The Birth of a Rebellion

Crimson Zephyr slowly woke up as the loud screech of the brakes resounded in the cabin. The train had arrived to Manehattan.

His sleep had been restless since the incidents at the expedition, and this time wasn’t an exception. Crimson stretched and stood up from the bench as he floated his saddlebags and trunks. The trunks almost fell to the floor, clearly exceeding the load he expected. He had to take his whole collection of books from Canterlot, as he didn’t expect to return soon…

He walked onto the platform two of Manehattan’s train station. Several ponies were welcomed by their families, and Crimson looked at them with jealousy. This time no pony would come to receive him. During the expedition he imagined this moment, the moment he arrived to Manehattan’s train station, welcomed by a crowd. He smiled at the idea, realising how pretentious that was. As he slowly floated his entire luggage out of the train, he suddenly felt a hug. Losing all his concentration, Crimson lost the grip on the luggage, dropping it on the platform’s floor. As he turned around, he found a face he didn’t expect to see.

“Opal Shine!” He shouted as he saw the mare behind him. She was a dark blue coated mare with a golden mane. Her strawberry coloured eyes were the only thing Crimson truly missed from this city.

“You supposed that you could arrive to Manehattan without me knowing, Crimson Zephyr?” She asked with a smile on her face.

“I… I just expected no pony would come to welcome me, that’s all… How are you?”

“I’m fine, thanks! I’m glad to see that you still care about others life, overall taking into account that last time you came to Manehattan you visited no one” She said with a clears sarcasm tone in her voice.

The last time Crimson came to Manehattan, he just came to pick some books and organise the expedition. He was so excited about it he just spent two whole days shut up inside his flat, gathering all the information he could about the Sister’s Royal palace in advance. He revised almost all of his books searching for the smallest bit of information he could find about it.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. The last time I came to Manehattan I was a bit busy, but now I’m planning to have a long rest…”

A very long one indeed, as the Canterlot Academy had expelled him from the Archaeological society until he retracted from my theories, something that he wasn’t precisely willing to do.

“Is that rest related anyway to that scar in your cheek and to your missing ear piece?” she asked, as fast as she noticed the differences.

“That’s something I would prefer to speak elsewhere.” He replied harshly. He had only spoken of what happened during the expedition to Copper Compass, one of the headmasters of the Academy, and he found hard to tell any other pony.

“Perhaps we should head to my flat?” Crimson said trying to use the friendliest tone he could, as he realised how dry his previous answer was. “It’s getting late and there I could answer all your questions while we have a cup of coffee or something.”

“That’s a deal then!” she said as she picked with her mouth one of the cases and started walking to the exit of the platform.

As he concentrated again lifting the remaining luggage to the air, he stared at the train. Would this be the last time he took this train? Would he ever return to Canterlot? Although he hated many things of the lifestyle of Canterlot, he had to admit that he loved the cosmopolitan essence of the city, where the culture and discoveries in the fields of arts and music were part of the everyday routine.

Manehattan was also a cosmopolitan city, gathering in fact many strangers from zebra lands and even a big community of griffin citizens, but it wasn’t like Canterlot. Here the investigations carried on the academies had a technological orientation, focused on the development of machines and devices rather than on the “development of ponies’ soul”, or at least that was what the elder master of the Academy said. Crimson didn’t give too much credit to that kind of statements. Many times it seemed like ponies from Canterlot just feared changes, and they haven’t proven Crimson anything different recently.

“Hey Crimson, hurry up! I’m not going to wait you here forever while you stare the floor!” She said, finally annoyed of observing him while he was lost in his train of thinking.

After having a final glance on the train, Crimson turned around and followed Opal to the sleepless city.

“Here we are…” Crimson sighed as we arrived to the building where his flat was. “Opal, would you mind to pick the key from my saddlebag and open the door? I don’t know if I will be able to do it while I float all this stuff…”

“No problem dear” she mumbled as she dropped the case she held and introduced her head inside the saddlebag. After a few seconds poking, she took Crimson’s key ring with her mouth and introduced it in the bolt. The door opened with a slight screech as she turned the key and pushed her way inside the building. He followed her closely as she went up the stairs, lifting the luggage behind. It was a hard task, as it proved to be more demanding than he expected, overall taking into account how tired he was. Crimson felt lucky so lucky when he remembered that his flat was in the first floor…

As Opal opened the door he smoothly left the luggage on the landing and sat on the floor sweating. She left the key ring on the bowl that laid on the sideboard of the hall and turned to him.

“Are you alright, Crimson?” she asked worried

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’m just a bit exhausted. The last two weeks have been… hard.” He said, rising up and floating the luggage. With a final effort he pulled it inside, making a bang on the floor as he released his grip.

“Finally back…”

The flat was messy and filled of dust. The piles of books filled up with marks and notes covered everything, not only the tables, but the floor of almost all the rooms too. Even thought enormous shelves filled every available piece of the wall, the incredibly high amount of books didn’t fit in them, spread in piles of organised chaos. The table of the studio, visible from the entrance, seemed more like a castle rather than the table of an archaeologist, a fortress made of walls of paper.

The moonlight filled the living room. While both walked in from the hall, Crimson remembered all the preparations and plans he made while he was shut away here. He picked the matches and turned on all the lamps available, giving the room a warm light.

“Well, let me order this a bit…” he said as he floated some books out of the living room, trying to free as much room a possible on the sofa and the table in front of it. “Just get yourself comfortable.” he said to Opal while he went to the kitchen. He opened several drawers and larders until he found what he sought. Coffee! A nice cup of coffee was what he needed. Crimson wondered if he would have spent all of it while he planned the expedition, but this relieved him. He would need something to cheer him up while he told Opal everything.

“So?” Opal asked. She had sneaked right behind Crimson from the living room. Now she stared directly at him, awaiting an answer.

“I think I owe you an explanation, but first I would like to make some coffee. If you want to hear the complete story this is going to be quite a long night.” Crimson answered as he started to boil water. He kept feeling her stare right at the back of his head, needling him. It turned to be unbearable. “Why don’t you make the coffee while I take the luggage to my room? Just to clear the hall of stuff…”

Crimson was clearly avoiding the accusing looks Opal was glancing at him. She had been patiently waiting for an explanation all the way home, and she was not going to be patient anymore.

He floated a couple of trunks and started to head to the office. He looked at the kitchen, where Opal was concentrated on the water, not boiling jet. Suddenly he felt his magic failing again as both trunks felt to the floor and opened, scattering the books they contained all over the floor. A thin book caught Crimson’s attention. It had a black hard cover and “War logbook” written with golden letters as a title. It belonged to the group of books that he had been able to smuggle from the ruins of the sister’s palace without the academy noticing. He picked that book with the mouth and put it on top of one of the closest book piles. I would certainly have to read it later. He started picking the other books and putting them into the trunks. It took him a while, but finally he started to drag one of the trunks to the office.

“The coffee is ready!” Opal said from the kitchen.

“Nice! The sugar is inside the pot on the stove top.” Crimson said while he bit the handle of the trunk again. I must not forget to read that book…

As he left the second trunk inside the studio, Crimson looked back to the living room. Opal stared at him while she laid on the couch. While he approached, he looked to the coffee cups. Steam floated from them up in the air, filling the room with a pleasant smell.

“Well, let me go with this straight forward. I have told nothing about this to any pony except Copper Compass, so I would like you to be discreet about this.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be a tomb, I swear.”

“Ok… I’m sure you heard about the Elements of Harmony don’t you?”

Opal nooded and gave its coffee a sip.

“Those elements where found at the Royal Sisters palace by their actual bearers, the six mares of Ponyville. The location of this palace remained secret for a millennium, protected deep inside the Everfree forest. Thanks to the instructions that Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic, gave to Copper Compass, the main cartographer of the Academy, we were able to plot a relatively secure path through the forest, even thought it was longer than the one the element’s bearers took. Our route started from the Ponyville’s side of the forest. The investigation group was formed by six ponies, myself included. We had to be discrete at the size of the expedition as the princess itself had commanded so. She wanted us to go unnoticed, thing that wasn’t going to be a problem once we where inside the forest. Our first stop was the hut of a zebra that lived near Ponyville itself. I remember perfectly that visit. She spent like two hours warning us about several poisonous plants and dangerous creatures that lived in the inner parts of the forest, all recited.”

“Wait a moment… You mean recited, like reciting poetry?” she asked. Crimson nooded and took a sip of coffee. It was warm and relaxing. While he recalled the way of speaking of that zebra and he couldn’t stop a giggle.

“Zecora was her name. She told everything as short poems, which gave all she spoke about a mysterious aura, even when she asked us if we wanted something to drink” he joked. “Twilight herself asked her to prepare some brews for our expedition, and as she completed them, we spoke about my expedition to zebra lands.”

“I remember when you departed to that expedition. You returned with some books, some really good stories, that unbearable vice of smoking and a couple of weird masks.” She said. While he looked at her, intrigued by the tone she used to refer to the masks, she replied “Hey, don’t stare at me like that! They were creepy…”

“There is no need to apologize. They are stored just because of that same reason” he said with a smile. “But you have reminded me of other thing I like a lot…”

“Oh please don’t tell me you are going to start smoking right now! You know I hate that smell!” she said, clearly upset. But it was late; he already approached the studio’s table and opened one of the drawers, taking out a pipe and a little bag of tobacco. The tobacco was stale, but that wasn’t a problem for Crimson.

As he laid down again on the sofa he lighted the tobacco inside the pipe with a match and inhaled the smoke with pleasure. Smoking was one of the things that lately were able to make him happy, helping him to forget momentarily about the problems he had, focusing only on breathing. Many ponies just rejected the possibility of breathing smoke as something that could bring any kind of pleasure, but during my expeditions on zebra lands, he discovered this little... vice. Thought there where other herbs that zebras smoked with all kinds of effects, some of them even magical, Crimson found that tobacco suited him most, as it left reasoning capabilities untouched. It allowed him to work with a clear mind. Smoking tobacco had become a way of concentrating and thinking while writing for him. Anyway, the majority ponies just found the habit disgusting, as Opal did.

“Well, where was I… Oh yeah, Zecora’s hut. We spoke long about the expedition at zebra’s land. I lived in the capital during a year, where Zecora lived before moving to her hut, so she was eager to know what happened while she was away. When the brews where ready, we prepared to leave. As the other ponies waited outside, Zecora gave me some herbs and tobacco, as I mentioned her I liked smoking. She advised me to be careful with the herbs she gave me, as they produced strong effects. I wondered what she meant, but the other ponies shouted me to hurry up from outside of the hut. As I gave her thanks and promised coming back to keep telling her more about my expedition, the other ponies started to pack everything and to prepare to keep on route. The next three days passed without any problem, as we went deeper inside the Everfree forest. It was curious to see how the trees seemed to grow twisted and creepy as we advanced. The fourth day the problems arrived, as we had to cross the manticore territory. One of the brews Zecora prepared would grant our safety as we made our way through it, turning us invisible. I was really impressed by the effect that brew had. I already knew from my previous expedition that zebra’s lack of magic was widely compensated by the domain they had on brews and magical potions, but I had never experienced it myself. The manticores seemed to feel our presence, but as they saw nothing, they didn’t move. Once we crossed the manticore’s territory, we prepared our camp and stopped for a rest. The whole trip across the territory was tense, so sleeping before the last part of our trip to the palace started was something everypony agreed about.” Crimson paused a bit, seeking with his eyes the cup of coffee, lifting it and having a long swip. It was cold now.

“What does a manticore look like? I mean, you said you walked past them when you where inside their territory. I’m sure you could see one close enough.” Opal asked.

“Well, they are creatures with a lion’s body and head, a couple of dragon wings and a scorpion tail. And they are really big… May I ask you why you want to know this?”

“It was just curiosity, Crimson, nothing else. Don’t get paranoid please. Now keep telling me about the expedition, I still want to know how the Royal Sister’s palace looks like”

“Then let’s keep with the story. The next day we woke up surrounded by fog. It was the thickest one any of the ponies that composed the exploration party had ever seen. But the maps Copper draw where so precise we found our way without any problem. By midday we found the bridge that Twilight spoke about, arriving to the Royal Sister’s palace. We started to settle the camp and to prepare the materials. We decided to postpone any exploration of the palace until the fog cleared. The next day, luckily, the sun shined in the sky and we could see the ruins of what must have been one of the most beautiful architectonic creations of all times. We had camped in one of the great dance halls. It was wonderful Opal…” Crimson knew that he wasn’t going to be able to word how beautiful, though almost destroyed, were the halls of the palace, so he remained silent for a few seconds, until he gathered all the possible details he could remember.

“Everything was just perfect. The stairway that lead to the rest of the palace was a wonderful combination of white and black marble dividing into two different paths that lead to the palace. From its top, we could see the whole dancefloor, that was a gigantic mosaic with an image of princess Celestia and princess Luna, each one rising the sun and the moon respectively. But it wasn’t the most beautiful thing we found there. Remains of statues, paintings and other art forms where conserved in some of the closed halls of the palace. But, there was something that didn’t fit the original version of the battle between Celestia and Nightmare Moon.”

“What you mean with “original”?”

“Just that what I found there didn’t fit what the textbooks hold.”

“But those textbooks were written by Celestia itself. She was present there! I can’t believe that you are calling her a liar!” Opal outraged. It was curious how almost everypony reacted the same way when something was opposite to the word of Celestia.

“Hey Opal, relax. I haven’t said anything about Celestia being a liar; I’m just saying that… what I found in that palace just doesn’t fit the history she tells.” As her face started to burn in anger again, Crimson quickly said “Please allow me to explain before shouting again.”

“Ok, I’m paying you all my attention.” She said, lying again on the sofa. She took a sip of coffee and stared at Crimson with a mixed expression of expectancy and sarcasm.

“Many of the sculptures I found represented Nightmare Moon. That lacks of sense, as the palace was destroyed during the battle between the sisters, and abandoned soon after, as the ruins of the old capitol city. Even though the battle was long, longer than a day, no artist would have had enough time to represent Nightmare Moon with such precision. It would have been barely possible, and less taking into account the huge magical energies that crushed and destroyed the city that laid in what now is the Everfree forest. Anyway, the statues did not represent Nightmare Moon in an aggressive position. Her expression was like… peaceful. That’s not the typical representation of a fallen enemy.”

“And that’s all?” Opal asked. Her tone, that was midway between anger and compassion really offended Crimson. With a huge effort to control himself, Crimson decided that the moment of telling her about the library had arrived. He told nothing to Copper about it, as he wouldn’t have believed him, but he was so annoyed by Opal’s attitudes that he wanted to shut her m I couldn’t believe that she underestimated my judgement enough to say that. I would have to tell her about the library…

“I found more, but not exactly using… traditional methods. Do you remember about the magical herbs Zecora gave me when we stopped at her hut? Well, I remembered the effects of those herbs especially from zebra lands. They were smoked by shamans to enhance their perception and the effects of other brews. But the effect on unicorns is completely different. They enhance magic!”

“Wait a moment!” Opal interrupted, glancing at me a sceptic look “You are telling me that when you made your “great” discovery while you were high with zebra herbs! Are you expecting me to take you seriously?!”

“That’s up to you Opal. But wait to hear what I found. My prospecting spell had not been strong enough to find it before, but what I found was marvellous.” She looked at me sceptically.

“Are you sure that the “marvellous” discovery wasn’t a side effect of the herbs?” Crimson bit his lip as he put in a lot of effort to ignore that comment.

“I found a whole library, buried below the ruins of the palace, keeping it safe from the erosion and the uncontrolled climate of the Everfree forest. I was able to teleport inside without seeing my objective, probably another effect of the herbs. The library was enormous. Even the strongest glow of my horn wasn’t able to light the ceiling. The shelves were higher than the columns of the main dancehall, and the walls that were not covered by shelves had enormous frescos. Those frescos where the main cause of my doubts, as they represented Nightmare Moon ruling peacefully over ponies. I can also remember that she was accompanied by a black dragon in almost all the frescos, but I couldn’t relate it to nothing I knew. I spent there what to me seemed days. When I realised that the effect started to fade out, I hurried to pick all the books I could. I feared that without the magical enhancement I would not be able to teleport out. So I packed everything I could and left.”

Crimson wasn’t telling her all the truth. The black covered logbook was in that library, but not in an ordinary shelf. It was floating in a magical field in the exact middle of the library. Crimson knew that book had to be important to be conserved in such a way, and that probably it had the answer he looked for, but he was unable to read it as he had to hide all the books he was able to smuggle inside Canterlot from the ruins to avoid the royal guards and other authorities…

“I was really excited about what I found, but when I returned to the camp I was too late and the other ponies where asleep, so I decided to sleep for a while.”

Crimson’s expression turned dark and distant and he remained silent for a moment.

“Now comes the part of the story where I get these.” He said, as he softly touched his scar and his pierced ear.

“Finally…”

“That same night I woke up sweating. I thought I had heard something so I went outside the tent, only to find the whole camp in alert. All the ponies woke up at the same time, and then… it started. Manticores started falling from the skies. The one that landed first grabbed the pony that was beside me and with a bite it ripped off his head. The blood spilt everywhere making me return to reality, I had to react fast, picking the brew we used to cross manticore territory and the books I had collected from the library. The manticore that had killed the pony took a swipe at me, hitting me in the face. The pain was unbearable, but I had to get inside the tent and get the brew. I dragged my self to the tent. It took me like two seconds to find the bottle with the brew, but they where eternal. When I found the bottle, the manticore pulled the tent off the floor, roaring the most terrifying sound I’ve ever heard. I drank the brew as fast as I could and immediately turned invisible. The manticore just smelled the air and left. Then I remembered the other ponies. Recomposing myself, I stood up and tried to find other survivors to give them the brew, so they could also escape, but it was late, they were all dead… So I just left, ran across the bridge and left…”

Crimson looked back at Opal. She seemed terrified. His whole body shivered at the moment he recalled the pain that the manticore’s pawn caused. He didn’t want to imagine how much could all the other ponies have suffered…

“And that’s all. I arrived back to Canterlot a week later, and told this same story, except for the herbs part and the books I smuggled, to Copper Compass in private. He told me a couple of days later that I would have to retract from my theories or I would be expelled from the academy, so I left. And here I am now. After a couple of weeks in Canterlot fixing some paperwork and speaking to the families of the dead ponies here I am… back home.”

“I’m so sorry Crimson, I did not know…” she said, almost apologising for her previous scepticism.

“You couldn’t have known. It’s up to you to believe me in the historical part, but the manticores attack was a fact. I’m the living proof of that” Crimson touched his half cut ear and the scar that went across his eye, Luckily, just one claw touched him, and the attack hadn’t damaged his eye, but the scar seemed worse than it truly was.

HE looked outside the window. The sun hadn’t rise jet, but the light of dawn already lighted Manehattan, allowing to perceive the silhouettes of buildings and skycrapers as black paintings over a light blue sky.

“It’s almost sunrise… You can sleep in my bedroom Opal; I’ll sleep in the studio. I think I’ve had enough storytelling for today.”

She nodded and headed to Crimson’s bedroom. Her face showed concern, but also condescendence. Crimson disliked it, but realising how tired he was, he decided to let it go. While he headed to the studio he saw the logbook on the top of the pile where he left it before, but he was too tired to read even a single line…