//------------------------------// // Chapter 83 // Story: The Darkness in our Souls // by Black Light //------------------------------// Chapter 83 I woke bright and early the next morning. Rainbow was snoring lightly next to me when I got out of bed. Walking to the closet I took out one of the many outfits Rarity had crafted for this journey. I brushed my main straight and cleaned myself up slightly before leaving the room. As I left I ran into one of the servants in the hallway. She was apparently coming to wake me up for breakfast. I thanked her and got directions to the dinning room. When I arrived Twilight and Bright Wall were already awake and seated. I took a seat on the opposite side of the table from them. "Morning." I said sitting down. "What's for breakfast?" I asked. "We're not exactly sure." Bright Wall said. "A mystery huh...I don't really like mysteries when it comes to food." I responded. "We could probably convince them to let us make our own food." He told me. I thought for a moment. "Bright Wall follow me, we're going to the kitchen." I said standing up. "Are we making pancakes?" He asked with a small smile. "We are most certainly making pancakes." I answered with a smile. One trip and several wrong turns later we were standing in the kitchen, a few griffin chefs glancing at us out of the corner of their eye as we cooked. It was probably a strange sight. An ambassador and his guard cooking pancakes. However, we did get to make our pancakes, and the chefs even asked if they could have a taste, so we gave them a few and they taste-tested them...Apparently Bright Wall's and my pancakes are rather...well...to quote the chefs. 'On par with, if not better than those of world renowned cooks.' They all but demanded us to give them our recipes. Problem was, neither of us had a recipe to give them. Bright Wall cooked like me, he added whatever he thought would be appropriate. There never was a set recipe for either of us. We were just that good by sense. That thought kept me from getting discouraged the entire quarter-hour it took to find our way back to the dinning room. By the time we did Rainbow had woken up and made her way down to the dinning room. Gilda was also at the table talking to Rainbow. Bright Wall and I approached the table and set down our delectable creations down. "We come bringing food." I declared. "We've got, blueberry, strawberry, chocolate-chip, pecan, and plain. Take your pick and select your syrup." I said sitting down next Rainbow. Everypony and griffin took a few and began to eat. Gilda seemed especially surprised. "These are really good. I didn't know the chef's here new how to cook this good." She said as she took another strawberry pancake from the pile. "They don't." Bright Wall said with some pride. "Wall and I made these." I told her. Taking a bite of my chocolate-chip infused pancake. "You made these?" She asked surprised. "I think we're both very proud of our pancakes thank you very much." I said getting a nod from Bright Wall. We sat there a while longer until the large pile we once had dwindled down to one remaining pancake. We were currently arguing about who was going to have the privilege of eating it. "All I'm saying is that Bright Wall and I labored over these, I feel like we should get first dibs." I explained. "Royalty." Gilda said bluntly. "You wouldn't take something like that away from your marefriend would you?" Rainbow asked. I gave a small scowl. "Pulling the marefriend. That's a dirty trick to pull Dash." "I'm willing to use it for that pancake." She said with a grin. "Well I think-" I was stopped by a tap on my shoulder I turned and saw Bright Wall pointing. I looked where he was pointing and saw Twilight sitting there a fork in her mouth, and the remaining pancake missing from the table. There was a silence around the whole table. "...I honestly did not see that coming." I finally said. Getting nods from around the table. "Anyway, since that problem seemed to have solved itself. What's on the agenda for today, your highness." I said looking at Gilda. She rolled her eyes. "Well, you're supposed to meet with my father and a few higher level dignitaries for a meeting just before lunch. I'll be attending as well, and my father has said that you are allowed to bring you 'entourage' with you as well if you so wish." She told me. "Alright then, Where is the meeting being held?" I asked. "Just off the main hall. I could send a servant to direct you there." Gilda said. "I don't think there's a need, I'm sure we can-" "Please do." Bright Wall said cutting me off. I turned and gave him a small glare. "I think that's probably a good idea too." Twilight agreed. "Ditto." Rainbow added on. "I'm not that bad with directions!" I said slightly annoyed. "Shadow...you got lost, in your own house." Rainbow responded. "That was one time!" I told her. "What about the multitude of closet incidents?" Twilight said. "Now don't you start." "And them there's when you try and navigate Canterlot Castle." Bright Wall said. "How would you know about that?!" I asked him. "You're kind of a growing attraction among the guard. we've started taking bets on where we think you'll end up, whenever you visit the castle." He told me. "I've probably earned around seventy-five bits from it." I could feel my eye twitching. "Then there was that one incident with the stairs in-" Skies started. "Don't you dare tell that story." I told her. Gilda in the mean time was laughing with Dash at the stories she had heard. Twilight was suppressing her own laughter with a hoof. "That's it! You've all earned a darkness reading." I told them as I opened my mind. "A what?" Gilda asked. 'What are we looking for today' The darkness said to me with a chuckle. 'Something embarrassing beyond their wildest dreams.' I told him. 'Then let's get looking.' He said. I turned first to face Twilight, and cleared my throat. "Smarty-Pants incident." I said to her She immediately went silent. Bright Wall was next. "Royal Guard Hazing." His eyes grew wide. Rainbow was next on the list. She was shifting uncomfortably. "The Lemon Cloud Prank." She was sitting straight up and looking at me worried. I finally turned to Gilda. "...The Coronation Catastrophe." I said to her. She was staring at me with a mix of surprise and embarrassment. "Be fortunate that I am not so cruel as to completely abuse my ability." I told them all. "Wha-What just happened?" Gilda asked in her seat. "He just brought up some of the most embarrassing moments that have ever happened to us." Rainbow told her. "How?!" She asked looking at me. "I'm just good at reading ponies." I told her. "Or any species for that matter." I told her with a small smile. She just sat there quiet. Rainbow put a hoof on her shoulder. "Don't worry, he's not going to spread any of these. He just wanted us to know that he knows. It's a scare tactic he uses." She told Gilda. "Come on Dash, where's the fun in it if you just tell her that?" I asked annoyed. "But How? What was it you did? That mental magic was not normal mental magic. It felt like there was something alive in my head searching for something." Gilda said glaring at me now. This silenced everypony at the table. "...You've been trained against mental magic." I stated. "Well you are a princess, so it makes sense. Interesting though, not many are able to feel a mental intrusion." "Tell me right now what you did!" Gilda demanded. "Gilda please it's a sensitive topic. It's okay." Rainbow tries to calm her. "NO! He's a mental magic user. For all I know he's not here as an ambassador he's here as a spy to gather classified intelligence. No ambassador should have that level of mental magic." Gilda berated. "Gilda please just listen." Rainbow said. "I'm sure we can all-" "Listen! I need answers right now so you better-" "Oh be quiet already, we were already planning on telling you when you first asked. So will you just shut up already?" The darkness said. The four at the table stared at me. No doubt surprised by the darkness' voice and the look of my half-possessed state. "I think you can afford to be a little more polite. We did just invade her privacy rather severely." I said to him. "Yeah, well she's loud and annoying." The darkness countered. "Wha-What's going on here? Who-What are you?" Gilda asked. I raised an eyebrow. "Huh, the old 'What are you' question. I haven't gotten that one in a while." I said. "But to answer you question... Oh, where do I begin?"