Legends Never Die: The Return of the King

by bookhorse125

Adventure Calls

There was a change in the air. Perhaps it was being a pegasus and having ties to the weather, but as Queen Haven stood on her balcony in her private chambers, watching the sun rise over her city, a breeze blew in from the north, and she shivered - but not just from cold.

Something else was causing her discomfort, but she couldn’t quite place her hoof on it.

Like darkness stirring right in front of her eyes, but she couldn’t see until it was too late, and then it would suddenly burst out in all of its horridness, and she wouldn’t be able to do anything about it-

A knock on the door jolted her out of her trance. She called, “Come in,” and turned to see Alphabittle poke his head inside.

“Yup,” he decided, “something’s up.” She sighed - she had stopped trying to hide things from him ever since he had told her that he could read her expressions. Taking it as confirmation, the unicorn trotted up to stand next to her, wearing a very satisfied and smug smile. “Spill.”

“Do you feel that?”

“Feel what?” He studied the city in front of them, though nothing stood out. “The breeze?”

“No…” She shivered. “Something else. Something… dark.”

“It’s morning.”

“I know,” she huffed, “but this is something else. Some sixth sense is telling me that something’s wrong - and that we have to do something about it before it gets too late.”

“Is it about Zipp and Pipp?”

She flinched. “No,” she moaned, “but I wish it was - I wish that I knew something about them. Anything would be welcome at this point. I don’t want to hurt myself by daring to hope that they’re alive and well if they’re really… not.”

“Ah.” Alphabittle frowned. “What exactly are you feeling?”

She shrugged and opened one of her wings, letting the wind sift through her feathers for about a minute before folding it up again. “A lack of balance. Like a scale’s been tipped. Something is out there that shouldn’t be - a lot of somethings.”

“You mean those villains?” the unicorn demanded, his horn unintentionally lighting. “Are they planning an attack?”

Haven rolled her eyes at him. “No, I’m sure they’re perfectly peaceful young ponies who’re just going to sit around and have tea parties. Of course they’re planning an attack of some sort - and all we can do is be ready for it.” She let out a frustrated growl. “Which is why it would be easier to not have this little thing called the law right now. My gut is telling me that we need to prepare for an attack from the worst magical villains we’ve ever seen, but the law says that we have to have probable cause and all this other stuff before we take any drastic measures - and with all available troops out looking for Sunny, I can hardly even tighten security on the city.”

“There do seem to be less guards in the palace,” Alphabittle noticed, looking back to the door in which he had come, where only a single guard stood in the hallway.

Haven nodded. “I’d sleep better knowing that my citizens are safe rather than I alone am safe.”

“Wish we could go to a place where the law wasn’t standing in the way,” Alphabittle commented, giving Haven a sideways look.

She sighed. “Soon. Just as soon as I figure out what this new tip in the scale is.”

“Is it a tip in light and darkness?” Alphabittle suggested, the sunrise temporarily blinding him as he looked over the glittering city of Zephyr Heights, going over what the queen had said in his mind.

Haven gave a start. “Yes… yes, that’s it!” Her face fell as she realized what it meant. “Only…”

“Only what?” Alphabittle demanded.

Haven sighed. “Only it’s a shift in favor of the darkness. These three villains that we know of… and somepony we don’t.”

“That evil thing up in the mountains?” the unicorn suggested.

The queen thought. “No… though he is part of it. There’s somepony else in this equation… but we don’t know who they are.” She shook herself. “Either way, there’s far too much darkness in the world right now - what we really need are the ponies that can find the light.” She lowered her head.

“And they’re all wanted for treason,” Alphabittle finished with a heavy heart.

She nodded miserably. “I wish I could be more like them,” she whispered, the pain in her voice clear and evident. “I don’t know if I should leave or not anymore - maybe if I could find the little hope and light left in the world, I could share it with my subjects.”

He pulled her in for a hug. “Just having you here should be enough to give them hope,” he told her. “And there will always be the ponies who find the light - you can’t blame yourself if they chose not to.”

She smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder. In that moment, the scale balanced out again - the darkness was level with the light and hope. And that was enough for her.

Somewhere deep inside her, she knew that her daughters needed her help, and she was going to give it to them - no matter what it cost her. She had to see them again - she had to say good-bye, she had to make sure that they knew that she loved them - she loved them more than anything in the world.

Well, almost anything, she thought ruefully to herself, stealing a sideways glance at Alphabittle.

The door suddenly burst open, interrupting her train of thought and forcing her to turn around, Alphabittle along with her. Standing in the doorway was a slightly disheveled pink earth pony mare with a golden curly mane that was piled on top of her head. She wore a pair of pink cat-eye glasses, and her blue eyes were full of worry and lined with dark circles. On her back she wore a pack and other supplies, making it very clear that she wasn’t just on a quick little trip from Maretime Bay to Zephyr Heights and back again - she was going somewhere that she would not be coming back from for a while.

Haven breathed a sigh of relief. “Phyllis. Thank hoofness.” She turned to the guard who was standing just behind the earth pony, preparing to arrest her if necessary. “Thank you, sir, but we’re all good here.”

The guard nodded and ducked out of the frame, closing the door behind him. Haven redirected her attention back to the earth pony as she walked further into the room. “What’s going on?”

Phyllis Cloverleaf halted before the other two leaders and took a deep breath. “Last night, two of my employees stayed after hours to use some of the equipment for their own purposes… with two of your royal guards.”

The queen gaped. “What? Where are they now?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. They disappeared - left before sunrise.” She rubbed her chin. “Maybe they’re the ones who set up the lights…”

“Lights? What lights?” Alphabittle demanded.

“Somepony left on an old lamp of Sunny Starscout’s in the top of her lighthouse so that the light goes everywhere,” Phyllis explained. “I’ve been meaning to get somepony to go turn it off, but it’s become sort of nice after a while.”

“So… what are you saying?” Haven asked, glancing at the pack on Phyllis’ back and putting the answer together in her head.

Phyllis looked around to make sure there were no eavesdroppers and pulled the pegasus and unicorn aside to whisper into their ears: “I think it’s time we go looking for Sunny’s friends. Some sixth sense is telling me-”

Haven gasped. “You felt it, too?”

The earth pony tilted her head. “Felt… what?”

“Some scale’s been tipped,” Alphabittle explained arily, waving a hoof. “It’s no big deal - like, I can’t feel it, either, if that makes you feel better.”

Haven thwacked him with her wing. “It is a big deal, you giant feather brain,” she scolded him.

Phyllis watched the exchange and blinked, confused. Something told her that there was more going on with those two than just improving political relationships with the other tribes. She shook her head, getting back to the topic at hoof. “Anyway, something’s telling me that our kids are in danger, and I can’t just sit back and do nothing - I have to go find them. Whether you’re coming with me or not.”

“Of course we’re coming,” Haven told her, glancing at Alphabittle. “Just give us a while to get some supplies together.” Phyllis nodded and stood by the door while the other two rulers raced around, grabbing essentials. When they all relocated by the door, it was halfway through the morning already. Haven could feel her adrenaline building - it was happening, it was happening, she was going to go find her daughters, she was going to see her fillies again - and she pranced her hooves nervously, anxious to go.

“That should be everything,” Alphabittle muttered to himself, lowering the flap of his pack and turning to the others. “So where should we head first?”

Haven opened her mouth, about to make a suggestion, when there was a knock on the door, and a pony entered the room, staring at a stack of papers he was holding, saying, “Your Majesty, sorry to interrupt, but you need to-” The stallion paused, looking up and seeing the other leaders there. “Oh.”

“Quite all right, Helios,” she said politely, turning so that she was facing the bright yellow pegasus, his wings fading into an orange that matched his mane at the tips. “What can I do for you?”

“I-I just need you to sign this,” he stammered, thrusting out a form and a pen. “It’s a summons for a Council of the Affected - we assume you would want to put some form of new law into place, given the circumstances of this unique situation.”

As Haven looked at the form, she had to warring voices in her head - on one hoof, she could stay and change the law right here from the comfort of her own palace, she could make a law that would keep her daughters safe and bring them back to her! But on the other hoof, she knew she wouldn’t be fixing the law for most of it - she would likely just be stuck here for months on end, listening to ponies argue, when she could be searching for her daughters.

“Thank you, Helios, but I’m afraid the Council will have to wait until I return,” she said calmly, pushing the form back towards the pegasus. His brown eyes widened in surprise.

“Return? Are you… going somewhere?” He looked behind her and took in the sight of Phyllis and Alphabittle, all wearing full packs. “With… them?”

“Oh, it’s just a little camping trip,” Haven laughed, trying to make light of the situation while also desperately trying to find a plausible lie in her panicked mind. “Alphabittle knows of some ancient ruins in the forest that he wanted to show us - he thought they might hold some information on our current dilemma.” She sighed and looked down. “Of course, under normal circumstances, my daughters would most likely be carrying out this task, but as they have disappeared, I’m afraid it falls to me.”

“Of course,” Helios stammered, stepping to the side. “Forgive me, Your Highness, I did not - I hope you have an enjoyable time.”

“Thank you,” she said as Phyllis and Alphabittle proceeded to the door. She stopped. “Actually, Helios, there is something I need you to do.”

He snapped to attention. “Anything, my queen!”

“Could you please watch over the city for me while I’m gone? You’ve always been so loyal to me, it would bring me such peace to know that Zephyr Heights was left in your capable hooves. Just try not to change it so much that we don’t recognize it when we come back,” she added teasingly.

“Of course!” Helios bowed and scurried from the room. “Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Haven sighed and turned to her fellow leaders. “Well,” she said, “adventure calls.” And she led the way down the hall and out of the castle.

Author's Note:

Don't worry, we'll get back to Flurry Heart and her pals in a few chapters, I just wanted to assert where everypony else stands in this whole excavade.

Constructive criticism is appreciated. Thank you for reading!

Comments

[bdoubleowo]

This series is really good, keep up the great work! I just binge-read the entire Legends Never Die series

[Yoshifan30]

Whoa ok things are really getting good now so it looks like Queen Haven feel something is wrong out there and Alphabittle can tell something is off with her and it looks like they're just basically just talking about how they can try to help and they will look like they're having their moment until Phyllis came to the door and told them that something is wrong out there and she's going out there to find sunny and the others and queen Haven made her decision to go with her and Alphabittle as well and she told one of the guards that is going to be gone for a while and putting her in charge while they're out well at least now there's more help out there but will it be enough I guess we'll find out next time

[Phetiamwantip]

No worries, bookhorse125, we'll wait. Your story is getting very interesting and great, I like it!