“Is… is the pink thing gone?”
At her sister’s question, Lysithea peaked out of the bush she and Twilight had hid in. A look to the left showed only trees, while to the right there were even more trees. There were no signs of the pink menace that had burst forth and confronted them from out of nowhere. Before that changed, Lysithea became one with the bush again and turned back to her sister. She gave a nod, and then both left its safety in hopes that they were truly free from the horrid creature that had tried to attack them.
“What was that? Was that a pony?” Twilight asked.
“I think it was that pony that we met at the station,” Lysithea replied, taking deep breaths to calm her heart. “You know, the one that bulldozed that mare after mentioning us being new.”
“I’ve never seen an earth pony move that fast,” Her sister said, she eyed the road that was not too far away. She pointed with her hoof to it, Lysithea letting out a sigh as she saw they hadn’t run too far away from civilization. She tried to start walking, only to feel Twilight’s hooves suddenly wrap around her neck. “Wait, she bulldozed someone?! Is she perhaps with those ponies who attacked me all those years back.”
“I think she would have bulldozed you if that was the case, Twilight,” Lysithea replied as she started walking towards the road, rolling her eyes. “Anyways, we got one last thing to check up on. If I remember from the list, Fluttershy lives outside of town anyways. I guess this worked out somehow.”
“So we go that way?” Twilight said as they reached the road, stretching a hoof in the direction not leading back to town.
Lysithea nodded, and the two started working their way to the final stop of this wacky and rather strange journey. Lysithea couldn’t believe how many of her old classmates from back at the Officer’s Academy were in this one town. Annette had been great to reunite with, Dorothea she would have to talk with later, and Ingrid was… Ingrid. She had had to deal with such a wide variety of emotions in the span of half a day that she wasn’t quite sure what to expect next. From shock, to fear, to slight embarrassment and joy, it made it impossible to tell what emotion the next familiar individual would give her.
Suddenly, some ways down the road, her ears caught something. Both her and Twilight stopped at the same time, telling her that she wasn’t the only one who had heard it. A chorus of tweets was coming from off the road, which normally wouldn’t have been odd. Except it quickly became clear that it wasn’t just the birdsong of various avians trying to impress mates, but organized. More music than a simple group of bird calls.
Lysithea turned to Twilight who looked to her at nearly the exact same time. Both knew exactly what was going on. They had found the music for the celebration. Heading off the road and towards the bushes, they peaked through the top to see what lay beyond. They watched as a yellow pegasus with pink mane and tail, triple butterflies for a cutie mark, acting as a conductor for a group of small birds before her. They all watched as the birds suddenly stopped, the mare seeming to talk to one in a whispered tone.
“So that is the music for the festival?” Lysithea asked in a hush, hoping to not disturb what they were eavesdropping on. Neither of them noticed the figure that was quickly approaching from behind. “I’ll admit, I didn’t think birds could be used as instruments.”
“They aren’t instruments, Thea. They’re just a choir group,” Twilight corrected in an equally quiet tone. “Though, I would admit it, the idea of someone trying to use an avian creature as an instrument would be… quite strange and unethical.”
“Right. It is very pretty though,” Lysithea stated, resting her head on her hooves, which had firmly matted down the part of the branch she had been watching from. “So do we go and introduce ourselves? Technically we’ve learned all we needed to for the checklist but we’ve introduced ourselves to every other individual working on the Summer Sun Celebration so far.”
Twilight let out a nervous chuckle at her sister’s words, waving her hooves in front of her.“Y-y-you can if you want, but personally I’ve dealt with enough ponies today. I’ll just wait here if you want to–”
“My my, what do we have here?”
Lysithea and Twilight froze at the low, slithery voice that had cut through the peaceful air. At the speed of a snail, both sisters turned their heads behind them to see exactly where the voice was coming from. It was a unicorn stallion whose coat, mane, and tail were all pure black. The only two things with any color on his body being his greenish-blue eyes and his cutie mark, which showed a dagger. He had a smirk on his face befitting a villain, neither mare able to see the hint of amusement it held as the stallion watched Twilight try and make herself as small as possible.
“A group of mares that I’ve never seen in town decided to peep on my marefriend,” The stallion replied. The sentence solidified who they truly were, Lysithea’s face going from fear to unfiltered disappointment. “Honestly I don’t know what I should do with the two of you, though perhaps I should start by reintroducing myself to the one who has seen me,” His eyes flicked from Twilight to Lysithea. “Strange seeing you in this odd new world, Lysithea.”
Lysithea opened her mouth to give the stallion before her a snarky reply, but her sister beat her. Twilight slowly backed up, terrified and wanting to be as far away from the individual before her as possible.
“I-I-I swear, we didn’t mean anything by it!” Twilight said in pure fear, no one but the yellow pegasus they had been watching, noticing as the volume she spoke with scared the birds into flight. “W-w-we just heard the music and wanted to listen. Please don’t hurt me, I wasn’t interested in her or– wah!”
Having not been looking where she was going, Twilight suddenly found herself falling through the bush and into view of the pegasus they had been watching. The stallion let out a chuckle as Lysithea applied her hoof directly to her face. Brushing to the side how predictable this was considering who was responsible for it, Lysithea trotted around the bush and to her sister. The yellow pegasus watched from a distance, the twin sisters blissfully unaware of the fact they were shaking her head. A goofy smile was on their face.
“Twilight, you okay?” Lysithea asked.
“No. How could I ever be okay when I’m about to be put to death by some stallion thinking I meant to steal his mare?” Twilight questioned back in drama and fright. Any worry Lysithea had for her disappeared, expression turning stoic as she rolled eyes. “The end is up for me. Save yourself, Thea! Live free and find the mare of your dreams like I was unable to.”
“He isn’t actually gonna kill you, Twilight. This is how he always was,” Lysithea replied, her voice devoid of any emotion as she spoke. It went from emotionless to filled with annoyance as she turned her attention to the stallion resting his hooves on the same bush she had before. “Seriously Hubert? First time we see each other on good terms in how long and this is how you act?”
“Pardon me if, through watching you two and your little dragon companion move through Ponyville, I found this too good an opportunity to not pass up,” Hubert replied, refusing to let the smirk fall from his face. Lysithea’s raised brow seemed to only make him grow even more smug. “I don’t blame you for not noticing me. After all, it was once my job to blend in, make sure my Empress is safe. Speaking of which…”
Hubert made his way past Lysithea and Twilight, the latter still shaking in fear at the stallion. As if she hadn’t clearly heard his words earlier, Lysithea allowed her jaw to drop as the former empereal retainer made his way to the yellow pegasus and kissed her. No, not only did Hubert kiss her but the pegasus leaned into it instead of away. Lysithea wasn’t entirely sure how to grasp the situation, realizing something horrid that she never had thought would happen.
Hubert had found a special somepony before she had.
“Are you okay, my empress? These young fillies didn’t hurt you, did they?” Hubert asked. He quickly glanced at Lysithea, inwardly chuckling as he saw her twitching eyes.
“O-oh no, they did nothing wrong,” The pegasus said, cheeks turning bright red at the pet name. Her voice was still soft, but due to the decrease in distance the sisters could actually hear her. “Do you know them? Are they from Fodlan?”
“Yes, or one of them is at any rate,” Hubert explained. He turned so that he could see all three of the mares in his vision, a chuckle escaping as he saw Twilight untangle herself from the bush and Lysithea grit her teeth. He could tell the latter was taking his teasing well. “Miss Lysithea Velvet and Twilight Sparkle, this is my Fluttershy. We’ve been dating for… three years now I believe?”
That last bit was what finally broke Lysithea, the mare letting out a scream of anger and agony. Fluttershy flinched, watching as Lysithea tried to rush her coltfriend in rage only for Twilight to grab her tail with her magic to keep her still. Hubert was completely calm, contemplating exactly what it was he had said that could cause such a reaction. Surely him having an SO wasn’t that much of a shock to her system, right?
“So, you two were on the opposite sides of the war, with you being the retainer to Empress Edelgard,” Twilight said, repeating all she had just learned from Hubert as the four ponies sat down.
Lysithea refused to return eye contact with anyone around her, mumbling under her breath about something incomprehensible to those around her. As a contrast, Fluttershy was currently surrounded by birds, squirrels, otters, and the most pissed off bunny Twilight had ever seen. Twilight only hoped that the target of the anger wasn’t her, though it could also have just been due to lack of patience due to how long it had taken to calm down her sister. Add on the amount of info about the war her sister had been a part of before becoming a pony, all told by Hubert in more detail then made her comfortable.
Didn’t stop her scholarly self from continuing on, even after learning how her sister had become the bane of one general’s entire being. She actually felt a small tinge of sympathy for those ponies who had attacked her all those years ago, knowing exactly how deadly that dark spikes spell was now.
“Yes, and after their old professor reappeared out of nowhere, the war that had been going in Adrestia’s favor for the past five years swiftly changed,” Hubert said. He couldn’t deny a part of him enjoyed indulging in the history of his world, even if it wasn’t usually his thing. Especially since the unicorn he was telling it to had at some point grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill to write it all down with. “By the time they had marched on the capital I already knew how things would end. Speaking of which, might I inquire about a certain unicorn in our midst if Claude and the professor got my letter?”
All eyes turned to Lysithea, who stayed silent for a couple more seconds. When she finally did speak up, she still kept her eyes off the unicorn stallion before her.
“Yes, and you will be happy to know that Those Who Slither in the Dark have been dealt with,” Lysithea replied. “As someone whose life was greatly affected by them back on Fodlan, thanks for giving us the chance to see to it they never harmed anyone again.”
Twilight looked at her sister, mouth ajar as she heard what her sister said. She decided it was best to not broach the topic, especially considering they still seemed rather upset at Hubert for reasons she didn’t know.
“I’m glad that such mean ponies are no longer troubling your world,” Fluttershy said, petting an otter that had found itself wrapped up in her front hooves. “When Hubie told me about it all, I couldn’t believe it. To think that such horrid individuals could exist out there, even if they aren’t here in Equestria.”
“Those Who Slither in the Dark may not be here, at least as far as I’m aware, but this world has just as many shadows as Fodlan did,” Hubert said, turning his head away from the group and looking at the depths of the forest that his marefriend lived near. “Just like how I had a reason to try and protect Edelgard from it back then, those shadows give me just as many reasons to keep my Fluttershy safe now.”
Hubert took one of his marefriend’s hooves and kissed it, Fluttershy giggling and looking away in embarrassment at the action. While Twilight merely tilted her head in confusion at the way the couple before her acted, Lysithea’s face scrunched up in anger and jealousy. Letting out a sound that was some mix between a sigh and groan, she finally let her eyes fall on the former retainer. The odd sound she had made was more than enough to grab the attention of those around her.
“Okay, I can’t hold back asking anymore,” Lysithea said, pointing a hoof at Hubert. “How did you, the ‘Edelgard-sexual’, manage to get a marefriend while I’ve been single so far for the entirety of both my lives!”
“Edelgard-sexual?!” Hubert asked, a rare bit of genuine surprise leaving his voice as he repeated the phrase. “I’m sorry, where in Sothis’ name did such a term come to be coined for…” He stopped speaking, the surprise falling away to annoyance as he facehooved. “Nevermind, I know exactly who it is that would feel safe enough to call me that.”
“What? Claude wasn’t exactly wrong,” Lysithea said, crossing her forehooves and allowing a small amount of smugness to grace her face. “We all saw it. Can’t deny how you felt for her, can you?”
“I’m not gonna even bother answering that,” Hubert replied, his refusal making Lysithea feel just the tiniest bit better about herself.
“Anyways, you two actually came this way in regards to the music for the Summer Sun Celebration, correct?” Fluttershy asked, looking between both unicorn sisters timidly. They nodded at her in reply. “I hope that what you heard earlier was okay. I’ve been working really hard to make sure all the birds are ready for tonight.”
“It was beautiful. I’m sure Celestia will be very happy with what she heard,” Twilight said, Lysithea giving yet another nod to show she agreed with the assessment. Fluttershy seemed to relax a bit at the reassurance. “Anyways, thank you both for the… interesting time, we should probably get to Golden Oak’s Library and rest up before tonight. Especially if I’m correct about something big happening tonight.”
Lysithea rolled her eyes, knowing well what her sister was hinting at. Hubert’s smile became more devious again as Twilight finished talking, something the former member of the Alliance hadn’t missed. She raised an eyebrow at it, wondering what her sister had said that could make him react in such a manner. With a shake of her head, Lysithea decided it was best to ignore it. She stood up, followed by her sister, giving the couple an envious but true smile.
“Well, it was… nice seeing you again, Hubert, and wonderful to meet you Fluttershy,” Lysithea said. “See you at the proceedings.”
After a quick wave to each other, Lysithea and Twilight made their way back around the bushes and towards town. As soon as they were out of sight, both Hubert and Fluttershy let out a giggle. They both knew what awaited the sisters at the library, the stallion especially curious as to how the more jumpy of the two sisters would react to what was awaiting them.