Prologue: Of forlorn worlds
Change is a fundamental part of life, right?
The meal tasted wonderful. Even though some was dulled by the daily routine and the recurring tastes, she didn’t seem to get less interested over time. She had a great time in the dining facility with her squad mates. Promptly after she finished her meal, an officer walked up to the table and put a note next to her plate, saluted and walked away.
It was the day she waited for months, the day when she was able to leave the Fort and go back to the life of an ordinary civilian for a time. Soldiers regularly have this little opportunity, but for her, the timing was even better. She stood up, bid farewell to the other soldiers at the table and walked outside, towards the administration hall.
Fort Sigma was just another ordinary military base located in the Far West. But for her, it has been home for almost a decade now. But a chance to get away from it always heated everyone. At the counter, she gave her identification and took her civilian clothing and the pocket pistol. She spent seconds examining the firearm, but not having come to a conclusion why having a pistol on leave is required, she holstered it in her dress.
When the guards were not looking, the boy behind the desk stood up from the paperwork and leaned a bit closer to her.
“Miss Shard. Enjoy your leave, but if you can, bring us something useful, please,” he said, patting her on the shoulder.
She walked out of the Fort, down on an old, dusty road. The rays were filtered by the dull clouds, sowing only dim brightness on the plains near the fort. A group of pegasi flew overhead, dressed in full airborne equipment. Training happened daily across various squads as the High Council’s orders came from above. The train station was not far from the fort and Azure Shard enjoyed the slowly paced walk. She was a pretty and young pony, a rather strange and unbelievable sight for a soldier. But being part of a ‘doer elite’ was her dream since childhood and she liked every moment she had in the Army. From the very beginning of her life, she had a strange sensation about the world itself being… problematic. She wasn’t the melancholic kind of a mare, but rather someone who wanted to act, to do something.
To change…
She was, yet again, lost in her thoughts. It took the blowing horn of the arriving train to break the desolate silence and alert her. She boarded the train, paid the ticket’s price and sat down in a cabin. And so, the train rolled off leaving only the sound of clatters behind. This kind of transportation always softened Azure’s mind even more and she found herself falling into an intense nap.
In her sleep, she dreamed about how it was; and she envisioned how it will be. The only thing she could never dream about is the present. Life was different in the Fort as soldiers kept a strict code and the ups and downs of the outside world never really reached them. And even if they did, they were just status reports: facts without underlying emotions.
Things have changed in Equestria since the last time she was really away. Everyone was having a general feel of unease and the ponies were more cautious in their daily routine. When Azure Shard arrived in Ponyville, she felt the same strange distress. She had a cup of water and it tasted… disharmonious. She entered the diner cab with tiredness on her eyes and bought some sunflower seeds. It was her favourite snack and she began to flow away with her thoughts again as she nibbled the small spats. Variously coloured farmlands and plains shifted in her sights as the train continued its unbreakable roll towards eternity.
She was born there. Her parents moved to Ponyville after her mother graduated from university. Back in those days, Ponyville was a blooming little town with tons of opportunities. Ever since its foundation, the town expanded and a social hierarchy settled. She remembered the occasional excursions to Cloudsdale, the capital of her kind.
But today’s Ponyville was nothing like back then. For the uninitiated eye, Ponyville was just another busy shire with ponies living their daily lives, but for her, the way of how her hometown changed was a real blast. Because of this new, overprotective nature, Ponyville entered into stagnation.
But her hometown was not her destination this time. She set off her opportunity of leaving to go to the City of Dark Lights, Hoofhammer. In the East, it was the capital of Earth ponies, and, in a rather firm and excluding sense, the old inhabitants really clang to the “Hoofhammer for Earth Ponies, Cloudsdale for Pegasi and Canterlot for Unicorns” scheme, even though such kin-based administration were long eradicated and the races were equal with Canterlot being the capital. But to prove their points, the use of flight or magic was strictly forbidden within the confines of the City.
The train slowly halted as the engine reached the end of the line at the train station. As Azure Shard got off the carriage, she was amazed by the reaching city. She stretched her wings for the final time and walked out to the main square. Hoofhammer was a city of many insidious rumours. But there was that one rumour which mattered to her the most: The Red Herring bar. It was known, colloquially, that there is this bar somewhere deep within the city where ponies meet to have a drink, some food and exchange intelligence.
Azure Shard bought a piece of paper and a pencil at a stationer’s shop and, using the fragments of what she could remember, she made a small map to The Red Herring bar. Thinking about the name of the place made her smile… it must have been named like that due to its rather bad reputation and that it was the source of misleads. “Maybe the vernacular term ‘red herring’ got its name after the bar itself?” she wondered. Either way, it was well advised to go there for a drink if you had the opportunity, but always be cautious about what you hear and never, ever talk about the bar.
Looking out for anyone who might be watching her, she started to walk the route she was gossiped. With only thirteen-fifteen minutes of a steadily paced stroll she arrived at a small wooden door leading to a passage, with a faint, copper sculpture of a herring overhead. She knew it must the place, and she slowly opened the door, putting her hooves inside and quietly walking in. There weren’t many ponies chilling out in the bar, only three or four at the moment. It was still not for the best of luck to enter such shady place and be the only mare inside. But the ponies seemed profound in their own thoughts and so, she kept her calm and sat down at the counter.
The bartender was a friendly guy, that’s for sure. Azure talked with him about everything, but most importantly about news from the Capital and army operations.
“It has been a strange ride all the way here… everything is so different and… well… sad,” she explained to the bartender, “it wasn’t like back then.”
“You don’t feel? The world needs to get used to the Regent,” the bartender replied with a rather calm tone, even though the other ponies in the bar grunted hearing that word.
“The Regent?” she was still puzzled. It’s for sure that not many reached the soldiers in the West.
The bartender’s face froze with a shock from her question. He tried to avoid answering and it was quite clear to both of them that he doesn’t really know what happened either. Azure stared at an old stallion sitting next to her at the counter, drinking a jug of beer.
“Perhaps you know something?” she asked him.
The stallion adjusted his cloak and hat a bit and made a really confident reply, “I know many things, young girl.”
“I would like to hear,” she replied as she started to sip the beer the bartender poured for her. The Red Herring bar was a place where every pony thought they know everything about every pony else. And despite every warning, her adventurous self won this time.
“We can talk, if you have the aptitude… –“ he abruptly ended the sentence and pulled out a coin from his pocket “– you only drink that much?”
As she nodded, the stallion pulled out another coin and lifted his foreleg. “Mister Thane, I would pay for my crimes. And for this filly.”
She felt hesitant from this statement. As he paid and the bartender gave him the change in the form of a smaller coin, he slid the coin towards her on the desk.
“A change for a little change, my lady?” he inquired with a soft and very charismatic voice.
A change…
As she also finished her drink, the two stood up and walked away from the desk. She followed this enigmatic stallion towards his room. Turns out, The Red Herring bar was also a little guesthouse and he apparently lived there. He gave her a cloak, not that dull and dark like his, but it was dark enough to contrast Azure Shard’s white coat.
He lifted his hat a little bit revealing that he is a unicorn, while also pointing at Azure Shard’s wings. “Pretty wings –“ she blushed “– but you really need to hide those. This city is unforgiving towards our kinds.”
She looked very different with that cloak lying upon her dress and body, but she now fit into the style of Hoofhammer. As the two went for a walk in the city, they started to talk about the state of the world, a subject Azure was really keen about.
“Where are you from? You didn’t know a lot about the current political events.”
She felt she needed to avoid giving the real answer. Especially on a leave, soldiers were not meant to give away their identity.
“I was… travelling to distant lands. I hadn’t care much about what’s happening in politics,” she responded.
The stallion nodded, “I see,” but it was quite obvious for the both of them that she, technically, lied.
“Well. Even though he is a good leader, the ponies didn’t seem to be relieved that Nicholas’ ascension somehow stabilised politics and economy.”
“Nicholas?”
The stallion shook his head. “Forgive me, my lady. Manners seem to sometimes… be far from me. I haven’t introduced myself now, have I? Name’s Andreas. Now, onto the topic. Regent Nicholas, the Controller Supreme of the High Council, titles… titles…” he sighed, “the current leader of Equestria.”
“What happened to Princess Celestia?”
“She’s gone. They are gone,” he replied factually.
This was a moment where she really felt dismay and inferiority. The Princesses are gone and no one in the Army knew or told her. They just trained like it was everything all right. But the fact that there is now a reason for the general anxiety of the world gave her a shot of self-acceptance for she is right. She was right. Still, the princesses are gone and something happened. And that stallion… he knew.
To both of their luck, she didn’t lose herself completely and didn’t pull the small firearm which was still with her.
“I… I need to know,” she stuttered at him.
The two slowed down a bit as they walked the streets of Hoofhammer, with Azure Shard constantly aweing at the buildings and thinking about what happened while she was in Fort Sigma believing everything is fine.
Andreas started to tell her the tale. “Things have changed in Equestria…”
Things have changed in Equestria…
It happened roughly three years ago. On one night, the two guard ponies standing in the hallway next to the Princess’ chamber were alerted by a muffled, scream-like laughter. One of them rushed to the door to seek out what happened but couldn’t get in. Because of the previous threats and problems, Princess Celestia slept with a special magical field around her room. Apart from the pegasus pony trying to use his physical force, a unicorn guard attempted to override the field.
“Damned alicorn magic!” she yelled in anger.
She was right. The field made it unable for anyone to get in until it is disabled from inside. But Princess Celestia soon answered stating that everything is fine, she was just playing with her sister. And the guards believed it, why wouldn’t they? The two sisters, despite their age, were rather childish when together; and it was imperative that no one questions Princess Celestia’s statements.
To blindly follow those ranked above you.
It was a mistake, though. A Council meeting was scheduled on the next day and the Princesses didn’t show up. The High Council postponed the meeting across a few days, maybe even a week, believing that their leaders had some diplomatic errand to take care of quickly. But even as the days passed by, it became clearer that she is not returning soon. In the upcoming month, the High Council convened only to discuss pressing issues and to keep social stability across Equestria.
Nicholas was an enigma until then. A middle-aged, intimidating stallion rushed into the Indigo Halls on the day the Council was expected to elect a new leader for the ongoing state of emergency.
He lifted his brown hoof motioning his small group of troopers to guard the door and calmly stepped inside. In the middle of a vast debate, he stood up and started to speak.
“Distinguished Councillors, our nation’s future is at stake. She misses her Princess so much the unrest cannot be contained by you. I don’t want to say that you failed, but I must bring you a choice: in a negotiation, we come to an agreement and Equestria will have a new leader, a new face it longs for. Or… you can walk out on that door. My men –“ he really stressed that word “– await on the other side.”
The world was a lot worse than right now and his aspiration – or his ultimatum – convinced the conclave that the stabilisation of Equestria needed a new, albeit temporary central figure ponies can look up to. He was proclaimed Controller Supreme and took Celestia’s throne.
Sometimes a temporary choice is the most permanent one.
Azure Shard looked upon Andreas. From his narration, she recognised the face of Nicholas from the broadcasts.
“But he was only a press representative to the High Council.”
Andreas sighed and cleared her delusion, “Or that is what was told and what you believed.”
Despite previous doubt, Nicholas grew into a good enough leader. One thing he could never accomplish, though, was being as social as Celestia and Luna had been. While the Princesses were rather out-going and most of the ponies knew them even personally, Nicholas kept himself to a strict bureau code. Instead of usually being around citizens, going to parties, casually walking on the streets or even dancing in the middle of the Main Square, Nicholas sat in his impenetrable office revising reports and giving orders all day. This was the main reason the ponies of today are cautious: even though there is a leader who gives them stability, he takes toll from their slack.
Andreas moved his hat a little bit as he finished his tale, “And so the days, weeks, months and years passed…”
Azure shard, however, was not as calm as him.
“And you believe this all. You go by like everyone else! I need to get back and warn the others what is happening: that what Nicholas did was a ploy. He kidnapped Celestia and…”
“Don’t jump to quick conclusions. You can’t know for sure.”
“He will be interrogated and he will spit it up.”
Andreas grabbed her and tried to talk some sense into the hot-headed filly, “You go back. Warn the military, the military which is commanded by Nicholas. It will be warned by a young girl who heard a rumour that Nicholas kidnapped Princess Celestia… exactly where? At The Red Herring Bar?”
He let her go and took a step back, “You will just make a fool of yourself.”
“There must be something we can do,” she shook her head and pouted, “warn the High Council and demote Nicholas. He made himself a monarch… a regent… anything like that by taking an illegitimate path, by staging a coup. His whole reign can’t be accepted either.”
“You’ve read a few books on law, didn’t you?” he snickered, “Though, you will fail if you want to accuse him this way. It is simply impossible. Nicholas made his reign solid by getting the council to elect him out of free will. Or at least what was called free will. This right is untouchable from there.”
This answer wouldn’t have made Andreas pass his final exams back when he studied Law, but for Azure Shard, it was convincing enough.
Good enough, convincing enough.
“What should we do, then? Equestria is not saved; it will suffocate itself even if there’s a leader figure.”
“You are ambitious. I like it. I think you do so. Powerful, too. But there are some things you have to learn: self-control and knowledge are the most important ones. Knowledge is the biggest power after all.”
There were these two ponies wandering the streets of Hoofhammer as Andreas kept talking about the circumstances. He was a good student and a good mentor, eventually ending up in quite a position amongst the Loremasters. Azure Shard heard once or twice about this name, but didn’t really know who they were. It started as a club for history geeks but expanded into a faction of researchers across every field. A prominent colt savvy in the field of Law and Arcane, he gave his life for continuous research. While the High Council spent their days advising the Princesses on current events and study new spells, the Loremasters absorbed the past and correlation of the world. It was a place where unicorns could train to be the best mages.
In the past few years, however, they had gone dormant. It happened partially because of Nicholas. He didn’t like them, maybe even feared them. He was an earth pony against a circle of unicorns. A powerful earth pony, though… Partially, it happened because of something else. The Loremasters have discovered power in a magical element they deemed ineffective for decades. And now they were in need of Princess Celestia and bigger knowledge on said substance.
“Celestia’s disappearance is also a part of something bigger. We just need to observe it until the time is right. When it is, we will look into the order of today.”
Andreas slowed down and looked into her eyes, “I need help in this mission. I’m offering an adventure to you, a mission where you could improve yourself. I have to find a certain thing and I don’t think I could be able to do it alone. I believe we both win from this alliance.”
There were these two ponies in need of each other’s proficiency.
Azure thought about this for a while, but her temper wasn’t quite calm.
“It’s fine, really. Go on an adventure and what-not. I say nay. I want Princess Celestia back, Nicholas away. I want my homeland happy. I want this forlorn feeling gone…” she almost broke down from this overwhelming sadness. The state of the world really got her now.
Her eyes were able to see no longer. All she felt was a hoof put on her chin.
“Help me, help you. We will see this through. But first we need to get to Hourglass Sanctuary.”
Azure Shard kicked her wings open and got into a threatening stance, “I won’t go to anywhere with you, Sanctuary or not. I will go to Fort Sigma and arrange a battalion against this traitor –” she was relentless “– and if you try to stop me, you become a traitor too.”
Andreas pressed his hoof on her nose and explained in a calm tone, “It still isn’t your duty to jump to extremely quick conclusions and it is the duty of neither of us to judge who the traitor is and who isn’t.”
“I don’t give a single damn about the law. It’s clear what is to be done,” she smirked.
Andreas looked away on the street and saw a police officer approaching and motioning them to stay where they are.
“It is also not my duty to keep the Law. Someone else will…” Andreas smirked back.
There was a young pegasus mare in the city of Hoofhammer with her wings kicked open.
It is clear what is to be done…
