A Nation Divided, Chapter I: Turbulence
She soared up, up past the clouds, closed her eyes, and rolled back in the air. She began to plummet, bursting through the thick layer of puffy clouds, feeling the cool moisture race across her mane and fur, then flicking off the end of her tail as she rocketed toward the ground. Her eyes snapped open and she somersaulted, kicking off a low cloud to shoot forward across the low skies above Ponyville. There was little activity throughout most of the town, as it was a bit before 6:00 am and most ponies were probably either still asleep or just waking up. Typically Rainbow Dash would be among them, but not today. She loved early morning flights, especially in such familiar skies. Everything always looked different to her in the morning: more calm, peaceful, and serene. It was times like this that really allowed her to think, without so many distractions. The clouds were white and puffy, the birds chirped away freely, and Celestia’s sun cast a warm glow over everything. In short, the sky was beautiful, and Dash loved it. What better way was there to think than while flying, which was more natural to the pegasus than walking?
And she did have much to think about this morning. Unfortunately this flight wasn’t just for the fun of it, she remembered as she scanned the quickly growing crowd below. A large number of ponies were gathering around the stage as the mayor prepared to give an important announcement. Now Dash didn’t typically follow politics or anything, but probably every pony in Equestria knew about this by now. About the princess’s announcement sent to the head of every community just the afternoon before. About the steadily growing unrest among Celestia’s citizens. No, Rainbow Dash wasn’t here to enjoy this lovely morning flight. She was here to scan the crowd with her eagle eyes, and make sure nopony got rowdy. Which was completely absurd. Not that she minded doing it, though. On the contrary, she volunteered to help out yesterday evening when the mayor announced she’d be revealing Princess Celestia’s decision this morning, along with every other community leader in Equestria. What really ruffled Dash’s feathers was that the mayor and police department felt that things could get messy in a hurry depending on how the Princess responded this time. Riots? In the streets of Equestria? In the middle of Ponyville? This was unheard of! And she was determined that it was NOT going to happen. Not in her town.
Dash circled around and swooped low over the crowd, scoping them out. The expressions on the ponies’ faces ranged from terrified, to worried, indifferent, confused, angry, and downright hostile. A few of them even scowled up at her as she passed over their heads. She squinted back, silently daring any one of them to try anything while she was around. When she lifted her head back up she spotted the mayor coming from behind the curtains, with Twilight Sparkle trailing just behind her. The old head of Ponyville solemnly walked up to the podium, the unicorn standing just to her right. Dash’s friend cast a worried look up to the pegasus, which she instead returned with a confident smile. She then flew up a bit more and settled above the middle of the crowd, hovering in place. From this height it was easy to spot all the police ponies mixed in among the other ponies in their blue hats, as well Applejack’s off to one side. The earth pony spotted her and gave a determined nod in her direction, which Dash imitated before turning her attention back to the mayor, who had just cleared her throat. This was it.
“I come to you this morning with an announcement of grave importance,” the mayor projected over the entire crowd with practiced ease. “Now hear me, common ponies and… dissenters alike-”
“Why don’t you call us what we really are!” she was interrupted by a pony near the front, as well as murmurings from the crowd. Dash’s eyes immediately locked onto the pegasus responsible, and she dragged a hoof across her face as she recognized him. She should’ve known he’d cause trouble…
The mayor cleared her throat once more and started over, ignoring the outburst. “Hear me, everypony, as I-”
“No! That’s not good enough!” the bright red, scarlet-maned pegasus yelled while stamping his hoof for emphasis, bolstered by light cheers and agreements from most of the ponies in the crowd. “We have a common name, a common goal…” he carried on, eliciting more and more whooping from the crowd as they got fired up. “…And we WILL be recognized!” he finished, pointing that hoof squarely at the mayor, who was starting to look worried herself.
“Woooooo!” Rainbow Dash could hear from beneath her. “You tell her, Swiftwind!” another chimed. “Go on, call us by name!” yet another one asserted.
This wasn’t good, Rainbow thought to herself. The mayor had barely gotten started and all these ponies had tensed up already. Just what was the deal with them? Why were they so… so… discontent?
“Alright, alright!” the mayor hastily gave in before things could get any worse. “Settle down, please!”
After a few tense moments of whispering and shuffling, the ponies quieted down and were still once more, waiting to hear the fateful news. Rainbow Dash exhaled, realizing she had been holding her breath. It was no wonder all these extra precautions were necessary, seeing how they got riled up so fast over something so little as a name. For the first time since all this started, Dash was beginning to truly worry herself. That Swiftwind… he was always causing trouble, but this was going too far. She steeled herself to the fact that she might have to tackle him at a moment’s notice to make sure nopony got hurt.
“Everypony listen!” the mayor started up again. “Citizens and… Misfits alike.” She paused, looking at Swiftwind in the front, but was not interrupted this time. She continued, “Princess Celestia has heard your pleas and given them due consideration,” she addressed the restless crowd closest to the stage, mainly composed of Misfits. “And… a decision has been reached.”
Rainbow Dash could practically feel the tension in the air, as all of Ponyville awaited the news with bated breath. “In the interests of this land, and for the safety of the Misfit community as a whole, by direct decree of Princess Celestia herself, your request to leave Equestria has hereby been… Denied. Now, if you could all-”
“What? No!” a pony from the crowd yelled. “It can’t be!” screamed another as they all heated up again. “How could she do that!?” a third pony wailed.
At that point Dash couldn’t make out any more of the comments because they all started screaming and yelling simultaneously, their collective fury quickly feeding off of itself as some of them started to jump up and down and wave their hooves in the air. The blue pegasus quickly snapped her head back and forth, watching for the first sign of trouble and keeping an eye on Swiftwind.
“Everyone, please!” a loud, magically enhanced voice roared over the din of the clambering ponies. On looking back up, Dash could see that Twilight had taken the podium. “I know you’re disappointed,” she lowered her volume a bit when she had gotten the crowd’s attention. “But the princess decided that because she truly feels it was the right course of action. She holds nothing but everypony’s best interests at heart, and-”
“How can you say that?” Swiftwind interrupted once again, very loudly. “How dare you stand up there and say that to us, when we know it can’t be true!” he exclaimed, flapping his wings and rising up to the front of the stage to face Twilight. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash had scooped up a small cloud, and was crouching on it, poised to take off like a bullet and tackle that knucklehead in the side if she needed to.
Twilight was taken aback by the sudden outburst, but she stood her ground against the red-colored pegasus. “What do you mean?” she demanded back. “The princess has always been there for us when we needed her,” she said in utmost confidence.
“Oh, is that so?” Swiftwind snapped back. “Then tell me, where was she when Nightmare Moon invaded?” he yelled, amid raucous applause.
“I…” Twilight began, then faltered.
Swiftwind seized the opportunity and continued, “And where was she when Discord attacked Ponyville?”
“She was-” Twilight began, but this time was cut short.
“I’ll tell you where she was!” Swiftwind roared, turning his back on Twilight to address the crowd instead. “She was holed up in her castle like a coward!” he asserted, the other ponies cheering him on. “While she was safe and sound, she cruelly left us to our fates. She abandoned us!”
Where before there was cheering, now there were screams of approval coming from the majority of the assembled ponies. This whole situation was getting worse and worse by the second. If Swiftwind didn’t cool it, Dash would have to take him down before things got out of control and somepony did something stupid.
“Now wait just a minute!” Twilight stomped a hoof and spoke up herself, having had enough of that pegasus. “Who do you think you are, accusing the princess of all that?”
“It’s not just me,” he turned in the air and said to her before flapping backward to hover over the crowd. “It’s all of us!” he said, dramatically raising his hooves as the onlookers kept up their whooping. “Every single pony who’s been miserable here. Every single pony who’s tired of Celestia, and knows she’s no longer fit to rule. Every single pony, who asked to leave peacefully, and was just shut down today! Every single pony that feels they don’t belong here, and wants more out of their lives than this. Every, single, Misfit!” he finished at the top of lungs, the group of them going bonkers in approval beneath him.
Twilight tried to talk again, but Dash couldn’t hear her at all over all the commotion. She wanted to shut Swiftwind up now, but nopony had done anything other than yell yet, so all she could do was sit there and wait, every muscle in her body tense as she waited and hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
“Come, my fellows!” Swiftwind’s voice could barely be heard over the ruckus. “If Celestia won’t let us go quietly, then we’ll just have to force our way out-” Swiftwind’s sentence was suddenly cut short as Dash plowed into him from the side, knocking the breath right out of him before the two pegasi hit the ground with a thud. When his vision focused again, all he could see was Rainbow Dash standing over him, a look of fury on her face as she pinned him to the ground.
“Are you out of your mind, Swiftwind?” she demanded, breathing heavily as her nostrils flared. “What in the hay do you think you’re doing?”
The red pegasus squinted at his blue adversary, the two of them oblivious to the chaos around them as the police ponies tried to calm the horde of Misfits before any more physical contact was made. “Standing up for what we believe in,” he replied calmly, his golden eyes locked onto hers. “Exactly what you would do,” he finished.
“What I would-” Dash started to repeat in surprise, but was interrupted by the police pony pulling her off of Swiftwind.
“Thanks. We’ll take it from here,” he said curtly before walking over to Swiftwind.
“Uh, sure, no problem,” Dash responded, still eyeing the other pegasus as he was escorted away by the police ponies.
After a few steps, he turned around. “You know,” he said to Dash, that look of fierce determination still glowing in his eyes. “Out of all the other ponies in this town, I figured you’d be the one to understand us best, Rainbow Dash.” And with that he left, allowing himself to be taken to the station.
Dash stood there and watched him go, her head cocked a bit as she contemplated his words. It was true, she would always fight for her friends and what she believed in. There was no doubt about that. But seeing this pony in action made her wonder, just how far would she be willing to go? Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of hoof-steps coming from either side of her as Twilight and Applejack trotted up to her, one looking sullen, the other aggravated. Dash turned around to meet them and saw that it looked like things were starting to settle down, as the crowd of Misfits and other ponies was beginning to disperse.
“Nice job takin’ him down, Rainbow,” Applejack said. “Ah have a feelin’ things would’a gotten real ugly otherwise,” she said flatly.
“Yeah, that Swiftwind has always been a trouble-maker,” Dash responded.
“You know him?” Twilight asked.
“Yup, I met him at flight school a long time ago. We were actually pretty good friends for a little while. He was one of the only ones that never messed with me,” Dash remembered.
“Do you know why he seems to hate the princess so much?”
“I haven’t got a clue. I was gonna ask you that, Twilight.”
“Ah reckon they’re all just plumb crazy,” Applejack added. “Tryin’ to raise such a big fuss right in the middle o’ town like that.”
“It’s probably happening all over Equestria,” Twilight said. “I hope no fights actually broke out anywhere,” she finished with worry apparent in her voice.
“Aw, don’t you fret none, Sugarcube,” Applejack assured her. “Ah’m sure the princess’ll get this mess straightened out soon enough.”
“I certainly hope so, Applejack,” Twilight responded. “But for now, I guess there’s no need to let all this commotion ruin a perfectly good day, right?”
“I heard that!” Rainbow Dash piped up, suddenly taking off from the ground.
“Goin’ somewhere?’ Applejack asked.
“Eh,” she shrugged. “Just gonna go blow off some steam I guess. Catch you girls later!” she said before she took off, up and away toward the other end of Ponyville.
“Well, ah s’pose ah best be gettin’ off too,” Applejack said as they watched Dash fly away. “Promised Fluttershy ah’d help her fix up that shed this afternoon.”
Twilight nodded. “I’ll see you later then. Tell Fluttershy ‘hi’ for me,” she said.
“Can do, Twilight!” Applejack said as she began trotting off toward their friend’s cottage.
Twilight waved goodbye, then began walking in a different direction. She had been reluctant to schedule anything today until later in the evening, as she wasn’t sure how long the announcement and anything that might happen afterward would take. It was brief, however, and thankfully not much had gone on afterward before everypony dispersed and went home. This meant that she suddenly had a nice chunk of free time at her disposal, quite a rare occurrence for the highly organized and pragmatic unicorn. Given the way things actually turned out this morning, Twilight knew just what to do with her time. Numerous questions raced through her mind as she walked toward the Ponyville police station, where hopefully the pegasus with the answers would be willing to speak to her.
~~~
Dash flew in a lazy arc, easily soaring through the air while she vaguely watched the ponies in the streets below. She wasn’t paying much attention to what she saw however, as her mind was still on the last thing Swiftwind said to her before he was taken away. She figured the two of them were probably a bit similar, but at the same time felt that the red pegasus was probably getting at something deeper than that, whatever it may be. Oh well. It was probably nothing, she figured as she did a barrel roll or two to liven things up. Dash didn’t really have a destination in mind when she took off, which was pretty typical. But, it just felt good to go. To be moving, flying, if she could help it, toward… something. Always advancing. Where to didn‘t matter, so long as she kept going forward.
And go she did, all the way to the eastern end of Ponyville, where a familiar structure stood among the last few houses and a path out of town. Steelhoof Gym; she hadn’t been here in a while. Maybe that was where she was headed. Well, she had some time to kill, so that was where she was headed now, Dash decided as she landed with a thump in the doorway. She pushed the glass open with a hoof and trotted right on inside. Immediately the smell of sweat and cheap protein shakes attacked her nose. At first she wrinkled it at the musty scent, but the familiarity of it caused it to disappear in a matter of seconds. Normally Rainbow Dash liked to do her serious work outs alone, outside in the open most of the time. But, when it was just casual exercise, she tended to prefer working out in the presence of other ponies doing the same. It didn’t matter if she knew them or not. It was just the atmosphere of a gym, that sense of striving, of wanting to improve, so thick in the air she could almost taste it. It made her want to be a part of it.
There were only a few ponies in here at the moment, which suited Dash just fine. Despite her like of the place, packed gyms were just unpleasant and uncomfortable.
“Well well, if it isn’t Rainbow Dash!” the voice of the pony behind a counter boomed.
“Heya, Flat Weight,” Dash responded as she strode in.
“Haven’t seen you in a while,” the massive, grey earth pony said. “Where ya’ been, huh?”
“Aw, you know,” she responded with a nonchalant wave of her hoof. “Around,” she finished with a smirk.
“Yeah, well, you better not be slackin’!” he said before returning his attention to the magazine on his counter.
“Pff, as if,” she scoffed as she made her way toward the large punching bags in the back. She wasn’t particularly annoyed anymore, but she had gotten pretty worked up earlier. Dash figured it’d be a good idea to relieve some of that built up tension. There was only one other pony in this corner of the gym, a turquoise-furred male with a bright blue, unkempt mane and tail. He was taking up most of the space back there even though he was a bit smaller than she was, as it looked like he was doing some kind of weird dance. As Dash got closer she saw him notice her, but he kept sliding and shuffling around anyway, occasionally jutting a hoof or two out in random directions. He didn’t seem to mind, so Dash just walked up to a punching bag that was a bit out of his way and made herself comfortable.
She took a moment to steady her breathing, and then began hopping around a bit to psyche herself up. Her gaze was now focused solely on the heavy bag in front of her as she contemplated a series of attacks. When she was ready, Dash jumped forward and stood on her hind legs, giving the bag two quick jabs followed by a straight before she turned around gave it a powerful kick with a back hoof. The bag swung away, then back, and she responded with a shoulder bash, stopping the bag and knocking it away a second time. Dash heard some thuds coming from her side, and she stepped out of the way of the swinging bag to glance over. The blue-maned earth pony had started hitting the bag next to hers, whacking it over and again with a series of quick, light strikes before spinning around and nailing it with the back of a hoof, sending the heavy bag sailing. He stepped out of the way of its return, and shot a sideways grin at Dash.
Rainbow Dash knew that look well, and she returned it with a slight narrowing of the eyes. She was being challenged. The pegasus stepped back, then leapt toward the bag with a flying kick, sending it back a little ways. Instead of waiting for it to return, Dash landed and lunged toward it again, giving it a fierce head ram followed by an uppercut. She used the motion to spin around backward and stand on her front hooves, finally giving the bag a powerful double buck that sent it into the wall in front of her. She hopped out of the way again and raised a brow at the other pony, who was now smiling even larger than before. They locked eyes for about a second, and Dash could plainly see the same competitive fire in his blue eyes that was probably shining in her own.
Dash watched as the earth pony stood close to the front of the bag and closed his eyes. He just stood there for a moment, then slowly crouched low to the ground. A second later Dash saw his eyes snap open as he jumped toward the bag and started a spin, hitting it with the back of his left front hoof. He carried through with the motion, twisting rapidly in the air and hitting the bag with his right elbow, then kicking it with his back left hoof. Dash’s eyes widened as she watched the still airborne pony keep spinning and rising with the bag, coming back around and hitting it with the back of his front left hoof again before finishing with a wide, sweeping kick of his back right hoof. The bag just barely missed hitting the wall, and Dash was just about to grin in victory, but the earth pony wasn’t quite done yet. He landed and crouched low once more while the bag started its return swing. He stood on his back hooves and quickly swung his front ones over his head and behind him, then rapidly thrust them both forward when the bag was in range. Both his front hooves collided with the bag at the same time, sending it flying back and crashing into the wall, both making a loud thunk and shaking the place a little.
“HEY!” came an agitated voice from the front of the gym, causing the two ponies to wince in surprise. “Watch it back there, you hear?” Flat Weight called to them.
“Sorry boss!” the male spoke up before Dash could. “My fault!”
“I figured as much,” the grey pony huffed. “Just keep it down, would ya?”
“Yeah, yeah,” he responded with a roll of his eyes before glancing at Dash.
“Alright, Mister Show-off,” she chuckled as she trotted over. “That was pretty impressive, I’ll give you that,” she admitted.
“Thanks!” he said with a big grin on his face. “I do a lot of training.”
“I can tell,” Dash said as she sized him up. Up close she could easily tell the guy was smaller than her, but he still looked really fit and well-muscled all the same, not to mention flexible if that earlier display was any indication. “So you work here, huh?” she asked.
“Yep, ol’ Flathead usually keeps me pretty busy.”
“That’s strange,” Dash said as she sat down. “I used to come here all the time, but I’ve never seen you around before.”
“Well, that’s because I only started here a couple months ago,” he responded, sitting down as well.
“Oh. Well I guess that makes sense,” Dash said. “Say, what’s your name, anyway?” she asked.
“Call me CD,” the turquoise pony answered, pointing a hoof at himself. “And you must be Rainbow Dash,” he said.
“The one and only!” Dash said as she swelled with pride. “I guess you’ve heard about me, huh?”
“Of course I have!” CD responded enthusiastically. “Almost everyone in town is calling you the best flier in Equestria.”
“Well, I’d hate to brag,” she said as she flipped her mane a little. “But they might just be right,” she finished with a big grin.
“No doubt,” he responded with a laugh.
“You’ve got some smooth moves yourself, ya know. That last thing you did was pretty wicked.”
“You really think so?” he asked, looking away and scratching his head.
“Totally!” Dash insisted. “I’m no martial artist, but I sure wouldn’t mind learning how to do something like that. Guessing you are, though,” she said, pointing an appraising hoof in CD’s direction.
“Yep, I’ve been doing it since I was just a colt. Hence this here,” he said, getting up and turning slightly so she could see his cutie mark properly. It looked like three circles, one on the outside, one inside the first, and another inside that one, all made up of lines that broke in a bunch of different places. Dash couldn’t really tell what it was supposed to be, but obviously CD knew what it was so she just left the issue alone.
“Well, if you’re such an expert, then maybe you could show me a thing or two?” she asked.
“I’d love to!” he said excitedly. “You know, you’re the first pony to actually take interest in what I do.”
“Really?” Dash asked. “Why’s that?”
“Well,” he said, sitting back down again. “Most folks just assume I’m doing a silly dance or something,” he said flatly.
“Oh, is that so?” Dash asked a bit sheepishly. She didn’t have the heart to tell him that was what she thought at first, too.
“Yeah. The worst ones go so far as laughing in my face, or making fun of me for it because of my name.”
“Your name?” she asked curiously. “What’s wrong with ‘CD’?
“Actually…” he started, his ears beginning to droop. “That’s just an abbreviation. I hate my real name, so I just ask everypony to call me ‘CD’ instead,” he answered. “Most of them don’t,” he sighed.
“Well, that’s pretty lame of them,” Dash said. “You seem like a pretty cool kind of guy, and I think ‘CD’ suits you, so I’ll stick with that,” she decided.
“Thanks,” he said, the smile returning to his face. “You know Rainbow Dash, you’re even more awesome than they say you are.”
“Yeah,” she said, lifting her head high and putting her front hooves behind it. “I am,” she agreed.
~~~
It didn’t take Twilight long to reach Ponyville’s police station, as it was pretty near the center of town as well as the stage. Unlike most of the structures in town, being made of wood or brick and constructed with more curves in mind, the police station was a large, flat-topped gray building made mainly of stone. She heard it was supposed to look intimidating to help deter crime. Whether that was true or not she didn’t know, but it sure made her feel more than a little apprehensive walking up to it and peeking inside by herself.
She couldn’t see much through the thick glass, but she was able to make out the shape of a large stallion sitting behind a desk. As quietly as she could, Twilight nudged the door open and stepped inside. Immediately she noticed it was rather chilly, though it wasn’t quite as gray inside as it was outside, as there was a thin carpet on the floor and a small number of decorations and plants scattered about the front office. Behind the desk sat Lone Star, Ponyville’s one and only sheriff. The large, sandy-furred earth pony was busy scribbling away at a paper on his desk, and hadn’t missed a step when Twilight entered.
The unicorn slowly walked up to the desk, keeping her eyes on the mustached law enforcement officer as his eyes darted back and forth over whatever it was he was so intent on writing. She waited there for a moment, but he never once looked up from his work. “Um, excuse me,” Twilight finally whispered.
“Hm?” the large stallion grunted and looked up with a frown. “Oh, Miss Sparkle,” his expression softened as he recognized the purple unicorn. “Trouble?” he asked in a more serious tone.
“Thankfully no,” she responded with a bit of a smile at the larger pony’s recognition. “I just came to ask if the pegasus named Swiftwind was still here.”
“Aye, he’s here alright,” the sheriff said gruffly. “Again,” he added dryly.
Twilight raised a brow, her curiosity piqued already. “Again?” she repeated, hoping for a bit of elaboration.
“Yep, he’s been a pretty frequent stayer lately. Nearly had to lock him up a few times, actually.”
“He hasn’t been imprisoned because of this morning, has he?” Twilight asked.
“No, no,” he quickly assured her. “He’s only being detained for a couple hours. But according to these reports,” he said, nodding at the papers strewn across his desk, “If your friend had waited much longer before taking the matter into her own hooves we might’ve been forced to arrest him for inciting a riot. Can you imagine?” he finished with a dismayed shake of his head.
“I’ve been trying not to,” Twilight admitted. “I wonder how many other ponies there are like him out there…”
“You know him?” Lone Star asked.
“Well, we had our first…” she began, but had to consider the next word carefully. “…encounter… this morning,” she answered.
Lone Star chuckled, apparently having a pretty good idea what she was getting at.
“If he’s here, would it be alright if I spoke to him for a little while?” Twilight asked, just now getting to the reason she came here in the first place.
“Sure thing. He’s right back here,” the earth pony said before he got up and motioned Twilight to follow. The two walked to a side of the room, then down a short hallway toward the holding cells. On this side, they consisted of a row of thick glass windows above a countertop with a few little holes in them and a slit along the bottom, each with a cushion in front for visitors to sit on. Lone Star stopped at the very first one and lightly rapped his hoof on the glass. “Swiftwind! You have a visitor,” he called, prompting the red pegasus from earlier to slowly trot up to the glass. “Be nice,” the sheriff warned sternly, prompting a scoff and roll of the eyes from the detainee. The earth pony then turned to Twilight. “I’ll be just around the corner. Holler if you need me.”
“Thanks. I will,” she responded.
Lone Star nodded, and walked back to his desk.
When he was gone, the unicorn turned her gaze to the pegasus behind the glass. He was sitting in front of the window, looking right back at her with an even expression, waiting for her to say something. He was about average-sized for a male pegasus, meaning he was a bit bigger and taller than the unicorn, and more muscular as well. Twilight sat down herself, and decided to get to talking right away before things got too awkward or she lost her nerve.
“Hello,” she started softly, testing the waters.
Swiftwind merely nodded slightly in return.
“Um,” she started, beginning to falter already. “You may remember me from this morning…”
“Twilight Sparkle,” the red pony said without warning. “Celestia’s protégé,” he finished, in a voice higher pitched than Twilight had come to expect and devoid of any of the furor he had possessed earlier in the day.
Up close, she could tell this colt was about the same age as herself, if not younger, which came as a bit of a surprise. Nevertheless, Twilight’s expression narrowed just a bit at the informal use of her mentor’s name, but she let it pass. “Yes,” she simply affirmed. “I’ve heard your name is Swiftwind?”
“It is,” he answered. “I assume you have questions,” he stated rather than asked.
“Many questions, if you’d be willing to answer them.”
“Then ask away. Just a warning, though. You won’t understand the answers I give you.”
“What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked, beginning to get annoyed with this pegasus already.
“Exactly what I said,” Swiftwind stated.
“Well, could you elaborate a little?” the unicorn asked, rolling her hoof for emphasis.
He lowered his head and sighed in response. “Being who you are, Twilight Sparkle, it will be impossible for you to truly understand the angle my fellows and I are coming from,” he began in a tone that suggested he’d said this many times before. “We could chat all day long if you like, but by the end of it you’ll still think I’m full of horse-apples.”
“I would appreciate it…” Twilight started, the walls of her patience finally cracked as her ears started to lower, “…if you didn’t presume to know how I would feel about a given matter before we even discuss it, or that I don’t possess the necessary intellectual capacity to grasp the concept of another pony’s viewpoint that significantly deviates from my own,” she finished with a glare.
For the first time since this conversation began, Swiftwind’s expression changed as his eyes widened a bit in surprise at the purple unicorn’s reaction. Evidently, he had struck a nerve. “I didn’t mean-” he began, but was cut off by Twilight.
“Furthermore…” she resumed, but stopped herself mid-thought and closed her mouth. Losing her temper wasn’t going to get her anywhere, she reasoned as an awkward silence resonated for a moment between the two ponies. “Look,” she started up again, though in a much less harsh tone. “Maybe it would just be best if we started over?” she offered, rubbing a hoof across her face to help clear her head for a moment.
“Agreed,” Swiftwind nodded in approval.
“Okay then,” Twilight said before taking a deep breath. “Swiftwind.”
He perked his head up, signaling that she had his full attention.
“May I ask you a few questions that came to mind during the aftermath of this morning’s announcement?” she asked, forcibly keeping her tone even.
“Please do,” he responded politely. “I’ll answer them to the best of my ability.”
“Thank you,” she returned. “First of all, why do you and the other Misfits hate the princess so much?” she finally asked the question that had been burning in the back of her mind all morning.
“We are ruled by two princesses, you know,” he said. “But to answer your question,” he raised a hoof and picked up before Twilight could interject, “I certainly can’t speak for all of us, nor can I say I’m very fond of the way she rules, but I personally don’t hate Celestia.”
“The way you spoke this morning suggested otherwise,” she prodded, choosing to ignore his subtle disrespect of the princess for the second time.
“I admit that some of the things I said weren’t the entire truth,” he conceded, prompting a rather satisfied look from Twilight. “But,” he continued, “the fact remains that I didn’t say anything I feel was untrue.”
“Swiftwind, I was there during all those events you mentioned,” she said. “Actually, I was right in the middle of them and I can tell you that the princess-”
“We know,” he interrupted. “We all know of your involvement. Everypony does. And I recognize the possibility of Celestia being a driving force behind your success.”
“Then why?” Twilight asked, starting to get a bit excited again. “Why would you say all those things about the princess if you don’t really believe them?”
“It was a means to an end, Twilight,” he answered, his expression hardening once more.
“To what end?” she nearly shouted. “Are you trying to promote ideas of rebellion and violence?” she asked, her front hooves now up on the counter and her face very close to the glass. “Of ponies fighting and hurting each other in the streets? Is that what you want!?”
“Celestia needs to see that we’re serious,” he began. “That we’re not backing down, and that we won’t take ‘no’ for an answer!” he said, raising his own voice as well as fluttering above the ground to remain eye-level with Twilight. “And if the path of violence and rebellion is the one we have to walk to achieve our ideal, then so be it!” he yelled, mere inches away from Twilight’s face on the other side of the glass.
For a full twenty seconds, the two ponies refused to budge, glaring with all their might into the other’s face, until the unicorn broke the silence. “We’ve nothing more to discuss here,” she said with as much contempt as she could muster, stepping down and away from the glass.
“No, I suppose we don’t,” Swiftwind responded as she began to walk away. “I’m glad I met you, Twilight Sparkle,” he said, prompting the purple pony to stop and look back. “I can’t help but feel we’ll be seeing a lot of each other in the near future.”
“Yes, I think you’re absolutely right,” Twilight said as she trotted away. She headed back down the hallway, into the office, and out of the station without saying another word, her head down and brow furrowed in thought. The unicorn didn’t even hear Lone Star wishing her “good day” as she went out the door.
A Nation Divided, Chapter II: Down to Earth
Unlike mortal ponies, sleep was not a necessity for alicorns. It was a choice, and perhaps a luxury. One which Princess Luna had not really been able to enjoy for the past week at least, and one that she knew her elder sister hadn’t partaken of in months. The alicorn of the night rolled over in her silk sheets and tried in vain to get comfortable. It was late in the afternoon, and in a few hours’ time it would be her turn to oversee the daily operation of the kingdom as the sun set and she raised the moon. Or, nightly, more accurately. The ponies of Equestria were only a little bit more active during the night than she remembered compared to one thousand years ago, but they usually had at least enough nighttime woes and needs to keep her busy for a few hours before she went about her own business.
Finally admitting the futility of the endeavor to herself, the sheets covering her large bed were covered in a deep navy blue glow as they slid away from the princess and she stepped down onto the plush, carpeted floor. A second later, and the sheets were replaced, tucked back in tightly as if the bed had never been disturbed. Luna stepped into the four glass shoes that rested by her bed, and slowly walked past her desk. Resting on top were several books written while she was away. All of them were complex manuscripts delving into the depths of magical theory, a topic she’d been most keen on researching soon after she returned. Dominating the space in the center and still laying open was an incredibly large tome with an equally weighty title, Alfred Oatstein’s Tranquility & Dissonance: Fundaments and Nuances of the Magicks of Harmony and Chaos. She briefly considered resuming her study of the massive book, but decided to leave it where it was. After all she only had a couple of hours left before she must perform her royal duties, and she doubted anypony would miss the tome anyway.
The princess instead continued over to the nearby vanity where the rest of her regalia awaited her. Her horn glowed once more, and the necklace and tiara that previously lay there were lifted into the air before coming to rest on her neck and head. She briefly glanced into the mirror. Her indigo coat and cornflower blue mane were pristine as ever, though the latter looked a tad mussed due to her latest attempt at sleep. No matter. In a moment’s time it would be replaced with the ever-flowing, wispy stream of stars that her subjects were familiar with. With but a second’s concentration, it was so, as well as her body size increasing and her coat darkening to her favorite shade of midnight blue as she finished donning her more regal appearance.
Luna headed right for the door that marked the exit to her bed-chamber, opened it with magic, and stepped out into the circular room beyond. All of Noctus Tower, the second tallest spire of the palace, was dedicated to her and the glory of the night. There was plush, blue carpeting throughout, the walls and columns painted dark and rich shades of blue and violet. Hovering in the air above head-level along those walls were numerous small magical orbs of light, each giving off a soft, pure white glow. Various murals were always on display throughout the tower, featuring grand images of the cosmos, nighttime landscapes, and some of Luna herself. The ceilings above were heavily enchanted, showing a magnified, real-time view of the night sky over the palace. Even then, there were at least two large balconies on every floor, so that ponies may step out and view the majesty of the heavens first-hand if they felt so inclined.
The princess smiled to herself as she ambled across the room at a leisurely pace, spending a moment or two to “take in” the elaborate décor. The whole palace was grand indeed, but she unashamedly felt that her Noctus Tower was the grandest of all. It was not as massive or physically impressive as Solus Tower from the outside, but more sleek, and elegant. Inside it was not as wide open, but still invitingly spacious, and yet felt comfortably snug at the same time. The dark tones and cooler hues used in the decoration throughout often relaxed and put her at ease, now being no exception. The alicorn of the night was very fond of her tower, in no small part due to the many additions and renovations her sister made to it over Luna’s thousand-year absence. Celestia knew her younger sister’s tastes as intimately and accurately as her own, and had kept the tower impeccable for her, as if expecting Luna’s return after every passing day. She closed her eyes as she happily recalled the first time she set hoof in it after coming back, bouncing around like a filly at a birthday party while her elder sister showed her around, a warm, genuine smile dominating Celestia’s face as they explored the tower together. Luna remembered, as the two of them later took wing in the night together, and simply flew. Up, up, and further still, until their spirits left their bodies behind and they were “as one among the stars” once more, and all was forgiven between them.
Princess Luna reopened her eyes and gazed at the Ancient Equestrian words embroidered in gold on the bottom of the national flag that draped the wall: Uj Edo Umedw Kxo Jkuhj. The citizens merely considered the archaic, oft-forgotten tagline to their flag an abstractly poetic way of saying “together in Harmony,” or some other phrase to that effect. Only the royal sisters were aware of the true, literal meaning behind the phrase, and how deep their connection truly ran as the alicorns of day and night. It may not always be evident, what with the two of them being literally as different as the night and day, but theirs was a bond that not even one thousand years of mutual isolation, heartache, and desolation could ever begin to tarnish. And so the sisters decided, many eons ago, to adorn the flag of their kingdom with the phrase, representing the astral state of being that only they two were able to reach and to share, together.
The princess turned her gaze from the banner and continued to the opposite side of the room, coming to another stop at the large double doors. This floor, at the very top of Noctus Tower, was her private sanctuary. In addition to the bed-chamber, on it was most everything she needed for any personal endeavor she’d wish to take, such as a research lab packed with various magi-tech equipment, a rather large personal collection of literature in the study, a fully-stocked kitchen, and other such niche rooms for her to use at her leisure. For a while after Luna had returned she’d been known to spend hours and even days holed up in the top of her tower, but recently she’d been trying to spend more time out, even if it was just in other parts of the palace. As such, she magicked the doors open and began the long descent down the spiral staircase. Of course it would be much quicker to simply teleport to her destination, but Luna was in no hurry. Several floors down she left Noctus Tower and stepped into the palace proper, the bright ivory, marble and gold colors replacing the deep blues and purples.
At length she meandered her way to the ground floor of the palace, not passing a single pony on the way, save for several of the Royal Guard of course. The entrance chamber leading to the throne room lay ahead of her, but she stopped in her tracks at the sound of several hoof steps coming from up ahead, and a subtle, tingly feeling in her horn. Voices were added to the mix as the sounds grew louder, and rather agitated ones judging by the tone. A moment later and three ponies appeared, so engrossed in their heated conversation that they failed to notice Luna emerging from the corridor off to their side. Curious. The last session of Day Court should have ended at least an hour ago, yet it seemed that it had only just ended. As the trio walked by, the tingle in Luna’s horn intensified enough to catch her notice, as she could feel a strange sort of energy seeming to radiate from them. At this point the alicorn had a fairly good idea which particular group those ponies had just represented in court this afternoon. However, if they were just leaving, that meant she could catch up with her sister and have a suddenly much-needed talk with her.
~~
Of the many cavernous chambers that made up the sections of the interior of the Royal Palace, the largest by far would have to be those of the Canterlot Archives. As the most complete repository of knowledge in all of Equestria, naturally there were hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of books, tomes, scrolls, and every other manner of hoof-written work categorized and stored within. Despite the Archives being, in essence, little more than an enormous library, its chambers were usually filled with activity and the animated voices of numerous scholars, each one eager to play their role in the grand quest of advancing equine society. At this hour, however, the daily hustle and bustle of academic discourse had long since waned as the moon just began its graceful ascent into the night sky. There was scarcely a sound to be heard throughout the many wings of the Archives, as the only ponies left around were those so deep into their individual studies that they either failed to realize or didn’t care about the time, and a few of the royal guard patrolling here and there.
The quiet serenity of the Archives was only disturbed in a far-off corner of the Higher Magical Theory wing, by a tan-coated earth pony with a spiky brown mane balanced precariously on a ladder. The ladder, many stories tall to allow such bold ponies with neither wings nor magic to reach the highest shelves, was slowly rolling parallel to the shelf as the bespectacled earth pony stared pointedly at the cover of each book in his path, one hoof outstretched as he read the first word of each title aloud.
“Transcendental… Trangrams… Trannel… Should be riiiight-” he said before his hoof reached a sizable gap in the line of books on the shelf. “Oh, darn it all!” he said in dismay, his outstretched hoof lightly pounding the empty space between the books. “Now who’s gone and taken it this time?” he asked no one in particular. “Ah well. I suppose I’ll just have to do without it for a bit, then,” he resigned, lunging to grab two more relevant books that were within his reach. “Incoming!” he called, a second before he haphazardly chucked them backward over his head.
The two books freefell for a couple of seconds, and instead of hitting the polished floor below they simply stopped and hovered in the air a few feet from the ground. They were caught in a light blue field of magic, and floated over to the unicorn responsible so she could read the titles before placing them gently on the neat stack on the floor next to her. With that finished, the light green unicorn took a few steps back to allow room for the earth pony, who was now sliding haphazardly back down the ladder. He jumped down when he reached the bottom, and immediately began inspecting the stack of books, easily taller than both the ponies present.
“You know this would go much quicker if you’d just tell me what you were up to,” the mare remarked.
“All in due time,” he replied.
“Well have we at least got everything, Doctor?” she asked as she stepped over to the base of the ladder.
“Hang on…” the earth pony replied, still examining the stack of books before them with intense focus. Upon reaching the one at the bottom, he turned to face his assistant. “Almost,” he answered. “We have every book we should need,” he said with a nod. “Except for just one. Possibly the most important one, of course,” he finished dryly.
The unicorn glanced back at the pile of books, and noted the absence rather quickly. “Somepony’s borrowed Oatstein’s monstrous tome again, then?” she asked, pressing a hoof to the rune transcribed to the bottom of the ladder, causing the arcane symbol to glow with magic at her touch and light up a few others in a quick sequence.
“Looks that way,” the Doctor responded with a frown, beginning to pick the books up one by one and drop them into his saddlebags, embroidered with his golden hourglass cutie mark. “I just don’t understand it, Selena,” he said with a shake of his head. “This is the blasted Canterlot Archive, for crying out loud! How can we not have more than one copy of that book?” he nearly shouted, stomping a hoof on the marble floor.
The unicorn spared a moment to watch the ladder automagically collapse down on itself, then roll away of its own accord along a pre-set path. “Maybe because the Chief Archivist is always too wrapped up in ‘independent research’ to do his job properly?” she turned around and responded, punctuating the phrase with mocking air quotes.
“Yes, well-” the Doctor flustered, “It’s all very very important, earth-shattering research. For the greater good of Equestria and all that. Which you know that better than anypony.”
“Yes, yes,” Selena agreed with a soft laugh, “You’re going to save the kingdom, one random soil sample at a time.”
“You bet your horn I am,” he said, slipping the heavy saddlebags over his back. “Checking the magical balance in all that dirt is far more important than making sure the Archive is up to snuff at the moment. And besides,” he added with a smirk, “you’re my assistant, aren’t you? Why haven’t you taken care of that yet, hm?” he asked, pointing an accusatory hoof in the mare’s direction.
“Oh, come off it. I can’t very well do much archiving when I’m at your beck and call constantly, now can I?” she quickly countered.
“Quite right, there,” he conceded, raising a hoof to his chin in sudden thought. “Perhaps it’s time I got another assistant…”
“Wha… Really?” Selena stammered, caught off guard. “You mean it?” she asked excitedly.
“No,” the Doctor said flatly, eliciting a stare from his companion. “Two’s a party, but three’s a crowd, as they say.”
The unicorn merely rolled her eyes in response.
“That would never work out anyway, considering you’re really the only pony around who can keep up with me in the first place!” he added.
“Now you’re just flattering me,” she said, trying to keep the grin that sprouted on her face from showing by turning away and levitating the remaining books into her own saddlebags. “You must want something.”
“Who? Me?” he asked, pointing an incredulous hoof at himself. “Nooooooo, perish the thought!”
“Then why aren’t we on the way to the labs yet?” she asked, well used to this game they played by now.
“Because I’m waiting for you to teleport us?” he more asked, rather than said. “Please?” he added.
“I knew it,” she said with a sigh. “You know I hate teleporting. You’re awful lucky you’re you, you know that, Doctor?” she mumbled, building up enough magic in her horn to send them and the books into the adjacent section of the palace.
“Yes, I suppose I am… quite the lucky fellow…” he said quietly to himself before the two disappeared in a flash of light blue magic.
~~
Luna turned into the entrance chamber and strode through the still open doors into the throne room, where she was greeted not with her sister’s smile, but instead a brilliant flash of white light that lasted all of a second before winking out. The princess’s eyes widened in surprise, as it was a rare occurrence for her sister to teleport. She, much like herself, preferred to walk about the palace, or to use her wings or a carriage when traveling long distances outside it. She had said it was best to remain as visible to the public as possible, a point that Luna fully agreed with. As such, the younger sister felt compelled to investigate, out of equal parts curiosity and concern for Celestia’s well-being. She closed her eyes and softly ignited her horn. When she opened them, they glowed with the same navy blue aura, the tracer spell allowing her to see the subtle ripples in space caused by recent teleportation and follow their path. Judging from the direction and steep upward angle, it looked like she headed… to her bed-chamber?
The midnight blue alicorn teleported herself, but instead of following the golden afterglow left in her sister’s wake, her destination was a ways outside the palace. She spread her wings and flapped to catch herself, hovering in the air above the palace and studying the trail of distortion further. Sure enough, it led right to the top of Solus Tower, and her sister’s room. Luna released the tracer spell and flew up to the top of the tower, coming to rest noiselessly on Celestia’s balcony. The large windows were closed at the moment but the curtains were drawn, allowing her to see into the room as she stepped forward. There in the center of the room sat her elder sister, hunched over slightly and holding a hoof to her head, her eyes shut tight and her breathing heavy.
“Sister?” Luna called, trying to keep the growing worry out of her voice as she rapped lightly on the glass.
Celestia gasped in surprise and hastily looked about, her already agitated mane and tail flaring out for a moment in shock.
“Be calm, Sister, ‘tis only I,” Luna said quickly, just as surprised by Celestia’s reaction as she seemed to be at the sudden company. “May I enter?” she asked a bit hesitantly.
When Celestia’s eyes rested on the source of the disturbance, she exhaled heavily and her mane drooped. It picked back up again as she looked up with a warm smile at her younger sister, and magicked the window open to allow her to step through.
“Dear Luna,” the alicorn of the day said in her usual, collected manner as her younger sister approached and shut the window behind her. “Did you need something?” she asked, still smiling at her sibling.
To anypony else, those words would have entered their ears sounding completely normal, but Luna knew her sister well enough to know when she was putting on a brave face. Calling her on it now, though, was not her intention, as they both knew by now that they couldn’t fool each other in such a way. “Not precisely, Sister,” Luna answered, playing along with the facade for the moment. “I witnessed your egress from the throne room earlier, and was merely curious as to the cause, is all,” she said as she sat down in front of her fellow alicorn. “I did not mean to catch you unawares.”
“Please, think nothing of it,” Celestia responded with a casually dismissive wave of her hoof.
The sincerity of the request veiled behind the polite remark did not escape Luna’s notice, however. She chose to appease her sister. For now. “I take it those three ponies exiting the palace were representing the Misfits in court once more?” she asked.
“Yes, they were,” Celestia answered, finally letting the smile slip from her face. “They beseeched me, once again, to reconsider my decision and allow them to leave Equestria.”
“I see,” Luna said. “These few short weeks since then have seen a stark increase in their activity, yes?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And still you refuse to budge nary an inch, I expect?” Luna asked, an eyebrow raised.
Celestia shook her head in response, her pastel-hued mane waving in the non-existent breeze.
Luna remained silent, still looking right at her sister, until Celestia sighed in defeat.
“You are angry with me,” the pure white alicorn merely stated rather than asked, her eyes drifting down and away from Luna’s face with a pained expression.
“What?” the younger asked in surprise, not expecting such a response or crestfallen expression. “Nay, Sister!” she said hastily, shaking her own head for emphasis. “Thou art gravely mistaken! We are simply worried for thy health! We only wished to… to…” she stopped in mid-thought, her tone and expression changing quickly from alarm and concern to confusion at her sister’s odd behavior, which consisted of catching a sudden fit of the giggles. “Pray, why dost thou laugh at us?” Luna asked, her wings flaring out in indignation. “Surely thou dare not mock our concern-!” she was stopped by Celestia placing a hoof on her shoulder, now unable to contain the soft laughter that had been building up within her.
“You’re slipping again, Luna,” she said between the chuckles as the smile returned to her face in earnest.
Luna immediately opened her mouth again to speak, but then reconsidered and closed it for a moment. “…Indeed,” she admitted with a sheepish sigh. “Clearly I must work on that yet still.”
“There’s no need to rush. You have come such a long way, after all” Celestia said, now looking Luna in the face again. “I am truly proud of you, you know.”
“Yes,” Luna nodded, “And you are also attempting to change the subject, dear sister,” she added.
“Forgive me,” Celestia said, the smile sliding off of her face as quickly as her hoof off of Luna’s shoulder. “I only wish you wouldn’t worry so much over me, little sister.”
“And I wish you would not insist on acting like nothing is wrong, at least when we are in nopony’s company but our own,” she countered.
“Come now, Luna, that’s- Nng!” she began, but lost the rest of the sentence to the intense pain that suddenly overtook her, made evident by her mane and tail spazzing again as well as a hoof shooting up to her head where her eyes were shut tightly.
“Celestia?!” Luna said, jumping to her hooves in alarm.
The elder alicorn silenced her sister by raising her other hoof. “It was…” she started heavily, in between breaths. “Just for… a moment…” she managed to say.
Luna pawed at the carpet nervously as she watched her sister, her sharp, teal-colored eyes wide and alert.
After a couple of tense seconds, Celestia managed to recompose herself and took a deep breath.
“The bursts of pain are still increasing in frequency as well as intensity, are they not?” Luna asked flatly.
Instead of answering verbally, Celestia merely nodded in response, her eyes still loosely shut.
“As well as the number of ponies identifying themselves as Misfits and demanding to leave Equestria, yes?” Luna added, beginning to pace back and forth in front of her sister, evidently trying her hardest to keep her tone level.
“By the day,” Celestia sighed dejectedly.
“And… Yet still you feel that the issue will resolve itself, and their clamor will die down. All in due time?” Luna asked, keeping up her agitated pacing.
“I do,” Celestia said strongly, opening her eyes to look at her sister.
Luna stopped pacing and sighed herself.
“The alternatives… are too much to consider.”
“But we must, Sister!” Luna asserted, punctuating the word with a light stomp of her hoof on the carpet. “The time for waiting patiently has long since run its course! Truly, this debacle will only continue to exacerbate itself if left alone at this point. We need to plan, Celestia! We need to act!”
“Please, Luna, settle down a moment.”
The younger princess blinked, then complied, sitting back down in front of her sister and waiting poignantly for her response.
“Perhaps…” Celestia hesitated, “in the future… that may become necessary. But until then!” she hastily added before Luna could speak. “Until then, we should have faith that a voice of reason will sprout among them, and sway them from their disastrous path.”
“But for how long, Sister?” she pressed. “I no longer have any connection with the Elements at all, yet now I, too, can feel the tension and frustration emanating from those ponies. It is growing at an alarming pace,” she added, remembering her encounter in the hallway earlier, “as you are clearly well aware, given your… condition,” she finished.
“I will wait as long as I have to, little sister,” Celestia answered the earlier question resolutely.
A long silence filled the air between the two alicorns, as they continued to look into each other’s eyes. Several minutes later, Luna spoke again. “I see you are still quite determined on this course of… inaction, then,” she said, her head drooping just a bit in disappointment.
“We must believe that the best of our subjects will always shine forth in the end, especially on the brink of dark times,” she said with a nod. “Else we are all lost before we even begin,” she finished solemnly.
Luna considered this for a moment before answering, “You make a fair point, but this is a risky gamble, Celestia. I do not wish to see you hurt ever again, dear sister. Not like last time,” she finished softly with a shake of her head.
“I have the utmost confidence in the citizens, and in the Bearers. I am certain they will all come through.”
“Very well then,” Luna said with a nod. “If you are still so sure, I will continue to share in this confidence,” she said, standing up again. “At least for the time being,” she added pointedly.
“Oh, Luna,” the elder said, not bothering to try and hide the look of relief that washed over her features, “it means so much to me that you still trust my judgment on a matter of this nature.”
“Of course,” Luna responded. “You are still far more familiar with the workings of this modern world and its ponies than I. Therefore, ‘tis only natural that I follow your lead, until such time as I am duly acquainted myself. Be aware, however,” she continued, raising a hoof and pointing it at her sister, “that if I sense history is on the verge of repeating itself, I will intervene.” Just as I am right now, she added to herself.
Celestia nodded in agreement. “For both our sakes, I can accept that.”
“Excellent! I am glad we are in agreement” Luna said, finally satisfied with their conversation. “The night is upon us, thus I must take my leave from your company,” she said, walking back toward the balcony and opening the large windows. She was just about to step outside, but stopped and turned around again. “Celestia?” she called.
“Yes, Luna?” Celestia answered.
“Promise that you will not hesitate to call on me, should you ever have need?”
“I promise, little sister.”
~~
Back on the ground level of the palace, there was a brilliant flash of blue light, leaving in its wake two ponies and certainly enough books to make a respectable fort. “Thank you,” the Doctor said crisply as he dropped his saddlebags and strode out of the magic field. He immediately trotted over to his preferred work bench, leaving Selena stumbling out of her own spell.
Ugh. How she hated teleportation. Even after all her years of study in some of the finest schools in Canterlot, she still wasn’t very good at it. It had taken many of those years just to be able to reach her intended destination without fail, and sometimes she still ended up in the wrong places on the rare occasions she attempted to teleport much farther than she just had. Even so, it always left her drained, and more often than not a bit sick. In fact she had long since decided to never teleport other ponies with her for that same reason, except in severe emergencies. The only exception to her self-imposed rule was the Doctor, who somehow seemed to be immune to the nasty side effects of her sketchy teleportation spells. This made working with him that much harder, as he rarely wasted an opportunity to coax her into sending them someplace. He seemed to get a kick out of it, yet it only served to remind her how bad she was at it.
“Come on, now!” he called to her while pressing his face into a microscope. “Up and at ‘em, there’s plenty of work to be done yet!”
“I’m moving,” Selena groaned as she got to her hooves and her horn glowed again, experimentally flexing her magic. Finding that she could use it well enough, the unicorn encased all the books around them in a field of levitation, and slowly rotated them in front of her. As each passed by her face, she read the title and floated it over to where it belonged. Halfway through her task, the Doctor spoke up again.
“Selena, could you move these boxes out of the way?” he asked without looking up from his work. “Somepony’s gone and left them in the middle of the walkway,” he said, giving one a smart kick.
“Sure thing,” she responded, enveloping said boxes in her levitation field. They rose up into the air as well, mingling with the assortment of books floating around the purple-maned unicorn as she continued to sort them.
“And could you open a couple of windows?” the Doctor asked. “It’s getting terribly stuffy in here.”
“Alright,” she said, putting more effort into her magic field and having it begin raising a few of the windows.
“Oh! Hoof me those bags in the corner, would you?” the earth pony asked quickly. “I need some of the ingredients in there.”
“Hang on,” she replied, now frowning with concentration as she scooped up the requested bags with her magic and brought them into what was becoming a whirling jumble of items. A sharp, shrill shattering sound nearly caused her to lose her focus.
“Blast!” the Doctor said. “I’ve dropped a test tube. Let’s get that cleaned up, shall we? And grab me another, while you’re at it.”
Selena wordlessly complied, and bits of broken glass and lab supplies joined the swirling mass around her.
“You know what? I’m thirsty. Fetch me something from the fridge, if you please.”
The unicorn growled to herself, yet a cold beverage shrouded in light blue magic began floating its way across the lab.
“Actually now that I think about it, it’s getting a bit drafty in here. Why don’t you shut those windows?”
“But didn’t you just-” Selena stammered, her magical grip on the numerous objects flying through the air momentarily faltering before she caught herself and regained control. “Alright, I could’ve sworn you just…” she trailed off as she looked in the Doctor’s direction.
He simply stood there smiling at her, his work long abandoned on the bench.
“What?” Selena asked uncertainly.
“You know, I never get tired of watching you do that,” he said, his eyes drifting upward to a point above the unicorn’s head.
She followed his gaze, and was mildly surprised at the torrent of objects that had been revolving around her for the last several minutes. In her haste to get everything done that he had asked, she had neglected to put anything down, and there were books, boxes, bags, shards of glass and test tubes, a can of iced tea, and several windows still firmly clenched in her magical grip. “Oh, there’s nothing special about that,” she said quietly as she went about sorting the mess hovering in the air before them.
“There most certainly is,” the Doctor disagreed. “Not many unicorns can pull off levitation like that, let alone while barely breaking a sweat,” he said, returning to his work on the bench. “You should really give yourself more credit.”
“Doctor, you know that’s my special talent,” she sighed, turning slightly to hide the treasonous smile that had nonetheless crept up on her again. “That hardly counts,” she said while sorting out the last of the books.
“Well, regardless. You are a very skilled mage, Selena, and I wouldn’t have any other act as my right hoof,” he replied, turning his attention back to the microscope and his work.
“Thanks,” was her simple response. “Anyway, Doctor,” she began, trying her hardest to dispel the embarrassed flush across her face, “Is it going to be a huge problem that we’re missing that tome? I mean, if it is, I suppose I could try to track it down…”
“What? No, no, don’t trouble yourself with any of that,” he said with a dismissive wave of his hoof. “Actually,” he began, the hoof settling at his chin in thought, “That could turn out to be a rather large issue later, but… this isn’t later, this is now,” he said with finality. “And right now, I want you to come over here so I can show you something.”
“Oh?” The previous distractions forgotten, Selena’s ears perked right up as she trotted over to the lab station. “Are you finally going to tell me exactly why we’ve been rooting around in the ground all over the kingdom?” she asked, squinting at the petri dish full of soil under the Doctor’s microscope.
“Why not see for yourself?” he offered, stepping out of the way.
“Fantastic!” she said happily as she moved into position. “You know it’s about time you finally let me see…” she trailed off uncertainly. “…What appears to be a completely unremarkable pile of dirt,” she intoned after a brief moment of contemplation.
“What do you- Unremarkable?!” the Doctor questioned. “How could you possibly…? Move over a second,” he said, nudging her out of the way and taking another look. “What?” he said to himself after a moment. “Well that doesn’t make any sense, it was just right there, I promise!”
“Doctor,” Selena said, looking between him and the microscope with eyes half-lidded. “Did you mean to have this activated?” she asked, pointing at a small, unlit rune on the side of the microscope.
“Erm, very astute as usual, Selena,” he muttered before pressing a hoof to the small rune, causing it to light up and the microscope to emit a soft whirring sound. “Right. There we are. Have another go, then.”
“Alright,” she agreed, taking another look into the microscope. “Well,” she said after a moment’s quick study, “Bits of it are glowing a little blue. Pretty, but what am I really looking at?”
“I’ll tell you in a minute. About how much of it would you say is blue?”
“Oh, I don’t know… Maybe… fifteen percent? Tops? This is the sample you just gathered from outside the palace, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is. Now take a look at this one from Fillydelphia,” he said, switching the petri dish out for another.
“Okay… I’d say twenty percent on this one. It’s a touch brighter, too.”
“Correct. And now this one from Los Pegasus,” he said, repeating the process.
“Mmm… Looks about the same as the last one, actually.”
“Exactly,” he said triumphantly.
“Exactly what?” Selena asked, looking away from the samples and at her companion. “Doctor, what is all this?”
“What you’re looking at is basically a snapshot of the amount and strength of Harmonious magic permeating each of those cities,” he quickly responded, easily sliding into his lecture tone.
“Really?” she asked with a raised brow. “Considering our kingdom is supposed to be the heart of Harmony itself, that seems like a very small amount.”
“That’s because it is a small amount. Tiny, relatively speaking, and continuing to lower even as we speak. Largely due to recent events, I expect.”
“You mean the Exodus Movement?”
“Exodus Movement?” he repeated. “Is that what we’re calling the whole Misfit thing now?”
“Apparently; I read that in the paper this morning.”
“Sheesh. Well, anyway, it’s understandable that such a large scale dispute among ponykind would have adverse effects on the ambient levels of Harmony,” he said, beginning to pace back and forth. “However, this sudden drop has been too much, too quickly for that to be the sole cause.”
“Do you know what else it could be, then?” she asked, looking at the samples again with renewed curiosity.
“Not yet, but I intend to find out,” he said with determination. “We just need to gather a few more samples first.”
“Where from? You’ve already got at least two corners and the center of the map.”
“Why, Ponyville, of course!” he said as if it were obvious. “In fact, you’d best go home and prepare. We leave by train tomorrow morning.”
Author's Note
Almost a year later, and I've only just finished chapter 2. To try and prevent such an atrocity from continuing, I'm drastically altering my writing method from here on out, which should basically amount to "less thinking, more writing." We'll see how that goes.
