Chivalry Reborn

Chapter 13:

Royal Canterlot Debate

As Luna and I reached the top level of the Library, I dug my hands into my pockets, putting spare cotton lint I found inside my ears. I didn’t want to rest my hearing anymore considering the way Luna nearly shattered every window in the oak tree library. Luna opened the door to the roof, and diligently sauntered to the end of the platform, looking at the sky. I could see the buildings and sky were still fairly visible despite it being so late. The moon was shining fairly bright, so I could see without much trouble at all. I leaned against the railing on the opposite side, crossing my arms as Luna turned around to face me. She had the look of a lawyer who was prepared to face a major court case.

“Okay, Princess,” I switched to my serious personality the instant I recognized the intent in her eyes. “What do you want to know first?”

“FIRSTLY,” Luna began, shaking the platform slightly from the blare of her words. “WE REQUEST FOR THOU TO CONFIRM A COUPLE MATTERS THAT DEEPLY CONCERNS US.”

My earplug idea failed, magnificently. They had blown out of my ears the moment she started to finish her statement. That’s it, I’ve had it. My mind couldn't that another shrill outcry of such magnitude.  Let’s see how YOU like it, loudmouth!

“WE WILL GLADLY COMPLY WITH THY REQUEST, MILADY!”

I screamed my response at her, matching her voice and language choice. I’m so glad I studied Archaic English back at High School. I always thought it was only going to help me ready unabridged copies of Renaissance and Enlightenment era writings but check me out, shouting at a princess in Middle English!

I kept my face as natural as I can, and my voice clear, flowing, and extremely loud, just like she did whenever she spoke.  “HOWEVER, WE POLITELY REQUEST THAT THOU REDUCE THY VOLUME IN THINE VOICE.”

I turn and point towards the heart of the town, still looking at her and using her volume. “IT IS QUITE BOTHERSOME AND UNJUST FOR THY FELLOW VILLAGERS TO BE CHEATED AND ROBBED FROM THEM A SOUND SLUMBER, DUE TO THE VOLUME OF OUR CONVERSATION.”

Luna’s expression in response to my retaliation was priceless. She looked like the perfect blend between offended shock and impressed admiration. My throat feels like it’s almost ripped to shreds right now, but Damnit, it was worth it!

“WE-ah, I mean, we apologize.” She had reduced her volume, once she had realized that I was right about the fact that we were in the town at night, yelling out lungs out. I ignored the fact that she slipped an "I" in there. It just told me that she was only doing this voice, because she was in public. I guessed it was a normal thing to speak a certain way in public, and another in the privacy of your home. Her voice was very noble sounding, and had the hint of authority and modesty in it, now that she wasn’t bellowing everything that she said.  “We are quite accustomed to the Royal Canterlot Voice, you see. We…are still trying to control the need to use it to the full extent.”

I sigh, coughing to get my voice back. I was pretty sure my voice would have sounded strange if I hadn’t. “It’s quite fine, Princess. You didn’t do it intentionally.” I’m just glad it’s frickin’ over before my ears started bleeding. “So, as you were saying, what did you want to ask?”

“Ah yes, our questions.” Luna must of forgot it after out little shout contest. “First of all, what does thou think when we mention the name ‘Flare?’”

Flare…that name again. It seemed as though it was all over the place, but I knew it before I even stepped foot in this place. And the place where I first heard it was.

“My dreams,” is all I had uttered, now back to my professional persona.

“We see…” She said slowly, processing my answer. “And what does thou see in these dreams of yours..?”

“I….couldn’t really tell you” I turned my head towards town, pondering that myself. I can only remember small shreds of my dream last night. Blood on the ground, screaming, someone yelling for it to stop, and then some kind of poetic rhyme. That’s all I can remember of that dream. But the one before that…The one with that stallion, Shadow Flare…

“I can’t tell you the details from my dreams last night,” I began, letting the cool air hit my face. “But I can tell you what happens in the dream before then, if it can help get some answers. Those have been clear ever since I spoke to your sister.”

“Please, do tell us, human.” The night ruler urged me to go on.

I breathe in deep, speaking as I remember the dream. “For the past month or so, I’ve been having these dream…these visions, I would think. In these dreams, my world is in ruins, destroyed by the very people who helped create it.”

The very memory of the dream is depressing the hell out of me. “There was only a boy I could definitely see, me. And I only sat there watching it all not caring at all as I watched my closest things burn right in my face.” I sighed heavily, rubbing my eyes. I could feel tears ready to form in my eyes, but I do what I can to keep my voice even.

Luna looked like she was about to try and say something, but I spoke again before she could. “The next thing I remember is a voice talking to me. Questioning me if was really okay with letting the world be this way. The place changed completely to light and there was a mirror with a stallion as my reflection.”

Luna eyes narrowed as she heard this. “Thou hast seen a horse in your dreams?” she behind to pace the platform, thinking about something deeply. “And this all occurred before thou hast fell from the heavens, correct?”

“Yes,” I peered over at Sugarcube Corner. Everyone was currently leaving now that I’ve left. I’ll have to explain that later. I began to finish my story. “When I saw it, I just….wanted to meet it. I thought it was like me in every way…like….he was my-“

“Other self?”

I looked at her shocked for a moment. “Yes,” I confirmed her guess. “But how could you-?”

“We are familiar with such a feeling. We are aware of what it is like to see something and find everything we are in them.” She was speaking lowly and had sorrow in her voice as she said that. “We…trusted them.”

I watched Luna with sympathy, as she looked away towards the moon. Her face was unreadable, but I could see her eyes fill with a mixture of anger and pain. “A fair night, is it not?”

I blinked looking up at the stars as well. It moon glowed in the sky in follow view, shining the entire land with its light. The stars shined in a way you couldn’t find in big cities or at most farms back on Earth. It was a marvel to see.

“Yeah…” I let myself wonder if this dark blue mare before me was truly the one who made this spectacular view, until she spoke back up.

“We believe we know of the reason of your arrival.”

I look back down towards Luna, caught off guard by the statement. I paused a second before asking her. “How so?”

“Thou are not all thee claim to be.” Luna had a dead serious look on her face. “We do not think thou are completely human.”

I stare at her, dumbfounded. “That can’t be,” I started to chuckle nervously. “I’ve lived my whole life as a normal guy, living on Earth as a human. And now you’re telling me I’m not one?” I scoff. “Don’t be crazy”

Her eyes narrowed slightly. “If that is the case, what doest thou see when thou looks at a mirror?”

I pause. I just look to the side, thinking back to this morning. That stallion in my mirror. My mind was stressing out about it more than ever. It wasn't a trick that I made sure of. But it couldn't have been me in there, could it?

My thoughts were interrupted by the Princess of the Night. “Well? What doest thou see?”

I look at my feet, to look at my shadow. It was still that of a horse’s. “….I see…a horse.” I slowly let the confession come out.

“Then it is as we thought,” The princess sat down on her haunches, thinking to herself. “You are indeed a relative of Julius Flare. Which means he did not perish when the incident occurred….but how…?”

I stare at her, both confused and deeply upset. “Could you please fill me in, Princess?” I asked her, slightly impatient now. I just got told I’m related to some immortal horse. TELL ME HOW, DAMMIT. I can’t think about this by myself anymore, and Luna has more answers than I anticipated.

Luna sighed to herself, looking back at me with a soft look. “ Thou are a half –Equestrian, and on top of that, a Flare, the formerly most closely connected families to ourselves and Celestia.”

She stood back up, walking over to the telescope, toying with it as she explained. “We were close friends to a unicorn named Crystal Shine, great-granddaughter of Julius Flare. She was one of the few people besides our sister, Celestia and some of our guards that we could trust. One we could truly call friends.”

She shined the eyepiece slightly with her foreleg, before peering at the sky through the stargazing device. “We spoke to each other a great number of times in the Royal garden as fillies, playing and telling each other about our families and problems. One day, when we were reaching the age to rule besides our elder sister, Crystal Shine came before us with a dire message.”

I pull my glasses off, rubbing my eyes as she continued, pulling away from the telescope. “She told us that her family and anyone closely related to the Flares were disappearing, and were later found to be killed. She also informed us that she and the remaining Flares were leaving Equestrian, going somewhere that no pony could chase them through. She told me that they had found a hidden underground passageway that held the proper proportions to do…something. She never told us what exactly.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, probably reliving the memory in her head and softy biting her lips, before finishing. Before running off and disappearing from us forever, she told us secrets of her family, such as her family abilities, treasures, and a prophecy that if a new Flare appears speaking of a “Shadow Flare,” she looked at me with a grim look. “It is a sign of a coming crisis, possibly a war.”

“So you’re saying that I’m so kind of half-blood from Earth and Equestria.” I summarized what she said, rubbing my forehead.

“Indeed.” She confirmed with a nod of her head.

“And I’m related to this great family of ponies, who suddenly disappeared on day because they were being picked off, so they ran off to never be heard from again, saying that if someone like me shows up, bad things are going to happen..?” I put my glasses back on as I finished.

“Quite so,” She validated me once more. “This was all predicted by thee ancestors.”

“I suppose…” I just answer her half-aware of her anymore. My mind was too busy trying to reason with it all. How the hell can I even be related to this place in general, if I’ve lived my entire life without being threatened by some weird assassins? The worst I ever got is getting jumped and beaten down at school. But now I’m here, being told I’m part of some great and mostly extinct bloodline. That kind of explains the mirror and shadow thing, but why can only I see it!? What about this backpack! It literally came out of nowhere! And my house hovering hasn't been looked into either!

Luna’s voice once again stopped my mind’s nagging. “Doest thou have any questions for us?”

Okay, just calm down and ask her about it all.

“Yes, a few.” I began to sit back against the railing, preparing to state my own Q&A with the lunar princess. “For starters, how did you know about this shadow…?”

“-thus, if that is indeed the case, we are certain that thou can do the very same.”

“….”

I remained silent, processing all the information I received. From what I can understand with all that Equestrian Royal Middle English voice crap, I got a good amount of information from her.

She knew about my shadow because of her relationship with this “Crystal Shine” she was such good pals with. According to her, Flares have special eyesight that not even Celestia or Luna had. They called it “Enlightened Eyesight.” The concept was that whatever it is, whoever it is, a Flare could easily tell what it really was, just by looking at its reflection or a mirror. This worked on even other Flares, and only THEY could see it. She told me of when it was really useful when she and her sister were looking for a particular troublemaker, who could change his shape, and created disorder all over the land. For some reason, this bugged me to no end.

Next, I asked her if she knew who dropped this bag on me from the sky. She said that she had no idea who or what dropped the bag, or why it has Celestia’s royal insignia on it. This was the same answer she gave me when I pressed her on my house falling from the sky and hovering right over the ground before landing. She had been taking a “royal nap before beginning her nightly shift,” apparently.  She did, however, recognize the seal on most of the scrolls as the Flare’s family seal, so it must have been someone who was aware of the Flares as well.

Finally, I asked if she knew anything else useful about the Flares. She told me that Crystal Shine only told her so much about her family. She only told her about the Enlightened Eyesight, some history of the Flares, and a small box that should go to the next of kin to arrive in Equestria. The family founder, Julius Flare, was conceived about 30 years before the Princesses brought harmony to the land and became its rulers. He was one of the few ponies of all time to be known for his undying courage, as well as one of the few who has been capable of living for over thousands of years. He is also one of the great soldiers who fought by Celestia and Luna’s side in the great war against the dastardly Discord to bring lasting peace to the land. Again, this guy is bugging me. I just can’t put my finger on *why.***

Unlike the Royal Sisters, he declined a place in royalty, and simply moved back to his small home of Hoovesburg on the edge of Equestria, to enjoy the peace. That is, until they started getting attacked. The rest is history.

Luna also mentioned that each Flare could change thier shape into something else; however it was only one thing that they were born with. The transformation ability was supposedly something only ponies of great chivalrous spirit could do, something she believed most Flares stood for. With that said, she commented that I should be able to tap into this skill as well.

“Is this all you wish to ask us?” She asked, as she started to step towards me.

“Yes, indeed it is.” I answered her with that hushed response.

“In that case, we must be on our way, we have wasted enough of thee time, and we must get back to a duties back at Canterlot.”  She spoke evenly, as she stepped onto the railing. She stood balancing on it, as though she was stepping on regular ground. “If thou wish to visit Canterlot for more information or assistance. Please do not hesitate to do so.”

“Will do.” I answer simply, getting off my part of the railing. “Good night, Luna.”

She smiled faintly. “Fare thee well, young Flare.”

She then leapt from the top floor, unfurling her wings and flapping them only once to land gracefully on the ground. Turning her head up at me, she nodded at me in recognition, before stepping into her chariot. The guard stood, wings bursting out from his sides, lifting himself and the carriage up before flying off into the distance.

“….”

I watched her carriage disappear into the star-filled sky, thinking to myself. Great, so I’m not here from weird mistake. What next..?

Creeeeaak

I heard the door to the top floor open up slightly, instantly turning around to see who was there. I could make out a small green fin and purple scales poke out form the darkness.

“Spike,” I spoke, making the door jump up slightly. “Were you trying to eavesdrop?”

“….”

Silence responded to me.  I didn’t really care anymore. I just wanna go home and take get some sleep. Today’s been long. I scratch my head shutting my eyes a moment, dreariness taking its affect as I yawned.

“Whether you did, or not, we’ll talk about it tomorrow, right now I just wanna go to bed.” I open one eye to see that he had his head out, looking at me in silence. “With that said, go to bed yourself, alright?”

“…..Alright.” He answered quietly.

“Good night, Spike.”

“Night, Winston.” He slowly shut the door back, letting me go down the steps myself and start on my way on. I could see that Twilight was in her own bed, out like a light in her bed. I suppose she didn't try to drop in on me either. Meh, it doesn't matter. Let's just get home and get some shuteye. I thought to myself, as I slipped under the small door frame, leaving the library, and began to be on my way back home.

Darkness.

Once again, I’m covered in darkness

.

I’m used to it this time, however. After realizing that these dreams are actually part of being related to some sort of prediction of a catastrophe made me just accept these damned visions.

I stood there, waiting for something to happen.

Wonder what it’ll be this time.

Another vague vision of dying warriors?

More sights of my home being destroyed?

Maybe something new and I’ll get killed myself in these things?

As I stood there, just waiting, a voice chimed in behind me.

“You’re late.”

I can see a small tinge of light coming from over my shoulder.

I turn around, expecting something to try and attack me. Instead, I see the stallion that I saw the night before I came to this other world, flying down from above to land a few feet away from me. It was the same one I saw in my reflection and shadow.

“Shadow Flare…?” I mutter to myself, staring at him.

“That’s me,” He responded, trotting my way.  He sounded exactly like me. “Glad you remember who I am now.”

“It’s kind of hard to remember a dream when your mind starts to split trying to recall them.” I retorted, walking towards him. It really does feel like I’m talking to myself.

“Yeah, well,” he smirked, stopping in front of me. “It’s not everyday you find out you’re part-talking horse, I guess.”

I laugh, smiling back. “Damn right, it isn’t.” I stop to look at him, still smiling, seeing he’s doing just the same.  This is all too weird, but it makes sense in a way as well. I always thought I had a different voice in my head, but it was actually him the whole time. He’s my other part of my mind. I guess the part of my psyche that knew was part of this other world all along, but my human part ignored. He’s my Equestrian side.

“Well, with that said,” I hold my hand out. “Let’s do this properly. My name is Winston Flash, run-of-the-mill human college kid of Earth.”

He smirk widened at that introduction. “We both know full well THAT is a lie.” He placed his hoof in my palm, letting me grip it. “My name’s Shadow Flare, the Equestrian hybrid from the planet Earth.” He sighed letting an actual smile come through, peering at me with crimson eyes.  We shook, finishing the destined greeting.

“Let’s get along together in this adventure.”