Episode 8: Nightfall
The time was approximately five in the morning, and the pre-dawn darkness still hung like a shroud over Canterlot.
Luna stepped along the hallway towards her personal chamber, yawning softly to herself as she did so. Although she was completely exhausted from her time holding court the prior day and having to both raise the moon and oversee the night sky, she had avoided the tiredness until only several hours beforehand. Thankfully, Celestia had been kind enough to give her an early start on her sleep schedule. She’d sent her off to her chambers long before the sun was meant to rise, promising to take care of it.
She let out yet another yawn, louder this time, and stepped over to the door of her room. It was a door that she always locked, always made sure was both secure and closed. Not even the maids were allowed inside whenever she wasn’t.
Reaching for the key, Luna touched the doorknob instinctively.
And then she felt it turn fully.
Startled, she leapt back several inches, a sudden nervousness clenching at her throat. Theoretically speaking, Luna was the only pony who should have been able to unlock the door – there wasn’t a single other key in existence. She even made sure to keep its shape a secret so that nopony could copy it. Yes, perhaps that was a little paranoid, but Luna had her reasons.
But the doorknob still turned. The door was still unlocked, yet how could that be? Did she want to find out?
Luna stood in that position, cautiously staring at the door for several seconds before realization dawned on her. Of course, she must have simply forgotten to lock it the day prior… right? Yes, that was the only explanation that made sense. It made perfect sense.
But still, she could not help but feel a strange prickling feeling in the front of her skull. No, it wasn’t fear – Luna knew the feeling of fear perfectly, and that most certainly was not it. In fact, she couldn’t even begin to place what that feeling was, but it most certainly was not pleasant.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Luna pressed her hoof to the door once more, and felt the knob turn again. She pushed forward, holding her breath and keeping her eyes shut as the door creaked open, a reminder to fix the old hinges that held it shut.
She opened her eyes quickly, and exhaled deeply as she looked over her chamber. It appeared to have been completely untouched, with even the scrolls she’d left behind on the bedside table not moved in the slightest, still tidily formed into a neat pyramid on the polished wooden table. With a grin on her face, and newfound confidence in her heart, Luna reached over to flip the light switch.
The room remained dark.
Luna raised an eyebrow in confusion, and flipped the switch again. Still, the lights didn’t come on, and her chambers were still bathed in darkness.
She rolled her eyes, and walked over to her bedside lamp, muttering to herself, “Tch! ‘Lasts for months,’ indeed…” Luna took one look at the bulb, pulling the drawer out in order to find a replacement, when her heart suddenly stopped in her chest.
The lamp was completely empty. There weren’t even any shards of glass around it to show that the bulb had randomly exploded.
There was literally nothing inside of it at all.
And then there was the sound of the door behind her creaking shut, and Luna turned just in time to see a figure charge towards her. Its form was completely shrouded by a dark blue cloak, and its face by a white, expressionless mask. Its movements were idiosyncratic. It was like a marionette on strings, with its legs twisting awkwardly, and randomly stopping at various points. She couldn’t even tell what its race was, because even though it was clutching a dagger, whatever sort of appendage it had – hooves or claws – could not be seen beneath its cloak, nor could any wings on its back or a horn.
Wait…
A dagger…?
Luna felt her eyes widen in shock. She quickly jumped back just in time to avoid being stabbed. Her head collided with the wall, sending a sharp spike of pain through her skull.
Luna felt her eyes, unfocused from the blow, move onto her attacker. It shifted in and out of focus as it pressed the dagger up to her throat.
But she couldn’t react. She felt groggy, the back of her skull – oh, how it ached! Her thoughts were disjointed. Choppy. Short.
The attacker let out a low, quiet chuckle. It pulled the dagger away, turning its blade slightly in its… whatever it had.
“I wonder,” the creature whispered, in a voice that Luna couldn’t quite place, “what color an alicorn bleeds. Well –” the attacker paused for an instant and pressed the edge of the dagger to Luna’s throat “– I suppose we’ll just have to find out, see?”
In that instant – perhaps spurred on by the assassin’s taunts – a surge of power seemed to erupt from Luna’s very being. Her horn became alit with pure, dark blue energy, and she aimed it all at her attacker. But before she could lift it into the air, the attacker slashed a wound just below her jaw with its dagger.
The would-be-assassin let out a gasp of surprise as it was suddenly thrown against the opposing wall. In a mixture of fear, pain, and rage, Luna felt herself pick the attacker up once more, and throw it into a large nearby window.
The sound of glass shattering echoed throughout the chamber, followed by a loud crash on the ground below.
Luna attempted to work her way back to her hooves, but felt herself collapse as the blow the back of her head finally took its toll on her. Despite her mind’s protests, her body would not listen, and the world soon turned even darker.
-- An Epic for Gilgamesh --
-- Episode 8: Nightfall --
-- Written By ZaleAcon --
The time was approximately eight in the morning, and the royal palace was alight with activity. Several detectives from the Canterlot Police Department wandered the blue-carpeted halls, taking statements from several of the guards or generally looking for any evidence of the criminal’s attack.
But nothing had been found to prove just who or what was behind the assault. It was almost disturbing, in a way; there weren’t any prints save her own, and not even any glove marks were evident anywhere in her room. No physical evidence could be found, and the attacker’s true identity was far from being discovered. Even minor information – race, sex, probable age, species – was impossible to find.
The guards apparently hadn’t even noticed the creature that had stalked the halls, nor the weapon that they had carried upon their person. Was it a dagger? A sword? None of them could say for certain. Whatever monstrosity it was, the assassin was undoubtedly a genius at its craft. So much so, it seemed, that it had been able to waltz, canter, or whatever its way into the palace with no difficulties in the slightest.
Twilight Sparkle looked about the area, muttering to herself as she did so. To think that she had been so close in looking into dimensional properties, only to be whisked away into a crime scene, and it had all begun with that note Celestia had given her.
Princess Twilight Sparkle, it had read, a wretched problem has arisen in Canterlot. I cannot say exactly what it is at this time, for I fear that anypony with you may panic, though I must request your presence immediately. The problem will be made clear when you arrive.
Though she wanted to know just why so many requests had been sent out via letter recently, Twilight was not about to question the orders of the princess. So without any hesitation, she had run straight off to Canterlot, and found herself staring at this mess. It had taken mere moments to learn that Luna’s life had been threatened, and that she was now completely unconscious, but Twilight was still finding it hard to believe.
Why anypony would attack a princess was her biggest question. It simply made no logical sense – such a crime would be declared as both treason and attempted murder, the punishment of which was a choice between death, banishment, and petrification. None of them were particularly good options.
Regardless of the killer’s intentions, however, the result was the same: Luna was unconscious, and the attacker was nowhere to be found. It hadn’t even left behind a single remnant of its existence.
Twilight paced to and fro, waiting impatiently for something, anything, to happen. She had been told specifically to wait in the foyer of the palace until somepony sent for her, but nothing had occurred so far. Even the detectives, forensic scientists, and others ignored her as they went about their daily grind, murmuring under their breaths about various matters, or talking and laughing with each other elsewhere. How could they be so happy at a time like this?
“Excuse me, Princess Twilight,” came a deep, bass voice from behind her, and Twilight turned toward it.
And then she looked up… and up… and up…
The figure was massive, likely even more so than Big Macintosh, and especially for an earth pony. His coat was a healthy bronze, though his mane – a sporadic mixture of dark and light gray that hung down to the back of his head and curled up at the front – betrayed his true age. His eyebrows were larger than his green-blue eyes, making them look extremely small on his head. His Cutie Mark was a shield-shaped police badge, surrounded by a blue circle and with an inverted star behind that.
Twilight couldn’t avert her eyes from his face, and wondered just how tall the giant stallion truly was. “Um… it’s a, uh…” She coughed, awkwardly. “Um, right… What is it?”
The figure blinked just once, and nodded. “Yes. I apologize for the wait, Princess. I’d no plans in involving you in this case, though it would appear that Princess Celestia planned otherwise…” He grimaced. “Once more, I apologize for the inconvenience. But that being said, I have a request, if you would be willing to take it.”
“Oh, uh…” Twilight said, still focusing on the stallion’s height, before blinking. “Wait a second… Um, if you don’t mind me asking… Who are you…?”
“Oh, of course. My apologies again, Princess.” The stallion bowed his head, though his expression remained the same. “Dreadnaught, the chief of police.”
“Oh, right. Chief of… police…” Twilight trailed off, and felt her face blanch as she realized to whom she was talking. “O-oh! Right. Right, I understand.”
There had been an unprecedented number of stories about the chief of police – that he had more raw physical ability than most minotaurs in their prime, that he had stopped upwards of five-hundred crimes throughout his life, that he could shoot lasers from his eyes when angry…
Twilight doubted the validity of the last one. Maybe.
“So… uh… what’s your request…?”
Dreadnaught nodded and smiled slightly. “Okay, then…” He turned away and shouted, “Hey, Quill, come over here!”
A single griffin looked over at the two, stared for a second, and walked over to them. He rubbed the side of his head as he approached, causing Twilight to notice his plumage: it was stark white, but the tips were pitch black. In fact, his colors looked almost like an inverted version of Prosecutor Dire’s, but without that weird stripe on his head. His body, on the other hoof, looked to be a mess; the griffon was disturbingly gaunt – which caused him to look less like a griffon and more like a steel pipe with feathers glued on to it – and large bags sat under his gray eyes. His plumage looked as if it hadn’t been properly washed in weeks, maybe months, and his talons were chipped and broken.
“Yeah, yeah… What is it, Dreadnaught?” he asked, his voice sounding both tired and irate. “You finally got something for me to work on? Because this is starting to get dull.”
Dreadnaught nodded, and looked over to Twilight. “I don’t believe the two of you have met, have you?”
“No,” Twilight admitted, looking over the annoyed-looking griffin, before she cautiously held out a hoof. “Um… I’m Twilight Sparkle.”
The griffin nodded curtly. “Sullivan Quill,” he said, about as tersely as physically possible. “Police Psychoanalyst.”
“So… uh… what is it that you want me to do, exactly?” Twilight asked, her gaze turning to meet Dreadnaught’s eyebrows… er, eyes. Naturally, her neck was craned at a very uncomfortable angle.
“So far today, nopony’s been able to speak with Princess Celestia due to some reason or another. I want you to take her statement, as she will likely want to see somepony she is close to in this sort of… situation. Oh, yes,” he added, “and you’ll be taking Quill along with you, too. Just in case.”
“Delightful,” Quill said dryly.
“Wait,” Twilight interrupted. “I understand you wanting me to get the princess’s statement – I guess she’d be more willing to tell me everything than somepony else – but… why’s he coming along, too?”
“Let’s just say that he’s… interesting,” replied Dreadnaught.
Quill rolled his eyes in response. “Yeah, yeah. He just means nopony else wants to deal with me,” he deadpanned. “Now, can we just get this crap over with?”
Dreadnaught turned to him, his eyes suddenly becoming sharp. “Now, listen here,” he growled, suddenly sounding much less professional. “I’m not going to tolerate this, not even from you. The last thing we need is for the princess to refuse because you feel the need to act like a child.”
“Fine, I get it. You don’t need to tell me twice, Dreadnaught.” Quill grimaced, seemingly his default facial expression, and let out a sigh. “But just because you’re asking me. I just want to get in there, and to get out as fast as I can.” For just an instant, his eyes seemed to darken. “After all, there’s only so long left…”
Twilight looked back and forth between the two. “Um… am I missing something here?”
Dreadnaught shook his head. “No, there’s nothing about this you should worry about, Princess,” he said, suddenly regaining his professionalism. “That’s all I have to say on the matter, however. My apologies again, Princess Twilight, and I wish you luck.”
Without another word, he turned and stepped back over to a group of ponies, one of whom Twilight recognized as Detective Cold Case from several days prior, before he began to instruct them, as well.
“Well, not much we can do about it now, huh?” Quill asked, sounding both incredibly bored and no less irritated than he had before. “C’mon, Sparkles. Let’s just go and get this thing over with.”
Twilight kept her jaw clamped shut, pushing back the urge to scream at her new “partner.” The nicest thing she could say about him so far was that he kept his mind on the job at hand, so at least they shared a common goal.
Then again, it would give her a chance to talk to Celestia, so maybe she could share her findings on the paper constructs that had been attacking Equestria as of late. She could tell her about Gilgamesh, about her theories of how something was sending these monsters into their world, and everything else. In a way, she was actually thankful to Quill for that much.
But that probably wouldn’t help alleviate the inevitable pain from working with him.
The unused room was dark, to the point where only the vague shape of its sole occupant could be seen. Not even a single piece of furniture rested within. It was in a room much like that wherein Luna had been attacked.
Had she just been more diligent, had she just tried harder, she could have…!
Celestia slammed her eyes shut, and forced herself to focus on the matter at hand. Yes, Luna had been attacked, but she was far from dead. At least she could take some sort of refuge in that.
But still, the thought that any of her citizens – that her ponies, such innocent beings as they were – could have committed such a fell act was absolutely heartbreaking. She’d thought that four years ago had been the last time such brutality would be witnessed, but… the mere realization that such a thing could have happened was more than she could bear.
And even if Luna fully recovered, the scars, both physical and psychological, would definitely remain. How could she ever feel safe in the palace again? How could Celestia feel safe, given the criminal managed to sneak past the guards with no difficulties in the slightest? How…?
“Princess…?” The door opened ever so slightly, and a figure stumbled in. In the darkness, Celestia could barely make out his facial features, though that voice seemed familiar enough.
She blinked just once, tearing herself out of her mind, and focused on the creature before her. “You are… my sister’s messenger, correct?” Encrypted Glass, she believed it was. But why was he there? And, more importantly, why was he trembling so much…?
Without warning, he leapt towards her, causing Celestia to brace herself… only to feel him wrap his forelegs around her neck, and to start sobbing profusely into her side.
“I-I’m so… so… s-sor-sorry, P-Princess…!” he wailed. “It’s my…! I-I’m…!” He continued in a similar vein, starting sentences, but not ending them, as his tears continued to stain her coat.
“Calm down, Mister Glass,” Celestia said gently, and placed a wing about his body. “Please, just tell me what happened…”
Glass paused for a moment in his crying to wipe away the tears, and nodded. “Y-yes… I’m sorry, Princess, I’m…” He hiccupped, and coughed. “I… It’s all my fault that Princess Luna’s… that she’s…!” Without warning, he fell back onto her coat, the tears springing forth anew.
“Mister Glass, please just tell me what happened…” Celestia repeated.
“It’s my… it’s all my fault, Princess!” Glass said, clearly trying to hold back his tears. “If I’d… if I had-h-hadn’t taken that stupid detour, I’d have… I’d have…”
Celestia stared down at him, and moved in close to nuzzle him, to make him feel safe. “Start from the beginning,” she said, her voice still extremely gentle.
Glass swallowed and nodded. “Right… I was… I was supposed to be here several hours ago… b-back when… when Prince-Prin-Princess Luna was attacked… If I’d just been here, I could’ve… I’d… I…”
Once more, he broke out into sobs against Celestia’s side. This clearly wasn’t going to get anywhere at this rate. Loathe though she was to admit it, that was a fact that could not be denied – Glass was clearly too far gone to recount anything of that like, instead showing such guilt, shame, and pain as he did at the moment. In that case, it would be up to Celestia to discern his meaning for herself.
He’d taken a detour, he said? Yes, that sounded right. So then, had he not taken said detour, he would have arrived earlier, back around five in the morning?
Celestia blinked just once. “That seems… awfully early,” she said at last. But to think, that was before most creatures even woke up normally, and the mail wasn’t sent out until approximately… six or seven, she believed it was. It was hard to keep track of the exact time, given that it seemed to change every day.
Glass pulled himself out of Celestia’s plumage, and nodded through his tears. He took a deep breath, swallowed, and said, “Y-yes, Princess… Princess L-Luna always wanted me t-to be pre-prepared in case of any… any… prob-pr-problems…” He wiped his eyes, and hiccupped. “Y-yes… She… she did…”
His expression suddenly changed, even visible in the darkness. “Princess Celestia, please… is Princess Luna…? W-will she… will she be…?!”
“Luna… Princess Luna,” Celestia corrected herself, “will be fine. Her wounds weren’t particularly deep, and the dagger missed several of her vital organs. Believe me, Mister Glass, you’ve nothing to fear.”
“I… I see… Yes. I do.” Glass let out a sigh of relief, and gave a shaky smile. “At least… at least there’s that much…”
Celestia nodded. “Yes, she’ll be completely fine. It will take time, but –” she averted her gaze from her sister’s messenger “– in the end, there is no need to make yourself suffer unnecessarily.”
“I suppose…” he admitted, his voice and speech suddenly becoming more formal. “But had I not taken that detour, Princess Luna would never have entered such a state to begin with…” He stepped away, turning his gaze to the nearest wall. “How, then, can I not blame myself for this? If I’d been there…”
“You would have been attacked as well,” Celestia pointed out.
“Maybe, but…”
Glass said nothing more, though his silence spoke volumes.
Several minutes passed in the darkness, before Celestia said, “Mister Glass, I assure you that any problems regarding my sister will be taken care of. The assassin shall be caught and tried for their crimes. Whoever he or she is, they will not be allowed to cause any more strife across Equestria.” She smiled. “So please do not fret, because I promise that everything will be fine.”
He bowed his head in response. “Everything will be fine,” he echoed quietly. “I… I see. Yes. I do.”
Again, the room was quiet for roughly a minute. Glass finally said, “Princess, I apologize for my ignorance in this matter. And… thank you for putting my mind at ease. If only somewhat.”
Celestia could feel nothing but compassion for the poor creature – to think that he was suffering so much, even though he had not been harmed in the slightest! Perhaps, she thought to herself, there were monsters such as the assassin lurking about her beloved land. But for every beast, there were several hundred creatures such as Glass. It was quite uplifting, to say the least.
The sound of the door to the chamber creaking open interrupted her thoughts, and Celestia found her gaze turning away from Glass as sunlight flooded the room.
The door opened slowly, the rust on its hinges evident of the lack of use. Twilight simply stood aside, watching as her “companion” pulled it open, muttering to himself under his breath.
As the room came into sight, light poured into it from a window behind them, revealing its two occupants: Princess Celestia, whom they had been searching for, and – perhaps most surprisingly of all – Encrypted Glass, Princess Luna’s messenger.
The two instantly looked up to the new arrivals in obvious surprise, and Quill placed his talons to his forehead. “Of course,” he muttered, dry as ever. “She would be in the last place we’d think to check, wouldn’t she…?”
“Princess, I’m so sorry if we’re interrupting anything,” Twilight said, feeling mortified at having caught the two in such a moment. “But we’ve been looking for you for the past three hours and…” She trailed off, just barely avoiding the urge to tell her mentor of her new desire to punch Quill in the jaw.
Celestia stood up, and nodded to Glass to follow suit. “Yes,” she said, “I apologize for having hid myself away, but I felt I had to be…” She suddenly stopped, her eyes slowly trailing over to Quill. She simply stared at him for several seconds, before she managed to say, “D-Doctor Quill, I–”
“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, his deadpan voice just barely hiding a layer of venom. “I’m just here to take your statement. I don’t want any of your sugar-coated nonsense, so let’s just get this crap over with, got it?”
“Yes, I–”
“Now wait just a second, here!” Twilight shouted, feeling the last bit of her resolve snap as she wheeled toward Quill. Her eyes became narrow, and she growled, “You can mock me as much as you want, but how dare you talk to Princess Celestia like that?”
For just a second, she thought Quill’s eyes flashed. The bored expression on his face completely faded away as his lips twisted into a scowl, and his eyes narrowed to match her own. “I’ve got no reason to explain that to you, Sparkles.”
“You’re treading on thin ice!” she snapped. “If I hear you say one more thing – just one. More – like that, you are off this case!”
The tension in the room was so thick that one could cut it with a knife. For just a moment, Twilight thought that Quill was going take heed of her warning.
Then the corners of his lips twitched into a smirk and he turned his head to the side. “You seem angry, Sparkles. Are you angry?”
It wasn’t the fact that Quill was obviously baiting her that set her off. It wasn’t that he was smirking, or that he was asking such a rhetorical question. It was simply how he said it, his voice dripping with a sort of sarcastic smarminess she had never heard in her entire life.
Twilight could feel herself practically light on fire, her face likely becoming red with rage and hatred at her “partner.” “That does it!” she shouted, loud enough to be heard several rooms over. “You, Sullivan Quill, are off this case! Leave the palace NOW!”
As she finished her outburst, Quill placed his talons on his chin, his smirk becoming even larger and more mean-spirited. “Sorry, Sparkles, but you don’t have the authority to do that.”
“I am a princess of Equestria, Doctor, and I assure you that I have more authority than you want to pretend.”
“Really? So, you’re the chief of police, now?” Quill said, his expression changing back to looking completely uninterested. “Alright, then… why don’t you go and tell the others how to investigate, hmm?” He cracked his neck from side to side. “I’m sure that Dreadnaught would be glad at your input.”
“I-I never said that!”
“No? Huh, guess I just imagined it…” Quill let out a yawn. “The only creature in Equestria with any authority over me is the chief of police. I’m afraid that being a novice princess just isn’t going to cut it, Sparkles.”
Twilight gaped. Yes, she had known that Quill was rude, and sarcastic, but for him to have been such a blatant jerk was just disgusting. At least everypony else she’d met who acted like that seemed to have some sort of motivation for their actions. But Quill?
Well, Twilight had to suppress the urge to punch him in the jaw for that.
“You… I just, just…” Twilight stammered, attempting to say something that would show her self-control. Celestia knew that Quill didn’t seem to have any.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Quill said, not allowing Twilight to finish her statement, and walked up to Celestia.
“Come on, then,” he muttered, his voice suddenly sounding much more somber and irate. “Like I said, the sooner this crap can be dealt with, the better. I don’t wanna waste any more time than I have to.”
Celestia nodded weakly. “Yes… of course. Twilight,” she said, glancing over at her, “we’re going to head into a different chamber. Could you make sure that Mister Glass is fee–?”
“He’s fine,” Quill said, cutting her off. “None of his emotions are rampant, he’s displaying normal readings, and he appears to have mostly recovered. Now let’s go.”
Again, Celestia merely nodded, and said nothing else as she and Quill stepped out of the chamber.
Twilight simply stared after them as they vanished from sight, before she turned her gaze on the silent Encrypted Glass. “Argh! I can’t believe that guy!” she growled. She would rather have spoken with pre-friendship Gilgamesh. At least he hadn’t been that absurdly grating.
Glass blinked just once, as if awakening from a trance, and shook his head. “O-oh, yes, Princess.” He grimaced, and turned his gaze to the door.
“Hey, Glass, I’ve been meaning to ask… why’re you here? Shouldn’t you be seeing… Princess… L…” Her face fell as soon as the words left her mouth. “Oh… right.” She’d been so preoccupied with her “partner” that she’d completely forgotten Luna’s predicament.
“I-I’m sorry, Princess!” Glass blurted out, and hugged his forelegs around his torso. “I-I’d no intention of causing you any strife, I…!”
Twilight stepped over to him. “Calm down, Glass,” she said. “I’m… fine, see?” She pulled her face into a fake, plastered-on grin.
Though he seemed unconvinced, he nodded and unwrapped his hooves from his body. “Right… I’m sorry again, Princess, but ever since all of this stuff began happening, I can’t… I just feel so anxious. Yes. I do.” He turned his head away from hers.
Twilight blinked just once as she saw what appeared to be a large wound just to the right of his left ear, awkwardly and barely hidden beneath Glass’s large hat. It was a blackish-purple in color, and there was a small stream of dried blood on it.
“What happened to your head?”
Glass shrunk down and pulled his hat down further over the wound, leaving it completely lopsided. “I-I was trying to get here as fast as I could today, and I… er… I, um…” He coughed. “It’s a bit embarrassing… Yes… It is…”
Twilight stepped closer to him. “Looks like you hit your head pretty badly,” she said. “Did you trip or something?”
“Like I said, it’s embarrassing…” Glass’s face could not have been any redder.
Twilight stepped in front of him, and looked down at his hooves. They were covered in several bruises, tiny cuts, and scrapes. “Okay, Glass,” she said, sounding seriously concerned, “are you alright? These all look really recent, and–”
“O-of course, Princess!” he said, standing up as tall as possible, though he winced as several of his injuries pressed into the ground. “I’m absolutely fine! Yes. I am. So there’s no need for you to– a-ack!” Before he could finish that statement, Glass slipped and fell back, hitting the ground unceremoniously.
Twilight instinctively reached down and helped him back to his hooves. “Hey! Glass, are you okay?”
Although he was obviously dazed, Glass nodded. “Fit as a f-fid-fiddle,” he groaned.
“Fiddles don’t randomly fall over,” Twilight deadpanned.
“Y-yeah…” Glass rubbed the side of his head where the wound was, wincing as soon as he made contact with it.
Realization dawned on Twilight, and she mentally pressed a hoof into her forehead. “Glass.”
“Yes, Princess?”
“Please don’t tell me that you just randomly fell over, and that’s how you got your wounds.”
Glass blinked just once. “O-of course not, Princess!” he said for the umpteenth time that day. “The real reason was much more… um…” He paused for a moment, before mumbling something to himself.
Twilight leaned in close. “Sorry, what was that?”
“W-well I, er…” Glass grimaced, and picked at the ground idly. “I woke up today, and I was having a bit of trouble with my eyes. Yes. I was. So I just went outside and started running along the path here, when my legs just sort of…”
“So you tripped,” Twilight surmised.
Glass merely nodded, his face still beet-red.
“But what do you mean you ‘had a bit of trouble with your eyes’?”
For several seconds, there was a long, awkward silence as Glass continued to pick at the ground with his hoof. “I guess there’s no point in hiding it anymore, is there?” After several more seconds, he said, “I… I suffer from chronic migraines. Yes. I do. And they aren’t ones such as, say, a mere headache – I legitimately feel like my head is being split open whenever one of these comes around.” He continued to prod the ground with his hoof, staring intently at it and ignoring Twilight’s eyes.
Twilight nodded empathetically. She knew all too well the pain of a splitting headache, especially considering how her friends constantly seemed to be running into her, landing on top of her, or predicting pianos falling from above with startling accuracy.
She shuddered momentarily, before making a mental note to be extremely careful in case Gilgamesh ever decided to rid himself of his own piano. Considering that he was so strong, she would have to watch the sky whenever she went over to his house.
“But wait,” she said, coming back to reality, “don’t you have medicine for it, or something?”
Glass nodded. “Yes. I do. But it’s very limited – and expensive – and I ran out of my latest shipment just a few weeks ago. And since the source is so far away, I still have awhile to wait before I get a new batch.”
Twilight took a step away from him to give him more space. Perhaps it was out of a fear that he would randomly fall on top of her, or maybe it was due to a possibility that he would start to clutch at his head in agony. Either way…
“And that affects your eyesight?”
He stopped picking at the ground. “My depth perception, yes. It becomes much more stunted after a headache like that. My suppliers said that it had something to do with it messing with the area where my eyes connect to my brain, or something along those lines. Yes. They did.” He looked up and turned his attention to the door. “And when I have a hard time differentiating layers…”
Twilight winced at the thought. Seeing everything around a creature as being flat would frankly be very disturbing, if only because it would make her feel like she was in a cartoon, rather than a three-dimensional world.
Speaking of cartoons, she wondered how Gilgamesh was at the moment, before getting her mind back on track. It was not the time for going off on random tangents, after all.
“How long does this usually last?” she asked.
“The migraines or the eyesight problems, Princess?”
“Both.”
Glass nodded. “The migraines usually last… fifteen to thirty minutes, I think? Yes. They do.” He grimaced, and returned to poking the ground. “The issues with depth perception, on the other hoof… they’ve been anywhere between… ten, fifteen hours. This current one ended around the time I fell, so I’d say it was closer to twenty.”
Before Twilight could say anything else, however, he added, “But keep in mind, Princess, I’ve only had these a few times. Yes. I have. So I can’t be entirely sure.”
She nodded. “I see…”
“It probably also didn’t help matters that I was running as fast as I could,” Glass muttered, rubbing the side of his head again and wincing at the contact.
“Yeah, I can see that being a problem,” Twilight said dryly, and stepped closer to him. “Well… at least you seem much better off now, right? I mean, you could’ve gotten a concussion or something, but…”
“If I did, I doubt I’d notice it,” Glass admitted. “The pain from these headaches is so bad that a concussion wouldn’t feel very different.”
“Really? It’s… it’s that bad?”
“Well, I…” Glass paused, and placed a hoof on his chin. “Imagine the worst headache you’ve ever had. Now, multiply that by one-hundred.”
Twilight shuddered, her hoof instinctively moving to her own head. “Well… I, uh… I’m glad you’re okay now.”
“Me too, Princess,” Glass said. “Yes. I am.”
The two stood in an awkward silence for a long time before Celestia and Quill returned to the chamber. Celestia looked pale, somehow having become even whiter than her normal color. Quill, on the other hoof, looked as if he’d recently exploded, his grit teeth and curled talons not matching his gaunt form. He turned to look at Celestia, and Twilight could hear the venom in his words.
“I hope you’ll think about what I just told you, Celestia,” he said, “and how you brought this mess on yourself.”
Without another word, he turned around and stormed out of the chamber, refusing to even acknowledge Twilight’s and Glass’s presences. He slammed the door behind him, drowning the room in darkness once more.
Celestia leaned against the wall, looking as if she was about to collapse. “I-I… I’m…” she said to herself, also as if she couldn’t see Twilight and Glass.
“Princess!” Twilight ran over to her side. “Princess, are you okay? What the heck did that jerk say to you?!”
“O-oh, Twilight.” Celestia turned her empty eyes on her. “It’s… it’s nothing for you to worry about. Doctor Quill just… h-he went over some important matters regarding… regarding this… this…” She swallowed. “Regarding this… case…”
It was obvious something was bothering her, but Twilight had no idea what it was. How could she? It wasn’t as if she could read minds, or anything of the sort. She didn’t even know where to start.
“Princess…” Glass said, and looked over at the door. “I-I should be going. Yes. I–”
“Mister Glass,” Celestia said, interrupting him, “I-I… I’m sorry.”
He blinked. “Whatever for, Princess?”
Celestia shook her head. “Just… I’m sorry. But… you said you are worried about Luna, right?”
“Yes, of course, Princess.”
“Then, please… Luna is in the castle’s infirmary now. If you… if you wish to go see her, then please… please do so.”
“I-I understand, Princess,” Glass said. “Then I’ll just go. Yes. I will. And Princess Twilight…?”
“What is it?” Twilight turned to look over at him.
“Thank you,” he said. “Both of you.”
With those words, Glass opened the door to the chamber and walked out, attempting to cover the lump on his head with the hat once more. His movements were far more sluggish than Quill’s had been.
After he had left, this time leaving the door open, Twilight looked over at Celestia. “Princess… are you going to be alright?”
“Yes, of course.” Celestia took in a deep breath, and Twilight could already see some color returning to her face – which was strange, because, again, Celestia was completely white, but Twilight decided not to question it. “Yes, I-I should be fine. I just need some time to myself.”
“Oh… Okay, then,” Twilight said, and stepped over to the open door. “I’ll get back to Chief Dreadnaught. I’ll, uh… I’ll see if there’s anything else he wants me to look into.” She trotted outside, and started to close the door.
“Twilight, wait…”
But it had already been too late, and the door to the chamber slammed shut, leaving Celestia alone in the darkness once more.
It was only much later that Twilight would realize just what she had forgotten to tell her about.
Even for someone who had only been living in the area for seven days, Gilgamesh could not deny that feeling of something stirring in the pit of his stomach. It couldn’t have been dread, because he had already conquered his fears of the world – friendships had been formed, swords had been swung, dragons had been slain, and pianos had been played. But even in his small, almost empty home, he felt a chill run down his spine.
Maybe it was the fact that Twilight, nor any of her – his – friends had come to force him to wake up. A first, really. Maybe it was just that strange sense that he got whenever something was about to go horribly, painfully wrong. Maybe it was just the nervousness from performing on Nightmare Night in mere days – three days, at that, if he didn’t count today.
But no, he knew the feeling all too well. When Bartz and his allies stormed Exdeath’s castle, that same sort of chill struck his spine. That feeling was not nervousness, not fear, not even dread. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what it was, but it was something far beyond mere terror.
His fingers touched the piano keys lightly at first, but he couldn’t bring himself to practice. Not yet, at least. There was something that he needed to look at first.
Gilgamesh stood up from the piano and dusted himself off. He turned to look over at the door, and stepped over to it. Pausing for a mere moment, he placed one of his many hands on the doorknob and turned it. As the door opened with a small creak, Gilgamesh stepped outside, and turned his eyes up to the sky.
It was normal. Everything was in its place, as it had been the previous few days. So why had he been so worried about it? Under normal circumstances, Gilgamesh would have merely chalked it up to warrior’s intuition, but there was literally nothing there. No monsters, no friendly creatures, nothing of the sort.
At least when he and Bartz had fought, or had interacted, there was some sort of threat evident. At least then he had been justified in his nervousness, but now it just felt as if he was freaking out over nothing.
“It must be these past few days,” he said. “Dragons, murder threats… Tch! To think that this world looks so serene…” He shook his head, and turned around to head inside.
Gilgamesh paused just before stepping into the building, however, and looked back over his shoulder. Still, there was nothing that he could see, and he shook his head. Yes, it must have been the past few days just messing with him. Everything was probably fine.
Or, at least, he hoped it was.
The Canterlot Police Department was dead silent. Not a single creature spoke as they all processed the information. In a room far in the back of the building, two ponies were exchanging information regarding the case.
“Not a single trace…?” said Detective Cold Case. “What the heck do you mean by that?!”
“Exactly that, Detective,” Dusty Trail, one of the forensic scientists, said. She brushed a hoof through her auburn mane. “My team looked all throughout the castle, and not a single trace of any sort of intruder could be found. No hoof prints, no magic marks, not even any signs that anything had been tampered with. And,” she added, “I have something else that you’ll probably be interested in.”
“What?”
“The door,” Trail said. “It was opened normally. No lock picks were used, the window wasn’t opened by anypony, and there were no signs of breaking and entering.”
“What about teleportation?” Case asked. “Is it possible that the assassin–?”
“No. The princesses’ chambers are specially designed so that nopony can just teleport in. Same goes for the infirmary, and some other important rooms that aren’t normally open to the public.”
“I see… Then, in that case, it means that whoever is responsible for the attack–“
“Yes. It means that he, she, or it knew about the key, enough to have an exact duplicate lying around.” Trail paused. “And, if I may say, note that the our would-be-killer would have to have seen that key a lot. Princess Luna kept it far from the prying eyes of the public to prevent just this sort of thing from happening.”
Case nodded. “Right. So that leaves out most of Canterlot.” She paused. “So the most likely candidates would be those who know the princess, or at least worked with her. A maid, maybe, or a royal guard?”
“I doubt it.” Trail cracked her neck. “Looking at this logically, nopony in their right mind would attack a princess – the punishment for such a thing is far too much. If you want my honest opinion… I think that the attacker behind this might be responsible for the deaths around Canterlot.”
Case rolled her eyes. “Really? First Dire, now you?”
“You can’t deny the connection, can you?” Trail asked. “Think about it: three creatures wind up dead, a princess is nearly killed, a death threat is sent out to Ponyville, all in the span of a month…” She shook her head. “Ugh… I haven’t seen this much wanton violence in four years.”
Case grimaced. “Okay, I’ll admit that there are some similarities, but that doesn’t mean that they’re connected, right? For all we know, it could just be a coincidence.”
“You’re absolutely right,” Trail said. “But there’s a certain point where these facts all start to blend together. The closer I look at this case, the more similarities I find between it and the three suicides, and even that death threat.”
Case shook her head, but said nothing in reply. She knew that she couldn’t possibly argue with Trail; her logic was sound, if somewhat flawed, but she had to keep up appearances.
But before she could say anything, Case felt something tap her on the shoulder. She turned around and saw Sullivan Quill, standing still and with a face as bored as ever.
“What do you need, Quill?” she asked, not looking forward to speaking with him.
“I’ve got something I need to talk to you about.”
“Can’t it wait? I’m in the middle of an important conversation, here.”
Quill rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I can see that. But I have something more important I need to speak to you about. Now. In private,” he added, glaring over at Trail to accentuate the point.
Case sighed. “How important are we talking about?”
“Important enough to get me out of my lab and to waste my time talking to you.”
Case froze. It was common knowledge that Quill often locked himself up in his laboratory, doing Celestia-knew-what in there. If the information was pertinent enough to make him leave there...
She looked over at Trail. “Can you give us a minute?”
Trail shrugged. “Sure thing,” she said. “I’ll give you ten, if you need it. It’s not like I really planned on sleeping tonight, anyway…” She stepped out of the small room, leaving the two of them alone.
“Alright,” Case said, turning her gaze back on Quill, “what’s so important about this case that you have to talk to me alone?”
Quill looked around the room for a few minutes, and took in a deep breath. “Before we start talking, I’d just like to say that you’re not very good at disguising yourself, Case.”
She could practically feel her blood freeze in her veins at that statement. “Wait... what do you mean?”
“I know who you are, Detective.” Quill smirked that cocky smile that he always wore when he knew he was right.
“I-I have no idea what you’re talking about.” How did he know? How did he know?!
Quill cracked his neck. “I can feel your fear, Case. I think that’s enough to know that I’m correct.” His smirk fell. “Also, you shouldn’t leave out your personal files; it’s bad for your reputation.”
Case slammed a hoof into her forehead. The one time she accidentally misplaced her information, and of course he would find it. “Ugh… H-how much do you know?”
“Enough. But I’m not here to blackmail you, or anything like that.” Quill ran his talons through his matted hair. “Like I said, I have something important that you need to know. That bit of information was more to make sure that you are who your files say you are.”
“And how’s that supposed to help solve the case?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m getting to that.” Quill muttered something incomprehensible under his breath. “But if you’re as desperate to solve this as the rest of us are, then I think you’ll understand what I’m about to tell you…”
But as he began to speak, and as Case began to listen fervently, neither of the two noticed the small creature on the wall that seemed to be recording their every word.
Gilgamesh placed his fingers on the piano keys once more, only to pull them away again. No matter how many times he tried, he simply couldn’t force himself to do it. It was as if there was something wrong with him, or perhaps with the piano, but he couldn’t say what it was.
It was weird, though – that day, he hadn’t done anything of note. At all. In fact, he felt as if he’d led one of the most uninteresting days in his entire life. And for someone like him, that was saying a lot.
He placed his fingers back on the keys, and forced himself to play them once more. Gilgamesh had literally been practicing all day, save the few times he’d gone to eat, and the experience was starting to take its toll on him.
But still, he managed to play, and the result sounded better than anything he’d done before.
Gilgamesh sat back and shook his head. He was definitely improving, but he just wished that he could do something else. Even tilling Applejack’s farm, or going out into the rain, or speaking with Twilight had been better experiences than sitting alone for several hours.
He just felt completely and utterly bored. Reluctantly, he stood up and walked back over to his bed. Maybe if he went to sleep, the next day would be more exciting. At least then he’d be able to do something with himself. But until then, he’d just have to sleep off the minor irritation, underneath the bright moon up above.
Stats
Page generated in 0.032 seconds
Total duration
1,014 users online
1,725,162 hits today, 2,073,628 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I take it Quill has some kind of terminal disease and doesn't really care who he upsets given is imminent demise. I really do wonder what he and Celestia talked about though. Keep up the good work!
Oh, yes. Well done.
Sorry it took so long to read this. I've been... preoccupied with things. Anyway, Dr. Quill is an incredible character. I like a good anti-hero, they shake things up, keep them interesting.
Dreadnaught is a fitting name for your behemoth (pardon the pun) of a Police Chief.
I wonder what sort of creature could be the assassin. I love how you write, it really is a tragedy that you aren't more well-known.
I await future chapters with eagerness
Once I found this story and saw it had Gilgamesh from FFV, I knew I just had to read it. Now that I read all of it I am sad that there isn't more yet. Anyways, I am liking this story. I can imagine him having that personality for the most part and quite frankly Gilgamesh was my favorite from FFV. I hope that more people try this story, although its understandable since FFV is quite old, I only played it when I got it on my iPhone. However, I appreciate that you braved such a uncommon CO. I will now wait for the next chapter impatiently.
4124683
I'm actually gonna just say changeling...gotta figure out a way to fix starvation. Plus his ability to tell emotions...