Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die

Chapters

Welcome, Ghosts
Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
Have You Passed Through This Night?
Disintegration Anxiety
It's Natural to Be Afraid

Welcome, Ghosts

She had no explanation for the way her heart fluttered when she saw it.

The aura around the pendant had just… seemed to call to her; the way it shimmered in the sun had an almost hypnotic effect. She’d vaguely heard Rarity say something about time period, but nothing that had registered as particularly important. She’d barely even noticed the stall owner telling her the price and had floated over the bits almost mechanically.

And then it was hers, settled comfortably, seemingly happily around her neck, and just like that, she felt better. All the stress of their negotiation efforts around the market was gone and so was the headache that had been growing behind her eyes for the better part of the day.

“I must say, that rather suits you.”

Twilight came back to herself with a confused blink. “Sorry, what? I was kind of off in the clouds there.”

Rarity muffled a laugh with her hoof and deftly picked up Twilight’s drooping bag in her own magic. “So I see! I was saying the colors work for you. And you certainly seem to enjoy it.”

Her face went warm. “There’s… something about it, definitely. Something I’ve never come across before... possibly something magic even. How old did you say you think it was?”

“Well, I couldn’t tell you exactly how old that particular little bauble is, but the way the gems are placed inside the glass like that was a favorite make of unicorns just after the first Hearth’s Warming. It would be nice if it came back in style, that’s a lovely design.”

“Huh.” Twilight lifted a hoof and touched the pendant at her throat. “Would you happen to have any books or some such about that?”

“I have a few on the history of jewelry design, yes. Would after dinner be a good time to bring them over?”

“That would be great,” Twilight said with a smile, and tried to put her curiosity aside while they continued their shopping.

—

Hours later, the pendant was lying innocently on the main table of her library, and Twilight hummed to herself as she began taking down books on the enchantment of jewelry to flip through.

“Need anything?” Spike called from the door, a massive bowl of popcorn in one claw and a stack of comic books tucked under his other arm.

“No, I’m good. And don’t go leaving kernels everywhere!” Twilight said with an accusing point of her wing. “Those are hard to get out of the carpet!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll clean up. Don’t forget Rarity’s coming over.”

“I won’t.” At the click of the door closing, Twilight plopped onto her favorite cushion, still paging through her options. “Runic etching, no… Metal binding, no…Hmm, maybe essence spellwork?”

A little ‘ping’ in her senses made her drop all but the book directly in front of her with a startled hiss, the feathers and fur between her wings standing on end. “What in-?”

The pendant hadn’t changed in appearance, but she had felt the aura shift, she was sure of it. Now a mix of both curious and cautious, Twilight picked it up in her magic, gently prodding at the matrix she found in an attempt to find what had twigged her so sharply.

Whatever she’d been expecting, the pendant erupting in smoke hadn’t been it. She stumbled backwards, her magic winking out, but the pendant remained suspended in the air as the smoke flared into light-

-and when she’d finally managed to blink all the little sparkles out of her vision, she gaped.

“Ohhhh, this a lot more than I had planned to deal with tonight,” she murmured to herself as she cautiously circled the crystal earth pony that now lay on the floor, the bauble dangling from her neck. “H- hello? Are you okay? Um… Miss?”

With a dazed, confused noise, her new guest raised her head, looking even more disoriented than she sounded.

Oh… and she was translucent.

Definitely not what Twilight had planned for.

She swallowed and sat down to begin collecting her nerves as the new pony -ghost pony- shook her head several times to get her bearings back.

“Uh-”

The stranger was apparently too preoccupied to acknowledge her at the moment, looking around herself with an expression that started out as curiosity, then closed up into suspicion. “Where is Silver?” she finally asked, her voice seeming to be coming from all directions in the room at once.

Twilight felt that prickle between her wings coming back. “Silver?”

“Silver Swirl,” the ghost replied sharply as she got to her hooves. “We are supposed to be together. We designed it so we would be together!”

“I- I’m sorry, I don’t know any Silver Swirl,” Twilight said hesitantly, trying to will feathers and fur to lay back down. “Your pendant was the only one-”

At that her visitor stiffened, reactively putting a hoof over said jewelry before looking down. Her nose wrinkled in confusion as she stared at the pendant through her hoof, then raised her hoof and waved it back and forth in front of her face, comprehension slowly dawning.

It was kind of cute, Twilight thought, but that observation died almost immediately as the ghost whirled on her and the temperature in the room took a sharp drop.

“You stole this off my body?!”

“Wha- N-no! No, no, no, no! I bought it in a market! Like a normal pony! I swear!” Twilight squeaked, nearly tripping over her own tail as she stumbled backwards from the enraged spirit.

For a moment she thought the room would freeze, then the ghost pony dropped onto her haunches and bowed her head, and everything switched back to normal so fast that Twilight’s fur stood on end for the briefest moment. Carefully, she crept closer to her visitor, making sure to keep her movements open and obvious lest she accidentally spark another lightning fast emotional change.

Lucky for her, the stranger merely shifted to hold the pendant between her hooves, her ears laying back. “A market, you said?” she asked, and even with the strange echo surrounding them, her voice was so soft that Twilight had to strain her ears forward to hear the question.

“Yes, ma’am,” Twilight replied, sitting in front of her. “Just this afternoon.”

“And you are absolutely sure there was no other?”

The pained longing in the other mare’s voice made her throat feel tight and she automatically reached out to comfort her before her mind reminded her -ghost- and she drew her hoof back. Then she scowled at herself and made another attempt. Finding that her guest was more solid than she appeared, Twilight gently rested a hoof on her back. “I promise, yours was the only one being sold.” She took a deep breath, then decided to bite the lightning bolt. “I apologize for changing the subject, but who are you?”

The other mare made no move to acknowledge the question for several seconds, then sighed and straightened, keeping one hoof on the pendant as she regarded Twilight with an even gaze. Twilight automatically sat up straight as well, years of lessons having taught her to recognize the beginning of a diplomatic conversation.

“I am Sunsparkle, once leader of the Regents’ Council of Equestria, and former aide to the Sister Princesses.”

Twilight paced the room in agitation, her magic yanking every history book she owned off the shelves to trail behind her.

Her guest sat at the table, forelegs crossed primly and her demeanor placid, and yet Twilight couldn’t help but think she was finding her rapid-fire searching amusing. When Sunsparkle did finally speak again, however, the question made her freeze in mid-step. “So. Are you Luna’s?”

“Ah- w-what?”

“Are you a child of Luna? She was the most likely to be the first to-”

“No!” Twilight all but yelped, her feathers fluffing in shock at the implication. “Nothing like that! I- ah- I was a student of Celestia. I… well… I sort of ascended,” she said, running a hoof over a wing, both in an attempt to smooth her feathers back down and in a moment of remembrance over how she’d gotten them.

Sunsparkle rested her chin in her hooves and regarded her with interest. “Fascinating. The girls had also told me they ascended instead of being born as they were, but I was unaware the process could be repeated.”

“Actually… I’m not even the first. My sister-in-law, Cadance, she was.”

“May I ask how you did it?”

“Oh!” Brightening at the chance to answer something simple, Twilight laid all of her chosen books on the table and sat down. “Actually, I did it by completing an unfinished spell by Starswirl the Bearded.”

She wasn’t prepared for the way Sunsparkle’s gaze hardened at the mention of the name. “Did you, now?”

“Yeah. Did… Did you know him?”

“Hmph.” Sunsparkle looked away towards one of the books that Twilight had picked. “I would much prefer not to discuss him.”

An awkward pall settled over them like a particularly heavy blanket, and Twilight was much relieved when the door to the library clicked and swung open and Rarity trotted in, fussing with heavy saddlebags.

“I apologize profusely for being so late, but there were so many Nightmare Night costumes to deli-” The white mare’s voice died as she looked up from her bags to take in the room before her. Specifically one part. “Ah… Darling, are you aware that I can see through your guest?”

Twilight snorted, grateful for the feeling that she was back on familiar ground. “Yeah, I’m aware. Rarity, this is Sunsparkle, the source of the magic in the pendant. Sunsparkle, this is Rarity, a good friend of mine.”

“Charmed.”

“Likewise.” Rarity floated her saddlebags to lie on the table and pulled out several books with another wisp of magic, then flashed Sunsparkle a smile. “At least you’re a ghost with manners,” she chirped, earning a chuckle.

“It seems like you were -oh, thanks- right about the time of manufacture,” Twilight said as she accepted the books from her friend. “Sunsparkle here is… um, actually, I don’t think we specified how old you actually are. What year are you from?”

“I was born in Post-Unification Year Fifty-Two. The Third Regents’ Council first convened in Seventy-Four and disbanded in favor of the Sister Princesses’ crowning in One-Fifteen,” Sunsparkle replied, then raised an eyebrow at the sudden flurry of page flipping that prompted in Twilight. “Is that a problem?”

Twilight bit her lip and put down the two books she’d been searching through, then grabbed three more. “A-haha, no problem! No problem at all!” she said in a nervous giggle as she skimmed. Then she winced when she glanced up from book number five to find both of the other mares regarding her with expressions of flat disbelief. “Ugh, fine.”

She laid all the books out then rubbed her temples with her hooves. A light hoof rubbed at the tense spot between her wings as well, and she shot Rarity a thankful glance before huffing and resting a hoof on one of the books. “This drives me absolutely nuts to say because that means my books are missing something, but absolutely nothing here has any record of a Third Regents’ Council.”

Sunsparkle frowned. “Then what do you have?”

Twilight awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck as she avoided looking the ghost mare in the eye. Staring at words! That was a lot better! Less stressful!

Except for the fact of what they said. Having to tell Sunsparkle just whom the history of the time period was primarily attributed to...

“Um… Well…”

“Surely it’s not that bad,” Rarity prompted gently.

“Yes, it is," Twilight muttered. "Hnn… Okay, so. The fact of the matter is, my books kind of... “ Twilight clenched her jaw for a moment, then braced herself and blew out all the words in a rush of breath. “Only a generation after Unification, Starswirl the Bearded came across two alicorn fillies and brought them to be placed on the throne and stayed with themtoteachthemdiplomacyandmagicfortherestofhislife.”

Silence fell over the room, but it only lasted for a few seconds before ghostly hooves slammed onto the table and the room once again went frosty. “Excuse me?!” Sunsparkle nearly snarled, mane and tail seeming to electrify around her in an invisible storm. “The record-keepers had the sheer... gall to claim that… that… insufferable brat-!”

“Ah, why don’t I make us all some tea?” Rarity jumped in before Sunsparkle could get a good head of steam on her rant. “Except… Dear, can you even drink tea?”

The look Sunsparkle shot her made it clear she knew exactly what Rarity was doing, but she did calm down somewhat nonetheless and sit back down. “I highly doubt it. And it would be rude to ruin my host’s carpet trying to find out.”

“Fair enough! I’ll just get some for Twilight and myself, then.”

When the library door closed, Twilight finally chanced to look up from her books. Sunsparkle had apparently recovered enough that her mane was no longer whipping in a wind that only affected her, but the rigid tension in her body was still there and the room was still chilly.

Gulping hard and hoping she wasn’t about to make a huge mistake, Twilight gently closed all of the books with her magic and folded her forelegs on the table. “Sunsparkle… why do you hate Starswirl so much?”

Sunsparkle glanced up, eyes icy, then sighed and rubbed her face with her hooves. “Silver Swirl… my partner… She was his mentor. Took him in when he was a wide-eyed fluff of a foal that still had a heart in him and taught him until he decided he had learned all he needed from her and flounced off to search for fame.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide and she leaned forward. “She was- wait… but how? No offense, but you hardly look-”

Sunsparkle snorted softly then put a hoof over her pendant and stared down at it with a wistful fondness. “None taken. Silver and I… well, it is rather hard to explain, but the simplest words for it is that we somehow shared a loop between us. It drastically slowed down our aging and extended our lives.”

“Is that why you’re a crystal pony?”

“Ha! Oh, no, no, that was… a very awkward magical accident many years after we met. But. To further elaborate on your last question, Silver Swirl was heartbroken to see what Starswirl grew to become after she had tried so hard to give him all the love and patience he could possibly want. I do not think he so much as wrote her an incident report in between the time he left and the time the Sisters were located.”

Thinking back to the time she had spent with her idol when the Pillars returned from being sealed away, Twilight did well not to cringe. That… unfortunately sounded a lot like the Starswirl she’d met. A soft clink brought her attention back to the present and she smiled at the cup Rarity had set beside her. “Thanks.”

“Not a problem,” Rarity replied with a smile of her own as she sat down with her cup. Twilight didn’t miss the small plate of cookies the unicorn subtly nudged towards Sunsparkle either.

Taking up her cup in her magic, Twilight took a sip, relishing in the fact that Rarity had remembered just the right amount of honey and ginger. The tea improved her nerves immensely and, after sipping a little more, she rested her cheek on a hoof. “So… about the Princesses. Starswirl didn’t raise them, I take it?”

“Pfft.” Sunsparkle’s temper thankfully didn’t make another appearance, but her irritation was still visible as she prodded the cookies to see if they would go through her hoof. Satisfied that she could pick one up at least, the ghost mare did so, though she ended up using it more as a prop for her gesturing rather than attempting to eat it. “He was the one to begin their magical training, I will grant him that much credit,” she said. “In fact, we had high hopes for him at the time. He had joined up with the Pillars, it seemed like he had begun working magic for his fellow pony instead of gaining renown for himself… We thought that whatever madness had spawned such arrogance in him for years… that it had passed. So Silver was more than happy to name him the girls’ magical teacher, and for the times that he was too busy to handle them, we placed our dear friend Majesty as their personal guard.”

“Majesty?” Twilight asked, ears perking up. “The Majesty that records say defeated the Vetala and the South Marsh Kelpies?”

Sunsparkle smiled. “The very same,” she said before regarding the cookies once more and then gently pushing the plate back over to Rarity. “And she excelled as their protector for several years,” she added, before her expression closed again. “Until the attack by the Pony of Shadows.”

Twilight quickly pulled her cup away from her mouth, glad she hadn’t taken a sip while listening. She glanced over at Rarity and found her friend returning her uncomfortable look. “The Pony of Shadows?” Twilight asked hesitantly.

“Surely your textbooks did not neglect to mention that.”

“No, no, it’s in there. I just don’t remember ever reading that Majesty was there,” Twilight said as she floated over her cup to accept Rarity’s offer of a refill.

“A pity. Though if the turmoil of the rest of the Post-Unification Era was glossed over, I suppose I can understand. Her death caused a great deal of the unrest that the Council had been fighting to swell back up.”

The clatter of the teacup falling to the table made them all jump, and Twilight skittered back from the table as she hurriedly cast a cleanup spell to keep her books and Rarity from getting soaked by the tea spill. “Sorry!”

Rarity tutted and added some magic of her own to repair the chip broken from the cup when she’d dropped it, then fixed her some fresh tea. “There we go. No harm, no muss, no fuss. Now then, Sunsparkle, you were saying?”

“Right! Right…” Twilight murmured in agreement. “You said that Majesty… The Pony of Shadows killed her?”

“So we were told by the girls when they returned,” Sunsparkle said as she put the cookie back on the plate and began to toy with her pendant instead. “Our poor girls. We had never allowed them to go on a mission with the Pillars before due to the fact that they hadn’t had enough lessons in defensive magic, but they had begged to get to see such legendary ponies in action just once. One little simple mission. And then to see the Pillars stolen away, to see Majesty fall… They had nightmares for so long.”

Rarity put a hoof over her mouth with a soft gasp, eyes visibly shimmering with welled-up tears, and Twilight bit her lip. To think of the Princesses as foals, crying in the dark because they had been through something so awful too soon… “What happened after that?”

“The tribes were in panic. The Pony of Shadows may have been gone, but so were everypony’s greatest heroes. It seemed everypony forgot that we had been keeping the peace just fine before the Pillars came, and despair turned to anger, then turned to blame. We had no choice but to end the reign of the Council and put the Sisters on their thrones to bring back some semblance of order.”

“And… if Starswirl and the others were already gone, then it was the Council members who taught Celestia and Luna to be princesses?”

“Myself and Silver Swirl, to be exact. We did hire assistants for them, but they needed someone around to teach them all the intricacies of leading, and since they already regarded us as family, the rest of the Council voted that the task fall to us two, and left to enjoy their retirement. Not that I hold that against them.” she added with a little wave of her hoof. “They’d more than earned the right and Silver and I loved our girls.” Sunsparkle rested her chin on her hoof, the last vestiges of her anger fading into a sort of resigned tiredness. “And there you have it.”

Twilight finished the last of her tea, more as a stalling tactic than anything, then laid her cup down. “I don’t… I’m not calling you a liar, I swear I’m not, but, um. Is there any way to prove all this?”

Rarity frowned in thought. “Perhaps we could-”

“Do they still reign?”

“Beg pardon?” Rarity asked.

“Celestia and Luna. Are they still on their thrones?”

“Um, yeah, actually,” Twilight said. “Celestia was my teacher, like I told you, and Luna’s back fr-ow!” she yelped as Rarity none too subtly trod on her hoof under the table. Looking back and forth from Rarity’s brittle smile to Sunsparkle’s curious head tilt, she wondered what the-

Oh.

Right.

That.

“Yep, they both still reign,” Twilight said, trying to manage a casual smile. Judging by Rarity’s slight eye roll, it wasn’t her best.

But at least Sunsparkle didn’t press her about it. “Very well,” the ghost mare said as she got up. “Then we will go speak to them. They can easily verify what I have told you, and it has been too long since I have been able to see my girls.”

“And after that,” she added, her voice gaining a sharp edge. “We will find out what has happened to my dear Silver Swirl.”

Twin poofs of raspberry magic and green flames lit up the room as Twilight and Spike sent off the letters she’d written. That task done, she looked over her list of supplies, checking each item three times against the ones on the table before moving on to the next. “Sure you don’t want to come along, Spike? We should be gone at least a few days.”

“It sounds like a lot of fun, but I’d rather not risk missing out on the Nightmare Night candy,” Spike replied, tossing more popcorn in his mouth before leaning in. “And someone’s gotta keep an eye on Starlight during her first time passing out the goods,” he added in a conspiratorial murmur.

“...Fair point,” Twilight acknowledged, then looked up from her checklist as Rarity came in, her saddlebags freshly laden. “What’s all that?”

“Why, I’m coming with you, of course!” Rarity said as she trotted over to examine Twilight’s chosen supplies.

“Wait, what? I thought-”

Rarity held up a hoof. “All of my Nightmare Night orders have been completed and delivered and, quite frankly, this would spare me the stress of finishing my own costume. And besides,” she added, expression becoming distant and misty as she clasped her hooves together. “Didn’t you hear her? The poor dear, so desperate to reunite with her lost love! How could I possibly look at myself in the mirror tomorrow if I didn’t support her?!”

Spike snickered quietly behind his claw and Twilight gave him a light elbow in the ribs. “Well… I guess it would be easier with someone more experienced than me when it comes to jewelry,” she admitted. “Alright, then. Go wait with Sunsparkle, okay? I’m just about done here.”

Rarity made a giddy little squeal and practically bounced out of the room, then Twilight turned to Spike, raising an eyebrow. “Suuuure you’re staying behind?” she asked teasingly.

Spike scrunched his nose and scratched under his chin as he mentally debated. Finally, he sighed. “Nah, better make sure Starlight doesn’t hex some poor kid. Bring me back something?”

Twilight gently scruffed his head fin with a smile. “You bet. Sweets and gems, I promise.” she said as she magicked everything into her saddlebags and headed off to the front hall. “Okay, ready to go!”

Logistics had narrowed their choices to taking the train. The balloon would have made for a longer trip in the weather they’d been having, and Twilight had no idea if she even could teleport a ghost.

Of course, this came with its own problems. Namely the fact that Sunsparkle was examining everything about their surroundings as they walked with a curious and critical eye. “How old is this hamlet?”

“You mean the town? Uh, not all that old, really. Four, five generations, right Rarity?”

“Well, that entirely depends on Granny Smith’s actual lifespan,” Rarity replied, her mouth quirked in an impish smile. “But yes, that’s about right.”

“And these decorations. None of the harvest festivals I remember were so… macabre.”

Twilight giggled awkwardly. “Well, uh, it’s kinda- I mean to say it’s-”

“A festival for Princess Luna,” Rarity cut in smoothly. “A celebration of all things, um, nightly.”

“Oh! I can only imagine how pleased she must be,” Sunsparkle said with a smile and a nod. “Little Moonshine always was fond of her black humor. I am glad she has finally found a way for others to enjoy it as well.”

“Yes! It’s all in good fun!” Twilight said a little too emphatically. Fortunately, Sunsparkle was still too distracted by all the fake spiderwebs and grinning pumpkin faces to notice. Rarity, however, slowed her pace to match Twilight’s and leaned in close.

“Twilight, dear, are you alright?” Rarity asked sotto voce, keeping an eye on the ghost mare ahead of them, whom had appeared to become fascinated by a string of plastic bats. “From what I heard, you weren’t this anxious when Luna herself found out about Nightmare Night.”

“I’m not anxious,” Twilight muttered. “Okay, maybe a little,” she amended at Rarity’s disbelieving snort. “But can you blame me? I mean, you had to remind me that we’re essentially dealing with Luna’s adoptive mother, if everything she’s told us is accurate. And I almost blabbed twice that her daughter went villain! It would be like having to tell my mom that Shiny started mind controlling ponies, or you telling your mom Sweetie Belle led a coup to take over Equestria!”

“Frankly, there were several occasions I almost expected her to do so,” Rarity replied airily before turning serious again. “But I do see your point, especially considering the fact that you’re an abysmal liar.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Why not hoof discussion of Luna over to me for a bit? I may not be as well-versed in history as you are, but that also means I know less to accidentally spill. You can take over technological speak instead, since you enjoy that.”

It would be a big weight off her back… “Okay, that sounds goo- uh oh.”

“What oh?” Rarity asked, then turned her head back in the direction they’d been walking just in time to be half blinded by the flash of a camera somepony had aimed at their companion. “Uh oh indeed,” she muttered, rubbing her eyes as Twilight rushed ahead to get between the unlucky photographer and Sunsparkle before the latter could bristle.

“Hey, guys! I know her costume is really cool, but our friend’s kinda camera shy, so if you could move on that would be fantastic!” Twilight half-babbled as she pulled Sunsparkle away from the photographer and his friend.

“Costume?”

“Just roll with it,” Twilight hissed softly.

“A ghost costume that actually makes the wearer transparent, though!” The second pony gushed as she whipped out a notebook and pen, then turned to Rarity. “How did you do it?”

“I’m afraid that’s a trade secret.” Rarity batted her eyes at the pair then joined Twilight in gently guiding their charge. “And we really are in a hurry, excuse us.”

“What was that?” Sunsparkle asked when they were some distance away. “And why was he attempting to burn my eyes out with it?”

“He wasn’t. Trying to burn your eyes, I mean,” Twilight said. “It’s a camera. A sort of…” She paused. Much as she wanted to give a full explanation, her memories of trying to help Luna integrate reminded her not to overwhelm the poor mare. “It produces images of what it sees in a few seconds, rather than having to wait for a painting.”

“How interesting! But what about the lightning bolt contained in glass?”

“Oh, that’s the flash. It’s there to light up the area the camera is pointing at so the pictures don’t come out muddy.”

“I see- oh, wait. Are we not going to see the Sisters?” Sunsparkle asked, and Twilight didn’t need to look in the direction she was pointing to know where she meant.

“Ah, they… moved. We’re going to the replacement castle in Canterlot.”

Sunsparkle put a hoof to her heart in concern. “Replacement?”

“Oh, yes,” Rarity said. “There was a terrible accident in the old castle. And since it would have cost the same whatever they chose, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna chose to live where the city had grown.”

To their surprise, Sunsparkle laughed at the explanation. “Oh, that sounds exactly like the logistics young Miss Starflower would have argued. She would be so pleased to learn the girls were actually paying attention to her for a change,” she said, tail tossing in amusement, then paused. “But how do you intend to get there? By my view, it would be over a day’s walk.”

Twilight grinned. “You’ll see. And you can tell me more about this Starflower on the way.”

For a moment, Twilight wished she had a camera to capture the moment.

Sitting on her haunches and clutching her pendant between both hooves, Sunsparkle stared at the billowing smokestack of the train with almost childlike awe, and the sight made her own feathers fluff with glee.

"Stars…" Sunsparkle finally whispered. "And you say this works on coal and steam?"

"And only a very tiny bit of magic," Twilight said, managing to keep from sounding a little smug. It wasn't her invention, after all, as proud as she was to show it off.

"Is this Canterlot place its only destination?"

"There's more than one, actually, and stations for them in most cities and towns."

Sunsparkle put a hoof to her mouth, and her expression made Rarity gently reach out to pat her shoulder. "Silver would have loved to see this."

"We may yet get the chance to show her, depending on where we find her," Rarity said with another soothing pat.

"Until then, why not put it on a list?" Twilight suggested. "Everything you want her to see on the way to getting you two home?"

"Yes… Yes! I want to see more of these new cities of yours so I can show her!"

"I have changed my mind."

Twilight groaned softly and put her face in her hooves as Rarity muffled a giggle beside her. Three years ago, it would have made her immeasurably happy to see other ponies actually giving half a bit about a Starswirl costume.

But now was probably the worst possible time for what seemed like dozens of shop windows to be proudly displaying the familiar starry cap and cape in even more sizes.

She peeked over her hooves just in time to see Sunsparkle vanish, the glass and gem pendant continuing to float where she had just been standing. Biting back a curse, she quickly grabbed it in her own magic and pulled it over her head to rest around her neck before anypony could see.

“All things considered, she actually took it better than I would have thought,” Rarity said as she adjusted her saddlebags.

“Ugh,” was Twilight’s only reply as they started on the path up to the castle.

They had made it nearly halfway when she stopped and stamped a hoof, her wings fluffing out in frustration. “Ponyfeathers.”

“What’s the matter?”

“I haven’t told her he’s still alive.”

“And? It’s not as though they’re going to be crossing pa-” Rarity cut off when she saw the look on Twilight’s face. “That’s… not a happy expression. What did you do?”

Twilight winced. “I may have written to him to tell him about what happened.”

“Oh, my. Well, I suppose we’ll just have to hope he has no interest. She did say they had very little to do with each other.”

“Somehow, I doubt we’re going to be that lucky. But yeah, okay, hoping.”

The number of castle employees bustling hither and thither as they entered took them both by surprise. Frowning, Twilight snared a maid passing with what looked like a load of tablecloths. “What’s going on?”

“Wh- oh! Your highness!” The maid started to kneel, but Twilight gently waved her off. So instead she leaned in close. “These… dogs have shown up demanding parley with the Princesses. Horrible things they are, all black fur that’s just put on them wrong and sucks up all the light around them and glowing eyes.”

Twilight sucked in a breath and swallowed hard, shaking her head at Rarity’s concerned look. “Thank you for telling me. You’re free to return to your duties.”

The maid bobbed a quick bow and bolted down the hall.

“What in the world is so important about these dogs?” Rarity asked.

“Depending on whom you talk to, they’re either called the Grim or the Cu Sith,” Twilight said as they continued towards the throne room. “They’re omen-speakers from Tartarus, and they only come out to predict imminent war. If they’re wanting to speak to the Princesses, something big is coming.”

“Oh. Oh, dear. Do… do you suppose it might have something to do with our guest?”

“I really hope not. But if it does, we better find that other pendant soon.”

The guards at the doors of the throne room simply nodded to them and moved aside to let them pass and she returned their nods in passing. The Princesses themselves were seated on the pair of thrones on the dais at the end of the room, speaking quickly and urgently to several other guards and courtiers.

Twilight waited until most of them had cleared, and then stepped forward. “I apologize for the short-notice visit, especially since it looks like things are… um… hectic,” she said.

Princess Celestia gave her an affectionate, yet clearly exhausted smile. “A bit of a situation has come up, yes, but once the Cu Sith have given their prophecies, we can begin making plans to deal with it. And your visits are always welcome, Twilight, so long as…” Celestia’s voice trailed off, and Twilight took a step back nervously, acutely aware of what her former mentor was staring at. And when she chanced a brief glance at Luna, the night princess’s eyes were fixed in the same spot, gaze intense.

“Twilight… where did you get that pendant?”

Sitting back on her haunches, Twilight tapped her front hooves and tried hard not to let her wings fluff, anxiety beginning to swell in her chest. Letting Sunsparkle vanish on her had not been her best move. “Ah- well… fu- funny you should ask, because… um, that’s actually why I’m… Er-”

A cold, but gentle hoof touched her shoulder, and she turned her head to find that her ghostly companion had thankfully chosen the right time to re-manifest. Her fears quickly deflating in the face of not having to prove she wasn’t losing her mind, she turned back to the princesses.

If the situation hadn’t been so important, the dual expressions of gaping shock from such powerful ponies probably would have been incredibly funny. Instead, Twilight swallowed hard and was grateful when Rarity leaned into her other side to support her.

Of the pair, Luna -mostly- recovered first, taking a hesitant step forward from her throne. “Aunt Sunsparkle?” she asked in a near whisper, tears welling in her eyes.

The former regent of Equestria gave Twilight’s shoulder another pat, then moved past her to approach the dais, her smile fond. “It has been a very long time, my little Moonshine.”

Author's Note

Writing earlier pony generations into the FiM lore is always a great deal of fun.

Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

The collision of living and spirit caused a bright flash that made Twilight wince.

When she opened her eyes again, Luna had swept up Sunsparkle and was swinging her around, tears streaming down her face even as she giggled like an excited filly whose parent had just come home from a long work trip. Her captive had a huge smile as well, whatever she was trying to say caught in fits of giddy laughter.

Even biting her lip, Twilight was unable to keep herself from grinning at the sight. Then a gentle nudge from Rarity directed her attention to Celestia, and the lighthearted feeling instantly faded.

The Princess of the Sun sat stone still, only her eyes moving as her gaze followed the not-dance her sister’s wild spinning made.

For a moment, Twilight was worried-

-then she noticed the faint trembling of a lower lip and the way Celestia’s gaze was steadily misting.

“Ahem,” she said, waving a hoof to the guards, whose attention had also, thankfully, been focused on Luna. “I apologize, sirs, but could you all give us a few minutes?”

“Of course, your Highness,” one said, leaning on his spear as he bowed.

By the time the last guard had left the room, Luna had stopped to catch her breath, her laughter much wheezier as she still held Sunsparkle tight enough that the mare’s ribs would surely have been protesting had she still possessed them. Sunsparkle, for her part, stroked a starry mane with a gentle hoof, whatever she was saying to Luna too soft for Twilight to hear.

Twilight swallowed, wondering if perhaps she and Rarity shouldn’t make themselves scarce as well, but before she could move or voice the option, Sunsparkle reached out with her free foreleg.

“Sunbeam?”

The regal, peaceful mask shattered into a thousand shards.

Had Twilight been counting, she was sure she wouldn’t even have made it to one before Celestia began to sob and flung herself into the embrace of her sister and -yes, Twilight had been given more than enough to believe- mother figure. As Rarity sniffled beside her, she felt her own eyes beginning to well up at the sight and quickly wiped the wetness away with the back of her hoof.

“How?” Celestia rasped when she’d finally regained control of herself. “How are you here? Where’s Auntie Silver?”

Sunsparkle lovingly gave both princesses a final nuzzle before drawing back. “Unfortunately, it seems those are the questions of the evening,” she said, nodding to Twilight.

Twilight took a deep breath and let it out, then stepped forward, lifting the pendant from her throat and floating it back to its rightful owner. “You know how the town markets have started setting up special Nightmare Night sections each year?” At dual nods, she continued. “I found Sunsparkle’s pendant in a stall selling costume jewelry.”

Luna’s eyes narrowed and her whole demeanor darkened as she protectively tightened her hold on Sunsparkle. “Costume jewelry? Somepony actually thought-”

“That’s not all,” Twilight said quickly, trying not to flinch under the glare. Friends they may have been, but Luna was still very good at intimidation, even if it wasn’t aimed at her. “Whoever stole Sunsparkle’s pendant to fence must have also taken Silver’s. I mean what self-respecting thief wouldn’t? But it wasn’t with the merchant I bought Sunsparkle’s from.”

For a moment, Celestia looked as though she would join her sister in bristling, visibly struggling to restrain herself from doing so, then Sunsparkle gently patted her cheek with a hoof.

“Remember, Sunbeam, holding it in only makes you look like an angry albatross chick.”

Twilight’s mouth dropped open and she heard a mortified squeak from her friend behind her. Luna, on the other hoof, was openly snorting in laughter at the poleaxed expression on her sister’s face, and Sunsparkle was grinning.

Celestia wrinkled her nose, then finally sighed and lightly elbowed Luna to get her to stop. “I suppose I should have seen that coming, as often as I heard it as a filly,” she said, releasing Sunsparkle from the three-way embrace with visible regret. “And back to the subject at hoof, we should probably move somewhere more private for the rest of this conversation.”

Twilight watched with more than a little apprehension as the Princesses fussed over the cart one of the maids had brought in, purposely blocking view of it as they whispered fervently. In all the times she’d had tea with Celestia as her student, and the few times Luna had joined them after her return, she’d never seen them so… intense about it.

When she turned her attention to the other guests at the table, Rarity looked similarly confused, but Sunsparkle only had an amused smile.

“Did they often do this… before?” Rarity asked, leaning close to Sunsparkle to keep her voice low.

“Only when they thought they were being mistresses of stealth,” the ghost mare replied, her smile widening a bit. “You would not believe how many times they tried to surprise Silver on her birthday.”

“And I’ll have you know we did,” Luna said as she and Celestia finally floated the tea set over to the table.

“Once,” Sunsparkle replied as Luna set a cup and saucer in front of her, then she looked into it and her smile softened. “Oh, girls. You remembered.”

“Only after a bit of argument,” Celestia said, sitting down with her own cup after they had laid out the rest. “We couldn’t decide whether it was almond sugar or vanilla you preferred for sweetening.”

Twilight looked into her own cup and curiously sniffed at the contents. “Dandelion petals and… nettle?” she asked.

“With just a bit of crushed rosehip,” Luna added as she eagerly took the last empty seat beside her aunt. “Auntie Silver always made it for when the weather was dismal.”

Rarity sipped at her own, then made a light hum of appreciation. “It’s very pleasant. I might have to trouble you for the measurements sometime.”

“We’ll be happy to write it down before you set out,” Celestia said. “If that’s what you’re planning to do.”

“Oh, yes,” Twilight said, accepting a scone from the plate Luna offered. She took a bite -ooh, Celestia had asked for cranberry, her favorite- and swallowed before continuing. “We originally planned to return Sunsparkle home, of course, but it would be pretty unfair to do that without finding Silver first.”

“Thank you,” Sunsparkle said. She kept her cup cradled between her hooves, but Twilight noticed she had yet to take a sip. Well… that made sense, actually. She had refused to chance ruining Twilight’s carpet just a few hours before. “Though my personal preference would be to leave as soon as possible, I will defer to those whom have bodies that need rest. Do you have a time in mind?”

“Now that I think about it, early tomorrow morning would be best. That way we can avoid at least one night of sleeping on the train, but we’ll still beat the crowds travelling to join Nightmare Night celebrations this weekend.”

“To save you the trouble of going home just to leave again, you are all more than welcome to stay here if you like,” Luna offered none too subtly, and Twilight had to hide a grin at the way the Night Princess leaned on her aunt in a clear plea.

Sunsparkle gave Luna an indulgent smile and nuzzle, then perked up. “Oh! That reminds me,” she said, setting her cup back into its saucer. “Congratulations on your festival, Moonshine.”

Twilight momentarily choked on a bite of scone. “Euh, Rarity, could you help me get hold of the other girls?” she asked in a rush as she grabbed her friend’s foreleg, then activated a teleport spell before anyone could respond.

Once they reappeared in a hallway nearly on the other side of the castle, Rarity shook her mane back into order, miffed at being yanked. “Well. That certainly wasn't an awkward exit at all,” she muttered, then her expression shifted from mild annoyance to concern. “I do hope Sunsparkle won’t be too angry.”

Twilight fluffed her wings uncomfortably, then inhaled and exhaled slowly to calm the flutter in her stomach. “Whether she is or isn’t, probably best to stay out of the way for just a bit. And I do need to send messages, if just to let everyone know we’re going to be gone awhile.” She looked around herself and frowned, realizing she’d left her saddlebags in the parlour. “After we get some parchment and quills.”

Twilight wrinkled her nose, then sighed and crumpled the letters before magically tossing them into a wastebasket they passed.

“I take it we’re embarking on this endeavour alone?”

“Well, Fluttershy has said she can join us, so that’s one more. But Rainbow’s stuck in Vanhoover with the team for another week, and Pinkie Pie and Applejack are up to their eyeballs in Nightmare Night preparation. I don’t want to push them into coming when it’s not a national emergency.”

“Fair enough.” They stopped in front of the door to the parlor, and Rarity’s ears pricked forward. “I don’t hear shouting or anything. Do you think it’s alright to go back in?”

“Mrhm.” Twilight didn’t really want to go blithely traipsing into the room if there were still... certain time periods being discussed. She bit the inside of her cheek in thought, then stomped a hoof. “I’m an idiot. I can just use a Peeking Window spell,” she muttered, causing Rarity to snort in amusement.

A little poof of magic, and a silent vision wrapped in raspberry energia appeared before them. Princess Luna had visibly been crying and still sniffled as Sunsparkle tenderly cradled her face in her hooves and was saying something to her. The tear streaks weren’t as obvious on Princess Celestia’s face as she gently rubbed her sister’s back, but it was obvious that the discussion had taken a toll on her as well.

Twilight quickly dismissed the spell. “We better give them a little while longer. I’m going to go get Fluttershy.”

“Take your time,”

When Twilight reappeared in the living room of Fluttershy’s cottage, the mare in question was nowhere to be seen. “Fluttershy?”

“Coming!” Fluttershy trotted down the stairs, saddlebags and Angel on her back. The latter jumped off onto the coffee table, and his owner gave him an affectionate pat on the head. “Now, you be good for the sanctuary assistants and help them keep everyone in line, got it?”

Angel squeaked and saluted, which Twilight raised an eyebrow at. “That’s new.”

Fluttershy smiled. “I promised him I’d try a new honey-roasted carrot recipe if he behaved. Right?” Another affirmative squeak, and she turned away from her companion to approach Twilight. “I admit I’m… just a little bit nervous, though. Traveling with a ghost is…”

“I promise there’s nothing to worry about. Sunsparkle’s a ghost with manners, as Rarity called her, and the Princesses absolutely adore her.”

“Hm. Well, when you put it like that, it doesn’t sound so bad.” Fluttershy took Twilight’s offered hoof, then braced herself. “Ready.”

Only a flash of power later, they were back in the castle hallway and Rarity waved them over to where she had an ear pressed to the door. “They’ve been even more quiet since you left. I think it might be safe to rejoin them,” she said, stepping back from the wood panel.

Twilight nodded and knocked, pulling the door open at the invitation from inside.

The Princesses had made an admirable effort to clean themselves up, but both still looked close to exhausted; Celestia especially, though Twilight supposed that was only fair since by her estimate, it was going on ten o’clock.

“We’re back!” she said brightly, not caring if it was unnecessary. It made the three ponies at the table smile, and that was all that mattered. “And Fluttershy’s joining our search party.”

“H- hello,” Fluttershy said hesitantly from behind her, giving a cautious wave to Sunsparkle.

“A pleasure,” the ghost replied as she made a polite little half-bow, and that was enough for the pegasus to brighten up and come out from her improvised hiding place.

“Oh," she said, giggling a little. "Rarity was right about the manners.”

“I apologize, everyone,” Celestia cut in, before putting a hoof to her mouth to muffle a yawn. “But I’m afraid I must bow out for the night, unless you would rather I constantly interrupt the chatter with my dozing.”

“Probably best we all do the same,” Twilight said. “The sleeping part, I mean.”

Luna puffed herself up mock-imperiously. “Hmph. Fine, fine, all of you go off and leave me alone. At least I’ll get to monopolize my aunt for awhile,” she said, wrapping her forelegs around a chuckling Sunsparkle.

Celestia just grinned. “Oho, what a nefarious plan-”

They didn’t get to hear what the rest of her teasing was going to be. After a knock, a guard poked his head in from the hallway. “Your Highnesses, you have a guest. He says he was invited.”

The Sisters looked at each other and both frowned slightly, then Luna looked to Twilight. “Did you-?”

Before Twilight could answer, the door was pushed open and the guard was nudged aside.

And she felt her stomach sink at a very familiar gruff voice.

“Now see here, Twilight Sparkle, what’s all this nonsense about haunted-”

Three steps into the room, Starswirl the Bearded stopped short and the letter floating behind him fell to the ground as he and Sunsparkle simply stared at each other.

So much for hoping.

“Oh, boy,” Twilight murmured under her breath.

Have You Passed Through This Night?

“So. You managed to return.”

Twilight bit her lip and tried not to fidget. The room hadn’t gotten colder… at least not as much as she would have expected. And when she got the nerve up to actually look at Sunsparkle, she could see why. Though she hadn’t pulled away from Luna’s embrace, gone was the affectionate aunt, and in her place sat the Regent of Equestria, expression absolutely blank.

Both princesses seemed to recognize the difference without needing to look, as both sat up straighter and Luna let go.

For his part, Starswirl started to take a step back, then scowled and held his ground. “And you are not as gone as one would expect.”

Hoping to keep the tension… well, maybe not contained, but at least keep it from exploding, Twilight raised a hoof and cleared her throat. “Ah- Princess Luna, since you’re wanting some quality time, why not take Sunsparkle on a tour of the castle? And everypony else can get some sleep while Starswirl and I take a look at the magic in the pendant. Sound good?”

Sunsparkle gave an acrid glance in Starswirl’s direction, then drew herself up and let out a long breath, a move Twilight had seen many times when her parents were having a disagreement. Then she nodded and delicately lifted the chain up around her head. “Very well. I ask that you treat it gently,” she said, allowing Twilight to take hold of it with her magic, then turned to Luna. “Shall we?”

Luna brightened and eagerly took the offered foreleg. “Yes! You will enjoy how improved my current observatory is over my old one,” she said as she guided her aunt past Starswirl, the latter giving him a wide berth, and out the door.

“Rarity, Fluttershy, if you will please follow me, we’ll have guest rooms made ready,” Celestia said as she rose from her seat, poorly hiding another yawn in the process. The mares in question quickly got up to obey.

And that just left the two.

After having witnessed the clear dislike between her guest and her hero for herself, Twilight suddenly found it very uncomfortable to look Starswirl in the eye. It was much easier to keep her gaze on the pendant, which didn’t have any sort of judgment to lay on her. “Um. How about we move to the Archives? Maybe start with the scrying tools?”

There was a long pause, which only ratcheted her anxiety higher. Then hoofsteps turned towards the door. “A sound idea. Let’s go.”

Intensely relieved, Twilight trotted after.

Her relief was short-lived.

Once they had reached the archives and begun searching the shelves and cabinets for information and tools, she found herself with a cold pit in her stomach every time she so much as glanced in Starswirl’s general direction. She wanted so badly to ask- there were two sides to every story, right?

And yet…

And yet the thought that he might confirm Sunsparkle’s reasons for her dislike made her tongue tie itself in knots every time she opened her mouth.

It was stupid, she told herself with a little stamp of her hoof as she glared at a shelf of astrolabes. He was a pony like any other, wasn’t he? They had even argued over spellwork when he’d returned! But that reminder didn’t stop her brain from repetitively hopscotching over all her memories of adulation and adoration. She couldn't... She couldn't...

Ugh!

Before her thought spiral could continue to… spiral, its subject came around the furthest shelf to her left. Her ears twitching with frustration, Twilight turned to meet him, then saw the small mirror floating in his magic. “Star Hopper’s Looking Glass?” she asked, her foul mood vanishing like smoke.

“Indeed. After a few cursory examinations, I believe this will give us the most comprehensive result,” Starswirl replied as she followed him to a table. He laid the mirror on one of the books she had retrieved, then looked at her expectantly.

Twilight touched the pendant with a hoof, then floated it from around her neck to rest on the glass and silver surface. “Remember, we promised not to damage it.”

“Hm.”

The dismissive response wasn’t exactly reassuring, but Twilight stepped back and held her breath as he leveled his horn and sent a pulse of magic into the mirror.

The pulse became a net, an intricate weaving of patterns that gently darkened from Starswirl’s white to a soft lavender as it wound itself around the pendant. Twilight watched with more than a little awe, having never actually gotten to see the Looking Glass’ spellwork before, as the net poofed into a soft pale green cloud that swirled above it.

“Hrm,” Starswirl muttered, rubbing his hoof under his chin as he eyed it. “Never seen it turn that color before.”

Twilight tilted her head slightly, her ears pricking forward. There was something… something that reminded her of the contentment she’d felt when she’d first put the pendant on; that reminded her of… “Oh!”

“What?”

“It’s emotion magic! Like what’s in the Crystal Empire!”

Flopping onto the bed and not caring how ungainly her sprawl looked, Twilight stretched her wings to pop the kinks out while she re-read the letters floating in front of her.

Cadance had been the logical choice to contact first, but after giving it some more thought, she’d opted for a second letter to Thorax. Crystal Ponies weren’t the only ones attracted to emotion magic, after all.

Satisfied, she sent them off to their recipients, then folded her wings and rolled onto her side to open the heavy curtains. The guest room she’d been given had a clear line of sight to the balcony of Luna’s observatory, and… oh, it wasn’t like she was spying! She was just a little curious, that was all!

Twilight lifted her head to peer out the window, and was greeted with the sight of Luna and Sunsparkle at the telescope. Luna had a wide grin and a hoof wrapped around the focuser as she animatedly pointed to several objects in the sky. Sunsparkle had her back to Twilight, but whatever she said must have been encouraging, because Luna clapped her hooves in delight as her smile practically sparkled.

Smiling, Twilight closed the curtains. Though Luna had gradually become much more lively and comfortable as she reintegrated to society, seeing her so... joyful was sweet.

It was…

Twilight rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling as a sinking settled into the pit of her stomach. For some reason, it hadn’t hit her til that moment that if they took Sunsparkle and Silver Swirl back to their resting place, the Princesses were going to lose them again.

She bit her lip and scrubbed at her eyes with the back of her hoof, then snuffed out the candle by her bed with a spell.

Finding Silver. That was what they needed to focus on for now.

After that… Well, they’d sort it out when they got to it.

It was during breakfast, with Luna and Rarity greatly enjoying showing off as many new foods to Sunsparkle as they possibly could while Fluttershy tried to hide her giggles in her tea, that Celestia approached her.

“I’m sorry to distract you from your food, Twilight, but may I have a word in private?” she asked, one ear flicking in the direction of the gleeful tableau.

Twilight froze, caught in the middle of a huge bite of pancakes, and quickly wiped the strawberry syrup from her muzzle. “O- of course!” she said, trying to hide her embarrassment, then hopped off her chair to follow her mentor out into the hall.

Once the door was closed behind them, Celestia gave a soft sigh that seemed dredged from the very core of her being. “I wish I could go with you. We both do,” she said, staring at the wood panel between them and the others.

A lump of sympathy settled in Twilight’s throat. “But you have to wait for the Grim.”

“Indeed. If we do not hear the Cu Sith’s prophecy, we run that much larger risk of accidentally fulfilling it.” A small scroll, barely the size of an envelope, appeared in Celestia’s magic with a gentle puff. “That is why I ask you to take this with you.”

Twilight accepted it and slowly unrolled it, floating it before her eyes curiously. The entire scroll, inside and out, was covered in complicated sigils drawn in silver ink, and it seemed to have a gentle hum of power. “I don’t remember ever seeing one of these,” she murmured before looking up. “What is it?”

“One of Silver Swirl’s own spells, an instant summons that will allow a single teleport to a point no matter the distance.”

Twilight’s mouth fell open. “It what?! Why isn’t this common study?!”

Celestia’s smile held a tinge of sadness. “This was one of many Auntie Silver was forced to hide because of the tribal conflicts. And when we did try to release it after her passing as a measure of good faith, it proved too dangerous to cast for a great many of our ponies.”

Sitting back on her haunches, Twilight gently dropped the scroll into her hooves and gave it a more thorough examination. True… the sigils alone were complicated enough that a single mistake or careless smudge would cause blowback. A frightening level of blowback. “So… why are you giving it to me?” she asked, cradling it carefully.

“Because I have attuned it to signal myself and Luna. I would like you to use it when you find our Aunts’ resting place.”

“You… you don’t know where they are?” Twilight asked incredulously, then instantly regretted it when Celestia flinched. “I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

Celestia held up a hoof, and it was only then that Twilight realized she wasn’t yet wearing her normal regalia. “We knew when our time was growing shorter. Aunt Sunsparkle and Auntie Silver… they did not visibly age, but they were visibly fading. Constantly exhausted, dozing off at odd hours, unable to be woken without considerable effort… When they retired and said they were going to take a holiday… some part of us knew they were never coming back.”

“But you couldn’t go with them, just like now. You had to keep the tribes in line.” Imagining it made her heart hurt. If her mom or dad were dying and she couldn’t be there...

A nod and another wistful look to the dining room door. “Luna and I told ourselves that eventually there would be time. That at some point we could simply take a month or so and go out to locate them. But it never happened before the rise of Nightmare Moon. And I couldn’t possibly have gone without her, it would have been too cruel.”

Twilight bit her lip, her eyes stinging. Still cradling the scroll in one foreleg, she stood and nuzzled the taller princess. “I’ll protect it with my life.”

Celestia gave her a stronger smile and nuzzled back. “Hopefully it won’t come to that, but thank you. Now go finish your breakfast and get ready.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Trotting back into the dining room, she found Starswirl had finally joined them. He and Sunsparkle seemed perfectly content to ignore each other; she occupied with Luna and he with his muzzle deep in a mug of coffee that was larger than Twilight’s head.

Twilight couldn’t help the tiniest snort of amusement as she slipped the scroll into her saddlebag and reclaimed her half-eaten pile of pancakes.

To think one of the most legendary ponies in history was even less of a morning pony than she was. It... made her nervousness ease a little.

He had refilled the mug twice and the food was long gone when she supposed the task at hoof couldn’t be put off any longer. “Everypony ready?” she asked as she pushed her plate away and magically picked up her saddlebag.

Rarity and Fluttershy both cast uncertain looks to Sunsparkle, and Twilight couldn’t blame them. At some point, they must have come to the same realization she had.

Sunsparkle herself closed her eyes for a moment, then smiled and got out of her chair, one hoof still clasped in both of Luna’s. “May I have just a few more moments?” she asked, nodding to Celestia as the older princess came around the table to join them.

“Not a problem!” Rarity chirped before Twilight had the chance. “It will let us check our saddlebags one more time, yes?”

“Right,” Twilight said, heading for the door with her two friends and a grumpy wizard following behind.

She did her best not to start pacing in the hallway, managing to restrain herself to a quiet tapping of one hoof as she watched Rarity and Fluttershy muddle with the contents of their saddlebags.

They were clearly just trying to dispel the discomfort, as she was.

In the corner of her eye, she noticed Starswirl had brought the mug, and turned her head just as it finished refilling itself for the third time. “How do you do that?”

All she got in response was a wordless grumble before Starswirl began to chug the steaming brew.

Snorts and giggles came from her other side as she barely managed to keep from rolling her eyes. Obviously that was a question for after a few more rounds of caffeine, she decided, and turned her attention back to the door just in time for Sunsparkle to exit the dining room.

The ghost mare wiped her eyes with the back of her hoof, then stood tall. “I suppose I am ready. Let us continue onwards.”

It was still early enough -or late enough, considering some of the hungover ponies stumbling towards home- that nopony much paid attention to the fact that there was a spirit walking the streets.

Which was just fine with her, since she didn’t want to have to confine Sunsparkle to her pendant when there were things for her to see.

“Does this not hurt your hooves?” Sunsparkle asked, stomping a little on the cobblestones.

There was a dismissive mutter behind her, but Twilight ignored it. Let the old pony focus on his coffee; this was more interesting. “A little at first, but you get used to it when you live here. I guess dirt roads were more common in your time?”

“Oh, indeed. The faster cleared and the more simple, the better, to aid in expansion.” Sunsparkle’s ears pricked forward at the sound of complaining, and she turned her head to watch sleepy protesting foals being herded into school by their parents. “Hm. Is that an integrated school?”

“Sort of,” Fluttershy said softly from the ghost mare’s other side. “A lot of pegasi still live in cities like Cloudsdale, but there’ve been… um, programs would be the right word, I think?”

“Initiatives,” Twilight said.

“Oh, yes. Initiatives for making some subjects cross-tribe. Is that okay?”

“Quite wonderful, in fact! Ancients know we had an absolutely frightful time trying to do so for years. Does that mean pegasus foals are no longer required to learn combat drills?”

Fluttershy went ashen. “C- combat drills?”

“Oh, hey, here’s the train station!” Twilight yelped with a crack in her voice, waving at the building. At the look Sunsparkle gave her, she gave a less-than-convincing bright smile and picked up her pace to a quick trot. “Let’s get our tickets!”

The mare at the window had her cheek resting on her hoof as she sipped at her coffee, looking half awake. At Twilight’s sudden appearance, however, she shot up with a surprised gasp before recovering. “Oh-! Oh, your highness! Uh, good morning?” she asked with some hesitation, adjusting her glasses.

“Very good!” Twilight said in her still-too-chipper tone, the others falling in behind her.

The ticket mare’s eyes widened, then she took off her glasses and cleaned them. When that didn’t change the view in front of her, she leaned forward to Twilight, holding her hoof up to muffle her whisper. “Is- Is that a-?”

“Five tickets to the Crystal Empire!” Twilight cut her off, then remembered her manners. “Please.”

“Um.” The ticket mare blinked, then caved and sat back in her seat to pick up the most recent schedule. “I apologize, Princess, but right now there aren't any trains to the Crystal Empire.”

Disintegration Anxiety

Twilight grumbled to herself as she blew annoyed bubbles in her soda, her sour expression fixed on the rail station.

“This notice was put out during the night shift, your highness. A fight between some territorial dragons brought half a mountain down onto the tracks between Galloping Gorge and the Unicorn Range. Even with a demolition team, it’s estimated to be at least a week in clearing.”

It wasn’t the ticket seller’s fault, and that fact had kept her from blowing up until after they had stopped at a cafe outside of shouting distance.

A week.

A week!

It wasn’t that she didn’t like the idea of Sunsparkle being around for awhile -the princesses would probably love having an extra week to hoard their aunt’s attention, for one thing, and then there were all the contributions she could make to missing history- but… she’d made a promise. And that kind of delay just didn’t go along with said promise.

Wait… did promises like this even have a deadline? It wasn’t the same thing as promising to help with an event, right? Or it was, because the event was getting Sunsparkle and Silver Swirl back to the afterlife, and- Tartarus, she was starting to get a very unpleasant throbbing right behind her eyes.

Finally, she sighed and lifted her head from the table and spat out the end of the straw, turning her attention to Sunsparkle’s perplexed expression as Rarity and Fluttershy were describing their destination.

“I apologize, but the entire concept of this place remains… Oh, what is the word I am looking for… A bit farfetched. An entire city of crystal and a power source that turns its ponies into the same? All the way up near Yak territories?”

“Well, when you put it like that, it does sound rather fantastic,” Rarity said.

“How have you never seen the Crystal Heart?” Twilight asked, curiosity gently pushing aside her irritation and the pain in her head with it. “You’re a crystal pony.”

“Well, as I told you, this was more or less accidental,” Sunsparkle said, waving a glittery translucent hoof at her own coat. “As it was for the others caught in the backlash. Though… I do remember the others who were transformed did not stay at the castle for very long after.” She frowned and tapped her hoof against her mouth in thought. “If I remember correctly, when she came to tell me she was leaving, Sky Rocket called it a… a pull to go north and settle. To think they would have gone so far north, though… ”

“It sounds very likely they found the Heart,” Twilight replied, pulling her map and one of the books she’d borrowed from Cadance on her last trip out of her saddlebag to spread them out in front of the other girls. All three leaned in, paying attention to the notes she scribbled around the Empire’s location. “The archivists working under Cadance and my brother have been reconstructing the history Sombra suppressed when he came to power, and the time periods line up… You didn’t feel the pull, though?”

“I did not. However, the bond loop between myself and Silver Swirl had been established for roughly three years at the time, perhaps that interfered.”

Rarity rested her chin in her hooves, looking starry-eyed. “Aww, you didn’t need the Heart because you already had your true love!” she gushed.

Twilight fought the urge to roll her eyes. “That’s not how the Heart works. And as fascinating as this is, it doesn’t get us any closer to the Empire.”

“I’m not seeing the problem.”

Twilight turned her head as Starswirl approached, his ever-present mug now filled with tea instead of coffee. “What do you mean?”

“We have two spellcasters of considerable power,” the old wizard replied. “And a decent kinetic.” Rarity made an offended huff at the backhooved compliment, but he ignored her and continued. “As well as a pair of extra hooves. There’s no reason we can’t deal with a simple landslide.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight saw Sunsparkle bristle at the none-too-subtle snub of her own ability to contribute. Luckily Fluttershy intercepted the ghost mare, gently holding her hoof to calm her down.

“That’s not… a bad idea,” Twilight admitted slowly, trying to be diplomatic. “Even if we can’t clear the entire thing ourselves, the lot of us could shorten the demolition time by quite a bit.”

“Getting there still poses a little snag,” Rarity said as she smoothed the map out flat. “Even if we take the train as far as Tall Tale, it would still be several hours of hiking.”

“Hm.” Twilight chewed at her lower lip, staring at the map. There was one way to shorten the hike, but it was the same problem as when they were traveling from Ponyville to Canterlot.

Well.

Nothing ventured…

“Sunsparkle, could you give me your hoof for a second?”

The ghost mare raised an eyebrow, but got up and did as requested, walking around the table to take hold of Twilight’s offered hoof.

Paying no heed to the cold, Twilight closed her eyes and focused instead on the strange presence Sunsparkle had, the odd feeling of there/not there that normal ponies lacked.

And then she pulled at it.

A sharp wave of dizzy nausea like falling out of the sky hit her and she stumbled forward into Sunsparkle’s chilly hold. When the world finished spinning, she found they were standing on a hill several blocks from the table they’d been sharing, though not far enough for her friends to be out of sight.

“Can I let you go without being concerned that you will meet the cobblestones with your nose?” Sunsparkle asked, and Twilight couldn’t help a dazed giggle at her wording.

“Haha… Hurgh...Gimme a couple more minutes,” she said and, despite Sunsparkle mostly keeping her steady, sat down hard on her haunches.

“Considering the… interesting shade of green your face has turned, it would seem teleporting is out as a travel method, yes?” Rarity said as the others approached, Twilight’s saddlebags in tow.

Twilight only groaned in reply, but it turned into a groan of relief when an icy hoof pressed against the base of her skull and the vertigo began to ease. “Thaaaank you,” she slurred, and Sunsparkle made an amused noise and obligingly kept the hold in place while she slowly got to her hooves, her wings drooping at her sides.

“According to the timetable, the next train to Tall Tale isn’t for another two and a half hours,” Fluttershy said. “That will give you some leeway for recovery.”

Rarity clapped her hooves. “Ooh! Idea! Why don’t we use the time to visit a couple of the city museums?”

Starswirl grumbled something into his tea at that, but Twilight didn’t much care to ask him to repeat it, not wanting another tense situation. “That could be interesting,” she said instead before looking up at Sunsparkle. “We could see if there’s anything you recognize.”

“I am curious,” Sunsparkle admitted.

“Splendid! Let’s go stow our bags at the station, then we can start on Golden Hoof Avenue.”

“Hm. Twilight, you said that there are archivists repairing the history of this Empire we are traveling to, correct?”

Twilight looked up from the case containing troop reports from the Battle of the Nightmare Phase-Spiders to see that Sunsparkle had stopped before a memorial case dedicated to Majesty. “I did. Why, is there something wrong with the exhibit?”

“Well, I confess I am not sure which would have irritated her more; the concept of putting her in dresses at all, or the fact that they believe she would have fit in one of mine.”

Twilight’s wings puffed in surprise. “Yours?” she asked, quickly trotting over to join the ghost. “Are… are you sure?”

Sunsparkle pointed to the throat of the dress, where a carved wooden clasp held the neck closed. “Observe. My fate sign is etched into both sides.”

She squinted at the neckline, then gave a small gasp at seeing the stylized sun that matched the ghost’s cutie mark. “It is,” she murmured, then turned to Sunsparkle. “So… I take it Majesty wasn’t much for formal wear?” Twilight asked as Rarity was coming over from another clothing exhibit.

“Oh, she would have lived in her armor if she had the option,” Sunsparkle said with a smile. “I have never met a mare who loathed pomp and circumstance more.”

“Hah, then it’s a pity you won’t meet our other friends,” Rarity said. “But do go on about her fashion sense, or lack thereof, as it seems.”

“We usually managed to convince her to wear a pegasus-style chiton for official events. She hardly enjoyed it, but at least it gave her much more freedom of movement. Honestly, the only thing she liked was being able to loom ominously over all the stuffy nobility.”

“Loom? How big was she?”

“Hm.” Sunsparkle held a hoof above her head, murmuring to herself as she adjusted heights until she was satisfied. “Here we go.”

Both Twilight and Rarity stared. “But that’s… that’s almost as tall as Princess Celestia. Unicorns don’t- was she part Saddle Arabian or something?” Twilight asked.

Sunsparkle bit back a snort. “No, although you are not the first to guess so-” she said as she turned back to the exhibit, only to stop short. “This… what is this?”

Twilight leaned around her. “Oh! That’s one of the museum’s most prized artifacts,” she said as she pointed to the broken horn laying on a velvet pillow behind the glass. “It was acquired at the-”

“A-hem.” Starswirl stood at the entrance to the next exhibit hall, a scowl on his face and an uneasy Fluttershy behind him. “If we could move on? I would like to actually finish this place before we have to leave.”

Sunsparkle’s eyes narrowed at his demanding tone, but before Twilight could cut in, she drew herself up and let out a cold breath. “Fine.”

Another fight averted, Twilight and her friends fell in behind the two as they continued deeper into the museum. “Everything okay?” she asked Fluttershy quietly enough not to catch attention.

“Well… I’m not sure,” Fluttershy admitted.

“What do you mean?”

“He’s just… He never really said anything to me, he just kept muttering to himself and barely looking at anything. The only place he actually stopped was at the records of important spell discoveries.”

Twilight frowned. Something about that felt… off. Very off. Surely Starswirl would have updated his spell history during the time he’d been back, so why would he be so bothered by…?

Maybe it had something to do with Silver Swirl?

She filed it a note into her head to ask him about it on the train, once they had some privacy. Once she had it written in stone, so to speak, she quickened her pace to catch up with Sunsparkle. They hadn’t gotten to finish their conversation about the broken horn, and her curiosity was piqued. “So… ah, like I was saying, the horn was recovered at the siege of the Gargoyle Wigh- wait…”

The Gargoyle Wights had attacked in 177 A.U. If Majesty had been killed by the Pony of Shadows, there was no way-

“That’s not actually her horn, is it?” Twilight asked, disappointment sinking in. How many times had her brother dragged her to see that exhibit, excited over such a formidable unicorn battler? Babbling about his inspiration to become a guard one day?

And half of what was on display wasn’t even…

“No,” Sunsparkle said gently. “It is not.”

She paused by a rack of weapons and Twilight stopped with her, the others continuing to pass other cases. Twilight sat down. The shallow part of her mind wondered how upset her brother would be when the corrected history books were published. The rest of her ached at the resigned, tired expression on Sunsparkle’s face at finding more of the history she'd lived having been forgotten. “How could you tell?”

Sunsparkle sat down beside her. “The girls guided us back to retrieve her after we’d determined the danger was gone. She…” The ghost mare hesitated, then raised a hoof close to Twilight’s own horn. “It had only broken off about here,” she said, indicating between a fourth and a third of the way down. “We searched for a full day for the missing piece or pieces before we had to accept that it had probably been dusted in the attack.”

Twilight stared at the floor, fighting back a shiver. The spot Sunsparkle had indicated was right at the beginning of a horn’s magic-channeling core. The most sensitive pain spot a unicorn had. For Majesty to have been shot there, not only would she have lost her magic, she would have been in unbearable agony in the moments before her death.

It made her sick to imagine.

She tilted her head back and sucked in a deep, sharp breath to make her stomach calm, and as she did so, she thought she noticed Starswirl watching them. For a moment, she even thought he looked guilty, before the metaphorical spell broke and he turned away.

That was weird…

The bell chime from the clocktower outside broke into her thoughts, and she hissed and puffed her wings in alarm as she realized the time. “We gotta go or we’re gonna miss the train!”

Twilight huffed as she flopped into her berth. They’d made it by mere hoofbeats before the train pulled out and, with the way the other passengers had stared at one of her companions in particular, she was very glad she’d splurged for a private compartment.

Stretching, she rolled over and watched as Sunsparkle investigated the berth they’d given her. “Everything good?”

“I admit, I am slightly jealous,” Sunsparkle said, patting the mattress before climbing in. “You have very much improved from the days of sitting in the back of a wagon.”

“Good thing, or this would be a very long ride,” Rarity said from the berth above Twilight’s.

“Once we get good and moving, we can show you more of the cars, since we didn’t get the chance on the way to Canterlot,” Twilight offered. “Especially the dining car,” she added when her stomach growled.

“I look forward to it,” Sunsparkle said with a smile. A smile that quickly vanished when Starswirl entered the compartment to claim his own berth.

Watching them avoid each other, Twilight closed her eyes and did her stress release exercise before snuggling into her pillow.

With their luck so far, this might still end up being a very long trip.

Author's Note

I am so sorry updates have slowed down so badly. I'll try to get back into a steadier rhythm.

It's Natural to Be Afraid

The dining car was a welcome sanctuary from the tension in their compartment. Settled in a corner booth where her ghostly traveler would draw the least attention, Twilight had been more than happy to introduce Sunsparkle to the concept of modern fast food.

At least until, halfway through her milkshake, she noticed Sunsparkle had gone oddly quiet. “Hey, are you…”

Twilight trailed off when she followed Sunsparkle’s line of sight. At the other end of the dining car, a couple was oblivious to everything except each other, practically sharing the same chair as they cuddled over their desserts. The lady’s wing was draped over the back of her unicorn… boyfriend? Husband? The distinction wasn’t as big a deal as the realization of why Sunsparkle was probably so interested.

“Is… there a problem?” Twilight asked cautiously, trying not to let too much suspicion leak into her tone.

“Are they safe?”

Twilight squinted in concentration, unsure for a moment that Sunsparkle had even spoken at all, the words almost lost in the exhale of air to make them. “What do you mean, ‘safe’?” she asked when she’d put the question together.

“They’re so… brazen. They don’t have to worry about someone picking a fight? Or worse?”

Oh.

Twilight swallowed, then gently put a hoof on one of Sunsparkle’s. “They’ll be fine. Did… Were you and Silver-?”

Sunsparkle finally shook herself and tore her gaze away from the happy couple. “Not like that, we had support from-.” She closed her eyes for a moment, clearly gathering her emotions back into order. “I never told you which branch of the Council I represented, did I?”

“I- well-” Twilight awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck.

“It is alright. Given my time period, there is nothing wrong with your assumption,” Sunsparkle said before turning her gaze to the floor. “My mother was Diamond Glow.”

Twilight sucked in a sharp breath, her stomach dropping hard. “Diamond Glow? Princess Platinum’s daughter Diamond Glow?”

“I understand why that would be difficult to believe, but here is my evidence, if it still exists. When Grandmother left Old Unicornia, she brought a special locket with her for luck. It has the phoenix constellation stamped into it and each star has a gem with a different illusion spell bound to it. I gifted it to the girls when they were placed on the thrones of Equestria.”

Twilight did know that locket. It was in a glass case in Princess Celestia’s room, between…

two…

history books.

She let her head fall back against the booth’s cushion with a groan. “I believe you,” she muttered, then pushed herself away from the table. Leaving some bits for the waiter, she slid out of the booth and Sunsparkle followed, both ignoring the stares their passing earned.

“So… Diamond Glow,” Twilight said as they crossed the gap between cars. “The only thing I’ve ever found on her was…”

“Was?”

“Um…” Twilight closed the door behind them and tapped her back hoof awkwardly, trying to think of a way to be tactful. “That her… passing was rather sudden.”

Sunsparkle made a faint hum that Twilight couldn’t pinpoint an emotion for. “Yes, that is true,” the ghost mare said as she passed Twilight. “I imagine a magical trap in her study would qualify as ‘sudden’.”

“Trap?” Twilight asked, eyes wide. “For wha-”

“Are they going to be safe?”

“-oh. Oh, no, no, no,” she whispered, freezing in mid-step as Sunsparkle’s earlier question came back to her. “They didn’t.”

Sunsparkle was still walking. “They did. Their leader was revealed as a stallion Mother knew and once rejected the advances of, which could be chalked up to spite, but… well. He did manage to gain followers to aid him in the plot.”

Her lunch was a lot less pleasant churning uncomfortably in her stomach, but Twilight forcibly pulled herself together and followed, so very glad that the compartment was empty of anyone to hear their conversation. “Your dad?”

“Fell into a mourning depression and drank himself to death by the time the Third Council convened. Probably for the better, since he would have been put through Tartarus by those who opposed my inheriting Mother’s position.”

Twilight had a hundred more questions she wanted to ask about that, but an itch between her wings suggested they might be better left for another time. “The stallion your mom knew,” she said instead. “Do you remember who he was?”

“Fine Shine. One of the many pompous sons of the Fifteen Families from Old Unicornia.”

Twilight felt her lip curl almost entirely on its own. “That checks out.”

Sunsparkle stopped short and turned. “You know of him?” she asked, and it was hard to tell if it was anger or surprise coloring her voice. No supernatural wind had kicked up around them, so probably surprise. Mostly. Twilight wouldn’t have blamed her at all for being angry that the killer had been better recorded in the history books than his victim.

“I know his descendants,” Twilight replied, unable to keep the disdain out of her own. “They show up once a year to try and demand that the Crown lower their taxes and raise those of their non-unicorn neighbors.”

“Tch. He would be so proud to hear that.”

Rarity and Fluttershy had their heads bowed over one of the maps of the Unicorn Range when she and Sunsparkle re-entered their compartment. At the sound of the door closing behind them, Rarity looked up. “How was lunch?”

“Informative,” Twilight said as she climbed into her berth, and she heard faint snorts at her dry tone. “They do have that blackberry and orange salad you love so much, though.”

“Wonderful!” A sharp growl made Twilight hide her grin in her pillow as Rarity turned bright red. “Actually, I do believe I’ll go get some of that now. Do you want anything, Fluttershy?”

“I think I’d like to check the menu first, so I’ll go with you.” Fluttershy carefully folded the map back up and stepped out of the berth, stretching some kinks out of her wings. “You’re welcome to come back with us, if you like,” she offered to Sunsparkle.

The ghost mare considered that, tail swishing as she thought. “I believe I will,” she said finally. “The more observations I can add to Silver’s list, the better.”

Once the door clicked, Twilight was left alone in the cabin with Starswirl. The elderly unicorn didn't appear to have been paying attention to their conversation, his nose buried in a tome he had summoned from she had no idea where, but the uncomfortable pall still remained.

Twilight briefly considered pulling the maps back out to see if the girls had added any more observations for their journey, but decided against it.

Instead, she fluffed her wings, did her quick breathing exercise, and plucked up her nerve.

"We've never really talked much about, y'know, what Equestria used to be like."

Starswirl made a noncommittal grunt without looking up. Well, that didn't amount to telling her off... exactly... so...

"I mean, I know the legend version about how Stygian brought you and the others together, but I'm curious about-"

"If the mentally deficient simpletons on the council had bothered to actually do the job of their station, it wouldn't have been necessary."

Twilight blinked in surprise at the venom in her old hero's voice. "I- what?"

The tome clapped shut. "Even a foal knows that the primary cause of monster attacks is the lure of strife. Sirens, wendigoes, kelpies, phase-spiders, the list goes on. Had the council focused their efforts on dealing with the knots of tribal separatists, as they should have, there would have been no need for traveling heroes to begin with, let alone the Pillars."

That... that didn't sound right. "But if they had pooled all the resources on a crackdown, what about caring for the rest of the populace?"

"If the populace was safe, they wouldn’t have needed the council to coddle them!" Starswirl snapped. "Instead, ponies were too busy picking fights with each other to defend themselves from the monsters their fights summoned!"

The icky sour feeling Twilight had felt in her stomach was coming back. Something... something felt wrong about what he was saying, but she had nothing to back it up. Maybe she should-

The door opened again and two takeout boxes floated in, held aloft in Rarity's magic. "I hope you don't mind us eating here instead, but the dining car was positively pa-" Rarity paused, looking back and forth between the two of them as Fluttershy and Sunsparkle entered behind her. "Did... something happen?"

Twilight swallowed hard to force down the bile that had begun to rise in her throat. "Just a small magical theory argument. That's all."

"Well... okay," Rarity said uncertainly, laying the food on the shelf that formed the headboard of her berth. She and Fluttershy both glanced at her in concern, but when Twilight shook her head, they turned their attention back to their food.

A cold hoof settled on her back, and Twilight did well not to flinch before turning her head to find Sunsparkle regarding her with the same look the girls had given her. "Do you need anything?" the ghost mare asked, gaze briefly flicking in Starswirl's direction.

"No... no, I'm fine. I promise." Her smile was weak, but it was enough. Sunsparkle gave her a gentle pat of reassurance and turned to climb into her berth.

Whatever Starswirl said as she did was too quiet for Twilight to hear. Sunsparkle, on the other hoof, momentarily stiffened before her eyes narrowed and she hissed something back that was undoubtedly an insult in kind.

Twilight bit her lip and buried her head as deep into her pillow as she could.

She was pretty sure that she had just made things worse.

“Pretty Sure” had very quickly evolved into “Dead Certain.”

The metaphorical gauntlet had been thrown, and awkward avoidance had been replaced with outright hostility.

Rarity and Fluttershy had both begun carefully giving the combatants space, practically tip-hoofing about the cabin. “Do we want to know?” Fluttershy asked exactly once concerning the invectives being traded in Old Equestrian, and Twilight had shaken her head, wide-eyed and ears plastered to her skull at the… creativity of the words chosen.

Disembarking from the train brought a much welcome respite from the verbal sniping. Whether it was because of freedom from being trapped in the close proximity of the train car or refusal to continue in public, Twilight neither knew nor cared, just savoring the blessed quiet as the group checked their bags into the station’s lockers.

“Okay, so, basically all we need to focus on for this leg is food and water.”

Fluttershy raised a hoof. “Should we look into some tools? Since we are going up to aid in demolition?”

Twilight tapped her mouth in thought. “It couldn’t hurt. There’s probably no place here we could get anything like explosives, but I know there’s at least one shop for caving supplies.”

“Since you know where that is, why don’t we split up to do our shopping and meet back here?” Rarity asked. “Fluttershy and I can take Sunsparkle to go get sustenance.”

‘Bless you, Rarity,’ Twilight thought, and her relief must have shown on her face, because Rarity gave her a winning smile. “That sounds good,” Twilight said out loud. “The quicker we can get geared up and set out, the better.”

Starswirl apparently had no desire to chat as the two of them headed off in the direction of the store they needed, and that suited Twilight just fine, since she was pretty sure she would never adjust to the surprisingly extensive dictionary of blistering Old Equestrian curses she’d learned from him over the past several hours.

She really just wanted to get the next couple of days over with and move on to the Crystal Empire.

The tenuous ceasefire held as they reconvened, ate lunch, and began their trek up into the mountains, but Twilight could sense the tension beginning to ratchet up again, much to her dread.

And it was clear she wasn’t the only one. When she glanced behind her at the rest of her travel companions, the girls were carefully keeping Sunsparkle occupied with discussion of their surroundings, and away from Starswirl.

“Wait, I thought these only ever come in blue,” Fluttershy was saying as she held a small star-shaped flower that Twilight only vaguely recognized. “What did they used to be?”

“They used to run the whole gamut between pure white and such a deep purple that it almost reached black,” Sunsparkle replied. “Though their territory also used to be much larger than you describe. If my memory is correct, they grew as far south as Whitetail Woods.”

“That makes sense. A smaller flowering ground would cause them to eventually homogenize.” Fluttershy giggled a little. “I’ll have to let Flower Wishes know. She’d enjoy researching it.”

“If the prospect of traveling so far from home doesn’t render her catatonic,” Rarity added dryly.

Twilight bit down on a snort of laughter, not wanting them to know she’d been listening in. “We should be at the cave we chose in just under an hour,” she called back over her shoulder instead.

“Excellent! The sooner we can set up the fire and get the canteens refilled, the sooner we can rest up for tomorrow.”

That was a sentiment Twilight thoroughly agreed with. Considering they hadn’t gotten much actual rest during the train trip, she was looking forward to just crashing for a little bit.

And by the time they did reach the cave, it had become a litany. Fire, food, water, sleep, her brain chanted tiredly as she dumped her saddlebags onto the ground. “I’ll go get the water.”

“Alright. We can handle the fire and start dinner,” Fluttershy said as she laid hers down as well. “Right, Starswirl?”

Apparently surprised out of his brooding, the old wizard blinked at her as she passed, then followed with only the faintest grumble.

Okay.

Okay!

Maybe they’d get through the night without too much trouble, Twilight thought as she floated the canteen straps to rest around her neck. Fluttershy was keeping Starswirl busy, Rarity was showing Sunsparkle her intended dinner recipe, and no one was biting each other’s heads off. This was okay!

Her heart considerably lighter, Twilight trotted off towards the river.

The evening sunlight peeking through the trees also helped lift her mood, and by the time she’d reached the rushing waters and began shedding the canteens, she was humming aimlessly to herself. Remembering the warnings Fluttershy and Applejack had given her ages ago, she carefully used her magic to separate out some water and test for contaminants. Only once she'd gathered enough that she felt was satisfactorily safe did she start funneling it into the canteens.

She had just finished the third when a sudden icy rush of fear out of nowhere made her wings stand on end and her fur prickle all the way from the tips of her ears to the base of her tail.

Muttering a few Old Equestrian curses of her own, she snatched them all up and flew back towards the campsite.

She had nearly reached the mouth of the cave when the chill of the wind forced her to land and keep running.

The sight that met her inside made her stop short, her hopes of a peaceful night dashed by the outright warfare that had broken out.

"Pompus little gloryhound!" Sunsparkle snarled in Old Equestrian as Rarity struggled to hold her back in her magic, visibly shivering from the wind the ghost mare's anger had kicked up. "If you had ever once in your life given a damn about the needs of those around you instead of using them for the sole purpose of raising yourself up-"

"You're a fine one to talk!" Starswirl snapped in kind, Fluttershy futilely trying to pull him back by his tail. "All of you sat on your rumps in your fancy chairs ignoring the root of the country's problem! If you had actually made an honest effort to unite the tribes, there would have been no reason to give them another common enemy!"

Author's Note

Man, writer's block is a pain in the ass, ain't it?