Celestia found her path suddenly barred by a familiar face. Discord smiled at her like a cat that ate the canary. "Hello, my lovely. Are you not going to invite me?"
Celestia raised a brow at him. "I wasn't aware there was anything to invite you to."
He moved aside, only to somehow drape in front of her vision. "Au contraire! You have that special fire in your eye. You, the guardian of order, the mother of destiny. You, ready to throw it all aside. I can't miss this!"
She raised a hoof and casually brushed him aside. "You can, and you will. This isn't about you."
Discord snorted softly. "He's my friend too, you know." She hesitated in her walk and looked at him curiously. "Oh don't look so surprised. He always treated me like a person. He always smiled when he saw me, made time for a game, some good times. Even when he was a she, they didn't care when it came to me. They liked me, as a friend."
Celestia could feel he was being as honest as he could be. "So you know what's happened to him?"
He raised a finger. "Friends keep an eye out for friends. Besides, little Twilight and her friends are just awful at keeping secrets." He leaned forward towards Celestia, his lean body sinuously curving. "Do you know what they have?" Celestia's interest perked. "I thought you might not. They have him, a little piece of him."
Celestia licked over her lips. That changed things... That changed things in a large way. "How large a portion? How?"
Discord smiled. "Oh, afraid it's a little piece, full of love for the one that ultimately got him killed. That's just his style, isn't it?" Celestia suddenly started forward.
Her wings snapped outwards and she jerked her head towards a guard on the way. "Day court is closed until further notice. See that notices are sent out." She glanced away a moment. "Make that court. All of it. We are not to be disturbed." The guard barely had time to salute before Celestia rose rapidly into the sky. Discord tipped a hat he hadn't been wearing a moment ago at the guard, then casually slipped through here and there, vanishing.
Elsewhere, Night Watch wore the crystal, constantly reaching to fiddle with it. Wearing it, it felt like he was a little closer, a little less gone. "What next?"
Twilight looked up with heavy eyes. She hadn't gotten much sleep and it showed clearly. "The shred we have isn't... It isn't enough to reassemble him. It's like... It's like taking a corner of a picture and trying to make the whole picture out of it, from memory." She sagged. "It's so clear and vibrant, but it's still just a little corner. I'm sorry..."
Night Watch slammed the ground with force that would have been beyond her before she gained her new set of clothing. "Now isn't the time for sorries! This is your... This is your destiny, Twilight. Make it happen. Find the way. Have that faith, that deep faith that has carried you through hopeless times."
Twilight let out a little sigh. "Right... Right. Maybe we're approaching this from the wrong angle. Whenever things feel this hopeless, I gather up my friends." She slid from her chair and stretched her wings a moment. "How are you still so energetic after all this? I'm..." She trailed off to yawn widely, jaw cracking. "--so tired..."
Night closed her eyes and thought back to Silver's explanation of magic inside a pony. She envisioned that network of fine channels that ran through her, and the tabard around her felt suddenly warm. She could see it, where the network was weak leading into her fangs. She tried to gently work it larger and felt the tabard give a convulsion, squeezing her. Liquid fire ran down the inside of her fangs and she suddenly spat up blood. It hurt, but something had changed. "Night? Are you alright?" Twilight approached her with concern on her face.
Night licked along the inside of her mouth. It wasn't as bad as it had felt at first. She leaned towards Twilight and touched noses. "Do you trust me?" Twilight gave a little nod. There was hesitation, but she did. Night gently nuzzled into Twilight's neck, then sunk her fangs into the day princess. She could feel their networks come into contact. Their channels were brought together with the bridge of those fangs. She forced energy from herself and all her jewelry felt warm, feeding her, and through her, feeding Twilight.
Twilight gasped with surprise, and a pleasure of sorts. The sleep in her eyes began to withdraw as she shuddered. "W-what... are you doing?" She was captured, squirming and even moaning as that deeply intimate connection grew hotter with the shared power. Sleep was being banished from her as her reserves were refilled at the fangs of Night Watch.
She drew back and licked her fangs. She could taste Twilight. She could taste the surprise and fear, but also the relief and joy.
Twilight slumped a moment before she sprang up to her hooves. "Thank you, whatever that was." She looked better, far better. "I'll be right back. I need to get the girls." On renewed wings, she took off up the stairs, leaving Night Watch behind.
Night Watch turned towards the darkness. "You've been quiet."
Fast Change emerged into the light. "He didn't mention me."
Night raised a brow. "He was dying, desperate, and trying to find a way out."
Fast Change thrust a hoof at Night. "He mentioned you, and Twilight... He even found time to mention Nefertari... He didn't mention me." Fast Change growled a little. "Am... I am, aren't I? I'm worth that little in his eyes."
Night shook her head. "You're not being logical. Look, we're all stressed out... I understand that. Please, you're still--"
"Don't you dare say part of the herd!" Fast glared at Night who aborted her words. "Our herd is done, destroyed. The stallion is dead. We're just a bunch of mares that are too stubborn to move away from each other. We don't even make love... We don't even pretend like that's enough." She smiled. "I'm glad for that, at least. I don't think I could handle that lie."
Night reached a hoof out, but Fast shrank from it easily. "Fast, do you really think that? We don't mean anything to each other?"
Fast fluffed her wings that a unicorn shouldn't have. "I'm a convenient relief for when you get 'that' itch. I'm a handy foalsitter. I'm not your stallion. I never was. Even when we were closest, I was never that. I was your marefriend, nothing wrong with that, but there is no stallion binding us any more." Fast turned away. "We'll always be friends. Good friends, I hope... but our family is done."
Night's heart felt heavy at Fast's words. "Why? Do you really... Don't you love me?"
Fast smiled. "As a friend. A wonderful... wonderful friend." She approached Night and nuzzled her gently. "Please, don't throw that away."
Night wrapped her forelegs around Fast and squeezed her tight. "I feel like I'm losing you, again. Do you know how much it hurt when you went to the changelings? I want you, here, beside me. I want us to be family..."
Fast kissed Night's cheek. "You want me to be a friend. You've grown used to having me around. There's a difference. When you look at me, you don't see a mate, you see a friend."
Night clopped a hoof on the ground. "What's the difference?!"
Fast smiled gently. "Poor thing... You never did learn the difference. You were so happy, so alone, so miserable until we came into your life and destroyed it." Fast nuzzled along Night's throat and her chest through the tabard. "I showed you what it meant to be pleasured as a mare, by another mare, and to return the favor, but that wasn't love either. That was trust, and lust." She drew back from Night. "I still trust you. I still love you, but not that way." She turned away. "If you need a foalsitter, you have but to ask. If you want a friend to talk to, you have but to ask, but we are not family."
Night trembled with confusion. "You're just drawing a line in the sand and making a declaration. Stop this! Just... stop... You don't want to move away anymore than I want you to move away, so why do it?"
Fast gave a little smile, then suddenly vanished in a display of magic. She hadn't hopped far, she was no Twilight Sparkle, but the message was clear. She was leaving. Night collapsed to the ground and wept quietly. Her family was dissolving, bit by bit, starting with the violent removal of her stallion.
As if in response, she heard the soft cry of one of the foals. She wiped her tears away and rose on shaking legs. She wouldn't forget her duty. He would want her to be a responsible mother to them, and they were... She paused on the steps with a thoughtful frown. They were another tie to him, were they not? Perhaps that was worth considering. She made a mental note to bring it up to Twilight as she hurried to comfort the foals and see what they needed.
She arrived to find Jake, of all people, attempting to calm down Morning Glory. He had no training or practice, but he was rocking the foal back and forth and saying little nice things at least, and Night found a smile forming. "I'll take him from here." Jake looked relieved and handed over the little lunar unicorn. "Thank you." Jake gave a bit of a salute, then paused.
"You alright?"
He could probably see her tears and she drew a little breath, considering what to tell him. "It's been a long... I'm fine."
Jake nodded. "Yeah... If you need someone to talk to, let me know." Then he left without prying further, which she was grateful towards.
Night played with Morning Glory and Clear Twilight, and felt better for it. The two were very clear in their emotions. They wanted to play. They wanted to be changed, and cleaned, and played with some more. They wanted to be loved. They wanted to love. They were perfect. One of them, Clear Twilight, was hers directly. Her little daughter, but both were hers, through the herd. To think of Morning Glory as less hers? It felt awkward, strange, and uncomfortable. She kissed the little colt on the nose. "Your father was so very proud to have a son." She kissed Clear on her snout next. "And to have a daughter was like a dream. You are both precious parts of him, and me."
Hadn't they also been parts of Fast Change? She seemed to love them so much... Was it all a part of Fast's show? She could hide so much behind that mask of hers. Night really didn't know what was for show, and what was real anymore when it came to Fast Change.
Maybe the truth would come out in time.