Mercury and Storm Cloud were exhausted when they arrived at the palace. By the time they reached the gates they began to drag the lieutenant through the court, leaving a trail of blood from the body of the dying unicorn that made even the guards unsure of how to react.
“Announce yourself,” a guard called out.
“Sergeant Mercury of the five-hundred first reconnaissance team,” was the reply. “Two prisoners captured.”
Storm Cloud whimpered at being referred to as a prisoner.
“Where is the rest of the 501?” asked the guard.
Mercury tossed Galeheart at the guard’s feet. “He cast a reverse summoning spell on my troops. My other captive says they were taken to the World of Shadows. We’ll need more intel on the nature of this location, and it’s likely only the prisoner can retrieve them.”
“World of Shadows, you say?” said the guard with a pensive look.
“I have reason to believe the Elements are in this Shadow World as well, and that the prisoners are our only chance at getting them back. I request an audience with the Princess, and the Court Mage to tend to the prisoner’s wounds and help with the interrogation.”
“Yes, Sergeant,” said the guard with a salute. “The prisoners will be taken to a holding cell, and a messenger will be sent to the Princess.”
“Very good.”
“Will you mind waiting for the Princess in the dungeon with the prisoners?
“Not at all,” said Mercury. “I do, however, have one more small request. My other captive here is Sergeant Major Storm Cloud, one of the defectors we were pursuing. In light of his actions today, I recommend that he be treated as an informant, rather than a prisoner.”
Storm Cloud breathed a sigh of the deepest relief; the guard raised his eyebrows.
“…Very well,” the guard muttered. “He’ll still have to be detained.”
Mercury nodded and nodded at Storm to reassure him. The guard bound Storm Cloud’s forelegs so that he was forced to shuffle while he walked, and the three were led inside the castle and down into the dungeon. All the ponies in the palace, guards and attendants alike, had a sullen way about them, an aura of dejectedness that carried past them as they walked. It wasn’t until they reached the dungeon that the air of sadness succumbed to total emptiness.
Separate cells were given to the informant and the infirm. The wait was several minutes before Princess Celestia arrived with Emerald Alembic at her side. The latter had on his back a lumpy saddlebag, which Mercury presumed to be filled with the tools of his trade. Mercury offered his hoof to the Court Mage and introduced himself.
Emerald made no response and walked on without acknowledging the sergeant. His face was scoured with deep worry lines, and his eyes were swollen and purple from a lack of sleep. He moved about carelessly, like one absorbed in a daydream, and took no deliberate action except to move vaguely toward the dying prisoner.
“We came as swiftly as we could,” said the Princess, pulling Mercury’s attention away from Emerald. “I was very sorry to hear of the loss of your brigade. Along with the theft of the Elements this is a day of terrible news.”
“In the name of all that is—” cried Emerald Alembic from inside Galeheart’s cell, with a passion that startled his companions. “What happened to this prisoner?”
“He attacked me,” said Mercury tersely. He still felt slighted by Emerald’s refusal to address him.
“So you crushed six of his ribs in a brawl?”
“Would you have found a better way to incapacitate a traitor?”
“How long ago were these injuries sustained?” said Emerald, using his magic to read the patient’s heartbeat.
“Five hours ago,” said Mercury. “Maybe six. Around noon in any case.”
Emerald scoffed.
“Be glad you managed to get him here before he died. Unfortunately so much of his body is damaged that it will take time to correct everything you’ve done to him.”
“We don’t have time,” said Mercury.
“Do you think I don’t know that?” Emerald spat. “You’ll have to gather as much information as you can from your informant. Meanwhile I’ll administer the prisoner’s treatments. Potions might even be faster than time magic with this one. When he wakes up in a day or so, we can try to get out of him whatever he has to offer.”
“A day!” said Mercury. “My soldiers could die in the World of Shadows by then!”
“I suppose you should have thought of that before fatally wounding the only stallion who could help you.”
Emerald quickly cast a time spell on Galeheart to repair the progress of his injuries as far as he could, and beginning the painstaking process of treating the individual wounds. Mercury began to shake with indignation.
“I heard rumors of how great you were as a healer,” he said, “but never was I told what a detached blowhard you would be. Do you even care about the lives of my soldiers? Do you care about anything but what conveniences you?”
Without a moment’s pause, Emerald spun on his hoof and stomped Mercury full on the nose. The sergeant’s face began to stream with blood, and he fell dizzy to his knees.
“I’ll be busy mixing the prisoner’s potions,” Emerald said coldly to Celestia. “Please keep an eye on the informant, Princess.”
Without another word Emerald closed his medicine bag and went slowly up the dungeon steps leading into the atrium. Mercury was left dumbfounded on the floor; he muttered curses under his breath.
“Emerald knows how you feel,” said the Princess, helping him to stand.
“He could stand to show it.”
“He wouldn’t have hit you if he didn’t.”
“Well it’s a horrible way to express sympathy,” said Mercury, rubbing his nose.
“He wasn’t showing you sympathy,” said Celestia, impatiently. “He hit you for your indifference. I can hardly believe you could not recognize his grief immediately.”
Mercury stayed silent.
“Since his arrival in Canterlot,” the Princess continued, “Emerald Alembic formed a deep bond with my sister, Princess Luna. They were very close. In fact, I can hardly remember a time Luna had such a close friend. For weeks he stayed up all night to keep her company when everyone else was sleeping. But since she was attacked, Emerald hasn’t slept, even for a moment. Nor have I, for that matter.”
Mercury sighed. “I didn’t know.”
“No, you didn’t. He would do anything to save my little sister. If he seems self-absorbed, it may be that saving her is all he cares about right now.”
“I’ll apologize,” he answered weakly, “the next time I see him.”
Emerald returned half an hour later with a series of potions and medicinal herbs and administered them to Galeheart. Meanwhile the Princess and Mercury were busy speaking with Storm Cloud about all that had happened. They got the full story from him and related it to Emerald while Storm Cloud slept.
“So if Storm Cloud wasn’t bribed,” Emerald asked, “then how did Spade control him?”
The Princess began to turn red.
“We were hard pressed getting it out of him,” she said, “but it looks as if he was having an affair. His wife is not precisely young and pretty, and a moment of weakness led him to an evening with the daughter of a chimney sweep.”
“So he betrays his wife, Spade manipulates a confession from him, and blackmails him into helping. Blackmail doesn’t excuse the crime, but it can reduce the penalty. I can hardly think of a pony alive who has the wits about him to guard against evil, however mild. It wasn’t always that way. Ours is a naïve society now.”
“Your Eminence,” said Mercury hesitantly, “I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t know that you—”
“Never mind,” said Emerald. “I acted the same way to the Princess the night of the attack. We’re even, Your Highness.”
He let himself smile, and the others smiled as well. Then Mercury said what was on everyone’s mind.
“What is the World of Shadows?” he asked.
“It’s a branch of Tartarus,” said Emerald, “a land of pure darkness that only certain ponies of rank are allowed to access. It’s where the Kingdom stores its secrets, and its skeletons.”
“How in the world can you know that, Emerald Alembic?” the Princess said.
“I’ve told you before, Princess. Seven hundred years ago I served as a member of your Guard under an alias.”
“All Royal Guards have to undergo a full physical examination,” the Princess objected. “How could you have slipped unrecognized into their ranks?”
“Well, in the strictest sense it wasn’t legal,” said Emerald.
“Not legal?”
“Per se.”
“Incredible. I have no memory of having met you in the past. What alias did you use?”
“Speedwell,” Emerald admitted.
“You’re Captain Speedwell?” Mercury blurted, like a foal doting over his hero. “The creator of the slingshot spell?”
“You actually know the slingshot spell?” said Emerald, incredulously.
“That’s how I wounded Lieutenant Galeheart. I shot a rock at him.”
“A rock large enough to create that wound would have required an exceptionally powerful version of the spell,” Emerald said.
“I made some adjustments to compensate for the extra force,” Mercury gloated.
“Then I’m not surprised you made sergeant at such a young age.”
The Princess cleared her throat.
“Can we return to relevant matters?” she said sternly.
“Yes, sorry,” said Emerald. “At all events, the Shadow World is extremely difficult to access. As Captain of the Royal Guard I was briefed about it in its entirety, and I made a point to practice accessing it very diligently.”
“Then you could get the Elements back?” Mercury said. “And my friends?”
“Not likely,” said Emerald. “When I was Captain, we called it the Umbra. It’s pure, hellish darkness. I don’t mean to make you uneasy, but I hope your friends don’t have any phobias.”
“What do you mean?” said Mercury, fearing for the weak-hearted Oilslick.
“Any fears they have they are going to face in the Umbra. Spiders, Ursas, even heartbreak and abandonment. The Umbra is a place where your fears prey on you. It feeds on every negative emotion. I spent enough time there to know.”
“You put yourself in the Umbra?” the Princess gasped.
“I had to understand it for myself,” he explained.
“You are one mystery after another, Emerald Alembic,” said Celestia, half-sighing. Emerald shrugged.
“In any case it’s not as easy as walking through the Umbra to look for them,” he went on. “According to the old legends, the gods created the Umbra as a safe haven, a place where they could hide in times of great danger. They designed traps right into the fabric of the darkness itself. It was designed to keep enemies out.
“If a mortal enters the Umbra, he comes face to face with all his fears. It’s enough to drive a pony mad with terror. Whereas if one enters the Umbra to escape danger, seeking refuge, the traps deactivate.”
“So what will happen to those who are sent there unwillingly?” said Mercury. “Can they escape?”
“Easily, if they know how. As for how they’ll experience the Umbra, I cannot say, since I have never heard of this happening before.”
“One of my stallions,” Mercury said, his voice starting to quiver, “Oilslick. He’s so afraid of everything. I don’t know how he’ll survive.”
“He’ll survive,” Emerald reassured him. “Listen. There’s one more thing about the Umbra you need to know. This is very crucial. The greatest trap of the Umbra is the Nethers. It was designed so that if any pursuer came looking for someone in the Umbra, with the intention of hurting the refugee, the pursuer would enter the Nethers instead.”
“What’s the Nethers?”
“No one knows for sure,” said the Princess.
“All we know,” said Emerald, “is that it cannot be accessed by any means we’ve ever tried. It’s the perfect prison.”
“When Luna and I were little,” said Celestia, “and first being groomed for our royal duties, our grandfather told us that only the purest of heart can find the way into the Nethers. He said there is no other way out but to be rescued by your victim. It is very cruel.”
“Cruelty and justice can be faithful friends,” said Emerald.
“So we have to wait and force Galeheart to summon them from the Umbra,” said Mercury.
Emerald sighed, and it was a long moment before he could respond.
“That’s what makes this so hard,” he said. “Living beings cannot be summoned from the Umbra. It would hardly be a sanctuary if they could. That is one reason why I was not as impatient of Galeheart’s recovery as you are. Your friends are trapped there unless somepony who can overcome all the Umbra’s traps goes in and pulls them out.”
“You’ve been there before,” Mercury pleaded. “You could do it.”
“Son, what kind of a state do you think I’m in? I’m terrified of Spade. I could not protect my closest friend, and the guilt has driven me to insomnia. If you have no guilt, then perhaps the Umbra holds no danger for you, but the way things are, I wouldn’t last an hour there.”
Mercury inhaled deeply in frustration.
“We have to do something,” he said. “If you won’t last an hour, how do you think my friends have lasted these seven? Teach me to enter the Shadow World, if you refuse to go!”
“You propose to undertake a journey through hell without knowing its terrain,” said Emerald flatly. “It would take a week to train you, besides, and a month to teach you its traps. More than likely you would find your friends dying a hundred deaths, and each one an illusion so true to life that your stomach turns with terror. Are you strong enough for that?”
Mercury hung his head.
“I’ll go,” said the Princess suddenly. Her tone was one of unbreakable resolve.
“Princess Celestia,” Emerald objected, “you can’t—”
“I can,” she returned sternly. “However you may think of me, Emerald Alembic, I am not a princess for show. Even if you are older than I, a century makes little difference to an alicorn. I am inspired more by love for my sister than by hatred for Stowaway Spade. Perhaps I can even recover the Elements of Harmony.
“What happened to Luna was my fault. I saw how she cared for you, Emerald, and I wished to protect you. When Lieutenant Whitesnout requested offensive spells for the Royal Guard, I saw it as a way to make you safe from Spade. I was too blinded by fear to guess how it would turn out, and in my grief I laid the blame on you, as it was for your sake that I allowed it. I see now how I was wrong.
“If it is true that the traps disarm for those seeking shelter, perhaps they disarm also for those intending to rescue. If not, I am still the one of us better equipped to journey through the Umbra. I will go, Sergeant Mercury.”
Mercury bowed so deeply that his nose touched her hooves. He was effusive with gratitude. Emerald could not help respecting the Princess’s courage and humility, and inside his heart he was thankful to be relieved of the burden; but outwardly he only sighed.
“If you’re going to do this, Princess,” he said, “it will have to be while we still have the upper hand.”
“I’ll do it tonight,” was her only response. She called for Captain Shining Armor and told him of the affair. The palace was to be placed in a state of emergency during the absence of the Princess, and the swiftest messengers were to be sent throughout the kingdom of Equestria to alert her subjects of the possibility of a late sunrise.
When the Captain had left, she strapped a saddlebag to her back—an accessory which seemed very droll on her person, as a moustache would on a child—and though her determination was unwavering and her compassion great, something akin to fear was quivering in her heart. She managed with effort to subdue this apprehension, and in a flash her pure white coat had vanished with her aurora-tinged mane.
Emerald and Mercury were left standing in the dungeon, anxious for her return. But though they waited all night, there was still no sign of the Princess. As the hour of dawn approached and the cold darkness remained, ever growing colder, the two stallions stood before the slit in the stone wall and took comfort in staring at the Moon, which stood in gibbous as the only source of light in the starless sky. Emerald thought of Luna, and to his surprise he fell to his knees and prayed for the safety of the Princess of the Day.
From behind they heard a noise in Galeheart’s cell, a sound of shuffling as if he were awake. Emerald knew it was impossible for the prisoner to be conscious so soon, and there was even a deep terror in his gut as he and Mercury made their way to his cell to check on him.
They had not made it four steps when a second sound erupted from the room. It was a sudden, muffled screech, liked something heavy being dragged along the floor. The two of them sprinted for the cell in a state near panic, and reached the cell door gasping heavily.
Emerald’s jaw dropped, and both their hearts raced: the cell stood empty. Immediately they checked on Storm Cloud’s cell and found it just as bare, as if no prisoner had ever lain there. This mystery, deepened by the unsettling sensation of an endless night, tore at the wits of the young sergeant Mercury, who fainted noiselessly onto the flag-paved dungeon floor.
He did not recover his senses until he awoke to find himself in a watchtower room, sunlight streaming through the floor-length window, and the Princess of the Day standing over him, accompanied by three members of the five-hundred first.