//------------------------------// // New Arrival // Story: Paradise Sundered // by q97randomguy //------------------------------// Chapter Four: New Arrival In the morning, Celestia awoke to the sound of something rummaging in the kitchen. She went to find and shoo out whatever woodland creature had found its way inside. But she was surprised to see that it was Luna, who was, strangely enough, already awake. “Well, this is unusual... This project has you more excited than any other I can remember. Though, to be fair, I didn’t see you much back when you were working on the Elements of Harmony.” “I wish that were all it was... I didn’t sleep much last night.” “Starswirl?” Celestia guessed. Luna nodded and continued to pack, head down. “Get over here, you.” Celestia opened a wing to her sister. Luna walked over, and they embraced, albeit awkwardly due to her bulging saddlebags. As they hugged, Celestia whispered, “We knew this would happen, eventually.” “But it shouldn’t have to be so soon.” “No, it shouldn’t. But life is rarely fair.” “Now that I’ve seen him, I almost don’t want to go.” “No, you should. Starswirl’s a stubborn one; he won’t go anywhere for a while. You focus on finding out what’s going on or went on or... Just try to keep your mind off it.” Luna pushed her sister away. “Are you asking me to forget him?” “No, not at all... Just try not to worry so much. Okay? I’ll find the best doctors I can for him.” Luna sighed. “I’ll try... And sorry for snapping at you; I should have known better.” “Think nothing of it, Luna,” Celestia said, waving a hoof. “You’re under a lot of stress. But the longer you wait, the harder it’ll be to leave. And think: who knows what you could find out there?” “Well, I’ve got this one idea, but it’s too strange and wonderful to believe.” “Is that so? Do tell.” “I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I’ll give you a hint.” She looked her sister over for a few seconds, contemplating. “Three.” “Three? What sort of a hint is that? Hey, get back here!” But Luna had already trotted to the nearest balcony and jumped off. Celestia followed her as far as the railing and stood there, looking at her. Luna suddenly looked sheepish as she hovered back up. “What? I’ve always liked doing that. It’s pretty much why I built it. But soon I won’t be able to because it looks undignified. I had to do it one more time. For old times’ sake.” “I get it,” Celestia said with a laugh. “I was just thinking how I’m the one more known for jumping off things.” “Well this is no mountain, but I do just fine.” Looking from her sister, to the north, and finally back in the direction of the field where they had been coronated, Celestia sighed. “Whatever happened to the good old days, when our biggest concern was finding food?” “I don’t know, but I’m off to find out what else the world has to throw at us.” With that Luna turned and soared off, bobbing her wings in farewell. Luna soared through the crystal-clear sky. Her destination was many hundreds of miles away, and she hoped to arrive by nightfall — well, a regularly scheduled one. After many years of flight, she had learned a trick or two about long distance travel. I’ve got to get up out of this low-altitude air; the northwesterly direction of the upper atmosphere will help me get there quickly. She gained altitude until she reached the level where the winds reversed themselves then turned slightly east so that the winds would carry her more or less due north. As she settled herself in for the long flight, her mind turned to the most exciting topic known to ponykind... taxes. ... and with a standard currency, the system would run much smoother... But what if the griffons do eventually decide to attack? Celestia and I can’t be everywhere at once. We’ll need to fund an army of some sort, and they’ll need equipment, like spears and barding. What to use for it though, iron? No, too heavy, difficult to enchant. Steel? Heavier still, but we could use less of it, but it’s even worse for enchantments... Ooh, I’ve got it, gold! Its ease of enchantment can be used to counteract its material shortcomings, with plenty of charge left over... Humph, off-track again, got to stay focused on tax codes. At least I wasn’t thinking about him this time. Curse you to Tartarus, brain. Now I am thinking about him. I’ve just got to get my mind off it, like Celly said. She started paying attention to her surroundings, something she often neglected to do while deep in thought. The ground far below was covered in snow, and the shadows cast by the few trees were comically stretched. Seeing that, Luna realized that she should land and make camp for the night. She was close to the source of the strange yet familiar magic. Tomorrow, I’ll start an organized search, she thought as she pitched her tent. After she finished with the tent, she lifted the moon from below the horizon. Given her mood, it was unsurprisingly subdued. Sighing to herself, she settled down to rest. Just as she reached sleep a muffled whump startled her back to awareness. Springing up, her wings flared as she took a battle-ready stance. Poking her head out of the tent, she shivered from the blast of frigid air. Looking through the whirling snow for the source of the disturbance, she spotted something off in the distance. What could that be? As usual, Luna’s curiosity overruled her desire to sleep. Approaching an unknown… thing without the proper safety precautions could be disastrous. What if it’s dangerous? She gathered a large portion of her power and formed a protective bubble around herself. She also prepared to teleport vertically a thousand hooves if the shield was somehow not enough. Feeling confident that she was prepared for any situation, she set off towards the source of the noise. Working through the huge snow drifts, Luna decided that perhaps she should fly the remaining distance. With a small shake of her head, she leapt into the sky and cautiously glided through the blizzard. When she finally got close enough to make out what it was, her heart skipped a beat. No...! A pit of icy dread settled into her gut, and her wings locked up, her whole body paralyzed by shock. Her momentum carried her within ten hooves of the trembling and softly groaning form. The fall had barely fazed Luna, thanks to the shield absorbing most of the impact. What she saw before her did. I wasn’t prepared for this! Regaining her wits, she quickly made her way to the figure on the ground and noticed some more disturbing information. She was bleeding from the mouth, and each leg was shackled to chains that were still connected to some sort of rock. Worse still was her clear emaciation; Luna could count all of her ribs, some of which looked broken from the crash. Looking at the pitiful pony before her, Luna’s mind went into overdrive. I’ve got to get her some help! There is no help around here. My first aid kit! It’s back in the tent. I can’t leave her like this; she could hurt herself, freeze, or worse. I can’t help her without leaving, and I can’t help if I stay. Teleporting back blindly is just too dangerous. Gah! I need more time! Wait, time. Time spells. Stasis! That can buy me some time. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to set up around here, so... “This won’t hurt a bit,” she whispered to the comatose filly. She cast a short-duration stasis spell on her. Instantly the filly stopped moving and became perfectly black. Satisfied with the results, Luna swiftly took flight to retrieve her entire camp. With the tent set up around the immobile form and the first aid kit levitating at the ready, Luna waited for the spell to end. Seconds later, it did, with a bright flash and a pile of snow appearing seemingly from nowhere. Luna quickly tossed it out of the tent and set to work. She applied an antiseptic salve to the multitude of lacerations covering the twitching form. Saving her limited supply of bandages, Luna only applied them to the worst of the wounds. She went to remove the multifaceted, glassy shackles, but was surprised when she couldn’t grasp them with her magic. Pushing that aside for later, she turned her attention to the last major injury she could rectify, a broken wing. Using one of the poles from the tent as a splint, as the supplied ones were too short, she bound the wing into an immobile but largely comfortable position. Looking at her patient, one more thing caught her eye; the rocks on her horn hadn’t fallen off. That was strange, given that Luna had been forced to turn the wounded pony over while looking for injuries. It was typically considered rude to touch another pony’s horn, but, given the circumstances, Luna figured that an exception could be made. She went to brush off the jagged shards with a hoof. She recoiled when her hoof made contact. They just tried to drain my magic! What are these things? Picking up a scalpel with her magic, she tried again, only to have it fall to the ground once it made contact. “Looks like I’m doing this the old fashioned way.” Grasping the knife with her mouth she set to work at scraping off the annoying crystals. Her efforts were once again in vain, as she could not use enough force to remove them without damaging the horn itself. There is no problem that can’t be solved with the correct application of magic. What do I know about crystals...? Not much, just how the crystal glasses at Platinum’s banquets were sometimes shattered by somepony singing a particular note. Maybe I could do something similar with magic. No, no, no. There are far too many ways that could go wrong, they are attached to her after all, and there are too many harmful frequencies of magic that I can’t risk just blasting them till they break. What else do I know...? An idea formed in her mind. One second should be more than enough. Forming a very precisely shaped spell in her mind, she cast it on the sleeping form. The pony vanished, and the crystals and shackles, as well as a hairsbreadth of the outer layer of her horn, fell to the ground. These Luna pushed away with a powerful flap of her wings. Then the mare reappeared, exactly one second later. Smiling at her victory, Luna set about disposing of the offensive objects. With some delicate air manipulation she pushed the scattered items into a pile. Then she started bombarding them with energy. Starting with as low a frequency as she could, she began to work her way up. She was so focused on her work that she didn’t notice the other mare begin to cough. After a few minutes of magical onslaught, the crystals cracked and crumbled to dust. She’d finally found their weakness. Well, it turns out I could have just done that to begin with. That was a perfectly safe amount of magic. Very convenient. Turning around, she stared at the scene before her. The great wracking coughs that had shaken her while Luna had been working had reopened a great deal of her larger wounds. She lay still, barely breathing, in a small but growing pool of blood. Most worrying was that a good deal of it looked to be leaking from her mouth. Acting purely on instinct, Luna reached out to the lunar aura. Focusing it on the smallest area she had ever attempted, the strain drove her to the ground. Please, be enough, she thought just before losing consciousness herself. A soft whine caused her ear to flick in annoyance. I don’t want to wake up. It’s not quite time to lower the moon yet, and yesterday was sooo tirin— She leapt to her hooves. Looking towards the source of the noise, she saw that her patient was trembling in her sleep and occasionally whimpering. Luna sighed. At least she no longer looks like she’s just about to reach the clearing at the end of the path. Quietly making her way to the filly’s side, she looked her over, checking for injuries. Finding none, she silently thanked the Stars. But the filly was still wracked by tremors. Is she having a bad dream? Luna wondered. Expanding her senses, she could almost physically feel the filly’s anguish radiating off her. Pain, sorrow, and hopelessness poured out of her. What she found only on the surface was enough to make Luna realize that perhaps just waking her would be the kindest choice. She laid a hoof on her side and gently rocked the filly back and forth. “There, there. Everything will be—” “AHHH!!! No, I didn’t! I wouldn’t! I... I...” Looking around, her eyes settled on Luna. “You’re safe, child. I’ll protect you.” Luna waited for the trembling filly to take in her appearance and have the implications sink in. “You’re... like me.” She rustled her wings and tipped her head. “What does it mean?” “I don’t know, yet. But some have called it destiny, and, for now, that will suffice. But tell me, what happened to you?” She flinched. “Don’t want to talk about it.” She scrunched down into a tighter ball. Luna barely heard what she said next. “Nopony can help us...” She looked down then quickly back up when she noticed that she was encrusted with dried blood and dirt. The filly jumped up, shrieking, one wing flaring, the other catching on the splint. She flinched again and looked back to find that her wing was bound up. Glancing back at Luna, her eyes pleaded for answers. Luna backed off, giving the filly her space. She kept her voice soft. “I healed you.” And I may need to do even more if there is an “us”... “But... There’s so much... blood.” She looked equal parts queasy and horrified. “Even the Royal Doctor couldn’t do this.” She carefully made her way around the bloodstained earth, getting as far from it as possible. That brought her close to Luna. Giving her a small grin, Luna said, “We alicorns can do strange and wonderful things. Watch.” She opened the tent flap, motioning for her to follow. The filly eyed her and then looked outside. Luna stepped outside, holding the flap open behind her. Following her out, the filly’s head was bowed, and her eyes were wide as she scanned the early morning darkness. Almost casually, Luna lowered the moon, sweeping it back and forth a few degrees at the same time. Seeing the shifting shadows, the filly’s eyes were drawn to the sky. “No. Way.” She turned to stare at Luna, who smiled down at her. “Yes, way. Just let me help you, please.” She held out a hoof, and, when the filly shied away, her smile faded. “Whoever did this to you must be stopped.” She shuddered. “He can’t be stopped. So many tried...” “None of them were me. I can help. I will help, You just need to tell me how.” “I don’t think that anypony could stop Him alone.” Gulping, her eyes started to water, and she rubbed at then almost angrily. “Child, you don’t know me. Unless — and possibly even if — it is an army, I won’t need help. One stallion shouldn’t be more than I can handle.” “Stop calling me a kid!” yelled the small filly. “I’m the princess of the Crystal Empire!” Her voice broke. What’re the chances of that? “Is that so, princess...” “Cadence. Well, Mi Amore Cadenza, but only my da—” She gasped as if she’d been bucked in the chest. Luna’s heart lurched. She looks pitiful. I’ve got to comfort her up somehow, get her mind off whatever happened. Maybe a story, like Mama told? What have I got...? Making the Elements? No, that’d be a boring story. Escaping from the unicorns? No. It should be happy... I don’t suppose it really needs to be a completely true story though. She kept her voice low and calming; it wouldn’t do to have the filly be startled. “Cadence? Cadence! Do you want to hear a story?” She hid her face with her mane. “Mm hm.” “Ok, then. Not too long ago, in the faraway land of... actually, it didn’t really have a name yet. Anyways, in this far-off land, where I came from, there lived three groups of ponies. They didn’t get along very well. My sister, Celestia, and I had been trying for a long time to get them to work together. But often all we could do was stop fights from breaking out. “Imagine how disappointed we were when we had to go away before we could make a lasting peace between them.” She peeked around her mane. “Why was that?” Luna fell back on her old excuse. “Trouble with dragons.” “Ooh.” “So we had to go far to the southeast, home of the dragons...” … … … “So you see, that’s how I became a princess as well. Princess Luna of Equestria.” Cadence jumped up, hugging Luna around the neck. “Really? You’re a princess too? Are we related somehow?” She fell back to her hooves. “I mean we’re both royalty, and...” She gave her wings a flap — or tried to, as one was still trussed up — and looked pointedly at her horn. Looking down at Cadence, Luna’s heart went out to her. This poor child... all alone. Her parents couldn’t have just left her, so they must be... gone. Luna swallowed heavily. And for her, the pain is fresh. Biting her lip, Luna tried to find her voice. “Why, yes... I’m your auntie Luna... Now tell your aunt, what happened to you? I need to know to help.” Just as quickly as her hopes had risen, her mood darkened at the mention of the past. Cadence swallowed heavily, and her breath came in short gasps as she shrank back from Luna. “... Don’t want to remember.” Luna sank to the ground, folding her legs beneath herself, and spread a wing, beckoning the wide-eyed filly over. It took Cadence a long moment before she took the first step towards the comforting embrace, but, once she took it, she raced to Luna’s side and buried her face in the older alicorn’s coat. As she held the blood-caked filly, she felt her shaky breaths even out over a few minutes. Eventually, Cadence looked up and met Luna’s eyes. “Auntie...” she began, voice quavering, “I think I should... tell you. My par—” A blank look settled over her face as her eyes moistened, and her whole body went rigid. Luna gently squeezed the small filly with her wing. Stars, when I find the monster that did this to her... “It’s okay, Cadence. It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything of you don’t want to.” Cadence wiped at her runny nose. “No,” she said, voice small. “I have a... duty. I’ve got to tell you. I have to do the princessy thing. I will!” she practically yelled. She fell silent at her own shrill voice, and, a moment later, she continued quietly again. “I will. This might take a while — there’s a lot to tell.” “Let’s get you cleaned up first. And I guess we should take that splint off too.” Luna moved over to her side and went to pull the bindings apart, only to have the her scramble away. “No! I can do it myself!” She struggled with it awkwardly for a few moments before resorting to magic. Somehow she only managed to tangle the wrappings more. “Just let me help with that; I’ll have it off before you know it.” She reached out to undo the knots. Cadence flinched away again, this time bumping into the tent wall. “Nonononono! I’ll do it.” Luna backed away a step. “I don’t have to touch you if you don’t want. I can remove it in a split second from right here.” Cadence kept her gaze on Luna warily, her stance tense. After a few moments, her shoulders slumped. “I guess that’s okay.” Luna’s horn flared, and the brace appeared in a flash on the ground. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” At the burst of light, Cadence backed away, eying it, then shook her head. Luna smiled down at the blood-encrusted filly. “Now, let’s get you cleaned up. That sound like a good idea?” A brief glance down was all it took to make Cadence look back up, shuddering. “Yeah. Yeah, it does.” Scooping up some snow with her magic, Luna quickly heated it until it steamed in the frigid air. Cadence stepped underneath and let out a sigh as the warm water flowed over her. They had to repeat the process several times, but eventually all the dried blood came out of her coat, restoring it to its normal pink. Luna opened the tent flap and beckoned with a forehoof. “Come in out of the cold. Let’s hear what you have to say.” Shaking herself mostly dry, Cadence entered the tent, sat down, and, with a sigh, began her story.