VIII - The Emperor
Your fate is chosen
Rainbow Dash stiffed a huge yawn. Ten hours of sleep hadn’t fully erased the exhaustion from the last day, for some reason. Some other pony might blame it on the fact that she had fallen asleep half-curled on a particularly twisted branch, but Rainbow was a pegasus that prided herself on sleeping in the most improbable places.
The mare hovered towards the edge of the forest, almost dragging her hooves on the dirt. She wasn’t looking forwards to her watching turn. Perhaps her buddy would let her take a quick nap, or just skip the turn entirely. The pegasus furrowed her brow when she realized Fluttershy was the only pony likely to allow that.
Any hope she could have had left vanished when she spotted Twilight standing on the usual spot. It had been a week since they had starting watching the tower, trying to find some pattern, but Nightmare Moon’s departures seemed to be completely random. To make things worse, Sunset Shimmer never accompanied her. She would take short flights above Ponyville, but always staying within earshot of the tower. It soon became clear they would have to find away to raid Nightmare’s quarters with the young pony around.
“Hey Twilight,” muttered Rainbow Dash, landing next to the purple unicorn. She acknowledged her presence with a faint ‘Hi’. Her eyes were fixed on a piece of parchment, held on her telekinesis. A quill danced smoothly on its surface, also surrounded by a lavender glow. “What’ya working on?”
Twilight looked up. “Oh, this? I am trying to figure out my exact location.” She turned the page, and Rainbow saw a fairly accurate map of Equestria. There were annotations for several cities, like Manehattan, Cloudsdale and Canterlot. The word ‘Ponyville’ had several crossed-out arrows coming out of it, pointing to at least six different, but quite similar, locations.
“Uh…you’re in Ponyville?” confirmed Rainbow Dash, utterly confused. None of the locations was correct. Ponyville was more to the north.
Twilight giggled. “I know that, Rainbow Dash. I am just trying to triangulate my position relative to Manehattan.”
“Manehattan?” repeated Rainbow. “That’s easy, it’s over there.” she said, pointing with her hoof to the horizon.
Twilight got on all four and fixed her eyes on the spot Rainbow was pointing at. “Are you sure?” she asked. Her ears swiveled back and forth.
“Yeah, of course!” confirmed Rainbow Dash, a bit offended. “I don’t go to Manehattan very much, but I see it every time I fly to Cloudsdale.”
“Perfect!” chirped Twilight, flipping over the paper and drawing a perfect circle with a single, smooth movement of the quill. Rainbow let out a whistle of appreciation, which caused Twilight to giggle again. “Most scholars can do this. Either that, or they always carry a compass or a circular object with them.” Twilight her attention to the paper. She licked her lips, and began drawing symbols, all of which were completely alien to Dash. “Could you please go fetch Spike? He will be angry if I don’t bring him with me.”
“Uh….wait, where are you going?!” Rainbow sprung on all four. “We’re supposed to be keeping an eye on the tower!”
Twilight winced slightly. “I know Rainbow, but I need to talk to somepony who isn’t as involved in this whole mess.” She studied the paper while biting the tip of the quill. “Actually,” she said, turning her head to Dash. “why don’t you come? He was kind of a big deal in Cloudsdale, back in his days.”
Rainbow’s eyes widened. The chance to skip her watch duties was all she needed to be convinced. “I’ll go grab Spike!”
“Wait, tell him we’re going to visit grandpa Thunderst…” Twilight fell quiet when she noticed Rainbow was already gone. All that was left was a multicolored trail that zigzagged between the trees. The mare reached with a hoof, and touched the ethereal pigments, that were already dissipating. The colors fluttered like dust under a beam of light, and she felt a tingle on her foreleg. Twilight made a note to investigate the phenomenon further in the future, and turned her attention back to the parchment.
Rainbow Dash returned just as Twilight was done with her arcane circle. Or, more accurately, Rainbow Dash zoomed past Twilight, did two loops above her, descended in a corkscrew, and landed next to Twilight, striking a rampant pose. Spike then descended from Rainbow’s back, with wobbly knees and a vacant expression on his face.
“Rainbow Dash!” shouted Twilight. “You can’t do that with a baby dragon on your back! He could have been hurt!”
The sky blue mare rolled her eyes. “Gee, Twi. You’re talking to Rainbow Dash herself!”
“I don’t care who I am talking to! What if he slipped and got hurt?” insisted Twilight, stomping her hoof on the dirt.
“That was awesome!” cheered Spike, clapping his claws in delight. Both mares looked down at him, with different degrees of surprise. “Can we do that again some other time? Pretty please?” Rainbow looked at Twilight and gave her a cocky smile.
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Anyways, let’s do this,” she muttered, retrieving the fallen parchment.
“Where are we going?” asked Spike, running up to Twilight. He stared at the paper and frowned. “We’re going to Manehattan?”
“How in Tartarus do you know that?” asked Rainbow Dash, who was also studying the paper. Every centimeter inside the circle was covered with small symbols that resembled letters. “What language is that?”
“That’s not any language,” explained Spike while Twilight placed the paper on the dirt off to a side. “Over the years, Twilight has placed several magical beacons around Equestria. There’s one in Manehattan, one new in Ponyville, and three more…well, there were three more in Canterlot.” Twilight light up her horn and let her magic flow into the paper. The circle and runes within began to shine with their own light. “She uses them for long-range teleportation, though she usually doesn’t do the whole arcane circle thing.”
“It is necessary because this time I am taking passengers,” added Twilight, still feeding magic into the paper. Her brow was furrowed and her mane fluttered around her head, moved by the flow of raw energy. Suddenly, the paper burst into flames and turned to ashes in the blink of an eye. The circle was left behind, shimmering under the moonlight. “Are you ready?” Twilight asked. A split second later, the circle expanded, enclosing all three within.
“Whoah, what the fu-” began Rainbow, but she was interrupted when the light engulfed them, and they blinked out of existence.
***
“-ck!”
“Please don’t say swears, Dash,” politely asked Twilight, trotting off. Rainbow Dash hurried after her. They were in a city with massive, towering buildings that loomed above them menacingly. There were scarcely any ponies walking on the streets or flying on the air, in a dire contrast from the other times Rainbow Dash had visited the city.
“Refresh my memory,” asked Rainbow Dash, hovering after Twilight while she tried to figure out her exact location. “What are we doing here again?”
“We’re visiting my grandfather, Thunderstruck.” replied the unicorn. She had a happy spring on her step. “Have you heard of him?”
Rainbow shrugged. “Uh…maybe? There a lot of ponies called Thunder-whatever. Weather events are a common theme for names in Cloudsdale.”
Twilight turned a corner and Rainbow followed suit. She did not know this part of the city. The buildings around her were mostly apartment towers. Most of the lights were on, which was understandable, since it should be daytime at that point. “Do you always teleport to wherever you need to go?” she asked.
“Oh, no. Very hardly ever, actually. I prefer to take the train. It’s not as fast, but I like to have that dead time to read,” explained Twilight.
Rainbow Dash crooked an eyebrow. “Really? Come on, if I had any way to get faster to places, I would do so, every single time.”
“Would you now?” asked Twilight, looking at her without stopping. “You wouldn’t be flying anymore.”
Rainbow tilted her head. “Okay, that’s a good point. But if I could fly faster, I would. Not that I am slow or anything, you’re talking to the fastest pony alive here. Maybe even the fastest pony that has ever existed.” Twilight rolled her eyes at that, but made no comment. “Yeah, I am pretty awesome all round. And I wasn’t just born with it. I mean, I was born with this awesome mane color, some good wings and all that. But they see me, and think ‘oh, she was born with it’. And yeah, I was born with a good body shape for…well, for speed. But that’s not enough! I have been training every day, since I was a little filly. That’s how you become the best. Having a special talent or being taller, smaller, whatever; helps but if you don’t work hard, it’s not gonna anywhere. Did you know I have fangs?”
“Fangs?”
“Yeah! Take a peek!” Rainbow hovered closer and pulled down her lip while gritting her teeth. “See? Right there.” She pointed with her free hoof. Indeed, the pegasus had a four small canines in the interdental space. “Cool, huh?”
“That’s…interesting.” replied Twilight, uncertain of what the pegasus wanted her to say.
“You call those fangs?” chuckled Spike. “Have you seen these?” He tapped his large canines with his claw. “These are the real deal. They can chew gemstones!”
Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to reply, but since she couldn’t really make any good counter, she switched the topic. “How much are we going to have to walk, anyways? Why didn’t we just teleport directly to…whoever we came to see.”
“Because it is rude to teleport directly on anypony’s house. It’s like…” Twilight tapped her chin. “…flying into somepony’s house, unannounced. You wouldn’t like that, would you?”
Dash shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t see the issue? If it’s somepony you know, what’s the problem?”
Twilight looked back at the pegasus and realized she wasn’t joking. ‘…I better ignore that. A full explanation would take several hours.’ she decided. “Anyways, we are heading to my maternal grandparent’s house. We’re almost there.”
A few minutes later, Twilight stopped at the main entrance of a perfectly average block of apartments. Rainbow Dash looked up, scanning each window. “You are not flying though the window!” said Twilight, correctly guessing the pegasus’ intentions. “We are knocking at the door like civilized ponies.” Twilight crossed the threshold, with an annoyed Rainbow in tow. “And please, do walk while indoors.”
“Why?! Really Twilight, if I knew you were going to whine about everything I do, I would have stayed in Pon-” Rainbow Dash had her rant interrupted when she smacked herself against a hanging lamp. When Spike finally stopped laughing, the small group climbed to the fourth floor on the paternoster and stopped in front of a door. Twilight rang the brass knocker with her telekinesis. Rainbow Dash didn’t have time to read the etched plate decorating the door when it swung open.
There stood an old stallion. His light blue coat still retained most of its color, but his thin mane had become all but gray. Perched on his muzzle was a pair of half-moon glasses. His green eyes instantly light up at the sight of Twilight. “Little Sparkle! And Spike!” he beamed, embracing his granddaughter, which she happily returned. Spike hopped off the back of the unicorn, and wrapped his tiny limbs around one of the stallion’s forelegs. The group hug lasted for just enough that Rainbow Dash didn’t complain about all the ‘sappy stuff’ happening. “What do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” asked the pony. “And who is your friend here?” he asked, turning his attention to Dash.
It was then when the pegasus noticed the set of webbed wings sprouting from the shoulders of the stallion, and the long, pointed fangs that poked from his smiling lips. “Are you serious! Your grandpa is a batpony?! But your mom is an unicorn!” she exclaimed.
Both ponies smirked. “I have a very diverse family,” said Twilight. Rainbow Dash spied two tiny canines, similar to her own. “I also have two hippogriffin cousins.”
“To be fair, we were also very surprised when our two daughters turned out to be both unicorns,” said the stallion. “Why don’t you introduce me to your friend?”
“Right,” agreed Twilight, and cleared her throat. “Rainbow Dash, this is my grandfather Thunderstruck, former officer at the Weather Factory of Cloudsdale. Grandpa, this is Rainbow Dash, current Captain of the weather team of Ponyville.”
“Ah, a fellow weather pony,” Thunderstruck gave a sharp salute, which Rainbow promptly returned. “Pleased to meet you. Please, come inside.”
The door opened directly to a small yet spacious living room. Two worn armchairs sat opposite to a far newer, two-pony couch. Between the armchairs there was a gas stove with a framed picture atop of it and a book next to it. The corner was occupied by a beautifully decorated gramophone and block of shelves containing hundreds of discs. On the wall hanged several paintings, most of them depicting the sunset above the clouds; a frame containing several medals, and a rapier on a brass rack. To the left and right, two doors led to the rest of the rooms of the apartment.
“Please make yourselves at home. I’ll make some tea,” said Thunderstruck, disappearing through a door.
“I’ll help you!” cheered Spike, scampering after the old pony.
Twilight and Rainbow Dash glanced at each other. “You didn’t tell me your grandpa was a batpony,” she smirked after a pause. “Is that why you were so unimpressed when I said I have fangs?”
Twilight nodded with a smirk of her own. “Guilty as charged! Mom and Shining Armor have them too. I didn’t realize they were unusual until I went to the School of Gifted Unicorns,” she explained as she took a seat on the couch.
“I wish I had actual fangs, like your grandfather does. I don’t know if I would trade these for bat wings, though,” she said, spreading her wings. They were short, and angular, made for speed. A single claw sprout from the wrist area. Rainbow nodded to it. “You are an egghead, aren’t you? Does this come from my batpony grandma, or is it common on pegasi? Because I’ve seen a lot of ponies with them,” The pegasus closed her wings and made her way to one of the armchairs.
“Rainbow Dash, please don’t sit there!” called out Twilight. Rainbow stopped short and gave her a questioning look. “That’s my grandmother’s armchair.”
“Well, she isn’t here right now.”
“My late grandmother.”
Rainbow Dash froze. “Oh…I am so sorry,” she muttered, sitting next to Twilight.
The unicorn dismissed the apology with a gesture. “It’s fine. She died, what? Ten years ago, perhaps? It was shortly before I entered the School for Gifted Unicorns.”
Rainbow Dash reclined on her seat. “That place is like…what’s it called? An infection point for you, right?”
“I think you mean an ‘inflection point’.” giggled Twilight. “But yes, it is. I can’t imagine what would have been of my life if I hadn’t made it in. For starters, I wouldn’t have Spike with me.”
“Oh? How come?” asked Rainbow, leaning forwards in attention.
“Well, as part of the entry exam, we were asked to use our magic to hatch a dragon egg,” explained Twilight, adopting her exposition tone and demeanor. “Despite my best attempts, I failed and started to get nervous. The judges didn’t help; they were piercing me with their eyes. But then I got startled by some distant explosion and I went into a surge. I don’t really remember what happened then, but when I opened my eyes again, the egg was gone and instead was a tiny, purple dragon.” Twilight’s lips turned into a small smile at the memories. “Later I found out we were meant to attempt to hatch the egg, not actually do it. The exam was suspended afterwards, since they had no more dragon eggs.”
“I still think that was a rubbish way to do that Celestia-forsaken exam!” snapped Thunderstruck. Twilight yelped and looked up. The old stallion was sitting on his armchair opposite to the two mares. “They could have missed my granddaughter’s amazing talent entirely!”
“Granpaaaa!” whined Twilight, blushing visibly. “Don’t be like that…”
Thunderstruck grinned. “Nonsense,” he said, crossing his forelegs over his chest. “I have all the right to be proud of you, and I will boast whenever I have the chance.”
Spike chose that moment to open the door to the kitchen, carrying on his claws a dish full of pastries. He placed offered the dish to Thunderstruck, who picked one cookie, and then to the two mares, who took one each. The dragon then grabbed a handful of them and went to sit on the floor next to Thunderstruck. “Curious, I could have sworn I put a few more cookies on that plate,” muttered Thunderstruck, grinning at Spike. The baby shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. “Anyways, what do I owe the pleasure of this visit to?”
“Can’t I just be visiting?” asked Twilight, smiling.
“Yes, but you usually don’t bring unknown ponies into my humble house,” he stated, matter-of-factly. “I assume Rainbow Dash is your friend? Or perhaps-”
“S-she is just a friend!” interrupted Twilight, blushing yet again. “I brought her just because I thought she’d like to meet you.”
Thunderstruck nodded. “It’s always a pleasure to make acquaintance of a fellow weatherpony,” he said. “And the Captain of the whole Ponyville team, no less! That puts you well above the average pegasus.”
Rainbow Dash’s visibly puffed up at the praises. “You bet I am! I also happen to be the fastest pegasus alive! Maybe the fastest pegasus that ever existed!” Next to her, Twilight rolled her eyes.
“Oh, is that so?” asked Thunderstruck, crooking an eyebrow. It wasn’t the first time he had heard a pegasus make that claim. “Are you aiming to become a Wonderbolt?”
“Of course I am!” she replied, batting her wings a few times and accidentally slapping Twilight on the face. “Whooops, sorry Twi!”
Thunderstruck chuckled. “I figured. Well, I never tried to enter on the Wonderbolts myself, but my big brother did. He went in directly, not by escalating the ladder of the army, so it was his contact with military life. And something that came up very often was that it wasn’t what he expected. He actually quit after a couple years.”
Rainbow’s enthusiasm seemed to falter a bit. “Y-yeah, I know that,” she said with an awkward smile. “The Wonderbolts are the elite of the aerial branch of the army, not civilians. I know it will be rough at first…but I still want to get in! It’s what I have been training every day for the last…uh…many years!” she finished, having regained her confidence.
“Well said!” cheered Thunderstruck. “That’s the kind of determination that will take you far.”
The teapot chose that moment to whistle, startling everypony and breaking the conversation. “I’ll go get it!” said Spike, jumping to his feet and waddling to the kitchen.
Thunderstruck scratched his neck. “Right. Where were we before we took this detour? I think I was asking about your reasons to visit me.”
Twilight nodded. “Yes. A lot of things have happened, and I think I need to talk to somepony who isn’t involved.” Thunderstruck frowned and rested his chin on his hoof. He made an inviting gesture to Twilight as Spike came back from the kitchen, carrying a smoking teapot and three cups on a tray.
For the next minutes, Twilight explained the events of the last days, leaving out the most gruesome details. Thunderstruck’s expression didn’t change at any point, except his already wrinkled forehead frowned even further. After she was done, the stallion remained quiet for a while, staring at the contents of his empty cup. Then, unexpectedly, he began to chuckle. Twilight and Rainbow Dash shared a surprised look.
“You know, I always said your mother got all the stubbornness and fighting spirit of Estoc, and your aunt Little Star got none.” said the stallion, grinning with pride. “I always thought it had happened something similar with you and your brother, but it seems I was mistaken.”
Twilight smiled awkwardly. “I haven’t really decided what I am going to do, grandpa…”
“Nonsense!” said the pony, taking his cup to take a sip of his tea, only to find it empty. “Celestia has chosen you not one, but twice; and I trust her criteria. By Tartarus, I would question her sanity if she hadn’t seen your potential.” Twilight managed give her grandfather a look that conveyed both flatter and disapproval at his words. “What? It’s the truth. You’re sitting by a pony who claims to be the fastest pegasus that has ever existed, though honestly I don’t have any reason to believe her words,” Dash opened her mouth to protest, but Thunderstruck continued speaking. “Now, you? You’re the daughter of my daughter. And by Heavens, I am well aware of what your mother could have accomplished, if she hadn’t…well, you know the whole story. Point being: you’ve got this.”
Twilight shuffled on her seat. “Well, I am glad you think that, but…I still have doubts.”
“That’s fine!” said Thunderstruck. “Barring your grandmother, all ponies have doubts! Me, you, Dash, the Princess. All! But that shouldn’t prevent you from trying!”
Twilight bit her lip. She had left unmentioned all of Nightmare Moon’s attempted or successful murders, and her blood bond with Celestia. Her grandfather was under the impression that the alicorn was no more dangerous than Cadance, which was enormously inaccurate. After a few seconds of inner deliberations, she decided to leave him on the blue. “This might be the biggest challenge I have faced so far.” she muttered.
“Challenges are good, they keep us sharp,” countered the old pony. “That being said, I trust you won’t do anything stupid. I wouldn’t want my favorite granddaughter to be hurt.”
“You say that to all of us!” giggled Twilight.
“All my grandchildren are my favorite,” replied Thunderstruck, grinning yet again. “Including Spike,” he added, pointing at the tiny dragon, who was currently busy picking the last remaining crumbs of the cookies.
There was a brief pause in which all three ponies watched in amusement how Spike licked the dish clean, completely oblivious to the fact that he was in the spotlight.
“There’s something I’ve been thinking about,” started Rainbow Dash, leaning forwards on her seat. “You said you worked in the weather factory?”
“Well, I believe it was Twilight who said it,” replied Thunderstruck with a smirk. “But yes, I worked there for many years. We had to move, of course, when our first daughter turned out to be an unicorn, but I technically still was part of the Cloudsdale team.”
“What did you do?” asked Dash. “Twilight said you were a big deal.”
Thunderstruck threw his head back in a loud, long cackle, which lasted for several seconds until the old stallion was interrupted bit a fit of cough. Twilight made a point of getting up, but Thunderstruck raised a hoof. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Sorry about that,” he paused for a second to recover his breath. “Anyways, Twilight has a rather…biased opinion of me. In all her grandparents, actually. Anyways, I was the lieutenant of my weather team. We were specialized on a single, but fundamental, task.”
“You are a lightning collector,” guessed Rainbow Dash. She had already noticed the crossed lightning bolts that decorated Thuderstruck’s flank. Cutie Marks were always somewhat vague on their meaning – her own was a rather misleading mark – but in this case, the stallion nodded.
“Precisely,” he said, leaning forwards on his chair. “Now, what are the two methods of obtaining electric energy to make storm engines?”
“Uh…” Rainbow Dash blinked, not expecting a question in return. “Well, the most common method is using the rogue clouds that are naturally created under the celestial sphere. They can appear anywhere, but are most common above the Everfree Forest. Taking energy from them is both a way of getting the electricity needed to craft the engines, and a method of preventing uncontrolled storms. Diving into a fully-fledged storm is a dangerous, yet necessary task,” Twilight turned her head, eyes wide open. Dash was using the same voice she used when she was lecturing somepony on a matter she fully dominated. “The other is capturing static charge directly from the celestial sphere. This can only be done at the top of the dome. They only real dangers are capturing an excess of energy, and…well, flying into the Sun, if you’re particularly dumb,” Rainbow Dash huffed and dropped back to her usual voice. “I mean, I get that the Sun is dangerous and all that, but I think most ponies are not stupid enough to fly into the Sun. Except Icarus. Anyways, to get the static from the dome, you need some big-ass wings,” Rainbow spread her wings and eyed them critically. “And none of us got ‘em.”
Thunderstruck grinned widely. Rainbow made a face. His expression was unnerving. “Oh, oh! Show them off, Thunder!” cheered Spike, jumping to his feet and waddling over to the two mares, where he bounced in place, excited.
The old pony got on his hooves, and snapped his wings open. Rainbow Dash jumped on her seat. The webbed limbs reached all the way to the ceiling, blotting out most of the light of the lamp. Twilight giggled at Rainbow’s expression of pure awe. The pegasus was completely frozen, save for some random shudders of her wings.
“Hum. I think I broke your friend,” muttered Thunderstruck, partially closing his wings and walking over to the pegasus mare. “Hey, you okay kid?” he asked, waving his hoof in front of Dash’s face.
“You’re a high sky flier! That is so awesome!” squeaked Rainbow, pressing her hooves to her cheeks while her wings fluttered. “They didn’t look so huge when folded!”
“Webbed wings are a bit more flexible than feathered,” replied Thunderstruck, closing his left wing. He first folded each finger individually, and then did the same with the wing as a whole. The folded limb only looked slightly larger than average. “Unfortunately, they are also a tad more fragile…” he muttered, frowning at his right wing. Rainbow followed his eyes and discovered many small scars through the whole patagium, along with a few small holes here and there. Particularly eye-watering was the long, ridged mark that ran from his hand to the edge of the skin. Rainbow couldn’t help but shudder, and decided to push away any train of thought going in the direction of what could have caused such injury. “I flew into a tree,” said Thunderstruck, correctly guessing what she was thinking. “A branch perforated my patagium and sliced it when I fell,” the stallion shrugged. “All in all, I was pretty lucky. That could have left me grounded forever. Instead, I got away with just a slightly more tattered wing.”
“D-don’t say that!” stammered Rainbow Dash, jumping to her hooves. “I am sure you can fly just fine. More than fine! Great! What do you say to a lil’ race, you and me?” she asked, with her eyes practically sparkling. Next to her, Twilight winced and gestured her to stop.
The corner of Thunderstruck’s mouth twitched. “N-no, I don’t think-”
“Come on! It will be fun.” insisted Dash, taking a step forwards. The tense smile on Thunderstruck’s face vanished entirely. “When has been the last time you used those, huh?”
Thunderstruck bared his fangs in an angry grimace. “That is enough, Rainbow,” he said, deliberately pronouncing each syllable.
“Dash, I think-”
“Come on, Thunder,” said Rainbow, raising an eyebrow, oblivious to the very clear warnings of danger. “Are you afraid?” she mocked.
“SHUP UP!” barked Thunderstruck. Rainbow jumped on her seat and her cocky attitude vanished like a flame underwater. The stallion towered above her, his wings obscuring the light and his longs fangs bared in anger. Thunderstruck had his eyes fixed on her, his whole body trembled. Dash hadn’t felt so fragile in a long time.
And then it was over just as quick. Thunderstruck closed his wings, turned around and dropped his old body on his armchair. He looked just as fragile as a minute ago, as if the outburst hadn’t ever happened. He let out a long sigh and cast his eyes to the empty chair next to him. “I’m sorry,” he muttered after a long, tense, pause. “I think…I think you should leave…”
Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight for help, utterly confused; but the unicorn was giving her a disappointed stare. And below, sitting next on the floor next to Twilight, Spike had his hand firmly planted against his face. Just what had she done? “Uh…o-okay,” she shuffled to her hooves, with her head hanging and ears flat against her skull. She turned to the door, but she stopped on hooves, and suddenly perked up. “Oh, there was something I wanted to ask you!”
Thunderstruck glared daggers at her. Twilight bit her lip, expecting the pegasus to go over the line again.
“Do you happen to know a stallion called Bïfrost?”
Unexpectedly, Thunderstruck perked up. “Bïfrost? Of course I do. He is my nephew. He worked under my orders for a few months.”
Had it not been attached to her face, Rainbow Dash’s jaw would have made a hole through the floor. “Y…you are Bïfrost’s uncle?” she stammered. Twilight looked at her, surprised ‘What’s gotten into her?’
“Yes,” muttered Thunderstruck, wondering why the filly was suddenly so interested in his family. “He is the son of my sister. Why? You know him?”
“Know him?!” positively squeaked Rainbow Dash as she buzzed her wings in a blue blur, though later she would never admit her outburst of excitement. “He’s my dad!”
Thunderstruck’s eyebrows disappeared under his mane. “You are Thunderclap’s granddaughter?!” asked the stallion, with similar enthusiasm.
“Yeah! And you are her little brother?!” practically shouted Dash.
“Yes!” answered Thunderstruck, even louder. “So that means you are my grand niece!”
“YeAh!” screamed Rainbow, breaking her voice right at the end. There was a choir of laughter at expenses of the embarrassed pegasus.
“Heehee…let me get this straight,” said Twilight after the laughter had died out. “You…” she pointed to Rainbow Dash. “You are my second cousin.”
“Uuuuh…”
“Our grandparents are brothers.”
“Yeah!”
***
“Goodbye grandpa Thunderstruck!”
“Bye grunkle Thunder!”
“Bye Thunderstruck!”
Ponies and dragon all waved their respective forelimbs, as they climbed on the paternoster one by one and disappeared from Thunderstruck’s view. Only then the stallion closed the door, still split between being elated or worried about his newfound family member. Rainbow Dash was very much like his older brother. Unfortunately, Thunderstruck never really got along with his older brother. Shrugging his wings, the stallion headed for his couch, to continue with his book.
Outside, Rainbow Dash was hovering from the moment they had crossed the main door of the block of apartments. Twilight carried Spike on her back, with a happy spring on her step. “I can’t believe we are related!” said Dash from above.
“I know, right?” replied Twilight. “I have always been aware that I had relatives I didn’t know. Grandparents, and first-degree cousins, that is as far as I know them. And each of my grandparents comes from a different place of Equestria, so I never met any siblings they might have had. But randomly meeting you, and then finding out? What are the odds of that?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty awesome.” agreed Rainbow. “Speaking of awesome, how does it feel to know you’re related to me, huh?”
“Exactly the same as yesterday.”
“Huh? What?”
Twilight made a vague gesture with her hoof. “Well, I already knew you from before; learning you are a distant relative doesn’t change anything. Besides, I have always been fascinated with genealogy. I have investigated a lot on Estoc’s, and I have found out that I am related to several of my classmates from the School of Gifted Unicorns. But that didn’t suddenly made us better friends or anything. It just means we have common ascendency.”
“I…think I get what you mean,” muttered Dash. “Kinda like Spike, right? Just, Spike is the opposite.”
“Heehee, yep!” said Twilight. “To be honest, I am glad you brought up your father. The visit could have been far worse.”
“Yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask about that.” said Rainbow Dash. “What was it all about?”
Twilight bit her lip. “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter if I tell you,” she finally said, shrugging her shoulders. “Remember how you were challenging him to a race? My grandmother, Estoc, died when she crashed during a race with one of her students.”
Twilight stopped on her tracks when she noticed Rainbow Dash wasn’t following her anymore. She looked back and saw the pegasus standing on her hooves, with her eyes fixed on the pavement. “So that is why you were interrupting me,” she muttered. “You think your grandpa is still mad at me?”
“Mad?” said Twilight, smiling. “He was delighted to meet you! You just…hit a sore spot, by accident.” Rainbow didn’t seem entirely convinced. “It’s fine, really. Thunderstruck knows he is a bit too touchy when it comes to Estoc. I guess it comes with missing somepony who has been part of your life for so long.”
Rainbow tilted her head from side to side. “If you think so…let’s return to Ponyville.”
***
There was a flash of light, and Twilight, Spike and Rainbow Dash appeared, exactly at the same spot they had left, over an hour earlier.
“I can’t believe Thunderstruck never told me his older brother was a Wonderbolt!”
Rainbow Dash blinked. “Uhh?” Since this time the teleportation hadn’t caught her by surprise, she had fully experienced the magical displacement. And while her body was undoubtedly present at Ponyville, her mind hadn’t caught up, and was suffering from the effects. Her eyes were fixed somewhere very, very far.
“Hey, who’s that?” asked Spike from her back.
Twilight followed his arm, and saw a blue unicorn mare, a few meters away from them. She was wearing a tattered purple cape decorated with stars, and her face displayed the expression typical of a filly caught with her hoof inside the cookie jar.
“Uh…who are you?” asked Twilight. She then spied the piece of charred parchment that she was holding in her telekinesis. “Wait, is that my spell? Are you trying to reverse-engineer it?”
“Of course not!” replied the unicorn. The burn paper disappeared in a puff of smoke, though Spike did notice its remains fall to the ground. “The great and powerful Trixie is more than capable of casting any spell, if she sets her mind on it.”
Twilight and Spike shared a look. Rainbow Dash, who had just woken up from her drift, was just looking at the new pony, dumbfounded.
“Are…you Trixie?” cautiously asked Twilight. She got a proud nod as an answer. “Well, what are you doing here, then?”
“The great and powerful Trixie is looking for a certain pony,” said the mare, giving her mane a grand toss. Twilight crooked an eyebrow, uncertain of what to make of that pony. “A mare, in fact. Her coat is of marble white, and her mane is striped with the colors of alabaster and lavender.” Trixie gestured her to get closer, and Twilight obliged without realizing. “It is a little known fact, but she is one of the thirteen archmages of the Council…and the only one who survived Nightmare Moon’s coup.”
Twilight blinked. Trixie’s muzzle was just a few inches from her. The blue unicorn was looking at her with the pride and sufficiency of somepony who had just shared a very secret piece of information. The corners of Twilight’s lips quivered upwards. “This mare…won’t happen to be called Twilight Velvet, right?”
Trixie gasped dramatically and recoiled a few steps. “Precisely! How do you know?”
Twilight couldn’t hold it back anymore. She burst into laughter, and a second later was followed by Spike, who had heard the whole exchange. Then, the mirth spread to Rainbow Dash, who didn’t really understood what the joke was, but couldn’t resists Trixie’s aggravated scrunched muzzle and red cheeks.
***
Twilight waved her hoof. Her mother caught sight of her and headed in her direction after closing the notebook she was writing on and stuffing it on her saddlebags. Twilight looked back. Trixie was still following her, with a neutral expression on her face. The mare had insisted on being introduced to ‘Twilight Velvet of the Stars’, though she refused to say why.
In her short meeting with Trixie, Twilight had drawn two conclusions about her. First, Trixie was overly dramatic and full of herself. Even though she believed Velvet to be an archmage, she described herself as having a level of skill that could eventually rival Velvet’s. She also spoke of herself in third person; something Twilight had only seen doing the most pretentious of ponies.
Second, Trixie was poorly informed of Twilight Velvet’s status, but she firmly believed the opposite.
“Hey mom,” said Twilight, “This pony is looking for you. Her name is Trix-” Twilight looked back. The blue mare wasn’t behind her anymore. She looked back ahead, and facehooved. Trixie was bowing to a very confused Velvet.
“She’s done it,” muttered Spike from her back. His voice was slightly muffled, and Twilight could only guess he had done exactly the same gesture as her. He hopped from her back. “I’m gonna go find Sweetie Belle. Good luck!” he said, giving her a pat on the leg. Twilight groaned a small ‘goodbye’.
“Twilight, sweetie,” said the voice of Velvet. Twilight looked up. Trixie was still with her muzzle almost touching the dirt. “What have you told this mare?”
“I haven’t-”
“You assistant has followed your instructions perfectly,” Trixie got up, gave her cape a flick and pointed her nose upwards. Twilight saw one of her mother’s eyebrows climb an inch up. “She has tried to keep your identity a secret, but such a simple deception can’t hide the truth from Trixie. Trixie knows who you are, Twilight Velvet of the Stars. You are an archmage!” Trixie finished the sentence by raising on her hindlegs and pointing a hoof to Velvet.
There was a pause. Then Velvet burst into laughter. Trixie scrunched her muzzle and puffed her cheeks.
“I really don’t know where you got that idea, but I think I should clear up some things,” said Velvet after a minute. She made a gesture to the tree she had been sitting under. “First, the pony that took you here is not my assistant, but my daughter.”
Trixie spared a short glance to Twilight, who smiled in return. “Oh. It is a pleasure for Trixie to make you acquaintance then, miss?”
“Twilight Sparkle.”
“It’s a pleasure,” she said.
Velvet sat on the dirt, and Twilight did the same. Trixie stayed on all four until Velvet motioned her to sit. “Second, I am not an archmage. Who told you that?” Her eyes were piercing.
“Trixie saw you with her very own eyes, strolling through the halls of the High School of Magic,” said Trixie with a proud smile. “Only the archmages, their assistants, and the support crew are allowed in there, and obviously you belonged to the first category. Trixie understands you may want to anonymity. Not everypony is made to live with fame-”
“Enough of that,” snapped Twilight Velvet. “I never got a seat on the Council. It’s a sore spot for me, and honesty it feels like you are poking fun at me. I have been in the School a few times, but never as anything more than a visitor. How many times did you see me, anyways? It can’t have been that often.”
“It wasn’t,” admitted Trixie. Velvet squinted her eyes. The azure mare averted her gaze. “…fine. Just once. Trixie got admitted as the assistant of Adonis, but was fired the next day.” Both Twilights snickered a bit at that. “Trixie didn’t make any mistakes! Adonis was simply…he made a mistake by firing me!”
“I’m sure he did,” deadpanned Velvet. “In any case, what is your business with me?”
Trixie shrugged. “Trixie saw you leaving Manehattan on a sky chariot, and decided she could be of some assistance. She suspected you’d have a plan to oppose Nightmare Moon. Avenge your colleagues, all that.” Mother and daughter shared a look. “What?”
“I’ve been working on a plan to make precisely that,” said Vevet. She extracted a notebook and a pencil from her saddlebags. “Maybe you’ll be the last piece we need,” she muttered, chewing the end of the pencil. “By the way Twilight, your white friend was looking for you.”
***
“Hey girls!”
Three fillies looked up from the playing cards they were holding on their hooves. There was an orange pegasus filly grinning at them. “You wanna see a dead body?”
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Twist shared a look that was between confused and disgusted. “Sure, why not?” said the unicorn filly.
“W-what?”
“What?!”
“WHAT!”
“What?” said Sweetie Belle, blinking her large green eyes. “I’m kind of bored. I want to do something else. Besides, this game is dumb.” She got on her hooves, neatly putting her cards on the deck and shuffling it before neatly placing it down. “Alright, let’s go,” she said to the orange filly, who had her eyes wide open.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect…” she shook her head and grinned. “Nevermind, let’s go!” She and Sweetie Belle headed to the woods at a light trot.
Apple Bloom and Twist glanced at each other. “Well, this is a three-player game anyways,” muttered Twist, putting down her cards.
“Yeah. This ain’t fun with just two ponies.” agreed Apple Bloom. The two fillies placed the cards on the deck and followed the other two.
Behind them, unnoticed by anypony else, the deck of cards was smoking.
Less than a minute later, the orange filly triumphantly onto a small mound. “See?” she said cheerfully.
The other three looked around. “There ain’t anything here,” pointed Apple Bloom.
“No, look!” the filly stomped her hooves on the dirt below her. “Right here!” She jumped off the mound and stood next to the other ponies.
“Hang on,” muttered Sweetie Belle, noticing the semicircular structure behind the mound. It had an inscription carved on it. “Is that a tombstone? Oh my gosh, I though you meant a dead animal!” she whimpered, covering her mouth with a hoof and trembling like a leaf.
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “C’me on Sweetie, it’s just a tomb.” She trotted forwards and squinted at the tombstone. “Here it says ‘Window’.”
“That’sh a really weird name,” muttered Twist. There was a small chorus of agreements. “Who you think it wahs?”
“Well, whoever it was, they died recently. The dirt has no grass on it,” reasoned Scootaloo. “Maybe somepony who died in the attack from a few days ago?”
Sweetie Belle glanced at Apple Bloom. The yellow filly had a blank look in her eyes, fixed on the dirt of the tomb.
“What in Tartarus do you think you are all doing here?!!”
The sudden scream had variable effects on the fillies, but they all involved some degree of surprised squeaks, uncoordinated flailing and sudden fits of running. When they looked at the source of the sound, they saw a tiny purple and green dragon, with his arms crossed firmly against his chest and a deep frown on his face, while he tapped the ground with his foot.
“Oh. Hey Spike! You scared us!” said Sweetie Belle. “What’s up?”
“What’s up?” repeated Spike, crooking an eyebrow. “Oh, not much. I just found four fillies alone on the forest, with a bunch of shape-changing bugs loose around. Not much.”
“Oh…” muttered the white filly. “W-we’re sorry, Spike…”
“No sorries!” Spike stomped his foot on the dirt. “You’re all going back to the camp, right now! And Twilight will probably want to check you for changeling…ness.” The dragon motioned his hand. He followed the crestfallen fillies to the camp, muttering under his breath.
***
“I am afraid out plan has caught a bit more attention than I expected.”
“Y-yes, it did,” replied Twilight, shifting nervously on her hooves. She and Rarity were standing on the middle of a clearing. Rarity had chosen that spot for her magic duel because it was out of view from the main camp, but still relatively close. Unfortunately, it appeared somepony had spread the news of the event, since there were about two dozen ponies waiting for the show.
“Nervous?” asked Rarity, as she undid the clasp that held her gambeson in place.
“N-no, not really,” said Twilight, looking back at Rarity. She was taking off her padded clothing to stretch, and Twilight needed a second to tear her eyes from her body. “I-It’s just that I don’t like ponies watching.”
Rarity stopped her exercises to study Twilight’s expression for a long second. “I understand. If you are not comfortable, we can call it off and try another day.”
“N-no, it’s fine!” assured Twilight. “It’s silly, really. Let’s do this now.”
Rarity smiled. “In that case, darling, may I suggest you to imitate me? We wouldn’t want to get an injury, would we?”
“R-right!” Twilight quickly followed Rarity in her exercises, thought with a little less grace.
Not too far away from the two unicorns, Rainbow, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy waited for the duel to begin.
“Ten bits for Twilight,” suddenly said Rainbow Dash.
“What?” said Applejack, shifting the stalk of wheat to the other side of her mouth. “Hehehe. No way, yer betting for Twi? I though you said she is an egghead.”
“…I…well, she is gonna beat Rarity into the ground!” said Dash. “Rarity said it herself! Twilight is a stronger unicorn!”
Applejack watched the two unicorns stretch for a moment. “Mh-hmmm. But ah think Rares has a plan. Ah don’t think she would drop a challenge just to have her plot hoofed to her.”
“Y-you think they are going to be fine?” muttered Fluttershy. “I don’t want anypony to be hurt.”
“They’ll be fine, sugarcube,” replied Applejack, giving the pegasus a reassuring smile. “Ah don’t know much about unicorns, but ah reckon this is like sparring with wooden weapons.”
“Exactly! Just with a lot more fire involved!” added Rainbow Dash. “By the way, you haven’t said anything about my bet.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Applejack chewed the rest of her stalk before continuing. “I accept your bet…and ah’ll raise it to twenty-five bits! Deal?” she asked, offering her hoof.
“Deal!” said Rainbow, bumping it with her own. “Oh, I am so excited!”
“You should be! Like ah said, this ain’t gonna be one sided like…you dueling Pinkie’s sister.” Both ponies turned their attention back to the two unicorns, who where gesturing to the crowd to group together to minimize the chances of being hit by a stray spell.
“Hold on, what did you just say?” objected Rainbow Dash, crooking an eyebrow an Applejack. “Are you implying Pinkie’s sister is stronger than me?”
“Ah am not implying anything,” retorted Applejack with an impish smile. “Ah am sayin’ it clear and loud,” she cleared her throat and added, with as much diction as her strong accent allowed. “Maud Pie would kick your sorry flank into the dirt in ten. Seconds. Flat.”
“She really would,” stated Pinkie Pie behind them. “If I were you, I wouldn’t try to measure up against her. Even if you were Applejack, I still wouldn’t do it.”
“Oh! Oh, it is on!” howled Rainbow Dash, increasingly aggravated. “I’ll show you. You’re gonna see what I am capable of! I. Will. Show. You.” she said, poking Applejack on the chest with each word. Having said her word, she turned to watch the unicorns, who were pacing away from each other. Applejack reached back with her hoof, which Pinkie happily smacked.
A little to the side, Sweetie Belle was cheering for her sister, while Spike was having trouble deciding which mare he should support.
Meanwhile, the two unicorns faced each other. Both had focused looks on their faces, but Twilight found Rarity more calm than she should be, facing a pony who might be ‘among the mightiest unicorns alive’, as she had said herself. ‘She must have a plan. But what?. Rarity didn’t have her spear or armor, and Twilight couldn’t perceive any passive spells cast on her.
Rarity light up her horn and cast a glistering blue blaze. The ball of flames struck harmlessly Twilight’s shield. She then dropped it and cast her own fireball. Rarity gracefully skipped to a side to dodge it, and replied with a beam. It was a stronger attack, but Twilight’s shield didn’t waver.
Having exchanged the first barrage of magical attacks, the two unicorns paused, visually measuring their opponents. Rarity was still bearing that calm expression. Twilight had no way of knowing how much of her power had put Rarity on that single attack. She seemed confident, but how much of that was actual confidence and how much bluff?
Rarity stepped sideways, and Twilight made her next move. She light up her horn and flicked her head in a broad arc, sending a loose cluster of flames. Rarity’s eyes opened wide. She dodged under a magic flame, and another one nearly missed her foreleg. Smiling, Twilight cast a simple binding spell. The blob of purple energy landed next to Rarity’s hoof, and wrapped around her leg, up to her knee. Rarity’s face contorted in disgust when she pulled and the slimy substance kept her hoof in place.
“Heehee! I’ve got you now!”
“I must admit, darling,” muttered Rarity, grimacing at the goo stuck to her hoof. “This is the most revolting thing I have ever stepped on.”
“I am glad you think so,” answered Twilight. “It’s a rather basic binding spell, but it isn’t easy to get the right balance of-” Twilight’s explanation was interrupted when a blue fireball exploded in front of her. If she hadn’t raised her shield, Rarity’s blaze would have hit her. The purple unicorn smirked. “Nice try.”
“Thank you, darling,” cooed Rarity, before unleashing another blaze. And another. The onslaught of blue magic struck Twilight’s shield with all the might of glass marbles hitting the stone walls of a castle. Azure mist covered the clearing as Rarity threw more and more spells into the shield. Stray flames burned on the grass. Twilight squinted. She couldn’t see Rarity anymore, but she was obviously spending her strength. As a precaution, she cast an extra layer to her shield.
An instant later, something hit her shield. It was a dark red gemstone with a square cut. It was all the information Twilight was able to gather before it detonated with a blinding flash.
Twilight recoiled, blinking. Her vision had turned into a blurry, painful mess. Her arcane perception alerted her of a spell being cast, so she turned her attention to her shield…which wasn’t there anymore. She felt heat on her shoulder as the spell flew past her. Blinded and under bombardment, Twilight teleported.
She re-appeared behind where she assumed Rarity to be, spun on her back legs, and fired a sweeping blaze. Twilight smiled when she heard Rarity yelp. Her vision was coming back, blurry and full of spots. She could see the stripe of purple flames she had just cast, interrupted only where Rarity stood. Thankfully for her, the alabaster mare wasn’t paying her any attention, as she was busy stomping the lilac flame that burned on her tail. It was a perfect opportunity to end the duel, which Twilight wasted by giggling uncontrollably.
“Hmp!” Rarity turned her muzzle upwards as she stomped off the last flame. “I hope you are proud of yourself, Twilight. You have managed to ruin my fine coiffure.”
“I’m sorry!” said Twilight between giggles.
“You will regret this, ruffian!” muttered Rarity, extracting something from her mane, and holding it for Twilight to see. It was a heart-shaped pink gemstone. Twilight’s laughter died out. She could perceive the magic boiling inside it. With a smooth movement, Rarity tossed the gem up in the air. “Rose Firestorm!” she called out grandiosely.
Twilight looked up. The crowd looked up. The gemstone reached the peak of its ascent, paused for an instant, and began to descent. And then Twilight’s legs were violently sweeped from underneath her and she hit the dirt with a gasp. A hoof was pressed into her face. Gently, but firm enough to prevent her to raise her head. The gemstone hit the dirt an instant later.
“Please signal your surrender,” requested Rarity.
“O-okay. Uh…I surrender?”
Rarity giggled. “Not what I had in mind, but it will work,” She helped her opponent to get back on her hooves, and graciously bowed to the crowd. Spike and Sweetie Belle cheered loudly, and then some ponies clapped their hooves after a second of hesitance.
“Oh come on!” shouted Rainbow Dash. “You cheated!”
“Now, now Rainbow Dash,” said Rarity, with a paused, steady voice that led Twilight to believe she had prepared the speech beforehand. “I have followed the usual rules and limitations allowed in the last draft of the official manual for military and sports magical dueling; Body contact is allowed, but no physical weapons or vorpal blades can be used.” Twilight looked down. Rarity still had her binding spell attached to her hoof, along with a very large chunk of dirt and grass. ‘So that is how she got loose’, though Twilight. “I am sorry if we didn’t perform as you expected,” Rarity looked around. The arcane mist was still floating in the air, and several blue and purple fires were still burning. “Though I don’t know what else you expected.”
“That was amazing!” squeaked Sweetie Belle, making a run for a tackle-hug, which Rarity happily accepted. “I told Spike you could do it!”
Spike came lagging behind. “I…uh…” The baby dragon hesitated. He glanced at Twilight, then at Rarity. “Good work. B-both of you,” he awkwardly muttered. Twilight let out a chuckle and levitated him into a forced hug. Spike only squirmed the first few seconds. “H-hey, stop!”
Twilight let go of Spike. “Let’s make sure we don’t cause a wildfire,” She trotted to one of the purple fires that was still burning, and stomped it with her hooves. Rarity mimicked her, taking care of the several blue blazes scattered across the area. Spike did the same, though he showed no preference on the color.
“How come you don’t get burnt?” asked Sweetie Belle, frowning. She wasn’t used to see her sister do anything close to manual labor.
“Same reason why you don’t get burn when you light up your horn,” explained Twilight. She pointed to a small lilac fire at her hooves. “This is my magic. It might look like fire, but it isn’t actual fire. It won’t burn me, but it can burn you or Rarity.” Twilight paused and tilted her head. “Well, not exactly. A lot of my own magic could hurt me, but this isn’t the case.”
“What do you mean, it’s not real fire?” said Sweetie. “I mean, look at it.”
“Hum….how could I explain it?” Twilight tapped her chin. “You know fire has to burn something, right?” The tiny unicorn nodded. “Well, a blaze doesn’t have to. It burns as long as it has magic. You could cast a blaze on a stone slab, and it would still burn.” Twilight stepped on the flame next to her, and it died out. “See? The grass isn’t burn.”
Sweetie Belle scooted closer. Indeed, the grass where the flame had just been was yellow and dead, but not charred as it should have been. “That is so cool!” squeaked the filly. “Will you teach me?”
Twilight giggled. “I am surprised Sunset never taught you, considering her affinity to fire. But I don’t see why n-” She interrupted herself when she saw Rarity shaking her head emphatically. “-uh…m-maybe someday.”
“Yay!” squeaked Sweetie Belle, breaking into a gallop in the general direction of the campsite. Spike called out an ‘hey wait!’ before following her. Both adult mares shared a laugh. They were alone.
“We should do this more often,” said Rarity, stepping on the last flame, which went out with a hiss. “I had forgotten how well it feels to push one’s limits.”
“We should,” agreed Twilight. An impish smile spread on her face. “By the way…you mentioned the official manual for magic dueling, but I don’t think pre-enchanted items are allowed.”
“Oh! Well, ahem…” Rarity averted Twilight’s eyes. “It can be done for instructional purposes. As the higher-ranked soldier of the two, I decided it would be appropriate.”
A crooked eyebrow added to the smile. “You’re not even a private, Rarity. You are a reservist.”
“Yes, but you don’t have any proper military training. So technically…I outrank you,” said Rarity smoothly. Twilight suspected she had prepared her reasoning beforehand.
“Actually, being the Princess’ apprentice does come attached with a military rank,” countered Twilight, grinning when Rarity lost her poise and slumped visibly as her argument was destroyed with a single sentence. “It’s something we inherited from old Pegasopolis; even mailponies count as military personnel.”
Rarity was speechless. Twilight giggled. “I am just joking, Rarity,” She began walking towards the campsite, and other mare followed her. “You were very clever. An anti-shield charm? You predicted perfectly what I would use!”
“Thank you, darling. It took a few tries to get a decent charm. I didn’t know what kind of shield you would pick, so I had to do something universal, while still strong enough to take down a shield of your caliber.”
“Speaking of charms. How was it? Rose Firestorm?” a smile creeped into Twilight’s lips.
Rarity let out a laugh. “Granted, it wasn’t my most inspired name. But I needed to give the impression it was some sort of offensive spell. Otherwise, it would make a poor decoy.”
“Was the gem actually enchanted?”
“No, it was not,” admitted Rarity with a smile. “I just put some magic on it, enough to make it feel enchanted, but no spellwork to speak of. To be honest, I was uncertain of what else I could make that would be helpful. In any case, I had fun today. Perhaps we could try this some other day?”
“I’d like that,” replied Twilight.
***
Sunset hesitated. Nightmare Moon had told her to be more open with her, but she was still an alicorn. An immortal being. The stuff of legends. Knocking on the door of her bedroom just to share some silly paranoia seemed inappropiate.
But what if it weren’t some silly paranoias? She was in Ponyville. Why did the small window on her room show some place entirely different? With what purpose could Nightmare Moon have enchanted it? As much as she tried, she couldn’t find any explanation that didn’t involve deception.
‘I’ve got to know’, though Sunset, raising her hoof and knocking on the door.
“Come in,” came the silky voice of the alicorn.
Sunset took a deep breath, steeled herself, and pushed the door open. The bedroom looked exactly the same as the last time she had seen it. Similarly, Nightmare Moon was lying on the bed, with her regalia sitting on a midnight blue cushion near the headboard. She was reading a book. “What do you want?” she asked, her eyes never leaving the written words. Sunset briefly wondered what she was reading.
“I need to ask you something,” Sunset replied, making her way once again through the maze that was the furniture of the bedroom. Nightmare Moon looked up. Her expression was unreadable. Much like Celestia, Sunset had quickly learned that it wasn’t always possible to know what was going though the mind of the alicorn. Sunset reached the bed, and chose to stand on the floor. She hadn’t been given permission to step on the bed; and she didn’t want to feel smaller than necessary. She and Nightmare looked into each other’s eyes for a second. “You enchanted the window on my bedroom. Why?”
There was a reaction on Nightmare Moon’s face. Slight surprise? Realization? ‘She must have realized that, as an alicorn, I can tell very easily what I was seeing was just an illusion,’ reasoned Sunset. ‘No regret or shame, or maybe she is just has a great poker face.’ She decided to press on. “We’ve always been in Ponyville, haven’t we? I saw it when I went for a flight.”
“You left the castle,” stated Nightmare. It wasn’t a question. “Why?”
“A few times, actually. I just wanted to test my wings in real life,” shrugged Sunset. “Don’t worry, I left a shield around the castle that would let me know if anypony tried to breach it, the Elements were well protected,” she assured. She shook her head. “In any case, you didn’t answer my question.”
The book slammed shut. ‘Advanced Arcane Theory for Dummies?’ read Sunset. “We were afraid you could get the wrong impression.”
“The wrong impression?” repeated Sunset, confused. She then remembered the other thing she wanted to ask about. “Oh, you mean from the fact that every single pony is gone? Yeah, I meant to ask. What’s up with that?”
“They fled,” replied the alicorn, frowning at the floor. “Our guess is that they heard of the changeling attack, and they moved to one of the larger cities, for safety.”
“Oh. Is it that bad?”
Nightmare Moon gave a sagely nod. “It is. Nopony is safe until each and every one of those vermin are dead. But they are good at hiding; they’ve been doing it for centuries. As we speak, we are combing the whole kingdom from the Sphere; trying to find where they are skulking.” The alicorn’s eyes narrowed. “And when we do, we will take care of them, personally.”
Sunset fell quiet for a moment. “Alright then. Is that it? That’s the whole reason you had an illusion on my window?” Nightmare Moon nodded. “Huh. I though…well…” She let out a nervous chuckle. “I thought maybe you were deceiving me…for some reason.”
Nightmare Moon gave her a kind smile. “You have all the right to be wary, Sunset. We understand it is easy to mistake why we kept you in the dark. Still, we are glad you asked us directly, instead of jumping into conclusions, and doing something you might regret.”
Sunset looked up at her mentor. “Yeah. Me too. I’ll…uh…I’ll be going back into my room. I am glad we talked.”
“Anytime, young one.”
Sunset made her way back to the door and opened it with her telekinesis. “Oh, Sunset?” came the smooth voice of the large alicorn. “In the future, I would be thankful if you didn’t leave the castle at all. We can induce you more dreams if you wish to fly, we can assure you they are as real as reality itself. You have been careful in your little excursions, and nothing has happened. But, should the Elements be misplaced…” the sentenced hanged in the air for a second, like a noose from a tree branch. “…well, we would be extremely displeased.”
Sunset cracked a tense smile. “Of course, Princess,” she said, before scurrying through the door and closing it in silence. The moment the lock clicked shut, she let out a sigh of relief. The tension she hadn’t realized to be carrying left her shoulders. She clumsily descended the stairs, her mind boiling and her limbs shaking. Nightmare Moon had casually thrown her a death threat, if she ever left the castle without her permission. She hadn’t stated it directly, but the delivery of the line and the tone…it left her no doubt.
Then there was also the fact that Nightmare Moon had lied to her. ‘Wrong impression?’ That was her explanation? It was reasonable, and Nightmare’s voice hadn’t betrayed her at any point. She seemed perfectly honest and sincere. However, the timing was strange. The illusion was in place long before Nightmare Moon had made any mention of changelings.
Sunset reached her room and jumped into the bed, burying the face in the pillow. “I need to get myself away of this place.”
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Just picked this story up, nice read.
8356894 Thank you! I am glad you are enjoying it so far.
You are a fast reader, are you not?
Sunset is an alicorn now right?
8357599 Yes, she is. Nightmare Moon ascended her in the previous chapter.
On a side note, I doubt I will update Hanged in a long time.
8357641
Thank you for clarifying.
Ah shoot, now I'm caught up...
I hope you are still working on this because this is really good so far.
I will admit though, there are a few things that seem odd
Like characters being there once or twice (blueblood) and I have no idea if they will play a part later or if they are just... there?
Also nifty little things like Twilights ability to, what, smell magic? I hope that comes into play again.
Then things like her fangs, that's usually something that is hinted at by the time it introduced her grandfather... idk, just small little nuance like that that seems like it could benefit from a pre mention of it.
Idk, I'm not a writer so I don't really know how to say what I intend to.
BUT I really am enjoying this nonetheless and I'm hoping for quick updates.
8363046 Hi there! I am glad you are enjoying it so far! As for your questions:
I have something planned for Blueblood, yes; though he will not play a big role. Trixie will play a bigger role (As the great and powerful Trixie should!
).
About the fangs, I did not mention them because they are...well, they are not substantial. She just has two small teeth when most ponies have a hollow space. Her grandfather has proper, functional fangs.
In case you care, here is a picture of her maternal grandmother, when she was younger. [Link]
I am surprised nobody is commenting on Twilight and Rainbow Dash's far blood relationship!
8363375
Love the picture, thanks for that.
Also I do like that about Twi and Dash, just didn't really know what to say about it. It's unique and I like that.
Also I Primarily didn't say anything about The blood relation to avoid probable spoilers for people. Lol
Also... commenting while on my phone is weird... random words get capitalized... oh well.
Not surprised you had Rarity beat Twilight.
Its such a cliche in story telling
8498325 Any outcome can be called a cliche:
Overpowered character wipes the ground with less powerful opponent.
No clear winner, so it is a draw.
Less poweful character outwits overpowered opponent.
Now, the draw sounds fairly unlikely to me. And I can not see Rarity just walking into something she can not handle. That would be more appropiate for Applejack or Rainbow Dash.
That being said, thank you for the comment.
8500080
Anytime.
Jsut doing my job as a pulling out cliches.
Even though we all are walking Cliches
more?
8586165
Hehe...I am glad you are enjoying it...but right now, I am a bit stuck half-way through the next chapter.
8586410
it's fine work at your own pace I'll be waiting
that didn't come out the way I meant
8500080
Only thing is, Rarity?
I couldnt really see her as a witty pony to be able to do that.
Apple jack and Rainbow Dash? Yea they would, their pride would/will be their downfall.
But I just dont see Rarity being smart or Witty
8744119
I...wait, you are the same dude. Are you...re-reading this?