All the Queen's Horses

by Bluespectre

Chapter Nine - Company of Three

CHAPTER NINE

COMPANY OF THREE

There is a moment, just before becoming fully awake, when the mind is suspended between the world of dreams and that of the waking world. Just for that briefest sliver of time can the mind truly be at its clearest. Some call it the ‘revelation moment’, others ‘the time of clarity’ but for one particular young mare it was simply the time when an enemy could strike when you were at your most vulnererable. She stood up in alarm, tossing her deep blue mane and shifted in her armour. It was still cloudy outside, the storm gradually fading away and leaving the air charged with ozone and a thick cloying damp. Even in the darkness of the barn, hidden from her enemies, she had to be on her guard. Her friend was wounded and may not last the night, but she would keep the watch – it was the least she could do for her. There it was again: there was definitely something out there. Whatever it was she couldn’t be certain, but this close to Legion lines it was unlikely to be friendly. She strained her hearing to its limits, trying to focus on…there…hoofsteps, and they were getting nearer. Quickly, she slipped behind the door and readied herself; a quick thrust under the foreleg would take down the first of them and then a strong buck to the door would-

“Hello? Anypony in here?”

Her breathing slowed, her mind focussing on the task at hoof. The thestrals had Equestrians fighting with them in the Legion: traitors to the princess – traitors who must be eradicated for the good of all.

“Hey, y’all did see that light there, din’t yer?” The orange mare peered into the gloom while the lavender unicorn walked inside beneath the glow of magic emanating from her horn,

“Of course we did, Appljack, there’s nothing wrong with- OW! Hey!” Twilight dodged away from the small grey creature wielding the broken plank of wood, “Silver Spoon?”

Applejack moved inside quickly at her friends shout and grappled the whirring grey menace, pulling the makeshift weapon away from her, “Whoa there girl, careful with that thing!” An earth pony mare of farm stock, Applejack had little trouble overpowering the furious filly but the girl was as fast as lightning. “Twilight! There’s somepony else over there in the hay.”

The lavender unicorn swung the ball of light over to where her friend was indicating, “Oh no…A.J, it’s Filthy Rich’s daughter, she’s sick!”

“Lay a hoof on her you filth and I’ll gut you like the scum you are!” Silver snarled.

“Hush now, Silver girl, we’re only here to - OW! Gadnabbit, she bit me!” A.J abruptly released the grey filly who dropped to the ground on nimble hooves, span, and bucked her hard in the chest, “Ouch! Will you stop that girl! What in Equestria is wrong with you?!”

Silver dropped into a fighting stance, weighing up her opponent. A quick strike in the right place would drop even a mare as monstrously big as this one. She snorted, pawing the ground; showing any weakness now and her enemy would be on her. Strength, surprise and precision would carry the-

A ball of silver and blue light engulfed Silver Spoon as she was hoisted into the air. “Oh, thank Celestia!” Applejack rubbed her chest and winced, “That thar lil filly sure can buck!”

“She’s not herself” Twilight said offhoofedly, leaning down to take a closer look at the pink girl lying in the straw.

Applejack peered at the furious creature suspended in the glowing magical globe, “I can see that.”

“No, I mean she’s really not her herself.” Twilight leaned closer towards the filly in the straw and sent out a thin stream of magic: probing, testing, checking for… “A.J, we have to get her out of here, she’s burning up!”

In seconds, the two mares were running across the fields and heading towards the stocky red stallion pulling the apple cart. “Big Mac!” Applejack raced up to the big male in a spray of mud as her hooves brought her to a sliding halt, “Quick, we have to get these filly’s to the hospital!”

Big Mac didn’t need telling twice. Quiet he may be by nature, but he was no fool. One look at the mud soaked mares, the unconscious filly and the…whatever-it-was screaming silently inside a ball of light, was more than enough to spur him to a full gallop. Thankfully the rain had stopped now, but for Twilight and Applejack none of that mattered. In short order they found themselves bouncing along in the back of the apple family cart at speeds the sturdy contraption had never been designed to handle - it was all the two mares could do to hang on for dear life. At least Silver Spoon seemed to have calmed down somewhat, but Diamond Tiara was still completely unresponsive.

“Hang on!” Applejack shouted, “Lean right, lean right!”

Twilight shifted over to the side her friend indicated and just in the nick of time too. The cart careered around the corner and slammed back down again, sending a shock wave through her body.

“For Celestia’s sake Big Mac, watch it will ya?” the orange mare yelled over the thundering hooves and clatter of the wheels. He must have heard her despite the din as mercifully, gradually, the cart began to slow to a less dangerous speed. “Thank the goddesses! I thought we were goners fer sure.”

Twilight grimaced in reply, hanging onto both her magic and the cart the best she could. Something was wrong here - very, very wrong. She could sense a power, a hidden strength, and an odd feeling of…cold? She shook her head; whatever it was she hadn’t experienced anything like this before and as intriguing as it was, it made her spine tingle alarmingly. Oooh! She couldn’t wait to research it! Still, the fillies had to take precedence here, irrespective of her enthusiasm for investigating something so tantalisingly new. As the cart took another corner she watched the filly in the floating ball of energy and began to probe it for anomalies. It wasn’t hard, in fact if anything it was foals play to do this – a task she had happily undertaken hundreds if not thousands of times, and yet no matter how many times she did it, there was always that thrill of excitement that she’d chased ever since she was a child. Silver Spoon gazed back at her with her deep purple eyes, eyes that reminded her so much of Celestia’s despite the blue haze of magic surrounding her. There was something at play here, a magic she had sensed before…or had she? Good grief it was so hard to think with this incessant rattling and banging! Twilight wanted to yell at Big Mac to keep the noise down while she concentrated, but as ridiculous as knew that was, the frustration remained. Silver Spoon stared back at her with an expression that was nothing like she’d ever seen on the child, not that she’d ever really had much to do with her of course, she had her own matters to attend to and the children of Ponyville were little more than an annoyance to her studies. Perhaps one day she’d have foals of her own, but that was a long, long way off in the future. For now, and for the foreseeable future, it was study – study, study, study. One day she would make discoveries as great as Starswirl the Bearded or perhaps Clover the Clever. It was a dream, but a distinct possibility. Fetlocks and feathers, was this it? Was this odd tingle of magic, this silver-grey filly enclosed in her magic, the discovery that could propel her into legend? It could be…it really could be!

“Twilight? We’re here. Big Mac, get us as close to the doors as you can.” Applejack waited until the cart came to a halt before leaping down from the tailgate and gently, but swiftly, hoisted the pink filly onto her back before bolting for the door. “Hey! HEY!” she bellowed, “We need help here! Where’s the doctor?!”

A white mare hurried over, her neat white cap adorned with a red cross. The nurse’s blue eyes took in the still form of the child and swivelled to take in the lavender unicorn entering behind the orange earth pony with another filly suspended in a magical aura. She nodded to herself and turned to the desk staff, “Emergency coming in. Alert the doctors and ready the magical malady wing for an isolation case.” The white mare waved to one of the porters and drew a gurney up, helping the unconscious Diamond Tiara onto it. Moments later the gurney vanished down one of the corridors along with several doctors and nurses. Applejack felt stunned; everything was happening so fast! She barely had time to take a breath before a pair of unicorns appeared with a trolley covered in all manner of bronze, brass and bejewelled stuff, and whisked Twilight and the other filly away, leaving her standing there not know which way to go! “Ah, apple sauce!”

“What’s goin’ on sis?” The big red stallion lumbered in through the door and gave his sister a comforting nudge, “Y’all okay?”

“Yeah…I guess…” Applejack slumped onto one of the chairs in the waiting hall and leaned back with a sigh, “Y’all get the cart parked up okay?”

Big Mac nodded, “Ee’yup”.

“I don’t know…I mean, what were those fillies doin’ in our barn anyways?” Applejack shook her head in wonder, “Sure, ah guess they could’a bin shelterin’ from the storm, but why would one a’them go all loopy on me an’ Twilight? An’ the other one’s burnin’ up a real fever!” She sighed, “Ah tell yer big brother, it’s got me more curious than a kitten in a fishmongers.”

The big red stallion put a hoof on his sisters shoulder, “Don’t worry sis, the girls are in the best place in Ponyville. They’ll be okay.”

“You really think so?” Applejack asked.

Big Mac closed his eyes and nodded, “Ee’yup”.

Along the corridor, through the shielded doors, past the seals and inscriptions, the children’s ward of the magical malady wing admitted its newest patient. The doctor, a honey coloured unicorn mare with a snow white mane and tangerine coloured eyes, tapped her pen against her bottom lip in thought. Beyond the door, beyond the small glass panel, the padded and magically warded room hosted its latest occupant.

“She’s just sitting there” Twilight said a little nervously, “Watching us…”

“Hmm.” The doctor made a noted on her clipboard, “I have to say we don’t get to see many earth ponies in here, Miss Sparkle – its usually unicorns for obvious reasons. That’s not to say earth ponies can’t be affected by magic of course, but due to their natural immunity to it, anything that could have this sort of long lasting affect on one would have to be formulated from some very powerful magic indeed.”

“Or crafty,” Twilight interjected, “very, very crafty.”

“Entirely possible” The doctor agreed, shrugging her shoulders. She frowned in thought, watching the foal sitting, staring back at them as still as a stone. “The nearest I ever came to anything like this, was when some self styled ‘adventurer’ wandered into some old ruins and recovered several artefacts that had been booby trapped with magic as old as the hills.”

“What happened?” Twilight asked.

The doctor shrugged, “It was a form of transformative mental illusion spell.” She sighed, “When triggered, It made the victim believe they were the first inanimate object they saw. When we found her, she was in the shower screaming her lungs out next to a bath sponge. The neighbours called the watch and they brought her in.” The doctor shook her head, “She didn’t stop screaming until we had her completely dry. Fortunately the magic usually wears off over time, but who can say when? It could be minutes, hours, maybe even days. Our little filly here has something going on here which has me baffled. At first glance it appears to be some sort of multiple personality disorder, but there’s definitely a spell of some kind at play here. The problem is, it’s not registering on any of the instruments we have here.”

“It’s an unknown form of magic then?” Twilight hung her head, deep in thought, “Do you have more specialised equipment we could use here? Something we could use to try and pinpoint the cause?”

The doctor shook her head, “No. The nearest equipment with that sort of complexity is in Manehattan General. We can arrange for her to be sent there, but it will take at least two days to make the arrangements.”

“Two days?!” Twilight snorted, “We can’t leave her like that, she’s just a child!”

The doctor clucked her tongue, “Well I’m open to suggestions, Miss Sparkle. In the meantime, she’s not coming to any harm and I’ve already made the request for her to be transferred.”

“Can I speak to her?” Twilight asked.

“Speak to her?” The doctor’s gaze swapped from the lavender mare to the silent filly beyond the door, “I would advise against it, you’ve been attacked once already. Do you really want to risk that happening again?”

“No, but it’s worth the risk” Twilight said assuredly. She raised a hoof, forestalling the doctors next objection, “If she really does have another personality in there then this will be our chance to try and find out who, or what it is, and that can only help us to help her in the long run. She caught me unawares last time, but I’ll keep the shield ready just in case. I mean, she’s still just a filly, right?”

The doctor shook her head slowly, “If I allow this, I want your word that if there is even the hint of something wrong in there, you’ll get out immediately. I can’t risk harm to either you or the patient.” Twilight nodded her agreement. “Good” the doctor replied, “I’ll be here watching, but remember, if anything starts happening that gives me cause for concern then Celestia’s favourite student or not, I’ll pull you out of there like a cork from a bottle.”

“Deal!” Twilight announced with a bob of her head, and moments later found herself inside the confines of the padded room, the door clanging shut behind her. The first thing that struck her was the absence of sound, in fact it was eerily silent except for the faint hum of the hospitals heating system beyond the walls. Twilight stared at the silver-grey filly who observed her with those piercing purple eyes. She didn’t move, she didn’t speak, she just sat there on her haunches and…watched. A waft of cold seemed to emanate from the child and tingled Twilight’s hooves and muzzle, sending a shiver down her spine. Suddenly this didn’t seem like such a good idea after all! She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tried her best to calm her racing heart, “Hello.”

Nothing.

“My name’s Twilight Sparkle. What’s your name?”

The filly said nothing.

Twilight closed her eyes and huffed slightly, “Don’t you want to talk to me?” Again, Twilight was met with a stony silence, but…something else, a sense of…recognition? She tried again, “Who are you? Really, I know you look like a filly, one of the girls from our town, but that isn’t who you are, is it?”

The filly frowned slightly, her eyes blinking as if trying to digest what she was hearing. Suddenly, she sat bolt upright making Twilight flinch back in surprise, “I am Golden Spoon, Colonel in command of the Celestian Royal Guard. Any more than that, traitor, you will not receive. I do not know what sort of magical trickery you are using, but I can assure you that It will not work on me.”

Twilight’s brows drew down and suddenly her eyes shot open in realisation, “Golden Spoon…” She licked her lips and floated out her quill and notepad, “What can you remember, Golden Spoon, ma’am?”

“What do you mean, ‘what can I remember’?” the filly asked, “Are you trying to interrogate me or irritate me, girl?”

Twilight smiled slightly and began making notes, “Do you know what year this is?”

“I…Of course I do.” The silver grey filly clucked her tongue, “This is the one thousandth and twenty second year since the joining of the three tribes.”

“And Equestria is at war with the Legion?” Twilight asked.

The filly shook her head in amazement, “Is there something wrong with you? Why are you asking such stupid questions! Look out of the window, look to the fires and the devastation you and you bitch goddess have wrought upon our homeland! Do you want to know just how many of my brothers and sisters lay dead upon the battlefield because of traitors like you?” She neighed loudly, “Either bring the torturer her or have me executed girl, I tire of your inane babble.”

Twilight was writing furiously. Quickly she lifted her head, her eyes glinting, “What makes you think I am a traitor with the Legion, Golden, ma’am?”

“I…” the filly sniffed, “Perhaps the cell is a bit of a giveaway?”

“And your trip in a cart when we brought both you and your friend into Ponyville hospital was not?” Twilight asked.

“Pah! There’s no such place as ‘Ponyville’!” Golden spat, “Not in Equestria at any rate.”

“Not in your time, no” Twilight said politely, “But there is now.”

Silver Spoon cocked her head on one side, “My time?”

“The war ended a thousand years ago, Colonel Spoon,” Twilight said levelly, “You, or rather who you think you are, died nearly a millenia ago.”

“What sort of lunacy is this?” the filly scoffed, “Trying to make me think I’ve gone mad are you? I have to say this is the most novel method of interrogation I ever thought I’d have, so please, continue. I’m keen to see where this leads…”

Twilight nodded, “I believe you are…a memory, a ghost if you will, of Golden Spoon, the ancestor of the girl you are inhabiting now.”

“Fascinating…” the filly said sarcastically, “please, continue.”

“What is the last thing you remember?” Twilight asked.

The filly screwed up her face, “The last thing? Why, I was…the battle and…no, I…I was writing something and…” she suddenly jumped up, her tail and mane whipping around like they were caught in a tempest, “STOP TRYING TO TRICK ME, GIRL!” Silver Spoon roared, “Leave me!”

“No” Twilight said calmly, “I want to speak to Silver Spoon.”

“Who? You keep saying that name but-”

“Look” Twilight opened her pannier and floated out a small mirror she used for grooming on the go. “Is this how you are meant to look?”

The filly closed her eyes and took a shuddering breath, “No.” She gritted her teeth and then unexpectedly let out a raucous laugh, “And this is it, is it? This mind trickery, this magic is all the Legion can conjure up?”

Twilight shot to her hooves, “Listen to me, I want to speak to Silver Spoon. Silver? Can you hear me? SILVER!”

“Stop shouting you idiot!” the filly roared, “I’m sick and tired of your foolish games!”

“I expect Silver is sick of you foalnapping her body too!” Twilight said, a slight hint of anger in her voice, “What’s it going to take to convince you, you stubborn old mare? Do I need to bring Celestia here to make you see sense?”

“Yes!” The filly said in apparent delight, “You do that! Bring the princess of Equestria here! And while you’re at it, why not bring your bitch goddess too? The more the merrier!”

“Oooh! You’re infuriating!” Twilight snapped, “I honestly don’t know how your line continued. Who in their right mind would marry such a stubborn mare like you!”

“How dare you!” the filly hissed, “You’re little more than a filly and you have the audacity to lecture me, the Colonel of the Royal Guard?!”

“I don’t care who or what you say you are, Golden Spoon, you’re nothing more than a memory of a war that most ponies only ever read about in history books! Can’t you see? Can’t you feel it in the air around you? The war is over, Equestria is at peace. Please, just…just let Silver Spoon go.”

“No.” The voice…it was no longer the Colonel’s, no longer the noble and strong willed mare. No, this time, the voice sounded almost…male.

“Who are you?” Twilight asked.

The filly chuckled, “Oh, wouldn’t you like to know?” she laughed and stretched her forelegs, “Good to out and about, for once. Twilight Sparkle wasn’t it? Quite an accomplished unicorn too from what Silver told me.”

“Let me speak to her!” Twilight said quickly, “Please!”

“No.” The filly sighed, “You just don’t get it do you, little miss magic pants.” The voice sounded bemused, “I’m more than simply a memory, I’m more than just Golden Spoon, the loopy old bag poor Silver here is descended from.” She leaned closer, “I am Silver,” The filly suddenly barked out a laugh, “Or at least a part of her anyway.”

“What do you mean, you’re a part of her?” Twilight asked, “Are you a spirit? An entity of some kind?”

The filly stuck her tongue out, “Wouldn’t you like to know!”

Twilight scrubbed her mane in frustration, “This isn’t right, whatever-your-name-is, and keeping Silver prisoner is-”

“Prisoner?” the filly asked in apparently genuine surprise, “What makes you think that?”

“Because…well, look at you!” Twilight replied, waving a hoof at Silver Spoon, “You’ve possessed a young girl and you’re gloating about it. Do you think that’s right?”

“It’s got nothing to do with what’s right” the voice said angrily, “And what the hell do you know, Celestian? Your people stole everything from us! You stole our magic, you stole our bodies, and finally you took our very lives leaving us as nothing more than…a memory.” Silver Spoon wiped a tear away from her eye and stared at it in fascination, “Even here…even now…” the voice sounded
hopeless all of a sudden, “The pain never quite goes away…the loneliness…”

Twilight put her notepad down and leaned towards the filly. She could sense a change, an opening here. “What is it you want?” she asked in a bare whisper, “Please, tell me. Perhaps there is a way I can help you. If you-”

“Help me?” the voice snorted, “I don’t think so. Your people have done quite enough already, and as for what I want…well, you can’t bring back the dead can you, ‘Twilight Sparkle’.”

“No, but I would do everything I could to help anypony in need” the lavender mare said earnestly, “Any pony.”

“Any pony...” The voice sounded empty, “Even a pony that was not a pony?”

Twilight hesitated, but rallied quickly, “Yes” she said raising her head, “I would.”

The filly walked forward slowly, watching Twilight’s equally purple eyes curiously, “You remind me of a friend I had once. She had the most beautiful mane and her eyes were like the fires of the blacksmith’s forge: so strong, so full of the sparks of magic at the world’s core.” She smiled sadly, “She was not of the tribe, but one cannot tell their own heart not to feel.” The filly shook her head and sat down on her haunches, “Catch!”

Suddenly Silver went limp, her body slumping forward into Twilight’s outstretched forelegs. So soft, so light, the tiny fragile body of Silver Spoon slowly began to twitch, her eyes opening gradually,

“M…Miss Sparkle?”

Twilight smiled down at the filly and gently stroked her mane, “It’s alright now Silver, it’s all over.”

“Over?” Silver yawned, “I had such a funny dream!” She stretched and rolled onto her tummy before pushing herself up onto her hooves, “Where am I? What…where’s Di?”

Twilight lifted a hoof, “Don’t worry, Diamond Tiara is fine. She caught a cold in the barn and we brought you to the hospital to make sure you were alright.”

“I want to see Di!” Silver said animatedly, “I don’t like it in here!”

“Of course.” Twilight stood up and knocked on the door, “Doctor Panacea? Open the door please.”

Observing through the glass panel, the doctor furrowed her brow, “I’d advise against it, Miss Sparkle, we still don’t know what’s wrong with that filly.”

Twilight nodded, “True, but I have an aetherscope, thaumaturgical analytical instruments and magical incursion detection apparatus back at my home.” She smiled, “She’ll be in good hooves.”

“Nevertheless, I’d…” The doctor sighed, “Oh, very well, just…be careful. Any problems, you get the girl back here. I won’t be held responsible for her going on the rampage and causing injuries to innocent ponies Miss Sparkle.”

The lavender unicorn nodded, “I work with the full back of the princess, doctor. Never fear.”

“Perish the thought…” the doctor muttered opening the door, “Remember, any problems, straight back here.”

“Yes, yes.” Twilight went to shoo Silver out of the room but the filly was too fast for her despite her diminutive size, “Silver!” The filly stopped and turned to look back at her. “Your glasses!” Twilight floated the stylish spectacles over to the silver-grey filly with a smile, “We don’t want any bumps and bruises now, right?”

“Er…sure.” Silver adjust her spectacles and looked about her, “Where is she?”

Twilight gave her a wink, “Follow me, please.”

She couldn’t believe it! So much data, so much learnt and so much left to be discovered! This was like a dream come true. She’d read about Golden Spoon back in college of course, but she hadn’t really be all that interested in war stuff – that was something the boys were more into, but now… now she simply had to know more! Oooh, so many things to look into! But what first? Blast it all, where was Spike? She needed lists, lots and lots of lists! Everything needed to be catergorised, recorded and documented properly and accurately or else she may miss something, and that would never do. Perhaps a recording device? Yes, she had several, and an audio recorder to match the
thaumaturgical fluctuations…definitely! If she was careful she would be able to run the two tests simultaneously and watch for any magical variance that occurred when making certain prompts or asking specific questions that-

“DI!”

“Silv!” A pink blur shot out of the double doors, closely followed by the white coated nurse from earlier. “Oh, Di! I was so scared!”

“But…you look fine” Silver said scrunching up her face, “I don’t understand, I though you were sick?”

“I think I was, but…I don’t know. My mouth tastes funny.” Diamond Tiara licked her lips and smacked them loudly, “It tastes like cat wee.”

“I’m sure I wouldn’t know” Nurse Redheart said with a dismissive sniff. She walked up to Silver Spoon, “It appears you two are becoming regular visitors. If this keeps up we’ll have to look at setting aside an extra room for your next visit.”

Twilight caught her attention with a raised hoof, “They’re regulars?” she asked curiously.

Nurse Redheart nodded, “Yes, but its probably just one of those things. Foals, colts and fillies all seem to think they’re invulnerable until something like this happens.” She walked up to Diamond Tiara and passed her a foil wrapped parcel.

“Whats this?” Di asked.

“A mint” the nurse said with an exasperated huff, “I presume you want the bad taste of the Shuttle Leaf to go, yes?”

“Mmhmm!” The mint had already vanished into the mouth of the pink filly. Another of the sweet treats found its way to her friend too, leaving Nurse Redheart with lighter pockets, but mercifully, a quieter hospital.

“Nurse Redheart?” Twilight asked, “Is Diamond Tiara fit to travel? I could do with arranging for her to be taken home if possible.”

“She’s fine” the nurse said in a matter-of-fact manner, “Shuttle Leaf extract is just the ticket for warming the insides and chasing out the shivers. It’s just as well you found her when you did though; if treated quickly enough, a few hours is all we need. Any longer and a pony can develop any number of respiratory difficulties as well as full blown pneumonia.” She smiled, “She’s a tough girl though, she’ll be fine. You’ll forgive me however, when I say I don’t want to see here again back here any time soon, right?”

“Of course!” Twilight bobbed her head and turned to the door, “Ready to go girls?”

“Yeah!” the two friends echoed.

Applejack and Big Mac were still waiting in the entrance lobby and looked up as the trio entered. “Twilight!” The orange mare rushed over, followed at a distance by her disinterested looking brother, “Oh my goodness, they’re alright!” She reached out a hoof, “They are alright aint they?” She took a step back and hesitated.

“A.J!” Twilight laughed, “They’re fine!” She rubbed Diamond Tiara’s mane and got an angry look and a snort in response. “Looks like normal service has been resumed.”

Big Mac gave his sister a nudge, “Where we goin’ sis?”

Twilight answered, “We need to get Silver and her friend to my house. I’ll have Spike arrange for messages to be sent to the girls homes.” She grinned, “After a little… ‘research’ of course.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow but kept her voice low, “You know, y’all worry me sometimes, Twi. You aint plannin’ on doin’ anythin’, y’know… ‘sciency’ with these two are ya?”

Twilight shrugged, “We’ll just have to see now, won’t we?” she grinned cheekily, “Stop worrying, A.J they’ll be fine, honestly, but I have to get to the bottom of what’s going on with Silver Spoon one way or another.”

“Ah still think she’d be better off back in that thar hospital, Twi” Applejack muttered.

Twilight clucked her tongue, “Oh, shush.”

The two fillies were helped into the cart and in short order the party were heading across town once more, only this time to the Ponyville library – home of the princess’s protégé, one Miss Twilight Sparkle.

********************

“All done” the small reptitlian creature announced, dropping to the floor beside the lavender unicorn, “I wish you’d told me we’d be having visitors today.”

“They’ll be fine” Twilight muttered, adjusting her reading glasses, “A sleepover is just what these two need. I’m just glad their parents agreed to it.”

“I’m sure the princess’s name didn’t have anything to do with it” Spike muttered.

Twilight rolled her eyes and turned the page of her book, “It’s results that matter Spike, and results are what I intend to get.”

“How?” the small dragon asked, dragging over a stool, “They’re both fast asleep and I don’t think they’d appreciate being woken up to be poked and prodded.”

It was true, the girls had been so worn out by their ordeal they hadn’t been able to stay awake and fell asleep right away. Twilight had half expected this of course; possession, if that’s what this was, could take quite the toll on the physical body let alone the spirit. Besides, she didn’t need Silver to be awake for this. She tapped her quill against her bottom lip and stared at the book – so far nothing made much sense. “Spike, fetch me Transformation and Allegations, please.”

The little dragon immediately wandered off to fetch the book.

“Let’s review,” Twilight announced half to herself, “There seems to be three distinct personalities at work here: Silver Spoon, Golden Spoon and the third one who described himself as ‘a pony yet not a pony’.” She got up and walked over to the chalkboard and wrote the names down.

“Sounds completely bonkers to me” Spike observed, “And anyway, how come the third one’s a ‘he’?”

Twilight furrowed her brow, “I’m not sure…but ‘a pony yet not a pony’…” she levitated the chalk up in her magic and wrote:

Known Facts:

1. Golden Spoon – Colonel of the Royal Guard. Fought in the war against Nightmare Moon and
the Legion.

2. Silver Spoon – Student. Daughter of Lord and Lady Spoon, descendant of Golden Spoon.

3. Unknown – Pony and not a pony. Your people have done enough. Can’t bring back the dead.
Celestian. Part of Silver.

“What’s that mean?” Spike asked depositing the latest book to the ever increasing pile. He looked up at the chalk board curiously, “Celestian?”

“It’s an old term used for the followers of Celestia” Twilight said waving off the question with a hoof.

Spike didn’t get the hint, “Why don’t they use it now?”

Twilight sighed and took off her glasses before rubbing her eyes, “Because, Spike, it was used to identify followers of Celestia during the war with Nightmare Moon. As such, there’s simply no need to use it now.”

“What about Nightmare Moon then?” he asked, “What did they call them? Nightmarians? Mooninites?” He let out a bark of laughter, “Luna-tics? Get it? LUNA-tics?”

“Yes Spike, I get it.” Twilight clucked her tongue, “Look, stop being silly and make us a couple of cocoa’s eh?”

“Humph! Your wish is my command your divinity.” Spike got up and wandered off into the kitchen.

Twilight groaned; he could be a real hoofful sometimes, that little dragon. She’d have to have a word with him later about being cheeky too, especially…wait a minute, what did he call her? Your divinity? That was a term used during the war to describe Nightmare Moon! She walked back to the chalkboard and wrote next to the third entry – ‘Nightmare Moon’. A few minutes later, Spike walked back in carrying a tray with two steaming mugs of cocoa and a plate of chocolate biscuits.

“Spike, where did you hear the term ‘your divinity’?” Twilight asked.

Spike grimaced, “Oh, erm…I didn’t really mean it Twi, I was only joking and-”

“Never mind that, I mean where exactly did you hear it?” Twilight asked, “It’s a term nopony uses any more. Please Spike, this could be important.”

The small dragon chomped down a biscuit and licked the crumbs away, “Oh that’s easy, it was in the book Silver Spoon had with her. I took everything out of their panniers so I could wash the mud off them and this little book was in there.” He held up his claw, “I know, I know, I shouldn’t have read it, but…well, it was very…compelling.”

“Compelling…” Twilight frowned, “Hmm…where is it now?”

“Upstairs” Spike said, “Want me to go and get it?”

“No…” Twilight rose to her hooves, “I think I will.”

The girls lay fast asleep, curled around each other completely exhausted from their ordeal. Silently Twilight thanked the goddesses for the skills of the Ponyville medical services – if it hadn’t been for them, poor Diamond Tiara would probably be in a lot worse shape than just feeling tired. She made a mental note to research Shuttle Leaf later too. The real issue here though was Silver Spoon. The filly had three conflicting personalities living within her and all her research into personality disorders and schizophrenia had lead nowhere. Equestrians very seldom suffered mental health problems compared to other races, and those that did could often be treated by magic and natural medication. But this case was different from anything she’d ever read about, save for spirit possession and curses. The former was superstition and could be readily discounted of course, but the second possibility, usually magical in origin, posed its own set of questions: what sort of spell was it, how did she become affected by it, what was the intention of the spell and, finally, how can it be removed. Twilight closed her eyes, clearing her mind, listening to nothing but the wind outside, the gentle breathing of the fillies, and allowed her magic to reach out... Nothing. Now that was unusual! She usually picked up something, even if she didn’t know what it was right away. More often than not, there could be a hint of-

“Twilight!”

“Oh, goddesses…” Twilight leaned over the wooden balustrade and hissed down to the little dragon who was staring back at her with a look that made her hesitate, “What is it?”

“Is…is this thing supposed to be doing that?” Spike motioned towards a small box that was glowing with magic and bleeping quietly.

Twilight’s eyes went wide, “Don’t touch it! I’m coming down.” In a poof of magic, she teleported next to spike and immediately fell to her knees in a disorientated heap.

“TWI!” Spike was frantic, “Are you okay?!”

“Y…Yes I’m fine, I’m…” What was that? Twilight felt a sudden lurch and her stomach heaved, threatening to empty itself, “Spike…get a bucket, get…oh, no…” With a wracking cough, the lavender unicorn’s stomach evacuated itself, straight into the bucket Spike had brought over just in the nick of time.

“Twilight sit down, I’m getting the doctor.”

“No!” Twilight shook her head and immediately regretted it. Oh, Celestia, her head! Great galloping alicorns it felt like somepony was trying to beat their way out her skull! “Just, get me something for…mmph!” She shoved her muzzle into the bucket as another retching spasm shook her, “Oh…oh Celestia…”

Spike reappeared, carrying a box bearing a red cross and threw it open. “Right, I’ve got some here and…there, got it!” He pulled out a small bottle of dark green fluid. “Still in date. I’m glad I took the time to check this stuff.”

“What…what is that?” Twilight groaned.

“It’s a mixture Fluttershy makes to a recipe she got from the Breezies. Don’t ask me what’s in it.” Spike shrugged, taking out the cork stopper, “It’s probably best not to ask anyway.” He walked over to his stricken friend and lifted up her muzzle, “All in one now.”

Whatever was in the bottle tasted like concentrated grass and mint, either that or washing up liquid – oh, Celestia, it wasn’t was it?! “S…Spike…” Twilight gasped as the strange mixture slipped down her throat, “You did give me the right one didn’t you?”

“Of course I did!” Spike shook his head, “See?” He pointed to the mirror on the wall.

Twilight blinked her eyes and stared at the reflected image gazing back at her, “Spike…Spike I’m green! What have you done?!”

“Don’t worry Twilight,” Spike chirped, “it wears off…” He furrowed his brow in thought, “Might take a day or two, so…yeah...”

“A day or two?!” Twilight threw her forelegs up in frustration, “Why didn’t you warn me?!”

Spike shrugged, “Worked though, didn’t it?”

“I…” Twilight paused, “Uh…yeah.” She rubbed her hooves over her chest and stomach, “I feel… perfectly normal.”

“Other than being green” Spike observed unhelpfully.

Twilight groaned and added a line to her notes:

Speak to fluttershy about side effects of nausea medication.

What a mess! Still, she did feel a lot better, so maybe it…hang on, what was that beeping noise? “Spike! The detector!”

“Huh?” the dragon picked up the sick bucket and looked back at her over her shoulder, “Yeah, that’s why I called you down, remember?”

The rectangular device was beeping steadily, the crystals glowing brightly while a needle fluctuated back and forth. Twilight let out a pent up breath; this wasn’t good, and it certainly wasn’t normal by any stretch of the imagination. Living in a library with so many small magical artefacts and tomes always gave a higher than normal background magical radiation reading, but the aetherscope was showing a far larger magical field in the area than she’d ever expected. No wonder she’d been sick! Inadvertently teleporting into or near a high magical radiation field could throw you wildly off your intended destination and potentially materialise you inside something – a thought that was absolutely terrifying.

Spike reappeared from the kitchen wiping his hands on a tea-towel, “What is that thing?”

“It detects the presence of magical radiation,” Twilight said quietly, panning the device round, “It measures the field strength and should be able to lead us right to the source.” She lifted the aetherscope, watching the needle rise and fall until it pointed to where, in the back of her mind, she had already expected it to. “It’s upstairs.”

“Silver?” Spike asked.

“I’m not sure.” Twilight nodded towards the stairs, “Come on.”

Steadily, slowly, the two climbed the stairs, wreathed in the eerie light of the aetherscope. The beeping was still steady, but as they turned the corner on the landing, the needle began to climb in tandem with the beeping sound.

“H…how close is it?” Spike breathed, keeping close to Twilight.

The mare barely looked up from the device, “Five meters…four meters…three…”

“It can’t be!” Spike hissed, “That’s right on top of us!”

Twilight turned, holding the aetherscope over the sleeping fillies, “It’s not them” she breathed. But if it wasn’t, then what? She turned, following the needles fluctuation. The bleeping sounds were now almost a steady whine, until... Her eyes went wide and she turned to Spike, “It’s the book.”

“Huh?” Spike leaned forward and reached out a claw, “It can’t be, I was just reading it and-”

“SPIKE, NO!”

The world burst with a kaleidoscope of light, spinning around them violently. Twilight screamed, but her voice was gone, the world was gone, there was only…total darkness.

“Spike?” Twilight tried to speak but she was so frightened her throat was dry and tight, “Spike…!” But of the small dragon, there was no sign. Only the darkness, and something…something moving towards her. She couldn’t see it, she couldn’t feel it, be she could sense something…something breathing, moving nearer. Twilight’s heart was in her mouth. Quickly, she tried to clear her mind and gather her magic, pull her strength together and gather it into one place. If she was quick then…

The hoofsteps stopped. Twilights heartbeat was now hammering in her ears and she tried to move back, but there was something solid stopping her; it was as if she was in a box, a box that was…

A scraping noise and then a pause, a click, and a low, creaking sound as a sliver of light slowly appeared. A yellow eye, as deep as the ocean and as bright as a gold coin stared at her from mere inches away above a leering smile of unimaginable evil.

“‘ello poppet…”

Twilight screamed.

A riot of images, mind bending colours and a stomach churning whirlwind of sound crashed into Twilights head. Desperately she flailed around, trying to find something solid to get a purchase on, to pull herself upright and try to make sense of what was happening around her. It was…a room? Feathers and Fetlocks it was! A room of pale blue light… No, not light, crystal? Slowly, shakily she rose to her hooves and tried to take it all in. Paintings of ponies adorned the walls while shelves with plants, vases and the day to day trappings of somepony’s home were everywhere. Even the unicorn colt sitting with his back to her in front of the log fire looked incredibly…normal. He cocked his head slightly, his deep yellow eyes just visible beneath the mop of black hair,

“Come to, have you?”

Twilight blinked away the last of the horrible imagery and focussed on the colt. This place, whatever it was, wherever it was, was not real. It had to be all in her head, and this being, as much of a colt as he appeared, was nothing of the sort. She had to be on her guard here. Without knowing whether Spike was going for help, or even if they could do anything for her in the waking world, then for now at least, she was on her own. “You’re the one I spoke to in the hospital” she observed
calmly.

“Am I?” the colt asked, “Yes…I suppose I am.” He chuckled, “Care for some tea?”

“No.” Twilight huffed irritably, “And I don’t appreciate being dragged in here, whatever-your-name
is.”

“I’m sure you don’t.” The grey colt turned to face her. He appeared to be around Silver Spoon’s age, yet the eyes that stared back at Twilight were far from that of a mere childs.

“So, are you going to tell me why you brought me here?” She asked.

The colt barked out a laugh, “Me? No.”

Twilights blood ran cold, “Wait, so why am I here then? What do you want?”

“I don’t want anything” the colt sniffed, “Well, nothing you can give me anyway.”

“So why…”

“Don’t you understand anything?” the colt groaned, throwing up his forehooves in exasperation, “And I thought you were supposed to be the smart one!”

“I can’t read minds!” Twilight snapped, “And you’re being very rude too!”

“Well, pardon me!” the colt snorted. A moment later, he got up and gave his mane a shake before approaching the lavender mare, “Okay, look, so the ‘poppet’ thing was me. I’m sorry, I thought it would be funny, alright?” He smiled, “Bet it gave you a bit of a fright though, eh?”

“A fright? I nearly peed myself!” Twilight snapped, “It wasn’t funny.”

The colt chuckled, “I beg to differ.” With a flick of his tail, he settled himself beside her and leaned uncomfortably close, his nostrils flailing, “Yes…I thought so…”

“What? And don’t sit so close!” Twilight reached out and pushed the colt away. As her hooves touched him a jolt of cold raced up her forelegs making her gasp. What was that?! It was as if he was made of ice! And then it hit her…she knew…she’d felt it before.

The colt stared at her, his eyes going wide, “Yes…YES! I knew it! You know, don’t you? You understand!” He suddenly jumped up and began running in a circle laughing, “You know! YOU KNOW!”

Whoever this was, whatever he really was, his running about and cryptic answers were absolutely infuriating! Twilight took a deep breath, closed her eyes and shouted at the top of her lungs, “WILL YOU STOP RUNNING AROUND!”

It worked. In a sudden whirl of hooves and legs, the little grey colt came to a halt, snorting and tossing his mane. He looked…wild. Two large yellow eyes stared into hers expectantly, “Tell me. Tell me you know.”

“Tell you what? Can’t you ask a simple question?!” Twilight neighed, “What say we try it out, hmm?”

The colt watched her quizzically for a moment before he finally dropped onto his haunches and let out a deep laugh, “Oh, Twilight, you really are fun!” He took a breath and closed his eyes, “My name, is Erin.” He raised an eyebrow, “At least, that is the name Silver gave me.”

“Silver Spoon?” Twilight asked in surprise. She shouldn’t have been surprised really; after all, this certainly appeared to be a product of Silver Spoon’s mind and she must be in here somewhere.

“She’s sleeping” Erin said quietly in answer to the unasked question, “And no, she’s not in any danger.” He smiled slightly, “And in answer to your earlier question, I didn’t bring you here.”

“What?” Twilight frowned, “Then who, or what did?” She gasped suddenly as realisation hit her, “The book!”

“The book…” Erin shrugged, “Well, it’s a diary actually, the diary of Golden Spoon. Do you know of her?”

“We’ve met.” Twilight snorted.

The grey colt shook his head, “No. What you spoke to was a memory, a persona imprinted upon Silver by the spell held within the diary.” He snorted, “I don’t believe it was intentional, but it was quite effective wouldn’t you say?”

“What’s that spell for?” Twilight asked, “If you didn’t create it, then who did? Why?”

The colt clucked his tongue, “What’s it for?” he shrugged, “How should I know? I’m just a memory myself, Miss Sparkle, a piece of the puzzle trapped inside the body of a child. What power do you think I actually have here?”

“But…I’m here, talking to you, here in this place.” Twilight lifted a hoof, indicating the room around them, “This isn’t like any home in Equestria I’ve ever seen.” She paused as realisation washed over her, “But it isn’t in Equestria, is it?”

Erin smiled, “Say it…”

Twilight closed her eyes, her heart racing, “Wendingo.”

“Ha! I knew it!” Erin jump and bucked his hind legs out in delight, “Do you know how long it’s been since I ever heard that name? Silver has no idea what I am you know, and thinks I’m a figment of her imagination. I suppose I can’t blame her – after all it’s not her fault I’m stuck in her noggin.” He sighed, “But to hear my people, my very own people still live…” Erin smiled, “It fills my heart once more.” He looked at Twilight and brushed the tears from his eyes, “Thank you.”

“There’s no need to thank me, I haven’t done anything.” Twilight replied honestly, “I just wanted to find out why Silver was acting the way she was and ended up here.” She peered at him curiously, “Are you really a wendigo?”

Erin shook his head, “Only the memory, really.” He raised a hoof, “I know it sounds strange to a Celestian…sorry, Equestrian, but it’s all to do with the spirit you see.” He got up and stretched his legs, “There is a magic within us wendigo, as with all creatures in Equestria. It is in the water we drink, the food we eat and even the air we breathe.”

“But…Wendigo share themselves with spirits from the nether world, don’t they?” Twilight asked.

“You mean the Wither World?” Erin nodded, “We did, but that link was broken long ago. Your princess saw to that.” He gritted his teeth and slowly let himself relax once more, “The spirit infuses us with its power. It melds with us, alters our bodies and our magic allowing us to become much, much more than mere unicorns.” He smiled, “But you have seen this with your own eyes, haven’t you?”

“How can you know that?” Twilight said in a bare whisper, “Can…can you read my mind?”

Erin shook his head, “Not really. I saw certain images when you arrived here, they were spilling out of you like a leaky bucket. Honestly, thumping about inside my wardrobe the way you were, was enough to wake the dead.” He rolled his eyes, “But it was the look in your eyes when you touched me that gave me hope. You didn’t seem all that surprised, and it was that which made me wonder...have you truly met one of my tribe?”

“Yes, I met one” Twilight said quietly, “He was a stallion, and he looked like you, mostly.”

“Mostly?” The colt frowned, “How so?”

“Well, apart from the coat, mane and tail, he had these piercing blue eyes that…”

“What was his name?” Erin asked suddenly, taking a step towards Twilight, “Tell me! What did he call himself?”

“Uh…Fairlight” Twilight replied, “‘Lord’ Fairlight, If I remember correctly.”

“Anything else?” Erin pushed, “Please, Twilight, you have to remember!”

Twilight tossed her mane irritably, “Give me a moment! Stop being so pushy.” She frowned; trying to think straight in here wasn’t easy, it was like trying to knit fog and dealing with this strange creature was…that was it! Twilight nodded, “He called himself the ‘Lord of the Four Winds’.”

Erin froze, his ears pert and his eyes gleaming, “He’s back.” He took a breath and sighed, his whole body relaxing, “After all this time. Generation after generation of life, death, rebirth. At long, long last, our people have returned.”

A sudden jolt of realisation ran through Twilights heart, “Oh, no...I…I promised him I wouldn’t tell anypony!” She sank to her knees and covered her head with her forelegs, “I’ve broken my promise…”

Erin laughed and gave her a prod, “You haven’t.” He tapped his head with a hoof, “All of this is inside your mind after all, remember? Well, Silver’s anyway.” He gave her a wink, “What you have done is give me hope, Twilight. It may not seem like much to you, but it means more to me than you could ever possibly imagine.”

Twilight looked up, “What are you, Erin, really? And how did you end up inside Silver? Is she a…a wendigo too?”

Erin laughed, “Silver? A wendigo?!” He shook his head, “Good goddess, no!” The colt sat down and sighed loudly, “No…poor Silver is just an earth pony, Miss Sparkle, just like every other earth pony. Just with one difference.” He smiled sadly, “Her line has been tainted with the spirit of my ancestors.”

“I don’t understand” Twilight said honestly, “Tainted? You mean like some sort of genetic disorder or inherited disease passed down through the generations?”

The colt rolled his shoulders and walked back to the fire, “No, nothing like that.” He sat down and stared into the flames, “At some time in the past, the Spoon line became infused with the spirit of the wendigo. It’s only faint, barely a hint really, but it is enough.” He hung his head sadly, his words sounding heavy and far beyond his apparent physical years, “Earth ponies have a natural resistance to magic, and for generation after generation that tiny piece of the wendigo spirit has been passed down the Spoon line from parent to child – as has the war within them between the wendigo magic and their body’s own resistance.” He looked back at Twilight, his big eyes carrying the dreadful
weight of guilt, “They…tear themselves apart…inside.” He closed his eyes, “I have seen this, time after time after time, Miss Sparkle: foals, fillies, colts, mares, stallions…it doesn’t matter, it all ends the same way. The fainting, the unexplained tiredness – they’re all symptoms of the battle waging inside them - a battle they cannot see. Sometimes, for the fortunate, it skips a generation, but sooner or later it comes back – I come back.”

Twilight swallowed. Was all of this true? She’d be the first to admit she didn’t know much about wendigo magic, despite scouring the libraries for information. It hadn’t been easy either; she didn’t want Celestia to find out what she was researching in case of ‘awkward’ questions, not least because of a certain promise she’d made to a certain pony. Part of the problem seemed to be that even back in those turbulent days of war, hardly anypony knew anything about the wendigo, nor, if she were honest, even seemed to care enough to bother. Starswirl had apparently spent time amongst them before switching sides, but even he hadn’t been able to glean much more information. The majority of his time had been dedicated to research and, from what she could tell, searching for a way to visit the eternal herd from the mortal realm using gateways. Ironically, he had managed in the end – the same way everypony did. Twilight’s mane shivered at the thought. “Can’t you do something to stop it?” she asked.

“Don’t you think I’ve tried?” Erin asked, “Don’t you think I would if I knew how? I’m just a memory, Twilight, a faint echo of a wendigo’s soul passed through blood from father to son, from mother to daughter. Do you think I like knowing that I am killing these innocent ponies? I have no love of Celestians, but to see little Silver…Goddess forgive me, I can’t take any more of this…I can’t…” He looked up as Twilight laid a hoof on his shoulder.

“If I can, if there is some way, I’ll do what I can to save you – both of you.” She gazed into his eyes, “Erin, I promise you I will do everything I can.”

“You know…I think I actually believe you” Erin said quietly. He smiled sadly and looked up at the painting on the wall. A grey mare stared back from it, her white lace collar a clear indication of when the artist had made this.

“Who is that?” Twilight asked, “Your family?”

Erin nickered softly, “I don’t know. It was so long ago, and so much of who I am will have been laid to rest long, long ago.” He glanced over at her, “It’s the tears, you see.” He pointed to his eyes, “A little of who we are, a little of our magic, leaks out in every tiny drop.”

“That sounds awful!” Twilight exclaimed.

Erin laughed, “It’s not as bad as it sounds.” He trotted over to a bowl and took an apple which he bit into with a loud crunch, “Normally it wouldn’t make any difference to a wendigo, but should a pony ‘take in’ any of that magic, especially an earth pony…well, poor Silver is the result.”

Twilight screwed her face up in thought, “So you think one of Silver Spoon’s ancestors somehow ingested some of this magic? Some of these… ‘tears’?”

Erin nodded, “However it happened the Spoon line have wendigo magic within them. Ironically, the only way to stave off the effects of the taint now is to-”

“-To take more of the tears!” Twilight’s tail swished as she suddenly realised what all this was leading up to, “The medication is effectively poisoning her, but not to take it would…” A shiver ran down her spine, washing away the excitement of realisation, “Erin, there has to be something we can do!”

“I hope so, Twilight,” Erin smiled sadly, “I really do. If for nopony else, but for young Silver. I’ve grown quite attached to her – if you’ll pardon the pun.”

Twilight leaned back against the table, staring up at the ceiling and it’s elegant chandelier. If she had more time she would have loved to have investigated this incredible place – even if it was just a memory, but right then she had more pressing priorities, “How do I…?”

“Oh, that’s simple” Erin said waggling his eyebrows, “just clop your hooves together three times and shout ‘there’s no place like home’”

“What a load of rubbish!” Twilight snapped in mid clop, “Please, Erin…”

The grey colt let out a loud guffaw, “Aw! I thought you’d fall for it too! Nearly had you though.” He took a breath, “Nope, you’ll just have to wait. In fact, any second…now…”

“TWILIGHT!”

“Oh…oh, my head!” The lavender unicorn sat upright, holding her head against the dizziness, “That’s the second time today!”

Spike grabbed her foreleg and stared into her eyes, “Twi, are you alright? You went all funny there for a moment!”

“A moment?” Twilight squinted at the little dragon and then out of the window. It was still dark, the stars twinkling high in the sky as the moon bathed the room in its pale light. Beside her, the two foals slept peacefully. “How did…?” She looked down at the box beside her and the pair of iron tongs. “Ah, a magical isolation container.”

“I do pay attention sometimes you know,” Spike muttered, wiping his tears away, “You really had me frightened for a minute.”

Twilight tapped the box with a curious hoof, “What did you see, Spike? Tell me everything.”

Spike nodded and then paused, remembering something just as important, “Cocoa?”

********************

“So what now?”

Runcy leaned back in the lounger and took a long draw on his pipe, letting the smoke spill out in a long, thin plume. He’d always envied ponies who could make smoke rings effortlessly. He’d tried of course, but he just didn’t seem to have the lips for it. He gave it another cursory try with the same results.

“Runcy? Hello?”

“Ugh, what?!” Runcy groaned and turned to face the agitated black stallion.

“I said, what now?” Trestle began pacing back and forth, flicking his tail agitation, “Everypony just…left, just like that! What are we supposed to be doing?”

Runcy clucked his tongue, “You can stop that blasted pacing for a start.” He snorted, “You’re making my blood pressure rise just being near you, boy. For the goddesses sake, will you sit down!”

Trestle nickered and dumped himself into one of the red velvet lined chairs, “I tell you Runcy, this is beyond strange. One minute it’s all debating and court stuff, then the next thing you know the princess has gone – just like that!” He gave himself a shake and took out a cigar from his silver case, “Is this normal?”

Runcy shook his head; no it wasn’t. All that way and they’d had one morning session, a lunch break, and for the afternoon session – no Celestia. The lords and ladies of Equestria had been livid and with good reason – many of them had expected to be able to speak to her about the changeling situation, but it appeared now that everything the ruler of Equestria had intended to say on the subject had already been said. The afternoon had been hosted once more by Princess Luna and the more mundane matters of state that could have been put to bed by one of the innumerable clerks that buzzed around the palace like worker bees tending their hive. It was, as Trestle has said himself, ‘beyond strange’. Beyond strange indeed; Runcy only half heard his young friend as he continued to complain about not having had the chance to make his case regarding…whatever it was. Goddesses above, why wouldn’t he shut up! The grey stallion leaned down and took his brandy, swirled it round, and sipped it thoughtfully. Young Trestle was a good pony at heart, he’d known that since he’d first met him as a foal. Unfortunately his parents had forgotten to include one vitally important piece of equipment that should have accompanied him wherever he went: a good pair of ear plugs. Celestia’s arse, that stallion should come with a public health warning.

“…as well as that big mouthed tart with the hunters bump. Did you see that? What sort of…”

Runcy sighed; Trestle just kept on going didn’t he? But really, if he was this ‘friend’ who was allegedly lying to him, then he wasn’t doing a very good job of disguising it. Now that he thought about it though, how did he know that the mystery mare on the ship had been telling him the truth in the first place, and besides that, why did everypony lately seem to think that he was some sort of influential stallion whom they could use in whatever schemes they were cooking up? Worse still was that he still had no idea what these schemes really were, let alone what their goal was. To that end, Veritas were just as damnably cryptic as the pistol wielding creature had been on the ship! Whatever the hell they were up to they obviously didn’t want him to find out ahead of time, but at least there was one advantage – they hadn’t threatened to blow his bloody head off!

“…including that game of dominoes too. I knew the damned thing was rigged, but did I say anything? Nooo, of course not! I tell you, Runcy, if I got a hold of that guy I’d geld him with two bricks and-”

“Trestle?”

“- a piece of…huh? Yeah, Runcy?”

“Shut up.”

“Um…sure.”

Oh wonderful, now he felt guilt too! Runcy huffed and gave Trestle a frown, “If you’d stop talking for five minutes, you may have noticed that everypony is going home.”

“Of course, that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” Trestle rolled his eyes, “Why is everypony going? Is that it? Did we really come all this way for one day?”

Runcy shrugged and took another pull on his pipe, “Apparently we did. We’ve been told what the princess wants us to know and now, my dear boy, it is time for us to toddle off home like good little ponies.”

“It’s a right load of old bollocks if you ask me” Trestle snorted.

Runcy chuckled, “Yes, I seem to remember somepony announcing that in a very loud voice in the morning session.” He raised an eyebrow at Trestle who turned bright red in response. “Look, bollocks it may be, but that’s the way it goes here, Tres. Don’t let it get to you, and just be grateful you’re not required to be here all week. The last time that happened poor Lark was in a hell of state when I got home.”

Trestle frowned, “Why?”

“Oh, for…” Runcy clucked his tongue, “Because she missed me of course! Celestia give me strength; don’t you know anything about mares, boy?”

“Not really…” Trestle looked crestfallen, “I’ve never spent that much time away from mine.”

“Well you’re in for treat, my dear Trestle.” Runcy gave him a wink, “Does your relationship the power of good with a few days apart. You mark my words, she’ll be all over you when you get back. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.”

“I don’t know about that” Trestle moaned.

Runcy looked up at the clock on the wall, “Right, come on then, let’s be on our way. The tram will be here in half an hour and I want to there in case there’s a rush.”

Their bags and cases already gone on ahead, the two stallion only had themselves and the clothes they stood up in to worry about now. That, and an unexpected early trip home. Of course, they could have spent another night in the accommodation wing of the palace, but the insinuation from the princess had been all too clear: it was time to go home.

“Lord Runcy?” A short purple stallion in a palace tabard ran up and bobbed his head, “Message for you, sir.”

Runcy took the message and scratched his chin in thought, “Looks like it’s just us two then.”

“Huh?” Trestle took the slip of paper from his friend, “Lord Aura’s going by airship?”

Runcy nodded, “Looks that way. The old bugger usually hates flying too.” He clopped Trestle on the shoulder, “Not to worry my dear fellow, my company’s not that bad, eh?”

Trestle grinned. A few drinks and a pleasant trip home sounded just what he needed right then, and Runcy was right, it was always better with company. Adjusting their coats, the two friends trotted out of the palace into the gathering night.

Comments

[Fallen Knight]

Well now, this is getting interesting.