Guardians of Light: A Shadow Rises

by Alphadude007

Accommodation

Guardians of Light: A Shadow Rises

Chapter 5: Accommodation

-Canterlot, Equestria-

"Excuse me, Princess, but you're doing WHAT?!"

Luna remained stoic at Trixie's sudden shout. The unicorn magician was livid when she heard of the princesses' plan for the changelings. For Luna, such a reaction was anticipated.

"They will be treated as guests during their period of house arrest," Luna continued. "I expect them to be regarded with respect by all of the castle's occupants, including yourself, Miss Lulamoon."

"But they're changelings," Trixie half pleaded for some sort of punishment. "Why in the world are they being permitted to remain in Canterlot? Let alone in the castle itself?"

Luna gave Trixie a sympathetic look. "I do not trust those changelings any more than you do, Miss-"

"Just Trixie, please," the unicorn interrupted.

"As I was saying. I don't trust them any more than you do, Trixie, but my sister believes that they could be useful to us in the near future."

"But-"

"No buts, Trixie," Luna interrupted her sternly before she could protest any further. "I'm sorry about your predicament, I truly am, but this is the way it is going to be."

Trixie ground her teeth behind her grimace. "How long will I remain here?"

"As long as you wish," Luna answered.

"Then I would like to leave by tomorrow morning." Trixie spun on her hooves to look out her room window. Below the room were the bustling streets of Canterlot's business and shopping district. "I will not stay in the same building with those changelings any longer than I have to."

"An understandable choice," Luna said with a nod. "But might I ask you something? If you're comfortable with answering it, that is."

Trixie looked back at the princess. "How will I know whether or not I want to answer the question without knowing what it is?"

The night princess flashed a brief smile. "Fair enough. You were forgiven by Twilight Sparkle and her friends after your second visit to Ponyville, correct?"

Trixie's ears flattened against her head as she turned around to face the princess. "Yes, they did. What about it?" She asked in a guarded tone.

"Think about it," Luna's gaze grew stern as she spoke. "You took over the town, attempted to cause harm to multiple ponies, almost obstructed a diplomatic mission from Saddle Arabia, and had self-commemorating statues erected throughout the town. All of this was after harassing Twilight's friends and challenging her to a magic duel, which you won by cheating."

"Is this supposed to help me in some way?" Trixie asked defensively. "Because it doesn't feel like it."

"After everything you did, Twilight and her friends still forgave you," Luna's tone softened. "Neither of us are strangers to mercy, Trixie. I tried to usurp my sister. Twice. Yet Celestia sought forgiveness when we were reunited."

"Does this relate to your question in some way?" Trixie asked impatiently.

"I was just getting to that," Luna replied. "My question is that with you and I having experienced forgiveness for what we did in the past, would you deny the same mercy to somepony else?"

Trixie opened her mouth to respond but nothing came out. Instead, her eyes fell to the floor in thought.

"I'll leave you to think on that," Luna said as she turned around to walk out of the room. "Oh, and a servant will be by soon to ask what you want for lunch, if you want any, that is. I recommend the barley and oats soup. It helps me whenever I'm pondering something."

Luna walked out the room and closed the door, but not without noticing Trixie's expression still frozen in thought.

---

Nice place, Cipha thought as she scanned the guest room. A single bed sat against the back wall with a window flanking each side. A lone gas lamp stood at the ready on a humble wooden nightstand on the bed's right side. Facing the bed was an overly large ivory white couch. In the middle of the almost reflective white tile floor lay a circular carpet with a yellow and blue bulls-eye-like design knit into it.

"These will be your quarters for your stay here," the first guard grunted.

Fang and Cipha turned to face the white unicorn stallion with two-tone blue mane and tail. Behind him were a grey pegasus and a white unicorn guard, both in golden armor in contrast to the stallion's purple.

Cipha gave the stallion a nod. "We thank you for your generosi-"

"Your meals will be brought to you in approximately half an hour," the purple-armored stallion interrupted. "If you have any requests, relay them to these two guards through the door." The two other guards nodded at the acknowledgement. "Do you have any questions?"

"What's your name, guard?" Cipha asked. Fang's head snapped in her direction in surprise.

"What's it to you, changeling?"

Fang bared his teeth at the pony's venomous tone. A quick look from Cipha defused his hostile attitude.

"Well it's not like we're gonna be going anywhere. We may as well know who it is that will be presiding over our care," Cipha said calmly.

The stallion sneered. "Nice try. Hope your stay at Canterlot is as comfortable as it is quick." The stallion turned around and marched out of the room. No sooner had the guard left the room, the door was shut quickly behind him.

The two changelings stood in silence for a few moments.

"Well, at least they gave us a nice room to stay in. Better than that dungeon, that's for sure," Cipha said.

Fang cocked an eyebrow at the statement, not knowing whether that was her trying to be optimistic or self-assuring of the situation. "What are we even doing here, Cipha? We gotta find a way out of here," he said as his eyes flew over anything he could use in the guest room as a means of escape.

"Where would we go?" Cipha asked concernedly. "If we try to escape this castle, then we'd have the Equestrian Royal Guard coming after us. Even if we do outrun them, we can't go back to the hive."

Fang gave her a frustrated look. "And why not? The Shadow, or whatever that thing is called, doesn't know where it is."

"But Chassis was with him, Fang."

Fang froze, his fear instantly replaced with rage. "If he tells-"

"Chassis' allegiance is no longer to the hive, Fang. You and I both know what that means for the rest in those caves."

Fang took a moment for the words to sink in then slowly walked over to the nightstand. "He would," he whispered through gritted teeth.

"What was that, Fang?" Cipha inched her way closer as she spoke.

In a split second Fang's hoof lifted from the ground, took hold of the lamp and smashed it against the tile. "That motherbucker would do that! That mercenary, greedy, self-righteous… bastard!" Cipha stood motionless as Fang roared. "Kill the queen, if he wants! But to lead that monster to the hive! To lead that killer to our homes, our friends-" Fang's enraged words were choked out by emerging sobs as he simply collapsed to the floor. "You're right, Cipha," he said as tears flowed from his eyes. "We can't go back."

Cipha didn't dare take her eyes from Fang as he buried his face into his hooves and cried. Tentatively, she began walking over to him. When she was in reaching distance, she slowly put a hoof on his shoulder. Fang's sobs lessened in intensity as she knelt down next to him. "Fang, I feel for the hive as much as you do. I want to see Chassis pay for his betrayal. But not yet." Fang lifted his eyes up to meet hers. "Right now, all we can do is press on. And if our assumptions about the hive are true, then we're the last of the hive. We have to survive, not just for our sakes, but also for the future of the hive itself." By now, the tears were no longer gushing from Fang's eyes as her words calmed him. "Fang, we need each other if we're to survive. Can I count on you for that?"

Fang nodded with a sniffle. "I can. And thanks, Cipha. I'm sorry for my outburst. I shouldn't have-" He was cut off as Cipha suddenly embraced him.

"Nothing to apologize about."

Fang felt a foreign tear slip down his shoulder. He closed his eyes and hugged back. "We'll survive, Cipha. I can promise you that," Fang said assuredly.

Cipha didn't take her face from his shoulder. "Don't promise anything just yet. For now, we survive. For the hive," she said determinedly.

Fang nodded. "For the hive."

---

Celestia approached the guest room's white door, behind which were Twilight and her friends. Whatever these riddles Twilight and her friends have gotten, I'm certain they pertain to the Shadow's next move. Or I hope so, at least. Her horn glowed yellow as she pushed down the door handle with her magic. The door swung open to reveal all six ponies and Spike turning to look up at her.

"Thank you for your patience, everyone," Celestia said as she walked through the doorway and closed the door behind her. "Did I interrupt something?"

Rarity was the first to speak up. "Actually, we were just discussing how to talk to you about the riddles we've received."

"If you are able to remember the visions you received, then simply retelling of your visions would suffice," Celestia said urgently.

Twilight gave the solar princess an understanding look. "If there are more pressing matters that needed to be tended to, Princess-"

"Right now, Twilight," Celestia interjected. "I'd say Equestria's survival is a rather pressing issue. What you all have to say is what matters right now."

Twilight gave her former teacher a nod then turned to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, you had your riddle presented to you first. Do you still remember how it went?"

Rainbow gave her friends a somewhat confident smile. "Haven't forgotten it." The pegasus took a moment to clear her throat before she began. "From out of the frozen north, an ancient evil shall come forth. The sun will set on Canterlot, a sacrifice that won't be for naught. The Six will become Eight, and this world's path they will dictate. To herald a new dawn, or revive an evil once forgone."

The group looked from Rainbow to Celestia and her contemplative look.

"Interesting. What other riddles were there?"

"With all due respect, Princess," Applejack spoke up. "Don't we want to try to figure out what the first riddle means before we move on to the next?"

Celestia gave the apple farmer a quick smirk. "I appreciate the attempt at being thorough, Applejack. However, these riddles could be part of a larger picture. To gain an understanding of such a picture, we cannot inspect each portion individually. Who had the second vision?"

Spike raised his hand. "I did, Princess."

Celestia looked down at him. "And what did your riddle say?"

"In the desert sand…" Spike grimaced as he tried to remember the words. "And the wizard's tomb. Lies the… horsefeathers."

Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder. "It's okay, Spike. You can remember the words, right?"

"Yeah, yeah," Spike replied with a nod. "Just give me a second." The young dragon dug through his memory as he tried to remember. "Okay. Lies the answer to darkness's doom. When the West is shaken to its core, shall come the beckoning call to war. With a union of hoof, horn, fang, and… beak, on light and dark, havoc shall wreak."

Celestia's brows rose at the last few lines before she resumed her normal expression. "Any others?"

"I received one, Princess," Twilight said. "Well, it was more like a message than a rhyming riddle." Celestia gestured with her hoof to continue. "A voice told me in a vision that whatever is about to happen will shake the foundations of civilization. That Equestria, the Crystal Empire, Saddle Arabia and the Griffon Kingdoms are all at risk from what is going to happen. The voice also mentioned something called the 'long night', and that many will have to resort to violent means to protect themselves."

"Violent means?" Fluttershy said worriedly. "Are we sure there isn't a peaceful solution to this?"

"Well, if we have to fight to protect Equestria," Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Then we will!"

"No," Celestia commanded. "You seven will do no such thing. Even though your skills against the changelings proved impressive, I wouldn't dare risk you all against the monster that has been unleashed."

"What kind of mean ol' monster are you talking about, Princess?" Pinkie asked. "Surely he isn't that bad."

Celestia turned towards Pinkie and gave her a compassionate look. To have such an innocent and positive outlook on the situation… "You all will be informed as to the full extent of the situation after dinner tonight. Until then, you may settle in and accommodate yourselves."

"And what are you going to do, Princess?" Spike inquired as the princess opened the door to exit the room.

Celestia turned back and gave them an assuring smile. "I have some letters to send. In the meantime, a servant will be by soon to take lunch requests. Given the circumstances, I won't be able to visit with any of you until after dinner. That is when we can attempt at finding the solutions to these mysterious riddles you have received. Enjoy your stay." With that, she walked out the door and closed it behind her.

No sooner had the door been closed that she deftly put her ear to the door.

"Something's not right here," she heard Pinkie say.

"No kidding," Rainbow Dash said. "Princess Celestia's not telling us something."

"Or maybe she knows as much about what's going on as we do." Celestia smiled lightly at Fluttershy's defense.

"Oh I wasn't talking about that," Pinkie spoke up. "I think I left my party cannon at home. How can I throw a Canterlot party if I don't have my party cannon?!"

Celestia took her ear from the door and began walking down the hallway towards the throne room. I've got to get those messages out as soon as possible. Time is of the essence here, Celestia. Not a single moment can be wasted!

Author's Note:

I should really be writing and uploading more frequently, shouldn't I? Dang time management skills. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the chapter and review/critique!