Come Dawn or Darkness

As she floated above the others, it suddenly became clear to her just how big of an even the festival had turned into. The line to greet the Princesses had stretched across the whole length of the gathering area when they first arrived, about half an hour ago. Now that they were nearly to the front, the line was actually longer than it had been. The entirety of Ponyville, as well as many smaller communities that were situated nearby and a veritable herd of pegasi who had heard about the gathering as far off as Cloudsdale, had turned out and were now all attempting to fit into the increasingly crowded staging ground at once. Rainbow Dash took one last look out over the assembly and then returned to the ground to stand with her friends.

The eight of them would be the standing before the Princesses in a matter of moments and Twilight was desperately attempting to go over how they would address the royal sisters. Thankfully, Rainbow Dash had missed the majority of these needlessly complex instructions; there was little doubt in her mind that the lecture would have put her to sleep right then and there. She beside Pinkie Pie and Torrent just as Twilight was finishing up.

"-t's when we all thank them for gracing us with their presence again, bow, turn, and calmly walk back to our seats. Everyone got it? We need this to go perfectly or we may have a real disaster on our hooves here. Maybe we should just go over it one more time, you know, to make sure everyone knows what their going to do and say?" Her eyes were glancing about the group frantically, the left one twitching occasionally as she nervously awaited an answer.

"We got it, alright? We just go up there, welcome them to the town, just like always, and then say a bunch of things about how nice it is to see them again and how beautiful the moon looks, all without doing anything stupid that might mess it up. I think we can handle it, Twilight..." RD still felt that Twilight was over-complicating the entire situation. Luna and Celestia had both visited the town before, and knew each of them personally now. What was the point of bothering with all the pretense, it seemed very unlikely that the Princesses would be particularly offended if one of them forgot to bow or said something particularly candid. It wouldn't have been the first time.

It was Applejack who responded, rather than Twilight, however. "Uh... Aren't ya forgettin' something, sugar-cube?"

Rainbow Dash genuinely did not know what Applejack was talking about until she noticed her friend's eyes moving off of her and over to her left. As she followed AJ's stare to its destination on the robed figure beside her she suddenly remembered that there was still a long, awkward, potentially dangerous introduction that had to be made. Twilight had put it off for as long as she could, using every excuse she could come up with in her letters following the incident to insist that Celestia wait to meet the creature that had saved her star pupil. Rainbow still was not entirely clear on why Twilight had dreaded this meeting so much, but she couldn't deny that it was surely going to be a bit uncomfortable either way. Twilight's oldest, most cherished guide into the world of magic was about to meet the being that was, to some extent, replacing her in her student's life.

"Oh, uh.... right... That..."

Torrent simply smiled from beneath his cowl. "I feel I must agree with Miss Twilight on this, I have no intention of making a poor first impression... Though I'm afraid I must ask before we get up there, just what have you said about me in these letters you send to the Princess, Twilight?"

"Huh? The letters? Oh, uh, nothing really. Just, you know; I messed up a spell, fell into a different dimension and that a wizard from that brought me back to Equestria. Not really much else, I uh... well... I didn't really want her to know about the Devourer or the fight or anything like that. She might have, you know... worried." The smile on her face was less than convincing from where RD was standing, but she let that go.

"I guess I probably also mentioned in one or two of them that you don't really look like us or anything, as well. You know, just so their prepared when they do finally meet you an-"

"Looks like their ready to meet him right now!" Pinkie was pointing at the wooden dais which now stood completely unoccupied apart from its two guests of honor. They were look toward the group expectantly, both wearing very welcoming smiles. As Pinkie hopped off toward the Princesses, the others followed behind in single file. Twilight fell back to have a few final words with her instructor, but Rainbow was too far ahead to make out what they were saying, just mumbled whispers. It was then that she suddenly became aware of just how deathly quiet the field had become.

She looked around and saw that ever face in the crowd was turned toward the wooden thrones and the bizarre little group that was approaching them. With a nervous gulp, she turned back toward where she was walking and tried her best not to think about the thousands of eyes that were now resting upon her and her friends. They want us to mess up, don't they?! They want to see what happens if we bow at the wrong time or say something stupid that offends the Princesses! Ah geez, please don't mess up, please don't mess up, please don't mess up! Next to her, Pinkie was busy humming to herself through a perfectly calm, composed, smiling face. The juxtaposition of the moment made her feel a little sick inside. How the hay can she be so calm right now?!?!

They all stood there facing the Princesses as Twilight rushed to her place at the front of their little congregation. She bowed, and they all did the same, Torrent lowering his hood and tilting his head downward, as was tradition in one of the worlds he had called home. Silver-grey hair fell in front on his face, hiding his eyes from view just as his hood had.

Celestia glanced at her sister, the younger Princess simply nodding in acknowledgement. "Twilight, my faithful student, rise. Please, all of you, there's no need that tonight." There was a tone of amusement in her voice.

Twilight rose, followed by the others, Torrent replacing his hood as he lifted his head. "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna. It is so good to see you again. It's wonderful that you could both make it to the festival. Sorry that we gave you such short notice, we had no idea how this was going to work out until just earlier this week."

The Princess nodded, still smiling as she turned to her sister. "It was no trouble at all, was it Luna?"

This seemed to snap Princess Luna back to attention. No one had wanted to say anything, but she had been staring intently at the hooded figure standing beside Rainbow and Pinkie. Now, however, she regained her elegant poise and returned to the conversation at hand. "No trouble at all. Thine letter was most heart-warming and this festival most greatly appreciated. We were elated to get the chance to visit Ponyville even earlier this year, and without need of our nightmarish guise. But, pray tell us Twilight Sparkle, there is a new addition to thine group whom we have not been properly introduced to; who is this?" She inclined her head, horn pointing toward Torrent.

"This, oh well, um, this is Tor- that is, Sir Torrent the... uh... Oh what was it..." Rainbow Dash felt a sudden twist of emotions, as if two completely different personalities were warring over how to react to Twilight's awkward position. She felt bad for her friend, and compelled to do something to help, but at the same time she almost wanted to laugh at the irony of the situation. Had it not been Twilight who had just lectured them on the importance of not screwing up this little ceremony? Thankfully, in a soft gust of wind and clinking chains, the dilemma was put to an end without her having to jump in.

Stepping from the line, Torrent moved swiftly to Twilight's side, his cloak billowing out around him and then wrapping back around his slender form. He held a hand out before him, dropped to one knee and bowed his head to the Princesses. "Your Highnesses," he began, awkwardly, a green mist beginning to form below his out-stretched hand. His fingers grasped the air before him, and as he spoke, the emerald sword that had saved Twilight's life in the Abyss began to fade into existence, it's blade buried deep in the ground before him. "I am no one. I am simply a guardian of the lost and frightened." The speech must have been rehearsed, for the words came forth as if he had said them thousands of times before. Yet Rainbow Dash could not see any possible way that he and Twilight could have planned this out ahead of time. "Some have come to calling me a Shepard, as it is what my order was once known as. I have been called wizard, wanderer, and scholar. I was once a student and am now a teacher. I am a singer of songs and a teller of tales. Some, like your pupil here, have taken to addressing me as a knight, though I have no kingdom to serve anymore. I answer to names beyond my ability to count. Sir, shadow, walker, monster, plague, savior, protector, human, creature, and demon. Yet, the word that has stayed in my mind the longest, is torrent. I know not my own name, so that is how I address myself now."

He pulled back his hood, a gesture of respect and reverence in some forgotten world, and let his eyes meet those of the Princesses. "I am Torrent, traveler of the Void.... And I am at your service, your majesties."

Beside him, Twilight seemed to have finally recovered her ability to speak, and quickly interjected before the Princesses could respond to the introduction. "He is the one who saved me when that spell I wrote to you about... failed. I'm sorry I didn't elaborate any further in my letters, but I didn't want you to worry too much.... I'm sorry."

Celestia was gazing down at her student, searching for the right words to say. "Twilight, I-"

"We are most pleased to make thine acquaintance, Sir Torrent! And we thank thee for the safe return of our sister's apprentice." Luna had left the dais and was making her was standing in front of the kneeling figure. She placed a hoof upon his shoulder and said, "Arise, good sir! We would accept thine offer of service, if thou truly means it. There is much that we would like to discuss with thee... After thou hast enjoyed the festivities tonight, of course."

None of them had seen it coming, and the surprise was apparent on all of their faces. Just like that, Twilight's potential teacher had been swept up into Princess Luna's favor. They all stood there, speechless, as Celestia began to question her sister about what had just taken place. Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were attempting to explain it to themselves.

"Wh-wait... What just happened?"

"Well duuuh, isn't it obvious?"

"Uh, no."

"Oh come on, Rainbow, it's pretty obvious that Luna wants to keep Torrent as her pet!"

"Uhhh, yeah I don't think that's it Pinkie..."

"No need to be jealous, Dashie. You can keep the next thing that Twilight brings back from a different dimension. Oooo! But I want the one after that... Then maybe Fluttershy can have the next one. And, lets see..."

"Gah, Pinkie, your completely missing the point! Luna clearly knows something that the rest of us don't. Why else would she be so eager to get to Torrent like this..."

"Well, why don't we just ask her? She standing right th-"

Luna was gone before either of them even noticed. Celestia, Twilight, and Torrent were talking amongst themselves, and the others were preparing to make their way back to the tables. The feast would be starting at any moment.