Author's Note

Jesus, I loved writing that! Talk about starting this half-term with my favourite chapter of the story yet. I hope this one came out alright though. Tidal is definitely going to be one of my favourite characters to explore so I hope I don't screw up too bad with her. Anyway, Hope you enjoyed and read my next chapter. I got a whole week to do this so I *probably* won't procrastinate on it too much.

Stay dizzy. Wuzzy out.

P.S. Listened to this while writing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH-xgc5mwBk

17- Horn of Ambition

NOIRE POV

Silence had fallen on the empire, even the late night clubs had closed for the night then. It was in this silence that you could hear my footsteps as I walked through the halls as quietly as possible. This would be my first visit to Tidal Horn after the incident, which still bothered me to that day; a few magic attacks managed to put her in comatose for almost a month but how? Her wounds weren't too serious due to her armour and unicorns confirmed there was no spell they could identify. I turned a corner which led me to Tidal's room in the castle. We didn't have enough space in the medical ward due to the number of injured soldiers brought in so she was put in her room where she was monitored. I nodded to the soldiers posted at her door and entered her room. It was a very basic room; purple walls, a desk, a bed and a closet. The only thing that stood out to me was a sword handle that was put on display along with a broken blade that was separated from it. On the display 'The Great Storm Surge' was written and under the display was a picture of a woman with a blue mane, purple fur and blue eyes in armour except for her helmet. I put two and two together and the lights came on; this was TIdal's mother who died in service. I turned back to the sleeping Tidal and went up to her bed.

"I hope you tell me more about her when you wake up. You two seemed close," I held Tidal's hand closed my eyes for a few moments until I felt a strange tingling in my arms. I opened my eyes and found my marks moving along my arms, trailing up towards Tidal's hand. As soon as it reached her hand, it spread onto her and her eyes glowed green. My vision was suddenly fading to white and found myself getting sleepier until the light consumed me.

"Dammit...," I groaned out as my vision returned slowly. I rubbed my eyes and as soon as I removed my hands from my tired eyes, I could see I wasn't in Tidal's room anymore. In fact, I wasn't even in the empire anymore, I was back in Canterlot castle. I looked around and saw guards lining the halls as usual but acted as if I didn't just spontaneously teleport here. I thought it was just their training but a door opened right behind me during my thought but it passed right through me like I was a ghost. "Jesus, that feels weird," before I could return to my thoughts, my attention was drawn to the female guard dressed in similar armour to Shining but she had a purple cape on her back which helped radiate her obvious authority. I followed the female guard until I was walking right beside her.

"Look at you! What beautiful eyes you have!" I looked downwards and saw a tiny foal in her arms, wrapped in a pink blanket. I assumed that this was the mother. She was the spitting image of her mother except for her mane and eyes which were a royal blue compared to her mother's bright blue. Once I saw the baby's face, I realised that the baby in the guard's arms was Tidal and the guard must have been the Great Storm Surge which must mean I was in Tidal's memories. However, Tidal only looked about a few months old. There is no way she could've remembered this far back.

"I'm just going to assume it's the code because everyone else gets to explain anything contrived with 'Magic' so I'm doing the same," I shrugged and continued following. Along the way, Storm Surge kept talking to the baby Tidal, tickling her belly and nuzzling her mane as a proof of her love and reminded me of times with my mother. We weren't as bonded like with Storm Surge and Tidal; in fact, our relationship left much to be desired. Ever since I was born, she was cold and distant towards me and dad was left to pick up the pieces of our broken family. There were times when she would get back from her 'night-job' smelling of booze and we would get into the biggest of arguments. Dad did all he could to keep both me and my mother healthy and happy but all it gave him was a kitchen knife in his heart and an emotionally shattered 7-year-old. The day my mother was carried to prison in a straight jacket was the worst day of my life. Apparently, she was already a psychopath before she married my dad just for a stable living situation and the 'mistake' of having me. The thought of her stills keeps me up for a minute or two at night but lovely moments like this or the smell of Cadence's mane always brings me home.

"Captain! Another attack is coming!"

A voice sounded from the castle, startling me out of my thoughts. I looked up and realised the scenery had completely changed; instead of a grand hallway, I was on a forest path with the castle far off in the distance. Storm Surge was still with me but with no Tidal and she was also accompanied by ten guards. We also were behind a large rock and from above I could see at least twenty gryphons. A hail of arrows came raining down on us, killing three of the guards. An arrow came down and pierced through my leg. Now this memory was starting to make less sense. I went from Tidal's memory where I couldn't get hurt to Storm Surge where I could get hurt. Another hail of arrows came down but Storm Surge drew her sword and sliced through the air. As her blade passed, it started to change into a liquid form which blocked all of the arrows. She then swang her sword back at the enemies, sending the arrows back at them at twice the speed at which they were shot.

"Now is our chance! ATTACK!!!" with a mighty yell, she and her remaining soldiers charged forward and started dwindling their numbers one by one. The battle was looking up for them and as soon as the last gryphon was dealt with, the guards gave a cheer of victory. However, I could sense a remaining magic signature somewhere but couldn't tell where. In what could only be seconds, a magic arrows shot through the darkness between the trees and pierced Storm Surge's chest. She fell to her knees and the crack of a sword was heard. Darkness. I couldn't see anything but I could hear faint words from Storm Surge. "I'm...sorry, my Tidal...sorry...I couldn't...finish our lesson..." The sound of a blade piercing skin resounded through the emptiness. That was it. She was gone. A little began to shine in the darkness of the empty memory.

I wasn't even surprised that the scene had changed to Canterlot castle's cemetery. A funeral for the brave souls who sacrificed their lives for their kingdom. I could see many memorable faces like Celestia, Cadence, Shining Armour as well as Tidal. From her smaller stature, she looked 15 or 16 at most. She was dressed in a black dress and was carrying her mother's broken sword. After a few minutes of silence, everyone began to leave until only she and Shining remained. He walked over to her and hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry..." he said. Tidal didn't even respond, she just dropped the pieces of her mother's sword and returned the hug, crying loudly, desperately clinging to him as if he was her saving grace.

"This is probably where she started to gain feelings for him. Now, I can see why she was so angry when Shining went missing,"

The mindspace changed once again to night-time in the sparring fields. The sounds of relentless huffing and puffing from an older Tidal could be heard from behind me. I turned to face her, sweating profusely as she swang her blade repeatedly. Each swing carried with it a blade of water which only made it a couple of metres before dissipating. She kept trying to make her mother's attacks work but each time, the same result. Eventually, she gave a loud yell and threw her practice sword to the side and collapsed to her knees crying. I couldn't keep watching her suffer and began to walk towards her. "Stay away from me, you freak..." I couldn't hear her mumbling so I decide to take another step forward.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

She released a mighty burst of magic from her horn. I quickly summoned my Decode sword to block to the attack. However, she didn't relent, continuing to release magic indiscriminately. "WHY DO YOU THINK I MADE YOU FEEL PAIN IN THE FOREST WHERE MY MOM DIED?! I WANT YOU OUT! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Her magic tantrum grew so bad, I had to even change into my unbound form to tank the attack. I may have been able to absorb magic, but taking it as an attack still hurts like hell. Eventually, I reached and put my hand on her horn and drained the rest of her magic. She was left there, underneath me and struggling to break free as I tried to understand what was happening. Could she have been here this whole time? A dreamlike state which she refused to wake up from?

"Tidal, I know how it feels to lose someone close to you. To feel so useless without them but staying in the past won't help you move on! You need to keep moving forward!"

"Don't you think I know that?! I've tried to get past the pain of her death but something keeps pulling me back! Back to my weakness!" the field changed to the memory of our battle with Chrysalis.

"My regrets!" It changed again to the funeral with Shining and her.

"My fucking failure as a general!" This time it was a cemetery filled with the tombs of her corps who died in the battle. The mindspace couldn't handle it, shattering and turned to darkness. "I can't come back from this. I just want to stay here and rot like I deserve to so just... go away..." she went limp and laid there in silence. I went silent for a few moments too, trying to find the right words to say. It then hit me.

"If you can't come back from this alone, then rely on us," the darkened mindspace then changed to the deliberation room with all of us; Me, Her, Cadence, Burning and Windy. "We may not have started out on the best foot or hoof but we're here for you if you need us. Don't you remember how you and Cadence worked together to fend off Chrysalis' attack?" The scene changed back to the battle. She looked and saw both her and Cadence, two mares who hated each other at first but were both fighting for a common cause. "It may seem like your weak but inside you are probably the strongest out of all of us. You lasted against Chrysalis longer than Celestia! Don't ask how I know. I just do," The mindspace changed one last time to baby Tidal in Storm Surge's arms "We need you, Tidal. We all care about you and want you back in our lives so please..." Tidal began crying again "Come back to us..."

"Ugh... Was that a dream?" I said, waking up in Tidal's room. I looked at Tidal and froze. She was awake and still holding my hand. She leapt towards me and hugged me tightly, making sure not to let go. I returned the hug and remained like that for what seemed like hours. Soon, Tidal let go and slowly stood up, trembling slightly. She walked over to the mantle holding her mother's sword and magic-blasted it open "WAS THAT REALLY NECESSARY?!" I yelled.

"Can you take me to Canterlot, please?" she said quietly. I was left in shock but then looked at her holding her mother's sword in her grip, understanding what she intended to do. I silently nodded and walked over to her. I put my hand on her shoulder and teleported us all the way to Canterlot.

I was exhausted by the time we made it to Canterlot cemetery but we made it. Tidal walked through the garden of graves until she found a large statue of her mother in all of her glory. She put the broken sword down and used her magic to submerge it "No more lingering in the past. I have to move forward with my new friends and new life but I will always have you to keep me going. See you later, mom," she walked back to me and put her hand on mine, allowing her magic to flow into me "That should be enough to get us back, right?" she asked. I gave a slight nod, too tired to respond with words. Without any last words, we teleported back to the empire.

TIDAL HORN POV

Once we made it back, Noire passed out on the floor. Expected seeing as I had just made him teleport 43 miles and back. "Impressive... for a newbie," I said, smirking. I picked him up and laid him in my bed. I got cosy next to him and pulled the covers over us "Now listen, just because I'm letting you sleep in my bed doesn't mean I like you or anything, Newbie. You're still gonna have to prove your worth to me on the battlefield," Noire responded with a quiet murmur. I chuckled and got closer to him, dangerously close "But I must admit, Cadence got herself a keeper. I wonder if she told him about herds," I said before giving in to sleep.