“That filly has an unnatural obsession with fire.” Teacher’s voice. They didn’t know Twilight was listening, through the thin door of the classroom. They expected her to wait in the hall like a good filly, but Twilight was too curious for that: She had to know what they were saying, especially if it was about her.
“It reminds her of things.” Father’s calm and strong voice, always exactly the volume in needed to be. “Magic, the sun, Princess Celestia, you name it. All her little passions. She loves fire. She thinks it’s cute.”
“Cute, Lord Light?” Teacher was angry. “Candle lights and gentle sunbeams are cute. Your daughter was making firestorms and burning her classmate's manes off!” Twilight was getting that feeling again, not fear but close, like worry, anxiety. She was afraid she would be forced to leave the Unicorn School and that her learning would end.
“Firestorms? That has to be an exaggeration mis.” Now father sounded concerned, and Twilight became really worried. “She just doesn’t understand-”
“She refused to stop!” Teacher was insatiable. “Lord Light your daughter was purposefully tormenting the other fillies and colts, lording over them with fire!”
“Lording over them with fire?” Now father just sounded amused now. “Mis Professor, have you read any texts on ancient hippoology lately? Descent of Ponykind, perhaps? She is a filly, not a cave dweller.”
“I know what I saw.” Twilight imagined Teacher crossing her hooves indignantly, like she always did when challenged. “Maybe the empress would be more concerned than you.”
“There’s no need for that.” Father’s voice was soothing, like when he read bedtime stories to Twilight. “I will talk to her. She will have an apology in the morning, to you and her fellow students.”
“Hmm.” Teacher’s upturned nose didn’t have to be seen to be perceived.
Twilight quickly and quietly retreated from the door before Father passed through, and found a particle of dust to study nonchalantly.
Father closed the door behind him. He regarded Twilight for a moment, then bent down to her level, like any time it was serious. “Twilie, I know you were listening. I want to know what happened.”
Twilight pursed her lips, but let the anxiety of being discovered pass. Father always deserved the truth, and it was wrong of her to be dishonest to him. “Mis Teacher is right. I used the firestorm spell.”
“Did Celestia teach you that one?” Father asked, patient.
“No. It's in the books for next year. It's supposed to be for cooking. Everypony was practicing the little candle-lighting spell Teacher taught us. I just wanted to show I knew a better spell already.” Twilight remembered their faces, so proud of themselves.
“What is fire?” Father asked.
“A chemical reaction.” Twilight recited precisely, with a hint of pride.
“You read that out of your book, but do you know what a chemical reaction is?” Father asked, softer.
“No.” Twilight admitted. Father could always see right through her.
“And that’s ok, Twilight. Learning that kind of thing takes time.” Father stroked her hair. “And I can tell you had more reason than just showing off to cast a firestorm. Can you tell me why?
"I..." Twilight pouted. “The other fillies were laughing because I melted my candle.” Twilight’s face contorted in a fillies remembered embarrassment. “So what if I melted mine up because I was using the better spell? Those big dummies! They didn’t know anything!” Twilight flailed her limbs, but Father rested a hoof on her gently and she stopped.
“What else.” He encouraged.
“I wanted to teach them.” Twilight had a icy glint in her eye. “They didn’t know what hotter meant, or what faster meant. I made all their candles melt more mine with the firestorm. Those dummies didn’t understand! All they did was cry! Mis Teacher didn’t understand either. She doesn’t know a lot of things. I don’t think that’s good if she’s a teacher.”
“No, it’s not good, but Mis Teacher knows more than you want to admit.” Father became abruptly stern. “Did you know you did a bad thing, Twilight.”
“No.” Twilight was confused. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know what you did wrong, hmm?” Father tapped his hoof like he did when he gave something a lot of thought. “Do you like to be scared, Twilight?”
“No, I hate it!” Twilight spat.
“That’s reasonable.” Father nodded. “Do you think other fillies like to be scared?”
“I don’t know.” Twilight was beginning to realize her crimes. “No.”
“You scared them, and though she hides it under her attitude, Mis Teacher was scared as well.” Father smiled, still stern. “Do you know why?”
Twilight shook her head. “Why?”
Father’s soft reply was-
Father’s soft reply was-
Father’s soft reply was-
Father’s
Father’s
Fa
Fa Fa fa fa a
a a a
Twilight blinked.
“Your superiority!” Father leaned in, eyes burning with pride for his daughter, the one who could terrify all the other fillies and colts. “You’re better than them! Better than some grown ups! They can’t understand, Twilight, and so they fear you! What do you do to ponies like that?”
Twilight jumped to her hooves, and cracked at the empty air with experimental jets of red flame. It was practice for what she would unleash: What the teacher had so accurately described as torment. A filly’s face could not have been more defiled by a smile than it was with the domineering and hungry look of Twilight. “I will own them!”
Twilight felt a sudden rush of vertigo. Her whole snout was suddenly very painful. She tried to yelp but got a mouthful of dirt. A combination of the virtigo and being lifted into the air almost made her vomit, until she opened her eyes and saw Ponyville's blue skies above her. Iillor leened over her, brushing the dirt off her coat.
Day
“Maybe you shouldn’t be up and about yet.” Iillor sounded concerned. She kept a hoof on Twilight to steady her.
They were just on the other side of the stone bridge into Ponyville, on the way back from Fluttershy's. It was getting into the afternoon, the wind-rustled grass and insects providing plenty flavor to the silence.
Twilight waited until she wasn't on the verge of throwing up. “I’m fine. A bit woozy, but fine.” Twilight struggled against the pain both on and within her head. “What happened?”
“You tripped.” Iillor looked back over the dirt path. “Or fell, I guess, or passed out. Are you hurt?”
Twilight shook her head. “I remembered something else, or at least I think...” She started walking again so Iillor didn’t see the fear and doubt working it’s way onto her face. “It’s just been concepts before, but I saw something.” She whispered. "But it didn't make sense. It's like a memory that I didn't have. Or... I don't think I had." She fell silent.
Iillor's voice peaked in curiosity. "Remebered something? Something from the forest?
"No. it was from years ago." Twilight shook her head. "Which is why I'm so weirded out." SHe sighed. "Nevermind. It's just my memory playing tricks on me."
"Sure." Iillor smiled. "Lead the way."
“Thanks." Twilight said. “I’d like to make one more detour before we get to the library, if that’s okay. I'd like to stop by the bakery.”
Iillor, curious but wary enough to press further, followed in silence. Twilight and Twilight alone had emerged from the Everfree forest. Iillor was not always a patient mare, but something told her that taking her time would be better once the little noble mare finally led her to the Nightmare of the Moon.
Night
The scrubby hills north of Canterlot, bald save for knee high brushes, made for imperfect terrain for hiding. Astral Nacre was doing an admirable job though, having uprooted some of the vegetation and jabbed it into the sinew of her back for camouflage . She crept in the dark, looked like tree whose trunk was made of meat.
Astral watched with impatient darting orbs Ancepanox's creeping through the night. The dark alicorn was suppressing her aura and her noise, but Astral hunted by sight. The scant moonlight was enough for her, and so too Ancepeanox, for the nightmare saw her approach from a ways away.
"It's you." Ancepanox said with some disgust. "What the hell is that in your back?"
"Camouflage. I saw you attempting to sneak and I emulated."
"Hell yeah you're attempting to sneak. Camouflage is actually a complex system. Sticking a few branches in your gunt isn't camouflage." Ancepanox railed. "And why would you even care to copy me?"
"To learn why you do it." Astral said simply. "And with that, puzzle at how it gives you power."
Ancepanox didn't know what she expected, but not Astral revealing everything up front."Purpose doesn't equal power you know. If being more convinced of something made you stronger, we'd be ruled by psychopaths rather than just sociopaths." Her brief joy at the joke faded when she saw Astral didn't react or even get it. "Whatever. Go away."
"No, I shan't." Astral bobbed her head. "I wish to continue observing you."
"I don't want to comit violence against you. Really I don't, and I'll apologize for hurting you in the throne room." Ancepanox scowled. "But if you ruin my attempt at diplomacy with these 'invaders' I will bury you so far into the earth it will take ten-thousand generations to uncover you."
Astral cocked her head. "I believe you could do it. You are skilled." But she didn't move.
"Oh whatever." The dark alicorn huffed. "Stay out of my way." She stood up and ran towards the encampment.
Astral watched her go, but the nightmare alicorn abandoned subtlety and approached the camp upright and in full view.
“What is she doing, giving away the element of surprise?” Astral asked the bramble she’d tucked into the strands of her neck. “Is she actually going to talk to them? How pointless. Why, I should say she is adorably playful, that she does not simply assert her will over them. ”
“Qui a crié?” A stallion’s voice carried over the hill. “Entendez-vous cette bruit?”
“Une fois oui et non! Je ne sais pas quelle direction.” The reply was muffled and slightly echoing, from a mare in armor. “Dans ma tête, je me sens comme ce.”
It appeared that a patrol from the camp had heard the alicorns arguing. Astral crouched, wondering what she should do.
She could feel the approaching ponies' aura, so pathetic and flawed compared to her own. She yearned to correct all the mistakes nature had made making the mortals. Alas, Ancepanox was the more promising materiel, but that didn't mean she couldn't mess with the inferior option while she waited.
With a grin, Astral began creeping through the short grass, imagining all the ways she was to indulge herself.
The sentries at the edge of the encampment spotted Ancepanox as she approached, but she didn’t care if they raised the alarm. She didn’t want to fight them, only talk to the pony in charge. If it came to a confrontation she could teleport away and try again later. She would not, as Prosser had urged her, take any kind of violent action against these so-called invaders. Until they took violent actions against Canterlot, she would give them the benefit of the doubt. The imperial values of harmony were not so easily forgotten. She was sure of it.
That simple offering, the belief that ponies were good unless proven otherwise, was something Twilight swore never to give up. Nightmare Moon, embittered by a thousand years of imprisonment, truly believed that evil and corruption were intrinsic to ponykind. She had thought that friendship was made despite pony nature, not because of it. Ancepanox would not be that way, she vowed to herself.
Still, Twilight was even now choosing a conflict over saving Spike. Every moment that she was not moving southward to Ponyville and the Everfree was another moment her closest friend was at risk. Part of Twilight recognized that she was finding distractions, like dinner with her mother and confronting these invaders, because she was afraid. Ancepanox was afraid of how Spike would react to a stunted monstrosity who claimed to be his caretaker. The fake Twilight catatonic in the Everfree throne room was far more likely to reunite with him. The very possibility of that wounded Anceapnox in a way she could hardly bare, so she pushed it away with distraction. She wasn't ready to accept change yet.
Ancepanox forced those thoughts from her mind before she was overwhelmed again. She’d started the task ahead and she would see it through, distraction or no. As the popular Canterlot adage went, ‘Let’s all do what we agree on before we do what we don’t’.
It had been difficult to tell how many ponies there were in the camp from the wall, even with eyes as sensitive to light as hers. From the ground Ancepanox was just taller than the tents, and estimated a hundred tents. That meant one company of a hundred lances, but there were nearly seven-hundred ponies at her cursory extrapolation. The only region in Equestria that had seven ponies to a lance was Prancia-Sabonord, a prench enclave in the hills and forests on the northern slopes of Foal. The sentries’ alarm cries moments later were in prench, confirming her deduction.
So why would a northern noble march south? They would indeed have had to set out before the night began to be on Canterlot's doorstep. Why? Were they, as Prosser alluded to, tipped off to the coming chaos?
As she waited for the army to send a response to her appearance, she inspected the ring of wagons forming a primitive wall around the camp. The they had come well stocked with food and clothing, indicative of a lord with wealth. There were no trees in the plain but the army was prepared, with several of its supply wagons carrying coal for its fires instead of food.
That was quite the fire hazard, she noted to herself.
The ripple of alarms traveled quickly through the camp, but it took nearly half-an-hour for a messenger to be sent. Archers waited behind the wagon barricade, with some knights and pages behind them trying to get a look at the nightmare interloper.
The messenger approached her slowly, on alert for signs of hostility. She was very hesitant to get near the large, unfamiliar alicorn.
“Greeting, from Countess Glori of Sabonord.” The messenger bowed, her accent making Twilight’s comprehension difficult. “You are welcomed to parlay with her ladyship, or if your intentions are mal, let us know.” She said the last part with some nervousness.
“I accept Lady Glori’s offer to meet.” Ancepanox bowed slightly, and she followed the messenger back towards the camp.
The wagon barricade was pulled apart and they entered under the curious, fearful eyes of the soldiers. Most of them were knights, this being a lord’s personal host. They wore a mix of steel armor and woven fabric padding, and were armed with swords. The retainers and servants were armed with bows or dodgy spears, and protected only by their own fur or tunics.
The air was thick with coal smoke from the campfires, and here and there Ancepanox saw meals abandoned from when the alarm interrupted them.
Count Glori’s rest was at the center of the camp, in a tent no larger than the other, if slightly more colorful. Sitting crosslegged between Ancepanox and the flap was a grey earth pony, a voulge and a broadsword at his side. His head was encased in a silver decorative helmet that turned his visage into that of a wolf, growling perpetually.
“A guarddog. How clever. Does he bark?” Ancepanox regarded the earth pony.
She wished for a moment that the helm fused to her body was as ferocious, or at least as beautiful. Nightmare Moon’s crafsponyship was exquisitely made, but lacked both form and function. It was an expression of herself in the moment of her rebellion: naive, dark, single-purposed. Twilight wondered what statement the usurper princess was making with such a creation, a criticisms of her own place in her world. But it no longer contained part of Moon, and Twilight couldn’t guess weather her new path, naive, dark, single-purposed, was being subtly guided by the armor or a case of convergent situations.
The earth pony in the wolf helm looked up at her. His eyes stared out from the sneering maw. He was not afraid like the others. He's attention roamed over her armor, like he was mimicking her thoughts for himself.
"No." He finally said in a low voice distorted by the helm. "I do not bark. I have been trained not to."
“My ladyship awaits.” The messenger interrupted. The pony with the wolf helm waved Ancepanox into the tent. She had to bow her head to enter through it’s small flap, and the wolf-headed earth pony stepped in after, blocking her exit. Made to fit seven ponies and their equipment, it was somehow cramped for the three.
Glori Sabonord a lean and gaunt unicorn, her coat a very pale cyan, her short hair silvery. Her eyes were sullen and inexpressive and her lips were unnaturally tinted, giving her the look of a vulture. Her mark, five red vertical lines, featured prominently on her simple white garb. From a cushion on the ground she greeted Ancepanox with scrutiny.
“You are entirely different than what I expected.” Glori spoke with a singsong voice, heavily accented by prancian intonation. “Neither regal, nor feral, but somewhere in between.”
“Unkind words for when the same applies you.” Ancepanox frowned in measured displeasure. “You Sabonords have a reputation for decadence.”
“Constant luxury is venom to a warrior's mind.” Glori’s eyes took in every detail of her malformed guest, seeming to compare them against her preconception. “If you want a slovenly glutton you would have to fly to my keep in Prancia and meet my wife.”
“That I am here would seem to show that I do not want a glutton. I am here for you, countess.” Ancepanox said simply.
“It pleases me to hear a creature like you say that. It is more than Celestia has ever done for me.” Glori chuckled, shaking her head in amusement. “I might enjoy this meeting, even though I lack your name.” She offered the other cushion on the floor.
“I am Ancepanox.” Ancepanox accepted the offer and sat, adjusting her cape so it kept her mark concealed. The wolf-head pony stayed at the tent flap, leaning on his two oversized weapons. Glori wasn’t armed, but being surrounded was making Ancepanox apprehensive. Old customs gave her certain protections as an invited guest, but despite that she could do little to lift her worry. “Student, squire, confessor. Heir to Nightmare Moon.”
Glori chirped in surprise. “Really? You aren’t Nightmare Moon? I have only just learned that she was more than a myth,” She pointed out of the tent into the perpetual night. “and now I hear she has an heir too! How many of you nightmares are there? Should I be making a list."
Ancepanox scowled. “if you wish to, but I would tell you to contain your fascination, countess. Concern yourself with me, not others, as I am alive where Moon is not.”
“Nightmare Moon is dead already?” Glori hummed. “Then you creatures can be killed. Do you bleed? Do yo bleed out?”
The open morbidity only added to Ancepanox’s unease. She kicked herself for giving away. “Do you think you are as powerful as Celestia? It took her and more to defeat Nightmare Moon, and I was her end.”
“And I thank you for that. But Nightmare Moon is dead and you still introduce yourself as her heir. If that is the case, why do you not call yourself her inheritor?” Glori asked. “Are you hiding something?”
“It is my nature to hide things, and my right.” Ancepanox was reminded of Chrysalis. She wondered if the meeting would conclude in a changeling-style sneak attack, either by her or Glori. “I am a cautious mare, Countess, and yet I walked into your camp alone. What does that say for how large of a threat I consider you to be?” There was a not-so-concealed warning in her tone. "I don't desire to fight you. I came to talk and you are threatening me."
“Oh, I want to be civil with you, my lady, but there is something about you…” Glori laugh, a shrill sound compared to her speaking voice, brought to mind visions of canaries being tortured. “For I am cautious as well, and I would never invite a pony into my tent who I was not certain I could kill myself.”
“Do you fancy yourself a god-killer then?” Ancepanox, who was feeling vindicated in her paranoia, looked over her shoulder at the stoic wolf-pony. “Or does this one do the heavy lifting?”
“Ripple Wreath is the apprentice.” Glori smiled. “I am the master. As third in line to my father’s county I was committed to a disciplined life from a young age. I trained in Griffany among mercenaries and warlords. Nopony I have ever met could best me.”
Ripple Wreath was a name Twilight actually recognized. He was the heir of a county in the Riverpony lands, son of Lord Ripple Reads. House Ripple’s hold was squarely between Canterlot’s mountain and Foal, mildly famous for their martial prowess. Twilight’s family had visited the area before on their way to her Uncle Flux’s land in Foal. Glori’s words must have been more than just boast if Ripple Wreath was training under her.
Twilight thought about her father. He was soft spoken, but despite years out of the sport he still held notoriety in the Canterlot dueling circles. Shining Armor had been under tremendous pressure as a squire to uphold his father’s legacy. Ancepanox wondered what Twilight Sparkle would have become if she had felt such external pressures, instead of only imagining them all.
“Third in line, and you got the county.” Ancepanox shook her head. “Not by mere circumstance."
Glori laughed again. "Go on then! Say the soft part loud."
"My condolences for the fate of those before you in the succession.”
“Very good! You understand what terrible things ponies do for crowns!” Glori jumped up. "The mares like me who harbor no fear, and pursue their goals single-mindedly frighten the weak. They call me crazy because I do not adhere to their culture of polite jockeying, compromise, and discourse."
"That was not my impression of Equestria's noble culture." Ancepanox deadpanned.
"You, whoever you are, are immured in their passivity. They let life come to them. They wait for circumstance to turn their way instead of CREATING the circumstances they pursue."
As Glori spoke, Ancepanox was reminded of Velvet. "Sure. Right."
Glori's stare became wild. "Pah! Do you dismiss me as I do, because you discover yourself humbled before me? Are you intimidated by a mare who does anything it takes to get what she wants?"
Ancepanox thought of some very choice words for the mare, but held back. "Why are you here, Lady Glori? You've had your whole life to come tell everypony what you think of them, but you chose now."
Glori ignored the question, continuing with her saved up words. “A crown is a heavy burden! I let everypony I loved know that, but they ignored me, and thus had to pay the price. They could not bear the burden, where I can.”
“Countess, answer me.”
“Having lived like a commoner, I know what the little ponies suffer. I think all of us know, but we simply do not care. We think the crown gives us the right to ignore the ponies under us. What my fellow lords do not realize is that power should compel you to pay more attention, so you can see what they are scheming.” Ancepanox noted Glori’s explicit avoidance of the word ‘peer’. The gaunt unicorn’s brazen lack of tact was quite unlike any other noble she could recall. “I am not a god fearing mare, because I fear nothing at all. I have won every fight before now.”
“Your ramblings do not interest me, countess! Give me an answer, now.” Ancepanox growled. “What your intentions are at Canterlot?”
“Family business.” Was Glori’s curt reply. The countess was shifting forward on her cushion, getting minutely closer to the mare across from her.
“Countess, give me a strait answer or I'll be angry.” Ancepanox drew back her lips just enough to show her fangs. “If you refuse to answer we will be forced into less pleasant circumstances.”
“Then finally this charade will be over!” Glori laughed. "Both of us will be pleased, for only in violence is truth found!"
She stood up. Ancepanox jumped to her hooves, alert, but the countess just trotted around her to the tent’s flap. Her guard Ripple Wreath followed her out close at heel.
A confused and wary Ancepanox followed her. She was very ready to call her visit over and teleport away. She'd failed to come to a consensus with Glori. Glori refused to be persuaded away from violence, and only an intervention twenty years past could have changed that.
How? Why? How had a mare growing up in Equestria have denied equestrian harmony so completely? This was not a damaged mare like Velvet, right?
Ancepanox followed them out of the tent, and was greeted by a sea of ponies surrounding her. They was completely surrounded by Glori’s army.
“Look up at Canterlot! It is a city plunged into darkness, and I speak of more than simply the loss of our sun.” Glori pointed to the plateau city high above them. “No torches on the walls nor lights in the Castle. Were ponies really so quick to forsake Celestia’s capital after her death or was something else at work?”
"You tell me. You seem to have abandoned Canterlot long ago." Ancepanox quipped.
"As it abandoned me." Glori nodded. "Now it abandoned itself? Too rich!"
“That it is I who is here asking you your business should tell you enough about what has transpired in Canterlot.” Ancepanox said. "They are still watching, Lady Glori. And asking."
Glori tilted her head slightly, a hawkish almost-grin maligning her face. “Don't make me laugh. Are you trying to imply that you are in charge of Canterlot now?"
"Some ponies lead from the front."
"Ponies like me! Not ponies like you." Glori chuckled. "Besides, Lady Ancepanox, I already know what happened."
Ancepanox scowled. Prosser's implication of a Canterlot connection seemed all but confirmed now. "Doubtful."
"HA! That is what I said! But I came anyway, to see with my own eyes what a certain velvet lady has done for a crown!”
Things suddenly started to derail in Twilight’s mind. Not only did Glori know that conditions in Canterlot were bad, but she knew Velvet had been personally involved? Velevet seemed very proud of herself that nopony in the leadership saw her coming until she began the massacres! Were messages getting out since night fell, or was the leak from Velvet's inner circle?
“An unfounded assumption.”
“Unfounded, you say! My cousin’s letters are the foundation of my words!” Prompted by Glori’s words, her messenger pulled a chest full of letters from the tent. Glori pulled a selection to herself by magic. “Since you seem to know about the Sabonords, you will quiver to hear of the Blackhorns! Yes my Seacrest left my keep a year ago, but since then he pestered my incessantly with letters of his travels. Since they stopped arriving I took notice. And how grave I find the contents.
Blackhorn. Seacrest Blackhorn. Hadn't Velvet or one of her captains mentioned a Seacrest?
Ancepanox took the stack of letters and read through them while Glori watched expectantly.
The first few letters were penned beautifully and in large script, but the last were small and scrawled, as if a completely different pony had written them. Here and there little doodles graced the margins, and at first they were of flowers, mountains, trees and birds, giving way to haunting portraits of recognizable ponies: Sel Lech Sobonord, Twilight Velvet, Captain Hausseway, Celestia and many other ponies Ancepanox didn’t recognize. One was a skeletal looking mare with a long and concealing mane, another of a lean stallion with a roadmap of stitches across his face.
"I don't have time to read these." Anepanox passed them back. "And if I did it would be no use. You have clearly interpreted what you want from them already."
“How nice of you to ask. Celestia was a poxy whore, but at least she stayed out of our buisness.” Glori spat. “The frontier won't tolerate a Canterlot that wants to rescind our rights and independence as the heirs of Equestria's lords of old; We reject centralization, with arms and armor!"
"Centralization?" Ancepanox quirked a brow.
"My cousin's murderer, Twilight Velvet, conspires to turn Equestria into a unitary state. She killed my Seacrest to keep that fact hidden, but it was too late. I have led this march from Prancia to the shadow of Canterlot, if there was still a sun to cast one. I did it to protect our rights, and prove once and for all that action triumphs over passivity.”
"You could not have it more wrong. Lady Velvet couldn't care less about what you do on the frontier. Nopony does. You're fighting against a strawpony.” Ancepanox was struggling to keep carrying herself confidently. She could be attacked suddenly from any number of directions and overwhelmed! The prospect of a fight terrified her, yet on a certain perverse level, absolutely thrilled her. She was facing a raw challenge, on tongue or by hoof.
"Yes, continue to spin your lies. The only truth I heard from you was that you are not Nightmare Moon!” Glori waved to the moon. “It was brave of you to face me, but I am calling your bluff. Your conspiracy ends here, Astral Nacre.”
There it is, Twilight thought glumly, it wouldn’t be a fulfilling day in Equestria without an epic misunderstanding.
“As fantastical as it sounds, Astral is a different alicorn. I could understand her being behind your cousin’s death. I swear to you I wish to protect innocent ponies, not persecute them.” Ancepanox offered informatively. “You have the totally wrong idea.”
"Who decides the definition of innocent?! Have you sought to punished those responsible for my cousin's murder? Your eyes say no!” Glori squawked. “I'll squeeze the stolen blood out of you and see what you really look like under there!"
Things were quickly spiraling from implied insults to outright threats of murder. "You think I chose to look like this?! Why?” Ancepanox waved over her face and body, haggard and torn with ancient steel-blue armor burned in. “Why, if I could appear otherwise? I look like this because it's who I am, not because I think it will give me some legitimacy or advantage."
"Then leave, coward." Glori growled.
Ancepanox averted her gaze for a second. Who was she? What did her form represent? What did 'I look like this because it's who I am' entail? She looked at her armored hoof. She was encased in metal, designed for violence. Nightmare Moon had designed the armor for aggression, but it didn't have to mean that forever. There were noble causes that needed to be defended from those who would destroy them. Ancepanox, through apprehension and fear, knew she could do good by ponykind. The only question was if Velvet and her operation was anything worth defending.
She looked back to Glori. "No." She said sternly. "I won't let you take vengeance. Leave Canterlot, and take your lust for violence with you."
The seven hundred knights and retainers, filling every space not occupied by a tent, drew their weapons, a deafening sound. Glori waved them down, but still they rested for the fatal signal.
“You won't let me. You won't let me.” Glori chuckled. “Do you hear that? She will not let me!” A resounding laugh from the camp. “We are brought against each other for our ambitions, but the reasons do not matter. Astral or Ancepanox, whichever you are, will not let me. I will let me! Heh heh heh ha ha! Oh little lady, you will try.”
Without the guilty there to take responsibility, Anceapnox was going to bear the burden of her mother’s sins. Glori and the Seacrest she spoke of deserved justice it was true, for Twilight Velvet had committed the greatest atrocity in pony memory. But Ancepanox ironically could keep the intended purpose of that atrocity from being fulfilled by protecting Velvet. Equestrian harmony had to be upheld, even if it meant protecting the guilty.
“Do not throw your life away for a dead pony! I am sorry for your loss but you will be sorrier if you allow Seacrest’s death to drive you to conflict with me or anypony else. Go home. Don’t do anything you will regret!” Ancepanox said aloud, to herself more than to Glori.
“No time for regrets, only action. Seacrest was an annoying and moping poet, and I was glad when he left my keep. But he was family! Only I may shake the portraits loose from the walls of house Sabonord! You owe me his death.” Glori said, unclasping her cape and donning a simple breastplate. “I hope I cause whoever loves you to mourn as much as I have. That is, not much. Accept having your memory forgotten, alicorn."
"That wouldn't be so bad." Ancepanox grunted.
Glori accepted a voulge cleaver Ripple Wreath offered her. She levitated from her tent a hoplon shield, featuring the five red lines of her mark, and strapped it to her lower foreleg. Crouching slightly, she held the voulge in a hoof in combination with her magic while mostly behind the protection of the shield. It seemed she was not the kind of duelist Ancepanox had been thinking of, equipped more like a gladiatorial fighter.
The crowd pulled back, letting a circle form. Ripple Wreath backed away from his countess, so Twilight and Glori were alone, facing each other, in the ring of packed ponies. Bloody spectacle was inevitable.
"Are you suicidal?" Ancepanox said, her extreme nervousness slipping into her voice. This was it. "Are you actually going to face down an alicorn?"
Glori closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. “Nopony intervene.” Her eyes snapped open, full of morbid glee. “For I do not fear fake ponies and blasphemers! Defend yourself, monster!”
A wind was rushing down the Mountain into Canterlot, and the cold was starting to bite. Ponies hadn’t come to terms with the extended night yet, closing themselves off; Most of the shops Night Light passed were closed, and the few ponies he saw were the militiaponies on patrol. Fortunately a clothier at the edge of the district was open, and he stopped in and purchased a scarf. The elderly shopkeep had tried to refuse Night Light’s payment, saying it was his pleasure to provide comfort to his liege. Night Light looked at the old stallion, wondering what kinds of rumors were circulating among the commoners. He almost resorted to threats before the stallion acquiesced and took his bits.
Night Light was fine enough with titles and such, but the idea of actually being somepony’s lord made him very uncomfortable. He’d told Velvet early that he wanted nothing to do with the political side of things. Besides, the end of their endeavor would make rank and class obsolete.
He made with moderate haste to Chateau la Garde. The area around the grand gatehouse was a big mess thanks to the IHG using it as a staging ground for their departure. Several nearby houses were looted, and much of the chaeau itself too.
On the way through the castle’s lowest hall Night Light passed Sel Lech Sabonord.
“Good evening Captain Sabonord.” Night Light bowed. "I apologize for slapping you, truly. In my distress I was carried away.
“Yeah. Don't worry about it, my lord.” Sel said meekly. “I was not acting as I should. I deserve a hit or two every so often for wearing this undeserved uniform.”
Night Light smiled warmly. Sel, unlike so many of the ponies in Canterlot, was genuinely modest. “Most ponies go through their whole lives only playing at things. You’ve done more than they ever will. You don’t need to be so hard on yourself.”
“I’ll let you call me captain if you let me call you Prince Light. Is that a fair trade?” Sel ribbed.
“Touchė.” Night Light chuckled. “I hope you believe me, Sel, that I can be there if you have any problems."
Sel glanced away for a moment. "Has Lady Velvet told you about the catacombs and cavern under the city?"
Night Light's smile flattened. "She hasn't, so hold off on whatever you have to tell me until I ask her."
"Of course, sir." Sel nodded. "Only, please keep an eye out for unexpected danger."
"Danger? Now that's different Sel. If you think there's danger you should be telling Velvet right now." Night Light urged.
"I- I don't know for sure. Lady Velvet knows anyway, I think." Sel said evasively.
Night Light shrugged.
The door at the end of the room creaked open and there was a rush of little hooves as the filly messenger ran up to the two stallions. She pushed a letter into Night Light's hooves and ran off.
"From Velvet." Night Light noted as he unfolded and read it. "She is on the way here to look at her records." He read further. "Ancepanox entered Canterlot Castle but the sentries didn't see her come out. Patrols confirm she is no longer there. She must have gone back for what she was after in the first place." He nudged the Blackhorn Sword strapped to his back. "The Blackhorn armor was missing earlier. She may have taken it."
Sel gulped. He'd seen Sunset Shimmer down in the caverns with the armor. "Maybe, sir."
"You received quite the grilling at dinner. How did the experience find you?" Night Light asked. "Form an opinion about our nightmarish guest?
Sel frowned. “Err, Lady Ancepanox was no more ugly than Astral, and a good deal more clever. I think she's dangerous, but not towards us, which is nice.”
Night Light assumed a look more grave than Sel had ever seen him on, mor so even than during the massacre of the Estates. “Clever thought she may be, she is a landless lady with every incentive to take what is not hers. My daughter earned the title of Viscountess through meritorious service to the empress, and I am disgusted at the prospect of a presumptuous creature laying claim, be they alicorn or not. Then, there is the obvious threat she poses to us, to my daughter, and Equestria. Did it occur to any of us that she is behind the unending night? If she holds Equestria's fate in her hooves like that, there is little we could do save submit. A grim prospect."
"I agree with your concerns my lord, but I-" Sel sighed. "I think she's nice. Call me naive, but I believe her when she says she doesn't want to destroy anypony."
"If that's true it doesn't make her any less an existential threat to us." Night Light warned.
"How so?"
“It is the same situations as with our fake Seacrest. Ponies flock to icons. It is the same reason we need Astral Nacre: More than her potential as a weapon is her potential as a focus for ponykind's submission to their betters, just as Celestia was. "
“My lord, forgive me, but is there any coherence to Lady Velvet’s plan apropos Astral? Why did she, and we, make her?” Seacrest challenged.
"You heard her same as I. Astral Nacre is the manifestation of ponykind's ability to ascend to greater things."
"Um yeah... So is it ironic or what that she's being an asshole? This isn't what we expected." Sel said. “We saw how off her stride Lady Velvet was in the opera house, and all of us were troubled by it. Yes, you slapped my hesitation to act away, but that does not remove the question. Is our plan bust if Astral is utterly impossible to control? My lord, I’m terrified of what could happened to us if Lady Velvet isn’t able to keep this up anymore.”
Night Light looked very cross for a moment, but it melted away into tiredness. “Go about your business, Captain Seacrest. Next time please keep your opinions about my wife to yourself.”
Sel winced. "Yes, my lord." He kept his head down as Night Light passed his towards the stairs.
Night Light, continued up through the Chateau, observing the damage the Imperial Knights had wrought in their brief stay. The rooms were turned inside out, with a good deal of the lighter furnishings taken. He reached the top floor and stepped into the library, the most disarrayed room of them all.
“Look at this mess. I raised Shining better than this.” Twilight Velvet was picking up the scattered scrolls and reorganizing them. “The silly boy forgot to burn the evidence.”
Night Light was momentarily surprised by her presence. "Velvet, you should not be teleporting until your magic is more stable."
Velvet ignored him.
"Velvet..." Night Light took a step forward, stepping in some unexpected wetness. Puzzled, he looked down. The faint candlelight reflected off the red river of blood that could be followed back to the maid, hunched in the corner with her neck slit. "Oh goodness gracious Velvet!"
"What? She'll come back." Velvet shot, still scooping up scattered pages. "I ordered her to make sure Shining didn't leave the city without saying goodbye. The girl had the audacity to say it would have been bad for his mental health."
"I'm glad you brought up mental health, because this is getting out of control." Night Light said, strained. "Your slip in the opera house has everypony concerned. And yes, I know you're concerned too, but breaking Blueblood's leg was the wrong way of proving your confidence to yourself. It came off as more unhinged, more desperate. Now this!"
Velvet nodded, brows raised. "Uh huh. Now this."
"You need time to recuperate. You haven't had a minute of sleep since the ritual." He rubbed his eye and sighed. "Ancepanox left the city, and Astral is mercifully laying low. Now is the perfect time to rest. Please, nopony wants you to kill the next pony you blow up on."
"Eh, somepony would." Velvet took one of the collected piles of paper and took it to her writing desk. "Come take a look at these, Night Light."
"Velvet, please don't ignore me."
"I'm not. I'm telling you to come take a look at these." Velvet said, sharper.
Torn between indulging her so she would be more amenable, or not yielding to her stubbornness, Night Light trotted over to her.
"I came to check on something very interesting. Look at the names on those lists. I wrote those five months ago. And that list next to it was from last year." Velvet said.
"You wrote these names?" Night Light looked at the lists of ponies' names, which had basic information and further reading notated, but saw nothing special.
"You know how I get, with the little fugues. I don't understand the things I write sometimes." Velvet grinned. "And when I look at them after, I see I've written a nearly encyclopedic account of these ponies I've never met."
This was all old news to Night Light. "Is something different?"
"I'm probably never going to go through another fugue since getting Astral out of my head." Velvet said. "But yes, something is different. I finally made the connection between all the ponies on the lists I've been writing. They just died."
"Just died? What do you mean?"
“Dissected, stitched back up, and now shambling around the Opera House. Astral didn’t target random ponies.” Velvet flipped through several folders and took out the longer profiles for Night Light’s benefit. “All these ponies, regurgitated out of my mind onto this paper, were all admitted to the Old Town Hospital yesterday for various inexplicable aches and pains. They were all in one place for Astral to scoop them up and mutilate."
"You mean to say-"
"The mutilated ponies in the opera house. They're all here."
“Gods almighty... It is as though they were predestined to die.” Night Light shuttered. “Velvet, this has wide implications. Astral Nacre isn't acting like she is because we failed somehow. This was always going to happen." His eyes widened. "Velvet... Could it be... These ponies were brought together by you? Through sheer force of will, destiny was altered to bring these ponies to the point where Astral would meet them?
Velvet laughed knowingly. "Yes, Night Light, the dream. We now have our first conclusive evidence. We did it, Night Light. We fought against fate and won. We asserted our own causality on this world."
"I- I know this is what we were working towards and I'm still overwhelmed." Night Light fell to his haunches. "Years of singular, unwavering determination, to change the course of reality..."
"The facts are still obfuscated. We don't know the mechanism for sure." Velvet said darkly. "I hold that Astral Nacre is the key. Until ponykind's dreams are unified, an alicorn is still the only power that can permanently resist the sun's destiny."
"We will have to see what happens when the sun comes up to tell if it is permanent for certain." Night Light said. "Until then... it has to be buisness as usual."
"Yes it does."
"We can't let anypony know we succeeded. Even a hint that we are changing destiny and we will be disemboweled before we truly know how to control it." Night Light grumbled deeply. "Ponies may loose their hope in Celestia, but it will take longer to sever their trust in destiny. It will take a decade before even a plurality of ponies becomes disenchanted with the system that has guided them for ten-thousand years."
"Since we don't have that long, let's aim for figuring out how to control it sooner and just force them to change their minds." Velvet grinned toothily. "I'll be dreaming about that day while I work. One dream, Night Light, for all ponykind. It's not so farfetched now."
"I'm happy, Velvet. But, uh, I prompted buisness as usual because there are other issues to talk about."
"Like how wonderful it feels to be back on track. We never should have doubted ourselves, Night Light."
“Okay Velvet.” Night Light said flatly. He took a moment to shift his mind away from the esoteric and into the practical.
“Ahem. Controlling Canterlot comes with issues, and I was served a folder of them on the way here. First item, the city nobility, spearheaded by Lady Upper Crust, are demanding more answers about the massacre. News leaked out and the cover story of attempted City Guard coup is not satisfying them.”
“Blueblood is tasked with their plication. If he can’t convince them that it was a failed coup by Hauseeway I will actually kill him this time. Or not. He has that ragtag militia of his playing at being police. If they round up a few of the louder dissenters, that would be satisfactory.” Velvet was briefly reading over the contents of each letter before levitating them to different corners of the library, rebuilding her organization system after Shining Armor's mess. “There is an argument to be made about finishing what we started and purging the whole aristocracy. Only, I suspect then will be nopony else to act as scapegoats to the commoners. It's good to keep a scapegoat in pocket to keep revolutionary sentiment down; Revolutionaries are a much, much smarter opponent than the nobles.”
“Revolutionary sentiment among the city guard wasn't uncommon. We have killed ones we knew about in the throne. Lady Airy might be able to scare up some of their surviving comrades, imprison them, and tease a confession. The would scare the hell out of the nobles and get them to back off their demands." Night Light suggested. "No need to start purging the nobles until they are out of utility."
“Aurthora is smarter than most give her credit for. She'll do it.” Velvet nodded. “Tell her to find some revolutionaries for us to hold. But get some nobles too, on whatever excuse. With little suggestions of offering either side amnesty, we will keep both sides engaged with us."
"Very good Velvet."
"Next item.”
“Anceapnox. You got the same report as I, of her going back to the Castle. She was after something.”
“Obviously she wasn’t just sightseeing. There are some dangerous books and artifacts in the castle, but we found her in the throne room, not in the library or vaults.” Velvet said. “If Prosser is still hanging around that area I will question him when he inevitably comes crawling here looking for work. That nosey twerp could not have missed an alicorn. Then again he let Cadence get away.”
“Looking into what she has deprived us of is more important than Ancepanox herself. I think that was the last we will see of her.” Night Light remarked.
“She seemed nervous, but not insincere. The happenings in the South has affected her strongly. Did you notice how much she doted on every mention of Twilie? The girl is traumatized.”
“Girl, Velvet?”
“Yes, filly even! That scarred body is hiding a scared and overcompensating child. It would be hilarious were it not sad.” Velvet laughed heartily. “Ha ha! Did you see how much she wanted to be taken seriously? She is terrified, rightly, of not being able to fill Nightmare Moon's roll. Alas, if we could have gotten to her before she built up that persona, and turned her innocence into some real depravity."
Night Light grimaced at his wife’s cruel words. Velvet had a way of making him feel bad for ponies he disliked. He understood she was only speaking figuratively, or so he liked to think. "One alicorn is enough for us to deal with, Velvet."
“Agreed. Still, as long as little Lady Ancepanox doesn’t get herself killed, she may prove to be a powerful ally. As long as her conflicting feelings last, of course. Gods forbid, she gets the wherewithal to realize what a threat we are to her.” Velvet shrugged. “Next item.”
Night Light thought Anceapnox deserved more discussion, but dropped it. “Um, our ponies scouting the farming villages in Canter and the foothills are receiving mixed responses. Most have agreed to continue selling food in the city. There are a few manors owned by the Speakers we purged. We will have to draw together a force and take those at some point.
"At some point. We have the grain reserves to avoid food rationing." Velvet said.
A sudden low roar filled the library, as a plume of green fire deposited a new scroll on the floor.
“What in the hell? A dragonfire message? Who still has access to dragonfire?” Velvet squinted. “If it’s Phyte or Shale sending hate-mail I might just call back those assassin mares from Trottingham for a new assignment!”
“Velvet, leave this to me. You need rest and I mean it” Night Light picked up the letter and unrolled it. “It’s from Prosser. Speak of the devil. He wants to talk. I will go talk to him whilst you-”
“No, I'd like to know where that scoundrel got dragonfire. I accept his request." Velvet ignited her horn, calling forth swirling magenta corrupted by streaks of green. Moments later a new inferno unceremoniously dropped Prosser onto the stone floor.
"Velvet..." Night Light sighed.
“Ack ack, oh my lady, please,” Prosser coughed, patting down the etherial green flames from his robe. “That can’t be good for either of our health!”
“It’s assuredly not. Phyte killed dozens of ponies trying to create fake dragonfire.” Velvet’s smoothed out the parts of her mane that had curled by her magical exertion. “In adaptation to their natural gluttony, a dragon’s soul is in it’s throat. Their magical fire is a byproduct of how hot they burn inside."
"Respectfully, my Lady, that's folk knowledge and you know better." Prosser got to his hooves. "Thank you for the quick response to my letter."
“Stuff it. Where did you get dragonfire?"
"I had some saved up."
Velvet glared, not content with the explanation but accepting it for the moment. "What do you want, councilor?”
“Oh, I want nothing, your esteemed highness. Well, I want you to know there's an army parked in the northern foothills.” Prosser reported. "Less an army, more a host. Roundabout a thousand ponies, give or take."
"It's Glori Sabornord." Night Light grunted.
Prosser blinked. "How did you know?"
“Because she's late. She was supposed to get here before night fell and die in the purge.” Velvet contemplated. “ I underestimated the magnitude of her apathy. Molar's letters were exactly tailored to draw her here. Glori would have made an excellent part of the ritual, having the blood of the elder ones. Her delay cost Foaly Flux his life. This is very upsetting.” Velvet grimaced. “I feel compelled to erase her from existance for this. If she comes but a bit closer the canons of Castle Magoria will be upon her.”
“Dealing with her quietly would be one thing, but bombarding her with cannons isn't exactly subtle. It may estrange some potential allies among the lords. Should we not wait?" Night Light questioned.
“Nopony cares about Glori. She’s just a violent sociopath.” Velvet scoffed.
"Yes, my lady, but she is a skilled warrior. Whatever path she means to attack you by, it would avoid your strength and play to hers. She would never allow herself to enter the sights of the guns." Prosser cautioned. "You should send an envoy."
"I'd rather not." Velvet remarked.
She stared at Prosser for a minute, assessing him in silence. "is there something you're not telling me, councilor."
"Yes, my lady. I encountered the other alicorn, the nightmare" Prosser said. "I wanted to know the marching orders regards her."
"Marching orders? Shove off! You'll heard official policy when the rest of the city does!" Velvet scoffed. "You're on the outside now Prosser. Be happy with that or you'll be a problem."
"Ahem, well, I understand." Prosser nodded nervously. "That's all then, illustrious one.”
“Then be gone with you.” Velvet cast another blaze of green dragonfire to teleport him away. She prompted Night Light with an impatient look. “There. Now I'll rest."
She got up and trotted to the stair. "Take care of everything won't you."
"Good night Velvet." Night Light bowed to her.
Alone in the library, she cast a long glance to the stack of lists on the writing desk. The thought had crossed his mind that she had lied to make him feel better. If he wanted to check the veracity of Velvet's claims about the predestined deaths, now was the time.
But he trusted her.
He made for the stairs too. "See you later, mis." He nodded to the dead maid in the corner.
Day
"It will take a while before we fully understand the evils that unfolded during the Eternal Night." Iillor was saying. "Innumerous that would have been the scandle of the century passed compleately unnoticed. In the darkest dark, all things of foul things flurish."
"Uh huh." Twilight replied flatly. She wasn't really listening. She was more focussed on the task ahead.
They arrived at the edge of the market square, then passed to the adjacent street. Ponyville's bakery, a circular cottage with faded pink paint. The door was locked and the blinds were pulled.
“Mis Pie? Are you in there?” Twilight knocked on the bakery door. She was still a bit hurt from Fluttershy’s rejection and desperate to know if all her acquaintances... no, friends, felt the same way now. Maybe they knew something she didn't.
“Pinkie! Pinkie Pie please come to the door.”
Before she could knock again the bakery window to Twilight and Iillor’s right swung open. “I heard the magic word!” Pinkie Pie beamed for a moment, then turned serious. “But I’m still a little disappointed in you Twilight. You’ve got, like, a quazillion sorrys to say.”
“Disappointed? Sorrys? Pinkie I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” Twilight struggled to remember anything about her interactions with Pinkie that could have offended the bubbly mare.
“The attack, mis slipped-my-mind.” Pinkie supplied chidingly. “Gosh, I didn’t know being a big meanie is so casual to you that you’d forget.”
“What attack?” Twilight was even more confused. “Are you talking about the explosion at the hospital? I thought... Did I cause that? Oh no… Did I panic and get somepony hurt?" She sighed. "Great. Who knows how much of my time before the Everfree are just gone from my mind.”
Pinkie frowned more deeply. “The Everfree? The hospital? I don’t know what Rarity said, I’m not talking about…” Pinkie trailed off, and a look of revelation came over her face. After a moment of overt concentration all traces of ire left the pink earth pony’s face, replaced with a wide smile. “You silly billy Twilight! What were you doing in the Everfree? There’s scary stuff in there!”
Twilight rolled her eyes, but inside she was actually a little bit touched that Pinkie would be angry at her for risking her life. “I know, and it was probably the scary stuff that’s done this to me. As soon as I remember more of our time together I’ll be back so we can talk.”
“Dissociative and lacunar amnesia.” Pinkie assessed, then after a hiccup she jerked back into a smile. “I mean, I’m really sorry for that Twilight, but we shouldn’t be so sad-pants about the past! Come back anytime, and we can make NEW memories!”
“Thanks Pinkie! It means a lot to me. Really.” On the edge of tearing up, Twilight stepped away from the bakery. With mock formality she bowed. “I shall see you later then, Mis Pie.”
“See ya! Would totally love to be ya!” Pinkie pulled back from the window and slammed it closed. She immediately slid the blinds back down.
“What a nice friend.” Iillor appraised sarcastically. “I hope next time you can spare an introduction.”
“Watch your tone. Pinkie Pie might be annoyed at me, but she probably has a good reason. Who knows. There probably was something I did that I forgot." Twilight rubbed her forehead. "It can not be understated how much this hurts, that I might have done something bad but not know it."
"Some ponies would give anything to forget the bad things they've done." Iillor said. "And isn't it selfish to whine about forgetting, and not the ponies you may have hurt? Your pink friend for example."
Twilight's expression drooped. "Yes, it is selfish of me. This whole thing is selfish, actually. I've been dragging you around, taking advantage of your kindness. I should just go home now."
Iillor held up a hoof. “Hey it’s fine. Everything at your pace, not mine. I’m not the one with brain damage, eh?” They both laughed modestly and resumed their trot towards the Golden Oak. “I just look forward to seeing what everypony knows.”
Night
As Glori charged forward, voulge held high in anticipation of a hacking strike, Twilight once again reevaluated life.
What was it that turned ponies from good to bad? Did ponies always have the capacity of good and bad within them? Was there a real, objective difference, or was it all a matter of perspective?
One. It remained, and Twilight hoped that it would remain forever, as the number of ponies she had murdered. One murder. Chrysalis, her throat pierced and her heart crushed, was still crumpled in the Everfree Castle throne room for all Twilight knew. That act, the willful annihilation of a sentient being’s life force, had continued to be a topic Twilight had avoided facing. Now with Glori bearing down on her, she had milliseconds to decide what she would become.
Had that been an evil thing to do? Was it worse to ignore it or dwell on the act?
Murder and death had flowed smoothly off Ancepanox’s lips in her conversations with Twilight Velvet and Glori. She BOASTED about killing Celestia, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. It really sickened Twilight, in retrospect. She didn't want the persona Ancepanox to be an eager murderer because even if it was for pretend it normalized violence to her. Twilight believed thoroughly that harmony and virtue could exist even for an inherently Dark entity like a nightmare.
If Twilight was going to maintain the persona there were some real kinks to work out. Was it just a persona, or somepony she would not mind being? To that point, Twilight still lacked the answer. In a way the new identity of Ancepanox supposed to be like a casting off of old sins, to define her new body however she chose, yet she found herself constantly invoking her real past.
Then there were other stick issues too, about the kind of pony Ancepanox was supposed to be. For example, if Ancepanox wanted to be a friend to ponykind why had she killed Celestia? What had her roll been during the original War of the Nightmare Pretender? Had she killed ponies back then? Was the the kind of pony that would kill in self defense?
If there was a moment to decide the rest of her life, it was right then, as the blade was swinging down at her. She could see her reflection on its immaculately polished edge: Her dark, dark blue fur. Her blue steel armor. Her horn and wings.
She didn't see a creature that would run away, out of some misplaced fear of crossing a moral boundary. Nor was it afraid of itself, and whatever taint it might carry. No, the alicorn was what it was. It didn't need to explain itself beyond that. If it could not disarm the situation peacefully that was okay. There was one way an alicorn responded to an open challenge: Domination. Time to start thinking like an alicorn and dominate instead of waft in the wind.
That was something both Celestia and Nightmare Moon would have agreed on, right?
Ancepanox blinked, and Glori was now within moments of reaching her, already putting her momentum into bringing down the voulge. The only physical weapons Ancepanox had was her hooves and her horn, and now that it was a long alicorn horn she envisioned the brutal effect of it piercing through the shield into Glori’s chest.
How would killing her second pony feel? She pushed away emotion as best she could and planned her actions for the next seconds: How she would deflect Glori’s attack into the ground, and assault the unicorn while she was recovering, hopefully to separate her from the cleaver.
"Then the coup-de-gras." Ancepanox whispered to herself.
To the crowd, it looked for a bare moment that the dark alicorn was going to take the swinging blade on her helmet. At the last moment, with startling speed, Ancepanox jumped sideways, knocking over some too-close onlookers. Glori adjusted her aim, but still drove her voulge directly into the ground. Taking precious moments to pry her weapon from the earth, Glori was barely prepared for Ancepanox flanking and bucking at her. Taking the buck on the edge of her hoplon, she used the propulsion to spin her whole self around, swinging the voulge in a low arc. Ancepanox dodged again, trampling a tent.
"Yes! I had high hopes for you!" Glori called out, then repeated in Prench. The crowd's shouts rose to a deafening pitch. "Let's kill each other! Let's kill everypony!"
Glori really was unhinged, yet her ponies somehow loved her. How could ponies celebrate a leader that flouted the Equestrian values of harmony? What did she have to offer? Ancepanox could not even pick out what the crowd was shouting. There eyes were wild, their faces contorted into the most horrible displays of bloodlust and rage. They were hardly even ponies. It was like the braying of cattle, whose noise drilled at Ancepanox's sanity.
Glori aproached more slowly the second time. Ancepanox shot a small bolt of magic that bounced and fizzled off her hoplon shield. She shot a second one at Glori's voulge, but the countess was quick to block that one too.
"I've been fighting unicorns my whole life! I know all the magic tricks!" Glori shouted over the crowd.
You're not dealing with a unicorn, Ancepanox thought.
She put as much energy as she could into an encapsulating magical shield around Glori. The countess’s surprise was long enough for Twilight to focus herself.
The furious unicorn mare slashed at the shield for several seconds. The shield began to disintegrate before Ancepanox poured more magic into it.
"You want to play this game? We can see who collapses from exhaustion first!" Glori yelled.
“You will leave Canterlot empty hooved. Go back home and forget revenge. Swear to me this and I will let you go.” Ancepanox was very overburdened by the spell she was maintaining, and every remaining iota of her energy was put to keeping it from showing. “Anything less, and I'll crush you.”
Glori pressed her face into the shield. "I think I was wrong about you, alicorn. You can fight, but prowess without purpose is still weakness."
"I have purpose." Ancepanox was having an impossible time finding her voice in the uproar around ehr. "I'm protecting ponykind."
"WE DON'T WANT YOUR CODDLING!" Glori pulled a small dagger from her belt and jammed it against the encapsulating shield with all her might. The thin blade pierced through but stopped at the hilt, stopping just short of Ancepanox's eye. "I'd gut Twilight Velvet any day, but we both agree the gods can GO TO HELL!"
Ancepanox was thinking of the right right response when she felt a pircing pain in her side. She yelped and jerked away, turning to look at the offender: One of the Sabonord knight, a lanky stallion in leather armor, had stuck his saber in her ribs. Ancepanox looked from the saber to the pony in disbelief, then tried to yank the offending blade away with her magic. Red washed over her vision from the pain of the saber scraping against her ribs. The knight’s hoof was caught in the guard, and he was pulled off his hooves as Twilight lifted it into the air.
She again looked down at the bleeding wound in her barrel, and up to the dangling earth pony knight.
There was terror in his eyes, and Twilight could see her snarling reflection within them. She once again felt the sinking feeling of remembering what horror she now resembled. The perpetual and hideous scars were only a score of hours old, but anypony would have mistaken them from a year’s worth of battle and bloodshed. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't she look how she wanted? Why couldn't she who she wanted to be? What a cruel twist of fate, that had made her resemble the very monstrosity she had lost everything defeating, and made the monster resemble her.
Seeing herself so, a distorted reflection of an already warped beast, cut to Twilight’s core. She trembled in anger at the world, and felt an abrupt lightness as the great weight of her reservations fell from her limbs. Destruction overtook distraction.
“How dareyou.” Ancepanox said icily. “How dare you even think of hurting me, your superior in every way.”
He was the ultimate example of unwilling, but Ancepanox would not let that top her. She let all the air out of her lunges, and as she breathed in she used her magic to wrench the pony’s soul from his body. Not just parts of his magic or his dreams, like she had done to the ponies of Ponyville while hunting under the nightmare’s influence; It was his living spirit she took. It felt like hunting but so much more satisfying, as Ancepanox tore him from his body and smothered his resistance. Like a wolf she tore his soul apart and consumed it, relishing in the agony of his last sentient moment.
The influx of energy and emotion was overwhelming. She screamed. The fear and dread of the knight’s last moments died on Ancepanox’s tongue, and she tasted his broader personality: Bravery, competitiveness, chivalry, and a streak of petty opportunism. She felt bold and powerful, and for the first time since being in her new body, she stood up straight. Just like the ancient unicorn warlords, she had executed the poor knight by devouring every part of him, the sum of a life. Nothing had ever compared to the euphoria Ancepanox felt course along her nerves and through her blood. She was rejuvenated, more alive than she'd thought possible. She screamed again.
The knight’s body hung limply in her grasp, an empty vessel. After a few seconds, all nervous activity stopped, and the heart stopped beating. Twilight had made her second kill and it felt good. She understood why he and every other knight had devolved themselves into braying mongrels intent on blood. It was fun.
“Thus begins your penance, in hell. Say hello to Celestia for me.” Ancepanox pulled the saber violently from the ex-knight’s hoof and tossed the body aside. She knew she could fight the world now, and if her energy ran out she would just eat another pony’s soul.
Somewhere along the line she had dropped her shield around Glori, and yet the Countess was rooted in place, a look of fascination from witnessing one of her sworn knights being devoured.
“Fascinating. I thought Seacrest was speaking literally when he wrote he feared he would be eaten.” Glori’s singsong voice was almost mournful. Almost. “Good show, Lady Ancepanox. Good show.”
“I'm getting tired of your voice. I am the heir to the moon, and you are lunch.” Ancepanox was emboldened and impetuous from the knight’s power, but more than that she was spurred to vicious pride by the Dark. She experimentally eviscerated the air in front of her with the stolen sword, two swings and a stab, the consumed knight’s favorite style. “I’ve given you every opportunity to curtail my wrath. I'm going to rip your horn off, Glori. Your knights will watch me do it and cheer me on. Then I'll eat you, in every sense of the word.”
The wrathful alicorn’s horn glowed a brighter violet, and she charged forward. Glori crouched to the ground, shield in front but voulge held to the side, though she was clearly planning to switch them to skewer the charging monster. Ancepanox let loose a powerful kinetic blast that knocked Glori back and her shield wide, and slashed downwards with the sabre. Somehow she only managed to sever the binding of the shield, and Glori vaulted away, pulling her voulge back to herself a moment later. Ancepanox could only manage to slice the air, as Glori was quick and composed even when on the back hoof. Ancepanox paused her reckless attack to let Glori withdrew to the far side of the circle.
“Fight fair!” The countess shouted, catching her breath.
“You arrogant cur. You set no restrictions on me.” Ancepanox grinned, tasting blood. She picked up Glori’s shield and launched away over the camp like a discus. She charged her horn again, eyeing her opponent's possible escape routes. “This is not a duel at all. This is an extermination.” She let loose more bolts of magic, a torrent that cut into the crowd around them. The eager shouts became yells of panic from that quarter, while the others got even louder, taking glee in the visceral plight of their comrades. The whole place had lost their minds.
Glori expertly weaved the voulge in the air, batting Ancepanox's next bolts of purple magic, again into the crowd. The blade started to glow hot and deform, so the gladiator countess tossed her weapon aside. Dodging more arcane bolts like an acrobat, she caught a broadsword Ripple Wreath tossed into the ring.
Ancepanox was supremely impressed by Glori’s skill. She had assumed that without the shield Glori would have been completely open to spells, but now it seemed Ancepanox would need to use sorcery that didn’t manifest or need to make contact. Indeed none of Glori’s knights were in a position to ward her. Ancepanox’s imagination came alive with the possibilities: burning, electrocution, heart crushing, cranial translocation. But somehow, that didn't seem sporting, or like Glori had accused, fair: The alicorn wanted to toy with the countess and make her burn from humiliation before she literally burned. Ancepanox wanted to crush Glori into the dirt, so the countess would hear the crack of her own bones as a different kind of darkness filled her, and then she would see the error of her violent ways.
Cought up in her own thoughts, the alicorn was almost caught by Glori’s wide sword swing. Gripping the overlarge broadsword in her mouth, the countess had closed the distance between them very quickly. Retreating just out of reach of each enfuried sweep, Ancepanox hit the edge of the ring again, trampling over the knights who didn’t get out of the way in time. She abruptly turned her retreat into an advance, barreling over Glori and rolling into the center of the ring. She turned and reared up to stomp Glori, but the countess had already jumped to her hooves and grabbed a kite shield from one of the nearby knights. The stomp bounced Glori back a few paces. Grinning, Ancepanox stomped again, nearly bending the kite shield into a right angle with her body weight. Glori had to drop it and just avoided having her leg twisted off by the next stomp. The countess made a poke at the dark alicorn with her sword but had to back out of range to avoid the larger mare's horn.
"Now I know you're really taking me seriously! You've stopped talking!" Ancepanox laughed.
"Now I'll never shut you up." Glori grunted, struggling to keep deep even breaths. "Same with Celestia, you think you have what everypony wants to hear."
"Must be an alicorn thing." Ancepanox brushed the dust off her cape. It had been dirtied by a spray of blood from her shoulder and frayed in places from its contact with the ground. Poor Rarity would have a fit to see the shape her binding was in. “You're starting to bore me. I'm starting to want Celestia back. At least she has passion beyond villing.”
“You'll see my passion!” Glori cried hoarsely dashed forward again, this time wound back for a stab.
“STOP! STOP! A- ARRET!” A stallion’s urgent cry brought Ancepanox and Glori out of their martial trances. A knight in battered armor shoved his way through the other knights and between the opposing ladies.
Glori was breathing hard, eyes wide with anger. “Expliquez le sens de cette explosion!” She pointed her broadsword accusingly at the knight’s throat, and his comrades and fellow knights backed away in apprehension.
Ancepanox took the break to stretch. The hubbub died down. At the levied commoners dragged the ringside wounded away.
“My Lady! There is an imminent attack!” The panting knight said, pointing at the far edge of the camp. “From the city! It ambushed the scouts! A- Alicorn
“Alicorn? Un alicorn plus? Ce pas... Elle doit être le Astral vrai! Je ai été dupé par cette fausse déesse! Mes capitaines, mener vos soldats à l'intrus, et la tuez!” Glori set her jaw and took a moment to compose herself. She turned to Ancepanox. “The real Astral Nacre has come to face me and I haven’t even finished off the first of you alicorn scum. Anceapnox, you had better find your peace before I set upon you without holding back!”
Around them, the knight captains set about executing their lady’s orders, rallying their lances to face the intrusion. Some of them, apparently those started to crack under the noise and chaos, had moved off to the side with the wounded, huddling.
"Come on. This is your excuse to walk away, countess." Ancepanox goaded. She was tempted to vaporize Glori while she was distracted, she had to admit.
But something didn't seem right. Why was Astral causing trouble now? She leaned over the battered knight. "Tell your countess what the intruder looked like. Convince her not to keep up her fight with me."
"Well I-" The knight shivered oddly. "My lady I don't dare discourage a fight. You can keep testing her."
"Hein?" Glori blinked. She nudged the knight. "Explique-la."
The knight stared into the air. "She is-"
"En Prancais, sot!"
Ancepanox gave a little laugh. "I understand Prench, Glori. but I don't think he does."
The knight backed away from them both. The renewed shouting was starting to draw attention back to them from the crowd. "She... She... She's in league with Ancepanox!" He suddenly shouted, louder than she should have been able with his exhaustion moments before. "The intruder is in league with Ancepanox. We have to kill them both. Everypony attack Anceapnox.
“Your infiltration skills need work, as does your fake accent. Parlez vous prancais? Je ne sais pas!” Ancepanox rolled her eyes. “Go home Astral!”
“What is this?” Glori demanded. “Explain! Dîtez-moi l’implication, Sieur Piétineur!”
"Attack her! Come on, attack her!" The knight stomped in frustration. Everypony stared at him, silent. "Bugger. You're a bastard, Ancepanox. You won't indulge me even a little?"
"If you want a brawl to erupt, start it yourself." Ancepanox huffed.
“Then I can't watch or take notes. Urgh, I flubbed it anyway.” The knight sighed, his voice weakening, until it was barely a rasp. Yet in everypony's mind, a distant whine became an indescribably melodious voice. “My fault for being impatient. But the show-”
His words ended with his face breaking apart. In a single horrifying moment, his body tore open, like a rope unwinding into strands. Out of the quivering knot of flesh, Astral Nacre’s hulking form reformed. She shook her body, and like water off a dog the bits of the knight’s clothing and armor were released from her sinewed stock. She tossed her head, and her lace-like tendrils uncurled. "the show goes on."
“Qu'est-ce que buck!” Glori swore. She retreated to Ripple Wreath’s side. Wreath's wolf-helm clattered as he pulled up his own sword. “What the hells is that! What is going on anymore!”
"The show." Astral spread her wings. Her tendrils lanced out from her head and tail, constricting the nearest knights. "You stopped, I'm picking it up." The few ponies she'd trapped had a second to contemplate their fate. With a deafening psychic shreak she clamped down, the air was filled with sickening crunches. Blood sprayed like a fountain.
The camp turned to total chaos.
"Good show too!" Ancepanox nibbled her lip in excitement as ponies fled in blind terror in every direction. Was this too far? Was this beyond what should have been possible for a sane pony to accept? Ancepanox didn't think so. These ponies had wanted gratuitous violence, and they would receive it.
Ancepanox chose the largest concentration of fleeing knights, climbing and trampling over their tents and each other to get away. She saw how they were even willing to run through their campfires, and it gave her an idea.
"Just like the good old days of magic kindergarden!" She giggled. At the wave of her horn came a firestorm.
Twilight, Ancepanox would teach them, and in reparation for their instruction she would own them. True domination.
“I warned you countess. They cannot say I didn’t warn you!” Ancepanox laughed malevolently. Behind her, Astral stopped her constrictions to observe. “You should have feared the gods, Glori. At the very least, you should have shown some respect."