Beyond Horizon's Edge

Chapters

With the Prospect of New Beginnings
Nightmare’s Visit
A First Glance
Proper Introductions
A Foreigner's Interpretation
Stretching The Bounds of Imagination
Entrance: Part One
Entrance: Part Two
Entrance: Part Three
Aftermath
Cataclysm
Rally
A Mind Together, a World Apart
Midday's Visitor's
Surreal Sensations
Three Lullabies
Cutting the Cards
Grand Designs
Epilogue: Polarity
Prologue: Wild Ideas
A Dramatic Turn of Events

With the Prospect of New Beginnings

Chapter I. – With the Prospect of New Beginnings

After several months …

The night was cool, with wisps of fog beginning to glide around blades of grass in a sort of ethereal sword-dance. The young moon lay high in the heavens, like a silver ball placed lazily in the sky by the child of the above.

Ento breathed in the crisp air that marked the end of winter’s hold on the land. The chill tugged at his heart, but it was not the only entity to hold sway; the beginning of his fly by night dominated his mind. Behind him, he heard the bustling of daily life in the long lodge of his family home.

The subtle feelings of excitement intermingled with the fright of what he knew was a turning point in his life, as it tugged at him like a startled foal on his mother’s tail. This was it: the very same moment he had planned for almost half a year. The excitement was as fresh now as when he had decided to go out on his trip on that cool night.

He took another step off the porch, and was received with the crunch of fresh grass underhoof. A slight shiver ran down his spine as a gentle breeze caressed his form .

Very glad I brought my overcoat, he thought with gritted teeth. Of course, Mama’s soup had warmed him up quite a bit, and he knew it would carry him on through the rest of the night without a problem.

Before he set out fully, Ento decided to take a circuit through town as something of a final sightsee before he disappeared on his journey. Bataro was a quiet enough town. Only some tens of Ekina lived here, but that’s how he liked it. Throughout his stroll, he only came across twenty out on the street; such was the daily goings-on of the quaint town he had grown up in. Bataro was only significant for its blacksmithing trade. Ekina came from far and wide in Ek’Rael to purchase swords, armor and tools from his father, Krya’Ba. The Ba family had been blacksmiths since time began, it seemed.

Stopping by the forge, he let himself become washed with childhood memories. The forge’s whirling sparks danced around in wild, yet intricate patterns, reminding him of summer nights catching lightning bugs. The clang of metal rocked his mind and he broke from the spell as he heard the hammer set down. A horned head poked out of the next room, lit by the warm glow of the furnace.

“That you, Ento?”

“Yeah, Pap. Just me. I’m... taking off now.” Ento had to pause. He wasn’t sure how to put the words.

His father nodded and turned back to go. Just before he disappeared, though, he stopped, and turned back to face his son, stepping out a little bit further from the doorway. A leather smock hung loosely from his neck, along with a wide grin set upon his rough face.

“I remember when I took off from home, too.” He nodded just a bit. “Good luck, son. Wherever the journey takes you, I know you’ll be a different Ekina when I see you again. Enjoy your time on the Great Coasts.”

“Yeah, right Pap. Thanks. I’ll be sure to get plenty of sun for the both of us.” Ento smiled at his father. A little twinge of guilt snaked around his gut at the lie, but his father’s smile calmed it a bit. Regardless if he crossed the northern borders or not, he knew his father would still be proud of the adventure he was going on.

With another nod, his father turned back around and left him alone. The pang of the anvil was Ento’s cue to move on.

As he passed each landmark within Bataro, a memory sprang up at each from his youth.

The collective hooting of the Owlery reminded him of his barn owl. He waved an upbeat hoof at the old couple that sat outside. They responded with rickety bones in the same manner, ensuing in a small storm of feathers as owls and crows settled about their owner’s forms.

The din of the tavern called out to his memories of good times had with friends in the embrace of a lukewarm pint of Hangg. He remembered his conversation with Chela, the push that had started it all, all the zealous planning and mid-day ruminations.

He stopped, his mind feeling drawn out and frightened. He hadn’t even left the town yet, and he was already feeling like running back!

No, he thought, physically shaking away demons of nagging doubt. You’ve started and there’s no going back. This is what you’ve dreamed of! A journey to another land, a place beyond the known realms of Ek’Rael! You’ll be amazed at what you might find... You’ll be just like Entar’Ma the Brave, conquering dragons, finding maidens in danger, and discovering new lands!

At this, Ento chuckled to himself- the things his mind came up with! But he had to admit, the possibility of adventure excited him. It had been, after all, the whole reason he had planned this trip in the first place.

He had, of course, made sure to promise his mother and father that he was traveling east, to the distant coastline, to seek fortune and adventure. As it was he knew, travel anywhere north of the kingdom was strictly forbidden, on pain of death.

Pain of death. Ento grimaced at the thought. Of course, thanks mostly to Chela’s imploration, he had decided after private contemplation in the middle of the day, while everyone else was fast asleep, to head north, right into forbidden land. Out into a territory he knew really was wild and strange.

No Ekina had any knowledge of what lay north of the grand kingdom. But he planned to find out what it was that was so mysterious. Only the royal family knew history’s whispers and could truly discern what lay beyond the wild forests of the north. But the Lord and Lady weren’t exactly advertising what they knew at a corner stand in the capital, Brelset. It was for this reason that he was determined to find out what it was that actually lay beyond the mists of intrigue and broad speculation.

Ento suddenly realized he had come to the sign marking the outskirts of town, it’s lettering outlined by creeping moss. He stopped and filled his lungs deeply with the chilly air. He exhaled, taking careful notice of the hot breath as it hissed out between his sharp, serrated teeth and dissolved into the gentle breeze of the night sky.

He was ready.

Taking an apprehensive glance over his shoulder, he said an ancient Ekina prayer, asking Alik’Kr for fair weather, and for Tuni’Ro to ensure a safe journey. He started and took off running, hooves thumping down the weathered pathway.

North.

. . . . .

The time was the same, the place different. Princess Twilight Sparkle sat reclined at the ornately carved table, having just finished her tea. As she set the cup down she looked up, smiling to Princess Celestia, who was just finishing her tea as well.

She let her eyes wander, and looked around at the grand room she was in; the gilded walls were awash in deep crimson and violet, and star maps and charts lay haphazardly around the chamber, overshadowed by telescopes that aimed to different regions of the sky. Each one existed to observe the cosmos in the seven different spectrums of magic.

The Observation Tower at Canterlot Castle was an excellent place for stargazing, and the bi-monthly meetings she had here with the princess during the winter season were always something to look forward to, even if this were the last one for the year.

Twilight broke her gaze from the room, settling it in front of her as she politely waited for the Princess to finish off her tea. A question blazed in her mind like wildfire, gears clashing and connecting, forming outcomes, possibilities, statistics, answers.

Celestia glanced over her cup, and broke into a grin as she saw the expectant look on her equal’s face.

“I know you far too well, my dear,” she said as the china tinkled onto its setting plate. “Now, tell me, what is the question you’ve got forming in that brilliant mind of yours?”

Twilight stuttered as she tried to both apologize and ask her question at the same time. Celestia’s tender laugh sounded throughout the room.

“Take a breath, my little pony, and then ask your question,” she said mildly.

Twilight obliged, letting a deep breath out before she began; her hyperactive mind was distracted as she keenly observed the wisps of her own breath on the gentle breeze. Finally, she started.

“Well, Princess, I took a trip to the Canterlot Archives the other day, looking up, well, specifically Equestrian history. As a Princess of Equestria, I’ve had a serious drive to know more about the past recently, especially ancient magic and related species, mostly ancient unicorns and dragons, because they seemed to take the largest part in shaping how the kingdom… uh, well I’m going on about nothing,” she remarked, face reddening as she realized what she had been saying. Celestia’s laugh twinkled again.

“Twilight Sparkle, my dear, you never bore me with your details, I promise. Now please, do go on..?” she said, smiling expectantly at Twilight.

“Yes of course. Well, uh, I was reading a very old script, Ancient Relations of Equestria, and I came across something I’ve never heard of before...” She paused. Her mind flashed, bathed in anxiety. Certainly there’s a reason why I didn’t find anything else about them, she contemplated uneasily.

It’s fine, Twilight, the Princess will understand, she knows how I am with learning new things. I am a princess after all! She should be open to sharing information! she finally rationalized. Okay, here I go...

“… It was something called an, uh, Ekina? I checked twice, asked all the mages and historians in the Archives; not a single pony knew what an Ekina was… Can you shed some light on this for me?” she finished, with a nervous glance at her mentor, biting her lip.

To her horror, the princess’s face soured, but only for a moment. It quickly returned to its usual stately calm, and looked to Twilight. The calm turned to concern as Celestia saw the apparent shock on the alicorn’s face.

“Twilight, I think you misunderstand my reaction,” Celestia consoled carefully. ‘’My upset was not aimed at you; in fact I applaud your tenacity to find the answer you’re looking for.” Celestia beamed down at Twilight, and was matched by Twilights softening gaze at her old mentor as she realized she was in the clear. Phew…

“It’s just that, well... Luna and I, we simply have a bad past with the… Them.” Celestia’s well-tuned voice cracked slightly, failing to say the name in the process. “Their choices and actions in the past have been… well, shall we say, malicious. They hurt a young and vulnerable Equestria, and almost ceased it to be. I appreciate your persistence, really I do, but I want you to keep the past buried. It’s for the best, I think. Do you understand?”

Celestia’s gaze met Twilight’s: a stern look, but mixed in somewhere was… Fear? Resentment? Doubt? Twilight had little time to guess, as the sentiment disappeared into thin air and Celestia’s trained visage returned to normal.

“I, well. I mean…” Twilight started, arguments falling invalid as she glanced again at her unyielding expression. “Okay, Princess. I promise I won’t,” she grumbled, admitting defeat, and looked down at the muddled grey remains of the tea leaves in her cup.

“Thank you, Twilight (She could hear the Princesses’ well practiced smile in her voice). Please understand, my dear, it’s not that I want to intentionally hold you back from discovering something new, I just don’t think you will find anything on the... them, that would satisfy your appetite for knowledge.” She beamed down on her student. Twilight noticed that she had sidestepped using the name, again.

Twilight mumbled a response, mind racing and further from the table than it could have ever been. She gazed off, over the courtyards and let her mind take off, proverbial hooves beating down the cobbled path.

South.

Nightmare’s Visit

Chapter II. – Nightmare’s Visit

Ento stopped at the top of a hill, as he reached what he feared would be an uneventful ending to his journey: the massive guard wall that jutted up in front of him, seeming to capture the moon that hung low in the sky. He sat down, putting his pack next to him, and pondered his options.

His travels for the past two days had been enjoyable, but not nearly what he had planned to do once he got past the wall into Unknown territory. From what he knew, the wall stretched for hundreds of miles across the northern face of the empire, one of three such great monuments to the accomplishments of the First Era; the West, South and North walls were all guarded constantly. As if to reaffirm his thought, he watched as a patrol of several soldiers marched in formation across the top of the wall from one cover to another, lances piercing the very sky itself.

How am I supposed to get past this monster? he thought with a determined frown. No luck getting over, he had no possible way to scale its sheer face. There were only three doors out of the kingdom in each wall, and the northern one had never been opened, since nothing existed in the north but untamed forest. His frown sunk deeper and deeper with every possibility ending in failure.

He sighed. Standing up, he grabbed his pack and headed west, feeling indirectly drawn by something, like a moth to a tavern lamp.

Eventually, he ambled upon a lone cottage in the distance, tucked up near a dilapidated section of towering wall. Greasy black smoke poured out of its cobbled chimney, and a light flickered in a stained-glass window. Ento headed in its direction, not particularly sure why, but deciding to trust where his hooves took him, as Fate had not allowed him very many other options to take.

Coming up to the door, he noticed that the sickly grey and patchy lawn looked like it had been neglected for years. The roof, where scores of bitter orange and chalky yellow moss had not taken over, was terribly worn-out and seemed as though it had been purposefully torn down in a section. Pondering silently, Ento could not for the life of him understand why anyone would want it that way. Smears of something sticky looked like red paint upon the ancient door. In large, blotchy letters there was scrawled the word: Kryte. Witch.

Ento stopped dead, completely doubting whether it was even safe to go near a place that looked like this. He had damned himself at his hesitation, though, and flinched as he heard the door click and swing open with the squeal of horribly dry hinges. A head stuck itself slowly out the old door.

The colt raised a startled eyebrow high as he saw a very, very old Ekina look directly towards him, smiling. The wiry strands of her long, grizzled mane stuck out in every direction around her sawdust-colored fur and stunted horns, and her prying eyes sat deep in her face like rotting fruit in mud.

“Come in please, Ento,” she slurred, and hacked repulsively.

Ento had been ready to run the second the old witch had stuck her head out the door, but his mind kept his hooves bolted to the earth when he had heard her use his name. Against what seemed to be the better judgment of the tiny, screaming, flailing voice of reason in his head, he followed her promptly inside, his eyes locked straight ahead. Gagging as the earthen smell of mushrooms hit his senses unexpectedly, he entered into the main room and was stunned at what he found.

Through the dancing, hazy light of several candles, he saw piles of roughly tanned animal skins in a corner, along with an equal amount of bones on wooden tables against the wall. They had been sorted by size, almost meticulously, it seemed. In the center of the room sat a large fire, which seemed to more so grab light greedily from the room rather than give it off. Indeed, unlike most pit fires he had seen, this one was thick and greasy, and seemed to burn with an eerie coolness. It certainly was not like the bright and cheery fires that he lit in his home. An uncontrollable shiver ran down his spine at the ethereal sensation he got from this place.

The old witch turned around to look at Ento. Upon closer inspection, the lanky colt realized with a shock that she was blind, her gaunt eyes greyed over and unmoving.

“Please, set down your pack, dear, and have a seat around the fire,” she said, and was attacked again by her coughing fit. It seemed she would keel over dead in any moment by the way she was hacking. Ento grimaced at the awful sound.

“Don’t be rude, colt. My illness is not something to make faces at,” she spat viciously. At her vile condemnation, Ento grimaced in shock.

“How did you see my face?” he questioned incredulously. “You are blind, aren’t you?” The old hag smiled, revealing a mouth of disgusting, broken teeth.

“Such an ignorant thing to think, that only ones eyes can see the physical world. Come, sit,” she said, motioning.

Ento did so, feeling more and more unnerved by the old Ekina’s disturbing mannerisms. He looked expectantly at the witch, who was gathering bones methodically in a worn-out clay bowl.

“So,” she said, not turning from her bones, “you’re looking for a way through the wall, yes? Of course I knew that, Ento,” she replied with a cackle as Ento’s mouth opened to rebuke. She turned to the fire, and laid down gingerly on the ratty silk pillow that was opposite him. “And of course I know your name. I've known it and the many other names your eternal soul has called itself in the past.” She began to sort the bones neatly down in front of her, humming ominously as she did so. Ento tried to glance at her around the tall, ugly fire.

“Now,” she said finally, making Ento jump slightly, “I know exactly how to get you past the wall and out to where you need to go. But it’s going to cost you something.” A malicious smile painted her grotesque features.

“Well... what is it?” Ento asked, cautiously. Thoughts came to mind of evil spirits relieving highway adventurers of their soul in return for something of little real value, or losing an small fortune to roving bandits that wanted to make a quick buck with little effort.

“A piece of yourself.” Her smile turned enigmatic. “Not in the physical sense, such as blood, or hair, and not in the ethereal sense, it isn’t your soul I’m after… It is something much more valuable to me, and, ah, something you probably would not miss, if you even knew how to identify it.” Her cackle resounded throughout the small cottage. Ento’s face fell slightly at the witch's dodgy mannerism.

As long as I’m not giving her my soul, or my stomach or my heart, if it gets me over the wall then it’s fine by me, he decided.

“O-okay. I agree to your deal.”

“Excellent!” she squealed, an action and sound extremely unbecoming of such an ancient hag. Scooping them up slowly in a chipped hoof, she threw the bones in the fire, one by one. “Now we begin the ritual.” The haunting smile returned.

As the bones hit the fire, the flames crackled and hissed, spitting hot sparks into the air. Suddenly, a wind picked up from out of nowhere, and grabbed ash and soot from out of the fire. It whirled around the witch, who stood, chanting ominously:

“Throw sinewy bone across the fire, and let the flesh evaporate. Revel in thine sickening ecstasy, and open up the flood gates!”

Ento realized the hag’s voice had lost all the pain of age, and had instead become deep and foreboding. Her pearlescent eyes rolled about in their sockets, having been stained blue by some arcane magic. The colt stared, his mouth agape and eyes wide with mixed awe and horror as she chanted on. The boom of her voice seeming to shake the very foundation of the earth as the room was engulfed in the bitter storm of whirling ash.

“I shout loud your burning mantra, with the confidence of fools, and the unity of fear! It is Fate's decree that this body will break, so let it be me who sets you free! Ehmudenyer, Vakado, Hr, show me thy power! Tuni’Ro, guide me in the sage's guile that is the bane of the dead!”
Ento felt a queer sensation tug at the back of his mind, then as suddenly as it had started, the impression stopped. The witch’s body began to quiet, and her eyes glazed back over into blindness. She sat calm now on her pillow, taking up the guise of the old hag again. She smiled at his face of unbelieving shock.

“Ah, and thank you for that, my dear. I shall be using it quite well!" The broken smile cleaved its way across her face even further as she seemed to think up another brilliant idea. "For being such a good little colt, before you must depart, I shall enlighten you of your fortune.” Her smile turned to a cold sneer. “But be warned: while the prediction will be true, the way you may interpret it will be ever changing. Fear a wandering mind, colt.”

She threw another hoof-full of broken bones into the fire, and it snapped quickly into a cold, green blaze. The witch’s shadowy eyes seemed to look out beyond the plane of existence, her face contrasting grotesquely by the unnatural light of the fire. Aloud, she shouted:

“We are all joined to the universe, and fated to darkness! It is here we face each other, in the blackness of the night, and it is here we see each other, where only I can read your mind.

"Your future is so defined: Beware. You’ve crossed the line this time! Out there, are you so sure of what you’ll find? She will, in the end, be a victim of your life, and you, a witness to her own demise: a fool's unbridled love! It is a destiny brought on by eternity’s whim!

"Now as you stand before me, I can feel your craving, and the way that you behave. I can hear the thunder roll, and the bleeding of a million souls! It is only in the end that you will know: you’ve done this to yourself!

"From this point on, there’s nowhere else to turn. So ride!”

At this final utterance, Ento felt the world fall out from underneath him. The last thing he saw as midnight-ink engulfed his perception was the wicked smile of the witch. Everything fell out of existence in a single, swift motion.

A First Glance

Chapter III. - A First Glance

Ento rested in a clearing, watching the dragonflies dance in the reflection of the twilight sky. The perfect reflection of the pond almost looked as though they were great dragons battling within the infinite space of a darkening arena.

He sighed, feeling a creeping ache settle into his legs. It had been about a week since his incident with the cryptic witch. After regaining consciousness, he had found himself lying among briar bushes in the middle of the Northern forest, and judging by the position of the moon, he figured that he had been out for a good hour. Since then, he had been traveling northward, starting from the beginnings of dusk and setting down at sunrise to rest in rough beds of branches, wrapped in a wool blanket that he had brought with him.

Ento blinked to clear his sleep-filled eyes, and letting out a deep yawn, his mouth seemed to open into a vicious maw of razor teeth: an evolutionary offshoot that remained in the Ekina’s modern world. Stopping to admire his incisors, he clicked his jaw open and closed. Most Ekina prided themselves on the length and sharpness of their teeth, and spent elaborate time ensuring they were well taken care of.

Ento smiled coyly into the pond at the reflection of the darkening sky. Twilight had always been his absolute favorite time of the night. The ambiguous and magical presence he felt as the blue sky was replaced by the grand assortment of stars left an extraordinary feeling deep in his gut. He knew it was something greater than himself. It had never ceased to amaze him, and he doubted that it ever would.

After a time, he stood up gingerly, stretching his fore and aft legs, and finally his neck and head. With sensitive eyes, Ento scanned the dark clearing to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. Finally satisfied at the site, he loaded up and took off. Being an Ekina, he was most active during the early evening to late morning and had been traveling as such. Ekinas had no problem spending waking hours in the sun, but the intricacy of their eyes was developed generally for the darkness that their ancestors had hunted in. Daytime travel resulted in no more than a slight headache for the nocturnal beings.

After leaving the clearing, he let out another sigh, and made a glance along the dirt path he had been on for over seven hundred miles. Trotting along, he looked at hoofprints that had been etched into the hard packed dirt. As he wondered what Ekina there were so far out from the kingdom, he realized that he had barely seen another living thing on his journey. Indeed, past the North gate, he had found no other sentient creatures. His last contact was his run in with the witch, and save for a hoof full of opossums, bats and owls, the trip had been considerably lonely. Ento began to have doubts that the journey was even worth the effort.

To top off everything, the thick, swampy grey clouds that had chased him in from the south looked dangerously like:

Rain.

Ento trudged forward, shivering in his overcoat in the dead of night. The sheets of rain blasted him sideways, sending miniature tidal waves off of his waterproof overcoat. At least, it was supposed to be waterproof. He cringed, feeling bitterly cold water drops collecting along his back and running down his legs.

Alik’Kr curse my damn bad luck, he thought, stumbling over a root exposed by the rushing water. He had no idea where he was going. The rain obscured his sensitive vision, and rendered his nighttime sight useless. He stumbled around a half mile more, almost blind and soaking wet in the unrelenting rain that pelted his face in every direction. Unable to see where he was going, he eventually tripped once more and dropped straight to the ground.

I give up. I just give up. He sobbed, exasperated. Cold, tired, and hungry, he laid splayed out on the ground where he had fallen, covered in thick, disgusting mud. The rain pelted him mercilessly, stinging any exposed skin with frigid, blistering drops.

Ento couldn’t tell if he were crying: the water ran down the edge of his hood onto his face, rushing away any tears that sprang up. Or perhaps my tears simply are the rain, he mused morbidly. He shut his stinging eyes tight.

When he finally opened them- it seemed like eternities had passed- he saw, in the distance, a light. Captured by the brilliance of this solitary signal in the dark, he numbly stood up and began walking towards it. Ento didn’t know where he was going or what he would find, but he could feel the threads of eternity guiding him. He knew something good would come of it. It had to.

. . . .

Twilight Sparkle sat in bed, finishing up Spirits of the Mountain Spring- a recent personal favorite about a troupe of ponies and a hidden crypt. As she finished the last sentence, she smiled weakly and blinked her tired eyes.

“Such a great story… but I need some sleep,” she mumbled wearily, and got up to turn off the reading lamp. I can’t believe I stayed up so late finishing that book! she thought, glancing at the clock. The time read nearly half past three. Oh well, it was worth it, she decided with a slight chuckle.

She glanced at Spike’s bed, empty now, since he had gone with Rarity to a fashion debut in Manehatten to help her keep track of things. Which meant schlepping everything around… she added. Not that Spike would mind anyways. I’m sure he’ll be way too distracted by Rarity’s showers of appreciation. She chuckled tiredly again.

Twilight passed by the window and gazed down onto Ponyville. Not a single light was on around, and water smashed up against the gilded window. Just as she was about to turn around to switch off the light, her eye caught a shape moving slowly outside in the dark.

A figure in a black coat and hood trudged through the torrents of rain. Nothing but the tip of a grey-green snout and a short, jet black tail stuck out from the cloak, water dripping off from both exposed ends. Twilight gasped. That poor pony! Caught outside in this storm... I’ll get them in here and dried off. Maybe a hot meal will be in order…

Her mind raced as fast as her hooves as she ran downstairs and threw open the door.

. . . .

Ento came to the source of the light and looked up: a giant tree. A single window lay lit, the light a blur in the drenched sky. He squinted up, and thought he saw something at the window… but by the time he had wiped the rain out of his face, whatever it was had gone. Ento stood still for a heartbeat, and then began trudging towards the bi-sectioned door.

As he took his first step, the door flung open and he saw a… Something. Ento stopped as he saw a purple animal. It looked similar to an Ekina, but slightly smaller, far more colorful, and most significantly, lacking the long, swept back horns that were a prominent feature of the Ekina. There was, instead, a single horn that protruded from the creature’s bobbed mane. Ento cocked his head as he heard a voice faintly between the roars of thunder.

“…On in…Hurry! The storm… Dry inside!”

That was all Ento needed to hear to be convinced the creature was safe. Four hours of wandering in drenching rain and crackling lightning could drive even the most obstinate Ekina inside. Ento picked up a brisk trot towards the door, and clambered inside. The creature turned behind him and shut the door tightly, insulating the two against nature’s fury. The moan of the storm died away to a murmur.

Ento walked further into the room, awed at the multitude of books that lined the walls. He knew he’d be happy being stuck inside here. He lowered his hood and turned to the creature, smiling grandly. He winced as he was met with a piercing scream.

. . . .

As Twilight shut the door and locked it, she drew up questions in her mind about her new guest: What’s your name? Where are you from? How’d you get caught up in that awful storm? What can I do to help? She smiled and looked over at her guest for the first time in any detail.

Her smile lessened as it dropped its hood to reveal long, sweeping horns, and her expression turned to a frightened contortion as it turned to face her, displaying a mouthful of long, razor sharp teeth, and deep crimson eyes, the pupils unnaturally twisted and strange. Its cropped mane and disturbingly thin build only added to the horrifying image. Twilight shrieked out a bloodcurdling scream and backed up until she hit the door, and kept backing up, her numb mind fruitlessly trying to escape the sadistic visage she saw in front of her.

. . . .

Ento stood dumbfounded, smile dropping as he witnessed the purple creature’s horrifying shock. He dropped his pack, and the cord that held it shut snapped, spilling its contents on the floor with a loud crash and his belongings flew every which-way in the room. Ento glanced down as his book The Exploits and Voyages of Entar’Ma the Brave skidded across the floor. It stopped halfway between him and the purple creature.

It had stopped screaming when the sack burst open, and sat whimpering at the foot of the door. Ento saw it glance down at the book, and he followed its gaze down to the black leather cover.

. . . .

Twilight’s heart was racing. She had watched the creature’s pack fall to the floor and burst open, alien things scattering in all directions across the room. Her keen librarian’s eyes had locked onto the black leather-bound book as it launched out and slid across the floor. It stopped in between them, and she made out the title, written in gilded gold letters.

She looked up at the creature once more. Its gruesome grin had disappeared, and was replaced with a look of startled confusion. The voracious look that had filled its eyes had disappeared. He (she assumed it was a male) pawed at the ground with a hoof, seemingly embarrassed, and looked as though he obviously had no clue what the cause of her reaction was.

My gosh, she thought, I don’t think he realizes what a fright he looks! In fact, I’m sure I look quite alien in his eyes as well! Twilight slowly stood up, trembling violently at the scare she had just had.

“H-Hi,” she managed to stammer to him. He looked down at her quizzically, eyebrow raised. With a deep, liquid voice he replied:

“Hello to you as well.”

Proper Introductions

Chapter IV. – Proper Introductions

Twilight settled herself, attempting to calm the shaking that dominated her body. She took quick, deep breaths and finally steadied herself, her eyes coming down to rest on the scuffed black book that lay on the floor in front of her.

“Oh,” the creature said in his liquid tone. “Let me get that…” He began to step forward to retrieve the book, but Twilight interjected politely.

“Oh no, that’s fine, I-I’ve got it,” she said, voice quavering, and with a red sparkle, lifted the book into the air, along with the creature’s pack and other belongings that had spilled on the floor. The creature stopped in his tracks, eyes wide and mouth agape as his belongings floated around him into his pack. Twilight inspected each one with deliberate interest: small maps, a compass, a folded leather object, an intricately designed pocket knife, a leather satchel that read MECDIIN, and a small package wrapped in twine and paper. The majority of it was alien to her, but she handled it all carefully just the same.

Once everything had been packed in as neatly as only a pony such as Twilight could muster, last came the black leather-bound book. Twilight eyed it appreciatively, laying it neatly on top of his things.

“The Exploits and Voyages of Entar’Ma the Brave, hm? In all my years of studying and reading, I’ve never come across this book.” She managed a polite chuckle. “Well, I mean, I’ve heard plenty with a similar title, and I’m certain a similar plot but... Entar’Ma? My, such an odd name, isn’t it? Then again, I suppose it isn’t the weirdest one out there I guess. Why, you take my friend Pinkie Pie for example…” She stopped about three feet from the creature, a smile slowly growing on her face as she spoke. She’d been rambling again, she realized, and quickly added with a blush:

“So, you, uh, like to read? Yes?”

The creature didn’t seem to be following what Twilight had even said. He looked from the pack, to the book, his eyes coming to rest at her horn with a slightly depreciative glare. Twilight felt the odd sensation of being scrutinized overtake her, and gulped nervously. Finally, the creature spoke, slowly, as though he were picking his words very carefully.

“How…? Did you do that…With?” Although it sounded like the creature was taking great pains to compose a viable question, he was still tripping over his words. His liquid voice seemed almost to Twilight as a stream being caught and ensnared on great rocks.

“Oh, you mean my horn?” she said, bringing up a slight burst of magic to light up the beacon at the pinnacle of her crown. Sparks shot out, and seemed to only make the creature’s face more and more confused. Twilight stopped, a puzzled look forming on her face as well.

“Well, I’m a unicorn,” she said, matter-of-factly. Stopping, she corrected herself. “Er, well, an alicorn now.” With a flutter of her wings, she regarded the creature’s increasingly incredulous stare once more. “Regardless, all alicorns and unicorns can use some sort of magic. You… don’t have those where you’re from?” she asked, astonished. The creature shook his head, his mouth hung open still.

“Well, ah,” Twilight said, and laughed nervously. She straightened up as best she could muster, and asked:

“Where exactly are you from?”

The creature seemed to have snapped out of his daze. Collecting his bearings, he looked down on Twilight and answered.

. . . .

“Well, the kingdom of Ek’Rael,” Ento said. His mind was on fire with the amassment of questions that had borne out of everything he had seen in the last seven minutes. This purple creature certainly is, well, peculiar. Especially so when she sat screaming on the floor. Is that the customary greeting for guests? The more he thought, the more Ento had no idea what was going on. He certainly had gotten his money’s worth on this trip so far.

“Ah, well… Okay I’ve never heard of it but it sounds, well… exciting!” she replied. Her enthusiasm was easily discernible, despite the fact her voice quavered with nervousness.

“What’s your name?” she added.

“It’s, ah, Ento. Ento’Ba.” He extended a hoof for a fellow Ekina embrace, but was surprised to find the purple creature shaking it instead. Weirder and weirder, he thought. He broke into a small smile. I’m going to like it here.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle, but you can just call me Twilight, if you like,” she added, a grin spreading across her face as well, as she shook his hoof with alarming intensity. ”So, Ento’Ba--”

“Please,” Ento chuckled, as the alicorn’s strange embrace began to finally taper off in intensity. “Just Ento. We rarely use our family name unless it is by royalty or identification.” He looked down again at the small unicorn, his eyes glowing amber.

“Twilight, please, tell me about yourself. What is this place, and most importantly, what exactly are you? Are there more of you here?”

Twilight seemed to take this as a cue, ad Ento could see as her mind engaged off in twenty different directions.

“Well, let’s see. You would currently be located in Ponyville, which is located in, oh, I don’t know, the southern realm of the kingdom of Equestria?” She smiled, and grabbed several books and charts off the shelves form various places with the same reddish sparkle. His eyes followed each illustration and map closely, becoming somewhat dizzy at the multicolored display in front of him. He smiled. Ento could tell that she reveled not only in in having knowledge, but sharing it as well.

The charts disappeared, replaced with illustrations of brightly colored creatures that looked similar to Twilight, with slight distinctions. She continued on:

“And I am a pony… specifically an alicorn. Here in Equestria, there are four kinds of ponies: Unicorns, who have the ability to use magic. The pegasi, who are blessed with the power of flight, use their wings to get around. There are some alicorns, such as myself, who have the abilities of both unicorn and pegasi. There are also the earth ponies, which don’t have any special physical features, except that they are all hard-working and strong. But that’s certainly not a handicap, believe me on that,” Twilight added with a wink. Ento found himself nodding along agreeably, though he was more confused now than he had been originally.

Twilight paused, eyes out of focus.

“I noticed you don’t have a cutie mark. Does your kind not have them?”

Ento stopped, not sure of what to say. A cutie mark? he thought, wondering what in the good grace of Alik’Kr she was talking about. He realized his thoughts must have surfaced on his face as Twilight added without a prompt:

“Yes. You know, a cutie mark! Everypony gets one when they learn about their special talent!” Twilight smiled, wiggling her rump. Ento noticed for the first time that she had a twilight star emblazoned on her flank. “Mine is magic,” she said, beaming.

Ento glanced over at his flank. All he saw was a slightly muddled patch of fur where his “cutie mark” would have been.

“Well, no. I guess we don’t have them, do we?” he laughed.

Twilight’s face suddenly lit up, and then darkened slightly. She added quickly:

“Sorry, don’t worry about it and please, don’t let me blather on all night. Tell me about yourself!”

Ento cleared his throat.

“Well, I am from a little town called Bataro. We’re in the Northern part of Ek’Rael. My father owns the forge there, and the Ba family has been making armor and weapons for the Lord and Lady for, well, over a millennium I guess.” He paused, clearing his throat once more, and thought. Finally, he added:

“Oh, I’m sorry. I am an Ekina, by the way, I—” Ento stopped at a loud gasp. He looked down at Twilight, who blushed, apologizing.

. . . .

I can’t believe it! Twilight thought ecstatically. Zero luck on finding anything about the Ekina, and not but a week later one just walks into my home!

Easy, Twilight, another part of her mind warned. Go off on him and you’re bound to scare him. Besides, the Princess asked us specifically not to pursue information about the Ekina…

The other mental Twilight huffed. Yes, I know. But she didn’t say anything about asking a live Ekina!

The logical Twilight shook her head. Whatever. Just don’t be upset when I say “I told you so.” Twilight came back down to earth, and apologized to Ento.

“Sorry, it’s just that, well, I’ve been…” She chuckled nervously. “Er. Never mind!” she blurted. “Please, tell me about the Ekina! Everything you know!”

Ento raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, Twilight,” he said mildly, a smile on his lips, and began his rendition of the Ekina species.

Twilight listened raptly, her mind a sponge that absorbed every nuance, anecdote, and detail to the letter.

A Foreigner's Interpretation

Chapter V. – A Foreigner's Interpretation

Ento brought forth what he could remember from teachings of the mages, who often visited the town when he had been a young colt. Their stories still captured his imagination today with the vibrant portrayals and tricks of the eye that were their forte.

He began with the beginnings of time for the Ekina people. The first of known time were the hunters of the night who emerged from the Great Forest. As they crept out of the home that the forest made for them, they experienced a new sensation of living beyond the trees. Undiscovered fauna and flora captured their imaginations, and set them out into a new world. In time, the expansion of Common Knowledge and Reason, spread by the Enlightened Few, began a period of settling down for the Ekina, who learned to take advantage of the environment, rather than strain to survive in it.

“And where did these ‘Enlightened Few’ learn this knowledge? That seems like quite a far leap to take from being nocturnal hunters to a species that used logic and reason,” Twilight interjected.

Ento paused, mind reeling, remembering.

“No Ekina knows exactly where their knowledge came from. But, as the legend goes, the Enlightened few were visited by two great spirits upon the peak of the mountain Bleas: first by the entity Tuni’Ro, the Mother of the Below, who it was said appeared to them as a corpse, clad in the silk of mountain grass.”

“A corpse?” Twilight interjected uncertainly. “And that didn’t scare the Few straight off the mountain at all?” A puzzled look spread across her face.

“Well, I’m certain the Few weren’t exactly contented to find a corpse talking to them. But it brought about our fierce respect for the dead.” Ento said in a very matter-of-fact tone. He paused, thinking.

“A death in Ek’Rael is treated as a holiday. All members of the family of the deceased take a pilgrimage to Brelset, the capital city, and travel far under the caves of the castle. These catacombs stretch deep into the heart of the mountain Bleas, which Brelset rests upon. After the mages lay the deceased to final rest, the family returns home, and a great feast is had in their name. The dead are not grieved over. Death is always respected and cherished.” Ento finished, and glanced at his listener. Twilight’s shocked face stared back at him.

“What is it, Twilight?” he asked carefully.

“That’s such a different way of life! Here, death is worried over and often times, feared. Ponies can grieve for years before they’re over the death of a loved one. Various arts often reflect the enigma of death: writing, painting, poetry and the like,” Twilight listed deliberately; face souring slightly as she went on. “I don’t get how any species could treat death with such a, a…” She gestured with a hoof, searching for a phrase; “deliberate merriment.”

“I suppose different cultures have different beliefs,” he suggested gently. Twilight finally nodded in agreement.

“I suppose you’re right, Ento. I shouldn’t be so quick to judge. Please go on with your story,” she said with a small smile. Ento nodded as he tried to remember his place in the tale.

“Tuni’Ro was the Mother of the land. She showed the Few that they had the power in themselves to rise up and use the earth for their own ends. She taught them true Common Knowledge, the power of what was around them.”

“And what about the other spirit?”

“Alik’Kr, the Father of the Above, appeared that night to the Few. As the legend goes, he appeared in the stars, and showed the Few the power of Reason: that by analyzing their Common Knowledge, they could achieve higher understanding. This was the beginning of the First Era.”

Ento paused for a breath, and to collect his thoughts. He glanced at Twilight, who sat on the floor like a little schoolphilly, looking up expectantly, a rapt expression on her face. Ento smiled internally, delighted at the knowledge he was sharing.

I’m obviously the first Ekina to visit this land in a great while. I’m like an ambassador to this pony. Better make sure I do this right. He took a breath and continued on.

“All Ekina flourished under the teachings of the Enlightened Few. Major families spread outwards from the forest, and established great towns and cities. Using their Common Knowledge, they discovered the metals of the earth and bent them as their will saw fit. With these revelations came mighty cities and tools that advanced the welfare of every Ekina. However,” he added, his voice darkening in effect to compliment the story,” this knowledge was a double-edged sword. Literally so, in fact.

“The Ekina, being a relatively primitive species, had retained the killer’s instinct that their ancestors had used to survive day to day. The advancement of smithing and metallurgy brought about more and more terrible weapons of war.” Ento’s inflection had changed, darker than ever before. Twilight’s face was rapt as he went on to list vicious contraptions and tools whose only point of existence was the killing of others, tools that the Warlords had devised over a period of time he only mentioned as the Age of Nightfall.

“The aggressive and boastful nature of the ancient Ekina, combined with stockpiles of war materials, led to huge skirmishes between the ruling families, who vied for any scrap of power they couldn’t buy or marry into. Hundreds of lives were shed in the first months, as various conflicts broke out randomly and unannounced in dominions across the land.

“The war soon began fully, and Ekina learned that by joining forces with other families, their power could be greatened. Thousands were being mercilessly killed each month as armies who swore multiple allegiances swept across the land.

“All Ekina of the time either lived in a constant state of hatred and resentment of other families or fear of slaughter and capture by them. The different houses that had joined together soon found a blade at their throats by the families they had ‘allied’ with. Most nobles of the houses met very gruesome ends.”

To this, Twilight grimaced. Ento found himself frowning at the story as well.

“But not all families were power-hungry,” he added, recompensing. “Some despised the fighting and wished only for the end to the war that consumed the land.

“So, finally, the Qa family, who lived upon the side of the mountain the Enlightened Few had climbed so many generations ago, had had more than enough of this war that had been killing so many innocent. They sent emissaries out in every direction from the kingdom to find help, since no other family could be trusted. The Family waited for months, to no avail…”

“Finally, on their bleakest of days, in came a scout, bringing with him two lone figures, cloaked, it’s said, in shrouds of pure white and deepest black. The elders of the family greeted the figures with gifts, blessings and uncertainties, in hopes that these mysterious figures would rise the land up and out of trepidation.

“After a private audience, the figures agreed to help, but shared with the Elders knowledge that the kingdom they had just left was only in its state of infancy. They warned that they themselves, as well as their subjects, could only do so much for the war-torn land of Strei, as it had been known in the First Era. The Elders, desperate to save their beloved land, agreed to anything the pair asked and eventually made a pact with the figures that they would devote a majority of their metal-rich land, as well as their astute knowledge of metallurgy, to the benefit of the Away-Kingdom that the two hailed from.

“So, with the deal having been sealed, the figures left, vowing to return with a fighting force of their best warriors. The elders returned their promise of devoting a multitude of resources and effort to their kingdom.

“But, as soon as the doors had closed behind the figures, the elders glanced at each other fearfully. They knew that what they had promised could not be delivered in any lifetime of theirs. So they hoped against hope that something would come out of this deal they had made. They waited until the armies of the Away-Kingdom arrived to help them turn the tide, and unite the land of Strei.”

Ento paused, thinking about what had come next.

“So, what happened?” Twilight asked, as involved in his story as any young Ekina would be as his grandfather told him of the struggle of the First Era.

Ento smiled at her comment, as well as her enthusiasm.

“Well, the figures went through with their promise. Within a month, soldiers from the Away-Kingdom came to Strei. Stories have been told both of the soldier’s bravery, as well as their otherworldly appearance and seemingly unreal feats, ranging from their abilities to wield objects in their mind, to breathing fire, even the ability to fly and cause explosions without chemicals. These are all stories and legends, though. No Ekina really knows what is actually true, if anything; time has washed away truth and replaced it with myth.

“As the war raged on, whole Ekina militias dropped their weapons where they stood, as they watched vast numbers of these unearthly soldiers march forth on their land. Not to mention, the soldiers were not nocturnal; they could sneak upon cities and towns during the day and capture whole battalions in their sleep.”

“So the armies of the Away-Kingdom succeeded in ending the war, right?”

“Yes,” Ento replied. “The armies of the clandestine Away-Kingdom were brave and fierce, and soon had brought every warring house under subjugation. An ultimatum was sent throughout the land: as a condition of surrender, four elder members of each family were required to meet at the summit of Mt. Bleas in order to form a new kingdom, in which all Ekina lived equally under the protection of a lordship.

“Now, for the Ekina, pride matters a great deal. Every house showed up at the summit, some more grudgingly than others, and all not by personal choice, much to the pleasure of the Qa family. But much to their concern, the cloaked figures insisted they take part in leading the summit as well.”

“Why?” Twilight asked. “They weren’t part of the kingdom. What should that mean, then, if these figures are just allowed to step in and take over whenever they want?”

“Well,” Ento said, contemplating this perspective. “The figures were certainly a big help in bringing an end to the War of Unending Night, as it came to be known. Not to mention I’m sure the Qa family made certain to appease the figures as much as they possibly could because of the impending fallout of the deal. No one is really sure, I suppose.”

Twilight nodded along thoughtfully. Ento could tell her mind was racing by the faint glimmer in her eye.

“Go on, please. Sorry about that,” she apologized.

“It’s no problem, Twilight. Really.” He smiled as he got back into the rhythm of the story. “Anyhow, the summit was beyond a success. All seventeen of the ruling families swore fealty to the Lord and Lady of the land; these were Atah’Qa and Sahi’Qa, respectively; the land was now known collectively as Ek’Rael. They, in turn, promised to protect and strengthen the Ekina as a species whenever possible. The figures, satisfied with their help, took their armies with them and left with only memories remaining, telling all they would return in time for the deal they had made.

“So began the Second Era, also known as the Common Era, since, well, it’s happening today. As we speak, in fact.” Ento finished his story, looking at Twilight. She was returning his gaze with the same bright fire that had been ignited since he began his story.

“Well, wait. What about the figures? Their promise? Were they ever helped?” Twilight sounded honestly upset; a testament to her ubiquity when it came to storytelling and ancient lore.

“Well of course!” Ento said, puffing his chest in a small show of pride. “The pact created a period of peace and fortune for the emerging land of Ek’Rael. Industry opened up, and modernization boomed everywhere. Surpluses expanded in every corner of the market.

“After several years of prosperity, the Elder’s past came back to greet them : the figures came back, asking for the resources they had been pledged. They told of the struggle in their land, where the races of their people had rebelled due to the difficulties of integrated living. Each species called for and desired raw materials for various different reasons; and as it seemed, the land they lived upon could simply not keep up with the modernization of different species that had entirely separate interests. Not to mention…”

Ento stopped talking, as he realized Twilight’s odd reaction to this part of his story. She seemed puzzled, as though pieces of a thought were slowly arranging themselves into a whole.

“Are you okay, Twilight?’ Ento asked, concerned.

. . . .

Snap out of it, Twi! He’s talking to you! a voice called somewhere in her head. Twilight brought everything back into focus.

“I said, is everything okay?” Ento asked, rather concerned. He was standing on the tips of his hooves, as though he were attempting to look straight into her mind to find out what was going on.

“Er, yeah. I’m sorry Ento. Go on, ignore my scatter mindedness, I’m just. Tired, is all.” She smiled weakly, trying to cover up her embarrassment.

“Alright, well. The Lord and Lady made good on their agreement, and brought to the figures the resources they asked for. Even as the contract was being finished, though, the figures turned on the Lord and Lady, and demanded much more than they had been promised. Outraged, the Lord and Lady retaliated in full effect. They spread the news throughout the land that members of the Away-Kingdom had obviously started the war in order to broker this deal and then take away from the Ekina what was, naturally, theirs. And, of course, it worked. The ancient Ekina were glad to find a scapegoat in something as they had, only a generation before, picked up bodies of their dead kin with heavy hearts and bitter resentment.

“So, with a kingdom rallying underneath them, the Lord and Lady ordered the figures and their subjects banished from Ek’Rael for the rest of time without a scrap of the resources the figures had been promised. The city mobbed, murdering the accompanying soldiers that they had before been willing to feed in their own homes and had fought alongside.

“As the guards escorted the pair out of the great hall, they vowed they would never return to this land, and said they would punish all their subjects who dared to come here. Needless to say, it wasn’t a tearful farewell,” he said with a grimace.

“And that’s all I can really say. The next thousand and a half years are pretty common. Darn periods of peacetime, the storyteller’s bane, eh?” He said, winking, and laughed.

Twilight nodded absentmindedly; her thoughts were elsewhere.

This story he’s telling sounds awfully familiar, she thought. Well, at least the part about the other land’s rebellion, disagreements and shortage of resources. That’s almost an exact word-for-word account of pre-modern Equestrian history. The figures… I wonder? “Pure white and deepest black?” Sounds like someponies I know. And it would put this story at just the right moment in time. Hmm. More and more twists and turns in this story.

Twilight refocused back into reality, gaze coming into focus at a mildly amused Ento.

“You know, If you’d like, you can get to bed. I don’t know if you’re a very good example for it, but I assume ponies aren’t nocturnal.” Ento chuckled at this little joke.

Twilight started to protest, but the parts of her brain that had burned out from a combination of staying up all hours of the night, getting the living hay scared out of them, and having to race around every question she had been forming during Ento’s story seemed to have suddenly gained a lot of persuasive ability.

“I suppose you’re right,” Twilight admitted with a sigh. “Erm, will you be okay here? There’s a cot in the closet for guests, and a blanket and pillow…” She was cut off by a huge yawn.

Ento smiled at the gesture of kindness.

“Thank you, that’s quite generous of you. I’ll be up for a few hours more, until morning. If you don’t mind, I’d love to check out your collection of books until bedtime?”

Twilight nodded an affirmative, too tired to form sentences any longer.

“Okay,” Ento said quietly. “See you in the afternoon then, Twilight. Thank you again for everything”

Twilight mumbled about food in the fridge, and with a gentle nudge from Ento, turned to go straight to bed. The moment her head hit the pillow she fell into a deep sleep, charged with dreams of a far-away land and a great struggle for good and evil.

. . . .

Ento walked to the closet to set up his cot. Twilight Sparkle. A pony, probably the strangest pony I may ever meet, he thought to himself.

But, there was something about her... I feel like I’ve known her, somehow.

He shook his head slightly, pulling out the cot and some pillows.

Impossible. You can’t ever have met her before, she’s a pony. There’s not a single pony in Ek’Rael, and there never have been. You know that. He sighed, as he set up his bed in the entry room.

Ento passed off the thought, and finishing up, went to go look for a book to start reading. He came across more than he could ever read in any lifetime, and decided to settle on Daring-Do and the Golden Sabre.

He sat up in bed, listening to the rain as he read about a pony that he was quickly falling in love with: nothing appealed to his sense of adventure more than a character that pulled off amazing exploits on the drop of a hat.

In the back of his mind, however, he felt the nagging pull that asked what it was about a pony named Twilight Sparkle that he found so, so...

Remarkable.

Stretching The Bounds of Imagination

Chapter VI.– Stretching The Bounds of Imagination

Twilight awoke, one eye opening slowly. Dim grey light shined in through the ornamental window, bathing her body in the warmth of a sun that had been filtered by clouds as tiny drops of water pattered against the glass. Twilight yawned and sat up, head clearing. To her mild surprise, a set of blankets fell off her body as she sat up. She hadn’t gone to bed with a blanket, nor a comforter, being too tired to bother making up a bedspread.

Her confusion was even more apparent when the clock’s hands jumped out at her to read the time of a quarter past four. She heard the sound of a busy kitchen downstairs, and subconsciously found it as a cue to get out of bed.

Dragging herself to the bathroom, she ran hot water in the sink, and proceeded to wash up. After she felt more refreshed, she put on a smile, and walked gingerly down the stairs, as she did when she were a little philly coming downstairs to see what was for breakfast on Sunday mornings.

Turning into the kitchen, she was startled as she saw the form of Ento at the stove, vigorously stirring a large pot. Shaking off the tiny heart attack, she sauntered across the room. The smell was palatable, if not slightly bitter as it wafted throughout the kitchen. Ento greeted her cheerfully, although he did not turn from the stove.

“Good morning Twilight!”

Twilight mumbled a reply as cheerfully as she could muster as sleep still clung at her conscious.

“Mail came. It’s on the counter. Such funny letters you ponies send,” he continued on without skipping a beat at the stove. Twilight glanced at it as she walked towards the table. As far as she could tell, the mail looked exactly as it always did.

Twilight took a seat at the table, set in a ridiculous fashion. Silverware lay in the wrong place, some not even present, some seeming to have no use at all for the current meal, and some empty spaces that seemed waiting to be filled. Twilight stared at the setting, mind blank.

"Last time I stay up so late" she mumbled into her bowl, shaking her head in attempt to clear away sleep.

Ento finally came over to sit down, carrying the large steaming pot of steaming foodstuffs gingerly between his sharp teeth. He set it down in the middle of the table, and served the two of them.

"What's that?" he asked to Twilight's listless form.

"Erm, nothing," she added quickly with a painted-on smile. She could feel her mind finally click into place, jump-starting as sparks ignited a cool, precise flame. Awake at last.

“I tried not to make too much of a mess. I had some leftover kuta wrapped up in my bag, and I found some spices above the sink. It looked like they had been alphabetized… But, er, they aren't anymore... Sorry” Ento chuckled as he finished filling up his bowl and started in on Twilight’s.

Twilight watched as a thick, phlegm-like green stew was ladled into her bowl. Chunks of what looked like stringy gourd sat in it, and a wafting aroma rose up from it as well.

“So, what is this, exactly?” Twilight asked with the best smile she could muster. She didn’t want to be rude, but she didn’t know if she could eat this, let alone try it.

“Ba family kuta soup. It’s a long held family recipe. Basically, it’s the flesh of the kuta plant, dried and stripped, boiled in water. Add spice as desired. Simple, but effective.” Ento winked. “Half my journey was off this stuff. Vari Mena.” He laughed, and dug into his stew with a voracious appetite.

Twilight held her smile, and then looked down at the steaming green glop in her bowl. She sniffed it: it smelled of musty vegetables. She prodded it with her spoon: the stew barely moved under the pressure, and the dent she made didn’t reform, either. Finally, she decided to taste it. She nearly gagged as the bitter taste hit her tongue, and what little she had tried slid around her mouth mercilessly. She forced down the mouthful as quietly as she could.

I can’t eat this! she thought, feeling violently nauseous. She decided to stall for time.

“What’s a kuta?”

Ento stopped eating and looked up at Twilight, mouth nearly bursting with green soup. He swallowed, asking:

"You don't know what a kuta is? Really?" His gaze turned skeptical as Twilight shook her head slowly. "You’ve got to have that here." Another no. His eyebrows furled, his face screwed up in what Twilight guessed to be a mixture of disbelief and amusement.

Finally, Ento let out a hearty chuckle, and, clearing his throat, proceeded to tell all about the wonders of the kuta fruit (as Twilight would soon learn, there were many).

“Well,” he said carefully, “the kuta is a large gourd-like plant. It was the first food that Tuni’Ro showed the Few what to take advantage of. High in viable energy, you could feed an army off a single Kuta plant, it’s said.” Ento began tapping one hoof with another, counting off. “This thing has unlimited uses. You can bake it, broil it, roast it, rotisserie, soups, stews, pies, tarts, deep fried, pan fried, seared, puréed, juiced, bar-be-q, salads, frozen, ferment, even on a stick.” Ento laughed at this last possibility, the memories of magnificent fairs with brilliant banners in the careless breeze of a summertime Brelset stinging at his homesick mind.

Twilight laughed along, for reasons close to home as well.

“Wow. You know, you sound an awful lot like my friend Applejack. I tell you, that pony has more uses for apples than a dragon for treasure.” Twilight glanced over at Ento with a grin. His face had become serious, and seemed confused.

“What’s an apple?” he asked.

To this, Twilight could do nothing but burst out with an ecstatic giggle.

. . . .

After dinner (or to Ento, a hearty breakfast), and much apologizing of uneaten soup (“I just don’t get very hungry after I wake up, I promise!”), the two cleaned up and cleared the table to talk more. Two steaming cups of tea sat in front of their respective owners.

“So, Twilight, tell me more about your species. Ponies, is it? Tell me about the land I’m in here.” He skimmed the room as he said this last part, as if he were gesturing the room to be the entirety of Equestria.

“Yes, ponies, that’s correct, and we’re currently in Ponyville, Equestria. Let me start back at the beginnings of Equestrian history, so you can get a full measure of what we ponies are all about.”

And so Twilight went on, in the scholarly manner she exploited so well. She explained the events told on Hearths Warming Eve, the settling of Equestria, and the founding of Ponyville by the Apple family. She covered again in more detail the three main species of pony, and told him about the annual dragon migration that passed through Ponyville. She highlighted some points of interest within Equestria, such as Manehatten, Phillydelphia, Las Pegasus, and Neigh York. She delved into details on the rise of the two princesses, the building of Canterlot, the first Discord incident, the banishment of Luna, the return of Nightmare Moon, the second Discord incident, the Battle of Canterlot and the Changelings, the rise of the Crystal Kingdom and King Sombra, and how she and her friends had defeated them all.

Ento stopped Twilight.

“Whoa, wait. So, you’re telling me that you and five other ponies stopped a goddess of the night, the lord of the draconoqui, an army of shape-shifting insects and their queen, and a shadow king with the elements of, er…?”

“Harmony.” Twilight said firmly, and let out a deep breath “Yes, I know it sounds hard to believe, but it really did happen,” Twilight appealed. She smiled awkwardly, realizing how foolish it sounded to a stranger.

Ento merely shrugged, and said:

“I believe you. I’ve seen the things that horn of yours can do, Miss ‘Element-of-Magic.’” Ento winked and laughed. “It’s a heck of a lot more than any shaman in Ek’Rael can pull off. You should see some of the claims those Ekina make, ridiculous, I swear.” Ento shook his head, smiling as he remembered home, another jab at his psyche. It seemed so far away now.

Twilight picked up on the vibe Ento began to give off. She put a hoof on Ento’s, and smiled. He looked up at her, returning the smile. A broad mouth of razor teeth gleamed back at her. At this Twilight receded slightly, and then cursed herself for doing so.

For Celestia’s sake, Twilight! she scolded herself as she saw the slight drop in Ento’s face. He leaned back in his chair, smile slowly returning.

“I have to ask. Why is it that you, well, screamed when you saw me last night? I mean, I can’t possibly be that ugly, can I?” Ento winked at this, a hidden fire burning behind his eyes. Twilight silently remarked at how incredible that veiled look thrilled her as it plucked out some invisible chord deep in her gut.

Twilight laughed awkwardly, catching herself staring at the alien impression that imprinted upon her. Her gaze fell down to rest on the table. The tablecloth has a stain on it… she mused as her ever-active mind fired away in distraction. She realized halfway through deciding to use bleachgrass to get out the stain that Ento had asked her a question. She looked back up, meeting his patient gaze.

“Well, you see… Never having seen an Ekina before, you could say I was, well, startled at your appearance.” She laughed awkwardly again. “Having a creature walk into your house in the middle of the night that looked exactly like a- well what I mean to say is that your- I mean, you aren’t exactly- well no, I mean you’re not- oh, dear…” She trailed off, not sure what to say.

“Go on,” Ento said patiently. He seemed privately amused at Twilight’s fumbling.

Twilight let out a sigh. Here goes nothing.

“It’s just that, with your teeth and horns, and long, thin body, not to mention those deep crimson eyes, you just look a bit,” she gestured into the air, searching for the right word, “startling to a pony seeing you for the first time. Especially if they’ve been up reading ghost stories half the night,” Twilight added awkwardly with a small laugh.

Ento smiled at this.

“I guess I could see that. Comparing myself to you, I’m sure that I look really… well, different. Then again, maybe you ponies are the scary looking ones?” he remarked, the fire in his eyes still burning just as bright. Twilight felt the same pang of indescribable feeling again in her stomach; it tingled in a strange and novel way.

Twilight acted upset, and said in a tone of mock hurt:

“Ouch, Ento. I didn't know Ekina could be as cruel as they are unpleasant to look at!” She laughed at her little joke, and was joined in by Ento's deep laugh as well.

Laughter swelled up to the ceiling, melting away the tension both had been feeling up until now. The rain outside pattered away against the kitchen window as the sky grew steadily darker.

Entrance: Part One

Chapter VII. – Entrance: Part One

Spike

Spike awoke as the carriage slowed to a stop. Groggy, he sat up and smiled as his reptilian eyes picked out the silhouette of Rarity across from him in the carriage. He let out a slight sigh as her smile lit up in the gloom of the darkening evening.

“We’re here, Spike. Did you enjoy the trip?” Rarity asked. She looked at Spike expectantly. It didn’t take Spike much time to come up with an answer, though.

“Yeah, Rarity! I had tons of fun!” he said, nodding vigorously. Although he had been mainly in charge of carrying heavy bags and carting oversized racks of fine clothing, he still had had the time of his life wandering the energy-charged streets of Manehattan with his beloved Rarity.

“Oh, good!” Rarity cooed to Spike. She reached out and lifted up Spike’s chin with a manicured hoof. “I love it when my dear Spikey-wikey comes along to help me!”

Spike melted in Rarity’s grasp, mind reeling at the sensation. The little prizes of praise she gave him always made his heart alight in ecstasy.

“Now, please, be a dear and help me unload my bags, hmm?” she said primly, batting her long eyelashes at Spike. He nodded dreamily.

Of course, Rarity could have hit Spike over the head and he would have been just as eager to do what she asked. Spike jumped out of the carriage into a puddle, realizing for the first time the rain that was sprinkling down on Ponyville. He held out a claw and felt the cool drops against his scales. After looking around, he turned to the carriage and began unloading the heavy bags and trunks strapped to the back, with the help of a soaking wet and not very pleasant coachpony.

. . . .

Spike walked back in the chilly rain, but he hardly noticed any discomfort. His body was warm throughout, and tingled at the source: a kiss that Rarity had pecked onto his cheek before she had sent him on his way back to Twilight.

Spike wandered towards the direction of the library, thinking all about what he would share with Twilight about his time in Manehattan. The fine food, the grand shows he had attended, the important ponies he had met (as well as the strangest ones he had ever seen who spent their times on the streets!). It all seemed like a dream that he had woken up from much too soon.

Of course, the best part was simply spending time with Rarity. His heart fluttered at the thought of her. He realized suddenly, though, that he was already at the library. Finally coming up to the door, he burst in, shouting:

“Hey, Twilight! I’m home!” Spike stopped at the doorway, wiping his feet on the mat absentmindedly. “Lemme tell you about this one pony I saw in Manehattan, he was the craziest looking colt I think I've ever seen!” He closed the door behind him. Receiving no reply, he called out again. This time he heard a slight response coming from the kitchen.

“In here Spike! Come in, I want to introduce you to somepony—” She was cut off by a muted voice, and stifled laughter soon followed.

Now what in the world is that all about? Spike thought to himself. He clambered through the entryway into the kitchen. As he entered, any curiosity he had had was instantly replaced by blind panic.

At the other end of the table was a large, vicious-looking, pony-like creature. Its mouth was curved into a disturbing smile that seemed a thing right out of a nightmare. A row of needle-sharp teeth glared back at Spike, and the creature’s crimson eyes seemed to dart over everything it looked at with a fierce, predatory craving. The little dragon's stunned mind could only draw up the word Danger.

Spines flaring up like a flash fire, he hissed slightly as instinct took over, backing out of the kitchen. Once a safe distance away, he turned and ran up the stairs in a blind panic. Twilight heard the patter of husky dragon feet waddling up the stairs as fast as they could take him, and the slam and click of a locked door. She sighed.

“I’m sorry Ento, I expected less of a reaction out of Spike. Hold on, let me go get him.”

Twilight started out of the kitchen to a reply of “It’s quite alright, Twilight. My fault, I guess...”

. . . .

After an apology, an explanation, a pair of introductions, and a lot of stammering, Ento and Spike soon became acquainted. Ento was in disbelief that Spike was really a baby dragon, as the only ones he had seen were of either the fully-grown-and-menacing-the-land variety or the stuffed-and-mounted-in-a-hall kind. For every question that Ento had for Spike, Spike fired off twenty more about Ento.

After getting over his initial fright, he became his usual cocky little dragon. Spike was awed at Ento’s strange teeth, and Ento was more than proud to show them off. (“‘An Ekina’s measure is in his fangs,’ as the old proverb goes.”)

Twilight had watched this exchange in quiet privacy, and thoroughly enjoyed the effect Ento seemed to be having on Spike, and vice versa. A thought sparked in her mind, igniting the fire of a private notion.

“Say, Spike, I have an idea,” Twilight said, beaming.

“What is it Twilight?” Spike said, in the process of measuring Ento’s largest canine tooth, rendering the latter speechless for the moment.

“Well, I’ve been watching you two interact, and I can tell that you two seem to have hit it off. What do you think of me introducing Ento to the rest of the girls?” Twilight looked at him expectantly, smile still beaming. “If that’s okay with you, Ento?” she added with a hopeful glance.

“Ich shoundsh gud toh meh, Twrilrght,” Ento said, his mouth full of Spike.

The little unicorn giggled.

“Okay, Ento. But judging by the reactions you’ve gotten so far, I think we’re going to have to approach this with some more… tact,” she added with a smile.

“Well, I know somepony who’d like to meet you, Ento,” Spike said, removing his arms from between the colt's teeth. The little purple dragon glanced outside, heart a-flutter once again as plump drops of water rolled down the window pane.

Rarity

It had been a long few days for Rarity. Looking good was hard, and holding that in perfect poise for almost four days was far more difficult. She knew that she had pulled it off, though, and after unpacking her last bag, she ran a hot bath and put on her most adored classical piece- Canter in Endless Rain in E Major.

Quite appropriate! she thought to herself as she glanced at the rain that was now plopping against her window lazily. Jumping into her bath, she sunk into heavenly bliss as bubbles rose to her face and washed away the built-up stress of four days of bustling streets, deadlines, and holding up a façade of perfected elegance.

Finally all finished with that (at least for the time being), she closed her eyes and let her mind drift away from her. She conjured up thoughts of her favorite fashion show, the perfect dress, and not to mention that simply brilliant young stallion she had met at the Central Audience Charity Show...

Just as she was about to conjure up a perfect date scenario for the two of them, she heard the delicate chime of her doorbell ringing. Perfect timing, she thought to herself sarcastically.

She opened an eye slowly, then the other, and dragged herself out of the tub. Grumbling, she wrapped up her mane and body in plush violet towels. The last thing before she left to go to the door was to rip the needle off the record before she wandered over to the door.
The unicorn flung it open to reveal a great big grin, which she soon found was connected to a soaking wet Twilight Sparkle, as she opened the door further.

“Yes, dear? What is it?” she asked, a slight tone of concern in her voice. Of course, mixed in there was annoyance, but she did her absolute best to put that aside for her friend.

“Rarity, I really want you to meet somepony.” She paused, her mouth moving silently for a moment at the last word. Snapping back, she continued on. “Will you come with me over to the library for a little bit?” she asked, smile still as pronounced as ever.

“Well, I mean, I’ve just gotten back from my trip, Twilight. I was really hoping to, you know, relax? Take some time to depress and repose?” she replied, a slight pout forming on her lips.

“I know, Rarity, but please, bear with me here. Spike asked for you specifically, and I know you’ll love to meet our guest,” she said. Rarity raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at this.

“Well, I suppose, considering Spike was such a sweetheart while we were gone… And you know I simply adore meeting new ponies…” She thought for a minute, mind focusing, as a flawlessly manicured hoof tapped her chin, trying to come up with a decision. “Yes, yes, okay Twilight. Let me get into something more proper, if you don’t mind?”

“No, of course not Rarity, I understand. Go on and take as much time as you need.” Twilight paused. “It’s raining, by the way,” she added, spacing out slightly.

Rarity laughed at her friend’s mannerism. Such is Twilight, she thought.

“I know, dear. Why don’t you come in out of the rain while I get ready, hm?”

Twilight stepped inside with a “Thank you.”

. . . .

After putting on her raincoat and grabbing a luxuriously adorned umbrella, Rarity followed Twilight through the rain over to the library. After coming in and drying off, Rarity glanced about as she tucked her things neatly away in the closet. Nopony was to be found in the room, and Twilight just stood there, smiling.

“Uh, Twilight, dear, is everything okay?” she asked, concerned.

“Oh, yes. Sorry.” She shook her head slightly, as if clearing it. “I want to introduce you to somepony.” Another brief pause. “Er, he’s not from around here, and he’s traveled a long distance and stopped here in Ponyville. He’s staying with me and Spike.”

Rarity looked around again.

“Well, where is he from? Fillydelphia?”

Twilight shook her head.

“No? Well, somewhere further? Las Pegasus, perhaps?”

Another no.

“Well then, I give up. Where could he possibly be from, Twilight?” Rarity said, voice tinged with a slightly impatient whine.

“Well, I think you should ask him yourself. But uh, be warned, he’s not a— well, I mean, he’s kind of— no... Well, look. He’s just different. Just please be calm when you see him, okay?”

Rarity was even more confused than ever.

“Okay, Twilight… If you say so?”

Twilight simply smiled, and called to the kitchen doorway.

“Ento, you can come in now!”

Rarity held her breath, expecting something, anything. Tense moments passed by, a heartbeat seeming to beat twice in the span of a single moment. Suddenly, walking through the door came-

Spike.

Rarity released her held breath, relieved. “Uh, Twilight…?” she started, but stopped as she heard Spike turn and say:

“No smiling this time, okay? That’s what got us both earlier.”

Rarity heard a deep, liquid voice behind him say, “Alright, Spike. I got it.”

The voice materialized from the doorway, and Rarity gasped in horror.

. . . .

Rarity remembered when she was a filly, going to see The Pony of the Opera with her parents. They had consistently told her there was a part that would be scary for her, but she rejected their reasons and simply stated she had heard so much about the play that she couldn't dare to miss it for a day longer. So, she went, and loved every second. But after the Pony had removed his mask, she remembered crying at the sight of his horrific disfigurement, and having to leave the theater as her parents comforted her. Even to this day, she had yet to return to see the rest of the play.

At this moment, she felt the same deathly panic as she witnessed a tall, lanky, and utterly dreadful creature step up towards her. His large, flaring horns seemed to menace her, and his crimson eyes seemed to pierce her with a strange and weird fire. As she stared, horror-struck at the needle-like teeth the creature seemed to be trying to hide from her, Rarity’s mind shut down.

. . . .

“Rarity? Hello, Rarity, you there?” Spike said, waving a claw in front of the unicorn's face. It seemed stuck in a horrified position, like a cracked mirror; her eyes gazed beyond the here and now, stuck still. Spike stepped back, a growing look of deep concern spreading on his face. He turned to Twilight.

“Twilight, what’s happening to Rarity?” he asked, his voice rising slightly with strain.

“Uh, I don’t know, Spike. She just seems... stuck?” She turned to Ento, a look of similar concern etched on her face.

“Er,” Ento said, trying not to panic as both faces drilled in on him with a look of intense disquiet. “Hold on. I caused this, and I think I can fix it.”

He ran down the hall to the guest room, and returned shortly with what looked like a vial of thin purple roots. He smiled slightly as their looks turned to curiosity, and walked up to Rarity’s rigid form. He opened up the vial and placed it on the ground next to him.

“Numbroot,” he said. “Like smelling salts, but more potent and less hazardous. This'll snap her back in to shape like lightning. I think...”

"You think!?" Twilight barked, an incredulous eyebrow raised at her guest.

Ento stopped dead and said, "Well, yes. I can't say for sure what it will do to a pony, but, I'm certain you and I are similar. Physiologically, that is..." And without waiting for some negative response, he held his breath, picked up a root carefully in his mouth and began to wave it around Rarity’s nose. The potency became quickly apparent as her knees quivered, her eyes rolled in the back of hear head, and she slumped slowly to the floor. Spike ran up to her side as fast as his short legs could take him, and held fast to her hoof.

Twilight looked on, stunned.

“S-so, what happens now?” Spike asked.

“Well,” Ento replied as he re-capped his vial, “the root should have kicked out the shock, calmed her mind, and now it’ll start up normally in a second or two. She’ll be far less stunned now when she sees me this time. I promise!” Ento added pleadingly to Twilight. Hot embarrassment stung both his pride and his cheeks as the unicorn's mouth shot open to dispute.

As if to support Ento’s hasty statement, Rarity stirred with a squeak, and slowly stood up, a hoof touched to her forehead gingerly.
“Wh-what happened?” she asked groggily.

Ento stepped up, doing his best not to show how bad he was shaking.

“Well, my dear, when you saw me, you sort of, well, froze. With a little Ba family home recipe, though, you’re right as Raika,” he added with a quick wink and a nervous smile.

“Ah,” she said, absentmindedly.

. . . .

After some time and clarification, Ento and Twilight had explained the majority of things to Rarity about Ento and where he was from, and Rarity had thoroughly introduced herself to him as well. After a length, as well as the obvious calming effects of the numbroot, Rarity seemed to have warmed up to Ento, and followed him around like an adoring schoolfilly, making endearing remarks and asking him all sorts of questions.

“Oh my, Ento, such a luxurious mane! I simple love the color. Jet black has always been my favorite hue of coiffure! Is it natural? No, no, it must be, just look at the richness. And oh, you simply must tell me who does your mane, I adore it!"

Ento blushed at this. He still wasn't sure if she was complimenting him as a cover for the way she reacted earlier, or if she really meant what she said. Perhaps both?

“It’s just an Imperial bob. A lot of Ekina have it. It’s really nothing special," he remarked, his tone a bit flat.

“Oh come now, don’t be so modest my dear. Your face structure, your physique, you make it work for you! Astounding, if I do say so myself,” she added with a smile, and pushed on.

“And your eyes," she gasped, "just incredible! Why, I haven’t seen rubies, nor garnets as brilliant as those eyes. They contain a fire, a certain, esprit, if you will.”

“Thank you,” Ento said, feeling far less humble than he should from all the compliments Rarity had been giving to him over the past few minutes. Okay, maybe she does mean what she's saying he thought smugly.

“Alright, alright,” Spike interjected, his mouth a sour line. “We get it. Ento is just fantastic!” Spike threw his arms up in mock admittance. Twilight shoved Spike gently and cleared her throat at the dragon.

“Yes, yes. You know what, I know just the pony who would simply love to meet you!” she said, mind reeling as she played the situation out in her mind. “And I know she’ll just adore you, the same as I have,” she added with smile.

Rarity turned to Twilight to explain her plan.

Entrance: Part Two

Chapter VIII. – Entrance: Part Two

Rainbow Dash

Snuggled up for an early bedtime, Rainbow Dash felt as though she were lying on a cloud- which she literally was, of course. She laughed aloud at her private joke. She was exhausted from accumulating the storm clouds that were now slowly pounding away at the windowpanes. If all went right, this rainstorm would be pouring on the Ponyville countryside for the rest of the night. She sighed with a smile as she sank deeper into warm bliss…

And jumped clear off the bed as she heard her doorbell chime. Mumbling curses under her breath, she dragged the violet blanket off the bed with her still wrapped in it. Coming to the door, she threw it wide open to reveal a very wet Twilight, wearing a soaked raincoat and a large grin.

“Come with me, Rainbow, I wanna introduce you to somepony,” she said enigmatically, and turned to go.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes with an incredulous scoff. Her face fell slowly, though, as she realized Twilight was serious. The powder-blue pegasus turned and grabbed her similarly-colored raincoat out of the closet with a moan. Knowing Twilight, this was worth the trudge to the library, but she could hear her bed calling to her as she shut the door behind her and took off into the air after her friend.

. . . .

Rainbow Dash alighted carefully next to Twilight, who stood at the library door. She hadn’t said a single word on the whole trip here, and Dash was getting more and more weirded out by the minute. Twilight walked inside, and Dash trounced in behind her, shedding her raincoat as she did so, and tossed it in the closet nearby. Raising an eyebrow at the suave violet ensemble that was neatly hung up in the closet, she turned back to look about the room.

“Rarity’s here? Where’s the pony I’m supposed to meet?” Dash said, her rose-colored eyes finally resting on Twilight, who still had the same grin on her face. Dash cocked her head and pricked up her ears, listening to the voices coming from out of the other room. The tone of one sounded smooth and luxurious, another high pitched, both familiar, while the other was deep and fluid, alien.

“So Rarity is here. And Spike… Who else is here, Twilight?” she asked, puzzled.

Twilight, without breaking her smile or gaze on Dash called out.

“Okay guys, she’s here!”

Dash waited, hearing the scrape of chairs, the clopping of hooves and the sound of scales on wooden floors. In entered Rarity, Spike and—
Something out of a nightmare.

Dash’s eyes went wide, mouth agape, and froze. A large, vicious-looking creature stood before her, with piercing ember eyes and a mouthful of sharp teeth. Dash returned the look with a blank, frightened stare.

Time seemed to stand dead still in the library.

Finally, Twilight broke the very heavy pause that had hung in the air.

“Rainbow Dash, this is Ento. Ento, Rainbow Dash. Rainbow is a pegasus!” she added, beaming.

The creature walked up slowly to Dash, and smiled slightly. Her keen ears heard the little clicks that the creature’s mouth made, seemingly by habit. It extended a hoof and said:

“Charmed, of course. Twilight and Rarity have told me a lot about you.”

Dash took his hoof numbly, and he shook it. Hers hung limp like a marionette.

“H-h-hi, h-hello,” Dash stuttered, dumbfounded and in shock.

. . . .

After a cursory introduction, much awkward laughter ensued, and the two seemed to become a bit more keen on each other.

Just as he had with Spike, the Ekina and the pegasus seemed to bond on a form of mutual awe. Dash marveled at Ento’s teeth and horns, and Ento gawked at her wings and her incredible ability to use them. After finally settling down in the kitchen with the others, the friends shot a multitude of self-assured thoughts at each other, along with with plenty of bragging from both sides.

"So, Ento, those teeth!" Dash squeaked in her tomboyish tone, "You ever, ah, get to use them in some street fights? I can imagine they do wicked damage!" Ento's eyes seemed to go wide in astonishment, and he merely shook his head, a bit more morbidly than anyone else had expected.

"Ah, no. Considering that using one's teeth to harm another in any way is grounds for execution, I don't think that would be such a good idea." He smiled sheepishly at the pony's looks of confusion, and Rainbow Dash's Oh. "It's one of our most ancient laws," he added finally, as if that settled everything. Everypony else in the room merely shrugged, setting it aside for the time being.

Looking up and down at the pegasus before him, Ento smirked slightly. Deciding to step up to the plate, he set a bet down on Rainbow Dash.

“So, Twilight tells me you’re considered the greatest flyer this side of Equestria.”

“You’re damn right I am!” she blurted out. This just brought a smile to Ento’s lips.

“Okay miss ‘best flyer in Equestria,’ a challenge: think you could outfly every single raindrop out there without getting a single one on you?” Ento challenged, eyebrow raised in joking skepticism.

Dash merely scoffed.

“Of course I can. We pegasi practically build rain, I think I can outmaneuver a few fat, measly raindrops,” she said haughtily, rolling her eyes.

Ento sat back and laughed. His face suddenly hardened into a serious look.

“Ten Ampré says you can’t do it,” he said, dragging up two rectangular pieces of bright red, silly-looking paper from his folded piece of leather. Tossing them flatly on the table, the three ponies, as well as Spike, looked at the paper blankly.

“Uh,” Twilight said, “Ento, what is that?”

The Ekina stared at the confused faces before him for a second, down to the money, and back up again. Finally, he broke into jovial laughter.

“I’m…sorry…ladies. I forgot…I’m not in Ek’Rael… anymore," he gasped, tears streaming down his face. Still laughing at himself, he glanced around at the confused faces around the table. Realizing no one else found the joke nearly as funny as he did, he cleared his throat, straightened up and said much more seriously, “What do you ponies use for currency around here?”

Rolling her eyes, Twilight produced three golden coins from a drawer with her horn sparkling red.

“We use bits. They’re gold,” she said, laying them down on the table in front of Ento. He glanced at them casually.

“Metal currency. How quaint.” Although the comment could have easily been misconstrued as elitist, Ento's obviously exaggerated tone of seriousness made the gang chuckle along with him this time. Pleased with himself, Ento leaned in towards Rainbow Dash.

“Alright Dash, I don’t know the exchange rate of Ampré to bits, but I promise you ten bits if you can be outside for a minute and not get a drop on you.”

“Alright, you’re on!” she said with her usual characteristic vigor, and jumped up to run outside. The rest followed her to the entryway, Spike grabbing a clock off the counter on his way out.

Dash flung open the door to reveal a slowly darkening courtyard of grass. Rain plopped down lazily and a chilly breeze whispered through the doorway.

She glanced behind her at the group, smiling widely with a cocky grin, and then with a kick, took off straight into the air. Ento, Rarity and Twilight ran upstairs to the window, and watched as Dash streaked across the sky, barely visible in the clouded dusk. Of what they could see of her, she was simply incredible in the air: swooping and zigzagging, she seemed to be more at home in the sky than actually standing on the ground.

Eventually, they lost sight of her. After some seconds of intense scanning of the sun-stained skyline, Ento, Twilight and Rarity shouted in surprise as Dash screamed past, not two feet from the window, and traveling at lightning speeds! The floors and windows rattled violently as she passed, eliciting a shocked gasp from Rarity and a hearty cheer from Twilight.

Ento merely smiled quietly to himself.

. . . .

Spike eventually called time. After what had felt like an hour’s pass, all were shocked to find it had been merely sixty seconds. Dash landed inside, panting heavily, the same cocky look still painting her features. The rest of the group scrambled down the stairs to meet her.
“See Ento, I told you I could do it, no problem!” she said between puffs of air.

Ento merely smiled slyly.

“Yes, of course Dash, but uh, maybe you should have a look at your tail there.” He pointed with a hoof.

Dash gasped, spinning around to get a closer look at her tail. With a moan, she spotted a single spot on her tail where the hair had darkened from the drop that had landed on her. She looked up to Ento, defeated. He returned the look with a laugh.

“Don’t worry, my friend, I’ll only charge you five Ampré, how about that?”

Dash grumbled as her friends laughed along with Ento’s joke, but she soon found herself smiling along with her friends. After all, it wasn’t the end of the world, was it? She found the laughter contagious, and joined in with her friends as the rain outside picked up to a quiet roar against the windowpanes.

Twilight took a pause and glanced around the room.

“Where’s Spike?” she asked, concern rising in her voice.

Pinkie Pie

The sky was awash in red and pink as the sun was beginning to set behind the thick clouds. Pinkie, stuck on the tail end of her afternoon shift, glanced out the window of Sugarcube corner. The wispy clouds reminded her instantly of cotton candy. Her stomach grumbled, and she looked down and scolded it.

“Now, now, tummy. Work’s almost over, then we can go get dinner!” She smiled gleefully as her stomach quieted itself. She looked back out the window, her head dipping and ducking comically as she tried to glance around the raindrops that danced and paraded on the frosted windowpane across the counter.

She couldn't place it, but something in her gut told her that her way to dinner would be different than it usually was on Tuesday evenings. She smiled, reveling in her aptly-named Pinkie sense, and turned her smile to the dripping wet powder-blue pony that had walked into the store with the tingle of a bell. She shed her raincoat and hung it on the coat rack next to the door. Pinkie was quick to jump on helping the mare, and the last customer of the night!

“Welcome to Sugarcube corner! My name’s Pinkie pie, how can I help you today?” she said gleefully, twirling around the counter to greet the new customer.

. . . .

Pinkie stepped outside into the darkening sky, reveling in the rain that danced around her in dusk's light. Singing to herself, she skipped over to her favorite corner café, and could practically taste the tomato and hay soup that was the specialty of Ponyville Café.

Ooh! And hay fries. Yummy yum yum! she thought, getting more and more hungry by the minute.

Just as she rounded the corner, a tingling sensation ignited at the base of her tail. She looked up instinctively as a familiar blue blur flashed past her vision, distorting the air around it and making the ground tremble slightly as it passed. She watched as it did a one-eighty in the air and zigzagged in the direction of the library.

“Rainbow Dash!” Pinkie cried, running with it towards the library, off in the distance. “Rainbow Dash!” As she ran up, she spotted Spike standing just inside the entryway, door hanging wide open, as well as his mouth. “Hey Spike,” she said, skipping towards the door. “What’s up?”

Spike came back down to earth, shaking his head.

“Oh, uh, Pinkie Pie. What are you doing here?” he asked as Pinkie noticed the clock he held tight in his hands.

“Well, I was going to the café for some dinner, but then my Pinkie senses started a-twitching, and I looked up and whoosh! came Rainbow Dash flying over me! I followed her back here and found you, Spike!” The pink pony finished with a poke to Spike’s chest, panting slightly at the effort she had put into her tone and wild gestures. She smiled down at Spike. “What are you guys up to, anyways?”

Suddenly, the ground began to rumble again, and a fierce streak of multihued light passed directly in front of the library. Pinkie’s “Wow!” was lost in the sonic scream and the trembling of windowpanes.

“Rainbow’s taking a dare from Ento to dodge the rain for a minute,” he said matter-of-factly, as the sound disappeared into the distance.
Pinkie’s smile dipped slightly.

“Ento? Ento whoooooo?” Her drawn out question to Spike drew out a hoot of reply from Owloysius.

Spike waved a claw distractedly at the pair.

“Er, ask Twilight about it in a sec. Hold on, time’s up, I gotta call it,” he said, stepping out, and did just that.

As Dash came back in wide for a landing, Spike suddenly snapped back to attention, as if realizing something he was supposed to do.
“Here, Pinkie, come with me. Quick!” He grabbed the pink pony, who followed behind with a shout of protest. The two ran into the kitchen, just as they heard hoofsteps clambering down the stairs, and the door shut as Rainbow Dash alighted into the entryway.

Spike raised a single claw to his mouth at Pinkie, indicating a need to be quiet. Pinkie affirmed it with an understanding pantomime of zipping her mouth shut, and stood silent.

She cocked her ears, and heard four voices: a suave, elegant voice which must have belonged to Rarity, a precise and analytical voice, belonging to Twilight, a voice full of tomboyish charm, belonging to Rainbow Dash, and, finally, a deep, liquid voice that seemed to flow like black ink from out of the speaker’s mouth. She raised a question, but was shushed by Spike.

With a harrumph, Pinkie settled. She heard a gasp from Dash, and the collective laughter of her friends, along with a deep, hearty chuckle from the mysterious pony.

They’re getting in a good laugh without me! Pinkie thought, her body itching to get out there and join the cavalcade of fun. Her body squirmed in mad protest as Spike nudged her to be quiet.

She heard Twilight’s voice ask for Spike. Pinkie glanced sidelong at the little dragon, who shrugged, and motioned for her to follow him into the entryway.

She walked out of the kitchen, following Spike, and saw her friends- as well as some hobgoblin sort of creature that stood in between them. The laughter died away as Pinkie’s face hardened.

. . . .

Ento had been having an amazing time with these ponies. They reminded him of home, and were a lot like his friends Kima and Chela. They were exciting, they had a good time together, they had unique interests, and, most of all, they could just laugh together.

As he laughed along now with his new friends, he was surprised to see Spike walk out of the kitchen, followed by a bright pink, soaking wet pony. His laughter was replaced by a cocky smile, and he looked over her with a mild glance as she skipped in behind Spike. She looked something like a clown, ironic humor palpable by the aura she gave off.

Much to his surprise, she stopped in place, her features hardening as her baby blue eyes settled themselves on his figure. Ento’s smile wavered. This was not the response he had expected from her. Then again, he really wasn’t sure to expect from these ponies when they met him. They really all seemed to differ.

The pink pony’s icy glare changed slightly as she raised an eyebrow sternly. Under this scrutiny, Ento glanced at his friends around him. Their faces seemed mixed with both concern and expectant glances at their fellow pony friend.

The silence seemed to hang in the air thickly, like a sauna that had run for far too long. Disquieted and anxious, Ento found the feeling to be unbearable, and squirmed in place under such a fierce gaze.

Finally, the pink pony burst into peals of laughter, falling to the floor and rolling on her back, tears pouring down her already soaked face. She pointed to Ento, and said, as she gasped for air between bouts of laughter:

“You look... so, so… ridiculous! Oh, my goodness…!”

Ento could only grin at this as relief washed over his mind.

“You’re quite a spectacle yourself,” he said, letting out a nervous sigh. He was, of course, talking about her soaking wet mane that clung to her body and stuck out every-which-way.

The pony stood up, still laughing just as hard. She could barely keep her balance, in fact.

“Yeah… I know.” She gave a wink in return, and shook her head vigorously, spraying water everywhere. When she finally stopped, her mane stood as straight and neat as he had seen on any pony or Ekina, but shortly popped out in a messy tangle of hair. Pinkie smiled and leaped up to Ento.

“My name’s Pinkie Pie,” she said, shaking his hoof ecstatically. “You must be Ento!”

“Yes, t-that would b-be me,” he said as his body shook from the full-blown greeting he was receiving from Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie gasped loudly, making everyone in the room jump slightly.

“Oh my gosh! You know who would love to meet you?! My friend, Fluttershy!” She turned to Twilight expectantly, a brilliant smile spread across her entire face. Twilight laughed.

“Yes, okay Pinkie, we’ll go get Fluttershy. You and Ento catch up. Come on, Rarity, let’s go.”

Her selection was met with a shocked, if not thoroughly played out reply.

“Twilight! Must I go? I mean, really; the rain… my mane!” she said, pouting. Dash merely snickered behind her, joined by Ento’s chuckle. He glanced down at Spike, who seemed pained at Rarity’s predicament.

Twilight rolled her eyes, and dragged Rarity’s umbrella and coat up from the closet with a sparkle of magic.

“Yep. Come on, princess, let’s go.”

Ento watched the two go out into the pouring rain, an overplayed groan sounding from Rarity as the door shut behind them, and finally turned to Pinkie.

“So, why the balloons for a cutie mark, if I may ask?” he said, and smiled as he was hit with a tornado of excitement and was already promised a welcome-to-Ponyville party.

This night keeps getting better and better he thought privately as his smile widened greater and greater.

Entrance: Part Three

Chapter IX. - Entrance: Part Three

Fluttershy

Angel lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He had been trying to get some rest for the past two hours, but the din of what seemed to be every animal in Ponyville had been ensuring a sleepless night so far.

Whines, grunts, squawks, shouts, clicks, chirps, hisses and chirrups had been sounding off since the storm began last night, and not a single minute had gone by where there was silence.

Finally frustrated beyond what he could tolerate, he jumped down off his bed and ran, zigzagging through squirrels, other rabbits, skunks, badgers, flamingoes, hawks, eagles, sparrows, mice, rats, bees, ladybugs, beetles, otters, iguanas, dogs, cats and turtles. Finally reaching the center of the mass of loud, squirming animals, he pushed his way through and rapped irritably at the yellow hoof that stood before him.

. . . .

Fluttershy stood surrounded by animals of all shapes and sizes, in her element and happy as could be, if not somewhat exhausted. Since the storm of the century that had rolled in through Ponyville, every animal in the area that either lived in the ground or had no home of their own had flocked to her cottage on the edge of the forest.

Currently, she was attempting to console a frightened young bat with a phobia of lightning. She chanced a look around at the multitude of animals who lined up for food, sleep arrangements, or consolation from the storm.

Fluttershy jumped slightly as she felt a hard tapping on her left rear leg, and looked down to find a very impatient Angel at her feet. He tapped his large, white foot in frustration.

“Oh, my! Angel. What’s wrong?” she cooed to the snowy rabbit.

Angel, lacking the essential communication tool of speech, pantomimed sleep while at the same time grabbing his ears deliberately. I want to go to sleep, all these animals are too loud! he dramatized.

“Oh, well, I mean…” Fluttershy started, looking around. There certainly was an awful lot of noise in the room. It suddenly dawned on her: caught up in those who sought help, she realized that she had been neglecting the animals that really needed their sleep. The poor creatures stood or sat around, looking bored and listless, while the other animals crowded around Fluttershy, seeking attention.

Oh, dear... Fluttershy thought, looking at the scene before her.

“I’m sorry, Angel. I’ll fix this, I promise I will, okay?” she said kindly to the rabbit.

Angel rolled his eyes, and tapped a foot impatiently. Go on.

Fluttershy nodded, and turned to address the animals before her:

“Ex-excuse me!” she said, weakly. Her voice was instantly lost in the din
.

Angel shook his head and nudged Fluttershy again. Fluttershy stepped it up one more notch.

“Excuse me! Everyone!” she said, only slightly more emphasis in her voice. That, too, washed away to the roar of noise in the room.

Finally, Fluttershy planted her hooves solid on the ground. No more Miss Nice Pony! she thought, and drew in a breath for the mother of all shouts. She filled her lungs with air as deep as she could, ready to release it with all the effort they would give. She reached the breaking point, and prepared to let loose everything she had.

Suddenly, the door opened, bringing in a chill wind and silencing every animal in the room. All eyes turned to the door.

Fluttershy, just about to release everything she had built up, coughed delicately at the interruption.

In walked a very wet and very ecstatic Twilight. Following her was a not-so-pleased but just as wet Rarity. They stopped at the multitude of animals that had turned to watch them enter.

“Er, Fluttershy, we’ve been knocking, but I don’t think you heard us. So we sort of, came in,” Twilight said, still staring at and obviously unnerved by all the eyes that were watching her.

“Oh, girls. I’m glad to see you. I was hoping to get some help with all these poor animals,” Fluttershy said, exasperation in her voice as she indicated with a hoof around her.

“Oh sure, Fluttershy. We’d love to help you!” A played-out groan sounded from behind Twilight, who ignored it. “Then we need you to come with us to go meet somepony!”

“Well, okay Twilight. I’d love to meet somepony, I suppose,” Fluttershy said apprehensively. She proceeded to wade through the mass of animals that had surrounded her, and helped her friends with their raincoats.

. . . .

Some twenty minutes later, three figures- two with hoods, and one carrying a large umbrella- left from the cottage.

“So, Twilight, who am I meeting?” Fluttershy asked of her friend. A pause hung in the conversation for several moments.

“Well, I can’t tell you, exactly. You’ll just have to meet him,” Twilight replied, voice growing enigmatic. “But you’ll love him. Won’t she, Rarity?”

“Hm? Oh, yes,” Rarity said, distracted by a murky puddle that menaced her from the side of the pathway. “He really is an amazing, er, pony,” she said again, vaguely. Fluttershy saw Twilight nudge the white unicorn in the dim light of the rainy night.

“You’ll see, Fluttershy, don’t worry.”

“Well, okay Twilight,” Fluttershy said, not sure what to think of her friend’s mannerisms.

The three turned south at the sign that indicated Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville, and The Everfree Forest, respectively.

“Where are we going?” Fluttershy asked attentively.

“To go get Applejack, of course,” Twilight said, turning to Fluttershy with a grin.

Applejack

With the rain came life. Nopony knew this better than Applejack, who trudged inside, returning from the barn, covered in mud. But of course, too much rain could lead to just as much destruction as creation.

And this was what she was truly worried about. The flood of water that dumped down from the sky had been washing away the topsoil of the new saplings. Doing her best to save the valuable earth, she had practically been wrestling the dirt from the rain with Big Macintosh since last night. Finally assured that their levees would hold, the pair had returned to the house.

Exhausted, Applejack shed her filthy boots and raincoat and hobbled into the bathroom, turning on the shower. She let the bathroom steam up, and took a deep breath. She could already feel the tension leaving her body as it was replaced by the comforting mist. Hopping in the hot shower, she let it melt away stress.

. . . .

After toweling off and getting Applebloom to braid her long mane for bed, Applejack sat up in her room, reading her favorite book, "Wild West Legends." She sat next to the window, letting the sound of the rain against the pane relax her. Suddenly, her eye caught three hooded figures entering the gate at the outskirts of the farm.

Setting down her book, Applejack stood up, stretching, and clambered downstairs to see who was coming to the farm so late.

Well, only ‘bout seven pm, she added mentally as she glanced at the clock in the entryway, But still later than the norm.

She cracked open the door to watch as three ponies walked up to her door. As they got closer, she picked out one of them carrying a large, gilded umbrella that sat shining with rare stones in the light of the windows.

“Rarity? An’ Twilight, an’ Fluttershy. What are you three doin’ here so late?” she asked in a maternal tone as they approached the house. "An' Twi, why in Equestria don'tcha have a raincoat on!?"

“Applejack, go get your raincoat on! We want you to come meet a friend of ours,” Twilight announced obliviously through a large grin. “Oh, and grab some apples, if you can. Any kind will do.”

“Well, uh... Ah dunno, Twi, it’s been a long day. Does it need to be now?” Applejack said, rather confused.

“Yes, of course Applejack! Everypony else has already met him, save for you and Fluttershy. Come on, you’ll love him, I promise,” Twilight appealed.

“But Ah jus’ got changed an’ showered an’ all. Does it halfta be now?” she asked again, impatiently, shaking her head to show her braided mane to them.

At this, Rarity scoffed.

“My goodness, Applejack, worried about your mane, hm? Not something I’d expect from you, of all ponies. I mean, even I’m out here now, braving this simply dreadful rain,” the elegant pony boasted in an all-together snooty tone, doing her best to not remember the dripping mess of her mane. Applejack’s face darkened.

“Ah don’ think so, sugarcube. Ah’ll be right out,” she said determinedly and slammed the door behind her.

. . . .

Four friends trudged through the thick rain, making their way back to the library. As they arrived, Twilight stopped them and went inside alone.

Applejack and Fluttershy glanced at each other, unsure of what was going on. After a few moments, Twilight popped her head outside the door and nodded for them all to come in. The three filed inside, stashing their wet coats in the closet. Applejack glanced around as Rarity stood behind them.

The only pony they saw was the back half of Rainbow Dash, who was standing at the entryway to the kitchen, facing away from them. A conversation was being held in the kitchen separate from what was going on in the entryway. A lot of laughter was heard as well.

“Alright, Twi, what in Equestria’s goin’ on here?” Applejack said once again, dumbfounded. Fluttershy nodded in agreement.

“Okay girls, this is gonna be weird. But bear with me here!” Twilight said, as Spike appeared at the top of the stairs to look down on what was going on. She called Rainbow Dash over, who turned around and walked over between Fluttershy and Applejack, smiling just as widely as her friend. Twilight turned back in the direction of the kitchen.

“Okay Ento, Pinkie, you guys come in,” Twilight called. After a few moments, in skipped Pinkie, and following her closely was a dark creature, the likes of which neither Applejack nor Fluttershy had seen before.

Fluttershy yelped out an ear-splitting screech, and ducked behind Rainbow Dash for cover. Applejack stood strong, but quivered as she felt tendrils of black fear creep into her mind. The creature stopped, and lowered his head as he saw the pair’s reactions.

Fluttershy lay cowering uncontrollably behind Dash, but Applejack forced herself to stay calm.

If none of mah friends are ahfraid of whatever that is, then there ain’t no reason Ah ought to be either, Applejack reassured herself. Right? She took a cautious step forward, and said in a none-too steady voice,

“Well h-hello, m-mah name’s A-Applejack. Pleasure to m-meet you.”

The creature smiled, revealing a mouthful of wickedly sharp teeth.

“I’ve heard quite a lot about you from your friends, Applejack. My name is Ento, Ento'Ba”

. . . .

Though it took time for the shock to wear off, Ento and Applejack clicked rather well. Their bold and endearing personalities were alike, and neither of them had much problem getting to know one another.

Fluttershy was, on the other hoof, a serious challenge. After managing to scrape her off the floor, the gang had to make sure she didn't bolt straight out the door. Rainbow Dash was especially careful, as she remembered the way the yellow pegasus had reacted to her forcing Fluttershy to attend the dragon migration last year.

After some time, though, the little pink-maned pegasus learned to find in Ento the little bit of kindness that she showed to everypony. She still winced a great deal every time the Ekina smiled, however.

All six ponies, along with Spike and Ento, eventually found themselves sitting around the large table in the kitchen, laughing aloud at stories and jokes, and sharing tales and thoughts. Connection came easily between the six ponies and their alien guest: such was a testament to the true power of friendship that the six were famous for.

After Ento brought up the notion of kuta, Applejack’s keen knowledge for the earth and its living things was piqued, and so Ento went on in lengthy detail about the kuta and its properties. By the end of his extensive speech, everypony had learned that kuta seeds cured upset stomach, the skin could be used to disinfect wounds and make soaps, and the stem, dried and crushed, was a potent sneezing powder. Pinkie Pie, a connoisseur of fine practical jokes, begged Ento for some root. Much to her disappointment, though, Ento had none with him.

He did, however, have plenty of leftover kuta soup, which Twilight politely declined. Eventually, everypony else had also decided to politely decline it in the future as well. Only Spike asked for seconds, and ate everypony else’s extra soup as well.

Applejack, feeling as though her livelihood were threatened, went on about how beneficial the apple was. Even Ento grew jealous of its natural flexibility, and decided to try some of the apples she had brought along with her.

He found the apples to be incredibly bitter and foul, and promptly decided to decline any future offers of the nauseating fruit as well.

“Well what does a kuta fruit taste like to you?” Rainbow Dash asked, curious. At this, Ento pondered an answer.

“If I had to say, it has a simply brilliant sweet, almost ambrosia-like flavor, far opposite of the apples you ponies love. I don’t see how you can eat such bitter fruit, but I can’t judge.”

To this, everypony else laughed grandly, much to Ento’s embarrassed confusion.

Life was good, here in the kitchen, in the library, in Ponyville, in Equestria. Ento found himself laughing along with these ponies, and hadn’t ever felt such ecstasy as this before.

Outside, the storm roared angrily, as lightning flailed and thunder screamed nature’s fury.

Aftermath

Chapter X. – Aftermath

The night grew late, and like all good things, the fun had to end. The group grudgingly disbanded for the night, faces sour and eyes tired, but left with the spark of an incredible night in the spring of their step. After the last goodbye, there stood only Ento and Twilight in the entryway. Spike had gone to bed long ago.

Twilight turned to Ento, eyes dull with tiredness, but smile still bright as when they had first met.

“Well, I think they liked you,” Twilight said wearily, closing the door with a click. The storm outside was silenced by the heavy door, and an odd hush seemed to stand over the library. Bereft of the din of laughter and voracious camaraderie, it seemed hollow and unnervingly empty.

Ento walked up to Twilight with a slight smile, his eyes bright. Being nocturnal, he barely felt any of the exhaustion that Twilight was exuding before him.

“Yes, they certainly did. I love your friends, Twilight. Their charm reminds me of home, but it’s something of a different home here.” He glanced around the library casually, pausing. “This place, this town, this land, it has a magic all its own. I love it,” Ento said in summation, turning back to Twilight. “You ponies all have a distinct charm about you. It’s not something I've noticed with other Ekina. Maybe I’m just too used to them as a whole,” Ento rationalized with a melancholic, almost pained look painting his features. He stopped, smiling slightly as he realized something. “But see, your charm has rubbed off on me, and it seems I’m rambling,” he added a wink, to show no harm was meant by the comment.

Twilight chuckled.

“I don’t know what you mean, Ento. If you are representative of the “average” Ekina, then you must be an incredible species. I’d very much love to travel to your home someday, and meet yourfriends.” She took a step towards Ento, and then another, and stopped, her face held in a quizzical gaze.

“You know, I can’t shake the sensation. But I feel like…” she blushed, laughing nervously, “...I’ve known you my whole life. Not directly, of course, but in another life, I suppose?” A grimace tinged her smile as she slowed, thinking. “Not that I’m trying to be weird, it’s just a feeling I get with you. A connection, a—”

She stopped, realizing she was only a step away from Ento, who smiled slightly. She noticed for the hundredth time that night a fire in his eyes, a discernible example of the passion the Ekina people were privileged with. She felt an honest twinge of jealousy, and knew she’d never be able to connect with him on a similar level as a pony, let alone as an alicorn.

“Well, I believe it, Twilight,” he said gently. “We Ekina believe in the Immortal Soul, the idea of past lives and hidden connections. As the mages teach us, every single being is connected in some way. They say if the strings that connected us were to be tangible objects, then not a single creature would be able to move from its place.”

Twilight seemed intrigued at this idea, as Ento figured she would, but she didn't feel that Ento really realized what it was that she held towards this strange creature that had visited her at midnight's passing. Twilight looked up at him, smiling still, and opened her mouth to speak. Her voice was a whisper.

“What I’m trying to say, Ento, is that… I feel a connection. With you. Deeper than I can ever express with words, or actions. It would take the span of many, many lifetimes to begin to show it. ” She nudged a small step closer to Ento. He smiled, blushing heavily.

“Wow, Twilight, that’s… beautiful,” he said softly, his breath having been stolen away by the passionate words she had said to him. “I didn’t know you felt—” Much to Ento’s surprise, Twilight stepped forward one final time and gently placed her head on his shoulder.

He blushed profusely, and stammered as his mind connected with what was happening. The scent of her body wafted over him: a miasma of mountain spring grass, rich paper and lilac danced about his senses as she laid her head against his body with gentle care. A wave of intense calm flooded over him.

He had felt the same way about her, as well. He knew he had all along, since he had seen her last night at the doorway calling to him. Perhaps even further back than that, a tiny voice in his mind called out. It was not necessarily a physical attraction, but was, in essence, an emotional connection as deep as the caverns that had wound beneath his capitol city for millennia.

He didn't know how these thoughts and ideas had come to bear in his mind. All he knew was that they felt right. Calming. And now he knew that his feelings for her were mutual.

Ento finally collected his thoughts, and put his heart out on display for the incredible creature that held to him intently.

“Since I’ve met you," he began, "I admit, I have felt a certain… affinity for you, I suppose. It’s a sort of attraction, like a magnetic pull, I guess..." He chuckled lightly at his words. "That probably makes no sense to you, since my thoughts never seem to make sense to anyone else.” He paused. “What do you think?” he said, glancing down sidelong at her.
His question was met with no response.

“Er… Twilight? You there?” he asked, gently shaking the shoulder that her head was lying against. Still no response. Ento laughed quietly to himself again. This creature amazes me more and more each minute I’m with her, he thought with a smile. “Twilight,” he said with more volume, making her jump slightly.

“Huwhah?” she said groggily. Ento laughed.

“Twilight, you’ve been up late twice so far. Come on, I’m putting you to bed.”

Twilight mumbled in agreement, and followed Ento as he led her up the stairs to her bedroom.

After some struggle getting to the bedroom, as well as doing an impromptu tango around a sleeping baby dragon, he managed to plop her into bed. He dragged the covers over her, along with every pillow he could find in the room.

“I don’t know if you noticed,” he said quietly, “But I tucked you in last night. You passed out without even making up your bed.”

At this, Twilight smiled sleepily.

“Yes, I know… Thank you Ento,” she whispered delicately, eyes still closed as she lay in bed.

Ento felt butterflies alight in his stomach, and tucked her in tightly, saying his goodnights. He blew out the solitary candle by the door, and waited as his eyes quickly focused to the dark. Through the hypnotizing effects of the candle smoke, he could see Spike lying splayed out in his bed, and the form of Twilight wrapped up in a mountain of blankets and pillows, moving slightly at each breath.

Might have overdone the pillows just a bit, Ento, he thought to himself with a comical grimace. He laughed quietly, closing the door behind him as he left.

In the room, all that could be heard was the steady pounding of rain against the window.

. . . .

Twilight’s mind was racing, in stark contrast to her immobile body. Her dreams were complex, if not overimagined and drawn out.
She dreamed of days in privacy with Ento, a moonlit stroll through the ruins of the Towers of the Two Sisters. In her dream, a powerful essence still emanated from the spot, a testament to the boundless and prevailing magic that had scarred the ruins. It was, of course, the Magic of Friendship.

Thick clouds began to pour rain, and the two ran inside to escape the storm that crackled and spit with lightning behind them. As she entered the main chamber, she found another Ekina, whose wiry long mane stood on end, white hair stained with blood. Its eyes looked as though they had been clawed out by sharp talons. It fell after Twilight now with a bird-like moan, screeching, “You’re a pretty one, ain’t you?”

Twilight gasped and moved to Ento for protection from the decrepit hag. Turning around, she found Ento gone, replaced by a great and monstrous beast. Its eyes were morphed into slits, ready to kill. Eyeing Twilight, it menaced her with a hideous visage, razor teeth ready to shred flesh and rend it from bone. Twilight screamed and tried desperately to get away.

Much to her horror, she found that some invisible force held her by the neck. Every second she tried to get further away, a cutting sensation drove deeper and deeper into the soft flesh of her throat, holding her back. All she could do was watch in shock as the monster closed in on her, bringing its huge jaws to consume her entire being.

The last thing she saw as she blacked out was a maw of indescribable horror, as a searing pain shot now straight through her heart.
She heard a voice, beyond the realms of existence. It sounded like Ento’s voice, weirdly distorted and taut, as though it were being squeezed through an immeasurable length of pipeline.

“I’m so sorry, Twilight.”

Cataclysm

Chapter XI. – Cataclysm

Twilight awoke with a start as the clang of the grandfather clock broke the morning silence, setting off an avalanche of pillows cascading down off the bed. The soft white wall crashed down silently onto Spike, who jumped awake.

“Aaah!” he screamed, buried in pillows. He wiggled his way on top of the fluffy pile with a gasp. “Twilight!” Spike said, his eyes smoldering in tired annoyance.

“Sorry, Spike,” Twilight apologized tiredly. She looked at the clock, which read seven am on the dot.

Spike grumbled, pushing pillows aside as he got up to get ready for the day. “At least it stopped raining…” Spike commented darkly as he trudged downstairs.

Twilight glanced outside to see that it had, indeed, ceased raining. The sun lay perched in a brilliant blue sky that was populated with small, white clouds that danced about the broad expanse.

She stretched out her body as she awoke, and ended up lying splayed out in bed, not in any hurry to get up. She found herself smiling as she glanced again out the window: a memory of Ento had popped into her head. Her smile widened as she concluded that she would get to spend yet another day with him, and today was a particularly gorgeous day.

Right now, she figured, he’s probably up sitting in the study reading about some scrap of pony history he found. Or maybe he’s bustling in the kitchen again. Oh, Celestia, I really hope it’s not another Ba family recipe she added with a giggle. This little secret she had hidden away in her home- the one that made her laugh and which her friends found so remarkable- it was all hers. And she felt as though she could take on the world. This inexplicable ecstasy seemed to stem from her elated thoughts of a stranger she had come to find to be so incredible.

Her private fantasy was shattered as she heard Spike shout out to her from downstairs.

“Hey, Twilight! Do you know where Ento is? I can’t find him!”

Spike waddled in, a look of worry etched on his scaly face. “I looked everywhere: in the kitchen, the study, the basement... He’s not here, Twilight!”

Twilight's overactive mind panicked for a split second, but calmed as her logical reasoning took over.

“Well, Spike, maybe he’s wandering the garden, or outside looking around, I’m sure that…” She trailed off as her eye caught movement outside. Ponies of various sizes were running towards the direction of town hall. Off in the distance, she spotted a crowd beginning to form around the stage; her half-cocked ears could pick out the vestiges of angry shouts and frightened screams in the distance.

“Oh, no…” she gasped, her face sinking as realization hit her. A lead weight dropped to the bottom of her stomach. The weight was her heart.

“Oh no!” she shrieked, fear fueling the fire of blind panic in her mind. She shot out of bed, and, grabbing Spike, galloped downstairs at full speed.

. . . .

Twilight reached the edge of the mob that had surrounded the stage. It seemed to throb and pulsate with the movement of the angry and frightened ponies that it was made up of. Twilight jumped around, trying to see over the heads of the ponies that blocked her view.

As she glanced over the head of a shouting yellow mare, she spotted a large, horned creature up on the stage, shackled in heavy iron chains and looking as terrified as any creature could ever be. Blood oozed out of his nose, coating his muzzle and neck. Various things were being thrown at him, and two menacing-looking stallions stood next to him, shooting disgusted stares at their prisoner. Along with them was a handful of other ponies that were screaming and carrying on, pointing to Ento and building up a frenzy from the crowd to destroy the “beast” they had found wandering their lovely streets! He recoiled as a shower of rotting fruit and glass bottles were catapulted at his manacled form.

“Ento!” Twilight screamed, the pain of anguish stabbing white-hot shards into her heart as she saw her friend in such a reprehensible state, fresh cuts glistening along his body.

“Twilight! Twilight!” came Rarity’s piercing voice from the enraged crowd. Twilight looked over to her left, where Rarity and Applejack, who held tightly to Applebloom, were huddled in the crowd, looking for all the world like survivors of a shipwreck clinging to rocks in a churning sea.

“Wait here, Spike," Twilight commanded to the dragon, and pushed her way through the crowd towards her friends.

“What happened?! What in Equestria is happening to Ento?” Twilight screamed over the din of the mob as she reached the three.

“Some ponies found Ento wandering around town earlier. The last thing I know, the whole town has raised a mob against him! They think he’s some sort of demon, Twilight!” Rarity yelled back through the shouts.

“Where is everypony else?” Twilight shouted to the pair.

“Rainbow Dash is tryin’ tah hold off the pegasi from attackin’ Ento, Pinkie Pie’s up at the front ah the crowd tryin’ to wrassle the mob, and Ah dunno where Fluttershy could be,” Applejack yelled, a concerned look glancing to the skies as a pack of pegasi flew over, cut off bodily as Rainbow Dash streaked past with a shuddering sonic blast. Applejack’s gaze came back down, falling on a frightened looking Applebloom that stood at her hooves. “Ah found Applebloom here stuck in the crowd, tryin’ tah tell everypony she could that Ento wasn’t the picture of evil they put him out tah be.”

“Twilight, what’s gonna happen to him?” Applebloom shouted anxiously to the unicorn. “Applejack told me 'bout Ento. He’s not a bad guy, no matter what all these ponies are sayin'.” Her face grew taut as tears spread down her cheeks.

Applejack gazed back up at Twilight, her face just as scared and uncertain. “Twi… They’re gonna do somethin’ tah Ento… Somethin’ bad.”

Twilight’s mind wrestled in agony and spiteful grief. Stinging tears welled up as she realized the reality of what was happening: a beautiful thing that had walked into her life was going to be gone, snapped up from her forever.

“No,” she said, shaking away tears. She couldn’t tell if the statement was towards her thoughts or to her friends’ fears. “We’re not going to let this happen to Ento. He’s our friend, all of ours. We need to get up on that stage and do something!” Her face was set in a determined look. Gears crashed and collided in her mind as she concocted an idea to save their friend. Her eyes hardened as she constructed a plan she knew would work.

“Applebloom, go out of the crowd, left. Find Spike, and have him write a letter to Princess Celestia. Have him tell her that we need help here, and it’s really bad. Can you do that for me sweetheart?” Twilight forced as much maternal comfort as she could into her words in the heat of the moment.

Applebloom nodded, wiping tears away from her cheeks. Twilight smiled gently.

“Go off then, find him and stay with him when you get the letter sent. Girls, you two stand next to me!” she shouted. All three obeyed their orders. Rarity and Applejack moved next to their friend as the crowd pushed at them from all directions. Applebloom ducked and dodged, disappearing into the crashing collective of ponies.

Twilight’s eyes screwed shut as she focused all her power into another realm of existence. She brought her friend’s presence in with her own, and felt the sharp crackle of teleportation take them across the plane of their surroundings.

The three ponies materialized onstage, and gasped as they looked over what seemed to be a fierce sea of enraged and furious ponies. Their beam of pure animosity seemed to pull away from Ento and attach onto the three. Twilight shot a glance behind her, and saw that Ento’s normally fiery eyes were smoldering in excruciating agony. Summoning up every bit of confidence she could draw, she exuded as much assurance as she possibly could to him, and turned back around to face the crowd.

Stepping forward, she saw Pinkie Pie attempting to have an ersatz wrestling match with the sea of ponies that crashed up against the stage like the fierce waves of a storm.

“Back! Back I say! Get back, you crazy ponies!” Twilight heard Pinkie shout to the crowd, alternating between pushing against the crowd and the stage. “Stay away from him, you maniacs!”

“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted to the frantic pink pony. She turned around, and jumped up on stage to join her friend as the tide of the crowd pulled in to break up against the stage.

Pinkie Pie took position as the four ponies surrounded Ento, faces set in fierce defiance, ready to defend their friend with their lives, if need be. The outraged gang of ponies that had been on stage earlier had shuffled off to join the angry crowd, leaving only the five of them on stage. Rainbow Dash, dripping fresh blood from gouges in her legs, alighted next to her friends, having handled the situation that had occurred in the skies above. Twilight spotted Fluttershy trying to console Ento safely behind her friends, tending to his most grievous wounds.

"Hey, you six! You're the ones who probably brought that thing here!" shouted a furious stallion from somewhere off in the crowd.

"Yeah! Everything bad's always happening when you six are around!" Another vicious reprimanding was echoed with several shouts from ponies all around the sea of anger.

"It killed Mother of Pearl! And it's all your fault!" a shrewd-looking mare screamed near the front of the stage.

As more and more cries and condemnations flew from out of the crowd, frightened and hysterical ponies began to climb on stage, determined to get rid of the beast themselves once and for all.

Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Dash and Applejack held all the ground they could, but they were outnumbered twenty to one. This fight seemed to be getting more hopeless as the minutes went by. Although the five ponies were doing as much as they possibly could against the fierce crowd, it simply wasn’t enough.

This isn’t working! Twilight thought severely, as she shoved a large brown stallion away from her. Time was losing its grip as moments turned to minutes. Adrenaline surged through Twilight’s body as she bucked at a particularly crazy mare. I have to do something, anything! she added desperately. Suddenly, a spell rose from her mind, a perfect hex that would get these mad ponies to back off.

Twilight focused, energy building, until she felt the breaking point. She let loose with a roar of magic, knocking ponies off the stage, and forcing everypony else in the immediate proximity to cover their ears and howl in pain. Twilight groaned at the effort, and heard a multitude of gasps sound throughout the crowd as every voice fell silent. Catching her breath, Twilight returned to her original fighting stance, ready to deal with any threat that dared to harm Ento again.

“Twilight Sparkle!” an imperialistic voice sounded behind Twilight. She jumped violently at the command, and whipped around to see where the voice had come from.

She found the imposing figure of Princess Celestia before her, with an equally-commanding Luna standing just behind her sister. An assortment of Night and Day guards were marching behind and about, awaiting commands from their princesses. A murmur ran through the crowd, which was now far more sedated than it had been several moments earlier.

“Princess! I’m so glad you’re here, I—!” Celestia cut Twilight off abruptly.

“Get in the carriage. Now, please.”

“What? B-but, Princess—”

“I said get in the carriage. Now, Twilight,” she ordered, her voice bordering on polite.

Twilight knew there was nothing polite about the thoughts that were rumbling in the Princesses’ thoughts, though. The unicorn paused for a heartbeat, looking at her friends. They nodded slightly at her to go- they would be with her as soon as they possibly could. Twilight trudged over to the open-topped carriage and got in.

Meanwhile, Celestia and Luna had started a lengthy explanation of what had occurred here. Yet for all the diplomatic words they used, not a one hinted at any detail as to what Ento was, nor about what had actually just happened.

As their long-winded speech proceeded, the guards rounded up Ento, still bound in heavy iron chains. They escorted him callously to Luna’s carriage and placed him down harshly in his seat. Twilight didn’t dare try to look over to Ento, for fear of being further reprimanded by either princess.

Eventually, Celestia and Luna loaded up in their respective carriages with only a guard apiece. A hoof-full was left behind to see to it that the crowd was dispersed and sent on their way.

Before they took off, Twilight risked a glance over to Ento, who glanced back. The most dejected look she had seen in her life painted his features visibly. She winced as her heart screamed in agony yet again, tears welling up unbidden in her eyes.

She sobbed silently next to Celestia through the entire ride to Canterlot Castle.

Rally

Chapter XIII. – Rally

The grand morning sky was pierced by a bright and brilliant sun. It peered down in rays, which crept into the corners of a great and ancient tree. These pinpricks of light washed through the plentiful foliage of the tree like water through a sieve, and settled to watch what was unfolding before its all-pervading gaze.

Five ponies were assembled inside the Ponyville library, accompanied by a small and very-concerned looking baby dragon. Each mare seemed to be pacing and worrying in their own way. A cursory glance would show that these five had nothing in common. It did not take long, however, for one to realize that these friends were far closer than anyone could have imagined.

“Well what are we doing, just waiting here!?” Rainbow Dash finally shouted, fed up with all the sitting around that was going on. Her pegasus blood was boiling, and her wild spirit had been cooped up for far too long.

“Now, RD, be calm please. You know for a fact that none of us know what tah do, let alone if we can actually do anythin’ tah help. Ah know how you feel.” Applejack’s emerald eyes looked onto her friend pleadingly. Her even tone soothed Dash, if not for a moment. The pegasus sat back down with a moan.

“I certainly wish we knew something that we could do,” Rarity said pitifully, reclined across a pair of chairs, ever-dramatic. “It’s really not like Twilight to not have a plan.” She let out a deep sigh, and glanced out the window. “Come to think of it, without her to help in a situation like this… things just don’t feel right.”

“Well, I’m certain Twilight didn’t expect the princesses to show up,” Fluttershy chimed in after seeing her friend so distraught. “Or for Ento to be mobbed by the town. That was definitely unexpected,” she added with a somber frown to the wooden floor.

“I know, right! This is so weird!” Pinkie exclaimed, her face in a rapt expression of deep thought, brows furrowed comically in intense concentration.

“Well, let’s think. What all has happened since this morning?” Applejack said, her voice set in stark determination. Her spirit was ready and rarin’ to go, and she was prepared to do whatever it took to help her friends Ento and Twilight.

“We woke up this morning, and Ento was gone,” Spike said with a slight shrug. “Twilight saw the crowd outside, and we ran out to find that they had gotten Ento.”

“Yes!" Pinkie sprang up off her seat. "I saw it all from Sugarcube corner this morning! I tried to stop them from getting so angry at Ento, but you know, he’s so spooky looking, and I don’t think they would have any of it.” The pink pony’s generally aloof face hardened slightly as she looked over her friends.

“Yes, yes I recall that. I found Applejack looking for Applebloom. They were setting up their apple cart in the town square when she had run off. Of course, we found the filly trying to console everypony else who had crowded around Ento. Twilight soon joined us, and she took us on stage. The next thing I know, the Princesses Celestia and Luna, not to mention half the Royal guard, were clamoring to get Ento out of there as fast as they could. Hmm,” Rarity mused, her face etched in thought.

“Hey, yeah!" Dash exclaimed deliberately. “Did any of you notice how quickly they tried to get him out of there? No pointing him out or remarking about him, like, at all. And that whole schpeil they were trying to feed us about him? Puh-leeze,” the pegasus remarked with a wave of her hoof. “I wasn’t born yesterday ya know…”

“You’re right, Dash. Somethin’ fishy’s goin’ on here, and Ah don’t like whats goin’ on.” Applejack’s face was just as thoughtful. “Ah wonder, if—” She was cut off as the door crashed open, leaving sunlight spilled across the floor.

In stepped Twilight, who looked for all the world as though she were ready to climb a mountain, if any pony had dared to put one in front of her. She was followed by Celestia, whose lanky figure was framed against the dazzling light. The pair stopped as they spotted the six faces staring back at them in wonder and bemusement.

“Oh, girls! And Spike… what are you all doing here?” Twilight asked inquisitively.

“Yes, what are you six doing here, exactly?” came Celestia’s soothing voice behind Twilight. Her tone, however, did not match the eyebrow that rose in slight contempt as she looked down at Twilight, and then surveyed the group before her.

Applejack shot a habitual glance at Rainbow Dash: Easy there, sugarcube. Let it go. A sightless bond connected, and Dash resettled herself in her seat with only a slight creak.

“We came back here tah talk after the whole rodeo of commotion that went on earlier this mornin’.” Applejack’s defiant voice hardened slightly. “No rules against that, now, are there?”

“It’s been a long morning, Princess…” Twilight interjected as she saw the Princess’s mouth open in a response. “Don’t worry about them. I’ll go take care of the business we stopped here for.” She shot a disarming smile towards her mentor.

“Very well, Twilight. Please don’t linger. We must be leaving soon.”

Twilight nodded slightly, and set out up the stairs. As she passed her friends, she shot them a slight look, and hoped it got to them what she meant it to: No worries, stay strong.

The seven figures in the room stood for a time in thick awkwardness, punctuated only by the crashing around upstairs that was heard through the open door. Dash sat fidgeting, as well as Pinkie, who couldn’t sit through a single serious moment without so much as a joke.

“Twilight…” came the Princess’s impatient voice. As soon as she had said it, though, her student's form appeared at the top of the stairs, her saddlebag draped over her body.

As she walked down the flight of steps, the Princess indicated the door to her with a slight nod. Just as Twilight reached the doorway, though, she turned to her friends and said, almost as an afterthought:

“I might be gone for a bit. Could you please, maybe, feed Owloysius while I’m gone? Soon, maybe?” She ended her request with a wide grin, and turned to leave without so much as a response, or a goodbye. The door clicked shut behind her and the Princess.

“Well, now, that was certainly strange! And not like a fly in your chocolate milk strange. More like, holy-guacamole, what-in-Equestria's-going-on-here strange!” Pinkie announced loudly, finally glad to say something.

“Ah know, sugarcube. Ah know.” Applejack stared out the window as she watched the royal carriage take off. “More and more confusing things going on. And tah top it all off, we gotta go feed a hungry owl as well.”

A Mind Together, a World Apart

Chapter XIV. – A Mind Together, a World Apart

Ento lay bound in heavy chains and draped in a roughly hewn cloak within the confines of a darkened carriage. The only view that he could see came from the spider web cracks of light that the satin curtains allowed in between them. A guard sat across from him. The white pegasus had been giving him nasty looks since he had thrown the poor Ekina roughly into the carriage, and seemed to enjoy flexing the muscles that threaded throughout his thick body with a depreciative leer every time Ento looked at him.

A sensation overcame Ento, a calling that rushed across the space of an eternity directly to him. He felt as though he replied automatically to its call. But as soon as it had appeared, it dissipated back from whence it had come. Blinking, he realized he had no idea what it meant. Regardless, though, he felt a certain comfort in it, like a baby blanket a filly would hold on to when the terrors of the darkest night intruded on their dreams.

As the sensation faded away, he heard a fierce whisper in his ear that felt beyond time itself:

Fated to darkness…

Ento sighed miserably, and looked out the crack in the curtains at the clear sky outside, trying to piece together what in the good graces of Tuni’Ro had happened that led up to where he was right now.

He felt his mind drift, his overwhelming anger and passionate hatred settling on the purple unicorn that sat inside the carriage in front of him. The recesses of his psyche took him back to events of this morning.

. . . .

After setting Twilight to bed, Ento went downstairs to continue his book, "Daring Do and the Golden Sabre." He spent the next few hours relaxing in his cot, reading all about the incredible mare and her arch-nemesis, a stuck up, mustachioed unicorn named Jean Franc. After a great deal of reading, he suddenly realized the sunlight that was creeping in from the window, bathing the thin pages of the book in a warm amber glow.

The sun! Ento thought, elated. Setting down the book, he raced over to the window and flinched at the brightness as a brilliant pastoral picture was painted right before his eyes.

The warm sun seemed to hold sway over the sky as a brilliant cobalt pierced the upper half of the horizon with a cheerful glee. Various fauna stood in the crisp landscape, dressed in the dew of the recent storm. Genial blues, charismatic yellows, and jovial pinks popped up at his sensitive nocturnal vision.

Bless Tuni’Ro for such a beautiful day that lies before me! he thought ecstatically, senses incredibly lucid by the view that he saw outside. His thoughts turned to Twilight, and his gut seemed to somersault with joy as he realized he would get to spend such a stunning day with her, just her. An inexorable grin had spread across his face.

. . . .

Within the darkened carriage, however, a look of disgust replaced it as he remembered the thought.

. . . .

Back inside the library, it seemed to him that the adventurer’s blood that coursed through his blood was burning now. An inescapable itch overcame him, and he galloped outside to experience the virginal world outside the library.

He pranced around the surrounding area, going deeper into town as nature’s scenery drew him away.

Inside the silent library, the thin rays of sunlight fell upon an ancient grandfather clock. Its tarnished hands showed a time of ten minutes to seven o’clock on the dot.

. . . .

Mother of Pearl had decided today would be a particularly nice day to take a stroll around her beloved Ponyville.

So, with her fancy Sunday clothes pressed and ironed, she stepped outside to reveal a landscape wiped clean by nature’s love. She smiled gently as she stepped gingerly off her porch and onto the grass, being sure to hold her silk umbrella with all the stately grace a maternal mare such as herself was privileged to after so many years of life.

Even at almost seven o’clock in the morning, not a single pony was out and about on such a gorgeous day, that she could tell. Pearl harrumphed. Lazy ponies these days. More of this beautiful day for my own self, she concluded with a satisfied grin. She continued on her walk at a brisk pace, doing her very best to keep up with the age that creaked her bones at every step.

As she rounded a corner, she bumped straight into somepony with a smart crack as the umbrella contacted with the other pony, knocking her large, decorative hat straight off her head in the process and tripping her to the ground as all the stately grace she had tried to hold up fell away.

“Oh my, Ma’am, are you alright? I’m sorry, I still have light-blindness from the morning,” she heard a deep voice say hurriedly. Her gaze lay stuck looking at the ground as her ankle throbbed where it had been bumped, and she wondered what in the hay "light-blindness" was.

“Here let me get your hat for you,” the voice said again without waiting for her response. “Here you go. I think I broke my nose,” the voice added with a sharp inhale.

Mother of Pearl looked up from the tips of mottled green hooves, up, up to find a very, very tall pony, her hat in his mouth. As her eyes adjusted to the sunlight that lay behind the towering figure, her heart leapt as she realized a horned fiend stood before her, blood flowing fast from his nose as he handed her, Mother of Pearl, her very own Sunday strolling hat!

The wizened old mare promptly fainted on the spot, her delicate mind having been much too overloaded to function.

. . . .

Ento stood dumbstruck at the unconscious old mare in front of him. Fearing the worst, he put an ear to her neck to check for a pulse. Thanking both Alik’Kr and Tuni’Ro repeatedly, he heard a faint beat that indicated life in the crumpled body.

Of course, with his luck, a gang of ponies appeared around the corner just at that moment. Ento looked up at them with wide eyes, realizing that blood sat thick on his muzzle and the old mare’s neck and starched shirt as well. His mind panicked as the group screamed and shouted, obviously frightened out of their minds at what stood before the. They cried out, proclaiming demons and witchcraft. Two very large and very intimidating stallions broke from the group and galloped towards Ento, tackling him to the ground with a dense thud. With the wind knocked out of him, he stood no chance as they dragged his limp and gasping form towards town hall.

After unceremoniously chaining him up, they dragged him to the stage to show off the “demon” they had caught trying to “sacrifice” the poor and recently “deceased” Mother of Pearl. Ento could do nothing in retaliation as the crowd gathered, screaming and hissing at him as he stood helpless on stage, covered in his own blood. He felt like a disgusting prize that a circus ringmaster would show off as the main freak of an attraction.

Of course, he saw Pinkie Pie appear on the scene first, trying to convince the frenzied ponies what was going on, but they wouldn’t have any of it. Rarity and Applejack showed up shortly, followed by Rainbow Dash, who Ento was especially glad had arrived. The local Pegasi had been dropping rocks from above, striking him all over his already aching body.

Then he saw her. Twilight’s shocked face had pushed needles into his gut, but seeing her spread a warmth throughout his body as reassuring as anything. He lost her in the tidal crowd, and jumped back with shock as she appeared with Rarity and Applejack right on stage in a blaze of purple light. Though it lasted for a split second, the look she had given him as she materialized was invigorating. At the time, he had found her determined gaze reassuring and familiar.

. . . .

He realized now, in hindsight, what a disgusting creature she was. All ponies were. His only comfort was that he had discovered that her only adorations lay towards the blind love of her imperialistic “teacher.”

. . . .

In landed Rainbow Dash, with Fluttershy soon after, the latter tending to his broken nose. He thanked her with a hoarse whisper as he flinched at the pain. He could feel the bright light of the sun straining his nocturnal eyes.

He shut them, trying to focus on somewhere far away from this horrible place. His eyes shot open as he heard a commanding voice say Twilight’s name.

He turned to see a tall, regal looking… What had Twilight called them?

Alicorn.

Her brilliant rainbow mane flowed around a pearl-white coat. Her head lay adorned by a golden crown, and a sun was emblazoned upon her flank. Behind her stood a slightly smaller alicorn of the same build, who seemed the white one’s exact opposite. Her midnight-oil mane and coat contrasted with her sister's sharply, and a bold half-moon lay upon her flank.

Various guards walked over and moved Fluttershy out of the way as they grabbed Ento bodily. The assembly pushed him towards one of two open-air carriages that stood stationary next to the stage and sat him down in the seat.

He looked on as the two strangely dressed alicorns addressed the crowd. They were obviously of a very high position, for he had observed as various townsponies stood silent and unmoving, their faces captured in a fearful attention.

What he heard coming from the alicorns he judged immediately as complete rubbish. He felt a bitter sensation to stand up and yell to them that everything they were saying about him was nothing but a load of fabrications and politically diluted terms and phrases. Ento held his tongue, though, for fear of further retribution.

. . . .

He remembered watching as Twilight was put in another carriage as well. The look on her face had broken Ento’s heart to see, and he saw her sobbing to herself as the carriages took off.

At that moment, he felt no other drive in the world than to be able to comfort her, and to tell her it would be alright.

But now…

Now all he wanted was to never look upon her face again. He felt hot tears of anger streak silently down his cheeks in the gently rocking carriage. He tried his very best to keep as still and as quiet as he could, for fear of what the guard might say or do to him.

. . . .

After a considerable period of monotonous travel, Ento found his mind wandering again, and he came back to the audience chamber that he had been interrogated in some hours ago.

The princesses had called it “asking some questions of a traveler so far from home,” but Ento had soon realized they knew far more than they led on to. After getting nowhere with the usual questions that anyone would ask of a strange creature in their land, they appealed to him with their true knowledge to try and intimidate him.

“Ento’Ba, we know everything about you: your kind, where you come from, and why we don’t see any of you Ekina in our kingdom. We have ways of knowing,” Celestia said grandly, her stately voice tinged with disdain as she addressed Ento. He squirmed uncomfortably in the hard wooden chair, looking down at the ornate carpet.

“In fact, we know far more than you probably do about your own people!” added Luna. Her bitterness was far more pronounced than her sister’s. Ento couldn’t tell if he was more afraid of Luna’s direct ire, or Celestia’s veiled threats.

“Now,” the white alicorn added firmly, “please tell us how it is you got here. We both know for a fact that no Ekina is allowed north of the Great Wall. So how is it that you come so readily into our land? And find your way into Princess Twilight Sparkle’s home, nonetheless? What do your people have planned?”

Ento’s ears pricked up as he heard the last part of the princesses’ sentence. Twilight is a… princess? he thought incredulously. No, no she couldn’t have told them about me… Not Twilight. No. Ento felt a pull at the back of his mind. Anger threatened to cave in as his shocked mind pieced together a picture that he dared not accept.

“We know the punishment placed on any Ekina who is found in breach of Imperial boundary rule,” Celestia pushed on without a response. “Pain of death.” The last word fell from her tongue, into a great sea of pain. Her voice seemed to coalesce, falling as a crescendo upon Ento’s ears with the roar and fury of a great lightning storm.

She did. She told them every single thing about me. How dare you, Twilight. How dare you. His mind jumped and flashed with pain and agony, and the brilliant, the remarkable, the distinctive passion he had felt for this strange unicorn was extinguished, the candle in his heart snuffed out in a single motion.

He shut his eyes so tightly they hurt. Stinging tears rose unbidden to his predator’s eyes.

“I’ll tell you everything,” he gasped, wincing. He could feel the icy shards of his heart crashing into his gut, melting into pure acid hate.

. . . .

The pain that seared at his heart only increased in intensity as the princesses became angry at his preoccupied mind, which stalled for answer and dredged up incorrect information. Through their vicious shouts, he steeled himself against more pain.

A single, comforting thought of Twilight arose in his mind. He quickly batted it away in anger, and then winced as Luna snapped at his distractedness, unleashing a storm-like blast of fury on him.

After they had gotten out what they wanted, they told him what was next for him.

“We are taking you to Brelset to let the Lord and Lady deal with you as they see fit,” Celestia said, slightly disheveled at the shouting match she had just endured. “What happens to you is entirely up to them. We will be leaving right after.” She finished with a nod, and looked to Luna, who nodded along.

“Unfortunately it’s come to this. It’s our duty, Ento’Ba, though it does pain us some to have to take you away to your death.” The princess of the night hung her head slightly. A heavy pause filled the room as Ento sat silently, heavy manacles beginning to burn where they chafed his legs.

The pause was broken as Celestia called in her guard, who threw a rough cloak over Ento and led him out to the runway. He had spotted Twilight sitting outside the door, and realized she had probably heard most of what happened. Disdain burned in his mind as he looked on ahead, not even giving her the benefit of his attention.

He made his way out of the room, and came now onto an open-air balcony that was lined with two chariots, pulled by a respective pair of hooded pagasi. Pushed inside of the rear-most carriage, he waited with the muscle-bound guard for what seemed like hours, though he realized it could only have been tens of minutes that passed by.

. . . .

Caught back up into the present, he watched as they passed into a land he knew by heart. Though he had never seen them from the air, the Crsrath Mountains looked for all the world like the fins of gigantic marine predators surfacing on the sea of mist that blanketed the range.

He spotted the Northern wall, a huge and foreboding piece that seemed to rise like the backbone of a giant from the ground. He looked far away along the horizon, beyond what seemed the edge, as Mt Bleas stood immensely tall and proud among the mountain range that ran directly through the kingdom.

This was it. Everything boiled down to the here and now.

Ento shivered as he felt a very corporeal sensation creep down his back.

Midday's Visitor's

Chapter XV. – Midday’s Visitors

The thick curtains were pulled across the grand room in a long, sweeping motion, spilling a blinding and dazzling light into the Lord’s chambers. A figure sat up in bed, its greying mane wild and eyes burning with a barely insulated hatred at this usurper of noon-time dreams.

“For all that is holy and righteous, by the graces of Alik’Kr, I will murder you, Beseus!” screamed the Lord. Spittle flung from between long, razor-sharp teeth as he roared to his servant wizard. Beseus merely nodded, and lowered the hood of the deep red cloak he always wore. Grandly painted horns and deep-set amber eyes were revealed, and a level smile touched his lips.

“My lord, it seems you have visitors. From the North, in fact,” he murmured. His voice was as silken as ever, and, much to his master’s irritation, weighed heavy with perplexity. Without so much as another word, the court mage’s figure glided out of the Lord’s bedroom. He left behind him a very stunned and shocked looking king.

Skeren’Ve was not an Ekina to be taken lightly. Ruling over the kingdom for almost fifty years was no small feat, and doing it side-by-side with a wife like Bresel was no small task, either. He had seen many great things in his time as the Lord of Ek’Rael, and particularly prided himself in carrying on the peaceful rule that was the Common Era.

But this…

Skeren sat at the edge of the bed with his head cradled gently in his worn hooves. He rubbed the long greying beard that sat upon his features, contemplating what this meant.

“Travelers from the North…” he whispered to himself. “No. It can’t be…”

He stood up, donning a long silken robe, and promptly walked out to meet his Lady.

. . . .

The pair met in the interlinked halls of the great ochre castle. The Lord spotted the Lady, who was dressed in a long magenta gown that seemed to flow like crystal water around her form. Her face, which was framed in the grand chestnut mane that he so loved, was set in deep concern as she looked upon him.

“I’m assuming Beseus came to visit you?” she asked soberly.

“Yes. Nearly gave me a bloody heart attack when he ripped open the curtains,” he said, wincing at the memory of blinding sunlight. He let out a long sigh.

“And, I figure that I am correct in assuming he has told you who is on their way to this very place?” she inquired with an arched eyebrow. Skeren nodded solemnly.

“Travelers from the North. And if they have gotten over the wall without so much as a sound from the forward guards, then it is who I fear it to be.” He glanced down at the rug that lay on the stone floor, where stars swirled and interlocked in the worn tapestry. He lifted his tired eyes up to meet his lady's.

She met his gaze with a slow nod.

“It seems we will be having a very interesting day indeed, today.” She started off for the main hall. Her husband followed in step behind her.

. . . .

Twilight felt the bump of the earth as the carriage came down to rest expertly on the ground. Setting down the black leather-bound book she had been reading, she glanced out the window and felt her jaw drop as the scene unfolded before her: a dazzling castle stood set in the side of the mountain. Its broad ochre walls looked to be great sheets of metal that had corroded over the time of many millennia, and now revealed to her an astounding display of reddish orange.

Tall spires jutted from atop the huge towers that were peppered across the castle’s grand walls. She looked up as the keep seemed to straddle the very length of the mountain itself like a gigantic mechanical backbone.

“Twilight,” came Celestia’s calm voice from across the carriage. The inquisitive unicorn promptly shut her gaping mouth and glanced over towards her teacher. The princess pulled a long silk robe from a sack with a sparkle of magic, and floated it over to Twilight. She felt the cool material in her hooves, and turned it to look it over.

The robe was of high-quality silk. She noticed that it stood in a royal purple that struck one’s eye grandly, and remarked with a slight smile that it was embroidered with the constellations of the northern sky. She looked up at the pair before her expectantly as a grin painted her features at the marvelous gift.

“That is to be worn while we are here, and only to be removed when we specifically say so, okay Twilight?” Celestia commanded gently. Twilight nodded an affirmative, though her mind was burning with questions.

“Why, Princess?” she asked hastily, as she searched for the head hole of the robe.

“Because,” Luna began, “ponies are not known here in Ek’Rael. In order to facilitate certain… regulations, we will need to remain incognito. For the time being, of course.” She cut her sentence short as she wriggled into an inky black robe that was clasped with hoof-polished moonstone. It gleamed in the shape of her cutie mark, a brilliant half-moon and solitary star.

Twilight glanced over to find Celestia adorning a similar robe. Hers, however, was a pearlescent white, and was clasped with a noon-time sun set in brilliant fire-gems.

Twilight looked down at her own cloak: the pattern of stars was painstakingly sewn in perfect order. Twilight bet that she could measure the positions exactly, and come out to find that they were a precise match to the stars that twinkled in the night's sky. She adjusted the clasp that lay at the base of her neck with a sparkle of magic, a brilliant violet star held the light material tightly to her body.

She glanced back over to the princesses. The pair looked back with uniquely determined glances.

“Are you ready, Princess Sparkle? Remember that we come here as unwelcome guests to a far-flung land. This is certainly not a vacation trip, and I expect the absolute best from you. You are, after all, representing an entire nation.” Celestia looked down on her equal, face set in serious focus.

Twilight got the inane sensation she were getting a scolding from her mother. Trying to hide the grimace that threatened to take over her face, she nodded curtly and said, “Yes, princess. I understand.” She looked back and forth at the pair.

“Very well. Let us go, then.” The princesses raised their hoods, shrouding their features within the dim light. Twilight followed suit, and found that the hood fell neatly about her horn with no bunching or rising.

She followed the royal pair out of the carriage, and stepped out into the brilliant sunlight. A warm breeze lifted around her legs as she walked, and carried with it a moist tropical heat. Twilight almost stopped at the shock. Being located within a vast range of mountains, she had expected a dry, frigid temperament.

Twilight had noticed, as well, that the pegasi that had pulled the carriage were draped in plain black cloaks, their wings tucked in and hidden from sight. A cursory glance revealed that there was not a soul around the entire place. With another revelation, she recalled that Ekina were nocturnal; it was the dead of night for them. Glancing around, she continued to follow the pair up to the castle’s entrance, her thin cloak already beginning to stick to her sweating body. The heat was unbearable here.

What Twilight saw then was the greatest shock of all: a vast entry stood before them with narrow catwalks at the apex of the great door. The door itself seemed to be gigantic pieces of hammered and welded metal, and it stood in a corroded green. It had obviously stood the test of time, and she remarked with a slight grimace at the deep dents and pits, as well as the broad scratches that lay near the foot of the door. A reminder of years gone by…she mused to herself.

The group stopped, and waited. Celestia planted her hooves firmly and called out in a deep and booming voice.

“Lord and Lady of the Grand Kingdom of Ek’Rael! We come as visitors of another land to bring a stray from your flock. Please, allow us entrance into the castle, so we may relinquish him unto you!” Twilight’s ears rang with the Princess’s voice as it echoed off the great steel battlements.

Time seemed to stand still. Crows that had been frightened off by the sun princesses’ call returned, driven by agonizing curiosity. Seconds crept by, and still nothing happened. The threesome stood in the glaring light of the sun, cloaks picked up gently in the sultry air. Twilight saw spots of delicate sweat staining each princess's cloak in a thin line along their back.

Finally, Luna turned to her sister, rash and impatient as ever. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, though, a terrifying groan was heard that seemed to emanate from the very beast that lay before the three. They all turned to face the entryway as the doors swung inwards. A blast of cold, dry air danced around all three, and Twilight felt her mouth drop as she witnessed what came forth from the gaping maw.

A platoon of wicked-looking soldiers marched forth from the black, stacked single-file on either side of two figures that were dressed in shades of crimson and magenta. Behind those two was an Ekina with sunken eyes and garishly-painted horns. Several other Ekina whose beards were longer than their horns followed suit behind them.

The soldiers themselves were more than intimidating enough. Their plate armor shone in the sun like finely polished brass, glinting with the pride of a well-skilled hoof. They each carried immense spears that jutted up from their grip like stripped trees in a forest. Each one also carried on their waist a fiercely curved sword, the hilt of each was emblazoned with ancient runes backed in ebony.

The helmet that sat upon each of their heads was the most ghastly sight of all, however. Shaped into a wicked point, they sat almost elliptical on their heads, seeming to coalesce with each soldier’s pronged set of horns in the back. Two long, black slits extended from the tip of the helmet’s “nose,” and ended where Twilight could only guess was their eyes. This was the only indication that the figures weren’t some sort of blind automatons as they marched in perfect formation.

The elegantly dressed figures that stood between them were much calmer to the eye, though Twilight could tell they held a fierce passion all their own. The figure dressed in crimson had a well-groomed silver beard that matched the intensity of his long mane. Upon his head sat a brilliant golden crown, the likes of which were inset in flawless diamonds.

The magenta-clad figure stood taller than her counterpart, though she was much thinner. Her tawny gaze was piercing, but seemed to hold a hidden compassion as well. Her chestnut-hued mane was braided in grand locks, and interwoven into it was a gold and moonstone circlet which sat at the top of her head.

As the armored soldiers ceased their march, a heavy stillness held over the congregation. Celestia and Luna, as graceful as ever, bowed grandly to the elegantly dressed pair. Twilight followed suit, being sure to follow the princess’ example to the letter.

“Celestia, and Luna” came the sudden voice of the bearded old Ekina. Twilight noticed that he had dropped the princesses's formal titles. His look turned disapproving as he surveyed the alicorns before him. His gaze came to rest on Twilight’s form and he grimaced slightly, though the look only waivered on his stoic features for a moment.

“You know you are banished from this land. Why do you return to us, now?” His voice seemed to weigh heavily with the burden of sovereignty. Twilight figured that he had probably been in the care of the kingdom with his wife for a great deal of time.

Celestia finally stood up to her full height, and said smoothly, “We have found one of your subjects wandering in our land. We have no knowledge of how he got here, but we have brought him here to hand him over to you, as is custom for those who pass beyond the boundaries.” Her voice was steady and unwavering. Twilight realized this was probably an average day for her. After all, a princess had to keep on her toes for every situation that arose regarding her kingdom.

The royal pair shared looks of stunned disbelief. The Lady stepped forward to address the three.

“An Ekina? In your land? Preposterous,” she snorted in a voice that held a slight shrillness. “Not a single Ekina has left the gates in over a millennium and a half. What are you doing here, Celestia?” she added, taking a menacing step forward. "Answer, now."

Twilight could feel as tension built thick, laying a whole new layer of pressure in the muggy air. She shot a nervous glance over at the guards. Each one stood stock still, though she could see their hooves gripping the handle of their spears tighter and tighter. Gulping hard, she looked back over the princess for a familiar comfort.

Celestia had not, of course, budged at the Lady’s cutting remark. She instead turned her head regally, and indicated at the wagon behind her.

“In there, you will find one of your kingdom. He hails by the name of Ento’Ba, as we have come to find.” The princess raised an eyebrow as the royal pair’s depreciative looks turned muddled with confusion.

“Ba? Of the Ba family? The esteemed blacksmith’s son?” Twilight heard the Lord ask quietly to his wife. The Lady only shook her head in response, maintaining a glare upon her uninvited guests.

“Then let you act honest on your word, and produce him forth hence.”

Celestia nodded, and turned in the direction of the cart. With another curt nod, Twilight watched as Ento stumbled out of the small carriage, covering his eyes as he squinted in the bright light.

She felt a familiar sensation in her gut at the sight. Her stomach did a backflip as she watched the muddled-green Ekina approach the group cautiously.

. . . .

Ento felt his mind reel in confusion as the guard shoved him from out of the carriage with a whisper to go to princesses. Ento obeyed. What else could he do? A very familiar, and very warm, muggy air hit him. He remembered with a grimace why no Ekina was awake during the day, and could already feel his mane sticking to him in the humidity.

As his tired eyes adjusted to the blinding light, his stomach sank in grim regret as he spotted the entire assembly that was before him:

Viciously armed Centuriori Guards stood in Empirical formation around the Lord and Lady. The royal pair was, themselves, dressed grandly in flowing robes, as was custom. His stomach sunk even further as his gaze rested upon the hooded forms of Celestia and Luna. With a startling revelation, he realized what was in front of him: figures of purest white and deepest black!

Anger boiled up in his mind. Pieces fell together, and a fierce sense of defiance overcame him. This only worsened in intensity as he finally arrived at the large group, his mane flopping irritatingly from perspiration. He watched in disgust as Twilight’s broad smile peered out from beneath her hood. He looked away sharply, up at the ruling pair’s harsh glares. For now, it was the lesser of two evils.

“My Lord and Lady…” he muttered, and broke into a deep bow. His face set deeper in pain as he heard the Lady’s cutting voice address him.

“Ento’Ba. Son of Krya’Ba, the royal blacksmith. What do you have to say in your defense, as you stand here accused of violating our nation’s oldest and most sanctified law?”

Ento looked up, face set in a defiant smirk.

“I fall victim to whatever the Lord and Lady of my beloved kingdom may decide as my fate.” He shot a scathing glance at Twilight, and smiled privately as he saw her face drop in stunned horror. He enjoyed her pain, fed off her anguish. Somewhere inside him, though, a whisper of hollow guilt rang out. He squashed the thought with little effort.

The Lady raised an eyebrow at her subject’s keen response.

“Very well, young colt. As the law demands, we will prepare a Grand Jury for this evening at twilight’s hour to decide what is the correct punishment for your crime against the kingdom.” She turned to Celestia, Luna and Twilight. “As for you three, you will be staying under our direct care until the trial is over. Ancient law dictates the presence of the returning force.” A grimace painted her wizened features. “Not that we have a choice in the matter, anyhow.”

Celestia nodded in patient acceptance.

“We appreciate the gesture, and will be sure to not cause a scene while we are present. I know that our existence here is to remain a myth. We have taken precautions for this, as you can see,” she added, nodding slightly at the hooded figures behind her.

“Very well,” came the Lord’s deep, oily voice. “Please, follow us inside. We will get things in order for the evening, and get out of this cursed sun.” Ento heard Celestia snort ever-so gently at the Lord's remark about her namesake.

Turning to leave, the noon-time assembly entered back through the great doors.

Ento’s face was stone. He didn’t give a single glance towards Twilight’s direction as he entered through the intimidating doors. He felt a queer sensation as his predator’s eyes adjust to the darkened interior, and instant relief as a whisper of a breeze sucked the heat right off his body.

The massive metal doors slammed shut behind him with a huge clang, insulating everyone off from the light of day.

Surreal Sensations

Chapter XVI .– Surreal Sensations

If the Castle at Brelset was a testament to the abilities that the ancient ones possessed, then the long and spacious keep that wove into the very mountain itself was a veritable shrine to their inconceivable skill. Though many Ekina had been inside the Castle Brelset, Ento himself had never so much as seen the inside of its doors. With an astounding sense of awe, he realized now that those that had ventured inside held a grand privilege, indeed.

As the parade entered into the grand audience chamber, the first thing he noticed was the way it seemed to be carved out of the very walls of the mountain cavern itself. In place of the more common stained-glass windows, there were huge tomes scribed into the stone walls. These were punctuated throughout by magnificent etchings of fierce battles and valiant heroes, a few which he recognized.

There was Entar’Ma the Brave, of course. Amesius’Be, the guard-captain of the original Qa Family Legion- which had evolved into the modern day Centuriori Royal Guard- stood proud and tall along almost half the eastern face. Upon another wall was scribed the epic poem of the original rulers of Strei, its ensuing struggle for peace, and the ruling of the Qa Family.

With an uncomfortable sensation, he realized that not a single tome was written describing the ponies that had fought in the war, though there were several spots that the artistry did seem rushed or unnaturally added.

At the eastern side of the chamber, vast rows of stone benches were carved carefully into the wall of the cave, and they all faced a tall pedestal subjugated by seven moderately-sized metal chairs. These stood for each elder of the original seven families. The pedestal plateaued into two grand metal thrones, inlaid with richly-adorned silken cushions.

With a slight wave from the Lord, Ento watched as the Centuriori splintered off into two groups on steady hooves.

Group one took position around the foot of the royal pedestal while the seven elders took their seats, and the second group ushered themselves and the ponies up onto the benches. A single guard broke off and marched towards Ento, and proceeded to attach a pair of ebony-metal cuffs to his forelegs.

Great, Ento thought wearily, a prisoner, yet again. As the locks snapped into place around his ankles, though, he felt a familiar sinking feeling threatening to overtake him. The angry defiance that had lit up from seeing Twilight’s pain was slowly being replaced by blind panic as the reality of the situation dawned on him. He swallowed hard as he turned to face the Lord and Lady, who sat regally upon their imposing metal thrones. A side-long glance revealed that everyone else had settled themselves in the stand seats.

“Ento’Ba, son of Krya’Ba, son of Alseoir’Ba,” boomed the bearded Ekina’s opulent voice, “It seems we have found you in a particularly… uneventful position this day.” The Lord smirked at his manacled subject. As he leaned forward, Ento remarked silently that his eyes stood bloodshot, and felt his own eyes ache as sleep pried at his conscious mind. He tried to stand taller as the Lord’s voice went on.

“The Princesses Celestia and Luna have discovered you in their land, and we here discover you in violation of the Law of Origins,” boomed the Lord. Within the grand chamber, his voice was magnified ten-fold by the hard stone walls. Ento flinched as the Lady’s shrill voice continued on for her husband’s.

“Ancient law decrees a jurisdiction be called the following light of twilight to decide the fate of you, the guilty party. It is, at that time, that we will decide an appropriate punishment for your transgressions.” At the last word, the Lady bent forward in her tall throne the same as her husband, sending a depreciative glance down at her prisoner. Her glaring eye stood as brilliant and emotionless as ice. “Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Ento croaked. He hadn’t used his voice in hours, and stopped to clear his throat. He added another quick yes with more emphasis. The Lady lay back in her throne, nodding slightly.

“Very well.” She paused, and gestured with a graceful hoof towards the princesses’ hooded forms. She accompanied the motion with a glance that was just as cold as her voice. “And, of course, ancient law dictates the presence of the returning parties. Celestia and Luna, rooms have been prepared for you in the eastern wing. You are to remain there until the hearing begins, and to be unseen throughout the trial as impassive observers, nothing more. I do not want to hear a word out of you, for reasons I am sure you already know.” Ento watched smugly as she shot Twilight a similar glare, her voice dripped with barely-contained contempt. “And I trust that your… guest will stay out of trouble while she is here? I do not know why you have brought her along, but I want no trouble from any of you.”

The white-robed princess nodded curtly.

“Twilight Sparkle is a fellow Princess of Equestria. I have brought her here under her request, and she will follow my word to the letter. We will, all of us, show the utmost respect for your land while we are your guests here.” The sun princess’s voice reverberated off the walls with the same stately power that the Lord and Lady held. This emitted a deep sigh from the chestnut-maned Ekina as she reclined delicately in her throne. She turned back to Ento, who felt pricks of ice on the back of his neck as the Lady’s animosity shifted onto him.

“Very well. This assembly is thus far disbanded. Official jurisdiction will meet at the first light of twilight.” The matron’s spell was broken from Ento as a gentle mumble of multiple hooves clopped down the stone stairs and departed down the western hall to their respective chambers. A guard nudged Ento forcefully in the opposite direction, and proceeded to slip a rough blind over his eyes. All vision was lost to blackness as he stumbled sightlessly into a maw that, he realized, would lead to his untimely demise.

. . . .

A single stump of a candle burned in the corner of the cramped room, casting gruesome shadows on the flat walls as a robed figure paced back and forth from one end to the other. The figure’s sweeping robe billowed around her as she turned, and a fiercely determined look lay planted upon her features as she looked at the room before her. A single metal-frame featherbed sat in the corner, accompanied by a small wooden table, on which the solitary candle burned away meticulously.

But she wasn’t alone in the chamber. With a cursory glance, she looked over at the two figures hidden in the shadows that stained each corner in murky blackness. One stood prostrate, head bobbing slightly. A smirk of unbridled hatred was its only definitive mark, and, lit up by the candle, the thin smile seemed to be smeared on the wall by some cruel artist.

The other phantom sat huddled up into itself, acting as if the further it receded from the light, the safer it would become, almost as though it were trying to be absorbed into the very stone wall itself. A scathing voice called out from the right-most corner.

“Ento seemed awfully happy to see you, didn’t he, Twi?” Anger’s sneer turned to a simpering grimace, voice dropping to a mocking tone. “Of course, who wouldn’t love to see the very pony that put him in this awful mess, am I right?” Anger turned to the whimpering form next to her with a similarly-demeaning look. “Really, Fear. Is now the time to be cowering in a corner? Can’t you see Twilight is busy trying to come up with some half-assed plan?” A sharp, barking laugh split out in the room, making Twilight wince slightly.

This only incited Fear’s sniveling cries. Between choking sobs and sniffs, Twilight heard her pitiful psyche call out to her, pleading.

“P-Please Twilight. No more, no more, I can’t take it! Just stay here. It’s pointless to try anything, especially now. We’re stuck in the manticor’s den, and for all we know, they’ll kill us, too!” Fear hid behind her snarled-up mane, moaning aloud and covering her head in bloody hooves as Anger simply laughed at her tortured suffering.

But Twilight wasn’t about to give in to these false feelings. She knew they were only a trick of the mind, somepony’s gruesome idea of a joke. With a determined glare, she set to pacing once more.

How I am going to see Ento before this trial is called? Twilight thought to herself, ideas popping away in her ever-active mind. Her plan was solid. She knew that it couldn’t possibly fail. She’d run it a hundred times over in succession. Each projected outcome had come as close to each other as was physical possible.

Now, she just had to figure out how to execute it. She could feel her brain physically racking itself as it went through list after list of spells that she knew by heart.

“How cute. She thinks she knows what to do. Now, this will prove fun,” the harsh voice called out from the shadows. Only a mumbled sob could be heard as a response. Twilight went on, ignoring the phantasms.

Teleportation spell? No, she thought, much too loud. He’s certain to have guards in the vicinity of him. And I don’t know the layout of this castle. For all I know, I could materialize in a room with some fifty other guards. Her face sunk at this thought, but she picked up her pace as another thought jumped into consciousness.

“Just give it up, Twilight.” A sigh.

Confusion hex? No, no, she contemplated, adding a solemn shake of her head for emphasis. I only know how to stun somepony for a brief time, and only one or two of them at that. The guards would know what I was doing as soon as the spell wore off anyhow.

“Idiot.” Twilight could hear the harsh scowl in Anger’s voice.

“Please, Twilight… Come away and just get in bed…”

Twilight felt her smile lessen dramatically at the pair’s jeering. Looking at the candle that sat in the corner, though, she felt a similar flicker of inspiration.

Candle… Light… Illumination… illuminationis… Falsum illuminationis! That’s it!! She felt her small smile return as the idea hit her. Walking up to the candle, she contemplated it carefully: the cherry-red flame burned away joyfully, absolutely oblivious to the fact that it would soon be extinguished from forces outside its own control.

“What are you doing?” said the irritated voice. The pitch jumped dramatically as Anger’s ire cracked slightly. It knew that it was losing its grip on Twilight’s mind. “Get away from there, Twilight! Don’t you dare…!” it commanded furiously, rage rising as it tried, vainly, to move from its static position.

Closing her eyes, Twilight incited the spell she knew from memory. She felt the familiar sense of building energy growing just behind her skull.

“Falsum illuminationis.” A solitary whisper.

With a crackle, the single flame was extinguished, damning the cold stone room to pitch black darkness.

. . . .

“Did you hear that?” Luna interrupted her sister. Celestia, mouth still open mid-sentence, glanced over at the moon princess, who sat on her bed, head cocked and ears pricked up. Celestia cocked her head similarly, straining to hear anything that she possibly could.

But there was nothing to listen to. Even with a bit of magic to expand her keen hearing, she heard nothing but Luna’s bated breath and her own drumming heartbeat. She felt her face fall slightly as she turned back to her sister.

“Luna… I don’t hear anything. Are you sure...?” The princess was cut off by Luna’s deliberate gesture for silence. A few moments of muffled stillness hung in the air once more, and Celestia felt the inane urge to roll her eyes. As she waited for whatever this was to pass, she looked around the room. The stone walls were of a similar fashion to that of the audience chamber: carved straight out of solid rock, they stood garishly-painted in surrealistic forms. The beds they both sat on were splendid and well-made, stacked high with small silk pillows. A cheerful fire burned in the corner, lighting up the room grandly, along with several candles that sat lazily around the room. Finally, her sister let out a curt snort and turned to Celestia.

“I thought I had heard something coming past the hall. Guess I was mistaken,” she said plainly. “Now, what were you saying, sister?”

Celestia cleared her throat, and sat up to her full height. What she had been discussing deserved the utmost importance, after all.

“I was saying, maybe this whole situation is a catalyst for something much bigger. Perhaps we should take the opportunity that we have been given here in order to re-establish diplomacy with the Ekina. After all, a thousand and a half years should have put some salve on the wounds of old, yes?” She glanced at the dark princess, a hopeful glimmer shining in her heart at her sister’s reaction.

The feeling soured, though, when she saw Luna’s face drop drastically. She snorted once again, though this time it was not in annoyance.

“Celestia, I hardly doubt this is an appropriate time to open up diplomacy with the Ekina. We've just returned with a prisoner of their own land. They suspect us of framing him, as well.”

“They do not, Luna. I think—” Celestia interjected, but was cut off by her sister mid-sentence.

“It pries at their thoughts, you know this! They are creatures that can hardly be trusted. It has been this way since we have first met them.” Luna’s gaze turned icy cold. “Need I remind you what they have done to us? To Equestria?” The darkness that swirled in the ebony mare’s eyes almost dared her sister to give a retort. Fully taken aback, Celestia found it took every fiber of her self-control not to flinch under her sister’s leer.

“I—” Celestia’s voice cracked slightly. Panicking, she repeated herself, trying to calm the uncomfortable sensations that pried at her emotions. “I think that there is no harm in trying. What damage could come from simply requesting to open up talks between the Lord and Lady? Honestly. It would certainly be the best for the kingdom, for everypony!” she shot quickly as her sister’s gaze grew more and more shady.

Something seemed to click in Luna’s demeanor, however. Although her gaze softened, and her mannerisms evened out slowly, Celestia still caught an anxious energy about her. With a slight sigh, Luna said:

“I suppose so, sister. As you said, I guess it really can’t hurt to just try.”

Celestia nodded along.

“Yes, yes. We will make sure to open up the option whenever we can with the royal pair.” Celestia paused, eyes brightening expressively at the thought. “It will be wonderful! Ponies and Ekina together. Just think of the incredible things that Equestria will gain from this union!” She glanced over to her sister approvingly. Luna simply shook her head morbidly.

“We are here to overlook the fate of a helpless traveler, not pave way for some grand new unification, even if it were to make every pony’s life that much better. I think you are too focused on the big picture here, my dear sister. It seems too much time alone on the royal throne has distorted your sense of individualism.” She shot her sister a look that could only be described as imprudent. Celestia countered her sister’s statement, perhaps more cynically than she meant to.

“And it seems being gone for so long has numbed your sense of duty before personal worth.”

“Time alone has given me far more individual perception than you will ever hope to gain, Celestia,” Luna refuted in a dark tone that was far more than familiar to the two.

The mare’s eyes met, interlocking; light pools of calm violet clashed with dark puddles of inky blackness. A tense sensation sat over the princess’ chambers, seeming to slow time itself down to a stagger. The argument was no novelty. The pair had been sharing the same disagreement since Luna had returned from exile.

Finally, though, time picked back up. The pair broke the spell that held them both over, and glanced down in similar expressions of shameful guilt for having been so obstinate to one another.

The crackling fire pervaded the silence that hung in the room. Almost as a casual afterthought, Celestia broke the stillness after a time with a question to her sister.

“What do you think about Twilight being here?”

Luna snorted. Celestia merely held back a smile. She knew Luna was privately jealous of her old student, and never stopped reminding her of it.

“I think you’ve made a grave error in bringing her here, Celestia,” she said, shaking her head slowly. “I've seen the way she looks at the Ekina colt. She holds a strong attraction towards him. Not to mention, she is an incredibly headstrong pony. I doubt that we'll get through this evening without a single comment from her.”

Celestia’s face dropped slightly to hear this from her sister. She had been expecting a completely different reaction from Luna.

“How do you know she has feelings for Ento?” she inquired carefully. Luna’s face turned enigmatic, about as readable as the inky blackness of a moonless night sky.

“I can see it in the pull of her spirit. The two of them, there is something incredible about them, as a whole.” She nodded slightly as she said this. “Being the princess of the night comes with far more powers of perception than you might think, dear sister,” she added, as the sun princess’s face grew more and more puzzled.

It was Celestia’s turn to huff in irritated confusion. Shaking her head, she said, “Regardless, Twilight will listen to what I say. I’ve never known her to stray from my word, and do not expect her to do so here. She knows the consequences of her actions, especially given the circumstances.” She glanced at her sister deliberately, putting emphasis that this was her final word on the matter.

Luna did not seem content with the answer she had been given. Shaking her head once more, she spoke solemnly.

“You would be surprised what love can do, Celestia. And you will be stunned, shocked, bewildered, and amazed.” She glanced darkly at her sister. Her inky black eyes swirled with a hidden intensity that made Celestia want to shout out in uneasiness.

Instead, a small shiver escaped as she felt a spidery sensation crawl up her spine. Blaming the reaction on the coolness of the room, she promptly got up to find another log to add to the fireplace.

. . . .

Luna found it curious that her sister didn’t use magic to retrieve the logs, instead choosing to walk into the next room and retrieve the wood by hoof. Though, she was glad of the short time to herself.

Celestia’s gung-ho attitude about putting the kingdom before herself concerned her deeply. She knew it was her job, though. Hay, it was both their job to make sure Equestria was put before anypony else...

But it had taken her back significantly to hear that Celestia hadn’t so much as noticed Twilight’s slight movements, fleeting glances, and veiled feelings towards Ento. Fighting off the whole town for an alien stranger... What motivation could there be in it other than love? Even Luna had seen it as blazingly obvious, though she had never mentioned it to Celestia.

Maybe my sister is losing her grip, she thought morbidly. Maybe I do need to intervene. A princess is nothing but a figurehead without a heart, after all… Luna could feel dark thunderclouds rolling around in her mind as she tried to tackle the difficult thoughts that sprung up.

It’s settled, she thought finally. This evening, things go in a drastically different direction. I love you, sister, but I must show you what’s happening to you in the only way I think will work.

Luna was so enraptured in her thoughts that she didn’t even notice as Celestia entered the room with a large log gripped in her magic.

“Is everything okay, Luna?” the alicorn, genuinely concerned for her sister as she spotted the darkening look that sat on her features. Luna felt her mind crack back into reality, and glanced over to her sister as she placed the log onto the fire.

“Yes, yes. Just... tired, is all, my dear sister.” Luna looked into the fire as sparks swirled around the hot coals that smoldered away in the stone fireplace. She felt the all-too familiar tug of bittersweet revelation at her heart as she watched Celestia smile sidelong at the crackling fire.

Three Lullabies

Chapter XVII. – Three Lullabies

The lighting in the hallways was dim, perfectly tuned for nocturnal eyes. For a pony, the murky light and cold aura felt to one as though they were swimming in a sea of shadow. Twilight had barely gone more than twenty feet from her room before very nearly stumbling across a suit of armor that was placed in an alcove along the smooth walls, cold to the touch. The only source of light (that she was able to spot), were greasy-burning candles which sat every two yards or so down the seemingly unending hallway.

The clever unicorn quickly calculated where she currently was. Thankfully, the pathway the princesses had taken to get to the guest chambers was mostly straightforward coming from the main audience chamber. She figured that her best bet was to get herself there undetected, and then collect her bearings in the space of the grand hall.

Twilight padded down the hallway, grateful that the runner beneath her hooves muffled her travels. The spell she had summoned merely absorbed and reflected light around her; it would do nothing to stop any tiny scuffle of movement or unbated breath that could betray her position.

Twilight rounded a corner, and spotted the better-lit passageway that marked the gangway to the grand hall. Coming up to the heavy door, she stopped, a grimace forming on her face. There was bound to be somepony in there, she couldn’t just open the door without notice. She walked over to the strange mechanism that opened the door, and eyed it carefully in the murky light.

Just as she had set herself close enough to see, however, she jumped straight in the air as a great bang resounded, and the door swung open to reveal several of the elders that had been present in the pre-jury. Twilight reeled back, tucking herself in a corner alcove, and prayed that nobody had seen her.

Ekina shuffled past her slowly, bones weary and eyes hazed over from being awoken in the middle of the day. None of them were happy to be having to get up again in just a few short hours to decide the fate of some wandering foal, either.

Twilight watched as Ekina of various color and size went into their respective chambers. She noticed with an odd sense of realization that they were very plain in color. Almost all their coats were stained with an earthen grey, green, or brown pigment, and all were gifted with bold, crimson eyes- the very same kind that she treasured about Ento.

Ento.

Her stomach fluttered as a nervous pang shot out through her body. An echo relayed the message to her brain, indicating the epicenter was her very own beating heart. She knew this by instinct, just as she had known it of her feelings every other time. With a determined gait, she stepped out from cover and trotted nimbly past the few stragglers remaining from the group. She glanced ahead at the door: it was closing fast! She was going to miss her window of opportunity!

Daring against fate, she galloped as fast as her hushed masque would safely allow towards the quickly shutting door. Just barely brushing against the cool metal edging of the lock, she let out an internal shout of triumph as she passed into the grand hallway.

But the thought crashed down into stunned shock as her robe was caught on a snag of the metal latch. With a tiny gasp and eyes wide as twin moons, she felt herself heaved against her forward gait. The metal brooch around her neck choked into her as the heavy door yanked her delicate form backwards. The door locked behind Twilight with a resounding krik-clang that echoed from one end of the great stone hall to the other.

Oh no! She gasped, terrified. She tried her best to muffle the instinctive back-beat of her panicked wings, but they only locked up in a painful, bone-crunching pop. She tried desperately to slip her robe out of the crevice, but it would not give her a single inch. She tried wriggling out of it desperately, but the metal brooch merely cut deeper into the soft tissue of her throat as she struggled, choking, against the hold of the robust material.

The unicorn was trapped. Short of deftly ripping her robe in half and destroying the spell she had cast on it, there was no way that she could get out of this mess. She felt her mind wallow in self-defeating thoughts. Hope seemed a fleeting thought, a bitter wish.

Twilight pricked up her ears quickly: alien voices were speaking, and hooves were approaching from the dank recesses of the dark hall. This merely ripped away any little bit of hopefulness she held left in her, abandoning her with an all-too mortal sensation of nakedness.

So this is how it ends, she thought morbidly. Trapped like an animal, just waiting to be snapped up in fate’s vicious maw. Hot tears streamed up in her eyes as the metal brooch dug deeper into her throat. She tried desperately to pick out the forms of the creatures before her. With the dim light and cloudy tears staining her sight, it was near-impossible to discern anything.

What she heard first was a deep, rich voice. It seemed to flow like hot liquid over the speaker’s tongue, much like Ento’s.

“Are we alone here, Bresel?” the male voice inquired. A pause.

“Yes. It is merely you, Beseus and I,” came a slightly more high-pitched and shrill voice. This voice struck Twilight similarly to the idea of putrefying honey: a taste could repulse, but its bite was incredibly complex and abstract.

A grumble resounded from the male voice.

“As much as I wish it could be just you and I, for once…” It trailed off, ire heavily present in its rich tone.

“I know, Skeren, but that is out of our control. And you know he only means well. Besides,” the female voice added, a creeping smile present in her voice, “At least he is quiet. Isn’t that right, Beseus?”

Twilight merely heard a pause, and assumed “Beseus” had nodded in silent agreement, true to his character.

“There, you see?” A stoic comfort was held in the female voice, a bit of sugar in the bitter ambrosia. “Now please, tell me what it is that is on my Lord’s mind?”

“The entire situation, you know this. Ponies, showing up in our land out of the blue? And to deliver one who has strayed so far from our own flock, no less?”

Twilight’s vision had cleared somewhat. As her eyes adjusted, she picked out with more clarity the three figures that stood some six feet from her ensnared form: the Lord and Lady, accompanied by the hooded and gaudily-decorated wizard that seemed to stick by them every second. Twilight spotted a look of intense concern on the Lord’s face. The Lady merely tsked in reply, shaking her head slowly.

“Pay it some small heed, my husband. They are simply doing the job that was set upon them. Though, I am very curious as to how the colt had gotten past the northern wall.” Her look of concern seemed to match her lord’s almost consistently. The Lord nodded.

“You don’t think they planned this as a whole setup in order to come here, do you, wife?” he implored. The Lady merely shook her head in disagreement.

“No. No, I think he has led his own path in this, Skeren.” A pause held still in the air for a time. Finally, the Lady broke it, continuing her discourse.

“The poor colt. He must be scared stiff. Death is a grand honor, but an ignoble death such as this can only lead one to stray along the path of the damned.” She shook her head once more, as far more solemnity was held in the action this time.

At this, Twilight barely stopped herself from screaming outright. This is what she had feared the most: she knew Ento would find comfort in facing death’s embrace while Twilight worried away the plan to save him, but this… This changed everything. Knowing that he was probably scared to death somewhere in a cold, dark cage only tore her heart to pieces further. She felt her mind return to focused clarity as the Lord’s voice spoke up.

“As saturnine and upsetting as it may be, the colt will get his three lullabies before he is laid to rest,” came the patriarch’s voice, with a considerable touch of sentiment. At his solemn words, he reached out a hoof to comfort his wife. Twilight was touched at the gesture as the Lady took it and moved in closer to her husband. “He has chosen his path now, Bresel. There is nothing we can do for him.”

The Lady merely sighed, and looked up into her Lord’s face. Twilight was struck with the odd realization that her eyes were an icy emerald color.

“I suppose you are right, but I cannot escape the feeling that this is fate’s way of telling us something. No single Ekina has crossed the border in some millennia and a half, so far as we know. And now it is that ponies from the North come to… grace us with their presence. Why is this?” She swallowed hard as she said this, searching her lord’s face for some answer to her unfathomable question.

The Lord could do nothing but shake his bearded head slowly. A smooth, silken voice spoke up apart from the pair.

“Perhaps we should take advantage of this opportunity that has been put before us.”

At the court wizard’s voice, the Lord had stood up in his full height, ready to shout his lungs out at Beseus. The Lord was stopped short by the Lady, who placed a gentle hoof on her husband’s mouth, and turned to the mage.

“What do you mean, Beseus? Please go on.” The hooded Ekina nodded to his Lady.

“Here we stand, with our greatest enemies inside our very halls. They have taken a great pain to show up here and deliver a transgressor into our hooves. Do you not think that, perhaps, they have the capacity to be reasoned with? Maybe talks of peace and reunion should be brought up amongst ourselves after the trial. After all,” he said, turning his hooded head directly to Twilight as a slight smile drew itself across his features, “an enemy turned is, certainly, a friend earned.”

No, no, that can’t be right, Twilight thought at the glance, mind racing. It’s impossible to see me right now. The hex… it’s working, I know it has to be.

This speech left both the rulers’ faces stuck in individual positions of confused thought. Finally, the Lord spoke up, his heavy voice quavering slightly.

“You honestly think that we should…” The rest of his sentence dissolved into unimportance as Twilight’s heart raced faster than she had ever felt it go before.

Beseus had begun to amble slowly towards Twilight as the Lord gave his long-winded speech. A familiar but still unsightly Ekina smile grew larger upon the wizard’s face for every step he took towards the unicorn’s trapped form. Twilight shivered; the absurd sensation of being a trapped mouse looked on by a starving cat gnawed away at her anxious belly.

Blood pounded in her ears. A terrified thought pervaded her mind: her heartbeat, the essence of her very physicality, was a screaming beacon for her position! It must be! It pounded away faster and faster, like great war drums in the empty hall of some abandoned castle keep.

The court wizard stopped just in front of Twilight, his violent smile revealing razor sharp teeth, eyes narrowed to ugly slits. He turned back towards his lord and lady as the former finished his question. Beseus nodded in agreement.

“Exactly that, my lord. I think it will help our kingdom far more than it could hurt it,” he purred. “We’ll just have to be… careful about how we move around the dark recesses of our heart’s desires, won’t we?” At this, he turned to Twilight, and winked. Opening the door, he stepped past her with an ever-so-delicate brush against her cloak.

With this, she was free, in more sense than one. Fear released its grip on her mind and body, and she jumped forth, out of the way of the door. She felt her breath returning, and strained to even it out quietly. Twilight waited still as the Lord and Lady followed Beseus through the heavy doorway to the chambers, and left her alone in the giant hall with a resounding clang.

The unicorn’s face was a model of pure and utter confusion as she racked her mind, attempting to figure out what had just happened. Had the court wizard’s gestures towards her supposedly-invisible form been products of a mind overstretched by fear’s grip? Or did they mean something more?

‘Moving around the dark recesses of our heart’s desires.’ The wizard’s voice echoed in her mind. What could that mean?

Twilight smirked, disregarding the cryptic message. No sense hanging around here. I have an Ekina to find… And a wrong to be righted. With a curt nod to herself, she traipsed towards the opposite end of the empty chamber, towards the grand golden gate that she had seen Ento escorted through.

Stopping at the gaily-adorned gates, she huffed out a long, heavy breath, and pushed the gate open just enough to squeeze by- but not too little that she was caught once more.

With a warm heart, she trekked boldly into the inky blackness.

. . . .

There was a ghost in the castle's cells. It had to be a ghost; Ento didn’t know what else the strangled moaning in the corner could be. Because before the guards had shut the door to the hallway, what little light there was in the detainee’s quarters had revealed to him an empty row of prison cells.

Now, the moaning was getting loader and louder, picking up in vibrato slowly but surely.

Ento felt drowned in unreasonable fear, saturated in horrendous thoughts that intruded on his waking mind like a rooting darkness.

I am going to die. In a mere sum of hours, his heart would cease to beat in his very chest. He knew that he should take comfort in it. After all, it was an Ekina’s grandest step in life to pass on to the next!

But dread returned once more: such a reprehensible death as this would only lead him to an eternity of damnation. No Ekina knew where the damned went after their life had been snuffed out, but whispers from mages and shadows never painted a hopeful picture.

Ento’s spirits only sunk lower as the sobbing moans turned to strangled, undulating shrieks. Screwing up his face, he covered his ears as the sound bounced off the hard stone walls, and felt another sensation of merciless fear rake away at his insides with cold, sharp claws.

A single desperate thought of Twilight shot out in brilliant clarity: his mind’s last, feeble attempt to console him. Anger simply batted away the tiny impression with a deft swipe. Hopelessness took over his mind, and he screamed out.

“Please! Will someone come in here and just stop the screaming!?” He didn’t know who it was he was even calling out to. Acid tears burned his eyes and razor teeth cut into his lip as the undulant cries bounced off the walls, faster and faster.

A sharp crack of an opening door seemed to catch the screaming off-guard. It stopped immediately, disappearing as if the sound had never even existed. Ento blinked into the dazzling light as a single figure stood framed in the doorway.

“What? What is it?” came the guard’s thick voice. It was muted slightly through the imposing helmet he wore, pinching his speech into a tinny echo inside the long room. Ento blinked harder, trying to clear away his stinging tears.

“Nothing. N-Nothing,” he mumbled, taking a series of short, deep, heaving breaths.

“Keep quiet, eh? It’s the middle of the day, y’know,” the guard grunted moodily, and walked away, letting the door shut slowly on its own. Ento lay down facing the cell wall, and began sobbing gently to himself.

If he had stopped for merely a half second longer to look on at the door, he might have noticed the way it awkwardly bumped back open as it swung close.

And if he hadn’t been crying to himself, he may have even been able to pick out the tiny oof that preceded the door’s deviation from close.

And, if he had been a mere inch closer to touching the bars of the cage’s door, he would have felt the tiny vibrations that rumbled the steel bars in their slots at the contact of some unknown entity.

He did, however, see through thick tears the small flicker of light that danced for an instant on the smooth stone walls. He also heard a smart crackle, as if someone had lit a fresh candle in the room. He even felt his heart soar into the grandest heights of ecstasy as he heard the whisper of a very familiar voice.

“Ento!” The cry seemed to be a warm breath in his ear, and yet a foghorn’s bellow from the coast of the great sea. He sat bolt upright, mind reeling in blissful anticipation.

His emotions betrayed anger’s solid reasoning, though, as he spotted Twilight standing proudly before him, garbed in a flowing silk robe. He cursed himself for an instant: he had fallen victim to his foolish heart once again!

“What in the great name of Alik’Kr are you doing here?” he whispered harshly. It wasn’t a question. It was a profanity, weighed heavily with the taint of deceived ire.

The unicorn’s face seemed to drop like a lead weight at his question. The Ekina allowed himself a small smirk at her reaction.

“Ento…” she began, her lowered voice seeming caught on the verge of strangled tears, “it’s me. It’s Twilight.”

“Oh. So that should just make it all better, then, should it?” he asked, voice contemptuous. His predator’s eyes focused into dangerous blood-red slits. “You think you’re here to just save the day, are you, then? Because that always helps, right? Oh, gods, don’t make me laugh,” he spat, and added a bitter yelp of a laugh to prove his point.

Twilight’s face merely sat in shocked outrage. Her mouth moved silently, like a fish that had been dragged straight out of the comfort of water’s embrace, and thrown onto the hard wood floor of an airless existence. Tears sprang from the corners of her eyes. Finally, she sucked in a breath, and choked out a response.

“Ento… I’m here to help you. To save you…!” Her tiny voice was a plea, and it held all the weight of a heavy heart being slowly crushed into dust. Ento merely stood up in defiance and shouted at her.

“Just get out. Go away, I don’t want to see you here!” he said, feeling his teeth click nervously. Twilight tried to silence him, desperately tried to ask him to please, be quiet, but this only urged him on more. Standing up to his full height, he felt anger clawing at his heart.

“Get out, you stupid creature! Don’t you dare come back here!” he snarled, hot anger burning at his belly. He was going to be sick. Twilight did this! Twilight did this, and she was here to make it worse! I don’t… I don’t… Oh gods, why? Why me? “I said out!” he bellowed, frightened at himself and everything around him.

Twilight let out a single simper, and then jumped back behind a couple of salt barrels as the door crashed open, and the guard walked in, furious.

“Right, what in the name of Tuni’Ro’s goin’ on in ‘ere? Eh?” he barked sharply, and advanced on Ento’s standing form. “I’ve had it to here with your fuggin' bellyaching, and I ain’t getting any sleep so I guess Ima just have to shut you up!” With this, he drew a dagger callously, and advanced on the lone prisoner. Ento shot to the back of his cell, horns clacking against the stone wall.

“Please, no! I’ll be quiet! I will!” he pleaded, voice stretched thin and airy as fear enveloped his mind. The guard merely kept forward, menacing the terrified colt.

“Shuddap, you.” He stopped for a moment, thinking. “Lord an’ Lady won’t like it if I give you back damaged. So I’ll tell you what. You keep your damn mouf shut, or I’ll be forced to claim that you got a bit rebellious an’ had to add a few new air holes to your neck, eh? Now, shuddup. Damn well I’ve got to stay up in the middle of the day because you decided to go on some joyride past the walls.” He sheathed his dagger with twang, and stormed out, grumbling under his breath. The door shut behind him with a solid click.

Ento merely dropped to the ground, sobbing heavily. He felt blood weep from his unhealed wound and tears pour from his face. He didn’t care. What good was caring now?

Twilight stepped up to the sobbing form. Her voice was a gentle whisper, though it quavered just as much as when the pair had first met.

“Ento… My dear, it’s okay. I’m here for you. Please don’t cry, okay?” she consoled softly. The Ekina merely turned his head away from her, though his sobbing did quiet down somewhat.

“I-I just…” he gasped through choking sobs, “I just wanted to explore. To go on an adventure, and feel like my life meant a damn thing. I didn’t know what would happen. I didn’t plan to get stuck here. I didn’t plan t-to…” Twilight spotted his head move slightly in her direction. “I didn’t plan to… to fall in love,” he sniffed gently, as the last few tears seemed to dry up.

“Ento…” Twilight began, her voice level, “Fate has its funny ways of dealing cards to its unsuspecting players. Instead of dreading the hand we have, let’s pool ours together now, and make sure we get the grand pot in the end.” Her voice had grown in surety at every syllable, every letter, and every word that fell out of her mouth. She stepped forward slowly, stopping at the bars, and squeezed her head through gently. “Come here. Please,” she commanded softly.

Ento dragged himself up on all four hooves, and walked the short length from the cell wall to Twilight’s form. Apprehensive, he stayed back a half step from her reach. He glanced down at his hooves, the sensation of being an embarrassed little filly came into mind.

“I’m sorry…” he mumbled thickly to the floor.

“What, Ento?” Twilight asked. Ento huffed out a breath, and looked up, eyes bloodshot and watery.

“I’m sorry Twilight. When the princesses told me that you were a princess, as well… My mind clicked right into anger and fear. I thought you had told them about the punishment for straying from Ek’Rael, and they were dragging me off to death because you had told them everything.” The word was a heavy breath. Ento searched Twilight’s visage, desperate for some sense of compassion, some sort of understanding. Finally, after a lengthy pause, Twilight spoke.

“Ento, I never even spoke to either of the princesses since you had arrived. When I heard that you were going to be put to death…” She laughed awkwardly, “I went insane myself. But I told myself, 'Twilight Sparkle, there is a creature out there that you love, and you need to save him.' And, well, here I am,” she said, breaking into a devilishly embarrassed smile.

Ento raised an eyebrow at this. He could feel the sludge of hatred melting off his beating heart, revealing a cherry-red sensation of pure, unadulterated love. Hot blood rushed to his face in a familiar perception of embarrassment.

“You came here to save me…” he mumbled, seemingly dumbstruck. Twilight nodded in reply. “Me. Just a boring, old Ekina.” At this, Twilight broke into another broad grin. Ento merely sighed, but found his lips pulled into a similarly-ecstatic smile.

“There is nothing boring about you, Ento. You are the most incredible being I have ever had the extreme pleasure and good fortune to even know. And I couldn’t say in a hundred thousand years how thankful I am to have had you step into my life.” At this, Twilight reached out with a hoof and pulled Ento closer to her, in the same embrace they had shared not a day earlier.

The fantastic scent of her body wafted over him, an all-too familiar smell of mountain grass and lilac. Frayed nerves snapped back to life, and his heart beat steadily once more. Her head reached up, up his neck with a hot breath, and stopped at his ear, nuzzling it gently as her snout picked its way through his short, unkempt mane.

“…I love you.”

It took three simple words to send the colt’s mind ablaze with burning adoration. Ento grabbed her, and pushed her even closer up against him in a loving embrace. He almost willed their two forms to coalesce into a solid, unbreakable creature. Tears sprang up, unbidden, as happiness washed over his shattered mind in a rush of ecstasy.

“I love you, too. Gods, how I love you, Twilight,” he gasped to the little purple alicorn that he held in his embrace. He could feel the spot where her tears were soaking his coat.

After what was easily an eternity, the pair separated, though neither of them wanted to be further than an inch apart. Action demanded their attention now, though, as the reality of the situation loomed over the lovers. Ento glanced morbidly around at his surroundings.

“So, I hope you have a plan to get us out of this mess, because I’m fresh out of ideas, Twi. I’m sentenced to death. An ignoble death at that.” Ento’s face fell quickly as the reality dawned on him. He looked to her with pleading eyes. “I don’t know what you ponies call it, but the damned Ekina here go to a place called Excarbane when they pass on. And I absolutely do not want to be cursed to an eternity’s plane of fire.”

At this, the pony grinned smugly, much to the surprise of Ento, whose face was in stunned shock.

“I certainly anticipated that,” she whispered back, voice full of self-confidence. “And I do, in fact, have a plan, and I know you’ll love where I got the inspiration from.” Ento nodded in reply.

“Go on.”

“On my way here, I read that book of yours, The Adventures of Entar’Ma the Brave. One particular story struck me as considerably moving: The Serpent and the Shiv.” At this, Ento nodded thoughtfully.

“Yes, I’ve only read that some hundred times,” he said jokingly. At this, Twilight laughed quietly. Her tinkling giggle sent a tingling sensation from the tip of his nose to the base of his tail as the Ekina smiled. “But how does that help us?”

“Think, Ento. In the eyes of everyone else, you’re just a prisoner who has broken the vows you've held towards the kingdom. But, if you were to, perhaps, show that you have more to fight for than they would believe…” The pony's voice trailed off as she looked expectantly towards her love.

Ento’s face was a study in shock.

“Well, I understand, Twilight, but surely you don’t mean…?” Twilight merely nodded, her grin still as prominent.

“Exactly. And don’t worry. I’ll be here by your side the entire time, okay?” At this, she placed a hoof gently on his chest. He could feel his heartbeat against her touch.

“Okay, Twilight. We’ll do it. So long as I know you will be by my side the whole way through.”

Twilight nodded again, and the pair met in another warm embrace. Ento let himself fall into the bliss of her gentle scent once more.

. . . .

A time and space far removed:

A single hot-air balloon was drifting lazily across the noontime sky, pulled by what seemed, at first glance, to be a large cyan bird.

Upon closer inspection, it was found that the bird was, in fact, a pegasus adorned with a beatific rainbow mane that whipped care-free around her head and rump, and the balloon was actually streaking at breakneck speeds. Inside the simple purple hot-air balloon was an assortment of other ponies, who hunkered down in the basket’s cover: a white unicorn, another yellow pegasus, and a pair of earth ponies, one pink and the other a hard hue of orange. The balloon itself was speeding south at massive speeds.

“I can’t believe we’re going on an adventure to save Twilight!” Pinkie Pie shouted, jumping up. She soon ducked back down under the cover of the large basket as her mane whipped wildly around her head, stinging her eyes as the wind screamed past.

“Now, sugarcube, we’re comin’ tah save Ento, too,” Applejack reassured the pink pony firmly. Pinkie apologized profusely, both to Applejack, and the estranged entities of Twilight and Ento, wherever they may be.

Applejack unfolded the simple piece of parchment once more. Worn-out creases had started to form where nervous hooves had deftly folded and unfolded it multiple times, and a dash of owl pellet stained a corner, a tribute to Twilight’s clever use of the owl’s stand to hide the note. Applejack stared blankly at the seemingly-cryptic writing of Twilight’s flowing wordage.

My dearest friends,

Ento in danger. Please, use the hot air balloon to fly yourselves to Ekina castle ASAP. Head directly south, look for the castle on the side of the great mountain.

Be ready for a fight. I can’t say what will happen, but I know I can count on you all being here to help.

P.S. Please actually feed Owliscious. I forgot to do so for the past two days because Ento had been here.

Your Friend,

T.S.

Applejack smirked at the unicorn’s scribbled signature at the bottom of the letter. Here they were, speeding blindly south to Celestia-only-knows-where. Applejack's troubled thoughts were interrupted, though, as she heard Rainbow Dash’s voice call out to the four in the basket.

“Hey, guys, how far am I supposed to be flying for!?” she cried over the gusts of wind.

Applejack stood up, and peeked over the edge of the basket.

“Ah dunno, RD. All Twilight said was tah keep going south until we found ‘a castle on the side of the great mountain.’ Ah can’t really give you more information than that. I’m sorry, hon,” Applejack shouted back.

She caught Dash’s groan as it was sucked back by the blasting turbulence.

“You mean, that mountain?” came Fluttershy’s delicate voice on the other side of the basket.

Applejack followed her hoof, and spotted, on the edge of the afternoon horizon, the biggest darn mountain she had ever seen in her life.

Cutting the Cards

Chapter XVIII. – Cutting the Cards

Sleep’s embrace was ripped out of Ento as the heavy door to the frigid cell was, in turn, ripped open with a deft hoof. The prisoner’s bloodshot eyes scanned his surroundings, painfully adjusting to the miniscule light. A gruff, familiar voice called from high over him.

“Up. Time for your trial, colt,” the guard rasped through his ornate helmet. Weakly, Ento arose, and almost buckled under the weight of just two hours of sleep after an incredibly stressful day. Having Twilight with him through the afternoon had helped, but necessity had called her back to her chambers an hour or so ago. He frowned briefly at the hoof-fulls of hay he had pushed outside the cell for her.

She had insisted that the cold floor didn’t bother her any, but he had seen the way she grimaced when she lay down, and made sure that she had plenty of the fresh hay to recline in. The little pony had been touched by the act, and had even squeezed her head through the bars and placed a kiss sheepishly on his cheek, much to Ento’s delighted embarrassment. Now, though, he hoped the guard didn’t notice the very obvious presence of another creature sleeping just outside the cage.

The guard advanced on Ento, kicking the hay aside with a heavy, armored hoof, and looked down at it with a quick glance of surprise.

“Makin a mess, eh? Swear to gods,” he growled, “there won’t be a minute you’re here where you don’t fuggin’ drive me off the deep end. C’mon, let’s go. You’re expected.” Entering the cell, he bumped into onto Ento bodily, and attached a familiar pair of ebony cuffs around the prisoner’s front and back ankles. Pushing at him from behind, Ento and the guard made their way down the long, ill-lit corridor to the Great Hall to meet the colt’s untimely fate.

Or at least, what Ento would make of it.

A crescent of a smirk split across his face at the thought.

. . . .

The golden gates creaked open for him and his guard. The Ekina colt keenly noted that several other armored guards had joined the pair; some ten heavily-armored soldiers marched in standard formation around him in perfect assembly. It was, of course, all just a show, an elaborate opera to please the masses.

Ento felt his mouth fall open, however, as he spotted what seemed to be every Ekina in the entire kingdom of Ek’Rael itself packed into the grand hall. Like a massive colony of insects, they swarmed and oscillated in a wave of anxious energy. It was a buzzing ocean of greys, greens, browns, chestnut and the occasional pale ochre.

The Lord and Lady had completely outdone themselves: dressed garishly in flowing robes of emerald and gold, respectively, they looked like painted statues seated upon their high steel thrones. The daises had been polished especially for the affair, and seemed to grab light in an arcane and mysterious way, flowing like mercury. Ento was enraptured at everything that lay before him. All this preparation for his trial… The irony weighed heavily on his mind as he enjoyed a single, private sensation of worth. A smirk painted his features at the odd thought.

He spotted, as well, three hooded figures tucked into a private alcove, right-adjacent to the royal platform, and betrayed a small smile in the direction of the smallest figure. The small alicorn merely jerked her head, ever so slightly, and Ento snapped back to attention. He had forgotten, already, that no one was to suspect a thing. No outward signs. No gestures.

Alik’Kr grant me the wisdom… he thought to himself loathingly. A creeping fear invaded his mind: maybe this was a bad idea, after all.

But he had run out of time to change his mind, now, as he stopped, and looked up. Before him, the grandly-adorned forms of his rulers looked down on him derisively. All seven chairs of the Elders were filled with the wizened forms of the under-rulers. Each was shrouded in flowing purple robes, the color of repentance. They all shared a similar look of pity at the helpless prisoner who stood before them, ceremoniously manacled and callously dirty.

With a start, Ento heard something that made his heart sink into the very acid bath of his soul: a shout resounded behind him. He turned, eyes wide, at the sound; he recognized it instantly as his mother’s voice.

“Ento! My little filly, why? Why did you have to throw your life away like this? Why? Why, my little foal?” she sobbed thickly, throwing herself at her son’s feet. Her greying ochre mane spilled about her face wildly, which was streaked with thick tears as she sobbed heavily into a silken scarf.

“M-Mum?” Ento stuttered, in utter shock.

He looked on the crumpled form of his mother, and followed up to meet his father’s smoldering eyes. His father, as large, powerful an Ekina as he was, made Ento’s heart sink even lower as he spotted two single lines flowing down his father’s face. He had never seen him cry. The images burned into his mind, made him want to scream out loud.

“So, son, this is what you wanted to do on your adventure, eh?”

“Pap, look, it’s not—” Ento was cut off both by the manacles that bound him and by his father, as he lifted a huge hoof and allowed his lip to quiver violently before speaking.

“I can’t argue with your choice, son, and I’m sure you have changed because of it, for better or worse. It was your own to make… I just wish you had thought of those you loved before you made a decision so selfishly.” With that, his father reached down to pick up his mother, and without another word, the two hobbled away.

Tuni’Ro grant me serenity… He willed the thought into his agonized psyche. He turned his head back around, and met his ruby eyes level to the royal pair’s with a heavy, staggered breath.

The Lord simply raised a hoof, and the entire audience hall fell deathly silent, save for the gentle sobs of his mother. Standing up, a heavy stillness spawned in the cool air at the patriarch’s arising.

“Ladies and gentlecolts, esteemed Ekina, family, and friends,” boomed the Lord’s voice, seeming to make the very foundations of the castle shake in the earth it had been carved from. “We are gathered here to voice the fate of a single Ekina.” He pointed a hoof grandly to Ento, and beheld the prisoner before him. The cold look he held upon Ento betrayed a tired look that seethed in the embers of his eyes.

“Ento’Ba, son of Krya’Ba, grandson of Alseoir’Ba, and familial son of the esteemed blacksmith family, it is, today, that we have found you outside of the boundaries of the land of Ek’Rael, and have been returned by those that have discovered you in their land. Under the direction of the Law of Origins, you are to be put to death for your transgressions. Do you understand the terms that have been put upon you?”

Ento merely nodded, and said a quick “Aye.” The utterance seemed to carry heavily in the silence, bouncing from one high wall to another. Quickly, he added, “And under what directive of the Law of Origins am I to be found guilty of?”

The Lord scoffed, alighting an eagle eye down upon his helpless prey’s head. He nodded to his court wizard, who stepped forth and recited a carefully-adorned scroll of the ancient laws.

“The Law of Origins, as stated by the Rule of Excarbatum: ‘Any Ekina found past the boundary of the north wall are to be punished consequently for their transgression. Any and all returning force is required to be present during the procession.’ Signed and documented 356 EC, standing rulers Atah’Qa and Sahi’Qa,” Beseus finished, and, with a curt nod, folded the scroll back up and stepped behind the metal thrones.

Ento merely raised an eyebrow in a single act of defiance.

“And where is my returning party? I don’t see them,” he said, almost choking on his terse words as he looking around the hall in mock confusion. What he was saying was about as idiotic as anything he could have asked of the Lord.

The patriarch, true to his zealous character, merely shook his head in barely suppressed anger.

“You know they are here, colt. I have no need to produce them here for your entertainment. We are here to focus on your punishment, not attend to your simple questions.” The Lord’s ire was burning now, set at just a simmer under full boil. The Lady cut in with a gentle wave of her robed and gilded hoof to quell the firestorm that was burning away inside her husband.

“Ento’Ba, you have been found in contempt of ancient law. As such, your life is decreed as forfeit to the kingdom.” She looked down on the elders, who nodded back to her. She looked back upon her prisoner with a careful eye, and said “After considerable time and decision, we have determined you shall be buried alive within the catacombs, alongside your family. Such is only fitting to the profane actions you have committed against your very own kingdom, a clear defiance to the rules you have known since you were a filly.” The Lady’s shrill voice weighed heavily with the burden of bringing such uneventful news. “I am sorry,” she added thickly, “it is the ruling of the court. Take comfort in knowing that your life will transcend amongst your family members. May the grace and wisdom of the gods guide you on through the next life.”

And that was it. The entirety of the vast hall was utterly silent, captured in numb shock. Ento merely stood in place, dumbstruck at what he had heard. Fear was returning, a bitter vengeance that threatened to crack his soul in half right where he stood.

“Take him away.”

Finally, time crashed into the hall. Everything sped up, and Ento saw through wide eyes the shapes of armored guards approaching his form. Coming up to him, they grabbed him bodily by his neck and legs and began to drag him away.

This wasn’t part of the plan, this wasn’t supposed to happen…What is Twilight doing!? he thought, mind reeling in frightened unsurity.

“Twilight!” he screamed out hoarsely to the figure that seemed just beyond his reach. “Twilight! It’s not supposed to go like this. This isn’t supposed to happen! Twi—umphg!” His last call was muffled as a guard placed a gloved hoof over his mouth. He struggled against the harsh grip, and shot a single glance towards the alcove as the Lord screamed at him to be silent:

Twilight was standing now, and held fast as the tall figure shrouded in white laid a hoof across her path. The figure in black next to the figure in white, however, seemed far removed from what was going on. Ento’s head was forced forward by a guard, and he felt a grisly sensation of pain shoot down his spine as the brute did so. Grimacing, tears sprung up in his eyes as the violated muscle spasmed painfully in outrage. He struggled against the sentries’ grip, but the strength of one frightened, adrenaline-driven colt was no match for ten well-trained, well-armed and merciless royal guards. Hope seemed to be sucked out of the very fiber of his being, absorbed into the air around him as he sapped his strength against the impenetrable wall of glistening armor.

A sharp crack rang out in the twilight council, and Ento heard a voice that made his heart leap with strangled joy.

“Stop!” Twilight commanded forcefully to the guards that were hoisting Ento away. The ten Centuriori fell immediately still as the hooded alicorn appeared in a brilliant blast of light and a ghostly crackling, not a mere ten feet away from them. Contented that she had their attention, she turned to address the Lord and Lady.

The matriarch’s eyes burned now with a cold fire, white-hot and barely suppressed. Her teeth were grinding audibly in the silent hall. The Lord merely sat, gasping slightly at what had just happened before them.

“It seems that some deep, deluded author wrote me chapters in my life. That I should be thrown into a chance meeting with some creature I’ve never even heard of, but a creature I have fallen into some spell with, nonetheless. And it is for that reason that I cannot allow you to harm him. The laws you’ve placed here, on your people, you should be ashamed.” She turned similarly to the two princesses, shaking her head slowly. “I am ashamed of the way my own… My fellow rulers have handled this situation! This trial is merely a powder keg that was bound to blow up at any second. It just so happens,” she continued, looking away from Celestia’s shocked face, and back to the great metal daises with a look of intense upset, “that fate has chosen this colt to break an ancient law that was only put in place out of fear and resentment.”

“So it is with a heavy heart that I demand you release him,” she said plainly. Words were only a hindrance here. They felt like stones laced on a long, unending necklace, and the longer they were threaded on, the heavier it got. Action had to show in place of words before everyone was plunged below black waters.

The Lady merely jumped up, outraged at the pony's astute defiance. Her body was shaking violently at the strain of fury and she looked around, as if unsure what to do. Finally, she turned, whirling around, to address the hooded figures down at the foot of the grand pedestal.

“Celestia? What is this!?” she shrieked, eyes smoldering in barely suppressed ferocity. She indicated Twilight harshly with a jeweled hoof, both begging and demanding an answer from her unwelcome alicorn guest.

Celestia gasped at the threat, mumbling incoherently at what had just happened, right before her. This wasn’t part of the plan, this wasn’t supposed to happen…What is Twilight doing!?

She merely looked up to the Lady, her face a blank slate.

“I- I, I’m sorry, my Lady Bresel, I don’t know what she’s… I mean, I certainly didn’t—” She stumbled over her words, trying to come back from the shock and return to a cool and collected stately grace. She looked onto Luna for assistance. The princess of the night merely sat still, mouth moving ever-so-gently to the ancient words she knew by heart.

But she was no help. Her duties as ruler of the night were currently taking up all her conscious thought as she raised the silver moon in the dark sky.

Twilight, however, threw off her hood with a grand sparkle of magic. A resounding gasp spread throughout the crowd as they looked for the first time in over a millennium upon a weird and foreign creature. Twilight hazarded a single glance around behind her at the disturbance, and continued to march determinedly to her lover.

“You, you think you know our history?” the Lord boomed, finally catching his breath at the shock of what had just happened. “You think that… that you can tell our very ancestors what was right to do all those many years ago?” he spat, waving a hoof around, very obviously flustered. Twilight noted with a private smile that they were both incredibly disheveled. A millennium and a half of lies and forgetting had just been erased in one fell swoop.

It was far less than humbling, to say the least. Twilight turned defiantly back to face the patriarch, hips turned in a self-assured gesture.

“I have heard it from both sides, my Lord Skeren. I have heard the admittances of Princess Celestia and Luna, who were there at the time of all the fear. I have heard a thorough rendition from Ento, as well. Don’t insult my intelligence, please,” she added, almost haughtily. “I think that you merely have the pieces put in the wrong order. And I’m afraid it has come down to this. This is my final stand, and if you won’t listen, then I’m afraid I will have to do something quite drastic.” Another private smile. Enigma abound, eh Twilight? she thought to herself, reveling in a slight sensation of giddiness.

The Lord’s eyes were merely set ablaze behind his bearded face. Though, they seemed to have cooled somewhat as logic took over. With a slight groan, the bearded Ekina glanced to his wife, and then spoke deeply, addressing the bold creature before him.

. . . .

Luna broke herself off from the incantation to raise the moon. As she finished setting it upon its usual spot in the sky, she glanced around at what was going on before her. Darkness filed out of her vision and she blinked away gentle tears from the effort.

Her mouth fell open, however, as she saw the scene before her:

Far to her left, the Ekina colt was surrounded by ten gold-plated guards, who were all looking to the center of the assembly hall. Her eyes went right, soaring past the bleachers filled with the shocked and stunned faces of various citizens of Ek’Rael, and stopped at the high metal daises to see that both the Lord and Lady were looking in a similar spot, standing and fidgeting horribly. Her sister had stepped slightly in front of her out of the alcove, but Luna could not make out her face from behind her hood. The Sister of the Night looked on past Celestia, and felt her mouth fall wider open as she saw Twilight, unhooded, wings spread wide, facing the monarchs with a solidly defiant stance.

“Oh, my,” is all she could breathe at what she saw before her. Her notions had been right all along about the pair’s feelings for each other; though even she, the princess of shadows and night, had sorely misjudged how passionately the little pony and Ekina colt felt for each other. A cool rush of aural delight filled her senses as she recovered from her trance further. The alicorn pricked up her ears at a grand voice.

“Very well, you have my attention for a brief time. Enlighten me, Miss…?” the Lord inquired of the unicorn before him.

“T- Princess Twilight Sparkle,” came her reply. The patriarch nodded in affirmation.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle. Speak. You are lucky I have not lost my temper at your blatant disregard for our rules. I have limited patience for distractions such as this, so please, do not tarry in what you have to say.”

“I am Princess Celestia’s equal, was her absolutely faithful student. I am very close to Princess Luna as well, and both confide in me quite often. I have grown up beside the Sun Princess, and have seen every little action, decision, and judgment she has made first-hoof since I was a filly.”

“So what is your point? Get on with it,” the lady cut in sharply. Twilight merely held back a spike of upset, and pushed on.

“My point, my lady Bresel, is that the reaction that your previous rulers had acted upon was done out of fear and loathing. I know my princesses, and they would have forgiven you for the lies you had made- in a time of war and suffering, no less! No single pony, or Ekina, could have been expected to make a clear-headed decision in an instance like that!”

Twilight’s determined voice bounced off the walls of the gigantic hall. Murmurs from the audience behind her told her that her logic was breaking through to someone, anyone here. The Lord merely rubbed his beard in contemplation as the Lady’s eyes ticked slightly in annoyance as she realized what Twilight was saying had truth in it.

Luna smiled grandly. Good job, Twilight Sparkle! she applauded the unicorn privately. I knew that we could count on you to do something right, she thought to herself. Now, all this assembly needed was a little nudge in the right direction. Looking around, she spotted a gigantic candelabrum on the edge of the alcove, above several Elders. Wax poured down from a hoof-full of tall, opalescent candles as cherry red flames burnt away vehemently.

Perfect.

Concentrating slightly, she wrapped the entire being of the candelabra firmly in magic’s grip, and felt it give as it lifted slowly into the air. Ever-so-carefully, she began to nudge it forward into space…

And gasped aloud as a hideous metallic crack rang out through the entire hall.

A hundred thousand eyes turned towards the gigantic metal doors of the castle, and fell upon five alien creatures, who stood next to one another in varying degrees of exuberant energy.

As Luna’s concentration was shattered, she fumbled as the grand candelabra broke out of magic’s grip, and fell straight down in a terrifying moment of stillness.

The silence was broken at once by the uproar of five thousand cries, screams, moans and shouts.

. . . .

A giant smile had cracked across Twilight’s face as she watched her friends march straight into the hall. Their faces were set, determined to do anything it took to help their friends out of the mess they had been stuck in. The looks quickly dropped to stunned confusion as they watched a huge metal chandelier come crashing down with a hideous scream right on top of a pair of robed Ekina.

The Lord leapt up, roaring in a lion-like effect.

“What in the good graces of all that is holy is going on here!?” he screeched, livid at what had happened in front of him. Two guards had broken away from Ento to rescue the ensnared Elders. One was screaming in an ear-splitting shriek as her robes caught instantly ablaze, and the other merely lay still, obviously unconscious, or worse, as blood stained his long, grey mane. The first guard managed to drag the unconscious Elder from out of the twisted metal, and the other attempted to hold down the female Elder as she ran and cursed and spit and shrieked. He called over more guards, and three other sentries joined their comrade as they tried to get her smoldering robes off.

Twilight spotted the Lady as her gaze shredded a path of unimaginable animosity straight onto the obstinate alicorn.

“You… You think you can just come in here and… and ruin everything!” she screamed through the uproar of the crowd to the loathed pony, eyes almost popping out as her fury grew unimaginably large. Finally, she snapped.

“No, no, no,” she mocked, tsking harshly. Her eyes turned to slits of unimaginable animal malice. “Kill her! I want a crumpled body to replace her in my sight,” she commanded coldly to the guards that were surrounding Ento.

The five remaining Centuriori dropped the chained colt straight to the floor, and, drawing their weapons in a chorus of cold metal, advanced on Twilight. She merely backed up smartly, and then charged straight at them with a piercing cry. The well-trained Centuriori never even broke rank, however, and merely raised their long, curved swords in preparation to bring them down heavily upon the foolish animal’s neck. Just a split second before their swords made contact, however, a blazing crackle stunned the five as swords came down to scathe empty air.

The two guards that stood along the outside of the rank-and-file felt their weapons being ripped out of their grips, and struggled hopelessly against some invisible force.

As the curved blades sped towards her, Twilight brandished a sword in magic’s grip, and sliced through the ebony chains that held Ento prisoner like a hot knife through butter. Handing him a sword, she winked at him.

“We’ve got the sword. Now, to cut the head off the serpent!” she whispered to her beloved. Ento felt an unstoppable smile creep over his face as he matched the grip of the heavy sword in his hooves. It felt right, it felt natural.

He nodded to the little mare.

“Let’s get out of here, Twilight.” With this, he ran after Twilight towards the great doorway, and her friends.

No, his friends. Their friends.

As he advanced on the wall of guards, he felt the familiar sensation of invincibility overtake him as love’s cool embrace tugged at his heart. With Twilight by his side, he couldn’t possible fail! His mind clicked back, remembering his training with a sword that he had received from his uncles when he had reached colthood.

Block! A clang of metal sent sparks showering on both Ento and the Centuriori guard that he had come to face with.

Shift weight, now parry! He did just that, and swung the guard’s sword off onto an odd angle that threw him into a momentary disbelief. Capitalizing on this, Ento lanced his curved sword forward in a thick, sweeping arc.

Now slice, all the weak points are in the neck! Ento remembered this with brilliant clarity. He and his father had, after all, spent a large amount of time making this armor themselves. After seven years of working tirelessly on each plate, he knew every crack, every chink, and every foible it held. Cutting a broad swath along the long, exposed neck, he saw blood bead on his blade as the guard grunted in pain. Ento pushed him away, and continued to run towards the ponies that circled around the entrance of the keep, holding it safe for their friend’s return.

Felling another guard along the way, he laughed manically at the rush of adrenaline, and fell into the familiar embrace of smiling faces. Smiling back to the ponies around him, all he wanted was to get Twilight and get out of here forever. Upon a cursory glance, however, he did not see her. Turning around, he felt his stomach flip as his mind was strangled in fear.

He spotted her: outnumbered, she slashed desperately at a pair of guards. Her sword fell uselessly against the broad metal plates as she tried to get away.

How can I be so fucking stupid!? Ento screamed at himself. He hadn’t told her about the guards’ weakness! He had left her out there, alone!

His stomach churned violently, and he watched in stricken horror as one of the Centuriori that she had taken his sword from advanced on her with a wickedly-sharp dagger, threatening her violently. Ento saw her eyes go wide as the guard bowled into her delicate form with a loud bellow.

Time itself seemed to halt in the very hall. Ento witnessed before him as the hideous dagger impaled itself straight into Twilight’s chest. Her eyes shot wide once more, and her horn broke its magical hold on the curved sword. A clatter indicated its quick descent back to earth. Ento pushed away at the friend's embrace violently, but was held back by the five as they tried to pull the Ekina to safety. Bucking madly, he heard a snap, followed closely by a pair of strangled screams. Ento didn't care, though; his mind was forced into a single, desperate mission now. Breaking free, he jumped after the alicorn’s falling form, screaming all along the way.

“Twilight! Twilight!” he cried as he crashed through a wall of armor. The golden barrier seemed to split at his very presence and stepped back from its felled victim. Ento was floating, effervescent, to the unicorn’s broken form. A brilliant pool of blood was blossoming around her heart, staining the brilliant cloak she wore; her very life force was flowing fast out of her delicate body. She lay upon the ground, prostrate, and placed a hoof gingerly on her chest, as if trying to wipe off a speck of dust.

Throwing down his sword with a loud clatter, he grabbed her body in his forearms, cradling her head as she pushed out heavy, ragged gasps. In a split moment of perverse clarity, he mused morbidly how the embroidered stars of Twilight’s cloak had gone from snow white now to a sickening crimson.

“E-Ento… Please, it hurts,” she garbled up to him, glassy eyes searching desperately for help. Shock had taken over. Ento doubted she knew anything that was going on now as her brain dumped every little piece of data it could to save her mind in this horribly fragile state.

“Oh, no… Twilight,” he mumbled. His mind, too, was stuck in a crazed furor, though it was instead burning at a fever pitch. He placed a hoof numbly on the bleeding wound on her chest: a feeble attempt to stop what he knew was inevitable. The stunned colt could literally see her life being dragged out of her body, and it was scaring him more than he thought possible.

“No, no, my love, hear me out, before I lose my mind. Give me a smile, please, and make it shine. I just, I—” His mind came up suddenly blank and his face fell to stone. He felt her body shudder one last, desperate breath, and slacken in his arms. Her eyes became blank windows, though there was no consciousness to be held behind the brilliant veil.

“I’m so sorry, Twilight,” he sobbed into her neck, allowing the salt to finally flow free. Great, racking sobs that seemed like they would never end, couldn’t ever possibly end, streamed down his face.

Go to the edge, round the eyes that eternal sleep has rendered blind, whispered an estranged voice.

He looked up to her with burning eyes, praying against everything that she had said that. As a single thread of crimson blood flowed out of the corner of her mouth, though, Ento was hit with a sudden horrifying, gut-wrenching, and will-destroying revelation: Twilight was dead. A spectre from the next life breathed his fog on the panes, and her eyes clouded over, pearlescent, into a place far removed from the long stone hall.

She was gone. She would never be again.

A cruel whisper sounded in his head from echoic memory: You've done this to yourself! Now ride!

Red anger was blinding him now, threatening to cut off everything he could ever have known. Looking up, he saw the faceless forms of ancient statues standing around him. In the crimson light, the armor was cracked, the swords dredged in the hot blood of innocent life. Masks became twisted and cruel reminders of the love that had been ripped from his heart.

Something snapped. Instinct took over, and Ento didn’t feel like Ento anymore: he was a creature who demanded only revenge, the taste of blood, the satisfaction of pain. Leaping to his feet, he jumped towards the guard, the one who had done this to her, and sunk his fangs into the soft flesh of his unguarded neck. The guard let out a howl of frightened rage, and keeled over, bowling into his comrades with a clang of armor. Ento didn’t release his grip until he felt the blood seep, and the screaming stop. Finished, he looked up, eyes ablaze, mouth dripping crimson.

The entire hall was in a terrified uproar, and Ento could pick out the outraged bellowing of the Lord. As conscious clarity washed in over him, Ento wasn’t sure if the infuriated patriarch was yelling at him, or to his guards. He didn’t care, either way. He knew using his teeth to harm another was guaranteed to seal his fate, but what they had done to Twilight… It had been more than justified. He merely stood stock still, ready for what he would receive for his heinous crime.

The guards regrouped, and dropped their spears level: a horizontal bow in both damnation and pure respect for the creature that had felled one of their own. An impromptu charge was called. On three, Ento merely felt his body shudder as the cruel spikes of malice pierced his body.

He hit the floor, hard, though he never even realized it. A horn cracked, his skull rung out with a hollow thud. The last thing he saw as the hot blood flowed out of him was Twilight’s crumpled form. Before all went to strangling darkness, he mused, ever so delicately, that her violet eyes still held the mirror of passion that he had found so enrapturing.

Grand Designs

Chapter XX. – Grand Designs

Awareness seized the lover’s sight as they stopped, suddenly, at the front gates of Canterlot Castle. Ento’s face was captured in complete awe, but Twilight’s was merely lit up in an incredible smile. They both turned their heads suddenly as an armored pegasus addressed them.

“Welcome to the Grand Reunification Ceremony. The service is just beginning. Please hurry inside,” he said curtly, and nodded to the pair. Twilight’s smile fell, and she questioned the grandly-adorned pegasus.

“What are you talking about? What ceremony—” She was cut off as Ento tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to look at him, and he pointed to a unicorn dressed in flowing black that stood directly behind them.

“Oh, thank you, I will,” she mumbled through her long, black handkerchief. With a start, Twilight realized it was Rarity.

“What? Rarity, hi!” she ran to the mourning unicorn, bouncing all along the way from the excitement of seeing her friend again. Rarity merely walked right past Twilight without a single word of acknowledgement, and cantered inside with a heavy sob into her silken handkerchief. Twilight’s face fell as she turned around to shout at her unicorn friend.

“Rarity! Hey Rarity—!” Twilight stopped as a hoof was placed gently upon her shoulder. She spun around to find Ento, whose face was set in a grim evenness.

“Come on Twilight, let’s go in and have a look,” the colt said steadily. Twilight nodded, sniffing, and huddled up next to Ento. The pair followed Rarity inside through the giant gates with a driven pace.

I can’t stand to let Twilight’s heart break. She thinks she’s back alive at home. Hay, I did too, Ento thought to himself as he shook his head. The Ekina knew better, though. He had seen how Rarity’s hooves had passed right through Twilight, like the little purple unicorn was made of some swirling gas.

. . . .

“What are Ekina doing here?” Ento asked as the pair entered into the gigantic garden courtyard. Twilight reflected this sentiment. It seemed that Ekina were indeed here, in the middle of the day, right amongst ponies!

The pair cantered further into the garden, and looked at the assortment of things that were on display here. Hundreds of fold-up chairs had been filled by various ponies and Ekina, as well as the odd zebra. All of these guests were faced in the same forward direction.

As Twilight’s gaze followed the long rows of chairs, she spotted, standing reverently at the end of the assortment, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Joined by their side were the Lord and Lady, who had not pulled any stops when it came to their gregarious royal adornments. She spotted, also, Princess Cadance shrouded in black, and a sobbing Shining Armor in her arms. With a shout, Twilight ran down the runway towards her crying brother with a startled Ento following closely behind, calling her name.

"Shining! Shining, it's okay, I'm here!" Twilight giggled gleefully to her brother as he continued to sob in his new wife's arms. When she got no reply, though, the little unicorn walked up to her brother, and waved a hoof in front of him.

"H-Hello? Shining?" she said again, but received no reply from him. "What's going on? This isn't funny, big brother!" she growled as the smartly-dressed stallion continued to ignore her. "Hey, Shining, I'm right here!" she cried, and threw a playful punch at the stallion's armored shoulder. With a startled gasp, she backed up in shock as her hoof passed right through him!

A sudden jump of startling revelation hit her in the gut and winded her. Eyes watering in shock, she finally noticed the grand marble statue, the likes of which Twilight had never seen before on the grounds, that towered above each royal pair.

On it's gold pedestal, a unicorn mare stood gallantly next to what looked to be a tall and lanky Ekina colt. The pair was embracing, side by side; the unicorn was emitting a brilliant shower of sparks from her horn, and the Ekina colt was brandishing a wickedly curved sword, as if defending the mare with his life.

Twilight stood in between the silent forms of the ruling pairs with tears rolling down her crumpled-up face. Celestia, asking for silence amongst her guests, began her long and reverent dialogue of Twilight Sparkle: Friend, Savior, and Student. The very unicorn that it was written for, however, was not even listening as the pearly alicorn went on about the successful, if tragically short, life of her ever-faithful pupil.

With moistened eyes, Twilight read aloud the manuscript that was inscribed in deep, magically-etched letters at the statue’s gilded base.

“’Twilight Sparkle and Ento’Ba. The two brave heroes of the Third Era of Ek’Rael, and the bringers of Unity for Ekina and Ponykind. Two kindred souls, whose lives were brought to end in a valiant mission to show us all what true love means.’”

She turned around slowly to face Ento. The colt felt his heart shatter at the look of absolute sorrow on his lover’s face.

“Ento, we’re not back. We’re not really- alive,” she whispered, shooting a quick glance at her brother. “I’m so—” She choked on a sob. “I’m s-so sorry—!” she gasped through tears and strangling breaths. Ento merely walked right up to her and placed a hoof gently on her lips. Wiping away a tear from her cheek, he smiled slightly, as if he had remembered a funny joke, and then his face hardened in dead seriousness.

“You know,” he said, searching her face longingly, “your eyes get so damn pretty when you cry. They sparkle with an intense radiance that would rival that of the earth’s own hidden amethyst heart.” He paused, face hardening in a slight smirk. “But don’t you dare go off and cry ever again, Twilight Sparkle.”

The little unicorn merely laughed in an awkward moment of ecstatic longing.

“I p-promise, Ento,” she reassured him, and stared back into the colt’s blazing eyes.

The two lovers stood huddled together now, in stark and almost revolting contrast to the morbid feeling that was echoing out around them at their own funeral. As Twilight’s own eulogy was read aloud to her, it fell on deaf ears as the pair blacked out. A sensation of being dipped in a frigid ice bath overtook conscious awareness, and a sense of detachment soon followed after.

. . . .

With a jerking tug, four pairs of hooves landed silently on a cold, unyielding floor. As awareness flooded into sight, both pony and Ekina recognized now where they were. The high, foreboding, and very dim Hall of Castle Brelset welcomed a familiar feeling in Ento, but remitted a sour look from Twilight.

“What are we doing here?” she asked, a bit unnerved. This place didn’t exactly hold fond memories for her.

“I’m not sure,” Ento breathed, but stopped and turned to look as a slight voice was heard some twenty feet away.

“There we go, it’s done,” a tall Ekina stallion mumbled. He was draped in a long, dusty grey smock that hung off him like an ill-fitting skin, and clashed intensely with his muddled ochre coat. He turned to face the hooded Ekina that stood near him.

“What do you think?” he asked, breaking into a long smile. The shrouded figure merely nodded, and replied in an even, silken tone.

“Yes, the resemblance certainly is…uncanny. I think you have done a grand job, Marcue.” A thick smile could be heard on the court mage’s voice as he began his walk towards the door to the royal chambers. The stonemason nodded in affection at the endearing comment, and began packing his tools into a large metal trunk, as well as stuffing various objects into the multitude of pouches on his smock.

“I’ll see you around, Beseus. Tell the Lady I said hi, and that I still owe her that drink.” Exiting with a wink, he chuckled heartily to himself and sauntered out the great metal doors. As they opened for his withdrawal, sunlight splashed across the wall where the Ekina had been working, and left the pair alone inside the entire grand hallway. With a gasp, Twilight beheld before her a magnificent spectacle.

Etched into the high stone wall was a perfect representation of Ento, right down to his bobbed mane and razor teeth. He stood now, gallantly, a hoof rested on the burned-out form of a vicious Centuriori helmet- a testament to his impressive felling of one of the powerful guards, Twilight mused. She looked on, and spotted the artfully delightful rendition of her own form, which stood bravely behind Ento, adorned in the long, flowing robes that she had died in. Magic was a flame’s breath as it whipped from out the tip of her horn.

“Oh my gosh, Ento…” she breathed, as she looked on at this incredible testament of their heroic endeavors. Ento merely walked forwards, as if in a daze, and stared numbly at the calligraphic etching that had been chipped with a careful hoof beneath the graphic.

Twilight couldn’t make it out, though, as the door finally squealed shut and erased from the room any sort of natural lighting. Letting her eyes adjust, she could only spot Ento as he turned to her. His fiercely passionate eyes were cooled now in the gentle embrace of joyful tears, and, with a nod of his head, he read aloud what was inscribed below their picture.

“‘Bravery, among all else.’” Four words; seven syllables.

The statement was short, strung together in a senselessly simple way. But the manner by which the colt’s voice held it seemed to caress each tiny syllable with a gentle undulation of his tongue, betraying a deep and intense passion. Tears rolled down his face now, and Twilight could not do a thing but merely walk right up to him and return the favor he had given to her just minutes ago. She looked longingly into the colt’s ember eyes, and questioned why he was crying.

“Twilight, I know you’re not incredibly familiar with Ekina ways, but you know how our dead are taken care of. A pilgrimage, a feast, and then everything about them is forgotten. We do not have grand marble statues, or long funeral processions. Not even the name of a dead soul is written down, unless they have brought about an incredible piece of history for all of Ekina kind. Neither name nor deed is ever recorded, except here. And there we are, the two of us, up on that wall!” His voice caught up now, squeaking slightly as excitement overtook him.

“So...” Twilight began, but was overtaken by Ento’s vivacious excitement.

“Yes, we’ve done it! A simple blacksmith’s son and a princess’ pupil have done enough to have their deeds recorded upon this wall!” Pointing a hoof at their elaborate caricatures, he realized with a shock that he was crying. Bringing up the same hoof, he dabbed at the corner of his eye and was mildly startled when it came back wet. He looked down at Twilight, who was smiling.

She reached up now, and gently kissed the corner of each eye where cool tears had seeped out. As she pulled back, her lips brushed Ento’s with just a hair’s breadth between them. A shocking wave of nervous excitement rocked his body, and he couldn’t help but break into a silly grin. Smiling back, the little unicorn opened her mouth slowly to speak.

“Seeing you this happy makes me feel like the luckiest mare in all of Eque-” She stopped herself, though, and took a quick glance around. Regaining her momentum quickly, she added, “In the entire world.” A gigantic smile split itself across her face.

“Oh, Twilight,” the colt murmured. A crazy, ridiculous, impossible thought flashed across his mind. “You don’t know how happy that makes me to hear.” He suddenly realized that she was very, very close to his face. Very, conveniently close. Her lips were parted ever so slightly now into the sliest little smile he had ever seen on her…

“Well, I think…” she breathed, moving ever so close to her lover, “I know…how to make you far more happy…” The last word was a delicate breath that seemed to register barely above the level of equine hearing. Taking an immense leap, both lovers fell straight into the arms of fate.

And in the middle came a brilliant assortment of lurid ecstasy. Nerve-endings flashed and danced as neurons surged and crackled in a fireworks display of intoxicating delight.

As the two lone lovers felt their delicate lips connect, the loss of consciousness came as a far more gentle relief this time. A blanket of gentle warmth overtook them as unconsciousness enveloped all that they ever knew.

. . . .

A whip’s crack shot perception back into place, and the world of a mist-covered mountaintop shimmered into vision. The couple was holding each other now, both with faces hot and red and interrupted by grand smiles at what they had just done.

Before the newly-coalesced pair stood the alicorn sisters, Tuni’Ro, and- another Ekina. This one was, however, a might bit different than any Ekina either of them had seen before. He was not adorned with any special oddities or gaudy robes, but if he had been, even the most luxurious of embellishments would have simply impeded upon his stunning natural essence.

The Ekina stallion stood huge, almost overtaking the alicorn pair of the Sun and the Moon, and certainly dwarfed that of Twilight’s small form. His fur was shocked with jet black and midnight blue that ran course with his long, lean body. His mane was a brilliant canvas across his neck and body, though. It seemed like a mirror that trapped the essence of the night sky, magnified it, and set it alight.

Stars whirled and buzzed on his mane, galaxies were born and perished, comets streaked past, and entire cosmos seemed entrapped within the long, flowing hair. The stallion took a single step forward and opened his mouth to speak, revealing almost hideously long and scary-looking fangs. Twilight got the impression, though, that they held more of a sense of security over her, rather than fear- much like a candle that would give its own light before it desired to burn those it watched over.

“Ah, Ento’Ba,” boomed the stallion’s voice. Ento bowed immediately at the sky-father’s words, but Twilight stood in an astonished stupor. “And Twilight, it is good to see your spirit here again,” added the Ekina with a gigantic smile. “Ah, I am Alik’Kr, by-the-by. I always forget that you ponies do not know about us.” He turned to the Sun and Moon sisters, an eyebrow raised in joking upset. “Why is that, again?” he chuckled.

“Well, what can I say,” the Sun added with Celestia’s tinkling laugh, “I do not know how mortals think. They have such petty squabbles. But thanks to this pair, here,” she said, leveling a reverent amethyst eye on the pair that stood huddled across from her, “I think things will be changing for the better in the world.”

Alik’Kr and Tuni’Ro nodded together in understanding, and the former turned his head towards the pair. His cosmic mane shimmered as it fell across his head, igniting more and more supernovae and shimmering stars as he smiled again at them.

“So tell me, my friends. Are you ready to part this veil? Do you have the desire to write a whole new beginning to your story? To step forth into new bodies, with no idea of what you’ve left behind?”

The stallion’s words left his mouth and were picked up in the quick breeze that now blew cold mist across the top of the mountain in shimmering wisps. The moment seemed paramount to every other event that the pair had faced before, and they knew it would be their last. At least, for the time being.

Looking deeply to each other, they fell in the calm embrace of one another’s eyes, smiled, and turned back to the overseers that awaited the lover’s words.

“We are ready,” Ento said, and pulled Twilight as close to his body as was physically possible. All four demi-gods smiled at their subject’s amorous display, and Alik’Kr stepped up to speak once more.

“Very well, my friends. If you will close your eyes now, I will carry your souls on to your next body, and we—” The gigantic Ekina stallion stopped mid-sentence, and alighted a curious gaze upon Ento’s head. The colt looked back at him with the same confusion, and quickly felt his insides cool as unimaginable dread overtook him.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” he asked, stammering. Tuni’Ro echoed his sentiment, as well.

“Yes, Alik’Kr, what’s wrong? What is happening?” she inquired in a delicate, if not slightly pinched, tone. The stallion turned to his wife and shook his head slowly.

“I cannot carry him over to the next life, Tuni’Ro,” he said flatly.

“What!” Twilight squeaked loudly next to Ento. She broke away from the colt’s grip and clambered through the snow up to the giant midnight-blue stallion’s hooves. Bringing an adjudicating eye upon him, she asked, “Why not?”

The towering Ekina looked down on the little purple unicorn at his hooves with a curious glance. The motion ignited a plethora of activity from his mane, and he opened his mouth slowly to address Twilight’s question.

“His soul lacks the key to open the doorway to the next life. I cannot allow him to continue on to his new body to the mortal world. He must stay trapped here for the rest of time.” The words were plain, unadorned, and seemed almost emotionless on the stallion's lips. As his words alighted upon Twilight’s ears, though, it slammed her heart down into the pits of her stomach, and then rebounded it back up into her throat, choking her as she tried to spit out a reply.

“B-But how! Why?” Twilight cried up at the stallion.

“I do not know,” he said, almost sheepishly, “It has never happened before.”

A sound came up from behind them, and Twilight whipped around as Alik’Kr glanced up towards the noise. Ento was looking at the ground now, shuffling a hoof absentmindedly.

“I know why…” he said. Lifting his head up, his face was streamed with tears. “There was some Kryte I met, a witch. She promised to help me get out over the country’s wall if I gave her…” He paused, choking on a quick breath. “If I gave her something. She didn’t say what, but I guess this is what it was,” he whimpered morbidly. "My 'key.'" He shot a pleading look at Twilight, eyes cloudy and hurt. “I’m so sorry, Twilight. My selfishness is going to tear us apart,” he breathed helplessly. Twilight turned wildly towards the stallion before her.

“There isn’t anything you can do?” she cried to Alik’Kr. The Ekina looked down, and shook his head sullenly.

“I—" He stopped, and glanced over at Tuni'Ro, who was shaking her head morbidly. The giant stallion turned back to face Twilight, his ebony eyes ringed with tiny pools of tears. "No. We are merely observers of the play that is life, up here on the peak of the mountain. We cannot undo what has been done, nor can we change what happens to anyone that passes through here,” he appealed as evenly as he could.

“We are merely impassive guides when it comes to directing spirits beyond,” Tuni’Ro called from Alik’Kr’s side. The stallion nodded at his eternal wife’s addendum, and sniffed slightly.

“All that we know is that we only possess one key to open the door beyond, and as such, only one of you can pass. I am sorry, but that is how it must be,” the midnight-blue Ekina finished firmly.

Twilight was in a state of absolutely stunned shock. By a cruel twist of fate, she and Ento had met, and loved, and had known each other- but because of it, they would not be able to see one another in their next life, nor in any life beyond that!

Tears broke their barrier for what felt to be the hundredth time in the span of a mere day, as she lowered her head in utter and absolute defeat.

A sudden, calm realization washed over her now, though, as she caught herself staring out beyond horizon’s brilliant boundary. Wiping away a tear with a gentle purple hoof, she sniffed one final time, and slowly raised her head.

How slowly, she did not know. A hoof-full of tense moments were held aloft in the chill mountain air as she turned now towards her lover. His mane was whipping in the smart breeze, and his eyes jumped out at her as brilliant embers up on top of this cold mountain. She smiled as her mind concocted an idea: a single, independent notion. Yes, it would be perfect this way.

“I will stay in Ento’s place,” she breathed through barely parted lips. “He may have my key.”

“What? No!” the colt cried, loping through thick snow to join Twilight by her side. He came upon her, and grabbed her in his hooves, turning her body to face him. “No, Twilight! You can’t. You absolutely can’t!” Ento broke into sobs as he tried to speak through his rending anguish. Twilight merely grabbed her paramour’s hooves in her own, and set them gently on the ground with a crunch on the fresh snow.

“N-No! I won’t let you!” he shouted at her, trying to break her light grip in the most delicate way he could. A tinge of anger stung at the vestiges of his voice as he said, “I-I’ll stay here! With you. I won’t leave you!” The defiant statement was a sob. His desperate eyes searched her face for some sense of comfort. The unicorn’s visage was merely stone, and betrayed naught but a tiny glimmer of a self-assured and bittersweet smirk as she shook her head in a firm no.

“You have a life beyond here to live, and I want you to experience it.” She raised a hoof gently at his cry of outrage and attempted to blink back tears. She needed to be clearheaded for what she was going to say. “It will be okay, Ento. I promise,” she soothed the sobbing colt. Her voice held upon it the sweetest dulcet tone Ento had ever heard her speak before. It swirled about his caustic heart now, bathing it in a cooling embrace and extinguishing any fear or anger that had alighted upon it. The words reassured him, and told him this is right.

“I...” he said, voice catching through a shuddering breath. “I trust you, Twilight…” he finally admitted, bowing his head. The last little bits of his final salt fell now, off the tip of his nose, and became utterly indistinguishable in the virginal snow. “If it must be this way.”

Ento felt a warm sensation on his chin, and watched as a lavender hoof lifted his gaze up. It stopped when his eyes met those of a creature he loved, and an amethyst fire now leapt from its eyes and alighted upon his very soul. The experience, while certainly not anything short of immensely spectacular and utterly novel, and, despite having happened more times than he dared to count, seemed to fall short as his mind struggled to recall another sensation that rivaled it on a grand scale.

“It must,” she assured firmly.

With a long, flowing motion, the little unicorn’s head moved ever-so-delicately towards his own, and his brain flashed as it remembered the inane sensation that he found so indescribable.

Leaning in to meet her, he fell into the brilliant embrace as the lovers' lips met, for the last time in this life, upon one another. The delicate sensation started slowly, and built its way up until it was roaring at a fever pitch, coalescing into an awe-inspiring and soul-enrapturing kiss.

An eternity went by. For all intents and purposes, everything stood still for the two as they were locked in an embrace that stopped time's own unrelenting forward march. Finally, they fell apart, and the pair moved into the comforting warmth of each other’s eyes. Necessity called out each lover’s name, and Ento was the first to break the hold.

“I am ready,” he murmured gently to the grand stallion that stood some five feet from his and Twilight’s forms. The gigantic Ekina nodded, and spoke up in a gentleness that betrayed his own huge exterior.

“Very well. Please, close your eyes and I will begin the Transcendence.” Ento nodded back, and returned his gaze to look back into Twilight’s own.

“Will I see you again?” she whispered to the lanky colt. He broke into a tiny smile at her question.

“Yes, of course. Every time I am here to await transcendence, memories of the past will flood back, and we will be one again, for a time."

“Oh…” she sighed, and felt an incredible weight lift off her chest at her love’s reassurance. “Good.” She paused, shooting a sidelong glance at the horizon. “I will look for you, always,” she finished. Tears welled up now on the windows of her very soul, and the colt's smile turned to a lopsided smirk.

“Twilight... What did I tell you about crying?” he asked of the unicorn as he brought a long foreleg up to gently brush her tears away.

“Ah… Sorry,” she murmured, sniffing lightly, and gazed down at the snow. Her eyes came slowly back up now, and rested upon Ento’s own.

“I love you.”

“I know. I love you, too,” the colt professed, bathing in the glow of her beautiful eyes one last, final time. He closed his own, and felt a weightlessness overtake him.

The little purple unicorn stepped back from their embrace, and watched as Ento was lifted up into the air, as if caught in a gigantic, invisible hoof. Once he had been raised twice his height in the air, Twilight watched in awe as the very fiber of his being was whisked away on some untellable wind, and his body dissolved into ash. The ash caught on the resolute breeze, and was taken apart, piece by piece, as the Ekina’s soul disappeared from the peak of the mountain.

“Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust,” Twilight whispered as the last ounce of her love's soul disappeared from sight. The wind moaned about her, swirling Twilight's raven-black mane in a senselessly carefree manner. Everything seemed right in the world now.

She jumped slightly as a hoof tapped gently upon her shoulder. Turning about, she saw Tuni’Ro, who smiled gently to her. Twilight realized that she no longer found any upset in the earth-mother’s presence. In fact, the mare’s very smile seemed to instill in Twilight a sense of deep, maternal comfort.

“Come, my dear, let us get you settled. You will be here for a very, very long time, after all. Would you care for some tea?”

A gentle smile pierced Twilight’s even face. She nodded delicately as she looked upon the creatures that joined her here on the mountain’s peak: the Sun, the Moon, the Mother Earth, and the Father Sky. Her smile grew larger as she looked now at the great landmark that jutted about from the side of the mountain, where the two lovers had found themselves flung into the images of their own futures.

She would look out from that spot every day, she decided. At noon, dawn, and sunset, she would be there, looking beyond horizon’s edge, to wait for her lover’s return, no matter what form he took.

A silent tear rolled down her face. The last one she would ever shed, she decided firmly.

It would be quite an eternity here, indeed.

Epilogue: Polarity

Epilogue: Polarity

“Twilight?” came Tuni’Ro’s cooing voice one day.

“Yes?” Twilight answered quickly, turning around. The unicorn was, of course, sitting on her perch that looked out over the limitless horizon, where she had been visiting religiously for the past twelve years.

Tuni’Ro came over and sat next to Twilight with the creak of absolutely ancient bones. After settling herself down carefully in the bank of soft snow, she cleared her throat.

“Still waiting, I see. Any sign of him?”

Twilight shook her head slowly, though any sense of sorrow was quite absent.

“None yet. He’ll be here, though.” She laughed a tiny bit to herself. “I play a little game with myself when I’m here, I run so many scenarios through my head about what he might appear as. An Ekina or pony, sure, but maybe it’s something even grander. A dragon, maybe!” Even Tuni’Ro joined Twilight in her laughter, the likes of which was swept straight off the mountain by the gusty breeze. A short silence held over the pair for a time as they watched clouds wander past overhead in the afternoon sky.

“I’m certain by now you have a set plan for what you want to do when he gets here. Am I right?”

Twilight nodded in agreement.

“Absolutely,” the unicorn replied with another broad smile.

“I know exactly what we are going to do right before he has to leave, as well.” Tuni’Ro shot a sly look at Twilight, who reciprocated with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Why, ask Ento if he would like to give you back your key, just for a lifetime. And perhaps trade off for every life after that.” The Ekina’s smile grew wider and wider with each word of her idea, and then broke into a broad grin as she spotted Twilight’s look of off-key confusion.

“We… can do that?” she asked, genuinely taken aback. Tuni’Ro merely nodded to her little pony.

“Of course. You gave your key to him, remember, it can be done either way.” She paused, glancing at the horizon. “Do you think he will agree to it?”

“I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t think of the idea himself in the time he is here,” she said, smiling sheepishly and still slightly off-put that she hadn’t realized this beforehand.

A steady silence held over the pair for some time. The low moan of the mountain’s breath held over for several minutes, as waves of mist and snow crashed over the edge of the mountain’s peak.

“Twilight?” came Tuni’Ro’s voice once again.

“Hm? Yes?” Twilight asked, turning back to face the Earth-mother.

“I don’t think I recall telling you a little something about Ento.”

At this, Twilight’s ears pricked up in excitement. A little tidbit about her lover! She felt her heartbeat skip a beat at the colt’s name.

“Yes? What is it?” she inquired, a smile spreading itself across her lips.

“Do you know what the name ‘Ento’ means in the ancient Ekina tongue?” she asked, just a hint of enigma brushing up on her words as they caught on the gentle mountain breeze.

Twilight’s mind was enraptured. After all this time, she had never even thought of it meaning something other than just “Ento.”

“Well… No, no I don’t. What does it mean, Tuni’Ro?” The unicorn’s voice was tinged with impatient expectance.

“It means, ‘Dawn.’”

And with that, the wizened old mother stood back up on her hooves and padded back through the snow to the other side of the mountain’s peak, leaving a surprised unicorn sitting in her snowy bank.

“’Dawn…’” Twilight whispered. Her voice caught in the resolute breeze and was lost off the edge of the immense mountain. It flew off, finding its way far from the peak of the great mountain and off into the infinite expanse before her, to somewhere she could never guess.

The End

Author's Note

To all of my loyal readers, and to those who I have yet to know:

This story has been an incredible roller coaster of thoughts, feelings, desires, agony, and passion. I may or may not come back and re-write, seeing as I do have a few ideas for another intro, and I know the story can get a bit choppy at times. Nevertheless, I certainly hope you enjoyed it very nearly as much as I did, and I hope as well that you will come away from this whole thing with something of a change of heart.

There is, after all, a bit of a spark of Ento and Twilight in us all, I think.

Sincerely and forever yours,
Sabre

Prologue: Wild Ideas

Prologue - Wild Ideas

A beat of wings brought the air into a flurry, and down swooped the silent form of a large barn owl. With another flap of its wings, the owl descended and plunged through a lit hole in the side of a building. As it circled above and looked below, it beheld a room lit by lamp light and filled with demons.

Creatures with tall, ochre, green and brown bodies milled about tables piled with steaming platters and overflowing, foaming mugs; though the creature’s emaciated bodies and protruding ribs gave no indication they could possibly eat that well.

As the barn owl made another pass, it regarded the creatures that laughed below it, gnashing razor blades of teeth in a sign of bright laughter. Horns, long and swept back, bobbed up and down to the merriment.

The owl had found its target: a young Ekina, pale red eyes, green, mottled fur, short, choppy, jet black mane. He dove down on his target.

“Oh- Ah!” the Ekina yelped as the owl landed without an ounce of grace onto the table, spilling drinks and plates of kuta. All the Ekina mumbled and shouted, some throwing playful strikes at the owl’s owner.

“For gods’ sake! Why is that old bag of feathers here, Ento?” a tall, green-brown Ekina shouted and then laughed as he took a long swig of his drink. Ento shrugged as he tried to mop up the mess the owl had caused. The barn owl strutted about the empty parts of the table, dropping feathers about.

“No idea, Kima. My pap sends him out at night and I think he’s got some sort of…” The Ekina raised an eyebrow, “owl crush on me, or something.” Ento blushed as the gang around him laughed aloud and began chanting, to the lead of Kima, “Barn owl loves Ento! Barn owl loves Ento!”

“Ah ha, ha, funny,” Ento slurred as he finished up the rest of the cleanup.

“Ah, we’re just feckin with ya,” an Ekina across the table laughed, and winked. “Just drink your Hangg, okey?”

Ento obliged, and the rest of the group made a mad dash for their mugs-- a few moments later, a collective crack was heard as the gang slammed the metal cups onto the wooden table. A chorus of cries resounded in the tavern, rifling up the old barn owl. The bird flapped its wings in despair, showering the table with even more loose feathers. A collective shout made it worse for the owl.

“Alrght, alright, aright! Get that bird outta here, Ento! Gods damn it!” Kima shouted, his face starting to turn red as his anger burned up with the alcohol.

Ento sighed and scooped up the owl, which went slack as soon as it was handled. Shuffling his way through packed tables, he crossed through the heavy door and the din of the bar turned to a muffled stream of noise. His hooves crunched under the grass as he walked away from the tavern.

Moonshine bathed everything in a cool light, and the summer weather was just the right temperature. Setting down the barn owl, Ento sat lazily on the short grass and watched it hop around, wings barely opening. The Ekina let out a long sigh.

“Why do you have to go mess things up, huh?” Ento searched the owl’s black eyes as it looked back up at him. Another sigh was lost into the night air. “Yeah, I know. You’re tired and old. Stuck to your old ways. Like me.” He smirked. “I need to do something exciting. Something exciting, before I grow old and shriveled in this town.”

He jumped a bit as he heard the door open and a wash of noise fill the night. It closed again, just as quickly. Ento kept his eyes focused on the moon above.

“All alone out here?”

“Yeah, just trying to get my barn owl back home. He’s pretty old… I’m surprised he can still fly, to be honest.” He smirked and looked over his shoulder at the voice.

“Mind if I join you?” the other Ekina asked. Her eyes were as bright as her smile.

“No, not at all, Chela.” Ento said, and scooted over a bit. The Ekina nodded and sat down beside Ento, her long purple mane rolling about her neck and short horns. She turned to Ento and smiled, a little half-drunk smile that caught him off-guard. Her eyes were shimmering emerald in the moonlight.

“What’s up with your bird?” she asked, plain and simple.

"He's just old, s'all. About as old as me, actually. He can barely fly and he drops feathers all over the place, good for pretty much nothing anymore. It's gotten me thinking, honestly."

"Whattabout, huh?" Ento felt a little groggy, and rubbed his forehead with a hoof to help clear away the four pints of Hangg.

“Just… thinking, Chela. About my future.” Chela nodded profoundly, and put a hoof under her chin.

“Yeah? And what about it?”

“Well, it's just, I’ve been in this town almost twenty-four summers, and I’ve never done anything exciting. Never had an adventure before. Why, I haven't even traveled past Brelset.” He smirked. “The capitols only like a half day trip. That’s nothing. The kingdom is huge.” Chela nodded once more.

“So why don’t you just leave?” Her words were flat again. Ento pricked up his ears at the suggestion.

“What do you mean, exactly? Leave?”

“Well,” Chela said, rolling her eyes, “I mean get out of town. Out of the county. Or even out of the country.” She cracked a wide, devilish smile.

“Ha, ha,” Ento mocked. “Wide open ocean east and west, and an immeasurably long desert down south. We’re stuck in Ek’Rael y’know, Chela.”

“I wasn’t talking about east or west or even south.” Her ears pricked up in excitement. “Why not go… North?”

Ento didn’t even give the Ekina the benefit of a mock laugh this time.

“Oh yes, let me just write to the Lord and Lady. ‘Hey guys, just wondering if you could lift the millenium and a half ban on northern travel just for me, I’m having an existential crisis and I need to see the world. Sincerely yours, Ento. P.S. My friend Chela is insane.” He cracked a smile at the last part. The two laughed quietly to themselves.

The joy died down, however, as the barn owl flapped its wings violently. Shushing the bird, Ento’s mood fell back into melancholy.

“That’s a great idea, Chela, but it’s not gonna happen. You know that.” Chela rolled her eyes a bit at the colt.

“Well alright, but I’m just saying.” She shrugged. “I’ve always thought about going North, since I was a little filly. If you really want an adventure… That’s it!” Her eyes grew dark once more; a chill went down Ento’s spine and he did his best to suppress a shiver.

“You’re not getting any younger. Don’t let the world pass you by, sweetheart.” With that, Chela placed a hoof gently on Ento’s shoulder, nodded, and went back inside. Ento was left all alone.

Fiddling with a pebble along the dirt road, he thought about what his friend had said. Chela was right, of course. Going north would be the adventure of a lifetime. Things would never be the same after, for better or worse. Ento let out another heavy sigh.

“So what do you think? Should I do it?” Ento asked the barn owl. The bird just stared back with cold, black eyes. “It seems stupid, I know, but… Something about the idea just seems so right.” Ento searched the owl’s heart-shaped face for some sort of answer.

With an oddly sentient look, the owl blinked, and with a flutter of wings, took off into the air. Ento watched as it soared across the tops of the trees, in the direction of the moon. Before long, it had disappeared from sight completely.

That was the last time Ento ever saw the barn owl.

A Dramatic Turn of Events

Chapter XII. – A Dramatic Turn of Events

Twilight sat sniffling quietly in a large purple chair that waited outside the audience chamber. She heard the muted arguments and conversations of Celestia and Luna, and the occasional moans as Ento tried to answer the questions that the pair and been shouting at him. Twilight winced every time he began talking, because either Celestia or Luna burst out in anger before he could finish what he was trying to answer.

You asked him a question. Don’t unleash a firestorm on him when he only does what you’re asking, Twilight thought with a whimper. Looking at the grand carpeting on the floor, she had the inane sensation of being a schoolphilly that had broken a rule at school with another pony, waiting for the principal to finish up with her accomplice and dreading what would come at her turn.

Except you didn’t just “break a rule,” Twi. You know what the Princess said. You should have told her right away what was going on, shouldn’t have been such a foal and kept Ento all to yourself, like some kind of prize. She screwed her eyes closed bitterly. An “I told you so” flashed to her mind, and she shook her head violently to clear the vindictive thought.

Much to her frustration, the thought lay burned in place. She gasped as her head surged, the vestiges of a headache beginning to form behind her eyes at the violent shaking she had attempted.

She heard the click of the door, and looked straight ahead, listening intently to the sounds of hooves upon the carpet. She caught within her peripheral vision the figure of Ento, still in chains, led by a Night guard down the long hall. A long cloak was thrown haphazardly over the manacled body. Twilight figured with a frown that it was to ensure nopony around the castle realized what he was.

“Twilight Sparkle,” she heard Princess Celestia’s voice call to her. At this, Twilight straightened up, fast. “In here, please,” she added with the same falsely disarming and passive tone she had used in Ponyville. Twilight obeyed, walking slowly into the room.

Within the audience chamber sat Celestia on a great mound of violet silk pillows, with Luna pacing actively around the door to the balcony, seeming pent-up. Twilight noticed Philhelmina perched grandly on her golden stand, surrounded by ancient maps and logs that had been arbitrarily laid out on the grand oak table beside the stand. She raised an eyebrow slightly as she realized she had no idea what the maps were of. Across the top of each map was scrawled the word Forbidden in rough charcoal etching. A grand red stamp mark left the word Confidential directly underneath it.

“Twilight,” said the sun princess firmly. Twilight's eyes locked straight ahead as she realized she had been obviously staring at the maps. Celestia indicated a plain chair in the middle of the room with a slight movement of her head. Twilight took a seat, wincing as she found it hard and extremely uncomfortable to sit on.

“Now, Twilight. I believe I, we, owe an explanation to you,” she said, her cool eyes glancing over her old student with an empty calmness. Her voice, though, betrayed an anxious energy. Twilight could tell that she was anything but calm. The mask of stately grace she always wore was strained after the stress she had just endured with Ento.

Luna walked over to sit with her sister, lying on her respective pile of azure silk pillows. She still seemed restless, not familiar with such delicate processes after having been trapped in solitude for so many years.

“Yes,” Luna added firmly. “The past hour has been, well, taxing on us. You don’t exactly realize what you’ve stumbled into here, Twilight. This entire situation is far bigger than yourself, almost more so than us,” she added with an enigmatic look.

Celestia nodded slightly to her sister's warning.

“Twilight, I cannot say what it is you possibly may know, but the Ekina, Luna and I don’t—”

Twilight interjected with a slightly scornful tone as the memory of a bound and degraded-looking Ento flashed to mind reproachfully.

“Oh, I know all about what’s happened, Princess. The war, the deal you brokered, the fallout, the reason why there aren’t any Ekina here. Everything.” Twilight shut her mouth quickly as she realized what she had said.

Both princesses’ eyes went wide for a second as what Twilight said hit them with shock. Celestia’s trained face returned to calm neutrality quickly, but Luna’s stayed at an unpleasant frown.

“And how do you know that, Twilight Sparkle?” the shadowy Princess implored, her voice bordering on what could only be described as dangerously foreboding.

Twilight didn’t say anything more. Her mind flashed, bathed in a panicking light as she realized what she was about to tell the princess could hurt Ento more than anything else she could say. Luna bobbed her head impatiently.

“Well? We demand you tell us now, Twilight.”

Celestia raised a hoof calmly to her sister.

“Please, Twilight, answer the question. Your friend won’t come under any harm from us. This I can promise you,” she said with a gentle smile.

Twilight’s mind flashed brilliantly again: anger. It remembered the one-sided shouting match that had occurred in here not five minutes ago. Ruefully, she opened her mouth to tell all about what Ento had accounted.

She described the entire story from memory, staring a black hole into the floor as she did so. When she finally finished, she hazarded a glance to find both princesses’ faces captured in their own unique methodical thought. Twilight remarked with a slight smirk that they seemed as exact opposites to each other.

“Such an ignorant and single-minded history those Ekina have been teaching their foals,” Luna spat bitterly. “‘Figures of purest white and deepest black?’ We apparently threatened them? The lies they told their people about us? Really, the denigrations they come up with to cover their idiocy…” She sighed heavily.

“Now, now Luna,” Celestia rebuked, a lecturer’s tone taking over her voice, “We haven’t exactly been sharing the true knowledge, either. We destroyed those books and records of Strei and the Ekina, you remember? Not to mention the record keepers we had to bribe,” she added firmly. She turned to Twilight. “When you told me that you had found a mentioning of the Ekina in a book at the Archives, you have no idea how shocked I was to hear it. We spent countless years tracking down and destroying any knowledge of the Ekina that we could, so that a problem like this would never have to come up unexpectedly.”

Twilight’s face was set in a stony disbelief. Not sure what to believe, she opened her mouth, and carefully asked, “So, was what Ento said correct, or was he lying? Or at least saying a lie he had been told?” she added, hastily. She found it hard to believe a creature would lie outright to a stranger. Not just a creature, this is Ento, remember...? Her thoughts turned muddled as she struggled internally to grasp what was quickly unfolding before her.

Celestia shook her head.

“What he told is... more or less 'true'... but yes, there are some considerable fabrications in there obviously he would not have a knowledge of. Yes, the deal was struck in succession, and Luna and I had believed it would go through without problem. We had no idea the Ekina Elders planned to deceive us, though,” she added with a slight grimace. Her face changed back quickly as her subconscious realized it wasn’t wearing a look of mild interest. The princess's mind, however, was racing. It steadily picked up in vivacity as she remembering things that had happened so long ago.

“The war was a rallying point for the unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. Not having any common ground to come together on, the challenge of a separate foe set their differences aside and allowed a young Equestria to finally function for the first time. And after the war had ended, with the promise of desperately needed raw materials, we knew we would be able to continue on with founding a peaceful kingdom.”

“But their betrayal was unforgiveable, Twilight,” Luna continued on for her sister. Her voice weighed heavily on Twilight, but she seemed to stumble as she went on. “When we came back, simply to find that we were hated, we vowed to never associate with them again. Returning with our hooves stained in the… blood of our murdered soldiers, we lost more and more power over Equestria.” Luna’s face sunk in saturated despair, her head hung in painful remembrance.

“And then… the first Discord Incident began. He fed off the chaos that the Ekina had started. It was like setting a match to a tinderbox. Eventually, we had entrapped him, but the stress of it on both of us, as well as losing control over the kingdom led to… when our fighting began to tear even Celestia and I apart. I finally cracked under so much strain as I watched indomitable change overtake the land and sister that I loved, right before my very own eyes. And it happened, after I changed myself... The banishment,” she managed to sob. She closed her eyes in excruciating emotional pain as the dark memories flooded over her.

Twilight watched pitifully as Celestia comforted her weeping sister. The sun princess turned to Twilight and said in a calm but determined voice, “You understand why we would want that part of our history out of memory. For mortal ponies, the pain would decline through generations. To we eternal beings, the pain will always be fresh.”

Twilight looked back down at the carpet as Celestia comforted a sobbing Luna. She found her mind torn as she realized what this meant: Ento was a part of a horrible time for Equestria. Not directly, but he had lied to her about it… a lot of it. At this thought, she could feel a single spark spawn in her mind and float on the gentle breeze of consciousness.

A choking sensation seemed to grab her very being as the pain and anguish of everything that had happened today finally crashed down on top of her. It was like the unstoppable cascade of an enormous waterfall.

As the single spark alighted, a fierce fire of anger burned up in her. She felt her mind reeling in the hideous ecstasy of rage.

He lied to me! she thought bitterly. The misgiving blazed like a wildfire, burning up all the dried-out thoughts of reason and compassion. Twilight looked up at the princesses, her eyes smoldering with an intense passion. The stately pair had returned to their normal composure, though Luna still sniffled slightly.

“So what is happening to him,” she said, a tinge of fire peppering her voice. Celestia seemed taken aback by her tone.

“Well, we were going to escort him back to his kingdom, to the Lord and Lady. Such is the punishment for what he has done, and our stately duty as a diplomatic force.”

“Wait, what do you mean, ‘punishment?’” she said, slightly startled. Her eyes hardened slightly as the sparks swirled around inside her mind.

“He has told us that travel beyond the north gate is forbidden, on pain of death,” Celestia said, matter-of-factly.

More fuel poured across the fire in Twilight’s mind as anger and fear shifted interchangeably. Ento, you fool, you idiot, how could you risk something so valuable as your own life? she screamed in her mind. She felt like she were about to burst into tears at any second. She gasped in breaths, deep breaths, trying her absolute best not to let this happen. Her mind spun in shocked confusion.

“Is everything alright, Twilight?” Celestia asked, concern growing on her features.

No, it’s not alright! Not at all! she wanted to scream out loud to the princess, to watch that stupid, silly mask break away and get some real emotion out of her, for once in her miserable life! She wanted somepony, anypony to know the intense, burning pain she felt in her mind right now!

Twilight managed to whisper a weak “Yes.”

Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but stopped short as a guard captain entered the room.

“My ladies, the carriage is ready. The high value pony is... ready to go.” He paused mid-speech, and managed a sidelong glance at Twilight’s gasping form. His years of drilled-in training, coupled with a "Leave it" type of glance from Celestia stopped him from doing anything else but maintaining a forward vigil to his princesses.

“Very well, Captain, we will join you in a moment,” Celestia said with her usual court grace. The Captain nodded curtly, shot his sister a wary look, and took his leave of absence.

Celestia turned to Twilight, who was still breathing just as raggedly.

“Do you wish to accompany us to Ek’Rael, Twilight?” she said with a calm, if not concerned, demeanor.

. . . .

A battle raged inside Twilight’s mind.

A fierce and bitter Twilight appealed to her, hair in knots and eyes ablaze: Anger.

Go on. Let’s go watch that liar pay for his crimes! He more than deserves it. The lies he told you were simply atrocious! it enticed, a comical smirk forming on its lips. Its eyes struck over her again, fierce and terrifying. You know he deserves it, Twilight. The sick animal deserves to be put down for his idiocy. A bitter laugh resounded in her head, echoing shrilly in the boundless confines of her mind.

At the final end of the echo another voice whispered from the form of a curled up and bloody Twilight lying sprawled out next to her: Fear.

Don’t go Twilight. How can you watch it happen in front of you? You’re so much better here, focusing on forgetting a creature who you’ll never meet again. There’s no point in it. Why bother trying? The entity sobbed quietly, getting steadily louder and louder until it seemed horribly deafening.

Twilight had no idea what she would do. She was torn between action and inaction, apathy or anger. Hate demanded retribution, while indifference held her down. She stood in the middle of it all, head bowed, miserable tears rolling off her face.

"You love him. Go save him."

Twilight looked up slowly, ears pricked up at the sound. The voice had been barely below a whisper, yet she had heard it perfectly. She looked around. Anger and fear had vanished to leave an empty grey expanse before her, an infinite palette of options.

But she knew who had said it.

Hope.

. . . .

“I’ll go,” Twilight answered firmly, her breathing evening out. The unicorn's face hardened in a determined gaze as she looked onto the princesses.

“Very well, my dear,” Celestia said evenly, and stood up gingerly as she stretched out her numb legs. Luna followed suit, and the two sisters walked outside.

Twilight leaped off the chair, her body numb but a resolute feeling in her mind.

“Princess?” Twilight called. She stopped to turn to the purple pony.

“Yes, Twilight Sparkle?” she asked expectantly, though her eyes betrayed a slight impatience.

“We need to stop by the library in Ponyville. It’s very important,” Twilight said firmly. Her unwavering stance seemed to echo her words exact.

“Of course, Twilight. We will stop by the library.” She turned back to join Luna as they approached the runway balcony.

Twilight joined the princesses in their ornate private carriage. Promptly taking off south for Ponyville, she looked through the window to see a small carriage behind theirs, painted plain and ambiguously. Her heart soared as the thought of her and Ento’s embrace passed into her mind .It felt as though it had happened a lifetime ago. A tug at her heartstrings told her the sentiment was shared by another.

No power of reason or magic could explain how she knew that. It was simply a feeling as observable as the setting of the sun and the melt of springtime snow.

I’m here for you.