If on a sunny day a traveler
The day had been perfectly okay so far. In fact, things had gone rather swimmingly from the moment Octavia Melody left her home in Canterlot. There was no waiting line at the ticket station, all of her baggage was packed and loaded without any trouble, she had a whole car almost completely to herself, and the train had been making good time for its final destination, Appaloosa.
"Had been, that is," muttered Octavia as she turned to the window once more. Through the glass, she saw harsh, sweltering desert as far as the eye could see. The landscape was cracked, dry and barren. But most importantly, for Octavia at least, it was also completely still.
"Two... hours..." she grumbled. "The train has simply been sitting here for nearly two hours, and the engineers still haven't fixed whatever happened to the front wheels."
Even after being forced to leave early to keep her roommate from following her to this year's family reunion, it was beginning to look like she would arrive late rather than early. And being a family of musicians, punctuality was always a top priority.
"Oh, I'm sure they'll have us on our way again soon," a voice said.
Octavia turned to the owner of the voice, her only companion in misery. Sitting across the aisle from her was a unicorn mare with a white coat, a long, flowing pink mane with eyes to match, and the image of the sun partially covered in clouds on her flank.
Octavia managed to hide her surprise at her companion's words. The mysterious pony hadn't even acknowledged her presence since they first boarded the train several hours ago.
"Well, I am certainly happy that one of us is optimistic," she said, turning back to the window.
"It helps," the stranger replied. "At the very least, it won't do you any good to wallow over there, either."
Octavia sighed, rolling her eyes. "All right, then. What do you suggest I do instead? Get off of the train and trot halfway across the desert?"
The unicorn giggled. "No, I was thinking we could pass the time together. Just have a conversation with each other so that we'll be too preoccupied to think of how long it will or won't take them to repair the engine."
"I hardly even know you," Octavia deadpanned. "And you hardly know me. Somehow, I doubt a conversation between two strangers will help matters."
"Well, then," said the unicorn as she stood up and walked over to the other mare, "my name is Sunny. Sunny Skies."
"Yes, it certainly is," said Octavia, looking outside at the cloudless sky above them.
"So?" asked Sunny.
"So what?" asked Octavia, annoyed.
"So, what's your name?"
"Octavia."
"Pleased to meet you, Octavia," said Sunny, grinning. "So, now we're not strangers anymore."
Octavia turned back to the unicorn, her eyes half-open. "You know, you remind me of somepony," she said.
"Well, I hope that somepony is a friend of yours," replied Sunny.
"You could say that," said Octavia. "Unicorn, white coat, pink eyes, perhaps a little too outgoing. Why, put on a blue wig and a sticker over your cutie mark, and you'd look just like..." Her eyes widened in realization, then closed as she put a hoof in her face.
"...Is something wrong, Octavia?"
"Vinyl, I swear to Celestia, if that's you, then I'm going to revoke your season pass and make you sleep on the front steps for a week," Octavia groaned. "Please, please, please, please tell me you're not actually Vinyl Scratch."
“I am not Vinyl Scratch,” Sunny replied. Her face was a mask of solemnity, but her eyes were smiling.
“Well, I’m convinced,” Octavia said. “Vinyl wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face for this long.”
“So, Octavia, are you heading for Appaloosa, or someplace even farther?”
“Appaloosa. A family reunion.” Sunny quirked an eyebrow, and Octavia added, “Yes, I know. With how wide my family has spread, Appaloosa really is the most central location for a reunion.”
“Sounds like you have a very interesting family.”
“And what about you, Sunny? What brings you out to Equestria’s frontier?”
“Oh...” Sunny’s eyes shifted. “Just some business. Nothing terribly interesting, I’m afraid.”
Octavia leaned forward in her seat. She had only asked the question in the interest of politeness, but Sunny’s evasiveness was making her genuinely curious. “Really now?” she said. “A glamorous mare like yourself, with ‘business’ in the middle of nowhere... how could that possibly not be interesting?”
Sunny turned her head to the side. “Well, I’m not sure it’s a good idea to share this with a stranger...”
Octavia smiled. “But we’re not strangers anymore, are we?”
“Yes, but— oh!” With a jolt, the train began moving again. Sunny fell on her side from the sudden movement, but Octavia kept her balance.
“Finally,” Octavia muttered.
“Oh dear.” Sunny consulted a gold watch on a chain; Octavia hadn’t seen where it came from. “This timing is no accident.”
“Accident? You mean the problem with the front wheels of the train?”
Sunny sat back up. “There was no problem with the wheels. If there were one, the engineers would have accepted the offer of help from those three off-duty mechanics.” She pointed a hoof in the direction of the mechanics in question, the only other occupants of the train car.
“Now that you mention it, that was rather suspicious.” Octavia furrowed her brows. “So what is this, some kind of prank? Am I going to be an hour late for the reunion because the engineers decided to play a joke?”
“No, something much more serious than a joke, I’m afraid.”
Sunny rose to her hooves. Octavia noticed for the first time just how tall the white unicorn was. Octavia’s attention was directed away from Sunny’s legs—her very, very shapely legs—as Sunny continued. “Octavia, you’ve been an interesting travelling companion, but this is where we must part ways. I sincerely hope our paths will cross again in the future, and under better circumstances.”
She placed her forehoof to a window in the wall opposite Octavia.
“Wait,” Octavia said, “you’re leaving?”
“You’re quite observant.”
“While the train is moving.”
“Well, I missed my chance to leave when it was stationary.”
“Out the window.”
“Well, the doors are being watched.”
“Sunny, is this your ‘business’?”
Sunny Skies gave a slight nod. Octavia continued, “Well, seeing as we may never meet again, can you at least tell me what the hay this is all about?”
“Hmm. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. You placed some bags in the luggage car, right? And you noticed that the luggage car was directly after the locomotive? Yet the standard policy of Equestria-Western Railways is to hitch the cargo cars at the rear of the train.”
Octavia nodded. She didn’t know for sure, but what Sunny said was certainly plausible.
Sunny continued, “When you loaded your bags, did you notice those large barrels?”
“Yes, now that you mention it, I did. They said ‘Jelly’ on their side, and I wondered who would possibly want that much of it.”
“Unfortunately, it’s not one that any sane pony would want. It’s jellified petroleum, not fruit—a frightful explosive.”
“Oh. Dear.” Octavia scrunched her eyes shut and briefly massaged her temple, then looked back at Sunny. “What’s the target?”
“Five miles east of Appaloosa, there’s an intersection where two rail lines merge.”
“So our engineers are targeting another train?”
Sunny Skies nodded. “The Princess is aboard that train.”
“WHAT?!” Sunny jumped slightly at the outburst. Octavia regained her composure somewhat. “That is, I wasn’t aware that Princess Celestia had any visits to this area scheduled, and why is she taking a train rather than her personal chariot, after all it must be far quicker and oh dear I’m rambling.”
Octavia clamped her mouth shut and folded her ears back. Sunny tried, and failed, to suppress a giggle. “Are you alright, dear? You’re looking a little... pink.”
“I’m fine,” Octavia squeaked. She could feel the blush burning on her cheeks.
“Anyway,” Sunny said, “from time to time the Princess likes to slip away from the palace, disguised as an average pony. I can’t say for certain, but I suspect she prefers the company of ponies who aren’t so deferential. Ponies who speak their minds rather than constantly kissing her hoof.”
“Of course!” Octavia said, as much to herself as to Sunny. “The company of equals rather than fans. I’d never considered that Celestia would feel the same way, but it makes perfect sense.”
She thought back to a night two years ago: her recital of Joseph Hay’s Concerto No. 2 in D Major with the Canterlot Symphony Orchestra. For the first—and so far, only—time in Octavia’s career, Princess Celestia had been in the audience. Octavia saw those pearly wings, that prismatic pastel mane, in the crowd, in spite of the bright stage lights shining into own eyes. Perhaps the sight had merely been a trick of the mind, but it had set Octavia’s heart pounding all the same. The adrenaline rush helped her play flawlessly that evening, but it also set her face ablaze with a blush that must have been visible from the back rows of the concert hall.
After the concert, Octavia was mobbed. There were a hoofful of fans hoping to express their appreciation, a gaggle of reporters looking for a printable statement from the mare of the hour, and a horde of noble ponies who had nothing to say and an overwhelming desire to be seen saying it to Octavia. Then, the crowd silenced and parted as Princess Celestia approached. Up close, the Princess’ coat gleamed brighter than her gold crown, and her eyes sparkled more beautifully than any of the jewels she wore. She gave Octavia a warm smile and a slight nod of her head, then wordlessly she departed.
Octavia had yet to admit to anypony, but that smile was her fondest memory from her entire career to date.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sunny Skies’ voice brought Octavia back to the present. Sunny hid her smile behind a hoof. “I can’t tell if you’re blushing or feverish.”
“I’m fine! In fact, I’m more than fine!” Octavia stood and stepped up to Sunny. “I’m going to help you!”
“What?”
“A bunch of jerks want to hurt Princess Celestia? Not on my watch, sister.”
Sunny shifted her eyes. “Yes, but...”
“Oh, I can hold my own in a fight, don’t you worry. I wasn’t always this classy. I’m a bad enough mare to rescue the Princess.”
Sunny met Octavia’s gaze, then smiled warmly. “Oh, this is going to be fun!”
***
Celestia paced across the room. How could she have been so careless?
She should have realized the potential danger as soon she got Twilight’s letter. Maybe if she had been more alert, she could have found a way to resolve the situation without having to stammer excuses to a fellow passenger. But embarrassment seemed so insignificant now. She should have found a way to leave alone. She should have forced Octavia to stay put, regardless of the consequences. Nothing could have been worth this.
She could still see them: the train from Canterlot, delayed an hour and rushing to make up for lost time … the Ponyville express, an unscheduled trip added to accommodate traffic to the Apple Family Reunion the next day … that bend in the track before the crossing, where the new line awkwardly swerves in deference not to geography but the local buffalo population ...
It could have been worse. The trains hadn’t actually collided. Everypony had escaped with at worst minor injuries. Everypony except the one who hadn’t been on a train. The one who was her fault most of all.
Celestia looked at the other side of the room again. Was that marble all the way from Ghastly Gorge? The decorations seemed out of place in what was still a small frontier town at heart. It could have been a hospital in any city. Her attention however, focused on the little door that remained stubbornly closed.
Was the Appleloosa General Hospital even up to the task? The development here was impressive she had to admit. Just four years ago Appleloosa was merely a name optimistically applied to a hoofful of hastily constructed buildings along a single, unpaved road. Now, even the orchards that once caused so much trouble were no longer visible from town, hidden behind rows of tall houses and businesses.
And yet, this was far from the best medical care available when the whole of Equestria was an option. Should she teleport Octavia to that clinic in Manehattan? She could do it easily. She could probably teleport the whole hospital if she needed to - it wasn’t even half as big as that one time with the Ursa Major... So why wasn’t she doing it? Why hadn’t she done it immediately?
All the usual excuses came flooding back into her mind. Actions must be considered with the benefit to the greatest number of ponies. The clinic is almost certainly busy with more serious cases. Her judgement with regards to Octavia is clearly impaired anyway. And of course, there was the old one about stepping in too often leading ponies to become dependent on her.
But another part of her mind feared that these were just excuses and that the true reason was far less noble. Such a display of power would inevitably reveal her true identity. There would never again be a possibility of a normal relationship with Octavia.
As if it were ever possible to begin with. The age, the responsibility, the guilt… nopony except Luna would ever be able to really communicate with her. Why did she persist in this delusion? All it ever resulted in were ponies getting hurt, emotionally if not physically.
Suddenly Celestia’s thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the far door.
“Sunny Skies?” inquired the doctor as he looked around the waiting room. “Octavia will see you now”.
Celestia paralyzed after hearing that,and tried to A Calm herself by Taking quick breaths
but she almost lost control of herself when she stated to hear wheel sounds
the wheel sounds became louder and Celestia started to drinking large cups of water
trying to be calm.But the wheel sounds only continued to appear in constant echo in her head.
Celestia was almost snapping when the doctor finally diced to talk to her:
-Did you heard me,Sunny? Octavia wants To talk whit you.
Celestia still whit huge quantities of water in her mouth tried to look backwards when her finally,.a
saw her beloved cello player in a wheelchair.
Celestia spited all the water of her mouth in the ground before awkwardly stunning:
-I..IS SHE O--OKAY??
-Well,she appears TO BE fine,in a moth or two she will be walking again,but she still have some problems whit her memory.
Celestia picked Octavia´s little earth mare hoof,looked her in the eyes and asked:
-Do you remember me?
-I am not sure,i fell scared now. ,
Said Octavia,whit a awkward grin in her face.
-Don´T be.
Celestia said it whit a tear in her eye and gave Octavia a small pungent whit her image in it.
-I,uh,Her will protect you,for all of your problems
After saying that Celestia hugged her for some seconds before awkwardly waking THE hallway.
-Saw you another day.
said Celestia before leaving the hospital trying to be optimistic knowing that thing would be better next time she would saw her.
She was wrong.
***
The drugs were beginning to wear off.
Which was good, Octavia supposed. Inasmuch as she was in a position to imagine anything. Her head was still groggy, and any attempt at thought was met with a soft haze in her mind, but she was at least aware of it now. She was still sorting through idle snippets and thoughts from a short time ago. So far she had managed to piece together the idea that she had been wheeled out into the lobby to talk to somepony. She thought she might have asked, but she still wasn't quite sure. She couldn't begin to imagine who that might have been.
That probably wouldn't come for a while, she told herself. She sighed, leaning back in the wheelchair and staring out the window. Her legs ached, which was the downside of the drugs wearing off. Still, the view was nice enough to distract her until she was able to think hard enough to distract herself with something else.
The view was beautiful, especially once the sun crept into a position where it's glare no longer hid the rest of the city curling down a mountain. She watched the sun creeping lower until it was low enough that she could see herself reflected in the glass - herself, and the pendant around her neck. She sighed, looking at it again for probably the tenth time. It had a picture of a beautiful mare on it, with snow-white fur and a long, almost rainbow mane. She heard a small click from behind her, and lowered the necklace before turning around.
A nurse had entered the room, a young-looking pale-blue unicorn stallion. He smiled at Octavia from behind a clipboard.
"Good evening miss!" he said cheerily, setting the clipboard down and trotting over. "And how are we feeling this evening?"
Octavia smiled. "Well, I'm doing alright - sore and a bit groggy, but alright," she said. "I can't say for you, though."
The nurse chuckled. "Oh, I'm just fine, miss - ah, miss..?" He tiled his head, perhaps a bit expectantly. Octavia opened her mouth to answer him, but paused and frowned. Her brow furrowed in concentration as she began to realize she was having trouble remembering her own name, of all things.
"Oc...tavia?" she said finally. "I think? I think that's it." She rubbed her nose to cover a frown. "I'm terribly sorry," she said. "I'm still... coming down, I think." She hoped she actually had been on drugs. Now that she thought of it, she was never really sure of that.The nurse smiled confidently, however, and Octvia gave a small sigh of relief.
"Oh, that makes sense," the nurse said. "Painkillers can do that to a lot of patients - they have trouble thinking clearly, so they can often seem, well, amnesiac." He smiled what he probably imagined was a comforting smile, but considering the gaps in Octavia's memory from even before waking up…
"Especially in a case like yours," the nurse continued, picking up the clipboard again. "You're a bit concussed, but we're not sure that it's enough to be a cause of actual memory loss. Is it alright if I ask you a few questions, miss Octavia?"
Octavia nodded, and the nurse cleared his throat.
"Do you know where you are?" he asked
"A hospital?" Octavia asked, raising an eyebrow.
The nurse laughed. "Fair enough," he said. "But do you know which one... no, better question: do you recall where the hospital is? Which city?"
Octavia slumped in her wheelchair, peering out the window. "I... don't," she said. "I remember a lot of names. City names, I mean. I don't remember which one this is... Manehattan maybe?"
The nurse tutted. "Say that in earshot of a local and you'll be right back in, I'm afraid," he said with a grin. "You're in Canterlot. Is that a name you remember?"
Octavia nodded. "It is," she said. "It's a big one. I guess I remember it from ground level more?"
The nurse simply nodded, marking something down on his clipboard. "Fair enough," he said again, still smiling despite having quietened. We'll have more questions for you soon enough, but it's starting to get late, so I'll have just one more for you: do you happen to remember what happened?"
Octavia could shake her head without even thinking, this time. she knew she didn't have any memory of whatever the incident. "All I know is that I won't be walking for a while. I suppose I fell?"
"Something like that," the nurse said with a nod. "All I know for certain is, you've got compound fractures on both your hind legs, and a nasty little concussion, so you won't be up and about for some time. The doctor in charge of you case is more familiar with the details of the incident than myself. I can send him up, if you'd like?"
Octavia thought about this for a moment. "Mmmm... no," she said softly. "I don't think that will be necessary. I'm sure he'll be along shortly for a checkup anyways, I can ask him then."
"He will be at that," the nurse said with a warm smile. "If you don't need anything else then, I'll head out to make room for him?" he took a moment to peer around the room, which now that Octavia thought about it was indeed a bit cramped. Still, she did in fact have a reason for him to stick around for one more moment, she realized.
"There is, actually," she said. "Well, maybe..." she wheeled herself over to her bedside table, picking up a small pendant with a picture of a mare on it. She peered at it for a moment, a name just beyond her mind, and finally held it up for the nurse to see. "Do you know who this mare is?" she asked. "The pendant was given to me by a... pretty young mare, I think. She said the mare in the picture would protect me. I don't remember her name... but I seem to remember she's important. I think I know her from afar, but I seem to remember her much closer, too..."
The nurse trotted closer, peering at the pendant, and whistled. "Goodness," he said. "that's a beautiful picture... I wonder how you got it? Well, anyways," he added, shaking his head, "if you did see her close, it was probably at a parade... that's the princess, Celestia!" He chuckled. "I'm a bit surprised you don't remember her, at least... we're all taught about her. I mean, she's the princess after all. that probably explains why you thought she was important. Most important mare in the country!"
"Ah," Octavia said, trying not to frown. The nurse was right. She was very beautiful, beautiful enough Octavia had almost hoped their relationship had been more personal. "I see, she continued with a nod. "That makes sense. Thank you, sir"
The nurses smile cracked into a grin. "I'm no sir, miss," he said with a laugh, "But thank you." He stepped back, sweeping up his clipboard and bowing his way out the door. "Have a nice evening, miss Octavia," he said.
"Good evening," Octavia said, waving politely. Once he was gone, she cast her eyes down to the pendant in her lap once again, frowning slightly. The more she looked at it, the more she imagined that it was more than her status... but for the life of her, Octavia could not think what.
***
Celestia, Meanwhile, lay in her bed and fret. She would visit Octavia tomorrow, she decided. No, the day after tomorrow. Surely Octavia's memory would be better by then... surely, she told herself. Surely.
***
Octavia spent the next few days in bed, trying to sort out the jumbled flashes that were al that remained of her memory, unsure which parts were painkiller-induced hallucinations. She was pretty sure that the “draconequus” was one of those though.
***
Back at the palace, Celestia’s normally glorious flowing mane of power was a frizzled mess. She twitched as she tried to eat her breakfast. Luna sat opposite her, in the outfit of a seamare, complete with eye-patch, colourful bandanna and a bat which sat on her shoulder. The bat was dressed in a cloak of green feathers. “Sister,” she said, “if you fret so much over her, then simply go see her! This does not seem like a difficult solution to me.”
“But what if she doesn’t recognise me!?” cried Celestia. “How can I stand in front of her, wanting to taste her lips again, when to her, I’m a stranger!?”
“Then you simply have to remind her.” Luna shrugged.
“Can you at least tell me if she dreams about me?” Celestia asked.
“Now Celestia,” said Luna with a smirk. “You know that it would be unethical for me to reveal what a pony dreamed about. You wouldn’t want me to tell anypony about what happened in your head last night, would you?”
Celestia glared at her.
“Speaking of which,” Luna continued, “I have a long night ahead of me tomorrow. I had better get to bed.” She got up and Celestia continued to glare at her until she left.
Why is she STILL dressed like that!?, Celestia wondered. Still. Maybe she has a point. I’ll visit Octavia today. She smiled.
***
She had chosen one of her favourite Pegasus disguises for her trip to the hospital.
“Name?” asked the receptionist.
“Sunny Days,” replied Celestia.
“And you’re here to see?”
“Octavia Melody,” Celestia replied.
The receptionist’s eyes widened. A pink aura surrounded her horn and she lifted her records, narrowing her blue eyes to peer through her glasses. “You’re her first visitor!” said the receptionist. “I hope that you’ll be able to jog her memory.”
Celestia’s smile disappeared as she lowered her head. “She still doesn’t remember anything?”
“No,” the receptionist replied. “But maybe a familiar face like you own will help trigger her memory. I’ll get a nurse to take you to her. It might be best if he reintroduced you two.”
The nurse in question was a pale blue unicorn stallion. He opened the door and the most beautiful face in all of Equestria turned to face them. Celestia winced when she saw all the bandages and the groggy look in Octavia’s eyes.
“Octavia,” said the nurse, “you have a visitor! This is Sunny Days! She’s your ...” He turned to look at Celestia and raised an eyebrow as he trailed off.
“Um ... friend!” Celestia squealed as her face reddened.
“... Your um friend,” said the nurse as he slowly turned from Celestia. “Do you remember her?”
Octavia slowly shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s a pity.” The nurse sighed. “But I’m sure that you two have lots to catch up on.”
Celestia bit her lip. She then noticed a pendant baring her likeness around Octavia’s neck. She pointed at it with a wing. “Do you remember where you got that pendant?” she asked.
Octavia looked down at the pendant. “No,” she replied.
“I gave it to you.”
Octavia looked up. “Thank you. It’s beautiful.”
Celestia scrunched her eyes closed before reopening them and turning towards the nurse. “May we have some time alone?”
He nodded. “Of course.” He turned and left.
Celestia waited for the door to shut before lowering her head, closing her eyes and exhaling. “Octavia, I’m going to show you something and I want you to remain calm when I do so. Can you do that for me?”
Octavia slowly nodded.
“Good,” sighed Celestia. She dropped her transformation, her true, regal form emerging. She rapidly grew as her horn sprouted and her mane shifted into many colour before billowing in the non-existent wind.
Octavia’s eyes widened. “You’re Princess Celestia! At least ... that’s what the nurse said.”
“I am,” replied Celestia.
Octavia bit her lip. “I wondered ... if the reason that you seemed so important to me was because you were a Princess. But ... if you’ve come to see me ... Was there more than that? Am I somehow special to you? Did I work for you or something?”
“You are special to me in a different way from that, Octavia,” replied Celestia. “I thought that I was going to lose you to that Ursa Major. But now you can’t even remember me! Don’t you remember any of it!? How we kissed below the cherry blossoms? How I sent you a bouquet from the Canterlot Gardens? How you serenaded me below my window and I had to ask the guards to pardon you for trespassing? How you rode a dragon to get to me while I was fighting alien ninjas?!”
Octavia shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
Celestia shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
Celestia lowered her head as tears flowed from her eyes.
Octavia reached over and gently lifted Celestia’s muzzle with her hoof. “Tell me everything. Then we can start all over.”
***
“…but that was exactly what the station attendant wanted us to think, so we opened the crates anyway and, sure enough, they were full of koalas and off-brand antacid tablets,” Celestia said.
The princess had settled onto her haunches beside Octavia’s hospital bed shortly after starting her story, and for the last four hours had remained there, gently holding the musician’s hoof. The contact had sent a wave of warmth coursing up Octavia’s front leg that had spread throughout her body as the princess talked. Combined with the wooziness she still felt from her morning dose of painkillers, it made paying attention to the princess’s story more than a little difficult, but Octavia though she had finally put her hoof on a certain missing element in the tale.
“Your majesty,” she said softly.
“Please, my love, call me Tia,” the princess said, the barest hint of rose spreading across the dazzling white of her cheeks.
“Tia…” Octavia corrected, letting the name linger on her tongue like the last piece of strawberry candy. “I beg your pardon, but, where am I in this story?” she said, suddenly certain that she must be mistaken, that she had merely missed mention of her name through the haze of medication and the princess’s mere presence.
“Oh… oh!” Celestia said, and the roses on her cheeks bloomed into bouquets. “You had not been born for another five hundred years!” The princess recoiled as if she had been physically struck, her hooves flying to her mouth, and the sudden loss of her touch made Octavia wilt like a flower in winter. “You said to tell you everything, and I simply started at the beginning!” Celestia said, clearly mortified. “I’m sorry, my darling! I’ll skip ahead.”
A knock at the door stopped story time in its hoofprints, though. The princess hastily resumed her illusionary pegasus disguise as the door opened and a nurse—not the one from before, Octavia noted—poked her head inside.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but visiting hours are over,” the nurse said, her gentle words belied by a voice that might be more at home with a nightclub bouncer than a caretaker.
Celestia, back in disguise, looked from the nurse to Octavia and back, her beautiful eyes and elegant mouth turned down in worry, but the nurse’s expression only grew sterner. The princess bit her lip and Octavia worried that she might be on the verge of revealing herself to assert her royal authority. For some reason, the thought terrified her.
“I’ll be fine, er,” Octavia said, unable to recall the pseudonym Celestia had given when she arrived, and settling on, “darling.”
The princess’s head whipped around, the bouquets in full bloom once again.
“Careful, miss. If we have to admit you for whiplash you won’t be able to visit again tomorrow,” the nurse said, putting a hoof on Celestia’s shoulder with an understanding smirk.
“I will,” the princess said, looking over her shoulder as she allowed herself to be led out. “Be back tomorrow, I mean.”
“I’ll be waiting,” Octavia said with the best smile she could muster, then settled back into her pillows with a heavy sigh once the door was closed. She still remembered nothing about being with the princess, about how she had wound up in this bed, or even about herself. Octavia was the bed-ridden amnesiac, so why had it felt like she was the one doing the comforting during the princess’s visit?
Octavia rolled onto her side, and the new position squashed her pendant into her chest right above her heart. The golden bauble was warm, as if Celestia’s hoof was touching her again. She felt as though her breast was melting around the pendant, leaving her heart exposed to the little object bearing Celestia… no, Tia’s, likeness. The euphoria was more potent than her meds.
That thought made Octavia open her eyes with a frown. Her brow furrowed ever so slightly, she regarded the pendant in silence until there was another knock on the door.
“Come in,” she called, not letting go of the pendant, and the nurse pony reentered with a tray in her mouth.
“Lunch time,” the nurse said with a singsong inflection, setting the tray of food on the bedside table. Octavia looked it over and decided to start with the daffodil sandwich.
“That’s a lovely pendant,” the nurse said as she went around the room, tidying up the few things that had been disturbed over the course of the morning.
“Thank you,” Octavia said automatically.
“Your marefriend give it to you?”
“Yes,” Octavia said, slowly. “That’s what she said.” She looked at the pendant again, holding it up to eye level. Celestia’s golden eyes stared back emptily. Her shoulders protested feebly as she raised her front legs to remove the accessory from her neck and gently set it on the nightstand with a solid –clunk–.
“Is there anything wrong, miss?” the nurse asked.
“No,” Octavia said, not looking at her. “No. But… when she comes back tomorrow… could you perhaps….”
“Tell her you’re too tired to see anypony?” the nurse finished. Octavia just nodded. The nurse smiled comfortingly, and said, “Of course, dear. You just focus of getting better.” The last thing she did before exiting the room was to close the curtains, leaving Octavia to finish her lunch with only the artificial lights.
***
Under normal circumstances, Luna’s room was quiet and dark, as befitted a Princess of the Night. Typically the only light would be the glow of her television screen and the sounds of aliens being blown up that came from the speakers. Right now, the glow was still there, but the sounds weren’t, as Luna had paused her game to listen to her sister. Or rather, her sister was being a bit too distracting for her to do a perfect final boss run.
“So she still doesn’t remember you?” she asked, doing her best to sound compassionate. Just because there was a giant, floating brain waiting to get fried by lasers didn’t mean she couldn’t at least try to help her sister. She just wished that Tia would have at least knocked before bursting into her bedroom and proceeding to bury her nose in Luna’s bag of chips.
“No,” Celestia sighed wistfully through a mouthful of sour-cream-and-onion. “I thought that talking to her would jog her memory, but it almost looked like it made her sadder.” She crumpled the now-empty bag and tossed it over her shoulder, where it landed neatly in the trash can. “What if she never remembers me? I would have to watch her go on, maybe fall in love with someone else, start a family, grow old… and all the time knowing that if not for a stupid accident I would have been with her. I-I don’t know if I could do it…”
“Sister, please stop being such a pessimist. It isn’t like you.” Luna gently patted Celestia’s head. “You defeated Discord, Nightmare Moon, lead two ponies to ascension, and ruled Equestria for over a thousand years. You are strong enough to handle a few romantic woes. Even if the worst should happen, you must be able to persevere.”
“I already know all of that, Luna,” Celestia grabbed another bag of chips. “It is just that I feel so powerless in this. It’s intolerable. In every other situation, there has been something that I could do. Now I’m reduced to just sitting here and waiting for something to happen.”
“You went to see her, that’s doing something. Celestia, she fell in love with you once already. Now you just need to do it again.”
“Yes, but that was different,” she grumbled, this time through a bag of BBQ flavor. “We were both falling in love with each other. Now… I feel like we’re still together, and she doesn’t have that feeling.”
“Maybe not, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be there for her nonetheless. Showing her that you still love her may go a long way. In a non-creepy fashion, of course. If she doesn’t remember, you must not be overbearing. Trust me when I say that I know that going overboard will only make things worse.”
“I know, I know. Everything you’re saying is right, it’s just… I’ve never in all my hundreds of years been in a situation quite like this. I feel like I should know exactly what to do, but I’ve got nothing.”
“That’s what you get for not dating for so long,” Luna said with a snort. “I was always telling you to get some action. You could use the experience.”
“Well, excuse me for being wary of dating after the way the whole Discord thing panned out.”
“See, it’s not as bad as that was!” Luna gave her sister a pat on the back. “Octavia hasn’t turned evil, at least!”
Celestia couldn’t help but smile. “I suppose you’re right. I’ll do what I can.” She tipped back the bag and devoured the last crumbs. “Still, I would have thought that the pendant would have helped her remember.”
Luna’s eyes went wide. “Pendant? What pendant?”
“Uh…” Celestia’s eyes darted back and forth. “You know, the… pendant. The Pendant of the Sun Princess.”
“ARE YOU CRAZY!?” Luna leapt to her hooves and for a moment Celestia was afraid she would revert into her Nightmare Moon persona. “You do know what that thing is capable of, don’t you? Does she know?”
“She doesn’t, and she doesn’t have to. The chances of the pendant activating are slim to none. If there’s a chance of her getting her memory back-”
“Don’t you remember what happened last time!?” Luna interrupted. “We can’t risk that! Not even for Octavia’s sake.”
“We will risk it.” Celestia stomped her hoof. “I can’t let her slip away from me, Luna. I can’t stand by not knowing that I did everything I could to bring her back.”
Luna narrowed her eyes. “You realize that Octavia is at risk as well.”
Celestia nodded, the gravity of the situation a bit undermined by the crumbs on her face. “I am well aware of what may happen. And I think Octavia is worth the risk.”
“Fine, then.” Luna sighed and sat on the couch. “But if I am forced to step in and clean up your mess, you’ll owe me for a long time.”
“I understand that as well.”
“And you understand that you must pay me back for all the food you’ve eaten?”
Celestia looked down at the bag of chips she had absent-mindedly been munching on. “I suppose so.”
“Good.”
“I suppose I should be going.” Celestia cleared her throat and stood. “Thank you for listening.”
“Think nothing of it. But be careful. I do not want either of you to be hurt.”
Celestia nodded. “I will.” She closed the door quietly behind her.
Luna turned back to her game. She stared at the screen for a few seconds, then switched it off. Right now her mind was on something else entirely.
***
Meanwhile, in a well appointed room in Canterlot reserved for Princess Celestia's personal guests...
Octavia was fiddling with the object that Princess Celestia had given her, poking, prodding, and generally fiddling with every which way such an item could be fiddled with. She vaguely recalled being told something about it, but by now had already mostly forgotten what that was.
After a certain set of random fiddlings, the Sun Pendant began to emit strange but beautifully melodic sounds. It also began to release a soothing, hypnotic light. She gazed into it, unable to look away; mesmerized by the warm kaleidoscope of ever shifting colors.
***
Meanwhile a joint project between Canterlot scientists and Crystal Empire engineers was well underway; In a secret facility hidden away somewhere in the Frozen North. There teams of researchers bustled with activity as experiments were run, trials were conducted, and ideas were brainstormed.
Amidst this tumult, Shining Armor was overseeing the operation. He was primarily concerned with giving yays or neighs to various possible projects based on what strategic/tactical value he saw in them, and checking in on those projects he had given the go ahead to. He was making his way to check in on one particular project which had had a curious origin and troubled production, but was non-the-less beginning to bear fruit.
A set of five soldiers had been chosen to take part in the project, five of the finest he could afford to spare. One soldier, Flash Sentry was among their number; standing still ensconced in strange, styled armor that covered his entire form.
He had been overseeing this particular project with extra attention, as its basis was derived from exotic materials and data acquired from a mysterious meteor that had touched down in the deep frost. The improbable sphere had contained vast amounts of exotic resources and information on how it might be utilized.
What had struck Shining Armor as odd in the matter was the fact that these materials and data were so readily translatable and utilizable. Why was something that had no clear near-planet origin filled with advancements so easily to make use of?
He deeply suspected that it was entirely intentional; and that something had deliberately sent this thing here to...well, that bit was still curious. What might 'they' want in turn for having sent this material? Even with his misgivings, he was not the topmost voice within the military; as such, despite his distrust, he found himself having to see to the construction of hardware that higher ups expected to turn up a good gain on the battlefield, while civilian interests had already converted the technology to various civilian uses.
Thusly with many misgivings he carried out his duty...
***
Meanwhile, on Sweet Apple Acres...
The apple family was taking a mid-day break after many hours of tiresome labor; they were relaxing in front of a fence, each had a bottle of cider in hoof. Big Mac stood on the the far left, Applejack was to his right, Apple Bloom was to her right, and Granny Smith was to Apple Bloom's right.
Each of them in turn took a sip from their cider; each in turn issuing a vague utterance indicative of their relaxed state.
"Eeyup."
"Mmm yep."
"Mmm hmm."
"Confangledjibberwablibberwagut."
Big Mac slowed his sip. "Ya'll worry too much Granny, we'll be fine. Done sold a whole buncha zap apple and zap apple accessories this year. Eeeyup, we're gunna be well in the ack come enda this year. Might even make enough for that particular thing we been plannin on." he resumed his sipping.
Apple Bloom nursed her sip slowly, "I'm tellin yah though it's weird idn't it? Why all of a sudden all the Everfree critters gettin so frisky? They usually never come outa the forest this far this tima year." she took a pensive sip of her cider.
"Imtellinyahthatisalldangallflubbergunnabewitthatwegu ahaftamakesomepreapartionsastomaybegunnahavesomeadweather ominourwayonaccountofIfeelitinmybones." mumbled Granny Smith as she gulped down heartily on her cider.
"Ahhhh...it sure is nice to get the chance to just kick back a spell and just relax with family. I feel I could justa 'bout be content iffin this was...errr..." Applejack's ear twitched, she tilted her head slightly. "Ya'll hear that?" she asked as a strange rumbling was heard in the distance, approaching swiftly. They all looked up.
Apple Bloom's eyes were the first to widen in sudden terror; She was suddenly up on her hind legs, fore legs flailing manically. "Everypony! BUG OUT!" she cried as they in unison scramble rolled away as small meteorites began crashing into the land around them, causing great explosive craters in each ones wake.
Applejack felt a terrible sensation; she looked up to see several of the strange meteorites sailing toward Canterlot, they emanated a malovolent aura, an aura that also emanated from the ones close by, which began to unfold into strange, sinister, living shapes…
When the meteorites that had landed at Sweet Apple Acres finished transforming, Apple Bloom screamed in terror. The meteorite creatures were an odd mix of equine and abhorrent, with rocky carapaces instead of hair and tentacles in place of legs. One of them shambled toward the horrified filly.
Applejack glared at the monster. She charged and tackled it to the ground, then turned around and bucked, hitting it in the head. The force of the blow snapped the monster's neck and the head fell to the ground with a thud. After a few seconds of wobbling, the rest of the creature collapsed.
“Alright”, Applejack shouted, “any of y'all still wanna mess with the Apple family?” The rest of the monsters approached, growling at her. Applejack looked around for her brother. “Think you could lend me a hoof, Big Mac?”, she asked.
Her brother nodded. “Eeyup.”
Applejack and Big Mac fought off the monsters, taking down one after another until only one was left. Big Mac pinnned that one down, and the rest of the family gathered around them.
“Alright, now I've got two questions for ya. Who are you, and what the buck are you doing here?”, Applejack asked the monster. The monster growled at her and craned its neck toward her leg in a vain attempt to bite it. Applejack sighed and kicked its head off.
Apple Bloom sighed and wiped some sweat off her forehead. “Glad that's over”, she said.
Applejack looked up. A few more meteors were flying through the air toward Canterlot. “I don't think it's over yet, sis.”
***
Meanwhile, miles away in the capital city of Canterlot, Octavia was still fiddling with the sun pendant. The golden orb shimmered and sparkled with a rainbow of lights. Octavia waved it back and forth for a few minutes, not sure what to make of the object or its sudden light show.
Suddenly, Celestia barged into Octavia's room. “Octavia? Are you alright?”, the princess asked.
Octavia dropped the pendant and turned to face her. “Yes, I'm fine, thanks for asking”, she replied. “What about you, though?”
Celestia walked toward the window and pulled the curtains back. “There are meteors heading this way, they'll be landing any minute now. And I think that pendant might be the reason why.”
Octavia stared at the pendant. “Is this... my fault?”, she asked.
Celestia shook her head. “No, none of us know much about the pendant. There's no way anypony could have known this would happen.”
Celestia pulled the curtains closed and walked to the door. “I need to go investigate. You stay here. You'll be safer if you stay away from the meteors.”
Octavia rushed to the door, blocking Celestia's exit. She grabbed one of the princess' hooves and looked up at her. “Your majesty, please let me come with you! I'd much rather try to help than sit here and do nothing.”
The princess looked out into the hall, then at the floor, then back at Octavia. “You're not going to give me a choice, are you?” Octavia shook her head. “Very well, then. Grab the pendant.” Octavia walked to the bed, picked up the sun pendant and put it on around her neck. “Now let's get going.”
***
Miles away in the Crystal Empire's castle, Shining Armor was in a private meeting with one of the guards. Flash Sentry stood before him, wearing jagged stone armor designed from blueprints discovered at a meteor crash site.
“How does it fit?”, Shining Armor asked.
Flash Sentry waved one of his hooves around. “Perfectly. And it's pretty light, too.”
Shining Armor tilted his head and squinted at the rocky shell the guard was encased in. “Huh. Never would've guessed. Now, let's see if it's as sturdy as it looks.” Shining Armor aimed his horn at Flash's body. His horn glowed with magic for a few seconds, then fired a beam of bright blue energy. Flash raised a hoof to cover his face, but the energy beam didn't leave even a scratch on the armor.
The captain of the royal guard stepped forward. “Hmm. Stronger than iron, and lighter too. If we can get more of this stuff, we'll be making all of our armor out of it. Weapons too, probably.”
“Where did this stuff come from anyway, sir?”, Flash Sentry asked.
Shining Armor looked around to make sure no one was in the room with them, then lowered his voice. “Well, it actually came from a-”
A messenger pushed the door open and ran to Shining Armor. “Sir, I have an urgent message from princess Celestia! Meteors are raining down on Canterlot!”
***
"More incoming!", Apple Bloom screamed, pointing her hoof at the sky. Few of the meteors heading to Canterlot departed and fell down at Sweet Apple Acres. They landed in a circle around the Apple family, forming an electric field upon impact. Applejack and the others braced themselves for lightning strikes, but the attacks that happened weren't directed at them. The lightning struck the remaining parts of the defeated monsters, drawing their horse and tentacle parts together into complete beings once again. Soon, the half-horse half-octopus abominations stood battle-ready again in front of the Apples.
"Ya want a round two, ugly?", Applejack immediately bucked the closest one, sending it flying right into the electrical circle. In theory, at least. Actually the creature didn't move at all this time, glaring at Applejack with its empty yellow eyes and a bit of a confused expression.
"That's weird...", Applejack jumped out of the way, just barely evading the monster's bite. All three of them backed out,surrounded by the monsters and electricity.
"What ah we gonna do?", Apple Bloom's voice trembled. The filly's entire body was shaking.
"Buck if I know...", Big Mac shielded the little Apple with his massive body.
***
Meanwhile, at Crystal Empire, Shining Armor and Flash Sentry both looked at the messenger and then at each other.
"Meteors?", Flash broke the silence first. "Do you know anything of this, sir?"
"I've been... assaulted by a shapeshifting insect, and fought a giant smoke tyrant. But meteors, that's new.", Shining turned to the messenger. "Anything else we should know from Celestia before we depart for help?"
"Well, she did mention something about a...", the messenger's words were cut short by a sound of several objects crash landing. Hearing their sound, the messenger hid himself under a nearby table and begin to weep. Shining Armor and Flash Sentry nodded at each other and headed out. Outside, the same meteors fell all over the Crystal Empire, crushing buildings and making ponies everywhere run.
"Sentry. Get down there, assist defending forces, lower casualties to a minimum. I will raise the shields.", Shining Armor pointed down. Flash descended there without a second word. He landed next to a few unicorn guards, who were attempting to raise a monster with telekinesis. The monster, a shapeless blob with hooves at the ends of its tentacles, was raised partially at best, its erratic and random strikes forcing the unicorns to step back.
"What in the name of the princesses...", Flash's mouth opened on its own in surprise. The unicorns and the monster then disappeared from Flash's eyes by a blinding light. After it disappeared, a beam flew into the sky from Shining Armor's horn. It formed a dome around Crystal Empire, pulling all the monsters at itself. Until new meteors cracked and shattered it. The monsters bounced back to their original positions and a bit far, the blob monster knocking all the unicorns away in front of Sentry. It attacked him with all of its tentacle hooves, only for the attacks to bounce off Sentry's new armor.
"Oh hey, the armor works.", Sentry then flew upwards and engaged the creature.
"Of course the shield doesn't work, it never works. Urgh.", meanwhile, Shining Armor used telekinesis to lift the table over the messenger pony.
"We're all going to...", the messenger whispered until Shining lightly knocked him with the table. "Uh? What?"
"Where is Cadance?", Shining threw the table away.
"Last time I heard she was... oh dear...", the messenger covered his head with his hooves again.
"What? What?!"
***
Meanwhile, at Canterlot, Celestia and Octavia stood on one of the rooftops, observing the meteors falling all over Canterlot. A royal guard ran over to Celestia, barely containing his heavy breath.
"What's the situation?", Celestia turned to him.
"Your Majesty.", the guard bowed down. "We are invaded by some kind of half-pony half-octopus creatures. The invaders seem to be... regenerating. Our weapons are not enough."
Right after the guard's words, the meteors began to emit bigger charges of electricity, forming electrical pillars visible even from the rooftops. They connected with each other, forming a gigantic electrical dome all over Canterlot. In the middle of it the electricity formed a rift. An enormous tentacle sized like a building crawled its way out of the rift, followed by a few smaller ones. Inside the rift, endless stone heads of horses were seen. All of them looked at Octavia's golden orb, the sun pendant, and screamed in a loud screeching voice that echoed throughout the entire Canterlot.
"We do have a plan, right, Your Majesty?", Octavia's eyes widened, and her mouth began to twitch a bit. "Right?"
***
Applejack waited patiently for the half-pony, half-octopus abominations to make their next move. A she watched, however, it became clear that something was wrong with the monsters. The few movements that they were making were jerky, uncoordinated, and erratic. Applejack raised an eyebrow. Maybe the electricity from the meteors that had fallen hadn't reformed them properly?
Suddenly, faster than she could react, a tentacle from one of the beasts whipped out towards Applebloom with incredible speeds, splitting the air in a tremendous crack as it did so.
Faster than she thought the big lug was capable of, Big Mac reared up in front of Applebloom. He took the full force of the impact and was sent flying across the impromptu arena formed by the circle of electrified meteors, digging out a furrow in the ground where he landed.
"Mac, no!" "Big brother!" Applejack and Applebloom cried out at the same time. AJ ran up to hold her younger sister in her hooves and, as she looked at Big Mac's unmoving form, tears started pouring forth. She closed her eyes and held Applebloom tight.
"AJ, look!" Applebloom cried out excitedly.
She forced herself to open her eyes, and to her amazement, Big Mac was moving! She didn't think that anypony, even her brother, could have survived such a blow. But as he slowly got to his hooves, the cause of his survival became apparent.
That old yoke that was as much a part of Big Mac as Applejack's hat was a part of her had a huge crack along the bottom of it. As she watched, it slowly split in half and fell from her brother's neck.
Big Mac slowly looked down to the broken yoke lying on the ground. when he looked back up, there was an anger in his eyes that Applejack had never seen before. "Ya'll done broke mah yoke," he drawled out. "That was mah Pa's yoke."
Applejack instinctively cowered back slightly at the fire in his voice, and even the equinoid abominations around them suddenly seemed more hesitant. Maybe they weren't out of the fight yet...
***
“Princess Cadance was last seen in the Crystal Square Marketplace!” the terrified messenger spat out.
“What!?” Shining Armor shouted, then ran to the balcony. The city was spread out before him, and quickly found the area the messenger had mentioned. To his horror, one of the meteors hand landed right in the middle of aforementioned the open air market, and he could see a few of the hybrid pony-octopus monsters moving about.
Shining desperately wanted to rush out there to see to his wife's safety, but he knew he couldn't leave. Civilians were going to begin filtering into the castle for safety soon, and he had to be here to organize them. He gritted his teeth. He knew Cadance was fairly capable on her own right. He was just going to have to hope she could take care of herself.
Meanwhile, Flash Sentry was dueling one of the pony-octopus monsters to a stalemate. Thanks to his new armor and his natural agility, the creature wasn't able to land any significant blows on him. Conversely, the monster seemed to be able to quickly regenerate any damage that he was able to inflict.
Flash was, if not happy, then at least satisfied with this state of affairs. The longer he could keep the monster distracted, the more civilians could make it to the relative safety of the castle.
A hooved tentacle shot out towards him. He darted off to the side, causing it to deflect harmlessly off his armor, and retaliated with a vicious downward swipe of his wingblade, cutting the end of the tentacle clean off. The severed appendage fell to the ground and wriggled about, but the monster simply grabbed it with the rest of its damaged tentacle, and the two halves began merging back together again.
Flash growled in annoyance. “Regeneration is so unfair…” While the monster was distracted regenerating itself, Flash glanced back at a unicorn guard who was directing civilians towards the castle. “Hey, have you tried fire on these things? That stops regeneration, doesn't it?”
The Unicorn guard spared him a glance. “Yes, we have. It didn't work.”
“Dang,” Flash muttered, and dodged another hooved tentacle. “Is it magical regeneration then? Have you tried a magic disruption spell?”
“Yes, we’ve tried that, too!” the guard replied testily, “It still didn’t work!”
Flash was started to get as frustrated as the guard. “Grrr…” Two tentacles shot out at him at the same time. He twisted between them, his armor again deflecting the worst of the damage, and sliced off both appendages at once.
His eyes lit up; that dual attack had given him and idea. “Have you tried both at once?”
“What?” the unicorn guard replied, finally turning to give Flash his full attention.
“I said, have you tried both fire and magic disruption at the same time?”
“...No, we haven’t…” the guard replied after a few moments.
“Ok, then, there’s something we should look into!” He dodged another tentacle. “Can you enchant weapons?”
“Only temporarily, but yes,” the guard said.
“Great!” Flash dashed towards the monster in a mad blitz and, faster than the monster could react, sliced off most of its tentacles and even left some gashes on its main body. He then darted back out and landed next to the unicorn guard. “Quick, gimme some fire and spell disruption enchants!”
“I can’t mix a spell disruption enchantment with anything else, it will disrupt it!”
“Then give me fire on one wingblade and spell disruption on the other!” He glanced back at the monster, which was slowly pulling its limbs back together. “Quickly, before that things gets back up!”
The unicorn guard complied. He closed his eyes and his horn lit up, and in less than a minute, one of Flash’s wingblades was glowing red and the other had a purple sheen to it. “Alright, now that’s what I’m talking about!” Flash said as he examined his wingblades.
The guard opened his eyes, which immediately widened in alarm. “Look out!”
Flash instinctively leapt up into the air at the same time as the unicorn guard erected a shield in front of himself, which a tentacle slammed into. Flash wasted no time in striking back in a scissoring motion with his wingblades. As they sheared through the tentacles, the red one bust into flames and the purple one glowed brightly.
The severed appendage fell to ground. The rest of the tentacles quickly grabbed it, but this time, they didn’t begin merging back together.
A huge grin appeared on Flash’s face. “Yes! It works!” Flash darted towards the monster again, dodging the tentacles that it shot his way. As soon as he reached the main body of the creature, he began hacking away at the creature in a flurry of fire and anti-magic. It soon fell to the ground, no longer moving.
Flash landed, panting heavily. That assault had taken a lot out of him, but the knowledge that the beast could be beaten and the cheering of some nearby civilians who had witnessed the deed were more than enough to keep his spirits high.
“Ha! It looks like we can beat these things after all!” The unicorn guard excitedly said as he approached.
“Yeah, we can,” Flash replied. “Thanks for the assist. What’s your name, soldier?”
The unicorn guard brought his hoof up in a salute. “Rally Mark, sir. I’m mostly a support mage, which is why I’m out her directing civilians instead of fighting these damned things.”
“Well, I’m glad you were around!” Flash said.
Just then, a panicked civilian ran up to them. “Guards! Guards, you have to help! It’s terrible! T-the Crystal Square Marketplace… Princess Cadance i-is…”
“What? What!?”
***
Celestia slowly nodded, a grim look on her face as she looked up at the gigantic tentacle reaching out of the rift in the sky far above Canterlot. "I think so." She turned to look at Octavia. "Hold on," was all she said, then her horn lit up and a moment later, they were no longer standing on the rooftops.
Octavia shook her head to try and clear some of the post teleportation dizziness. They were in a room now, and her gaze crossed by glass door leading to a balcony. The city of Canterlot lay spread out before them; they were in one of the highest towers of Canterlot Castle. She then turned her gaze to the rest of the room, and what she saw left her speechless.
Taking up the center of the room was a some sort of tremendous, obviously magical device, that went from the floor all the way up through the ceiling. The main body of the device was a mix of crystal and metal, and it was covered in wires and had gemstones studded throughout. At the center of the device, at about head height, was single, huge ruby, cut into a circular shape. “...What is this?” Octavia asked in wonder.
“This is a secret weapon that we began developing shortly after the changeling invasion,” Celestia explained. It should reproduce the effects of both Shining Armor’s shield spell and the love blast he produced with Princess Cadance, and cover the entire city of Canterlot. This will both expel any current invaders and prevent others from entering the city. And it only requires either Luna or I to power it.”
“Well, that would certainly prove useful,” Octavia replied with a smile, which quickly shifted to a worried frown. “Wait, you said should? You haven’t actually tried it out?”
Celestia shrugged. “We only completed it within the last month, and haven’t really had a chance to test it out.” She smirked. “But I’d say that now is an excellent time for a trial run, wouldn’t you agree?”
Before Octavia could say anything else, Celestia’s horn lit up. A golden thread of magic lanced from the tip of her horn to the huge ruby in the center of the device. The energy slowly spread outwards through the device, causing all of the embedded gems it passed to glow brightly, until it reached the ceiling.
Octavia raced out onto the balcony. A tremendous beam of energy shot up from the minaret of the tower high into the sky. Once it reached it’s peak, it began expanding outwards to encompass the city. Octavia looked down to the streets below. The energy passed right by ponies with no effect, but any of the half-octopus half-pony it hit were knocked up into the sky. It wasn’t long until the entirety of Canterlot was purged of the monsters and encased in a protective dome!
“It actually worked!” Octavia shouted out excitedly.
Any relief she felt was immediately drowned out by an earth shattering, otherworldly cry from above. She looked up, and to her horror, the gigantic tentacle the size of one of Canterlot Castle’s towers was racing down towards them. It impacted the shield with a tremendous thud, sending a shockwave rippling out through the barrier, but somehow, it held.
“Arggh!”
Octavia turned to see the Celestia had been knocked down to her knees. It was obvious from the pained look on her face thats he had felt that impact.
“Princess Celestia!” Octavia cried out, and ran towards her. She put a hoof to Celestia’s shoulder as soon as she reached her, but as soon as she did, the sun pendant hanging from her neck began shining with a brilliant light, startling both of them.
***
In all the years she'd known him, Applejack realized she had never actually seen Big Mac mad. Upset, sure, she had seen him give both her and Apple Bloom some heated lectures on occasion. The Gabby Gums fiasco came to mind. But looking at the scene before her, this was the first time she had ever seen him mad.
She could only watch in awe as her brother fought the army of abominations before her. Though perhaps more accurate is that he completely humiliated the strange creatures. He fought like a pony possessed, practically ignoring the blows he received and hitting back twice as hard.
Her younger sister was just as transfixed. "...Sis?"
"Yeah, Apple Bloom?"
"Remind me not to make Big Macintosh angry."
"Not much chance o' that," said Applejack. "Making Big Macintosh this angry? That'd be like..." She paused, trying to find the right words. "Like... bringin' a mountain down on top of you. Darn near impossible, but suicidally stupid."
One of the creatures was suddenly flung straight past them. It skipped across the ground like a pebble on water, before slamming into the wall of meteors with a satisfying bam, covering the giant rock with dirt and mud. Immediately, the creature began spasming horribly as short arcs of lightning zapped from its body to the mud-covered meteor. After a few seconds, light engulfed the beast and in a flash, it disappeared.
"What in tarnation?"
"That's it!" shouted Apple Bloom. "Applejack, I got an idea! We can short out those weird rocks by groundin' their electricity!"
"What're you talkin' about?"
"Kick mud on 'em, and the squids can't fight."
Applejack blinked. "I got no idea how that's supposed to work, but it's better than nothin'."
"Awesome! You take that side, I'll work on this one!" Apple Bloom eagerly rushed off and threw herself into the mud beside the closest meteor, splattering it with dirt. Sparks danced across its surface, there was another flash of light somewhere in the chaotic melee Big Mac was causing, and the horde of creatures was down by two.
"Well, paint me green and call me a pear, that actually worked," said Applejack. "Big Mac! Keep those varmints distracted, we got a plan!"
One by one, the Apple sisters kicked, flung and in one case splashed mud and dirt over the meteors, and one by one the squid things disappeared in a flash of light. In the space of only a couple minutes, the final meteor was grounded, and the only living things in the makeshift arena were three exhausted, half-blinded, very muddy Apples.
"We... we did it," panted Applejack. "They're all gone."
"That's right!" said Apple Bloom. "Nopony messes with the Apple family! Not even alien-squid-pony-things, or whatever they were."
The three of them began to laugh, relieved that their ordeal was finally over.
***
"Princess Cadance i-is..."
"What? What!?"
"She's b-been surrounded by things! Fifty of them! You have to save her!"
Before the panicked civilian had even finished speaking, Flash and Shining Armor galloped away as fast as they could, Rally Mark not far behind.
"We're not going to be able to take out fifty of the invaders in a straight fight," said Flash. "Any ideas, Captain?"
Shining was silent for a while. The group ran in silence until they were nearly to the square.
"Rally, I need you to get their attention," Shining ordered. "Fireballs, lightning, something flashy. When they notice you, lead them down the alleyway north of the square. Flash, I want you on top of the buildings. When you see Rally get to the end of the alley, jump down and fly him back to the entrance. I'll get my wife and the four of us will-"
Shining was interrupted by a bolt of pink magic heading right for them.
"Incoming!"
The three of them jumped in different directions in an attempt to dodge the incoming spell. The magic missile zoomed just to Shining Armor's right, barely missing him.
Flash Sentry wasn't so lucky. The spell struck him square in the chest. Flash shouted in surprise before falling to the ground.
"New plan! Rally, scout ahead and report back what in Tartarus is going on over there. I'll tend to Flash."
"Yes, sir!" said Rally, before galloping off.
Shining turned around to check on his fallen comrade. He gave him a quick once-over and was relieved to find that he was still breathing, though unresponsive.
"Captain!"
"Soldier, report. What did you see?"
Rally hesitated. "...I'm not entirely sure, Captain, but it looks like the situation has resolved itself."
"What? What do you mean, it's 'resolved itself'?"
"I mean that Princess Cadance seems to have incapacitated the entire group of invaders on her own."
"...I see," said Shining. "In that case, look after Flash for a bit. I need to check on my wife."
Shining calmly trotted to the square. In the center of the plaza, he saw Cadance breathing heavily, steam rising from the tip of her horn. And all around her, he saw the forms of a very large group of the squid monsters.
"Cadance!" called Shining.
His wife's ears swiveled his direction. She lifted her head, saw Shining at the edge of the square, and ran to him with a smile on her face. She practically tackled him, and they kissed and embraced each other, just happy the other was alive and well.
After a moment, Shining looked past her at the creatures in the square, and wished he hadn't. The things were still quite alive and active, but they seemed to have forgotten there were ponies there, and instead were doing... indescribable, unwholesome things.
Shining looked away from the grisly spectacle and turned back towards his wife. "Somehow, I knew you'd be able to handle yourself."
"That makes one of us," said Cadance, chuckling. "I kind of just panicked and started firing the first spell I could think of over and over again."
Suddenly, they could both hear shouting coming from behind them.
"Augh! Flash, what did you do that for?! What?! No, no, no no no nononono-!"
"Oh, yeah," said Shining. "I think you might have hit one of my soldiers, too."
"Hm?" said Cadance. "You're right. Looks like I have."
Neither of them moved.
"...Honey?"
Cadance tightened her grip on her husband. "Five more minutes."
***
"Princess!" shouted Octavia. "What's happening? Why is your pendant glowing?!"
"I... I don't know," said Celestia. "I've never seen it do this before."
Above them, the giant tentacle continued smashing into the barrier. With each strike, a deafening thud resounded across the city. However, Octavia noticed that each strike sounded quieter than the last. She looked up, and saw something remarkable: with each passing second, the shield grew thicker and more opaque. Even ignorant as she was in the finer points of magic, she could tell the shield was getting stronger, not weaker. It didn't take much longer for Celestia to notice as well.
"Interesting," she said as she slowly stood back up. "My pendant seems to be energizing me somehow. Already it feels like it's taken a weight the size of a dragon off of my shoulders."
"Wait," said Octavia, surprised, "so... it's over? We've won?"
Another thud. Celestia winced, and the pendant started glowing slightly less intensely.
"I'm afraid this will only buy us some more time," said the princess. "I'm certain this is not all the power these invaders can muster against us, and already the energy I received seems to be fading."
Octavia brought a hoof to her chin and thought for a moment. "Perhaps if we can figure out what caused your pendant to react the way it did, then we could drive those things off for good."
There was a terrible, screeching sound from outside the dome. Octavia ran out to the balcony to look. Another rift had opened, and a second tentacle just as big as the first was slowly inching its way out, reaching towards the city below.
"This is bad," said Octavia.
"We don't have much time, Octavia," said the princess. "Can you remember what happened before the pendant reacted?"
Another screech, this time from the opposite direction. Octavia looked, and sure enough a third portal had been torn open.
Two thuds in quick succession. With a cry, Celestia was driven back to her knees, and the dome grew noticeably more transparent.
"Princess!" shouted Octavia as she ran back. "Are you all right?"
She grabbed Celestia's leg, attempting to help her back up, when she noticed the pendant glowing brightly again.
"...So that's what it is," said Celestia, a weak smile on her face. "I don't know how I didn't see it before..."
"What is it? What didn't you see before?"
Another screech. Three thuds. Somehow, Celestia managed to avoid collapsing.
"The gem embedded in this pendant," she said, "is the same kind of gem that powers that machine."
"Princess, I'm a musician, not a wizard. I don't know why that's significant."
"It's actually fairly straightforward..." said Celestia, smiling. "You see... the spell that machine was made to copy? The blast that expelled the changeling army from Canterlot? That spell... was powered by one of the most potent powers in all of Equestria: love."
Octavia blinked. "Are you going where I think you're going with this?"
The princess chuckled. "Yes, I believe I am. These gems can... harness that power. When you came to help me, that was an act of love, and the gem within my pendant captured that energy."
"An act of love...?"
Four thuds. With a cry, Celestia collapsed, and the dome shattered.
Octavia looked up and saw four great tentacles moving towards the tower at a simply unfair speed.
"But then..."
She looked down. Celestia had pulled her head up enough to watch the giant limbs converge on them. Her pendant was still glowing.
"Octavia," she said, "we only have one chance." She looked her in the eye. "Do you love me, Octavia?"
The tentacles were almost upon them, but Octavia didn't notice. She only saw the Princess... no, her princess laying before her, in need of her help.
"Of course I do!" she shouted. She practically jumped on her princess, holding her by the head as she gave her the most... explosive kiss of either of their lives.
The pendant's glow engulfed them. Before Octavia blacked out, she swore she could hear Celestia say something to her:
"I love you, too."
***
Octavia woke up, somewhat groggy and somewhat disoriented.
In front of her, she could see the desert racing by, lit by the setting sun. She could hear the noise of tires on tracks and the howl of the engine. She was on a train.
And not just any train. As she watched the landscape before her, she realized she knew where she was. She was on the train from Canterlot to Appaloosa.
"Wait..." she said. "Was it all just... a dream? Everything that happened today?"
"I should hope not."
Octavia jumped and turned around. Seated next to her was none other than Princess Celestia, looking no worse than she usually did.
"Princess!" Octavia shouted. "But then... what... how-"
"Shh," Celestia said as she wrapped a wing around her. "Yes, it's really me, and no, it was not a dream. I'm glad to see you awake again."
"I... thank you, princess," said Octavia. They leaned against each other a while. "Honestly, much of what happened today made about as much sense as a dream."
"That is true," replied Celestia. "Though sometimes, the real world can be stranger than any dream."
They both laughed at this.
"Actually, princess, now that I think about it, why are we on this train?"
"As you may have guessed, Octavia, we're heading towards Appaloosa. If I recall, the Melody family is gathering there for the next few days. I was sure you would hate to miss your family reunion, so I got ourselves private passage after the invaders were repelled."
"...Thank you, Celestia," replied Octavia. "You know, if you weren't with me, my family would likely think I was insane if I said we were together."
Celestia chuckled. "Yes, they probably would. But for now, we can worry what others will think later."
They traveled together, leaning on each other the whole way, and Octavia recalled how hot it had been when her whole adventure began. Before she thought the desert sun hot and uncaring. But now, she thought with a smile, she found comfort in the sun's pleasing warmth, nurturing her like a blanket as the train sped off into the sunset.