Wizards’ Affairs
The darkness of night had long since fallen upon the countryside. The deep shadows it brought forth, only briefly illuminated by a few scattered rays of moonlight glimpsing through the thick cloud cover overhead, made the bumpy uneven gravel road that lead from the Earth Villa to Unicornia a treacherous path for even the most surefooted of travelers.
The danger of a hidden hole or a loose stone, of an ill-timed misstep or a fallen log, and all that that could bring, made it so that most travelers, no matter the urgency of their journey, had long since bunked down for the night in order to wait for the warming rays of the sun and the day’s light.
However, there was still a traveler swiftly crossing the dark road despite the late hour, braving what for most would be a fool’s endeavor at best. Yet the pristine white figure kept going, for Zelda was not like most travelers. Several lifetimes’ worth of training alongside her trusted shadow protectors weremore than up to the task of allowing her to traverse the darkness as if it was the brightest of days.
As she trotted down the dark road with swift ground-eating steps, her form little more than a brief white blur to any who chanced upon her, the Wielder of Wisdom mused how once more time and experience had proven themselves the greatest of teachers.
Where once her steps with her new form had been unsure and awkward, they now were sure and purposeful. As her hooves hit the uneven ground in sharp staccato, each movement precise and purposeful, it was nigh unthinkable to imagine that but a few weeks ago she had been barely able to walk without falling down into a graceless heap as if a newborn foal.
Indeed, experience was a good teacher. If not a nice one.
As she jumped over a barely visible crack in the road that could easily lead the unwary towards a sprained ankle or worse, before hitting the ground and continuing forward without losing any of her speed, she mused that by this point in time, she had all but grown completely used to her new body.
And as her golden mane fluttered behind her upon the cold night wind, part of her was not sure if she appreciated that thought.
Her brow furrowed slightly as she kept moving ever onward. Nothing moved amidst the darkness. There was no sound but the constant whispering of the cold night wind. There was nothing but darkness and the rare moonbeam to keep her company. Her movements were sharp and precise while keeping her senses locked upon her surroundings and the treacherous terrain, so Zelda couldn’t help but use this rare moment of peace and quiet to think.
A small part of her could not help but be slightly amused by the dichotomy of it all. Here she was, frantically rushing to complete a time-sensitive goal as swiftly as possible. And yet, amidst this frantic endeavor was when she finally had the time to simply ‘stop’, think, and ponder about it all.
Now. Now without any distractions or disturbances around her, with nothing to do until she reached her goal of the unicorn capital city, she could truly think for what felt like the first time since Link had departed towards Pegasopolis and necessity all but dictated her every action.
She took a deep breath as her white-coated form swiftly passed by a stray ray of moonlight, as if a wraith in the night. Despite the fact that she knew she was heading for another ordeal, Zelda couldn’t help but find herself relaxing for the moment.
No matter the fact that Ganondorf had apparently decided to turn over a new leaf… in a manner of speaking. The big oaf was still just as aggravating as ever. The fact remained that dealing with the Wielder of Power was trying at even the best of times. And Zelda was honest enough to admit that these were not the best of times for her.
Unlike her two companions, who had taken to their new forms and circumstances with insulting ease, she had and still did struggle to let go, to simply accept their new reality.
Link had been completely unruffled by it all, his ever-present patience and acceptance of odd circumstances as admirable as it was at times exasperating. Ganondorf had decided upon this course of action of his own volition, and so had simply accepted the end result as the price demanded for achieving his wish of freedom. However, while deep in her heart Zelda could not truly say that said wish had been truly undesired on her part, eons of duty and service were not so easily set aside.
She had been the ruler of the Hylians more times than she cared to count. And, while she did not wish to insult her fellow kinsmen… the fact remained that experience more than showed that more often than not they needed someone at the helm to prevent things from devolving into utter chaos. They needed an aegis to protect the kingdom. It was not an insult to their capabilities, just a fact. And for the longest time, Zelda and Link had been that shield.
Yet, now that was simply no longer an option.
A cold wind rushed through the night, caressing Zelda’s galloping form. However, the shiver she barely managed to suppress had little to do with the cold weather.
For that thought, that she had failed upon her duty in such a complete way, filled her with unease and anger. A fact that had not been helped by how Ganondorf kept prodding her temper at every possible opportunity, never giving her time to decompress and accept it all. This new calamity that had befallen this new land, and the fact that the Wielder of Power had been behaving oddly these past few days, only worsened it all.
Keeping her breath even as she sidestepped a large fallen tree branch, she pondered it all. The hours of silence and repetitive movement were a chance to organize her mind, knowing that this may well be the last bit of peace and quiet she would have for a good long while.
The Wielder of Wisdom held no delusions about how things would proceed going forward. Every single bit of information she had acquired about the unicorn nobility blared at her like a gigantic warning sign that things would not proceed smoothly.
Zelda would always favor diplomacy when possible. She would always choose the velvet glove over the iron fist. It was simply in her nature. To deny another the chance to express their thoughts and desires was to deny all parties the chance to grow and evolve together. But she was not blind to the major detriment of said path of action, the cost it demanded to truly function as it should. That cost was time. And, right now time was an ever-growing luxury that was in increasingly short supply.
Letting out a frustrated sigh, she angrily cursed under her breath. She thought about what she knew had a very good chance of needing to be done even as she took advantage of cresting a respectable hill and the view it offered to teleport several miles forward before continuing to run right afterward without missing a step.
Time was of the essence. The earth ponies would soon be departing towards Unicornia, probably by dawn’s first light. And with Ganondorf goading and pushing them onwards she had no doubts they would make excellent time. As such, it was paramount that they found the gates of the unicorn city open and ready to receive them so that they all could prepare for what was to come in a timely manner.
As she turned a corner on the forested path, she saw a walled city appear in the distance. Its pristine white walls were a stark contrast to the greenery all around. Dozens upon dozens of towers reached up toward the stars as they filled the city’s skyline. As she laid eyes upon Unicornia for the first time, Zelda acknowledged the very unwelcome fact that she may well not have the time to play nice.
Narrowing her eyes at the majestic city as the very first rays of the sun started to peek past the eastern horizon, Zelda made up her mind. No matter how distasteful she found it all, the fact remained that she could not fail.
As her horn glowed blue, and her white form disappeared as she cast another teleportation spell, Zelda couldn’t help but muse that at the very least those lessons about aggressive negotiations she had learned during her life as a pirate captain would finally be useful.
Silently climbing the last few steps of a large stone stairwell, Clover finally arrived at the small shadowy alcove that was his destination. Moving towards one of the stone benches that lined the small window of the alcove, the white-coated unicorn all but collapsed upon it. Groaning in pained annoyance, the personal apprentice of the great Arch Mage of Unicornia allowed his head to fall upon the frame of the window, resting there against the cold stone in a very ungraceful way as his green mane fell by the side in an ungraceful heap.
For several minutes, he just stood there, unfocused eyes taking in the beauty of the countryside and the imposing form of the city’s main gates but a few stories down below as the sun slowly started to rise. The celestial spheres actually listened to the council’s command with no apparent problem this morn.
The peace and quiet of this forgotten and barely-tread part of the city allowed him to relax for what he felt was the first time since some crazy flankhole had decided that messing with the movements of the sun and the moon for no good reason would be a great idea!
Groaning once again, Clover the Clever started to massage his brow, trying in vain to fight off the headache that was his newest near-permanent companion.
What a mess.
It had been bad enough how the court had all but devolved into petty insults and wild accusations after the event had taken place, as every single tiny faction amidst the nobility accused each other of being responsible for the theft. It had been bad enough when Princess Platinum started to angrily demand answers that nopony had, using her fury to hide the fear and panic Clover could see in her eyes due to long experience with the young ruler. Never in his life had he seen things devolve so badly at court. In fact, never in living memory had things devolved so badly at court, period.
And that had been but the beginning.
For then Chancellor Puddinghead and a throng of burly, headstrong, and above all worried earth ponies had barged into the city loudly asking what had happened. Demanding explanations for why the unicorns had reversed the cycle of day and night, upsetting the order of the heavens. Explanations that not only they did not have, but for far too long most of the court refused to even consider telling the earth ponies that the unicorns hadn’t been the ones to do it in the first place!
What a massive mess.
For most of a day chaos had ruled, and by the stars above Clover had no idea how a brawl between earth pony senators and unicorn nobles hadn’t exploded in the castle and out into the streets of Unicornia, as tempers kept rising and rising and nothing got even close to being done.
And then the pegasi showed up…
Groaning once again, Clover closed his eyes as if doing so would deny reality for a few short moments. Exhaustion was all but radiating out of his body as he rested his head against the cold stone and the first rays of sunlight bathed his form. The cold morning wind caressed his mane.
What a truly massive mess.
Commander Hurricane had descended upon Unicornia with all the fury of a barely contained storm, a full elite battalion of equally unamused and heavily armed pegasi right behind him, demanding, with weapons half drawn, to know what the unicorns were playing at by messing with the celestial orbs.
The intelligent thing to do would’ve been to act like rational beings and simply tell their allies what had happened, that an unknown factor had somehow usurped the control of the celestial spheres! And there may well be an unknown threat at large! That would have been what a sane and sensible pony would’ve done!
So of course the nobles then promptly proceeded to dither and prevaricate, refusing to show weakness and admit that something had stolen control of the celestial orbs from their kind! They were just procrastinating on giving an actual answer for the longest time possible while tempers rose even higher!
All the while somepony decided that putting all these very aggravated, worried, and furious parties into the same building for a prolonged period of time and letting the sparks fly would be a good idea! Truly, the unicorn nobility’s intellect and wisdom was second to none! Not!
And if he ever found out who had had the brilliant idea of saying that, as the personal aide to the Princess and Star Swirl’s student he was the best pony to organize lodging, catering, and to try and keep the peace between all the aggrieved parties, he would not be held responsible for his actions!
Groaning once more, Clover felt a very worrying kinship with his master’s usual rants about the stupidity of other ponies.
There hadn’t been a moment of peace or quiet ever since, as screams and accusations were hurled every which way! The earth ponies and the pegasi demanded to know why the unicorns had upset the movement of the celestial orbs, all the while his fellow unicorns had clammed up and refused to answer, for admitting that they simply did not know was apparently an unforgivable sin or some other nonsense! In turn it made the other two tribes even more suspicious and distrustful!
Things had finally reached a boiling point yesterday when some loose-lipped noble had finally let slip the truth, that apparently an unknown party had been the one to usurp the heavens from the unicorns’ grasp. And hadn’t that been a sight to see?
The screaming had lasted well into the night. No pony liked the idea that some unknown element could be able to do that with no prior warning or apparent motive, which in turn led to another wild round of accusations. The idea that the other tribes had to be lying and no third party existed was far more palatable to most than that an unknown threat now loomed over them all.
By the stars above… how he wished he could imitate his master and simply state he was researching the situation in order to isolate himself from the whole mess! The surly flankhole hadn’t come out of his tower in over two days!
Alas, he was no arch mage, but merely the arch mage’s personal student. And so had to take the place of his master and endure several hours of Hurricane, Pundinghead, and Platinum screeching at each other. Only the presence of some very uncomfortable-looking guards from all three tribes prevented their illustrious leaders from devolving into blows! Even then, it most likely was but a matter of time for it to happen anyway if nothing changed soon!
The fact he had seen more than a few servants of all three tribes discreetly trading gems and placing bets had not helped his mood in the slightest!
Things had finally calmed down for the moment, if “calm” was even the right word, what with the discussion ending due to everypony being hoarse and exhausted from so much shouting and so they all had retired for what little remained of the night.
But even then, basically everypony knew where his quarters were, and more than once since this mess started someone had barged into said quarters with some ‘urgent’ thing he ‘had’ to deal with as soon as possible. And when added to the fact that dawn was already upon them anyway, Clover had decided that a tactical retreat to a very isolated part of the city for a few hours was just what he needed.
Taking a long, deep breath, the white-coated stallion tried to regain a measure of calm. Inhale, hold, and exhale. Again, and again, the mage repeated the action, slowly feeling more like himself and less likely to strangle the next idiot to demand some asinine chore out of him, until with his newest breath, he did not smell the morning dew or the surrounding stone, but the very appetizing scent of freshly baked bread.
Opening his eyes, Clover paid little mind to how the morning sun was now lighting up the city’s main gate several stories down and right ahead of him. Instead, he ignored the change of guard shift taking place down below and turned back towards the stairwell to see the softly smiling form of a caramel-coated earth pony carefully balancing two loaves of bread still lightly smoking from the oven upon her back.
“I knew you would be here,” Smart Cookie said, the slightest hint of teasing in her voice as she approached Clover’s little balcony. “For where else would mister introvert go after being forced to deal with so many ponies at once for a prolonged period of time?”
“Like you would’ve fared any better having to deal with this whole mess,” he grouched, even as he accepted one of the bread loaves with a soft thanks to his friend. “Perhaps I should let you act like an in-between for all three tribes and see how you fare.”
“No, thanks. Dealing with the earth pony senators and the Chancellor while stopping them from doing something stupid is already bad enough. I do not intend to add the pegasi and unicorn equivalents to that list,” she promptly replied with a pained smile as she took a seat right next to Clover.
They stood there in companionable silence for a moment. Clover allowed the warmth of the loaf to penetrate his hooves, temporarily banishing the morning chill as he appreciated the bread’s smell.
“Where is Pansy?” the young mage finally asked, briefly looking around as if the Pegasus could be hiding somewhere in the tiny alcove as he took a large bite out of the bread. The rich and nutty flavor permeated his mouth and made him realize just how hungry he really was, making him take several more bites.
“Trying to prevent an incident by keeping Hurricane busy and relatively calm,” Cookie replied with a pained grimace, letting out an aggravated sigh before taking a bite out of her own loaf. “I do not think we will be able to see her for several hours at least. From what she told me things are tense amidst the pegasi right now.”
“That’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one,” Clover replied with an equally aggravated sigh. He did not envy their pegasus friend’s situation. Hurricane’s temper made it so all knew how appropriate his name was. Preventing the commander of the Pegasus Armada from doing something overtly aggressive that could lead to trouble between the tribes was a full-time job even at the best of times. And considering the current situation…
Frankly, between Smart Cookie and Chancellor Puddinghead, Private Pansy and Commander Hurricane, and himself and Princess Platinum, Clover had no idea who had it worse in regards to keeping their superiors in line while preventing inter-tribe incidents.
In some ways, Clover almost wished that their leaders’ belligerent actions were caused by pettiness or greed. But sadly that was not the case. The Chancellor, the Commander, and the Princess all cared and strived for the betterment of pony-kind. It was just that they had very distinct views of what said betterment was, and personalities that were a little too strong and hardly meshed well with the others.
And with his personal experience of far too many incidents in which he had to help keep Princess Platinum’s temper under control while making sure not to appear to be doing so… Yeah, Clover did not envy Pansy’s situation right now in the slightest.
“Things just keep getting better and better, don’t they?” he sarcastically asked, taking another bite of his bread while inclining his head backward until it rested on the stone wall behind him.
“So it would seem. By the way, Pansy told me that the pegasi also have no idea what is causing the growing cold. And that the Armada’s best efforts to dispel it had not given any appreciable results before whatever happened to the sun and the moon happened and Hurricane hurried here,” Cookie said in a faux casual tone of voice as she continued to eat her own loaf.
“Perfect, just… perfect,” the white-coated unicorn groaned, finishing the bread with one large angry bite. “So nopony has any idea what is happening. How great. Perfect even!”
“So not even the Arch Mage knows what is causing this whole mess?” Cookie asked as she finished her own loaf. Clover only gave her an angry glare in response. “Hey, I’m just asking! Don’t blame me, you know your kin love keeping their secrets!”
After a moment, Clover could not help but let out an exhausted sigh, unable to refute his friend’s words. “No, nopony has any idea of what is happening. And that really worries me.
“The weather is getting worse and worse by the day. Something is messing with the Celestial Spheres. Tension and distrust between the Three Tribes is higher than anypony can remember. And nopony has any idea what is causing this whole mess or what to do to fix it!”
With every word he spoke, Clover’s voice rose higher and higher. Until, as the last words left his mouth the unicorn was all but shouting as he tossed both fore-hooves upwards in sheer frustration. The tensions, worry, and anxiety of the past few days finally burst over.
He probably would have gone off on a rant if not for the fact that he was distracted by Cookie holding him tight in a friendly hug. After a few moments of inaction, the unicorn returned the earth pony’s action, hugging her back.
They stayed that way for several moments as the sun finally rose fully, lightning up the landscape and illuminating Unicornia’s white walls and imposing towers.
“Feeling better?” Smart Cookie asked with a small sincere smile, causing Clover to smile back in kind.
“Yeah. Thanks, I needed that,” the unicorn replied, giving his friend one more hug before letting go.
“Anytime!” Cookie happily replied, a beaming smile on her muzzle. A lighthearted atmosphere fell upon the small alcove, as if it was an island of peace in the middle of a turbulent sea.
Alas, as if fate itself disapproved of such a development, the peace did not last, as the sound of somepony loudly shouting reached their small island of peace from down at the city’s gate.
“And as I said several times now, young mare! The gates are closed and shall remain that way! Nopony may enter or leave Unicornia until further notice as per the orders of Princess Platinum and the Celestial Council!” a grating and self-important voice resounded through the air, very firmly destroying the moment.
Letting out a new tired sigh, Clover wondered what exactly was Pure Blood’s problem right now. As the captain of the gate, Clover sadly knew the pompous unicorn far too much for his liking, having had to work with the arrogant stallion more than once. He was competent and a decently skilled magical practitioner. But alas…
“And I said I do not care what ‘vital’ piece of information you may possibly have! Nor do I care how ‘time sensitive’ said information may be! I was told to keep the gates closed and allow nopony to pass! And so the gates will remain closed and nopony shall pass!”
Yeah, combining the usual noble arrogance with a huge inflexibility and need to follow all orders to the letter turned dealing with the white-coated and blonde-manned unicorn into one heck of a chore.
Briefly looking downwards, he confirmed that it was indeed Pure Blood who was standing atop the gate alongside a baker’s dozen other soldiers, all of them armed and armored and staring at their equally armored captain as he screamed at somepony outside the city at the base of the gate.
“I see he is still as pleasant as always,” Cookie sarcastically stated, taking her own look downwards before shaking her head. “Did you know he attempted to block us from going through? If not for the fact that Chancellor Puddinghead simply kept walking, forcing Pure Blood to move out of the way or be trampled, it might have even worked for an hour or two until our ‘identities’ were confirmed.”
Yes, Clover could easily believe that. Shaking his head once again he turned towards the stairs, silently wishing whoever it was that was locked outside the city luck dealing with the captain. This promised to be another long day and there was far too much to do, especially if he wished to be able to get some sleep in the not-so-distant future…
Only to stop mid-stride as his magical senses suddenly screamed at him. A loud shattering ‘sound’ echoed through the aether, a sound any accomplished magic user would recognize as a ward being broken.
His head snapping back towards the gate, Clover confirmed with his eyes what his magical senses had just told him. Someone had just broken the gate’s wards. The wards were meant to prevent rogue elements from bypassing the gate through spatial displacement spells, such as teleportation. And despite how ludicrous the mere idea of a ward created and reinforced by dozens of trained unicorns being broken so quickly and easily sounded in his head, the fact remained that at this very moment, a white-coated mare with a luscious golden mane was now atop the gate and standing right next to the flabbergasted Captain of the Gate. Pure Blood kept looking from the bottom of the gate outside and back towards the mare right in front of him with his mouth opened in surprise, an action repeated by his soldiers atop the gate.
“What the buck?” Clover found himself asking without meaning to, rushing back to the balcony to get a better look, Cookie right behind him.
“Enough. Lets us simplify things, shall we?” a calm and cultured voice cut through the morning air, the very polite voice caring within it an implied threat that for some reason immediately reminded Clover of his master in a foul mood. “You will tell me where exactly I can find Arch Mage Starswirl, or I shall render you unable to hinder my quest any further and proceed down the chain of command until I can find someone capable of answering my question.
“Do we have an understanding?” she firmly asked a now growing red and sputtering Pure Blood. The captain lit up his horn, the yellow glow of his magic surrounding both the appendage and the sword at his flank.
“Do you have any idea who I a-” the captain started to shout as his sword slid an inch out of its scabbard, only for a brief blue flash to occur. Immediately afterward the white-coated unicorn stallion had fallen in a graceless heap on the ground, openly snoring. All the while, the unknown mare was already in front of Pure Blood’s second-in-command.
“The same question. Where can I find Arch Mage Starswirl?” the mare firmly asked, as if she had not just downed the Captain of the Gate and teleported towards his second in command in a single heartbeat.
“You dare to at-” a flash of blue and another snoring officer was on the ground. All the while, the mare was now standing in front of a now very panicked-looking lieutenant.
“The same question. Where can I find Arch Mage Starswirl?” she calmly asked, steel in her words despite the fact they remained calm and polite, all the while acting as if she had not rendered two unicorn officers unconscious in as many seconds.
“What the buck?” Cookie incredulously repeated Clover’s question as they watched the surreal situation, neither really knowing how to react. Though, the unicorn had to agree that it was a very succinct and concise way to summarize the situation. As they stared with wide eyes from their balcony, the situation down below kept devolving as three more unicorns had been rendered unconscious while the rest of the company seemed to be rooted in place by some kind of magical circle the mare had cast with ridiculous ease.
As he finally managed to shake off his surprised stupor and decided he had to do something in regard to this newest mess, a panicked soldier finally gave the strange mage what she wanted.
“Starswirl the Bearded is in his personal tower right at the center of the city! It has a silver roof and it is the second-highest tower in the city! Right in front of the tower of the Celestial Council! You cannot miss it!” a very nervous-looking unicorn soldier promptly blurted out the moment the mare appeared before him before she could even open her mouth to ask the question one more time.
“You have my thanks,” she politely replied while giving the sweating soldier a short nod, before dismissing him from her thoughts as she turned towards the city and started to scan its skyline until her eyes fell upon the highest towers that were situated at the center of the city.
As her eyes fell upon the large silver-roofed tower that was his master’s abode, the mare narrowed her eyes for a moment as magical energy gathered around her horn with speed and precision that would leave most battle mages green with envy.
The next moment a blue flash filled the air, and she was gone, leaving nothing but a few panicking soldiers behind, and several more snoring.
“That may be a problem,” part of his mind heard Cookie speak as if from a great distance. But Clover did not answer his friend, far too busy making the calculations for the teleportation spot he tended to use outside his master’s tower as his gold magic gathered around his horn.
The next moment, with a golden flash he was gone as well, leaving a visibly exasperated Smart Cookie behind.