Relentless

Chapters

Canto I: Ceremony
Canto II: The Gloaming
Canto III: The Game
Canto IV: Falling Down
Canto V: There is a Light That Never Goes Out
Author's Notes

Canto I: Ceremony

The phaeton carrying Twilight Sparkle raced above the snowy lands that bordered the Crystal Empire. From the looks on the faces of the pegasi pulling the carriage, they were sober and determined and moving as fast as possible, even to the point of exhaustion. That alone told the young alicorn that something was afoot...as if the sudden carriage arriving at her castle wasn’t off-putting enough.

Turning to the pony in the seat next to her, she asked, “Do you know what the request was, Flash?” To her surprise, the recently-promoted corporal in the Crystal Guard was stony-faced and had been silent for most of the trip. She didn’t know him well, but if he was anything like his counterpart in Sunset Shimmer’s world, he was a normally easygoing stallion who was ill at ease judging by the stern visage on his face now. He was the very picture of military bearing in his dress uniform instead of his normal barding – another sign something was wrong.

“Sorry, Princess,” he told her after a second.

“Flash, you know you can just call me Twilight,” she said in a friendly tone, if for no other reason than to get him to relax.

It didn’t work. Giving her the ghost of a smile, he said, “Normally, I would, your highness. But the Prince has told us that we are to be on our highest military bearing, even for those we consider friends. The situation demands it, he told us.”

“Well, that would explain why he asked me to wear my regalia,” Twilight commented. At the moment, she had them in a small case she brought along with her – she usually abstained from wearing hers, as she felt that as the Princess of Friendship and Magic, such markers of station needlessly separated her from the common pony. But even she knew decorum and if her brother stated she’d need them, she’d put them on when it was time.

As the snows gave way to the grassy fields that indicated the beginning of the area protected by the Crystal Heart, the phaeton banked to the left, heading not straight towards the Imperial City but instead towards the west of the empire and the smaller towns there. The phaeton headed on its new course, leaving the comfortable warmth and cosmopolitan friendliness of the Imperial City behind, the spire of the Crystal Palace shrinking into the distance until it was barely visible.

“We’re not heading to the Crystal Palace?” Twilight inquired.

“No, your highness,” Flash replied. “We’re meeting Prince Shining in a smaller town in the west, a place known as Snow Quartz.”

Sometime later, as Celestia’s sun headed towards its rendezvous with the horizon, was when they arrived at Snow Quartz. The town clearly had its name for two reasons: One, that it was at the far western edge of the Crystal Heart’s protection and thus bordered the snowy lands; and that the city was filled with sizable juts of milky quartz, the white crystal spars as large as trees and giving the town a seasonal, alpine feel.

The phaeton landed, coming to ground amongst a full platoon of Crystal Honor Guards, all dressed in highly-polished barding. Many of the crystal ponies that lived in the quartz-dotted town milled from a respectful distance, wondering what the hubbub was about. As Twilight, now wearing her regalia, stepped off the carriage, she found herself in front of the platoon as they came to attention, and at the other end, Shining Armor, resplendent in his own dress uniform.

“Hello, Twily,” he said softly. “I wish we could have met under better circumstances, but...maybe you’ll have some time after this to visit us in the City. Cady would love to see you again.” Twilight noted that her brother’s enthusiasm for seeing her again, though sincere, was far more muted than normal.

“What’s going on, Shiny?” Twilight asked, though taking her cue from him and lowering her tone.

“You are the last of the princesses to arrive. Cady was here yesterday, and before her Celestia, then Luna. When Cady happened to mention you in light of what happened two weeks ago, she was desperate to meet you.” Shining’s eyes took on a strange cast as he added, “She said...she wouldn’t die until she met you.”

“Wouldn’t die? Who? I hope you don’t mean Cady,” Twilight asked.

“No, she’s fine. As for the answer to that mystery, you’ll find out shortly.” Without explaining further, Shining walked on towards a house made out of wood and stone, a far different construct in a land where homes were hewn straight out of the crystal that dotted the land.

As they approached the house, Twilight noticed two things. The first was a huge copy of Celestia’s cutie mark, adorning the wall as a massive plaque, all done in yellow and red gold. The other was above the ornately-designed door, on its frame: words in the old tongue emblazoned in the purest silver.

EXALTA NOLI TIMERE, RESPICIT SUPER NOS AMORE SOLEM

“Be not afraid, for the sun looks down with love,” Twilight read, voicing the words aloud.

“I’m glad you can read that, because I was stumped,” Shining admitted.

“This is a Celestine home, isn’t it?” Twilight asked, and Shining nodded. The Celestine Order was a leftover from the dark times immediately after Nightmare Moon’s banishment. While the Order were technically guards like the greater EUP force and Celestia’s personal Solar Guard, they were hardly seen as such: once, they were templars, paladins, knights who fought the darkest of evils that Equestria faced. Though greatly diminished since their founding, the Celestines were mostly focused on charitable works and were nowadays seen as Celestia’s priesthood…though that was something that vexed her greatly, she’d told Twilight once. During that same conversation, Celestia admitted that it had been a good thing that the Order had undergone a major transformation, else they would have attempted to slay Luna upon her return – and might have even succeeded. As Celestia’s student, Twilight – and Sunset before her – were nominally members of the Order themselves, though Twilight never had anything to do with them, and most likely neither did her predecessor and friend.

As if on cue, the door opened, revealing a unicorn in the brightest of barding; all was polished to its luminescent fullest, from the champron helmet in the unicorn’s grasp, to the flanchards protecting his sides. The barding was covered with caparisons, the brilliant-white cloth bearing the symbol of the Order: Celestia’s sun in yellow and red with crossed swords behind it. He was armed, both with a sword to his right flank and a crossbow to his left. If anything, his armor was far more suited for war than the guards behind her – and he looked ready to jump into one at a moment’s notice.

“Greetings, my princess,” the unicorn bowed with a flourish, his dapper jade-green-and-silver mustache almost jovial despite the situation, his eyes bright with a smile. “I am De Payens, Grand Master of the Order. And I must admit it is an honor to have you with us, though I must apologize: had I known that one of our own had ascended, I would have requested your presence immediately after Her Divine Majesty.”

Twilight thought better about mentioning Celestia’s distaste for being referred to as divine, and simply said, “Thank you, Sir De Payens.” Twilight’s atypical thought pattern kicked in and she commented, “Though I must admit that your name is unusual for a pony.”

De Payens chuckled. “Such is the way of the Order. Upon joining, we take names not of the norm, to remind us that we must always be representative of the Divine Other. In my case, my name is old Prench for a mostly-forgotten village that was instrumental to the Unicornia war effort during the Era of the Warring Tribes. As for my birth name, I shan’t trouble you with that, as it is irrelevant to who I am now.

“But enough of myself,” he said, opening the door. “We are here to say farewell to a legend.”

Twilight walked into the house, and gazed at the walls, all covered in various trophies and monuments to a warrior unlike any other. On a stand by the wall was the barding of a pony, well-kept and ready for use in an instant. On the walls were various weapons of war, and the lavender alicorn had no doubt that they too were able to be wielded within need. She looked at Shining, and to see the look of awe on his face was more than enough; her brother had always strived to be a military stallion others could look up to, so to see him able to do the same was impressive.

But what sort of life has this pony led if they were ready for war in an instant? Twilight wondered.

De Payens called over two more members of the Order, both dressed as he: one a fierce pegasus with shifty eyes, the other a gentle-seeming earth mare whose size easily matched that of Big Macintosh. “My prince and princess, may I introduce you to two more of the Order: this is Sant-Audomar, Master of our garrison in the Badlands; and Montbard, Master of our garrison in the Eastern Steppes.” Both nodded wordlessly, offering greetings.

It was then that a door in the far room opened, revealing another earth mare, this one of more normal size and dressed in the normal habit and scapular of the Order. She wore no weapons, but instead was adorned with a brassard signifying her as being in the medical profession. Clearing her throat briefly, she spoke , “Beg your pardon, my lords and lady, as well as to your highnesses, but the Sunlit Blade is awake.”

“Good,” De Payens said. “Then we shall all go in.”

“Except, my lord, she wishes to speak with ‘the Battlemaiden Princess’, as she claimed, and her only.” Looking at Twilight, the cleric said, “I believe that is you, my princess.”

“Me? I’m no battlemaiden,” Twilight exclaimed.

“Don’t tell yourself short, Twily,” Shining commented. He thought about what she said for a second before asking, “Unless you’re referring to the ‘maiden’ part – is there something I should know?”

“No, Shiny, I still meet that qualification,” Twilight drolled. “It’s just….”

“Understandable, my princess,” Montbard spoke; her voice sounded much like Fluttershy’s, though with a brogue characteristic of Scoltland, a vale north of Trottingham. “Mares such as we often prefer to be seen as ladies, not as warriors. Even still, I have had the honor of seeing you in battle against foes, and you are quite formidable.”

“Thanks. I think,” Twilight said. “Well, here I go,” she announced, passing the cleric and walking in.

The room was a bedroom, illuminated by the orange hue of candlelight. In the center of the room was a bed, surrounded by two more mares wearing the Celestine habit, as well as medical brassards. And on the bed, swaddled in blankets and a quilt, was a pegasus mare as old as Granny Smith, though where the Apple matron exuded quiet authority, this mare radiated a hard, worn life. Her fur was the color of faded paper, her mane almost shock-white but still showing faded pinks and blues of the colors it must have been in a bygone age. Her eyes were closed and her breath was soft, as if she were dozing.

“I hear you, my princess.” The mare opened up two blood-red eyes, then fixed them in turn on each of her caretakers. “You may leave. This is only for her highness’ ears.”

The two healers looked uncertain until Twilight said in soothing tones, “I have medical and pharmaceutical training. She’ll be fine until we need you again.”

As the two departed, the mare said to Twilight, “I doubt I will see them again. Today, I draw my last breath, and I have only held on to tell you of my failure, my princess.”

“Failure? I don’t understand.”

“You need not understand failure, my princess, for you have known success where I could not. You have conquered, where I found myself lacking. And I requested your presence, though being unworthy, if only to beg your forgiveness before I pass on.”

“Forgiveness? For what?”

“For being unworthy of my name: the Sunlit Blade. I am that, for I was thought to be the fiercest warrior within its ranks. But in truth, I look at myself in the mirror and see the old mare I've become. An old mare whose shame will haunt me until my last breath, I swear it.” To Twilight’s surprise, the Sunlit Blade sat up, and took Twilight’s forelegs in hers. “I beseech thee, my princess: Please hear my tale! Please forgive this old nag for her failure!”

“I’m sure there is nothing to forgive,” Twilight told the Sunlit Blade, “but I will hear your tale.”

“Thank you,” the aged mare said, leaning back into her bed. “For ages, I have been called by the name I use: the Sunlit Blade. It has been so long since anypony has called me by my birth name, I scarcely recall what it was. Maybe I no longer deserve that name, because it was that of a foolish, innocent filly who no longer lives and whose remnants are just me.

“This is the tale that I must tell, even to my eternal shame, and it is to my greater shame that I must tell it to you, my princess – you who have done what I could not.

“This is the tale of how I unleashed evil unto the world.”

Canto II: The Gloaming

A century before….

The rainstorm came down in gouts upon the young pegasus. She wanted to curse the name of the local weather manager, but she remembered that she was so close to the Everfree Forest, and the weather tended to be untamed around these parts, especially outside of the settled areas. Besides, she really didn’t know the name of the weather manager in Ponyville anyway, or even if it had one, given that the settlement was so new.

I knew I should’ve stayed at that inn in Ponyville, but nooo, I just had to see if I could make it to Berryville early! And now I’m frozen and soaked to the bone with no chance of….

Her thoughts were interrupted by the light flickering in the distance. At first she was afraid that it was a trick by some evil creature from the Everfree, but she soon realized that it was on a path that led away from the dark forest. Eager for any place to stay, she ran as fast as she could, the mud staining her coat and her soaked wings completely useless from the rain.

Twenty minutes later, she came upon a fortress, for there was no other way to term it. A castle, such as that of Canterlot, was a work of art. A garrison, such as the EUP base in her hometown, was made for “quick deployment of troops”, or so her older brother, a guardspony himself, had told her. But this place...it looked as if built for war, to keep a massive force outside its walls at any cost. It certainly didn’t look the place for a mare barely out of her teens, such as her.

But beggars can’t be choosers, she said as she approached the door and knocked.

Finally, after countless minutes, the door opened, revealing a huge, armored guard; he was an earth pony, and he carried what looked to be a nasty-looking spear. “Yes, may I help you?” he asked in a voice tinged with a Trottingham accent.

“Hi, I got lost and it’s raining. If you don’t mind, can I come in?” The pegasus sneezed, then shivered due to the cold. In the distance, a jag of lightning split the air, followed by the bassy rumble of thunder, and finally the whistle of the winds as they tore through the area, further chilling the pegasus.

“I’m sorry, but we do not allow guests in the garrison,” the stallion said. Pointing with his spear, he said, “If you follow the road, in another fifteen miles, you’ll reach the town of Berryville. We have an abbey there, and I recommend you go there instead.”

“Oh, c’mon!” the pegasus cried. “You know I’m not going to make it in this storm! Have a heart! Look, if I have to pay, I have bits—” She tried to get through the door, but then the stallion blocked the path with his spear.

“Bits matter not to me, young miss,” he told her. “You must go.”

“I-I’ll never make it,” she moaned, shivering. “Too cold. Pegasi don’t have the same constitution you earth ponies do.”

The stallion looked her over, then sighed and muttered, “I hope this mistake will not undo me.” He then nodded to her and stepped aside, allowing her in, which she gladly did. Closing the door behind her, he led her down the main hallway.

The hallway was well-lit, with wall sconces flickering from magical light, and featuring several alcoves within which were statues of various soldiers in valorous poses. There were also several doors, and by each door were a pair of guards, unicorn or earth pony, standing fast as if prepared for battle. Their eyes traced her path as she walked behind the spearpony, and needless to say it made her very uncomfortable.

Finally, they stopped at a gilded door. “Wait here,” he told her. “I must speak to the Master.” Nothing more to say, he walked in, closing the door behind him.

As she stood alone, the pegasus looked around. Other than the statues, the hallway was barren, aside from the copy of Celestia’s cutie mark engraved into the tiles below. Behind the princess’ mark were two swords, and what that signified, the pegasus didn’t know. Aside from the storm roiling outside, there was nothing else that echoed, save for the occasional drops of water sloughing off her coat and feathers.

Suddenly and without warning, a monstrous howl roared throughout the building. The screech was unnatural, inequine, and like nothing of this world. She had heard the sound of certain monsters before: manticores and timberwolves, but this was nothing like either.

The door opened and the spearpony stepped out, looking at her. “Master Boniface will see you now,” he said simply.

“Wha-what was that?” she asked him, worried.

“Likely the wind or some poor creature of the Everfree,” he said in a bored tone. “Come; the Master would see you now.” She glared at him, but it had no effect, as he merely opened the door, allowing her entry.

Seated at a simple desk was somepony that could not be called simple: a unicorn, who looked as though she combed her mane with a rake. Her eyes were wild and though she was dressed in the same manner as the other soldiers, she looked to be a wildmare and completely out of her mind. Even still, there was something about the unicorn that conveyed a command presence; when the pegasus had been a filly, she had once seen the Captain of the Royal Guard, Star Song, and this unicorn gave off much the same aura.

Glaring at her, the unicorn asked, “I am Boniface, Master of this Garrison of the Celestine Order. What do you want here, pegasus?”

“Hey!” the pegasus gasped. “I have a name, you know!”

“I’m sure you do; however, I care not for what it is. Now I can either call you ‘pegasus’, which is what you are; or idiot, which is what I suspect you are as well. Now which will it be?”

“Fine, pegasus, then,” she grumbled.

“Good, now that we’ve gotten the pleasantries out of the way, I ask you again: What do you want here?”

The pegasus sighed. This day is just getting better and better. And if it’s not bad enough, I think I have a headache building…. “Look, I was on my way to Berryville and got caugh—” Her words were cut off by a cough. “Excuse me, sorry. As I was saying, I got caught in the rain here. Would it be possible to stay overnight? I’ll gladly pay for food and a room, though...if you’re Celestines, aren’t you supposed to help those in need?”

Boniface eyed the pegasus with a haughty look. “The abbeys, yes – but this is a garrison and for a different purpose. I’m sorry, but we cannot help you, pegasus. You will have to leave.”

The pegasus began coughing again. “But I won’t make it out there!”

Boniface looked at the spearpony. “Brother Amblard, take Sister De Claret and any other pony not on duty and hitch a wagon. Dispatch this pegasus to the Berryville abbey at once. I will send a flamefax ahead to Abbess Belmonte and let her know to expect visitors.” Boniface looked at the pegasus and said, “Let it not be known that the Order does not care for the needy. But you will go and you will go now!”

Amblard looked at the pegasus. “Please, this way. The sooner you leave, the better.”

The pegasus turned angrily, ready to storm out the door, but the moment she took a single step, the world began to spin. She could hear the voices of Amblard and Boniface, and then finally that horrific howl, before darkness claimed her.

“Good, you’re awake.” The pegasus opened her eyes to see a beautiful earth mare leaning over her, placing a cold cloth over her head. “Are you feeling better, Miss Pegasus?”

The pegasus groaned. “Not you, too.”

“I’m afraid Master Boniface has commanded it, and personally, I’d rather not go against her orders. It is...hard enough living here as is.” The mare gave a comforting smile, then continued. “I am Sister De Claret, and after you fainted, I convinced Master Boniface to let you stay until the storm ends, in order to prevent your health from becoming worse. She agreed, but said you must go immediately after the last raindrop falls. We’ve sent word to the Berryville Abbey, and their physicians will be awaiting you.”

“Thanks,” the pegasus replied.

“It is of no trouble. I have some broth cooking in our kitchens. I will fetch it for you.” As silent as possible, De Claret departed the room, leaving the pegasus to rest in peace.

Though not for long, as the storm outside the window began to rage again and that insane howling started once more. However, this time it seemed more natural, subdued – normal. It appeared to come from within the walls of the building itself, and it sounded morose, wounded, wronged.

Something stirred within the pegasus’ heart and despite her weakness, she got off the bed and headed towards the door, opening it to find nopony in the halls and the howling coming from the other end, now sounding more like cries for help. Still woozy on the wing, the pegasus moved as fast as she dared, down the hallway, where the magical lights became dimmer and dimmer, as if the darkness swallowed them up.

“Help, help I say! Please don’t let them take me away!” The pegasus approached a barred door to see a zebra stallion lying there. He looked as though he’d been beaten as of late, starved and weak. But he looked at her and smiled, as though he had seen the face of Celestia herself. Moving carefully to the door, he asked, “Please! Have mercy! Assist me! You’re not one of them, I can plainly see.” He reached out to her and she hoofbumped him; he sighed in relief. “Ketri is my name, and this is my fate – but you can save me ‘fore it’s too late!”

“Hello, Ketri. My name is—”

“No time, dear miss, I apologize! But the floor has ears and the walls eyes!” He looked to and fro as much as he could then said to her, “These ponies are evil and mean me harm! But if you free me, we can raise an alarm!”

“But...but these are Celestines!” the pegasus cried. “They’re Celestia’s warriors!”

“You think these to be heroic souls? Not true – pure villainy are their goals!” Ketri yelped. “I once too thought these the Celestines, but soon found they were not as seemed. Back then I was Canterlot bound; as part of my studies I move around. But these brigands did capture me on charges very dastardly. To fool poor innocents is what they crave – so then they can sell them off as slaves!”

“Look, I’ll tell Boniface! She has to do something!”

“No! That’d only clue her in that I’ve told you true and bared her sin! That won’t succeed, that will not work! All you’d do is warn that jerk!”

The pegasus was confused. “Then what can I do to help?”

“You can start by stepping away from that...thing,” a voice rang out. Both Ketri and the pegasus turned to see Boniface standing there, flanked by Amblard and a host of other soldiers all armed and focused on them. Behind them, with a sad look on her face, was De Claret.

“Come with us, pegasus,” Boniface ordered. “Now!”

“No! What have you done to this poor stallion?”

“I said, follow me. I won’t say it a third time.” As if to underscore her point, Boniface’s horn started charging up with magic.

Sensing defeat for the moment, the pegasus gave Ketri an apologetic look, then followed the soldiers.

“I have changed my mind,” Boniface said to the pegasus. “You will leave now. I will allow the use of my personal phaeton for your safety, but you will leave!”

“Why?” the pegasus asked. “So you can torture that poor zebra some more?”

Amblard shook his head. “Miss, you do not know what you speak of.”

“Yes, I do!” she snarled. “You guys are hoping to hurt poor Ketri! Why? Is it because he’s not a pony like us? Well, if that’s your plan, it’s failed. I already know about him and I won’t let you hurt him!”

To her surprise, Boniface laughed. “Hurt who? Hurt what?” When the pegasus glared at the unicorn as though she’d gone mad, Boniface said, “I presume he’s told you that we’re frauds and charlatans, that we’re merely pretending to be Celestines?” Boniface laughed and added, “Then who, praytell, could run such an advanced operation without the guard – or even the Celestines themselves – knowing about it? Or do you feel Her Divine Majesty’s government is corrupt enough to allow such evil to flourish within her ranks?”

Boniface leaned into the pegasus’ face until they were at a very uncomfortable distance; that is to say almost muzzle to muzzle, as if lovers. “He will say anything, will twist words and favor lies on his tongue. And do you know why?” The garrison master smiled. “Because he is one of the greatest evils to walk this land, a threat so dire even Tartarus itself cannot hold him – and only our vigilant efforts keep him from further chaos!”

“So you’re telling me that a disheveled, terrified, wounded zebra stallion is some sort of criminal mastermind?”

“Worse: he is a veritable demon.” As if to underline the mage’s point, a thunderclap sounded in the distance, with the rain continuing to pelt the window.

“Oh-kay. Yeah, right.” The pegasus gave Boniface a lidded look, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “I also hear the Mare in the Moon is a threat, too.”

“Oh, she is...but that is not my duty to execute. Furthermore, her time is not for another century or so, therefore I shan’t worry about it as a result.” Boniface looked at the door, as if staring at the prisoner beyond. “Look, it is clear you don’t believe a word I’ve said, and why should you? I can tell you’re a young, pretty, cosmopolitan mare, focused on whatever lies in her future. And that to you, the Celestines are the priests in robes that help the needy in Her Divine Majesty’s name – that they would never be heavily-armed thugs, am I right? After all, that is the domain of the EUP and the Solar Guards, not the prestery.

“But I tell you this: We are not uneducated charlatans hoping to waylay some traveler on the highway between Ponyville and Berryville. This garrison? It was the home of an earth pony castellan towards the end of the Warring States Era. I know this because I once studied here when I was your age. I was a scholar, a member of the Mage Academy and a specialist in archeology. I came here and studied all I could.

“It was that education which changed my life and led me to the Celestines. Do you think we are the only ones that have contested this beast? Countless lives have been lost due to this monster’s predations! Innumerable civilizations have fallen due to its evil! And we have. Stood. Ready!” Boniface smiled as if talking to a child. “Five years ago this was a dedicated garrison to prepare for the monster’s return. And so he did – and thus we were able to capture him and confine him like the beast he is!”

As if on cue, that unearthly howl sounded again, shaking the pegasus to the core, but the Celestines within the room took it in stride. “We have held him here for five years, and we will do so until the end of time or until Her Divine Majesty ends his sick, twisted existence for once and for all!”

“But if he’s such a beast that can escape Tartarus itself, how can you hold him here?” That made no sense. She knew nothing about the underground prison that held Equestria’s worst criminals save for its name, but that was more than enough – far more than enough to give any sane pony nightmares. And yet these warriors of the faith desired to lock Ketri within?

“With the Sunstone, of course.” Boniface’s words were so simply stated; they were clearly meant to be insulting.

“The Sunstone is a myth,” the pegasus said, sure of herself. The Sunstone, a flat, disc-shaped golden diamond, was said to have been created in the aftermath of Princess Celestia’s war against Nightmare Moon centuries ago; the stone was created by the puddle left behind by the sun alicorn’s tears of sorrow for those lives lost in the war. And given that Nightmare Moon wasn’t likely real (of if she was, she was clearly based on an attempted usurper in the past), how real could the Sunstone be?

Boniface, with her magic, held up a flat disc the size of a medallion. “This is but a mere replica of the stone itself, but it still has powers far greater than I. This is the blessing I receive of my station, the trust in me that Her Divine Majesty has.”

“Well, then tell me, how are you sooooo sure that this stallion is your dark monster? He doesn’t look evil in the slightest!” the pegasus scoffed. “Trust me, I’ve had coltfriends worse than how he seems!”

“You poor child….” Boniface tut-tutted, a clear sign she was patronizing the pegasus. “I will assume that it’s part of your illness saying that, else you would have remembered what each parent says to their child at night, warning them that Evil has the power of Persuasion. Wherever there is corruption, persecution, or malice, there Evil exists. You may not realize it, but it’s true – and it comes in myriad forms. Even I’ll admit that I cannot always see it when it’s there.”

The dizziness was building in the pegasus’ head again, so she put forth a thought: “Then if you are fallible and capable of mistakes…could you not be mistaken about Ketri?”

“No!” The answer thundered despite the fact that Boniface had spoken quietly, the words had their own terrible final authority. “Can you truly not comprehend the damage that would be done we were to free him? Can you not understand the hard-won peace that would be lost, the lives that would crumble at his clutches?”

“And yet we still have border disputes with Griffonstone, or issues with the occasional surviving Windigo or any of that. That’s evil, not that zebra!”

“That’s the evils that sapient beings bring amongst themselves. No, this evil I’m talking about is well beyond that – it is as different as a parasprite is to a minotaur. It is indiscriminate in its evil and fears little save for Celestia’s Holy Might.” At this time, the pegasus nearly collapsed and it took a well-timed catch from Brother Amblard to save her from a faceplant.

“Master Boniface, I agree with Sister De Claret that this young miss is not ready to travel. Whatever she has is no mere case of the feather flu.”

Boniface rubbed her chin. “I see. Well then: Sister De Claret, you are to take her to your room and ensure that she does not leave.”

De Claret nodded. “It will be as you say, Master Boniface.”

“Good. Now, pegasus, wait outside. I must discuss the plans for tomorrow with Brother Amblard and Sister De Claret.” Woozily, she made her way out, trying to focus on the door as the room spun like a top.

The pegasus waited for interminable minutes while the Celestines discussed issues. Finally, unable to wait any longer for ponies she didn’t entirely trust, she opted to talk to the one who she felt was being more honest about his situation.

“Ketri, I’ve come,” she said softly, looking inside. To her surprise, he was right there, looking at her with hope.

“I see you’ve lasted their fiendish lies,” he said with a hopeful smile, “and they’ve no ken of our surprise?”

“No, but what they had to say was odd: They claimed that you were the greatest evil that ever lived, like you were personally responsible for all that’s wrong in the world.”

“They gave away my name too soon!” he said with laugh. “Can’t you tell? I’m Nightmare Moon!”

“Yeah, you certainly look the part,” the pegasus chuckled. “But seriously, how can I get you out?”

He pointed down to the simple sun-shaped emblem in the center of the door. “Enchanted rock holds me fast as bone, but do not believe it to be the Sunstone. A mere lodestone’s all it is, but simple magic’s all its fizz. Remove the stone and you will see – it is the key that sets me free!”

“Sure thing,” the pegasus replied, reaching for the stone…

…only to find another hoof blocking the way. The pegasus looked up and found Sister De Claret standing there, looking at her with sad eyes. “Master Boniface asked me to see to you. She feared…you would be in a fix due to your illness. Come, let us get you to bed.” The cleric looked at the pegasus, then briefly glared at the zebra, before escorting her away.

Gently gesturing the pegasus in, Sister De Claret then locked the door telling her, “This is for your own good, pegasus. You are unwell – it sounds like onset pneumonia – and I would not let you suffer so. Plus, there is that issue of that monster.” Slipping the key around her neck via a strand of cloth, De Claret gestured to her bed, a simple cot of hay and wood. “It is not much, but you need to rest now for your own health.”

“But why the lock?”

“For safety,” was all De Claret said.

Later that night, as the storm seemed to grow even stronger, with wind lashing the rain against the windows like rocks and the din of the wind at its fullest, the pegasus moved. Despite the fact that she could feel her illness, she couldn’t rest, not while an innocent zebra was being mistreated. Her heart just couldn’t stand that. Even still, it had been De Claret that had stood up for her, and tried to tend to her needs.

It would be De Claret that she would have to betray.

But even still, there was no other option.

The pegasus, with the thankful skill given just about every one of them since the first ones founded Pegasopolis ages ago, silently moved to De Claret’s side. Carefully stealing the key from around the earth mare’s neck, the pegasus quietly unlocked the door, opened it, then stepped out. With a bucephalean amount of effort, she flapped her wings into a hover mode, then closed and locked the door, heading away.

Back at Ketri’s cell, the zebra breathed a sigh of relief: “Good to see you’ve come at last? Send my misery into the past!”

“Yeah, stand back,” the pegasus turned around and got ready to buck the door, when she noticed a small detail: though the stone setting was in the center of the door, the door itself seemed loose and wobbly enough that a solid buck could have easily undone the thing. While he looked to be in bad shape, desperation should have allowed him to be able to kick the door open himself. Why didn’t that happen?

Were they right about this guy? the pegasus wondered.

“Please, now, set me free – save me from harm!” the zebra pled. “Do it quick before they raise alarm!”

In her room, De Claret woke up from her uncomfortable sleeping position on the floor, having given her bed to the pegasus. Getting up to stretch, she then realized with horror that the pegasus wasn’t there.

“Oh, no….” the earth pony voiced, as realization clicked in. She immediately turned to check the door, only to find it locked. With seconds to spare, she ran over and touched the glowing crystal in the room, and a booming siren suddenly rang throughout the building. She then immediately slipped on her barding and then with an effortless move, started bucking the door as hard as possible, cracking the oaken door. A second buck tore it off its hinges and broke it in two, and wasting no time, De Claret rushed into battle.

Boniface had been discussing things with Amblard the moment the alarm went off.

“That damn fool of a pegasus,” Boniface seethed. Amblard didn’t respond; instead, he rushed off as fast as he dared.

The piercing siren alerted both the pegasus and Ketri, and despite her exhaustion, the former immediately turned and started bucking the door with all her might, hoping the door would fall. Finally after the third hit, the door caved in two and slumped inwards, snapping off the hinges and dropping to the floor in two pieces.

“Go, you’re free!” the pegasus cried.

To her surprise, the zebra smiled and said, “So I am.”

And then his eyes glowed violet as trails of green warped away from them.

“STOP HIM AT ALL COSTS!” a voice in the distance roared, and the thundering of hundreds of armored hooves sounded down the hall as the whole host of the garrison bore down on them hard.

The pegasus turned to horror to look at her zebra counterpart…only to see smoke – thick, oily smoke, the kind of smoke when something unnatural was aflame. The smoke acted like a thunderhead, filling with jags of reddish lightning, and multiplied more and more, filling the room as a guttural, unnatural voice said,

“A deed is owned, this I will say:
Your life I’ll spare – you’ll die soon, anyway.”

The pegasus felt another round of dizziness and started to black out as she heard cruel, inequine laughter, the clang of steel against steel and the screams of pain or worse.

The rain had stopped. It was the first thing she noticed as she came to.

The second thing she noticed was the overpowering smell of copper, as if someone had opened a copper mine. The third was the sticky feeling she’d felt everywhere, as though she’d slept in a vat of molasses.

However, it was the fourth and fifth sensations that had would be seared in her mind forever: when she finally opened up her eyes and the garrison she’d spent the night in had become an abattoir, with offal on the walls and ichor on the floor and ceiling – remnants that had once been other ponies, some she even knew. The fifth was finally realized when a bloodcurdling scream of terror was heard; a split second later she knew it had been her own.

“So…you…live,” a weakened voice said to her side. She half-jumped and turned at once, to find the maimed and mangled remains of what had been Boniface, whose face gave a weak smile.

“I’ll get help!” she coughed, realizing she wasn’t in the best of shape, either. But she’d do anything right now to get away from this hellhole, even if it meant going fast enough to perform the mythical Sonic Rainboom.

“No,” Boniface spat. “It is…it is too late for me – for all of us. Additionally, that alarm rang in the Berryville abbey – reinforcements are already on the way, but won’t make it in time. We have failed.” Boniface coughed again and murmured, “We have failed because you couldn’t recognize the face of evil when you saw it. That…is the weakness of the good and righteous: to never…to never really recognize evil for what it is.”

“I’m sorry,” the pegasus cried. “I’m so, so sorry.”

To her surprise, Boniface started chuckling, as if enjoying a final joke.

“Is it something I said?” the pegasus asked.

“No, pegasus, it is not, but it is what has been done,” the mage said with a beatific smile. “Don’t you see? Isn’t it clear?” Boniface’s head lolled as she muttered, “All your life, you will remember this night. And you’ll know whom you have turned loose upon the world.”

The pegasus cradled the dying mage’s head, tears coming all too easily. “I’m so, so sorry.”

“You do not understand,” Boniface said with the ghost of a whisper. “You…just…don’t…un…der…sta….” Finally, death claimed Boniface, who passed on with a smile. But there was nothing to smile about for the pegasus, who found herself in a literal hell of her own making, screaming in terror and shame until she blacked out, another still body amongst them all.

Canto III: The Game

The present day:

The Sunlit Blade looked at Twilight, unshed tears in her eyes. “By the time reinforcements from the Berryville abbey had arrived, it was too late. I was the lone survivor of what happened, and I know why – it wasn’t a courtesy that he saved me; no, it was a different sort of cruelty. The shame of knowing that everypony in the building had died because of my well-intentioned but ultimately damning treachery, and my naivety at believing that an innocent would be locked up in a remote place so heavily-guarded.”

“It must have been hard,” Twilight asked her.

“Oh, not as hard as what was to come: once they realized I was alive, I was transferred to the abbey in order to finish my healing. Shortly after that, I was moved to its gaol. After a few days, I was given a choice: be a huntress for the Order, in the name of the Princess, to forever spend my life hunting down evils – and especially the evil I had loosed…or to simply walk away, forget about it and move on with my life.” The answer was thick on her tongue. “There was no choice, really.”

“There is always a choice,” Twilight told her.

The Sunlit Blade cackled at that. “Oh, how I wish there was, your highness! But you who have faced Nightmare Moon, tell me true: had you failed in that task, could you have left things unfinished? Could you have just walked away, knowing what you’d done and the horror you unleashed? Could you have?” When the young alicorn stood there without an answer, the aged mare nodded in sympathy. “As you can see, there was no choice, no choice at all.

“After that, I gave up my life, my dreams and hopes. I swore an oath to the Celestines to put right what I had done wrong. And with that, they sent me to work with the greatest of their warriors, a mare only known as the Sunlit Blade. I would study under her and become her apprentice, and in time I would eventually become the Sunlit Blade herself.”

“And your real name is?”

“Irrelevant, your highness. The vain, flighty filly I had once been is long dead – and she deserved to die for what her foolishness had done. The day I swore an oath to the Celestines, I became the Squire, and was sent to a small home in the Badlands to train with my mistress, the then-Sunlit Blade. And for years I did that, learning every combat art there was and every magic that was possible for a pegasus such as I to master.” The mare sighed. “It was hard – very hard. Since time immortal, the Sunlit Blade and her Squire had always been earth ponies, hearty and battle-hardened, ready to take up the worst the world would throw at them, because they needed to be able to withstand the punishment. I had not the grace and knowledge of a unicorn, nor the strength and endurance of an earth mare.

“And yet, I persisted because I needed to. Because the world is a cruel and harsh place and monsters lurk in every shadow that nopony dares to approach. But somepony had to, and that was both my mistress and I.” She chuckled. “As a filly, I had dreamed of cotillions and lace, of frills and smiles. Now, all I know is banners and pageantry, blades and steel. And I am content with that, for the most part…if it had not been for my failure and the loss of my own Squire.”

“Your loss?” Twilight asked.

The Sunlit Blade nodded her head ever so slightly. “Twice, in truth. The second one is…well, she is of no importance. But it is the first one, my first Squire that I must tell you about, for she is my failure and the sin I must atone for.” Despite her age, she looked at Twilight with her blood-red eyes, a gleam in them born of a desperation to bare her soul to the young alicorn.

Twilight nodded. “Please, go on.”

Canto IV: Falling Down

Fifty years ago…

Each hooffall kicked up a small dust storm of sand in this blasted land, each step causing its own disturbance and sending golden grains of scorched earth flying. The ground was cracked and sharded like a jigsaw puzzle, and Celestia’s sun beat down mercilessly onto the baked earth below, with what little precious cool shade could be purchased underneath a palm tree or a nomad’s tent.

Through this two figures in armor walked, ignoring the tan stains the dust left upon their surcoats. Despite the heavy metal of their armor and gear, they were not too uncomfortable, as their equipment was ensorcelled; and even if it wasn’t they were long trained to withstand such ordeals.

Of course, that didn’t mean they enjoyed it.

“Mistress,” the younger mare whined, her horn glowing a brilliant lavender hue. “How much longer?” Sweat stained her pink coat and her perspiration-soaked cream-and-red mane hung down around her face like tattered banners. She looked at her mentor with eyes filled with exhaustion. “How much longer until we arrive?”

Walking slightly before the young unicorn, the Sunlit Blade scanned the horizon. No longer the flighty mare of youth, her face bore the lines of a hardworn life. Small wrinkles showed through her facial fur, and her mane was tied back in a severe bun. “We are nearly there,” she said, her hard eyes scanning the horizon. “At last, our quarry will no longer run from us.”

“But why here? Mareocco is in the middle of nowhere!”

“Yes, all the better to hide,” the Blade responded. “Our quarry knows that we are in pursuit and will do anything to stay free of our grasp. But he will end in failure – there is nowhere left he can hide.”

“Who?” the Squire asked. “We left our garrison four months ago and have been on the road without you so much as telling me a thing, Mistress! I have fought alongside you against wyverns and changelings, against griffon warlords and diamond dog brigands.”

The Blade turned and looked at her Squire with a smile. “Yes and you have performed marvelously, child. I have no doubt that when the day comes, you will be as thorough and honorable a warrior as you can be. You have proven to be a truest Celestine in word and deed.” The Blade looked at the younger mare with a maternal pride. “You are the closest thing I have had to a daughter of my own and I could not be prouder of your accomplishments.”

“Then why won’t you tell me about what we are chasing! You told me about Chrysalis, Grogar and Chayos the Smiling Dog, and I have faced them alongside you and fought along with you. But I don’t understand why you will not tell me anything about this newest threat!”

The Blade sighed. “I have hunted this monster since I was your age, my child. I was responsible for its escape ages ago, because I did not believe the words of my elders. It lies – it is the very form and nature of lies itself! – and I wish to spare you the ordeal. When it comes time, I will tell you all so that you may gird yourself, but until that moment I wish for you to feel no doubt. You must trust me.” The Blade kissed the younger mare on the forehead in a maternal gesture. “We do this in Her Divine Majesty’s name.”

“You make it sound as though we are fighting the very mare in the moon herself,” the Squire commented.

“Someday you just might,” the mare said enigmatically.

The two crossed over a hill and saw a series of gaily-colored tents fluttering in a slight breeze. This was the desert town of Mareocco and this was where they would face the ancient enemy, vanquishing it for once and for all.

The Sunlit Blade looked at the barren room. It was essentially a penitent’s chambers, devoid of all but two beds. The sole accommodation to the material world was an armoire against the far wall.

“Thank you, Sister Claramunt, this will do,” the warrior stated.

“I live but to serve,” an aged earth mare said, bowing before the Sunlit Blade. “But are you sure I cannot dissuade you from staying in this room? You are the finest of the Order’s warriors,” Claramunt stated. “The regional governor has heard of your arrival and she has offered to billet you in her mansion for the duration of your stay. Surely you would be more comfortable there.”

“That would be grand,” the Squire said, picturing soft beds and warm baths.

However, the Blade would have none of it. “This will suffice,” she said simply. “It is well-defended and close enough to the port. In several days a ship will be coming from Luna Bay, ready to take the heinous beast into custody once we capture him. From there, he will be taken to Coral Island, one of the gateways to Tartarus, which will be his final destination.”

“Tartarus?” Claramunt said, astonished. “The place truly exists? I thought it was but a legend!”

“No. It is real and it is filled with the worst of the worst. And it has room for one more,” the Blade told her. “And by this time tomorrow night, we will make sure that vacancy will be filled.” The look in the warrior’s eyes was one of baleful determination, enough so that Claramunt took a step back in shock.

That night, the Squire sat in contemplation while preparing her weapons. She knew her mistress to be a hard one, but she loved her dearly. And yet, and yet….

Something troubled her. Since the first day of her apprenticeship, the Squire’s mistress had always been harsh but fair, and had always let her into the order’s deepest mysteries. The fact was, she had to – the duties they served for the Celestines meant hunting the monsters out there that could not be merely taken care of by the EUP or any of Her Divine Majesty’s independent agents. Together they had faced horrors immeasurable, things that crept in the night and hit ponies hard – and the Squire and her mistress were the ones that hit back and hit harder. And through it all, they’d shared everything together, the good times and the bad. It was fair to say that ever since she’d been saved from the brothel that she’d been born in, the Squire and her mistress were like daughter and mother, and the former suspected if life had been different it, they may have actually been so.

So the Blade’s refusal to tell her anything about the current mission vexed her greatly. Mareocco was out of the way, a small desert outpost by the sea that didn’t even have a regular EUP garrison. The Celestines kept the peace here, and by all reports, it was ridiculously placid here even by pony standards. By all rights, climate aside, this was an idyll, and it made no sense as to why they were searching for evil in a place where Her Divine Majesty’s rule had created near-utopia.

Of course, she knew her mistress’ words: even in the brightest light, the shadows hide and are that much darker. Yet she saw no darkness, only light. And the Blade’s obsession with whatever was here was troubling.

She was torn, genuinely torn, as she crawled into the bedsheets for an uncomfortable night’s sleep. Perhaps the following day would yield the answers that she so desperately needed.

“OUT OF THE WAY!” a fat, balding Celestine brother screamed, terrified for his life as he waddled down the streets of Mareocco as if his life depended on it. And it likely did.

Racing high above, throwing spear after spear at him as to not hurt the general populace with combat spells, the Sunlit Blade rained down from the heavens like a thunderstorm in midday. Her eyes were filled with righteous rage as she flung javelin after javelin at her quarry. “YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE!”

A series of javelins smashed into a fruit stand, sending the merchant hiding for her life. The brother rushed through as quickly as he could, his glasses falling off, though he didn’t dare try to stop to recover them. “SOMEPONY HELP!” he shouted. “SHE’S A MADMARE!” But despite the situation, none would dare cross the heavily-armed and armored pegasus raining steel from on high.

“SURRENDER!” the Sunlit Blade roared, diving down at a high speed and nearly plowing into the ground. But at the last moment, she swooped away and withdrew her sword, slashing at the fat mendicant. Blood spurted away and the target screamed in pain, making those still within the bazaar recoil at the naked violence before them.

“HELP ME! SOMEPONY! ANYPONY!” the injured stallion cried.

“NOTHING WILL SAVE YOU THIS TIME!” the Blade roared. “YOUR REIGN OF TERROR IS AT AN END, FOUL BEAST!”

A blast of lavender energy snaked out and slammed into the monk’s head, knocking him cold. The Sunlit Blade, furious, turned to see who had done it…and she saw the Squire, standing there, exhausted from having run so far after him.

“We couldn’t risk the threat to the civilians, Mistress,” the Squire stated. “The Grand Master will not be pleased if we did.”

“As you say,” the Blade said gruffly, reaching into a pouch underneath her surcoat and pulling out an old, weathered stone, which she immediately slapped onto the wounded stallion. “Take this varlet into custody.”

“But he needs to see the healer—”

“No – no healer for his ilk. Take him into custody and we will treat this beast as he deserves.”

The Squire did so, casting a capture spell. But as she did, all she could see as the terrified look in the poor monk’s eyes.

“Do you understand now?” the Sunlit Blade said to her Squire, pointing at the Sunstone as it sealed the armoire shut, the muffled screams from within pleading for help. “It took years, blood and treasure, but I have done it! I have captured that which I, in my ignorance, set free so long ago. And lo, he is captured.” She gave an odd smile. “At last, I am set free from my demons.”

Hearing nothing but the crying of a wounded, terrified pony within the armoire, the Squire looked at her mistress, not sure what to believe.

As if to answer an unspoken question, the Blade continued. “You understand now, yes? You understand why you must not, under any circumstances, go near the Sunstone. Do you see how important it is that he stay locked up until we can transport him to Tartarus?”

For the first time in her life, the Squire felt a doubt of the one she cared for so much. “But what if you are wrong?” she ventured. “What if he is naught but an innocent?”

“There is nothing innocent about that beast,” the Blade said sternly. “Do not open it.” The words were harsh enough to make the apprentice slink back from the furniture before her.

With that, the Blade went to the door. “Now, I must go and see if the ship has arrived at the docks. I will return shortly.” She grabbed her sword and throwing knives, then went to the door. But she then turned back to her Squire and fixed a murderous stare at her charge.

“If you value your life,” she said, “you will not open that armoire.” The Blade then departed.

“Please…I’m dying!” the voice from within the armoire whined.

“But can’t you open it?” the Squire asked, unsure of what to believe. Even though the stallion had been injured and was not in the best of health to begin with, the stone sealing the armoire held no powerful magic, save for that of sealing the door. It was a weak enough spell that even a foal could bypass it.

“Too wounded by that madmare,” the voice said woozily. “Please! She is mad from her obsession, whatever it is! I’m just a passing scholar who was on the way to the Somnambula abbey when you two attacked! I am no monster!”

“No. I mustn’t!” the Squire said.

“Then you will be responsible for the death of an innocent,” the voice rasped. “And Her Divine Majesty would never countenance that.”

The care for an innocent won her over; even with his injuries, he could not have been that much of a threat, surely, the Squire thought to herself. Pausing only to grab her short sword, she removed the stone and opened the armoire.

Canto V: There is a Light That Never Goes Out

The present day:

The Sunlit Blade’s eyes were filled with tears. “My beautiful child…. I failed her so. She was too young, too innocent of the world to counter such an evil.” The look on the crone’s face was one of ancient pain. “I had plans to adopt her formally once we imprisoned that monster. I would be freed from my vow, and I had planned to adopt her and love her as she deserved to be,” she bawled, “and instead my foolishness killed her.”

Twilight didn’t know what to say. She’d read about the destruction of Mareocco in a history book, but it had been written that the catastrophe had been due to an inexplicable sandstorm too strong for the small weather team to deal with. To find out the truth now….

“With that, I doubled my pursuit of the monster, no longer intent on capturing him, but murdering him for taking my child from me. And I pursued, even as I grew older and my bones no longer as strong, my step no longer as strident, my wingbeats no longer as swift. And finally came the day when I could pursue no longer, and I was ordered by the Grand Master to cease.” The look on her face was one of utter agony. “And thus my failure to both my liegelady and my daughter was complete.

“But then you came, your highness. You, with your incredible powers and your shieldmaidens. You swept the battlefield clear of the threats to Equestria as if they were nothing before your skills. And in time, you faced my foe – and you succeeded where I could not. You proved yourself truer than any warrior I have ever known, and even Her Divine Majesty saw fit to honor you with Wings of Holiness. It was Providence that you were born and fulfilled the ancient words: ‘The stars will set us free’.” She looked at Twilight’s cutie mark. “It was always destined to be you.”

She sighed. “But even still, I have failed, and it falls upon me to beg your forgiveness. For letting you, a child, face countless monsters because I no longer have the strength. For letting you and your shieldmaidens risk your lives when you could have ended up just as my own charge did. Please, forgive this old fool. Forgive me!”

Twilight looked at her for the longest time, and then a smile crossed her face.

“There is nothing to forgive,” she said, “because you did not fail.” When the mare looked at the alicorn with rheumy eyes, Twilight reached over and took her forehooves in her own. “You continued to keep on going, when others would have given up. You continued to protect us all, even at great personal cost. Even until you had no choice, you kept going, relentless and determined. I don’t know if I have that kind of strength in me…but I’m glad somepony did.”

“But Princess….”

“No. You did not fail. You led the way for me to succeed, me and my Bearers. Our victory is as much yours as it was mine.” Twilight reached over and gently kissed the frail mare on the forehead. “You may think you have lost, but I promise you: you beat him.”

The Blade shed tears once more, but now they were ones of relief and joy. “So I did not fail?”

“Never. You succeeded where nopony else could.”

“I have redeemed myself,” she said in a soft voice, a smile coming to her paper-thin lips. “I am free at last.” Then she sighed in contentment…

…and breathed no more.

A week later:

“Thank you for arranging this, Celestia,” Twilight said to the senior princess.

“And thank you for doing the research,” the sun alicorn replied. “I wouldn’t have known where to begin…I didn’t even know her name, as she’d been introduced to me as ‘the Sunlit Blade’ from day one. Regardless, I always wanted to make sure she got her final rest in a place she deserved, but I wasn’t sure where.”

“Going through her private journals…they were amazing,” Twilight said with a tone of awe. “I’ll be sure to talk to a publisher about getting them out there. More ponies need to know about who she was and what she did.”

“You’ll get no argument from me on that,” Celestia agreed.

The two stood in an alpine clearing on the far side of Mt. Canterhorn, a distance away from the city’s eastern gate. Though it was still within the city’s grounds and thus upkept by earth ponies from the Forestry Service, otherwise it was a slight distance away from the mountain pass road and thus not often disturbed. Several feet away, the Bearers, Shining, Cadance and Luna stood, present for the funeral but otherwise not sure of what to say. In the distance, an honor guard saluted the fallen warrior.

“At least she’s at peace,” Twilight said sadly. “She deserved so much better. She made an error and it cost her the entirety of her life.”

“She did, true,” Celestia noted, “but I don’t think she deserved so much better.” When Twilight looked at her mentor with shock, the elder mare explained: “She had the choice to walk away, and yet she didn’t. She chose time and time again to put aside her own desires for the safety and security of the realm, so that ponies could rest easy at night. So that nopony else would have to take up her burden.”

Celestia was silent for the longest time before she admitted, “At one point…I was going to send Sunset to her to be her new Squire. I’d…been fed up with her attitude and this was before we finally parted ways, but…the Blade asked me not to. Said that daughters were too precious to waste in an endless war, and that her losing hers was enough. She couldn’t bear to see me lose mine.” The mare sighed. “I often wonder if I made the right choice.”

“Given all the good that Sunset has done in her world, you did,” Twilight assured her. “Without her, the Sirens would still run rampant, my counterpart could have gone insane from the magic overload, and so many other things. I know it seems hard, but she made the right choice.” Realization came over Twilight suddenly. “She knew, didn’t she?”

“Of course not. But I always suspected she knew Sunset’s destiny would be different than her own. Her burden was hers to carry, and it pained her to have somepony else do it. And now that course is run and she sleeps soundly until the end of days.” Celestia summoned a spray of white roses and placed it on the grave. “Rest now, my little pony,” she said in a soft but somber voice. “Rest and know you never relented.”

Twilight summoned the Sunlit Blade’s sword, polished and restored to perfection. “May it serve you until the end of days,” she said, placing it in the niche engraved into the tombstone. The magic spell she’d placed on it would protect it from the elements for centuries to come, until it was needed again, or until it was never needed once more.

Twilight looked at the two graves. That of the Squire, a young mare of sixteen that had fallen too early. Now she would forever rest with the pony that was her mother, in all but name. And then finally, Twilight looked at the grave of the Sunlit Blade, now and forever identified by the name she never used in her life.

Here Lies
HOPEFUL INNOCENCE
The Sunlit Blade of Celestia

“Forever she kept us safe
and forever was she relentless to her foes.”

Twilight wiped away tears. Somehow, she suspected the Blade – Hopeful Innocence – wouldn’t want that. That she would want Twilight to be strong and persevere.

To be relentless.

“Let’s go get some lunch,” Twilight told her mentor. “Maybe if her schedule’s clear, I can ask Sunset to join us. I’ve read some stories in the Blade’s journals that I think you might find interesting.”

And with that, the two walked away from those forever slumbering, and towards the living, and the world forever moving on.

Author's Notes

Author's Note

Usually I don't add ANs as a separate thing, but in this case, I feel it's warranted. You see, the story came about as a result of something I came across on May 21st, 2015. To this day, I am still amazed the guy who committed the plagiarism thought he could get away with it. Sure, most people might not know what it was (both Flynt and Blue had never heard of it, and neither were real familiar with the original Twilight Zone series) but there are some of us who are old enough to have recalled seeing it on TV, some (not me!) even on its first run.

Even more so, it was a lazy attempt. The author had made the story anthro so he didn't have to change anything but the names. He made minor changes to the setting and thought that would be enough. It was enough, all right - enough to get me angry enough to report it.

I promised that I would write a story based on Beaumont's original work (not the Twilight Zone episode, but the original short story), so that it would be done justice. It doesn’t help that the original story is a clunker and doesn’t have the additional visual panache the screenplay version does, but it still warranted a true take on it, regardless. And I had promised to do it a few weeks afterwards, but I forgot about it. Maybe I had other stuff going on, or maybe the fire of my ire had cooled off to the point that reason had set in, not really sure.

Either way, I was cleaning out my archives and came across it once more and knew I had to finish what I started. If for no other reason than a feeling that if I didn't, it would symbolically let the plagiarist win. I couldn't do that.

I had to be, well, relentless.

And so here we are. I hope you appreciate it, and thanks for sticking with me on this journey.

Thanks to coandco (who gritted his teeth through the editing, sorry!) and the others who indulged me this strange little detour. It’s done and out of my system.

Well, until the next time I see something like this, anyway.... :trollestia: