• Published 26th Jun 2017
  • 14,128 Views, 980 Comments

Born In Light, Forged In Darkness - Jest



Twilight Sparkle's entrance exam has not gone well, she cannot hatch the dragon egg and in her desperation has begun to panic. Little does she know failure is going to be the least of her worries.

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Interlude Three: Introspection (R)

“The last worm in the city…” Twilight Velvet muttered to herself, tapping her desk idly as she reclined in her chair.

“A noble house?” She asked no one in particular, only to shake her head. “Too obvious, and more than one rotten house in this city.”

“Literal worm then perhaps?” she muttered aloud, shifting her papers around, only to stop. “No wait, there was more than one city dump last I checked, and more than one sewage treatment facility.”

She frowned.

“A bait shop?" She continued. "Too obvious, and probably more than one. Though fishing isn't something many ponies would bother doing as only unicorns can digest the complex proteins found in meat.”

The mare sighed, adding it to a very small list of potential places she needed to check out. Pushing out of her chair, the mare stood up and began pacing, only glancing briefly at the various experiments that she was still running in her little attic study. Her gaze lingered over the letter at the edge of the desk, her thoughts returning to the promises Celestia had made within and about the spell, she swore would find her little girl.

“Celestia maybe?” she asked the empty room, to no response. “No, that's too obvious and it seems as though he has regular trouble with the law as is.”

Turning in place, the mare sighed before shaking her head.

“I’m getting nowhere slowly. I should put this all on hold and see about finding some lunch,” Velvet muttered.

The mare blushed and pressed a hoof against her forehead.

“And stop thinking out loud so much," she added.

With a shake of her head, she went from experiment to experiment, turning off the heat or shutting off the spell and ensuring nothing backfired while she was occupied. In seconds her small array of curiosities was off and her experiments were set aside, for now. She sunk back into her chair, her hooves gathering up the papers and books that littered her desk, piling them into orderly stacks. When suddenly her hoof brushed across her list of possibilities and an idea suddenly popped into her head.

“What about literal but not quite literal?” she muttered to herself. “There is only one tequila manufacturer left in Canterlot!”

The mare slapped a hoof to her forehead.

“Of course! We even stopped there briefly during the wine and spirits tour we went on during our honeymoon and it even had a tasting lounge," Velvet continued. "Though it wasn't exactly a stellar location I remember the booze being good and they even gloated about the fact that they still use the worm as that was traditional.”

Twilight shook her head and muttered about her own foolishness before adding the tequila plant to the bottom of the list and circling it a few times.

“Oh, this is perfect,” she muttered.

With a swift grab of her telekinesis, she retrieved the sheet of paper, as well as the most important book of her collection, and stuffed them into a pair of saddlebags that lay nearby. Throwing them over her back, the mare popped open the ladder leading to the second floor and hopped down. With a swift use of her magic the ladder and hatch to the attic were sealed, ensuring no one but her would be able to open it without getting a considerable jolt of magical backlash.

With quick excited steps, she ran down the stairs, careening to a stop at the bottom and about to turn towards the front door when a voice suddenly stopped her.

“Going out to pick up food again? I was about to start lunch," offered a voice.

Twilight sighed, turning towards her disapproving husband and frowning.

“I was just going out for a little while, don't worry, I’ll be back before sundown,” she replied quickly, hoping that was the end of it.

“Hold on a minute," Night Light exclaimed. "We've been putting off talking about the mare you assaulted for long enough and I will not wait another minute to hear your side of the story.”

The mare ground her teeth together.

“Now is not the time, I need to do this, Night Light. It's for our daughter," Twilight earnestly proclaimed.

The stallion blinked, raising an eyebrow.

“What is for our daughter? Is not talking to my wife who savagely beat a mare half to death for no reason for our daughter?” He asked, his eyes narrowing. “Because something tells me Twily wouldn't exactly advocate for such a thing.”

“She-” The mare started, only to catch herself, forcing a deep breath into her lungs and calming considerably. “It was a misunderstanding that got out of hoof too quickly. I was in the wrong, and that's it.”

“A misunderstanding?” Night asked, shaking his head. “Honey, you nearly beat a pony to death in our front yard. The medics had to keep her skull together with magic on the way to the hospital.”

Twilight winced.

“If Celestia wasn't there to heal her, she very well might have died on that gurney," Night Light pressed.

Twilight Velvet clenched her jaw, forcing herself to breathe, only to find it wasn't working this time.

“Just give me a second,” she muttered, raising a hoof.

Night sighed, watching as his wife huffed and puffed, barely able to keep her anger in control.

“You constantly seem as though you are about to explode at any moment. What has gotten into you lately?” Night Light asked.

“It's just stress," Twilight growled. “She was trying to egg me on, and I gave in like a fool.”

The stallion eyed her cautiously, noticing that her shoulders seemed to slump, and her jaw was no longer clenched.

“Did she say anything about fast tracking Shining Armor for officership?" Night Light pressed. "A recruiter caught me in the halls and mentioned that-”

“No,” Twilight growled, looking up at her husband with an intensity that instantly set him on edge. “We can't do that, we can't let her have him.”

“This isn't up to you, Velvet!" Night Light retorted. "I asked our son what he wanted and he has already accepted the offer! He wants to become stronger so he can protect other fillies like Twilight. Now you want to just take that from him?”

“Twilight isn't gone!” Velvet yelled back, trotting up to his face. “You keep talking about her as if she were already dead and buried. How could you do that to her before we even have a body?”

The stallion sighed, shaking his head.

“I know she isn't dead, but I also know that this is something the colt wants to do. He has a solid chance to achieve his dreams, do you really want to take that from him?” Night Light asked.

“I…” Twilight began, only to pause and sigh. “No, I just don't want him to go. She's taken one foal from us already.”

“Well, you are doing a good job of pushing him away all by yourself. I hardly think Celestia’s help is even needed in that regard,” Night Light remarked with a sigh.

“What do you mean?” she asked hesitantly.

Night Light raised an eyebrow.

“You didn't even bother going to his acceptance ceremony, remember? For the junior cadets, it was yesterday," Night Light pointed out.

Twilight Velvet shook her head slowly.

“No, that's next week," Twilight retorted.

“That was yesterday, Twilight,” Night Light stressed, gesturing towards the door. “Just go, Velvet, go do whatever it is you were going to do, and don't bother coming back until you are ready to abandon this nonsense. Because as it stands right now, you are tearing apart what's left of this family.”

Righteous indignation rose in her chest, yet it couldn't seem to reach her lips and with a resigned sigh, Twilight turned to the door, head held low.


Outside, the air was cool, and the evening breeze caressed her fur, reminding the mare that winter was approaching and it wouldn't be long before fall left them. The past few months had not changed the old street very much, and the mare felt almost a little angry at that realization. In her mind things should have changed, her world had changed, her outlook on everything had been forever altered and it only made sense that the world should change with it.

With a sigh on her lips, she lifted her hooves and trotted down the street, heading for the seedier part of Canterlot, and the last worm therein.


The less reputable parts of Canterlot were, well, not very seedy compared to most places. Sure, a few buildings might be run down with no hope of repairs but a pony could probably count all of those dilapidated structures on their hooves. More than likely the area itself simply held businesses that, though not illegal, were not as nice as others. Those in the business of making hard alcohol, weapons, or funeral parlors and crematoriums and the other less-than-pretty businesses found their home here.

All of these businesses were legitimate but were not the kind ponies liked to see during their morning commutes and most workers therein weren't exactly proud of what they did. This meant that those necessary but unsightly businesses were pushed up against the mountainside as if the city itself wished to hide the fact that they existed at all.

Over the centuries since the city had been founded many attempts at expansion had been made, either by building outwards and extending the plate that held Canterlot or by building upwards. Expansion in any other direction was impossible either because the plate and the sewer system crisscrossed beneath almost everywhere, making basements a rare commodity in Canterlot.

Even still, a few enterprising nobles had gathered the capital necessary to carve out the mountainside itself, with the intent of creating small secondary steppes where buildings could stand taller than the rest of Canterlot. This hadn't worked though, as the council caught wind of it and instituted some pointed bylaws making such tall towering structures illegal.

Thus when it came time to build their new district they were forced to dig into the side of the mountain, without creating the steppes, increasing costs and driving away investors.

This left us with today, where only a small section had been cleared and only the businesses that needed the lower overhead of the much-maligned new area now resided. Twilight Velvet wasn't sure why she had remembered the tour guide’s spiel at this particular moment, though if she had to guess, it was probably the nerves.

The mare gulped, looking around as she quickly trotted through the section of the city, wary of any pony who trotted too close. With one eye perpetually going back to her bag to ensure it had not been pilfered. She knew logically that Celestia wouldn't abide crime and that this area really wasn't so bad, but compared to her home in the noble quarter this may as well be the worst ghetto in Manehattan.

Walking past a group of youths lingering near a corner, the mare clutched her bag and trotted swiftly to the other side of the road, much to the amusement of the young ponies who laughed at the paranoid mare, pointing hooves in her direction while making lewd remarks. Now she remembered why they did not stay long during their little booze tour, despite how surprisingly good the tequila was.

Ducking down another side street, Twilight Velvet kept her pace brisk and her eyes up, and her head constantly swiveling this way and that as she made sure to keep mental tabs on anypony who seemed like a miscreant. This meant that the panicked mare was looking all over the place until she finally rounded the last bend and saw the distant sight of the building she had been searching for.

A crematorium sat on one side, its large smoke stack nearly invisible, as it had been painted the same color as the mountainside itself. On the other side sat a large warehouse that looked older than even the city itself, despite the impossibility of such a thing.

Down the road to her destination were several other businesses and houses interspersed seemingly at random, with a few houses looking like converted shops and vice versa. Clearly, the local zoning jurisdiction didn't seem to care so long as they got paid, which made sense to Twilight, given the area’s less-than-sparkling history. It was perhaps not a surprise that she also saw a lot more than just ponies lingering near the buildings that lined the route.

Griffons were easily the second largest minority, right after earth ponies. Minotaurs seemed surprisingly common, and the noble mare even caught sight of a few Saddle Arabians, though they seemed like tourists for the most part and kept to themselves.

Though it was just after noon, it felt later, with the mountain making the entire section of the city shrouded in deep shade. With the shadows lengthened, and the area already not having the greatest reputation, it made for an intimidating scene, to say the least.

The crowd thinned near the tequila factory itself, with only a handful of griffons standing outside, near a side exit reserved for employees. A half-destroyed picnic bench sat half on and half off the curb, where a few of the griffons sat, playing cards.

At the sight of the group of toms the highborn unicorn nearly stopped, tempted to just turn around and leave without finding the answers she sought. The image of her daughter’s face entered her mind before she could do so and startled her out of her reverie. The mare gave her head a shake and reminded herself that she should both be unafraid of other races, as well as brave enough to seek out the answers she longed for.

This was, after all, in the service of finding her daughter and righting a wrong.

With her head held high, the mare approached the door to her left, over which the word ‘Lounge’ was printed in dull green neon letters.

The mare gulped, casting one quick sidelong glance to the group of griffons, who barely gave her a passing glance, before walking inside.

The room she entered was small, nearly claustrophobicly so, with a thick cloud of smoke that seemed to cling to everything. There were several booths lining the sides, and the small bar at the far end of the room was dominated by a hulking minotaur sipping a tiny glass and leaning on the counter. Behind which was a large steely-eyed griffon who was in the midst of scrubbing a glass that already seemed perfectly clean.

Other than that there was only a pair of other patrons, who were crowded into the far end of a booth and huddled in close, intense conversation. The pair would be strange anywhere else, as one was a griffon and the other a ruddy green-coated unicorn, both hunched over a map of some kind. The pair glanced over at Twilight before shifting a little closer, and speaking even quieter.

The mare bit her lip and walked up to the two beings at the bar, trying to give herself a wide berth from the minotaur, only for the sheer size of the creature to make such an action impossible. She gulped, looking up at the bartender and smiling awkwardly.

“H-hello," Twilight greeted.

“What are ya lookin fer?” the griffon asked gruffly, not looking up from his cup.

The mare blinked, noticing the many scars that covered the old tom’s face, as if someone had bashed him over the head with a glass bottle on more than one occasion.

“The last worm in Canterlot?” she asked back, suddenly unsure of herself all over again.

The minotaur turned to her, revealing the fact that it was in fact a she, albeit a very masculine female at that. Her hair was cut short, and a heavy vest obscured her more obvious female features from any passerby.

“So, you are the chickie Raff was talkin' about,” the minotaur rumbled, in a voice that was only vaguely feminine.

“Y-yes?” Twilight muttered back, clutching her bags tight against her chest.

The griffon nodded, picking his glass back up and jerking a thumb over his shoulders.

“Go on through. He's been waiting for ya," he encouraged.

The mare lifted an eyebrow, noticing that there was a door in the corner, having been hidden by a booth when she had first walked in.

“Thanks,” Twilight Velvet muttered, getting off her seat and trotting over to the door.

She could almost feel the minotaur’s eyes on her backside, while the griffon didn't seem to care one way or the other, having turned back to his glass. With a shiver rising up her spine, the mare gripped the door handle and turned it, stepping into the room beyond.

A round table sat at the center of the even smaller room she had walked into, which seemed a little too big for the room, leaving only just enough space for a group of individuals to sit around. In the room two ponies, one familiar, and one new, sat, playing a card game Twilight Velvet had never seen before.

Several piles of cards littered the table, and each player held a mitt full of them while eyeing the other player intensely. The familiar ash-coated stallion chuckled, turning towards the newcomer, and grinned.

“Well, would you look at that, the prodigal mare finally makes an appearance,” the stallion announced, removing his hooves from the table before laying his cards down. “I must say you are looking absolutely ravishing this fine afternoon.”

He trotted up to Twilight and placed his lips on her leg, just above her hoof, drawing a blush to Twilight Velvet’s face.

“I’m sorry, I didn't know you were waiting for me,” Twilight muttered awkwardly, noticing the rather intense gaze that the other pony was giving her.

The unfamiliar pony was a mare, tall, with dark blue fur and a somehow even darker blue mane, she wore a simple purple vest and had a teal scarf wrapped around her neck. She seemed content to merely glare in silence, allowing Raff to step in and speak for her.

“Ahh, this is my associate Tight Fit, a rather up-and-coming designer here in Canterlot,” the stallion announced, gesturing to the previously unnamed mare, who nodded slightly. “We were actually just talking about you.”

“Indeed,” Tight Fit began in a surprisingly deep and captivating voice.

“Your… experience is a most curious one,” the mare remarked, placing her cards on the table and standing.

“I assume you desire privacy with your new friend?” she asked, glancing over to the stallion.

He nodded.

“If you would be so kind. I would also appreciate it if you let Iron Hammer know that we should not be interrupted," Raff remarked.

The mare nodded, stopping as she neared Twilight Velvet, casting a curious glance over the mare’s body before smirking and trotting away.

“What was that?” Twilight asked awkwardly.

The stallion sighed and rolled his eyes.

“She can be a little dismissive of ponies who don't wear any clothing, though for whatever reason she doesn't seem to have complaints about me and my top hat,” He remarked with a chuckle.

He then began gathering the cards up and setting them off to the side before sitting back in his spot and gesturing to the seat across from him.

“Please, sit. We have much to discuss," he offered.

“Um, thank you,” she muttered, sitting in the still-warm seat and pulling up her chair.

The stallion’s wide grin was a little unnerving, but Velvet didn't seem to sense any actual ill intent from him and allowed herself to relax, placing her bags on the table.

“Why exactly were you talking about me?” Twilight inquired.

The stallion smiled a wide, confident smile.

“It was like my companion mentioned, simple curiosity I'm afraid. It's not every day that a noble ends up in the tank, and even less often where that same noble actually gets charged with anything,” Raff exclaimed.

“It's not like I was innocent,” Velvet muttered.

“Oh, but many far more guilty nobles have been thrown into the tank, and fewer still actually see their day in court,” Raff exclaimed.

He poured the mare a glass of brownish-yellow liquid and pushed the cup towards her.

“For your nerves," he offered.

She glanced down at the liquid, easily deducing that it was most likely tequila.

“Err thanks," Twilight muttered.

She picked up the cup and took a cautionary sip, only to find it wasn't nearly as intense as she remembered it.

“Ahh, that's the good stuff. Watch out though, it kicks like a mule, so take it slow. Most ponies don't have a stomach for booze I’m afraid,” He relented, pouring himself a glass of the stuff as well before taking a deep sip and sitting back on his chair. “But getting back to the topic at hoof. I must admit that I was more intrigued by the fact that you seemed able to earn the trust of my dear friend Maul.”

“Why do you say that? He is a bookseller after all,” the mare asked, taking another sip of the smooth alcohol, and noting the faint burn that lingered at the back of her throat.

“Oh he is, he is. But," Raff exclaimed, raising a hoof. “He only ever sells such a book when he knows the buyer will end up eventually talking to me.”

He shrugged. “But, he is a mystic, so I suppose it does make sense. It's not like this was the first time he's surprised me," Raff declared.

“A mystic?” Twilight Velvet asked curiously, scooching her chair a little closer. “He didn't look like it. I thought minotaur mystics used fetishes and totems to channel their magic.”

“They do, Mister Maul merely keeps such information on a need-to-know basis,” Raff replied, tapping his nose. “Not everyone is as understanding as you or I.”

“That's fair, I suppose. My fellow nobles aren't exactly known for their acceptance of other cultures,” Twilight remarked.

“Quite right, I’m afraid.” Raff chuckled. “Though I have a feeling you will see him again soon, and maybe then you can inquire more about his passion.”

“How would you know that?” Twilight Velvet chuckled. “Are you a mystic as well?”

“Maybe, or maybe I just trust such an event will come to pass,” Raff began, a smirk on his face as he leaned across the table. “Kind of like how you trust me.”

The mare rolled her eyes.

“I do not trust you, we've hardly even met," Twilight retorted.

“Oh? Then why would you come to the seediest part of Canterlot, enter a bar that you knew didn't cater to your kind, and proceed to not back down even after my little entourage tried their best to intimidate you?” Raff teased.

His smirk widened and he leaned back in his chair, kicking up his hooves.

“Face it, missy, you trust me to give you something you don't have, and that you know you can't get anywhere else. That's trust," Raff pointed.

He chuckled at the baffled expression on Twilight Velvet’s face and pulled his hooves from the table before leaning across it, a wide smile on his face.

“But trust is a two-way street, so tell me, little noble. What would you do to bring back your little girl?” Raff inquired.

“Anything,” she said, without hesitation.

He lifted an eyebrow.

“Now that's some bullshit if ever I heard it,” Raff exclaimed, rubbing a hoof against his ear. “I should remind Iron Hammer to not defecate indoors.”

“I would do anything to get my girl back, how dare you!” She shouted, pounding a hoof on the table. “You know nothing about me!”

The stallion merely sighed.

“There is always something a pony isn't willing to do. For example, would you hurt an innocent being for the information you seek? And not a tiny little paper cut, when I say hurt, I mean hurt.” Raff emphasized.

Twilight gulped, imagining the mare she had beaten looking up at her with fear in her eyes.

“No.” She sighed reluctantly.

“Then don't say anything if you wouldn't do anything,” Raff remarked simply.

Then just like that his serious expression was wiped away, replaced by his trademark smile.

“I do appreciate the trust, but you are going to have to come back when you really mean what you said. ‘Cause missy, answers like the kind you seek don't come for free," Raff warned, waggling a hoof at the other pony.

“I know there would be a cost, but surely I wouldn't have to do something quite as reprehensible as that, would I?” she asked awkwardly, nursing the last of her drink.

Raff shrugged.

“Maybe, maybe not. All I know is that it would take that level of determination to find what you seek, but right now you got hope," Raff pointed out. "Despite your disagreements, you think Celestia’s little spell will find your filly and that makes you unwilling to do what might be needed.”

“How did you know about that?” Twilight asked pointedly. “The project was supposed to be a secret.”

Raff tapped his nose again and smirked.

“I’m in the business of knowing things," he replied. "Like for example I know that her spell is supposed to be completed soon. I also know that it's supposed to be able to find your little filly no matter what plane of existence she's on. I also know that despite your distaste, you will go to see the spell completed and you will trust that ol’ Celestia will make things all better.”

The mare’s grip tightened on her drink. “What else do you know about her spell?”

“I know it won't work, for one.”

“How could you know that?”

“Like I said, it's my business, and I’m very, very good at what I do,” Raff retorted, smirking at the mare across from him. “For example, I also know that she will suffer some form of strange interference and her spell will not find what you seek.”

“Are you saying you know more than Celestia’s top mages?” Twilight shot back, scoffing at the stallion. “I find that hard to believe. Celestia isn't exactly in the business of letting talent slip between her hooves.”

The stallion’s expression grew dark for a moment before he shook his head.

“No, she most certainly does not like letting talent escape her grasp, that much is certain. We have something else though,” Raff teased, pausing to pour himself and Velvet another drink and raising his up. “We have determination, ingenuity, and above all that, will. So when your princess fails you for the last time, come back to us, when you are ready to mean those words.”

The stallion smirked at Twilgiht's continued hesitancy. Though uncertain, she still grabbed the drink once more, pulling it close to herself.

“To will,” he announced before throwing back the drink in a single gulp.

Twilight Velvet sipped her own drink cautiously, the stallion’s words making her realize just how much she truly did trust Celestia despite their history.

It wasn't like Celestia had earned herself a lot of trust, but neither had this strange stallion and something about him told the mare that he wasn't exactly a good person. But if Celestia’s best failed, then who could she possibly turn to? Clearly, this was bigger than one pony’s attic laboratory could manage and no amount of quiet study and testing was going to be able to replicate what the sharpest minds could, no matter how long she went at it.

Lifting her drink, the mare threw back the last of the liquid before standing.

“So, if I do come back, who do I ask for?” Twilight inquired.

“Riff Raff is what most individuals know me as, and I find the name suitable for the time being," the top hat-wearing stallion exclaimed. "When you return and join our little club, I will tell you my true name. Until then, I wish you the best.”

It was clear the conversation was over, and she wasn't exactly going to get anything else out of the strange stallion, no matter what she did. Twilight frowned, turning to the door and slipping out the exit.

As she left Twilight didn't look at the leering minotaur, the distracted griffon, or anyone else. Not even the bands of ponies and other beings lingering outside or in the streets drew her attention, her mind consumed by a singular question.

Could she really come back to this place?

They were obviously criminals, ones that had the resources and strength to come close to matching the princess’ own mages. Clearly, they were powerful, and they had to do something to bankroll so many ponies and other creatures. Necromancy, demon summoning, or perhaps something more mundane like trafficking? All were possibilities.

Though she knew the logical thing was to report what she had seen to someone of authority, another, smaller part of her reminded the mare that they also might be the only ones who could truly help her. No matter what they were, or what they did, they clearly had the power to assist her and were obviously interested in recruiting her.

By the time her old street was in sight, she had made up her mind. If Celestia found her little girl, and Riff Raff was wrong, she would report him to the princess, and see justice be done.

If he was right though…

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This update was made possible by the wonderful support of:
Kali, Craig, Ozzy, Robert, Quill, JPMK, Tommy, Ivar, Mikhaila, Pacsik, Matt, Brendan, Peter, Nicky, Princess Pudding, Nofreedom, T Sparkle, Apollyon, Luckyfanisaac, Azin, Zairvin, Random_Reader, Iamunkown, Facinus, M, Nfreak, Doomgooey, Michael, Ceepert, Diokyo, Starless.

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