Glory Be

by BlackRoseRaven

An Uninvited Guest

Chapter Six: An Uninvited Guest
~BlackRoseRaven

Clinker's party was a lot bigger than Luna, Twilight, or Scrivener had anticipated, and a world more awkward as well. It turned out that whether he was a weird, lonely-seeming kid or not, quite a few ponies had shown up... likely because of the fact that alcohol was flowing freely for Clinker and all his friends, and quite a few of the 'cool' parents were hanging out with a thrilled-looking Bean Counter.

The lanky, nerdy stallion seemed even more excited than his son was over the party, which was being held in the expansive back yard of Clinker's house, which sat just outside the enormous, fortified walls that protected Ponyville and was converted from an old farmhouse. There was a portable bar set up in one corner of the backyard, with a bartender wearing sunglasses and trying not to look too guilty over the fact he had clearly been tipped heavily not to ask to check anyone's ID.

Several tables were stacked high with food, and Scrivener felt a little... uncomfortable when he put the giant chocolate cake down next to an already mostly-eaten cake bleeding sludgy rum syrup. He and Luna had honestly thought Clinker wasn't exactly going to have some huge party, after all, and... “Oh no. Innocence. Where's Innocence?”

Twilight had already hurried over towards Bean Counter to try and find out what precisely was going on here, and Luna and Scrivener scanned the crowd. A bunch of young ponies were dancing around in front of a karaoke stage, where some young stallion was badly mangling a song, and plenty of other young ponies were standing around and smoking, and drinking, and chatting excitedly... before both Luna and Scrivener finally locked onto Innocence.

She was sitting with a circle of ponies, looking utterly thrilled at how much she was fitting in, a drink cup in her claws. The other ponies were all talking and laughing, and Clinker was beside her, possibly smiling... both Luna and Scrivener both stared as the pony's foreleg slowly rose, and as if in slow motion, dropped down, down, down around Innocence's shoulders... then his hoof slid down further, rubbing along her back, moving clearly lower, lower, lower...

Luna and Scrivener both lunged forwards and stupidly bounced off each other in midair, before Scrivener madly clawed at the lawn, but Luna was the first to regain her senses as she pounced on him, pinning him down. Someone nearby cheered at the sight, and Luna growled and snapped her horn to the side, sending a blast of electricity into the offender. He was knocked over with a squeak, and the rest of the ponies nearby hurriedly turned their attention away as Luna hissed down into Scrivener's ear: “Cease, cease, cease! We cannot-”

“She's... drinking, he's... got his hoof on her... I'll kill him!” Scrivener snapped, attempting to claw forwards, and then Luna punched him in the back of the head and knocked him flat, the stallion feeling himself settling even as he mumbled: “This is all turning out very different than expected.”

“Aye, aye. I know.” Luna sighed tiredly, and then she shook her head and muttered: “But we cannot simply drag Innocence away, either. 'Twould humiliate her, and she has never had a chance to make friends like this before... we do not want to betray her, do we?”

“Maybe she should be a little humiliated.” Scrivener muttered, and then he shook his head and glared in the direction of Clinker and Innocence and those other ponies who were all... “I can't believe it. Where the hell is Bean Counter? What is he thinking?”

“Likely enjoying being the popular parent for once. Oh, do not be such a poop, Scrivy!” Luna said reasonably, as she hauled Scrivener up to his hooves. He glared sourly over at her, but she only smiled despite herself and leaned over to nudge him lightly. “In my day-”

“Ponies were real horses, I know.” Scrivener said grumpily, and then he shook himself, feeling ridiculously protective as he glowered back and forth as a few laughing ponies passed, visibly a little tipsy. “If Twilight sees this...”

Luna began to open her mouth... and then both she and Scrivener stared as the Lich stormed through the crowd, looking thunderous as ponies scattered away from her. And both Luna and Scrivener hurried forwards with matching winces: they might all be on slightly-different wavelengths when it came to 'special occasions' with their kids, but neither Luna nor Scrivener wanted Innocence to be humiliated, especially since it wasn't likely she'd ever see most of these kids again.

“Innocence!” Twilight shouted, and Innocence squeaked and looked up in horror as her mother shoved through the crowd. Clinker's eyes widened slightly, although that was about the only change in his expression, even if he slowly pulled himself away from the young mare and left her sitting in a space all her own.

The Lich looked angrily down at the young mare, who grinned weakly as she looked back up, fumbling her drink in her claws before tossing it quickly away almost like something that had attempted to bite her. “M-Momma... hey...”

“What do you think you're doing, Innocence? Your Móðer and Father and I, we raised you better than this!” Twilight snapped, and she barely looked up even as Luna and Scrivener joined her as the violet mare glowered around at the other ponies. “I know you want to fit in, but this is not the way to do it and these are not the kind of ponies-”

“They're normal, Mom! Normal!” Innocence shouted, standing up and shaking her head as she trembled, glaring with both fury and hurt up at the violet mare. “You're the one who told me to try and fit in, try and be normal, and now-”

“Innocence, I don't want you doing this, this isn't the kind of 'normal' I was talking about... come on, we're leaving.” Twilight said forcefully, then she gritted her teeth when Innocence only shook her head furiously. “Innocence-”

“Stop it, just stop it!” Innocence snapped back, and then she looked up as her eyes glowed, snarling as her polymorph melted away even as tears slid down her cheeks. She heard ponies gasping, heard their laughter, knew they were looking at her like she was a freak and even Clinker was trying to slip away from her-

She reared back, her horn glowing brightly, and Twilight's eyes widened before her own horn glowed as she snapped it firmly upwards. In that moment, the most anyone could see was a crackling as something started to form around Innocence... and then there was a tremendous bang, and a sound like shattering glass that was drowned out by ponies yelling and screaming as they were flung in all directions.

Innocence stood, her head lowered, tears running from her eyes as she looked slowly up. The ground in a circle beneath her was scorched. Clinker was nearby, looking stupefied and bleeding slowly from his nose. And in a thirty foot radius around her, every pony had been knocked flat by a wave of concussive force, even the grass flattened from the force of the spell.

Large pieces of ice were strewn around the yard, slowly melting: Twilight had apparently muffled her lashing out with a barrier of frost. The Lich herself was the only pony inside the circle still standing, looking disbelievingly at her daughter as Innocence stared back, shaking her head weakly... and then the young mare trembled violently before she spun around and bolted away, vanishing and reappearing in short, unconscious teleports that made it all the harder to track where she was going until she blinked out of sight.

Twilight stared after her daughter, then swallowed thickly before she reached up and touched her own breast. Now all the ponies were staring at her, before she heard the whisper: “God, what a freak.”

What made those word sting was that she knew they were being directed towards her daughter. And it wasn't just pain she felt, but anger... anger that was growing higher, making her stitches twist and pop beneath her sweater, making her want to lash out herself as energy crackled around her horn and she thought for one wild, cruel moment, that she could kill two birds with one stone if she showed these stupid, preppy little ponies with their 'so-cool' parents why they should treat her daughter with respect...

But Twilight forced herself to breathe, and the thought was gone as soon as it came. It was just... stupid anger, that darkness bottled up inside her rearing its ugly head, trying to make her do something she'd regret later. Instead, she forced herself to move, stumbling into a run in the direction Innocence had gone, and she was joined a moment later by Luna and Scrivener.

They were both silent, not looking at her, and Twilight didn't speak as she kept her own eyes ahead... but she already felt ashamed of herself. First she'd stormed off and lectured Bean Counter and had some nasty words with the adults who thought it was fine to encourage the drinking and partying and smoking if it just meant their precious little babies wouldn't think badly of them, and then she'd picked up on Scrivener's anger and Luna's thoughts and... all that rage and protectiveness had just boiled up inside of her...

She shook her head. She didn't need to make excuses right now. Right now, they needed to find Innocence and... whether she liked it or not, she had to apologize and talk things out. Yes, she just wanted to override her daughter and continue to be mad at her. Yes, it would be easier just to reiterate how disappointed she was or punish her. But she had made a mistake, too, especially knowing how sensitive Innocence was about the perceptions of others, and especially her friend, Clinker...

“Even if I want to go and shoot Clinker right now myself.” Scrivener muttered, breaking the uncomfortable silence between them, and Twilight smiled faintly despite herself before she shook her head quickly and gazed back ahead as they cut through an orchard and around the town.

“Can thou sense her?” Luna asked quietly, thankfully leaving off any reprimands she might have for the moment, and Twilight nodded a little, smiling faintly: she could easily pick up the distinct energies of her daughter, even if she had quite a head start on them. And it helped there was really only one place Innocence could be heading, anyway.

They circled around Ponyville, and reached the edge of the Everfree Forest before the three ponies skidded to a halt. Twilight frowned uneasily, picking up Innocence's magical energies not that far away but uncertain if they should just plunge into the woods: the living force embraced and protected them, but now she was second-guessing whether they should go to Innocence or wait for Innocence to come back to them.

“We should go to her. 'Twill be a little humbling for thee, mother of my children, but 'twill be good, too.” Luna said mildly, and the violet mare blushed a bit even as she felt awkwardly defensive: the defensive part came from her sometimes-too-strong maternal instincts, the awkward part came from all the guilt she felt and the fact that Luna was a mother, too, who had her own share of mistakes and fixes... and thus was speaking from experience. That, and she hated feeling like Scrivy or Luna were even the slightest bit upset with her. “Oh, come now, thou cannot blame my irritation upon me! I know 'tis... 'tis hard sometimes, Twilight Sparkle, but... I believe we must try and allow our daughter to make mistakes, and solve her own problems from time-to-time.”

Twilight nodded after a moment, sighing and lowering her head a little before she mumbled: “It's just really, really hard Luna. I don't want to rule Innocence's life, but I also don't want to be some permissive, does-everything-for-her parent. I want to be there for her but I want to be able to expect her to do certain things and I want to hold her accountable for the mistakes she does make.”

Scrivener sighed a little at this, and then he hesitated before looking over at Twilight and asking quietly: “If we drank, would you have been easier on Innocence?”

Twilight blushed, looking surprised at this question as she hurriedly rambled out: “Scrivy, I mean, it's not like I think you're... you know, I know that you've conquered that and I know that it doesn't necessarily mean Innocence...”

Luna and Scrivener both only looked flatly at the violet mare, and she shifted awkwardly before sighing and dropping her head, mumbling: “Probably. I still would have been upset but... not as worried. And I know, you don't even have to say it, that's... that's stupid.”

“That's not stupid. The fact I know that I should be mad at Innocence but I just want to murder Clinker instead is stupid.” Scrivener grumbled, and Twilight and Luna both looked at him with amusement before he shook his head and glanced up, saying finally: “I'm a little upset with her, yeah. But she wasn't smoking, she wasn't... being too much like Luna... she was just trying to fit in. I'm mad that she either lied to us about Clinker or she decided to let him grope her as a birthday present or something, but... I guess I'm trying to sympathize, and thinking of all the dumb things I did in order to try and fit in after I got out of North Neigh. None of which. Ever worked, by the way.”

“And I think we should have had words with Innocence, but later. It would have been better to keep an eye on her throughout the party and watch how she handles herself, instead of simply assuming the worst.” Luna paused, then looked pointedly at Scrivener Blooms. “And thou loves the way I am. Thou art being a hypocrite.”

“The difference is that you're an adult, Luna, and more importantly, you're not my daughter, who I still sometimes read bedtime stories to.” Scrivener said dryly, and then he winced when Luna grinned widely up at him.

She half-lidded her eyes, then said teasingly: “Aye, but thou does get so hot and bothered when I call thee 'Daddy,' doesn't thee?”

Twilight rolled her eyes and turned to plod into the Everfree Forest, and Scrivener awkwardly hurried after her as Luna laughed and followed last, her mood as always the fastest to change and lighten. Scrivener, meanwhile, was trying to send soothing thoughts to Twilight as the Lich led them onwards through the wild woods, noting the broken branches here and there made by Innocence.

The Lich shook her head slowly as they passed a trampled patch of flowers, before she glanced up and gave a faint smile as she sensed Innocence just ahead. They were mother and daughter, and Twilight cherished that connection, as much as she cherished her link with Luna and Scrivener... she would do anything for her little girl. She was hard on her sometimes, and she pushed her, and she was always afraid she was just becoming an annoying old nag, but... she really just wanted the very best for her beautiful, special daughter.

There was another sound carrying on the breeze, too... a pretty melody, what sounded like a choir of birds. Except these days, in Looking Glass World, birds rarely sang according to the whims of a pony.

It was... entrancing. Twilight slowed her pace, smiling slightly as she leaned up almost eagerly, making her way a little more carefully through the underbrush to avoid startling whatever was making that beautiful music. She began to lose focus as Scrivener and Luna followed after the Lich, letting her lead them on as that soporific sound filled their ears. It sounded like... like a flute, now that they were closer, but a flute that trilled and sang with a thousand different voices at once, echoing and murmuring through their minds...

Twilight's head pushed out into a narrow field, and she felt her daughter's presence. She looked up slowly, smiling in pleasure as she saw her daughter, drawing slowly towards the source of that sound with her eyes closed and tears drying on her cheeks, and the Lich's eyes roved to the entity that was emitting that harmonious melody...

A cloak of heavy cloth and shadow covered its body, and it seemed to be bipedal from the way it was standing, hunched forwards and with one forelimb extended, the other raised high, like... like a spider's, waiting to drop its claw into an unsuspecting victim. Its features were hooded, but it wasn't just the heavy cloth that veiled it, but magic that disguised it in wreathing darkness that twisted back and forth over its features as it continued to lure Innocence closer, and-

The raised hand was holding a knife.

All the pleasure, the happiness, the warmth in the air turned to stale, cold fear, and then Twilight leapt forwards, shouting a denial as she burst into the field and snapped her horn sharply towards the surprised creature, as Innocence's eyes blinked open and she looked up just in time to see her mother fly past and launch a blue fireball into the cloaked assassin.

It was blasted backward with a howl, but it quickly caught itself and skidded to a stop, snarling at them from beneath its dark cloak. Luna and Scrivener leapt quickly up beside Twilight as Innocence stumbled backwards, her eyes going wide with disbelief as Twilight shouted furiously: “You stay the hell away from her!”

“You gonna make me, sweetheart?” rasped the assassin, and then it gave a rusty laugh as it brought its knife in front of itself, twisting it eagerly back and forth as it growled at the trio that had rushed in front of Innocence. “What a lucky break for me. Sent in on a scouting mission, and maybe I can bring back the heads of a Valkyrie and three abominations... ain't this my lucky day?”

“I recommend thou considers other options.” Luna said coldly as her horn glowed: Sting Mk. II was yanked free of its holster on Scrivener's back, flying past the stallion to be caught in one of the winged unicorn's front hooves before she took aim at the cloaked assassin, her horn glowing as she used telekinesis to fortify her grip on the rifle and hold it steady. “Thou art outnumbered and I am in no mood to grant mercy to a coward such as thee.”

The assassin only gave a rasping chuckle, then that strange music began to thrum through the air again, filling the world around them with a peaceful, pleasant ambiance. And even with the adrenaline and anger pumping through the veins of all three ponies, even with their experienced minds fighting to drown out and ignore the melody and the magic it was laced with, they felt their bodies beginning to relax, their reflexes to slow.

Luna cursed and leaned forwards as she fought to aim at the assassin, but the creature grinned and leapt backwards, vanishing in a burst of smoke. Yet the music continued to whirl around them, and Scrivener and Twilight both hurriedly fell into a rough defensive position around Innocence as their daughter cried out and grabbed her head, dropping flat against the ground and looking back and forth in terror as she tried to blot out the beautiful music. “Stop it, stop it!”

Scrivener dug a claw into the ground, and the field began to rot away into mire as Twilight rose her horn, scanning the air around them for any energy distortions that would predict where an attack could come from. And Luna kept her rifle raised, tracing slowly back and forth as her soulstone horn glowed and blue flames sparked out of her starry mane, fangs bared in a challenging snarl.

“Here I come!” the creature's voice rasped gleefully as it appeared out of thin air in a burst of dark smog, dropping towards Twilight with its knife raised, and the Lich looked up in shock as Luna spun around and snarled, the sapphire mare not letting herself think, only react.

A single bullet tore through the air, smashing through the creature... and turning it back to a puff of black smoke, before there was a growl and another burst of smog some dozen feet away from Scrivener Blooms, the assassin loping out of this and charging straight for the stallion. And again Luna reacted, spinning towards this and firing another round into the beast and turning it to a puff of smoke.

Too late, Luna realized that it was only creating illusions to distract them: a moment later, a claw seized her tail and yanked her off her hooves as it slashed its knife in towards her neck. Luna was barely able to snap her head to the side in time as her starry locks became a curtain of blue flames, this smashing across the creature with enough force to send it flying backwards, interrupting its toxic melody.

The moment of clarity shocked Twilight and Scrivener into reacting, both moving before they even realized what they were doing. Scrivener's claw tore into the ground, and even as the creature attempted to roll itself back to its claws, the mire beneath it erupted upwards into crystalline spikes, hammering the assassin and shredding apart its cloak as it attempted to leap away. Then Twilight's horn snapped out, and thick green vines ripped up out of the mire, lashing like whips towards the creature and attempting to snare it in place.

The assassin slashed its knife back and forth into the grasping vines as it staggered hurriedly away from the mire, then it hissed when one of the whips struck across its face, making its head snap to the side and making it fling itself into a desperate jump to escape. But before it could vanish again, two bullets smashed into its chest and knocked it out of the air with a howl of misery, grasping at its body as dark, watery blood spilled out of its wounds.

It breathed hard in and out as it laid bloody and seemingly beaten on its side, but then snarled up at them and simply vanished in another puff of smoke. And this time, its presence faded completely with it, as Luna cursed under her breath and snapped her rifle open, ejecting the bullet casings as she muttered: “We shall have to speak to Celestia about this.”

Scrivener nodded, then turned his attention to his daughter: Twilight had already turned her attention to Innocence, even as her horn glowed and she used her powers to scan the area for any other possible surprises. The Lich was rubbing her back soothingly, reassuring her in a soft murmur, and Scrivener y reached down to silently squeeze his daughter's shoulder with a claw before he frowned slightly as he felt a strange pulse through the mire.

His eyes roved to where the mire was... aching, for lack of a better word, and then he made a face and shivered a little in disgust: the corruption had attempted to absorb and consume the spilled blood of the assassin, but it looked like the creature's blood had poisoned the dark muck. Luna frowned as she picked up on Scrivener's thoughts, following his eyes, and she shuddered.

But before either of them could discuss it further, Innocence suddenly sprung to her claws, leaping away from Twilight and almost tackling Luna. The sapphire mare blinked as she caught her daughter with a look of surprise, and then she sighed softly as she hugged the young mare close, saying gently: “Fear not, 'tis over for now, my daughter. Come, we should head back into town. We must discuss what has happened with Celestia.”

“I... I don't wanna be seen, though. I just want to go home and curl up and... I'm just... I don't know what happened.” Innocence whispered, looking up with a tremble. “One moment I was just so angry and upset, the next I heard this... whistling music... and then he was there...”

“The Whistler.” Scrivener muttered, and Luna smiled grimly and nodded after a moment. It was as good a name as any for the unknown assassin they had seen. “He seemed to know about us. Not that I'm surprised, really, everyone seems to know that you're a Valkyrie. We probably should have tried a little harder to keep that quiet.”

“I shan't be ashamed of mine heritage, Scrivy, no matter what the cost. I am proud to be Valkyrie.” Luna said firmly, looking over at him with a huff as she kept Innocence close against her, and then she softened a little when she saw the way Twilight was looking at her, at how her birth daughter had again, rushed right to Móðer... “Sin, come now. I know thou wants to retreat to the comforts of thy home but we must head into town all the same.”

“Okay. Okay, if we have to.” Sin shivered a little, but pulled away and looked up, clearly trying to be strong. Luna smiled a little, and Twilight stepped forwards, putting whatever was still bothering her aside for her daughter's sake.

The Lich's horn glowed, and Innocence grimaced and shifted uncomfortably as Twilight quickly checked over the young mare's body before polymorphing her to hide her scales and Wyrm-like features. Innocence scowled a bit deeper at this, then bowed her head silently and nodded a reluctant thank-you to her mother, who... didn't really know what to do at this point.

Scrivener and Luna traded awkward looks, and then the stallion sighed as he shoved a claw against the mire, making it ripple before the sludge rapidly lost its cohesion, turning to stale soil as Luna muttered as she slipped Sting Mk. II into the holster still on Scrivener's back: “Well, to town, then, my family.”

It was an awkward walk back: in spite of the fact Twilight had just leapt in and saved her, in a way it only made Innocence's embarrassment over how her mother was treating her worse. Also, as much as she trained, even though she sometimes tried to tag along on missions, despite the fact she'd beaten up her share of bullies and more... she'd never had someone try to actually kill her before. She'd never been ambushed, made a victim of powerful mind-altering magic, or snapped out of a trance to find her parents surrounding her to try and protect her from a killer...

And it had been such a great day at first. Clinker's party had been fantastic. His father was getting the bartender to serve everyone drinks and she'd guzzled down her first beer with her best friend beside her. She'd gotten to hang out with all the cool kids, because Clinker was elevated to the status of 'cool' himself by the fact his party had free-flowing alcohol and every kind of treat under the sun and all the other great things Clinker's dad had gone out and bought...

Then everything had just gone to hell, and here they were, heading back into town. Twilight didn't understand... how could she? Innocence loved her mother, but she was just... she was a Lich of immense magical power, and yet what did she ever do with her power? What did she ever pursue? She read books, tried to be normal, was awkward in conversation and never even stood up to the ponies who picked on her, even though she had more than enough power to make an example of any of them if she really wanted to.

Luna was who she really admired. Her Móðer, who she acted a lot more like, felt a lot more like. Some days she wondered if Twilight really was her birth mother or not, if it was even possible that a Lich – a member of the living dead, who had blood and organs less because she needed them and more because they were usually left-over from whatever she used to reconstruct her body – could give birth to her.

Innocence dropped her head and closed her eyes. No, she knew that she'd done something bad, something wrong, she knew she... well, she'd made herself look pretty goddamn stupid too, and then she'd gone and let her emotions take over and lost control. But she was still... she was still mad at Twilight. That was understandable, right? She could admit she'd done something wrong, but... she didn't want to apologize for it until her mother apologized to her for... for possibly ruining her friendship with Clinker, for making her look like such an idiot.

Twilight gave her daughter an awkward smile as they stepped out into the open field, and Luna relaxed slightly even as she looked uncertainly back and forth. But it didn't sound like they were in serious danger yet... the assassin had sounded a little... overeager and overconfident, after all. Scrivener nodded in silent agreement with the sapphire mare's assessment, but he kept his own eyes open as the group made its way forward, before he smiled supportively to Innocence when she looked over her shoulder at him.

Innocence let her eyes linger on her father: she saw how his claws had already folded up, hidden themselves away again as hooves. And he had those unseen pistons in his back, and some of his hide had become harder, shinier over the years, almost like patches of scales. And the corruption gave them a special connection, she knew that. The corruption played a big part between them, and Innocence smiled a little before she turned her eyes back towards Ponyville before she sighed quietly.

On the bright side, unless everyone had run away from the party, no one in town would know much about her little outburst. But then again, gossip always spread quickly, and she was sure that there were plenty of ponies who were all too eager to talk about how the freak got scolded by Mommy in front of everyone...

The young mare shook her head violently, trying to shove those thoughts away, but they had already started and now it was hard to... close that particular door. She snuck another glance at her mother, but Twilight was scanning the area again with her magic... as if they were going to be attacked here, right outside of town. Or maybe her mother was just afraid that she was going to end up turning into a whimpering mess again if that assassin showed up out of the blue again...

Innocence gritted her teeth as she blushed a little, then winced and looked up as Twilight halted at the gates to say quickly: “We were attacked out in the forest by an unknown assailant... it might have been some kind of demon, but it kept itself cloaked. Tell the other guards to be extra cautious.”

“Yes ma'am pony!” The Nibelung both saluted, and Innocence lowered her head, hating to feel like this was all her fault... like somehow, this all reflected badly on her, even if she couldn't exactly put into words how that could be...

Luna and Scrivener traded their own awkward looks, but neither said anything as Twilight took the lead again, heading quickly for the library. It was the right decision to make, definitely... but something was clearly bothering Innocence, and Twilight's insistence on handling things was just making it worse.

Neither really knew what to say, though, and they didn't have the time right now to figure out the right words to say to an upset sixteen year old mare. All they could do was keep moving and try to sort things out in their minds, Scrivener and Luna silently trading information between themselves to try and decipher what the hell could be hiding beneath that cloak, what the Whistler had actually been...

Twilight was surprised when she found the door to the library was locked. She frowned a little at this, knocking twice, then hesitated before looking over her shoulder and asking awkwardly: “Should we go inside? I mean... well...”

“Fear not. Celestia would not lock this door were she in the midst of relations with Bob. And nor is any door Celestia locked, locked from us. 'Tis to keep others out.” Luna said mildly, and Twilight nodded after a moment, feeling reassured as she turned back towards the door. Her horn glowed, and the handle clicked before the door swung open, the Lich striding quickly through. Innocence hesitated as she stared off into the distance, and Luna frowned as she looked uncertainly up, worried for a moment that their daughter had seen something, but then the young mare only shook her head quickly and smiled lamely up at the sapphire mare.

“Sorry, Mutt. Just... distracted.” she said quietly, then she hesitated before lowering her head and mumbling: “I'm sorry I... I'm sorry I got so scared. I won't let fear rule me again like that, I promise. I know that I'm stronger than that, I'm better than that.”

“Now, fear not, Innocence. 'Tis not thy fault. Thou art sixteen years of age and trying desperately to do what all other young mares are doing at the moment themselves.” Luna soothed gently, as Scrivener smiled a little and nodded. Then the stallion winced a bit, glancing awkwardly at the sapphire mare as she continued cheerfully: “Besides, thou art a little drunk and perhaps a little frustrated from not having thy loins settled and quite a bit upset. 'Tis very understandable thou would end up a little confused and scared after being hypnotized by the Whistler's tune.”

“Mutt!” Innocence blushed, but she laughed and smiled all the same, brightening immensely even as she turned and scurried quickly away. And Luna grinned widely, then frowned at Scrivener as he looked dryly at the winged unicorn.

She finally huffed at him after a few moments, then leaned forwards and nipped his nose, making the stallion wince away and wrinkle up his muzzle. Then Luna strode quickly forwards and through the door... and swallowed a bit at the foul look Twilight gave her, but she hurriedly turned her eyes away and called lamely after Innocence, as she saw the young mare heading for the hall: “But... but thou knows I am not encouraging thee!”

“I know, Mutt!” Innocence called back in an amused voice, and Luna turned an awkward grin to Twilight Sparkle. The Lich looked less-than-impressed, shaking her head slowly before she sighed tiredly and reached up to rub at her forehead with one hoof.

“Why do I even bother.” she mumbled as Scrivener closed the door, and then the violet mare glanced quietly towards the open archway, saying finally: “Innocence said she's... going to put on tea for us. Do you think Celestia will be long?”

“Nay. Just as any dragon will not leave its aerie and territory for long, so Celestia shall undoubtedly wing shortly back here, to this infernal place of bookery.” Luna replied, glancing absently around the wide main room of the library. Twilight gave the sapphire mare a pointed look, but Luna only shrugged, absently leaning over and poking at Scrivener with her soulstone horn. “I do not have to be nice. Am I not already too nice too oft, Scrivy?”

Scrivener Blooms replied by slapping her horn firmly, making it ring loudly and the sapphire mare wince and draw her head hurriedly back. Then the charcoal stallion turned his eyes towards Twilight, walking over to her and saying gently: “Celestia will be here soon, and you're not a bad mother. You're a good mother. Luna's a bad mother.”

“I am a fantastic mother!” Luna argued, sounding outraged as she stormed quickly over to them, then she rose her head high to prepare to whack Scrivener with her horn... before clearing her throat at Twilight's scowl, shrinking back a bit and saying awkwardly: “But for the matter of the comparison, aye, compared to thee I am oftentimes a bad mother.”

Scrivener smiled amusedly over at the sapphire mare, who grumbled and flicked her starry mane before punching the stallion lightly in the shoulder, making him wince and stumble to the side. “But thou art also a terrible parent compared to Twilight Sparkle, I shall have thee know. And I am a much better father than thou art.”

“I would never argue that.” Scrivener said drolly, and Luna huffed before looking pointedly at the charcoal stallion, and he sighed a little before turning his eyes back towards the Lich, asking finally: “Do you want Luna and I to give you and Sin some time alone? We can check out the forest, look for clues, make sure nothing tried to sneak in our house while we were gone... and maybe try and figure out where the hell Abaddon went as well. I think he smelled trouble at the party before we did.”

“Aye, that would explain his running off.” Luna paused, then she shook her head and muttered: “Although to be truthful, I do not believe that we shall find anything further. Neither clues, nor any other creatures... remember his words?”

Twilight nodded, saying softly: “That makes sense, given his powers. He was sturdier than I thought he'd be, though...”

“Perhaps. But perhaps not. I only shot him with rounds of iron, and if he was clad in some kind of protective gear, then 'tis very possible that I pierced that and left injury enough to bleed, but far from lethal.” Luna replied meditatively, shaking her head slowly. “And of course, if 'tis not a demon, but some other creature, either of Clockwork World or something even more alien...”

“I don't think it was a Pious, Luna. You and Celestia might hate them, and I don't like them myself, but... I don't think they're hostile.” Twilight said quietly, referring to the strange creatures from another realm that had set up a sort of missionary outpost on their world.

Luna grumbled moodily to herself, but then she sighed tiredly and nodded a little after a moment, saying in a meditative voice: “Perhaps not. But that is no reason we should not burn down their new sanctuary and drive them out of Midgard. I am sure I can rouse up plenty of ponies to agree with me.”

Scrivener rolled his eyes at this, and Twilight looked flatly at the sapphire winged unicorn before she said dryly: “That's funny, considering you're the pony who started Subterra and created the alliance between demons and ponies, Luna. And Scrivener, you keep saying that we have a chance to rehabilitate Clockwork Ponies now, and we should try and do that instead of destroying them.”

“I... I wasn't on either side of this conversation. Why are you dragging me into the argument?” Scrivener asked moodily, and then he looked thoughtfully at Twilight Sparkle. “Or are you just trying to get me to debate your side with you, because you know you can't win a debate without my help?”

“Shut up, Scrivy.” Luna bopped Scrivener with her horn, making him wince before the sapphire mare glowered over at the Lich. “And I shall have thee know that I also agree with trying to put the Clockwork Ponies to use upon our side. Why should we waste a resource such as that? Aye, 'tis... rather ghoulish in some cases, and some should be put to rest, but the ones that still function obey myself, Scrivener Blooms, and Hecate all without question. Ever since...”

She quieted, and Twilight shifted awkwardly before Luna cleared her throat and looked up, returning to the topic at hoof as she said firmly: “Demons need not be evil, and Clockwork Ponies are often little more than puppets, whom we may now pull the strings of instead of their cruel former masters. The Pious are... they make me itch. I do not like things that make me itch.”

Scrivener made a face as he nodded in grudging agreement: he hated to agree with Luna's less-than-rational arguments, but... he understood what she meant, and more than just because of their link. They made him uncomfortable too, and he didn't know why it was so different from when he looked from a Pious to a particularly-nasty demon: some demons even looked more strange – if it was possible to be more strange – than the Pious did, but... they never gave him the same itch as the Pious did. Hell, the Strange Ones never gave him the same discomfort that the Pious did.

Twilight looked back and forth between the two pleadingly, but she was interrupted when Innocence returned, levitating a tray with telekinesis that carried a few simple snacks, and a large pot of tea and cups. The Lich smiled over at her daughter, but Innocence averted her eyes awkwardly even as she set the tray down on the table and said: “Here's tea, Momma. Peppermint, like you like.”

“Thank you, Innocence. I appreciate it.” Twilight said softly, and she hesitated before shaking her head quickly and smiling a little, walking over to take a seat by her daughter at the table. “Don't be too hard on yourself over what happened today, okay? I think... we should all just focus on the present and... I want you to know that I didn't mean to hurt you, Innocence. I'm sorry.”

“Okay.” Innocence's answer was quiet, simple, but that wasn't what was important: what was important was that she looked up into her mother's eyes, and gave a small smile. The young mare shifted forwards, bowed her head slightly, and she mumbled a few incoherent words... but that was more than enough for Twilight, and the Lich leaned forwards and hugged her daughter tightly around the neck, and Innocence willingly dropped against her mother and closed her eyes.

The little family rested in the quiet for a few moments, Scrivener Blooms sipping at his mug of tea and Luna slowly tipping over until she was resting against him with her eyes closed, looking peaceful. Innocence and Twilight parted, and the Lich fought back the urge to start lecturing or rambling or ruining everything she had just done with Innocence, and instead she started talking about the training Innocence would soon be going through, and what she needed to prepare for.

The young mare was attentive, but it was only a few minutes before they were interrupted by the library door swinging open and Celestia striding inside. She frowned at them, immediately understanding that something had happened as she simply asked: “Where?”

“The Everfree Forest. We found my daughter in a field not deep inside the woods, being lured in by some... assassin, using music as the bait.” Luna replied calmly, then she jerked her head at Scrivener Blooms. “Scrivy has named it the Whistler.”

Celestia glanced at Innocence, but then she only nodded a bit when the young mare blushed and shifted awkwardly, before the ivory mare allowed her eyes to draw to Twilight as the violet mare said quietly: “I don't think it was a demon. I mean, at first I thought it might be, but I think it was... well, I don't know what it was. And by that, I mean it can't be any of the races we're familiar with.”

“Which narrows it down to an interloper from another world. Can you tell me anything else?” Celestia strode towards the table, sitting down before she winced and rose a hoof when Innocence hopped out of her seat and hurried towards the hall. “Innocence, you don't have to...”

But the young mare was already gone, and Celestia barely had the time to sigh and shake her head before Innocence hurried back to put a mug down in front of Celestia and smile at her. “Peppermint, but I can go and make-”

“That's fine, Innocence. I appreciate it, I truly do. Please, sit down, we have something more important to attend to right now.” Celestia said calmly, but she had the slightest blush in her cheeks and looked a little awkward all the same. Luna grinned slightly, and when Celestia glanced up and saw this, she couldn't help but relax a little as she asked: “So you don't think it's serious?”

“It's definitely serious, but... it said it was some kind of scout. It said something about... getting a bonus for killing a Valkyrie and us three...” Scrivener halted, glancing awkwardly over at Twilight, then to his daughter. He didn't really have any problem thinking of himself as an abomination, but that was the furthest thing from what he thought the rest of his family was. “Well, us three not-Valkyries.”

Celestia nodded slowly, and Luna said mildly: “'Twas using aural enchantment. Weaving wicked music that sounded so beautiful it forced down even my guard... 'twas the strangest magic, Celestia, and I do not know how it sang it so. Or whistled, rather, as 'tis the Whistler.” She stopped, then glanced over at Innocence, softening and adding quietly: “I fear what such a creature would be able to do to those who have no training in resisting such mental trickery. Or those who lack the strong will shared by all our family.”

Innocence smiled awkwardly, dropping her head with a blush, and Celestia frowned and lowered her own before she murmured: “That sounds similar, in a sense, to the Black Verses: they have to be heard to have an effect.”

“They weren't the Black Verses. They weren't... the opposite, either. White Verses, I guess, if you really want to go that way.” Scrivener said mildly, shaking his head and rubbing at his head slowly. It had been a long time since he and Luna had tried to invert the Black Verses, after all, and he'd never really tried to put a name to the strange power. “In fact, there was... something completely different about the noise it was making. I mean, Twilight was the first one to snap out of the trance. It almost took us over too at first, after all...

“But once we were aware of it, it was easier to fight off the effects. It's hard to describe, but...” Scrivener hesitated, then glanced up. “You know how usually, when Luna and I are hit by a spell that's supposed to make us both feel tired or something, it usually hits us harder? Well, this time, it was like the link between me and Luna and Twilight actually... helped us resist its magic. How would that work?”

“Well... it is possible that your joint awareness means any magic meant to target your minds would be naturally resisted... I think that means it must be a psychic effect, not simply a magical one, though. Magic and psychic powers work on different frequencies, have different rules regarding them, so to speak...” Celestia lowered her head thoughtfully, nodding meditatively. “We've never had a lot of interactions with creatures that use mainly psychic abilities.”

Luna grunted, nodding and saying moodily: “Aye, every kind of creature has its stupid magic. True psychic powers, on the other hoof, are so much rare they are almost the stuff of myth. Even our telekinesis is more a grip of magic than true telekinetic wrath, for which I am most grateful. 'Twould be most frustrating if all the unicorns of all the many Equestrias were capable of flinging large, heavy objects with their minds whenever they so pleased.”

“Technically, Luna...” Scrivener started, then he winced when Luna smacked him, making a face and rubbing at his head as he mumbled: “Okay, okay. Yes. Technically unicorns can't do that. Even though plenty of them do. The only difference is that they use their horns instead of their brains.”

“Did thou not understand that the hoof to thy head was the signal to shut up, Scrivy?” asked Luna sourly, as Innocence giggled loudly and Twilight sighed, and then the sapphire mare shook her head and turned her eyes back towards Celestia. “The Pious are psychic.”

Celestia made the slightest expression of distaste at this, and then she shook her head and said almost reluctantly: “I don't like to defend the Pious, Luna... but unless the creature was completely detached, emotionless, alien, and... unpleasant...”

“Well, anyone who attempts to stab my children I consider to be unpleasant, Celestia.” Luna said mildly, and then the starry-maned mare grumbled: “Nay. 'Twas mocking and rude, and... aye, it felt like it hated us. Nor did the Whistler seem so... freakish.”

The ivory mare nodded calmly, and then Innocence glanced up and said hesitantly: “What about the blood? I know you guys saw it, too, the blood had a bad effect on the mire.”

Celestia tilted her head curiously, as Scrivener Blooms glanced up, then smiled a little before he turned his eyes towards the white winged unicorn. “Yeah, that's right. The thing's blood had a bad effect on the mire, like purification does... it made it... ache. I could feel it.”

“Me too.” Sin said softly, glancing up and looking oddly embarrassed, but Scrivener only gave his daughter a soft look, and she smiled a little in return before saying hesitantly: “But it didn't... I mean... it didn't seem like anything... good, you know?”

“Good and evil are subjective things, Innocence... more so than I like to think. They can be easily clouded and confused.” Celestia replied gently, and then she studied the young mare thoughtfully before asking: “What did you feel?”

Innocence shifted a little, and then she looked up and answered slowly: “At first, when the music was playing, it felt... I felt like it was making me promises. It was so beautiful – the music, I mean – and I didn't know where it was coming from, and I remember closing my eyes, and...”

She wanted to pretend that she had closed her eyes to focus, to try and find the source of that song, but after a moment the young mare admitted quietly: “The music got prettier with my eyes closed and I just.. let it take over my mind. I saw all these images, and colors. I didn't even realize I was moving until... Momma saved me.”

She turned a faint smile to Twilight Sparkle, who only shrugged a little, looking embarrassed and oddly relieved before she murmured: “I'm just glad no one was badly hurt, Sin.”

“Aye, only I looked stupid.” Luna said wryly, then she shook her head as Twilight glanced up with a small smile. “Nay, nay. I should have been more aware of what was happening, but that damned enchantment or... psychic siren's song or whatever 'twas, it stole my focus.”

Celestia nodded, and there was silence for a few moments before the ivory mare said quietly: “We shouldn't leap to the assumption this has anything to do with what Discombobulation mentioned. An overeager assassin wouldn't draw the attention of Ginnungagap. This might just be a badly-timed coincidence... or maybe something to do with Kvasir's disappearance.”

“And thou does not think the vanishing of the King of Valhalla is related to whatever doom eagerly rushes towards us?” Luna asked wryly, and Celestia only gave her sister a faintly-entertained look. “Well, I will not deny that aye, we are good at attracting trouble of all shape and size... and aye, there has been more than one attack upon myself and others important to me over the last decade. But all the same, Celestia, to think that these things are not connected...”

“Luna, in the long run, everything is connected. Life is just one immense web, where all the strands are held together by the center.” Celestia shook her head, then she said softly: “Let me rephrase. I don't believe that whatever might be coming is directly connected to the assassination attempt and Kvasir's disappearance. Is that clearer?”

Luna grunted as Scrivener and Twilight traded looks, while Innocence looked up and asked awkwardly after a moment: “Does this mean... well... I'm not going to get to train with you guys after all? Are we going to have to wait?”

“Nay, I think that now more than ever 'tis important that thou receives this training.” Luna said firmly, nodding to her daughter, and Innocence brightened and sat up a little before the sapphire mare glanced over at Celestia, asking curiously: “Should we perhaps have Innocence train in Valhalla after all? If there are bad things afoot, then 'twould be in our best interests to accelerate my daughter's training however we can.”

“Training too fast, too hard, will just be to Innocence's detriment. Over the next few days, we need to continue our assessment, and I think you should take the experiences from today into consideration, too.” Celestia said tactfully, and Innocence blushed and lowered her head a little as Twilight looked softly at her daughter and Scrivener and Luna both smiled a bit. “It's nothing to be ashamed of, Innocence. If you didn't hesitate, it might concern me more.”

“Oh shut up, Celestia. Thy lies are very lieful and easily seen through.” Luna huffed, and Innocence smiled a little over at her Móðer as the sapphire mare added mildly: “Besides, my daughter needs no reassurances any longer. She needs instead to focus on the future, and how she will excel in her training and how she will act upon the battlefield.”

Innocence nodded firmly a few times, and Celestia looked thoughtfully towards the young unicorn before she simply nodded once. Scrivener sat back, sipping absently at his tea before Twilight asked: “So how should we prepare? I mean, what should we start studying?”

Celestia gave Twilight a quietly-amused look, and Luna snorted as Innocence sighed. Twilight looked lamely around at them all, before Scrivener said dryly: “A book can't really teach you how to take a punch to the face, Twilight. Unless you hit yourself in the face with it repeatedly, I guess. But it would have to be a pretty heavy book.”

“Actually, I found a lot of my supplemental reading helped me while training. And even these days I do a lot of research while trying to learn new magic. Theory is important.” Twilight argued, leaning towards Scrivener, and the stallion tilted his head towards her with a mischievous gleam in his eye. “It is!”

“It is.” Scrivener agreed seriously, and then he waited a moment before adding to the ruffled sapphire mare: “Theoretically speaking, of course. And we all know that theories never quite work out the way they're supposed to in real life. I mean, theoretically, you're the best cook ever. In reality...”

Twilight glowered at him, and then Luna glanced towards the two and said mildly: “Cease thy flirting, if I am not allowed to do so than neither are thee. Furthermore, 'tis not like thou art any master of the culinary arts thyself, Scrivy. I am a better baker than thou art.”

“Yes, your lopsided shovelfuls of chocolate cake is the best, especially the crispy side.” Scrivener deadpanned, and Luna scowled at him before Scrivener held up a hoof and added: “Also, I don't bake, precisely because I know that I don't know how to bake. You bake now and then even though we all know you don't know how to. That doesn't automatically make it a victory for you.”

Luna huffed at this, then her soulstone horn lit up with dark radiance, and Scrivener flinched and twitched as the black blood in his veins boiled violently for a moment before the two glowered at each other. Then both looked up as Innocence said brightly: “Those muffins you made turned out really good, though!”

“Yes, because Luna didn't actually make those muffins. She just dumped frosting all over them and then claimed she made them.” Scrivener said mildly, and then he winced when the sapphire mare smacked him firmly.

“Thou great traitor! Thou promised thou wouldst never tell!” Luna complained loudly, and Twilight sighed as Innocence laughed.

Celestia smiled despite herself, but as her amethyst eyes roved over the ponies, she saw all the little details she didn't want to see, that these three linked ponies were trying their hardest to hide from their smiling daughter. The way their gazes flicked back and forth, the subtle shifting of their bodies towards one-another's, the smiles that didn't quite reach their eyes.

They were all worried, and chiefly, they were worried for their daughter. It seemed that every child of theirs, they risked losing, and Celestia knew that these three would go to any length to protect their family. She only hoped that she was right about her prediction, that the assassin and whatever had lured in the Draconequus weren't connected events: otherwise, she had the feeling that they wouldn't even have the time to begin Innocence's training before the young mare's whole world was turned upside down.

Comments

[BarrenBaron]

Very NMH2 Margaret vibe from the Whistler...that or the Pied Piper, same thing in theory I guess?

[BlackRoseRaven]

3201735

I appreciate that a lot, thank you. And yes, repetition is probably my worst enemy. You'll find every now and then I have a tendency to lock onto a word or phrase and I'll just use it over and over again. It's a really bad habit and it's a pain for me to weed out by myself, so it's a good thing, really, when people point out where I've been repetitive descriptor-wise. And male and female I tend to use naturally. I know it sounds weird to people, but it's a habit: for me it's just a man/woman equivalent. Also there's laziness. It's easier and faster to write than "charcoal earth pony" when Scrivy is often the only dude around.
I'm very glad Antares is becoming more... well, everything. I always had this particular vision for him, but I never. Got to doing that until this story, because he had to grow up and he was kind of a lame kid. So I'm glad that it gets to be rewarding to the people who've stuck by to see him finally kinda finding himself. I believe faith should be rewarded in writing.
Thanks again. I appreciate it and I hope that you continue to enjoy the story. It's quite a journey yet.

[BlackRoseRaven]

3204481

That works well. "The Whistler" is actually a song by Demons & Wizards, from their self-titled album. I was having a hell of a time coming up for the name of the assassin and then I listened to this song. And it worked very well for him, so. I ended up just naming him after it/

[hellcatte]

grasping at its body as dark, watery blood spilled out of its wounds.

Related to the Strange ones? They have similar blood.

[talontitanbane]

4854291
No the strange ones are not emotional in the slightest. This thing whatever it is was taunting them and seemed to be enjoying itself