Bloodline
Chapter 3 - Dark Clouds
Light Chaser read this one particular book over and over again until he felt confident enough to move on to other topics. Slowly he tried to work through Twilight's endless collection of foalbooks. His head began to ache at the sheer unbelievable amount of characters and numbers on their pages.
Finally the mental strain took its toll. He lay carefully back on his back and stared at the ceiling above. His mind needed to rest. Even if reading was quite fun.
The door cracked hesitantly open and Twilight stuck her head carefully inside the room. Her heart skipped a single beat when she caught sight of the situation inside. Almost every single book was torn out of its place and distributed on the ground. Random papers were lying everywhere. It seemed like somepony had drawn some ominous characters on them. It looked oddly familiar to the hoof-writing of a foal that had just learned to write.
Twilight gasped for air inside this chaos. Her eyes zoomed through the room and searched for a still intact place. Her breathing became faster with every passing second. Light Chaser raised his head to get a glimpse of his visitor. The hyperventilating alicorn looked like she might need some help. “Hey Alicorn? Is something wrong?”
Her gaze switched to the relaxing pegasus at the ground. Her eyes narrowed while she collected her thoughts. “You are asking ME if something is WRONG? I… I can't even...”
Until now Twilight hadn't realized what Light Chaser was doing. Her entire collection of self-learning books were dispersed around the white pegasus. Twilight's breath calmed and her heart began to pump normally again. “You… you were studying?”
Light Chaser cocked his eye at the astonished alicorn. “Yes, I tried myself at reading and this maths thing. Pretty hard, but I think I can get the hang out of it.”
Twilight gasped at the so calm pegasus. A wide smile grew on her face. “This is amazing! I never even considered the possibility that you would learn here on your own! How did you even get the idea to do this?”
Light Chaser turned his gaze away from Twilight and looked again at the ceiling. “I saw many books downstairs and most of them looked like somepony has used them recently. So I figured that since you are most likely the one who read this huge amount of books, it could help me to achieve my goals as well.”
There it was again, this faint creepy feeling Twilight got when Light Chaser spoke about his goals. She swallowed this bad feeling and tried to carry on. “You’ve learned the entire day. It’s almost night. You must be hungry by now. Spike is preparing some dinner downstairs. I thought you may want to eat with us?”
Light Chaser turned around and looked out the windows. He hadn't notice that the sun had already set. The light of the stars reflected in his red eyes. Never before he had seen something this beautiful. The only thing in the night sky that could rival the stars was the moon itself. “What is this thing in the sky? It looks simply amazing. I can't even find words to describe it...”
Twilight kept the distance between herself and Light Chaser to keep him calm. She smiled at the lovely image of the full-moon high in the sky. “Princess Luna raises and lowers the moon every single night. She is a wonderful pony. She was even the one who brought you to me.”
Light Chaser couldn't take his gaze away from the night sky. Still astonished, he stared upwards. “If this Luna pony is as beautiful as her moon, I definitely couldn't resist any of her words.”
Twilight giggled sweetly at Light Chaser's little admiration for the Princess of the Night. “I'm sure you will meet her soon. You just have to be patient. Maybe you want to eat something in the meantime?”
The white pegasus shook his head and concentrated back on Twilight. She was still patiently waiting at the door step. Light Chaser got back to his hooves and looked expectantly at her.
Twilight waited for him to start walking, but for seconds nothing happened. The gears in her mind began to grind and she finally understood. “Oh, sorry. I forgot the distance. I will go in front.”
Light Chaser waited for Twilight to disappear. Only then did he follow her downstairs. With every step the lovely scent of toast became stronger in his nose. Twilight sat already at the table together with Spike. A third chair was a little bit more distanced then the others. The dishes were already placed for him.
Hesitantly, he placed himself at the chair and looked upon the freshly cooked food. Never before he had seen what he was eating. The guards had always fed him with the necessary food. He shoved the buttercup-garnished toast from one side of the dish to another, before he finally grabbed it and shoved it into his mouth.
Twilight and Spike looked at each other while they watched the cautious stallion eat his piece of toast. Their smile grew as wide as Light Chaser's smile while the taste of fresh food flooded his taste buds. Without asking he quickly tried everything new on the plate. Before Spike or Twilight noticed his plate was completely empty.
Light Chaser let himself slide down in the comfortable chair. His belly was completely stuffed. In his ecstasy he totally forgot about the alicorn and the little dragon watching him. A faint blush appeared on his face while he tried to cover it with his short wings.
Twilight giggled quietly and continued to eat her plate empty as well. Carefully, she levitated their empty dishes into the sink. Light Chaser's eyes followed th magic-wrapped plates. He licked his lips and shot Twilight a curious look. “This magic of yours... How powerful is it and what can you do with it?”
The unsure alicorn thought for a few seconds about her answer. She shouldn't encourage sinister thoughts, but there was no way that Light Chaser would ever he able to use magic on his own. “Magic is something eternal and completely unobstructed. It can be firm or liquid. Magic is everywhere around us. Every living being contains magic in some form. Earth ponies can't manipulate magic, but their bones and muscles are magically enhanced. They are really strong and persistent. Even pegasi are able to use magic in some for, weather magic to be specific. Pegasi are the only ponies that can walk on clouds and manipulate the weather itself. By shoving clouds aside they can create a sunny day or shield the ponies below from the direct sunlight. Even thunderstorms and rain can be manipulated that way. If you are interest you should really read a few books about it. Maybe you will find your luck in the weather patrol! I've got a good friend there. She maybe can get you in.”
Light Chaser didn't really answer to Twilight's seemingly generous offer. He simply stretched his wings a little bit and made his disability obvious for Twilight. She blushed a little bit at her missing empathy and tried to make the best of the situation. “You don't have to be necessarily flying through the sky to be in the weather patrol. Some pegasi have to do the administrative work, such as planning the weather and developing new ways to change the weather in a better and even safer way. You could consider them weather engineers. I'd bet that would be great fun!”
Light Chaser seemed to be pleased with this opportunity, but there was still this curious glim in his eyes. “I may take a look later. But you haven't finished your explanation about magic. What about the alicorns? What are their capabilities?”
It got uncomfortably warm inside the library kitchen. Twilight was still careful when it came to this particular question. She didn't know her own capabilities yet; he could only describe what she had seen before. “As far as I know, alicorns are theoretically capable of every magic known in this world, although they prefer to stick to their own special talent like Princess Luna. The only real difference I could spot between a unicorn and a alicorn is that an alicorn has both wings and horn and more magical resources. But I still have to learn advanced magic. So even an alicorn has to learn and study magic.”
Slight disappointment crept into Light Chaser's face, but he tried his best to cover it. In the meantime Spike had finished his plate as well. He clumsily slid from his chair and carried his dish to the sink. He stood still between the table and Twilight but shot Light Chaser a questioning glare. “Everything you ask for is magic. Why are you so interested in something you can't even really use?”
Light Chaser's gaze got significantly darker. Spike noticed that he may have gone to far and began to sweat. “Hehe, you know what? I think it isn't important! If you are curious, you should totally learn more about it.”
Annoyed from Spike's outburst, Light Chaser stood up from his chair and turned his back to Twilight and Spike. “I'm going upstairs again and continuing my reading exercises.”
Twilight and Spike shot each other a worried gaze. But with so less time Twilight had to make a quick decision. She turned to Light Chaser and yelled after him. “Would you mind if I come with you?”
Without turning around or stopping, the white pegasus hissed back at his landlord. “It is your library. You can do whatever you want.”
Before Twilight caught up to the fleeing pegasus, she shot Spike a warning eye. “You are absolutely right, Spike. He has an oddly big interest in magic. I should keep in eye on him. Even if he can't use magic, he could abuse other scientific methods.”
As Twilight finished her sentence, she immediately followed Light Chaser upstairs. Once more she found herself in the chaotic room. Light Chaser was hanging above a colourful book. Twilight still kept her distance to the cautious stallion, but could get a glimpse of the book. She found the matching title inside her well-organized memory of every single book in her library. “Oh, so you are reading the basics of weather control. This is already an elementary schoolbook! You are really making such vast progress! I could help you, if you want me to.”
Light Chaser lazily flipped to the next page in his book and didn't even think that Twilight was worth to be looked at while he responded. “I'm fine. It is still hard and I need much time to read a single page. But I will manage somehow.”
Twilight carefully went a step closer to the highly concentrated stallion and levitated a couple of books on top of the shelves next to Light Chaser. “You know... It is quite uncommon to learn to read in a single day. You seem to be special to me. Maybe you want to talk more about yourself?”
He tossed the book in front of him a few inches away and turned to the curious alicorn behind him. “Listen, Alicorn. You really want to know every single detail of my life so far? Fine! I will tell you! Everything I remember before you and your slave woke me up were simple sounds and very few feelings! The only voices I knew were from the guards that had kept an eye on me every now and than and the guards who feed me. I never saw a single one of them! Sometimes they made fun of me and even hit me! I couldn't move or scream. There was nothing that I could do... For endless days this events blurred into another. I couldn't even tell the difference between day and night... The only day I can really remember was at the very end of my imprisonment. I've heard loud noises and terrified scream of the guards whose voice I knew. But than silence turned in, their screams were gone. I heard hoof steps of something big coming in my direction. This being took of my blindfold and I saw another pony for the first time. She was a beautiful blue mare but my sight was still blurry and I couldn't really see her face. Seconds after she put me into slumber and the next thing I remember is waking up here... a thousand years later. She is probably dead by now...”
Twilight gasped at his horrifying narration. She wanted to step closer so badly, but she knew he would just run away in fright.
The door behind Twilight swung open and Spike walked carelessly into the room. “Hey, Twilight I just-”
The little dragon tripped over a book on the ground and quickly grabbed the huge shelf next to him. The giant construction of wood began to tilt into the room. Spike tried to hold the shelf back but his tiny body couldn't support the weight. Twilight saw the shelf falling down. Its shadow already covered Light Chaser but the stallion hadn’t moved at all. He just looked astonished at the heavy bookshelf. The first books were already hitting the ground. Light Chaser closed his eyes forcefully shut and covered his head with his hooves, waiting for the impact.
Seconds passed and instead of the heavy bookshelf, only a single tiny drip met his white coat. Slowly he cracked his eyes open and searched for the drip’s origin. Twilight was standing right above him. A red liquid ran down her back and dripped on Light Chaser's coat. She was shielding him with her own body. “Alicorn... you are bleeding... why did you do that?”
Twilight coughed faintly and tossed the bookshelf off her back with a powerful flap of her wings. “Don't worry about this, Light Chaser... This is what friends do for each other.”
She could feel something soft around her neck. Light Chaser had swung his hooves around Twilight's neck and was holding her tight to his chest. Twilight didn't know what she could say now. She simply hadn't expected such a heavy reaction. “What are you doing, Light Chaser?”
The stallion didn't look up or let go of his protector. He simply answered with a sad undertone in his voice. “I think you called it an embrace before...”
Twilight almost shed a tear at his words. She smiled motherly at the mental young stallion and returned his embrace. “Maybe you want to stop calling me Alicorn and call me by my real name?”
Light Chaser didn't really answer, but Twilight could feel his head slightly nodding inside her coat.
Far from this scene, Princess Celestia paced from one side of the Coronation Hall to another, waiting for her younger sister to return from her duty to raise the moon. Minute after minute passed without her presence. This particular room has been magic-proofed after the changeling accident. Even the Princess of the Night had to use the main entrance like a normal pony.
Finally the sound of Princess Luna's magic was audible outside the thick wooden doors. They ignited in her midnight-blue magic and swung gently open.
Gracefully but with a rapid step, the Princess walked inside to meet her sister. “What is it, sister? It isn't like you to call on me such a harsh way.”
Princess Celestia's face was covered in sweat. She’d had to wait too long for Princess Luna to appear. “Of course, I had to call you! You brought Sombra's son to my Twilight and didn't even tell me if everything went well!”
Princess Luna closed the distance to her sister and laid a comforting wing around her. “Listen, Tia. It went like we had discussed before. I checked his body. He had no injuries or something similar. I left him at Twilight's library and left immediately before he could take a glimpse of me. I told Twilight that she can call me if necessary. This pegasus won't do anything bad to her.”
The Princess of the Sun was still shivering. She had an awfully bad feeling about this. “I know we talked about it before but when you passed my chamber I got a bad feeling about him. Like King Sombra himself was strolling through the castle. Maybe there is something more about him that we don't know yet?”
Nothing could bring wrinkles of worries to Princess Luna's face. Twilight Sparkle had become a dear friend to her and she knew that Twilight wouldn't disappoint her. “I can understand your concern, Tia. But you have to trust Twilight. You led her the way to become an alicorn and there is no pony that you trust more than her. Maybe not even towards me. Twilight will bring Light Chaser on the right path, just as you did with Twilight.”
Little tears formed in Princess Celestia's eyes. “Don't be silly, Lulu. I trust you the most in this world. We are two immortal sisters and we will always hold to each other. We may not accept it but we have grown old. Cadence and Twilight are young and inexperienced. Especially Twilight... I don't want to lose her right away. What if Light Chaser intends to bring his father back to power? We haven't found a trace of him after Twilight and Spike helped to defeat him!”
Princess Luna withdrew her hoof and levitated a well-sealed scroll from one of the countless bookshelves around them. She magically unwrapped it and read quickly through it. “The Royal Guards hadn't found the body nor the remains of the dark king. But a fragment whose origin is seemingly the tip of King Sombra's horn had been discovered close to the Crystal Empire. It is still wrapped in dark magic and highly radiating in it’s dark shine. Prince Shining Armor has sealed it deep inside their Crystal Castle, far away from the Crystal Heart. A delegation of guards are protecting the artefact out of fear from terrorism. We still suspect that there are supporters of King Sombra, regardless of his being an enslaver of the crystal ponies.”
Every single hair of Princess Celestia's coat tensed up. There were always dangerous religious cults in and around Equestria but they never were a real threat to them. Nopony was strong enough to bring back Nightmare Moon or Discord. Most of them had even forgotten these ancient beings. But the Crystal Empire just reappeared like the last thousand years never happened. King Sombra wasn't in the distant past for them. For them, he had just fallen. “Terrorism? I didn't even think of that possibility! What if such ponies learn about Light Chaser's existence and want to foal-nap him? We've forgot to warn Twilight about this! She mustn't tell anypony about his true identity! It would be certainly safer for all of them. Especially since ponies wouldn't judge him right away. It will be easier for him to blend in. I'm sure Twilight's friends would accept him nevertheless, but we don't know about our other subjects. They may became afraid of him.”
Princess Luna tapped thoughtfully against her chin. She was well aware of the possibility of some cult member existence. But she never considered the possibility that some of them might attack Twilight or Light Chaser. Light Chaser isn't a unicorn and is unable to bring his father back with his own power. So even if somepony would like to capture him, he won’t be of a real use to them right now. He would never agree to try to bring his father back, since Light Chaser got restrained through the hooves of his father for the majority of his life. “I didn't think that a cult might be a threat to them. But I agree with you now. I will send Twilight a letter right away. You don't have to be afraid anymore. Everything will go well.”
Princess Celestia wiped her tears away and took her sister in a tight embrace. “Thank you, Luna...”
The Princess of the Night began to scribble something on a freshly crafted scroll and sent it right away. But against their expectations, they weren't alone. The shadow of a slender unicorn clothed in a frock stretched from behind a curtain, hidden in the most distanced corner of the room. The being hissed with his tongue and slowly withdrew from the magic-proof room. “So the rumours were right... I have to tell the others...”