//------------------------------// // 7 // Story: Seven Lights // by Fresnor //------------------------------// Morning broke over Ponyville after yet another day and night of celebrations for overcoming the threat of eternal night. As the sun rose over the town, its rays of light shone through a window of a home on the edge of town into the closed eyes of and orange unicorn mare. Nothing happened at first but after a couple minutes the figure started to slowly stretch as she woke up. Raising her head from her pillow, Aegis Flare glared out the window at the bright object that interrupted her sleep. “All right, all right, I’m up. Bleh, I really hope that things calm down a bit now. It was hard enough dealing with getting those deliveries out after that whole Nightmare Moon incident, but those three days of celebrating made it unnecessarily harder than it should have been.” She sighs as she climbs out of her bed and gets a good stretch in before wincing as she puts pressure on her scarred legs. “Good thing I finished the last of them yesterday; that means I have some time to stop by the spa to get my legs treated. I’m surprised they didn’t start acting up sooner after this last week.” Her musings were interrupted by the sound of something crashing outside of her home and on glancing out the window noticed a familiar grey form. “Huh, I wonder who would bother sending mail to me. I’m pretty sure that there’s no reason for anypony to contact me for anything anytime soon.” Walking out of her room she made her way towards the front door with a short stop by her sister’s room. When she noticed that Scootaloo was still asleep, and her alarm had already gone off, she sighed before shaking her head. “She never learns, does she?” Using her magic she formed a shield under her sister that molded to her body, so as not to wake her, and lifted her up to carry her along behind her. Stopping by the bathroom she set the pegasus filly down in the tub before closing the curtain and turning the shower on to her sister’s usual setting as she closed the door. She grinned at the small shriek that came out of the room as the water poured out of the faucet before it could start to warm up. “One of these days she’ll stop sleeping through her alarm like that; of course I thought the same thing the first time I did this.” Aegis Flare limped her way down the stairs, with complaints from her sister following after her, as she made her was to their home’s entrance. Once there she went outside to see the mailmare Derpy fixing the mailbox which was the source of the crashing she heard earlier. “Good Morning, Derpy. You’re out her rather early; I wasn’t expecting to see you for a few more days.” The pegasus mare just smiled as one of her golden eyes drifted away while the other stared at the unicorn. “Oh hey Flare. It’s not the usual letters for you but an express delivery order straight from Canterlot.” Looking into the mailbox she found that this was true as the letter was marked with the seal of the Royal Guard, though it looked a bit off. As she pulled it out she looked a bit deeper into the box and noticed one of Pinkie Pie’s eyepatches that she kept around town. Pulling it out she tossed it towards Derpy and made a note to let Pinkie know about this later. “Well thanks for the delivery; and since you forgot about yours again here’s one of Pinkie’s spare eyepatches. Better a reduced depth perception than having your eye distract you causing you to crash unpredictably.” Derpy stuck her tongue out at the eyepatch but she still put it on before waving and flying off in a steadier manner. The orange unicorn just shakes her head before smiling after the mare and heading back inside. Setting the letter on the table she began preparing breakfast for the household before her sister finished up in the shower. The school was scheduled to reopen today so getting Scootaloo going was a priority so the letter could wait for now. On a whim she cooked up a couple plates of prench toast and had them set out just as her sister grumpily stomped down the stairs. “Do you have to keep doing that every time I oversleep, sis?” The elder sister just smiles at her as she pours a couple glasses of apple juice for the two and sets out the syrup on the table. “Well if you’d stop sleeping through your alarm clock then I wouldn’t be forced to do it. If you want then I could probably do something different such as get Pinkie Pie to help wake you.” Scootaloo choked a bit on a bite of her food at this suggestion before she recovers. “No no no, you don’t need to do that. Maybe you could just get me another alarm clock or two?” Aegis Flare chuckles at her sister’s reaction and just nods and adds that to her mental list of things to get today. As the two ate she looked over at the letter and pulled it over to read over while the orange pegasus looked at it curiously. “Who is writing to you now, sis?” Taking a moment to glance through it her eyebrow rose as she came on the name at the end. “Well this is interesting; it’s from our Aunt Noapte Aripa. It appears that she is a part of the recently restarted Lunar Guards as one of Princess Luna’s personal maids.” Scootaloo wrinkled her nose at this before she shook her head. “You mean dad’s sister? Why do their names always sound so odd anyways? And why would a maid be a part of the Lunar Guard?” Glancing up for a moment, the unicorn answered before looking down again. “Well the thestrals of Transylmaneia have their own language that they speak and their names are written in it. This letter is written in it as well so it’s taking me a moment to translate since it’s been a while since I’ve spoken it with dad. Also I would assume that most of the servants around the castle are a part of the guard wince I’ve only ever seen stallions standing guard in Canterlot.” Leaving her sister to poke at her food thoughtfully she went back to translating the letter before she started to frown a bit. “’Dear Vanator’… I guess they hadn’t heard that he disappeared all those years ago.” The sisters looked a bit saddened at being reminded that they still hadn’t heard anything yet and even the princesses didn’t know. Clearing her throat, the unicorn continued reading the letter. “’We finally got news that the Night Mother has finally returned to us and many of us flocked to protect her as we did in the past. It is odd that they would put me in charge of her maids and their training, but I am honored to be allowed to be this close to protect her. We’ve heard the story of how seven ponies from the town you live in rescued her from the darkness but the princesses wouldn’t give any details except that they were knights of the realm now and were not to be disturbed.’” The unicorn pauses as she reads this and looks at the letter oddly for a moment before she shakes her head. “I really hope I misread that but that’s clearly what it says. I’ll have to ask about that if I ever have the chance later on.” Clearing her throat after muttering that to herself she continued in her reading. “’We wanted you to pass on our thanks to them if you knew who they are as without them we would still be waiting for the Night Mother’s return. They deserve much more than they have already been awarded for returning to us what we had waited for for so long.’” Setting the letter down the two sisters looked at each other across the table before the younger smirked at the elder. “So doesn’t that make you a noble now? Should I be bowing to you now m’lady?” The unicorn planted her face into the table as her sister teased her as she knew of her dislike of the Canterlot nobles. “Oh just get ready for school you. I need to head over to the spa today to see Aloe and Lotus again.” The pegasus ceased her laughing as she looked over at her sister with a hint of worry on her face. “They’re hurting again aren’t they?” At the unicorn’s nod the filly walked around the table to hug her sister before running up the stairs to get ready for school. She didn’t like seeing her sister in pain no matter how annoying she was since she knew how much she had done for her. Soon the two were waving to each other as they walked their separate ways as they left their home. Aegis Flare smiled as her sister’s wings buzzed, propelling her through the town on her scooter at a good speed. “She’s really going to be impossible to catch once her wings grow in if they are this strong now. I’ll have to ask Rainbow Dash to try and keep an eye on here since she’d be able to keep up.” Nothing interesting happened as she walked through Ponyville towards the spa until she diverted her path towards the market as she spotted the shop that sold clocks. Picking up a pair of alarm clocks for her sister she soon became distracted as she went through a few other shops until lunch time rolled around. Seeing that there was a short shower scheduled she grabbed something simple from a nearby still and ate it as she made her way towards the spa. As she limped her way into the spa she found the pink twin, Aloe, at the front desk working on some paperwork. At the unicorn’s entrance the earth pony looked up to see her limping in and her face got a look of concern. “Oh dear, is it that time again?” Aegis Flare nodded as she walked up to the desk. “It is, and the last few days didn’t help them much though my legs only this morning started acting up. At least it takes nearly a month now before I’m forced to see you unlike when you first arrived in town when it was almost daily. I hope that they finally stop aching so I can just focus on relaxing whenever I come here.” Aloe directs the unicorn towards the changing room for a robe as she heads back to get things ready in the back. As she left the room while wearing a robe she was directed towards the massage tables where she splayed out in a relaxed pose. A few minutes later, Aloe came through the door along with her sister, Lotus, and moved to either side of the unicorn, each at one of her injured legs. “All right now, just relax and let us work the aches out once again.” The twins placed their front hooves on the scarred limbs and started to massage them slowly while they concentrated on them. Aegis Flare moaned as she felt a warmth pass from their hooves into her limbs and her aches began to dull as time passed. It took about half an hour for them to finish up the treatment and by the time it ended the twins were sweating profusely. The two directed her to one of the sauna rooms as they left to freshen up, leaving her to relax in the steam room. Yawning, she kind of wished that there was someone to talk to and almost fell asleep when she heard a commotion come from outside of the room. She was about to check out what was going on when the door suddenly opened. “Quick Spike, in here!” Looking up she was surprised to see both Twilight and Spike dive into the room as if they were chased. After closing the door the two snuck peeks through the window in the door as they watched for something outside before they eventually sighed. Curious about what is going on, Aegis Flare decided to speak up. “Is there a reason you two are acting like somepony is after you?” They both let out a yelp at hearing her voice and the both whirled around in shock. At seeing her they both relaxed a bit, though Twilight was still a bit tense over something while Spike gave a reply. “Oh it’s just you; everypony is after Twilight because of that extra ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala she received today.” “Spike!” Twilight lightly swatted at the dragon, who just looked at her in confusion until he realized what he said. “You saw what happened with my other friends after they heard about it so why did you tell her?” The young dragon looked apologetic at her while the orange unicorn just looked at them in confusion. “Why would I care about a ticket to that event?” The two turned to her in shock as this wasn’t what they were expecting to hear. “Twilight, this is the same Gala that is put together by the nobles of Canterlot, isn’t it?” Twilight nods warily until her eyes widen in realization as she brought a hoof up to her muzzle. “I forgot about your dislike of the nobles in Canterlot so why would you care about something like this. Well at least one of my friends isn’t going to be constantly doing favors to try and get that extra ticket.” Seeing her raised eyebrow, Twilight started to explain just what had happened throughout the day and the problems that she was dealing with. Aegis Flare listened intently as she told her tale and shook her head once it was all over. “I really don’t know what to say but I don’t really care about the ticket myself. I wouldn’t even know what I would do there except maybe visit my aunt who just joined Princess Luna’s guard but I could do that anytime.” The two purple beings tensed up when the door suddenly opened, interrupting their conversation and looked a bit sheepish when Lotus looked at them in confusion. Looking between the two parties, the orange unicorn just sighed and shook her head. “Just add them to my tab please, Lotus. Half the town is chasing them over something silly and they hid in here with me so they might as well stay for now.” At her nod the two relaxed as they were all escorted towards the hot tub to soak for the last bit of the orange unicorn’s treatment. As the three were sitting there, Twilight finally asked a question that was bothering her. “What are you doing here anyways? I would never have expected to find you in a place like this.” Opening her eyes to glance over at the bookish mare; Aegis Flare yawns before starting to explain. “Why wouldn’t I see some of the town’s best injury recovery specialists? You saw how bad my legs were and occasionally they will still act up. Aloe and Lotus are trained medical professionals which, combined with their earth pony magic, makes them the best options to fully heal them.” Twilight perks up a bit at hearing this though she still looks confused. “Why would earth pony magic make them better at what they do? I thought that kind of magic was used passively and was mostly internal.” It took a bit of willpower to prevent her eyes from rolling, but the orange unicorn somehow managed it. “The princess really needs to fix that school so it’s not so unicorn–focused. Earth ponies may mostly seem like you described, but some can actually force the magic out through their hooves to accelerate healing and growth. Don’t even get me started on some of the things I’ve seen Pinkie Pie do either.” Twilight was silent for a while and was lost in her thoughts as they finished up and prepared to leave the spa. After thanking the twins for their help the three walked outside when Aegis Flare remembered why the other two were hiding. Looking around she noticed a few groups of mares running around but they hadn’t spotted Twilight yet. “You might want to watch out Twilight, I don’t think they are done chasing you.” Her words proved prophetic as a shout rang out as the purple mare was seen and a rumble started up as mares started to converge on her. Seeing this Twilight let out a yelp as she levitated Spike onto her back before they took off running yet again. Shaking her head the other unicorn started to walk away before she was halted as she almost ran into a pink pony that had appeared out of nowhere. She just stared at Pinkie Pie as the pink mare glared at her until she just sighed. “No Pinkie, I don’t care about that ticket and was just giving Twilight a rest from those crazy mares chasing her.” Pinkie just continued to glare at her for a few moments longer before she perked up. “Okie Dokie Loki!” As the pink mare bounced away the orange unicorn just shook her head at the randomness of her friend before making her way back home with her purchases. Once she was there and had it all put away she sat thinking about what was going on with Twilight. Thinking over the troubles she was having she sighed as she left the house once again in search of her other five friends. Having not seen the other four yet today she started her search in the most likely place to find Twilight which was the library. She was surprised to actually find all five of them already there in a fierce conversation and she caught bits as she was walking up. “We really should stop pressing her about this y’all. She’s looking awfully uncomfortable about all of this enough as it is.” “Well I guess I really didn’t even need to say anything about it. From how it sounds she hasn’t had the chance to rest yet today until she found me.” She five looked at the door as the orange mare entered the library and took a seat on one of the chairs in the room. Rainbow Dash flies over to look her in the eye but didn’t get a reaction. “What, are you sneaking around now too so you can get that ticket?” She raised an eyebrow at the rainbow-maned mare before answering. “And have to deal with the nobles of Canterlot? No thank you.” The pegasus backed down at that and looked a bit sheepish as the others looked at her. Nothing else could be said as a flash of light lit up the room, revealing the forms of Twilight and Spike. As the others calmed her down from her small panic attack and settled their problems, Aegis sighed in relief as the tickets were sent away. To her horror a letter was soon sent back with enough tickets for all of them causing her to let out a groan. When the others looked at her in confusion she just shook her head. “This means that I’m going to be expected to be there as well now, well, unless Spike wants my ticket?” Before anything else could be said the dragon belched up another letter with a ticket for him causing her to frown. She glanced at the letter that came with it and just gave in at that point figuring that there was nothing else to do. “Okay, fine. I’ll go, but don’t expect me to enjoy the Gala; I’ll probably just visit my relatives there after an hour.” The others just giggled as they all headed out to get Twilight some food while Spike tried to act like he wasn’t excited himself to have a ticket himself.