Chapters Cirro Stratus let out a quiet breath as she landed next to Fillydelphia's "Help Wanted" board. The wind from her wings barely even moved the litter that was scattered around it.
The light blue mare might have been called "Cirra" by her friends. It's what she called herself, at least. She didn't have much opportunity to settle down in one place.
She was no good at weather work, and small towns like Hoofington really didn't have many jobs for pegasi other than what was needed to keep their crops stable. She wasn't good enough with her hooves to be an artist, either. So to stay off the streets, she was forced to travel constantly, looking for odd jobs. It kept her eating, at least.
It didn't help her isolation that the light blue of her coat was a literal sky blue. Even her mane was white, easily mistaken as a cloud. And it wasn't as if she could exactly fly fast enough for a casual observer to doubt that assumption.
To be fair, it wasn't that bad. The ponies she helped remembered her quite well, and would sometimes even invite her over. Unfortunately, even in the big cities, not that many ponies actually needed her help. Before long, she'd just have to leave again.
Getting a more permanent job, even in some place like Seaddle, was out of the question. She was terrible at all the jobs pegasi excelled at, and practically everything else could be done better by somepony else. Even her cutie mark was no help. Just a faint rainbow, barely noticeable, that often formed in the clouds she was named after.
Clouds, that is, that were never dealt with by any weather handlers. They were useless.
She had initially thought of seeking her luck in Cloudsdale, since only pegasi really gave competition there, but her childhood friends in Hoofington, the ones that got into the weather business, convinced her otherwise. Everypony went to Cloudsdale, and it was easier to get one in Manehattan . Either you made it big, or you didn't make it at all. Even just working at the weather factory as a clerk required a degree of some sort.
So she ended up here. In Fillydelphia. Big enough to have enough little jobs to feed her for a while, but small enough where the ponies still wanted her help. But leafing through twenty "Lost Dog" posters, and fifteen advertisements for yard sales that were long ended, it was already seeming like the market was dry.
A note caught her eye, asking for somepony willing to mow their lawn, but Cirra sighed as she recognized the address.
I already did that one. She tore the paper away, tossing it into the bin.
A small amount of panic wormed into her mind as it disappeared into the chaotic mess. I only have three bits left Barely enough for tonight's dinner. Do I really have to leave, again?
She started again in earnest, flipping up the papers stapled to the corkboard, desperate to find something underneath that she might have missed.
Finally, under three layers of junk, she found something she didn't remember seeing before. It was just a notecard with barely-legible hoofwriting, but it was something.
"Lab assistant needed"
Cirra blew air out of her snout in irritation. I don't exactly have a degree. Why would they even put this on a public help board?
"No prior experience required."
"Huh."
She scanned the rest of the card as quickly as she could. Which was actually pretty slow, due to the atrocious penmareship. The address given on the card wasn't actually Fillydelphia, but instead a small village in the forest to the northeast, called Hollow Shades. The pay--
"Wow, that's a lot of bits."
One thousand bits just for help with the one experiment. Plus the chance of a stable job, if I read that right. And it's all apparently unskilled labor.
A thought crossed her mind, that this may have been some sort of trap, but she dismissed it just as quickly. This "advertisement" was a small hoof-written note hidden beneath layers of lost puppy posters. If somepony wanted to lure ponies into a trap, they'd at least make it more noticeable.
...Plus she really needed the bits.
Cirra took the note in her teeth, dropping it in her saddlebags, then spit awkwardly in an attempt to get the bits of old tape out of her mouth.
She looked to the sky. "Well... there's nothing keeping me here, I guess. I just hope nopony got that position already."
That really was all too common of an occurrence. While she always at least tried to remember to take the advertisement down after she finished a job, most ponies either weren't as considerate, or simply just didn't realize why that would be so important for ponies in Cirra's position. At least the ponies who put out the ads were usually nice enough to give her a warm meal for her trouble.
She flapped her wings gently, soaring out of the city.
City flying was always more difficult for any pegasus, as the air currents near those tall buildings was always unpredictable, but the air had stilled, so she simply had to tilt her wingtips slightly to maintain level flight.
Cirra smiled as she rose higher and higher. It wasn't particularly useful to her, but she could climb much higher than most pegasi she knew. Fun, definitely, but the reason she could do this wasn't skill or effort. She almost wished that was the case. In reality, it was simply a side-effect of the genetic disorder that left her with hollow bones, just like the birds that their wings seemed to emulate. The same disorder that made it almost impossible to do any sort of weather work, and left her homeless. But it also made her lift-weight ratio absolutely ridiculous. Like she had wings four times bigger than normal.
She didn't really need the extra height for this trip. Hollow Shades wasn't that far away. But it was nice not to have to pay attention to the skies. At this height, it was pretty much impossible for her to run into other pegasi with her daydreaming.
Though the main reason was even more lazy. She knew the high-altitude currents well, and they were quite consistent, like ocean currents. And quite conveniently, this one went right over Hollow Shades. And into Canterlot, but that was less important right now. If she managed the current correctly, she could practically glide all the way to the small town.
Of course, they could be quite dangerous, like any high-speed wind. Especially since the transition wasn't that gradual between the slow and fast-moving air. But it was way too useful to ignore. Perfect for traveling. Perfect with her situation.
Yet still useless when it comes to weather work.
Maybe I could be a courier. That would be an interesting position, and it wouldn't matter that I can't build any sort of speed that's worth a darn.
...But I'd have to convince them before they dismiss my lackluster ability.... and manage to convince them to let me decide my own routes.
Cirra breathed deeply. All right. Never mind then. That would only work if I made my own company. And even had the bits to start one.
That... that actually might work, to be honest. This sounds... promising. She shook her head. But I shouldn't get my hopes up. It might not even be open still. The note looked kinda old.
Looking down, Cirra saw the trees suddenly cut out, replaced by the clearing that contained the town.
Oops, almost went right past it.
She angled her wings sharply downwards, exiting the airstream. She almost panicked as the pressure difference caused her to tumble, but she recovered quickly, gliding in circles down to the village below.
Reaching back into her saddlebags, she pulled the note out again, confirming the address.
Thank Celestia this town uses the current Cloudsdale standard for naming streets. So much easier than landing and reading street signs.
She replaced the note into her bag, then stretched out her legs, landing gently in front of a house.
Though "house" was a rather poor description. It was big enough to almost be considered a mansion, but it had clearly seen better days. The pony who owned it certainly wasn't great at maintaining it. Or it had been abandoned for quite some time. But the very fact that the note directed her here made that unlikely. And the light that was on in the second story window made it quite impossible. There was a wagon under the overhang on the east side as well, and it seemed new enough.
Still, the disrepair could have just been the sheer age . Never before had she seen dust on the outside of a house before.
Cirra sighed. She was stalling. Raising her hoof to the solid oak door, she steeled herself, knocking firmly three times.
A vague shuffling sound followed, followed by a voice muffled by distance. "Be right there!"
She heard a few hurried hoofsteps and latches being unlocked before the door was opened, revealing a pony that Cirra immediately could identify as the professor.
He looked like one, at least. An elderly-looking earth pony with an unkempt white mane and tail, and fur that might have been brown at some point, but was so streaked with grey that it was already the main color.
He blinked, a bit surprised, but smiled anyway. "Who might you be? I haven't seen you around town before." He held out a hoof, which she shook.
He suddenly paused, then smacked his own head with the hoof he used to shake hers. "So sorry. My name is Professor Calmany. Well, technically, it's Doctor now, but I don't really care about titles, and it tends to get townsponies confused, more often than not."
"Oh, um... thanks. My name is Cirro Stratus, but just Cirra is fine. I came here because I heard you need help with something. An experiment? Hold on a second."
She dug back into her saddlebag once more, producing the slip of paper.
The stallion's eyes widened comically. "Oh, that! I forgot I put that out. You must be from Fillydelphia?"
Cirra's ears drooped. "So you don't need my help anymore..."
He shook his head rapidly, chuckling a little. "No, no. Nothing like that. I forget I do things all the time. Doesn't mean they didn't need to be done. This experiment is something I've been working on for years. Of course, I've been pretty sure everything's been all good and safe for six months already, but as I always say, you can't have too much testing." He grinned. "But come in, come in."
She walked through the now-vacant doorframe, remembering to wipe her hooves on the mat. They weren't that dirty, but it was polite, and it didn't look like his house needed any more dust. Plus, the Professor seemed like a nice stallion, even if he was a bit excitable.
"So... what is this experiment about, exactly?" The door swung shut with a soft thud.
Calmany started slightly. "Oh, I forgot to write that down on that paper, didn't I?" He smiled. "Well, I think you're going to be in for a treat." His ears fell. "Or reconsider your involvement in the whole thing. Don't worry, if at any point, you want to back out, that is completely fine with me." He paused. "If disappointing."
He brightened again. "Anyway, you know the concept of teleportation, right?"
Cirra nodded. "Unicorn spell, rather advanced, if I remember right. Really cool, but kinda short-ranged, so most ponies don't bother."
The professor grinned. "Exactly. You see the shortcomings, too! And among those unicorns that can teleport, even fewer can teleport somepony else with them."
"I see. But I don't really see where this is going in general. I don't want to point out the obvious, but you're an earth pony."
"Yes, see, that's the problem."
Cirra furrowed her brows.
Seeming to catch on, Calmany raised his hooves in front of him. "Not that I'm complaining about being an earth pony, of course! Given the option to be a unicorn, I really don't think I would take it. But the problem I was talking about is that none of it is practical. But I think I've found a way to open it up to everypony, even to pegasi like you and earth ponies like me. And since we're using machines, they don't have a limit of how much energy they can channel, so in theory, they could even be used to transport between cities! There are just so many applications!" He rubbed his hooves together in anticipation, a beaming grin on his face.
Cirra smiled at his enthusiasm. "I'm genuinely impressed. How did you get the machine to manipulate unicorn magic?"
His face fell slightly. "If only I had been able to, this whole project would have been much, much simpler, and I'd have been done by now. Only a year or two instead of... twenty." His eyes lit up again. "But still! That setup would have required a unicorn, or a team of unicorns, to operate the machine at all times! This one requires only a steady stream of electricity!"
She sat down at a nearby armchair, leaning closer. "Oh? This is far more interesting than I expected."
He sighed. "It was reverse-engineering that spell that took me so Celestia-damned long. In the end, I had to make up most of it myself anyway. Electricity and magic aren't as similar as I once thought."
"So... what do you need me for, then? I'm not exactly a unicorn, and I don't really know all that much about electricity."
Calmany grinned brightly. "I succeeded, that's what! The machine functions perfectly! I've been teleporting various items for the past six months, and everything, from the taste of a teleported apple to in-depth molecular scans of pure aluminum seem to all point to the objects exiting at the destination exactly as they entered! I've even taken to eating my meals after they've been sent through, just to make sure the data is consistent. I just...." He looked at Cirra, a slight amount of worry crossing his face. "I just need a brave volunteer for the first... live test."
Cirra's eyes widened. "Oh!"
He looked at the ground, embarrassed. "That's why I offered so much in pay. It was getting to the point where I was just going to go myself, but if it... fails, there'd be nopony to continue my work." He made an attempt to look back at her face, but quickly turned to the side. "I know that sounds selfish, but-"
Softly, she put a hoof on his shoulder. "I'll do it."
He rubbed a foreleg across his eyes. "W-what?"
"I'll do it," she said with conviction. "I've seen how important this is to you. Twenty years? That's longer than I've spent on anything . This is your life's work. It's important. It will help a lot of ponies. There's no way I'm going to stand in the way of that."
"But... but it's dangerous!"
She smiled at him. "Now you're trying to convince me to stop ?"
"N-no, I just..." He shuffled his hooves.
Cirra looked down. "And... I just really need the money."
He stood straighter. "All right, fine."
"And even if... even if it fails, and something happens to me, I'll at least have done something useful ."
The professor grinned nervously. "L-lets hope it doesn't come to that."
She nodded, looking around. "Right. So... what should I do first? Are there any preparations that need to be made, or is it just a straight test of... wherever you have it?"
He jolted upright, taking a notepad out from behind himself. "Right, right. Since this will be a full, formal scientific report, I'd better write down as many specifics as I can about you. Height, weight, coat color, that sort of thing. In theory, it shouldn't matter, but it's always better to be thorough."
She nodded again. "That's the kind of attitude that makes it a lot easier to accept the whole 'test subject' role. If there's something to think of, you've probably already done it."
Calmany blinked. "Oh. Well, thanks." He shook his head. "Anyway, height?"
"One hundred and fifty centimeters," she said promptly.
He blinked. "I... um... was going to just grab a stick, but..."
She waved a hoof at him. "It's kinda a pegasus thing, don't worry. Mass, weight, height... those sorts of things are pretty important to anypony really serious about flight. Speaking of weight, 37.1 kilos."
That stopped his staring. "Wait, really? You don't look that thin..."
He suddenly shoved a hoof in his mouth while Cirra giggled, holding up one of her own. "Don't worry, I know what you meant. I hope this doesn't mess up anything, but I do have Pneumatic Bone Syndrome."
Calmany stared a little, a clear look of confusion on his face. "I've studied quite a lot of biology for my research, but I don't know that one."
"It's... not that common. It's a fairly rare genetic disorder. It means my bones are actually hollow, just like-"
"-Just like ordinary birds!" he said excitedly.
He shook his head. "Sorry for interrupting. Still, if it wasn't for this current project, that seems like something that would be very interesting to study."
Cirra smiled, rolling her eyes. "Well, if you doubt me about the weight thing, you could just pick me up or something."
His face reddened. "N-no, that's fine. I believe you."
"All right, so... coat color?"
He quickly picked the notebook and quill back off the floor. "Right, right..." Calmany looked between her and the notebook, jotting down her features
"Cutie mark?"
She smirked. "You know, you can just look ."
His blush deepened.
She chuckled. "I'm just messing with you. Most ponies don't see it on first glance. It's a very faint circular rainbow." She softened. "Thank you for your modesty, though. And sorry for the teasing."
Calmany let out the breath he was holding in. "All right... so... age?"
"Forty-five."
He dropped his quill, quickly bending down to pick it up. "Wow... You certainly don't look it."
It was Cirra's turn to blush. "Um... thanks?"
"I certainly shouldn't be the one making assumptions about age, though. All this stress has certainly not done wonders for my coat. Would you believe that I'm actually three years younger than you?"
Cirra's eyes widened as she looked at him more closely. Other than his coat, and odd fondness of facial hair, his skin and muscles didn't really show the degradation she would expect in an elderly stallion. Even his white hair wasn't really that uncommon of a natural color.
"Odd aging aside, though, I believe we are ready. Just follow me. The lab is in the basement."
Calmany tore out the page of his notepad, attaching it to a clipboard. Setting that down, he put on the lab coat that hung on a coat rack.
The coat rack that had kinda confused Cirra since she had come in, but now made much more sense, as it stood next to a little door underneath the stairs, presumably the entrance to the basement he was talking about.
The fact that his other coats were also hung there was probably more to do with laziness than anything else.
As Cirra descended the new set of stairs, she was immediately struck with how different everything was compared to the rest of the house. There was no doubt this was built after Calmany moved in. Gone was the dark wood paneling, the soft yellow lighting, and the smell of cherry wood. Instead, sterile metal and smooth stone was lit by bright florescent lamps, and the slight smell of antiseptics reminded her strongly of hospitals.
He led her past banks of switches and lights whose purpose she could not determine. Cirra considered herself to be rather well-educated despite her lack of formal degree, but most of the labels were so obscure and technical that the only real controls she recognized were the big switch that read "Power" and the turnkey that seemed to turn the device on.
But it was the professor's job to worry about that, and she was led into a second, bigger room that housed two larger, seemingly identical machines. She could guess quite easily that this was the "business end" of the setup - the place she would stand to teleport. The machines didn't look anything like she would have expected reading comics. There were no flashy lights, no smooth lights or dark paneling. In fact, the only solid panel in each little, rectangular room was a dull, steel floor - the part she would stand on. The rest of it was a mess of colored wires kept upright by the metal frame. Clearly, this was not a demonstration model.
But that wasn't what Cirra was focusing on in that moment. Now that she saw the machine, her thoughts went from a theoretical understanding of what she was doing to a real, physical one. Her heart started beating faster in an odd combination of excitement and fear. Looking over at Calmany, though, she realized he was going through much the same.
"Ready?"
He sighed. "Not really. but I won't feel any more ready just standing here. Let's do this."
She walked carefully over to the pad, making sure not to disturb any of the wires running back into the other room. For a simple metal plate, though, it seemed almost... snug.
Cirra forced her eyes away from the multitude of wires. She grew up around enough weather ponies to know that the more complicated a system was, the more things could go wrong.
Don't think like that! You saw how much he's put into this. This isn't just some runaway storm. This is Calmany's life work.
A completely new way to travel... and I'm the first one to use it, ever. Is this how Clover felt under Starswirl?
...Maybe that's how she disappeared. She shook her head. No! Bad thought! He already said that it works. He ate food from it and everything. And that's at least sorta living.
She turned to face Calmany through the reinforced glass... next to the solid steel door.
Her heart skipped a beat.
His hooves flipped a few switches, and with a crackle, his voice came through some speakers hidden beneath the wires at her back. "Are you okay? Ready for this?"
Cirra took a deep breath, then nodded, a smile on her face.
"All right. Everything is within nominal... I mean, everything is okay in here. Commencing teleport in t-minus five...
four...
three...
two...
one...
Her world turned white.
Author's Note
Another story! This one I have an excuse for, since I have to get rid of the journal I had it in, so I had to write it down somewhere else.
This one is actually quite dear to me in general, since it mainly deals with ordinary ponies. I don't know... they just feel more real to me. (Which seems kinda ironic considering the next chapter is where things get a bit more strange.)
This is also my first foray into any sort of romantic content, so any input is appreciated. Strangely, it was a complete accident - the characters just did that in my head. (I have a very strange method of writing characters naturally. I just set them up in my head and let them do their own thing.) Still, I expect it to go pretty slowly.
The title is a reference to the Brocken Spectre - a very cool phenomenon that results in a halo around the observer's shadow very similar to Cirra's cutie mark.
(Though that wasn't the atmospheric phenomenon that I got her mark from.)
Bonus points if you can name the horse pun Professor Calmany is based on.
Calmany watched with anticipation as the machine built up the energy required for the transport.
It was all right. It had to be.
four... three...
Everything was accounted for. It was working perfectly in worse conditions. It worked in a thunderstorm, and this time he checked everything.
two... one...
She would be fine.
He threw the switch.
Cirra disappeared almost instantly. Just like the unicorn version of the spell, the disintegration process was done as rapidly as possible, to reduce any discomfort involved.
He kept her in the buffer about half a second longer, to do a second integrity check. Things could be fixed in transfer, but it was final once he let the lever go. And with a pony passenger... with Cirra as the one being transported, this had to be perfect the first time.
Calmany threw the switch back, and she reappeared on the other side, that same, soft smile on her face.
And then she fell over.
Lightning arced through his mind as he froze for a split second. No...
He burst through the steel door, not even bothering to turn the handle.
"No... nonononono..."
She's just unconscious, he told himself. It was just the shock. It has to be.
He placed a hoof to her neck, sighing with relief as he felt a pulse.
Thank Celestia...
Her eyes fell open, blank and empty.
He shook, his back legs giving way. Any composure he might have had was abandoned as he wept openly.
"Why... why was I so stupid ‽" He gritted his teeth. "This should have been me! It always should have been! It was my dumb project. I should have gone in myself if I had any semblance of honor."
He collapsed fully, not caring that the metal edge of the pad dug into his barrel. He deserved it.
Calmany looked up as he felt something like a hoof on his shoulder, but he saw nothing. But there was a paper next to him. A page, torn from his own notebook.
"It's not your fault."
He struck the metal frame with a hoof. "How can it not be my fault‽ This was all me. I'm the one that was too scared to do it myself. I-"
He stopped speaking abruptly as a quill floated over to the page. And if he wasn't seeing things, he could almost make out a vague pony shape attached to it.
"But I agreed with it."
"Cirra?" He gasped softly, trying to make out the shape more clearly. It... no, she was bent down, writing on the paper with one hoof. If it weren't for the bright lights, she might not have been visible at all.
He looked at the paper again. "Besides, I thought it was a good idea, too.
He sat up, his mind racing. Calmany now knew exactly what went wrong. It should have been obvious as soon as he saw Cirra's...
He groaned, flopping back on the ground, his hooves covering his face. "How could I have been so stupid , ignoring the magical side so thoroughly?"
A faint cold feeling to his side told him that she was near. "At least your magic still seems to be intact. I mean, you picked up the quill just fine. And your cognitive functions still seem to work, which is a little strange, since the brain is supposed to do at least half of that-"
He leapt to his feet. "That must mean that it's a preservation tactic! Your magic preserved your synaptic functions. That is great, but we have to go, and quick!"
Cirra picked up the paper with a ghostly hoof, bringing it up to the quill. "I trust you, but why?"
Calmany's hooves twitched with nervousness. "The only pony I can think of that might know how to reunite your magic with your body is Princess Celestia. We need to get there now , though. Who knows how long it might be before something like this is permanent. Or... how long you can survive as just magic. From what I know, magic isn't supposed to function as both parts of your brain."
The paper flipped over as he started to lift her motionless body onto his back, his eyes starting to water.
"How long do we have?"
"That's just the problem, though! I don't know. When a pony's heart stops, sometimes we can get them back, but after fifteen minutes, brain damage already begins to set in. But this is so different from anything I've been taught... I just don't know."
"Canterlot is a lot farther than fifteen minutes by wagon."
He wiped his eyes with a foreleg. "...I know."
Calmany felt a hoof on his shoulder once more, along with that faint outline.
"Do you trust me?"
He blinked. "...O-of course. Why wouldn't I?"
"Is your cart rated for flight?"
"I think so, why?"
"Just take-" The quill paused for a second. "my body and get in the-" She ran out of space on the paper. It dropped to the floor as she ripped another from the notebook.
Calmany waved a hoof at her. "No, we don't have enough time. I trust you. Let's just get going." Looking at his back to make sure Cirra's body was secure, he galloped back upstairs, trusting that the other half would follow.
He didn't even bother to lock or even close the front door as he rushed out to his little "garage" where he kept his cart. As gently as possible, he set her still-breathing body down on the soft hay that covered the back end of the cart. He mostly kept it there more for snacking than seating, but now he was very glad he kept it there.
But now that they were safe, the thought left his mind. He looked worriedly at the front of the cart. I know I said I trusted her, but how is she planning on pulling this if she doesn't have a physical body?
Oddly enough, though, the harness jerked suddenly, as if locking on to something. A sense of weightlessness overtook him as the cart's magic activated, and almost immediately, it lurched forward and into the air.
They soared higher and higher, well past the cloud layer, and Calmany started to actually get nervous. The air above the cart even looked a bit darker than the air below.
"Um... Cirra? What are you-"
Suddenly, a wall of air slammed into them from behind, pushing them forward at an alarming rate.
"Whoa!" He held onto the side of the cart, keeping the pegasus' body from sliding out as well. The cart may have been meant for pegasi and their acceleration, but certainly nothing this extreme.
After they had stabilized, and his heart finally stopped racing, he noticed a little paper airplane in the cart next to him. Recognizing the same lined, yellow paper from his notebook, he unfolded it.
"I heard from my friends back home that these harnesses usually lock onto a pegasus' magic, not their body, so their maneuvers are a lot safer. Especially the nice carts, and yours looked like a fairly recent model."
Calmany blinked, a thoughtful look on his face. "Smart."
"And that shock was due to some air currents I know of that will get us there a lot faster. Normally I'd just let you pull, especially when I'm carrying something, but you said it was really important. I wasn't exactly a fast flyer, even when I had mass."
He chuckled, then immediately felt guilty. That was his fault in the first place. But he also felt relieved. If this was anything like reviving ponies with cardiac arrest, they might actually have a chance of getting there in time. Of course, he was still skeptical that anything could get to Canterlot in fifteen minutes, he wasn't the pegasus here. And the ground was moving pretty fast, especially for how high up they were.
Still, it was a quite impressive height. Earth ponies may be known for how practical a lot of their talents are, but this... this could be almost as useful as teleportation.
He shook his head sadly. Certainly safer.
Sighing, he tried to relax, leaving Cirra to her work. Absentmindedly, he moved her white mane away from her face, gently closing her eyelids. She could almost be asleep, if she wasn't already pulling the cart.
I really hope you'll be okay.
Calmany almost couldn't believe his eyes. In only a few minutes, Canterlot was easily visible in the distance, and in even less time, they were almost on top of it. Though in those few minutes, he just couldn't stop fidgeting. He should be doing something, not just hanging around, sitting next to her empty body and hoping everything would turn out okay.
Another paper airplane flew back, this one hitting him in the snout. This wasn't a new paper as he expected, but rather one he thought was left back at the lab. There was one thing new, though - one statement was circled.
"Do you trust me?"
"Yes!" he shouted into the wind. "Do what you need to and get us there fast!"
The cart lurched down suddenly, but for once he was prepared. Though he was still shocked as he was shoved forward, a heavy wind hitting his face. After so long in the stream, he had almost forgotten what that kind of speed meant for coming back down.
Though as they dived, he suddenly got a bit worried as a pair of Guard pegasi came out to meet them.
How am I going to explain this one? A cart being pulled by seemingly nothing at all? It's even worse if they do notice her.
Not to mention the pony totally drained of magic next to me. I'm sure that's a crime of some sort.
Cirra leveled out the cart as if to meet the guards, per regulation, but Calmany suddenly felt his heart drop as they took a sudden dive, twisting out of their reach and instantly doubling their speed.
Uh oh. That last part wasn't the "do you trust me" bit, was it?
The ground was getting closer, and fast . There was no way they could avoid the cra-
Calmany almost threw up as the ridiculous G-forces acted on his body from the near ninety-degree turn. Urgh... Wasn't that supposed to be negated by the cart? he thought as they barreled through the open castle doors.
He put his hooves over his eyes as they flew at breakneck speed on the inside of the castle, blowing past any guards in their path, who were totally unprepared for such an incursion.
Finally, they skidded to a halt in the throne room, the wind in their wake strong enough to close the doors after them. Or something like that. They closed, at least, and that's what mattered. There really were a lot of ponies in pursuit.
Shakily, he stood up, then stumbled right onto the cold marble floor.
He opened his eyes, expecting a harsh rebuke, but Princess Celestia simply smiled serenely, as usual. And was that... amusement ?
"Good evening, my little pony. What seems to be the problem?"
Calmany's mouth fell open. This was not the Celestia he remembered working with when he started his research. She always seemed so serious... He gritted his teeth, looking at the cart. She had a good reason to be. Now I have to tell her the extent of my failure...
A jarring voice interrupted his worried thoughts before he had a chance to respond.
"Auntiiiieeee!"
He blinked. Was that.... Prince Blueblood?
"But it was my turn! Remove these ruffians at once!"
Calmany's face hardened. This would not do. He stomped his front hoof, gesturing to the wagon. "A young mare's life is at stake!" he shouted. "I can't wait for whatever petty squabbles you happen to have with some decent, hardworking pony!"
Blueblood actually was speechless for a few moments, to his legitimate confusion. He usually was right up in Calmany's face with everything.
*clatter*
All eyes turned towards the wagon. The harness was now detached from the almost-invisible Cirra, and it had fallen to the ground.
"Nephew, leave." Celestia's expression no longer contained any levity.
"But-"
"Now. "
Blueblood gulped and nodded, making a quick exit through a side door.
Instantly, Celestia was off the throne, rushing to the cart and the faint pony standing next to it.
"What happened?"
Calmany's surprise over her sudden change in demeanor only lasted a moment. "Her magic got separated from her body, Princess. It's still alive, but... I'm more worried about her magic degrading."
Celestia gently picked up Cirra's body in her magic, examining it closely. "How long since it happened?"
He looked at his watch. "Thirteen minutes."
The Princess hissed. "Oh, that's not good. Still, better than I would have hoped, with your home in Hollow Shades. It's lucky you were so close to Canterlot when it happened."
There was a tearing sound, and another piece of paper floated out of Calmany's saddlebags.
"We weren't. Used air currents."
Celestia tensed, looking back at the ghostly outline of the pony in her magic. "It's that complete, isn't it?"
Calmany nodded. "That's what worried me. Really, only half her brain should be working right now. The fact that she's this coherent... I'm just worried the strain of compensating would do something bad to her over time." He sighed. "Truthfully, Princess, I don't know what is going on. Not fully. All I'm able to do is make good guesses."
Celestia breathed through her nose.
Calmany shivered. "Can you do something to help her, Princess? Is something going to happen to her?"
"Next time you create a prototype, Doctor Calmany, show it to me first."
He visibly shook. "I-I..."
"I cannot help her."
His legs buckled.
Celestia sat down in front of him, gently raising his chin. "I do know somepony who may be able to, though. She is not in any danger currently."
Calmany sighed in relief, wiping tears from his eyes. "Thank you so much, Princ-"
"Don't thank me yet. My student may be bright, and very good with magic, but this problem is more complex than it appears."
"Hope... hope will do for now."
Celestia sighed, rubbing her forehead. "And the timing couldn't be more terrible. The Summer Sun Celebration is coming up very soon, and I've already sent her to Ponyville to prepare. Not to mention she might be... preoccupied with something else. It might be a while before you get any help."
He looked down slightly. "Still... at least she isn't... dying. We can get help eventually."
Celestia's gained a faint smile. "I'm just glad you care for her so much."
Calmany blinked. "Of course I do! I..." He looked at his hooves. "It's my fault she's like this."
Immediately, a pen started scribbling on the paper, but Celestia held up a hoof. "As much as you don't want to blame him for this-"
The pen started scribbling again. "This was my choice."
Celestia let out an amused chuckle. "Yes, it was. But this was still legally his responsibility, no matter what forms you filled out." She turned back to the professor. "Therefore, your punishment seems clear to me."
Calmany gulped. Most of Equestria just saw her benevolent side, but he knew how harsh she could be for mistakes that endangered ponies' lives.
"What was this young mare's name?"
"C-cirra... I mean, Cirro Stratus, Princess."
"You will cease all your current projects, staying with Cirra and tending to her needs until she determines that she is fully recovered."
The pen started scribbling again. "I am fully recovered."
Celestia smirked. "Until I determine she is fully recovered, then."
"Darn."
Calmany turned to glare at her outline. "You are most certainly not better. You can't even talk!"
An invisible hoof smacked him across the head. "All right, all right! You're better, then."
It hit him again. He sputtered. "What was that for?"
Celestia cleared her throat, and both of them froze. "You will get the same research stipend as usual, in order to help Twilight with any solutions."
Calmany furrowed his brows. "That doesn't seem like much of a punishment, Princess."
She sighed. "If I've seemed harsh in the past, Doctor, it was because those were mistakes that could cost ponies in the future. You had to remember those lessons well. This is something that already happened. Depriving you of the resources to help is the last thing I want to do."
She gave a sidelong glance at the body, now resting peacefully back in the cart. "And something tells me you aren't going to forget this lesson any time soon."
He took a deep breath. "There's no way I could."
Celestia watched as the odd pair exited her throne room, dragging their cart with them. With their guard escort, they wouldn't be bothered on their way out, but she couldn't help but worry.
The side door opened quietly, and a familiar face walked in. "Hello nephew," she said kindly. "I assume you were listening?"
"Of course." He shook his head. "That poor mare... Still, you must believe in Miss Sparkle quite a lot if you believe she can achieve what you cannot."
"I do. Believe in her, that is. Truly, I do not think she will be able to reunite that mare with her body. Still, she is quite resourceful with her magic. Quite a few times, she has managed to surprise me." She sighed. "Put simply, though, she has far more time to try .You of all ponies know how busy my schedule is."
He nodded. "I see. As always, you have thought of everything. Still, I don't understand one thing."
"Hm?"
"I found your insight on teaching to be quite intriguing. Yet, he is no longer a simple student, and he is still bound by the law. In all functional respects, that pony in the wagon was dead. Why did you go so easy on him?"
Celestia smiled. "Nephew, what is the purpose of law? At its core?"
Blueblood frowned at the odd question. "To preserve harmony, and to keep ponies from harm. But what does that have to do with this situation?"
"Everything. Do you really think that pony will even think about risking other ponies' lives besides himself after this incident? And what harmony would be created by tearing those two apart?"
"I... I'm sorry, Auntie, but I don't understand what you mean."
Celestia looked at him in surprise. "You didn't see it?"
Blueblood shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Sometimes you just don't make any sense. I just hope I'll understand you sometime within my lifetime."
The Princess chuckled. "We really need to get you out more."
Author's Note
I may be wrong about how high you have to get for the atmosphere to look different above and below. But I've been in a plane and seen those effects, and I know the strong, consistent winds are also pretty high up as well.
I'm also 80% sure they coincide. But I could be wrong.
(The strength and consistency of those winds is higher in Equestria. On Earth, they are caused by ocean winds and the rotation of the Earth, I'm pretty sure. In Equestria, the sun is a lot closer, and is quite regular, so the convection (from heat) causes much larger cells and more stable ones. Dubious weather science aside, there is a good reason for it in-universe.)
Also, if anyone notices "pen" and thinks it's an anachronism, remember that "pen" used to refer to quills. I almost "corrected" that myself.
And then there's Blueblood. I don't know why I'm surprised this version of him has already been done before. I thought it was so original before...
It was a long and awkward escort out of the castle. The guards didn't need to know what went on in the Princess' throne room. They didn't seem especially broken up about that fact, either, but it obviously didn't stop them from guessing, judging by the stares Calmany felt on his back.
He couldn't tell the guards apart individually, due to all the enchantments, but it was apparent that at least two of them knew him by reputation. That was fine with him. It was much better for them to think it was a spectacular mistake, rather than a tragic one.
But still their judging stares made him burn with shame. Perhaps not the embarrassment they were intended to instill, but for once, he felt it was wholly deserved.
Cirra walked silently next to him as he pulled the cart. It was frustrating, not being able to speak, not being able to comfort him. Despite everything she wrote, he still seemed to blame himself for everything. But paper couldn't convey her sincerity. It couldn't convey real forgiveness. Not the kind he would accept.
If she was honest with herself, Cirra would have to admit that it wasn't just the lack of vocal chords that made her frustrated. With no mass, every step she took was a chore, as she gripped the floor to pull herself forward. Flapping her ghostly wings once would leave her in midair in a very difficult position to get out of. And right now, she couldn't even use the cart to stabilize herself, since the leader of their little escort made it clear that Calmany would not use whatever "magic" he supposedly used to get them there.
Though she could also see his eyes occasionally track her movement next to him, so that order was probably for everypony else's sake.
Still, with all her constant frustrations, she couldn't get herself to blame the stallion that started this whole mess.
I knew what I was getting into. As failures go, this one is a lot better than I was expecting.
And despite everything that made her life objectively, scientifically worse , her spirits were somehow better than yesterday.
Heh. Spirits.
This whole thing seemed so... out of context. There was no frame of reference anymore. No memories telling her how to do things, how to feel things.
Cirra had no sense of touch. That familiar weight on her hooves, the feeling of air brushing past her coat? That was gone, completely. But she still knew when her hoof was touching the ground, and she knew that when she smacked Calmany on the back of the head for being an idiot, it wasn't actually hard enough to do damage. She could also sense the wind that blew through the drafty halls of the castle. And through her. But that wasn't touch. It was just confusing.
She had no sense of smell. But she knew one of the guards had skipped their shower this morning. She could hear, but her ears never twitched when the shouting of the nobles in their petty fights got too close to their group. She could see, but the sun never burned at her eyes. She could taste the air. But she would never eat again.
Oh, Princess Celestia sent both of them to this Twilight Sparkle. Her old body was going to be put on life support. But if Celestia herself didn't know how to do something so fundamentally... fundamental?
Celestia isn't just the pony who raises the sun and moon. She's the Alicorn. If she didn't know what to do with my "soul," then nopony else will. No, Twilight is probably a nice pony, but we're going there to get quality-of-life stuff. Like being able to talk.
It wasn't just the alternate senses though, that made her frustrated and nervous. It was the new ones. The ones that her brain knew nothing about, and made her feel charged with static. She felt it the most when looking at Celestia. Or just being in the same room with her.
But she felt the same thing when other pegasi got close, like one of the guards that were still accompanying her.
Is it just that I'm a bundle of pegasus magic? That I can sense I'm supposed to be in a body? But then why can't I just go to my old one and be done with all this? For the third time that trip, she jumped at the wagon, slamming into her body. And just like the other two times, she passed into it, but didn't stick. Worse still, her hooves wouldn't see her body as anything but solid, pushing her right back up.
Cirra grumbled as she redid the complex upside-down maneuvers that would get her on the ground again.
"The definition of crazy is doing the same exact thing twice and expecting a different result."
She whipped around, looking at the guard commander, who had whispered into her ear.
"I can't imagine what you're going through, miss, but... promise me you won't obsess about it. That never ends well for anypony."
Cirra started opening her mouth as if to speak, grimaced, then nodded.
I knew it wouldn't work. I just can't stand being... stuck. No matter what my body's like. She looked over at Calmany. Not like being stuck with him. It's different than the normal "pegasus gets stuck on the ground" feeling. Things have actually been quite interesting with him around. I'm just... bored.
She tried to take a deep breath. It didn't work. Which is weird, in a body like this. Something feels different. Urgent. Like I need to do something, and fast.
But Celestia said I was stable. Not in danger. It's probably this weird static I'm feeling everywhere, making me feel jumpy.
They stepped out of the castle's wide front doors, the guards leaving them to the crowd of Canterlot's Celestial Avenue.
Calmany turned to Cirra's ghostly silhouette. "So... do you want to walk there, or do you want to fly? I know you said you aren't that fast, but..."
I grabbed the pad of paper and his quill from the back. "We're taking the winds."
He gulped with a worried expression, but his eyes shone. "All right then. The fun way."
In all fairness, it took around the same time a normal pegasus could fly between Canterlot and Ponyville. It wasn't all that far away.
And if Cirra thought of it properly, the cart did make her dive much faster than she would have otherwise been able to. Still, it felt faster. And she couldn't take advantage of those winds to get back to either Canterlot or Hollow Shades. Not unless she wanted to go the long way around. It almost felt a waste not to take them.
But it did have the unintended side affect of catching the attention of a pegasus passing though the area. One blue-maned weather pony with a rainbow mane who was rather irate and curious why an earth pony was flying higher than she was.
Calmany was not taking it particularly well.
"U-um, miss... You see, we were-"
The pegasus raised an eyebrow. "We?" She looked at the front of the cart, where the harness was suspended by seemingly nothing. "And I'm not 'miss.' I've never been a 'miss.'" She sighed, looking back at him. "You really don't know who I am, do you?"
Calmany nervously scraped his hoof against the wood. "Um... should I?"
She gritted her teeth in frustration, closing her eyes before releasing the tension again. "Sorry, you're probably a nice pony. The name's Rainbow Dash. Used to be the best flyer in Ponyville."
"Um... used to be?"
Rainbow pinched the bridge of her nose with a hoof. "Look, I'm trying to be nice, but it's really hard when this weird science pony just showed me up with a cart and a freaking piece of cloud ."
He jumped up, glaring. "She is not ... uh..." Then he realized that it was a phenomenally stupid thing to do in a cart thousands of meters in the air. "Oh, Celestia."
Calmany sat back down before his hooves betrayed him. But he kept his eyes on Rainbow Dash.
Who was now looking at the front of the cart again. "Wait... her?"
He covered his face with his hooves. "Right... you would have no way of knowing that, would you? Her name is Cirra."
Rainbow suddenly felt extremely awkward. "Uh, hi? You, uh... beat me fair and square, so... I'll just have to challenge you later! Or something." She sagged. "I'm not good at this sort of thing."
There were a few moments of awkward silence before Calmany spoke up. "Um... she can't talk, and unless you can give her a piece of paper or something..."
She snorted, tensing, as she whipped to face him. "And how do I not know you're just pulling my leg, huh? Trying to make me look bad? Weak? Well it isn't going to work."
Inwardly, Cirra cringed. This was going downwind fast.
Calmany finally broke. "It's my fault, all right? I got her stuck like this! I don't care if you believe or not. I don't care what you feel like. I just need to get her to Twilight Sparkle. Maybe then I won't have ruined her entire life."
Rainbow stood there in shock, anger forgotten. "I'm... uh..."
"You're right. I'm Doctor Calmany, the 'weird science pony.'"
"No, um... I wasn't thinking right-"
"I'm the worst kind there is."
Rainbow flew over and smacked him in the face.
Cirra rolled her metaphorical eyes. Finally, somepony does it.
"No! You don't get to say that. Why are you here again?"
"Well, Princess Celestia-"
She narrowed her eyes. "That wasn't what you said the first time."
"Um... I need to get her to Twilight."
"Why?"
"Because Princess Celestia-"
"That's wasn't what it sounded like when you shouted at me earlier. Look-" Rainbow Dash landed on the back of the cart, sitting next to Calmany. "I don't tell ponies this, and this doesn't leave this cart, but... if I said I was the best flier in Ponyville - and I am the best flyer in Ponyville, don't get any ideas on that - why would I even stay here? Why not go back to Cloudsdale? Why not go to Manehattan, where the Wonderbolt headquarters are?"
She paused, waiting for Calmany to respond. When none came, she decided to continue anyway.
"Because I have friends here, idiot. And one mare in particular I have to make sure keeps safe. Where would you be if you didn't care about Cirra here?"
"In a dungeon in Canterlot?"
Rainbow smacked her forehead with a hoof. "All this, and you still don't get it. Even if it wasn't for the Princess or whatever, do you really think you would have abandoned her?"
"Of course not! It was my fault-"
Rainbow glared at him. "Don't you dare insult her like that. Is this some sort of chore for you? No."
She sighed, allowing him to relax again. "Dude, I actually kinda like you. Your heart's in the right place. But your skull's thicker than mine."
She suddenly tensed. "And if you say anything to anypony else, I'll knock you so hard, you won't know which way is north."
Calmany raised a hoof. "Umm..."
Her hoof met her face again. "Pegasus thing. Don't worry about it. Now let's get you to the place Twilight's staying."
"You know her?"
"Kinda. She's sorta cool. Pulled a nice trick on me when we met this morning. See that big tree building over there? That's where she'll be. Come on, there's a welcome party for her in a few minutes." She twisted in midair before flying off.
Calmany nodded absently. Pulled a trick? Like a prank? From what I've heard, I expected Celestia's student to be a scholar.
Still, this "Rainbow Dash." On the surface, she had seemed like every other pegasus from one of those big cities, always rushing to prove themselves. About half the pegasi he met claimed to be the "best."
But something about Rainbow gave him pause. Why did she open up to him, when they barely knew each other? Her threat seemed real enough, but why go through the trouble at all?
Well, based on what Celestia said, they might not be in Ponyville all that long. It was just for the Celebration. But if he saw her again...
At least she might be pleasant company while they stayed.
Cirra flew them off in the direction of the tree Rainbow pointed them to. It was an... odd place. It was clearly a building, with windows, doors, and balconies, but it was at the same time a living, growing tree. There must have been spells to keep it living, of course, but what kinds of spells those were eluded her.
That fact didn't surprise her, but from what she knew of, at least, unicorns didn't know that many spells to keep things living. That was usually an Earth pony's job.
To be fair, there were a lot of earth ponies in this town, at least from what she could see up here. Twilight would be in the relative minority.
Ponyville itself was surprisingly small. Cirra knew that Ponyville had a "small town" reputation from her travels, she assumed that it would be more... medium. Canterlot was incredibly close, after all. One could almost say that Ponyville was a Canterlot suburb...
Oh, wait. Canterlot doesn't have any sort of farmland. It's on a mountain.
Cirra flared her wings just above the street, letting the weight of the cart bring her gently to the dirt road, right outside Twilight's temporary residence. The sign next to it read, "Golden Oaks Library."
Calmany smiled. "She's staying in a library? Now that's more what I was expecting."
Cirra looked at him oddly. He didn't notice, probably due to the bright sunlight, but he explained himself anyway.
"Even though I haven't exactly met her, there were quite a few rumors about the Princess' student. It seems at least one of them is still true."
He got out of the cart, and she silently parked it in the grass right next to the library.
Calmany stopped right before the door, taking a deep breath before turning to the faint outline of a pony behind him. "Look, I'm sorry... I know you don't want me to blame myself, and I think I understand. But please... just bear with me when I end up doing it again. Every one of your frustrations...
"I've worked on that project for so long, it's become a part of me. Even my cutie mark is so closely related... From your perspective, the machine did this to you, not me, but from mine - I am the machine. In every way that matters."
At that moment, Cirra truly cursed her lack of ability to contact him with anything more than her hooves. I never even looked at his cutie mark before he put that stupid lab coat, and I was even teasing him about it. Like I didn't even care what mattered to him the most.
And now I can't even comfort him properly.
She internally cringed when she remembered striking him. Now her previous anger at his "stupidity" seemed a lot more shallow and undeserved.
"I know you want me to stop with the guilt stuff... but until we can actually talk face-to-face... until Twiight can at least fix something, I'm going to let it go. Push it aside, until we can deal with it properly." Calmany looked up, trying to see her face in anything but a vague outline.
Cirra nodded, and with relief, found that he seemed to get the message.
"All right... let's go see this Twiight."
He opened the door.
"Or... perhaps the entire town."
Calmany vaguely remembered Rainbow Dash's words about there being a party for Twilight Sparkle here, but neither of them expected the sheer volume of ponies that occupied the room. More ponies than either of them expected to even fit, based on the outside of the library, but somehow fit comfortably within.
And yet, there was nopony with a description that would fit Twilight Sparkle.
Still, neither of them had the time to ponder any of these issues, as they were swept into the room by a fast-moving ball of pink.
"New ponies! Welcome! I should throw you a party!" The blur resolved into a pony. "Wait, I'm already doing one of those. But you already know about this one, and surprise parties are better! Can you just go out there and forget about this one for... oh, I dunno, three minutes?" She looked between them, grinning expectantly.
"Uh... I'm not a unicorn, so I can't erase my own memories. Though that would be an interesting project, if really irresponsible."
The pink pony's grin faltered for about three milliseconds. "Oh well, I'll just have to make this party abooouut.... three point two times more fun, then!"
Calmany blinked, his brain finally catching up to the absurdity of the situation. Cirra was too busy trying to figure out how Pinkie grabbed her.
"Oh, silly me! My name's Pinkie Pie! What's yours?"
"Uh... Calmany. Technically Doctor, but I'm not a medical one, so I don't usually call myself that. It makes ponies confused."
"Oooh! We have something in common then!"
Calmany did a double take.
"We both make ponies confused a lot!"
"Oh. Right."
She grinned. "See what I mean?" She turned to Cirra.
"And don't worry, I can get your name later."
"Her name is Cirra." Calmany looked around at the ponies gathered there. If any of them were fazed by Pinkie seemingly addressing empty space, they didn't show it.
"Oh! Thanks, Mr. Calmany! Now I can update the banners properly." She looked around at the decorations, all of them lacking any sort of lettered banners. "Oops, well, maybe next time."
Calmany frowned. "Shouldn't you know, if you set them up?"
"Of course! Parties are serious business."
He raised a hoof. "But-"
She leaned closer, winking. "But making ponies smile at those parties is much more important."
He stared. ...That either makes no sense at all, or is extremely profound. Though I'm not sure which option is less terrifying.
"Oh! She's coming! Everypony be quiet!"
The lights went out, and they waited for Twilight.
Cirra tapped Calmany's shoulder, and he excused himself, apologizing to the soft-spoken pegasus he had been talking to. He set his glass of punch down on a nearby table before whispering to his invisible companion. "What is it?"
Calmany took the paper she offered, scanning it quickly. "Twilight Sparkle left the party?" He glanced back at all the ponies in the library, having fun. Everypony here was so friendly to him. More than he was used to. Or at least more active about it. Most ponies in Hollow Shades kept to themselves, nice or not. At the same time, though, this was the perfect time to talk with the pony that was most likely to help Cirra the most. The sooner something could be fixed, the better. Anything would be better than nothing.
"No, you're right. Let's go talk to her."
He walked up the stairs cautiously, knocking on the door before opening it slowly. "Miss Twilight?"
There was a groan and some rustling as the purple unicorn sat up in bed. "What?"
Calmany cringed. "Sorry about that. I thought you would still be awake."
Her glare softened. "So you aren't just trying to get me to 'party?'"
"No... not particularly. Princess Celestia sent me-"
Instantly, the mare was wide awake. "Princess Celestia‽"
He held up a hoof. "This is supposed to be for after the Summer Sun Celebration. But since it looked like you were free, I thought I'd discuss it with you early."
Twilight groaned again. "That's just it. I don't have time. I might have finished all my duties for the Celebration, but it's barely an hour until the sun rises, and that's not enough time at all for the research I need to do. If that prophecy is true..."
She shook her head. "Sorry. You don't need to worry about that."
"Do you need help? I may not know much, but if you need another mind on it, I'm here."
Twilight looked down, embarrassed. "Not many ponies actually believe me on this one. Princess Celestia dismissed it! But I know it's true. More than three, independent sources have uncannily similar stories, and it all points to something incredibly bad happening at this Summer Sun Celebration." She looked up at him. "What was your name again?"
"Oh! Right. Calmany. Technically a doctor, but I don't like that title, since it's not even in my main field."
Twilight tilted her head. "What is your main field?"
He shuffled his hooves. "Well, I guess you could call me an inventor, but I've only really worked with one area - nonmagical teleportation."
She looked at him with sudden interest. "Does it work?"
Calmany cringed, looking to the side, where he knew Cirra stood. "On non-living subjects."
Twilight missed his reaction. "Well, that's certainly very interesting. What prevents the transfer of living subjects?"
"It leaves the wellspring behind."
Twilight's eyes widened suddenly, and she lifted a hoof to her mouth.
Calmany gestured towards his companion, and Twilight started to notice the small glimmers that gave away the fact that something was there. "This is Cirra, a very nice mare, and the reason the Princess sent me to you." He hung his head. "I just wish I saw the problem before she got involved."
Twilight just stood there, frozen, until a piece of paper was shoved in her face from midair.
"Let's focus on the prophecy thing. You said there was a deadline?"
Twilight looked up from the paper. Now that her eyes had adjusted, and her brain had accepted the concept, the mare's outline was more clearly visible. A mental reevaluation and a quick glance at the moon reestablished her resolve. "Right. So, you both know about the story of the Mare in the Moon, right?"
Calmany nodded. "Of course. I always thought it made a neat allegory with the Equestrian Flag. Light and Darkness, Day and Night. And then Celestia taking both roles. But that's usually just an allegory. Are you saying there is some evidence otherwise?"
Twilight smiled. "Great! You're not totally opposed to the idea. The flag is also important. But it's not everything. So the third thing. I'm sure everypony here knows of Nightmare Moon. The story told to foals?"
He chuckled. "Yeah. Those stories were always kinda fun."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, a lot of the stories surrounding her about Nightmare Night are kinda ludicrous. But if I've learned anything when researching legends, it's that all of them are based on something that is true. And with powers over the moon, alicorn status... even illustrations are uncannily similar to what that second sister looked like after she gave in to her jealousy, and tried to create imbalance."
Calmany looked at her thoughtfully. "Hmmm.... do you have any of those books of legend here?"
Nodding, Twilight floated the book over, opened to the illustration. "Just the Mare in the Moon one. I had much more information about the Nightmare Moon legends, but they were scattered over so many different sources, they just weren't portable enough."
He scanned over the text, Cirra floating over his shoulder. "A thousand years? Is this the deadline you were talking about?"
Twilight nodded. "Exactly. This is the thousandth Summer Sun Celebration. But why would it be only the thousandth if all the history books say that she has ruled for longer than that? And what was it celebrating in the first place? The defeat of Nightmare Moon is the only thing that seems plausible."
"I see why you're worried. And even if you end up being wrong, I don't think there's any harm in preparing. But I also don't think we have any chance against an alicorn."
Twilight took back the book, turning a few pages before hoofing it back to him. "Right here. It says the only way to defeat her is to use the Elements of Harmony. If we can find them, whatever they are, we might have a chance."
Calmany frowned, looking at the page. "There's no description. What are these 'Elements?'"
Twilight flailed her hooves in the air. "I don't know! And I haven't gotten the chance to research anything since I got to this crazy town!"
The door suddenly burst open, admitting a small dragon wearing a lampshade on his head. Twilight sighed. "What is it, Spike?"
"Come on, guys! You'll be late for the sunrise!" He shook his head, noticing the books. "Seriously? You roped him into this, too?"
Spike sighed. "I swear, I'm telling the Princess if this goes much farther." He turned away, rolling his eyes. "At least I can say she made one friend."
Author's Note
Sorry if it seemed Cirra's perspective was missing there for a while. For some reason, the story seemed to demand that most of the initial stuff was in Calmany's POV.
Also, Season 1 characters are surprisingly hard to write after getting used to their more developed personalities. (Also not copying interactions, something I find quite wearying in a lot of S1 fics.) At the same time, I had to give the characters more personality than they got in the opener. Despite her obvious bluster, Rainbow already knew quite a lot about loyalty to friends, especially with her connection to Fluttershy. (It's also the only reason I could think of that made sense for her to move to Ponyville. Her dream would be more accessible in Cloudsdale. And why else would she move there on her birthday unless it was absolutely necessary? Like she needed to be there for somepony.) And Pinkie knew more than she let on to the audience, even if she needed the growth to accept certain things. For example, even in this first episode, Pinkie knew Twilight's personality to an uncanny level, and even what was needed to fix things. (I could go on, but this note is way too long.)
Also, anyone get the Calmany pun yet?
I'll give you all a hint. It has to do with how he got teleportation to work in the first place. How he bypassed the Uncertainty Principle.
...All right. A better hint. It's something to do with photons and teleportation. And real-world stuff, if I didn't make that clear in my last challenge.
(I'll just put the answer in next chapter's notes if no one gets it.)
Twilight stood nervously next to Calmany, Cirra floating just overhead. The mayor was making a speech, but she didn't hear a word of it. She glanced out one of the windows circling the top of Town Hall, just in time for a flash to catch her eye.not good."
Calmany nodded, the reality of the situation starting to settle in. "Cirra, Twilight, we need to go. I have a bad feeling the Princess won't be at this celebration... we don't need to get caught up in what's going to happen here. We need to get the Elements, before this Nightmare Moon knows what we're up to."
The crowd gasped as smoke filled the stage.
Twilight started. "Yeah. Just... meet me at the library. If she's really here, she might have some valuable information!"
Calmany turned to face her. "Twilight, this isn't a pony you can just... ask questions to. Unless you plan to play the spy, which I know you don't have the training for, we need to get out of here now ."
Twilight reluctantly tore her eyes away from the imposing alicorn on stage, and the ponies she had gotten to know over the course of the day. It felt... wrong to leave them near somepony so dangerous... but the Elements were more important.
"All right," she whispered back at him. "Let's go. Where's Cirra?"
"Already on her way."
Nightmare Moon looked away from the insolent foals posing as guards now scattered on the ground. Strange movements caught her eye, a pair of ponies sneaking away in the crowd.
How dare they ignore me! Don't they know who I am?
Yet... they don't seem as frightened as the others. No... there's fear, but there's determination there. Like those ponies who confronted her, but more... subtle about it. Smarter.
I need to keep an eye out for them. They know something. They know who I am. Do they know about the Elements, too?
Nightmare Moon scoffed at the thought. No, Celestia would never have told anypony of her big secret weapon. And she knew of my return, yet they were nowhere to be found when I banished her rightfully to the sun. In fact, she barely put up a fight at all.
As it should be, of course. She was the far superior princess. Still, it didn't hurt to make sure. A rebellion would be annoying to deal with.
With a flicker of magic, she turned into smoke and passed over the crowd and into the beautiful, glorious night.
"All right, I'll search the Ancient History section, you search the Myths and Legends. There's got to be a mention of the Elements somewhere ."
"Didn't you say you had no idea what they were? Why would something not in the Canterlot Archives be instead in a small town library like this one?" Calmany tilted his head sideways, skimming the titles, while Twilight used her magic to bring about twenty closer for inspection. Cirra just floated awkwardly about, reading some titles at the top of the room.
"That's the thing, though. I had just cemented the connections before I told the Princess about everything. Thinking about defeating her was something else. Something I thought that only Celestia would be able to do. And maybe she'd just know where they were anyway. I didn't expect her to just deny everything. Especially when it all turned out to be true."
"So you hadn't even started your research, had you?"
Twilight groaned in frustration. "No, I was whisked off to oversee the Celebration almost immediately. There was no time for anything ."
Calmany picked out a promising book to flip through it. "So what happens if we can't find anything here?"
She sighed. "I don't know. I mean, all the books here looked really promising - a lot more academic than I expected from a town like this. But if there's nothing... All I can think of is to travel to Canterlot and sneak into my old library."
"Sneak in?"
Twilight sighed. "She's an alicorn, Calmany. And Celestia's... well Celestia's going to be fine. She has to be. But she's gone for now. By the time we get to Canterlot... with none of the trains running today, she's... well she's going to be the ruler for a while."
Calmany paused for a moment. "...I guess this is really happening, isn't it?"
Twilight nodded silently. "Yeah."
They both turned back to reading silently, static filling the room.
A small cloud of smoke hovered by the library window.
So they do know... no matter. Only an alicorn could possibly wield the Elements as well as Celestia did. And I was almost victorious even with the power boost.
There was no way a simple unicorn or earth pony could get them to work, even together.
Still, it would be fun to watch them try.
But that wasn't the most interesting part - as strange as it was to have ponies who remembered, as Celestia surely would have kept the Elements a closely guarded secret, there were more than two ponies in that room.
She was incorporeal, just like her. Just magic, yet alive and well.
This could pose a problem.
Still, she was young, and more easily persuaded. Perhaps she would understand, more than anypony else, the lon-
Perhaps she could be of some use.
The door burst open, and a bunch of ponies rushed in.
Twilight groaned. "Elements, elements... urgh! What is it now?"
Calmany flinched back as one of the mares he saw at the party got right up in Twilight's face. "And just what are the Elements of Harmony? And how did you know about Nightmare Moon, huh? Are you a spy ?"
One of the others pulled her back, rolling her eyes. "Relax, Rainbow. She's not a spy . But I do reckon she knows what's going on here. What is it, Twi?"
Twilight reluctantly lowered the books that were still in her grip. "I read all about the predictions about Nightmare Moon. All the legends were just... too accurate. One of them says she can only be defeated by the Elements of Harmony, but I don't know what they are, where they are... nothing. That's why I've been so rude all yesterday." She sighed. "And at this rate, we won't be in time to actually stop her from taking over. Celestia's gone, none of the Guards can help, and even my brother can't stand up to an alicorn."
Rainbow relaxed a bit. "And what about him?"
Calmany looked around at the ponies all around him, some of which he knew, some of which he didn't. All of them from all different walks of life. One even seemed afraid of him, though she carried a sleeping Spike on her back. "I guess I just got caught up in all of this, just like you did. Twilight told me everything before... everything, but we didn't have any time before it actually happened."
Pinkie suddenly popped up holding a book. "The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide!"
Twilight rushed over to her. "Where did you find that‽"
"It was under E-e~!" she sang as she pranced around the room.
Twilight blinked. "In the fiction section?"
Calmany shrugged. "Well, it's not like ponies consider legends to be that much different than fiction."
The orange pony that pulled back Rainbow looked at him with confusion. "They aint?"
Twilight spluttered. "Applejack! Nightmare Moon was a legend, and she's very real!"
She rubbed the back of her head. "Right, yeah."
"But there's no time to lose. Thanks, Pinkie, but we need to know about these Elements, and the sooner, the better."
The cloud of smoke hiding outside listened with far more interest. If she got to the Elements first, perhaps there would be less chance for rebellion than she thought.
The pages flipped by as she skimmed the text for anything interesting. "Discord? No, we can't afford to get sidetracked. Location... location...."
She suddenly stopped, and the others started to lean over her shoulders. "Aha! The last location of the Elements of Harmony now resides...."
A round of horrified looks swept the group. "...in the Everfree Forest‽"
The cloud showed a glint of teeth. Precisely what I was looking for. She just left them in the castle?
If she was in her usual form, she would have gritted her teeth. The nerve of her sister, letting everything she was attached to wither and rot. Leaving her home to rot and weeds to grow rampant.
Nightmare started to float away at a lazy pace, mind enraged at everything that had changed. If nothing else she had respected her sister in battle. She had expected a good fight when she returned. Some catharsis for the thousands of years of isolation, for the hundreds more of torture before that. But no. She just gave up. Her armies were worthless. Her subjects frightened foals, aside from a couple insignificants.
Everypony stood at the edge of the forest. The air was thick with fear and malice. Ominous sounds echoed through the trees. A sense of foreboding hung over the group.
Pinkie Pie bounced forward. "Whee! Let's go!"
"Wait, Pinkie," Twilight said, her magic gripped on her tail. "I appreciate you... all of you... trying to help, but I'd rather do this on my own. I don't want to put any of you at risk just because of my crazy schemes."
"No, Twi, we're coming with you. Family don't abandon family. Same goes for friends."
Rainbow landed beside her. "Yeah!"
"Besides, now that we know what you were going through, a bit of impatience isn't worth getting worked up over."
The shy yellow pegasus stepped forward. "I had a lot of fun talking with Spike... I mean, he's a baby dragon ! But... I feel really guilty knowing how much time I wasted for you. Maybe we'd already have the Elements of Harmony."
"Fluttershy..."
"And there's no way I'd have started you with a full makeover if I knew how much time pressure you were under. No wonder you had no interest in idle gossip, when all of Equestria was at stake!"
"Rarity..."
"The point is, Twi, we're sticking with you."
Pinkie grinned, leaning in. "And you caaan't get rid of us! Not that easily!"
Calmany nodded. "And wouldn't it make sense to have more ponies looking for the Elements once we get there?"
Twilight sighed. "I'm not winning this, am I?"
Pinkie bounced her way onto the dirt path. "Nope!"
Calmany looked curiously at the sky. "Huh. Where's Cirra?"
Nightmare Moon turned around in midair, where the outline of a pony was faintly visible. But that was a moot point - whether she was visible or not, her magic was plain for her to see.
Curious... she was with the others earlier. She should know the threat I am. Yet she floats there unconcerned. Has she lost her senses? Or has she already done my work for me?
"Who are you, subject, and what do you want from me?"
Cirra opened her mouth, moving and pointing to it to indicate she could not speak.
Nightmare rolled her eyes. "Pathetic. Still... I suppose I could give you this... one boon."
White light flashed out towards Cirra. She leaped back, but wasn't nearly quick enough to dodge. She froze as the energy lashed across her body, mouth still open in shock.
The light died down, but... she didn't hurt. She was still there. And...
She was a bit more visible, too.
"Wha-"
Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes in irritation. "Quick, foal, spit it out. I can't afford to waste power on random ponies I meet. In fact, I have a pretty good reason to incinerate you on the spot. So tell me, why should I let you live?"
"I-" Cirra shook her head. She didn't have time to think about just how she could talk. This... vapor was Nightmare Moon, and she was just as dangerous as the alicorn in Town Hall, if less imposing at the moment. "Nightmare Moon... I don't know if that's your real name, or just the ones given to you by all those legends. I read them. You used to rule together with Celestia, didn't you?"
There was a certain edge of steel in Nightmare's voice now. "Yes. Be very careful about what you say right now."
"Um... I was just wondering... what was your side of everything?"
There was silence for a solid three seconds.
"W-what?"
Cirra shifted nervously. "I mean... Celestia has been my ruler... my Princess... for all of my life. She was so kind-"
"Get to the point."
She sighed. "It still feels wrong that you attacked her. But all those legends say you were a good pony back then. And she was your sister. If you attacked her... I just want to know why. The books say it was jealousy, but that doesn't seem right."
So she's not on our side, but we were right. She is willing to listen. Nightmare Moon glanced at the ground, where the ponies, now significantly more than two, were entering the forest. Perhaps there was reason for urgency, if she wanted to get to the Elements first.
"All right. Let's... let's get to the castle first."
"The castle?"
Nightmare Moon reformed back into her physical self, then started flying above the forest. "The real castle, my little pony. The capital before Celestia decided to erase me from existence."
Author's Note
In case anyone missed my comment, Calmany's name is a pun of Calgary, where the first real teleportation of photons was successfully accomplished by quantum entanglement. (One of the only physical ways teleportation is possible in real life.)
This premiere is going to play out a lot differently than the show.
Also, the people who follow me might be surprised, as I had promised a different story's chapter would be next. But inspiration is a fickle thing, and I had to just get this out before it died again.
"You... you might have a point-"
SMASH
The door of Luna's room crashed open, knocking a porcelain figure off the shelves and onto the stone floor. Nighmare Moon leapt to her feet, eyes wide as she saw the ponies that entered.
The same seven that she had left behind were there, but six of them... Six of them had the Elements, and they were different. Different, but very much active.
"Cirra! Get away from her!" Calmany shouted.
"Girls! Now!"
Cirra's eyes widened as the Elements powered up, pointed at Luna, who had frozen in place. She tried to push her out of the way, but she was far too heavy for her hooves to do anything but pass through her.
With nothing else left, and a rainbow wave crashing down towards her, Cirra jumped in front of the beam, bathed completely in the blinding light.
Nightmare Moon jerked from her stupor, grabbed her, and teleported once more.
"We.... we did it!"
"You certainly did, my little ponies. I knew you could do it, Twilight."
Calmany just stared at the place Nightmare Moon used to be.
Celestia paused, then followed his gaze. "Oh... I was wrong. I was hoping the Elements, when properly used... might cure her, instead of banish her again."
"No... it's Cirra."
She looked at him. "What?"
"She got caught in the crossfire. She's..."
Celestia's eyes widened. "I have to go. Maybe I can get her back. Or... apologize, if I can't."
Celestia stepped onto the surface of the Moon. She didn't need to breathe, of course, but neither did Luna. So it was odd that there was plenty of air.
Is this the Elements' work? To keep her alive? Well, it's certainly a relief regardless.
Voices came echoing across the cratered landscape.
"Are you okay? Did the Elements hurt you?"
"I don't think so. It just felt kinda... warm."
Celestia frowned. That doesn't seem right...
"So... Luna... this is the moon?"
"I assure you, it gets far less interesting with time."
"Wait, if this is the moon... how do I still look like clouds?"
"I didn't want to risk your safety. So once I released her, I made this atmosphere for you."
"Released her?" Released who?
"Thanks. At least we'll have something to explore while waiting for night again."
"I just hope she doesn't see through our ruse before nightfall. I'm sorry about freezing up there. I had no idea the Elements could really be functional after seeing them in that state."
Celestia's eyes widened as she rushed towards the voices. Luna had released her voluntarily? And was talking with Cirra like a friend?
Both of their heads turned at the sudden noise in their otherwise silent landscape.
"Horseapples. I should have realized she would have come back for me."
"No, it was my fault. You got hit by the Elements. I had to get you out of there."
"L-Luna? Is that you?"
She snorted. "That isn't my name anymore."
Celestia cringed. "But... Cirra..."
She blinked, then took a step back. "Um... I suppose... But she was... different."
Cirra looked back at her, whispering. "I thought you wanted to talk with her."
"Yes, but-"
"Then go talk to her, and stop stalling."
Celestia didn't want to be rude, but it was hard not to eavesdrop, considering this was the moon, everything was silent, and she could hear everything they were trying to say.
Nightmare turned to face her, squaring her shoulders. "Celestia... No, Sister. I am still mad at what you did. And... you could never forgive me for what I did to your ponies. But..." She gritted her teeth. "I can't keep you in the sun. Not without destroying everything I wanted so dearly. So please, could we have a-"
She didn't even wait for her to finish before launching herself into a hug.
"S-sister?"
Celestia smiled, still keeping her in a firm embrace. "I knew you were still in there." She pulled away. "I... I'm sorry. For ignoring you. For dismissing your concerns, and driving you so far that you would think any of that was necessary."
With hope burning in her chest, Celestia noticed the dark magic slowly fade away from her sister - the fangs receding, and her coat regaining the slight blue tint that made her more like her own night sky rather than the void beyond the moon they stood on. Yet she still was different than Celestia had remembered. Even her wings remained batlike, quite similar to the present-day descendants of her old guard.
"You've grown, Luna."
She chuckled. "So have you. In more ways than one." Luna sighed. "I suppose I have been acting quite foalish, though. I would blame the dark magic, but my plan was stupid before I dabbled in that abhorrent art. Sombra should have taught me how stupid it was to rely on such."
Cirra floated awkwardly to the side, torn between tuning out the very private conversation and listening to make sure her friend would be okay.
Luna's expression turned pained. "But why give up like that? What would be gained by using your subjects like that? I wasn't in my right mind, and to be bluntly honest, I might still not be fully free of the magic's taint. They could have been in serious danger. And why..." Her voice cracked. "Why, if you knew that I was still me, would you send me back to the moon?"
Celestia grimaced. "Because I believed it to be my last chance to get you back. When we sealed Discord away, we worked together for our ponies. But when I used them alone... they broke. I broke. I think the only reason they worked at all is that I still loved you. There was no way I could fight you when you returned, so... I took a gamble."
"With your subjects' lives?"
Celestia looked almost desperate. "A hundred years ago, I would never have done something like this. But those young mares have something special. Just look at my student Twilight's mark. It practically is the Tree of Harmony! If any ponies could have gotten rid of the dark magic, it was them."
Luna sighed. "So you did try. And you were right, in a way. They were able to use the Elements, even if they were not Ascended." She smiled, and for the first time in ages, it was genuine. "Yet I suppose a different kind of love saved me. The friendship of young Cirra here."
Cirra quickly pretended that she was just now tuning in to the conversation.
"Don't worry," Luna said with a soft laugh. "If you were not welcome to hear, I would have not allowed the sound to travel that far." She took a deep breath. "Besides, our friendship will not grow very far if you still feel that you have to step so lightly around me."
She slumped slightly, giving up the weak facade. "I guess... it's more that I'm not used to be noticed much in the first place, let alone... both rulers of Equestria.
"Being considered a friend, though... It's amazing. But kinda overwhelming. Now that everything's calmed down. I'm just a normal pony."
She looked down at herself. "Or less than a normal pony."
Luna gave her sister a puzzled glance. Celestia let out another deep breath and shook her head.
Stepping closer to her, Luna embraced Cirra gently. "I do not know how you came to be how you are. And before, I suppose I did not care. I do now, and if you are willing, I would love to hear the story. Still, as young as you are, you do not have a body that grows old or fades. You are more like us than you realize.
"But truthfully, even though I would have not noticed you in my... impaired state, it does not matter if you were the most average pony in Equestria. It is the pony on the inside that became my friend."
Cirra smiled, relaxing fully for the first time since the sun went down the previous day. "Thank you Luna." She put a cloudy hoof to her chin. "Or would it be Princess Luna now?"
"I would hope I'm a Princess again, though I would understand if my subjects decided I am no longer fit for the position."
Celestia put a hoof on her shoulder. "I'm sure that they will understand. But I will make a public statement about your return." She cringed. "And my past mistakes."
Luna looked back at her friend. "But I certainly would appreciate it if you would refrain from using my title. We are friends, not simply subject and ruler."
Cirra tilted her head. "Even in public?"
Luna grinned. "Especially in public. A hidden friendship is barely a friendship at all."
Cirra looked back at Celestia, a sudden thought occurring to her. "Wait, shouldn't we get back soon? Ponies might get worried."
Celestia nodded curtly. "Of course." She looked at her sister. "May I?"
At her affirmation, they all disappeared in a flash of sunlight. Cirra could have sworn if she had real eyes, they might have had permanent damage.
As great as she is, I think I prefer Luna's teleports , she thought idly.
But she was almost immediately distracted by shouts, both joyous and panicked.
"Cirra!"
"Princess Celestia!"
"Nightmare Moon!"
Fortunately, she was expecting that last reaction, so she immediately shouted right back over the din. "Luna now!"
This confused everypony enough that the room was suddenly silent. Or it was that Celestia was standing calmly next to "Nightmare Moon." Or it was that her voice was so distorted from trying to shout with magic. Either way, it was quiet enough for Luna to get a word in edgewise without frightening anypony.
"I have already apologized to my sister-"
There were several gasps.
"-but I feel that I need to apologize to all of you as well. I put all of you in danger, and while I am glad you are not harmed, it could have been far worse."
Pinkie Pie simply nodded. "Okie dokie Lokie! Apology accepted!"
The others looked at Pinkie for a few seconds before shrugging themselves.
"If it's good enough for Pinkie, it's good enough for me." Applejack said simply.
Everypony nodded in agreement. Twilight's eyes seemed to linger on Luna a bit longer, taking in the changes, but she quickly nodded as well.
Calmany's eyes, seemed to be fixed on Cirrra. "I'm glad you are all right. And I'm sure you had a good reason... but why were you talking with Nightmare Moon?" He quickly glanced at Luna. "Before she went back to good, that is."
Cirra opened her mouth, trying to come up with something to say, but Luna interrupted, a new and mischievous smile on her face. "She simply believed in my legends more than was strictly smart."
"Hey!"
"Aside from my jest, she saw something in me that even I was not aware of. And in the end, her friendship and faith in me led me to reconcile with my sister."
Calmany, smiled, letting out a breath. "Thank you, Princess. I know she would never... but still..."
"Of course. No matter how well-intentioned it is, betrayal is a serious matter. It should please you that she never truly committed to one side or the other. She simply tried to solve the situation a different way."
Cirra grimaced. "That sounds... cold, Luna."
Luna tilted her head. "You could not have been fully committed to either cause. We were in direct conflict."
"I know, but... I guess I wanted to be."
She smiled. "And now you can. Everypony wins tonight!" She glanced at the sunrise. "Or I suppose, this morning."
A white mare stepped forward hesitantly. "Princess Luna?" Rarity asked. "I apologize if this is out of turn, but I am simply curious. How could jealousy drive you to... that?" She gestured vaguely with a hoof.
"Do not worry. After what I have done to all of you, such a question is not improper. In short, it was a long buildup of emotions. Emotions that I could not... no... that I would not release in a healthy manner."
Celestia stepped in. "I should mention that much of the guilt is shared. I refused to believe that my sister could be going through any of the difficulties she mentioned to me, and I willfully ignored many signs."
Twilight stood shocked at her teacher's admission, but Luna continued.
"Yet I did not reach out to any of the few that respected me, or even the few I could call 'friend.' And in the end, it was my decision to take a shortcut. To use power to get my sister's attention, and to use dark magic to attain that power earlier than was natural. And foolishly believing I could withstand its mental effects.
"Do not misunderstand me - the pony you know as Nightmare Moon was still me, and I take responsibility for all her actions. But I hope that Equestria can get to know me as I am now, with my mind clear and judgement no longer clouded."
As she looked over them, she saw the steadily growing understanding, and their previous confidence returning.
Celestia smiled warmly at all of them. "Now, let us not delay. Equestria is waiting for all of us, and we have kept her waiting long enough."
Pinkie Pie grinned. "I have just the idea."
The seven adventurers walked along the forest path in darkness. Most seemed hesitant to go onward, yet worried that their slow pace would not be fast enough. Pinkie seemed unconcerned as usual.
Calmany looked away from the moon poking through the trees. It looked so different . Certainly there was a beauty about it. But it was... alien. So different from what he grew up with.
"So... this is the Everfree Forest," he said, mostly to distract himself. "I've heard the rumors about being... evil, or something, but I don't live near Ponyville. What are we supposed to look out for in here?"
Applejack was the first to reply. "Well, there's all sorts of nasty critters in here. But that's not it. It just... aint natural."
"What do you mean by that?" Twilight asked, curious.
Rainbow grinned. "Nopony knows. You know why? 'Cause anypony who's come in. Never. Came. Out!"
This was met with worried looks from Calmany and Twilight, but eyerolls from everypony else. "Rainbow, quit it. How do you think Granny got those Zap Apples? Still almost got et by Timberwolves, though. An to answer your question, Twi... things just work differently here. Clouds move by themselves. You get caught in a thunderstorm, and you could get struck by lightning."
Fluttershy shuddered. "And the animals... they act so mean sometimes. They don't even need my help for anything." She relaxed. "Still, they aren't that bad. Just different."
Calmany looked around the forest with more interest. "Still, with how dangerous the forest is supposed to be, I'm surprised we haven't run into trouble."
Pinkie made a shushing noise. "Hey! Don't jinx it!"
Rarity snorted. "I think it's difficult enough, with all this icky muck. And I can barely see anything ."
"Well I've never had much trouble." Everypony looked at Fluttershy. "I mean, as long as we stay on the path. The plants can get pretty mean."
Everypony decided for sanity's sake not to ask her to clarify.
Calmany sighed. "I just hope Cirra's all right. If Nightmare Moon got her..."
"Well here we are. Everfree. Finally."
"Sorry. It's a lot harder to fly with no mass."
Nightmare Moon blinked. "I see. I did not realize it was so recent. And you were a pegasus, too. It makes it so much more difficult to adjust."
Cirra turned around in surprise. Was that... compassion from the "evil" mare? Now more than ever did she need answers.
Nightmare looked almost as if she was going to ask a question, but her face hardened, and she looked back at the ruins of her former home.
And just like that, it's gone, and the air still feels like it's going to kill me. But still... if the old Princess is there, this might not have to be a spy mission at all.
"What happened here? The city... is all of it gone?"
Cirra followed Nightmare's gaze. "There was a city here? All I see is the castle."
"Of course there was a city. Do you think we would rule from a castle in the middle of nowhere? Everfree was the largest city in Equestria, a symbol of unity, of freedom from terror. And yet here it is, covered in chaos and filth." She looked back towards the wisp that Cirra was. "But I need to secure the Elements. And then you have a story to listen to."
Calmany stared incredulously at the sea serpent that they had been so frightened of thirty seconds ago. And here Rarity was, complimenting his moustache.
"I'm afraid there hasn't been a proper bridge across this river for many years, darling. But I suppose just this once I can help you ladies across. And gentlecolt, of course." The serpent nodded at Calmany, who tried to smile naturally. It was hard, with the part where he was less than ten times the stature. The rest of the girls, aside from Twilight, just seemed to roll with it, with no questions whatsoever.
"All of these ponies are crazy," he whispered to Twilight. She chuckled. "Yeah, I know. It isn't half bad, is it?"
Nightmare Moon laughed. "Ha... ha... I really had nothing to worry about at all!"
Cirra flew upside down in an effort to get back to the ground. "What do you mean?"
"The Elements... they are all dead. Gray. These stone spheres are worthless."
Cirra started. "Wait, really?"
"When she used them against me... I should have known she couldn't use them on her own. That must explain the new mane color. And why she surrendered so fast."
"Oh."
Nightmare Moon turned sharply around. "Do I detect treachery in your voice?"
Cirra stepped back. "No! I just..." She sighed. "Maybe that's how this started. My friends were in danger, and I needed to know more. What you were capable of. What you personality was, other than just angry. And quite possibly... where the Elements were."
Nightmare gritted her teeth. "I suppose I should have expected this. There was no way one of Celestia's ponies would ever like me ."
"But I didn't lie. Not really. I know the sister in that story was a good pony. One worthy of love. I see that pony in you, Nightmare. She's been hurt, a lot. Please, I'd just like to know your story."
The glow that had formed on Nightmare Moon's horn died down. "I suppose... I suppose I can indulge you. Just this once."
"And besides, you never even asked me my name."
Nightmare gave her a weak smile. "You never asked me mine, either."
Cirra looked back up hopefully.
"I suppose it doesn't really matter anymore. I gave up that name a long time ago. But before all this... when I could still call Celestia my sister, I was called Luna."
"Luna? That's a nice name. Very unique."
"Thank you, my... Well... never mind. Your 'legend' you speak of got one thing right. I suppose it did start with jealousy. You see, I was always Equestria's protector. All the monsters that were left after Discord was defeated were nocturnal, so it was natural that I drive them away while I was the more powerful. And Celestia... she dealt with everything else. The new laws, the ponies... everything. 'Everypony is awake during the day,' she said to me. 'It only makes sense.'
"But it was only a few hundred years before barely anypony knew I existed. Nopony was awake during the night. That's when the monsters came out, naturally."
Cirra edged closer to her. "I'm sure ponies appreciated what you did for them. After all, they were able to have that sleep thanks to you." Internally, she was just thinking, Who is Discord, though?
"Of course they did. At first. But when the monster attacks lessened, the legends of those monsters increased. And guess who was always present?"
Cirra sighed. "You."
Nightmare Moon nodded. "Me. Any power I once had in that court of nobles Celestia set up vanished like a puddle in the hot sun. The only real power I had was in the military. But I had nothing to do, nopony to protect, and when I finally was able to do my job, ponies would run from me in fear."
"And did you talk to your sister about this?"
Nightmare snorted. "Of course I did. I was foalish enough to trust her then. But she was always 'too busy' for me. And when she wasn't, she always brushed my concerns off as the simple complaints of an errant foal. She didn't understand, and she didn't want to try, either."
"So you took matters into your own hooves, right?"
She smirked. "Not quite in the way I think you mean. I started to get ponies interested in the night. Or at least, I tried. If I had ponies of my own, perhaps Celestia would let me take on some of her duties. Perhaps I would be respected again. I tried everything to make my sky the most beautiful landscape. I even tried to replicate my sister's festivals she was so fond of. But ponies only remembered the monster they heard, rather than the pony they saw. I had become a symbol, but not the one I wanted. Everything from monsters to nightmares to street lamps running out of oil were somehow my fault."
Cirra looked at her curiously. "Nightmares...?"
"But finally, when some obstinate foal decided to deny me access to my own castle, and Celestia brushed me off one final time, I decided enough was enough. I took on the name ponies gave me, and became the monster they wanted so dearly.
"Then Celestia decided to take my one last connection to her, and banish me with it."
Cirra sighed. "A thousand years... that's a long time, for anything ."
Nightmare snorted. "You'll get used to it. Still... I told you my name. What's yours?"
"Cirra."
She smiled slightly. "A good name."
"Well, technically, it's Cirro Stratus, but I don't like that as much."
"I can see why," she said dryly. "Are names really so... descriptive in this time?"
"There's a few exceptions. Like, Celestia's name is a lot different. But I always thought alicorn names must be different or something."
"No, certainly not. I find it quite disconcerting to be named after a cloud. Especially with how close you resemble one at the moment. Yet I suppose our names are not much different. Luna means moon, only in a language far older than this."
"Luna... may I call you that? Luna?"
Nightmare sighed. "It is not who I am anymore, but... yes, if that makes you comfortable, my little pony."
Cirra chuckled. "I'm... yours. Somehow, that seems less sinister than I would have thought."
Nightmare studied her closely. "But are you really mine? Would you stand up for me? Against Celestia, your princess?"
"I suppose I should ask the reverse. Would you stand up for me ?"
Nightmare blinked. "If you truly were my pony, of course. How would you say I would not?"
She paused for a few seconds. "I think... I think I would. But I think I would also stand in front of her should you attack."
"I see." She looked down. "I fear I expected too much from you, little one."
"Yet I said I would also stand in front of you should she attack. There's no way I would survive either situation, Luna. I don't know how to fight anyway. But back then, Celestia was wrong. In more ways than one. But so were you. And... I guess I have to admit. It's hard trusting you when I'm fearful for my life. But... I just want it to be like it was in your story and ours. When you were equals."
Nightmare scoffed. "We were never equals. The only thing that was equal was our power."
"But maybe you could be."
She smiled slightly. "I like your optimism, Cirra, but... it's just not possible. Even if I were to release her to speak, I would have to raise the sun to do so. And at dawn, she's the strongest she ever is. I would be back on the moon. And possibly you as well, if you really meant what you said."
Cirra looked down. "Sorry, there's another thing. Could you raise the sun eventually? I mean, the days can be shorter or something, but..."
Nightmare frowned. "Why is that?"
Cirra shifted uncomfortably. "I mean, it's the same problem with eternal day, just reversed. Everything would freeze. No crops would grow. That kind of thing. I mean, maybe you had a plan to make things work. I don't think I'd have much problem. But... other ponies might just see you as the one that took away the day. And Celestia."
"I just thought if my night was unavoidable.... maybe ponies would start to notice it."
"It isn't how it was like a thousand years ago. Besides, people take the day for granted just as much as-"
The front doors burst open, and seven ponies rushed in.
"Nightmare Moon!" shouted Rainbow Dash, taking off into the air.
"The Elements!" exclaimed Twilight, looking past them.
"...Cirra?" said Calmany, looking up at her in confusion.
Nightmare looked at the group in surprise, then back at a tense-looking Cirra.
She looked at Calmany, who was glancing between them in confusion. "Um... I can explain?"
Nightmare grabbed her in her magic. "This is no time. We need to get somewhere private."
And with that, they disappeared in a flash of dark.
Rainbow stomped a hoof on the stone floor. "I can't believe she would do that to us! I trusted her!"
Calmany looked shaken. "I... I'm sure she wouldn't do something like that, right?"
Rainbow snorted. "Well, they looked pretty buddy-buddy to me ! What else could it be?"
"Maybe they were just talking it out?" Fluttershy proposed. "We didn't hear what they were talking about."
Applejack shook her head. "Fluttershy, I know you like to think the best of everypony, but she looked way too guilty for it to just be a negotiation. Nah, there's sumthin' up here, and I want to know what."
Twilight gave a sideways glance to Calmany. "Did anypony else notice she was talking just fine?"
"Oooh!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Maybe she made a spooooky deal with Black Snooty!"
Applejack rolled her eyes. "Pinkie, not everything unusual is a nefarious deal or a secret spy invasion." She looked at the spot they disappeared in. "Still...."
Twilight shook her head. "No matter. The Elements are right here. We just need to figure out how to use them. Calmany, did you remember to bring the book with?"
"Sorry about that. You were saying something. Are you implying that ponies actually accept my night?" She sighed. "Of course they would, now that Celestia's running it."
"Those monsters you talked about... aside from places like the Everfree Forest, there aren't really any... threats. We haven't been at war for over three hundred years. There really isn't much to fear from the night anymore. I mean, ponies still sleep through it, but... there's a lot of astronomers, too. Ponies that stay up late just for fun. But..." Cirra looked around the small room they were in. Despite all the dust, and the draft from a lack of windows, it was quite the cozy room. "Where did you take me, Luna?"
Nightmare waved her off. "Just my quarters. But never mind that. You say they appreciate my sky? After a thousand years of nothing changing? That just seems... unusual."
"I mean, most of the astronomers are just geeks like Twilight who just like mapping out everything. But something has to keep them there, right? And besides...." She blushed. "A lot of ponies find it romantic."
"You... you are serious. After all these years..." She sighed. "But Celestia.... she would never forgive me for hurting her ponies. I don't think I could."
"Don't you miss your sister?"
"Of course I do!"
"Wouldn't she feel the same way?"
"I... I don't know. Cirra, it's taking me almost all of my power to keep her in the sun. If I even raise the sun... it's just too dangerous."
Cirra gasped. "Wait, you have to keep her up there? I thought it was just a one-time thing. A spell or something."
Nightmare gritted her teeth. "No, the only the Elements can give that kind of power. And they are useless now."
She sighed. "If only I could talk to her or something. But if you sent me to the sun..."
"No chance. You wouldn't survive a second in that heat."
"No, I know that. I was just trying to find a way we could communicate where you wouldn't be at a disadvantage."
Nightmare looked at her closely. "You... really are determined about this, aren't you?"
"Of course I am! I want both of you to be happy. And... you just told me the reason why the shorter day thing would never work."
Nightmare looked down. "Oh..."
Cirra suddenly started. "Wait, I just got another idea."
"Hm?"
"Can you... pretend to be locked back in the moon, without actually being trapped?"
