> A Device for Divine
>  by stanku
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter I
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------











A Device for Divine: Part I





By Stanku





Proofreaders/editors: Nick Nack, Crescent Sonata, Golden Vision, DeathRiseRobo, Theforrealdeal, Coppermane, GreyNoise





For kazaah



















A hoof hit the muddy ground, sending splashes of dark brown soil everywhere. Almost instantly, another hoof slapped onto the muddy dirt. A mare was running for her life. The panic gripped her throat, seizing her whole body. A good hoofhold was crucial when running fast in this forest, and Blue Fallow knew that. It was one of those irrational thoughts that won’t step aside, even in the face of Death itself. The mare’s heart was about to burst through her chest, her legs felt like they would fall off any minute now, and yet a thought like that found enough room to live in her mind. It was absurd. 

Fear sharper than a blade of grass cut through her very soul. Every stone, every root and other solid hoofhold seemed smaller than before, more slippery, harder to find. Blue Fallow’s eyes were working overtime so that she could make out the solid pieces of turf from the treacherous sinkholes. She didn’t dare to slow down; even the thought of that pumped a fresh dose of adrenaline through her veins. Another piece of turf received her full weight and made the mare’s heart skip a beat when it almost sank beneath her hoof. It didn't, but Blue Fallow was too exhausted to thank her luck.    

She was breathing rapidly. Her lungs felt like they were on fire. Every breath was a stab to the ribs now, and even though Blue Fallow was a rather good runner, her strength had all but run out. She had tried to hide during the past hour or so without success. The monster after her was more like a shadow than a living being; it followed her everywhere. Another piece of turf was stomped under Blue Fallow’s hoof, another tax on her failing strength. Her muscles pulsed with agony and demanded rest, but she ignored their pleas as she ignored the hidden sinkhole that received her full weight. Her right front hoof sank deeply in the green mud. Without thinking, she tried to yank it free, but the mud was merciless. She was stuck.  

”Help!” Her eyes were wide and filled with tears. She gave her hoof another yank and let out a cry as pain lanced through her leg. “Please! Somepony, anypony!” She screamed until she no longer could. She felt detached, somehow, like the last few hours hadn’t been real after all, as if the cold waters of the quagmire were the only thing touching her. Maybe the hours spent in chase had been mere minutes. She looked around, eyes seeing nothing. She had no idea where she was, even though she had lived her whole life in this forest. And then she realized:

Her whole life.

Was about to end.

The sharp fangs sank deep into her neck. Her sobbing instantly became screaming. She struggled violently for a few seconds, but the strong jaws simply closed in and broke her neck with a sickening crunch. That was the last thing she heard before the darkness took her, before her limp and lifeless body was left hanging from the fangs of the beast. The forest fell silent again. A vermilion pool began to spread among the greenish waters.


                                                ***


Hundreds of miles away, Fluttershy couldn’t stop shaking on the floor. She had fallen out of her bed, the nightmare still vivid in her eyes. It was the moonlight shining through her curtains that finally told her that she wasn’t dreaming anymore; there hadn’t been a moon in the nightmare she had had. No moon nor star would ever dare touch that dream. And still, Fluttershy tried to recall that dream because she knew it was important. “Remember the dreams, Fluttershy, remember them,” that was what She had told her.  

She closed her eyes, trying to catch the last threads of her dream before they vanished. Her memories were dark and clouded, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was staring at her, ready to sink its teeth deep into her flesh. She tried to see, but the darkness was impenetrable. But her skin wasn’t, as the fangs that cut through it demonstrated. 

Her eyes flashed open the moment she heard the scream, instantly realizing that it was her own. She felt the mists of the dream retreating, revealing the house she called home, the furniture and tapestry that all tried to tell her she was safe now. Somehow, she couldn’t believe them. She wasn’t safe; not as long as that monster roamed in the darkness of her mind.

After a while, when Fluttershy was able to breathe steadily again and keep her legs from shaking, she stood up. She tried to remember the dream again, but couldn’t recall anything but glimpses. It felt as if images of horror, fear, and terror lived right next to her subconscious. That would’ve conveniently explained the pounding headache. 

Fluttershy cautiously walked into her kitchen, noticing every shadow that the moonlight threw on her way. She half expected to see a glimpse of those teeth again, the drool and blood glistening from them as it dripped onto her carpet. It took her a good while to get to the next room. 

As she was searching her cupboard for a mixture of herbs that would calm her nerves, one of the shadows in the room began to grow. In a few seconds it darkened, twisted, and began to rise from the floor without making a sound. The shadows grew until they blocked the moonlight, but Fluttershy still didn’t see it. She did, however, hear the velvety voice that spoke to her.      

“Fluttershy,” the voice whispered.

Fluttershy whirled around, dropping the jar she had been holding. It never hit the ground, though, for a dark purple halo had gently grasped it just inches away from the floor. Fluttershy failed to notice this, for her stare was nailed to the dark, tall figure standing in her kitchen. It wasn’t the first time She had come to visit her in the middle of the night.  

“H-hel-hel-,” said Fluttershy.  

“Hello to you too, Fluttershy,” Luna said. “Forgive my intrusion, but as you know, there was no time for manners at an hour like this. How are you feeling?” 

“B-b-better now, I think. T-thank you for… for asking…”

Luna studied the pegasus in front of her, the pegasus who looked just about the opposite of “better”. She set the jar on the kitchen table with her magic before speaking. 

“You do not need to hide your anxiety from me. I am well aware of the strain this… state of yours is putting you in, Fluttershy. This was the third vision you’ve had, and I know they are getting worse. I see them as you do, after all.” Luna paused before she continued. “It is time we put an end to this.”  
 
“An… an end?” asked Fluttershy. “You don’t mean to say that…”

“You are going to travel to the Shallows. Tomorrow. With Twilight. Expect her to visit you in the afternoon.” 

Fluttershy pressed her back against the cupboard, her eyes wide and wild. “No. Not yet. I’m not ready for that.”

“It is not a question of readiness anymore. I’ve told you this already: When the visions become real enough for one to feel them, it is only a matter of time before they–” 
 
Before Luna could finish her sentence, Fluttershy covered her ears with her wings and curled up on the floor, whimpering. “No, no no no,” she kept saying, more to herself than to Luna, who silently watched as the yellow pegasus fought with her fears. It wasn’t the first time Luna had witnessed this reaction. 

After a while, Luna walked closer to the now sobbing Fluttershy and kneeled so that she could gently touch her with her muzzle. Fluttershy’s sobs died slowly, but she kept on sitting on the kitchen floor. Luna joined her, although she kept her posture straight even while sitting. Fluttershy simply slumped against one the cupboard doors. Neither spoke for some time, not even as the clock on the wall struck four in the morning. 

“Would you like to talk about the vision you just had?” Luna asked carefully.

The yellow pegasus bit her lip. “I… I can’t remember it that well… It faded so fast, all the details and the forms… I can only remember bits and pieces. Voices. Colours. Smells. But not the whole picture…” Fluttershy’s voice was barely audible. “I don’t even know if I want to remember them that well…” 

Luna listened the young mare’s words without smiling nor interrupting. After the pegasus had quieted down, she put her hoof around her limp shoulder.

“As I have said before, you should not blame yourself for that,” Luna said. “In this case, forgetfulness is good for you.”

“I can’t even tell whether I’m seeing memories or new visions anymore. I’m being completely useless…”

“Fluttershy, you know that to be false. Without you, all of Equestria would be worse off. Do not let despair dwell in your heart.” 

Fluttershy fell silent again, and kept on staring at the floor. “I still can’t tell this to anypony, can I?” she said after a while.  

“I am deeply sorry for that, but such is the nature of this affair that it is best kept secret.” 

“Even from my friends? Even from Twilight?” There was not a hint of resentment or resistance in Fluttershy’s voice, only laconic submission. Luna still kept the smile off her face.  

“They will know when the time is right. Celestia is only thinking the best of everypony, the greater good, as you understand. Everything will be alright in the end, and that is what matters the most.”

Fluttershy turned her head, very shyly, to gaze into the deep, kind eyes of the Princess of Night. The pegasus opened her mouth, but said nothing. Luna gave her the faintest smile, and seeing that, Fluttershy swallowed her question. She stood up, legs barely shaking. Luna followed suite and said:

“There are still a few hours before dawn. I suggest you make good use of them and get some more sleep. You need to be ready when Twilight comes.”

Fluttershy moved her hooves nervously, avoiding Luna’s eyes as best as she could. “I... I don’t know if I can lie to her, I don’t… I’ve never lied to anypony, not ever… I’m sorry, Princess…” 

“Abstaining from the truth is the lesser of two evils we are facing here, Fluttershy. In any case, you need not lie to Twilight; you are merely required not to argue with her. That is good, right?”
    
Fluttershy glanced at Luna’s face and saw nothing but unshaken encouragement in her eyes. Behind that mask the story was quite different, though, and Luna silently thanked the Moon that Fluttershy wasn’t a mind-reader. Well, the recent events had made that statement questionable, but at least she couldn’t enter the minds of other ponies. 

“I... I’ll do my best, I swear.” 

“I’m pleased to hear that, and so is Celestia, I’m sure. I must go now, for other ponies need my guidance in the dreamworld and in the nightmares they face therein.” Luna took her leave, using the door for a change. Fluttershy bit her lip, opened her mouth, but managed to use her voice only when Luna was already partly outside.   

“You will be with us the whole time, right? You will watch over us in the Shallows?”

Luna stopped at the doorway and turned her head so that she could see the yellow-pink mare standing inside. She looked so frail in the moonlight, so vulnerable, and innocent. It felt so wrong to lie to a creature like that.

“My power extends wherever the moonlight shines, whatever is touched by the stars. These cover most of Equestria, even during daylight, although that is something not everypony understands, since during the day the sun reigns supreme.” Luna paused for a moment, and let her gaze fall down. “Alas, the Night has its limits, and so do I.”

She didn’t wait for an answer, but closed the door instead. Inside, the shadows seemed to grow stronger again. Fluttershy stood surrounded by them, felt them creeping up along her legs, her mane, her mind. She made it back to the kitchen, where the jar of herbs lay untouched. Their taste was bitter, but Fluttershy forced herself to swallow twice the amount she usually did. No dream would be strong enough to penetrate the dullness brought by a dose that big. It was a shame, then, that it wasn’t the dreams that Fluttershy was afraid of, but the reality. 


***


Twilight was just about to turn the page when she was interrupted by Spike, who had appeared at the library’s doorstep, holding a sign which simply read: “On.” For a few seconds Twilight could only blink in confusion. 

“What the–” she began, but stopped when she couldn’t hear her own voice. Then her eyes widened and her mouth formed a smile of sorts. A flick of her horn ended the silence spell she had been using while she studied.

“I’m sorry, Spike, I totally forg–” 

Yet again she failed to formulate a sentence, cut short this time by a lightning bolt that both ravaged her eardrums and sent her about a foot high in the air. 

“I swear, RD is making the pegasi break some records again,” she said after the shock had died away. “Right, Spike. Spike?” Suddenly, the young dragon was nowhere to be seen. 

“Up here, Twi.” Twilight looked up, and inadvertently chuckled as she saw Spike hanging from the roof by his claws. 

“Yep, gotta be hilarious. Get me down, will ya?” 

“I’m sorry,” Twilight said as the purple halo gently brought Spike down. “I’d have never thought  that you could jump that high.” 

“That makes two of us. Dragons just have better hearing than ponies. I can’t help it.” 

“Anyway, the sign was a good idea,” Twilight continued. “But perhaps it could say ‘sound on’ instead? Seems a bit misleading as it is.”  

“Sure, sure. Wasn’t thinking that much about it. I meant to tell you that Princess Celestia sent us two letters.”

Twilight’s face lit up. “Oh, well, great! Two, you said? Sounds weird. I wonder…”

“Or maybe you just read ‘em?” 

“Hah hah. Fine. Could I see them, then?”

Spike produced the letters, but only one of them had Twilight’s name on it; the other was directed to Princess Celestia herself. That one also said: “Read me first.” Her horn flickered momentarily as she ripped open the envelope and pulled out the letter, which she read out aloud. 

“To Her Royal Highness, Princess Celestia of Equestria”

“As I write this letter, already four of our fellow ponies have gone missing and I cannot shake the feeling that they will not be the last ones when this message reaches Your Highness. I am well aware of the fact that turning to Your council is the ultimate measure we can take and indeed that is the very reason we, as a community, have decided to do so. We are simply outmatched by the mystery behind these disappearances.”

“The first victim, a mare called Blue Fallow, went on an errand to the nearby forest, the Forest of Shallows, and never came back. This was, as I write these words, six days ago.”

“While we searched for her, two more ponies, Raindrop and Little Pond, both went missing at the same time, four days ago.”

“After this we decided to stop searching. I know how you must feel, hearing us abandoning our fellow ponies to their fate. Whatever your judgement on us shall be, it won't be harsher than what we have already imposed on ourselves. Our only defense for our actions is their unavoidability. It was not only the disappearances that have begun haunting our village.”

“The Forest has changed. I do not how, or why, but it has. We no longer feel secure walking in it, not even during the day. We don’t have any unicorns here and only a few pegasi, who have done everything they can to help our lost friends, but to no avail. They dare not even fly close to the treetops anymore.”

“The latest victim, Wet Mane, disappeared only yesterday. He was last seen entering his house at dusk, yet come the morning he was gone.”

“Our sincerest hopes lie in Your help, Princess Celestia. We can not abide alone anymore, indeed I don’t know if we ever could. Send help. Send all the help you can.”

“Sincerely Yours,

Wet Hoof, The Mayor of Damp Town, On the Fifth Day of the Seventh Turning, Year 1002”


Silence rang in the room and the echoes of the letter chimed in Twilight's mind, bouncing off the walls or simply floating through them. The letter was still hovering in front of her when Spike broke the spell and coughed.

”So... Whatcha think?” he asked. Twilight looked at him and frowned.

“Well, it certainly sounds serious, whatever it is that is causing problems there.” 

“Ya think we should open the other letter next?” 

Twilight blinked and looked at the other envelope that Spike was handing over to her; for a moment, she had forgotten that such a thing existed. She gave the second letter the same treatment as the first one. 


“Dear Twilight”


“I trust that you followed my instructions and read the other letter first. I also trust that reading the Mayor’s letter has stirred the same worry in you as it has in me. We cannot let their call for help go unheeded.”

“I wish that you, along with Fluttershy, travel to Damp Town at first opportunity tomorrow. Time is of essence here, as we do not know the true depth of the peril that has befallen to these poor ponies. Lives could be endangered here.”

“But that is the worst we can imagine, the heavy duty that we must always prepare ourselves for. Most likely the situation in the Damp Town is not as grave as that, and in any case we shouldn’t allow our deepest fears and paranoia determine our actions. A calm mind is our most powerful weapon, as I have taught you.”

“That is the most important reason why I wish that only you and Fluttershy would take part on this journey. Your other friends are quite busy at the moment, I hear. Pulling them from their tasks, important as they are for them and for all of us, would be exactly the kind of thoughtless rushing that we should avoid in the face of an unknown problem such as this.” 

“Also, discretion must be our key to success here. The general mood in Damp Town could hardly accommodate Pinkie Pie’s lively character, for example. In addition, given the rural location of the village in question, an encounter with a dragon would be most unwise right now. According to my knowledge, the locals have never once in their lives seen one of Spike’s kind, a fact that could surely have unexpected consequences, taking their current state of mind into consideration.” 

“In Damp Town, your first priority is to find the missing ponies. Most likely they have got lost in the woods, a problem which your magic should solve without much fuss. In any case, Fluttershy’s presence would ascertain that the local fauna are more than eager to help finding them. The combined abilities of you two are more than enough to relieve the anguish of the Damp Towners.” 

“I leave this issue at you capable hooves, Twilight Sparkle. As always, my confidence in your talents remains unparalleled.” 


“Princess Celestia of Equestria, On the Seventh Day of the Seventh Turning, Year 1002”

 
“That sounds… weird?” Spike said. 

“I know,” Twilight said while she put the letters back to their envelopes. “One would think that the local ponies would know their woods well enough to find their own way out of them.”

“Eh, yea, that too, but I meant the… you know?” Spike scratched his neck and kept his eyes on the ceiling.

“Uhm, no?”

“Well, dontcha think it weird that Celestia would send only you and Fluttershy for the rescue?”

“You heard her explanation, isn’t that enough? The Princess is just being both reasonable and practical, that’s all.”

“Yea, that she is, but I just… Nah, never mind.” Spike made a sudden turn towards the kitchen, as if he had forgotten something in the oven for too long. He only got a few steps before Twilight’s voice stopped him.

“Spike…” 

“Really, it’s nothing, just a stupid thought,” he said, shuffling his legs awkwardly. 

“Come now. You know there’s no such a thing as a stupid question.” 

Spike raised an eyebrow. “Ha ha, yeah, only stupid ponies asking them. Never gets old, that one… Fine. I just thought the letter had a weird tone.”

“What, the Mayor’s letter?”

“No no, Celestia’s letter. It was… I dunno, as if it wasn’t written by her, after all…” 

“Whoah, you’re starting to give me goosebumps, now,” said Twilight. “What do you mean, ‘not written by Celestia’? I didn’t notice anything unusual.”

“Really?” Spike lifted his eyes from the floor to meet Twilight’s confused face. “You didn’t notice anything strange, nothing at all?”

Twilight gave a short, awkward laugh. “No… What is this now, have you read a conspiracy novel lately or something? Why wouldn't it be Celestia who wrote this letter? Give me one good, solid reason.”

“I said it already, I dunno! Could be the words she used… or the tone… eh, I give up. You’re right, it’s Celestia’s writing all right.”

“I’m glad we agree on that,” Twilight said and smiled warmly. “Now, there are some preparations to be made – first of all, I need to inform Fluttershy about this. Would you be so kind as to pack some blankets, food, and other supplies for me while I’m gone?”  

“Sure, Twi, no problem...”

“Aww, you don’t need to sound so disappointed that you don’t get to come along – nor that you failed to reveal a great conspiracy.” Twilight walked over her friend and patted the top of his head with her hoof. “I’m sure your time will come, Detective Spike.”   
  
“Right, on the same day that you grow wings. Get going already, before the pegasi continue with their weather drill. Sounds like they managed to tie Dash so they could get a break.” 

Twilight chuckled and went to the front door. “See you soon,” she said as she closed it behind her.

In the house, Spike sighed, and grasped the letters that Twilight had left on the floor. He rolled them in his claws, studying them with his neck tilted. He pulled the one meant for Twilight from its envelope and read it again, then again. Finally he shrugged his shoulders and put the papers on the nearby table. They never crossed his mind again. 


                                                ***


The light of the afternoon sun cascaded through the glass window, butchering the clean white light into a spectrum. Celestia studied the phenomenon intently, her eyes paying attention to every tiny variation of colour reflecting from the glass. She hardly noticed Luna entering the study.

“Uhm, what on earth are you doing?” Luna asked. Light glimmered in Celestia’s eyes as she turned them towards her little sister.
 
“How did you fare with Fluttershy?” she asked.

Luna furrowed her brows. “The mental state of that pony worries me greatly. I honestly cannot tell if she can do what you ask of her.” 

“Fluttershy has proven her worth on more than one occasion, as you know. She is stronger than she seems.”

“Eh, yes, but I still doubt whether you are risking too much with this little experiment of yours.” 

The smile on Celestia’s lips quivered, but just for a moment. “There is nothing little in it, but quite a lot of work is put to the test during the days to come in the name of this ‘experiment’, as you call it.” The white alicorn narrowed her eyes and paused. “Tell me true: Do you honestly think Fluttershy will be unable to play out her part in the Shallows?”

Luna blinked, opened her mouth to speak but closed it instead. When she tried again, her voice was even more reserved than before. “I think… that she will do everything she can to accomplish it. Whether that will be enough or not, well… we can only wait and see.”

Celestia kept her eyes on Luna for five long seconds before she turned her gaze away and towards the spectrum that lingered in the room. “A less transparent judgement than what I was hoping, but it will do. We shall continue as planned. I expect you to keep me fully informed of the events in the Shallows during the days to come.”   
 
Luna stared wordlessly at her sister, for whom the dance of light in the painted window seemed to appear as the most intriguing thing in the world.

“Celestia, I… I have been thinking… Is it really worth it?”

Celestia didn’t move a muscle. “I do not see the meaning of your inquiry. Please, do clarify.”

“I mean to refer to the Device. I remember when you first told me about it; you said I would learn to understand it better once I got used to the idea behind it...” Luna slowly scraped the stony floor with her left front hoof. “Well, I… cannot shake the feeling that your plan is fundamentally flawed.” 

Celestia could express all kinds of little things with a simple smile, which she had aplenty. She had smiles for encouragement, and smiles for compassion. She even had smiles that weren’t smiles at all. However, as she fully turned to face Luna, she wasn’t smiling at all. Luna, upon noticing this, stopped the erratic movement of her hoof.

Celestia didn’t speak at once. “Is that so? Why, nothing would please me more than to help you see the Device from my point of view, from which it appears as perfectly sound. But please, would you be so kind as to enlighten me about your worries first?”

“Uhm, certainly, if that’s what you wish.”

After its short absence, the smile had returned to Celestia’s lips. “That is what I insist.” 

Luna fixed her posture slightly before starting. “First of all, it has never been done before. Second, nopony has ever even thought about doing it before. Third, there is no telling what would happen if something went wrong with your plan… it could even cost Twilight her life.”

“Those are some grave accusations you have prepared for me, dear sister.”

“I am not accusing you, I am merely–”

“–pointing out the obvious shortcomings of my plan, yes, I can see that. You are still wrestling with the same ghosts that began haunting you as I shared my thoughts with you, I find. Is there anything new you would like to share with me, concerning the validity of the plan called Device for Divine?”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Ghosts, you call them? Mere figments of my imagination? I dare say, if my doubts are nothing but fantasy, it is so only because they strive to match their object!”

“Agitation feeds paranoia and vice versa, as you have yet again so aptly demonstrated.”

Luna’s eyes widened half an inch and her mouth readied itself to spit Celestia’s arrogance right back to her face, but something made her refrain from this. 

“I know your game,” she said. “You are trying to throw me off balance so I could feel bad for myself afterwards, and crawl back to you in search of an apology later. I recommend you change your strategy from time to time, sister; you are becoming transparent.”

Celestia laughed, but not unkindly. Luna’s confusion blazed from her face. “What is the matter with you?” she asked.

Celestia muffled the rest of the outburst with her hoof and yet again turned to face the glass window. “I find it terribly amusing, bickering such as this. You would not believe how much I missed it while you were gone in the moon.”

“Uhm, what?”

The last remains of chuckling bled out from Celestia as she regained her composure. “Perhaps the Device,” she began, “is something you cannot ever truly understand, not as I do, anyhow. You have not, after all, faced the same absolute loneliness that I have.”

Luna’s jaw dropped. “Come again?”

“I know what you are thinking. How could I say such a thing and claim to be in my right mind? How indeed… The question must elude you as it for so long eluded me.” 

“...What are you saying? You are not making any sense…”

Celestia turned her face again, revealing a smile that made Luna flinch. “Does it disturb you to think that the magnificent Celestia of Equestria could feel lonely?” said the white alicorn. 

“Celestia, you are not yourself. Look, I’m sorry that I brought the Device up again, I shouldn’t have.”

Celestia’s eyes flickered like the sun does just before it sets down on the horizon. Her smile changed to resemble the one she usually wore. “No, it was correct from your part to bring up your doubts. I suppose I owe you an apology too…  I should not have tried to manipulate you like I did. Old habits die hard, it seems.”

Luna relaxed a bit as she heard that, but she tensed again when the taller alicorn made a sudden move towards her and wrapped her right wing and hoof around her. “My love towards you knows no bounds, sister,” said Celestia quietly. 

“Uhm, you are very dear to me, too,” Luna replied. “If you do not mind me asking… The Device... How strongly do you honestly believe in it?” 

Celestia pulled herself from the embrace and burrowed her gaze deep into Luna’s eyes. “Dear sister,” she began. “The Device is the only thing I have believed in for the last millennium.” 
    

                                                ***


The sky above Ponyville was covered with dark clouds, but at least the lightning and the wind had ceased for now. Twilight still didn’t dare to keep too slow a pace while she traveled to Fluttershy’s, for she knew that the pegasi might continue with their drill at any moment. It was only when she got to knock Fluttershy’s front door that she braved a sigh of relief. 

The upper half of the door opened just enough so Twilight could get a glimpse of a bright teal eye looking at her. “Hello, Fluttershy!” she said.  

“Hi, Twilight…” 

Twilight stood there for a moment, but nothing seemed to happen. “Uhm, might I come in?” she said.

“Oh, dear me, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking at all…” There was some hasty movement behind the door, which soon opened wholly. 

Twilight entered in and closed the door behind her. “Thank you. I have something we need to… Uh, what ever happened to you?” 

“Wh-what do you mean? I’m…  I’m totally fine!” Fluttershy said, flashing a wide and awkward smile.

“You sure don’t look like you are; you have eyes like a raccoon’s!” Twilight pulled a mirror from the corner with her magic, showing Fluttershy the dark rings surrounding her eyes. “Did you sleep at all last night?”

“Oh, that! Ha ha ha, it’s nothing, really… I just, uhm, had to keep and eye on Angel, yes.” Fluttershy turned away from the mirror. “He got a bit sick during the night, you see…”

“Oh my… It’s nothing serious, I hope?”

“No no no, don’t you worry about him! He is fine now, just fine.” Fluttershy’s eyes looked at everything in the room except Twilight. “Too much carrot, I think.” 

“Okay… I suppose that can happen.” Twilight studied her friend whose erratic behaviour only seemed to get worse by the minute. “Anyway, there is something we need to talk about. Just a moment ago, I received two letters from Princess Celestia.”

“Ah-ha...”

“It appears that a village called Damp Town has some problems with which they need some outside assistance. Four ponies have disappeared there during the past week; most likely they are lost in the local forest.” Twilight paused when she noticed that Fluttershy was now chewing her own mane.

“Fluttershy…?”

She dropped the hair from her mouth. “Yes! I’m here!” 

“I can see that… What's the matter with you?”

Fluttershy suddenly turned her wide eyes straight to Twilight. The yellow pegasus was sweating slightly. “I’m… worried to hear the news. That’s all.” Her shoulders looked tense enough to make a steel bar appear flexible.

Twilight narrowed her eyes. “Well, if I were you, I’d consider taking it easier. The Princess expressly warned us in her letter not to let our emotions get the better of us.” Twilight sighed. “Look, I know this may sound scary to you, but the Princess suggested that you would accompany me to Damp Town. Your animal handling skills could come in handy there.”

Fluttershy was looking at the floor again, shuffling her legs aimlessly. Twilight was about to say something when the yellow pegasus began talking, very quietly. “You really think I’ll be useful there? That I can do whatever is asked of me?”

“Absolutely! You can do anything if you put your mind into it.”

Fluttershy flinched and gave a quick glance to Twilight’s compassionate face. It appeared she had come to a decision. “I will come with you, Twilight. I’ll come and… do my best...”

“That’s great, Fluttershy! I’m really proud of you, don’t you think I’m not!”

Tears welled up in Fluttershy’s eyes. “Twilight, I... I’m not–”

Twilight interrupted her friend by wrapping her hooves around her neck. “It’s okay, ‘shy… I know what you’re thinking: Yes, I trust you from the bottom of my heart. We make the best team.”

Twilight didn’t notice Fluttershy biting her own lip as she fought back the words she was about to say. Her eyes were pressed shut to prevent more tears from falling. “Th-thank you, Twilight… That... that means a lot to me… Sorry, I’m being awfully silly...”

“No you’re not,” Twilight said as she detached from her friend. “You’re just being you.”

The corner of Fluttershy’s mouth twitched barely noticeably.

“Anyway,” Twilight continued, “we should talk a bit about the travel preparations, don’t you think?” Fluttershy only nodded in response.

They spent the better part of an hour talking about the most practical way to make it to Damp Town. Fluttershy remained quiet for most of the time, responding with nods, yesses and by smiling awkwardly every now and then. When they were done, Twilight promised to look up some background knowledge about Damp Town from her library. She wished her good night as she closed the door. 

When she had gone, one of the shadows in the room began growing again. Fluttershy watched it rise from the floor as it bent into a new shape, and grew wings. She watched it until it watched back at her.

“Hello, Fluttershy,” Luna said.    

“Princess Luna…” Fluttershy kneeled. 

“No need for that, now. You did wonderfully, precisely like we knew you would.” Luna tried to make eye contact with the pegasus, but Fluttershy seemed determined to hide her face into her mane. “Don’t you agree?”

“Y-yes, I do…”

“I think you are lying to me, Fluttershy.” 

Fluttershy’s slacking form was immediately electrified. “No no no! I wouldn’t dare to lie to anypony, I mean, to you!”

Luna smiled a compassionate smile. “And yet you do. There is no need to deny it, I am not angry at you.” Luna made a move closer to Fluttershy, who stood like she was nailed to the spot. “I want you to understand that sometimes, we find it necessary to omit sharing some views we have, even from our dearest friends. It is only natural.”

“Q-quite. Natural...”

Luna took yet another step closer. “The most important thing anypony can do is to be honest to oneself. As long as you know that while you are temporarily required to deny Twilight the access to the grand scheme of things, you only do this because, in the end, it is not really you who is doing the deed, but Celestia.”

Luna circled around Fluttershy, who apparently was trying to hide completely into her mane. “I don’t think I understand your meaning, Princess…”

Luna sighed. “I am not lying to you, Fluttershy. We, Celestia and I, are putting you between a rock and a hard place here. We do so because we trust you, and because the small wrong we commit now will eventually grow into a greater good. Surely that is something you can accept?”

Luna, after having circled Fluttershy completely, stood again in front of her. The pegasus was still looking at her own hooves from the cover of her own mane, but something else had changed in her. For one thing, she wasn’t trembling anymore, nor did she appear unnaturally stiff. 

“I can accept that, Princess.”

“I know you can. That is exactly why we chose you for this very important task: Because we trust you.” Luna lifted Fluttershy’s chin with her hoof, and found those bright eyes finally connecting with her own. “For the greater good.”

“For the greater good,” echoed Fluttershy.


                                                ***

 
  
  

> Chapter II
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------




The scream of the alarm clock was abruptly cut short by the purple halo that surrounded it. Twilight opened her eyes to the darkness, stretching her limbs and yawning. She stumbled a bit in the gloom before she lit her horn, after which she finally managed to get out. A faint snoring emitting from Spike’s room made her mind her steps on the way to the downstairs. After a small and silent breakfast, she grabbed the saddlebag by the door, which she closed carefully behind her, just as the library clock struck seven in the morning. 

Apart from a few elderly ponies and merchants, the Ponyville streets echoed their emptiness while Twilight made her way towards the train station, humming a happy tune as she went. With any luck, we’ll be back before the day’s out, she thought as the familiar building entered her vision. And if I get to write my report on the way back, Princess Celestia can read it tomorrow morning. Now that’s efficiency. Her thoughts were interrupted as she turned a corner and rose to the station platform; slumping on a bench, there rested a familiar figure.

“Fluttershy?” she asked, stepping closer. 

The yellow pegasus tensed instantly, and almost fell off the bench. “For the good, for the greater good!” she cried.

Twilight almost jumped in the air herself. “Whoah, calm down!” 

“What, where am I?” Fluttershy’s head sprung to meet Twilight’s confused face.  

“...in the train station?” 

Fluttershy’s eyes stayed blank for another second, and then they widened an inch. “Oh. Right. In the train…station.”

“Uhm, you okay, ‘shy?”

“Aa, I’m fine, no, I’m better! No need to worry, I just, uhm...had some trouble sleeping again so I, uhm, came here a bit early.”

“A bit early? Looks like you spend half the night on that bench!” Twilight pointed at the marks the planks had left on Fluttershy’s thighs and back. 

She looked at herself, then at Twilight, and smiled awkwardly. “Aa, ehm…I guess I got a bit nervous yesterday…Sorry.”

“Oh, Fluttershy…you don’t need to apologize – I was just worried about you.” Twilight put her hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Jeez, you’re tense! Seriously, your shoulders feel like bricks!”

Fluttershy kept on smiling like there was no tomorrow. “Ha ha ha, I suppose the bench was a bit hard to sleep against…”

Twilight studied her friend with furrowed brows. “I think you should skip this one, Fluttershy. I’m sure Princess Celestia will understand if I explain the situation to her.”

The smile died on Fluttershy's lips like a butterfly freezes in a blizzard. “No. Not that.” She blinked at Twilight’s reaction, then smiled again. “Uhm, I just meant that I’d hate to disappoint the Princess, I really would. Really, I’m fine, of course I am. Rainbow Dash always says that a bit of excitement is what makes life worth living, right?”

“Sure, but I think you’re stretching the definition of “bit” again; you shouldn’t push yourself too much, you know.”

“I…I know, Twilight…But, but, I also need to learn to control myself better, yes.” Fluttershy averted Twilight’s eyes as she spoke. “I think this journey would do good for me.”

“Well, if that’s your decision, then I’m supporting it from the bottom of my heart.”

The pegasus suddenly wrapped her hooves and wings around the lavender unicorn. “You’re the best friend, Twilight…”

A surprised laughter escaped from the unicorn. “Whoah there, don’t tip me over!”    

“Eep, I’m sorry!”

“It’s fine, Fluttershy. Anyway, I think we can buy the tickets now. Want to come along?”

“Yes, I’ve had enough of this bench already…” Both ponies laughed at that. In half an hour they were both sitting in their seats, watching Ponyville disappearing behind their window. 

“Ugh, I had hoped that we could get straight to the village by train,” said Twilight as she leaned against the window. “How come they don’t have the railway there yet?”

“I guess they don’t need to travel much?” answered the pegasus with a faraway look in her eyes.  

“To each their own. Anyway, did you bring anything special along?” 

Fluttershy looked at her saddlebag that lay on the seat next to her. “Oh, nothing much, just blankets, some food…” 

“Sounds good. I would’ve brought a map along, too, but Spike couldn’t find any that could’ve even remotely been considered of use there.”

Fluttershy’s figure tensed a bit more, and the distant look of her eyes disappeared. “Uhm, so, you don’t have a map of the Forest of Shallows?” 

Twilight shook her head. “Unfortunately no, but don't worry – I’m sure the locals have plenty of them to share.” Twilight frowned her eyebrows and tilted her head a bit. “By the way, how did you know the name of the forest? Did I mention it yesterday?”

“I-I suppose so…How else could I have known that?”

“Right, of course… Jeez, I’m slow today. Must be the early wake up.” Twilight rubbed her eyes with a hoof. “What else did I tell you about Damp Town or about the Shallows?”

“Not much else, I think. Uhm, did you find anything about them?”

Twilight shrugged. “There wasn’t much to find, really. I didn’t have time to search the whole library, but some of the history books had a few references to the place. It’s just some village everypony has forgotten about.”

“Oh…Sounds sad…”

“I’m sure the locals would disagree with that – they do have some fanciful stories to keep them company, at least.”

“Stories?”

“Like I said, there wasn’t much to learn about Damp Town in the history books, but there was this one story that caught my attention. Well, more like it caught Spike’s interest – you know how he loves scary stories.”

“Sc-scary stories?”

“Oh, I knew I shouldn’t have brought this up. I’d hate to bother you with this stuff right now.”

“No, you should tell me about it. It might be useful however wild it is, and we are supposed to be helpful when we get there, right?” The pegasus’s doe eyes looked pleadingly at Twilight. 

“If you insist…It really is quite silly, though.” Twilight took a more comfortable position in the bench. “So, there is this story that the local ponies have supposedly told each other since the village was founded, about a century ago. At least a scholar named Hollow Bark judged the tale to be at least that old. Anyway, the story is about this creature called the Witch.” 

Darkness swallowed the carriage. For a whole five seconds, the blackness reigned supreme inside, enrobing all the passengers into a veil of oblivion where the chaotic noises of the train echoed, creating a sense of absolute disorder. When the train finally emerged from the tunnel, Twilight found herself staring at an empty bench. Confused, she looked around, but there was no sign of the yellow pegasus among the other passengers. She was about to call her by name when a glimpse of something pink on her hind legs drew her attention. It turned out to be a curl of mane.

“Fluttershy?” Twilight asked from the mane. “What’re you doing under my bench?” 
 
The mane quickly withdrew deeper under the seat, and soon Fluttershy came out of, the blush covering her like a veil. “Nothing, nothing,” she explained embarrassedly. “The timing was just too much for me…”

“The timing?” 

“The Witch,” answered Fluttershy, returning to her own seat. “You said the word, and the wagon went pitch-black. What is a witch, anyway?”

“I wish I knew,” said Twilight, still looking oddly at her friend. “I did some studying and apparently they are some kind of an age-old myth. Wizards gone bad and that sort of thing. Good stuff for Nightmare Nights, if you ask me.” 

“That does sound scary…”

“But it isn’t. It only proves that Damp Town is remote enough that they haven’t even updated their horror stories. The Witch of the Shallows, like they called her, apparently cursed the village or something a century ago and swore an eternal revenge for all its future inhabitants.” 

“Oh my…”

“I know; such a cliché.”

The pegasus winced, and swallowed. “But…didn’t you say that the villagers had a wild imagination…?”  

“Hmm, they certainly do, or at least the villagers of the past had. They had plenty of details about the Witch, you see – some of them were pretty carefully thought out, I have to admit.”

“Uhm, such as?”

Twilight sighed. “Look, do you really want to tease yourself with this stuff right now? I was hoping that we could talk a bit about our plans for finding those missing ponies.”

“But we have plenty of time, right? And you never know what information might prove useful later on – that’s what you said once.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I did, but the situation was quite different…Nah, you’re right, though; we do have plenty of time.” 

Fluttershy leaned a bit closer. “So? What details you found out?”

Twilight chuckled at Fluttershy’s keen expression. “You really are in the mood for this! So weird… Fine then. Does the date ‘Third Day of the Fifth Turning’ say anything to you?”

“...No?”

“I’d be genuinely surprised if it did – it’s a very special date, but only for those who have some serious studies on astronomical studies to boast about. Honestly, I have no idea how the villagers came up with that special day.”

“What’s so special about it?”

Twilight smiled conspiratorially. “It’s the date when a certain constellation becomes visible, the only day (or night, really) of the year, when the stars align so that they form this particular picture on the sky. According to the story, it’s also the date when the Witch appeared for the first time in Damp Town. You want to know the name of the constellation?”

Fluttershy nodded slowly.

“It’s called ‘The Black Twig’. Ring any bells?”

Fluttershy shook her head.

“The words ‘twig’ and ‘witch’ share an etymological connection; they used to denote the same thing. So, ‘The Black Twig’ could as easily be translated as ‘The Black Witch’. Exciting, right?” 

“Y-yes, very much so…”

“A neat detail indeed, but most likely a mere coincidence. But who knows? Maybe the pony who had come up with that tale had read some book or knew somepony who had or something. The best horror stories always have a speck of truth in them, after all.”

“Were there any more freaky details?”

“Come one, ‘shy! Haven’t you had enough already? I really want to talk about something else for a change.”     

“Twilight, please…”

“Pfft, fine. There were all kinds of stuff decorating that age old curse formula. Dogs fighting, even killing, each other for no reason. Ponies disappearing into the forest – remember to breathe, will you? – at night. Strange runes appearing on walls and on trees. The list goes on, let me tell you…”

“D-dogs fighting each other? Even, even k–”

“Yes, although I wished I wouldn’t have to had told you about that. Kind of a cheap way to make a fable scary, using blood as the ink. I’m sure no animals were actually harmed.”

“I see…” 

Twilight studied her friend who seemed to be thinking about something very carefully. She rarely chews her mane – usually only when she is under great stress – and now she has soaked more than one of her curls. “Is everything alright, ‘shy?”

The yellow-pink pegasus raised her eyes to meet Twilights, moving her head almost ponderously. The pink mane dropped from her mouth, the saliva glistening on it and gluing the strings of hair together. 

“Twilight…” she began. At the moment the first syllable escaped her mouth, the train dove into another tunnel. The carriage was immediately enveloped by darkness even thicker than last time, and in the utter blackness that for a few seconds separated the two ponies from each other, Fluttershy heard a voice speaking to her. A voice softer than the void that surrounded them. The train emerged from the tunnel, and light filled the carriage again. Twilight was still looking at her friend as if nothing special had happened. Fluttershy’s mouth stayed open, as did her eyes, which looked at nothing. 

At least she didn’t try diving under me again. “...Yes?” Twilight asked after a while. 

Fluttershy blinked and closed her mouth. “I think we should talk about our plans now,” she said. Her voice was steadier than it had been for the whole morning.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, but the smile that followed washed the questions from her face. “Uhm, okay? Okay. A good idea.”

They resumed by talking about their plan of action, which is to say that Twilight did the talking and Fluttershy did the listening. But it wasn’t only the unicorn’s voice that she heard, but that of the soft darkness also. 

It kept on repeating the same thing, over and over again. 

“Greater. Good.” 



***



Around two o’clock, the train finally arrived at Owl Moor. The sharp smell of tar creeped up Twilight’s nostrils right as she stepped onto the station platform, the heavy steam from the train enrobing her for an instant. As it faded, her first thought was that somehow, they had arrived back in Ponyville. I wonder if all the train stations in Equestria were designed by the same architect, she thought while looking at the very familiar looking building before her. Behind, she could hear Fluttershy sniffing her nose. 

“What is that smell?” she asked, walking to her.

“It’s only tar. See; they are using it to cover the roof of the station.” Twilight pointed above them, where an earth pony stallion was working with a thick brush to spread black goo all over the roof.

“Why on earth would they do that?” continued the pegasus as they began to walk away from the platform with a few other passengers. “Can’t be for the smell…can it?” She gave Twilight a carefully joking smile. 

Good to see that she is acting more casual now. “It’s to protect the buildings from damp and rain. The soil here is spotted with marshes and such, so despite the best efforts of the local pegasi to keep the weather in check, buildings often need a bit more extra attention in what comes to water.” 

“Did you find that out yesterday?” 

“No, but from one of those tourist brochures I found in the carriage,” answered Twilight. “I got kind of bored after you fell asleep. By the way, did you catch him?” 

Fluttershy stopped abruptly. “W-what?”

The unicorn flashed her friend a mischievous smile. “Heh, I’m just messing with you, ‘Shy. From the way your legs twitched, I figured you were running…from somepony, I’d say.” Her smirk turned a tad more playful. “Come now, you can tell me…who was the lucky stallion you were after?”

Fluttershy blinked her eyes quickly, her mouth slightly open. “I…uhm…Did I say anything?” she asked shyly. 

Twilight shrugged. “You mumbled something, I couldn’t make out what. It was one ofthose dreams, right?” 

“One of those dreams,” repeated Fluttershy slowly while eyeing Twilight suspiciously. “I’d rather not talk about it, really…” 

“Oh? Okay…” said Twilight, raising an eyebrow as the pegasus rose on her wings and flew a few feet ahead of her. Somepony’s being touchy about something…or about somepony. I bet it was Big Mac, I just bet it was… “Anyway, I’m hungry. Where do you want to eat?”


The pegasus, still floating a few feet off the ground, turned her head. “Shouldn’t we be hurrying to Damp Town already?” she asked matter-of-factly. 

Twilight’s stomach chose the most ample time to grumble loudly. “I’d rather get there without a giant urge to stuff food in my mouth. Come on, you must be hungry, too; that lunch you brought wasn’t much to look at.” Twilight looked around herself in the middle of what seemed to be the town square. The delicious aroma of freshly baked bread drew her attention to the far left. “That seems like a perfectly acceptable place to start,” she said, pointing at the boutique there. 

Fluttershy’s gaze followed her hoof seemingly indifferently. “Do you think they could wrap us something to take along?” she asked after a while. “We could eat while–”

“–while walking? No way, Fluttershy. The village will be there even after we eat, I’m sure.”

The look the pegasus gave Twilight resembled disturbingly much the one an adult could give to a foal that knew no better. The effect was strong enough to make Twilight flinch. “Uhm…of course, you do have a point there,” she said hesitantly. “We are on a errand of Princess Celestia herself, so…perhaps it’s better that we eat on the way.” 

“We can rent a wagon,” suggested Fluttershy in a somewhat more serious tone that what the context would have required. “I’ll go ask about that. You get the food.”

“Sure…” said Twilight to Fluttershy’s back that was duly turned on her. She has been acting super strangely lately. By Celestia…is she trying to get this quickly over with so she can return to that mystery stallion? The thought made Twilight chuckle shortly as she walked towards the bakery. It must be Big Mac. Nopony else I know can make a mare sweat in her dreams.



*** 

   
The two friends managed indeed to rent a wagon for their purposes, and even two sturdy stallions to pull it while they focused on the vegetable pies and honeyed berry juice that Twilight had barely had time to acquire before Fluttershy had practically demanded that they leave towards Damp Town. I always thought that meeting a special somepony might do good to her, although such a radical change was something I didn't expect, thought Twilight while glancing at the pegasus next to her,  her mouth full of smashed carrots and lettuce. She has hardly even touched her own pie.  

“So, ya’re really on a royal business, you two?” asked one of the stallions suddenly, his neck strained to look at the two mares behind him.

“Yes we are,” admitted Twilight carefully. “How did you guess?”

“Wasn’t a matter of guessing, ma’am,” continued the other stallion, who shared much likeness with the first one; both seemed strong enough to be able to pull the wagon by themselves, and their manes were of the same grass green. “Yar friend there mentioned the fact.”

“You did?” asked the surprised Twilight from Fluttershy, who only turned her head shyly. 

“The farmer whom I talked with wasn’t keen to oblige otherwise…” she mumbled. 

“And for a reason,” said the first stallion, who apparently had good hearing. “Since the rains of last week, Damp Town’s been closed to all ‘cept them with wings, and there ain't much of those around here, let me tell you. All them roads always turn to mud when it rains that much.”

There’s a road here? wondered Twilight silently as another bump on the way sent a splash of muddy water flying around them. The two stallions were already half-covered in the dark-brown, liquid dirt. And so would we be, were it not for this ride. “So you haven’t heard about Damp Town for a week?” she asked from the stallions.

“Nada,” they say in unison. “The pegasuses been too bothered with the weather to carry mail,” continued the second stallion. “And the rest of us wouldn’t fancy drowning in mud.”

“So…how far can you take us, exactly?” asked Twilight anxiously.  

“Depends,” they say again together, with the first one offering an elaborating explanation afterwards. “We’ll have to see where the road ends. Most like you have to walk or swim the last ten miles or so.” 

Another bump in the road send the rest of Twilight’s pie overboard; with sadness she watched it sink into a muddy puddle in mere seconds. “All this talk about swimming and drowning…isn’t that exaggerating the situation a bit?”    

“Nope,” the stallions say in chorus. “You think this might be bad, this little mud here?” continues the first one. “In Damp Town, this is the driest it gets. The village is an island. And the Forest? Well, it ain’t called ‘the Shallows’ for no reason, let me tell ya…there are sinkholes there that’ll swallow a pony up to their neck in one go.” 

Perhaps we should have rented a boat, then… “Well, you’ll at least be fine, right, Fluttershy?” 

“Hmm?” hummed the pegasus, turning a detached look at Twilight. “What? Oh, yes, I’ll be just fine. Just fine…” A peculiar smile tickled a corner of her mouth.

Twilight, in the lack of a better option, flashed smile of her own. I swear, after this I’m going to have a talk with the other girls. Something’s up with Fluttershy, and that something has the scent of a lesson around it. 

After a few hours of rattling and bouncing travelling, the soil began to resemble more of a swamp than muddy road. With some difficulty, the stallions managed to pull the wagon for another mile and a half before one of the wheels sank deep into a quagmire, bringing their progress to a sudden halt. Twilight herself found it necessary to keep lifting her legs while standing still on the treacherous ground or risk sinking gradually into its folds. This is getting ridiculous, she thought while watching the two stallions trying to free the wagon. Do I have to gradually teleport myself all the way to Damp Town or what?


“Is that the Forest of Shallows?” asked Fluttershy who was flapping her wings a few feet off the ground next to Twilight. The unicorn, while following her gaze, heard the stallions answer affirmatively. 

The sight wasn’t the most encouraging ones Twilight had seen in her life. “I can’t see any road…how are we going to find the village?” 

“Follow them markings in the trees,” said one of the stallions between his grunts and heaves. “They’ll lead you there right enough.” With a sickening sucking sound, the wheel finally popped out of the hole. “It was nice to meet ya two,” he continued while turning to the mares. “Remember; if ya get stuck, don’t fight it back. That’ll only make it worse. Stay together and don’t wander off the Etched Road; it starts right there, from the edge of the forest.” He pondered for a while, and then looked at the other stallion. “Ya got anything to add, brother?”

The other brother pulled his ankle free from the mud, and shrugged. “Don’t let the Witch catch ya?” 

Oh, great, here we go again, cursed Twilight in the back of her head as she heard Fluttershy meep above her. “Thank you for the advice, gentlecolts. It was a pleasure to meet you too, but like you know, duty calls. Good bye.” The unicorn smiled kindly, and began to walk towards the forest ahead, her hooves leaving clear imprints on the soft soil. Behind her, Fluttershy payed one last look at the two brothers, and then flew beside Twilight, never once glancing back. 

“They had heard about the Witch, too…” whispered the pegasus after they had got safely out of earshot of the stallions.

“What a coincidence that two villages living so close to one another would know the same tale,” stated Twilight dryly. Already her underside was covered in dirt, and the extra effort she had to put on to lift her hooves off the ground was surprisingly taxing. It’s only a matter of time when I need to start using magic to make progress. I have a feeling that I’m going to be utterly spent whenever we reach the village.

“Should we maybe have told them what is going on in Damp Town?” continued the pegasus, her tone characteristically anxious again.  

“What for? They’d only get worried for nothing. It’s not like they can do anything about the situation.” Twilight’s left front front leg suddenly sank up to the knee into the ground. “Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the missing ponies simply left,” she said grimly while fighting her limb back up. Not only had the sinkhole utterly stained her coat, but it had also blessed her with a leech of some sort. With disgust, she detached the black larva with her horn and send it spinning through the air. “Who would voluntarily live in a place like this, anyway?”

Fluttershy seemed to completely lack an answer for that. They remained silent all the way to the edge of the forest, where they stopped to search for the famous ‘Etched Road’. Soon enough they found a hanging between two massive trees that signified a start of sorts. “I didn’t know trees could do that,” she thought out aloud, studying the peculiar vegetation that spread before them. 

The roots of the trees sprouted several feet above the ground, lifting their trunks way above the soil and thus creating a vertical rhizomatic network on the place where in a normal wood there would be other vegetation to cover the forest floor. Not in the Shallows, though; here the soil resembled more of a lake than ground. At places, the swamp turned to large puddles of water that crisscrossed among the rising rootstock. Most of the ponds had waterlilies and some kind of weeds growing in them, and the tree trunks were heavily covered with thick, brown-green moss. 

“I had no idea that a place like this existed in Equestria,” said Twilight slowly, her eyes wide with amazement. “I mean, are we looking at a lake or a forest here?” 

“I found the first mark,” called Fluttershy, who had already flown deeper among the trees. The lack of wonderment was most evident in her voice. “There isn’t much to put your hoof onto here, though. I think you need to start using magic.” 

Well, she adapted quickly. “Hold on, I got a spell in mind.” The unicorn closed her eyes, frowning as her horn began glowing deep pink from the weight of the spell that was forming there. Nearby trees were illuminated as a fine trail of magic creeped from the horn and wrapped itself around her hooves, making them shine faintly with deep pink light, too. Without hesitation, she took a step forward towards one of the ponds, then another one. After five steps, she opened her eyes, and looked down. A satisfied smile spread on her lips as she saw the greenish waters rippling under her. 

“Pretty neat, huh?” she said proudly while walking over to Fluttershy, who studied her friend with her head tilted.

“Uhm, that is very hoofy, but why didn’t you try that right away?” she asked

“Like all spells, this one takes energy to keep up and from the looks of it, I’m going to have to resort to this a lot in the near future,” explained the unicorn. “So, keeping that in mind…lead the way.” 

Without a word, Fluttershy turned around and began flying onwards. Twilight galloped after her, the water surface breaking into round waves under the places where her hooves almost touched the ground. 



***  


Alone in the forest, Twilight swiped a trickle of sweat off her brow with a hoof while sitting on a small island of comparatively solid ground that stuck from the liquid forest floor. Feels that we have travelled for hours already…although it’s hard to tell without seeing the sun. The lavender unicorn looked above her once more, only to see the same roof of leaves blocking her view. For a forest that by my logic should’ve drowned a long time ago, the trees here are in quite a healthy condition. A rustle of leaves from behind made her turn quickly her neck. “Who’s there?” she blurted.

Fluttershy emerged from the greenery with a beat of her wings, and landed next to Twilight. “We are close; I could see a clearing with houses right there behind those trees.” 

Twilight tried to get a glimpse of the aforementioned houses in the direction Fluttershy had referred to, yet failed to see nought but more trees. “They certainly picked the right place to hide a village…Seriously, what do they even eat around here? Moss?” Twilight spread herself on the cold, damp grass, sighing. “It’s so quiet, too. Beside the leeches, there’s hardly any animals around.”
“That is strange,” said Fluttershy quietly. “Should we go to the village now?”

“Not yet, I need a moment. This is the longest time I’ve levitated without a break.” She studied her own coat with annoyance. “The first thing I’m going to do in Damp Town is to have a hot bath. And some dinner wouldn’t be missed, either; it must be already afternoon, right?”

“Late afternoon, yes,” said Fluttershy, her eyes lost deep into the forest. “The sun was already beginning to set down.” 

And you make it sound like the scariest thing in the world. “Okay, I’ve had enough of this,” said Twilight, standing up. “Let’s get there and hope that they don’t think I’m some swamp monster sent by the Witch to eat their young.” Her horn flickered as Twilight raised herself a few inches off the grass, her face strained by concentration. “You go ahead.” 

In a few more minutes, they came to a large arched gate built of stone; on top of it it simply read in carved letters: Damp Town. Corroded by time and covered with moss, it was still the most relieving sight Twilight had seen for the whole day. Her joy was doubled when she noticed the paved, dry trail that began from the other side of the gate and stretched all the way to the village center. She ended her spell as they walked to the village.  

It was close to what Twilight had expected: Old but well-kept cottages with tarred roofs and small windows. The buildings, all one-storeyed, edged the road to the centre where there stood a town hall of sorts. Painted bright red and its roof covered in vegetation, it looked more like a barn to Twilight, although the beautiful writing (giving the building its name) saved the whole somewhat. Truly, a rather ordinary village. Except that there was nopony there. 

”W-what is this, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked after a while, quietly, as if trying not to disturb anything, especially not the balance in herself.

Twilight could answer nothing.Thoughts were running wild in her mind but none of them could connect; instead, they were bumping uselessly against the walls of her head that seemed to be closing in more and more with every passing second. ”We should...search the area,” she said, following the example of Fluttershy in what came to the level of her voice. 

”S-search for...what, Twilight? What are we supposed to search for? T-there's nopony here.”

”We don't know that, Fluttershy. They might be hiding – they're upset remember? They might have heard us coming and thought we meant them harm.” Suddenly she felt a strong urge to shout, to break the spell of silence they had cast on themselves. Without thinking about it, she yelled at the empty centre, shouted ”Is anypony here, anypony at all”, succeeding in nothing else but scaring Fluttershy badly.

”Right...”, started Twilight after they had both calmed down. ”It seems that you're correct, unfortunately. That still leaves us no other choice but to search for...something, you understand? There must be something in here that explains this…this emptiness. There must be something that makes sense here.”

”Okay, Twilight,” said Fluttershy meekly. She thought of something and then added: ”But let's not split up, okay?”

On that, Twilight could not agree more. 

They began searching for that precious something. The logical choice to begin, as Twilight called it, was the Town Hall, the screaming red building with a roof full of living things. The unicorn pushed open the door that gave in without the slightest resistance, almost giving the impression that it was glad to be opened. 

“Hello?” she cried inside the dim space they entered. “We came to help you, don’t be afraid!” she continued, softly lighting up her horn. Darkness fled before the light, revealing a sizable room with some benches and a large counter on one side. On the other wall, there was a door over which there was a label: Library. Twilight walked over to the desk and rang the metallic bell that lay on the wooden surface. The melody echoed in the room for a moment, and then died away. This doesn’t make any sense. “This doesn’t make any sense,” she said aloud.

Fluttershy, who had so far lingered by the doorstep, walked in timidly. “Could they all be searching for the disappeared ponies?”

Somehow, I seriously doubt that. “That is a valid option. In any case, this place at least is empty. Let’s try the other buildings.” 

They resumed by going through every house on the town’s main street, all two dozen of them. Most they found to be locked tightly, and the ones they managed to get in looked like they had just been abandoned. Kitchens were out of food, but otherwise the simple furniture lay untouched. After that, they extended their range, scouring every house in the village, a task that took them most of the afternoon. By the time they were finished the sun was already setting, although this wasn’t evident from the spectacle on the horizon, which was securely hidden by the tree lines, but by the fact that it was getting very, very dark. 

Having returned back to the town square, the two ponies huddled close to each other amidst the rising shadows and cooling air. “They must be prolonging the searching to late evening,” said Twilight reassuringly.   

As a response of sorts, Fluttershy pressed closer to her. “Are we going to sleep here?” 

“There’s little choice in that; I don’t know about you, but a trip through those woods without any sunlight doesn’t sound like the most alluring idea to me right now.” The unicorn tried to get a glimpse of Fluttershy's eyes, which were shimmering under her thick, pink curls. “We could go into the library. I’m sure the locals wouldn’t mind.”

“Okay…” whispered the pegasus. “Can we go there right now?”  

Twilight’s gaze travelled again at the locked buildings, at the strange trees that spread all over them, and at the Town Hall that stood in the middle of it all in it’s carmine sovereignty. Was it always carmine? Or is that just a trick of the withdrawing light? “Yes. I think we should do just that.” 

They made sure to close the door properly behind them.   
    


*** 


The library, or the sorry collection of half empty bookshelves plagued by mold, proved to lack any sort of benches that could even remotely be misthought as suitable for sleeping. Thus, the two ponies spread the blankets they had brought along on the hard stone and did their best to ignore the chill that crept along the floor. Twilight, while trying to find the least uncomfortable position to catch sleep in, sighed in frustration as the dirt and mud reminded her of their existence by causing intolerable itching. “Fluttershy…you don’t happen to have a brush?” she asked. 

Next to her, Fluttershy turned a flank. “No…sorry.” 

“Great. Just great.” The unicorn tried to rub her coat clean with a hoof, and even though the effort got the worst of the soil off her, it didn’t exactly make it shine. “So fortunate that the villager’s don’t get to see me like this,” she joked while studying her ragged form. Seeing Fluttershy’s expression made her immediately regret the attempt to lighten up the mood.

“What are we going to do, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked with a fragile voice. 

The unicorn was silent for a moment. “We resume as planned. The point was to search for ponies, right?” 

“But a whole village gone missing…don’t you think we should…” The pegasus bit her lip and aimlessly rolled her blanket around her front hoof, unable to bring the sentence to a closure. 

“What, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy swallowed, the blanket now covering her whole hoof. “Nothing,” she managed. “Never mind.” 

Twilight gave her a long look. “Whatever is going on in this town, I’m sure there is a logical explanation for it. Princess Celestia sent us here because she trusts us, because she believes in us. As long as we stick together, we can do anything.” She lifted her friends drooping chin with a hoof, smiling reassuringly. The unicorn flinched as she saw the tears welling in those bright teal eyes. 

“Twilight…I…” began the pegasus, but a lump seemed to get stuck into her throat, making her stammer. “You’re right,” she finally said with a brave smile. “We have each other. We’ll always have each other.” 

Without a word, Twilight wrapped her hooves around her friend. “I know, ‘Shy, I know. We'll be fine, I just know it.”  

Soon after, they fell asleep. Despite Twilight’s fears, dreams avoided her that night, although the anticipated stiffness and dullness greeted her right as her consciousness emerged behind her eyelids. Bright light filled her vision the moment she opened them, forcing her to shut them again. On the second attempt she shaded her eyes with a hoof, and realized that the small library was bathing in light descending from the windows. How long did I sleep…is it midday already? She turned a side and saw that Fluttershy’s blanket was empty. Why didn’t she wake me? With a sleepy grunt and creaking joints, the unicorn stood up, swayed a moment, and headed outside. 

It was indeed midday, and a beautiful one at that; the grey clouds of yesterday were mostly gone, revealing the sky in all its azure glory. A wide yawn escaped Twilight as she studied the village before her in fresh light. Silence dominated the scene sovereignly, silence strong enough to make one want to scream. “Fluttershy!” cried the unicorn, keeping her voice calm but sharp. The name disappeared into the thin air immediately. She tried again, louder this time. On the third attempt, her voice had turned a tad more shrill. The silence remained as monotonous as ever, though.

She galloped forwards, neck moving from side to side, eyes and ears vigilant. The nearby houses were in the exact same condition as yesterday, and so were the ones behind those, as were the ones on the edge of the village. All the same, all empty, most locked, others wide open. Each one lacking Fluttershy. It was not at one, easily distinguishable moment that the thought creeped to Twilight’s mind; more like it was realized in a way of a puzzle, piece by piece. At one point, like so often with puzzles, Twilight could make out the picture even when there still were bits missing.   

Fluttershy was gone. 

> Chapter III
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------




Some twelve feet off the ground, settled comfortably between two branches, a small blue bird shook its head quickly. Fluttershy, flapping her wings next to the nest, frowned her brows. “What do you mean, ‘you don’t want to show it’?” 

The avian legs shuffled awkwardly on the branch, and the bird did its best to avoid any eye contact with the pegasus. 

She tried again, smiling kindly. “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t really important, you know?” 

The bird shook its wings fervently. 

Fluttershy had to back away a few wing beats before the fury of the little tit. “Okay, okay, I can see that your eggs are just as important, if not more so.” She tilted her head slightly, and weaved her most persuasive smile on her face. “I would really appreciate it if you could just take me a teeny-weeny bit closer to the place, okay? I mean, how bad can it be, really?”

The tit’s tiny eyes flickered in the sparse sunlight that the dense roof of leaves allowed through. 

Fluttershy’s smile froze and withered on her lips as she understood. “Oh. I see.” She shook her head, and sighed. “Nonetheless, that is what I have to see. I’m on a royal errand, so I can’t back down, not in the face of…” A shudder travelled over her spine. “Please. I must see it.”

Somepony might think that a lack of shoulders would provide an insurmountable obstacle for shrugging. The blue tit would prove them wrong. 

Gratefulness flooded Fluttershy’s face. “Oh, thank you so very much! No no, you don’t have to come the whole way, just take me as far as you can.” 

The bird payed one last glance at its nestful of eggs, sighed, and flew on its way deeper into the forest. Behind it, Fluttershy followed as best as she could. Despite the extra effort she had to put on her wings to stay on the agile tit’s trail, her mind found enough leisure time to dig up the questions that she had hoped to have buried hours ago. What is Twilight thinking right now? She must be worrying herself sick over me, the poor thing. The thought of Twilight – the unicorn who could lose her mind because of an overdue letter – finding out that her friend had gone missing in a strange village in the middle of nowhere almost made Fluttershy bite through her own lip.

It had to be done, though. It will all be fine in the end, that was what Princess Luna told me, that was how it had to be…for whatever reason. The princess knows what she is doing. She glimpsed at the canopy above, but only the green shadows greeted her. “Whatever is touched by the stars…” Can you see me even now? No…You would let me know if you did…yes, yes you would. She tore her eyes from the hidden sky, and focused on the flying bird in front of her. After what seemed like the longest flight of her life, Fluttershy finally stopped as the bird did. The blue animal was standing completely still on a branch, its head turning rapidly from side to side. 

“Is this it?” the pegasus asked, panting slightly. “Did we–”

The bird gave her a look that silenced her immediately. “W-what is it?” she whispered after a moment, following the bird’s example and anxiously looking around. All she could see was more swamp and trees, more wet misery and gnarled roots lifting up their twisted trunks, all painted with patchworks of gently swaying shadows. The dirty green waters stood still, undisturbed by even the faintest breeze. It was as if the whole forest was suddenly holding its breath. 

With a nervous amusement, Fluttershy realized that so was she. “Uhm…It think it was nothing?” she said carefully. 

The tit gave her a condescending look. It started flying again, although this time quite a bit slower. Fluttershy followed suite, now glancing behind herself every now and then. It could have been Luna. It was probably Luna. Oh Celestia, please let it be just Luna…


After half an hour of flight, the bird finally signed that it wouldn’t be going any further. Fluttershy thanked it for the one last time, and watched with longing as it quickly flew away towards its nest. Soon, only her own wing beats stirred the silence around. She swallowed, and headed towards the direction the bird had pointed at. Even while she could swear that the scenery looked just the same here as it did everywhere else in the forest, somehow the atmosphere grew more sinister by every minute she spent flying alone. It was not the lighting that changed, nor the lack of animals (there had been barely any to begin with), nor the silence that unsettled her. It was something else that created the sense of threat. Something unknown. Something terrible. Nonetheless, ahead she flew. And then she was there.

First, she smelled it. Next, she saw the carmine current that seemed to go on forever. Finally, she could see it, the thing she had asked about from every animal she could find, the thing that no animal had spoken directly of. The thing that once, not that long ago, had not been just a thing, but a deer. Now it was but a carcass of a deer. 

A bitter lump choked her throat as Fluttershy stared at the corpse that lay on a hill rising from the swamp. She couldn’t tear her eyes off the sight. The disgusting feeling soon spread all over her body and mind, filling her with nausea. She felt as she was sinking into a mire, the cold creeping along her coat and the dirt seeping through. The taste of bile stained her mouth, her breathing grew more rapid, and sweat formed on her brow, trickling down onto her eyebrows that harbored her wide, wild eyes. Despite all this, and for the indescribable void that now occupied the place of her heart, she could not bring herself to cry. 

I must be strong, I must be strong I must be…strong. I knew to expect something like this, something like…this. I must be strong. She swallowed, and landed on the grass and moss that covered the craggy mound. The scent of putrefaction lingered heavily in air, mixing in with the smell of the swamp. Another wave of bile climbed up from her stomach, but she gagged it down while slowly stepping closer to the deer, looking away. When she couldn’t bring her legs to move anymore, she glanced quickly at the body at her hooves. A terrible wound covered its side, stretching all the way from its ribcage to the lower stomach. The flow of blood had stopped long ago, and most of the muscle tissue was gone, along with some entrails. When a particularly large beetle run out of the deer’s mouth, Fluttershy finally retched on the brown-green grass, staggering farther away from the carcass.

Teeth marks, was her first clear thought when only a thin trail of saliva hang from her lips. Big teeth. A canine, or perhaps a feline. Most likely a canine. A violent shudder travelled over her, and last of the bitter spit dropped onto the ground. It hunted down the deer, fed, and left the rest for later. She turned the idea around in her spinning mind, but couldn't find any other explanation for the horror that lay behind her. With wavering movements, she turned to look at the ex-deer once more, the shaking of her legs gradually spreading all over her body. It should come back at some point. There’s still plenty of…meat…left. She spread her wings, and flew to the nearest tree that seemed to have suitable branches to lay upon. The thick moss that covered most of the trunks here proved to be soft and plenty enough so that Fluttershy could rest her back comfortably against them, yet somehow she couldn’t find it in herself to be grateful for the fact. 

On her branch, the pegasus turned so that she wouldn’t have to stare at the deer below, although the stench was something she couldn’t escape from. The sudden loud crumbling made her flinch and, soon after, chuckle nervously as she realized that it had been her own stomach. I should’ve brought some food with me…I’m sure Twilight wouldn’t have noticed that. But what if she would have? Then she’d figure out that I left on my own initiative…no, I did right, I did like the Princess told me to…”take nothing with you but your courage”. The memory stirred another short and nervous chuckle out of her. 

Hours went by, and the silence began to soothe Fluttershy into a disquiet drowse that tried to compensate for the lack of proper sleep she had suffered from lately. Were it not for the horrible smell that refused to grow more bearable, she might have fallen asleep by the time the shadows began growing around her. It was hard to tell under the canopy, for the light was always sparse there, but at some point Fluttershy could have sworn that the sun had already passed six o'clock. The lack of sensory stimuli, smells excluded, made it hard to get a hang of the passing of time. But what does it matter, anyway? All I need to do is wait, no matter how long it takes. No matter how long it takes…I wonder how long that is, exactly? 

Not that long, as it turned out. As she was idly seeking her own reflection from the surface of the calm waters, a disturbance suddenly made the opaque and level waters ripple. Symmetrical rings spread under her gaze, each followed by another smaller one, and soon the greenish liquid was covered with waves. By every moment the water grew more restless, Fluttershy’s heart added another beat into its rhythm. She searched around with her eyes, ears, and even with her nose, trying to locate the source of the disturbance. When she  finally saw it, she almost fell off her branch.

It’s a dog. But that’s impossible…dogs don’t… eat deers… She stared in terror at the large, dark-furred creature that swam towards the mound. Her mouth cracked slightly open as an involuntary gasp fled her. Immediately, the animal’s eyes darted at her direction. 

Fluttershy blinked. It hadn’t smelled me yet, not for the deer. “H-hello!” she blurted as the beast crawled onto the dry earth, its gaze locked in hers. “P-pleasure t-to make y-your a-acquaintance!” She wanted to scream, but somehow the blind fear managed to come out in comparatively understandable form. Why is it looking at me like that? Why is it looking at me like a… like a… The thought knocked on her frontal lobe, but couldn’t quite turn into a word. 

The creature moved closer to the tree that the pegasus inhabited, circling between it and the carcass. Water trickled heavily off its thick fur. Fluttershy could see powerful muscled moving on its back as it crouched and revealed its fangs. “C-could you p-perhaps l-listen to m-me a bit?” the pegasus said, pressing her back against the bark. “My n-name is Fl–”

The beast sprang into running. Grass and moss flew in wide arches as its claws digged into the soil, only to detach with incredible speed as it leapt from the mound. The pegasus, her mind suspended in fear-stained awe, followed as the huge mass of muscle, fur, claws and fangs soared through the air…and crashed into the tree with a stunning impact. Fluttershy fell sideways from the branch, her wings unable to lift her up in time. Before she broke the water surface, the thought that had been knocking by the entrance of her mind suddenly turned into a clear, explicit and easily articulated word. 

Prey. 

Her scream was cut short by the greenish waters that filled her lungs. 




                                               
 ***




In the middle of a rustic village, laying in the shadow of the town hall, a lavendel unicorn listened to the blood rushing in her ears. The noise was something she couldn’t avoid, for the world was otherwise immersed in absolute silence. She would’ve screamed, but her voice had failed her a while ago; there was only so many times a pony could shout out a name from the top of her lungs. She lay on the grass, panting slightly. I’ll rest just a moment, just a short moment…I can’t carry on like this anymore… Her legs ached from the way she had been running around the village, and sweat covered her coat. The soft grass, cooled by the shadow it grew in, felt good against her flank, and for a moment, she closed her eyes. Just a moment…I need just a moment…The music composed by her own blood was almost soothing now, heard in the pristine quietness. Second by second, even that begun gradually fading as Twilight’s heart calmed down. The world itself seemed to disperse, carried away by weariness and desperation. A minute went by, then another, and suddenly, just on the brink of sleep, Twilight’s eyes flashed open. “Fluttershy!” she cried with a raspy voice. A series of coughs seized her as she stumbled on her feet. I must find her. I must find Fluttershy. I must– 

Loud crumbling, followed by the sting of hunger, cut her train of thought and made her cringe. Food. I need to eat. Last meal I ate was the supper. Her vision shook a bit as she walked into the town hall and the library where their belongings lay untouched. Seeing Fluttershy’s saddlebag raised bitter lump to her throat, but she fought it down along with the tears that yet again tried to invade her eyes. Calm down, calm down, calm down. Whatever you do, you need to stay calm. She opened her own bag and found some sandwiches wrapped in checked fabric. And find Fluttershy. I need to stay calm and find Fluttershy. A bottle of juice was next to emerge from the confines of the saddlebag. Popping off the cork, Twilight took a long sip from it. 

As food and drink filled her stomach, thoughts begun to ordain themselves more clearly in Twilight’s mind, for the body was doing something it knew how to do without supervising. After a short but thorough analysis of her situation, she had come up with the following facts: First, Fluttershy has gone missing. Second, there’s no way she wandered off on her own initiative. Third, that means she was forced away. Fourth, it is highly probable that whatever creature took her away, it is also behind what happened to the villagers. Conclusion: To find Fluttershy, I need to find the villagers. But how?
            
The last question, in the very annoying way of last questions in general, wouldn’t leave Twilight’s mind even after the fact was made obvious that there wouldn't be any answer there. “What the hay is going on here!?” she screamed at the silence that had followed her inside, bread crumbs falling from her lips. Along with them, a drop of liquid fell onto the floor. Twilight looked at the stain in disdain. It’s berry juice. Just some berry juice. Just…some… Another tear fell from her cheek. “Fluttershy,” she moaned. “Where are you? What happened to you?” She began sobbing, the rest of the bread dropping as the purple halo let go of it. By the corner of a bookshelf, a pair of gleaming eyes followed the bread spread on the floor. 

I have to let Princess Celestia know about this, she thought while wiping her eyes with a hoof. I must let somepony know about this, this…horror. I need to make it to Owl Moor as soon as possible, I need to… Suddenly, a faint crunching sound carried to her ears. She looked down, and spotted a little grey mouse chewing her sandwich. She screamed. The mouse ran.

“No, don’t go!” she cried, reaching for the critter with her magic. But before she could focus intently enough, the mouse had vanished under the thick carpet that lay on the centre of the room. “You just startled me!” she continued, standing up and hurrying over to the carpet, which she quickly swept away with her magic. “Have you seen my friend? Have you s–.” Bafflement swallowed the rest of her sentence, for under the carpet there was nothing but planks. But I saw it skitter here a second ago. She looked closer to the floor, and soon spotted a small hole gnawed into its surface. “Are you there?” she asked from the hole. Nothing happened, so she lighted it carefully with her horn. She peered inside, closing an eye and bringing her face just centimeters from the floor. From the darkness, more darkness emerged. “What the…”

She stomped her hoof against the floor a couple of times. A hollow sound followed, as if an echo carried from underground. She stomped again, for the third and fourth time, and every time she was met with the same void answer. There is something down there. Something hidden. She rolled the rest of the carpet aside, and begun inspecting the floor plank by plank. Except the noise, nothing unusual stood out to her. Finally, she gave up and sat down, staring intently at the small hole. I should be on my way already…but there’s something about this that doesn’t make sense. Why would the villagers build a secret cellar into their library? Could Fluttershy be there, somehow? She bit her lip, and looked around, searching for something. Her eyes nailed at the closest bookshelf, a heavy and sturdy thing. Hesitation dwelled on her face a moment longer, and then a purple halo enrobed the bookshelf, lifted it slowly in the air…

And brought it crashing down above the hole. One plank broke instantly but others remained intact, while the bookshelf only lost most of its contents. With some effort, the unicorn raised the thing to the ceiling, and rammed it again on the floor. Splinters and the sound of shattering wood filled the air. On the third go, the bookshelf finally broke through with a mighty crack, sinking halfway into the pit that now occupied the centre of the room. Panting slightly, Twilight removed the thing and put it on its place where it immediately tipped off and brought another shelf rumbling down. Twilight paid the fuss not the faintest attention, for she was now staring, in the light of her horn, at what had been revealed under the floor.        

Stairs? What the buck? “F-fluttershy?” she cried at the darkness that seemed to stretch an eternity away from her light. Not an echo answered her. The unicorn stood there a moment, peering into the dark and chewing her lip. After its short absence, the silence had returned to the world in its full sovereign emptiness. Twilight swallowed, and started her descent. The stairs and walls were made of tightly packed earth and covered with planks, or at least they once had been, for now the woodwork was mostly rotten away. Some of the earth crumbled away at every step that Twilight took, and somewhere in the back of her mind lingered a lonely fear of being buried alive. 

Thirty-two, thirty-three, thirty-four… thirty-five steps. I must be over ten meters underground. She looked behind herself, and could only barely see the opening of light above the stairs. In front of her, there lay a corridor about the same looking as the one she had followed so far, although it went straight ahead this time. It seemed to go on and on all the way to infinity. Mold and moist earth stank heavily in there, and the darkness was fighting back the light of her horn as if it was alive. Nonetheless, she took a brave step forward. And shrieked as the earth gave away under her hoof. 

Her eyes darted down in panic. The once solid earth was caving in rapidly, revealing a void underneath. Twilight felt herself slipping as he tried to take a quick step backwards, but then the floor crumbled completely under her front legs. She tipped over, and fell. Blind fear filled her mind, but not before she could cast one last spell. The drop was short, only three meters, and the purple bubble that now covered her softened the fall so that she didn’t even get a bruise. However, when she dared to open her eyes again, the fear inside her chilled her heart like never before. Right in front of her eye, pressing against the magical bubble, there stood a sharpened stake. 

That would’ve pierced my head like a cupcake. She blinked, and almost retched inside the bubble. Instead, she carefully landed herself to the bottom of the pit. Over a dozen other stakes covered it like daisies would a meadow. They’re all fresh, too. Somepony built this trap at least somewhat recently. She shuddered, and looked up. Above, some of the branches and twigs that had been used to conceal the pit still stuck from the floor. Why would anypony build a something like this? Did the villagers know about it? She gave one last frightened look at the stakes, concentrated, and levitated herself out of the trap to the other side of it. She didn’t land, though, but continued onwards by floating safely off the ground. 

The corridor was shorter than what the absolute darkness therein would have suggested. Soon she came to a comparatively large room that still had most of the original woodwork holding the ceiling aloft. Before ending her levitation spell, she prodded the floor carefully with a hoof. When it didn’t sink, she landed with a soft thud. She studied the seemingly empty room in the purplish light that colored the dark walls in sinister shades. It’s a wonder that the place hasn’t collapsed already. By all reason there should be a flood here, at the very least. As she extended her circle of light, she spotted a door on the other side of the room. She took a step towards it, but froze as her hoof hit something hard. Very slowly, she looked down, half expecting to see a skull of a pony. Instead, she realized standing on top of some oblong object that lay half covered in the earth floor. 

Another trap? Am I going to get shot by an arrow through the neck if I remove my hoof? She looked around, trying to spot a hole in some of the walls or anything else that might hint of danger. It’s no use; the whole place looks like it wants me dead. Abiding to extreme caution, she kneeled to inspect the thing that her hoof lay upon. Dirt and mud covered it completely, so beside the rough shape, she couldn’t say much about it. She took a deep breath, and swept its surface with her other front leg. A gasp fled past her lips. A book. It’s a book. This keeps on getting weirder and weirder…and not in the Pinkie way. Resting assured in the notion that a book had never once harmed her before, Twilight moved her front leg off it. She waited for four long heart beats, and sighed in relief as nothing happened.


She picked up the book with her horn, wiping more of the mud off its surface. It turned out that most of the stuff had practically become part of the cover and wouldn’t budge. It must have been here for ages…but how can that be? Any book I know wouldn’t last a month in these conditions. The humidity is almost making me fall apart already. She tore her eyes away from the mystical book, and towards the door that lay ahead. Should I go in? There could very well be more traps there. And how could Fluttershy be here? The entrance in the library was sealed, and the trap untouched. It would have taken some nifty magic to get her by all that without leaving any trace behind. She watched the door dubiously, trying to make sense of her situation and options. The more reasons she found to leave the room as soon as possible via the route she had come in, the more the door ahead seemed to lull her to open itself. As if in a dream, she took a step towards it, then another one. Before she had even realized it, she was standing right in front of it.

She pushed it. It didn’t budge. She pushed harder, with both of her front legs, but the door didn’t even creak. I could just leave it be. I could just walk away. I have no reason to believe that Fluttershy is behind that door, that there is anything meaningful for me in there. She put the book down. On the other hoof…I know for certain that she isn’t where I came from. A purple aura enrobed the heavy-looking door, and begun to bend it outwards. The old wood creaked painfully, but didn’t break. Step by step she began to increase the pressure. By the time the door gave up and broke in half, her neck and shoulders were tensed to the extreme. A proud smile tickled the corner of her mouth as she stepped over the wooden ruin into another corridor. Well, I’ve come this far… She was about to continue, but then she remembered something. Turning around, she grabbed the book with her horn and floated it to her.

The moment it crossed the threshold, the walls started caving in. Twilight’s eyes grew wide as she saw the corridor she had come from be buried in mud in seconds, and her heart jumped to her throat when she realized that the breakdown was rapidly advancing towards her. She ran. She ran for her life, away from the indifferent earth that was set to bury her alive. She didn’t look back, but heard the masses of soil coming down right after her. The noise was not so much loud as it was soft, wet, and squelchy. It almost sounded like a long, slurping kiss. I’m gonna make it I’m gonna make it I’m gonna make it…  She was holding her breath, every muscle tensed to the extreme, every cell of her body reaching forwards. She was faintly aware that at some point, the corridor had begun turning upwards.

Then she saw it. Light. There’s light ahead. Dear Celestia, let me make it, let me make it, let me m–. Her head hit a water surface and broke through. Her confusion was too immense to become an actual factor in her actions. She swam, eyes closed, aiming for the surface that she did not know, kicking with her limbs and reaching up, always up; her lungs wailed for air, begged for it; she opened her mouth and water filled it, she almost screamed…

And then her head broke the surface again. Her eyes flashed open, looking wildly around. There was no shore in sight, just more water, more swamp, more trees that looked like they grew upside down. She gulped down the stinking air as much as she could, practically hyperventilating. At some point, her hind legs stopped just treading the water and she began to swim again, heading for no particular direction. In the end, she did end up on a shore, or at least she found soil solid enough that she didn’t need to make an effort to keep herself from sinking. She dragged herself a few meters, and finally collapsed in the mud, shaking violently. For some time, she just trembled, her eyes wide open and lungs working overtime. What just happened? What the hay just happened? Did I surface in the bottom of the swamp? How is that possible? What just happened?


She stood up. Her legs failed at the first attempt, but on the second she could bring their shaking to a bearable level. Her coat was covered in swamp water and mud, and the sight of her mane and tail would have made Rarity faint. But I’m alive. Dear Celestia, I’m alive. “I’m alive,” she sobbed, barely staying up. “I’m alive…” Movement in the corner of her eye catched her attention that was stretched to the point of snapping. In the pond from which she had just emerged, there floated a book. But books don’t float. They just don’t. She looked at the book as if it was looking back at her. The thing shored quietly on the same spot where the moss and soil had been ravaged when she had dragged herself over them. 

She noticed that the water had washed most of the mud away from the book’s cover, revealing a beautiful carving underneath. Even from a few meters away, Twilight could clearly recognize the picture. It was the same picture she had seen in another book, one about astronomy. The Black Twig. Three branches at the bottom, five on top. The Third Day of the Fifth Turning. And thirty-five steps. She took a step back from the book. The Black Witch. The Witch of the Shallows. Three and five, three and five everywhere.     

Fluttershy has been captured by the Witch of the Shallows. 


   

> Chapter IV
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even though the distance was barely a few hundred meters, it took Twilight half an hour to find her way back to the village from the swamp. The trees and their impossibly thick roots hid the houses even when they were practically right under her nose, and the treacherous soil made every step a calculated risk. In the end, she had to use her strained mind to levitate herself around the forest floor until she got to land on the outskirts of the village, and by then she was barely able to stand without shaking. Swamp water still dribbled from her mane and tail, and a rotten scent lingered heavily on her. Without glancing back, she made her way back to the town hall.

It’s as if the forest itself wants me dead. Celestia help me…what am I going to do? She pushed the double doors violently open, and walked straight to the library. At first the sight of the toppled bookshelves startled her, but then she remembered that the chaos was her own hoofwork. After shaking the rest of the water off herself by the door, she took a deep breath. Calm down. That rule still holds true, even if you just avoided drowning into a swamp. Calm. Down. As she walked past the secret passage, she noticed that it had now completely collapsed. Also, I was very nearly buried alive. No biggie. She sat down by the filled hole, and floated the book in front of her. And set out to find which one would blink first.

This thing was what kept the room below standing, somehow. Either that or I’m just the unluckiest pony in Equestria. She tilted her head, looking at the picture in the book’s cover from different angles. It’s the Black Twig, no doubt about that, although the roots are more mangled than what I remembered. But what does it mean? Why was it hidden away? And why do I feel that it’s staring right back at me? She raised her hoof, and reached for the book. Her limb froze mere centimeters from it. What if it’s cursed? If this is the Witch's spellbook, it could have strong magic protecting it. I already know it can affect the surrounding world. She bit her lip, suspended in indecision. But if that is the case…it could contain valuable information about her. Maybe even where her lair is.  

She opened the front page. It was empty. On the second, there read with a beautiful hoofwriting: 

On Witches, Their Ways, Magic, and Culture.  

She turned another leaf. A table of contents appeared, followed by a foreword, a dedication to Princess Celestia, and the first chapter, titled as “On Witches in General”. She almost began reading the chapter when she noticed the date on the dedication. “To her Majesty Princess Celestia of Equestria, by Her most leal subject Hollow Bark, on the 12th Day of the 8th Turning, Year 611.”  This book is almost four hundred years old. And it’s still as good as new; it’s even drier than I was when I crawled from that swamp. The water had no effect on it. This is…what is this? 

She began reading. Soon it became apparent that whatever this was, it wasn’t what she had expected. This is an academical work, and a very competent one at that. How have I never heard of this pony before? By all rights he should be among most renowned names of his era. His style and methods are very modern, definitely ahead of his time. Could this be a fake, somehow? She drew her eyes of the immersive text, and leafed through quickly the rest of the pages. A woodcut drawing in the middle of the book caught her eye. It was another illustration of the Black Twig, similar to the one in the cover, but in the branches there had been written something. Runic writing, and very old at that. Without my library, it’s impossible to tell what it says. She sought for an explanation from the surrounding pages, and found the following text:

…the fact being most evident in the symbolism of the rune called the Black Twig (picture on the following page). The numerals three and five seem indeed to carry a salient meaning in their lore, and it is my suspicion that enough of the topic can never be said, not at least in this book. Yet, some careful observations can be made around the subject… 

As she read on, one particular word captured her attention like a magnet.

…which leads us on the more sinister and, without doubt, violent tendencies of the creatures called the the Witches. Also in their rituals that include a sacrifice of some living being, the numbers three and five are most frequent in their prevalence, in not only what comes to the number of creatures sacrificed, but also on the count of cuts, placement of limbs, etc. More accurate observations on these can be found on section eight. At this point it must be noted that this gruesome idolatry appears also to extend to the ponykind whom, as explained in section two, the Witches regard as their mortal enemy and object of enmity. 

She stopped reading when she found cold shivers travelling along her spine. As her focus shifted from the text, countless thoughts flooded her mind, all of them demanding to be processed properly. From the chaos, the ones that were somehow connected to Fluttershy gained priority. The Mayor wrote that four ponies had gone missing…and Fluttershy would make the fifth. Perhaps the villagers simply fled before the Which could capture her last victim. Hurriedly, she sought out the section eight. 

What follows is a depiction of the most commonplace rituals of the creatures known as Witches, or what I have in my studies on them identified as seminal for them. A word of warning for my reader must precede any further progress, though. In my urge to lay out the facts about these vile creatures, the bare truth as I see it, I have refrained from withholding any details, no matter how obnoxious, disgusting, or revolting, in what comes to their rituals and rites. You have been warned.

She turned a page, her hoof trembling. Two pictures appeared, both taking a whole page for themselves. The first one was labelled with the same runic writing that Twilight could not for her life read. The picture itself was quite explicit, though. She stared at it for five heartbeats, and then had to close the book with a loud thud. Celestia help me…has that actually happened? Are the Witches really real? How could I have not heard about them? Why there hasn’t been more written on the subject? Not after…that… It took her a moment to recoup and fight back the nausea that inevitably followed the initial shock. How could someone do something like that to a pony…

Could that happen to Fluttershy? The question seemed unreal, impossible, chimerical. And it wouldn’t leave Twilight alone. What should I do? What can I do? I don’t even know how much time I have left, if any at all. She stared at the book before her, her blood rushing in her ears. “What should I do?” she asked from it, begged from it. But the cover remained mute. She opened the table of contents again. There must be something useful here, anything. I couldn’t have found this book by mere accident, there must be a reason I have it. There must be. Of the fifteen sections, it was the fourteenth that seemed the most promising place to start. “To Combat the Plague of Witchcraft,” she muttered to herself. She quickly sought the chapter, carefully avoiding to glance at any of the pictures. 

As my lifework nears its end, a question may have arisen in my reader: What to do in face of such wickedness? How to remain sane in the face of all the insanity that the Witches represent? All these queries can be, in my mind, summed up in the following one: How to fight against them? For fight we must, if the ponykind is to have any absolvement from this pestilence. In this section, I offer my reader the means for that end. May Celestia guide your mind in what comes to their usage. 

When she turned the page, her heart sank. Runic writing. Why in the hay did he insist on writing all the important bits in runic writing? She slammed her hoof against the pages, cursing. This is hopeless…I should be halfway to Owl Moor at this point, not wrestling with this stupid book! Abruptly, she stood up, and galloped for the door. She almost made it outside when the second thoughts got to her. But what good will that do? Even if they do believe, and not just tie me to a bed, what can they do? Even Damp Towners failed to find their missing friends, how could the others success any better? It would only take time…and I don’t believe there is much left. Very slowly, she turned to face the library again. The book is my only clue, my only hope. I must make it count.

She returned to the library, where the book lay open. But not on the page that she had stopped. Instead of the cryptic text, she found herself looking at ordinary writing. But I could’ve sworn…or could I? I don’t even know anymore… She started reading, and soon gasped. 

Locating Witches is a notoriously difficult task, for they are by their very nature masters of deception, falsehood, and lies. At every point a Witch will try to lead their trackers astray, often times into their doom. Nonetheless, it is not impossible to find their whereabouts, not if the seeker’s mind is sharp and her heart true. 

This definitely wasn’t what I was reading a moment ago, thought Twilight in confusion. Did the mouse try and chew the pages, turning them while at it? Maybe it heard me coming and skittered away. Or maybe…no, that’d be ludicrous. She kept on reading. 

The easiest and most reliable way to find a Witch is to burn down the forest they reside in, or where they are suspected to reside in. Unfortunately, often times such means, albeit effective, cannot pass. Yet this is precisely what gives the Witches a cutting edge in the first place; this modesty and hesitance from our part, which our enemy lacks completely. Whoever is reading this book, if there is one piece of advice that I would have you learn from me, only a single thought, then it would be this: A Witch is a disease. They are a plague. They are a wound. And sometimes, a wound needs to be burned. 

A bit harsh, but rational, thought Twilight in passing.   

Another way to locate a Witch is to use the animals that they keep as their pets and servants, that they have cursed and possessed to carry out their evil deeds. These may vary from dogs to pigeons, from swine to snakes, from fish to insects. No pattern of favourite animals can be said to exist for the Witches, who will pitilessly enslave any poor animal that they happen to need, although it is true that individual Witches might prefer some animals over others, which connects to the topic of the Witch Clans that I dealt with in section five. Anyhow, how to recognize an animal possessed by a Witch? Simple; it will try to harm, damage, and ultimately kill you. Instinctively knowing that they will be forced to such unnatural behaviour, most animals avoid Witches by all means possible, which, it must be said, speaks favourably for their intellect. 

That would explain the scarcity of animals around, thought Twilight. But it still doesn’t help me much. I can’t just barge into the forest and hope that some animal eventually attacks me. “There has to be something more practical in here,” she muttered under her breath, leafing through the pages. But then a particular line caught her attention.

Some dangers cannot be faced without the faith in the impossible, and the threat of the Witches can without doubt be said to be among those perils. Sometimes, the only means to fight them is to submit oneself to the shadow of uncertainty, to act unpredictably in order to gain a genuine element of surprise. Sometimes, the only way to make progress is to barge straight into the forest.

She blinked, and read the last sentence again. The black ink didn’t stir, didn’t flux. It gazed back at her in a way an abyss does, a rupture of unfathomable depths. With a fresh sense of uneasiness, she read on.

Unfortunately, the most common spells designed to locate traces of magic work poorly in the case of Witches, who indeed are apt in concealing themselves. But let not my reader be despaired, for the author of this tome is not one of the most common designers in this regard. I have invented a spell that is specifically intended to seek out traits of Witch magic, and after a few tests I can vouch for its effectiveness. It shall be among my most precious gifts to whoever is reading this book. Use it. Use it now.     

There was something peculiar in the way the last words of the fragment were written. The otherwise eloquent hoofwriting suddenly turned erratic, hasty, and almost manic in a space of few words. Twilight swallowed, and turned a page. To her astonishment, the aforementioned spell was written in language she could understand. But why just this spell, and not the others? Under the spell, there had been written, with the same manic style:

In addition to locating Witches, this spell can also be used to identify one that has taken a form of a pony or an animal; it will expose them completely. It is simply a matter of applying more intensity. I warmly recommend you to try it in practice and thus become assured of its potency.  

Twilight closed the book. Reading it for too long seemed to be causing her headache. First time that happened ever since my fillyhood…It must be the stress. She considered her options, or the one that had been laid to her on a plate. He vouched for the spells validity…but if I use it and it really works…what then? Am I match for a Witch, a real Witch? Even if I find her, can I defeat her? And what happens if I fail? She bit her lip, eyeing the book in her hooves. Its cover was of the same utterly black shade as the ink within. Black as a pupil, she thought.

She stood up. It doesn’t matter what I fear or do not fear. Fluttershy needs my help. I will not rest until that help has been delivered. And if it means barging into the Forest of the Shallows and into the Witch's lair, then so shall it be. She collected her belongings into the saddlebag, leaving out anything that wouldn’t be of use in the forest. The only things she took from Fluttershy’s bag was some food. Lastly, she packed in the book. Before she could leave the library, and idea struck to her. After a quick search, she had produced a piece of paper and a quill. After the letter was finished, she attached it to the town hall’s door. Then she ventured into the forest, and never looked back. 

In the bright sunlight, the letter declared the following message:

To anypony who finds this message.

It was two days ago when I, Twilight Sparkle, and the pegasus Fluttershy arrived to this village to investigate the disappearances that had happened here a week before. We were on an errand of Princess Celestia of Equestria, to whom I would like you who are reading this message to deliver it as soon as you are able to. In the case that I, too, have gone missing since the discovery of this letter, it shall serve as my last report to my Teacher and my Princess.     

As we arrived to the village of Damp Town, we found the place deserted. No soul could be found, not even after a thorough search. Instead, after the first night spent, the pegasus Fluttershy has gone missing, leaving no trace.

Against all the odds,  I have not lost hope but rather, I have committed all my remaining strength to finding both Fluttershy and the missing villagers. The mystery behind these disappearances has begun to unveil, for during the second day in the village I found a tome of mysterious origin, written by a scholar named Hollow Bark. The tome was old, ancient even, yet reading it has assured me that the reason behind these disappearances is nothing less than the Witch of the Shallows.

The tome was a massive account of the ways and nature of the creatures known as Witches, and not some child’s story but a scholarly work showcasing great wisdom and dedication to the subject. This is why I had to take the book with me, for it might be the only weapon I have against the Witch that has cursed this place with her presence.     
    
And so I arrive to the reason I have written this message in the first place. I have gone after the Witch of the Shallows, to save my friend Fluttershy and all the villagers of Damp Town that might be at her mercy. My haste to execute this mission was the certainty that, should I hesitate, would the lives of the ponies mentioned be endangered. I can only hope that you will understand my reasoning, Princess Celestia.

To my other friends, to Spike, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, to all of Ponyville: No words can describe the sorrow I feel as I write this letter, of knowing that I may never see you again. Any limited amount of time would be too little to tell of my feelings towards you all, and time is a commodity I do not have the luxury of spending. Again, I can only wish for your best and hope for your understanding.   

Good Bye,

Twilight Sparkle, Faithful Student of Princess Celestia of Equestria and a Proud Friend of All of Ponyville

A shadow covered the letter as a tall, dark figure read it silently. After finishing it, she picked it up with her horn and incinerated it without blinking. Princess Luna walked off the town hall’s stairs and looked into the direction Twilight had just wandered. The forest had already swallowed her completely, it seemed. The Princess narrowed her eyes in deep suspicion. Twilight…what in the heavens are you doing?  



                                            
    ***




Hour passed as Twilight pushed deeper into the forest, her spell keeping her afloat the water surface that gently rippled under the spots where her hoof almost landed. The dense canopy made sure that sunlight was always somewhat of a luxury in the Shallows, but as the evening creeped closer, even that sparse blessing was quickly fading away. Sweat gleamed in Twilight’s brow as she once again, for the umpteenth time, stopped in her tracks. She looked around in the quiet forest, but saw nothing but growing shadows. The question is…are they seeing me? She swallowed, and dug the book from her saddlebag, opened it, and cast the location spell. A purple wave expanded rapidly from her horn, lancing through the trees, leaves, and everything else in it’s path only to disappear into the rising gloom. Nothing. Not even a hint of a trace of magic. Either the spell is flawed or this Witch is more competent than what Hollow Bark had to face in his time. Frustration and exhaustion twisted her sweating face. Her jaw clenched, she put the book back into her saddlebag. Must move on, must press deeper. She stepped determinately forward…and screamed as her leg sank into the green waters.       

The confusion tipped her delicate balance, and the rest of the spell faded instantly. She dropped into the swamp, and submerged. Almost immediately her head broke the surface, coughing and spitting water. She kicked with her legs, trying to tread the water, but her hooves had tangled on some weeds in the bottom. She was stuck. “Help!” she shouted in panic, her mouth bouncing over and under the surface like a cork. She strained her neck and tried to scream again, but the water flooded her mouth. The more violently she trashed, the faster her strength failed her. I’m gonna die, I’m going to die, I’m going to drown, dear Celestia I’m going to dr–

She sank completely. Seconds passed, and the water calmed down surprisingly quickly. The deep green exploded again as Twilight surfaced, gasping for air. She looked wildly around, but there was no shore to speak of, no ground to step on. She started swimming. Her saddlebag made the effort difficult, but eventually she spotted a piece of turf not too far away. She panted, swam, and crawled onto the grass, where she collapsed. Water trickled by her mane and tail, dripping off her shaking back and flanks. I hate this place. I hate the trees, the water, the plants…I hate it all. “And I hate the bucking smell!” she sobbed. “Why it has to smell like a carcass here…why…” The stench was revolting, more so now than ever before. And then she realized just how disgusting it indeed was. Her lips quivering, she looked up. 

The smell…it’s coming from the other side of the mound. With trembling legs, she stood up, and sneaked closer to the origin of the stink. Laying there on the grass, in a pool of dried blood, there lay a deer. A dead deer. “Dear Celestia…” she gasped, unable to tear her eyes off the sight. This must be the Witch’s work. She looked around, expecting to see the Witch staring at her form somewhere. But all she saw was more trees, swamp, and shades that painted them all dark. She looked at the deer again, and flinched for the second time. Despite the resistance of her legs, she walked closer to the corpse. After a short and nauseating examination, she finally gave in for her instincts and galloped away, retching in the swamp.

It doesn’t look like anything I saw in the book…no symbols, no plan, no meaning…just butchery. Plain, mindless, horrible butchery. She wiped the spit from her mouth, shuddering. There were teeth marks. Could this be some poor animal’s work that the Witch has cursed? It has to be. No animal would do something like that to another. not voluntarily. Eventually she had regained enough of her composure to produce Hollow Bark’s book, and cast the location spell. She held her breath, but the result was the same as it had been ever since she had left the village. A strong urge to throw the book into the swamp captured her, but instead she resolved to shove it back into her drenched bag. 

She sat down, fresh tears welling in her eyes. Why did I come here? Soon it will be night and I can’t even find my way out of these woods. I’ve never been this lost in my life. Her head drooping, she noticed the tracks that had been imprinted in the soft ground. Paws. There was a dog here. The Witch must have kidnapped it from the village, and made it end the deer…for whatever purpose. From some confines of her mind, a memory stirred; a recollection of a spell that had been among the first ones she had ever learned. To find missing pets. I can find the dog with the spell meant to find missing pets. And if I find the dog, I find the Witch. 

A spark of hope glimmered in her eyes as she got up, sought the clearest pawprint she could find, and closed her eyes. Please let it work, please let it work, please… She was almost too afraid of the spell’s failure to cast it. Her horn flickered once, and then dimmed. When she opened her eyes, she gasped in relief. Before her, a trail of purplish mist floated, travelling amidst the trees. The animal’s scent. I can see the animal’s scent now. She yelped in excitement, but then remembered the deer next to her, and quieted down instantly. This is not over yet, not even close. She took a deep breath, concentrated the last of her mental energy, and cast the spell that allowed her to walk on water. 

It took her an hour to find the end of the scent, and by that time the night had already fallen on the forest. She had stopped at the foot of a small, steep-sided hill, at the side of which there lay a cave entrance. She could sense the utter darkness that flowed from within. The water around the hill was only ankle deep, so she could stand on her own feet, even though she doubted she could do even that for long anymore. Nonetheless, she tried concentrating on the task ahead. It was then that she realized how scared she actually was. She barely dared to breathe, her senses were stretched to the point where they might snap at any moment, and her heart felt like it already had. This is it. That must be the Witch’s lair. I need to be brave, I need to be quiet…and I need to win. Too much depends on me for failure to be an option. 

She started moving. Muddy waters departed before her steps as she approached the hillside, from which jagged rocks protruded like massive teeth. The moss that covered them silenced her steps as she began climbing, but still she was mortally afraid that one loose rock would give away her presence. When she was almost on the cave’s mouth, she heard noises inside. It sounded like rapid breathing, like a panting, like a dog. Many dogs. Is there a pack? How can I defeat them and the Witch? How can I–

A scream echoed from the cave. Fluttershy. That was Fluttershy. Another scream, this one even more shrill. Twilight rushed into the cave. She didn’t need to run for long, for a jagged rock in dark has a way of stopping carelessly running ponies. She hit the stony floor hard. Had it not been for the third scream, she might just have let the mists of consciousness float away – instead she darted onwards, this time lighting her way with her horn. She ran, ran like she had never run before, ran like her life depended on it. And then she was there.     

The space she entered in was wide, although not tall enough to allow two ponies to stand atop each other. Stalactites and stalagmites decorated the place like candles and, more importantly, illuminated it, too. A closer look would have revealed the colonies of glowworms that fed on the moss growing on the stone – indeed, an academic mind might have spent better part of a year studying the ecosystem of the place. As it happened though, the only academic mind present had her whole attention nailed to the sight in one the room’s corners. A sight somepony would have been honoured to paint a picture of.

It was the most seemingly innocent sight Twilight had ever witnessed, to see Fluttershy playing with some canine pups, oblivious to the outside world, smiling, laughing. She laughed with a pitched, tensed, and almost frightened voice, but still, she laughed. She also screamed once – when one of the pups bit her front leg – until she noticed Twilight standing there, staring at her. It was then that Twilight noticed the wound bleeding on her right temple. That was the signal for the reality to come flooding in, fast and violently.

”Fluttershy, get away from those animals!” Her shaking voice, combined with the echo in the room, created a sense of an edge over which only insanity reigned. That caught not only the full attention of Fluttershy, but of the pups as well.

”Twilight, listen to me, listen to me very–“

”Get away from them, now!” Twilight's words were given weight by the shadows creeping along her horn.

”They are not dangerous!” Fluttershy screamed, sounding like somepony verging between pure panic and self-control forced to the extreme, the combination apparently being held together by a very light thread. Twilight didn’t care to know on which side Fluttershy would land should the thread snap. She couldn’t say anymore what she really cared about. That is usually the time when instinct takes control. Without wasting another second, Twilight caught Fluttershy with a levitation spell and yanked her away from the pups, knocking one of them over while doing so. They all started whining loudly.

The whining was almost immediately answered by a loud growl, coming from a corridor leading even deeper into the cave. Twilight could hear something emerging, something big.

”Fluttershy, get behind me!” She had let go of her friend at the instant she heard the growl and now Fluttershy was standing there, in the middle of the room, breathing rapidly and looking like she was about to collapse. Her head wound was bleeding more heavily.

”Twilight”, she panted, ”You don't understand, you don't–”

She had not finished her sentence when a wolf twice the size of Twilight and darker than the corridor it came from landed on the other side of the room, fangs revealed. It scanned the room for half a second, saw Twilight, and leapt. It got less than a meter from Twilight before her spell  caught it in the stomach, and flung the creature violently on the other side of the cave. 

That is no dog, thought Twilight as she stared at the momentarily confused animal. That is something else. “We need to get out!” she shouted in panic as she saw the beast shaking its head confusedly. Her eyes darter at Fluttershy. “Run!”

“Twilight, no!” cried the pegasus. She moved between her and the wolf. “I can explain, but you must calm down! You must listen to me!”

She has been bewitched, realized Twilight in terror. The Witch must be near, but where? The wolf growled again, standing up. And the Twilight knew. It’s the Witch: She has taken a form of a wolf to try and deceive me. A new spell made her horn glow purple, a spell that she by now knew from memory. I must break her illusion, to show Fluttershy what she truly is. The beast took a step towards her. In front of it, Fluttershy was saying something, shouting and flailing her wings and hooves, but Twilight ignored her. She could feel the magic intensifying at the tip of her horn; it twisted the light and air around it, and sucked in her last strength. The wolf’s fangs gleamed with saliva. Fluttershy glanced at it. And Twilight cast the spell. 

Everything changed. A new leaf turned in the great book of life. Of the new scene, the gory and furry lumps of meat, along with some random bones, would be the real eye catchers. The second price would, without discussion, go to the look on Fluttershy's face, stained in blood of course, for most of the place was. The third place, somewhat disputable, would have been swept home by the storm raging in Twilight's mind, a storm of dark, sinister silence, seasoned with a hefty dose of nausea. And finally, the honourable mention would have gone to the mindless, endless, hopeless crying and whining of the little pups in the corner where they all had huddled. Some were even trying to claw their way out through the stone, achieving no more than making a ruin of their soft paws. This would have been the total score, had someone insane enough, reality for example, been there to keep one. 

The moment seemed to go on and on, passing through eternity like a ship sailing some vast ocean. Twilight felt detached, which is to say that she felt nothing at all, not really even the sharp blow that Fluttershy delivered to her left cheek, even though it knocked her to the ground. Casually she found herself amazed that her friend could pack such a punch in her hooves. The thought waited a moment, patiently as ever, as Twilight slowly regained her wits and realized just what had happened.

”You...Kicked me?” she said, not quite believing her own voice even as a bruise was beginning to form where the kick had landed.

”You killed their mother.” One could have pierced steel with Fluttershy's tone, sharp and thin as it was. It was a shame, really, that the only thing it managed to cleave was Twilight's heart.

”Wh-what?” she asked, incredulous. She looked at the pups Fluttershy had apparently been referring to. They were still panicking and whining, although a few had crawled to the lump of meat that most resembled the form of their late mother.

”You killed their mother!” Fluttershy shouted from the bottom of her lungs, scaring the pups even more and making Twilight realize that maybe she should be scared, too. The word “mother” kept bouncing on the blood stained walls.

”I...it...you...they…we – I didn't – I was just... trying to save you?” The words came staggering to Twilight's mind, even more so to her lips, where some of them simply refused to leave her tongue.

”I didn't need to be saved! Couldn't you see? Couldn't you see?! We were playing! They were just puppies! From what did you try to save me?!”

The last question suddenly made Twilight remember something really important.

”The Witch”, she whispered, to which Fluttershy responded: ”The Witch?”, to which Twilight shouted: ”The Witch!”

”The Witch!”, she repeated hysterically, pointing at the bloody corpse. “That was the Witch! The one that had kidnapped you! And the villagers!”    

To that, Fluttershy could only answer with a stare radiating utter confusement. The blood stains made her expression less comical than it would normally have looked. “What are you talking about?” she asked, her voice settling down a bit, but only a bit.

“The...the Witch,” Twilight began sounding less confident now, “It was the Witch who kidnapped you, who kidnapped all the villagers, who turned into a wolf. I...I read about her in a book.”

“A book…” The word barely made it past Fluttershy’s lips, past her mind, which seemed to have moved somewhere outside her body for a while. At least her eyes stared at nothing, or perhaps at something that nopony else could see.

“That was the only sensible explanation!” Twilight shouted, feeling suddenly very insecure about herself. All of a sudden, her certainty with which she had just minutes ago rushed into the cave, to save the day from an evil sorcerer called the Witch, faded. She no longer knew exactly where she was, why she was there, and what she had been doing. “There never was a Witch,” she said, more to herself than to Fluttershy. Saying it made her feel hollow, more so than ever before.

Fluttershy collapsed.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight shouted and rushed towards her friend, only to be stopped by stinging pain cutting through her right front hoof. She screamed and looked down, seeing a dark furry canine pup biting her leg, drawing blood even. She saw a few more of the pups moving between her and the collapsed Fluttershy who was crying hysterically now. The scene made no sense at first, until Twilight realized, with a feeling of horrible dread, that the pups were trying to protect Fluttershy from her. “No, no!”, she began, “I mean no harm to her, I mean, to you either, don't be afraid!”

Her plea was met with growls and bared fangs. The path was blocked and could not be opened without force. Some of the pups licked Fluttershy's face clean of tears and blood. To Twilight’s astonishment, this seemed to calm her down somewhat, for she was not crying so hysterically anymore. It really made Twilight feel wretched to see that. Wretched enough to make her angry.

“What were you expecting me to do, then!” she shouted, aiming her words to Fluttershy, who flinched upon hearing them. The puppies backed away. “I was alone, all alone, what were you expecting me to do but to assume the worst?!” Twilight continued. “I went to sleep with you by my side and woke to find you gone, what was that all about?! Where did you go, what happened to you?”

Fluttershy stared at Twilight with tear-stained eyes, her mouth trying to form words that somehow managed to arrange into a more or less coherent sentence. “I…I had to…I had to go. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” 

To that, Twilight could only answer with: “What?!” The shout made Fluttershy flinch again. She continued, this time seemingly speaking to somepony else than Twilight, perhaps to herself.

“I was, I had…  A nightmare, yes, I had a nightmare. A bad one. But no, it was not a dream, for it was real, I could feel it. I had felt it all along, but only in here I knew it.”

“What are you talking about?” Twilight asked, suddenly feeling more anxious than angry towards her friend, for she didn’t seem to be aware of her surroundings anymore. She was just staring somewhere far away, almost forgetting to breathe between sentences.

“The dream, the nightmare.” Fluttershy continued. “There were teeth, there was darkness, there was pain. There was death. But I, I was there too, except I wasn’t, I could only watch as, as, as…”

“What did you watch, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, almost whispering the words. Now the pups were backing away from Fluttershy too, for she rised.

“I watched the wolf eat a pony,” she said.

The two ponies stared at each other for an eternity. One of the pups whined. Twilight slowly turned her head towards it.

“You mean, it, they, you – you mean to say that they ate, they ate… the ponies?” Twilight heard herself utter the words but somehow she couldn’t link them to herself, just like she couldn’t link the affirmative empty stare Fluttershy gave to her to the sentence she had just said, an eternity ago. She fainted. 

Fluttershy watched her friend collapse, yet did nothing to stop her fall. She merely observed, with some curiosity, as some of the pups approached Twilight, nibbling her mane and hooves. Twilight just breathed shallowly. Fluttershy idly wondered if the puppies would kill Twilight before starting to eat her.

If the puppies.

Would kill.

Kill.

What?

“NO!” 

The pups jumped upon hearing Fluttershy’s scream and scattered as she drove them away from Twilight. She quickly checked that no real harm had come to her still unconscious friend and then turned to face the puppies in the room, looking at each one in turn as she spoke to them.

“You don’t eat ponies anymore, remember? No eating ponies! And especially not this one pony! You don’t eat her, you don’t eat anypony anymore, got it?”

The pups were looking at her, tilting their heads from side to side and looking confused. They will understand, Fluttershy thought as she watched them. But it will take time. Time and work. They had been lost, but I found them and will teach them to be good dogs. That’s what I do, I make things good again.

Fluttershy, for the first time in ages, noticed that she was covered in blood. Actually, most of the place was, even the pups, even Twilight. She remembered why this was so, and almost collapsed again. The only reason why she didn’t was the knowledge that she might not be able to get up again if she did. She knew that something needed to be done, though the problem was that she had no clue what that something would be, and even if she did, she doubted if she had the strength to do it.

She wondered if she could talk her way out if this mess whenever the rest of the pack would return from the hunt. She had the nasty feeling that while she herself might survive, Twilight surely wouldn’t. Fluttershy could calm down an enraged manticore, she could reason with an egoistic dragon, but she knew she would struggle to hold back a pack of wolves from killing the one pony who was responsible for spreading one of their kin on the walls of their cave. She panicked.

It was when Fluttershy dragged the unconscious Twilight out of the cave by the mane that Princess Luna decided that the threshold for her intervention had been crossed. “That’s far enough, Fluttershy,” she said quietly. Fluttershy screamed, let go of Twilight's mane and whirled around to face Princess Luna, who standing in front of her. The pegasus almost fainted.

“I am more than aware of your confusion, Fluttershy, but I assure you, the feeling is mutual. Nonetheless, time is of essence now, and all questions you have will be answered in time. I shall in a moment transfer the three of us well away from here, but before I do so, I want you to tell me if there’s anything I must know before we go. Is Twilight critically hurt? Are you? Speak quickly.”

Fluttershy stared with her mouth and eyes wide open at the dark alicorn that spoke and acted as if she was the embodiment of all the reason and confidence in the universe. Then she asked: “Can we take the puppies along?”
 
Luna raised her gaze from Fluttershy to the litter of puppies that lurked deeper in the cave. They seemed to be terrified of her, yet were driven to follow Fluttershy by some instinct. The combination of the two urges made their behaviour seem rather silly.

“Are you certain that your proposition is thoroughly thought out?” Luna asked. Fluttershy only nodded, her eyes and mouth still wide open.

“Then it shall be so.”
    
With that, they were all gone.






> Chapter V
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------




In the dark, a single beeswax candle flickered, sending shadows dancing on the walls and onto the ceiling. The room was comparatively small and simple, with only one window and a pair of two-storeyed bunks where the occupants could sleep. Occupants there indeed were, for three of the four beds had a pony sleeping in them, their breathings raising their blankets a few inches in a slow and steady rhythm. The faint light of the candle made their forms barely visible.

The third bed’s occupant was the only one not sleeping. Instead, she was staring at the candle flame, never once turning her gaze from its slender figure. One could have seen the flame reflect from the pony’s eyes, had there been anypony witnessing the peculiar scene. Somepony fond of metaphors might have thought that the pony was, in fact, doing nothing more but staring at the abyss in herself, the void that kept on consuming her sanity resembling the flame that burned through the beeswax.

She didn’t even try to close her eyes, although the brightness was beginning to hurt them, for every time she shut her eyelids she could see the scene. That was why she had kept awake in the first place when the others had fallen asleep, on this night and on many other a night before. That was why she had stared at the meaningless flame she had lit for… I don’t even know how long that is. All I know that it’s not enough, never enough. No matter how long, it will be waiting for me. She will be waiting for me… until the day I die. 

In one instant, the mare stood up and backed quickly away from the table and from the candle on it. She felt her heart thumping, could feel sweat trickling on her brow. There’s no way I’ll be staring at that candle a moment longer. No way in hay. The chill of the night embraced the mare as soon as she stepped outside the house. The street she entered on was quiet and empty, save for the moonlight that shone on the cloudless sky, the stars joining in with their twinkle. A perfect contrast for the paranoid flame. She sighed and soon after, shuddered as a cold breeze travelled along the street. She galloped to a random direction, to keep herself warm and to make her mind forget the candle flame.

Great stone buildings bordered her way wherever she went, buildings like which she still eyed with suspicion and awe. How could ponies build something like this? It all seems unreal. Fantastic. Artificial. But isn’t that the same thing as a fake? After a while, the mare found herself coming near to one of Canterlot’s several parks. To say that it was clean would have been an understatement. It’s more like the very idea of cleanliness. Just like everything else around here is ideal. The grass looked like it had been magically trimmed and the trees had most likely come from some great painting, such was the elegance in them. Finally, the words simply lost their meaning when she saw the fountain in the middle of the wonder that the locals called a simple park.

She sat down on a nearby bench, made of the whitest marble she had ever seen. A gentle noise of flowing water echoed in the small park, drawing her eyes to the source of it. It looks more like liquid silver than common water. I bet it’s drinkable, too. She rose and trotted to the fountain. The reflection on the quietly rippling surface looked back at her sadly. Beside it, a round, glowing orb lay. She looked up to the moon, to the round, perfect embodiment of the night itself. She gazed at it for a good long while. Mom always said that looking at you would be like looking at your own fate. I could either accept your revealing light or despair in that I can never guide it. “That’s why ponies invented fire,” she said out loud with a dreamy voice. “To guide the light.” But why did I run away from it, then? She sat down, drooping her head. Gradually it sank lower, until finally her chin broke the water surface. She flinched and pulled back, blinking.   

I should get back… I’m so tired. And this is useless, everything is. I can’t change what’s happened, just as I can’t change my fate. She turned and headed out of the park. The way back to the house seemed to go faster than in the opposite direction, although she was in no haste. In the room, the candle was still burning, bright as ever. The mare simply extinguished the flame by blowing at it. As it died out, a gruff voice from one of the beds asked: 

“Who’s there?”

The mare froze. “It’s me: Dewdrop. I just… Had to eat something.”  
   
“There better be some honey left when I wake up…” the voice said, more or less sensibly, before falling asleep again. 

Dewdrop sighed quietly and carefully climbed to her own bed that was above the stallion’s whom she had woken up. She fluffed her pillow, drew the blanket over her, and after half an hour, still found herself staring at the ceiling. Wet Mane…what are you thinking right now? Are you still in Damp Town? What are you going to do? She closed her eyes, turned a flank, and prayed for sleep. 





***  





For some, the routine of waking up came easier than to others, which sometimes caused some minor havoc between ponies who ended up sleeping in the same bed. It was a common topic Cantelotians of every social class to complain every now and then how their beloved one just loved to stretch the day by beginning it six o’clock. Indeed, if there ever was any truth to the saying that “opposites attract each other”, then it would have been embodied in the strange way how some couples had completely different sleep rhythms. Nonetheless, in the end this phenomenon was simply another way of talking about the beloved one in general, just another way of saying “I love you”.

Although sometimes, just sometimes, one might have prolonged the aforementioned sentence with “I love you, even if you sometimes make me want to throw you with something hard...”  

“By Earth, Sky and Magic I swear: once we move to Crystal Kingdom you will either learn to respect the line between morning and night or we shall sleep in different bedchambers.” Cadance’s voice was muffled by the large pillow she had covered her head with, but Shining Armor could quite accurately guess the words that he could not make out. As usual, he had awoken about three hours before his bride considered proper, and even against his best efforts he had succeeded in waking her up.

“I humbly apologise once again, sweetheart,” Shining Armor said with his most sympathetic tone. Cadance mumbled some more from under the pillows. Armor left his captain’s uniform to the closet and moved to Cadance’s side of the bed. He caressed her slender form that was half covered by the silken blanket. His muzzle moved gently up her leg, just barely missing her hips and finally stopping at her neck that peeked from under the pink pillow. Her mumbling had gained a bit more approving tone by then.

“It would be a horrible loss, to lose the Princess of Love for another bed,” he said. 

Cadance’s head rose from among the pillows, a drowsy smile decorating her lips. “Indeed, it would be such a shame.” She kissed him gently on the lips. As their lips parted, she continued with the faintest of voices: “Please close the door while you go outside to dress.”

He obeyed and paid particular care to close the bedchamber double doors as silently as he could manage. After that, he dressed in his Captain’s uniform and gave a few strokes of a comb to his mane which always tended to entangle itself during the night nowadays. As he stepped outside, a guard saluted him by raising his right front hoof. He returned it with a nod and headed towards the Inner Keep. Everything in the morning, from the golden red light of the young sun in the horizon to the patrolling unicorns, promised another regular day for him. I always thought it would look different, somehow. After all, how many times one leaves the post of the Captain of the Royal Guard? He glanced again at the beautiful sunrise. Maybe it’s a bit more golden than usual? Just a little bit? 

The two guards standing by the main gate saluted like the first one did. He nodded, but as he noticed the fine red scars on the other stallion’s face, he stopped. “What’s the matter, Gauntlet? Got yourself into a kitty fight during the night?”

Glass Gauntlet kept on staring straight ahead of himself. “Just had some trouble with Princess Celestia’s new pets, Captain. I would advise to avoid them if possible.” 

“New pets, eh?” Armor said with a smirk. “Has the Princess developed a fondness of cats without my knowledge?”

“Not cats, captain. Dogs. Puppies in fact, but they get nasty when there’s a bunch of ‘em.”

Armor raised an eyebrow. “Really? Sound surprising.” Gauntlet had nothing to say to that, so Armor continued on his way, smiling all the way to the corridor that lay close to the throne room. It was there that a loud commotion caught his attention. When he turned a corner, he saw a crowd of twenty, mostly earth ponies, milling about the closed double doors of the throne room. Most were silent, craning their necks to see better over each other at the source of noise that came right from front of the doors. Oh, buck. This again? He sighed and trotted towards the crowd. As he got close enough, he said with a loud, calm voice: 

“Could I have your attention, please! Everypony, please, calm down!” His voice echoed in the high space, immediately nailing everypony's attention to him. After drawing his lungs full of air again, he continued: “I know that you are all eager to receive an audience from Princess Celestia, but you must understand that she has a lot of other tasks to attend to and so can’t receive anypony before ten o’clock. I advise that you return to your homes to wait until then.”

Instantly after saying that last sentence Armor realized a critical flaw in his speech, which was right away pointed out to him by a young mare just in front of him.

“We don’t have homes anymore, remember? That’s why we’re here in the first place! My family can’t wait any longer, we need to find a real home and not that old barracks that you shoved us all into! But I bet you don’t see the problem in that, do you, Captain?”

That’ the first time I’ve heard that name used as a slight. “You are quite right in pointing out that I, in the role of a soldier, might well be better off in the accommodations that we have found for you. To tell you the truth, I actually spent my rookie days in those barracks and I can agree that they are far from ideal.” To his relief, some of the ponies laughed at that, even nas the young mare glared at them.                 

Armor continued: “However, they are the best we can offer at the moment. The Princess is well aware of your distress, rest assured in that, but there is only so much even she can do for now, even though your problems are at the top of her list. Moreover, I will guarantee myself that she will receive your delegation first when the time comes.”

Shining armor smiled the whole time he spoke, sweeping the faces of the crowd with his eyes. They seemed to settle for his words, even the rash mare in the front, although the look she gave him as they started moving away was far from warm. Armor only smiled at her. It was only after they had all disappeared from the hall that he turned to the guards that had stayed in their positions before the door for the whole time. 

“I thought I had made it quite clear that nopony is allowed to queue up to the throne room before half nine, am I correct?” 
Of the three guards, the sergeant known as Gilded Helm stepped forward. “We were aware of your orders, Captain, but Princess Celestia informed us that these villagers should be treated especially considerately. We tried to ask them to leave, but they were mostly just… Unimpressed… By our requests.”

“I see,” Armor said and fell silent. After a while he said: “If they come again at a wrong time, inform the Captain at once. And whatever you do, do not let them in the throne room before the Audience Hour. They may wait on the hall next door if they come too early tomorrow as well. Any questions?”

“No,” Captain, Helm said. Armor nodded and carried on his way toward his personal office that lay in one of the eastern towers.

As he opened his office door, he noticed that Unbroken Shield, his First Lieutenant, was already there. “I should have known you’d make it here before me, even on the last day,” Armor said while closing the door behind him.  

“Ready and willing to start the new day, Captain?” Shield asked, his easy smile and casual tone evident as ever. The two were roughly of age, but whereas Armor had always acted older than his actual age would have required, Shield followed a completely opposite logic. Somepony unaware of their actual ages might have regarded the other ten years younger just based on their behaviour and manners.

“As always, Lieutenant, as always,” Armor replied. He trotted towards his desk. “Anything special requiring my attention today?”

Shield flipped his horn to turn the page of his notepad that he carried everywhere. A popular rumour around the soldiers and rest of the castle’s staff was that while the notepad was meant for the official duties of the First Lieutenant, it also included some very attractive depictions of young mares that worked around the castle. Shining Armor had not checked himself, partly because he paid no heed to such issues and because he was married nowadays, anyway.

“It seems that your day is going to be wonderfully… Boring!” said Shield merrily. “There’s quite a lot of paperwork to be done regarding your move to the Crystal Kingdom, the most pressing matter being the election of the new Captain of the Guard…” During the last sentence, Shield began coughing quite loudly and theatrically, which managed to put a smile on Armor’s lips.

“Your willingness and potentiality for the aforementioned post is well known and appreciated, rest assured,” he said, settling himself at the same time behind his large oaken table by which Shield had been standing. “Is there anything else noteworthy save some wrestling with the papers?” 

“Well,” Shield continued. “The annual inspection of the armory and of the other Royal Guard’s facilities is coming near, although I can take that arrow in your place, no problem there. Some promotions are to be considered, some reports from the borders should be read, a fencing drill in the afternoon ought to be monitored – you know the drill.” Shield finished his account by flipping the notepad once in the air with his horn before putting it back to his uniform’s pocket. 

“Did you perhaps forget to mention that you got a kiss from the Princess last night?” Armor asked. “I can see no other reasonable explanation for your lack of etiquette. Your unusually prominent lack of it, I mean to say.”

“Hah! There you go: a kiss or two from a princess and no longer does a thought of a mundane romance enter your mind,” Shield said before moving away from the table and towards the door.

“And supposedly a permission is no longer required to leave the company of a higher officer, right?” Armor asked, only half serious, before the lieutenant could vanish through the door. This made Unbroken Shield turn around so sharply that the notebook almost flew from his pocket.

“I beg your permission to leave, Captain, so I can continue executing my duties towards the regime of Princess Celestia of Equestria.” The words came out like from a machine, without a hint of sarcasm or irony mixed in. The change in Shield’s expression was similarly radical. 

Armor smiled. “That’s more like it. You’re dismissed.” 

Shield nodded stiffly as a plank and left the room, closing the door after himself. Armor leaned back in his chair, stretching his limbs. His eyes were idly drawn to the pile of paper that lay on his desk. The last day, and the routine still feels dull as ever. And I’m suspecting that the announcement of the next Captain will not surprise anypony. What exactly is there to make today any more special than yesterday? Or the day before? He turned his head to look at the breakfast tray that lay on the other end of the large desk, heavy with bread, coffee, fruits and vegetables. But among the ordinariness, something extraordinary peeked. Armor floated the small folded piece of paper to him and opened it. Inside, there read:

“May the kitchens of the Crystal Kingdom beware, for them is henceforth the honour to serve his Captain of the Royal Guard, Shining Armor. With best regards, the kitchens.”

He read the note twice, laughed shortly, and folded it into his pocket. And then he started working. 




***  




There were days when even Celestia would have thought it appropriate to turn the clocks forward, just in the case it might actually hasten the pass of time. Not because of boredom, no, not in Celestia’s case anyway, since she had forgotten how to be bored on the same day that she had come to know that she was immortal. It was just that sometimes the excitement was too much to bear, even for a mind as patient as god’s. So much work and effort had already been spent in anticipation of this one day, this very special day, when possibly a new god would be born. And that, if anything, was worth being a little bit impatient.

It wasn’t easy, after all, to devise the divine, to machinate an entity that was supposed to outlast time itself. It was a process requiring decades of planning, centuries of executing, a millenium to finish. It was perhaps the most difficult task in the universe. And Celestia was now watching a part of that plan sleeping gently on her feet, snoring a bit, even. A small cog in the device for the divine… Named Twilight Sparkle. Celestia could just barely refrain from waking her pupil up, but in the end she settled to just observing the sleeping unicorn mare. She needs to be well rested for what is about to come, so that no such petty thing like physical weariness can ruin the moment. Our meeting can wait for a few more hours.

Giving a final glimpse to the unicorn oblivious to the outside world, Celestia turned and quietly walked through the bedroom door, which she carefully closed behind her. The rays of the sun cascading through the glass windows told her that the morning had begun to fade into day, which meant that Celestia’s duties as the Princess of Equestria were about to begin. Like always, she would start her day with an audience from whomever had come to bid for one, although she had a pretty good notion of who that would be today. These villagers of Damp Town are an impatient bunch, although it’s not like I can blame them. Losing a home is one of the hardest things a pony can experience in one’s life, and smaller the home, the greater the pain its loss seems to cause.

Celestia walked through the corridors and the halls of her castle, answering salutes and greetings from guards and staff alike with smiles as warm as the first rays of the sun itself. Doors were opened for her and closed, too, just like they were supposed to. And then, without much of a ceremonial fuss, Celestia settled herself on the great throne in the middle of the throne room, where she sat for a while before speaking.

“Let the Audience Hour begin.”          

With that, the great double doors opened and the first visitors of the day entered in. Like she had anticipated, first in line was a delegation from the village of Damp Town. The question of a new home came up quickly. Celestia suggested again, although in different words, that the villagers could settle in the villages surrounding Canterlot. The proposal was met with even less enthusiasm than before, mostly because those that had wanted to move away from their neighbours had already done so, the number being smaller than Celestia would have liked. Ponies of Equestria weren’t usually fond of moving far away from their birthing place, even less so to abandon their kin and friends, yet the habit seemed to have grown especially strong in these villagers.

The trouble in rehabilitating the villagers wasn’t as much in constructing a new town, since there were plenty of hooves available for that, but in finding a suitable location for such a project to take place. The villagers weren't picky, not at least in their own minds, and Celestia was eager to agree with them – they were more suspicious than picky. The villagers were cautious of everypony and every location that Celestia had offered for them and shown them on the map. A common cause of complaint was that the location presented was too “dry”, a concept which, in Celestia’s view, surpassed all borders of rationality. Nonetheless, these were her people, and so their problems were her problems, even if they themselves were the greatest reason for their problems in the first place.

This time, though, they managed to make some progress. A far away region in the North-East corner of Equestria seemed to please most of the villagers in the throne room. Celestia seized the opportunity and mobilized all her knowledge of that location that could have been described as positive in nature, keeping in mind, of course, what “positive” meant for the villagers of Damp Town. It suffices to say that “dry” wasn’t among the repertoire of adjectives Celestia used to depict the region. Her speech about “uncharted mires” and “unending shores” seemed to touch something deep inside them, even though Celestia couldn’t shake the feeling that she had just blindly prodded at their souls. It made no matter in the end, for the villagers left the throne room in a happier mood than they so far had ever done. All except one of them.

A young mare, just about the same age as Twilight, lingered in the room after the rest of the villagers had gone. Celestia had noted the grey skinned pony with the white mane when she had come in with the rest, yet hadn’t paid her any particular attention at the time. With a slight surprise she found herself minorly interested in this shy looking creature whose body language was telling her that she might sprint away at any moment. Still, the mare stood still in the middle of the throne room, even inching a bit towards Celestia.

“And what is your name, if I may ask?” Celestia asked with her softest voice which could soothe almost anypony regardless of the situation. However, the mare before her seemed only to tense more upon hearing her voice.

“Dewdrop, Your Grace.” She looked Celestia straight in the eyes while speaking. The interesting thing about her sunless eyes was that they didn’t match the nervousness of her body. Quite on the contrary, Dewdrop’s eyes seemed to be carved from a piece of lead, steady and self-secure.

“How may I be of service to you, Dewdrop?” The smile Celestia gave with her words was one of those that could make stars stop blinking.

“I am very grateful of all the help Your Grace has given us, I really am. I didn’t come to ask any more from you, I’d just wish to… Know something. I was just wondering if there were any news about the ponies that had disappeared.”

Celestia’s face gave away nothing but the usual warm smile, yet behind her mask of absolute kindness and compassion, she could feel a shadow of doubt creeping up her spine. There was something… strange… in this seemingly normal pony with eyes like leaden bars.  

“Please, ‘Princess’ will do just fine. It grieves me to tell you, but so far I’ve heard nothing about the ponies whom I sent to investigate these disappearances.”

“Your Gra–, I mean, Princess, if I may ask, who did you send there to investigate? Were they soldiers?”

Celestia paused before she answered.

“No, not soldiers, dear Dewdrop. I sent two of the finest ponies that I have had the pleasure of knowing: the unicorn Twilight Sparkle and the pegasus Fluttershy. They will find your friends, I’m certain of that.”

“You only sent t–, I mean, wouldn’t Your Grace have thought it best to send more than just two ponies? I mean, the whole village already wasn’t enough to find them.”

Now that was a surprisingly bold thing to say, thought Celestia as she studied the little mare in front of her. Her eyes really are the darkest I’ve seen for a few centuries.

“Please, ‘Princess’ will certainly do just fine. I know that two may seem like a small number to you, considering, as you mentioned, how you, as a village, already failed to find your friends. Rest assured, though, that had I deemed it necessary to send more ponies there to search the disappeared ones, I would have done so. Twilight and Fluttershy are both extraordinary ponies, for the former is my private student and the other has a unique way to communicate with animals. What the group I sent to Damp Town lacks in numbers, it exceeds in capabilities.”

Dewdrop seemed to settle for that answer, for she said nothing for a while. Celestia was just about to say something herself when Dewdrop spoke, and when she did, Celestia’s smile quivered for a moment so short that it was almost impossible to notice it.

“Princess, I beg your permission to return to Damp Town and to the Forest of the Shallows, to help the ponies Twilight and Fluttershy reveal the cause behind these disappearances.”

Well, that certainly proved that I can still be surprised by something. “That is very valiant and noble of you, Dewdrop, but the risk is just too great, like I already told your mayor. So long as we do not know the reason behind these disappearances, the safest action is to wait until further knowledge can be gathered.”

“But you sent these two ponies there, why not me? I’m not useless, nor helpless, and I know the Shallows like I know my own hooves!”

The controlled behaviour of Dewdrop, which so far had remained intact, suddenly seemed to crumble. She had raised her voice and taken a few steps towards Celestia, probably without noticing it herself. Celestia waited after the echoes had died in the room before she spoke again, deliberately lowering her own voice a bit.

“I know how you must feel, Dewdrop, I really do. Do you personally know all the ponies that have disappeared?”  

Suddenly, the white-grey mare seemed quite nervous, although Celestia couldn’t say for sure whether the change had happened because Dewdrop had realized having just raised her voice in the presence of a god, or because of the last question directed to her.

“I… uhm, no, I didn’t know any of them very well… Except for the last one to disappear, of course. Wet Mane, he’s called. He… He is my brother…”

Dewdrop was looking at the floor now, and Celestia decided that it was time to end this little conversation.

“I’m sorry to tell you this, Dewdrop, but at the moment, the only ponies that I can allow to enter into the Forest of the Shallows or Damp Town are Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy, and the members of my Royal Guard, if the need for their intervention should arise. I recommend that you return to your family and friends now.”

Dewdrop simply nodded weakly, but before she turned and left, Celestia could notice this tiny twinkle in those dark and heavy eyes of her’s. While she watched Dewdrop leave the throne room, she couldn't shake the feeling that something had been hidden from her by that strange young mare.

Nonetheless, other audiences were waiting for her attention, other worries required her council, which she delivered with pleasure. It took her the rest of the morning and most of the midday before she had dealt with all the day’s visitors, after which she withdrew to the solace of her private chambers to write some letters.

It was well into the afternoon when one of the guards informed her that Twilight Sparkle had finally woken up, along with Fluttershy. She could barely make herself finish the letter she had been writing for the ambassador in Saddle-Arabia before she left to meet the two ponies.

But before she went to face them, she headed for her sister’s bedroom. When she came to the door of her boudoir, the guards standing by it seemed to jump a bit, as if they had been surprised in the act of talking about something they weren’t supposed to. Celestia ignored the fact and requested one of the guards to wake up her sister. They both seemed a bit uncomfortable with the idea of entering Luna’s bedroom without her permission, but Celestia assured them that the reason was urgent enough to bend the protocol a bit. And with that, one of the guards carefully opened the door slightly enough so that he could sneak into the dim room.

He returned after a few minutes, with a faint red color on his cheeks.

“Princess Luna has awoken, my Princess. Also, she wishes me to inform you that, well, uhm…”

“That she is somewhat… Surprised by this visit?” finished Celestia. The guard nodded, his gaze avoiding Celestia’s as best as he could.

After a while, Luna emerged from her boudoir, her mane uncombed, as Celestia could tell.

“I expect there is a reasonable explanation for my unscheduled awakening?” asked Luna from her elder sister. The annoyance in her tone was inadvertently softened by the yawn that she had to stifle in the middle of her sentence.

“Come with me, sister, and I will gladly explain.” With that, Celestia turned and walked away, with Luna following behind. After the two alicorns had safely moved out of earshot, the guard who had stayed outside the bedchamber looked at his friend and asked:

“So, what did the dark one really say when you woke her up?”

The guard looked at the floor for a while before he spoke.

“She said that, if Celestia would ever again send a common guard into her bedroom while she was sleeping there, she would make sure that the guard in question would truly learn the importance of privacy.”   
          
“And what does that mean?”

The other guard raised his gaze from the floor.

“You really want to know that? Because I sure don’t.”




                                              
  ***




“Sometimes I really do wonder if we share the same blood after all,” said Luna, commenting on the plan that her sister had just presented to her. They had stopped in a wide and long corridor where they could speak in private, without the fear of anypony eavesdropping around a corner.

“Likewise, I really do hope that is just the weariness speaking,” answered Celestia with a smile on her lips. Luna just rolled her eyes as an answer.

“It may be difficult for you to understand,” Celestia continued. “But it is essential for my future plans that you really do talk with the pony Fluttershy about her gift.”

“And thus lie to her that her ‘gift’, like you call it, is nothing but a positive and a fortunate occurrence that she should be overjoyed about?”  
   
“It grieves me to hear you implying that I would make you lie for me, sister. It really does.”

“Oh, stop already with the drama, sister,” said Luna as she turned away from Celestia and walked to the window that opened to the courtyard below. Some soldiers were practicing combat there.

“I wish I could do that, I really do, but alas, the play must live along with its script,” Celestia said behind Luna’s back. The dark alicorn just watched the stallions practicing below, following each refined movement of those strong and wiry male bodies. The speed and accuracy with which they moved was almost hypnotic.

“But how do I know if I’m an actor or the playwright?” she asked after a while. She could sense Celestia moving behind her, stepping beside her in the audience of the fight below them.

“You are neither and both. We all are. Although sometimes… We receive the rare opportunity to choose between the lines we speak and the stage we set out to act on.”

In the courtyard, one of the stallions managed to disarm his opponent, sending the blade that had floated in the air flying away. However, the other unicorn was fast to react and kicked his opponent who had dared to come too close, hitting him on the flank. The fight turned into a wrestling match on the ground, although it ended shortly after one of the unicorns managed to get his weapon back to his horn’s control and against his opponent’s throat. Luna sighed quietly, for she had tacitly championed the other stallion, whom she had deemed more handsome.

“I still do not quite understand the real meaning behind your metaphors, even if I do try and participate in them sometimes,” she said. Her tone sounded almost sad.

“There are no metaphors. All there is, is meaning itself, which is connected to everything, although the connections do not always make sense to a pony who is entangled in their web.” Celestia, on the other hoof, sounded just the same as she most always did: compassionate, calm, and cheerful just enough to hide the edge of command in her voice.  
  
“I still do not see how you can regard the phenomenon of mist wandering as a gift… To me, it appears as nothing more but a curse,” said Luna.

“While I admit that there are some side effects that need refining, I am absolutely of the opinion that the opportunities presented by this gift exceed the curse-like attributes that come with it.”

“Care to enlighten me?”
        
“Of course I do,” said Celestia. “But now is not really the time to discuss such things, for Twilight and Fluttershy have already woken up.”

“But surely we can give them some more time to talk with each other? They have gone through a lot, after all. Why should we make such haste?”

Because I am not a firm believer in Fluttershy’s capability to lie. “I know very well what horrors they have gone through,” said Celestia. “That is exactly why I would like to talk with Twilight as soon as possible and that is why she wants nothing more but to talk with me. But I would loathe to leave Fluttershy alone in a situation like this, as you surely understand. Please, do this thing for me, and I promise you that we will talk more about it afterwards.”

Luna was still watching the fencing below her, although it seemed that the day’s training was  about to end. She could see Shining Armor giving orders, sharing advice and encouraging his soldiers as they began leaving for the barracks. She wondered idly if Cadance was having much fun with her new husband – it sure would have been a shame not to.

“Fine,” she finally said, “I will abide by your rules once again. But one of these days I will not settle for just some role in your play, rest assured in that.”

“Oh, believe me, you already play more than just a single role in my oeuvre.”
 
There really was nothing Luna could come up with as an answer to that, so she simply walked quietly along with her sister as they made for the chambers of Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy. When they arrived to the door that held them within, Celestia stopped and looked at her sister.

“I shall first enter in alone and see that they have finished their conversation. After I have taken Twilight with me, I want you to go to Fluttershy and talk with her about the subject we just discussed. Is there anything you would like to know or say before we begin?”

“Let us just get this over with,” answered Luna quietly.

And with that, the double doors to the chamber opened.

After Celestia’s part had been played out, Luna studied the yellow-pink pony that sat by the breakfast table with her ears and head drooping. She seemed sad, depressed even, which didn’t exactly raise Luna’s mood, either. Unlike her sister, she had never really mastered the skill of encouraging other ponies. There hadn’t been such need in the moon. And yet, she was now supposed to comfort this little pony in her anxiety, to tell her that it would all turn out better tomorrow, that the worries and doubts she carried inside were like mist and nothing more. Just thinking about the task ahead raised the taste of bile to Luna’s tongue. Nonetheless, she approached Fluttershy.

Luna’s steps were quiet enough so that she didn’t notice her presence before she spoke.

“Good afternoon, Fluttershy.”

Upon realizing that she wasn’t alone, Fluttershy fell off her chair. She gathered herself quickly though, and returned the greeting, in a way.

“H-h-hi, L-Luna. S-so nice to see you, Princess.”

Luna sighed. “Fluttershy, listen: there’s no need to be that formal now. Just try to relax a bit, okay? There’s something we need to talk about.”   

“O-okay…”

Luna studied the faintly shaking pony who was doing her best to hide her face into her rich, pink mane. “Do you remember how I promised how we would one day talk more about the dreams you’ve been having lately?” As the pegasus nodded shortly, Luna continued: “That time has now come.”

Fluttershy shuffled her legs under the table. “Can I ask questions, then?”

“Of course.”

The bright teal eyes peeked from the confines of the mane. “Why me?”

Luna gave her a long look. “We don’t know, not for certain. Clearly the gift connects to your affinity for animals, but how and why, we can’t yet say. I’m sorry.” Very gently, she put a hoof on her shoulder. “There are a lot of things in the world that we don’t know the reason for. That doesn’t mean that we couldn’t live with them.”

Fluttershy stayed still under her touch. “So it’s not… It’s not going to go away, is it?”

“I’m afraid not. The gift is a part of you, and you are a part of it.”

The teal eyes turned on the floor. “Will I be seeing… more death?”

“The probability for that is very low. Whatever gave birth to the beast of the Shallows was a freak accident, an anomaly. It shouldn’t have been possible in the first place. It will most likely not happen again in your lifetime.” 

Fluttershy stayed quiet for a while. “She wasn’t a beast… She was a mother. A mother trying to feed and protect her young.” A shudder travelled through her. “And Twilight killed her for that.” 

“She didn’t know,” said Luna soothingly. “You shouldn’t blame her for that.”

Fluttershy turned her gaze on Luna again. This time, there was sharpness in the icy depths. “Why she wasn’t told the truth? Why?” 

“Celestia had plans for Twilight,” explained Luna calmly. “Plans that will come to light in time. Why exactly she acted as she did, even I cannot say for sure. Can you tell how I can still live with her, regardless of that?” 

Fluttershy didn’t move a muscle.

“Because I trust her. And because she trusts me. That is the only thing that matters.” She removed her hoof from Fluttershy’s shoulder, brushing her curls on the way. “Is there something more you’d like to know about your gift?” 

Fluttershy thought for a moment. “Why exactly is it a gift?”

Luna blinked. “In the same vein knowledge itself is. It can be a burden to bear, but it’s always a necessary burden. Your sight enables you to see the evil in nature, Fluttershy. Now why do you think that is?” She tilted her head slightly.  

“So that I could heal it,” Fluttershy said quietly. “You said something similar before.” 

“And it’s still true. But as I said, in our age there is not much evil to speak of anymore, not in the nature nor in the pony race. It would seem that your gift bloomed a bit late, which makes me believe all the more that it is nothing but a coincidence.” 

“But why that dog turned into a wolf?” asked Fluttershy, her brows furrowed. “Why? What could have made it kill other animals?”

Luna opened her mouth. At the same time, the double doors of the chamber opened. Along with the dying echo created by their bang, in entered Princess Celestia, carrying the unconscious Twilight on her back.      

Fluttershy screamed.

Luna raised an eyebrow.

And Celestia cast a spell that enveloped Fluttershy in a grey mist, robbing her of her consciousness. She collapsed on the floor like a sack of potatoes.

Now that was something Luna hadn’t seen coming.

Celestia walked steadily closer to them, acting as if nothing had happened. But when she spoke, Luna could sense that something had gone very much awry. “I want you to wipe their memories and rebuild them new ones, starting from their first night in Damp Town. Make sure that they never met the wolfmother or her litter. Make sure that they never found out what happened to the disappeared villagers.”    

“Uhm, what?” For once, Luna couldn’t devise anything clever to say, not even about the fact that Celestia wasn’t smiling.

“There have been some… Complications. It appears that Twilight wasn’t as ready for my message as I thought she would be. It makes no matter, though, for I know that you will make it alright again.”

“That I will make it… What? What are you saying? You think tampering with ponies’ memories is just something I can do within a minute’s notice?”

Celestia said nothing, but set Twilight down from her back and next to Fluttershy as carefully as she could manage. Only after that did she speak.

“Luna, dear sister… For this one time, I do not feel like the god I am supposed to be. For the love you bear towards me… Please, spare me from your hypocrisies and just do as I say.”

Rather than throwing the arrogance of her sister straight back to her face, Luna smiled, since deep inside herself, she knew that this time, she had won. She wasn’t quite sure how, or what, but she had won. That was plain to see from the joyless look Celestia gave her, with her favourite pupil laying unconscious at her feet.

“Why, I’d be delighted to help you with this little… Problem. Just leave them there and I will clean this mess up for you. However, some extra information about what happened with Twilight might help with the task...”

Celestia didn’t look at Luna anymore, but instead kept her eyes firmly on Twilight, whose steady breathing, along with Fluttershy’s, made the only sounds in the room. It seemed like she was lost deep inside her own mind, in some depths even Luna had hard time figuring out. Especially in times like this.

“I think… That she experienced a similar reaction as you did, a millenium ago,” Celestia said, still studying the almost motionless body of Twilight with keen interest.

Luna opened her mouth to speak, yet said nothing. 

Celestia’s expression gave away nothing, but before she left, she brushed the mane from Twilight’s face with her muzzle.

“And what would you like me to do about Fluttershy's gift?” Luna asked before her sister could vanish through the double doors.

“Just forget it for now. We can take care of that later, when a suitable opportunity presents itself.”

And with that, Celestia was gone.

> Chapter VI
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------




Fluttershy awoke with her heart in her throat, sweat trickling down her brow, and a muffled scream on her tongue. For an instant she thought that she was still in the cave, that the pack was about to return, that Twilight would… No. Not that. Anything but that. Still breathing rapidly, she looked around herself in the large, mostly white room. Faint light carried through the closed curtains of the single, massive window. Beside the bed on which she lay, and the tall mirror in the corner, there wasn’t any furniture. A single door lay to her right, made of white oak and decorated with beautiful flower carvings. She peeked over the bedside and noticed a large, thick red mattress covering the floor. It felt softer than any moss she had stepped on. 

Am I dead? She had to bite her lip really hard to make sure she wasn’t. Ouch… No, I’m alive. But how– Her eyes grew wide. Luna. Luna came to me, to us. She got us out of there. Us? Twilight. Where is Twilight? She stepped completely out of the bed and flinched as she saw movement from the corner of her eye. As she turned, her own reflection stared at her. She took a step closer, looking at herself. I had a wound on my temple, but now it’s gone. And somepony has combed my mane. And washed away the blood. She flinched again. Blood. Death. Horror. She took a step back, shaking. This is wrong. Where am I, why am I here? Where is–

The door opened. Fluttershy couldn’t hear a creak, but saw via the mirror how the white wood stood aside, letting sunlight into the dim room. She didn’t turn, but stared into the mirror. A leg stepped in from the other side. Fluttershy held her breath. In the mirror, another pony appeared. Twilight entered the room. Fluttershy turned around. The two ponies stared at each other over the play of light and gloom, and for a moment so brief it barely existed, they did not recognize each other. After that, they ran to each other’s embraces, hugging each other tighter than they had ever hugged anypony else. Twilight tried to say something, but could only formulate meaningless and detached words. They were music to Fluttershy’s ears.

“Twilight…” Fluttershy started. Her loudly grumbling stomach interrupted her. 

Twilight let out a tense laugh. “There’s… There’s food out there, in the next room. Breakfast. I already had some myself. Its… Really good.”

“Breakfast,” repeated Fluttershy. The word felt good on her tongue; saying it was like praying. It was so very… ordinary. Such a wonderfully ordinary word.

The actual breakfast proved to be really good, too. For some minutes, they ate in silence, barely looking at each other as they feasted on the various fruits, vegetables, and bread. Finally, after a last bite on a particularly sweet carrot, Fluttershy said:

“Twilight… I’m… really sorry that I… kicked you. No, I’m more than sorry, I– “

“I know, Fluttershy, I know,” said Twilight quietly, putting a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. Fluttershy responded by pressing her face against Twilight’s mane.

“Maybe I deserved to be kicked,” said Twilight after a while. “I mean, the thing I did, I have no excuses for myself… It was just…”

“It’s… It’s okay,” said Fluttershy quietly. “The wolfmother, she…  She thought that you were threatening the puppies. If you hadn’t… stopped her… She would have torn your throat out.”

There really was nothing Twilight could’ve said to that, so she didn’t. 

“I still don’t understand… If there wasn’t a witch… then why did you leave me?” 

Fluttershy pressed her face tighter into her friend’s mane and shoulder. “I’m sorry about that. I can’t say how sorry I am about that…” She sniffed. “Like I told you in the Shallows… I had a dream. Except that it wasn’t a dream, but a vision.” 
 
“Um, what?”
      
Fluttershy let go of Twilight, her face lost in her mane. “I don’t know if I should be talking about it… Not yet, not now…”

Twilight arched an eyebrow. Before she could say anything, the double doors of the dining hall opened wide, letting in a burst of light. As Twilight turned, her heart melted on the spot. 

“Princess!” she shouted, unable and unwilling to restrain herself. She rose from her chair and ran towards her beloved mentor, who welcomed her with a radiating smile. Twilight threw herself around the alicorn’s neck, hugging her tightly.  

“I’m very pleased to see you too, Twilight,” said Celestia, wiping the small tear off her pupil’s cheek. “And you too, Fluttershy”, she continued, raising her gaze to the pegasus who was still shyly sitting by the table. Fluttershy bowed her head slightly. 

“Princess…” said Twilight again, still hugging Celestia as if she would disappear should she let go of her.

“I know, Twilight, I know. We shall talk soon, be certain of that. However, before we do, I would like to know if you two have already discussed the events of Damp Town between yourselves, or if you would like some more time?”

Twilight let go of Celestia and turned to Fluttershy, who was looking away. 

“We have talked enough, for today,” answered Twilight, turning back to Celestia. “It’s time for me to give my report.”

Celestia smiled at that. “While you are quite right about that, there is something that must happen first. Before receiving your report, I shall give you one of my own. Come, walk with me.”

And with that, Celestia walked away from the room. Twilight gave a final glance at Fluttershy, who was still staring at the floor, before she quietly followed in her mentor’s hoofsteps. They entered into a high and wide corridor, lit by the light cascading through the tall glass windows. 

“Are we in the western part of the Castle?” asked Twilight. 

Celestia glanced over her shoulder, smiling. “It still surprises me how well you can tell one corridor from another around here.” She headed to the left.

Twilight trotted quickly by her side, staying just half a step behind. “The paintwork helps a lot.” She nodded at the glowing glass windows.

Celestia followed her gaze. Above them, various ponies, and an occasional griffon, posed in frozen stances, each one appearing more important than the other. “Of course. I hardly pay them attention anymore.” Her smile thinned a breath of a hair. 

They walked leisurely, the echoes of their hoofsteps breaking the calm before them. Twilight kept on glancing up at Celestia, but she kept the smile unbroken all the way to the door that lay at the end of the corridor. Celestia pushed it open, and Twilight gasped as she saw what was on the other side.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered as they walked on the ramparts. They stopped in the halfway, facing the sunset on the horizon. It was akin to the glory that mutes poets. 

Nonetheless, Celestia gazed at it with the same slightly dull way that she had viewed the glass paintings inside. “More than I know,” she said quietly.

Twilight tore her eyes of the magnificent sight. “Princess… Is something wrong?”

Celestia kept her gaze firmly at the sunset. “Have you ever wondered where evil stems from in this world?”

Twilight blinked, and the secure smile on her lips trembled for a moment. “Sometimes…” 

“Once, ages ago, that was the only question I could conceive,” said Celestia, her voice calm as a breeze. “However, I always thought I knew the answer, and that the lingering question was but vanity of my soul, my flaw, a little evil of my own.” She looked at Twilight. “What do you think the answer is?” 

“Our enemies?” ventured Twilight after a pause. “Like Queen Chrysalis, or King Zombra.” 

“Yes, they are a part of the answer. But not whole truth. Can you think of more causes?”

Twilight frowned, looking at the golden, flaming orb in the distance. “Sometimes an evil is nopony’s fault. There are accidents, misunderstandings, mistakes.”

“That is correct, and those were the answers I was content with for so long, at least partially.” Celestia tilted her head slightly. “Can you tell me if there is something more to evil than accidents and enemies?”

Twilight chewed her lip and looked Celestia in the eyes, the secure smile gone from her face, replaced with growing confusion. “I don’t know. What else could there be?” She moved her weight between her legs. “I’m not sure I understand what we’re after here, either…”

Celestia’s eyes flickered. “The answer is us.”

“Umm…”

“We are the ultimate cause of the evil we face in this world,” continued Celestia, her whole figure tranquility come flesh. “Just like we, the whole Equestria, is the reason behind all the good, too.” 

The lines on Twilight’s brow deepend. “Do you mean that everypony has evil in them, at least a bit?”

“Yes and no, Twilight, yes and no. With these questions, no other answer can cover the whole truth.” Celestia waved at the direction of the flaming horizon. “Just a moment ago, you wondered at the beauty the setting sun. At the same time, you greeted another end of another day, another step towards the end of all days. The sunset is both the symbol of beauty and death. For us, with us.” 

Twilight watched Celestia’s hoof land gracefully on the stone. It made no sound at all. “I… I think I understand that.” She looked up. “But does that change anything?” 

“You do not think it does?” 

Twilight shuffled her legs again. “Well, isn't it then just about the pony’s choice? About what they choose to see or be?” She glanced at the sunset. “I can either choose to see beauty… or death.” 

Celestia stayed quiet for a moment, studying her pupil. “You are correct. Nonetheless, no matter how you choose, you still choose between the two sides of the same coin. The decision does not erase the other side, but evades it. And in the end, the other side will always return.”

Twilight flinched just slightly, still looking at the horizon. “You mean death.”

Celestia didn’t answer. She didn’t need to. 

“But that is just a part of life,” continued Twilight, looking at her mentor again. “That’s what you said to me when I was a filly.”      

“So I did. I remember the occasion clearly. You came to me carrying a deceased butterfly, asking me to make it fly again. You even promised to take care of it afterwards.”

Twilight’s expression didn’t stir. “We buried it in the garden, didn’t we?”

Celestia nodded. “Do you think you would be a different pony today, had I been able to make that butterfly fly again?” 

Twilight shook her head helplessly. “I can’t say… Maybe I would be more naive. It’s impossible to know for sure.”

Like a bow that the archer starts to draw, Celestia’s body tensed just the tiniest bit. “But what if it was not?”

In symmetry, Twilight’s posture stiffened, too. “What do you mean?”

“What if I could have resurrected the fallen butterfly? Or better, what if it had not needed to fall in the first place?” 

Twilight opened her mouth, but said nothing.

“What if I could do that to all the ponies who died in the Shallows?”  

Twilight blinked. “You… You knew about that already? How?”

“The ‘how’ is of no consequence at the moment. The question is: would it not have been better for everypony if the villagers never had to fear the wolf of the Shallows, if they had never needed to succumb to her teeth?” 

“Yes!” bursted Twilight. “Of course it would be. But why–” 

“And would you not, without the slightest doubt, do everything in your power to reverse their demise?” continued Celestia. Her eyes glowed in the twilight light. 

“I would!” said Twilight quickly. “The wolf… She killed them for food…”

“The cause of their perish, although exceptional, is still a secondary concern. An anomaly of nature, a freak accident that was not supposed to happen in a million years. And yet it did.” Celestia put a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “For all my power, I could not prevent it.”

Twilight glanced at the perfectly white hoof that rested gently against her. “Since when did you know?”

A few heartbeats later, Celestia answered: “Before I sent you to Damp Town.”

“Before… Why…?”

“Because of the question, Twilight. The question of evil.”

Twilight took a step back. Celestia’s hoof fell from her shoulder. “What is this?”

“You are the answer to that question,” said Celestia, her eyes flaring. “And Damp Town was just another test to prove the resolution of life itself, the figure for which you were born.” She took a step forward. 

“Who are you?” said Twilight, retreating another step. “What have you done with Princess Celestia?”

The white hoof froze for a second, but then landed softly as a feather. A warm, short laugh rang in the ramparts. “Perhaps I am being too dramatic,” said Celestia, smiling kindly. “Please, allow me to explain.”

Twilight stopped, but she still eyed the alicorn warily. “Okay… How could you sent me and Fluttershy into the village, knowing that ponies had already died there?”

“To tell the truth, Fluttershy was already well aware of the situation. She had to be, for it was her duty to make a contact with the anomaly in the Shallows and then mend it. In the end, that was what she achieved to do.” A shade of unknown origin travelled over the deep purple eyes. “Frankly, it was your part that I was left missing.”

“My part?”

“Luna told me about the message you had left behind in Damp Town. How in the heavens did you come to bring Witches into the picture?” 

“I… There was this book…” Twilight frowned, and continued with a sharper tone: “What ‘part’ are you talking about?”

“The part where you would find yourself alone, deserted, and in the face of absolute uncertainty,” said Celestia calmly. “A part that would, for all intents and purposes, substitute the part of an immortal being.” She arched her left eyebrow. “I must say, I was surprised to see how quickly you fell into the traps of paranoia.” 

“Paranoia…” repeated Twilight like in a trance. 

“Of course I did not leave you completely alone in the Shallows,” continued Celestia. “It was not by chance that Luna came for your rescue yesterday. She had followed you ever since you left Ponyville, making sure that no real harm would come to you.” She paused for a moment. “You did not make her task very easy, I heard.”

A faint blush rose on Twilight’s cheeks. “Princess, I swear, I was lost at the time! And the book felt so genuine, so real, I couldn’t help but believe it! And the traps that guarded it–”

In one smooth motion, Celestia moved her raised hoof from Twilight’s shoulder to her mouth. Twilight looked up to her and quieted immediately. “Twilight…” said Celestia with a hint of a deep worry in her voice. “What are you on about? What book? What traps?”

“The ones that almost killed me!” cried Twilight, pulling back from Celestia’s hoof. “Luna saw my note, but not that?!”

“Calm down,” said Celestia, her worry a bit more shallow now. 

Twilight grimaced. “You’re calling me paranoid, but you’ve no idea what I had to go through! All you talk about is death and butterflies and–”

“Twilight,” said the sun incarnate. 

Twilight froze, and the shiver that lanced through her pushed the first tear over her eyelids. In the supreme silence that followed, one could have almost heard it being decimated against the stone. Celestia watched the wet spot that lay on the gray slab, seemingly innocent in its insignificance. And yet it marked the end of a world for the immortal being. She looked up into the twilight eyes. In them, a wound festered. In the wound, a seed was born. Time danced away from reality’s grasp, and in the vertigo Celestia could see the seed grow, spread, and bloom. She could see it gain a form. It was a simulacrum, a phantom, a ghost from the past. A past that Celestia would spent the last of her days burying. It was not about to get its hoof out of the grave now.

The air whooshed momentarily around Twilight as Celestia’s spread wings enveloped her, pressing her against the coat soft as a misty dawn. Twilight could do nothing but stand as she vanished under the blanket of feathers, could do nothing but listen as the faintest of whispers seeped into her ears.

“Forgive me.”    

She collapsed against Celestia, her mind carried away by the rustling of feathers. 





***
 
        
 

In the next morning, in the dim of the large bedroom, Shining Armor opened his eyes as a new pony. For a moment, he simply laid still, peering at the canopy of the bed. The artful wooden carvings had always touched something deep within him. Or perhaps I’ve just learned to connect them to the happiest moments of my life. I have to ask Celestia if we can take the bed with us to the Kingdom. With a casual move, he extended his right front leg towards Cadance’s side of the bed. It hit the empty pillow with an almost inaudible thump. He glanced at his side, face blank. That’s a new one.     

He got up. “Cadance?” he asked from the gloom, but no answer came. He squinted as he lit up his own horn, scanning the room. After a moment he looked under the bed, at which point he felt silly. Then, a faint sound behind the double doors drew his attention. He walked carefully to them and pressed his ear on the dark wood. From the other side, a strange noise carried. Is that… scratching? He pushed the doors open. 

“Surprise,” said Cadance with a yawn. She was sitting by a small round table, whirling a silver spoon in a small china cup filled with steaming tea. Beside that, an assortment of breakfast waited in a neat order to be enjoyed. 

Armor’s face melted before an unbelieving smile. “I’m impressed. No, I’m utterly stunned.”   

Cadance smacked her lips sleepily and smiled back at him. “Is it my mane or face in general?” The spoon was wavering a bit in the cup. “I must make quite the sight at the moment.” 
 
Armor walked to her and planted the gentlest of kisses on her brow. “You have no idea,” he said quietly. He kissed her again, on the cheek this time.

Cadance hummed like she was drowsing, and the spoon fell idle. “Don’t expect this to become a habit. At least not at this hour.” 

Armor sat down next to her, admiring all the goods the table had to offer. “Treat such as this doesn’t deserve to become a habit.” He picked up a large, round strawberry and munched half of it in one bite. The taste was simply perfect. “Did you stay awake the whole night for this?”

“You would’ve found me nose-deep in yoghurt at that point,” she answered, nodding at the large bowl of the stuff that lay in the middle of the table. She sipped her tea, watching him softly over the fine steam that lingered in the air. “Will you be done with the ceremonies before dinner?”

“Before lunch, I’d say.” He ate the rest of the strawberry before immediately going for another, even bigger one. “All there really is to it is naming the next Captain, and even that’s barely a formality. Celestia will hold a small speech along with Shield and me and that’s it.” Next, he reached for the delicious looking white bread. “We’ll be in the Kingdom before nightfall, just as planned.” 

Cadance smiled over her cup. “What did you intend to say?”   

Armor shrugged while spreading honey over the bread. “Nothing fancy. Just a few lines of gratitude, some historical stuff, all packed in solemn dignity.” He smirked, savouring the sweet bread. “Trust me: you won’t be missing anything.”  

“I still wish I could be there,” said Cadance, studying an apple with a faraway look. “I’ve never seen you speak publicly before.” 

“I’ve heard it makes watching paint dry pale in comparison.”

“Maybe the rest of the packing will go smoothly and I get to watch some of it,” continued Cadance hopefully. “It’s not like we need to fit our bed into the train or anything.”

“Yeah… About that…”



                                               
 ***




In the end, even the ideal breakfast needs to end. But as Shining Armor left for the Castle, he knew that he’d be carrying the memory of that particular morning for the rest of his life. This, combined with his leisurely pace, meant that he reached the Inner Keep right about an hour later than he usually would have. He was about to greet the guards standing by the gate, but before he could get his mouth open, one of them said:

“Captain Armor: Princess Celestia has requested your immediate presence in the throne room.” 

Armor stopped in front of the guards, the beam on his face dimming a bit. “Did she say what for?”

“No, Captain,” said the same guard. “Lieutenant Shield ordered us to pass the message, nothing more.”  

Could it be the Damp Towners again? “Very well,” said Armor. Before disappearing through the gates, he said: “And I’m not officially the Captain anymore.”

The guard looked over his shoulder. “We know, Captain. But that’s what Lieutenant Shield explicitly said.”
 
Armor blinked and closed the gate behind him. Shield must be playing it by the book again. Makes no matter. He trotted quicker now, heading straight for the throne room. As he got closer, he expected hearing the sound of arguments any minute, but only his own footsteps echoed in the high halls all the way to the massive double doors of the throne room. It was there that he saw the first guards since the gate.

“Captain Armor,” said the sergeant there, saluting. 

“Only by the skin of my teeth,” said Armor. “Is the Princess inside?”

“Yes, Captain.” The sergeant turned around. “Open the doors for the Captain,” he said to the two guards in front of him. 

I wish they’d stop using that title. It’s difficult enough to get used to the new one as is. Armor waited as the doors opened quietly as a dream and then walked inside. At the end of the long hall, Princess Celestia sat on her throne, smiling. At once armor noticed that no guards occupied the space: after the doors closed behind him, they were left completely alone in the room. 

“I hope your day has started pleasantly,” said Celestia warmly. “I would venture that is has, considering how late it began.”

“You are right as always, Princess,” said Armor across the room, walking closer to her. He stopped a fair distance from the root of the throne and asked: “How may I be of service?”

In the quiet that followed, Celestia’s smile thinned a sliver. “In fact, I did not summon you for your services. There is something you must know.” Another pause, another layer of smile vanishing. “Twilight arrived to the Castle yesterday.” 

Something in the way Celestia said that made Armor’s neck hair rise. “Is something wrong with her?”

“Currently she is in full health of both body and mind,” said Celestia immediately. “However, she has faced some unexpected difficulties. To say it frankly, she, along with Fluttershy, faced a battle with a creature called the Witch of the Shallows.”

A sickle cut the air above Armor’s ear, or that’s what it felt to him. “What?” 

“There are still some details missing, and both of them are in deep sleep now, but–”

“A battle with a what?” interrupted Armor, taking a step forward. “A Witch?” 

“So I was lead to believe,” said Celestia calmly.

“A Witch like from the Grin brothers’ tales?” said Armor.

“I do not believe this one lived in a gingerbread house,” said Celestia with a solemn face. “However, she was defeated just the same.” 

For a moment, Armor could only blink in confusion. “How did this happen?”

Celestia stayed quiet for a moment. “As I said, there are still some details missing, but apparently the creature called the Witch proved to be the cause behind the disappearances that took place in Damp Town some time ago. Twilight and Fluttershy, whom I had sent to investigate, managed to uncover her schemes. ” In the young light light that cascaded through the glass windows, Celestia’s eyes flickered. “I am sure you believe me when I say that nopony was more surprised than me to hear about this.”  

“I admit, it does sound very… strange,” said Armor. Suddenly, his neck tensed. “I must see Twilight right away.” 

The smile returned to Celestia’s lips, just as if it had never left. “And you will. But I must advise you to refrain from waking her up: although otherwise unharmed, she was quite exhausted as she came here last night.” Celestia stood down from her throne, nodding Armor to follow.

“Last night?” asked Armor, trotting to Celestia’s side. 

“It was Luna who brought them here after the battle,” explained Celestia. “She is with Twilight and Fluttershy right now. I am sure she will gladly answer to all the questions that you have.”

“Did she help them defeat the Witch?” asked Armor as they left the Throne room. 

“Not the whole time. She was drawn to the site by the strange magic of the Witch, which apparently has some kind of a connection to the dreamscape.” Guards saluted them at the doors, and Celestia responded with a smile. Armor hardly noticed them, for his attention was completely focused on every word that left the alicorn’s mouth.

Twilight, in battle with an old mare’s tale? he thought, barely able to consider the idea sane. How does she always get herself into these situations? A librarian is supposed to wrestle with overdue loans and filing, but somehow she has been in more hot spots than me, the Captain of the Royal Guard! Well, the former Captain… 



                                              
  ***



In the same small bedroom where Twilight had awoken on the last afternoon, Celestia studied her pupil with an unreadable look in her eyes. The little unicorn’s chest heaved gently along with her mane every time a breath of air fled her, only to be drawn back in. Like a clockwork, thought Celestia. Wearing itself out breath by breath. Celestia closed her eyes, focusing on the faint sound of Twilight’s lungs. Counterweights of terror, kept still by ignorance. No sound broke the ticking of breathing, but still Celestia knew that the door had opened. She opened her eyes.

From the door mouth, Armor watched her. “Could I have a moment alone with her?” he asked quietly.

Celestia walked slowly to him. “Will I delay the ceremonies?” she asked, keeping her voice low. 

Armor took a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking. With your consent, I’d move the whole occasion for tomorrow.”

“Of course,” said Celestia. She walked past Armor. “I will let Cadance know,” she said before closing the door. Outside, she turned to Luna, who was eyeing her with a raised eyebrow. “Not here,” said Celestia. She headed back towards the throne room.

Luna fell in pace by her side. “Surely not. Pray, somepony might get the wrong picture. That is, the true picture.” 

“I have always had a high regard of your moral backbone,” said Celestia without the slightest sense of irony.   

Luna chuckled at that, although not very heartily. “You do realize that at some point, you have to tell everypony the truth?”

Celestia payed a sideways glance at her. “At some point, we all must. But everything has its time and place. And sometimes, the only way to the truth is through error.”  

“I concur. The Device is a marvelous example of that.”

Celestia stopped. Luna did not, but kept on walking down the corridor.

“You still do not understand,” said Celestia to her receding sister. “The Device is not about reaching the truth. Its purpose is precisely the opposite: to escape it.” 

Luna halted. In between the two sisters, the air vibrated, and not only from anticipation. Luna looked at Celestia over her shoulder. “Perhaps it’s not that I don’t understand, or not even that I wouldn’t want to. Perhaps I understand you only too well.”   

Deafening silence followed.

“My time has been stretched thin,” continued Luna. “If you need me, you know where to come.” With that, she trotted away, leaving the silence behind. 

Standing still in the middle of it, Celestia could not help but to feel that she was fighting against something. And the really nasty thought that followed was that the something was not fighting back. Not fairly, at least. 



                                         
      ***



In the Captain’s office, Unbroken Shield was stretching his hind legs over the large oaken table while leaning back in the similarly stout chair. To his annoyment, he could not bring the thing to creak pleasingly. It doesn’t obey me yet. A pony doesn’t own his chair unless he can make it creak as he pleases. He tried again, shifting his weight in the seat and trying to create tension in the legs. But the wood remained mute. Armor could make you sing, you stupid thing. But you’ll learn soon enough. Either that or the fireplace: your pick. With a particularly arduous effort, he rocked the chair again.

The door was knocked. Shield lost his balance and stumbled, bringing the chair crashing down on the floor. As was expected, it survived the event way better than he did. 

“I’m coming!” he shouted painfully as he got to his feet, hurrying for the door, unlocking it. “Captain, I swear, I so wasn’t–” He stopped as he saw the first glimpse of the knocker. “Oh. You’re not Armor.”

“I assume you’re not, either?” said a grey-white mare, looking suspiciously at Shield. “Where is he? I need to see him.”

“Captain Armor should be preparing for the day’s ceremonies,” said Shield, salvaging some of his dignity as he spoke. “Today is the day he officially leaves the post to m‒I mean, to his successor.”

A shade of worry travelled over the mare’s eyes. “Is this going to affect the Guard’s routines much?”

Shield raised an eyebrow. “Well, not more than for a few hours.” As he regained his composure, he got a chance to look at the mare with more care. Young. Just a kid, really. Those eyes, though… Haven’t seen eyes like that even with a gargoyle. “Why exactly are you looking for an appointment with the Captain, miss…?”

“Dewdrop,” said the mare. “I want to join the Royal Guard.”
 
Deep inside himself, Shield had to strangle a burst of laugh that would’ve otherwise spread all over Dewdrop’s face. An instinct warned him that those leaden eyes would not take such a slight lightly. Nonetheless, a vague, muffled gasp fled him. 
 
Dewdrop showed no sign of acknowledging his reaction. “Where can I sign up?”

“Uhh…” started Shield. “There maybe a few troubles in the way before that…” He took a step backward. “Perhaps you’d like to come in and have a seat?”

Dewdrop trotted in, quickly eyeing the room before sitting down before the Captain’s desk. Shield, after closing the door, picked up the chair and sat down without the faintest of creaks. “Okay, let’s start fresh. Unbroken Shield, pleasure to meet you. Now, who of the lads made you do this?” He smirked. 

Dewdrop blinked. “Sorry?”

“There’s no harm telling; I’ve gotten used to these kinds of games already. One could say I’ve earned myself a reputation by now.” He leaned easily back, desperately hoping for a complaint from the chair, even a tiny one. None came.

“Are you suggesting this is a joke?” asked Dewdrop, narrowing her eyes. The effect made them look like black holes.

Shield kept on smirking. “I’ve experienced weirder. How much did they pay you?”

Dewdrop gave him a long look. “Are you even a real Lieutenant? Or were you trying to steal something from here when I came? Is that what caused the bang?” 
 
Suddenly, all hopes for a minor creak fled Shield’s mind. Very thoughtfully, he fixed his posture. “You’re… not bluffing?”

The heavy eyes weighed him down mercilessly. “No.”

Oh, buck. “My apologies,” hurried Shield to say, this time wrestling down a nasty grimace before it could ruin whatever was left of his credibility. An oppressing silence followed. “Uhh… It can’t be done,” he finally said. “For starters, we usually do all our recruiting in the spring. Second, you’re a–”

“An earth pony?” finished Dewdrop sharply. “I know the Guard mostly includes unicorns and pegasi nowadays, but you have some of us even know.”

This is not going to end well. “What I meant to say was that you’re–” 

“Too young?” stopped the mare again. “I’m not. I’m nineteen, and that’s an adult by any standards. Besides, soldiers are supposed to be young, right?”

Shield started fidgeting slightly, but not because he tried to break the chair in. “I’d appreciate if you’d stop that. Look, we both know why this is not going to work.” Shield leaned forward in his chair. “Come now, kid. What are you after here?”

“That’s my business. And you can’t stop me from joining the Guard just because I’m a mare.”

Shield studied her intently over the large desk, resting his cheek on a hoof. Celestia knows that she is right. So right, and so wrong at the same time. “You got one of those right. In a few hours, I’ll be the next Captain of the Royal Guard. That makes your business, as far as it touches the Guard in any way, my business.” 

“But you’re not allowed to ask that yet, are you?” she said, crossing her front legs over her chest. 

“Trust me: Armor is not going to take your case on his last day. You might as well come clean now.” He straightened his back. “Why do you want to join the Guard?”

Dewdrop’s jaw moved slightly as he silently grinded her teeth together. “I want to help my friends. The ones that went missing in the Shallows.” 

“Ah, you’re one of the refugees,” he said. No wonder you thought the best way to get what you want would be to march straight to the pony that could give that to you.

She only stared at him with her eyes like lead.

“If you’d care to explain… Why do you think joining the Guard would be of any help to your friends?” he asked after a moment.

“Because only the Guard is allowed to enter the Shallows now,” she said. “Princess Celestia said that when I told her I want to return there. So here I am,” she added after some hesitation. 

Shield frowned. “And you thought signing up would mean you’d be on a rescue mission by tomorrow?” He smiled with some amusement. “That’s not how it works, you know.”

“Why not?” she said immediately. “At some point, the Guard must do something about the missing ponies. And when the times comes, you’ll need somepony who knows the forest. Might as well be me who makes sure that you don't all drown in the swamps.”

The amusement only deepened on his lips. “I see you have done some thinking, after all.” Shield thought something for a moment and then said: “Tell you what: I’ll accept your application for now, unofficially of course. As a favour, I want you to promise me something.”

She eyed him suspiciously. “Yes?”

“Have a good night’s sleep. After that, tell your parents what you’ve been planning.”

She blinked. “How did you–”

“Because it’s written on your forehead,” he said calmly. And because I know the script by heart. He stood up and walked to the door, opening it with his horn. “This is the best offer you’re going to get today. Do us both a favour and take it.”

She got up walked next to him. “I’m serious about this,” she said, looking him straight in the eyes.”

The effect made Shield feel heavy, somehow. “So am I. But sometimes being serious is not enough.” He sighed. “Look, as far as I know, Princess Celestia has taken your town’s problems to her heart. She even sent her own pupil to sort things out, I hear.”

“She sent two ponies. Two.”

Shield shrugged. “You had the whole village searching first, right? Sometimes, it’s not about the numbers.” He nudged towards the spiralling stairs. “Off you go now. I need to prepare for my promotion.”

Dewdrop gave him one more look and walked out. As the door closed behind her, she thought to herself: In the Shallows, it will in the end be about numbers. One way or the other. 

She left the Castle with a faint smile on her lips.  







 




> Chapter VII
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Above the road from Owl Moor to Damp Town, a group of four pegasi, a stallion and three mares, was flying towards the Forest. Two of them, dressed in uniforms, were carrying saddlebags filled with letters and other mail. Behind them, the stallion was arguing loudly with another mare about something family related. The mailponies were doing their best to ignore them, for with the bags they could not quite outfly them. Besides, that wouldn’t have been proper, supposing that they were supposed to guide them to Damp Town. 

“It’s not the point!” cried the mare behind them. She had this voice that naturally made the listener guard against something, even when she wasn’t shouting. “It’s our wedding! Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“Of course it does,” responded the stallion annoyedly, staring gloomily ahead. “That’s exactly why I’d rather keep my family’s side restricted to my father and his uncles.” 

“But she is your sister!” she went on, her hooves gathering strength into the argument by waving fervently.

“Half-sister,” he said automatically. He sighed heavily. “Do we have to go through this again? In front of everypony? I already agreed that I’ll invite her… personally.” 

The mare flew a bit closer to him. “And I’m grateful for that,” she said, her voice gentler now. It still had this innate sense of opposition built in, but now it was emphatic opposition. “You can’t be angry at each other forever. Family is important.” 

“She isn’t my family,” he muttered. “Never was.” 

She looked at him sadly. “I think we should spend the night there.”  

His unbelieving eyes darted at her. “What? No! The night in that last village was bad enough.” He glanced quickly at the two mares flying ahead. “No offense!” he said quickly before looking at her again. “This dampness is killing me. And with her around, it’s not quick enough!” 

She had to chuckle at that, but the serious expression returned soon enough. “I’m serious. You should suggest it.” 

He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. Nopony could insist like Ruby Lake did: it was practically a second nature to her. With some resistance, he closed his mouth tightly and nailed his eyes forward. “I might mention it. But I won’t start selling the idea.”   

Lake smiled and smoothed her fiancé’s mane. “Oh? I thought you could sell humility to a griffon on a good day?” 

Ahead of them, the two mailponies exchanged a look. They weren’t been paid enough for this. 
Sometime during the next hour they arrived in Damp Town. In there, the mailponies headed quickly to the town hall to deliver their load, leaving the young couple in the middle of the village. It was quiet there, and a hefty amount of the morning mist was still hanging around, wrapping the  village into a fine grey cloak. 

“Where is everypony?” asked Lake, looking around in the apparently deserted village.

“How should I know? I’ve never been here,” answered the stallion, hoping that’d they’d be leaving already. His asthma disagreed with every inch of this place. “All I know is that she lives in the eastern end of the town, wherever that is.” 

“You’re such a city-pony,” said Lake with amusement, heading East. “Come, she must be expecting us.” 

“I’m sure she is,” he grumbled. Already he could feel his lungs complaining. Nonetheless, he followed her through the misty village. 

Behind them, one of the steamy windows was wiped from the other side. From within, a pair of eyes followed them disappear into the grey velvet. When they were gone, a figure emerged from the building and headed towards the town hall. 

“Could they all be sleeping still?” wondered Lake while they walked.

“Or maybe my half-sister’s presence has cast a curse upon them all, dooming them into eternal oblivion,” he ventured. This received a sharp look from her part.

“You could at least try to be conciliating, you know.”   

“Oh, I am, believe me…”   

She shook her head. “Whatever did she do to you? Steal your Wonderbolt doll when you were little?”

She’d have burned it instead, had she ever found it. “It’s… complicated. It wasn’t just her, it was her mother, too. After my father had remarried, things were… well, complicated.” He paused, eyes looking at the grey nothingness before him. The mist seemed only to get thicker at the edge of the village, which made no sense, although his brain ignored the observation for now. “I think she liked the new family even less than I did. And I hated it.” 

“And so you ended up hating each other,” said Lake quietly. 

He kept his quiet. She didn’t try to break it. The scream that lanced through them did. 

“You heard that?” he asked, stopping and looking behind.

“Of course I did!” she said, whirling around. “What–”

Another scream. This one was cut abruptly in half, and the echoes sank quickly in the ever thickening mist. The two ponies moved closer to each other, heads turning quickly from side to side along with their ears. 

“Was that… one of the mailponies?” she asked. Her voice wasn’t the only thing trembling now. “I think it was.”

“Maybe she tripped or something,” he said. Saying it aloud didn’t help much.

“Like hay she did! Didn’t you hear how she–”

A growl. A deep, creeping, beastial growl. It came from near them, very near. You could taste the bloodlust in it, the hunger, the starving rage. It was near. 

The stallion’s wings unfolded. “Lake. On your wings. Now.”  
                         
Lake, panting in freight, followed his example. Next, her instinct made her turn her head: not her heart, not her reason; her instinct, older than her race. She saw movement, no, a shadow of movement, a ghost of it. It came from the mist, silent as a paw sprinting on grass, fast as an arrow. Feral as a wolf. 

The last thing she saw was a leap. 





***
 



Heavy white light filled Twilight’s vision, weighing her eyes even when she closed them. Too bright, she thought. It’s too bright. She turned on her stomach and pressed her face into the pillow. The light was left outside, but something else took its place: a voice. She knew that voice, would know it anywhere. She peeked from the confines of the pillow, afraid of finding herself in another dream. 

Sitting by her bed, Shining Armor smiled. “Twily,” he said. “I–”
Twilight threw herself around his neck, almost tumbling them both on the floor. She made a sound like crying and hugged him tightly. 

“Don’t be a dream, don’t be a dream, don’t be a dream,” she muttered. 

“I’m not,” he said calmly.  

“And neither am I,” said another voice. Twilight recognized that, too.

“Cadance!” she cried, seeing the pink alicorn. She reached for her with a hoof, but her brother’s embrace kept her leashed. Cadance smiled at that as she walked to them and joined the hug. It was a long hug.

“You’re not going to believe what I’m about to tell you,” said Twilight finally, gradually falling back to her bed. Her head felt light as a feather, at least from the inside, and the lighting really could have been a tad more dim. 

Armor tried her brow with the side of his hoof. “How are you feeling?” 

“Just fine,” she said hurriedly. “Listen, you must hear this. We fought this thing called the Witch with Flutter–where’s Fluttershy?” Her face fell all blank mid-sentence. “Where is she?”

“Still sleeping,” said Cadance. “She is absolutely okay, but we thought it best to let you sleep in different rooms. Both of you needed all the rest you could get.” She tilted her head in the way she often had when Twilight had been only a filly. “You sure you don’t need it anymore?”

“Yes,” said Twilight immediately. “Look, this is important! You must know about the–”

Armor lowered his hoof from her brow to her mouth. “Twi, we know. Celestia told us everything. Relax.” 

Twilight blinked. “The Princess? How did she know?” 

Cadance and Armor exchanged a look. 

“Luna told her. Don’t you remember that she was there?” said Cadance, looking at Twilight again. Her neck was straight, but her voice curved via worry.

“Luna?” repeated Twilight, frowning. “Eh? Was she?” The feathers of her mind rustled as if a massive pillow war had just taken place there. 

“Okay, pillow time. Doctor’s orders,” said Armor gently. “You can tell us all about it in a few hours.” He pushed her gently against the sheets.

Twilight resisted, and not that gently. “Knock it off, Doctor,” she said. “I’m not tired, I’m just… confused… I can’t sleep when I’m confused.” Her stomach chose the most ample time to growl. “Also, I’m hungry.”    

Armor looked at Cadance, desperate for support.

“She is telling the truth,” she said. “I always had to choose short books for her bedtime stories. She wouldn’t lay down until she knew how they ended.” As Armor turned his face away, Cadance winked at Twilight.

“Okay, fine, but take it easy, will you?” he said, backing away. “Do you have trouble remembering what happened?” 

Twilight got off the bed, with some fumbling. “A bit… So, did Luna bring me and Fluttershy here? And ‘here’ is Canterlot, right?”   

Armor and Cadance nodded. “She got to your aid just in time. She told us you were both exhausted at that point.”
 
“I guess we were…” said Twilight, giving her best not to sway as she stood up. “I mean, it was just wild… Gosh, even I have trouble believing it really happened!” She took a step, then another. So far so good.   

“Indeed,” said Armor grimly. “A real Witch in Equestria? That should make the headlines.” 

“In the meantime, brunch!” said Cadance. “I think we still have some left in the western tower.”

“But it’s pretty long way off,” said Armor. 

“Stop fussing over me already,” said Twilight, punching her brother. “I can walk, but I don’t want to wander too far. I need to be close when Fluttershy wakes up.” 

“In that case you might as well eat here,” said Cadance, walking to the door. “I’ll let the kitchen know.” She closed the door behind her.

“You sure you’re fine?” asked Armor.

Twilight gave him a look. “Yes. A bit jumbled and starving, but fine.” She sat down on the bed again, for standing was not easing her dizziness.

“You mean you can’t remember everything?” he continued.

“Uhh… No, I got all the pieces and I know how they fit. But I have this feeling that it might have all been a dream, even though I know it wasn’t. It’s hard to put in words.” She lied down, eyes gradually closing. “Maybe I’ll take a quick nap while the food comes…”  

Armor waited in silence for fifteen minutes, after which the quiet snoring started again. He covered her sister and left the room quietly. He waited outside until Cadance arrived with a full tray. 

“She’s sleeping again,” he said.

“The poor thing must’ve gone through a lot,” she said, looking sadly at the door. As her eyes turned to him, a faint smile lit her face. “How about you?”

“She is unharmed, and that’s all that matters,” he answered flatly. 

She looked at him carefully. “Still, you moved the ceremony.”

He cringed. “I’m sorry about that. I know how badly you want to move already. I should’ve asked from you first.”    

She smiled emphatically. “Don’t apologize, there’s no need to. I’m simply worried about you, too. This must’ve come as a terrible shock.” 

He sighed. “Honestly? I think I should’ve seen this coming. Sometimes I believe that Twilight is drawn to these things. Wasn’t it already months ago that she had to fight off an invading Changeling army?” 

She smoothed his cheek with a hoof. “She is a very brave pony. You must be proud of her.”

“I could do with a bit less pride in that regard,” he said, enjoying her touch. “She can be so… stubborn at times.” 

“I wonder whom she resembles in that,” she said, turning away. Armor followed by her side as they left the corridor.

“No need to look at me like that,” he said. “I’ve always been the reasonable one, no matter from whom you ask.”

She flashed a short smirk. “Oh? In that case I’m sure you’ll agree on leaving our old bed behind us.” 

He opened his mouth, then closed it with a sigh. “Yes, Princess.” 



 ***



The old barracks of the Royal Guard had been filled with bustle all day. It was very particular kind of bustle, the type where a pony who has nothing to do gets very lonely very fast. A sense of rush lingered in the air, along with an ambiguous oppressiveness that never left you, no matter how fast or tidily you packed your little life into a suitcase. It would only make you unpack it all, just to make sure you hadn’t forgotten anything, even though you knew you hadn’t. The atmosphere was edgy enough that you might cut yourself with it.

Dewdrop dodged two stallions in a narrow corridor as they carried luggage to the numerous carriages that waited in the courtyard. The building was allegedly capable of housing half a thousand ponies, which was probably true, but she was terrified to think what might happen if they all tried to get out at the same time. Probably the main reason why the place has been empty for so long, she thought while pressing herself flat against the wall. Seriously, I’ve seen more loosely built birdhouses. After she could move again, Dewdrop continued trotting quickly along towards the C section of the barracks, where she had spent the last week of her life along with the ponies she once had called family. She wasn’t sure what they were now.      

Will anything ever be the same anymore, after all this? Can I return to them someday? What will I do if I can’t? Those were the questions of the background, and even though she could feel the weight of them well enough, they didn’t demand an answer at once. They were the questions that could be toyed with. Her real problems were the things that toyed with her, throwing her around like a ragged doll and sticking to her coat like needles. Some of them sank deep enough to become more than just questions: they’d turn into accusations. This is your fault. You have to fix this. You will get what you deserve. You killed them. You killed them all. It was the last one that made her heart spasm. It was the one she could see written in the flame of a candle.

It took her two wrong turns to get to the door she sought. It was just like all the rest, with thick frames, a letter and a number inscribed into the unpainted wood. She pushed it open before her second thoughts could get to her. 

Inside, four bunk beds stood. Bent over one of them was a mare over the better part of her life, packing some clothes and other items into a large suitcase. The wrinkles on her face danced as she saw who had come in. 

“Oh good, you came back already. Start packing your things! We’ll be leaving within the hour, I just heard.” She went back into the packing, never minding the expression that Dewdrop had come up with just for this moment. This had not been totally unexpected.

“Agathea…” said Dewdrop, hoping that her tone would draw more attention. It did, but not in the way she had hoped.

“You know, I always did like ‘mother’ more,” said Agathea. “I can’t see why it should be any different now, I really don’t.” In a very intricate way, her packing became a tad more edgy.

Dewdrop had intended being gentle with her foster mother, but that line made an ill fit for the storm in her chest, just as it had done for the last thousand times before. “I won’t be coming with you,” she said with a level voice.

“I knew you wouldn’t.”

The sound of clothes being moved around filled the room for a moment. 

“It’s that Horn Hill lad, isn’t it?” continued Agathea, completely immersed in her packing.

Dewdrop blinked and breathed for the first time in an eternity. “What?”

Agathea smiled at her over her shoulder. “I sometimes wonder how daft you think I am. Oh, I’ve seen you looking at him lately, and he sure isn’t minding it, let me tell you.” She turned her face away. “You don’t need to play bold with me: of course you can go to his carriage. If his parents approve, naturally.” 

“I joined the Royal Guard.” 

Agathea stopped moving. Dewdrop wondered if she should just leave now and be done with it, but she wiped the thought of out her mind before it could travel over to her legs. This needed to be done properly, for several reasons, most important of which had nothing to do with good manners. 

“I will be travelling with them back to the village, to search the missing ponies,” she continued, voice steady as still water. “I came to say goodbye.” 

The elder mare still didn’t move. The idea of legging it appeared again in Dewdrop’s mind, more insistently this time.

“Don’t you have anything to say?” she said.

Agathea turned around, very slowly. The wrinkles on her face looked even more gnarled than usual. Her voice, too, had twisted beyond the casual fussiness that she so often used as a lid, a shield, and a weapon.

“You didn’t have the courage to wait Flick to come back, did you?”  
No, I just had enough common sense. And memories. “I doubt he’d care that much,” said Dewdrop, trying her best not to back away. “I already packed my things. The Guard will accommodate me tonight.” That last part was a lie, or as she wanted to think it, a hope.

“After all these years… You finally showed your true color,” said Agathea coldly. “We saved you, we took you in. Without us, without this family, you’d be an orphan. Your brother too, wherever he is.”

Dewdrop said nothing. There was no point; this was all going on tracks she’d walked on her whole life. It was just a question of hearing the last of it. 

“I’m sorry it had to come to this, but I have no choice. Wet Mane–”

“–is dead,” finished Agathea. “A week lost in the Shallows? They’re all dead! And whatever killed them will get you too, silly girl, can’t you see it!” Her tongue lashed like a whip, spit flying as she spoke. “And you thought, you silly girl, you thought the Guard could help you with that? Hah! I don’t believe for a second that they’d let you in, a scrawny filly like you! No, don’t say anything, I don’t care to hear more excuses, I’ve heard them all my life, all my bloody life! Get out. Get out!” She stomped her hoof and screamed with a shrill, mad voice: “Get out, you freak! You bastard of a cursed W–”

And that was the end of that, thought Dewdrop as she closed the door, cutting Agathea’s curse in half. At least she didn’t throw me with anyth–

Something heavy hit the other side of the door, and she could hear china breaking. She galloped away, all the way outside to the streets, zigzagging past curious stares and angry shouts until her legs gave away under her, at which point she collapsed in an alley, panting. The trembling came soon after, resonating from her heart. A sense of terrible freedom washed over her, making her cry, making her laugh, both at the same time. A dream had come true, or perhaps it had ended, she couldn’t tell. 

After a few minutes, she realized having left her luggage in the room. 





***
 



Next morning, the Castle awoke in light rain. Armor couldn’t decide which he’d have preferred, rain or sunshine, for the day of his resigning ceremony. Obviously it wouldn't have any practical significance since the event was held inside in any case, but the weather had to mean something symbolic, right? It had snowed on the day he had become the Captain, so perhaps the rain marked a closure of sorts. Or could he detect a reflection of his own sentimentality in the drops dripping over the colored glass windows? He had asked Cadance about that in the morning, and she had said that generally rain referred to a new beginning. That made sense, so he’d stick with it. 

He stole another glance past the curtain at the audience that was sitting in the comparatively small but beautifully decorated room, listening to Princess Celestia speaking of his valiant service and stuff like that. Cadance was sitting in the front row, along with Fluttershy and, worst of all, Twilight. Even if Armor couldn't decide which weather he preferred, he was certain that the inclusion of those three wasn’t to his liking. This was supposed to be a quiet and short formality, mostly meant for the officers and other Castle staff, but the presence of family always made things more… grand. He’d probably stumble in his words, even though the notes were practically tattooed on the back of his skull.  

Twilight was smiling at least, and that was good. Yesterday had passed in storytelling, with Twilight and Fluttershy going over the events as well as they could, although the pegasus too had slightly worrying holes in her memory. Well, not holes as such, but this “sense that it wasn’t really real”, whatever that meant. But that was all past now, and they both seemed to be fine, so why mull over it too much? Nothing good would come out of that, he agreed with Celestia there. The Princess had been most attentive to the two ponies’ needs and worries, even more so than usual. Armor reasoned that she must have felt a touch of guilt, having sent them in the Shallows in the first place. She could be so very protective of Twilight.

The audience started clapping their hooves, a sure sign that Armor’s turn was almost at hoof. He cleared his throat, made sure that his uniform had not a wrinkle in it, and trotted next to the radiantly smiling Princess. He made an effort at that too, but he couldn’t help but to think that he was mostly just showing his teeth to everypony. The clapping grew more fervent for a moment and then slowly died down as Armor raised his hoof. He looked at Cadance, then at Twilight, and even shortly at Fluttershy. They were all smiling. Everypony in the room was, which was slightly disturbing if you thought about it too much. He opened his mouth.

From behind the curtain where he had been waiting, a clerk trotted quickly past him, stealing his train of thought in the process. The old stallion went straight to Celestia, who had to bend her neck to hear him whispering a few words to her. Only, it wasn’t a just a few words, but quite a many, spoken in an urgent tone. When he had finished, the whole room was watching them, and most were not sure if they should be smiling anymore, for Celestia sure wasn’t. She sent the clerk away, looked at the room at large, and said:

“A news has arrived that require my immediate attention. My apologies, everypony, but I must stop the ceremony for now.” 

Her voice was calm enough, Armor could tell, and somepony else might have missed the fact that it was the type of calm that was forced over something else. But Armor could sense the subtle hints even without seeing Twilight’s face, which had worry written all over it. However, his resignation was just a five minute speech away, and surely pretty much anything except a Changeling invasion or a fire could wait that long?

“Please, Princess, we can very well finish here without your presence," said Armor hurriedly before Celestia could walk away.

She looked at him, unsmiling. “Without me, yes. Without you, no. I need you to come with me, at once.” Without waiting a response, she looked at Twilight and Fluttershy in the front row. For the briefest moment, hesitation made a last stand amidst the deep purple eyes. “You too: follow me.”  

“But Princess‒” began Armor, but she trotted past him without another word. Twilight and Fluttershy followed right after her, not even glancing at him. He looked helplessly at Cadance who had also stood up. She looked as puzzled as he felt, but ended up walking after all the rest. He stood alone on the podium for a moment, the growing murmur of the audience adding some body to the stares he was drawing like a magnet. 

“Uhh… You heard her,” he finally said. As an afterthought he added: “You’re all dismissed. Sorry.” 
With that, he galloped after his wife. 

They ended up gathering in one one the Castle’s living rooms, for the throne room would soon be crowded with the day’s visitors. It was just him, Cadance, Celestia, Twilight and Fluttershy. Well, the old clerk was there too, but he fitted in the background better than the furniture did, at least until Celestia asked him to repeat the message. Despite the clerk’s elegant voice, at the end of his speech Armor felt like he had been slapped sharply in the face.

“There has been a tragedy,” began the clerk. “Just a moment ago, a messenger arrived from one of the nearby villages. Apparently he was the last link in the chain that had started from a village called Owl Moor yesterday. They had flown all night, I heard.” He drew breath, for a senior clerk knows the importance of timing. “Yesterday, something attacked two mailponies in a place called Damp Town. Their fate is as of yet unknown, but the locals fear the worst.”   

Armor used every ounce of mental control he had to glance discreetly at Twilight and Fluttershy, who were standing very close to each other. They looked normal enough, at least when you turned a blind eye to Fluttershy’s paling face.      

“Something?” asked Twilight.

The clerk shook his head sadly. “Observations in that regard were very vague, I’m afraid. There were two pegasi with the mailponies, and all we know we learned from them. Apparently they barely made it back themselves, and naturally they were very shocked by the event. Nonetheless, they managed to alarm the officials in Owl Moor, who sent a messenger as soon as they could.” 

“What exactly happened there?” continued Twilight. She was standing very stiffly, in Armor’s mind, and Fluttershy seemed like she had been swimming in starch. 

The clerk painted them a picture of words, but the main colors of “beast”, “growl”, “fast” and “horrible” made the whole of it appear very abstract. The general tone was pretty clear, though. 

“It’s the Witch,” said Twilight quietly. 

Fluttershy fainted, to the general panic of everypony in the room. She woke up quickly enough, but they saw it best to relocate her on a couch, on a different room, with the clerk coming with her. She didn’t object. 

“How can this be?” said Twilight when the pegasus was gone. “We defeated her! I’m sure of that, at least! How can–”

“Twilight,” said Celestia in a voice that dribbled tranquility. The unicorn quieted immediately, her head drooping in exhaustion. Celestia walked over to her, closing one of her magnificent wings over her shoulders. 

The sight made Armor wish he was an alicorn, just so he could match the unbelievable depth of love that the gesture emanated. Alas, for him, only words were left.

“Whatever we’re dealing with here, you and Fluttershy won’t have to touch it with a long stick,” he said. “It’s time for the Guard to do its duty. For a change.” 

That got a sobby laugh out of Twilight, who had closed her eyes while bathing in her mentor’s tender care. From the corner of his eye, Armor could see Cadance smiling faintly too. He expected her to say something, but Celestia intervened.

“Even though Twilight’s conclusion was my first thought, too, we should not base our actions solely on that before undeniable evidence can be found. It might be the Witch, it might be some beast they have cursed, it might be something else entirely. We will know soon enough.” Her eyes turned to Armor. “You already spoke from behalf of the Guard, but I must ask if you wish to lead it personally? Given the circumstances, the choice is completely yours.”

By his side, Armor could hear Cadance’s deafening silence ringing in his ears. With a tiny motion, he turned to look at her. She was smiling, but it was a smile that he knew could mean anything, and thus meant only one thing. My choice. My choice alone.

“I will accept the task,” he said, looking Celestia in the eyes. He didn’t see the smile quietly disappear from his wife’s lips.

Celestia nodded, and removed her wing as Twilight moved towards Armor, locking herself around his neck. While he wrapped a hoof around her, the idea of wings suddenly seemed stupid, unnecessary, and vain. He was her brother, she was his sister. The love they shared needed no wings to fly. 

Twilight… For the love I bear towards you, I will get to the bottom of this. Even if it means eating my way through a whole gingerbread house. 





***
 


That night, the moon was shy. The dark-grey clouds that still hung over the city were her fan, the light rain that had continued since morning the lace of her skirt. Her light was sparse, barely a match for the street lamps that littered the stony streets like frozen glowworms. Many believed that the moon had been acting more moody ever since her mistress returned from her exile, and some of them could swear that the silvery orb was now watching them in the dark of the night. But wouldn’t the same have been true of the sun? “Well, yes,” they would say, “but it’s different.” Of course, nopony but poets could put that difference in words, and even they had to sink up to their shoulders into the well of inspiration.  

Luna herself never minded any of this. And why should I? Mystique is the name of the night, its essence, its lure. At least for those who prefer daylight. She smiled enigmatically, even when there was none in the balcony to witness that. It felt good to smile. Right now, she could do with some positivity. The news her sister had brought at twilight had not exactly been the wake-up she had expected. Another beast in the Shallows? Perhaps the father of the puppies that now lived in the Castle’s kennels? But how come Fluttershy hadn’t foreseen that? Had she lost her gift? It was impossible to tell at this point, as they had both concluded in the short talk they had had. 

I wonder if I should’ve told her about the book right then. She lowered her gaze from the city onto the large tome that floated before her, opened from halfway. The few raindrops that hit it either sank immediately into the thick paper or simply slid away to the balcony floor. In either case, they failed to affect the book in any way. That had been one of the first issues that Luna had raised an eyebrow at. Eventually she simply got bored of being amazed. The book was like nothing she knew could exist, in several ways even. Most importantly, it appeared to have a will of its own, or at least a partial will, it was hard to say without years of study. Secondly, it wasn’t a very nice will, or a soul, or a personality or whatever. To be frank, it was malicious, in Luna’s mind. Kind of reminds me of myself. On a bad day, that is. 

She turned a page, revealing another one of those elaborate and ever so gruesome pictures. This one resembled a dentist session from Tartarus, although even they probably didn’t have drills that big. Without blinking, Luna read the runic writing below. “Interrogation of a Witch, late stage. Most effective. Highly recommended. Find them. Find them now.”  The last part had appeared while she was reading. The same thing had happened a couple of dozen times now. Not only maleficent, but stubborn, too. Also quite boring. But dangerous. So very, very dangerous. She closed the book with a thud. Even the Princess of Night had a stomach, and she certainly had a taste. Her only hope was that Twilight had, too.

I should’ve watched her more closely, back in the Shallows. If she had held this book any longer… Luna shuddered. That wasn’t a thought she liked keeping inside her for long. The book was trying to lure even her, and honestly it wasn’t completely awful at it. Twilight’s mind was built to listen books. A book that would listen to her, and act based on what it heard, could do horrible things. Has already done, if I’m any judge. There’s a cave in the Shallows that has walls to prove it; walls painted red. She put the book back into Twilight’s saddleback, and closed it.

She gazed upon the shy moon and smiled again. The night was peaceful, despite the rain, or perhaps because of it. But somewhere, miles and miles away, something was lurking, stalking, watching. Killing. It needed to be stopped. For that end, petty curiosity weighted nothing. I’ll show the tome to Celestia at dawn. She might destroy it on the spot, or lock it in the deepest dungeon of the Castle, and that would be a shame. It is a very intriguing piece of work. But it might offer some clues about what is happening in the Shallows. Who knows? Maybe there are some Witches there after all, a covenant even. This Hollow Bark fellow will surely come useful then. 

Perhaps Celestia knows something about him already. At least he keeps on asking after her all the time. 

> Chapter VIII
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Mist. Grey, choking, heavy mist; like the opposite of smoke. Even the trees drowned in it. She swallowed a lungful with every breath as he ran through it. It was filling her, it felt, turning her into more mist. She was fading. The faster she ran, the less there was her to do the running. That scared her more than anything else did, but slowing down was inconceivable. Prey didn’t stop. 

The mire sucked her foot in, along with the rags of her reason. Terror flooded in and fled past her lips. She screamed in silence, for there was nopony to hear her peril, her pain, her death. She kept on fading away even while staying still. There was nopony around. She wasn’t alone. There were teeth, and claws, and a growl. That was all there was. 

She witnessed herself being torn to pieces. Only, it wasn’t her, couldn't be, for she was watching it happen along with her brother; they were standing a safe distance away, watching, listening. He was smiling, she was crying. The pony wasn’t screaming anymore. And the mist just was. It followed Dewdrop for a while even when she opened her eyes. Once her wits had woken up too she realized watching steam rising from a pot. Through the grey veil, she could make out a form of a pony stirring the pot with a ladle. 

“Already awake?” asked the mare. “My fault, was it?”

Dewdrop closed her eyes again and waited. When she was sure she wouldn’t start screaming, and that her heart wouldn’t burst through her chest, she got up from her makeshift bed. 

The cooking mare gasped. “Gosh, aren’t you the pale one. Feeling alright?”  

Dewdrop leaned against the large stony table to keep the shaking at bay. “I’m fine. Just fine.” 

The cook frowned. “Like heck you are.” She circled the table between them. “Let me try your brow.” 

Dewdrop briefly considered resisting, but the little knowledge she had of her host suggested that this would be waste of time. She nodded weakly and looked away as the older mare did an l medical check of sorts on her. Based on her expression, the result wasn’t encouraging. 

“I smell flu all over you. Just praise your luck that you met me.” Despite her sizable figure, she turned around quickly as a cat and trotted to one of the numerous cupboards that littered the stony walls. 

As he rummaged through them muttering to herself, Dewdrop looked at the rest of the castle’s kitchens. Beside Teak the Cook, like she called herself, there was nopony in the large room, which could only mean that it was still very early. In a place the size of Canterlot Castle, making sure that everypony ate their breakfast in time meant that from the kitchen’s point of view, the morning had nothing to do with the sun. Considering that, it made sense that the early shifts were mostly crewed by batponies. 

“Here you go,” said Teak, offering Dewdrop a small cup with her clawed, leathery wing. “Should get some color on those cheeks.” 

Dewdrop looked into the cup. The contents looked like they were meant for a whole different purpose than drinking. “What’s in it?” she asked.

“Herbs. A mixture passed down from bat to bat since the beginning of bats. Fresh milk with some moonsilver, a touch of daisy, mouse fur and a few words of power.” Teak flashed a sharp smile. Despite the dim, her corner teeth gleamed briefly. 

Dewdrop winced. “Mouse… fur?”

Teak shrugged. “Just being honest. The way the little buggers run around here, there’s bound to be a few hairs in everything we serve. Haven’t heard complaints yet, though.” 

Dewdrop looked into the cup again and, after strangling a gag, accepted it. It wouldn’t do to be impolite to a pony who had just yesterday saved you from rain and cold in the middle of the night. The taste made her briefly wonder if mice actually tasted good. “Thanks,” she said, taking another sip. 

Teak returned to her pot, which was churning happily. “Ain’t the smartest thing, running around in rain at night. Can catch an awful lot of things like that, you can.” 

Dewdrop put the empty cup on the table. “Again, thank you for saving me from them. Do you know what time it is?” 

“Around five. We’ll start cooking the first round of breakfast soon.”

“Seems like you already have,” said Dewdrop, nodding at the pot. The smell of it was poison to the nightmares still clinging to her mind.

“This one’s for us cooks, and for you too,” said the batpony. “And don’t you try and refuse. Nopony walks hungry out of this kitchen while Teak the Cook is on the watch.” She lifted the ladle with a clawed wing and tasted the porridge with her impressive tongue. “About done, I’d say. Here, have the first bowl.” 

It shortly occurred to Dewdrop how weird it was that a bowl full of grey goo could look so delicious. Perhaps it was the bits of fruit that did the trick, or the fact that she had skipped yesterday’s supper and dinner. She ate with vigour and gladly accepted the second round. By the time she had finished that, she almost felt like a pony again. Even the nightmare had the decency to stop its wailing while she fed.

“I don’t know how to repay for all this,” she said while wiping porridge from her lips. “I have money… in my luggage.” She bit her lip.

“Which isn’t here,” said Teak with a toothy smile. “It’s not like I can accept bits anyway, being just a cook. Still, there’s plenty of chores you can lend a hoof with.” 

“Of course,” said Dewdrop. “Anything.” 

The batpony’s eyes narrowed down. “Anything, you say? For a night on a couple of rags and some porridge? That’s an interesting rate of exchange, if you don’t mind me saying.“ She studied her for a moment. “I reckon you refuse things that do you good a tad too strong… and agree on heavy things all too willingly. Almost like you wished to punish yourself.”  

Dewdrop didn’t blink. “I just want to make up for you hospitality. It means for me more than you know.” 

Teak eyed her for a moment longer and then turned her gaze away. “Take the trash out and we’re square. And don’t hesitate coming back, if you need a place to stay, food to eat… or an ear to pour words into.” She pricked up her tufted ears. “Trust me, these things don’t just hear, but listen, too.” 

Dewdrop smiled. “Thank you, Teak. I will remember that.” She thought something and added: “Perhaps there’s something I could ask from you. About what’s happening in the Castle?” 

“Such as?”

“Yesterday I tried to get inside after the audience hours, but the guards wouldn’t let me, even when I told them that I had… Well, they just wouldn’t let me in. There was a lot of bustle going on. Do you know what that is all about?” 

Teak had begun emptying the rest of the pot into other bowls lined up on the table, and gave her a suspicious glance amidst her work. “Why’d you want to visit the Castle after the audience hour? Don’t you know they don’t let anypony in after that?” 

At least not mares who claim to have joined the Guard. They just laugh at those. “I didn’t know the hour had passed, but I had important business there,” she explained, feigning embarrassment. “It looked like they were preparing for something.” 

“Indeed they would be,” said Teak, scraping the bottom of the pot. “You hear a lot of stuff here in the kitchens. We’re the lowest level aside from the caves, and all that talk above eventually dribbles down here. The heavier the topic, the faster it sinks.” The pot clattered as it met the sink. Behind Teak, a door opened. Other cooks, batponies and normal ponies alike, started wandering into the kitchen, setting fires, pulling ingredients from the cupboards, fetching their bowls of porridge. None of them paid particularly keen attention to Dewdrop, who hardly noticed them either as Teak leaned over the table closer to her.

“I hear the Guard is sending out an expedition. A big one. And the word from the armory tells that they ain’t taking their dummies and practice weapons along, but good steel.”  

“Where are they heading?” asked Dewdrop, as casually as she could manage.

“Not anywhere close, that’s for sure. The food they've ordered from us should last for weeks.” Her round face turned a tad more conspiratorial. “I also hears that the Captain himself will be leaving. That pony means business, let none tell you otherwise.” 

As Teak leaned back to return a greeting from another batpony, Dewdrop sat down on her bed. So they are leaving for Damp Town. Something must have happened there, something bad. The nightmare rustled behind locked doors. Claws sharp as razors scratched the wood, and the hinges creaked with the weight of time and rust. It’s Mane. Just as I feared. He can’t stop himself, even though he already got what he wanted. A bang on the door, followed by another one. She was running out of planks to nail on it. I have to get to him before the Guard does. 

She got up, picked the few trash bags that lay against a wall and made her way discreetly towards the exit. Right as she had gotten the door open, Teak’s voice stopped her, right behind her back. It was amazing how quietly she could move. 

“You thought slipping away without farewells?”

Dewdrop turned around. “You’re right; that wouldn’t do. Farewell, Teak the Cook.” She smiled and hoped that would be the end of that. Somehow she knew it wouldn’t be. 

“Look, kiddo… Technically, I should let the Guard know that I let you in, and have them have a talk with you. You have any idea why I’m not doing that?”

“Maybe you should,” said Dewdrop. “I have nothing to hide.” 

Teak smiled. “Sure you don’t. It’s written all over you. But it’s not why I trust you. Call it a sixth sense, but you have that something in you. Something that tells me that you’re okay in the place it matters.” She unfolded her wing from behind her back. A colored cloth, wrapped into a bundle, appeared before Dewdrop. “In the case you didn’t know, a farewell in the kitchens is always wrapped in something,” said Teak. 

Dewdrop accepted the bundle with a nod and left before she’d start feeling too homely. 
The walk over the courtyard was as long as the morning was gloomy. The kitchens were built against the outer wall along with the servant’s quarters, armory and other such buildings. In here, Dewdrop was just another early worker, attracting the minimum amount of attention from the guards walking on the walls of the inner keep. One of them whistled after her, but she ignored him like she ignored the chilly wind. After I’ve got my armor, we’ll see who whistles after who. All I need to do is get in the same room with Shield. He has to accept me now. They will need guides in the Shallows, that’s a fact.                 

The dumpster were located near the main gates, Dewdrop knew. She had briefly considered spending the night in one of them once she had been denied access to the inner keep. Were it not for Teak, she might have awoken to a shower of thrash dropping on her right about now. She was probably the most understanding and kindest pony I’ve met in my life. I could return and ask for apprenticeship, and she’d say yes. In a few years I could be one of the cooks, perhaps afford an apartment of my own. I’d be living in Canterlot, with all my dreams come true. Is it wrong to want that? Haven’t I deserved a chance to make my own way in life? Do I dare to answer that question? 

She closed the dumpster lid and turned to face the inner gate, which remained tightly shut. They won’t let me in before eight, but at least I’ll be the first pony in the line. There was a puddle in the ground, where a reflection of a sorry and shaggy pony looked at her. The dark rims around her eyes were a nice touch. I guess cleaning up would be in order. Naturally my brush is still in my suitcase… in the barracks. If Agathea hasn’t thrown them it away. There was no way she was going to get back there now. The idea of meekly returning to Teak tempted her, but she’d be busy enough without having a homeless pony running around in her legs, no matter what she said. Time to find a new benefactor. Preferably one with a brush and hot water.

She ended up finding one of those from the blacksmith’s apprentice. The young stallion had been most helpful after a few kind words and batting of eyes. During a brief chat he had even offered to do the combing for her. Apparently he had half a dozen elder sister whom he had been practicing with, willingly or not, for years. Refusing him hadn’t been a totally one-sided disappointment. If I lived here, I could ask him out one evening, she thought while brushing her mane next to another puddle a little way off from the forge. We could eat my cookings while watching the stars from the mountainside. Little by little, Dewdrop could recognize a bit more of herself in the reflection. It broke abruptly in a whirl of symmetrical rings, spreading from the spot where a tear had fallen. Soon the surface was rippling like it had during the night. The brush fell into the puddle with a wet smack. 

When she had cried enough, she picked it up and finished brushing her mane, thinking nothing but the next stroke for the rest of the task. That was of course impossible, so she had to find distraction from other things. Like from the barking that had started at some point. She wiped her eyes and headed for its source, and soon found the castle’s kennels. A pack of dogs was jumping around a mare, only to sprint after the food that she was throwing around. She didn’t notice Dewdrop watching the scene from the other side of the fence for a whole minute. 

“Good morning,” said the mare, smiling at Dewdrop. A dog jumped to lick her face, and she laughed heartily while her cheeks were covered in saliva. “You wouldn’t believe it, but they're always this excited in the mornings. Especially after a rain. Makes all the smells different, see?” She patted the dog on the head and gave it a cookie from her saddlebag. 

Dewdrop stared at the sight, but her mind was watching an altogether different show. She had seen a pony feeding dogs before, although in a rather different sense than what was happening here. A claw travelled slowly over the locked door built in her soul. 

There were more dogs in one of the houses, she noticed. Puppies, a whole litter of them, looking shyly at the bigger dogs eating. It was hard to tell, the way they had all huddled into the shadows, but they looked different than the light-brown retrievers. These dogs were all dark, very dark; practically black as coal. Dewdrop blinked and looked closer.

A furry, clawed paw ripped through the planks.   

“W-where did those puppies come from?” she asked.

The mare looked at her, then at the puppies. “Oh, you noticed they’re not from here? A good observation! Most ponies just can’t even tell a retriever from a bulldog…”  

Dewdrop looked at the mare, who stopped smiling at the sight of her face. “How did they get here?” 

“They… Princess Celestia gave them to us. She said they had been found from the streets, the poor things.” The mare had seized throwing food around, and the dogs were starting to whine. 

“When?” asked Dewdrop. A corner of her eye twitched. 

“Uhm… A few days ago?” A dog pushed the mare, eager for food. She looked down and threw a hoofful of the cookies randomly somewhere.

When she looked at Dewdrop again, she saw her galloping away like a starving wolf was right on her heels. 





***
 




It was very strange, noted Shining Armor in passing, how everything he ate in the castle made him wish for some cheese. Even the coffee he was sipping had this effect.

“Thank you all for coming so early,” said Princess Celestia at the head of the large table. Since it was round, technically speaking there was no “head”, but some definitions went beyond geometry. “I propose we begin right away.” 

There was a cough from one of the younger officers. 

“Yes, Gilded Helm?” said Celestia.

“I was wondering whether the ponies Twilight and Fluttershy should be attending the meeting also,” said Helm. “The knowledge they have of the enemy could be of vital strategic importance.” 

And I wonder if that’s really the way they teach to speak in the Academy nowadays, thought Armor amusedly. He lay the cup on the table and said: “With your permission, Princess, I’d like to answer that one.” 

“Of course,” said Celestia. 

Armor looked at Helm and the five other officers that had gathered into the room. “That was a good point, but unfortunately my sister and Fluttershy won’t be of much help to us. Even though they fought the Witch, they learned little of her in the process. Of course we will share that little with you, but we don’t need to bother them at seven o'clock in the morning to do that. They’ve earned their rest.”    

“Will they be accompanying us in the Shallows?” asked Unbroken Shield. 

“No,” said Armor. “As I said: they’ve earned their rest.” 

“Any other questions before we begin?” asked Celestia from the room at large. 

Beside her, Luna coughed. At the same time, the only door to the room opened. A guard looked in, searched somepony for a second, and then trotted to Shield. Some whispering ensued. At the end of it, an enigmatic smile had spread on Shield’s lips, although it might’ve been a grimace, too. In Shield’s case, it was sometimes hard to tell the difference. 

“With your permission, I would beg to make my leave,” he said to Celestia. In response to Armor’s questioning expression, he added: “Apparently my presence is required in the barracks.” 

“Something I should be aware of?” said Armor. 

Shield shrugged. “I’d say you’ll get to know about it eventually.” 
“You are free to go,” said Celestia. She turned to her sister next to her. “You were about to say something?”

Luna waited that the door was closed and then said: “There is something I would like to show you: a book. A book that I recovered from the Witch in the aftermath of the battle.” 

Glances were exchanged, a few words whispered. Armor took a sip of his coffee. 

“You may wonder why I didn’t mention this earlier,” continued Luna. “For one, there was no need to: the Witch was defeated, after all. Second, at first glance the tome struck me as a very intricate spellbook and nothing more. However, in the light of recent events, and after a more careful study, I feel this object could be the most valuable asset we have in our hooves at the moment.”      

“Does it include information of the whereabouts of the Witches?” asked Helm. Armor remembered that he had casually inquired the other day if the post of the First Lieutenant was already filled.   

“Not as such,” said Luna. “It does, however, contain over fifty ways to kill a witch, most of which are quite messy.” 
 
They all stared at her. Armor, whose cup was frozen on his lips, noticed how even Celestia looked like somepony had poured icy water over her neck. He himself felt like sitting in barrel filled with it.

“Could I see this artefact?” said Celestia. She blinked and added: “I mean, could we see it?” 

Luna’s horn glowed, and from a saddlebag next to her, a book flew on the middle of the table. Dust puffed in the air as it landed heavily on the bare wood. 

Armor found it very difficult to tear his eyes off it. The cover was made of dark leather which sucked light like it was feeding on it. There was no title, no name of an author: just a strange carving that he remembered having seen somewhere. It resembled a tree with three roots and five branches. Suddenly, he noticed that he had spilled the remains of the coffee on his lap. He glanced around, but nopony had noticed his clumsiness. They were all staring at the book. All except Celestia, who had closed her eyes.

“You say you found this from the possession of the Witch,” she said. “Do you have any idea why she should be carrying such an item?”

Luna glanced at her. “In her place, I would have done the same. A weapon such as this in the hooves of her enemies would be extremely dangerous.” 

“A weapon?” said Helm. “You’re saying this book is a weapon? Against the witches?” 

“Correct,” said Luna. “In fact, it’s written on the cover. The rune is old, very old, so I don’t expect you to understand it.”

“What does it mean?” asked Helm.

“Witch Hunt.” It was Celestia who had spoken. She opened her eyes. “And it was written by one of my most brilliant students, four hundred years ago.” She looked at the blank expressions, unsmiling. A sigh fled past her lips. “I suppose it’s time to tell you how the witches of Equestria were born, how they died, and how they became the myth they are today.”  



                
                                        
                                                
***





A few corridors away, Unbroken Shield wished it was Friday. Issues such as he was about to stick his hooves into were so much easier to deal with when you knew that, at the end of the day, you could forget it all for the weekend. 

“Just banging the gates, she was?” he said, partly to himself. 

“And shouting too,” said the guard trotting by his side. “Your name came up more than once.” 

Shield could detect a touch of curiosity in his companion's voice. This wouldn’t be the first time a young mare had been found demanding an entrance to the Castle at six o’clock in the morning, yelling Shield to “get out and get what’s coming for you” or something like that. He hated the memories of those occasions almost as much as he loved the nights that had preceded them. This time though, there was only regret. It’s that kid, I’m sure. Dew Draught, or whatever her name was. That soft spot I have for runaways really could do with some hardening… 

“She is quite angry, I should venture,” he said.

The guard let out a slow whistle. “She sent two lads to the infirmary once we let her in. Nothing serious, though. We just felt that it’d be best to keep them as far away from her as possible for now.” 

“They made fun of her, didn’t they?”

The guard nodded. “There was provocation, yes. Of the greasier sort. Do you want to put up a hearing?”

“Luna’s craters, no!” said Shield, shaking his head. “If they want to complain, they can go straight to Armor and explain it all to him personally.” 

They entered the inner courtyard and headed towards the barracks. Aside from the Castle itself, it was the largest building in the vicinity. The two-storied mass of stone, wood and chimneys was usually a welcome sight for Shield, who preferred to sleep there even though his rank technically forbade it. At the moment it only made him wish for that Friday again. They stopped in the lobby, where a few guards rose to attention, only to relax once they noticed that it was Shield.

“Where did you put her?” he asked. 

“To the jail,” answered the guard. 

“What? Why?”

The guard shrugged. “She asked to. She was very strict about that. We figured she felt a bit guilty, having kicked Plate and Knack like that.” He rubbed his neck and added: “There was something else, too. The way how she raged, it did seem a bit… faked. Kind of hard to put to words.”   

“Is she alone?”

“There are two guards watching after her. It didn’t feel right to leave her alone.”

“They’ll be coming up soon,” said Shield, heading to the stairs that lead underground. “In the meantime, carry on with the preparations. I want everything to be ready for the four o’clock inspection.” 

“Yes, Lieutenant, said the guard.” He saluted and went on his way as Shield descended to the jail.

It was common knowledge that the jail of the Royal Guard nowadays mostly harbored old equipment and other stuff that wasn’t too useless to be thrown away but not really necessary, either. It had been one of Armor’s first decisions as the Captain. Imprisonment had been a rare form of punishment in the Guard for the past century anyway, so he had reasoned that the time had come to invent other, more constructive ways to enforce discipline when the need arose. Serving in the balls and other royal events was one of the most feared punishments in the new array of disciplinary measures: a night or two in the jail was considered a mild burden in comparison to spending hours in an itchy smock, listening how encaptivating the newest opera had been or something like that.

Shield finished the stairs and headed towards the torchlight and noises. Soon he found two guards sitting by a table, playing with cards. When asked where the detainee was, they pointed at one of the cells. The door was open, and in the darkest corners of the small room, just outside the touch of light, a tail shifted and pulled into the gloom. Shield raised an eyebrow at that. 

“Leave us,” he said. The guards obeyed, taking their game with them. Once their steps had died away, Shield picked up the torch from the wall and stepped into the cell.

Unbroken Shield was not a pony to believe in ghosts, but after seeing the pony huddled into the corner of the cold cell, he knew for certainty that they existed. The mare pressing against the corner looked as if she had spent years here. 

The creature’s hollow eyes shunned the light. “Put that out. Please.” 

Shield obeyed without thinking. The flame hissed briefly as his magic extinguished it, leaving them into almost absolute blackness. After a moment, a softer light emerged from the tip of his horn. The mare turned her face away even from that. 

Is this really the same pony I saw yesterday? “What happened to you?” he asked. 

She didn’t answer at once. “Can I join the Guard now?” 

Her voice was stronger than Shield had anticipated. “One thing at a time. First you’re going to tell me why you look like a something that crawled out of a grave. And no lies.” 

The mare stood up, looked Shield in the eyes and said: “My mother passed away during the night.” 
   
Shield’s light died, for he forgot to keep it up. It took him a few seconds to realize that. “I’m… sorry to hear that.” 

It became very quiet. 

“And… that’s it?” said Shield.

She sniffed. “Is that not reason enough?” 

He grimaced. “No, I mean yes, uhh… I’m really sorry to hear that…” 

“You said that already.” 

Shield blinked several times, groping for the words, for the direction. Alas, he himself was the only lighthouse around, standing alone in the seas of roiling memories. 

“Am I allowed to join the Royal Guard now?” said Dewdrop. “Like promised?” 

“It wasn’t a pr–” he began, but stopped and continued: “It’s the Captain’s decision, not mine. There were some complications. Armor will carry on as the Captain for now.” 

“Until you’ve returned from the Shallows?” said Dewdrop.

“How d’you know about that?” blurted Shield. 

And just like that, Dewdrop threw herself around his neck. “You have to let me come with you,” she sobbed, squeezing his neck. “You have to… My brother’s the only family I have left. He is one of the lost ponies. Please… I have nopony else… I have to find him…” 

Shield opened his mouth. Some words were spoken, some promises made. Once or twice he swore something. It seemed to go right about according to the script, he thought while watching himself from a few feet away. Right about according to the script… 





                                                
***

  




“It all began on a stormy night, in a small village in Northern Equestria,” said Celestia. “And like is often the case with these stories, it began with death. A foal was orphaned, his parents lost in the storm. The bodies were never found, although I lead the search myself. It was suspected that they drowned in the river that had flooded during the night.” The purple eyes swept the small audience. “That is how Hollow Bark, at the age of six, became my pupil.”
 
Nopony said anything, so she continued: “For reasons that I do not wish to go over here, I chose to see that he would get the best education that Canterlot and I could offer. To my great surprise and happiness, the choice proved to be fruitful. Hollow bark was a bright, diligent student, showcasing unusual aptitude both in the classical arts and magic alike. In his teens he used to sleep in the library at times if he happened to have a particularly important essay underway.” The slightest of smiles touched her lips. “Looking back, he spent more time with his books than with any living pony he knew. Perhaps myself excluded.” For a moment, it seemed that her focus was completely immersed in the tome before her.

“And the witches were connected to him… How exactly?” asked Helm. “Where they a known enemy of Equestria back then? Did he lead the fight against them?” 

The haunted smile perished like it had never existed. “You could claim that he did… although you couldn't be farther from the truth.” She looked up. “The witches never existed. They weren’t real. There were stories, as there always are, about strange magical creatures living in the woods, living off the dew of flowers and lulling foals to eternal dances in the moonlight. These were found all over Equestria, and they had little to do with one another. Some of them knew the creatures as witches, others as something else. They were stories, and nothing more, just like they are now.” 

The officers, Armor included, exchanged confused looks, but it was Luna who voiced the obvious question.

“Your explanation appears a bit contradictory, if I may so,” she said. Celestia glanced at her from the corner of her eye, and Armor could have sworn that he saw a flash of resentment in the purple eyes. “First you tell us how they were born, how they died, and then how they never existed. Makes me wonder if there’s any truth to what you say.” 

Celestia smiled at her like she had said something extremely funny. “You are right. My account has been misleading.” Very considerately, she turned her eyes off Luna. “It has only been so because the truth of the matter also is. For Hollow Bark, the witches did exist, and they did present a real threat to Equestria. For him, they were very real. Real enough to make him believe that nothing else was.” 

“In his thirties, Hollow Bark had become, on several fields, one of the leading scholars of Canterlot. He had just been appointed as a professor in the Canterlot University of Theoretical Magic, a chair I expected him to hold for the rest of his life. I was very proud of him then: he seemed to have overcome the tragedy of his foalhood and even though he always leaned towards solitude, I was content with the knowledge that he had found his place in life. Then, on the evening before he was supposed to claim his office, he came to me, thanked for all the years we had shared, and said that he’d be leaving for a long journey across Equestria tomorrow.” 

“I was surprised beyond words, but he was set to leave, for reason I had trouble understanding. For the next ten years, I heard little of him. An occasional letter, a rumour: those were all that I was left. That is, until that fateful winter day in the year of 615 when I finally met him again, in the same village where from I had found him. There is no day among four hundred years that I would remember clearer.” 

“Somewhere along his life, Hollow Bark had developed a strong paranoia against the witches. He spent ten years roaming across Equestria, finding out abrupt and disconnected myths about them, connecting and combining them into one massive account, the final outcome of which now lays before us. I saw it the first time in the village, whereto he had invited me ‘to witness the beginning of a new age’. From an academic perspective, the book is a masterpiece. It’s also the the most vile thing I have ever read.” 

“But writing a book was only the beginning. He had acquired followers, as I found out in the village. Simple folk mostly, led astray by Bark’s fervor and hate against the witches. Indeed, gone was the shy and awkward youth I had seen walking out of the gates of Canterlot years ago. I barely recognized him, yet once I did I could not deny the blatant truth: he had gone insane.” She paused and closed her eyes. “They had put up witch trials, he and his mislead followers. Some poor ponies, caught using the wrong herbs or something similar, were being accused of witchcraft, and I was invited to… to authorize their exile.” 

The room held its breath. In the silence, Armor could’ve sworn that he heard the pages of the book rustle without any visible reason. 

“Hollow Bark had developed the idea that the witches, or at least one of them, were behind the death of his parents. As I arrived to the village, he rushed to meet me, full of conspiracy theories that all lead to his favourite topic. He seemed happy; more so than he had ever been, as I found out to my horror. His joy died soon enough when I ordered him to release his victims. After that, he ordered his accomplices to capture me as suspected of witchcraft.”  

“His followers hadn’t gotten that far, though. When they refused to obey, Hollow Bark lost whatever little held the shreds of his sanity together. A fight ensued, one that had no winners. At the end of the day, I sent Hollow Bark to a place where he could be of no further harm to anypony, least of all to himself. He died a few years after.” She looked at the book again. “This is all that’s left of him.” 

“Literally,” said Luna. All eyes turned on her. “The book is possessed. Whoever reads it will soon find their thoughts intercepted by a foreign touch. I wouldn’t recommend you to try it out.” 

“I am confused,” said Armor. “If the witches really aren’t real, then who did Twilight and Fluttershy fight against in the Shallows? And how did this book end up in the enemy's hands?” 

“Those are exactly the questions that I hope the expedition will unravel,” said Celestia. “And since that happens to be the original purpose of this meeting, I propose that we continue discussing that.”  

A consenting murmur travelled over the gathered ponies. Without any fuss, Celestia picked up the dark tome and put it into the saddleback, which she closed. She looked at the officers, opened her mouth and said nothing. Her eyes returned to the saddleback. She looked at it for a long while.

“Is that–” she began, looking at her sister. She stopped when their gazes met. 

They looked away at the exact same time. The air seemed to crack, as if it had instantaneously frozen between them. Save Armour, nopony noticed this short scene. After a moment of thought, when the discussion about the logistic had started, he dropped his pen to the floor. While picking it up, he glanced at the saddleback that lay on the floor between the sisters. 

It was hard to say in the gloom, but if he squinted, he could just about make out the letters T and S inscribed into the fabric.