Twilight Sparkle is thrust into a conspiracy that threatens to tear apart the last great nation in the wake of a discorded world, but the stakes are higher than anypony can ever imagine. Prodigious - A Dystopian Alternative Universe story.
As a young orphaned foal of Sombra’s University, Twilight foiled an attempt on the life of Princess Celestia, the immortal ruler of the great nation of Celestine. In gratitude, Celestia took Twilight Sparkle under her wing as her personal protégée.
Years later, a new conspiracy is spreading across the nation, and centuries old legends are coming back to life. When a pony from beyond the Heavenly Barrier appears, Twilight is swept into a plot that not even the Barriers themselves can stop. The fall of Celestine looks to be only the beginning.
And there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.
Many thanks to my editor Destella Morningdew for helping me with this endeavour! The beautiful cover art belongs to WhiteDiamondsItd. Seriously, go check both of them out. Some character tags are not shown for the maximum satisfaction of the reader (spoilers).
“If we get busted for this, remember that this was your idea,” a harsh whisper cut through the silence.
The doors to the audience hall slid open. Brilliant, Twilight thought.
“Twilight, are you even listening?” No answer. The construct poked Twilight hard, but still provoked no response. The construct became silent, as if brooding.
Grinning secretly at her small victory, Twilight turned back and concentrated on the task at hoof. This was it, her last opportunity. She needed a clear head for this.
The pair moved silently through the well preserved hall, taking care to keep to one side and well away from the furniture that might alert the servants and the caretakers to their presence. The two great tables that ran the lengths of the hall were prepared with silken table cloths and the finest cutlery from the entire nation laid out precisely and delicately.
Portraits of past headmasters and famous scholars hung high up along the walls, just out of the range of the sunlight that was permitted through the stained windows behind the tables. Soft velvet cushions were placed on the floor alongside the tables, each of a different variety of colours and patterns intended for the taste of their intended guests.
Looking back to the entrance she came from and the multiple doorways for the seventh time, she ploughed into one of the spare cushions lined with not silver, but gold. She squealed in glee and started examining a set of silverware. Twilight lifted a hoof and started rapping on one of the punch bowls to the rhythm of a familiar melody. She couldn’t help it. Clear headed or not, she was going to be foalish.
“Stop doing that, you’re going to get us caught,” whispered her construct in his small agitated metallic and boyish voice. “Are you going to stay here all day?”
His name was Spikialaimon, or just Spike, namely for the trail of spike like features lining his spine that accompanied him no matter he transformed into. Currently he was a peculiar mechanical bat, clinging onto the underbelly of the table. Small gusts of steam could be heard if one strained but what was the most obvious was the fact that miniature gears, pipes, and metal covered his entire body. A blue light radiated from the multiple vaults scattered around his body, a reminder of the magical workings within. Two cyan eyes peered back at Twilight’s gaze as his restless “skin” shifted constantly.
“Relax, Spike. Nopony is supposed to be here just yet. In fact, the guests should be frolicking in the statue garden, and the cooks haven’t even started preparing the first course yet,” Twilight whispered back. “So stop fussing.”
Twilight stepped back from the table and hid herself behind a slightly ajar display cabinet. Lighting up her horn, she weaved a complicated spell for breaking through the defensive locks that were placed on the door of the retiring room at the end of the hall. Then, she remembered a spell she came across that obscured a unicorn’s presence and cast it upon herself. One she was done, Spike fluttered ahead and disappeared through the now open door to the retiring room. A moment later, he returned.
“It’s all clear,” he whispered. “If we are quick, there shouldn’t be any problems.”
From her hiding place, Twilight darted through the rest of the hallway and into the retiring room. She smiled as she looked around. Book shelves full of rare resources lined the entire room. The only source of light came from the fireplace, where a bright blaze sat atop the magical rune that summoned it. As a young filly, she had lived most of her life in the university, but the retiring room was forbidden to all but the senior scholars and their guests. At any other time, one could usually find the butler skulking around somewhere inside.
Today however, the Butler was unusually busy and there was talk of a very important meeting taking place with a special, secret guest. It was a chance that Twilight couldn’t miss out on. She sighed, Just like on numerous other occasions she’s failed to infiltrate the inner complex of the university.
Spike fluttered over to her, and with a burst of blue light, turned into a metallic moth and settled onto her back.
“We’re here. Now can we go back?” he asked in a small, anxious voice.
I just have to delay him until the others start to arrive, thought Twilight. It was a big room, with an oval shaped table of polished magewood dominating the centre of it. Several luxurious armchairs were dotted around the room, often accompanied by an elegant silver stand with a basket of delicious delicacies. A cabinet and a wardrobe stood adjacent to the fireplace, each made out of the best of rosewoods. Scanning around the room, Twilight zoned in on the rows of books around them.
“Don’t be silly! Look at all the books that they’ve got here! All of this new knowledge to discover.” She then made a big show of trotting past several shelves and pausing occasionally to look at random titles. While she was doing this, she restored the defensive spells on the door. To cover it up, she lifted a book off of a shelf with her magic as she cast the spells, and then deposited it onto another one.
“Come on, Twilight. You’ve already got the entirety of the university library at your disposal.” Spike peered up at the portrait of a particularly gruff scholar, staring him down with all the harshness of the world.
Twilight thought she saw him shiver, but wrote it off as a figment of her imagination.
“Really Twilight, we’ve already been here too long–” Spike was cut off by sudden voices sounding from outside the room.
Twilight was already dashing toward the large wooden wardrobe and clambered in, followed closely behind by Spike. A world of warm, synthetic fur greeted them as Twilight closed the door to all but a crack. She must have looked too gleeful for a second because Spike shot her a withering glare with his eerily large eyes as she mustered her most innocent smile.
The Butler walked into the room, carrying a lamp. Following him were two other ponies; Twilight could tell from the sound of hooves clopping against the hardwood floor. The butler was decked out in his best, a shiny dark suit with the green trousers. His construct, a little monkey, clung to his back while carrying a vintage bottle of moonshine, no doubt intended for the special guest. A lot could be told from a glance at the complimentary beverage and the expensive taste of this one was speaking in lengths.
“Has our esteemed guest arrived yet?” a stern voice asked.
The voice of the headmaster froze Twilight. Of course he would be here for the meeting, he was the host after all, Twilight told herself. His grey coat and lush black mane made him stand out against the backdrop of busy scholars, something that usually worked in Twilight’s favour. Usually.
The headmaster was an Earth pony of reputable fame and mysterious powers that were said to rival even that of the strongest of unicorns. Of course, she had only heard through hushed whispers and murmurs, but never told directly by the pony himself. Each time she had spoken to him, he was quite understanding and calm, though she’d heard some unflattering stories about those that trifled with his anger. If Twilight was found here, she would be lucky to only be sent to the dungeons from the strict stallion’s wrath.
“They should be arriving soon, Headmaster,” the butler said coolly. “The guards have already arrived on the grounds.”
“Very good. Have the cooks prepare the appetizers. We will not be a good host if our guest goes hungry. This meeting shouldn’t take long at all.”
“Of course, Sir.” The Headmaster turned his gaze towards the bottled champagne.
“I see you have brought the vintage. Leave it on the table and attend to your other duties.” He waved the butler away with his hoof.
The servant levitated the beverage out of his construct’s grasp onto the cabinet sideboard.
Twilight held her breath as the floating aura passed by, and held in a sigh of relief when she remained undetected.
“Shall I leave the lamp, Headmaster?” He gestured toward the lit oil lamp that sat atop the table.
“Yes, I do believe we will have use of it during the presentation. Do come in after the meeting to douse it, would you.” Although it was a request, the words came out more like an order.
The butler bowed slightly and turned to leave through the door, his construct still motionless on his back. When he was gone, Twilight let go of her breath and proceeded to watch the Headmaster from her hiding place.
He sat down on a comfortable looking chair to face the only other occupant in the room. Producing a pipe, he started to work on it and motioned for the pony to sit down.
Twilight had almost forgotten about the second pony. She could now see that he was an Earth pony, and became surprised at his appearance. What she saw was a weathered face not produced by years of studying, but of one who had likely seen more action than any of the scholars in the university. His position made it impossible for her to catch a glimpse of his eyes but she was sure they were something fierce. What struck her as odd, though, was that the Earth pony was dressed in a servant’s attire. His bronze coloured snake construct coiled loosely around his hooves and remained still like a statue. Suddenly, she was startled out of her thoughts by the Headmaster’s voice.
“I take it the exploration convoy was a success, considering you’re here, Vigil.”
Twilight frowned in confusion at the mention of a convoy. Certainly there was no need for any transportation of goods to the university, being so close to the nearest city, she thought.
“Aye, we lost a few ponies but managed to make it back discreetly,” Vigil replied with a sigh. “And you were right. We found… something.”
“I thought so. The witch’s prophecy was true then. Do we have our friends’ cooperation in the capitol?” He didn’t seem the least bit surprised, but there was a glint of something akin to satisfaction in the Headmaster’s eyes.
“That we do, Sir. My ponies are staying with our allies as of now. The preparations have started already,” Vigil answered.
“Good, good. Remember, Vigil, word of this mustn't get out. I will be pulling some strings for the duration of your mission.” He paused, glancing at a clock hanging on the adjacent wall. “My guest will be here soon, so you should leave. We shall meet again before they make the journey back to the Capitol.”
Vigil bowed stoically and left through the door, and his snake construct uncoiled and slithered after him obediently.
Spike fidgeted from his spot in the wardrobe as Twilight watched the Headmaster from her hiding place.
He adjusted the furniture. A frown passed over his features once he had glanced over the many titles on the shelf a few times.
Twilight remembered that on her first day here, Spike had taken quite an interest in the Headmaster’s construct, Heraldophine, a slender dragon-like serpent. It was almost unheard of to have a dragon, not to mention impossible, the princess notwithstanding. It was then that she realized that the Headmaster’s construct was missing, or rather, had never appeared. She felt a flicker under her hooves.
“I thought I had taught you better. Nonetheless, it would be wise to come out, Miss Sparkle,” the Headmaster glanced at the closet with disappointment.
A moment later, Twilight’s legs gave out and she tumbled forward onto the carpeted ground.
The headmaster glared at her disapprovingly.
Twilight winced as the Headmaster’s construct pricked her sensitive ear harshly with its sharp tail.
“This is no place for a foal to be, especially today of all days,” the Headmaster went on, his features irate. “If not for the prophecy’s sake, I would subject you to a good bout of disciplining. No, maybe a public humiliation would be better. Stupid, blabbering witch. If only Luna was still here, I’m getting too old for this,” the Headmaster started rambling, his tired eyes shut tight.
“Who’s Luna?” she asked, interrupting her headmaster’s tirade.
The old stallion froze, his eyes widening slightly before he regained his composure.
“No one important,” he mumbled. “Tell me, filly, have you read your appointed homework?”
“Yes, Headmaster. Are you going to send me to the dungeon?” She was frightened out of her hooves. She had been caught.
“Goodness gracious, no. It smells like a soiled drunkard down there. You’ll stay in the closet for the duration of the meeting. Do you remember what I’ve taught you?” He looked to his young student expectantly.
“Yes, Headmaster. Always follow your intuition and bear the consequences that follow with it,” she recited quickly.
“Good, so you have learned something. Now, get in!” The Headmaster ushered Twilight in with an impatient wave of his hoof. Beneath his angry gesture, uncertainty flashed across his face for the briefest of moments.
Twilight just chalked it up to him reconsidering his order for a moment. Finally, Twilight crouched there, leaving the door open just a crack.
Multiple faint voices could now be heard outside, accompanied by the clip clop of hooves on marble. The voices became louder and louder until finally, the door burst open and four guards strode into the room. The stallions were clad in golden armour, each bearing the sigma of the solar princess. They weren’t just the normal guards, they were the Royal Guards! Realization dawned upon Twilight, and she could barely restrain a gasp. No wonder the senior scholars were panicking their flanks off. The special guest must’ve be one of the nobilities, and maybe even part of the Royal family!
In a practiced motion, the guards bowed and lit up their horns, trying to detect anything out of the ordinary. Twilight froze when one of the golden stallions glanced over the closet but relaxed immediately when it turned out to be just a routine sweep. After the procedure was over, a regal figure stepped gracefully into the room. For the second time in a single day, Twilight felt giddy and awed, for not only was the figure part of the nobility, but it was the Princess herself!
The paintings and descriptions of the princess did not do her justice, thought Twilight. How could you describe this warm feeling when you share the room with a goddess? If not for a sharp, meaningful jab by Spike, she would’ve started dancing inside the closet. The experience was beyond unreal.
“Celestia, it’s good to see you again. Been busy I presume?”
“Right as always, Headmaster Sombra. You have an interesting university, I must say. It has seen a lot of change since I founded it all those years ago.” With a mischievous grin she added, “However, I must detest the hall of the horrors. Even your scholars shiver in fright at those who are already long dead.”
“Ah, you know me, Tia.” He chuckled. “I must ask, though, where are the other scholars? I was sure they were sent specifically to receive you, lest my memory fails me.”
“Worry not. There was a little magical mishap in the statues garden. I’m afraid that you are now short one Minotaur statue. It was such a shame that it had to be disposed of. It had such a refreshing posture, too.”
The two ponies made jokes and idle chatter and a glance showed that the guards were still as vigilant as ever. As the excitement begun to die down, Twilight started to fidget in her increasingly uncomfortable position. A slight movement next to her reminded her that Spike was still with her.
“Still glad we came here, Twi?” the mechanical moth snarked at her.
She neither bothered to dignify that quip with a reply nor wished to be discovered via a mistimed retort.
The guards stood as dutiful as ever, each taking a corner of the room and prepared to take any course of action if necessary. None were close to Twilight and she was glad for it. A servant retrieved a fumes lamp and tossed a few special smoke leaves that were especially good for one’s body and made for rich conversation.
After what had seemed like an eternity, a rushed tsunami of sounds reached their years as sweaty scholars rushed through the door, begging their pardons for being late and greeting the princess with hasty bows. What they received was a nod and smile from the princess and a vague gesture of a hoof from the headmaster.
Trailing slightly behind were some of the scholars from the Capitol, who greeted their fellow counterparts with equal measures of both enthusiasm and wariness. To Twilight’s observant eyes, it probably had something to do with the long standing rivalry between the two groups. When all were seated properly and quieted, the Headmaster Sombra stood up and began to speak. The discussion was mainly on politics, as well as exciting new research and news from all over Celestine.
Under the constant noise and the pleasant smells, Twilight delicately removed a robe off its hanger and laid it on the bottom of the wardrobe.
“You’re getting too comfortable, Twilight,” chided Spike disapprovingly.
“We’re going to be here for a while so I might as well,” Twilight whispered back.
She sat down and listened to the conversation. No matter how she much she tried to focus, it was dull and boring talk. The marriages of nobles did not interest her, nor did a misunderstanding between the Duke and a simple merchant. If she didn’t know better, she would’ve thought that the Capitol was as dull a place as ever could be. The smells of the frying leaves tempted Twilight to nod off more than once.
Spike found it annoying the number of times he had to ram with all of his tiny moth strength into Twilight to wake her up. He couldn’t transform without revealing their position, so an insect he had to remain.
Eventually, Twilight heard somepony give a sharp series of raps on the table. The other voices fell silent. It was the Headmaster.
“Mares and gentlecolts,” he began “I would like to first welcome you all to the University of Celestine and for those of you that stay, welcome you to your home for the next few years. Today, however, we have a special guest, who, I’m assuming you all know. Political tensions are high now, and it is a miracle that the princess could come to this humble gathering. Come tomorrow morning, the princess will take an airship to a peace summit in the Cloud Delta of Hoofingdale. The princess’s time is valuable and we must use it wisely. Within further delay, let’s begin.” The Headmaster sat down after he spoke.
“Thank you, Headmaster,” said Princess Celestia, shifting the attention back onto her. “My little ponies, as you are all aware, beyond this city lies the Heavenly Barrier. It is the only thing standing between our Great Nation and the machinations of the chaos spirit, Discord.
“However, as of late, it has caused a great unrest in our society by those who believe we should abolish the barrier.” A ripple of murmurs broke out across the room but Princess Celestia pushed onwards. “In this past week, I have attended more peace summits than in the last decade. The situation is unfortunate, but you all know why I cannot remove the barrier. However, that is not why I’m here.
“I am here because there had been a sighting at Fort Everfree. It is to be believed that a pony had been spotted outside the barrier.” There was silence for a moment before a roar of conversation exploded around the room. Speculations were tossed around and there were already talks of the possibilities of setting up long term observational stations. Twilight sat there, dumbfounded by this new revelation.
It was part of her basic education to be taught about the Heavenly Barrier, just like any other foal. Centuries ago, a powerful entity appeared in their world - a being of chaos and madness – and waged a terrible war on the land.
Armies hundreds of thousands strong took a stand to fight against this abomination in the single largest alliance in all of history. His name was Discord. What should have been a certain victory was instead a slaughter. Discord turned ponies against each other, corrupted generals to lead their soldiers to their deaths, and created all manners of dark creatures able to flatten entire battalion of ponies in mere seconds.
The first battle lasted just shy of two days and the casualties crushed the rest of the armies. The wave of chaos, led by Discord, tore through settlements, towns and cities, and often left the survivors wishing they were dead. Finally, the princess and her elites took a final stand against Discord. The battle that followed almost rendered ponykind extinct, but they managed to seal Discord in a tomb and to create a barrier for the survivors to shelter them from the chaos outside.
There were no ponies left outside the barrier.
There couldn’t be.
“Ponies? Outside the barrier? Pardon me, but I know nonsense when I hear it!”
“Fort Everfree is the only place able to observe the outside of the barrier. If a pony was spotted there, who knows how many more there are!”
“If the rebels get their hooves on this information, there won’t just be a trivial unrest anymore,” muttered somepony else.
“Be calm, my little ponies,” Celestia said, loud enough for it to be heard above the din. Everypony fell silent. “We have yet to obtain any solid proof on the existence of this anomaly. It may have simply been a deformation of one of the new chaos spawns. I pray that we will all keep a calm head until we are absolute certain. I am here today to discuss on the decision to divert funding onto this case. If this was true, then the implications would be astounding.”
The room voiced their agreement and the rest of the conversation was indulged in a slightly more subdued manner with the allocation of the remaining budget sorted out through voting and small groups of discussions.
“Say, Twilight, do you really think there are ponies outside?” asked Spike, fluttering onto her shoulder.
“I don’t think so. Without the princess or the guard to protect them, it would be impossible to survive out there. Remember the excursion we went on to Fort Everfree?” she whispered carefully.
“Yeah, it was pretty bad out there. Not a single construct snack bar.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. In hindsight, whether it was her imagination or not, she would never know. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw one of the guards closest to the princess move, and a fade glow – almost unnoticeable if one didn’t bother to look – wrapped around his horn very subtly. Surely it was nothing, she told herself. However, she couldn’t help but turn her sight onto the other guards, who stood as motionless as ever.
“Twilight, what’s wrong?”
Twilight didn’t answer. She was about to dismiss the thought as simple, over-vivid imagination when she saw a small sauce stain on another guard’s side. A more strained look chilled her breaths. It wasn’t a stain, she realized. It was blood. Eyes widening in fear and shock, she turned around to face the other two guards and found the same small and almost unnoticeable blood patch. The original guard was slowly but definitely advancing toward the princess. The scholars nearby were too engrossed in their talks to take notice of the guardspony.
She panicked, not knowing what to do, what she could do. If she was mistaken, then she couldn’t possibly live with the embarrassment and shame, not to mention the wrath of the Headmaster. She couldn’t do this, she thought, this simply wasn’t her responsibility.
The words of the headmaster echoed in her mind. Follow you intuitions and bear the consequences.
Suddenly, the unicorn’s horn lit up in a bright flash in an unmistakably aggressive fashion. A moment before he struck, the doors of the wardrobe flew open. Somewhere above her, another bright light that rivalled in brilliance erupted and along with it, an euphoria that Twilight could not even fathom filling herself at the same time. For moments, Twilight didn’t even realize that it was she who had summoned the light before she cast a spell. She only had time to glimpse a look at all the shocked expressions before her eyes turned pure white.
A vision flashed before her eyes, and suddenly she was somewhere else.
Mechanical behemoth in the sky, pillars of fire raining down from above. In the distance, enormous towers collapsing upon each other. Below, thousands of ponies fought each other in a bloody conflict. Above it all, a hideously mismatched creature levitated in the air, looking down while bearing a twisted grin.
Its half goat, half dragon head turned, its yellow, wild, eyes locking onto her.
And it smiled.
Twilight’s thoughts screamed in agony as its eyes gripped her very soul. Feeling her strength sapped away, she quickly lost her tenacious grip on her mind and fell into the abyss.
***
“Twilight, are you alright?” called a distant voice. Twilight felt like she was in a cross between numb pain and paradise. There was something missing… like a memory, or a dream, something that was just beyond the reach of her mind’s eye. Words failed to describe the sensation she was feeling. Slowly, as the sound became louder and more persistent, the sensation started to fade away and she felt drained and tired. Slowly she opened her eyes.
It turned out that she had blanked out for only a few seconds, but from the looks of the retiring room – or what was left of it – a lot could happen in just a few seconds. There was a shallow crater on the wooden floor not far away and a black trail leading toward her. The wardrobe looked like it had exploded and purple membranes now covered the room, protruding from newly made anchors on the dented walls.
“Damn you, bloody tyrant!” a livid voice shrieked.
Twilight snapped her head around in alarm, so fast that she fretted for a whiplash. The imposing guard-traitor had been bounded by what looked like golden chains, nailing him onto the floor. The Headmaster stood next to him, content with just scowling at him before looking at Twilight. The group of elderly scholars still huddled together, not exactly sure how to react given the situation. Years of studying complex equations or magical theory could not prepare them for this situation
“Thank the heavens you’re alright, child.” Twilight turned around until she saw the Headmaster, bearing a rare look of relief.
“Twilight, was it?” Twilight realized Princess Celestia was speaking to her. The princess of Equestria was speaking to her! She shrunk in herself, caught halfway between intimidated and awestruck.
“U-um, y-yes, Your Majesty,” stuttered Twilight, trembling in equal measures of shock and awe. Celestia must have caught on to that, though how she did Twilight could not fathom.
“It’s alright, my little pony. In fact, more than alright. I would believe that you had just saved my life from an assassination attempt,” mused Princess Celestia before giving Twilight a beaming and grateful smile.
“S-saved… Princess CELESTIA!?” Twilight whispered-shouted to herself. The Princess paid no heed to her small outburst and continued on, the graceful smile she beared never once wavering on her muzzle.
“On behalf of myself and of Celestine, I hereby issue you the medallion of the Sun for your service to Celestine, and myself. Thank you, my little pony,” announced Princess Celestia before giving a flourished and grateful bow to Twilight. Meanwhile, Everypony whose name did not coincide with Sombra and Celestia’s were left wide eyed and mouths gaping, Twilight perhaps the most.
“The m-medallion of the S-sun?” she stammered.
“Correct, the highest non-military medal awarded to the citizens of Celestine. I do believe the last one was given over a century ago, during the great Everfree flood,” lectured the Headmaster, though he knew that Twilight had already known all this. A glimmer of recognition in her eyes told him he was correct.
“Now, normally, this service would be rewarded with a ridiculous sum of bits, and a place in the Hall of Honours in the Capitol. However, I do believe I can offer something better,” said the Princess gently, smiling at Twilight.
“H-huh?” stuttered Twilight, too shocked to even string together a comprehensible thought.
“What would you say if I was to take you on as my personal student in the Capitol, and, of course, a guaranteed place in the School for Gifted Ponies.” The Princess grinned as Twilight’s face morphed into an unbelieving and utterly joyful smile. Jaws dropped across the room as scholars began to object. It was all doomed to fail as an ear-splitting squeal filled the room.
It consisted of just one word.
“Yes!”
***
The stallion tapped the thick cigar in his mouth with the edge of his velvet-clad hoof, taking in the scene of the second greatest city in Celestine laid out before him all its glory. The thin vapour like smoke drifted upwards into the setting sun.
The ledge he stood on was perfect; high enough for him to cast his gaze across the entire city, yet low enough to not be battered by the pegasi wind. In the distance, there was the university, its ancient buildings separated from the surrounding by a beautiful garden.
A pony approached him from behind, causing him to tense for a fraction of a second before realising who it was. After a moment of silence, he grunted slightly to signal the pony to speak.
“Everything is set in motion, milord,” the pony intoned, a gruff yet obedient quality worked into his tone.
He glanced back at the servant stallion before returning his gaze to the skyline. Slowly, he took out the cigar and smothered it underneath his hoof, and replied in a resigned tone.
“Very well, ready my carriage,” he said, watching his servant abide to his command. He gave the city one last glance before pursuing the disappearing shadow of his underling.
“For the both of our sakes, Sombra, I hope you know what you are doing.”
The ponies of the light, O how they rejoiced, when their Ruler was laid to rest. Flowers and banquets, Naught for the king to wake, For the earth would tremble, The day he returned.
For moons it seemed, that all was well. Ponies are mirthful and kind, weak from tranquil and peace. He who slumbered has yet to miss, ponies ignorant to his vengeful hiss. When the cycles they turn, Discord will return.
~ Taken from the Book of Prophecies ~
Seven Years after the events of Prologue…
The bustling laboratories of the Trident Research Facility were alive, as they always tended to be. Whereas its sister research facility in Capital were responsible for the countless domestic inventions and innovations that increased the quality of life in Celestine, it was here that the more dangerous and sensitive subjects were constructed, studied or taken apart to further the interests of the nation.
Contrary to the often patternless assortment of gears, rotors and pipes that dominate the city propers of Celestine, the research facility consisted of clean, smooth and repetitive surfaces. The corridors and the containment rooms of the facility all shared the same, off white colour that was illuminated by tinted electric lamps. Despite the somewhat alien feel of the facility, the groans and grunts of hidden machinery was always there in the background, subtle enough to not be obtrusive but pronounced enough to offer some familiarities of home for the workers.
The temperature was always maintained at a perfect frosty, so much so that a single breath of air was as visible as any burst of pressurized steam. To the displeasure of the workers, the uncomfortable temperature was usually accompanied by a weird combination of sterilization chemical smells mixed with the potent scent of oil that persisted everywhere. No matter what, the smell had always remained – a side effect to relying so much on the viscous liquid.
The workers, on the other hoof, were numerous and varied. Some wore carefully tailored garments that represented their wealth while still maintaining an air of scholarly superiority. Their constructs often consisted of monkeys, winged creatures and even the rare big cats. They strode proudly – and obnoxiously – along the lengths of vestibules, lobbies and passages.
The majority of the populace, however, described ponies in white lab coats, rushing to and fro with their constructs following closely behind. Their nature could be described as much more urgent, for it seems that their jobs are never done. Of course, this resulted in the occasional accidents – the ones that end with an unholy combination of limbs, mane, tail and disgruntled faces.
The last group, however, was a most peculiar group of ponies. They were the managers and ex-professors that ran the facility. They can be commonly identified by their stern expressions, narrowed eyes, and more often than not lines about their foreheads. Ponies steered clear of their constructs as well, who seemed to enjoy roaming around as if they owned the place. To be fair, they weren’t too far off.
Director Emeritus was an ivory coloured mare with bright green mane with a streak of teal. She was certainly young by normal standards, barely thirty Celestial cycles old. One might even describe her as breathtakingly beautiful were it not for the fact that she rarely smiled, or anything even mildly polite.
Grumbling and muttering to herself angrily, Emeritus strolled down with a palpable aura of barely restrained hostility. To those who had the misfortune of knowing her, they knew bad days were certainly no stranger to Doctor Emeritus. However, by the fourth time she shoved away a poor researcher to their social doom, it was apparent that this was not the usual kind of a bad day.
This was a terrible day for Emeritus, and by proxy that included everypony else within a one kilometre radius.
Her construct – an elegantly striped female cheetah – prowled behind her, growling at anypony who came too close. Another growl came from in front of the cheetah, and one could certainly argue that it was as, if not more, frightening than the construct’s.
“What do you mean another delay?! It was supposed to be here over four hours ago!” said Emeritus through gritted teeth. Her eyes narrowed upon the poor researcher who was in charge of the transfer process. The stallion wore a standard white lab coat, though it was in considerable danger of being stained bright red via decapitation of its owner.
“I-I’m not sure, Director. It should’ve been here by now but transfer said that there was a… um, problem that they ran into,” whimpered the stallion. “Again…”
A migraine was starting to creep in, and Emeritus threatened the stallion with one last, baleful glare before turning away. Her cheetah gave an appropriate snarl as well, if only to hammer in that she was Emeritus’ construct.
Emeritus stormed her way through the large crowd, shoving those who were too slow to get out of her way. However, she stopped when a familiar grey coated stallion stood waiting for her, a pair of unicorn guardsponies standing motionlessly behind him. He was in nothing but his bare coat, something all except for the highest academics dared to do. His construct – a slithering giant serpent – lay coiled at his hooves with its head raised.
“Director,” greeted the stallion, nodding politely as Emeritus stopped a few metres away. The fact that he didn’t use her name wasn’t lost on Emeritus, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly.
“Headmaster Sombra, to what do I owe the pleasure?” She greeted coldly, all but her words showing her displeasure at Sombra’s presence here in the research facility, her research facility. “Another attempt to convince me that the artifact is too dangerous, I presume?”
Before she could react, the headmaster had crossed the distance between them with such speed she didn’t even see him move. He leant in and whispered in her ears.
“Emeritus, you are making a terrible, terrible mistake,” he whispered. “You are not prepared to face whatever is inside of that thing.”
He backed away and stared directly into her eyes.
“I can have you arrested for that!” hissed Emeritus, glaring venomously at the headmaster. The ponies around them were silently watching the spectacle, no one pony daring to speak up during their confrontation. In a lower voice, she continued with no less hostility, “You are not going to take this away from me. You and your precious university is simply outdated, unable to keep up with the times.”
The stallion remained impassive, and Emeritus was disappointed at the lack of ire on his features. A shrill voice cut through before she could continue.
“Coming through!” yelled somepony down the lengthy hallway. “Artifact 371-DIS-01.”
The voice seemed to snap everypony present out of their stupor. Half a dozen ponies trotted through the swaths of ponies, many of which scrambled to get out of their way upon seeing the ‘Biohazard’ symbol dominating their suits. In between them, there was an enclosed portable vacuum chamber that doubled as a Faraday Cage, further combed by a layer of pressure valves and regulators. Whatever was within was unseen, completely concealed by the bizarre receptacle. The black inked words Artifact 371-DIS-0 were printed across its sides.
“Finally,” muttered Emeritus under her breath, checking against her hog watch stuffed in overcoat. She didn’t look back at the professor as she shouldered past him, his guards tensing at the brief contact.
“I think it’s time for you to leave, headmaster. It would not do to have any outsiders here when I’m conducting my experiments,” she said, not even sparing a single parting glance. She flicked her tail at her construct, causing the pacing cheetah to obediently follow her. “Come along Indomitable.”
She met the ponies head on and gave them rapid orders for the preparation of the artifact. The team handling the artifact veered off towards a different direction, going through a set of massive doors operated by industrial grade machinery. A sharp whistle tore through the air as it expended steam and electricity to lift open and admit the ponies. Emeritus gave a brief glance backwards, and smiled when she saw the headmaster was gone.
A few dozen metres further and she reached her own destination. She passed through the secured doorway, flashing her identification badge to the security ponies present though it wasn’t exactly necessary.
Up a small set of stairs, she saw her observation deck. Harsh, white lights illuminated the large room. There were all types of cutting edge technologies assembled here, from compressed computer and consoles to elaborate panels of knobs, levers and switches. A dozen scientists and technicians were seated behind their respective places, all of whom gave her a short but respectful greeting before going back to their work.
That’s what you call determination, thought Emeritus with a satisfied smile.
She glanced downwards from her operations deck, to a glass prism erected in the centre of a giant, empty dome. The interior of the dome was clean and smooth, with interconnecting beacons of soft, blue light – the anti-magic wards. Within the glass chambers was the artifact. The relic itself was hideous; an ugly scarred object with a solid prism shaped body with a few chipped corners. A multitude of intricate rune markings spanned the metallic looking surface, though they had long since been drained of their power.
“Set it down gently. If I see a single speck of dust displaced I will end you,” Emeritus growled into the receiver, her eyes never lifting from the artifact.
A band of unicorns outfitted in thick, brown hazmat suits and thickly bounded barding circled the mysterious artifact, all within a sealed see-through room. Their head were all obscured by a mask with clear, transparent visor for eyes. All had a shimmering glow around their horns below the mask, matched by identical auras on the artifact. Beyond the glass panels, Director Emeritus bit her lips. With her were half a dozen scientists and technicians, all under her command.
The artifact touched down smoothly without a sound.
“Alright, ponies, let’s begin,” She announced, almost giddy with anticipation. A wave of ‘affirmatives’ responded on the intercom. A round of ‘Affirmatives’ answered her. Without a second of delay, Emeritus slammed her hoof on the large, round buzzer.
A monotone voice called out into the testing chamber, occasionally interrupted by bursts of static. However, the message was more than clear enough, and all the crew inside retreated through the exit, leaving only a single pony within. Lights overhead flashed and a harsh siren wailed as the deadlock seal quickly shut close behind them. The precautionary alarms settled down soon enough, leaving a clear view of the artefact again
“Draining all arcane presence in three… two… one…” A stallion next to Emeritus quickly flipped switches and manipulated knobs, causing a vague emerald sheen to spread across the containment chamber before dissipating into nothingness. Bronze and steel workings grunted and whined. The normally irritating grinding noises of gears were pure music to her ears.
Beside her, a small recorder was turned on, tuned to record both inside the chamber and outside. Giving a nod of satisfaction Emeritus took control of the microphone again.
“All controls are in full functioning capacity and entropy levels are stable. You may start your examinations.” Emeritus leant back into her comfortable chair as the specialist gave an affirmative and went to work, bringing out her arsenal of advanced tools. The specialist’s goggles gave a whirl as the lens focused to the right magnitude on the artifact.
“Test zero-one: subject appears to be made of cast Laxite-Ruponzium alloy for the purpose of repurposing strong currents from ley lines or an active life force.” She squinted as she tried to read the markings that criss-crossed the prism. “The current embedded runes suggest that it could be have been used as a magical retainer.”
The unicorn lowered the examination device and put it down. She then picked up another device with a small spiralling tip at the end. Being careful, she lowered the device onto the surface of the artefact, drilling a small hole it into it. She picked up the examination device again and raised it to her eyes.
“Test zero-two: Arcane dating suggests that this artefact dates its origins back to as early as fifteen BC, in the midst of the last chapter of the Discordian Wars.” Glimmer shifted her view and twitched the small knobs on the device. “Small scars and the uneven rune distribution are scattered throughout the surface, meaning that it had at least seen some form of action in the wars. On whose side, it is not evident so far, though the runes seem to favour more to that of Discord.”
The specialist mare stopped to take a breather as everypony in the room let the thought sink in. It was not rare to uncover artefacts used by ponies during the war; in fact they were quite well documented. However, it was rare that anything used by Discord or his legions could be recovered due to their powerful yet unstable nature. Emeritus’ eyes sparkled dangerously when she turned her eyes on the specialist Glimmer, who was looking unsure all of a sudden.
“Shall I continue, Director?”
“Please do, Specialist Glimmer” replied Director Emeritus, an unseen impish grin spreading across her face. She rubbed her hooves together in anticipation.
No wonder that obsolete devil Sombra wanted me to stop this. The fame I will gain from this will forever outmatch his pathetic work on the Chaos Stabilizer!
Glimmer gave a somewhat stiff nod in return and went back to her task. She picked up one of the larger devices: an arcane ophilometre used to measure arcane devices by running a strong electro-arcana current through it. Twin Tesla coils distended itself from the wall, and begun to hum with overwhelming power.
“This is amazing,” breathed Emeritus, her eyes fixated on the sight before her. The Tesla coils were transferring enormous amounts of energy, causing the artifact to appear as if it is swollen with power. A blend of auras had begun to separate from the artifact’s surface, a mix of violet and sickly green. From the sensors, a huge backfeed of magical energies was reacting to the current and trying to leave the room.
A vent whistled as Steam erupted from it. Clocks and measuring systems went haywire. Switches and levers began to move by their lonesome.
The power fizzed out.
“What the…” said Emeritus, blinking before giving a ferocious snarl, slamming her forehooves onto her control. “Technicians, get your low pay-grade flanks out there and fix the damned power generator. Now!”
Rapid scuffles and movements followed her command. Just as they did so, a click and a few of the portable lamps crackled into life, their harsh rays bouncing off the irregular interior of the control room. For a brief moment, total destruction and chaos could be seen, though Emeritus concluded it was mostly due to incompetence and panic. Arcs of electricity reflected and bounced around the room, causing Emeritus to yelp as one suddenly struck against her flank. The lights conveniently went out to hide her flushed face.
“Director Emeritus, are you okay–” started one of the operators before he was interrupted.
“Yes, yes. Get this facility up and working. Praise Celestia the day I can direct an examination without the power cells going out,” muttered Emeritus, her voice low and not unlike that of a growl. She mustered her horn to create some light, but nothing happened except for a spark. She started to trot forwards, only to stop when something crinkled obnoxiously underhoof.
That sounded like glass… impossible, thought Emeritus.
“Technicians, is the glass barrier still intact?” she asked, receiving no answer. “Somepony answer me this instant!”
A hiss followed her announcement, but Emeritus tensed when she realized it didn’t belong to that of steam vents. It felt like… no, there was definitely something in here. Her breath came out with chills, and the tingling sensation. There was an aura so strong that Emeritus could feel the hate and perverseness condensing and saturating in the air.
Something bumped against her hooves, causing her to jump. Indomitable gave a small, reassuring growl, though what she said was less so. “It’s me, Em. There’s something else here with us.”
Emeritus was simultaneously relieved and worried. Her construct rarely spoke, and even then only did so in absolute emergencies.
“Who’s out there?” called out Emeritus.
“They who cannot be named,” responded a ghastly, choked whisper. The croaks morphed into wheezing gasps as Emeritus looked around wide eyed, desperately trying to summon her magic. Rapid taps on the floor, the sound of things being moved. The sounds steadily increased in loudness and proximity.
“W-What are you?” asked Emeritus as Indomitable gave a growl into the darkness.
The lights popped back on, and Emeritus screamed. The grotesque body of foul darkness, as if bursting through pale, coatless skin, was advancing upon her. A shrill cry erupted from a singular, metallic beak as a limb tore free from its shadowy body. Darkness consumed them again.
Director Emeritus found purchase on her hooves and galloped away from what she saw as fast as possible, her construct on her hooves. She came up to a wall faster than she realized, and frantically searched for the access panel. When she found it, her horn lit up and she placed her hoof upon the metal scanner, but an ugly, red light appeared.
“No, no, no, no!” said Emeritus. Behind her, Indomitable snarled and leapt onto the approaching demon, even as Emeritus tried again and failed over and over. She slumped now when she realized it was no use. The chamber was officially locked down, and there was no way out short of a full-sized containment squad or Princess Celestia herself coming to her rescue.
She looked turned around just to see Indomitable’s losing fight ending. The monster snorted and kicked away Indomitable with a tendril of shadow before picking her up and slamming her into the ground repeatedly. Emeritus winced as she heard the crunch of metal. Her construct didn’t get up.
“Tut tut, you ponies seemed to be making all sorts of interesting toys since I left,” it said, sauntering – as that was the only way Emeritus could describe it – towards her.
“Dear Celestia,” whispered Emeritus, her hooves desperately trying to carry her backwards. She wasn’t a religious mare by any stretch, but at that moment it seemed like a good time as any to start. “Please, divines, spare me…”
“Oh… little pony. If you wanted to pray, then do it to my master,” hissed the vile thing. The Director’s eyes somehow widened even more, expanding to the size of gears rivalling those found in power generators. “After all, he’s the closest being to god you will ever know.”
The demon leant in close, enough for the Director to smell the rancid smell coming off of it. The creature whispered a single word, and she stiffened, gasping in horror. When it backed away, Emeritus was shaking, and she wasn’t sure if she still retained all of her bowel control.
“W-What do you want, you abomination?” said Emeritus, finding her voice again and injecting far more confidence into it than she had to spare.
“For your services, I might just be able to ignore that little comment,” sneered the creature. “I’m looking for a specific pony, one that my master’s been searching for years. Finally, she will be within his grasp, and there is nothing your little pony princess can do to stop it.”
“What makes you think I’ll do anything for you?”
“And what makes you think you have a choice.” Without warning, Emeritus turned around and slammed her hind hooves into the demonic being. She was rewarded with an enraged roar, one that contained surprise, anger and most important of all – pain. She leapt away from the shocked demon and galloped in the opposite direction.
Sweat broke out across her forehead, and she glanced across where the other unconscious workers lay. She turned away and buried it in her mind, instead trying to call upon a teleportation spell. The momentary distraction, however, was enough to let a tendril of darkness sneak upon her unseen. With a yelp, she stumbled as the shadowy snake materialized and tripped her over.
“Tsk, tsk, naughty little pony,” growled the demon as it slowly approached the paralysed mare. Out of its shadowy body, a claw extended, gently brushing away Emeritus’ mane to reveal her scalp. “I was planning on sparring you most of the pain, just enough to make a point, you see. That little stunt of yours had just made me change my mind.”
A choked cry escaped the ivory mare as the tendril of shadow extracted itself from her horn. A dark web of cracks immediately began to form around the base of her horn as she collapsed onto the floor, spasming and twitching violently. The demon stood back, grinning in satisfaction as he licked the claw he touched Emeritus.
The spasms stopped, and everything was silent. The cuts and bruises on Emeritus’ body began to heal, as if under the ministrations of a dozen healing potions. Before long, she was rid of any taint, scratch or cut.
Her eyes opened, and the creature sneered at her, though this time there was a hint of satisfaction, or maybe pleasure.
“Are you loyal to me? To the point that you will give your life willingly for my cause?”
“That is never in doubt,” answered the unicorn without blinking. Her previously crimson iris now had the barest tinge of green and purple, all but unnoticeable unless closely observed. The demon’s grin widened even more.
“Good. I want you to find a unicorn mare, and bring her to me.” Emeritus gasped as an image appeared within her mind. It was a young mare, with a purple coat, violet mane with a streak of bright pink running through it. Six stars, with one large, ruling star in the centre.
It took her several moments to shake herself back to normality. When she did, a perverted smile formed on Emeritus’s face, as disturbing if not more so than the one on the demon, if only because it was placed on the face of a pony. There was an errant twitch in her right hoof, and she stomped it down viciously to stop it. The demon obviously thought it was a statement of her dedication, and it smiled.
“It’ll be done, my master.”
Steam. It was the driver behind the latest of the technological revolutions, yielding progress in science, physics and unrivalled understanding of motion itself. Brass gears, copper plates, iron bolts and steel pipes, everything a mare could ever want. Almost everything, that is. Books were also high on the list of inconceivably essential items.
Twilight’s tower was more of a library than any other domestic structure recognized in the nation of Celestine, plain castle towers included. Shelves stacked upon shelves held back a tsunami of tomes and texts, containing untold volumes of knowledge and secrets within them. They stood in solitary guard until their mistress would inevitably end their aegis momentarily for whatever research she had divulged.
Scrupulously treated wood covered every inch of visible space not already covered by webs of spidery copper and brass. It was a grandiose combination of modern sophistication magnificently mismatched with traditional workings.
Perhaps that was another nod to the modern age, an age of steam and gears.
Twilight Sparkle, as she often opted to, took one step further. If one observed closer, or rather higher, it would quickly become apparent that the design of the library was a work of utter brilliance and ingenuity all by itself.
Being the ground-bound unicorn that she was, Twilight Sparkle needed to find a way to find books precisely and quickly in the upper levels of the tower. Magic, the miraculous bypasser it was, could certainly suffice well enough. However, Twilight was what one might describe as painstakingly meticulous. Just ‘well enough’ would be an insult to her abilities.
Instead, she invented and implemented a new way for filing and management; the Mechanized and Automated Filing System, or the MAFS for short. After all, a jungle needed a navigator, and Twilight Sparkle’s library was no different.
It was a structure that took the shape of outlandishly sized metal limbs that hung haphazardly, bridging gaps from shelf to shelf, wall to wall. They were held aloft by equally great metallic vices entrenched within carefully cut groves in the walls. The shelves themselves were separated into different sections, with small metal protrusions dividing them into unseen grids and patterns. The gears and miniature ‘arms’ cluttered along the lengths of the limbs would ‘count’ to the right number of metal knobs, before manipulating a certain book, tome or gadget into its grasp.
The item, after being thoroughly molested in the name of efficiency, would then drop into the rollers and be collected at the end of the limb. The vice and grooves, paired with a concealed pulley system, would allow the giant contraption to be lowered or raised along the cut grooves, bringing it to level with Twilight and allowing her to retrieve the items she had sent for.
All of these was operated by a single control panel with a ‘screen’ that consisted of metal flaps. The flaps, numbering ten across and ten down with each containing numbers, and a further twenty six flaps in charge of the alphabet, represented the placement code for each book. The code itself was, of course, based on the Dewey Decimal System, as anything else would be a travesty in comparison. To find a book, all Twilight had to do was flip the combination of letters and numbers. The machine would then read the code and find the correct book. To return the book, Twilight just needed to do the reverse; feed the book into the rollers of the limb and punch in the codes.
Evidently, efficiency was very much a matter of perspective.
“What more could a mare want,” said Twilight dreamily as she gazed upwards at her behemoth of a library. Tall columns of books and rows of trinkets eyed back. She lay on her bed, a wet, nylon cloth placed above her brows, slightly delirious.
“Eating on time would be nice,” grumbled out Spike beside her, replacing the cloth as he reapplied more dampness. He found his actions interrupted when an oil-stained hoof pressed firmly against his mouth. Even in her state, Twilight supposed that Spike did have a point, as mortal bodies were awfully flimsy that way. She should really acknowledge Spike so that he knew she valued his opinion greatly and wouldn’t miss it for anything in the world.
“Hush Spike, don’t ruin the moment.”
On the inside, of course.
The two settled into a comfortable silence, or at least it was for Twilight while Spike just grumbled indecipherably and went about treating her rather uncommon condition. Brain overuse had very bizarre effects on Twilight Sparkle, and it differs from time to time.
Unfortunately, the peace was broken by a piercing cry of agonizing cacophony.
“DING-DONG, DING-DONG!”
“GAAARGGHH!” screamed Twilight in surprise, falling out of her comfortable custom-made chair. The scream was mirrored by Spike as she painfully landed right on top of him in his current fox form. Frantically untangling themselves from each other, their gazes desperately scanning the walls for the infernal contraption producing the ungodly tantrum. That it only took a further second to do so was perhaps a testament to their intimacy with the maze of machinery.
“There it is!” shouted Spike as he leapt up and promptly transformed into a sparrow.
“Dear Celestia, shut it off, shut it off!” exclaimed Twilight, cupping both hooves over her ears while Spike desperately reached for the copper bell.
“I’m… ha… trying to…” gasped Spike as flew unsteadily towards it. When he finally reached it, his claws scratched against its surface, trying to find an off switch. “I can’t stop it!”
“Break it!” exclaimed Twilight.
A moment later, the noise was abruptly replaced by the sound of a small explosion, before
“Urghhh,” groaned Twilight, blowing her hair out of her face. “Not my brightest idea.”
“What’s it for anyways?” muttered Spike as he flopped down from the mechanical wall. Clock parts and cogs fell along with him, though they didn’t have the luxury of a pair of wings that kept them from impacting against the floor. Amongst them, though, was a small folded piece of silver lined paper, which Twilight plucked out of the air with her magic.
“Must be for something equally annoying,” said Twilight. Carefully, she unfolded the paper. Quickly reading through the message, her expression soured to the extent that her face briefly shared resemblance with an avocado.
“Uh oh,” said Spike as he flew over and perched himself on her shoulder.
“Uh oh is right, Spike,” said Twilight darkly, before letting out another groan. “I’ve got another appointment at the ball today, representing house Sparkle and with full title represented.”
She passed the note to Spike, who gripped it in one of his claws.
“Says that the ball is six dashes past noon,” hummed Spike. “What time is it now?”
They simultaneously glanced at a small tick timer that marked the time of the day. The small, barely visible lines was marked by the number five followed by the words quam meridiem and several smaller half-length lines.
“Oh crap,” swore Twilight. “We need to get going.”
Standing up, she quickly walked towards the door and motioned for Spike to follow her. With the quiet tell-tale sound of the door opening, they left Twilight’s cavernous chamber. Standing immediately outside was one of the numerous Royal Guards posted in the Capital palace.
“Miss Sparkle,” greeted the guard.
“I’ll be at the Hornsblower ball for the night,” said Twilight, and the guard nodded. With that out of the way, Twilight and Spike continued through the palace.
They snaked through the network of artful hallways and passages until they reached the front of the palace. The ponies here were mostly those that belonged in the bureaucrats with the rest being the normal swaths of curious visitors. Several ponies stopped to gawk at Twilight’s outfit, and many more looked at her with clear disdain.
Twilight and Spike ignored them as they reached the front gates, where no less than half a dozen Royal Guards were watching the entrance with uninterruptable intensity. As she passed them, she nodded briefly, to which one of them responded in kind.
Celestine winds battered her mane as Twilight stepped outside and looked over the city that the Palace stood over. The elevated hill they were on – uncreatively named the Capital Hill – provided an excellent view of the massive Capital city, from the haze-filled industrial areas to the high-end housings nestled just next to the hill. Twilight trotted down one of the main cobblestone paths, heading further down the hill until she and Spike reached one of the main roads that ran through the city.
Here, the streets and roads were crowded by ponies and carriages busily traveling to their destination. The smog from the outlying areas of the city were also more noticeable here, something which the nobles despised since the advent of the Industrial Revolution. Twilight looked up, and as always, the bright grey artificial sky of the Celestine Barrier gazed back at her far above the pegasus-made clouds.
A small parade of Sunlites passed by them, their ceremonial grey robes fluttering in the gust as they went about their daily prayers. Their faces, as always, hidden behind low hanging hoods. If not for the ‘Celestial’ ley lines guiding them, Twilight was sure they wouldn’t be able to get to anywhere, at the very least not in one piece.
“Twilight, we should get going,” whispered Spike to her ears.
Twilight squinted her eyes as she tried to remember which direction she was supposed to go before abruptly moving again. She marched stiffly to the edge of a busy road, and motioned for Spike to follow her.
Sure enough, when she reached there, a carriage awaited them, the drivers being a pair of strong-looking stallions. She smiled courteously to them before climbing aboard, followed by Spike. She didn’t need to tell them where they need to go – they were her regular drivers after all, and prided themselves on knowing where she needed to be.
Unlike the other nobilities of the Capital, Twilight left her window open. The thick and somewhat hard to breathe air outside reminded her that this was where she belonged, not in some stuffy dress heading towards a frivolous ball with plotting pony pests. Twilight blinked at her own subconscious alliteration, before cracking a small grin.
At least there was one good thing that had come out from all of this.
Twilight shifted uncomfortably in her attire: an extravagant gold and purple gown with many unnecessary laces and two pairs of stark white satin leggings. To Twilight, her face felt like an oppressive painting, all ‘prettied up’ with lipsticks, exotic – and likely poisonous – eyeliners, along with highlights that made her cheeks shine far brighter than needed. Perhaps, the most frustrating part, though, was her mane.
It was a sea of delicate curls and locks, looking as if they were trying to constrict each other before finally combining into a ponytail that flowed down the back of her neck. Two wavy strands of hair, one lavender and the other bright magenta, hang down the twin sides of her face.
“There, done,” said the mare as she applied the final and extremely hexing curl, beaming when she looked at Twilight. “You look absolutely amazing, Hun.”
“If only I felt as good about my being here at all,” replied Twilight with a frown. A small jab from Spike though, had her quickly correct herself. “I mean, thank you Madame Charmant.”
“It’s okay, I know you enough to know how you feel,” said the silver coated mare, giving Twilight a small comforting pat on the back. “But you know as well as I that appearances are everything, regardless of how you feel.”
Twilight turned and walked out of the dressing room, with Spike following her from his previous position outside the room. Then, under her breath, muttered, “You’re not the one who’s about to walk into a sea of piranhas.”
Spike – who was currently in the form of a mountain lion and wearing a tuxedo of all things – gave her a comforting pat. No words were needed to exchange between the two of them.
They stepped out into the enormous ball room together, and immediately they were enveloped in the music of a deceivingly soothing and peaceful concerto. All around them, ponies wearing all shades of glamour conversed; their manes all done up extravagantly, their suits and dresses flashing the colours of the rainbow and glimpses of pearly white teeth as they smiled at one another.
At least, that was what a normal pony would’ve seen. Twilight only saw webs of conspiracies, backend deals, marriage scandals and sharp-edged ladders. With a glance to the right, she saw a married noblemare flirting with a Captain, while subtly querying for information. Another glance showed two stallions making a nervous deal, and conspicuous papers were passed. And a final sweep showed a trio of particularly revolting nobles staring straight at her-
Oh.
Recovering quickly, she greeted them with a small flourish.
“Good evening, gentleponies. How are you all this fine evening?”
“Absolutely horrid, miss Sparkle. The music and service is particularly subpar. One of the waitress even had the gall to offer me a Chateau 307, how dare she! Now that you’re here, though, it might just be worth it,” ranted the lead stallion obnoxiously, his nose held up high. He wore an extremely expensive looking attire, with a gold and silver trimmed suit combined with purple highlights and pearls hanging from the edges of his collar. The two other ponies were no slouch either, their suits made with costly linens and adorned with all kinds of jewellery.
“That’s unfortunate to hear, Sir High Lurk,” said Twilight through slightly gritted teeth, though the noble ponies didn’t seem to notice.
“Yes, yes. Please, let us change the topic to avoid bringing up anymore… unpleasant memories,” remarked the noble.
For the next little while, they engaged in what Twilight described as nonsense talk; fillers that probe the other for any information or vulnerabilities. It was a staple of nobility politics, as they would usually do this before committing to any serious moves. Twilight’s façade must have been particularly convincing, because the next thing she knew the leader of them, High Lurk, was talking to her with his lackeys falling silent.
“Lady Sparkle, I hear that you’re very straight forward mare, so I will be frank. I have a proposal for you,” said Noble High Lurk, smiling as if he had won a million Celestine bits. “One that would benefit both of us greatly, you with my family’s wealth, and me with a connection to Her Highness that would allow us to serve her better.”
“Are you proposing a marriage?” asked Twilight incredulously. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw that Spike shared her scepticism.
“Precisely, Lady Sparkle. Surely a mare as intelligent as you are can see it’s benefits,” said High Lurk, chuckling. Twilight, both annoyed and slightly disgusted, abruptly dispelled any illusion the noblestallion might have entertained.
“Frankly, sir, I would rather flag my tail in front of everypony present than agree to marry you,” said Twilight flatly, before smiling sweetly. “I’m sure if you would want to pursue an arranged marriage, you can always petition Princess Celestia in the Solar Court.”
The nobles reared back as if they were physically struck, and the two accompanying stallions visibly paled underneath their coat. Trying to regain his composure, High Lurk turned his nose upward and his tone turned haunty again, though this time it had a slight tremble within it.
“Hmph! Well I never!” said the stallion in disdain, though it seems much more subdued than before. Without another word, he snorted and left with his entourage.
“Have a good day sir!” called out Twilight cheerfully. The mask, though, collapsed faster than the speed of light once High Lurk was out of sight, and her lips curled up in contempt. “Urgh, old, snobby nobles trying to gain power through me.”
It took a few more seconds of silent fuming before she could compose herself again.
“Well… that wasn’t too bad, right?” asked Spike nervously.
“That’s only the first of them,” said Twilight darkly.
Right on cue, she turned and saw another wave of circling sharks who had spotted her. Clearing her face on any emotions, Twilight once again plastered a blatantly false smile over her muzzle as she prepared to say the automated greetings with floury and sugary words.
The night seemed longer than her existence.
The small watch piece snapped close, and Spike put it away into one of his pockets.
“Sorry, Twi, I have to dash. Duty waits for no one,” said Spike, grinning as he gave her a mock salute. Twilight rolled her eyes and gave a slight huff.
“Fine, fine. Leave me here in this Tartarus, why don’t you,” she replied.
“Come on, Twi, I’m sure you won’t have to stay here for too much longer,” said Spike as he turned into a hawk and pointed a talon behind Twilight. She looked and saw nothing. When she turned back to Spike, he was already gone.
Twilight uttered some decidedly unladylike words under her breath as she turned to stalk back to her solemn corner, hoping for some respite before the next inevitable onslaught of snobbish nobility. However, she glanced again at the direction Spike had pointed towards, and this time she saw something familiar.
There was a beige pegasus stallion with a two-tone cobalt mane carefully manoeuvring through the crowd of mingling guests. Unlike most of the ponies present, he had a brilliant purple and gold dress uniform on that signified his substantial rank as an officer of Celestine’s Royal Guards.
Twilight walked closer to see just as the officer turned around, his overcoat shifting slightly as he did so. The insignia of lieutenant was neatly presented as a pin on his uniform, with two spiralling tendrils wrapping around an emblazoned sun. She silently cheered when she finally saw who he was.
Twilight Sparkle never took the time to know all of them. In fact, she only really knew one, by heart that is. That was fine, since there was only one that really mattered.
“Lieutenant Flash Sentry,” greeted Twilight, flourishing her eloquent dress slightly as she did so. A small smile appeared on her face, perhaps the first genuine one she had at the event.
“Lady Sparkle,” he answered with a smile of his own, returning the gesture with a small bow of his own. He leaned towards to Twilight, close enough so that any words were private but not so much as to become inappropriate. “How’s our Princess’s little troublemaker?”
“I hadn’t blown anything up, if that’s what you’re asking. I do hope that you brought gifts.” replied Twilight flatly, to which Flash nodded sagely.
“Of course,” he said, before turning around just in time to greet a trio of Capital elites, all dressed in nothing short of the entire fall fashion line. Upon seeing them, Twilight had to resist the urge to groan. She’s been lucky enough to avoid the infamous ‘trois chéris’ so far, but it seemed like her luck had just ran out.
“Ladies,” he said politely, tilting his officer’s cap in greeting. The mares giggled, and one batted her lashes at him in what she probably thought was in an agreeable manner. Twilight had to restrain herself to not gag, visibly that was. “Do you mind if I borrow Mrs Sparkle for a moment? I promise not to keep her any longer than necessary.”
The lead mare, Luminance, if Twilight remembered correctly, snorted in barely hidden discontentment.
“Of course, but do hurry. We would just love your exploits, dear Lieutenant,” said the hazel unicorn mare, her tone so flirtatious that Twilight wouldn’t be surprised if she suddenly tackled Flash Sentry and made out. The thought sent another uncomfortable shiver down her spine, and she decided to move along the conversation.
“Come, Lieutenant Sentry. I have something to discuss with you in private,” she said curtly, looping a forehoof around Flash’s. The mares smiled sweetly at him – to the point that it could be described as sickening – before turning to Twilight with glaring daggers once Flash Sentry had turned his back. Twilight tilted her head just so slightly and stuck her tongue out in a most unladylike fashion.
She will treasure the trio of horrified faces for years to come.
They snaked through the rest of the ponies, occasionally giving apologies when accidentally bumping into somepony. Soon, they went into the corridors around the ballroom, where the only ponies were still-working maids or secretive lovers.
They headed for Twilight’s own, personal dressing chamber – a fact she resented for its only existence was due to the sheer amount of times she had to come here. Once instead, Twilight motioned for Flash to come in. When he hesitated, though, she pulled him inside and closed the door with a resounding thud.
“Hey, Twilight, what are you– Aargh!” Flash Sentry immediately shied away and averted his eyes as Twilight wormed her way out of her dress, taking apart her corset and peeling off her stockings. “Can you at least warn me next time before stripping down into your bare coat?”
“You know, if you were any other stallion, I would be worried. Celestia knows you’re probably the only stallion who has a problem with this,” said Twilight, smirking as she brazenly kicked away her horseshoes, discarding the last piece of clothing she wore. She roughly stashed away her dress (Twilight didn’t like to go shopping) and looked around instead for another set of clothes she had hidden beneath a chair. Flicking aside her delicately curled mane from her face, she used a reverse-this spell to rid herself of the arduous amount of makeup.
“What if somepony sees us, Twilight? Scandalous wouldn’t begin to cover it!” hissed Flash with face flushed red, still unwilling to glance even remotely towards Twilight, who rolled her eyes.
“It’s okay, Flash. I’m dressed now.” Cautiously, Flash Sentry lowered his hoof and looked towards Twilight, before raising an eyebrow.
Twilight was dressed in a plain blouse with leather workings and a pair of unladylike pants made of tough and hardened textiles. Black charcoal and oil stains ran rampant, betraying its practicality. The pant legs had multiple scrapes and tears, some even high enough to be deemed slightly revealing. Not the subtlest of outfits, but one that screamed ‘Twilight Sparkle!’ all over.
“Do you like it?” asked Twilight, grinning. Flash gawked at her briefly before recomposing himself.
“I think it suits you,” said Flash Sentry, giving a nervous chuckle as he walked with Twilight to a side door, the one that Twilight made herself. As they stepped out into the cool, dark night, Flash cautiously ventured, “You might even attract the gaze of a few prospective stallions.”
“No thank you,” said Twilight, waving her hoof dismissively.
“Oh, so you don’t like stallions?” asked Flash.
“No, I just… don’t care much for their company.” Flash’s posture sagged for the briefest of moments before the ephemeral movement disappeared. “Except for you and Spike, of course.”
“Is that so? Are you, Twilight Sparkle, saying that you would consider a mare before you would see a stallion?” teased Flash. Twilight flushed red at the insinuation even though the darkness did an honourable job at hiding it. “Relax, Twilight, I’m only joking.”
Twilight simply bobbed her head, and they fell into silence. Flash silently berated himself as a somewhat awkward situation wafted in between them, both sides unwilling to speak as they traversed down the lamp lit streets.
“So… I heard that you are going to get a construct as your promotion boon! That would be so great for Spike as well! He’s so lonely all the time,” giggled Twilight. Flash sewed his lips together to prevent commenting on the abhorrent irony on display.
“Yes, of course,” he said with a weak smile. “Speaking of which, where is Spike now?”
“He got out just before you arrived, something about the Princess assigning him a ‘very important job’,” said Twilight before chortling. “He probably has to take care of Philomena again.”
“Ouch, I do not envy him,” remarked Flash genuinely. The phoenix construct had caused more than one incident around the palace. “As for my own construct, I’m actually going to the Hub in a few days to go and check on the designs, as well as getting my arcane signature registered. From my aptitude tests, I’m likely to get a stable build instead of an ambiguous one like Spike.”
“Really?” asked Twilight, an excited smile spreading over her face. “That’s really great! I’ve never been to one of those Hubs, not to design my construct anyways. My old Headmaster built Spike for me.”
“It’s probably not as exciting as you’d think it would be; a few stallions and mares sitting at a small round table, interrogating you for every facet of your life and personality.” As he said so, Flash gave a small shiver. He heard stories…
Flash coughed, but Twilight didn’t seem to catch his temporary distraction. He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly as they walked side by side along the mostly empty street.
“Actually, Twilight, I’ve got something to ask you,” started Flash awkwardly.
“Sure, go for it,” replied Twilight, her tone still innocent and joyful.
“Would you… go to lunch with me tomorrow? At Cuisine pour Cinq?” asked Flash, nervously scratching the back of his head with a hoof.
“Sure, I would love to! You need to tell me all about what you plan for your construct to be like! I could even help with the designs!” said Twilight, hopping up and down in excitement as her eyes glazed over slightly. In her state, she missed Flash Sentry release a small, withheld breath.
“Great! I have to go now, but I’ll see you tomorrow then?” asked Flash.
“Yep,” replied Twilight, then morphing into her ‘ladylike’ attitude and gave a mocking twirl of her non-existent dress. She added an emphasizing bat of her eyelashes as she spoke. “I do wish you a marvellous evening, my dear Sir Lieutenant Sentry.”
Flash Sentry stood there, looking at Twilight, mouth open as if he wanted to say something. Apparently, he had changed his mind and shook his head slightly before returning her gesture with an exaggerated bow.
“Of course, my good lady, I bid you an even more splendorous night. And say hi to spike for me!” Twilight giggled as Flash turned around and walked away, but not before he flashed Twilight a smile. She froze, replaying the smile in her memory. There was something else there too, in his smile, something that she hadn’t really seen before. Or had she?
She shook her head several times, but the thought didn’t go away. Finally, she focused on a distraction, and thought of the multitude of research projects she had started. None of them were particularly revolutionary, mostly fiddly projects focusing on the properties of light and such.
At the very least, it helped to divert her mind from cross-analysing Lieutenant Sentry’s behaviour and plotting to pull an all-nighter on studying pony interpersonal interactions.
Tartarus, she was going to do it anyways, wasn’t she?
“She’s out of my league, Rock. I honestly don’t why I asked her out,” said Flash Sentry, shaking his head slowly as he placed a hoof across his friend’s back. The two walked slowly down the mostly empty Palace hallway, the coming darkness signalling the activation of occasional electro-lamps hung up high. “Besides, I’m quite certain she doesn’t even know it’s a date. She thinks of me as a brother, not some dashing knight in shining armour.”
“But you’re not related by blood, right?” asked Rock, his untamed silver mane bobbing slightly as he glanced sideways at Flash.
“Yes, but…”
“Then, what is there to worry about? If she responds favourably, then merry all around. If not, Miss Sparkle is not a cruel pony, and certainly not to you. She will understand.” Flash sighed, and kicked at some gathering dust on the ground.
“I don’t know, Rock. I’ve known her for years, but I still don’t feel ready.”
Rock placed a beige coloured hoof on Flash’s shoulder, stopping the stallion in his tracks as he directed a steely gaze on him.
“Trust me on this one, bud. The only time you would ever feel ready is when she gets snatched up by a go-lucky stallion who would turn her into an introvert at best and break her heart at worst.”
“She already is an introvert,” deadpanned Flash.
“Exactly my point,” said Rock with a knowing grin, before thumping a hoof on Flash’s chest, exactly where his heart was. “Go get her, Manticore.”
Flash pushed him away and gave him a faux glare, only to have the stallion wiggle his eyebrows back at him.
“Fine, fine. I’m done talking with you. I need to get going now anyways. CO dumped a late shift on me this morning.” Rock laughed and waved Flash off, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously familiar to “Poor Bastard”.
Flash broke off from his friend, and soon lost sight of him. He swung past his new office; a mostly barren block of hollow concrete with a table and two chairs. He opened a metal locker within to reveal a perfectly polished sergeant’s armour. He admired the intertwining pieces of gold and royal purple tinted steel covering the segments, and the smooth helmet with a bright crimson crest. A short while later, Flash was fully outfitted in his armour and headed for his appointed rounds.
A soft clip-clopping of hooves nearby gained his attention, however. A small smile took his face as he prepared to utilize his new rank for the first time ever, no doubt catching a stray guard rushing to his post. Flash rounded a corner, and was surprised to see a unicorn mare wandering the near empty hall. Flash cleared his throat slightly and mustered the sternest mask of military discipline.
“Hello, ma’am, can I help you with anything?” asked Flash Sentry. “The Castle is about to be closed off to visitors.”
As he approached closer, he could see the mare clearly. She was a stunning mare with, wearing a velvet dress with rich gold linings. The cloth was purposefully and sensually stuck to her form, enticing enough to tempt even the most stoic of gentlestallions. Flash swallowed silently before resuming his composure. When he was close enough, the beautiful mare turned to him with a small curtsy.
“Hello, Officer…” said the mare, trailing off while giving him an attractive smile.
“Lieutenant Flash Sentry, ma’am,” provided Flash, his face hidden beneath a calm and trained demeanour. Despite her welcoming and slightly suggestive demeanour, he felt there was something… wrong with her. Somehow her behaviour was out of place with her body, like her face weren’t supposed to smile like that.
“Lieutenant Sentry, I am in dire need of some help, and I believe you’re just the stallion I’m looking for,” said the ivory mare, her tongue rolling slightly as she said his name. Flash stiffened as the mare turned her eyes on him, every guard instinct he had screaming for him to get out of there immediately. His training, though, argued otherwise. He was still on duty, dammit. Besides, she was just one unarmed mare. He could handle it if things went downhill.
“Of course, ma’am. I’ll try to the best of my abilities.”
“I have no doubt you will,” she replied, turning to give him a seductive wink. “But, please, call me Emeritus.”
“Very well, Miss Emeritus, please follow me this way. Now, what were you looking for…”
Twilight checked her watch.
It was fast becoming something of an obsession of hers, one that she had gained since she started to wait for Flash Sentry to arrive to their… date? Yes, that was the term the book had used to describe their social rendezvous. Which book was it? Twilight wasn’t completely sure, but it had to be somewhere in the far-left pile of books she had collected. Of course, that only narrowed it down to three dozen titles, from ‘Frisky Coltfriends’ to ‘Wooing your significant other’.
Inadvertently, this led Twilight’s thoughts into some of the more… risqué titles she had sought out. Lonely nights indeed. Twilight quickly turned her mind to other matters, namely everything with the conjoined prefix of ‘Where’ and the suffix ‘is Flash Sentry’. Anything in between would be purely descriptive and merely reflected her mood at the time.
She glanced at her pocket watch for the umpteenth time, teetering dangerously on the edge of her remaining patience. It had been a dash and two quarters since the summit of the Celestial glow, or in other words, way past noon, their appointed meeting time.
As had all her previous attempts at discerning a plausible reason, Twilight failed. It just simply wasn’t like Flash Sentry to be tardy.
“Spike, we’re going,” said Twilight as she stood up abruptly. Spike snorted awake and shot up as straight as an electric lamp post.
“Wha-huh?” he asked intelligently. He rubbed his eyes with a small claw, as he was currently in the form of a large iguana, and looked around blearily. “Is Flash still not here yet?”
“Unfortunately, no. But we’re going to find him and find out exactly what’s wrong,” she said determinedly.
“If you say so, Twi,” said Spike wearily, rolling his scales as he got up and stretched. “Are you sure he didn’t just forget?”
“Yes, I’m positive,” said Twilight as she headed towards the café. Spike didn’t need to know the details. Besides, he wouldn’t understand anyways, Twilight told herself. Something was definitely wrong, and she needed to know what it was.
“Where are we going?” he asked as he walked beside her.
“The Palace barracks. Maybe somepony there had seen him today,” she said, a small frown, though, appeared on his face.
A short trip from the roads outside to the Palace to the inner courtyard later, Twilight stood in front of a rather old-fashioned complex. The faded concrete buildings and the nearby training grounds looked at odds with the colourful greeneries of the rest of the Palace grounds. Some guards marched in patrols while others were practicing their marksmanship in rifles, using the newly implemented rubber bullets.
The numerous times both Princess Celestia and Flash Sentry had brought her here meant that Twilight had a decent idea of the layout. Without much trouble – mostly owing to her somewhat common visits and status – she manoeuvred to the inner blocks, where she knew Flash’s friends usually resided in their free time.
“Oh, Twilight, what a surprise!” said a pale ruby coloured mare. Twilight’s brain screeched to a halt as she tried to remember the guardmare’s name. Usually, either Princess Celestia or Flash provided the name, a luxury she didn’t exactly have at the moment. What was it… oh yes! Land! That’s right, Lance was her name!
“Er, hi Land. How are you?” said Twilight nervously as Spike tried to stifle a laugh for some reason. A small chortle rose from the ruby mare as well, causing her to frown. Did I say something funny?
“It’s Lance, Twilight,” said the mare mirthfully. She waved off any apology that Twilight was about to make though, and favoured her with a bright smile. “So what do you need, Twilight? Did Flash chicken out from assigning shifts to us and used you instead?”
“Um, actually Flash is the reason I’m here. I haven’t seen him all day, and he missed an… appointment we made,” said Twilight, her tone slightly bitter. The mare raised an eyebrow before scrunching up her muzzle.
“That’s… strange. I haven’t seen him all day, and he’s not the sort to miss spending time with you and Spike. Gimme a sec, I’ll ask Gale,” she said. With a holler, she shouted at the wall of an adjacent room, “GALE, HAVE YOU SEEN FLASH TODAY?”
A muffled ‘no’ came back followed by some disreputable phrases. Lance turned back to Twilight and shook her head sadly.
“Sorry, that looks like a no. I’ll spread around the word to look for him.”
Twilight left the barracks disheartened and headed inside the Palace, intending to go back to her chambers. As they walked silently, there was a small mysterious but noticeable ache within Twilight. When she walked, her head hung low, and her posture sagged. Spike immediately took notice and patted her shoulders comfortingly.
She gave a grateful smile to him.
“Heh, thanks, Spike. Maybe I’m being silly and he just forgot, what with his new promotion in the Royal Guard,” muttered Twilight. “Still, though, something doesn’t seem right…”
“Cheer up, Twi,” said Spike. He looked as if he was going to say more, but it was abruptly interrupted by a loud, earsplitting scream.
Ponies nearby gave startled cries and murmurs arose, with ponies heading towards the direction it had come from. Before she had even realized, Twilight’s own hooves were carrying her along with the tide. Spike flew after her once he saw what she was doing.
“Twilight, wait up! It could be dangerous!” he shouted, but she ignored him. Twilight Sparkle was a scholar; she didn’t believe in gut feelings. However, to say this was a simple ‘gut feeling’ would be akin to saying that Discord was evil. No, this was her gut was reaching up her esophagus and strangling her brain screaming ‘Bad!’ through sheer force of will. Something had happened, something terrible.
Twilight finally caught up to the scene, and saw that already there were no less than a dozen guards there trying to ward off unwanted bystanders. The location wasn’t anything of note, except that it was usually closed off after hours and didn’t see much activity even during the day. As she approached the small crowd, words of ‘murder’ and ‘tragedy’ seemed to pass from mouth to mouth, though everypony only whispered.
Swallowing thickly, she weaselled through the gathering bystanders. The nearby guards glanced at her, but most averted their gaze afterwards and returned to holding back the morbidly curious onlookers. One of the guards, dressed in a sergeant’s uniform – one of Flash Sentry’s friends – turned to her, and placed a hoof on her.
“I’m sorry,” he said before taking his hooves off and turned away. Twilight felt shaken and confused, and her efforts to see what’s happening were given a new vigour. It can’t be, she thought. There must be some kind of mistake, maybe he thought she was somepony else?
“Excuse me! Excuse me, I need to go through!” she cried, throwing all subtlety to the wind. Grunts, curses and offended gasps went up around her as she rudely pressed through the ponies.
Once through, Twilight saw what everypony was crowded around, and she immediately became sick in the stomach. The feeling worsened, however, when she thought it looked familiar, looking almost like…
No. No, it can’t be. Twilight frantically looked to the nearest Royal Guard.
“S-Sir, what is this?” asked Twilight.
“Ma’am, this is a restricted– Lady Sparkle?” said the Royal Guard, recognition entering his eyes. There were few palace guards who didn’t know Twilight Sparkle, even though the reverse was not true. “I’m very sorry for your loss, but there’s nothing more you can do here.”
“N-No… there must be a mistake here!” shouted Twilight, shocking the curious onlookers into silence. In a smaller, disoriented voice, she asked the guard again. “There must be some sort of mistake… right? I-It, can’t be…”
A slow shake of the guard’s head was his only reply. In her dazed state, Twilight didn’t realize what the guard had meant. She then turned stock still, her body frozen as her mind unravelled the puzzle presented to her.
Understanding, then dawning horror. It was the only way Twilight could describe herself at that moment. Hoof over her mouth, she choked out a cry, tears pooled up at the edge of her eye ducts, streaming down like the estuaries of the Capital. Disregarding any composure, she galloped away from the body, squeezing shut her teary eyes as she carelessly pushed through the crowd of nobleponies, civil workers and struggling guards. Somewhere behind her, a voice called out. It sounded like Spike.
Twilight didn’t look back, she couldn’t. She had seen all she needed to, and she regretted the action so very much.
On the floor, there was the body of a royal guard.
Twilight Sparkle never took the time to know all of them. In fact, she only really knew one, by heart that is. There was only one that really mattered.
