//------------------------------// // 21 - Seekers // Story: Twilight Over Thanalan // by tom117z //------------------------------// Unfortunately, the interior of the Waking Sands had precious little left in the way of salvageable resources. Almost everything of value had either been damaged beyond repair or taken already. The only things Twilight and Yda were able to find scattered amidst the chaos were a map of Eorzea, stained with blood in the corner, and a suit of armour that would not fit any of them. And smothering it all was the constant stench of death and decay. It chased Twilight everywhere she went, haunting her mind and distracting her thoughts. Again and again, try as she might to suppress them, visions of the Scions being brutally massacred flooded her thoughts and her senses. It was just her imagination, but when deprived of the truth, she couldn’t stop the darker thoughts from swelling more and more. Eventually, the duo determined there was nothing left to find and so took their leave. A cover of grey clouds had rolled in as they emerged back into the streets of Vesper Bay, a fitting backdrop that lent itself well to the grim aura of the town, and the knife of grief embedded in Twilight’s chest. She cast her eyes about, searching for Y’shtola, and caught sight of her not far away. She was speaking to a couple of townsfolk, a hyur, and a lalafell. Her teal eyes were narrowed with dismay, but she was otherwise the picture of composure.  “I don’t understand how she does it,” Yda suddenly said from Twilight’s side. She turned to look at the woman to see her jaw hanging just slightly open.  Twilight tilted her head. “What do you mean?” she questioned curiously. Yda pointed to Y’shtola. “That. How she manages to stay so composed after everything that’s just happened. Like, I can tell she’s furious, but she’s not even raising her voice to those people. I don’t know if I could have that kind of restraint after…” She left the sentence unfinished, not that she had any need to say anymore. Twilight couldn’t deny Yda’s observation. Y’shtola’s composure had slipped only briefly, but now she was calm, focused, and following some form of plan of action. It was admirable, really. “I could stand to learn a thing or two from her,” she thought. After a moment, Y’shtola nodded to the townsfolk, and they hurried away, clearly unsettled by whatever questions Y’shtola had been asking. The miqo’te spotted the duo watching her, and with a visible slump in her shoulders, made her way back to them. “What did you find out?” Yda asked hopefully, descending the front steps of the Sands with Twilight close behind her, the alicorn’s glamour once again rippling into place around her body. Y’shtola shook her head. “Nobody saw anything. Even those who heard the first utterances of the commotion saw no one enter or leave. This says to me that the imperials somehow teleported into the Sands - not at all impossible, considering the ascians that aid them from the shadows. The only question then becomes how they could have found out where the Waking Sands were located…” “Spies, maybe?” Yda suggested, lifting a finger. “I mean, the Empire is really good at blowing things up with their guns, but they have all kinds of spies and things like that, too.” “Possible, but highly unlikely,” Y’shtola shook her head. “We are all of us very careful to cover our tracks, and Vesper Bay is remote. Save for its function as a hub of trade with Limsa, it harbours next to no significance. Unless one knew to look here from the first, there would be no reason to give this town more than a passing glance.” Twilight frowned, her wings twitching angrily against her sides translating to a shudder in her glamour. “So they captured someone?” She ventured carefully. “Pried the information out of them?” Y’shtola shrugged. “Perhaps… but last I had heard, everyone was accounted for already. No one was missing until now.” The group fell into silence for several long seconds. Finally, Yda let off a growl of frustration and stomped her metal-clad foot against the cobbled street. “Oh, gods dammit! Why can’t it ever be simple?!” she shouted loud enough to draw the attention of a few passersby. “Yda, please,” Y’shtola chastised gently, lifting her hand in a placating gesture. “Calm yourself.” Yda was shaking again, her hands clenching into tight fists. A moment later, she took a long, deep breath, then let it out in a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry, I’m just… I’m just trying to make sense of all of this.” Twilight nodded. “We all are…” After another few seconds, Yda spoke up again. “So… what do we do? I mean, we can’t stay here, can we? Twilight thinks we should leave, but I don’t know where else to go…” Y’shtola hummed, crossing her arms. “It would be unwise to linger here. After what the empire has done, it is not out of the question for them to have placed scouts or other forces nearby to attack again, should any straggling Scions return oblivious to what has happened. But at the same time, if we withdraw, then…” “Then if anyone does come back,” Twilight said, realizing where Y’shtola was going with this. “They might be wandering right back into a potential ambush.” “Not to mention the fact that if there’s no one here to get them up to speed, then no one will be able to coordinate what to do!” Yda added helpfully, looking back at the building. “Like… me. If you two hadn’t come along, I’d still be sulking on the floor, helpless.” Y’shtola nodded slowly, a grim frown settling onto her face. “...Then someone must remain,” she finally determined. Twilight’s eyes widened. “W-what?” she asked in alarm. “B-but, shouldn’t we stick together?” “It would be ideal, aye, but our circumstances no longer lend themselves well to that. Yda is right. If there are any survivors who were out on assignment, someone has to be here to work with them and tell them what has happened. If not, then the Scions of The Seventh Dawn, as an organization, is already dead,” Y’shtola explained, though it was clear she had no love for the words she spoke. “The only question that remains is who shall stay…” Suddenly, Yda lifted her hand into the air. “I will.” Twilight blinked, turning back to her. “What? Yda-” “Let’s not beat around the bush here,” Yda cut her off, her voice remarkably firm. “I’m not really going to be of any use to you out there. Aside from my fists, I can’t do basically anything without Papalymo. And right now, much as I would like to, I don’t think that beating people up is the right thing to do. Besides… I want to make sure we don’t lose anyone else. So, I’ll stay. I’ll clean up, I’ll take down any imperial bastards who come knocking, and I’ll warn any Scions who come back to stay away and look for you.” Twilight stared at Yda for a moment, surprised by how sound her reasoning was. She didn’t like the idea of leaving her here all on her own, but she was smart enough to know that it would do no good for anyone else to stay behind. Twilight was the stranger of the group, still, after all, and Y’shtola would be of better use out in the field. Y’shtola seemed to mirror those thoughts, and a proud smile crept across her face. “Very well said, Yda. So be it. In the meantime, Twilight and I shall make for Drybone. If the bodies were carted there, mayhap we can gain some insight as to who did the work. After that, there is someone I would have us contact.” Twilight tilted her head. “Who?” “A spy of our own, after a fashion. A contact within the imperial army that has been feeding us information on their activities. Our usual meeting point with them is in the foothills north of Drybone, across the bridge. I am hoping they can help us,” Y’shtola explained before a solemn frown deepened the lines on her face. “I am afraid that, with things as they are now, Twilight, it may be a long time before we can turn any attention towards finding your Element of Harmony.” “Forget the Element,” Twilight blurted, almost without thinking. “The Scions are my friends. You need my help, first and foremost. The Element can wait.” Y’shtola blinked in surprise, then offered a small nod. “Very well… you have my thanks, Twilight Sparkle.” “Well, then you’d best be off!” Yda announced, managing at least the facade of a smile. “The world isn’t going to save itself. Our missing friends might, but they’d probably appreciate a helping hand as well. Oh, and if any imperial bastards happen to get in your way, please give them my warmest regards.” “We would do that in most situations regardless. But I take your meaning,” Y’shtola replied. “As for yourself, do not throw your life away recklessly. If the empire does return and you find yourself in a situation you cannot beat your way out of, for the love of all the Twelve, run.” Twilight looked down, scuffing the dirty concrete below her with a hoof. “We’ve lost too many friends already…” Yda’s smile fell a little, the hyur kneeling down in front of the pony and giving her a scratch behind the ear. “Well, when you give me those puppy eyes, I just can’t refuse.” “I’m not a puppy…” Twilight weakly retorted as she indignantly accepted the pleasant ear scratches. “Or an animal to give pets to!” “Aw, but you’re so cute! And we need cute! Always yes to the cute!” Well, at least Twilight was able to push her mood in a more positive direction… “Be that as it may, let’s not cause any more of a scene,” Y’shtola noted in bemusement. “Twilight, we must away. It is a long trek to Drybone and I would like to catch up with any survivors that might congregate there.” “Okay, okay…” Yda relented, rising back to her feet as her smile vanished entirely. “Just… be really careful. I can’t lose anyone else…” “Yda…” Twilight muttered sadly. “We will. Worry not for us,” Y’shtola kindly replied. “Good luck, Scion.” And with those parting words, Y’shtola and Twilight bid Yda farewell and left her alone outside the darkened remains of the Waking Sands. Twilight hated having to leave her there amidst the ghosts of friends lost, but she couldn’t stop moving either. Until now it had largely been about her. Her Element of Harmony. Finding a way home. For all Eorzea’s own troubles, that had always been her foremost priority, and helping the Scions had been the fastest and easiest way of accomplishing that goal. Not anymore. As important as that was, protecting her new friends was even more important in her mind. If she couldn’t protect her friends here in Eorzea, how was she to face the ones she left behind in Equestria? Or even the Element itself, the symbol that represented the power of those friendships? She was going to get them back. She was going to get it back. And the ascians and the empire would pay for what they had done. The following days on the road between Vesper Bay and Camp Drybone were spent largely in an eerie silence. Perhaps both were still processing the events that had transpired to set them on this path. Myriad emotions yet raged within Twilight, and she knew they most certainly still raged within Y’shtola as well. The miqo’te was far better at hiding it, though, much to her credit. Though perhaps neither of them simply had anything of substance to say. What could one say following such a tragedy? Not knowing which friends were dead and which, if any, yet drew breath? Where your enemy was hiding, whether they were walking into another ambush with imperials hiding around the next corner to finish the job. Or an ascian, worse coming to worst. Though such considerations often frequented the alicorn’s train of thought as the hours turned into days, there had thus far been no further sightings of their enemies. No Scarmiglione. No Y’sanna. No Lahabrea or that tribunus Nero that Y’shtola had spied… Not even the blackened helmet of a single imperial thug waving a sword and magitek spear their way. No, things had been completely quiet and calm the entire time. For some reason that made Twilight feel worse. “You seem deep in thought,” Y’shtola finally spoke as they walked side by side down the road, the woman looking across at her faux carbuncle. “And have for some time. I am here if there is aught you wish to share.” Twilight sighed. “I’m just… running through what happened in my head. Trying to figure out if we could have done something different…” “Such thoughts will avail you little,” Y’shtola gently chided. “We never saw it coming, nor could we have. Dwelling upon ‘could have beens’ will only serve to shatter morale and leave us weakened. So it is not the thought of what could have been that occupies my mind, but the how of it. I have given much consideration to how they could have pulled off such a surgical strike so effectively, and against multiple targets no less, but I find myself at a loss.” “If someone was captured, then is it really far-fetched that they found out that way?” “Indeed, I have thought of that possibility frequently. One of our less prominent members could have revealed the location of the Sands, it is true,” Y’shtola postulated. “So ‘tis the most likely answer. But something about that notion rings false in my mind. Consider that the attack was coordinated with the strike on you even as Titan was felled. The timing was exact.” Twilight hummed. “How many Scions knew where I was?” “All of our inner circle, naturally. You met all but one the day we met.” “There was one I didn’t meet?” Y’shtola nodded. “Alphinaud Levellieur. For a mercy, he seldom frequents the Sands and prefers to conduct his own business, so it is like he was not caught in the trap. He and his sister both.” Twilight had to wonder whether she’d have the pleasure of meeting this ‘Alphinaud’ sometime down the line… “So, if someone was captured, it had to be one of them, right?” the alicorn then asked, as much as she hated the thought. “It would fit. But I do not see it as likely that either of them would be willing to reveal such intimate details of our operations. Alphinaud, for all of his self-confidence, is steadfastly devoted to our cause, and Alisaie is far too stubborn to cave under any form of interrogation I can imagine,” Y’shtola then said in turn. “And everyone you met is amongst the most trusted of us, and very capable of keeping their tongues to themselves even under the most intense of pressures. Most would surely perish before giving forth information purely for their own sakes.” “They sound really brave…” “Each and every one of them…” the woman quietly agreed. “Not to mention our intelligence network. Thancred works tirelessly to watch our enemies’ movements, walking unseen among them often. Time and again his information proved vital. I cannot help but wonder how he could have missed such a large operation being underway…” The miqo’te abruptly ceased her stride. Twilight took a few more stops before noticing and turning to face the contemplative scholar. She quietly considered for several moments, countless possibilities flashing behind her eyes before she looked back up at Twilight. “Nay, there is yet more transpiring that we cannot see. None of our core members would have revealed anything to our enemies, and those more pliable wouldn’t have known enough for an operation as precise and efficient as was conducted. And that there were no signs beforehand? Something far more insidious led us to this than a mere interrogation. I wish I could explain how or why, but all I can say is the presence of the ascians is evident wherever I look.” It was becoming clear to Twilight that Y’shtola was frustrating herself just talking about this. Though her tone remained calm and measured, there was an unmistakable fury behind her eyes that betrayed her true emotions. A moment later, Y’shtola seemed to recognize this as well and shook her head. “But idle speculation will get us nowhere. Come. We must continue,” she said, pressing on at a brisk pace.  Twilight fell into step beside her once more, giving the scholar a concerned glance. Y’shtola had known the Scions for far longer than she had. Her bond with them was no doubt far stronger than Twilight’s own. She could only imagine how much this was all eating away at her. And Twilight knew only all too well how much intrusive thoughts could erode someone’s emotional state when they were left in silence without a distraction. It had taken the absolute noise of her friends in Ponyville to show her how damaging it could be. Maybe now was a good time to pay that lesson forward… “Y’shtola?” Twilight asked, drawing the miqo’te’s attention. Y’shtola glanced down at her, quirking a brow.  Twilight met her gaze. “Would you mind telling me a little more about your people? The Y tribe?” Y’shtola faltered, her eyes widening somewhat. “I beg your pardon? Why do you wish to know? And what does it have to do with our current predicament.” Twilight dispelled her glamour so Y’shtola could see her face more clearly. She offered her a tentative smile. “Nothing. But I still want to know. I’m curious. And I think we could both do with a distraction. You said idle speculation about things we don’t know isn’t going to help, so let’s share things we do know.” Y’shtola hummed quietly, looking up into the sky, toward the sun. Her pace gradually slowed as she looked, and Twilight thought she could see a pearl of nostalgia behind the woman’s eyes. Finally, Y’shtola nodded. “Very well, though I fear there is not much more for me to tell you. You already know that I was accepted as Master Matoya’s student at a young age and that most of my formative years were spent under her watchful eye or in the Sharlayan Motherland. You know that my tribe was based in the Dravanian Hinterlands, and oft did business with the colony.” Twilight nodded along quietly. “I know all this, yes. What I don’t know is anything about the tribe itself, or the culture of the miqo’te as a wider people.” Y’shtola was quiet for a moment, then shrugged. “Miqo’te culture is, typically, fairly consistent - at least within a broader ‘clan.’ I am a Seeker of the Sun, as we are called in the common tongue. We have nocturnal cousins named the Keepers of the Moon, whose culture varies wildly from my own…” “Tell me,” Twilight insisted gently. Y’shtola nodded. “Very well,” she said, before launching into her tail. Twilight listened intently, drinking in every detail. She learned of how Miqo’te society was a highly patriarchal one, with each tribe being led by a ‘Nuhn,’ a male who owned property and had the exclusive right to breed with the many females of the clan. Those younger males who were born, relatively few in number, bore the surname ‘tia,’ and would either take over the position of Nuhn by defeating the prior Nuhn in single combat, expand the tribe’s influence by spreading their hunting grounds, or branch away from their home tribe to form their own with a new letter - or set of letters.  She learned of the Keepers' history, of how many of them first arrived in Eorzea alongside the Calamity of Ice, crossing the frozen oceans and taking up residence in Erozea as the world began to thaw. She learned of the common religious devotion to Azeyma, the Warden, the goddess of the Sun. Inwardly, Twilight felt a pang of nostalgia, and she couldn’t help but compare the Warden to Celestia back home in Equestria. Next, she heard of how they would hunt, how they would build their homes, how their young adults would venture into the world to explore, learn, and return for the prosperity of their tribe, or remain in the wider world out of a love for adventure, or simply a preference for the larger cities. She learned all this, and so much more. By the time Y’shtola was done recounting the details, the time had come for them to stop and begin setting up camp. Twilight had listened almost silently the entire time, but now she spoke. “Wow… I had no idea there was so much to it,” she said softly. Y’shtola nodded. “From a passing glance to an outsider, mayhap it could seem that the various peoples of Eorzea are merely physical denominations. But we are all of us born from different histories and cultures, and we carry them with us wheresoever we go. I imagine it is no different where you are from,” she said, depositing her bag on the ground by a low stone that would serve as a chair. She knelt down, rummaging around for firewood. Twilight, already clearing a patch of the earth for their fire, nodded. “It is. Back in Equestria, there are as many types of creatures with their own cultures as you have fingers and toes. There are at least four races of pony, seven depending on who you ask, and there are differences in culture and background between all of us. At least, in old history. We sort of blended together with time.” Twilight then smiled and glanced off toward where the sun was setting on the distant horizon. “We sort of have our own Azeyma, too, if you can believe it. Princess Celestia.” Y’shtola hummed. “You have mentioned that name before. A goddess?” Twilight shook her head. “Not in the literal sense. She’s one of the rulers of Equestria. She is absolutely the most powerful mage in all of Equestria, though, and her magic lets her raise and lower the sun! A lot of ponies do look at her like a goddess - and I do too, frankly. But she’s always the first to shoot the idea down whenever somepony brings up the notion. All the same, she’s been our leader for over a thousand years, and she’s helped us foster generations built on the principles of unity and harmony.” “Unity,” Y’shtola remarked with a small smile. “A dream Eorzea has yet to see come to fruition. Mayhap there are lessons for us to learn from your kind… if you are of a mind to share.” Twilight grinned, flaring her wings out in demonstration. “Oh, I am happy to! I am the Princess of Friendship, after all! Spreading the lessons I’ve learned to whoever will listen is my entire job description!” “I see. Then you have found in me an attentive student,” Y’shtola snickered, tossing a bundle of sticks to Twilight, which she deftly caught in her magic. Y’shtola turned back to her and got seated on her chosen rock. “And besides. I spoke at length of my people. It is your turn to do the same. Fair is fair.” Twilight’s grin grew wide, and she was quick to put the wood into place. “Alright! Where should I start?” she asked eagerly. Y’shtola hummed. “You mentioned before that there are four or seven races of pony, depending on who you ask. I would have you explain that to me.” Twilight nodded, and a small spark of ruby-coloured light from her spellbook set the prepared campfire ablaze. “Sure. There are Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi. They form the main bulk of our population. Then there are alicorns, like me, but we’re kind of a special breed. We’re not born, we’re made. At least, two of us were… But if you turn your attention to the main races, there are plenty of examples of, well, I guess ‘subraces,’ or ‘clans,’ kind of like between the Keepers and the Seekers. There are records of unicorns with curved horns and strange magics who lived in an ancient empire. There are nocturnal pegasi who live in caves and remote jungles, with wings like those of a bat, and whose eyes see in the dark. There are Crystal Ponies to the north, who have most things in common with the Earth Ponies of Equestria, save for their translucent bodies and illustrious shine.” Y’shtola nodded, her eyes alight with curiosity. “Intriguing… and what can you tell me of these other clans?” Twilight flapped her wings a few times, only all too happy to oblige. She got settled on her belly and launched into an in-depth recounting of all she knew of Equestria’s history. A recounting that, unabridged, would take several days. And all the while, Y’shtola did indeed prove to be a very attentive student. It did nothing to advance their goals. It did nothing to slow the Empire or save Eorzea. It did nothing to bring Twilight any closer to her Element of Harmony. But it did serve to bring the Alicorn and Miqo’te, both so far from the lands of their birth, just a little closer together. And for Twilight, that was reason enough to do it anyway.