//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: "He gave everything for this city." // Story: The Ghost of Coltistrano: Phantom Eulogy // by EthanClark //------------------------------// She heard the story hours after she escaped the party. Guards all around her walked with whispers on their lips, repeating the same story soon to be printed in the early morning edition of the Canterlot Chronicle, now clutched desperately in her hooves. It took every bargain, offer, and threat she could muster to force herself onto the train, and a little more to convince the engineer to leave for the city immediately, all the while lost in the frantic haze filling her skull like smoke. Ponies barely had time to exit before the chariot of steel and wood lurched back along the tracks, eastward toward gray clouds not even the rising sun could pierce. Rarity fidgeted in her seat the whole way. She sat as close as she could to the engine, eyes fixed through the window on the familiar gap in the mountains from where she just came, every now and then checking the surrounding sky for familiar wings of sharp bronze feathers, but as the hours passed in silent agony she could see something else rise from the horizon, thin and foreboding. They weren’t clouds at all. Kindle saw it first, sharp eyes twitching as they approached, and wordlessly he threw himself from the window of the train car, his wings carrying him faster than steel ever could towards the site, leaving Rarity to sit in her seat and nurse the growing ball of worry in her gut. The train’s whistle blared out across the stormy dawn. Rarity threw her head out from the window to better see the plume of smoke spilling across the grassy land like slow gusts of cold breath when something landed in the corner of her eye. A hoof gently rubbed the spot and Rarity found a splotch of crumbling gray stained on her fur. More fell like winter’s first snow to litter the field with a somber white. It took little effort to identify the substance: ash. Following the falling specs she finally bore witness to her destination, and all she could do was stare. It was a ruin, raw and fresh in its desolation. The train whistle cried out again, and again for any response from the town’s soot covered station, but none was returned. A squealing screech of metal brought the train to a halt just outside the town, but Rarity was already on her hooves and leaping from the passenger car before it ever stopped, galloping across the stained field toward the city. She nearly slipped when she arrived at the station, ash covering the building and falling along the ruined streets from buildings with entire walls blown out and towers half standing. Rubble lay against the houses lining Colistrano’s outer neighborhoods and trailed into even larger scenes of wreckage as she slowly traveled the faint outline of the main street, its once boisterous market now a silent memory. Then, she saw movement. Ponies slowly emerged from broken homes and destroyed businesses. They were weary, stumbling, lost in the thickening cloud of ash from the ruined structures that were once their lives, but what drew the first tear from Rarity was how they looked at her with desperate eyes peering from stained faces. Some recognized her, some even stepped forward, but none could summon the strength to approach, let alone speak to her. Instead, they wandered aimlessly about the town, and from their meandering was revealed a familiar shape in the distance, sitting on its haunches. It was broad, head low, bloody talons gripping the earth with a strength that cracked the stone. Rarity ran to her. “Gilda!” She cried to the gryphon, earning no response, until her following embrace snapped Gilda from her trance and powerful claws reached out to grab her, narrow eyes fixed on hers. “Rarity?” Gilda whispered, her grip retreating. “Gilda, I came back as soon as I heard. What happened? Where is every-...” Her questions fled when she saw what sat before them. The sight of the blown out wall revealed broken chairs, tables, and a dark sign inscribed with a faded golden ‘G’ barely held together by a few splinters. “Him,” Gilda piped up, wiping ash from her matted fur. “He pulled Silver through that… thing. Saw the fires on the horizon not long after. He stole the Tornado.” “Shield? But how? How could he possibly muster all this?” Gilda opened her beak to respond, but caught an approaching bat pony in her teary vision. No warning, no restraint, and no time for Rarity to stop her as Gilda stomped towards Kindle and lifted him from his hooves with a powerful grip around his throat that slammed him against the wall. “And where have you been, huh?!” Gilda demanded as she squeezed. “I-I was at the party, you saw me!”” “Sure, right after giving your boss the signal to attack, right?” “Gilda, let him go,” Rarity pleaded, earning a sharp glare in response. “He was one of them! We get lured away from town, and now there’s no town left! He got you playing the long game, huh?! I’ll spill you right here, you damn-” “Gilda, that's quite enough!” Rarity’s grip was enough to pull the wrathful and weary gryphon away as Kindle coughed out a fresh breath. “Kindle, are you alright?” “I-I’m fine,” Kindle whispered, avoiding her eyes. “We gotta find Silver. He might be around here somewhere.” “Maybe he chased after Shield,” Rarity offered. “That was hours ago, Rares, he would’ve been back by now.” “Has anyone checked with Honey?” Rarity’s question was met with a series of gaunt expressions. Slowly, each one of her company turned their gaze down the remains of the main street, towards the smoldering hole not even the carrion birds would dare approach. Rarity made her way towards it, followed by Gilda and Kindle.  The governor’s mansion, or what little remained, was charred and splintered, its twisted wood still burning with the withering green flame that sent chills through Rarity’s companions. Shattered glass made the approach treacherous, but soon they were able to pass beyond the gnarled gate and onto the property, scorched and ruined. Rarity’s eyes were hard at work trying to take in every little detail of the scene she could, from the impressions of hooves along the dirt to the noxious odor permeating the air, but she could find scant little. The ash had piled too high. Until, through the rubble, they could see a single figure kneeling in the back courtyard. They rushed to meet her, crossing over the toppled remains of the west wing to join the mare, but their reception was a silent one. Honey’s eyes had fallen over the edge of the cliff and peered into the rushing water below. All around her Rarity could see dark splotches standing out against the thick layer of white, a red color trailing from the tormented house behind them and ended right where Honey now sat. “Honey?” Nothing. Even her touch was met with silence, but Rarity dared to gently turn Honey’s face toward her, painted in an expression which froze Rarity where she knelt. Honey stared right through her with bloodshot eyes. The crimson marks across her face disappeared beneath her disheveled mane. “Honey,” Rarity whispered again. “Honey, what happened? Where’s Silver?” Her eyes finally locked on to Rarity and began to quiver, and soft huffs of stuttering breath barely touched Rarity’s face as she watched Honey slowly return her gaze to the plummeting height of the cliff they sat on, taking her only a moment to put the scene together. The trail of red wasn’t Honey’s. The others shot glances around the desolation hoping their observations could answer what Honey’s attempts at speech could not, but Rarity could already feel her limp composure shatter. A single wet streak fell from her eye, drawing a thin line of black mascara down her cheek. “He made me watch,” Honey finally muttered. “Watch what? What?! Honey, don’t say it, don’t say he’s...” Gilda pushed past Rarity and grasped Honey in her claws, and only now could the unicorn spy damp patches of fur and feathers trailing from her eyes, a subtle chatter from Gilda’s beak as she silently pleaded with Honey, but the only comfort she received was the vacant gaze of her friend’s mother. Gilda shot to her full height. Her voice rang out across the chasm, so loud it cracked and echoed back the name she desperately wailed until it faded into silence. With a pained grunt Gilda threw herself from the cliff, wings spread to catch herself before meeting the rocks below. She stumbled on her landing upon one of the more forgiving stones, damp with the mist of the flowing river, and peered out across the bank for a sign, any sign, but her breath hitched when she finally found a fluttering piece of cloth snagged on a fallen tree limb. It was dark, smooth to the touch, and a texture she had seen many times before. When she finally returned to the top of the cliff she passed the shred to Rarity. As soon as it landed in her hoof she knew. No further deductions, no hopeful queries, no missing details. It was a shred of his uniform, evidence enough of her deepest fears. The thousands of theories once rushing through her frantic mind were silenced by the staggered whimper escaping her lips that bubbled into a harrowing cry as she fell to her knees, pressing the shred to her chest. Her voice filled the silence of a dead city. Kindle slowly approached her, placing a hoof to her shoulder. “Rarity… Rarity, we need a plan.” “Give her some space,” Gilda growled, wiping away her own tears. “We can’t stay here, Gilda, with no shelter and no provisions the ponies here are exposed.” “Then give us a minute. Come on Honey, let’s get you outta here.” Gilda gently guided Honey to her hooves. “We don’t have a minute,” Kindle protested. “There might still be survivors out there, and something that powerful can’t be allowed out in the world. We need to act.” “Tough,” said Gilda with piercing eyes as she carefully led Honey through the rubble. “He might come back!” “Why?” Gilda returned. “So he can kill him again?” “The train.” Rarity’s weak voice snapped the two from their anger. “It can take everyone to Ponyville, then we can warn Twilight of what really happened here. So please, stop fighting.” She walked slowly past them and followed Gilda as the procession carefully made its way around the ruined house and back into the greater field of ash blanketing the city. More ponies had finally emerged from the wreckage and into the drowned light of day, but no one looked to the party gathered before them. Rarity stumbled as she turned, holding back a sob as her fluttering power reached from her horn and to an intact crate to pull it before her, stepping atop it to get a better view. “E-Everypony,” she tried to announce. “C-Could I have your attention, please?” Some ponies turned to face her, face stained and mane now unkempt. “Some of you may recognize me, b-but I want to get everyone together before we formulate a plan. Does anyone need help? Has anyone else sur-... else survived?” Rarity could almost see their attention wither, pulled away by the reminder of the piles of ash who once lived mere hours ago, and those who listened began to wander away. “P-Please, I know how terrible this all is, but if we can come together and-” “Where is the governor?” Rarity’s attention was pulled to a unicorn mare, her red fur matted and splotched with white. “Where’s Silver?” The question struck Rarity harder than she thought. Tremors returned to her lip as she found herself struggling to remain on the wooden crate, and the renewed interest from the gathering crowd of desperate faces did little to steady her. Kindle fidgeted where he stood, waiting for a response from Rarity as more questions about the governor’s safety were hurled their way. Gilda clamped her eyes shut and tried to drown out the noise until her attention was drawn to the mare beside her, straightening up and stepping out to the crowd. “Everyone,” Honey announced with a firm but hoarse voice. “Everyone. You all know who I am, so believe me when I tell you we aren’t safe here anymore. I want everypony who can to help those who are injured. Miss Rarity has brought a train to take us to Ponyville. Princess Twilight can help us.” “He won’t come back, will he?” “Miss Hearts, where is the governor? Did they kill him, too?” “What about the Ghost? Why has he abandoned us?” “My son is dead!” Her declaration silenced the crowd before her. “He was beaten and thrown from the cliff, and I was forced to watch! But he would not want us to languish here while we’re still at risk. He gave everything for this city, so please do his memory justice and prepare what you can to leave. Kindle, alert the conductor with Rarity while Gilda and I gather everyone. Gilda, if you please.” Gilda readily took Honey’s hoof and steadied her as they followed Kindle’s lead in rounding up the crowd. Rarity took a final look over the town before following Kindle toward the train station and the blaring whistle that summoned them, still cradling the tattered cloth in her hoof. Though she couldn’t see it, Kindle had peered over to her, watching her ministrations. “I’m sorry.” “Huh?” Rarity snapped from her trance, quickly stowing the cloth. “About… I know you two were getting serious. I can’t imagine losing somepony so close to you.” It took effort and a bitten tongue to hold her tears at bay when Kindle spoke, and as they stepped onto the platform her mind returned to the day before, flooded again with the sensation of being held and so gently kissed in the shadows. She tried to think of a response, but was interrupted by the distraught train conductor. “Miss Rarity, I did-... how could… what happened? And… it’s horrible…” The conductor stumbled when he landed on the platform as Rarity spoke. “We have refugees and wounded deeper in the city, and it will take a little time to gather everyone together. Is there enough room?” “O-Oh, well, the passenger cars can hold about forty ponies each. Are there more than six cars worth, ma’am?” “No.”  Rarity’s single, stoic word was punctuated by a breeze that reminded them and everyone in Coltistrano just how much of the city had been lost to the blaze, the ash traveling westward along the train tracks. With a gulp and a nod of his cap, the conductor stepped back up to the engine and blared the whistle to catch the attention of the citizens who shuffled towards them. Gilda landed on the platform, claws stark white. “We’ve gathered as many as we could find, there’s… well, this is who’s left.” “Thanks, Gilda,” Kindle said, but his hoof gently caught Gilda as she turned away. “I’m sorry about earlier.” “Yeah,” she mumbled, reddened eyes meeting him with a gentle gaze. “Me too. Silver wouldn’t have liked that and… he trusted you.” Gilda huffed, patting Kindle on the shoulder and sharing a small smile, but the scene was behind Rarity as she silently entered the first train car and traveled down the rows. Once she reclaimed the same seat she arrived in a blue aura pulled at the saddlebag in the overhead compartment. Her journal and quill trembled in the air along their journey to her lap, and though she opened its violet cover and gazed upon the page, quill pressed against it, no thoughts came to move it. She tried again, producing only a single scratch against the page.  She strained, but finally the hissing of her breath gave way uneven gasps that filled the cabin of the train car. The page below her was dotted, one by one, by what tears Rarity had left within her, and she returned her attention to the scrap of cloth she so tightly clung to. With a flick of her horn the cloth wrapped itself around her foreleg and tied tightly. Its embrace was enough for the moment as a second scratch was made across the stained page. I left Coltistrano only a few days ago. Silver had caught me before I left, greeting me in his usual ways. I finally worked up the courage to tell him what had been eating away at me for many weeks now, that I wanted us to live together, to finally be together. Never had I seen such a wide and silly grin from him in all the years I’d known him. He held me, kissed me, told me he loved me and I promised to return soon. Last night, we shared what must’ve been a dream. We twirled together with music and hopes for the future, a future together. Again, he kissed me, and he teased me.  Today, I return to find my love is dead. The city has come under attack by a vicious, cowardly, vile, black-hearted… Rarity took a deep breath, scratching out some of her tirade before continuing. By a villain you know as Shield Wall. The destruction is beyond words, and the ponies here have their spirits in shambles. Gilda, Kindle, and Miss Hearts all survived, thank heavens, but to say they are crushed would be a disservice. Honey is broken. She tells us she was forced to witness Silver’s murder, that he was thrown from the cliff surrounding his home. Gilda searched the riverbank below but found nothing to convince us the worst hadn't come to pass. Speaking of the poor dear, Gilda’s been left to pick up the pieces of what’s happened. Her bakery was burned with the rest of the city, her best friend is gone, and it’s clear to everyone who sees her she’s itching to blame someone. I don’t know how to help her. Silver always knew how to approach her, to deflect her frustration with humor or frank compassion. Perhaps that’s why they were such good friends. Which brings me to Kindle. The poor boy has been through much in the last year, and in the short time I’ve known him he’s proven to be as dependable as he is dedicated, always there to help Silver when he needed it. Kindle admired him, but I can scarcely think what dark thoughts are swirling in his mind after all that’s happened. For now, we will make our way to Ponyville. We will meet with Twilight and hope to arrange shelter for Coltistrano’s survivors, and perhaps even put into motion plans that will bring justice to that monster. I know Silver would tell me to be focused and calm, but that’s so much harder without him here with us. With me. A final blare of the whistle signaled the many ponies to board the train, directed by Gilda and Kindle, just barely filling half of the seats before the engine lurched forward. Rarity looked one final time to the page. Abby, should you ever read this, I finally know your pain.