The peace of the night was always ending too quickly. All those silly little mares and stallions rushing about their work paying no attention to the past. Even the little school ponies didn't spare a second thought for what their teachers had to say. Thankfully there are a few that take time out of their lives to learn from the past so as not to make the same mistakes. Usually my only company out here in the royal gardens is the gardener but this evening I had a guest of a different caliber. My old friend was walking these grounds with eyes both wide and filled to the brim. It hurt to see her like this so I decided to do something about it.
Luna was sitting in front of the Starswirl the bearded statue as I quietly approached. I could hear her crying and sobbing out, "Why did it have to be like this? Why did I have to give in? Why..."
I reached out and put my hoof upon her shoulder as I said, "We aren't all gone Lu. I still have your back just like I did 1000 years ago."
A cloud covered the moon as she turned to me. "Vic? Is it really you? How could it be? Oh what does it matter! You're here and you remember me," she put her legs around my neck in a tight embrace which I merrily reciprocated.
The cloud moved out allowing the moon to shine brightly once more. Luna pulled back from me, asking, "Why are you so cold? What..." She trailed off now that she could see me better. Though the masons had done a masterful job, I was still just a block of stone with the memories of Victoria Fyrefly.
I smiled and replied, "Well Luna, the reason I am made of stone is so that I could live long enough to see you again. So I had Waldi animate this statue with my memories in it. Unfortunately he was only able to perform the spell once." Luna looked like some pony had kicked her in the gut. I could not blame her. After nearly 1000 years of this reception, I was used to it and frankly this is how I would have reacted if I hadn't met Diamond Shield during the War for the Crystal Empire.
The moon was already waning and our time was short. I looked Luna in the eye and said, "I know I'm not the same mare you knew a thousand years ago but if you have any questions please feel free to ask me. Unfortunately, I must be going. I can only be off my pedestal and moving for a couple minutes each day or I'll break the spell and we can't have that. I'll see you around Luna." I walked back to the pedestal taking a hold of my flag.
I turned back to Luna, "Oh by the way, Happy Birthday." With that I froze up. I could rest well knowing I had made Luna's day a little better.
"Vic, are you awake in there?" Some pony asked while knocking on my stone skull. They were making my head ring. I must have been off of my pedestal for way too long yesterday. I blinked trying to clear the haze from my eyes while stretching. I blinked a few more times and then looked for my noisy little head knocker.
Luna was sitting in front of my pedestal waiting for me. "Wow, you must have been really tired Vic."
"Well, yea, normally I don't go walking like that. It always puts a huge strain on the spell," I continued to stretch.
"Why don't we just stay here at your pedestal then. I have a couple of questions for you and only a couple minutes to ask them." Luna smiled as she pulled out what looked suspiciously like a notebook.
"I hope I have all of the answers for you." I knelt down so that I wouldn't be standing above my dear friend.
"Well first off, what the hay is a train for and how does it work?" Luna held up a picture of one of those fancy shmancy new locomotives. This was going to be a hard session if this was only her first question.
"Well ponies now a days need to travel farther faster, so they built a machine that would run for them."
"What is a 'machine' and how does it work?"
"Well, " I stopped to think for a couple moments, "a machine is a tool containing one or more parts that require energy to perform a specific action. Locomotives or trains use coal to heat water which steams and pushes the gears causing the train to move faster than a pony can run.”
“Oh, thank you Vic. Now I’ll sleep easier knowing how that machine works.”
“Glad that I could help, Lu.”
I smiled as she hurried away with the sun rising over the mountainside. I must have slept most of the night away. That’s when I heard something behind me. I spun to find a unicorn stallion sitting behind me intently watching. He was a little short for a stallion with a deep blue coat over which he was wearing a black cloak that covered him from the neck down. He also had curly black hair that wrapped underneath a Bowler hat that shaded his eyes so that you could only see their glimmer.
I asked, “Can I help you?”
He responded with a calm and cool tone, “Perhaps you can, perhaps you cannot, either one works fine for me. I just wanted to thank you for helping Luna. She is still adapting to this new world and needs all the support she can get.”
“Your, welcome?” I said not sure what this young stallion was trying to do.
He bowed his head and then turned to walk away. I called after him, “Who are you?”
“I’m nothing but an acquaintance, General," he said before disappearing in a flash leaving only a leather tome where he had stood just moments ago. I reached down lifting the heavy brown leather book to eye level. The title was "Mechanical devices of the 1000th year of the Celestial rule by Professor Twilight Velvet". Luna would probably be back tomorrow night with more questions but for every question she had I would have an answer, at least in a mechanical sense.
The hallway was dark except for a lone window rising high towards the vast ceiling. A cool breeze pushed through the hall rustling the cloak of the halls single occupant. A tall hooded equestrian watching out of the window. A flash of light pronounced the arrival of a second pony. The cloaked pony turned to the Bowler Hat stallion.
"Is she ready?" the figure in the shadows asked.
"It is hard to say, but I have done what I can to help her be ready. I worry about the spell though. It will not last much longer," the Bowler hat stallion said.
"Seek Twilight Velvet and acquire her help in preparing the spell," the cloaked figure commanded.
"As you command," the stallion responded and with a flash he disappeared.
Author's Note
This is the first section of this story and I'm looking for a little bit of Peer review. Thank you.
A gentle breeze tickled the back of my neck. The stars and the moon showered a soft glow from above. The snores of little creatures lulled the senses. Everything was peaceful and quiet as I read the book, "Mechanical devices of the 1000th year of the Celestial rule".
I looked up at the sound of approaching hoofsteps. Luna was walking towards me carrying a set of saddlebags. I closed the book and said, “Lu, how has your night been?”
Luna smiled, “Just ducky. How has your night been, Vic?”
I shrugged, “Kind of boring. So what’s in the bags Lu?”
“I took a trip into the market before raising the moon tonight and found an interesting little figurine or two,” Luna declared as she pulled out 7 or 8 tin pony figures. She placed them upon the edge of my pedestal. Each was a unique creation depicting a pony from every walk of life. The one that caught my eye was a pegasus wearing a flight suit and goggles. I reached out my hoof to lift the little model.
“An interesting little figure but I don’t quite see how it caught your eye,” I told Luna.
“If you turn the tail clockwise you might find out,” Luna’s eyes lit up with a mischievous glow. I raised my eyebrow and then turned my attention to turning the tail clockwise exactly once. I ceased my application of pressure and nearly dropped the tin pony when it started to move on it’s own. This event normally would not surprise me but it was not being moved by magic. Whenever a spell is being cast on an object there is a telltale glow upon the object and although it is possible to dim this glow so that it is nigh unseeable you cannot diminish it entirely.
The little figure flapped it’s wings, completely flipped it’s tail 360 degrees and walked forward four steps before coming to a halt. I looked up at Luna, who was covering her mouth with a hoof, and said grinning, “The next time you pull that stunt on some pony you may want to have them put it down first so that they don’t break these figures. I hear their mechanisms are very delicate.”
Luna quickly wound up her figures and set them loose. Luna put her head on her hoofs watching her little squad of clockworks go on their merry way. She asked me, “How do they work? The mare at the shop said that she didn’t know and my secretary was filling out paperwork or something for me to sign.”
“Well, your highness, there is a spring coil inside here that holds all the tension that you build by turning the tail. When you release the tail the coil begins unwinding turning the gears that shift this clockworks limbs,” I informed Luna in a matter of fact tone.
“Ah, so that’s why they require no magic to function, unlike you Vic. Tell me Vic, why was Waldo Tinkerer only able to perform your animation spell once?” Luna was looking me straight in the eye with a stern glare that glistened with a tear or two at the very edge.
“Luna, there were many ponies who do not believe that I deserved to exist and went to great lengths to destroy me. It was exactly one year after your banishment and Waldi had finally done it. He had spent nearly an entire year and a fortune in attempts but he had given me the Generals personality and memories. Unfortunately, with his success he was discovered by those that had been hunting him. In the ensuing battle Waldi's research went up in flames and he disappeared. Celestia and the EUP (Earth Pony, Unicorn, Pegasi guard) showed up in time to keep the mob under control so that no more damage would be done to the town. Celestia decided that such a spell was too dangerous to have floating around so she and Starswirl destroyed all the evidence that such a spell had ever existed except for me, that is. They were not willing to kill me but requested that I remain within the Royal Gardens indefinitely," I sadly informed Luna.
Luna looked at me and said, "Oh, thank you Vic for telling me all that. If you don't mind I would like to go speak with my sister. Good night Vic."
Luna quickly strode back into the castle. I yawned suddenly, realizing just how tired I was. In fact, I felt more than tired, I felt weak and a little ill. I attempted to rise onto my hind legs so that I could return to my usual stance for trancing but could not rise above a sitting position. I thought as I entered my trance, "What is wrong with me?"
Twilight Velvet removed her spectacles resting them upon her desk. The mound of papers she needed to correct would require the better part of the night. That would leave so little time to sleep and see her beloved Night Light. Perhaps she could pass some of these beastly things off to her teaching assistant or maybe even temporarily deputize a student or two to solve her ever growing pile up. Yes, she would do that tomorrow morning just after Celestia raised the sun to begin the average ponies work day.
She rose from her sitting position, stretched her sore legs and hurried over to the coat rack to collect her jacket, hat and bag, in that order. She turned around, her coat already sliding on to her back when she saw a pony in the window. The reflection showed that he was standing behind her. Her breath began to quicken and her heartbeat grew faster as the rain began to beat upon the window. There was a flash of lightning and the lights went out. There was the boom of thunder and then Professor Velvet opened her eyes. Sitting in front of her desk was a stallion. He had a well developed horn but that was all you could see of him in the dim lighting besides the general shape of his body under the long coat that must drag on the ground when he walks. Bowing ever so slightly, the stallion asked, "Professor Velvet, would you please resume your seat?"
Twilight replied, "I do not take kindly to uninvited guests barging into my office."
"I have been invited at least once into this office Professor, and I am on business of life or death importance, so please have a seat," the stallion was still sitting but his tone now held a hint of urgency.
"Who's life is in jeopardy and how do you know about it?" Twilight asked wondering when she would have invited this person into her office. She had asked many students to enter her office but none were quite like this stallion.
"How much do you know about Waldo Tinkerer and project Diamond Shield?" the stallion asked Twilight using his magic to pull a thin leather bound book from inside his coat revealing a small piece of his leg as he did so. His knee was made of metal. Twilight was now certain that he was not one of her students.
Twilight responded, "I don't recognize either name."
The stallion said, "Well than Ms. Velvet you are going to need to freshen up your ancient equestrian before the Princess arrives." And with that he vanished in a flash of white light.