Chapter Five: The Crystal Frontier
Chapter Five:
The Crystal Frontier
~~~***~~~
A womb of green and grey. She stirs, cradled in an easy sleep.
A jagged knife rends the sac, spilling her mercilessly on the stones below.
She looks up, amniotic slime dripping from her face.
“It’s been a while. Hasn’t it, Luna?”
Silent, she bears her cheek.
The first strike slices to the bone. She turns the other, gritting her teeth.
‘Tis but the passing of rage. ‘Twill all be over soon.
Another slice. She whimpers. No knife should cut so deep.
A pause. The blade plunges into her neck.
Its length flashes red; its song, cruel.
The Shadow smiles. “You deserve this.”
Luna closes her eyes. I owe this much...
Another plunge. A frown.
Another. A tear.
Another. “Mercy.”
“Mercy!”
"MERCY!!!”
~~~***~~~
“LUNA!”
Twilight jolted from her bed, her scream ringing out alone. She stilled her thumping heart, listening breathlessly. No singing blades. No screaming Luna. Nothing. She massaged her temples, looking with shame to the silken sheets drenched in her sweat. Her horn’s throbbing dulled. Slowly, the image of Luna in pain passed from her mind. It was just a dream. It didn't mean anything...
She sat upright, wiping the sleep from her eyes. A thin stream of sunlight bisected the empty spaces of a well-appointed field tent, a structure tall enough that, had she wanted, she could take a quick flight to stretch her wings. Twilight looked to her bedding: a padded blue silk cushion and matching sheets more at home in Celestia's chambers than here with her, miles from any throne. She paced for the entrance flaps, her cheeks warming feverishly with every gained yard. No one pony should be accorded something so lavish. Not now...
Crumbling stone walls towered all around her as she stepped outside. A trio of birds tumbled through the spaces in a shattered window, flitting to their nests in the decaying entrance hall’s rafters. Rotting tapestries added a softness to the crisp echo of her hoofsteps as she made her way outside and into the sunlight. A part of her felt as sickly as the old building’s threshold. The Zebra Embassy had seen far better days than these.
Haven’t we all.
Her weariness evaporated as she stepped into the street. The Crystal Palace, miles away, was the only thing with even a trace of life in it. Every house and store stretching down the long, glistening thoroughfare made the embassy appear almost gaudy. No crystal ponies, but no enemies lurking in the morning shadows. No danger, but no life. Only an unspoken expectation of further devastation to come.
Twilight closed her eyes, finding clarity in the calm morning light. Looking back on it, she'd never taken stock of her surroundings when she’d arrived in this quiet corner of the Crystal Empire. Her evening walk to camp, the padded cushion, that palace of a tent... She hadn’t remembered any of it, so quickly sleep had taken her. The only constant memory was her guard, Summer, their atlas hefted on his shoulders, stepping into her teleportation spell with enough courage for them both. Looking now, there wasn’t a trace of him to be found. Surely he has to be around here somewhere.
Finding nothing in the streets, Twilight turned her eyes to the sky. Looking about to ensure she was alone, Twilight gave a few test flaps and slowly pulled herself into the air, searching for her bodyguard’s familiar red crest. When her wings began to ache, he gave a few more flaps and alighted on a cloud. Here, she found no Summer: not in the sky, down below, nor beyond. Instead, the expanse of the northern plains spanned out languorously below. The clouds parted, and in a heartbeat she lost what breath she had left.
The northern plains of the Crystal Empire rolled out in a sea of glistening gold, wind-born waves forming and churning their way to the far horizons like a living blanket cradling the world in its arms. Not a building or castle for miles, or even dozens of miles. Only an endless expanse of grass, as peaceful and genial as Celestia herself. But as Twilight squinted northwards, its warmth stopped dead. The Northern Ranges crouched on the horizon, clouds rolling from its rocky spine like steam from the nostrils of an angry dragon. It was a challenge, one Twilight accepted with a defiant grin. Giving the scene one last look to commit it to memory, she tumbled from her cloud and came to a running trot on the ground. There’d be nothing stopping them from traversing those peaks within the fortnight. That all depends on our navigator...
She rounded the embassy walls to find their wagon laden with supplies. Nearby: a firepit, a happy blaze in its heart. A cauldron bubbled above it, coughing up an aroma so sweet Twilight’s eyes fluttered by the smell alone. Breakfast: piping hot and ready to eat! Twilight stepped closer, her mouth watering, but just as she drew close its chef pranced merrily around the corner.
In this moment, he looked as though no darkness could ever intrude on this: his own little kingdom. With his eyes closed he hummed a little tune, a bundle of sticks in his mouth, his gait lively and quick. He hop-stepped to his fire and dropped his bundle with a proud unfurling of his wings. He stirred a ladle with one wingtip, brushing his cargo into the fire and whipping it aflare with his other wing. The fire roared its thanks, and he, with a final sigh, plopped himself happily onto the nearest stone, opening his eyes to survey his handiwork.
His eyes fell on Twilight, and in a flash he became a different pony altogether.
“Princess!” His hoof clacking to his forehead with a little smack. He winced, recovering with a bow. “I didn’t know you were awake!”
“Only just,” Twilight said, stepping closer to the fire. His eyes flashed to her hooves, and before she could say otherwise he pounced over his fire, sweeping away sticks and various clutter from the ground.
“I’m sorry, ma’am! I should’ve cleaned before you’d arrived!”
“Please, don’t fret so much! It’s no big deal.”
“But it is,” he said, frantically brushing around Twilight's hooves. “Just because we’re outside the castle doesn’t mean I can shirk my duties! I... I should have woken you, ma’am, the moment breakfast was ready!”
“Well, I’m here now.” Twilight could feel her mouth become a lake as their breakfast’s scent washed her over. “Would you mind if I—”
“Allow me, please!” He scurried to the wagon and whipped out a bowl and spoon with a flourish. He rubbed them clean, then ran to his place and held them out. Had he bowed any lower, Twilight would’ve believed he’d been offering it to Celestia herself. “Your bowl, Your Highness! I beg your forgiveness, I didn’t really get the time to clean it out! Had I known you’d be waking, I’d’ve washed it twice! No, thrice!”
“Really, it’s no issue. Could you—”
“It is an issue! You deserve only the finest, Your Highness, and it’s my job to provide it! Colonel Vanguard would say the same thing!” He gasped horribly. “Please don’t tell him I failed to clean your utensils, milady! He’d have my head!”
“I seriously doubt he’d—”
“But he would! He’s not one to look kindly on mistakes, but mistakes against a princess? Please, I’ll do anything! Just don’t tell him!”
“I wouldn’t dar—”
“Can I get you some water, Your Highness? Coffee? Tea? I brought a fine Zebra brew, straight from Cairoan! I have locals, if you like those better! Anything to please you!”
“Please, just—”
“We have sugar, too, if you need to sweeten your meal. I thought I added enough! Please, if you find you can’t eat it then I can whip up another ba—”
“Compass Rose!!!”
In a heartbeat his face drained of color, his bright eyes wide-open in horror. He prostrated himself before her, quivering horribly. To see him cowering like that made her feel ill. As calmly as she could Twilight sat down and lifted his eyes, a serious weight on her sweetest of tones. “You don’t need to pamper me, okay? I can take care of myself.”
“But it’s my job to—”
She placed her hoof over his mouth. “Not another sound”. Once he'd stopped shaking, she removed her hoof and gave him a smile. “I appreciate you making breakfast, but please, for my sake: calm down. If you desire to do anything for me, do that first.”
He nodded quietly. Then, after a little gulp, whatever nervous spirit had possessed him released him from its clutches. “Thank you, milady,” he said, breathing one last sigh. “I... I apologize for my behavior. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I know you didn’t," Twilight said, shepherding him close to the fire. “You have orders. I can understand that.”
He plopped down on the grass, his eyes on his hooves. Twilight placed herself on a nearby stone and watched him, awaiting his nervous spirit’s imminent return. Without his armor, it was a shock to know just how different he was from the guards with whom she was familiar. The average Canterlot guard was a bleak monochromatic statue, but not him. Every color-rich inch of him bubbled, alive with an energy no frantic string of needless apologies could fully encapsulate. He was the same earthy red-tan as a clay pot fresh from the kiln, his fur catching the sun’s fire with an orange twinge. His forest-green hair was weightless, whisking in the wind like the tall pines of home. His wings flickered, and as he rustled them into position Twilight found a little sextant sitting squarely on his flank. She caught his eyes, saw the little embarrassed flicker in his face, and held her bowl out with a grin. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Compass Rose.”
He looked up, shocked, a smile spreading slowly on his lips. "You... you know my name?!"
"Of course I do," Twilight said happily. "Summer told me yesterday. He also said that you were quite the wilderness survival expert. Is that right?"
His cheeks turned beet-red. "Summer's too kind, Your Highness! I'll defer to he—"
"Please, just call me Twilight." Her hoof shot up to stop the protest she knew would come. "I'm aware your colonel has ordered you to treat me as you would Celestia, but I'm quite fine without being doted on. I'll permit 'ma'am', I’ll suffer 'milady', but please: no 'Your Highness'. I don't think I could ever get used to that."
"As you wish, ma'am. And as far as my experience goes, I can only hope you'll find me worthy of being your escort."
"If that oatmeal tastes as good as it smells, I think we'll get along just fine!"
“Thank you, ma'am.” He ladled out a heaping portion of thick, creamy oatmeal into her bowl. It smelled like something beyond bliss, and as she took a bite her heart and stomach filled with pure summer sweetness. Warmth seeped into every muscle like a soothing bath. It wasn’t long before she’d sucked it down and held her bowl out again, begging him for another. His face lit up with pride as he gave her another portion. “I’m glad to see you’re enjoying it!”
“How could I not? This is wonderful!"
He blushed. "You're far too kind, ma'am. All the credit belongs to someone else. I just had the honor of following her recipe."
"And what, pray tell, is that recipe?"
“Wild oats, cinnamon, sugar, honey, a touch of granola, and some dried apples, ma'am.”
Twilight paused. “Apples?”
“Of course,” he chirped, helping himself to a bowl. “Pulled them from Canterlot’s larder myself, ma’am. Finest apples in the valley." He played with his spoon, a little smile on his lips. "I... I wanted you to have something to remind you of home."
He said it so nonchalantly that, at first, Twilight didn't hear him. His oatmeal was a symphony of flavor, every clump of sugar and candied grain a note on a page. Then, as his words hit home, the song hit its crescendo. This taste was harvest time, hoof-polished and quality-controlled, both lovingly coddled and sternly commanded as only Applejack knew how. This was a cold and frothy moment after a long day, a well-earned treat for a labor of love. This flavor was home, and the apples Sweet Apple Acres’. This was her friends and their every shared moment wrapped in sugar and served with a smile. Twilight swallowed her mouthful, looked to the cauldron, and beamed. There would be plenty to last for the cold days to come.
Home would never be as far away as she’d thought.
"Summer was right about you..."
Compass Rose stopped dead. "You... you were talking about me? With Summer?"
"Only a little." His ears fell a bit. Twilight refilled her bowl with a smile. "He mentioned that you've always been kind to him. I can see why he thinks that. I'm guessing that recipe didn't call for apples, did it?"
"No, ma'am. My mother would have a fit if she saw me take liberties with her cooking."
"I'm glad you did." Twilight bowed her head. "Thank you, Rosy. This breakfast was just what I needed."
They turned to their bowls and poured themselves into eating, forgetting their circumstances and bonding over their meals, hearts united in an easy bliss. When they finished they licked what apple bits and granola they could, then surrendered their bowls to the nearby washtub. He set to cleaning without orders. Twilight turned to find another bowl full to its brim with their breakfast. It had gone to waste, by the looks of it. "I take it this is the colonel's..."
Compass Rose swept the bowl into the tub, grimacing all the while. "He had to leave early," he mumbled distantly. "Between making sure Summer would establish a forward camp to his specifications and securing the prisoner to yours, he's had his hooves full. Breakfast is the last thing he needs to waste his time on." He shrugged. “His words, ma’am...”
A part of her begged to address the topic of Vanguard, but their prisoner, like her master, had a special knack for seizing control of her thoughts. "How is she?"
He nodded towards the wagon, his soapy hooves quivering anxiously. There, Twilight could see a tightly-curled black ball dozing beneath the wagon’s axle. The mere act of sleeping betrayed that pony part of her that hadn't been fully corrupted, the only thing Twilight felt any sympathy for. A part of her wanted nothing more than to shake Penumbra awake, bring her from whatever dreams she'd been having to face the world she'd made to suffer. But that would involve touching her, and not even one of Compass Rose's nearby soaps would ever make her clean again.
"She's pacified as you ordered, ma'am. The colonel didn't trust Summer alone with her, so she'll have the honor of being in your company for the time being. I hope that's not an issue."
"I'd prefer it this way. The last thing I need is another pony's blood on my hooves."
He looked at her sadly for a moment, then started for the wagon, taking special care to not step too close to the wagon’s shadows. There was a spring in his step, an honest bounce that made her smile unabashedly. “I got those books you asked for!” He gave a tug on a thick strap and yanked a bundle from the wagon. Twilight winced violently, but did her best to hold her tongue as he dropped some books before her with a heavy thud. “The rest are onboard, but the one’s you highlighted are right here: one spellbook with a fancy swirl on the front, one jewel-encrusted journal, and a book on magical plants and where to find them. I took a leaf through that last one, just out of curiosity.” He gave a goofy grin. “Heh... Leaf...”
The pun wasn’t missed, nor was one important detail. “And Spike?”
“He had plenty of questions, but I told him he was needed for something very important in the castle. He understands his duties, but not your whereabouts. Just as you requested.” He shot her a comforting smile. “We talked a bit on the way to Canterlot. He’s a fine young dragon, ma’am. He’ll be just fine with Captain Shining Armor.”
“Thank you, Rosy. I can’t tell you how nice it is to know he’s okay.”
He returned her smile, then traipsed over to a nearby boulder and pulled a heavy book onto his back. Sunlight glinted off the golden leaf stamped on its cover, and soon, as he drew close, she recognized it as the atlas from the Crystal Library. Its binding creaked as he pulled it open, his eyes alighting on the pages with a glimmer. “I gave a look through that atlas you found as well. It was tricky, but I think I made a breakthrough."
"A passage through the mountains?"
"Most likely." He flipped to a map of an ancient Crystal Empire and drew his hoofpoint along an old dotted path. "This here? It looks to be an old trade route connecting the Crystal Empire to the Griffon Kingdom in the north. It starts not far from here." He trailed his hoof through a large tract of land marked The Summer Sea. "Everywhere north of the embassy is grassland, ma'am: rich in food, but not easy on the hooves. It’s not dangerous, but it will be a bit of a hike. They don’t call it a sea for nothing."
"I saw that. Any idea how long it might take to cross?"
"I was hoping to ask you about that. Summer told me about your teleportation spell. Any chance we might be able to use that again?"
Twilight cringed. It was one thing to be the bearer of bad news, but when everything else was going wrong it seemed more like a twist of the knife than a fact. "Unfortunately, no. The first rule of teleportation is never try to go someplace you‘ve never been before. You have no idea what kinds of things happen to those who break that rule. Besides, it was tough enough with two ponies, let alone five.”
He was clearly disheartened, though he did an excellent job hiding it. "I see. And flying is out on account of the wagon..."
"If we're consigned to walking, that's okay. It will give us more time to get a clear idea of where to go. I'd rather take the time to iron that out than try and do this the hard way."
He bowed his head. "Your will be done, milady. Walking it is." He wasn't done being concerned, that much was clear. "If walking is our lot in this, we can expect to cross the plains in about four days. Three, if we really push it. It all depends on Vanguard, your prisoner, and the wagon."
"What then?"
"This.” He tapped the figure of a castle on the edge of a field of skyward-pointed arrows. "Looks like the path goes past this old holdfast, someplace called Pyrewood Keep."
"Never heard of it. Sounds less than pleasant, though."
"Agreed. I'd hoped you'd be able to shed some light on it, ma’am. If you know nothing about it, then I can only assume it’s been forgotten. That probably means something far worse has taken residence."
Her blood chilled. "Something... worse?"
He nodded slowly. "This here? This keep? It's right on the edge of the Dimlight Moor.”
The way he tapped the shaded parcel of land northwest of the grasslands filled Twilight with unease. Even its very image was something he wasn’t happy to be touching. Twilight turned to look back towards the prairie, straining her eyes for any sign of something sinister. She found it quickly. The faint color of redwoods barely crested the golden sea below. Beneath their cover, it appeared utterly lifeless. It was the only place the sun seemed to be unable to penetrate. Twilight could almost feel Penumbra watching her from beneath the wagon. Something tells me she’ll be right at home...
"The Dimlight Moor? Is it anything at all like the Everfree Forest?"
"Yes, but not in a great way. Glacial runoff has turned that place into more of a swamp than a forest. The Everfree might be dark on occasion, but here? The trees are towers, ma’am, and there’s no such thing as sunlight. Whatever lives there has lived in the dark for ages, in and around pools of mud and peat that swallow ponies whole. Those pits are said to be deeper than the trees are tall.” He shuddered at the possibility. “I’ve tried looking for a way around it, ma'am, but I've been coming up blank. The road meanders through it, and it’s the only thing that promises to give our wagon any quarter. I wish it wasn’t the case, ma’am.”
“But it is. I trust you, Rosy. If we need to go through it, then that’s what we’ll do. We’ll just have to take it one day at a time.”
“I thought we didn’t have days.”
Twilight sighed. The happy part of the morning had finally come to a close. Now, thanks to him, it was back to the reality of their circumstance. Twilight looked at him soberly. “We don’t, Rosy. For all we know, Celestia could die before we ever cross the grasslands. That’s assuming, of course, that our guest doesn’t free herself and kill us in our sleep. There’s a lot of things we don’t know, but there’s some things we do.”
“Like what, milady?”
“The sun rose this morning. That means Celestia’s alive. The moon has set, so Luna’s okay as well. We know that our enemies are to the north thanks to reports from Shining Armor, and we’ve got a direct line to our prisoner’s master’s plans somewhere in Penumbra’s head. We’ve got more maps than a pony could ask for, the best navigator in Equestria, and all the books and resources to find a cure. But the most important thing we have is hope. As long as we keep that, and as long as we all stick together, there’s nothing we won’t be able to handle.”
“Will we be able to handle King Sombra?”
Twilight’s face blanched. Of all the things to bring up, she thought, he goes right for the sorest spot. “Who told you about him?”
“Vanguard and Summer,” he replied sheepishly, scuffing the dirt. “They told me he was coming for us. They said Penumbra said he would lay waste to Equestria and—”
“And do nothing. I don’t know what they told you, but he’s gone. I saw him being destroyed myself.”
“How can you be sure?” His eyes shot open. “Forgive me, ma’am! I mean no disrespect, none at all! I just... I don’t see how we can be so certain he isn’t coming for us! What if she’s leading us right to him?!”
“You can’t believe everything you hear, least of all from her. She’s said nothing but lies since the moment we met, and she’ll continue to lie if it gets her what she wants.” She pulled his eyes to her own. “You’re not to listen to a word she says. Am I understood?”
He snapped to attention with a smart salute, then returned to their dishes without another sound. The way he set to work betrayed him immediately. He wasn’t done worrying about it. It was hard enough watching him suffering in his own thoughts, let alone try and sort through her thoughts too. What they needed was a break, something to distract them from the facts she’d reminded them of. Her eyes fell on the steam radiating from the water’s surface, and in a flash Twilight knew just what she needed. She’d done it so many times before with Rarity that it should’ve come naturally. There’s nothing quite like a nice warm soak...
She waited until he’d turned to gather more dishes. Then, without a word, she stepped to his side and slid her hooves in the washbasin’s warm water. The way it seeped into her skin melted every unspoken fear in an instant. He returned to her with his dishes, pulling a double-take as his eyes fell on Twilight and the bits of food slowly caking her hooves. “Ma’am! You shouldn’t... You... You mustn't dirty your hooves, milady! This work is beneath you! A princess should never be forced to—”
“You never forced me," Twilight said, smiling calmly. “The mess is mine as much as it is yours. Besides, this water is heavenly! Permit me to stay and help. I could use someone to talk to anyway.” That part of him eternally looking over his shoulder for his coming colonel wrestled with that portion of him dedicated to follow her orders. Twilight eased his battle with a soapy pat on his shoulder. “I’ve been taking care of myself for a long while now, Compass Rose. I don’t mind.”
Slowly he relaxed, but his eyes still churned with worry. That's just one thing I'll have to get used to when it comes to him. She grabbed the closest brush and turned to scouring her bowl clean. He joined her after a few moments, his brow stained in sweat. “This is unheard of, ma'am. If Colonel Vanguard saw this, he’d throw a fit!”
“I’ll make sure you don’t get in trouble, how’s that?”
Relief tumbled from his lips. “I would like that very much, milady. Very, very much.”
He returned to scouring their dishes, utterly reinvigorated. But Twilight couldn't join in his merry assurance. Her eyes were on him and what levity he now had in the absence of Vanguard’s shadow. She remembered how wonderful it felt to be free from Luna and her overbearing oversight, but there are always prices paid. Hers to Luna hadn’t been cheap.
“Has Vanguard always given you a hard time?”
Compass Rose shrugged weakly. “He gives everyone a hard time. It’s his job.”
“I’d think his job would be to lead you, not force you to follow him blindly and suffer along the way.”
His eyes flicked over to Penumbra, then back to his hooves. “Sometimes we have to be collared before we truly know what it means to hold the leash.”
“Sounds like he’s taken a leaf out of Luna’s book.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me. He was her candidate, after all...”
Twilight turned to him, puzzled. “Candidate?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He let his dishes fall into their tub and turned to her. “It’s customary for Luna to dip her hooves in the ranks of the Royal Guard in search of talent. Celestia does the same thing with her diplomats.” He gave a bow and a flourish. “And I must say, she did a wonderful job finding you!” Twilight shot him a little curtsy and a big smile, then pressured him onwards with a shake of her hoof. He stood up straight and continued. “Luna has trained most every Captain of the Guard since the beginning. Her latest champion was Colonel Vanguard, and it was thought he’d take on the Sanguine Mantle as his father did.”
“The Sang-what?”
Compass Rose chuckled. “Don’t worry, not many know what it is either. Only military families like mine even think twice about it. The Sanguine Mantle is an old robe that’s given to the Captain of the Guard upon their ascension to the rank. I’m not surprised you’ve never seen it. It’s a ratty old thing by now. Before it was your brother’s it belonged to the late Lord Bastion, the Captain of the Guard before Shining Armor. It was assumed that Vanguard would receive the nomination, but your brother somehow won Celestia and Luna over. Vanguard was promoted to Colonel to make up for it, as well as receiving his own personal battalion, but it didn’t make much difference. He’s still the most feared and the most respected officer in the Guard, just like he’s always been. It’s like he didn’t even know anything happened.”
Twilight thought for a moment, then turned to him, her eyes alight. “You called him ‘Lord' Bastion... Was he a lord because of his rank?”
Compass Rose shot her a grin. “Yes, ma’am. I think I know why you’re surprised, and you’re right: Lord Bastion earned his honorific upon becoming Captain of the Guard. The same thing applies to Shining Armor. By every right, your brother is a lord in the court of Canterlot! Bet you didn’t know that, did you?”
Twilight sat stunned. Not a day on the trail, and already things were coming to light she’d never thought to consider. What else was there about the dealings of a princess she had left to learn? Would she, in time, have to select a protégé as Celestia had her? If not diplomats or soldiers, would they be master scholars? Magicians the likes of Star-Swirl the Bearded? The very thought made her overwhelmingly excited. The next generation of magical thought could be mine to help shape!
“That’s a lot to process,” Twilight said, her smile waning. “It does clear up a few things, though.”
“Such as?”
“Such as what I’m going to call him from now on. He’s always been a bit of a dweeb, but now? Now he’s Lord Dweeb!”
Compass Rose couldn’t cover his mouth fast enough. He clutched his heart and fell to the ground, laughing uproariously in the grass below. Twilight couldn’t help but join him. Penumbra’s yellow eyes flashed from beneath the wagon, but Twilight happily shrugged her off. When he’d laughed his share, he rose to his hooves, wiped a tear from his eye, and returned to cleaning with a toothy smile. “I trust we’ll keep this between ourselves, ma’am? Vanguard would take my hide for his own red cloak if he hears I laughed at that.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, private.”
No cockatrice could ever have petrified him faster.
They turned in unison, encountering the monstrously tall and armorless form of Colonel Vanguard glowering down at them. Unlike Compass Rose, he was the model of the bleak, emotionless stallions who bravely bore the sword and shield of Equestria. Only shades lighter than their fire-scorched cauldron, an inferno seemed poised to melt whatever icy wall lingered beyond his bright blue eyes. A blue shield much like her brother's sat on his flank, but his bore a pure white tower sitting unadorned in its heart. His words were equally stark, and his piercing eyes spoke more than his words ever could. "Explain yourself."
Compass Rose jolted to attention. "Sir?"
Vanguard advanced, nostrils flaring. “Are you slow in more ways than one, private? Your princess is doing your work! I demand an explanation!”
“I volunteered,” Twilight interjected. “I asked to help, and not because he couldn’t do it himself. He'd have finished had I not bothered him.” She could feel Compass Rose’s tension slide away as she stood beside him, shielding him from his colonel. “I take full responsibility, colonel. Any perceived fault of his is my doing.”
Had there been a conflict, Twilight would never have noticed. His eyes gave away nothing. He barely seemed to notice her. “Are your morning rounds completed, private?”
Compass Rose tensed horribly. "I... I was going to do those, but I got—"
"Did I ask you for an excuse or an answer, private?"
Twilight watched Rosy's eyes water, though he never broke. "An answer, sir!"
"And your answer is?"
"No, sir! I have not completed my morning rounds, sir!"
Vanguard towered over them both, flicking his eyes between his subordinate and his princess. He was the very definition of furious. Then, with a grunt, he gestured towards the wagon. "We're moving in ten minutes. You’ll have your drills and those dishes done before then. Hop to it."
He hadn’t even finished the order before Compass Rose sped off to the fire, whipping his utensils up and cleaning them feverishly. "Your Highness, forgive me my late arrival," Vanguard said, bowing low. He glanced furtively over her shoulder. “Might I have a word in private?”
Twilight nodded curtly. It seemed fitting, given his brevity, to match his demeanor in equal stride. They stepped out into the morning shadow of the embassy’s decrepit spire, the only souls in sight. He turned, spared a glance at his soldier, then lowered his head. “I must apologize for my behavior yesterday, Your Highness. I must obey your wishes, whatever they may be. If sparing that demon is one of them, then it’s my duty to uphold your ruling. Forgive me for not trusting your judgment."
“I appreciate your honesty,” Twilight said, though she did so warily. The way he spoke made it clear he was measuring himself with great care. “You have my forgiveness, though you never needed to ask for it. I’d also like to extend my apologies for treating you as I did. As stressful as this is for us all, I had no reason to be that short with you.”
Vanguard bowed lower. “Thank you, Your Highness.”
“Twilight. Please, I’d prefer to be called Twilight.”
“I’m aware.” Twilight braced herself; That little growl hadn’t been anything close to warm. “I’ve been informed you’ve eschewed the royal honors and rights given unto you by Princess Celestia in favor of becoming friends with my soldiers. Though I would never deny you the full practice of your desires, I must warn you of the consequences of such actions.”
There was no indication that he was anything but totally serious. Twilight took a step back, physically and mentally. To limit her interactions with Penumbra was one thing, but this? “I hate to argue with you, colonel, but what harm can come from being friendly with them?”
“You are their princess, not their friend. In their minds, there is a fine line between serving you because they must and serving you because you want to. In becoming your friend, their understanding of the difference blurs. They will forget their lives’ meaning is to serve you unconditionally, and in doing so they will forget their obligations. They will fail you, and all will suffer because of it.”
“I’d hoped you’d have a little more faith in them than that.”
“I don’t, not until they prove themselves worthy of such an investment. They are young, and in being young they possess a certain foolishness.”
Her eyebrow cocked. “I’m about their age, colonel. Do you think I’m foolish?”
His face remained calm despite the gravity in her voice. “You are a princess, milady. Your status raises you above us in all matters.”
“Then permit me the chance to be foolish with them, until such a time as it becomes improper for it to be so.”
He snorted. “I don’t think such an action is wise, milady.”
“I understand that,” she said. “But I do. You’re a pony who expects strength from his soldiers. I admire and respect that deeply, but in my studies I’ve found a different kind of strength: one that lies in friendship. The Elements of Harmony are as much physical artifacts as they are the ponies that wield them. The power of the Elements is useless if their Bearers aren’t joined together as friends. We need to stick together if we’re going to weather this, and I can’t do that without at least getting to know them. The last thing we need is to be enemies. We have far too many already.”
Vanguard nodded silently, a tense sigh breaking his scowl. “I must defer to you in all things, Your Highness, including this. They are yours to befriend as you will.”
“They belong to no one but themselves.” Twilight trotted off, but something kept her bound to the street. She turned, facing him fully. “I know how hard it must be to serve a new princess, one who doesn’t fully understand what she’s supposed to do. Celestia and Luna have their routines, their mannerisms, their ways of dealing with things, and to those routines you've become accustomed and—according to my brother—highly experienced. I am young and, in this arena, admittedly naïve.” She stopped, swallowing what pride still remained. “I need help, colonel. I haven’t had millennia to figure this whole ‘princess’ thing out like Celestia and Luna have.”
“I’m well aware,” Vanguard stated, “and I’m also aware of just how wrong your assumption is.”
“Beg pardon?”
“Permission to speak freely, Your Highness?”
“Always.”
Vanguard nodded. “Tenure doesn’t define one as wise or, in lacking it, define another as foolish. It is what is done in that time that counts. Action, princess, is how your rule will be defined. Take, for example, Princess Celestia. For all her infinite wisdom, even she has advisors: ponies whose sole purpose is to consider every option and every possible consequence." He raised his head. “Your brother, my lord Shining Armor, asked me to guide you. I will do so in every moment. Thus is my duty and my heart’s desire, but note that I said ‘asked’ and not ‘ordered’; No good guidance was ever given under duress. You have the option to release me from this role, to shoulder your decisions alone free from my opinions. Note, however, that no princess in the history of this nation ever has. Not even Celestia.”
“I understand. I’d like to keep you, colonel, for as long as you’re willing to help me.”
He gave her an elegant bow. “As you wish, Your Highness. This brings me to the reason I requested to speak with you in private. I have a concern which I desire to have addressed.”
Twilight could sense his words finally coming to bear, though she hadn’t expected it to come so soon on his lecture’s coattails. Whatever the basis, it looked as though it concerned him deeply. “As before, you have my permission to speak freely.”
“Thank you. It’s about my soldiers. I have conceded the right for you to fraternize with them, but I must make one small caveat.”
“That caveat being?”
“Their duties, milady, and what should befall them should they fail to fulfill them.”
Twilight’s brow furrowed. “You don’t mean punishment, do you?”
"I do. My soldiers may have passed my training, but their field experience is woefully inadequate. In light of this cataclysm, we haven’t the time to prepare them gently. They need guidance, and they need it through a stern hoof. I request you allow me to train and discipline my soldiers without interference. Their lives are as much my responsibility as yours is. The price of that responsibility is their obedience. When their duties are done and their daily drills completed, they're yours to befriend as you will. Until then, they will be subject to my direct supervision. Is this fair?"
"By what definition are we defining 'supervision'?"
Vanguard sighed heavily, and Twilight knew immediately why. This exchange of hats wasn't fitting either of them quite right. "By 'supervision', I mean that they will act as the elite soldiers they've been chosen to become, or they will suffer the consequences. They will conduct themselves according to their vows: honoring Equestria, upholding her values, and placing you above all else. They will perform their duties before they're asked. They will conduct their daily drills, preferably with me in attendance. They will be, at every moment, in your service, or they will be punished. Now, more than ever, will we need to enforce this.”
Twilight shook her head weakly. “I can’t rightfully condone any action which gets another pony hurt, especially because of me! I understand that punishment has its place, but I can’t agree to that!”
He lifted his head high above hers, and immediately it was as though he was not himself, but Luna. He spoke, and the transformation was complete. “Princess Twilight Sparkle, allow me to bequeath unto you a piece of knowledge with which you may not be familiar. This caste of soldiers—the Canterlot Royal Guard—has been in existence for over a thousand years, born from the collected minds of the last High Marshal and Her Highness Princess Luna during the war against Discord. Since then, as per their wishes, only the best and brightest soldiers have been selected by inducted brothers to wear this armor. We choose only the best to replace us, for it is to them we relinquish our armor and its legacy when we fall. We forgo all affiliations with our homelands, abandon any other oaths, and vow for now and in our lives to come to be the guardians of Equestrian royalty. We do this because there is no other flag we’d rather defend, no life we’d rather live. Never once have we failed, but never have we been this vulnerable. History will not see me as the one who allowed all those souls to be resigned to anonymity.” His eyes softened, though still they were harder than anything Twilight had seen before. “I mean not to scare you, Your Highness, but there are some things you need to understand and fear as I do.”
He stood soundlessly in the street, watching Twilight contain the shiver running through her legs. All those lives, all those years, and never once had she stopped to think about the long history of sacrifices made. Were she to fall, there would be nothing worth defending at all. Vanguard, Summer, even the anxious Compass Rose... they would be forgotten, as Penumbra had promised, in the fires of her master’s march. Twilight nodded her head slowly, her eyes on the ground. “I... I accept your terms, colonel. They’re yours to supervise.”
He bowed his head respectfully. “I’m indebted to you, Your Highness. This liberty is not one I take lightly, but it is one I must take. This is the way it has always been done.”
“Just because things have been done a certain way in the past doesn’t mean it’s the right way to do them.”
“A younger me said the same thing, long ago. Know now it is not with my words that I lecture you, but with Luna’s.”
He bowed elegantly then trotted to the wagon, leaving her alone with her thoughts. Compass Rose shot him a smart salute and stood proudly beside his work. Twilight smiled weakly when Vanguard, as begrudgingly as he dared, granted his subordinate one swift little nod. She followed his tracks, her eyes on the ground. Not even a single step towards Luna, and already she was regretting her decisions. She shot Compass Rose a smile, looked to the grassland’s endless expanse, and sighed.
The end couldn’t come fast enough.
The long course of the day came and went. The grasslands rolled underhoof step by aching step, mile by miserable mile. Beautiful though it was, the Summer Sea had since lost its appeal. The wild grains and grasses which had once tickled her stomach had rubbed her raw, a pain overshadowed by the sunburn flaring on her spine. Every ounce of her attention and no small amount of Compass Rose's suncream had been used to forget them in favor of how beautiful this place truly was. Now, with the sunset before her and food in her stomach, there was a certain peace in the silence, a newfound love of a brutal hike that only exhaustion can bring.
A more beautiful tapestry of color had never been seen than what presented itself now. Celestia’s sun—setting, to Twilight’s relief—was a splash of red in a reinvigorated golden landscape. Every step in that sweltering prairie had coughed up insects and tiny mammals the likes of which Twilight had never seen, all of them chattering and chirping the songs of life. Swifts and swallows tumbled and cavorted together, riding the wind and waves of wild wheats and barleys better than any Wonderbolt. During her flight-breaks, she'd even seen some of the larger beasts cutting courses through the plain’s slow waves, bound for places or preys unknown. Those respites were always well-received. Hooves can only take so much.
How Penumbra had gone so long without a rest was a mystery. All throughout the day she’d trudged in the wagon’s wake, bracing each abrupt tug as Vanguard forced her onwards. Now, as then, she was silent, muzzled and hobbled as Vanguard had been instructed. What skin remained festering on her back blazed bright pink just like Twilight’s, but she—true to her assertion—sat unfazed by the pain. She was as silent and as a vicious as ever as Vanguard slammed her cuffs’ padlocks closed and sealed them with his magic. Stepping to Compass Rose’s dinner, he ladled himself a hearty portion, then stepped into the shadows and out of sight.
Twilight watched them both, then turned back to Compass Rose. Quick though his wit might have been, long had she watched him struggle to wade through the many plants and herbs present in her copy of Supernaturals. Twilight smiled as she looked to the little fern on its cover, thinking of Zecora and the long history they now shared because of that one book. Even if it couldn’t provide a clue as to how to cure Celestia, it would at least be a memento of a happier time and place. She closed her aching eyes and immediately felt herself nod off. If even her mind could take no more, there was no saying how long he’d suffered to keep up. “Let’s take a break, Compass Rose,” Twilight said, wiping the sleep from her eyes. “We’ve been at this long enough.”
He placed his book on a stack of other texts, took a long swig from his waterskin, then shot her a little frown. “You’d think a book on magical plants would have some sort of cure for poison, wouldn’t you?”
“Had it been any other type of poison I would, but I trust Zecora with my life. If she didn’t know how to cure Celestia with what she had, then I doubt we’ll ever know.”
That didn’t assuage his anxiety. He rose and helped himself to seconds as Twilight took another look about the plains. There had been no sign of Summer’s helmet’s crest or polished armor at any point in their trek. Even stranger was that neither Compass Rose nor Vanguard had made any mention of his disappearance. “Is it common for one of your own to miss their dinner?”
Compass Rose ladled himself a bowl of barley soup and shrugged. “It’s not uncommon for patrols to go long, especially on a scorcher like today. Summer will be in soon.” He returned, thought for a moment, then swapped his new bowl with her dirty one. “I heard your stomach growling, ma’am. Here’s the last of it.”
“Thank you, Rosy.”
He plopped down across from her with a smile. “You keep calling me Rosy, ma’am. Might I ask—”
Twilight gasped. She hadn’t even noticed her faux pas, let alone how he’d take it. It had been the only thing Summer had ever requested of her, and she’d failed! “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry!”
“Don’t be! It’s not a big deal!” He gave her an easy smile. “It was Summer, wasn’t it? The one who told you?”
“You’re not mad, are you?”
He laughed at that. “Mad? Of course not!” His smile died a bit. “Well, not at you. My brothers used to tease me about it. I mean, trying for the Royal Guard with 'Rose' in your name... It’s laughable, isn’t it?”
“I think it's a pretty name,” Twilight said.
"Yeah, because that's what I was aiming for..."
"You know I didn't mean anything by that."
"I know," he said, smirking. "It's not often I get to tease a princess. Forgive me, I couldn't resist!"
Twilight hid a little blush. “I hope your other set of brothers isn’t nearly as hard on you...”
“Not really. That’s the nice thing about the Royal Guard: if all the officers are being hard on you, you lose the will to be hard on each other. Whatever our reasons, we’re in it together. Our armor may have a different story, but underneath it everyone’s equal.” He smiled as though remembering something long lost. “Summer always finds time to remind me about how girly my name sounds, just to keep me humble. I used to hate it, but it's become something of a comfort. It keeps home close at heart.”
Twilight nudged closer to the fire. “I won’t lie to you, 'Compass Rose' is a bit of a mouthful to say...”
“You don’t need to ask. I don’t mind you calling me Rosy!”
They shared a little smile. Twilight leaned back in her seat, looking to the sky and the moon slowly rising on the horizon. Embers trailed off into the blue, joining the stars slowly peeking from behind the clouds. Twilight followed them up, then turned her eyes back to the book at her hooves. Compass Rose gestured at it with his eyes. “Find anything in yours?”
Twilight shook her head, looking to the crimson-bound text of her last hour’s perusal. Just like the manual on beekeeping from the previous day, this record of Equestrian fauna—The New Equestrian Bestiary—was a marvel of scholarly devotion. It had been difficult keeping her attention on finding a cure for Celestia’s condition, enraptured as she was by the detailed diagrams of every abundantly common to legendary insect, animal, mammal, and monster that roamed Equestria’s northern frontier. But not a word on changelings, nor any reference to antidotes for their poisonous blood. “Nothing yet. There’s plenty of references to antidotes to other poisonous creatures, but not changelings. I don’t think they classify as beasts.”
“You’re harder to sway than I am, I guess.”
Twilight wasn’t surprised at his lack of sympathy; Long hikes have a habit of making even the dullest mind sink into contemplation. Her’s was no exception. Penumbra’s actions were unforgivable, yes, but even they hadn’t truly been her own. With larger forces in power, it was difficult to delineate which actions had been solely born from her madness and which had been her master’s. In looking at Compass Rose, it was clear that she alone was the sole pony making that distinction.
“You must truly hate her if you’re not even willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.”
“Hate doesn’t even begin to cover it, ma’am. Ask any guard and they wouldn’t say any different.”
“You don’t strike me as one who hates,” Twilight said softly.
“With all due respect, ma’am, I wasn’t. Watching Celestia bleed on the floor with a knife in her heart made me change my mind.”
Her heart turned cold. The image was one she would never erase from her mind, so what impact would it have on them: an establishment who’d revered her since the dawn of the nation itself? How could they ever forget, let alone forgive?
“Don’t you want to know why it happened?”
Compass Rose stared at her for a moment before shaking his head. “That devil never wanted to consider what her actions would do. Why should I?”
"I think understanding why it happened will help us understand who made it happen, and if we know that there's not much we can't figure out in time."
"So it's a war of attrition: wear her down and find some answers before she does the same to us. What makes you so confident that will work?"
“We have something she wants."
"That being?"
"Absolution."
It was plain to see he hadn't expected that. “Are you honestly telling me, after everything she did, that you’re willing to forgive her?”
“No,” Twilight said. “Forgiveness is an indulgence she’ll never earn, not even if she were to save our lives. But even the most heinous pony, if not forgiven, must be listened to and understood for who they are."
"Forgive me, ma'am, but when has that ever worked?"
"You remember a few years ago when Nightmare Moon returned?" He nodded apprehensively. "If the girls and I hadn’t taken the time to understand why she was as she was, we'd never have known Princess Luna could be saved. If Celestia had never seen fit to give Discord a second chance, would he have ever seen friendship as something worth prizing like he does now? If Trixie hadn't learned from—"
"Who?"
"Trixie!"
He nodded sheepishly. "I... umm... I don't know who that is, ma'am."
"Of course you don't," Twilight replied, gesturing his worries aside. "I should explain: she's a magician like myself, a very talented albeit self-centered sorceress. While I prefer to practice in private, she likes to parade her skills in public, no matter what damage they cause." Twilight paused. "If ever I’d have to name a rival, she'd be it. She embarrassed my friends, woke up an Ursa Minor... She even conquered Ponyville for a spell."
"Heh... Spell..."
Twilight rolled her eyes at him. "What I'm saying is I doubt she or Nightmare Moon or Discord would've done as they did had someone taken an effort to understand them. We tend to look down on some ponies because they're louder in comparison to everyone else. Most times, it's because we're the only ones who’ll listen."
His smile faded as her words hit home. “So that why she’s here: to be analyzed? To be learned from? That seems dangerous, ma’am, and a bit reckless.”
“It’s the least dangerous thing on our list of dangers, Compass Rose. Subdued as she is, we have a chance to glean as much as we can about where to find Luna. She’ll reveal something before long. She has to.”
"And betray a master whom she adores more than life itself..." He played with his meal a moment. “Forgive my tone, but I wish I had your confidence.”
“You don’t think she has any answers?”
“I don’t think she’s in any mind to tell us. I mean, she tried to kill her! Celestia, I mean! Who in their right mind would do something like that?”
“That’s exactly it, Rosy: she’s not in her right mind! Something happened to her that made her like this, and if we don’t know what it was then we don’t understand what we’re up against. If nothing else, understanding where and what she came from will help us win her favor.”
“If nothing else...” He shook his head slowly. “Perhaps I’m more tired than I thought, milady, but it seems to me we’re at a loss. If she’s smart enough to trick even you, then I doubt she’s dumb enough to willingly give up her master’s plan. We’re basing everything on the chance—the very, very slim chance—that she’ll let something slip.”
“What other options do we have?”
He fell silent, but as he raised his eyes Twilight couldn’t tell whether it was the reflection of the fire or something within him that made his eyes glow furiously. “We’re not in the castle anymore, ma’am. There are things you’re allowed to do to... to get what you need.”
Twilight looked at him in shock, breathlessly watching the thin fabric of his kindness unravel. “You... you aren’t saying what I think you’re saying, are you?”
“It’s what she deserves, isn’t it?”
“She doesn’t deserve that!” Twilight snapped. “No pony deserves that!”
“Ponies who murder princesses do deserve that!”
Anger forced her to her hooves, her eyes flaring menace. “Will you be the one to do it, then? Will it be you who tortures the answers we need out of her?”
He sat on his haunches, lost for what to say. “Ma’am, with all due respect, you have the power to—”
“What I have, Rosy, is a responsibility: to Celestia and Luna, to Cadance and Shining Armor and... and to myself. I have a responsibility to keep Equestria alive, and if we stoop to something so horrible then we’re just as lost as she is! How can you ask me for something like that?”
“I just thought I could help...”
“By advocating we torture her?”
“But she tried to kill Celestia, ma’am!”
“I killed Celestia!”
The silence rang and reverberated past the crackling firepit and into the night until finally, after a long while, the crickets returned to their chirping and left the two of them at a loss. Twilight sat down hard, staring blindly at the fire’s flames. Finally, she spoke to the ground alone. It was all she could bring herself to do.
“It was me, Rosy. I killed Celestia. I didn’t hold the knife, but I helped the one who did. I got complacent. I dropped my guard. I wanted so badly to be a real princess that I never saw what was right in front of me. Instead, I saw my friends, saw how happy they were, and I thought that maybe, for the first time, I could actually handle this task I’ve been given. I knew I could do it! I knew it...” She wiped her cheeks dry as quickly as she could. “I know you want to help me, Rosy. I know you’re trying. I appreciate everything you’re doing and I... I wish I had the answers you think I have. But I don’t. All I know is what Celestia would ask of us, and she would ask us to remember who we are and what we fight for.”
She could hear Compass Rose slowly bring his breathing back to normal. He had such a fragile heart, underneath all his layers of armor. She’d seen it from the onset, the very moment he’d turned the corner and served her breakfast. The way he watched her, anticipated her needs, struggled to maintain that status quo she deemed so fit to forget... It was the same attention and devotion she paid towards Celestia. He watched the ground and struggled to keep himself from crying, and as she watched him Twilight felt not angry at herself or surprised at his frailty, but guilty. Horribly guilty. Was this how Luna had felt in the observatory? Would she ever be the princess Twilight had fought her to become?
Would she ever be worth his tears?
“Do you know the last thing I said to Luna?”
He gave an immeasurably tiny shake of his head. Twilight saw it and couldn’t help but smile. “I called her an outdated, worthless relic.”
Slowly his eyes rose to meet hers. He wiped his cheek, his mouth agape. “You... you did?”
Twilight nodded. “We had a fight, she and I. She wanted to keep me from rebuilding the old embassy as I wanted. She said I wasn’t ready to rule alone, and I... Well, I wasn’t happy about it. I wanted to prove I was a real princess, not just her student. I wanted her to listen to me. Actually listen to me. I wanted it so badly that I almost gave it all up. I threatened to give back my crown, give back my wings, forget her and Celestia and Cadance and just go back to being me. I’ve never been so mad in all my life...” Twilight stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. “I couldn’t see all the opportunity, all the promise, and all the love I had spurring me on. All I saw was what I wanted, and what I wanted wasn’t even that much in the first place. I guess I’m trying to say that we can’t forget why we’re here. We’re not here to exact our revenge. We’re here to make everything right again, and we can’t do the right thing for the wrong reasons.”
Slowly his courage returned to him, bidding him raise his head and attempt to make eye contact. But he couldn’t bring himself to do it; This side of her was one he wasn’t quite ready to face. “I understand, Your Highness," he said quietly. “Forgive me, I... I need retire for the evening.”
“Rosy, please! I...”
“It’s alright, ma’am.” She almost missed him brushing away a tear. “I’m alright. I’m just... I need to begin my watch. And your tent, I haven't built it yet and... and I'm..." He was powerless to keep his head from falling. "Summer will be here before long, ma'am. I hope you enjoyed your dinner."
Before Twilight could find the right apology he'd followed his commander's hoofsteps into the dark. All that was left was her, his untouched meal between her hooves, and the little yellow glint of Penumbra’s eyes flaring in the firelight. It took several moments for Twilight to quell her emotions and collect his meal, her mind racing as it was with what had occurred. Eventually, as most things now did, her mind fell back to Penumbra: how she’d done as she had, what she hoped to gain, and what to do with her in the future. One-by-one, the options slowly dwindled. Her stomach rumbled, and suddenly another path illuminated itself. She looked to her meal, then at Penumbra. Hunger is a torture in itself, I suppose...
Twilight paced to the wagon, her dinner floating at her side. As she’d expected, Vanguard had followed Twilight’s orders perfectly. Chains of thick steel clinked against the metal cuffs binding Penumbra’s legs. A thick iron collar ringed her neck, the flesh beneath it rubbed clean off. The thin veneer of a Siphon Spell surrounded her decayed horn, restraining her magic as thoroughly as her body was. Checking the chains, Twilight placed the bowl before the corpse-mare’s nose and slowly undid the bindings on her muzzle. “Don’t you even dare think of trying anything,” Twilight muttered, eyeing her cautiously. “Those bindings are enchanted to tighten if you lunge at me.”
Penumbra stretched her jaw, looked to her food, then bared her teeth. “Not even Celestia was quick enough to stop me. What makes you think you’ll ever stand a chance?”
“I’m smarter than you,” Twilight stated plainly. “I have the upper hoof, and I’m going to keep it.”
Penumbra shot her a glare, then looked towards the fire. “You certainly proved it, Your Highness. How dare he give you his opinions. You, a princess! He should’ve known you have all the answers, just like Celestia does.” She stopped, smiling. “Sorry. Did.”
Twilight curled her lip. Damn her and her ears! “You were eavesdropping?”
“That would imply you had something worth hearing. The blubbering of a pitiful pegasus and more of your nauseatingly cheap platitudes are of no concern to me.”
“You should be concerned. He just saved your life.”
Penumbra churned seductively in her chains, writhing with a soft tremulous moan. Twilight’s cheeks flushed bright-red as Penumbra crooned a sugar-sweet “Let me thank him, then...”
Twilight stamped her hoof. “You’re not to talk to him! Not him, Summer, Vanguard, or anyone else you ever meet. You’re my prisoner. When you’re not answering my questions, you’ll be silent. Am I understood?”
Penumbra faked a shiver, then spat at the ground. “Spare me, princess. I have no patience for martyrs.”
“Seems like it’s not just me who can’t stand you, then.”
An honest chuckle escaped Penumbra’s lips, a sound more terrifying than Twilight had anticipated. “Such wit! I think I’ll be enjoying our conversations immensely!”
“You’d be mistaken.” Twilight sat herself down just out of reach. “I don’t plan to go easy on you.”
“Like you did in the ballroom? Because that was truly a sight to behold. I could’ve had my fun with little Rosy thrice-over in the time it took you to realize Luna was gone.”
“Where did you take her?”
She looked surprised. “Is it beginning now, your interrogation?”
“You brought her up. It seemed fitting.”
“An opportunist...” Penumbra smirked. “We’re more alike than you think.”
“We’re nothing alike, so stop avoiding the question. Where did you take Luna?”
“Oh, you sweet, sweet thing! That’s not how this works! You’re supposed to trick me, fool me into providing the fine details of my plan, try and find my weaknesses and extort them. Torture me, if you can stomach it. That’s how interrogations work, milady.” Her eyes narrowed. “Just ask your friends. They’d know all too well.”
Violent yellow sparks cascaded from her collar. Her body seized where she stood, muscles tensing and relaxing in rapid flux. The proper counterspell flashed through Twilight’s mind, staunching the electricity's flow. Penumbra stumbled, her breathing just a bit heavier, her eyes filled with anger and a tiny impressed glimmer. “You’re learning fast, princess...”
"I can't say the same. From now on, you're never to mention my friends again, lest you want another shock. Am I understood?"
Penumbra smiled in defiance. "What else would we have to talk about?”
“You can start with where Luna is.”
Penumbra eyed her venomously. “Perhaps I was right about you. Perhaps you really are Celestia’s pawn, and not the princess you thought you were.” She winked. “Before you ask, yes: I heard that little sob story too. Poor little Twilight: Luna’s chained-up little pet.”
“If you don’t start talking, chains will be all you ever know.”
There was no evidence of fear in her bloodshot eyes. Only a mock serious tone on her lips, an invitation to a reality Twilight was unsure she wanted to uncover. "What would you like to know first, princess?"
As fake as her manners were, at least she wasn't spewing more threats against their lives. "I'd like to know if Luna's alive. If you start with that, I'd be very grateful."
“And what do I receive in return for this information?”
Twilight eyed the bowl between them, slowly pulling it away with her magic. “You’ve fed enough on my anger for one day, I suppose...”
Something had sparked in her eyes and melted through her prickly outer shell. “She’s alive,” Penumbra blurted, flicking her eyes between Twilight and her bowl. “My lord has accorded me the privilege of ending her life when we’re through with her. I would never forgo the honor.”
Twilight held her eyes for a moment, then relinquished her hold on the bowl, drifting it back to its place. Penumbra’s eyes followed it down, though she never said a word of thanks or even of recognition. Still, she’d forgotten about her rotting cheekbones and the view they gave of her watering mouth. Twilight hid a smile. She is more pony than changeling after all...
“Thank you, Penumbra. I’m glad to know she’s alright.”
Her fangs glimmered. “Only He dares speak my name...”
“Stow it. You’re not as scary as you think you are. Your little speech in the dungeon? I don’t believe a word of it. I only believe what I see with my own eyes. Everything else is lies.”
“My lies? Should they take it is a mercy you haven’t told them who I am? Would they ever believe you? They won’t live long enough to find out. When I’m done with you, I’ll kill them just as I killed Celestia!”
“But you didn’t kill her,” Twilight retorted. “You failed, didn’t you?”
Her eyes narrowed. “What can I say? A princess is never perfect...”
Twilight lost her breath. “What did you just say?”
Penumbra wasn’t listening. She stared at the stars, her eyes and mind adrift in the cosmos. “Of everything she has ever done, you treasure her night above all. It’s not to her military mind or the might of her hoof that you pay homage. Not her knowledge on the right of forbearance, honor, and propriety. It is not to those things which have done some good that you love her. No, her night is her greatest gift, one you ponies love more than all else. More than you love her. You hardly know the Luna of old, the one who gave herself to the sky. These are things you should know, princess.” She turned her head lazily toward Twilight’s. “She’s your future, is she not?”
Twilight slid away, her memory and her awareness blending together until the image of Luna in her flowing gown melded seamlessly with the plain. The stars in her ears, the crystals on her collar, the same icy eyes and the same proud stance... She was there, in all but reality. Just as present as she’d been in the ballroom.
Just as present as Penumbra had been...
“You can’t know that,” Twilight mumbled, fighting her palpitating heart for control. “You weren’t there...”
Penumbra turned to her, an empty smile on her lips. Then, slowly, she rose from her place on the ground, catching Twilight’s eyes and holding them fast. Her midnight-purple flesh swirled with cream, blanching and stretching as her frame grew taller, broader, and stronger. Her skin stitched itself before Twilight’s petrified eyes, covering her muscles in skin so white it defied the darkness and shone like the sun. Just like the sun. A perfect imitation.
Her pupils softened, stretched, and became unnaturally kind. Twilight covered a scream, stepping backwards away from her. It can’t be true! The scars had gone, the rivers of black beneath her flesh dissolved away to leave her healthy and alive. Vibrant, even. It’s just an illusion! It can’t be real! But no matter how she looked, and no matter how she rationalized it, the Penumbra she’d captured was gone.
And in her place, wrapped in chains, stood Princess Celestia.
She began with the softest of Celestia’s tones, a sweetness on her tongue: “I know that asking you to leave your friends and loved ones behind is a great request...”
“No...”
“...But you are no longer just yourself. You are an entire nation of millions, a lifetime of choices and many more to suffer their consequences.”
“You weren’t there! You couldn’t have been there!”
Celestia’s soft voice grew harder, the tone deeper: “You are a banner to which others flock when their own is tattered...”
“You weren’t there!” Twilight howled, firing her magic. Her Siphon Spells missed their mark. She tried again and again before one finally hit its target. The sheen about Celestia’s horn shimmered, but still her magic spurred the transformation on. Twilight fired another, and another, and another, but no spell of hers could halt the process. This was beyond any magic.
This was insanity.
Celestia’s hoof lifted to her cheek. With a single motion she peeled skin from muscle and cast it on the ground in a bloody pile. She flensed the other cheek, smiling calmly into Twilight’s eyes, her voice not her own: “Sacrifice...”
“Vanguard! Rosy! Summer! Someone help me!”
The cuffs about her legs tightened. She was growing larger still. “Duty...”
“Someone help me! I beg of you!”
Bright-red flesh pillowed over the cuffs’ ridges. The hooves beneath them grew black. Soon, she’d lose the limb entire.
Sometimes, you must sever the limb to save the body entire.
“Selflessness...”
Twilight tugged the the closest cuff with all her might. She shot a spell at it, watching with relief as the protective magic surrounding its lock dissolved away. She slammed the metal pins until the hinges surrendered and broke open, but she never saw them fall. She’d turned to the others, her horn ringed in an aura of blinding light, her hooves bruising against the metal resistance. Celestia stared blindly forward, her voice like stone. “Fairness...”
A furious slam broke the third cuff. Twilight pressed onwards, her vision weak, her hooves wet with tears. Just one more cuff! Just one more...”
“These are what it means to be royalty.”
The final cuff fell from Celestia’s hoof, the rosy flesh beneath it returning to its pristine white. The gravelly voice ceased. Their breathing rose and fell in unison. Twilight looked up into Celestia’s eyes.
Her bright, bloodshot yellow eyes.
“Do you fear me now, princess?”
Penumbra lunged. Twilight twisted too late. The corpse-mare, with a ravenous howl, bowled Twilight over and pinned her to the ground, her full weight pressing down on her limbs. The chains tightened their pull. The collar around her neck clamped shut just above her golden yoke. She lowered her head, neck bones snapping in defiance, her grand horn gouging a hole just shy of Twilight’s scalp. Death itself tumbling like a gas from the holes in her fleshless cheeks. She stared at Twilight, crying blood.
“Do you fear me now?”
Something wet dripped on Twilight’s stomach. She looked down. A thin trickle of blood ran down Penumbra’s white chest. Another river sprouted alongside it, then another. Twilight turned back into the bloody eyes above her, looking on helplessly as flesh and muscle sloughed off her face like hot wax. Twilight stifled the bile rising in her throat, holding onto Penumbra’s eyes for dear life. The dripping turned into a deluge. Twilight kept her eyes upwards. She couldn’t look down; Penumbra’s chest had broken. Don’t look down. A slippery mass collided with her belly and sent her stomach churning, but still she averted her eyes. Don’t look down. Please, whatever you do, don’t look down...
Suddenly everything went quiet. The crickets, the wind, and the fire froze. She bowed her head, her blood-filled eyes rolling in their now-fleshless sockets. She focused only on Twilight. Her mouth was lipless; her body, bones.
Her voice: Sombra’s.
“DO YOU FEAR ME NOW?!”
The skeleton lifted its forehooves high, a blood-curling scream emanating somewhere deep within. Her eyes flared violently as her golden shod hooves fell for Twilight’s head. Twilight closed her eyes.
And felt nothing.
“Princess!!!”
A bolt of color whizzed overhead and slammed full-bore into Penumbra’s skeletal neck. The illusion broke as Penumbra, with a yelp of surprise, returned to her rotten state, her frame and stature reduced in the blink of a teary eye. A whirling maelstrom of violence and screaming erupted from the tangle as she enacted her wrath on another: a figure shrouded in darkness. Twilight heard the flap of wings, heard a guttural scream, and saw a brief glimpse of unbroken red-tinted flesh. Her heart surged.
It was Rosy!
Their eyes shone with firelight as they fought for supremacy. Twilight rolled to her stomach and found it dry. No blood, no viscera, nothing to prove the experience had been anything but a dream. The battle continued behind her as she dragged herself to the wagon. A little snap, followed by a mare’s high-pitched scream. Twilight pressed onwards, rejuvenated. Penumbra can feel pain after all!
A little glint caught her eye. She pulled herself to her hooves as best she could, keeping an ear on the fighting behind her. Someone had gotten the upperhoof with a solid wet punch, then another, then another in quick succession. Light-deprived, her world became a symphony of sounds: Heavy bodies falling then scrambling to rise; Flurries of wings and fevered breathing; A singing blade slicing nothing; Grunts and growls; Curses and proclamations; Invitations for death. She looked to the wagon and saw the glimmer again. Reaching a hoof in, Twilight whipped out a quiver from beneath a set of saddlebags. Arrows scattered on the ground, their arrowheads flashing. Her heart slowed.
Rosy’s bow...
The fighting broke its furious pace as she ransacked the wagon in search of his weapon. Someone had claimed victory, but who it was she couldn’t tell. Her mind was on her prize and the safety it would guarantee. Twilight sifted through the wagon’s miscellany, lifting Vanguard’s halberd’s massive blade to find a little shortbow with an ornate handle inlaid with bronze filigree, a waxen string dotted with a crystal bead in its center. Her eyes lit up. Found it!
She wheeled clumsily around, her magic awkwardly gripping the bow, facing the darkness and the nothing beyond. She lifted it before her, noticing too late that no arrow had been nocked. She perked her ears and heard nothing but hoofsteps limping through the grass. A shot of fear ran her through. Something was making its way for her! Her magic pulled an arrow from the ground and lifted it to the string. Her heart began to palpitate. Why won’t you work?! Her magic wavered as the form drew closer, its breathing heavy and wet. She tried again, the bowstring buzzing and twanging as she fumbled to set it right. Finally, the arrow snapped to the string with a contented hum. She took a deep breath, drew the string back with her magic, and leveled it towards the shadows.
Straight at the heart of a bleeding pegasus mare.
She looked like something from a tropical dream, a dash of color that stood out like a beacon in the darkness. Her mane, short-cropped and frizzled, upended from her battle, was the same infinite blue as a cloudless mid-summer sky, its solar companion harbored and given its brilliant due in the form of a glorious orange stripe that brushed her bleeding cheeks. The fire flickered, casting its glow over skin like buttercream. Blood shone in little drips down cuts up and down her legs and chest. Had she been standing in her place, Twilight knew the pain of those wounds would be unbearable. This mare, however, standing courageously before her, seemed unfazed. She didn’t look as though she could feel them at all.
She can’t feel the pain...
“Don’t move,” Twilight said tremulously, advancing, her bow shaking horribly. “Don’t you move a single muscle!”
“Princess, please... just put the bow d—”
Twilight brandished the bow menacingly. “Get down on the ground! Do it now!”
The mare inched forward, limping horribly. “Princess, you don’t under—”
“Vanguard, help me! Penumbra’s escaped!”
The mare jumped, her eyes wide with fright. “No! Please! You’re making a mis—!”
“Shut up, liar! You don’t think I know what you’re capable of? You don’t think you’ve fooled me enough?” Perking her ears, she could hear the heavy crash of hoofsteps. Vanguard was on his way! Twilight leapt forward in a surge of courage, her bow aimed perfectly at her mark, her magic straining to keep her arrow and its bloody promise contained. “What did you do with Rosy? What have you done with him?””
“Princess, listen to me!”
“Is he alive? Tell me he’s alive! He’d better be alive, you sick twisted—”
“Your Highness?”
Twilight turned her head to a dumb-struck Vanguard just for a second.
A second was all it took.
The pegasus surged forward and knocked the bow from Twilight’s grasp. The string gave a horrible twang, rocketing its arrow into the darkness. Vanguard gave an explosive bark and thundered closer, but he’d never be quick enough. Twilight wheeled on her enemy, howling, her wings outstretched. Hugging the mare close, she gave a few powerful wingbursts and tackled her to the ground. Before she knew, strike after pummeling strike found their mark in the mare’s gut. She crumpled beneath Twilight’s heaving chest, her back to the grass, weathering each blow as Twilight beat her senseless. Her eyes filled with tears. Her hooves went numb. She wouldn’t last much longer.
“Twilight!!!”
Twilight froze. The mare laid quivering below her as her scream echoed into the night. Over Twilight’s shoulder, she could hear Vanguard come to a running stop, his breathing laborious. Slowly, everything became calmer. I know that voice...
Twilight looked back down to the bruised mare beneath her. She hadn’t changed back. No matter the punishment, she hadn’t changed back to the rotting corpse she was. Sensation slowly returned from its prison of turmoil, filling Twilight with a profound awareness of her senses. She could feel the curve of the mare’s heaving stomach, hear the brush of the wind through the fibers of her mane. She could hear the mare’s mind and body relax. Her skin was soft and smooth, everything Penumbra’s broken flesh wasn’t. Her eyes flashed open and took Twilight in. Twilight stared back, losing herself in the mare’s bright green eyes.
There was something in those eyes that spoke of a long history, a time and place to which only Twilight was invited. They were calm, beckoning her closer, urging her to forgo all else in favor of a brief moment of rapture before the storm. Twilight blinked and blinked, expecting them to flash yellow at any moment. But every time she opened her eyes they remained, calmly staring back. She’d seen them before, but not on her. They belonged to another. A stallion.
A new friend.
Twilight dropped her voice to a whisper.
“Summer?”
“How're you holding up?”
Twilight stared into her teacup, watching the steam whorl from its surface, lost in her thoughts. Long had the camp been quiet and peace restored, but still her heart refused to quit racing. A little tower of teabags sat precariously on a nearby saucer, threatening to collapse and stain her silken sheets. She could feel the mare attached to that little question lingering, but she could only feel so much. Right now, in the aftermath, it took everything she had to keep from sinking back into despair. “There’s not enough chamomile in the world to help me through this right now.”
“I understand, princess.”
Summer limped closer and sat upon a nearby cushion, watching Twilight intently. “Rosy’s been put on a midnight detail. Vanguard’s furious at him, only Celestia-knows-why. Penumbra was never his responsibility to begin with. If anyone’s, she was mine.”
“How is she?”
Summer shrugged. “Alive, unfortunately. She got in a few hits, but it was a pretty one-sided fight. I’m pretty sure you did more damage to me than she did.”
“Words can’t express how sorry I—”
“Don’t apologize, princess,” Summer said plainly. “You couldn’t have known.”
Twilight took another sip and let her tea drip slowly into her throat, holding her breath so her heart could slow down and rejoin the world it had long outpaced. Here in her tent, surrounded by her books, cast in the light of the firefly lantern above her head, it was so easy to distance herself from what had just occurred. Her conversation, her Siphon Spells’ failures, Penumbra’s transformation, her rescue... Too many things to count. Too many impossibilities, most of them unresolved. There was only one thing that had proved itself a certainty.
She sat just feet away.
“When were you going to tell me?”
Summer swallowed a lump in her throat. “I... I wanted to tell you so badly, but I never got the chance.”
“Why not?”
“Timing,” she said, shrugging. “Vanguard woke me up at the crack of dawn and sent me off. I wanted to tell you over breakfast.”
“Which breakfast?” Twilight said, her tone grave. “The one where you were decidedly unavailable, or the one before that where you deliberately chose to not reveal who you were?”
“Who I am doesn't matter.”
“Who you—” Twilight’s eyes flared as she rose from her cushion. “When the rotting corpse ten feet away from us can become anyone in the world, who you really are is all that matters to me! I nearly killed you, Summer! I was one frightened jump away from plugging you in the heart!”
“I never wanted to put you in that situation.”
“Well, you did!” In the spaces between words all Twilight could think of was just how breathless she’d become. The plug had been pulled. There would be nothing stopping the rest of it to come roaring out too. “What else haven’t you told me?”
Summer shook her head frantically. “That’s everything, I swear!”
“If I find out you’re lying to me, I swear on Celestia I’ll—”
“I never lied, ma’am. I just—”
Summer caught her words too late. Twilight stepped closer, her eyes on fire. “No, Summer. Finish that sentence.”
“Please, ma’am, I didn’t mean it!”
“Finish it!”
Summer stood strong, every inch of her fighting to keep herself from shaking. “I... I never lied, I... I just never...”
“You just never corrected me. Is that it?”
Summer said nothing. The tear streaking down her cheek told more than she ever could. Twilight watched her, her heart in tatters. “A lie of omission is still a lie, Summer...”
“I didn’t think you’d—”
“No, Summer. You didn’t think.”
Another tear streaked down Summer’s face, but she never broke. Twilight watched her shaking, hating herself with every passing second. This was all far too much to bear. Twilight watched her sadly, then stepped forward and pulled her into a tight hug. Summer tensed horribly and made no move to hug her back, but Twilight didn’t care. All that mattered was that she was in one piece. “Don’t do that again,” Twilight whispered into her mane. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost any one of you.”
After a while, Summer returned the hug and relaxed. “I won’t, ma’am. I promise.”
They released their embrace, looked each other in the eyes, and knew in their hearts there was no more to say. They shared a long exhale and let their weariness overtake them, plopping on Twilight’s cushions with contented sighs. Neither said anything for some time. There was too much to process, and even more to forgive. Twilight looked over Summer once more then shook her head, laughing to herself. “I can’t believe you were a mare this whole time and I never noticed.”
“In your defense, that was the point.”
“But we spoke for a whole day! We scoured a library and talked for hours! We blew up a statue together!”
Summer chuckled at that. “I thought my little scream would’ve given it all away, to be honest. I mean, how many stallions scream like I did?” She cocked her head in contemplation. “Sorry: how many stallions not including Rosy would scream like that?”
“Careful, Summer. I’m still a little mad at you.”
“Sorry! Sorry...”
Twilight giggled, shaking her head slowly. “I mean, how did I never notice? Why did you try and hide from me?”
“I wasn’t trying to,” Summer blurted. “I was wearing my armor, ma’am...”
Twilight looked at her, exasperated. “What does armor have anything to do with it? I saw you in it, and you were a stallion! You don’t think I’m smart enough to know a stallion when I see one?” Her words met Summer’s blank stare. Twilight stopped. “I... I sort of walked into that one...”
“You wouldn’t be the first.” They shared a long tense silence before Summer found the courage to speak. “I’ve said before that Vanguard is a legend, ma’am. Nice thing about legends is that they tend to repeat themselves. Chances are you’ve heard the same spiel he tells everyone.” She straightened her posture. “‘This caste of soldiers...’”
Twilight nodded. “I heard that one just this morning.”
“He’s nothing if not reliable.” They shared a little glance before Summer continued. “We’re chosen for this, ma’am. Out of the hundreds that try every year to be Peacekeepers, only a few are selected for the Royal Guard. It’s not like being a Peacekeeper; You don’t decide to stop being a Guardian. You’re a Guardian from the moment you're selected, and you’re a Guardian until the moment you die. Your armor falls to your replacement, and its legacy goes with it. Rosy and Vanguard? They wear armor that’s been maintained and preserved for centuries. Mine’s a little different.”
“How different?”
Summer rose and stepped quietly out of the tent, returning shortly with her helmet. Its familiar red crest was immaculately maintained, just as clean as it had been in the library. She shifted it from hoof to hoof, watching it lovingly. Then, with a little sigh, she lowered her head and slipped it on. Awestruck, Twilight watched as the color slowly drained from her skin and mane, dying away strand by strand and inch by inch until every part of her was how Twilight remembered: stoic and colorless, the very image of a typical Canterlot guard. She gave a little shrug, letting the helmet slip off again. Her color returned, and within a few seconds she was back to her vibrant, colorful self. Twilight couldn’t help but stare, dumbstruck. “It’s enchanted...”
“By Luna herself,” Summer said shyly. “It’s the only one of its kind, or ever will be. Luna made that abundantly clear.”
“I don’t understand...”
Summer gave her helmet a little tap. “Vanguard told you about the creation of the Guard, right? About how every soldier selects his own replacement? Well, as soon as some of the older Guardians heard that a mare was up for selection, they put up such a fuss that your brother, Shining Armor, had to intercede. He lost some popularity for it, but what could they do? He’s their Captain of the Guard: the highest of the higher-ups.”
“They didn’t want you to be a soldier?”
Summer scoffed. “They said it weakened their image. It’s a shit argument, but I can see where it comes from. We’d be nothing if we didn’t have our traditions. Unfortunately, the Commandments stipulate, amongst other things, to ‘Honor thy Brother’. Evidently, that absolves them from having to honor their sister.”
Twilight sat in shock. “How do I know nothing about this? That’s absurd!”
“By design,” Summer replied quickly, “and you’re not the only one who’s outraged. Vanguard’s not much of a talker, ma’am, but his words hold more weight than any other officer combined. So, while they debated and fought over whether or not my selection was legal, Vanguard circumvented them and brought me before the only pony to whom that question should ever have been addressed.”
“Princess Luna...”
Summer nodded. “I didn’t hear much, but when Vanguard finally let me back into her chambers I could tell she was flustered. We discussed my future, talked about what was expected of a Guardian, and discussed my treatment. She was furious at how it was handled, but she never made an apology.”
“She didn’t?”
Summer shrugged. “The Royal Guard is her brain-child. Has been for ages. I guess she wasn’t ready for her baby to grow up... until Vanguard convinced her, that is. She’s always had a soft spot for him. She pulled this from the armory and enchanted it right then and there. It has no legacy but the one I give it.” She stroked her helmet tenderly, lost in a memory. “Only Shining Armor, Vanguard, and Luna were supposed to know. Rosy found out on his own.”
“But he’s been silent about it, right?”
“As quiet as a mouse,” Summer said, smiling to herself. “He talks too little, and I too much. Fast friends and thick as thieves, we are. At least, I hope we are...”
“He’s said nothing but great things about you.” Twilight stopped and thought a moment. “In fact, now that I think about it, he never corrected me about your gender either...”
Summer blushed. “Good ol’ Rosy. Ever the gallant.” She fell quiet, watching her hooves as Twilight looked on. “I wish I could’ve told you on my own terms. I wanted you to hear it from me.”
“I’m glad you told me, Summer. I’m sorry. Had I known, I never would have yelled at you.” She shot her a smile. "Get some sleep. It'll be a long day tomorrow."
“Thank you, Twilight.” She rose quietly and straightened herself, clutching her helmet beneath her wings. “Rosy’s not going to let me sleep until he patches me up, so I’ll be up for a while. Is there anything I can do for you?”
Twilight thought a moment, looking about the tent until her eyes fell on the teapot perched on a nearby pile of books. “Another pot would be nice,” she said, eyeing it with longing.
“As you wish.”
She made for the outside air, but Twilight stopped her with a little “Summer?” She turned, snapping to attention. Twilight looked at her, then bowed her head in thanks. “I’m glad you’re safe.”
Summer returned the bow and, with lighter hooves, made for the campfire and her waiting medic. Twilight sat in silence, processing all she’d learned. A soft wind rustled the flaps and a few unbound scrolls, scattering them across the ground. Twilight gathered them up in her magic, looking with curiosity to their pages. Every page was the same: useless. The more she scanned the lines, the more useless they became. Page after page after page went scanned before Twilight threw them down on the floor, fuming. They’d collected nothing but fire-fuel. She rested her eyes, looking at the pages blankly, her mind looking for something. Anything. Just a sign. A clue.
A letter...
Twilight caught her breath, looking to the bottom-most parchment, her eyes focused intently on a fraction of the page. There, in the bottom corner, was a single letter C. It must be a mistake, she wondered, looking at it closer. It’s a similar marking, that’s all. But as she imagined it being written, there wasn’t any doubt: it had meaning! She pushed the parchments aside until it stood alone. More words! In her excitement her eyes flicked to the top-left corner of the page and began to read.
Her heart stopped.
Celestia,
I can only hope this note finds you, and finds you well. I haven’t long before I’m found here. I must be brief.
If never again we meet, be it known I should never have taken your wager. All this heartache might have been avoided had I disobeyed you from the onset. Not a day goes by I don’t regret my part in all this, but I can only repent so many times. My apologies and prayers for forgiveness mean nothing in this place. I hope to see you soon, so I can explain what happened. I hope you’ll understand and forgive me as I have you.
He’s found his prize, and with it he plans on returning home. He seeks to lure you as he once did. A familiar trap with a familiar outcome. That is all I know. I know not if he will succeed, but I hope victory eludes him. I also hope that you find this before it’s too late. This place will go unnoticed, but knowing his playmate I know he’ll find it soon.
I’ve run out of room. The final page of the diary has been completed, just as Luna requested. My contract has been fulfilled, and my time as her apprentice: officially concluded. Relay that to her, if you’re willing. The moon is a lonely place devoid of comforts.
I can feel his playmate’s presence. I must depart. He knows where the first two dwell. Prevent him from acquiring the last.
Trust your heart.
-C
Twilight read it twice more before letting it slip from her hooves. A part of her rejoiced at the discovery, but everything else was struck dumb. That room in the library had been inhabited, and not just by anyone; Someone close to Celestia and Luna, and a student of the latter. Looking to the other parchments, her heart sank. If this was the only clue, then the only course left would be more nights as a victim to Penumbra’s mind games. The notion filled her with dread, but not as much as the message’s final lines: Prevent him from acquiring the last... Trust your heart. Twilight repeated and repeated them, but nothing came. What on earth is this 'C' talking about?
“Trust your heart...”
Twilight rubbed the space between her eyes. This was all too confusing. Staring blankly at the pile of books, her mind wandered. She turned to the locked diary on the ground.
It was glowing...
Suddenly her mind cleared. She raised the diary to her eyes. A tiny white light shone from its keyhole. Straining her magic, she conjured a little spell and sent it off, watching as it snaked its way into the diary’s little padlock. A few clicks, followed by a gasp as the lock clicked open. Twilight held her breath as she opened the diary to its middle.
Nothing.
She flipped past a few pages, but found only more gibberish. She turned to the final page. It had been torn out right where the little note had begun, but only the note was written meaningfully. Everything else was garbage. All this time, wasted! With a growl Twilight tossed the book aside, dropping her head to the cushions, angry beyond words. Of all the things with the most promise, this diary was the one which would’ve helped them find Luna! Now, it was just like the rest: trash. Twilight watched the book, then stopped.
Hold on...
She pulled it closer, her eyes centered on the front inside cover. Something had been written there, pulsing with a pale blue magic. Then, as she drew closer, it disappeared, leaving behind a thin hoof-scrawled message burned into the cover:
The hopes of souls and hearts most kind
Oft suffer from those most maligned.
But thoughts endure. To you I'll bind
The secrets of my erstwhile mind.
Thrice-round read these warnings three:
No pasts or futures I'll decree,
Nor take I things left not to me,
Nor take for granted what I see.
Mind and body, soul and heart,
Meld into one through arcane art.
To time and text myself impart
To bring this memory to its start.
She spoke the final lines and jumped as the first page surged with a blinding light. Every symbol and line of gibberish began to spin and pulse. Something gripped her by the navel. She screamed for help, but before the right words could come out the letters whirled into a gale. Her tent slowly dissolved away, her body lurched forward, and before she could think about what to do her world went spinning down the drain, wrapped in a warm fog. Her brain hummed softly as she slipped away.
Everything went whisper quiet...
~~~***~~~
“Wake up, dear...”
Wrapped in softness, Twilight rolled. It’s too early, she thought. Five more minutes...
The voice spoke again: “Wake up, honey. It’s time.”
Her eyes flashed open. Twilight reeled at the sensation. That movement hadn’t been her own.
Her eyes slowly focused on the image of a baby-blue mare smiling softly down at her. Tears streaked down her face and into the corners of her trembling smile. “Get up, honey. You don’t want to keep her waiting.”
“Who?”
The mare’s smile flickered with pride. “Hold out your hooves and close your eyes, dear.”
She did as she was told, though not without a paralyzing sense of fear. These words, the voices, her movements... This was something foreign, something beyond her ability to control. Thoughts came readily to her mind. Her limbs moved of their own accord. She panicked, but as she did something brushed against her chest. It weighed less than a feather, and felt about as delicate. Twilight stopped her rushing heart. Don’t fight it, she thought. Let the world come naturally. She fell backwards into the unknown. Her senses heightened. She could hear every minute sound: the snapping of the glass under the wind’s frigid bite; The sniffling of the nearby governess; The soft, sweet breathing of the other lost foals. Twilight let everything go.
“Open your eyes,” the mare whispered.
Her eyes opened slowly, surely, without fear. She felt an unbearable excitement flood through her as she stared at her gift: a frock of pure white silk, as clean as the fresh snow outside the nearby window. She looked up and into the crying eyes of the aging mare before her. “It’s my Choosing Day?”
She could only nod.
Nurses flitted this way and that, never at one place for more than a few seconds. Brushes and combs disentangled her haphazard mess of dark green hair, nipping at the knots until her mane flowed like water. She raised her hooves and let them slip on her new gown. The blue mare watched her sadly as the nurses pinned her into place. One pony straightened her chin and covered it in a fine powder. Twilight felt herself sneeze, which earned a smile from the blue governess. Finally, they all stepped back and looked at her. Twilight felt herself twirl. “How do I look, Miss Bluebell?”
The governess pulled her to her side. “You look just like her.”
They slipped from the room as silently as they could. Rusty cots and their sleeping cargo lay just out of reach. She watched them pass, whispering her final goodbyes to the fillies and colts still adrift in their dreams’.
They’re my siblings no longer.
In a blur they passed down a long corridor, her sky-blue governess at her side, a troop of attendants in her wake. They looked scared, though they had no voices to explain why. Fat flakes of snow mounted on the windows as Miss Bluebell levitated a lantern before them. The sun hadn’t risen yet. Early morning. Worry awakened in her heart.
Only the sour cheat the day its due.
The governess opened a door and ushered her inside. Twilight felt herself tread slowly into an office filled with books. Certificates and paintings filled the walls’ empty spaces. A grand wooden desk and a plush chair sat before a blazing hearth. She shivered. Only the sun felt so warm.
Her eyes focused, and as she watched the fireplace the chair swiveled towards her. Her limbs went numb with shock as a unicorn rose from his seat. He made a bee-line right for her. A mental scream pounded in her brain.
It’s the Headmaster!
He floated forward like a spectre: soundless and cold, staring at her with lifeless eyes through the cloudy lenses of his pence-nez. “Is this the one,” he said to Miss Bluebell. “The one Her Highness asked for?” He saw her ribs, wheeling on Miss Bluebell with a growl. “You pinned her too tight! She’s naught but bones! Find another frock! Quickly!”
Miss Bluebell stood her ground. “You've kept her here long enough.”
He advanced menacingly, but stopped at the sound of marching. The nurses nearby rallied together against the wall. Twilight felt Miss Bluebell wrap her against her chest. “Don’t fear, child,” she whispered. “You’ve nothing to fear from her.”
The doors flew open to the flash of spears. A row of armored stallions stamped through, staring at nothing. In their midst: a passel of ponies, clipboards floating at their sides. Their opulent clothing betrayed its wear as a brisk wind fluttered through the windows above. The soldiers paraded to the far wall, then stopped, performing an abrupt left-face.
It was then she made her entrance.
Miss Bluebell and the Headmaster prostrated themselves as a mare stepped into the room. Twilight felt herself do the same, but not without a surreptitious little glance. A long purple cloak frilled in white goose-down trailed behind her, the velvet-topped crown atop her head shining with a cold silver glare. The mare stopped and extended a lilac-colored hoof towards the Headmaster. “Well met,” she said plainly. “How fare you this morning?”
“Wonderfully, Your Grace,” he stammered, kissing her hoof with no small amount of hesitation. “I fare well, as do all my wards!”
“We’ll see.” She turned to Miss Bluebell, her eyes alight. “You must be the Bluebell I’ve heard so much about.”
The governess gasped. “Milady! I... I am honored! How have you come to know of me?”
“I’ve done my research,” the mare replied. “Many a happy new parent and sterling recommendation have you. If the quality of your ward's education is testament to your work, you have a bright future ahead of you.”
Miss Bluebell nodded and kissed her hoof forcefully, tears of utter joy streaming down her face. “Thank you, milady! A thousand times, thank you!”
The regal mare smiled brightly. Withdrawing her hoof, she wiped it clean, slipped it within her robe, and focused her eyes on Twilight. “This is the girl?” she asked, watching her keenly.
The Headmaster stepped forward, his head still bowed. “Yes, Your Grace! Her name is—”
“She will answer for herself,” the mare stated plainly, fixing a stern eye on him. He bowed his head and backed away, leaving her free to whisper so only Twilight could hear. “How farest thou, love?”
“Well enough, Your Grace.” She gave a little curtsy, much to Miss Bluebell’s delight. “I had a great night’s sleep.”
“No winds or weather to keep you from it, I hope...”
“None, Your Grace. We’re very well cared for here, me and the others.”
The mare looked her over with a deep sadness, her frown deepening with every counted rib on Twilight's frame. She fixed her eyes on the Headmaster, eyeing him malevolently. Then, with a whip of her cloak, she turned to her entourage. “Leave us, all of you. I would speak to the girl alone.”
The Headmaster jolted forward. He met a flash of spears as the soldiers blocked his advance. The mare rounded on him slowly, a vicious smile on her lips. “You dare stop me, sir?”
A protest strangled itself in his throat. “Not at all, Your Grace! I’d be a fool to deny your request!”
“You’d be a fool regardless,” she said coolly. “Your ward is sickly, Headmaster. The only thing healthy about her is her manners. She has her governess to thank for that." She turned, fixing her eyes on Bluebell. “How many years have you as a governess?”
“Ten, Your Grace.”
“Knowest thou his duties?”
A tiny, terrified smile erupted on her face. “Y-Yes, Your Grace.”
"Then I’m ten years too late.” She nodded to her soldiers, who swiftly surrounded the Headmaster. “Escort this wretch from the premises. I’ll have no more of him in this house.”
He tried to protest, but with a metallic march of steel and hoof a cadre of soldiers escorted him from the room. The mare’s secretaries followed close behind, joined quickly by the nurses and a beaming Miss Bluebell. Twilight watched her go, sharing a teary smile before the door closed and hid them from each other. The hallway beyond slowly grew silent.
They were alone.
The mare’s magic glimmered around the drawstring of her cloak. She drew it off with a shiver, looking to the hearth disapprovingly. Her horn flared, and before Twilight could react the hearth’s flames turned blue, thundering forth with a rush of heat. Twilight watched them with wonder, for though they lapped at the paintings above they burned nothing. The mare threw her cloak upon the nearby chair, revealing her body entire.
How a mare so demanding of obedience could be so intrinsically beautiful, Twilight didn’t know. She could almost feel the softness of her faded lilac skin from here, though if the wrinkles around her eyes were any clue it was a softness she’d fought with time and trial to retain. She removed her crown and massaged her scalp, letting her deep-purple hair unfurl to brush the snow-white freckles on her cheek. She turned towards where Twilight stood in wonder, looking at her kindly. Her smile was something wonderfully pleasant, but never once did her eyes show any form of weakness. They were as direct as the words she spoke next.
“Knowest thou who I am, child?”
Twilight felt herself nod furiously. “You’re my princess, Your Grace.”
“Do not mumble,” the mare said carefully. “When you are in my presense you will speak as though you have some pride in your heart. Let the world know you fear it not.”
Twilight felt her host swallow her fear. “You are my princess, Your Grace!”
“And my name?”
“Princess Platinum, Your Grace!”
“Good,” the mare said, smiling broadly. “You have a fire in you yet.”
“Thank you, milady!”
“You’re most welcome.” Princess Platinum took a few careful paces towards her. “You know your numbers, love?”
Twilight nodded confidently. “And my letters too, Your Grace.”
Platinum stomped her hoof gently. “Let’s hear them, then.”
Twilight turned to her with a smile. Her tongue and thoughts aligned for a moment of perfect unison as she sang the lilting melody of a child’s nursery rhyme. Her steps matched the music perfectly, her mind and mouth alive with sound and sensation until she finished her little song with a spin and a curtsy. Princess Platinum clopped her hooves on the floorboards with pride. “Well done! Well done indeed!”
Twilight caught her breath, though her heart still ran wild. “Thank you, Your Grace!”
“A beautiful song,” Platinum said. “But now, if you’ll indulge me, I’d prefer something more serious. A history, perhaps? Know you any stories of our homeland?”
“I do,” Twilight said happily. “I could tell you the ‘Land of the Seven Sigils”, milady, or ‘The Plains of the Golden Sun’!”
"Tell me that which pleases you most.”
Her heart fluttered. “My favorite? It would have to be 'The Tale of the Mountain-Tamer’!”
The fire in Platinum’s eyes kindled. “You speak of Prince Palladium’s defeat of the vicious dragon Furoros, do you not?”
“I do!”
“Speak, then” Platinum said. “My father’s exploits never tire me.”
Twilight took a deep breath, opened her hooves wide, and let a muse wrest control of her heart and mind with a flowing tale of clashing swords and magic so eloquent there was no space in her brain left wandering. Her heart opened up and forced her to her hooves, an imaginary rapier in-hoof, jabbing and thrusting, parrying and riposting as the great prince had done long ago. When she had no energy left, she let herself fall to her rump, giggling to hearty applause. “Bravo!” Platinum exclaimed. “You’re a scholar and a thespian in equal stride!” She rose to her hooves. “Let us see if you’re a sorceress too.”
Her horn ignited and whisked away every chair and desk until the office floor was as empty as Twilight’s breath. Platinum stood proudly in its center, her hair whisking in the roaring fire’s wake. “Counter my spells as best you can.”
Twilight felt her host's body tighten into a rigid stance. Her eyes narrowed. Princess Platinum saw, smiled, and fired off her first spell. A ball of fire flared like a sun in the room’s heart. Twilight felt her magic surge, looked to the ceiling, and watched as a bucket of water cascaded overhead and snuffed the sun out in a ball of steam.
Platinum smiled. Her horn fired again and lifted three books from their places on the shelf. They orbited her several times, then rocketed for Twilight’s host. She caught them deftly in her magic, handling them with unerring precision. They spun around her several times, then alighted back in the spaces they’d abandoned.
Platinum’s smile grew. She gave a hearty stomp, and the room went black. Twilight strained her eyes, but saw nothing. Suddenly, the hearth roared back to life to reveal not one Princess Platinum, but five, every one of them mirroring perfectly the one before. Twilight looked to them each, but nothing came to highlight which of them was the mare whose spell she was supposed to counter. A surge of panic, not magic, gripped her. She’d done so well until now! What would happen if she failed? Her eyes flicked frantically over them all, but nothing came. Each of the copies frowned sadly. This is the end of it!
Fear gripped her heart and tore through her horn. The lights died out again. She felt something twist and turn inside her. It felt like magic, but never before had it felt so real! It felt as though it had substance, as though every limb and strand in her mane was filled with power. She breathed a little gasp. Her horn ignited. The lights turned back on. The copies were still there, each of them Platinum, but they frowned no longer. They looked at Twilight’s host in awe. One-by-one they fizzled away, popping into nothingness until only one remained. Platinum paced forward, struck dumb with wonder. “How have you come into possession of such magic?”
Twilight felt her magic slowly dwindle away, leaving her shaking on the wooden floor. She looked to her mint-green hooves in confusion. What had she done to strike such fear into her princess’s heart? She hadn’t said a spell, or thought of one, or conjured anything malicious! What had she done?! “I don’t know! Please, I don’t know! Forgive me, I don’t know what I did! Please, princess! I didn’t mean to do it!”
“Hush now, little one,” Princess Platinum whispered, holding her close. “You did nothing wrong. You... you surprised me is all.” She raised Twilight’s chin and stared into her, through her, as though nothing else mattered in the world save her. “Who taught you that spell?”
“No one,” Twilight felt herself say. “It just happened!”
“You learned it not from your Headmaster or Miss Bluebell?”
“No, I swear it!”
Slowly the hardness of her eyes receded. “I believe you,” she said quietly. “I believe you...”
“You’re not going to banish me, are you?”
In a flash Platinum’s eyes were on her. “Why sayest thou such a thing? Banish you? Banish the thought! You are but a filly. You know not what you do.” When Twilight’s breathing had finally slowed, they took a few moments in the other’s embrace before Platinum raised her eyes one last time. “I have one more question for you, love. Answer me true, and speak not lies. Your future depends on it.”
Twilight stifled her fear and nodded.
“Would you like a better life, love?”
Her eyes were as soft as silk, softer even than the silken gown she’d adored just minutes before. She felt her close, felt the honesty in her tone, and abandoned all her fears. There was nothing of the sort, not here. Not with Princess Platinum. Twilight felt herself bite her lip as she sank into thought. Then, with a smile, she raised her eyes and nodded happily.
“Then we haven’t a moment to waste.”
Platinum rose to her hooves and drifted her grand cloak over them both, taking great care to ensure no lick of wind could ever find them. Twilight felt her hooves scramble to keep up with her as Platinum strode confidently to the exit. Her horn glimmered and pushed the doors aside as though they weighed nothing. The wind rushed in, but at Platinum’s side there was no such thing as the cold. Twilight looked to her gown, looked to Platinum, and felt a sun swell in her heart.
I'm going home...
They stepped together between two straight lines of soldiers, looking only ahead. Miss Bluebell sobbed from behind the soldiers’ spears, her blubbering incomprehensible, tear-sodden and utterly joyous. The Headmaster stood beside her, his spirit broken. Platinum stopped before them, eyeing the Headmaster with disdain. “You have until nightfall to leave this place. You’ve shamed these Gilded Lands, and I’ll have none of you nor your ilk poisoning her further.” She fixed her eyes on Miss Bluebell. “This house is yours, Headmistress. Teach and feed your wards well, remembering always this one.” She turned and looked at Twilight. “The world needs more of her kind.”
Miss Bluebell whimpered her thanks, then returned to crying tears of joy. Twilight turned to watch her go, knowing it would be the last she’d ever see her. The ex-Headmaster at her side fumed, his face beet-red. “Milady, please!” Platinum didn't hear him. Their eyes were on the future.
They strode to the grand door, the stamp of soldiers close behind them.
“Milady!” he screamed again. They were too far out of the door. The future was too bright, and their spirits too high.
They stepped out into the sunlight outside.
“Milady!”
“Milady!!!”
~~~***~~~
“Milady?”
Twilight felt something warm brush her shoulder. Her eyes cracked open and let the light in. A hazy figure passed her view, followed by an abrupt shake. “Milady, please! Wake up!”
Feeling coursed back into her hooves. The light grew brighter. A voice thundered in her ears.
“Princess!!!”
She jolted to her hooves, frantic, looking about wildly. The room was gone! Some books remained, but the paintings, the shelves, the chairs... Everything was gone! “What happened?” Twilight said, trying in vain to catch her breath. “Where is everyone?!”
She became aware of a pony gripping her shoulders tight. She stopped, turned, and found a wild-eyed and frantic Summer holding her still. “Are you alright, ma’am?”
“No, I... I was...” She looked to the ground and the cold stones that had been there just seconds prior. Only the soil remained. A line of nonsense scribbles littered the ground, hoof-scratched and meaningless. She looked to her dirty hooves, then back to the markings. “Did I... Are those...”
“Yours, yes! What happened to you?” Her eyes snapped open. “Penumbra! Did she—”
“No,” Twilight said. “It wasn’t her, it was something... something else! I was somewhere else, and so was Princess Platinum! I talked with her!”
Summer stared back, horrified. “Ma’am, I need you to sit down and take a few deep breaths...”
“I’m fine!”
“Twitching and shaking is the exact opposite of fine!” Her breathing slowed. “What happened to you, ma’am?”
“I... I went back in time!”
Summer froze. “What you’re saying is impossible...”
Twilight scoffed. “I can assure you it’s not! That diary you found? It sent me back in time! Here, I’ll show you!” She lunged past Summer for the book pile, searching for the diary and its message. She found it buried beneath her silk sheets, scuffed in dirt. “Here,” she said, thrusting it into Summer's waiting hooves. “Look on the inside cover!”
Summer opened the book, looked inside, scanned the text, looked up, and frowned. “There’s nothing here, ma’am...”
“What?!”
Twilight ripped it from her hooves. True enough, the poem that had etched itself on the inside cover had disappeared. “That’s impossible! It was just here two minutes ago!”
“Two minutes? Ma’am, I was gone for over an hour.”
“That’s impossible...”
Summer turned around carefully. Twilight gasped: her back was wrapped in a layer of gauze so thick it was a wonder she could move her wings. “Rosy’s a perfectionist,” she grumbled, wincing with pain. “He wouldn’t stop until he was satisfied.”
“An hour... I can’t...” Twilight slumped to her cushion. “But it felt so real!”
“It looked like it did.”
“But it was real! She was there! Her and Miss Bluebell and the soldiers, they were all there!”
“You were dreaming, ma’am. You’ve had a long day, and you fell asleep. IThat’s all it was.” She gave her a comforting little nudge. “Penumbra’s gotten to you, ma’am. Let us worry about her. Get some sleep, and whatever you do: don’t take it for granted. Who knows when we’ll sleep easy again.”
Nor take for granted what I see...
The poem returned, flooding through her mind in a daze: Mind and body, soul and heart, meld into one through arcane art. To time and text myself impart to bring this memory to its start...
It couldn’t be...
“It was a memory.”
Summer stopped in her tracks. “A what?”
Twilight nodded resolutely. “It was a memory! The poem said I shouldn’t take for granted what I saw! It was a spell, and that vision was a memory!” She straightened up. “These books... We thought they were gibberish, but they’re just the opposite! They’re memories, Summer! These are all chock-full of memories! Someone left these for us to find!”
“Who, then?”
Twilight didn’t have an answer, at least not at first. She thought back to what she’d seen. It was fading fast, but some things remained: Princess Platinum and her tests; The orphanage and its staff, especially Miss Bluebell; The stallions in their armor. She remembered the long walk out of the building, how wonderful it felt walking at Princess Platinum’s side. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind, not now nor then: this was the path she was destined to follow. She’d belonged right there beside her, side-by-side to the ends of the earth.
Bound together towards a new home...
Twilight looked at Summer, her eyes filled with wonder.
“This diary belongs to Clover the Clever.”
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A very intense and intriguing chapter
At first I was skeptical about this story, the pacing seemed off somehow, but now I can gladly say that you're added to my fav list :D
4746167
y'know, I've never been sure on the proper term to use for something like that. Thanks for bringing that up. I'll be more cautious in the future.
This story is getting more and more interesting as it moves on. As I've said before, I'm just able to feel the emotions of the story as I read it. It pulls me in and keeps me closely attached. I love it! Definitely one of my favorite fics.