She could take it back
She might take it back
Some day
-Pink Floyd, “Take It Back”
A brown earth-pony was awakened by a hoof on his shoulder, plucking him from strange places in his mind. He grunted and dug his snout further into the soft down pillow. It wasn't fair, he decided: pillows always seemed to feel best when you had to leave them behind.
The hoof shook him again, rougher this time.
"Rockheart, wake up!" whispered a gruff voice.
The pony rolled onto his back and cracked open his eyes. The few candles at either end of the room were barely enough to give him something by which to see. Opening them further seemed a feat of will beyond measure.
When he realized that the voice belonged to Sergeant Wheatgrass, it got a lot easier.
The young stallion startled and threw himself out of bed, standing at parade rest with his dark-brown mane down over his eyes. Sergeant Wheatgrass's steel shoes made nary a sound on the carpeted floor as the senior guardspony—himself with brown coat and dark-brown mane—moved around the bed to eye him from head to hock.
"Her Royal Highness Princess Luna has asked for you," said Wheatgrass quietly, so as not to disturb the rest of the row of sleeping ponies in the open-bay barrack room. "Police that mane and tail, armor up, and report to the antechamber of the throne room."
Rockheart cleared his throat. "Yes, sergeant," he said simply. With that, Wheatgrass turned and strode powerfully out of the room.
Rockheart flipped his mane back down along his neck and shook out the tangles in his tail. He then got busy making his bed, pulling the sheets and blanket tight with his teeth and smoothing out the wrinkles with his broad hooves. His thoughts drifted to his dream, and the stallion just gazed blankly at the bare stone wall of the barracks room while muscle memory did the work. He could barely remember it now, but boy did he have the impression that it had been a weird one.
His armor was in his hooflocker at the foot of the bed. Taking care to be as quiet as possible, Rockheart opened the latch and pulled out his cuirass, helmet, and shoes. He liked his armor, and the weight of it on his body. It had been two months since he'd joined up, and he still felt proud to wear it every day. He hoped that pride wouldn't diminish with time.
He donned the armor with practiced ease, stepping into his shoes and letting the segmented shroud at the back of the cuirass fall down onto his tail, the plates on the flank concealing the cutie mark that had given him his name. Rockheart was working in private on a trick where he flipped the helmet onto his own head by tossing it into the air with his teeth; he was sure it'd impress the other guardsponies once he'd mastered his eye-mouth coordination. After laying the helmet upside-down on the bed and lowering his head into it, he shook off the last remnants of sleep and walked out of the bay.
The royal palace of Canterlot was a massive, labyrinthine complex, and when Rockheart had first arrived he'd thought he'd never internalize the layout of it. Everypony had been quite understanding and helpful, however, especially when they were assaulted by the stallion's enthusiasm for the job. To his initial shock, even Their Royal Highnesses had come to know him, though as he came to learn more about them in turn, it only seemed natural. They knew everypony in the palace: their names, their families' names, their jobs, their families' jobs, where they lived, birthdays, anniversaries, everything. They were goddesses, he figured, so it'd be a trifle for them to remember such things. What was more important to him is that they, in their incredible power, took the time and care to remember at all.
He now walked the marbled, bannered corridors with confidence, though, a proper member of the Palace Watch. The floors and walls in the public areas of the palace were made of marble and the ceilings were vaulted in granite, so red runner carpets covered the center of the corridors. This keep the clopping and clacking of countless hooves and shoes from making it impossible to have conversations in the hallways.
There were three other ponies waiting in the antechamber when Rockheart arrived, guardsponies each. Two were slate-gray unicorns from the Sanctum Watch, one stallion and one mare, and the third, another stallion, was one of the white pegasi of the Sky Watch. Holding mostly ceremonial posts in close proximity to the princesses and their daily haunts, the Sanctum Watch wore gleaming silver armor, nice to look at but not much use otherwise. The Sky Watch, being the branch of the Royal Guard with the biggest public presence, had armor of thin polished brass, providing all of the brilliance of gold for a fraction of the weight, which was an important consideration for pegasi. The brown-coated earth-ponies of the Palace Watch—ponies like Rockheart—wore armor of matte brushed steel, thicker and heaver than the armor of their counterparts. It was functional and no-nonsense, bearing no jeweled accents or plumed brush along the helmet. Rockheart was rather proud of this fact; it felt like an acknowledgement of the physical strength and sensibility his kind had.
The Sanctum-Watch stallion had a rose-colored star on his chest piece, denoting his rank as a captain. Rockheart marched up to the unicorn and saluted smartly.
"Guardspony Rockheart reporting as ordered, sir."
The unicorn returned the salute. "Glad you're here, son. I'm Captain Moonwave." He gestured to the other two with a hoof. "This here is Guardspony Updraft and Guardspony Giving Grace," he said, indicating the pegasus and other unicorn respectively. "Now follow me, all of you."
To their mild surprise, instead of walking through the throne room, Captain Moonwave marched past them and started down the corridor which ran around the outside of the throne room's walls. The three junior guardsponies fell into step behind him, naturally falling into single-file progression.
Moonwave led them through the quiet stillness of the palace at night. All of the servants were home asleep, and most of the night-shift Palace Watch were manning the ramparts or the outer grounds. Soon, the marble of the floor beneath their hooves shifted in color from salmon to white. This denoted entry into the Sanctum, a place of study-rooms, arcane laboratories, compartmentalized libraries, and the personal living spaces of the Sun and the Moon. Strict noise discipline was observed even during daylight hours to assist studious ponies visiting the Sanctum.
After a bit of travel through the Sanctum, the four of them approached a nondescript arched wooden door with wrought-iron banding and a simple ring handle at mouth level. Two Sanctum-Watch unicorns stood at attention on either side of the door. The guard on the right saluted as they drew nearer.
Captain Moonwave returned the salute. Rockheart idly wondered if officers ever got sick of having to constantly do that. It hadn't been the first time.
"Is Her Royal Highness ready for them?" asked Moonwave.
"She said to send them in as soon as they got here, sir," replied the unicorn.
Moonwave shrugged. "Good enough for me," he said, and cocked his chin at the door. "Well, don't keep her waiting, ponies! I dunno what she wants with you, but once she's done with you, you can consider yourselves as you were." He nodded once to his collected subordinates, and then resumed his making his rounds through the Sanctum corridors.
The unicorn on the left used her magic to open the door, and the three visitors filed in. The door closed behind them, giving a nearly inaudible click.
The walls of Princess Luna's study were nothing but bookshelf, and each shelf was full to capacity. In the center of the room was a low mahogany writing desk with a stack of paper, a quill, and an inkwell, and seated on a cushion at the desk was Luna, Goddess of the Moon. A cheery fire crackled in the fireplace at her back, haloing her in warm, flickering light. Her mane seemed to be made of stardust, and her coat shimmered between dusky purple and near black as she moved.
She looked up at the three ponies before her, and in the instant those eyes lifted, all three ponies fell into a deep bow, bending a foreleg and dipping their heads low.
Rockheart intensely studied the fibers of the elaborate carpet next to his eyes, suddenly quite nervous, his heart pounding. What would the Night herself want with three low-ranking guardsponies? Where they in trouble? That was it, wasn't it? There had been something he'd missed in training! If only he'd studied the Royal Guard Hoofbook more closely, and had done a better job of acclimating to the whole—
"Please rise, guardsponies!" came Luna's soft voice. Rockheart had heard that Luna once used to be able to nearly knock ponies over with the power of her voice; he was glad she'd worked on toning that down.
The three of them came up to attention, locking their legs and lifting their heads in unison. Rockheart looked out of the corner of his eyes to the two others on his left. That had gone well, almost like they'd practiced together.
The princess tittered quietly, holding up a hoof to hide her mouth. "Oh, come now, be at ease," she said. "None of your officers are watching, nor are we at court; there is no need to keep up appearances here."
Rockheart relaxed, but not too much. Princess Luna was acting friendly enough, but his heart was still hopping around his ribcage. He was staying silent, and thankfully, none of the other two had spoken either. It was always a good idea to keep one's mouth shut when in doubt. That had been drilled into him way back when—
"Now then," said the alicorn, bringing a paper to the center of the desk with a hoof and looking down at it, "I have before me... Giving Grace, Rockheart, and... Updraft, is that correct?" She looked up at them, eyebrows lifted.
"I am Giving Grace, Your Royal Highness," said the unicorn mare, taking a step forward.
Rockheart took his cue from her. Uniformity was always good. "I am Rockheart, Your Royal Highness," he said, stepping forward as well.
The pegasus then stepped forward too. "I am Updraft, Your Royal Highness."
Princess Luna giggled again, looking less like a ruler of the night and more like a young mare after a night of bar-hopping. "How adorable you three are!" she laughed. "Please, please, we are all friends here; there is no need for the theatrics of parade in my humble little study. Call me Luna for tonight. It'll save us all some time." She gave a warm, disarming wink to them.
The brown earth-pony relaxed a bit more. She certainly seemed in a good enough mood, so that was a good sign.
Luna looked back down at her paper. "Now, on to the next question: all three of you were humans once, correct?"
The three guardsponies exchanged a quick look, nodding a little to each other, then Updraft said "Yes, Your—er, yes, Luna."
"Splendid! So we come to the final question before we get down to business: you three were all... warriors, back in your human lives? Soldiers?"
Again, the answer for all of them was yes.
Luna shifted the paper aside with a hoof and leaned forward a bit. "Now, this isn't a question I need answered—merely curiosity on my part—but I would be pleased to know your human names and where you served."
Giving Grace was only too happy to answer. "My name was Petra Eliopoulos," she said. "I was a truck driver in the Hellenic Army, 31st Mechanized Infantry Brigade."
Updraft cleared his throat, holding a hoof to his mouth, then said "Dhanesh Sawardekar, my beautiful princess. I was a radioman in the 26th Infantry Division, 9th Corps, Indian Army."
Rockheart hesistated before answering, trying to get his pulse under control. "I was... Kyle Webster, Third Infantry Division, United States Army. Eleven bravo."
"Hm!" exclaimed Luna. "Interesting. I suppose you are the one, then, who for a time worked on something called a..." she snuck a look back at the paper she'd slid to one side. "... a 'Railroad'?"
A deluge of rapid-fire memories flashed through Rockheart's head. Maintaining his composure, he nodded once. "That is correct, Luna."
"Outstanding. We will get to that later, but for now, I need the help of all three of you. Please, make yourselves comfortable."
Luna's long horn began to glow, and then Rockheart felt something soft bump up against his back hooves. He craned his neck back to see cushions being set down behind each of them. Needing no second bidding, the three of them sat, once again in accidental unison. Luna gave another amused smile at that.
"How does it feel to serve in Equestria?" she asked conversationally. "Tia and I are certainly honored that it was us you chose to serve."
"I do not regret it at all, my princess," said Updraft. Rockheart and Giving Grace both nodded at that.
"I don't think there was a better choice I could have made," said Giving Grace with a smile.
"Heh, fits me like a glove!" added Rockheart. "Er, well, so to speak."
Princess Luna giggled again. "So indeed! Were the magical alterations to your coats and manes and eyes rather odd? I've been rather curious for a human perspective on what it feels like having that first spell cast on them."
"It was..." Rockheart looked to the other two. "...tingly. Strange. It didn't feel bad, though! Brown probably suits me better than orange anyway." The other two ponies just chuckled and nodded.
"Good to hear," said Luna with a smile. "To business, then! The sooner we finish, the sooner you can get back to your beds, right?" She got up from the desk and began to pace along the edge of the room as she spoke. "My sister had visitors at court today who had come straight from the Barrier. They related a rather unfortunate ordeal that they had gone through involving the loss of an air-carriage and a gauntlet of dangers as put forth by the Human Liberation Front. There was an encounter with Ponification for the Earth's Rebirth as well, I understand. The three humans escorting them were members of what is known colloquially as the Railroad, a militia of sorts, given to taking ponies and Bureau supplies safely across inhospitable terrain. The three humans lost their lives. All of this happened across a stretch of road roughly one hundred miles long. One hundred miles from a Conversion Bureau to the Barrier, and all this takes place. It is worrying, as you may imagine."
The guardsponies remained silent. Luna gazed blankly at the bookshelf by her side for a moment before continuing.
"Tia and I have no jurisdiction in the human world. We cannot dictate how humans act and we cannot involve ourselves in, support, nor sanction any human-created organizations, whether they be for the benefit of newfoals or not." She sighed. "Would that we could, but we cannot take sides, even if the sides we would take are obvious to all.
"The ponies who visited us mentioned that the areas directly in front of the border are a sort of war zone, a hotbed of conflict for humans who feel that they have no place in Equestria, or that there is nothing for them here. Soldiers." She regarded them with sad eyes. As Rockheart looked into them, his heart truly settled. Kindness and regret were there, deep and smooth.
Luna gently stomped a hoof on the carpet. "But soldiers have come to Equestria, many of them, I am certain, and you three are proof of it! Even former members of this selfsame Railroad serving right here in the palace! Tia and I have determined that we must try to reach out to these souls, to find what keeps them there, or what repels them from here. When all is said and done, it must still be their decision and theirs alone to accept our offer, but if we can assuage the reservations even one human harbors, then it will have been worth it.
"We need your help, my stalwart guardsponies, to think as they think, to speak what they need to hear. Tia and I wish for you to recall your time as a human under arms and to give us insight into the warrior's mind. From this, we will fashion a new broadcast and provide it to all of the public-address media that have opened their resources up to Equestria. For your assistance, we can offer no reward beyond the satisfaction that you have helped potentially deliver some former comrades into the safety and fellowship of Equestria, and to ease this fear of peace that we ponies find so baffling."
The goddess's ears drooped, and her head lowered a bit. "I wish we could do more, believe me, but this is a matter for humans alone. We can only provide them the choice and the facts, as we ever have."
The moon goddess lifted her head, and a small smile played across her lips. "And the main fact is the same: we would like for them to choose Equestria."
Rockheart smiled and nodded at that. The other ponies did as well.
* * *
Elsewhere in the palace, Sugar Spoon and the two newfoals slept soundly in beds of silkbird down. They had thought it would be days, or perhaps weeks, before they could gain audience with either princess, but to their surprise they had been given some time to speak at the very next morning's court. In the meantime, Gavel, Melody, and Sugar Spoon had been put up as royal guests for the night. It had been quite an exhausting day, and nopony had trouble falling asleep, though the mood among them was somber over what they had witnessed.
Even as Princess Luna consulted the formerly-human guardsponies, Sugar Spoon awoke to find her coat and her bedspread awash in gentle pastel-blue light. As her eyes opened and focused, she beheld Her Royal Highness Princess Celestia, Goddess of the Sun and co-ruler of all Equestria, standing at her bedside, the light emanating from her restless, lambent mane.
The unicorn made to hastily bow, but some intuition stayed her. No, that would not be necessary. She tore her eyes away from the deity to look over at Gavel and Melody, both asleep in beds of their own in the guest room. She looked back to Celestia. Her normally radiant smile was tempered with sadness.
"Good evening, Your Royal Highness," whispered Sugar Spoon. She figured that, if Celestia wished for the newfoals to be awake, she would have had them awaken as well.
"Good evening to you too, Sugar Spoon of Fetlock," replied Celestia, also in a whisper.
"There... won't be any need for us at court tomorrow, will there?"
Celestia shook her head. "There was never a need; I just wanted you three to stay close for the night. We visited your dreams and the dreams of your companions. Luna and I have learned all we need to know. We are taking steps to mitigate the problem even now, as we speak."
Sugar Spoon looked down at the blanket, the colored light on it shifting and coalescing as Celestia's mane rippled slowly in the still air of the room.
"You almost told them," said Celestia. It was a statement, not a question.
The unicorn's gold eyes watered and she shut them tight. She struggled to keep her voice quiet. "I wanted to, princess! I wanted to so badly! I didn't want it to come to death for them, I wanted to see them as ponies, I wanted to see how happy and relieved they would be, I wanted them to visit me in Fetlock and... and thank me for setting them on the right path. If they had just asked... I... I-I tried to get them to bite, to ask, just so I would have the excuse. I'm sorry, princess!"
"You have nothing to be sorry for," said Celestia. "I know of that yearning well, my little pony, because I have it too. With all my heart I want to tell them, to just cast my voice over all of Earth and remove all doubt, but it would be overstepping our bounds for either of us to tell even one soul. Even though the Barrier is unmaking their world, to come here can never be less than a choice freely made."
Sugar Spoon couldn't bear to look at Celestia's face, beautiful as it was. Her hooves pressed into the blanket, which was sprouting dark spots from her tears. "They think even death will keep them from having to choose," she said. "Why would it be so terrible to tell them it won't? Why not tell them that running from the Barrier is only a delay to having to answer, not an answer in itself?"
"It is a matter of faith, Sugar Spoon," said Celestia. The alicorn brought her head down to the unicorn's cheek and nuzzled her gently, as a mother might comfort her filly. "We must have faith that humans will seek Equestria on their own, that they will say 'yes' when the time comes, and hopefully that time comes while they are still alive. In turn, the humans must have faith that we are not misleading them, that we offer this gift with no ulterior motive or strings, and that they will own the final decision to be made."
Celestia's nose was dainty and soft, but through it Sugar Spoon could feel the heartbeat of the cosmos. She felt very small in the goddess's presence. "Three humans died to get us here," she said. "I could have saved them so much pain. The pain of dying, of having to—" Her voice gave out, her throat catching on a sob.
"Would they have believed you," asked Celestia, "or would they have thought you were feeding them some kind of feel-good fantasy, and only grown more distant? Humans, from what I've seen, are not used to being delivered from their woes by others. In the human mind, some burdens are to be borne alone, and shrugging them off is seen as weakness. They are unused to truly good news."
The princess's voice was lifted from its funereal matter-of-factness and into warmth, prompting the unicorn to look up at her with wide, tear-filled eyes. "You must have faith too, Sugar Spoon," she said, "faith that, in the end, all three of them chose to come to Equestria."
Sugar Spoon sniffed once, venturing a smile. "Did they?" she asked.
"A human can only choose Equestria if they have hope," said Celestia, smiling back. "Do you feel as though you gave hope to them during your time together?"
Sugar Spoon looked back down at the blanket. She supposed she wasn't getting the answer she really wanted. "I... I hope I did," she murmured.
Princess Celestia's laugh was quiet and innocently joyful, like the sound of bells being rung enthusiastically by a very young foal. "Hope breeds hope!" she said. "If you presented yourself as a true and faithful daughter of Equestria, then nopony could have asked more of you. Your part in this is over, my little pony, and even I do not get all of the answers when I would have them. Rest now, and let your mind turn to happier times ahead, both for you and the newfoals who have come back with you. When your thoughts turn to them again, take comfort in hope."
Sugar Spoon was already asleep, the light on her bed already faded away.
* * *
Cool Shade brought her dark-navy-blue hooves to her mouth and called up to the pegasus fiddling with the loudspeaker at the top of the telephone pole.
"Come on, Fleetfeather, get that doohickey unbucked! We're missing it!"
"Hold'ur horhesh, I almoaf go' it!" said the teal pegasus around a roll of duct tape. It was hard to use tape with just hooves—definitely a thing for humans and unicorns only—but Fleetfeather was the only newfoal in Salisbury who'd had experience as an electrician prior to conversion.
As he brought the last two ends of unconnected wires together, Princess Celestia's voice suddenly blared from the loudspeaker, filling the air and making Fleetfeather's ears ring. The pegasus very nearly dropped his tape.
Cool Shade whooped and bucked the air in celebration, then whistled over the other PER members, who all gathered around the loudspeaker to hear Her Royal Highness's latest broadcast.
There in Salisbury, and also on the television sets, radios, and CBs in DC, the US eastern seaboard, and all over the world, Celestia spoke, in languages uncountable:
"I am Celestia, Princess of Equestria and Goddess of the Sun. I am speaking on my own behalf, as well as on the behalf of my sister, Luna, Princess of Equestria and Goddess of the Moon. I wish to address the humans in service of arms, whoever you might be, wherever you might be, and for whatever you fight.
"To come to Equestria is not capitulation. It is not a victory for fear, nor is it the invalidation of what you hold precious. It is nothing more of the continuation of the life owed to you, the life regrettably altered by events beyond anyone's control, my own included.
"Consider your responsibilities as a parent, or a spouse, or a sibling. If you have family here, you can come to them. If you have family with you, they will be safe here. You fight, but do they? Would they have you fight out the rest of your lives, or theirs? Don't they want something better for you? If you have no family, then know that you needn't be alone if you do not wish it. There is a family for you here. You can find love, fellowship, community; all you want—and perhaps need—is here in Equestria. We know a thing or two about friendship here; it is a subject of intense personal interest!
"It is true that, in Equestria, there is almost no knowledge of armed conflict. It is true that you will not do in Equestria what you do now on Earth. However, it is also true that Equestria has need of you nevertheless. We value your perseverance, your perspective, your valor, and your sense of duty and service to an ideal. We recognize these as virtues to be cultivated, not flaws to be expunged. All of what makes you who you are can be manifested anew with us, here, in ways that may surprise you but will be no less fulfilling.
"Some will hear this as propaganda, a tool of war you, as fighters, are no doubt are wise to. But just as we have no need of war in Equestria, so too have we no need of propaganda. The stakes are known by all, including you. You know what is ahead; I need say nothing to that. All I need to say is that you are not forgotten, and you are not abandoned. You are welcomed, as you have always been.
"There is time yet, and will be for a few years to come. I have hope that you—each of you—will join us."
THE END