//------------------------------// // Two // Story: Under The Northern Lights // by CoastalSarv //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle had trouble packing. She knew she needn't limit herself to her saddlebags - she could pack two big chests. They would go by ship and she would receive the space due to a hoofmaiden of Princess Luna. That actually made things harder. If she had only been able to take a few of the books she wanted to bring, it would have been painful but easy to decide which ones were most important. Now she had to decide which of the books left was, say, the twentieth most important book when on a journey to Tarandroland. Currently she was rearranging them in little heaps, to try to find the best solution. Spike, meanwhile, had nothing more to pack, and turned to Twilight for advice. "I have taken both my jackets because they say it is already winter there, and that pair of winter boots, and one funny cap and one stylish cap, and the tux Rarity gave me for any important dinners," he said. "And that’s all the clothes I will need. Also, I have my toothbrush and scalebrush and my towel and my rubber ducky. And some gems I have saved for snacks, if they don't have gems I can afford in Tarandroland. And... I still have space! Am I forgetting something, Twilight?" Twilight gave him a predatory glare. "No! I am not taking any of your books you cannot fit!" said Spike sternly. Twilight looked embarrassed. "Sorry, Spike," she said. "But why don't you pack a book of your own? Especially the sail journey might be boring; you might want something to do." Spike frowned. "I read enough at work..." "Pack a board game then," Twilight said. "Or a pack of cards." Spike shook his head and frowned. "Naaaaah - wait! I can pack something else to read! I'll bring some comics to read if I am bored!" He disappeared to the big, dented, old cardboard box which contained his collection. Twilight shrugged and went back to making little heaps of books. After a while Spike returned with a bunch of thumbed, garish four-color comics. "I'll bring my collection of Sampo The Warrior Prince comics, 'cause he is a reindeer, so it fits with where we are going!" He held up the clawful of comics to Twilight. "There's a pony on the cover," she said mystified. "Oh, that's his secret identity!" Spike said. "Everyone would know who the hero was if he didn’t pretend to be a pony when he is not heroing. Like 'There is only one reindeer in Manehatten. I wonder if he could be Sampo.' Duh!" "I doubt that comic has much to do with any real reindeer, Spike," Twilight said. "Better than nothing," Spike said. "Other than Sampo, the only thing I know is that Saddle Claus has reindeer who makes his toys, and that your tea table comes from Tarandroland." He went to pack his comics. Twilight sighed. Despite studying history, geography and politics the last week, she felt like she knew about as much as Spike about her mission. Twilight Sparkle and Spike had boarded the Royal chariot bound not for Canterlot, as was usually the case, but Canterlot Harbor. Their bags were heaped up and the pegasi pulling it were ready. Their friends had gathered to say goodbye and the rest of Ponyville to watch. "Oh, please keep warm!" Fluttershy hugged both of them. "Especially you, Spike. And, uhm, if it is not too much trouble, tell me about the animals in Tarandroland when you come back" "If we see any" said Twilight and hugged her back. "And I will be certain to see that Spike wears a jacket." Spike frowned. "And I am sure Spike will remind me!" she added and the little dragon nodded. "You should have brought me along!" said Rainbow Dash as she gave Twilight a more brotherly hug than Fluttershy’s. "You need someone awesome to show those reindeer who's boss!" "If we had brought you, we would have provoked a war," said Twilight and smirked. "You are too awesome." She put up a hoof for Rainbow Dash to make a brohoof, and Dash looked a little too moved for her own comfort. "Make Ponyville proud!" said Applejack and nuzzled them both. "And Ah'm like Fluttershy - if ya can get to see a reindeer farm, please do!" "As I said, we'll try. It'll probably be pretty hectic," Twilight said while nuzzled the farmer back. "And they are probably covered in snow anyway!" Spike added as Applejack gave him a noogie. Rarity was sobbing in a ladylike fashion and telekinetically dabbing at her eyes with her handkerchief. "Oh, I can't believe you are doing something like this, Twilight!" she wailed. "It is so wonderful! Oh, I should have made you another outfit!" "You made me two outfits already!" Twilight patted her. "You were great as usual Rarity." She leaned close. "And all this court business - I'd rather left it to you if it wasn't for your duties to Sweetie Belle," she whispered to Rarity, and the seamstress smiled. Then she spontaneously hugged Spike, who was literally paralyzed by the affection. Hence, he was stiff and lifeless as a doll when Pinkie Pie followed up with a general hug that somehow encompassed the charioteer as well. "Just remember guys, have fun!" she said. "And come back whole!" They hugged back (including the charioteer) and returned the sentiment. When she let go, Pinkie suddenly gasped. "Oh, I almost forgot!" She brought out a small package wrapped in silver paper with a big red ribbon. "Take this, it might be useful on your quest!" Twilight looked at it with confusion."Thanks Pinkie, but what is this?" "Oh, it’s a Pinkie Pie Party Special!" said the pink pony happily. "Instant party surprise!" "I'll keep it in mind," said Twilight and laughed. "Time to go - bye everyone!" Everyone waved again and cheered. "Say goodbye, Spike!" prompted Twilight. "Glorp? Astfgl!" said Spike, who still suffered from general love paralysis. HMS Blizzard trudged onward through the icy Northern Sea, and thanks to its primarily pegasus crew it had avoided its namesake which lay in wait at the horizon. Twilight had tried to make conversation with the rest of the delegation, but found them stand-offish and smug in an irritatingly polite manner. She had instead settled for learning her official duties from her "mistress" Princess Luna, and had started to get the hang of hair care and putting on accessories. Twilight was, as usual, somewhat of a klutz, but any discomfort she or Luna felt had been disarmed by them goofing off whenever that happened, the Princess acting in an exaggerated regal and tyrant fashion and Twilight pretending to be a supremely vapid and empty-headed lady in waiting. "If nothing else, you will have learnt to put on a good cover," Luna joked while Twilight removed spilled hoof polish from her coat. "No one will suspect you of being my secret agent." Twilight laughed. "I'm the world's worst liar, Your Highness, but maybe that will work," she said, letting her mouth hang open as she fluttered her eyelashes and fanned herself with an imaginary fan in a pose that would have sent Rarity into nervous fit with its tastelessness. "The Royal Treasury? Oh my gosh, Mr Guard Sir, is this not, like, the linen closet?" She and Luna both giggled. Spike, meanwhile, had got along fairly well with the ship's crew, but they were very busy, and when he had nopony to talk to the lack of pirate attacks and sea monsters soon made him bored. (Spike was smart enough to know such things were no laughing matter, but they did have Princess Luna on board, after all.) Hence, he had settled into a routine of rereading his comics and sleeping even more than usual, except for a trip to the deck once a day when the cook threw leftovers to a happy cloud of screaming seagulls. It was after one such gull-feeding trip that he, Twilight and Luna was standing in the aft of the ship and looking at the sea. Spike had put on his stylish cap and Twilight had a scarf on - Princess Luna ignored the cold, however, and was her usual regal self. "This journey sucks!" Spike growled. "Why couldn't we just have teleported to... what was that city called again?" "Sarvvik," said Twilight. "The reindeer capital. Biggest city in the country. And you know long-distance mass teleport is very dangerous, Spike!" "Don't take this wrong, Twilight, but I was actually thinking of Luna here," said Spike. "I know you and Celestia can move like that. So why not now?" Luna merely raised an eyebrow. "My sister and I could indeed travel all over the world, but it is not ours to command and we have our limitations," she said. "We need a - a mark, let’s say, to travel such distances without risk. There is only one such mark in Tarandroland I could travel to, and it is far away from Sarvvik. It is no place to take an entourage, either." "Where is that?" Spike wondered. "The Everfrost Glacier," said Luna. Her companions looked surprised. "Why in Equestria would you have a - a `mark' in such an inhospitable place, Princess?" said Twilight. Luna let out a long, longing sigh. "My dear sister and I have family there, Lady Sparkle," she said in such a tone as to suggest they wouldn't learn more about this anytime soon. Twilight changed the subject. "Speaking of entourage, Your Highness, I have made no progress with yours," she said. "I wonder if they are not still afraid of... Nightmare Moon." "I can hardly blame them, Lady Sparkle, though I suppose their apprehension might also have something to do with you being new in my employ, a competitor for favors," Luna said and sighed. "None of these assumptions are correct, Your Highness," said a pony that suddenly had appeared in between Twilight and Princess Luna (and hence above Spike). He was an elderly gray unicorn stallion with a swirling piece of cloth for a cutie mark. "Aaah!" shouted Spike. Twilight jumped two steps to the right. "Lord Eminence," said Luna with another of her raised eyebrows. "What an unexpected pleasure." The stallion bowed, and Twilight tried to answer with a curtsey while Spike stared with open mouth. "Your Highness. Milady. Master Spike," he said. They all knew Lord Eminence being with the delegation as... they were not sure what exactly, but they hadn't really done more than greeted him before. The stallion tossed his red woolen cape over his right shoulder and pointed his head backwards towards some other delegation members milling around on the deck. "These ponies are bureaucrats," he said. "They thrive on structure and order, but hate change. I hasten to add that this is not out of stupidity or malice, but because doing their duty correctly hangs on things being predictable." He turned to Princess Luna. "When Your Highness returned from... your unfortunate absence, you and your sister agreed to share the duties of rulership as soon as you felt healthy again, which you did recently. Then, Your Highnesses started to rearrange the structure of government to something similar to what it was the last time you co-ruled. Which was. A. Thousand. Years. Ago." Lord Eminence's enunciation of the last words couldn't have been clearer. Luna blushed and avoided his stern gaze by looking at the sea. "Basically, you have caused massive reforms which take all their time and energy and put a great amount of stress on ponies who like order, peace and quiet," he said. "No wonder they show their dislike." He indicated himself with his right front hoof. "As for us - the nobleponies - we don't really worry about the reforms, because our court intrigues are always in flux anyway. However, the manner in which Your Highnesses have cleft the organization in twain actually means fewer higher posts in government - which means fewer leftovers to fight for." He picked a squashed sandwich from his embroidered saddlebags and levitated it teasingly among the few remaining seagulls. "The increased infighting makes us less than grateful. A good day to you, ladies and gentlebeing." With this, he exploded the sandwich into a hundred fragments for the screaming seagulls and left the princess, her hoofmaiden and her hoofmaiden's assistant to consider his words. Passing through the archipelago outside Sarvvik took several hours and required slower speed than the journey across the Northern Sea, since the waters were shallow. Luckily they had acquired some reindeer pilots sent by King Ukko, who knew the dangers well and spoke excellent Equestrian. One of them also took her time to point out the landmarks on the way – including the forts which guarded it and the longships anchored nearby. “Those are positively pitiful,” said Luna so the pilots couldn’t hear. “Normally I would have welcomed a nation abandoning warlike ways, but it will be hard to convince the King to stop the piracy if it is physically impossible. I doubt those derelicts could catch a criminal toy boat!” “Maybe the good ships are actually out patrolling,” Twilight suggested. “Or maybe he is hiding his forces,” said Lord Eminence, who seemed to just then appear between them. Twilight jumped two steps to the right again, and Spike dove behind Luna with a girlish scream. “And why do you think he would do that, milord?” said Luna. “Because he wants Equestrian help in stopping the piracy, and pacifying restless elements in his country," said Lord Eminence calmly, and adjusted his cloak. "That way he saves the bits to pay for it, and deflects any anger his subjects feel to Equestria.” “Who would anyone be angry with their King for stopping crime?” said Twilight. “I’d thought reindeer would be as law-abiding as ponies?” Lord Eminence smiled at her in a slightly condescending way. “As far as I can tell, the pirates have committed no crime against any reindeer, and presumably have families and friends," he said. "On the other hand, they probably sold their loot to someone, and I am sure many reindeer were happy to find cheap Equestrian merchandise on the black market – especially since the regular market, according to my sources, is distinctly lacking in it. Tarandroland is a poor country, Lady Sparkle, and has seen better days. Ponies would do the same.” “The fact that he rules a poor country could also explain why King Ukko cannot afford a fleet, Lord Eminence,” said Luna. “Do you always assume the worst of people?” “Oh yes,“ The grey old unicorn smiled. “I am a diplomat, after all. If you excuse me, I must prepare for landing.” He left looking rather smug. “Well, he sure was Mr Positive,” said Spike. Luna sighed. “He might be right, which makes things worse,” she said. They pondered this in silence as the ship closed in on Sarvvik harbor. Spike borrowed Twilight’s binoculars and watched it. The city wasn’t big, nothing like Canterlot or Manehatten. It was also built low, with few houses over a couple of floors in height and only a few towers. What was most remarkable was that despite being an actual city, after all, most of it was made of wood – actual logs, even if carved and painted, in many cases. “The reindeer have kept their building style,” said Luna and smiled. “It looks similar to when I saw it so long ago – it is mostly just bigger, and didn’t put up as much smoke.” She pointed towards the city. “Celestia was there when they founded it, you know. I wasn’t, but I visited soon after.” Twilight knew that “soon” could mean “a century” to the royal sisters, but didn’t ask for clarification. Spike didn’t either, but pointed to the piers and ships now visible. “There are ponies there!” he said. “Pegasi and earth ponies and I think I see donkeys as well. Where did they come from? I thought this was the land of the reindeer.” Luna smiled wider. “The city was practically founded by earth ponies – from the Russ Islands, between here and Equestria," she said. "You see how small most are, just like other Russers. They wanted to trade with the reindeer so a city was built. They still come here and I am sure some families have lived here since then, though I’d guess you’ll found more of them down Trotholm. The pegasi are probably sailors from Equestrian vessels, you can see several in the harbor. And donkeys – donkeys live where they can find jobs, it doesn’t matter if it is here or in the lands of the zebra.” “Look at that big tower with the golden roof!” said Spike and pointed. “What’s that?” Luna’s smile faded a bit and she looked embarrassed. “That is probably the Skinfaxi Temple” she said. “That is, that’s what the reindeer call my sister.” Twilight and Spike let it sink in. “The whole idea of – of worship makes me nervous. Well, Celestia dislikes it even more than me, but she is better at handling it. I sure hope there still isn’t a temple dedicated to – to me.” “Why shouldn’t there be?” said Twilight. “I mean, you are co-rulers, and both have great powers, and… oh.” It dawned on her. “Nightmare Moon.” Luna sighed. “My sister turned my exile into a fairy tale for a reason," said Luna. "I don’t want to know what reasons reindeer might have had for worshiping my loneliness and jealousy made manifest.” Thanks to krdragon for help with proofreading!