The mood on the VIP Train was not a happy one. The foals were still traumatized by Princess Cadence's murder, and Spike's attempts to calm them down were completely useless, as he was just as hysterical as they were. Eventually, he simply gave up, curling into a little ball on one of the seats, hugging his legs to his chest, trying his utmost not to bawl in front of everypony.
Ventus stood at the train controls, staring unseeingly out of the front window. His report to Celestia was still fresh in his mind. He could still remember the exact words they exchanged. Princess Celestia had begun by violating protocol, and sending her real thoughts immediately instead of finishing the test.
"Ventus?"
"Yup, I'm here."
"Thank goodness you're okay. What happened?"
He had hesitated at this point, wondering how on earth he could break the news. After a few moments, he decided there was nothing that would break the ice, and he said it outright.
"...I'm sorry, your highness. The Crystal Empire has fallen."
Silence. Ventus waited for the reply, not wanting to interrupt whatever was going through Celestia's thoughts.
"Well, tell me you're not the only one who escaped," Celestia said, her voice worried.
"No, I'm not alone. Twilight and Spike, and a bunch of foals that were found in the street are with me." He paused again. This news would be worse than the fall of the empire, and he knew it. "But... I regeret to report that..."
"What?" Celestia demanded, the panic evident in her voice, which was an extraordinarily rare occurrence. Celestia had always been known for how calm she could be, even in the most dire situations.
"They... killed in action," Ventus fumbled. "They were both murdered personally by Sombra."
An even longer silence. This time, after it had stretched on for a full two minutes, Ventus broke it.
"We're on our way back to Canterlot, but it'll take a while to get there because of the passenger speed-limit laws."
"...Keep me advised," Celestia finished, as the connection broke.
He spent the next hour silently contemplating the grief Celesita must be feeling. Never in Equestria's 6300 year lifespan had an Alicorn been slain in battle. The astronomical pain this must be putting her through... Ventus didn't even want to think about it. It would be worse than when Luna had been banished; Cadence wasn't ever coming back.
He was saved from his own dark thoughts when the doors to the driver's cabin slammed open, which was impressive considering they were both electric doors. Jolted from his stupor, Ventus turned to see Twilight crossing the threshold, her face exceptionally livid. Ventus wouldn't have been surprised if she burst into flames.
"I had to," Ventus said, before she could even begin telling him off. "He beat Shining Armor and Princess Cadence single-hoofedly. He would've torn you to shreds."
Twilight opened her mouth to give an angry reply, but it slowly closed again as the will to fight drained from her. If there was one thing she had learned about friendship thus far, it was that your friends usually want what's best for you. She knew going after Sombra alone would've been idiotic, since he had an entire army up there with him. Her glare faded.
"...I know," she said a few moments later.
They sat in silence, as Ventus stared out the front window again.
"Where are we?" Twilight eventually asked.
"About two hours south of Baltimare," Ventus replied. "I've already been in contact with Princess Celestia. We're headed back to Canterlot."
Desperate for something to distract herself with, Twilight spent the next two hours talking to Ventus again. Since she had done most of the talking the first time, she wanted to hear about his life.
"How does somepony become Chief of Security if the security is secret?" she had asked.
"Well," Ventus began, doing some very quick thinking. He would have to warp parts of the story in order to not reveal classified information.
“I was a smart colt. Too smart. When I took the aptitude test, my results were so high that they accepted me, even though I hadn’t ever managed to do any magic. I did fine in class. I knew all of the theory. Something about me caught Celestia’s attention. She gave me a private lesson, and finally, I could use magic.
“Since then, I’ve never had any trouble with any magic I’ve studied. Celestia had me study dark magic, but she wouldn’t let me try to use it. Then, a few years ago, she told me what she was training me for. her Chief of Security was growing old, and wanted to retire. She was training me to be his replacement. Of course, I accepted. I’ve been driving this train and guarding her ever since.”
Twilight had more questions, and Ventus strained himself mentally to come up with more believable lies for the next while. Twilight was trying hard to not think about Cadence or Shining Armor, but she couldn’t help it. Their faces kept creeping to the top of her mind, and she couldn’t suppress the grief forever.
“You couldn’t have done anything,” Ventus told her the third time she had tears in her eyes. “Sombra won this time, but the fight isn’t over yet. We’re going to destroy him and his army in due time. He won’t be able to hurt anypony else. He won’t tear apart any more families.”
Twilight let the tears slide down her face, but nodded. Then, she turned and went back to the passenger car.
Ventus returned his whole focus to his train driving, and was suddenly annoyed at how slow they were moving. He contacted Celestia again, and received her direct permission to violate the passenger-speed-limit laws. Pushing the train much further now, he smiled as they broke 500mph.
(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)
Princess Celestia,
I understand you’ve already been informed of our fate by Ventus, but he doesn’t know about one minor detail. I’d like a full mental and physical examination performed on Spike the moment we arrive. I believe he’s the one who removed the Crystal Heart, but I also believe he wan’t acting of his own free will. I did a minor, shortened mental examination, and was getting some odd readings in his cerebral cortex. I believe an exterior force was, and maybe still is, manipulating him. If Sombra is indeed moving against the rest of Equestria, I don’t want Spike to be used as a spying device.
I’m doing fine. Hope you are, too.
Your ever faithful student, Twilight Sparkle
After ensuring Spike wasn’t watching, she sent the letter off into oblivion. Realizing just how exhausted she still was, she turned over in her seat, curled up again, and fell back asleep.
(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)
Twilight awoke as the train rolled into the Canterlot Palace Emergency Station. Ventus came out of the driver’s cabin to speak directly to the foals.
“All right, there are some nice ponies out there who are gonna take care of you,” he said. “Just do what they say.”
The foals began shuffling off the train and onto the platform, where several foalcare professionals were waiting. Twilight could see a few guards also standing out there. Spike exited the train next, and immediately, the guards moved forward. One lifted Spike off the ground, while another hit him with a blast of magical knockout gas. Twilight winced. She felt bad about it, but if Spike really was being controlled, it was necessary. She looked at the guard levitating Spike’s limp figure in the air.
“Please, be gentle with him,” she pleaded. The guards galloped off of the platform, disappearing into the palace.
“We’re going to see the princesses,” Ventus informed Twilight from behind. “They… they’ve called a war council.”
Twilight’s heart sank right into her stomach. A war council hadn’t been called in over 1000 years, since Celestia had been forced to fight Luna (Nightmare Moon) for control of the kingdom.
They didn’t head to the throne room like Twilight had expected them to. Instead, they descended a stone staircase, into the rarely-used basement level of the castle. The guards in front of her seemed to know where they were going, as did Ventus. Twilight followed the crowd, as she’d never needed to come down here before. They went through a pair of iron doors, into a dark, cavernous room. It was lit with a soft, light-blue light, coming from a circular device in the center of the room. It threw the faces of everypony present halfway into shadow, creating an eerie feeling in the air. Twilight immediately spotted the dark figures of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, as they were the tallest ponies in the room. She galloped over to them, where Celestia stood ready to receive her.
“I’m so sorry, Twilight,” Princess Celestia said, after Twilight had galloped straight into her embrace. “I’m sorry you had to watch that.”
Fresh tears came from both mares, as Twilight realized this was just as hard, if not harder for Celestia. Never in recorded history had an Alicorn been killed in battle.
“I’m sorry, Princess!” Twilight cried into her. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop him!”
“There’s nothing you could have done,” Celestia said, almost mirroring what Ventus had said to her a few hours’ previous. She slowly ran a hoof through Twilight’s mane as a mother would with her daughter. “Your actions were heroic. You saved 20 foals, at least.”
Knowing it would be a while before Twilight would’ve, Celestia relinquished her hold on her student. Her eyes were dry now, though Twilight’s were still swimming in tears. Celestia gave her a warm smile.
“There’re some other ponies here who I think you need to see,” she said, shifting sideways. Twilight noticed, with a jolt of surprise, the rest of her best friends from Ponyville. Rarity and Applejack were closest, wearing looks of concern on their faces. Rainbow Dash was a bit behind them. Predictably, Fluttershy was towards the back, with tears of her own in her eyes. Uncharacteristically, she was accompanied by an extremely downtrodden Pinkie Pie. She wasn’t bouncing off the walls as she usually would, nor did she look worried for Twilight. Pinkie looked as lost and confused as though she was on a different planet. It was slightly unnerving to behold - she looked worse than she had on the occasion when she thought all of her friends had abandoned her, worse even than when she had cloned herself a thousand times in the mirror pool.
Look strong, Twilight thought to herself. Be strong for your friends.
She embraced each mare closest to her, who all expressed their remorses.
“I liked them,” Applejack simply stated. “They were good rulers, good ponies.”
When it came to be Fluttershy’s turn, she burst into audible tears.
“I’m - so sorry, Twilight!” She sobbed into Twilight’s shoulder. “Th-they, ..gone!”
It was all she could coherently say. Her crying almost shattered Twilight’s resolve, as tears welled up in her eyes again, threatening to burst forth once more. Something about Fluttershy’s grief was a thousand times worse than anypony else had been so far. But she somehow managed to hold it in, as she finally released Fluttershy. She looked around at them all.
“Why are you all here?” she inquired. “Why does Celestia need us at a war council?”
"We were kinda hoping you could tell us," said Rainbow Dash. "You're the one who's read all the history of--"
She went silent. Celestia had risen a hoof, and all noise had ceased immediately. Twilight then remembered they weren't the only ones in the room. Several Generals and military commanders were there as well.
"As I'm sure you're all aware of by now," Celestia began, "the Crystal Empire fell today. An old foe of ours, King Sombra, has gathered an army. They marched against the empire today, and though the empire fought gallantly, they stood no chance against Sombra's forces."
Silence.
"Now, you may be wondering what this has to do with us. Why call a war council if the war is already lost?"
A few ponies shifted uncomfortably. Obviously, they had been wondering exactly that.
"Well, I have reason to believe he intends to move against the rest of Equestria as well."
Muttering broke out at that. One pegasus spoke up.
"How can we be sure, your highness?" He asked. "Sombra did have a vendetta against the empire, after all. Why would he go after us if he has nothing against us? Surely, he realizes he doesn't stand a chance against us as a whole?"
"Because, Commander Cloven Hoof, I have it from him firsthand," Celestia swiftly replied, pulling something from her magical inventory. Even more muttering broke out as she unfurled the letter.
"You have twelve hours," she read aloud, "to surrender the Elements of Harmony. Now, how he found out about the Elements, I have no idea, but he seems to know they'll be able to stop him."
"Is that our plan, your majesty?" another general asked, "To bring in the Elements to stop him?"
"Indeed," Celestia said. "We plan to deal with Sombra in that way, but..." She looked sideways at Luna, who nodded slightly.
"We are unsure about how destabilized Sombra's forces will be once he is gone," Princess Luna picked up where Celestia left off. "It will be the army's responsibility to wipe out any who still seem to want to fight for him."
"Sombra will be the responsibility of the Elements of Harmony and myself," Celestia said, pointing a hoof at Twilight and her friends. "Princess Luna will oversee the efforts of the military. Now, I don't want these ponies to stay here longer than they have to, so if you all excuse me, I'm going to show them to their rooms. Princess Luna, if you could begin the debriefing. We leave at dawn."
Luna nodded. Celestia beckoned, and Twilight's group all followed her out of the throne room.
"Pardon me, Princess," Rarity trotted up alongside Celestia immediately, "but where's Spike? I heard he was coming back."
Twilight froze. She hadn't had time to explain Spike's situation before the meeting. Celestia glanced over at Twilight.
"I'm sure Twilight can tell you," she said.
Everypony looked at Twilight expectantly. She, however, could only focus on Rarity's suddenly panic-stricken expression.
"Where is he?" She demanded, wide-eyed. "What's wrong with him?!"
Feeling the dozen eyeballs focused on her, Twilight recounted what had happened, where Spike was and why. Rarity looked appalled.
"Someone might use him to spy on us?" She asked, mouth half open. Then she shook her head. "No, Spikey-wikey would never let somepony use him like that. He's too strong."
Twilight remained expressionless, but on the inside, she was surprised. She hadn't ever heard Rarity talk about Spike like that.
Celestia led them to a set of spare bedrooms, informing them that they'd be under guard for the night. She left them, needing to get back to the war council. Everypony, expect Twilight and (predictably) Fluttershy, began talking.
"Fighting Sombra again!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "This time, he's going down for good!"
Eventually, Rarity noticed that Twilight was just standing there, staring out a side window.
"What's wrong, darling?" She asked.
Twilight didn't honestly know. Her brother and Cadence were still fresh in her mind, of course, but that wasn't the only thing eating at her.
"I don't know," she sighed, looking out upon the large city of Canterlot. "I just... I feel like things are going to get a lot worse from here on out."
As she said them, she knew her words were true. She felt as though everything was about to spiral downhill and crash into the ground in a blazing fireball.
"How can it be worse?" Rainbow Dash asked, hovering above her. "I know Sombra's back and all, but we'll take the Elements of Harmony and blast him into a pile of jelly. Piece of cake!"
"Oooh! I've got one!" Pinkie Pie squealed. Reaching into her mane, she retrieved a piece of strawberry cake with pink frosting on a glass plate. She took an enormous, loud bite out of it, noisily chewing it up. She then noticed the funny looks she was getting from the others.
"Wan sum?" she asked through her mouthful of cake, "I hahv more."
She reached into her mane again, retrieving the rest of the cake. Everypony's jaws dropped.
"Think I'll pass," Rainbow Dash said, looking slightly revolted. Pinkie shrugged, and returned to her piece.
Twilight cocked an eyebrow. She wasn't wondering how Pinkie had managed to break the laws of physics - she had learned to stop that long ago. She was thinking about how quickly Pinkie's mood had changed. Not five minutes earlier, Pinkie had seemed to be one of the most depressed ponies alive, and now she was back to her regular, overly-cheerful (and crazy) state. If she was honest to herself, It was unnerving.
Soon thereafter, although it wasn't all that late, somepony unexpected arrived to chivy them into their rooms; Ventus.
"Celestia wants you all to have a decent night's rest for tomorrow," he said. "You should really all get to bed."
Silence. Then they all drifted into the various rooms; Pinkie Pie with Rainbow Dash, Applejack with Rarity (ironic, right?), leaving Twilight with Fluttershy and Spike, if he was discharged. Fluttershy went straight to her bed without saying anything. Twilight, meanwhile, lay on her bed, trying not to think about anything as she attempted to sleep. But her long naps on the train were catching up with her, and she wasn't even remotely tired anymore. She lay awake for a while, until there was a loud rapping sound on her door. She jumped about a mile into the air before running to the door, remembering that it couldn't be anyone bad because there were guards out there. She wrenched open the door to find, for the second time that day, Spike waiting to enter.
"Spike!" She exclaimed, pulling him through and shutting the door again. "You're all right! What happened?"
(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)
Five Hours Earlier
The guards carried the limp dragon into the exam room, closing the doors behind them. The examiners were ready, as per Celestia's orders. As soon as the unconscious dragon was placed on the bed, they immediately set to work. After a few minutes, the chief examiner walked through the door, a grim expression on his face.
"Find anything?" he asked.
"Nothing so far," one of the examiners said. The rest, save one, nodded in concurrence. The chief raised his eyebrows at the one examiner who hadn't nodded.
"...I think I have," he said, his mouth open. "Look at his subconsciousness."
Horn lit red, the Chief began scanning the subconscious, and soon found what the other stallion had been referring to. Most of the subconscious looked normal, but there was a giant black mass hidden deep in the recesses of it.
"What could that be?" the Chief wondered aloud, scratching his head with a hoof. "I've never seen anything like it before."
(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)
"...I don't exactly know," Spike replied. "I woke up, they said I was fine and could go. What happened? Why was I at magical exam?"
After explaining what she had done and why she had done it, Spike refused to speak to her for the rest of the evening, despite her repeated apologies. Eventually, she grew frustrated.
"It was for the best!" She yelled. "How would you feel if something had used you to kill one of us?!"
When he continued to lay in his bed in huffy silence, Twilight growled in frustration. Stalking to her four-poster bed, she laid down and magically extinguished the lamps, almost shattering the light bulbs in her silent fury.
(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)
"...I know you've never fought in military battle before," Ventus said to the ponies before him, "but you've trained for years in the best combat programs known to ponykind. If you're in top form tomorrow, I have full confidence we will all return alive, and Kick Sombra's army's butts. Dismissed."
The guards all stood up, as they began filing out of the door, some talking in low voices. Ventus kept up his confidence facade even after all of his team had left. They had been asked to assist the army in the eradication of Sombra's army. He felt fine about it - he was sure the ponies he had worked with for years would be more than enough for a disorganized army of selfish monsters. But something felt slightly... off. He couldn't quite place what it was, but something wasn't right. he felt like he was forgetting something, like there was something really important he had to do.
But what could it possibly be? he silently pondered, as he trotted toward the doors. The security rotations have already been sorted out. That's all it really could be.
Before he knew it, he had ascended three floors, and he was looking at the hallway where three of his guards were stationed, each guarding a door leading to where the Elements of Harmony were sleeping. Ventus could see them, even though they were invisible to almost everypony else. As he passed them, the one guarding Rarity and Applejack shifted slightly. Ventus paused, looking sideways at him.
Something wrong, Forest Shade? Ventus thought at him.
No, sir, the green stallion replied swiftly. Just surprised to see you out in the open. It's not really like you.
Ventus shrugged. All right, then. He moved on.
Forest Shade breathed the teeniest sigh of relief, before internally smiling.
This will work perfectly, he thought to himself. I just need to wait a bit longer...
Ventus ascended several more stories, his ominous feeling growing even stronger with every step he took, growing to occupy his entire focus. Finally deciding it wasn't natural, he changed course slightly, heading for the other side of the floor he was on. He approached the inconspicuous room, which was being guarded by a large unicorn stallion from his force. The unicorn immediately moved aside, allowing Ventus to knock on the door.
"Come in," the Princess said. Ventus opened the door, entering the room he had only been in a few times before. Celestia closed it behind him with magic.
"Well, this is a rare treat," she said, turning to face him. "It's been a few decades since you've visited me here."
Ventus nodded, unsure how to respond.
"Well, pull up a chair," Celestia said, conjuring an armchair from thin air. "Let's have a nice, long chat."
Ventus walked over, sitting in the soft chair. Celestia was the only pony who had ever seen straight through Ventus, knowing exactly how he felt no matter how hard he tried to hide it. It was slightly uncomfortable, as that was normally his job, but it was kind of nice to have somepony to confide in, too. Especially since that somepony was a ruler of the land.
"So," Celestia began, looking at him. "What's on your mind?"
"...I don't know," Ventus said, looking at the floor. He suddenly found it hard to meet her gaze, not used to having his emotions seen so easily.
"Don't know, huh? Well, plenty has happened lately. Is it the Crystal Empire? That's gotten to all of us."
"No, it's not that," he said, looking at her to reinforce that he was telling the truth. "I just... I feel like I'm forgetting something. Something important."
"To be honest," Celestia said, frowning slightly, "me too."
Ventus cocked an eyebrow. "That makes this even weirder."
"It's also a familiar feeling," Celestia said, her brain working quickly. Then, she remembered where she had felt this before. Her eyes widened slightly.
"Remember Summerlight?" She asked. Ventus racked his brains, and then knew what she was talking about.
"Yeah," he replied. "We never really figured out how he died. But that was 25 years ago, Princess. What does it have to do with this?"
"Didn't we both feel like this that night?"
Ventus opened his mouth, but then it hit him; she was right. He had felt this exact same way just minutes before Summerlight's body had been found. His eyes widened slightly, just as Celestia's had.
"That can't be good, can it?"
(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)(=)
Rarity sighed as she walked through the blank landscape. She had no idea where she was, and there seemed to be nowhere to go. So she walked on into the endless emptiness, the clip-clop sound of her hoofsteps vanishing into the emptiness.
A speck of purple on the ground came into view, sticking out like a sore thumb in the white landscape. She made a beeline for it. Growing impatient, she broke into a gallop as the speck grew even larger. She recognized it almost immediately, and galloped even harder to Spike's fallen figure. He was face-down on the ground. She reached him, as his body turned over.
And his black eyes came into focus.
Rarity let out a huge gasp as she sat up in her bed, drenched in her own sweat, her eyes wide. She was panting as though she really had ran the distance to Spike's body. She calmed down slightly as she realized she had been dreaming. Thankful that she was not having to share a bed with Applejack, who was still asleep on the other side of the room, she stood up and moved to the bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror.
She was a mess. Her hair was sticking out in odd places, and it was rather greasy. She could smell the musty scent of sweat coming from her own body.
Unwilling to return to bed in such a disgusting and uncouth state, she ran a bath, and washed herself, spending the entire time dwelling on her odd dream.
Why are you so worried about Spike? she asked herself, as she soaked in the lukewarm water. He'll be fine. He's been in worse spots than this before, and you never worried...
Her dark thoughts kept her company even as she drained the bath and dried herself off. Wondering if there were any extra sheets she could use so she wouldn't be forced to lay in her own sweat again, she opened the bathroom door just a crack, intending to return to her four-poster.
Immediately, her heart began to race, and her vision shook slightly. She didn't know why; she physically felt fine. But there was an ominous feeling in the air that, for some reason, was terrifying her. Wondering what she was about to face, she opened the door the rest of the way. The reason became apparent immediately.
A light-green stallion was lying on his back a few feet away from Applejack's bed. He wasn't moving.
Eyes wide, Rarity ran over to him.
He didn't seem to be breathing.
Holding her breath, she rolled him over.
And let out a huge gasp.
The stallion's eyes, like Spike's had been in her dream, were pitch-black. No pupils, no iris. His mouth was half-open, and he wasn't breathing.
He was very obviously dead.
Rarity fell back, scrambling back several yards from the fallen body on all fours.
"Applejack!" she cried. "Applejack! Somepony's dead on our floor!"
There was no reply. Rarity looked over at Applejack's bed, barely seeing it in her hysteria. She stood up, scrambling over to it as fast as she could move in her shocked state.
"Applejack!" She yelled again, shaking her hard.
Applejack's limp figure turned slightly, revealing her profile.
Which was identical to the green stallion's. Half-open mouth, pitch black eyes, no warmth in her body.
Rarity opened her mouth and let out a blood-curdling shriek, loud enough for the entire castle to hear;
"HEEELP!"
Current Equestria Population:
1,430,244