The Ghost of Coltistrano: Restless Peace

by EthanClark

Chapter 17: “Because I hate what you stand for!”

The shadow threatened to engulf her, coiling outward from his back like the canvas of night. Her eyes locked onto him. Everyone else in the room stood in place as the tension traveled to them, their voices so restrained by the very notion Rarity presented and the Ghost’s firm, lingering stance over the accused, that not even the threat of breaking the silence could enter their minds. Even the wind outside was quiet. Abby managed to correct her posture as much as the Ghost’s looming gaze would allow, coming closer to his eye level. She placed a hoof upon his shoulder and, to her surprise, she was not pushed back again.

“Silver?” She whispered to him, his once statuesque expression starting to diminish.

Sea green eyes went from warm to white hot as the other unicorn stepped up from behind him. Rarity became trapped in Abby’s gaze, a predatory glare that followed her every step, but pushed herself to join the Ghost’s side, now stepping into a furnace of malice with all its heat being directed squarely at her.

“Abby, there’s a chance t-”

“Don’t you dare speak to me!” Abby’s fanged response quelled Rarity’s voice. “I come here in good faith that I may be of some help, to both him and everyone here, but instead I’m met with wild accusations and baseless conclusions! And now you seek to, what? Turn him against me?”

“It was brash, yes, but I’m sure Rarity had her reasons. We’re all on the same side, here.” Cadence’s attempts at peace were shot down by a haughty scoff from Abby.

“Oh, of course! The reward for information and assistance in the hunt for a murderer, not to mention from a near victim, is certainly slander, yes?”

“I, for one, would like an explanation,” Shining Armor declared, stepping forward. “Abby’s our friend, Rarity, I think you owe us that much.”

“Oh, please! If you wish to entertain this deceit, you will do so without me.”

“Hey, cool it,” Gilda spoke up, extending a claw to Abby. “Why are you gettin’ so worked up if you’ve got nothing to hide?”

“Because it is unfair! I patiently mind my own business for over a year and, suddenly, when I have the ability to help Silver perform his duties I’m admonished for it. More so, I’m vilified for it! And I will not hear another putrid word against my honor.”

“Abby…”

The chilling sound of the Ghost’s voice was enough to freeze Abby’s blood. Upon his face she found no traces of the anger from before, only a somber expression that seemed to tug at her, almost begging her to stay. He made no movements. A blade of fear ran through his flesh, digging at each and every vulnerable part of him as it slowly cut away his composure. It took every muscle in his body to suppress the quiver in his chest as the Ghost turned and urged Rarity, with a weary hoof, to continue.

“In fairness, Abby, you weren’t my first choice,” she bagan. “Honestly, you were my last. At first, I suspected Midnight Gavel when I heard of the destruction of the prison. Nopony else had as strong a connection to Shield Wall than he. Perhaps revenge, or some other twisted emotion, could’ve driven Gavel to orchestrate such an elaborate scheme: to stage a break-out and assassinate Shield Wall once he escaped, but… well, the outcome is obvious.

“With Gavel dead I had no other prospects. There were only so many ponies who knew where Shield Wall was being held, those within the Nine Night circle, which includes you. It was so early in the case, though, that when we came to first visit I couldn’t have suspected you of anything. You had just returned to Canterlot, an alibi from Princess Luna, herself, and we even witnessed an attempt on your life. That was enough to stump me for weeks.”

“How does this even accuse Abby of-” Shining recoiled at the slap on his shoulder from Gilda, shushing him.

“Well, alone, it doesn’t. We would spend our time following the Ragged Mare from Canterlot to Ponyville and, wouldn’t you know it, another crime scene. Far from Canterlot, and far from you. It wasn’t until we sought help from Twilight that we had any new information.” From her saddlebag, Rarity produced a small vial of green fluid. “This is residue from Alate’s acidic potions. It’s not like other weapons of its kind, and according to Twilight is extraordinarily difficult to produce. It only hurts ponies. Twilight confessed that only a supremely skilled mage could create something like this… unless they had money.

“Then, our worst fears were realized, and we learned Shield Wall had survived the demolition of the prison. In the chaos afterwards, I’ll admit I almost forgot about the case, entirely. Until we returned to Canterlot, where you were waiting for us.”

“Word travels quickly, Rarity, a lady of your stature should know that,” Abby huffed. “I wanted to ensure everything was alright, and when I saw Silver in his sorry state of course I was prompted to action. Watching him limp across the deck like that… it’s as if you don’t even care for him.”

“I care more than-…!” Rarity caught herself, smothering the growing fire in her belly with a long, ragged breath. “What matters is what you said. When we were completely lost, you were the one to give us the clue that led us here.”

“Because I had to!”

“Yes, but how did you know? How did you know, less than a day later, of a crime that, at that point, was completely unrelated to the attempt on your life? How did you know we would be arriving at the Canterlot port that next morning? How do you know so much about events you never witnessed?”

For once, Abby was silent, and the eyes of the room fell on her. Even the Ghost’s face began to lose it’s sorrowful visage and twisted into a squint.

“This is what bothered me. Shield Wall’s location was a closely guarded secret, yet somehow an entire contingent of his corrupt forces managed to liberate him from his prison. Gavel was executed on the spot, dozens of Night Guard have been slaughtered, and Shield Wall is more desperate than ever thanks to the ravenous efforts of the Ragged Mare, hunting him every step of the way. Alate has every reason to do it, true, but not the ability to do it alone. Equestria is a big place. She needed help.”

“And you think, in this phantasmal fantasy of yours, that I am the one aiding her? That, in my attempts to deceive you, I’ve overplayed my advantage?” Abby let loose a sharp giggle that bounced across the throne room. “You must think so little of me, Rarity. If I was orchestrating assassinations why would I give you any reason to suspect I was involved?”

“Because you never expected him to escape.” The subtle smirk on Abby’s face vanished. “You hired Alate to assassinate Shield Wall, armed with specially brewed potions, by leaking knowledge of his location to the Night Guard, all to set the prison break up as a trap where Shield Wall would be killed, but it failed. Now, you’re trying to clean up the mess by siccing us on Alate and Shield Wall before it’s too late. That’s why you’ve been so eager to help us. Not to bring in the Ragged Mare, but ensure you aren’t made out as her accomplice.”

Rarity’s words lingered in the air for a moment, filling the ears of everyone present, helping to digest the masterstroke of Rarity’s deductions. Abby’s eyes scanned the room. Everyone was either fidgeting in place of giving her a subtle glare, all except the Ghost. He stood there silently.

“You must be rather proud of yourself,” she stated. “But it’s utterly ridiculous. To think I have the time or the inclination to pursue such a grand caper. And for what? If you’re accusing me of unleashing an unhinged murderer on Equestria, then you’d better have a damn good reason as to why.”

“Vengeance. Vengeance against Shield Wall for all he’s done to you. Losing your lover, foalnapping you, manipulating you into helping him.”

“‘Vengeance’?” Abby mocked. “Shield Wall was put in a hole, the conspiracy done in, and Silver returned to me even beyond his supposed death. I still hold my title, my influence, everything! What do I have to be vengeful for?”

Rarity gasped and searched for her retort, but nothing appeared. Each passing second of silence was another inch Abby’s smile grew across her face, and in time she began to shrink where she stood, taking a step back from the smug unicorn as she brushed her ruby curls from her face.

“W-Well, of course there’s a motive, but…”

“But you can’t find one, yes? Because it isn’t there? Perhaps General Stratos or Fancy Pants would want revenge against him, but neither of them know just how much of what I lost was returned to me, and neither do you. You didn’t lose anything.”

“Yeah-huh, that doesn’t explain how you knew about the train,” Gilda said, coarsely.

“I travel the country doing charity work, Gilda, I’m what you would call ‘connected’. Connections that paid off when you were looking for the compound in Baltimare, if I recall.”

“That doesn’t mean you’re off the hook.”

“I think it does,” Cadence interjected, putting herself between Abby and the glaring gryphon. “I’ll admit, the coincidence is strange but that doesn’t mean she’s guilty. If rich, wrathful, and hurt by Shield Wall are the only criteria Rarity’s looking for then she just described everypony who testified against him in court.”

“Why don’t we ask the turncoat over there? Sounds like he’s been more exposed to the Ragged Mare than anyone here.” Shining shot a fearsome hoof at Kindle, who lurched away with two raised hooves of his own.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, don’t drag me into this! I don’t even know who she, you, or this ‘Silver’ pony are. I’m just the delivery colt.”

“There! Not even the enemy has a clue as to what’s going on, Rarity, so why should we listen to anything you have to present?” Abby closed in on the Ghost, pressing a hoof to his chest, gently. “I don't need vengeance. I already have everything I want.”

Bickering continued to float among the group, but it was all silent to the Ghost as he stood there, taking in the scene before him. He looked to Abby. She wasn’t paying attention to him, save for her ginger hoof caressing his padded chest, but her eyes shot daggers at Rarity, beside him, who had slowly slunk back, almost trying to hide behind the Ghost’s cloak to shield herself from Abby’s gaze. Rarity occasionally looked to him but always snapped away, and he could see red at the tips of her ears and a quiver in her lip.

A nagging in his mind pulled his attention to the side where Shining and Cadence stood. To him, it was painfully clear how frustrated they were with the entire scene. Shining swapped between demanding answers from Kindle and dismissing pointed statements from Gilda, while Cadence slowly approached Abby, patting her back and speaking in a soft voice. He didn’t pay attention to what she said.

He carefully combed his memory of all the moments Rarity referred to. Each detail about Alate’s dealings, Abby’s appearances, and the maelstrom of worry and pain the hunt for Shield Wall put him through. Images of tortured corpses and bubbling filth made themselves known at the same time the pained cry of Twilight did, when she fell from the ceiling of her own castle. Something remained, however. An image that followed him throughout the days that led him to where he stood. He looked to Abby again, who wore the same scowl he saw on the dock. A stronger, purer form of the harsh looks she gave after the attack at her home, carrying with it the same emotion he felt when they separated fifteen months ago.

“You don’t,” he finally said.

“W-What was that, dear?” Abby looked up at the Ghost.

“You don’t have everything you want. There’s something missing.”

“I don’t understand… don’t I? My home and my life are intact, my friends are alive, and I have you, yes?”

“Not in the way you want.” A gloved hoof raised to push hers away. “It’s never been the same since I came back, has it? I’ve been off keeping Darrox’s dreams alive, carrying his responsibilities, all while you ‘mind your own business’ and pretend like nothing is wrong, but I did something, didn’t I? I ignored you.”

“Silver, don’t say it so harshly. You were tending to what’s important to you, and that’s what matters.”

“But not to you. You asked for Silver to come back from the island, not the Ghost. You asked for us to be together again, but I refused.”

“And that’s alright,” she said, coming closer to place a foreleg around him. “You found a new purpose when you returned and… yes, it wasn’t pleasant when you declined, that doesn’t mean I hate you for it. Everything can go back to how it was once this is all over.”

“It can’t. It won’t.”

“Don’t say that…”

“No matter what you do to change it.”

“But I… haven’t done anything.” The bickering that once plagued the room suddenly silenced itself.

“Then how come, out of everyone in this room, there’s only one you’ve made out as your enemy? Only one that’s earned your ire?”

“W-Well she accused me of such horrid things! I’m not one to roll over and take it, you know that.”

“I’m not talking about today,” he began, Abby’s face growing a shade paler. “I’m talking about the little things: the curt comments, the interjections, the looks from the other side of your lobby. I’m talking about every cold stare you’ve given Rarity since we first visited you in Canterlot. I want to know why.”

“I didn’t know it meant so much to you. I-I’ll gladly apologize if-”

“You won’t mean it.” He took a step forward, forcing Abby back. “You’ve had every opportunity to make amends. I told myself it was the shock after Alate’s attack, but I know you better than that. You and Rarity worked together when we took down Shield Wall, who’s done much worse things to you than Alate could ever muster.”

“Please, we… we can talk about everything later. Silver, I promise, we’ll-” Another forceful step pushed her back, threatening to send her to the floor.

“But you didn’t stop. It only got worse. You may have kept it under control in the beginning, when I was still trying desperately to keep you at a distance, but I’m here now, and all I see is you lashing out against her.”

“L-Lashing out? Silver, I-I don’t-”

“Did it bother you that after six years deserted on an island the first mare I kissed was her? Or maybe that I was more comfortable going to her than to you when the cloak became too heavy?”

“Stop! That… that’s not fair!” A final step forward brought Abby to her knees as the Ghost’s hot breath fell upon her with his next, haunting statement.

“That was when you hatched a scheme, wasn’t it? Something that would put you back into my good graces. Not because you wanted to do good, or perform another act of charity… you were jealous. You thought killing Shield Wall would somehow win me back, but why? You know I would never approve of it. Better than most, Abby, you know my responsibilities, what I stand for.”

“Because I hate what you stand for!”

Black droplets pattered against the floor, evidence of mascara ruined by her tears. They shook loose from her cheeks and stained her dress as she shot up to meet the Ghost, eye to eye, her furious face laid bare for all to witness. Cadence stepped away with a hoof to her mouth. Gilda closed in, lowering her stance. Rarity, startled, gripped to the Ghost’s side. Even Berry, silent and stoic, allowed a surprised glance to appear upon his face.

“Six years! Six! All spent waiting and wishing you would somehow return, that you hadn’t truly been swallowed by the sea or some other cruel fate, every night a new terror. You were my world, Silver! We… We even talked about marriage! Don’t you remember? The night before you left? Pretty words and awkward laughs and all the wonderful things we imagined, but the only one who came back was… you.”

The word flew from her mouth like a vengeful arrow, coated in a poison that leaked from every wicked glare she gave the stallion in front of her.

“This thing, this… monster, it took you from me. Twisted you into some sort of prowling predator who wears your face like a mask. I was happier than I had ever been when you returned to me, rescuing me from Shield Wall, and putting that awful chapter behind us so we could be together. But you didn’t! You left me!

“It was that thing on your back. It was the Ghost! It took months of being left out in the cold to realize you weren’t yourself, a-and I thought… I knew I had to do something. You were obsessed with dismantling Shield Wall’s conspiracy, so I decided I’d do it for you. To ‘nip it in the bud’, yes? Without Shield Wall the conspiracy would die… and so would the Ghost.”

“Abby, please,” the Ghost begged, softly. “You had to know it wouldn’t work. That’s not th-”

“I had to do something! The one I love, who I committed my heart to, was still lost even after he returned to me, but without Shield Wall you wouldn’t have a reason to be the Ghost. I would free you, and we could finally be together again. So, imagine my surprise that after everything I’ve done for you, everything we’ve been through, and all the promises we made each other, you fell in love with her!”

The pained shout was all it took. Slowly, everyone in the room began to gather behind the Ghost, each wearing a look of shock. Abby panted hard from her exertion. It took a few moments for the rush to wear off, and when it did she found herself at the wrong end of every pair of eyes before her, her anger melting into a gnawing fear in the pit of her stomach. She shrank under their collective gaze.

“Abby,” Cadence whispered, loosely held in Shining Armor’s forelegs. “P-Please, tell me that’s not true.”

“Cadence, I… it isn’t so bad. It’s not like I wanted to start a war, not like Shield Wall did.”

“That’s not the point! Ponies are dead, Twilight was hurt and threatened, and now the empire is at risk. How could you do this?!” Cadence’s outburst was restrained by her husband, who was only capable of holding his dismayed glare.

“I never wanted this, Cadence! I wanted to put an end to Shield Wall’s evil, to finally return to how things were before! How was I to know he would escape?”

“The babe’s gone bonkers, dude,” Gilda muttered to the Ghost. “How do you wanna handle this?”

“‘Handle’ me, Gilda? Am I the enemy now?”

Gilda’s vicious eyes locked onto Abby as her feathers ruffled, prompting Berry to step between them both with a huff.

“Step aside, Jeeves, your boss is crazy and I don’t want pulverizing an old pony on my conscience. Don’t ma-”

She skid across the floor before she even registered Berry’s hoof against her chest, a loud thwack that shook all who witnessed it, and before they were able to assemble around Gilda the sound of shattering glass reached them, followed by the sickening green glow of four large puddles dividing them from their initial focus. A fifth vial soared from Berry’s hoof straight for Rarity. Before it could even reach her face the vial was ensnared by a black length of cloak shot from the Ghost’s hoof and returned the offending potion to him, focused on its source.

Green embers flickered along the aging stallion’s body and burned away to reveal black, glossy plating along smooth and wrinkled skin. Pale green eyes greeted the Ghost angrily.

“Alate? Could it really… goodness, the whole time?” Rarity’s stammer betrayed her shock as the changeling before her craned her neck with a crack.

“I’ve had far less comfortable disguises, but somepony had to make sure you never got too close.”

“Abby, you’ve really been working with her?” Shining Armor threw an indignant hoof toward Alate. “This is insane! Do you have any idea how many ponies she’s murdered?”

“I never wanted it like this, I promise, but there wasn’t another way! What else was I supposed to do?”

“Abby, you can still put an end to it,” the Ghost shouted. “I know you’re hurting, and it’s my fault you are, but that doesn’t mean we can’t find a better way!”

“No, Silver, no! It’s the Ghost, he’s the one to blame, and I’ll free you from him. I promise! Alate, do it!”

A missile of chitin sped from the otherside of the molten moat of green and hurled a sixth vial toward Cadence and Shining. While the Ghost leapt to their side, throwing the cloak over them and watching the vile liquid crash and sizzle away at its impervious hide, Alate flew right over them towards Kindle as he hurriedly turned away, tumbling across the floor with the bat pony.

Gilda recovered from the blow, nursing the red bruise on her chest before barreling toward Alate as she fought with her prey. The changeling, however, worked with quick hooves and pulled more of the potion from her rags. With a crack Gilda was bathed in the putrid substance, stumbling back. Rarity cried out after her and the Ghost yanked his cloak from the rescued couple and prepared to charge until Gilda stood once more to face the Ragged Mare, the solvent dripping harmlessly from her feathers and dressed with a wicked grin.

“Not a pony, bitch!”

Alate had a single second before Gilda’s claw collided violently against her jaw, so much so she was cast back and slammed against one of the columns surrounding the throne. Gilda hoisted Kindle to his hooves, but his attention was elsewhere, frantically patting his sides.

“The bag’s gone, the bag’s gone! Where’d it-... oh no.” Kindle found the source of his panic in the hooves of the Ragged Mare.

She managed to stand, using the pillar as support, and wiped some trickles of blood from her mouth before Kindle and Gilda charged her. The Ragged Mare was still nimble enough to duck the attack and roll away toward one of the windows. Blasts of pink and purple flew from the royals after her, with one clipping her leg, before a light blue one in the shape of a thin diamond jabbed into the wall just inches before her eyes. Rarity approached, laying down a stream of magical fire that her target struggled to evade, drawing blood with a clean shot to the knee.

It was only when she saw the Ghost come running toward her that Alate gave a loud scream, risking what wounds Rarity’s onslaught would give her and desperately threw herself from the throne room’s windows, aching wings carrying her out into the city. A final vial crashed against the windowsill, halting the Ghost’s advance as he shielded his eyes from the resulting splatter.

The Ghost whipped around to face Abby, only to find one of the large double doors hanging open, the unicorn gone from the room. All that remained of her wild confession was the slowly withering pile of verdant ooze on the floor. Shining Armor wasted no time in stepping around the flood and summoning the guard while Cadence joined him, giving direction and leading them out of the throne room. Those who remained gathered in the center, and a terrible epiphany crept into their minds.

Abby was now their enemy.