I dove for the manticore and planted a kick in its ribs, finally earning its attention. “Hide! There, in the rubble!” I shouted to the bright red colt who had almost fallen prey to the beast. For but a moment, he stood paralysed, before diving for a gap between the rocks.
I ducked underneath the swing of the manticore's claws, the wind left in its wake much too close to my throat. With a double-legged buck, I pushed myself away from it. The other manticore—female, given its lack of mane—dove for the rocks, and began swiping its paw inside the gap, making the colt shriek in terror.
After a deep breath, I gathered magic at the tips of my wings, and dove forward, slashing at the male. He ducked underneath it, but I left him no opportunity for a counterattack. I was fast; too fast for a beast like him.
However, two might be a problem. As he roared, the female turned her head towards us. Her eyes locked on me, and she took off. Two on one would be difficult. At least she had stopped harassing that poor colt. And hey, I had an excuse to stop holding back.
Never taking my eyes off either manticore, I reached for a strap on my thigh, hooking the dagger’s handle into my shoe. My throw was too fast, and the male just barely dodged, the blade cutting a few hairs’ widths into his hide.
When I threw the second dagger at the beast, it completely missed its mark. However, the first dagger had already returned and slashed across the manticore’s back.
The female started closing in on me while the male turned to face what had attacked him. Pretending to aim at the female, I threw another dagger, only to launch it at the male at the last moment. The female tried to avoid it, which only slowed down her flight.
I dove at her, shortsword brandished. My three daggers kept the male occupied, diving in and out of his paws’ range, leaving shallow cuts all across his body.
I easily dodged out of the female’s way, throwing the last of my knives at her. Between my rapid-fire slashes, and my dagger cutting into the beast whenever she was distracted by the batpony in front of her, the fight was over in moments. Each wound across her wings slowed her down, further facilitating my job, until I finally slit her throat in one fell swoop.
By the time I was done with the female, the male had already bled out from the dozens of wounds my daggers had left on his body.
Heart pounding in my ears and grin on my face, I turned my attention to the pile of rubble the mare had hidden in. When I landed, she asked before I could speak up, “Is it safe?”
“Yes, you can come out.” I donned a more reassuring smile as the tall blue unicorn crawled out of the debris.
When she stood up, she smiled back at me. “Thank you for saving me, miss. I don’t want to think about what would have happened if you hadn’t been here.”
I brushed her off with a wave of my hoof. “Oh, don’t mention it. I am merely glad I could help.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Well, for somepony as strong as you, it shouldn’t come as a surprise, right?”
I shrugged and waved for her to follow as I started walking towards town. “Well, there are always monsters scarier than the last, so you can never underestimate them. There are also times when you simply cannot help somepony, no matter what you attempt.” A sad, pained half-smile crept its way onto my lips. “Sometimes, try as you might, you do not make it on time.”
The mare stood there for a moment, staring at me, before catching up to me. “You’re pretty wise, miss.”
I feigned an offended gasp. “Why do you sound so surprised? I’ll have you know I’m the wisest pony my height within line of sight.” It took all my focus not to laugh at my own joke. I was in way too good a mood today. Why was that? Maybe I’d see my husband again? I didn’t remember.
While I was busy with my thoughts, the stranger laughed. “No, I just meant that you’re pretty young. Usually, you hear old mares say things like that.”
I theatrically skipped over a small rock before smiling at her. “I know, I figured.” I walked backwards for a few steps as I asked, “By the way, what’s your name? It’s probably a good idea to ask before we part ways, you know?”
She chuckled. “I’m Selena. I’m a farmer around these parts. What about you?”
“Fate. Well, my full name’s Fated Strings, but everypony just calls me Fate.” I joined in her laugh, rubbing my neck. “Well, except my Auntie, who still calls me by my old name, I suppose. And I’m an odd-job filly-slash-adventurer. On my way back from a really tedious and exhausting job.”
She looked at me, then tilted her head. “You don’t look all that tired, if you don’t mind me saying.”
“I was exhausted from the trip up until today, truth be told.” I shrugged. “But I guess knowing that I’ll be home soon gave me a bit of a second wind.” For emphasis, I jumped into the air, looping once before landing.
“I’m glad to hear. So, Miss Fate, would you like to come to our farm? We don’t have much to offer in terms of gold, but I’m sure there’s a pie we could give you.”
I waved my hoof. “No, no, it’s fine, you don’t need to pay me or anything. Really, I wasn’t looking for a reward or nothin’.” Heh, I’d accidentally used incorrect Equish. I was getting used to this life. How long had it been? Come to think of it, how had I left The Tower? I—
“Oh please, I insist. I’d feel horrible if I didn’t at least get to give you a proper token of my gratitude. Besides, this year’s been treating us farmers well, so we really won’t miss a single pie. Especially not compared to losing a family member.”
“Fine, fine, I’ll accept your rewards,” I said in mock offence. “But only this one time. I wouldn’t want ponies to believe I only help when it benefits me.” I chuckled.
We continued on while chit-chatting, until we eventually arrived at their farm on the outskirts of town. Selena disappeared inside, then came out with the promised pie. Cherry, by the look of it. “Well, here you go,” she said before presenting it. “Do come by occasionally, because it was a pleasure to finally meet you.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “What do you mean by finally? I thought you didn’t know me.”
Selena smiled sheepishly. “Well, you see, when you said your name, I kinda recognised it. You and your husband have made a bit of a name for yourselves in town.” She averted her eyes, shame seeping into her tone. “But there were rumours about you. Like why you never went out to drink, or why you acted cold towards others. Things like that.” She forced a happier smile that quickly reached her eyes. “I am merely relieved you are a good pony after all.”
Now it was my turn to smile sheepishly. “I’m just not the most social of ponies, you see. I like talking one-on-one with ponies, but bigger crowds drain my energy faster than I can say my name.”
“I understand. Makes me feel rather silly for my preconceived ideas of you, Miss Fell.” Her expression turned sour. “I am sorry. I really am.”
“Think nothing of it.” I brushed her off with a wave of my hoof. “All’s well that ends well, right?”
A few hours later, I woke up from a silly, foalish dream. Good thing I remembered next to nothing of it, because I would have probably died of embarrassment.
I pushed open the door to Aurora’s office. When she lifted her gaze towards me, her eyes popped wide and her entire body tensed. “Good evening, Aunt Aurora,” I said, “I have come to apologise.”
Though suspicion did not leave her eyes, her entire body relaxed. She nodded towards the door, then to the chair before her desk.
Once I sat down, she watched, waiting. In front of her stood a glass of alcohol. As usual. Focus, Arawn. I swallowed the lump in my throat, barely holding her gaze. “I should not have screamed at you or threatened you, and for that I am sorry.”
As her eyes gradually lost their edge, the rest of her face softened as well. “Thank you. It means a lot to me.” Within moments, the Aurora I knew had returned. She took a deep breath. “And I want to apologise for treating you like a foal.”
“Thank you.” Yet her words did nothing to untie the knot in the pit of my stomach. “But I cannot forgive you for how you have treated Silver.”
She winced, but nodded. “I understand.” She attempted a weak smile, though it far too soon turned sour. “For what it’s worth, I genuinely feel bad for it, and would take everything back if I could.”
My lips twisted into a bitter grimace. “I am not the one who needs to hear these words.”
“I know…” With a sigh, she folded her ears. “I did try, but both times he would hear none of it.”
I gulped. “Then, until he forgives you, neither shall I.”
She gave a single, solemn nod. “I understand.”
I held her gaze for a while. It showed genuine remorse and acceptance. Damn it, why need she make this so difficult? I averted my gaze, contemplating a way to bring up my ulterior motive. I had long meant to apologise to her, but had ultimately only ended up here because of—
“I know this might not be the best moment to ask this, but… is he your coltfriend?”
My head snapped at her. “What?”
“Silver. Are you and him, you know…?” She gestured vaguely in the air.
I blinked, then gave a—perhaps a little too vigorous—shake of my head.
“That’s good.” She gulped, but then let go of a long breath. I relaxed as well. It was just a guess on her part. Nothing indicated that she knew. “But… you’d like him to be, wouldn’t you?”
Her words hit me like a whip; my body went stiff. “What? Of course not, he is merely a serf. He and I could never be!” I tried to give her my best dismissive laugh, but her slowly growing grin informed me that I had failed. What in Tartarus was I doing? I was supposed to talk her into helping me, and here I was, allowing her to read me like an open book! Regarding irrelevant topics, no less!
“I can tell, you know? I’ve known you since you were a foal. I could tell you were up to things for many months now. Your behaviour during dinner, the mere fact you bothered to show up to dinner at all, how often you smiled, how you daydreamed when you thought nopony was looking. Everything. Even your father noticed you were a lot happier, but he believes it was just a physical change due to your treatment.”
I gaped at her. She’d known all that? “Then why…?”
“Why I haven’t said anything?” She shrugged. “At first, I wanted to. I wanted to warn you of The Tower’s dangers, tell you where to stay to be safe. But I kept putting it off; didn’t really know why.” She played around with her glass before looking up at me. “At least until I realised that I wanted to leave you that little bit of freedom. Having an adult hover over you would have ruined it, wouldn’t it?”
Why was I still letting her talk? I had not come here for this! And yet… “Thanks, Aurora.”
“You’re welcome.” She held my gaze, her eyes full of love and warmth.
She had my back. She really did. I sighed. “There is… one more thing…”
She raised a half-worried, half-curious eyebrow. “Yes?”
“I… I need you to speak with Father. Convince him to tackle The Tower’s issues.”
Aurora winced, averting her eyes. “I’ve tried that, Arawn,” she muttered. “He doesn’t like hearing about things not going to plan. The state it puts him in… frankly, it’s a bit scary.” She forced a strained smile. “As silly as it is, it reminds me of the old rumours.”
I blinked. “What rumours?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She shook her head. “Your father can be scary, but I know he’s not a bad pony.”
“I know.” I smirked. “Better than most, I would wager.”
Aurora chuckled. “I suppose.” After a moment all too short, her mirth faded. “Still, I’m not sure I can get through to him.”
“Yet you are the pony with the best odds of success. We need to change his mind, and he refuses to take me seriously.” I offered her my best understanding smile. “I know he is feared. I have heard what others say of him. However, you cannot let your fear stop you, Aurora. Please.”
“But—”
I cut her off with one look. “I know you are scared of him. I get it. Fear paralyses you. It stops you from doing what is right.” I took a deep breath, hoping my tone would adequately carry my sympathy. “But I also know that sometimes, you have to push past it, or you lose somepony you care about.” Stars, did I have to play into such an overused trope? Moving on. “Convincing Father is the only way to avoid needing to betray him. At the end of the day, no matter how scary or flawed he is, he is still our family. I do not think you want to hurt him any more than I do.”
Aurora grimaced, biting her lip. “You’ve grown so much.” She looked away and stayed quiet for a few moments. “You’re right,” she muttered. “I don’t want to hurt him, but you make it sound like those are our only options. There are ways to fix things that don’t require such a sacrifice.”
“If only. Things are worse than they seem. You see…”
The following evening, I sat at the end of the dinner table, across from my father. To his right sat Aurora. I had planned to stay in my room today, but Aurora had agreed to bring up the topic tonight, and I owed her what little moral support I could provide. Though I also knew far too well I would be incapable of focusing on anything whatsoever if I did not see it for myself. In fact, I had arrived at the dining room first, ten minutes before anypony else.
Closer to my end of the table were two nobles whose names I had never remembered, or asked for, as well as Halterdawn and Red—our other guest, a stallion only a little older than Silver. Compared to what Silver had told me of the two, Halterdawn appeared a lot more pleasant, while Red somehow managed to surpass any expectations with his obnoxious chatter. While I had previously shared a dinner table with them, I had usually remained closer to my father’s side. Neither of the two lesser nobles dared come close.
At some point, Red had chatted me up, and I had made the blunder of giving him polite but non-committal responses. He, of course, had mistaken them for interest in what he had to say.
He had talked for at least five minutes about dethroning nobility, mounting militias to secure farm villages, et cetera, before Halterdawn took pity on him and informed him that I was, in fact, the heir of House Fell. Red had been rather lucky that Father had not joined us yet. Father had arrived last, a minute or two after Aurora.
Since then, I had occasionally taken impatient glances at Aurora, waiting for her to bring up the topic. So far, she was still looking for an opening.
For a few minutes, I poked at the mushrooms on my plate, if only as a distraction. I had eaten already, and this minuscule portion looked nowhere near appetising as of now.
I continued to steal glances at Aurora for the next dozen minutes, until, finally, she whispered, “We need to talk, sir.” Not a single guest heard her. Neither would I, if not for my perception-enhancing spell.
Barely interested, Father looked up from his plate, raising an eyebrow. “What about?”
Aurora gulped. “Many things.” She avoided his eyes for a few moments. Only his annoyed sigh made her continue, “Things like the state of The Tower. Or the unrest among citizens.”
Father shot a glance my way. Just in time, I managed to find my food ever so fascinating. He leaned forward and hissed, “Can this not wait until after dinner?”
Aurora stared at him for a few long seconds before slowly shaking her head. “Sir, I’m afraid it’s urgent. Things have reached a critical point.” Strictly speaking, it could have waited, but that might have led to him yet again dodging the problem.
“Like what?” he spat. “Do the Bloodstones still want more pocket resources? Are they again threatening to lower their production?”
For the shortest of moments, Aurora met his eyes before looking ahead again. “Not only that. House Midnight, among others, needs more outside food to nourish their cattle. Not just them, either. Most families are going hungry. Farrier lacks equipment.”
Father shot another glance my way, but I had too little time to avert my gaze. Horror shot across his face, and he hissed to Aurora, “Enough. I will not risk my daughter’s health any further. Let us go for a walk.” My health? Was he worried hearing about this might make me keel over?
Aurora gulped. Nodded. As the two went past me, Father tried to give me a reassuring smile, while Aurora avoided my gaze. When they passed the doorway, they turned left.
I waited for several minutes, forcing down a few more mouthfuls of mushrooms. Hopefully, I hid my plan to follow them well. After I stood up and left the room, I turned right, before making myself invisible and going down the corridor the two had taken.
I came to a trot, then a canter as I followed the sound of their hoofsteps. Eventually, Aurora spoke up. She was far and kept her voice low. Even with my magic, I hardly heard everything she said, and understood less. She was merely listing off families and their individual troubles, though.
After another minute of chasing them as fast as I dared, they finally came into view. For a while, Aurora continued to list off issues, until Father interrupted her.
“Enough. What is this really about? All these issues are unfortunate, but I cannot fix them, as it would require lifting the lockdown. I cannot do that. Not yet.”
Aurora looked down, took a deep breath, and met his glare. “There’s a rebellion being planned. I’ve been trying to slow it down, but to stomp it out would require spilling blood. Ours, theirs, and innocent alike.”
His eyes grew wide, and his mouth fell ajar. “Rebels? Did you not say they would be dealt with?” He gulped.
Aurora could no longer hold his gaze. “I thought it would be easier, but the roots ran much deeper than I originally thought,” she muttered. “It became clear that it was more than just one family I could threaten into submission. An all-out confrontation was inevitable. Back then, it was only a hoofful of families that would have put up a fight—a fight which we didn’t need.” She once again tried looked him in the eye, grimacing. “So I avoided it. Tried to find a peaceful solution still.”
Father stopped. “And for what reason did you not tell me any of that sooner?”
Aurora continued for a few more steps before coming to a stop as well. She didn’t turn around, staring at the ground instead. “Because you told me, screamed at me, not to bring it up again until it was dealt with.”
“I…” He furrowed his brow. “You should have told me when the situation got worse, Aurora!” He put a hoof to his temple.
“Well, I didn’t!” Aurora put her hoof down. Her ears wilted as her voice lost its edge. “It was a mistake, and I admit to it, but we can speak of my punishment after this has been dealt with. I’ll gladly step down when we have the luxury to afford giving my role to someone new to it.”
Father took a deep breath that only partly calmed him down. “Tell me, how bad is it really? I presume the families you’ve listed are all part of the rebels?”
She shook her head. “Almost every house in The Tower has some major problem due to the lockdown and the frequent pocket appearances. However, many still believe in House Fell, and some are on the fence. I’d say about two fifths of the families are aligned with the rebels.”
Father sighed. “That is not good, but better than you made it sound.”
Aurora nodded. “They are getting increasingly brazen, however. They’ve recently managed to steal weapons from the Knights’ storeroom.”
Father tensed up and took a few deep breaths. “I can see the situation is serious.” He slowly enunciated each word, like it pained him. He gritted his teeth. “It would be unwise to punish you for it now, but depending on the consequences for The Tower, your head might roll later,” he said through his teeth, barely managing to stay calm. He rubbed his temple again.
Aurora gulped. “I’m… I’m aware, sir.” She opened her mouth and hesitated for a moment. “But that’s not all. The catalyst for me talking to you is something far more worrying.”
“Aurora, I swear…” Father hissed.
“The Tower is losing stability much faster than you thought.”
Father went so pale, it was noticeable even through his dark fur. “No, that cannot be.” The terror in his eyes chilled me to the bone. I had never seen him as afraid outside of his talks with my physician. “You are wrong. It is nothing more than a temporary period of instability. It will get better. It is not the first time something like this has happened.”
Aurora shook her head. “No, it’s been going on for too long. We need to do something, or the rebels will be the least of our problems.”
“It will have to wait!” His shout echoed throughout the corridor, painful to my ears. “I will not let you take Arawn!”
“Sir! While we don’t need to involve Arawn, you shouldn’t discredit her, she’s a fine, very intelligent young mare. She could help us.” She met Father’s wrathful glare, but could only hold it for a few seconds before gulping and taking a step back.
He stayed silent, and pressed his eyes shut as his headache worsened by the second. “I said no. It will have to wait.”
“But we don’t have time! The Erebus has shown itself!”
Father’s mouth fell ajar as he stared first at Aurora, then at a point far behind her. “No… no… no…” he whispered to himself. “It cannot be.” He pressed his eyes shut, rubbing his temple with a trembling hoof.
He screamed. The sound tore into my very soul and split my ears. I closed my eyes for just a moment. Then, ten of him, each dark grey, were closing in on Aurora. She took to the air, bolting as quickly as her wings would carry her. From her own shadow, another copy jumped out at her. She barely dodged his sabre as she disappeared around the corner.
The shadows gave chase.