Chapter 10: Doctor and Defender

A storm was developing outside the Citadel. Through the great windows, made of a glass harder and more clear than any pony could generate, the shadows of distant thunderstorms drew closer on the horizon. The wind could be heard against the outer wall, distant and muffled but still so strong. The storm on the day of the raising of the sun and moon had just been the vanguard toward an inevitable seasonal shift toward darker times. Doctor Dee pulled his robes closer around his neck against the draft of the tremendous and empty stone hall.

Walking beside him, seemingly immune to the high-atmospheric cold of the glass-lined corridor, was a tall silver-clad unicorn. Dee had only taken time from deciphering his tablets and continuing his research into the Elements of Harmony with the information he had learned to present his progress to Third Horn, as he was expected to do from time to time. Third Horn, however, was almost always busy.

So, on unfortunate occasions such as this, Dee was forced to relay his progress to and receive his orders from Amddiffynnwr. Dee found it insulting that he would be forced to speak to a pony who arguably should have been little more than a servant, but he had grown to understand why it was necessary. Despite the impression of the general population, Third Horn was not truly immortal. In fact, he had been mostly dead for centuries. The throne he sat upon was part of a much larger spell, one constructed by a long-forgotten Magus under Second Horn. It required the sustained power of at least ten master unicorns to keep Third Horn alive, and he could not leave the perimeter of the spell. Even moving a single inch would spell disaster.

Amddiffynnwr, therefore, had taken on the role of the king’s metaphorical eyes and hooves in many applications. Dee could not fathom why.

“So,” said Amddiffynnwr. Even though he was not of royal birth- -or even noble birth- -his voice was heavily contorted by the royal accent. Perhaps, Dee reasoned, because it was the only way that the horribly guttural name “Amddiffynnwr” could be pronounced. “You have returned from surveying the trihorn ruin?”

“I have,” said Dee, venturing no further information.

“And does the analysis progress well?”

“It will take time,” said Dee, annoyed by Amddiffynnwr’s apparent lack of understanding of the art of magical archeology. “This is simply not something that can be rushed.”

“Time is something Equestria has little of.”

“I was under the impression that my demonstration was quite effective at quelling the heathen hordes at our borders.”

“It was. For now,” said Amddiffynnwr, glaring down at Dee. “But it is only a matter of time before they realized that it was little more than inconsequential trickery.”

“Trickery?” said Dee, stopping in the hallway. He felt his voice raising. Though he would never speak in such a way to Third Horn himself, he would not permit Amddiffynnwr to insult him that way. “I moved the sun and moon themselves! I did what the fools in the College considered impossible!”

“You made a change in the light,” sighed Amddiffynnwr. “Your spell injured you, badly, but it performed nothing. It was wholly impractical. Simply moving the moon, the sun, what does it do? Can it serve as a weapon against the centaurs? Can it even impact them? It was nothing more than one of your parlor tricks on a grand scale, Starswirl.”

Dee’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t call me by that name,” he hissed. There were few things he despised more than his former name.

“But my point still stands.” Amddiffynnwr leaned closer, his unblinking yellow eyes staring into Dee’s. “You expend a great amount of resources, yet you do so little.”

“Little! I am unraveling the fabric of the universe itself!”

“Which is irrelevant if we are enslaved by centaurs or devoured by griffons. Equestria does not need secrets. They are of no value. It needs weapons. Armor. Soldiers. Science is pointless without technology. You are wasting our time, Magus.”

“Really?” said Dee, smiling. He charged his horn, and there was a snap of energy as the magic engaged. Amddiffynnwr leaned back instinctively from the sudden yellow explosion, but nearly fell backward onto Dee, who had appeared behind him.

“How did you- -”

“Do you doubt the power of the Magus?” said Dee, putting his foreleg around Amddiffynnwr’s back. He put his other hoof against Amddiffynnwr’s shoulder, and with a different spell caused the magic that maintained Amddiffynnwr’s green coat to fade. The soft green surface split and faded, revealing the surface of black chitin beneath.

“Get away from me!” cried Amddiffynnwr, his emerald magic slamming into Dee and pushing him into the wall. Amddiffynnwr was surprisingly strong, and Dee was thrown painfully against the wall. He still smiled, though, watching as Amddiffynnwr restored the shapeshifting spell that made him resemble a true unicorn. Amddiffynnwr glared back at Dee, his pupils momentarily narrowing into thin slits.

“For a pony with ‘impractical magic’,” said Dee, standing and wincing at the great pain in his spine, “I do believe I could defeat you easily in public duel.”

“Is that a challenge?” asked Amddiffynnwr. “Surely you cannot be serious. You are far too old, and I am far too well trained in warfare. I would be forced to kill you.”

“I would surely die, yes,” said Dee, smiling broadly and sadistically. “But I would only need one blow to reveal what you truly are, that you are not even a pony. And with that, I would win, even in death.”

Amddiffynnwr and Dee glared at each other for a moment, and the wind picked up outside, pressing against the large windows. Below, lights were being lit in the city as the clouds poured overhead.

“That outcome would not be amenable to either of us,” said Amddiffynnwr. He sighed. “I really had hoped that our relationship could at least involve mutual toleration. The only one that truly loses in our conflict is my dear sister.”

Dee’s eyes flicked toward the taller pony. “You are aware that you two cannot possibly be blood relatives? And that claiming her as one is treason, grounds for execution?”

Amddiffynnwr stared out the window at the growing storm. “I would suffer that fate ten thousand times rather than to deny my love for her.”

Dee finally understood why Amddiffynnwr had led him to this secluded, empty section of the Citadel. “So you are in contact with her, then?”

“She is my sister. Of course I am in contact with her. We write.”

“About anything…in particular?” Dee knew that he had walked into a dangerous situation. He had only ever struck Fyr’mond once, but her mood toward him had changed drastically in the weeks since. She had become more distant, more submissive, and less annoying. Dee had declared that change a victory, that she was finally settling into existence as the kind of wife that he needed: a quiet and unseen one that did not get in his way. If she had told Amddiffynnwr of the situation, though, he could be in grave danger. Amddiffynnwr was notoriously difficult to read, and his actions tended to be unpredictable.

“Every letter, she proclaims her undying love for you,” said Amddiffynnwr, not looking at Dee. “And I know that she is sincere. She is trying to love you. But you do not share her feelings.”

“How could you possibly know that?”

“Because I can taste it.” His eyes shifted toward Dee. “You bear no love for my sister. This saddens me greatly.”

“I have no obligation to love her.”

“You sicken me, Magus,” said Amddiffynnwr. “Fyr’mond does not deserve this fate. Were it possible, I would have married her myself…”

“But she would have understood what you are, wouldn’t she have?”

Amddiffynnwr released a long breath, but did not answer the question. “Just treat her well, Magus,” he said. “I suppose I of all ponies have no right to ask that of you, but please. For her sake.”

“You are right,” said Dee. “You have no right to ask. Now, if you will excuse me, I think this conversation has passed beyond business and is no longer useful. Unless you have anything else to say, or to accuse me of?”

“There is one thing,” he said as Dee started to walk away. Dee turned slowly. “Are you familiar with the name ‘Ward Kelley’?”

“So you truly have been conversing with my wife. She seems to put undue and naïve faith in that…fraud.”

Amddiffynnwr shook his head. “She writes of him sometimes, but word of him has spread greatly, reaching even here in the High Citadel. While you have been buried in dust and clay tablets, he has accumulated a significant following in the City. And word of him is spreading quickly through all of Equestria. Third Horn would be interested in your opinion as Magus.”

“His ‘magic’ is nothing more than falsehoods and lies told to the gullible, ignorant masses. Even you surely don’t believe that an ill-bred earth pony can actually perform magic, do you? Or are you really that simple?”

Amddiffynnwr looked at Dee, and smiled. It was something so unexpected that it shocked Dee. Never once in the two decades he had known Amddiffynnwr had he ever seen the green unicorn smile. “Your species does not have the monopoly on magic that you think,” he said. “The winds are changing, Magus Starswirl. My advice to you is to begin producing, or be blown away in the storm.”