6: Where The Shadows Lie
“So…here we are…” Twilight said, gesturing forward to the large lighthouse in front of them. Looking back at her newfound guests, she saw that the one in the mask and all black clothes was still leaning on the abyssinian, only now he seemed a bit weaker. Not that she could tell just by looking, but by the way the masked being slumped against his companion, it seemed like she was right.
The abyssinian didn’t look around too much as his attention was focused on his masked partner. In a distracted tone, he asked, “Where’s the bathroom?”
Twilight quickly showed him the larger first level bathroom. He thanked her, then closed and locked the door. Twilight could hear the worried tone of the abyssinian from inside and the discarding of clothes. She moved away and looked back to the pony member of the group. They’d been in such a hurry to get to Twilight’s house that she hadn’t had the time to get their names. “So…can I get you something to drink? I have water, milk, some remnants of apple cider from when I used to-”
“Water will do,” the orange unicorn said with a sharp edge to her voice as she looked at the living room before walking over to the nearby couch.
Twilight, now used to harsh tones used by ponies when speaking towards her, simply nodded and went into the kitchen, grabbed four glasses, filled a pitcher full of water, then levitated them all out, placing them on the coffee table before pouring water into two of them. She levitated one over to the unicorn, who took it without a word and began drinking while looking out of the window.
“…I never really introduced myself,” Twilight said, feeling a bit awkward due to the silence. At one point, she had no issues with silence, but now there was always a part of her that craved some sort of interaction with other ponies. The nurse was alright, but she wanted more. “My name is-”
“I know who you are, former Sovereign of Friendship,” the unicorn said with a hint of hostility in her tone before she took a breath and looked back to face Twilight. “The whole world knows who you are.”
Twilight’s ears crashed against her head. Sometimes she forgot that she and her former friends had been ousted by her former teacher and the Princess of Equestria. Her name had become infamous throughout Equestria and synonymous with failure. Not only that, but being called a former Sovereign instead of a Princess hurt even more somehow. It was the first time she’d ever been called that. “R-Right…I should have remembered that.”
The unicorn looked at Twilight with a scowl before she let out a small sigh. “Sunset Shimmer. That’s my name.”
Twilight nodded at her, giving the unicorn her best smile while sipping her water. “If my magic senses haven’t been dulled, then I must say that you feel like a powerful unicorn, Sunset,” she said.
“I know I am,” Sunset said as she swallowed half of the contents of the glass before putting it down.
Twilight slightly bit her lower lip, wondering what else to talk about. She took a deep breath. “Thank you…for earlier…you three didn’t have to jump in and save me.”
“Believe me, if it were up to me, I wouldn’t have,” Sunset said, “but Revan stepped in and when Tobias joined him, I figured I would need to get involved as well.”
“Revan…is that the masked biped with you?” Twilight asked.
“And Tobias is the abyssinian,” Sunset said.
Twilight nodded. “Well, thank you for trying to defend me, even if you didn’t want to.”
Sunset’s jaw clenched and she muttered, “Don’t mention it…ever…”
At that moment, the front door opened. Twilight turned to see the nurse walking in with her normal smile on her face. She looked over at Twilight and waved. “Good afternoon, Miss Sparkle,” she greeted, “and how are you doing-?” She paused when she saw Sunset Shimmer. “Oh! Hello! I was unaware we had guests.”
“It was a bit sudden,” Twilight admitted, “but she and her companions needed a place to stay for the night.”
“Hi, nurse,” Sunset said before nodding at the older pony.
The nurse had a surprised look on her face. “Well, this is unlike you, Miss Sparkle,” she said before looking around. “Where are the others?”
“One of them got injured in an incident in town,” Twilight briefly explained, “so they’re in the bathroom with the other one being treated for some injuries.”
The nurse’s smile vanished and she looked at the locked door. “Why didn’t you say so?!” She galloped to the door and knocked on it. “Hello? I heard one of you got hurt? I’m a nurse, so I can help.”
The voice of Tobias came through the door. “Thanks for the offer, but I can handle things here.”
“I’m well trained in helping heal ponies,” the nurse insisted.
“We’re not ponies,” Tobias replied before they heard a grunting noise and Tobias saying, “Easy, easy…”
“I can still help,” the nurse said, sounding more worried now.
“Nurse, leave them be,” Twilight said. “It sounds like Tobias has things handled.”
The nurse looked unsure, but slowly nodded. “Well, alright, but I’m always here if you need help. Do you need medical supplies?”
There was silence for a few seconds, then Tobias said, “Some bandages and maybe something to sterilize wounds would be useful, please.”
The nurse’s eyes widened and she nodded. “I’ll be right back!” So saying, she galloped out of the room, heading down a nearby hallway.
“Who’s the pony in the nurse getup?” Sunset asked with some amusement in her voice.
Twilight’s ears fell back against her head once more as she turned back to Sunet. “She’s…my personal nurse…” she explained.
“To keep you from going insane again?” Sunset asked with a small smirk. When Twilight nodded, Sunset chuckled. “I see old Sunny hasn’t changed. She’s still coddling you, her former ‘faithful student’.” She made air quotes with her hooves.
Twilight’s eyebrows show up in confusion. “Princesss Celestia ‘hasn’t changed’? What do you mean?”
Sunset’s smile faded into a scowl. “That’s none of your damned business,” she snapped.
Twilight recoiled at the sudden hostility and cursing, but calmed herself. “Sorry,” she said.
Sunset scoffed at this, and there were a few more seconds of silence, broken only by the nurse coming back and giving what Tobias had requested to the abyssinian. She then asked the two in the living room if she could get them anything, but Sunset just shook her head and Twilight did as well. She then left the room, leaving it in more awkward silence. A few minutes passed by and eventually Sunset sighed. “So…from sovereign to lighthouse keeper.” She looked around. “Still looks like you’re doing good.”
Twilight shrugged a bit. “It keeps me busy,” she said, “and it’s a necessary job.”
“Can’t imagine many ships come by here at all,” Sunset said, looking out of the window that faced the ocean.
“A hooffull do pass by, we do get ships coming in every now and then,” Twilight explained.
“That’s surprising,” Sunset said, still looking at the ocean.
“Yeah…well most of what they bring is shipped to Zephyr Heights,” Twilight said.
“Never heard of it,” Sunset said, a small hint of curiosity in her voice.
“It’s a new pegasus settlement close to us,” Twilight said, “a Cloudsdale colony. They live on the cliffside.”
Sunset looked a bit more curious now. “A cliffside settlement. That’s not something you see in Equestria every day.”
Twilight heard the sarcasm dripping from her voice and nodded. “Yes…true.” She didn’t want to antagonize this pony any more than she apparently already had just by existing. She tried desperately to change the subject, and she thought back to Sunset’s display of magic. “I have to say, you seem to be a very powerful mage. It’s rare to see ponies who have that kind of skill.”
Sunset smirked. “I’ve only grown stronger since I left Equestria,” she said haughtily. Twilight didn’t like this as it reminded her of how prideful Trixie had been before, but she let the unicorn continue, especially since unlike Trixie, this unicorn could clearly back her claims up. “There are secrets of magic all across the world that have been lost to time. I’ve found a few of them and mastered their spells. I’ve even heard rumors of ancient pony relics from even before the Dark Age of Ponydom.”
Twilight tilted her head, ears perked forward. “Before?”
Sunset chuckled in amusement. “You didn’t learn about the times before we were pulled apart? The times when we lived in some semblance of harmony before the Dark Age? You never heard about the ancient Dream Valley? The Six Wands of the Six Princesses? Tambelon?”
Twilight shook her head. “I never saw anything about it during my studies when I was Princess Celestia’s student.”
Sunset scoffed. “Typical. You probably never even heard about the mythical Megan Williams, then.”
Twilight’s ears perked up. “May Gan Williams?”
Sunset shook her head. “Megan Williams.”
Twilight said the name a few times, eventually wrapping her tongue around the strange sounding name. “Can you…tell me more?”
Sunset snorted a bit, then shrugged. “Eh, sure. Got nothing better to do.”
“What’s going on out here?”
The two turned to see Tobias walking out with Revan leaning slightly against the abyssinian. Revan didn’t look any different, but Twilight suspected that the bandages were underneath his clothes. She stood up. “How are you two doing?”
Tobias gave a small smile. “We’re alright. I just had a few scrapes and bruises, but Revan here took a bigger beating than I did.”
“I can cast that healing spell again if you like,” Sunset offered.
Tobias looked at Revan with a confused expression. “Again?”
Revan looked at him and nodded. “She cast a spell that did help a bit.”
“It’s just draining for me, but I can manage,” Sunset said.
“I know some healing spells, too,” Twilight spoke up. “It’s my fault you got hurt, so if you’re okay with it, then I can try and help.”
“Revan’s body doesn’t react the way you’d think when magic is cast on him,” Tobias explained as he led Revan to an open spot on the couch where he sat the masked figure down.
“It did feel strange, but he said it helped,” Sunset said.
“I have a lot of magic reserves, so I can help too,” Twilight added. This earned her a glare from Sunset, but she didn’t care. All she wanted to do was help the being who had defended her when nopony else had done so in a long while.
Tobias looked at the unicorn and alicorn duo, then back at Revan, who nodded. “Well…alright.”
Twilight and Sunset began casting a healing spell on Revan, and Twilight could immediately tell that Revan was no ordinary creature. The magic she was pouring into him seemed to vanish and drain into him. Still, she continued pouring her magic into him and as she did so, Revan slowly sat up and began flexing his arms and legs. He touched a few spots on his arms and even gently touched the side of his head. When Twilight couldn’t keep going, she stopped, as did Sunset. Looking up, Twilight asked, “Did…that help?”
Revan stood and walked around the room, lifting his legs and rolling his arms a bit before he turned. “Yes. Thank you.”
Twilight felt relief wash over her as Revan sat back down. She then gestured to the two empty glasses on the table. “Here’s some water for you, if you’d like some.”
Tobias nodded and poured a glass before offering it to Revan, who simply shook his head and said, “I’m alright, thank you.”
“So, what exactly were you two talking about before we came out here?” Tobias asked before taking a sip of the water.
“I was just about to inform this former sovereign about Megan Williams,” Sunset said with a smirk.
Twilight winced, but also saw Revan apparently react to this. He looked over at Sunset and spoke. “You know about her?”
Sunset’s gaze shot over to Revan. “You know about her?!”
“Bits and pieces,” Revan said, “but tell me what you know.”
Twilight turned to Sunset, her curiosity piqued once more. Sunset still looked a bit stunned by Revan’s apparent knowledge of this strange Megan Williams, but she cleared her throat. “So, I don’t know too much about her,” she began, “but the books I found on her all say something similar. According to ancient myths and legends, she and her brother Daniel Williams and her sister Molly Williams came to our world many thousands of years ago from a distant land. Back then, apparently the sun and moon moved on their own and the ponies lived in some large valley in a semblance of harmony.”
“Dream Valley.”
Everyone looked at Revan, but none more so than Sunset, who looked shocked. “How did you know?”
“Continue.”
No one spoke for a bit before Sunset cleared her throat. “Well, anyway, these three siblings were summoned many times to help deal with issues before the Dark Age of Ponydom.”
“What kind of issues?” Tobias asked.
Sunset paused and thought for a bit. “I didn’t get too far into the book before I put it down. I wasn’t interested in ancient pony history at the time. I did see a drawing somepony made of them, though.”
“What did they look like?” Twilight asked, her curiosity starting to get the better of her.
Sunset smirked, then raised her horn. A large mist rose from her horn and created an image of a dimly lit page of a book. To Twilight’s shock, there were three bipedal figures there. Three human figures. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Revan lean forward, his head turned upwards to look at the magical display. Twilight’s eyes were wide as saucers as she took in the well drawn image of the three humans. She had no means of judging their ages, but with the depictions of several other ponies standing and smiling next to the three (including one that looks a lot like Applejack) she figured that the depictions were accurate. They looked about as old as Jason Wright had been, as they towered over the ponies below. Oddly enough, there was a small dragon there who looked somewhat similar to Spike, albeit with lighter pink scales instead of the darker purple her Spike had.
“Firefly, Applejack, Twilight, Bow Tie, Spike, Megan, Daniel, and Molly.” Everyone turned to Revan who was now standing and facing the image with his arms crossed as he looked it over.
“The book didn’t mention the names of those ponies and that dragon,” Sunset said, “so how do you know their names?” Revan simply looked at Sunset, the bright glow of his glowing eyes seeming to stare into Sunset’s soul. Twilight saw Sunset shiver very slightly as she added, “That’s for you to know, eh? Fine.”
“So…does this mean that Jason Wright wasn’t the first human to come to our world?” Tobias asked.
“Seems that way,” Sunset said as she dispelled the image, although Twilight noted that she was still looking suspiciously at Revan, at least for a few more seconds. She turned back to Twilight. “Guess three humans got along well with our ancestors, so I wonder why the first human to visit us in thousands of years was forced to kill himself to escape the pain and suffering you inflicted on him, hmm?”
Twilight’s ears drooped again as the immense guilt of her actions and subsequent inaction mounted up against her once again. She barely heard the scolding tone of Tobias as she looked down at the glass of water in her magical grip, the ice inside having melted already. She jumped a bit when she felt a warm and tender paw on her back. Looking up, she saw Tobias looking down at her with a somewhat sad smile. “Sorry about Sunset,” he said. “She tends to be…opinionated.”
Looking around, Twilight noticed that Sunset was now gone, leaving only her and the other two mercenaries. She put the glass down on the coffee table and sighed. “She’s not wrong…I messed up big time.”
“That doesn’t excuse her words, or what happened to you earlier,” Tobias said as he grabbed the box of donuts he’d carried with him earlier along with Revan. He opened it up and placed it on the table. “A thank you for letting us stay here.”
Twilight shook her head. “It’s really nothing,” she said, “if anything, you deserve a place to stay after helping me when you didn’t need to. And speaking of, I do have a couple of spare rooms where you can stay. I’ll show you to them.” With that, she headed upstairs, leading them to the few spare rooms that were in the house.
Celestia rubbed her eyes as she looked at the jumble of letters in front of her, trying to make sense of the dancing words on the scrolls in front of her on the desk. The sun had long since set, leaving the night sky crystal clear thanks to the nightly weather crew dispersing clouds above the capital of the kingdom.
She couldn’t even remember just what she was reading over, but she thought it was something to do with the crop yield from Appleloosa being lower than it ever had been. With Sweet Apple Acres becoming defunct from the unusual disease that had struck the entire farm, the other farms around the southern part of Equestria had to step up, at least for a while. Not only that, but Celestia feared that they may have to dip into the royal granaries to keep food costs down so that they wouldn’t have to export food from elsewhere around the world, especially since the other nations had begun to look on the nation with unfavorable eyes.
There was a flash of bright blue light, and her sister was there. She wore her standard regalia and had a frown on her muzzle. “Sister, are you still up?” she asked with a concerned tone, “I believe it’s long past time for you to retire.”
“I was going to retire, but then the events with Jason happened, and-”
“I meant retire for the night,” Luna corrected her.
Celestia felt her cheeks get warm. “Oh, that.” She looked at her paperwork. “I was just about to…” she yawned at this, then cleared her throat, “…finishing up.”
Luna looked over her shoulder at the paperwork that Celestia was looking over. “Now, I admit I’m still a thousand years out of touch when it comes to certain aspects of ruling, but I don’t think that Apple is spelled with a Z.”
Celestia looked at the paperwork again, then sighed when she saw the spelling error. Quickly fixing it with her magic, she continued on. “Did you come to say something, sister?” Celestia asked, growing a bit annoyed now.
“Yes. I’m putting you to bed.” Luna raised her horn and the stacks of paper in front of Celestia vanished in a flash.
Celestia turned and gave her sister a glare. “I wasn’t done!”
“You’re done for tonight,” Luna said sternly. “Now get to bed.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” Celestia said hotly, “you’re not Mother!”
“You’ve been sleeping poorly for weeks now, and it’s starting to show,” Luna said without a hint of fear. “It’s beginning to affect you. You’re getting up later than normal, you’ve missed raising the sun a number of times meaning I’ve had to do it, you’ve started losing your temper more according to Prince Blueblood and some other nobleponies, and more.”
Celestia quickly stood and stared down at her sister. She was growing furious now. First Discord comes and tells her the news about Sunset and now this?! She tried to cool herself down, but with only partial success. “Luna,” she began through gritted teeth, “this kingdom is on the decline. I’m trying my best to keep things from ripping apart at the seams. I have too much to do, and the only pony I trust to help me is you!”
Luna shook her head. “There are other ponies around who can aid you,” she said, “but you’ve gotten too hooves-on in the past two years. Has the death of Jason Wright affected you so much that you are unable to trust anypony?”
“Three years, Luna, three damned years!” Celestia shouted before standing and pacing the bedroom. “There were guards in the town, the mayor could have reported it to me, even my former student ignored him and didn’t mention a word of this! I know you would have told me everything, but all of Ponyville just ignored and abused him without my knowing!” She collapsed onto her bed and screamed into a pillow before sitting back up. “It started with me. I trusted my little ponies too much. I thought they were better…”
“Not everypony is like Ponyville,” Luna said, slowly approaching the solar princess with a softer expression. “There are many good ponies out there. Some are even in our court. Look at Lord Fancy Pants and his wife Lady Fleur De Lis. Lady Noblesse Oblige, too. Those three are some of the amazing nobles who have done so much good for Equestria, and they’re not alone. You’re taking too much on, and you’re losing sleep because of it.”
Celestia paused a bit. She didn’t want to admit it, but she knew her sister was right. While she did trust Luna to be there for her, she still had lost one thousand years of experience thanks to being trapped in the moon. Luna had proven herself over and over again, and Celestia was grateful for it. Still, she thought about what Luna was saying. Luna sat there patiently while Celestia thought. Minutes passed.
At that moment, a chiropteran pony, otherwise known as a bat pony, stepped from out of the corner of the room where the shadows lay. Her sudden appearance made Celestia’s heart leap out of her chest and she nearly jumped but caught herself. She put a hoof to her chest and looked at the chiropteran mare. “Misty Dawnfire, if I’m not mistaken.”
The chiropteran nodded quickly. “You got it right on the first try this time, Princess,” she said, sounding impressed. She turned to Luna and bowed respectfully. “Greetings, your Highness.”
“Greetings, Miss Dawnfire,” Luna said. “What brings you to our sister’s royal chambers so late at night?”
“Apologies for the late arrival, Princess,” she said to Celestia, “but I have a report from some of our agents in the field, one from Dodge City and the other from Maretime Bay. I felt neither could wait.”
Celestia’s ears swiveled forward as she directed her full attention to the chiropteran agent. “What do you have to report?” she asked.
Misty cleared her throat and faced both princesses. “From what the agent in Dodge City has been able to gather, there was an unusual incident in that town a couple or so years ago. They couldn’t get a clear year number. A strange bipedal creature tried to enter the town but the ponies there, led by one Cherry Jubilee, chased the creature out of town a number of times despite said creature claiming to not mean any harm and just wanting to both be friends and to be trying to find his way to Ponyville. The last time, the creature fled south.”
Celestia’s ears dropped at this. It was just another example of her ponies and their increasing intolerance for anything other than themselves. However, something in Misty’s explanation caught Luna’s attention. “Bipedal, you say?” Luna asked. What manner of creature was it? Dragon? Abyssinian? Goblin?”
Misty shook her head. “Judging from the description, it sounds like this creature may have been a human.”
Celestia’s eyes went wide in alarm and she stood up. “A human?!”
“When was this incident??” Luna asked, now fully on alert.
“Sounds like it happened shortly after Jason’s suicide,” Misty said, “but the agent in the field had conflicting reports. Still, they all agree on the description. Pale pink-ish skin, five digits on the hands, forward facing eyes and somewhat of a gorilla-ish appearance by some. The ones who did speak about it said that it wasn’t Jason, but the features were similar. They believed the human was male, though.”
Celestia’s heart began to race. Another human in their world? What could have happened to him? She mentally pulled up a map of Dodge City and its surroundings. If this human, were it a human, were chased away and headed south, he would have headed directly to the Badlands, a lawless piece of desert where Equestria had no jurisdiction. She inhaled deeply. “Have you dispatched anypony to Thornfall?”
“Already done, Princess,” Misty said. “Several of our undercover ponies are flying there now.”
Celestia nodded. Thornfall was the only city out in that deadly desert. There were no other settlements out there except for farms that collected clouds from the sky to provide water for the city. These moisture farmers, as they called themselves, were usually pegasi or griffons, had several farms all over the Badlands where they brought clouds down near the ground where they made the clouds rain into large troughs of land. The majority of this water was then redirected to Thornfall while they kept the rest for themselves.
Clearing her throat, Celestia looked back at Misty. “Does your undercover operative know what to do if they make contact with this creature, if it is indeed a human?”
“The Wright Protocol, yes Princess,” Misty said.
“Good,” Celestia said with relief. “What’s the other news?”
“Our agent in Maretime Bay reported that the Apple family from Ponyville made it there safe and sound with the help of a group of mercenaries,” Misty said. “They did seem to have some trouble on the road, but other than that they seem to be settling in well.”
Celestia nodded. She would send out an official to offer aid from the kingdom to help pay for anything they might need to help them rebuild. “Good to hear.”
“There was something else of note from that town,” Misty said.
Celestia’s relief turned to concern when she saw Misty’s uncertain expression. “What is it?”
“Twilight Sparkle was assaulted by a group of several ponies,” Misty said.
Celestia shot out of her seat. “Assaulted?!”
“Is she okay?” Luna asked in a calmer demeanor.
“From what we know, she made it out relatively unscathed,” Misty said, “but a few other creatures stepped into the fight to defend her. A unicorn mare, an abyssinian male, and a masked figure. Apparently, those three were the mercenaries that escorted the Apple family from Ponyville to Maretime Bay.”
Celestia was relieved to hear that Twilight was alright. Despite everything, she still did care for her former student. It had hurt to see her in that mental institution for those two years, but she needed the help. “I see. Is there anything else?”
“The pony of the group matched the description of a pony of interest you gave us a few years ago,” Misty said. “One Sunset Shimmer.”
Celestia felt her knees go weak. Whether it was from how tired she was or from shock or even a mixture of both she couldn’t say, but then she thought back to what the eyepatch wearing Discord had told her earlier. Oddly enough, she focused on the words Discord had said about one of Sunset’s new companions instead of her. Why did they stick out to her? She shook her head clear of these thoughts. “Have our pony in the field there keep an eye on her. When she leaves, try and keep tabs on her.” She hated doing this, but she was worried about Sunset. If this pony was Sunset, Celestia wanted to make sure that her former student was kept safe. Sunset might hate her for this, but at the moment, Celestia could live with it. She’d rather have Sunset alive and hating her than harmed.
“As you command, Princess,” Misty said.
“Is there anything else you have for us?” Luna asked.
“A hospital report and a guard incident report from Maretime Bay,” Misty said, reaching into a saddlebag and pulling out a folder. “It’s about the leader of the ponies who led the assault on Sparkle.”
Celestia took it and read it over, Luna standing next to her and reading alongside her. Celestia’s brow furling further with each sentence she read. For a unicorn to lose a horn at such a young age was truly horrible, but modern day medicine had progressed far enough so that if doctors were quick enough, a horn or any other severed limb could be replaced without permanent damage. However, this was an unusual report to say the least. If whatever weapon had been used on this unicorn was used again, it could spell certain disaster.
Fortunately, it seemed as if this weapon was used in self-defense by one of the mercenaries, at least according to the witness reports she saw from the guard report. She put the papers on her desk. “Thank you, Misty. Was there anything else?”
“No, Princess,” Misty said.
“Then you’re dismissed.”
“Thank you, Princess.” With that, the chiropteran bowed respectfully to the princesses and slid back into the shadows, disappearing as their kind tended to do. Celestia leaned back in her chair and rubbed her eyes with her hooves. Things were happening at a rapid pace, and she didn’t like it.
Luna looked over the papers and then raised her horn. They all disappeared in an instant before she turned to Celestia. “I will begin dealing with this issue this very night,” Luna said, “so you go to sleep.”
Celestia, too tired to argue with her sister anymore as their earlier brief fight had taken a lot out of her, simply nodded and collapsed onto her bed. She felt a sheet being pulled over her before she too passed out.
The northern mountains beyond the Crystal Empire were devoid of any habitation. Not even during the summer months did the sunlight melt the snow at the bottom of the mountains. Ancient glaciers covered these mountains, growing every year. One particular glacier had formed much faster than the rest, having created a massive dome of ice over a vast valley below. Over the centuries, the massive dome of ice was covered by snowfall after snowfall until the valley was covered in nothing but darkness.
However, even within said darkness there was light. A single cave existed with a pair of stone doors that led down into a vast but empty cavernous city. The dark icy blue light that came from the ceiling above illuminated the ancient city below. A city inhabited by nopony for over two thousand years.
In one corner of the ancient city were signs of recent habitation. A ruddy warm light came from inside and smoke came from the recently refurbished mansion’s chimney. It was towards this mansion that Obscura flew, her dark wings buzzing behind her as the mare landed quietly in front of the door. Two burly stallion guards saw her and quietly opened the doors for her. Instantly she heard tortured female screams. She smirked as she walked through the recently cleaned hideout into the main area where she saw two other stallions, their wings buzzing and creating a gust of localized wind that was pulling a certain changeling queen’s legs in different directions. Standing on a dais nearby was a tall, elegant mare who had her features covered by a pure white hooded cloak.
As Obscura walked in, she heard Chrysalis shout out, “Please! No more! I can’t take it!”
“Then you will tell us what you had planned for Equestria,” one of the interrogators demanded.
Chrysalis was sobbing by this point, and Obscura saw that she looked thinner than before she left to talk with her Maretime Bay contact. “I-I swear we weren’t planning anything!” she whimpered.
“That’s a filthy lie, you worthless insect,” the other interrogator growled, rearing up and smashing his hoof into her exoskeleton, breaking it and exposing the dark green blood within. Chrysalis’ eyes went wide and she went limp, clearly overstimulated. She wasn’t knocked out, but she was lying there in excruciating pain.
“Now why did the two of you do that?” the hooded mare asked in a soft voice. She didn’t sound mad. Instead, she sounded like a disappointed mother who was about to scold her foals. “You went too far.”
The two stallions quickly bowed. “Forgive us, your majesty,” one of them said regretfully.
The mare waved a hoof. “Never mind that. She’s clearly in no mood to talk anymore. Stand aside.” As the mare stood, the stallions stepped away, as did Obscura. Obscura knew her queen well enough that she could tell when the golden shoe wearing mare would be using her incredible magic. She watched as underneath the white hood a bright pale purple magical glow began to be seen. She waited to hear their majesty speak. And speak she did.
“Thy heart is cruel,
“and you’re a fool
“to challenge our future throne.”
“Thy punishment thus,
“no need for a fuss,
“as art you shall atone.”
Chrysalis tried to move, but was unable to as the magic surrounded her. She was lifted up into the air and moved towards a blank canvas hanging on the wall. She tried to beg and plead for her life, but nothing seemed to sway the hooded mare as Chrysalis sank into the canvas. There was a flash of light as she completely vanished, only to be replaced by an oil painting of a terrified looking Chrysalis, both hooves pressing against the painting as if trying to break free. However, she was now trapped forever in a painting, unable to move.
The tall, elegant and cloaked mare then turned her attention to Obscura. “And which one of my dear ponies are you, young one?”
“Obscura, your majesty,” the young gray mare said with a bow and a buzz of her black wings.
From beneath the hood, the elegant mare chuckled warmly. “Ah yes, I remember you. The Maretime Bay branch. I wasn’t expecting a report from you for another week. Is something wrong?”
“I received a communique from our contact,” Obscura reported, reaching into a small saddlebag on her back and pulling out a clean white folded note.
The note was taken up in a pale purple aura and unfolded before being brought closer to their queen. She read the node and then softly folded it back before turning back to sit in her throne, the golden coated shoes ringing out melodiously through the empty halls. When she sat down, she leaned back and removed her hood and cloak, revealing the horn and wings of their queen. Her dark purple eyes looked thoughtful as her blue striped mane and tail blew in the ethereal wind behind her. “This is most interesting…I have not seen one since the time…of…” Turning to Obscura, she asked, “Have you confirmed this sighting yourself?”
“Yes, your majesty,” Obscura said. “The human, if indeed it is a human, has been taken in by former princess Twilight Sparkle.”
“‘If it is a human’? What do you mean?” the alicorn asked.
“Your majesty, this bipedal creature is covered in black clothes and wears a mask unlike anything I’ve ever seen,” Obscura reported. “His entire body is covered so we can’t get a good look. He has five digits on each appendage, though.”
“Then he’s a human,” the alicorn said. She stood and walked over to a massive mirror hanging on a nearby wall.
“What are your orders, my queen?” Obscura asked.
The alicorn held up her hoof, then reached out to touch the sides of the mirror. In a tender voice she began to chant once again.
“Oh, magic mirror of mystique
“reveal the truth to me.
“A view of Maretime Bay I seek;
“a human I wish to see.”
The darkened mirror’s surface began to softly glow, then swirling clouds swarmed around the reflection. The scene on its surface shifted to reveal a room at night. There were two figures sitting on the edge of a bed. One was clearly an abyssinian with black fur, and the other was a hooded figure wearing nothing but black. A mask lay on a nearby table, but the mirror was unable to see the face of the hooded being.
“G, is there any reason why you continue to act like that?” the abyssinian asked. “The mysterious act is getting a bit old.”
The figure seemed to sigh, then reached up with a gloved hand and removed the hood, revealing a familiar type of face. By now, everypony in Equestria knew what Jason Wright looked like due to his features being drawn by artists, and while this human wasn’t quite the same, the features were identifiable. This human had a few scars on his pale face, light blue eyes, long brown hair that was damp from sweat, and a tired but stern expression on his face. “If I don’t use that mask, I’d have been killed long ago,” the human replied.
“G, it’s not the mask that makes you,” the abyssinian said in a reassuring tone. “You’re a good mercenary on your own without using that mask.”
“I’m not ready to give up the mask,” the human simply known as ‘G’ replied, “and I’m a mediocre mercenary at best. Besides, the mask makes people fear me. It gets the job done a lot easier.”
“Is this because of that comment I made about you being knocked around a lot?” the abyssinian asked. “Don’t forget, you saved me during our mission to-”
“That mission was mostly me stumbling around looking for that fucking relic that was dust in the end,” the human replied in a testy tone, “and as I recall, I stumbled into more traps than was necessary.”
“Nobody’s good during their first few jobs,” the abyssinian said in a reassuring tone, “and besides, you were still recovering from dehydration and being chased out of Equestria by those ponies.”
That caught Obscura’s attention, and it also seemed to catch the attention of the queen. He was chased out of Equestria? What for? Was he dangerous? Was it their fear? She was curious to learn more so she continued to listen. The human spoke again. “The fact still stands that I’m not the best mercenary. We’re barely making ends meet as it is, and we’re about to lose our home.”
“Then let’s go somewhere else,” Tobias suggested.
“And do what? I’m an unknown here, and people fear that which they don’t understand.” The human sounded resigned to his fate. “I’m weaker than even the weakest earth pony and the little bits of fighting I do know haven’t done me much good lately. Shit, you saw what those ponies did to me earlier. Took me to the cleaners.”
The abyssinian made a “Tsk” sound before saying, “Sounds like you’re giving up.”
“I’m just facing facts, Toby,” the human said, “ponies and other races won’t accept me for who or what I am. That incident when you brought me to the guild saw to that.”
“I accepted you,” the abyssinian named Toby said.
“I believe the first words out of your mouth were ‘Damn, what shithole did you crawl out of?’”
“And I apologized for that,” Toby said in exasperation.
“And then there was that hornless unicorn deserter who stopped my heart,” the human said. “And let’s not forget the earth pony who almost shattered my ribcages, and then there was Cherry Jubilee and her squad of haters-!”
“G, come on!” Toby said. “Yes, I know Dodge City chased you out, but it was just one town. Are you holding that against the entire nation?” Obscura watched Toby scoot over, pushing the mask behind them as he put a comforting paw on the human’s shoulder. “You’re my best friend, G, but I’m worried. You’ve been like this for years.”
The human was silent for a bit. Then, after about a half minute, he said, “I know…it’s hard not to see the positive light when you’re stuck in the Badlands.”
“I have those days too, but we’re luckier than most,” Toby said kindly. “We at least get consistent jobs, we have enough food, we have a place to live that keeps out most of the sand.”
The human sighed. “I hate sand. It’s course and irritating and it gets everywhere,” he muttered.
“Imagine having fur like me, G,” Tobias said. “And you’re really not as bad as all that. You’ve become a decent fighter. You have decent muscle now and you’ve caught the basics of Cat-Fu. Come on, turn that frown upside down?” He reached over and gave one side of the human’s cheek a pinch, pulling his lip up to emulate a smile.
The human chuckled a little bit. “I know you’re trying to cheer me up a bit, and I appreciate the effort, but it’ll take a lot more than just a single conversation to make up for what I’m feeling.”
“Well, you aren’t getting rid of me so easily,” Toby said. “Just…try?”
The human sighed deeply, then said, “I make no promises.”
At that, their queen lowered herself down. The mirror began to swirl and returned to its darkened state. The queen turned, looking a bit saddened. “There is little to no kindness left in Equestria, it would seem,” she said sorrowfully. “Harmony has given way to cruelty and hatred. My little ponies have fallen from grace. They must be shown the way.” She then turned to Obscura. “My dear, rest here tonight. In the morning, come to me. I will write a message to your contact in Maretime Bay and you will deliver it.”
“As you command, your majesty,” Obscura said.
“And remember, my dear pony, the shadows will fall…”
“…before the dawn of the age of majesty,” Obscura finished the mantra.
The queen gave her a loving smile, then nodded. “Now off to sleep. Soon, Equestria will shine brightly again.”
Obscura smiled, then turned to head to her room in the mansion. She couldn’t wait for their time to come. The queen and her loyal ponies would rise and lead Equestria into an age of peace and prosperity.
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An age peace and prosperity? For whom exactly?
Perhaps this alicorn will try to earn the favor of Gregory, so that she can bring back the good days of Megan. Though seeing how she treated Chrysalis, I doubt it will be for anyone other then pony, dragon, or human. Might explain where all the other species went in the newest generation.
I'm hoping either Celestia/Luna or even this other Alicorn Queen "Onscura" to pay Dodge City residents, or even visit that nasty EX-Unicorn bitch and her Stallion Goons for Justified punishment.
I want the Alicorns to make them all pay the consequences for hurting ANOTHER Human; "Revan" ( Gregory )!!!!!
IF the Mane Six and Ponyville paid the hefty price, why not Dodge City or that mare bitch and her Stallion Goons for attacking another human like that.
By this point, everypony should finally get though to their hypocritical, and dumb brains that racism/xenophobic/misanthrope would NOT be tolerated!!!!!
What do you think, Morbiusgreen?
11875744
You do realized that Chrysalis isn't the right person to defend in this circumstance?
Personally, she probably had it coming.
trixie's still living rent free in twinkle's head, huh?
11875770
I understand Chrysalis is a villain, but I don't see that as an excuse to be just as bad if not worse then her. Still I understand your viewpoint.
I wonder why if Celestia and Luna know their nation is in decline but don’t do anything about it?
Oh boy, who would this be?
This new would-be ruler seems to have beneficent plans, but she sure can be brutal when she chooses to.
Her subordinates behave worse than that, even against her wishes.
I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.
The little history lesson was cool, though.
I always like a story that takes earlier generation MLP lore and treats it seriously.
There were surprisingly dark moments back then, not unlike human history.
That's what you get for treating those ponies like children for a thousand years, Celestia. If you wanted them to respect you, you should've returned the courtesy by acknowledging everything that makes up who they are, even their age. No one likes to be coddled forever, even those who lost their trust and respect in you.
Basically, if you want an era of peace and harmony, you must acknowledge the good and bad things around you, like both sides of the same coin. And you should take care not to favor one side over the other, because both sides are a part of everything in the world.
Faust?
11875817
Perhaps that black eye wasn't enough.
11877026
With the double emphasis on “majesty” towards the end, I find myself wondering a bit if it might not actually be Queen Majesty from the G1 UK comics. The character description on both Wikipedia and TV tropes (blue mane, golden horseshoes, and implying that she’s quite nice to her friends but can be merciless to evil and has punished villains by turning them to stone or trapping them in other inanimate forms before) would seem to fit, and while she’s canonically “only” a powerful unicorn, ascension sometime in all the time that has passed since or simply an error in transmission would not be out of the question. And if there is a link to those particular stories, then her followers with their curiously “buzzing” wings could perhaps be flutter ponies...
Of course, it’s also always possible that these are just another bunch of changelings who have taken exception to Chrysalis’s past actions. Time and future chapters will have to tell.
Wonder how Spike reacts to about there's another Spike many years ago?
Well, this new queen sounds nice...
Or she's a very good sociopath.
11875770
You know Chrysalis in Ending-verse usually nice right?
So i gonna give her the “good until proven evil”