The Last Nightguard

by Georg

20. Deja Vu

The Last Nightguard
Deja Vu

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“Duplicate entries in log files are discouraged. Even if nothing different happened between log entries, there should be some way of differentiating the types of nothing happening.”
—Manual of the Royal Guard, Volume One and Three

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The next dawn found Ebon Tide back in Princess Luna’s quarters, too filled with unreleased energy to sleep but with quite enough papers to occupy his expanded hours of wakefulness and then some. The thumping of the outside door did not even rouse him from a careful word-by-word examination of the first post-banishment treaty between Equestria and Minos, a document that he could have sworn he had seen before.

“We hath made a discovery without you that we must share at once.” A brownish chunk of wood with thick green leaves sticking out of one end thumped onto his table in the one spot that did not have some sort of document covering it several sheets deep. “Behold, the pineapple.”

Eb glared sideways at the strange not-fruit. “It appears to have neither qualities of a pine or an apple. Are you certain you have not been deceived in jest?”

“Quite positive.” The odd fruit took flight in Luna’s dark magic and Her Highness took a substantial bite from one side with a crunching noise that would have shattered an ordinary pony’s teeth. A short stint of chewing later, she swallowed and announced, “Quite tasty indeed, and sweet without the cloying crust of sugar that my sister prefers.” Eb took a tentative bite from the softer innards of the fruit and chewed while Luna continued to praise it. “It is good to have a food which provides the amount of fibre an alicorn requires without the foul taste of alfalfa. Blech!”

“To each their own.” Eb returned to his studies only to have Luna tug once at his desk contents. “And I am holding onto the news paper until this eve when you awaken. If you read it now as your wont, you will merely fret and complain until deep in the day and awaken to your task with a great need for that vile beverage.”

“Coffee is divine,” responded Luna with a faint hint of outrage.

“Infernal, perhaps.” Eb folded the news paper sheet carefully and placed it where Luna could see. “If it will quiet your concerns, Diamonde Penstroke’s printed interview was quite informative and even vaguely resembled our conversation, with few exclusions.”

“You threatened to kill her,” reminded Luna.

“I informed her of the consequences of any deception,” said Eb flatly.

“Which would have been you killing her.” Luna shook her head and made quiet tut-tut-tut noises under her breath. “I would have preferred you not threaten these ‘reporters’ in our modern era.”

“It was not a threat. It was a promise.”

“Like you promised to kill me.” Luna did not meet his eyes, but went over to her bed and flopped down on it with her back to him. All of the eagerness and joy had sagged out of her like a deflating bladder, leaving a mere immortal curled up and exposing her back to any attack he might make where she could not see the blow coming. Again.

“Once, the Guard I knew as Ebon Tide would not have become so overcome with rage to swear himself to treason, nor intimidated a seeker of truth into changing what they tell unto others.”

It was an honest observation, a mirror which reflected a warped and distorted version of the Guard he had once been and could never be once more.

“Frustration is a powerful evil,” he admitted. “As you yielded to its tempting call and became Nightmare Moon, your magic in my heart is quite difficult to fight in turn. I would have slain the deceptive reporter had she offered offense, right there in front of… Pineapple Squares, the young child who would have been affected by the bloody sight for the rest of his life. And it is getting worse,” he admitted quickly before he could hide his weakness.

“What?” Luna rolled over, her bloodshot eyes and obvious fatigue cast aside for the moment.

“The dark magic which you used to save my life was supposed to fade away as I recovered,” said Eb.

It was a difficult admission, which he had delayed making for multiple weeks until it had gotten too ominous to ignore any longer. He pressed forward, forcing the words out despite his inner reluctance to admit weakness.

“It has not. I fear it is growing stronger. That is why I was searching through this—” he struck the pile of paperwork “—for some hint about how the batponies of that age adapted to their situation.”

Luna said nothing, but her expression spoke volumes, so he spoke for her.

“Should I feel there is a possibility I am about to be overcome by your fel magic, I shall remove myself from your presence. My training with the other races has helped control my dark urges or I would not have continued.”

There was an additional aspect of his dreadful transformation that he would not, could not speak of. If the dark magic took him over and pitted him against the Royal Sisters, they would be able to destroy him together. The threat would unite them as they were long ago, which would be blood well spent if he did not kill one of them in the process.

“Why did you not tell me this earlier?” said Luna flatly.

“It would not have changed anything.”

“It would have changed everything,” snapped Luna. “I can’t take my magic back. Nightmare Moon tried that to fight Celestia, and it killed everypony she touched.”

“Killed.” Eb took a short breath. “Obviously, there were those of my kind who you changed but did not slay. They lived. I will die. Why!”

“I don’t know.” There was a set to Luna’s jaw that Eb had never seen before, an iron expression of determination that boded ill for anything that opposed her. “Had I been thinking, I would never have unleashed my power upon you in the first place, much like I never would have fallen to Nightmare’s allure. This shall not occur again. Too many have fallen to my weakness. If you believe the secret to your mastering and overcoming my magic is to be hidden within ancient records, then we shall split the planet in half to see them unearthed. And the first place we must seek answers is at an ancient fossil who resides within these very walls.”

* * *

Arranging a simple meeting was anything but simple. Between Princess Luna’s general reluctance to speak with her sister and a Royal Schedule packed to the brim, Eb was beginning to think it would have been easier to stage an armed coup and hold Her Highness for ransom. Certainly there would be a conversation during the negotiations, which was far better than occasional glimpses of Celestia’s rear as she hustled out of a room moments after he arrived. Some of that frustration bled out into his evening sparring session with Crimson, who was taking far more of a beating than Eb intended.

“Out!” gasped the dragoness from behind Ebon Tide’s crooked foreleg. She slapped the dusty sparring circle with one muscular hand. “Out, I said!”

“Oh! Beg pardon, m’lady.” Eb disentangled himself from the dragon, unwrapping wings and armored legs with great care because there were still sharp claws on the end of those hands, and an aggravated dragon had been known to take a parting swipe when she thought she could get away with it.

“What’s gotten into you, big guy?” The dragoness straightened back up with a popping of relocated vertebrae. “You’re gonna give the kids bad ideas.”

“Why? It’s awesome,” breathed Pineapple Squares, who had managed to wedge a space next to Peanut Brittle in between armored knees and fidgeting bat-wings of the observing Guards and various other observers of various species and ages. Eb had not been happy with his ‘coincidental’ audience sneaking in to watch, but he had to admit that he would have done exactly the same thing in his younger years.

“I wanna grow up to fight like that,” said Peanut Brittle with a flutter of her wings. “Wham! Pow!”

“What, do you want to be Eclipse when you get bigger?” asked one of the bat-winged Guards to the general laughter of the rest.

“Laugh it up, you canned bats,” said Crimson with a snort of pain as she tried to put weight on one leg. That only made the laughter among the Night Guards grow until she added, “Which one of you wants to get into the ring with the canopener next?”

“We shall.” The Night swept over the moonlit sparring circle and in the time it took to blink, Princess Luna was standing next to Crimson, who gave a little sideways jump while puffing out some smoke. The dragoness looked back and forth between Eb and the princess before ever so slowly beginning to back away and out of Eb’s view, her limp forgotten for the moment.

“Princess.” Eb swept down into a deep bow, far lower than a serving Guard should.

“Warleader.” Luna gave a short dip of her head in response. “Our recovery hath reached an impasse. Without an opponent to confront, our skills have nothing to measure against. We have watched thy practice from a distance and believe it is time.”

“Princess?” One of the observers took a half-step forward, still holding a medical kit under one wing, but that step was all he got. Luna’s cool teal eyes swept in his direction and the armored guard came to an abrupt and quite silent halt.

“In our day, we sparred frequently with Our Guard. There were no fatalities, so hold thy modern medicine until it is needed.”

“You don’t have any armor,” said the Guard, still frozen in place.

Luna snorted and narrowed her eyes. “Would you have me wrap myself in the ebon armor of Nightmare Moon?”

All of the Guards slowly shook their heads, although Peanut Brittle perked up and would have practically fell into the sparring circle with the enthusiasm of youth if she had not been restrained by a small batpony with astonishingly large wings for her size.

“Then tend to thine own selves and observe.” Luna turned to Eb, spread her wings slightly, and crouched. “Proceed.”

“Are you certain?” asked Eb. He had no intention of mentioning out loud his trouble mastering the dark magic that still churned in his belly at times, but it went without saying. What was worse, the Guards at the observation area were all watching with rapt attention, and Eb could only imagine what would happen when word of their battle got back to…

Celestia.

“Make it look good,” whispered Eb. He was no more ready for the fight than before, but at least there was a meaning to his discomfort and an even higher threshold to his potential failure.

Luna moved, and to Ebon Tide’s practiced reflexes and recent growth, she seemed painfully slow. As was her wont, she first swept across his legs with one wingtip in a blur of motion. He sprang into the air as a counter and stomped, catching the trailing edge of her wings and plucking a half-dozen broken feathers as if they had been cut with a knife. The new shoes he acquired several weeks earlier were proving their worth, moreso when he managed to parry a forehoof strike that followed. Sparks flew and Eb drifted backward to a gentle landing, his broad membranous wings giving him an edge in maneuverability.

“We are out of practice,” said Luna almost casually. She flexed a fetlock, then dropped into a crouch again. “Defend thyself!”

There was little holding back on Luna’s part when she darted forward again. Eb’s life immediately became one of training and reflex. The modern armor proved its worth several times in the next few seconds, deflecting strong blows or bites multiple times that should have struck home if Eb had not twisted or interposed the thin metal at the last moment. Never had he been struck this hard and fast before in his entire career, and yet he managed to roll or dodge what he could not block for what seemed like hours. There was an endless crash of steel on steel as Luna’s shod hooves darted and spun, hammering him like a tin pan on the anvil, but Eb could feel his heart beating even faster as their dance of destruction spun across the dusty sparring ring.

He was holding his own, and the sensation filled his heart with a song of destruction. Hammering alicorn hooves smashed and struck, but Eb sped up with every blow until a particular sequence of strikes left a narrow opening for him to strike.

He did.

The moment his steel-shod hoof crashed forward with every bit of strength he could muster, Ebon Tide knew he had made a dreadful mistake. His protective designee, the mare who he had pledged his life to protect above all others, fell backward with a thin stream of blood pouring from her nose and the flutter of wings caught unprepared. Luna hit the dirt with a puff of dust and skidded, but thankfully looked relatively undamaged other than her pride and her pert little nose having gotten a little flatter.

There was a very long silence, with the blood trickling down Luna’s face looking like molten silver in the moonlight. Not a single Guard in the observation area moved other than to breathe, although he could hear a faint gasp from Peanut Brittle over the sound of his hammering heart.

The powerful scent of blood filled the air, a growing wisp of deadly encouragement to his simmering rage. All he wanted to do was fling himself at his hated enemy and not stop until she was a dripping pile of shattered bones and crushed flesh. He could taste unleashed anger on the night breeze, and it took every single speck of his will to remain motionless instead of launching forward to complete his sworn task.

Eventually, Luna lifted one hoof and touched it to her bleeding nose. She looked down, then back up at Eb. Ever so slowly, she raised her head to expose her neck, waited for an eternity measured in his hammering heartbeats, then lowered it again until she could look in his eyes.

“Thy blow was fair and true,” she said in an extraordinarily controlled voice. “Our practice this eve is over for now. We shall see thee at dawn.”

And then she was gone, vanishing into the night sky and the twinkling stars like she had never been there.

* * *

Technically, it was breakfast. The meal served to awaken and invigorate most of the pony populace, but to the batponies, it was more of a snack before bedtime. After the excitement of the sparring circle, Eb had not really wanted to continue with training. Instead, he attempted to crush his burning feelings of vengeance and bloodshed by way of parchment and ink. After all, Pineapple Squares and Peanut Brittle had been conducting secret intelligence gathering operations among Equestria’s allies and somepony needed to debrief them while checking their reports for accuracy. The fact that their meeting place just happened to be a room fairly adjacent to the Royal Towers was a complete coincidence

Really.

Strenuous effort in tracking down rumors was a good distraction from the growing possibility of a traitorous death when the nightmarish dark magic eventually took control of him. ‘Unicorn work’ was the common working-class phrase for being hock-deep in parchments, but Eb had never really minded it. Since he started this project, he had practically memorized every document from just after his era, every careful phrase, every pledge and promise. The pieces all were supposed to fit together like some giant puzzle, but there were no indications where they connected, or how, or even if they all belonged to each other.

Pineapple’s additional contribution to the confusion was a collection of ancient legends and foal’s stories where ordinary citizens were given extraordinary powers which they used to help their fellow creatures no matter the differences between them. Apparently, every sapient the children spoke to provided similar stories. Each story linked together into a framework of sorts, individual on their own but interlaced as if told by a single piper guiding children to a hidden destiny in the mountains by way of an enticing tune.

Or a conspiracy designed to… release power instead of controlling it?

The more he learned, the less it made sense. Without the guiding hoof of the Sisters, one banished to the moon and the other distraught to the point of incapacitation, the nation of Equestria should have been vulnerable to external forces, torn apart inside and out. Instead, it flourished in ways that boggled his mind, including an entire library shelf devoted to uniting these same forces through childish stories.

“Dawn is nigh,” came Princess Luna’s voice from nearby, which shocked Eb out of a complicated discussion about the relative worth of wishes gainsaid from a captive kirin.

Research of rumors was a far different task than several weeks ago when the two adults had ventured away from the children for a more mature observation of the night. There were some things about this modern era that Eb just had to accept without thinking about them too much. The brief foray they had made through the bars and ‘dives’ of Canterlot in the company of Princess Cadence had been educational. Far too educational in some regards. His astonishment at the ways that modern ponies had tortured the common grape and wheat kernel was only secondary to the fashion that modern mares dressed in such dark and noisy places. And then there was disco, and Luna’s rather… exuberant response to the dance floor.

This social dance was far different, in ways that Eb was beginning to detest. “Go forth and do your duty. We are busy with our research group at the moment,” he replied. “Unless your sister varies her tight schedule in order to extend an invitation for us to dine with you, I’m afraid we shall be quite occupied until late into the day.”

“But—” started Pineapple before catching Eb’s eye. “Oh. That’s right.” The unicorn colt ever so slowly turned his head to look in Luna’s direction, then returned to his notes in a hurry. Knowing Luna’s tendency to melodrama, she probably had several pieces of absorbent toilet paper dangling out of her nose and spots of blood dabbed strategically on her kerchief of duty.

There was a faint noise and the room became somehow emptier, although it was filled with a new tension. Even Peanut Brittle was not quite her normal chirpy self and gave the open doorway a nervous glance.

“Yes, I hit her during our sparring,” said Eb. “You know that. You were there.”

“I didn’t think it was possible,” said Pineapple Squares. “It was all my family could talk about when we went home for lunch. They said she was unbeatable, that the only batpony who ever beat her was Eclipse, and that was like a bazillion years ago.”

He had not wanted to say the words, particularly in front of the children, but he could not lie to them. His end was inevitable. There would be no recovery for him like the hundreds of batponies left alive after Nightmare Moon’s banishment. They had survived by some trick of fate or ancient secret, but with Celestia disabled and Luna departed, that historical gateway for him was closed and locked. When the dark magic in his belly grew too strong…

“You’ve got that look,” said Peanut Brittle, far more serious than she had ever looked in the short time Eb had known her. “Dad looks like that whenever he’s deployed away from home on something dangerous that he doesn’t tell us about. Mama too.”

“She gets really edgy when that happens,” said Pineapple, shuffling his small hooves to move papers around on the table rather than use his magic. He was obviously edgy now, because his voice sped up until he was practically stuffing words on top of each other. “Then I get nervous and my family gets all protective and there’s a lot of hugging and we wind up together with all kinds of storytelling way into the day. That’s where some of those stories actually came from. You should hear some of the stuff they talk about when all the diplomatic delegations meet and all the off-duty security go out drinking. Only they don’t go out, since that’s not very safe. Mostly they wind up over at our House, and my father tries to deduct the cost of the drinks as a business expense.”

Eb stopped his futile flipping through pages of children’s stories. His search for a way to stop his growing dark magic had degraded to the absurd, and the bubbling of rage beneath his skin was impossible to ignore any more.

“It doesn’t matter,” he managed to squeeze out from between sharp gritted teeth. “In several weeks time, a month at best, the dark magic Princess Luna used to save me will kill me instead.”

Despite his overwhelming feelings about his upcoming demise, he felt even worse at dumping his problems on children. Thankfully, they did not seem as crushed by the news as an adult would be. After all, a month to an adult was a mere flicker of time, when to a child it was forever.

“We’ll find something,” said Peanut. “Luna needs you.”

“I am not needed by— Well, perhaps I have some use in that regard,” admitted Eb through his depression. “Marginally.”

“Princess Celestia should know whatever saved the batponies back then,” said Pineapple Squares carefully. “Provided we can talk it out of her. Sometimes, old ponies don’t like to talk about painful memories.”

“Always.” Eb swallowed. “The young have few experiences to regret. The longer we live, the more we collect.”

“Then we can make this a good memory,” blurted out Peanut. “Like creamed asparagus.”

“Yuch,” said Eb and Pineapple Squares at the same moment.

It lifted some of the darkness off Eb’s soul and gave him a quiet smile when Princess Luna returned and announced that her sister would be honored to break fast with the four of them, having cleared her schedule rather abruptly.

* * *

Breakfast was supposed to be a time when Princess Celestia would eventually recall some small fragment of memory that would save Warleader Ebon Tide’s life. Instead, it was four nervous ponies sitting around a table while Eb stewed in silence. Neither of the children could muster the courage to confront Celestia, while Luna evaded the subject like an earth pony clogdancer. Even Celestia’s obvious desire to know the obvious origin for her sister’s obvious bloodstains was muffled by her strict discipline and concentration on inflicting microscopic wounds on the various breakfast items, much like a giant white mouse in the room with a silent cat.

Social interactions always made Eb feel uneasy, but they were becoming more comfortable the longer he tried. Even his three non-pony sparring partners had become something vaguely similar to but not entirely… friends. It was not exactly the same thing as dining with the Royal Sisters. Far from it, in fact. But at least he could talk to them, dragon, griffon, or minotaur, quite unlike this morning.

The quiet princess sitting at the end of the table was an insurmountable obstacle. He could still see her hovering over the battlefield with the Elements of Harmony swirling around her, rainbow streams of power lancing out to engulf Nightmare Moon… and him. He could never forgive her for using that power on her sister. Or on himself. Resentment roiled in his gut, a boiling pool of hatred that never dropped below simmering.

And yet… he had taken The Oath. He had pledged himself to their protection on his blood and honor. He had broken that oath when he struck Princess Luna from behind, no matter her condition. His traitorous actions had no effect on Nightmare Moon’s imprisonment. If he had just sat on the ground and played Bounders, the exact same thing would have happened. Nightmare Moon would have been banished, returned in the same way, and been sitting right next to her sister like she was right now.

Well, without Eb, he doubted if Pineapple Squares and Peanut Brittle would have been sitting at the Royal breakfast table, playing with their crumbs of blueberry muffins and looking horribly uncomfortable. So little food was consumed so far that Eb was starting to feel depressed about the waste. They had just gotten to the diced cantaloupe at the end of the meal when Eb could not take it any longer.

A profanity was called for, but the presence of the children thankfully muted Eb’s ire. “I give up,” he snapped. “What did you do to keep the rest of the transformed batponies alive after Luna was banished! They’d have the same dark magic problem, since the ones who had their magic removed, died. You can’t have forgotten something that important! BELL ME! Um… I mean tell me,” he added very quietly.

Peanut Brittle seemed to be caught somewhere between fear and laughter, but at least his flub broke the ice enough for Pineapple Squares to speak up.

“Ma’am.” The unicorn colt swallowed hard to get one last bite of cantaloupe finished before blurting out a whole string of words. “We sorta lied a little and let Princess Luna get bopped on the nose to talk with you about this, and it’s really important. Warmaster Tide just keeps growing every time I see him and pretty soon he’s gonna be a big as Eclipse and he keeps getting more violent even though we’re not supposed to talk about it and pretty soon he may lose it and if you know how the first batponies managed to survive whatever Luna did to them before she was banished and that’s all I have to say.”

The spoon hovering in front of Celestia did not waver in the least, although her violet eyes grew misty. Pineapple opened his mouth to say something else but Peanut held a hoof over his face quick as a wink.

At first, Eb had no idea why the children were acting that way, but the longer the silence in the Royal Breakfast Nook lasted, the more he began to understand. Celestia was not really there at the moment, but miles and centuries away in a place where Eb had been a few scant months ago.

Even Princess Luna paused, just looking at her sister’s tranquil face and apparently attempting to recapture that time before their lives had split asunder. Ever so slowly, one dark feathered wing extended across Celestia’s back, stroking across her flowing mane in small, hesitant motions.

The moment lasted far longer than Eb thought it would with two impatient children in the room, but eventually Celestia blinked several times and practically breathed one word.

“Eclipse. I have not heard that name in many years.”

“He’s real?” said Pineapple, sounding slightly stunned. “I thought he was just in stories.”

“He was real. And just in stories, also. My first real memories of that time were of his children.”

“Myths don’t have children,” ventured Eb, hoping to keep the chain of memories moving.

“Oh, he had many children. I believe there was at least one of his offspring in our personal service for several centuries following my recovery.” Celestia put down the spoon precisely next to her dessert plate with the faintest of noises.

“You replaced Dawns Light?” asked Luna.

Celestia shook her head, letting her flowing mane drift down across the table. “Perhaps. I don’t remember exactly, and by the time I could, they were both gone. Things came back to me so slowly. I do know one thing, though.”

* * *

Lichyards held no appeal for Ebon Tide, no matter how beautiful the design or the way the early morning light made the whole faux-garden glow with life. Even though the wrought-iron scrollwork over the entrance proclaimed it as the Memorial Gardens, it was still a place of death where all ponies were fated to reside when their time was up. Well, most of present company excepted.

“I come here every year, sometimes two or three times.” Celestia had landed several bodylengths from three worn tombstones and placed Pineapple Squares to her side. The colt had tolerated the rather abrupt flight without complaint, although his green eyes were still wide with shock. Even Peanut Brittle had managed to keep up with the Royal Sisters, her little wings flapping like crazy until she sagged onto the Garden’s close-cut grass.

“Not here, though,” added Celestia as if she were still centuries away. “Too much pain, I suppose. And I did not wish to interrupt young lovers.”

Eb quickly cleared his throat before Peanut could offer the expected question. “Young couples visit a grave?”

“Graves. He had two wives, you see, and many of the—” Celestia hesitated with a brief glance at Peanut Brittle and Pineapple Squares “—younger ponies come here to rub his stone for luck, and if I recall, the young mares rub the stones of his wives for fer— Ahem. In the hopes that they will have many foals.”

“There have been odder practices in our time,” admitted Eb.

“So all three of them were batponies?” asked Peanut. “The stones are different.”

“His wives were unicorns. Our Factotum, as it was called back then, the closest advisors and companions we had in that era. To have both of them married to a pegasus… It was quite the scandal in that age.” Celestia’s faint smile grew as she settled down in the grass to examine the smaller pair of the three stones more carefully. “I have not thought of them in ages. Dawn’s Light and Dusky.”

Luna cocked an eyebrow at her sister with a disbelieving squint. “Dusky? We fail to see how any pony of any type could have romanced her without sufficient rope and harness. And you expect me to believe she shared a mate with her sister? One of my kind mated to both of them?”

“I’m hesitant to believe it also,” admitted Eb, although he was not willing to admit the difficulties a mixed-race romance would cause in his era to the unicorn and batpony children listening so intently. “Still, it is written in stone, I suppose. Or at least would be written if the stones had any lettering that had not worn smooth with the ages.”

“One of my creations who not only lived, but lived life to the fullest measure.” Luna ran one hoof over the smooth surface of each stone in turn. “It gives me hope for Eb.”

“What?” Ebon Tide was startled out of his thoughtful fugue by the comment, making the rather impossible mental image he had of the terrifying unicorn twins and some strange epic batpony as a family evaporate out of the top of his head.

“We said this gives us hope that something in our world can save your life,” stated Luna quite plainly. “You are valued to us, and the thought of you passing away disturbs us.”

“I as well,” said Celestia somewhat reluctantly. “You were a valued member of our household at one time, and we did not get to know you nearly as well then as we have in these last few months. Now, come with me.”

Powerful long white limbs stretched as Celestia got up from where she had been resting on the short grass, she gave a brief shake to shed a few loose bits of debris, and turned to stroll slowly down one of the nearby pathways that led to a distant gate. “We shall walk rather than suffer young Pineapple any more embarrassment, and spend the morn within our study where I have stored much trivia through the ages. Perhaps we will find something there to trigger a memory.”

* * *

Celestia’s packed study could have easily occupied a wing or two of the museum that he had toured with Princess Luna, and been far more accurate since the curator was present when each piece of the collection had been obtained. One day turned into a week, and then several as the towering alicorn went through the events of the last several centuries immortalized in stained glass and inconspicuous trivets. Every item had a story, and although they were individually fascinating, too many of them at once had a staggering impact on Eb’s ability to stay awake. Several times he found himself greeting Moonrise by awakening on a couch or cushion in the elegant item-stuffed room, once with both Peanut and Pineapple snuggled against him like a pillow.

This day he was alone with Her Highness as they mused over a ceramic banana and her rather vague memories of a visit to Huchapuchaka a mere century ago and the rather peculiar inhabitants who lived in that land.

“It was really unfair that their chieftain told me this banana was not for eating. I think he was making a little fun out of my first impression with bananas.”

“They’re very good,” admitted Eb. “When your sister was watching over me, she ate the outsides and gave me the insides. Said it was a good source of fiber.”

“True. Still, my introduction to them was not quite so subtle,” admitted Celestia. “I took a bite since it was obviously some sort of food, but I had not realized it came in two parts. It wasn’t until one of the diplomats showed me how to peel it that I realized how my first impression inside the country was distorted. We still established trade routes almost immediately, and the country now is the source of nearly half our banana imports and twenty percent of canned mangos. And I brought back several bunches of the fruit,” she added. “Nopony else made that mistake, so I just kept quiet about it.”

“So what does this have to do with batponies?” asked Eb, turning over the ceramic banana and looking for a purpose, like a holder for salt or quills rather than just a banana being a banana.

“Mangos,” said Celestia plainly. “A number of the Guards were batponies. There were mangos in several of the warehouses. One of the warehouses just happened to be conveniently close to the diplomatic negotiations. Do I need to spell it out?”

Eb winced. “Were they so undisciplined that they did not purchase—”

“Captain Redfern forbade it. Said if the Huchapuchakians were hostile, they’d poison the mangos and do away with half of my protection in one fel swoop. That worked during the day.”

“And at night, they raided the warehouse,” completed Eb with one hoof pressed against his forehead. “I take it there were no executions, or even floggings?”

“There were far worse punishments for the miscreants,” said Celestia quite unhelpfully, although she pointed out a dark spot on the bottom of the ceramic banana. “The culprits were caught in the middle of their theft and attempted to flee through a different warehouse which contained a great amount of fresh warm tar. By dawn when they were brought before me, they… It was humorous. For us,” she added quickly with a growing snicker. “They dripped. Tar does not come out of anypony’s coat well, and I maintained a respectful distance for the rest of the trip, but even with cleaning spells there were still spots and patches that showed up for months. You have never seen a Royal Guard so embarrassed as when I would pass by with a dark blotch on my butt.”

“Princess!” chided Eb with a quick glance around the room just in case the children had returned unexpectedly.

“Well, it’s true.” Celestia’s low chuckle eventually died out, although the smile remained when she changed conversational directions rather abruptly. “I hope you do not mind, but I sent for my Trusted Student and her friends yesterday.”

“The Elements of Harmony,” said flatly. “I would suppose the moon hath space for my return.”

Celestia shook her head, but the smile finally faded away into a look of remembrance. “Perhaps. We sincerely hope not. When I was forced to pick up the Elements, it was an act of desperation. Twilight Sparkle succeeded in cleansing my sister where I failed, despite my age and experience. It is the obvious solution to your problem, but there are many uncertainties.”

“Such as they may draw out the dark magic and kill me,” said Eb. “The risk is negligible, for I would die either way. Or they may petrify me or banish me to the moon, which would remind you of your failure and possibly make you relapse.”

After several small, short breaths, Celestia nodded. “A small chance, but a chance nonetheless. The risk made me obviously reluctant, but we are running low on options, I fear.”

“When?” asked Eb.

“That is the question, I admit.” Celestia gave a nervous glance to the window and the beams of warm sunlight pouring into her study. “I was thinking this evening might be best, so Luna can—”

“No,” said Eb as solidly as he could to his Dread Sovereign. “Twould be best done quickly and out of her view and that of the children. If it succeeds, I will inform her myself. If it fails… Well, I shall either be on the moon or dead, so it matters not. The weight shall not fall upon her shoulders. It is our duty to protect you after all.”

“No,” said Celestia much like she was biting into a lemon. “We shall not go behind our sister’s back again.”

“We live so you live. We die so you live,” recited Eb. “It is in our oath. We take the blows to protect you. Allow me to take this blow, Your Highness. Live or die, it shall be my decision.”

“I suppose you are right,” admitted Celestia reluctantly. “We have both taken so much from you.”

“To our last breath, to the last drop of blood in our bodies, to the end of our days,” recited Eb. “If this fails, let it be my last service to the Sisters.”

* * *

Ebon Tide was quite certain he was wrong, but in a generally right way. It was possible that the Elements of Harmony could cure his… whatever it could be called. In that case, he would go back to Princess Luna’s bedchambers and inform her. If the Elements failed, he would be petrified, dead, or banished, all of which left the difficult jobs to others. Still, it was his decision, and if he were to die in service as he had promised, he would face the Pale Mare with teeth bared and ready to fight for them in the next world as he had until now.

The last time he had seen Twilight Sparkle and her friends had been through delirious ranting of rage and insanity, so long ago and yet so recently. The six young mares seemed so much like children gathered in the green grass of the Royal Gardens right where they had been to free him from the moon. If it were not for the warmth of sunlight on his coat and the distant song of birds, he might have thought he was reliving a terrible memory, or perhaps just dreaming it all.

Of course he would have dreamed a much more confident group for the bearers of the legendary artifacts.

“Mister Tide, or should I use your title of Warmaster even though there hasn’t been a Warmaster since the EUP reorganized into the current form back when Celestia and Luna ascended to the thrones even though a lot of history just ignores Princess Luna and since you’re from that era I really wanted to discuss some historical anomalies that history books don’t cover if we could talk for a few days before using the Elements of Harmony on you. Again.”

Twilight Sparkle fidgeted and looked up at Princess Celestia, who was looming nearby. It was quite obvious that Celestia had not told her Trusted Student everything about Luna’s role in his current problem, and therefore it was not his place to mention it either. Still, Eb was quite tired of lies, both the spoken and unspoken kind.

“Fear not, Twilight Sparkle,” he said with as much confidence as he did not feel. “The dark Nightmare magic I hold within was used to save my life. I have no further need of its assistance, so once you have banished it, I will be willing to sit with you for whatever interviews you desire. Now, if you please. I am prepared.”

It was a lie, of course, but a necessary lie if he was reading the timid unicorn correctly. She seemed so young, a mere child no older than his own daughters. To have the responsibility of returning Celestia’s sister must have been a burden greater than the moon resting on those thin shoulders and her rather odd group of friends. The news papers had no end of strange fanciful stories about Twilight Sparkle, and Eb found it difficult to believe she was really able to wield the ancient artifact’s powers.

Until she put on the tiara and her friends gathered around her for support.

In a heartbeat, the timid unicorn of before transformed into a blazing force of pure magic that Eb could feel all the way to his tail. This was power beyond an alicorn, even beyond Nightmare Moon, given to a mere unicorn and her friends, and the dark magic in Ebon Tide’s trembling belly could recognize what was about to happen…

For the third time in his life, the Elements of Harmony unleashed their power on Ebon Tide.

Comments

[Georg]

Taste the rainbow. Again.

[FTL]

Rarely a dull moment in the world of Eb.

As much as he keeps saying he is being overpowered by the dark energy, he always seems to be treading softly when it comes to anyone other than Celestia. Even Luna, who he blames for this situation, gets her feelings protected.

It almost seems as if he is afraid to keep living.

[Wilt]

11410972

I didn't know you liked skittles.

[Clear_Skies]

"small batpony with astonishingly large wings"

YES!

Makes me wonder how the "How to train your bat pony" series is handling. I gotta look at that again, but still so happy to see this reference, course a certain other doofy bat pony has yet to become the frankenstein of scars we all know and love.

As always, love your writings!

[KarmaSentinal]

11410972
At this point, Eb is contracting the rainbow.

[CharonX]

*Warily eyes the Tragedy tag*

[Booster Spice]

Good thing Ebon is getting the calm down juice, as depending on tribes, behaviours and variations, if he beat down on Crimson and Griselda too ahrd at just the wrong time, he would end up Joined, or even Selected Master of them?

Hmm, a hidden overarching consipracy of control over millenia?

I wonder if its name is Denial Of Law, who bases their talons actions on the word of their good freind, Gaskin?

Given Crackle, just how unique were they, or just how wide a range of shapes, sizes, style and abilities dragons have and have had over time? Theres some reason only Torch is that large, unless he eats any other smaller dragons that start to encroach on his size and threaten his station?

Oh dear. Magic being used for the Third Time.

Thou shalt count to Two, only if it shalt be immediately followed by Three. Thou shalt not count to Four, an Five is Right Out.

[Una]

i truly hope Eb becomes immortal after this. I feel so sorry for both him and Luna.

[ChakatRedstripe]

-Dies of cliffhanger-

[Eroraf86]

11411021
Please no. I like my bats. Just let him be happy!

[Baineblade]

“Fear not, Twilight Sparkle,” he said with as much confidence as he did not feel. “The dark Nightmare magic I hold within was used to save my life. I have no further need of its assistance, so once you have banished it, I will be willing to sit with you for whatever interviews you desire. Now, if you please. I am prepared.”

You know... I really, really don't think he's realized what kind of horrible fate he's suddenly subjected himself to. I CAN'T WAIT! AAHAHAHA!!!

[Baineblade]

11411021
This is Georg we're talking about. Georg he who has drowned us in so much syrup I'm shocked we all haven't died of a mass uncontrolled Diabetes outbreak.

[Ebony Gryphon]

Not much to say here.

Umm... yay for herds? I guess. More then one woman sounds like a punishment to me.

Can't have to much of a good thing after all

Not to delve to deep into things mind, but what? Did the two, like, tag out and hot rack, or did the play rock, paper, scissors?

Or was it like

"Okay Dusk... so you get him thursday through saturday, and we alternate sunday?"

"As long as we can switch that for a Taco Tuesday now and again."

"You two do realize I'm my own autonomous stallion?"

"That's nice dear, but mares are talking. Eat your stew, thats a love."

"Its cute cause it thinks it has rights."

[Georg]

11410995 Someday you too will have a spouse that takes an apology better with them. "I'm sorry, dear. I love you and I brought Skittles." "That's fine. Now gimmie!"
11410993 With that much Nightmare magic in him, he's afraid he's going to do exactly what he was so angry at Princess Luna for doing. There's a bit of World of Cardboard in there too, but he's really too weak to beat Luna in a fair fight, let alone both alicorns. At present.
11411021 11410997 11411281 Would I be so mean as to kill off a main character. Again. It would be more effective to kill off a secondary character like... um... why are you all picking up torches and pitchforks?
11411083 I may have some bad news for you...
11411044 I'm still determined to eventually write The Big Rainbow Beam of Fix Everything where the M6 decide to use the Elements of Harmony on all of Ponyville's problems, from crooked teeth to weeds in the apple orchard to bad breath.
11411359 I only have one, because two would kill me. Heck, at times one is fairly dangerous.

[Baineblade]

11411667
Oooooh... Ya know... No reason. Just... Preventative measures.

[Wilt]

11411667

I'm still determined to eventually write The Big Rainbow Beam of Fix Everything where the M6 decide to use the Elements of Harmony on all of Ponyville's problems, from crooked teeth to weeds in the apple orchard to bad breath.

How will other Elements convince Fluttershy that Angel needs to be targeted with the Friendship Beam though?

Would I be so mean as to kill off a main character.

If you thought you could get away with it, yes.

[oblivion2k]

Oh now I catch up on this story, right at the biggest cliffhanger climax imaginable, of course!