Their Otherworldly Grace

by MonoGlyph

Incriminating Circumstances

The earthquakes subsided in the following days. A number of harbingers still patrolled the skies around town, waiting for something. They seemed unconcerned by the violet beam of light coming from the basement. Perhaps they welcomed it, even. Their masters would follow the pillar to our world. Peculiar cries were heard from the forest at night. The Tellurians were on their way to lay our town to waste. Two forces drew closer with each passing day, like water rising steadily around a lit candle.

Spike brought me another note from the Princess yesterday. He tried to hide the air of worry that pervaded him as he read the letter out loud for me.

[The aforementioned letter follows.]

Twilight,

I fear I can no longer dismiss reports of your recent behavior as exaggerated. Your friends are concerned about you, yet you refuse to address them. Equestria continues to morph into something altogether unrecognizable. Multiple sources claim to have seen unspeakable monsters roaming the land surrounding Ponyville, and after my own encounter with a previously undocumented species I am inclined to trust these accounts. I am led to believe that you have something to do with all this. The shaft of violet light originating in your library is plainly visible even from Canterlot. There have been casualties, Twilight. You understand I cannot ignore a potential threat to my kingdom. The trains have been running for a week now so you no longer have any excuse. You will see me in the castle, immediately.

Sincerely,
Princess Celestia

[Twilight’s Journal]

Alas, it seemed as though she was beginning to catch on. I dictated a brief reply to Spike, who reluctantly transcribed it onto a piece of parchment. It read thusly:

Dear Princess Celestia,

I’m sorry but I am presently unable to carry out your order. I have found myself incredibly busy in the present. I will be available to visit Canterlot sometime later this week. I hope you’ll be patient with me.

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle

Spike was visibly uncomfortable as he blew a puff of green flame over the letter, sending it on its way. I could certainly see why. This was the first time I ever declined to carry out Princess Celestia’s wishes. And I wasn’t as occupied as my letter made me out to be. I wondered how she would act in lieu of my refusal. Would she allow me to put off our meeting? Would she be angry? The prospect of displeasing the Princess was almost as terrifying as the abominations advancing over the horizon. That’s ridiculous, my inner id exclaimed. I’m surrounded by things that are far more important than some narrow-minded alicorn. Who cares what she thinks. Once they arrive, once they clash, she’ll be as powerless as the rest of us.

“Twilight,” Spike started nervously. “What is the point of that light, anyway?”

“Preparations,” I replied. “Just preparations for what’s coming.”

“So what’s coming, then?”

“We’ll know once it gets here.”

I could see he was getting frustrated with my non-answers.

“Listen,” I said in what I thought was a reassuring tone. “If I tell you what’s going on you’ll only worry needlessly. You’ve probably already figured out that things are changing. But I have a plan. I will save everyone.”

He somehow looked even more doubtful than before. I gave up.

I spent the next few hours perusing the Volumes. The few useful spells I found in these tomes were largely obscured by pointless trivia and lore. I began to resent the changelings that penned the books. Their knowledge of history, though cohesive, was rather superficial. I tried to make do with what I had. Perhaps someday in the future I would write my own book tackling the mysteries of the Tellurians and the Gray Domain. In the meantime, I read. I read of the strange murders in the villages of Waydoth and Leemalar, supposedly carried out by a small Tellurian agent called Swalythos. Despite his modest stature, Swalythos is considered a major figure in chthonic history. I read of the riverbeasts that swallowed ships whole and ensured that the flightless southwestern continents remained isolated for hundreds of years. It was only with the intervention of the pegasi that these lands managed to catch up with the advancements of their neighbors. I read of the great city Deswelda crumbling beneath the hoof of its incompetent emperor. I’ve known of the fall previously, but the tomes claimed that it was engineered by the changelings, one of whom infiltrated the palace and took the emperor’s place.

While I continued to page through the book before me, something possessed me to look outside. I saw a party of four crossing the street, heading in the direction of my home. Applejack and Rarity were leading the group. To my dismay, they were followed by two of Celestia’s royal guard. It would seem that the Princess had no intention of allowing me more time. For a split second I considered letting the guards escort me to the castle. If I just explained everything and apologized… But no, this would not do. Princess Celestia would not approve of the things I’d done, especially if there were actual casualties as she’d mentioned in her letter. She’d find out eventually, and we’d speak. But I simply wasn’t prepared to do so now.

[Princess Celestia sent the following letter to Rarity shortly after receiving Twilight’s reply.]

Dear Rarity,

I am shocked to hear of your loss. I was fond of Fluttershy, myself, but I can’t imagine what you’re going through. I wish I could give you and your friends adequate time to mourn, but as you said, everything is liable to worsen before long. I wrote to Twilight after I got your letter, and demanded that she take the next train to Canterlot. Before long, I received a reply curtly explaining that she was busy and unable to fulfill my request. I’m sure you’ll agree that this refusal is uncharacteristic of her. I’ve dispatched two guards to come and collect her, by force if necessary. I’d rather avoid that eventuality if at all possible, so I’d like to ask you and Applejack to accompany them. Please do not attempt to apprehend her physically; the guards should be more than enough. If you are able, I’d prefer that you arrange for her to come along willingly. Talking to her otherwise may prove problematic. The two guards, Gestalt and Abel, will arrive to Ponyville within the hour. I wish you luck.

Sincerely,
Princess Celestia

[Several items were brought to the personal study of the Princess when the guards returned. This report outlines what occurred in Ponyville.]

This is Rarity speaking. Writing. Whichever. I suppose normally it would be up to the guards to compose a report, and I certainly don’t relish the thought of writing one myself. I grow weary of writing lengthy letters and the like. However, in this case I believe Princess Celestia would prefer my summary to an impersonal one written by an outsider. No offense intended to the guards of course, they’ve done their absolute best. But I digress.

Once more I entered the muddy farm to inform Applejack of Princess Celestia’s request. That request was for us to accompany two royal guards as they attempted to apprehend our friend, Twilight Sparkle in Ponyville. Twilight is wanted by the Princess and is believed to have something to do with the appearance of heretofore unknown creatures in the mountains and surrounding countryside. Applejack had grown rather quiet since our friend Fluttershy disappeared at the hands of the aforementioned monsters. The other ponies in my circle of friends were still unaware of this nugget of information. I dreaded having to tell them. I somehow managed to convince Applejack to come with me and we met the two stallions in the plaza half an hour later.

The pegasus called Gestalt seemed like a fine example of a royal guard. He was tall, well-built and handsome, with a brilliant white coat. I couldn’t help but notice that one of his wings was wrapped in medical plaster. I wondered how he’d gotten injured, and whether this made it difficult for him to fly. The contrast between him and his partner was striking. Abel was a young gray colt, and his armor hung awkwardly over him. He was skinny and his wings were comparably small. I wagered that he was a rookie, still on his first year. Gestalt nodded at us as we approached while Abel saluted industriously. I found Abel’s youthful energy charming. We exchanged introductions and proceeded in the direction of Twilight’s library.

When we arrived, the door was answered by Twilight’s little helper, Spike. He anxiously turned his tail over in his claws as he asked me what brought us there.

“Th’ Princess of the Sun demands a word with your master,” said Gestalt, looking down at the young dragon. I thought the last word was rather poorly chosen, but stayed silent.

“Uh… Right. Of course. I think she’s upstairs.” I could feel the resentment steaming off his scales.

He escorted us through the bookshelves and up the stairs. In spite of the violet shaft of light that seemed to come from nowhere in particular, the library seemed darker than usual. It was as though the pillar was sucking all other light from its surroundings. My vision started to swim halfway up the staircase. I opened my mouth to complain.

“I’m getting a headache just being in here. Do tell us, Spike. Where is this dreary atmosphere coming from?”

“I’m not sure how much I’m allowed to say. You’d be better off asking Twilight.”

After what felt like an eternity, we arrived to the upstairs living area. Twilight was intently staring out the window. Spike cleared his throat.

“Twilight. The royal guards are here to—“

“Hark!” Abel interrupted. “By the order of Her Majesty, the esteemed Princess Celestia, you will come with us!”

Twilight turned around and gave me an icy look. I tried to put my various questions for her in order. Before I could decide on how to begin, there was a flash of purple and she was gone. Abel stomped on the floor in frustration.

“Doggone it. How are we supposed to grab her if she can teleport?”

I turned to Spike. He looked shocked. I have to admit, I was only half-expecting that Twilight would come along quietly.

“I reckon we’d best search the house for evidence,” Applejack suggested. “We certainly wouldn’t want you boys to be headin’ back from this trip with nothin’ to show fer it.”

Spike looked like he was about to object, but I guess he figured it’d be best not to resist at this juncture. A thorough search of this floor yielded four suspicious-looking tomes whose covers were marked by V’s or 5’s or something of this nature. I gather that these must be the books that Rainbow Dash saw Twilight leafing through a while back. A cursory examination of the books revealed that they were blank, just as Rainbow had said. There was a pile of parchment surrounding the books, carrying notes of some kind. There was far too much to read through in its entirety, but the first few pages were devoted to some esoteric branch of history I’d never heard of. As I paged through these papers, I noticed that what began as a neat well-written transcription soon devolved into an illegible mass of scribbles. Anyone who wishes to see these notes is free to do so; we’ve confiscated them along with the blank books.

When questioned, Spike mentioned that Twilight had started a journal several weeks ago. It was clear that a journal would be an invaluable piece of evidence that would likely shed some light on the situation. Unfortunately, we were unable to find anything of the sort. I guessed that she had taken it with her.

Our investigation soon brought us to the basement where Twilight seemed to have performed a considerable chunk of her experimentation. I could not say what this was all supposed to be leading up to. We found a number of alchemical ingredients here, along with a few diagrams of something or other. Most of this we left untouched, as we’re not sure that it’s relevant to our case. We did find the source of the light, however. It was a strange device that Twilight built herself, according to Spike. It was a clump of miscellaneous brass parts. A number of pipes and tubes were built into the gadget, and I wondered how Twilight managed to weld the things in place. It was suspended by chains over a calm blue flame. A bright violet mixture appeared to be emitting the light, which was amplified by a fabulous diamond. Reluctantly, I allowed the guards to take the instrument and the diamond with them. I could see that the sack Spike had lent us was getting heavy with the things we’d stuffed into it. There was one more thing to see, however.

We came across a fossil nearby. It looked very similar to the creatures I saw emerging from the cliff on the day that Fluttershy was abducted. As I leaned in for a closer look, the little beast snapped at me. Astonishingly, the petrified animal (apparently a cross between a large fish and a crab) was still living. Thankfully, it was incapable of any movement besides that of the neck and head. Once I calmed down, Gestalt bludgeoned the creature and stuck it into the bag. I became aware of the various absurdities in Twilight’s home. Where did Twilight get the blank books and what did she intend to do with them? What was the purpose of the device we’d found and the light it gave off? Why was Twilight in possession of the monstrous fossil? She was clearly doing something she shouldn’t. Otherwise, why would she run from us? I felt that we were slowly approaching the truth, but couldn’t shake the feeling that we were already too late to stop what was coming.

Comments

[blue_star]

I like where this is going, keep up the good work.

[Encyclone]

At first I was all like, "Ugh, another chapter to read, there are so many!" But, then I was like, "Get the popcorn!"

[Encyclone]

I await your quick updates, you faithful fanatic, Encyclone.