//------------------------------// // Chapter 19: Not Very Heart(h)warming // Story: Harmony and Courage: Running Parallel // by SSJRandomMaster //------------------------------// Chapter 19: Not Very Heart(h)warming ---------------------------------------------------- Azure Courage found that the more friends a pony has, the faster a loathsome season seemed to pass by. Though he still made visits to the library to see if Twilight's progress on any other light spells had picked up, he found himself outside a lot more than he wanted to be in the summer. Stranger still, he enjoyed every minute. But even in the dead of winter, he still had a job to do. While construction had essentially halted for the winter months, there had been some damage down at Sweet Apple Acres. Apparently, there had been some oversights when the barn was rebuilt after the parasprites ate it, and the storm caused some damages. Ever sympathetic to cold drafts in a warm home, Azure quickly agreed to help out Applejack in repairing the home. Yet, even in the midst of repairs, he could catch her staring at him, though she seemed a bit less...sure of something than she was during the applebucking before the season started. Her little sister's stare seemed to have lessened a bit, though she apparently enjoyed watching her sister and Azure deal with whatever was happening between them as a kid would. Twilight didn't seem as acidic as she had been, and in fact actually seemed willing to have him help a bit more in the studies of the anti-Shadow Ghoul spells. Though, he could have sworn she was being a bit more deliberate in how she moved the glasses along her snout... Over the past few weeks, he'd finally finished that book she got him too. The colt had noticed the sequel hook at the end, but didn't mind it: winter was only half-over, after all. When she learned that he had finished it, she had been incredibly eager to discuss the novel with him; more so than he expected given he didn't picture adventure as Twilight's favorite genre of book. Of course, as Apple Bloom continued to have that knowing look whenever he was over at Applejack's, so too did Spike's jokes whenever he had to be at the library. It was starting to become exhausting to deal with it. More than one, the thought of talking to Rarity about what was happening to him as of late crossed his mind, since she had offered on his birthday when she noticed something between him and Applejack that he had apparently missed. However, not all of this time was spent dwelling on the awkwardness he'd felt at those locations while he was there. Even though it was the dead of winter, Azure did say that he'd start trying to his magic under better control, so he could harness whatever light spells he could for himself, as the pony that had physical strength and magic at his disposal. Now that quite a few light spells had been amassed by the unicorns during their various study sessions, it was time to put them to the test. ---------------------------------------------------- Twilight Sparkle had learned quite a bit about Azure the last few weeks, and had been able to produce a couple of friendship lessons on the matter while she was at it. And today was the day Azure was supposed to come to the library to practice doing the light spells they'd picked out from the books. For a colt that didn't think his magic was anything special, he was determined to push himself. His dedication to his friends was nothing short of remarkable... She pored over the spells she'd noted from the pages, making sure everything was ready. "Spike, I think everything's ready..." Twilight mused, going over her checklist for the study session. "Spells, simplified so that Azure can understand it better, check. A cleared work area?" "Check..." Spike wearily said, moving the last bit of breakables out of the area surrounding the fireplace. That was her study area, and given that spells had a habit of misfiring on her when she was trying them for the first time, she didn't want any broken glass in the area if it could be helped. "And..." Twilight mumbled to herself, knowing Azure would arrive any minute. She turned to where she kept those glasses she'd been perscribed, and reached out to them magically. A few seconds later, the glasses were back where they had been for a few weeks straight. "Check." "Twilight, I thought you didn't need to wear those anymore..." Spike cut in, shifting his full attention to her. The purple mare pointedly turned away from her assistant as he continued on: "It's been a few weeks now. Aren't your eyes better?" The feeling of sudden, intense heat tugged at her cheeks. She faltered for a moment as the dragon's words washed over her, but it wasn't that hard to think of an explanation that sounded at least somewhat credible. "We're working with light spells, Spike," Twilight said, trying to keep her voice steady. "I might need these again, so I think I'd better keep them around..." If Spike wanted to give her a reply, he didn't have time. Almost as if on cue, there was a knock at the door. "That's probably him now!" Twilight noticed she was a little bit cheerier than she usually was whenever Azure visited nowadays, and she couldn't figure out why. "Spike--" "Already on it..." Spike slowly walked over to the door--probably on purpose since now it was common knowledge between the friends that Azure had a weakness to the cold--and opened it, revealing a surprisingly patient-looking cyan unicorn. He was still wearing Applejack's hat and the other winter gear he'd had on him during his previous visits. "Alright, Twilight," Azure said, stepping inside. Spike crossed his arms indignantly, neglecting to close the door for a few moments due to being ignored, but he quickly shrugged it off. "Let's see how far along I can get with learning these spells..." "I am also here," remarked Spike dryly, though there was just a small, smug look on his face as though he suddenly understood why she had the glasses on. Whatever the case was, Twilight didn't care to know, shifting to "all business" mode as Azure finished setting his winter gear and the hat aside. After the colt quickly adjusted his headband, he looked over to her. "Ready, Twilight?" Azure asked, beginning to walk towards her. "Just a second..." Twilight responded, "I know you said you were going to learn these spells, but you have always said you weren't exactly the best at magic. Are you sure you can handle it?" Azure blinked, obviously just a little confused, "I...have to learn these spells. I'm the one that always goes in swinging first, after all..." Twilight nodded in response, "I had a feeling you'd say that..." She gave a small smile, which he returned. ---------------------------------------------------- Azure Courage didn't know what it was about today, but he found himself unusually fired up today. Perhaps it was the fact he was going to learn spells that could be used to help his friends. One of them in particular could have been used even if he needed it to fight off a pony in broad daylight and needed a quick way to get an upper hand. This spell seemed simple enough in concept. It was the very first spell they'd come across in their joint research, the one that worked better if you were facing the target. "Alright," Azure said, taking a deep breath to steady himself as he pored over the notes for that spell. He had to give Twilight credit: she knew how to take her magical technobabble and put it into layman's terms so even somepony like him could see what he had to do. It looked simple enough to execute. "Let's see if I can get this down..." The two were in Twilight's study area, only the place looked like it had been stripped of the breakables, an understandable precaution given they were working with magic. There was a fire going in the fireplace to keep the room warm, and there wasn't much else in the room other than Twilight's notes and the books from which the spells came from. Azure shut his eyes in his concentration, trying to remember the steps of the spell as he focused his magic into performing it. What this spell does is a little more complicated than the gravity spell Blitz taught me to make freegalloping in close-quarters easier... he thought to himself, a cyan glow entering his mind as he began to take into account the steps. Step one...focus on a light. Well...sunlight is currently pouring in through the window, but this thing can take even a small amount of light and turn it into a blinding force if performed correctly... ---------------------------------------------------- Twilight watched as Azure began his first attempt at the spell. His horn was glowing cyan. The very tip of his horn, however, began to take on a yellowish tint. It looked like he was doing it. Step two: Ampilfy the light using your magic... Now she could notice that the colt was starting to sweat a little. There was a vein starting to stick out just a little bit to the right of his horn, and his body was tensed up. The light ball on the end of his horn was sputtering, varying in size and brightness far too much for the spell to work properly. It was obvious he was trying to get it to work. Sure enough, the light ball vanished and Azure gasped, stumbling about, obviously shaken from the sudden magic failure. He soon recovered, rubbing at the base of his horn just a little. "Darn it!" he grumbled, shaking his head violently. "I know it isn't going to be easy..." Twilight nodded. "Well, I never said it would be, just that this spell was a very simple one compared to some of the others we found." "I'm aware of that..." Azure quipped. "Alright, I'm going to try again..." "Don't push yours--" Twilight halted midsentence, realizing who she was talking to. "Well, um...never mind. I guess with you, that might be asking a little much..." Azure gave a nod with a slightly smug grin, and closed his eyes, his horn lighting up again. ---------------------------------------------------- Step one: focus on the light; the magic currents your horn produces creates a warm feeling if you're doing it right... This time, Azure was more prepared for the sudden heat on his horn as the sunlight from the windows began to catch on the tip. He worked to shape the light, a little more prepared than the last time to control the currents and amplify them. S-step...two...amplify...the light with magic... There was a mental strain he wasn't going to be prepared for any time soon. The colt tried not to focus on the nagging sentiment in the back of his head that Virid was right about his magic needing some more work all those weeks ago as he tried to focus. Like Tartarus he was ever going to admit that that blowhard was right... He clenched his jaw unconsciously as he fought to maintain the light and intensify it so he could move on to step three, the last step. The feeling of heat on his horn intensified, no doubt the sunlight being amplified. The heat should feel like I'm dipping it in hot water when I first get this down, but the heat definitely shouldn't be as dramatic once I get this spell down... The heat continued to intensify, but just like last time, the strain became too much. It felt like the currents of magic were slowing down, or speeding up; he couldn't really tell for sure. Point is, he was starting to feel disoriented again, and he strained to keep it up, but it was no use. The feeling of light on his horn started to fade and cool off. Suddenly, the currents completely stalled, and he felt them painfully backlash once again. Air he didn't even realize he was holding rushed from his lungs as the recoil blasted through him. His head once more began to hurt, especially at the base of his horn, and he raised his forehoof almost reflexively to his forehead in pain. "Again...!" Azure began, rubbing at the spot lightly. "Ugh...! The currents slow to a stop and they reverse...at least, that's what it feels like..." "Spells backfiring sometimes feel like that..." Twilight responded. "I've never seen one backfire on you like this..." The cyan colt replied, slowly recovering from the second backfire. The mare across from him remained quiet for a little bit, but Azure didn't focus on her reaction to what he said right away. "Would you like to take a break?" she finally asked, taking a couple of steps forward. "No, no...I can't take one yet...I've got to try again..." Azure spoke up, closing his eyes again. "Maybe 'third time's the charm' won't exactly work here, but the more I do it, the more I feel like I'm getting better at this..." ---------------------------------------------------- Twilight knew Azure was right; he hadn't seen spells backfire on her, at least, not to an extent such as what he'd experienced just now twice. They usually backfired in application, the parasprite invasion still serving as a good example. And she didn't know why, but she found herself once again resisting the urge to blush for a moment when he'd said it. But learning magic wasn't the easiest thing she'd done in her life. It may have been her talent, but she had some trouble pretty early on, like most other unicorns did. Azure's horn sparked to life again. Step one came a bit more easily to him than it had the last two times, but once again, as he tried to amplify the light via magic, the light began to slowly swell at first. However, the swelling was more consistent this time, as opposed to the size starting to fluctuate after a few seconds. The light on the tip of his horn grew in size and seemed to be getting brighter. Twilight resisted the urge to turn her head, knowing she needed to tell him if he was doing it right. She needed to guard against mishap. Twilight squinted hard. A tiny voice in the back of her head told her to take off her glasses, but she wasn't listening, for whatever reason. As the rate at which the light intensified began to slow down, the purple mare began to wonder if she should turn her head so that she wouldn't be irrepairably blinded by the third and final step. However, the light slowly began to fade, allowing Twilight to look towards Azure directly again... "Azure..." "Not now, Twilight, I'm in the middle of concentrating..." "This is kinda important..." "Alright, what is it?" "Your horn's on fire..." Twilight said. "...What?" Now Azure was paying attention, his horn stopping all kinds of glowing...except at the tip where he'd concentrated his magic on the light. Somehow, through pure magical mishap, he'd managed to set the very tip of his horn on fire, like a candle. "Now that you're mentioning it, it does sort of feel like--" The colt finally opened his eyes, and within moments, they went wider than the plates she'd removed from the room. Now, in all the time she'd known him, Twilight had never seen Azure panic. The closest he came to it was whenever he was caught in a compromising position; but even then he seemed to keep his cool. However, were it her whose horn was starting to immolate from a spell that wasn't a fire spell, she'd imagine she'd start losing it. Twilight started to move as Azure finally started to come to terms with the fact his horn was more like a candle. "How did this happen?!" Azure yelled, now completely alarmed, trying to shake his head in hopes that it would put out the flame. All he was doing was making the flame grow bigger. "I don't know, maybe the spell generated a lot of heat!" She was equally panicked, and gasped just a little when Azure started to reach up to his horn with his forehooves. Immediately, she magically reached up, grabbing hold of them and forcing his hooves back down, already knowing what he was planning to do. "If you do that, you'll just burn yourself!" Twilight admonished, already knowing what she needed to do. "What else am I supposed to do?" Azure questioned, now sounding like he was in some pain. "Just hold on for a moment, I'm going to go get some water!" Twilight advised, hoping that Azure could hang in there and that his horn wouldn't get burnt up before she got back. ---------------------------------------------------- Azure Courage was in easily the most pain he'd ever been in in his life. He was sweating, but as the flame spread down from the tip of his horn so slowly, he began to feel something far worse than a headache. The cyan colt tried his hardest not to cry out and remain absolutely still save for pained twitches of his hooves as the heat on his forehead began to intensify. Hurry it up, Twilight... The last thing he'd wanted to do was set the library on fire using his unintentionally-made torch from flailing around like an idiot, so he held himself from doing so with every fiber of his being. I can't take much more of this...any closer and I'm going to start needing fur donors... Cold water splashed over him in that instant, and he heard a faint sizzling sound that was the fire being put out. Though he was soaked again, Azure was too distracted from the sudden relief from both the horn immolation and the consequential heat to care that he was sopping wet in the middle of Twilight's study room. "Azure, are you alright?" Azure finally opened his eyes, trailing his eyes up to his horn. The tip of it was smoking, and slightly blackened from the burns, but it wasn't anything a good polishing wouldn't fix. Good thing Rarity gave him that kit...he'd need it now... "Y-yeah," the unicorn colt commented, sighing in relief as his cool finally returned. "Thanks..." "I think we'd better take that break now..." said Twilight. "No objections..." responded Azure. ---------------------------------------------------- It hadn't taken too long to get over by the fire. Ironic, given what just happened. Azure Courage was sitting in front of the fire, an ice bag over his horn. It was more or less against any flare-ups, but Azure had to admit he was still feeling a little burnt out from the triple backfire, the last of which apparently made his horn into a torch...without any of the benefits and all of the detriments of such. Twilight, after re-checking the spell as described in the book, returned to his side and plopped down right next to him, "Well, that was unexpected. I re-checked the book just to be sure, and it didn't say anything about spontaneous horn combustion in there." "Guess we're just going to have to make a note of it," Azure winced, readjusting the ice bag so it was better distributed. "I'll keep that in mind," Twilight answered, now turning to face him directly. "How's your forehead?" "Fine," Azure responded, turning to her as he removed the bag, rubbing at his forehead, "It doesn't really hurt, but I think I might have singed a good patch of my fur there..." "Let me see..." Twilight said, sitting up so she could be at eye level with his forehead. For whatever reason, Azure initially hesitated to remove his hoof from the spot, but she quickly, gently moved it aside. "Doesn't look too bad," she said. The worst of it was a black patch immediately around the base of his horn, but so far, he hadn't lost any fur. She turned to his horn, and winced again as she saw the black, burnt spot on the tip. "Though the tip of your horn has seen better days..." The purple mare reached up to touch it, but thought better of it, "Does it hurt?" "Just my pride..." "Oh, don't be overdramatic," Twilight replied, "something that big can't be damaged that badly from just a simple backfire." It wasn't meant to be funny. It was a clear assessment of his condition, but for some reason, Azure snorted, and a split second later, he burst out laughing. It took Twilight all of two seconds to realize what she'd just said and she joined in. For a few seconds, it was pure laughter between them. "Oh, so now you tell jokes, huh?" Azure questioned, not sounding slighted in the least about it. "Yeah, well, even I have my moments..." Twilight replied. Truth be told, over the past few weeks as she'd spent time with him, she'd found that she could let herself go just a little whenever she was around him. She never really felt like he was about to just judge her for what she did. By all accounts, he probably should have long ago in the throes of an argument. She never quite was able to understand completely why she felt that way. They argued all the time when they first met, but they gradually began to fade the more they hung around each other. The fact that he actually read books when he didn't need to was another thing that gave her comfort in a place she didn't expect. On top of that, he always seemed to have a knack for offering her fitting reassurance when she needed it the most... Azure looked back over to the wet spot where he'd been standing moments before. He winced as he saw that not only was that floor probably not going to get completely dried off, but a couple of books had been caught in the water as well. "Sorry about the water damage..." he said, sounding just a little down on himself. "It's no big deal," Twilight started, looking over to him. "I'd pick water damage over seeing you in that much pain any...time..." For some reason, both of them paused awkwardly, and both looked way from each other, light blushes on their faces. "Thanks, but it would help if I were as good at magic as you were," Azure said as the two unicorns looked back at each other again. "You're not that bad," Twilight responded, "You know the gravity spell and laser spells, two spells I didn't know of when I first met you...besides, what you lack in magical ability, you more than make up for in physical ability." "This, coming from the mare who beat me in the Running of the Leaves..." Azure replied with a smile. "Yes, but you came out sprinting and practically left the rest of us in the dust..." Twilight raised a forehoof as she brought up that particular fact. "Had you paced yourself like I did, you might have won the whole thing." "Perhaps," Azure said, lightly chuckling. "But using my brain like that has never been my strong point." Twilight realized she once again found herself wanting to correct Azure's statement that he was stupid; had this been at the time of their first meeting, she might have let the comment go, but now, she found it didn't feel right. It didn't sound right, coming from him. "Don't say that, you're smart..." Twilight stated. "Maybe not like me, but..." She faltered for the correct words to describe what he had going for him. "Don't worry about it," Azure cut in, "I'm the brawns, you're the brains, and I wouldn't have it any other way..." He wasn't the best at using magic, but he did have quite a bit of physical strength underneath that fur. She was never known to exercise-it came as a surprise to Azure, Applejack and Rainbow Dash that she came in fifth during the Running of the Leaves; but she was the princess's student, to hone her vast magical talent. "You're right, I guess we make the best team," Twilight smiled to him, as her glasses slid down her face very slightly. "No team better," Azure replied, smiling back. While this wasn't the first time they'd provided reassurance to each other, this time, something about the moment felt different. Azure looked to Twilight, and saw the glasses had slid down her face somewhat. The light from the fire caught her frame in a way that seemed to bring something out, and all Azure could do was look into her eyes. She looks...cute...really cute...with those glasses... ------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight found herself unable to look away. When she was younger, even before her studies under the princess started, she'd never really had any friends, mostly because she wasn't interested in them. After being forced to come to Ponyville, she'd met six ponies, five mares and Azure, all better friends than a pony could ask for. Each one of them were unique, but for some reason, Azure had always stood out, and it wasn't because of his gender. Azure, when I first met you, you made my head hurt... she thought to herself. I never understood why you did the things you did when we first met. You're the most stubborn colt I've ever met, that hasn't changed, but...you have proven you'd be ready to fight back and fight back hard if it came to it. You can't stand to see your friends hurt or insulted... The purple unicorn continued to stare. You had a hard outer shell around you, but the more I got to know you, the more I saw the nice pony underneath...and he's the pony staring me down...now... Simultaneously, both of the ponies went on autopilot. Neither one had been aware of what had happened as they unconsciously moved forward. Both were blushing very slightly, but didn't seem to notice it. Their mouths slightly parted as they moved closer and closer to one another, preparing and welcoming the inevitable contact that was about to happen. "Hey, Twilight, where was the fi--" Spike's voice shattered the scene entirely, and both unicorns snapped back to their senses. Azure was completely stunned, as was Twilight, but she managed to get enough of her sense back to shove Azure over onto his back out of sheer embarassment. "Sp-Spike!" Twilight stuttered out, thoroughly confused by what just happened and at a loss for an answer. "We...we were just...um..." "Um, well," Spike's look told the unicorn all she needed to know: he was fully aware of what he saw, "I'm just going to leave you two alone..." Twilight buried her face in her forehooves, feeling it start to burn like a fire as her face turned a very bright, bright shade of red. The only thing that could be heard in the room was the sound of two racing heartbeats, though they could each only hear their own hearts rushing. "Oh, that was so embarassing..." she lamented. She turned to the recovering colt on her right, and, noting that he too was blushing, asked him a simple question, "W-what were we about to do?" "I-I don't know..." Azure stuttered, getting back to his feet slowly, the shock of the moment overwhelming him. "I lost control of my body..." "W-what could have possessed us to...to...almost...almost..." Twilight was overcome, and Azure could see it, clear as day. He himself was confused about what just happened. Were we about to...? Azure thought to himself, already moving towards her. I-I...oh no... "Twilight," he said, reaching out to her as he continued. "Do you want to talk about it?" "N-no..." she stuttered, suddenly moving away from his touch. "I think I'd better...gather my thoughts, call it a day..." "Okay then..." Azure didn't know why, but the instant they said this, it felt like an ice spear went straight through his heart. "You know where to find me when you're ready to start up again..." Azure quickly left the house, not bothering to see what Spike had to say for himself. Surprisingly, even though he'd just caught them in a rather interesting moment, he didn't seem to have anything to say, but the unicorn colt didn't care. If Twilight needed her space, she was going to get it. He quickly put his winter gear back on and left the library quickly, too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice the winter cold... ---------------------------------------------------- Twilight silently remained in her study, removing the glasses from her face. Her vision was clear as it had been before, so Azure's repeated misfires didn't do a number on her vision just yet. She walked over to the window and set the glasses down on her desk. From the window, she could see Azure walking away, looking very deep in thought, his head hung, and at one point, a forehoof pressed into his forehead. The purple unicorn didn't understand what just happened between them, and it both interested her and made her terrified since she didn't quite get it. Her heart was still thrumming in her chest due to the fact they'd just about kissed had Spike not intervened. As she watched him leave, she felt a sudden, strong pain in her chest, and she rubbed at it instinctively... "Azure..." ---------------------------------------------------- Azure Courage felt himself wrack with doubt and confusion at what he'd just experienced. He and Twilight had been close from the onset, to the point a couple of the others had been joking they'd be together, he did remember that, but as far as he could see, they were just friends. But that didn't explain what just happened at all. No doubt about it... he thought to himself. Had Spike not stopped us, we would have kissed right then and there. What the heck's happening? I know there's definitely something between Applejack and me...but have I also drawn in Twilight too...? The cyan colt couldn't purge it from his mind. Something was definitely going on, something more than he wanted to admit and something more than he wanted at all. What's going on? Are Silver and Rarity right about this? The colt continued to walk forward, guilt edging its way into his mind. But he had no idea where it was coming from. He rubbed at his forehead uneasily as he made his way home. No...wait... Azure found a distant memory returning to him. He grit his teeth, and his face was set in discomfort. "Thanks for bein' such a great colt!" The memory of the hug Applejack had given him in the immediate aftermath of the attack on her farmhouse returned with a vengeance. She'd hugged him in a manner that definitely meant friendship. However, it dawned on him that none of the other mares he'd been friends with had made such a move on him before. Usually, the hugs only lasted a few seconds at most, but that one lasted a good half-minute at least. Up until now, he'd only really remembered receiving that hug. His brow creased, and his face pulled into a grimace as his rational mind fully processed the situation he was in. As fully as it could, anyway. The only other time where I've felt like that was with Applejack... Azure thought to himself, recalling both his long, long hug with Applejack, and now the near-kiss with Twilight. My body started acting on its own...why do I feel like this when I'm around them...do I like Applejack? Do I like Twilight? Both? Is that even possible... He rubbed at the base of his horn again, another grimace forming on his face. "Ugh, I don't know what to think..." Azure continued to walk along, firmly convinced he was in a pinch that no amount of magic or freegalloping would get him out of, when a memory returned. "If you want, I could help clear things up for you..." Rarity had offered this advice to him back when it was just Applejack that was confusing him. The unicorn exhaled, a vapor trail leaving his mouth as he returned all four feet on the ground, looking back towards the town. "Hmm..." ---------------------------------------------------- While Azure Courage struggled with mare troubles and the consequences of not following his friend's advice, somewhere else in Equestria, a symbol of times of old was about to be unearthed, and the conspiracy surrounding the mysterious summoner of the Shadow Ghouls was about to deepen... ---------------------------------------------------- The winter excavation had not been going well for Dr. Rune der-Ground. His archaeology exploits in Baltimare did little to help his struggling family, and the excavation at Manehatten did no better for him. This time, his team and himself were digging for artifacts outside of Fillydelphia, and so far, they had come up short. Rune der-Ground was an earth pony who loved what he did for more than just the profits, though. It was in his talent, his nature, to take an interest in Equestrian history. The pay was just a side benefit compared to the reward that he felt inside whenever he unearthed an important artifact...perhaps the remains of pre-historic creatures, or even some artifacts of old regimes in the history of the country. However, this particular sorjourn was just creating a large, fresh pit in the ground to be dusted with snow. If he didn't wrap up the excavation soon, the town and the surrounding areas were due for a heavy snow. That would, at best, make a few inches of digging snow in the large pit on the outskirts of town, and at worst, fill the hole with ice. That would make the excavation impossible. The light blue pony continued, determined to at least find something to make the work worth it. He continued digging at the ground with the shovel. Spade down, sink in, throw out...down, in, out...down, in, out...down...in-- Clink! "Hm?" The pony had a vague accent us humans would refer to as "German". "What's this?" Resorting to manually scraping aside the soft mud with his hooves, Rune soon uncovered a gray object. As he uncovered more and more of it, the object shone in the sunlight, and reflexively, the earth pony looked away for a moment. Eventually, he was able to pick it up from its muddy tomb, and examine it more closely. "What is this?" he asked to himself, examining the object. "I haven't seen anything like it..." The object appeared to be a gem of sorts, but it wasn't a gem like he'd ever seen. It was an odd one: at first glance, it appeared to be shaped like an odd hourglass: one end slightly larger than the other, so it was obviously a cut diamond. It was still covered in mud, but as Rune cleaned the object's smaller end, he saw something interesting as the light hit it. It was an image of the night sky, decorated in white stars and a waxing moon. Rune blinked. He'd seen this design before... Curiosity got the better of him even more, and he began to clean the object thoroughly of mud. This time, when he saw the larger end, he saw a very familiar sight when the light hit the concave opening in the diamond. It was an image of the sun, against a whitish-pink background. Rune blinked, as a realization hit him. "This is...Princess Celestia's cutie mark, is it not...?" he mumbled to himself. "What is this...?" He was convinced now this was an ancient artifact of some sorts, given its depth and the fact that Nightmare Moo--Princess Luna's cutie mark was on the gem as well. The earth pony found himself both surprised at the find...and concerned. He had no idea what it was. Was the original castle here, in Fillydelphia, and this was a commemorative gem tossed aside by a unicorn because he couldn't make it work? Or was there more to it than what he thought. There was only one way he could find out... ---------------------------------------------------- Princess Celestia had a busy life for the past several centuries. Even though her sister was back at her side to help her rule once more, she still hadn't completely recovered all her power just yet, and still needed a little assistance in putting the stars where they went. It'd probably be another couple of months before the reprocussions of the Elements being used on her evil half would finally fade. At first, she was maybe slightly taller than Twilight and her friends, as well as that colt who was appointed to be their Protector. Now, she was about three-fourths of her full height, and her mane and tail had started to regain their etheral looks. If Azure could see her now... The news that there had been an attack in Ponyville left the alicorn greatly troubled on top of the mountains of paperwork she had to go through as co-ruler of the land. Even with Luna helping her again, it still seemed like there was so many things to be done. However, the Princess knew there was a certain satisfaction in knowing her subjects, for the most part, trusted her. She didn't know why a select few still thought of her as a tyrant even though she acted in the best interest of Equestria, but she thought little of it, since those ponies were few and far between. The fact that another attack hadn't been attempted in all this time left her a little relieved, but she still was concerned that her student and her friends would get too complacent with this fact. However, it didn't seem to be the case, given they all seemed to be learning from one another, judging from Twilight's letters. She kept all of them in an archive. Somehow, she'd felt they'd come in handy, if only to be able to look back on them later on and smile. Speaking of letters, currently she was going through piles of letters. Some of them were townsfolk offering their thanks for whatever reason. She knew the type by now like the underside of her hoof after ruling for over a thousand years, so she would put those aside to focus on important correspondence. Her gaze stopped on a letter from Fillydelphia. It had a seal on it that usually wasn't present with the so-called "fan mail". And that particular seal was usually there when a matter needed to be given some level of immediate attention. Princess Celestia blinked. "Urgent matter...?" she mused aloud, immediately unrolling the parchment. Her magenta eyes scanned the parchment. "Hmm...'Rune der-Ground'...I've been to a couple of his exhibits before...'odd, hourglass-shaped jewel...'" The sun princess broke off midsentence, re-reading the second part of that statement. "With Luna's cutie mark and my own on it...?" The white alicorn blinked. Her gaze shifted for just a moment as painful memories of over one thousand years ago resurfaced, but only for a moment. She came to her decision almost immediately. "...I think it'd be better left in Canterlot's hands..." -------------- "Can you believe it, Blitz?" Crimson Blitz honestly could agree with Virid Strategem's enthusiasm for this. They had been members of the Royal Guard for about six weeks now; even having the traditional golden armor of those in the Guard, and already they were entrusted by the Princess herself to handle a situation. "I know," Crimson responded, "It feels like yesterday when we were accepted..." Azure's cousins were on a chariot headed for Fillydelphia. Princess Celestia had filled them in on what they had to do. It seemed ridiculously simple, but even so, the fact that the beloved monarch of the land herself had bestowed the task on them made it all the more important to them. They were to secure the centuries-old artifact, and transport it back if it was necessary. "We know what we're looking for, right?" "Of course," responded Virid. "In the right light, one concave side of the gem should display Princess Luna's cutie mark. The other concave side, under the same conditions, should display Princess Celestia's cutie mark. The gem itself should be gray and lifeless aside from the normal luster a diamond should have." "Good. Nice to see you're on top of things here, Virid." Crimson nodded. "Nice of you to say, Crimson Blitz, but I have to be..." The green unicorn looked over the side. "Looks like we're almost there." "Think this is gonna be open-and-shut, Virid?" The red unicorn asked. "Why wouldn't it be? It sounds so simple..." "Maybe Azure's rubbed off on me, but something tells me not to be so sure..." "'Kay, Red Fearful, I'll keep it in mind..." Crimson sighed. Even after joining the Royal Guards, Virid managed to be a royal pain. After his conduct in dealing with Azure's friends, the red unicorn had essentially shouldered the burden of having to make sure Virid could remain a part of the Royal Guard. Being a top-notch strategist meant absolutely nothing if you were going off on tangents about how your non-unicorn colleagues couldn't do magic. And, though he hated to admit it, the lack of magic prowess that Crimson had as a unicorn made him a perfect partner for Virid, who practically breathed the power. Thankfully, it hadn't come up yet, but anypony who knew the unicorn more closely knew it was only a matter of time. "Whatever. If your hunch turns out to be right, don't be like Azure and rub it in next chance you get..." Virid finally said. "Still think you're being paranoid." The chariot finally touched down in Fillydelphia, pretty much at the site where the find had occurred. Both unicorns immediately dismounted. Within moments, the light blue form of the earth pony appeared. "So the Princess is interested in what I've found?" He sounded genuinely surprised. "Yes," Virid still knew how to be civil, though Crimson found himself just a little nervous at the prospect of leaving Virid unsupervised to talk to this pony. "She wanted us to see if it was what she thought it was for ourselves. If it's the artifact she thinks it is, she wants us to transport it back to Canterlot." "What exactly does she think it is?" The earth pony demanded to know. "She didn't say it directly, but she seemed..." Crimson cut in at this point, taking over. "I don't know how to put it...but there was something about her that was off when we received our orders." "Well, come in, and I will show you the jewel," said Rune, allowing the two unicorns into his tent. Though the muddy pit was devoid of other ponies, it was now about noon. They were probably away at lunch, Crimson figured. The two unicorns approached the jewel. "I'll handle it, Blitz," said Virid calmly, stepping forward a little more. "Go on, but I want to look at this myself..." Virid scanned the jewel carefully, holding it up to the nearby desklight. He nodded at the larger end and at the smaller end, and gave both ends another once-over. Finally, he set the jewel down. "Well?" der Ground asked, eagerness in his tone. "Let's see what Crimson thinks..." said Virid, passing the baton on to Crimson. The red unicorn was a little skeptical at first pass. It looked just like a regular, triangle-cut diamond with the top part caved in, and the pointed bottom also cut off and caved in, giving the stone its hourglass shape, though due to the difference in size between the two concave ends, it was warped in appearance. However, as Crimson rotated the bottom concave part towards the light, he saw it. A mark of the night sky, complete with the stars and the moon. Though Crimson hadn't seen Luna firsthand; the lunar princess probably still adjusting to the world having aged without her, Celestia had at least done enough to tell them what her mark looked like, and this was almost a perfect match. Crimson flipped over the gem. He didn't need to be told that this time he was staring at Celestia's mark, the morning sun. Other than that, in normal lighting, the gem looked perfectly normal, as though it were harmless. "I think this is what she was looking for, no question about it..." Crimson responded, though already his mind was surging with questions. But why does she want this now? It obviously has some magical property to it because the designs only appear under light...but it was left behind, so it can't have been that effective... the red unicorn thought to himself. He cast a glance to Virid, who nodded, confirming that he had thought about this too. Princess Celestia...what is this thing, and why is it so important? Was it something that fell through, or something else?