Bloodline
Chapter 5 – Walking Shadows
A new day had arrived, but the scene inside the library was a very common sight. Twilight had received a letter early in the morning. However, instead of the insignia of the sun, there was a lunar emblem pressed into the wax seal. She read the scroll with a displeased frown. Light Chaser was slowly settling down. He’d even made great progress in his studies, but the contents of the letter changed everything.
Dearest Twilight Sparkle,
Only a few nights have passed since I brought Light Chaser to your home. I'm more than confident that you have taken good care of him. But I'm afraid that this letter is supposed to transmit possibly bad news.
My sister and I were so eager to release Light Chaser that we'd overlooked a serious risk. You may know that there have always been different kinds of cults all around Equestria. None of them were ever a real threat to us, but this time it might be different. The Crystal Empire has just returned. Although King Sombra had enslaved the entire nation, a few ponies might want him back in power. From their point of view their King has fallen just a few weeks before.
We have no other choice than to suspect them to be after Light Chaser. They most likely don't know anything about his existence, but we can't be too careful.
I want to plea you to keep an eye on your surroundings. If you notice anything strange or suspicious, don't hesitate to contact us.
May your slumber be peaceful and free of struggle,
Princess Luna
Twilight laid the letter aside and sighed. For a short period of time, Twilight thought that they could idly live on. She believed that Light Chaser could learn about friendship in harmony and peace, but this hope seemed to be shattered by this letter. For a short moment, she closed her eyes and collected her thoughts. Her eyes shot back open and her wings extended to their full span.
Light Chaser approached the confident alicorn from behind and eyed her small smile while he passed Twilight. “You seem to be happy. Did something good happen?”
She spun around and observed Light Chaser. His smile was innocent and free of worries. Nothing should be able to darken his face. He knew nothing about the ponies that could be after his life and it would be better if it stayed this way. “Oh yes, Princess Luna has sent me a letter about her newest idea for a star constellation. It is pretty exiting.”
The crystal pegasus looked at the scroll on the table and slowly approached it. But before he could grab the scroll, he was stopped by Twilight. The alicorn stared at him with a faint stain of sweat on her forehead. “You know... this is a thing between Princesses. Nopony else is supposed to see this until Princess Luna allows it. I'm sorry, but I shouldn't show you that.”
A small frown became visible on his lips. Before he could make some space for his frustration, Twilight reacted and switched the topic. “I know that you are curious, but please show understanding. In exchange, we could do something fun together!”
Light Chaser's gaze turned away from Twilight, but he couldn't resist the urge to offer her a small smile. “Only because you insisted.”
Twilight chuckled at him and laid a protective wing around him. She accompanied him out of the room and led him to her nearby couch. But before they left, she focused on the scroll on the table and vaporized it silently with her magic.
Light Chaser neatly sat down on the couch and waited for Twilight to take a seat next to him. However, the lavender alicorn had quickly began to search for a suiting book to enjoy. Cheerfully, she turned around with a faint happy glimmer in her eyes. “Which book do we want to read?”
The pegasus didn't want to speak about it directly, but he flapped one weak time with his wings to give Twilight the right hunch. She didn't hesitate and grabbed an old dusty book from the bottom of the shelf right in front of her and carried it over to Light Chaser.
Twilight flipped the book open and furiously skipped through the pages. The dust flew into Light Chaser's mane and made him cough. He closed his eyes tightly to protect them from the itchy particles. When his eyes snapped back open, they caught sight of the anatomy of a pegasus wing that was printed on the pages of the book. Twilight pointed her hooves at the last bone of the wing and sighed only barely audibly. “This is the missing bone in your wing. I don't know if the required muscles and sinews are destroyed as well, but if we are able to regrow the bone we should be able to regrow the rest too.”
Light Chaser cocked his eye and stared at the printing. His eyes rocketed back and forth between the picture and his own wings. “Is it really that easy to regrow bones? It sounds rather difficult in my ears.”
Twilight shook her head. Her frown was sad like she was sorry that he had to deny his theory. “I never said it will be easy. It may sound strange, but regrowing limbs has a lot to do with memories. The healer usually digs into the memory of the other pony and searches for the feeling that the owner had from the limb. Doctors say that if the limb is lost for more than five years, then a successful rebuild is almost impossible.”
Light Chaser's glare became sad, his eyes wandered bashfully away from Twilight and focused on the ground. “So you're telling me that I will be most likely never able to fly?”
His coat tensed up when Twilight grabbed his hooves and squeezed them tightly. “Don't be silly! Doctors are usually unicorns or even less magical ponies. But you’ve got an alicorn who will try everything to help you.”
Light Chaser's face immediately brightened up. His tail began to swipe from the left to the right and back. He almost threw the cushions off the couch but he stopped his tail right before this happened. His euphoria faded quickly when he saw Twilight's face. She frowned weakly at him. “Listen, Light... If you really want to get your wings fully recovered you have to completely trust me. I will gain full access to your memories. If you refuse any of them to me, I will be kicked out and might never be able to return. So we have to be completely sure and trust each other without any second thoughts.”
Twilight's expression didn't change, but she didn't dare to look directly at Light Chaser at this moment. Quickly, she forgot about him and drifted into her own thoughts. Before she could have a clear thought, she felt two forelegs swinging around her neck and pulling her into a warm embrace. Her own gaze met Light Chaser's for a moment she forgot about the possible consequences of this kind of magic when Light Chaser's smooth voice rang in her ears. “Which pony could I trust more than you? You even bathed me, remember?”
Twilight's frown turned into a gleeful smile as soon as she returned his embrace, light-hearted. Now she wanted to help him so bad. She’d already dreamed about Light Chaser's crystal body soaring through the air when reality came back to her. “That's really cute of you. But we still have to learn about each other’s behaviour. I don't want to bust the only chance we have to get your body fully functional again. I will even send a letter to my sister-in-law to get some information on a crystal pony's vital systems; maybe she has some records that could help us.”
Light Chaser's childish smile was almost enough of a reward for Twilight. The happiness made her tongue loose and she didn't think of the words she was about to say. “It is commonly easier to regrow limbs of unicorns, since all of their senses are connected to their magic and is not so hard to retrace. It is really sad that you were not born a unicorn, it would make things much more easy!”
Twilight didn't realize what she’d said at first, but the lack of an answer of Light Chaser made her think about her last statement. A dark suspicion crept into her mind. It got even more confirmed when she looked into Light Chaser's face.
His mood had completely turned around. Even his eyes got watery when he stammered a short sentence. “I would bet my father said the same when he decided to lock me up...”
Twilight's heart ached when Light Chaser's words left his mouth. She didn't know what to say in this situation; the only thought that raced through her mind was how dense she was. Spike had heard a part of the conversation and casually walked by the two sitting ponies. “You could just give him the Amulet of the dark Alicorn if magic would help you.”
Light Chaser’s ears perked up and his eyes shot over to Spike. Twilight was shocked by Spike’s brash suggestion. The crystal pegasus jumped from the couch and rushed to the little dragon. “You can give me magic? Tell me more, lizard!”
Spike's eyes rocketed back and forth between the approaching pegasus and the distressed alicorn. Twilight made a silencing gesture and hoped to stop Spike. But the little dragon felt threatened and bawled out what he knew. “The amulet doesn’t give you magic like Twilight's magic. It only enhances the magic you already have but it also corrupts its user. We don't even know if it works when a pegasus wears it.”
Light Chaser gnashed his teeth. Twilight had almost forgotten about his vast interest in magic. Light Chaser seemed to have calmed down when he befriended her, but now his possibly dark desire seemed to be stronger than before. Twilight gulped and thought quickly of something to say. She collected all of her bravery and asked the question she’d wanted to ask him from the beginning. “Light? I have to ask you something very important. Why are you desiring magic so much? What do you want to achieve by getting hold of magic?”
Spike didn't want to wait for his reaction and quickly fled upstairs. Twilight's coat tensed up. She waited eagerly for his response. Light Chaser didn't show any change of emotions when he responded, only his left eye twitched slightly. “It is easy. Being a pegasus caused my misery. I'm simply worthless. If I could somehow obtain magic, my life would finally make sense.”
Twilight couldn't believe what he had said. The feeling of wrath against King Sombra lit up inside her mind once more. How could a father disturb his own child in this measure? But immediately, she was fond of having found a suiting solution for his fear. “You are wrong, Light. A pegasus is not worthless. The pegasi are a proud and powerful nation, they aren't afraid of anything and have the absolute control over the weather. I know that you have never met another pegasus but I think I know just the right pegasus mare to show you their pride and will to win. The only thing you have to do is trust me and walk with me outside Ponyville to meet her.”
Light Chaser thought for a moment about Twilight's words. He had never left Twilight's library since he had awoken. So many creatures of different kinds were running through the outer world. But this wasn't the thing he was afraid of. He was afraid of the other ponies. Twilight said it herself, a crystal pegasus is unique. How would the citizens of Ponyville react? Light Chaser shoved his doubt aside and thought about the possible advantages of meeting another pegasus. “If you promise to protect me from everything that wants to hurt me, I'm willing to go. Maybe another pegasus can show me other perspectives to my life.”
Twilight was slightly worried by the choice of words he made. But she didn’t allow herself bother too much about it now. The lavender alicorn decided to take the risk and bring him outside. Even if some crazy cult members could be lurking at them, she didn't want to wait. At least she was an alicorn and should be able to defend herself and Light Chaser, even if it meant to flee like a little foal. “I promise to protect you no matter what happens. Shall we go now?”
Light Chaser weakly nodded at her and walked to the door. Patiently, he waited in front of the it and gulped. The crystal pegasus stood still until Twilight passed him and unlocked the door magically. It swung open and revealed the world outside the walls of the library. There were no birds or other critters in their surroundings. Nevertheless, Light Chaser felt threatened and unsure in this unusual environment. But Twilight reacted quickly and put a protecting wing around him.
Of course, she wanted to make him feel comfy and secure, but there was a second thought behind this. Twilight shielded his view from her own. He shouldn't notice that Twilight was nervously searching through her surroundings, looking for some suspicious ponies. “You don't have to worry. There is nothing you have to be afraid of. The name of the pegasus is Rainbow Dash, she shouldn't be far away from Ponyville. At this time she’s usually practising some flight stunts.”
Light Chaser still felt uncomfortable, even under Twilight's protective wing. Twilight couldn't see his head but she felt his mane stroking from the left to the right side. He was nervously eyeing everything as well. Everything that moved let his heart skipping some beats. “Twilight? I think this is not a good idea. Maybe we should go back and drink some tea or something.”
Despite Twilight's tension, she was able to offer him a small childish chuckle. “We've come this far, we can't go back now. Rainbow would be very disappointed if you ran away now.”
Light Chaser didn't know why but he was scared to disappoint a pony that he hadn't even met yet. He dwelt in his thoughts and didn't pay much attention to his surroundings anymore. But Twilight was still highly vigilant. The letter of Princess Luna had made her paranoid. Everything was a potential danger to her in this very second. Being hypersensitive makes a pony blind to the obvious. A single dark-clothed pony followed them, hidden in the shadows of the homes and buildings around them.
The dark-clothed pony followed every step of them. She had only eyes for the crystal pony beneath Twilight's wing. Their follower almost drooled at Light Chaser's sight. He looked simply stunning in the direct sunlight, even if he was frightened and his coat wasn't in its full shine.
From time to time, Twilight’s gaze wandered towards the sky and searched for a cyan mare racing through the clouds. She couldn’t see her, but a faint whistling noise told that she wasn’t far away. Twilight ignored the things around her and searched desperately for Rainbow Dash. She didn’t notice that the one shadow that followed her became many. They surrounded the unaware alicorn and Light Chaser quickly. Together they build a circle in order to catch those two by surprise. The ponies stepped out of their hideouts and ignited their horns, but the noise of somepony breaking the sound barrier interrupted them. In a panic, they stepped back into the shadow when a rainbow-coloured shockwave stretched in the sky.
Light Chaser’s eyes locked upon this mystical act. He followed the shockwave until it faded into the distance. His jaws hung low. For seconds he couldn’t comprehend what he had seen just now. Twilight was calmed down by this all-so-familiar sight, but she had to giggle at the sight of the astonished pegasus at her side. She withdrew her wing and released him into freedom. A small cyan blur raced down the sky from the centre of the shockwave towards their position. Light Chaser was frightened by the unknown object and hid almost immediately under Twilight’s wing again.
The cyan blur decreased its speed and slowly formed back into a pegasus. Light Chaser’s eyes widened when he identified the cyan mare as cause of the gigantic shockwave from before.
Rainbow Dash’s flight stopped only a few feet in front of them. She gracefully hovered the last few feet to the ground and landed gently. “Hey, Twilight! It’s nice to see you again. Who’s your pal over there? I don’t think I’ve seen him around before.”
Light Chaser immediately shied away and hid deeper inside Twilight’s fur. Rainbow rolled her eyes and paid only attention to Twilight. The lavender alicorn couldn’t act different then to smile at the shy and childish stallion under her wing. “Hello, Rainbow. I was looking for you all over the place. This is Light Chaser: He came from the Crystal Empire to meet another pegasus, so I thought it could be a good idea to introduce you to each other.”
Rainbow dashed forward and pated against Light Chaser’s back. “Hey! I’m Rainbow Dash! I’m the best flyer in all of Equestria and future Wonderbolt!”
Twilight nudged the suddenly timid pegasus towards Rainbow Dash. He took all of his guts and shyly introduced himself. “Hey, nice to meet you Rainbow, I hope we can become friends.”
Light Chaser turned to Twilight and waited for her approval. The alicorn only nodded violently and flashed him a cheerful smile. When he turned his head straight again, he noticed that Rainbow was awkwardly staring at him.
She rubbed her chin and thought about his appearance. Cold sweat ran down Light Chaser’s forehead. Maybe Rainbow had already noticed that his wings were disabled. The brash cyan pegasus clapped her hooves together when she finally found what she believed to have noticed before. “Ah that’s it! I’ve never seen a crystal pegasus before! It’s so cool to meet you! Do wanna fly a race against me? But I have to let you know, you can’t win against me.”
The crystal pegasus could only weakly smile at Rainbow. Twilight’s cheerfulness was gone and replaced with a sad and worried frown. Light Chaser simply looked at the ground in front of his hooves and sighed. “Yes, you are right. I don’t stand a chance against you.”
Rainbow Dash rolled once more with her eyes and took off. She hovered two feet above the ground and flapped slowly with her wings. “Oh, come on! What kind of attitude is this? You could at least try to beat me!”
Light Chaser didn’t respond. He merely stretched his wings apart from his body and waited for her reaction. Rainbow scratched her head and awkwardly looked away. “Ähh, I think, I’m sorry. Hehe...”
Rainbow Dash quickly folded her wings and dashed towards the ground. She tried to cover her brashness and pressed her wings as tight against her body as she could. “Maybe you want to hang out or something?”
Light Chaser shook slightly his head. There was no pain in his eyes. “You don’t have to be sorry, Rainbow. It is not your fault, after all. You don’t have to feel bad when you are flying around. Please use your wings if you want to.”
Rainbow took slowly off in the air again and hovered in front of the crystal pegasus. “So, a crystal pegasus, huh?”
Light Chaser weakly nodded at her but didn’t dare to look directly at her. “Yes, I don’t know if there are more crystal pegasi than me. So regardless of my inability, I have never heard much about flying. So I wanted to ask you something. How does it feel to fly?”
Twilight could only smile at Light Chaser’s nativity and sat idly down while Rainbow Dash tried to explain the feelings she has when she is soaring through the air. She even made a backflip in the air. “It’s just an amazing feeling to float freely through the air. The liberating feeling when your hooves are hanging down from your body, not feeling anything but the stream of air in your face and mane. It is freakin’ awesome!”
Rainbow blushed when she noticed how rude she’d been to the disabled pegasus. The look on Light Chaser’s face made her feel more than uncomfortable. “I’m sorry... I should have thought about this better.”
Light Chaser’s face was indeed sad. It wasn’t because of Rainbow’s rudeness, but because of the desire that he felt deep within his mind. “It doesn’t bother me, but you have made me think about what is really important. It is not really about flying, but about realizing your dreams. And to be able to fly on my own is now my greatest wish. I would give everything to achieve it.”
Rainbow and Twilight smiled at him but they weren’t the only ones that smiled at his dreams. One of the ponies in the shadows had to grin and weakly ignited his horn. “So to be able to fly is your price? Interesting...”
With a faint blow of dark magic every single one of the dark ponies disappeared, leaving no trace of their existence.
Twilight turned around. She thought there was something weird in the shadows lurking at them. But when she found nothing she paid her full attention to Light Chaser again. She was completely unaware about the incoming danger.