//------------------------------// // XXVII : One To Six // Story: The Steadfast Sky // by Greytercakes //------------------------------// http://cosmicponyfanfiction.tumblr.com/ ~Celestia~  With a goal to reach, I cannot be swayed. Initially, there were crowds. There’s always crowds here. But these all seemed to move in one direction. Down the slope, stumbling on loose rocks, half trotting, just barely on the brink of a stampede. There were shouts, yelling, the ponies, the zebras, the people carried the mantra with them, jumbled together in one loud, almost unintelligible shout. I could only tell what one was saying when they barreled by, skidding around us. “Riot, One to Six!” “Rebellion, all night!” “Fights, five hours!” “Rebellion, all night!” I inched upward, against the current, trying to not get trampled, trying not to force myself too hard, wondering what I’d find beyond those smart enough to flee. Luna clung to the corner of my cloak, and even as I felt her rub against my flank, I constantly checked back for her. Yes, she’s there, looking back at me, eyes still watery, still scared. What is there, beyond this? The crowds weren’t thinning, but their pace increased. I tried to stay near a  wall, a building, tried to stay out of the way as ponies brushed by me.  We were coming up to a level square, and a shout rose above the rest. “PONIES OF STRINGHALT. RISE. REBEL. POWER TO THE RED DAWN. DOWN WITH THE APPLE AUTHORITY. REBELLION, TONIGHT. REBELLION, FOREVER. PONIES OF STRINGHALT. RISE. REBEL” A unicorn stood atop a palenque, flanked by dozens of creatures in red hoods. His horn glowed a bright green as he shouted, voice magically magnified. Sticks, held aloft by aura or grasped in the mouths of other ponies, flicked back and forth like switches around him, parting the crowd as they passed through the square. There was a squeal. A guard on the run, helmet and lasso gone, followed by half a dozen cawing colts, the Ravens. A blue unicorn in a red hood smashed the guard over the head with his stick and the Ravens jumped on the fallen pony, yanking at the straps in his armor... Just before the entire scene was shrouded in smoke. “POWER TO THE RED DAWN. DOWN WITH THE... OH, GREAT, YOU STUPID KIDS AGAIN. NO, HEY, GET OFF! STOP IT! YOU STUPID BRATS!” I continued upward. ~Discord~ “Applebark, c’mon!” I looked back, flabbergasted, as Applebark slowly picked her way through the crowds. Earth ponies had begun smashing windows to our right, but most ponies almost shifted back and forth, not running, but not smashing anything either, mumbling to themselves. “Riot.” “Rebellion.” “I’m sorry, but this is as fast as I go.” “C’mon, can’t you run?!” “Inadvisable,” she huffed. “C’mon... I mean, it must be hard, being, um...” I looked up the hill, then back down at her, “Well, uh, large... But you’re the one who told me to hurry!” “We do not have very far to go, and I’d prefer to not strain myself...” She gasped as she tried to walk around a group of five or six mares, muttering among themselves. “Oh for goodness sake.” Again, I wondered.... I darted back to Applebark, and with a flick of my hand, a wall sprung up, pushing a line through the crowd, and, with a jolt in my throat, some ponies were caught halfway through it. They easily pulled themselves out, thank life, the wall was already crumbling like an eggshell. Those around stumbled back, staring at the strange appearance, making a clear path. I banished the illusion and looked up as Applebark passed by me. “Do not bring attention to yourself, do you want another griffin to come and catch you?” “I got the ponies out of the way, didn’t I?” “Yes...” she muttered, looking straight forward. “Now, veil yourself, it’s only just up ahead.” ~Celestia~ The crowds were thinner now, higher in the town, in the richer sections of the city. It wasn’t a good thing for the crowds to thin. It meant all the sensible ponies had left. Ponies bucked at doors until they crumpled, rushing inside. Rocks, sticks, lose bits of cobblestone were hurled through the air without abandon. A couple dozen ponies crowded around a stone tower, beating at the door, battering ram improvised out of a city bench. I stepped around bits of fallen glass and broken beams, watching a tan unicorn as he grit his teeth, sending sparks over a torch dipped in pitch. It caught alight, and he held it through a broken window, watching it quietly, head tilted slightly to the left. I walked by a lasso without a guard, thick bag punctured by a file and a knitting needle, a purple liquid nearly dark enough to be black oozing out, rolling down the gentle slope of the street. There was a screech, and Luna slammed into my leg. An ungodly sound, the call of a hawk in hunt, but louder, echoed, a new mantra to fill the streets. I looked up, and the sky, the white cloud spires, had begun to fill with black specks. Thick bodies raced overhead, griffins, the sound of their wings an ever-increasing gust, a heavy backdrop to their high-pitched screams. One dove, barreling through a group of ponies, scattering them, heavy bodies slapping sideways into the ground. The griffin rose, body rising and falling like a wave with each beat of its massive wings. It turned, circling, sharp eyes flicking back and forth, looking for another opportunity to strike. I jumped sideways as a bit of wood tumbled inches from my head, clattering loudly into the ground. I stared at it, making out the vaguely familiar shape. Was it... a wooden sword? It had almost seemed to have dropped straight down. Again, I looked up. Above me, beyond the swell of charging griffins, there was a low hanging spire, maybe a hundred feet above my head, and a griffin was falling from it. She landed beside me, on all fours, with a heavy ‘thud’. She straightened herself out, shifting and flicking her wings back into place by her side. She was dressed unlike any griffin I had seen before, not in armor, but a loose-fitting piece of gray cloth, baggy folds tucked into a thick sash. A patched cloth was loosely tied around her head, tied back feathers poking out of the top of circling folds. She looked down at the wooden sword and scooped it up into one of her claws, eyeing me. “Scuze me, miss,” she muttered, voice gruff, “Young master dropped this.” And with that, up she flew, vanishing back into the descending spire. I kept walking, Luna tugging gently at the edge of my cloak. ... Where was I going? ~Discord~ I remember, however brief that time was, when in the Stallion’s tower. It was the nicest place I had ever seen, as well as the most dead quiet place I had ever been in. Objects and paintings staring at me, demanding why I was there, almost accusing. Yeah... it was pretty unpleasant, despite the wealth it showed. The place Applebark brought me wasn't nearly that quiet. I could still hear the crowds outside, and maybe once or twice some pony in a silk doublet or a pressed apron would run by, hoofbeats muffled on the crushed velvet carpets. So, more noise, and with it, wealth double, maybe triple fold. Every surface was made of varnished wood, polished to an almost golden brown shine. Yet, that was only the start, because everywhere I looked there was some kind of thick oil painting, or a marble statue, or something coated in gold foil, or something impossibly grand, cluttering and filling the space with an opulent white noise. I think that was a good word for it. Opulent. Like an opal, or an opiate. Something shiny to overwhelm the senses, to drown in. Even the floor itself, something that was supposed to be boring and without distraction, was an infinitely weaving pattern of red, blacks, and browns, a line of carpets tightly pressed together, never allowing itself to end. And it was soft. Fuzzy. All my life, I’ve had dirt, rocks, sticks, mud, everything underfoot. I had gotten used to them, gotten almost comfortable with being able to feel these things. I can see the appeal of a fuzzy floor, I guess, gentler on your feet. But the lack of things between my toes was a strange feeling, like my feet and hands had gone numb all over again. Or like I was walking along the back of some creature, about to rear up and attack me. And yet, in a place I felt so... so distanced from, so alien in, I was allowed to walk free. Applebark told me to hide from the rows and rows of guards as the wrought iron gate, but once we passed through the giant double doors of the mansion, she told me I didn't have to hide anymore, and strode off without another word. Now, the passing ponies glanced at me, maybe avoided me, yet never said a word, never screamed or pointed me out. This place is strange. Very strange. “Here we are.” Applebark pushed open another pair of double doors at the end of a hall, opening the way to the largest pile of wealth and clutter. It took me a few looks to even see that it was a study, and not some sort of poorly guarded vault. Every surface was patterned in fine wood and gold, no cloth left simple or plain, no surface of the wall not coated in overlarge, complex tapestries. Trees with faces as leaves. Battles between great beasts and alicorns. The banner of the city, stitched to a whole new level of complexity, hung off a balcony rail, behind a grand oaken desk, nearly clean besides a few leaves of carefully stacked paper and half a dozen whirring knickknacks. Applebark ascended a brief staircase, railing and base of each step carved into swirls, pressing into my palms, almost sharp with disuse, sticky from the varnish. On the balcony, the loft or whatever you would care to call it, stood a heavyset Earth stallion, cream colored with faded red and green mane and beard. His thick body hinted at a musculature that had passed him by, and his thicker golden necklaces and armbands clinked each time he took a breath. Across his flank was a single apple, bright red, and adorned with a single silver sparkle. This stallion peered out of a little golden telescope down into the streets, staring out two huge, thrown open windows, flanked by heavy purple and gold curtain. “Ah, there it is again... ” he muttered to himself. “Apple,” Applebark said clearly, stepping forward, “I’ve brought the escapee.” Apple, Big Apple, as I heard some ponies call him. Head of the city. He turned and looked right at me, face stiff as Applebark’s. He turned to her, bushy eyebrows raised. “You mean the Element?” “I...” Applebark made a small choking sound. “I wasn’t going to admit to that knowledge, Apple.” “Ah, I see.” He shrugged, and trotted past me, jingling like a bag of bits. “Well, now that we’re done tiptoeing around that issue, let’s get down to business!” ~Celestia~ I don’t know why we were here, or why I agreed to do this, but here we were. I poked my head around the corner, staring at the sky. No griffins right now, though I could still hear them screeching, all around us. I hoisted my sister onto a low roof and she immediately began to make her element glow, shooting a beam upward, fading before it hit the clouds. A beacon. For Discord, of course but... Who, what else would come for it? It wasn’t even five minutes before a griffin landed right beside her. I scrambled against the stone, trying desperately to look over the ledge. “Luna! Luna, get back here, please!” “Just what do you think you’re doing, little skarn?!” The griffin barked. Luna’s light instantly vanished. “You sending a signal to your rebel friends, huh?! Tellin’ them to...!” “Mr. Griffin!” Luna snapped, “My friend is lost and all alone out in the riots! I just wanna find him, and this is the only way I know how!” There was a tiny, tiny sound, her hoof being stomped against the stones, a small flash of blue. “I’m not doing anything wrong, and you’re being a jerk for stopping me!” There was a flutter of feathers, the griffin shifting his wings. I pictured him, just smacking my sister. Oh, why did she have to be so direct...! I scrambled against the wall, trying to look up again, teetering on the precarious stack of barrels... “Well uh.” He snorted. “If those rebels do turn up, you’re in big friggin trouble, missy, you got me?! We got this city surrounded, so no way we’ll miss ‘em...” Another loud flap of his wings, “But right now, I got better things to do than listen to some snot nosed dirt rutter!” I jumped up against the wall again, finally able to peer over. Luna was firmly on her feet, alone, and shining the light into the sky. ~Discord~ “You’re quite the little troublemaker, you know that, boy?” “Always have been, um, sir.” I frowned, staring sideways a little left to Big Apple’s head. How do I treat this situation? This is the man who technically imprisoned me, imprisoned Luna and made her all funny in the head... But I don’t know, he seems a little funny in the head too. Not the stallion I was expecting. “You know...” I said slowly as Applebark hovered a dark wooden box, carefully carved and gilded, in front of Big Apple. “I already kinda knew you guys knew it was an Element.” “You see?” Big Apple looked up at his... assistant? Advisor? “Now he admits to what it is.” “He could just be clinging to whatever we tell him it is, Apple.” Appplebark sighed, letting the box fall with a ‘clack.’ “We were going to let him name it himself, remember? Now he could just be conforming to our expectations.” “True, but... Technically we work against the Elements, don’t we?” Big Apple grinned at me, teeth straight and white. “So, boy, you willing to keep calling it an Element?” “Can I just have it back please?” “Not quite.” “Why?” I demanded, “It’s mine.” “Oh, if we know one thing for certain, it’s that this isn’t yours.” Big Apple nudged open the box with a heavy hoof. “See, we got a message a few weeks back...” “He doesn’t need to know that, Apple!” Applebark snapped. Big Apple rolled his eyes and slapped her flank with a flick of his tail. “Always cutting me off, this woman.” He chuckled and patted her on the shoulder, pulling the cloth askew. “Easy does it Applebark, you’ve had far more than enough excitement today. Think of your health.” She snorted and magically straightened her cloak. “Ah, and I forgot what I was going to say! Anyway.” He dipped his snout into the box, and pulled out a golden band, all too familiar. He held it carefully between his teeth, setting it on the desk in front of him as he pushed away the box. A dozen ways to just grab it flitted through my mind, a dozens reasons why I should and shouldn’t just take it and run. “Darndest thing,” Apple laughed. “Tried to activate it, examine it through hundreds of different spells, and not one unicorn came close to figuring out what it does. Couldn’t even manage to put a scratch on it, and believe you me, some of those unicorns stomped pretty dang hard! Powerful, powerful little thing you stole, boy.” He smiled, warm, almost proud. So... he didn’t work for the Shadow Stallion...? “Could be an Element, could not be. But let’s just work in hypotheticals here.” He nudged the necklace towards me. “Assuming this is one of the Elements, then that makes you an honorable little colt, doesn’t it?” “I um...” my hand hovered over the necklace, then carefully scooped it up. “Yeah, I guess so.” “But it’s not honesty, Apple...” “Right, right... but a good kid, if it’s activated like this. So, show me. No creature can use an Element but its owner...” He frowned, then looked back to Applebark, “Right?” “Yes, Apple.” “Yeah, so if you can use it, then that must mean something.” There was a pause as Applebark quietly rubbed a hoof into her forehead, Big Apple watching me expectantly. With a wave of his hoof, “Well, you going to activate it or not, boy?” “Oh!” I pecked the back with the tip of my claw, then focused on it, gently easing my magic through... And a burst of silver light popped from the necklace. I smiled and pulled it back around my neck, finally feeling comfortable again, even as the cold metal stung across the cuts on the back of my neck. “Excellent!” Apple exclaimed, “So that proves it’s an Element, right, dear?” Applebark continued to rub a hoof into her brow “Well it... helps, I suppose.” “Oh, Applebark, stop being a skeptic!” Big Apple laughed, “There are no lies here! We’re all honorable ponies, right?” “So um...” I eased out of the too-soft chair onto the too-soft floor, “I’m gonna get going now, thanks for returning this to me!” “Oh, no, no you don’t!” Big Apple snapped. Then he frowned, off in thought. “Well, yes, you can go, but hang on just one moment!” “We can’t just let him go, Apple...” Applebark mumbled as Big Apple shuffled through the contents of his cleanly cluttered desk. “Not at all! Not without this!” He scrawled a note on a scrap of parchment and stamped his seal on the bottom, nudging it towards me. “Here you are, boy! Soon as this kerfuffle clears up, head to this address. The ponies there can help direct you to where you need to go next.” “I’ll need my um...” I take the note... but... Kerfuffle? The riots...? “My cloak, as well.” “Right, right.” Big Apple waved a hoof at me, dismissive. “Just ask one of the servants to lead you to acquisitions. We probably didn’t throw it out.” “Apple...” Applebark said slowly, as if speaking to a child. “We can’t just send him on his way. We need the Element to keep the peace, to clear the rebellious shadows from the city, and purify the hearts of the people.” “Wait, what?” I stared down at the silver bangle, listening to it click as I shifted, “It can do all that?” “Oh, there are legends and such... Boring lessons, those were. But if I know anything, I know Equestria needs the Elements, Applebark. Not just this city.” He flicked both hooves at me, suddenly... bored with all of this. “Now hurry along, boy. See you after you’ve saved the world and such!” ~Celestia~ I sat quietly by the building as Luna continued to shine her light upward. I don’t know how she managed it for so long. She was up all night... and I don’t think we had ever had a day filled with this much turmoil. Not even our escape from Canterbury was this hectic. Yet there she sat, Element perched on the tip of her nose, shining her light into the sky. And I wasn’t the only one to stood below her. It was like all the ponies who had come to loot or smash the buildings around up were snared by that light, only watching it, or looking between each other before trotting off, trotting away. The crowds grew thinner as the streets began to dim into sunset, and though I could still hear shouting, screeching in the distance, there was very little going on around us. And then Discord’s silver light appeared on the crest of the hill. Luna wasted no time. She slid down the wall, landing, then tumbling off a pile of barrels, barely getting to her feet before she ran off, between the legs of the little flock she had gathered. I followed in her wake, watching the Element as it glowed brighter and brighter, silver light in the distance getting closer and closer. Five streets, three, one block... Luna slammed into Discord, knocking him down, instantly breaking his feeble cloaked pony illusion. She hugged him around the middle, digging her snout into his stomach as her light appeared and disappeared beneath his fur, his own element still glowing bright. I awkwardly wrapped my forelegs around the tumbling pair, dropping to my knees as Discord shouted a dozen jumbled comforts. Laughing, crying, who knows. I just hugged as tight as I possibly could.