Chapter 06: I Need Sunglasses.
I decide its in my best interest to not ask about the whole raising-and-lowering-the-sun thing and just stick to enjoying the sweets. Twilight, however, is still fretting over the actual content of the letter.
"Oh no oh no oh no, the Princess is going to be here tomorrow, and this place is a total mess!" She frets as she paces along a well-grooved part of the floor. In another year or two it looks like that part of her floor will be the equivalent of an army trench if she keeps that up, but in this situation, I can't blame her too much. The library seems incredibly large by pony size standards, and Jubithulu over there somehow covered the place with an entire store's supply of party streamers and balloons that I hadn't noticed earlier.
"It's okay, Twi," Applejack replies in her drawl, "I'm sure we can clean it if we all work together. Besides, how many times has the Princess been here now? I'm sure she's... erm, used to it."
"That's right, dear." Rarity nods, holding her head up as she levitates some of the discarded party favors into the air and into a waste bin. "Besides, do you think we'd leave your home in such a dreadful state?" The emphasis on the word 'dreadful' makes me think she's also one of those crazy interior-decorator types who wouldn't pass up a chance to improve the feng-shui of Twilight's home.
"Yeah, Twilight, it'll be an after-party cleanup-party!" The pink puffball of terror says, skipping around on her hind legs, scooping up party favors in one forehoof while throwing confetti over her shoulder with the other. How?
I slump back in my chair and cross my arms as Twilight begins trying to explain why throwing confetti over one shoulder while cleaning it with the other isn't productive to the situation, and begin thinking to myself. Well done, Cloud, SOLDIER First-Class, being reduced to picking up streamers and balloons alongside what could pass for the main heroines in a little girl's television show. Wait, SOLDIER? The memory felt so close for a second, but now I can't pull it back. But, for some reason, that title, 'SOLDIER', fills me with dread and, what, shame? But why? Whatever it was, I was 'First-Class', wasn't I? It feels like I only ever seem to remember things when I'm not trying to. That's incredibly... inconvenient.
As I slowly come out of my thoughts, I look around, to see all seven of them staring at me. "Hellooooo? Anybody hooome?" She Who Must Not Be Named asks, waving her hoof in my face to grab my attention.
"Zonin' out on us there, sugahcube?" 'Sugahcube.' Ugh.
"Just thinking." I reply, wanting to brush it off.
"Were you... remembering something?" Twilight asks. Clearly I used the wrong choice of words for getting them to go along with my brushing it off.
"...No." I reply after a minute, something about this whole 'SOLDIER' thing making me feel too uncomfortable to want to talk about it. I can tell by that look on her face she doesn't buy it at all but she seems to be respectful enough not to pry and merely turns around.
"Alright, everyone," she starts, walking toward the center of the room and levitating some of the garbage with her magic like Rarity was doing earlier. "Let's get this mess cleaned up. Six sets of hooves and two sets of claws should be able to get this place cleaned up before the Princess gets here, I hope."
Claws? I can't help but look down at my hands for a second. Eh, close enough, really.
Some time later, after nearly being barreled over by a rainbow-colored blurs and avoiding pink pogo ponies, everyone else has finally left. Twilight and Spike have also turned in, with the former offering for me to stay at the library for the night. Better than the forest, I suppose, so I've taken the offer and have been laying along the floor of the library, a beam of moonlight glinting in through the window and across my chest, which is covered by a blanket that's at least a foot and a half too short to reach my toes. Still, it's something. I fold my hands behind my head, against the not so tiny pillow. I suppose the benefits of ponies having big heads is big pillows.
I close my eyes, thinking, sorting through the day's events, still fairly awake due to grabbing that nap earlier. The random words and images flash through my mind. Two stick in my mind above the others - that word, 'SOLDIER', and that flash of fire from when I touched that tentacle... thing. I try to focus on one, then the other, then both... maybe they're related? I can't tell, since when I try to focus on any of these kinds of things, they just kind of... get blocked. Like my brain wants to access some memory, but can't. And again, I find myself thinking back to Twilight Sparkle's offer to use her spell to essentially just fix it all for me and spare me needing to sort through them like this. That thought still fills me with inexplicable dread, but the more I try to do this for myself, the more I realize it might be my only option...
I awake with a start. I passed out? I'm panting, sweat beading down from my forehead, the pillow Twilight loaned me drenched. I feel like I've just had a dream - I can't even remember falling asleep, but some kind of dream... nightmare... would be the only reason to wake up like this. But it's already slipping and gone, even as I try to grasp at it in my waking moments. Dammit...
The window doesn't seem to be filtering light through now, and the sky looks to be a mix of reds... just before sunrise, I assume. Sunrise... "Our Sister, your mentor, Princess Celestia, shall meet with you tomorrow after raising the sun to discuss both your finding and other important matters we have noticed taking shape in Equestria over these last two days." I recall the excerpt from when Twilight read the letter aloud, and the phrase 'after raising the sun' sticks out again. Is this person, this 'Princess Celestia', some kind of powerful entity which controls the day and night cycle in lieu of stars and a universe? Like those old tales, where people believed that the gods held Gaia inside a glass dome? That would seem to be the most likely explanation...
Then a second except from that sentence strikes me - 'these last two days'. At the time the letter was sent, I had been roughly in this place - Equestria - for two days. Am I related to whatever parasite was controlling those timberwolves last night? Based on whatever happened when I touched it, that seems to be likely... either that, or the "Crowned Princess of Equestria and Mistress of the Night" was referring to me and not that thing, but I've only experienced one night before this one that I'm aware of in Equestria, not two, and I slept through it...
Or maybe I'm just thinking too hard, and it's something else entirely she's referring to, and the whole thing is just a giant coincidence. Normally, my logical brain would blast that notion out of the sky with prejudice, but with how this place has treated my logical brain so far, it's considering an indefinite vacation until I find a way out. However, it appears both Twilight and Spike are still asleep, so I take the moment to get up and stretch, knowing I'm likely not getting back to sleep after waking up so abruptly. Deciding to have a bit of courtesy, I fold the bedding and stow them near where I remembered Twilight getting them from, then turn over in my brain how one acts when about to have an audience with the being powerful enough to control an entire planet's day and night cycle. However, the more I think about it, the more I have the bad feeling that if I've ever encountered such a being before, I probably stabbed it a lot. And, from what I recall, this Princess Celestia is also Twilight Sparkle's mentor of some kind, so she likely wouldn't appreciate me trying to slash her to death with a butter knife.
I laugh at the thought of taking down an omnipotent being with a piece of kitchenware for a moment before thinking a bit more seriously. Would she be a... pony, like basically everyone else I've met so far? It's an interesting question, really. Though, if it's not a pony, what else would this 'Princess' be? I look down, and find myself absentmindedly pacing, helping Twilight dig that trench into the center of her library. I'm sure she'll appreciate the extra hand. Foot? Hoof? Whatever. I'm pushed out of my thoughts as I hear a door latch upstairs and a slow plopping down the stairs. That brings me back to one of the first thoughts I had after arriving in Equestria - how do they build things like this without, well, thumbs? I know the unicorns seem to have some kind of magic but that still must lack the precision of having hands.
"Oh, you're up early." The small dragon greets me with an absent wave of his claw and a yawn. "Twilight has me up early to prepare some pancakes so we can have breakfast ready when Princess Celestia arrives." He then stops and turns to me, raising an eyebrow, or whatever dragons have that pass as eyebrows. "You can handle pancakes better than dandelion sandwiches, right?"
"That'll be fine." I reply, trying to sound friendly, and he heads off into the library's kitchen. A bit of a wise ass, but he seems to have the mental age of an eight-year-old so I can't really hold it against him. Above I can hear the distinct sound I've now come to associate as hooves plopping against wood, meaning Twilight is likely in the middle of some morning ritual to wake up while Spike gets the food ready.
I take a seat on one of the small chairs in the room and relax a bit, deciding it's probably better not to think so hard this early in the morning. As I unwind a bit, I begin feel that distinct wave of nausea one feels from eating far too many sweets and far too little anything else. I guess the day before is catching up to me. So, not only am I meeting Climate-Controlling Pony Royalty who I'll need to resist mauling with a butter knife out of instinct, I'll also need to resist throwing up all over her face. This is going to be a fun, relationship-building experience, I can tell.
The trot-trot-trot sound coming down the stairs tells me Twilight is done with whatever morning necessities ponies engage in. "Good morning!" She says cheerfully. "Did you sleep well? You're up earlier than I thought you'd be!" She looks to me with that wide pony-trademarked grin then frowns a bit. "You... don't look to good."
"I'm fine." I wave an arm at her dismissively. It'd likely pass after getting some real food down - assuming that the pancakes here aren't made of tulips or something. If they are I'll be skipping the meeting with the land's fair princess for a night of fishing on the lake.
She gives me an unconvincing smile, buying my story about not being ill about as well as she bought me not remembering something the night before. "Alright then. The Princess is usually quite punctual, so unless she has prior engagements she'll be here not long after raising the sun. So if you have to use the washroom or something, it would be best to do it early." There's something I'd completely forgotten about the day before. You'd think nature would catch up with you but I guess the... events of the day took priority. "I have to go over the morning's checklist to be sure everything is perfect for when she gets here, and Spike's pancakes should be done soon, so don't take too long!"
...Checklist? I didn't just roll a nerd, I rolled the nerd equivalent of a natural-twenty. At least she's one of the more bearable ponies I've met here so far. I could be stuck with the buttery one, Fluttershy, at wherever she lives. I get a shiver at the thought of living with the pony cat lady as another of her furry woodland creatures and find the washroom after a bit of roaming. Of course, it's pony sized, so getting business done and washing off the previous day's dirt in what ways I can is far more difficult than it needs to be.
After... somehow... taking care of that business, I mentally decide I'll be using rivers for cleaning whenever possible and head back out to the smell of pancakes. Real pancakes. Today might not be a total loss, just mostly of a loss. As I head out, following the waft of delicious food, I overhear Twilight explaining their game-plan to Spike.
"Okay, Spike, now if I've timed everything out correctly, this tea here should finish brewing right as you finish cooking the pancakes." She explains, and as I find them in the kitchen I see her walking over to a teapot. "And, if I do my part correctly, I can finish making sure the first floor books are correctly placed and alphabetized at the same time. And, if I've gauged the position of the sun correctly, by the time all that is done, and you've set the table with everything, the Princess should be arriving in her carriage, and we can all enjoy a nice breakfast as she explains everything she's found with us."
Twilight nods to herself in satisfaction as she darts out of the kitchen and toward the bookshelves, and I'm stuck looking at her kind of dumbly. That's... some serious obsessive planning there. I decide to take a seat at the table. "Uh, is she...?" I begin to ask once Twilight is clearly out of earshot, figuring her Number One Assistant could shed a bit of light on things.
"Always so obsessed with everything being perfect?" Spike completes the question for me. "Yup. You... get used to it." I suppose it'd be impossible not to after living with her long enough, but still...
I consider thinking on things a bit more, but hold to my earlier decision that thinking this early in the morning is a terrible idea. Instead, I just wait and listen for the delicious sounds of food. It feels like I have a bit of an eating problem, being this obsessed over food, but after not eating for at least twenty-four hours, only to bite into a sandwich filled with dandelions, the value of edible food becomes that much higher.
As sun begins glinting brightly through the windows, Spike begins setting the pancakes onto some plates. Seems like if anything, Twilight's timing of Spike's cooking speed and the Princess' speed at... raising... the... sun... is fairly spot on. Spike begins setting the table for four, with proper utensils, sugar, and such, as I glance out toward the main room of the library to see Twilight still darting between the shelves to make sure everything visible is perfect. After a moment, she walks back to us, just as the small dragon is splitting the pancakes into four different plates.
"Well, Spike," She pulls out a check list with her magic and begins talking, almost to herself despite calling the dragon by name, "we've got the pancakes ready, the shelves checked, the table set, the tea's almost to a boil... if all goes well, Princess Celestia should be here... now."
As if on cue, there is a rap on the front door of the library, followed by the whistling of the teapot that drowns it out after two knocks. Okay, assuming that's the right person at the door, she might be a natural-twenty nerd, but she's at least damn good at what she does.
"Coming!" Twilight calls out, rushing to the door as Spike sets out the teacups and begins pouring. Coffee would have been much better, but beggars can't be choosers, as they say. "Oh, Princess! You're right on time!" Twilight says, a bit louder than she needs to, I assume so Spike can hear her and finish up what he's doing. I can't see the door from where I'm sitting, though, and I'm fairly certain she can't see me, either. I hear them talking a bit, but the tone is a bit lower, so it's hard to make out what they're saying. The clop of hooves against the floor - one set apparently adorned in some kind of metal shoes, from the sounds of it - indicates they're heading in this direction. That solves one mystery, at least - this Princess Celestia is hooved, meaning she's likely a pony as well. I shift a bit, not really nervous, but... aware of the repercussions this meeting could have if my butter knife fantasies were to come to fruition, let's say.
As they round the corner, I see Twilight is dwarfed by a large, white... unicorn? No, it has wings. Was this the fourth kind, alicorn? Maybe. The point is, it's big. Almost as tall as I am when standing at full height. The mane and tail are a mix of pinks, greens, and blues that flow and twinkle slightly despite there being no wind or weather whatsoever acting on it. Kind of ethereal looking... though for something that apparently raises the sun, I suppose being somewhat ethereal isn't completely out of the question. Well, I suppose I should show a powerful, regal, and at least partially ethereal being the due respects. "Hi." I wave a hand at her very slightly, my head having been resting on the other for a while now. Elbows on the table, not the best manners, but what are they going to do, bite me? ...Then again, these things might just bite me, so maybe I should control which witticisms I use out loud.
"My, my, my," the Princess starts, turning to Twilight, "you certainly did find something interesting yesterday, didn't you, Twilight?" Twilight, however, is simply glaring daggers at me.
"Cloud! How can you be so rude to the Princess?" Well, she's a little bit mad. I bite back the sarcastic reply of 'it's easy, like this' forming on my tongue and just stay silent, though.
"It's fine, Twilight, he is a stranger to our land here in Equestria, and certainly an... odd creature." She eyes me with a lot more scrutiny than I remember any of the other ponies using, which I suppose is to her credit. Her and Twilight take adjacent seats at the table, and Spike takes the one opposite Twilight, leaving me with sitting directly across from the Princess. This can't get awkward at all.
They begin small talk as we finally begin eating, but I'm too busy focusing on trying to consciously pace my eating speed to hear more than a few bits here and there. It seems they're just catching up on missed time, from what I gather. As we're about partway through, though, Twilight shifts the talk to the reason the Princess is actually here. "So, Princess Celestia... did you find anything of use in the Canterlot Library? Princess Luna said you did the research yourself in the letter she sent last night."
"Ah, yes, my faithful student," the Princess closes her eyes in thought and sets down her magically-held fork. "My research was... inconclusive."
"You mean... no records at all?" Twilight seems to gape, her fork levitating in place and a bit of half-chewed pancake visible.
"Nothing called a 'human', no, dear Twilight." Celestia confirms. "Nor can I recall coming across any imagery under a different title that resembles him, now that I see him for myself." She turns and eyes me again. Something about how she's eying me though, is... off. I don't like it at all. Is she lying? Does she have another reason to look at me so suspiciously? I'm not exactly good at reading pony faces, so it's hard to tell based on her expression.
Twilight doesn't seem to notice her distrustful glances, though. "So we really do have a first contact situation!" She exclaims excitedly, causing the princess to giggle to herself. They have a rather personal relationship going, it seems like.
"Yes, my student, that we do, but that's not the main reason I came to you today." The Princess explains, taking control of her utensils in her magic again and cutting off more of the pancake to eat. "As I'm sure you're aware, my sister mentioned more than just my attempts to find information on your new friend in your letter."
Twilight's face fell in thought for a moment, before it clicked. "You mean, the 'other important matters' Princess Luna mentioned? The ones about the night being... dangerous?"
"Yes." Celestia nods to herself. "It's quite worrisome. It's like a black shadow has fallen over the night. It's hard for me to explain, my student. I suppose the best way to phrase it is that, a malicious consciousness has taken root in Equestria, a kind we've never experienced before. At first, I was worried your... 'discovery', would be at least part of that." She turns to me again. For a moment I feel like that explains her distrust, but if that were the case, she wouldn't still be giving me those looks. "But, as I can see, it must be by coincidence that you found him when you did. Though," she turns to me, "how did something like you come to Equestria? I can only assume through some form of magic, as no creature in any land is like you."
I'm about to respond, but Twilight cuts in before I can finish chewing the delicious pancakes my body says I'm eating far too slowly. "Like I mentioned in my letter to you, Princess, he can't seem to remember much of anything about himself or where he's from."
"I see..." Celestia replies, raising a hoof to her chin in thought. I look away quickly, the odd flexibility of their hooves only looks more sickening when it's displayed on a far larger mare like Princess Celestia, and I don't want to spoil the remainder of these pancakes at any cost.
"The strangest thing, Princess, is that he can use magic! Without a horn!" Goddamnit, Twilight, that's not going to help her be less suspicious of me.
"Oh, really now?" She looks to Twilight, smirking, but I can quickly feel her eyes glance back to me. "What kind of magic is that? You didn't mention any of that in your letter."
"Well, when I first found him, he was near the edge of Ponyville, you see..." Twilight starts, recounting our meeting in the Everfree Forest, or at least that's what I assume it's called since that's what everyone else has been calling it. Twilight, however, didn't mention the glow my gems made when casting the magic on the timberwolves. I can only assume she didn't see it.
"Really now, Twilight?" Celestia replies after Twilight explains the fact the spell I used had some kind of visible manifestation, and didn't seem to leave a lingering visible effect the way a unicorn's magic aura does. She 's been adding little quips like that through the entire tale, nodding and occasionally sipping at her tea. She's apparently an expert at listening while shielding her actual opinion of things.
"Yeah, after that we were able to get back to Ponyville and into the library." Twilight went on. "From what I can tell he used the magic subconsciously, but later that night when the timberwolves came back it seemed like he was doing it actively and everything!"
"Came... back?" Celestia raised her eyebrow and tried to shield her expression by taking a well-timed sip of tea.
"Yeah... it was weird, a whole group of those things came into Ponyville later that night, and based on how they acted when we came out, it was almost like they were hunting us down."
"And how did you get out of that one, my faithful student?" Celestia asked, regaining her normal poise.
"Well, at first we only heard some screams near the library, so we didn't know what was wrong, but Cloud, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash wanted to help whoever was in trouble so we went out, and then they were everywhere!" Twilight flung her hooves into the air dramatically as if to emphasize 'everywhere'. "One of them was really weird, though..."
"Hmmm?" Celestia edged her to continue, sipping her tea again.
"Weird, as in it was a wooden dog with an eldritch horror strapped to its back." I finally decide to speak up. I might've been better off just not talking, but I was getting bored just listening to Twilight's overly-dramatic storytelling.
The Princess turned to me, "Like I said, there's a malevolent presence that stalks the nights in Equestria." She says, sipping her tea again. "So what did you do?"
"I hit it with a pipe until it stopped moving." I replied deadpan, and I must have tickled the Princess' funny-bone because for a split second I can hear her choke on her tea she was in half-sip of before quickly recovering, though the quick ping in her impervious social armor is clearly noticed by Twilight as well.
"Are you okay, Princess?" Twilight asks, fussing over the incident.
"Yes, I'm quite okay, my student." She nods to her. "That was just not the... answer I was expecting."
"Yeah, but Cloud beat it up while we held it back with magic, and even knocked one of the tentacles the thing had coming off it clean off!" Goddamnit Twilight no. "The strangest bit happened when he tried to pick up the tentacle, though." Goddamnit. Twilight. "It like... went inside him. It was really kinda gross. But..." She turns to me for a moment, "he seems fine, at least for now."
And now Celestia is eying me openly. God. Damn. It. Twi. Light.
"Really?" Princess Celestia asks, though this one was clearly rhetorical. "Then, the feeling he's been giving off since I arrived makes sense..."
"W-w-what do you mean, feeling?" Twilight seems to be realizing what she just did. "He hasn't had anything weird happen since the incident, if that's what you mean!"
"No, that's not what I mean." Celestia sighs. "I won't say I'm not concerned... the feeling I've been getting is the same one Luna and I have felt, but in him it seems to be... subdued? I'm not sure, Twilight, but I don't think either of you are in immediate danger because of it."
"Then why the distrustful glances?" I decide to ask bluntly, putting her on the spot.
"...I'm sorry, those were unbecoming of me." She states after a moment, going back to sipping her tea. Dodging the question, I see how it is. "I apologize."
"Forget it." I motion a small shrug, finally sipping my own tea some. Two can play this game.
Celestia quickly uses the opportunity to change the subject. "My sister has begun night patrols once she's finished raising the moon and setting the stars." She says, turning back to Twilight. So, this one raises the sun, the other raises the moon? I guess the names make sense, then. "The activity of the... creature, we're calling it for now... peaks during the nights when I rest from the day's work, so she feels it more keenly than I do. She says it gives her enough pause that she wishes to hunt it down herself."
"Isn't that... dangerous?" Twilight asks. Pretty fair question, really, I mean if the person that raises and lowers the moon gets killed by who knows what, that would cause a bit of imbalance in Equestria, wouldn't it?
"Yes, but... she says the things she feels are too powerful to allow normal ponies to try and handle." Celestia sets the teacup down, closing her eyes. "It's very possible that you and the other Elements got lucky fighting a weaker manifestation of whatever creature is prowling Equestria, since it doesn't seem to be one singular entity." She then looks out the window for a moment, then back to Twilight. "I'm sorry, my student, but I must get on with my duties. Please take care." She slowly gets to her feet, sharing some kind of embrace with Twilight which I assume is some form of pony affection as she slowly walks to the door. At the door, she stops, and turns back, looking at me. "And Cloud, welcome to Equestria. Know that day or night, the light of the Royal Pony Sisters watches over you." ...That bitch. I can't help but narrow my eyes slightly as I give her a nod, and she turns back to the door, which Twilight has now opened with her magic. Outside I see a regal-looking cart emblazoned with the symbol of the sun, with a number of pegasus ponies strapped to it in front. "Hopefully next time we shall meet under better circumstances, my faithful student."
I head back inside, letting the two say their goodbyes while I mull things over in my head. What the hell is her problem? What is she hiding? That was so clearly a veiled 'we're watching you' statement if I've ever heard one. But I'm not the crazy parasite going around latching onto things, so why is she watching me? I fold my arms and sigh, the meeting going about as well as expected but leaving me far more tired than I thought it would.
After a few minutes, I hear the door shut and the sound of Twilight's hooves against the floor, alone. She trots around to my front, looking up at me. From the look on her face, I can guess that Celestia's... trepidation of me was lost on her. She seems like she's normally sharper than that, but I suppose adoration for a teacher can cause you to miss the undertones you would normally pick up on. "So, Cloud," she starts, "what do you say about testing out your magic some more? Or maybe..." she looks down at her hooves, "maybe you've changed your mind on that memory spell?"
"Maybe later." I answer vaguely, scooping up that discarded pipe from last night as a just-in-case and slipping it under my belt. "I need to walk for a bit."
"Oh, alright," she replies, "maybe I could-"
"Alone." I say, cutting her off. Then, realizing how harsh that must have sounded to her, I add "...Sorry, I just need to think for a while."
"Oh... alright." I'm heading for the door, but I can feel that sad, ears-pressed-to-head look boring its way into my back. "Will you be back later? I'd really like to see how that magic of yours works. Magic is kind of a big interest of mine..." She trails off.
I wait a moment, considering. "Maybe." I finally reply. "Testing my magic is probably a good idea." And it is - but not here. After that... encounter with the Princess of the Day, I feel like I should be keeping as low a profile as possible, at least for a while, which means out of this town. Hopefully it won't upset Twilight too much for her first contact to slip back into the dark where it came from.