Diprosopus

by WritingSpirit

Faces Down Under

"Well, vat do you think?"

"Wh-What do I think?" Twilight stammered.

"Well, uh... I don't know where to begin, but um... you... I... the children..."

"I do admit, it can be a hassle to manage," came the refined voice of the Masque, the mysterious pony whisking across the room, the cape he donned flying in the wind as he reached for what seemed to be an elaborate, steel-adorned green glass pitcher, pouring into two wine glasses its vinaceous contents as his guest glanced around the room in awe. His mask today was a pure white one, which stood out from the rest of his gold-hemmed black and mauve outfit draping over his vermilion wings.

The Masque's room was exceptionally grand, what with the patterned marble-tiled floors, the tapestries on the walls, the black carpeted floor and the gilded furniture, but what stood out among the furniture was none other than his bed, its curtains and sheets as red as the roses he leaves behind. There was a certain smell in the air that Twilight guessed was some sort of vanilla-scented cologne, which somewhat invigorated her spirit, having spent almost an hour to actually come to his secluded sanctuary. It was worth the walking after all, she told herself with a chuckle.

"Y-You live here?" she asked, even though she knew the answer.

"You and all this children. Here?"

"For now, I believe," the Masque answered.

"Wine, mademoiselle?"

"For now?"

Twilight gladly accepted the drink, though she was too curious to even bother taking a sip, leaving the glass hovering in the air within an aura of magic. She placed it down onto the table only when she was beckoned towards a luxury chair, finally resting her tired body onto its red cushion.

"You said you'll live here for now," she reiterated.

"What do you mean by that?"

"The both of us know of the darkening days, Twilight," the stallion said with a sigh.

"The shadow has hastened its journey. Sooner or later, it will come to Canterlot. It will be merciless, the shadow. It will tear the roots of Canterlot apart to find anypony that can do its deed. Until I can find another refuge for the children beyond the borders of Equestria, we can all but pray. If the shadow ever descends upon the children... I know none of us will be spared from it."

"Is that why you didn't want me here?"

"One of the reasons, yes," he confessed, though not before sipping from his glass.

"If you were ever captured by the shadow, in which I wish it does not come to be... I do not know of what powers he possesses, but if he finds out about our home through you--"

"I won't let him," Twilight declared confidently.

"No matter what happens to me, he'll never know that this place ever exists."

The unicorn couldn't see it, but somehow she knew the Masque was smiling underneath his mask, seeing how it shifted up a little. With a sigh, muffled from his facial attire, he stepped towards a pair of white-framed wooden doors and gently pushed them open, his mane and tail immediately flailing about in the sudden surge of wind.

"A bit of fresh air, Twilight?" he asked.

"It may do you good."

Twilight could only comply, even though deep in her heart she knew there was something else; something which the Masque is not telling her; something very important. She had a small hunch on what it was, though she could not be so sure. All she could do now was to pretend as the fool.

Every thought of that was kicked to the darkest corners of her brain when she saw the majestic sight that beholds her eyes. They were standing on a metal-plated balcony of some sort of tower, she presumed, which overlooked the brilliance of Canterlot's suburbs. Instead of the elaborate architecture of the upper districts, all she could see were thatched houses and brick apartments, with pillars of smoke billowing from a chimney or two and streaking across the orange dusk sky. The higher society lavished further away, with the palace barely visible in the horizon, reminding her of the length of her journey through the sewers once again.

"Canterlot looks amazing in the sunset..."

"As always, Twilight."

"I never imagined Canterlot to be this big," she admitted, placing two hooves onto the iron railing surrounding the platform.

"I always thought it was as large as what I saw, with all those royal buildings and lakes and statues... it's like this place never existed to me before I met you. All these ponies... all this life... it was almost as if somepony wanted to hide them from the rest of Equestria..."

"There are some things worth finding out about," the Masque said, drinking the last of his wine.

"Such was the suburbs. A magical place, really. So miserable and so desperate, yet however frail it may be, the spirit of hope strangely still lingers within the ponies living here. It was one of the reasons why I stole from the upper class; to keep that spirit going. To give them more hope than they have."

"So you're just like Robin Hoof, huh?"

"That's what all the colts and fillies call me," he said, chuckling earnestly.

"Ah... perhaps we are the same. Robbing the rich and giving it to the poor... a difficult task to accomplish, really. Very difficult. In fact, I think I admire him more than I resemble him. Think about it: he could save the town with every crime he commits, yet all I could do was shelter children. Perhaps it may be much to you, Twilight, but it would be an impossible feat to surpass for me."

"But I still don't understand," she gruffly lamented.

"Why wouldn't the Princesses help out? They can start up some charity or something to make sure that this part of Canterlot can live their lives better or something, right?"

"They are already helping, Twlight Z'parkle," the Masque assured.

"Perhaps, in the past, I would've said the same thing, but back then, times were not as harsh as they were. Back then, we could still thrive to be called Canterlotian, even though many do not know of our existence here. At this dire time, the Princesses couldn't find the time to help us because they are defending us from the shadow. In a way, you could say they were still, after all, helping us. You too played a part in the defense, didn't you? Might I say you were helping us already before you've even met me."

"I know, but..."

"Perhaps another time, Twilight," he said, staring off into the distance.

"Perhaps, in a time of peace where we could thrive once again, then we will ask for help from the higher power. As of now, I do not wish to burden Her Majesties when their full attention is needed at the front of the battlefield. They're worn out, I'm sure you realized. It's best not to wear them any further."

Twilight could only agree, staring back down at the bustling scene. Celestia's sun was being lowered in the distance, the glow of the remaining sunlight making its slow descent into the darkness. With a sigh, the Masque strode back into the bedroom, pouring for himself another glass.

"The night is swift," he said before taking a sip.

"You should go back now, Twilight Z'parkle. Your friends will vorry."

"Actually, I'm not going back."

Payback time, her inner self said triumphantly. Immediately, the Masque nearly choked on his wine, coughing lightly as he whirled around, no doubt surprised by her words. She could already imagine his pale purple eyes light up in disbelief at her reply, to which she could only respond with a smug grin.

"Y-You're not?"

"I told the rest I'll be gone for a few days."

"Even the Princesses?"

Twilight gave a single, concise nod.

"Even the Princesses. No one questioned me, no one stopped me, nothing. The most I got is my brother telling me to be careful of what's going on around town. That was all."

"But you'll have no place to stay!"

"Then I'll stay with you."

A tense silence soon filled the room, the Masque pondering over her suggestion. Twilight just held her breath, waiting for anything along the lines of a 'yes', though she knew the chances of happening would be at least twenty percent, ten if he felt threatened by her presence; she calculated it on the way here.

"I can probably sleep in a separate room, if you mind your privacy," she added.

"At least let me sleep in your library?"

"You really planned this out thoroughly, didn't you?" the other pony questioned, to which she could only give a sheepish nod, leaving him to sigh.

"Fine. You can sleep in my room. On the bed, if you wish."

"Oh, I wouldn't mind sleeping on the floor--"

"I can't let you do that," he cut in before she could continue.

"Twilight, to have an amazing mare like you in my household... I would be a bad host if I allowed you to rest on the rug of my chambers. You must sleep on the bed."

"W-With you?"

"If you wish."

Immediately, the unicorn could feel her cheeks seethe a fiery red. She turned away suddenly, too embarrassed to think of anything to say as the Masque just stared at her, unsure of how to respond as well. To sleep with the Masque... the thought of it was beyond the boundaries of her imagination! Sure, she wouldn't mind being guarded by him, but sleeping with him! No, this was on a whole new level!

"Don't you think th-there's a better idea?" she stammered.

"I mean, we're not a c-couple or anything, r-right?"

"But you said you... how to put it... had feelings for me?"

"I know I said that! But I... but we... we're not exactly--"

"Do you love me?"

"Wh-What?"

"Twilight Z'parkle," he called her name once more as he swooped up to the unicorn, his towering figure looming over her. Twilight just stared up with a gulp of fear, yet her heartbeat came to a crescendo, her gut knotted tight. Her breath was hanging like a wrecking ball, ready to swing into the silence between them.

"I'll ask you once more and for the last time: do you love me?"

"I... I-I... I--"

"Reserve those thoughts for later, Miss Z'parkle," he suddenly said with a chuckle of mischief.

"For now, there's somepony I vant to introduce to you."

Twilight could only watch as the Masque headed back in and through the doorway, still dumbstruck over what just happened to her. Meekly, she followed him as he turned to the right, away from the catwalk and down a spiraling set of stairs. Clang after clang of metal resounded through the structure, signaling the arrival to the children below, who immediately crowded around their idol once his hoof touched the floor.

It was a sweet sight to behold, she told herself, looking on with a warm heart as the colts and fillies all called to him. The Masque himself knelt down to them, hauling one of them up in the air, his rich voice convulsing with deep, joyous laughter. He was a father when they had none; a savior when they needed one.

All around the stone floor were sleeping bags, with only torches on the walls lighting up the large room. Columns shot down from the ceiling, forming gaping archways all around like those found in a castle dungeon. Many of the foals were here, either rolling around in their blankets or huddled about in their secret conversations. What surprised Twilight was the fact that there were other adult ponies around as well. From what she could hear, they were teaching the children, telling them stories of the outside world and making them laugh with their funny jokes! Some of them even came up and shook the Masque's hoof, welcoming him back into their subterranean home.

"They volunteered to help," the Masque explained.

"Like all of us, they do not have a home. That is why they were here. In return, they guide the children with their knowledge of the outside world, teaching them basic things you'd learn in school and other subjects beyond the common realm of ponykind."

"Wow..."

"Indeed. It is in the most desperate of times that ponies truly come together, n'est-ce pas?"

"So this is what you want to show me?" Twilight asked, smiling.

"The fact that you are actually teaching the children?"

The Masque shook his head, throwing her back into the depths of confusion once again. This wasn't it, she cried out in her head. This was not what he wanted to show? Twilight's eyes fixed at the Masque, slightly ticked off by his mischief. She was about to tell him off when he suddenly stepped to the side, revealing a pony standing behind him.

Nothing in this world could describe what she was feeling at the moment. The amalgam of emotions cleaved her logical thoughts up and discarding them into nonexistence, leaving her without a word to say. The other pony shared the same emotions as well, though she was the first to recover, putting on a smug grin.

"Now isn't this a strange coincidence, Twilight Sparkle?"

"Tr-Trixie?!"

O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O

Let me go...

Please... just let me go...

I won't tell anypony, I swear...

No...

No...

NO!!!

"NO!!!"

Pant after pant Pinkie let out, her skin and blanket damp with her own sweat. With one intake of air, her breathing calmed, the air slowly rushing out of her mouth and lungs, soothing all of her senses at once. Her hooves were noticeably shivering, gripping tight onto her bedsheets like a vise.

"Just another nightmare..." she murmured to herself.

"Calm down, Pinkie... just calm down..."

Phoenix was already outside the caravan, she surmised, seeing how his bed was tidy from across hers. It was then when she realized where she actually was, glancing around quickly to make sure of it. Her head pounded as she delved into her memories, faint and distant but still clear; she remembered packing up, then saying goodbye to Saturn as they left his house... then Velvet mentioned something about getting a drink... then it was all a blur.

"... just empty out the canisters, then we're done," she heard Phoenix's muffled through the door, its gilded knob starting to turn.

"Remember to keep the toads in, and make sure... Pinkie."

"H-Hey..."

"Y-You're awake, um..." he stuttered, reaching for his satchel.

"Slept well last night? I know it's pretty sudden to find yourself back in the caravan."

"I feel fine," was her warm reply.

"In fact, I feel fantastically super today!"

It was a half-truth she told. Yes, she felt super, but from the nightmare she had this morning, Pinkie didn't feel all that fantastic about it. Of course, at this time of the day, Phoenix wouldn't be minding it very much even if he could see through her white lie, which was a common thing. There is something about him today, however. Something unnerving.

"Where's the rest?" she asked.

"Outside, doing their daily jobs," was his answer.

"We're ten miles away from Valewood by now, just to let you know. I was just about to go hunting for anything we could make use of. If I remember clearly, there should be some red marbled butterflies here..."

"So?"

"When there's red marbled butterflies, there's lichen," he explained.

"And when there's lichen, there's lunch."

Soon enough, they stepped out of the caravan and into a small, empty clearing, where Pinkie found herself surrounded by colossal trees, some bare from the cold frost lingering in the air. With a shiver, she trudged after Phoenix, whose tail had lit up, burning brightly with an aura of warmth appreciated by the two of them. There were a few conveniently-felled logs in front of the caravan, which the mare figured was the doing of the rest, though they were nowhere to be found.

"The others should be gathering supplies already," Phoenix said upon noticing her puzzled look.

"Except for Ollie and Selena. I believe Velvet told them to scout ahead."

"So what are the toads for?"

"Ah, right... the toads..."

Hastily, Phoenix flipped his satchel open, taking out what appears to be a bundle of needles, sharp at one end with the thickness of the spine of a feather. He then took out some sort of gauntlet, with a nozzle fixed at an end and attached on top of it, a target scope. Putting it on his hoof, he strapped it tight with the leather buckles it came with, before reaching back, taking out a glass bottle filled with some green luminous liquid.

"I asked Dapple for some more Sweetsnap toad venom for the darts," he explained.

"Put both of these together, you get a sleep dart. Gotta use them for sedating anything that might get in our way. This place isn't exactly the safest place to be in, especially when the season just started."

"What season?"

"Whitewind bear feast," Phoenix answered, dipping some of his needles into the toxin.

"Believe me, you don't want to mess with a Whitewind. The fact that they have a white coat makes them almost invisible in a tundra landscape, like the one we're in now. Luckily for us, they're the rarer and second deadliest species we have to fear encountering against, which I guess wouldn't be a problem."

"Okay..." Pinkie muttered with a quiver, throat squeezing out a gulp.

"What's the first deadliest one?"

"They had many names. The Tarandro, the Tonakai, the Hirana, to name just a few. Even the pilgrims of the Princess Terra have met them; Parish called them the Réinfhianna."

A loud clack sounded through the forest as Phoenix inserted a needle into his gauntlet, a small droplet of the venom still hanging onto the tip stubbornly. The stallion wore that smug grin of his again; Pinkie could swear he was praising himself underneath his breath. Nevertheless, he was still the Phoenix she looked up to.

"Hopefully, we won't meet any of them, whatever they are," he continued.

"Now to look for lichen..."

Pinkie was no stranger to the unusual delicacies she had to savor during her travels with the caravan; the last queer meal they ate was some sort of a blue gourd, which had a pungent smell that was similar to detergent, but was a delight worth having. She still remembered its unique taste: a cross of a raisin and an unripened mango. It was exciting, to be able to gather all the exotic tastes in the world, though she would rather do with a dull hay sandwich now and then.

Together, they trudged into the dense woods, the crunch of brown leaves and occasional patches of snow being the only sound they make. Pinkie's teeth clenched at her sword, warily gazing around the woods for anything that could jump out from the shadows. Of course, with Phoenix around, she wouldn't be too sure they would do that.

"Here we go!" he exclaimed suddenly, pointing at one of the trees in their path.

"See that brown husky funnel thing there? That one that looks like a coconut! Right up there, next to that small branch! That's a nest of the red-marbled butterflies."

"Wait, a nest?" Pinkie asked, intrigued.

"But they're butterflies, right? They just flappity-flap with their wings, right? Why do they need a nest? I thought only spiders and ants and other creepy-crawlies build nests?"

"The red-marbled's among the exception. They're like bees without stingers."

Carefully, Phoenix retrieved a dagger from his satchel, chiseling off the bark of the tree.

"They only eat a few kinds of lichen," he continued.

"These butterflies don't move around and follow migration systems like the rest. They just ate what they find, pollinate this place and move along once everything is cleaned out. It's rare to see a nest like this and if we're lucky, these butterflies built their nest on a treasure trove... there we go."

Right beneath it, on a smoother, lighter shade of the bark, was some sort of sprawling, pale-green mossy plant, stripped free from its wooden covers and ripe for the taking. Phoenix was pretty delicate with it, slicing it evenly off the bark without any leftovers behind and sliding it all in a basket he prepared just for this occasion. All Pinkie could do was act as his guard, gazing around and, at times, looking back just to see the lichen dripping down like slime, splattering and sloshing once it hit the rattan bottom; she was seriously going to eat that? Her stomach cringed at the thought of it.

"You never know it 'til you try it, Pinkie," the stallion said with a smirk, having noticed her look.

"Ponies would pay a hundred bits for only a quarter of what I've gathered. It's a delicacy for the rich, y'know? You're lucky we are all eating it for free, fresh from the bark even!"

"Phoenix!"

Pinkie turned around, sighing with relief when she saw Velvet marching out from the woods, his twin blades sliding back into their sheaths. He stifled a small grin, nodding at the mare with acknowledgement to her presence, unlike the many times he would just walk past her without even greeting her. There was something off about him today as well; it was as if he was a little afraid of her, but she wasn't at all threatening to any of them, right? Right?

"Come look at this, Velvet," the leader spoke, gesturing his friend towards the tree.

"There's enough lichen for almost three days here."

"Considering that Ganger won't make a buffet out of it," the gray stallion quipped.

"I swear, that bugger could empty out our resources by now if he had the key to the food storage. Wouldn't that be terribly convenient?"

"He can manage. Eventually," Phoenix said, gathering the last of the lichen.

"Anyway, you spot any Whitewinds around?"

"None so far. Same for Brutus and the twins."

"Right then!"

Phoenix then picked up the basket of their soon-to-be lunch, the trio of ponies heading back to the caravan. It wasn't long before Pinkie's trotting became a hop, bouncing on and on through the forest with her two friends trudging right behind, scanning the forest floor for anymore delights they could scavenge. Aside from the lichen, they've found some ripe berries, mushrooms and a few pine cones, which only made their lunch ever the more promising.

"You haven't told her yet."

The two colts stopped in their tracks, leaving the oblivious Pinkie to hop off into the distance. Phoenix pursed his lips, glancing about while he mentally searched for the best excuse he could think of, to no avail. The fact that Velvet was staring grimly at him wasn't helping either.

"I don't think she would want to know that," he finally said, ears drooping.

"Plus, it seems as though she completely forgotten about it already."

"Perhaps she did, perhaps she didn't," Velvet hissed.

"But still, she has the right to know."

"You don't want to know that you killed twelve ponies all by yourself."

"Yet you know she has to."

Velvet glanced over his shoulder for a moment, before continuing:

"When you said you want to bring her along after that... that massacre, I thought you were going to spill the beans. Pinkie may not remember it, but I don't intend to let it stay that way. The authorities in Valewood would find out that she done it sooner or later, Finn, and if it would ever happen which I pray it won't and she gets taken away, not knowing what she'd done wrong..."

"She did it out of self-defense."

Phoenix sighed, clenching his eyes shut. He still remembered last night clearly, from each toss and turn she makes to the cries she let out, complete with the tears and the cold sweat... his heart twinged with the need to just blurt everything out when she was around. Still, he held himself back.

"Pinkie would know one day, V," he asserted.

"When the time is right, she would know."

"And if that time never came?"

Always the pessimist, Phoenix thought to himself with a scowl. He trust Velvet and his judgement, yet sometimes the things he said always made the situation seem inevitably hopeless. The assassin couldn't be blamed for anything, knowing the hard things he had went through, yet sometimes one must hope to reach their dreams.

"Well then," he replied.

"Let's just say it will."

O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O

For once, Caduceus Brineheart was frustrated.

It wasn't that frustration was something new to him, nor that it was a rare occurrence. Rather, it was more on the thing frustrating him that made it different. He had been tolerating it for quite some time now, though the days of endless walking had worn all of that away, the shell that concealed his emotions cracking into pieces. Oh, he was frustrated indeed.

For once, Caduceus Brineheart was frustrated at Pendant Lakes.

Being part of the Crux Four, he was the most systematic, which entrusts him with remembering the entire layout of the city with the exception of the grounds of Palgiot Palace (that job was handled by Stellar instead) and some of its alleyways. It wouldn't be a problem for him to navigate the confusing mazeway of roads and lanes of Pendant Lakes back in the day, though at its current dilapidated state, he couldn't even tell one street from another anymore.

They were close to the palace, he could tell; some of the buildings around were a dead giveaway. Their journey had been long, their food supply was almost exhausted and their hooves were worn out. The drear of the subterranean wasteland was overwhelming all of them to the point that he was beginning to miss sunlight. To soak in the fond embrace of sunshine once again...

"We're almost there."

Harmony Peridot signaled them to wait, sticking her twin blades into the ground and gripping tight onto their chains as she traversed forward, leaving Stellar, Caduceus and Jovern to watch. She stopped suddenly, peering over and grinning tenaciously when she saw the endless, infinite gorge of black below. Almost fifty feet over her is another rocky ledge, leering dangerously down at her with its magnificent shadow covering a part of the ruined town below.

"One heck of a drop here!" she shouted back to the rest.

"Would be just a crack for Jovern, I believe. As for you two old coots, you wouldn't mind working out those hooves of yours, right? It's quite a big jump to make."

"You go ahead!" Stellar shouted.

"We'll just hitch the ride."

"And suddenly, I'm responsible for transport."

"Can't really help you on that," Caduceus replied with a light chuckle, patting Jovern's scales gently as he lifted himself up onto the grumbling dragon's back.

"Go on without us, Harmony. See if there's anything up there."

Giving a nod, Harmony whipped her blades up, spinning it around like a lasso as she narrowed her eyes at the ledge above her. She flashed a grin once she tossed it, the never-ending chains reaching out with the sickle-shaped blades at the other end pouncing above in a magnificent display, gleaming in what little light that remains in this city. The tips soon gouge a hole into the ground, scraping closer and closer towards the edge and scattering pebbles and dust away until it came to a languid halt.

A tug to assure her safety and a grin later, she flipped the switch on the hilt of the blades she was clutching, the chains now pulling her hastily up to the ledge. With a graceful backflip, Harmony landed on all four hooves, pride welling up in her at her acrobatic feat before glancing up at the looming building overhead, holding her breath as she took her first step forward. She knew very well that there could be anything lurking inside the hallways, but she knew it wouldn't be any different. Like in the past, there were dark secrets always hidden behind those walls.

For what secrets are spared from the walls of Palgiot Palace?

The wooden doors, surprisingly still intact, creaked open, the mare stepping in like she did so all those years ago. Hooves gliding across the rotting carpet, Harmony gazed up at the split marble staircase, one side obstructed with debris with a tapestry draping over like a tablecloth. Slowly, she trotted up the other path, parting the doors that waited for her and inviting her into one of the many hallways around the palace.

It was like a trip down memory lane. She still remembered her first visit clearly: how she marveled at the decor, twirling all about with a sparkle in her eyes that had since been long gone. Stellar was right ahead of her back then, occasionally glancing back with his esteemed smile. Striding alongside her with finesse unseen in most stallions was the first face that welcomed her to town; the first face that gave her something to believe in. Ever since then, she thought he was the one.

She was wrong.

All fate did was made the revelation crueler.

The sickening stench of blood still lingered, constantly reminding her of her dark descent, guided by those twisted words of another. It warned her to stay back as well as told her of the brutal slaughter she caused beforehand. The determination burning within kept her from running back out or screaming at herself, though Harmony could feel her spirit cracking with every step deeper into the confines of the once-royal castle, each shard of it robbed away by the darkness. Sometimes, she felt something watching her from the darkness, waiting for the right moment to pounce onto her, though each turn proved her fears wrong. Perhaps it was the atmosphere playing with her head; she had been in Pendant Lakes long enough to know of the miasma over town and how parasitic it could be to pony emotions.

"Well, well..."

Harmony jerked her head forward, readying her blade at the figure standing in the shadows. Before she could strike, she yelped out in pain suddenly, clutching at her stinging chest where her heart once was. Whining quietly, her grip on her twin blades loosened, clattering onto the ground before she too collapsed along with it. She strained her neck, sweat dripping from her forehead as she steeled a glare at the figure looming over her, echoing whispers clouding her mind.

"You've came back," she heard him speak.

"Well? Have you decided to join us?"

"N-NevRARRGHHHH!!"

The searing pain in her chest made Harmony arch her back, pupils turning into slits and mouth hanging wide open. Every breath she took rushed out of her throat, which tightened up, the echoing scream she let out turning into a croak of pain as she fell back onto the floor. A bemused chuckle came from the other pony, who knelt down and gently ran his hoof down the curves of her cheek to her chin, partially damp from the tears she were shedding. The grin he bore was a nightmarish sight; his lips were straight, his brows were creased and his eyes... those eyes she knew, tainted a darker color by the corruption seeping through his veins... the burning sensation of her empty chest only became stronger at that.

"Shame. And here I thought you would change your mind."

The pink mare just panted on the ground, the hellish burn in her chest fading only slightly. Her mouth twisted into a snarl, her hooves trembling in the struggle to stand up. Her blades were far from reach, though that wouldn't be a problem; she could still tackle the hell out of him if she has to. Perhaps she might even twist his neck in the process! Of course, there was one thing she was curious about.

"Wh-What do you w-want from me?"

"Hmm?"

"Y-You could've killed me!" she proclaimed spitefully.

"You could've wrung my neck. You could've cut my head off. You could've-- gah! J-Just throw me off into that chasm outside, yet here I am, walking around in this... this dead... body of mine. Why won't you-- nguh!! just l-leave me to die in p-peace like every other pony? Why do I have to live?!"

"Because you don't want to die."

"I--"

Harmony's voice wrench up into a squeak, her thoughts churning altogether in a brew of confusion. She pushed herself back, shaking her head in denial with her mind screaming right at her. She could feel her heart beating faster and faster, the sound of it thumping in her head slowly growing louder and louder; she knew it was close by, yet there was too much happening in her head for her to bolt out from there and look for it. The other pony just grinned, stepping forward and driving the helpless mare towards the wall with a sneer.

"I... I don't..." she mumbled suddenly.

"I d-don't want to die..."

"You don't."

"I don't want to die... please... please..."

"I'll make sure you won't."

Her ears twitched at the stallion's words, her chin lifted up the other pony with her watering eyes staring up, wide open with disbelief. Harmony's breath tensed when he stooped down towards her, his pants gently blowing at her face as his snout grew closer towards hers. Their lips were quick to meet, freeing the sensational burst of emotions from its cage; one that Harmony had missed for so long. Sparks flew in her mind, whizzing around like bursting in the form of hormonal fireworks. Something told her it was wrong, yet she didn't care. She never cared.

The kiss broke suddenly, leaving her panting and wanting more. All the other pony did was smile, brushing her mane aside tenderly. Her instincts told her to run, yet he... he knew every weak spot, every part that would make sure she would squeal and burn with the ache for more. He knows how to make her happy, to sate her hunger and satisfy her needs, to forget about everything else.....

Wouldn't that be the best thing she would ever have?

"With me, you will live."

"Pr-Promise?"

"I promise... but only if you do something for me..."

"Anything!" Harmony shouted desperately, practically begging.

"I'll do anything! I'll do anything you'll say, for Celestia's sake!!"

The stallion smiled that unforgettable smile. Slowly, he helped Harmony up, the mare practically letting loose the tears lingering in her eyes. Bringing her head into his chest, he hushed her ever so quietly, hugging her tight as she began the first of many sobs. Harmony's thoughts of leaving soon dwindled, diminishing bit by bit while she swayed in his embrace, dancing with a blank mind when he started humming a familiar song. Nothing could've prepared her for this, yet she didn't mind; she was with him, after all.

"I love you..." she whispered, to which the stallion grinned to himself, stroking her mane silently as if she was his pet cat. He figured it was too silent, but held his excitement back; he didn't want to spoil the surprise. There was, of course, one small thing worth celebrating about in his head.

He did it.

He finally did it.

"I love you too."

O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O=O

"But... bu-bu-but!!"

"Save your voice, Twilight Sparkle."

"But you!! You, of all ponies!! You!!!"

"Didn't I tell you to-- never mind."

Trixie kicked her hooves back, her smirk growing by the minute at the speechless Twilight Sparkle standing before her, still unable to comprehend the presence of the other mare. The Masque glanced between both unicorns, profoundly amused; he had heard of Twilight's competency of overreacting, but the outburst he had just seen was beyond what the common folk had said. Trixie wasn't a stranger of that on her end, of course.

"I'm pretty surprised that you found your way here," she retorted.

"Well? How was the journey?"

Twilight's mind was too rampant to muster a reply. Immediately, she turned towards the Masque, her hoof clenched and pointing at the other mare with a visibly-irritated scrunch of her face, cheeks seething a fiery red as she cried out:

"Wh-What is she doing here?"

"I found her az a lost wanderer, so I thought she might apprez'iate it if I gave her a home."

"It's the honest truth, Twilight Sparkle," Trixie added enticingly.

"Think about it: why would I, the Great and Powerful Trixie just waltz into the sewer tunnels of Canterlot for reasons beyond my own comprehension? It wouldn't be like me to do so, wouldn't it, Twilight Sparkle?"

"So what? You're teaching children now?" was the scornful reply.

"Your tricks won't work on me, Trixie. They never do!"

"Calm z'own, Twilight," the Masque intervened, stepping into her view.

"What Trixie says is ze truth. As I've said, I found her looking for a plaze to stay, so I s'ought she might not mind coming to live here. At least, for a short while."

"B-But... b-b-but she wouldn't just go looking for a place to stay!"

"Times have changed, Twilight Sparkle."

A sigh escaped Trixie's mouth, the disgruntled mare settling down onto one of the many beds.

"These days, you can't travel a mile without getting yourself in trouble. All of us here, especially you, know that something's coming to get us. All of us. That's why I thought of coming here, to Canterlot, before I stumbled upon this guy. I learned of what was happening and about how a war may be coming from all the talk around the streets. It might sound a little selfish to say this, but I have no intention of joining in the conflict. Not after what happened in Manehatten."

Fear. That was what Twilight saw in her former rival's eyes: sheer, undiluted fear. No one could blame her, for even the bravest of warriors and their leaders dread the enemy's treacherous moves. The recent fall of Camelroon had sent shockwaves throughout the alliance the Princesses had gathered back in the palace. For Janus to overthrow the formidable camel empire underneath all of their noses...

"He'll come for us all in the end," Twilight stated.

"We need every able pony to help us out."

"Really, Twilight, have you forgotten?" Trixie snapped.

"Not everyone's the unicorn you are. The things you do isn't unlike anything else every other unicorn could simply master. You call me, the mare you can't even perform a simple teleportation spell, an able pony? What do you want me to do, give a motivational speech and dazzle them with my cheap tricks like I'm some Wonderbolt or something? No can do."

"Trixie, I didn't mean it that way. You could help out in many ways other than just magic."

"I'm afraid I have to decline."

Before Twilight could reply, a filly suddenly scampered up to the Masque, who knelt down and listened with rapt attention as she muttered something incomprehensible into his ear. The mares watched, dumbfounded once he quickly strode away from them, stopping midway only to turn back to Twilight.

"There are some... urgent errands I have to tend to," he explained hastily.

"I vill be back soon, mademoiselle. I believe it's best to use the time to decide whether to spend the night in my room or not, oui?"

Her cheeks flushed a deep crimson as Twilight screamed internally at the Masque's beautiful timing with his words, her eyes and mouth clenched shut from the humiliation with teeth sinking into her lips. An audible snicker from Trixie only made the feeling all the more worse, though the other mare just burst out in a cackling fit of laughter when Twilight imposed a glare upon her.

"St-Stop it!" she cried, her temper seething.

"It's only for a few days, Trixie! It's n-not like there's... anything between us or... whatever..."

"Mm-hmm. That's the most convincing thing I've ever heard."

"I'm s-serious!" Twilight exclaimed a little too loudly.

"I just... thought it would be... n-n-nice to... to spend some time with him..."

"Any idiot would know you have a thing for the Masque," Trixie remarked, grinning from ear to ear.

"You're practically swooning over him like he's a superhero or something. Plus, I've been around him long enough to know if he's trying his hardest to hit on somepony else and as of now, you are his current target."

"Wh-What?"

"He never, never, and I do mean never, uses 'mademoiselle' like any other word, Twilight."

"No, not that."

Twilight wasn't a stranger when it comes to knowing the Masque's affections for her; she had heard his confession about his feelings that night. She was certainly as indecisive as he was when it comes to pursuing a relationship, partially because of their respective positions as Princess Celestia's faithful student and Canterlot's Most Wanted, the other part being their nerves. Of course, from what she heard, she wasn't the first.

"You said you knew how he hits on other mares," she reaffirmed.

"The way you said it... it's almost as if you and the Masque were... w-were..."

A sigh. "It's a long story, Twilight."

On any other day, if she had seen Trixie beckoning her to sit right at her side, Twilight would've eagerly refused, but she was practically staring at the face of some irresistible piece of information about the Masque! The thought of the former magician and the masked caper being together... however strange it sounded, it somehow made a little sense.

"I admit, we were an item once," Trixie said glumly.

"It started nine months ago, when that crooning no-good sweet talker personally asked me out for a rooftop date. I really thought he was somepony I would spend my life with back then. Boy, how wrong I was. We then broke up three months later."

"What happened?"

"He and I didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things," she answered heftily.

"In the end, we remained close, but not like before. Sometimes, I just wonder what he's thinking in that cunning little head of his, trying to understand what he could become by saving all these children. What was he trying to prove to the world? If you asked me nine months ago, I would've said he'd lost his mind. Now... now I just don't know..."

"But he did a lot of things, didn't he?" Twilight asked.

"Even if it meant stealing thousands of bits worthy of gems... there's something about him... he's not like the Robin Hoof stories that they tell, where Robin Hoof robbed the rich, gave to the poor and had a dance with his merry band of ponies after every successful heist. No, he's driven by something... something that I can't put my hoof on."

"I can tell you he changes those around him."

Trixie would've lied to anypony if she said he doesn't, and Twilight could halfheartedly agree, at least. Maybe it was his charm or the influence he has over those under his guidance, but however revered he was by the common folk, both mares knew he changes something in them; something that no other pony can ever possibly imagine.

"Look at me, for instance," the azure mare replied with a chuckle.

"Here I am, living underground just to teach kids about the outside world. I could've done more, you know? Probably head to Fillydelphia for a one-night-only performance, just to see how the professionals do it. No, I'm stuck here, telling the strangest stories to the children and occasionally mopping some floors."

"Not so 'Great and Powerful' now, aren't you?"

"I have to agree, however humiliating it might be, it's the truth," Trixie replied.

"Gone was the Great and Powerful Trixie, gone was her magical shenanigans. All that's left is me: Trixie, the mare who once used her name in every sentence unimaginable, but dropped that act for a little storytale session with the colts and fillies. The Masque changed a heck lot out of me, Twilight Sparkle. You might just be getting started."

Twilight shuddered, trying not to think about it.

"How is he like?" she asked instead.

"Y-You know, when he's... with you and stuff?"

"He has virtues and charm. On a first glance, all you have to do is remove that mask and you got yourself the perfect stallion that any mare could possibly hoped for."

The dreamy look on Trixie's face soon faltered, its role taken over by a small frown.

"Once you get to know him better, it's a different story. He's a hard pony to deal with, always refusing an offer for help even if he desperately needed it. Not surprising, considering his lone ranger attitude. Just try to be patient with him and help out if possible, but be careful with him. I still have no idea who he is and what he's really doing all of this for, so stay alert if something's off."

"I will."

"Oh, and Twilight?"

The librarian turned around, waiting for the answer that Trixie fumbled about in her head. A faint dash of red grew on her cheeks, followed by a sheepish grin that rarely ever showed up on her face. Twilight nearly guffawed at the sight; she never knew the mare to be that quirky.

"This might sound a little selfish again, but..." she stopped to breath in.

"No matter what happens, promise you'll take good care of him for me?"

The widest, warmest smile surged onto Twilight's face, her heart soaring in the clouds. She never would've thought about it: Trixie handing her the reins on becoming the Masque's love interest, much less thinking that Trixie would ever know the Masque himself. Nevertheless, to be supported by her former enemy to earn the Masque's affections... Twilight saw a hint of it in the spark of the other mare's eyes, and that spark swelled her pride up to her chest with glee.

She would do her duty well for his affections back again.

Even if the Masque wouldn't return them like he did before.

"I promise."

Author's Note:

Sorry if it took too long.
Got a little revamping to do on some parts.

Hope it was worth the wait!

Comments

[Fury of the Tempest]

Huh... interesting. Guess your ignoring Magical Duel?

[WritingSpirit]

3821996
Not really.

I imagined Twilight to have forgiven her like in the episode, but still hold some doubts.

[Fury of the Tempest]

3822301
Hmmmm.... I see....

[Loremaster101]

Downright loved the first story, now i'm having second thoughts about reading this one before it's finished. I know it's going to be good, but i don't want to wait for updates.
Cliffhangers are bad for the health.
Any advice?

[WritingSpirit]

3858830
Well, this story's gonna be longer than the previous one, so you might have to wait very long.
I'm not sure when it'll be finished though.