//------------------------------//
// 2:6- Twyla 
// Story: Part I: Precursors 
// by Auryx Saturnius 
//------------------------------//

	Twilight sat outside of the castle’s boutique as Aria, Jovian and Vulcan were fitted for their suits for the Summer Sun Celebration. She couldn’t believe that the celebration was only two days away. She assumed that her friends were still busy with the preparations: Applejack with her catering, Pinkie Pie with her party planning, Fluttershy with her birds and Rainbow Dash with her practicing. Even Rarity had her job, one which she was performing right now to try and take her mind off of what happened earlier in the evening.
Just like with what happened to Crescent Star, Twilight was the only one without something to distract her, and she was the one who was suffering on the inside because of it. She wanted to just stop everything, curl up and cry, but the tears refused to come. Twilight Sparkle had finished her crying: the unicorn from before that cracked under the immense pressures of life was no more. From that point on, she made a vow to herself to become a beacon of humanity.
Twilight, simply sat in one of the chairs besides the door, deep in thought. She was thinking about many things: herself, Celestia, Crescent Star, the Didact, but especially about the Inferi. They were a persistent group, always able to pop up when one least expected it. It was also obvious that they knew about the power of the Tempest and of the Elements of Harmony. It was unfortunate that she couldn’t retrieve the Elements herself: they were safely locked away in the vault and could only be accessed by Celestia, her older brothers Jovian and Sirius, and her father. Twilight felt that if she had the power of the Elements with her when Rassilon had showed his ugly face...
She sighed heavily as she dismissed the thought. Right now wasn’t the best time to be thinking about what could’ve happened if this was that. No, right now she needed to be focused on what to do with what she had. They had four of the six Keys of Astra, she had the other two. They have the backing of a large interstellar organization, she had the backings of the six most powerful magicians of Astra and the Didact.
It didn’t take much to see that, while the Inferi largely disrespected and looked down at humans, the experienced ones who’ve seen action- the leaders and the commanders- still feared and respected the Didact for his apparent ability and skill. Even Rassilon, the Prophet of Truth and head of the Church of Unitology, an apparently vast and powerful institution, was weary of the Didact’s power. Rassilon was keen to hide his magical aura from the two of them, so she couldn’t think of how powerful of a magician he was.
Her concentration was broken when she heard the patter of boots approaching her. They were lighter than the Didact’s and the step was bouncier, so she could only presume...
“Well howdy, Twi’.”
She smiled as she looked up to see Applejack walking up and sat down in an adjacent chair. Like with everypony else she saw, humanity seemed to be suiting her. Her skin color was a tanned caramel, like Rarity’s, but her look was far different than their friend’s. She wore a pair of well made and well fit denim jeans, covered by a set of brown chaps. Tucked in under her belt, she wore a red flannel shirt, with a brown leather jacket over it. Her hair had been extended down the long of her back, tied off at the end with a band and kept in check with her signature brown stetson resting on top.
Twilight cleared her throat as she composed herself. “Hello Applejack. I’d imagine that the catering you’ve been working on is going well?”
“Yup!” Applejack leaned back in her chair and sighed heavily. “It’s been some hard workin’ in the kitchen, especially with much of the Apple clan unable to help, but Big Macintosh and Applebloom have been wonderful help, and so has the kitchen staff: puttin’ up with our eccentricities an’ all.”
Twilight turned with a cautious look. “You’re trying to tell me something, are you?”
Applejack sighed again. “Can’t fool you, can I Twi’. Rarity told Rainbow Dash an’ I about what happened.”
“Oh dear.”
“Are you alright Twi’? I mean, dealin’ with some alien conspiracy?” Applejack put her hands up and leaned back slightly as Twilight looked at her peeved. “Now ah don’t mean y’all can’t handle it: ah know you can. What I am trying to say is that we’re all worried, and we don’t want ya’ to get hurt.”
Twilight cast her eyes down to her feet and silently nodded. Applejack had a point. She knew very well that these soldiers and clerics were resolute to kill her if necessary, and she was purposely make it pretty necessary for them to do so. She felt way over her league, but there was more. She felt like she was obliged to help, and that the Didact was depending on her to do so now that she made herself involved. There was something else too, the distinct feeling of hope: that through everything she and her friends have been through- through all the suffering and pain- there was something that made her hopeful that everything will turn out okay.
“I appreciate it Applejack.” Twilight turned to look at her friend again, a smile forming across her face. “But I’m sure everything will be alright in the end...”
Applejack looked back at her, an eyebrow raised in question. “Twilight...”
She put a hand on her friend’s shoulder and continued to smile. “It’s okay AJ, I have faith.”
Applejack looked down for a couple seconds, unsure of her friend’s smile. Personally, she felt like the Didact was leading them on, but Twilight wasn’t ignorant, or stupid in any way. If the Twilight trusted him wholeheartedly, she trusted Twilight’s judgement. Applejack nodded and raised her head back up.
“Okay Twi’, if y’know what you’re doin’, then ah trust ya.”
Twilight nodded back as Applejack stood up and stretched, about to leave again. “Oh, Princess Luna had ‘nvited us all to dinner in an hour. Are ya gonna be able to make it?”
Twilight thought about it, wondering what else could she possibly do that would interfere with dinner. Thinking of nothing, she looked up at her friend and nodded happily.
She hadn’t eaten in ages.
***************
Twilight opened the doors to the dining hall and walked across the room to a waiting chair. Luna sat at the end, where Celestia normally sat, and was flanked by her friends and the royalty. Twilight smiled when she caught sight of her foalsitter, Mi’Amore Cadenza, and of her brother sitting next to her, glad that Luna had invited them too to join them. She also noticed a key, obvious fact: everypony was a human being. She was happy that Rarity kept her promise like she always did. Now, they all sat awkwardly on the chairs designed for ponies.
Luna looked up at her as she walked closer, and gestured to a chair next to her. Twilight obliged, and sat down with a smile at the promise of food.
Luna stood up, her blue military tunic straightening out with her with silver medals jingling as she spoke with a gentle accent. “Before we eat, I’d like to make some announcements. First, my sister and the Didact have not returned from their current enterprise and it seems that they most likely will not be joining us. I have also alerted the chefs of our current ‘situation,’ for lack of a better term, and they will have an assortment of omnivorous foods for us tonight. I’d also like to add-” She cut off as she diverted her attention from the table and looked up at the door. “Ah, professor... so glad you could join us.”
“I’m glad I could make it too... thanks to Rarity here...” Twilight looked up towards the door of the dining room, her eyes watering with delight. With his right arm in a carefully made sling and cast, Crescent Star slowly made his way towards his chair, having to lean on a cane to help stay up. The genomorphic spell seemed to have helped with his healing: the metabolism of a magically adept human doing wonders as his new body did it’s job. There were still a wrapping of bandage that covered the side of his neck and shoulder that was hit, a loose tunic covering his torso.
Twilight was quick to get up from her chair and to rush over to him, adamant to stand by his side and to help him walk. Crescent Star couldn’t complain: he definitely needed the help.
“You’re a godsend Sparks...” The solemn comment from the suffering professor made Twilight smile even brighter as she guided him to the open chair next to hers, helped him sit down and then sat down herself.
Luna nodded with a pleased look before she cleared her throat. “Ladies and gentlemen... dinner is served.” The pony waiters knew their cue well, entering the dining room through the large kitchen doors almost immediately after she said ‘served’. Platters and plates were levitating around them, covered by silver domes that prevented any hint of their contents from leaking.
They set them down at the center of the table, between the thirteen and uncovered the assortments of fruits and vegetables cooked to their enjoyment. In addition, there were a variety of cooked meats, straight from the freezer for use when gryphon ambassadors came, and were laid out to be eaten by anyone who wanted it. Jovian, Vulcan and Rainbow Dash went straight into it with enthusiasm, focusing their dinners around the meat products. Luna also ate with a prefered carnivorous diet through the meal as well, though her professionalism kept her calmer about it than her brothers and friend. Aria and Fluttershy choose to ignore the meat, solely keeping to their previous, herbivorous pony diet. The rest mixed the two together into a delicious blend of taste and nutrition. Overall, the fact that they were consuming something that many of them never would have thought to do before didn’t bother them. Twilight was reminded of the old pony saying “When in Roan”, but it didn’t seem to give the situation justice.
Primarily, she kept her focus on Crescent Star. The genomorphic spell had made him tall, almost as tall as the Didact, and kept the look in his green eyes that he always seemed to have. His skin was paler, though she thought that could be attributed to a lost of blood. Nonetheless, regardless of his currently frail appearance, the professor seemed well with the transformation. As he ate, he would use his free hand or his magic, for things that his hands couldn’t hold or he was unable to grasp firmly.
“I haven’t seen the Didact since his stunt in the infirmary,” he said, trying to strike up conversation with Twilight. “As a matter of fact, I haven’t seen Princess Celestia since then either. Is she well?”
Twilight nodded, quickly swallowing the food in her mouth. “She’s just fine, and so is the Didact. Earlier today, the two of them went out on a hunt for the truth about what’s going on. I haven’t seen them since then.”
Crescent Star acknowledged her as he levitated his fork to his mouth, his hand currently too shaky to do any good. Taking a bite, he chewed and swallowed. “So how have you been? Dealing with all this I mean.”
Twilight looked down into her plate, solemnly. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “It feels wrong that anypony or anyone would have to do things like this, yet at the same time, I can’t stop myself from justifying it. I... I even killed one: directly, by my own hands and actions. I know that that is a fact that might scar me for life but, at the same time, I can’t stop myself from telling me over and over again that there was nothing else I could do.”
“Was there something else you could’ve done?” he asked politely.
Twilight only shook her head slightly, a deep sigh ringing. “No, there wasn’t.”
Crescent Star turned his body to face her as he placed his hand on her thigh, trying to comfort her. “Sparks,” he whispered reassuringly, “I’m not even going to pretend to understand the turmoil you’re probably going through right now. I can’t begin to imagine what killing a person would do to my consciousness. I cannot try and rationalize to you that it’s ‘survival of the fittest’ or that you were justified. It’s not my place. I can only tell you that it is your responsibility and your choices, and that whatever you chose, should be for the best of those around you.”
Twilight looked up as he finished. “You’re a strong girl Sparks, and I’m sure you can get through this.” She nodded, deep in inner thought as he patted her.
“I think I should head back to the infirmary,” he said. ‘I still need my rest and I still need my wounds taken care of. Twilight, can you please help me?”
She stood up and did so: helping him get onto his feet, handing him his cane and holding onto him so he wouldn’t fall down. The two of them bid the rest of the party goodnight, Twilight telling them she would go straight to bed after she helped Crescent to the infirmary. They made their way down the echoing corridor at a slow pace, but Twilight was once again adamant to stay by Crescent’s side. As they walked, several guards passed, each one offering his or her assistance, but Twilight would always kindly refuse it, telling them that she had it handled. Crescent Star would only smile each time, letting Twilight lead him to where he needed to go.
After long minutes of winding corridors and hallways, the two of them reached the doors that lead into the infirmary wing of the citadel. Crescent Star slowly released his wrap around Twilight’s arm and shifted to face her.
“Thank you for taking me back,” he repeated, placing his hand on her shoulder.
“I’m glad I could help,” she could only mutter through a half-smile. Though she hated to admit it, she was completely lost in thought about the Inferi, and Crescent Star could see that.
“Twilight, it’s very important that you understand that death is a natural part of life. I don’t believe I told you, but while i was on my expedition, I knew several ponies who were killed on the way. During our trek through the Gorgon Desert, two of our group of ten simply fell over due to dehydration and died there. It was a similar fact when we went over through the Muudi Desert with another pony. When I told you guys about my exploration in the jungle for the ruins of Dust, I purposefully left out that I had a team go with me, and that every single one of them died. A few were killed by wild animals, while the rest died from malaria: Tartarus, I would have died of malaria out there if I didn’t make it to Zebrica like I did.”
Twilight didn’t expect hearing that. When Crescent Star originally told her about his expedition before he left, he had sounded unquestionably excited about the concept of being able to research what he wanted first hoof. Even after a year, he had still seemed to possess that pride and excitement when he retold them his stories: as if he had experienced only the greatest thing that had ever happened to him.
Now, Crescent Star looked tired. She knew he was only nineteen, like her, but with the moon and starlight gently reflecting off of him, he looked as if he was fifteen years older. It reminded Twilight of how the Didact was, what he told her.
“I am young,” he had told her with a blank expression, “I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, Death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I have seen how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another.”
Twilight now understood how any experience like that could make turn a man into something beyond his years. She understood why Crescent Star was so calm and collected about her problem of her consciousness: because it can be justified. If any, one person resolved to themselves that enough was enough, then they would do anything to stop it from continuing on- even if it meant being the last one to pull the trigger.
She had wanted the clerics to stop attacking them and to end their genocidal crusade against the humans and ponies. She still wanted that, but now she realized that she needed to act to make it stop: to fight fire with fire.
“Even after going through all that,” he continued, “I wouldn’t change it for the world. Through all the pain and despair, I have found triumph, accomplishment, camaraderie, experience... love.”
Twilight paused at his last statement, taken aback by his stressing of the word. Before she could react or comment, Crescent Star pulled her into a kiss. Twilight found herself kissing back, never realizing until now how deep her feeling for Crescent Star went. For long seconds, they stood there, unwilling to break away.
It was Twilight who broke away first. Something, a rat she presumed, made a small noise and ruined the happiness and romance in her head. Crescent Star heard it too, and his head bolted to see what was behind him, causing him to wince in pain at the rapid movement. Twilight kept him from keeling over, and decided to lead him to his bed. As they walked into the doors, two unicorn nurses rushed to his side, keeping a respectful distance from the two but close enough to help in any medical way. Twilight half-led, half-carried, Crescent Star to his given bed and sat down next to him, gently setting him down on the mattress.
“Thank you,” he said again. Twilight smiled and leaned in to kiss him and stood back up.
“If you don’t mind, I had a long day and would really like to get some sleep.” Crescent Star nodded to her as she walked away, only turning back to add. “I’ll come visit you in the morning.”
“I can’t wait,” he smiled and laid down carefully as Twilight made her way back into the hallway and closed the infirmary doors behind her. For a couple seconds, she stood there dumbstruck, before she broke out into a giddy squeal. She couldn’t think of how many times kissing Crescent Star had crossed her mind throughout the year of his absence. Now, with him back, she could and she did. She skipped down the hallway, bubbly with exhilarating jubilation. Everything seemed to be brighter in the world around her. The moonlight shined with a more vivid glow against the pale marble, and she loved it. Nothing: not the aggressiveness of the clerics, or the cynical attitude of the Didact, or even the squeaking of the rats, could ruin her mood now...
...except rats don’t squeak that loud on marble...
A voice in her head seemed to snap her back to reality with the cold fact. Her logic was right, of course: no rat made as much squeaking like that. Something was following her, and it was purposefully letting her hear it. She stopped and glanced around, trying to make out anything in the dim moonlight.
“Hello?”
The squeaking stopped, hinting towards the being having halted. “I know you’re there. I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to!”
“Please, I mean you no harm.” Twilight was taken aback by the voice. It wasn’t quivering or afraid, but was rather firm and authoritative. It was also clearly not a pony. “Didact?”
The voice came again. “No, I’m not the Didact, but I am a friend.”
“That’s impossible,” Twilight said, “The Didact said that he can’t have contact with his universe at all.” She then paused as she thought about what that could mean, a hypothesis developing in her mind. “Wait, you’re Inferi.”
Her hands ignited with her violet aura as the moonlight was outshined by the light emanating from her. The shadow that the being had been using to had was evaporated away by her magical light, and he distanced himself from her.
Twilight looked up to gaze at his face. He was certainly an Inferi, the yellowed skin color glowing in her violet light. His eyes were a dull orange and his bio-armor shined with silver, spine-like formations running the length of his arms and legs, covering a black suit of under-armor. Admittingly, Twilight realized this was the closest she had ever been to an Inferi soldier without it trying it’s hardest to kill her. She was weary of the large hammer that swung from his hip, always glancing back to it.
“Explain yourself,” she ordered.
He rose his hand, which easily reached the level of her head due to his near 7-foot height. “Twyla Spark... my name is Kotec, and I don’t have much time. If they find out I’m here, then we’ll both have hell to pay. I need to speak to the Didact, so where is he?”
“Why the hell should I tell you?” Her hands glowed brighter as she further charged her magic for a potential attack. Kotec, as he named himself, seemed to become more riled up as she did so.
“Ms. Spark, please extinguish your magic, it won’t help you.”
“And when I do, you’ll be free to kill me.”
He sighed with annoyance. “If I wanted you dead I would have killed you by now.” He paused as he let that statement sink in. “Your magic would be ineffective either way: I’m quite adept at the practice of Gravity Magic.”
Twilight was frustrated that he had a point with her. He had purposefully let her hear him following her, so he obviously wanted to attract her attention, and now it was because he needed to speak to the Didact. Cautiously, she decided to extinguish her magic. Kotec didn’t dissolve back into the shadows, instead resolving to let the moonlight wash over him.
“He’s not here,” she said slowly and with a dim hostility, “and I don’t know where he is.”
Kotec was visibly disturbed, “Kur be damned... Twyla, I need you to listen to me carefully...”
“...Why the hell do you keep calling me Twyla? My name is Twilight. Twilight Sparkle.”
Kotec was annoyed at the new disturbance. “Its the same thing: Twyla is an Inferi derivative of Twilight, Spark of Sparkle... Now listen carefully: not everybody in the Inferi Coalition agrees with the policies of the government or of the Church of Unitology. Most are just too afraid to do anything, but I’m apart of a small group of high ranking officials called the Valkyrie. We’re trying to reform and change things on the inside... recently, I got hold of valuable information that I need to get to the Didact.”
“How do you know the Didact?” Twilight asked.
“We’ve been colleagues for a long time. Since he’s not here, I need you to be the one who relays him the message, can I count on you Ms. Spark?” Twilight nodded and Kotec crouched down to her level. “Okay, I need you to tell the Didact that Kamendando Abernathey has discovered that Richard of York gave battle in vain. He’ll know what it means.”
Twilight was confused at the cryptic nature of the message, but she promised to deliver it to him nonetheless. Kotec stood straight up and towered over her once again. With a calm demeanor, he extended his arm and placed his hand on her shoulder. His grip was strong, but gentle enough to tell her he still meant her no harm. “I need to go. Twyla, I need you to stay on your guard. None of the administrators backing this expedition are particularly happy with your meddling with our plans. They will stop at nothing to make sure that you die, even if this current plans of theirs fails and even if it means going to the ends of the universe. There’s greatness in you Twyla, so don’t let me down...”
He smiled and disappeared in the shadows, never coming back again. Twilight was left there to only contemplate the severity of Kotec’s visit. This situation, these clerics and the involvement of the Inferi were growing into a full conspiracy.
...On the bright side at least, Twyla certainly was a fitting name...