Fire and Shadows

Moonlight’s POV

I roll over on the sofa and groan to myself, rubbing my eyes. Sunbutt knows why, but I haven’t been sleeping properly for the past week or so, and the long nights are catching up on me. Probably it’s just down to stress and I need to learn to relax more when I have the opportunity rather than worrying about what Celestia might do to us next, but the last time I had sleep issues… Everypony knows how that turned out.

I’m panicking again.

I stretch my forelegs and yawn before pulling myself up into a sitting position. What do I need to do before dinner? There’s a few of the so-called “noble class” kicking up a fuss about the way Sombra and I are handling the “Celestia business” and we’ve been asked to speak to them personally because nopony else can get through to them. Oh, and I nearly forgot about my wonderful plan to fill Equestria’s newspapers with stories about Celestia.

Cozy is a brilliant photographer, actually. When I saw the photos that she had taken, I was blown away. She captured the horrors of the situation in vivid detail, and once I’ve done my bit and written about what happened at Starlight’s village, Celestia will have a lot to answer for.

Last night, I was reading through that magazine with the story about Golden Sunset. Harmony Magazine is firmly anti-Celestia and not afraid to show it. They dissect every new piece of legislation and every new law that she passes to show what its effects on ponies’ day-to-day lives could be, and there are quite a few intriguing new laws that she has introduced.

One of the latest ones prevents journalists from attending royal press conferences or even visiting libraries unless they are “Celestia approved,” and one part of being “Celestia approved” is proving that a journalist is not in contact with anypony from the Crystal Empire in any way, shape or form. The reporter who wrote the article said that none of the ponies working for Harmony Magazine had been “Celestia approved” to date when the article was written.

I was mentioned a couple of times in the newspaper, which made me laugh. My new nickname is Queenie, apparently, and most of the time it was in the context of, “If Queenie knew that this was happening right under her muzzle, she’d be furious.” However, there was one article that was written about me in particular that I can’t get out of my head.

WE’RE WAITING, QUEENIE. TELL US ABOUT YOUR AUNT CELESTIA...

An opinion piece by Silver Quill

Crystal Queen Moonlight, where are you? You promised you would tell us a story about your auntie, yet you have remained silent for weeks now.

Is it because of your auntie that you’ve been so quiet? She’s been stopping ponies everywhere from raising their voices about important issues. The Equestrian Times had to issue an apology for publishing your article, believe it or not, and they won’t “make the same mistakes in the future.” It’s a shame, really, because I used to read their newspaper daily just to see if you’d written anything else in there. Oh well, it’s their loss.

Is your beloved asking you not to say anything? It’s not that we fear King Sombra is controlling you, no - apparently you were just as feisty before you met him as you are now - but we are concerned for you. It’s more likely that he’s worried about retribution, but still, we never hear anything about what is happening in the Crystal Empire, and so our imaginations get the better of us.

Did you change your mind? That’s fine, but don’t leave us in the dark. We need to know how you are doing and what’s going on in the Crystal Empire. We need to hear your voice again. We need you on our side, Queenie.
Kindest regards,
Silver xxx

I honestly don’t know what to think of it all. How have they not been shut down by Celestia yet? I’m glad that they’re saying positive things about me and that they care, but does that stupid alicorn do anything other than plan parties and sit around eating cake all day with her cronies?!

“Muuuuuuum!” Cozy calls. “You’d better not be sleeping again.”

“I’m awake,” I reply.

She throws the door open and whizzes into the room on those tiny wings of hers. “Come on, come on, up up up! It’s all hooves on deck! Chaos is happening, so get your butt off that sofa and help out, Mum!”

“What is it?” I grumble.

“Gosh, nothing much, except a load of our Royal Guards who were out on patrol outside the Crystal Empire have come back in pretty bad shape. Apparently they encountered a few Solar Guards on the way.”

That wakes me up. “Oh Tartarus, you have got to be kidding me. Is this a dream?”

“Nope! The hospitals are completely going haywire, the Old Colonel Sky is absolutely insisting on leaving even though he’s not even supposed to be up walking yet according to Wishbone, and I thought he slept upside-down like an actual bat, which he can’t do if his back’s broken, which also raises the question of how you and Sombra are supposed to make - oh, never mind, it’s not worth thinking about. And there’s more, too. The nobles are causing trouble again, saying they’ll stop paying their taxes and start protesting if you don’t listen to them. And worst of all, it’s the supposed Grand Prince Genelith Burthelstune the Thirty-Eighth who wants to speak to you. You know the one - everypony loves him.”

“So, let me get this straight,” I say slowly. “There was an attack outside the Crystal Empire on our guards, and the nobles are more concerned about what exactly?”

“Something to do with you and Sombra not being fit to run the place. They think they could do a better job than us.”

“Well, they’re not my top priority. Where are these Solar Guards?”

“They’re gone, but the hospitals are absolutely at their maximum.”

“And what can I do to help?”

“Uh… Speak to Sombra. He's gone to the Old Colonel's hospital room. Oh, and since Sombra lifted the spell stopping anypony from teleporting in the castle, we can go straight there."

I try to picture the place in my head, and teleport both of us to the room. However, as I reopen my eyes, I see that the room is empty; confused, I turn to Cozy.

She notices this, which annoys her. “Gee, do I have to take the blame for everything that goes haywire around here?”

“You said they were here, Cozy, and they’re not. It would be just like you to send me on a wild goose chase around the entire city and-”

“Well, I only knew Sombra came here, nothing else.”

I stop for a moment and think. She does make a point; I mean, how would it have been possible for her to know that everypony was gone after knowing where they were at one particular point in time? Nopony could have, with the exception of Discord, maybe. Life just doesn’t stop when some of us are occupied, it keeps going at the same pace, and we just have to catch up.

About to talk, I notice a change of expression on Cozy’s face: a look of mild amusement mixed with wonderment. She seems to have an idea of what we could do.

“Alright, Old Sky is stubborn as heck, right?” she begins.

I glare at her. “Language, for Luna’s sake.”

“Yeah… Nah.” I swear, the little devil really gets on my nerves sometimes. “Anyway, it came to me that they’re probably somewhere nearby.”

I raise an eyebrow. “What makes you-?”

“Skywalker,” she interrupts. “We all know he’s never going to as he’s told and he’s gonna want to help as many ponies as possible, but he can’t exactly go anywhere that fast.”

I think about it, and yes, once again, it makes sense. As the Colonel himself told me: We all have stubbornness issues. But stubbornness can only help you so much when you’re recovering from a fractured spine, among other things.

I look at her and nod, sighing. “Alright, where do you suggest we go first, oh great little bright spark?”

She puts a hoof on her chin, deeply thinking for a few seconds. Of course, deducting where somepony may be is rather difficult, if not almost impossible, for the vast majority of ponies, and even more so if we add the small but crucial detail that it is Skywalker that we’re trying to find… fortunately, Cozy’s the exception.

A smirk is drawn on her face as she finally says, “Eureka.”

The following minutes, I proceed to follow Cozy Glow. She flies slightly above the ground as she goes along each hallway and intersection, her eyes scanning each area; with some deduction, I’m able to understand what’s happening in her mind for once. She searches for the injured. Since Skywalker has been known lately to stick to whom he calls his ‘comrades’, my little devil has reached the conclusion that the Colonel won’t stay far from those who need aid and support.

And she’s right. As soon as we reached the hospital’s waiting room, I take a moment to look around the place, allowing me to see a one-of-a-kind scene.

I can see Skywalker, wearing his casual clothes while sitting on a bench alongside an injured soldier, a unicorn, for what I can tell. They both are hugging each other as they whisper to their ears words that I’ll never hear; however, it is their expressions that surprise me.

Sadness and pain. Not only on the latter, but also on the former’s face that shows said emotions, all this while a half-smile appears on the unicorn.

I can’t help but feel confused about this. I mean, has he really given up a well-deserved rest in exchange for this? I’m not upset - actually, I’m happy to see him comforting a pony in need; nevertheless, it still puzzles me.

“A little strange, isn’t it?” I jump at the sudden voice behind me.

Before me, stands Sombra, looking behind me - at the scene I was previously witnessing.

“You scared me, Sombra,” I complain.

He looks at me sheepishly. “Sorry, Moony.”

I lean against him and sigh, relaxing a little. He runs a hoof through my tangled mane. I probably should have put some more effort into my appearance before I came here, but oh well.

“I am still processing all of this, you know,” he says.

“All of this?” I ask, confused.

“Did you happen to notice the group over there?” He nods at a small group of injured soldiers, both ponies and changelings, on the other side of the room - sitting, or even lying on stretchers; I can only guess they're some of those that still don’t have an assigned room because the hospital’s full capacity has been reached.

However, what draws my attention is a hat, a red military beret, that a changeling is holding in her hooves. My eyes widen as I recognise it, it’s Skywalker’s.

Instantly, I turn to him and the soldier, who are still hugging each other, and confirm that - indeed - the Colonel isn’t wearing his beret anymore. Surprised, I quickly turn to where the changeling is, only to notice that she’s no longer there. She’s been taken to a room, for sure.

“Skywalker has been… rather too kind and empathetic with them,” my husband continues. “Actually, with practically every creature that has stepped into this building. Walking around, stopping to talk to others, trying to spread a few smiles here and there.”

A doubt creeps into my mind. “Why didn’t you insist on him going back to bed?”

“Oh, I did,” he laughs. “I even briefly contemplated using mind control, and it is quite possibly the only time that Wishbone will ever encourage such a thing. But he said to me, and I quote: why lay on a bed when you could be yourself?”

“Did he really say that?”

“You bet he did,” another voice cuts across him.

I turn to the source of the sound and see Wishbone, who looks tired and stressed as she approaches us. There are huge bags under her golden eyes, which don’t shine with the same enthusiasm as usual, and her green mane is tied back in a messy bun with several strands sticking out at the sides. She’s wearing green hospital scrubs and two large saddlebags which I assume are full of medical equipment.

“You as well?” Sombra asks the mare. She nods.

“Yup, too stubborn for me.”

I say, “Is he-”

“Yes, he’s even more like you than I first thought,” she interrupts me.

“Gee, never thought an old stallion like him would be doing stuff like this.” Cozy admits. “Even less with his spine broken.”

“He never cared for stuff like that, Princess.” A male, familiar voice speaks next to us. It’s Hanzal, wearing his uniform as usual. He joins us and glances at me. “And you know that.”

For a moment, I remain puzzled before realising what he’s talking about. My previous conversation with Skywalker. What was it he said? It’s not about the injuries.

“He… told you?” This takes me by surprise.

“Yup, this morning when I came to visit. And the guards were brought here just as I was about to leave.”

I raise an eyebrow at this. “He’s been doing this… since this morning?” My voice sounds incredulous, which was probably also the case for the others when they found out.

No answer comes from him, except for a single nod before he trots over to Skywalker. The Colonel is trying to stand up, leaning with an orthopaedic cane, though he isn’t able to do it alone.

Seeing this, not only Hanzal, but also the unicorn soldier, the same that the bat pony had been talking to only moments before, help him stand up. When the pegasus assures the latter that he doesn’t need any extra assistance, the recruit sits once more and takes a rest.

The pair of friends walk slowly back to us, making sure Skywalker’s back isn’t damaged any more than it has been already; however, from one moment to another, the Colonel stops - which forces Hanzal to do the same. Then, about ten paces away from the rest of us, the former stops and stares at the ground.

“Hanzal?” Skywalker asks.

“Yes?” The pegasus, confused, turns to him looking for an answer, yet the only thing he gets from his friend is a sad expression on his face while forcing a half-smile.

Suddenly, the bat pony embraces his closest friend in a hug as his eye closes. This surprises both Hanzal and us, since none of us had imagined such a thing would happen. However, despite the sudden shock, Hanzal doesn’t take long to reciprocate the gesture - not caring one bit for the glances of some present in the room.

“Sky, what’s up? What is it?”

He sighs. “Right now, when looking at myself, at you and… at all the poor people affected by this conflict, I can see a truth that I’ve avoided for these last few days…it’s been difficult for me to realise how much, not only them, but also you have suffered because of this.” Skywalker sniffs before a cough catches him off guard. “And... I apologise for that. I- I’m sorry I made you feel worried about my health and mental state; I promise I’ll try better and even spend more time with you and the others, instead of only prioritising war as I’ve been doing until now.”

I can see a tear fall from his eye and roll his cheek. “You’re like my brother, Hanz. Please, don’t forget that.”

The scene hits me like a ton of bricks, and as I watch them I feel doubts creeping them. Something must have made him act like that, but what was it? I don’t know.

All I know is that Hanzal… is just as good a colt as his mentor.

“I won’t, Sky,” he whispers. “...I w-won’t.”