Ch 7: "Broken Masks"
At the very moment Twilight Sparkle was enthralled by the tale of Prince Æclypse, the weather over her destination, Ponyville, was as perfect a cool autumn day as any Pegasus had ever constructed. The birds chirped as they glided on the breeze over the dale, red ones, blue ones, little sparrows and chickadees. Over the knoll came a soft humming, a voice with a cheery tune to keep cadence with their step.
Rounding the top of the hillock, Fluttershy pranced lightly along. Behind her, a trail of frogs bounded one after another, following their pied-piper. She glanced back to her parade, making sure they were all keeping-up.
“We’re almost to your new pond little ones! Oh, you’re going to be so comfortable there, that other pond you were in was way to close to the Everfree.”
A few of the amphibians croaked their pleasure.
Knowing how close they were to their new home, Fluttershy finally took care to observe the pond, which was nestled at the edge of the glen in a little pocket surrounded by trees. The friendly kind, not the nasty gnarled Everfree ones. But as she examined the spot, she noticed a large dark form laying by the pool, a stallion with his face draped over the water. As she got closer the figure took no notice of her, preferring instead to dab their hoof at the water’s surface and send ripples in all directions.
She came to a stop a few paces away, the frogs continuing past her to file into the water, several plunks! breaking the quite. Though the stallion’s hair draped over his face a bit, Fluttershy could tell he was dejected. When a frog poked its head above water, its tongue shot out and stuck to his muzzle, perhaps in a friendly attempt to lighten the mood. But having no success, with a disappointed mur-murt it plopped back down.
“Sorry to, um, bother you.” Fluttershy began, nervously trying to get the grey, blue-maned unicorns attention. “I was just, um, hoping that, oh, If you could just-”
“You’re Fluttershy aren’t you?” he asked gloomily without moving his head.
“Um, maybe..” was all she managed.
“Rarity said that you were tending to a patient overnight. Tell me, are they alright?”
She thought about the turtle she had tended to last night, it had been trapped on its back for several hours and was in bad shape by the time other woodland critters had alerted her. The memory of the sick reptile was enough to draw her out of her timidity, “Oh yes, little Tibby was very ill from exposure.”
The plain fact she had missed at first stunned her, “Wait, Rarity told you about me?”
“Yes.” he said, raising his head and turning in her direction, “We haven’t met yet, but I’m Wanderlust. She told me you were a dear friend of hers.”
“Oh” she softly exclaimed, making the connection. This was the stranger, they had talked about in the spa yesterday. “Rarity said you were, um, a good cook.” she said, unable to think of something more relevant.
“Rarity told me you were the kind one.” Wanderlust said with a casual lie, dropping his head back down. “I’m afraid my night was rather unkind.” With an exaggerated sign he lifted his chin and set it back down. “But I don’t suppose that’s any of your care.”
Fluttershy tensed. Her natural instinct was to just back away and get back to her cottage, but he didn’t seem all that scary. Here he lay on the grass, no taller than a kitty, and was about as much a threat.
“Well, um, if there’s something you’d like to, maybe, talk about.”
“Oh you don’t want to hear about my troubles. I just hope Rarity isn’t too mortified by the scene I caused at the party.” That second part was at least true, the pained expression on her face had dug at him. In fact he hadn’t even returned to the boutique after he went after Trixie, he had spent the night wondering about the town.
“Well, maybe I can talk to Rarity later” the Pegasus offered, “So, why don’t you tell me, um, what happened. That way I can help her not be so, um, mortified.”
He looked to her with careful thought, reading the subtle tells in her face. “You must really be a good friend.”
“Oh yes.” she nodded, “I would do anything to help a friend. Except, you know, scary stuff.”
Wanderlust rose from where he lay, stretching his legs with a groan. “I’ve been laying down for quite some time. Come, I’ll escort you back and tell you what happened.”
Minutes later, after Wanderlust had set the scene with him chasing after Trixie, and how bad he felt about Rarity. The walked at an amble, with Fluttershy listening intently. He continued his tale with how he found Trixie sobbing against a fence post.
“I found her there at the corner of somepony’s yard fence, her hat on the ground beside her half-slathered in mud where it fell. The rain from earlier had waned, but there was still a light drizzle that soaked her mane and plastered it against her neck.”
“Go Away!” she yelled at the sound of my approach, flapping a hoof in my direction. I sucked in a breath and tried to reach out but she snapped at me, angrier this time.
“Go away and leave me! Just like you did the last time I saw you!”
She glared at me, her eyes drenched in rain and tears. I saw the well of anguish behind those windows, and if not for the droplets, she would have seen my tears as well.
“I’m sorry I had to leave you like I did Trixie, but I thought you would-”
“That I would what!?” she demanded, “That I would just forget about you? Get on with my life like you never existed? Seek my fame and fortune all alone?!”
“That you were strong enough to be on your own, without me slowing you down.”
“Oh my” Fluttershy finally cut in. Not immune to a mare’s taste for gossip, she as much as anypony could imagine the emotion of the situation.
“So you broke-up with her?”
“Broke up with her?” Wanderlust said, confused.
“She was your Very Special Somepony, and you had a bad break-up, right?”
Wanderlust’s eyes widened as he realized what she meant. “Oh no no no, it wasn’t that at all. She wasn’t my mare-friend. I could have never thought of her that way.”
Now it was Fluttershy who was confused. “Wait, so why was she so upset about you leaving her?”
“That story is a little older. Many years before she was ‘Great and Powerful’, she was just a little thing on the streets of Fillydelphia. I remember when I first saw her. I had been in the city for a few days, trying to find an antique broker, when I chanced upon a crowd of ponies in the city commons. At first I couldn’t tell what they were all looking at, but I edged in closer, and saw a ragged maned little filly standing on an upturned box. A crude wizards hat made out of cardboard was on her head, little stars drawn on it with a crayon.
‘Come see the magic of Trixie!’ she announced to the audience, trying her best to sound like a trained performer. I could see by her cutie mark that magic was indeed her talent, and being an aficionado of the craft myself, I decided to see what she had. She was adorable. Her routine was little more than making things appear out of her hat, and little streaks of sparkly lights for flair, but she did it with such earnestness and cuteness that you couldn’t help but applaud.”
Wanderlust spoke as he looked off into the distance, a smile peeking out from the corners of his mouth. Fluttershy could tell this was a happy memory, one that he probably hadn’t relived in years.
“When it was finished, the crowd applauded and threw a few bits in her hat for the show. I watched as she counted her take with a growing frown before putting the bits in a saddle bag that looked even more tattered than she did. She finally noticed that I was still staring at her, which must have upset her because she yelled at me; “What do you want huh? Shows over!”.
Before I could reply, she hopped down off the box and trotted away. I was inclined to just let it go and return to my search, but something about her made me want to see where she was going. I followed her a ways downtown, she didn’t stop anywhere and she didn’t talk to anypony, which stuck me as strange. Eventually she turned into an alley, where an old, overweight green mare was hunched over a cart filled with various odds and ends of broken and discarded objects.
Spying on them from around a corner, I listened as they haggled over something.
“Alright, three bits, just like you asked!” Trixie sounded mad, like they had argued before. She presented the money to the mare, who glared at it suspiciously.
“Now the price if four bits!” she growled.
Trixie visibly balked at the price, a mix of fear and anger distorting her young features.
“Four bits! That’s a rip-off! That old rag isn’t worth half a bit!”
“Then why do you want it so bad then huh?”
“None of your business!” Trixie squealed in her little voice.
“The price is four bits. So you want the rag or don’t ya?”
The mare was trying to squeeze the little filly for an extra bit. I could have stepped in, but I wanted to see where all this was going. Finally Trixie’s front broke down, and her face fell as she levitated the contents of her bag in front of her, the five bits she earned from her show.”
“But… but, I only have five bits. If I give you four then I’ll only have one to-”
“We all got sob stories kid. Pay up or get lost.”
In that moment I thought the mare’s face was a perfect expression of the brutalized and hardened soul she carried within.
Trixie bowed her head, and without a sound passed over four of her five bits. The mare took them, inspected them, and with a satisfied grunt, put them into a small pouch. She plucked a bit of cloth no bigger than a dishrag out of her cart, and tossed it at Trixie, where it landed on her back.
The cloth was clearly used, with an ugly brown stain that occupied about a fourth of it. Otherwise it was a just a normal pastel-purple foal’s blanket. Trixie left the alley and walked right past me without noticing, her head was still hung.
I still couldn’t understand just why a little filly like her would be quibbling with a scrounger over a filthy blanket, so I continued to follow her. Her next stop was a sandwich vendor, and she picked out a small cheese and lettuce on white.
The pony put the food on the counter, but when Trixie put up her last bit, he took it back.
“Sorry kid, small sandwich is two bits.”
“But… I only have one.” she pleaded, all the wind taken out of her sails.
The vendor must have had a sweet spot for a sad face, and he cut the sandwich in half, shoving one side in her direction.
“Half and sandwich and we call it even.”
“Thank you mister!” she told him, eagerly snapping the food off the counter. She took her lunch and sat on the curb of a flower display in the square where she ate contentedly.
Sensing an opportunity, I went up to the vendor and placed my own order.
“I’ll have the platter please.”
“Yes sir, anything else?”
“Yes…” I answered him, “and half a cheese and lettuce sandwich.”
She had consumed her sandwich by the time I sat down next to her, and you should have seen how big her eyes got when she saw the food stacked on my plate.
“Mind if I join you for lunch?” I asked her. “I hate eat alone.”
Her pride must have reasserted itself, because she pouted. “What do you want from me huh? You just gonna follow me around all day? There’s laws against stalking you know!”
I took a bite of sandwich before I answered, making a show of savoring the flavor. “Well… whenever I have a big meal like this, mmm delicious, I like to hear a story.”
I glanced sideways to see her staring at my plate of food, her mouth ajar.
“So why don’t you tell me Trixie, a story about a darling little filly who spends four bits on a soiled rag, and one bit on lunch.”
“Why do you wanna know?” she said, clutching her newly bought blanket.
“For starters, I think such a little filly could help make sure this big lunch of mine doesn’t go to waste.”
I almost laughed when I heard the breath caught in her throat.
“You mean it?” she asked hopefully, “I could have some of your sandwich?”
“As long as it gets me a story.” I said, floating a sandwich half as big as her just out of reach.
“Ok…”
I laid the sandwich beside her and let her get a few mouthfuls. She took huge bites, like this was some lavish feast to be gobbled-up while the getting was good. With her mouth stuffed, so much so she couldn’t close her lips, and the sound of her chewing, she looked at me curiously.
“So… whadda you.. Wanna know?” she asked in between swallows.
“The blanket, what’s the deal?”
“If you must know, this is my blanket. I lo..misplaced it a few days ago. So I had to buy it back from old Salma.”
“You bought back your own blanket for four bits? You could have gotten a new one for half that.”
“This one is Trixie’s favorite blanket, none other will do!”
She pulled it around to look at, and tried to wipe away some of the crud. A picture of her life was beginning to form in my mind, one that shared many a note as my own.
“It means that much to you huh? Suppose you just gotta take it home and get it cleaned then.” I said to prod her.
She froze mid-bite at my question, looking stuck for an answer.
“Uh yeah, a little water and it’ll be like new.”
“You’d better finish your food then, it’s getting late.” Indeed it had already been evening when I first saw her, now the sky was making its color shift. “We wouldn’t want your parents to get worried.”
At the sound of that her attitude had returned with a vengeance.
“humf! Trixie makes her own curfew! I don’t answer to anypony but myself!”
This all but confirmed my suspicion. So feisty as she was, I wasn’t about to abide this little filly on the street.
“Well, I do have to get going along. I’ve been out all day and I’m terribly tired. I don’t know what kind of bed Trixie plans to sleep on with her favorite blanket, but I’ve got a plush quilt with my name on it waiting back at my hotel suite.”
Out of the corner of my eye I could see her face tense, and I knew she was deciding whether or not to push her luck a little further. So as I rose to my hooves, I gave her something to bite onto.
“Of course, I could use some company for the walk back.”
“Trixie will go with you!” she exclaimed a little more enthusiastically than she meant to. “I mean, for the price of another sandwich.”
I glanced back at her with a sly smile, letting her save some face. “Well come on then girl, the other half of this lettuce and cheese sandwich isn’t going to eat itself.” I put the remainder of my food in my saddle bag and began walking away.
She tied the corners of her blanket around her neck, put her little make-shift hat on, and bounded after me. I admit I couldn’t hide a grin.
“So you’re staying in a hotel, but you’re rich enough to stay in a suite.” She remarked, “So where are you really from? And what’re you doing in Phillydelphia?”
I was impressed by her induction, “I’m in town on personal business. And I’m something of a drifter, so you might say I’m from all over.”
It must have dawned on her then that she was going home with a complete stranger, one who had lured her in with food and nice words. She must have been in a desperate position to accept my help so easily. I don’t know what her parents had instilled in her, but some of it must have bubbled up.
“If I’m going to walk you home I might as well know your name.”
I gave her a measured look, which she squirmed a bit under, perhaps worrying that she had put a hoof wrong. In that moment she had my heart. I bent a knee and offered her my hoof.
“Trixie, I’m Wanderlust. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“A pleasure it is.” the little filly announced to me, like she was bestowing some great honor. Her eyes were closed as she shook my hoof, and yelped in surprise when I snatched her up and placed her on my back. Before she had a chance to object, I was trotting back to the hotel. She was startled at first, but she settled down.
By the time I reached the hotel, she was snoring lightly, curled-up and her face nuzzled into the fur between my shoulders. I suspect she hadn’t been sleeping well for at least a few days, and when I got up to the room I set her down on the bed with not so much as a wiggle out of her. Watching her little body rise and fall with each breath, I carefully undid the blanket, put her hat on the bedside table, and folded the comforter over her shoulders.
I took the blanket into the bathroom and gave it an impromptu wash. When I was done I hung it to dry, and settled myself into the chair in the corner of the room. The last thing I saw before nodding off was Trixie turning over in bed, some pleasant dream making her smile.
Wanderlust continued walking in silence for a few moments before Fluttershy spoke up.
“So, um, then what happened?”
“Hmm, what?” prodded out of his train of thought, Wanderlust realized he had stopped talking. “Oh, yes. I’d like to finish this story for you, but I think someone else is demanding your attention.”
He jerked his head over Fluttershy’s shoulders, and to her surprise, they were already back at her cottage. Standing at her front door, Angel was waiting, arms crossed and foot thumping impatiently. A crunched face of jealously and anger staring daggers at the Unicorn.
“Oh my!” Fluttershy said as her head shrunk down. “I forgot, it’s time for Angel’s lunch. I’d better get inside and get it started.”
She started to run over, but stopped short. “Oh, um, thank you for walking me home.”
“No problem Fluttershy, thanks for lending an ear. You are very kind.”
“Maybe, um sometime, you could, I don’t know, finish your story.”
“I’d love to. Good day Fluttershy.”
Wanderlust bowed his head slightly, bidding the fair Pegasus adieu. With a swift turn he began to saunter away. He had gotten a few steps away when a question reached his ears.
“I’m, uh, curious though Wanderlust.” Fluttershy asked, “What were you looking for in Fillydelphia?”
He didn’t answer right away, feigning an attempt to recollect by looking to the sky. When he came up with something, he glanced back over his shoulder.
“Oh just an old trinket really.”
He faced forward, leaving Fluttershy to her work.
“An amulet.”
FRIENDSHIP EXPRESS
MIDWAY TO PONYVILLE
She hadn’t known blackberry was a flavor of lollipop anywhere, but as Twilight Sparkle sat back down in her seat, the savory candy making her mouth water, she was glad it was. Twilight took a few minutes to simply stare out the window, watching the tree-tops in the distance waver in the wind, while those nearer to the track flashed by in a blur.
The ancient book lay beside her, and in the back of her mind, she thought of what Celestia might say if she found out. Her status as princess might come with a few nice perks, but nothing that would shelter her from anything the senior Alicorn might choose to penalize her with. Still, as a lover of books and knowledge the idea of letting this story be lost to the dust of ages irritated her, and besides, it wasn’t like she was going to tell everypony she had it.
Spike in his seat was tossing a few morsels of some puffy, crunchy snack into the air before snatching them up with his extended tongue. Taking up a new comic, he admired the cover art for a moment before flipping to the opening pages. It was now that he realized Twilight was looking at him.
“What?” he asked her, as if there was something he wasn’t aware of doing wrong.
But she merely chuckled at his tone, “Nothing Spike.” Satisfied that nothing was amiss, Spike flexed the pages of his comic and returned his focus to issue #9 of The Uncanny Batmare.
Twilight picked her own book back up in a nimbus of lavender magic, again pausing to reflect on just how special this collection of pulp, wood, and leather was. She split the book open to where the felt ribbon marked where she had left off, and switching the lollipop to the other side of her mouth, began reading.
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“----HAVOOOOOOOOOK!” before charging headlong into battle.
Havok was our god of courage and strength in warfare. Like many other gods of Thule, Havok had no true name, but we attributed one to him for our own sakes. For Thule had many gods and goddesses, who governed over nearly ever facet of life. There was Daranite, goddess of the pure mountain spring, there was Vertanus, overseer of discipline and virtue.
But the two most prominent gods in the hearts of Thulian unicorns, were Zarathustra, god of willpower, who helps us stay determined in the face of hardship and peril. In his name was crafted the motto of the Thule Guard: “You are to be strong You are to be bold. You are to overcome, Thus spake Zarathustra.”
Then there is Crom, god of wisdom, keeper of the riddle of steel, strong on his mountain. Crom is the patron god of Æclypse’s bloodline, and has served them well these long moons. My prince Æclypse is especially favored by Crom, for knowledge is power, power in the intangible. And power makes you strong, strong like steel, strong on your mountain, and my prince’s mountain is mighty indeed.
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“Whoa.” Twilight mumbled to herself. There had never been a time in her life when Celestia and Luna hadn’t been the closest beings to deity that anypony could think of. Hearing about lofty gods and goddesses like Vertanus and Crom was surreal, hard for her to imagine in fact. Twilight almost wanted to turn right around and raid the Thule antechamber for every book and scrap of scroll she could find. And if the ponies of Thule dispersed far and wide in Equestria, then what happened to the memories of these archaic deities among the descendants? This she resolved, would go on the ‘must research’ list.
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The Fyre Drake was as tall as the ceiling of the Thule throne hall, its claws could hold two full-grown unicorns in its grip, its wings broad and black could rip a forest up by the roots in its gale. The scales were like wrought iron, thick and rough, the remains of many spears and sword lodged between them. His whole body was covered in rivers of fire emanating from his infernal core, glowing through the darkness and blizzard to shine like a treacherous beacon.
And there lie the beasts great weakness, at least to our mind. For only within the blinding winds and insatiable cold can it survive, the very combustion that gives it life would consume it from within should the monster find itself in any warmer a climate. So on the bitter winds it flies, and in the frozen storm it travels, a creature with both the flame and the frost to assail its hapless foes.
And there, into that certain death did my prince gallop. The heat and cold conspiring together, their union forming a whirlwind that turned snow and hail into pellets that would batter a normal pony into oblivion. But Æclypse’s armor protected him, as did the shield of magic that he used to pierce his way through to the monster.
As he approached, the beast levied another feral cry, the crests to either side of its head rattling from the power of the sound. From a beak that could shatter stone came licks of sickly green flame that curled and danced in the wind. It lifted a mighty arm, and as Æclypse got within reach, brought it crashing down and dug its claws into the permafrost. But it had missed its target, the prince dashing to the side with not a hair’s width to spare.
Æclypse ran straight into the beast, and darted underneath it, heading off in the opposite direction to lure the drake away. Sensing an easy, if not intriguing prey, the fell creature turned and engaged pursuit, each step thundering after the first son of Thule.
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Pausing to take a breath, it occurred to Twilight that she had never head of the Fyre Drake before. There were plenty of dragons alive and well in Equestria today, from the huge one that she and her friends had to roust from the mountain cave, to the many that formed the great dragon swarm that migrated across the continent every year. And of course, there was one little dragon in particular Twilight couldn’t imagine her life without.
But this only added to the mound of questions that were accumulating in her mind. How could all this information simply be forgotten? Purged from the record? Had Celestia’s effort to bury Thule been so complete? How could nopony have passed these stories along? she thought. The drake was apparently a known quantity in the north, so maybe Cadence could do some digging in her library for something. Surely, if it recorded the existence of the drake, it knew of it’s demise at the hoof of Prince Æclypse.
“Spike,” She called to her friend, “Take a letter”
A minute later, Spike held the rolled-up scroll to his face, and breathed a wash of green flame that burned the paper to a wisp of smoke that immediately shot to the window and out into the air towards it’s destination.
“Why are you suddenly interested in “unique dragons in northern Equestria” for?” Spike asked, settling back into his seat.
“Oh just looking into something for a book I’m thinking of writing.” Twilight said casually.
“Really? A book about dragons?” Spike responded excitedly.
“Why not? I figure I should know a thing or two.” She assured him with a wink.
Satisfied, Spike leaned back in his chair with a barely suppressed grin, and reopened his comic. Twilight looked back to her window and frowned. She wasn’t very fond of lying to her best friend, but she also wasn’t very keen on the idea of making him complicit in defying Celestia’s command to leave Thule alone. So, worse come to worse, Spike would just be confused about why she omitted certain facts.
The tale of the book called out to her again, and she readied herself to finish Wiglaf’s recount.
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I tried as best I could to follow behind, but even healthy, Æclypse could well outpace me. Now with the drake giving chase, I knew the prince was striding faster then he ever had against my squat legs. Sliding down an incline, I managed to follow the tracks through the storm, which began to subside as the monster fled further and further. Hobbling as best I could, it was several minutes before I caught sight of them again.
I was so focused on spotting them that I nearly stepped off a cliff, and shuffling back from the edge, I was able to see the glow of the beast on the plane below. The drake no doubt was more used to its quarry either fleeing or being caught unawares. But there on the plane he had an opponent who had no intention of running. It would make snatching grabs for Æclypse, but he would dodge, and fire a blast of magic in retaliation.
The monster became more infuriated the longer he was foiled, its burning veins pulsing brighter and brighter with every beat of its heart. Æclypse must have perceived this before I did, for each time he fired his magic, it was into one of the exposed heat vents. The prince was not merely distracting the monster so the pilgrims could escape, he had found a way to fight it. Glowing brightest of all, was the center of its chest, where burned a claw shaped icon that the drake protected from attack.
Its fury reaching a peak, the whole body of the monster trembled, and from its maw came a torrent of aubergine fire that it spewed wide over the plane. This was fire even we in Thule had thought a child of ancient legend. The Aubergine flame, it is said, does not just burn the flesh but the soul as well. A flame so primordial and pure, no magic can withstand it.
Æclypse knew his mythology well, and avoided the sweeping fire by blasting a hole into the ground deep enough for him to leap into laying sideways, the Aubergine blazing over head. The drake lost sight of the prince, and sought him out, unaware that he was hiding just behind it.
I began to hear voices behind me, and thus came members of our escort group, other guards who desired to aid their prince.
“Where is the Prince?!” the foremost of the dozen asked me with exhausted breath.
“Where are the pilgrims we are charged to protect?” I asked in return, enraged that Æclypse might be risking his life in vain.
“They made it to the treeline, they’re safe” Another of the guard said.
“Then lets not leave our prince to fight this monster alone!” I cried.
With their voices joined to my own, I led the way down a narrow path that would take us below. Æclypse must have heard us coming, for he turned in our direction with a roar; “Stay back! Get! Back!”
We hesitated, unsure the danger to his life outweighed his order.
“Get clear!” He repeated, “That is a direct royal command!”
We never got the chance to comply with his word, for the drake had become aware of us, and its wide wings carried it straight for us. Our group dived to either side as a stream of the Aubergine bathed the ground in its passing. The drake made a great looping turn, bellowing in the wind, and set itself for another strafe. We knew that it could not miss all of us second time.
Our prince rushed past us, bearing a shield of stone in his magic before him, to meet the beast head-on. The magical flame was loosed, and smothered the rock buffer, both still barreling down on each other. When their paths converged, the drake knocked the stone aside with a claw, and Æclypse with it. Sensing its crafty prey was vulnerable, the monster struck in with its beak, aiming to snatch him in a single bite. But the prince paid the drake a good turn and used his magic to deflect it into the ground.
With the beast temporarily stunned, Æclypse jumped onto its neck, and from his horn, cast a tether around the monster’s throat. The drake fumed and raged, but it could not shake the prince as he held on for dear life to the spines that protruded from its back. Unable to loosen the throttlehold, the Fyre Drake beat its wings, and ascended into the stormy sky.
Not in all the days that pony hooves have trodden the soil I think, had anypony ever ridden a dragon, and certainly not one as mighty as the spitter of the Aubergine. But there I did see, soaring through the blizzard Æclypse atop the dragon’s back, his leash causing the monster to writhe and thrash about madly. My comrades beside me gasped in horror, afraid that our prince might lose his grip and plummet to his death. I was more afraid that the dragon would fly away, taking Æclypse with him to Crom-knows-where.
And such my fears came true when the drake disappeared from view into the heights of the storm. We were silent as the ice around us as we waited for any sign of the two, and I began wondering how I could tell the king, who had charged me with watching over his son since his birth, that I had failed, and his son, the heir to the throne was gone. While my comrades continued to stare at the sky, I could only lower my head, shame and anguish about to overtake me.
But through the howling winds came a cry that echoed down to us from above. It was not the terrible bellow of the drake, but I recognized at once the voice of Æclypse, more wild and fierce than I had ever heard him before. My fellow guards cowered at the sound, fearful that some new monstrosity was going to beset us, or that Æclypse himself was plummeting. But peering as hard as I could into the whiteout, I saw the shape of the Fyre Drake lashing to and fro, still trying to free itself.
The beast came soaring down in the eye of the storm, making pained roars, the ring of magic around its neck now brighter and stronger than before. Slithering through the air, the fiery life-blood of the drake dripped from its maw, leaving a trail of molten saliva behind it. It leveled-out in flight and passed over us, and I was able to spot Æclypse clinging on, pulling with all his strength to reign the dragon to his will.
They came roaring over us, the gust knocking us off our hooves as they sailed straight for the cliff face. Forgetting the pain in my flank and scampering to a gallop as best my legs would allow, I ran after them, the others joining in behind me. I saw the drake’s head loll to the side, and its wings slacken. Thereunto, the great beast collided into the cliffside with an earthshaking crash, its body crumpling against the rock. With a shriek and a wail the monster fell to the ground, huge boulders of frozen earth dislodged by the impact falling atop it in an avalanche.
I got as close as I dare to the dread creature, who lay on its back half-buried, its wings crushed and mangled, its breathing shallow. We looked but we did not see our prince, and our hearts raced with fear that he was nothing but a smear underneath it all. I felt ready to brave the drake’s reach and dig him out when the sound of exertion drew our attention upwards to the top of the rock face.
There our Prince was, surmounting the edge, little bits of stone and ice breaking off as he clambered over. At once my comrades erupted in cheers and hollers, whilst I put my forehead to the ground, and with a sigh of relief, thanks as many gods and goddesses as I could think of.
But our celebration was premature, for the drake stirred to the noise, and its arm moved to clear away the rubble that pinned it down. We fell back, worried that it would turn on us with the Aubergine. I looked above to see if our prince was taking the opportunity to flee as well, but instead he stood there, gazing down at his foe, and there I knew that was planning to strike the final blow.
His horn alight, Æclypse slashed at the clifface, severing a sharp wedge of stone from the side, which slid away. He ran and leapt off the cliff to the gasps of those beside me, and planted all four hooves on top of what I now realized was an improvised dagger, and plunged straight down to the drake. Using his magic to aim the weapon straight and true, he drove it deep into the beast’s heart, causing it to scream out with a grotesque moan.
In its death-throws it reached up and snatched Æclypse in its claw, determined to the last to capture him. Our price yelped as the talons closed around him, and with a final gurgling wail, the drake’s head fell, the light of its eyes going dark. The arm wavered a bit, then finally slammed into the ground, the beast died having finally caught him.
We ran over and began to pry the clutched talons apart, hoping that with life leaving it, it had not the strength to squeeze Æclypse to death. We used our magic and our hooves to wrest them open, and within we found our prince aslumber. His chest rose and fell, much to our relief, and though I called his name, he made no sign that he heard me.
Gathered around, the others were silent, staring at him in reverence as if Vertanus himself were before us.
“Hail.” one of them said, kneeling before him; “Hail Prince Æclypse, Guardian of Thule.”
“Hail.” came another as he bowed, “Hail Prince Æclypse, Shield of the Aubergine.”
“Hail” knelt another, “Hail Prince Æclypse, The Dragon Rider.”
“Hail” a fourth called, “Hail Prince Æclypse, The Storm-Crier.”
“Hail” A fifth christened in genuflection, “Hail Prince Æclypse, The Draken-Bane.”
Looking to the stallions kneeling to their prince, a tear formed in my eyes, for I had never imagined the little colt that I spent so many days teaching and mentoring, would garner such honor.
“And what of you Wiglaf?” I heard behind me, rousing me to turn. There in the drake’s palm, our prince did stir, though he kept his eyes closed. “What great title would you bequeath me?” he asked.
My breath huffing with emotion, I too bowed my head and bent my knees.
“Hail Prince Æclypse, whose mother will swoon when she hears of this.”
At this he burst out laughing, “That she will Wiglaf! And my father right beside her!” He continued to laugh so hard he fell out of the monster’s claw and onto the ground, where I and others raised him to stand.
With the pilgrims safely on their journey home, we returned to Thule where, to her credit, the queen did not swoon. Though both king and queen did require to sit upon hearing the testimony of myself and the guards who had all witnessed the events, swearing on their lives to the truth of what they attested.
After a lengthy embrace from his parents, Æclypse was sent to his quarters where royal healers tended to him. King Rubicon, ever scrupulous, dispatched guards to verify that the Drake was indeed dead where it lay. And when they returned with confirmation, a letter to Canterlot was drafted, asking for the great mage Star-Swirl to come and make his own examination, and devise a way to deal with such dreadful remains.
A few days thence, a celebration was held in the prince’s honor, and all of Thule assembled around the royal fortress to lend their voices in cheer of their mighty defender. Over Æclypse’s protests, the king was adamant that he accept a title to commemorate his heroism, but the prince would not abide anything so grandiose as “Dragon Rider“ or “Storm Crier“. It was his brother, the younger Prince ßombra who suggested something much more modest.
And so it was in front of our entire kingdom, that the First Son of Thule, and Heir to the Throne, was dubbed: “Prince Æclypse, the Valiant.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow. Twilight thought. Though her own great battle with Tirek was objectively just as, if not more impressive, she had her friends to help her more often than not to overcome foes. Not to mention the Elements of Harmony. So for a relatively normal unicorn to take on such an opponent, the gap between hero and deed was arguably greater.
She took a long breath, and realized the lollipop stick was by now stripped of the hard candy. Chagrined that she hadn’t gotten to enjoy it fully, she spat the stick into the trash receptacle.
The revelation that Star-Swirl traveled to Thule didn’t surprise her, but that in all of her research into Star-Swirl’s works, there had been no mention of any of this further interested her in Celestia’s effort to lay the kingdom to rest. The uncomfortable thought crept into her mind that rather than putting a painful memory to bed, she had attempted to expunge it. A notion that was more unsettling than she cared to admit about her mentor.
But she shook her head and dispelled such disturbing ideas. She re-examined the last page, and settled on the fact that it was Sombra who actually gave him the title “the Valiant”. Before being sent to the Crystal Empire, truthfully she had been given very little information on King Sombra, so to read this different side of him was such a departure from the swirling mass of darkness that she had seen try to ravage the empire.
She flipped the page to the very back of the book, and saw something scrawled on the inside of the back cover. It was hoof-written, but definitely different than Wiglaf’s script. Curious, she read it aloud, “To the Princess of my dreams.”
Twilight arched her eyebrows, this wasn’t just a story book, it was a secret love note. Oh, Cadence would love this, she thought. She moved her hoof over the line, imagining that Æclypse himself had touched the same page. Still, it was kinda sad that Luna would surrender such a treasure. She never had the nerve to ask why Celestia and Luna never talked about having Special Someponies, and now she considered that it could possibly be something to pity about them.
As Twilight continued to think on the matter, the train eased to a stop, and she was a little startled to see the familiar houses of Ponyville beyond the station platform.
“Ponyville! All passengers for Ponyville, here’s your stop!” she heard the conductor call out.
“Come on Spike.” She said to her little companion, stuffing the special book back into her saddle bag. They exited the car and were quickly on their way home, to the big empty castle that Twilight always dreaded being stuck in for too long.
“That book must have been pretty good Twilight.” Spike chimed as they walked. “You barely took your nose out of it.”
“It was good.” She said with confidence, “I think it’ll give me a lot to chew on for a while.”
Passing though the center of town Twilight saw the remains of what must have been a party at Rarity’s boutique. What seemed strange was that the shop was closed today. Might be that her friend had a little too much fun last night, and decided to spend the day recovering at the spa or in bed. She made a mental note to ask around what happened.
Reaching her home at last, Spike went to his room to put his things away. Twilight went to the library, which hosted not only what remained of the Golden Oaks collection, but also those from the Castle of the Two Sisters, and a growing number of transplants from the Royal Canterlot library. Perhaps using her keyword spell here might turn up something that would add pieces to this puzzle.
She put her bags on the table, and took a seat. The taste of the blackberry lollipop lingered on her tongue, and she made another mental note to stop by Sugarcube Corner at some point to make a custom order. She sat there and gazed over the rows and rows of books that comprised her growing library, wondering where and with what word she might start to search with. She almost wished she could get the Star-Swirl the Bearded wing moved here from Canterlot, but then again, she’d been wanting that for a while.
She exhaled, and stepping off her chair, began to stride towards the left-most wing of her books.
And then she heard knocking, the long trail of echoes telling her that somepony was at the castle’s front door. The place was big enough that her friends usually just walked right in, and the town was well aware of her open-door policy. So whoever was going through the trouble of knocking must be somepony new. She considered letting Spike get it, but the last few days had been interesting, so what would a little more mystery hurt?
Teleporting to the main hallway, she was surprised to find Spike had already responded. He stood on a ladder, with his head protruding from a small window built into the left door.
Outside, Spike glared down at the pony, suspicious of the stranger. “What do you want?” he asked.
“I seek an audience with the Princes of Friendship.” Wanderlust answered with a degree of defensiveness.
Spike frowned at this, “Nopony gets in to see the Princess! Not nopony, not no how!”
“Spike!” Twilight chastised from below, “That’s no way to treat a visitor!”
“Sorry Twilight.” he apologized, climbing down the rungs. “I thought you could use some peace and quite after we got home.”
“I’ve had plenty of peace and quite. If somepony needs to speak to me, I can see them.”
“Just trying to look out for ya.” Spike said as he passed by her, ascending the stairs to his room.
She waited until he was out of the hall before opening the door, and standing there was indeed a new face. When he saw her, he seemed to recoil a step, his eyes widened for a heartbeat as he took her in.
“Hello.” She greeted him, “Sorry about Spike, he can be a little overprotective sometimes. I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle, how can I help you?”
The sight of an Alicorn standing there in front of him took a moment for Wanderlust to process. She was… shorter than he had imagined, and seemed to have a rather casual demeanor. If this was the castle of a princess, where were the guards? Why was she answering her own door?
“Princess Twilight, my name is Wanderlust, might I beg but a few minutes of your time for a proposal?”
A proposal from a stranger? Now this was interesting. While she did get a fleeting memory of the Flim-Flam brothers, she wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“Well this sounds official.” Twilight said, “We’d better do this um, in the main room!”
“Excellent!” Wanderlust chirped, and raised a hoof to take a step forward. But they both disappeared in a flash of lavender magic, and reappeared in the throne room. When he set his hoof down, he was shocked to discover what had happened.
“Princess, did we just teleport?” he asked cautiously.
“Sure did!” She answered happily, taking her seat to make a show of legitimacy. The scarce opportunity to do actual princess-y things served to lift her mood considerably.
“Well…” he mumbled out the side of his mouth, “Learn something new every day.”
“So tell me Mr. Wanderlust.” Twilight asked with a professional air, “What can I do for you?”
“Well Princess, I was thinking of opening a school.”
The idea caught her completely off-guard, and for a few moments, her eyes were wide.
CANTERLOT
EARLIER THAT MORNING
It wasn’t the presence of anypony that bothered Princess Celestia, it was the lack of them. Breakfast with her fellow princesses before Twilight departed had been pleasant, more on the quite side but nothing to raise any eyebrows. Her worries of the past few days weighed on her conscious, the whole affair something she wished she could just blot out of her mind. But it nagged at her still, despite the evidence of anything to the contrary, she felt like her ghosts were laughing behind her back.
She swiveled her head to look into the Royal library, where hardly anypony was to be seen. Much like the rest of her morning so far, the room was sparsely populated. The same irritating peace and quite. Striding into the room she glanced about, the rays of sunlight beaming down through the windows in columns of warmth. She had been asked about having stained glass windows installed in here, but she felt that the colorful lights would be distracting to ponies trying to read.
Fortunately the only stained windows in the wing were behind a wall. She took a deep breath, thinking over what she was about to do. She went over to the librarian’s desk where a young attendant with a brown coat and light blonde mane was stamping the inside covers with official crests.
“Pardon me Highlight, but I need to make a special request.”
The librarian gave her a confused look.
“Um… ok. What kind of request?” he asked curiously.
Celestia shifted her posture, clearly uncomfortable; “I’m afraid I need the library to myself, just for an hour or so.”
Highlight wasn’t the head librarian, just the morning attendant. He wasn’t sure he could authorize an unscheduled private session. Then again, it was coming directly from the princess. Glancing around the place there were only a few ponies perusing the shelves this early, so what harm could it be?
“Alright… Just give me a minute to clear the room.”
“Consider it done.” Celestia said. Behind her, the guards of her entourage were shepherding the other ponies out, apologizing for the inconvenience. Highlight didn’t quite know how to react, but the sooner they were gone, the sooner things could get back to normal. And hopefully, he wouldn’t have to do any explaining to his boss.
“Thank you Highlight, I’ll send for you when I’m finished.” As Celestia continued to stand there politely, it took him a moment to realize she was waiting for him to leave as well. With a nervous smile he exited the station, and headed for the door. Sparing a glance back, past the guards following him out, he saw Princess Celestia making sure that he was the last one.
The double doors to the library came together with a choom, its echo gave Celestia a sense of comfort. Now alone, she could enter the hidden antechamber that nopony was supposed to know about. Of all the ponies in Equestria, it had to be Twilight who stumbled upon the room. Though to be fair, she had to admit that finding it at all was impressive. Another case of her former student surpassing expectations.
Stepping around the right corner of the desk, her magic covered the stone bookcase, and with much greater ease than Twilight, moved it aside to exposed the secret door behind.
“Revisiting the scene of the crime sister?”
Startled, Celestia turned to see Luna strutting around the other side of the station. She craned her neck to the door where she half-expected a guard to be rushing over. Luna caught her gaze and smiled coyly,
“Oh Sister, I may have been away for a thousand years, but I was sneaking past castle guards since I was a filly.”
Celestia fixed her with a pained expression, “Luna, I don’t think you should be here for this.”
“And why not? Because I may faint at the memories of a long-lost snow-covered kingdom? Do you think me so fragile a heart that I cannot bear the sight of dusty artifacts and the windows you had bricked-up?”
“No, that’s not what I meant-”
“Then come on.” Luna said teasingly, “let us stroll into our dirty little secret.”
Using her own royal blue magic, Luna opened the doors without further ceremony. She began to enter, but noticed Celestia wasn’t following.
“Are you now afraid to go where your student has gone?”
Celestia balked as she cantered up to her sister’s side.
“How did you know Twilight was in here?”
“Well,” Luna began as they entered the room, “It’s not difficult to figure out why you would bother to commandeer the library and uncover a room you had sealed away long ago, not hours after she leaves. Especially after the awkward breakfast this morning between you two.”
“You picked up on that did you?” the senior alicorn said, her mane flattening out slightly.
Luna approached one of the mannequins, dressed in the garb of a Thulain court lady, a pale green dress with a bi-peaked hat. “I have always observed a certain bond between yourself and Twilight. I don’t think I need to tell you that you are very motherly with her. I admit I am jealous of it at times, but this morning the air betwixt you was, omitting. You both knew something, wanted to speak it out loud, but decided to keep it quite.”
Celestia had wondered over to the where the tapestry was draped across the top of the bookshelf, it had been centuries since she saw it last and truthfully, didn’t really remember what was on it. “It simply isn’t something I ever thought I’d have to explain. Why do you think I put a ton of rock in front of it?”
“Twilight is more capable than you give her credit for.” Luna said, putting her hoof under the chin of the model, “Unlike us, she takes all this in as something new and interesting to explore. She does not, what’s the term?, ‘carry the baggage’ as we do, when it comes to this. Her curiosity was certainly strong enough to push her to disobey you when I found her in here last night.”
“She was in here again?” Celestia flustered, giving her sister a hard stare. “And I bet you knew that I had asked her to stay out of here too.”
“I inferred as much, yes. But to be sure Twilight was very regretful of that fact, and I wasn’t about to send her off the bed just to ensure the integrity of the layers of dust.” Luna glanced over to the helmet mounted on a bust, it’s color was mostly faded, but the plates were of a deep blue like her own fur, with gilded edges. The thorns on either side of the horn aperture still bore the marks of close combat.
With a flick of her horn, Celestia ignited the candles in the chandelier above them, which served to expose a sour expression on her face. While Twilight had deliberately gone against her wishes, she couldn’t find the anger to levy some punishment on her. She didn’t want to reprimand her student and friend, in fact, part of her was glad she had disobeyed. It helped to lighten the burden of it all.
She altered her gaze from the flickering flames to where Luna was caressing the battle-nicked helm with a hoof. As her anger dissipated it made her realize that she needn’t bear all these bad memories alone. With her sister returned, there was somepony else who knew the truth. Well, most of it anyway.
“Do you still think of him Luna?” she asked.
Laying her head across the top of the helmet, Luna looked-up to the window, where Æclypse was frozen in posture.
“To be honest, I hadn’t thought of him until last night, it’s been so long.” Her face softened, “But now that I do, I can’t help but wonder how different things might have been.”
Her sister’s word struck a chord within Celestia, remembering what the prince said to her.
“I will weep, for the future we have slain this night.”
What did he know that I didn’t? Celestia wondered, thinking back to what she recalled about their conversations. Was it really that I just didn’t trust him? Was this just a case of his hooves being tied? No, Celestia thought, He should have helped. Though she knew her mistrust of the prince began long before that fateful night.
“I too have wondered.” She spoke aloud.
With a sigh, Luna faced her sister, scrutinizing her. “I know the dispute you had with him on the eve of our battle with King Sombra was the culmination of something that had been stewing with you. But I just don’t know what it could have been. Tell me sister, why did you not like him?”
Celestia knew she’d have to answer this sooner or later now that the cat was out of the bag, so how best to put things without letting too much slip?
“I suppose… I suppose it was because I was afraid of him.”
Luna took her head off the helmet, confusion and concern apparent in her face, “Afraid of him? Sister I can’t imagine what you mean, why would you be afraid of a pony who by all accounts was one of the best?”
“That’s just it Luna.” Celestia admitted quickly, “He was one of the best, under his rule as king, Thule would have been stronger and more prosperous than ever before. And I was afraid of what that would do to Equestria.”
Luna’s face contorted and she shook her head, “No, no, no, I don’t understand. Why would Thule’s success be cause to fear for Equestria?”
For a moment Celestia couldn’t find the right words, and her breath caught in her throat. But she found her nerve, her resolution, and came out with it.
“Equestria was not long removed from the psychotic rule of Discord, and you know as well as I there was a very real chance that Equestria as a nation might not survive. While Thule was on the rise, Equestria was in danger of splintering.
I was afraid, that Thule, under the rule of King Æclypse, would become so strong, that Equestria would wither away next to it. All that its founders had done, all that we had done and intended to do, would starve to death.”
It took Luna almost a minute to process the information, trying to comprehend the logic. “So… you thought Equestria was too traumatized and weak to survive the rise of Thule. That its success would mean poines… what, lose faith in Equestria? Lose faith in us? Is that what this is about? You didn’t want ponies choosing Thule over us?”
“It…. It’s not so petty as that Luna!” No longer able to stand the accusing glare of her sister, Celestia walked over to the map, hoping to find the inspiration for some better explanation.
“You and I both know that we have the best intentions for Equestria and all its citizens, that we’re special, that we’re not like regular ponies.”
“That we are meant to rule Equestria by divine right?” Luna interrupted, “And any threat to that status quo must be exiled?”
“NO!” Celestia yelled in a turn. Surprised by her own outburst, she paused, taking a few breaths to reign in her indignation. “As afraid as I was for the survival of Equestria, I would never have exiled Æclypse just to keep us sitting on thrones. You know exactly why he was banished. Because when the time came to do the right thing, he refused.”
Despite how angry her sister’s justification made her, there was a cold rationality to it. Equestria was in a precarious position in the wake of Discord, and indeed, the rise of a stronger neighbor might have siphoned off the ability for it to rebuild. And yes, the noble prince had not done what he should have done, and effectively allowed evil to fester. But there was more to this issue yet she wanted explained.
“And what,” Luna began, facing the floor, where a faded red rug lay. Her lip trembling. “Did you resolve to do once I reveled to you my affair with him?”
This question struck dangerously close to something Celestia desired to keep secret even now, with so much coming into the open.
“I feared that, if it became known that one of us was… romantic with Prince Æclypse, then ponies would turn to Thule for stability, for leadership, for their future. So when I had to exile him, I was relieved for Equestria. For us.”
Luna didn’t speak. She couldn’t in the moment. Her body shuddered subtly, tears welling in the corners of her eyes as she remembered the many nights she spent with him in the dreamscape. They way he would sing to her, treat her like a normal mare instead of some goddess on a pedestal. The way his eyes would delve into hers, the feel of his fur against hers.
“So it’s true then.” Luna said her voice beginning to break. “You sought to put an end to our affair?”
“Yes.” Celestia said without hesitation. “I would have liked a different way. But Sombra’s unexpected coup forced everypony’s hoof to pick sides.”
A tear fell from Luna’s face to the floor, a sob escaping her breast. “Was our love so dangerous that Equestria would fall sister? Would our happiness bring such doom to pony-kind?”
Celestia came next to her, putting a foreleg around her sister’s shoulder. “I believe it would have put the lives of the ponies we protect into somepony else’s hooves.”
“Sister, *sniff, sob* in my heartbreak… I became Nightmare Moon, and threatened to condemn Equestria to an everlasting night.”
“I know. I know.” the white alicorn cooed, petting her neck to offer some comfort. But Luna shoved away from the embrace, still weeping as she walked towards the exit.
“Was it worth it sister? Was what happened worth what you feared to come? Was my fall and banishment the price to pay to ensure Equestria remained united?!”
“That is not fair Luna!” Celestia shouted back, her jaw set.
Luna merely sniffed loudly, glaring back at her sister. “I now see that nothing about what happened was fair, from start to finish. But you got what you desired in the end. Equestria united and strong. And it wasn’t long until the Nightmare took me, and I had to share in Æclypse’s fate. Then all of Equestria, from shore to shore was under the Imperium, in your capable, benevolent hooves.”
The two princesses stared hard at one another, their faces trembling with emotion; anger, sadness, regret, outrage. Celestia was the first to break the silence.
“And I would do it again if I had too.”
“I know.” came Luna’s retiring reply. She averted her sight from Celestia, moving it back to Æclypse’s visage as she had he night before.
“He wanted to tell you. He wanted our relationship to be in the open. He wanted to work with us, to work with you. He wanted you to approve of him. He didn’t want Thule to outshine Equestria, he wanted to embrace us.”
Luna’s face fell, weighted down by melancholy. Again she turned to the doorway, her gait unhurried.
“But such is the capricious comedy of fate. That the good shall wage war on another, and the wicked return to plague us over and over again.”
The dejection had infected Celestia as well, and she wanted to follow after Luna, but thought it better to give her some time and space to sort herself out.
“I find that I am weary and in need of rest sister.” Luna called back. “I shall see you at nightfall to execute our appointed tasks. Good-day Celestia.”
Celestia watched her disappear around the corner, the echo of her steady steps fading by the moment until they ceased. She hung her head and exhaled, bringing a hoof to her forehead to massage the tissue. After a moment she raised her head, and finally examined the room alone as she had originally intended. Her time to do what she came here for was limited, and she wanted to gather as much information as she could. Getting an hour of her morning routine cleared for this had not been easy, and having to do it again would begin to impact regular court functions.
With the candles above providing sufficient light, she plucked a book from the shelves labeled for ‘history’ and began reading. If she was going to sit down with Twilight and tell her about Thule, she would need to refresh her memory.
There was one memory of Thule she had never forgotten however, and intended to share with her junior princess. That she had visited the kingdom before Sombra went mad, and that her argument with Prince Æclypse was not the first time they had spoken.
THE PREVIOUS NIGHT
OUTSKIRTS OF PONYVILLE
“Trixie! Trixie!”
She heard Wanderlust calling after her, but she just wanted to keep running, running until he was back in the past where he belonged. She didn’t care that her hat was caked in mud, she didn’t care that her cape was catching on branches and getting small tears in it. She didn’t even care that she had left her new and improved stage-cart behind, custom built in Las Pegasus after some big shows she had done. She just wanted to leave him, like he had her.
She ran until her legs ached and her chest burned. It was the hardest she had ever run since the Ursa Minor. Stopping to catch her breath and lean her body against a tree, Trixie let her self-assured façade fall and loosed a cascade of tears and sobs. She hadn’t cried this much over her parents, but seeing him again after all these years was almost as painful as the day he abandoned her.
Around her the night air blew, and rattled through the branches. It was several minutes before she opened her bloodshot eyes and finally took in where she had run to in her blind flight. It didn’t look inviting, not at all. The trees were pale and gangly, their limbs stripped and gnarled. Around her, the dark of the night seemed to close in, the moonlight peaking through in spots. With a small gasp, she realized that she had blundered witlessly into the Everfree forest.
The sound of critters all around her began to intensify, insects chirping, birds calling, something chittering.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie is not afraid!” she called out to nopony but herself, darting her head around to find some sign of a safe direction. The foliage was dense, and confounded her attempts not just to find some lights through the trees, but evidence of the way she had come.
Eventually, her heart pounding, and her ears twitching to every rustle of bush, she backed into a clearing no larger than a bed sheet. She wiped a hoof across her face to dry away the sweat and tears, searching for anything to help. But there was nothing but shadow around her.
And then it clicked, the shadow was around her. The clear patch she was standing in was lighted by the sky above, and looking up, she saw the stars twinkling. If there was one thing that Wanderlust had left behind for her, it was the skill of navigating by the stars. There weren’t many to be seen in the gap in the treetops, but stepping back and forth, she could recognize a few patterns. When she thought she had orientated herself in a useful direction, she leveled her gaze, took a long nervous swallow, and took a few timid steps.
She had just entered the brush when a gust of wind blew her hat off. With a yelp her hoof shot up to catch it, but it was too late, and the hat tumbled until it came to a stop over a large bush with black leaves. She stood there staring at it for a moment, her head swiveling between her hopeful path to safety, and the hat that lay waiting for her mere yards away. She didn’t want to lose her bearing, but her hat and cloak were her most precious items.
She tried to use her magic to retrieve it, but it was snagged on something. No matter which way she tugged and pulled, it remained hooked. Unwilling to pull too hard and rip a hole in it, with a grunt of frustration she decided to just go and grab it. Slowly, cautiously, and with ever-other step freezing to listen to some noise out of sight, she made her way over to the hat. Edging herself closer, the size of the bush meant that she had to stretch out a foreleg, and it was just within reach.
Suddenly the bush reached up to grab her. Trixie cried out in panic as the leaves wrapped around her leg and tried to pull her closer into the darkness.
“No! No! Let me Go!”
But more limbs from the shadow emerged and took hold of her,
she struggled against them screaming, but their combined effort was too strong for her. She lit her horn to lash out with some kind of spell, but something wrapped around her head from behind, and took away what little sight she had. Lifted off her feet, she felt herself pass through the dense bush, carried along by unseen forces. But she could hear their voices, they were laughing at her.
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I think the answer is easy Twilight. The stories are still being told but in the towns of were Thole was and maybe near the border to.
By the way I'm confused. How does Celestia have Authority to banish Wanderlust? She doesn't rule their kingdom... Unless the parents agreed to it?
7110836
While Thule was virtually autonomous, it was still technically under Equestrian Rule. Though unlike the southern lands, it wasn't as destabilized by Discord's reign. Remember Equestria was partly founded by migrants from Thule, and the other tribes. So there wasn't all that much separation when the Alicorns came to rule. Plus, Celestia and Luna are demi-gods in the minds of Thulian unicorns, so if they say someone has to go, then that is the will of the gods.
It'll be explored more in the future. Thanks for reading
7111160 Ok that's what i thought. And your welcome!
It's really sad Luna is suffering like this... I always wonder why can't she just leave? She can start new life of going out into the world and see were destiny leads.
7111587
I've wondered about that too.
and so has Celestia...
7111646 Maybe... Celestia planned this whole time! To rule Equestria all on her own and kick the sister out.
Looks like the blame Celestia game is back. Darn. And it again rings rather hollow, because as it stands now history proved Celestia right: an Equestria under Aeclypse's rule would have ultimately been abandoned at the worst possible time, just like the Crystal Empire was. The the accusation that Celestia got everything she wanted seems particularly low, given how it seems to ignore Luna's banishment, which is the opposite of what Celestia wanted, but shows Celestia being the better ruler for being able to make the hard choice, no matter how much it hurts.