Twilight awoke to the distant wail of sirens and a crushing pain against her ribs. Opening her eyes, she remembered that the massive bookshelf Alistair had toppled was still pressing against her. Concentrating for a brief moment she fired a concussive blast of energy from her horn, shattering a hole in the wooden leviathan and freeing her.
She felt sore all over as she rose back to her hooves but nothing seemed to be too badly damaged…for her. The Royal Canterlot Library on the other hoof was a completely different story.
It had looked like a bomb had gone off. Books and spare pages were strewn all about the chamber, while several other shelves had as well been knocked to the ground and shattered into splinters. The twisted human wasn’t responsible for this kind of destruction, but if it wasn’t him, than who?
Hobbling towards the exit, the smell of burning wood caught her snout and immediately led her towards one of the wide windows that was now left shattered. The overlook gave a comprehensive picture of the Canterlot Gardens, partially ablaze at the moment as crews of firefighters and Guard ponies struggled to control the flames.
It wouldn’t do anypony much good at this point. Nearly half of the hedges and trees were alight while the other half was dangerously close to catching the wave of fiery destruction that had somehow enveloped the courtyard during her brief sleep.
“Princess Twilight!” shouted a stallion’s voice. Turning towards the source, she was greeted by a lanky young Guard who promptly saluted to her. “Are you injured? I can provide medical assistance if necessary.”
Twilight raised a hoof to stop him. “That won’t be necessary, I’m…alright.”
“Are you sure? You’ve got some pretty bad scrapes across your torso and a nasty bruise along your left wing.”
She shook her head. “Nothing I can’t walk off. There are definitely ponies around the castle that are in a much direr situation than my wing and I.”
“Does that mean I should leave, Princess?”
“No, not yet. I need to know what happened before I lost consciousness.”
“You got knocked out?” the colt asked with widened eyes. “How?”
“That’s not important now. Just please tell me everything you know.”
He shrugged. “We’re about as in the dark as you are, Princess. The explosions we’re heard just a few minutes ago, mostly around the Garden pavilions but as well as in close proximity to the library, as you can see.”
“Judging by the fires we’re fighting, the bombs were more than likely incendiary ones, perfect for torching some place in hurry with spot on results. And considering our bomber targeted the most heavily wooded areas first, whoever started this must have a pretty good know-how in handling this level of hardware.”
Twilight bit the edge of her lip. “Do you have any witnesses, anypony in custody?”
The stallion shook his head. “One gardener drunk of his flank on spirits said he saw two ponies running from the scene, a stallion and a mare. We obviously can only take this with a grain of salt but at this point it’s the closest thing we have to a lead. Did you see anything, Princess? You seem to be the only pony that was present in the library before it got hit.”
She yearned to speak with Princess Celestia over Alistair’s involvement in all this, but for now, she chose to stay quiet.
“I didn’t see a soul. The debris from the bomb is probably what conked me on the head when I wasn’t looking.”
The stallion grimaced. “Yikes, you may want to get that checked out then. I’ve heard about head injuries before and they don’t sound like anything I’d ever want a part of. Either way, I better get going.”
Saluting to her one last time, the stallion bolted back out of the room almost as quickly as he entered, leaving Twilight alone in the atrium’s wreckage.
She looked out the shattered window once more and inspected the sea of fire that raged all across the once beautiful landscape. This was an omen of some sort; she could certainly feel it through the core of her magic. What it precisely was she couldn’t foresee but it no doubt involved Alistair and the pledge he made before escaping.
And inevitably repay you for ruining my life.
It was vague but direct, and quite fitting for him to say something along those lines. His own proper word choice mixed in with the iciness that had become a part of his recent personality. No, that wasn’t quite right. The cold hatred within him had been there for awhile now, since her coronation the sentiments had no doubt been growing stronger in his conscious, finally exploding at her in his emotional one-way fight.
Twilight knew she could have subdued him easily, paralyzed him with a nerve spell that would secure him as long as she saw fit. But while she talked with him, while he ranted and accused her of everything under the sun, she still felt that there was a chance to persuade back to the light. At that moment it didn’t seem necessary to use violence or threats to coerce him, just her words. But now that he was gone, the mysterious tome stolen from the archives and the castle’s gardens lying ablaze, maybe fighting him would have been the right option…
But she couldn’t focus on such things now. She was needed somewhere in the castle and her own problems and doubts could surely wait for the moment. For now, she had a job to do.