//------------------------------//
// 1:5- Time and Circumstance 
// Story: Part I: Precursors 
// by Auryx Saturnius 
//------------------------------//

	Vicar sat next to Twilight outside the castle infirmary. It was the princess’s orders to have everypony continue with their work and remain preoccupied, anything to keep them from thinking about the events of last night.  Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rainbow thus went on with their previous engagement of preparing for the Summer Sun Celebration. Rarity was able to go off and create fitting dresses and apparel for the princesses as well as the suits that will be worn by the princes and king upon their arrival. The task was readily accepted by her and she and Princess Luna were now stars know where.
That left Twilight: the sole pony without a task to complete and coincidentally the very unicorn whose Crescent Star’s injuries hit the most. With great reluctance did the princess even want her in the same area as him, but with a little coaxing and silver tongue words by Vicar, she agreed to let her sit outside the infirmary. The only one who kept her company was Vicar, who kept himself buried in several books in an attempt to learn all he could about local knowledge. The mess of purple fur stained with dried tears sat worriedly next to the straight and calm being, flipping page after page.
“How are you doing it?” the unicorn asked. Vicar looked up from his book and tilted his head. “How can you be completely fine after what happened?”
He turned back and flipped another page. “Who told you I was fine? Do you honestly think I am not worried for Star’s well being, or about the events that had transpired over the last several hours? It is true, you have known him longer than anypony else in our company, but his life matters to them too, and to me. I certainly don’t need memories to understand that.”
“So what now, we’re just going to do nothing, Celestia-knows-what do whatever they please?”
“No,” he replied calmly, flipping another page, “We’re going to do exactly was Her Serene Highness told us: wait and see what they will do... Prince Vulcan should be arriving later today, so I would think they might play their cards sooner than later. We just have to be patient Twi’... for Crescent Star.”
Twilight looked over to Vicar quizzically. “How much did you and Celestia talk last night?”
“The entire night: I’m running purely on tea and cake right now...”
His words were not that far from the truth. After he killed the cleric Kaius and the Princess took the unconscious one down into the dungeon, Celestia wasted no time and began to have a little chat with her student’s “stranger from the mines.” When he responded to her warning by standing down, then personally asking her afterwards about the well being of the cleric that attacked and wounded a person he knew (...sort of), Celestia had taken an instant trust towards him and spent the entire night talking to him about what happened and other trivial things. The whole night, they feasted on cake and tea as they talked, joked and laughed in each other’s company. When she had to leave and take care of the sun, Vicar decided to leave himself and went to check on Crescent Star and his guard of purple-furred magic. It was then that he discovered an unconscious Twilight, snoring away in a chair next to their fallen friend.
“How long did the doctor say it would be until he could make a full recovery?”
Twilight moved her eyes down to her hooves, fur clotted together with dried tears. “At least two or three weeks; they can’t even discharge him from their care for another seven days.”
“It could have been worse...”
“Don’t you dare remind me…”
Vicar frowned as he turned back to his book. “Give it time Twi’, and most importantly...”
“Be patient,” they finished together, Twilight rolling her eyes at his apparent Zen-mind status. “Now you’re starting to even sound like Vicar Saint...”
“Je vise à s'il vous plaît,” he smiled. Twilight lifted herself back onto her hooves and with a powerful stretch and yawn, began to trot off down the hallway before turning back. “I’m going to go get some breakfast, do you want anything?”
“I would appreciate an apple and some milk if there are any.” She nodded at his request and turned back down the hall, casually walking down to the dining hall. As her hoof came up to rest on the door handle, she paused, still ready to push the door open, as the memory of the previous night weighed in on her thoughts. Slowly working up the courage, Twilight quickly pushed the door open and scurried in, wasting no time...
...The room was completely fixed: good as new, like nothing ever happened. The floor was cleanly polished and shined with a bright glint. The table was covered with an immaculately white tablecloth, covering any gashes carved into the wood. Laid out with meticulous care were plates of breakfast spanning the entire table with a delicious variety of vegetables, grains and pony-digestible proteins. She glanced towards the end, a plate filled with numerous items floating in a yellow aura, as her mentor lifted a blueberry muffin in an attempt to add it to her current ensemble.
“My Faithful Student.” The princess smiled as Twilight trotted up beside her. “I hope you slept well.”
“Yeah...” Twilight absentmindedly lifted a plate with a yawn.
Celestia frowned, “Did you sleep at all?”
“Apparently so. Vicar found me passed out on a chair next to Crescent in the infirmary. I just now decided to get some food for myself and some things Vicar wants.”
The princess raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t sound that the most restful sleep, but how is Crescent Star? Will he be alright?”
“The doctor said he would make a full recovery.” Twilight grabbed an apple to bring to Vicar and began to investigate on her own interest of food.
“I would expect so after everything you did for him. You probably saved his life...” Celestia lifted a second muffin with her magic and politely took a bite as Twilight blushed ever so slightly.
“It was nothing...”
Celestia raised her eyebrow again and gave Twilight a questionable smirk. “If you say so.”
She took another bite and, with careful gesturing, led Twilight to sit with her at the table. “Tell me Twilight, what do you think of our guest Vicar?”
Twilight gave a puzzled look as she thought about what the princess asked. “Why do you ask princess? I’m sure you know I can’t really answer that, I don’t know anything about him.”
Celestia gave her student a small smile as she sipped at her tea. “That is an excellent point, my Faithful Student. Let me rephrase: Why did you defend him last night?”
“Princess?”
“Vicar told me what you did, and you just said it yourself: you don’t know him. So, why would you do something like that for him?”
“Because I saw him as a friend, and I certainly didn’t want those... things... to hurt him.”
“And what was it, my student, which you saw in him to judge him as a friend?”
“He’s... he’s noble,” Twilight went on to explain, “He screams of kindness and of hope, like he’s full of faith even when he doesn’t know it... and his eyes... his eyes are so sad, like he suffered too much in his life.”
Celestia silently nodded and listened to her student go on with her story of Vicar and how her opinion of him grew over the past day. After a good amount of time spent describing her feelings and thoughts on the stranger from the mines, Twilight allowed herself a brief moment for breath as she racked her brain for more words to say. She could only smile and look up at her mentor, adding, “...and he's fantastic...”
Celestia closed her eyes as she returned her student’s contagious smile. “I’m delighted to hear that you can keep such a positive attitude about him after such an ordeal. One’s innocence is a terrible thing to lose, my student.”
“I’m afraid,” Twilight started with a sudden frown, “Our innocence wasn’t the only thing taken by those monsters.”
Celestia looked at her oddly, implying for her to continue. “Princess, their leader, the one Vicar... you know... he had taken something of yours and gave it to one of his comrades to take: a sword, by the looks of it.”
“And what did this sword look like?” Celestia asked, not too worried of the creatures’ obvious attempt of a war prize.
“It was flat, a perfect rectangle of steel with embroiled finishes in a darker metal. The hilt was gold and topped with a bright sun...” The princess stopped cold, mid sip, the tea pooling in her mouth as she forces in down with a large swallow. It burned like fire as it ran down her throat, the description hitting home. She prayed to the stars that it wasn’t... that...
“Was it inscribed, I don’t know, maybe near the hilt?”
“I think so, but I couldn’t read anything it said.”
Celestia glanced over towards her student, silently and calmly standing up. Her ruse of a peaceful mind would have been perfect had she not set her teacup down a little more forceful than she would have liked. “Twilight...”
“Yes princess?”
“Can you please come with me?”
“Uh... sure princess.” At her answer, Celestia’s magic flared to life with a bright yellow as the two vanished from the dining hall in a flash of light. Twilight was no stranger toward teleportation spells, and she was especially use to her mentor’s magic. She could feel the uneasy and worried feeling building in the princess’s aura, powerful enough so that that even she was beginning to feel her own stomach unsettle. Whatever Celestia was worried about, it certainly wasn’t anything good.
Twilight began to feel she was being reconstructed into normal space. She became surrounded by bright light and warm air, encompassed by the personal commodities of Princess Celestia and her quarters. It felt strange to even be inside of her mentor’s bedroom, almost like a breach of personal privacy: to peer into the private life of a superior that, much to her shock, was surprisingly yet expectantly covering with pink and yellow. Celestia however felt no initial star struck, immediately heading for her fireplace to stare at an empty case, her reflection seeming to mock her in a shade of lustrous gold.
“It’s gone,” she said disheartened, “They were after it all along and I was too blind to realize it... now they have it.”
Twilight managed to tear herself from the decor and looked towards her mentor. “Princess, what was it they took? What’s so important about that sword?”
“It’s not a sword Twilight, it’s a key, and it’s the birthright of my royalty.” Celestia paused and tapped her hoof against the soft carpet. “Maybe... maybe there is still a chance...”
Celestia erupted from of her room and galloped to her sister’s chambers, Twilight struggling to keep up with her mentor’s speed. After the short distance, they both entered the darkened chambers, flinging the doors open with a loud *bang*, the empty room echoing the sudden noise across its midnight blue walls and black comforts. Celestia went straight to the fireplace and stared with a frown at the dark, nightly version of her own. A reflection of black metal was all there was, a lighter metal stenciled in with the phrase “Aestibus Aquarum,” below which was the name “Luna Selene Galaxia, Duchess of Hoofington.”
“By the stars...”
“Princess what’s going on? What were those things that took your sword? Why is it so important?”
The princess tilted her head to look at a small clock near the fireplace before taking a deep breath and turned to her student solemnly. “I guess, you have a right to know now.”
“Please, just tell me,” Twilight pleaded, “I can help you, I really can... you just need to trust me... please.”
Celestia nodded, “I need to send a letter to Stalliongrad and Windsoar immediately, but afterwards I’ll tell you and Vicar everything.”
“Vicar? Why would he need to know?” she asked her thought-heavy mentor.”
“I have a hunch on him... like there’s something more to him than he could let on... I’ll deal with this letter while you go on and get him.”
“And what of Vulcan, or Luna for that matter?”
“Don’t fret my Faithful Student, I have everything under control.” Celestia put on a false smile and gently nudged Twilight out of the room with a wing and a sing-song voice. “Now I would hurry...”
Twilight stood dumbfounded as the door closed behind her, the sense of physical emotion that her mentor tried to suppress continually perplexing her. Since becoming her Faithful Student, she had never, ever, seen the princess so disturbed: not with Discord, or Nightmare Moon... not even when she was imprisoned in a changeling cocoon. For a while now, Twilight figured that those “keys,” as Celestia put it, were important, but she could never guess what they actually could mean. At least, until she fetched Vicar and came back as quick as she could. With that motivation in mind, she went from a completely stand still to a full gallop down towards the infirmary.
In no time at all, she managed to rush down the winding staircase of the tower and sprinted across the corridors heading for the medical wing. After a skidding left turn on the marble floor, she only had to cross the great hall before reaching her objective. She remained quite certain in her mind that Vicar would definitely want to hear whatever the princess...
WHAM!
In a quick second, her vision was instantly covered with purple. A rich purple: crisp and sharp with vivid coloring that seems to almost radiate majesty in a sense. Twilight tried to move her leg, but found that she couldn’t due to something pinning it to the ground. With a twist, she turned her foreleg and head to see where she was as the purple field slid down from her muzzle and went on to cover a fire red teenaged colt sprawled over her back and leg.
“By the stars...” he mumbled, “that must have been some spill... I’m seein’ stars.”
“Yes, it was,” Twilight replied calmly, startling the colt lying on top of her, “Now would you be so kind to get off of me please?”
The unicorn blushed, the fire red paling into a light and subtle pink. He apparently had to trip over a mare, literally. With a clumsy grace, he untangled himself and his purple cloak before offering to help Twilight up like a gentlecolt.
She saw that this new colt took great care in his appearance. His red coat shone slightly in the sunlight, as well did his electric blue mane, carefully groomed to hang in place over his face. Curious as to what could warrant such a meticulous look, Twilight glanced down to the colt’s Cutie Mark: a rich, living green leaf that covered over a black circle and cross.
“I’m sorry,” he said, sticking his muzzle into view and attracting her attention, “but we haven’t seemed to properly introduce ourselves.”
“Huh?” She shook her head and snapped out of a previous stupor, “Oh, I’m sorry... my name’s Twilight.”
“Such a lovely name for a lovely mare,” he romanticized, “You can call me Ignio, and most everypony does. If I may ask, you wouldn’t happen to be the Twilight I’m thinking of: Twilight Sparkle?”
“In the flesh,” she blushed, “It’s nice to meet you Ignio. Are you new around here? I haven’t seen you around Canterlot before.”
“I’m afraid; it has been a while since I last visited the city. I’m really from Fillydelphia.”
“Well then, I guess I know who to call now when I’m in the area...” she smiled slyly and flipped her mane so her eyes looked up at him. Two could play the romancing game...
He returned the smile, hiding any deep emotion she might have given him. Ignio did seem to appear very intelligent and smart enough to control his own, she thought, the worse kind of pony to have as an adversary.
“So,” he continued, “What brings the saintly Element of Magic back to Canterlot? I heard you live in Ponyville...”
“Well...” she stopped herself, remembering the entire reason why she had to come down this way in the first place. “Oh no, Vicar!”
Twilight suddenly bolted off down the hallway, leaving her new companion behind. “I’m so sorry, but I forgot I needed to do something!”
“Well, wait for me.” The colt chased after her and easily caught up to her pace without a sweat. “You’re pretty quick.”
“So are you,” she said between pants. “How are you... not out of breath?”
“Spoilers,” he managed to say without a deviation in stride. “Years of practice does help though.”
The thought of having Ignio, a pony who Twilight has nothing to do with and thus, no obligation to, meet Vicar frighten her deeply. Her imagination ran wild with thoughts and ideas of what his reaction would be, and what he would do after finding out about a creature that is unknown to pony-kind. She struggled to shake him, galloping down hallways and corridors at full speed in a maze like pattern. Ignio, through some sort of providence, managed to stay close in tow every time.
How he was still following her was the single predominant thought racing through her head at every turn. It wasn’t long after that she found her legs betraying her mind, slowing down and heading straight to the infirmary with Ignio at her tail, leading him straight to Vicar.
She stopped and collapsed in an empty chair which still seemed to hold her perfume after a half an hour: right next to Vicar. Ignio’s hooves echoed heavily on the marble as he slowed down to stand right next to Twilight, his head arcing down as even he seemed slightly fatigued after the chase. “So,” he still managed to joke, “You had me chase you all around the castle for an empty chair?”
Twilight’s head bolted up from the chair in confusion, frantically turning back and forth. He was right: an empty chair was the only thing next to her and the hallway in question was completely deserted, save them. There was no fleshy, dragon-esque creature sitting contently with a pile of books. There was no Vicar at all, who no more than half an hour earlier seemed completely intent with staying and watching Didact until she came back. Her mind tried to rationalize the possibilities. Maybe he went off to the dining hall after he figured she wasn’t coming back with his food, or left for some unforeseen, unspoken detail that she was yet to be informed about. The only thing Twilight knew was that he could be anywhere in the castle, and that it would take a long, long, time for her to pin him down.
Twilight simply fell off her hooves and collapsed onto the tile, fatigued in both body and mind. Ignio, who was fixing his cape delicately with an earth-green aura of magic, looked down at her perplexed. “Hm... I guess I pushed you too hard.”
She groaned in mental absence, Ignio raising an eyebrow. “Well I would hate to bother you then, but I still need to be directed to either Princess Luna or Celestia...”
“You need to see the princesses?” Twilight asked, muzzle barely raised off the floor.
“Well, yeah.” Ignio smiled with rich green eyes. “It’s the whole reason I came to Canterlot in the first place... When I accidentally ran into you, Miss Sparkle, I thought of the great honor it would be for somepony like me to meet you... and I easily get lost in castles... it has happened more than once...”
He looked down sheepishly, prompting Twilight to giggle slightly at his apparent misfortune. She would have to tell Princess Celestia that she couldn’t find Vicar, and maybe she would actually run into him on the way back while taking Ignio... so maybe it wasn’t a total bummer.
“I’ll be happy to take you,” she smiled, “I happen to need to go that way too.” Ignio raised his eyebrow again and smiled with her, “Thank you kindly.”
Like a gentlecolt, he helped her back to her hooves and closely followed as Twilight expertly lead them through the palace halls. Ignio, while an apparently intelligent and strong young stallion, proved to be ultimately unable to navigate and was very clumsy on the polished floors, often tripping on himself or his cape. Many times did Twilight have to stop and help him back onto his hooves, always receiving a brisk, “Thank you kindly.”
With a slight caution, the two managed to reach the princess’s spire and walked all the way to the top without accident (via a little magical help). After their combined run, walk, then climb, Twilight exhaustingly raised a hoof and knocked on the heavy wooden door. The door became bathed in a yellow aura, before opening, seemingly by itself, and revealed the tall form of Princess Celestia.
“I see you were unable to locate Vicar,” the princess assessed coolly after a brief moment.
“I’m sorry princess, but he was gone by the time I came back and you told me to hurry.” Twilight looked down to avoid the princess’s gaze. Celestia looked at her student contently before turning to Ignio, her face lighting up a bit at his stare. “I figured as much. Come on in and make yourself comfortable... both of you.”
“You figured as much?” Twilight repeated dumbfounded as Celestia gently herded her into the room.
“Mostly, the real reason I sent you out was that I figured you would run into Ignio here with his general clumsiness and all.”
“Oh, very funny Tia.”
Twilight tilted her head in confusion at their banter. “...Really?”
The princess nodded and gestured for Twilight to come to her side. By doing so, she found herself staring in mild disbelief as Ignio hung his cape up on a rack. Fluttering on his back with brilliant red feathers were a pair of large pegasus wings, adding to his already taller-than-most size.
“Twilight,” Celestia smiled, “May I formally introduce you to Prince Vulcan Ignis Galaxia, Count of Fillydelphia.”
The pieces and hints of their conversations and race slowly began to fall into place as Twilight faced the young alicorn’s firm stare. “So... you were Prince Vulcan all along...”
“Sorry for not telling you earlier. I’m not really fond of formalities.”
Twilight only stared at him oddly, waiting for anything else he might have said. Princess Celestia, however, wasted no time and decided to step in and clear her throat to interrupt. “Excuse me, hate to interrupt this silence, but further formalities will have to wait for another time.”
Prince Vulcan inched his head back, “Why, what happened?”
“Our keys were stolen Ignio.” Celestia looked at her younger brother grimly. “Mine and Luna’s.”
“Stolen?” he raised his eyebrow.
“By strange and very violent creatures of unknown origins: they raided Arcem Solis and took them from under our noses. I sent a letter to everypony telling them to keep a close eye on their own keys. Jovian and Sirius will be arriving the day before the celebration and will weigh in on the situation then.”
“After all that, the celebration is still on?” Vulcan sounded almost insulted.
“As far as I know.”
Twilight breathed in a big puff of air and stomped a hoof to the ground. “Stop! Princess, you promised you would explain what is happening!”
Vulcan’s eyes widened, “You did what?” The young prince seemed deeply disturbed by Twilight’s outburst. “Celestia... hoc est arcanum unum familiae nostrae scriptor...”
The princess narrowed her eyes, “Scio, frater mi.”
“Possumus credere?” the prince glanced at the purple unicorn, causing Twilight to become frustrated with Ignio’s changed personality.
“Etiam Vulcanus, fiduciam in fide.”
Vulcan glanced between the two and sighed. “And I trust you, big sister...”
Celestia raised her head up and smiled, before turning to her student and sitting down on a soft cushion. “You might want to take a seat as well Twilight.”
The unicorn did so accordingly and began to shift glances between the soft, gleaming, violet eyes of her mentor and the hard, steeled gaze of thick green from the colt prince. Celestia briefly cleared her throat and stared directly into her student’s eyes.
“You wanted to know the truth, so I promise to tell you everything. But you must promise me something: you must promise me that under no circumstances will you interrupt me. Is that fair?” Twilight briskly nodded, followed by a single nod from Vulcan. With a deep breath, Princess Celestia’s horn flared to life with a hot-violet hue. “Then it is time you learn about the truth of the Elements of Harmony and the Tempest...”