Chapters The hallways were dipped in a dull grey, with the walls a lighter shade than the floor. The distant sound of hooves echoed through the palace, the march of guards on duty. She caught sight of Quick Quill of foreign affairs, although he had turned around before he had even glimpsed her. These were busy days for everypony, she knew and considering how she had found a dislike for the remaining politicians, she could not deny that she was glad that she wouldn’t need to talk to Quick.
Her barding made clanking noises and the rings of her maille rubbed against each other, the metal weighing down on her back. She was glad the days of the old uniforms were over. Everything that had to do with the old military was gone and she wasn’t going to serve on any front line anytime soon.
Twilight be blessed, Ribbon Spear thought, as she stopped on a crossing of hallways, looking to each side. It was still dark outside, she knew and the palace wasn’t faring much better. The construction had predated the Republic, dating back to the age of the sun and moon princess and a time where the palatial structures outside the parts guests would see were grim, dull and easily defendable. The cream colored mare sighed, a few more windows would help her more right now than cold stone walls. She blew a strand of indigo hair out of her face and moved on, but not before adjusting her burgonet.
The armor of the royal guard was something to behold, dark blue enamelled steel with pearl inlays on the sides that made it look like a starry sky. From what she had heard in the tavern the people’s name for the royal guard was the ‘Star Company’. It was probably meant as a mockery, but she could easily take pride in serving the Princess of All Magic.
As she walked through the halls she enjoyed the relative darkness and quiet of the palace, although the memories tended to haunt her even now. Until two years ago, Equestria had been a republic and all magic had left the world. Then the black beast had appeared and brought fear and darkness with it. At first it had only destroyed Canterlot and the government had wanted to use it as an excuse to wage another war against the griffons. She had been sent to put witnesses to the actual happenings down. Things had escalated quickly, she remembered, as clouds of cotton candy with chocolate moustaches had suddenly started attacking them. After seeing her own fiance being dismembered by one of these creatures she had never touched sweets again. Her trusty lance was all she had left of him.
Most of her squad had quickly taken the hint and run away, the black beast at their tails. Ribbon and two others, however, had decided to take up arms against the Nightmares and defend what remained of Canterlot. They had acted as a guerilla unit, or at least tried to. First the sky turned black, then the dreams had begun. She had forgotten how much time had passed. A week, maybe two, but it was a slow dying. The situation had only been resolved when the alicorn emerged from deep underground and slew the beast with one stroke. At first it had looked like a candle, and then like the sun had returned to them.
Six fillies had gone beneath the city to awaken the alicorn. Ribbon still knew their names: Trixie Lulamoon, Lyra Heartstrings, Octavia Quarternote, Derpy Hooves, Firefly and Twilight Sparkle. The latter’s sacrifice had awoken her .
She stepped into another corridor, one with a fence to the left side and a view to the garden. The sun was slowly creeping up the horizon and its light troubled itself through a thin layer of grey clouds. The garden was green grass, with trees as white as snow in it. They had blue leaves and golden blossoms. Ribbon didn’t know their name, but she knew they were magic. By the trees stood flowers of many colors and kinds. There were roses and lilies and more, though the guard couldn’t differentiate between any of them. Not that they really catched her attention anyway, what did that was something else entirely.
The wings were folded onto her lavender back, her mane was glowing in violet and white lights as she sat there, back turned to the guard, her head lifted towards the moon. The Princess Of All Magic, the one who had taken the last filly’s name, Twilight Sparkle. Ribbon felt shivers running down her spine every time she saw the alicorn. She couldn’t quite pinpoint why she felt scared of her majesty, but something felt horribly wrong whenever she looked at her. It’s probably just me being stupid, she thought, Her Grace is kind to us, unlike the old government. Her Grace is a god, too. There’s nothing wrong with being afraid of a god, she told herself.
All magic in the world had belonged to Magia, as far as Ribbon had heard. She would’ve liked to read a book about it, but she couldn’t handle the letters and asking the princess wasn’t a possibility, because, well, Ribbon was a mere guard and Princess Twilight was Princess Twilight. She leaned on her spear, watching over the garden and her princess, but she found nothing unusual. Her Grace went often to the garden at night, she wasn’t even secretive about it. Nopony ever asked her about it, too. Nopony questioned a god. So she just sat there, on her own with her thoughts. Like me, just without the sins to bear. Ribbon smiled sadly at that.
She knew that soon the palace would be swarmed with ambassadors, bureaucrats and politicians. Until then, the halls were grey and dull, that was why she altered her route a bit. She was meant to guard the princess, anyway, so she walked past the fence and towards the royalty, although she halted at a distance, both out of respect and fear.
A slight wind was playing with the leaves of the wood and another strand loosened itself, falling over her eye. As she made to remove it, the princess’ hair stopped to glow, falling down as a mane of long purple with two small streaks of violet. The princess looked at her guard with eyes that seemed to have no color and yet all known colors. Those eyes were what the earth pony was most afraid of.
“What brings you here, Ribbon Spear?” The princess knew the names of every guardspony.
“I-, I just thought that, in case of an assassination plot I should stay close to you, your grace,” she answered faithfully.
“I doubt there is anypony that bold in the palace, but yes, I assume it is right,” she said and gestured Ribbon to move closer. She did, slowly but steady.
She seated herself by the side of the princess, looking over the garden, while the princess looked up. She’s watching the stars, as they vanish, Ribbon noticed. “Is there something wrong, your majesty?”
Twilight smiled, “I am figuring myself out, still. Two years and I feel like I only cracked the surface of myself.”
She was a god, Ribbon reminded herself, what the Princess couldn’t understand, she shouldn’t even bother with. Yet she found herself asking: “What do you mean?”
“It is complicated, really. Let’s just say that I am not yet used to this world, to my role and to my circumstances. It is only a matter of time until I figure that out, though. Until then, I simply have to give my best.”
“Yes, your majesty.” Ribbon found herself understanding those words more than she cared to admit. They were her sins and she needn’t forget.
“It is good to see that you continued your service, despite your initial misgivings about continuing the military.”
Ribbon halted, looking at the princess, whose eyes belonged to the sky above. “Your grace?”
"Magic and harmony are linked together, in their own way. Magic is more than casting spells, too. It is the bonds you share, it is the friendships you choose. These things create harmony and without them, there could only be strife. You regretted your actions before my power took hoof in this realm. I just want you to know, Ribbon, you are a special pony and I am thankful that for everything you are doing, no matter how big or small it is,” the princess said with a soft voice. The fear had left Ribbon’s bones then.
“Thank you, your majesty,” she answered and looked up to, as the stars vanished and the sky was slowly overtaken by the breaking clouds and the light of the sun.
The princess soon made her way back to the palace and to her duties, leaving Ribbon to finish her patrol. She walked the grey corridors, meeting some servants and other workers on her way. She had to be the only pony on night duty who was never tired in the morning and as she ended her patrol route, she found herself not looking forward to the barracks. Not that they were bad, per se, but she couldn’t stand White Feathers snoring during the first morning hours. Still, she made her way back through all the corridors of the Canterlot Palace, the grey ones as well as those whose colors were adorned with frescoes and pictures, with golden vines moving up walls of purest white. The palace could be wonderful, when one kept to the right parts. As a guard, though, she hardly ever saw those, especially now, since most of it was still in shambles. The throne room still hadn’t been given a proper roof. Resources were spent elsewhere than the seat of royalty. Princess Twilight wasn’t one for presentation through architecture. Well, maybe she knew just how squirmish her presence made those around her.
She walked out of the palace, greeting Grey Sword and Lightning Arrow. Their presence indicated that most other ponies of the night guard had to have left their posts by now. That meant she would have to endure the bloody snoring. Wonderful, Ribbon grimaced.
She moved through the Great Garden, past the elevator that lead to the seapony city. A year ago the earth pony still had not been able to believe that they had actual seaponies beneath Canterlot, but she had escorted the princess down once. She had made two vows: Never step onto that elevator again and keep a penmanship with that one-eyed pony called Whitecap.
The barracks were a small building by one of the old walls. Another unremarkably grey and dull structure that served its purpose and nothing more. Ribbon opened the door and entered swiftly, finding the shutters of the windows closed and the area enlightened by a singular candle on the table in the middle of the room. It wasn’t much, she could barely make out the beds by the walls, but it would suit her well enough. She couldn’t sleep with lights on anyway, although she quickly noticed the absence of any noise. More darkness, more silence, she noted grimly and sighed. The others were probably out drinking again. Maybe it was for the better. With a bit of luck, she might even catch some sleep today.
She closed the door behind her and let the darkness go over her, she closed in on the table, where Dusk Leafs’ mirror lay beside the candle. Ribbon removed her helmet and stared in the mirror for a moment. A pair of sky blue eyes looked back at her, a loose tumble of hair falling to cover them. Indigo it was, with rose colored streaks and it looked horribly. Ribbon found herself a bit horrified at how much she had sweated under the armor, despite it being only so early into summer. It wasn’t even the warm season, yet. Well, at least she knew she would spend most of july standing at the front gate, cooking in the sun. The consolation was that she would probably faint in the fourth week or so and be sick for the rest of summer.
She positioned her weapon, her trusty spear by the table and moved through the darkness towards her bed. She had lived in this barracks for a good two years now, so she knew the position of about every single thing. By her bed she opened the chest for her armor and slowly undid the leather strips, humming one of the songs her father had often sung. He’d been one of the sky-sailors, a mate aboard one of the finest wyvern-hunting vessels that had ever been built. It was a sad tune, in the slow way she hummed it, not the lively beat her father had used. Nevertheless, she put the plate in the chest and slowly undid the maille, too and let it slide off her and tumble onto the ground.
She took in a deep breath, closing her eyes and throwing her head back. The air in here was cool enough, but she was still sweating. Still, the nakedness felt relieving. Almost like she could grow a pair of wings and fly off to the pegasus city. She took in another deep breath and then felt something grabbing her hair. Her eyes widened as she was pulled back on her hind legs, for a second she wanted to scream, but before she could something was jammed into her neck. Teeth?
She couldn’t find her voice, felt her hair ripping and something warm trickling down her shoulder, while the remaining arm of her attacker was slinging itself around her chest, holding her steady. She still felt her arms, though, and quickly made to grab her attacker, so she did, but before she could actually throw him the teeth left her neck and suddenly she felt his grip shifting, a moment later she felt herself flying, then crashing into the table. She felt the candle in her back, the heat stung and she wanted to scream out, but no noise came. Poison, she knew, as she tried to roll around on the stone floor to extinguish the fire on her back. In the fire she saw the assailant, standing there, staring at her with an emotionless visage.
She immediately gathered her strength to stand up. She was a royal guard, she couldn’t die here. As she positioned herself on her hooves she felt the blood trickling down from her neck, her back felt like it was still ablaze and her whole body was aching. Still, she had been in worse situations, she told herself and made herself looking at her attacker.
She saw into the thing’s eyes as it rammed her trusty lance into her neck, she felt the pain, she knew the blood was spilling, but it was too late for her. Ribbon Spear fell down and the changeling simply stared at her for a second longer.
The lantern’s light flickered for a moment as a gust of wind came through the windows, the shutters hammering against the walls. Lanternlight looked at it for a moment, a frown appearing on his face before he moved towards her, taking her bright red blanket with his teeth and pulling it over her. He had this warm smile that he always had when he was caring for her. She loved him for it.
“You alright, Sunny?” He asked softly.
Between tangles of a red mane with yellow streaks bright cyan eyes looked back at him and Sunset Shimmer gave a tired smile. “Uh~huh,” she said, giving a yawn. He nodded and walked over to the window, trying to close it.
“Damn, the shutters are broke,” he murmured, unaware that she’d been the one to break them. Yesterday she had slipped away from home and her magic had shattered the locks. Lanternlight was kinder than the warden, but she didn’t want to know what he’ do to her if he found out that she was running through the town late at night. “This is really bad,” he said, then, “I need to fix them, otherwise we’ll have the bloody landlord throwing us out, or giving us back to the fuckin’ orphanage… Damnit.”
He was murmuring and his eyes said so much about all that anger boiling in him. For a moment she wanted to admit her fault, but fear kept her from speaking up, instead she dug herself deeper into her little cave of cloth. If she didn’t speak nothing would happen to her. Lanternlight’s blue eyes turned back towards her, his pale green coat catching the first lights of dawn.
“You should be up and about, Sunny,” he told her, moving his face over the hole she hid in. “I know it’s cold, but you need to get some bread from the baker. I’ll fix the windows in the meantime.”
“I don’t wanna go,” she said, fearing that he might see the guilt on her face.
“And I don’t wanna have some bastard bitching about how we always break everything in this room. Twilight’s ass, either you get bread or we’ll get back to the home. I’m sure the warden would love to see you, again,” he said but she didn’t move. Grunting, he stomped his hoof softly against her bed. “I know what this is about Sunny and I seriously don’t give a shit. Magic’s still new, for all you bloody hornies, so I know that it won’t always work proper. Honestly, as long as you don’t dare to set this fucking room on fire, I won’t be mad at mishaps. With that said: Get. The. Fuck. Up.”
She peeked out from beneath the bed, looking at his face. It looked scruffy, with a mane of grass and ice that was a haven for lice and even more ragged than her own hair. His harsh demeanor made her feel somewhat cautious around him, but Lanternlight only meant the best for both of them. He wouldn’t really do something to hurt her. He was kind and good, much unlike her. Sunset always broke everything.
Slowly she got up and out of bed, carefully eyeing him, while he turned back to the window. “What kind of bread?” She asked carefully.
“The fuck do I care? Just, you know, bread,” he said, sounding annoyed, going for his wallet and picking it up with his mouth, flinging it in her direction. She wasn’t quick enough to catch it and got the saliva-stained leather right in the face. “Take the bloody money and run the hell along. I’m hungry.”
His harsh demeanor scared her, it always did, but he was her lantern in this whole mess. He was the one thing that kept everything straight, she knew and she had to reward that. Whatever the circumstances were, he’d be there to help her through whatever would come.
“Yes,” she said loudly. Talking with a raised voice lifted every bit of grogginess from her, she felt and that made it easier to embrace the morning. A morning where no warden would look at her, then scream at her and then beat her. There was nothing bad going to happen to her as long as Lanternlight remained by her side.
Taking the wallet, she hopped out through the door and over the corridors to the streets of Canterlot.
The city had once been a mess of brown and grey, ugly to behold, with smog hiding the sky. Nowadays, the Canterlot Gardens were known to the world and if you walked to the Lyra Street, you could meet the finest artists in all of Equestria. The Canterlot now was beautiful, everypony said and that was the nicest thing. She had been even littler than now back then, and didn’t remember the city. She could only remember the warden, and that was the one pony she didn’t want to remember.
She and Lanternlight lived in one of the poorer parts of the town, which, funnily enough, didn’t really mean much. The old Canterlot had been completely destroyed and the new one looked like it was taken straight out of a painting. The houses were painted in wonderful colors, with artful spires and roofs that were shaped to imitate various shapes of candy. Not only that, but even in this part of town, ponies aimed to look classy . Even Sunset Shimmer did her best strut, with her chin held high and giving a curt nod to any passerby. This ended in her falling over her own legs more than once, but who cared: She was classy .
The baker was found three streets away from her home, with a smiling mare greeting her and asking what the sweet little thing wanted.
Sunset looked at all the things to be had here, from cakes to cookies to a variety of breads.She had never quite understood why ponies bothered with changing the ingredients. In the end, it didn’t matter to her.
“Could I have the cheapest bread you have?” She asked. It was the easy way to be sure, but no matter how much was in Lanternlight’s wallet, it would probably only hardly be enough anyway. They didn’t have enough money and most of what they had went into bribing their landlord into not telling anybody about them being orphans. Not that the baker cared, she simply gave a nod in her direction, before she went and took out a loaf of fresh bread.
“That’ll be two bits, Sunny,” she said, giving the filly a fine smile.
Sunset nodded and went for the wallet, opening it up only to find one piece of paper in it. She grimaced, paper wasn’t worth anything. Or was it? She wasn’t sure, but took it out anyway. The baker seemed as confounded as the filly as she was handed the piece with a: “Is that enough?”
The mare took it and looked at it, reading it out loud without thinking: “I’m going somewhere far away.”
Sunset blinked and her mouth opened, but no sound came out. Her eyes went wide with a realization. Lanternlight was going to leave her, he wouldn’t repair anything and he wouldn’t eat bread with her anymore. Suddenly, she forgot about the bread and bakery, the thoughts about the city and the rising sun on the horizon. Suddenly, the wind was rushing through her mane as she went past the citizens, hurrying back home. She didn’t want to be alone, she didn’t want to be left for good in this town. She would die of hunger, she would freeze to death, or worse, she might even return back to the orphanage. That, she would never let happen again.
So Sunset galloped across town, back towards her home. As the house came into sight, she felt a weight in her stomach, slowing her every move. She didn’t feel like moving forward and more like going away, as if that would make everything disappear. Yet, she didn’t turn around and instead moved forward, into the house and through the open door of her and Lanternlight’s home.
The room was completely demolished, anything that could be taken had been taken and what remained was broken furniture and the the knowledge that Lanternlight had lied to her. She stared at the room, slowly moving into it, as if she didn’t quite want to believe what had happened. She and Lanternlight both had run away from the orphanage, hadn’t they? They had escaped the horrible treatment there and Lantern had always watched out for her since then, he wouldn’t just abandon her.
She heard something behind her. “The hell did you do to my house?” Her heart sank into her knees as she started shaking and sweat started to run down her forehead. She knew that voice. “I asked you a question. Turn around when I’m talking to you, you good-for-nothing orphan.”
She did as he told her and then looked at her landlord’s hooves. Not his jacket, not his absurd pompadour. She couldn’t bear looking up and just watching him approach her in that steady way of his made her shiver enough. Then the hoof came, smashing her face in and catapulting her back against the wall, the pain surging through every part of her body.
Now she looked at his light brown coat, his black mane and the gray eyes that stared at her in endless rage. “I sheltered you and this is what I get?” He put on a fake smile, “Honestly, that’s why I don’t like having kids around.”
He went towards her once more, intending to beat her up, she knew. This time, however, things went different, her own hooves went up to shield her and before he hit her, a feeling welled up inside her head; a warm, fuzzy feeling. She didn’t know what it was but as his hoof connected with her cheek, the warmth became a burn and the burn rushed out in an explosion that threw him back.
Sunset immediately opened her eyes, saw his ugly pompadour burning. She didn’t care about whatever would happen next. Instead, Sunset Shimmer ran.
The helmet fit perfectly, though the inlay felt a little loose. Maybe because of the hair, he figured. It was a mess and hard to contain, but from he’d seen the pony had been self-conscious about it. The weeks he had spent figuring this one out would all come to fruition as of right now, because she had made contact with the ruler of the ponies, his target.
The corpse of the pony he had disposed of quickly, in a ditch behind the barracks. It was a makeshift thing and she’d be discovered eventually. It didn't matter. Nothing had to matter but the mission. He knew, and yet there was a strange feeling in the back of his mind. It made him frown as he moved back into the barracks to make sure he had cleaned up everything.
He had, as far as he could tell. That was good, though he knew that he only had this one day to put the plan into effect. If he didn’t do it, then. . . He put that thought away, sealed it off in a vault and threw the keys away. The only thing that counted was the mission. With that in mind he stepped outside in order to prepare himself. The sun would soon reach over the castle walls, he noticed and its warm light had already started washing over the lands beneath Canterlot. Looking at the bright light coming up from behind the walls he noticed a cold shiver running down his spine.
It was then that he noticed just how scared he was.
A drone that was afraid of what was to come, he would’ve laughed if he had understood the concept of gallows humor. Instead his mouth twisted.
Ever since the death of the last queen over a thousand years ago the changelings hadn’t been able to access their natural food resources. He knew the stories of how drones like he would take away the children from ponies, griffons and all the other creatures and exchange them with changelings, to be raised and fed with the love of the parents until the day would come they’d leave their home and return to the hive, with the real child returning. With magical aid it had been that nopony would ever notice the change. The stories spoke of powerful memory-spells the queens could cast and other great magicks that had helped the changeling hives endure.
He walked over the grass, his eyes turned towards the front. He wondered what a princess, or queen looked like. All this time in the palace and he had needed to avoid Twilight Sparkle all this time. He had only heard rumors and stories from ponies who had talked to her or seen her from afar, which might become a huge problem later on. If the changeling queens of old could alter memories and could alter the course of history through their will and finesse, what could an alicorn do? He didn’t know, but he knew his mission.
He stepped closer to the palace, another guard moving closer to him. Glitter, this one was called. She had a greyish blue coat, and the bulk of her face was covered up beneath that colorful armor every pony guard wore. Had Glitter been on night duty today, he wondered?
The other pony grinned and waved at what she believed to be her comrade. A first test for how well my homework went, he thought, but instead of anticipation there was only a flutter of his heart and the thought of hiding beneath a blanket.
“Yo, Ribbon, whazzup!” Glitter said, making a very elaborate hoof gesture. He didn’t really get it, but younger ponies did something like that for greetings, probably in an attempt for uniqueness. The one thing he did know was that everypony hated Glitter because she had an annoying voice and often spoke in gruesome lingo.
“Hello, Glitter,” he said, though the voice didn’t belong to him. It belonged to a dead pony, a pony who had died for a different cause. “You look well.”
“Ah, you know, was just chillin’ with ma homies, when diz bitch showed up. Like, not a literal bitch, but a metaphorical one, you know the one. I went to school with her and shiz.”
He had also never understood whether or not Glitter was actually understanding half the words that left her mouth. As far as he was concerned, it made no sense for someone to be a metaphorical bitch. How was one a metaphorical female dog anyhow? Considering he had questions like that, all he could do was nod in silent agreement, while also hoping that this pony wouldn’t go into topics of conversation aside from any indulgences into her own life.
“She was like: “Wow, you’re still a guard? Didn’t they disband you militarists already?” Like, seriously, I so wanted to beat her up, but then I remembered that beating ponies is bad and I just explained shiz to her. Should’ve seen her face, gurl, I was, like, totally being awesome.”
This was the moment during which he had to say the right thing, what the pony he killed would have said: “You did a good job, controlling your feelings.”
Glitter’s smile vanished for a moment, only to grow wider than before. “Thanks, Ribbon. I’m really happy you’re down like that.”
The hug that followed was sudden, but not entirely unexpected. Glitter had been from a farmhold close to Canterlot, as far as he understood and had lost everything to Magia. For all her faults, she honestly wanted to make this country better, was what others said about her. That’s why she’d been so low on his list for ponies he could change into. She was too talkative, too much of an attention seeker, unlike the quiet Ribbon Spear, who had fought in wars and lost so many things that she had been afraid to create new friendships.
With that in mind, he did actually return the hug. Ribbon hadn’t been cold, and he needed sustenance. With the return of magic, love had become a viable option again and the warmth of the hug stilled the hunger in him. It lasted only for a moment, but love was a force that strengthened every fiber of a changeling’s being.
“So, I see you’re off duty now? The others are already at that new place, Donut Joe’s. You wanna come, too?” Glitter asked, letting him put on an uncertain smile, before he shook his head.
“I’m sorry, I’ve still got some business in the castle. You guys have fun, though,” he said and left her.
His eyes were on the castle, in all its splendour and it made him remember what was outside the walls. Canterlot, the most beautiful city in the world. He knew of the colorful roofs, the houses with the many shapes. He knew of the sweet smell that lingered in some streets and the way everypony seemed to trot about without a care in the world. He knew of the clear night skies and he knew of how everypony lived in harmony. He knew about all this and he despised them for it.
He remembered a female changeling, the one who watched over the hatchlings. She had been a scrawny thing, her mane only covering half her head, her tail but a few strands of hair. He remembered how she’d looked at him with her only eye, for the other had never grown. He remembered how her hollow expression had changed to a tiny smile when she had first looked at him.
They were of the last hive. The last few changelings and the ponies had done this to them. They had ended magic once and only brought it back now that all hope had faded from them. The hive was dead, or would soon be. There was nothing there for him anymore and all he could do now was do this mission and end it once and for all.
He remembered how she looked at him after he had been given his mission by the overseer, and he remembered himself asking: “Am I supposed to shiver?”
She had put her hoof to his head then and had given him half a smile. “Don’t worry about that. This kind of thing is important and no matter what happens on the morrow, you are our only hope.”
He remembered the hive, the dead carcasses of changelings that had once been lying around, collapsed tunnels telling stories of a time where they had lived there like kings. A time that might never come back, for they had been the last few changelings. A hundred when he had been born, a dozen when he had left and now there was a good chance that he was the only one left. Taking a deep brave he forgot the fear, for he had a mission to accomplish.
His steps grew quicker, the preparations would take some time but he would finish them nonetheless. With that thought in mind, he stepped closer towards the palace, his goal in mind.
There was one corridor that was fit for his plan. A crossing of eight pathways, a room build in shape of a circle. For all intents and purposes, this was the one room from which he could do it. He looked at the red carpet and the many ways. Some lead to towers, one to the throne room, others to the gardens of Canterlot and one way led to the hole from which the sea ponies could be reached. He had no interest in them, though. Instead he sat down by a wall, watching the as-of-yet empty hallways. Soon enough officials would be prowling this place and then he could finally get to work.
Sometimes, Ribbon had done that, just seated herself in a corner and watched the others go on as she retreated to a world where all her burdens had been lifted from her, where she could snuggle with her love and play with her children. She had dreamt of this even after everything.
For the briefest of moments he wondered if she was with all those she had lost now. He lost that thought immediately and instead just looked onto the hallways.
He had expected somepony to walk by. Maybe Kettle Hat or Silver Sallet, the guards on duty. Maybe even Numeral or Singsong or some other bureaucrat. He had expected anypony but the pony who appeared, since suddenly he felt something hitting his side. He turned his head and saw the strangest sight.
He had been here for quite some time, so he knew most of the regulars. Yet the truth of the matter was that there were many ponies visiting this place and he could never know all of them. Some of the ponies who lived here were but rumors within the halls, tales of the princess’ loyalty and kindness, maybe even her generosity. It was one of these rumors that he met right then, one small pony who looked so frail and helpless.
“Watch where you’re going,” the pegasus filly mouthed loudly. Her eyes were hidden beneath glasses of black color, her coat was cyan and her mane had six different colors. “Honestly, I’m an important future member of the wonderbolts, what if I could get hurt?”
He blinked, trying to measuring her. She was dressed in pink pajamas adorned with clouds and her mane was a mess, that was to be expected, as it was morning. The name of the filly, however, came only to him a second later: Rainbow Dash. Hadn’t the princess found this one in Canterlot shortly after the destruction of Canterlot? The filly was tiny, but appeared healthy, especially with that somewhat angry look on her face.
“Aren’t you a bit too young to walk alone through the palace?” He decided to ask.
The filly tilted her head, “What’re you talking about?” She pointed to her left. “Fluttershy’s with me. Right, Fluttershy?”
I stared between the filly and the air.
“Come on, Flutters,” the filly said, her voice suddenly becoming shaky. “Flutters?” She turned around, suddenly uncertain, her voice breaking almost immediately.
There were many concepts he couldn’t quite grasp. Blind ponies were one of them. If a hatchling would be born with a deficiency like that, it would be killed on the spot. As this small thing before him started crying out for her friend and breaking down he wondered if whether he should do her a favor and just strangle her?
Ponies don’t do that, he had to remind himself. He had been bred to understand them, yet they were still such strange creatures to him, them and their own strange moralities.
He put an arm around the tiny pony. “It’s alright, ssh.”
He was thankful for the stranger’s voice. Ribbon Spear may possess a rough, deep voice for a female, but it suited his needs for the moment. Rainbow Dash shivered and tears came out from beneath those black glasses. Another thing he didn’t get about ponies, but then, he had never experienced pain like they did.
This small interaction made him realize just how strange these colorful equines were to him.
“She’s abandoned me, too,” the little one mumbled.
The right words, he thought and opened his mouth: “It’ll be alright. If we wait here, your friend will surely come.”
They could have left and searched for this Fluttershy, but he didn’t dare leave this place. Magic rituals were hard to prepare, especially those that would directly influence their own source. He needed to start at the right moment, since time was also a factor. Maybe Ribbon had something done that hadn’t been within his calculations. Talked to somepony, made an appointment. He only had this one day for sure and the mission was of a higher priority than the enemy’s child.
A few minutes passed, the filly sobbing by her side, slowly getting quieter. He didn’t know what to say, but conversations with strangers were easily opened with simple questions. “Who are you.”
“R-Rainbow Dash,” she answered, stuttering. “I’m going to be a wonderbolt and bring happiness and laughter to the ponies.”
Happiness and laughter. Food , he thought. “That sounds nice,” was what he answered. “I’m Ribbon Spear, a guard here.”
“A… A guard? You work for the princess?” The voice of the tiny pony seemed to change, so did the way she moved. Is she feeling safe around guards?
“Yes, I watch over the palace and all it’s inhabitants. Including you,” he said, the voice belonging to a pony with a horrible mane.
RD grabbed her hoof almost instantly. “You’re not going to leave then, are you?”
“No,” he answered. “Even if we waited the whole day, I wouldn’t leave.”
That seemed to make her happy. “I don’t talk to the guards much. Mostly it’s just the caretakers the princess sends me to, they and the other fillies. I mean, I’d like to play with colts more, some rough stuff like tag or knight and dragon, but Fluttershy won’t let me. She never lets me do anything fun.”
The play of children. He had often watch them go at it in the streets but had never understood the purpose of their make belief, their dances and their laughter. They weren’t bred for a purpose, instead acquired their own destiny and lived their own dreams. The watcher had told him that before he died, in those words. Had they all been sad then, or had it been those words that had prompted them to give him a funeral? He didn’t know, he only knew that he didn’t get why this child was talking to him.
“I believe playing rough stuff would be hard for you.” He said it in a way she would clearly understand. It was the truth, where he came from she never would have lived.
“It’s called rough stuff because it isn’t easy. Anyway, I’m a good flyer, I don’t need eyes,” the filly said and seemed to prepare herself for take off.
He immediately put his hoof in her back, “No flying in the palace.”
She grumbled. “But it’s true. I’m a good flyer, I won’t break anything.”
“I don’t know what you are or what you think you are, but rules are rules. No flying in the palace.”
“You’re just like Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said and began to pout, though she still seemed to try to keep close to the guard and she was shaking like a leaf.
Fear was an emotion he could understand, though not the reasons behind it. Ultimately, ponies were a mystery to him.
“You cannot see, what makes you think you can fly like other pegasi?” He finally asked, not really knowing why.
“I made a promise to Tavi and though she can’t keep her part anymore I will do everything to do mine,” the filly said defiantly. “I don’t need eyes to see my goal.”
“How profound,” he answered, not really thinking about it. Still, the little one smiled with smugness, her ego growing vastly with that compliment.
“You’re pretty cool. I can give you my autograph, since it’ll be worth a lot when I’m a wonderbolt.”
“And you can write to?”
“Never learned it, but it’s just like drawing, right? Give me a pen and I’ll show you my talent,” Rainbow boasted.
He didn’t know whether he should answer to that, but he presumed the reason for her ego stemming from the fact that she didn’t want to accept her own weakness. At an age this young she was using her coping mechanism like an adult pony. He couldn’t decide whether they were brilliant or just plain pathetic. He only knew that one day, reality would punch that smile right off her face. Or had that day already happened. He had heard what happened in Canterlot, he remembered how they had felt once Magia had started influence them.
He couldn’t understand this pony and so he didn’t say anything. The mask and what was beneath, neither could say anything at this moment, or wanted to say anything.
Luckily for them, another voice appeared: “Rainbow Dash, I told you not to run off like that,” a tiny voice, pretending to be stronger than it really was. He looked at another pegasus, yellow with a pink mane, who only now seemed to notice the armored guard and shrank down to a size smaller almost immediately. “Oh. . . Uhm, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. Rainbow didn’t cause any trouble did she?”
“Ribbon’s cool Fluttershy, and I’m not running off, I told you I wanted to go to the bathroom and you just can’t keep up.”
“Bath. . .” Fluttershy halted immediately, but took only a second to push her friend into a corner. “What if you got hurt on the way, or didn’t find your way back anymore? This castle is a maze and there’s so many adults running around. The princess said she wants me to keep you safe and I can’t do that if you’re going to do something so dangerous.”
“I’m not a foal, Fluttershy. I think I can manage to go to the bathroom.”
“You’re blind, in case you didn’t notice,” Fluttershy said, sighing. Her friend didn’t appear to want to counter that argument.
“I’m sorry,” the cyan one said, probably not wanting to make her friend angry.
“It’s alright. Let’s just go back.”
“Uhm. . . I didn’t finish to go to the bathroom, yet,” Rainbow Dash said, suddenly getting shy.
“Why?”
“Couldn’t find it.”
“What?”
Rainbow took a deep breath, before she answered: “Couldn’t find it.”
Her friend didn’t say anything at first, just gave the younger filly a tiny smile. “Well, take my hoof and I’ll lead you. Come on.”
She reached out and her friend took it after one miss.
“Bye, Ribbon, I’ll give you that autograph later,” Rainbow then said, turning her head into his direction one last time.
“And thank you for watching over her,” Fluttershy added and off they went.
Soon thereafter the hallways started to fill with politicians and he pondered what had just went on. The princess kept the mistakes of her species alive and close to her? Why? Was it love? He didn’t understand it and figured that he probably never would. So all that remained was his mission. He lifted his flank off the ground and looked onto the circle as the palace came alive. All that remained were the memories of the other changelings, off a hive that had taken its last breath. He decided to look towards the future.
All he needed to do now was to kill Twilight Sparkle in order to awaken a new queen.
If she knew one thing, then it was that the world was a very large place. Old scriptures said that the dragons once called it the greatest gem, and she couldn’t agree more. Even as she walked the way towards Canterlot, with the sun slowly starting to creep up from behind the horizon and the cool wind moving her blue cape around. Looking over the cliffs and the vast green lands beyond almost made her forget the purpose for her arrival.
Viridian’s circumstances were her own. As such, she was fully aware that forgetting them could have dangerous consequences. The world needn’t linger and although she enjoyed the rising sun as much as any pony, the truth of the matter was that the city awaited her and the princess needed her. It was only that thought that made her stop in her tracks and a shiver ran down her spine. Why did she have to be the one to dream of this?
Viridian let her eyes remain fixed on a forest far away. Maybe she should just leave her duty and go in the opposite direction? She had never been a pony of importance, nor a pony who wanted to do important things. All she had ever wanted was live in that little hut in the old Everfree, spending her evenings by the pond in the crystal cave and her days walking through the ancient woods, letting the trees whisper and the beasts sing. Her life had been her own until this point and all that had ever mattered to her had been the next morrow.
The ponies of Ponyville had always referred to her as wood’s witch and had always treated her as a nuisance. She had arrived in Ponyville years ago, when the world was still filled with browns and greys and ponies seemed to enjoy hurting each other. Her parents had died, one in the last griffon war, the other during a robbery, but she had survived and decided to become a witch, to help others via magic. Since magic hadn’t been available back then she had gone into the oldest forest, hoping it would hold the secrets she’d needed to unlock.
She continued on, following one of the narrow paths which made the quickest way to Canterlot. If the train wouldn’t still be broken she would have taken that one instead, but fate hadn’t been so kind and she had walked all the way until here. The wind was harsh and her cloak was pressing against her left, as the other half brushed the mountain. Viridian didn’t enjoy it half as much as when it rustled through the leaves of her forest, but she still enjoyed the feeling it had on her mane. A strand was always hanging in front of her face nowadays, its teal color reminding her how nowadays her horn was more than just decoration.
She wasn’t just some mad pony who hid away in the forest, she was Viridian, a unicorn, a true witch and a pony who had seen the future.
And yet I can’t bring myself to hurry, she thought, moving one leg at a time, always careful. She knew she was afraid, but by this point it was far too early to say why exactly that was so. She wouldn’t have come to begin with, if that filly hadn’t talked her. Harmony had come back and now there could be no bad ending. There would be no more pain, no more losses. The princess would save all of them and that meant that Viridian had to save the princess.
She tried to move quicker, but found her legs to heavy, her heart to weak. Changing the future wasn’t easily done for a pony who had always hoped to catch glimpses of it and had always failed.
The path led past the cliffs until the roofs of Canterlot greeted her in the distance, with the sun moving higher and higher. The way grew steeper and then led into a larger road, sided by the fields of green and at their end stood the gate that warded the city. It was colorful enough to make her halt yet again.
She had spent eight years of her life in the forest, wandering under the branches and the looking at the bones of magical creatures that had long since left the world. Viridian had built her own in the Everfree, had farmed her own crops and had only ever talked to herself. Most ponyvillians knew her as a shadow and only a few times had she dared to wander back into civilisation. The memories weren’t good ones either, but she had made friends. Cheerilee and Miss Smith, for example.
In the end, it had always been the forest who called her back and right now she heard that call again. It was her own fear of these ponies. Viridian didn’t quite know what to do, but decided to move on anyway, thinking about that orange filly who had become her reason to be brave.
Only as she strutted through the gates did she understand what ponies had meant when they had called Ponyville ‘small’. There were ponies walking around everywhere and it would have taken more of an effort to stand out than to blend in. So she took the cord of her cloak between her teeth and fastened it before she moved on, telling herself that it was fine. She didn’t need to talk to anypony anyway.
She found merchants praising their wares on the main street and some guards clad in beautiful armor walk by her, greeting even her, a stranger, with kind smiles. She heard laughter coming from somewhere afar, spotting a large group of fillies and colts along an adult. At first she thought it a school, but the cloaks the little ones wore told a different tale. They were from the Canterlot Orphanage and they all looked as they were having the time of their lives. A baker was talking with a florist, wide smiles adorned their faces.
This wasn’t the same sort of city she had left, and the ponies that had lived here before seemed to have left, exchanged with nicer ones. It wasn’t something she found bad. In fact she found it wonderful since it made it all actually worth protecting. Just looking at it all made her wonder why she had questioned her resolve to begin with. Yes, she could do it like this.
While everypony around Viridian seemed as alive as they could be, she remained quiet and her eyes were fixed on the towers of the castle. The unicorn was following the signs in hipes that they would lead her closer to her goal. The city turned out to be a maze however. One alley led into another which somehow led back to the main street or another corner where she had been before. By the end she wasn’t even sure whether the ponies responsible for constructing this mess of a town had put any thought into it or not.
She ended up close to a sweets shop somewhere in the town, she didn’t even bother wondering where exactly she had ended up, and simply seated herself on a bench by the edge of the street. She took a deep breath and waited, looking at the sky. A part of her wanted to ask some stranger about directions, another part was far too scared to do that. Viridian had always hated interacting with other ponies and years of isolation hadn’t helped much.
So she decided to keep quiet, at least until she noted that a golden filly with a red mane had seated herself by her side. This one looked as if she had just run across the entire country. Somehow the sight seemed like a deja-vu to the mare. She just couldn’t remember why.
“Are you alright?” Viridian asked the tiny one, who in turn looked to her.
“Y-yeah,” the filly answered and even a stranger like Viridian could tell that it was a lie. “I’m just. . . Doing errands.”
The mare tried to give a smile. “I’m Viridian.”
“Sunset Shimmer.”
A pause.
One moment she had hated herself for stumbling through this conversation and the very next she stared wide eyed at the filly. The red mane with the yellow streaks, the pale coat, even her eyes. There was no Cutie Mark on the filly’s hip, but that didn’t matter. Viridian knew her, she had appeared in a vision and might well be the key to saving the princess. Viridian tried to remember the visions, tried to figure out the words she needed to say. Knowing the future enabled one to change it, she knew, but the actions leading towards change were often the hardest.
In the end she settled with herself nodding. If she wanted to get this right, she needed to take any approach that wouldn’t land her in the asylum. Being a seer was hard, but she was smart enough to play her cards right. “Might you be on your way to the Princess Twilight,” she said.
She had seen Sunset Shimmer, though as an older teen, robbing a bank. Still, she was linked to Twilight, for she had a talent that was directly linked to magic as only the fewest were. That’s what Viridian intended to play into.
“I heard she was looking for unicorns to teach magic to.”
Sunset looked at her for a moment. “Not really,” she said, but clearly her mind was working. That was all Viridian intended to do, forcing things might only hurt her cause later on.
“That’s sad,” she told the filly because of that. “Could you at least show me the way to the castle?”