The Ghost of Coltistrano: Phantom Eulogy

by EthanClark

Chapter 11: “This is a nightmare.”

A bundle of letters crashed against a pile of similar envelopes. Three days of mail lay within, three days of newspapers and postcards. Blue magic swirled around one envelope, however, lined in gold and of hefty parchment. The expensive paper barrier fell before Rarity’s eager hooves pulled it apart, hurriedly discarding the remains and forcing the letter inside to reveal its contents, but as her eyes scanned the document they fell into half-lidded orbs mirroring her frustration.

Rarity,

I don’t think I can wait any longer. It’s been three days since Coltistrano was attacked, and no one knows what to make of it. I’ve already sent a letter to the rest of the girls: Spike and I are going to Canterlot to try to stop this.

While I’m gone, I need you to keep an eye out for ‘you know who’. If the reports from Canterlot are true then who knows what he might do next. I know you and Silver were close, I’m sorry. This is getting more dangerous with each day he’s loose. Please, be careful.

Your friend,
Twilight

Tired eyes drifted to the ceiling. Rarity fell against the back of her chaise lounge and let out a long, shuddering sigh unraveling from the twisted knot occupying her stomach, but whatever pressure was relieved soon returned when her eyes closed. Ashen streets, broken ponies, memories of amber eyes.

She jolted up and grasped her head, cursing the images robbing her of much needed sleep. It was the same each night. A few hours of restless sleep, only to be woken by the choking scent of charred wood and the cries of filth-laden ponies, then nothing but her own confusion to occupy her thoughts until the sun finally peeked over the horizon, much like today. Once her composure was gathered she peered out across the showroom she rested in, the first floor of her home-turned-business. A pleasant smell of coffee drew her attention to the kitchen, a lure she lacked the strength to ignore. The letter fell from her hoof without any reaction from Rarity as she crossed the floor to the back kitchen.

“Good morning, Kindle.”

Ears perked up at her voice, and a small smile greeted Rarity as she stepped to the counter beside him. “Morning. I hope you don’t mind, I was just helping myself to some coffee. I made some more, too, you… well, you look like you need it.”

“Pfft, is it obvious?”

A steady stream of the dark elixir filled Rarity’s mug, giving Kindle time to take stock of the tired mare in front of him, her lazy gaze fixed on the beverage. He hesitated to speak, but the urge overtook him. “Any news?”

“Yes…” Rarity began, floating a small pitcher of cream over her drink. “Twilight’s gone to Canterlot to seek aid from the princesses.”

“Wait, she left? With all the refugees, a-and Shield Wall on the loose, and-”

“She has her duties, Kindle, as do we. Don’t fault her for that.”

Kindle’s words were plugged like a leaking hose, and after a few seconds he fell back against the counter and huffed. “Well, that’s… great. What are we supposed to do now? She was our only help out here, and with her gone we’re stuck with no leads.”

“There’s always a clue, Kindle, we… we just need to find it.”

A cold expression betrayed her hopeful words, turning from the counter and trotting sluggishly back out into the main showroom with Kindle in tow. The two seated around the chaise lounge. Beside him, Kindle found the discarded letter, slowly reaching over to read it as Rarity took a long sip of her coffee, desperately searching for whatever buzz could replace her lack of sleep. Kindle scoffed at the letter. He cast it once more to the floor and sipped from his own drink, hunched in his chair, pressing a hoof firmly against his forehead.

“This is a nightmare.”

“Worse, Kindle, it’s real.”

“How are you holding up?” His probing elicited a meager response from the unicorn. “Gilda won’t talk to me about it, and you seem like you’re at least keeping it together. I-I mean, unless you’re not, in which case… I’m here to talk if you need it.”

The silence was answer enough, her hoof stroking the black shred of fabric tied around her wrist. After a few seconds and dejected sighs from Kindle, Rarity found it impossible to not smirk and reach out to him, patting his shoulder. “Thank you. It means a lot, I promise.”

Before either of them could continue the front door flew open. A loud thud followed as it hit the wall, clearing the path for a single, matted, wet gryphon to step through the threshold, her eyes locked onto the middle-distance, but soon she was captured by a competing glare from Rarity. Gilda stopped, returned to the outside, and wiped her paws and claws clean before entering once more. Kindle sat up to face her.

“You’re back! You’ve been gone since yesterday, are you alright?”

“Fine.” Gilda wasted no time in crossing the showroom, snagging the coffee pot from the kitchen and returning to the two while greedily drinking from the vessel.

“Gilda, have you at least eaten?” Rarity asked.

“No. Saw Twilight leaving the city an hour ago. Take it she’s not buying our story?”

“She sent a letter this morning.”

“Whatever. Shouldn’t have relied on her, anyway.” A low growl escaped her beak. “I found a few stragglers from home heading east through Rambling Rock Ridge. I’m going back out to follow up.”

“You should at least rest, we can go into town and get some breakfast.”

“I’ll eat on the road.”

Gilda’s slow turn towards the door was announced by the thud of the coffee pot landing against the floor as she placed it down, the sound of clacking talons scraping away Rarity’s patience with each step the cold gryphon took. Kindle followed her with a lingering gaze and a subtle nudge forward to follow, one his legs hadn’t yet found the strength to perform. Rarity cradled her mug in her hooves. Finally, breaking the somber silence suffocating the roof, she called out to Gilda.

“Shield leads us into a trap, to lure us to Canterlot so he could separate us, that means he must have some presence in the city. If that’s true we can start there… if we have a plan.”

The final word managed to halt Gilda’s leave. A talon tapped against the floor rhythmically, rolling the word around in her mind for a few moments before taking one lethargic step after another back into the room to stand beside Rarity and Kindle in silence.

“Thank you,” Rarity continued. “I’d say it’s obvious the longer he’s out there the greater the risk of another attack. The authorities are searching for him, so we have a chance to work together to find Shield.”

“Well that’s a start, right?” Kindle’s small burst of enthusiasm brought a smile to Rarity.

“It is, but Shield has no agents to follow, no support. Even the criminals he sent to lure us to Canterlot have disappeared, and there is still the matter of the horn. Shining said it was stolen by Glint, and I can’t think of any other object capable of the destruction that’s been caused, and who knows what else he can do with it. Gilda, dear, have you seen any sign it’s been used again?”

“Nah. The thing doesn’t burn like normal fire,” she said, pointing to the fading scar on her back. “It cuts through buildings like paper. We’d know if he used it again.”

“Thank heavens, then we still have time.”

“Time until Twilight gets smoked, too.”

“She’s a princess, Gilda, Shield wouldn’t…”

The annoyed gaze from Gilda corrected Rarity’s memory, with images of falling glass and a ruined library returning to her like the nightmares of nights passed. “We need a plan.”

“Simple. We follow the trail, find him, and skin him. Let the princesses figure out the rest.”

“That’s not good enough, Gilda, he has to be brought down properly. Silver would’ve-”

“Silver isn’t here.” Gilda gave a low growl, never losing her cold stare.

“We can’t give up on what he believed in, Gilda, please. We’re all hurting.”

“No you’re not.”

Any restraint Rarity still held drained from her face, and Gilda wasted no time in turning from the group and retracing her steps to the front door, but something pulled her back. A ribbon of blue power coiled around her tail and yanked. She hissed at the resistance, giving small flaps of her wings to try and break free, but Rarity was already stomping towards her with tears welling in her eyes as the magic yanked one more time, this time hard enough to pull the gryphon back to the unicorn.

“What did you say?” Rarity seethed.

“Let go of me, Rarity!”

“No! You don’t get to abuse my hospitality, my generosity, only to trample over my heart just because you’re hurt, too.”

“I can do whatever I damn well please. I don’t see you out there trying to do anything about what happened. Oh no! You’d rather sit in your fancy doll house and make plans. Well, some of us can’t settle for that!”

“You act like you’re the only one who lost someone,” Rarity shouted, pushing her muzzle against Gilda’s beak. “He was as much a friend to you as he was to me, and he loved me. Do you understand, Gilda? He loved me!”

“Well, you got a piss poor way of showing you loved him back!”

The shock on Rarity’s face gave Gilda the opening she needed. She violently grasped Rarity’s hoof, wrenching the tied scrap of black fabric away and shoving off any attempt to reclaim it. “If you want this back, show me you loved him and pack a bag. I leave in ten.”

The door slammed shut quicker than it opened, leaving Rarity to collapse into a huffing, tearful mess on the floor. Kindle rushed to her side, doing whatever he could to comfort her, but his mind replayed the scene, over and over, the venom of Gilda’s words leaking into his brain until the burning itch could no longer be ignored as he bolted out the front door. Slit yellow eyes scanned the ground for her tracks, and not too far away he spotted her.

Gilda crouched into a stance when Kindle swooped down in front of her, leathery wings spread and sporting a grim expression. His speed surprised her enough to raise a claw in defense. All she received, though, was a glare frigid enough to freeze her blood.

“What, dweeb? You here to defend her honor, or something?”

“What is wrong with you? I thought you were all friends, and you go and do this to her? It was cruel.”

“So what? She’s too scared to take the fight to Shield? Fine, I get it, but she doesn’t get to pull that shitty sob story and make my hurt go away! She wants to make plans. I want to end this.”

“But you can’t do it alone! None of us can, we need to stick together if we want to have any chance of even finding Shield, let alone beating him.”

“Listen, bat boy-”

“No, you listen!” Kindle’s shout forced Gilda to step back. “I had to watch as Shield Wall twisted my regiment, all of my friends, into murderers and traitors to use like tools. He made Glint try to kill me! I’ve watched dozens of the ponies I served with be thrown in prison because they were lied to by the same bastard who killed Silver, the guy who I tried to kill and ended up trusting me. Me.

“And you are ruining that! You’re stomping all over everything he showed us about working together and trusting each other, all because you’re mad. And I’m mad, too! I am so bucking angry I want to strangle that bastard until he turns white, but… but I won’t. I don’t want to be what he forced me to be, not again. I can’t go back, Gilda! You’re all my friends and you trusted me to be better, Silver trusted me, so please don’t become another friend I lose to this nightmare. Please, just… just…”

His vision began to haze as tears ran from his cheeks to the ground. Trembling hooves still stood defiant against the now silent gryphon, whose body remained statuesque, her beak hanging slightly open to release silent words. Her breaths quickened. Talons dug deep into the ground, feathers around her neck ruffled, her tail slowly fell between her legs. Kindle, however, could stand no more of the silence, wiping his face and turning away, until Gilda threw her full weight against him, to be engulfed in feathers and a bone-crushing embrace. She shook violently.

Soft sniffles became bellowing wails echoing through the town. Her claws pulled Kindle in closer, ever-searching for a deeper embrace to smother the knot of anguish within her gut. With considerable strength Kindle managed to move his forelegs around her. Together, in the early morning, they sat in the road as Gilda bared her very soul to him. This went on for several minutes, long enough for Kindle to spot another pony approaching them.

“Rarity?”

Kindle’s voice alerted Gilda to the sad and stumbling image of Rarity, who abandoned her hold on him and raced over to the weary unicorn, falling at her hooves. “I’m sorry! I did… he… I’m such a b-bastard. I m-miss him so much, I… I’m sorry!”

“Gilda, dear,” Rarity whispered, pulling her into an embrace.

“He saved me! He s-saved me… and now he’s gone!”

Onlookers and whispered words meant nothing to either of them, resting against each other in a lingering embrace, and Kindle could only smile at the sight. Then he noticed Rarity’s hoof. It waved to him, urging him forward to them both, and when Kindle heeded her summons he was pulled into the embrace and surrendered to the warmth, feeling Gilda’s wing and foreleg slowly snake around his back. Soon the shuddering finally ceased and the three pulled away. Gilda, though, gently took Rarity’s hoof and slid the tied scrap back over it.

“This was… it was a rotten thing to do. Guh, I can’t believe I… I’m so sorry.”

Rarity’s forgiveness shined through her smile, warm and pushing back against the fallen tears across her cheeks, but just as she touched Gilda’s shoulder a clamor of metal made itself known. The trio turned to face it, their eyes met with the image of steel armor, twelve strong, marching in formation sporting Equestrian colors. At the head stood a guard in golden armor, his auburn mane poking through the helmet, and spoke with a booming voice.

“Greetings, Miss Rarity, I am Sergeant Major Lighthoof of the EUP. In light of the recent attack in Coltistrano, and the reports of an armed and dangerous fugitive loose in the region, Princess Celestia has ordered us as a vanguard force to investigate the region for signs of the perpetrator. Do you have a moment for questions?”

Rarity’s mouth hung open for a moment, snapped shut when she finally caught up with her own thoughts. “Oh, w-well, I’ve already passed all I know onto Twilight. Has she made it to Canterlot yet?”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss the location of the princesses in such times, you understand, but I promise we’re here for your safety. As you can see, we’ve already ordered our vessel to patrol the outskirts for any signs of the enemy, but they’ll have a much easier time with your cooperation.”

Rarity, Gilda and Kindle followed Lighthoof’s gaze upwards. Something large approached the city, large and with a profile the three slowly began to recognize, but Gilda’s keen eyes saw it first, her once quivering talons digging deep into the earth as she growled. High above the city, a fully equipped airship trailed across Ponyville’s skyline. The hull was lined in a darkened steel, and the Equestrian coat of arms proudly rested along the broad balloon carrying the menacing aircraft along the breeze, recent additions to the body of an aged ship the trio knew well. Broadside cannons lurched towards the city below. The Tornado, a revived corpse of wood and steel, loomed over Ponyville.

“That son of a-”

Gilda’s insult was hushed by a hoof from Rarity, pulling her aside with Kindle in tow. “Sergeant Major, I will be more than willing to aid in any way I can, but would you allow a lady to prepare herself, first? This is all happening so fast. You understand, yes?”

She fluttered her eyes twice, earning only Lighthoof’s silent babbles in response. The three made their way back to the boutique as silently as soon as he waved his hoof in silent compliance, moving quickly to outpace the soldiers fanning out across the street, and as the front door came into view Kindle nimbly opened it for the others to enter, keen eyes peering across the street as he slowly closed them off from the rest of the world. With the click of the door came Gilda restrained fury.

“That little shit! He’s brought the damn army on us, after he… he… argh!” Gilda beat the floor with her claw, rattling the windows as she did.

“Now what are we supposed to do?!” Rarity stomped over to the discarded coffee pot and held it in a death grip. “They’ll arrest us, and so long as we’re held in a lockup there’ll be no one left to hunt Shield Wall.”

Kindle, however, pulled the two together with a smile on his face. “But do you know what this means? They’re using the Tornado, and that means something is happening in Canterlot. Shield must be pulling the strings.”

“Sounds like that asswipe,” Gilda huffed. “ Now he’s rubbing it in! First chance we get, we’re gonna bust outta here. Fly out after dark and head straight for Canterlot.”

“They’ll have patrols in the sky. If we try flying out a pegasi squad will catch us, for sure.” Kindle turned to Rarity, expectantly, watching as she bit her hoof and glared at the floor.

“Of all the days I’d hoped to be wrong,” Rarity sighed. “Kindle, you worked with Shield, you must know something about what he’d do. What’s he planning? How would he be controlling the EUP? How could he?”

“After the Empire? I’d be surprised if he was even controlling what’s left of the Night Guard, but I’d bet he’s using someone else to issue orders to the EUP. Those soldiers out there look like standard troops, nothing unusual.”

“Fancy,” Rarity declared. “Shield and Abby got to Fancy. They must be forcing him and his office to promote this investigation, but Fancy doesn’t control the EUP, so there must be more than just him.”

Gilda spat at Rarity’s conclusion. “How many tartar sucking weirdos does he hang out with? If Shield got to one, you know he got to them all. Five bits says Lighthoof out there is a plant Shield’s using to box us in.”

“Then why hasn’t he killed us yet? He has every reason to do so, and the perfect cover.” Rarity’s question drew a ponderous sigh from Kindle, who stared at the ground in contemplation. She pulled away, crossing the shop floor and carrying the coffee pot back to its resting place in the kitchen. When she returned, she did so with firm steps and a tense brow.

“That settles it. We know he’s planning something, and if he isn’t going to kill us then we still have a chance to stop him before things get worse.” Rarity settled herself in front of the others and gave a sharp huff. “We’re going to Canterlot.”