Chapter 22: The Tug of Life
Chapter 22
The Tug of Life
A gentle summer breeze caressed the sparkling surface of the lake’s water, sending dancing ripples across it. Under the setting sun, Blink floated motionless in the water, his chest rising and falling in a peaceful rhythm, almost as if it was in tune with the nature around him.
The slick pair of shades protecting his eyes reflected the reddening light of the descending sun, his only companion being his pesky, pitch black raven that was conveniently resting on the tip of his horn, inches above the almost lukewarm water.
“Really?” came a rather irritated voice from the not-so-distant shore. “How do you even do that?”
Blink turned his head towards the young dragon standing at the side of the lake, much to Raven’s annoyance as the pony’s horn she was perched on dipped slightly in the water.
“Featherweight spell,” he said serenely, paddling one of his front hooves through the water to ‘turn’ towards Spike before bringing it back up on top of his chest.
“So this is your idea of helping me out?” the dragon continued in his complaint.
Blink simply waved him away. “Planning is the most important stage, my dear Spike,” he said after a chewy yawn. “Plus, it’s not always that I get to enjoy a relaxed afternoon, you know?”
Spike puffed smoke in annoyance, but as he turned away, a sly grin crept onto his face. With a powerful couple of wing flaps, he took to the skies, aiming for the scattered clouds above.
Blink lifted his head slightly, and when he failed to spot his scaly friend, he just shrugged and dipped the back of his head into the water as his body floated away across the surface of the lake.
The song of the birds and the whisper of the calm wind were everything that reached Blink’s ears. He sighed deeply, taking a mental note that the water was getting colder as the sun was losing its dominance on the darkening sky. Just a few more minutes and he would-
He opened his eyes, ears flicking upwards towards the source of an odd, whistling sound. His mouth hung a little, his entire attention focused on the rapidly approaching dragon. Spike was diving straight towards the lake water at a ninety degree angle and Blink could swear he saw his grin all over that scaly, purple face of his. The stallion immediately canceled the featherweight spell, deciding not to get out of that situation defeated. He dropped into the water, only his head above surface. Raven was long gone, wisely deciding to watch the forthcoming show from high above.
Blink looked up and his horn started glowing; Spike was falling at terminal velocity, his wings no longer flapping as he snapped them against his body and was now rotating in his fall, his slim body cutting through the air like a bullet. Blink placed his front hooves on the water, a soft glowing aura coating their base. With a low grunt, he pulled the rest of his body onto the surface of the water, managing to stand on top of the lake’s surface, water dripping from his mane and coat.
Moments afterwards, Spike pierced the water, sparks and smoke trailing from his mouth right before the impact, his chest swollen with air. The unicorn braced for the waves created by the dragon’s cannonball dive but the only effect was a tall, slim column of water that recoiled from the impact and then settled back into the lake. The stallion stared at the water beneath his hooves. Maybe he was too cautious about Spike’s initial intentions, maybe the young dragon just wanted to scare him and show off, maybe-
Blink’s eye’s widened as the distant bottom of the small lake lit up, Spike’s contour visible through the water. He raised his head towards the library, just in time to notice Twilight coming towards them, a beautiful, innocent and yet unaware smile on her face.
“Help!” was the last word that came out of the stallion’s mouth.
The crystalline surface trembled in sync with the ground around it, throwing Blink off his balance and into the water. As he fell, the lake’s center exploded, spitting out a column of water and steam. A powerful wave lifted Blink up, swallowing him into the large volume of displaced water. His entire world spun and tumbled, until a purple aura surrounded him, slowing him down. Eventually, the ground found its way under his hooves, the shallow water around him poring back into the lake.
He took deep, heavy breaths, his eyes darting around the now unfamiliar landscape. He cast a sun shielding spell on his eyes, his shades gone in the torrents. He found himself at least twenty feet away from the actual lake, the entire area around covered in retreating water, an uneven rain in the cloudless day complementing the disaster. The lake itself had lost a fair amount of depth, the visible inner walls being covered with the torrents that poured back in.
“Thanks, Twi’,” Blink managed after a thorough shake. To his luck, the lost pair of shades were floating by him. He grabbed them with his magic, putting them back on.
“Don’t mention it,” Twilight said through clenched teeth, trying to get a hefty bunch of wet stands of mane and grass from her eyes.
“Before you start scolding left and right, it wasn’t me,” the stallion said with a sheepish grin while approaching Twilight. “Also, have I told you how nice you look with your mane wet?”
That immediately prompted a blush from the mentioned mare and Blink nuzzling her didn’t help either. “No! You won’t get away with that!” She took a step back, her composure regained. “Now which one of you did this? I saw Spike diving into the lake, was it him?”
Even beneath a few strands of wet mane, her angry pout still packed quite a punch, forcing even the finest of Royal night guards into submission.
“Spike did it!” Blink blurted, trying to avoid being under Twilight’s deathly glare for too long.
“What in Celestia’s plump crown happened here?” A distant voice filled the evening air.
Blink turned around towards the small house by the lake, which surprisingly didn’t fall apart following Spike’s little stunt. A white, eye-patched stallion stood in the door, checking the skies above for the hurricane he thought had passed over his house.
“Hey Pearl!” Blink greeted him, waving a hoof. “How’s it going?”
The former ship captain made his way towards the two unicorns, taking in the mess all around them. “Just fine before you showed up; what did ya do this time, you half-wit horner?”
“Horner . . . really? And why does everyone assume I did it?” The question instantly drew a ‘say what, now?’ frown from both Twilight and Pearl.
“Okay, there have been some uhh- training accidents around here in the past months but that doesn’t mean I should be the first one to be blamed.”
“Ohh, hey Twi; Pearl,” Spike greeted them, hovering over the lake. “Did you see that? Tell me it wasn’t awesome!”
Twilight’s frown instantly found a new target, Blink shaking a big no to the dragon to let him know he was in trouble.
“How many times did I tell you not to do that in Ponyville?” the mare started.
“Do what? How did you know I did the firebomb at the bottom of the lake?”
“Spike, I know all your tricks, only that one has enough force to displace all that water.”
“Ohh, come on! I wanted to get back at Blink for being a lazy ass and not helping me with my house as he promised. It’s just a little water,” the dragon rebuked, thin smoke trails starting to come out of his nostrils.
“Spike, language!”
The dragon recoiled at Twilight’s scowl, his eyes narrowing angrily at her for a moment. “Whatever, I’m out of here,” he said with a roll of his eyes, before taking off into the sky above.
“Who sunk his dinghy?” Pearl wondered as he watched the dragon fade in the sunset.
“He’s been temperamental for a while now, it probably has something to do with him moving out,” Twilight pondered, a slight concern in her voice.
“Relax, he’ll be all right. It’s my fault after all, I did promise to help him today, but I just couldn’t focus right. So after a few hours of helping him, I had a swim in the lake. I'll talk with him later," he said, but quickly noticed the rapidly descending sun, "Ugh, damn it. I need to leave for Canterlot if I want to get the last train. I’ll be back in a few days, I’ll get leave to attend the Gala with you and the rest. We’ll talk then!”
He gave Twilight a big hug, the mare already casting a spell on him to dry his fur. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay for dinne-?”
A pair of lips silenced hers, her eyes widening at first but then slowly closed as she melted in the goodbye kiss.
“No time, need to go, love you! And see ya, Pearl! Tell your cousin I said hello!”
“Will do, but bring Chaser with ya for a drink next time!” the white stallion responded in his classic, sailor way.
After a nod, Blink’s horn lit up and a multitude of dark sheets of magical fabric appeared out of thin air and wrapped in a sphere around him, eventually dispersing in every direction along with him.
“Uhh, that’s a new way of doing that magic disappearing thing you unicorns do.”
Twilight however didn’t share Pearl’s impressment. “I would bet Princess Luna taught him that,” she said rather bitterly, but still feeling the pleasant tingling of her recently touched lips. Yet again, her feelings were all meeting at a crossroad, looking at each other cautiously and waiting for the other’s first move. Young love, as always, stood apart from the rest in the end.
“Well, I’ll be off now, Miss Twilight. And don’t cha’ worry about Spike, he’s a good lad, ya know that better than everypony else.”
The mare managed a weak smile and a nod towards the white stallion. “Thank you, Pearl. See you around, and sorry again for the whole mess,” she said, looking around the flooded foothill.
“No worries, miss. Nothing I’m not used to. Have a good one.”
“You too, Pearl.”
The two ponies went their separate ways, Pearl going back into the wooden house and Twilight making her way towards the nearby library. Every few steps she would look across the sky, hoping to see Spike coming back.
*** *** ***
On the other side of Ponyville, Silver Wisp stopped in front of the town’s large hospital. The off-duty royal guard had finished his shift just in time to catch the last train to Ponyville. The settling darkness of the night reminded him of the first time he came to that little town almost a year ago. He and his comrades had been given orders to travel to Ponyville’s railway station and make sure none of the Elements of Harmony left by train for a few days.
The mission somewhat failed, but Princess Luna did not take that as a sign of incompetence. After all, they had faced Celestia’s top student. Silver however remembered the place not for the incident at the train station, but for the quiet and tranquility of the small, cozy little village placed at the Everfree forest’s mouth of all places.
He soon found himself coming back to that town every now and then and simply strolled through the main street during an early weekend noon and even visit the few shops from around. Sometimes he imagined how it would be to live in that place, away from the bustling, noisy capital he grew up and lived in.
A place he would never miss in his escapades was the Sugarcube Corner, where none other than the Element of Laughter herself, Pinkie Pie, served him the tastiest treats he had the pleasure of savoring. He was surprised that she had recognized him and was also taking her time to talk to him as if he had lived there for his entire life. Silver very much enjoyed the company and everyone’s hospitality and might have even asked the pink, energetic mare out eventually if it wasn’t for one mare in particular.
That mare, that smart, hardworking white earth pony that bore a red cross as a cutie mark just happened to be inside Sugarcube Corner during one of the days Silver visited the town. He remembered staring at her, at her perfectly immaculate coat and her neatly arranged pink mane.
It must have been quite the long stare, because the next thing he knew, Pinkie was by his side, joining him in the less than couth gesture of looking at someone in public for too long. “Guess somepony has sweet eyes for a certain mare in here,” chimed the pink pony in a playfully melodic tone, yet quiet enough to preserve their conversation’s privacy.
“Sweet- what? No, no, no, I’m just-”
“Staring at her?”
“No, that’s not-”
“Checking her out?”
“No, I’m define-”
“Window shopping for that special somepony?”
“Wha- No! I mean yes, but I don’t know if I can- what if she has someone else?” Silver said with some stuttering, his eyes darting from the pink mare to the white one.
A smile crept on Pinkie’s face as soon as she got the confirmation she needed. “Don’t worry Silver Wisp, let me take care of everything.”
“How do you know my-”
Before he could finish the question, Pinkie grabbed his chair and spun it around wildly, sending him off. When the room finally stopped spinning, Silver found himself at the table with no one else other than the mare she was looking at moments before. She was slightly surprised to see the stallion on the other side of the small table, and even more surprised when Pinkie dropped a plate with a slice of delicious looking cake in front of the two of them.
“He’s Silver Wisp,” Pinkie started, “he’s been coming here for a while now but I think he’s kinda lonely, so could you show him around Ponyville for me? Maybe he’ll move here one day from Canterlot where he’s a Royal Guard so I’ll have to throw him a welcoming party!”
The two ponies stared at Pinkie for a while, before the mare broke the silence. “I- I guess I could show him around-”
“Ok then, it’s a date! See you two around!” And then the pink one zipped away back into the kitchen, traces of her large grin hanging ghostly in the air.
“Huh, how did she know what I was doing?” Silver asked, trying to ignore the D word as best as possible.
“Well, she’s special like that. So, you’re from Canterlot?”
“Uhh yeah, I guess. Guard duty and all that . . .”
“That sound pretty amazing. As you know, I’m from around. My name’s Redheart by the way.”
“N- nice to meet you meet you, Redheart . . .”
“Nice to meet you too, Silver.”
The two earth ponies looked at each other, their coy smiles already hard at work building that special connection between them.
“Silver?”
The stallion’s focus returned from the pleasant memory of their first date, fuzzy flashbacks lingering somewhere in the corner of his mind. The white mare was approaching him with a happy smile on her face, a smile that greatly contrasted her tired features and the few messy strands of her mane.
They met in a long kiss, which turned into a close moment of nuzzling under the moon’s early rays. They eventually parted, staring silently in each other’s eyes; it was their little ritual, a symbolist handshake of their souls after a long period of being apart from one another.
“I thought you wouldn’t make it today,” she said to him.
“Well, I pulled an hour from my shift so I can catch the last train. Weekend’s been a pain, but at least I’m off for a few days. I’ll be on Gala security duty,” Silver said as they started heading towards the town, keeping close to each other.
“So, where do you exactly plan on staying for the following days?” Redheart asked mischievously when noticing the backpack Wisp was carrying over a shoulder.
“I bet I’ll figure something out,” he returned with a rather sly grin.
“Hmm, I guess we could work something out,” she purred.
The two continued their walk towards Ponyville’s center, now with a slight spring in their steps; the night was still young for the two lovers.
*** *** ***
The moon started to peer over the distant horizon, basking the tall buildings in Canterlot with its lustrous light. Blink gave it a quick glance as he stepped into the now empty barracks, rubbing his eyes in an attempt to wake himself up faster from the short nap he had on the train to the capital. He made his way to his bed, dropping the saddle on top of it.
“Well look who decided to finally show up to work.”
Blink turned around to see Chaser approaching him, already wearing the full guard armor. He stopped near him and dropped a similar set of protective items from his back right near Blink’s hooves. The dark armor pieces hit the floor with a loud set of clangs, but were quickly grabbed up by the unicorn’s magic. “Got yours as well from armory. You're bloody welcome,” muttered the pegasus.
“Sorry, Chase’. Last train ran a bit late,” Blink excused himself, already doing the straps to all the individual pieces of the armor around him at the same time. “You shouldn’t have waited for me, could have got another unicorn to get you prepped for your guard shift.”
“Tis’ all right, we’re teamed up on city duty anyway.”
Blink raised an eyebrow at the old English usage but eventually shrugged it off. “Ohh, okay. Let’s head out then.”
They left the barracks, Blink's magic coating them with the proper night uniform: darker toned manes, slit-shaped irises, and bat-like ears forming from their own. The feathers from Chaser’s wings receded back into the members’ bones, magically melting into a thin membrane that stretched out to form a pair of dark bat wings.
“Much better,” Blink said, taking a large breath of fresh air under his new appearance. His ears twitched and moved every now and then, focusing on the new sounds of Canterlot’s night life that were previously unheard.
“Ain’t that the truth! Spent the last years living in a forest, the nights were not very much different from the days,” Chaser recalled with a hint of melancholy, “but the eyesight this transformation spell gives us is nothing short of amazing, mate.”
Blink however trailed behind, his attention caught by something into the night. “You hear that?”
Chaser shot him a quizzical look, before slowing picking up the distant disturbance. Without another word said, they turned right onto a busier street and went straight towards a well-known settlement they frequented. After a minute of cantering through the small crowds of ponies that went about their night life, they got within sight of their destination. The timing couldn’t have been better, as a stallion was just flying through the bar’s window.
Chaser and Blink turned their heads towards each other, their cocky grins radiating amidst their dark appearances. The two guards strolled into the establishment, half-silencing the restless crowd. The bar was filled with stallions in various stages of intoxication, a wrong move having recently caused a chain reaction that had lead to a full-out brawl.
At the sight of the two guards, most of the merry drinkers made the wise decision to leave the bar, squeezing past the stallions standing in the doorway. The location became less crowded, but there were still a hoofful of ponies that remained, directing angry stares at the ones that had just interrupted their fun.
“Well if it ain’t her Royall High-n-ass trusty steeds! Bet you’re just- just a new batch o’ foals sent to ruin our gud’ fun, eh? ” a wasted green bloke stammered, his tongue swirling in his mouth on the verge of incoherency. To his luck, as soon as he stepped towards the guards, he stumbled and dropped to the floor, Zs already floating above his head.
“You gotta love paydays,” Chaser said with a light chuckle.
A jab to his side from his partner directed his attention to a smaller group of stallions, stallions which seemed quite unaffected by whatever the bartender had on offer for that night. Between them there was a pony that was barely standing on his feet, his face bearing the clear signs of a recent fight.
A small flicker came from between the feathers of one of the sober pegasus, and into the poorly lit room it instantly caught Chaser’s attention. “Weapon!” he snarled, assuming an offensive stance.
“Debt collectors, guess this is going to be an interesting night after all.” Blink’s horn lit up, swirls of magic waves circling around him, channeled and ready for whatever spell their summoner would think of.
“Beat it hot shots, this is none of your concern,” their leader, a scruffy black stallion with a brown leather jacket muttered, spitting out his cigar.
“Mate, put your weapon down, and lay on the floor with your hooves and wings spread out!”
Blink shot Chaser a lazy glare, as if he had said the silliest of things. “Really? You think they’ll just drop-”
The small group of stallions broke into a gallop before Blink could finish his sentence, charging straight at them. They were fearlessly coming at the two guards, assuming they would do exactly what other patrol squads would do: retreat to a safe position and call in for help, which would give the fugitives enough time to leave the bar and disappear into the night.
Blink’s smirk touched his ears. They were not an ordinary patrol squad.
He disappeared into a cloud of smoke, and Chaser gave a powerful stroke of his wings, turning around on his front hooves, while planting them securely against the wooden floor. His hind legs retracted then sprung out into a powerful buck, sending the first runner crashing into one of his friends.
Blink re-appeared in front of a few of them that planned to escape through the back door, stopping them in their tracks. The horn’s glow reflected against his dark helmet as he wrapped his signature black tendrils around their legs then snapped them upwards towards the low ceiling, leaving the stallions to hang upside down. From behind the two tangled ones, a couple more passed by in a rush, attempting to run while hiding behind a few toppled tables.
The unicorn guard disappeared again. Near the front exit, Chaser was, in an impressive display of weapon wielding, spinning his spear using his wings and front limbs, balancing himself on the hind legs in front of a small group of four troublemakers. As they flung themselves at him one by one, he smashed them against the head with the wooden part, knocking them out.
Back on the other side of the bar, Blink re-appeared in front of the last two runners, pawing at the floor with a hoof, all while maintaining the devilish grin on his face. One of the two ponies, a unicorn, lifted a table with his magic and flung it at the guard with rather impressive force. The sound of Blink’s teleportation spell was heard behind the flying table and he re-appeared right in front of the two stallions.
The unicorn’s friend spun around to deliver a buck, but Blink had disappeared again, that time re-emerging instantly at the attacker’s side, basked in dark smoke. A hoof was swiftly delivered to the stallion’s face, who didn’t even had the time to see it coming. As the limb was breaking contact with his jaw following a rather powerful blow, blue sparks trickled from Blink’s horn, his magic surging to even higher levels. Out of the blue, an identical copy of the guard landed on the stallion, grabbing him by the neck and raising him upwards, exposing his underside.
The original Blink readied his hind hoof and sprung it back at the nothingness behind him, all while teleporting in place, however ending up rotated so that his leg would hit the runner straight into his stomach, sending him to the ground. The entire counter-attack on the bucking pony had taken place in just a couple of seconds, leaving his unicorn friend wide eyed and with a hanging jaw. As soon as Blink turned his eyes to him, he dropped on his rump and raised his hooves in the air.
“Don’t hurt me, I surrender! Please!”
Blink narrowed his eyes and flung a forehoof at the unicorn’s face, making him flinch in an attempt to protect himself. Just before the hoof impacted the cheek, Blink teleported away, the dark smoke left in his wake persisting however. As the shaking unicorn cracked an eye to see what had happened, the smoke enveloped him, twirling and twisting as he flailed across the bar’s floor. In the end, the smoke took a snake-like appearance and settled around his limbs, binding them together and incapacitating him.
The bartender, which was watching the ongoing fight with a mix of scare and excitement well behind the counter, jumped in place when the unicorn guard appeared in front of him, sitting perfectly on one of the few tall chairs that remained upright. Blink levitated a small bag from under his armor, searched through it and then slammed his hoof against the bar, revealing a couple of bits.
“A glass of sparkling water, please.”
The bartender’s face was painted with amazement, frozen in place as his eyes darted from the unicorn guard in front of him to the pegasus one near the exit, which was still fighting a last couple of ponies. “W-water?” he asked, still unsure of what was happening to him.
“Yes, I’m in my shift,” Blink said, casually waving a hoof at the fight behind him, “so I can’t drink. Wouldn’t anyway, I don’t really like alcohol. How you doing there, Chase’?” He asked, turning his head towards his partner.
“Screw you, at least help me with these two!” As he said that, one brown unicorn stallion threw an already broken chair towards him, while the other, a skinny pegasus, rushed towards the smashed window.
“Okay, okay, don’t need to be antsy,” Blink accompanied his words with a sigh.
He pointed his horn at the running pegasus, a bolt of crackling energy and shadow trails shooting out from the tip. The targeted pony was caught midair by the blast, smashing him against the window frame and knocking him out.
“Tell Luna I said hi,” he muttered, then turned back to the bar. “Water. Bubbly. One for my friend here as well, please.”
“How bloody nice of you,” came the pegasus’ irritated retort from behind him. He was tying the rope around the hooves of the last stallion, sweat dripping all over his face after that little fight.
He then joined Blink at the bar, grabbing the glass of water with the tip of his wings. The two guards clinked their glasses and emptied the content in one swig.
“I’ll have to admit this to ya’ Blink; far less damage tonight that we usually manage. Well, less than you usually manage.”
The bartender had refilled their glasses, not really keen on interrupting the guards’ break.
“Don’t remind me. I still get flashbacks from when we broke that fight at ‘Pink Saddle’ or whatever that place was called.”
“Sweet Luna, I didn’t know there were so many of ‘em in that gang. Sure as Tartarus didn’t know there were so many of you as well.”
Blink was silently staring into his glass, a touch of his magic swirling it around as to not let the water settle. “That night I almost lost control,” he said bitterly.
He had used his shadow clones extensively in that fight. He recalled in vivid detail how his mind and soul felt as if they were stretched and chopped into a multitude of pieces, all scattered around in different vessels. Chills ran down his spine as he remembered the cold voice running amok in his head.
“Come on, the night’s still young and our shift just started. As for you,” Blink said, motioning towards the bartender, “we’ll notify the nearest precinct and have them send out ponies to clear these guys out. Sorry for the disturbance and have a safe night, sir.”
The bartender’s only reaction was to wave slowly at the two leaving guards, then he took a moment to look around the damage of his establishment. The troublesome stallions were either knocked out or bound in dark ropes of magic, waiting to be picked up the local enforcement ponies.
Outside, Chaser and Blink were resuming their patrol along one of Canterlot’s main streets, their ears at attention as to catch any more disturbances. The moon was high above their heads, its light soaking the city in its empty glow.
*** *** ***
The Night Princess stepped across the short grass of one of the castle’s inner courts, followed by a suit of various ponies. “Thou did not have to come all the way here to thank me,” she said idly towards one of the larger stallions at her side.
“That said, your Highness, it is still an amazing honor to be invited to an event of that importance. So again, I thank you.”
Luna stopped and waved a hoof, shaking her head. “Nonsense. The Gala has been for many years an occasion for the high class society to spend a night alongside Equestria’s rulers. However, I believe that such an opportunity should be available to many others. As Golden Quill here proposed, the heads of our Royal Guard and army reserve should be among those that benefit of such opportunities,” Luna continued.
“Princess?” a firm voice came from behind one of the garden’s archways. Out from the shadow stepped a tall white unicorn with a long, blue mane, no one other than Shining Armor, captain of the Royal Guard.
He approached the group, nodding at his subordinates and his military counterpart, as to dismiss them. The ponies saluted and left the three of them alone. Shining looked at the mare next to Luna then back at the Princess herself.
“You may leave us, Golden Quill.”
The mare complied and head towards the castle, leaving no one in the interior garden but the Princess and Shining Armor. “Captain, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Luna asked, resuming her stroll on the moonlit pathway.
“I wanted to talk to you about the reports we’ve been getting recently. Do you know about them?”
“Indeed, I was made aware of them by none other than my assistant.”
Shining’s brow furrowed at that, as he stopped for a moment into place but then quickly caught up with the Princess. “So pardon me for asking, but don’t you think it would have been wise to summon a council meeting and discuss our stance?”
“I’m afraid that will not be necessary, Captain. If the reports are to be correct, this conflict does not affect Equestria at all. What the Changelings and the Griffons do is none of our business,” the princess said, stopping and holding out a hoof in front of her. A bat soon came from the night’s darkness, landing in jagged motions on the tip of Luna’s hoof.
“But what if the reports are not correct? Both nations are massing huge numbers, we might have to intervene if some of their battles will be fought on our continent,” Shining pressed on.
“You are right, Shining Armor; and believe me when I say that I am taking into consideration your concern. I will receive word from our informants in the following days, and based on how the situation develops, I will decide whether to re-unite the council or not.”
“As you wish. I will be off now-”
“Nonsense, Captain. Walk with me,” Luna interrupted, making her way through a separating archway.
Shining followed in her wake, both ponies eventually ending up in the exterior garden. The high moon basked the dormant plants in its silvery light, accompanied by small, pulsing blips of light that floated around them.
“Tell me Shining, how are Cadence and Emerald?” the Princess asked, addressing the captain for the first time that night by only his first name.
“Well uhh- they are fine; both in the Crystal Empire for the moment, they’ll come here the day after tomorrow. Cadence and I are going to be present at the gala and as a matter of fact, we would like to sit down at some point and have a word about-”
“Yes Shining, you may.”
“Excuse me?”
“You have my permission to move permanently in the Crystal Empire.”
Silence fell in the empty garden, the stallion starring at Luna as she idly used her magic to open up a flower, its white petals soaking up the moon’s rays, emitting a soft glow of its own. Shining was at a loss of words, his eyes tracing the Princess’ cosmic mane as it blend with the star-riddled sky behind it.
“Did- Cadence tell you about that?”
Luna turned around, a surprisingly calm smile adorning her face. “No, Shining. However I did noticed ever since my sister left that thou have not been the same out there as a Captain. I don’t blame thee, Shining Armor, as you’ve sworn to protect my sister and my sister alone back in the days when I was only mentioned in stories that frightened foals at night.”
“Your Highness, it’s not that-”
Luna raised a hoof rather solemnly. “Please, we are basically of the same family, Shining. You can call me Luna, especially since you are off duty. And there is no need to excuse thyself. The Crystal Empire is thriving under their queen’s rule, but the firm hoof of a king is needed as well, that I understand. If that is what you and Cadence desire, who am I to stand against thee?”
“Your hi- I mean, Luna; I don’t know what to say. It’s not that I don’t want to serve you. It’s just . . . I don’t really know what it is, to be honest.”
“As I said, thou doesn’t have to worry about it. A king is harder to come by than a Captain,” Luna mused, her eyes chasing a stray firefly.
“Would you happen to know when Celestia will be back?”
The stallion’s question caught Luna off guard but she tried her best not to show it.
“I do not know that. She hasn’t answered my letters in months; I don’t even know if she receives them anymore,” the Princess admitted with a sigh.
“I see. If you do get word from her, please let me know, Princess.”
The alicorn raised an eyebrow at him.
“I mean Luna. Sorry,” he corrected himself with a sheepish smile. “I’m off for tonight. If there is anything you need me for, I’ll be in the east tower’s guest chamber.”
“Thank you, Shining; and have a pleasant night.”
The two ponies saluted each other with a bow of their heads. Soon, Luna was left all alone in the rich garden. She stretched her wings, and with a couple of flaps took to the skies, disappearing into the night’s void.
*** *** ***
The wind blew strongly across Spike’s scales, and the dragon’s reflexes kicked in, his wings locking up downwards to maintain the altitude. His head fins were fully extended as well, helping him stabilize his flight path.
After the unexpected gust passed, Spike relaxed, flapping his wings freely. Flying was still a relatively new thing for him but it goes without saying that he made a lot of progress in the past months. First time he got caught in an updraft he panicked and froze, stalling within a few seconds. If it wasn’t for Ruby’s fast intervention, he would have crashed pretty hard.
Recalling those moments, the young dragon’s heart started beating a little faster partially because of the near death experience and also because of the awkward moment that insured when both him and Ruby landed on the ground, the dragoness still holding him close.
The moon hid behind a few clouds, darkness spilling over the Everfree forest. Spike snapped back from his memories, focusing to see in the now pitch black night. A swooshing sound caught him my surprise as something flew past him at a very high speed. He darted his head left, right and above, failing to spot whatever it was that almost hit him.
Just as his ears picked up a similar sound coming from below, he was struck to the side right under his wings, causing him to tumble midair. He quickly recovered and his eyes were finally starting to adjust to the total lack of light. And then he saw the shape of the attacker, and his hot blood froze. It was another dragon.
“The Everfree dragon . . .” he whispered, his eyes widening as a bright fireball shot straight at him. He managed to dodge it in the last second, sending a few of his own green balls of fire at the general flight path of the attacker.
Seeing the dragon was approaching him again, he flapped his wings one last time, leaning forwards into a dive. More fireballs whizzed past him as he snapped his wings against his body, the same as he did earlier that day. Seconds before crashing against the forest trees below, he sprung his wings open, catching enough air to slow him down and pull back up, flying just feet away from wild tree branches.
The sound of his stubborn chaser followed him every second, and Spike decided to try and fight back. He rolled on his back and locked his wings so that he glided belly up. With sharp intakes, he spat out jets of flames in his wake, however the other dragon was skillfully evading every shot. Coming up to him, he launched a fireball of his own at Spike’s exposed underside. The young dragon clenched his teeth hard and tried to roll back, but was hit in the back.
Despite the lesser efficiency of the attack against his fire resilient scales, the blow was powerful enough to destabilize him, sending Spike in the forest below. With a last maneuver, he prolonged the spin and ended up executing a full roll so that he would land on his back. Lastly, he turned his wings, using them as an airbrake as he crashed against the ground, bouncing against the dirt and hitting branches and bushes along the way. Coming to a grinding halt, he propped his hands into the ground below to get up, but the shape of the other dragon landed right atop of him, pinning him down.
With his claws on Spike’s chest, the Everfree dragon kept him lying on the ground. As Spike prepared one of his powerful fireballs, he noticed the attacker was actually smaller than he remembered when he met him in his youth. In fact, he was barely a foot bigger than him. The moon peeked from behind the cloud it was hiding behind, and what it revealed made Spike swallow deep, suppressing his attack.
“Hey Spike!” the dragoness on top of him said in a peculiar playful manner, her red scales a lot more noticeable in the lit environment.
“R-Ruby? What are you doing here?” Spike sprung up with renewed vigor, catching the dragoness by surprise with a hug that was too tight for her usual preference.
When she noticed she was still leaning onto the green dragon, Ruby backed away a few steps, averting her eyes in a rather Fluttershy-esque manner. “Yeah, sorry about that; just wanted to see how your flying was. Nice cushioning on your impact though.”
Spike stared at her for a moment, the recent events perspiring through his mind like they never even occurred. “What are you doing here? I remember you said you wanted to visit Ponyville at the beginning of winter.”
“Well, I did; but I’ve been waiting for a while to visit your territory and I have never seen a pony settlement up close before. I saw a huge city on the mountains on my way though, not so far away from here.”
“That would be Canterlot. And you can’t refer to Ponyville as my territory. It’s my town, that’s all.”
A surprised look caught up with Ruby, her head slightly tilted in an almost comically manner. “So if a dragon stranger would move into Ponyville, will you allow him to stay?”
“Well ye-” Spike’s expression froze before he could finish the short sentence, his imagination fabricating one such situation, while his instincts shouting ‘No!’ at the top of their lungs.
A smile broadened on Ruby’s face as she went past the green dragon. “See? That’s territory. Come on now, I wanna meet this Twilight Sparkle and her friends you’ve been talking about!”
With that, she took to the skies, evading the branches and trees as she pierced the forest’s dense corona. Spike followed her closely, leading her to the scattered blips of lights that were Ponyville.
They stopped their flight near the Library tree, landing in the back yard one after the other. “Well, this is my cave I guess.”
“It’s . . . nice,” Ruby said halfheartedly. “I mean, it looks cozy, but a tree? You actually live inside a huge plant?”
“I know, I know; but I haven’t had any accidents in years. And I’m moving out anyway; wanna build a burrow anywhere between here and that lake over there,” he said, pointing with a claw at the moon’s reflection in the small body of water further downhill. “Come now, hopefully we’ll catch Twilight still awake reading her books.”
*** *** ***
Twilight focused harder, maintaining the stream of magic around her. Her eyes started glowing under their lids as she attuned her powers with the nature around her. After all, she was living in a giant tree, and it couldn’t have been closer to a living thing even if-
A series of images flashed through her mind, images of her and a certain stallion together, close to each other, a strong, earthly bond uniting them. The images shifted and turned. She didn’t knew exactly why, but the bond was darkened, eclipsed by something inside of him, a dormant evil that was never truly laid to rest. Her light was not bright enough to shine away that darkness, he was slipping, drifting slowly out of her reach.
“Blink . . .”
Her eyes snapped opened, the purple-white magic around her dispersing in thin air. Twilight’s heart was racing, pumping blood as if she had ran a marathon. All around her, fresh wild sprouts teared from the wooden floor. She floated a notebook and scribbled something down, the feather shaky in her grasp.
She looked at the green sprouts around. Yet again, her magic had caused the manifestation of everything nearby that carried life. However, more troubling for her were the images that still juggled in her mind, devoid of context or details, but filled with eeriness and uncertainty.
A couple of knocks on her room’s door dragged her out of that state of mind. “Yes?” Twilight asked.
The door creeped open, revealing a young dragon with a hesitant look clouding his face. “Hey Twi? I uhh- wanted to apologize for how I behaved earlier today.”
Twilight, still a bit down from the recent experience, took no time to recall those events, instead choosing to jump at Spike’s neck, holding him in a tight hug. “It’s okay Spike, I know you didn’t mean it.”
Her assistant’s embrace drove off the clouded memories in her mind, until a loud noise coming from downstairs reached her ears. “What was that?” she asked, staring at her room’s door. “Did you bring anyone home with you? Is it one of the girls?” Twilight kept asking, making her way downstairs.
“About that!” Spike said, raising a claw after the mare, who was already out of the room. “I got someone I want you to meet.”
Spike followed her down the stairs, trying to catch up. Another loud noise filled the main room, followed by Twilight’s loud yelp. Spike caught up with the unicorn, finding her almost face to face with Ruby, who was holding in her arms a couple of plant pots, a sheepish, innocent grin on her face.
“Twilight, this is Ruby. Ruby, meet Twilight, my foster uhh- mom?”
The unicorn relaxed, the tension in her limbs fading away as the possibility of a threat was dismissed. Noticing that, Ruby rushed forward a little bit faster than she should have, extending a welcoming paw, while her tail hit a few more plants, sending them to the ground. “Sorry about that! It’s just that this place is a little bit-”
“Small?” Twilight completed her with a smile.
“-cozy. You can call it small too, but also, it’s a tree. Anyway, happy to meet you, Twilight of Ponyville,” she said, shaking the unicorn’s vigorously, almost sending her to the ground.
“Spike, you didn’t tell me Ruby was older than you.”
Hearing that, the dragon’s eyes widened, his fins flattening down in shame. “We’re almost the same age actually, her tail is longer, that’s all.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow at her assistant. “Someone’s having a size complexity. Anyway, it’s nice to finally meet you as well, Ruby. Spike’s been telling me so much about you.”
“Well, he’s been talking about you and the other . . . Elements as well. I’ve read about your adventures, and also learned a lot from what Spike and Blink told me the first time I met them.”
Twilight blushed slightly from under her purple coat, such attention being uncommon for her.
“Also if I recall what Spike’s been telling me, Midnight Blink is your mate, is he not?” Ruby asked casually, causing Spike to slap a hand over his face, and Twilight’s blush to intensify tenfold.
“I uhh- he’s my colt friend. I wouldn’t call him a ma- I don’t-” she blabbered, attempting to contain herself.
“Yeah, she hates when that’s brought up,” Spike rolled his eyes. “To put it in a way you understand, they are courting.”
“I’m going to go prepare some dinner,” Twilight excused herself in a hurry, disappearing from the room.
“That’s Twilight,” Spike said with a self-explanatory head shrug, drawing a chuckle from Ruby. “Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the library. ”
*** *** ***
Spike stretched his arms and wings, satisfyingly patting his belly with a claw. “That was a good late night dinner. Rare thing for Twilight if you ask me, but don’t tell her I said that.”
“It was quite interesting to say the least. Haven’t really had any pony food up until now, but it’s amazing what they can do without meat.”
“Well actually, I taught her everything she knows,” Spike boasted, sinking further into the soft cushion.
Ruby pat her own pillow, her claws sticking in what was a very unusual object for her. She made herself comfortable and raised her head up, gazing at the stars above. The gentle, late summer wind caressed her scales, gently rattling the library’s branches and leaves.
The two dragons sat quietly on one of the library’s balcony that faced the rest of the town, gazing both at the Ponyville’s nighttime lights as well as at the sparkling stars above.
Spike stole a glance at Ruby and noticed her concerned look as she stared across the sleeping town. “Is there anything wrong?”
Ruby returned to the present moment, putting up a smile that would reassure the gallant dragon. “I’m fine. It’s just- you live in a very strange world, Spike of Ponyville. Every pony here seems happy to live near each other, their territory is so compact, yet so-”
“Cozy?”
“Yes,” Ruby said, staring into his eyes, as if a simple look could make her understand that whole life of his.
Truth be told, she was more intrigued about that lifestyle than she would have wanted to admit. Used to living alone most of the time, even as the granddaughter of the Old One she chose to live the same way as the rest of the dragons did: a solitary life filled with deathtrap valleys and nothing but shadowy jagged mountains to watch over at night. One thing however was the same as back home: the stars. The night sky’s twinkling white pearls looked the same way they did in her own barren territory, but here she could also see an intricate purple and green dragon that had much more than dry rocks and hungry scavengers to wake up to everyday.
Caught up in her inner thoughts, Ruby noticed a bit too late that Spike’s lips were moving, as he tried to convey something to her with what looked like a very sincere expression.
“Uhh, what?” she asked, clearing the thoughts from her head.
“I asked uhh- what you did with that diamond I gave you when we met for the first time,” his eyes locked onto everything but her, hiding from her gaze like an embarrassed colt talking with a filly for the first time.
“Oh, that diamond. Well, I kept it.”
It was no mistake on her part. She purposefully kept the diamond he gave her as a sign of gratitude for helping Spike and Blink back when the unicorn had to travel to the Griffin Kingdom for his trial. She kept it, despite the symbolism behind the gift, and she chose not to mention it during the time Spike visited her for the first time, when she taught him how to fly.
She recalled those memories in vivid detail and all the days spent under the hot sun training the purple dragon. His sustained effort and her unnatural patience eventually paid off as he took to the skies for the first time in his life. Following that trail of thoughts, her eyes unintentionally fell on Spike’s chest, focusing on the scar she made him while saving his life from a nasty arrow wound infection.
“And . . . what does that mean?” he asked, the blood in his cheeks spiking by a few degrees.
“It means that I liked it. Nothing more, nothing less; for now . . .”
Ruby laid back in her own cushion, going back to watching the stars and leaving a storm in Spike’s mind . . . and heart. When he eventually laid back into his pillow, Ruby carefully shifted her tail, resting its tip over Spike’s.
There were no more words spoken between the two dragons as they watched the moon and stars shift across the sky. Eventually Ruby slipped into Luna’s realm, exhausted after a long journey and a nice meal. Spike followed her soon after, the thought of a red dragoness holding his tail not enough to keep him awake anymore.
In their sleep and unwilling to them, their tails intertwined a little bit more, their hearts sensing each other through the touch, agreeing on a common rhythm.
*** *** ***
Blink came to a stop in front of a pretentious looking shop in the middle of Canterlot. He adjusted his shades on his face, looking left and right across the street as if he would be doing something entirely illegal.
No matter how normal it may have been however, his stomach was not giving him any rest at all. He paced around for a few moments, treating the shop’s door like the most dangerous of nightmares. He even contemplated leaving that place and returning to the barracks for a well-deserved sleep but after a few quick, deep breaths, he swallowed his heart and stepped into the brightly lit venue.
“What can I do for you today, sir?” the shopkeeper greeted the stallion with a wide smile.
*** *** ***
The infinite sand was filling half of her vision, the other half filled by the endless strip of a cloudless sky. Her closest companion, the sun, was high above her, basking everything in its life-giving light. Her other companion, a bit smaller but much older than the star above, strolled alongside her, unaffected at all by the harsh conditions.
“Hiding is never the solution, Celestia. Our life, our decisions, and our failures; we bear them for eternity, even us, those that are above mortal creatures.”
Celestia remained unfazed, dragging her hooves across the hot desert sand. She eventually stopped and looked at the white pony next to her. No matter how she felt about things, she couldn’t ignore Life.
“My wrongdoings have tempered with the laws of life and death. Mortal souls trapped for years and years on end; all because of me.”
“You are not the one to blame. Luna was at fault and she paid her price.”
“I gave up the Elements of Harmony to ponies because I couldn’t bear to use them myself after what I’ve done to her.” Celestia stopped, and turned to face Life. “What does that say about me?”
“More than you may think. Those Elements are given to every Watcher and they take the name of that world’s most prized virtues. It is not uncommon for them to have mortal representatives; you can’t be everything at once, Celestia.”
The alicorn princess sketched no reaction or feeling, and chose to carry on her lonely voyage. The following hours dragged by in complete silence, as slow as Celestia’s advance through the hot land. Life stayed at her side, shadowing her steps and waiting with an unnatural patience for the Watcher to open up to him.
On one of her tired steps, Celestia’s hoof slipped through the sand, sending her to her knees. Her deep breaths touched the falling drops of sweat, sending them onto the scorching sand beneath where they would vaporize in an instant. After weeks of wandering under the sun, the body of a ruler was finally getting tired.
“You are not only punishing yourself, but the ones that once looked up to you, Celestia,” Life said, breaking the heavy silence. “Your form will not take this for long; return to your sister . . . or ascend beyond mortal form and become deity. One way or the other, two must watch over this world.”
Hearing that, Celestia stared at the stallion above her for a moment, the sun’s rays shimmering through his white mane. Ascending was in fact the reason she had come there, but she didn’t have the courage to do it just yet. There were so many things to consider, so many reasons that still held her in that mortal shape. But with each step, she got further and further away from those reasons.
“I trust you Celestia, like I always had.” With those last words, Life turned around and walked away, his shape slowly dissipating into the air.
Celestia flopped her head down, eventually passing out from the combination of heat and exhaustion. Her world morphed into images of her life, memories that flashed and overlapped, carrying her on a path of reminiscence, a path paved with lustrous moments of her glory next to murky puddles of hard decisions and sorrow.
Her eyelids fluttered open, the sun’s light blocked by something. Her vision came into focus for a fleeting moment, capturing the image of large zebra staring down at her, her lips letting out words that never reached her ears.
And then darkness.
*** *** ***
The night was yet again settling over Canterlot, catching Blink walking back to the barracks, his gaze lost in his thoughts. He went in the mess hall, where his eyes scouted for a particular brown pegasus.
Seeing him, he navigated through the many night guards enjoying their first meal of the night and when reaching his table, he took a seat next to him. Chaser, who was enjoying a rather displeasing looking mush by himself, shot him an awkward glare. “Whe ya’ve been?” he asked with a mouthful.
Blink looked at him as if he hadn’t even heard the question, his face bearing a serious expression that was uncanny for the midnight blue unicorn. “You once said that you know how to play the piano.”
Chaser stopped chewing for a moment, unsure of where that conversation was heading. “Uhh, yeah; I know some tunes. Why?” he asked, finishing the food in his mouth.
“Chase’, I plan to do something at the gala that’s in a couple of days, and I would really appreciate your help.”
The pegasus put his fork into his plate and pushed it away with a wing. “Ooookay . . . what exactly do you plan on doing at the gala?”
Without saying anything, Blink reached for his saddlebag, grabbed something and placed his hoof on the table. When he retracted it, Chaser saw a small, simple box just standing there over the worn out table. Blink then opened it with his magic, revealing a small yet amazingly crafted earring.
“Sweet Luna . . . are you serious, mate?”
Blink swallowed hard, and nodded his head. “Yes . . . yes I am.”
End of Chapter 22
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Many thanks again to my editors and pre-readers for the help on this one!
Stay tuned for the next chapter, I guess it will be pretty interesting.
Also, another reminder that there's a competition running for you guys!
http://www.fimfiction.net/blog/172200/announcing-prize-contest-stairway-to-equestria-update-misc
I was wondering, bear with me here.
If anyone thought of this song when they saw the title?
3130062
It was playing in the background during the time I was writing the prologue and chapter 1 (before first publish). It's actually how the story got its name
3130070 Yes! Ha ha! Cool! That was my next question. XD
Also, Me like led Zeppelin :)
"Look at title."
This fic is like a forum thread every new post(chapter) it get bumped(back to the feature box)
Is he getting married?
Haha, he's finally gonna propose to Twi! Attaboy!
3129930 Next chapter please and thank you
Ageurh bcywbrh Blink's going to propose to Twilight?
Avatars of Death and Life, married?
Well... Okay then.
3132952>>3144866
I don't know, is he ?
3149204
Glad you enjoy it. You have a lot of reading to look forward to. Take it slow and don't rush it, there are lots of details that actually make the story later on ;)
This story has been reviewed by The Equestrian Critics Society
Story Title: Stairway to Equestria
Author: ALEXAROTH
Reviewed By: Not Worthy
Short Review: Stairway to Equestria is a human-in-Equestria story that focuses on the life of Midnight Blink—known as Alexandru in his old life—being transported to, and acclimating to the reality of, Equestria. He constantly has to deal with Death himself, who seem to have plans for him in this new world; there is also a connection between Blink and Twilight, both in the real world and in the spirit world. The story’s main focus is on Midnight Blink’s life in Equestria, his accomplishments and struggles.
Atypical to the HiE stereotype, not everyone takes kindly to his arrival; the reactions from the characters on Blink’s arrival are paced in a natural way. The characters, both from the show and originals by ALEXAROTH, are fleshed out, play their parts, and are given adequate time for their roles in Blink’s life (with the exception of one character). The vastness, scale and realness of the setting get nice focus in most places, sticking with the fact that Blink’s seeing these places for the first time. The plot does its best to keep the focus on Blink’s adventures, and the acclimation to his new life and the dangers that he faces are gradual, creating a nice path of conflict and growth; the constantly shifting point of view, although providing a nice look into the other characters’ lives, does challenge the notion that it is indeed Blink’s story at all. As for technicals, apart from tense changes, the story is mostly clean.
Full Review (contains spoilers inside)
Score: 7.95 (Pending change upon completion)
3132455
No. He's getting laid.
3229415
I . . . what?
Coloured me impressed, but back when I wrote that prologue (it was actually added @ chapter 5-6 or so), I had absolutely no idea that Blink was going to get photophobia.
I do tend to make heavy use of foreshadowing (as you've seen in other examples), but that one is a really fortunate coincidence. Thanks for pointing it out!
I'm glad you're enjoying the story overall, feel free to write up a detailed review (now or once the story is over), you'll automatically enter my ongoing competition (see here for more details). Also your feedback would greatly help me improve the early parts of the story !
3229415
You... I'm trusting you here. I was going to give up at chapter 10, but you're giving me hope.
Since when did the Crystal Empire get a queen?
3305297
Since Shining Armor and Cadence were married. The Crystal Empire is technically a separate kingdom from Equestria, and Cadence was its princess before she married.
You know what's gonna be fun? Watching Blink basically reap souls when the war breaks out. Fear the reaper, man.
:PinkieGasp:
3889904 :pinkie.gasp: no caps
3180264 I'd give it closer to a solid 7.(Idgaf about your group, so please don't take the better opinion becuz group approach)
I- I can't tell if this is dirty or not!
I guess earth would be given the elements of Money then.
Also:
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/81/cf/db/81cfdb3f491c1682fc53e787e2eeacef.jpg
How did I miss the second half of this entire story‽
Probably a combination of mental fic canon merging, and the fact that it was on the second page of my Tracking bookshelf.
Still...