Northern Lights

For the next hour, the only sound I heard was the echo of my own hoofsteps.

I paced back and forth across the room, trying my damndest to keep my emotions in check—but I might as well have been trying to barricade against a hurricane with nothing but popsicle sticks and glue. Ri’s words were still ringing through my head, and the worst part was that I couldn’t tell if it was just my mind replaying them, or if Ri herself was repeating them as a way to settle the score. Either option made my skin crawl and itch with a thousand ants biting in unison.

What was I supposed to do Ri? I thought, knowing that she could hear my thoughts even if she wouldn’t acknowledge me. Yes, I could have tried to put on a brave face and fought tooth and nail to keep you with me. And what do you think was going to happen if I did that? Do you think they’d have let me keep you then? You think I’d have ever been allowed to see you again once they ripped you off my neck with their freaking magic? I didn’t want to give you away!

She didn’t say anything. I didn’t expect her to, but the silence still caused my heart to pound against my ribcage. Why was I getting this stressed out? I was used to being ignored, and Ri had every right to be mad at me. So why did her silence make me feel so terrible?

“Damn it Ri,” I whispered out loud. “I’m sorry.”

I turned to look at my reflection in the full body mirror. The strange blue pony inside looked sad and miserable. Her mane was sprawled everywhere from worry, and her eyes looked close to tears. Occasionally the muscles in her ears and legs twitched like she was constantly being poked and prodded by invisible hands.

“We’re both the same,” I muttered, looking down at Ri’s necklace. Both of us were trapped in bodies that weren’t our own and forced to place our faith into others we barely knew. The difference was that I could move on my own, while Ri was trapped to fester in darkness and her own memories.

Move. I thought, looking at the door. That’s what I need to do. I need to get out of this blasted room. I need to move. I need to think.

I worked my way towards the door and slowly opened it, grimacing from the taste of the metal doorknob on my tongue. Shadow Sight was still standing outside—no surprise there—and turned to look at me. “What are you doing?” He asked with that neutral voice of his.

“Princess Celestia said I could go for a walk around the castle, so that’s what I intend to do.” I took a shaky step forward, only to be stopped by his extended wing.

“Just because you have been given free range does not mean you are allowed to go unsupervised.”

Yeah, I guess that was too much to hope for. I sighed and moved a couple loose strands of hair from my eyes. “Alright, fine. But I’m not waiting on you.”

I left a pause, hoping that Ri would give some kind of quip about my abysmal walking as a pony. But she didn’t. There was just silence in my head as Shadow Sight lead the way to the castle courtyard.

So now I go from worrying about her being tortured to worried that she’ll never talk to me again. I chucked under my breath so not to alert the guard. And where does that leave you now Tyler? No allies, no way home, and the princesses only trusts you enough to take supervised walks around the castle. Maybe this is finally the time you won’t bounce back. Maybe this is finally when you fall.

At this time of day, Canterlot Castle seemed a little more deserted than usual. There was hardly a servant out in the halls, and the guards on duty never moved, causing me to wonder if they were actually just life like statues. Traveling down the long corridors seemed like an endless track, and every time I looked to the end, it seemed further and further away. Even those wonderful paintings of the sun and moon seemed more dower and lifeless than the last time I saw them, but I was more than sure that was because of my mood. When you feel alone and lifeless, the world becomes just that.

Despair is the enemy. I tried to remind myself, just like I did every time I felt down on myself. Yet no matter how many times I repeated the words, they didn’t feel the same as before. The words didn’t feel like a powerful truth that could lift me from the darkness and reveal the path to victory. They just felt like empty words.

Words are just leaves blowing along on the wind. Ri had told me. It’s your actions that get set in stone, and you’ve chiseled yours into the mountainside for all to see!

I said I was sorry, I thought. What am I supposed to do to show it? Please tell me. Silence, and I felt my blood begin to boil. Give me some place to start, at least!

“Stop right there,” called a sharp, authoritative voice. The owner hadn’t yelled, but their tone was enough to fill the entire hallway. Turning towards the source, I saw a warm-grey unicorn mare stepping out of one of the doorways Shadow Sight and I had just passed. She was dressed in a brown suit that only covered the front half of her body, with a white undershirt and copper tie. Her hair was a lighter shade of grey with platinum highlight. On her head it was cut short and neatly brushed behind her ears, while on her tail it had been allowed to grow out more.

But the most striking feature on her where her eyes. They were a deep, oceanic blue and seemed to pierce straight through me like a needle through thread.

Beside me, Shadow Sight wasted no time bowing to the pony. “Minister Sharp Script.”

The grey mare waved a hoof dismissively, “Oh get off the ground son. Those pointed wings of yours will make for terrible feather dusters.” She turned her attention to me, and I swore I spotted a spark of intrigue in her eyes. “Now, where are you escorting this young lady to?”

“The castle grounds as per her request.”

“Excellent. I was heading out there myself. You are relieved of your duties for the time being.”

Shadow Sight finally broke himself out of whatever stupor he was in and stood at attention. “The princesses’ orders state—”

“Did the princesses’ orders tell you treat her like a little filly? She is a grown mare, for Celestia’s sake, not a ne’er-do-well who needs constant supervision,” The mare’s eyes seemed to cut through Shadow Sight like a knife through butter. “And even if she was, we both know for a fact that there are dozens of guards posted along the walls of the castle at this very moment. Finally, let us not overlook the fact that she has difficulty walking without it looking like she’s carrying a kingdom’s worth of luggage on her back. Even if she weren’t being watched, what precisely would she achieve in any quick timespan?” Her eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly. “Now, don’t you have other duties to attend to?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Then go attend to them.”

All I could do was stand there with my mouth agape as Shadow Sight saluted with a wing and trotted off down the adjacent hallway. Once he was gone, the grey unicorn smiled at me. “Are you inviting an oxpecker for a meal? Come come, I’m much better company than any bird, and it’s such a lovely day for a walk.”

“How did you do that?” I asked, falling into step beside the mare. In the corner of my eye I saw her cutie mark: an blank open scroll with a red wax seal. “I’ve only ever seen him bend for the princesses.”

“In my experience, it’s always smart for somepony to bend for the one who signs off on their bits. But we’ll have more than enough time to talk about occupations.” She extended a hoof. “My name is Sharp Script. Minister of Defence in service to the nation of Equestria and her monarchs, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and our newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

I slowly rose my own hoof to touch hers. “Um, I’m Aurora Borealis. Recent high school graduate, reader of history and science, and player of strategy games.”

“Quite the rare assortment of hobbies for one so young. What kinds of games do you play?”

“I don’t know if you’d know them,” I scratched the back of my neck with a hoof. “I’m decent enough at chess, checkers, and stratego, but my favourite is backgammon.”

“Is that so? I knew there was something interesting about you, Miss Borealis. Ah, you don’t like being called miss, do you?”

“What?” I asked, caught off guard.

“You grimaced when I called you Miss. Do you dislike it?”

“Oh. Yeah, calling me Aurora is enough. Now what did you mean by you knew there was something interesting about me?”

“It’s nothing personal, if that’s what you are afraid of. As I said, I so rarely meet a young pony who has the time or patience for the classical games. Nowadays it seems every young colt and filly has their nose stuck in one of those video games.”

They have video games here? I mused over the thought, but tried to keep my intrigue hidden from the minister. “I think you were referring to something else though.”

She smiled, pleased with my answer. “Well, I did happened to be there for your little spout in the Maegus District the other day.”

“Oh,” I felt my ears press against the side of my head. “You saw that.”

“Indeed I did, and I wouldn’t trade it for all the bits in Equestria.” She said. At this point we reached the descending stairwell that lead to the palace courtyard. Sharp Script seemed to take her time walking each step, though I was positive it was just to compensate for my snail’s pace.

“First impressions are the most important part of displaying our character, after all,” she continued. “And ours was enough to tell me you are somepony who is not afraid to stand up for herself, even when in an unfavourable situation. Certainly more interesting than these flocks of peacocks flashing their feathers everywhere.”

I found myself chuckling as I stumbled after her. “Peacock is not the first word that comes to mind when I think about them.”

“But isn’t it true? They strut around with their colours on display, always trying to one-up the competition. You have one mare who goes out and buys a hat that’s too large for her stork-leg thin neck to support, and then another will buy one that’s twice the size just to show that she can. And on and on the cycle goes until our proud peacocks collapse under the weight of their own feathers.” She chuckled to herself. “Maybe once they’ve been muddied by the ground they’ll realize that it’s the plain, drab, and dreary peahen that truly decides everything.”

“I’m sure more than a few of them have fallen down, but that hasn’t changed their tone one bit.”

The courtyard was rather peaceful considering the hectic events taking place within the castle. Surrounded by lavender walls and broken up by dirt pathways, the grass and shrubbery were strangely alive and vibrant. There was even a quaint little pond tucked away in the shadow of a three pronged tower. We didn’t have the space all to ourselves; there were a few ponies wandering here and there. Most were dressed like palace servants, but one or two wore similar attire to the minister. She would smile at them as our paths crossed, and they would smile back before continuing on with their business.

Like Sharp Script said, there were dozens of guards stationed along the battlements. The vast majority of them were unicorns, who were currently using their magic to levitate a series of prism shaped crystals into key locations around the walls. Above them were several pegasus guards, using ropes and their hooves to transport and fix other such crystals on top of the towers.

“What are they doing?” I asked, pointing towards the pegasus guards.

“I’m sure you’re more than aware of the bothersome lights that have been hanging above our heads as of late?” Sharp Script replied. “According to the princesses, they are made of magic, and these crystals should act as a sort of barrier against them should they try to come within range of the city.”

“But you don’t think they will work, do you?”

“Oh, I have full confidence in our princesses and their solutions. However, it is always propitious to have a backup plan or two.”

“I can agree there,” I stopped walking and looked the minister in the eyes. “Now that we’ve broken the ice, how about you tell me the real reason for this pleasant company?”

“Do you prefer to walk alone?” Sharp Script asked.

“I don’t mind walking with others. It has allowed me to walk with enough two-faced liars and those with a hidden agenda to know when someone wants something from me.”

“Quite an astute skill to acquire, though I’m very sorry that you had to develop it in the first place.” Sharp Script smiled in a motherly fashion. “But you are correct. I was hoping that perhaps you could be our backup plan.”

I blew some loose strands of hair out of my face. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t know anything about these lights.”

The minister chuckled, like she was watching a child pretending to be a master. “Oh come now, my dear, we both know that is a half-truth at the most and a bad lie at the least.”

“And what makes you so sure of that?” I asked, now feeling annoyed on top of my already shitty mood. “Have you been spying on me to learn my lying patterns?”

“In a sense, though not quite so bluntly. I’ve simply been listening in to the palace gossip and putting two and two together. You’re not as unknown among the palace as you might believe.”

So now I’m the center of palace gossip? I mused. Some things never change. “Alright, you have me there. But I’m afraid that magic escapes me, and like I’ve already told you, I don’t understand anymore about these lights than the next person. So please back off.”

Unfortunately, Sharp Script was disinclined to acquiesce to my request. “Yes, I heard you perfectly the first time. But just because you don’t know about the lights themselves doesn’t mean you might not have an understanding of their origins.”

My heart was pounding against my chest again as I cocked an eyebrow. “And why would the minister of defence want to know that?”

Sharp Script’s eyes seemed to peel me like an onion. I tried to keep a straight face, but my emotions betrayed me. What was she reading off of me now? Was it something personal that I couldn’t keep hidden? Or was it something pertaining to Ri? Was I unknowingly betraying her again?

“You don’t trust me?” She said at last, and my nerves breathed a sigh of relief.

“Why should I?” I retorted, taking a moment to breath. “From my perspective, you’re a sharp tongued politician who has a thing for bird allegories and a good ear for gossip. If I was to say anything to you, how do I know it won’t somehow come to bite me in the ass later?”

“Caution is a good virtue to possess, my dear. But if you always live your life scared of repercussions, then I’m sorry to say you won’t be living a very fulfilling one.” She smiled. “Ah, but you didn’t want an old mare’s criticism of your lifestyle. As the minister of defence, my job is to oversee the protection of Equestria and its citizens from any internal and external threats, which these lights more than fit into. But it isn’t enough that we should remove this immediate threat—we should make sure that such an occurrence can never overcome Equestria in the future. And to do that you can’t just pluck the feathers off the grouse. You must go for the throat or it will keep kicking and pecking at you.”

I shook my head, not caring that the ends of my mane flew every which-way. “And land myself in more trouble than I’m already in? No thanks. I’ve made enough mistakes over the last couple of days, and I’m not about to make another. Find your own answers.”

Sharp Script flash a bitter grin. “Very well then, I shall leave you to your walk.”

“Should I wait anywhere for another escort, or do I need to track one down myself?”

“Neither, unless you plan to go inside. You’ve seen the amount of guards around us. Even though they are hard at work, don’t think they aren’t watching us from the corner of their eyes. So, as I said earlier, you wouldn’t have the chance to act up if you wanted to, and we both know you don’t.” Sharp Script turned her head ever-so slightly towards a duo of ponies turning a corner. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to. But should you ever change your mind, come and see me in my office. It’s in the south wing of the castle; one of the servants can point you in the right direction if you get lost. And even if you don’t change your mind, then perhaps we could play a friendly game of chess together.”

I never got a chance to respond. With a tip of her head and a slight nod, Sharp Script trotted through the courtyard to meet up with the duo. I waited until she began to make conversation before turning and making my way towards the pond and sat down on the water’s edge.

A quick look at my reflection revealed that the green was starting to creep back into my eyes, so I dipped my hooves into the water to calm my nerves. Sharp Script’s words had me thinking back to the archway that brought me here, resting underground in the Sky Serpent’s tomb. It was my only way home, and this minister of defence was talking about destroying it.

“But the princesses wouldn’t let her,” I asked my reflection. “would they?”

There were plenty of good reasons for them to give her the OK. That portal released the magic lights when I showed up, so it was possible they were linked together. Maybe destroying the portal would stop them and save their entire kingdom... and all it would cost is my only ticket home.

“... or would it,” I wondered, looking back at the three coloured streaks on my flank. The archway was my door into Equestria, but the road up to it was that multi-coloured world. Maybe that was the answer. After all, it was the magical hands of fates that turned me into a pony mare in the first place. If anything was going to change me back and get me home, it would be them.

"It's a shot in the dark," I muttered, looking back at my reflection. The blue had returned to my eyes and was busy drowning out the remaining green, which caused me to smile. "but what other option did I have? Sit here and wallow in misery while politicians play me like a pawn? Not again." I stood up, shaking the water off my hooves, and looked down at the reflection of Ri's necklace. "Ri, what do you think my chances are?"

She didn’t answer. I felt the muscles in my ears begin to twitch, but I closed my eyes and breathed. This wasn't the time to get stressed, and Ri still had reason to be angry with me. I needed to use this time more productively.

Taking a few steps away from the pond, I looked up at the ramparts and flagged down one of the pegasus guards watching me. “According to Princess Celestia, I need you to escort me inside,” I said when he landed. “And please, help me find Princess Twilight Sparkle. There’s something I need to talk to her about.”