//------------------------------// // Melodies of the Night // Story: Equestria Has Fallen // by ward282 //------------------------------// Twilight looked through the few bookcases in the living room. As she scanned the books she noted how uncared for they were, most books were coated in a thick layer of dust. The few that weren't were all about war, war tactics, Starswirl or Starswirls' forbidden spells. There was one book that caught Twilights attention, its back had been broken so many times from over-reading that the title was no longer legible. She used her magic to levitate the book out of the shelf and down to her, "The History of the Long Winter War", the book was large. Twilight did not usually care about a books' length but she couldn't help herself think that the book would be too long by Rainbow Dashs' standards. The thought made Twilight feel unhappy again, she shook her head to suppress the thoughts. At that moment Derpy entered the room. "I was just looking for something light to read" Twilight explained. Derpys' right eye drifted the book and back to Twilight. The left followed the same path a few seconds later and returned to its offset position. "I...er... prepared a room for you to sleep in, its a bit tight but neither of the two stallions in the house would've thought to prepare sleeping arrangements". Derpy purposely said the last part loudly. Time Turner entered from the kitchen with a mixing bowl in his hoof. "Food is more important than sleep" Time Turner said mockingly. Twilight was unsure whether the two ponies were playfully bantering or were on the approach to a new argument. "I'll show you up" Derpy said. The house was three stories high, all connected by a narrow staircase. The second floor of the house contained the bathroom and master bedroom. Twilight assumed Time Turner and Derpy shared this room. As they climbed the second flight of sets a beautiful noise reached Twilights' ears. It was a song, played on strings a deep pitched instrument; bass clef. The song she'd heard it before, a few days ago. She was in Canterlot. The cobbled square was one of the creative districts that housed many of the fashion boutiques that Rarity had dragged her to see. One of the corners was a trio of ponies all were playing instruments, one a harp, the other a piano and the main star; a violoncello. The three ponies had attracted a small crowd of high society ponies. Rarity tugged at Twilights' hoof and pressed her to move fast. "Darling, wedding attire is flying of the shelves faster than Rainbow Dash when its cider season. We must move fast if we are to get you a dress for your brothers' wedding." Twilight was unaware she was standing halfway up the staircase. Derpy was calling her from the top, Twilight gathered her thoughts and moved up the staircase. The source of the noise was indeed from a cello, but it was not the pony from Canterlot playing the beautiful instrument. Thunderer had placed the instrument in a stand and was holding the bow in his mouth, he had well practised precision as he moved the bow along the strings. He then stopped and slacked the third string, he restarted unaware of his audience. There were only two rooms on this level, Thunderers' room took up the bigger space as he was the bigger pony. Derpy led her into what appeared to be a child's room. The wall paper was a dark brown but there were toys and filly books in all the shelves. The room contained a mattress on the floor, a toy box, a small bookcase and a wardrobe. That was when Twilight noticed it, hanging on a hook of the wardrobe was a Mail-mares' uniform. Derpy picked up the uniform with her wing and draped it over her forehoof. Twilight placed her book down and closed the door with her magic. "I thought you and Time Turner were together?" Derpy smiled weakly, "We are just... just not in the way you'd expect." "What happened?" Twilight asked, she needed to speak, she'd been quiet all day and now she longed for someone to talk to. Derpy picked up a framed photograph and passed it to Twilight. The photo was of Derpy, Time Turner and a unicorn filly. "It happened not long after Canterlot fell" Derpy began. Thunderer packed the cello into its case and placed it on the small of his back. It was perfectly balanced as he descended the staircase. Even without his proper wings Thunderer still had some talents that other pegasi had. As he reached the bottom level of the house. He went to speak to Time Turner. He was still in the kitchen making dinner. "You've not been eating again" Time Turner said before he entered the room. "I've not been hungry, besides you need it more." Time Turner placed the bowl on the side. "How long must you punish yourself! It was three weeks last time and countless weeks before that, you passed out on a scouting mission for Celestias' sake" Time Turner said half shouting. He cared for his friend, but everypony made mistakes and no matter the severity everypony had to get over them eventually. "I'm fine" Thunderer replied cooly. "Its been eighteen months now, I know most ponies still hate you but the ones that don't are your friends and we're worried about you. Look at Lyra, everypony hated her now she's one of the most respectable members in the militia." "We've been over this, Lyra was brainwashed, the choices she made she didn't make them herself. The ones I made, I chose them." "And with good reason!" Time Turner replied quickly. "No! I've had enough of these conversations, I'll eat when I'm hungry and right now I'm going to the bar to see Octavia!" "Please don't tell me you still have a thing for her?" Time Turner said disappointed. "Why? so you can tell me I'm making a mistake with that too!" Thunderer slammed his armoured hoof to the ground. Time Turner waited for the ringing to diminish. "She's into other mares..." Time Turner finally said. Thunderer had enough, he turned on the spot and left Time Turner. It would have been graceful if the wide armour hadn't caught on the door frame and caught Thunderer. Thunderer pushed harder and the wooden frame ripped from its fittings. "I'll fix that later" Thunderer said as he left the house. The Silver Pegasus was a bar located in the central districts of Trottingham, it took the best part of twenty minutes for Thunderer to walk there. The cello plus the combination if his armour made the walk hard. There were few ponies out at this hour. As he approached the bar, the deep booming of music could be felt in the cobbled streets. He allowed himself a small smile DJ-Pon3 was on stage tonight which also meant that Octavia Melody would be behind the bar. He knew Octavia and Vinyl had a relationship with each other, but sadly Thunderer and Octavia had been through a lot together since the fall of Canterlot, and for that Thunderers' feelings couldn't be diminished easily. There was a queue outside of off-duty Royal Guards. "Crap" Thunderer thought. He approached the door-pony who looked him quickly over, normally Thunderer would have had to of waited in the queue but the feminine cello case allowed him access. As he passed the door-pony he heard some of the Royal Guards grumble. "Traitor!" One guard said with the intention of Thunderer hearing. Thunderer suppressed the anger and continued through the door and downstairs to the main bar. He was quickly starting to regret coming. Inside the building Thunderer walked down a metal walkway, he enjoyed the sound his hooves made as they clopped against the metal. It was short-lived as the sound of booming music filled the room again. Below him he could see the stage area was dominated by speakers and turntables. Behind it a white coated unicorn was levitating a new record onto the sound system; the unicorn had a mane of many shades of blue and was wearing sunglasses. As he passed the main stage he nodded to DJ-Pon3 otherwise known as Vinyl Scratch and proceeded to the bar. The club was quite empty which was no surprise at this time in the evening, it would pick up in the next hour or so when the next shift of Royal Guards would finish. There were two mares behind the bar, one was Octavia who wearing a white apron over her grey coat, her black mane was formed into its neat brushed over look which she pulled off so well. The other mare was Berry Punch who had a reputation for drinking more than she sold. Octavia smiled at Thunderer as he sat on one of the bar stools, the stool groaned under the weight of the armour. Luckily the cannons weren't in the way; he had retracted them into the armour itself. A neat trick he had learned by focusing pegasi magic. He smile back at Octavia. "The usual please" Thunderer said as he placed a small amount of bits on the table. Octavia lowered her head and pulled a large bottle up with her mouth from below the counter, the liquid inside was a dark reddish-brown. She procured a small glass tumbler from under the counter, unscrewed the cap with her hoof and poured the whiskey into the tumbler. She placed the bottle on the counter and smiled at Thunderer again, she then glanced at the back and purple cello case. "Is that what I think it is?!" she said in her sweet Buckinghamshire accent. Thunderer took a hold of the decorative cello case in his metal wing and lifted onto the counter, it took quite a bit of strength but he managed it. Octavia took a hold of the case as if it were some kind of drug she craved. The clasps were thrown open and the lid was opened. Her eyes widened and a cute "squee" was heard. She then snapped the case shut and lowered it behind the bar. "This calls for something a little special" she said almost seductively. The grey mare walked off and disappeared behind a hidden door that led down to the storeroom. Thunderer stared at the pegasi tumbler that contained his poison. It was made using glass and metal; as pegasi all honed a natural magnetism they were able to hold small intricate objects with ease. Although a pegasus could easily wrap a hoof around the glass like earth ponies had to, it required a great deal of dexterity; which after a few drinks was a challenge in itself. Magnetism came naturally to all pegasi which allowed the race to produce intricate metal items over the years. A door opened further down the bar and the grey mare returned with a small bottle in her teeth. Octavia placed the bottle down in front of Thunderer. The bottle was small and brown, it had a small label that was covered in a thick film of dust. "Thank you fixing my cello" Octavia said. "Please, it was nothing. I enjoyed a play on it myself" Thunderer replied as he wiped the dust off the label. "Sweet Apple Acres' Cider" the label read. It was like somepony had taken every bit in existence and smelted it into a liquid form. The cider had been stored properly so the contents could not have spoiled over the past two years. Octavia placed a bottle opener on the lid and it popped off with a satisfying hiss. Thunderer would have to savour every last drop. "Vinyl should break your cello more often if this is how I'll be paid" Thunderer joked. "Hmm" Octavia replied not sharing in the humour, "Sadly that's the last bottle in Trottingham." "Well you better get yourself a glass then" Thunderer replied smoothly. A few hours passed quickly and the bar slowly started to fill with ponies, sadly for Thunderer it was mainly Royal Guards. He had only left his stool once to use the rest-room, but his seat was quickly taken and Thunderer relocated to a quiet corner. A green unicorn a with white and green mane pulled the stool back and sat beside Thunderer. The mare was wearing flank bags; not quite as large as saddle bags, they both sat over her lyre cutie marks. "I see you're back Heartstrings" "Returned a few hours ago" Lyra replied, she waved a hoof to get Berry's attention. "Whatever he's having" she said Berry who had now become their server walked off to get the bottle from Octavia. Lyra and Thunderer both looked at the Royal Guards who were all crowding around Octavia. The guards ogled Octavia that most had forgotten to order a drink. That was partly the reason they were here; just to look at some nice mare. "I hear you and Spitfire have been at each others' throats again?" Lyra said coolly. "How did you hear about that?" Thunder said lowering the whiskey he had returned to drinking. Lyra snorted, "Who hasn't heard about it, the whole militia knows. So is it true? Is the Bearer of Magic really back?" she dropped her voice for that last part. "Alive and well, she's staying with us until the Princess decides our next plan of action" Thunderer replied also in a low voice. "I hear you're wanting to put a team together, help bring back the Elements of Harmony. You decided who you want?" Lyra said, a small smile formed on the side of her face. Lyra had a high reputation in the militia, she was a skilled combatant, able to wield two earth pony swords while standing on two legs. It hadn't been easy to get to that position within the militia. After Canterlot fell, many suspected her of still being under Queen Chrysalis's control. It took her time but now Lyra Heartstrings was a force to be reckoned with. "You and Bon Bon, Octavia, Vinyl, Derpy and Time Turner. Obviously the other Bearers of Harmony will join us on the way but as we're travelling all across Equestria I imagine Spitfire and the Princess will want us to do some other tasks." "Do the others know?" "No, nothings official yet Spitfire and Princess Cadence are talking it over. Princess Cadence said she'd speak to Princess Luna also." "If Luna's getting involved then they're definitely considering it. Does Time Turner still think we need to attack Tartarus while he does whatever he's been planning?" Thunderer sighed "Yes". Thunderer took another sip of his whiskey when something bumped into him. It was less of a bump than a deliberate walk-into. A drunk Royal Guard was standing beside him. His coat was yellow and he had a blue mane. "Hey look guys" he slurred to his friends, "Its the Equestrias' most wanted." He pushed Thunderer but his drunkenness made the effect as powerful as a nudge. "Why don't you show me how you blew the gates. Get those nice big cannons out." The pony laughed wheezily, "Oh that's right, you can't. The guard tapped his hoof against Thunderers' armour. To those with keen ears the sound caused by the hoof striking the armour was a dull one, and a simple deduction could be made that the armour was quite thick. "Go home Sentry, you're drunk" Thunderer said placing the tumbler on the counter. Lyra turned on her stool ready to strike at Flash Sentry. "If I want to go home, I'll go home. Hell I might even fly home with my perfect wings, unlike your oversized metal ones." Flash laughed harder but nopony else joined in this time. Thunderer stood on all four legs now and looked Flash straight in the eye. Flash didn't seem to notice or care and continued with his slander. "You know Shining Armour was going to put me in charge of the Canterlot guard but he chose you instead. Oh you should have seen his face when he found out what you did. If he was alive now..." The other guards knew Thunderer by reputation only, he was not a kind soul and was somepony who gave no mercy to his enemies. As Flash Sentry continued to anger Thunderer, the guards quickly moved back. They weren't surprised when the over confidant pegasus came soaring past them and crashed into the wooden table. Flash Sentry stood up and grabbed a glass bottle with his wing. "If Shining Armour could see you now!" he shouted. "I was loyal to him like I was to the Princesses. You and your friends may choose to hate me, but I know what I did and I did what I had to to survive!" Thunderer shouted back. By now Vinyl had stopped the music and the whole bar turned to witness the fight. The Royal Guards had backed away from Thunderer while Lyra and Octavia stayed in their positions. Both pegasi opened their wings and splayed their feathers, Flash has large wings but as he'd said earlier Thunderers' were bigger. The bottle was still held in Flashs' wing, both pegasi bowed slightly as if they were about to charge. If they did Thunderer had the sheer force to know Flash back, but Flash had the manoeuvrability to get around him. The standoff held for a few minutes until Flash decided to do something stupid. He threw the bottle from his wing straight at Thunderers' face. Thunderer saw the bottle leave the wing, he had to react fast. He slowed his breathing down in a mere instant, time seemed to flow much slower. He thought hard on how to react but his fight or flight mechanism was taking over. The left cannon was extruding from the armour. Very few people had seen the cannons and that had only ever been outside of the city. As the cannon reached its full length, Thunderer fired a shot from it. Although he was drunk his aim was till good, the metal projectile soared through the sky and penetrated the glass bottle. The bottle exploded and glass rained everywhere. There was shrieks and gasps everywhere. Flash Sentry clamped his wings to his body and tried to quickly run, but his drunkenness caused him to slip and fall. More Royal Guards entered the bar, but they weren't here to drink. Thunderer knew in that instant where he'd be waking up the next morning, and it wouldn't be pleasant.