The Epochust

by GoldenChozo

13: Solving the Riddle

Even though it was only one day, it felt like forever since I woke up to the sun through my window. At some point through the night, Daisy had managed to slip herself under my wing. I lifted it to wake her, which worked perfectly. She climbed off of me and onto the nightstand to examine the lamp. She bumped into my bracelets, causing one to drop to the floor. The sound of it hitting the wooden floor scared her. She jumped right back to the bed, knocking down the lamp in the process. She cowered between my hooves as the lamp crashed to the floor.

"Careful, Daisy," I said, climbing out of bed. I picked up the bracelet and put it on, along with the other one still on the nightstand. I cleaned up what I could of the lamp and threw it in the trash. I fed Daisy and prepared to walk out the door. "Don't break too much. I want to be able to recognize my house," I joked to Daisy. She responded with a salute and continued eating.

I closed the door behind me. I figured I would try and find Ace first, so I set off towards his house. I managed to run into him and Stella about halfway.

"Ace!" I said. "I was just looking for you. What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I wanted to apologize for my outburst," he said. "I was frustrated, and I took it out on you. For that, I'm sorry. I left to try and calm down."

"It's alright," I said. "I'm sorry, too."

"What for?" Ace asked.

"Stella mentioned you were frustrated because you couldn't tell us something, and I kept asking about it."

"You don't need to apologize for that."

"Didn't it make you even more frustrated?"

"Well, yeah. But I shouldn't have been frustrated in the first place." It was a fair point, one that I couldn't dispute.

"It's probably best if we all just forget about it," Stella added in. Ace nodded in agreement. While I was still curious as to what it could be, I agreed as well.

"I need to get going now," Ace said. "The boss won't be happy with me if I'm late again. You two have fun," He said as he started to walk away.

***

It had been a week since we returned from Canterlot. I tried to forget about Ace's strange decision and the unknown reasons behind it, but it was proving difficult. It was always partially on my mind, even during the most unrelated of conversations. As the days passed, I learned to ignore it, but it was still there.

Daisy is in the process of mentally mapping out my house. She's still startled by loud noises, even if she caused them. Thankfully, she hasn't broken anything else besides the lamp, which was replaced. I managed to get a bed for her, which is a little over the top thanks to Fluttershy's friend, Rarity.

I noticed something in the sky. It looked like a carriage similar to the one that picked us up for our trip to Canterlot. I took off flying towards it, but stopped when I realized I left Cres behind. I went back for her, and we both ran to the plaza, where it appeared to land. Stella was already outside the carriage when we got there. Ace landed beside her not long after we got there. Oddly, nopony else even seemed to care about the situation.

There were four ponies inside. The first to step out was Princess Luna. Behind her was a white earth pony, an orange unicorn, and a black pegasus. They each bowed in front of her.

"You have served in the Royal and Lunar Guard well. On behalf of my sister as well as all of Equestria, thank you. Farewell, Chrysoberyl, Blaze, Nighthawk." Each of them stood up as Luna called their name. "May you find success in your future." Only Chrysoberyl and Blaze managed to get away, as Nighthawk was tackled down by Cres.

"Nighthawk!" she yelled cheerfully.

"I didn't expect to see you here, Crescent," he said, still partially in shock.

"I take it you two know each other?" Luna asked, smiling.

"We were best friends when we were younger," Nighthawk said, finally standing upright. "We were neighbors in Canterlot before I joined the Royal Guard. I heard Crescent had moved away, but I had no idea that it was the same town that we're being released in."

"Well, I'm glad I could bring you back together," Luna continued. "Now, there is something that I must speak to Ace and Stella about. So if you two could come with me." She started walking away. Ace and Stella looked at each other before following. It was only me, Cres, and Nighthawk left.

"So why didn't you ever mention Nighthawk?" I asked.

"I didn't think I'd ever see him again," Cres answered. "Would you talk about Ace if he suddenly left and was never seen again?"

"Okay, I see what you mean."

"Nighthawk, this is Peppermint Splash. She's my best friend from Ponyville," Cres introduced. Nighthawk held out his hoof, which I put mine to.

"Nice to meet you," He said. "I'm Nighthawk, but I'm sure you figured that out already."

"Nice to meet you, too," I said in return.

Nighthawk was a very dark grey pegasus with a black mane and tail, and blue eyes. His cutie mark was that of a yin yang. He had metal braces around all of his legs. That curiosity that I had been trying to repress for the past week suddenly broke free as I remembered something Ace had said.

"So it was you who gave Ace that sword?" I asked.

"You mean that brown pegasus that the Princess called away a moment ago?" Nighthawk responded. "I've never seen him before." A very cryptic answer that confused me slightly.

"But, Ace said he got the sword from the retiring Lunar Guard. That's you, isn't it?"

"Right, but I would only give away one of my katanas if I knew I was about to die. Clearly, I'm still alive." I was completely lost. Somepony had to be lying. I decided to give Nighthawk the benefit of the doubt, as he at least doesn't try to hide stuff.

"Then are you missing any swords?" I asked, knowing full well that any more questioning would be useless.

Nighthawk lifted his wings to reveal two sword sheaths exactly like the one Ace had. He looked at both of them before answering, "Nope. They're both right here."

"I saw Ace's sword, too," Cres said. "It looked just like that. Where'd you get yours, Nighthawk?"

He closed his wings to hide the swords again. He looked down and said, "That's not something I want to talk about." He looked at me, with a very solemn look on his face. "But I will say this: If Ace has a katana like mine, then he may not be as good as you think."

"What are you saying?" I asked, actually scared of what he might say.

"Just be careful around him." He walked away, leaving me and Cres behind, completely confused.

"Does he mean..." Cres started, "Ace is bad?"

"And if the sword's an indicator," I added, "what does that mean for Nighthawk?"

"No," Cres said. "Nighthawk isn't a bad pony."

"I would like to agree, but think about it. Ace has a sword like Nighthawk's. Nighthawk didn't want to say how he got his, but he said that Ace might be bad if he has a sword like his."

"No. Nighthawk was part of the Lunar Guard. Maybe he got his swords from raiding an enemy base, and Ace is secretly with that group."

"But he was a Lunar Guard, not a part of the army. Even if that were the case, wouldn't he have told us where he got the swords?"

"I... but..." she stammered. She had nothing to counter what I had said. Instead, she just sat down.

"I know you haven't seen him in years. He could have changed during that time. Just be careful around Nighthawk until we can figure out what's going on."

"I suppose you're right," Cres finally admit. "I'm going to try and find him." And she walked away in the direction Nighthawk went. I decided that I should try to find Thunder, as I hadn't seen him all day. I started coughing before I left the plaza, but I paid it no mind, as I had been coughing for the past four days.

I ran into Stella shortly after getting out of the plaza. She was alone, which was odd. "Where are Ace and Luna?" I asked.

"Ace is looking for you, and Luna had a few things to discuss with the mayor before leaving," she answered.

"You were with Ace when he got his sword, weren't you?" I asked, the curiosity gaining strength due to the progress made on finally figuring out what was wrong with Ace.

"Well, no. I wasn't with him when he got it, but he told me Nighthawk gave it to him. You've met Nighthawk, right?"

"Yeah, and he said he'd never even met Ace."

"Well, Nighthawk may deny it, but it's actually true. He did give Ace the katana, but he doesn't remember."

"So, Ace stole it from him, then? But why isn't Nighthawk missing either of his swords?"

"You're looking at this the wrong way," Stella said, oddly calm. "You witnessed Nighthawk give it to him, but you also don't recall it."

"But I was with Ace when Luna raised the moon during the perihelion, and he didn't have the sword then. When he didn't return with us, I went to look for him, and found you and Ace. He had the sword then."

"Again, you're looking at this wrong. Remember what Luna read to you that morning?"

"Barely. It was about the Epic... something." I didn't think about it at all since we left, part of forgetting the entire thing. "But how do you know about that? You weren't there."

"I'll get to that later. The Epochust, correct? Remember what it does?"

I shook my head, as I actually had forgotten what Luna said. I coughed a few more times. I could tell that the cough was getting worse, so I decided that I would just head home after I was done talking to Stella, and find Thunder tomorrow.

"Well, the Epochust grants those who find it a certain power pertaining to time."

It started to come back together now. "Right, I remember now. It gives them the ability to alter... time..." And it suddenly started to make sense. As I pieced it together more and more, my coughing got progressively worse. "So, we already went?"

"Correct," Stella was smiling, clearly glad that I was figuring it out.

"But what... what about you?" I said between coughs. "I don't remember seeing you before the perihelion." There was some liquid in my throat, I could feel.

Stella looked around to make sure nopony was listening. "I was Princess Luna. She separated from me so that she could return to Canterlot while still able to keep an eye on all of you."

"So, you... made it to the... Epochust? But what about me... or Crescent?"

She looked grim. "You both died. The temple required three sacrifices to gain entry. Crescent unknowingly became the first. Nighthawk was the second, but he gave Ace his sword before doing so. I was captured during the first trial, but I escaped with the help of Luna. I made it just in time to see you give yourself in as the final sacrifice."

I was feeling nauseous hearing this story. I coughed a few more times. When I pulled my hoof away, I noticed it was stained red. "Pepper, are you alright?" Stella asked, noticing the blood as well. More blood came out as I coughed uncontrollably. It spattered on the ground between Stella and myself. I could barely keep my balance, I had my wings out to assist me.

"Pepper!" I heard Ace yell. "Princess, what's happening to her?"

"Luna was wrong," was the last thing I heard before I collapsed and the world faded to nothing.