Author's Note

Here you are, something more relaxed after that last chapter. A little break of sorts from the action.

~ Angel

Chapter 20: Recovery - Part 1

I knock on the door of the private hospital room. It’s been five days since everything that happened at Starlight’s village. I don’t know exactly what to expect when I go in there, but I want to see how he is. Apparently, up until this point, he hasn’t been accepting visitors - except for Hanzal and one or two others - although I don’t know why that would be.

“Who is it?” he says.

“Um, it’s Moonlight.”

“Your Majesty… Please, come in.”

I open the door and walk into the small room. The furniture is minimal; just a bedside table, an armchair and the hospital bed. Skywalker is laying down under the covers, with a cup in his hooves. He looks at me and smiles sadly.

“How is everyone else?” he asks.

“In pain, but recovering. Most of them didn’t have injuries like yours.”

“Dammit…” He curses under his breath.

“What’s wrong?” I sit down in the armchair next to him.

“Well, look at me…” He pauses to take a few deep, slow breaths before continuing. “I’m in a bit of a mess, got several of my comrades injured or even dead. And, now... turns out my bucking sister is alive.” He slaps his forehead with a hoof. “Oh Faust, help me.”

“Why does she hate you?”

“Heh,” the Colonel expresses, wearing an ironic smile. “It’s more of a… mutual hatred.”

“But… How did it all start?”

He glances at me before looking at the cup, thinking deeply as his eye remains fixed on the liquid inside of it. A serious, yet quite sad expression appears on his face.

“Wish I knew when it all began.” Skywalker admits. “Our ideologies, personalities, the training, our duties, her and Swift… everything seems to have affected our relationship as brother and sister.”

“You drifted apart?”

His face shows how difficult it is to explain. “Nah. It was more violent than that, but… still at a gradual pace, you know. Short heated discussions at first, then larger arguments; in the end, our... fight for survival.”

“I wouldn’t know what it’s like. I was an only child. But…” Something confuses me. “Back in the cave, just before Sombra got us all out of there and I was reading your mind, you were talking about your sister but then you stopped yourself. What were you going to say?”

The Colonel sighs. “We’re family, Your Majesty.” He says. “Even though we aren’t anywhere near as close as we used to be, I love her as my sister and she loves me as her brother; nonetheless... trust me when I say that we wish each other to be dead.”

“I…” I don’t know what to say. “What injuries did you end up with after-”

“It’s not about the injuries, Your Majesty,” the stallion interjects. “A fractured spine or a missing limb, a mortal wound of any kind… That doesn’t matter. It’s about what we did to each other’s lives. The psychological and emotional turmoil. The absolute disgust we feel for each other and ourselves, the hopelessness of the situation, the realisation that our fight ain’t gonna end until one of us is gone forever.”

I look at him, and wonder what must be going through his head right now. “Most ponies would look at you and think that you’re tough and cold and uncaring, but you’ve suffered so much…”

He chuckles. “Tell me of someone who didn’t.” He looks at me. “Hanzal, he lost his mother in a Royal Guard raid, years ago; Autumn Apple, my left hoof, had a cousin that was brutally murdered by a bear while hunting. Midnight Sapphire, her little sister was lost in the mountains while we hid from some Solar Guards, never to be seen again… I could keep going for hours and the list would never end.”

“Oh Tartarus.”

The stallion speaks again. “The reason may be different, but the suffering is the same. So, don't pretend to be astonished, Ma’am.”

“I had no idea.” My mind wanders to little Lucky, the youngest of the group. She had to live through all of that, and has done so for all of her life. That poor filly is probably traumatised, but she doesn’t let anypony see it. “You’ve gone through worse than anything I’ve had to deal with so far.”

He smiles as a cough escapes him. “Thousand years on the moon, a year living rough in the Everfree and then you met His Majesty and ended up being dragged into all of this.” He raises an eyebrow. “And you’re telling me I’ve gone through worse?”

A small laugh arises from him. An ironic one, again, considering the situation we’re all in right now. I look at him with a serious sight as he gets interrupted once again by a rather strong cough, which - now that I think of it - has become a constant lately.

As always, I decide to ignore it.

I shake my head. “I wasn’t dragged into anything, I started it. If I wasn’t here, Luna would never have become Nightmare Moon and Sombra would be dead. You wouldn’t have had to deal with Celestia because Luna would have made sure she ruled fairly.”

“Ma’am, none of this is your fault.”

“I might not have done anything wrong, but I still caused all of this.”

“Nah, you didn’t. This is barely a consequence,” he denies. “It was Sunbutt. All of this started long before you were born.”

I raise an eyebrow, and remember the story of how he ended up on the run from Celestia. He knows so much, and maybe now, he might say something about it. I wait to see if he is going to say anything.

“You want to know, don’t you?” he inquires. Smart colt, if you ask me.

“I want to be able to remind her of everything she did and make her pay.”

“Well, you may...” he answers, “on two conditions.”

“Alright.” I nod.

“Kind of a surprise the second one.” The bat pony explains. “Though I can tell the former is more of a favor.”

I think about it for a moment, but I guess curiosity always gets the best of me, since it does this time. As I nod, he looks back at the cup and takes a sip from it.

He sighs with satisfaction, his expression quite more relaxed and thoughtful than before, showing some peace in such a tormented soul; he glances at me again.

“I assume you remember our conversation in the castle’s dungeon?” His voice asks.

“Yes.”

“Great. Because, over these last few days... I’ve been thinking.” He pauses, then looks out the window for a moment, seemingly trying to find the right words to use.

He heaves a sigh. “Astral will tell Celestia about my… involvement in this conflict. The old scars will reopen soon and there won’t be any mercy from her towards me. My concern is how this will affect those back in Equestria.”

I remain silent, processing what he has told me and… it makes sense. He’s one of the ex-highest rank officers in the Royal Guard, the leader of our military, and the one who orchestrated the theft of documents detailing Sunbutt's crimes. If - no, when - Celestia discovers that he is here in the Crystal Empire, she will be furious. Probably over the last few years she assumed that he was one less loose end for her to tie up, but once Astral Charm tells her the truth…

That tyrant knows about his astounding ability to lead troops, planning and managing resources efficiently using strategies and tactics that not even Hanzal, his second in command, has managed to fully understand.

And there's no doubt in my mind that she will put him on the Most Wanted list again.

“You need us to rescue your friends?” I question him. He nods.

“Don’t bring them here, though.” Skywalker interjects. “Instead, help them hide somewhere else, a place that may be safer than here.”

"Where, though?"

His magic lights up the room, and a translucent picture of a map of Equestria appears above the hospital bed. I stand up and walk over to it so I can have a better look at it.

He points with a hoof to the Frozen North, specifically Yakyakistan.

I look up at him and he notices. “It’s the most remote place I can think of.” He admits. “Both here and Griffinstone are good places, but we’ve got no relationship with the Griffin nation. Besides, they’re at their worst state after their Golden Age with King Grover ‘the Magnificent’.”

I nod in understanding. Despite not knowing much of the history of the millennium I spent with Nightmare Moon, I’ve heard of how badly some countries had become after Equestria’s rise and peak.

Then, he sighs. “Now… about a few days ago. Let me explain.”

I look at the magical map again.

"Miss Starlight's village is around here on the map," he says, gesturing to the mountains and desert surrounding the place that she used to call home. "Do you have any idea of what went wrong that day?"

"I asked Sombra to use magic," I say, the realisation dawning on me that without me, the Solar Guards would never have found us. I don't think, and I get others into trouble because of it. Every one of our guards and the Solar Guards who died in that fight died because of me. Their families are broken, and will never be whole again. "But then our guards would never have been in danger if I hadn't insisted on going there… I'm so stupid." I bury my head in my hooves.

"No.” Despite his injuries, he sits on the edge of the bed and puts his hoof on my shoulder. “I was the stupid one by giving the order for our troops to stay and hold positions. As for what you said about His Majesty using magic, whilst you are technically correct, Ma'am… that isn't what I had in mind."

I look at him curiously.

"In these situations, preparation, timing and communication are crucial. The guards were focused on trying to help the wounded and hold positions, unaware that yet more Solar Guards were flooding the area. If I had been told this in the morning, I would have insisted that we went straight to the cave and brought everyone back to the Crystal Empire immediately.” He sighs. “However… I doubt that Miss Glimmer would have known about it at that time, as she mentioned nothing in the letter she sent."

"I think I know what you're trying to say," I tell him whilst I process everything, but it doesn't quite add up in my stupid, stupid brain. There are more pieces to the puzzle that I just don't have. "Nope, I've lost it."

"First of all, if we go back to Equestria at any point, Ma'am… I would advise both yourself and His Majesty to stay behind. All laughing and jokes aside, it's far too risky for either of you to get involved. Sunbutt knows that, which I suppose is why none of the alicorns have been involved in the fighting as of yet."

"Right…" I say.

"Second, if our army ever counterattacks, we’ll need somebody inside Equestria to help us out. Me, Hanzal and a few of our friends have a little joke that wherever there's trouble, you'll find Solar Guards." The corners of his mouth turn upwards. "Most of the time, it doesn’t apply to them being the cause of said trouble, of course. If someone in Ponyville were to burn down the houses of the Element Bearers - and not only those places, but also several industrial and military buildings - Solar Guards would be sent there to find out who was responsible and punish them."

I see what he's getting at. "So if there were lots of incidents across the country-"

"There would be lots of small pockets of Solar Guards scattered around Equestria," he confirms. "Vulnerable, with resources being spread so thinly that an army could walk through Equestria unchallenged. It’s risky because of the civilians being on the firing line, but I’ll make the impossible happen if it helps us avoid unnecessary deaths.

"Though I ain’t sure where exactly would be safest for our friends to stay, it would have to be a location that is… less likely to be targeted by either the Solar Guards or our own forces. My suggestion is that we make a long-term plan for what we hope to achieve and stick to it the best that we can."

"Agreed.” I say without thinking. I add quickly, “I'll have to speak to Sombra, of course."

“I know. It’s just… Food for thought?” He slowly nods to himself. “Yeah, that’s the expression.”

“So the first condition is that we organise a rescue mission for your friends and a safe place for them to stay. What was the other one?”

“It’s taken me a while to come to this conclusion out of a wish not to cause unnecessary harm to those around me, but I - I think it’s only right that others know the truth as well as you, Ma’am.” He takes a breath. “My second request is to… make a speech. At the very minimum, you, King Sombra, your advisers and the Crystal Army recruits should be told what was in those documents. At the best, the whole world.”

“Even the foals?” I wonder, confused.

“Hmm, maybe not…” he trails off. “Remember Lucky, the little filly? She read the documents herself. Everybody else was trying to hide the truth from her until she was ‘old enough to know’...” He sighs sadly. “Dammit, her curiosity got the best of her and went rummaging through the few things we’ve kept with us all these years, all whilst everybody else was asleep. I was going to tell her, but I would rather she’d have found out from one of us so we could safeguard her a little.”

“Oh my goodness.” I whisper in astonishment. “Did she say anything afterwards?”

“Not to me, for some reason,” he answers. “Perhaps she’s worried about being told off... poor thing.”

I lift a hoof to my mouth, speechless.

“I…” For a moment, he hesitates as his eyes wander through the room; the Colonel’s face shows a slight seriousness. “I should try to speak to her at some point about it, see how badly she’s been affected.” Then, he laughs softly, “She used to call me her Great Uncle Sky, you know.”

“She doesn’t ever stop being adorable, does she?” I ask, smiling at the comment.

A chuckle escapes his mouth. “Yeah. Though, don’t ever be direct with her, or make her cry,” he warns me, jokingly. “Hanzal’s always got an eye on her, she’s almost like his daughter.”

I shake my head. Skywalker has a huge extended family, and all of them are survivors. I’m not sure what to expect from Skywalker’s speech, but I feel a sense of relief. They won’t have to carry such a burden, and I’ll finally know where Sunbutt gets her reputation from. Something tells me it’ll be an interesting tale.