Today my name is Dandelion, and tomorrow I become a monster. Tomorrow my name is friendship, today my name is fear. And through today and tomorrow I shall always be known as one name, despite the feelings ponies find-- I shall always be known as Diddy, and she will never be left behind.
It was a normal day like any other the day we met. Of course Alabaster was still being his jovial self as he stole my Diary from my hooves and refused to give it back until I declared him as Supreme Overlord of the Land of Chaos. There was no way that was ever going to happen. Alabaster may be my best friend, but the land I write about in my Diary is for my eyes and my eyes only. The very fact he’d peeked at points hurt, although I should have expected it from somepony with the high level of curiosity and nosiness Alabaster has.
Well eventually I got it back. Or should I say ‘persuaded him it would be the right thing to do’. Because as much as he thinks he knows everything about me I know a few little tidbits about him as well. All it took was a little mention of the name Sugardrop Honey and his eyes almost popped out of his head. The Diary was quickly given back to me and I gave him a smirk, which he replied to with a glare followed by a chortle. And that was it, that was the only amount of arguing we’d ever done. Nopony really argued with me as a whole anyway. I was unashamedly proud of my friendships with other ponies, and accepted the popularity that came with this no matter the burden of it.
But as to whether that came as a help or a hindrance during our first encounter I’m still indecisive.
Our school, a military academy in Canterlot, was due to go on a school trip up the mountainside and to the palace. Now, the palace was usually a place nopony but the royal family and their workers were allowed so it was with massive excitement we began to wander upwards to the large stone walls surrounding it. And when the two guards came to open the gate and let us in a loud cheer set up from my classmates and other classes surrounding. I, of course, would have walked with Alabaster, had it not been for our teacher’s idea that we would walk with somepony she chose herself.
As such I began to walk with a young black colt with a short grey mane sticking up on end. No cutie mark had appeared on his behind yet-- I knew how he felt in that department. I’d known Nocturn for quite a few years now; in fact before my Mother and Father sent me to the academy Nocturn had actually been a student at my original village in the southern cliffs. He had always been quite quiet and shy, and usually avoided me as much as anything. Many times I’d tried to make friends with him but he chose to run away and hide instead of speak back. I don’t know-- I suppose I felt sorry for the poor colt. I had to say something to make this walk a little more relaxed and help him see I wasn’t just a popular colt-- but a pony like him as well.
“So-- that’s a nice statue over there. Do you think it’s meant to be representing something?”
Nocturn appeared to look at the statue and then turned his eyes back on the floor with a slight shrug. I sighed and peered at the statue closely. It was dark and sinister-- sort-of desperate-- and not something you’d want to stare at for long. I had to agree with my quiet walking partner on that one; turning and looking at the floor was far more satisfying than that pony trapped in stone. I tried again with Nocturn.
“How’s your parents doing? It’s been a while since I’ve seen them.”
A wistful expression appeared in his eye, and I thought I saw a tear slide out, but again I could get nothing more from him than a shrug.
“I remember when your Father came to pick you up from school and drilled us in the playground. Do you remember? It was so funny.”
He turned his face away from me and sighed. At that point I think I decided to give in and just pretend I was walking alone. With ponies like Nocturn, perhaps they just needed time before they spoke properly to your face. Either way I shouldn’t ruin it by pressing him too hard for information.
Soon I found a cheerful whistle coming from my throat and as I stopped, when a teacher gave me a warning glance, I just about saw Alabaster in the front of the group walking with Blankety. They didn’t appear to be getting on very well, though they never did. I’ve never actually understood why but whenever I’m there Blankety has this look of terror in his eyes when he even just sees Alabaster down the corridor. Then he’ll just run off in the other direction. Even Alabaster says they just don’t get along and that’s it; he doesn’t know why properly but they can’t seem to understand each other at all. Sort of like Nocturn with me in a way.
The guards stopped us and each class broke off into sections and marched off into different areas of the palace. The first place we were taken to was the portraits hall. Wonderful decadent pictures hung up in all areas; obviously having taken much effort to paint. Yet despite the loveliness of the ink the recurring theme startled me into not liking them as much as I felt I should do. The theme of darkness and conquering. And if there was one thing I noticed about all of the ponies in the paintings it was that all of them were perfect in every way. No hair out of place, no scars, no stains of any sort-- each one was the picture of perfection. I didn’t like it. It didn’t feel real to have these blank faces staring at me with their picturesque complexions and well-rounded snouts.
And there was no portrait more perfectly made than that of the royals living today. There he was, King Alicorn, bedecked in his jewels and ready to rule his kingdom. Next to him his little daughter Lunae wearing her long, dark, winding robe, sat grimacing at her Mother stood beside her. Her Mother was by far the most hidden of the collection, her hood covered virtually all of her face and all that could be seen was a glimmer of an emerald green eye in the corner. That’s all that’s ever been seen of the infamous Queen N.Moon. She doesn’t appear to like the spotlight as much as her daughter, who is forever seen parading around the city with the knights surrounding. Though she never smiles when she’s going anywhere so ponies often wonder whether the young filly actually cares about her family or her kingdom. I can forgive her for this-- she’s only a small foal, many years off even my age.
No, the picture’s weren’t nice to me. I edged round to the door waiting for our exit, unnoticed by everypony else enrapt with the works around them. Nocturn appeared to be deeply interested with a portrait of knights on a battlefield, as were Blankey and Alabaster. Slowly but surely I turned the handle and moved into the corridor outside the room. Nopony had noticed I’d left and I was thankful. Being in that dark room just upset me and I couldn’t stay inside the darkness of the room too long if I wanted to keep my sanity. Outside I gave a sigh of relief and listened for hoofsteps in case I had to make a quick retreat.
I heard no hoofbeats but what I did hear startled me even more. A distant cry could be heard down below the floor I was stood on. A cry of pain or upset I couldn’t decipher but it was definitely real and definitely down below. Looking round for anypony I stumbled silently through the dark corridor until I came to the wall where it appeared to be loudest when I put my ear to the cold bricks. But there was no door and it seemed there was no way down from where I was stood at this moment.
After searching for a handle I gave up and sat down. A rumbling set up all around me and suddenly, without warning I was flipped upwards by the floor and fell flat onto the steps of a long staircase going right down into a pit of darkness. The palace dungeons? It appeared to be from the descriptions the trainers had given to us at the academy. The question was whether or not I should go down the steps or return to the room where all my friends were waiting. Another cry answered my question as my adventurous spirit took control and my hooves began to walk through the black. The wall banged shut behind me and it was then that I realised, there was no way back from here. There was only forward.
Slowly I wandered on down staircase after staircase, seeing prison cell after prison cell and prisoner after prisoner. None seemed to move and caused me no threat. Of course I realised later that they would never move, not because they chose to, but because they had no choice anymore. But that’s getting ahead of myself, right now I was going to meet the voice from the ground.
The steps seemed endless. No matter how far down I moved I came no closer to the sound I had heard. It stopped every now and again but came back, feeling like it was willing me on specifically; trying to get my attention. It didn’t fail.
Eventually after what felt like hours had gone by I made it to the bottom of the steps and after a brief pause to get my breath back I hunted around with my hooves to find where I was. Unfortunately, though I’d been brave coming down, I’d also idiotically forgot that I may need some supply of light when I started off. There was nothing around as far as I could feel and the crying had stopped.
A sniffle could be heard somewhere around, but very faintly and quietly as if the pony had given up on getting attention, or as if it knew I was already close enough to find my way. I trundled round the stone floor. There was no paths off and it didn’t seem even a secret door would be found. I whispered as loudly as I dared,
“Hello. Where are you?”
The sniffling stopped and instead a pitiful voice could be heard.
“Who’s there? Who is it?”
It sounded a voice of somepony very young. A young filly perhaps.
“My name’s Dandelion. I heard you cry... and... and...”
“And?” the filly questioned.
“And I thought I might be able to help. Are you stuck?”
I heard a brick move near me and swung round. An entire wall moved upwards and a light shined out from behind. After shielding my eyes from the light I looked up and what I saw startled me. A creature, an amalgamation of many different beasts, stood staring at me. Tears running down her cheeks and timid eyes looked through at me. I stepped backwards out of force of nature. This did not go unnoticed by her.
“Go ahead and move back. Everypony does. I’m a monster.”
“No you’re not,” I told her coming closer and taking in her look more than I had in my quick glance, “you’re more like a... discord.”
She let out a sob and turned around.
“Exactly a monster,” she cried. “That’s all I am, even StepMommy says it. A horrible, unnatural discord.”
“Who said being a discord was a bad thing?” I moved one step further into the light.
“It isn’t?” she questioned, not turning around to face me.
“It doesn’t have to be... It just means you’re more... interesting than other ponies.”
She gave a quick laugh and turned round to look at me again. I grinned at her and she struggled, but returned it anyhow.
“So you know my name, are you going to tell me yours?”
She seemed worried about my question, but one look at my face and she seemed to calm down again.
“Celestia. They used to call me Celestia.”
“Used to?”
“I don’t see many ponies, so I don’t hear it enough for it to feel like my name. All who see me give me no name.”
I couldn’t even hide the shock on my face. My Father had always taught me that the most important thing to remember about myself and others is that with a name, a pony becomes a pony, and so with a name you must treat another as you would treat yourself. It’s what he calls the bond of the colonies-- though the name still baffles me, I always believed the saying. The very fact that she was never called by her name showed how unhappy she must be, and all because, most likely, they had seen her looks and wouldn’t see past it. I’d never had that trouble before, but somehow I knew how she must feel.
“I’m so sorry Tia. I couldn’t imagine not having my own name.”
“Dandelion.”
“What?”
“That’s your name right? Dandelion?”
“Well, yes, though my friends call me Diddy.”
She shuffled on the spot slightly.
“So what should I call you?”
I blushed, though I have no idea why.
“Diddy. You can call me Diddy, as long as you’re okay with me calling you Tia.”
“No, I’d like you to call me Tia.”
We both stared silently at each other, our cheeks scarlet as we stood in the bright light. Hoofbeats broke the quiet and a mad panic seem to fly into Tia’s mind. She grabbed me by the hoof and pulled me into her hole, locking the wall behind her.
“What’s going--” She stopped me mid-sentence. Hooves came closer to where we were hidden and our breaths became less and less as we held it as long as possible. I could hear guards laughing to each other and then just as they had come, they began to make the trek back upwards.
“We shouldn’t move,” Tia said. “They could easily come back. It won’t be safe until they’ve left the dungeons.”
I nodded. Many conversations were had over the time spent together. I knew many things about her by the end: how her Mother had ran off when she was born, how her StepMother had persuaded her Father to lock her away out of the kingdom’s sight, and even her true feelings for her Father, King Alicorn. She loved him and wished she was the princess he had always wanted. And I accepted that. I accepted she was a princess without even a second thought. The truth is, I didn’t have to not believe her; I’d already felt the kindness as if she were the princess of my land of chaos-- the land in my diary. And I wanted her to live there too, to make her happy again (or for the first time, I’m still not quite sure).
It was an hour or so later that I was able to leave the room, and I sadly had to tell Tia that I would have to leave to catch up with my classmates. She was distraught at the prospect and willed me to stay with her, but I couldn’t and I think even she knew that deep down. It was our first encounter, but as I told her back then, it wouldn’t be our last.
Things remained as normal at the academy. Alabaster remained jovial, Blankety remained timid, and Nocturn still hadn’t gotten over his crippling shyness he’d introduced himself to me with. Sure, you’d expect I’d have got into a lot more trouble about my long disappearing act but strangely it seemed like none of the whole faculty or students remembered anything about the trip as a whole; though they never stopped talking about it.
It was the talk of the whole place. I was given so many accounts of the different rooms it didn’t even seem like they’d been to the same palace as I had. In fact it didn’t even seem like any of them had gone to the same palace as one another. Strangely I didn’t notice; I was too wrapped up in my own mind and Diary that I completely forgot what was happening around me. Until, that is, the trip reports began to be read. It was compulsory that we had to write an essay on all that we’d seen and who we owed our thanks too etc. and then we had to read it out in class-- something I wouldn’t usually have been too worried about, but as I’d missed most of the tour I was somewhat lacking on what to write. I mean I couldn’t write about Tia or I’d have been passed off as insane or telling silly stories again (a normal habit of mine when it comes to writing mundane essays).
Still, I managed it sort-of and half-listened as the other ponies began to read. Each one contained the same weird sentence, ‘I owe all my thanks and love to the Queen and Princess for their hospitality’. That was the normal part. The fact it was then followed by, ‘The Queen is a wonderful, wonderful pony and I would gladly give my life for hers against anypony, even the King,’ did startle me initially. Then again I still thought nothing of it as the rest of the essays put me to sleep. Even Alabaster fell into the trap of writing the sentences, though I’m sure he’d never written any line as long before. I’m surprised his brains didn’t melt from the effort it took.
It was Nocturn’s report that really puzzled me. It was clear from the title his main interest had been the portrait hall, but I don’t know which one because all of the pictures he was describing were nothing like the bleak things I’d seen. To him they were all beacons of hope and light, to me they’d been the most dismal, drab, eerily perfect pictures I’d ever seen. At first I thought that he really had been in another hall but he discussed the exact same pictures, in the exact same way I’d seen them but happier. Not only that but he said it had been the first room he’d been in.
At lunch I’d asked Alabaster about it, trying to hide my amazement, and he’d said the exact same thing as the shy colt had: the picture’s were the most beautiful things in the world and the Queen was a wonderful, wonderful pony and he would gladly give his life for her against anypony, even the King. A weird sort of trance like state hit him when he said it. And oddly every other pony talking about the trip in the room had the same expression on their face when telling their friend the EXACT SAME line that Alabaster had just professed to me, and the line that had been written in everypony’s essays.
Something strange was going on. Something that must have happened whilst I was gone otherwise I’d be acting the same way too. Unless I was and I didn’t realise it; though I don’t think that was very possible it still could have happened. For all I knew Tia could have been imprinted in my mind the same way the portraits were imprinted in others. There was one thing I knew-- I had to find out one way or another. I had to find out if Celestia had been real.
So that night I began my expedition back up to the palace. It was a harder climb than I remembered, especially because I hadn’t factored in that I’d have to get through not only the gates on the academy but also the giant ones towering in front of the palace. Thankfully, though slow on a few things, I was top of the class in espionage training at the academy and knew my way around getting past an obstacle. My Father had always managed to show me a few of his personal techniques of going past enemy lines as well.
As I shimmied across the walls a thought struck me. Was it really me doing this? This wasn’t something I’d usually do, and certainly nothing like I’d done before. I wasn’t a thief, a robber or a breaker-and-enterer (?) so why was I doing this? If anypony caught me they’d think horrible things of me that just wouldn’t be true. If my Mother and Father found out they’d be so disappointed, it would virtually kill my Father with the avalanche of news he would receive. And I would be the cause of it. I would never want to hurt my parents, but at the same time I couldn’t let Tia suffer alone. If she was real I had to find some way to make her feel better.
Father always said that he was most proud of me when I helped somepony else; thus I jumped over the wall and skittered through the garden. I heard hoofsteps nearby and assumed one of the guards was coming around the vicinity. It turned out I was wrong. The hoofsteps were rustling round the bushes as well. There was another intruder in the garden late at night. Who, I didn’t know, but they could be a danger to me so I stayed well back and waited for them to leave. After an hour or so I assumed I was safe and carried on crawling through the undergrowth. Then, the voices started.
“Have you got the stuff?” called one voice to another. A stallion by the sound of it. Either that or a mare with a really gruff voice.
“Yes I’ve got it. I’m still not so sure about this Midnight. It doesn’t feel right doing this.”
“We have to. For the good of the kingdom,” the one called Midnight answered sharply. I stayed well back; not seeing the large thorn by my side. That was, until it was too late. The plant stabbed me in the side and I couldn’t even stifle my loud yell. The ponies in the bush jumped and moved quickly as guard after dark guard swarmed over to the gardens. I ran too, trying to find a way out without being seen. My route of entry would be too visible for this. There was only one way out, following the ponies I had been listening too.
They shuffled around a bit and then stopped near a large patch of soil. With one slight bit of magic from one of the stallions a hole opened and they slid through the dirt. I followed hastily just as the knights came charging to the area. One tried to follow and grabbed my hoof but I pulled it away in time.
“It’s them rebels again,” I heard a guard cry. “Grab one of them. We’ll keep them for ransom against the others.” There was no way I was going to let myself be the one to be kept. I struggled with all my might and I felt the grip loosen. Still it wasn’t enough.
A rebel appeared down below me, the one that had opened the ground, and blasted his horn upwards. The guard slipped his grasp and as I fell downwards he went up and the hole shut so he couldn’t climb down again. I landed with a thud into a dirty tunnel; the stallions standing looking at me from above. One of them grabbed me from behind and told me not to struggle. I did as I was told.
“Leave it Emblem. He’s just a kid,” said the nicer one of the three there.
“Doesn’t mean he’s not a filthy spy Pines.”
“Well, are you kid?” The rebel unicorn stared at me, his fellow unicorn friend still holding my hooves so I couldn’t move.
“I’m not a spy, no,” I told them calmly. I knew what to do in these situations.
“What’s your name?”
“Dandelion. My name’s Dandelion.”
“Well, I’ll be. Emblem, put the colt down.”
“Midnight--” he hissed.
“Put him down Emblem.”
I was dropped to the floor and landed on my snout again. Rubbing my nose I stood up onto my hooves and looked at the others. Midnight stared back at me and patted me on the back. I shrugged him off. He laughed.
“You don’t have to fear me Diddy. I know who you are alright.”
“Diddy? How did--”
“How did I know your nickname? ‘Cause your Father told me it, that’s why.”
The look of shock on my face was startling at that moment. Midnight laughed again.
“Leafy, Emblem, I’d like to introduce you to Diddy; he’s Screwball’s son.”
The yellow pegasus smiled at me and the unicorn that had so roughly attacked me gave an exasperated expression.
“Why didn’t you just say so?” he muttered, annoyed. “I wouldn’t have had to be so rough with you had I known.”
“Sir Screwball? I think you must be mistaken. My Father’s name is Sunset Sword.” I stared at them perplexed. Midnight laughed; clearly a habit of his.
“What, you think you’re allowed a nickname and he isn’t? We call him that because he’s so chaotic when we’re together. Nice stallion. Good friend.”
The two other stallions nodded and all three wandered on through the caverns. Pines stopped when he realised I wasn’t following.
“It’s probably best you come with us Diddy.”
Reluctantly I agreed and just before walking after them I took a quick look at the ground above me. It had set into its usual heavy self but no doubt could be dug open from above-- magic or no magic. We weren’t safe down here at all. And I still hadn’t managed to get to Tia.
The rebellion were a strange lot of ponies. Intent on nothing else but ridding the kingdom of its rulers and putting somepony who could actually help on the throne, they were the epitome of the ponies my old Sergeant at the academy would have despised-- yet they weren’t innately evil or horrible. In fact many of them were quite nice and polite, at least to me.
Surprisingly, the leader of the troop wasn’t Midnight like I’d first suspected. He had an air of authority about him but he wasn’t the one in charge of the operation. Instead that role was given to somepony much younger than even he, the one who’d originally formed the rebellion in the first place: a young stallion by the name of Gallophad, whose face appeared to be stuck in a grimace like he needed the toilet most of the time.
He knew my Father, or so he said. Most of them agreed that they also knew ‘Screwball’ as they called him. They also knew my Mother, Prim Harmony, though most didn’t get along with her as much as they did my Dad. Gallophad had lost his parents already. His Mother was dead, murdered, and his Father had run away with the old queen. He had a half-brother originally, but according to him he was destroyed by the Nightmare monster, though I wasn’t quite sure what he was talking about.
Pines’ real name was Leafy Pines, he was an old friend of the last advisor to work in the palace. Sadly though, his Mother too had passed away and he had nothing more to live for. Even the dragons’ he revered had been destroyed long ago.
Emblem had been a knight in Alicorn’s army, but had quit and hidden away when the old queen vanished and the new queen had come. ‘Just in time,’ he professed.
Sir Dewdrop was another member of the group. He was quieter than the rest and didn’t look as if he belonged there at all. He wanted to be something else apparently, but knew his Father would have wanted justice, so he carried on fighting.
The last two were the most surprising. Two young colts of my age stood before me: Galloway and Shadow. Both were born fighters and both would do anything to protect the one’s they loved. I can’t belittle them in any way. Gallows treated me as if I were his brother and not a spy for the royals. And Shadow, well, despite his sombre way he was genuinely quite nice to me. He wanted to fly, and so did I, so we got along fine.
They called themselves the Keepers of Harmony-- by which they meant the rebellion of course. Their aim was to dethrone Alicorn and destroy the monster as their own families had been destroyed years or weeks before. All of them were baffled when I asked who they wished to replace the King on the throne. It seems they hadn’t thought that far ahead. I knew somepony who would be perfect for the job, but I couldn’t tell them about Tia. Even when they asked me what I’d been doing in the gardens I didn’t tell them of Tia’s existence. I’d made a promise that her secret was her own, and that I wouldn’t be the one to tell it. It was up to her to free herself from her problems. And if anypony needed to help her, it would be me.
Of course because I didn’t tell them their suspicions grew further. Somehow the protection that came from my family name kept me safe from them, but I could see they weren’t overjoyed at having me there. There was no way I was ever going to be allowed to be free again unless I proved I wasn’t a threat.
That’s when I made my decision. After I’d had my discussion with Gallophad and Shadow that is. The others went on a reconnaissance mission to check the hole hadn’t been entered through yet, and I was left with the two sombre candidates.
“My brother was a brave colt,” said their leader, breaking through the silence.
“What happened to him?” I questioned. The answer was not one that I could have ever expected.
“Killed by Queen Moon and King Alicorn.” A tear crept down his cheek. “He wasn’t just my half-brother though, he was the only family I had who would protect me. And me, only a baby colt at the time he was destroyed. Destroyed by his own Father out of fear.”
A thoughtful frown appeared on my lips. I feared I was starting to look like Gallophad. He gave me a quick smile and then spoke again.
“My brother was King Alicorn’s oldest son. Born of my Mother, Nimhay, a changeling, and of course the King, an alicorn. He was so powerful-- he could have done so much.” He paused and scowled. “But the monster wouldn’t let him grow and become more powerful than her.”
My face wore its puzzled expression proudly. At that moment Shadow wandered over.
“That’s what the monster does though. It persuades innocents to help it, and any who could get in its way either have to join or be destroyed. I should know, my Mother did both.”
It was his turn to let a tear drop over his cheeks.
“She was a pawn in Nightmare’s game. If it wasn’t for her then she wouldn’t be living such a cosy life up in the palace with her horrible daughter. Yet how does she repay her? Easy, she turns on her and demands more. And when my Mom tells her she won’t do it any longer--” He paused and sighed. “Well, let’s just say she never got to come home that night.”
“I still don’t understand,” I piped up. “If you’re right, and this Nightmare monster is the Queen, then what’s her plan? It makes no sense.”
The two colts stared at each other then back at me.
“No Diddy, it makes perfect sense. Soon the solar eclipse shall be here, and then that’s the end of it all. As long as her daughter lives to take the throne, Nightmare will never leave and the Kingdom will never be safe.”
“Sadly that means that in order to stop the misery of the kingdom,” Shadow explained, “the King cannot afford to live on... and neither can the Princess.”
My head span round, overwhelmed. I couldn’t imagine the King being dead, or the Princess. Our training had always taught us to protect the royals no matter what-- my Father--
“But my Father helps protect the royals.”
“Your Father is an insider Diddy. He and your Mother are prepared to do what’s necessary also.”
“No---” I stuttered falling backwards. “My Father could never hurt anypony. Neither could my Mother.”
“Your Mother is a bit more reluctant, but Screwball agrees with us. He knows what must be done to save his loved ones-- to save you Diddy, he’d do anything no matter the cost.”
“Sir.” A new pony ran into the room, out of breath. His shing medallion hung round his neck and he peered at us out of uncontrollable long, golden locks of mane.
“Yes Lion Heart,” Gallophad said looking over to his elder. Lion Heart looked to me and gave a loud, long sigh.
“Bad news sir.”
It was then that I found out the most horrible revelation ever. Something that would be the deciding factor in what I should do.
Prim Harmony, my Mother, was walking up the steps towards the palace library. It was her job to look after the Kingdom’s affairs of state and make sure that every book on any powerful magical artefact, or anything non-pony at all, would be destroyed. But it seems, on her part, that she was holding things back.
The Queen had ordered there be a search of Prim’s own quarters within the Library. There they had found a large collection of magical books, which of course should not be allowed. My Mother denied any knowledge of them being there but the Queen, with a wicked glint in her green smoky eyes had sentenced her without need of further proof. Prim was to be executed by means of avalanche tomorrow at dawn. Nopony could save her. Not even my Father could persuade the Queen, for he had been sent away on a mission and he would not get back in time to hear of the news.
Lion Heart and a large group of the rebellion had been sent to save her but it had all been for nothing. The Queen had lied about her plans and had already been rid of Prim, leaving the rebellion ready to be captured when they came. Lion had only just escaped with his life intact. His brother Boars had not been so fortunate.
Neither had Prim.
The eclipse was almost upon us and it looked as if the rebellion were already going to lose. Unless, that is, I had anything to do with it.
“Are you sure about this Diddy?” Midnight asked as he walked me back to the academy. “It’s going to be dangerous-- one so young trying to fight somepony as powerful as her.”
“She took my Mother from me. She’d done nothing wrong, she was framed, and she felt no remorse about me losing her.”
Midnight looked at my sullen face and put a hoof on my shoulder, stopping my hasty walk and making my eyes move onto his.
“Look Diddy, I know this is bad-- I know how you feel-- but you’ve got to really consider what’s best here.”
“I know what’s best,” I retorted, my anger holding my heart heavily.
“Not what’s best for your Mom, or Dad, or even me Diddy. What’s best for you. It’s you I care about.”
He appeared serious yet kind at the same time. I took one little look at him properly and broke down into tears-- something I hadn’t done since I was a very small foal and my Mother had chastised me for playing too roughly with another colt. The news of my Mother’s demise had been so out of reason, out of context, that I couldn’t take it as well as I may have done if I hadn’t known about other things. If I hadn’t just found out about my parents involvement with the rebellion then maybe I could have dealt with it better. Then again, if I hadn’t known about the rebellion, I would have never known the truth and in consequence I could have been in more danger.
No, I had to do it, despite what Midnight said. It was in my best interest to repay my Mother’s death and protect mine and my Father’s life. And where better to do it than being a student at the academy. Not to mention, if anypony knew who the rightful heir should be, it was me. Tia was the rightful older princess and heir-- she should rule the kingdom, despite her looks.
And I was going to be the one to get her there. For my Mother’s sake.
The days at the academy carried on as normal. Alabaster remained cheerful and jovial, though I appeared more distant to him than ever. I tried to keep up my usual smile but sometimes, when my thoughts drifted, my smile washed away in visions of my Mother and the rebellion.
A guard had been dispatched to the academy the very day that I’d returned to the school to inform me of my Mother’s unfortunate death. They of course failed to tell me what had been the cause, which would only be expected if they didn’t want me to be suspicious. They may fear that I was planning to join the rebellion after all.
Nocturn and Blankety still avoided us more than anything I noticed. They seemed further away in their own minds than ever before, each one entirely focused on the picture they had seen of the Canterlot army. Most other ponies had cleared their mind of the trip we’d had, and that infernal sentence had disappeared along with their care. The two young colts were the only ones to think about any part of the trip. Even Alabaster seemed completely unaware that there had ever been a trip in the first place. It was good that way, it meant he wouldn’t be hurt any longer.
The rebellion was the one thing in my life that’d changed properly, and it was by far one of the most confusing. Sometimes I wished and prayed that my Dad would come home so I could speak to him privately to see whether what I was doing was right, but he was still too far away to talk to; not only that but I wouldn’t want the Queen to get to him as well. He was safer where he was right now, especially with the eclipse coming soon.
On the night, when every pony except a few rare guards were asleep, I sneaked through the academy grounds and met up with the rebellion in whatever meeting place had been decided beforehand. We had to keep moving so that we couldn’t be found. Each time I went I felt my own heart grow fonder of the colts and stallions that stood around me. And with each time I learnt more about their reasons for joining the group in the first place.
“My Mother was a brave mare,” Leafy Pines would say. “She always wanted me to stay with her, but I couldn’t. I was going to at first but then--” He would pause and look doubtful over whether he should continue. “-- I made friends with Marelin. She was the one who really changed everything for me.”
There was a few who would talk about this Marelin character. She remained a mystery to me but I knew of her character, and of her demise as well. It seemed that before N.Moon became Queen, she advised the King on what was wrong and right both for the kingdom and for himself. They were good friends in fact, rather than merely colleagues. All that changed when the old Queen left and the new Queen arrived. Marelin was strongly opposed to Alicorn’s new marriage and this was a problem for the mare. N.Moon did not like to be argued against, as seen by her dismissal of my Mother’s years of service ending in her execution, so it was certainly not going to be allowed when Marelin chose to stand against her and fight her on the matter.
Many eyes saw the fall of the advisor, as many members of the rebellion were there to witness the event. And when she fell, in the giant green smoke cloud of her death, tears were shed by nearly every one of the ponies in the room. Leafy Pines just happened to be one of those witnesses, and he was always sorrowful and reminiscent of what he had seen. Marelin was such a great friend to him, and to others, that it would be tough for the hardest of souls not to care about her destruction. Even I found myself tearing up on hearing the story. It’s strange that, even though I never had the chance of meeting her, I feel as if I know her in some way. I feel like we could have been friends if we’d tried hard enough, but I’d never get the chance to find out. The rebellion was unlucky in the respect that they’d never see so many of their friends again.
That was the problem, or is the problem, with the rebellion. The more I grew to like them and care for them the harder I knew the idea of losing them would be if our fight didn’t go as well as we wanted. We were all determined to beat the Queen at any cost, but inside I didn’t want the cost to be some other pony’s life while I remained alive in this new Equestria. If anypony was going to die, no matter how morbid it sounds, I hoped that it was me. Even if I had the punishment of suffering years trapped in stone or locked on the moon, I’d take that over having to watch some other pony die.
And I hope Tia will have the same prospects as I do. It had been a while since we’d met that first time, and I still hadn’t had the time or capability to make it through to her. I knew it was imperative to go, not just for myself and her, but for the ponies I wanted her to rule over. It was ultimately going to have to be her bravery and courage that could win this war. If she didn’t want to fight, or couldn’t, there would be no point in the rebellion moving at all.
I needed to go to her that same night after talking to Pines.
Clambering through the bushes and twigs was harder than I remembered. There seemed a noticeably higher amount of thorns around about the palace gardens compared to when I last went in there (which was a couple of weeks before I began to make this journey). It seemed to make things a bit more difficult as far as trying to be quiet went. You’d be surprised but although they say that you get used to any sort of pain after been exposed to it many times, they lie. No matter how many times I poked myself on a thorn I still had to stop myself from screaming and alerting the guards. My poor hoofs where red raw by the end.
But I made it to the servants door, as unharmed as I possibly could. The easy part was sneaking through the chamber, finding the door and walking down the steps. Far easier than what I had to do next: one, see if Tia was real and not imagined, and two, persuade her to come with me and stay with the rebellion. This I figured was going to be impossible, but even then I couldn’t imagine it to be as impossible as it really was.
“Tia,” I whispered just loud enough, I hoped, for her to hear. No sound came from anywhere so I tried again. “Tia, it’s me, Diddy.” Still nothing happened. At that point self doubt really began to trickle into my mind. Could it be that she really hadn’t existed? Perhaps I just wasn’t looking at the right place. I turned my head and looked towards another area of the dungeon, hastily scanning the walls to find an entrance I could go through. My flaming torch, lighted whilst I wandered downwards on the stairway, glowed dismally in the dank basement.
“I didn’t think you’d come back,” came a familiar voice behind me. I swivelled round but still couldn’t see anypony.
“Tia? Where are you?” I questioned, swinging my whole body round in a circle to look. No answer came for a while before I heard her voice again.
“You didn’t come back Diddy. I thought, for one mad moment, that I’d imagined you.” This time her speech was accompanied by two short sobs. Still I couldn’t see where she was hiding.
“I’m here now Tia, and I need to see you. Where are you?”
Silence paraded around the dungeon and then I heard another familiar sound. A clattering came as the wall slowly slided back and revealed the area she called home. I smiled and stepped towards her, but in her reluctance she took a step back and stared at me through tears.
“You didn’t come back,” she said.
“I’m here now.”
She looked at me sharply.
“But you weren’t here before! You weren’t here-- and I needed you.”
Falling backwards she landed on her floor with a soft thud and weeped into her claws. “I needed you and you weren’t here.”
“Tia, I’m here now. I can help you now.”
She held up her other arm gesturing me to stop walking towards her.
“It’s too late for that Diddy. She’s already been to see me.”
I stared at her as would Peeping Tom, a criminal in the jail cells up at the top who constantly stared at every pony that came into contact with him.
“Who came to see you?” I asked, dreading the answer.
“She did, are you not listening?”
“Who’s ‘she’?”
“Stepmother, that’s ‘she’.”
A large portion of nervousness swarmed in my mind and I gulped fiercely.
“What did she say to you?”
“She wanted me to tell-- about you, about what you’d seen.” Tia looked troubled and despite her hesitance, I walked over to her and put my front leg around her body. More tears trickled out of her eyes and onto my shoulder. “I’m sorry Diddy-- I didn’t want to-- She’s-- she’s going to kill you. I’ll never see you again.”
“Hey,” I said, cradling her back and forth in an attempt to calm her down. I could feel her tufty rainbow mane sticking to my side along with her sharp horn. “I’m still here aren’t I? She can’t do anything to me whilst I’m still here.”
Another sob came out of her lips. A tear fell over my cheeks but I quickly brushed that aside before she could see. “I’m not worried about me Tia; that’s not what I’m here for. I want to help you Tia, I want you to come with me where it’s safe. Come with me and you’ll be safe.”
“I can’t Diddy. I can’t,” she cried.
“You can Tia. I have friends who’ll protect you-- they want to help you.”
Her head shot out of my grasp and she stumbled back up onto her feet, moving further away from me. I stood too, never letting my eyes leave hers.
“I can’t go Diddy.”
“But I can take you where it’s safe Tia.”
“I’m safe here,” she said, taking hold of the old hay-filled sack she used as a pillow.
“You’re not. Not while the Queen’s in charge you’re not.”
“I’m safe here,” she repeated, cuddling into the sack with her head.
“The Queen will get you eventually Tia. She knows that only you can stop her, only you have the power to stop her hurting anymore innocent ponies.”
“No, no.” The tears flowed freely now, as a large waterfall cascaded from her eyelids and over her matted light grey fur. She shook her head continually repeating her one word over and over. “No, no.”
“We need to stop her Tia...”
“No, no.”
“She killed my Mother Tia. Do you not understand how much that hurts?”
“Yes,” she muttered quietly before continuing with her, “No, no.”
“If you understand the pain then why won’t you help me-- help us? We need you. I need you.” I tried to keep my anger in check but it was complicated. Never before had I felt so passionate about a cause; it felt unnatural-- just like her.
“I can’t go. No, Tia’s safe here. She’s safe here where she can’t be hurt. Nopony can get Tia here,” she said to herself, growing more insane to fit her maddening looks. “Tia’s a bad pony, she’s a monster. Nopony wants to see Tia. Nopony cares. Only safe in this room.”
She looked to me and shouted with a wail:
“Get out!”
“But Tia--” I tried. She refused to listen out of her sadness.
“Get out!” A large beam of light shot from her claws and attacked me on my side, knocking me into a stone wall symmetrical to Tia’s own. She gave a gasp. Thankfully I wasn’t too badly injured that I couldn’t stand up after a few seconds, but the bruises she gave me were present enough for my own liking. And my cut lip didn’t exactly help my pain either.
“The eclipse is in three days,” I told her as she looked at her body in dismay. “We’ll be attacking N.Moon on the time of the peak in the chamber. It’s your choice Tia, you could put your power to good use and help us restore this land to somewhere we can all live in peace, or you can give into your appearance and remain the title, not only as discord, but as a monster, for the rest of your life.”
I then made my hasty exit, thinking that if I only gave her time she’d do what was right. If not, then there was no way we could make it through this battle. In my heart I thought I knew what her decision would be-- I certainly knew what I would do if I had been in her position.
The day of the eclipse came nearer and our armour and weaponry was being prepared for the showdown. Our plans had been thoroughly thought through, yet I knew they wouldn’t work if Tia didn’t show up. For my friends sake I really hoped she’d do the right thing.
New ponies began to show up to help us in our quest. Ponies from all around Equestria and beyond, all willing to fight off the evil monster while they still had the chance. One such new pony happened to be a young colt and with him came five very close friends, two of which that surprised me very much indeed.
“Diddy,” said Midnight, “allow me to introduce Silas, Rainbow Dragon, Morning Glory, Dr Calamity...”
“Blankety and Nocturn,” I concluded. My two other classmates stared at me in disbelief. We continued to stare at one another until Silas, the other colt, spoke up.
“We’re from NEMI,” he said, “or at least the remains of what used to be NEMI.”
I looked to him in confusion.
“NEMI,” stated Rainbow Dragon, “is the North Equestria Missionaries Institute-- another branch of the rebellion in other words.”
I nodded then turned back to look at Nocturn and Blankety, who remained silent in their corner.
“What--” I started before losing what I was saying again. “What are you two doing here?” Neither seemed shock by my question, but both, just as at school, remained quiet.
“Nocturn and Blankety are part of the rebellion son,” said the one called Dr Calamity. “They’re here to help.”
“But-- But you two couldn’t fight anypony; you can barely hold your hoof up in class.” I saw Blankety’s cheeks turn scarlet and felt bad for my words. “I don’t mean that-- it’s just that well--” I gave in trying to find the words and held up my hoof. “It’s good to have you helping us.”
Sadly both refused to shake, out of fear or hatred I couldn’t figure out at that moment. At this point it didn’t look like our relationship would ever grow into anything-- not even just acknowledging one another’s existence. Yet we all fought for the same side, and that must mean something right? It must mean that we were a lot more alike than we ever thought was possible-- perhaps that, and the fact we would soon be fighting side-by-side, would change their view of me as something to fear. All it would take is for them to understand I was a colt just like them; there was nothing different about me.
In the rebellion there was no use feeling different. Each pony was of a different age, some of a different species like the gryphons’, but each was willing to sacrifice themselves for their kingdom and their family. This was how I finally managed to get through to Blankety.
We were working together, rifling through some old remnants of the days before the Queen came into power. In the collection we found an old painting; a painting that, by the grandness of its scale, must have been originally inside the collection I had found so ugly. Blankety was very much enthralled with the picture.
“When I looked at that picture in the palace,” he said, almost to himself, “this is what I saw. This is the image I like.”
I turned towards the picture he was holding-- it appeared as a portrait very much like the army one in the palace, though with more joy and less suffering on the guards faces.
“You didn’t see what it really looked like? The one in the palace, I mean,” I questioned. He shook his head sorrowfully.
“I wouldn’t want to anyway, this is what I want to remember it as.” A nervous glance came over his shoulder and then he turned around to face me fully; the bravest he had ever been in my presence. “You’re lucky you know. You’re the only pony who managed to see the place as it really was. I still haven’t figured out why.”
“Well, I didn’t go on the full tour with you. I sneaked off without you.”
“But that shouldn’t have mattered.” He sighed and slunk backwards onto an old chest. “Just going through the gates and being there should have had an affect on you. It had an affect on me, and I’ve been part of the rebellion for a while.” Another sigh came out of his throat. I looked at the sadness on his face and was reminded of a certain pony in a dungeon.
“Why did you join the rebellion?”
He didn’t flinch on my question.
“Because of him,” he stated and looked towards the portrait again. His hoof hovered at a guard with a stressed grin, almost forced, and innocent blue eyes. “Caged Eagle. He was a knight in the army-- He was also my Father.”
A tear crept down his face and I stared at him awkwardly.
“What happened?” I asked, not sure whether it was correct to do so. Blankety seemed fine with answering.
“The Queen happened, that’s what. Caged was accused of helping Marelin try to overthrow her. All nonsense, of course; Marelin was never planning to overthrow her. Not only that but Caged was too timid, and loved his family too dearly, to risk doing any act of treason.”
“So, if he wouldn’t join the rebellion--” I paused in thought. “Why did you?”
“Because he wouldn’t do it to save his family from being hurt. I’m doing this because I have no family left too hurt. Caged was killed when I was only little. My Mother died just a while after. Now all I need is for somepony to get rid of me and it’ll be the perfect sweep.”
He chuckled slightly, amused but saddened by his bleak humour.
“Maybe that’s why I fell for her spell though; when we went on the trip. Maybe I wanted to see what she showed me because it made me feel better. But that still doesn’t explain why you didn’t. Even Nocturn saw the picture as she told us to see it.”
We mused slightly and then he stood and carried on rifling through the things.
“Still, we have a job to do, and I’m not going to spend all my time thinking about little things when I should be looking at the big picture.”
I nodded and carried on doing what I was doing previously. After a short time I heard a small voice come from his corner again.
“Thanks, by the way.”
“Why?”
“For listening. I don’t usually expect anypony, let alone one as popular as you, to listen to somepony like me.”
For some reason, though I could have argued against that, I remained quiet. No answer I could have thought of would have been good enough.
I was at the academy on the day before the eclipse and I could see the panic whitewashing all of the young rebels’ faces. Nocturn and Blankety remained steady and solid, though every now and then a flinch came from Blankety’s eyelid. Other colts and fillies, that I knew now by look but not name, were more nervous than I had ever seen. There were around seven or eight rebels I knew of coming from our academy alone-- perhaps more. All had lost a relation through one way or another. Little did I know, my own pain was only going to get worse in that one day span.
My nerves were very large; almost as if I’d been told that I had to perform in front of the whole of Equestria when I had only been given the recital five minutes hence, though I think I’d relish that acting more than the truth of what was happening. Alabaster remained himself, barely noticing anything different about me in the many hours we spent together. It was actually him that caused my first trouble.
I was walking down the corridors, keeping a close eye on all the nice aspects of being a student, when I heard a cry followed by jeering and cheering from other colts and fillies. Around the corner I flew almost falling into a crowd of ponies circling a fight like gryphons hunting their prey.
Inside the middle I saw Blankety, lying on the ground, his lip and nose smothered in blood. Alabaster stood towering above him, yelling nasty insults that came to his mind.
“You’d better learn some manners you little idiot, otherwise it won’t just be your Daddy that goes missing.”
Blankety winced.
“Alabaster!” I cried, pushing forward. Everypony moved aside to let me through. I rushed up to Blankety and tried to help him back onto his hooves.
“Oh Diddy,dude, you missed it.” My ‘supposed’ friend, Alabaster, appeared very nervous all of a sudden. “Wouldn’t you figure it, this colt fell over and hit his face on the floor. I was just going to help him up.”
Many insults tipped onto my tongue but Blankety shook his head and got back onto his hooves.
“It’s true,” he said, moving away from Alabaster and myself as he did. “He was just-- you know-- helping me up.”
“Blankety--”
“It’s true.”
With one slight wink he tore off away from us and ran back down through the corridor, the same as I was used to from past experiences with the colt. Alabaster nodded smugly.
“Sorry you had to see that Did. It must’ve been a bad shock. Well, see you at lunch right?” He patted me on the back quickly and walked nonchalantly away in the other direction. I pulled a face at him behind his back. At that point the crowd too had dispersed and wandered off in separate directions. I, on the over hoof, left to find Blankety. On the way I saw Nocturn hanging around a corner.
“Hey Nocturn, have you seen Blankety?”
He stared through me and refused to answer. His hesitance to speak was beginning to aggravate me now. I went on my way and left him to himself.
“Blankety--” I called, but found no reply. “Blanke--”
I was cut off by a hoof grabbing onto my shoulder and pulling me into a janitorial cupboard.
“Be quiet Diddy,” Blankety told me. His entire lip had bloated by this point but he seemed not to care too much.
“Blankety, I am so sorry about that, Alabaster isn’t usually--”
“Actually he always is.” I stopped in confusion.
“He’s done this before?”
“The question you have to ask is when hasn’t he done it before.”
“I--I--”
“Never knew. He wouldn’t tell you about it; he wanted to stay your friend to keep hold of your popularity.”
My face contorted with anger.
“If he thinks--- just because-- and with all the nice things I do for him-- Oh, he’s going to lose our friendship alright.”
“No,” said Blankety, putting a hoof on my shoulder to calm me down. “Keep your friendship. It’s good for a cover. You need Alabaster, not me.”
And with that Blankety left through the doorway and ran off down the corridor again. I felt lost to an extreme level, and said nothing about what had happened to anypony. I didn’t even speak to Alabaster in the end; merely let him believe I’d accepted his false story. There was no point arguing when there was so much else going on. If all went badly tonight it wouldn’t matter anyway.
Sadly that was only my first shock of the day. The second came as an even bigger pain.
A messenger came into the classroom just after lunch, wearing the royal crest of Queen N.Moon, and told me that he had some important news I had to hear. I followed him down the halls and we wandered into the portrait hall. A smile came to my lips, the first of the day, when I saw a large portrait of my Father in his guards uniform with a great beaming smile on his face. My Dad always loved getting his portrait painted.
“I have come to inform you,” the messenger said (his voice oddly high for a stallion), “of the arrest of your Father, Sunset Sword, on the allegation that he attempted to overthrow the King by destroying his own commanding officer.”
Something within me, most likely the shock, barely let me understand what was being said, though it was in plain and simple equestrian.
“What?”
The messenger seemed sad by my lack of misery over what I had been told. He rubbed his striped violet mane and tightened his mail bag around his lavender waist.
“He’s to be under arrest until trial tomorrow. You shall carry on going to the academy, and then after this year shall move to be a servant in the Queen’s palace for life-- it shall be up to you to repay his debt to society.”
I felt a pat on my shoulder as he wished me every condolence and crept out of the room. I remained inside for the rest of the lessons and refused to move. Over time my mind slowly grasped what was happening.
There was so much to do tonight, and I thought it had been complicated before.
“We have to save him,” Midnight said to the ponies gathered in the den that night. “Screwball would have done the same thing for us.”
“But he also would want us to complete the mission. He wouldn’t want to be the cause of us losing, no matter the cost,” Emblem put in, standing up and pacing around the floor. The white stallion was always the most serious and contemplative of all of us. The other members seemed lost for words.
“No stallion gets left behind, those are the rules,” Rainbow Dragon mentioned. Morning Glory raised an eyebrow at him. He blushed. “No mares either of course.”
“Then why have we let so many die before?” Lion Heart looked up from the wall he’d previously been leaning on. “If our rule is to not leave anypony behind, we’ve already failed.”
We could have made a symphony of the sighing that carried through the room at that moment. Midnight prepared to say something but stopped himself when seeing the defeated looks of the ponies and other creatures around him.
“I don’t know what to say anymore.”
“I do.” I walked into the middle of the pack and looked them all in the eye one by one. It appeared to make them uncomfortable, unsurprisingly. “My Father worked hard to stop the Queen. He’s spent years, unbeknownst to me, helping with this cause; as has my Mother and she happened to lose her life for her kindness.”
Blankety stood near to Silas, a large scar across his nose and mouth.
“Somepony wise once told me that there must have been a reason I didn’t fall for the spell on the day of our school trip. And maybe he’s right, maybe there was a reason, but all I know is that I’m going to do everything I can to get rid of the Queen and make sure nopony has to suffer her spell anymore-- no matter the cost.”
“Diddy--” Midnight began.
“No. We’re going to the eclipse and stopping Moon. The plan’s are fine, they’ll work; we’re not risking anypony else now.”
Everypony nodded and we began our work to finish the plans. All I could do now was pray that Tia came through for me-- otherwise, I felt, there was going to be no hope for any of us.
None of us left the base of operations that night, and remained there for the morning as well. There was no point going back to the academy. There was far too much to do before that afternoon when the eclipse was due to come.
Already some ponies had scouted ahead to the palace to set up equipment and take up their places ready for the attack. I was part of the smaller group filled with the friends I’d come to care for so much: Blankety, Nocturn, Shadow, Galloway and Gallophad. We were to be the group of smaller colts who could sneak through the areas that perhaps the older ones couldn’t. It was to be a hard job, but one I hoped we could do.
Midnight, Lion Heart, Leafy Pines, Emblem and a few others were to form another group-- we called them ‘the suicidals’. They were to confront the Queen head on and essentially would sacrifice themselves for the cause, though they preferred to be more optimistic about their chances than the rest of us did. Personally, I knew I was going to miss them-- and I also knew, even if by some miracle they survived the mission, I would never see them again. Even RD, Morning Glory, Silas and Dr Calamity were going to be lost to all of us. As soon as we separated into our groups they were going to be the only ponies we’d have to worry about. If we worried about anypony else it would only make the job even harder.
By afternoon our group, the last to set off, was on its way to the palace. Our post was inside the castle vent system, which thanks to the expertise from the academy classes, I and Nocturn could easily get everypony into. There we had to wait until the signal came that Midnight’s group had made it through to the Queen. Only when every other group was in place could we do our job. And when that signal came our job was to get down to the servants and innocents, getting them out of the palace and out of danger.
To do this, however, we had to get through the guards halls and the King’s throne room; because, for some reason, Moon had blocked all servants’ entrances and exits years before to avoid attacks. It was going to be a dangerous voyage but one we had to deal with-- there was no turning back now.
I could see the nervous flinches of everypony with me. Whispering could be heard near my ear and I knew Gallophad was chanting some kind of incantation near my head. He appeared stressed, yet relaxed in some way.
“What are you saying?” I carefully whispered. This was the quietest I had ever managed to speak.
“It’s a story my brother told me,” Gallophad whispered back. “The Princess dies upon a teary throne; a tyrant leaves the kingdom torn. Then comes the light of a true heir, the son of pegasus and unicorn. I was told it because it made my brother feel calm somehow.”
He smiled through the darkness. I wish the lighting had been better; it was a rare achievement when somepony managed to coax Gallophad into a smile.
“My Dad used to tell me a rhyme as well,” I said. He nodded his head politely and the conversation stopped. We’d all heard a noise and couldn’t afford to alert anypony’s attention to our hiding place. My mind drifted onto that long ago rhyme of my Father’s.
‘My Little Colt, Poor Little Boy
Who lost his faith in all that joy brings.
Come on and smile, my little one;
Experience a life full of laughter and fun.
See the dark clouds fade away,
Instead the pink clouds drizzle chocolate rain.
You open your mouth wide,
Let the happiness inside
And join in the chaos parade.
Everypony will wave and adore you;
They'll be happiest when they're near you.
Night will become day
Or maybe the other way around.
It will all be your own choice, you have your own voice,
Make this World yours and mine.
That will be the day
The nightmares run away.
No pain, no tears,
Just you and me facing fears.
We'd stay strong together
As we get our happily chaotic ever after.’
Somehow, singing that to myself, just as Gallophad was doing with his own rhyme, made the time go by much faster and made me develop a sense of calmness before the hiding could be finished. By the time the signal came all of us were ready-- if not still timid in some ways. We took a last look at each other before clambering through and dropping down into the corridor beneath us. Time to face the fight head on.
Loud noises could be heard coming from all areas of the palace as rebels fought against the guards. Noises came from the chamber, where the eclipse ceremony was being held and we could just about hear the sound of Midnight’s voice yelling in the pack. Swords clashed and painful howls and screams could be heard as the bloodshed stained the brickwork of the serene flooring. We scampered on through the hallway, where surprisingly nopony could be found so far.
We should have known we wouldn’t be that lucky for long. The guards chamber, on our right, had been emptied so they could guard the eclipse but not everypony had made it. Inside we could just about see ten or so guards, wearing full dark moon armour, waiting for something to go wrong and they be called. Unfortunately, just as we managed to spot them they managed to spot us too.
“Halt!” one of them cried in his deep voice. We ran as fast as our hooves could carry us, but could hear the fast hoofsteps of the older stallions behind us. Our smaller legs couldn’t win this race, especially since not all of us were fast fliers or runners.
Gallophad stopped his running and we all stopped along with him, our hearts pounding in our chest, our breathing rapid and shallow.
“What are you waiting for?” he shouted. “You carry on, I’ll hold the guards off.”
“But you’ll be killed,” Shadow pointed out desperately.
“I’ve got nothing left to live for anyway. Now go!”
We ran again, hesitantly at first. Gallophad cried out loud in the distance,
“Miamore----”.
That was the last word he ever said-- and the last we ever heard of him. We rounded a corner and Shadow and Galloway stopped.
“Shadow, Gallows, come on,” I begged. They shook their heads.
“They’ve got him Diddy. Now it’s our turn.”
Shadow set his wings going and flew off back from where we came, Gallows following on hoof, towards the guards whose hoofsteps we could now hear again. This time we could hear the knife hit each colts’ chest, and the screams that went along with it. A coolness fell through my veins and my mind began to spin inside my head. The whole building grew smaller and larger as the adrenalin shot through my body. A tug fell on my front let and I could hear Blankety’s voice.
“We have to keep moving Diddy. We can’t let them die for nothing.”
I nodded and ran on. Nocturn had already run on ahead, or else had died because neither one of us could see him anywhere. Now it was just me and Blankety, fugitives on the run, trying to get to our goal. The guards had still not given up their chase.
In front of us loomed two large golden doors-- the entrance to the King’s throne room. If we could just somehow manage to get through them we could lock it from the inside and we would be safe. Then we could get from there to the servants quarters and our mission would be complete.
My heartbeat became louder, my breath raspy and coarse. Blankety did not look very well either. Yet both of us still kept running and managed to get safely into the room and locked the doors behind us-- just in time. We both slammed the large piece of metal rod used as a window post into the inside handles, barricading the furious knights away from us. We let out a sigh of relief and gave each other a smile.
“We made it,” I said, barely being able to talk. Blankety smiled at me as he leant on the door. Then his face repulsed in pain as a loud bang shot through him from behind. A puff of green smoke-- magic-- seeped through the gaping hole in the front of his chest. He looked down at it, his face sleepy and lethargic, and fell down onto the floor.
I gazed onto his dying body with fear in my eyes. Behind me, sat on her throne with her horn glowing emerald, was Queen N.Moon.
“Dandelion I presume,” she said with a voice as smooth and sickly as silk. I gritted my teeth.
“Moon!”
“Now, now, that’s Queen Moon to you.” Her lips pursed up tight and I felt a shadow move behind me. I jumped and turned around to see Nocturn by Blankety’s side-- hoisting him up against the door so that he could sit properly.
“Nocturn, help me!”
The Queen sneered.
“Help you? What can he help you with?”
“Come on Nocturn,” I pleaded through my tears. “Help me stop her.”
“Now, why would he want to help you when he’s already been such a help to me?”
I turned with insanity in my eyes and looked upon her dark face. The dark blue amulet round her neck glowed with her wicked magic. Green smoke enveloped her eyes.
“What do you mean? Nocturn,” I turned to him again, “what does she mean?”
“She means,” he stated, walking around me to go stand on the pedestal where the thrones sat, “that I can watch as I’m finally rid of you and all of your stupid, stuck-up ways.”
“What?”
“You, that’s what.” He gazed at me angrily. If I had been fully aware of my senses I’d have made note of the fact that this was the most he had ever said to me. “You ruined my life. You’ve always ruined my life. Not only that, oh no that’s not even the worst part, you ruined my true love’s life. You used and rejected her-- so now I’m going to do the same to you.”
“What are you talking about?” I could sense Blankety’s pain behind me but dared not move from my spot.
“Crystal Crown of course-- my true love. I loved her with all my heart, but she didn’t care, all she wanted was you. And you never did anything good for her. Instead you cheated and lied to her.”
“Crystal Crown? I don’t even know who that is.”
“Just what I’d expect from somepony like you. Like you’d ever take notice of somepony who’s not as perfect or popular as you are.”
The Queen glared at me and smiled smugly. She coughed and Nocturn bowed onto his knees.
“I’m sorry my Queen. My anger got the best of me-- it won’t happen again.”
“You’re right, it won’t.” She turned her eyes onto him and the green smoke twirled around his body. I watched as a shot of magic went through his legs. I listened as his painful, vengeful howl simmered from his burning lips. I felt tears drip down my face as he vanished into smoke, along with all the suffering he had fabricated for myself. Yet I couldn’t feel pity-- I’d never not felt pity before.
“Well, that was fun,” the Queen uttered as she wandered off her chair and down the steps. She then began to monologue, a boring affect used commonly by villains in stories and plays, and circled me. I felt my anger intensify. The more she circled, she knew, the less I could help Blankety.
“I have to say Diddy, it took me a long time to find you. Of course it took me a long time to figure out who had been the pony that idiot Marelin had prophesied to be my downfall. I always assumed it would be your little friend over there.” She nodded her head slightly at Blankety. “But no such luck eh?”
I watched as she circled me again.
“But when you managed to beat the spell on the day of the school trip-- and then, low and behold-- went down to the dungeons to greet the monster. Well, then I knew who it must be.”
“Tia’s not a monster,” I stated, my teeth feeling chalky with the amount of pressure I was pushing onto them.
“A discord then, same difference. Anyway, thankfully Nocturn, alicorn-rest-his-soul, was good enough to tell me about you and then-- when he said about your Mother and Father-- I knew they’d be a perfect ‘scapegoat-- forgive the expression.”
She stopped for a while before continuing.
“I must admit framing Prim was quite a tricky job. She’d always been so careful, especially with her career. Still, when you have as much power as I have anything’s possible.” I felt my eyelid flinch. “Your Father on the other hoof, was easy. He was already a suspected rebel, didn’t take much to tip him over the edge. All I needed was for another guard to suggest that the same fate that happened to Prim would happen to you and he was more than happy to attack the one he suspected.”
I flinched again. She carried on circling.
“Midnight and the others will stop you,” I said. My heart beat wearily in my front, the adrenalin levels beginning to fall.
“Maybe,” she mocked. “Sadly I don’t think they’ll be joining us. It’s a bit hard to come back from where they are now.”
“There’s more rebels than just them.”
“Not enough anymore. You’ll be lucky if there’s anypony left right now. My guards are scarily good at their job. Anyway, we may as well get this over with now chosen one.”
A flash of green smoke began circling me. My hooves remained stuck to the floor as I watched the vapour wrap its claws around my body. A sharp needle shot into my spine and up towards my heart.
I heard a laugh and then a loud bang before falling to the floor. A powerful wave of magic pushed me back onto the door frame where Blankety was laid. The hole in my chest seemed bigger than he had, though it most likely was my mind exaggerating its scale.
The Queen could be seen in front of us, barely, as we lay together not awake enough to see or hear much of anything.
“MOTHER!” came a cry from further away in the palace. The Queen gave a sigh.
“And we’d just got to the good part and everything. Well, hate to kill and run colts, but you know, a Mother’s job is with her daughter.”
She chortled, sneered and in a flash of green was gone. Blankety coughed hoarsely and his breathing, I could feel, was slowing down faster than mine. Not surprising considering the length of time it had taken her to finally get round to me. I felt pain in my head from where I had hit the door, and was barely conscious enough to hold onto my own life-- let alone his. He coughed again.
“I’m sorry Blankety. This shouldn’t have happened.”
He coughed once more, blood coming out of his throat along with his saliva.
“Not your fault Diddy. I’m not important.”
“Yes you are Blankety. But don’t worry-- my friend will save us, I know she will.”
“Too late Diddy. Caged is already here. I’m free.”
“No Blankety-- don’t say anything like that. We can get through it.” If I’d been able to feel much at that point I would have sensed the massive waterfall dripping down over my wounds.
“We’ll always have the land of chaos--”
“What?” My question was too late. He gave one last breath and fell to an eternal sleep. I wept harder than ever before. Now, here was I, trapped in my young dying body, laying next to the body of a friend I hadn’t had time to make. And what was I meant to do? Either way I was doomed.
What Moon had meant by the chosen one I couldn’t figure out. It was quite clear that if there was such a thing as a chosen one, it wasn’t me. I’d been beaten so easily, and fallen so quickly. All of the rebellion had been lost after years of planning-- and what was the one different factor between then and now? I had joined. I had been the curse on everypony.
Where was Tia? All I could think as I drifted off was where my little discord could be right now.
Where was Tia?
And now I’m here, sat in a cave writing this story in my Diary and praying as hard as I possibly can. It was a strange set of happenings that came about when I’d finally fallen to rest, one that had managed to save my life. Unfortunately I could not remember any of it. I had fallen asleep dying, with a large hole in my chest, inside the throne room, and had awoken inside a cave just below Canterlot with a lavender mare by my side.
At first I wondered why I recognized this mare, but eventually I knew. She was the messenger colt-- not, the sister of the messenger colt you must understand-- but the messenger colt himself (perhaps herself). She had used a spell to turn herself into a stallion so that she could infiltrate the palace and stop the Queen. It had always been her duty to protect and guide the King and she could never stop that.
“Be calm,” she had said when I had first woken from my ‘slumber’. “My name is Marelin. I’m here to help you.”
I questioned how I happened to be alive.
“Magic Diddy, is the key to many things. A lot of years of practice has taught me that.”
I questioned how she managed to be alive when ponies had witnessed her death. Her answer was the same as the previous.
I asked her why the Queen called me the chosen one.
“Some ponies are born to be good and create worlds, with their own powerful magic. These ponies are stronger with magic than others’ with magic could ever dream to be. You are one such pony. There are a few others too,” she said with a smile, “though don’t tell the Queen that or she’ll have a fit. It was bad enough me just saying there was one chosen one-- let alone six.”
“Six?”
“The six keepers of harmony Diddy. The previous chosen ones have lost-- now it’s your turn. If you feel you can take that journey.”
That’s what I’d been pondering at the mouth of the rock. Watching as a whole city above me loses the lives of so many innocents who’ve done nothing but try to protect it. The faces of my dying friends, reunited with their lost ones, made me feel happy for some reason-- I wanted to feel happy again. The question had already been answered really. If these six ponies together could really defeat N.Moon then it would avenge everything that had happened. If Tia didn’t want to help, then it was up to me now.
“I’ll help you,” I told Marelin. She smiled.
“Then we’d better get started.”
Today my name is Dandelion, and tomorrow I become a hero. Tomorrow my name is fear, today my name is friendship. And through today and tomorrow I shall always be known as one name, despite the feelings ponies find-- I shall always be known as Diddy, and she has left me behind.
