The Bar stands as a haven for those who need it and a reminder for those old enough to remember it. Everyone who enters may not be a friend, but they all deserve a drink.
At the end of the known world lies an anomaly, a break in the untamed reaches. Through a gap in the trees rests the very end of civilization known to all races that reside on the continent. A quaint little haven for anyone who manages to make it all the way out here.
The Bar refuses no-one and nothing, be they Pony, Griffon, Changeling, Draconeques, or anything that can think. All The Bar asks is that It's patrons follow It's rules.
No fighting, Leave your fear at the door, Your titles mean nothing here, Those with dietary necessities speak to the Owner.
If there is a character you REALLY want to see come to The Bar, leave a comment with the characters name and I'll see what i can do.
A Respite; Rediscovered Yet Unchanged (Luna Part 1)
One lovely very early morning during the end of summer strode a figure in a large cloak slowly meandering their way through a dense forest. The path trodden overgrown and nearly washed away by the cruelty of time, yet still incredibly there for those perceptive enough to see it. Or those who remember it.
The figure took a moment to observe their surroundings, and found themselves slowing to a stop near a boulder for a rest. Climbing upward to sit astride the rock's face the wanderer gave a heavy sigh before tilting their head upwards to catch a glimpse of the smoke that had spurred them onwards so fervently.
"We has't nearly arrived, one thousand years late, but We hath kept Our promise to thee." The figure softly spoke, standing tall and gazed towards a barely visible tree line in the distance. Beyond that line lay the column of smoke, gently floating upwards. Taking a moment to stretch their legs out, the Wanderer Continued on their journey. Upon coming to a bramble thicket, the figure's eyes drifted down to their cloak when an errant breeze lifted the edge into their vision and with a huff, it was cast off into the dirt, revealing Her Majesty Princess Luna in all her midnight glory.
"We knoweth not whyever We hath kept that ragged thing on this long, twas only meant to covereth Our exit from castle and city." She gave a light sigh. "The ails of a wandering mind We suppose..." She mused as her horn ignited to clear a path through the thicket, parting the brambles to either side of the path to come ever closer to her goal.
Casting her eyes to the column of smoke her mind began to wander again while her hooves carried her onward. "If 't be true thee art alive, and We desire it so, We cannot wait to heareth about all We has't missed." Luna thought as her mind raced with the possibilities. "The stories art sure to beest Wonderful!" With a start Luna shook her head, getting rid of her wide grin and refocusing her thoughts on continuing her trek through the forest and noticing that she had cleared quite a distance relatively quickly in her excitement and mental distraction. Looking around to reorient herself she found that her memories had not failed her as she approached the last barrier between her and the end of her long journey.
Casting her eyes across the tree line for a large enough gap to squeeze through she attempted to keep her more intrusive thoughts at bay, only to find that she was unable to stop all of them from manifesting in her mind's eye, a uncharacteristic nervousness taking ahold of her heart with an iron grip. Taking a step back and closing her eyes, she wrestled with the worst of them; that there would be nothing beyond the barrier but burning rubble, or that her only other Immortal friend had somehow passed away and his abode had been occupied by another.
Luna took a deep breath to steady herself, her hooves clacking against the stones on the ground as her legs trembled. 'Nay. We has't cometh this far, We must see this through to the end. Even If 't be true there is nothing hither for Us but Our own memories.' With that thought to tentatively bolster her resolve her eyes fell upon a sizable gap and she quickly strode over to it before she could lose the will to continue again. Stepping carefully over roots and shrubbery, she pushed between the trees and took a moment to brush off her coat afterward, steeling herself for whatever sight lay before her when she gathered the courage to look up.
Once she could no longer find an excuse to keep dusting off, she swallowed heavily and cast her gaze upward, Tears sprung to her eyes as the memories rapidly overwhelmed her. Memories of all the times she would sneak away with Celestia, or by herself during the later years. Oh the trouble they would get into, it was always worth the scolding and punishment. Memories of all the laughs had and tears shed at this establishment among friends and family. The one place she and her sister could TRULY relax one thousand years before. The Sleeping Alicorn.
As Luna stood slack jawed and glossy-eyed at the sight before her and memories rushing past her mind's eye, inside The Sleeping Alicorn a unicorn stallion named Stalwart Shield was preparing for the new day, stacking glasses and using magic to sweep the floor and wipe tables. Once the cleaning implements finished their work and retreated to the broom closet he turned to check his reflection in the mirror behind the bar.
His brown coat nearly amber in the bright morning light and reflecting off his brown eyes, his once black mane now gray with white streaks. Though his appearance was of a 30-ish well-travelled stallion, the fair few scars along his body and face told the story of a seasoned fighter along with the shield and crossed swords emblazoned upon his side. though his days as a Knight of the Royal Equestrian Throne were long, LONG behind him, he could not shake a fair few of the habits instilled during his time serving. as such Stalwart was still fit and healthy, most likely owed to his unnaturally Eternal life, and made sure to train his swordsmanship whenever the chance arose to.
After Stalwart was done looking himself over he double-checked that everything was in order once more before using his magic to unlock the door and stand behind the bar, getting the ingredients ready for the regulars that would come throughout the day. it was of course then that a streak of sunlight reflecting off an errant piece of metal attempted to blind him. "gh-, Bastard. " Stalwart grumbled as he, rubbing his eye, attempted to see what was attacking him this early in the morning and catching a glimpse of silver on a dark blue coat through a window. "better not be something else I have to fix because of those damn griffons."
Upon hearing the not exactly quiet grumbling coming from the door, Luna was able to wrench herself from her unintended trip down memory lane and excitedly trot up to the door and knock. Now all she could do was wait, almost vibrating from the nervous energy and excitement mixing in her body causing her to shift from side to side, and see what fate had in store for the Monarch of the Night. "I thought I... Hold on!" Was shouted from the depths of the building. "Forgot the damn sign." as hoofsteps came closer to the door, causing Luna to grow more restless from the anticipation.
With the soft chimes of magic the large oak door swung open and both parties were able to see each other for the first time in a millennium.
"wha-" before Stalwart could get a full word out he was crushed in a hug from the Lunar Princess as she victoriously cried,
"Sir Stalwart Shield of the O.S.M! thou still liveth! We art overcome with such joy!" Luna continued to keep Stalwart locked to her chest as she began to softly cry, overwhelmed by the emotion of the moment and all her fears washing away.
Stalwart, although incredibly confused and reeling from the discovery that the Lunar Princess not only still lived but had made the trek out to see him at his bar, could not help but to get teary eyed himself and comfort her as best he could help tightly to her as he was.
"Alright Princess, it's alright. I'm still alive and so are you." Stalwart said as he wiped his eyes and cried with the sobbing Princess.
After quite a few minutes of releasing emotional tension from both parties Stalwart managed to break free from Luna's grip and lead her inside to sit down and talk away from prying eyes that may pass by. "It's good to see you too Princess. Now, I doubt you came all the way out here to cry on my behalf. I'll get you a glass of Liquid Moonlight."
as Stalwart stood to prepare the glass Luna managed to speak up with no small amount of shame. "Liquid Moonlight? how doth thee has't any? twas boycotted centuries ago... When fear of Us wast at it's peak."
"while that may be true," Stalwart conceded as he dug through a cabinet of unlabeled bottles, "I managed to get my hands on the recipe by posing as a prohibitionist." he floated two glasses over to Luna's table. "Which allowed me to continue it's production on my own. of course," he continued, levitating a faintly glowing bottle of liquid silver, "I only sell it on the secret menu, which VERY few people know." Stalwart finished as he returned to the table with the bottle held aloft in his gold telekinetic field.
"Incredible..." Luna softly exclaimed as she reverently took the bottle from his magic in her own and brought it closer to inspect. "to hold a piece of Our history after a millennium... We may beginneth to cry again!" She exclaimed and gently poured the glowing liquid silver into the glasses, the arcane process that created it causing frost to build on the glasses immediately even in the summer heat.
Raising her glass, Luna regarded Stalwart with a critical, if red, eye. "doth thou knoweth," She drawled, taking a languid sip of the drink of closing her eyes to appreciate the flavor. "if't be true Our sister kneweth thee could maketh this, Celestia would has't hath sent a Royal Decree for trade AGES ago!" Luna exclaimed as she took another sip, laughing.
With a chuckle Stalwart drank his own glass and conceded victory to Luna. "Well now that you know I doubt she'll be far behind. I'll wait for that decree with baited breath." after a moment of silence Stalwart downed the rest of his glass and wiped off the frost that formed on his lips. "well I gotta get back behind the counter. This place won't run itself as much as I want it to." He said as he rose from his seat and took his place. "take that bottle with you when you leave, I have more, and can always make more."
"We believe We shall remain here a while longer," Luna said as she leaned to rest upon her side to watch the patrons who would enter from the back of the bar. "it hath been oh so long since We has't seen thee worketh. We shalt enjoy the show ere We taketh our leave."
When it comes to a life of adventure and danger, stability is sorely needed among a whole host of other needs. Luckily for archaeologist and treasure hunter Daring Do, fate seemed to be kind to her in this instance when her latest delve brought her near what seemed to be civilization.
'Well,' Daring thought, standing before what looked like a Post-Unification style tavern. 'I was half right. this place is in remarkable condition! How suspicious.' And with that cheerful thought she began to cautiously approach the building, casting a tired yet keen eye over the exterior for any indication that it was either a trap, or a hideout for any hostile creatures. Upon coming to the conclusion that the front facing exterior was clear, she made sure her saddlebags were secure she began to circle the property keeping a comfortably wide berth and keeping out of sight of the darkened windows.
Once Daring had reached the rear of the tavern she was taken aback to find a fairly large garden space, full to bursting with crops of all shapes and sizes, from corn, tomatoes, and beets to a roped off section of the forest teeming with all kinds of different trees. each type an isolated copse. Just from where Daring stood she could see apples, pears, and cherries and even more behind them hidden by the shaded forest around it all.
After a few minutes spent gawking at the plethora of produce Daring turned shook her head to focus back on her task, casing the building for threats. Once she took a second to plot the best course through the edible jungle in font of her, Daring began to weave her way through the frankly massive garden, confident that the overabundance of plants would keep her tan coat and gray mane hidden from the few windows at the back of the property.
'Either this place belongs to to QUITE the eccentric unicorn, or this garden has been growing out of control for a long time. Another point for this place being a ruin then. Still doesn't explain how the place is in such good condition though.' The errant thought had barely flitted across Daring's mind before she threw herself into the dirt when she glimpsed a shadow move across one of the windows she was keeping a vigilant eye on. "Shit." Daring cursed as she attempted to hide beneath a grapevine she had been passing. 'Alright, don't panic. No shouting, no alarms, didn't see me.'
Once a few minutes had passed Daring lifted her head enough to see through the grapevine towards the Door she had spotted and breathed a sigh of relief when it didn't open.
'Okay. That was scary. But at least I now know that there ARE beings inside... Still .' Taking a calming breath Daring stood from the dirt and checked her saddlebags again before continuing through the garden, taking care not to crush any of the lush plant life under hoof.
Upon making it back the front side of the building Daring spent a minute attempting to school her errant and tired mind int some semblance of order, wary of what her tired and frazzled mind had labeled as an enemy.
'This is stupid..' Daring thought as she tried to rationalize her exhausted threat assessment. 'Even IF all signs point to it being completely benign you have to remember where you are, NOTHING would come all the way out here for business at the other side of Equestria. This HAS to be a trap.' Daring cracked a grin as she confidently strode to the door. 'Well whatever this turns out to be, they won't catch ME off guard!.'
All things considered, Stalwart felt like he was having a good day so far. Everyone who had come into his establishment today was perfectly fine with following the set rules on a sign above the bar, and there was a calm, quiet atmosphere layered over the tables. And that group of mercenaries were surprisingly polite and didn't cause a scene either! As such, Stalwart was able to have a break in between orders and finish the crossword a lovely mare had dropped off for him before leaving. All in all, a nice slow day. When the bell above the door chimed Stalwart glanced over to see a mare in a pith helmet enter, seemingly confused.
"Just a moment!" Stalwart called out as he put down his puzzle to cross over to the bar and wait for her to approach. "Welcome to The Sleeping Alicorn, been a while since I've seen a new face in here. What can I get you?"
"Uh, oh, just a water, thanks." Daring distractedly answered as she cast a critical gaze over the interior of the establishment, making a mental note to examine the assortment of maps displayed on a wall near the wall tables. "I won't be here long enough to need anything heavier."
"Water eh? Coming right up. What's your name?"
"Daring Do"
"Nice to meet you Daring, I'm Stalwart Shield." Stalwart said as he used his magic to grab a bottle from a cooler behind him and placed it on the bar as he walked over to the register. "That'll be two bits."
After Daring had put the money on the counter her eyes drifted over to the map wall again, a thread of memory beckoning her to them incessantly. "Hey barkeep," She nodded her head at the wall. "What's that all about?"
Stalwart looked over the collection of maps and chuckled to himself. "Many things, really. A timeline, reminders, warnings, guides, and hints for those who need them." he gestured over to it, a lazy grin stretching across his muzzle as he caught the ear flick she gave when he mentioned 'timeline'. "Interested in history are we?"
"Very." Daring replied as she threw a look back at him and grabbed the bottle with a wing before quickly making her way to the maps, excitement growing as she took in the yellowed parchment locked behind glass. 'Let's see here.' She thought as her eyes began to scan over the oldest maps displayed, eyes growing wider as she cross-referenced what she saw with what she knew of the historical topography of Equestria , Quickly realizing that these maps were OLD. Much, MUCH older than any she had seen in history books or in person before.
Daring was startled when she heard a voice speak up behind her, turning to see Stalwart settling back into his seat near the bar as he magically lifted the crossword again. "I'm guessing your a historian? They're the only Ponies I've seen that THAT excited over some dusty old maps."
They aren't just maps, old timer! they are incredibly valuable historical artefacts!" Daring Exclaimed, claimed by her fervor, as she dashed to the oldest ones. "These ones here, at the beginning, give us a never before seen second source for Old Equestria! and those!" She continued, moving over to the more recent ones. "There are locations and points of interest I've never seen before!" Whirling around, Daring pointed her hoof at Stalwart. "Where'd did you get these!?"
Looking down at her hoof, he gently pushed it down and moved to the wall himself, gazing over it absent mindedly. "An old friend of mine fancied herself the greatest cartographer in all Equestria and made most of these for me due to my work taking me all over the land... Until this one." He pointed to a clear change in map maker, where the ones before where incredibly detailed and lovingly made, the ones after the change were more clinical in nature, obviously geared toward mass production. "I was away on job at the time, and only learned of her death when I had returned." At this point he gave a heavy sigh and turned away from the collection.
Daring took in the given information as her eyes scanned over the maps made by Stalwart's friend, eyes seeking out the cartographers signature. "Well, she seemed to have quite the talent for it. They are all beautifully done." finally she found the name and had to bite the inside of her cheek to muffle a gasp when she recognized it. "Cardinal Direction!?" She turned back to Stalwart as he was easing back down into his chair. "Your friend WAS the greatest cartographer of Old Equestria! She pioneered the modern mapmaking method still used today!"
Stalwart watched Daring as she began to rant, cutting her off with a chuckle. "Heh. Thank you, I'm sure she would have loved to hear your praise." His gaze wandered over the maps as he began to think, before turning to her with a proposal. "I can tell you have a real love for history and all it contains, so I have a deal for you. I'll provide the maps if you want to take them for copying, as long as you return them to me afterward."
With a start, Daring turned to Stalwart with an excited grin. "Really? Oh, thank you!" She responded with glee. "this will be an incredible boon to recording history. Thank you, again."
"Don't worry about it." Stalwart remarked as he looked over the collection of maps. "They were just gathering dust up in that case anyway. give me a moment." With his magic Stalwart unlocked the glass case and gently floated the maps over to Daring, allowing her to carefully put them away in a special container designed for ancient texts and scrolls. "Take care Miss Do, see you next time." and with that final statement Stalwart walked back to the bar to serve the customers who had just walked in.
Daring, after securing the Maps in her saddlebag, took a sip of her water, adjusted her hat, then happily walked out of The Sleeping Alicorn. Well aware of the fact she would be returning again, and not just to return the maps.
When it came down to preference, Stalwart could say with confidence that he enjoyed both his busy days and his not-so busy days running The Sleeping Alicorn. The busy days were enjoyable due to the influx of new and old faces that passed through his door. And the slow days because it allowed him to work on his projects or fix something that had gone wrong a previous day.
"If you find yourself lost out this way again, come on in!" Stalwart shouted at the two Griffons who stumbled out the door, laughing uproariously at a third who had attempted to fly and promptly got a beak-full of dirt and grit. Shaking his head with a small chuckle of his own Stalwart turned his attention, and his magic, back to cleaning the griffons table now that they had left. While his magic went to work in the background of his mind, his immediate thoughts turned back to the lack of personalities in his establishment.
'Well, I guess a little trip down memory lane before the next customer wouldn't hurt..' He thought and wandered over to the Weapons mounted along the top of the back wall, above the booths. Each one placed in recessed alcoves with small spotlights drawing attention to the assortment. Most eyes that entered the building were naturally drawn to the large Moon emblazoned Great-Hammer, it's Walnut tree haft polished to a dull shine and embossed with an Ivory pommel and filigree. The steel head of the hammer itself, noticeably weathered and well-used, was also beautifully crafted. The plates of steel on the front and back faces polished and shining, the glittering Moons on either side were made of moonstone and cut into crescents.
The hammer was placed in a spot of importance elevated above the others alongside it's sister weapons. A sword and a Sun emblazoned shield. Both sword and shield had the same wear-and-tear as the hammer, but were composed of different materials. The sword had a white Spruce handle and brass cross-guard, leading up to a steel blade, chipped in places and scratched from it's many years of use. The heater shield's white leather coating was in rough shape, scratches and a few burns marring the expanse yet the proud painted sun in the center was untouched. The gold rim was similarly chipped, but still polished to a shine.
These three armaments told the extensive and prideful history of their own through their appearance, whether that history was good or bad was lost to the past of the one who wielded them in combat. Aside from that, the Weapons exuded an almost reverent aura from the care put into maintaining what had to be centuries old tools of war.
'A long and bloody trip today then, eh girls?.' Stalwart thought as his eyes settled on them. 'fine, I have nothing better to do.' But before he could, the chime above the door called out for attention, and he gave a little huff as he turned to continue working. 'Another time then.'
"Are you sure you can make it home tonight? you had quite a bit to drink for quite a while." Stalwart asked as he helped a Pegasus find his footing outside the bar.
"I'll... beeeeee fine" the Pegasus slurred as he began to fly away. throwing a, "Goodbye~." Behind him.
"... Idiot." Stalwart sighed as he shook his head before entering his tavern, locking the door and turning off the window lights to attract customers. Once inside he began the closing procedure, cleaning up and making sure everything was back where it was meant to be. After that ritual was done for the night his gazed was dragged back over to the Weapons hanging above the booths, Specifically the elevated ones. With a sigh Stalwart used his magic to pour himself a drink and took a seat at the bar, eyes locked onto that which had captured his attention so thoroughly.
"What am I gonna do with you three?" Stalwart said to himself as he sipped at his drink, thoughts wandering back to the looks newcomers had when they first saw the Weapons, it was always quite varied, ranging from interest all the way to shock and fear. "Well," He mused in the dim lonely atmosphere of the tavern. "At least no-one who comes in will recognize you all. That kind of of attention is not only unwanted but just a hassle to deal with. Although..." Stalwart hummed to himself as his eyes wandered over to the cellar door behind the bar. "you girls ARE the least dangerous items in my possession."
Shaking his head yet again, Stalwart finished his drink and went to the cellar door, casting a spell to create a orb of soft white light. "Might as well check the vault, can never be sure someone didn't sneak down here earlier today." Reaching out with his magic again, Stalwart opened the door and descended down the staircase into the basement of his establishment, followed closely by his light source. once he reached the bottom he immediately used his magic to refresh the wards and check his security spells for tampering, humming contentedly when nothing was found to be amiss.
Making his way to the back wall past the many machines used for the making of his different spirits and liquors Stalwart found himself at a locked metal door. Producing the key from a hidden pocket at the top of the doorframe, he let himself into the previously locked room, sending the orb of light to the middle of ceiling and intensifying the light it gave off the see the room in it's entirety. Said room was filled to the brim with pedestals and locked chests, each one containing a different artefact Stalwart had deemed too dangerous and unsafe to stay free and not locked away where nobody would find it.
"hmm." Stalwart hummed as he proceeded between the contained items, casting a critical eye to see if any were moved or otherwise tampered with. "Can never be too careful" he mused as he stared impassively at a strapped down amulet with an eye at the center, thrashing and straining against it's binding and glaring with hate and vitriol back at him. After rolling his eyes to show how unimpressed He was with it's fit of rage he reinforced the soundproofing spell so he wouldn't have to hear it screaming at him.
After Stalwart was satisfied with his examination of charges in his glorified prison, He gave a sigh of relief and made his way out of The Vault. As Stalwart locked it back up he was already feeling all his years bearing down on his back as the call of sleep beckoned him. Making his way back out of his cellar, Stalwart began to extinguish all the lights in the building. Soon enough there was only a single candle left. As Stalwart looked down at it, the absurdity of his life floated to the forefront of his mind, and he gave a small chuckle at his own expense.
"And they called me the Grand Knight of Equestria. Heh. What a joke."
In all things there is a beginning. The seeds of the tallest trees, a newborn's first breath, the first brush of ink on a page. On a larger scale is every new dawn to start the day, where if you were to be observant enough you would see it. In these few examples the pattern of the universal cycle of perpetuity reinforcing itself into the lives of all with sentience is established. Life, as with history, is repeated Ad Nauseum in it's well worn and comfortable role of continuing existence for everything and anything that falls under it's wide and loving reach. Live long enough and you see the patterns in the world, the grooves in the fabric of reality. Live even longer than that and...
A sigh echoed throughout the warm interior of a private office belonging to the elder leader of the Equestrian kingdom, a fire merrily crackling from within the hearth across from her desk, a large and plush cushion situated perfectly beside said fire to allow the optimal amount of warmth to cascade upon her form while she relaxed away from the demanding affairs of state. The walls of her office had many shelves full of items that carried great personal importance, collected over her many centuries of life. Sitting astride the large picture window, of which had a beautifully unobstructed view of Canterlot and the land onward, was a personal table laden with a tea set and lower compartment where she kept a chess table and other similar games for her close friends.
"… I'm stalling." A concession uttered from the mouth of The Sun in physical form, Celestia... 'Oh dear. Has it been so long that I have truly forgotten my name? I should...' Celestia shook her head softly and directed her mind back onto the present "Stop stalling." Celestia said as she scolded herself before raising her gaze to a incredibly... Interesting, bottle her sister had left on her desk in her office, a not quite subtle nudge from the younger sibling to move forward with something she had been putting off for a very, VERY, long time. Not out of apathy or cruelty, of course, but a fear of the unknown outcome of the meeting where it to happen. Emotion was and always will be a complicated manner when it came to her subjects. Yet did he still count as one of her subjects? He hadn't lived in Equestria since the old kingdom, and Equestria's borders no longer reached his place of business. An interesting problem, one that... 'is very good at distracting me.'
"Enough. This procrastination must stop, else Luna will take matters into her own hands." At that thought Celestia laughed to herself, the thought dredging up memories of the wild schemes her younger sister would get up to in times long past. "And nobody wants that, I'm quite certain that the nobles would attempt a coup of some type." And with that happy thought Celestia stood from where she was definitely NOT hiding from this long overdue meeting and turned her eyes out the window toward where she and her sister used to rule, deep in the Everfree and beyond. It's gnarled grasp unable to contain the expansive reach they once had, all the way to the farthest shore. Celestia knew that between that very shore and the limit of the Everfree lied his peaceful and quiet home.
As much as she appreciated Luna's directions, she knew where she and her sisters oldest living friend was residing. and once every year she asked the Spymaster to send an agent to check in on him in her stead. Was it cowardly? Yes. Celestia made no allusions to that fact. Yet it was all she could could do to both refrain from going herself and keep that peace he had made for himself intact. But Celestia could feel the urge to make her way down to The Sleeping Alicorn straining against her self-control grow stronger with each passing year, Luna's "gift" not helping her ever decreasing resolve.
Celestia's mouth twisted as she regarded the bottle with a heavy gaze, the stoneware blissfully unaware of the havoc it had wrought upon her normally calm and collected thoughts. "this decision should NOT be as hard as I am finding it." She mused as she wandered over to her desk where the offending item sat. With a gentle tinkling, Celestia lifted the bottle up into the air and sequestered it away into one of the many drawers of her desk, knowing that if it sat out any longer she would be far too tempted by it.
Another sigh echoed through the quiet room as her eyes looked toward a nearby calendar, idly noting that the yearly check-in was coming in the next week. And then her eyes widened as an idea occurred to her, a very self-indulgent and reckless idea, but one that tugged at her so insistently that she had no choice but to consider it. SHE could go in the spy's place! all she would need to do is assign Luna to rule in her stead, inform the palace staff and the Day Court that she would be taking a break on that day, tell the spymaster to forego sending an agent this year, and conjure a inconspicuous disguise. If all went well, no-one would be any the wiser, except her sister, that Celestia had not only left the castle, but Canterlot entirely! Which would give her the free reign needed.
Before Celestia could dismiss the entire operation she had built inside her mind and, if she were being honest, put it off for an unknown amount of time, she opened her eyes that she did not remember closing to see that in the time she had gone on this little flight of fancy she had already written out rather convincing letters to the Spymaster, the Head of Staff, and her personal assistant.
"I shouldn't do this. I really should not do this. I should just throw these away and forget all this nonsense... But if I don't do it now, will I ever? ... No. I won't." Celestia looked out over her city again and, for the first time in a long time, decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it. "Get ahold of yourself! You are Celestia. The Everlasting Sun! Sister to The Unconquered Moon! Though our wilder days are long behind us who says I cannot do as Luna does for once and do something for myself? It will only be for a day." Celestia assured herself as she used her magic to teleport the written letters to their recipients and levitate over her personal spellbook.
"Now which mare shall I take out this time?" Celestia mused to herself as she perused over the different disguises she had made over her long life before her gaze wandered back to the her desk, More specifically, the drawer she had hidden the bottle that started her little short-lived revolution. "Oh why not? I've already given in. I'll celebrate a little." After saying that she reopened the drawer and lifted out the bottle, using a small amount of magic to pop the cork out and brought it over to her muzzle to take a deep breath.
"Now THIS is a pleasure long forgotten." With a sigh of contentment Celestia took a moment to consider grabbing a glass, before that thought died a quick death as she lifted the bottle to take a swig directly.
Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia, and Element of Magic prided herself on both her immensely vast knowledge and organizational skill when it came to her many duties under the Sunlit Throne. One of those duties being to help in the preservation of information and history, a duty Twilight took to with excitement and relish. When it came to learning new things old and new her hunger for knowledge would never be sated. So when this particular job was entrusted to her by The Princess Twilight took to it like a fish to water, greedily devouring any and all texts and scrolls that entered an area around her table in the library that had been deemed 'No Mare's Land' by the librarians and historians who were working with her.
Now as much as Twilight tried to downplay her own intelligence when compared to those around her it was plainly obvious that she had an exceptionally brilliant mind. And it was using said brilliant mind that she began to see a pattern throughout the lifespan of Equestria. Every time a unknown magical artefact was found or a new magical study proved to be far more incredibly dangerous than expected, there would be recorded sightings of an armor-clad stallion arriving at ground zero of the incident. This stallion would then observe the situation before going forth with whatever solution he had come up with. Sometimes he would guide explorers to safety or help researchers reduce the risk of their experiments, other times he would forbid entry from dangerous ruins or take the object of study away to Celestia knows where. The records indicate that the mysterious stallion has done this for as far back as she has read, and every time he had shown up a disaster of some sort was averted. An example of which was currently floating before her muzzle, detailing how a small team of researchers found some type of grimoire written in an unknown tongue and had almost lost their lives to the undead that were summoned from merely opening the tome's cover, before the unknown warrior had shown up to save them.
Based on that report and others she had read before Twilight could infer that this protector of a sorts did not live in Equestria. She could also infer that He seemed to have an unwavering loyalty toward his seemingly self-appointed mission. All the little clues and sightings surrounding this... Knight, just caused her curiosity to learn more grow stronger, her mind drawing up theories and questions with no answers.
'Why do you show up when you do? where do you come from?' "Who are you?" The last question tumbled from her mind and softly out of her mouth, the beginnings of a path forward forming in her mind's eye. Twilight let out a deep sigh, knowing that her overactive mind had already decided that she was going to solve this mystery, for better or for worse.
"Well first things first." Twilight said with an air of finality as she rose from the table, stretching out her hooves and back with a growing excitement for this new project to tackle. "Time to make a checklist!"
Which is why Twilight found herself pacing in her room in the castle, muttering to herself and glancing over a floating piece of parchment and a map of the known lands. Her eyes bouncing between both items as she continued to cross-reference sightings and rumors with locations on the map, determined to find some type of correlation or a common path he had taken entering Equestrian borders to no avail.
Come on, there has to be something, anything!" With a short shout of frustration she rolled up and telekinetically threw the map at the door causing spike, who had just entered the room, to duck lest he be assaulted by flying cartography.
"Whoa! Jeez Twi, almost took my head off!" Spike spoke indignantly, miffed that, once again, he had been attacked upon entering their shared room. He walked over to where she was wearing a groove into the marble. "What's got you so worked up this time?" He asked, hopping up onto a nearby chair and looking over the mess she had made of the table. Twilight had spread so many different maps and copied reports that the tabletop was no longer visible, not to mention the others she had slowly revolving around her in a gentle orbit, allowing her to scan each one as it passed in front of her muzzle.
"Sorry Spike," Twilight sheepishly apologized as she slowed to a stop to give Spike a quick hug to say sorry in a more physical way. "I'm just a little frazzled right now, I picked up a new project during this little trip back to Canterlot. I noticed that throughout our history as a nation that Equestria has been visited by what seems to be another Immortal, Except that this one never stays long and only ever protects ponies. And if it IS another Immortal like the Princesses, then it is my duty as Element of Magic and Princess Celestia's Student to meet him. I just can't seem to make a breakthrough here." She waved a hoof at the map she floated back to her side as it unfurled, revealing a web of purple thread marring the once bare surface. "I'm frankly at a loss. If you fell like helping, got any ideas?"
"Hm." Spike peered closer at the mess of a map she held up for his perusal. "I got nothing. feels to me like your overthinking again." Spike hopped back down to the floor and made his way over the the bedroom. "Imma go take a nap Twi," Spike called over his shoulder, casting one last glance back at the mess both she and her work had become. But not before throwing out one last remark. "If this mystery Immortal is really bothering you why not ask Princess Celestia or Princess Luna?"
Upon hearing that everything in Twilight's mind ground to a screeching halt, then she slowly closed her eyes and took in a harsh breath through her teeth before slamming her head onto the table with a strangled cry of despair. After spending an appropriate amount of time bent out of shape over what she saw as a grave oversight on her part, She let out one more despairing shout as she stormed out of her room to go find her beloved mentor.
"WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT!?"
Living to Unliving and Back Again (Moonstone part 1)
Of all the Tales and Myths that surround figures and Legends long dead most, if not all, of them focus not on the Weapons that helped elevate said figures to their Legendary status. It matters not if said weapons are found or left to rust and rot away in a dark tomb somewhere, what matters is they are also remembered. There is no greater plight for one than to go unused, For biting steel craves to clash with another, to feel the very air part before it's might. All of this pomp and circumstance to say that in this magical land, if a weapon is revered, or feared, enough to be remembered for eons....
There is a very high chance that it has come to life.
It began with a spark. A small ignition in an endless expanse of darkness, not that it was anywhere near aware enough to notice. A spark that had lit from the awe and reverence whispered about It, the power in language, in Words, breathing life into It. As more and more learned of It's wielder and by extension Itself, that spark grew and grew, becoming a light in that void. And once that light was large enough, The first thought was born.
It started as a sudden awareness, the limited ability to perceive It's surroundings in a way only It could. It could perceive movement, a sensation of a unknown source holding It, It could sense a connection to... Something. It could sense that Something was important, as important as It was. And under that limited sense to perceive It's surroundings... It thought.
'..?' Although It's first thought amounted to nothing more than a vague, barely living haze, It was still a thought. It was still alive.
After a time had passed, It had evolved more, It now could understand that it could understand. It understood that It could perceive. But It was not yet able to understand Itself or Something, But as the Magik fueling It's existence weaved tighter, became more solid, It could feel the growth. It could feel Itself being able to sense more. And deep inside that bright light something new was coming to life.
"Excuse me, Ser,"
'! ..? ...'
It threw It's senses around to find the new sensation that had appeared before It. It had never encountered This before! It was... What was It? It drew It's senses inward, This going ignored as It attempted to understand. At this point It had evolved enough to question, and now It turned those questions to Itself. What was It? It knew It was not a Sense, It used those to Perceive. It was not Something, Something kept It close at all times, and It was still attempting to understand why Something was Important. As It turned all of It's senses and thought inward, It found something new. It had Perceived Something making contact with other Somethings, and what made those Somethings different from It's Something? As It tried to understand This made a reappearance to It.
"...No, thee must useth it as an extension of thyself! When thou art in combat that 'stick' as thee calleth it is the only thing that wilt keepeth thee alive Soldier! Ser Shield, please showeth these recruits..."
As This disappeared from It's senses again It felt a unknown urging connected to This' second appearance. It could sense that This was vital to It being able to Understand more, so It readied It's senses and waited for This to come back, Senses primed to have more to Question and Understand.
This had made many more appearances to It, and It had come to Understand This as a new Sense, one that allowed It to Perceive Something's world and Understand new, different things. Once It had Understood, This never disappeared again, becoming one with It. It had also Learned that Something used a Sense of Something's own to make other Somethings Perceive Something. It was using all It could to Understand what Sense Something was using so It could attempt to create and use that Sense Itself. But It had trouble Understanding what Sense Something was using and in It's intense focus It failed to notice the Magik that made up the core of It's existence beginning to curl and change once again, giving It more Power and a new Sense.
It had been deep in attempting to Understand when That first flash appeared, startling It and causing It to cast out Perceive and This, now alert and ready to Understand once That made a reappearance. It did not have to wait very long however, and the suddenness of That threw It off for a moment before It recalled It's first experience with This. It, still alert but welcoming now, did not want to disrupt this gift of a new Sense and gladly allowed That to become a part of It. The flashes That had been giving to It grew longer and longer until they never went away, and before It could begin to attempt to Understand That, It was overwhelmed by the seemingly infinite amount of information That was supplying It with, Everywhere It could Perceive with That was awash with So much New, Too much, TOO MUCH! It began to thrash, trying desperately to stop That's influx of New. It could feel Itself struggling, unable to Understand, This and Perceive falling away as That's New became Agony.
'! ... !-!! !!!!! ......'
It could not know how long it had been numb in the clutches of Agony, but eventually Agony died down enough for It to regain Perceive, This, and That. It could not Understand how Something could stand Agony, for It Understood that Agony was Something's world, or at least a part of it. Yet It was not eager to experience Agony again, and as such It recalled the Question It had been trying to Understand before That came bearing Agony. What was It? And now that It examined the Question again, it was all It could focus on. Partly to distract from the lingering of Agony and partly because of something This had supplied It with that It could not help but focus on.
Stalwart knew there was corruption in the monarchy, there was always one who chose to do so. He also knew that the allure of such things, namely the power that came with it, was completely irresistible to both those who had no power and those who thought the same. It was do to that knowledge that throughout his military career Stalwart kept a amicable yet professional relationship with his peers, but took extra time to ingratiate himself to the throne and it's charges. Such conduct quickly gained the ire of the other soldiers and dissenters, yet he also gained the trust of the people and those who lived in the castle. The friendships he created with the young Princesses the gift he treasured the most.
So it came as no surprise to him when, just after his knighting ceremony, he was approached by Lock Away; the Head of Artefact Research and the unicorn who had been gunning for Stalwart's head ever since he had tried to use his influence to bring Stalwart under his sway and was told in no uncertain terms that, "I has't far more integrity than thee seemeth to think, sir, and I would greatly appreciate if't thee would keepeth thy distance, for both thy saftey and mine own." Even with that warning clearly stated Lock Away tried to take every chance he could to undermine and sabotage Stalwart every step of the way, and Stalwart had hoped; with his newly appointed Knighthood, that Lock away would back off due to the power Stalwart now had.
"Apparently not." He mused as Lock Away seemingly glided across the weathered stone toward him, Lock Away's heavily enchanted cloak masking to movement of his body under multiple concealments. Even with Lock Away's hood up and hiding his face, Stalwart could feel the contempt and Dark, oily Magik that Lock Away prided himself on mastering, so much so that he had made himself a direct vessel for said energies. Lock Away had used both dyes and fire to burn and tattoo runic symbols and magic circles directly onto his fur and skin, forever branding himself as a practitioner of Soul Manipulation. Stalwart warily eyed both the bag of Soul Traps he carried as well as the Phylactery around his neck, which held the soul of Lock Away's immortal servant.
"Ser Stalwart, I wast hoping to receiveth a chance to speaketh with thee on a matter of, 'great importance'. One that involves our... Lovely little princesses as well." Said Lock Away as he matched his unseen stride to Stalwart's the both of them now heading down a castle corridor to the Royale Suites. Lock Away visibly delighted in the fear rolling off of the servants and guards they passed, before that enjoyment was harshly tempered when Lock Away remembered that Stalwart was stubbornly unafraid and often directly combative against Lock Away's machinations.
"Tread carefully Lock Away, thee has't mine attention, but one missed step and thee wilt earn mine ire once again." Stalwart nearly growled, levelling Lock Away with a glare honed by years of practice training young recruits and attempting to keep the Sisters in line, a task that had lost it's effectiveness over time.
"I am quite certain I shalt earn it ere the day's end, now under order from his majesty, I has't been tasked with informing thee of needing to accompany me as an armed escort." Here Lock Away gave a great sigh, obviously bemoaning the need for protection and dismissing the very idea his Magik could fail him. "In earnest, I doth not see the point of this, but I shalt not question the King. Clump wilt deliver the relevant information to thy chambers." Said Lock Away as the pair came to a stop outside the foyer to the Royale Suites. "I shall leave thee to the rest of thy day," His heavy gaze landed on Stalwart as his eyes seemed to glow with his hatred. "maketh sure nothing goeth awry Ser, or I shalt personally rid the kingdom of both thee and thy lineage. Valorous day." And with that final remark Lock Away glided off, quickly vanishing into the depths of the castle halls.
Stalwart's eyes followed Lock Away's retreat, oblivious to the large door opening behind him. However, he did not miss the soft laughter that followed.
"What an awful personality, it must beest exhausting to deal with that. We doth not envy thee!" Exclaimed the heir to the throne, Princess Celeste Aurora as she strode out of the foyer followed by her younger sister Lunar Glow, who nodded silently.
"that gent very much hates thee." Stalwart, upon hearing that from the quieter sister let out a weary sigh as Lunar Glow leaned against his side. Stalwart cast a quick glance at the snickering older sister before using his magic to poke her muzzle, causing it to scrunch up.
"I knoweth Princesses, lest I waste mine life and breath trying to changeth that. We've both madeth our choices and art far too stubborn to back down now." At that admission Celeste gave him a eyeroll and helpless shrug.
"He's a narcissistic prick who got a bit of power and thinkest that he can rule the world. Father and Mother deal with those folk all the time, heh, usually by sending thee knights!" Celeste joked as she walked to Stalwart's other side and hit him in a gap in his armor, causing Lunar Glow to be jostled away when Stalwart jolted and retaliated with his own jab. Lunar Glow rolled her eyes and began to walk away, leaving the elder ponies to their squabbling.
"if 't thee both art quite done, We wouldst very much like to beginneth our day hence from the castle. And thee two fighting wilt leaveth us less time to enjoy ourselves!" Upon hearing Lunar Glow's declaration, Celeste quickly gave Stalwart one more kick before scampering to catch up with the younger Princess, laughing uproariously at first before with a yelp she ducked under the pillow Stalwart had snagged from the Foyer and threw at Celeste.
"Ah! Save Us sister! Our brave knight hath betrayed us!"
'T'would seem, in hindsight, that leaving as We did without letting anypony knoweth had QUITE the consequence.' Luna mused as she was herded along the castle hallways by a frankly unacceptable, in her opinion, amount of guards toward her sisters office. 'However, this response is HIGHLY uncalled for!' Thought Luna with a low grumble of discontent while the guard leading this procession stepped forward to let her sister know that they had arrived.
Before said guard could, however, Luna stepped astride him and glanced at the medal adorning the front of his breastplate. "We can take it from here Brigadier. We... Thank you, for thy diligence in escorting Us, but mayeth We remind you that We art Princess Luna of the Moon. Not only was Our safety never in any doubt, But there is very little in this world that COULD harm us."
"With all due respect Princess," The Brigadier began, his voice a deep and intimidating bass to match his well built and solid form. "We are under direct order from Princess Celestia to accompany you until Her Highness sees fit. As we are members of the Day guard, Your Highness will need to speak with either Captain Armor or Princess Celestia Ma'am."
After that statement from the Brigadier had been said Luna held her head up high and underlined her next words with sternness born form an iron will. "We see. Thank thee for telling Us. Now, Leave Us to converse with Our sister. Dismissed, Brigadier." Luna commanded as she opened the door to Celestia's office, not waiting for a response from the guard before closing it behind her.
With a huff Luna re-adjusted her wings against her sides before striding up to Celestia, who had watched her enter with a small half-hidden smile. Once Luna was standing across the desk from her sister she leveled her best glare at Celestia who, to her credit, was seemingly unaffected by it.
"Dearest Sister, I've been expecting you. Tea?" Celestia stood as she extended her offer, stretching out a wing to gesture toward a prepared table. Luna, for her part, huffed and stiffly stalked over to the cup opposite her sister and plopped down ungracefully.
"Thank you sester, though We feel that We both have much to discuss." Said Luna, lifting her teacup to take a drink as she regarded Celestia with a critical eye, scanning her form to find a weakness in her perfect façade.
"That we do, little sister." Celestia conceded with a small nod, taking a drink from her own cup and revealing nothing, much to Luna's silent frustration. "That first point of discussion being why you disappeared." She said with a subtle glare of her own at Luna.
"Twas not Our fault Sester, We merely miscalculated the amount of time needed for Our journey. And said miscalculation led to Our sudden disappearance." Luna said to Celestia, gathering her courage to not wither under her sisters intense gaze.
"Oh? and where exactly did you go that caused you to leave for the entire day? If you were wrong about how long you would be gone for than surely this mystery location must be close by?" Celestia questioned Luna with a cool gaze, taking another draw from her teacup as Luna began to shift in her seat.
Luna's eyes shifted from side to side as she struggled to keep her silence, the urge to reveal where she went and the gift she had brought beginning to grow unbearable. "W-Well sester, mayhaps We did lose track of time, it is as they sayeth Clocks fly when fun is had!" Luna exclaimed, drawing a chuckle from Celestia who offered a small 'indeed' to Luna's incorrect quote.
"I can see that Luna. You are certainly in better spirits than you were before you left, and you came back safe. For that, I am content. just promise that you will at least let me know before you disappear again. You gave me quite a fright after all." Celestia reasoned as she poured both herself and her sister another cup, the stiff lines in both her face and posture melting away as she relaxed.
"Of course 'Tia. We promise." Luna Acquiesced as she also relaxed, sensing that the interrogation was over. For now. And now that she no longer had to hide it, Luna's excitement began to grow again as she summoned forth the bottle she had been given from Stalwart. "In fact, We hath brought the 'Good Spirits' back with Us!" Luna the laughed at her own pun while Celestia just rolled her eyes with a soft exhale.
"So you went to a bar I assume?" Celestia asked.
"Not just any bar!" Luna answered with a chesire grin. She then floated the bottle over to Celestia with a thought, excitedly tapping her hooves on the edge of the table. "Thou could say that We were feeling tired after Our long journey!"
Celestia grabbed the bottle in her telekinetic field while idly contemplating Luna's little hint, the aroma floating up from the neck reminding her of times LONG gone. With a start, the smell of the alcohol combined with Luna's cryptic hint revealed to Celestia where her eccentric sister had run off to.
"Liquid Moonlight!? But how- ... Tch. Of course Sir Shield would be the only Supplier left." Celestia regarded the bottle with a fond exasperation, already making plans to send a request for supply with The Spymaster's agent.
Luna Crowed triumphantly, pleased that her deduction had been correct. "A-hah! You DO remember Our most loyal knight! Pray tell sester," Luna asked, turning from where she had jumped in her jubilation. "From the way Ser Stalwart had spoken when We hath visited him it would seem that thou have not gone to visit him thyself since... Our banishment." Luna took a moment to compose herself, the wounds still fresh enough to hurt. She gave a start when she felt a wing drape itself across her back, Celestia having gone around the table to comfort her younger sister.
"Breathe Lu', You're okay." After another moment Luna stood again, determined to get an answer from Celestia.
"We art fine sister, wounds of the mind are not so easily healed or forgotten. But please 'Tia, Why hath thou not stopped by Our oldest friend?"
With a weary sigh Celestia closed her eyes to re-order her thoughts before speaking. "It isn't that I do not want to go see our old friend, but that I cannot. The affairs of state are numerous and time consuming. And even if I did have the time to go myself I guarantee that the nobles would not make it easy to slip away. There are so many factors that prevent me from going that I've stopped looking for a solution." Here Celestia sighed again, pulling Luna in for another hug. "I wish it could be different Lu', but it's not all bad. I know how he is getting along from the Agent my Spymaster sends each year, and with this," Celestia lifted up the bottle of Liquid Moonlight before setting it on her desk. "I know he is keeping the old tradition alive in his own way. And that is enough for me Sister."
"Well," Luna pouted, looking up at Celestia. "That is certainly not enough for Us!" Luna marched to the door turning at it's threshold and proclaiming, "Mark Our words Dear Celestia! We shalt find a way for this long overdue meeting to happen, that We promise!" And with her declaration made, Luna threw open the door in a dramatic flourish before stepping out. "Come with me Loyal guardsponies! Thy Princess hath a new task!"
Upon hearing Luna usher the guards outside Celestia basked in the nostalgia the action brought forth, from a time when Celestia, Luna, and their most loyal knight when get into all sorts of shenanigans.
"Well, I can only hope this one doesn't end in her setting the park on fire. Again."
On a clear and bright day in the capital of Equestria a brown-coated unicorn mare strode from Canterlot Castle's front gate and into Canterlot proper, her maroon mane tied up into a tight bun and a stylish pair of spectacles resting low on the bridge of her nose. Around her neck she wore a yellow scarf and had on a small black vest situated above a pair of saddlebags. As she traversed the cobbled streets a small voice caught her attention and she turned to address the group of 4 children that had ran to catch up to her.
"Miss Syrup!" A green colt with a soft shade of rose pink for his short mane and brown eyes cried out, visibly pleased with being the first to greet her. "Ha! I win slowpokes!"
"Missus Maple!" The first filly to arrive shouted as she skidded to a stop next to the colt, her rose pink coat and long green mane spattered with different colored dyes ranging from white to red to blue to yellow to purple and even black! Her brown eyes a mirror of her brother's own gleamed with the same mischievous light. She glared at him before sticking out her tongue at her twin. "Cheater."
"H-Hi..." Said the second colt of the group, this one having a yellow coat and shaggy orange mane. He came up behind the last filly of the quartet, shyly looking down at his hooves.
"Hello Ms. Syrup." Said filly with identical coloring to Stamen tossed back her short mane leaned over to nudge her twin's hair out from in front of his eyes. "how can you even see with all this?"
"I can see just fine, Sis."
The now named Maple Syrup smiled warmly at the enthusiastic greeting from her little entourage and took the time to greet each one of them individually, levitating out a pastry box from her saddlebag for each one of them in a warm brown aura. "Hello to you too Leaf," Maple greeted as she gave the green-coated colt a cinnamon roll who took it happily. "And you Petal," The rainbow dyed filly accepted the offered chocolate tart and leaned over to give maple a hug before stepping off to the side with Leaf, the two of them jostling each other back and forth. The antics of the two causing those around them to swerve or sidestep with either fondness or disgruntlement.
"Those two, I swear..." With a shake of her head Maple turned to the other two, much calmer, pair before her. "Good morning you two. Stamen, how are your confidence lessons with Carpel going? She has more than enough to share." Maple asked as she gave them both cherry strudels.
"I-I think I'm getting better. Kinda. Sis has been a huge help when I get discouraged or too caught up in my own thoughts." Stamen answered, taking the treat and looking at his sister for confirmation, his green eyes large and hopeful for words of praise from the pony he looked up to most.
"Yeah, he's doing great! just can't seem to speak any louder in crowds yet. it's a work in progress. And like dad always tells us, 'Let the plants grow on their own-" Carpel answered, looking to her brother to finish the quote.
"-Nature doesn't rush and neither should you." Stamen finished and leaned against Carpel.
"Well this IS a lovely sentiment." Maple said with a smile, pointing a hoof at where the other children had run off too. "We should go and keep an eye on them, hm?" Carpel took her strudel with a small "thank you" and followed Maple to a nearby table where the troublemakers had run off to, nudging Stamen to move out of the path of other ponies on the street as they walked.
After the group of five had spent a while talking (in the case of Maple, Carpel, and Stamen) or playing, (in the case of Leaf and Petal) Leaf, having just finished his roll, licked his lips and looked into a nearby shops window to check the time, letting out a yelp upon seeing it. "Oh shoot! We're gonna miss the movie! Flower Squad, we gotta go!" Once the rest of the children heard Leaf's call to action they all began to slightly panic, hastily saying goodbye to Maple before taking off down the street.
"Oh dear, children these days just have to keep moving, don't they?" With a shake of her head, Maple Syrup put away the box of treats and continued on her way toward Canterlot train station, making sure to wave and greet others on the streets that she passed. and almost before she knew it Maple was standing before the ticket booth.
"Heading to Ponyville again Maple?" Asked the conductor inside the booth, already printing out the required ticket.
"Correct my dear, round trip as well." Maple floated forward the required payment and took her ticket, moving aside to wait for her train. Maple cast her gaze over the other ponies at the station and rechecked that the spell was still holding strong. A small smirk grew on her muzzle as the train' whistle called for boarding. "Oh Maple Syrup you've done it again, gotten me out of both the castle and city so easily!" 'Maple' chuckled to herself under her breath as she took a window seat to watch the countryside fly by.
"... I hope Luna is doing ok, times have changed far more than I think she realizes." With a small sigh at the disparaging thoughts 'Maple' opened one of her saddlebags and lifted one of the many baked goods containers she was carrying up to her face, breathing in deeply with a satisfied smile at the slice of pie it contained. "On the other hoof, she is no doubt reveling in driving those poor nobles up the walls. I almost feel bad for them."
As 'Maple' proceeded to dig into her tasty treat on the train to Ponyville, Princess Luna was sitting in her sister's throne. Bored to death. With a deep, groaning wail Luna inelegantly slumped out of the throne and dragged herself to her hooves, and plodded over to one of the stained glass windows, attempting to look through the patterned and colored glass for ANYTHING to distract her from this unending torment.
And it was right at that moment Twilight Sparkle walked in.
'On the subject of Sentient Armaments, also known as Living Weapons, there is no known activation trigger or clear starting point to It's development. All modern scientific research can determine is that when a consciousness is created it is then influenced by the stimuli around it, lending each subject a unique personality similar to our own.'
-Deep Thought, "Non-Living Entities", printed 647 in response to growing fear.
Much time had passed since It had strove to Understand why Self bothered it so. Self was not a Sense, It knew that well. But It was able to Understand that Self had a great deal of importance to Something's world, and It wanted to be a part of Something's world. So It did what It excelled at. Using It's Senses to Understand.
At first It could not make sense of Self as It heard it described in passing snippets This provided, It's rudimentary sentience working hard to break it down into something more manageable. It however, did not grow frustrated with It's lack of progress (Due in no small part to It's reluctance to Understand Agony.) and decided to try another angle. It looked deeper inward, toward that curling knot of Magik deep inside It's core and attempted for the first time to draw from it.
The core of It was created from ambient Magik generated from the reputation both Something and It had made, all of the fear and respect had pulled the Magik inward into a solid whorl with enough energy to give life to It. as such, when the tightly wound strands of Magik were brushed against they recoiled from It's probing before settling and allowing It the pull the Magik into Itself. All at once It was bombarded with feelings, thoughts, and Knowledge.
The feelings were overwhelming at first, so It pushed them aside to peruse at a later time. The thoughts were much easier to parse through and It voraciously assimilated them, advancing It's Understanding of It's own mind. Said understanding in turn increased It's own intelligence, and It was finally able to recategorize everything It knew.
It was now able to recognize that It was a living entity, and that Something was also one! It now knew that This and That were senses called Hear and Sight! With this new Understanding of It's own capabilities It eagerly returned It's attention to the Feelings offered and devoured them, and was stunned into inaction by... Everything. The sheer amount of everything It was learning from the Feelings was almost to much to comprehend. But one thing shone out from the mess of information It was experiencing, and It fished it out of the flood with a small amount of difficulty before realizing that it was a new ability.
The power of Speech.
Stalwart Shield was not having a good day. It had all started when he was called forward to train his regiments new recruits on how to use their war hammers correctly; there had been too many blunt force trauma incidents after all. Normally Stalwart would be more than happy to pass on his knowledge to the younger soldiers, but it seemed that none of them shared his enthusiasm. Between the blatant disregard of safety protocols and the direct challenging of his authority Stalwart found it hard to reign in his satisfaction when the recruits immediately tried to backpedal when he sent them all to their superior.
After that disastrous training session Stalwart was ordered to provide guard to Lock Away while he transferred an artefact from his lab to storage. Lock Away had filled the silence with a slew of unique insults toward him, and Stalwart had to commend him on his creativity. 'Thou'rt just the afterbirth, Knight, slithered out on thy mother’s filth. They should have put thee in a glass jar on a mantelpiece.' was his personal favorite.
At least after all that Stalwart could relax in his room, far away from the stresses that plagued him. That is, before his great hammer started talking to him.
"Some...Thing..?" With a start Stalwart fell out of his cot and landed in a sprawled heap on the ground before leaping to his hooves, casting his gaze everywhere to find whoever had invaded his room.
"Who's there!? Show thyself!" Stalwart demanded, telekinetically grabbing his emergency dagger and putting his back to the nearby wall. "I Knoweth that thou is here, come out and faceth me Cur!" Once a few minutes had passed with no response Stalwart began to edge his way toward the door of his room, not letting his guard down to a perceived threat.
"Something..?" Stalwart whipped his head over to the weapon mount and stared disbelievingly at his hammer, sure in what he heard but unable to accept it. Upon actually seeing it however he had to spuress a gasp as his Hammer was engulfed in a glowing silver aura. 'That glow, I cannot believeth it. Did... Did my hammer speaketh?' Numbly, Stalwart let the dagger clatter to the ground as he stepped closer to his weapon, hesitant but curious.
"hello? Can... Can thou heareth me?" He asked, both hoping and dreading getting an answer as he feverishly searched his memory for any possible moment that something like this had ever happened before. In response to his words the glow surrounding the hammer intensified for a moment. "What art thee?"
"Something Help... It..." At this statement Stalwart refocused on the present and realized that 'Something' referred to himself.
"I see. Partially. I am Something, and thou art It?" The glow brightened in affirmation again so Stalwart decided to take the plunge. Steeling himself for what was sure to be a long ordeal Stalwart opened his mouth to ask. "How can I help thee?"
"Help It... Understand... Self..." The voice sighed, the dim glow surrounding the hammer pulsing in time with his own breathing. Stalwart thought over the request for a moment, his eyes shifting to the door and window before he gathered his resolve and turned back to his weapon.
"In the land of Equestria it is uncommon but not unheard of for new royalty to either ascend or be crowned throughout the ages, such is the way of succession. And in the untamed reaches of the land the process of succession can end brutally. Fortunately, when it came time for the Changeling Crown to change bearers there was little to no bloodshed. Not to say that is was painless or a smooth transfer of power. It was a hard fought battle between the current Queen Chrysalis and Thorax, a common drone who had reached a form of enlightenment about the continued existence of their species. With the aid of the allies he had made outside the hive Thorax had managed to overthrow the Queen and become the first King, triggering not only the physical change into a proper ruler, but due to the changers he had undergone mentally and his ability to generate love, Thorax had become something new. And with the agency provided by his ascension, The New King led his people out from Darkness."
-Antennae, Excerpt from "Our Love, Freely Given" printed 2017 with help from The Equestrian Press.
"So what do you think? Antennae and Writer's Block really outdid themselves!" King Thorax lifted his gaze from the freshly printed loose pages to regard his small draconic friend. The both of them were situated in Princess Twilight's enormous library. Spike had ushered Thorax into it almost as soon as he had arrived, Almost vibrating with excitement to show Thorax the good news.
"It's good, Spike. This is exactly what I wanted." Thorax gave Spike a calm smile before it slipped away, returning to the look of deep contemplation he had entered the castle with. "Listen Spike," Thorax said, using his magic to retrieve a letter with a broken wax seal. "You were not only my first friend, but the one who has helped me the most, so I feel that I can trust you with this. About a week ago one of the drone's came back to the hive with this letter addressing me as, 'King Thorax, The New Lord'." Thorax floated the letter over for Spike to read as he continued to explain. "At first I was afraid to open it, The letter arrived at the EXACT moment everything to do with my Ascension to King had settled down and I had a moment of free time. Not only that, but the sender only referred to themself as, 'A Knight'. So I need to ask for your help again."
Spike took in everything Thorax said before reading the letter so as to not miss anything he said. After Thorax had finished speaking Spike looked down at the letter in his claws and began to read from the top.
To The New Lord,
firstly, allow me to extend my sincerest congratulations on your Ascension. I am sure that none of it feels real at the moment, but by the time you receive this letter it should all be setting in. I have been blessed enough to bear witness the Ascension of others and they have confided in me all the thrill and terror that comes with the ceremony.
However, that is neither here nor there at the moment. The purpose of this letter is to extend an offer to meet. I have made it my responsibility to personally meet with all royalty in the land that we all share. Such is the duty entrusted to me as the Last Knight of Equestria. This meeting, should you decide to accept will be to help you understand your new responsibilities as King, Because I am quite sure that Chrysalis taught you nothing before the title was passed onto you.
I realize that you have no reason to trust me. If you do then you are either very foolish or very Naïve and someone else WILL take advantage of that. However I believe that you will lead the Changeling hives you rule over into an unprecedented age of incredible advancement.
Sincerely, A Knight.
As Spike lowered the letter to the table him and Thorax were seated at the King lowered his head to Catch Spike's eye before speaking. "Do you see the situation I'm in now? I hope you can help me figure out what to do."
Spike rubbed a claw against his chin as he mulled over what he had learned, the whole situation sounding eerily familiar to him before he snapped his claws once he remembered why.
"Ah! That's right, Twilight got one of these like you! She freaked out for a while before gathering the rest of our friends to decide what to do. It wasn't until The Princesses showed up that she decided to go see what 'The Knight' wanted." Spike revealed with a shrug as he leaned back in his seat, raising a claw to Thorax who was listening attentively. "None of us were allowed to go with her, which was mighty suspicious if you ask me, but she came back from the meeting with a new confidence around her. That meeting really helped her calm down and get all her thoughts in order about becoming royalty."
"I see." Said thorax as he brought the letter back over to his side of the table, gazing down at it with a moderately less worried crease in his brow. "So you think I should accept this Knight's offer?"
"Yeah, It helped Twilight a lot, It'll probably help you too!" Spike punctuated his statement with a thumbs up and a wide grin, one that Thorax was compelled to return, feeling much better about the entire situation now that he knew there was no malicious intent behind the offer.
"Thank you Spike," Thorax said as he stood with a sense of content with how this visit had gone, gathering up the letter and the Book's manuscript. "I think I WILL go see what this Knight has in store. Afterwards, we should plan something fun to celebrate. Think up something good while I'm gone alright?"
"You can count on me!" Spike exclaimed as he stood with a salute, already coming up with all sorts of plans and activities he was sure the Changeling would enjoy. Thorax Gave a soft chuckle as he turned to leave the library and find Princess Twilight, He had a few questions for the small alicorn.
"... Sleep Soldier, for it is here that your story ends. Do not despair, for you will be remembered by the ones who come after you. You have done everything you could to ease the burdens of every soul you met, quite often to your own detriment. It is time to rest Knight, There is nothing else but that..."
-Author Unknown, Collection of Funeral Rights, translated to Modern Equish.
Stalwart always knew he was going to die. Be it from the corruption in stations above his, or to any of the many threats to the nation he served faithfully. But not once did he ever imagine it would be by his own hoof. With a desperate, shuddering breath he lifted the pulsing, Squirming heart into the air above the altar he had been thrown across. Stalwart glanced down into the reflective surface of said altar and saw the gaping hole in his chest where the heart had once resided, a bloodied knife marring the altar's pristine image.
"Gods Damnit!" With that rage-filled shout there was a cacophony of sound from the alcove Stalwart stood guard in front of, rolling his eyes at the tantrum Lock Away was having and tuned it out, looking around the ruin they were inside. It was clearly intended to be a temple of some kind, the ruined statue in a place of prominence above a seemingly metal altar. what had once been pews were scattered across the ground and most of the pillars had toppled over sometime ago, as evidenced by the plant growth all throughout the temple, except for the altar.
"Enough of this!" Stalwart leaned back to dodge the stone Lock Away had been obsessively examining in the mobile lab he had brought before said pony stomped out, casting a dirty glare at Stalwart before he spoke again. "Retrieve that. We shalt test the altar now. Clump!"
"Yessss." Stalwart repressed the jolt he felt when that rasping wheeze sounded out from behind him. Clump, Lock Away's homunculus, was an abomination of different creatures stitched together and brought to life by whatever Soul magik Lock Away had at his disposal. With the head of a Diamond Dog, the body of a Manticore, the skin and scales of a dragon, and whatever else Lock Away had shoved into the monster that dragged it's enormous, loose and sagging body past Stalwart, the many stiches and connections on It's deformed form glowing with the color of Lock Away's magik. Clump's Bulbous and wide, Unblinking eyes swiveled to stare at Stalwart and It's neck clicked and popped when Clump turned to look at him, mouth stretched open to show a Facsimile of a wide grin before his jaw fell open wide enough to trigger Stalwart's flight response.
"Ssshhheeeiillld." Clump's grating and garbled voice bubbled out from It's torn apart throat and Stalwart gathered his courage to look up at Clump and give him a polite nod.
"Clump." Stalwart's eyes flicked toward Lock Away who had already strode over to the altar and was examining it with a spell. "I taketh it that Lock Away finally replaced thine vocal chords?" Stalwart asked as he edged away from Clump, Lifting the stone to his vision and Idly noting that there was a symbol inside before bringing his gaze back to Clump, who had made his way to Lock Away with surprising speed. "... New muscles too then. Wonderful." Stalwart grumbled as he took up a new guard station facing the entrance to the temple, ready for this day to be over so he could try to forget being that close to Clump again, the smell almost worse than normal in this humid and damp cave Temple.
"Shield." Stalwart glanced over at Lock Away from where he had been idly spinning the Stone noting that Lock Away actually looked nervous, almost afraid, which set Stalwart into high alert, Dropping the stone onto Lock Away's little table and lifting the temporary spear he was given while his weapons were being repaired. "I hath made a... horrifying discovery."
Stalwart gestured with his head for Lock Away to continue, Scanning the room for threats and noticing the Clump had left the temple already. "Tell me as we leave, quickly."
"Shield, this temple, It is not meant to worship a god WE knoweth. But a Daemon!" Lock Away Furiously whispered as they both slunk away, jumping at shadows and feeling their fear mount higher. "We can only pray that It has not noticed us."
At that moment Stalwart felt the air shift, and he could tell Lock Away felt it as well from how he stiffened up beside him. Both Stallions turned their heads to look at the altar, where a flame innocently burned.
"Did thou lighteth that?" Stalwart whispered as he raised the spear into combat position, standing in front of lock Away.
"Nay. I Did not" Lock Away, gathered his magic around him and took position behind Stalwart, His time as a battle mage kicking in.
And for a moment, time itself seemed to still, both Stallions unmoving as they watched the fire, waiting for an opening to either attack or flee.
Then there was a sudden rush of sound and heat as the flame exploded outward, tendrils of burning energy lashing outwards and causing them both to jump apart to avoid them. Stalwart was being forced closer to the Altar no matter which direction he dodged, making him realize that the Daemon had actively chosen him. Suddenly there was a grunt which caused Stalwart to look for Lock Away, conversely having been pushed closer to the temple's exit.
"Lock Away!" At the call Lock Away looked up from his hooves and saw Stalwart gesturing at the exit near him and understood the silent commend. With a solemn nod Lock Away ducked out of the Entrance before a lashing tendril slammed above it, causing rubble to fall and block it, trapping Stalwart Shield alone with the Daemon.
"Ahh, A Worthy Vessel." Stalwart's ears pinned to his skull as the Daemon's voice tore through them, directly invading his brain so he was forced to hear every slimy word. "Rejoice Knave, for thou shalt be the one to enforce mine will on this pitiful world!" Stalwart shook his head to clear his mind from the fear that had him trapped and cast his gaze around wildly, trying to find either an exit or the Daemon itself. Stalwart knew he stood no chance at killing his enemy, but he could buy time for Lock Away to return to the kingdom and get help, however Stalwart knew he would be long dead by then. He was ready.
The Daemon seemed to be lost in the sensation of freedom, gazing somewhere beyond the horizon and moving the parts of It's obscured form slowly before It turned It's gaze back to Stalwart with a sickening grin. "Still Defiant, Art thou? Good. Tis never fun when mine prey giveth up without a fight." Those words sent a thrill of fear down Stalwart's spine as he threw himself to the side, a lash of flame striking where he had standing only seconds prior. Upon landing Stalwart Threw his spear with all his telekinetic strength, knowing that he would never be able to get close enough to engage in melee combat and prayed that he could survive more than a few minutes in the oven the temple had become.
And on went the battle for Stalwart's life and freedom, The Daemon's unrelenting assault constantly wearing on Stalwart's stamina as he was forced to constantly either dodge a flaming lash or throw his spear. Stalwart could see that any wound he DID inflict on the Daemon was healed immediately, his opponent frustratingly smug and assured in It's victory.
"That is quite enough slave." At those words the Daemon raised an arm and Stalwart could no longer move, his entire body locking up as he was dragged through the air to the Altar his eyes wide with fear as he helplessly thrashed with his invisible bonds. "Thy antics hath entertained me for long enough, so I Shalt grant thee this boon." The Daemon gave a sick smirk as Stalwart was held down on the altar by the Daemon's large hand, It's other having transformed into a large point with a hole at the end. "I shalt not maketh thee mindless. Thou wilt watch as I maketh thou take all thee hold dear in mine name!"
Stalwart thrashed with renewed strength, Desperate strength filling his body that was ultimately worthless in the face of such power. He was forced to watch In disgust and fear as that pointed limb, 'A stinger', He realized belatedly plunged into his chest, so deep he felt the breath driven from his lungs when his ribs shattered, his lung immediately collapsing before the stinger pumped... Something into his chest, a black liquid bubbling up around the stinger as it withdrew from his body. That's when the screaming started.
He was only Mortal after all.
Through the haze, agony, the unceasing Laughter of the Daemon, and whatever was happening in his chest, in his Heart, Stalwart spotted Lock Away's reagent knife, left on his portable lab and a small sliver of hope reignited in Stalwart's mind. So with that hope fueling his actions, Stalwart reached out the grasp the knife in his hooves, fumbling for a moment before catching a hold and rolling off the altar, landing in a heap on the ground before using the altar to lift himself into a standing position Glaring with venom and hatred at the Daemon who was watching with an amused smile.
"Go on Worm. Strike me." The Daemon taunted Him but Stalwart was no longer listening, the pain and the fear and the horror and and and. It was too much. far too much for his poor mind to take. For any Mortal mind to take.
Stalwart knew on some level that what he would do next would leave a scar on anypony who found his corpse, but he knew this was the only way the stop this... Possession. So he raised that blade high.
.
And cut out his heart.
.
The knife clattered to the altar's surface, leaving a long smear of his life on it as he raised both his heart and his gaze to his tormentor, who was cautiously watching him. Still so assured In It's own victory. It seems even Daemons could be fools. Stalwart allowed himself a grin of satisfaction as his body went cold, everything growing darker and darker. So he took one last breath to say...
"I shalt... NEVER! Be thy Vessel." Stalwart rasped as he slammed the heart onto the ground, Proceeding to stomp on it until it was reduced to nothing but pulp. Defiantly, Stalwart sluggishly lifted his gaze to the Daemon who had attempted to use him for It's nefarious schemes. The Demon did not react to the bloody scene, In fact it seemed as though... It was frozen in place. Neither It or the flames surrounding it were moving, Before Stalwart could attempt to figure out what had happened a deep, Rumbling voice pierced through the fog that had settled over his mind.
"I commend thy courage little Pony. All I have met before hath neither thine courage nor strength to resist and deny that Demon. But thou hath shown thyself to be far more worthy." In the pause that followed the statement Stalwart was able to Identify the speaker, the small stone that Lock Away had tossed aside when the artefact had not reacted to any of his tests. It was glowing a rich red and he was now able to identify the symbol as a golden Ankh suspended inside.
Stalwart could feel the moment that his perception of time began to return to normal speeds, the Daemon's roar of anger ringing through his head and the sound of many small pops as reinforcements arrived, and the sound of two larger pops as his consciousness finally fled from his body, the last thing he saw before death claimed him was that small stone floating into the cavity where his heart used to reside.
"It is said that when faced with the certainty of death that everypony will show their true colors, and that their actions show the nature of their soul."
-Gypsy Teller, Philosophies of the Soul, printed 1976.
Forbidden Knowledge Wasn't Always So (Twilight Sparkle Part 2)
"There have been many sightings of The Knight throughout Equestrian history and in all of them he is described the same. A well built stallion completely covered head to hoof in thick steel plating, emblazoned with a symbol of The Old Kingdom. The weapons he carried seem to vary dependent on the region he appears in, although that is mostly hearsay and rumor. Recently Historians have found out that the crest across his chest-plate was restricted to the Royal Guard of that time, and that the ornamentation all across his armor denoted him as even farther above that, but the rest of the details are too unclear to know at this time."
-Look Back, The Last Knight of Olde Equestria, printed 1974 by The Equestrian Press.
Deep in Canterlot's extensive castle library was where Twilight Sparkle was found a couple days after her... Enlightening... meeting with Princess Luna. hunched over and obsessively scouring the book she was reading for any information she could scrounge up from the depths of It's pages concerning the task Luna had set her on. With a bone-deep groan Twilight straitened out and stretched her forelegs toward the high ceiling, idly rubbing an eye as she levitated another heavy tome to peruse with the zealous fervor of those cultists that had been gaining traction recently. After Twilight felt somewhat loosened up and was getting herself ready top dive back into her studying trance before she was interrupted.
"Excuse me miss?" At the sound of the polite voice Twilight jolted hard, flinging what was practically a grimoire out the window she had sat by at high speed. Both the ponies watched silently as the book kept going for quite a while before it began to finally drop, disappearing into the residential district of Canterlot. A moment passed before Twilight turned to the intruder, noting that it was one of the many maids in the castle that had scared her, and upon seeing the terrified expression on her face did her level best to smooth out her own as to not scare the poor mare anymore.
"Yes? What do you need?" Unfortunately Twilight could not keep ALL of the annoyance out of her voice, and the sarcastic delivery had the maid wincing before she recomposed herself.
"Ah, sorry for the interruption Miss Sparkle, but Her Majesty has requested your presence in her private study." The maid shuffled nervously before giving a quick bow and making herself scarce, to do what Twilight didn't know or care to know because there was now a more pressing matter that required her attention.
"Sorry Princess Luna, you'll have to wait a bit longer." Twilight said to herself before giving herself a quick once-over, deeming herself presentable enough, and making her way out of the depths of the archives. Twilight raised her midnight pass that she got from Luna to the guards at the entrance and allowing them to scan her saddlebags for anything that could be smuggled out. 'It's sad that this is necessary now,' Twilight mused in her mind as her body moved on autopilot, taking her down the memorized path to Princess Celestia's study. 'But it's even worse that somepony would steal from the Princesses! Not to mention that the thief was caught with a book of rituals.'
At this thought Twilight frowned, mind racing with all manner of ideas that someone could do with that book, each one worse than the last. 'The Archive is being recategorized to see if anything else is missing. I cant help but worry about the consequences.' Twilight blinked as she came back to herself, noticing that she had been standing in thought outside Celestia's office for a little while now if the subtle stares from the guards at the end of the hall were any indication.
"Ok Twilight, Enough of all this doom and gloom." She shook her head and made a mental list to check that she had everything she could possibly need in her bag, floating out each item to visibly confirm she had it before moving on to the next one. 'Parchment, check. Quills, check. Friendship report to deliver directly? Check. Evidence that The Knight exists so The Princess can't brush it aside?' Twilight was about to check that off her metal list before she remembered that all that evidence was in the book shaped rocket that had flown into Canterlot.
"... Oh no. No no no no no." Twilight whispered as she began to panic, trotting in place as her breath began to speed up, feeling all her perfectly made arguments and counter points slip away and crumble before her eyes. "Maybe I can go get them quick enough that The Princess doesn't notice." Twilight said to herself, already turning to make her way to the books location before the chime of magic and the creaking of a door caught her ears followed by The Princess' gentle voice.
"Come in Twilight, no need to stand out in the hall." At the insistence of The Princess Twilight found herself unable to leave, meekly dragging her hooves as she sheepishly crossed the threshold. Twilight kept her eyes downcast as she desperately tried to find some way to salvage her carefully constructed plan of attack to get Princess Celestia to tell her about The Knight.
'Ok Twilight, calm down, remember what Princess Luna said about dealing with Princess Celestia.' Glancing upward, Twilight saw that The Princess was busying herself with setting the tea table for two ponies so twilight took the time given to her by this distraction to calm down and get her thoughts in order. 'Look for the signs that The Princess is attempting to change the subject, a glance away or subtly changing the subject.' Before twilight could remember more of Luna's advice or gather the courage to confront her idol, Celestia spoke first.
"My most faithful student, please, come and sit with me. I feel as though we will not have much time for these one on one chats going forward." Twilight walked over and plopped herself down across from her teacher, picking up the teacup in her magic and swirling it around, too nervous to drink whatever blend The Princess had selected from them today.
"Thank you Princess, I was told you wanted to see me?" Twilight DID want to get to the bottom of the cryptic hints Princess Luna had given her, but Twilight's loyalty to Celestia silenced that voice and had her give The Princess her full attention.
"I did indeed Twilight. Tell me," Celestia shifted to lay on her side more, using her magic to add more sugar to her tea after the first sip. "With your predilection toward academia and the histories, I wanted to ask if you had stumbled upon any mention of what the historians have called The Knight throughout the ages." There was a clatter of ceramic from Twilight's side of the table and Celestia looked up to see that Twilight had dropped her teacup onto it's saucer and was staring at her with a mix of surprise and a small mount of irritation.
"Wha- I. Ngh, UGH!" With a frustrated yell Twilight slumped down amidst the roaring laughter of Celestia, pouting as she looked up at her mentor. "Here I was getting myself all hyped up to interrogate you about him and you just go and throw all that preparation away!" Twilight's indignation only made Celestia laugh harder and the good cheer spread to Twilight, a wide grin stretching across her face as she continued to jokingly accuse Celestia. "I was AGONIZING over how I would convince you without all my evidence, and you just, UGH!"
Eventually both Celestia and Twilight calmed down, Twilight settling back down into her cushion and Celestia taking another sip of tea. "My dear Twilight, it seems that we are the same page this time. I will have a new assignment for you, and your friends if they are willing, that involves The Knight." At that admission, Celestia put another cube of sugar in her tea as Twilight took the pause in conversation to process before speaking.
"I'll be sure to ask them when I return to Ponyville, and I do have questions Princess, but before all of that," Here Twilight opened her saddlebag and lifted out the report she had made before coming to Canterlot. "I decided to forgo sending it forward through Spike in favor of giving it to you personally." She floated the report over to Celestia who began to read it with a satisfied smile, one ear flicking in Twilight's direction to let her know Celestia was still listening, which emboldened her to continue talking. Before she did however, Twilight also levitated fresh parchment and a quill out to write down the things Celestia said for her to pore over later, preferably in the Archive.
"My first question, when I spoke to Princess Luna about what I had found about The Knight in history books she alluded to the fact that BOTH of you knew him. Would you care to elaborate on that?" At that question Celestia blinked before putting down the report and leaned her head back with what sounded suspiciously like a curse before looking back at twilight, a strained smile on her face.
"Ah, I see. Well Twilight, as my Lovely sister has informed you, yes. We both do indeed know The Knight personally, however we call him by his name, of course. What else has she told you?" Although Celestia's tone was amicable enough, the undercurrent of steel told Twilight that no matter the outcome of this conversation Princess Luna would NOT be ending this day unscathed.
"Uh... not, not much else. Eheh..." Twilight nervously laughed under the intense stare of Celestia, feeling a jolt of fear when The Princess' eyes narrowed at her. "I promise! Princess Luna didn't say anything else about The Knight! Just... Just left hints for me to follow. Really." At this point Twilight could feel sweat gathering at the nape of her neck, Celestia's glare not unmoving and Utterly Terrifying.
Celestia kept it up for a couple more seconds, letting Twilight stew for a bit longer before all the animosity melted away, casting a warm smile at her scared stiff student. "Thank you, my dear. I shall make sure to have a talk with my sister. Oh!" Celestia must have sensed the small bit of hesitation that had entered Twilight after that exchange because she was quick to wrap a wing around her and speak more softly. "Don't misunderstand Twilight, I was always going to tell you, if you didn't figure it out yourself, about one of mine and my sisters oldest friends. I just seem to have forgotten that my sister absolutely cannot keep herself from meddling. My apologies."
Twilight took in the warmth radiating from Celestia's wing and felt herself come back down from the intense aura Celestia had been putting out, the sense of familiarity putting her at ease. "It's alright Princess, I know you would never hurt any of us on purpose. but back to my questions," Twilight managed to extricate herself from Celestia's embrace and pull her question sheet out of her saddlebag, to frazzled to remember what she wanted to ask and the reminder was immediately welcomed.
"My second question, is The Knight a danger to Equestria or her people?" Celestia shook her head fondly at the question and confidently held her head high when she answered.
"No, he would much rather fall on his sword before bringing harm to either." After a moment Celestia cast her eyes downward and her tone matched to subdued energy. "Quite frankly, He cares for this land far more than I did. I cannot remember all the times he put himself in danger for me and my sister. And once he joined us in Immortality there was nothing holding him back anymore." After another moment Celestia regained her composure and turned to Twilight with her normal gentle smile. All in all my faithful student. My answer is no."
"I see. Thank you Princess." Twilight's quill was a blur as she transcribed all that Celestia had said about The Knight and his tendencies. "Well that answers my next question I suppose." Just then, Twilight's horn began to pulse and give off a low chime, alerting the both of them to how low the sun had dipped from it's position high in the sky.
"Oh! That's Spike using the tether I made for him," Twilight said as she begin to pack her supplies back up, throwing a regretful look to Celestia at how their time together had come to an abrupt end. " Our train back to Ponyville is unloading at the station. Sorry Princess."
"Don't be sorry Twilight. Any amount of time spent with you is more than worth it." Celestia gave Twilight one more hug as the younger mare stood with her belongings strapped to her flank once again. "Just promise me that next time will be no business, won't you?"
""Stop Traveler," I said once the figure had drawn near, his armor clanking with his every step. "From where have you come, and where will you go?" The stranger looked at me then, the weapon slung across his withers glowing softly and spoke with a weariness I had not heard from any other pony before.
"Home, and now onward into the unknown." The stranger, no, The Knight I realized. That horrid Knight. He disappeared into the trees and took not only that damnable Locket with him, but also the souls of the ones who used it's power and the ones murdered by it with him to Hell. Where they all belonged."
-Short Story, Folk Tales of Equestria, printed 1966
The sun was hanging at the apex of it's journey across the heavens when 'Maple's' train pulled into Ponyville station around noon, and 'Maple' was shaken from her thoughts by the train's whistle . 'Ok, on to step 3.' 'Maple' thought to herself as she stepped off of the train and into Ponyville proper, taking a deep breath and smiling to herself when all she could detect on the breeze was the nature surrounding the town... And the downright intoxicating scents wafting out from Sugarcube Corner.
"Focus 'Maple'. I need to... Oh but it all smells too good." 'Maple' could barely stop herself from trotting to the confectionary for a quick snack stop, (read hours long), but thankfully her will was stronger than her stomach and 'Maple' was able to make her way toward Golden Oaks Library. The Library itself was important to her quest for a couple reasons, chief among them being a map to her destination and the pony who lived in it's hollow trunk.
As 'Maple' approached the tree she could hear that the Library already had a few rambunctious guests. And she couldn't help but smile when she heard to unmistakable accented tone of a Mare who had lost her cool at her friend's disregard for the sanctity of The Library's silence. Giggling to herself 'Maple' let herself in, knowing that nopony would hear her knocking over the shouting and was witness to quite the amusing scene, the small Eleancana shouting at the larger Belire and smaller Peralge.
"Honestly you two, I cannot BELIEVE that this is the fifth, FIFTH time this week I have had to restrain you both so neither of you will damage anything! You girls needn't drag me into your competitions so take all of this outside or so help me I shall-!" At that moment Twilight Sparkle had turned from where she was berating the two mares held in her magical grip and saw 'Maple' standing just inside the doorway; holding a hoof over her muzzle to keep from laughing, and Twilight suddenly changed from her normal lavender color to a deep magenta as the embarrassed flush exploded onto her face.
"Ow-"
"Hey-oof!"
With twin sounds of both protest and impact as the two mares landed in a tangled heap Twilight quickly used her magic to clean the mess the two of them made around the library and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to calm down. Once her healthy flush had receded Twilight cleared her throat and spoke up to address the newcomer, her voice losing the distinctly Canterlot accent as she recomposed herself.
"Hi! Welcome to The Golden Oaks Library, I'll be with you in just a moment. Girls? Come over here for a second." After a brief moment of struggling to detangle from each other, both of them trotted over to Twilight, the Pegasus shooting 'Maple' a gaze full of suspicion which gained her a hoof to the back of the head by the orange mare. While the three of them conversed quietly 'Maple' took the chance to mill around the Library's bookshelves, making note of the fact that each and every shelf was categorized using Twilight's quintuple filtered sorting method. First by genre, then by subject, next was by year, after that author, and lastly alphabetical. It was both very complicated and a layman basically needed a map to the book they were looking for, but to those who had known Twilight Sparkle long enough, it was... Fondly exasperating.
After a few minutes 'Maple's' ear flicked upon hearing the bell above the door chime with the departure of Twilight's friends, promises to hang out later tossed over their shoulders before silence befall Golden Oaks once again. The sound of Twilight's magic rung through the air as she resumed what she was doing before the interruption in the form of two athletic mares, Reorganizing a bookshelf and cleaning the public sitting area. 'Maple' leisurely walked to Twilight's side, waiting for her to finish stalling for time which didn't take long at all.
"Cel-, I-I mean Pri-." Twilight took another deep breath, holding it for ten seconds before letting it out, all while 'Maple' watched her with that infuriating grin. "'Maple Syrup', It's been a while since we've met." Twilight turned to 'Maple', looking up at her with an expectant expression. "What map do you need now?" At seeing 'Maple's' hurt expression Twilight rolled her eyes, walking over to where she kept the maps of Equestria. "Don't give me that look. You only ever come see me when you need one 'Maple'."
'Maple' Gave a gentle laugh as she followed Twilight, conceding this point to the smaller mare. "I suppose you are right about that my dear. But you ARE the most reliable pony for the job after all." Twilight lowered her head a bit at the compliment, the tips of her ears beginning to turn darker. "I need a map for the lands on the other side of the Whitetail Woods. As far into the Undiscovered West as we have gone."
At that statement Twilight stopped completely, the atlas floating in space above her head as she slowly turned to look at 'maple'. "'Maple'... No, Princess, are you sure about this? I mean," Twilight flipped open the atlas and laid it out on one of the reading tables set out around the room. "The West is so much more dangerous than anywhere else in Equestria! What could you possibly be looking for out there?"
'Maple' lowered her head to look Twilight in the eyes, a warm consoling wing coming down to rest on her neck as She let the disguise drop, Revealing Princess Celestia in all her radiant glory. "Twilight my most faithful student, You need not worry about silly old me. I guarantee you that this is one of the most important things I have done. Don't let your worry cloud and force your future actions." Celestia slightly frowned as she saw that her words did not have the intended effect on the young mare, Twilight refused to meet her eyes and Celestia could practically see the gears in her head moving, cooking up more and more scenarios that all had a bad ending for her.
They sat in silence for a while, Celestia giving all the comfort she could to the younger mare while trying to think of a way to get Twilight out of her head. Suddenly, She realized that their little huddle was missing a member. "Twilight, Where is Spike? I haven't seen your number one assistant at all since I arrived."
Twilight blinked before looking up at Celestia the troubling thoughts she created dissipating in the presence of a question she DID have an answer for. "Oh, Spike is at the Carousel Boutique with Rarity." An errant thought flitted through her head, causing her to giggle into a hoof and gaining her The Princess' full attention.
"Oh? and what is so funny, little lady?" Celestia grinned as she questioned Twilight, happy that those dark thoughts had been left behind in favor of this distraction. "Something you want to tell me?" Upon seeing Twilight shake her head no Celestia decided to make a game of it, certain that it would chase away the last shadows from her mind. "Let me guess, if I get it right YOU," The Princess poked Twilight with a hoof, causing her to giggle harder." Will have to come spend at least a few days with me in Canterlot. It is terribly lonely without a certain little mare talking my ear off about anything and everything she found interesting that day." At Twilight's sudden and offended pout Celestia threw her head back and laughed heartily, causing Twilight to ineffectually bat at her with a hoof.
Once The Princess had calmed down she cast her mind back to the interactions she had seen between the young drake and Rarity, which, unfortunately, she had not been present for many at all. So, Celestia focused on the ones she could remember with clarity, mostly just glances the younger thought he had gotten away with, and suddenly it all became clear once she compared it to the glances a certain captain had given her niece, or the ones that many young stallions had given her in passing.
"Oh, I see now." At that Twilight looked up again, curious to hear about the conclusion the Princess had come to. "Yes it's all clear to me now. Our dear friend Spike has a crush..." Celestia drew out the word, enjoying how Twilight leaned closer, giving The Princess her complete and utter attention. Celestia couldn't help but mess with her, just a little bit. "On Rainbow Dash!"
Celestia had to bite her lip to keep from laughing as she watched Twilight's expression rapidly shift, first Excitement, then confusion and disbelief before looking up with the most bewildered look Celestia had ever seen on her, causing Celestia to lose all composure, practically shaking the foundations of the tree with her roaring laughter.
"Princess Celestia!" twilight whined, uncaring of how childish she was acting at the realization that she had been tricked by her mentor once again. "Jeez, I can't believe I actually believed you." Once Celestia had stopped laughing, using her other wing to wipe the tears that had formed, Twilight spoke up in a small voice. "Thank you. I get lost in my head a lot and it just makes my anxiety worse." At that statement She looked up at Celestia, who was watching her with a motherly smile. "I can always count on you, huh?" Twilight looked back over to the Atlas, before gathering her resolve and standing out from under Celestia's wing.
Celestia for her part silently closed her wing and watched her student flip through the atlas' pages, before she lifted out a folded map before slotting the Atlas back into place. Twilight then turned back to Celestia and carefully laid the map into a protective case. "Thank you Twilight." Celestia said as she stood as well, stretching out her wings and legs as she gathered up the case and drew the Unicorn into a hug. "I shall be back before you realize, so why don't you spend some time with your friends?"
Twilight snuggled into the hug for a moment longer before pulling back, casting a warm smile up at her mentor before nodding, already moving to the door. "That sounds like a good idea, Princess-" When Twilight turned her head to talk the Celestia, The Princess was gone and in her place was Maple Syrup. Twilight rolled her eyes before continuing. "Fine then, Let's go Maple. I'll walk you to the edge of town, Hopefully Applejack and Rainbow have stopped arguing so we can have a nice day out."
Maple looked over Twilight's shoulder and quietly and gently grabbed twilight's head in her magic before turning it to look the other way, showing her that the two mares in question were currently glaring daggers at each other in front of Sugarcube Corner. Upon noticing that, Twilight gave a bone-deep shuddering groan before trudging toward the two of them, Maple following with a bouncy trot, happy that she somehow managed to get an excuse to get a few snacks for the road ahead.
The Beginning of the New Moon's Reign (Luna Part 3)
"'Tis this humble servant's wish that Our Highness Lunar Glow henceforth nev'r beest allowed rule without either Our Majesties or Princess Celeste Aurora to gaze ov'r Our Lady's decisions. This day shalt beest recalled for generations in infamy. Not only wast nothing productive done, but Our Highness managed to do more aside from setting fire to the countryside. Sir Stalwart Shield, Who wast tasked to beest The Young lady's minder, wast sent hence immediately ere all hell hath broken loose. At the hour Sir Stalwart wast informed of what hadst transpired in his absence, Sir Stalwart could only laugh. ere vowing to fix what hadst gone awry and chastise Our highness, much to the Young Princess' chagrin."
-Author Unknown; recovered from The Castle of the Two Sisters by Twilight Sparkle, The Day Ruled Poorly, translated and kept by Princess Celestia to hold over her Sister's head.
When Luna first heard her sister's idea to sneak out of not only the Castle but Canterlot entirely to go see their mutual friend, she had more than a few questions and requests for her older sister. But before she could voice any of them an idea of her own flitted across her mind, and Luna knew she couldn't pass up this perfect opportunity presented to her. So here she now was, happily Trotting to the throne room with all the grace of a foal who in a candy shop. 'Ooh, this is so exciting! It hath been far too long since We hath ruled, And We do believe that We hath improved much since. Worry not Sester, I shall maketh thee proud!'
Luna nodded to the guards outside the throne room's great double doors as they slowly swung open, impatiently tapping her front left hoof at a rapid pace as she waited. Thoughts of everything she wanted to do with this responsibility granted to her caused a large grin to begin stretching across her muzzle and the guards stationed to feel a cold chill up their spines.
Luna, in her zeal, did not notice the discomfort that now surrounded her and merrily walked into the throne room, gaze set upon the throne itself. 'Hah! Take that Nightmare,' Luna shouted in her mind, reveling in the trust given to her by her sister, the love in the decision to forgive for her misdeeds and welcome her back so unconditionally, and the high of victory against Nightmare Moon. 'We now have all thee ever wanted.' Basking in the feelings that lifted her so high, Luna barely noticed Raven Inkwell, Celestia's Reanent aide, walking to her side with a list held within her telekinetic grip.
"Excuse me Your Highness, but are you ready to begin your duties?" As Raven spoke up both she and Luna made their way to the throne, The Princess frowning a bit at all the gold and scarlet; herself much preferring darker colors and tones.
"Indeed Miss Inkwell, We art most excited to get started, it hath been millennia since We last ruled over Our fair land." Luna, having said her piece, cast a quick spell over the throne, it's color becoming a dark navy and silver with a nod of content. As Luna took her seat upon the throne, another flutter of excitement lighting up her chest, She gestured with a wing to Raven who stood beside the throne. "And We wouldst like to believe that We hath grown better at it despite Our long absence. Miss Inkwell, If thou would please?"
"Of Course Your Highness." Raven lifted the scroll to her eyelevel and began to read out the duties Luna would have to preform. "Due to the low amount of visitors for the day court today, it will not be held. Instead, you will be meeting with them at the same time, so as not to have either you or the guards do nothing for an extended amount of time. Once all their requests to meet have been delt with Captain Armor has requested your appearance for his officer training, citing the reason as, "getting them used to being near royalty." After that you will need to welcome the students at your sister's school for the new year, appraise the museum's new findings legitimacy, then entertain the visiting dignitaries from the griffon empire. Once everything has been completed your schedule is mostly free to use as you see fit. As you will be using Princess Celestia's office until her return, the Administrative paperwork, written requests, and other documents needed your approval will be sent there for you to look over." Once Raven reached the end of the list she rolled it back up and stood tall, waiting to either be dismissed or explain something in more depth.
Luna had steepled her front hooves while Raven read out the list, finding herself discontent with the light workload, before shrugging off the feeling, returning to her previous levels of excitement for the day ahead. "Thank thee Miss Inkwell, it seemeth that the world wants to ease Us back into the role of ruler as well! tell Us," Luna leaned her head closer to Raven with a conspiratorial grin. "Shall we defeateth two avians with a single stone? Send the requestors and paperwork to an empty meeting room so We may complete them both at the same time. It shall be most efficient."
Raven considered the proposal for a moment before nodding. "As you wish Your Highness" With a bow Raven left the throne room, leaving Luna to her own devices. Luna was able to keep her excitement up for a few minutes after Raven had left, but the longer without something to do she sat, the more it began to wear at her, causing her to begin to slump in the throne. About forty minutes more and Luna dragged herself to her hooves, and plodded over to one of the stained glass windows, attempting to look through the patterned and colored glass for something to distract her from her growing boredom.
When Luna heard the sound of those large doors grinding open again, she quickly teleported back into the throne and did her best to look presentable again. However Luna was surprised to see Twilight Sparkle walking into throne room. Luna, masking her growing interest, beckoned her first friend forward, standing from the throne to meet her halfway. "Ah, Twilight Sparkle! To what do We oweth this pleasure?"
"Oh! Princess Luna!" Twilight gave a hasty bow, visibly thrown off her game from the unforeseen variable the Princess herself posed. "Uh, Hi! It's so good to see you again, Princess. Have you seen Princess Celestia? I wanted to say goodbye before teleporting home, and thank her for listening to me ramble about my theories about ley lines and magical hotspots." Luna let out a noise of understanding at Twilight's request, looking at the small Eleancana mare with an apologetic expression.
"We are sorry Twilight, but Our sister has just left for personal reasons and will not returneth for a couple of days. " Upon seeing Twilight's disheartened expression Luna turned to stand side by side with her, nudging the smaller mare with a wing. "Do not despair, We shall be sure to let Our sister, thy mother, know of thy adorable tendencies." At that statement Twilight blushed in embarrassment before raising her voice in a half-shout.
"Wha- HEY!" Twilight attempted to escape Luna's wing, thrashing in her indignation. "The Princess isn't- I'm not- Luna!" Hearing Twilight sound so indignant that she would forget Luna's title, said Princess emulated her sister and threw her head back to laugh, keeping the struggling Eleancana mare pinned to her side until Twilight's struggles died down and she hung limply from Luan's wing. Giving Twilight another quick squeeze with her wing, Luna set her down and walked back over to the throne as Twilight spoke up. "Why does everyone say that? Even my friends tease me about my relationship with The Princess." Twilight shook her head before grinning bashfully at the Lunar Diarch. "I guess my closeness with Princess Celestia isn't very conventional is it?"
"Indeed it is not Twilight Sparkle." Luna gestures with a hoof toward twilight. "I mayeth hath not been here for a millennia, but We remember when Our Sester would taketh students in the Old Kingdom. Believe Us, none before were as close as two are, and I do not believe any will after. Thou share quite the special bond. But it is not a bad thing. As her Sester, I am able to see how much she needeth somepony like you. Somepony to share meals and gossip with, to spend the daylight hours just conversing, Believe Us Twilight Sparkle, Thou art most important to her. It bringeth Us incredible joy to see how much she not only enjoys thy visits, but also how much she looks forward to them. If thou do not believe me, and We understand if thou do not, We shalt summon thee when Our Sester returns. Thou may believe it more from her"
"Princess..." Twilight began to scuff her hoof against the ground, the familiar feeling of bashfulness flaring up again. Twilight knew that The Princess held her in high regard, how could Twilight not notice with how the two of them and the familiarity they shared made both of their days brighter.
"Take heart Our friend, and know that what Thou share is nothing to be ashamed of." Luna then grew a devilish smirk as she watched Twilight, deciding to leave the mare with one last tease. "Although, We art quite sure that Our Sester would not mind if thou were to call her mother one of these days. As thy aunt Ourself, thou can trust Us."
Twilight for her part, didn't notice what Luna had said at first, focusing instead on what the Lunar Princess had said before. But soon enough her mind caught up and Twilight went deathly still, staring into the middle distance as she seemed to both go pale and gain a full body flush. Luna waited patiently for the climax, calmy summoning a magical cloud to catch Twilight when she inevitably fainted. After at least a minute Luna was starting to get worried, as Twilight still hadn't moved and Luna wondered if she was even breathing. Luna did not have to wait much longer however as she saw Twilight blink rapidly as her mind came back from wherever it had gone.
Twilight however pleasantly surprised The Princess, not fainting as she had expected, but managing to contain the emotional outburst via a breathing exercise Luna had seen both her Sister and actual niece preform many times. Luna had to grin at that small revelation as she dispelled the cloud. 'Yet another point in Our favor Twilight. But We shalt keep this one to Ourselves' Once Twilight had calmed down to an acceptable degree, there was still a healthy flush on her cheeks and the tips of her ears. "I'm just going to push that down until I get back and can have break down in my bunker." Luna giggled a bit at Twilight's statement, happy to see that Twilight was still capable of humor in her dazed state. Taking a deep breath once again, the last of the embarrassment left her system and she gave Luna a warm smile. "Thank you Luna, as Pinkie would say, "You need to laugh at yourself to have fun with yourself." I need to get going, It was nice to see you Princess. We should hang out some more soon, Preferably without the teasing please?"
"We shalt see Twilight. But We make no such promises. Farewell!" With that last parting word, Twilight slipped back out of the throne room as Raven entered, Raven giving the smaller mare a friendly smile and nod as they passed each other. "Miss Inkwell, what news do thee bring?" Luna asked as she leaned forward, her eyes alight with an eagerness to get started.
Raven cleared her throat and lifted her clipboard to read off of it, a small grin tugging at the corner of her mouth from the childlike behavior being expressed by the Princess. "Well Your Highness, Your subjects are in agreement with your suggestion, so if you would please follow me." At that Raven left the throne room followed by The Princess, who after that lovely converstaion, had a good feeling about today.
"Whenever Princess Celestia is questioned on her affinity for cakes or other sweets every reporter gets the same answer. 'I like to taste the fruits of my labor, my little pony.' To this day everypony has heard this answer, but nopony has an answer to the myriad expressions the Princess would give. What we do know is that different sweets have different expressions tied to them. Cake makes her happy, Moonpie makes her melancholic, and Custard make her nostalgic."
- Gadabout, The Princess's Sweet Tooth, 2002, Equestrian Press.
When Stalwart's great hammer spoke, He was certain he had lost his mind. Granted, watching after the Princesses had probably already driven him insane. Princess Lunar Glow was perfectly content most of the time with quiet study in the Library, the rest of the time she craved attention, which could be a handful during meetings or addresses to the public. Princess Celeste Aurora was by far the bigger problem. From the seemingly boundless amounts of energy she possessed to her perchance for practical jokes and getting herself into trouble the Princess was single-hoofedly responsible for most of the grey hairs Stalwart had grown over his tenure.
However, Stalwart had not been in charge of watching the Princesses that day, so he was fairly confident he hadn't finally lost his mind, which meant that this WAS actually happening and he was suddenly faced with a choice. Stalwart let out a deep sigh and looked back over his shoulder at the weapon lying innocently against the wall, as if it didn't just toss another major problem into his lap. Although, he couldn't bring himself to be upset. The desperate, almost pleading tone played a large part in that.
Stalwart ran through his quickly put together plan again, knowing full well that any misstep would result in the destruction of this somewhat living being at best, and a bloody mob for his head at the worst. Firstly, I must somehow creep through the castle quietly during lockdown following the assassination attempt. Secondly, somehow I must convince Princess Lunar Glow to lend us her Majesty's magnificent mind. I will most likely need to gather a bribe from the kitchen before hoof. Third, put aside a portion of my day to teach It. Stalwart crept out into the hallway with a quick glance down the corridors, that familiar rush of adrenaline born from sneaking around the castle at night when the Princesses grew restless from their sedentary lifestyles kept him alert and cautious while carrying his weapon low to the ground so the glow of his magic would go unseen. "Alright, firstly, we must stop by the kitchen, then onward to The Princess's chamber." He lifted the hammer slightly higher so he could whisper to it, feeling only moderately silly at the situation he was in. "Okay It, I'm taking thee, Oh right. thee is It. But only when Something does it. Understand?"
For a moment there was no sign of life from It, leading Stalwart to question his sanity again, before It responded. "Understand." Stalwart waiting for a second longer but it soon became clear that It had nothing more to say. Stalwart shook his head softly before continuing on his path making sure to put on his knight persona when passing by servants and soldiers but taking alternate paths when he recognized the Eleanca among them, their sensitivity to magic would alert them to It.
it had taken almost half an hour but Stalwart was now standing before the kitchen servants entrance, hesitant from the very recognizable sounds of a certain princess with a major sweet tooth filtering out of it. "Shit. This wast not in the plan, of all the nights for her to get creative." Stalwart grumbled to himself as he leaned It against the doorjamb and rolled his neck to stretch out, knowing that getting either past her or convincing her to turn a blind eye to his presence was going to take a large amount of patience and effort. Stalwart took a deep breath, asking the stars for strength before silently opening the door and marching in.
Contrary to the sounds he had heard before entering the kitchen was almost perfectly clean, and Princess Celeste was doing an admirable job at keeping any mess she made while baking contained. 'Impressive, I have never known Her Highness to stick to a task for so long.' Speaking of, Stalwart thought back to the moment The Princess had taken up this new hobby, the way her eyes had lit up when a foreign chef brought something called 'Linzer Torte', a new culinary invention made of 'short' bread covered with preserves and sliced nuts and topped with a pattern resembled a lattice fence. The treat was an overall success to the royal family, especially to the elder Princess.
Celeste took to what was being called pastry with an unmatched gusto, devoting all of her being to not only learning how to make it, but adding her own twists to the recipe to create her own pastries. Recently, Celeste had expanded her repertoire to the point that she could no longer come up with anything new, so she had been not only sending letters to every culinary contact the royal family had, but was also involved in as many culinary classes her parent's would allow her to sign up for. All of that seemed to culminate into this moment, the Reanent Unicorn utterly focused on the ovens in front of her with a piece of parchment that held her "Magnum Opus".
Stalwart slowly surfaced from his mind, the pride he felt at the effort the Princess put into baking notwithstanding, as he leaned against a nearby counter to watch over her. Celeste for her part did not notice when he entered, furiously triple checking every step she had written down to make absolutely sure nothing would go wrong right at the end; where every sleepless night experimenting would come to a glorious crescendo. Once Celeste had managed to calm her rampaging thoughts she let out a pleased hum and let her head softly rest against the large bag of flour she had lugged onto the counter space next to her little workstation. Stalwart took this as his opportunity to make his presence known, and lifted his hoof to clear his throat loudly, the sound making Celeste flail for a moment before she caught her balance.
Celeste whirled around with a wild eyes, her tied up mane nearly coming undone with the motion, and promptly deflated once she saw it was just Stalwart and that she would not be getting in trouble for being out past curfew. "Ser Stalwart Shield! Thou art lucky that thee art Our friend, fiend!" All of Celeste's fake anger dissipated with her laughter, turning her head just enough to check the oven behind her as she continued to speak. "What art thou doing here at such an hour? We know thee quite well, and thou hast never broken curfew." With a gasp Celeste snapped back around to look her fellow Reanent in the eye, glee painted across her features and settling into her cheeks with the size of her grin. "Art though breaking the rules!? Ser Shield, how awful of thee."
Stalwart felt that if he rolled his eyes any harder they were liable to never come back down as Celeste came over to nudge him in the side. "As much as I am sure that thou wouldst enjoy the notion immensely, this is... A special circumstance. And I shall NOT be telling thou anything until the matter is settled, hopefully without incident." Stalwart nudged Celeste back, causing her to squeal and to scamper away from him with a pout now that her fun had been interrupted. "Thou may be able to help me, however." Stalwart mused as he looked over to Celeste's oven. "I am in need of a bribe for thy sister. May I trouble thee for a portion of whatever you art making to use as such?"
Celeste regarded him with a cool gaze before she spoke slowly. "Thou may, but not without payment in kind." Celeste turned to face Stalwart fully, standing at her full height to look down at him, every bit The Princess and none of the Mischievous Imp she was before. "These are Our terms, Thou must set aside one full day and night to spend with Us and Our Sester. Thou must reject any other request for thy time as well." And here she dropped the Commanding Ruler role and settled back into her skin as the elder sister. "In truth We hath seen less and less of thee as thy duties have grown due to thy new position and Our Sester has expressed her concern for her friend, Concerns that We share. We, both Our Sester and Us, are worried that thou art working thyself into the grave. Lunar Glow especially. Thou must remember that rest is a requirement, not an option, friend." Celeste's face fell, worry shining through and causing guilt to eat away at Stalwart's heart, he had been rushing back and forth between assignments with little to no rest time between them and it was beginning to show in his results.
Stalwart sighed, the realization that he had not been the best companion to the young royals laying heavy upon his heart and soul. 'This at least,' Stalwart thought to himself, raising his gaze to Celeste's hopeful one, 'Is something I can do, once a week. Once again, they hath guided me back to the path.' Stalwart stepped closer, raising his hoof and extended it out to The Princess, steel in his eyes as he straightened out and resolutely made his promise.
"I swear on my honor as Knight of your Mother's roundtable to not only rise to the opportunity thou hath presented to me, but to set aside a time once a week so that this conversation may not be needed again." celeste could only smile and happily grasp Stalwart's hoof in her own as they shook, a teasing glint entering her eye once the heaviness of this encounter had passed them by.
"Then we hath a deal Ser Stalwart. Lunar Glow will be most pleased." And like Celeste had planned it all out, the magical timer above the oven alerted them both to the fact that Celest's project was done. Celeste moved back over to the ovens using her magic to put away everything she had pulled out before opening the oven and carefully pulling out her result; a large and fluffy layered confection of differing colors, so soft and moist that there was visible steam coming off of every surface her creation had. Celeste gasped, stars in her eyes as she carefully placed it onto the nearby cooling rack. "I did it, I did it! uh, We did it."
Stalwart shook his head and looked away from the blushing Princess toward the as of yet unnamed treat. "Thou didst well Princess." Stalwart wandered over to where Celeste had left the recipe, idly glancing over it as The Princess was nearly vibrating in her excitement. "Hath thou a name for it?" Stalwart asked as he wandered back over, holding an apple in his magical grip, slightly concerned that The Princess still hadn't moved from her spot staring at it.
Blinking as she got ahold of herself, Celeste turned with a manic gleam in her eye that caused Stalwart to take a step back in slight fear of what Celeste was capable of in this state, the apple falling to the floor. "Oh how thee doubt Us Stalwart! " Celeste grabbed the recipe in her magic and looked around for a quill, quickly remembering that she was in the kitchen and instead decided to say it aloud, she proudly named her creation. "Kaeka!"
Stalwart tilted his head, tentatively repeating what he heard, slightly confused. "Cake?" Celeste stopped for a moment, processing what Stalwart had said before turning with a large and bright grin.
"Oh that is a MUCH better name! Cake it is!" And with that said and done Celeste grabbed the older Reanent in a tight hug and gazed happily at her newly named 'Cake'.
"I've had the opportunity to speak with both immortals and the undead who have kept their minds so I can say, with certainty, that their version of healing, of recovering, is something wildly different than what we know. See, Immortals do not heal in the conventional sense. Sure their bodies can be damaged, broken. But the wounds inflicted bear little to no consequence for them. It's more like a state of deep meditation. An Immortal will slip into what they call a Death Trance; a state where they are as close to Death as they can possibly get. In this state they are not sent to The Pale Horse, the one who judges the dead, but are instead allowed Communion with Death herself."
-Faded Veil, The Immortals of Equestria, printed and self-published against immense push-back in 1965
Stalwart Shield liked to think of himself as an honest pony. He lived his life according to his personal beliefs, which had made him kind in the eyes of others. Stalwart also knew that he had made many mistakes, as all are want to do. He liked to believe he had atoned for them through his actions near the end of his life. Speaking of, Where was he? Stalwart knew that he had died, he remembered the events that led to it clearly. He also knew that wherever he had ended up he had no body, his consciousness floating in an empty space filled with a swirling current made of memories and a soft all encompassing glow.
Stalwart tried to turn and follow the current but found that he could not move, stuck in place as it flowed past, replaying his tragically short life in startling detail, from his birth to his death. As Stalwart watched his teenage years flash by he felt a presence appear outside his locked field of vision. Stalwart could feel the overwhelming power this new presence held but found that he didn't feel any fear. On the contrary, he could feel a sense that this meeting in this place was meant to happen.
"Good to see that thou hast not lost thy mind, Stalwart Shield." Once the soft, graceful voice echoed into the empty space he resided in Stalwart could only watch as the current of his life slowed to a stop, coming to rest on the final image of his last defiant act against the monster that sought to control him. He felt as the presence came up behind him, a deep cold pervading his very essence, his soul he realized belatedly, as it came to a close stop. "Yet another fine life reaches thy conclusion, much sooner than expected. Although this was never planned for thee, We must admit to Our curiosity. What made thee worthy of the curse?"
And then in the next instant Stalwart had his body back, falling onto an invisible surface and gasping for air that didn't seem to exist in this space. The presence at his back waited calmly for him to regain himself while seemingly unwilling to get closer, or unable to. And so Stalwart gathered his courage and strength, knowing who the entity was now that he actually felt the effects of Her presence, and turned to face Death.
The first thing Stalwart noticed about Death was Her eyes, how could he not? They were a dark grey, filled with a cold and lifeless heaviness before they changed. When he blinked they had become lighter, softer, A warm grey that radiated a sense of calm and warmth. Another blink another change, every time he thought he had the feeling they bestowed pinned down they would shift, ever-changing but always that damning and calming grey. "Do not gaze to deeply my friend," Stalwart was shook out of his intense study by Her voice, an echoing and hollow rasp yet also a full and rich timbre, and he tore his gaze away from those hypnotic pools to find that his soul had been fading the longer he looked. "We have lost many who thought themselves stronger than the soft, tempting allure of Death. We wouldn't want thou to join them would we?"
Too afraid to answer the God in the flesh before him, Stalwart instead nodded meekly and quickly looked over the rest of Her for fear of another subtle effect. Death was much taller than any other pony he had ever seen, towering over him at well over six feet, maybe even reaching seven! The little Stalwart could see of Her coat was a deep and vast darkness, a black so deep he felt he could fall into it forever yet he could also clearly see Her skeleton suspended in that abyss. The rest of Her body was swathed in a cloak of dense mist, a fog that obscured and hid the totality of her form except her Her head, those deadly eyes resting in hollow sockets of a skull against a void in the shape of a mare. But as Stalwart examined it, that cloak began to swirl and coalesce. Stalwart thought that was the end of it before the clear shape of a wailing Pony swam to the surface, It's terrified expression striking fear into his soul as that visage was dragged back down into the depths, never to be seen again. Stalwart looked up to Death to barely see the scowl that marred her once peaceful visage, a hoof held to the spot that Soul had departed.
But the details that truly floored Stalwart was Her horn AND wings! Stalwart blinked and shook his head in disbelief, much to Her amusement that dark expression melting away while she observed him. Stalwart looked back along Her spine, and clearly saw the wing bones tucked against that emptiness and somehow resting atop that ethereal cloak. His gaze lanced back up to Her horn, the only part of Her jutting out from the darkness that made Her body. "What..." Stalwart was startled at the sound of his own voice, watching as Death tilted Her head in question as he gestured at Her. "What are thee, Death?"
Death did not show any outward reaction to the question, only regarding him with her heavy gaze before answering. "I do not blame thee for not knowing, such is the secrecy of Our race." And here Death drew herself up to Her full height, flaring her wings and and horn with all the grace of royalty and glaring down at the stallion imperiously, Her cloak writhing and twisting furiously as those tortured souls opened their mouths in silent screams. "We art an Alicorn Stalwart Shield. The culmination of every race of Ponies yet even more. I do not expect thee to understand the true scope of Our being." After Death's show of power left Stalwart slack-jawed and stunned, She relaxed back into her previous position. "Do try not to look so impressed my friend. If thy character is anything to go by," Death opened a wing to gesture at the reel of his life, it rewinding to one of the many times he had taken hits for others. "We shalt be seeing each other quite often."
Stalwart looked away with a blush, feeling chided as Death raised a hoof to her muzzle, hiding a laugh at his flustered state. "Do not misconstrue my words Stalwart, thy willingness to give of yourself is an admirable trait. Thy predecessor did NOT share thy love for those around you." Oh and here Her face darkened, an expression of hatred twisting her features until Her bones had reformed into a terrifying visage, teeth sharpened to a point and the sockets angled to mimic eyebrows drawn together and those glowing pools turning a burning, horrifying crimson. "She held such contempt in her heart that it poisoned her magic and soul, becoming a vessel for evil so great that she forced Us to sever her immortal soul. She will never exist in any form again."
Stalwart had never met this mare, nor did he ever expect to, but in that moment he felt profound sorrow for her and Death, who had turned away to reign in her emotions, the very thought of what had befallen her causing his own soul ache in sympathy. Death turned to look back over Her shoulder, Her features having turned back. "Thy anguish for others is loud and beautiful." Before Stalwart could question how Death could know what he was thinking, She continued to speak. "In this realm those with sufficient knowledge can hear the thoughts of those who speak as loudly as thou does."
Putting that revelation aside for now, Stalwart spoke up again, voicing the question that had burned in his mind since he had first woken here. "Death, Wouldst thou tell me why I am here, and not standing before the Judge of the Dead? I am grateful for thy companionship but I can not understand it." Death only smiled gently down at the Reanent stallion before casting a sweeping wing into the empty space, gesturing for him to follow her.
And so they travelled into the vast expanse of the infinite, leaving the reel of his life behind. There was no sense of time passing in this strange realm, and Stalwart found that he didn't care as much has he thought he would. Every now and then he would catch glimpses of fluttering lights drawing closer before they would flee from just the glance Death would give them, and when Stalwart considered Death's conduct so far, he assumed there was a good reason She kept them at bay. So he kept quiet, enjoying a calm walk in silence with good company. Something that was rare to experience when he was alive.
"Thou hast asked Us why We hath brought thou to this place." The suddenness of Death's unique voice breaking the silence caused Stalwart to jump slightly, fully immersed in the pleasant atmosphere as he was. "The truth is that We did not, or rather, there was no choice in the matter for either of us." Death stopped walking and Stalwart blinked, seeing that they had returned to where they started. "With time, Thou shalt remember what transpired after thou proved thyself worthy. But until then, allow Us to answer questions that thou hath not the mind to ask." Death took a moment to gaze both at and through Stalwart, searching him for something he couldn't fathom, before She smiled and began to speak again.
"Firstly, Thou might be here for a while longer while thy body heals and grows accustomed to it's new abilities. Secondly, Thou art dead, although not completely. Thou art also not Undead, so thou can take solace in that." Stalwart let out a small breath at that, the confirmation that he would not be at the mercy of another putting him at ease for a moment, but only a moment. "The truth is that thou art Immortal, Stalwart Shield. Thou may never die, cursed to walk this land for now and forevermore." Stalwart stared for a moment, before Death's words registered and he felt nothing but despair.
Deep in the Castle's sickroom two ponies rested fitfully, deaf to the reassuring words others had said to them and blind to anything that happened outside said sickroom. The two Princesses could only huddle together on the edge of the cot their friend had rested for quite a while now, the small rise and fall of his chest reassuring that he still lived. Both of them knew they both had duties to attend to, and were eternally grateful that their parents had given them time to embrace this despair. But it would seem that time was coming to an end, as the voices that had started up outside the door grew into shouting and caused the smaller princess to curl tighter into her sisters side.
"Shh Lunar Glow, It shalt be okay." Celeste Aurora lit up her horn and drew power from her amulet; creating a bolt of flame and aiming it at the door not to harm anyone, but to intimidate. "We shall see to it that-" Whatever Celeste was going to say was cut off by a deep groaning coming from the stallion on the bed, causing both of the Princesses to gasp and scramble off the bed. "We shalt go get the healer!" Celeste shouted as she ripped the door open, scaring whoever was on the other side if the yelps were anything to go by. Lunar glow for her part hastily levitated a glass of water over for Stalwart to drink from, the relief that he was awake overpowering her need for answers.
"Lunar Glow?" Hearing the raspy tone of his own voice had Stalwart flinching, but he powered on. "How long have I been here for?" Lunar Glow stared at him for a moment before answering.
"It hath been a Moon since either Our sester or Us hath seen thee, Stalwart."
Disputed Dissention of the Dissonantly Discordant Disaccord (Discord Part 1)
"Almost all records of The Days of Chaos were either destroyed for fun by Discord himself, or given life through his chaos and where subsequently lost when he was sealed in stone. The Princess have done their level best to recall what had happened during that time of strife for the historians to record but the unfortunate fact of the matter is that there was just too much happening at once for any single Pony to remember. (Addendum: Even when Princess Luna was returned to us she could only give scant few details that differed from what Princess Celestia already provided.)"
-Look Back, The Days of Chaos, printed 1970 by the Equestrian Press.
When Stalwart woke up to his garden embroiled in a war between the vegetables and the fruit, the polka-dotted ground and loud arguing from downstairs he contemplated if leaving bed was even worth it. That is, until the arguing turned into crashing and he knew if he didn't get up he wouldn't have The Sleeping Alicorn anymore. So with a great groan he heaved himself up and stalked to the door and stairwell beyond, ready to give the assailants of his already tiring morning a piece of his mind.
'I have never been more glad for the wards and staves that I spent the better part of a month setting up.' Stalwart thought to himself, absent-mindedly casting an examination spell to check that said wards and staves were still functioning. 'Sure they won't survive a direct interaction with Discord, but the web of compounding effects seems to holding up against the passive chaos.' With a satisfied flourish Stalwart pumped more power into a failing Notice-Me-Not charm and redrew some runes that had faded against the eroding passage of time.
Stalwart's concentration was broken when the ruckus from downstairs had stopped, and an eerie silence was left in it's wake. Years of training kept him alert to any danger that could be beyond the door he had stopped in front of. Taking a breath a prepare himself Stalwart slowly inched the door open to take a peek at what awaited him on the other side. But before he had even opened it enough to see more than a sliver of the main room the door was seized by an invisible force and flung open, that same force dragging him out into the open with the sound of party favors and trumpets.
Stalwart managed to keep his composure and not cry out from the loud noise that seemed to come from every direction, but he couldn't keep his balance at the same time, causing him to trip over his own hooves and fall in a heap at the hoof and paw of the one being he feared the most. "Greetings Wonder Knight! Did you miss Moi?" before Stalwart could scramble to his hooves and grab something to defend himself, the entirety of his vision was filled with the wide grin of the Patchwork Monster. With a shout of surprise Stalwart managed to back peddle and turn toward where he kept his weapons only to see his adversary inexplicably there, lounging across the booths with a glass of some bubbling liquid.
Stalwart quickly cast his gaze around the room and noticed in his panic that all seemed untouched for now, and levied his best glare at the Lord of Chaos before him despite his pounding heart or lack thereof. "Discord. It seems as though every enemy from mine and the princesses past are showing up one after another." Stalwart drew himself up from a hunch to his full height as Discord turned over onto his stomach, arms curled up under his chin and legs kicking with a bemused expression. "Why have you come here? You abhor the Princesses more than you do me." At this point Stalwart had made his way behind the bar's counter, rummaging around with his magic for something strong to get through this nonsensical interaction now that he realized he was in no danger. When Stalwart turned back to his enemy Discord was no where to be found, until he saw the Draconeques behind his counter wearing a vest and bowtie using using a shaker to apparently make his own drink. He rolled his eyes at Discord's antics and turned away from the Draconeques, secure in the knowledge that he was not Discord's primary concern so he and his establishment would survive for now.
"Think of it as a sign of respect," Said the Draconeques, opening the mixer to release a deluge of rainbow colored bubbles. "You were the only mortal to stand up to me during my reign, and even then you honored the rules I set for our engagement. Not like your precious Princesses. And I may be Chaos incarnate but even I can honor that." Discord then reached into the mixer up to his elbow and pulled out a length of oily black liquid, which he then sniffed at before throwing it over his shoulder. Stalwart watched as the black liquid came to life and somehow crawled it's way out of the room, before Discord grabbed his attention again by wrapping his lion paw around Stalwart's shoulders. "So I came here to propose a deal."
Stalwart immediately stiffened up as Discord spoke, quickly extricating himself from the Draconeques' hold to glare at him with nothing but mistrust, idly noting that Discord's drink had taken on a bright, almost neon tint. "Forgive me for not trusting you at your word Discord," Stalwart's tone heavy with sarcasm as Discord just grinned toothily. "But deals are not to be made with devils." Again Stalwart's eyes slid over to the display case where he kept his weapons and only now noticed they had gone missing, the glass unharmed except for three distinctly pony shaped holes. "Not to mention that you have done something to my armaments as well."
"Oh please," Discord waved his claw as he somehow batted away the words themselves, and Stalwart suddenly had the wind knocked out of him. As he wheezed Discord continued. "You know as well as I that those three only tolerate each other at best." Here Discord's eyes gained a cruel glint, his grin becoming a smirk as well while Stalwart got his breath back. "If anything I'm doing you a favor, you faced me without them so I thought they could use a reminder." As Discord threw his head back to laugh Stalwart put down the bottle of spirits he had lifted, suddenly too uncomfortable to drink. Even still, Stalwart realized that Discord had avoided his question.
"That was one the rules you had set for our fight, If you could even call it one." At that Discord, after his laughter had died down, nodded sagely, his beard suddenly long enough to trail on the floor as he stroked it, every bit playing the part of the old wise man. "Know that I have faith in Moonstone, Blaze, and Aegis. They know how to work together when it counts." 'I hope.' he added mentally. The draconeques gave Stalwart an amused look, as if he could read his thoughts. There was a muted boom from the shaker in his claw before it bloomed outward like a flower, the inside coated with a thick, viscous sludge.
"Oh but you know perfectly well how my games work Wonder Knight." He snaked his head down the Stalwart's level his piercing gaze rooting the Reanent stallion in place. "Can you honestly say that all three of them will be able to follow the rules?" Stalwart held the mismatched being's gaze for only a few seconds before looking away with a heavy sigh, unwilling to lie to a being far more powerful than himself. "I'm glad to see your not blinded by friendship like Celestia's precious Elements of Harmony." Discord, with all the smugness of the cat who got the canary poured his strange glowing drink into an absurdly long champagne flute with the curliest straw imaginable. Stalwart was fairly sure that it curved inside out at some points.
Stalwart took a moment to decide how much of his own thoughts to reveal to the Trickster God. "I... Cannot. I may hope but neither you nor I can see the future Discord." Discord just gave Stalwart a devious grin as he took a sip of whatever chaotic concoction he created. Stalwart watched him for a moment before gesturing over to the display cases. "On the subject of my weapons, what exactly have you done to them? I couldn't help but notice the comedically placed holes."
Discord opened one eye as everything, even the liquid in his straw, stopped before reversing as he placed it down to cast a critical eye over the ruined glass. "I'm insulted Wonder Knight, I would never do something so, so... Boring!" With a snap from his claw and a flash of light Discord was suddenly in front of the broken glass, observing it with an almost disgusted look in his eyes. "ugh. No class at all." With another snap of the paw the empty space in the glass rapidly shrunk before stopping at a third of their original size, where the empty silhouettes came to life and began to prance and play together.
"There much better. And look! Such an improvement over it's previous occupants." With his Work done Discord laid back in the air as he glided over to his drink again. Once the Draconeques had reclaimed his prize he turned that burning gaze onto Stalwart again, the stallion flinching slightly. "To answer your question my favorite adversary, I simply gave them a... New perspective so to say. Around your eye level in fact."
Stalwart took a moment to process what Discord had said before a deep groan was torn from his throat. "I was afraid of that." Stalwart raised his gaze upward to Discord's gleeful grin. "So the fighting I heard earlier..?"
"That indeed was those three's adorable attempt to stop yours truly, with bodies they only had for mere moments!" Here Discord threw his head back yet again as a deep booming laugh erupted out from him. "They could barely stand let alone fight, I do believe they caused more damage than I did!"
As Discord fell back with even greater peals of laughter Stalwart looked around his establishment once again, noticing for the first time the couple of knocked over tables and smashed glasses scattered across the ground. His eyes then dropped to the floor where the glossed wood had been scraped and ruined below the cases and was able to admit to himself that yeah, they really had caused more lasting damage than Discord himself.
"Oh come on," Stalwart grumbled to himself, sending out his telekinetic grasp to right the tables and bring him a broom. "I just applied a scratch resistant charm over the floor!" Discord's laughter had died down to occasional giggles as he lay draped over the barstools, until he heard Stalwart's complaint then the laughter started to bubble up again as he pointed above Stalwart's head.
"Then you should avoid looking at the ceiling then. One of them took to her wings quick enough to fly, but not well enough to avoid crashing repeatedly." At the sound of Discord's warning Stalwart stopped cleaning for a moment before pointedly avoiding looking upwards as he turned to look at Discord.
"Your not going to leave until we make that deal aren't you?" Discord merely smirked as he resumed drinking his absurd beverage, causing Stalwart the drag a hoof down his muzzle. "Alright, fine. Let's hear your deal."
"Splendid!" With sudden roaring applause from nowhere Discord spun his claw above his head where it ignited with a blue flame then brought into down in front of Stalwart's muzzle, the blue flames radiating no heat and smelling strongly of ozone. "My deal is as follows, you and I shall play another game with stakes. Last time was a test of your mental strength and a repeat performance would be incredibly trite, of course. So this time around I have something much more entertaining in mind." Here a cruel and almost sadistic smile curled across his face. "Celestia's little Bearers are the main characters of this grand show, so why not give them a REAL challenge? You will face them in combat Wonder Knight, but not with the intention to succeed, no. All you shall do is silently defend. No speaking, and no magic. Or I shall deal with them myself. Deal?"
Stalwart gathered enough of his courage to defiantly meet the draconeques' gaze with a glare. "This is you giving them a fair chance is it? You are far too cruel for me to allow the other outcome."
Discord let out a sound of disgust, his lip curling higher. "Your chivalry is nauseating, I cannot wait to see you break those mares spirits as they throw their all at you to no avail. There is nothing more devastating than an enemy that does not take you seriously." Discord gave a overexaggerated wink that caused Stalwart's glare to intensify, his green aura beginning to flare around his horn.
In Stalwart's fury he lost concentration on keeping the old dialect out of his voice, creating a strange dichotomy with his modern words. "Daemon, thy evil know no bounds. I accept, cur." Stalwart kept his glare on the Patchwork Monster's eyes as he shook the devil's claw, feeling a lock settling on his throat and horn as his voice and magic were sealed away. Discord's evil smile grew larger still once the deal had been struck, and as he scooped up Stalwart Shield to whisk him away to the battle field his final remark echoed in the empty bar once they had left.
"Dragons are a territorial and aggressive race, and the environment they live in reflects that. As such any information about them is understandably sparse, due to their pride making them unwilling to converse or work with any other race. However, every now and then throughout history a single Dragon will be hatched who defies everything we know about their aggressive nature to be understanding and kind. It is because of those few Dragons that we know as much as we do."
-C. Whinny, Book 4: Our Scaled Neighbors from his series: On the Origins of Other Species, Self-Published in 1859.
Stalwart was having a peaceful day, he had just locked up behind the last customers of the day and it looked like he wasn't needed to contain any magical artefact. So of course it was exactly then that one of his alarm spells rung out, specifically the one that alerted him to the ascension of a new ruler. With a excited gait he trotted to up the stairs to his 'Knight Room'. a room adjacent to his bedroom where he kept everything he needed when the Knight was needed.
Stalwart looked to the map pinned on the wall upon entering, his eyes quickly locating the blip that pulsed to alert him deep in the heart of Dragon territory. "The Dragon Lands has a new ruler eh?" Stalwart mused as he stood before the large map, idly tracing a route from The Sleeping Alicorn to the volcanic region where his quarry was clear on the other side of Equestria. With a interested hum he turned to the ponequin where his armor rested and began to don the gambeson and enchanted metal. As he attached the plates around his barrel his brow furrowed, realizing an important part of his plan that would not work. "How the hell am I going to send them a message?" His eye flicked to writing desk tucked into a corner and conceded the fact that a letter would not survive the journey to the land of very active volcanos and lava and turned his gaze back to the map.
"The direct approach it is. I have not travelled to the Dragon Lands for a few centuries, hopefully they have found a cure for Scale-Rot Madness. I would much rather not need slay any more Dragons than I and the army had in the past." After another few minutes of soft clanking and the tightening straps of his armor there Stalwart stood, fully donning the visage of the knight he was a long time ago. With a small flare of magic he lifted his helmet to his side and strode out of the 'Knight Room' to pack supplies for the long journey to the land of fire and brimstone.
"I wonder who Torch conceded the staff and throne too?"
High in the air above the north side of Hayseed Swamps from the direction of the Dragon Lands is where the new Dragon Lord Ember suddenly felt a shiver travel up her spines, causing her to stop mid-flight and cast a furtive glance to her surroundings, sure that something was actively watching her. Seeing nothing however did not put the dragoness at ease, just caused her to continue flying at a far slower pace so as to not miss any threat that could show itself. As Ember continued on her way to Ponyville Castle, which was visible on the horizon, She thought about the letter that had been the reason for this admittedly sudden and unannounced visit.
"An exchange of experiences she said, hmph." Ember tightened her grip on the Bloodstone Scepter as that feeling intensified momentarily before fading altogether, causing Ember to blink before scanning the land beneath her again. After a few minutes where nothing happened Ember let a confidant smirk slid across her snout, content in the thought that whatever had seen her was, at least in her mind, scared away. "That's Right!" The silence of her peaceful flight was forcibly shattered by Ember's victorious shout. "Run away coward!" Once she had reasserted her dominance over the empty sky and land Ember continued on her way, enjoying the freedom of the wind over her scales.
Now that any immediate danger had passed, Ember brought Princess Twilight's letter up from where it was clutched in her claw, slowing her flight enough to read it again without difficulty.
Dear Dragon Lord Ember,
I hope this letter finds you well. Although it hasn't been very long since our last correspondence, I felt that it was prudent for us to set up a meeting to compare our experiences with ruling over our respective domains. The differences in our cultures is too much to adequately cover through letters as I'm sure you can agree. I feel that meeting face to face again will allow us to come up with and follow up on our ideas for coexistence as well as allow a cultural exchange.
Yours Truly, Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Ember snorted lightly as she rolled the letter closed and sped up her flight significantly, the land beneath flowing by in a tapestry of slowly shifting colors as her mind raced again. 'Well, at least I can show her some REAL Dragon culture!' With that thought a grin split her snout again as many ideas of the things she could show the Princess flashed across her mind, at least, they did until she saw Ponyville quickly growing as she began to slow down and entered a slow and languid glide.
Princess Twilight Sparkle was enjoying a nice and quiet day of reading she had scheduled so as to not be interrupted, letting out a small sigh as she turned the page with her magic and took another draw from her teacup with a small content smile on her face. So engrossed on the book was she that Twilight did not notice when Ember alighted on her railing, the dragoness miraculously making no sound. Ember, seeing a chance to mess with the composed mare, stealthily slid down from the railing and snuck around to Twilight's back with a conniving smirk on her face.
Once Ember was in position, she slowly crept closer to Twilight's ear, holding her breath as to not alert the pony. Once Ember had deemed her self close enough she decided to spring her trap. "Boo." Although her voice was quiet, Twilight's reaction was anything but. With a sharp inhale and a heavy jolt Twilight sprung from her cushion into the air where her wings flapped ineffectually a couple of times before she fell to the ground, spinning around with a hoof over her chest and deep heaving breaths as she beheld the laughing dragoness on her balcony floor.
"Wha- I- you- EMBER! What are you- How did you get here!?" Twilight's chest heaved as she tried to calm her racing heart, the horror of something getting that close to her without her noticing taking far longer to fade. Ember, for her part, was still on the ground. The Dragon Lord was clutching her stomach with both claws, tears beading at her tightly closed eyes as she rocked back and forth with her tail trashing about in her jubilation.
Watching the young dragoness in the throes of such pure joy quickly beat down Twilight's irritation and she soon found herself giggling along with Ember, now that the terror of the moment had passed Twilight could look at the situation objectively and find the humor in it. Rolling her eyes Twilight took her seat again and tried to bring Ember back to the present. "Alright, you got me good Ember. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"
Ember cracked an eye open to regard Twilight from where she was laying on the crystal floor, body relaxed as all that laughter took it's toll on her. "You told me to come so we could, uh." Ember rolled the letter open again to glance at is as Twilight's eyes lit up in realization before they rolled at how literally the dragoness took her words. "Compare our 'experiences' with ruling." Ember had lifted her other claw to give air quotes along with her words causing Twilight to smother a laugh with her hoof at the dramatics before she held it out to Ember, Who gazed at it with no small amount of trepidation before rolling her eyes and grasping it.
"I didn't mean right this very second Ember." Twilight explained with a patient smile as she lifted the dragoness to her claws, Ember's eyes widening at the strength behind the motion. "To be honest, I WAS expecting you to show up without warning, you were just MUCH earlier than I ever expected." As Twilight turned around to clean up the mess the flying teacup had caused and retrieved to book Ember watched for a moment before she blinked and a frown crossed her snout. "Why don't we move to-!" Twilight was forcibly cut off as she was spun around to face Ember again, the dragoness' eyes narrowed as they scanned across Twilight's form.
"Ember wha-"
"Since when were you and I eye-level with each other?" Twilight was cut-off once again but this time the rudeness of the action was forgotten as Ember's question floated to the forefront of her mind. Blinking in confusion Twilight could only stare owlishly at the dragoness as she was roughly handled to and fro. "It's only been a few weeks since I was here last and I KNOW you ponies don't grow that fast, and I'm pretty sure you were already fully grown!"
Twilight managed to stop Ember's investigation by teleporting out of her claws and keeping a healthy distance between them. "Ember. Let me explain." Ember gave the princess a incredulous look before crossing her arms with a huff and leaning against the railing, gesturing with a claw for Twilight to continue. Twilight for her part only rolled her eyes at Ember's impatience before explaining. "It's due to my Ascension as an Alicorn. This sudden growth is my body assimilating the Alicorn magic I was granted with these," Here Twilight ruffled her wings for emphasis. "And changing me accordingly. Eventually I'll be as tall as the other Princesses with my own unique attribute." Twilight shuffled her wings nervously at the thought. "Frankly It's terrifying how quickly the change is taking place, it's feels like just yesterday I was looking up at all my friends and now I'm eye-level with the tallest one and I'm going to keep growing until what? Will I be taller than Celestia?"
Ember nodded for a moment before speaking. "Listen Twilight, I'm not going to even pretend I understood any of that." Ember's blunt statement startled a laugh out of Twilight, taking the edge off the panic that was forming. "Dragons don't have that problem. The more power a Dragon has the bigger we grow, it just makes sense to me." After she said her piece Ember gave Twilight a shrug, causing the Alicorn mare to giggle again.
"I understand, and don't worry." Twilight gave Ember a small smile. "Your unique take helped me more than you realize." Ember held Twilight's gaze for a moment longer before looking away with a flush, unused to the sincerity twilight was showing her.
"OK! Enough with the sappiness, you're going to make me sick." When Twilight laughed again it was Ember's turn to roll her eyes, thoroughly unfamiliar with the situation. "Come on, Didn't you call me here for business?" Twilight's laughter died down at Ember's question and she regained her composure, walking past Ember into the depths of her castle.
"I did. Follow me, I have the perfect place in mind to continue our discussions." Ember trailed along behind the pony, resting the Bloodstone Scepter across her shoulders as she cast her gaze all around to see if anything else had changed while she was gone.
"Well that can't be right." Stalwart Shield muttered to himself as he took off his helmet at a intersection between the Whitetail woods and Las Pegasus, putting in on a hook hanging from his saddlebags while he looked at his enchanted map. His original destination WAS the Dragon Lands, but it seems that fate was taking it easy on him today. The magic pin on the map that told him where the new ruler was had moved from the heart of the Dragon Lands to Ponyville, cutting his needed travel time by a lot.
After taking a moment to recast the enchantment to see the dot unmoving from it's place in Ponyville, Stalwart shrugged before rolling up the map and putting his helmet back on. "I'm not going to complain, I'm too old for cross continent hikes."
"A friend to changelings is hard to find, what with fear of the insectile beings at it's peak, but every now and then there comes someone who holds no fear for them, and makes the effort to get to know them. And for a changeling, that is worth more than all the gold in the world."
-C. Whinny, Book 6: The Hidden Ones Among Us from his series: On the Origins on Other Species, self published in 1859
Nervousness. Nervousness and a strange excitement filled the changeling's body as she stood before the seemingly innocuous building out on the fringes, trying not to crush the fragile letter she held in a trembling grip. Just beyond those heavy looking wooden doors was the armored pony who not only located their hive but only gave her a letter and coordinates before leaving, the glare in those dark eyes had terrified her. And so here she stood, nervously shifting her weight between her hooves as her mind raced. 'And of course they just had to send me to do this, not Chitin who was standing guard with me and clearly heard it as well. Oh, what have you gotten yourself into this time Buzz?'
Before the now named Buzz could continue to lament inside her mind she was startled out of her spiraling by the creaking of those lighter than expected doors as a group of laughing patrons stumbled outside, causing the smaller changeling to scramble to the side so as to not get crushed. Thankfully Buzz went unnoticed by the very clearly drunk group as they went on their separate ways, staring after them for a second longer with her eyes narrowed. Once the drunks were a comfortable distance away Buzz's eyes were drawn up to the sign above, the peaceful sleeping Alicorn helping a great deal in making the place seem more welcoming.
Right when Buzz began to relax in the calming atmosphere she was caught off guard yet again, causing her to jump and spread her wings in fright, when a deep voice called out to her from around the side of the building. "Purty place ain't it?" An older stallion came around the corner, his cream coat complimenting his brown mane even with it's grey streaks and hiding his eyes behind a dark visor. Buzz eyed the stallion with an wary eye, unwilling to get closer but willing to listen. "Listen, a little lady like you must have QUITE the busy schedule, and I can tell you're here on important business." Here the stallion leaned against the wall, idly rubbing a hoof on his coat as he continued his spiel. "So I gots an offer for ya. Ya see, this here tavern is always real busy right around now and getting a chance to talk with that there proprietor is next to impossible any time soon. But lucky for you I happen to know him personally myself and can get ya some one on one time at the drop of a hat. So whaddya say?" The stallion held out his hoof to Buzz with a raised eyebrow, body exuding a calm confidence.
Before Buzz could even open her muzzle to respond to the stranger there was the sound of a clearing throat behind and above her causing the Stallion to freeze up, and Buzz to feel a chill run up her spine at the clanking of metal plates. Fearing what awaited her sight Buzz slowly turned eyes gaze back and up only to be met with the large armored form that scared her so. "Leave grifter. Or I shall deal with you myself." At his heavy demand the grifter quickly made his getaway, disappearing into the surrounding forest.
Buzz felt at that moment that she had never been more terrified, not even when her scouting missions had brought her to the Dragon Lands had she felt such an oppressive fear as what now gripped her. Such was this oppressive aura that when Stalwart lifted of his helmet the fear suddenly left and Buzz collapsed to the ground, her carapace heaving as she attempted to draw in breath as Stalwart kneeled next to her. "I apologize, The Fear enchantment on my armor cannot be dispelled or mitigated. It was created to protect us from other species and deter them without the threat of violence."
Buzz latched onto Stalwart's words and filed away the information for later while she put all of her focus on controlling her breathing, that all encompassing terror fading quickly now that the effect was broken. After a couple of minutes spent calming down Buzz found the strength to stand again, taking a step back from Stalwart with a blush from her unbecoming impression. "That- That wasn't fun. Uh, I can see why there are so many stories of the Dread Knights now. It seems, REALLY, effective."
Stalwart looked her over for a moment longer, seeming content with her recovery, before standing himself. "That it is. It was our greatest advantage against those who would do us harm. Unfortunately, such things have fallen out of practice and soldiers have grown lax after years of peace." Stalwart looked to the east where the tip of Canterlot Castle just barley peeked over the tops of the trees, a incredibly small yet bright dot in the vast expanse of the sky. "I fear they are unable to effectively defend against any non-pony threat, as I'm sure you and your hive know very well."
Buzz sheepishly looked to the side, knowing well that the wounds of the invasion were still fresh to many. "Yeah, I guess we do. Ah!" Buzz shot upright from her slouched position, looking under her hooves frantically before snatching up the slightly crumpled and dirty letter. Blowing away most of the dirt and trying her best to smooth it out, Buzz stood at attention with the letter held out toward Stalwart who had a small smile on his muzzle. "Sir knight, here is King Thorax's response delivered by scout Buzz!" Buzz's wings did as her named suggested and buzzed happily as Stalwart took the letter in his magic, tucking it into a side pocket on his saddlebag.
After securing the letter to his person Stalwart locked the doors to The Sleeping Alicorn before turning back to Buzz, who was watching with a curious yet hesitant expression. "I, Sir Stalwart Shield, the last Knight of Olde Equestria receive this correspondence with honor." Stalwart gave the smaller changeling a nod of gratitude. "Thank you Buzz, you do your King and hive proud." Stalwart cast his gaze upward toward the dimming light of day, missing how Buzz preened at the praise before schooling her expression back into a careful mask of neutrality. "The hour grows long. Had you arrived earlier I could have offered you a drink and a place to rest before your long journey home." Stalwart adjusted the pack rested on his back as he looked up once more to check the sun's position. "As it stands, I have time enough to answer any questions you may have and help smooth out the plan for this meeting. Come with me, Buzz." Stalwart then began to walk along the thin trail leading to the east.
Given the go ahead needed to pester, Buzz fell into step beside Stalwart with twinkling eyes, her mind flooding with all manner of inquiries. Rather quickly however, Buzz's eyes fell upon Stalwart's helmet, and the memory of the crippling terror that had enveloped her mind. Right then, Buzz knew her first question. "Earlier, you said that your armor has an unremovable Fear enchantment yes?" At Stalwart's solemn nod Buzz continued. "Considering I have never heard of anything like this, is yours the last suit of armor with said enchantment?" Stalwart sucked in a breath between his teeth, considering the question as he tilted his head back.
"I would very much like to believe so my friend. But rarely does Fate deign to relieve me so." Stalwart then turned his head to look Buzz in the eyes. "Know this young one, I have lived for quite a long time. As such I have seen all manner of strange and unnatural things, Beautiful and otherworldly things as well, but every time I ever entertained the idea that I had finally seen everything well..." Stalwart slowed to a stop next to a fallen tree, Buzz stopping as well despite her captivation at what the old Stallion had to say. "The next unbelievable thing would come right around the corner." From the husk of the long dead tree came a light scratching, almost inaudible were it not for the dim glow coming from under the bark. Slowly, that light travelled up the tree's trunk until it reached a hole in it's side intensifying for a moment before it faded revealing a incredibly large jet black and red butterfly. Buzz could only watch in awe as the massive insect spread it's wings, white markings on the wings resembling a skull becoming prominent as it flew into the night and quickly becoming lost amongst the darkened trees.
after a moment spent watching it fly above the canopy Buzz began to speak again. "What was that? I've never seen anything like it! It was almost as big as you!"
With a short bark of laughter Stalwart looked back at buzz with a smile. "I don't know. I am sure that it does have a scientific name but I do not know it. However, I do know that it was one of Itzpapalotl's many children." With a tilt of his head both he and Buzz continued on, that earlier somber tone returning quickly as Stalwart sighed. "So you see child, as much as I would like to believe that I have the only set of Fear Armor I cannot justify such a claim. Although the technique to create more has been long lost to time, and I personally saw to the destruction of many sets myself. There will always be a chance, no matter how small, that more sets are out there somewhere. Maybe they are locked away in ruins long lost to memory. Maybe they are on display in someone's collection, inactive but waiting for any poor soul to don them."
Stalwart looked up once again, his eyes troubled as he reflected on what had just been said while buzz gazed sadly at him, empathizing with this old soldier. "And yours? From all you've said it seems to dangerous to keep." She asked delicately, unsure if Stalwart was still willing to answer her questions. With a blink Stalwart came back to the present, smiling softly at the changeling.
"It does seem so doesn't it? However, it is far too useful for me to destroy just yet. Maybe one day." With a small shake of his head Stalwart glanced at Buzz again, a small grin growing on his face. "Any other questions my friend? I fear that if it grows too late you may not be able to journey home."
At his words Buzz registered how low the sun had already set and her wings began to hum as they vibrated. "Oh shoot! uh, hold on!" Buzz's eyes flew back and forth as she desperately tried to come up with something to ask that would sate her ravenous curiosity if only for a while. "Come on, come on.. Aha!" Buzz turned her whole body to face the Reanent stallion, who looked on with a growing smile. Buzz lifted off from the ground, half of her mind already plotting the quickest course back to the hive while the other half was focused on this conversation. "You really know your stuff old man," Stalwart rolled his eyes at the comment, not too bothered by the jab at his age. "And as the future Lead Scout I have to know all about this stuff! So can you train me?" Buzz puffed out her carapace in pride, eagerly awaiting Stalwart's answer who had gained a pensive look as he thought it over.
Stalwart looked up at the flying changeling, her large eyes practically glowing with excitement, and let out a small huff, shaking his head in fond exasperation. "knowing how changelings learn without direct training, I don't really have a choice. I'd rather not have you end up dead from eating whatever you could get your hooves on." At Buzz's indignant expression Stalwart laughed aloud before holding out his hoof, smirk still resting on his face. "It's a deal future scout leader Buzz."
We Never Said it Was Easy, or Hard (Twilight Part 3)
"It began as a nagging thought in his head, an urge that clawed and tore away at his soul. "I'm going on a journey." He said to his family. "I know not when I shall return or if I shall be the same at the end." And with one last look back, he turned his back on heath, home, and everything he loved."
-Short Story, The Black King, printed 1975
It was a late evening in Ponyville when the bell above the door of Golden Oaks library rang out, distracting Twilight Sparkle from her task. Craning her head to catch a glimpse of her visitor Twilight dropped the sextant onto a large map spread across the table and trotted into the library proper to welcome them properly. Of course, when Twilight entered the main room of the library she was pleasantly surprised to see her pink friend, even if said friend currently had her snout pressed to the ground and was following something like a dog would a scent.
Realizing that Pinkie was in one of her trances, Twilight leant against the nearby wall and watched Pinkie the bloodhound wander the library with a small smile. After a few minutes of that Twilight noticed that Pinkie was seemingly following Twilight herself, a fact that became obvious when Pinkie began to follow the route Twilight made by pacing upon her arrival home. Twilight shook her head softly at the pink pony's antics and her soft smile grew a little larger when she saw Pinkie heading straight for her. Pinkie, completely oblivious to everything around her, continued unabatedly toward the smaller mare's hooves before bumping into the, causing the rest of her body to slump to the floor as well. Pinkie's eyes which had been crossed and looking down at her snout uncrossed and stared at the hooves placed before her, before travelling up the legs attached and ending on the smiling face of the Eleancana unicorn.
"Having fun Pinkie?" Twilight asked with a slight smirk, the antics of her excitable friend surprisingly grounding at the moment. In fact, Twilight saw the exact moment Pinkie's mind caught up with her body. It started with a blink, then her pupils dilated as an enormous grin stretched across the Thorosian's face.
"Twilight!" And with that elated shout Pinkie shot up from her prone position and wrapped her forelegs around Twilight's barrel before lifting the smaller mare off the ground and twirling in circles with her. "Oh I missed you so so so so so SO much! I know it was only a few days, but they were just oh so LONG without one of my bestest friends!" With a sudden gasp Pinkie dropped Twilight, who had grown quite dizzy, to the floor and began to look around the library. "Where's Spike? *gasp* Are we playing hide and seek?" Pinkie them shoved her head into a potted plant... Which then popped out of a nearby bookshelf.
Twilight took a moment to stop the room from spinning before standing back up, then took another moment to ignore Pinkie's brand of crazy as she pulled the larger mare out of the plant. "Spike is sleeping Pinkie." Twilight threw a fond glance up to their shared bedroom before refocusing on Pinkie. "I'd prefer he actually sleeps the whole night now that he doesn't have his comics distracting him."
As Twilight held up a hoof to stifle a laugh, Pinkie leaned to the side and saw what Twilight was working on, Her eyes going wide as she hopped past her an into the room proper. Twilight watched her go with an eyeroll before following, Twilight standing before the table as Pinkie leaned in close to the map with a soft exhale of interest. "What's this for Twi-Twi?"
Twilight gave the crisscrossing thread across the entirety of the map a quick glance before answering. "It's... An assignment from the Princess, well, Princesses. Oh, hold on." Twilight levitated a loose thread back into place while Pinkie scrunched up her muzzle in thought, one hoof tapping against her head. Pinkie watched Twilight fiddle with other fraying threads and looked over the whole web once more with a nod before it clicked in her mind.
"Ooh! Is this about Mister Mystery that has you going all cuckoo-loco?" Upon seeing Twilight's offended look Pinkie collapsed into giggles and snorts as Twilight rolled her eyes so hard she feared they may never come back down, before using her magic to tug on Pinkie's ear which caused her to yelp and hide under the table. "Hey! I'll get you for that later missy!" Pinkie narrowed her eyes, voice dropping low to be more menacing... Which was greatly hindered by her choice of hiding spot. "When you least expect iiiiiiiit."
"I'm sure you will Pinkie." Twilight bit her lip as she looked over her cyclical research again, Princess Celestia's words running through her mind again. "Actually... Hey Pinkie, how long would it take you to gather the girls together? I get the feeling this little adventure is going to involve everyone." Twilight levitated the sextant back up and returned to her task making a route to where she was fairly sure her quarry was.
Pinkie for her part nodded rapidly as she held up a hoof in salute. "Aye aye, captain Twilight! It'll take me mayyybe 10 minutes sooo..." Pinkie leaned into Twilight's vision with an expectant gaze, causing Twilight to huff good-naturedly and put down the sextant again.
"Fine Fine, I'll tell you what happened. While we were in Canterlot I asked The Princess about The knight, and Spike went to go do his own assignment. Aside from making me so incredibly proud he had a big weekend back in Canterlot, but..." Twilight glanced slyly at Pinkie who tilted her head to the side in question. "Considering he passed his Dragon Assessment test, I think he deserves a celebration, don't you?" Twilight didn't need to look at Pinkie to know that the Thorosian had stars in her eyes, her perpetually puffy mane somehow growing bigger in her excitement and her hooves trembling, the manic party planning energy taking a firm hold over the pink pony. "In fact, I think a party would give him the perfect opportunity to show all his friends the new tricks and skills he learned."
Upon hearing the go ahead Pinkie let out a squeal and rocketed out of the library's door, startling passerby as the pink missile disappeared into Ponyville. Twilight looked after her for a moment before shrugging, trying to put the thoughts of the chaos Pinkie could cause in this state out of her mind as she once again picked up the sextant. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Totally." Fortunately, before Twilight could far into the cycle of panic, there was a rumbling groan from upstairs and a shuddering yawn that preceded the scittering of sharp claws on polished wood. A fond smile crossed her muzzle as that sound stopped at the top of the stairs for a moment before descending.
"Good morning Sleepyhead." Twilight called over to him, not taking her eyes off the work she was doing. "I made us dinner, but I didn't want to wake you up." Instead of answering a grumbling could be heard from the young dragon, causing Twilight's smile to grow larger. "You just missed Pinkie, AND your chance to try and cajole some sweets out of her." After that statement the pattering of tiny clawed feet stopped and Twilight allowed herself to feel satisfaction at catching him off guard.
"Aw, how'd you find out?" Spike whined as his footsteps started up again, notably more downtrodden now that his ruse had been discovered. "I was so sure we covered our tracks this time." After a moment of silence Spike reappeared from the Kitchen with his own portion, a sheepish slouch to his posture.
Using her magic to ruffle his spines Twilight gave one last cursory glance over the map before brushing past Spike. "Breathing fire doesn't get rid of the sugar silly, you just make the library smell like caramel. It was pretty easy to figure out what was happening." Spike watched sullenly as Twilight levitated over a box and packed his comics inside it before placing a timed seal on it to prevent it from being opened. Once Twilight was done she placed the now labeled 'Punishment Contraband' atop a bookshelf. "You know the rules about your nutritional needs Spike, a growing dragon can't eat too many sweets or it'll cause more problems down the road. So because you broke the rules no comics for a week."
Spike seemed to deflate in his seat for a moment at Twilight's admonishment, but looked up questioningly when she didn't continue. "That's it?" Twilight raised an eyebrow at him as he regained some of his good cheer. "I can totally handle a week!"
Twilight raised a hoof over her mouth at his sudden excitement. "I don't know about that Spike. a week is always longer than you think it is, and It's going to feel even longer without them. Besides," Twilight made her way to Spike's seat to throw a hoof over his shoulder for a warm hug. "Undue and harsh punishment will hurt your growth as well" Once Spike had enough of the hug he went back to his food and Twilight returned to her project, the both of them quietly enjoying each others company. For a few minutes more at least, until Pinkie returned with the rest of the girls.
The door to the library was flung open as Pinkie, who was now covered in dirt and smears of paint, led the retinue into the library proper and stood at attention with a salute. "Sergeant Pinkie reporting Captain! All VIPs collected and accounted for!" Twilight and Spike, who had both been startled by the violent door opening, looked over with identical wide eyes with a single limb covering their chests. Once the initial shock had worn off, Twilight gently guided Spike to the kitchen with her magic, certain that the discussion she was about to have would disrupt his dinner.
Afterwards she turned back to her friends, the other four making themselves comfortable or wandering over to glance at what she was working on while Pinkie had unerringly held the salute. "Uh... At ease, sergeant? And thank you all for coming on what I'm sure was extremely short notice." There was a chuckle shared between them all as Pinkie shook her body rapidly, the paint and dirt covering her sliding off her coat like water.
"It's cool Twi, I can't speak for everyone else but I wasn't doing anything important." Said Rainbow Dash, the Peragle pegasus having swept close to the taller Eleancana unicorn with a proud grin as Twilight rolled her eyes at the display she was putting on.
"I hate to admit it myself but I happened to be in the same boat as Rainbow Dash, Darling. Business always slows down in the evening so close to when I, 'close up shop', as it were." Rarity, the second tallest of their mismatched group, elegantly waved away Twilight's concern as she came over to gently hug the mare. Afterwards the Reanent Unicorn took a step back to look over Twilight's state, pursing her lips at the state of her mane. "We need to get you to the spa as soon as possible Darling, It looks to have been FAR too long."
Applejack, with a heavy roll of her eyes, extricated Twilight from Rarity's fervor with a gentle push to the Reanent's side. "Ah for one, appreciate this here meetin' bein' so late in tha day. Pinkie here had shown up right as Ah finished up mah work on the farm, so Ahm all set fer how long Ah hafta be here." Twilight gave the Belire earth pony a grateful look before turning to the last one who hadn't spoken yet.
Twilight had to crane her neck upwards to see Fluttershy's face, the Peanox pegasus being the tallest and quietest in their group of friends. Noticing the movement, Fluttershy turned her head downwards and gave Twilight a gentle and kind smile. "Oh, don't worry about me Twilight. I asked Angel to take care of my nocturnal friends for a little bit."
Seeing that Fluttershy was content to say no more, Twilight lit up her horn and, making sure none of the pins were dislodged, lifted the map into the air so all of her friends could see it comfortably where they sat. "As I've told you all before, throughout my study of Equestrian history I have found a strange pattern throughout it all. And tracking said pattern like so," Here Twilight cast a spell that highlighted her progress throughout her investigation with a purple glow. "I was able to narrow it down from a coincidence, to a old order of knights, all the way down the a single stallion. Unfortunately," Twilight cut the highlighting spell and cast a new one, drawing a arcane circle over the entire west side of Equestria and beyond into the undiscovered West.
"As you all can see, there is just far too much guess work required to find him, so I took it upon myself to ask the Princesses... After a reminder from Spike." Before Rainbow could make any snide remarks Applejack stuck her hoof over her muzzle, and glanced over too see if she needed to do the same to Pinkie, only to see the Pink Thorosian diligently taking notes, which caused Applejack to feel a little fear. AJ poked Rarity with her other hoof and pointed at Pinkie, causing both Rainbow and Rarity to look over then share a worried look with each other.
Before Twilight could continue, Fluttershy softly spoke up. "Uhm, excuse me please, Twilight." Twilight stopped short with a blink before turning and nodding to Fluttershy to go ahead. "Oh I was just wondering, Is this the same group that left behind those uh, 'Relics you called them, that you an i found in the Everfree? The um, Knights of the Queen's Roundtable?"
Twilight's eyes lit up at the question, keeping her excitement in check so as to not scare the Peanox. "Yes, exactly! Using the images depicted on the Relics and descriptions written down in history I was able to compare the two and It was a perfect match, Which could make this one of the single most important historical events!"
Smiling at Twilight's obvious happiness Fluttershy looked over to the others and saw the expressions they all wore and frowned a bit, before seeing Pinkie and having all the color in her face drain away. Twilight however, did not notice anything amiss and continued her spiel. "After I met with both of the Princesses they confirmed my theory! In fact, they told me that not only do they know him personally, but he is an Immortal like them! The history locked away inside his mind could change EVERYTHING we know about ancient Equestria!" Twilight finally turned to her friends, an almost manic gleam in her eyes, but stopped short upon seeing the varying expressions of fear each of her friends was sporting. "Girls? What's going-" Before Twilight could finish her question she saw what they all had noticed before, and she cut herself off in confusion as Pinkie finished writing.
Pinkie, for her part, didn't notice the stares she was getting, or not getting in the cast of Fluttershy, the Peanox was trying to hide behind a potted plant and failing due to her large size. But after taking a moment to look over her notes Pinkie gave a satisfied nod as she looked p directly into Twilight's eyes, causing the smaller mare to take a step back. "Twily, you said that the Princesses know more?" At Pinkie's uncharacteristically serious tone, Twilight was shocked into answering.
"Uh, yes. Yes they do Pinkie... Why?" Pinkie rolled up the notes she took and tucked them into her mane, displacing some glitter and ribbons as she donned a grave expression.
"They are gonna help me plan the BIGGEST. PARTY. EVER! And with that declaration Pinkie seemed to disappear, zooming out of the library and leaving five confused and frightened mares.
