Chapter 24
Both ponies sat in the Baltimare safehouse, with Night still visibly the size of a rodent. He had not said anything else since they both sank to the bottom of the bay, and Twilight hadn’t pressed for it yet.
She’d already learned that Night didn’t respond well to pushing, so she let it sit for a while. Besides, what she had to do next was going to be so awkward that he might just tell her to keep his mind off it.
“Okay,” she said, “go ahead and sit down, and I’ll try and get your Image back to its rightful place.”
“And how are you going to do that?” Night asked.
“I’m not going to lie. I’m going to have to touch you. All over the place,” the alicorn, in her true form, said.
“B-b-w-what?” Night asked.
“Well, I mean, I can approximate the size of everything, but then there’s the chance I make your head slightly too big, and then you look weird for the rest of your life. You also don’t want to be slightly to your left forever, so I need to make sure that everything lines up perfectly, which means I need to match your Image to your actual body, which means I have to physically match it up through the only means I can, which is touch.”
Night blinked.
“That’s why you shouldn’t cast Transform Image and Body spells on other ponies. Most ponies already have an intimate knowledge of themselves, so they don’t run into the issue, and I need you to stop looking at me like that because I’m trying to be as clinical as possible here, and you’re not making it any easier.”
Night looked away. “I...I see.”
Twilight nodded. “So... I’m going to start with your back, and we’ll go from there,” she said.
Night said nothing as Twilight touched his shoulders and began to fill his Image to what she felt. She worked first on the left, filling it out carefully as she worked, before moving to his right, being as gentle and careful as she could.
She let him stew in the awkwardness for a second before she spoke up. “Are you ready to tell me about this Gleaming mare?”
From how he quietly squirmed beneath her, she knew he was.
“Okay,” he said quietly. “So you know how I said I didn’t have parents?” he asked.
“Yes?”
“Well, neither did she.”
Twilight didn’t say anything as he spoke, and he took a second to compose himself before continuing. “We met, I think when I was four. She was still a baby at the time when she got into our house, and well, the ponies running the house certainly weren’t going to take care of her.
“So I did. She grew up fast, though, and before long, I was big brother Night. That’s when I started this whole thing, you know? That’s why I’m not normal these days. I was too busy stealing for the both of us. I was getting her food, toys, anything she needed or wanted. Before she was five, she wanted to start going with me, you know?”
Twilight began working on his lower back and flanks.
“We started stealing whatever, whenever, and I always made sure she never got caught, just so that she could just have a chance, you know? But...well...she wanted to be just like I was. And I was a thief.
“We were stealing everything from everypony, and they couldn’t stop us or catch us. She really loved it through. It wasn’t about survival for her. She just loved to steal, and…”
He stopped for a bit and stayed silent, but Twilight was starting to move to his legs, and the awkwardness redoubled.
“She got caught one day,” Night said. “And the guards weren’t the ones to catch her.”
Twilight switched to his head so that she can finally look him in the eyes.
“He was a poorer pony, but he had a temper,” he said.
Night could still hear it. He could hear her scream long into the night as he sat next to the wall in the rain. The thundering sounds of blows bearing down on flesh, her cries as her bones were broken just inside the building he sat behind.
“I...I thought she died that night.”
Twilight filled in his face a little more.
“I thought about changing then. To become a normal pony for a while, but it never really worked out for me. I wasn’t made for a normal world, and...well, I went back to trying to survive. But I couldn’t...I thought she was dead.”
Twilight held him by the cheek before she drew him in for a hug. “I’m sorry, Night.”
They sat there for a long time, and Night finally, finally sobbed.
---$---
When Twilight’s alarm screamed at her to wake up, she was still wrapped around Night. He had cried for a long time, and Twilight hadn’t let him go for the whole time.
She managed to get Night’s Image mostly back into place, though if she were to go any further, then both of them would have to get very cool with a lot of things very quickly. Instead, she made her best estimate and left it that.
Now, though, she had to admit, it was nice to just lay here, holding onto someone. She smiled softly as Night stirred and silenced her alarm before pulling her bag closer to her.
“Hm, Twilight?” Night asked.
“I’m here,” she said, fishing her amulet out to raise the sun without moving.
Night held her tighter for a second. “I’m sorry…” he said. “I should’ve let you go. I don’t deserve to—”
Twilight hushed him. “It’s okay. You deserve to have a chance to cry and be comforted. It’s okay.”
Night didn’t answer her.
Twilight glanced at the far window and saw the sky brighten as the sun breached the horizon before turning back to Night with a smile. “Besides...I think it’s kind of nice to sleep like this,” she said. “With somepony next to me.”
Night smiled back. “Yeah, it kind of is.”
They lay quietly for a moment before Night spoke up again. “I’m afraid of what Gleaming’s become,” he said. “She stole because she wanted to. I stole because I needed to. That has to be why she’s doing this. She wants to, and I don’t know why.”
“Are you afraid of what she’s going to do?” Twilight asked.
“I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop her,” he replied. “I raised that mare. I preened her wings when she was young, taught her how to dress, and even taught her how to sneak and steal. I’m the only real family she ever had, and she was mine.”
Twilight nodded.
“I just…”
“We’ll do what we have to,” Twilight said, smiling as she looked up at him. “But, just so you know, I have a pretty good track record for redeeming ponies.”
“Do you now?” he asked.
“I mean, I stopped my friend Starlight from accidentally tearing a hole through space-time,” she said.
Night looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m serious!” she said, smiling a bit. “She wanted to take revenge specifically on me by throwing me into a future where I never met my friends and each time I found the world had been nearly destroyed by some terrible thing that we wouldn’t have been able to stop alone. It was a weird day.”
Night, eyebrow still raised, asked. “And which part of that was the weird part?”
Twilight smiled before she rolled a bit on the inflatable mattress. “It’s a long story,” she said. “But I think we’ve got some time this morning.”
Night nodded. “Yeah. I think I’d like to hear it.”
Twilight smiled. “Well, if I do that, then I need to tell the story from the very beginning.” She shifted beneath the covers once more and began to tell the story of how she first went to Ponyville.
---$---
Twilight stood on the train station platform, fully disguised once more. Night stood next to her, watching the train as it pulled into the station with the hiss of steam brakes. The 9 pm train to Canterlot had arrived a little late, and it was evident that the ponies getting off and getting on needed to move quickly if they had any hope of getting back on track.
“We’re going to stop her, Night,” Twilight said, “and I’m going to do everything I can to make sure we can get her help.”
Night shook his head. “I don’t know if we can do anything for her,” he said. “I haven’t seen her in years, and I don’t know what kind of pony she is anymore.”
“We’re still going to try,” Twilight said.
Night nodded. “Yes, yes, we’re going to try.”
Twilight pressed her head into his neck. “I promise you we’re going to do everything we can.”
Night smiled softly. “Oh, I don’t doubt it, Twilight. I don’t doubt you will do everything you can, and it’s going to take a lot to stop you. I just don’t know what Gleaming is going to bring.”
Twilight looked over at him. “We’re going to make it work,” she said. “For now, all I want you to do is worry about finding her. Once we do that, we can worry about everything else.”
Night nodded with a smile. “I’ll have to go talk to Newsie.”
“Let me know when you do,” she said.
“All aboard!” the conductor yelled.
“I need to go,” Twilight said. “Spike and the others are going to be worried if I don’t get back before long. I spent too much of the day here.”
“It was nice, though,” he said.
“Yes, yes it was,” Twilight replied.
Twilight didn’t have any more time. She walked onto the train and gave Night one last wave goodbye as it closed behind her.
Night watched her go, and as he did, he wished he didn’t have to.
---$---
“I cannot believe you,” Raven said.
Spike, in the middle of his emerald and amethyst sandwich, glanced back up at her. “Can’t you see I’m eating?”
“You let him come in here and take the Princess away again?” she asked.
“She went on her own,” Spike said. “Honestly, by now, I’d think you’d be used to her leaving.”
“She obviously doesn’t want to spend her time in the company of a filthy criminal like him,” Raven said, carrying several documents and folders in her telekinetic grip.
Spike raised an eyebrow. “Well, she obviously prefers his to yours.”
Raven frowned. “Do you always have a witty, if inane retort?”
“No, sometimes I have sensible ones,” Spike replied.
Raven glared at him.
Spike bit into his sandwich and swallowed another bite before he continued. “Ms. Inkwell, nothing is going to tell Twilight if she can or cannot go with who she wants. Trying is just going to wear you out, so don’t bother. I am not going to make her go, you’re not going to make her stay. If she wants to go, she’ll go. If she wants to stay, she’ll stay. She may, possibly, even possibly, not want to, but has decided to go anyway, and if that’s the case, she will go. She may want to go but decided that she shouldn't, and she won’t. But it doesn’t matter what I say. That’s her decision.”
“No, you’re just going to poison her decisions until she thinks your way is the best way.”
“I do fire, not poison, Ms. Inkwell,” Spike said. “I’m not a dragon of subtlety. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that dragons don’t do subtle. It’s no surprise that you’re giving me more credit than I deserve, but let’s be fair here. If you want a pony that can worm her way into the Princess’ good graces without showing her hoof. I’d look for a politician. Maybe one that has been working to help run the country for years.”
Both of the advisors glared at each other for a long second.
“But what do I know?” Spike said. “I’m just a dragon.”
Raven turned away from him and choosing to not even dignify the accusation with a response.
Spike watched her go before taking another bite into his sandwich and deciding that his appetite was ruined. He sighed before walked back to the kitchens to let someone know to keep the leftovers ready for him before he decided that he needed to speak with somepony that he was sure wasn’t out to hurt his friend with incompetence.
He knocked softly on Captain Azure’s door, and the Captain called him in.
“Master Spike,” Azure greeted. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I need to vent, and you’re the only pony out of the three of us that I can trust to be reasonable.”
Azure sighed. “Master Spike, I am not the royal therapist.”
“No, for some reason, that’s still Celestia, which is weird on a whole other level.”
Azure slowly nodded at that. “I suppose it is, considering that she has retired. However, my job is not to listen to your complaints about a coworker. That would be Pony Resources.”
“Which for some reason is Luna,” Spike said. “Which is double weird because I can’t imagine her fixing any kind of interpersonal problem. Why were the Princesses acting like therapists?”
“I’m not sure,” Azure replied. “Still, I also do not have the time to listen to your complaints, however valid they may be. I have work I need to do.”
“I just hate that she assumes that I want to take advantage of my friend,” Spike said. “As though I hadn’t spent nearly my entire life with her.”
“Master Spike,” Azure said.
“If I wanted anything from her, I could have pushed her around since she was Celestia’s student. Twilight could have probably gotten me whatever I wanted just by asking Celestia then. But no, now she has to worry about what I can do.”
“Master Spike,” Azure repeated.
“Then she has the audacity of acting as though I wasn’t Twilight’s oldest friend, and possibly of her most trusted confidants. She literally cannot hold a candle to the relationship I have with her, and then acts like she’s the big mare on campus.”
“Master Spike,” Azure said, this time more firmly, getting the small dragon’s attention.
“What?” Spike asked.
“I need to do my work. I’m sure that you have the Princess’s full confidence. I’m sure that Miss Inkwell has her ear as well, however, and the sooner you accept this, the sooner I think you’re going to be able to sleep more soundly. I appreciate that you do not see eye-to-eye, and I appreciate that you do not enjoy Miss Inkwell’s company any more than you appreciate Dragonsneeze blooms, but I do not have the time to mediate between you. I have to deal with these crime reports, and I am missing vital information that the Princess has not deemed fit to share with me.”
Spike blinked. “Sorry, Azure.”
Azure nodded. “Apology accepted. Now, I must return—”
“What are you working on?” Spike asked. “I might be able to bring Twilight’s attention to it and get you what you need?”
Azure shook his head. “I appreciate it, but if the Princess has deemed it not worthy of being shared, then I must do without.”
Spike blinked. “You know she probably just forgot, right? She forgets a lot of things.”
Azure shrugged. “It is not my duty to question my Princess.”
“Sure, but you’ve got to ask some questions, man. If you are missing something, you can let her know. How else are you going to know that she actually wants you to not know something?”
“She would tell me,” Azure said.
Spike pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sure. I’ll just send her a reminder, just to be sure. Since I’m here, and Raven’s made it very clear where she stands, but I might as well know where you stand with Twilight going out with Night.”
Azure raised an eyebrow. “My opinions on the Princess are my own,” he said.
Spike sighed and rolled his eyes. “As a friend, Azure! As a friend! What do you think of this as a friend?”
The Captain was silent for a second. “I am...torn on the matter. On the one hoof, she can see and verify that Night is a valuable asset that I think we would do poorly without. Night proves to be incredibly useful, and if the Princess decided to be rid of him in his full authority, the guard and our efforts would suffer. However, because she’s doing this, it also makes it incredibly difficult for me.”
“Why?” Spike asked.
Azure stared Spike in the eye and said in the firmest voice he could manage, “Because I can’t protect her when she’s doing this.”
Spike blinked. “I...no offense, but I don’t think that Twilight needs your protection. I mean, she’s a really powerful mage and—”
“I do not necessarily mean physically,” Azure said. “While that is a concern, and her absence makes this difficult, my main priority is the defense of her image and reputation.”
Spike blinked.
“My job is damage control, and if the Princess is found out there, aiding a thief, or worse, catching her stealing something herself means that I will be unable to use the tools I have to protect the Princess’ reputation.”
Spike blinked again. “I see.”
Azure nodded. “I am torn, as I said.”
“I...uh...honestly wasn’t expecting that kind of an answer, and it’s kind of taken the wind out of my sails. So I guess I’ll leave you to it.”
Azure nodded. “Thank you, Master Spike. I appreciate the talk. I hope I have some time in the future to give you the proper attention you deserve.”
Spike nodded. “Uh, sure, thanks. I appreciate it, Azure.”
Azure returned to his work, and Spike left, wondering if maybe abandoning his sandwich was the best idea after all.
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Shit gonna go down eventually between Raven and Spike.
Amazing chapter and looking forward to more
- visibly? apparently? appearing?
- typo for "first".
Now that the identity of the mastermind has been revealed to Night and Twilight, this is the end of Act 2? Act 3 is really going to be something. I'm so looking forward to it!
I'm not sure what you intended here, but this probably isn't it.
Pretty good...but not perfect.
That makes two of us, because as we've gotten to know very little about Gleaming on a whole, it's been difficult to pin down just what, exactly, her motives are.
Though I suspect some form of revenge is on the agenda. Like I've noted before--she seems like a pony with an axe to grind.
Actually, I've been wondering if Azure has the opposite problem to that...but jury's still out on that.
I have been wondering what ol' Azure's been up to as of late, though. It's been a few chapters since he last popped up.
Wait, what? Okay, even if I wasn't already a little suspicious of Azure (sorry, but I am), this statement would still get you wondering about this guy's priorities. I know it's probably not the intent, but the fact he keeps falling back on what the princess has or has not instructed him to do so religiously does make one wonder just how far he'd take such a practice, and this particular one does make you wonder if he's really willing to do anything without the princess specifically instructing him. I mean, sure, she's his boss and still needs to follow her rules, but his office is also one where Twilight shouldn't have to be supervising and approving his every little action.
Besides, he's already indicated he doesn't actually do that anyway and has carried out actions related to his office without explicitly notifying Twilight first before (I mean, how this whole story got started in the first place is an excellent example of that), so we already ought to know this statement of his isn't explicitly true.
Honestly, I'm thinking he just says these things as an excuse to get out discussing matters he doesn't actually want to get into. Which raises a whole slew of different questions, but time to discuss that in a future comment, I think.
An admirable goal, honestly.
Though history's shown that if a notable figure like this really wants to go and damage their image and reputation, they're going to find a way to end up doing so, no matter how hard others might try to stop them.
But at least Azure hasn't been trying to force the matter like Raven's so clearly been trying to do, so I'll give him that.
On the matter of Raven, her intentions are well meaning, deep down, but she's starting to get entirely too involved meddling with it that she's starting to butt her head into matters that really aren't her business, princess or not. Worse, she's clearly got an axe of her own to grind, and I fear she's starting to let it cloud her judgement. If she's not careful, she just might find herself out of a job before this is all over.
So for her sake, I hope she realizes where to better draw the line (at the very least) sooner rather than later.
10522491
>Azure, waiting for instructions so that he can do what he needs to with perfect precision and efficiency
"I don't trust him, not one bit."
>Raven, taking the initiative and jumping to conclusions
"She needs to wait for instruction."
There's just no pleasing you, is there?
10523632
You have to understand here--Azure's behavior has been...off...from the start, as he'll say things like this almost as if he's using it as an excuse to avoid a subject, or from getting drawn into a matter where he would no longer remain a neutral party, and he's done it so consistently now...it makes you wonder if there's more going on with him behind the scenes. And to be fair, I've noticed I'm not the only one who's speculated about whether or not Azure's up to something.
If this is all not the interpretations I should be getting out of him, then I apologize. But regardless, Azure's overall attitude to the whole affair is often counter-intuitive to what you'd expect of someone in his position. Honestly, if anything, Azure ought to be the one who's actively trying to fight Twilight on her approach to the whole matter more than Raven, since he's openly stated just this chapter (but not for the first time) that its his job to protect the princess, both physically and in terms of public image, which he can't do if she's off moonlighting as the pony version of Carmen Sandiego without telling anybody nearly every night, with often no real clues of where she's even at or doing.
And yet, he's largely just standing to one side and letting it happen, with no real reasons why provided beyond a flimsy "it's not my place to," even though it probably ought to be, as the captain of the guard and all. So...c'mon. You gotta admit that seems a least a little amiss.
As for Raven...that's a totally different matter. It's not so much I'm saying she needs to act only when instructed--in fact, I rather like how she's so much more open about her opinions and so willing to level criticisms than most everybody else in the story. She serves a very much needed "let's be real here" role in this story that serves as a contrast to everybody else's views of the matter, and the story wouldn't be nearly as good without it. And it does make a lot of sense that it'd be Raven who fills it.
However, it's also no secret that she was pretty much against the whole idea of Night from the beginning, and is pretty bias to that side. For a good stretch of the story, that was okay...but as of late she's been getting more than a little...unreasonable about it, getting to the point that she's risking crossing the line between voicing valid criticisms and becoming full-on belligerent about it, refusing both compromise or to consider that it might not be as black and white as she wants it to be. I worry if that trend continues, it could lead her to do something foolish and get herself in deep, deep, trouble as a result.
Which would be a darn shame, because I don't have much reason to assume that Raven isn't still a good pony with mostly good intentions, and I will repeat an earlier comment I made some chapters back that it's a shame she and Spike are so unwilling to work together, because I remain convinced they'd make a great team otherwise. So basically, my comments on the matter are more me trying to shout "Don't do it, Raven! You're better than that!"
Speaking of, on my comments as a whole, I worry you're interpreting my rampant character analysis as criticisms directed to you, the author, when that's usually not the case at all. I really have been enjoying the story and remain curious to see where it goes next. Really, this is just me having fun analyzing the characters and trying to work out what makes them tick (perhaps to a fault), looking to see if I'm even going in the right direction with any of them or not as we go along.
Besides, haven't you ever wanted to shout advice at the characters of the movie you're watching, even though you know they can't hear you? Three-fourths of my comments here are probably more that than anything.
In short, I've been enjoying the story, and I'm curious to see just where this is all going to lead, so please, by all means, keep it going.
10523729
Oh, no, I get it completely, I'm just poking back a bit. I'm glad you're having fun, and I'm not taking any personally.
10523746
Azure does not want to be "collateral damage" when Raven v Spike happens hahahaxD
Poor night...
I was not expecting THAT was going to be is relationship with Glimming...
LMAOOOO that got me good, actually laughed so damn hard