Chapter One - Their Biggest Fan
There was a nip in the air that mid-July morning. In the quiet town of Ponyville, a pegasus colt lay awake in bed, eagerly awaiting the ventricles of daylight to reach into the window of his bedroom. Sleep was difficult on such an exciting day as today.
Still he lay there, making every attempt to fall back asleep. His eyes were tired but his mind was alert. The temptation to stand up and hop about the room was near unbearable; but he knew that the wait would be worth it, and that starting early would reap no benefits.
So ever still he waited, eyes shut tight, waiting for the sun. And when finally it crossed the window sill, the colt picked up the reciever on his telephone and began spinning the dial madly.
Sweetie Belle awoke with a rather painful throbbing in her head, causing her temples to pulsate uncomfortably. Her eyes creaked open, attempting to survey the room, but only managing a focusless squint. A yawn escaped her lips as she pushed herself upright and flicked on the lamp that sat upon her bedstand. It was then that she became aware of the noise that had woken her up - the phone was ringing. She snatched it up in her magic's thrall and answered it just as it began its third ring.
"Hel...lo?" Sweetie Belle mumbled sleepily into the reciever.
"It's today!" Came a familiar squeal of excitement from somepony who sounded much more well-rested. Sweetie Belle half-smiled, surpressing a somewhat exasperated laugh. This was so very typical of Rook.
"It's also..." Sweetie Belle glanced back to her nightstand, "...five in the morning. You do realize it's a brunch, right?"
"I know, but... how can you sleep at a time like this? It's... like, this atfternoon. As in this afternoon, this afternoon. How can you just not be excited about that?"
"Lunch with my sister? That's pretty much every day for me."
"Oh, you're no fun. Noon at the Everfree Cafe, right?"
"Right."
"Okay, I'll see you then, Sweetie."
There was a pronounced click as Rook hung up. Sweetie Belle set the telephone upon the nightstand and laid back in her bed. The faintest hint of sunlight was reaching threads of morning over the dark and dormant reaches of the world outside, like ventricles crawling up an old wall. Sweetie Belle let out a groan and pulled her pillow over her head, silently begging for just one more hour...
* * *
Rook, on the other hand, was wide awake. In fact, he was doing something he rarely ever did - cooking breakfast. Not just for himself, but for the whole family. Hash browns sizzled in the pan, slowly turning from a pale and sickly beige to gleaming golden brown. A second pan held hay bacon, and the third, pancakes. Rook nudged the bacon with a spatula before gracefully flipping each piece over. It was a good morning.
Slowly but surely, the Saturday morning stragglers made their way into the dining room. First was the sloth-like sister; her movements were uncoordinated and creaky, like those of a soft-shelled turtle with wings. A full plate of food was already prepared by the time she found her seat at the table. Rook brought it over to her, and followed it up quickly with a tall glass of orange juice.
"Thank you, mother," said the lime-green filly at the table.
"You're welcome," said Rook, "but I'm not mother."
"You are now," she replied as she took up a particularly large wad of pancake. Rook smiled and returned to cooking.
"You've got that... whatch'yamacallit..." his sister fumbled, mouth still full of pancake, "that lunch, with those ponies..."
"The Harmony Bearers," Rook assisted.
"Yeah them... your filly friend got you that pass, right?"
"Hey! She's not my filly friend!" Rook spouted back, "a- er, and don't tell her I said that...!"
His sister just chuckled, "relax, bro, this conversation stays between us."
"What conversation stays between who?" Rook's mother wandered into the room, appearing equally groggy.
"Oh, yeah, mom, you remember right?" his sister piped up as his mother took a seat at the table, "Rook has that thing today with his filly friend. She got him a free ticket."
"Oh yeah..." she replied slowly, "boy, they've only just started going out and already he's practically living off her gifts."
"He is currently cooking your breakfast," Rook shot back.
"That's nice dear."
The pancakes and hay bacon continued to simmer on in the pan. When the next plateful was ready, Rook brought it over to his mother.
"Thank you, father," she mumbled to Rook. At that moment, Rook's father wandered into the room looking cheerful.
"You're welcome! What did I do?"
"You haven't done it yet," Rook said, "but you're about to be brave enough to eat my cooking. Can you handle it?"
Rook put on his best stern mentor face, and shot a powerful look at his father. His father stared back with his most resolute determined pupil face. They held the moment until it occurred to rook that the pancake had been frying for just a moment too long. He flipped the flapjack onto a plate and brought it over to his father.
"Bon appetit, everypony."
"Speaking of food, Rook," said his father passively, "you've got that lunch this morning with your filly friend haven't you?"
"Yes, thank you for asking rather than gossiping," Rook shot looks at his sister and mother, who - perhaps quite fortunately - were too deeply engaged in ripping their breakfast to shreds and ingesting it as quickly as possible.
"Well, I just feel I should tell you... and I know this will probably make you uncomfortable, but you're that age and it needs to be said..." he paused for a moment to carefully ponder his words, "If you and her ever find yourselves in a... an intimate situation... well, you know where we keep the contraceptives."
It was fortunate that Rook had not yet taken a sip of orange juice, because if he had, he likely would have spit it all over the table upon hearing this remark.
"Really, dad? Come on, we're eating breakfast."
"Okay, son, fine," he said, picking up a fork in his magic's thrall and gently skewering a hunk of pancake, "but don't come crying to me when you end up paying child support."
"Dad!"
"Honey, he has a point, we are eating breakfast," Rook's mom piped up, "And anyway, I'm pretty sure Sweetie Belle can't have foals."
"And again with the gossip..." Rook threw his hooves in the air in frustration. With a distinct harrumph, he stood from the table and took his breakfast downstairs to eat.
The basement was a tad more lonely, but at least it was nice and cool. The summer heat would be unbearable on his way to the cafe, so he figured he'd enjoy it now while he could. Rook wasn't actually fed up with his family's discussion of his private life. It was standard daily fare. He just wanted to be alone so he could think about the day.
He could barely control his excitement. Lunch with the Harmony Bearers! It had been ten long years, but here they were still protecting Equestria. Rook remembered their victory over Nightmare Moon like it was yesterday (though in truth he was only six when it had happened). The celebration. The glee. The cheering and squealing of the crowds as the six friends were led by Princess Celestia and the newly reappointed Princess Luna to the thousandth celebration of the summer solstice. The longest day of the thousandth year. And what a grand year it had been!
But now Rook was a grown colt. His life was moving faster than ever before and yet at the same time it seemed still, like the eye of a storm made of pure happiness. The sheer terror of growing up and facing responsibility left him paralyzed, but there was a certain eagerness to it as well. He knew, deep down in the pit of his stomach, that if he leapt in without fear he would be well rewarded.
Sweetie Belle was growing older too. Rook had met her when they were both still in Miss Cheerilee's class. They rarely spoke while the crusaders were having adventures, but Rook took note of her from day one. He was very fond of her, but he didn't realize it until one afternoon when he saw her helping Scootaloo with her relationship with Featherweight. It was a simple gesture but it put his mind onto the subject of affection. And in that moment he had realized that his attention had been on Sweetie Belle for quite some time.
Now Rook and Sweetie Belle were close friends - close enough to take each other to events such as these, anyway - and it occurred to Rook just how lucky he was to know her. The unicorn with the purple mane. Our colors complement each other, he mused as he munched happily on a strip of hay bacon. Rook couldn't have been happier with his life. Nor, he reasoned, with this day in particular. Because today was a very excellent day indeed. Today was-
The phone was ringing. Rook snatched it up instinctively.
"Hello?"
"Hey! May I speak to..." the post-adolescent voice on the other end paused for a moment and the flipping of paper could be heard, "...Rook?"
"This is Rook. May I ask who's calling?"
"Oh, I'm sorry! This is Spike, calling on behalf of Twilight Sparkle. You were on the guest list, I'm checking to make sure you are still able to attend our event this afternoon."
There was a flurry of hoof and wing as Rook tossed about to set down his plate and sit upright, and he thanked Celestia the phone was audio only.
"Yes! Sorry. Thank you, yes. I'll be attending. I'm still available. I wouldn't miss it for the world!"
"Alright, then. I will see you there!"
The phone clicked and Rook took some deep breaths. The gravity of the situation kept sinking in, over and over. Every time he remembered the day's event his heart began to beat out of control, his mind racing like a Wonderbolt through Ghastly Gorge. The excitement was almost too much for him.
This was going to be a great day.
* * *
Around ten that morning, Rook returned to his room and began getting ready. This was a big moment. Maybe even the apex of his life thus far. The perfection of the day could not be broken. Except, perhaps, by his choice of attire. Of the ten or so saddlebags he had in his closet, he had settled upon the one with the five-pointed star insignia that had come to represent the Elements of Harmony. But the rest was completely up in the air. Should he wear a cap? A visor? A fedora? What should he bring? Was there anything he wanted autographed...? He quickly recalled how the invitation had stated no autographs, and turned a slight frown in dismay before returning to his work.
At that moment, his sister knocked on the door twice before turning the knob and opening the door. Rook turned on the spot to face her, and held on either wing two sets of leggings.
"What do you think, sis? Purple or indigo?"
His sister only gaped for a moment, before letting out a rather loud and unrefined snort of laughter. "You're so weird! Anyway, I'm just here to tell you that mom wants to get a picture of you and Sweetie Belle outside the restaurant."
"She wha- why? Come on! That's... that's so lame!"
"Hey, don't shoot the messenger. I'm just giving you a heads up so you can brace yourself when we get there."
She started to walk away before adding, "oh, and go for the purple ones."
* * *
It was just shy of eleven o' clock when Rook arrived at the Everfree Cafe, followed closely by his camera-toting mother and disinterested sister. His father, on the other hand, was not among their party. A quick survey of the vicinity would reveal him instead inspecting the menu that hung just outside the main entrance.
Just inside the main foyer sat Sweetie Belle upon a rather ornately upholstered bench - a level of ambitiously pristine design that was mimicked by the rest of the dining hall. Cobbled brick formed archways between different areas of the seating area.
Chapter Seventeen - The Reflection of the Pallid Stallion
The chamber stretched out indefinitely in the opposite direction. At first, Rook only saw a shadow, standing idly about halfway in. Soon, however, the blur of the sudden light receded from the edges of his eyes and the rest of the room came into view. Rows upon rows of glass chambers lined the floor of the seemingly endless hall, radiating a faint luminance. They were domed on top and all steel on the bottom. The domes themselves seemed to be filled with bubbling liquid, magenta in hue. And hovering in the liquid... Rook could not discern.
"Do you like my decorations?" called the shadow from across the room, "I do like to think their flickering light energy creates a nice ambience."
"Who are you?" shouted Rook, not entirely caring for the answer.
"Me?" the shadow mocked, "You come into my home uninvited, and then you ask me who I am?"
The shadow began marching toward Rook slowly, hoofsteps calmly mimicked by the domed chambers and high ceiling. First the plating over his body glinted in the light from the chambers. Then, his face came into view. A charming, friendly old face. The sort Rook would have trusted under any other circumstances. And, in fact, he had.
"You're the..."
"Ah, yes, we have met before haven't we?" the old unicorn stallion mused, smiling a horrid and sickening smile, "now, let's chat, shall we? So much has happened since we last spoke..."
The aged stallion put a foreleg over Rook's shoulders forcefully, "You see... since the Forever Blade has come to light, things have changed. The world is a new place. A kingdom fit for the taking. A force exists in Equestria that even the Princesses fear, a force which has brought the Harmony Bearers to their knees and indeed all but wiped them from existence! Don't you see?"
Rook shook his head, pushing away the stallion's hold.
"I don't see anything. All I see is a bitter, tricky old man trying to plant ideas in a malleable mind."
The stallion frowned. "You'll understand in time. Come with me, good friend, and I will show you what my work has amounted to."
Rook hesitated at first, but seeing the stallion walking away, decided to follow. They continued down, deeper into the rows upon rows of luminescent domes, each giving Rook the faintest impression that they were alive. There was a sort of churning in their depths, a pulse. Like a uniform heartbeat resonating through all the domes in the room.
