be there." There was a brief pause, while Twilight weighed her options. Finally, she nodded, never taking her eyes off of Luna. "I agree." The dark Alicorn smiled. "The last is why you are here. The Elements have returned to Canterlot along with their Bearers. Celestia herself prepares to lead the next search for you. She expects to find you somewhere along the route to Canterlot from Fillydelphia, possibly Cloudsdale or similar. What she will not expect is your theft of the Element of Magic, the keystone that controls all other Elements, from the Vault in Canterlot. I would be there, but the Elements do not respond well to me, and you are still remembered by yours. It would eagerly follow you were you to take it. Once that is complete, we shall be able to begin our assault in earnest, and reveal Celestia's truth. Do you agree to this?" Twilight remembered her earlier promise. Luna had a plan, she was sure of it. "I accept. Yes." Luna nodded, her expression solemn. "Then a bargain is struck." Twilight turned to leave, but paused at a hoof on her shoulder. "Twilight Sparkle, one more thing. The magic you used in Fillydelphia was Breaking magic. Though I understand your emotions ran high, such loss of control while using it cannot be tolerated. You did much harm to innocents with that magic, and if you continue to use it in such a manner, I am afraid you will become little more than the monster I was." Twilight nodded. "How do I stop it from happening again? That was the angriest I've ever been, and I can't let that magic loose again for fear of what it will do." Luna indicated the crystal hanging around Twilight's neck. "That is Radiant Zenith's handiwork. They were used by those who were close to losing themselves in Breaking magic to focus themselves and confront their emotions. Meditate with that, and until you can use Breaking from a place of balance, I would caution against it." The crystal glinted in the moonlight, as Twilight tied the cord tighter. Looking up at Princess Luna, she asked a question that made her feel like a filly again. "Princess? Could you teach me how to do that?" The Princess of the Night shook her head. "Until you learn control, I can teach you nothing. Once that is learned, the rest shall follow. You have much experience partitioning your mind, Twilight Sparkle. Do the same with your heart, and you will be among the greatest of spellcasters." With that, Luna took flight, disappearing into the deep black above. ________________________________________ Twilight spent much of the trip back in silent contemplation with Spike and Golden Radiance, having shared everything with them before they descended to the lakeshore. This new information was troubling. Though she had thought herself free of the web woven in Canterlot, it would seem that she was now being drawn back into its center once more.