//------------------------------// // Pt. 5 - A Royal Quandary // Story: Chase the Wind // by Witching Hour //------------------------------// The memories the Tree of Harmony gave her had made Twilight flee, as though putting distance between herself and where the visions had come from would distance them from her mind. Her hooves carry her swiftly up the stairs, back to the library, and through the castle and her wings take her over the Everfree Forest and back to Ponyville. But no matter how far or how fast she goes, the memories circle in her mind… “Compassion!” Twilight looks up to see two ponies, one seemingly overlapping the other. Beneath the visage of Witch, she catches sight of a pegasus with a pale sky-blue coat, silvery-blue and pale gold mane, and deep green eyes, more solid than Witch’s image. Without being told, Twilight knows that this pegasus is called ‘Hope’. Hope/Witch beams with happiness and extends a wing over Twilight. “I just finished that book you loaned me! Want to talk about it over tea?” ~~~<~~~<~~~<@***@>~~~>~~~>~~~ Ice seems to have replaced her blood as she looks out on her kingdom. Where she’d seen acts of friendship and harmony before, she saw only ponies helping themselves, or only assisting others in order to gain assistance in the future. “Compassion? What’s wrong?” Twilight turns to see Hope again, practically radiating concern. “Can’t you see it?” she retorts harshly, causing Hope’s brows to furrow in greater worry. “Everypony,” she waves a hoof to gesture around her, “is only acting kindly to each other so they can call on those who owe them when they are in trouble… Saving up favors like a dragon hoards gold…” “Maybe they simply need to be shown the right way, Compassion,” Hope suggests. Twilight feels the sneer twist her face as an orange glow surrounds the amulet around her neck. Though she doesn’t care, she knows the aura is the wrong color, normally a pleasant indigo. “Compassion?!” Hope’s panicked voice barely penetrates the magic now swirling around her. “Compassion!” “There is no Compassion.” The words echo through the swirling magic, turning Hope’s panic to outright terror. “I am Envy.” Hope flies at her then, tackling her to the ground. The world tilts as her head cracks against the polished stone floor. Hope leaps off of her, darting to a shelf before vanishing in a flare of pale blue magic. “HOPE!” she screams, not caring what was stolen, only that something rightfully hers had been taken. “YOU WILL KNOW PAIN WHEN I FIND YOU!!!” ~~~<~~~<~~~<@***@>~~~>~~~>~~~ She smiles as the orange magic sinks into the crystal tree, turning it black. The flowers drop orange crystals to the ground and she levitates them to the group of trusted followers she’d brought with her. They glow with a similar orange light, surrounding them and emanating from their eyes. “Go… Spread these seeds! Let Chaos reign!” ~~~<~~~<~~~<@***@>~~~>~~~>~~~ She had destroyed Roan itself to lure Hope out of hiding, but it had taken her years of razing each city in Hope’s lands to find where her nemesis had gone, but finally, she has. Hope had stolen something from her, and she would pay dearly for that. Three crystalline spires reach towards the sky, surrounded by homes that glitter in the sun. Directly in her path, a fair distance from the crystal city and standing at the gates to that realm, are two ponies. One is barely more than a filly, but she radiates violet light, identifying the pony as Love. The other makes her lips curl into a furious snarl; Hope. She’s older, but no less determined than her partner. Orange light flares around her as the young mare places herself in front, amethyst light gathering around her and the crystal gates. She smiles coldly at the filly’s foolishness. With the battle joined, Twilight quickly gains the upper hoof against the filly’s magic, despite its amplified state from the city’s design, but her old friend would not falter, Hope’s pale blue light holding back the surge of her orange magic. Hope’s weakness becomes apparent as she throws herself in front of a strike aimed for Love. An evil smile on her face, she puts Love in her sights. As with Hope’s transparent visage of an elderly Witching Hour, Twilight’s mind overlays Cadance’s tri-toned mane and pink coat over the yellow unicorn filly with pink hooves, haunches, and muzzle, and sky-blue streaks in her pale green mane and tail. She shapes the magic in her mind, honing it into a keen blade, and distracts Hope with a feint and an opening in her guard. As Hope rears back to attack, Twilight sends the blade flying towards Love/Cadance. Even as she falls to the ground, the sound of Hope’s despair wrests a gloating laugh from her with her dying breaths. “Do you know pain now?” she asks, still cackling madly even as her life drains away. Through the edges of her dimming sight, she sees Hope/Witch looming over her, her expression hard and unforgiving, brows knit together. “I’ve known pain since the day Compassion turned into you…” Hope replies, her voice hard as stone. With a quick yank, Hope pulls the amulet from around her neck and tosses it away, leaving Twilight’s world to fade into darkness. Staggering into her room and locking the door behind her, Twilight weeps bitterly and throws herself onto her bed, burying her face in the pillows, despite hearing Spike’s concerned calls from without. She’s not sure how long she’s alone in her room with Spike trying desperately to find out what’s wrong, before Witch’s voice replaces Spike’s. Sniffling, she pushes herself up from her pillows, scowling down at the door from her lofted sleeping area. “Go away Witch,” she snaps, and puts her head back down on her pillows. “Twilight Sparkle,” Witch snaps, her voice ringing with reprimanding authority, loud even through the thick door, “I will be coming in there… I’m only giving you the choice of how!” Giving an irritated huff, Twilight only turns her back to the door, staring morosely out the window. Magic crackles in the book room below her sleeping area, followed by the pop of suddenly compressed air. Twilight twists in place to look down, scowling even before she sees Witch below. Witch returns the glare in full measure, her ice blue magic not fading from around her horn and bracelets, and in fact her eyes start glowing as well. “Don’t you think if we could hide from this, I would be hiding too?” Twilight flinches, turning away again and Witch can see her shuddering even from this distance. Witch sighs, her gaze softening, and the halo of magic retreats into her bracelets and horn as she ascends the stairs quickly to join Twilight. Her steps are slow and soft on the wooden floor as she comes to the side of the bed Twilight’s facing, and she feels a sympathetic pang when she spies the large wet stains on the pillows. Putting a hoof at Twilight’s shoulder and gently rubbing her back, it’s no mystery to Witch what had Twilight so distraught, especially if Twilight had seen the same overlays that Witch had. “Twily… That wasn’t you… It was just a memory from somepony else…” “It was so vivid…” Twilight forces out the words between sniffles and the occasional hiccup. “I could feel… her blood…” Witch pulls Twilight upright and clutches the alicorn tightly to her, making quiet soothing noises to calm and reassure her friend. “Shhh, Twilight…” she murmurs softly, stroking Twilight’s mane. “It wasn’t Cadance… It was just an overlay of her… Just like how I’m sure you saw me…” Her statement wrings another sob from Twilight. “I wanted to hurt you!” she cries, putting her hooves at Witch’s shoulders and pushing her away to arm’s-length. Witch watches Twilight with concern as Twilight tries to force her breaths to even out. “I couldn’t tell… What was me… and what was her… It was all the same…” The corners of Witch’s mouth turn upward, her gaze and smile sympathetic, and Witch gently coaxes Twilight back into a hug. “I know… But it was just memories… And not even our own… Those visions were somepony else’s life…” A thought pops unbidden into her head, and Witch can’t suppress the chuckle that follows it. “I mean… Really… Can you imagine me with wings?” she asks, snorting as she releases Twilight from her arms. Twilight rubs at her face, a weak smile tugging at her lips with a huffed laugh. “You know Witchy… I used to think the same thing…” she retorts as her wings extend and flutter briefly. Witch recoils, squawking a protest. “Gah! Twilight! Don’t even joke about that! I’m not like you… I’m not…” she stammers, averting her eyes. Twilight sniffs one last time, her smile gaining strength as she chuckles slightly. “Witchy… You are a lot like me…” Witch opens her mouth to protest again, but Twilight cuts her off. “No, I’m serious… You’re different, but a lot is the same… We may have different specialities, but we’re both students to one of the Divine Sisters… And while we both didn’t understand what our teachers meant for us, we’re both devoted to it… So in my case, that’s friendship, and it’s healing for you…” “That’s why I’m a doctor, Twily…” Witch replies sharply. “If every doctor could ascend, then we’d have a lot more-” “But you’re not just any doctor, Witchy,” Twilight counters quickly. “How many ponies have you saved, not just from injury, but from losing themselves to despair?” Witch’s eyes narrow, almost glaring but for the small smile pulling at her lips. “Which one of us needed cheering up again?” Twilight laughs again. “Witchy… Look… You need to stop worrying about what’s coming, and deal with what’s in front of you…” “And you need to not worry about those memories somehow changing who you are… Because they don’t,” Witch retorts firmly with a decisive nod and a solid poke at Twilight’s shoulder. “Point taken…” Twilight concedes, smiling at the gentle rebuke. “But Witchy…” “Twilight,” Witch cuts her off, sighing, “I might be able to concede this whole… princess of order thing… but this… whole… equal-to-gods… craziness… No. I can’t see that… Not as I am… And I certainly don’t do anything worthy of ascension…” Twilight sighs as well, resigned. “I guess we’ll just have to disagree then…” she responds with a slight shrug, a sly smile tugging one corner of her mouth upward. “I still don’t think Luna would’ve taken you as her personal student if you didn’t have the potential to be as great as any princess…” Witch sighs again, frowning thoughtfully at Twilight’s words. There was that word again: ‘potential’. “Alright… But you have to write your brother and arrange our visit to the Crystal Empire…”