//------------------------------// // Chapter 24: The Lady...and the Lady // Story: At the Inn of the Prancing Pony // by McPoodle //------------------------------// At the Inn of the Prancing Pony Chapter 24: The Lady...and the Lady Celestia stood before the sleeping form of Midnight Sparkle, and silently judged her. Well, she thought glumly to herself. That could have gone better. She carefully collated her thoughts and conclusions thus far. First, the mind of Midnight Sparkle was almost certainly locked way. At no point after midnight did the pony before her offer the slightest hint that she knew what was truly going on, especially in the Land of Mists. That was the major complication. Midnight, this Midnight, had summoned her to be her goddess, and it had actually worked. This went against Celestia’s every conception of what a goddess was supposed to be. She didn’t think she had gained any powers from this transaction—perhaps she would attempt something godlike, when she was far enough away from the gods to think she could get away with it. Next was the matter of the spirit occupying Midnight’s body. It was Ellen, she was sure of it—the way she had reacted to Celestia’s accusation that they had met before cinched it for her. This was one of the best outcomes of a bad situation. Midnight’s elaborate cloak apparently did nothing, but at least she had gotten the most reasonable and caring of the spirits to deal with. ...Perhaps a little too caring, and Celestia definitely didn’t need that kind of distraction right now. So, she needed to focus, to keep things clear in her head: That pony was...Lady Sparkle. Yes, that would do. She certainly wasn’t Midnight, and if she didn’t assign a name now, sooner or later she’d start calling her by her spirit name, and she wasn’t close to being ready for that. Next, “Hope” and “Celestia” had to be kept distinct, even more distinct than Celestia was already keeping them in her mind. The last thing she needed was for Hope Springs to reveal something that Lady Sparkle had confided in Celestia alone. She thought she could get away with information transfer in the other direction, being a “goddess” and all, but it was easier if she just didn’t risk it. So...if Midnight was lamentably out of the picture, that meant that Hope needed to continue running her experiment, without letting Lady Sparkle or any of the other possessed adventurers know. Perhaps she should head back to the stable and confide in… “Good morning, dear Hope. Did you sleep well?” Hope practically hit the ceiling. “My Lady!” she exclaimed, hitting the ground and instantly putting muzzle to the ground, without hurting herself. “I...I have been guarding you faithfully all evening from...shadows, and other enemies of the Light.” “Well...I suppose...” Sparkle stood and stretched, with a gracious smile upon her face. “Such are the tasks of a faithful friend. Do you think we could sneak down to get breakfast without being caught? You not supposing to be here and all.” Hope stood there and blinked for a few moments. “It occurs to me that with your exalted position, you could easily assert the necessity of my appearance without the authorities daring to lift a hoof. Or...I could just carry your plate. Nobles need servants, after all.” “That sounds quite grand. You can carry my plate, and I can carry yours.” Hope made an odd little noise that sounded like a frog suppressing a mighty croak. Sparkle swept a cloak onto her back, and for a moment, it hummed with energy, but Hope caught a glimpse of burned out runes and tattered foil that was all that remained of the protective shielding. It had perhaps done something after all. Sparkle and Hope came downstairs into a room with about two dozen ponies in it. As Hope carefully confirmed, all of the servants still had their own eyes, while the adventurers… “Sis, sis? What’s wrong, sis? Why are you acting all funny?” It was Copper Plate. She alone of the would-be adventurers still seemed to be herself. The intact nature of the cloak she was wearing was a major clue as to how she accomplished this. Winter Harvest meanwhile was intently filling her plate at the buffet. “It’s nice talking with you, Sister Dear,” she said in a very stilted way. “But I think you should go now.” Hope quickly took the initiative. “Copper Plate, perhaps we should head over to the stable. You can stay with your friend Sorrel for a bit. Would that be OK?” Copper walked over to Hope and Sparkle. “I think she’s broken,” the unicorn confided in them with a whisper. “Keeps saying that her name’s Carry On. What kind of name is—” “Oh, how fascinating!” Hope exclaimed. “But these ponies are very busy. Come along, now.” “Yes, I’ll get some food for you, Hope,” the unicorn said earnestly, before trotting off to the buffet to gather two plates in her blue-purple glow. # # # Hope quickly led Copper over to the other building, where Sorrel was waiting at an empty table in that building’s commissary. “Your friend’s plan didn’t work,” he said as soon as the two ponies had sat beside him. “Chestnut’s gone.” “Yes, I know,” Hope said quietly. “So is Midnight.” Copper Plate gasped loudly. “You mean I was giving away secrets to the enemy?!” She pounded her head on the tabletop. “Stupid!” Hope quickly lifted her up and hugged her. “No, it’s alright,” she assured her. “Her spirit is probably disorientated right now, so I don’t think she really caught on. What I’d like to know, Copper, is what you did last night that your sister Winter didn’t.” Sorrel’s eyebrows lifted. “You mean that her—” “Yes,” Hope said with a sad nod. “I...I didn’t do anything really heroic,” said Copper. “I just stayed up all night, while Winter went to sleep.” Hope frowned. She very much doubted that Midnight had gone to sleep, either. “Anything else?” “Well, I thought about everything that you and Midnight told me,” Copper said. “And I worked on my art. And I prayed.” “You prayed?” “Yes.” “Who did you pray to?” “Well, you didn’t tell me which gods you were fighting for, so I prayed to you.” “To...to me?” asked Hope incredulously. “Yes, to you. It was right after the midnight chimes when I started.” Right after I became a goddess, Celestia thought incredulously to herself. “OK, thank you, Copper. I think that really helps.” “It does? Super! So, what do we do now?” “Well…” Hope began, looking over at Sorrel. The big earth pony sighed. “I guess I could look after her.” Copper looked up at the other pony, perhaps for the first time. “Are you a superhero too?” “You bet I am!” Sorrel said proudly. “Now what are you going to do about Chestnut?” Hope sighed. “I have to stay with Midnight. She’s my friend, and besides, she’s still our best bet for getting through this. I’ll try to get Chestnut into Midnight’s party, but I can’t guarantee anything. The same applies to Winter Harvest...or Carry On, as she’s calling herself now.” “Seriously?” asked Sorrel. “I trust you, Hope,” Copper said with a wide smile. “Bring back my sister!” Hope tussled her mane. “I’ll do all in my power to ensure that,” she said. Hope had just turned the corner from the eating area in the stable when she blacked out, and appeared as Celestia in the Land of Mists once again. “What, now?” she asked nopony in particular. She saw the form of Midnight Sparkle walking towards her, and imagined grabbing her distant image and pulling it front and center. She was surprised when this actually happened. Sparkle’s only reaction was a loud squee. She made sure to cover her surprise with an annoyed expression. “Alright, my follower, what is it that you want?” “Well...first of all, do you want me calling you ‘Celestia’, ‘My Light’, ‘My Lady’, ‘Princess’? I’m not sure there’s a proper term, since I’ve never heard of you being worshipped openly before.” Sparkle sat, though not really having a ground to sit on, gesturing with her hooves and smiling eagerly in anticipation. “Well, I suppose among others, I am merely the Forsaken Goddess. Is it not true that there are deities out there willing to destroy me if they knew I had followers?” I thought I’d get that disclaimer in before you got yourself in too deep. “And to you I am Celestia, just Celestia. A princess must have subjects, and right now...I’m afraid you’re it. I will not accept being called Mistress.” She was quite stern with this one, especially after Sparkle had to cover up her predatory grin. “The Light and Lady stuff? Hey, if you’ve got to use some misdirection to keep yourself out of unnecessary trouble, by all means. This ‘Forsaken’ business doesn’t take to entirely above-the-board behavior, if you get my meaning.” The unicorn’s grin faded a little, but she sighed wistfully, leaning forward. “My Lady...I think that I would like that.” Celestia imagined rolling her eyes, as she realized that the two of them were now in a circular relationship: Sparkle called Celestia Lady, and Celestia as Hope had to call Sparkle Lady as well. “So, I am also here for guidance,” the unicorn continued. “I have been invited to join a hunt for a foalnapped ducal heir kept captive by a crazy cult in the catacombs beneath this very city. I wish to keep Hope Springs, my retainer, safe but I also wish her to come with me. Should I accept this quest, and if so what shall I do to keep my dear friend protected?” Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Now, this is interesting—an adventurer putting another’s life before her own, and a lowly servant at that.” “I am a cleric of yours, My Lady,” Sparkle pointed out, perhaps a bit softly. “I especially honor the protection you give us all. I don’t feel it right to call upon you without serving your goals when you are not towering over me, all shiny-maned and statuesque.” Sparkle smirked, just a bit, looking off into the distance, like she was showing off to an invisible audience...or to another goddess. “Ah,” Celestia said, recovering. “Well, that’s very good of you. At this rate, the levels will be just speeding by for you. As for this quest, I feel that...wait, isn’t Hoofington built upon solid granite? How could it possibly have a set of catacombs?” “I know only what I am told, my most brilliant light,” Sparkle said with a low bow. “Will there be much bloodshed?” “Oh, great spurting gouts of it, I imagine,” the unicorn tossed off lightly. Then she caught her goddess’ disapproving glare. “But...I will strive only to kill the evil ponies that worship the darkness?” Celestia sighed. “I suppose that is the best I could expect under the circumstances.” “Then that is what I shall do. Anything for you, My Lady. Do you have any additional commands for me? I am forever at your service.” Another short step brought Sparkle up to be standing nearly just below Celestia’s nose, and she could spot the faintest of blushes on her cheeks. This time, Celestia did not suppress the desire to openly roll her eyes. “Less of a command, and more of a request. There are two who, like Hope Springs, I would appreciate if something was done in their favor: ‘Carry On’ and Chestnut.” Sparkle accepted the first name without comment, but was genuinely surprised at the second. “Is...is making sure that Chestnut is cared for by other adventurers enough? Or...should I...should I make sure that Chestnut is brought into the same group I am in? That may be a bit more difficult...” “I will not ask anything of you that the other gods will not permit,” Celestia said resentfully. “Gods who I cannot even name safely.” “Oookay. That’s all fine. Do you need a hug before I go, Celestia?” Sparkle asked eagerly. Celestia coolly reached out with her hoof, and pushed Sparkle back slightly. “No, that will be all.” “Well, actually, there is one more thing…” Sparkle bowed down, and then cast her eyes upward. Celestia looked at her, utterly bewildered. “What?” “Bless me,” Sparkle said. “It’s how I get my spells.” “Oh!” Celestia exclaimed. “Is that how that works?” She thought for a moment, before bowing lightly down to touch horns. “I bless thee—Aaah!” The scream was the reaction to the massive bolt of lightning that had flown from Celestia’s horn into Sparkle’s, sending the unicorn flying. For a moment, Celestia wondered if she had killed her. “Are you alright?” she asked fearfully. “Thanks! Got a bit of a backup, but I’m good!” the small voice of the distant Sparkle cried, waving a hoof in the air. Hope stumbled as she returned to her own body. She looked around, expecting to see a large crowd gathered around her unconscious body, but it seemed like nopony had even noticed. Her sense of the sun’s location—absent while she was on another plane—also told her that the entire transaction had been instantaneous. Hope sighed in relief. This fact somewhat lessened the possibility that Lady Sparkle might discover her dual identity by happening to summon Celestia while Hope was in the same room. She quickly made her way out of the stable, and back to the Inn. There, she saw that three parties had gathered together. One party consisted of the members of the group that had once been headed by Soul Cleaver, and then briefly by Skull Fire. Their third leader was the black and white griffon she had seen on a few occasions. Hope had no doubt that the same spirit was now piloting this one as had piloted the other two. There was a second party that included Chestnut, and other ponies that Hope had never gotten to meet. And the third group was being organized by Torn Deck, and included Lady Sparkle, Carry On and, rather surprisingly, Burnished Lore. Hope decided to take care of Chestnut before she lost the chance. She walked along the side of the room opposite Sparkle, to stand next to the members of the second party. Most of them seemed to be busy trading items back and forth. There was also something about an individual with a silenced name. Differing opinions stated that this individual was either “totally awesome” or “majorly bogus”. The new Chestnut, rather like the old one, wasn’t saying very much. Instead, she was sitting and listening to the stream of words emerging from a brown and green unicorn. “...Many paths to power or transformations, but the most powerful of them are personal power, spells we can cast and such, those don’t go bad as often, right? So all I have to do is find a way to replicate the really powerful spells that change form temporarily, and make them last longer, and then I could find a way to make any form last longer! Imagine it! No powers, no change to mental state, it’d just be a cosmetic change, maybe a bit of an armor class bump, a breath weapon if it’s allowed, Cutbelt has got to allow something like that, if I tame it down, right? Just a cosmetic [silenced word]. And then I could do all sorts! We could have dragons, and even orcs, or monsters! We could have monster adventurers! Imagine that it would be so cool, I really think that if I could be a dragon then I could really do a lot of things with the racial boundaries of it, an exile among her own kind...” Hope glanced over to the other group, and saw Sparkle looking over at the unicorn, engaging in a very obvious eye roll. Which was rather odd, as with the distance and all the voices in the room, there should have been no way that she could have possibly overheard that conversation. With a shake of her head, she turned back to the members of the second group, who were engaged in a massive group hug. This brought a smile to her face. “You take care of Chestnut, OK?” Hope said, walking away. The group immediately erupted into a panic. Hope looked over her shoulder, and then slowly backed away. She had no idea what happened. Whatever it was, nopony appeared to be looking her way. She made her way over to Sparkle’s shadow, and shrank down. “Oh! Hello Hope, were those some of your friends?” Sparkle asked, leaning over to speak a bit more privately to her, despite the others in her group obviously being able to hear them. “Decided to pay them a little visit?” “I...I knew one of them, yes,” Hope said, her eyes passing from one pony to another. “I’m ready to move on now. Um, did something happen while I was gone?” “I got you breakfast!” A plate of food settled in front of Hope, and the group promptly went back to planning for their upcoming adventure.