//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Encuentros // Story: Crepúsculo Sombrí­o // by Pinkie Primus //------------------------------// The beautiful fields stretched all around the purple unicorn. Breathtaking hills rolled peacefully through the area, covered in lush grass swaying ever so slightly in the cool breeze. Somewhere nearby a lute's melody soared over a harp's continuo, drifting through the air towards the lone lilac mare. Twilight stepped forward, over the ridge of a dainty hillock, to be greeted with a sea of stunning flowers beckoning to her with colours dark navy blue and burgundy. Two strips of flowers ran parallel through the scene, one white, one a matching purple to her own coat. Slowly she descended the hill into the floral paradise, the scents of them caressing her muzzle and relaxing her body. At the centre of the dark swathe of navy blue she happened upon two particular chrysanthemums, almost touching, sporting a fantastic yellow motif around the edge of their petals. Two bright yellow halos staring at her from a sea of dark navy blue; she was sure she had seen them somewhere before. The sun bared its light over another sculpted hill, its rays accenting the flowers perfectly. Twilight looked to the powerful celestial body, only to find a powerful worldly body in her line of sight. It was him. "Crepúsculo." she whispered. The powerful stallion stood on the hill's ridge in front of the sun, wings outstretched fully. Wings that must be at least one point eight, maybe even one point nine metres in their span. Just think of the economic potential of energy conservation during flight! The hulking pegasus glided gracefully down from his perch towards the mysterious mare in the field of flowers at no slow pace. Twilight found herself moving forward to greet him. Walking at first, then a trot which in turn gave way to a brisk canter, finally replaced by a full out gallop. This is it, me, Twilight Sparkle, having this perfect moment I've only ever read about before. Nothing can stop this from happening now. Twenty metres shrank to ten, diminished to five, down to two metres. Here it comes. Crepúsculo didn't stop. The head on collision sent Twilight flying back no short distance, landing hard on the ground before bouncing back twice more just to make sure she was properly acquainted with the floor in an odd 'knock knock knock' fashion. She sat there, dazed, as the 'knock knock knock' resounded once more in her head, like a hoof on wood. Twilight opened her eyes, greeted by the familiar sight of her own ceiling. "So close..." she sighed. *** Shining Armour had expected to be greeted at the library's door the instant he had finished his third knock. After all, his little Twily had always been a creature of habit. Yet he found himself waiting longer than he had ever had to before; he knew this was uncharacteristic of his little sister and he suspected something. He was mere seconds away from charging into the tree home to save Twilight from whatever clearly nefarious creature was keeping her from normalcy, if it could be referred to as such in his eccentric sister's case, when the sound of the door's deadbolt sliding across wood brought his mind back to preparing for what was behind the door. The heavy wood slowly creaked open, revealing a creature that could have been Twilight in a previous incarnation. A ragged purple mane jutted from its scalp, covering its face entirely save for one eye, half shut, with cracks of red forking from the iris. The flesh under the eye was dark and sagging and the creature's jaw hung slack, drooling slightly. Shining could not have expected this, and stood dumbfounded on the tree's porch. "T-T-Twily? What's going on? What happened to you?" the captain stammered, eyes wide in shock. The lilac creature slowly took a few broken paces towards the panicked unicorn, stumbling as it raised its left front leg, followed jerkily by its right as it fell forward, wrapping both legs around his neck. Gripping uncomfortably on his mane, it widened its terrible mandibles more than Shining would have thought possible and thrust its muzzle into his exposed neck. "You're early." Twilight yawned, nuzzling her beloved BBBFF. Shining let out an audible sigh of relief as his heart gradually slowed its pace back to a steady throb. "A captain of the royal guard is never early, Twilight Sparkle. Nor is he late. He arrives precisely when he means to." "Well you should have meant to arrive a bit later, then. What time is it?" "It's actually just a bit later than when I said I'd be here." The armoured stallion confessed sheepishly. "WHAT?" Twilight's pupils shrank to pinpricks. "You're telling me we're not on schedule?" the now suddenly wide awake mare asked hysterically. "Twily it's no big deal, calm down. What's got you so, well... like this? Did you stay up all night studying again?" Twilight jumped at the excuse, perhaps a little too fast. Darting back within the tree home and shutting the door, she levitated last night's books, charts, journals and more out to her desk to create the illusion of tireless toiling through the night before once more opening her door and dragging her brother into the library - which now resembled the aftermath of a studious tornado. "Yes! That's it! So much studying!" Twilight gave a nervous grin to rival Applejack's worst poker face. Her big brother knew her well, and he knew she was hiding something. Deciding to survey the scene, Shining strode to the centre of the literary maelstrom. "Sis, I've never seen your place in such a state. Where's Spike?" he asked coolly. "Canterlot, on royal business," the mare replied with a smug smile. "Now, did you come to question me or are we going out to get breakfast as promised? We are already behind schedule..." she trailed off. "Soon enough," was his reply. Reaching out with telekinesis, he plucked a random book from the mountain on the desk. "The Practical Application of Pegasus Appendages. Is this what you were studying?" he queried, flicking the book to a random page. "Yes, actually. A most interesting topic that I had several thoughts upon last night. Why do you ask?" "Ew, too much information, Twilight." he grimaced, flinging the open book towards the lilac unicorn. What? It is fascinating! And there's no such thing as too much informa... hold on, I don't remember that page. 'Wing stimulation and the sensitive pressure points related to arousal are positioned at the base of the wing, as shown in figure 3.2. In figure 3.3 the effects of stimulation of the wing bases can be seen clearly having effects elsewhere on a stallion.' Oh. Oh dear Celestia no. Of the hundreds and hundreds of pages, he opens to this one? "What is this?" Shining asked accusingly as he floated a strange silver disc to Twilight as she pulled her head from the offending book with a fierce blush. Twilight stared at the disc inquisitively as it rotated before her, a pony's head on one side, a skull on the other, La Selva Demonia etched on its side. Slowly last night's memories came seeping back to her through her sleepy haze... she realised he was still upstairs. This was not good. "NOPONY! Uh, I mean... nothing." she firmly stated. Shining sighed and slowly walked towards his little sister until her eyes were mere inches from his own. "Twilight. What are you hiding from me?" Crepúsculo descended the final few steps to the library's reception area with a loud yawn. Eyes half closed, he sleepily enquired as to the whereabouts of the toilets. Twilight slowly turned to face him and extended a hoof to an adjoining room, to which the exhausted pegasus drearily stumbled, followed by Shining Armour's glaring eyes. "Maybe you could fill me in on this stallion in your life, whom I've never met before? Seems a bit out of the blue to me." Funny, my friends said something similar about you, thought Twilight. "He just stayed the night." She blurted out. "Look, Twily, what you do in your time isn't up to me. Do Mum and Dad know studying is second place to stallions now?" "Of course they don't! I mean, no it doesn't!" the mare turned as crimson as Sweet Apple Acres' finest apples. "Relax, sis. As long as he treats you with respect, there's no reason for me to get involved." Crepúsculo appeared from the washroom, seemingly unaware of the commotion he had caused. "I simply cannot thank you enough for last night, señorita. Many moons have passed since I had a night under such beauty. Perhaps tonight I may take advantage of your hospitality once more?" Shining Armour wordlessly strode towards him, stopping only once he was close enough to make the wretched pegasus tense up, panicked by the invasion of personal space. Looking up, directly into those dirty yellow eyes, he hissed through gritted teeth. "What was that?" Crepúsculo started to stammer, retreating, shrinking under the authority of this white stallion's stare, despite his obvious size advantage. Sweat formed on his brow as the unicorn kept gaining ground. Shining cut the fearful pegasus' stuttering short. "Do you have any idea who I am?" Before Crepúsculo could even have time to think, he butted back in. "Well I'll tell you. You address me as Shining Armour, captain of the royal guard and brother of the beauty you want to take advantage of, so what have you got to say to that? And say it quickly, but be aware that I see no answer that ends well for you." Twilight had seen enough of Crepúsculo's emasculation and stepped between the gawping, wordless pegasus and her brother. "Shining Armour! This pony needed a place to stay the night, he slept outside, on the observatory, under the beauty of the stars. How can you jump to these reckless accusations so quickly?" she scolded. The captain of the royal guard was taken aback slightly, stepping away to allow the pegasus room to breathe. "Seemed to work for you at my wedding," he muttered under his breath. "That didn't sound like an apology to me, brother." Shining sighed before extending a hoof to the cowering stallion, "Look, I'm sorry for all that stuff, mister..." "... S-Sombrío" he replied, regaining some composure, "Crepúsculo Sombrío. Señor Armour, I am so sorry for any way I offended you." His white hoof scratched his deep blue mane nervously, "No, no it's ok. My fault really. So you must be new ‘round here huh?" "Sí, only yesterday I came to this place." "Maybe he could use some friendly connections around here," Twilight interjected, "Shiny, didn't you say you were going out with Big Mac tonight?" "Well sure, we're just heading over to Berry Punch's, why?" "Room for one more?" Twilight queried playfully, jerking her head towards Crepúsculo. "Oh, yeah no problem," Shining said slowly. "You up for that, then?" He looked to the stallion. "I would not want to impose myself, but I suppose a drink would be good," the pegasus said hopefully. "Great, we're meeting there once Mac finishes on the farm for the day, about six I think." Shining then shifted his attention to his sister, "Now, I believe we have a breakfast to attend?" "We sure do! Crepúsculo, you can take whatever you want from my fridge for your breakfast. While I'm out maybe you could..." She looked around thoughtfully. Well I can't rightly make him clear up this mess I've made... aha! "... you could go and see my friend, Rarity, about your saddlebags over there! They look in need of a patch or two." She smiled. Shining Armour walked outside to wait for Twilight as she gave out directions to the Carousel Boutique. Why do I keep treating Twily like this? She's a full grown mare now! And as much as she said otherwise, I would have to have been blind not to notice something between those two. It seems I've got a few things to set straight with him tonight. He was shaken from his thoughts by Twilight's approach. "Ready?" she asked cheerfully. "Definitely. Let's get moving, LSBFF" "Shiny, please. I've told you that's never going to catch on," the purple mare giggled as the two siblings trotted off to share the day's first meal together. *** Crepúsculo helped himself to a hearty breakfast of four eggs, two large hash browns, and two pieces of toast. It was a welcome change to scavenging scraps of wild animals from other, larger wild animals. He was not unaccustomed to the necessity of making use of other sentient beings for food, provisions and so on. After all, it is a dog eat pony world out there. If only it were just that, he thought sorrowfully. He enjoyed his breakfast slowly, savouring every last morsel as though it might have been his last. Just before midday he climbed into the large shower, spending an age amongst the steaming water, letting it cascade freely down him, soaking every muscle to pure relaxation. Still within the confines of the comfortable tree domain, Crepúsculo scoured the library's selection. One caught his eye, but as he pulled the book out he realized how late it was. Twilight's Friend's boutique would close soon, and he'd miss out if he didn't hurry. Throwing his ragged saddlebags upon his back, he trotted briskly along to the carousel Twilight had given him directions to. The journey was short and uneventful; he did not pass many other ponies, and those that he did pass seemed happy to keep to themselves. Finding himself just outside the fashionista's abode, he knocked lightly on the ornate door. "Come right on in, dear, it's open!" a voice sang from inside. A light push sent the door swinging open, chiming a small bell perched above the doorframe and revealing a brilliant white unicorn holding several fabrics, needles, pincushions and scissors in her telekinesis while squinting through red working spectacles at a lavish, hand-drawn design. "One moment, please," said the mare, clearly concentrating hard on this project. Crepúsculo stood by as scissors and pins flew around her, trimming and shaping a shining blue dress to her exact measurements before being placed gently upon one of the many mannequins scattered throughout the boutique. Once the designer's tools were laid safely down, she whirled round to inspect her visitor, flicking her mane over one shoulder as she did so. "Well, how rare for a stallion such as yourself to enter my humble store. How may I be of assistance?" Rarity smiled at the pegasus behind half-lidded eyes. "Hola. Señorita Twilight Sparkle has sent me here with the assurance you may be able to repair these." He reached behind him and clasped the old saddlebags in his teeth, presenting them to the white mare. Rarity levitated the bags onto a side table and examined them closely. "Well a friend of Twilight's is most certainly a friend of mine. What is this material? I can't say that I've seen it before, though something about it is familiar..." she trailed off. "In my tongue, the material is cuero, but I know not what you would call it." Rarity decided not to enquire about the material any further and changed the subject. "'Your tongue', hmm? You must be from far away then; I could sense a little 'je ne sais quoi' surrounding you. So where have you travelled from, to arrive at our quaint little village?" "I came to here from La Selva, a faraway land. It has not been a short journey." "How positively fascinating, darling! Do tell me a little about the locale while I just touch these bags of yours up." Crepúsculo shifted on his hooves nervously. "It is... not the type of conversation to be having in polite company, señorita." "My my, a gentlecolt as well, but I'm sure it can't be so bad. I've seen my fair share of adventures, I assure you, so don't be shy, give me the full story, unabridged!" Rarity chirped over her shoulder while attempting to force a needle and thread through the tough leather with some effort from her magic. "I see, pues... dense forest covered most of the land, a deep green in all directions under the baking sun. We made our homes on the outskirts of the great forest, but I spent most of my days and even more of my nights in a small clearing within... the..." he noticed Rarity had started to grunt and the magical aura surrounding her horn had intensified. "... señorita? Is everything alright?" "Oh yes! Perfect!" she gasped, "Just having a little trouble removing this damaged patch, I could have sworn I sharpened these scissors but an hour or two ago." She blushed as the scissors slipped and squeaked under the strain of cutting through the hardened leather. "Por favor, allow me to assist you," the pegasus interjected, unfurling his right wing to its full length, extending its outermost obsidian feather tip over the unicorn's shoulder and made quick work of the offending patch with relative ease while also slicing out a good portion of undamaged material, effectively ruining the aesthetics of the front of the left pouch. Design was clearly not his strong point. Rarity jumped slightly, startled at his speed and precision. She turned quickly to face him, brushing her side against his wing and letting out a surprised yelp before backing away. "Señorita Rarity, are you okay?" he inquired, concerned about the mare. Rarity touched her side and slowly brought her hoof away with a minute trail of wet red upon it. The shocked mare stood, mouth agape, glancing from her hoof to Crepúsculo's razor-like feathers. The stallion instantly realised his mistake and set about apologising profusely. All of his words, however, simply washed over the stunned Rarity, who was captivated by the gleam at each feather tip as the setting sunlight shone through the window behind him. The extremities of his plumage glistened, shining bright. It was breathtaking. Rarity managed to regain her composure long enough to realise she needed to respond. "'Tis but a scratch!" she chuckled nervously. Crepúsculo guiltily looked around the room, avoiding the mare's gaze as she levitated a small plaster over the red blemish in her perfect white coat. His eyes found an ornate clock adorning the boutique's wall reading at five minutes to six o'clock. He had been here a lot longer than he had thought. "Señorita, might you give me directions to a certain 'Berry Punch' at this hour? I am afraid I have an appointment to keep." "Oh, a night out in the village, what a splendid time! It is rather close, just turn right out of here and follow the lights and merry ponies. I shall have your saddlebags ready for you by tomorrow afternoon if you would like to come by and pick them up then, free of charge for a friend of Twilight's, of course." "Muchas gracias, señorita. I thank you for your generosity and, once again, my apologies for the accident." "Don't worry in the slightest about it," smiled Rarity, "Just make sure you have an enjoyable night!" "I am sure I shall, señorita." And with that, Crepúsculo gently swung the door open and headed right out of The Carousel Boutique. Rarity clicked the door shut once more and rotated a sign within the window to display the 'closed' side before returning her attention to the stallion's saddlebags. She had too much on her mind at the moment so she levitated them to a shelf to be completed in the morning. She was about to retire to her bathroom for a well deserved soak after a long day to calm her nerves after being so recklessly and hideously sliced open. I feel like I’m playing the lead in one of those macabre films Rainbow Dash so enjoys, she quivered. On her way to her beloved bathtub she happened upon a small journal that must have fallen from the bags. Ominous letters on its cover spelled out 'Viva la Muerte'. The temptation to read it was just too great. Really, Rarity, you should have learnt from the whole Gabby Gums incident not to read things from another pony's saddlebags, she chastised herself before flipping over a few pages with a giggle. But just think of the possibilities of what's inside! Her face fell as she realised she could not understand the written language, only grasp the odd word or phrase from sentence to sentence. "Day Seven, something about the sun being good, moon bad... lots of them at night... this makes no sense!" Rarity placed the journal back within the saddlebags and retired to her bathroom to unwind for the night. In future I shall stick to my romance novels and glossed magazines. *** Crepúsculo rounded a corner to be greeted with the sight of Berry Punch's tavern, a homely, thatched-roof establishment with two ponies standing outside the door. As Crepúsculo approached, he recognised Shining Armour to be one of them. The other stallion, an earth pony, offered his hoof to the pegasus and introduced himself as Big Mac. Standing an inch or two above even the giant pegasus, the 'Big' in his name seemed slightly redundant. "Just 'Mac' is dandy though. Beggin' yer pardon if I don't say this right but you must be Crepúsculo. Shinin' mentioned about you taggin' along fer tonight." "Sí sí, I would enjoy a nice, relaxing night to unwind." Big Mac glanced at Shining Armour uneasily, "He knows where we're headin' tonight, right?" The unicorn laughed, "We'll talk it over inside. Come on, I'm parched. First round's on me!" Crepúsculo was pleasantly surprised by this. Such generous ponies! First señorita Rarity charges nothing for the repair of my bags, now this stallion offers to buy drinks for us, there must be something in the water round here. With that thought, the pegasus followed Shining and Mac into Berry Punch's tavern, with no idea of, or preparation for, the night he was about to experience.