Chapter 39 -Mirror's Edge-
-Mirror's Edge-
"So, Twilight Sparkle, I take it you enjoy the salad?" Skies asked. He smiled while he sat, relieved that she seemed to enjoy herself. He watched the princess stuff her face with greens, having moved passed her anxiety and suspicious treatment of the dinner that had been laid out before her.
With a green grin, Twilight nodded.
"It's a good thing that we were able to get the farms to start producing crops so soon." Skies looked out one of the large, open archways that replaced windows to see farmland off on the outskirts of the valley. "A few farmers moved in, including one from Ponyville, he grew what you're eating, Ms. Sparkle."
Twilight coughed into a hoof and took a deep draw from her cup. She smiled, believing she knew of who Skies referred too. "That might be Big Macintosh, he is a brother of a friend of mine."
"That would be his name." Skies said. "He just had a child recently, the first child born within the kingdom."
"R-Really?" Twilight said in surprise, having not been informed of Gilda's pregnancy by Applejack, only that Big Mac had run off with her. "With Gilda?"
"That's the mother's name. A healthy, Hippogriff filly."
Twilight placed her hooves on the side of her head and nearly swooned at the mental cuteness the foal might hold.
Skies glanced to Anara who smiled happily, she had tried to avoid looking at Twilight and spoke little so Twilight wouldn't be able to have that 'you sound familiar' moment. She sat on the same side as Twilight, a mere arm's length away. She wanted so badly to be able to openly talk to her sister-in-law, but the warning her father gave her about keeping her identity a secret robbed her of the ability to.
The dining hall, like the rest of the castle grounds, was reworked into fitting a more diverse and ornate design than the cold stone walls that used to fill the space. In content silence, Skies looked at his guests and rested on his right arm, leaning into the chair. "Not to darken the mood of the evening, but I have yet to ask, why has an Equestrian Princess and a world walker come to me, at nightfall, cloaked in secrecy?"
The happy tone of ignorance disappeared from Skies as he bore down on Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle.
Twilight paused and swallowed her food. "It is as we said, we need you to answer some questions."
"I remember the reason you gave me, but you haven't told me why you're here. The real reason." Skies cooed. "The reason that kept you from telling Tia about your diplomatic venture."
With a hard stare, Twilight understood that it was not a wise idea to try and hide her reason from someone over two thousand times older than she was. She was intelligent, and an Alicorn to boot, but in terms of the chess-like game that was politics, she was a mouse in a pride of lions. She jolted when a small flower bud bloomed in front of her and the soft laughing of the Lord of Farhaven tore away her attention.
"Twilight Sparkle, if you get that tense over a question about why you're here, I would hate to ask what your hobbies are."
"S-Sorry, Lord Skies." Twilight said, trying to show respect. Now that she had spent some time in his presence, it was hard to see him as the subject of fables that scared foals into following their parent's orders. The mental image of luring the young away to steal their souls before devouring their bodies sat stale in her mind as a new image replaced it. Both the old and the new fought for supremacy in her mind.
"Please." Skies chuckled. "Drop the formalities, I want us to be familiar enough to speak our minds without one feeling that they will have their head put on a spike for speaking out of turn."
Twilight placed a hoof on her neck in shock and Sunset choked on her drink.
"Dad!"
"What? Did I say something?" Skies chuckled, earning a glare from Anara and Sunset. "Too brutal of an example?"
"A bit." Sunset interjected. "We're here for answers and it is already risky to come here against the Princess' wishes without you alluding to gruesome death."
Skies gave a half nod. "Granted. I apologize." He waved his hoof, dismissing the atmosphere. "Now, with the awkwardness out of the way, why are you here? I heard mention of Harmony, someone you should not be able to talk with."
Twilight's breath hitched. "Why is that?"
"Because." Skies waved at a guard to summon the castle staff. In rows, many beings that were just as diverse as Farhaven's population had come in to clean, much to the surprise of Twilight and Sunset. Wolves had brought in dinner, but Skies wanted to wait until after dinner to show that he not only lived among, but employed all creatures. "Let us go to the council chambers to talk, that way we have some semblance of privacy."
When Skies stood, Anara and their guests rose to follow behind him. As they journeyed through the spacious halls, the large, clear windows Skies ordered to be put in offered up a peaceful site of Farhaven in the fading daylight sun. colored crystal lights illuminated doorways and windows as well as much of the newly stone-paved roads where creatures of all kinds walked and lived.
On top of some of the buildings in a small district sat large Wyverns, happily content as young Pegasi, Changelings, and Griffons played on their head amidst the trails of smoke rising from their nostrils. Elsewhere, Griffons, Diamond Dogs, and Earth ponies directed the hauling of a large stone from a lake barge to the dock, each unsure of how exactly to complete their task. Most shockingly, along the center street walked a familiar red stallion with a small Hippogriff on his back, sleeping.
"Not something you see everyday, is it?" Skies asked from behind Sunset and Twilight, jolting them from their staring.
"How are they getting along?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "I've never known a case of this many creatures that are this varied to live like this in peace."
Twilight remained silent, she hated it, but she had to agree. The more time that passed, the more wrong she saw with the world and how it operated. She wished she was able to help Princess Celestia fix it all, but a solution may lay with the ancient Spirit next to her.
"Without trying to sound too philosophical." Skies continued with his walk to the council chambers, but made sure they could hear him as they caught up. "Peace is an illusion, it causes us to become stagnant and complacent. There are little spats in Farhaven everyday, but we have our own guard force to police up those disputes. Even with that, at the end of it all, most creatures here have put aside their differences to help one another. We like to say this is a place for a second chance, but in saying that it reveals that they aren't really welcome elsewhere."
Skies glanced to Sunset and gestured to the crashed crane by the docks. "Last week, a crane fell on a changeling and all of her coworkers rushed to her side to help, even now they care for her until she is able to return to work; Ponies. Diamond Dogs. Minotaur. Deer. Bovine. Zebra. Dragons. Other Changelings. And even some of our not so living Ponies pitched in."
"Not so living Ponies?" Twilight asked.
"Undead Ponies." Skies said. "They don't know what to call themselves and neither do we, but we love them nonetheless."
"Come on, you can't expect us to believe you have zombies running around your city." Sunset rolled her eyes.
"Zombie is a bit much." Called a masonry worker as she exited a room she was allowed to live in while performing her trade within the castle. As if to illistrate, Skies' point, visible stitches were seen along her light brown body shortly before she whipped Sunset with her tail.
After the pony left, Skies sighed. "They resent ponies from outside Farhaven, you calling her kind Zombies would be like me comparing unicorns to walking phallic symbols."
"But that's not true!" Twilight sputtered.
"And neither is the stereotype of something lacking a heartbeat being mindless, brain eating vermin." Skies placed his hoof on the large stone doors that were ornately etched with scenes of Spirits from stories while being inlaid with protective runes. "Let us talk about that later, something more dire seems to be pressing us to talk."
Twilight and Sunset walked into the room cautiously, even when flowers bloomed along the walls and small soft leaves floated through the air as both Skies and his daughter sat.
Skies looked on as both mares tried to examine everything, but endeavored to look as if they were just taking a long time to get to a seat.
"Ahem." Anara mocked to get their attention. "Twilight, Sunset, please." She gestured to two seats nearest to her. "If my father wanted to harm you, you wouldn't have made it this far, please trust that we're being respectful."
Sunset Shimmer understood that she and Twilight were not being as sneaky as they believed they were. They took their seats and wondered where to start.
Twilight took a few deep breaths to clear her head and cupped her hooves together as she stared at the large being that smiled down at her with two golden eyes. "I guess I'll start off by asking: what is the Great Spirit War?"
Anara gulped at the question, there was still so much that her father refused to tell her and now that he was honor bound, or so he says, to respect Twilight's request, she wondered what answers he would give.
"A long and gruesome campaign between Harmony and Discord that lasted for one thousand years, give or take a century." Skies rubbed his face. "If you can imagine the concept of a world war, where every country's sole export was for the war effort, that was it, every species fought for the Spirits who in turn destroyed each other for what they thought should be."
"And what was that?" Twilight asked.
"To tell you that, I must give you a little context." Skies sighed. "Wars have been ever present on Equus since the introduction of mortal species. We Spirits acted as mediators, even though that isn't our purpose, we-"
"What's your purpose?" Sunset asked to Skies' amusement.
"One question at a time, please. Now, some of us helped out the mortal races and would live among them and in some cases were worshiped by them while others avoided them altogether. That is where the issues began."
"A difference of opinion?" Twilight asked.
"Essentially, that's how all wars start." Skies mused. He waved his hoof over the table and summoned an ancient map of Equus with drawn borders with key areas of conflict represented by fire, and to Skies' guests, there was a lot of it. "Discord was of the side where mortals existed for the sole purpose of serving Spirits and Harmony was on the side of just that, harmony. The arguments and tensions went on for longer than it took for empires to rise and fall until the Maker made one race to solve everything."
"Alicorns?"
"Exactly." Skies smiled. "Top marks, Ms. Sparkle."
Twilight looked at the map to a black spot to the north, an area she knew to now be known as the Wisp. "At the Gala, when the Elements backfired, Harmony spoke to me and showed me a glimpse of the past. You were there and you ran in, pleading for help so you could defend the Alicorns."
Knowing the memory, Skies nodded solemnly.
"Then she showed me an image of a burning city." Twilight's voice grew quiet.
"The Alicorn Capital was razed by Discord's forces." Skies said. "In the end, we arrived too late."
"Discord really attacked the Alicorns?" Twilight asked, becoming upset.
"Up until very recently, I believed that with all of my convictions. Having spoken to him just mere days ago, I'm not so sure."
Anara looked at her father with astonishment, mostly at hearing he spoke to Discord.
"I'll tell you later." Skies mouthed to Anara, but she just turned her gaze to Twilight's expectant face.
"You need to stop the secrecy, daddy."
Skies waved his hoof again and an image of a younger Celestia and Luna appeared, both wearing different mane styles and garb.
"Those two are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?" Sunset Shimmer asked. "They don't have their ethereal manes?"
"Oh, the whoosh thing they have on their manes?" Skies asked. "They like that alot, but yes, this is them, Tia's mane is pink and when it isn't enchanted she makes two long braids on either side of her head and brings the two braids back into a tail. Luna likes to put it up into a tail and let some of her bangs fall over her left eye."
"You seem to know them very well." Sunset said.
"I do." Skies smiled. "I tried to teach them various subjects, in the end, Celestia did what she was warned not to. So much magical talent, but behind an impatient mind it may as well be useless."
Twilight and Sunset looked at each other before snapping back to Shattered Skies.
"I take it neither mare told you this." Skies expanded the image before them to show him and few other Spirits that Twilight remembered from Harmony's memory. "We tried to teach them all we could to prepare them for a lifetime of trouble."
Sunset Shimmer fought a smirk. She looked at Twilight as she tried to think of the next question and beat her to it. "So, Shattered Skies, if I might ask, who was the better student?"
Twilight guffawed and looked at her friend. "Sunset! That isn't a proper-"
"Luna." Skies said without hesitation.
"What?!" Twilight and Sunset said in surprise, not expecting the answer.
"Luna is the better student." Skies said fully and waved at Quiet as she brought in a tray of coffee. "She is gifted in all subjects from agriculture to zoology. She took to education with vigor and always wrote at length about any subject I told her to research. I'm proud to have called her my student."
"What was Princess Celestia good at?" Sunset asked in disbelief.
"Combat, she enjoyed a good romp around and learning more applicable stuff like camping." Skies mused. "She really loved camping outside, that is if you could wrestle her away from the beach."
"The beach?" Anara asked, finally participating.
"Mhm, Celestia loves the beach. Whenever she went, she would make a shell necklace and make sure to get her mane cover in ocean water to give it that scraggly look." Skies said. "There was a time where I could see Luna running a nation through democracy and Celestia living on a sailboat, being herself."
"I think we're talking about four different ponies here." Twilight shook her head.
"Nope, your idol is secretly a beach bum in a monarchs body." Skies smile dropped a bit. "That is if you can get her to stop trying to kill Spirits and dissuade her from driving her country off the deep end."
"I guess that leads me to my next question." Twilight said. "I have heard that Celestia is being tricked and brainwashed, I don't understand this, how?"
"I don't know exactly. Chances are she could have trusted the wrong Spirits and made a large mistake." Skies blew on his coffee and set it down, deciding it was way too hot. "There are Spirits close to her that I suspect moved in after Luna was sealed. Chances are you've spoken to them without knowing they were Spirits."
"Illusion." Twilight nodded at Sunset.
"They seem to be dead set on destroying me and everything I stand for." Skies looked out the window. "Even your own historical texts have been altered to show that Spirits are vicious, hellish creatures from a fevered dream out to eat souls."
Twilight raised an eyebrow at the over the top example.
"What? I'm bitter about being called a soul eating sociopath." Skies shrugged. "We're immortal, not statues."
Twilight sighed. "So what now?"
"That's completely up to you, Twilight." Skies lifted his hooves in front of him. "You two can return to Ponyville and I will never tell anyone that you came to see me, essentially your allegiance won't come into question and you'll be safe."
"And the other path?" Sunset asked.
"That's up to you, stay, explore, you may even return here to use our library."
True to form, Twilight's eyes opened wide with curiosity. "Tell me more."
Skies pointed a large hoof to the window to a large museum standing above the nearby buildings. "Do you see that building? The one with the black and gold gilded roof? Covered in gargoyles?"
"Yes."
"That is our museum and library, the Spirit of Knowledge, a personal friend of mine, has agreed to run it and lend us a copy of a great many books in her personal collection. Many scriptures and novels thought to have been lost during the Spirit trials exist in that building and nowhere else on this planet."
After a long moment of silence, Twilight stood and calmly walked to the door. "Um, well, if you'll excuse me I must go."
Skies laughed. "I thought you'd enjoy that, after our talk, I'll walk you there and introduce you to the curator myself, but first we must finish our talk."
Twilight teleported back to her seat and smiled nervously. "Okay."
"So I take it you no longer fear me?" Skies asked.
Twilight shook her head. "You still terrify me, I remember growing up and thinking that you were in my closet, but I can see now that you're trying really hard to seem kind."
Sunset nodded. "And putting that aside, we're still unsure if this is genuine or an act."
Skies held up a hoof, cutting off what would have been Anara's scornful words. "No, Anara, that is the wisest thing they can go with right now. It would be foolish for them to blindly trust me without evidence to what I've said."
With an unsure look to Twilight, Sunset took a deep breath. "If you don't mind, Shattered Skies, I have some questions and unfortunately, they're more pointed than Twilight's"
Skies gave a slow bow of his head. "I have heard much about you, Sunset, and about your world. Please, ask away."
"Even if Princess Celestia has been enchanted, then there must be some fear for it to amplify, so I ask, why is she afraid of you?"
"I do not know." Skies said half heartedly.
"There is an ancient civilization, Cahokia, that you're credited with destroying." Sunset stared into Shattered's eyes, temping her fate. "Did you?"
"No." Shattered shook his head.
"Then why does Celestia believe you did? To the point of making burial mounds and a memorial?"
"Because there was magic used there that I believed only I possessed." Skies hovered his hoof over a vine and with no degree of speed, it grew black and barbed. The onlookers in the room felt a chill. "I can manipulate any flora into something else with enough time. The vines that run all over Farhaven are a species out of the Foenum Rainforest, they grow fast and spread wide, but they can not become flowers without me, much like this barb you see in my hoof. Do you see it?"
With a few nods from his guests, Skies set the barb on fire with a nearby candle and sent away the vine. "That vine is of my own creation, should it pierce the heart and toxins enter your bloodstream, you will become immobilized, but not numb, your life force will slowly feed the earth. It takes weeks for someone pierced to die and you're awake for every second."
Anara covered her mouth in disgust. "Why would you create that?"
"As a punishment." Skies said matter of factly. "The peace you have in this era is unprecedented, in the other eras, evil, true evil, lived in the streets and creatures committed monstrous acts. Each Spirit had their own way of dealing out justice and that, was mine."
"Do the Princesses know?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, they stumbled upon a dark forest when they were young, I had a long talk with them and eventually Luna grew to understand but Celestia felt it to be too cruel. See, when the barb begins to work, a tree forms around them, a barren, white tree." Skies sighed. "In what is now Baltimare, near the Cahokian mounds, there is a forest with the same trees, barren and white."
"Is it reversible?" Anara asked.
"Yes, but it is very invasive and only a Spirit can reverse it, otherwise, no." Skies said.
"When did you last use it?" Sunset asked.
"During the Prench revolution." Skies smiled and thought back. "The monster Feather of Truth took down returned and that's when we found out he made himself immortal, so that was our solution. One of the toughest fights I have ever been in."
"Well, those are the questions I have for now." Sunset finished and sat back in her chair.
"So will you two return?" Skies asked.
"Maybe." Twilight said after a few quiet words were exchanged between her and Sunset. "There is much we need to discuss and there is the matter of you having a dangerous magic at your disposal."
Sunset cut in. "That actually doesn't bother me as much, I was able to discern something like that when I visited the Baltimare Catacombs with Desert."
"You and the guard?"
"Yeah, we're old friends and when we ran into eachother, we've become friends again, she even makes me stay at her place." Sunset smiled at Twilight quiet clapping. "She also tells me where Skyfall is going to be."
'I wonder if Desert is allergic to manual labor and being covered in lemon juice?' Skies tried to remain unemotional, but Anara fought a laugh when he failed.
"The best I can do right now is to speak to the others and see about returning." Sunset said.
Twilight shifted in her chair to glance at the library again, as if to make sure it was still there. "I think that I am finally ready to speak with the Princess about coming here, or at the very least, talking to you." She smiled at Skies and Anara. "Princess Luna always spoke very highly of Spirits, if I can get her support than it will be three Princesses against one."
"So Princess Cadance is in support as well?" Anara asked.
"I am not entirely sure, but she has always had the most open mind out of the four of us." Twilight smiled. "I haven't spent time with her lately, hopefully soon I can and see how she feels."
Anara clapped her hooves and smiled at her father who nodded in return.
Sunset and Twilight stood and adjusted their cloaks. Twilight gave a small bow to Skies. "I think it is time for us to leave, there are still so many questions I need to ask, but if we're gone much longer then we might be found out."
"Then take a few books with you." Skies waved at Quiet who was waiting by the door who then rushed off.
"Oh, we have no time to browse, knowing me I'll be there until next winter, or longer." Twilight admitted.
"And I'd end up living there." Sunset shrugged.
"Nonsense." Skies stood and moved to his guests, preparing to escort them out. "Quiet left and will meet us at the border with some books for you to read."
Both opened their mouths in protest.
"I know both of you enjoy more subjects out of academia, Raven, the Spirit of Knowledge will respond in kind." Skies moved the mares along.
Twilight looked up to the Spirit. "There was also one thing that Harmony said to me. She was able to see through my eyes and I still don't understand how."
With a strained breath, Skies fought his words to organize them. After a moment, he stopped her from walking and turned to face her. Night had finally fallen and the moon shown rays of light through the windows giving everything a ghostly outline. "The Elements of Harmony were once Spirits, Twilight Sparkle. Loyalty, Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, and Generosity were all Harmony's closest friends. They shouldered the ultimate sacrifice for Harmony to give us a fighting chance, Harmony in the end, however, is their center focus and as a result chose to sacrifice herself as well. They live on in the Elements of Harmony and dwell within you and your friends."
Twilight put a hoof on her chest, feeling a small surge of warmth in her chest.
"We ultimately won that war, but the world has a little less in it now." Skies' voice faltered at the memory of the six of them leaving. "Crystal made a tree deep underground to store the Elements and I placed deadly, black barbed vines to protect it, something I know you all have come into contact with."
"Those black vines were the same deadly ones you showed us?" Twilight's eyes grew to pin pricks.
"Yes, but you had the power of the Elements within you and you had good intentions so you were able to pass unharmed." Skies smiled and placed his hoof on Twilight's chest, over her own hoof. "Every Spirit that knew those Spirits, loved them, and I see a little of them in each of you. It was no accident that the six of you came into my forest that night and became the Elements of Harmony."
"You mentioned the Maker." Twilight said. "Is she the chief Spirit for Fate?"
"She isn't a Spirit in an old fashioned sense, she made the Spirits what they are, either a being of infinite power or just someone beyond my own comprehension, she made all this possible and at times she has a twisted sense of solving things, what we have come to call fate." Skies chuckled. "She did once, however, make reference to the Creator, but I chose to not get involved in that madness."
Twilight smiled. "Hopefully, Harmony's wish to help you comes true."
"So do I." Skies cooed as he looked out the large window to see Quiet running to the tree line with a satchel fill with books. "Let us get you home, I think you two will be too eager to read your books."
Sunset nodded as she followed behind Skies and apologized when she bumped into Anara. "Sorry."
"That's okay." Anara smiled. "Hopefully we can talk more when you come back."
Sunset smiled, but kept her guard up. "That would be nice."
"A word of caution to both of you." Skies said. "Unless the situation calls for it, tell no one that you've come here, your inner circle is fine, but no one else."
"What about a certain Guard Captain?" Sunset asked.
"If you're making reference to Skyfall, the owner of that intrusive estate upon my forest, then it should be fine if he understands that your deaths may follow the release of the information I'm warning you about."
Twilight nodded. "Then that's how we will handle it."
Sunset took an even breath and leveled her look at Shattered Skies. "Just so you know, I still don't trust you. If I find evidence that you really are evil, I'll bring you in."
"Sunset!" Twilight gasped.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Skies smiled, causing the scowl on Sunset to falter into a small smirk. "It's a good thing Harmony convinced you to come here, I was tired of dodging your attempts to find me."
"Oh ha ha." Twilight mocked, clearly upset at all of her failed attempts while walking around the forest.
Skies turned, motioning Twilight and Sunset to follow, time for questions had come and gone. He knew that times in the future for more questions would come, but hopefully that was before all the problems present came to a head.
Two Days Later
Twilight's Castle
"Okay, so there has been a small, eentsy-weentsy, set back." Sunset Shimmer sputtered out from the castle stoop at seeing Skyfall emerge from the dimly lit path leading from Ponyville.
"Twilight's awake and somehow bulldogged you into admitting you want to leave early, to which she agreed and now she's coming?" Skyfall mumbled, half coherent, looking as if he had a long day.
"Y-Yeah. That was brilliant." Sunset said, astonished at his comprehension of the situation. She looked him over as he passed her and trotted so she could walk next to him. "Are you okay?"
"I'll live." Skyfall mumbled. "Just alot of needless drama that I would rather take a break from."
With a knowing nod, Sunset agreed. "I think I know what you're talking about."
"Do you?" Skyfall asked, showing no emotion.
"With Fluttershy?" Sunset asked.
"So you knew as well?" Skyfall thought aloud before he stopped and gave Sunset a tired stare. "She came to see me earlier yesterday and despite my attempts to talk it out, she made it clear that her decision wan't going to change, I now know it isn't without reason."
"I didn't mean-" Sunset stopped speaking at shake of Skyfall's head.
"It's fine. She is free to live her life the way she wants." Skyfall looked to the crystal castle. "I would rather us just get to finding those Spirits, a little work would be good for me now."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Sunset Shimmer held her hoof up, stopping Skyfall from continuing to the castle.
"Maybe later, right now, I'm just gathering my thoughts on the issue. I am a little mad at myself for going against my better judgement." Skyfall lowered Sunset's hoof. "But thank you for offering."
"If you ever want to vent, I'm good at listening." Sunset smiled.
"I'll keep that in mind."
For the small walk from the path's mouth to the castle doors was quiet, the closer they got to the castle, the louder some familiar voices got. It was easily guessed that since Twilight now knew what was going on, she would alert the other elements, all of whom likely rushed over to wish their friends goodbye.
Skyfall's hoof hovered above the first step to the castle. He heard Rainbow's voice calling to Fluttershy and Rarity, trying to get them to agree with her on some absurd issue. With no surprise to himself, Sky felt nothing, he expected to at least feel conflicted, but when no emotion came, he briefly wondered to himself if after so many years of life had he reached a level of stoic thought that only statues knew.
In taking one firm step, Sky ascended the rest of the steps without cause. He entered the castle in a hurry; normally, he would knock, but the sooner he was through the portal, the sooner he could get to work.
"S-Skyfall?" Twilight asked as she opened her living room door to see who was barging into her castle. "Oh, great, come in to say goodbye to everyone before we go."
Skyfall raised an eyebrow at Twilight as he passed her. He continued to walk despite her calls.
"Aren't you going to say goodbye?"
"Bye, Applejack! Bye Pinkie Pie!" Skyfall glanced back to the room he was walking away from, seeing everyone looking at him.
"Bye, Sky! Have fun!" Applejack called as she sat next to Pinkie who chose to just wave quietly.
"What's his problem?" Twilight asked Sunset as she arrived to the room. "He can be rude at times, but that is uncalled for. Why are you shaking your head, Sunset? Did I miss some... thing? Oh."
"Yeah." Applejack sat up on the couch and adjusted the rolled up cuffs on her shirt she enjoyed wearing as she looked to Rainbow and Fluttershy. "I wonder what has him in a kink? Would you two like to fill us all in?"
Fluttershy's face grew red in abject embarrassment while Rainbow took calming breaths. It was guessed by the others in the room what had happened and that the two in question were going to let everything go quietly.
"Oh, Fluttershy." Rarity put her hoof to her mouth. "You didn't."
Fluttershy nodded and spoke up. "I... told Skyfall that I wasn't interested in dating him."
The truth, however, was much worse.
Applejack squinted at Rainbow, Applejack had known her long enough to know that she ignored her incessant warnings to not meddle in Fluttershy's relationship and did so anyway. What was worse, was Applejack knew the truth about their dating, they had chosen a spot near the Apple's farm and stumbled on them one day. When pressed, Skyfall admitted it and asked her to keep it quiet.
"Wait, so Fluttershy told Skyfall she doesn't like him like that and that's why he's mad?" Twilight asked.
"Skyfall isn't stupid." Pinkie Pie said. "He watches and he likely thinks that isn't the case." She looked to Rainbow, her hair still a slosh of pink on her head, but now pulled into a ponytail. "Is that the case, Rainbow Dash?"
Rainbow's eyes found it hard to meet Pinkie's blank look.
"Pinkie, it was my choice." Fluttershy said, but Pinkie just stared at her in stead. To her surprise, Fluttershy tried to do her infamous stare on her to help defuse the growing agitation of the room, but Pinkie's blank look may as well been a mirror.
"Was it?"
Fluttershy drooped her ears and broke the stare, finding shame in the question.
"Can somepony fill me in?" Twilight asked. "This doesn't seem like a big deal."
Applejack shook her head and stretched her legs before making her way past Twilight. "I'll try and explain everything when you all get back." She gave Twilight a hug before doing the same to Sunset. "I have to go and give Skyfall a proper goodbye before he leaps through that mirror, wits first."
"I should too." Pinkie Pie leapt up, her smile vibrant again.
"I don't get it." Twilight mumbled under her breath, looking to Rarity who only mouthed the words 'I know' while motioning her forward, prescriptively to fill her in.
Meanwhile, in Twilight's map room, Skyfall was examining the contraption that was built around the mirror with mild impress.
"Never let it be said that Twilight can't build quality machinery." Skyfall admired.
"I'll tell her you said that." Applejack chuckled, surprising Skyfall with a hug, a hug that had to be outdone by Pinkie's full body embrace.
"Hello, you two." Skyfall smiled. "You came here to see little ol' me?"
"Ha. Little." Applejack mocked, having to rear up to put her hoof on his head. "You're huge and you know it."
Skyfall opened his mouth, but was promptly stopped when Applejack closed his mouth.
"Before we start rambling, I want to apologize." Applejack said.
"You've done nothing. The fault lies with me and me alone."
"Oh, Skyfall." Pinkie cooed, shaking her head. "Don't think like that, none of this is your fault."
"No, I promised I wouldn't get into another relationship, it never ends well." Skyfall said like he was stating facts. In a way, he was stating a fact, relationships between mortals and Spirits never ended in a way one would consider 'good.' "I guess it is another bit of bad luck I can chalk up to this mark."
Applejack and Pinkie looked at Skyfall's broken cutie marks before glancing at one another.
"Skyfall!" Twilight called as the sound of hooves grew closer.
"Great, I just want to get this trek started and the Princess of Friendship wants to fix everything." Skyfall groaned.
"How do you-" Applejack asked and gave up at Skyfall's skeptical looks, Twilight was the Princess of Friendship, she does that.
The doors opened for the trotting group to enter, Skyfall looked on in annoyance before waving at Spike who was walking in the hall with a book, having grown a little since they last met.
"We can't leave!" Twilight shouted.
"Why?" Skyfall sighed.
"We need to talk about what happened between you, Fluttershy, and Rainbow." Twilight said, clearly afraid that the situation, if left alone, would degrade into something worse.
Skyfall looked at Fluttershy, she tried to smile, but it faded into a frown and her eyes could no longer keep contact. Rainbow, however, never saw Skyfall's stare be cast upon her, instead, he looked through her until his gaze met Twilight's. "There is nothing to talk about. What's done is done and whatever life might have been is now gone."
The words cut deep to those who knew the full extent of what was going on. Twilight went to scold Skyfall, but his sudden turn to her confused her.
"I have a question for you, Twilight." Skyfall stated as he jabbed a hoof to the machinery around the mirror. "I took a moment to read your notes, it says it allows for unchallenged access to the mirrored realm without the limitations of the moon. If that is true, then why did we wait for the moon cycle?"
Twilight turned her head in confusion. "You read my notes?"
"Yes, the ones over there." Skyfall pointed to an open book. "Sorry, too good to pass up."
Skyfall's mood baffled the room, he had dismissed any concerns and was busy asking about the portal. He tapped his hoof in anticipation of the answer, clearly suspicious of the time frame.
"Princess Celestia thought it would be best to keep the unrestricted access to the mirror a secret. Those involved were to be kept on a need to know basis."
"So Captain Fury doesn't know?" Skyfall said as he moved to the machinery's side.
"He shouldn't." Twilight said.
"So are we ready?" Skyfall asked.
"Yes, right after we discuss what happened!" Twilight stated, getting upset enough to stomp her hoof. "You need to stop running away from your problems and face them."
"Fine." Skyfall looked back at the portal inquisitively.
"Good, now if you'll come over here, we can talk this out." Twilight smiled and waited for a moment, when Skyfall remained by the portal she sighed. "Um, over here, Skyfall."
"Here it is." Sky said as he smacked at a lever on the back of the box behind the mirror, getting it to kick on after the second attempt, causing it to ripple to life.
"Skyfall!" Twilight scolded.
"If ponies don't want to talk it's bad to force them to, Twilight Sparkle." Skyfall took a step to the mirror. He didn't want to talk to someone whose mind was clearly made, it was clear that a relationship could have been easily undone by the simple pleading of a jealous friend. He looked back to Fluttershy and Rainbow, both of whom wore sad looks. Who was he to get between friends?
"Skyfall. Don't do it!" Twilight warned like she was scolding a cat ready to tip over a glass of water onto a very expensive laptop, ruining it. A set of events would lead any pony to participating in a month long battle with laptop insurance only to have it come back as irreparable. Twilight nodded, this is why she didn't have a cat. "Don't. Go. Through. That. Mirror."
"See, now I have to, you said not to." Skyfall closed his eyes and leaped through the mirror, much to Twilight's chagrin.
"That stallion is going to be the death of me." Twilight ran her hoof over her face in annoyance before hugging her friends. "I better go and make sure he doesn't play in heavy traffic."
Sunset chuckled as Twilight flew through the mirror, flying at top speed. She, like Twilight, hugged her friends, but when she got to Fluttershy, she felt her hold on a little longer.
"Please make sure he's okay. I need him to come back."
"I will, you have my word I'll watch over him." Sunset smiled before making her own way through the portal.
Lights, smells, and sensations exploded over her body as she was tossed between the dimensions before a feeling of gravity, pushing on her body, became noticeable. She emerged from the mirror, walking steadily on her feet into rays of sunlight that fought the silhouettes of the far off city.
She looked around and saw that even in the summer evenings, the school clock chimed for the hours.
"Six in the afternoon." Sunset said to herself.
"Sunset Shimmer?" Rarity said as she exited the front door to the school behind her. "What are you doing here, darling?"
"Rarity?" Sunset looked around, remembering that she came in after Twilight and Skyfall. "Have you seen Twilight and a blue haired man?"
"That's why I'm out here, I saw Twilight running around while I was picking Sweetie Belle and her friends up from summer school." Rarity smiled as she hugged Sunset. "I thought she looked like she needed help with something, but I didn't see this blue haired man you mentioned. Did you mean Flash Sentry, perhaps?"
"No." Sunset put her hands on top of her head and looked around. "Did you see the direction she went in?"
"She may have gone to Sugar Cube Cafe across the street, I saw Rainbow Dash waving her down." Rarity said and looked behind Sunset. "Ah, here they come now."
"Heeey, Sunset!" Came the shrill, ear piercing, voice of Pinkie Pie. "We're over here!"
Sunset turned to see her friends, plus both Twilights walking across the street to meet her. Before she knew it, she was in the center of a group hug.
"Have you seen, Skyfall?" Twilight asked. She wanted to ask before the others started asking about their trip.
"No, I thought he came in before you." Sunset asked.
"He did, but when I got here, I didn't see him."
The mirror rippled violently as the glass wore a cracked pattern that began to rotate into a swirl. A whine like screeching metal and failing alarms filled the air forcing everyone to cover their ears and watch in astonishment as the eyes of the horse perched on top of the mirrored pedestal glowed.
The abnormalities that began to scare the people present stopped, a tall being emerged from the portal, fighting the glass of the mirror that had stuck to him like a sludge trying to pull him back. With three jerks, he freed himself and landed on his side.
"Would that be your friend?" Rarity asked.
The man struggled to rise on his legs, he felt a stiff breeze on his body and looked in the mirror he just came from and froze, fear growing in his heart as the seconds ticked by. The face that looked back at him was one he hasn't seen forty thousand years, his own, human face.
"Ahem."
"Huh-wha?" Skyfall turned and lost balance as he was not used to his new body. From a knee, he noticed all the people staring at him, causing him to do the same.
"Oh, I'm naked."
A quick update on some randoms.
My new laptop should be shipped out soon... insurance saved my financial butt this time and gave me the option to make a small upgrade to my cyber-life.
As for Shattered Skies. I feel that I should explain a couple things of the chapter clearly as I know that at times I can be vague.
♦ Fluttershy and Skyfall have broken up. Is it permanent? Can't tell you, but I feel that something that big should be clearly stated. My intention with doing that (and what will unfold in the future) is to show you the human side of Spirits and that even after forty thousand years of life, the heart still wants what it wants. No harems and I'm still sticking to one romantic love at a time, sorry for those of you cheering for Skyfall's Waifu paradise. (DW)
♦ Though, speaking of Waifus, I had a funny non-canon one shot idea where Skyfall is forced into speed dating by Cadance and fails miserably with the mares of Ponyville and beyond. Interested?
♦ The next chapter kicks off the mini human world arc that will last six chapters that have already been written. They will not shadow any of the movies to give the reader 'hey that was in the movie' reference, they will be Spirit centered and include the human characters from Equestria girls in a way I hope you'll appreciate.
♦ There will be a few chapters for events in Farhaven while Skyfall is away that will center on Cadance and her interactions with her mother and Farhaven. They will include the occasional Skyfall flashback and discuss major themes of the story to help world building and mystery solving so they aren't filler. Gotta strive for all killer no filler
The guard story is ready for release, but I am holding off until I have a chapter buffer of like 5 chapters before hitting the submit button. The spin off... in development hell from my pickiness.
Hopefully I can get to writing more on Shattered Skies to give myself a larger buffer.
Thank you for reading, I love ya 
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Pretty cool chapter. Waiting for more!
That would be hilarious, especially because Cadence is "Skyfall's" daughter.
Aww, I really wanted to know what happened between Fluttershy and Skyfall, and how Rainbow screwed it all up.
You're such a tease!
-Mis
Well, I can see things are off to a great start
Looking forward to seeing what happens next
Okay I like this story and all but my God Skies pisses me off at times.
I just want to flipping punt him for acting like a freaking child at times, MY GOD!!!
Him and his stupid secrets are going to bite him in the ass and when it happens I'm going to laugh.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
For some reason I think the cat analogy was from personal experience.
i vote speed dating, sounds like it's worth some laughs. i think he should bump into Honey, because Cadence set the up individually and they meat on coincidence. you can also throw in some back story.
Will Cadance be able to take her curse form again because ponies are going to ask about where Cadance is. ANd him beign naked. HHA finally some logic applying.
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/09/2d/ab/092dab09c9feb50256662c4acf575fbb.jpg
HAHA! And EVERY single one of them got a good look!
Shwing!
so what is your update schedule or this fic anyway?
No you just have a firebreating dragon, so i suppose the damage will more obviously irreparable and you can just get a new laptop immediately instead of fighting the "dreaded" Insurance Company
So the mirror reacts differently to spirits and activates some kind of alarm
... makes sense since it was apperantly designed to imprison them there 
Would we be interested in something that is bound to be hilarious ? ....... yes... yes we would
So at what speed will you be releasing them ?
It should prove to be interesting to see what everyone does while Skies is away...... (maybe a week long party to start things off)
I hope we can get some more about Cadence's reaction to her mother being Chrysalis.
Well.... that ain't good
For some reason i think that the return back to the homeworld is gonna have some big complications
Like Skyfalls/Shattered Skies disguise failing to be active
Speed-dating fail sounds hilarious!
The Fluttershy change of heart kind of came out of left field...not too much of build up to this decision. I literally had to re-read the last two chapters to try and find where you may have even remotely hinted at this...
As far as the no harem/herd thing...that is of course your choice.
Personally I find it more in character to have a herd in the story considering that many of the races and creatures of that planet are known to form herds or flocks.
I think people get far to hung up on what polygamy is in our society to ever think objectively about how it might work in another.
The final choice is of course always yours. I am just giving you my feed back on it.
I feel like sky is gonna do a magic shift to shattered, like how twi and sunset did when they came into contact with magic
8139816 none of the animals I know of that do the 1 dominant male has many mates thing are steady, it's whichever male is winning gets to make babies
Hold up, Twilight in the EG Movie had clothes when she teleported... SO WHY DIDN'T....
8140600 probably because he is a spirit
8140591 I am not sure if you are trolling or you just did not understand my post.
I will give you the benefit of the doubt, and elaborate.
Yes many more animals in the animal kingdom have multiple mates than have singular mates.
You have of course alpha males of herds, packs, troops, etc.
You also have the female equivalent which are usually found in the insect kingdom with the queens of the various species.
If any of these creatures evolved to have society's of their own it would make sense that some of their mating habits would continue on in a different but similar format.
What I was hinting at to the author was that with all these amazingly diverse species it would make sense that they would also have different mating habits/cultures.
It would seem quite odd indeed if every species on the planet had cultural practices similar to a first world western civilization.
Again this is just my feed back, and I understand that world building is quite difficult. It is all up to the author.
8139499
He posts a new chapter right when you have something important to do. The more urgent the appointment, the longer the chapter.
My image of whats next (after he acquires some butt covers) is Skyfall taking hard turns in a sports car with Sunset riding shotgun, screaming for her life before she realizes he actually knows what he's doing.
----
it could be like:
The Cherry red pony-less cart left warm bands of black upon the road as it danced around the bend. Skyfall, laughing as he guided his growling machine, screamed his excitement to the open wind, "Like riding a bike! You catch my drift Ms Phoenix?"
Sunset, clutching her shoulder belt with her knuckles white, voiced a wordless scream between joy and fear as her mind reeled "Drift? Bike? awful pun! Wait, he called me Phoenix.. What have I gotten myself into?"
----
Not saying you should do that, it would be a really stupid thing for him to do, I just can't get that image out of my head.. With the soundtrack of RUSH's Red Barchetta.
been forever since I've last read this and its still good
Looking forward to these next few chapters!
8141447
oh... well in that case i have life or death appointments every Monday Wednesday and Friday
and 3 times on Saturday
How interesting
8139135 I heartily agree with you concerning Shattered Skies
8139548
Will they be able to get back? Or is it just an alarm.
8140600 I think it has a little bit more to do with than just being a spirit. Because he has 3 distinct forms tied to himself his origina,l his spirit form, and then his Pegasus form. the portal may have given him a form closest to his human form and since an equestrian only has one form, it may have had trouble with him.
8140751 It still makes no sense? Why does being a spirit have anything to do with it?... BAH Whatever .3.
8143087
The human world is inhabited by other Spirits put there by Celestia ages ago as a prison. The general weirdness with Skyfalls entrance could be because the Spirits living there or Celestia put alarms on the portal to signal when a new 'inmate' arrived. Or the portal's just not meant to handle Spirits, so it bugs out whenever they use it.
8143044
Good question, you would think its just an alarm but, considering that no spirit has apperantly escaped before it might be more
guess we will just have to wait and make wild guesses and smart theories until we get more information 
Its an interesting idea..... kinda makes me wonder how many spirits have multiple forms (or at least an original form, a spirit form and a disguise) ?
8143511 I Suppose.
Well dang... Skyfall not gonna get a herd, but there are just soooo many interested in him. Will they treat it like a rental system and everyone gets a shot until he decides on one of them? That may take awhile.
8168482 The artorias name wasn't inspired by Dark Souls. Sif, however, may have been.
Noooo, I caught up! I didn't even realize I was this far into the story!
8168738 Where's the idea for Artorias from? I can only picture it as the wolf knight and his wolf familiar
encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQuZdtOkeZR4auiQDJgE3V4PhvjEaNU2Td8etY039oatK2YNxpwlg
You've had a six chapter buffer for a whole month now... Yet you haven't uploaded even one chapter in that time?
derpicdn.net/img/view/2017/6/3/1452947__suggestive_screencap_twilight+sparkle_addiction_animated_caption_eye+twitch_gif+with+captions_image+macro_insanity_meme_solo.gif
8207609 I'm ten ahead, actually.
I'll be making a blog post about the delay. In short, new job stuff.
8207909
...This is what you're doing to me at this point:
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For shame.
I just realized something. Earlier in the story (chapter 16 to be precise) Discord said this:
While some might just consider him saying "what I blundered" as the war in general, what if he was referring to something more specific?
What if he was the one who brought Sky's siblings over as spirits?
P.S.- I posted this on the latest chapter instead of chapter 16 itself so as to avoid spoiling the whole sibling thing for those who hadn't read that far yet.
8224677
That or Kingdom Hearts.
I just have to say,
.
I honestly love it when I find a long, high quality story with an intricate plot and detailed characters. I am always impressed by the patience and commitment it must take to write stories of this caliber, so when I find a story over 80K or whatever, and the first chapter is good, I usually dive right in because I know that the writing is likely to just get better and better. YOU sir, have not disappointed me in the slightest in that regard
Also, I used to avoid fics that have OCs as their main protagonists, simply because a lot of authors don't flesh out their characters enough. However, fits such as this WONDERFUL work of art have drastically changed my mind. A good writer can create a character with multiple dimensions and moving back stories and motivations, which you have done amazingly thus far.
Keep up the good work, and know that your fans support you and eagerly await you next update
.
Stay inspired!
Your laptop isn't it.
It's like he don't have to leave Equestria? Cuz' he is a Spirit
A hippogriff child is called a hatchling while a pony/horse is filly and like hatchlings they are born in eggs while fillies are not
I'm pretty sure early on in the story Skies said he wasn't around for the Prench revolution?