Voices flowing through her ears like the morning song of birds jolted Fluttershy into opening her eyes. She blinked a few times until her vision cleared and could make out the hall she and her companions were in. Her legs didn’t feel as achy as they were whilst walking through the desert, and she felt well refreshed and ready for another day’s journey. She let out a loud, long yawn as she brought her head up, and quickly spotted Luna, Cadence and Spike sitting together beside a wall, and speaking in loud whispers.
Her three companions whipped their heads around upon hearing Fluttershy’s yawn, and collectively smiled when they saw the pegasus getting up. “Good evening, Fluttershy,” Luna greeted her with a small bow of her head. Spike waved joyfully at her, while Cadence only smiled.
Fluttershy stood up straight, and moved her mane out of the way of her face while quickly straightening some of it down upon feeling some of it was out of place. “Good evening, everyone,” she greeted as she trotted over to sit alongside them. She turned her head to look through one of the broken windows, and confirmed to herself that it was definitely night time. A few clouds obscured many of the stars, but some shone through, lighting up the broken hall.
At the back end of the hall was what were the remains of a large hearth, blackened and crumbling with age. Left of it was what was left of a door, and behind it was the stairs leading to the top of the tower the four of them saw getting here. A table that had once stood at the hall’s centre, and stretched right down from one end to the next was now a broken and rotten corpse of one, with the benches in the same state. The black metallic door at the front end of the hall was the only thing that was largely intact about the interior of this place.
“How do you all feel?” Fluttershy asked, looking from pony to dragon as she sat down in their little circle.
“A bit tired,” Spike answered first, “but otherwise fine.”
“You were on my back most of the way, Spike, so how could you possibly be tired?” Cadence reminded him, glancing at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, well, do you know how tiring it is to be holding on for dear life when you’re going at a few hundred miles per hour?” Spike retorted.
“I do, actually,” Cadence replied smugly, leaving Spike silent. Cadence turned back to address Fluttershy. “I’m a bit tired myself, but it’s better than being dead, I suppose. I do feel quite stupid for forgetting my wings.”
“Don’t feel stupid, Cadence,” Fluttershy said comfortingly. “I had forgotten them myself at that moment. In fact, there was one time I fell from the sky with my old friends, and was rescued by Rainbow Dash, and another pegasus.” She briefly shuddered at the memory. “It is quite easy to forget them sometimes.”
Luna nodded in agreement, chuckling. “Indeed. I think it is safe to say all of us forgot them at that point, but if it wasn’t for your quick thinking, Fluttershy, we would have all been buried in that sandstorm. So thank you.”
Fluttershy felt her cheeks burn pink at the praise, and covered her face with her mane as she looked away bashfully. “I-it was nothing, really,” she squeaked eventually. “I just feel silly for not thinking about it earlier.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Cadence said softly, smiling. “We all make mistakes and do silly things, even Princesses do.” Her body suddenly shook as a nightly chill crept through the windows and around the inhabitants of the derelict castle. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I think it’s time to get some firewood.” She turned to face Spike, who had just sat down and got himself comfortable once again. “Spike? Could I borrow you for a moment to help me find some firewood?”
Spike’s lower jaw dropped in shock, which quickly turned into a pout. “Why me?” he moaned.
“Because you’re a dragon,” Cadence answered matter-of-factly. “And the best person to ask about firewood is probably a dragon. So I need your help.” She added gently with a big smile and wide eyes, “Please?”
Spike tried to look away or ignore the puppy dog look Cadence was giving him, but it was useless; the cuteness was too strong. “Fine,” he sighed, getting up from his sitting position. “But there better be some nice, juicy crystals for me to have when this is over.”
Cadence got up and stretched out her legs. “Of course there will be. I’m a mare of my word, Spike; you will get the crystals you want when I can give them to you.” Spike grinned eagerly, then jumped onto Cadence’s back as she turned around towards the door.
Fluttershy began to stand. “I’ll help as well,” she offered. However, before she could stand upright, her rump and tail was surrounded by a dark blue magic that set her back down on her rear.
“No, no,” Luna said, “I want you to stay here so I can trade words with you.”
Fluttershy scrunched her face up in confusion. “But, I don’t have any words that I want to trade with you. In fact, I don’t know if that’s even possible.”
“She just wants to talk to you, Fluttershy,” Cadence explained. “That’s all it means.”
“Oh,” Fluttershy oozed, nodding in understanding. “Okay, I’ll talk to you. I do like talking, especially to my friends. I… I can count you as a friend, can I?”
“Of course,” Luna replied, smiling warmly. “Just because we’re running for our lives does not mean we cannot be friends. I would go as far as to say it enhances that friendship.”
Fluttershy smiled with relief. “That’s good. So, um, is what you want to talk to me about something important?”
Luna nodded, then turned her head around to address Cadence. “Just be careful, and don’t go beyond the woods surrounding this castle,” she warned them. “We don’t know what’s beyond this place.”
Cadence nodded curtly at Luna, then, with Spike on her back, walked through the door and out into the cold night, leaving the door slightly open behind them. Luna and Fluttershy listened to the sound of hooves clopping against the ground, which gradually faded into nothingness.
“Oh, I hope they’ll be okay,” Fluttershy said, twiddling her hooves around each other in worry.
“I’m sure they’ll be fine, so long as they stay in the woods and do not linger.” Luna looked back at Fluttershy with a more serious expression. “Now, Fluttershy, I am going to ask you a question, and I want you to answer me truthfully.”
Fluttershy felt nervous to be in Luna’s presence all of a sudden. She shifted her rump about until she felt comfortable in sitting. “Um, okay… I think. What did you want to ask?”
“I was wondering how you were going to lead us to Horsca?” Luna asked quickly.
Fluttershy’s eyes widened in surprise, and fright. “Ho-how did you know about that?”
“Vidarr told me while you were pacing in a circle yesterday evening,” Luna explained. “He brought me out of the group for a moment, and told me that Horsca is where we should be going. He told me that he wanted you to lead us all to Horsca, and asked me to give you support, and assist you when necessary.”
Fluttershy stared at Luna with her mouth agape, incredulous to what she had just heard. “So that’s why you suddenly changed your mind about heading south,” she realised.
Luna nodded, her ears falling flat across her head out of guilt. “I apologise for deceiving you like I did, but Vidarr said it was important that you figured it out for yourself.”
“But I didn’t figure it out for myself, though,” Fluttershy countered. “Although you were very discreet about it, you still gave me the push in the right direction by telling me that we should discontinue heading south.” She visibly slumped and let out a sigh. “How is that being a good leader? How can I be a leader when everypony helps me rather than letting me do things on my own?”
“Now let me tell you something that I learnt from over a thousand years of living: a leader is only a good leader when he or she listens to the right advice from those he or she protects, and acts on that advice.” Fluttershy lifted her head up with a look of disbelief, yet she listened intently. “Although a leader makes the final decisions he or she thinks are the best for everypony, it is always good to listen to others and get a second opinion, for a decision made alone by the one in charge may not always be the right one to make.”
Luna’s ears suddenly fell flat once again, and her eyes looked sad. “I learnt that from personal experience, Fluttershy. I once made a decision that cost some good lives once, while ignoring those around me who said it wasn’t for the best. So never ignore advice given to you, Dragonlord. For if you do, only ruin will follow.”
Fluttershy’s yellow coat had turned a bit brighter than usual, and her eyes were wide with terror. “I-I-I’ll keep that in mind, Luna. Thanks.” Although it didn’t make her feel any better at all. Listening to one pony saying one thing seemed fine, but have a few more adding their voices into the issue, then it became a problem – one she thought she wouldn’t be able to handle.
“But you have yet to answer my question, Fluttershy. How do you plan to get us north and into Horsca?” Luna asked persistently.
Fluttershy already knew the answer. “I don’t know, Luna,” she responded, lowering her head to shy away from Luna’s gaze. “I would like to say by luck alone, but that would be the wrong answer.”
“Actually, there isn’t a right answer, or a wrong one. At least, not yet,” Luna said. “The only way for such an answer to be right or wrong are the events that will cross our path on the coming journey.”
Fluttershy nodded. “I just hope nothing bad will happen, that’s all. I don’t want any of you to get hurt, nor do I want other ponies to be hurt because of me or any of us.” She went silent for a moment as she thought intensely about it. “Maybe if we avoid all of the main roads, and major towns and cities close to us, then we may be okay.”
Luna smiled at her. “Spoken like a true tactician,” she said. Fluttershy felt her cheeks burn pink once more at the praise. “I completely agree with you, Dragonlord,” Luna continued. “So long as we are able to travel cross country as we are doing now, then we might get through it all unseen, and without much trouble.” Her smile suddenly wavered. “But Celestia is a cunning tactician, and she will employ anything in her arsenal if it means to capture us again.”
Fluttershy suddenly went pale as an unwanted thought came into her mind. “Or maybe even to… k-k-kill us?” she suggested.
Luna sighed. “I was going to leave that unspoken, but yes, she might. I’m surprised you thought that by yourself, to be honest. I thought you believed something happened to Celestia to make her act this way?”
“I know what I said,” Fluttershy replied, rubbing her left foreleg. “And yes, maybe something is controlling Celestia to make her wish to capture us or even kill us. But sometimes… sometimes I have these fleeting moments of doubt that say Celestia and my friends are fine, and they really do hate me or want to kill me.”
Luna hummed as she pondered. “It is only natural that you think like that. Like us, your faith in your friends and loved ones has been put into doubt. It is something we are all going through, dear Fluttershy, so do not think yourself alone in that. But do not ignore them, for they must be fought and cleared from our minds if we want to uncover the truth of what is exactly going on here.”
Fluttershy’s ears suddenly pricked upright. “You mean you’ll help me?” she asked, a hopeful smile crawling across her face.
Luna’s eyes cast themselves to the ground between them. “I have been thinking about what you said to me while we were in the desert. Although I may not entirely believe you about my sister no longer liking me, I fear something must have happened to make her think that we are traitors, and it has affected Equestria as well. If you will accept my help, then I will aid you in your quest to uncover the truth.”
Fluttershy couldn’t decide on whether to just say thank you, or tackle her in a bear hug. Eventually, she decided on the former. “I will gladly take your help. Thank you, Luna,” she said with a friendly smile. With that, the two fell into a companionable silence as they waited for Cadence and Spike to return.
As they waited, Fluttershy began to grow increasingly restless with every passing second. She started to feel itchy all over, making it difficult for her to sit still. She prostrated herself onto the ground, and rolled onto her back and began swaying her back from side to side as she tried to rid herself of an agitated itch, squeaking and making other sounds, much to Luna’s obviously building annoyance.
Just as she felt that one go, another itch on her left shoulder appeared. She rolled over once again, sat upright, and began scratching the itch like a dog, sighing pleasurably at how good it felt. She set her leg down, and sat still with a completely bored expression on her face. She didn’t know what to do, nor did she know what to say to Luna; she barely knew her after all. ‘We could try and get to know each other better in Horsca, when we’re safe,’ Fluttershy decided.
She began to shift her back end about as she tried to get comfortable, with a sound like sandpaper against metal bouncing around the walls. After a minute or so of this, Luna looked as if she had enough. “Have you quite finished, Fluttershy?” she asked, her tone implying her annoyance.
Fluttershy stopped fidgeting instantly, and blushed sheepishly at Luna. “Sorry, Luna. But I’m just so bored sitting here. Do you know anything we can do to pass the time until Cadence and Spike comes back? Any games? I would suggest ‘I spy’, but there’s not much here to play that with.”
“Well, we could get out of here and have a look around,” Luna suggested, gesturing with her head to the rest of the castle outside the hall. “Cadence and Spike might be a while, and even if they get back and we’re not here, they’d know we won’t be far away.”
Although Fluttershy felt the idea of exploring an old, dilapidated and creepy castle as very scary, it was still better then just sitting around and doing nothing. “I would love to,” she said, willing herself to stand upright once again.
Luna smiled, glad that Fluttershy was on board, then got up from the floor and stretched her forelegs. “Then let us explore like the explorer Daring Day,” she declared. With that, she turned around and trotted towards the open and rotting door.
“Um, Daring Do is the name of the explorer, Luna. Not Daring Day, who I recall was the name of Daring’s son in the final book,” Fluttershy corrected her, although it came out as a mumble that was only heard by herself. She quickly sprinted after Luna, who was by the door waiting for her.
The two walked through the door, and looked around at what they presumed to be the old courtyard. The ground was paved in stone and, much like the rest of the castle, was broken up with weeds and other plants growing out of the stonework. Although the night was dark, and the wind was strong, creating a chill that crawled over the ponies, the two could just make out the rest of the castle. In front of them was what was left of the gatehouse, which once stood proud and foreboding, but was now a ruin that looked like it was about to collapse at any moment. While around the old, broken walls lay small buildings, ruined like the rest of this place.
“Which way should we go?” Luna asked, looking left then right. “I wouldn’t mind looking left and seeing what’s on this side.”
“Well I would like to look right,” Fluttershy replied. “How about we split up and go both ways?” Luna nodded in agreement, and then turned to head right. “Just be careful, Luna.”
Luna looked back at her, grinning assuredly. “I can take care of myself, Fluttershy. Just look out for yourself.” With that, she turned around and trotted around the corner of the hall, and out of sight.
“That’s what I’m worried about,” Fluttershy muttered to herself. She looked away from where Luna went and trotted right of the main hall, which, with the tower added, looked tall and intimidating to the little pegasus. She could see a lot of weeds and other plants weaved into the stonework, making her fear that a slight push to one of the stones would make it all collapse on top of them in an instant. She shuddered at the thought, and then looked away at the other buildings.
In the right corner from the gatehouse stood what was left of a long, rectangular building, with what appeared to be the remains of barrels and crates stacked against and on top of each other. ‘Must have been a storehouse,’ Fluttershy reckoned. She briefly wondered if there was any food stored in there, but quickly thought against it. If there was, it was probably old and mouldy, and mostly eaten by rats or other predators that might call this place their home.
Next to the storehouse, a shorter, but longer building stood out, in that it was one of the few buildings that was largely intact; its roof was mostly in one piece, albeit a single hole, and the inside was left untouched, as though whoever lived here had gone out for a stroll and never came back. Fluttershy’s curiosity got the better of her, so she moved to stand in the open doorway to see what was inside.
The building appeared to have been a forge. On its side near the entrance was an anvil lying on its side, much to Fluttershy’s surprise; those things were heavy, and hurt when one falls on one’s head – that’s what Twilight told her, anyway. In the corner was a large furnace, with a chimney stretching from its centre and out of the roof. The furnace, again like the rest of the castle, had fallen into disrepair. Across the wall was what was left of a rack for storing weapons, but unfortunately there was none to take.
As her eyes moved across the forge, her mind tried to paint an image of what life might have been like here. She could imagine two or three ponies working tirelessly as they forged new weapons, or repaired old ones; the heat coming from the furnace, the sound of metal being bashed together, and a hissing sound as new steel was placed into water to cool down. With a small smile, she turned around and continued down the path, passing a few more storehouses.
Fluttershy moved swiftly past a few more buildings, too derelict and ruined to be recognised or described, until she came to a halt and turned back with a pondering look when she thought of something. ‘If ponies lived here, then where did they stay?’
She was going to ponder further into her own question, when a sudden sound from behind her made her squeak loudly in fright and spin around on the spot to face whoever caused it. She looked around, but saw nopony. She pinned her ears upright, allowing her to just make out the sound of hooves clopping against the stone ground away from her. Her right ear twitched. Although Luna had hooves, her hoofsteps were heavy and slow in pace, whereas the ones she had heard were light and quick, more for a pony of her stature.
Luna suddenly came galloping up from behind her. “I heard you squeak in fright,” she said. She looked down at the pegasus, who had not moved a muscle as her mind tried to tell her what she just heard. “What is it?” Luna asked, suddenly nervous by Fluttershy’s edginess.
Slowly, Fluttershy lifted up her left leg, and Firewing shot out of its bracelet, singing its metallic song. Unlike Drage Bane, which was a dark grey metal, Firewing was made of steel that was bright as the moon now above them, and straight and smooth with a sharp point at the end. “We’re not alone,” Fluttershy whispered, and proceeded to walk cautiously towards the source of the noise.
“Are you certain it wasn’t Cadence, or Spike?” Luna asked, her head low and following Fluttershy submissively.
“I heard hooves, Luna, so it wouldn’t be Spike. And anyway, why would Cadence or Spike run away from us?” Fluttershy reasoned to her. She pointed to the other side of the castle with Firewing. “Whatever it was, it went this way.” She lowered herself into a crouch, and then crept slowly forward, with Firewing close to her chest, and Luna right beside her.
The two moved off the old stone pavement, and onto a dry muddy surface at the bottom left corner of the old castle. At that moment, the moon went behind some clouds, and the world dimmed slightly. “Luna, do you have an illumination spell we can use, please?” she asked.
Luna smiled and nodded. “Certainly.” Instantly her horn glowed a bright light, and the corner of the castle was soon illuminated, revealing the hoofprints that ran through the ground and into the corner.
“Hello?” Fluttershy called in the direction of the hoofprints. “There’s no need to be scared! We don’t want to hurt you, nor cause you any trouble!”
“Unless he or she starts trouble first,” Luna muttered.
Fluttershy eyed Luna for a second, and then looked back at the corner. “We just wanted shelter for the night!” She waited patiently for an answer, but none came. “We’ll be going in the morning, if that’s okay with you!” Fluttershy tried again, to no response. Fluttershy swallowed down the growing nervousness she was feeling in her throat and stomach. “Um, maybe we should just leave whoever it is alone? Maybe then it would leave us alone.” She made her way to turn back to the hall, but Luna quickly put a hoof up to stop her.
“No, we can’t just go back now,” Luna said. “Whoever it is, we have to know if it is a friend, or a foe.” The Night Princess took a deep breath, and walked slowly forward.
“And what if he or she is neutral?” Fluttershy asked, following close behind.
Luna looked back at Fluttershy oddly. “Try not to complicate the situation, Fluttershy,” she warned her, before turning around and moving towards the corner.
Fluttershy moved forward, but stopped when she heard hoofsteps behind her. She looked back to see Cadence and Spike walking through the gatehouse, their magic or claws full of firewood. “Hey, Fluttershy!” Spike called, his eyes squinting to just make out the two ponies under Luna’s light. “Whatcha doing down there?”
“Heard some hoofsteps, so me and Luna are checking it out!” Fluttershy called back. “Get a fire going! We’ll join you shortly!”
“Fluttershy, you have to come and see this!” Luna called loudly, even though the pegasus was standing right next to her.
Fluttershy grimaced as her ears rang as though large bells were right next to her, ringing like they were celebrating a wedding. ‘Why is everypony shouting all of a sudden?’ “What is it?” Fluttershy asked once she recovered. Luna simply pointed in answer, and when Fluttershy saw what she was looking at, she gasped.
A short-sloped path ran down from the castle, then straightened up to a large iron door that led underground. The door itself was covered in old Equestrian sigils, and even the sigils of the sun and the moon were side by side at the centre of the door, forming the main lock.
Yet the door was opened partially, confirming to the two that somepony had fled into there. Fluttershy looked along the walls, and smiled pleasingly when she saw an old but useable torch held on a brazier. She hovered up to it, and took it with her teeth. “Do you know any fire spells?” she asked through gritted teeth.
Luna nodded, and with a beam of blue magic shooting out from her horn, the torch came alive with the crackle of light blue flames, which fascinated Fluttershy. “Thanks,” she said, before turning around and making her way down the slope, with Luna close behind.
At the bottom of the slope, Fluttershy stopped just on the other side of the doors, and peered down the corridor. In the low light, the walls flickered a faint blue, with each revealing the carvings that adorned the walls, all of which were moments of Equestrian glory that were won in battles in the country’s past. As Fluttershy looked down the corridor, it didn’t take long for her to notice that the corridor sharply turned right.
For a short moment, Fluttershy considered leaving the tunnels alone and go back to Luna and Cadence, yet her heart stopped her. Somepony had fled down there, probably tired, hurt and very, very scared. More scared than her. She had to know if the pony or another hoofed creature was all right, and then move on. ‘Besides, if a scared pony ran down here, then why should I be scared?’
“Come on… if you want to, that is,” she said to Luna, and trotted on. Luna, although hesitant, compliantly followed. Fluttershy didn’t blame Luna for being hesitant. Every muscle in her body was telling her to turn tail and run back to the hall with the others, yet her mind kept her firmly going forward, determined to know if this pony was all right and harmless.
Around the corner, the corridor turned a sharp right again, leading back towards the castle and under it down a gentle slope. “Ah, now I know why I can’t remember this place,” Luna said, her eyes going over the walls. “My sister was the one who designed this castle. I must have designed the ones in-between this one. I never had these underground rooms built in my versions.”
Fluttershy trotted down the slope cautiously, praying she wouldn’t find a weak stone that made her slip and break a leg; she didn’t want to be a burden to the others. Luckily she made it down with little difficulty, with Luna sliding down the slope with such grace as if she did it all the time. “So you both took turns in designing these castles?” Fluttershy asked as she walked ahead.
“Oh yes,” Luna answered. “We decided to equalise the number of castles we had built so both of us gets equal credit by building a castle each along the line, so it was Celestia’s first, then one of mine, and so on and so forth. It was actually a lot of fun for us. One day we had a contest to see how many castles we can both design in a day. And another we made models of our castles, and then played mini war games with them. Celestia had these toy models painted like her own army, the Solar Flares, and mine were painted like my own army, the Luna Wolves.”
Fluttershy giggled at the image of two grown alicorns playing with little toy soldiers when they should be ruling a country. “What about Cadence?” Fluttershy asked, not wanting to leave out the other Princess of Equestria; she thought it would be rude if she did. “Did she have anything to do with the designs?”
Upon receiving no answer, she looked back to see Luna staring at her weirdly. “Cadence wasn’t even born yet,” she answered simply. “She isn’t as old as we are, Fluttershy.”
“Isn’t she?” Fluttershy gasped, her ears falling flat. “Oh dear. Now I feel awful for thinking she’s very old.”
“I would not call thirty-one very old,” Luna said. “At least in my case.”
Fluttershy looked up at Luna in surprise. “She’s thirty-one?” Luna nodded. “Oh. I thought, well being a winged unicorn, that she would be quite old.”
Luna shook her head. “Cadence ages like yo– I mean, she ages like any other pony, and she wasn’t born with a horn. She was a pegasus orphan adopted by earth ponies in a village somewhere in southeastern Equestria. With her heart of pure love she was able to reform an evil pony that stole love using a necklace. With that ability to spread love recognised, she was teleported to a special place between our realm, met Celestia, and came back as a Princess.”
Fluttershy’s jaw was nearly on the floor. “So, you’re not her real aunt.”
“And neither is Celestia her aunt,” Luna confirmed. “She adopted her as an niece, and when I came back, Cadence accepted me as an aunt as well. We – I am the closest pony she has to family now.”
Fluttershy opened her mouth to ask more, but stopped when she heard the sound of hooves clopping against the ground enter her ears once again, and then gradually fade away. “It’s okay!” Fluttershy called. “We want to help you if you would like us to!” Fluttershy cantered down the corridor, a torch of blue flame in her mouth, with Luna hot on her heels.
After going straight down for about a minute, the two ponies stopped when they saw the corridor going two ways: one went left, while the other went right. “I suggest we split up so we can cover both alternatives,” Luna said, looking both ways.
Fluttershy shook her head dismissively. “A cornered prey can become a dangerous predator, Luna,” she cautioned. “I think we should stick together, and take it slowly.” The two walked up to the crossing, and quickly looked left then right.
On their left, the corridor continued down a flight of stairs, with carvings of more of Equestria’s long and illustrious history adorning the walls. While right led into a large room, with the far right corner caved in with rubble. “Let’s have a look in here,” Fluttershy ventured, walking towards the room.
“I’ll stay outside and keep an eye out,” Luna offered, facing the corridor and standing straight like a guard. Fluttershy rolled her eyes at the sight, and then turned back to the room in front of her.
The chamber was dark, and full of old, battered cobwebs. Fluttershy had a quick look around for spiders, hoping there weren’t any really big ones that could capture her in webs and drain her blood later. She had a bad streak with spiders recently, and they were becoming her least favourite animal rather quickly. Luckily for her, there was none. She smiled in relief, and looked around the room. It was mostly bare, save for a few racks along two of the walls that were filled with weapons. ‘Wait, what?’ She looked back at the racks in disbelief.
“Luna!” she called, gesturing with a hoof for Luna to come forward, even though the Princess couldn’t see it. “Come and see these!”
Luna, curious to see what got Fluttershy sounding so excited, peered her head through the door, and gasped at the number of weapons there was. “Incredible,” she whispered, walking up to stand next to the pegasus.
All the weapons, save but a few, were locked in scabbards decorated with golden or silvery swirls that spun around the sheaths like snakes. The hilt was shaped like a unicorn’s horn, and pommels that sat on the ends were decorated in the shapes of either the sun or the moon, and even one with a crystal. Fluttershy looked at each with a mix of fascination and intrigue. Despite Fluttershy’s hatred of weapons, and what they were made for and what they represented, the pegasus couldn’t help but admire the beauty and elegance of a sword.
Luna picked up the one closest to her, the magic wrapping around the horn-shaped hilt nicely, and unsheathed it fully. The blade sang as it was freed from its scabbard after years of neglect.
Fluttershy thought the blade in Luna’s hold made her swords look like letter openers in comparison. It was about four or five foot long, and a bright silver with a double-edged blade that ended in a heart-shaped point. Although Fluttershy thought the blade was beautiful, she was more interested by the fact that Luna’s magic didn’t wrap around the entire sword. “How comes the blade isn’t fully wrapped by your magic?” Fluttershy asked, pointing at it.
Luna looked at her for a moment, and then looked at the sword in contemplation for a while. “You see the hilt?” Fluttershy nodded. “As you can see, it is shaped like the horn of a unicorn. And you know how magnets work, right?”
Fluttershy nodded. “Of course. North and south attract together, while north and north, or south and south, doesn’t.”
Luna nodded. “Indeed. With these, the same rules apply. The hilt of the sword, which is the north end, acts as a magnet for the magic from the unicorn’s horn to attach to, which is the south end. Understand?”
Fluttershy’s mouth formed an O as she nodded in understanding. “I see. So, why did they design them like that? Wouldn’t it have been easier if they could allow the magic to wrap itself around the whole sword?”
“It might have been,” Luna agreed. “But I think it wouldn’t have been as… practical, wielding it like that, when you can have the strength of all your magic on one end. Like this.” She backed away and turned from the pegasus, and then proceeded to swing it around her head and slash at the air like she was cutting a foe in half that wasn’t there. She thrust her sword forward in a stabbing motion, then pulled it back, brought it above her head, then spun around and swooped it down right where Fluttershy was standing.
Fluttershy, thanks to being a Dragonlord, acted fast. She lowered her body, then brought up her right leg above her head and let Drage Bane shoot out of its scabbard, just before Luna’s swing could cut her in half.
The two blades clanged into each other, the sound of steel against steel ringing against the walls, and back into the ponies’ ears. Fluttershy felt the weight of Luna’s sword against her own, pushing her leg down a little, yet she stayed firm. Luna looked wide-eyed in horror at Fluttershy, while the pegasus stared back at her with a touch of fear, and a small bout of admiration.
“You have some skill with a blade,” Fluttershy remarked quietly.
Luna backed away from the pegasus, and quickly dropped her sword, which clattered to the ground at Fluttershy’s hooves. “Fluttershy, I deeply apologise if I caused you any fear. That was foolish of me to practice in such a enclosed room, and so close to you.”
Fluttershy trotted up to the Princess, and patted her on the shoulder comfortingly. “It’s all right, Luna,” Fluttershy said kindly, smiling assuredly at her. “I wasn’t harmed, and was quick enough to block it. Just next time, practice in an open space away from anypony.”
Luna chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.”
Fluttershy smiled, then picked up the sword with her hooves and held it up for Luna to take. “Are you going to keep this one?”
Luna shook her head. “I was never really a fan of straight-edged swords like that one. Let’s have a look and inspect what has been left behind.” With that, Luna began looking at the various swords and axes on the racks or on the floor, while Fluttershy placed the sword in her hooves back in its scabbard in the rack.
While Fluttershy looked at the different weapons from her sitting position, Luna walked along the racks, looking for the weapon for her. She stopped and grinned eagerly when she saw the right one. “Found you,” she muttered under her breath. Fluttershy turned her head, and tilted her body back so she could see what Luna was looking at. When she saw the blade Luna had picked, she gasped in astonishment.
Like the other swords, its hilt was shaped like a unicorn’s horn, with a pommel in the shape of the full moon. The blade, however, was the most exotic design the Dragonlord had ever seen. From the hilt to the point, it was bent into the shape of a crescent moon, almost like Luna’s cutie mark. And a word in the old Equestrian tongue was spelt out across the curved edge of the blade. A word that, thanks to Twilight and her knowledge of the old Equestrian language, Fluttershy was able to read.
Fluttershy got off her rump and moved to stand beside Luna, her gaze never leaving the fantastic sword. Suddenly, the hilt of the sword began to glow blue, and was lifted from the rack and held upright for Luna to get a feel of it in the grip of her magic. “Nightbringer,” Fluttershy read the word aloud. She nodded satisfactorily at it, and then smiled at Luna. “It’s as though it has been waiting for you, Luna.”
Luna nodded in agreement, her eyes never leaving the weapon. “It might be best if I had this, Fluttershy, as well as weapons for the others, just in case we have to defend ourselves. I hope you can understand that.”
Fluttershy nodded. “Of course. I have weapons of my own, so saying you cannot have one would make me a hypocrite.”
Luna nodded, and then strapped Nightbringer loosely to her left side, making it easy for her to grip hold of it in case she had to unsheathe it. “What about Spike?” Luna queried, her eyes scanning at the different swords for one of Spike’s statue. “Will he be allowed a weapon?”
Fluttershy’s face hardened into a cold stare. “No,” she said sternly. “He is just a baby dragon, Luna. We can’t expect him to hold a weapon against someone or something, nor do I want him to know what it feels like to take a life. It’s a horrible feeling that he’s too young to go through.”
Luna looked back into her eyes and said, “He’s not going to be a baby dragon forever, Fluttershy. He will grow beyond the size of any of us when he’s older, and become just like every other dragon that has ever lived: a lonely, greedy killer.”
Although Fluttershy wished Luna was wrong, she knew she wasn’t. Twilight will eventually die, as will she, leaving Spike alone in the world. Then there would be nothing to stop him from falling back into his dragon instincts.
She rid the thought out of herself, and said, “All the more reason for him not to have a sword yet. Even if he grows into that, he is still young, and I don’t think his mind could take putting a sword through someone just yet.” She gestured with her head to the other swords and weapons. “Let’s get to finding this pony, see if he or she is all right, then get back to the others.”
Luna shook her head. “Not yet. Help me find one for Cadence. She’ll need one as well.” Luna began picking up the various swords, axes, or other weapons that could suite Cadence.
“Giving Cadence a sword?” Fluttershy asked, tilting her head. “Um, forgive me, but I don’t think Cadence to be one with a weapon in her magic.” She tried picturing Cadence with a sword gripped in magic and a fierce look on her face, yet couldn’t. Apart from the incidents with the changelings and the return of the Crystal Empire, she seemed too friendly to wield a weapon. ‘Looks can be deceptive, Fluttershy,’ her mind explained. ‘Nopony would think you were capable of wielding a sword, yet you can, and you do.’
“She was a Princess of Equestria, Fluttershy,” Luna replied, turning her head to look back at her. “Like all Princesses before her, one of the first things she learnt was the art of sword combat, and being able to defend herself against such armed foes. She will be able to look after herself, Dragonlord. Have no fear of that.” She looked back at the racks of weapons once more, while Fluttershy began pacing and looking around the room, unsure of what to do with herself.
She suddenly stopped when she realised she had trodden on something that didn’t feel like the stone floor. She looked down, and gasped at the gorgeous bow at her hooves. She stepped back a little, then picked it up with her hooves, holding it out before her to get a proper look at it.
Like several of the scabbards on the racks, thin golden swirls wrapped around its upper and lower limbs, and what looked like the material a unicorn’s horn is made of at the centre of the bow, forming the grip. A long piece of thick, strong string was – amazingly – attached from one end to the other, and the bow itself was, again surprisingly, in perfect condition, as if the ponies that were garrisoned here had never left.
“Luna?” Fluttershy beckoned her. “Would you like to come and have a look at this?”
Luna was soon beside her, and her eyes were going over the bow with a look of amazement. “Fascinating,” she whispered as she picked the bow up with her magic. “Most bows, even their string, would have rotted away or broken up by now, yet this one is still complete.”
“Maybe it’s magic,” Fluttershy suggested.
Luna shook her head, and tapped the wooden bow lightly, making a sound like an acorn would make as a thrush cracked it open. “Or maybe it is because the bow itself is made out of Everfree wood,” Luna observed, running a hoof along the smooth edge of the bow. At Fluttershy’s confused look, she explained. “Wood from the Everfree Forest is usually strong, thanks in part to how old the trees there are. The string itself is from a village a couple of miles away south from Las Pegasus, I believe. The earth ponies there know how to make the toughest string known to ponydom.” She looked up with a sense of sudden realisation. “That would mean we’re not too far away from Las Pegasus.”
Fluttershy’s brow creased in surprise. “Wow,” she said. “We walked quite far, then.”
“Indeed,” Luna nodded, “and quite quickly as well. Much quicker than I thought we would be.” She looked back at the bow for a second, and then slung it onto her back. “Cadence will be able to use this easily.”
“She’ll know how to use that?” Fluttershy queried, pointing to the bow.
“Oh yes. I’ve seen her hit a target at dead centre from two hundred yards away at a festival some time ago. She moved back another hundred, and then shredded the first arrow with her second shot,” Luna explained. “She has a good eye for such small details, Fluttershy. The bow would be perfect for her.”
Fluttershy nodded; silently pleased that Cadence was not with Celestia and the others by the way her shooting skills were described to her. “What about a sword?” she enquired. “Did you find one for her?”
Luna nodded, and then gestured for Fluttershy to look at her back to see the long sword that was sheathed in a scabbard coiled with silver lines and had a pommel shaped like a crystal. “The only one of this lot that was forged by the ponies of the Crystal Empire,” Luna said. “I’m glad, really. It will give her a piece of home.” She looked around Fluttershy’s hooves. “Did you find any arrows?”
Fluttershy opened her mouth to speak, but closed it and spun her head around to face the door upon hearing the sound of hooves trying to sneakily pass the room. Fluttershy galloped to the entrance, and stopped when she saw the silhouette of a pony at the bottom of the stairs. The two stared silently at each other for a moment, before the pony suddenly veered about and galloped back to where he or she came.
“Wait!” Fluttershy cried. She broke into a gallop, and ran down the corridor as fast and as carefully as she could go, with Luna not too far behind her. The corridor went straight down for a long time, before suddenly veering left, and into a large boxed room with several routes to take.
‘Why would Celestia design such a complicated system of tunnels?’ Fluttershy wondered as she looked around. One way was straight in front of her; the second was to the right of that one, the third was on an elevated structure, with a flight of stairs leading towards it, and the fourth was around the corner of the large block, but was blocked off by rubble.
Luna soon caught up with her, gasping for breath. “I need… to exercise a bit more,” she panted. “Any idea… which way the pony… went?”
Fluttershy shook her head frowning, while her ears were pricked up at their highest as she listened for the sounds that might give the pony away. However, all she could hear was Luna’s heavy breathing, much to her annoyance.
“Um, excuse me, Luna? Sorry if I sound rude, but would you mind breathing quietly for a moment while I try to figure out where this pony went?” Fluttershy asked.
Luna glared at Fluttershy for a moment. “Well I apologise for breathing so loudly because I was out of breath,” she said sarcastically.
“That’s okay,” Fluttershy said, smiling at her. Luna only rolled her eyes. With Luna now quiet, Fluttershy concentrated as hard as she could on finding out which path the pony took. Although a small part of her mind continued to tell her to leave whoever it was be and get back to Cadence and Spike, she did her best to ignore it. The pony could be injured, or starving, or in a far worse state. Fluttershy could not dream of leaving the pony be without seeing if he or she was all right first.
Her right ear suddenly twitched, as it picked up the sound of something heavy falling over down the right tunnel. “This way,” she declared, pointing to the tunnel. With that, she broke into a gallop down the tunnel, with Luna close behind and Nightbringer gripped in her magic.
The corridor continued for a long way, passing carvings on the walls, and sometimes even broken statues of great ponies of Equestria, or even other pony kingdoms. The corridor suddenly turned right, and Fluttershy and Luna followed, with the pegasus praying that they would come to a dead end, and this madness will cease.
She smiled thinly to herself when she saw up ahead the corridor was blocked by a cave-in, and the pony she had saw earlier was pressed up against the wall, with hooves over eyes in the hope the pony would not be seen.
Fluttershy tilted her torch a little, allowing a small amount of light to spread across the corridor, and revealed the pony cowering before them. The pony was a unicorn mare with what seemed to be a dark blue coat in the low light, and what appeared to be a dark brown mane and tail with traces of white here and there. Fluttershy suddenly caught a sense of déjà vu with this pony, as if she had seen her before, yet couldn’t remember where.
With cautious movements, Fluttershy set the torch aside and stepped closer to the mare. “Um, excuse me?” she said gently. The mare brought her head out of her hooves. “It’s okay. We’re not here to hurt you. We just want to he–” She cut herself off when she felt the tip of a blade pressing against her throat.
“Fluttershy!” Luna cried, striding forward ready to bring down Nightbringer on the armed mare.
“Get away from me!” the mare yelled, pushing the short sword in her magic forward and making Fluttershy step back, forcing Luna to stop. “Haven’t you ponies ridiculed me enough?”
Fluttershy tried not to show any fear, yet her breathing had quickened as she realised how dangerous her situation had become. One wrong move could see her throat cut open, and send her blood dripping from her neck and onto the ground. Although she kept telling herself she wasn’t afraid to die, she didn’t want to die just yet.
She looked from the sword at her throat to the mare, and smiled disarmingly. “No pony is here to ridicule you, miss. I just wanted to know if you were all right, and to let you know that there is no need to hide from us. I want to help, that’s all.”
The pressure Fluttershy could feel on her neck slackened, yet the mare didn’t bring the sword away. “Thank you kindly, but I am fine. I do not need any help, nor do I want any. Now go away before I run you both through.”
“You look like you don’t have the strength to keep that blade afloat for long,” Luna pointed out.
“I can and I’ll prove it!” the mare yelled. She swung the blade away from Fluttershy, and raised it above her head with intent to swing it down and embed it in Fluttershy’s skull. Fluttershy jumped back at the last second, letting the blade fall to the ground. The mare toppled and fell with it as the last of her strength dissipated.
With the mare on the ground, and sniffling with tears, Fluttershy quickly grabbed the sword on the ground, threw it behind her, and then looked back at the mare not in anger, but in sympathy. She could now see the mare’s ribs on her body, her mane and tail were not brown in colour but were ragged and dirty, and her cutie mark… Fluttershy’s heart stopped beating when she saw the mare’s cutie mark. “That’s impossible,” Fluttershy whispered aloud, her eyes widening in shock.
As she gazed at the unique cutie mark, Fluttershy’s mind raced back to when she had last seen this mare, and her eyes bulged when she realised was only a year ago. ‘I have to be sure it is the same pony.’ She bent into a crouch, brought her torch closer to reveal the mare had a sky blue coat instead if a dark blue, and using a hoof, gently brushed the mare’s mane away from her face, letting Fluttershy truly see who she was. Upon looking into the mare’s eyes, there was no doubt in Fluttershy’s mind who the pony was now. However, the unicorn’s eyes, which had once sparkled with great arrogance, now held the soul of a completely broken unicorn.
The mare looked up at her with dark violet eyes, wide as saucers, as though she was trying to remember where she had seen the pegasus from before. “I know your face,” she whispered, tears weeping from her eyes and her body shaking with exhaustion.
“As I know yours,” Fluttershy replied. She let go and spun around to gallop back out. “Keep her here!” she ordered Luna. “I’m going to see if Cadence and Spike cooked any food yet!” Without waiting for a reply she raced back down the corridor and through the labyrinth as fast as her legs could carry her.
A few minutes later, she was nearly out of breath when she arrived at the top and back out into the fresh, cool air of the night. She stopped for a moment, but as soon as she took a deep breath and released it, she galloped hastily into the main hall where Cadence and Spike had a fire going, and a large pot with something that smelt good inside.
“Do you have any food ready?” she demanded quickly as she rushed in, her eyes wide.
Spike nodded, confused as to what got Fluttershy worked up. “Yeah, we have a whole pot of stew ready for us.”
“We found a load of bowls and buckets by the castle gates we could use,” Cadence explained. “Admittedly, there were a bit dirty, but a quick rinse in a water fountain we found and they were ready for use.”
“Do you have one ready?” Fluttershy asked, jogging on the spot in a hurry to get back down into the tunnels.
Spike nodded, then handed her a large bowl. Fluttershy took it in both hooves, and hovered over the pot and dipped the bowl in quickly. “Fluttershy, I don’t understand what’s the urgency? Is everything all right? Did you find something down there?”
“We found some things down there, Spike, and some one,” Fluttershy replied as she turned around and prepared to fly back into the tunnels.
“You found somepony down here?” Cadence asked incredulously. Fluttershy looked back and nodded in reply.
“Gosh,” Spike gasped. “Did you get a name from him, or her?”
Fluttershy shook her head. “I didn’t need to, since we’ve met her before.” At Spike’s confused look, she added, “We found Trixie down there, Spike.”