Moving the Stars

Moving the Stars

Story 2

Chapter 8: Broken Peace

By: FluttersIsAwesome

To be honest, the only thing making me feel any safer with this mysterious “hero” was the fact that he said he was sent by Astro, and I was simply too tired to realize he could have been lying. At this point I really didn’t care as long as I was away from those witches, and with this colt carrying me, the cave I was being held in disappeared in what seemed like an instant. I could feel exhaustion and a pounding headache lulling me into another heavy sleep. After what could’ve been a few short minutes or many long hours, though, I was awakened by that familiar accent.

“Trixie? Trixie? Open your bloody eyes, girl!” Astro always had a certain… I don’t actually think I’d call it charm, but he had something about him that made others listen to what he said.

This time was no different; almost on cue my eyes sprang open. The wooden walls and sound of a rushing waterfall were all I needed to figure out where I was. “Why bring me here?” I wanted to say more, but a horrid cough gave Astro an opening to explain himself.

“Oceana’s place is not only closer, but harder to get into. She can also provide more help than I could on me own. I managed t’ heal your broken ribs and various cuts, but her special herbal tea blend should help ya regain the blood ya lost. I unfortunately don’t have a spell for that, so unless ya want t’ be lightheaded and weak for the rest of your life, I suggest ya let her help.” My vision was blurred, but I could still make out his basic form. Surprisingly, I couldn’t see the white gleam of a clever smirk, which I was sure he’d have on his face after speaking to me like that. “She doesn’t hate ya, no matter how much ya think she does.”

“What of the other colt?”

Again, as if on cue, a dark red unicorn entered the room. It was quite obvious it was the same one that had rescued me; though the scar across his face, his dark blue mane, and bright yellow eyes were now exposed his body armor gave him away instantly. His voice was on the border of raspy and gruff, but neither an extreme, like somepony had simply sprinkled some of both in a pot of deep voice brew. “You alright, Trixie? Astro sounded quite panicked when he first called for me.”

A small nod was all my still aching body would let me manage. “I’ll be fine in a few hours… I expect you to have a few new lessons prepared by then, Astro.”

My mentor, however, shook his head at me with a grim frown. “No, Trixie. I barely managed t’ pull you out o’ a coma, and there’s only so much Oceana can do for the remainder o’ the pain. I hate t’ say it, but you’ll be bedridden for quite a while. Anywhere between a week t’ two months, possibly.”

I hadn’t really noticed until now, but everything about this situation had slowly started infuriating me. My vision was almost totally red when I snapped to Astro with a scowl. “So first you don’t even have the balls to rescue your own marefriend yourself, and then you tell me I have to stay in bed for two months?! Who do you think you are, doing this to me? Do you honestly expect me to-“ The crack was all that was needed to shut me up instantly. I fell back onto the bed, unaware that I had even risen until it was too late. Pain unlike anything I’ve ever felt nearly paralyzed me to the point where I couldn’t even turn my head without my chest hurting.

“Trixie, please calm down and let me explain this t’ ya, okay? I promise I can make meself look like less o’ a wuss once I tell ya why exactly I did what I did.”

I love Astro with all my heart, but sometimes his smartass remarks seriously get on my nerves. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to make a joke since I couldn’t get up, so I had to calm down, or if he seriously thought I would try to hurt him despite my pain, but either way, he had the floor. “Go ahead.”

“Okay, listen carefully, love. I knew this would happen eventually, but I never thought the girls would be ballsy enough t’ start this so soon.” Almost as if he could see the future, he pressed his hoof against my lips before I even had them fully open. “I discovered not long after I had dismissed Scarlet Rose that all three girls had found a new mentor, one who specialized in dark magic.”

I’ve talked about the different degrees of seriousness I’d seen on Astro’s face in the past, but his gaze now looked as if it could turn anypony into stone just as cold as his eyes. “So? What does that have to do with us?”

The gruff voice of the other colt was the one I heard in response this time. “Trixie, evil forces have been stirring in recent days. I first noticed it a few hours after the last of the Changelings had been driven from Canterlot Castle after the attack on the royal wedding. Ever since-“

“Whoa whoa whoa, you stop right there. I don’t even know you, so before you even think of trying to explain this situation to me, you’d better explain who you are.” Maybe I was being a bit rude, considering this colt had saved my life, but I failed to see what right he even had to place himself in Astro and I’s affairs.

“I will get to my place in this mess in a moment. Ever since these forces were first felt, guards and soldiers from not only Canterlot, but each major station city (basically means anywhere big enough to need its own armed protection) were put on high alert, and security’s been tightened. Not only that, but we’ve seen reports of attacks on cities and towns by hostile creatures other than ponies skyrocket.” He threw his hoof up at me as I began to open my mouth again, and once seeing that it was still his turn to speak, resumed. “My name is Cutlass, and I am a member of a special sect of Celestia’s Royal Guard. We’re called Spiral Knights; where the name comes from I still have yet to figure out. Rather than being trained traditionally, we’re given special mentoring to be better equipped to fight exotic adversaries, such as Griffins, Manticores, Hell Hounds, and various other beasts. I believe that the sudden rise of this malicious force has something to do with the increased numbers of attacks from these beasts.”

Calming down was much easier now that I knew who this colt was and what he had to do with us, but rather than simply relaxing, my anger was slowly replaced by fear. “So… why are you still here?”

Astro cleared his throat, swallowing hard as if to delay saying whatever he planned on telling me. “Trixie, a war is brewing. We believe there’s planning behind these attacks. Not only has it been feral monsters, but it’s also been orchestrated attacks like the one against us tonight. Scarlet Rose, Haze, and Midnight Dusk are all working for whoever is behind all of this chaos. Cutlass is here to help get us prepared. (I pretty much said forget the accent at this point, you guys know he’s Irish) Yes, I said us. You’re lessons are going to be double-parted now: I will be teaching you the magic we’ve been working on, and Cutlass will be working with both of us on combat magic.”

A small chuckle came from Cutlass’s direction. “Congratulations, Trixie. You get to see Astro fumble around with spells just as much as you will. Gone are the days where he has a leg up on everything.”

If it weren’t for the pain that, albeit fading, still made it near impossible to move I would’ve giggled at that. “Do you have any idea who might be pulling the strings?”

They both shook their heads, but Astro beat Cutlass to the punch. “With Princess Luna back in her right mind, Discord sealed away once again, and Chrysalis pretty much left powerless, there’s nopony that we know of powerful enough to command such a wide variety of creatures.” He closed his eyes for a moment before kissing my forehead. “Trixie, we need to act quickly, so starting tomorrow I will begin training. Don’t worry, I’ll still work on lesson plans for conventional and advanced magic, but your lessons with me will be shorter than you’re used to. Is that alright?”

I closed my eyes in return, not bothering to open them as I wanted to get to sleep as soon as possible. “Yes, it is. Just don’t get too far ahead of me, love.”

“I love you, Trixie.”

“I love you too, Astro.”

* * *

Living with Astro for so long made me pretty much immune to waking up from the sound of a crash. Three or four were not normal, however, and they combined with the smell of scrambled eggs and toast jolted me out of a decently peaceful sleep. After shaking my head a bit to regain my bearings, I turned to Oceana, whom was the one carrying the food. “What the heck is Astro doing so early?”

She giggled as she set the plate down in front of me, waiting until I had tasted the eggs and gotten my approval before answering. “Weren’t you listening? Astro told you last night he’d be starting combat magic training today.”

“Oh, right… where are they? I’d like to talk to him.” She opened the window right beside the bed, and I had a clear view of the pond, waterfall, and the forest clearing. Lying there, I began to understand why Oceana loved it here so much. Astro often took me on nature hikes, animal watching trips, and boat rides with the intention of “teaching me to appreciate nature’s beauty”, and I started to understand where he came from. From the window I could see a few scarecrows set up along the pond’s shore or bank or whatever the edge of a pond is called. Cutlass was shooting powerful magic bolts at each one, then replacing them for Astro to try. His average number of attempts for each looked to be about four or five; keeping track while I ate was kind of fun.

The odd thing was, despite this being the first time I’ve watched them do this, it seemed so… normal. It was like this was an everyday, mundane thing. I think I truly began to start appreciating nature’s beauty. My attention soon began to drift away from my lover and the knight and toward the waterfall and the trees. Oceana was kind enough to set me up in her bed; it was situated in a small room protruding from the main cabin. In fact, it was the bed against the wall, and enough room for Astro and Cutlass to stand on the right of it, as the nightstand and small bookshelf took up the corner between the right wall and the bed. The foot of the bed marked the border between this little notch and the rest of the cabin, and it was quite cozy.

“I envy you, being able to wake up like this every morning. It must be so relaxing.” After finishing the last of my toast, I took another look around and noticed the two large pillows in front of the fireplace along with an open book beside on. “Oceana, why didn’t you sleep in your guest room?”

She took my tray with the same smile she had when setting it down for me. “I offered it to Cutlass and Astro. However, your sweetheart wanted to stay close to you, so he simply stayed here with me beside the fire. I’ll be using the guest bed tonight, though, since Cutlass can’t stay here every night. It’s nice to hear you speak to me without any hostility in your voice for once, too, and to see you enjoying nature.” The mare came over beside the bed after washing off my tray, lifting my blanket to check my chest. “How are you feeling?”

With a light sight I looked back out the window. “Better than I was. When do you think I’ll be able to start my training?”

“For now, just focus on resting, Trixie. We still have some time before we have to turn our focus away from this beauty and to battle. Just relax while you can.”