Prologue
The Starswirl the Bearded wing.
The most sacred of wings amongst wings that lay within the foundations of Canterlot Castle.
Only those who are the most trusted are allowed to gain entry within its hallowed marble halls and live to tell the tale. m
And who can be more trusted than that of Twilight Sparkle, the very bright and promising student of Princess Celestia, benevolent ruler of Equestria.
The lavender coated mare nearly bounced with excitement with each step she took. If one were to see her in such a giddy state, why, that very pony may believe that she was practically prancing with joy.
After her last excursion to the not-so-mysterious-and-yet-still-amazing-wing, she was rather apprehensive about revisiting the old library of knowledge. It wasn’t until her three-hundredth apology letter to her teacher that she had believed she had disappointed that Celestia had gotten rather miffed at the constant scrolls at her hooves and had told Twilight, pony to pony, that she would allow her student to have free reign within Starswirl’s Wing so long as she stayed away from any and all time manipulation spells.
Needless to say, Twilight agreed wholeheartedly, and now found herself just before the double doors to the much vaunted wing of knowledge and wisdom. Their handles were coated in gold - not made of pure gold as most gossipers would have you believe - with an intricate carving of both the sun and the moon, each on one of the handles signifying the rule of their diarchy. The middle of the door was decorated with an opaque decoration of Starswirl the bearded, both doors having the same decoration mirrored on both sides.
On either side of the double doors stood two guard, one covered in gold armor with a white coat and blue mane and tail, the other with silver armor and a dark gray coat with a purple mane and tail. As they saw Twilight approach, they both straightened up slightly and kept their eyes set ahead of themselves. The white one was the one to greet her as she got close.
“Good afternoon, Miss Sparkle. Here to access Starswirl’s wing?” he asked in a slightly baritone voice.
“Good morning sirs,” Twilight answered as she gave them both a gentle nod. “And indeed I am. Special permission by the princess herself.”
“Yes, all the guards set for Starswirl shift have been given a missive about that. We’re to let you in whenever you come by to visit,” the guard affirmed for her as he and his companion reached for the door handles and opened them up for her, revealing the room inside.
Inside, the walls were filled, floor to ceiling, with books of all shapes, colors and sizes. Throughout the large, circular room, interspersed by at least five feet of space between each, was another shelf of books, just as tall as all the others. They were double sided and also filled to the brim with books, though left a large circular area in the very center of the room where a work table could be seen, with a few blank scrolls, quills and inkwells scattered along its surface.
But Twilight knew there was more to this room than just what she could see from her spot as she walked through the ornate double doors, both guards gently shutting them behind her and latching in place with a soft ‘click’. As soon as the doors were shut, the room almost seemed to bulge outwards, the walls expanding and moving in many different directions. Each section of books nearly tripled in size as the walls made room for even more shelves of rare tomes to fill the spaces it created.
And it left Twilight with a growing, giddy feeling inside as she beheld the spectacle of the Starswirl Archives in all their glory. If she were a lesser mare, she would have felt some sense of pleasure from it all. But as she was, she just let out a quiet squeal of excitement and dashed forward to explore all she could.
“Just look at all of this wonderful, wonderful knowledge. Starswirl the Bearded and the amniomorphic spell! History of Mage Meadowbrook's eight enchanted artifacts! The journal of Comet Tail the Starry-Eyed and the Council of the Ancients! So much information! I just can’t wait to get started!”
Twilight sighed longingly at the many scrolls that caught her eye, her gaze shifting from one shelf to another as she did so. “So much knowledge...I can’t believe the others wanted to go get ice-cream instead of coming here. They can learn so much about our history in just this lane alone.”
As Twilight continued to gush over the tomes before her, she caught a slight hint movement to her left, which actually surprised her, seeing as she was told that she would be the only one allowed within the wing besides her friends. The lavender mare squeaked with delight as she galloped around the corner where the movement had originated, only to find…
Well, Twilight wasn’t sure what she was expecting to find in the Starswirl Archives. Another pony, maybe, or perhaps it was Princess Luna coming to check out a book for some light reading like she thought Luna might have done.
What she wasn’t expecting was to find a tall, black cloaked being with what looked like claws for forelimbs that were delicately holding onto a book, gently turning the pages silently as it read what seemed to be a book on Pre-Nightmare history. Most of its body was hidden from her view, covered in the cloak as it was, as its face wasn’t turned towards her and the only thing poking out from beneath it were the two aforementioned forelimbs.
“I… um… what?” the mare stuttered as she looked upon the figure before her. ‘How the hay did it even get in here? For that matter, what the hay is it!?’ she mentally screamed. Ever so slowly and carefully, Twilight took a step back, only for her rump to bump against a pillar behind her, an action that caused a rather heavy book that lay on a stand upon it to fall to the ground with a loud thud.
As Twilight’s breath hitched in her throat and her pupils shrunk in slight shock, the cloaked being slowly reached within its cloak before producing a bookmark and gently nestling it between the pages, closing the book softly after it did so. It then turned towards Twilight to stare at the mare, the face hidden from Twilight’s view within the hood of the cloak.
A few moments passed, neither pony nor strange being saying anything to each other, before the silence was broken by the being tucking the book underneath its left forelimb and bringing the right up, showing the five digit claw that seemed to be covered in metal scales ending in sharp but not lethal points. It splayed them open towards her in a sign of greeting, before a decidedly female voice came from the hood of the cloak. “Hello there.”
Twilight squeaked at the sudden and rather benign greeting she was given. The mare could only offer a stutter of a response.
The being cocked its head to the side slightly as the mare stuttered at her. “Are you alright?” it - or she, considering the voice - asked Twilight.
Twilight squeaked at the question, before slowly shaking her head no, her voice still eluding her.
“Then maybe you should go see a doctor? Your kind has those, right? I’m pretty sure I saw a hospital down in the city earlier,” the female being stated calmly.
“What the hay are you?!” Twilight finally half yelled, half squeaked as soon as her voice returned to her. “What the bucking hay are you?!”
“Hm. Not the nicest way of wording that, but I suppose it’s to be expected considering I don’t think my kind has ever made it here before,” the being said with a slight shrug. “As for the answer to your question, I’m an Au Ra.”
“I… but… you… YOU!” she said, pointing a hoof at the now identified Au Ra. “How did you get in here? And what did you mean your kind has never been here before?”
“Just as I stated. I believe I’m the first of my kind to ever come here. Which is interesting considering what I’ve read of your history so far,” she said as she patted the book beneath her left forelimb. “From the sounds of it, this Discord person wouldn’t have been something so easy to miss. So it’s interesting to think I’m just now learning of him.”
“No… wait… I… I think i need to sit down,” Twilight finally decided as she slumped to the floor with a soft ‘thump’. “And why are you being so nonchalant?”
“Because none of this is really new to me. Sure, meeting a new sapient species is nice, and learning about a supposed god-like being warping reality to his will is a bit of a shock, but it’s not so earth shattering to me that I would stop functioning. To me, it’s just another day,” the Au Ra said with a shrug.
“J-Just another day…” Twilight parroted as she looked up towards the Au Ra. “I… I don’t even know what to say to that.”
“You could start by telling me your name. It probably would be incredibly rude of me to keep referring to you as purple horse… or purple pony, considering your size,” the taller of the two females responded.
“I… my name is Twilight.Twilight Sparkle. Who are you?”
“Swift Gale,” the Au Ra responded with a short bow, her right arm tucked underneath her chest as she did so. “Pleasure to meet you, Twilight Sparkle.”
“Oh. Your name is quite… normal,” Twilight said as she tilted her head to the side in thought.
“Normal is subjective,” Swift responded with a shrug. “To you what seems normal may seem odd to others. And what may seem normal to me may seem odd to you. For example, I know of a woman who was named Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn. An odd name, to me at least, and one that took a while to get right when trying to speak of her. But for her people, it was the norm.”
“How would one even write that?” Twilight asked, her muzzle scrunching slightly. “No wait. Let’s not worry about that right now. Right now let’s talk about how you got here and where you came from. This is a restricted area within Canterlot Castle. Which, in itself, is quite restricted. How did you get in here? And why are you here?”
“It’s restricted? My apologies, I didn’t know,” Swift said before continuing. “But as for your questions. In order: I got here by walking, I come from the eastern mountains of Othard, I got in here by walking through the front gate - which was wide open, by the way - and I’m here because I was curious about your peoples’ history.”
“I really need to talk to Celestia about the guards here,” Twilight sighed before looking back at the one before her. “I think you need to come with me. I’m sorry, but I need to tell the princess.”
“Ah yes, I read about her. Princess Celestia, was it?” Swift asked for confirmation. “Or, well… the first one was named that, anyways.”
Twilight nodded. “Yes. No matter how benign you seem, I really need to tell her about you.”
“I understand. But do you mind if I take this with me? I was rather intrigued by the contents of it,” the Au Ra asked as she raised the book she was holding in her left claw-like appendage.
“I-I’m not sure. These books and scrolls are usually to stay in here,” Twilight answered as she bit her bottom lip.
“Then do you know where I can find another copy?” Swift asked calmly.
“If it’s that one, then I think so,” Twilight answered carefully.
“Very well, then,” Swift responded as she opened the book to the bookmarked page she had left off on, before retrieving said bookmark, shutting the book and placing it back neatly on the shelf she had obtained it from. When that was done with, she stowed the bookmark back inside her cloak before turning to Twilight. “Lead the way, Miss Sparkle.”
Of course. This way please,” Twilight said as she said as she lead the new creature towards the entrance. Twilight couldn’t help but wonder exactly who this Swift Gale is. Where did she actually come from? How did she get past dozens, if not hundreds, of guards? She sighed softly before looking back towards the Au Ra. She wanted to know the answers to those questions, but she felt that the princess was more equipped with handling them.
As they came upon the doors to leave the Starswirl Archives, Twilight glanced back at Swift worriedly for a moment before opening the door and sticking her head through. Once she saw both guards there, she cleared her throat to get their attention.
“Yes, Miss Sparkle?” the white coated guard once again spoke up first.
“I do hope I am not bothering you too much, good sirs, but I think we have a bit of a small problem,” she said.
“What problem would that be, miss?” the guard inquired of her.
“Well…” She turned to the one that was still right behind her as she paused. “Were you aware we had an… unexpected guest in the wing?”
The stallions blinked as they looked upon the creature behind her, their eyes widening slightly before narrowing. Both guards slipped into full on attack mode, each one brandishing their spears as they did so, pushing Twilight behind them.
“Hello to you too, gentlemen,” Swift casually remarked to the two of them.
“Halt in the name of the Princess!” both guards called out in unison.
Twilight groaned and facehoofed, her horn lighting up before she teleported between the stranger and the two guards.
“You two were the ones that she had got past. Don’t try and play the heroes now,” the mare reprimanded them, both taking a step back in surprise.
“B-but this being is still an intruder. In a restricted area, no less. We should be taking it to the dungeons for trespassing at the very least, ma’am,” the second guard finally spoke up.
“You two should have noticed she was here in the first place. Now. She is being civil right now, and she is under my care, so I will deal with her.”
“Respectfully ma’am, if you choose to do that, we must accompany you in case she decides to try anything funny,” the first guard stated.
“Fine, sure. But don’t think that changes anything,” Twilight huffed.
Both guards saluted her momentarily as both Swift and Twilight fully exited the Starswirl Archives, one turning to the door and placing his horn against it before the sound of a clicking lock could be heard. After that, they both took up positions on either side of Swift Gale, their spears kept at the ready at their sides.
Now leading the way of the little party, Twilight went forwards, forging the path towards her teacher’s throne room and pondering exactly what to tell Celestia.
~00000~
It wasn’t long before the party found themselves within the the halls leading towards the main throne room. It was easy at first with the group being as small as it was. However, with the rather unexpected guest accompanying them, Twilight found herself leading a curious crowd of ponies following after her and, more specifically, the new creature that was following after her.
Grumbling to herself at the crowd they had managed to gather just by walking through the few halls and corridors between the Starswirl the Bearded Wing and the main throne room, Twilight finally stopped as they reached the door leading into said throne room. On either side were two guards, similar to that of the white coated one from earlier, and off to the side waiting in a single file line were a bunch of ponies ranging from almost every possible color conceivable and from seemingly every walk of life.
At their arrival, the line of ponies seemed to split apart slightly, some leaning left and some leaning right, for them to get a good look at the new being brought before the throne room doors. The guards on either side of the door remained nonplussed by the newly drawn crowd and the focus of their attention, but did salute when they spotted Twilight Sparkle approaching them.
“Good morning, sirs. Can you please tell Princess Celestia that I really, really, really need to see her? It’s important.” She looked back at the group that had followed her as she said that before continuing. “Really important.”
Both guards stared at the group and Twilight for just a moment before the one on the left gestured with his head for the other to enter the room. Not waiting much longer, the second guard did just that and shut the door behind him.
Twilight sighed softly before turning around, a glare forming in her eyes. “And you all. You are bothering our guest, so go back to what you were doing.”
There were a bunch of hushed whispers and mutterings from the crowd as she said that, but after a few moments of the crowd milling around, they eventually acquiesced to Twilight’s commands and left the hall. Some looked back a couple times as they left, but they all left regardless, just leaving Twilight, the three guards, their guest and the line of ponies in the hallway.
Twilight sighed once again before turning to face Swift. “I’m sorry about that. You are something we have never seen before after all, and ponies are naturally curious.”
“Don’t worry about it. They were pretty harmless,” Swift waved off with a shrug.
“Still. Being rude is being rude, no matter how harmless it is,” Twilight said with a huff.
The guard that had entered the throne room earlier chose that moment to return, opening the door for Twilight and her guest. “Princess Celestia will see you now,” he stated evenly.
Twilight nodded before making her way towards the doors, both being opened by the either guard beside her. She led Swift inside, the doors being shut behind them as they made their way up the thin yet comfortable carpet leading from the door up to a raised golden throne, upon which sat Princess Celestia, diarch of the sun and co-ruler of Equestria.
Princess Celestia, were she to be standing instead of sitting on her throne, would easily tower above most ponies. Her coat was a pure ivory white, with a mane and tail consisting of multicolored pastel greens, pinks and blues that seemed to wave in a non-existent breeze. Her horn, the same color as her coat, stuck out proudly above her head and golden crown, ending in a sharp point.
“Hello, Princess,” Twilight began as she bowed to her teacher once they reached the foot of the raised throne. “As I am sure you are aware by now, we have something we need to discuss.”
“Rise, Twilight,” Celestia stated as she kept her eyes on the newcomer. “And yes, it looks like we do. Who’s your new friend?”
“Oh. Well, you see,” Twilight began, giving off a small, nervous laugh. “She is the something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Really, now? Twilight, I’m flattered that you would feel the need to share you made a new friend with me, but couldn’t that have just as easily been sent in one of your friendship letters?” Celestia asked, though her tone was kept casual and lighthearted.
“W-Well. Its not that I made a new friend today. Its more how I made said new friend.”
“Oh really? Please, do tell. I’m sure I’d love to hear the story about how you made a new friend,” Celestia continued, her eyes finally leaving the newcomer to smile at Twilight.
“I-I… well.” Twilight cleared her throat before going over the events starting from when she had made her way into Starswirl’s Wing, all the way up until she had met Swift within said wing.
“I see. Well I am quite glad you have brought it to my attention, dear Twilight,” Celestia praised with a gentle smile.
Twilight blinked at the sudden praise, blushing slightly and rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment as she spoke. “T-thank you, Princess. But, what about… um… her?” she continued, angling her head back towards Swift, who had been silent the entire time they talked.
“Indeed. What do we do with you, young Swift?” Celestia asked the cloaked figure with her ever present smile.
‘You could let me go back to reading. I had just found a really nice book about Pre-Nightmare history when Twilight found me,” Swift stated plainly.
“Ah. I remember that one. If it is indeed the one we are both thinking of,” Celestia mused as she tapped a hoof under her chin.
“I… W-wha?” Twilight stuttered as she looked between both her teacher and the cloaked figure.
“Though it is no wonder why any pony, least of all my student, would be on edge around you. Why are you wearing the cloak anyway?” Celestia asked with a tilt of her head.
“Ah, I still had this old thing on?” Swift said as she reached her hands up to her hood, flipping it back to reveal her head.
Twilight had never seen a being quite like the one standing before her. Light, furless skin could be seen upon her face, partially covered by dragon-like scales along her cheeks and neck, the color of which was that of a brilliant midnight blue. Within her gaze, the lavender mare would see the purest of greens, slightly offset by dull black limbal rings separating the pupils and the corneas. Impressive horns that adorned either side of Swift’s face curved around and pointed ahead of her, resting just a little bit above and beside her cheeks. Twilight would have guessed that any dragon worth their pride would kill for a set of horns like the ones Swift wore proudly upon her head, the bases of which were slightly obscured by the full head of snow white hair that draped down behind her neck.
“Sorry about that. I guess I just got used to it being on,” Swift apologized as she let her hands rest at her sides again.
“It is quite alright, my dear. Though I really would have thought that the guards would have known about you.” The princess’s gaze shifted towards the two in question, both of whom were stiff as boards, their nervous glances between one another plain to see.
After a moment, the gray coated guard spoke up. “We… weren’t given any notice of our guest, ma’am,” he said nervously. “And we formally apologize for our actions.” At that, both guards bowed apologetically to Swift, who merely scratched her cheek with a single digit and waved it off with her other hand.
“Eh, don’t worry about it. It’s not the worst thing to have been said about me.”
The princess looked upon the Au Ra with a gentle gaze. “Well. In any case, allow me to formally introduce you to my most prized student, Twilight Sparkle.”
Twilight blushed at the praise once more, and Swift nodded her head. “Yes, we’ve had the pleasure of introducing ourselves to one another.”
“Brilliant. From what Swift has told me before, she is quite the scholar. I was going to do it myself, but with both of your love for books and knowledge, I don’t see why you cannot ask her about where she comes from. Mayhaps find out a little about her culture. I am quite interested in hearing about her, as I’ve never seen her kind before. That is, if it’s alright with her,” Celestia stated as she looked over at Swift inquisitively.
The Au Ra merely shrugged at that. “I’m fine with it, so long as I can ask some questions of my own.”
“But of course. A cultural exchange of information is a great way to make friends, after all,” Celestia agreed with a wide smile.
Twilight smiled brightly at that. The thought of telling the princess her findings was much too tempting of a task to turn down. “Yes! I-I mean of course, princess. You can count on me.” The lavender mare turned to face the Au Ra. “I’ll lead you back to the Starswirl Wing. Oh! But I’ll need to grab my saddle bag from my old room. Maybe my flash cards as well. Oh! Oh! And my special ink and quill set!” Twilight tittered excitedly, lost in her own world as she led Swift back the way they came.
As the duo left the throne room, with the excitable lavender unicorn leading the way and already starting to formulate question after question for the Au Ra, Celestia turned towards the two guards that had come in with Twilight and Swift, and spoke up to them. “Please head back to your posts. And on the way out, let the guards out front know to let the next petitioner in.”
Both guards immediately snapped into salutes with a shout of, “Yes ma’am!” before hurrying towards the door.
“Oh! And before you go,” Celestia interrupted them. “Please summon my sister from her bed chambers. I would like to speak to her as soon as she is able to, if that would be alright.”
Both guards grew a tad paler at the request. Saluting once again, though with noticeably less enthusiasm than before, they left to complete their assigned tasks.
Celestia chuckled softly before sitting herself in proper princess-like position. “Game face, Celestia,” she spoke to herself. “You will have time to admire your little joke after today’s sessions.”
And with that, Celestia readied herself for the petitions to resume their normal flow.
Author's Note
Steel Soul AN: Lays my head down Gonna go and take a nap. You got this love.
NightmareKnight AN: Well that was informal. But regardless, we finally managed to write this out. It’s been months in planning, at the very least, and wooh boy does it feel good to finally manage to get it all down and start working on it. This is a new idea that Steel and I have been working on for the past few days. We’ve been planning this for so long, and now that Steel finally has a means to write together with me, hopefully we can provide some good, quality content for those of you who want to read it. We’ve already decided the general direction we want this story to go, and have a few key plot points ironed out. Heck, we know how we want it to end at this point. Right now it’s just a matter of filling in the “everything in between”. We hope that those of you reading this enjoy, and are kind enough to leave feedback on what you thought of the story so far. This is just the prologue, so we didn’t really get too much into it, but we’re definitely going to write more. Your feedback can help us improve should you spot anywhere that needs work.
NightmareKnight AN2: So just a tiny bit of information for those of you wondering just exactly who I am and why I’m writing this with Steel Soul here. The short of it is, I’m his girlfriend. I’m the person who helped him write “A Filly and Her Father”. It’s an 18+ fic, so you can check it out if you feel inclined to. And for those of you who do follow that fic, yes, we will be writing more for it soon enough.
Celestia’s sun shone brightly upon the mountain-side city of Canterlot, many of its residents moving about, dealing with their daily lives. It was within this busy little - if Canterlot could even be remotely classified as little, that is - city that five mares and a purple baby dragon would make their way towards the royal castle.
“Whoo-wee!” an orange earth pony mare exclaimed loudly, much to the dismay of her white unicorn cohort. “Now that was some fine grub!”
“Applejack, do you really need to talk so loudly? We’re all right here, darling, and we can hear you just fine without the extra volume,” a white unicorn said with exasperation over her friend’s outburst. “Really, now. Yes, it was rather delicious, but did it really warrant such a response?”
“I am what ya fancy ponies call a food conosaur, Rare,” Applejack said with a grin. “Can’t help it if I enjoyed the food and wanted to share it.”
“That’s connoisseur, Applejack.”
“I’ve heard it both ways~!” a bright pink earth pony giggled as she bounced beside the small group.
“Eh, connoisseur schmonnoisseur,” a cerulean coated pegasus pony said carelessly as she lazily flew above the group. “What’s it matter, anyways? We had good food, we enjoyed it, end of story.”
“Oh. Well I thought it was a very lovely lunch,” a butter yellow pegasus squeaked as she trailed behind the others. “I’m just sorry it took so long for me to choose what I wanted.”
“Ah, don’t worry about it, Shy,” Applejack said as she waved off the mare’s apology. “‘Sides, Pinkie technically took longer to order her share than it took for you to decide.”
“I couldn’t help it, though,” the pink mare said with a giggle as she somehow managed to pat her belly while bouncing. “All the food looked and sounded so yummy, I just couldn’t help but want to try it all.”
“Pinkie. You ordered mostly from the dessert side,” a purple baby dragon with green frills and a cream colored underbelly called out from his perch upon Fluttershy’s back.
“Well there’s, um, nothing really wrong with it. At least for Pinkie, it seems,” Fluttershy stated shyly.
“Yeah, yeah,” Spike said. “Still can’t help but wonder where she puts it all.”
“My money’s on her-” the light blue pegasus started to say before she suddenly found her mouth filled with a pink hoof, the owner of said hoof somehow managing to keep it there long enough to stifle her words even though she was still bouncing alongside the group.
“Ah ah ah, Dashie. That would be spoiling the secret!” the pink mare sing songed after finally removing her hoof.
“Too bad Twi was too busy with her studying ta get something to eat with us,” Applejack spoke up, “Mighty nice of ya to get her a doggy bag to go, Spike.”
“Yeah, well knowing her, she’d have gone all day without eating anything and not realized it,” the baby dragon responded.
“Really don’t know how those egghead types do that,” Rainbow said as she flew above the group. “You really can’t survive on books alone ya know.”
“Try telling that to Twilight. She once went on a three day study binge. I don’t know how she didn’t damage something permanently from it,” Spike said with a roll of his eyes.
“I once went on a three day sweets binge,” Pinkie called out. “Oh boy! I don’t remember half the stuff I did after that.”
“Yes, well. Aside from that, it is very nice of you to look after Twilight, dear,” Rarity said, looking to Spike as they approached the castle gates.
Spike blushed at the compliment Rarity gave him. “Aww, it’s nothing at all.” The baby drake puffed out his chest, pounding it hard with his fist. “Nothing a Number One Assistant can’t handle, anyway.”
“And Twilight is very lucky to have someone as thoughtful as you looking out for her,” Fluttershy added quietly.
“Yeah yeah, enough with stroking the little dude’s ego. He’s great and all, and Twi needs to get out more. But hey, we can totally drag her out of that dusty old library and get her to spend the afternoon with us, right?” Dash butted in.
“I reckon we can think of something for us all to do together,” Applejack mused as she rubbed a hoof under her chin.
“Ooh, like maybe play a game? Like I Spy? Or maybe 20 Questions? Ooh, ooh, or maybe Name That Species?” Pinkie exclaimed excitedly.
“I would actually like that last one,” Fluttershy stated just quietly enough that nobody but Spike heard her.
“Well first we have to find her. Anypony got any idea where the library in this place was?” Applejack queried to the rest of the group as they entered the main foyer of the castle.
“I do, I do!” Pinkie suddenly exclaimed, waving her hoof about excitedly. “I was with Twilight when we first snuck in, so I know exactly where it was. We just have to take the fourth turn on the right, followed by a second turn on the left, two doors down into a side broom closet, back out into the hall, down the hall where we came for another three turns left, followed by another turn left three halls down and then it should be on our right! Oh! And don’t forget to hide from the guards right before turning that final corner!”
“Or,” Spike spoke up. “You can just ask me to show you the way.”
“Oh yeah… let’s do that!” Pinkie exclaimed just as exuberantly as always.
With the purple and green drake now leading the way through the castle interior, it wasn’t long before the small group of ponies found their way to the wing that was known as the Starswirl the Bearded wing.
The small group approached the ornate double doors with guards posted on either side, neither glancing anywhere but straight ahead of them until the group was right in front of them.
“Scuse me, partners. Is Twilight in there?” Applejack broke the minor silence.
The guard looked down upon the mare as she spoke, “Applejack, if I am correct. And the rest of the Elements of Harmony. I was told that Miss Sparkle is within her old living quarters. She has been expecting you.”
“I thought she was studying here. Did she take a bunch of books with her to go or something?” Rainbow Dash asked quizzically.
“Actually, she was given a new assignment,” the guard spoke again.
“Assignment?” Spike spoke up. “She was just here to study. Did Princess Celestia ask her to look into something specific?”
“Not at all. It has to deal with the guest that resides within the castle,” the guard answered
“Guest? Spike, was there anypony important visiting today?” Rarity inquired of the purple baby dragon. “A visiting prince perhaps? Or maybe a noblepony from a far off land?”
“Not that I know of,” Spike said as he rubbed a claw under his chin. “Better go check it out.”
“Ooh, you think the guest likes parties? I haven’t had a chance to throw one in the castle yet. And what better party than a Welcome to Canterlot Party?” Pinkie chirped excitedly.
“I think that we should get to know this mysterious guest first,” Rarity mused. “Perhaps invite him for tea.”
“Well we ain’t gettin’ nothin’ done standing around here. Let’s mosey on over to Twi’s room and see fer ourselves,” Applejack drawled as she began to lead the way towards Twilight’s room, only to pause momentarily before letting out an awkward chuckle and turning back to look at Spike.
Spike sighed softly before turning the other way. “It’s this way.”
“Thank you again, Spike,” Fluttershy said softly up towards the baby dragon on her back.
“Heh. Any time, Shy. Now let’s get going. Don’t want Twi’s food to get cold.”
And with that, the group of five mares and one baby dragon set off to find their friend’s room, leaving behind two stone faced guards. After they left, neither of them moved from their position, but the one on the right did speak up.
“Five bits we hear something from our post.”
“Make it ten,” the other said with a straight face as they both reached up and bumped hooves, sealing the bet.
00000~00000
Twilight had been quite the giddy little filly as her quill blurred across her notepad with how much information the mare had been given. She could barely contain her excitement every time she learned something new about Swift’s homeland. The Au Ra girl had made mention of several nation-states such as Gridania, Ul’dah and Limsa Lominsa, and had gone into minor detail about them and the way they interacted with one another. That alone was enough to fill up half a notebook with the amount of notes Twilight took on the subject matter.
She was curious to hear how they worked in harmony with one another, thinking that perhaps they worked similarly to the way their own society worked, but Swift surprised her when she was told that they actually didn’t work together that much. Ul’dah was a center of commerce in the dry, rocky region of Thanalan, Limsa was a port town and Gridania was located in the middle of a vast forest known as the Black Shroud. They were all connected in some way or another, but their politics and activities didn’t often line up with one another.
This brought Twilight to questioning how well the people of those cities worked with one another, but unfortunately she was unable to get a clear-cut answer. As it turned out, the inhabitants of the continent Swift described as Eorzea were a big melting pot. Many different species, each with beliefs and ideals different from one another, all congregating together in one massive, confusing mess. It was a wonder they managed to get anything done at all, from the sounds of it.
But Swift assured her that even though things seemed chaotic and unorganized, life continued moving for those that inhabited her home country.
It was shortly after this discussion that they breached the topic of ‘monsters’.
“So you mentioned before about how the nation-states of Gridania, Limsa Lominsa and… Ul’dah, was it?” Twilight started to question, glancing up curiously at the Au Ra girl sitting across from her for clarification on if she had the names correctly.
“Yes, those were the three main ones,” said Au Ra girl answered with a nod.
“Right. Well you mentioned how they worked together… or rather how they sort of didn’t,” she stated, her tone conveying her own confusion on the matter. But she continued on, regardless. “But you never mentioned how they deal with anything else. The pony tribes have had a long reign of peace since Celestia and Luna began to lead us, even after Luna was… unavailable. But for the most part, we’ve not had to deal with much else of anything because they were looking out for us as we lived our lives. Without some grand moral authority, how do your people deal with threats to peace?”
She wasn’t naive enough to think that things settled down peacefully just because everyone wanted the same thing. There were some minorly turbulent times in history that most average ponies didn’t know about, and the history books didn’t relay the events unless they were big, globe-spanning events. She knew that the power the two alicorn sisters held was a big deterrent from other, less peaceful nations and wildlife alike.
“That’s a difficult question to answer, seeing as how there is no single answer to it. People in higher authority positions made the calls that would set precedents for how situations were handled in the future. Sometimes they worked out to the benefit of all, sometimes only one group benefited and sometimes nobody did. And even then, not everyone has the same view of ‘moral right’ as the other side. What, to you, would seem like the obvious choice that benefitted all sides, could mean a net loss to a third group not previously considered.
“There are many ways to look at the situation and think on how it can be resolved, but sometimes there are just no right answers. Sometimes the ‘bad guys’ win. Sometimes things work out. It’s all hit and miss, but at the end of the day we’re still moving forward,” Swift finally concluded. “Did any of that make sense?”
“Very much so,” Twilight said as she dotted the last sentence. “It sounds a little bleak, if I’m being honest about it.”
“It can be, yes,” Swift said with a soft chuckle and a nod of her head, fully aware of what a massive gray zone morality was for most of the world. “But I believe I got off topic. We were discussing outside threats. The closest thing I can think of would be the monsters that infest a majority of the land outside of the areas influenced by Hydaelyn. The most common type are referred to as Voidsent, labeled as such because they originate from a plane of existence that scholars have dubbed the Void.”
“Hold up,” Twilight interrupted her before she could go into further detail. “You mentioned something called Hydaelyn, yes? Is it some kind of spell to keep monsters out? ”
“I’m not entirely sure how to describe Hydaelyn to someone who was not raised knowing of her. I suppose it would be the same as anyone not growing up here knowing about your Celestia. The difference between us being that your history clearly documents her existence and her actions. Historians from Eorzea have yet to gather any concrete information about Hydaelyn. She’s sort of a myth; a legend, if you will. The only common knowledge about her is that she’s a sort of guardian deity, watching out for us and blessing our towns with safety from Voidsent. Though even that’s all rather religious speculation. No scientific progress has been made in understanding how it happens, or why it happens. Or if it has, it’s been long buried.”
“I see… And what you said about the Voidsent? What exactly is it? Or should I say they? They don’t seem to be something benign the way you word it.”
“Ah, now those have been studied,” Swift said with an enthusiastic chuckle. “Voidsent are… well I suppose the easiest way to refer to them as would be ‘demons’. Or ‘daemons’ if that’s your prerogative. I personally don’t know why they’re constantly popping up all over and attacking people. In fact, sometimes there doesn’t seem to be any clear goal as to what they’re trying to do. And unfortunately the few people who seem to have found some mild understanding of their intentions have either been driven mad or were corrupted by the very things they were studying. But I have a hypothesis about that.”
“That is kind of depressing… but I would love to know about that hypothesis,” Twilight answered as she sat back in her chair, giving her notes a once over.
“Well, see the universe, or the world as we know it, always strives to maintain balance in all things. Light and dark, yin and yang. Whenever there is too much of one, the other must surge back. Whenever there is too much light, the dark will attempt to smother said light. And whenever there is too much dark, the light will glow even brighter than before. Metaphorically speaking, anyways. It sounds kind of campy, probably not really scientific in any way, but it’s an observation that I like to believe has some basis in truth,” Swift elaborated for the lavender unicorn mare sitting before her.
“My teacher always says that there’s no wrong way to theorize. Besides, I think that what you’re saying makes at least a little sense. I mean, you can’t have shadows without the light after all. Or the moon without the sun.”
Swift nodded her head along with Twilight’s words, glad to hear that someone at least understood her idea. Then she opened her mouth to ask Twilight a question of her own, but was interrupted as the door to the room was suddenly thrown open.
The first to appear was a rather colorful maned pony, her cerulean wings keeping her aloft just above the ground. Despite her being the first to enter, her attention was upon the one behind her, an orange coated female pony wearing a dusty brown hat upon her head of blonde hair styled into a ponytail of all things, and an annoyed scowl upon her face.
“Rainbow! I thought we all agreed to knock, not dang near kick the door off its hinges!” she shouted up at the floating pegasus mare ahead of her, completely oblivious to the two beings in the room previously conversing with each other.
“And that was before you all started to draw straws to decide who knocked. I just did it faster, that’s all,” the pegasus scoffed lightly, much to the earth pony’s annoyance.
“And what’s wrong with deciding on how to enter somepony’s home?” another mare with an alabaster coat and an elegantly styled violet mane scoffed as she entered as well. “Friend or not, there is a concept called manners, darling.”
“Aw, Twilight doesn’t mind, do ya Twilight?” a bubblegum pink earth pony mare said as she bounced into the room, her darker pink and very puffy mane swaying back and forth chaotically as she moved.
It was at this moment that the new entrants’ attentions were drawn to the bed where Twilight and Swift had been sitting on while discussing with one another.
The ponies who had just entered didn’t quite know what to make of the scene before them. The sight of the strange looking creature more than enough to stall any semblance of speech between them. The stillness of the room would continue for quite some time before the soft country tones of the blonde maned, orange coated mare would shatter the silence.
“Ah… Rainbow… Do ya see a tall, skinny creature in all black sittin’ on the bed next ta Twilight?” the mare stage whispered for pretty much all within the room to hear.
“Well that’s rather rude,” Swift stated with a frown as she kept her gaze on the newcomers, emerald irises tracking all six of them, including the one that seemed to be hiding in the back and the smaller one that was behind the white one. “I am sitting right here, after all.”
Before Applejack could say anything to her defence, a pair of bright pink hooves clamped her mouth shut, the pony with the impossibly curly pink mane making herself known. “Don’t worry, Jacky. I got this.”
The pink pony released the orange one, jumping forward onto her forehooves before flipping over, bouncing onto her hind hooves over and over again before landing in front of Swift. With the most serious of faces, the bubblegum colored mare reached into her mane and pulled out a plate of cookies.
The Au Ra girl merely stared at her with a look somewhere between confusion and amusement. She had experience with silly characters, and some of the people she considered friends could be put into that category, but this pony seemed to take that category and twist it on its head.
Pinkie Pie giggled as she wiggled the plate of cookies teasingly in front of the strange girl. “Go on! They don’t bite! Unless you think sugar cookies bite.” The mare paused as she tapped her chin. “Though some customers say that my cookies have a bite to them, whatever that means.”
After a moment to consider, the Au Ra merely shrugged her shoulders and brought her hand up to the plate. Carefully grabbing a single cookie, she quickly brought it to her mouth and took a bite. A few seconds of chewing and swallowing, and she nodded her head slightly. “It’s good. Thank you for this,” she said before quickly finishing off the rest of it.
The mare squealed before turning to the rest. “And she passes the Pinkie Pie Test of Friendship!” she exclaimed with a proud grin.
“Uh, Pinkie? How does liking cookies mean anything?” the rainbow maned pegasus asked with a clearly confused expression as her eyes moved between the proudly grinning Pinkie Pie, the almost alien looking creature sitting on the bed and Twilight right next to it.
“Silly Rainbow. No bad pony would think my cookies are good and say it. Obviously she is a good pony.”
“I feel like I need to point out that I’m still sitting here… very much in clear hearing range of everything you’re saying,” the Au Ra spoke up calmly, but with a mild hint of annoyance in her voice.
“”Oh! We are quite sorry, my dear,” the posh alabaster mare said as she strolled forward, flicking her purple mane with a hoof before bowing courteously to her. “My friends usually don’t deal with… social situations quite well. I, on the other hoof, know my way around a conversation. If you would permit me to apologize on behalf of my friends and greet you personally. My name is Rarity, or Lady Rarity if you prefer.”
“Swift,” the girl spoke up plainly with a nod towards the mare. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance. Twilight and I were just talking about a few things. But I assume you’re here to see her?”
“That is the case, yes,” Rarity said with a nod before facing the purple mare. “I’m pretty sure the poor girl forgot to eat this morning, right Twilight?”
Twilight blushed lightly at having her lack of thought pointed out to brazenly, but she nevertheless nodded her head at Rarity’s line of questioning. “Yeah… what with everything happening, I kind of forgot,” she admitted.
“Well ya do need to eat, Twilight, and Spike got a whole heaping helping of vittles for ya. Ain’t that right, Spike?” Applejack turned to face the little green dragon, only to find that he wasn’t listening at all, his focus only on one being, and it was on the one that was sitting next to Twilight.
“Spike? Hello, Equestria to Spike!” Rainbow Dash called out once everyone else’s attention was drawn to the little drake. Their eyes went from Spike to the object of his attention - or being in this case - and back again, unsure as to why the normally kind and courteous drake was acting oddly.
Huh? Wha?” Spike squeaked, a soft blush on his cheeks. “Oh! Yeah, right… food and… stuff.”
“Are you quite alright, Spike?” Rarity questioned the little drake with a concerned frown. “You were just staring off into space for a while there.”
Meanwhile, Twilight, who had been watching the events unfold silently, internally realized what was happening. Her eyes moved over to Swift, then back to Spike, remembering his expression when he first met Rarity. This time it was a lot less pronounced than it was back then, but it was still the same. It seemed like Spike had another crush. She could give an educated guess that it also helped since it seemed Swift was at least part dragon, considering the scales spread across her face and the horns protruding from the sides of her head. Once that thought finished circulating in her mind, she silently groaned at the thought of the little drake vying for the affection of two girls, one a pony and the other a new species she had never heard of.
“Oh! Yeah! I’m fine!” he told her with an embarrassed laugh. “A-Anyway! Heres your food, Twi. A nice daisy and daffodil salad. Just the way you like it, of course.”
“Thanks, Spike,” Twilight said with a grateful smile, using her magic to levitate both him and the food up to her. She placed the food down in front of her and just off to the side while bringing him closer to her so she could give him a hug. “What would I ever do without you?”
“Well you would probably starve in a dusty old library piled under thousands of books,” he said sarcastically.
Twilight gave him a mildly annoyed look at that, giving him a light shove which ended up toppling him over backwards and landing just beside Swift. “Gee, thanks. Tell me how you really feel,” she said with an over exaggerated pout.
“Aw come on, Twi,” he said as he picked himself up and dusted himself off for show. “You know I say these things because I love you.”
However, before Twilight could answer, Spike felt something brushing along his spines. He jumped slightly, turning around as he did so to find Swift with her hand raised. “Interesting. I knew there were dragons in Equestria from what I read, but reading and seeing are two completely different things… you’re a bit bigger than the dragonlets I’ve seen. How old are you?” she questioned him curiously.
The poor dragon could barely get a word out, stuttering and blushing like only a child would.
The Au Ra before him tilted her head slightly, frowning in slight concern. “Are you alright? Did I do something to offend?”
“I doubt it,” Rainbow said with a shrug. “But that is a question that has been bugging me. How old is Spike, Twi? You keep saying baby dragon but he doesn’t act like any foal I know.”
“He turned 16 a few months ago,” Twilight informed her. “You were there for his birthday party, weren’t you?”
“Well, yeah, but you never said how old he is. Just gave him another book. Ya know, because of what happened last time. And if he’s 16, how is he still a baby?”
Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but someone else beat her to it. “Probably because to his species, he still is one. Where I come from, a dragon can live well over a millennium. Some of the older ones even longer than that. Would it be right to assume it’s the same for dragons here?” Swift spoke up.
“Well… we still don’t know much about dragon culture,” Twilight admitted. “But you are right. In the eyes of many dragons, he would still be a baby.”
Swift once again nodded at that, the other ponies in the room save Fluttershy muttering to themselves about the recently relayed fact, before turning back to Spike. “He’s still just kinda stuck there. Is something wrong with him?”
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Twilight waved off. “In any case, I think we should introduce the rest of my friends. Rarity already introduced herself.” Said alabaster coated mare waved politely towards Swift, who nodded back in return.
“And I’m Pinkie Pie!” the pink mare from earlier who had offered her a plate of cookies shouted exuberantly, bouncing up to the edge of the bed. “But of course you already knew that, ‘cause Dashie called me that, and did you like my cookies? What am I saying, of course you did. You even said so yourself. I made them extra special because my Pinkie Sense was going off earlier today telling me I would meet a new friend, which I thought was kinda obvious since we’re in Canterlot and there’s still a lot of ponies here who aren’t my friend but I didn’t think it would be like this. And now I can throw you a super surprise party, but I guess it’s not much of a surprise party if you know about it. But then again, you don’t know whe-”
The pink mare was suddenly cut off as the hovering pegasus mare clamped a hoof around her mouth. For all the good it did, since it seemed from the muffled sound and the mare’s moving mouth, she either didn’t notice the obstruction or didn’t care.
“Jeez, alright Pinkie. We get it. New pony in town… kinda. New friends and all that, but give ‘em some breathing room,” said pegasus told the excitable mare.
The rainbow maned mare, while busy with holding back the mouth on the pink menace, turned to face the Au Ru. “You can call me Rainbow Dash. Greatest flyer in all of Equestria and future Wonderbolt!”
“Nice to meet you,” Swift replied easily at the normal greeting, before turning as the orange coated earth pony with a cowboy hat approached.
“Name’s Applejack. And sorry if’n I offended ya earlier. Didn’t mean nothin’ by it. Just never seen somethin’ like ya around here. Closest I could say was that Iron Bell fella who came by Ponyville a while back, but he was a lot bigger. Bulkier too.”
The Au Ra shrugged at that before holding a hand out towards the mare, who stared at it for a moment before smiling and placing her hoof into the girl’s palm. Swift raised an eyebrow as she felt some sort of phantom grip meet hers, but shrugged it off as something to look into later after the meet and greet was done. They shook, Applejack’s strength jerking Swift’s arm a bit at the force behind it, and Swift smiled. “At least you apologized. There are worse ways to start a relationship off. Believe me, I would know.”
“Ah know all too well, ma’am,” Applajack said with a smile and a nod.
There was a soft shuffle behind the group, a yellow and pink pegasus mare could be seen , her gazed shifting between the ground and the Au Ru. “I… I guess I should… i-introduce myself, too. If that's okay that is. I don’t want to interrupt.”
The rest of the ponies quieted down for the nervous mare to make introductions, Swift’s attention now focused on her.
“M-My name is Fluttershy. I, um… It's nice to m-meet you…” the stuttering mare spoke, becoming more and more self-conscious as she felt the pressure of being the center of attention.
“Swift, but you’ve already heard that,” replied the Au Ra with a slight nod, feeling bad for putting the girl in such a situation. It was obvious to everyone in the room how nervous she was, even without the stutter.
She nodded before looking back at the dragon-like girl. “I-I did. It’s very nice to m-meet you, Miss Swift.”
“No need to call me miss,” Swift responded with a slight chuckle. “Makes me feel old. Just Swift is fine.”
“Well its a pleasure to meet you, Swift. And we would love to catch up on what you and Twilight were doing before,” Rarity cut in after a bit of silence. “And I know the best way to do so.”
Applejack rolled her eyes as she leaned over towards her blue friend, who by now had managed to restrain Pinkie from jumping all over the room with a well placed pinkie promise. “10 bits she says the spa.”
Rainbow leaned back in and whispered, “No deal. Try a less likely bet next time.”
“I know a nice little garden not too far from here,” Rarity mused. “And it's such a nice day out. It would be a shame to let such weather go to waste.”
Applejack couldn’t help but give Rainbow the cheekiest of grins the prismatic mare had ever seen. “Well now. Glad ya didn’t take that bet. Would’ve lost for sure on that one.”
Rainbow lightly scowled at the farm pony, but let the jab slide.
“A picnic does sound nice,” Fluttershy said quietly.
“I have no objections to it. A little fresh air would be nice,” Swift said with an approving nod. Discussing the differences in cultures between their two races was fine and all, but it was starting to get a bit stuffy in Twilight’s room.
“But… research,” Twilight said sadly, as if she were a filly and someone had taken away her favorite toy.
“We got all our lives to do research,” Rarity said as she made her way to the door. “Why not take a break with your friends and treat our new friend to a nice day out?”
“Well statistically speaking there’s a bigger chance of a sunny day than meeting a new species, especially when you can control the weather and account for when it will be sunny or not,” Twilight tried defending.
“Twilight. We talked about this. No bringing science into a debate about friendship,” Rarity childed her, which only got a pout from the mare.
“Come on, egghead. Grab your food and let’s go. We’re heading out even if I have to carry you,” Rainbow interjected before they could debate the topic further.
“Ugh. Fine. I guess I do have to eat this salad Spike got me,” the purple unicorn mare relented as she slipped off the bed. “You guys really don’t fight fair when you gang up on me like that.”
“All’s fair in love and friendship!” Pinkie chirped, finally breaking her silence. “And you know we love you, Twilight, so that’s double all fair!”
“Make it a triple since you are our friend, after all,” Applejack said with a wink as she made her way towards the doorway. “Now lets get.”
Swift chose that moment to speak up as she looked down at the still frozen drake before her. “You sure he’s alright? He’s just been staring at me this entire time.”
Twilight hummed at that before using her magic to put the little drake on her back. “I’m sure he will be fine in a bit. Spike gets like that when he is… thinking,” she said with a giggle.
“I see,” Swift said with a very soft frown, not fully buying it yet not willing to push further. “Well, if you say so.”
Author's Note
*NK AN:* Hey all, co-author here. Sorry it's taken so long on getting out chapter two. Motivation was way down for the past long while, but we finally got around to finishing this up. Took a good chunk of time, but hey, I'm proud of what we managed here. And hopefully, muse willing, we'll be able to start on the next chapter soon. Don't expect an update rapidly fast, because we need to find a time slot where we're both free in order to write this the way we do, but hopefully it won't be another half a year. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and we'll see you all next time.
