Chapter 5.1: Spring
“So how long do you think it will take for things to go back to normal?” Spike asked, as they stepped off the train into Ponyville proper. There was nopony in the station with them except for the janitor and some off-duty railway staff—everypony left on the morning train, they wouldn’t be back until evening. “Because it feels like you didn’t even tell me the craziest parts.”
You’re not wrong. Spike had only a general idea about most things, and most of that he’d read indirectly from her. “I don’t know,” she admitted. She’d even let him ride on her back, a silent apology for not taking him. Though he hadn’t fought that hard to join her there, it was probably still for the better. “Soon, I hope. I miss Equestria when it made sense.”
“Now I know you’re not serious.” He hopped off her back, staring up at her incredulously. “You’re always learning new things about magic, about friendship. This crazy new stuff is only going to give you more to study.”
At least her library hadn’t been frozen in ice, or burned to the ground, or otherwise destroyed while she was gone. Ponyville looked the way she always remembered it.
She wasn’t surprised to see a light on in the window as she got close. The door was locked, but she knew better than to think the one inside would need it. She opened it anyway, leaving the sign twisted to “closed” as she walked in.
Rarity sat in the front hall of the library, wearing an oversized hat and sipping at tea from one of Twilight’s own cups. “Oh, you’re back,” she said, as though she’d been sitting there for days.
“Rarity,” Spike said from behind her, voice drifting. “You’re here?”
“I am,” she said. “I know how this is going to sound, but do you think you could give the two of us some privacy for a moment? I’ll be very grateful.”
“Of course, Rarity.” Spike retreated towards the stairs. “For you, anything.” He walked up towards their bedroom, never taking his eyes from Rarity until they were out of sight.
Twilight clicked her tongue, disapproving. “You know how he feels about you.”
She nodded. “Obviously. I’ve seen puppy love before.”
“And you still think it’s okay to…” She flicked her tail towards the stairs.
“Did he look unhappy?” Rarity levitated over a glass towards the other seat. “Spike isn’t what I’ve come to discuss.”
“Yeah.” She lifted the saddlebags from her shoulders, then sat down. She sipped at the tea, letting something familiar and comfortable wash over her tongue. We’re almost done. Rarity will have her half, I have mine. We can make the cure and be done.
“I heard you went to Princessport,” Rarity said. “I can’t imagine any other reason to be in that dreadful place, unless you had a lead.”
In answer, Twilight lifted the metal bar from her bag, settling it on the table next to her tea. “This?”
Rarity’s cup clattered to the table. Her mouth opened and closed silently a few times, like she’d become a fish herself. Then she seemed to come to her senses, hastily sponging up her spill and looking away. “Y-you’ll have to forgive me, Twilight. I just… Celestia preserve us, you didn’t let anypony see that, did you?”
Twilight shook her head, then levitated the library blinds closed behind them. “Why would that matter?”
“That’s a lot more than… we need.” She reached out with a hoof, nudging the bar, then quickly pulling it back again. “There’s more here than in Celestia’s regalia.”
I wonder what she’d think of the factory. But Twilight had been keeping all her friends’ secrets, and she wouldn’t reveal this one.
“We’ll see what’s left when we’re done curing your sister,” Twilight said. “Did you find the… Moly?”
“Well… yes.” Rarity nodded towards a book behind her, levitating it down onto the table between them. It had a Canterlot Archives label on the spine, not one of her own collection.
Rarity flipped it open. “The plant was known by the ancient masters, particularly Mage Meadowbrook, who wrote about it extensively as being the cure for many aliments. But…”
Twilight took the book in her magic, turning it over. There was the plant, sketched by the hoof of Meadowbrook herself. White flowers, black roots, endowed with magical properties. She skipped to the bottom of the page.
“The herb could be found only within the Grove of Eris, where only a few sprigs could be harvested every year. When Discord emerged and set his throne in Equestria, Eris Grove was destroyed. No sample of Moly ever appeared since.”
She dropped the book roughly onto the table, looking down in frustration. “So what you’re saying is, we did all this for nothing. The plant we need for the cure is already extinct. We’re bucked.”
Rarity patted her gently on the shoulder. “You’re going through exactly the same line of reasoning, Twilight. At first that was precisely what I thought. But then I did some digging. You know vampires aren’t the only dangerous creatures that haunt Equestria, yes?”
Twilight actually laughed, so loud that the whole tree started to shake. She felt good—it was the first time something had genuinely amused her in two weeks.
“Yes,” she said, when she’d finished. “I heard that. What kind of dangerous creature are we going to this time? Kirin? Progenitors? Umbrum? Changelings?”
“Nearly.” Rarity eyed her, apparently unsure if Twilight was taking her seriously. “It’s amazing what you can find in the public record.” Rarity rose to her hooves, lifting a long-discolored tube and settling it on the table between them. A sample case, the kind used for holding ancient documents.
Twilight sat back, wincing slightly as Rarity mishandled what was inside. She unrolled too quickly, in ways that would probably damage the ancient paper inside. Somehow she’d got her hooves on something that looked as old as Canterlot itself, maybe older.
“What is…” She stared over the edge of the table, leaning in close so she could read the ancient script.
It was written in Ponish, though the letters were packed in so close she could barely read. Everything was scrolled in elegant black ink, all the way down to the bottom. Once unrolled, it settled right in front of Twilight, so she could see the signatures.
Celestia’s own was there, Luna’s… and four others written in a cycle that twisted their letters together like a wheel. “The princesses of Equestria have a treaty with… Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall?” Her eyebrows went up. “Even for my last week, this is silly.”
“It wasn’t in the fiction section,” Rarity said, glaring up at her. “This is one of our fundamental documents. Read it.”
She did. It took well over an hour, so long that Spike came down more than once. Rarity left her to it, conversing with him politely about how her business was doing and her planned Canterlot expansion, always in the backburner.
Eventually Twilight finished, sitting back from the document with wide eyes. It was written in the same language as so many other old treaties, meaning much of what it discussed no longer made sense to her. What was a right of wander and the bequeathment of duels? Those and many more promises were made between “The Noble Ponies of Equestria,” and “The seasons four, and those who feel their touch.”
“Well?” Rarity asked, sitting down across from her. “Interesting, isn’t it?”
Twilight shrugged. “I was always more into the sciences than politics, Rarity. Just about the only part of this that makes sense to me is the requirement that ponies be able to find it anytime they wish and understand the terms. That explains how you brought it here. But… how does this help us find an extinct plant?”
“Not us unfortunately.” Rarity winced, avoiding her eyes. “Look at section 3; subsection C.”
Twilight did, rolling up from the bottom until only the top of the treaty was visible to her. Section three was about “Conflicts, arrangements, and resolution.”
3.C Prayers for Relief, Beseachments, etcetera
The noble officiators of the seasonal court should not be harassed by the uninvited attention of Equestrians. Should contact be required for arrangement public or private, an Alicorn may request it on behalf of the pony in need, so long as she returns to her own soil by sunrise of the following day.
Likewise if a member of the seasonal court requires remittance…
Twilight stopped reading, looking up. “I don’t even know what this is. But it says here that an Alicorn can go and… talk to them. Whoever they are. Seasonal magic…”
Spike rose from the table, glaring down at the scroll. “That’s it, I’ve heard enough. I know where this is going.” He turned to the kitchen. “I’ve got chores to do.” He left before they could say another word.
Rarity waited until he was gone. “They’re using euphemism,” Rarity said. “It was polite back then, because their true name was a slur. I think this treaty comes at the end of a terrible war between our worlds, but the details are all lost to time. They’re furies—the Seelie, Unseelie, whichever. I’ve honestly never met them before.”
Twilight’s eyebrows went up. “You’ve never met them, but you think this is a way for us to get that extinct plant?”
“For you to get it, yes,” Rarity said. “It’s still spring, at least until…” She glanced past Twilight, to the calendar pinned to the wall there. “Oh. Two days until the solstice. Well that isn’t ideal.”
“Just give me a straight answer,” Twilight said weakly. “I’m on your side, Rarity. I’m trying to help. But I’m way behind. It’s a lot to catch up on in a few weeks.”
“Okay.” She cleared her throat. “You read the treaty. What did it say?”
“That pony magic to control the seasons comes from the Immortal Courts of Spring, Summer, Winter, and—”
“Yes,” Rarity interrupted. “There are old legends… not as interesting to me, since I’ve never needed to hunt fae before. But their powers are well known. Spring is said to be the master of all growing things—those that are, were, and are to come.”
“And if I visit them in spring, then I’ll get to see her instead of one of the other seasons,” Twilight finished.
Rarity nodded. “That’s the gist of it, yes. Visit the fae, beg the spring queen for relief. A new princess like yourself, with such a minor request… there’s no way she wouldn’t grant it! Assuming… any of this is even real. Maybe it’s meant to be historical metaphor.”
Twilight looked up, glaring at her. “It is real. After what it took to find the Orichalcum, we’re finishing this.”
Rarity nodded gratefully. “I’ve been comparing notes on the ritual for about a week now. I’ll have it all ready by tomorrow. Just meet me at dawn, at the threshold to the Everfree. Try not to let Fluttershy notice you, if you can. It would be better not to worry her with dangers like ours.”
“Right,” Twilight said flatly. “She’d be just broken, I’m sure.”
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lol twilight is JUST DONE with everbodys shit.
Oof.
And so we come to the fae. Not the first time I've seen Pinkie as a member of those courts. It really is quite fitting... unless you have something even more surprising in store for her.
Pinkie as a Fae? Yeah....I can see that.
Don't, damage that.
I think Rarity's sarcasm meter is broken because I don't know if Twilight could have been less sincere there. But after what she's been through....
Twiight's going to have a long, frank discussion with everyone once this is over I think
Ten bucks says that she's Pinkie.
Give it time.
Twilight has always been an overachiever.
Hey, sure.
Hah!
Yeah, no kidding.
Oh, snark! Twiggles' getting better at dealing with this stuff, I can tell.
I'm waiting for the reveal rant once it's all over, though
9692285
That might not be best. Funny sure. One is a vampire and another vampire hunter.
Think Pinkie is spring? Or just seasonal help? ;)
Hold on, back in chapter 2.2, we had this:
I mean, I was speculating at the time that Rarity rejecting the notion of the fae meant that one of Twilight's friends would absolutely turn out to be a fairies, and i thought that Pinkie was the most likely choice, so I feel somewhat vindicated... but now Rarity apparently knows about the powers of the fae?
The Good Ponies!
"Up the airy mountain
Down the rushing glen,
We daren't go a-hunting
For fear of little...ponies???"
9692417
Well, it's implied that she's done quite a bit of digging since they last spoke, so she might have had a change of heart. And she did mention that she's not entirely sure that treaty is actually talking about the fae.
At this point, I think you are the least dangerous out of us.
Oh, well that makes manipulating and flirting with a minor okay then.
9692495
Especially considering what this makes clear about the last of the Mane 6.
9692417
Just because one believe in i.e. extraterrestrial life, it doens't necessarily mean must believe in UFOs.
power of the fae is a thing that exist? yes, that doesn't mean I believe fairies are around.
A time crunch indeed... it’s perversely appropriate that this actually went up on the solstice.
So a vampire hunter, grim reaper, vampire, seapony, and an alicorn walk into the bar...
They keep their secrets from each other alright.
Calling it pinkie is a fea...or somehow related to them *reads on*
Have I said this before? I think I've said it before.
Anyway, this really reminds me of the Dresden Files, especially with the Seelie/Unseelie, and the Courts of the Seasons (though only the Summer and Winter Courts exist in DF).
That makes sense, though, if you're drawing on the same old mythology and folktales. If Dresden Files is any accurate indicator... the Fae are not to be taken lightly, and don't bucking agree to or saying anything you don't mean. They're big on the old ways and promises. Lethally so.
Okay, by the end of this, everything better be laid out. And if not, then this will be in need of a good old-fashioned sequel.