(I) 1:34 AM, Tuesday Morning
1:34 AM, Tuesday Morning
Celestia strode down the hallway, her usual motherly expression gone, with Equestria’s strong and serious leader showing through. Even though her billowy mane was half-stuck to the side of her face, her fur was messy and pointing in all different directions, and she’d clearly rushed putting on her royal regalia –one of her slippers was missing and another was on backwards, her chest plate had been haphazardly placed around her neck like a poorly-adjusted tie, and her crown was placed at a decidedly precarious angle- nopony even noticed, let alone laughed. Her face, grave and determined, had a way of making all those details irrelevant. If Princess Celestia was treating the event, whatever it was, as serious business, then the situation really was dire.
“We don’t really know what’s going on, to be honest,” Shining Armor admitted. He was in a better state at the moment than Celestia, but compared to the guard’s usual standards, he was also clearly struggling just to keep up with the situation. “I’ve had some of our unicorn regiment contact ponies from the towns up north, but even they’re reporting that the light came from even further north. The analysists are guessing this happened somewhere south of but still fairly close to the Arctic Circle, but everypony is still clueless as to exactly what occurred.”
“I trust your judgment, Captain; give me an educated guess.” Celestia didn’t spare him a glance as they rounded a corner, descending a sudden flight of steps without missing a beat. All along the hallways, the palace staff were rushing to and fro, doing an admirable job of fighting back any remaining grogginess as rumors were traded or quashed, everypony feeling like they should be hard at work doing something, though most were at a loss as to what that might be.
Shining Armor frowned, mulling over what little he did know even as a lanky colt in a bellhop’s uniform dodged around him. Celestia trusted his judgment, but he himself didn’t right now. Despite how the palace had become as busy as a disturbed ant nest in the space of about fifteen minutes, the heavy fog of sleep still pervaded his mind. Regardless, he had to give it his best shot.
Fifteen minutes ago. It had only been about fifteen minutes ago that he’d been asleep, curled up with Cadence and so very warm. Then, out of nowhere, a light literally as bright as the sun shone through Canterlot from the far north, waking most of the palace’s inhabitants. Those who had miraculously managed to stay asleep through that were woken shortly after by everypony else.
The light had endured for several minutes before finally fading away, the dark of night rushing back in to fill the void. But by that time, the palace was lit up like a candle, everypony in too much of a tizzy over the light to even consider sleep.
Well, not Shining Armor; his thoughts kept wandering back to the warm bed with Cadence, but duty compelled him to see this whole mess through; he wouldn’t forgive himself if this turned out to be bad news and he'd crawled off to take a nap. But he was getting off-topic.
At length, he began vocalizing his thoughts, though still trying to organize them in his head. “Well, as I mentioned, this happened pretty far north of us; since we could still see it from down here, I’d be inclined to think that whatever happened, there was a positively massive release of magical energy. A surge of that degree could either be a whole huge group of spell-casters, or only one or two, but in that case, they’d have to be on par with you or Luna.”
Celestia nodded. “I’m personally inclined to believe the former; while there are a number of entities that can rival my sister and I for power, most of them are... accounted for, in one fashion or another.” As she said this, they passed a window overlooking the statue garden, and she couldn’t help but nod at the dimly-lit figure of Discord.
Shining Armor didn’t like that they’d put the statue right back out there; even though his return was mainly a result of the Elements changing hooves, the Captain of the Guard was uncomfortable with the nation’s –perhaps even the world’s- most dangerous enemy being out in the open, with nothing but his petrification acting as a barrier between the villain and all of Equestria. The princesses assured him that the chances of the god of chaos escaping anytime soon were astronomical, but wasn’t Discord all about toying with the odds? Still, the decision was out of his hooves, so he’d had to grin and bear it. He’d definitely been putting more focus on defending from magic during training sessions from the guard, either way.
And there he went off topic again; he really was exhausted. The duo turned as one, now almost to the throne room. Marshalling his thoughts once more, Shining finished his report. “One other thing I think we should attempt to be cautious of… if we could see that from so far away, other countries may as well, and there’s no telling how they’ll react. I’m hoping things will work out, but I think we should be prepared for anything.”
Celestia nodded, her usual warm smile briefly gracing her features; that was an angle she hadn’t even considered. Then she had to set it once more, making a halfhearted effort to unstick her mane from the side of her face and otherwise look presentable; they were at the entrance to the throne room.
Raising an ironic eyebrow at Shining, Celestia muttered “Showtime” before pushing open the doors. The dull roar bleeding through the walls became a full on torrent of noise, and she stepped forward into it.
It was absolutely packed inside, with many of Canterlot’s residents having come in search of answers. Though ponies tried to clear a path for Celestia, the throng was thick enough that she still had to squeeze to pass through, and she vaguely imagined she was wading through a whole sea of ponies. That thought was somewhat amusing, but this wasn’t the time for distractions. She banished the flight of fancy into the back of her head for later.
Though she was still far from presentable, at least she didn’t stand out; many of the nobles were still in their ridiculously expensive silk pajamas, and even the ones that had bothered to change were still decidedly shaggy around the edges. The only exception was Prince Blueblood, who had evidently just arrived, immaculate as always, and judging by the expressions of the ponies closest to him, obnoxious as always. Some things never changed.
Luna stood on the steps to the throne’s dais, looking like she was taking refuge from a flood. Though she’d already been awake at the time of the blast, she looked worse for wear; her mane somehow fraying at the edges despite its ethereal nature, ears twitching, and a dangerous look in her eyes. Thankfully that expression abated somewhat once she caught sight of her elder sister, but Celestia still found herself hoping she wouldn’t have to prevent any murders tonight, on top of everything else.
Finally reaching the dais, she waited a few more moments to allow Shining Armor to join them before speaking. “Hello, everypony.”
The hall instantly quieted down; even Prince Blueblood shut up and listened. “Now, I’m sure you’ve all witnessed the mysterious light that occurred just recently. Though it’s only been about a quarter of an hour, we’re already investigating. We do know that whatever this was, it’s almost as far north as the Arctic Circle, and that it is almost certainly magical in nature, but I’ll be frank with you all; we don’t really know what’s going on yet.” If she were addressing any other crowd, Shining thought to himself, admitting something like that would have been a risky gamble, hoping the blatant honesty would make up for the show of weakness and lack of any solid information. Even as it was, everypony began muttering worriedly, casting nervous looks out the north-facing windows.
“Whatever this phenomenon was,” Celestia began again, the crowd once more silencing to hear her, “It may mean something bad for the future,” another round of murmurs swept through the hall, “or it may not. It could be a good sign, or it may not even have anything to do with us.” She let this sink in for a moment. “But until we know more, I don’t want to jump to conclusions. I promise you my sister and I, along with the royal guard and our top mages, will thoroughly investigate this and tell you what we find out, one way or another. But this will take time, so I suggest you all get some sleep while you can; we’ll have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Good night, my little ponies.” Celestia typically didn’t like to order her people around, but there was a certain tone to the last sentence that hinted her suggestion was not actually a suggestion.
Having finished her speech, she waited patiently as the crowd began to filter out the door, palace staff returning to their duties as a large clump of nobles moved across the palace lawns back toward Canterlot. There were more than a few grumbles here and there; most ponies were still not quite appeased. But as much as they wanted to believe otherwise, Celestia wasn’t a goddess, and could only do so much in the space of fifteen or twenty minutes.
Soon enough, the hall was once more empty, with only Celestia, Luna, and Shining standing there awkwardly. “...Well, I could have handled that better.” Celestia said at length, with a self-depreciating little chuckle. Luna just raised an eyebrow.
“You could have handled it much worse,” Shining said loyally, though he was inclined to agree with her. “So now what?”
“Now we figure out what’s going on.” Luna answered this time. “But first…” Her horn glowed, and with a flash of teleportation, two ponies appeared at the foot of the steps. “I thought you might want to be here for this as well.” On the left was Notary, head of staff and one of the princess’s chief advisors. To the earth pony’s credit, she was already ready, primly dressed in her dark blue vest, pale hair in a neat bun. Though she did look mildly disoriented at the sudden teleporting, she regained her bearings quickly, grabbing a spare clipboard and quill stashed behind the throne (in case of clipboard emergencies) and taking up position as though nothing unusual had happened.
On the right was Cadence, still wrapped in a bed sheet and looking like she was having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that she wouldn’t get to go back to sleep for a while yet. She glared blearily at the other two princesses assembled above her before sighing, making a show of standing up and collecting herself. Shining tried to hide behind Notary, a task made difficult by their height difference; He loved Cadence dearly, but she was most definitely not a morning pony, let alone the middle of the night like now.
Still, she seemed to be handling things surprisingly well as she joined them on the dais. “So this is actually something important, I take it?” Though her tone was businesslike, there was an undercurrent of 'we’ll discuss this one later' that made even Luna and Celestia shift nervously. Nopony responded, more focused on her poorly-hidden anger than on the issue at hand, until Notary broke the silence.
“It would seem so. Though from what I’ve been able to tell, our knowledge of events at the moment is far from ideal, it seems that this is something worth investigating.” The other two princesses and the captain of the guard finally overcame their trepidation and filled Cadenza in on what little they’d learned so far.
“Shining?” She asked once they finished, “isn’t one of your Pegasi, Storm Wing, on leave, visiting family up in that direction?” Shining nodded, grateful that she could remember a detail like that. “Why don’t you contact him and see if he’ll agree to fly up and check out what’s going on? He’s a guard, so he can handle himself if things get sketchy, and we can decide, based on his report, whether or not this whole thing is even worth investigating. To be honest, I think everypony’s jumping the sword a bit here.”
Celestia nodded, turning to Shining Armor. “Contact him now; see if you can have him ready to fly by sunrise. Better safe than sorry; we want to be ahead of events if everything goes wrong.” To Cadence, she added “Perhaps we are, but after what happened at your wedding, I don’t want to take any chances.”
It had been a good five months ago now since the changeling attack, and while the general fervor and paranoia had finally died down, it was clear that Equestria’s royalty had become more vigilant. Celestia had been preparing for Nightmare Moon’s return for some time, and even Discord’s escape hadn’t been entirely unexpected. Nopony had really seen the changelings coming, even with the anonymous threat made beforehand, and the whole incident had given them a new sense of wariness.
“Anything else?” It was clear the younger Alicorn wanted to get back to sleep. “Until Storm Wing can give us more information, I for one, don’t see the point in staying awake.” Though it seemed abrupt, almost too easy, the meeting adjourned and Notary left to tell the rest of the staff to go back to bed. Luna, nocturnal as she was, wouldn’t normally have slept until sunrise, but she decided, as there hadn’t been anything worthwhile going on in the Night Court anyway, a small early-morning nap to pass the time couldn’t hurt.
Storm Wing was thankfully already up when Shining used the communicator spell; being even closer to the blast, he had definitely been awoken by it. He quickly agreed to start preparing, and then that was that. Shining would contact him again at sunup, then all there would be left was to wait.
The Canterlot palace slowly but surely closed down again for the night, lights flicking off and ponies returning to their rooms. But despite everything, only Cadence and a few others actually managed to get back to sleep that night; most were too busy thinking about the strange occurrence. Would it mean good or ill for the future, or would it turn out to be something minor that would blow over in a few days and leave them feeling sheepish for overreacting?
Only time would tell.
My notes
9:56 PM, Tuesday Evening
The sun had set a while ago, the dark of night gently though cautiously taking its place. It was a new moon tonight, and without its silver glow to illuminate and highlight the mountains around Ponyville, they were only noticeable in the way they blotted out the stars. Perhaps this should have felt imposing, but they instead looked like guardians; weary and exhausted in the way their shoulders slumped, but still standing strong, ready for the next threat.
The Ponyville Train Station, by contrast, was fairly well-lit; golden light spilled from the windows, and the platform was illuminated by a trio of magical lanterns. The area had a warm ambience to it, like a welcoming oasis of light in the middle of the otherwise dark valley.
Twilight was standing under one of those lanterns, eyes wide with equal measures of excitement and trepidation, her friends at her side. Though an owl hooted in the distance and crickets were chirping in the field past the platform, it seemed quiet, a sort of expectant silence, as though the world was holding its breath in preparati-
“So, why the hay did us, of all ponies, get chosen to be part of this ‘convoy’ or whatever? Sorry, Twi, but the princess’s letter was a bit vague.” Rainbow Dash asked loudly.
The lavender unicorn closed her eyes, a fixed smile on her face, and counted slowly to ten. Though crickets were chirping in the field past the platform and a certain Pegasus lacked any sense of mood, it seemed quiet, a sort of expectant silence, as though the world was hold-
“We of all ponies. And honestly, Dash. Weren’t you paying attention? The princess’s letter told us that as the bearers of the Elements Of Harmony, we were the natural first choice to form the envoy that would attempt to open up relations with… er, somewhere. Actually, you’re right; the princess didn’t really say much.” Rarity frowned, turning to the other unicorn. “Twilight, I don’t suppose you could shed some more light on the situation?”
“I know as much as you do,” Twilight shrugged without turning around, her smile disappearing. Though the crickets were making a veritable racket out in the field and her friends wouldn’t even allow her this one moment, it seemed quiet, a sort of expectant sile-
In the distance, a train horn sounded, and a bright light appeared over the hill, approaching the station quickly. And Twilight gave a disgruntled grimace, hanging her head in frustration as her literary illusions were dashed to bits against the stone cold cliff-face of real life. “Let’s go, girls.”
As the train slid to a smooth halt in front of the platform, they saw that they wouldn’t be taking the Friendship Express, but rather a sleek, aggressive engine with only a single passenger car behind. It was clear the princesses wanted them somewhere fast.
After a brief pause, the doors to the passenger car slid open of their own accord, and six ponies and a dragon immediately moved forward, checking to make sure they had all their luggage and one by one stepping onto the train. Thankfully, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie, and Spike had actually managed to comply with the princess’s instructions to ‘pack lightly,’ and Rainbow Dash hadn’t brought anything but a scarf, a pair of flight goggles, and a Daring-Do book. Rarity had brought about six or seven medium-sized bags, her idea of ‘light,’ but carried them all in with ease in a cloud of telekinesis.
No, the real hassle was Twilight, who in addition to a small pack, had brought a pair of towering suitcases which were both packed to the brim with reference books on history and various world cultures. Since the letter had been so vague, she’d decided to simply pack everything she could fit; hoping that no matter where they ended up going, she’d have something on hand that could help. As a result, it ended up taking Applejack and Rainbow Dash’s help to wrestle the miniature libraries aboard, by which time the conductor pony was starting to shoot them glares from the engine’s windows.
He didn’t wait for them to get organized; closing the doors the second Twilight’s tail was clear, and beginning to move again. Though it wasn’t fast enough to send everypony off-balance, the acceleration was still quite impressive considering the type of vehicle, and soon they were well on their way to Canterlot.
Now that they had the time to look around, they saw that it was the same type of passenger car as the one they’d taken to Appleloosa; eight bunk beds with windows, two sets of closed doors on either end along with the ones they had boarded by, and an alcove in one corner for their luggage. A few oil lanterns were set in brackets along the walls, but nopony bothered to light them. The station’s lanterns, even through the dust-streaked windows, provided a dim but serviceable illumination.
“I hope this trip won’t take too long,” Rarity commented, stowing her bag and climbing into one of the beds, “While our previous overnight train had at least had some other cars, I dread to imagine us all cooped up in this single space for too long.”
Spike claimed the next bed over, bouncing cheerfully on the mattress a few times before sitting down. “I don’t think we have to worry about that; this thing is going pretty fast. I’m sure we’ll get wherever we’re going in no time!”
The others claimed their own spots, talking animatedly. Twilight, however, excluded herself from the conversation, crawling under the covers and feigning sleep. She didn’t actually feel exhausted enough for that yet, even considering the time, but she was definitely weary; the past few hours had been a breakneck blur of frantic packing and hastily cancelled plans. And it had started out so inconspicuously, too...
Twilight’s eyes narrowed as she levitated the vials closer together, tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth in concentration. Slowly, gently, she tilted one, pouring it’s blood-red contents into the denser, muddy liquid awaiting in the other. Setting the now-empty vial down, she telekinetically grabbed a long-handled measuring spoon and stirred until the liquid became frothy, turning a brilliant gold, with reflective specks that sent small slivers of light through the room.
Of course nopony had interrupted and caused her to make a mistake that would result in fire insurance paperwork; that was ridiculous!
...After all, you’d think she’d have learned after the first five times. So she’d finally decided to come up with a solution, and so far it was foalproof! Now, admittedly the dark bags under her eyes were an unfortunate side-effect of her foalproof solution, but the bookworm was accustomed to losing sleep.
She gently set the second vial down in its holder and stretched, cracking her neck and trying to regain some semblance of a decent posture. It admittedly always creeped her out, to hear her bones shifting and grinding against each other like that, but the alternative was to go to bed feeling like a paper clip that had been bent horribly out of shape, and then feeling even worse the next morning.
The Library’s basement was surprisingly spacey, now that she’d found time to clear out and organize the archives. Back during the whole ‘Pinkie Sense’ incident, she’d barely managed to fit the equipment (since sheepishly returned to their original homes in various higher-end universities and research institutes across Equestria) into the front end of the room, as the rest had been stacked, floor to ceiling, with large boxes. She’d only recently gone through them and discovered the basement had been the mayoral office’s dumping grounds for more outdated records and such. But now that everything she had room for had been organized, and the rest foisted back onto Town Hall to deal with, she had a perfect laboratory space.
A few lights had been set up against the walls, and the formerly dusty and damp space had been thoroughly sanitized, before Twilight finally finished moving in for good, bringing her old equipment in from Canterlot. Along three of the walls were long tables laden with various charts, reference books, and actual materials and equipment, all arranged with an almost worrying degree of precision, while another sat in the very center of the room, where the librarian was currently. In contrast to the others, this one was best described as a small mess, though Twilight preferred the term ‘Acceptably Disorderly’ for the moment.
Now that she’d finished with the mixing for now, she telekinetically pulled her process checklist out and examined it, eyeing the three completed mixtures sitting on the rack. The first was the light golden one she’d just completed, the second was a darker shade of brown, and the third was a thick inky black, though an occasional gold speck would emerge here and there. They were all made of the same mixtures, but in variable quantities relative to each other. If her guesses were correct, the first would decay in a few hours, the third would take a week or so, and the second somewhere in between. She’d have to keep a careful eye on things; if the concoctions were allowed to remain unstable for too long, they could explode.
And she did not feel like paying exorbitant amounts just to get the scorch marks removed.
Checking the most recently-completed item off of her list, Twilight began to tidy up her workspace; now that she was no longer concentrating on the mixtures, it hit her hard just how messy she’d let things become. It was absolutely criminal of her to allow Theoretical Chemistry And Magic to become misaligned with the table’s edge! Soon enough, everything was put back in it’s place save for the brackets with the vials, and a small timer she’d bought from Time Turner’s clock shop, which was set to go off in a half-hour. She’d be checking in on the first mixture periodically, and hopefully be able to catch it and add the balancing agent before it destabilized too far. Once that was done, she’d be able to complete the last few steps. She’d repeat the process for the other two when they were ready, and then see how the final products compared-
“Hey, Twilight! You wouldn’t believe what’s happening!” The door to the basement was flung open, the stairs creaking rapidly, and by the time Twilight had turned to see the newcomer, Spike was already skidding to a halt, panting somewhat as he leaned against the banister. “Twilight, there’s something happening outside that you need to see!”
But the librarian shook her head. “What is it? Unless it’s important, it’s going to have to wait until later. I’m in the middle of a very volatile project at the moment.”
Spike frowned and tugged at his arm. “Well, I don’t know if it is. But I was woken up by this super-bright light from outside; it looked like Celestia was raising the sun early! I just thought that it might be worth letting you know.” And then he frowned sternly. “Are you at that whole potion-making thing again? And why are you up so late? You should be the one telling me to get some sleep, not the other way around.”
Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed at the last comment, but curiosity won out. “Fine, I’ll take a look.” Following Spike back upstairs, she opened the door to the library’s main floor to reveal… Nothing. It was dark and silent. Twilight trotted over to a faint patch of illumination on the floor, but it was only the moon shining through a window. “Sorry, Spike, you must have been having a dream or something.” She turned back to her assistant apologetically. “Try to be in bed again by the time I’m done, and I hope you sleep better.”
Spike grimaced as she brushed past. This wasn’t fair; he’d seen the light himself! He’d been panicking because he thought he’d slept in, but then it had to go and disappear on him. Climbing up to the loft again, he stood in front of the window and fixed the night sky to the north with an accusing stare. “I’m watching you, light!”
A head banged against glass, followed by a sigh. “…Oh, who am I kidding?”
However, he did not let up. “You know, Twilight,” he began as he passed the groggy unicorn her coffee the next morning, “I really did see something. I think you should at least look into it.”
She only grunted and took a deep sip from the drink, before spitting it back out again. "Why is there hot sauce in here?"
Spike cringed. "Whoops, I mixed them up by mistake. I was wondering why mine was tasting so bland..."
“If you hadn’t been working on that potion, you would have seen it as well!” He glared sullenly at the row of vials from his vantage point on a ladder. A book was in one hand, a feather duster in the other, both forgotten as he directed his indignation at the potions.
Twilight made a small noise of dismissal as she analyzed the first completed potion. She tapped it with a hoof, and a small burst of purple smoke blew the cork off. Nothing further happened, though, and after a few moments, she opened her eyes and let out the breath she'd been holding. "Interesting. That effect would seem to imply that..." she trailed off into mumbles, scribbling something onto her notepad. Spike clutched his feather duster tighter and growled.
“Hey, Twilight! I talked to some other ponies at Sugarcube Corner, and they all said they saw the light, too! You have to believe me now!” The confidence in his tone drained as the librarian grunted noncommittally. “Please?”
Finally, Twilight sighed, bookmarking her spot in The Theoretical Intricacies of Quantum Mechanics and Their Potential Magical Applications and turning to look at him. “Fine, we’ll solve this once and for all. I should probably get out of the library for a bit today, anyway. I can see my friends a bit, and ask if any of them saw this supposed light.”
Spike picked up the bag of muffins again, already heading toward the door. “Thank you.”
“Yeah! I was up late baking some cupcakes for Rainbow Dash when it happened. One moment it’s dark as night outside, because it was night, and then I looked down to check the oven, and when I looked back up, it was all super bright; I thought it was daytime!” Pinkie put a hoof up to her chin as she frowned thoughtfully. “And then I got a doozy! I still need to get a new bag of flour before the Cakes notice one’s missing…”
Twilight stood on the other side of the counter, wearing a plastered-on grin as Pinkie told her tale. Spike, meanwhile, wasn’t sure whether he wanted to gloat or grab a helmet, but Twilight moved before he could come to a decision. Bowing her head in defeat, she turned to her assistant. “Okay, you were right, I was wrong. I’m sorry. Can we leave it at that?”
Spike grinned, reaching up to shake her hoof. “Now we just have to find out what it was!”
Twilight frowned, but accepted his handshake. “I’ll admit I am a little curious now, but so far nothing has happened. If I weren’t so bu-”
“Excuse me, ma’am? If you aren’t ordering anything, than could you please let me?” The town’s mailmare was waiting behind them in line, and looked like she was in a rush. A mess of letters poked out of the top of her messenger bag, and her grey wings flapped in agitation a couple of times. Twilight grinned sheepishly and slid out of the way, walking over to one of the tables.
“But yeah, anyway. I think if Pinkie got a doozy from this, it must be important!” Spike pressed his advantage, “I mean, what if it’s something like Discord or Nightmare Moon again?” He sounded positively gleeful at the prospect.
Twilight just gave him a dull glare as she opened the bag and pulled out a muffin. “Didn’t you just agree to drop the subject?” She bit into the pastry and swallowed before continuing. “Besides, I’m not even sure if I believe Pinkie. I mean, making cupcakes at midnight? What was that about? Honestly, I’m more inclined to believe that she just heard you talking about it and made things up.”
Now she was just being stubborn. Spike groaned, only for it to turn into a loud belch. A bout of green flame later, everypony in the bakery was staring at them, and a scroll sat on the table.
Twilight snatched it up, opening it up and reading quickly as she fended off Spike’s attempts to grab it from her. “Dear Twilight, I’m sure you have experienced the strange phenomenon last night… Oh, come on!”
The scroll went flying up in the air, landing with a flop on the table. Spike only grinned. “I told you so!”
“I told you so; we’re already here!”
Twilight didn’t really know when exactly she’d awoken; she simply realized shortly after the fact that she’d done so. How much time had passed? Indeed, how much time remained to pass? And what was she waiting for in the first place? Twilight decided to figure out what was going on, and to that end, raised herself to her hooves and stood up.
Only to freeze in fright, movement numbed by shock. Something broad and cold pressed into her back, warmth leached from her fur and consumed by the big… metal… ceiling.
Oh. Opening her eyes would have helped, wouldn’t it? Well, whatever. Looking about, Twilight found herself in one of the top bunks of the passenger car, which surprised her more than it should have. Oh, right. The letter from Cadence. That whole thing. But why am I in a bunk bed in a train, again? She felt clunky and slow, somehow, and wanted nothing more than to roll herself back up in the covers. She couldn’t however, because of two pressing matters. First was the ceiling, quite literally; she was still standing up against it, and it was still very very cold on her back. The other matter was the… the… oh, something. She’d remember once she’d had coffee.
Twilight lay back down, solving the first problem, and turned to look over the edge of her bunk. Everything looked odd, sort of simultaneously clear and fuzzy, though she couldn’t really figure out where the fuzzy part came in. Everything was crystal clear, but ‘vague’ and ‘fuzzy’ still came up in her mind. The resulting dissonance became a sort of mental itch, one she couldn’t scratch until she figured out how anything was supposed to be ‘fuzzy’ when it wasn’t in any way, physically or otherwise, matching of that description. And then the mental itch went and gave itself a physical aspect as well, and suddenly Twilight was uncomfortably aware of how wrinkled and twisted around and knotted up her sheets were, and how lying across them like that was in itself uncomfortable.
She jumped up and tried to fix up the sheets so she could lay across them properly. Tried to, because the tip of her horn hit the ceiling, which now managed to be both cold and warm in an uncomfortable way, and while she couldn’t see it, she knew, she just knew she’d have a bruise there soon, and it’d hurt to do magic for the next couple of days, and why did unicorns have to have that inconveniently fragile layer of skin over their hard horns?
And Twilight still had that uncomfortable itch on her side, which chose now to reassert itself, joining forces with the horn-bruise, the knotty sheets, and her general confusion to ruin her first few minutes of being properly awake.
After several moments of deserved moping, Twilight used her telekinesis to fix the sheets, lifting up her hooves as needed, and being supremely thankful that the bruise wasn’t yet at it’s worst. Once everything was straightened out the way she wanted, she settled back down, and the difference was wonderful.
The itch in her side was at the moment un-scratchable without some uncomfortable contortions that were too big for the space she was in at the moment, so she’d have to put up with it for now. And besides, this wasn’t the first time Twilight had developed an inexplicable physical itch due to a mental conundrum, though usually the problems that baffled her were a bit more intelligent than the current one. Either way, working out the problem usually resolved the physical itch as well in short order.
Twilight realized suddenly that she was thinking more clearly than a moment before; the bump to her head must have woken her fully. So what had that been about fuzziness? Right, she realized suddenly; it was her perception that had been fuzzy, though the information had been fairly clear. That fixed, both the mental and physical itches disappeared, and there had been no hoof-scratching involved at all. And the final issue, her developing horn-bruise? Nothing for it but some salve and a bandage, unfortunately.
Twilight finally took in her surroundings proper. She’d registered vaguely she was still on the train before, but only now did she realize something was off.
Across the way from her bed, bright orange light spilled through the window, the glare and the window’s grime preventing Twilight from being able to make out anything outside. The rectangle of light it left on the bed was also bright, contrasting with the too-dark darkness of the rest of the car in a spooky way. Twilight tried to look into that darkness, but her gaze kept being drawn unconsciously to the window and the bright patch on the bed below it.
And it was quiet. She herself mentally recognized and hated the cliche, but it truly was too quiet. There was some sort of whispering going on at the edges of her consciousness, but otherwise…
Twilight looked down at the floor. Shapes slipped back and forth through the darkness, whispering all the while. Something was very wrong. Cautiously, she got up, descending the ladder slowly. The shadows didn’t seem to note her incoming presence...
“Yer awake!” One of the shadows turned to Twilight, who jumped. “So ah wonder who’ll be joinin’ us fer this trip. Prob’ly somepony with their head so far up their-”
“I’d hope that whomever was chosen to represent Equestria would be a touch more tactful than that, Applejack,” Rarity responded loudly. “So glad to see you awake, dear; did you sleep well?”
Twilight shrugged in the darkness, before realizing they couldn’t see her. “I didn’t even realize I had, until just now. So, the ambassador is still a no-show?” All this uncertainty was starting to frazzle her.
“Nope. I got a scroll while you were sleeping; apparently they won’t be here for a while yet.” Spike said right beside Twilight, causing the latter to jump again. “Say, could someone turn on the lights?”
However, nopony got the chance to, as Rainbow Dash, the only one properly visible by her window, let out an exclamation. “Guys, look!” A dark silhouette from outside had fallen on the windows. A large rectangle floated through the air, followed by a tall horned figure.
“Unicorn, o’ course.” Applejack snorted. “And judging by that figure, they’ve got some Prench in them. Oh, this is gonna be fun.”
“Do relax, Applejack.” Rarity interjected. “Perhaps it is Fleur-De-Lis; she was originally the Prench ambassador to Equestria before moving here permanently, so she does have the experience necessary… Well, it appears we shall find out soon enough.”
The door opened, light flooding in. First came a suitcase, surrounded by a sky blue aura as it floated over to join the rest of the luggage. Then the figure came into view, stepping carefully across the gap between platform and train...
Tricolored mane. Bubblegum-pink coat. Wings and horn, and the long limbs and graceful muzzle of those with Prench or Saddle Arabian ancestors. Copper shoes and an understated tiara. And of course, the seemingly ever-present cheery smile, similar to and yet distinct from her aunt's more reserved grins. It could only be "Cadence!" Twilight practically leapt at the Alicorn, wrapping her in a big hug.
A moment later, Twilight's eyes shot open in alarm, and with the usual SNAP of displaced air, teleported back into position among her friends. "Er, sorry about that. Just got a little excited." She put on a toothy, sheepish grin, wishing the floor would swallow her.
For her part, Princess Cadence simply gave a chuckle. "Oh, it's fine, Twilight. It's not like we've had the opportunity to see much of each other, aside from the wedding... and you know how that went. Now that Shining and I are back from our honeymoon, hopefully you and I will be able to spend some time together without needing to save Equestria, even if it isn't today." She waved a hoof, then glanced around at the rest of the company. "It's nice to see you all as well!"
Belatedly, Rarity fell into a bow and hoped in futility that her friends would as well."Oh, I do apologize, how rude of me. We offer you sincerest of greetings, Princess!"
"Please!" Cadence said, perhaps a little too loudly. She lowered the hoof she hadn't noticed raising, then continued in a more normal tone of voice. "Please, don't. It's just Cadence." The tension had returned, and after several seconds of silence, the princess affected a somewhat more forced-looking grin. "Well, I for one am tired; I am not a morning pony. Which bed is still open?"
It took some shuffling about, but finally Cadence was sprawled across the formerly-unclaimed bed, and everypony else had more-or-less settled back into their own spots. "So, if you don't mind my asking..." Twilight hesitated, and Cadence wordlessly raised an expectant eyebrow, failing to hide her amused grin. "Well, I'm just surprised that you're the ambassador!"
"Wait, what?" Cadence's eyes shot wide open, grin vanishing as she straightened her posture. "How come?"
Everypony else had oh-so-helpfully frozen in place, watching as Twilight cringed, though the poor mare wasn't entirely sure why. "Well, we've been out of touch..."
"And you couldn't ask Celestia?" Cadence looked somewhat hurt, but quickly pasted on another cheery grin. "Silly filly. Didn't even wonder why you never saw me around the palace?"
"Well, I did wonder... but I just figured you were busy with Princess duties, or maybe more foalsitting." Twilight slowly rubbed her forehooves together. "I didn't mean any offense... I just didn't want to pry."
Cadence's expression relaxed again. "Well, that seems reasonable. And for the record, after you were accepted into the academy, Celestia said it was time to step up my training, and sent me halfway across the world to be the ambassador to the Sphinxes. Nearly caused an international incident, too... but I digress. Anyway, that's why I'm here; Equestria's official Ambassador-Princess is back in action!"
A moment later, Equestria's official Ambassador-Princess allowed her head to flop onto her pillow. "Now, we're going to get to the end of the line in a few hours, so I personally recommend we all get some-" A yawn escaped her "-sleep."
Perhaps it was because of her earlier nap, or perhaps because of the awkward scene she'd made... or maybe it was just because of Rainbow's cavernous snoring, and that the bruise on her horn had chosen to reassert itself with a vengeance, but the end result was that Twilight found herself unable to fall back asleep. After what felt like an hour but a chronology spell told her was half, she finally gave up altogether, and ever-so-cautiously crept out of bed to grab a book or five from her luggage, carefully using her hooves in lieu of fumbling about with her telekinesis. She couldn't help but glance at her friends as she passed, stifling a chuckle at Spike, and trying not to collapse from how utterly adorable Fluttershy was being.
Okay, maybe Twilight was being a bit creepy. Apparently, she tended to do that when tired, but she didn't feel tired right now. Either way, it wasn't something she wanted to dwell too heavily on, so she quickly moved on to her own bunk. Fortunately, Rainbow's snores had died down by now, and the only sound was a rhythmic thu-thump, thu-thump as the train sped along the tracks. Settling down and pulling the scuffed sheets back into position with a sweep of her thaumatic field, Twilight set the books down, realizing that she'd barely paid any mind to her selection. Still, one title stood out to her as promising, and so she opened up An Unabridged Guide To The Cultures Of The North and examined the table of contents.
Pg002 - Introduction
Pg008 - Historical Summary
Pg017 - Map
Pg019 - Myths, Folklore, and the 'Crystal City'
Pg036 - Yak-Yakistan: Stubborn & Authentic
Pg185 - Gryphonia: Brave & Strong
Pg340 - Canadaribou: Mild-Mannered & Historic
Pg484 - Chimer: Exotic & Enigmatic
Pg611 - Endnotes & Sources
Rather barebones, her inner scholar noted, but based on page volume alone, not insubstantial by any means. It likely meant the broad sections had rather loose internal structure; something that bothered her on some level, but she'd just have to live with. More interesting was the subjects of each segment; while she liked to think of herself as fairly knowledgeable about Gryphonia thanks to some legitimately accidental eavesdropping in her youth, she couldn't say the other two stirred much recognition deeper than the names. Of course she would read the whole thing front to back, but she couldn't help but be intrigued by Yak-Yakistan and Chimer, and note the latter section's relative brevity - Was it because there was little known, or simply little to say?
Well, she would just have to find out. A familiar contented grin made its way to Twilight's face as she turned the page...
Chimer: Exotic & Enigmatic
Overview
Kirin, or as they are more colloquially known, Chimerae; are among the most mysterious of the sapient races on Equus, a fact reinforced by their strict isolationist policies. Much of what is known of them comes from the research journals of visitors over a century old at the most recent, so while their frankly fascinating history is at least somewhat known to us, it is difficult to judge how contemporary our impressions of their culture may be.
More reliably consistent, however, is their appearance, described best by Compass Point following his rescue from a Timberwolf pack by the Emperor Showa's daughter in the year 893. "My first observation of my host had been hardly thorough given the circumstances, but now that I had the opportunity to observe the creature whom had rescued me, I found them to be more familiar and more alien than expected. Posessing the more nimble stature common of deer and elks, I was confused to find they bore both a small set of antlers nearly hidden among her thick curly mane, and a somewhat oddly shaped variation of a unicorn's horn. Posessing no grooves and with a rather notably dangerous curve to it, it was as much a physical tool as a magical one, and coupled with the bark-like natural armor across the top of her snout, made for an intimidating figure. She also bore a longer muzzle than that of the common Pony mare, yet it was not quite comparable to those one might find in a lovely mare from Prance or Saddle Arabia. Truly, the best word I could describe her with at the present is 'exotic.'" (Compass Point's Unabridged Journals, Vol III)
It is worth noting that the common 'nickname' for their race stems from their unique status as Equine/Arboreal hybrids. While this mainly manifests in the stiff and bush-like properties of their manes, there is a consistent presence of distinctly plant-like properties on the cellular level, if recent samples are to be trusted. This distinction ensures that they do not properly qualify as Deer, Pony, or even Tree. Indeed,
Fluttershy would probably love the Kirin, Twilight couldn't help but think, recalling a night on another train with considerable fondness.
Indeed, they are truly unique, as is the manifestation of their racial magic.
While capable of many basic-level Unicorn feats, Kirin are known for their impressive and indeed frightening displays of psionic prowess, also exemplified through Compass Point's records of his three year stay in the Emperor's home, during which time he found himself an unwitting pawn in the princess' feud with her father. By the end of the whole affair, he had learned through hard experience to recognize the signs of their magic. Like the field emenating from a unicorn's horn during casting, both wielder and victim of psionic magic alike leak an aura from the corner of their eyes - the more blatant the influence, the more visible it becomes to observers. Unlike the aura of a unicorn horn, which ends almost immediately after the spell is done casting, the lower frequency of psionic magic means that the aura tends to linger in both user and subject, and until it has died away completely, the two will retain a low-level mental connection.
It is in terms of culture that the Kirin prove themselves most nebulous at the present. In ancient times, their land was heavily feudalized, with thirteen 'warlords' acting directly under the centeral emperor figure. Despite the name of their position, their role was generally more akin to governers or dukes and duchesses, ruling specific sections of the land; it was from their not-infrequent clashes with Gryphonia (known at the time as Western Gryphonia, before their split with modern-day Prance) that the warlord title became appliccable.
In the early end of the century, just following Equestria's Founding and the Discord Crisis of year 18, there was a cultural revolution in Chimer spearheaded by Taylee Techa, one of the incumbent warlords. Restrictions were placed on the use of psionic manipulations, and such emphasis was placed on honor and humility that the modern stereotype of a Kirin is of a samurai warrior who places honor before reason. There is of course so much more to them to that, even with our limited knowledge base, and that is what the following sections will delve into.
Physiology
Kirin are-
Twilight was jerked back into awareness of the outside world as the train lurched to a halt. She'd been reading for the past few hours, and she felt herself at least reasonably knowledgeable on the Gryphons, Yaks, and Reindeer. It seemed she wouldn't get to learn as much about the Kirin, or not for the moment anyway... she really hoped wherever they were going wouldn't require her to be an expert on that particular subject.
"Are we here?" She asked as she began putting her books away; most of her friends had roused themselves by now, though it was still dark out the windows. Wiping a hoof against the dusty glass, she found herself looking over a town she could almost mistake for Ponyville, if the houses weren't made of thick brick and positioned at the very base of a steep cliff.
The next several minutes were busy with repacking, waving coffee under Cadence's snout in a futile attempt to wake the princess, and making halfhearted attempts to straighten out the sheets, but soon enough they found themselves standing on the empty train platform as the engine sped off to parts unknown. Shivering at the frosty breeze coming down off the mountains, Twilight glanced up at the night sky. Luna had done an exquisite job tonight, a thick and radiant band of stars crossing the heavens. There were no lanterns on here, giving the place a distinctly eerie feeling, but it did wonders for the light pollution.
"What are we waiting around for?" Rainbow Dash grumbled, flapping quietly overhead. She'd wrapped her scarf tightly around herself, but it seemed that even with her natural pegasus resistance to the cold, she was feeling rather chilled. "Let's get a move on."
"Not quite yet," Cadence chuckled. She still had bags under her eyes, but the generous amounts of coffee she'd downed seemed to have helped considerably. "We need to wait for- oh, there they are!"
Sure enough, two pegasus stallions bedecked in the armour of the Royal Guard had appeared at the end of the lane, and were briskly trotting toward the station. Coming to a halt just below the platform, they fell into a quick bow before announcing themselves. "Greetings, your highness. We have the carriage prepared over this way. If you and your entourage will follow us..."
"Of course. Thank you both, Storm Wing and Feather Blast. I'm sorry for the interruption when you're supposed to be off duty..." The guards just shrugged understandingly, and directed the group down one road, around a turn, past some shops, and then through a wide alley to an open field at the edge of the small town. The promised sky-chariot laid out in the field, a wooden number painted yellow; likely a local taxi commandeered for this matter. The one problem was that it was rather small.
"My apologies, Princess, but you and the pegasi will have to fly alongside us," one of the guards explained sheepishly. "There is only room for four." With a shrug, the Unicorns and Earth ponies of the group hopped aboard; Spike squeezed himself in between the four of them.
"Well, I was going to anyway!" Rainbow exclaimed, performing a quick loop in the air. Cadence and Fluttershy seemed more nervous with this idea, giving their underutilized wings a few brief flaps as the guards hooked themselves up to the chariot.
Twilight felt her stomach drop out as the carriage rose into the air, paralleling the huge cliff face so the rock flashed past at an increasingly dizzying rate. The last time she'd been on a chariot had been the trip to Ponyville, and it had taken some getting used to that time as well. Rarity looked like she was going to be sick, and Applejack had crouched down with her forehooves wrapped firmly around her hat, but at least Pinkie seemed to be enjoying the ride, sticking her head over the edge with her tongue flapping in the wind.
"The journey should last just over a half-hour, barring unforseen weather conditions. We don't regulate things too heavily up here in the mountains!" The guard shouted back, voice snatched away by the rush of air. Twilight paid him little heed, as her own sparse dinner from yesterday evening was making a valiant attempt at a reappearance.
Cresting the mountain, the carriage turned northward, passing between steadily more impressive peaks. The sky in the east was beginning to brighten, and a brief -and immediately regretted- glance down revealed that they were in fact well above the cloud cover, the valleys and chasms below concealed beneath a thick fluffy grey blanket. Spike's cooking nearly found a new home all over her friends' coats, but after several long minutes, Twilight was finally able to take in and enjoy her surroundings. The wind seemed to pelt her with ice crystals, and her breath came out in clouds that were quickly whisked away, but there was a sort of purity to the air that she couldn't help but appreciate. The mountain peaks rose from the clouds like monuments, or perhaps jagged rocks from a foamy sea, and suddenly the carriage and the ponies on and around it felt incredibly small.
Twilight began to wonder where exactly they were headed. If her mental map was correct, they were still considerably south of the Yak lands, and definitely not westward enough to be heading to Gryphonia or Chimer, yet still not quite eastward to be entering Reindeer territory. And of course, there was the question of the bright flash of light over a day ago, now; somehow Twilight suspected they were heading to its source.
Thankfully, however, she soon found her answer, as the cloud cover fell away behind them. Far ahead, between two peaks, she saw a circle of bright green, vividly visible even at such a distance thanks to the sheer clarity of the air. There seemed to be something shiny in the center, light from the breaking dawn reflecting off in bright flashes, almost like a beacon.
"I can't believe it! I saw Storm Wing's report, but I didn't really believe it until now. But it's true!" Cadence called out, drawing alongside the carriage as an expression of sheer wonderment crossed her face.
"What is it?" Twilight shouted back. The wind had grown stronger now, the air being funneled between the peaks and opposite the carriage's path. The unicorn couldn't help but envy her winged friends' downy protection against the cold.
"When I was young, Auntie used to tell me bedtime stories about her travels to the Crystal Empire. It was more of a city, really, but still! She said that it disappeared a thousand years ago, and that I was descended from some of the crystal ponies that were left behind, but I guess I never really believed her until now."
"Excuse me, Princess," Rarity interjected, "But did you just say 'crystal ponies?'" the dressmaker was pulling down the sides of her mane in excitement, eyes sparkling and grin overly eager. "Oh my, doesn't that just sound utterly fabulous?"
"I guess we'll have to see, now, won't we?" Cadence grinned in response, before suddenly frowning. "Ah, I think I caught a bug in my throat."
Twilight leaned forward, suddenly tense. "But aren't we a bit too high? And I don't think most bugs would be in an area this col-" before she could say anything more, a black sphere suddenly dropped into the chariot, and immediately began emanating a thick black smoke. Even at their rapid pace, the whole thing was quickly engulfed, accompanied by the coughing of the mares and dragon aboard.
Amidst her helpless wheezing, and struggling to remove something that had become lodged in her throat, Twilight couldn't mistake Rainbow's shout. "We're under attack! They're... they're GRYPHONS!"
Author's Note
Dun-dun-dun...
Author's Notes
