//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Questions Answered, Mysteries Deepened // Story: We Rule the Night // by Solar Flare //------------------------------// Chapter 14: Questions Answered, Mysteries Deepened Relan slinked along the stones overlooking the canyon below. To the east, the bright lights of Las Pegasus could be seen, but the drake cat had no reason to go there. Normally, the desert would be broiling hot, but the absent sun caused the desert to resemble a refrigerator. The drake cat shivered. Six months. It had been six months since Moonlight had vanished, seemingly into thin air. Relan had begun his search the very night, but felt that he was no closer to finding his friend now than he had back then. He shook his head. That very night. It still was that very night. All over Equestria he had searched. Ponyville to Trottingham, Trottingham to Manehatten, Manehatten to Baltimare and now he found himself on the outskirts of Las Pegasus, still quite alone. - “Look, I can’t let you stay here for free forever you know.” Northwind grumbled in response to the irritable innkeeper, who had been threatening to buck him out of the motel in Cloudesdale since the Pegasus had arrived. The once-great commander was now much less imposing. His mane and tail were tangled, bags decorated the space under his eyes and he was drunk more often than not. “Hey, you hear me?” “I heard you.” The innkeeper snorted and floated away, leaving the commander alone. Just as soon as he thought he would get a moment alone, somepony spoke. “Commander Northwind?!” The voice was vaguely familiar, but through his drunken haze, Northwind couldn’t place it immediately. He glanced sideways to see a grey pony with a blue and red mane, staring at him in disbelief. “Wait…” Northwind tried to move but instead fell from his stool, hitting the cloud floor. The other pony helped him shakily to his hooves. “You actually made it to Cloudesale?” “Hey, you’re *hic*, you’re one of the ponies that ran me out of my home…” Northwind spat, trying and failing to look at his opponent straight. “Er, yeah, I mean, I didn’t mean to run you out, I just-“ “I’LL KILL YOU!” Northwind suddenly roared, launching himself at Solar Flare and tackling him to the cloud floor. Solar Flare uttered a strangled cry before fighting back, trying to get his hooves under his attacker. He managed to give the older pony a good kick in the stomach, forcing the wind out of him and knocking him into the air. Undeterred in his drunk rage, Northwind bellowed another threat and shot forward, pushing Solar Flare through the cloud wall into the open sky. Solar Flare spread his wings before gravity could get the better of him. “Stop!” “NO!” The two smacked into one another over and over in what would have been a stunning aerial battle, had it not been too dark to see and if Northwind weren’t too drunk to fly straight. “If you don’t stop I’m gonna knock you out of the sky, old man!” Solar Flare shouted, dodging another mad attack. “Good! Do it!” Northwind cried out, doing a whirling u turn and flying back toward his opponent. Solar Flare dodged, but made no move to attack again, instead turning back and flying toward Cloudesdale. The older pony pursued, but his flying was no match for Solar Flare. As soon as the two pegasi entered the city, Northwind crashed into a building, knocking himself out cold. - “He attacked you?” “Yeah, he wasn’t happy?” The voices sounded as though their owners were talking through cotton. Northwind tried to open his eyes, but his head felt like it was going to explode. He uttered a long groan. “Hey, he’s awake.” This time, Northwind recognized both voices. He remembered, just barely, getting into a brawl with one of the Equestrian pegasi from before and then… The commander forced his eyes open to see a Pegasus dressed in scrubs (literally) hovering over him. “Don’t try to move too much, you’ve got a nasty concussion.” The doctor ordered gently. Despite the demand, Northwind turned to see who was standing at his bedside. Two pegasi, one grey one blue with a shocking rainbow mane. “Can’t you two ever leave me alone?” “As I recall, it was you that wanted to kill me.” Solar Flare said smugly. “Guess you didn’t do too good, huh?” Rainbow Dash asked, eyeing the bandages on Northwind’s head. “Go away.” The two friends exchanged glances and trotted out, leaving the doctor alone with his patient. “Where am I?” “Cloudsedale Clinic. You hit a wall pushing forty and you’ve been unconscious for almost a day.” Northwind tried to swallow only to find his mouth extremely dry. The doctor handed him a bottle of water, which he gulped greedily. “You’re lucky I suppose. Solar Flare was nice enough to not knock you out of the sky and even carried you back here.” The doctor deadpanned, checking a chart absent mindedly. “I don’t care.” “You should.” “And just why is that?” The doctor hesitated. “You’re not from Cloudesdale.” It wasn’t a question. “Of course not! I am the commander of-“ Northwind cut short as a ringing pain ran through his head. “Right, Solar Flare was explaining that.” “Where’s my vest?” “Er, it’s in storage.” “Did you take anything out of it?!” “Well, yes, it had to be washed. It looked as if it hadn’t been cleaned in months.” Northwind jumped out of bed, ignoring his painfully protesting head and flew out the door, the doctor shouted after him. Near the end of the hallway, Solar Flare was talking quietly to a receptionist, a picture frame gripped in his fetlock. - Twilight’s horn made a soft tinkling noise as her spell was cast, warming the nearby air by a few degrees. She had fallen into the habit of doing this every few hours she was awake. One week until the Midnight Gala. Rarity had prepared a beautiful array of night themed dresses, and one impressive tuxedo for Solar Flare. Twilight had just left her friend’s home and was on her way home. A quiet noise from a nearby alley caught her attention. Dismissing it as a stray cat, the unicorn continued on her way. Suddenly, a strangely familiar force seemed to invade her mind. She gasped and looked about frantically, trying to locate the source of the spell. “Sshh, calm down Twilight, I’m not an enemy.” Twilight’s fear dissipated in an instant, replaced by a cool calmness. “You don’t remember me, but I remember you. We have much to discuss.” Twilight felt her body moving of it’s own accord, her legs carrying her toward Hood’s home. The door opened apparently on it’s own and as Twilight stepped inside, she could feel the presence leave her mind, her body once again under her control. “Twilight. I’m going to need you to remain calm.” A searing pain tore through her head, emanating from her horn outward. She squeezed her eyes shut and uttered a cry. Memories flooded her mind, piecing themselves together like a jigsaw puzzle. A vision of Hood destroying his home led into him teleporting away, then into an unfamiliar memory. Twilight found herself entering a room in Hood’s home that wasn’t there. A strange animal, a necklace. A conversation she never had. The memories were short, but the painful process made it seem like forever. Finally the mental assault stopped and Twilight rose to her hooves, rubbing the side of her head. “Relan, why did you-“ “Twilight. We have a problem.” “Of course we have a problem!” “No, it’s something else.” If the Drake Cat’s stoic voice could show excitement, it was now. He was clearly upset about something. “Did you find Hood? Is he okay?” Twilight asked, ignoring her aching head. “That’s just it. There is no reasonable explanation for me not being able to find him. He’s gone.” “Gone? Like… He’s dead…?” Relan shook his horned head. “No, I would be able to find him if he was dead. He doesn’t exist.” Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Listen to me very closely. The Gala hosted by Nightmare Moon is in one week. If you truly want to defeat her, you’ll need to use Moonlight’s necklace.” Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but closed it, a worried look crossing her face. “How? You said yourself that only Hood knew how to use it. Without him it’s useless.” “In theory, yes. But other than him, your magic is the most powerful of any unicorn in Equestria. If any pony could learn to use it, it’s you.” The two walked over toward the spell shrouded door in the back of Hood’s house. A thought crossed Twilight’s head, but when she tried to look for the transient that had been living here, Relan’s mental presence warned her not to. She didn’t need him to clarify. The door opened for Relan without any protest. The room was just as they had left it, barren of any furnishings other than the table holding Hood’s necklace. “So what do I do?” Twilight asked nervously, eyeing the trinket. Relan sighed his strange mental sigh. “Sorry to say, I’m not sure. When Moonlight touched it, something happened, but he would never let me check him afterwards.” Twilight heaved a wavering sigh and lifted a hoof. Slowly, carefully she pressed it to the necklace. The world ripped apart. - Northwind grabbed the photo from Solar Flare with his teeth and tucked it under his wing. “Hey, what are-“ Solar Flare stopped midsentence. “Don’t you ever touch that, rabble! Ever!” Northwind shouted, a hint of something other than rage in his voice. “Why do you have that photo?” Solar Flare asked. “What’s it to you?” Solar Flare simply stared at the corner of the picture frame sticking out from under the older stallion’s wing. Rainbow Dash nudged the young Pegasus, snapping him back to attention. “That picture is of Heat Wave…” Northind started to say something but stopped. Slowly, he lifted the picture up in his hoof and looked at it for a while. It was old and faded, but still visible. It depicted a red Pegasus mare with a blue mane and tail, standing amongst a snowy background. “You knew her?” “I knew her.” “When she left… I never thought I would see her again.” The air felt tense enough to cut with a knife. “I’m afraid you won’t.” Solar Flare muttered, looking at the floor. “Then she…” “Yeah.” Northwind was silent once again. “How did she go?” “Got sick. About three years ago.” Solar Flare paused. “Who was she to you?” Northwind grinded his teeth, trying to hide his despair. “She was everything to me.” More silence. “And… Who was she to you?” Rainbow Dash asked, poking Solar Flare with a hoof. “…She was my mom.” - Twilight could hear her pulse beating in her ears. She could feel the cold floor underneath her. Something was missing though, inside her. She focused, trying to feed magic into her horn. Nothing happened. As she lied on the floor, she cast half the spells in her arsenal at nothing, but each time nothing happened. There was no magic in her. The unicorn forced her eyes open. All around her was a ghostly silver light. In one corner of the room, Relan rested, watching her intently. To her right, the little amulet lay on the floor. “Finally awake.” “That was…” “That was what happened to Moonlight, every time he used that amulet. Let me guess, you can’t cast any spells?” Twilight struggled to move but failed. Everything except talking and blinking used too much energy. “That should wear off in a few minutes.” “How… Can I… Use… That thing?” Twilight managed to squeak. “Touch it again.” “Are you… Crazy?!” “Try it.” Twilight breathed a heavy sigh, forcing one of her hooves to move. With no small amount of apprehension, she jabbed at the necklace, jerking her hoof away instantly. Nothing happened. Relan seemed satisfied. “How did you… Know?” Twilight asked, no longer attempting to move. “I didn’t.” “I don’t like you much…” Relan crept over and gently lifted the necklace with a claw. With his other paw, he gingerly lifted Twilight’s head and slipped the chain around her neck. “The rest, little pony, you will have to figure out for yourself.” “What about… Hood...?” A painful sadness wafted from the drake cat. “I can only hope he is with his family now.”