//------------------------------// // Tremors // Story: Imperial Forclousure // by The Sound of Loneliness //------------------------------// Daybreaker was frantically searching the library: checking every bookshelf, picking books that looked promising to her, and dropping them on the floor when they were not the one. Her rosy mane was frizzled, and her eyes were wide with terror. Across from her, Tiny was also picking through all the similarly looking books. “Keep searching! It is here, it must be here!” Daybreaker commanded her. Tiny knew better than to speak against Daybreaker, much less when she was in such a state of mind. “It isn’t here,” Tiny responded, having finished on her side. “Go to the next one! We are not leaving until we find it!” “Why are you so scared?” Tiny decided to try and get something out of her. “We can always come back the next day and find it then.” “No!” Daybreaker stopped rummaging and stared at Tiny with her burning gaze. “We must find it as soon as possible! It will do untold destruction if found by the wrong creatures!” Tiny shrugged, “But isn’t it safe here? Hippogriffs can’t do magic, at least not like us.” “Just find it!” Daybreaker snapped.  Tiny sighed. She knew, of course, why Daybreaker was terrified. It was obvious to anyone who had seen her and Nightmare together, “You know, Nightmare won’t do anything to us if she finds out. She’ll yell and give us some chores, but she won’t tell us to leave or anything like that.” “I promised her that I would take care of everything! I can’t return without her spellbook, she will never trust me again! …Oh! Thank goodness!” Daybreaker breathed a sigh of relief, flipping through the pages of the familiar book in a simple black leather covering. She squeezed it tightly to her chest and sat on the floor with her back against the bookshelf, breathing heavily, as if she just ran a great distance. “Can we go back and eat now?” Tiny asked with a shrug. Daybreaker angrily stared at her, “Don’t you understand how much danger your losing the spellbook put us in?!” “But you are the one who brought it! You just said that Nightmare said you should be taking care of everything!” “I left you with the book so that you could study from it! It was supposed to be safe in your chamber! I now see how much of a mistake it was to trust you to be responsible!” It quickly became obvious to Tiny how pointless arguing was. Daybreaker already decided to blame her, and there was nothing she could do to stop whatever punishment Daybreaker was about to subject her to. Tiny was upset, she guessed. That’s how ponies were supposed to feel when someone else was accusing them of things they didn’t do, but Tiny couldn’t for the life of her feel anything what-so-ever except annoyance. This wasn’t exactly new, after all. Daybreaker took deep breaths to calm down and started putting books back on the shelves, “We’d have to give our apologies to the librarian,” Daybreaker calmly stated. “A noble lady storming into their quiet adobe and rummaging through their carefully arranged books like a common ruffian is quite unbefitting.” Tiny waited for her sister to finish and then followed her out of the library. Daybreaker spoke to the rather scared librarian hippogriff, making amends. Daybreaker never mentioned the punishment, her supposed mistake, or even spoke to her at all after they left the library. Daybreaker finally spoke to her again when their supper arrived, still dining together rather than Daybreaker leaving to eat with the Queen. The alicorn spoke about Tiny’s progress and judged on what she believed she should learn the next day, again, mentioning nothing about the spellbook. After the meal, Daybreaker told her to sleep and left it at that. Tiny lay in her bed with open eyes for a while, wondering why Daybreaker was so lenient all of a sudden instead of how strict she normally was. In the morning, Daybreaker woke her up at breakfast, as usual. During breakfast, Daybreaker did her usual small talk with the Queen, neither one making any mention of yesterday’s commotion; Daybreaker continued ignoring Tiny completely. After breakfast, Tiny wanted to pee, so she peeled off towards a bathroom while; agreeing to meet Daybreaker outside afterwards. Tiny guessed that her sister had more army stuff to show her today. Daybreaker met her as agreed. “Sister, what are we doing today?” Tiny decided to ask directly. Daybreaker huffed, “Today, you shall learn something supremely important for your life. You shall learn responsibility.” Tiny shrugged, awaiting for Daybreaker to continue. “I have in mind a specific location. I was told it is scheduled for demolition soon, but you and our troops could make better use of it.” “Me? What would I do with an old building?” “You specifically will do nothing with it, yet it will be very useful to you nonetheless.” As Daybreaker clearly did not want to explain everything to her now, Tiny figured she’ll see for herself. The day was warm and sunny. Where Tiny was from, autumn was cold, so this felt nice. Hippogriffs around were getting used to them, and fewer were taking time to curiously stare at them. Ponies still did, though. Their soldiers seemed to like this day; even the grumpy old office didn't yell at them today as they did their exercises, singing a song out of tune. Tiny heard ponies sing all the time; she didn’t really know any songs, but just hearing them made her feel better sometimes. She didn’t get to enjoy their singing for long at all, as soon as one of them saw their figures coming down the hill, they all immediately quieted down and hurriedly formed a line before their barrack. Daybreaker told her that being a soldier meant being a part of the whole, so Tiny guessed that being so quick was good. “My Lady, the company is ready for your inspection!” the officer sharply reported. Daybreaker gave the lineup a single long glance. “As impressive as your disciplining methods are, Lieutenant, I would rather your troops demonstrate something practical today. You were supposed to receive a shipment of explosives.” “Yes, My Lady. It was delivered, even though I had not requested it.”  “I made requisitions myself, Lieutenant. I do not believe that your standard drills are adequate enough for what my sister requires of you. I believe there was an engineer among you?” The stallion sharply turned towards the lineup and shouted: “Specialist Short Fuse, step forward!” a large stallion with an ominous-looking keg as his cutie mark stepped out. “Excellent. Trooper, you shall instruct your comrades-in-arms in the art of explosive materials.” “Yes, Maam!” he answered without hesitation. “May I begin?” “Not yet. Retrieve the crate, assemble in marching order, and follow me.” “My Lady, permission to use a truck?” Lieutenant asked. “Ugh… must you?” “The crate is, admittedly, heavy, My Lady. Carrying it on our backs will be very tiring.” “You have a unicorn among you;, have him levitate the crate along. Even the weakest unicorns are capable of that much.” “At once, My Lady,” the officer left to retrieve the crate. The soldiers quickly stood in double columns, the unicorn at the end levitating the crate in the back. Daybreaker gave the order to move out, and soon enough, they were orderly marching up the mountain.  'Our fleet's ships peal out thunder, crashing through the broken waves; As the island’s grim defenders gather to fight to their graves; The cannons roar! ships collide! Enemy in sight! They’re coming now, to board our deck. Steady, prepare to fight!' Someone started to sing a measured and slow song. Other voices quickly joined in. Soon enough, Tiny felt like she knew the song already and could sing together with everyone. Daybreaker quirked her brow but didn’t stop her. Tiny didn’t understand the meaning of the song, but it was fun to sing it with everyone, all the same. She wondered why her sisters never sang songs. She heard Nightmare hum a tune once, but no more than that. They eventually arrived at a large, rectangular warehouse, surrounded by a chain link fence with ominous “keep out” signs plastered to it. Daybreaker ordered a ditch to be dug, which resulted in a protracted search for shovels, as none were brought along. Eventually, the tools were procured, and soldiers diligently began digging under the watchful eyes of their Lieutenant, who couldn’t help but occasionally yell at them. “Sister, a question,” Tiny looked up at Daybreaker. “Why does he keep badmouthing other soldiers? No one likes when creatures do that to others.” “It is his way of maintaining discipline. No one likes being yelled at: and this is exactly why it works. They want him to stop yelling, and the easiest way to ensure he doesn’t yell is to see that he has no reason to. Those who are wiser appreciate his instruction, ultimately, this is for their own good.” Having answered the question, Daybreaker pulled out the spellbook and began flipping pages in concentration. Tiny began humming the song again while watching the soldiers work and all the others who had no shovels just rest in the shadow of the warehouse. There were so many different ponies there. Some were very old, others much younger. Some were tall, others short. Some were earth ponies, others were pegasi. But there was only one unicorn - Daybreaker told her that holding unicorns in the infantry was a waste of their abilities. They started singing again, a different song at this time and it reminded Tiny of another question she wanted to ask. “Sister, why don’t you and Nightmare never sing anything?” Daybreaker gave her an incredulous glance from the book, being surprised that she would even ask such a thing, “Singing is distracting.” “But you don’t always have something important to do.” Daybreaker didn’t answer for some time, her face going through several changes before returning to its usual impassiveness, “I do not know,” she admitted. Despite the simplicity of the answer, Tiny was left completely baffled. How didn’t she? “Singing makes me feel happier,” Tiny said absentmindedly. “I suppose you have your answer then. I cannot be happier if I am not happy, to begin with,” Daybreaker grumbled. “Why won’t you be? I thought you loved being together with Nightmare.” “It’s… it’s more complicated than this. I love our sister dearly, and although she magnanimously forgives me for all of my missteps, I cannot help but feel anxious nonetheless. There’s so much not even she could help me with.” “Mister Rich once told me that telling someone how you feel can help you feel better. Maybe you should tell Nightmare?” “Mister Rich is a wise stallion, sister… but there is a time for such things and there is a time not to. Sister has far too many issues plaguing her daily to also solve mine. Sometimes we cannot afford to put our own interests first.” “Someone else then? Mister Rich always listened to me.” “Sister, there is something fundamental you still fail to understand about the difference between you and us: something which you absolutely must learn before you stop being a liability. Nobility and commoners do not and should not understand each other’s plight. We see the world very differently from you and that is by design.” “Nightmare keeps mentioning this, but every time I ask, she doesn’t say what makes us different,” Tiny shrugged. “She told me that nobility are supposed to learn to lead from foalhood, but why can’t commoners learn in the same way?” Daybreaker bit her lip, “There is more to this than simply education. A commoner can be an able administrator, but not a ruler. What would you do if you were made a queen today?” The question stunned Tiny, she never really entertained the possibility. It always seemed silly to daydream about things like these, “I’d ask my subjects how I can help them? Isn’t that what a queen does?” “No,” Daybreaker shook her head slowly. “A commoner serves a noble, not the opposite. It is not a matter of what you can do for them, it is a matter of how they may assist you in achieving your own design, from which all should benefit. This is the crucial difference: a commoner was raised close to the earth and, therefore, cannot see over the horizon. This is why a noble must not mingle with commoners unless strictly necessary. Living among them degrades our ability to lead until we too can only see the immediate problems that our people face. A commoner understandably believes that we imagine ourselves above them, but separation is necessary for the greater good of everyone.” “Okay, but why does it matter if you are born to be noble and I am not? Princess Twilight wasn’t born noble either, but she is still a Princess.” “Princess Twilight has a title, but she is still a commoner and is treated as such; even though she commands much respect due to her knowledge and ability. Nightmare never considered her fit to rule and only Celestia even had such thoughts. There is nothing dishonorable in being of common descent, sister. Our roles in society are inherently different, but both are necessary and respectable in their own ways. A noble commands while a commoner obeys. Without a noble, there would be no one to direct them and without commoners, noble titles mean nothing.” Tiny slowly started feeling frustration crawl out from the depth of her mind, Daybreaker wasn’t answering the question that Tiny was asking, “But, sister, why must a noble be born a noble?” Daybreaker wearily sighed, “Because a commoner cannot see beyond their immediate issues, how would you-” “Sister, I want to know why a commoner cannot be born in a palace!” Daybreaker angrily glared at her, “Never interrupt your superiors!” she menacingly chided. After Tiny’s overstep, their discussion was immediately over, and Tiny had to wait in awkward silence. Daybreaker eventually found the page she wanted and seemingly calmed down. They watched the soldiers work on the dugout and sort through the explosives in the crate. After everything was accounted for, the engineer laid out electronics and rectangular bricks of an explosive compound on the ground. Daybreaker gave a nod, and the lengthy instruction began. The stallion painstakingly went through every single component that made the otherwise harmless material into a deadly explosive that could shatter stone and tear metal. Without Daybreaker, Tiny quickly felt bored; she figured nopony would allow her anywhere near explosives, so she could only sit and watch.  Soldiers eventually started practising assembling bombs, though their instructor did take out batteries meant for powering them. Daybreaker stood up and stepped forward, “What can you say about this accelerated training course:, will they know enough not to detonate themselves now?” she asked Short Fuse. “I believe so, but not much more, Ma’am. Demolition is not as simple as putting strings into a pack of nitroglycerine and igniting.” “Oh, I never doubted that much. Perhaps you shall show them just what will happen if they forget your instructions?” The stallion furrowed his brows at the suggestion, “I reckon’ I could bring down a wall or two with a single crate.” “Just two?” Daybreaker asked, audibly disappointed. “Like I said, Ma’am, it’s not as simple as it looks. To produce optimal results, precise conditions are required, which are most often impossible to achieve in the field.” “Then, perhaps a different demonstration is in order. I was only going to clean up after you have expended your resources, but I suppose it will be more picturesque this way. Do make sure to stand far enough back.” Levitating the spellbook in front, Daybreaker gave it one last glance and began casting. The ground shook and soldiers were exchanging panicked looks. The tremors quaked strong enough for ponies to have a hard time keeping balance with the ground trying to escape from under them: and then, with a loud and melodic ring, it all stopped. A clear, high-pitched, melodic ring emanated from a simple, two-pronged fork. Being held in the air by Daybreaker’s magical aura. She looked back at them and gave a thin, satisfied smirk, before hurling the fork into the building. At once the sound stopped and a thunderous roar of breaking concrete, iron, and glass replaced it. In moments a large section of the warehouse collapsed onto the ground. “Imagine what would have happened if I allowed the tremor to run its course,’ she punctuated.