Noir was bored.
In a city that never slept, with a plethora of distraction, drink, and damsels at her disposal, she was bored. Of course, it was hard to be anything but, trapped in the opera box at this concert which she was obligated to attend. The hell was this, anyway? She glanced at the program: "Young Musicians of Equestria." Ye gods...
Still, being the ornamental figurehead of Manehattan had its perks. She wanted not for bits - the Crown took care of room and board and whatever else her dark little heart desired. As long as Noir kept her... proclivities... in the shadows.
The young mare snuggling at her side nuzzled her neck, murmuring something inaudible. The shimmering emerald aura of Noir's magic lifted the wine glass to her lips, and the alicorn took a slow sip, flicking an ear as the violinist on stage below hit the sourest of sour notes imaginable.
"How much longer am I required to endure this?" Noir asked with a sigh. The mare snuggled against her further, though to Noir it felt as if she were a parasite burrowing into her chest. She'd seemed fine at their private dinner, and an amiable concert companion, but once they'd reached the box, the mare had indulged in more than her fair share of cider, and become increasingly less charming.
"Four more performances, my lady."
"Thank you, Grecio."
The diamond dog nodded, remaining at his post near the door. He was short in stature and almost comical in his finely tailored waistcoat and starched white shirt, but something about his stance warned against testing his mettle. That and the sword he carried at his belt. Noir stifled a yawn with her good wing.
"Bored?" the mare asked with a half-lidded smile.
Noir looked down at her, arching an eyebrow. The mare's eye shadow had smeared across her face in a most unflattering way, and Noir fought the urge to stand from the cushions and let the inebriated pony fall to the floor.
"Such is this life, my dear," the Poet Laureate responded with a forced smile. She flicked an ear again as another sour note reached the balcony, followed by a thunderous clapping of hooves. "Thank the Sisters that's over," she sighed.
"I know how to make this exciting," the mare—what was her name?—purred, rising on wobbly legs. Noir eyed her as one would an interesting spot on the floor.
"I think it's best if we listen sitting down, my dear."
"How can I be out on the town with the Noir de Plume and not have any stories to tell the next day?" the mare continued, her tone seductive. Or, it would have been had her syllables not slurred together in a comical mockery of language. "Come now, show me how odd that tail really is..."
The next performer was announced on stage. Soft music rose from a piano.
A piano? Noir thought. No pony in Equestria can possibly-
"Let me help you focus..."
The mare leaned forward, open mouthed, hungrily going for Noir's horn. Something tickled Noir's brain, a level of magic she'd not felt since her time at the Royal Court all those centuries ago... She leapt up. The mare crashed to the cushions, face first, with an indignant squawk, haunches in the air, most unladylike.
"Grecio!" Noir snapped. The diamond dog was instantly at his mistress' side, eyes on her as she stared intently at the young unicorn seated on stage. "Who is that?"
"Er... it says her name is Armistice, my lady," he replied, pointing to the program with a claw-tipped finger.
Noir's eyes narrowed. The flow of magic from the stage was so strong, it was nearly intoxicating. The alicorn's head swam as though she'd imbibed a bottle of the finest vintage. The keys depressed as if touched individually, yet this cream colored filly named Armistice simply moved her hooves and summoned forth beautiful sounds. How was it possible? Such bliss on her young face as she played, framed by a brunette mane that was both simple and meticulously straight. It fell to her shoulders, and swayed ever so slightly with the subtle motions she made with her torso to send her forehooves across the ivory keys. Noir was both entranced and baffled. Mesmerized, she sent a faint tendril of magic at the stage, reaching out, to test, to touch, to see... and the eyes of the young pianist snapped up. Their sapphire hue rivaled the icey blue of Noir's own, and the artfully applied eyeliner the young filly wore would have looked silly on anypony else, but only accentuated her jes ne sais quoi. Her head did not move, and the steady gaze that locked with Noir's sent a chill rolling from the base of her skull to the very tuft of her strange, lion-like tail.
"Fetch her. And bring her to me," she commanded, shaking her head to clear the sensation. Noir reached back and adjusted the half cape she wore with her teeth, ensuring her left wing was covered. Grecio extended a hand up. "No. I'll be fine. I can manage it home on my own." She offered the diamond dog a kind smile. So loyal. Noir reminded herself every day how much she truly owed him.
On the floor, the mare had gathered herself into a bundle and made another indignant noise.
"So, you're, like, just going to leave me here?" she asked, eyes wide, a look of sheer disbelief on her face.
Noir paused in the doorway, looking back at the mare. She titled her head and leveled her with a cold stare.
"I'm trying to decide what I find more unattractive," Noir began. "How easily you were being led to stable, or how awful that braying sound coming from your mouth is."
The mare's jaw snapped shut. Noir nodded curtly at Grecio.
"Make sure this one gets home." Noir flicked her good wing in an annoyed gesture and exhaled through her nostrils, her brain churning a thousand thoughts at once. The filly's cutie mark was burned into her cornea; sapphire rose facing outward, petals parted, but still closed enough to be innocent and coy. The mark had seemed to be alive, reflecting the lights of the stage, interacting with the environment. "Armistice," she murmured. Something so different about the magic's flavor... Something ancient...
"A filly?! You're ditching me for a filly?!" the mare squealed. "She's barely of age! I heard you were into some twisted shit, but you can't be into something that—"
"Sleep." Grecio waved a gray paw before the mare's snout, and her eyes drooped once, twice, and the drunken pony crumpled to the floor in a snoring tangle of legs. Noir drew herself up and smiled. The diamond dog offered her one of his rare, toothy grins. "Thought it best before my lady did something that would take me hours to clean up."
"You are my hero, Grecio," Noir purred, dropping her front half in a mock curtsy. "Every day, I am more and more thankful I schooled you in basic spells." The diamond dog bowed, then waved her away with both paws.
"Go. I will handle... her." He kicked at the snoring pile of pony. Noir nodded. "She is to forget this evening?"
Noir's eyes became sad, for just a moment. "Yes... Like the others before her."
He paused in thought. "But what of the event for tomorrow's papers?"
Music rose from the stage and reached the alicorn's ears. She twitched them.
"Manehattan will manage without a gossipy tidbit for one day."
The crescendo was starting.
"Here?" Armistice asked as they came to a stop before the tallest high rise in Manehattan's skyline. Grecio nodded.
"Yes. My Lady Noir's penthouse is the top floor."
Armistice titled her head back to stare up the side of the smooth glass structure. It shimmered in the city lights, the reflective surface throwing thousands of twinkling stars back at the onlooker.
"I am honored that your city's patron wishes a private audience with me," she smiled. "Though I must admit some confusion as to why." The diamond dog stepped forward and pressed a paw flat against a smooth black panel on the door. Armistice noted the strange scar on the inside of his forearm - deep, gnarled, as if someone had taken a molten hot object and drawn the sign for infinity into his fur and flesh. He caught her staring. The young pianist flushed.
"This way," he said simply as the doors silently opened.
Armistice followed him in. The lobby was ornately decorated with exotic plants and an elegant water fountain. The soft lighting and trickling of the fountain gave it a peaceful atmosphere. Her hooves made clicking sounds on the obsidian floor tiles. Armistice felt somewhat humbled. There was money here.
"She lives at the top?" the unicorn asked with wonder. Grecio smiled toothily, something Armistice did not find threatening, surprisingly. For all his gruff appearance and the reputation of his kind, the diamond dog had been nothing but the perfect gentleman. Still, this had not stopped her from surreptitiously casting a spell of protection when he appeared in the green room after her performance. Her mother had not raised a fool.
"Noir de Plume's official title is Manehattan's Poet Laureate," he explained, motioning for her to enter the elevator. She obliged, delighting in the plush carpeting. "More a patron than a true leadership position," he continued, depressing the button for the top floor.
"I've never heard of such a thing," Armistice replied, flicking an ear as she adjusted her brunette tail - long and straight, but the ends were wild and untamed.
"Nor will you," Grecio said, paws folded behind his back. "Hers is a unique situation."
They rode the rest of the way in silence, the car coming to a smooth stop.
"We are here," he announced as the doors opened.
Armistice's jaw dropped.
The space was vast, far larger than it had any mathematical right to be. The ceiling vaulted up, and up, and up, vanishing into a spiraling darkness that she swore she could see stars in. To her left was a wall made entirely of glass, and Manehattan's cityscape lay shimmering before her—so small from so high up. The moon stared impassively down at them through a clear sky. To the right was a massive fireplace, the blaze contained within so hot the heat licked at Armistice's face from across the large room. The decor—silver, red, white, and black—was sparse, large cushions organized meticulously across from each other that appeared to be made from the softest crushed velvet. The floor was the same ornate obsidian tile as the lobby, with fine silver filigree woven between the natural cracks in the stone.
"Welcome," a voice said warmly, tinged with amusement. Armistice snapped her head up, alert, and blinked. Once, twice.
Noir was... tall. Taller than she, but not quite a mare - her development seemed to be somewhere between fully mature alicorn and filly. Her mane was blonde, kept short and close along her neck, with a ruffled, wild crop that sat about her ears and horn. The same color graced the tuft at the end of her strange, lion-like tail. The white of her coat was not that of a snowfall, or fresh milk, but of bleached bone, and her horn and hooves shimmered with an opalescent hue. Her wings were folded at her sides, and Armistice could not help but wonder why the left was kept tightly bandaged. It seemed smaller than the right, and there was the faintest tinge of blood soaking through the cloth. The alicorn kept her fetlocks unshorn in the manner of stallion. As she entered the main room and walked past Armistice to take a seat on one of the cushions, the young unicorn saw the marks on her flanks. Sunken in, like a brand, they were almost like the scar on Grecio's arm. They may once have held color; black, writhing vines in the shape of an ornate compass bespoke of her talent, though Armistice could not determine what it might be.
What happened to you? she wondered, hoping to the Ancients her face betrayed none of her shock.
"Please," Noir continued, gesturing with her horn to the other cushion, "sit." When she smiled Armistice swore she saw a hint of fangs. Hesitantly, she crossed the floor to take a cushion facing the creature she supposed passed for an alicorn. "May I get you anything?"
"Ah, I'm-"
"Water? Wine? Cider? You must be parched after such a wonderful display of talent," the alicorn interrupted as though Armistice had not spoken. "I choose wine, myself. A vice most ponies do not indulge. You look as you might enjoy something.... sweeter." Noir's horn glowed.
At the alicorn's side, on a table, a quill hovered to life, an aura of shimmering green controlling the feather, dipping it into a nearby inkwell, and moving it soundlessly across a sheet of paper. Armistice made a surprised sound as a glass of cider popped into existence before her muzzle. She caught it just in time with her magic, a faint blue aura that threw a soft glow on her creamy face.
"That..."
"Is my talent," Noir finished, curling her tail about her body. "Whatever I write, comes to be." With a hidden expression, she watched the unicorn in silence for several moments. "You are powerful."
Armistice looked at her over the rim of her glass, mid-sip.
"To master such an instrument without the obvious use of magic... and to notice me noticing you..." The alicorn purred. "Who are you, little one?"
Armistice did not feel so at ease anymore.
"You shouldn't have interrupted me while I was playing," she answered after a while, gently setting the glass down. Noir tilted her head, looking amused.
"No?" The alicorn rose suddenly. Armistice tensed, but Noir stepped towards the glass wall, using her magic to bring her glass of wine to her lips.
"No," the pianist said, frowning, still tense. "It was distracting."
"Was it..." Noir's words trailed off as she stared out over the cityscape. Armistice frowned again.
"Why am I here?" she asked. "Your dog said you wanted to talk to me, but all we've done so far is play social back and forth."
"His name is Grecio," Noir said tersely, lashing her tail. "And you would do well to speak his name with respect." A heavy silence fell over the room. "He has served me for over a hundred years."
"And bound to her until she leaves this world," the diamond dog said solemnly, appearing at her side, resting a paw on her bandaged wing. Noir dipped her head to rest her cheek against his.
"How...?" Armistice asked, her tone tinged with skepticism and a growing sense of alarm. "You're an alicorn, he can't possibly—"
"I'm five hundred years old," Noir cut her off, still resting her face against Grecio's. She closed her eyes, as though suddenly weary. "And I was not always an alicorn."
He felt the pain her words caused her, the great weariness that weighed her down. Grecio raised his paw to rest it on his mistress' bandaged wing. It radiated heat.
"How were you—" Armistice began, her tone puzzled. Noir sighed, lifting her head, turning back to face the young unicorn. Grecio took a step to remain at her side, paw still on her wing. He felt the bandage moisten. His lady Noir was bleeding again.
"Twilight was not the first to bask under the tutelage of our great leader" the alicorn said with a sardonic smile. Her bitter grin confirmed Armistice's earlier suspicions - Noir did indeed have fangs. Two sharp incisors glistened in the light of the roaring fire. Grecio watched as the unicorn's expression remained impassive, but she could not hide the surprise in her large, kohl-rimmed eyes. "That honor," Noir continued, "goes to me."
"You were Celestia's student?" Armistice murmured the question as Noir took several silent steps towards her. The young filly craned her neck up to look at the taller mare, thin, lithe and tired.
"Yes. Her first. The very first," Noir said, slowly settling down on the cushion next to Armistice. Grecio remained at his position near the window, eyeing the weeping bandage with growing concern. "In the years after Princess Luna lost her mind to the Nightmare and was exiled to the Moon, Celestia sent scouts to all corners of Equestria, seeking talent. They came to my small village. I was just a filly..." Noir looked towards the fire, the flames catching her icy blue eyes. The effect was haunting. "They brought me back to the Royal Palace, with my mother's permission, of course... and the rest is history." Another smile, this time sad, crossed her lips.
Grecio watched his mistress speak with impassive eyes. He knew this story; she'd told him in those fever days after he'd found her, during the weeks he'd nursed her back to health, and in the years they'd spent building her life in Manehattan. He wondered when she would finally be able to admit the unfortunate truth about her past, and not this fantastic tale she'd spun.
"The capital was still in the Everfree Forest," Noir sighed, tucking her forelegs tightly beneath her. Armistice remained still. "I spent years studying magic under Celestia's tutelage. As I showed you, my talent is to bring things into existence. The Princess wished for me to become like her."
"She wanted to make you an alicorn?" Armistice asked with an eyebrow arched. Noir nodded.
"In the beginning, the Creator made One. Celestia was alone. When the Sun and Moon were too much for One, Celestia beseeched the Creator for another. Thus came Luna. When the Sisters were old enough, the Creator departed, leaving them under the guidance of Starswirl the Bearded."
"I know the propaganda of Equestria's Origin," Armistice interrupted. Noir arched an eyebrow in return. Armistice noted the subtle mockery.
"With Luna gone," she continued, as though Armistice had not spoken, "Celestia had become lonely. Faced with millenia alone... why not create Princesses of her own?" The alicorn flinched and Grecio made a move forward, but Noir shook her head. He frowned, but remained put. "I was to be the Princess of Histories. I was to write into existence adventures and tales for ponies to undertake. I was to make Equestria's heroes."
"What happened...?" Armistice asked after a long silence. Grecio saw her reach out a hoof hesitantly. He tensed, hand on the hilt of his sword, and relaxed when Noir allowed the younger pony to set her hoof gently on her foreleg.
"I noted my teacher's loneliness," Noir said sadly, meeting Armistice's eyes for the first time that evening. They were pools of raw emotion. Betrayal. Anger. Defeat. It made the unicorn uncomfortable. "She missed her sister. Deeply. So I worked on a spell in my spare time to save her." Here, she smiled sadly. "I found a magic no pony had touched for centuries... A magic forbidden and hidden but still usable to those who could open their minds and read the runes. I only needed the power and open plane of my Ascension to access the Aether between Equestria and the Moon, and I could bring Princess Luna home. I did not know the last pony to use it without permission had been driven mad."
"You didn't," Armistice said softly, her eyes crinkling at the corner. "You couldn't possibly have been that foolish..."
Noir nodded solemnly. "So convinced was Celestia of my success that my coronation was scheduled. My Royal accoutrements were constructed out of the finest onyx and silver. She showed me, proudly, and I smiled, all the while imagining how wonderful of a surprise it would be when I returned from the Ascension with not only my wings, but her sister as well."
Grecio watched a single tear roll down his mistress' muzzle.
"I did not anticipate the Nightmare to be hovering above the Aether. When I unleashed my spell... it corrupted my transformation, and I was cursed with the form you see now." She motioned with her head to her bandaged wing, the cloth now bright red with blood. Armistice gasped, her mild annoyance vanishing the face of the injury.
"You're hurt!"
"It never stops," the alicorn replied. "It tries to heal. It can't." She shifted her weight, and raised her head. "Grecio..."
The diamond dog stood at attention.
"Show her."
"My lady?" he asked. Noir nodded.
"Show her," she repeated.
He came to her side, and knelt, tenderly undoing the bandages with his paws. As he worked, Noir continued to speak.
"I spent an untold amount of time—centuries, it must have been—trapped in the violent energies of the Aether. The backlash of dark magic and the power of the Ascension threw me thousands of miles away into a wasteland... which is where I met Grecio." She winced as he tugged at a piece of cloth.
"Apologies, my lady."
"He saved my life," she murmured, bowing her head as he stepped away, exposing her shame. Armistice made a noise.
The wing was ghastly—grossly deformed, with exposed bone and gnarled flesh, the primary feathers coated in dried blood. Noir moved it pitifully.
"For one hundred and seventy three years I have borne this monstrosity," she whispered. Armistice shook her head in horror.
"Why not use your magic?! Why not write your wing into being whole?" she exclaimed.
"My talent cannot be used to alter matter," the alicorn replied sadly. "It has only ever affected events, actions, like a scene in a play, and those have to be in my immediate vicinity. With some effort I have been able to combine it with my basic manifestation abilities, but the time spent in the Aether corrupted my magic..." She made a pained face as she refolded the deformity back against her side. "When I returned with Grecio, Celestia had no choice but to deny me my Princesshood. I had betrayed her."
"My lady writes the gossip and drama of Manehattan," Grecio offered, seeing how weary his mistress was becoming. "She keeps the masses of Equestria entertained. In exchange, the Crown keeps her room and board."
"A mockery of my ability," the alicorn added bitterly. "'The pony everypony should know'," she snorted. "Really." She made another pained face. "Celestia stuck me here like some dirty secret so no one has to know my shame. She has Twilight Sparkle to parade as a grand success now."
"My lady," Grecio tried. "That is not entirely—"
"No!" Noir hissed. "I'm tired of being the failure!"
"You are exhausted and in pain," the diamond dog said evenly, placing both his paws on either side of her muzzle as Armistice stirred nervously on her cushion. "We have a guest. An honored guest. Please..." He gently stroked along the ridges of her orbital bones with his thumbs. "Rest now."
Armistice watched with wonder as the alicorn's head drooped slowly to her chest, and the diamond dog set her tenderly down on the cushion. Noir's chest rose and fell with the meter of slumber.
"You'll have to excuse her," Grecio said apologetically to Armistice. "She is excitable and emotional and often forgets manners when in such a state." He smiled kindly. Armistice returned the smile. "The hour is late, and I'm certain my lady does have an actual matter to discuss with you. While I am happy to escort you back to your hotel, there is a guest room prepared. Would you care to stay?"
Grecio watched the unicorn weigh the options in her mind. Noir was clearly unbalanced—a powerful creature, surely, but unbalanced. When he saw those sapphire eyes soften, though, he knew she saw how damaged and fragile his mistress was, and how badly she needed a friend. Armistice nodded.
"I'll stay."
The diamond dog bowed deeply.
"This way."
Her sleep was fitful, full of aches and memories. Reminiscing so much before slumber brought up the past, and Noir's dreams were vivid. She was back in the cave, could feel the cold, hard rock beneath her body, the screaming pain in the growth protruding from her left side, smell the wet moist mass being shoved between her lips.
"Please, horse lady... must eat."
The voice was gravelly, but imploring. Noir cracked a swollen eyelid to stare at the gray fuzzy blur kneeling at her face. The substance was pressed against her teeth once more. Her teeth... felt... odd. She ran her tongue along them, and winced. Sharp.
"Please." The blur slowly came into focus, and Noir forced her other eye open. It screamed its protest in silent rage, sending rivulets of pain deep within her socket.
It was a diamond dog, no more than a pup just weaned, eagerly offering her a hunk of bloody meat Clad in the tattered rags of its kind, a collar spoke of its status amongst its clan—slave. Its green eyes were large and bright and flecked with gold, and when it noticed her looking at it, it grinned toothily, tail wagging spastically.
"Awake! Awake!" it said excitedly. "Not awake for days! So worried!" It gushed. Noir moved to sit up, and the diamond pup waved a paw frantically. "No no no pretty horse lady not move!" Again the meat was thrust into her face. "Eat!"
It smelled acrid. It looked raw. But Noir's stomach chose that moment to voice its opinion... loudly, and the pup giggled. Reluctantly, she raised her head and took a bite, finding her new fangs tore the flesh quite easily. The meat felt slimy and tough in her mouth. Her throat closed and she felt her bile rise. The eager, proud look on the pup's face was the only thing that made her swallow. It offered it again, and she accepted, repeating the motions until the hunk was gone. It sat back on its haunches, watching her intently.
"I find topside. Pretty horse lady there... all red on white furs." Its face turned sad. "Not moving, here." It tapped its chest. "I drag to cave, out of sun. Bring water. Every day, when bright and dark come."
"How long...?" Noir asked. The diamond dog tilted its head. She winced as her head began to pound. "How many brights and darks?" Its face lit up with understanding. It splayed its front paws, all eight digits, then, sat on its rump to use its back feet, then flashed one front paw again. Noir's heart sank.
Twenty two days...
She felt hot tears gather in her eyes. She had failed. She was gods knew where, barely alive, injured, and half-changed. The spell was corrupted, she could feel it, and there was no telling how long she has been lost between worlds.
The tears rolled down her cheeks. The pup made a distressed sound.
"No... no no. Too pretty. Please..." it beseeched, scooting forward on its rump to gently touch her muzzle with its cold little nose. Noir flinched at the contact, but the pup did not react. "Horn so shiny, feet so shiny, like gems," it continued. "Not cry."
How could she possibly explain to this simple beast what she had stood to gain and lost? Yet, here it tried to comfort her. Its small paw reached up to touch her horn.
"I go. I come back at bright. Yes?"
She nodded. It grinned again, wagging its tail.
"I bring special meat!"
***
It returned many hours later. Noir had a poor sense of the passage of time, so far back was she in the cave that the light from the outside did not reach her. She heard it before she saw it, the scuffling and shuffling of paws. It carried a torch this time, and she sat up slowly, finding that her body did not ache as much as it did before. It waved.
"Awake! So happy to see awake!" it announced, dropping a sack on the ground. Noir shifted her forelegs around to sit more comfortably on the stone ground, folding her right wing close against her body, keeping the left... thing... as limp as possible to prevent it from causing her pain.
"What did you bring?" she asked. It beamed at her as it dug in the sack.
"Meats!" it grinned, brandishing a big, fat rat. Noir masked her horror.
Oh gods, is that what I ate?
"I catch myself," it announced, clearly proud.
"Oh... good," Noir said, forcing a smile. She owed this creature her life. Manners, girl, manners. Royal castle conduct came back in full force.
"I hide from leader. For pretty horse lady, I say to self," it told her, thumping chest. "Leader beat, know I have, but I still hide."
Noir's heart tinged. This creature had lied and taken punishment for her.
"What is your name, little one?" she asked gently as the pup gutted the rat. It blinked.
"Name?" it echoed. She nodded, smiling, hoping her new fangs were not frightening. It tilted its head again.
"Scrap," it mumbled after a while. "Because is all I get when meal is over..."
"I'm Noir," she replied.
Scrap smiled so widely she thought his face would split in two. "Is Noir... friend?"
"Yes, Scrap. We are friends."
The joy on his face made her feel a little less dead inside.
***
Day by day, Noir grew stronger, and she was eventually able to walk. Scrap brought her rats and water, and sometimes the odd handful of grass when he could find it. She longed for a bath, but that would have to wait until she returned to the castle. If she returned to castle. Diamond dog territory was vast, and Scrap's powers of description were limited. She could be anywhere. The backlash of magic could have flung her to the other side of the sphere Equestria sat on.
She was able to take a full assessment of her transformation: one good wing, one malformed, pearly white coat now bland and dull. Her tail was that of a griffon's, which, while unusual, she took delight in lashing furiously from side to side to see how much wind she could whip up. The fangs took getting used to, as she still bit her tongue now and then when speaking. Scrap giggled as she occasionally had a lisp. It was a temporary inconvenience, she was sure; Celestia would fix everything when she got back and explained. Certainly the Princess would not allow her to remain a monstrosity for the millennia her life would now be. She was a kind and forgiving leader.
One dark, the pup did not come. Noir paced the entrance of the cave nervously. She depended on him still for water and food, the mountainous regions unfamiliar to her, the plants foreign. The sun sank beneath the horizon, and its milky twin slowly rose in the sky. He still did not come. Noir became frantic with worry. She lay at the mouth of the cave, ears flat, despondent.
A rock fell.
She lifted her head.
It was followed by a high pitched yelp. She raised an ear. The yelping grew louder, and with it were voices, deeper angry voices. Noir scrambled to her hooves, ducking just inside the cave entrance. The yelping sounded like Scrap. She receded further into the shadows.
"Here?" a gruff growl demanded. There a silence, then the sound of flesh on flesh, and another yelp. "Here?" the demand came again.
"Smells like pony," another voice offered, this one more nasal. From over the ledge came three full grown diamond dogs. Two trailed behind what was clearly the Alpha, who had Scrap by the ear. Noir began to tremble.
"You hide it here?" the Alpha roared. "Stupid whelp!" He twisted the pup's ear violently and Scrap whimpered, tears in his eyes. "Whole time, we can eat, take horn, take hooves." The Alpha raised his hand to deliver another blow.
Do something do something do something! she screamed at herself.
Panic. Her breath came in short rasps. She was no fighter. Her magic was powerless against foes. There wasn't a single thing her talent was good for in this—
Like a key in a lock, the tumblers fell in sequence.
Noir reached back with her teeth and ripped a primary feather from her good wing. Spitting it on the ground, she then bit savagely at her foreleg until blood ran freely and pooled on the rock. Using her magic, the shimmering emerald aura—her magic was green now?!—lifted the feather, dipped the tip in her still warm blood, and began to scrawl hastily on the cave wall.
"Leave him alone," she said loudly, stepping out of the shadows. The diamond dogs stared, the Alpha male dropping his hand. Scrap's face fell. The Alpha snorted.
"She has horn like jewels," he roared. Noir inclined her head. The Alpha male blinked, dropping Scrap to the ground, and clutched suddenly at his throat.
"Come to me," Noir told Scrap.
The pup scrambled to his feet and ran to her side. Noir enfolded him in her good wing protectively. The other two diamond dogs stared at their pack leader as he continued to claw at his throat, gasping, his eyes beginning to bulge. Noir took a step forward.
"I've never seen someone die from asphyxiation before," she said conversationally. Her tone was cold. The Alpha locked eyes with her, and the look he found gave him no hope. "I've read about it in books... when the brain does not get enough of the vital element in the air it needs to survive, and just... shuts... off..." She flicked her tail in his face. Spittle had begun to run from his slack jaws. Noir's eyes gleamed wickedly. "I also read someponys find the sensation... erotic." Here, she cast a glance down at his nether regions, and laughed. "Hard to tell; you are a dog. Tell me, do you lust for a bitch of your pack?" She turned and offered herself teasingly as the Alpha made an enraged noise.
Noir continued to walk, Scrap molded to her side. "I am leaving," she announced to the other two, paying them no mind as she strolled past. "And I am taking him with me."
They looked at each other, then to their struggling Alpha, then back to Noir. She cast a glance back over her shoulder and lifted her chin. The Alpha made a gurgling sound and dropped to the ground. She narrowed her eyes.
"Do not follow us."
Sleep evaded her that night.
It was not for lack of comfort—the bed, low to the ground and soft, was so comfortable Armistice almost forgot she was lying on anything at all. The room Grecio had shown her to was decorated in the most soothing of themes: a star scape that could only have been inspired by Equestria's own Princess Luna. The ceiling and walls were all the deepest blue, embedded in them twinkled tiny white gems, illuminated by a light source Armistice could not locate. The bed was a circular cushion, much like the ones in the front room, only upholstered in a smooth silk that remained cool to the touch no matter how long Armistice lay upon it. It was blue, like the walls and ceiling, but shimmered when she poked it with her hoof. Gauze drapery hung from a hook in the ceiling to enshroud the cushion, giving it a cozy feeling. Candles hovered in the air, bathing the room in the softest of light. A large window overlooked the Manehattan skyline.
It was enchanting.
Armistice turned to lay on her stomach, head on her forelegs, and sighed through her nose. At 19 summers, she had seen much of the world, more so than anyone else from her empire, and she could not help but get the sense that, for all of Noir's age... the alicorn was not as experienced in life as Armistice was. She had played for the king and queen of Saddle Arabia, entertained the elusive leaders of the Deerfolk, even performed for the normally combative minotaur who inhabited the lands surrounding Tartarus. Noir had spent nearly two hundred years in one city.
Heaving another sigh, the young unicorn flopped onto her back, illuminating her horn and sending one of the floating candles dancing across the room. She kicked a hoof absently, watching the candle twirl. The necklace at her throat hummed softly.
Millenia ago, when Celestia had assumed the throne, the leaders of her empire had declined the offer to join the newly formed kingdom calling itself Equestria. Fearing interference from the crown, they had established a barrier around the perimeters of their land, shielding the existence of their home and their people from the outside world. No one entered. Only those who obtained express permission and swore to a series of oaths were allowed to leave. It was customary for colts and fillies of her age to take a "knowledge quest" to observe the ways of the Outsiders, and to bring back new ideas in science and art. This kept the empire from stagnating, and allowed them to preserve the elements of the medieval society that made her home so very unique.
She divided the candle into two, stretching the flame into a bridge between the wicks.
Armistice had left three winters ago. Her musical skills were unique among even her people, and she craved what any artist did: an audience to share her work with. There were only so many concerts she could hold before everypony in the empire had witnessed her skills, and she no longer stunned and surprised. Having completed the mandatory schooling her empire required earlier than her classmates, she petitioned the Council, obtained permission from her family, and set out into the world of the Outsiders.
Noir was deeply disturbed. Noir also has the potential to be powerful. The foolish attempt at alicorn magic, however, had been her downfall, and something about the Poet's story was not adding up. Armistice allowed the candles to merge back into one, and float back to its original position.
An interesting smell caught her attention. It was sharp, and sweet, with a hint of smokiness. Curious, the unicorn hopped off the cushion and pushed the door open with her hoof. Not as if she was getting any rest to begin with. It seemed to be coming from down the hall... She arched an eyebrow and a faint blue line shimmered in the air.
That way, she thought with a smile, trotting softly down the carpeted corridor.
The blue glimmer led her to a pair of large glass doors, sitting wide open, looking out onto a stone balcony. Leaning against the railing was the diamond dog, Grecio. He had his arms folded, facing the city, the light breeze blowing his ears and fur back. He no longer wore his waistcoat or starched white shirt; instead, he was clad in a loose, simple tunic that was open at the chest. Armistice stepped forward slowly and quietly. Grecio raised a rolled bit of paper that had a glowing ember at the end to his mouth, and inhaled.
"Did I wake you?" he asked, not turning his head. Armistice shook hers in response.
"No. I... I can't sleep." The diamond dog blew a slow lungful of smoke into the night. The smell was the same smokey sweet smell Armistice had detected before.
"I should never have brought you back here," he sighed, rubbing his forehead. Armistice furrowed her brow.
"Why?" She took a step closer, one hoof slightly raised. The breeze felt good on her skin, lifting her mane from her shoulders. Grecio turned to face her. His eyes were pained.
"She thought you could help her," he said, his voice thick. Armistice titled her head. Grecio laughed sharply, more of a bark. "You're just a filly. And Noir's finally gone mad..." He took another drag on the clove and closed his eyes, trying to center himself.
Armistice put both her hooves on the balcony railing to stand on her hind legs and be at his height. "May I?" she asked, indicating the clove.
Grecio looked at her, startled, but offered her the clove. She illuminated her horn, delicately drawing it to her mouth and taking a slow, even hit. She exhaled, eyelids lowered, and with the wind blowing her mane back, the moonlight highlighting her sapphire eyes, made even brighter by the kohl that rimmed them... She was one of the most beautiful things Grecio had ever seen. He took the clove without a word as it hovered back within his reach.
"My empire is ancient," Armistice began. "We do not bow to your Princesses. Nor to their parents before them." She closed her eyes and bowed her head, her horn glowing faintly. A faint hum filled his ears.
In a sudden explosion of light, an aerial view of a land was born in the air before him. A grand castle sat at the top of a mountain, surrounded by verdant forests. The view swerved, diving closer, through the trees, faster, faster, and Armistice continued, her horn glowing so brightly it was almost white. Grecio could feel the heat from it.
"When Equestria formed, we declined to join." The view slowed as it approached the town surrounding the castle, showing taverns, shops, earth ponies and pegasi and unicorn of various professions, all medieval, all cordial and prosperous and healthy. "We do not divide our people as Equestrians do, and live together as one race." The view soared again to show the town from the air, a neat arrangement of streets and houses, criss-crossing orderly. "Magic is valued. Hard work is valued. Everypony is valued."
The mirage blinked out of existence as quickly as it had appeared. Grecio stared at the small cream unicorn, his jaw slack with wonder. Armistice returned the look with an even stare of her own.
"I left on my knowledge quest five years before it is customary in my culture. Do you know why?"
Grecio could only shake his head.
"Unicorns are required to attend mage school. I completed my studies years before scheduled. I had the privilege of mastering several concepts at an early age, and was able to graduate before my peers." She smiled. "All magic was what you call 'alicorn magic' before the Sisters, Grecio." She met his eyes with an intensity that stopped his heart. "Equestria's ponies have divided it into Darkness and Light. My people... we have Time."
He took a slow drag from his clove, looking away. She noted his paw was trembling ever so slightly.
"Do you still think I am 'just a filly’?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.
The diamond dog met her eyes again, and she almost gasped. They were haunted, and ancient, with none of the playful gleam she had seen earlier that evening. He knelt, taking her face in his hands.
"Can you save her...?"
Armistice stared in surprise at the submissive diamond dog.
"Can you?" he implored. The pads on his paws were hot on her cheeks. He was aware of tears in his eyes, and was not ashamed of his weakness before this young creature. In the light of her beauty and her power, she had demonstrated the truth of her abilities - she was the ladder out of his lady's bottomless pit of madness.
"I..." Armistice began, her tone uncertain. She shifted her forelegs, one hoof behind the other. The collar of Grecio's tunic was loose and open, and the unicorn's eyes were drawn to the puckered scar over his heart.
"For years I have watched her, guarded her. In these last few decades, she has lost all hope. Please... Armistice..." His voice softened to a whisper. "I cannot stop her from destroying herself."
Armistice gently removed her face from his grasp, lifting his lowered chin with her muzzle. The diamond dog was allowing his grief to flow freely down his cheeks. It tore at her heart.
"Tell me," she began, lifting a hoof to his chest. "How did this come to be? How are you still alive?" Her expression was stern, but caring. "I want to understand you. I want to understand her. But to do that, I need to trust. And for that to happen, I need the truth."
"I will tell you," he replied solemnly, rising to his feet, clasping her hoof tightly.
The lovely young pianist nodded.
"First I must move my lady to her quarters. I can't leave her sleeping with an unbandaged wing in the front room," he added. "If you would like to wait for me—"
"I'll help," she interrupted. Grecio blinked. Armistice smiled warmly. "I can move her without her even knowing."
The pair headed inside the flat, Grecio closing the balcony doors quietly behind them. Noir slumbered still upon the cushion, her deformed wing having bled slowly and stained the material. Gently, the diamond dog lifted the tattered mass of flesh and feathers in his paw, motioning for Armistice to open the small drawer in the table nearby. With a soft blue glow, the drawer slid free, and a fresh cloth wrap of bandages floated toward him.
"Why won't it heal?" she asked quietly, watching with her brow knit as Grecio tenderly wrapped the damaged tissue. He shook his head.
"She never explained it fully to me. I don't think she knows herself. Something went wrong during her transformation... something her body can't fix." He rested a paw on her flank, and her good wing twitched.
"What does she dream of?" the unicorn continued. Grecio smiled sadly.
"Flying, I think."
"Oh," Armistice replied softly, lowering her eyes. Grecio moved to stand and scoop Noir into his arms. Armistice tapped him on the shoulder, and he looked back at her. She lifted her eyebrows, and he nodded.
That same faint sapphire aura encircled the sleeping alicorn, lifting her soundlessly from the cushion.
"Lead the way," Armistice murmured. Grecio motioned her down the hall. She followed.
He took her to a simple room, large, but sparse, the only furniture an immense cushion bed, like the one in room Armistice slept in, and a bookshelf. The far wall held a fireplace. There were no windows. She lowered Noir onto the cushion while Grecio busied himself with the fire. Armistice pulled one of the numerous blankets over the slumbering alicorn, taking care to not disturb her bandaged wing.
"She's still asleep," Armistice told him, joining him at the hearth. He nodded, watching the small flames lick at the logs.
"The spell will keep her so until morning."
"Magic is unusual for your kind to wield..."
"So is my lifespan," he chuckled, sitting on the rug. She followed suit.
"Tell me how that happened."
Grecio rubbed at the scar on his arm, watching as the flames found fuel in the wood and became a blaze. Shadows danced on the walls behind them.
"Noir freed me from my pack. Gave me my new name. I stayed with her, on her journey back. It had to have taken years... I had no sense of time. Only sunrises and sunsets. We walked for hundreds of those." He folded his legs and rested his paws on his knees. When he stared into the fire, his green eyes took on a look that gave Armistice a chill. Guardian and warrior, so much older than he should have been, this creature had seen more in his lifetime than he wanted to. "Things... did not go the way she hoped with the Sun Princess."
A log popped and cracked. Noir stirred on her cushion. Grecio looked over to ensure she was still asleep.
"When we arrived at this place, it was still a place of small houses and shops. Noir was... beside herself. I was older, not the pup that had saved her in the mountains many years ago."
"Do you understand, Grecio, what I am asking of you?"
"One night, while lying awake in our lodgings—this penthouse had not yet been built—she turned to me in the dark."
"Life in my service will not be easy. The path you walk shall be over shards of crystal and bone."
"She offered me the opportunity of a lifetime," he continued, eyes still on the flames.
"Do you swear yourself to me, as long as I am of this world?"
"This, to bind my body." He extended his forearm, showing Armistice the scar. "With a molten hot horn, she drew the symbol that extended my life."
"This next part, Grecio... hurts me as much you..."
"And this..." He pulled the collar of his tunic open to reveal the scar over his heart. It was puckered, like something spiraled had been plunged into his chest.
"Beat for beat, twined in time, when mine heart stops, so does thine..."
"Bound our souls." He rubbed it absently. "A sliver of her horn lies deep within my heart." Armistice stared with wide eyes. He nodded. "When she passes from Equestria... so shall I."
"That magic is ancient," she said softly.
"I suppose she figured she had nothing to lose," Grecio shrugged. "It was her last great spell. At first, Noir threw herself into research, convinced there was some way to undo what had been done. But she despaired as time went on... Fell into drink. And other habits..." He sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Not two nights ago I dragged her from a stallion's home before the papers got word of it. It was a bloody mess cleaning up her trail to make sure no one remembered." He noted the startled look on the unicorn's face. "Nothing violent or drastic," he added quickly with a chuckle. "Just some greasing of hooves."
"Grecio," Armistice said gently, "to reinstate an Ascension phase... no non alicorn has ever done so."
The diamond dog looked up, meeting her eyes with a sudden look of despair. Armistice smiled.
"But I might be able to reverse it."
He threw his arms around her in a tight embrace, burying his face against her neck. Her mane smelled like the sun and the fields and hope.
"Thank you," he whispered fiercely.
"You must tell me one thing, first," Armistice whispered in return, pulling back to meet the diamond dog's eyes. He nodded. "Noir... was never meant to be an alicorn."
"No," he replied softly.
"No one this unstable can ever have that power," she continued, brow knit. "I know you care for her, but—"
"Reversing what has been done is the best thing, Armistice," Grecio interrupted. The unicorn bit her lip.
"But," she said, her eyes dancing in the firelight, "I think she is lying."
"Lying?" Grecio asked. His tone was surprised, but there was a forced way he feigned the expression, and it told Armistice everything she needed to know.
"She was never Celestia's student... was she?"
Grecio shook his head. "She does not know that I know."
Armistice looked over at the slumbering alicorn with a mixture of compassion and pity. "She must have her reasons for spinning such a story..." With a sigh, she climbed to her hooves. "I will not hear it from you, though. It is hers to tell." The unicorn stared into the fire for several silent moments. "May I stay with her?" she asked. He nodded. Armistice smiled again. "She is not alone. And neither are you." She tapped her necklace. The silver heart glinted in the firelight. " 'Quis Aeternum'," she said. "Forever Supporting."
Grecio rested a paw on her cheek.
"I will wake you both in the morning for breakfast."
The unicorn nodded and watched the diamond dog get to his feet, stopping to check on his mistress before exiting the room.
From the doorway, Grecio watched as Armistice crawled onto the cushion next to Noir, snuggling under her good wing and nestling next to her flank. Noir stirred, and to his delight, did not pull away, instead turning to cradle the young mare in her embrace in a display of intimacy he had never thought her capable of.
Noir had lovers, yes. Strings of them, who could not remember the night before, their only hints at the time spent in her company the headache of too much cider and the ache of a passionate bite or two.
She had never allowed herself to have friends.
The smell of coffee reached her nostrils before the sounds of laughter reached her ears. Noir sat up, blinking, the warm spot at her side a source of confusion. She flexed her good wing. Her head throbbed with the combination of Grecio's sleep spell and the wine she'd imbibed. Unsteadily, she got to her hooves, her limbs aching. The urge to stretch the gnarled growth on her left side was intense, and Noir sobbed under her breath. Only here, alone in her chambers, did she allow herself to be weak.
Each day, the pain was worse, and the weakness more prominent. She could feel her magic decaying inside her; manifesting the glass of cider for Armistice had nearly exhausted her to the point of unconsciousness last night. What good was this elongated life if she spent its eternity in agony?
A single tear found its way down her muzzle and dripped to the floor. Noir closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. I have made my bed, she told herself. I chose this path the day I stole the scroll from the library...
So eager, so young... Warmth was all she had known in those days, basking in the books in the castle library, heart skipping a beat every time Princess Celestia looked her way and nodded her acknowledgement and appreciation...
Noir slammed a hoof into the wall and bit her lip, hard, stifling a roar.
Even her pleasant memories ended in darkness.
"My lady!" Grecio's voice came from the kitchen. "I have prepared your favorite!"
Noir drew herself up and sighed, ruffling her feathers. She could not even recall why she had wanted the young pianist to visit. Something about her magic being unique and un-Equestrian... Her half-formed plans now seemed so hopeless in the rays of Celestia's light. Her life was as it always had been, and could be nothing but. Forcing a smile, the alicorn made her way to the kitchen.
Grecio was leaning on the marble counter top, sipping a mug of black coffee. Armistice sat prettily on a stool, her magic keeping a mug to her muzzle, her eyes closed in delight, tail swishing excitedly side to side. Grecio lifted his eyebrows in greeting at his mistress.
"You remain," Noir said to Armistice. The unicorn set down her mug of heavily creamed coffee and beamed.
"Yes! Grecio is quite the cook! He had me try this..." Her voice trailed off as she turned to look down at her plate, upon which sat two strips of cooked meat. "What was this?" she asked him, blue eyes shining.
"You like bacon?" Noir interjected, eyebrow arched. She lifted a piece from the pan, green aura bringing it to her muzzle, fangs ripping the meat.
Armistice giggled. "I have never tried meat before. But I've also never been to Manehattan or seen much of Equestria. Why limit my experiences?"
Noir chewed, eyeing the cream-colored mare thoughtfully. Grecio coughed politely into his paw. Armistice nodded.
"Ah, Grecio and I were talking while you slept, and I..." Armistice tossed her mane and took a breath, lifting her head to meet Noir full in the eyes. She felt a chill at the icy, unwavering stare the alicorn fixed her with. "I know how to help you."
Noir's heart skipped several beats. Something tiny, bright, and insidious bloomed deep within her chest, and it was all she could do to not extinguish the spark of hope before it could birth itself. Masking the emotion with another bite of bacon, the alicorn nodded for Armistice to continue. Grecio spoke, instead.
"Armistice was explaining to me how her empire uses magic," the diamond dog began, setting a mug of lightly creamed coffee on the counter before his mistress. "Two sugars, as always," he said in reply to her parting lips. Noir nodded. "Apparently, when Celestia and Luna ascended to power with Equestria's creation, magic became divided by sunrise and sunset."
"To a degree," Noir said. "Dark, and light."
"Time," Armistice answered softly, her blue eyes twinkling. "Magic has always been time. It is neither good or evil. The energy itself is arbitrary and the intent lies solely on the caster." She sipped daintily at her coffee. "Your alicorn princesses claimed the sunrise and sunset, making magic in Equestria something mythical and exclusive to those with an external appendage to access the Aether." She tapped her horn. "In truth, magic, like time, is all around us. In the air. In the earth. This is why your earth ponies and your pegasi still have special talents."
Noir watched as Grecio came to stand beside Armistice, noting the closeness. She arched an eyebrow, but said nothing.
"In my empire, we never accepted that division, so our mages never lost their abilities. We have practitioners of magic from all three pony races."
"My, don't you live in a paradise," Noir quipped into her coffee. Grecio shot her a look. Armistice raised a hoof.
"It is understandable for an Outsider to not understand. It is a way of magic lost to Equestria that perhaps even the Princesses themselves may not remember." Noir snorted. At this, Armistice did frown. "Noir, did you not yourself notice my piano playing?"
"I did," the alicorn agreed. "You had no perceptible use of magic outwardly emanating from your horn."
Armistice smiled. "Not outwardly. But I do not need to, for that. You see... I simply borrow from my other selves."
"Pardon?" Noir asked, blinking.
Armistice illuminated her horn, rubbed her forehooves along it, and smeared the soft blue magic on the counter top, making a line. She tapped the center. "We're here," she said. Noir leaned over to watch. Grecio did the same. "I'm playing my piano. Everything before my hoof is the past, and everything after is the future. I exist back to my birth and up to my death on this timeline."
"This is basic time mechanics," Noir interrupted, her tone annoyed. Grecio shushed her. Noir closed her mouth, shocked at the insubordination.
"What you aren't seeing is all of these"—Armistice drew lines below and above her current "timeline"—"in Others where I also exist."
" 'Others?' " Noir asked.
"Places like this, but a little different, or maybe very very strange, but where we still have a presence," Armistice explained. "To do what I do with my piano, I borrow from myself in these Other places, tiny portions of a skill I have trained in and learned, to put together a complete mastery of an art." The cream-colored mare grinned. Noir felt her jaw drop slightly.
"The capabilities of this magic are astounding, my lady," Grecio began. "How this has been lost to Equestria is a mystery."
Because it's too powerful for anyone but the Sisters to know about. Noir thought to herself. It sounds like the magic of Chaos... Armistice's sweet voice broke into her internal reverie.
"Using this knowledge, I think I can help you, Lady Noir." The unicorn hopped down from her stool, using her magic to lift a piece of bacon to her muzzle. "Tell me," she said, tapping her silver heart necklace and chewing, "have you ever heard of chronospheres?"
~Melody of Loyalty: An Interlude~
The kingdom on the cliff glistened in the rising sun. Scrap—no, his name was Grecio now—raised his paw to shield his eyes from the brightness. Noir lashed her tail from side to side. The sight of the city was clearly causing her agitation.
"This is Canterlot," she said simply.
"You said the capital was in a forest," the diamond dog replied gently. His command of language now was far superior to the stilted conversations they'd had in the dark, cold cave so long ago, and Noir cast him a sidelong glance, her blue eyes narrowed. Grecio had grown; no longer the skinny pup catching rats for the injured alicorn, he had developed long, muscled arms and broad shoulders. His muzzle was wide and stout, like a bulldog's, his grey coat thick and silky. Exposed to fresh air and the nourishing light of Celestia's sun, the diamond dog had matured into a prime example of what his species could become if given the chance.
"I... must have been feverish. The capital hasn't been in Everfree Forest for centuries," she answered after a while. "And I've been missing from Equestria for a long time." She stretched her good wing.
Grecio watched as the young alicorn stared at the palace dominating the skyline, her fangs protruding over her lower lip. There was none of the confidence she had displayed during their journey through the wastelands and mountains present now.
Noir shifted her weight from one forehoof to the other. "The sun rises well today," she observed.
Grecio frowned, setting the bag with their supplies down on the ground. "Why do you hesitate?" he asked.
"There is still parchment and ink from the last town, yes?" Noir queried instead of answering him. Her green aura lifted the flap of the supply bag. The diamond dog knelt and helped her search.
"Two sheets and maybe enough for one letter."
"Quill?"
"None."
Noir made a pained face and sighed, turning her head back to her right wing and placing a primary feather firmly between her teeth. Tensing her entire body, she closed her eyes and yanked, making a small sound of pain. Blood dripped from her wing onto the ground. Grecio watched with sad eyes. Noir arranged a sheet of parchment in the air before her, holding the inkwell aloft and dipping her feather into the black liquid. She moved the makeshift quill slowly, thoughtfully, every now and then pausing to frown, at one point fighting back tears. When she was done, she blew softly on the ink to dry it, and rolled the parchment tightly.
"Take this," she told Grecio, "to Canterlot Castle."
The diamond dog gently grasped the letter in his large paw. Noir had not bothered to seal it; she knew he could not read. "A-alone?" he stammered. "They'll kill me!"
"Tell the guards at the gates you bear a message for Princess Celestia from Noir de Plume," the alicorn replied, her eyes distant and sad. "Give me your paw."
Grecio extended his other arm, and she nudged it with her muzzle, turning the palm facing upward. Her aura dipped the feather into the inkwell once more, and the pointed tip danced in intricate curlicues and vines. When she was done, Grecio stared down at the glistening design. It matched the sunken brand on her flanks.
"They shall not harm you."
Grecio eyed the mark dubiously, but only for a moment. Noir had not let him down all these years... No reason to assume she would start now.
"I will wait for you here."
"So I told Star Skipper there was no way that new breastplate was solid steel. Forty bits?! Plated, if best!" the blue guard snorted. His purple companion chuckled in agreement.
"Some day he'll have to learn that buying 'outside the armory' is not the deal he thinks it is," the other stallion smirked. "Woah..." He held out a hoof, indicating the figure making its way up the path towards them. "Wind Blaze, do you... Sweet Celestia, is that—"
"It's a bucking diamond dog," Wind Blaze interrupted, eyes wide. "I can't believe it."
"It is... Is it honestly walking up here?" the other guard asked, jaw dropping. Wind Blaze just stared. His companion began to panic, hopping from hoof to hoof. "What do we do? We're city gate guards, not real ones!"
"You sound like a ninny!" Wind Blaze hissed. "And for Celestia's sake, stop prancing! You look like a fool!"
"We don't even have weapons!" the stallion whinnied. His voice climbed several octaves.
"Are you gelded or something?!" Wind Blaze snapped.
"I didn't sign up for this!" the cowardly guard almost sobbed.
Grecio approached the two Earth ponies slowly, holding out the paw with the rolled parchment, trying to look as non-threatening as possibly. He watched the purple stallion to the left of the gate dance from hoof to hoof. Was it customary in Equestria to greet strangers this way? Noir had not mentioned anything of the sort.
"See, Plum Tree, now it's staring at you. Probably thinks you taste better because you're more athletic," Wind Blaze laughed.
"I am not here to eat anypony," Grecio protested. Both stallions froze at the sound of his voice. Grecio took this as encouragement to continue, and proffered the parchment. "I bring a letter for Princess Celestia."
Four eyes went from the diamond dog's large paw to the rolled parchment, to his honest bulldog face and open green eyes, back to the parchment, and back to his face again, before both ponies burst out laughing.
"You bring... a letter... for Princess... Celestia?!" Plum Tree managed to gasp between hysterical barks.
Grecio furrowed his brow. He was unsure what he had said that was so funny. "Yes. From Noir de Plume."
"Buddy, I don't care if that's from Nightmare Moon herself, you are not getting into Canterlot, much less to the castle," Wind Blaze chortled.
"But—" Grecio began. He frowned. His cheeks felt hot. His did not like these stallions laughing at him. It reminded him of the before times, when the other dogs would surround him and kick him, calling him names because he was small. "Noir said I must—"
"Gimme this." Plum Tree snatched the parchment from Grecio's paw. Grecio growled and lunged for it.
"No! That is for the Princess!" he protested.
"I'm being attacked!" Plum Tree shouted. "Help! Help at the city gates! A diamond dog is storming Canterlot!"
Wind Blaze dove at Grecio, knocking the bulldog-like creature to the ground. Grecio felt the air leave his lungs as a hoof hit his ribs, and curled into a ball as another found his abdomen. Shouting. So much shouting... and hoofbeats on cobblestones. Alarm trumpets sounded, and Grecio remained curled in a ball, wishing and willing the awfulness to go away.
The entire assault, he held his marked paw aloft, displaying Noir's ink-work like a magic charm.
It did not protect him.
The cell stank of urine and straw. To Grecio's ultra-sensitive nose, it was odious to the point of causing him nausea. He wrinkled his muzzle and pulled himself further into the dark corner, only his large hindpaws visible in the moonbeams shining through the barred window.
"What're we gonna do with it?"
"Dunno. Plum Tree sent word to the palace hours ago."
Grecio's ear twitched at the voices. These were new; lower in octave and pitch, they sounded older and more experienced than the guard ponies who had accosted him at the city gates. His stomach growled, reminding him how long it had been since he last had eaten. Would they feed him, he wondered?
'What did it want, anyway?" the softer of the two voices asked.
"To deliver a letter to Celestia," the other answered, scoffing. "As if that would garner it entrance."
"A letter?" Soft Voice echoed curiously.
"Yeah, some scroll."
"From a diamond dog," Soft Voice continued. The other pony made an irritated noise.
"I said yeah, you hard of hearing?"
"Diamond dogs don't have a written language."
"So?"
"Did anyone bother reading it?"
"Probably just a ruse to get through the gates. Why bother?"
"Because a society that doesn't have a written language wouldn't come up with a plot that incorporated a letter!" Soft Voice snapped. Grecio heard hoofs stomp. "Did you learn nothing in guard school? Was that deduction and intuition course a waste on you? Where's the damn letter?"
"On the desk..." the other pony replied, his voice somewhat chastised. Grecio imagined his ears must be lowered the way Noir's were when she was thinking of something sad.
He heard the scrapings of paper against paper as Soft Voice unrolled the parchment. Silence ensued for several long moments, finally broken by the guard pony's gentle question.
"Who did it say this was from?"
"I dunno, Noir de something or other," his companion guard replied, obviously losing interest.
Hooves on stone made Grecio look up, and Soft Voice was standing outside his cell door. He was a tall pony, elegant and auburn, with a short gray mane that poked out from beneath his guard helmet. Sharp gold eyes pierced the darkness, and Grecio met them.
"From whom do you bring this letter?" he asked.
"Noir de Plume," Grecio answered, his voice gravelly, his throat dry from lack of water.
"They said you had a mark on your paw when you were arrested."
Grecio nodded, once. The pony narrowed his eyes.
"Approach the bars. Slowly."
Grecio climbed silently to his feet and padded to the door. The pony lifted his muzzle slightly, his nostrils flaring. Grecio recognized the expression; he was on the hunt, closing in on his prey.
"Show me," he commanded.
The diamond dog turned his paw over, revealing the black ink mark on his palm. Soft Voice sucked air in through his teeth, his eyes widening. The other guard looked over.
"What is it, Sterling?"
"Go to the palace," Sterling said. "Now. Celestia needs to know about this."
Grecio stood impassively in the foyer outside the throne room, flanked by the two city guards. The manacles at his wrist and ankles pinched painfully; they were sized for ponies, and his anatomy was far more muscular than a typical stallion's ankles. He shook the chains experimentally. The guard to his right glared.
"Knock that off," the pony snapped.
"I am not a threat," Grecio replied gently.
"You assaulted the gates of Canterlot and took down three of our best guards," he shot back. Grecio arched an eyebrow, something he learned from Noir, at this stretching of truth.
"If those ponies were the best of your guard, I fear for your city in the event of an actual attack," the diamond dog replied.
To his left, Sterling snorted back a chuckle. The dog's Equestrian was accented strangely, but Sterling could not place the origin. If he was indeed traveling with Noir de Plume... Though how she was still alive was a mystery.
"Celestia will see you now," the royal guard announced. Grecio lifted his eyes as the massive door swung open before them, and the guard that was not Sterling—he still did not know his name—nudged him unkindly in the small of the back with his hoof.
"Speak when spoken to. Avert your eyes. And most of all—"
"Why is this diamond dog in chains?"
The voice was powerful, elegant, yet still somehow gentle. Celestia descended the dais from upon which her throne sat in slow, even steps, her ethereal pastel mane shimmering in the moonlight. Grecio found himself speechless. If Noir was a pretty pony, this creature was beyond all conceivable beauty in the universe; more lovely that the purest gem he had ever laid eyes upon below ground.
"He assaulted the city, my Princess," the unkind guard said, dropping to a bow. He kicked Grecio in the back of the knee, forcing the diamond dog to a bow as well. "Bow, cur," he hissed.
"I was under the impression this individual arrived bearing a message for my royal person," Celestia continued, the sound of her delicate hooves on the marble flooring echoing throughout the candlelit chamber. Grecio looked up from his bow.
"I do," he said.
"Speak when spoken to!" the guard snapped.
"You will allow me to conduct this audience, Butterwort," Celestia said curtly.
Grecio was unsure what the pony's name meant, but it sounded fitting. Butterwort made a face as though he tasted something bad in his mouth.
"You may rise," Celestia continued, nodding to Grecio. He nodded, rising to his feet. "Please unchain him."
"My Princess, he was implicated in the injuries of three guards at the gates," Sterling interjected. Celestia offered Sterling a warm smile.
"Your concern for my safety is touching, Sir Sterling, but I do believe I am safe within my own walls. There is nothing about this diamond dog that tells me he means me harm. Please... The shackles." She gestured with a wing at the manacles.
Grecio sighed with relief as Sterling removed the metal bindings from his wrists and ankles. The blood began to rush back into his fingers and toes. He wriggled them for a moment. Celestia watched him quietly, her rainbow mane flowing with a wind only she could feel.
"Where is this message?" she asked finally. Grecio blinked, realizing the magnificent princess pony was addressing him.
"It was taken from me," he answered.
"I have it, my Princess," Sterling chimed.
"Return it to his person," Celestia said.
Sterling passed the scroll to Grecio, who took with back with gratitude.
"Now leave us."
"Pardon?" Sterling blinked.
"My Princess—" Butterwort began.
"He has suffered enough of Canterlot's 'hospitality.' I would like to hear what he has to say," she continued, flicking her tail. "Delayed as the message may be. You are dismissed."
Butterwort looked as though he were about to say something else, but Sterling nodded.
"As you wish, my Princess."
Grecio watched as the city guards trotted out of the throne room, the doors swinging closed behind them. He suddenly felt very exposed, alone in this large room with a creature who commanded the entire city he had seen from the hills.
"You have a letter for me, my diamond dog," Celestia prompted gently. "From someone whose name I have not heard in quite some time."
"Yes," he replied, clearing his throat. He proffered the scroll, watching in awe as a soft light gold aura emanated from her horn and drew the parchment to her. "Noir said it had to go only to you."
"Noir..." Celestia murmured. Her magenta eyes traveled over the scribblings Grecio understood to be words. He saw sadness in them, and anger, and when she reached the end... resignation. "How did you come across this pony...?"
"Grecio," he answered after a length, realizing she was asking for his name. "Er, it was Scrap, but she gave me a new name after we had spent so long together."
"Grecio," Celestia echoed, smiling faintly. "Yes, very like her." He lifted his ears, confused, but also curious. "Tell me, please... how you came to know this pony?"
Grecio nodded, retelling the tale of their first encounter, how he found the bleeding, dehydrated alicorn near death in the rocky outlands of diamond dog territory. Celestia listened silently, not interrupting once, her face looking pained when he described Noir's horribly deformed wing.
"How long has it taken you to reach Canterlot?" she asked finally when he reached the end of his story. Grecio frowned in thought.
"I... I am not good with... numbers?" he tried. "But... summers." He held up four fingers of one paw and three on another.
"Seven years you wandered, dear gods," Celestia breathed, closing her eyes. "And still her wing bleeds?"
"Yes. But I am confused... She said the capital was in a forest., but knew to come here... and you seem to be a very kind pony. Why would you not welcome her home?"
"Grecio," Celestia sighed, her voice sounding sad and far away, "I am so very sorry to be the one to tell you this... but Noir is not the pony you think she is."
"She was your student!" he replied. Celestia shook her head, and the diamond dog saw tears glitter in the lashes of her eyes.
"Can you read, Grecio?"
"No," he answered.
"Then I must ask you to trust me, and believe what I tell you to be the truth," the Sun Sister continued. "Will you walk with me?"
Without waiting for an answer, the alicorn started for a door to the side of the throne room. Grecio ran a few steps to catch up, his paws slapping loudly on the marble. When he reached her, Celestia, motioned with her wing, and the door opened, revealing a stone path lined with hedges taller than she. Starlight sparkled in the midnight sky, and the moon shone down upon them brightly.
"Your Equestrian is accented," she said softly as they walked. Grecio looked over at her. "Not surprising, as Noir is not a native of my nation."
"There is more than one pony place?" Grecio asked, keeping stride with the alicorn easily. Celestia nodded.
"Many. The one Noir calls home is Prance. She was part of a work study program in my castle centuries ago."
"Centuries?!" Grecio exclaimed. "But—"
"Noir is not an alicorn, Grecio. Nor was she ever my student," the elegant white princess continued. "Who she is now is the result of a very unfortunate set of circumstances I wish I could have prevented, but ultimately, she brought upon herself."
"I do not understand," Grecio said, furrowing his brow.
"You will," Celestia answered gently.
They continued to follow the stone patch through the hedges, Grecio wondering where the turns were taking them. Everything this pony princess was saying he wanted to deny, but in his gut he knew it was the truth. Something about the ethereal being put her above the ability to lie. It was in her eyes.
"Here," she said finally.
They had reached a clearing, in which were several statues. A rearing mare, a rampant stallion, a strange dragon horse bird mish-mash of a creature... and many others. The one Celestia stopped before was of three unicorn fillies, all smiling as they poured over a large book.
"What is this?" Grecio asked.
"These three young ponies had their futures taken from them," Celestia replied sadly, lowering her eyes. "In their zeal to become my student, it cost them their lives." Grecio watched as a single tear rolled down the alicorn's perfect ivory cheek. "I still blame myself for not seeing the jealousy in Noir's heart; for not anticipating her actions."
"What... what happened?" Grecio whispered, afraid of the answer.
"A fire. Started by Noir, it trapped the three in the library where they were studying late for the final exam. I do not know how or why, only that they could not escape the smoke and flames."
"No..." Grecio breathed.
"Before she could be apprehended, Noir had misused both a transformation spell and a teleportation spell. She was nowhere to be found in Equestria." Celestia took one final look at the smiling fillies, forever immortalized in their youth and joy. "It makes sense now; she was trapped in the aether. Why it chose to expel her when and where it did I do not understand, but she is fortunate the energies did not destroy her."
I don't know that they didn't... Grecio thought.
"I cannot welcome her here, Grecio," Celestia continued. "Her letter shows no remorse, no acceptance, no admission of wrongdoing and no growth. But I cannot have somepony of her potential and with her talent wandering free in my lands unsupervised."
"She will magic her way out of a cell," he said, remembering how she handled the alpha. Celestia nodded sadly.
"I need her in a gilded cage," the princess replied. Grecio cocked his head.
"I do not understand."
"With time, I believe she can be an asset to Equestria, but so much must be done with her heart to be a worthwhile pony. And you, Grecio... I see in you potential that may frighten the other ponies, but I value."
"Me?" he echoed. Celestia nodded.
"Eloquent, given the time to learn, and fresh air and sunlight, look at how your body has grown. You are not like your cave dwelling brethren."
"Noir has taught me to speak," he said, feeling the need to defend the pony. Regardless of her history, she had saved his life, and freed him from his chains. She was his only friend.
"Be her guardian. I have a place for her, if you can swear your services to watch over her actions and report them back to me."
"Guardian or spy?" he countered. Celestia shook her head.
"You have spent seven years with her now... you know she is still just a child in her heart. For all her centuries, most were lost in time... Grecio, this is the only option that saves her life... and her soul."
The diamond dog looked down at his paws. They were large, perfect for throwing rocks aside and digging in the cold dirt for gems.
Perfect for wielding a sword... Celestia's warm voice tickled his mind.
His head snapped up in shock, and the alicorn princess smiled.
"You will learn to read, to write... and to fight."
"To protect Noir..." he murmured. Celestia nodded.
"To protect Noir."
"I accept."
"Take this."
There was a brilliant flash of light, the same light gold aura he witnessed in the throne room, and he raised a paw to shield his eyes. A sword hovered just before his muzzle, sheathed in a brown leather case, the hilt was silver; on the pommel was the same mark Celestia bore on her flanks. He hesitantly reached for the weapon.
"Should anyone question you, the seal will protect you. Use it only for good, Grecio."
His paw closed around the hilt. It felt warm. He drew it close to him, and the light faded.
"There is one last thing," Celestia said. Her voice was serious now. Grecio met her eyes. They were deep, and ancient. "I cannot know what the energies of the aether have done to Noir, and I do not know what her forcing wings upon herself has caused her body to go through. I need her to try - to find a path that she walks down that does not lead to self destruction and that lets her use her talent for the good of Equestria and for herself. To do that... I need her to live."
The diamond dog nodded slowly.
"She will not accept a gift from me. Nor can I allow her in the city—the families of the fillies lost in the fire still remember her name. She must think her longevity is a result of her own doing, and this requires trickery. It will hurt you."
"Hurt me?" he asked. Celestia nodded sadly.
"I will give you a scroll in return to give to her. It will detail the assignment I am offering in lieu of prison, and the 'spell' to give you a longer life."
"But you said—"
"I will lengthen your years, and she will borrow from you," Celestia interrupted. "I am the only pony powerful enough to perform such a spell. I shudder to think what would happen were Noir to actually try."
Grecio pinched his brow together, genuinely afraid for the first time since the incident at the gates.
"I'm sorry... truly. There is no other way to do this," the alicorn said sadly. She lowered her horn to his forehead, touching the pointed tip to his flesh.
His heart exploded. Grecio roared. Time stopped, ran backwards, and started again. He saw the stars swirl into a thousand suns, die, and be born again. A searing hot pain burned the flesh of his right inner forearm.
"It is done."
Panting, Grecio opened his eyes to find himself laying on the grass, flat on his back. He sat up slowly, his head spinning, and looked at his forearm. It throbbed awfully, a red welt the shape of a lemniscate glistening wetly in his fur.
"You are brave, Grecio," Celestia told him as he climbed to his feet, clutching his sword. She proffered a scroll with her aura, and he took it, unsure what to say. "I wish you well."
"What do I—" he began.
Celestia blinked him out of the garden.
Act Two ~ Adagio: Scene I
Of the two beings present, Grecio was not the one Armistice expected to recognize the spheres.
"Chrono-what-now?" Noir blinked, sipping her coffee with an incredulous arch of her eyebrow. That expression was beginning to infuriate the unicorn. As if she knew everything...
"Chronospheres," Armi replied, tapping her necklace again. "It's how my people channel our magic."
"What are they?" the diamond dog asked, his ears lifted in curiosity. Noir continued to give her a look that was part superiority, part uncertainty.
"My empire - Epoch - sits in a crater," she began, nibbling her bacon piece.
"Epoch?" Grecio echoed. Armistice nodded.
"Back before the Sisters claimed the land in Equestria's name, it was simply another continent on the face of Equuis. Early settlers of my empire discovered the crater, and found it verdant and easily defensible. They made it our home." She polished off the bacon and licked her lips, her tail wagging unconsciously in pleasure. "After several generations, my people noticed their inherent abilities to practice magic fading—unicorns could not channel through their horns, pegasi could not fly much higher than above the treetops, and earth ponies were not even earning their cutie marks. This would mean the end of our civilization, unless somepony could solve the mystery of the fading magic."
"The spheres?" Grecio offered, refilling her coffee cup.
"At the base of the crater that we had made our home was a giant stone. It radiated a strange force; energy distorted time itself the closer you got to it, and reality split into threes and fours and fives. It was this stone that was bleeding the magic from my people. The best minds of our empire came together to harness the power of the stone, and they were able to channel its energy and save magic in Epoch."
Armistice tapped her necklace again.
"Everypony is given a shard of the stone when they are born, and taught to bind their energies to it. We draw from the Chronosphere, and with its power, we have access to magic and abilities beyond those known to Equestria. That is why we sealed ourselves away when Celestia demanded we join her new nation; she refused to allow us to keep our sphere."
Noir had listened in silence thus far. Parts of Epoch's history stank of nationalism—even Celestia was not that harsh of a dictator. Noir, however, was not going to be the pony to point that out. She set her empty coffee mug down on the marble counter top. "And with this power... you can fix me?"
"I could never initiate an ascension spell," Armistice reiterated. "Powers of the Sisters are beyond everypony, and were I to try, I fear what would become of me. But, if we could locate another sphere, I can try to heal you."
"And you could truly..." Noir's voice trailed off. She looked down at her mangled wing. The weight of everything it represented crushed her, and the pitiful creature fought a sob. Armistice's heart tinged. She felt guilty for her previous annoyance, and hopped off her stool to nuzzle the alicorn's neck.
"I can truly try," she said gently.
Tears stung Noir's eyes.
"I just need to find another source sphere. This one is not enough to power such a spell," the unicorn continued.
"I know," Grecio said solemnly. Armi looked up, her eyes wide. Noir did, as well.
"What?" The alicorn asked, mouth agape. Grecio nodded, his green gold eyes suddenly ancient and serious.
"You said your sphere was at the base of a crater." He looked directly at Armistice. She shivered under his gaze. "Noir... that was where I found you. My pack... our lair was in the hills near the crest of such a place. I remember the strangeness that came from it. We feared the place."
"Celestia would be aware of such a power source in her lands," Noir shot back. Her chest was hot; she was not sure why she felt so combative. It may have been the sudden onslaught of an emotion she had dared not to allow herself in so many years: hope.
Grecio narrowed his eyes. Was Noir truly daring to call him a liar? The expression was momentary, however, and he immediately let it pass, remembering all that his mistress had gone through.
Armistice was oblivious to the brief insubordination passing between the two immortals. "Is there really another sphere on Equuis?!" she squeaked, her tail swishing rapidly side to side. "Oh my stars, that would be the discovery of a lifetime!" She began to hop from one hoof to the other, dancing about Grecio in a display of excitement that betrayed the mature facade she had shown the evening before. "I wasn't sure—I mean, that another—oh my stars!"
Grecio could not help but laugh, and he caught Noir smiling just a little despite herself. The unicorn was indeed showing her 19 years of age.
"If I return to Epoch with news of another complete sphere..." Her words trailed off, her expression becoming dreamy.
"Grecio," Noir interrupted gently. The diamond dog looked up from admiring the lovely expression on the cream-colored unicorn's face. "Do you remember where you found me all those years ago?" He shook his head.
"I do not," he replied, his ears flattening in regret. "I only remember the strangeness and the way the ground scooped. But if we were to locate the mountain range, I could find it again." He tapped his nose. "The place had a smell."
"A smell?" Armi's ears perked straight up. "We have never detected a scent from the Chronosphere. I am interested to know what you can sense."
Grecio gathered the empty mugs from the counter top and placed them in the sink, tapping the faucet with his large paw to start the water flowing. As the sink filled and the soap made the bubbles, he watched Noir's face. She was retreating into her thoughts; he knew the look. Her sky blue eyes were becoming distant as she began to do something she had not done in decades: plan for the future.
"I will be in the study," Noir announced after a long moment of silence. "Thank you, Grecio, for the repast."
"You are most welcome, my lady," he replied, masking his surprise at the gratitude. He watched her leave the kitchen with an arched eyebrow. Armistice nudged him in the small of his back with her muzzle.
"The smell!" she prompted. "Tell me about it?" The diamond dog chuckled at her eagerness as he washed the mugs.
"Not so much a smell as a lack of one," he explained as the unicorn plopped down on the floor next to him. Her aura shimmered in conjunction with her necklace, a faint hum emanating from the silver heart as she used it to retrieve a towel from the counter to assist in drying the mugs. Grecio nodded his thanks. "Everything seemed to be... muted... the closer you got to the crater's base. Sounds, smells, even colors. It bled life from the world."
"Not life. Time," Armi explained, her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth as she concentrated on getting every last drop of water off the mug's interior. Grecio suppressed a chuckle at the adorable idiosyncrasy, her powerful display of magic the night before in combination with her willingness to help Noir and her friendly demeanor, in addition to her youth and beauty... Grecio felt himself dangerously close to falling for a creature he knew he could never have. "You were literally sensing the word slow to a stop."
"How could your people harness such a power?" he asked, taking the dry dishes and placing them in the cabinet.
"It happened long before my birth," she replied, shrugging. "They say in the time before Time, Equuis was bombarded with these stones from beyond. It shaped the land. Most are buried deep within the planet, and our philosophers think it is where magic comes from."
"But then why would being so close to one prevent your people from using magic naturally?"
"We think maybe the proximity of the stone was what caused the dwarfing of our magic," Armistice answered, hopping up on her hind hooves to snatch the last piece of bacon from the pan as Grecio placed in in the sink.
She spoke such mature words, and yet her tail wagged with childlike delight. The diamond dog was enchanted.
Noir glowered from the hallway as the beginnings of jealousy stirred within her. Grecio was her companion—the alicorn shook her head. The emotion was illogical. Grecio was her protector and servant, nothing more.
She was unloveable.
She always had been.
A soft knock at the door interrupted Noir's concentration. She looked up, frowning.
"What?" she demanded. Grecio's ears flattened, and the diamond dog proffered a steaming mug of coffee. Noir instantly felt guilty.
"You've been in here for most of the day—missed lunch and supper. I thought you might desire something to perk you up," he explained.
"Grecio, I—"
"It is forgiven, my Lady," he said gently, setting the mug on Noir's desk. Maps and books were spread about, spilling onto the floor. He took care not to disturb them. "Armistice and I have been setting aside rations and packing what we can in preparation for the journey, whenever that may be. Have you found anything?"
Noir sighed, pointing to a mountain range far south of Canterlot. "I've narrowed it down to this region, as best as I can, based on historical counts from all over Equuis of 'falling night stars' and strange events." She tapped the map with her hoof. "Given the distance of the Badlands from Canterlot and how long it took us to reach the capital... I'm feeling... hopeful."
Grecio peered down at the map and shook his head. "I wish I could be of assistance. I remember nothing of the topography."
"Nor should you. Most of your young life was underground."
Silence fell over the two beings, and Noir lifted the mug to her lips with her green aura. The coffee was strong, with just enough milk and sugar to mask the bitter taste of the beans. She was struck with the sudden realization she had no idea how to make the beverage. Grecio did not notice the tears filling her eyes, and Noir was thankful, blinking them away.
I am truly helpless without him... she thought. Where would I be had I not rescued him?
Rescued? Hardly... She had helped him exchange one collar for another form of servitude. A slave in herhousehold, with his Mistress bitterly jealous of some new filly when she had no right or reason to be.
"My Lady?" Grecio asked. "Are you alright?"
"What?" Noir asked, startled from her thoughts.
"The mug..." He waved his paw at the desk, and Noir looked down. It was breaking, constricted by her magic, coffee leaking from the spidery cracks onto the map in fat, hot drips.
"Oh Luna's Feathers!" Noir hissed, moving the mug away from the map.
"Let me," he said gently, taking the broken crockery and dabbing at the map with the fur of his forearm. "These old parchments are finicky, but what's one more stain, hmm?" He smiled warmly at her. Noir felt her anxieties melt as he reached up behind her ear and scratched tenderly. "I'll bring another cup."
"Thank you... old friend," Noir murmured.
Grecio's ears lifted sharply. Had he heard correctly? Noir was capricious and moody, but not given to sentimentality. At least, not during the century of their companionship. Was she...? Certainly not...? Was Noir jealous of Armistice?
"My Lady?" the diamond dog asked softly. Noir shook her head and fluffed her feathers.
"I said I feel my wing is on the mend," she replied with a tired smile, all fang and no mirth. "I am as sure as I will be about the crater's most likely location. I wish to leave tomorrow before sunrise."
"As you wish."
"Inform our guest, and ensure supplies are secured. I do not intend to return to Manehattan." The alicorn cast a look about her study that was part sadness, part fear.
A gilded cage, but one of her own doing?
Perhaps.
It was time for Noir to take flight.
"I don't understand why we just didn't take a hot air balloon," Armistice complained, trotting alongside Grecio. The sun beat down upon the trio mercilessly. To the west, jagged mountains threw menacing shadows upon the rocky terrain, but they offered no relief. Noir kept pace behind them, shielding her face with her wing, and rolled her eyes.
"I explained, Armi," she sighed.
"If Celestia was going to stop you from leaving Manehattan, she would have done so long before now," the unicorn replied, kicking at a dirt clod. It disintegrated with a *puff!*
"And the less conspicuous my departure, the better," Noir countered. "I also am not absolutely certain of our destination. A balloon was not a plausible travel option."
"We shall manage," Grecio chimed in, smiling at Armistice warmly. The cream-colored unicorn blushed slightly and nodded.
"Sorry for whining. How will we know when we're there?" she asked, changing the subject. Noir made a frustrated sound, and Armi lowered her ears. Grecio looked back at the alicorn and frowned.
"I'm hoping for one of two things, or both: Grecio's senses to kick in and recognize where he grew up and detect the 'strangeness,' and your pendant to react to the source material."
"But this Chronosphere is not the sphere my necklace was carved from," Armistice countered, using her magic to shift the weight of her saddlebags. Noir chewed the inside of her cheek, looking apprehensive.
"I know..."
"Wing and a prayer?" Armistice offered with a smile. She then blinked."Oh, oh gosh, I didn't mean—"
Noir laughed, much to Armi's surprise. "No offense taken."
Grecio kept quiet during the exchange. He could not quite figure out the relationship dynamic between the two mares, and Noir's tendency to be prickly and unpredictable made defining their friendship doubly difficult. He knew from his evening chats with Armistice the unicorn was desperately trying; they had been on the road for nearly a month now, passing the last town a week ago. Grecio had been forced to spend the night outside the city limits—his presence had agitated the locals, and they had barely accepted Noir's strangeness. It would seem Celestia's influence was less and less the further they traveled from central Equestria. Noir had checked her map the following morning and determined the town was on the borders of Equestria and the Badlands, a place the Sun Sister's rule had no meaning.
The sun had begun its evening journey, sinking slowly behind the jagged mountains enough that the shadows had finally reached the tired trio. Noir stopped suddenly.
"Make camp," she announced.
"Here?" Grecio asked, looking back at her with one ear lowered. "We're exposed—"
"It's desolate, Grecio," Noir interrupted. "We've not seen another living being for days. We'll hug the base of this mountain for shelter and build a fire."
"No offense, Noir, but you've never been outside your penthouse... I mean, not in the last hundred years. Things aren't safe where Celestia's rule—"
"Celestia's rule can bite my ass," Noir hissed angrily. Her fangs flashed and she whipped her strange tail side to side. "Make camp."
With that, she stormed off to the nearest mountain's base. Grecio watched in silence as Armistice stared, mouth open.
"What prompted that?" the pianist asked finally. Grecio sighed, shaking his head, offering to take the saddlebags from the tired unicorn.
"Physical activities take more out of her than she likes to let on. Her wing causes her constant pain." Though this outburst seemed different, he thought to himself. "Let it pass. I'm sure it's nothing more than a flare of temper."
"You make many excuses for her," Armistice observed as they followed after the recalcitrant alicorn. Grecio placed a hand on the hilt of his sword, rubbing the pad of his thumb over the raised celestial mark on its hilt. "On the balcony, you were on your knees with tears in your eyes, begging me to help you save her."
"I was."
"And now?"
"My desire to ease her suffering has not changed."
Armistice titled her head, but held her tongue as they approached Noir. She had attempted to gather rocks in a circle and was using her magic to scoop a fire pit. The effort was pathetic to observe—her weak green aura struggling to move the dirt and debris, the strain evident on Noir's face. Armistice's annoyance was replaced instantly by pity, and shame flooded her heart for her previous seditious thoughts.
Grecio went immediately to Noir's side, dropping the saddlebags gently on the ground. He helped her finish the fire pit wordlessly, resting a paw on her neck. Noir looked defeated.
"Rest," he suggested softly. "Armistice and I will tend to dinner. This journey is too much of a strain on you, my Lady."
Noir looked away, toward the peaks of the mountains, where the last remnants of the setting sun eked through. "I will never fly," she whispered. Grecio felt his heart tinge.
"Noir..."
The alicorn met his eyes, and the diamond dog saw tears in them. Only for a moment—she blinked rapidly and they were gone.
"Do you sense anything?" she asked, avoiding the emotional exchange altogether. Grecio shook his head. Noir frowned, nodding. "Wake me for supper, then."
Flexing his paws, Grecio dug at the rocky topsoil until the softer dirt beneath was exposed. He then knelt and undid Noir's bedroll, laying it flat on the now pillowy surface. He stood slowly, surveying the area, his eyes shining in the fading light. Like it or not, his species was built to survive in this barren wasteland, and his superior eyesight located the dead tree branches he needed to erect makeshift tent poles. The alicorn watched as he jammed the branches firmly into the ground, his lithe musculature writhing beneath the fur in his arms. She was reminded of how ferocious he really was, for all his cultured veneer. After he spread the tarp across the string he tied between the branches, Noir curled up upon the bedroll as tightly as she could, her one good wing over her face, and wrapped her tail about her legs, the lion-like tuft twitching back and forth.
"Rest well, my Lady," he said, bowing at the waist, and returned to the fire pit.
Armistice had coached a decent flame from the sparse brush and few pieces of wood she'd been able to locate while Grecio assisted Noir. The diamond dog smiled his approval and dug about in the saddlebag for their supplies.
They were running low.
"Oats and dried rabbit," he said with a grimace. "And the rabbit will be gone after tonight." He passed the feed bag to the unicorn and tore a bit of rabbit from the strip of meat, popping it into his mouth. The flesh made him salivate, and his stomach growled. "I'll have to hunt tomorrow."
"Is she...?" Armistice's eyes were concerned, but she had no words to put to the emotions she knew Noir was going through. Grecio shrugged, offering the rabbit to her.
"I do not know." The fire popped and crackled as the stars began to twinkle their arrival in the sky. "She is hopeful, but losing that hope the further we go, I think."
Armistice chewed the rabbit, making a face. "Oh this is awful!" she exclaimed, spitting it out immediately. "This is nothing like bacon!"
Grecio chuckled. "I never said it was."
Armistice gave him a look that was part scolding, part playful reproach. His heart melted. Even with the kohl fading around her eyes, they were still a vibrant blue, and the softness of her fur was evident even without touching her.
"Tell me more... about Epoch," he said, tearing another piece of rabbit with his teeth.
Armistice munched the mouthful of oats thoughtfully. "It is very different from Equestria. We don't have the caste division amongst ponykind you do—er, rather, they do," she corrected. "You, for example, would be more than welcome in our society."
"Would I?" Grecio replied, eyebrow arched.
Armi frowned at his tone. "We do not judge an individual based on the past behavior of their species."
He waved his paw for her to continue.
"Our architecture is all medieval, pre-Celestial coronation. We build new structures in the same style to preserve our history." Her eyes sparkled. "You would love it there."
"How does your society not stagnate? I mean, other than the youth and their knowledge quests?" he asked, enchanted by the way her face lit up when discussing her home.
"We are not completely cut off from the rest of Equuis. While Celestia dictates we must remain within our magical borders unless permission to travel is granted, we do have informational exchange treaties with Saddle Arabia and several other nations. We are currently trying to obtain one with the Griffon Empire!"
"Wouldn't it be easier to forgo the powers of the Chronosphere and join Equestria?" he asked. Armistice looked to the fire, her youthful enthusiasm becoming something... darker. Older. Grecio recognized it for what it was: deeply rooted nationalism.
"We are the Sphere, Grecio. It is how we create, how we survive. Celestia tried to take it from us, and my ancestors gave up everything to preserve our way of life. That is why I am here, helping Noir... if I can prove the Spheres exist elsewhere, uncontained and doing no harm to the environment or the creatures inhabiting it, my people no longer need to be sheltered."
"No longer need to be sheltered... or no longer need to heed Celestia's decree?" he replied after a long silence. Armistice looked at him, her azure eyes glittering with the firelight.
Royal Sisters and all of Tartarus, she was gorgeous...
"I do not know," the unicorn answered.
Grecio sensed her distress. Young, full of promise, a powerful mage, but trapped by the antiquated ideals of her people, Armistice was torn between worlds. Without thinking, the diamond dog reached a paw up and began scratching gently behind her ear. Armitice's tail wagged side to side rapidly before she realized what was happening, and blinked, blushing furiously.
"Oh! I—"
"I am so sorry!" Grecio stammed, feeling his cheeks warm. "I—when Noir is stressed, it's something—shit, Armi, I didn't mean to—"
The cream-colored unicorn fought her blush under control, though the pink tinge was still evident beneath her fur. "It's... it's it. I liked it. It was... nice." She lowered her eyelashes, looking up at him shyly. There was something about this creature; strangely devoted to an unstable and deranged immortal, yet still so caring and warm. "Will you... Will you do it again?"
Smiling, Grecio lifted his paw again to her ear, ever so gently dragging the tips of his claws across the skin beneath her fur, just along the base of her ear. Armistice purred, her tail swishing again. She leaned bodily against him, and Grecio felt his heart explode.
Across the camp, Noir seethed.
Morning arrived as harshly as the sun—hot, bright, and unrelenting. Noir sat up and stretched her wing; it was stiff and sore. Then again, so was everything nowadays. She was almost certain she was dying from the inside out. If they didn't locate the crater soon so Armistice could perform her spell—
Armistice. That little whore.
That wasn't fair, and Noir knew it. She had no claim to Grecio's heart. This was simply a case of jealousy; something wasn't available anymore, and now she wanted it.
So why was it so hard to accept?
"Noir!" Grecio's voice came from across the camp. It was panicked. She had never heard him like this before, and it made the fur along her spine stand on edge.
"Grecio? What is it?" she asked, climbing to her hooves. He came running, his nose wet with sweat.
"I can't find Armistice anywhere. I've searched the surrounding area, I went into the valley a few miles west... nothing."
Noir's heart sank. She had abandoned them. And it served Noir right, the way she'd been behaving.
"I don't think she ran off," Grecio continued, interrupting the alicorn's self-effacing train of thought. Noir arched an eyebrow, flicking her tail.
"Why's that?"
He held up a clenched paw. Armi's necklace dangled from it.
Noir felt cold chills run all over her body.
"Why...? How? She would never part with that?"
Willingly was unspoken.
"There's more," Grecio said, almost a whisper. Noir's heart hammered now.
"What?!" she demanded, fluttering her good wing.
"I found tracks near our camp. Tracks that aren't mine."
It took a moment for this to register with Noir. When it did, her stomach turned sour, and everything she'd ever eaten turned to a lump within it.
"Diamond dogs..." she breathed.
